Why do Americans continue to believe the lies they are told?

http://cafehayek.com/2009/11/still-manufacturing-myths-aplenty.html

Donald Bordeaux tells us manufacturing is doing better than ever, but we are constantly told we no longer build anything. It's true that we're spending way more than we're producing, but that's another problem. And if government keeps soaking companies to pay for statist schemes, manufacturers might be producing elsewhere. Be that as it may, we're still building stuff.

America finances statism

Dependence on government subsidies, grants, protection, entitlements, etc. has grown to proportions which make resistance to statism almost impossible. The insanity of this dependence is that government produces nothing -- all the money used to support the dependents comes from the American people. Future opinion of our actions will not be kind to us. We've destroyed the only thing that stands between us and tyrants - an inviolable Constitution. But it's not just the amendments -- some amendments, such as the 13th amendment, have been necessary due to oversight, or lack of will, in the beginning. We couldn't have made it without such amendments. But reason tells us that the 13th amendment was in the spirit of the Declaration of Indpendence -- it should have been a part of the orginal Constitution.

The egregious violations of the Constitution, such as the 16th amendment, have more to do with a shift in philosophy which is antithetical to the Declaration of Independence. Once we allowed government to tax us directly, to confiscate our income, based on the idea that income should be redistributed, we also allowed our philosophy to shift and to deny property rights. The income tax opened the door for our government to control us, to intimidate us into compliance, to wage huge wars, to redistribute wealth, to allow corruption to spread, to manage the economy, to pick winners and losers in industry, to create a mountain of debt, and, consequently, to transfer power from the people to the state.

The Declaration of Independence is a philosophical document which brought to life a New Order of liberty against the Old Order of domination by rulers over their subjects. The New Order was the epitome of the Renaissance and it brought a measure of freedom, reason and light to subjugation, superstition and darkness. This might be a quaint fairy-tale to those who talk about bending the cost curve and compromising like quivering sycophants to the throne to determine the amount of liberty and property we're planning to surrender, but for some of us believe the philosophical power of Declaration of Independence has never faded and is still applicable.

In large part, many Americans have become immoral dependents, trained to use the power of the state to take what belongs to others without an ounce of shame or second thought. Taking what belongs to others has become normalized -- most people expect the government to confiscate large amounts of the people's wealth to distribute as politicians see fit, and for whatever political gain they can dream. There are some in society who can't help themselves and are in true need of assistance, and there is no shame in receiving this type of help, although there are better ways to provide this assistance through the private sector -- but for many who merely pad their own well-being off the sweat of others, there should be shame.

 And if someone refuses to cough up the proper amount of their wealth, the state has a goon squad which will hunt them down make sure they pay the price for resistance -- unless the tax dodger has political connections, then the goons go blind, deaf and mute, but not without a wink. This is not to say that all the good people working for the IRS are goons, just that the IRS produces goon-like behavior from good and bad people alike.

I don't think I could work for the IRS, but you never know -- unemployed and offered a position, I might rationalize my decision and choose to take the job, and this is the danger of a powerful state -- it sucks people in and eventually becomes indispensable -- it can make good people bad over time. Hardly anyone is taught about the dangers of a powerful state, so it's natural for many that the state should collect money from those who have it and give it those who want it -- this is the way to fairness, right? What it does is limit the people's property, making it more difficult to excercise their free will. You could say that this not true, because the state helped many people buy homes who couldn't have afforded a home -- but who are these people indebted to -- FHA -- and who is now helping them out with their mortgages when they can't meet their obligations? The state. And if the state has their way, Fannie and Freddie will be their landlords.

The tenacles of the state are reaching into every area of lives, and we are financing every power grab they make. Doesn't make sense, does it?

Mr. Obama -- you're not King, and we're not your people

 Obama says he will create jobs.

The link above is to an article regarding Obama's Asian trip. This one quote tells it all --

"Above all, I spoke with leaders in every nation I visited about what we can do to sustain this economic recovery and bring back jobs and prosperity for our people," he said.

This is the way Rulers think -- we are their people. The Rulers got together and talked about how they can manipulate the economy to bring back jobs and prosperity as if they have that power, and as if we are their people. This is quibbling over words -- it reflects a paternalistic mindset based on the Old Order of King and subjects. Another problem with this quote is that we are not in a recovery -- we're sinking in leaking boats on a sea of debt and unfunded entitlement promises. Just because some companies are fighting bravely against the stupidity of government and staying above water in better boats, or some were given better government boats as a favor, doesn't make this a comprehensive recovery.

The American people are individuals who once decided to establish a New Order with a government to protect their rights and to represent their interests overseas -- that's all. The American people don't need Obama and foreign leaders acting as central planners for the economy picking winners and losers with green the winning color. Our politicians have done enough damage already, and it's not the President's job to make these kinds of plans -- we'll create jobs if he'll stay out of the way, and we'll have more money to invest if he quits wasting money on statist schemes and useless foreign trips.

Populism in 2009

The Populist Party (actually, The People's Party) in the very late 19th century was the main force behind the eventual creation of a graduated income tax -- they were statists out to soak Northeastern fat cats. Populism today might be a different movement, but there is still the same anger directed against Northeastern fat cats with political connections. The idea was to lower tarrifs and raise taxes through the confiscation of a portion of income based on a graduated scale. Of course government being what it is eventually needed revenue from both sources, and this changed America from a country of individual liberty, capitalism and limited government to a country of subjects under state rule. We maintained a lot of our freedoms -- moreso than most countries -- but we lost our original libertarianism. This has progressed to the present financial storm which builds more menacingly every day, and it has led to a gradual loss of freedom, which doesn't appear to improve or abate anytime soon. 

What could distinguish the present populist movement is the purported defense of the free market and support for a limited government, which, if the populists have integrity, would include ending subsidies to their favored interests such as the farming industry. The earlier Populist movement was tainted by their special interests and statist tendencies to seek protection. If the present populist movement is merely a collective effort to gain political advantage over Big Finance, then it's no better than Goldman Sachs seeking government protection at the expense of small and medium size financial companies, and, by extension, of the whole nation.

If the present populist movement aims at ending corporate/business/industry welfare in order to allow the free market to sort out winners and losers, then it will have integrity and deserve support -- if not, then it deserves condemnation.

The Republicans have no inspirational speakers

Mitch McConnell had his chance to shine before the vote tonight on whether the healthcare bill would be moved forward to debate, but, instead, he whined about costs, taxes and Medicare cuts. So, if the costs are lowered, taxes are not too stiff and Medicare is left untouched (which I know is all impossible), Mitch would be in favor of the bill?

The problem with the Democrat's healthcare bill goes far beyond increasing taxes during a recession, cost and Medicare, but politicians are trained to look at practical problems and ignore principles. McConnell might have thought that people wouldn't understand the principles involved, or he doesn't understand the principles himself.

We are so far removed from first principles I don't know where to start. McConnel had it right about the taxes, but it's not just these taxes being wrong in the middle of a recession, which is what McConnell is upset over -- it's income tax in general, with healthcare reform being an egregious expression of what's wrong with income tax.

As long as government has the unlimited power to confiscate our money, they will continue to use that power to strengthen the state and weaken the people. Healthcare reform is one example, although it might be the biggest to date, in a long line of government encroachments into the free market. Individual rights have been violated for a long time in America, and this simply places a crown on the state's latest grand achievement to control the economy and micromanage our lives. While policy wonks rattle on about government debt on one side and "bending the cost curve" on the other, we're sitting by paralyzed from years of government intervention as the state moves further along the road to complete domination.

McConnell could have said something about this, but he didn't. In government, there are no defenders of the Constitution. When I get over my disgust, I'll write more on this, but right now I'm empty.