The Truth Hurts

Mitt Romney recently made a statement that 47% of Americans, those currently dependent on the state, will vote for Obama no matter what. Needless to say Romney’s opponents are in a tizzy over this statement. As much as I hate the man I have to agree with Jeffery Tucker:

Cover the kids’ ears! Hide their eyes! Shuffle the weak and frail from the room! A politician running for president has uttered a heresy that brings into question the holy grail of democratic politics. Romney has failed to pretend as if the country is one big happy family that uses our glorious voting system to discover ever better ways of governing ourselves.

Which is to say that Romney made a gaffe.

You know the definition of a political gaffe: inadvertent and unscripted truth. That’s what the supposed scandal of Romney’s off-the-cuff comments amounts to. He told potential donors an unvarnished truth that everyone knows but which is not part of the official civic creed of the land of the free:

Nobody wants to hear the truth. Romney, after stating the truth (probably for the first time ever), is being lambasted. People are up in arms. How dare Romney point out that a large portion of the American population is receiving government subsidies?

We really need to look at the current situation in America for what it is, the inevitable side effect of democracy:

The implied model here is that modern democracy is a system that enables mass confiscation of wealth by some from others. And who can doubt it? In older monarchical systems, only a tiny elite was privileged to steal from everyone else, and if they stole too much, people would get angry and overthrow them.

Democracy solved the problem by granting everyone the privilege once reserved to elites. Now we can all steal from each other, and even from ourselves. This way, it is no longer clear who the enemy is. We don’t know whom to blame when things get bad. There is no one to overthrow but ourselves.

Democracy has ensured that a large potion of the population is currently taking wealth from another portion. This is the reality that Americans either want to ignore or sugarcoat. I think I’m starting to understand why politicians always lie, when they actually tell the truth they’re crucified by the public. Come to think about it the public’s reaction to the truth is understandable as well. Whether you want to call this country a representative republic or a democracy the people feel they are in charge so when an ill is pointed out they take it as an accusation that they’ve personally screwed up. Considering that fact it’s no surprise that lies are now preferred over truth.

Enforcing Equality at All Costs

One of the more interesting aspects of modern American society is the fixation with equality. I’m not talking about equality under the law, people seem content with the fact that a certain group of people have legal privileges not enjoyed by everybody else. No, I’m talking about equality in all other aspects of life. Americans have become obsessed with mental equality, physical equality, and family equality. In fact things have gotten so out of hand that father-daughter and mother-son dances are being banned:

In a move that has taken some parents by surprise, the school department has announced that it is banning traditional “father-daughter” and “mother-son” activities, saying they violate state law.
Did the Cranston School Department do the right thing in banning “father-daughter” dances? (3,477 votes)

Supt. Judith Lundsten said the move was triggered by a letter ifrom the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a single mom who had complained that her daughter had not been able to attend her father-daughter dance.

Lundsten said school attorneys found while federal Title IX legislation banning gender discrimination gives an exemption for “father-son” and “mother-daughter” events, Rhode Island law doesn’t.

This story also exemplifies my love-hate relationship with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Because a child lacked a father she was unable to attend the father-daughter dance. In a sane world no consequences would come of this and the dance would be allowed to go on. This isn’t a sane world so the ACLU sued and caused the dance to be cancelled. Everybody suffered because one child faced inequality with those who had both parents.

Perusing perfect equality is a foolhardy mission because it’s impossible. Some people are stronger than others, some are smarter than others, and some have both parents while others have only one. These circumstances exist because reality has no concern for human equality. Yet we continue to punish everybody because one or two people face inequality due to circumstances inflicted on them by life. At this rate everybody with two legs will have to have one amputated so those missing a leg can be equal to everybody else.

Nuking the Economy

What does the world’s most powerful military force do when it runs out of money? Spend money it doesn’t have on upgrading weapons that it doesn’t need:

They may be cash poor as the recession continues, but that doesn’t stop the Obama Administration from continuing to spend, with a new scheme to spend hundreds of billions of dollars they don’t have on thousands of nuclear weapons they don’t need.

The “modernization” plan seeks to upgrade some 5,113 nuclear warheads as well as refurbishing nuclear weapons facilities and replace delivery systems for the weapons, each capable of wiping out a major city, and combined capable of destroying virtually the sum total of human civilization.

I give up, what can you say about this story that it doesn’t say already?

Executive Branch Says Restricting Executive Branch’s Power Unconstitutional

Brace yourselves because I’m about to dump a shocker of a news story on you. The executive branch has come out and said that it’s unconstitutional to restrict its power:

The Obama administration had some harsh words Friday after a federal judge appointed by Obama said the government doesn’t have a right to indefinitely detain anyone even remotely associated with terrorist groups.

[…]

Forrest’s ruling oversteps the court’s authority and infringes on Obama’s power to act as Commander in Chief, according to the government’s court filings.

Many constitutional scholars claim that the purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the state’s power. Supposedly the document lists very specific powers granted to each branch of the state. Looking at the document I don’t see where it states the president has the power to indefinitely detain an American citizen without due process. Are constitutional scholars incorrect in this assessment that the Constitution is meant to restrict governmental power or is the executive branch incorrect in claiming that it has the power to indefinitely detain individuals without due process? Thankfully the Constitution describes how these kinds of disputes can be resolved as it gives sole authority to decide such matters to a court of nine people that are part of the state. Wait… there seems to be some conflict of interest here.

Naked Body Scanners Booted Out of Europe

It appears as though the Europeans are smarter than the Americans when it comes to airport security. While Americans are forced to either submit to sexual molestation or be dosed with radiation Europeans have decided to give the body scanners the boot:

The last remaining full-body X-ray airport scanners are to be scrapped within weeks.

The security systems, which have been tested at air terminals since 2009, scan through passengers’ clothes, creating a detailed ghost-like image of the naked body. The scan is then viewed by security staff.

Critics said the machines invaded passengers’ privacy and the radiation they generate raised the risk of cancer. Some Muslim groups also refused to walk through them on religious grounds.

The European Commission ruled that the cancer risk was ‘close to zero’ but, under Brussels legislation, the three-year trial period has elapsed and it has decided not to ‘prioritise’ them for permanent use across the continent.

Airport bosses who were waiting for the green light on the machines now say they have been left with no option but to remove them.

Of course the manufacturers of these scanners will soon arrive at the doorsteps of European politicians with suitcases full of money to ensure this decision is reversed. A temporary victory is still better than no victory at all.

Creating Green Jobs

The state has been on a kick about generating green jobs. In the pursuit of demonstrating its awesomeness the state has been showing off statistics that show a large increase in the number of green jobs. As with most state developed statistics its statistics regarding the number of created green jobs are a bit… inflated:

BLS compiled a list of 333 industries that can be classified as green, and those who are employed in those industries can be counted as “green workers.” Thus, the definition is extremely broad and includes both direct jobs and indirect jobs. Some examples of jobs considered to be green by this definition are[v]:

  • A person who sweeps the floor in a solar panel manufacturing facility
  • A driver of a hybrid bus
  • A school bus driver
  • An employee who fills the bus with fuel
  • An employee involved in waste collection or water and sewer operations
  • A clerk at a bicycle repair shop
  • A manufacturer of rail cars
  • An oil lobbyist whose company is engaged in environmental issues.
  • An employee of an environment or science museum.

I wonder how oil lobbyists managed to get their job on the green list. It’s not like they spend all of their time greasing politician’s palms or anything. Either way, as you can see, the statistics regarding the number of green jobs in this country are artificially inflated malarkey.

You’ll Get Half… of Nothing

I spent all of yesterday in Holmen, Wisconsin at a three gun tournament. Since I woke up at 07:00 and didn’t get home until 23:00 I didn’t have any time for blogging so you get half of nothing today. On the upside I think I shot fairly well and had a great time.

As a footnote I noticed that the spam filter went full Nazi this weekend and several comments were being held for moderation. I approved them all and made an occult sacrifice to the spam filter gods in the hopes that this won’t happen again. Sorry to everybody who had their comments held over the weekend.

Failing to Find Fault with Stand Your Ground Laws

Miguel over at Gun-Free Zone pointed out the current results of the Florida study that was put together in an attempt to find fault with the state’s stand your ground law. Needless to say the study has found nothing demonstrating anything negative about the stand your ground legislation so they’re listing the study as inconclusive:

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll has repeatedly said that the task force commissioned to look into Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law will make its decision based on facts, not emotions.

But Carroll and 18 other task force members learned Wednesday that those facts — like many stand your ground cases — can be difficult to pin down.

A University of Florida professor presented a slew of data tracking trends in crime, gun ownership and tourism since the 2005, but ultimately concluded that no definitive connections could be made yet to the stand your ground law.

“The data that we collected in response to the task force request is insufficient to provide a conclusion on this issue,” said professor Monique Haughton Worrell of UF’s law school. “It’s a complex issue, requiring complex analysis.”

That last paragraph is a long winded way of saying they want to continue collecting a pay check for performing this unneeded study. Why do I say the study is unneeded? Because stand your ground legislation is merely the legalization of self-defense, which one shouldn’t need special state permission to do. Stand your ground legislation merely states that you have a right to defend yourself against an aggressor anywhere you have a right to be. It doesn’t give you the right to murder somebody in cold blood or to trespass on another’s property and claim self-defense if you attack the owner when he tries to remove you. It’s common sense and shouldn’t even need to be legalized by legislation, legitimate self-defense should never be illegal.

Moving Up in the World

The man who helped sink Ron Paul’s presidential campaign, Jesse Benton, has managed to get himself involved with an establishment Republican:

Ron Paul campaign chairman Jesse Benton is going to head up the campaign of Mitch McConnell. Gee, now why did those incorrigible naysayers have so many unkind words for him?

This is no surprise to me, after all I pointed out that this was likely his plan all along:

Benton is a skilled operator when it comes to lining his own pockets. He understands that his salary, $586,616 in the case of this election, is dependent on the political process. Rational self-interest will lead him towards supporting the current state as it is allowing him to collect a six figure salary. Furthermore, he also has a reason to make other politicians, such as Mitt Romney, happy since Benton may find himself in the future employ of another politicians who he made nice with.

Of course, as Tom Woods explains, those of us who were pointing out Benton’s attempt at maintaining his political gravy train at the expense of Paul’s campaign were laughed at:

People who said Benton was positioning himself all along for bigger things in the GOP were scoffed at. Why, Jesse has a secret plan to get Ron Paul the nomination at the last minute!

Now will you guys listen when we tell you that Rand Paul and Kurt Bills are just establishment Republicans who are exploiting the liberty movement to advance their political careers? When you’re dealing with the political means you are necessarily dealing with vile and corrupt individuals who have no problem throwing their mother under the bus if it advances their political career. A vast majority of the people who run for political office are sociopaths who merely want power over others. Because of that there are very few people running for office who are actually advocates of liberty.

An Ingenious Solution to the Chicago Teacher Strike

Are the guards at the public indoctrination center on strike? Do you have nowhere to send your kids while you’re at work? Fear not, there is a solution. You need only find other parents in the same predicament as you and ask them to join forces with you in hiring an instructor for your kids:

A group of parents in one city neighborhood banded together, hiring a former teacher to instruct about a dozen children. Their makeshift class commenced around 9 a.m. Monday in the basement of one of their homes.

This solution is ingenious for a couple of reasons. First the teacher you hire will be beholden to your group meaning you can ensure your children are taught material that you deem important. Second the class sizes can be kept very small so each child has more of the instructor’s attention. Ultimately this solution will likely lead to far better results than sending your child to a public indoctrination center.

This also proves that we don’t need the state because we have each other, which is what agorism is all about.