Strike The Root Blog

“The biggest impediment to urban farming of course, is the City, which sat idly by as land fell into disrepair, neglect, disuse, etc.”

The City of Detroit did far more than sit idly by. Decades ago it implemented ordinances that prevented any home from being sold without being inspected and approved by the City. Every single defect, no matter how minor, had to be repaired to the satisfaction of the inspector before a home could be sold. When people cannot afford to stay in their homes, they surely cannot afford to improve or repair them. They simply walked away in droves and the problem only gets worse as the economy worsens. These city ordinances were a major contribution to the sea of abandoned homes in Detroit. It created countless hiding places for rapists and child molesters to lie in wait for their next victims. Today the abandoned homes are a blight on the landscape.

To think that the City should be in any way compensated for these abandoned properties is atrocious. The City of Detroit should be paying damages to the previous owners to compensate for the loss of previous value, no matter how minor it may have been as well as the pain and suffering that always comes in the wake of government interference in private actions.

Campaign For Liberty — HR 875 The food police, criminalizing organic farming and the backyard gardener, and violation of the 10th amendment

FDR eat your heart out.  This fascist bill will eliminate any competition to Monsanto, ADM, Tyson and a few other agricultural cartel members (Big Ag).  The bill was introdiced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro whose husband works for Monsanto (Stanley Greenburg); no conflict of interest there folks, move along, move along now.  It amazes me how many people still believe that we live in a “free country” and can change this trend in the next election, or the one after that, blah, blah, blah.  Voting is for suckers.

Mises.org recently published a transcript of the late Austrian economist F.A. Hayek’s appearance on NBC-TV’s Meet the Press back in 1975.

Then, as now, there was a great deal of economic turmoil facing the U.S. and much of the rest of the world. Hayek contended then that the turbulence was mainly caused by the central bank’s inflation of the money supply in order to finance unsustainable central planning, a criticism that equally applies today. Hayek suggested that the answer then was for the Federal Reserve System to simply stop inflating and allow resources to be reallocated according to consumer demand, however painful that adjustment may be in the short term. That’s a suggestion that equally applies to today’s turbulence, but one that Republicans and Democrats alike have shunned in favor of bail-out capitalism and pie-in-the-sky “stimulus” spending and all the massive debt and inflation that goes along with it.

The interview is interesting enough to read for all of the parallels to recent events, but there was one answer from Hayek that I found particularly striking.

One of the interviewers suggested that to simply cease inflation and allow for new economic adjustments to take place would most likely lead to more unemployment, and for that to happen in the already troubled inner cities would most likely lead to anger, frustration and violence amongst those populations, which would then most surely be followed by governmental crack-downs. The interviewer asked Hayek what he would do to ameliorate any ill social effects deriving from further unemployment among urban populations during any post-inflationary adjustment period.

Here’s Hayek’s answer:

“Well, I don’t think there is anything I can do about it. We’ll have to tide over the storm which may be threatening.”

Wow, how refreshing it is to hear such an intellectually honest answer from a public intellectual! How incredibly rare that is. Your typically neo-Keynsian/neoliberal court intellectual–blindly assuming the interviewer’s implied assumption that predominantly black and hispanic populations in inner cities are simply incapable of pulling themselves up by the bootstraps to be gospel truth–would have heard his cue and trotted out all sorts of half-baked ideas for wasteful government welfare programs. Hayek, however, did not so arrogantly assume that he knew what was better for people he knew nothing about.

“I don’t think there is anything I can do about it.” To hear any of your court intellectuals and assorted think tank “experts” make such an admission today would probably cause a complete tear in the space-time continuum, simultaneously catapulting all of us into an alternate reality.

Just as voluntary cooperation is natural amongst people, so is envy. The implication, for me, is that the battle for political anarchy is a path, not a destination. 

The thought struck me from this bit of honesty in a Ted Rall commentary:

“In Soviet times,” a man in present-day Tajikistan told me, “we lived worse than we do today. But we were all the same. Now we live a bit better, but we have to watch rich assholes pass us in their Benzes.” Which would he choose? No hesitation: “Soviet times.”

And even if some individuals can conquer coveting the property of their brothers, “replacements” are being born and trained all the time.

I found this ad and had to post it. The site says that the government gives away $10B in grant money every month! (I sure hope it’s not true! Maybe they’re including Wall Street welfare..)

“Learn how I received a grant money check for $3403.19 and how you can too!

- It comes quickly from the government or state.
- It DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PAID BACK and isn’t effected by your credit.
- It doesn’t cost anything to apply for a grant, and you can apply for a bunch of them at one time.

- I got immediate access and was able to dig in right away.
- Come with a free trial, you only pay shipping.
- It offered free tech support in case I ran into trouble and
- IT HELPED ME APPLY FOR A GRANT and receive it within a few weeks. ”

It includes plenty of testimonials for “free money.” Get yours today!
http://www.usgrantsinformation.com/marla/index.php

A couple of  recent, fatal events involving state actors illustrate well how lives of individuals are manipulated to strengthen the master/subject relationship between individual and state.
 

First, a Dallas police officer was shot and killed on January 6th while serving a warrant. A tragedy, to be sure- particularly since the officer had a record of mentoring youth to keep them out of trouble. But any grief is tempered by the immensely huge funeral procession that accompanied the dead officer. Humility has never been a virtue for those working in law enforcement. Public expositions such as this bring to mind the reality of the relationship between the state and the individual.

The police don’t exist to protect individuals. The police exist to serve the needs of the state and collect its revenue. The police will continually remind us just who matters most (it’s not you) and just who is in charge (it’s definitely not you). The police’s obscenely ostentatious display of pomp and public expense illustrates that well.

The police are just another gang looking to control turf. The only difference between them and the street gangs is that the police wear uniforms and badges. When street gangs rob and kill individuals it’s called “crime.” When the police and state rob and kill individuals it’s called “good government” and “effective law enforcement.” The only reason the police and the state (the government gang) fight street gangs is because they are perceived as a threat to their monopoly of force and coercion.

The life and property of you meaningless, tax paying, peons is irrelevant. So, pull your cars to the side of the road and get out of their way!
 

Second, an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed  January 12^th at Texas A&M University, killing one person. Much speculation has arisen over why the chopper crashed. Upon closer examination, one fact is certain- the state will only be strengthened, not weakened by such an event.

When realizing the fact that the military produces nothing but death and destruction, this should be considered a successful flight. Mission accomplished! One death and a destroyed piece of equipment amounts to an institution well-focused on what it does best!

All sarcasm aside, the tangible benefits to the state after such a tragedy are:

• Those employed as crash investigators will have plenty of work to keep them busy while they calculate just what caused the accident.
• The destroyed helicopter will have to be replaced, resulting in more job security and revenue for the ever-busy military industrial complex.
• The personnel lost will have to be replaced, creating a new assignment for aggressive military recruiters.
• The new personnel will have to be trained, clothed, fed, etc, resulting in a multitude of support opportunities.
• The treatment of the injured and the care of the deceased’s family will necessitate more work for the military medical and compensation establishment.

Add to these tangible benefits the intangible gains:
Militarists everywhere now have another dead hero to fawn over. Only the military honors those who have failed.
The media will expound on the “service” of the deceased, contributing to the statist conditioning of the populace that the military is comprised of brave, courageous folk who are our only barrier between being free and living under tyranny.
The military uses this event to expound on the dangers involved in “protecting” the populace from ever-increasing (and state created) threats.
Bastiat said, “Society loses the value of things which are uselessly destroyed.” Yes, society suffers but the state is strengthened, at further cost to society. Society is forced to pay for the state’s mistakes- in this case, the military’s. The state is not only tangibly compensated but intangibly strengthened.

Image Review of the Week has moved to enlightened rogue.

The Emperor faces the end of his reign….

….as it is time for him to leave….

….to a standing ”O”….

….and head for the trash bin of history:

Wax Fantasy- The new Emperor is in, the old one is….under arrest?

The Obamaniacs head to DC….

….with new plans for the tax serfs:

Good News! Her Highness’ butt isn’t too big….

….and the family is happy:

The killing continues and no one can bear to watch:

The blast of the shofar accompanies the genocide:

Just a fun ol’ time for the IDF:

Graves, graves, we need more room for graves:

Beware- tryanny can come from any direction:

One act of defiance….

….cancels one act of cowardice:

Global cooling is making life difficult:

Sometimes, the odds look a bit overwhelming:

Swarm, Swarm!:

Your tax dollars at work- an RV for the moon:

Chesley B. (”Sully”) Sullenberger is a god.

Seriously. If I were to run into the guy on the street tomorrow, I would simply be in awe of his presence. That’s because Sullenberger actually crash landed a malfunctioning U.S. Airways jet on the Hudson friggin’ River and nobody was seriously injured. That is just positively amazing. It’s one of those achievements that should stand as a glaring reminder to the rest of us as to what human beings can really accomplish. That act was nothing less than the culmination of many years of intense focus, careful study and much mastering of some very tricky technical skills. Just amazing.

It’s interesting, though, that I hear so many people around me mention his experience as an F-4 fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. The upshot of these conversations is thank the gods for “our” military, so that people can learn such highly valued, life-saving skills. The irony never seems to dawn on these people that the mission of the armed forces is to destroy human life, whereas Sullenberger preserved human life.

But they also seem to forget that Sullenberger has been flying commercial airliners since about 1980, whereas he spent only six years in the Air Force. Why jump to the conclusion that what Sullenberger was able to do yesterday must have come from his military experience, rather than from his more numerous years as a commercial airline pilot?

And why this assumption that only the military could provide the kind of training needed to fly airplanes so skillfully? It’s true that many military pilots take their flying experience into the commercial airline industry. But surely if there was no military at all, that does not mean that we would all be doomed to flying in planes piloted by incompetents. There’s no reason to doubt that some of the billions and billions of dollars that would be spared from “national defense” each year would instead be spent by the airline industry itself, or currently existing flight schools, on continuously improving pilot training and education.

Interestingly, Sullenberger is the founder of a business that provides “technical expertise and strategic vision and direction to improve safety and reliability in a variety of high risk industries.” Sullenberger’s actions yesterday demonstrate that highly skilled individuals offering their technical expertise in the marketplace in pursuit of their own personal gain—rather than myriad bureaucrats and their rules and regulations—are the most effective at keeping people safe in potentially dangerous situations.

(Cross-posted at The Postmodern Tribune.)

A radio interview with science fiction writer David Brin has stayed with me many years. The theme was about how we should stop resisting state and corporate spying but work on getting that technology to the general public to use as a means to enhance freedom.  It was years ago, and apparently, he must have been flogging a book (1999) on his theme “The Transparent Society” (which I haven’t read). But his premise is bearing out: there’s no stopping the privacy invasion, but freedom can be enhanced by technology in the hands of ordinary people. Enter: cell phone cameras in the hands of private citizens are being used to resist tyranny. Butler Schafer’s horizontal society is evolving.