Wealth inequality is a normal and natural condition of civilization. Human beings are not homogenous and unconscious robots, where everything is exactly the same for everyone. However, when wealth inequality is artificially inflated through the political process, trouble is introduced. When a small percentage become extremely rich at the expense of others (rather than at the service of others) bad feelings tend to form. Politics must be removed from the economy in order to remedy the situation.
After the shocking revelation that the US National Security Agency had intercepted Fox News host Tucker Carlson's emails and then leaked them to media in an effort to smear him, the question all Americans should be asking is: how did we get to this banana republic state? Will there be any accounting for this lawlessness? Also today: Iraqi militias keep firing on US bases in Iraq. So why not leave?
Get your tickets to the Ron Paul Institute's summer conference: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-war-on-us-tickets-161168263615
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said at the daily press conference yesterday that President Biden's strategy to get everyone a Covid shot - whether they want it or not - is to start going "door-to-door" to those not yet jabbed. So...they have a list? Also today: bomb-maker Raytheon goes "woke." Capitol Hill Cops set up shop in California. Will CDC soon recommend a nation-wide re-count of Covid deaths?
By Chris Rossini
Conflict is a permanent part of the human condition. Human beings have unlimited wants, but live in a world of scarce resources. Conflict is thus unavoidable and perpetual. While on the surface this may seem like a bad thing, it doesn't necessarily have to be. Conflicts may be unavoidable, but how they are resolved mean everything. The ideas of Liberty offer a wonderful answer to this dilemma: Conflicts should be resolved peacefully. Private property, contracts, sound money, free markets, the division of labor and specialization are the way. While conflicts can never be eliminated completely, these ideas exponentially reduce them in both number and severity. The ideas of authoritarianism offer a much different prescription: Resolve conflicts through force. Take what you want. Ignore private property, pretend contracts don't exist, cronyism, "central planning" (which is really centralized chaos), and central bank counterfeiting are to be adopted. These ideas exponentially increase the number of conflicts, as well as their severity. These two opposing ideas have now both had a century of domination in America. During the first century of our nation, the ideas of Liberty dominated. That doesn't mean that everyone was a libertarian. Far from it. It just means that the ideas of Liberty dominated. The results were a century of prosperity that the world literally had never experienced before. This was a whole new ballgame for humanity. During the second century of our nation's history, the ideas of authoritarianism have dominated. The results, all the way up to the present moment, could not be more predictable. While the America dominated by Liberty was known as the "New World," modern-day America has become more and more like the "Old World" that it broke away from. The "Old World" was the status quo of mankind's history. Authoritarianism has always been the norm. The "Old World" was surely threatened by the ideas of the "New World." Individual liberty? The biggest middle class in mankind's history? Anyone could climb as high as they desire? Travel as they please? Own their own homes? Be captains of their own their own ships? No...no...no. This was not a good development for believers of "Old World" ideas. This was a huge problem. Should "New World" ideas dominate the globe, the "Old World" ideas might vanish! This was a conundrum. The "Old World" had no absolutely no chance of taking the "New World" head on. Nothing animates the human soul like freedom. You can't just walk in and take it away. People will die en masse to protect their freedom. Instead, those who valued freedom would have to be convinced that it was better not to have it, and that they should relinquish it on their own. So little by little, year by year, the "New World" had to be melted down. "Old World" ideas would have to be steadily injected into this environment of individuals. "Old World" habits, institutions, laws and policies would be introduced; one, after another, after another. With this indirect strategy, the "New World" and the ideas that animated it would gradually disappear. The "Old World" authoritarianism is all that would be left. The status quo of all of human history would return. And so today, we see the "Old World" right in front of our very eyes: "You will own nothing, and be happy." You will be intimately monitored from cradle to grave. Travel? Forget about it. That will be for the elites. Your food? Bugs and lab-created non-foods. Your speech? Restricted. Your traditions? Gone. Your religions? Also gone. Your body? Roll up your sleeves. Now... All of these threats appear to be moving forward and are spoken of as if this is all a done deal. It's inevitable as far are you are to be concerned. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Liberty is always only an idea away. That is why the propaganda has to be so intense, and has to hit you from every angle. Liberty is only one idea, and one choice, away. This is a battle of ideas. It is not a battle of arms. It is not a geographical battle. It is not a physical battle in any way. It is all mental. Here's the best news imaginable: We are all the individual kings of our own minds. The moment that you make the decision, and firmly believe that you are meant to live free, it is a done deal as far as you are concerned. No matter what happens, good or bad, you have taken control of your own destiny. In your mind, your flag has been planted. And because it's in your mind, your flag cannot be touched by anyone else. Speak the words of Liberty to others, and they just might make the same decision as you. They might plant their own mental flags. It's their choice, in the very same way that it is your choice. Believe and speak --- Believe and speak. That's the only way that "New World" ideas will prevail. One mind at a time. By Ron Paul
The end of the 20-year US war on Afghanistan was predictable: no one has conquered Afghanistan, and Washington was as foolish as Moscow in the 1970s for trying. Now, US troops are rushing out of the country as fast as they can, having just evacuated the symbol of the US occupation of Afghanistan, Bagram Air Base. While perhaps not as dramatic as the “Fall of Saigon” in 1975, where US military helicopters scrambled to evacuate personnel from the roof of the US Embassy, the lesson remains the same and remains unlearned: attempting to occupy, control, and remake a foreign country into Washington’s image of the United States will never work. This is true no matter how much money is spent and how many lives are snuffed out. In Afghanistan, no sooner are US troops vacating an area than Taliban fighters swoop in and take over. The Afghan army seems to be more or less melting away. This weekend the Taliban took control of a key district in the Kandahar Province, as Afghan soldiers disappeared after some fighting. The US is estimated to have spent nearly 100 billion dollars training the Afghan army and police force. The real number is likely several times higher. For all that money and 20 years of training, the Afghan army cannot do its job. That’s either quite a statement about the quality of the training, the quality of the Afghan army, or some combination of the two. Whatever the case, I am sure I am not the only American wondering whether we can get a refund. The product is clearly faulty. Speaking of money wasted, in April, Brown University’s Cost of War Project calculated the total cost of the Afghanistan war at more than two trillion dollars. That means millions of Americans have been made poorer for a predictably failed project. It also means that thousands of the well-connected contractors and companies that lurk around the US Capitol Beltway pushing war have become much, much richer. That’s US foreign policy in a nutshell: taking money from middle-class Americans and transferring it to the elites of the US military and foreign policy establishment. It’s welfare for the rich. Meanwhile, the Costs of War Project also estimated that the war took more than a quarter of a million lives. The Biden Administration may believe it is saving face by installing a military command of nearly 1,000 troops inside the US Embassy in Kabul, but this is foolish and dangerous. Such a move establishes the US Embassy as a legitimate military target rather than a diplomatic outpost. Has anyone at the Pentagon or the State Department thought this through? Plans to occupy the airport in Kabul are also unlikely to work. Does anyone think that, having come this far, an emboldened and victorious Taliban are going to sit by as US or allied military occupy the Kabul airport? Trillions of dollars wasted and millions either killed or displaced from their homes. For nothing. The lessons of Afghanistan are simple: bring all US troops home, defend the United States as necessary, and leave the rest of the world to its own business. We’ve tried it the other way and it clearly doesn’t work.
US troops abandoned Bagram Air Base - a symbol of the US occupation of Afghanistan - in the dead of night. Reportedly the Afghan commander did not know until morning that he was in charge. Good move? Neocons not happy. Also today - soldiers unhappy about mandatory jab and...were US sailors forced to participate in "Pride" hike?
This speech was given in Feb. 2009.
The bedrock of every civilization is private property. Likewise, every totalitarian ideology has the goal of attacking private property. Some are even so bold as to claim that the goal is to abolish it! Of course, logic dictates that such an idea is a recipe for disaster, and there's a whole history of human suffering and death to provide lessons that disaster is the only possible outcome. Private property is inviolable, inalienable and absolute.
According to a new poll, most Americans do not want schools to teach their children that America is an inherently racist country. Also today, election lawsuit in New York City, US teachers' union to demand forced vaccination, and the first major mask study is not good news for maskers.
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