My Struggle…

and yours too.

I’m finishing up Mein Kampf in a quest to understand why it seems so difficult for individuals to identify Evil.  I have had to read bit’s and peices of it over my lifetime but never beginning to end.  He named it appropriately whether that was his intention or not.

But to the point.

A common film cliché is the inevitable soliloquy offered by the Evil Mastermind outlining his Evil plan for the benefit of the Hero just prior to the Heroe’s anticipated demise.

This scenario, once identified, becomes genuinely funny.

The basic questions are 1.) Why does it matter? 2.) Why is the speech always to blatantly Evil?

Well, writers have long known that it is difficult for individuals to identify, let alone understand, evil when it is right in front of them.  We seem to have little ability to discern what is good from what is bad unless it is spelled out in the simplest terms.  Blame it on whatever you would like, but my experience is even those who have subscribed to a specific morality still fail to recognize evil when it is present.

My question started with “Why?”.  Why do we not see things for what they are?  Why aren’t Bad Guys so easy to spot?

My past has provided me exposure to Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Mao, Mussolini and of course Hitler.  I have added Hussein (Saddam), Galbraith, Keynes and a list of Fabians among others.

Wrapping up Hitlers vision of government built on racial elitism and a hatred of those he perceived to be responsible for all the evil in the world has yet again left me bewildered.  This book was not just some persons perception of Hitler… it was Hitler’s perception of Hitler.  In his own words he defines Evil without seeing it as such.

So why do many of these same ideas come back to haunt us?  Why are we still arguing the benefits of Socialist planning from the likes of Hitler, Marx and Mao?

Frankly its stunning.

The reason the film cliché is funny is because of the overt maliciousness of the bad guy’s plan for the rest of us.  In other words, even He knows it’s mean.  He knows it’s Evil.

The reason we can’t seem to recognize Evil when it’s right in front of us is because the “true believers” honestly think they have the best interests of the world in mind.  The reason Hitler was able to rise to power is exactly because he didn’t see himself as Evil which allowed many Americans and multitudes of others to also not see him as evil… though it was plainly in front of them should they have had the foundation, desire, or both, to assess it.

That’s really what it comes down to.  A lack of a solid foundation built upon a governing theory that does not require force.  Once you have that, the ideas of those with the best of intentions will no longer escape scrutiny.  The Marx and Engels of the world will no longer get a pass from those who consider themselves better educated, superior, enlightened or whatever adjective they choose to save themselves the effort of being intellectually curious… then intellectually honest, that is unless they see the value of these ideas in terms of the power provided to those in charge.  Socialism will always attract those in search of power over others.

I have long said “If your going to be a Socialist, then be the best Socialist you can be.  But know what that means.”  I take this position because I also believe that once you know what that means the majority of us are repulsed and disgusted.  As a single, simple reason I will refer you to Killer of Men.

It will serve you well to understand that our leaders will not identify themselves, or their ideas, as Evil.

They believe they have your best interests in mind when they propose to force you into a world they see as “fair” and “socially just”… as defined by them.

These people whose ideas should be immediately suspect are those who consider themselves the elite.  By their judgement they have attended the right schools, know the right people and know what’s best for you.  They will tell you right up front what they have in mind… until they realize you have no interest in supporting them.  Then they will work in the background to further their ideas.  Their righteousness drives them.  They feel that if you would simply do what you are told the world will be better for it.  The tragic history of those ideas will always be dismissed by a wave of a hand and the statement “They just didn’t do it right.” In reality,  it’s not about “doing it right”, rather it’s their desire for power over others which motivates them.

None of the individuals mentioned at the beginning of this post would have considered themselves Evil… nor would they have subscribed to the idea that any aspect of what they wanted to do could be construed as such.  The same is true of our leaders today… do not expect any one of them to “wake up” and see the Evil of their ways.

The Enlightenment brought us a group of men who saw Evil clearly over 250 years ago.  Because of that they attempted to establish a governing structure which championed the Individual and secured the concept of Private Property.  We are squandering this gift daily by not recognizing those who wish to destroy such a paradigm because it has no room for their ideas, let alone support for their thirst of control over men.

Speaking of thirst, it’s time for a beer.  Franklin was right… “Beer is proof that God loves us.”

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A Nation of Criminals

They’re Coming to Get Me.

They’re coming to get you too, but I don’t care so much about you… unless you can keep them from getting me.

OK, maybe they’re not coming right this second… but they want to be able to.

It appears our government’s standard operating procedure, at every level, is to make sure everybody is guilty of something… because they never know when that will come in handy.

First, you need a tax code nobody, I mean nobody, understands putting everyone in violation of it.

Second, you need a ton of laws that lay on the books unenforced so everyone forgets about them… until you want to use them.  These laws range from Zoning to Gun control.  And the best part is, when someone complains “there ought to be a law”, even though there is one you simply don’t remind them of it and craft some brand new ones that are even more onerous.  Brilliant!

In a world where your every business transaction is tracked (unless it is illegal… particularly if the BATFE is bank rolling it with your money as in Fast & Furious)… your location is always known through your cell phone, your car’s GPS system, electronically monitored power consumption at your home, your purchases on your credit cards and super computer’s dedicated to reading your e-mail and text messaging as they are sent… it is no surprise that there are many folks out there who don’t trust the Government, particularly those individual, fallible, self-interested human beings who run it.

As I have stated several times before, I believe your Freedom is directly correlated to your ability to live your life anonymously.

We just saw what can happen when the government keeps track of all those individuals holding concealed carry permits in New York.  It is my opinion the only people who should be upset about the disclosure of the names and addresses of these permit holders are those Liberals who support “Gun Control” for Others (read “stupid people” in other words “not them”).  The only casualty here will be their hypocrisy.  So much for being anonymous.

But the point here is that it was a political statement by the Newspaper.  There is no other reason.  Not a single mass shooting was committed by a permit holder.  Not one.  In fact, there have been several possible crimes stopped by permit holders as of late.  But, if you follow the Liberal logic those crimes should have been allowed to continue unabated for the 3-4 minutes it typically takes police to arrive.  If you don’t think that is a very long time try something… get a watch, and time yourself holding your breath for just 3 of those 4 minutes.  Start…. now.  I’ll wait.

That was fun huh?  It’s a long time… and a lot of very bad things can happen in that time.

So let’s all stop pretending that the Second Amendment was placed in the U.S. Bill of Rights to preserve your ability to hunt.  For you Liberals out there, go to Amazon and order yourself a copy of the Federalist Papers.  (You probably will not find it in your local Hippie Book Store as it was not written by Socialist “thinkers”.)  When it shows up, read it.  Yes… yes… I know you will not do this, but for the rest of us it further illustrates my point.  The answer is out there.

There is no mystery in the second amendment’s “meaning” requiring a bunch of poorly educated, hand wringing Ivy League diploma holders to decipher.  (By the way, now you can obtain a law degree, and subsequent law license, without ever taking a class in Constitutional Law.  That’s right… you can practice law without studying the document the law is based upon.  So when you’re listening to an absolute idiot with a law degree tell you that they don’t need you explaining what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights state because they have a law degree, as I did this very day, further explain to them that clearly you do or they wouldn’t be offering such idiotic opinion.)

These documents were written so everyone could understand them.  The only people who can’t seem to understand them are those who simply don’t like the inability to tell you what to do which is enshrined and preserved in those documents.  I recall a lament by President Obama to this effect when he explained how unfortunate it is that the U.S. Constitution is a “Limiting Document”… as it tells those holding office what they cannot do to the population versus what they can do to the population.  If you’re not asking why any office holder, at least one that we would want holding an office, would want to do things TO the population you’re missing the point entirely and leads me directly back to my discussion of the Second Amendment.  Don’t fool yourself, there are a ton of these types on both sides of the aisle… the power of Government attracts them like flies to decay.

The Second Amendment was placed into the Bill of Rights in order for the Citizens to defend themselves… wait for it… from threats foreign and domestic.  If you Leftists are still out there at this point, this is a government document.  A Document designed to LIMIT GOVERNMENT.  “Foreign” means threats to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” of the Individual from abroad (outside of the United States).  “Domestic” means threats to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” of the Individual from INSIDE the United States.  With the only institutionalized right to “force” being possessed by government at nearly every level, the founders were wise enough to know that an armed population would greatly inhibit really crappy politicians from oppressing you.

It sounds simple, because it is.

The Second Amendment is about the unfortunate and ultimate need to resist Tyrannical Government.  And never in history has there been a time when all those residing inside any nation on Earth have unanimously agreed to what qualifies as Tyranny.  There have always been about 30% of every population that is just fine with the subjugation of the others (read “Stupid People” or “not them”).  So don’t think that we are all going to nod our heads in unison regarding the time to resist having arrived.

But aside from the history lesson, what’s unnerving is our apparent consent to be made criminals so when those crappy politicians and their cronies show up they have the tools available to them to “legally” destroy those they disagree with.

If you’re not thinking about these things you should be.

If you’re in Colorado, put the bong down and think real hard about how you would feel if the Fed’s came knocking at your door right now.  While I think the argument regarding the second amendment is a little weightier than that, I’m just trying to relate.  I’m putting it in cartoon form… kind of like MSNBC.

Making sure everybody is “guilty of something” is a very old, and convenient, way of claiming legal authority to apply force to the population… while making sure the population acquiesces.

Not that I think any of the upstanding individuals in DC, or the local Capital near you, would do such things…  But judging by our current crop of politicians… the population who elected them is at a minimum, drunk.  And that same population is setting the stage to be proven stupid.