If you don’t want your personal data used in a way you don’t like, then do not post it on any site. If you don’t like a social media site’s privacy policies,then don’t use that site or better yet,band with others and create your own site. Don’t invite the government to regulate! Do not surrender any more of your choices for a false sense of security!

Control your social media information yourself. Don’t be lazy and invite the federal government to limit your choices

 

Watching any cable or network news broadcast is like entering an echo chamber! There are no serious opposition views presented. All views expressed merely echo a given channel’s right or left leaning establishment view.

This means you hear on right leaning broadcasts, lip service given to limited government and capitalism.  Eventually though, all commentary suggests the need for the federal government to save us from ourselves. They say there is a need for a national plan.(this sounds more like a cold war Soviet idea. ie a 5 year plan rather than a chaos driven capitalist economic model) Left leaning channels are more straight forward in their criticisms. The government is the citizen’s only hope! Nineteen Eighty Four is not just a novel on left leading broadcasts, it is a mantra, intended to be a way of life, which is repeated ad nauseum.

Conservative or right leaning consumers of news are busy and use their busy life schedules, as a reason to surrender their choices to an all consuming government.

Remember democracy is a form of government that can be tyrannical the same as a dictatorship. Just because a majority of individuals decide something by a popular vote does not mean you should always be required to abide by their collective will. This is why we have a limited federal government and a bill of rights.  It is to insure individual liberty.

Our Founding Fathers rebelled against a king, but recognized any government could act as a despot and threaten the individual. We have a bill of rights and a federal government of limited authority.  (Gee. the Revolutionary War was fought by armed colonists, maybe the second amendment is intended as a deterrent to run away rule of any kind including majority collective rule.) This should not be seen as threat of violence, but a statement of historic fact.  Power to rule is given to government by the people, but it is limited by God given rights, which no government can confiscate and no majority vote can negate.

We now are on the verge of surrendering our most basic rights because we are too busy or because we need to be nurtured and protected from a brutal reality. Reality remains brutal, whether you seek to hide in a false perception of safety under the protection of a  what you believe to be a benign government.  There are regardless many across the world willing to hurt or kill to possess just a small portion of what Americans take for granted.

There are many “good people” and their are many “bad people” in the world, but most are people just busy working and living boring everyday existences. Choice including economic choice is a freedom. It separates us from those forced by a collective mentality to live in a group or despot defined way.

Can you imagine a society where you are told what job to do.  Many say this would be great! Everyone working- No more unemployment- Guaranteed income! A more sensitive environment! What is the cost? Loss of personal choice? Loss of Religious freedom and free speech? Limited new economic and personal initiatives?

Please remember, there is always an expert that can tell you how to live your life better.  When their predictions are checked against the actual reality, most are miserable prognosticators.  We live in a connected and competitive world.  We must continue to grow our economy to stay ahead or risk losing our world position and high standard of living.

Why not have the most popular current view direct (compel/force)you to live in the best known way. Doesn’t sound quite so friendly when presented as a command does it?  Remember government is the use of force. Doubt me? Try not paying your taxes or violate an EPA property regulation or run a business and forget a required federal filing. Try to serve in a government job or a closed private sector shop without union membership.

Government rules by force, whether you agree with the rules or not, you must understand this fact.

This is why government must be limited!

So when you hear “we need the government to protect us from adds, on social media,or to protect our posted private data or protect us from “fake news”, remember you are moving closer to life as portrayed in the novel”1984″.  You also may limit economic and personal growth. ie wealth and job growth (Witness the limitations placed on television and radio by the FCC. The result: you have television and radio channels that still must include announcements  that limit the format of their programming even though technology has rendered these announcements obsolete.)

Congress passes bills then moves on seldom or sometimes never reviewing any law’s effectiveness.  When laws are reviewed, the review is conducted as througha prism that prioritizes maintaining the existing economic hierarchy and existing players and not based upon how well the laws assist in the growth of our wealth.

So I contend in any environment “Less is more and Less government is better government”

Federal power was limited to protect the individual and insure choice. Democracies are not immune to the use of excessive force on its citizens.  Beware the next time you hear

“There ought to be a law!”

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Thank you for your response. ✨

 

It’s easy to stand for freedom of speech, when the message delivered is admirable!

Standing for freedom of speech is easy, when the speech is not controversial

I am a resident of a Northwest Ohio suburb. The center of our metropolitan area is Toledo, Ohio. We had a Nazi demonstration in 2015 that was reported in the National Press. Most in our area did not welcome this demonstration. It brought bad additional and unwanted bad press to our area. It certainly was not a boon for local merchants or our local leaders, who were busy trying to court new industries and citizens for our area. This demonstration was inconvenient to say the least and certainly unwelcome by the majority of our citizenry, yet the march and demonstration occurred and for the most part without disorder. See Toledo Blade Article link

I was proud of our citizens!  We saw evil in our midst, but exercised true tolerance by allowing free speech.  We demonstrated that good can prevail over evil, when both ideals are allowed to be expressed and debated.  When the day was done no one died and the citizenry still agreed that white supremacy is an evil doctrine!

The demonstration cost our area financial resources (police resources and police overtime), which we did not have and  paid for a cause, which we not only did not support, but which most our citizenry condemned. I heard many residents voice outrage at the prospect of dedicating scarce local resources to protect this demonstration,yet it was done and it is important that it was. Why you ask?

I already mentioned that I and our citizenry do not support the ideology of these people. Yet I state categorically it is important that even unpopular and yes, even evil individuals are allowed to speak out. It is the right of free speech and the ability to voice differences in the public square that allow us as a nation to maintain our moral compass!  It is when we do not allow our vocal minorities to speak out that our moral compass is jeopardized!  If we only hear homogenous messages, we never have to ask difficult questions about our moral choices.

It is not the duty of the government or even local citizenry to suppress ideas expressed in the public forum. People are capable and do decide whether a message is laudable, laughable or even evil.  The opportunity to express a point of view that is unpopular allows for a public conversation.  It is through public discourse that public policy is properly formulated.

So was our President wrong to assert their was fault on both sides?  Was there violence from both sides?  See NBC News Link  Is it acceptable to bring weapons (bats) to a protest and cover your face in order to counter a demonstration by people that you believe are evil? Do you have the right to intimidate those, whose views you believe to be evil?    If your answer is yes, consider whether you are promoting a free discussion of issues.  (Who decides what is evil?)

Ask yourself will my answer allow me to speak, when my view is unpopular or in the minority?  (Roman Catholics consider what will happen to your rights to oppose current social mores, if violent intimidation of free speech becomes the new norm.  Remember, you are now seen as evil to many who promote gay marriage and abortion rights! ) Must any public official now rank the level of evil on each side  of an issue and express their ranking after any violent outbreak? (Remember your feelings are just that feelings.  Ask yourself this.  Are my feelings compelling me to stereotype everyone in a group?  Do I believe in guilt by association?)

Most demonstrations include some activist zealots and some merely interested attendees and all level of individuals between these extremes.  I doubt this demonstration was much different.  When the President said he thought there were good people on both sides, he probably was not wrong!  Yet he is vilified for not lumping all together because evil was clearly present.  (I guess stereotyping is fine as long as it is backed up by a liberal confirmation bias!)

Those who were merely interested bystanders or who believed an objectionable statute should remain maybe misguided by current social mores, but should not receive the same condemnation given to neo nazis nor should they be deprived of their right to speak their mind even if their viewpoint is objectionable to the majority!

Is there no benefit in remembering the mistakes of history in order to not repeat them?  Should their be a new American mantra “Expression which is offensive to any group must be eliminated because offensive speech is by its nature hurtful to someone.”  Anyone, who dares to hold a different view is our enemy!  (Let’s all welcome in the age of the ministry of information.  Perhaps popular media outlets should purge their archives of views proven incorrect over time. ) Death to the historic record!  Let’s all feel good today!

Freedom and exercise of free will can sometimes be messy!  People make bad choices!  Not everyone always agrees with the majority.  Do you not think there were some, who stood against the Nazi crowds in Germany?  Probably not many given the Nazi government’s propensity to eliminate all opposition, but had there been guaranteed free speech and public dialogue, perhaps the holocaust could have been averted or at least limited in scope.  The beauty of our country is that we protect the rights of all to speak their minds.

It is easy to stand for free speech, when the message is an admirable one, but much more difficult, when scarce resources are expended to allow those, whose speech we find objectionable even evil or when the protected speech violates our own basic code or morality.

Yet it is at these times that we must all rally to protect free speech.  It must be safe to express ideas without the threat of physical intimidation.  Our maintenance of our moral compass relies upon open and  free discussion.  Free discussion can not exist in an environment of intimidation.

Far too many have decided that we have free speech but any leader or individual’s speech must be parsed and then the parsed segments weighed.   If the parsed segments as interpreted threatens the strong feelings against an obvious evil, then the individual expressing such improvident views must be ostracized.  Does this scrutiny promote the idea of free expression or is this no more than the politics of division presenting itself in a different form?

Ask yourself: Do I support freedom of speech and free will only as long as it is easy?  Do words mean anything anymore or am I dominated exclusively by my feelings?  Do I suffer under a confirmation bias?

Allowing the exercise of free speech for those,who we regard as evil is the true test of whether a nation is truly tolerant.  May we always pass the test.  God bless America the land of the free!

Nurturing doesn’t mean “Supporting for life”

Republicans are portrayed as uncaring because they fail to nurture the citizenry from cradle to grave. Nurturing is not the same as supporting for life. Government cannot afford to support the able for life!

Republicans seem to lose the battle with the bicoastal masses because they are seen as “uncaring”. Uncaring has become code for unwilling to provide additional benefits or rights to the latest group identified as “oppressed” The oppression can be by individuals, corporations, government, politicians or all of the above. Republicans are perceived as heartless, if they don’t use government to nurture the less fortunate. Nurturing as defined by the bicoastal masses means support of individuals or groups for the duration of their perceived oppression. Many times this means support for ad infinitum.

Democratic politicians and academicians capitalize on these perceptions and label those with “non- traditional or non- nurturing policy” solutions as heartless or simply interested in promoting the rich. These groups create code words to emphasize the enormity of the uphill fight necessary to overcome their economic plight. Words and phrases like barriers, economic disabilities are used to emphasize the task faced by these groups are nearly insurmountable.

The fact is the downtrodden in our society may require financial assistance for a time in order to become contributing members of our society. I mention this group to emphasize that this is an extremely small group and there programs are already in place to assist these individuals. If these programs are failing, perhaps they should be evaluated and changed to better serve this group. It is a social safety net for those who can’t. The vast majority of individuals do not fall within the category of those incapable of taking care of themselves. It is the larger group of individuals capable of self support with the need for a boost that is the subject of this writing.

Indeed every parent with children approaching adulthood understands the dilemma faced by Republican lawmakers. The dilemma every parent faces as their child nears adulthood is the extent of the assistance provided to them. Parents are inclined to nurture even their adult children. When children receive too much assistance, they never learn to take risk and are frequently resigned to limited careers and perceive limited opportunity to advance. Parents worry about their children’s mistakes and after providing counsel must at times avert their gaze in order to allow their adult children to make their own decisions. Some of these decisions will be wrong and will have consequences. This is because we live in a free society. Individuals have free will.

Democrats are like modern day helicopter parents, who never want to allow their adult children to make their own decisions. They hover and provide constant support both emotional and financial. They never allow the bad decisions to be made or the consequences to follow, when bad decisions are made. They constantly emphasize the shortcomings of the system and its economy and how an individual can be oppressed and fail. Republicans are a divided party with some members hailing from bicoastal liberal states. Republicans are constantly battling both the Democrats and their vocal left wing, which wants government to support all individual decisions throughout their life with no consequences for bad decisions.

Democrats point to statistics that emphasize the small group (less than 20% that can’t afford or don’t wish to purchase healthcare) and see that as an example of the “heartless society” thrust upon us by the “mean spirited Republican majority”. Democrats see no place for individual responsibility. All are just feathers in the wind cast about forces beyond their control. They champion the causes of groups like those young adults under 26 still dependant on their parents and individuals, who choose to wait to purchase health insurance until after they are ill and make rules promoting these individuals at the expense of the all. Yes, Democrats, rules, quotas and your agenda are costly and hurt economic growth and thereby increase bad decisions and increase need.

Fortunately Democrats, Americans are a tolerant people, but this does not mean we need to celebrate everyone’s lifestyle choices or subsidize their financial poor choices. If you choose not to work or work in a field, which has low demand, then your economic prospects will reflect your choice.

It is not hateful to point out those life choices have consequences and should. Rather than champion extreme lifestyles and poor economic choices, perhaps both Republicans and Democrats should allow charities, families and charitable groups to help this small group of individuals over the short term consequences of their decisions. Individuals have the absolute right to choose how they live, but government does not have the responsibility to shield the individual from the consequences of their decisions or enable their continued bad choices utilizing subsidies from others.

Republicans need to cease to be apologists for all failure. Government does not replace family, friends or charity. Failure has a purpose. Failure is frequently a precursor of success. Ask any accomplished individual and they can provide a litany of mistakes from which they learned valuable lessons. These learning experiences frequently lead to later success.

Republicans stop parenting. Start governing. Governing does not mean standing place of parents. (Acting in loco parentis) Governing means that you allow individuals to make choices and understand some will choose badly. Freedom allows for exercise of free will and includes the right to make errors and learn from the errors and grow.

Federal Government: It’s certainly not family

It isn’t your mother or your father, a sibling or even a close relative.  Contrary to popular media descriptions, it isn’t your uncle either.  Government is not a replacement for your family.

It isn’t your mother or your father, a sibling or even a close relative. Contrary to popular media descriptions, it isn’t your uncle either. Government is not a replacement for your family. It doesn’t see you as an individual. It isn’t a replacement for organized religion and certainly should never be seen as a moral compass. It is the use of force by a legislative majority over the rest of us and should only be used for limited necessary purposes. It is a poor allocator of scarce resources. It is a very poor investor, yet the general public trusts it to make many life decisions, which affect the economy, the family and the individual.

Would you trust someone with your household finances, if they repeatedly borrowed in order to pay current living expenses? Would you trust a bookkeeper,who told you that you had money set aside for your old age, when all you had was a cabinet full of IOU’s? Would you trust a financial adviser, who proposed improvements to your property or additional property purchases, when basic maintenance on your existing assets was not occurring? If you answered no to any of these questions, then why do you trust government with your money?

Government continues to borrow for entitlements, which are really programs that provide basic living expenses for citizens. It is part of the never ending and always expanding “WAR ON POVERTY”. It is the longest running war in US history and there is no indication, we are winning. There is never an examination to determine if the programs provide increased opportunity and when evaluated; it is only with an eye toward increasing funding.

Are these programs efficient and effective? If they are effective, then why isn’t there significantly less program usage during periods of full or near full employment? Why were we advertising for additional food stamp recipients? Why is any cut in the rate of increase in these programs seen as an attack on the poor ratherthan a victory over poverty?

Would you continue to spend your personal money like this? If your answer is no, then isn’t it time to examine these programs and phase out these programs in favor of some which promote individual dignity and self sufficiency. and actually accomplish their purpose?

Should we continue to rely on ineffective government and continue to borrow and never have to do more than make token payments on the end bill? There is no pain. No day of reckoning. Why don’t we increase our use of charity to help the poor? Is it because charities know they have limited resources and allocate to the truly needy? Is it because promising programs insures representatives reelection and continued political power?(Remember politics is who gets what, when, where and how.)

What is the role of family both nuclear and extended, when a relative is faltering financially? How many times have you heard parents say: “I just don’t want to be a burden to my children?” Is that proper thinking? When is it not the duty of the family to care for its own, whenever possible? When does someone step up and say “The emperor is naked”? When do we acknowledge the lessons of history that communities, which fail to compete, go into decline?

Demand your representatives; both federal and state evaluate their spending. Spend your money like it is their own. The question a representative should ask is whether this spending is a necessary and efficient use of taxpayer funds for a purpose consistent with limited government. Why should government take on this responsibility?

Taxpayers please don’t fall for the advertising campaigns for increased spending, which tout that the spending is only so much per day or week to fund this program. This ploy has been used to fund never ending ineffective public policy, which starts at a certain amount then continues to grow and grow over time. Ask is this a valid use of the force of government? (Doubt this statement?
Ask yourself how many times you have felt your tax money was spent toward a purpose you would not support? Why do you pay? Legitimate use of force but forcenone the less,AKA taxes!) If this program is a good idea, can it be accomplished by voluntary contributions or by a charity? If no one would contribute to voluntarily fund it, why not? Is there an achievable goal with an end in sight? If permanent, will it afford individuals the opportunity to move onto a more productive life? Does the proposed program support increased life skills and self sufficiency?

Remember

Government is not a replacement for your family or your social support network.

Paying taxes doesn’t absolve you of your family responsibilities nor should the payment of taxes be used to assuage your conscience.

Families are responsible for each other. Where incapable for a time to provide, they should be required to “pay back” anyone, who provides necessaries for their members.
Existence of government programs doesn’t absolve individuals from helping their neighbors.
Federalism is the basis of our great republic and the any power not given to the federal government should not be exercised by it.

Killing the Golden Goose: An economic primer in free market capitalism for Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party

When I was in college, back when Religion and family was still a mainstay of traditional society, I had professors singing the praises of Marxism and decrying the excesses of capitalism. They appealed to the softer side of human nature. They were appalled by the rise of the “corporate culture”. Every corporation was a predator, which disregarded the human being in a never ending quest for profit. Corporations you understand measure their success by profitability. It is their metric to measure their success. They saw the government as the only savior from this corporate plague. The force of government could intervene and by placing its finger on the economic scale insure the net worth of the individual was respected. All praise be to populism as long as it was the bicoastal populism at that time headquartered in the northeastern part of our country. The bi-coastal elite prioritized government entitlement programs over economic productivity.

News flash, Liberals! People in government cannot and will not agree on creation of an entitlement utopia. Government is flawed. It is extremely divided and will be for the foreseeable future.

We live in a country where, the citizens have a diverse system of values and by a slim majority still believe in economic freedom, although thanks to educational brainwashing, they are frequently unable to articulate this precise principle.

The principle of economic democracy, which is the cry of the social justice crowd, is simply a disguise for populist economic tyranny. (Exercise of governmental authority to limit economic freedom. Yes, government by necessity is an exercise of power over the populace,) they advance uniform business practices, which encourage an uninformed consumer, and which are in line with a liberal social agenda. Businesses can either adopt the desired policies and practices or face a prohibition of their business model. There is no room for initiative and product improvement or expansion through increased efficiencies. i.e. Let’s use 1938 wage and hour practices in today’s economy because a portion of the populace choose a union to represent them, so there can be no economic advance beyond this model. The primary method of advancing their economic engineering agenda is the corporate and individual income tax code. Doubt me? How many economic decisions are made solely based upon the tax code. When you start a new employment, think about the number of documents you sign because of the federal tax code.

The federal income tax code is based upon a flawed model. It punishes the very vehicles, which create wealth. Why don’t we tax only individuals (flesh and blood people), when funds are disbursed to them as income (money for their personal use). If income is used in a business for a business purposes, (a means to produce a product or service) it is moving and should be encouraged and not taxed. When it moves to an individual for their personal use, it should be taxable. The rich would pay more because of the progressive tax system. We could retain the capital gains provisions to encourage investment. We would encourage dividends. They are a good income source especially for those, who are too old to actively be employed as well as for those seeking to save for their daily lives. We would no longer view the corporation as a wealth store, which can be raided by liberal lawmakers to advance their entitlement agenda. This removes the hidden tax that plagues consumers of US businesses

Their promotion of their form of economic democracy is killing capitalism. It is akin to death by one thousand cuts. Their policies limit economic expansion and kill wealth creation and ultimately jobs. They assume a one size fits all approach serves the diverse US population. They espouse biblical principles to guilt the populace into complying with their collectivist ideas. Their mantra: corporations are evil and government is the answer to the corporate greed problem.

How do they guilt the populace? They point out that we are the wealthiest country in the world and never acknowledge that our wealth has established a standard of living, which is the envy of much of the world. They point to biblical teachings and claim that government should provide for all. They obviously forget that biblical teachings are directed toward the individual and not the government. Doubt me, see Mathew 22:21. Give to Caesar. Additionally, the free market offers opportunity for the individual through their effort (service) to give to others. We don’t need the government telling us how to best help our fellow man. Our creator gave us free will. If the right of free will is acceptable to him, it is also acceptable to me. There is room for charity. Charity is a voluntary giving versus government, which is enforced and imposed taking for a majority agreed upon endeavor. (Usually a moral compromise) Government was to be used as a last resort and for limited purpose) See the US Constitution enumerated powers provisions.

It is also popular they say something is a right. I.e. healthcare. Natural rights are not dependent on the services of others to accomplish. Who will you coerce to render care for those who cannot pay? Is it okay to require involuntary servitude to enforce this right? If the populace doesn’t produce enough to cover shortfalls, how is the shortage rationed in the population? The free market allow for rationing through price. It also affords opportunity to increase the country’s wealth thereby raising all. It is pointed out that some will get great amounts more. This is greed! Each person has the responsibility not the requirement to give back. This is free will. It works in this country. Witness our standard of living versus the collective society such as the former USSR.

What about European socialism? Our country has many diverse cultures. Many of the “success stories” surround cultures with a less diverse culture. Perhaps one size fits all is acceptable to their populace, but it cannot be imposed here! We as a people do not subscribe to a single set of values and this country permits one to give back as he or she sees fit and still we have a very high standard of living for all.

What about a minimum wage? Why should we prohibit someone from contributing because they seek less compensation? Is it better to have someone not contribute or to contribute and receive less compensation? Don’t different levels of compensation encourage increase in skill levels in order to increase compensation, if that is what is sought? No say the liberals you should be able to support yourself on a federal minimum wage! Maybe even a family of four without regard to your productivity and without regard to whom you exclude from the workforce by your imposition. “From each according to their ability and from each according to their need.” This is the cry of the Marxist populace clamoring to increase their rightful share of the pie. But who decides need and who decides the ability? This is Marxist utopian idealism, which doesn’t take into consideration differences in religious values, cultural norms or family values and even some might argue differences in work ethics. I refer the reader to the fiction “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand specifically the chapter about the socialist auto company experiment. Click the link to read a short excerpt. This excerpt is a thought provoking exercise about what happens, when needs exceed ability in a socialistic situation.

h2>Conclusion

Government involves use of force by a political majority over an entire populace. The US federal Constitution promotes a minimal use of this force for limited purposes.

The US population is diverse with different religious and moral values, which are not suited for one size fits all solutions.

Christianity does not demand government intervention. It requires individual action. If you believe in Christianity, then you believe in free will. Exercise of free will requires individuals to do unto others… If our creator saw fit to allow us to choose for ourselves how to live, why should we not respect the individual’s right to choose?

Minimum wage is a flawed one size fits all solution, which sounds good, but fails to account for differences in individual circumstances and discourages growth and economic inclusion by effectively barring some classes of workers from the workforce under the auspices of assisting the poor.

Corporations and businesses are vehicles to creating wealth. They are neither good nor bad; their practices are determined by their ownership. They can be great wealth creating vehicles or hoarders of wealth. Their judgment is left to the populace, who decide by their purchases. Their individual choices aggregate and determine business success. These choices taken together are vastly superior to any political choice made by government officials (Remember, politics is defined as who gets what, when, where and how.)