Being politically active makes you a hypocrite

"Liberals are so woefully inconsistent in how they criticize Republican presidents . . . for being a warmonger. They're so hopelessly inconsistent." —Joe Rogan

Executing someone without a trial is dangerous. How do we know the person deserved execution unless he had a trial? Jury trials are important. A group of people can listen to the facts and decide whether or not someone is really guilty. Killing someone without a trial is a dangerous precedent. We're supposed to just trust the executioner.

This sort of thing is why the Constitution separated the Judicial and the Executive branches. The Executive is the executor, or executioner. It is not the Judicial, or judge. The executor executes the judgements of the judicial branch, and carries out the rules of the legislative brach. Well, that's how it's supposed to work.

Unfortunately our two-party system has eased everyone into abandoning principle in order to beat the other team. A video by Adam Kokesh filmed this hypocrisy among Obama supporters, who criticized bush for everything he did, but supported Obama for doing the same thing.

A few reasons the U.S. government should stop supporting Al-Qaeda in Syria

Which common inanimate objects are trying to kill you?

Money in politics is a hot issue. This infographic (http://letsfreecongress.org/) drives the point home. But I see it a different way.

Fat cat by Yukari*, elephant and donkey by DonkeyHotey, money by Tracy O.

But money is not the culprit. People are. The problem isn't that political power can be bought and sold. The problem is that political power exists at all.

To prove it, think of it this way. What would happen if we made it illegal to buy a politician? Take a minute to think about it. What happened when we made it illegal to buy drugs? Or alcohol? The problem didn't go away. It got bigger and more violent.

Politicians are an economic good. They can be bought and sold. Making the trade of political favors illegal would merely create a black market, where the worst of the worst would be the only ones left bidding. At least now, some decent lobbying groups have a chance to buy a couple congressmen.

As long as an economic good exists, and people want it, no amount of legislation can get rid of it. The solution would be remove that good from the face of the earth. In the case of drugs and guns, it is impossible. But it would be possible to rid the world of politics. All it would take would be a shift in opinion.

Our thoughts on the subject would need to change. We would need to agree that one person should not be allowed to exercise violence and authority over another unwilling person, period. It doesn't matter if you vote, put your hand on a Bible, or grease hands with cash. Using political power to get away with violence is immoral.

The Constitution applies to terrorists

The Constitution applies to terrorists. It also applies to stay-at-home moms, illegal immigrants, truck drivers, anti-government radicals, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. —Connor Boyack

Connor Boyack is a libertarian Mormon who has authored several books.

The rights in the Constitution apply to everyone because it written to create and restrict the federal government. The Articles say which things the government can do. The Bill of Rights lists a bunch of things they can't do. The Constitution does not give the government the right to torture, so it doesn't have that right even when it wants to torture people who are not American citizens.

Really, it only applies to politicians. And they are terrorists, because they use violence to try to do good. So, either way you look at it, Connor is right.

What's the difference between a conspiracy theorist and a statist?

The reason there are so many 9/11 conspiracy theories is because 9/11 was televised. The State conspires a thousand ways every day to take away your money, your freedom, your privacy, and your life.

Matt Taibbi of the Rolling Stone recently wrote:

Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players may be a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game. We found this out in recent months, when a series of related corruption stories spilled out of the financial sector, suggesting the world's largest banks may be fixing the prices of, well, just about everything. —Matt Taibbi

Because Taibbi is a leftist, he doesn't see how the world banks are connected by the central bank of each country. But he does a great job nevertheless at revealing a banking conspiracy that has robbed each one of us.

The central bank of the United States—The Federal Reserve—was created when the world's richest men conspired to rob the people of the world. They were tired of earning our money, they wanted to just take it. You can read all about this in The Creature From Jekyll Island. The actual place where the co-conspirators met was Jekyll Island, it doesn't get more super-villainy than that.

Eric Holder wants to end homeschooling. Congress wants to control the internet. The IRS wants to read your emails. Obama wants to revoke your right to trial. The conspiracies never end.

If only a tinfoil hat could stop it. I'd be wearing one right now.

The greatest tool to combat conspiracy is through knowledge. Learn about the world around you. Because the world belongs to you, just as much as it belongs to anyone. And you cannot be a wise steward if you are ignorant in how the world operates.

Not reading this book could hurt your grandkids

Photo by tvol

Most Americans think the government gives us our rights. They are usually surprised when you point out that the Bill of Rights grants zero rights to citizens. The Bill of Rights is a list of 10 things the government can't do.  The Constitution was written to restrict the government, not the people.

The founders of this country would be ashamed of our ignorance. They were familiar with the writings of John Locke. They understood that our rights are God-given. We have them because we exist. And that we lose our rights through apathy and ignorance, the two main byproducts of public schooling.

Without further ado, John Locke—

"Should a robber break into my house, and with a dagger at my throat make me seal deeds to convey my estate to him, would this give him any title? Just such a title, by his sword, has an unjust conqueror, who forces me into submission.   The injury and the crime is equal, whether committed by the wearer of a crown, or some petty villain.   The title of the offender, and the number of his followers, make no difference in the offence, unless it be to aggravate it.   The only difference is, great robbers punish little ones, to keep them in their obedience; but the great ones are rewarded with laurels and triumphs, because they are too big for the weak hands of justice in this world, and have the power in their own possession, which should punish offenders." — John Locke, The Second Treatise of Civil Government [1690]

By John Locke

3 reasons you should go to prison, and 4 ways to help

I used to get confused by Jesus' commandment to visit those in prison. Weren't prisoners bad guys? Why should we visit them? We visit prisoners to fulfill the commandment to "love thy enemy." A recent episode of This American Life shed some light on this for me.

The episode tells the story of an innocent man stuck in prison. Innocent people are imprisoned so often, that there is an organization that works full time to free them (donate to the Innocence Project). It is often difficult to free innocent people, because our prison system so so bureaucratized and politicized. For example, 86 prisoners at Guantanamo have been cleared for release, but they remain locked away to save the careers of politicians. We visit prisoners to give comfort to the innocent. When John the Baptist was imprisoned, Jesus sent him messengers to strengthen his faith and resolve. Christ himself was imprisoned, as were his apostles, notably Peter and Paul.

Christ's visit to earth could be seen as a visit to those in prison. We are slaves of sin, locked away from the presence of God. He died to free us from sin. And while he was dead, he visited the spirits who were imprisoned by their sins, and freed them. We visit prisoners in an effort to free them. Some prisoners need to be freed from the prisons of their minds. They are stuck in thought patterns that will bring them back to prison if they are released. Others are locked up because of unjust laws, or incompetent lawyers, judges, and juries.

Here are 4 steps you can take to fulfill Christ's commandment:

1. Contact your local prison to set up a visit. If you have any talents in writing or music you could even put on a performance.
2. Donate to The Innocence Project.
3. Write letters to prisoners. (I wrote a letter to a guy I had read about in the paper who intentionally went to prison as a retirement plan. We wrote back and forth over a dozen times).
4. Practice Jury Nullification.

If you are ever called to be in a jury, you have the right of jury nullification. If the defendant is guilty of breaking the law, but you believe the law is unjust, you can vote not-guilty. This is a powerful tool for keeping society free, and for preventing the innocent from being punished by unjust laws.

What Yoda can teach you about 11 wars politicians lied the U.S. into

What was Yoda's critical character flaw? From Scott Horton.

If a war is unjust, being anti-war is just. There is no greater advocate for peace than Scott Horton. His passion for peace numbers him among the children of God.

The Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and both Iraq Wars and at least 3 more were based on lies. See Robert Higgs' article "To make war president's lie" for more details: http://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs10.html

Is Nikola Tesla a prophet?

Here's a prophecy I hope is self-fulfilling:

“Today the most civilized countries of the world spend a maximum of their income on war and a minimum on education. The twenty-first century will reverse this order. It will be more glorious to fight against ignorance than to die on the field of battle.” —Nikola Tesla

Via Paleo Future

2 movies Hollywood made to scare you into war with North Korea

An immigrant from North Korea has said:

“It’s not even possible for North Korea to have a war. They don’t have fuel. They don’t have electricity. Even if they yell to the world that they’ll go to war, it’s all just talk.” —from Air Force Times

North Korea is not a threat. Politicians are lying to you. Hollywood is helping them.

The movie Olympus Has Fallen depicts North Koreans destroying the White House. The Red Dawn remake (the original was better) depicts them taking over America. I would shrug these movies off as jokes from The Onion if the message—FEAR NORTH KOREA—were not so constant, and it's implications so dire.

Red Dawn ('84)

$2.99

North Korea is a country that lives in perpetual blackout. It cannot even conquer the other half of its own peninsula. It's people live in a constant state of semi-starvation. It's air force boasts 1,700 planes. It has a population of only 24,000,000 (1/12th the population of the U.S.). Even if every North Korean, babies and old people included, were to drop out of the sky, there would not be enough of them to occupy our country. It would take them nearly two years (600 days) to drop off one-million soldiers. That's operating at full capacity, dropping off 1700 soldiers every 24 hours. That doesn't take into account maintenance and repairs that would need to be performed when operating those planes non-stop, or the fact that Texas alone could handle 1700 enemy soldiers a day.

It's a joke. Really. A stupid joke. Told by liars who want our country to be in a state of perpetual war so that they can profit off of it. War is profitable. It drains the economy, siphoning the wealth of the American people into the military-industrial-banking complex. It also excuses politicians to expand their powers for "war-time emergencies." As Robert Higgs pointed out in his seminal work, Crisis and Leviathan, powers granted in war-time are never disbanded once the war has ended.

America's fear of North Korea is proportional to it's disbelief in God. God has sworn that He will fight our battles if we trust in him. Our never-ending preemptive wars prove that we do not trust in him, regardless of what our dollars say.

You only have to fear Kim Jong Un if you're a hotdog. That guy destroys hotdogs.

2 misconceptions about money that will make you poor

Slavery. n. Working your ass off and having someone else keep the profit.

Misconception #1: You owe the The State money

Jesus told us to render unto Caesar, but that does not justify taxes, or give them any moral legitimacy. Just as Jesus' teaching that we turn the other cheek does not justify hitting people.

An owner owns things. If somebody borrows something from the owner, they owe it back to him. How can you owe The State something that it never gave to you? The State claims to be the provider of your life, protection, and prosperity. But those things are given to you by God. The State claims to be God, and to own you. You do not owe The State, unless you think The State owns you.

The government advertises your serfdom with a billboard.

Don't think like a slave. Remember our founding fathers, who smuggled goods in order to avoid taxes, and, when all else failed, raised hell.

Misconception #2: Money is evil

"The love of money is the root of all evil." —Paul

Money is an inspired invention. Language can be used to deceive and blaspheme, but that does not make language evil. The problem is when a person loves money instead of loving God and other people.

The worst example of this is the Military-Industrial Complex. Those individuals who are willing to murder other people for a profit. Of course, profitable wars would not be possible without taxation and inflation.

If you think money is evil, you will spend all of your time hating rich people and avoiding getting rich yourself, just in case it makes you evil. That's nonsense. Get rich, you'll have more resources to help people. Don't let a misinterpretation of the Bible keep you in a poverty mindset.

How to have your wealth and keep it too

What do bitcoins and gold have in common? They are free. Not free as in "buy one get one free." Free as in if you earn them, you get to keep them. No other currency works like this. If you store your money in dollars, or any other paper currency, the banks can steal them from you at any time. Banks steal your money all the time, in the form of inflation. And government steals your money through taxes.

Picture by zcopley

Render unto Caesar if it will save your life. But it's better to store your wealth with something that doesn't have the face of a dictator stamped on it. I recommend storing your wealth in the form of gold. Bitcoins, maybe. They're still new enough that I consider them a risk. Gold has been a stable form of wealth preservation for thousands of years.

If you work hard to earn dollars, and then store those dollars in a bank or under a mattress, those dollars will be worth less tomorrow than they were yesterday. Why? Because banks are stealing their value. They are skimming off the top. They are diluting the value of your savings and keeping the difference.

If you own a bitcoin, or a piece of gold, banks can't touch it. And it drives them crazy.

3 ways welfare destroys charity

"A person who is concerned with taking care of the poor should be diametrically opposed to the welfare state." —Amanda Billyrock

My mother has been on welfare my entire life. She's not lazy, she's stuck. If she makes extra money, the State immediately punishes her by withdrawing funds. Any money she saves is counted against her future benefits

• The welfare system is set up to prevent my mom, and other poor people, from saving or earning.

Have you ever given money to a beggar, or to someone who really needed it? Didn't it feel great? It's like that scene in About A Boy when the horrible Hugh Grant buys shoes for a poor kid and feels great about it.

When a person voluntarily gives to the poor, the giver feels generous, and the recipient feels grateful. Both benefit. When money is taken through coercive force and given to the poor, the giver feels robbed, and the recipient feels entitled.

• Coercive welfare destroys generosity and gratitude.

Many Christians side with humanists when it comes to welfare. They feel that justice demands that the poor be fed, clothed, and sheltered. They confuse justice with mercy, and destroy justice in the process. For though morality demands that you care for the poor, you do not fulfill that commandment by stealing from another. It is not generosity if you use someone else's money.

• Welfare convinces Christians that theft is good and moral.

It's a shame when atheists beat Christians at morality.

Penn Jillete on twitter.

Why your gay marriage stance is a beam in your eye.

Motes and Beams

A self-professed Christian, Joseph Carter, has written an article arguing that anyone who disagrees with his stance on gay marriage is an idolater. 

"When did it become acceptable for Christians to embrace and endorse homosexual behavior? When did idolatry become compatible with Christianity?"
—Joseph Carter

Emperor Worship and Roman Religion (Oxford Classical Monographs)

$70.30

By Ittai Gradel

Let's ignore for a moment that Jesus said there would be no marriage in heaven (which makes the whole argument kind of pointless—unless you're Mormon), and examine his rhetoric.

Idolatry is a great accusation to make against a fellow Christian because it sounds horrible. But in this case idolatry is not an accurate description. If Mr. Carter is correct, and the gay-marriage crowd is wrong, a better Biblical term might be "backsliders," or "blasphemers," because idolatry connotes the worship of another God, and not merely an error in doctrine. But the real problem with his accusation is that while Mr. Carter is railing against the motes in the eyes of others, he is blind to the beam in his own eye.

Biblical Idolatry

Mr. Carter is an idolater, professions of Christianity aside, because Mr. Carter wants the State to define and protect marriage. Idolatry has always been the worship of the State, bowing to Caesar rather than Christ, serving the Prince of This World rather than the Prince of Peace.

Biblical examples of Idolatry involve the worship of Pharoah, Caesar, Nebuchadnezzar. Alexander the Great claimed to be divine, as did the Emperors of Rome. One could even argue that the sin of Adam and Eve was to trust in the Prince of This World, that old snake, rather than the God of Heaven. State worship has been going on for a long time. It reminds me of that song, "Give me some of that old time religion." 

Early Christians understood the connection between Satan and the State (Statan—for you tabloid writers—the original Brangelina), as seen in the temptation of Christ after his forty days in the wilderness. Satan offers Christ all of the kingdoms of this world if he will but bow down and worship him. We learn that not only does Satan own the kingdoms of this world, but that he gives power of them over to those who serve him.

Idolatry In Modern America

State worship is present today in hymns to the State such as "God Bless America," or the idolatrous phrase on our money "In God We Trust." Such statements, though superficially praising God, really intend to imbue the State with the reverence which is due to God alone. It's an old trick, going at least as far back as the Romans:

"Coins often attempted to make the emperor appear god-like through associating the emperor with attributes normally seen in divinities, or emphasizing the special relationship between the emperor and a particular deity by producing a preponderance of coins depicting that deity." —See: Roman Currency

We've established that idolatry has always been connected with the worship of an earthly king rather than a heavenly king. By attempting to use state power to enforce the will of God, Mr. Carter, and many so-called Christians, prove by their works that when it really comes down to it, they trust in the arm of flesh, rather than the arm of God.

When Did Christian Idolatry Begin?

So to answer Mr. Carter's question: When did idolatry become compatible with Christianity? In 313 A.D., when a king of this world combined the worship of God with the power of the State. From that time forward Christians no longer spread the gospel of the kingdom with love and meekness, but rather with royal edict and the sword.

Many Christians think that "the accession of Constantine was a turning point for early Christianity, generally considered the beginning of Christendom." I rather think it was the end.

What kind of wars would Jesus wage?

Kurt Vonnegat—if you watched war films backwards:

"American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses took off backwards from an airfield to England. Over France, a few German fighter planes flew at them backwards, sucked the bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation

The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers, and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The containers were stored neatly in racks. The Germans below had miraculous devices of their own, which were long steel tubes. They used them to suck more fragments from the crewmen and planes. But there were still a few wounded Americans, though, and some of the bombers were in bad repair. Over France, though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody as good as new.

When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating night and day, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody ever again.

The American fliers turned in their uniforms, became high school kids. And Hitler turned into a baby."
—Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel

$11.13

By Kurt Vonnegut

Does Government Build Jobs?

The earth is full. God has created the earth so there is enough and to spare to feed and enrich every human being. Unfortunately, wealth is mis-distributed so that many people are left in want.

Photo by borman818

Many assume that since rich people, by definition, have more money, that their money has been mis-distributed to them, and should therefore be taken from them and given to others. This is not necessarily so.

If a rich person has gained his riches by theft, fraud, or violence, then yes, wealth has been mis-distributed to him. Taking this rich person's wealth and giving it back to his victims would be a correction of a crime. It would be just.

But if a rich person has gained his riches by serving people, or producing a product that people want so badly that they voluntarily give him their money, then wealth was correctly distributed to him. Taking this rich person's money and giving it to someone else would not be a correction of a crime, it would be a crime in itself.

A healthy economy works with voluntary distribution of wealth. People give money to companies that produce things that people want. The companies who produce things that people want produce more of  those things. Society grows rich.

Steve jobs grew rich by making things people wanted.

A centrally-planned economy takes money from people, and spends it on what they think is best. Sometimes the money goes to companies that make things people want. Sometimes it doesn't. The government has destroyed the economy by its initial actions, because it has removed from the people the ability to distribute their wealth correctly. Instead, their wealth is given to companies that make things that people do not want. When people do not buy those things, the company starts to go bankrupt. Often, the bankrupt company will beg the government to take more money from people and to mis-distribute it to them. The government is the greatest force of wealth mis-distribution. It is the prime agent in the destruction of a healthy economy.

I hope I didn't spoil the video for you.

10 Myths of Capitalism

Free market: n. An atmosphere where people are free to peacefully exchange their possessions without fear of violent interference. Synonym: Capitalism.

Slavery: n. A system wherein one individual takes control of the possessions and earnings of another individual. Physical abuse often accompanies slavery.

Capitalism is not the best synonym for free market, since capitalism is sometimes confused with the system of corporatism, which is nothing more than a continuation of 18th century mercantilism, wherein the state gives certain monopolistic privileges to favored businesses.

Photo by c_ambler

A free market, or economic freedom, could be synonymous with freedom itself. If you do not have the freedom to use your own possessions, but rather must ask someone else for permission or license to use your own possessions—or if you do not have the right to use your possessions at all, but have them managed for you—you are a slave.

God made us to be free. To act, and not be acted upon. Economic freedom is essential to execute moral decisions. One who takes care of widows and orphans is a saint. One who has his money forcefully taken to give to widows and orphans is morally neutral. He has neither committed sin nor acted righteously.

A sound understanding of economics is essential if one wishes to preserve one's freedom. Murray Rothbard's debunking of 10 economic myths is helpful in this pursuit.

Myth 1: Deficits are the cause of inflation; deficits have nothing to do with inflation.
Myth 2: Deficits do not have a crowding-out effect on private investment.
Myth 3: Tax increases are a cure for deficits.
Myth 4: Every time the Fed tightens the money supply, interest rates rise (or fall); every time the Fed expands the money supply, interest rates rise (or fall).
Myth 5: Economists, using charts or high-speed computer models, can accurately forecast the future.
Myth 6: There is a tradeoff between unemployment and inflation.
Myth 7: Deflation – falling prices – is unthinkable, and would cause a catastrophic depression.
Myth 8: The best tax is a "flat" income tax, proportionate to income across the board, with no exemptions or deductions.
Myth 9: An income tax cut helps everyone; not only the taxpayer but also the government will benefit, since tax revenues will rise when the rate is cut.
Myth 10: Imports from countries where labor is cheap cause unemployment in the United States.

Read Murray Rothbard's answers to these myths at LewRockwell.com.

News Links

Is childhood a sickness?
http://lewrockwell.com/whitehead/whitehead77.1.html

Unlock your inner entrepreneur with unschooling
http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2013/03/unschool-yourself/?utm

10 Toys to help your kids love the police state
http://toysforthestateofexception.tumblr.com/

Ron Paul: Bradley Manning promotes peace
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/04/12/ron-paul-bradley-manning-deserves-nobel-peace-prize-more-than-barack-obama

Socially-Acceptable Infanticide
http://libertasutah.org/blog/socially-acceptable-infanticide-abortionists-who-oppose-the-right-to-life/

Police shoot woman for doing drugs
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=43516

Gun violence isn't the only threat to your school kids

A father found this note in his child's backpack:

Adorable brainwashing

Children are taught absolute obedience to the state in public schools, even when it violates their God-given rights.

2 more freedoms endangered by gun control

Scott Horton, former host of anti-war.com, uses anger to fight for freedom and peace. He discusses the free speech and freedom of religion loophole, and the seductive power of the state.

Do you love your neighbor enough to leave him alone?

How to avoid total war

"Modern war is not a war of royal armies. It is a war of the peoples, a total war. It is a war of states which do not leave to their subjects any private sphere; they consider the whole population a part of the armed forces. Whoever does not fight must work for the support and equipment of the army. Army and people are one and the same. The citizens passionately participate in the war. For it is their state, their God, who fights."
- Ludwig von Mises, Omnipotent Government [1944] via fff.org

Total war, wherein women, children, and non-combat males are killed, is made possible by idolizing the state through unquestioning obedience. The state is not God. God is God. God commanded "thou shalt not kill." Any who obey the state instead of God prove by their works who they really worship.

Refusal to worship the god of this world would end the abomination of desolation that is total war.