Crushing the Disposable Americans

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

The New Colossus

Emma Lazarus 1883

Engraved upon a bronze plaque contained inside the Statue of Liberty.

Like it or not, that is the history of most of the modern population of the United States of America. Our ancestors were immigrants. Our ancestors were considered the wretched refuse of the teeming shores of other nations. They were society's unwanted, to be tossed away by the royalty of the day. Many were likely persecuted in some way. Many others were likely criminals, not because they harmed someone else, but because they disagreed with some silly law or dictate of a tyrant. Perhaps they spoke out against it or perhaps they failed to pay some requisite fee or fine. In any case, these people were considered disposable by the established governments of the time and so were sent here or found their way to these shores to try to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Many of us may know something of the history of our ancestors. We may have learned a story or two of our parents, grandparents or great-grandparents or even relatives further back. We might have diaries or letters that were written to help us better understand the times they lived in. We might have pictures to help us see what life was like. We might be able to empathize with their trials and travails because of the words they wrote and the emotions they expressed. We might be able to share the joys and sorrows of their lives because they recorded them for posterity. Those of us who have such treasures are fortunate for they open the doorway into times, both good and bad, that long ago disappeared into the ethers.

The same is true of these times. We are living in the middle of history. We sprinted through the boom times and now many of us are struggling to make it in these bust times. It seems as if perhaps the populace of these shores are now the disposable people. Yet we do have something that our ancestors didn't have. We have the ability to quickly and easily share our stories with millions of people around the world. Modern technology affords us the ability to share our thoughts and feelings with anyone who cares and perhaps to help each other in the process. Our stories can now be told on a worldwide platform for humanity's collective eyes to see, not just for the eyes of a single loved one and perhaps our descendents. That is the idea behind a new website called "Disposable Americans."

The creator of this website is interested in helping the unemployed. As the ranks of the unemployed swell, they will be looking for more and more resources which can help them find work and income. He is asking people to tell their stories so that others may see that they are not alone in their struggles. He is interested in hearing how the economic events of the past decade has affected people, how their lives have changed, and even what they've done to make their lives better if that's the case. If you have a story to tell, he has provided a place to tell it.

People should not be considered disposable. Everyone not only has a story to tell, they likely have people who love them and may even depend on them. We all touch so many others in so many ways.

Just because our ancestors may have come from low stations in life and may have been considered disposable by some despotic monarch doesn't mean we have to be. This nation was supposedly created as an oasis against such abuses. It was created as an attempt to protect individual rights and provide opportunity for all who are willing to work hard. Those principles seem to have fallen by the wayside as society has modernized. I believe that we should no longer count on big government to fix the situation we find ourselves in. I think that big government has proven itself incompetent to handle economics. In fact, it seems to me that big government programs more often than not help the "too big to fail" and crush the little guy. It seems to me that the time has come when we should all reach out to one another and help each other rather than waiting for government programs to do so.

Sometimes it seems to me as if a real evil is at work on this planet. Sometimes I feel as though something is out there trying to crush the spirit of humanity. Let's show them that our spirits are alive and well. Perhaps with a little better understanding of each other and the stories that are out there, we can all become a little more productive and start the journey to a place where we can all be more prosperous.

My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.

Decentralization in an Age of Globalization

I'm not one known to make predictions about the future, but I am going to make a prediction here. I am going to predict that we're going to start hearing more and more about global government, or global taxes, or global solutions to the ongoing economic crisis in the mainstream corporate media. I make this prediction because of the current precarious position of the dollar as the second round of quantitative easing takes place. Already there is a sector calling for a replacement for the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

This is occurring mostly because of the fiat nature of all the world's currencies. Currencies worldwide compete with each other for value. You hear it all the time, the Dollar against the Euro, the Euro against the Yen, the Yen against the Yuan. It's all tied together. But they are all based on nothing. They are all created from thin air. Supposedly the value of a currency comes from the interest rates charged, but they all have to remain competitive against each other. So as quantitative easing takes effect and more dollars become available, other fiat currencies will have to follow suit to remain competitive. As a result of supply and demand, all currencies will eventually devalue. They will all become worth less.

Many foreign countries and international companies are holding dollars in reserve. They don't like that their savings are going to lose value. They may well begin to dump their dollars for something that will hold its purchasing power, but other fiat currencies are not going to fit that bill. Precious metals, gems and other commodities, on the other hand, represent real wealth rather than debt. But the corporate establishment and the central banks don't want the world's governments actually acquiring real wealth. That could mean a collapse of their system and a diminishment of their power. They want governments to remain indebted to them. Their answer to this problem, of course, will likely be a one world fiat currency, perhaps something along the line of the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).

The solution proposed will be meant to centralize power into the hands of even fewer people rather than distributing power more evenly among the masses. It will be meant to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. It will widen the divide between the classes. This is exactly what the elite want. They seem to revel in their status and their superiority complexes. They seem to be jealous that so many are able to obtain the same luxuries that once only they could afford and are striving to make paupers of everyone but the elite few. In my opinion, centralization is the exact opposite of what we need. Centralization has been a dismal failure in every case and has led to impoverishment of the masses. Decentralization, on the other hand, has historically led to prosperity for all.

How can we decentralize? The secret may lie in the ability to say no, the ability to disobey. We are trained from birth to look up to authority. If a child is lost he or she is often told to find and trust a police officer. We are trained to accept the teacher's authority, or the authority of the principle. We are trained to unquestioningly obey the "law" as if it was some kind of omnipotent being looking out for your welfare rather than mere words put on paper by mortal, fallible, corruptible humans in a veiled attempt to control your behavior and your choices to their benefit and your detriment. Many of us are trained or simply learn through experience that it is best to go along to get along. It is this attitude, this natural human quality, that has helped lead us to the place we are today. We don't have to simply accept the dictates of the ruling elite just because they are super wealthy and this is what they want. If things are to change for the benefit of the many, it would be helpful if the masses recognized what was going on and simply stopped obeying the rules written by the wealthy elite for the wealthy elite.

The rich and powerful have set up the current worldwide economic system for their benefit, not for the benefit of the masses. They may have claimed otherwise at the beginning, and it might have seemed to have helped create the middle class to a point during the boom years, but now we are seeing what happens when the bubbles burst. Many have paid by losing everything they had earned after a lifetime of work to the too big to fail. The time has come to pay the piper, and the piper are the wealthy elite who control the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world. They would love to establish laws and rules that supersede national sovereignty, limit competition and excuse the violations of individual rights by agents of the elite.

Their economic system, like so many government systems that have been usurped and are now controlled by the corporate establishment, has failed. They may be becoming desperate to prop it up. They would love to once again capture the respect of the masses by offering a solution, only it will be one that in the long run will lead to even more control for them. They would love to play the saviors while they dig their claws deeper into society's economic life blood like the parasites they are. They want to pretend to fix a problem they created while blaming it on someone else. The masses of humanity need to simply stand up and say "no" to their attempts to force their will upon us.

The banking cartels have a monopoly on the creation of money and it is time to take that power from them. One way this can be accomplished is through agorism. People don't have to use the fractional reserve fiat currencies that are circulated by governments and central banks worldwide. Other more stable currencies can be substituted for the current money people are required to accept by law. Precious metals pressed into coin form are historically the most stable form of exchange, with gold and silver being the most used. These exchanges can be made on a voluntary basis, the basis of agorism philosophy, between buyer and seller.

Such a free market has become known as a "black market" in the modern vernacular. I have the feeling that this name was made up by government propagandists who wanted to make such an organic and natural system seem bad because they couldn't get in there and demand their cut. That is what central banks and their government cronies want, to be able to take a percentage of every financial exchange made between any two entities in the world. That is how they become wealthier than gods and maintain their power over the common folk. That is how they win.

Refusing to take part in this system takes their power away. Cutting them out of the picture is how the common folk win. Imagine how much less everything would cost if you remove the taxes. Imagine how much easier it would be to save for retirement and emergencies if the purchasing power of money was stable and didn't need to grow to account for inflation. The purchasing power of gold has remained stable for thousands of years. I'm not certain, but I think the same is mostly true for silver also. I am certain that precious metals provide a much more stable economic environment than fiat currencies despite what the Keynesian economists claim.

We have been lucky in this country. We had mostly free markets and currencies based on gold and silver for long periods of time in this nation. The Constitution of the United States of America granted congress the power to coin money and spelled out that states could not make anything other than gold and silver a tender for debts. That helped us prosper and become the financial powerhouse we once were. The Federal Reserve has been chipping away at this base since its inception. The money now used by the United States is no longer backed by gold or silver, nor is any money of any nation that I know of. We are all in the same boat.

Globalization is not new. It has been going on for hundreds, if not thousands of years. There has been a global economy at least since the first trade routes between east and west were established. There has always been a competition between nations, always one trying to get the most value from the other. I my opinion, that competition has led to much innovation and better lives for all involved.

As the fiat currencies of the world spiral out of inflationary control, it will be interesting to see what nation bails first. It will be interesting to see if any nation decides to back its currency with gold or silver in an effort to put itself on top of the heap. That nation, the one that first makes such a move, will likely prosper greatly as demand for its currency grows. If none do, however, it will be up to individuals and private entities to re-establish an honest money system.

My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.

Los Angeles Times Editorial Staff, Shut Up, Stay Home and Suck Your Thumbs

This is a response to an editorial published in the Los Angeles Times on November 17th, 2010 entitled "Shut up and be scanned."

Normally, I'm not going to be quite that rude, but the Los Angeles Times editorial staff seem to think it's okay to be that rude to any of its readers who believe in exercising their right to express their opinion in this supposedly free nation. These big government apologists have now shown their true colors. They have managed through an editorial entitled "Shut up and be scanned" to further reduce their already shrinking relevance. They have proven that they just don't get it.

These people think that the TSA has not gone too far. They claim that the TSA hasn't yet crossed the line. According to them, that line isn't crossed until they start giving every passenger boarding a plane a cavity search. That's when you should start complaining, citizen, after they have bent you over a table and stuck a finger up your butt. Until then, don't express your concerns for either having your naked picture taken or being groped by strangers. These types of things are a "necessary evil" according to the wiser than thou editorial staff at the Los Angeles Times.

I say, evil is not necessary. I say, continue to express your concerns and exercise your first amendment rights. I say, continue to bitch, moan and protest those who want to violate your natural fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. I don't believe for a moment that the TSA has made flying safer in this country. I think that they haven't done anything but make air travel in this nation more difficult. Why is it that in this once free nation, a nation whose press used to point out the travails of those poor souls living in the police states set up in the Eastern European bloc, why is it that the same press now advocates the police state measures introduced here?

Do you realize that our nation has become one of the most draconian in the world when it comes to air travel? Do you realize that our measures are now far more intrusive than even the Israelis? Do you realize how much money this nation has lost due to tourists deciding not to come here because of the TSA? Do you realize that we're in a recession and how many jobs the tourism industry could supply if not for the TSA? Do you realize that high level politicians and former politicians are now making millions, if not billions, from the sale of these machines? How much longer do you think Americans should wait before they speak up? If we wait until we have to strip naked and bend over cold metal counters to have our orifices probed before we can board a flight, we have waited too long.

Why does the TSA even exist? Why can't the airlines provide their own security? The airlines are supposed to be private corporations, why should a federal agency provide security? The federal government should not be in the business of providing security for private companies and it certainly isn't something authorized by the Constitution. Neither should they be in the airport business. This is something that private organizations could likely do a better job at and it would give consumers more choice. If you feel safer flying on Naked Airlines that does body cavity searches to its passengers, then you're welcome to, but if you'd rather fly on Armed Airlines that allows passengers to open carry, you could have that choice.

I have news for those folks at LATES (Los Angeles Times Editorial Staff). We live in a dangerous world. There are dangers that far outweigh the so called terrorist threat. Do you advocate putting the porno scanners at train stations because they may also become a target? How about bus stations? How about at public rest stops along the highways of this nation? Maybe they should go into malls across the nation because they're possible targets. You're so much smarter than the rest of us, when do you suppose the line has been crossed in those scenarios? It seems to me that the more power we allow these people to have, the more they want to take. The line was crossed when such invasive technology and techniques were first installed at any venue where people end up having no choice but to allow their rights to be violated. It seems to me that if the terrorists are attacking us because of our freedoms, they win when society allows its freedoms to be violated by the establishment.

If you want safety, that's fine, I suggest you provide your own safety. I suggest you stay in your homes curled in little balls and suck your thumbs. I wouldn't want you taking a chance of getting into a car accident. I wouldn't want you taking a chance that you might drown. I wouldn't want you to take the chance that you might electrocute yourself. I wouldn't want you to take the chance that you might trip and fall. According to some sources, you have a greater chance of dying due to those things than dying in a terrorist attack.

You want to tell people to shut up and be scanned, to just shut up and take it, to just go along to get along no matter your humiliation, to just stop trying to change what many consider unnecessary, unethical, or even illegal, to just allow those in power to set up bureaucracies that so overtly trample on individual rights, to just silently accept the tyranny? Well, I suppose that's fine. I support your right to express your opinion. I support your right to allow yourselves to voluntarily allow strangers to irradiate you, take naked pictures of you, and even grab your genitals if you so wish. Don't be surprised, however, when those of us who disagree berate you. Don't be surprised when the waking masses begin ignoring you for supporting such statist authoritarian policies. Mostly, don't be surprised when the state starts telling you what to say, when to say it and when to shut up. Or perhaps they already do.

My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.

The TSA, Aiding the Cause of Freedom

Has the TSA literally helped Americans find their testicles? Have their over reaching, over reacting policies finally gone too far? These are questions that many in the media have been asking since the implementation of a policy of groping those hapless travelers who decide to opt out of going through the not so newly installed naked body scanners at airports across the nation. I ask, has the TSA finally stumbled upon the limit of what the American general public will tolerate? Is this what it takes for the common folk to finally wake up from the dream that was America, a bunch of robotic uniformed thugs taking nude pictures and feeling them up in public with everyone watching? Well, if that's the case I have to thank the TSA and offer the waking masses some coffee to get them going.

I decided a couple of years ago to stop flying and have driven several hundred miles when I've had to go places rather than fly. I simply wasn't going to put up with it. But that was no big deal. One guy who flies infrequently doesn't much matter to the airlines. Customer service seems to be a thing of the past, and no one really seems to care too much what one customer out of the millions of customers in this country thinks anyway. It did surprise me, however, when my seventy seven year old mother decided last year to drive down to Florida rather than fly. She has been known to travel back and forth between Florida and Illinois semi regularly, but she also decided not to fly anymore. Her reason was the same as mine, the Transportation Security Administration.

The people at the TSA, especially those on the front lines actually interacting with the traveling public, just don't seem to be the best examples of humanity to be found on the planet. I had heard numerous stories about the ridiculousness of their control freakiness, if that makes any sense, well before I had to decide whether to fly or drive. Sure, they may claim that they are just doing their jobs and following the orders of their superiors, but it sure seemed to me that they were taking things a little too far a little too often. It was almost as if they enjoyed their new found power so much that they weren't going to let some fellow human being assert his will or proclaim his natural rights without making him pay. It was almost as if such things were considered a direct attack on their "authority" and they couldn't stand being questioned. They were, after all, the protectors of the flying public, making sure those scary, scary terrorists were kept at bay. They were to be looked upon and honored as heroes. How dare anyone question their methods?

Then the body scanners came. There was only a few at first, but they were soon to be found in more and more places. Oh sure, they were controversial from the get go, but the traveling public was assured that the images weren't pornographic or stored and that this was a necessary evil to prevent nutty, suicidal extremists from stuffing their underwear with explosives and trying to emasculate themselves on international flights. I suppose whether or not the images can be considered pornographic depends on whether or not the person looking at the image is a pervert.

The naked body scanners just seemed to make the sky guards salivate even more. They seemed to love these machines, to love herding people through them. The traveling public, however, didn't take so kindly to the machines. The more they found out about them, the more they became concerned at what was happening behind the scenes. They found out that they'd been lied to, that the pictures were quite graphic, that the images were stored in a database, and that they were being dangerously radiated. Concerns arose that some TSA agents might not be the most trustworthy sort and that going through the radiation emitting devices might cause cancer. The more informed and concerned travelers began to "opt out" of the naked screening process.

This behavior, of course, could not be tolerated by many TSA agents. They don't seem to like their orders being disobeyed or their authority being questioned. Perhaps that's why some of them may have welcomed the newest "enhanced" pat downs. These are the pat downs that those who opt out of going through the body scanners have to undergo. These are the pat downs reported by many travelers as being not just too intrusive, but tantamount to sexual assault. Travelers who are unwilling to go through the naked body scanners have reported being groped by uniformed strangers supposedly there to serve and protect, including women having their breasts cupped and squeezed and their vaginas probed and men having their genitals painfully grabbed. Finally the abuses are being widely reported.

Now, I hear there are many who are opting out of the scan. There are many would be travelers feeling indignant about the enhanced groping, er, pat downs. There are many like myself who have declared they will no longer fly. There's even a website dedicated to the proposition that we will not fly anymore called wewontfly.com. They are sponsoring a national opt out day where they are trying to get as many people as possible to opt out of going through the naked body scanners. They also advocate educating the public as to the dangers and realities of the naked body scanners. This is an effort which really seems to be gathering steam and seems to have the establishment a little worried. I believe that the American public is finally realizing the power it has and how to exercise that power.

Could the American populace finally be waking up? Did the abusive TSA find the limit to our tolerance? Is the sexual humiliation inherent in there "security" procedures too much for most to take? Will enough of us finally realize that this is all just security theater, that none of this is necessary for our safety and has been implemented simply to train us to be obedient slaves cowering to authority? After all, if they can take naked pictures of you and store them for their amusement or grab your genitalia at their whim, is there nothing they can't get away with? And if you think that the groping is going to be limited to those who decide to opt out, you might want to think again. There is talk about making the enhanced pat downs mandatory AND doing away with the opt out option. That means that you'll either submit to having your naked picture taken and being groped by a uniformed stranger, or you won't be able to fly. Is that what it will take to make you stand up and say no?

One might wonder what will happen next. Now that the traveling public seems to have awakened to the abusiveness of the TSA, will it awaken to the other abuses our society has been enduring for years? I mean, sure, the TSA has been subjecting us to searches, demanding we remove our shoes and dump out our water, and now intruding upon our personal space (including our private areas) for some time, but that's nothing compared to the financial screwing we've been getting from the establishment elite, the Federal Reserve and their corporate buddies. Once this battle is won and the TSA either removes their machines and backs off on their groping policies or all airlines go out of business and there's no need for their services anymore, perhaps then we can move on to other important matters. Perhaps then we can exercise our power and call to account those who have stolen our wealth through fear and fraud. Perhaps then we can start to reclaim our freedom.

Now that so many know that they've been lied to about the naked body scanners, do you suppose they'll start to wonder what else they've been lied to about? Will they react to that realization with the same righteous indignation as seems to be happening with the TSA abuses? Will they start to realize that the establishment media has not been doing its job and that there hasn't been any investigative reporting worth crap in a long, long time? Will they start to dig deep into the alternative media and realize that the truth has been out there all along, that it's been covered up by government and the corporate establishment for decades rather than exposed because of greed and lust for power?

I don't know the answer to those questions, but I do hope so. I do hope that we can come to discover that the answer to our problems is not more power concentrated to the few, but rather more liberty given to the many. If this comes to pass then we should thank the TSA for being so abusive and corrupt, for that will have helped remind us that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The less centralized power there is to grab, the less likely such power will end up in the wrong hands.

My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.

No Need to Question Authority, Government is Good

I've been reading more and more people come out and say it, something is broken in this country. People are beginning to question their "leaders" in government and wonder if they are to blame for the mess the world finds itself in. In fact, it's not just happening in this nation, it is happening worldwide, even in places where people traditionally have nothing but the greatest respect for those in power and accept their fate in the most humble manner a fatalistic philosophy allows. Well, I've had an epiphany. There's no reason to question authority. Government is good. It is made up of nothing but nice people with only the best intentions who simply want to protect you from the cruel, cruel world and lighten the burden that thinking puts upon you.

Put your heads down, sheeple. There's nothing to see here. There's nothing to worry about. Don't listen to the warnings of those who may think differently. They are just fear mongering. Pay no attention to rising prices or massive unemployment. We are in a recovery. Don't question the experts who are proclaiming the recovery. They are, after all, the same experts who have been predicting the economy for years, the same ones who proclaimed a few years ago that everything was chugging along fine, the housing market was doing great and would continue to rise, and there was nothing to worry about and no trouble on the horizon. They've done a wonderful job so far forewarning the world as to the reality of the economy. Why should we start questioning them now?

Don't question the constitutionality of legislation that's been passed over the last few years. Don't worry about losing your individual, God given rights. The government is here to protect you. It has to spy on you in order to protect you, don't you know? Being secure in your persons, houses, papers and effects, that's passé. The government has every right to strip you down naked and examine all your orifices, if it wants. After all, it has to make sure you're not a terrorist threat. Don't worry about all those provisions that allow them to secretly arrest and try citizens labeled enemy combatants, you don't need to know about them. The authorities would never use such provisions to quell political dissent. No sir. Our government is nothing but benevolent and would never even consider violating free speech rights.

Don't question the secrecy surrounding so many details of how government runs. Those secrets are there for national security purposes. Don't believe for a moment that the secrecy is there to cover up crimes. Why would anyone in authority want to do that? There are no criminals in our government. We have the most honest, best people ever in our government. No corruption here. There's no one in authority who would ever even think of using the national security excuse to cover up any wrong doing, immoral or unethical behavior. Besides, what you don't know won't hurt you. So, don't you worry your little head over government secrets. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Don't question the wars we're engaged in. Don't think of them as occupations and don't equate them to nation building or running an empire. There are bad, bad people over there. They did bad things to us and now we must exact our vengeance. They are Muslims and everyone knows Muslims are blood thirsty, mind controlled, vampiric monsters that want to kill everyone who isn't Muslim, all one billion of them. Muslims aren't just normal humans like you and I doing their best just to get along in the world. They must be destroyed over there so they don't come over here. The wars have nothing to do with money, or oil, or drugs, or hegemony, or any other natural resources. These wars are strictly for national security, to protect you, so shut up all you un-American war protesters.

Don't question the police state. Don't wonder about all the stories of police abuse and the disdain they seem to be showing the general public. The police are all good people. None of them could be control freaks. None of them could be on power trips. They don't just simply want you to obey their commands, they want to help people. That's all they're about, helping communities and citizens to peacefully exist. They would never persecute anyone simply because they stand up for their rights. They would never try to intimidate innocent people who haven't harmed another. They would never illegally disperse peaceful protestors. They would never use such devices as tasers for pain compliance purposes. That would be immoral and unethical. We don't need anyone watching over the police, so just don't you worry about who they're picking on. Just go about your business, citizen.

Don't question the results of elections. Why would anyone in authority want to fix them? I already told you we have only the best, most honest, most upstanding people in our government. Our system is the greatest ever. There's no way anyone would ever rig an election in this nation. That's something that only happens in other nations. So what if there's problems with the security of electronic voting? So what if it's not the most transparent method? At least we get to see who wins nearly right away. Besides, no one would dare to think they could get away with fixing an election in the freest nation in the world, right? They would certainly get caught if they tried, so don't question it.

Don't question their motives. Since they've already passed their Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, we shouldn't question it's wisdom even after we've had the chance to read it in detail. Don't question whether or not it benefits corporations or the insurance industry. It was passed for your benefit, so that everyone can go through life knowing they'll be well cared for thanks to our benevolent government. Don't question the death panels, or the mandatory insurance, or the fees and fines, it's all for your own good. Nationalized health care, that's been the goal of every good socialist, er, American for years now. Certainly you don't think anyone would have ulterior motives for passing such legislation. Now that we have it, we may as well just move on, let's not revisit that debate and try to repeal it.

Don't question their plans for the future. Don't question their plans to regulate the Internet. Again, such things are for your benefit and protection. Why, we don't want people on the Internet hurting each other's feelings now, do we? We can't just leave it as a playground for all those nasty child pornographers, can we? We can't just let it become an information depot and recruiting tool for those scary terrorists. Just let the nice people in government infringe a little on your free speech rights. They're nothing but good people there and they'll make sure to only protect you from the bad speech of bad people. They would never try to keep truthful information about their wrong doing away from you. They would never even consider keeping someone from posting opinions just because those opinions might be critical of those in authority. That couldn't possibly happen. This is nothing but a necessary precaution to make sure the children aren't exposed to harmful materials and radical thought. God knows we wouldn't want that to happen. We wouldn't want future generations thinking critically. It's all for the children.

Don't question cap and trade taxes. That's money that's necessary to make sure the environment is well cared for and that the climate won't change. After all, isn't it obvious that carbon dioxide is changing the climate? Al Gore says so and he wouldn't lie. Do you know anyone better able to take care of the environment than government? Don't worry that they're the worst polluters right now. Once they get their tax passed, I'm sure they'll change their ways and become wonderful environmental caretakers. Such a system could never become corrupt.

Don't question taxation at all. Your money is well spent. Government services are the backbone of the economy. Isn't that what our system was predicated on? Isn't that why we became such a prosperous nation, because of government? There's no inefficiency in government. There's no waste of money. We have nothing but the best and brightest in our government. Isn't that why we have elections, to make sure we get only the most qualified leaders? Just stop complaining and pay your taxes, citizen. Don't worry about where the money goes or what it's used for. Those in government will make sure it's well spent for your benefit.

Don't question the judgment of the Federal Reserve. Don't question where the money for the bailouts has gone. Don't question the shroud of secrecy veiling their decision making process. They are all good people. They wouldn't think of robbing the nation. They wouldn't think of destroying the dollar so they can better sell their idea of a world fiat currency controlled by a world central bank. They wouldn't think of benefiting themselves by trying to control all the wealth there is. No one is so evil or greedy as to want to financially dominate the world. They wouldn't try to start a currency war to get themselves out of trouble and at the same time forward their agenda. There's no need to audit them. They couldn't possibly have anything to do with the mess the economy finds itself in. In fact, we should give them even more power because they're so benevolent.

Time now to stop questioning authority. It's all good. Don't get involved. Just relax and watch your sports and shows on the television. Just keep your heads down and move along with your normal lives. Go out and spend money. The economy needs it. Don't have a job? Not to worry. Just run up the debt on those credit cards. Don't try to become self reliant, whatever you do. Government will take care of you. Just listen to the authoritarians and everything will be fine. Really.

My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.

Hope and Change Part 2, the Return of the Republicans

So, another mid term election has come and gone. After a mere two years of Democrat rule, we find ourselves back with the Republicans in charge of the House of Representatives, but not quite the Senate. Many people might be celebrating what they might perceive as some kind of great victory. They may think that when January comes around and the new representatives take their vows to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America we will enter into a new era of freedom and prosperity. I don't buy it. I think that, for the most part, we've seen this song and dance before. I think that the hope and change expected is just as elusive as the hope and change promised by Mr. Obama and his Democrat buddies.

I've been called delusional, told that I was but a dreamer, and accused of being Utopian in my thinking, but I am not so deluded or so much of a dreamer as to believe that the recent election is going to bring about significant change. As for the Utopian thing, I've never felt that providing individual liberties and free markets would lead to a Utopia. In fact, I don't think a Utopian society is possible. We're an imperfect species living on an imperfect planet in an imperfect universe. On the contrary, I think it is the collectivists who are the Utopian thinkers as they seem to think they can create a perfect society through forcing their vision upon the rest of us.

It is the collectivist elites who control society. They are the ones who have set up this duopoly to give the masses an illusion of choice. They are the ones who have set up these false Republican/Democrat, left/right, conservative/liberal paradigms. When issues are discussed, they should be framed in the individualist/collectivist paradigm. They should be framed in the freedom/tyranny paradigm. These were the hot and heavy debates prevalent in the 1700s during the enlightenment when our founding fathers decided to go down the individualist path and ushered great prosperity into our nation. Republicans and Democrats are both, for the most part, big government animals. Both parties represent a form of collectivism. Both parties are owned by the corporate elite who sit atop the power pyramid. Politicians in both parties will simply say what they think you want to hear while campaigning in order to get your vote and will do as they want or as they are told by their elite masters once they get into office.

So, now the Republican collectivists are in control of the US House of Representatives. La-di-dah. They still want big government. They still want to maintain an empire. They still want troops stationed around the world and conducting occupations. They still want to maintain a police state. They still want their control grid in place so they can spy on each and every one of us. They still work for the corporate moneyed elite, not the common folk.

I hope I'm wrong. I do hope the Republicans do manage to start scaling back government once they get into office. I hope the populace can keep the pressure on them and that they'll respond. I'm just not going to hold my breath waiting for it. They say they're going to start by trying to repeal Obama's unconstitutional health care bill, for instance. That's good. I spoke out against it and I would love to see it repealed. I just don't think it's going to happen. When was the last time a federal law was actually repealed? So they claim they'll repeal the health care bill. I'll believe it when I see it. Even if they do, it will have to go through the Senate and then when Obama vetoes the repeal they'll have to have enough votes to override the veto. I don't see that bill being repealed any time soon.

Not only that, but it's not just about the health care bill. Sure, that was a bad piece of legislation which takes away personal sovereignty and gives the government and the insurance companies too much power, but in my opinion it's really just a distraction to keep the populace from focusing on the real issues. Don't forget, in 2006 and 2008 the Democrats were ushered into power because of the Bush administration's bad policies. When Republicans take back the power of the House of Representatives, are they going to forget that? Are they going to ignore the wishes of so many that other unconstitutional laws be repealed? Are they going to continue the occupations and maintenance of the empire that so many have spoken out against?

My guess is yes, they will just let those issues go. They will not bother to try to repeal the Patriot Act or the Military Commissions Act. They will continue to dishonor individual rights by ignoring posse comitatus when it suits their purpose. They will not try to roll back the power of the executive and will continue to allow centralization of power to the office of the president. They will continue to ignore the Constitution. They will continue to allow our rights to erode and implement a police state to further quell anyone who may speak out against their policies. They will use the specter of arguing about repealing the health care bill, something that likely will not be accomplished, while other equally important issues are not addressed and unpopular policies continue in force and continue to drag our economy down.

There will likely be no investigation into the bailouts. No one from the Federal Reserve will be required to tell congress where all the money went. No one from the Federal Reserve will be prosecuted for fraud. The Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world will likely maintain and even increase their grip on power. In my humble opinion, most of the politicians still work for these entities, and those that don't may soon be bought off. Such is the nature of the system.

Yet I don't want to seem like too much of a gloomy Gus. I am, after all, an eternal optimist. Perhaps there is some good coming from this latest election, especially if the harm that can be caused by the lame duck session is minimized or completely held at bay. Dr. Ron Paul has promised to reintroduce his bill for a full audit of the Federal Reserve to the House of Representatives and Dr. Rand Paul has pledged to introduce the same legislation to the Senate. This will at least focus the populace's attention on the practices of the Federal Reserve which I feel is the most important issue. Keep in mind that without the Federal Reserve the policies that have put our nation into such debt would likely not have been possible. Their fiscal policies have made it much easier for our nation to conduct our military operations, the bailouts and the implementation of the police, security, nanny state.

Even if those simple things don't happen, even if this new congress fails to implement the changes those of us interested in seeing a restoration of at least some of our freedoms wish to see, one has to wonder if we are witnessing a new awakening of the common man. Indeed, one may well wonder if the hearts and minds of the common folk are being changed significantly as they begin to realize that the system is broken and there isn't much the system allows anyone to do that can fix it. Those at the top wish to stay there, and they'll do anything, lie, cheat, break promises, fix elections, perhaps even far more evil and nefarious deeds, to achieve their wishes. The more of us who come to this realization, the more of us who realize the system has let us down, the more of us there are that will be willing to go beyond the rules of the system and engage in real activism.

When at last we come to the realization that it is the system itself, and not those running the system, that is at fault, perhaps that is when more drastic measures will be taken. I am not talking violent revolution, for it has been shown that a society born in violence is likely to eventually succumb to violence. I am talking about civil disobedience and peaceful non cooperation. I am talking about refusing to simply go along to get along. Now is the time to learn the meaning of becoming the change you wish to see. If you wish to end the income tax, then don't pay the income tax. If you wish to see and end to the Department of Education, then start home schooling your children. If you wish to see an end to the police state, start insisting the police honor your rights and video record them whenever you interact with them.

There are many things you can do to create change. Start extricating yourself from the system as much as you possibly can. Start doing business and interacting with others who are of the same mindset as much as possible. There is a growing movement out there of people who are tired of being told what to do by the system, and the system is trying its best to keep as many of them as possible in its fold. The harder they squeeze, the more people slip through their fingers, like grains of sand. Yes, elections, protests, etc. are important for voicing dissent, but when those at the top stop listening and it becomes obvious they don't care, such actions may not be enough. We should all be prepared to move forward and change tactics when the inevitable let down occurs.

My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.

The World's Most Dangerous Animal, a Lame Duck

There are many dangerous animals in the world. What would you say was the most dangerous? Some kind of carnivore? Perhaps a tiger, with its large size, its quickness, and its sharp teeth and claws? Perhaps a bear, with its great strength? Maybe you would think a poisonous snake of some type with its stealth and unexpected strike would be the most dangerous. Some people might suggest sharks are more dangerous than any other animal. Others might tell you that smaller creatures, insects that swarm like killer bees or giant Japanese hornets, are the greatest threat. All the above creatures are quite dangerous, but they're not nearly as dangerous as the animal I believe to be the most dangerous. That animal is a lame duck.

How can you make such a claim? you might ask. After all, a lame duck is but a small water fowl that walks with a limp. Tigers and bears are mighty animals that can tear a man to shreds in a matter of seconds. A bite from a poisonous snake can result in a slow and painful death for even the strongest man. A shark can cut a man in half in one swift bite. Swarming insects with their stinging instincts can cause even the bravest man to flee for their lives in terror. Certainly, even the lesser of the poisonous stinging creatures, animals like jellyfish, scorpions and spiders are more dangerous than a lame duck. Not so.

Sure, animals like tigers and bears can be killers. They may kill one human, or the may develop a taste for human blood and kill even more. A poisonous snake might attack a human if it feels threatened. A shark might mistake a swimming human for its food. Swarming insects will attack when defending their homes or territories. Even the less glorified stinging creatures can cause discomfort.

These animals can be dealt with. A tiger or bear can be hunted down. Poisonous snakes can be avoided, many will actually warn you before they bite. Sharks are denizens of the water and so only threaten the few who may unwittingly wander into their territory. Insects can be attacked and killed with chemicals. All these animals tragically destroy but a few human lives. One lame duck, however, can affect millions, and one lame duck is nearly impossible to avoid.

A lame duck, you see, has weapons far more powerful than teeth and claws. They have poisons that can spread further and quicker than any snake's. The signals they send can mobilize more of their friends than the chemical ones emitted by swarming insects. The lame duck can create legislation. Legislation creates bureaucracies. Bureaucracies suck the life blood from the private sector. Millions are harmed. Liberty is compromised. Choices are reduced. Opportunities are lost.

What makes the lame duck session of congress so dangerous is the lack of even the presumption of accountability. The bums have already been voted out. Congress critters who know they will not be returning are voting on legislation the common folk will have to live with. What's to prevent these people from perhaps becoming bitter and extending a big middle finger to the people who decided they didn't want them back in office? These men and women have nothing to lose now. They can go ahead and vote through Internet censoring legislation. They can go ahead and vote through a national ID act. They could, if they wanted to, pass legislation requiring monitoring equipment in private homes. Hell, unconstitutional laws have been passed when they had to worry about being re-elected, why shouldn't they pass the most grievous state empowering legislation now that they don't need to worry about that anymore? Maybe they'll even get a nice little bonus from their elite masters if they do.

Think about it for a moment. In what other business do fired employees get to hang around for a couple of months and make important decisions? No other business could survive long using such practices. Is it any wonder government fails, especially the federal government? How much damage can be done by these failed employees and how hard does it become to repair that damage?

For those who think we might find protection from this lame duck through the justice system, keep in mind that unconstitutional legislation has been passed and implemented in the past and it has taken forever for challenges to these laws to make it through to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, even if the law is found unconstitutional in the long run, damage has been done and those who stood to make money have already taken it and run.

Politicians have never cared what you think, but many do have to pretend to care if they want to keep their jobs. Of course, even that little fact didn't prevent them from passing massively unpopular bills like the bailouts and the health care monstrosity. Why is the lame duck session even allowed? Too many congress critters can no longer even claim to be representing the people of their districts or state anymore. I think we can all get along just fine if congress would take the next couple of months off until the new, elected congress is sworn in.

My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.

The Imminent Currency Collapse, a Possible Solution

I apologize to my readers in advance for this article as I am going to take a slight left turn to my usual opinion. While I remain a staunch advocate of free markets and a voluntary society, I accept that there is a need to acknowledge the reality that exists. While I believe that the current power structure needs a major overhaul, I understand that change needs to come about gradually and peacefully, otherwise the violence inherent in the system perpetuates itself. When it comes time to examine these issues and consider solutions to existing problems, one should try to consider how to make changes that will impact the common folk in the least painful way.

I don't normally like to suggest solutions involving government. I feel it is more important to minimize government involvement and empower the common folk to take control and responsibility for their own lives. That's what independence is about, to be independent of government intrusion instead of dependent upon it. But the current economic situation is so dire that it becomes nearly impossible to imagine a solution that won't drastically affect common folk without involving the monopolistic power of force that government wields.

I think that whatever solutions are implemented, they will involve pain. The question is, who's going to feel the pain? I believe that the moneyed elite, the very people who engineered this system, should be the ones to feel the greatest amount of pain, not the common folk who simply used the system they were born into, the one they were trained from birth to use, for they could hardly imagine living outside this system and were led to believe they had no power to change it.

The first step in implementing a solution, in my opinion, is to stop living in denial. We as a society need to acknowledge that there is a problem, and we need to recognize where the problem stems from and who is to blame for the problem. The economic problems we face today, in my opinion, stem from the monopolistic, centralized fiat currency systems set up in nations across the world. These central banks have the ability to issue currency to their respective governments and to indebt that nation's populace with little or no risk to themselves. Such absolute power should be abhorrent to people who wish to remain free and independent, for the lack of accountability in such systems allows for corruption to creep in and corrupt absolutely. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

The problem is debt. It's not just debt, it's the way it's created. Because of the fractional reserve nature of modern debt, money is created to be lent but the money needed to pay for the interest on the debt is never created. Debt just keeps growing, much like government. It is so pervasive, that I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of nations are as good as insolvent. While you or I can manage debt by producing and earning money to pay it back, governments don't know how to legitimately produce and have to depend on stealing from the private sector in the form of taxation, levies, fines, tariffs or some other questionable means in order to pay their debt. Sooner or later, the bust part of the boom/bust cycle has to occur. It's inevitable in such an unstable system as a fiat, debt driven system is.

There's a man out there named Webster Tarpley who has his own ideas about the best way to run an economy. While there is much he advocates which I disagree with, he does advocate one idea I very much agree with. He believes there should be a debt moratorium instituted. I can see that. I think it should be taken a step further. It seems to me that, at least in this nation, the system of central banking that was created is fraudulent and illegal. There are many legal and moral arguments to support this position, most of which have been perverted by a justice system in this nation that has been compromised by the same corporate interests that stood to gain when the Federal Reserve system was adopted. This fraud and corruption needs to be investigated, exposed and explained and those responsible for its implementation and continuation need to be held to account.

While the economy seems entangled and complicated, one thing seems certain, debt is out of control and it seems almost everything is actually owned by a few large banks. It is these banks that should shoulder the burden of the collapsing economy, not the common folk who are currently paying for the mistakes of the moneyed elite. Foreclosures are occurring in ever increasing numbers and unemployment continues to soar while the richest among us seem to profit from the misery of the masses. Money is flowing to the top of the pyramid while the base wilts in a drought of epic proportions. This tendency needs to be reversed.

I think it is time for government to work for the masses, rather than against them. It is time for government to show they are not just puppets for the big corporate banking establishment. I think it is time for them to help clear up the mess they helped to create. It can start by sorting out this foreclosure/derivative mess. Perhaps in the course of implementing a debt moratorium we can find the political will to help those who have dutifully followed the rules and yet find themselves now getting screwed. Perhaps some rules could be set up, something like anyone who has paid more than twice the amount of the principal for a mortgage now owns the title to the home, free and clear. Perhaps something similar could be done to those who have paid a certain percentage more than the principal borrowed on credit cards or other lines of credit, but still find themselves deep in debt due to the high interest rates charged. After all, it certainly wasn't the borrowers' fault that the profits made by the big banks were squandered. Sure, the banks and those who invested in their fraudulent schemes might take a beating, but that would certainly be one way to funnel the "stimulus" money to those people it was supposed to help.

The establishment politicians said a couple years ago that bailouts were necessary, that the corporate banks who needed the help of middle class Americans in order to survive were too big to fail. I think they were wrong. I think the corporate banks had already failed. If they hadn't been bailed out, someone who knew better what they were doing would have stepped in to take their place. Sure, many at the top of the heap may have found themselves knocked down a few notches, but the bad debt would hopefully have been cleansed from the system and the economic downturn would now be naught but a bad memory. Instead, the politicians stepped in, bailed out their rich elite buddies, and made sure to drag out the economic crisis so that our great-great grandchildren will still be paying.

Auditing the fed is but a necessary step. After that is done and the obvious theft and corruption is exposed, arrests need to be made. Not just any arrests, arrests of the very richest banking elites. These people need to be held accountable, and they need to be made to forfeit their vast wealth for the illegal nature in which it was obtained. If one wishes to talk about a redistribution of wealth, then the elite players who have used the government monopoly on force to stifle and destroy competition for far too long should be the number one targets. After that, the fed should be eliminated and the currency they created should be replaced by some kind of commodity based currency or a competitive currency marketplace.

I'm all for eliminating as much government power as possible, especially when it comes to centralized federal power. I'm all for governing through a free market, voting with one's dollar and one's feet, and with maximizing individual liberty, but the reality is that a police state is descending on this nation, if it hasn't already, and the politicians are protecting the elite while cracking down on the common folk. That apparatus needs to be turned around. The United States federal government was supposed to be set up to protect the common folk from super powerful interests, not the other way around. It's time government and its various arms lived up to their responsibility.

The banking system has failed, or is failing. Our government has failed time and again. There is a better way. I believe we can achieve a voluntary society, one which would be much fairer and more equitable by providing opportunity for all who are willing to work hard. Realistically, however, I don't believe this can be done in the blink of an eye. Since it will take some time to achieve such a freer society, we might as well try to use what exists to prosecute the fraud that was created by the elite few for their benefit. They want all the world's wealth delivered into the hands of a few elite. Government, so long has it exists, should help keep that from happening by providing an environment conducive to rewarding honesty and hard work.

My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.