Recent comments

As I recollect--growing up, neither of my parents had healthcare. I don't ever remember my mother ever going to the doctor until she was in her mid 70's. My dad went to the VA when he had too, but I hardly ever recall him going to a doctor, even myself as a kid I recall a time or two that I went and even had a doctor to come to my home to provide his medical services. Now. Here I am at 67 and I have probably gone to the doctor more times than both my mother and father and I have probably taken far more pills than they ever took in their lives. It is puzzeling what Paul says here. Why do we need more? More is the result of old diseases discovered, more is because when we sniff we go to a doctor, more is when we feel achy, go to the Dr., discover we have the flu (a viruis of which no pill can treat) sent home with an anti-biotic (That's useless) and stay in bed for a week. I can only speculate that cancer was not really treatable then, and now we have multimillion dollar MRI'S, CT Scans, CAT Scans and etc. Doctors have become specialists and charge $500.00 per office visit just like the emergency rooms. My question is "What is it that has caused the cost of medical treatment to skyrocket? Where I am an MRI will run around $4000.00. Why? I look at my genetic background and there is nothing devistating there. No heart attacks, no cancer, no ALS. Why then do I need health insurance? Because I am scared to death that if I get something from this modern world I am going to need a million dollars to treat me and I cannot afford to pay for insurance. Do I really have to die because I cannot get treatment for a condition? Is there anyone out there who can tell me? I am just asking, not debating or arguing any point here.

Sam, I know you have spent a long time to arrive at where your are at today; from my perspective "My Country tis of thee sweet land of Liberty of thee I sing." Nothing of what you have said here can I disagree with. My Country is nothing of what it use to be and the odds of it ever being so is like hearing a fart twenty-seven light years away. My country is in my dream "Sweet land of Liberty", but with the Skexies (animated film years back: ugly bird like creatures controling everything) ruling everything "Sweet Land of Liberty" remains only a dream. That, at this time, is how I see my Country. When I opened my package to retrieve my brand new Garmin 570 GPS I use for hunting, the warrenty was covered in about 37 different languages. What's so wrong with our Language. Every Nationality that comes flooding into our bounderies seem to want one thing, not Liberty, but the benefits our government is so ready to hand out to every Juan, Fritz, Ping Chow, and etc. only to have their vote. What's this got to do with my Country? Nothing, but it has everything in the world to rape us of our "Sweet land of Liberty." Everything I have said here is fluffy fluf except "My Country tis of thee Sweet land of Liberty of thee I sing". Who am I? I haven't the slightest idea, but I believe that Sam has lit a candle in the far distance and I can see it, and I am marching towards it because it has been the brightes light here so far. Thanks Sam!

Heroes and Soldiers Posted by Laurence Vance on May 31, 2012 04:57 PM Someone sent me this quote: "A hero is someone who stands up for his beliefs, a martyr is someone who dies for a cause, and a soldier is someone who dies for someone else's profit." http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/113096.html Sam

Jim Davies had an excellent treatment of the reification that is "The State" a couple months ago. You can read it here. There is definitely a problem in definition whenever a sincere friend declares, "...I love my country!" Shades of Merle Haggard. Just what is "my country"??? Is it my Mom? Apple pie? My wife? My farm? My children??? You see, most of us have been so inundated with government ("public" ha ha) schools and state propaganda/educational schemes that many simply couldn't begin to define exactly what they mean when they utter such statements. That's the genius of politics: the lucidity to becloud each syllable they speak in such a manner as to virtually dazzle large percentages of the population in their area of influence out of their wages and their savings -- total obfuscation. If I believe one statement proclaimed by a functionary of state ("senator", "congresscritter", "potus") I've taken my first step down the proverbial Primrose Path. Particularly when one of those vultures presumes to quote one of "our" omnipresent "forefathers". "The State" is organized, monopolized violence. State agents are violent. "The State" is thievery. State agents are thieves. "The State" is an illusion. State agents are impotent. I'm serving my country. Right here. Right now. By helping you (if you're relatively new here) see and grasp liberty. I had to dump a lot of mental garbage to get here. But I'm here. Sam

Never, never expect "justice" from a white man's "court" -- particularly a "court" he labels with the superlative "supreme". A justice system in which the state makes the laws, enforces them, prosecutes them, hires the prosecutors, licenses the defense attorneys, pays the judges, builds the jails (and contracts them out to private entities), pays the wardens and the guards and eventually the parole officers ... is not a unbiased system. http://www.thedailybell.com/3939/VIDEO-17-Year-Old-Honor-Student-Jailed-... Sam

Are you positing that suicide bombers and etc, are good people, and Americans are bad? Are you willing to go to Iran and live there for a year or so? Yes. I love my country. I would gladly serve for my country, and my country is not the government, God forbid, I would not serve that crap heap of morons in Washington! What do you stand for? Why do you stand for what you believe? Could you be just as open with your opinions in Iran or China or North Viet Nam? Would you go to those places and say what you are now saying? Do you enjoy hurting other people?

Wow! That's a lot of intellectualism. Damed!

Samarami. I guess it is about how we view freedom. I am entirely uncertain what Libertarians actually believe. It seems to me there is a plethora of different style of Libertarians. Maybe that should be expected, but I am a person who is really autistic for consistancy despite the fact that I am as inconsistant as can be. Some of the things I read I kind of agree with in regards to the libertarian position. I agree that the government is nothing near what the Constitution outlines and I agree that our Bill of Rights has virtually diasppeared. The Constitution, as far as I have learned to date, started getting screwed up with George Washington and the Whiskey Tax. From there it all started going to hell in a hand basket. Now. I have absolutely nothing against homosexuals, probably less against them than our tyrannical federal and state government. I have not brought myself around to accepting the idea of marrage, maybe in time. If I believe that all people have a "Natural Right to Freedom"; in the countable and uncountable stages of the noun, then it would clearly be hipocritical of me to say no to marrage (my objection is a learned response). My strongest objection to gays is not the law abiding respectable gay person its the freeks that want to parade about and flaunt their lifestyle under the noses of the American people. These actions do more harm for the decent and respectable gay person and their cause than anything else. I was raised by homophobic parents and parents who strenuously objected to black folks. As a kid I could undertand the homophobia, but could never grasp the detestation for Black Americans. Yes I am still uneasy about black and white marrages, but there ain't nuttin I can do about it. My youngest son engaged himself with a black woman and sired an offspring, and I love the boy dearly. How in the hell does that happen. My daddy and momma would come snarling out of their graves over this. If my son were gay I would go privately nuts. As I see it, the primary isssue is that gay people want the same legal rights married people have (to be penalized through the marrage penalty secret clause written nowhere). It would be cheaper for me to divorce my wife and we both continue to live together. You might not be a Christian, and it makes no difference, but you do need to respect their position, at least the way I understand the libertarian philosophy (which is very little as I am only interested in being able to have the freedom to do what I wish without harming anyone else as I do what I want to do, and I don't appreciate the government stuffing their nose up my ass to tax me for having hemroids). John Adams stated that this country would collapse if we were not a moral and virtuious people. Looking at what has evolved over and throughout history this seems to be somewhat of an accurate prediction. Now. Politely enlighten me. O.K. and not over my spelling and grammer.

In Michigan we have what is called "Criminal empowerment Zones" and are usually places where mass murder and mahem occurs. Those places would be: Schools, churches, theaters, post offices, bars, state and federal buildings and a few others I cannot recollect at the moment. We have an organization that keeps tabs on businesses that are suppose to say "No Guns Allowed" and they are posted on the site. One place I go frequently does not have a sign posted clearly and is kept quiet obscure. However, here, if the owner notes you are carrying he must ask you to leave otherwise all that happens is you can be cited for trespassing; not an offense that would cause you to loose your licenses. Since the sign is not obvious I continue to carry and plead ignorance because it is obscure. Since I am concealed carry I have no problem wandering into a store that says no guns allowed. They are not going to see it anyway, even if they do all they can do is ask me to leave. Once they do that I will inform them that I will let others know to not participate in the facility (probably won't hurt their business any though).

Thanks for your work. I believe this site could use more people like you. Wish I had the cognitive intuitiveness to dig like that. I tend to dabble here and their just looking without focus. I am not a true Libertarian but a "wanter of my freedom as intended by the Constitution", a Constitution which may be flawed, but if kept constant in a simple line of definition just might be pretty damned good. Just saying, not proclaiming.

I was digging around Wikipedia and found one apparent confirmation of my suggestion that great wealth creates governments and the state: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_civilization "The historical Etruscans had achieved a state system of society, with remnants of the chiefdom and tribal forms.... The princely tombs were not of individuals. The inscriptional evidence shows that families were interred there over long periods, marking the growth of the aristocratic family as a fixed institution, parallel to the gens at Rome and perhaps even its model. There is no sign of such a hereditary aristocracy in the preceding Villanovan culture. The Etruscans could have used any model of the eastern Mediterranean. That the growth of this class is related to the new acquisition of wealth through trade is unquestioned." I had earlier another apparent confirmation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebla "At that time, Ebla was a major commercial center. Its major commercial rival was Mari, with whom it fought a lengthy war estimated as lasting 80–100 years.... The form of government is not well known, but the city appears to have been ruled by a merchant aristocracy who elected a king and entrusted the city's defense to paid soldiers." However from my impression is control of the earliest Sumerian cities were centered more around religion than commerce. Anyway I find this an interesting question. Too bad the information from those times is so incomplete.

Well...it may have failed but its all we have, and the probability of changing it must be zero. The question is "What's the solution that can be implimented". I also wonder if the Constituton was merely hi-jacked. If it was, what can be done to return it to the people What gets to be weirisome is all the complaining and venting, but a coming together to make change happen I have not observed on the site, especially when you can read that "one" person, at individual points of time, have made a difference in affecting a change in the laws. I haven't figured it out and it appears as though no one else has either.

This Article is in many ways typical.It emphasizes on the losses of Freedom, Money and human lives on the american Side. These are the losses that count.One could very well get the Impression that all these Wars wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt about these american Sacrifices.So much Selfcenteredness and Self Pity.! In other Regions of the world People experience a similar Amount of Loss not over years and decades but within a few weeks. @Glock27: Never mind, of course this has nothing to do with american foreign Policy and military Actions, no way, they brought this all to themselves.! Many Americans seem to have a rather simplistic view of the world. As if it comes right out of a naive 1950's Wild West Movie. "We are the good Guys, we acting only good and justly and whoever stands up against the singing Cowboy must be the Villain." So why do so many People in other Parts of the World hate America ? Since there can't be a reasonable Cause its most likely because you are great, clever and just and they are second class, stupid and evil.Maybe with some effort they can be brought to their senses so they become more like you. Masturbating in Front of your own mirror image and sending yourself flowers afterwards because you have been such a great lover! Just try not to fall for Groupidentity and Herdinstinct, dont be a "right or wrong my country - Hurrah"-Patridiot. They have their Salafists, you have your Biblebelt.Look for a Christian fundamentalist in your own Land, shouldnt be difficult to find one after you have taken the Plank out of your own Eye.The Views about the role of women in society and the disrespect and sometimes outright Hatred for People with non standard Sexuality or the "wrong" faith are very similar on both Sides.If it wasnt about some minor Differences in their "holy Books" they could actually become good friends. As far as the "extinction of the Jews" is concerned, get yourself a correct Translation of the referring Ahmadinejad-Speech. Learn about the Role the Europeans and the Americans played in the Middle east during the last hundred Years especially in Iran and Irak and the way the State of Israel was created. But maybe you see nothing wrong in giving some stupid Natives a colonial Treatment due to your own History. Otherwise do you know the Difference between a Jew and a Zionist ?.That many Jews, Rabbis, prominent Artists and Intellectuals are outspoken Opponents of "eretz Israel".? Could you tell me why a suicidebomber is a criminal coward while a Fighterpilot or Droneoperator dropping his Bombs killing either "accidently" or "inevitably" civilians is a brave Hero? Just because he considers himself as a Reincarnation of Roy Rogers? Your best friends in the Region are Israel, a copycat of former Apartheid-South Africa and Saudi-Arabia, by Americas own double Standards of human rights and "democracy" by far the worst Regime in whole Region. There is no intellectual or moral Superiority on your Side, only Arrogance, Greed and the Lust for Power. With most of the hostility against you caused by your own Actions, if your are looking for Terrorists, you can tell your "innocent Grunts" to look at those who are giving the Orders.And then they should look at each other: those who are obeying the Orders.

You have it right that the meaning of the term "capitalism" has been changed over time, but you're a little mistaken about the actual course of events. The occupiers are the ones using the term in its traditional sense.

First of all you are free. Freedom is from within not without. They may throw you in a prison, tax you, take away your "rights" but you are always free. This is the hardest thing to realize, that you have to free yourself from mental slavery. It's easier to fight the bad guys without than to tackle the slave master in your mind. It doesn't happen instantly and it's a process, I guess until you die. The only "solution" is in each individual. To force a solution on others because we believe we have the answer is the same thing governments do. You have to come up with your own plan. Will people resist you? Yes. Will others hate you for your beliefs, ethnicity, sexual preference, or even your intelligence? They always have and always will. You can't change the world but you can change yourself and when I change myself for the better my world becomes better. As for the WW1 Christmas truce, it was acted on by the men in the trenches on both sides, I'm saying what was so different about the 25th of December, that made them realize that the enemy was human just like them and lay down their weapons, than let's say January 22? Nothing just a mindset. If you haven't already, read Thoreau's work or Emerson, Lysander Spooner, Tolstoy and many others. I'm sure the same sentiments these writers have put on paper you have thought from time to time. What brought me close to Thoreau was not me blindly following the sayings of a man but finding that the same thoughts he had were my own reflected back to me. Yes Samarami, we are all blind in aspects of our lives but the great thing is that we see our faults and become better.

Both of the above comments have merit and are well thought-out. I support you both in your willingness to comment and express yourselves. That's what liberty is all about, and it will come from the likes of us -- not from vultures of state and their state wars. Please never kid yourself that any war anywhere fought by any warrior has ever brought "freedom" to anybody. All wars from early history have led to subjugation, abject slavery, and unbelievably large numbers of mutilations, rapes and deaths of innocent victims -- not to mention conflicting participants who are NOT "innocent". That's what war is. Always. I'm 76. I was enslaved ("drafted") as a child by agents of state and forced to become a murderer. I served nobody. I did a disservice to all who were alive then, and who have been born since (including my 7 children and their families). Please do not insult me by thanking me "for my service". The 14 months I spent in Korea taught me some valiant lessons in rejecting statism and embracing anarchy, which is peace. I've spent the better part of sixty years forgiving myself and getting to anarchy and STR. That does not absolve me from blame. If I were to return to providing aid and comfort to "the state" (which does not exist -- only its agents and supporters exist) I would take on the same old killer instinct and guilt I've worked to jettison. Political holidays such as this are a stroke of genius on the part of the beast to prompt the unwashed masses to stand up and root for state parasites and their violence in drumming up and conducting state wars. War drums are a-beatin' over in the District of Collectivism as we speak. If they can't find an excuse to bomb Iran, they'll bomb Syria. Be free, and Abstain From Beans Sam

This seems great to me. I like all the concepts here, but how do you impliment such a construction. I think this is the dream most all Americans want.

In essence then the whole of the human race is just simply stupid If this is the proposition then libertarians are stupid as well. Dreams are one thing and reality is another. We have to face the realities of others, ergo I believe it is not an intelligent move too believe that other men will not recognize that everyday is as precious as Christmas and decide never to fight again. That logic does not match with an alternate intelligence, and culture, where a religion says that everyone else is nothing more than fagots to be burned, all christians must die, all Americans must die. This is a reality demonstrated daily. (You can't honestly believe that you will change a communist to a libertarian principle, or a radical Muslim who wants all Jews off the face of the earth and Americans). Proclaiming to be a libertarian is one thing, but doing something constructive about it is another. I wish there were a solution, but I cannot see one. The only thing I can think of is to become one of them (speaking here now about the federal government) and fight from the inside out. These sites are terriably interesting, but I never see anyone working towards a solution, actually presenting a workable plan. Even if there were, how would it be deployed to make a difference. The government we have is all we have and the change has to come from there unless there is a bonified revolution, and I don't see that coming either. All of this is nothing more than a dream unless there is an applied action to make it become a reality. For me, I am for the grunt, right or wrong they are under the belief that they are doing good, they bleed and they die for something they think is right. I am greatful for their sacrifice. As a libertarian they should still be respected. I just hope that when SHTF they do not turn on their own citizens as has occurred in other countries. I persist in saying that their beliefs have a right to be respected. Without respect there will never be a middle ground to be reached. I recognize that we have lost everything, starting with Washington and the "Whiskey Tax Rebellion". I would deeply appreciate having all my freedoms back, but they are lost. To gain them back one must work with what is currently available, not against it--for working against it only creates impentratable barriers that will never be over come. Please note this is not a criticism, but an observation. I am not arguing but presenting an idea. If you have an answer then please offer it. Criticism will not change my perspect only solid, rational reason will achieve that.

The notion that *foreign wars* and entanglements are wrong still emanates from a sparsely populated philosophical quarter that has no majority presence in the academy or the government–media complex. It is a true voice in the wilderness. That voice has one signature message: you cannot thank a veteran for your freedom because they have actively done nothing more than endanger its very existence. In fact, American military power abroad (and increasingly, at home) has made civilians more unsafe than they have ever been. The threat not only emerges from aggrieved victims of American brutality abroad but a government desperate in bad times to ensure that not one dollar of military expenditures is reduced. America is now a national security garrison state. Think about that the next time you take a flight. Veterans don’t need gratitude but a self-realization on their part that the machine they worked for was never an engine for liberty but a device whose single purpose was aggrandizement of American political power at home and abroad. And that political hammer always extinguishes liberty and never expands it. The Shame of Veteran’s and Memorial Day by Bill Buppert May 28th, 2012 http://zerogov.com/?p=2662 References: The Troops Don't Defend Our Freedoms by Jacob G. Hornberger http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger64.html

How could we have a war if no one showed up to fight? If we are to strike the root then simply soldiers are the root. Hitler and Stalin are not the most evil people in the world what about the people who followed them. We all have to take responsibility for our actions there are no innocent grunts. Misguided, blinded, tricked maybe but we all have to put off our foolishness and misconceived notions at some point if not then we are perpetually children who do things just because our parents(Government) told us so. For example the Christmas Truce in WW1, why couldn't men realize that everyday is as precious as Christmas and decided never to fight again? They had a glimmer of insight to see the enemy("dirty terrorists") as men themselves. Way before my time, but listen to and read the lyrics of "Universal Soldier". As even us, those who are not in the military are to blame for not doing more for peace.

One of your less flamboyant, Jim, but among your best. "Capital" is the ignition of all venture. Nothing happens until one has the wherewithal to launch the enterprise -- and you can call that wherewithal "capital". J. E. Bush -- the black sheep of the Bush crowd (he eschewed political action), but a self-made millionaire nonetheless -- taught me years ago in Dallas: the only thing one can buy, sell or trade upon is energy. Man's physical and his mental energy (ingenuity). This was back before the term "energy crisis" had cropped its ugly head -- gasoline in Texas was a little over ten cents per gallon (but remember: a dime was 1/10 of an ounce of silver, "worth" around 3.00 in funny money today -- it is the befuddlement and theft by predators of state that accounts for the difference in the report of value). Everything comes out of the earth and will eventually return to the earth. As Locke put it, man mixes his labor (energy) with resources given him by nature to produce a product and/or a service. As you illustrated, an ounce of gold has no value other than its representation of a quantity of energy. I could come to you and offer to cut your grass and clean out your garage in exchange for your repairing of my automobile, presuming you had the tools and the know-how, and presuming we agreed that would amount to a mutually satisfactory exchange of value -- and presuming my auto was in need of repair at that time and place. Gold and silver have been used since the beginning of recorded history to make transactions more accommodating: I might cut your grass and clean out your garage for an ounce of gold, which is about what a professional repairman might charge at a later time whenever and wherever I needed my auto repaired. You and Harry Browne are right: government does not work. But agents thereof have one superb skill unequaled in the marketplace: obfuscation. Sam

Ok, so it's a given that you will be forced into jury duty - so if it's some victimless crime, BS IRS cases, or violation of a statute, just vote "not guilty" !! And the more guilty the defendant appears to be, the funnier it is when you say "NOT GUILTY." So why try to get out of jury duty, do something constructive with it.

Regarding the concern of two individuals fighting it out. Individuals have fights. We have had government for centuries and it still has not prevented this. The government only pretends to solve the problem. Governments have wars. Without government there would be no wars. Wars only happen between governments. Government solve problems using violence. It is their only tool. 1. I do not subscribe to the The Tyranny of the Obligation. http://zerogov.com/?p=2575 I need no excuse for my claim of an obligation, because my obligation is not backed by aggression, it is backed by reason. And so I have to respectfully disagree with those who believe that this is merely a difference of opinion or difference in a Point Of View. 2. The "central bank" is not a real bank. Everything about it is permeated with government power. At the heart of the financial and monetary system of a nation that is supposed to be an exemplar of free markets is a government money-bureau. If one reads the post I made starting with an *asterisk See http://www.strike-the-root.com/if-cops-cant-taze-pregnant-woman-terroris... I address this issue without requiring anything Utopian-- such as attempting to force people or even Oligarchs to be good via a coercive monopoly. 'Central Banks' Are Not Banks http://lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff364.html 3. As for speaking "personally" I *Ask as an individual--what a person would do*? " without roping me into his solution as an involuntary slave. And the Russians and Icelanders and Iranians have answered WITHOUT roping each other or me into being involuntary slaves !! Without a belief in govt, communities would [have been and are] almost certainly develop[ing] rules which at first glance would resemble what are now called “laws’. But there would be a fundamental difference. http://www.strike-the-root.com/if-cops-cant-taze-pregnant-woman-terroris...

One has to wonder where was the US Navy and its drone and troll squadrons? Where were its legions of agent provocateurs and quislings and the long arm of its master banksters and economic hitmen? Quantum of Suffering: Economic Hitmen Target Main Street http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w152.html How could the Russians be allowed to think let alone act out [SARC Intended] that the role of the police “is to control situations and to control the people rather than help them,” As a result, people “turn to their neighbors and to relatives and local networks to solve their problems by themselves…. [I]n Russia we have thousands of such cases.” Not only have they adopted direct alternatives but the state has been forced to concede de facto and de jure that local private security is far superior. A possible difference between Russia and America begins to emerge... Totalitarianism is based on the assumption that human nature can be permanently altered through the systematic application of state terrorism. Lenin described his regime as a “scientific dictatorship” exercising “power without limit, resting directly on force, restrained by no laws, absolutely unrestricted by rules.” Within a generation or two, Lenin believed, his dictatorship would beget a new creature – homo sovieticus, the selfless, state-focused New Soviet Man. The gulag state would act as an alembic, refining troublesome individualism out of the species, even if this meant pitilessly liquidating millions of specimens regarded as unsuitable for the collectivist future. Things didn’t quite work out that way. Communism wasn’t a scientific doctrine for the perfection of the human species; it was, in R.J.Rummel’s phrase, a “plague of power.” After the Hammer and Sickle was furled in 1991, the plague of ideological Communism mutated into form of state gangsterism [supposedly] *incapable* of reproducing itself beyond Russia’s borders. The Party Nomenklatura abandoned the conceit that they were History’s infallible vanguard, and settled into a very comfortable new role as Russia’s crony capitalist oligarchy. ...What the neocon logic comes down to is this: The US has a moral responsibility to run the world. But the citizens are too stupid to understand this. That's why we can't use democratic institutions like Congress in this ambition. We must use the executive power of the presidency. It must have total control over foreign affairs, and never bow to Congressional carping. Once this point is conceded, the game is over. The demands of a centralized and all-powerful presidency and its interventionist foreign policy are ideologically reinforcing. One needs the other. If the presidency is supreme in global affairs, it will be supreme in domestic affairs. If it is supreme at home, there will be no states' rights, no absolute property rights, no true liberty from government oppression. The continued centralization of government in the presidency represents the end of America and its civilization. A key part of the theory of presidential supremacy in foreign affairs is the idea that politics stops at the water's edge. If you believe that, you have given up everything. It means that foreign affairs will continue to be the last refuge of an omnipotent scoundrel. If a president can count on the fact that he won't be criticized so long as he is running a war, he will run more of them. So long as he is running wars, government at home cannot be cut. As Felix Morley said, "Politics can stop at the water's edge only when policies stop at the water's edge." http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/down-presidency.html