Sunday, February 27, 2011

I'm sad FDR was a communist. I'm sad FDR forged an alliance with Stalin during World War II. I'm sad FDR and Churchill handed Eastern Europe over to Stalin after World War II, thereby sending millions of Christians to the gulags and giving Stalin a leg up in the Cold War. I'm sad the Soviets won World War II.

I'm sad the U.S. slaughtered one million Korean and two million Vietnamese civilians to "save" Korea and Vietnam. I'm sad the U.S. forged an alliance with al-Qaeda to repel the Soviets from Afghanistan. I'm sad the alliance with al-Qaeda didn't dissuade al-Qaeda from killing 3,000 innocent Americans on 9/11. I'm sad the U.S. doesn't take the Founding Fathers' advice and pursue a course of armed neutrality.

I'm sad the U.S. is going broke pouring blood and treasure down ratholes overseas. I'm sad war is such a racket. I'm sad otherwise intelligent people don't see that it is.

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Sunday, February 06, 2011

George W. Bush, former First Criminal, can no longer travel to Switzerland, on account of torture and his other crimes against humanity. Too bad Dubya didn't waterboard dogs instead of mere human beings. Then he might face justice in the U.S., as did Michael Vick, and not just Switzerland.

GENEVA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George W. Bush has cancelled a visit to Switzerland, where he was to address a Jewish charity gala, due to the risk of legal action against him for alleged torture, rights groups said on Saturday.

Bush was to be the keynote speaker at Keren Hayesod's annual dinner on Feb. 12 in Geneva. But pressure has been building on the Swiss government to arrest him and open a criminal investigation if he enters the Alpine country.

Criminal complaints against Bush alleging torture have been lodged in Geneva, court officials say.

Human rights groups said they had intended to submit a 2,500-page case against Bush in the Swiss city on Monday for alleged mistreatment of suspected militants at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base in Cuba where captives from Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts in the so-called War on Terror were interned.

Leftist groups had also called for a protest on the day of his visit next Saturday, leading Keren Hayesod's organisers to announce that they were cancelling Bush's participation on security grounds -- not because of the criminal complaints.

But groups including the New York-based Human Rights Watch and International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) said the cancellation was linked to growing moves to hold Bush accountable for torture, including waterboarding. He has admitted in his memoirs and television interviews to ordering use of the interrogation technique that simulates drowning.

"He's avoiding the handcuffs," Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch, told Reuters.

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QUOTE: How does the state's right to tax violate the Seventh Commandment? "Thou shall not commit adultery." I take it that you mean "Thou shall not steal," correct? Regardless, I still don't see how the state's right to tax violates this commandment."

Really? You don't see how the State's "right" to tax violates the Seventh Commandment? Do you pay taxes voluntarily? Do you hire your local police department to protect your life and property? If you're not happy with the "services" the police provide, are you free to hire a competing security agency? Are you free to forgo all security agency protection in favor of self-defense? Perhaps you secure the services of the local police via charitable donations? This too would be voluntary. In fact, that's how you and I fund the Catholic Church.

What happens to you if you refuse to purchase an automobile manufactured by Ford, or a hot dog from a local vendor, or a lawn service from an entrepreneur? What happens if you fail to make your Sunday offertory? Contrast the response of private entities when you decline their goods and services with that of "public" entities.

Exchange and charity are the economic means of generating wealth. Taxation is the political means. By definition, the State relies on political means. It is a protection racket. You must fund the State's services whether you value those services or not. Even if you regard those services as inimical to your own interests! If you don't pay your taxes, the State will sic its agents on you. They will threaten you with fines and imprisonment. If you resist the fines and imprisonment, the State's agents will kill you. Ultimately, that's the power they wield over you. Yes, things rarely escalate to that point, but that's the reality.

All governments, whether democratic, monarchic or republican, rely on court intellectuals to generate the propaganda justifying their protection racket. it works remarkably well. Most of us come to believe we consent to our own enslavement. But it's all a lie.

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"The supreme law of the land is God's law, the Natural Law - the Ten Commandments. Society can only truly operate under those guidelines . . . ."

The State is that institution within society that claims the right to tax. Taxation is legalized extortion. It violates the Seventh Commandment. This is the case whether the State takes the form of a republic, a democracy or a monarchy.

The Founding Fathers established a Constitutionally-limited republic, not a democracy (the word "democracy" doesn't even appear in the Declaration of Independence or Constitution), with a government constrained to few and enumerated powers. But even those few and enumerated powers include the power to tax. So Constitutionally-limited republicanism violates the natural law. Plus, Constitutionally-limited republicanism invariably degenerates into democracy, which invariably degenerates into despotism.

To put the dilemma in stark terms, a limited protection racket is still a protection racket. Not only that, but it never stays limited.

I would say monarchy is superior to democracy. Monarchs tend to take longer run views than do democratic leaders. But natural order anarchy is superior to both monarchy and democracy. Under natural order anarchy, the market would provide for policing, dispute resolution and national defense. There is a market for liberty.

I can't do the argument justice here. You may want to check out retired UNLV economics professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe's groundbreaking Democracy--the God that Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order (Transaction Publishers, 2001). He develops a compelling case.

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