Understanding Why The Working Class Are Cheap

Understanding ones place in material reality is never a light hearted experience. The moment it hit me like a ton of bricks that I  am indeed nothing more than a cog in a profit driven machine, and have been so from the time I was born, left me with a deep feeling of being cheap. Mind you, I did not feel cheap in the traditional emotional gray area of the word, but more in the sense that my value as a human being is judged simply by how much profit I generate for the benefit of so few. Removing all lofty ideas of the cute notions of all human life has high value, I reached a material realization that in capitalist economics I am viewed as cheap no matter how much `profit` my labor produces. When thinking about this profoundly, to hold the belief that the ethics of the whole situation is somehow moral and `good for me` translates into my acceptance that my value as a human being is cheap. All humans must engage in labor in order to survive. This is not something which can be avoided. So, if I am laboring just as hard as everyone else, regardless of the type of work others are doing, then why is my labor considered cheap and others considered not cheap?

The Libertarian stand point would simply say that it is due to demand and the will of the market. That I have no control over the amount of profit my labor affords me. The only thing which controls the value of my labor, and thus my life, is the demand of the market. Well, what is driving this `demand` in the market in the first place?

It appears, in my limited perspective as a worker, that what is really driving this magic thing called `demand` is people`s desire to have stuff. Some of the stuff people really need like food, medicines, soap, houses and even a car perhaps. Other stuff people don`t really need but they want, or at least they say they want, like T.V.`s, video games, action figures, designer clothes and even hardcore porn. Yes! It must be people`s desire to have stuff which is the driving factor behind the magic thing called `demand.`

So let me get this straight: We all go to jobs everyday because there are two things called profit and demand which a lot of people desire. The higher the demand the more value my labor, and effectively, my life has in the grand scope of things. The harder I work the more profit is generated due to the demand. Yet, I don`t seem to be getting more stuff nor profit despite how high the demand becomes. Only some people are getting more stuff and profit. Only some people are considered to be of high value in the grand scope of economics. Everyone is doing their best, or as best as they can when their own material conditions are considered, but only some people seem to be getting a large benefit at the end of the day.

Something clearly seems to be missing in my efforts to understand why I am still cheap after all this hard work and talk of demand and profit. Well, if my fellow workers and I are not getting the most benefit then who is reaping the majority of the benefit? Well, I think it is important to take a look at something called class struggle.

You know about class struggle; right? I read about it and it seems that it is key to understanding why I am cheap while others are not cheap.

Classes of people, based on economics, is basically a structure in which people benefit from production based on their ownership of the means of production. You know, like who owns the place you and I work at or who owns the materials and tools you and I use to make stuff. Who ever owns the most means of production gets the most benefit. There are many different classes of people, but from what I have learned, there are some basic classes which most people can fit into.

Three basics classes:
Bourgeoisie=They own and control big things like huge industrial companies, governments, banks, media and natural resources
Petty Bourgeoisie=They own and control smaller things; and sometimes work for the bourgeoisie
Workers=They do most of the work and turn out most of the production. They own and control none of the means of production.

Like I said, classes of people can be broken down into many more finer and smaller groups depending on the overall material conditions, but the above groups of the basis of what makes up class struggle.

In order for me better understand why I am cheap I need to be aware of which class I fall into. Well, I do not own any means of production and I do not directly work for anyone who does control means of production. I must be in the worker class. A worker is paid a wage based on a set standard of how much their labor is worth according to the market; or so says the Libertarians and Capitalist. Clearly the Petty Bourgeoisie and the Bourgeoisie are the ones getting the majority of the benefit from all the profit and production my labor produces. I think I am getting closer to understanding why I am cheap.

Simple logic says that the market can only generate so much demand because people can desire only so much stuff. Demand cannot be infinite because there is not a infinite amount of people who desire stuff.  Also, demand must go up and down depending on how much stuff people desire at any one time. With such realities in mind, there must only be a certain amount of profit to go around. Considering that I am cheap, and a worker, then all workers must be cheap while other classes must not be cheap. That seems to be a very strange situation to me. The people who are doing most of the work and turning out most of the production are getting the least amount of the profit simply because they do not own the means of production. So, I am cheap because I do not own the means of production. So, my value as a human being, in the scope of economics, is based on my ownership of the means of production.

This brings up a larger sense of wonderment for me. How is ownership of production determined in the first place? It would seem natural that those who use something daily would be the owner of said thing. If most of the production is coming from the workers, and these same people are the ones using the means of production daily, they should naturally be the owners and the ones getting the majority of the benefit. Yet, this is not true at all. So, it is the overall class struggle which more fully explains why I am cheap while those of the higher classes are not cheap.

Okay....so by understanding exactly why I am cheap while others are not it seems there is only one choice for, not only me, but for everyone in the worker class to benefit more from the profit of our labor; law of opposites and negation must happen. What is `Law of Opposites` and `Negation?`

Law of Opposites=When who different groups, who are interdependent, have a disagreement which they are unable to resolve. They will oppose each other, and all production can sometimes stop, until an agreement can be made which resolves the disagreement.

Negation=When there are two groups and one group controls the other. The lower group seeks to attain the benefit of the higher group. The lower group will take steps to destroy the higher group and become their replacement. This process can often repeat itself many times until there is no longer a lower group.


The worker class wants more of the benefit of the `extra value of labor` or profit so the worker class will oppose the bourgeoisie until an agreement can be reached in which the `extra value of labor` is more evenly distributed among the different classes. This could take many forms and express itself in any number of ways.

Overtime, the working class will learn all the ways in which the bourgeoisie maintain their control of the means of production and will seek to view the bourgeoisie as a useless class. Replacing the bourgeoisie as the owners of production with the working class will result in negation. Only when that happens no one in the working class will be cheap any longer.

How is all of this achieved? Well, that is something to be thought about another day.


*This is a restart of this blog of sorts. There are many ideas and concepts which I want to express a rethinking about. I hope you will go on this journey with me. 

Sick of The Profit Margin

Your man of liberty is sick. I am very sick. In fact, I am so sick that I find it hard to keep from puking my cuts up on a daily basis. Day after day of seeing so many people willfully sell out all for the purpose of chasing a fraction of the profit margin guaranteed to a ruling class of sociopaths before hand. It is true you know....we are ruled by a unique brand of sociopaths who could care less about the common person. It is all about the money for these people. The money is their end goal. It is not power or control really; although those are methods commonly used to increase the profit margin. The profit margin is the beginning and the end. There is nothing more and nothing less. Even the social contract, which is meant to be an agreement between the people and the government, is seen as a tool to be twisted and used for the end goal of increasing the profit margin.

I am sure you can see it all around you and how this never ending desire to chase the profit margin effects everyone`s life.

I used to be one of those people who thought that the profit margin was the be all and end all of pretty much everything. I used to chase the very small fractional piece of the profit margin which is dangled on a stick in front of my face. I also used to think that if I just work hard enough, I could increase my share of that fractional piece of profit. Yet, now it is very clear to me that it does not matter how hard I work, nor how much I sell out, I will never be able to gain access to the top of the towers of capitalism. Even if I do get a piece of that fractional profit margin, I will never be able to really benefit from all of my hard work honestly. I will have to totally sell out my mind body and human spirit to the gods of capitalism to even have a minor chance of living `the good life.` The capitalist profit margin does not allow anyone to maintain high morals of having care and concern for their fellow human. What I do is try my best at work and try to survive on what tiny fraction of the profit margin which is afforded to me. Some may say that it is easy to say that because I am not `rich` or that I am simply complaining because I am too `lazy` to work hard enough have a high amount of money. Well, people who would say that must be living in a dream world or have never seen the conditions on the ground.

I have seen exactly what chasing the profit margin does to the common people time and time again. I meet people who are very good people. They have a good heart and really care about those around them daily. I see these same people sell out and step on almost everyone who are not in there own little bubble all for the purpose of chasing a tiny fraction of the profit margin. They will go from caring and loving to cold and brutal as soon as profit comes into play. I could give you example after example of this but I am not a man who feels comfortable naming names of the common people who engage in this kind of behavior. Yet, this endless cycle of dog eat dog and `I will get mine at all cost` does happen all the time. It is directly related to chasing the profit margin.

What these otherwise good people fail to realize is that they will never truly get their fair share of the profit margin. They will not get their fair share because they, just like me, have no control over the means of production. Their labor is not their own. The moment they start working for those who do control the means of production they lose all ability to truly reach beyond chasing after a tiny fraction of the profit margin. They will spend many years stepping on their fellow worker and human being chasing something which will never equal the production of their labor.

This is the reason I am sick of the profit margin under capitalism. It makes people cold blooded and willing to do anything to reach for something which will never equal the production of their labor.

The Other Path to Liberty

Any man of liberty should never stop seeking the heart of liberty itself. It is a journey which is deep in understanding; in the mind, body and spirit. This mostly hidden blog of mine has so far expressed a libertarian journey to liberty. A path which I have come to understand as having major contradictions of which I have spent many years trying to work out in my head. As a member of the so-called `Generation X` pure hardcore libertarianism  had always seemed to be a perfect fit for the times I live in. The fat days of our parents, for my parents those days were never so fat, seemed to be forever out of my reach. I simply had the hardest time seeing how I could enjoy a comfortable life in this post-modern age without having to be a brutal capitalist bastard willing to do just about anything to get ahead. I even tossed away my own father`s socialist/coal miner union roots in order to chase something which would never be my own. I did everything I could in an effort to escape the hardship of my parents.

It is important, at this point, to touch on my parents for a bit. My parents comes from the working class. My mother`s life is complex due to the divorce of her parents when she was very young. Her father(RIP) came from a very strong Scottish working class background. Her mother(RIP) was full blood Cherokee native American. Sadly, the marriage did not last and my mother was brought up by her uncle on her father`s side. My mother has always been very in touch with her emotions. She has always told me that I am a unique boy and that I should never let people knock me down. She made a fighter out of me.
My father(RIP) came from a hard working, hard drinking miner union family. My Father`s father(RIP) was a tall strong American-German with a heart of gold and a liver designed for massive abuse. His mother(RIP) came from a Irish background. She was a strong women who gave birth to many children. In their early days they ran a sandwich shop in Virginia. From what I was told, they mostly served working class men who worked too hard for very little pay. For some reason the shop was unable to make enough money, so they moved to West Virginia and into the mines Grand dad Smith did go. The rest is a history of striking minters, guns and a history of the Smith family which is better told another day.

Those are my roots. Something which took me a long time to come to terms with. After leaving the world of the privileged west and traveling to several unique nations and cultures, I have come to accept my background more fully than I ever have before. I spent all that time trying to escape things which were my foundation; the things which have shaped me if I like it or not.

Yet, even as I struggled from job to job and found myself taking on the debt of college tuition, I still had not realized what was going on around me. Until the past two years I was totally fixed on the idea that if I worked hard enough that comfortable life would be waiting for me. Even when I was a dish washer and living in a one room apartment I still thought that if I just kept on pushing forward good things awaited me. All that time I was unable to really see that certain material conditions were preventing me from ever fully escaping working class status. No matter how brutal I played the capitalist game, I was still just spinning my wheels.

All these years later I have come to realize what the problem is; The majority of the benefit from my labor is handed off to those who control the majority of the capital. That situation is not only true for me but for the majority of the people. As long as a minority controls the benefit of the majority`s labor, how can anyone really hope to achieve that picture perfect `comfortable life` we are all promised if we just work hard enough? It appears to be a pipe dream meant to keep everyone working themselves to death for a tiny fraction of the benefit from their labor. How can those who preach the Chicago School and Economics and glory of free market libertarianism justify this clear contraction of material conditions? I tried for years to justify it in my head and I simply can on longer defend the `morals` of no holds barred take no prisoners Capitalism. There is little humanity in it and it leads to the majority of people not fully benefiting from the output of the economy.

The common person deserves to get more benefit from all those profits from their own labor.

There are people who work really hard and never taste any of that comfortable life the capitalist class talks about all the time. I have seen people work like dogs before and get almost nothing for their efforts. There are countless people who are doing the majority of the work and getting little in the way of a return. There are people who work 10+ hours a day and get a tiny little paycheck which only barely keeps them alive. I find very little morals in such a situation.

For everything I just mentioned, and many other reasons, I cannot no longer call myself a libertarian. It is something many people ID me with and it has not been true about me for a while now. I feel we need a fully mixed system. A system in which the needs of common person will never come before profit. A system in which the people who are actually doing all the production have more control over the means of production. What we need,  now more than ever, a more socialist system.

The exact kind of socialist system I am not sure of yet. Which is why I have decided to use this blog in a two fold manner. One: To serve as a log of the my past thoughts on libertarian ideas(some of those may be revisited). Two: To explore the kind of socialist system which would best serve modern society.

This should be interesting to say the least.

Internet to Traditional Media: We Are Better At This Than You

Those of us who are in our early 30's are part of the last generation who remembers life without the internet. If you did not know, there was in fact a time when there were no email, chat rooms,social networks,youtube, google, wiki, smartphones or downloading. There was even a time, not all that long ago, when traditional media WAS the media. Yet, those days are long gone. Now the internet is at the center for all human thought and creativity. We have also reached a point in which the internet has become better at doing what traditional media used to be the kings of. The internet is now better at, not only creating and spreading media, but also better at making money from all that creating and spreading.

If you are willing to spend enough time and effort on the net, you can make a whole hell of a lot of money. There are countless people making a boat load of cash by creating and spreading their own media. The net has allowed all of us to get a piece of the action. The basics of the net model is actually pretty simple. It has two basic forms. One form is to give all your products and services away for free to the end user. You develop all the products and services yourself and tell everyone to 'come and get it!' If what you are giving away is useful and popular, you generate a lot of traffic pretty quickly. There are also a lot of other people who want to sell their products but lack the amount of traffic you got. So, you sale ad space to those people who want to sell something. In turn, you make a lot of money from ad revenue. Everyone wins! The prime example of this is Google.

The second basic method is to form a partnership with a company or another person. Let's say someone has developed a really cool way to distribute content but they cannot produce all the needed content to drive enough traffic to sale ad revenue. So, they partner with other people to produce the needed content. The partners make a little money every time their content brings traffic. Again, everyone wins. Youtube is the prime example of this.

These two very basic methods of making money on the net sound like something everyone would be on board with; right? WRONG!  There is a big problem with making money on the net which makes traditional media damn angry. The net cuts out the middle man and allows everything to be shared, downloaded and viewed by pretty much anyone at anytime. You no longer have to turn on the TV,  go to the local news stand,go to the CD store, a rental shop or even a movie theater to get the media of your desire. You can get any type of media you want quickly from your fellow net users. There is no way in hell traditional media can match the level of distribution the internet can. Traditional media is dead in the water if the net keeps developing in the way it is now. The outdated traditional media needed to find a way to stop this crazy thing called the internet. What did they come up with? Copyright laws!

The outdated media is now attempting to use their outdated laws to shut down the internet. Sounds crazy but that is exactly what is happening. At first, the old media did not have much success using their outdated laws. Then in 1992 the Audio Home Recording Act came into law(know as chapter 10 in US copyright law).  It did two things: It allowed people to make home copies of copyrighted material and share it between friends. It also required that all DAT recorders to included The Serial Copy Management System; which prevented the end user from making a copy of a copy.  Well, this worked for a while until, of course, people found a way around this. It seems that people were way more creative then the old media thought they were. In 1998 the Digital Millennium Copyright Act came into law(known as chapter 5 subsection 512 of US copyright law). This was the first law used to limit the internet. It was not exactly what old media wanted but it was close. The DMCA made it illegal to store or transmit material which was copyrighted. It also made it harder to use parts of copyrighted material to create something new. Although, it did not make it illegal to share something copyrighted or to provided a link to something which was copyrighted. So, if you stored something copyrighted and transmitted it over the net, your ass was busted. It did not make service providers liable or require them to police which material is transmitted over their networks. Of source, you cannot enforce such a law on the net because the net behaves in such a way which leads to copyrighted material being used in a way which the old media never intended. So, the net laughed and kept on making money using the new internet model.

As the internet continued to evolve and new and exciting ways of creating, sharing and making money developed, the old media damn near had a heart attack. It became very clear that the outdated copyright laws were unable to control the internet. It was even more clear to the internet that the outdated copyright laws got in the way of being creative and cutting out the middle man. Then along comes SOPA(known as HR.3261.IH in the US Congress). SOPA, as most of you know, would finally give the old media exactly what they wanted. It would make it illegal to share, link, talk about or transmit any material deemed to be copyrighted. Also, service providers and websites would be liable for the actions of users. SOPA, as we all know, would kill the internet. There is no way in hell the internet could operate under SOPA. The net has evolved way past SOPA. The framework of the net is not designed to be manage in such a way as SOPA thinks it does. So, the net finally fought back. Major websites carried out a blackout to show Congress, and net users, what a SOPA net would be like. Common since won out and for now SOPA is dead.

Yet, the attack on the net took a very different turn. By way of the UN, another weapon from the old media has hit the net. ACTA(link provides all sections of the treaty)  is now the latest attempt to stop the net from doing what it does best; create, share and make money from the fluid open flow of information without the use of a middle man.  ACTA is being carried out though the UN. Using the UN in this way is a excellent way to by pass the people of all sovereign nations. ACTA creates an international agency to police anti-piracy in several industries including the internet. It does pretty much the same thing SOPA aims to do but without the consent of the people of sovereign nations. And as you might have guessed Obama signed ACTA while giving strong support at the same time. ACTA is the real internet kill switch everyone has been talking about for several years now. A independent agency which answers to no sovereign government would have the power to shut down any part of the internet at a moments notice if a company says a website has something copyrighted on it in any way shape or form. So, many leaders from many nations are signing up for ACTA without approval from their domestic governments. The battle for a free and open internet is not over by a long shot. Until then the internet will keep doing what it does best; being better at doing what the traditional media used to do.     

Freedom of Speech Is the Right to Offend Everyone

Howdy! Yes, your man of liberty has returned to this little blog. Time to dust off the tables and sweep up a bit. It has been a while so please excuse the mess.

Anyway...

This blog has always focused on Libertarian ideas and issues. Well, with that in mind I was watching an interview that Larry Flynt and Jerry Falwell did on Larry King back in 1996(watch it by clicking here) and it got me thinking about if freedom of speech actually has any limits. Of course my first response is HELL NO! Freedom of speech and freedom of expression should, in theory, have no limits at all. Yet, in reality the only real limits in the case of free speech and expression is slander and liable. Both slander and liable are not easy to prove in the court of law because you must prove that what was said or expressed was meant to damage, by way of lying, a person's ability to maintain a job and live within their community. You can also sue someone in civil court for emotional damages if what was said or expressed caused you deep emotional trauma. In both situations, it is very subjective and comes down to a matter of taste in the majority of cases within the US court system.

I did mention Larry Flynt, so before going forward let's take a look at his battle with Falwell all those years ago. Flynt thought it was damn funny to publish a parody of Falwell. So, in Hustler magazine Flynt published a parody ad of Falwell having sex with his mother in an outhouse(after first kicking the goat out of course). It was meant as a joke to give working class people, the majority of Hustlers readership, a good cheap laugh. Well, Falwell took offense to this and dragged Flynt and his company though a long court battle which took years to finally resolve. It was clear from the start that Falwell was not going to win this case in the end. The supreme court finally had to get involved and of course ruled in Flynt's favor. Yes, Flynt lied about the sexual history of Falwell but he did not intend to cause damage to Falwell's ability to maintain a job or live within the community. He was simply expressing himself and making a joke. It was clearly stated under the ad in question that it was a parody and meant as humor. So, what we can learn from that is freedom of speech cannot be limited on matters of taste. The fact that Flynt made an off color joke in a magazine intended to be risky and adult themed is not a violation of Falwell's right to live peacefully in his own community. Nor did such a joke damage Falwell's ability to maintain his job. Yes, Falwell was really offended but it is highly unlikely he suffered any deep emotional trauma. In the case of Flynt VS. Falwell, it is perfectly legal to offend another person in the United States of America.

Now, let's look at another example from, my current home for almost six years, Tokyo, Japan. The laws on freedom of speech and expression are pretty much the same in Japan except for a few minor differences. I will not get into Japanese free speech laws at this time. What I want to point out is the difference between violating someone's rights under the natural law of liberty vs. simply expressing yourself in a manner which might offend others. I took the picture featured in this post at Shibuya, Tokyo. It was in the early evening when a truck rolled by with an ad featuring a row of almost naked young women. The ad was for some web site which had little to do with beautiful young women. In Japan, such types of ads are so common that it is really rare for anyone to feel deeply offended. This truck was driving around the main section of Shibuya to expose this companies ad to as many people as possible. Let's use the America idea of freedom of speech and expression to judge if this ad damages the local business's  ability to make money and exist in the community. If this trucking company regularly drives ad trucks around Shibuya featuring almost naked young girls promoting a variety of products, and sales of several businesses in the area drop during the same time, is the trucking company liable for damages caused by the ad?

Frist of all, we would have to prove that the ads directly lead to a drop in sales for the local businesses. The only two ways to do that would be to get ahold of public complaints filed concerning the ads or customers saying, on record, they will not shop at the area due to the ads. Even if you have both of those things it would still be very hard to prove the trucking company is liable for damages. Shibuya is an area in which there are plenty of ads featuring half naked young women. So, it becomes clear very quickly that being offended does not fall into the terms of liable or slander.

It would appear that freedom of speech and expression also includes the right to offend everyone. Morality or personal taste has no bearing on freedom of speech or expression. Like wise, if someone does say something which offends you, it is your right to respond to what was said. You cannot respond with violence or attempt to damage someone's ability to maintain their job or live peacefully within their community. A war of words is the only proper way to respond to speech which offends you; under the natural laws of liberty.

The Power of the Tenth

2011 has now arrived. Many American`s, having no job and losing hope daily, still found a way to smile and ring in the new year. Now that all the cheap wine has been drank and merry making is over we are still left with the question; How to we take our nation back? So many people are left scratching their heads as to what to do. For many liberty lovers it seems everything attempted to restore liberty to Americans ends in failure. The big knock out blow to government tyranny seems to be unattainable. Maybe it is time to bring out the secret weapon. The one thing which always scares the scum bags running the Federal government is of course the tenth amendment of the US Constitution.

The Tenth Amendment reads as follows:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

In short the tenth amendment states that any power not granted to the Federal government,by the US Constitution, is a power of a state or the people directly.

The tenth amendment is often dismissed as simply overstating the already clearly defined relationship between the Federal and State governments. It is also seen as something not to be invoked due to the fact that the tenth was used by the Southern States as a way to justify seceding from the Union during the civil war. The latter point is used by many to dismiss anyone invoking the tenth as grounds to claim the Federal government has overstepped its bounds. Yet, these `talking points` commonly used to marginalize the tenth fail to take from it the power to keep the Federal government in check. Just because it is hard to invoked the tenth successfully, does not mean to cannot be done.

How can the tenth be used to get the Federal government under control? This is a question which gets asked often. Well, there are many things which the Federal government does these days which can be challenged by invoking the tenth amendment. The most effective way to use the tenth is in situations in which the Federal government makes agreements or treaties without making the same agreements or treaties with the states. This becomes very important when you consider all the various treaties the Federal government makes with the UN; just as an example.

Lets take the UN gun ban (which you can read a bit about here) that is slowly coming to realization in the chambers of the UN. This planned treaty would start the process of banning private gun ownership by the central governments of all member nations. Under certain conditions, the Congress could actually ratify this and the Supreme Court could give them a legal pass. Yet, this does not mean that the local state government would be powerless to stop such a clear attack on personal liberty and national sovereignty. The tenth amendment would have to be used by the state governments to block Federal authority.

Some might argue that since the Senate represents, in theory, the states then by the Senate ratifying such a treaty than an agreement will have been reached with the states. This is not true. The Senate is part of the Federal government and makes laws within the power of the Federal government; not the actual states themselves. A national gun ban would be completely out of line with the US constitution; even if the supreme court fails to make a ruling throwing out such a ban. At that point the tenth amendment would come into play. The states would invoked the tenth under the grounds that the only agreement the states have made with the Federal government, concerning the people`s right the hold arms, is the second amendment. The states would reserve the power to regulate fire arms sales and ownership since the Federal government does not have such power from within each state. So the Federal government could sign a UN treaty to ban fire arms but it would only apply on Federal property or outside of a union state(which is all states).

Now this may be a bit of a extreme example, based on something actually happening in UN chambers, but it does outline how the tenth can be used to keep the Federal government in check. Keep in mind the Federal government often abuses the ethos of common law to get around the tenth. This is why it can be hard to invoke the tenth amendment successfully. When attempting to use the tenth amendment a lot of research must be undertaken to ensure the Federal government does not use end-around tactics in common law to dismiss a tenth amendment argument.

For an extra case study in using the tenth amendment on a personal level to protect yourself from Federal intrusion read this.             

 

21st Century Liberty(New Year`s Edition)-Freezing, Starving, and Record Profits

It has been 18 days since my last post here on The Ghost of Liberty. Don`t worry I am not dead nor have I been arrested. December is usually a busy month for many folks and I am no exception. Although, this season is not so happy for many of our fellow Americans. Poverty has become widespread in our nation. So many people are living on the streets or in half-way houses. There are sure to be many people who will freeze to death during the winter snow storm currently engulfing the east coast. Many of our little ones are going hungry as their parents simply cannot provide them with food. Santa will not visit millions of families this year because they did not pay their bills to the bank. Speaking of banks, many of the nation`s biggest banks have been reporting record profits in 2010. All those people who are starving and freezing to death this winter bailed out those banks in order to insure record profits will be had in 2010. This is the face of American liberty in the 21st century.

It appears that becoming penniless and homeless in the land our forefathers built is the `new way` in modern America. Not only have our leaders sold us out, they have also decided to molest and abuse us when we make an attempt to travel. Yet, though all the suffering, hunger, and humiliation the banks are cleaning up and somehow America is recovering from a economic meltdown. The Federal government gave the people`s money away to the banks and in return the banks took everything from the American people. The United States made an investment in the nation`s largest banks and we have lost everything. We trusted our leaders to do the right thing and they sold us out to greedy cold blooded bankers. It has got to be very clear to the average citizen they have been robbed. How can anyone still believe that the bankers have not set them up and stole the nation`s riches. America got played for a fool big time!

As Americans eat pea soup, sleep on the streets, and listen to their children beg them for food remember why there are no jobs, heat, or food this holiday season. Remember who stole our money. Remember who sold us out. Remember it is time to get mad as hell!       

Geraldo Rivera Calls O`Reilly Out on Federal Stings to Create Terrorist.

The mainstream media can be a fun circus to watch at times. When your brain is so burnt out that only the lowest standards of debate and reporting can keep your attention, it is time for cable news. The cable news in post-modern America is a Stainest vision of how to convince the people that government is good for them. All the time and man power put into `creating the news` might just be the largest fascist corporate propaganda machine in the history of mankind. It sickens the soul to think that they put some slick `professional journalist` with a big white smile praising every action taken by the grand Federal government. Yet, sometimes the raw truth forces it`s way to the surface.

Case in point is the unusual news stories Geraldo Rivera has been picking up over at Fox News Network as of late. This sold out monkey of the corporate media has been pretending to be a journalist of the people since the 80`s. Back then he was busy getting his noise broken by Neo-Nazi`s. These days be is just another gear in the Fox News machine. Yet, we may have hard on Rivera over the years. Recently, as I pointed out in an earlier post Rivera did an entire segment on WTC ' with a group of professionals and victim`s family member. The interview was done on fair grounds and Rivera not once attack his guest. Such `reporting` on any cable news network is rare.

Rivera is at it again, only this time he is mixing it up with the pissed off neo-con Bill O`Reilly. The report was on a young kid in America getting arrested for trying to blow up a Federal building. The report is so clearly pointing out the fact that the government set this kid up was too much for Rivera to keep silent.

         

US government tracking Americans Without Warrent Though Use of a `Hotwatch`

American used to project an image of `The land of freedom` to the world. Yet, it seems these days the only image America projects is war,greed, empire and fascism.  As an American, it is not easy for your man of liberty to write such words but the truth is written on the wall. Of the numerous policies which destroy liberty in America, the one which may be ruining personal liberty in American the most tracking of US citizens by the Federal government. 

Most people are aware of the warrantless wiretapping program which was put in place by Bush W. and maintained by Obama. What has made this policy truly disturbing is that the Federal Government not only was out in the open about it but also defended secretly tracking US citizens without warrants and little or no oversight. At this point one would think that tracking phone calls, e-mails, and text messages would be enough but there seems to be no end to the Federal government desire to track US citizens every move. Due to the efforts of blogger Christopher Soghoian documents have been released which show the Federal Government tracking US citizen`s purchases without warrant and without the person targeted knowledge. As shocking as this new level of government tyranny is, I have no choice but to report that it all true.  The document which Chris pressured to get released details exactly how, and by which methods, the Federal government uses so-called Hotwatch tracking to see what any American buys. You can read the doc. by clicking here.

What makes this kind of spying program truly disturbing is that while the released docs. explain what kind of purchases they target and the method of going about it, what it leaves out is the standard to engage in such activity. This document, which took Chris over a year and a half to get release, contains no mention of a need to ask the courts for permission to engage in tracking a US citizen`s financial transactions. On page three of the ten page government doc. is clearly states the number one way in which such authority is granted is by `Administrative subpoena with a court order for non-disclosure.` In short, the government has agents signing off on their own orders to track US citizen`s financial transactions. The teeth of such an order is only a court order which prevents or bank or company from informing the person targeted.

With such a system in place the government now has FBI and CIA agents running around targeting anyone they want for pretty much any reason as long as they say it is for, `an ongoing investigation.` There is no oversight and the courts can do little to stop it. The level of corruption and revenge such policy creates must be massive. With the right paperwork any US citizen can have almost any financial transaction they do tracked and recorded by the government. The docs. express no standard so we can only assume government agents can order a `Hotwatch` whenever they want. When people talk about a police state this is what they are talking about.            

The World Does Not Need It`s American Hero Anymore.

Your man of liberty is always watching, reading and researching the state of liberty in our increasingly complex world. As I was making my rounds on the internet, I ran across an article by famed Libertarian and American Conservative Patrick J. Buchanan. The title of the article is Why are we still in Korea? He pulls no punches in this article and lays out some very clear points about how the old post WW2/Cold War Alliances no longer benefit our grand nation. It should be clear to just about anyone but sadly most of our fellow American brothers just don`t get it. America has long over served it`s role as the world`s hero.

There really is no need for us to have military bases all over the world anymore. Korea is a perfect example of how an American military presence makes things worse not better. For starters the only reason we are in Korea is due to the fact the nation is a ex-colony of Japan. After the war is was necessary for America to set up camp in Korea because Japan had no ability to keep the region stable. America had a responsibility to stabilize East Asia because we had taken over control of Japan; thus ending the Japanese Empire. After an intense war with North Korea we end up staring each other down at the DMZ for over 50 years now. All those years later things are very different. South Korea is one of the strongest nations in Asia with respect to its economy and military. The North Korean military is in a very sad condition. Their military technology is way behind the rest of the world. There is no way the North could muster any kind of fight against the South. Simply put America is not needed in Korea anymore.

What about Japan? Japan ranks sixth in the world for military spending. The military of Japan is highly advanced and fully able to defend itself. They have one of the top economies in the world. Japan is a stable nation and has been for a very long time. The Japanese face very little threat to their nation. They have strong political ties to many of their neighbors. If Japan was attacked by the more aggressive Communist China there is no question they could defend their island nation with no help from the US. While China puts on a front of being unafraid of war, it would be clearly a major disadvantage for them to wage war with any nation in Asia. In reality Japan has very little need for the US military.

So why are we so stuck on the idea that the world needs us? It seems America has a military Empire and does not want to give it up. Despite the fact that most nations with a US military presence have very little need for a foreign army, American insist we must protect people who don`t want to be protected. East Asia is a prime example of the American military Empire having little usefulness in the modern era. We fight the enemies of others because we have no enemies of our own who could pose any threat to our mighty nation.

Our military even goes as far as to look for a fight to be had with other nations. Currently The USS George Washington has left Japan and is meeting up with South Korean forces to engage in military war games as a way to show North Korea just how powerful the American military is. The North has already said they are ready for war and will respond with military action if we come any where close to their border. Our military is provoking a war when it is none of our business in the first place. Even China has told America to return the USS George Washington back to Japan. It is clear our military in East Asia provokes notions of war.

When will the American Hero understand it is time to come home?      

The GOP Having Trouble Holding it Together On Earmark Ban

As anyone with a real sense of liberty is fully aware, the left/right bipolar political establishment in America is nothing more than two management teams fighting for control of the same dirty government. Both so-called parties do not have our interest in mind. Yet, as long as they are in control we must work within this system to restore true liberty and Constitutional law to our grand nation. So then the GOP conference voted on a complete ban on all earmarks, liberty minded citizens took notice. Your man of liberty reported on this event which you can read here. To to shock and awe of libertarians, and liberty minded people in general, the GOP conference voted for an all out ban on earmarks for the 112th Congress. Well as it turns out the GOP may not be ready to stick to their guns on a complete ban on earmarks.

All the heat is centered around H.R. 4783 which pretty much hands out money to settle a disagreement on behave of black farmers and Native American tribes over discrimination they say was carried out by the Department of Agriculture. Now to say that this issue should have never reach the level of a bill in the congress is an understatement. The Dept. of Agriculture clearly failed to deal with this long standing issue. The DOA should have never let it get to this point. The DOA should have dealt with this though the courts or even better allocated money, which they already had on hand, to the states to deal with it. Yet, like a gang of cowards they stoned walled the entire issue and forced Congress to create a spending bill to take care of it. The DOA did this clearly in order to protect their own budget from taking a hit. So a spending bill was created and moved though Congress which put the earmark ban to the test.

From the looks of things GOP leaders were unable to hold to their own rule of banning earmarks. Arizona Sen. John Kyle just could not resist adding an earmark into H.R. 4783. The Senator added a earmark setting aside 200,000,000 billion dollars to settle a Arizona Native American water rights dispute. This super large earmark will be used to make snow at a ski resort, improve water access for some Casinos, and build fish hatcheries. The sad thing about this is that if Arizona did not have to send so much money out of their state and into the hands of the Federal government they could have dealt with this at a state level.

This issue just goes to show the state of Washington. Yet another unconstitutional Department gets into hot water and sets on their hands out of fear of having their budget taking a hit. Congress has to get involved and create a bill which spends even more money. This in turn catches the attention of Arizona, which has a large settlement to take of, which is related to the bill in question. Add to all of this the fact that if Arizona could keep more of their state revenue in the state they could have paid the settlement from their own treasury.

The devil in all of this is Federal taxing being totally out of control. The states or the courts cannot really handle these kinds of issues due in large part to the high amount of Federal taxing. Not even one of Washington`s many Departments can handle disputes involving money because Congress looks for any reason to suck more money out of any section of the government which causes problems. If the DOA actually did decide to settle this issue though the courts or with good old fashion negotiation rest assured Congress would cut their budget and hand it to the Pentagon. Every time an earmark comes up in a bill we will see the insanity of Federal spending.  

H.R. 6416 Would Make the TSA Liable For Assaulting Travelers

Everyone should be aware of the situation with TSA at airports across America at this point. The agency has been carrying out policies which are something one would expect in Communist China. The naked body scanners have been firing dangerous potently cancer causing X-rays at travelers. If travelers choose to opt out they have been subjected to pat downs similar to rape or at least sexual assault. Countless Americans are reporting being groped, including women and young children. The situation has gotten so bad that many Americans are refusing to fly all together. The outrage Americans have against the TSA has now been expressed in the form of legislation.

H.R. 6416 recently introduced in the house by Rep. Ron Paul from Texas would strip the TSA of any immunity from lawsuits filed against it. The bill, commonly know as the American Traveler Dignity Act of 2010 prevents any law from being enacted which offers immunity to any Federal employee, agency, individual or entity, which receives federal funds, who subjects a person to physical contact to board an airplane. In short, if this bill becomes law any TSA agent who gropes or sexually assaults someone during a security check can end up getting their ass sued.

Some of you may be wondering why the states have not taken action against the TSA. Why must it take such extreme means to keep the TSA in line? It is true that the states could kick the TSA out of their airports very easily. The states have the power to refuse any federal law,regulation or agency under the guide line of the 10th Amendment. This does not happen because all the State Attorney Generals would rather protect their own political future than directly go up against the Federal government on a states rights issues like a Federal agencies legal ability to operate within said state. There is also the fact that most State Congresses take a complaint filed against the Federal government by a State Attorney General very seriously. If could mean political suicide if he/she gets it wrong. A keen State Attorney General will wait until a good amount of complaints have been filed with his/her office and then serve those complaints in the form of a class action lawsuit;thus avoiding a direct states rights clash with lawmakers.

H.R. 6416 bypasses politically compromised Attorney Generals by giving the people the direct power to sue the TSA though the courts. It would be a up hill fight to get this bill all the way to the presidents desk but it could happen if enough pressure is placed on Federal lawmakers in Washington. Yet to think in more reality based terms if the bill gets a lot of co-sponsors and becomes a hot bill in Washington the TSA would be scared into ending its current security policy at airports. If this bill gains support rest assured the TSA would reconsider what it is doing to the American people.         

Silver Manipulation By JP Morgan Brings Lawsuit

At this point anyone who has really been paying attention knows that the banking elite have made a mess of the world economy. You should also understand by now that these same banking elite have continued to suck the world dry while at the same time watch it slowly die. What started as a bubble crash in the US housing market quickly spread into a world economic breakdown. People across the United States are losing everything they have worked so hard for while the banking elite get rich beyond their wildest dreams.

As the truth comes out about how the banks stole from everyone and pulled the world into a deep dark hole of endless debt, there are some signs that these international criminals are not getting away with their dirty deeds completely. The silver market has been one which has always been covered in controversy. For years there have been those who have accused big banks of manipulating the silver market. It appears that JP Morgan and HSBC are in hot water as a class action law suit accusing both banks of conspiracy and manipulation of the silver futures market was filed in early November.

The lawsuit centers around June 2008 when JP Morgan took over Bears Stearns. This takeover also handed JP Morgan all of Bears Stearns short positions in the silver market. JP Morgan then teamed up with HSBC to buy as many silver short positions as they could in order to artificially depress the price of silver. Investors lost big time while JP Morgan and HSBC made a huge profit in the process. By controlling a majority of the silver short position contracts the two banks could sale silver shares when they did not actually have any real silver on hand.. They did this over and over again. They would sale silver they never had, and because the price was so low, buy those contracts back and resale them. This kind of business is very illegal to say the least.

This recent lawsuit is just latest suit filed against JP Morgan and HSBC. Back in October of this year two separate lawsuits were filed claiming that two investors had sold silver contracts and lost money due to the actions of JP Morgan and HSBC.

This is the point we have reached with the elite bankers. During this entire Global Economic Meltdown time and time again we have seen banksters do everything they can to suck everyone dry. They want it all at this point and have shown to have the ability to do anything to get it. Nothing is safe in the current economic environment. The international banks are being more ruthless than they have ever been in the past. The more they get the more than want. The level of greed is sickening. The illegal actions of JP Morgan and HSBC only scratch the surface of crimes committed by international banksters. The more people start to wake up and look into what is really going on expect more lawsuits in the future.

Yet, lawsuits are not going to be enough to dismantle the criminal banking system. Direct action always has an effect which no lawsuit can match. Market expert Max Keiser is calling for a run on silver. Keiser calls for people to start to buy just 1 oz of silver and demand physical delivery. JP Morgan does not have enough real silver to keep up with added stress on the market. If a massive amount of people started buying just one or two ounces of silver it would crash JP Morgan for sure. I did it and others should as well.           

TSA Naked Body Scanners and Excessive Pat Down Debate Heating Up.

The issue of Naked Body Scanners and groping at airports by the TSA is heating up as more and more Americans are voicing outrage citing health concerns and personal liberty violations. What started out as a few unfortunate events in which women were touched in degrading fashion has become what appears to be the norm as more travelers across the nation as complaining that are being touched in ways which are offensive. 

The new security protocols put into common practice by the TSA have upset American to the point of proactive resistance. The Independent Union of Airline Pilots has issued a warning to all union members to outright refuse submitting to a naked body scan citing health concern that the scanners increase the risk of cancer. The union is also urging all members that a pat down be done in private to the excessive groping involved. As we all know when unions start refusing to comply with policy that situation is reaching a head. Union leader Captain Dave Bates issued a letters to all pilots to begin an outright revolt against the new TSA security protocols which was publish by the Atlantic. You can read the letter by clicking here.

The entire issue brings up an even larger issue in modern America. What is the line which government stops and personal liberty starts?  Many Americans feel they are free and the government cannot control their lives. It is in the American spirit to resist any type of government tyranny which is forced on them. To tell a citizen in US that they must do what the government says and there is no other choice is similar to declaring citizens are slaves. The system of the US government structure was created to put the citizens in charge of the nation. If the citizens do not want the government to do something then Washington must obey. In short Washington is confused about who is really in charge in the United States. So where is the line? 

Some citizens are fighting back and showing Washington who is in charge. Captain Dave Bates has refused both the body scanners and any pat down. He now faces loosing his job because the TSA will not allow him to go to work. If you cannot trust the pilots then who can you trust?   

Geraldo Rivera Gives 9/11 Truth a Voice

The internet is a buzz over a recent piece T.V. personally Geraldo Rivera did which features Bob McIllvaine and Tony Szamboti. Both men are major proponents for a new 9/11 government investigation. The question of if you believe 9/11 was an inside job or not becomes a side issue when you consider that Rivera has been one of the loudest voices against the 9/11 truth movement. This sudden about face is almost unheard of in modern corp. media. How Rivera got this approved by this bosses is anyone's guess.

This event is huge given the fact the corp. media almost never features 9/11 truth in a positive light on equal footing. In the past the corp. media has attacked mocked and called for the heads of 9/11 truth supporters. Rivera himself once flipped his middle finger at a crowd of loud protesters during a `street` interview. It seemed that the corp. media had decided who their punching bag was and 9/11 truth was an easy target. Bill O`Reily  once had a young man who questioned 9/11 on his show and proceeded to berate the gentlemen with insults and threats. If Rivera`s recent piece is a sign that the 9/11 truth movement may be off the corp. media`s hit list we could see more things like this in the future.

Of course the questions that millions of American have deserve to be asked, debated, and looked into with merit and fairness. If all turns out to be nothing more than unconnected facts then that is actually great but the questions about 9/11 must first be asked in the public forum in a non-hostile environment.

No one knows exactly Rivera is having a sudden change of heart but the time being some serious questions are getting a change to breath in the open air a bit.

Below is the video of the interview Rivera did on WTC Building 7

   

GOP Senators to vote on Earmark Ban

On November 16,2010 all current GOP senators and GOP senate elect leaders will vote on a moratorium to ban all GOP earmark spending during the 112th Congressional cycle.  The Republican Conference, which happens before the start of each new Congressional cycle, is a time when the GOP sets it`s agenda and votes on key policies. This years Conference is vital as many newly elected GOP leaders in the Senate are under pressure from voters demanding cuts in spending. While many GOP members have already stated how they are going to vote on the ban, there are still many senators who not said which way they plan to vote. The actual vote is planned to happen very soon so contacting your Federal senator is very important so they know the will of the people loud and clear.

Earmarks, or in Washington `pork,` is money set aside in a spending bill for an individual senators pet project in his home state. Sometimes an earmark can be very good and provide something much needed for a state. Sadly, in most cases earmarks are nothing more than useless spending to warm voters to a certain senator. Everyone has seen the highway signs stating, `Your tax dollars at work.` Those so-called working tax dollars is Federal earmark money which the state could have provided from their own budget. Earmarks are a source of government waste and overspending which have long been a cherished tradition of Congress for decades. Every senator cries for their earmarks when any spending bill goes though the US Congress.

The situation of wasteful spending on earmarks could change if enough pressure is put on elected leaders. The GOP could send a powerful message to Washington which could influence the DNP to follow if the pressure gets heavy enough. The vote will be the first time in a very long time either of the two major parties have voted on suspending earmarks. In order to mobilize the citizens into unified action the website endingspending.com is full of the information on earmarks and actively  fight to end this bad habit of the US Congress to throw money down the drain.

To read the official citizens action alert and check a list of how GOP senators have promised to vote on this issue go here. 

Bush Says Waterboardering Was A Good Idea;Formal Top Britsh Official Calls Bull

When most US presidents leave office they usually ride off into the sunset and enter the next phase of their political life as an elder statesmen. The first years as a formal president are usually spent rounding up the money for a presidential library,building a retirement estate, taking a world tour as a welcomed American statesmen, or writing a book. Considering that Bush W. is a wanted man in a few nations and not very well liked by many others, taking a statesmen world tour is pretty much out of the question. His family is very rich so he has no need to build a retirement estate. No one is looking forward to breaking ground on a Bush W. library any time soon. His biggest option as elder statesmen is to write a book about his days in the White House.

Yes everyone, Bush W. has written a book about his `glorious` days as Commander in Chief  of the United States of America. The book is just about to hit bookshelves in America and already it is generating heat within the political circus. According to several media outlets not only does Bush W. admit he gave official approval for US intelligence to use waterboarding as a means to get `information` from suspected terrorist he goes as far to say that,`lives were saved by information gathered from militant suspects.` When Bush named which lives were saved,namely the British, that is when someone from across the pond stood up and called bull.

Formal Top British Minister during the Bush years, Kim Howells, has been quick to point out just how far off base Bush is being with his claims of British lives being saved by American waterboarding methods.  Raw story reports that during a BBC radio interview Howells said, `Where I doubt what President Bush said is that this, what we regard as torture, actually produced information which was instrumental in preventing....plots coming to fruition.` Howells is pretty much saying that waterboarding was useless and did little to prevent terror attacks. Most people are already aware that the policy of torture adopted by Bush and continued by Obama is nothing short of forcing suspect of give false information.

As Raw Story reports Howells is not the only British official who put Bush`s claims into question. Formal home shadow security David Davis has come out and said, `People under torture tell you what you want to hear...apart from being immoral, apart from destroying our standing in the world, apart from undermining the way of life we`re trying to defend, it actually doesn`t deliver.`

This sudden outburst of criticisms of Bush`s waterboarding policy could be an attempt by these British officials to distance themselves from being accused of war crimes at a later point. Bush`s brash admission of approving of torture while in office is enough to land him and anyone else defending said policies on trail for war crimes. Apart from Bush saying he approved of torture there is ample evidence locked away within Washington in official White House documents to put away the entire gang involved. Maybe this is why Bush is in no hurry to start work on a Presidential library?

TSA Out of Control?

If you have been keeping up with the `wonderful` job TSA has been doing recently, you must be aware of the up close and personal security checks the agency has been carrying out recently. Reports are flooding in all over the internet of people complaining that TSA agents have gone too far in how much they touch and view people`s bodies. The TSA has resorted to molesting people, including children, all in the name of protecting us from the `evil` terrorist. The average American is now subjected to a full body scan which exposes their private areas to a TSA agent. If anyone chooses to opt-out of the scan they then are subjected to a rub down which is equal to groping by just about any sane person`s standard. Under strong public outcry the TSA has issued a response attempting to justify these measures instead of a proper formal apology.

How this violates personal liberty should be clear as day to anyone. Yet, we see that a lot of people are going along with this public rape of air travelers. If someone touched a women on the streets the same way TSA agents do at the airport there would be arrests and maybe even an ass kicking coming to anyone who attempted such behavior. When government is stamped on this clear human rights violation it suddenly becomes fine and dandy. How many people would allow someone to cop a feel of their little girl in normal situations? I am sure no one would approve of it. Yet, at the airport parents stand by and watch as some thug from the TSA fondles their little child with no protest.

Have Americans really become this defeated as people to allow the government to treat them like pieces of meat? While the TSA is treating American`s like sex objects at their security check orgies too many people are just letting it happen to them while in their mind justifying it with,`This is meant to keep be safe from terrorist so it is okay for the government to rape me in public view.` It appears that the American police state has been harassing people so much over the years that Americans are starting to happily bend over and take one in the brown hole just to go about their daily lives.

Although, while most people are simply going along with the wishes of the police state some people are not taking it laying down. One professional pilot has out right refused any type of search at the risk of loosing his job. Another long time employee of prisonplanet.com has went public after her and her little girls were sexually assaulted by TSA agents. Many other people are complaining on the internet while local TV news across the nation are reporting people being molested by TSA agents for refusing a full body scan.

So far there have been no response from Washington on this issue. Obama seems too busy brown noising at APEC in Yokohama this week to respond to American`s cry for relief from a government agency gone completely mad.      

More Oil Spills In the United States: What the Hell is Going On?

Your man of liberty post on this little blog of liberty from time to time but not often enough. We are in a info war as you know. With all the battles grounds across the net and in real life this blog truly is a ghost of liberty. None the less the purpose remains the same: Supporting liberty and exposing tyranny and corruption.

One of the biggest events of 2010, and there are many, is the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It has already been pointed out clearly by many dedicated bloggers and independent journalist the lack of action on the part of the Federal government as well steps taken by the Feds to outright refuse international help is well documented. I will not write about what is already well written about in the blogsphere.

What is not being written about enough is why are more, seemly unrelated, oil spills popping up. Recently another spill has happened near the gulf coast.A Oil well is now spewing out oil and gas in the Louisiana marsh after a tug boat hit it. The mainstream media is playing this off by generally taking the stance of `At least it is not as bad as the gulf spill.` As shocking of a position as this may seem it does appear to be the line of thinking the mainstream media is holding into. Yet, the latest spill in the gulf area is sadly not the worst development. The massive spill in the Kalamazoo River in southwestern Michigan is cause to wonder: What the hell is going on? The oil seems to be flowing like water recently and not in a good way. As the EPA makes a half-heart attempt to keep the oil from reaching Lake Michigan wild life, people`s lives and safe drinking water are taking a huge hit everyday. BP and Enbridge Energy have in effect ruin two major waters areas of the United States. We can sit back and point fingers until the cows come home but the real question that should be asked is: Who benefits the most from allowing these situations to happen? It is clear that a lack of effective maintenance and enforcement of regulation designed to ensure maximum safety led to these spills, but who would want these spills to happen? 

When looking at who will benefit the most we must look at who can gain the greatest advantage to push though their agenda. One clear group who can gain a ton of advantage would be the carbon tax and cap and trade gang. They have been waiting for a opportunity to jump on any type of catastrophic event to use in order to push though their agendas to enslave people under the false pretense of the so-called green movement. Just ask Spain what a green economy does to a nation. Obama is already starting to try and use the oil spills to convince the masses that a green economy is the only way to prevent a total meltdown of the environment.  Even in the face of ensured failure our leaders keep pushing agendas which do not deal with real the problem(which is their problem, reaction,solution method of doing things).

So who will benefit the most? The ones who created the problem by allowing companies to operate with no oversight and then offer proven failed solutions. The Federal government is no friend of the people it seems.     

Compete with the Fed Dollar:H.R.4248 - Free Competition in Currency Act of 2009

What is currency? To be completely frank, currency is nothing more than the value of labor transfered into credit. When you receive currency(or money) you are being giving the value of your labor. In a fare system the harder and better you work the more value your labor will be worth. As your skill increases the amount of currency your labor should earn you. Once you have currency you can use the value of your labor as credit to make profit. i.e. investments, stocks, loans etc...

Unfortunately, this simple concept has been abused and misused in America to the point in which the harder a person works the less value one`s labor can earn. Due to years of inflation, over production of currency, massive debt incurred by government and a one sided banking system based on quick profit rather than sound money policy American`s find themselves deeper in debt the harder they work.

The Federal Reverse Dollar seem to no longer represent the labor of Americans. A lot of the debt put on the Fed dollar was never actually incurred by the American people. Instead, a private bank has been issuing debt loaded notes expecting the American people to fit the bill. Our government has been, for the most part, played along and helped to load up the Fed dollar with so much debt that it will never be paid off.

As the situation looks to suck the American people into a endless black hole of debt there is a solution which does not get talked about enough. Give the Fed dollar some much needed competition. As Congress fast approaches the year end break the one bill which could actually help break the debt chains of the Fed dollar could sadly die and be forgotten. H.R. 4248 known as the `Free Competition in Currency Act of 2009` would repel the laws concerning what is legal tender in the United States. It would stop all taxes on non-Fed coins and other tender which could be used as currency. This bill, introduced by Rep. Ron Paul on Dec. 9th 2009, would allow alternative currency to complete directly with the Fed dollar inside the United States.

As soon as this bill was introduced by Rep. Paul in the house the speaker buried it by referring it to three committees(House Judiciary,House Ways and Means,House Financial Services) for a period to be determined by the speaker. In short, the speaker has decided to keep in bill in committee until it gains enough support to be considered on the floor. The speaker was able to keep the bill from getting much needed attention during the current session of Congress.

To Rep. Paul`s advantage the three committees which H.R. 4248 has been referred to are committees which he is a standing member. The house returns to session Dec. 22, 2009 for a few days before the holiday break starts. If Rep. Paul can gain a few co-sponsors as well as win a few debates in committee he will be able to do two things: reintroduce the bill on the floor and attempt to get it considered for a vote or hold the bill until the first session in 2010 reintroduce an amended version with co-sponsors.

Both options would keep the bill from being completely killed in the house. Yet, Rep. Paul will not be able to pull any of this off by himself. If other members of the house get pressure from those who elected them to co-sponsor the bill it would make Rep. Paul task a lot easier. If you don`t know how to contact your rep. click here.

If you want to fight off the mountain of debt placed on you, your family and friends by the Federal Reserve supporting this bill is a first step.