Gun Control: The left fears armed conflict.

Most of the time, I glaze over with boredom when reading about gun control. We've heard it for years, & know what they want. But Obama & the left have recently come up with some specifics, which bring up a basic question:

What is the motivation?

I know what they say, but it is not consistent with the facts. Here is a simple argument that i have not heard the anti gun side respond to:

Why the focus on semi automatic rifles?

They are not talking about fully automatic machine guns, which are already tightly regulated, but semi-autos.. especially those that can hold more than 10 rounds.

Are semi autos used in crimes, either robbery, murder, domestic violence, etc? Not much. Very few. I've heard less than 2%. What is the weapon that is used in the most crimes & murders? The 22 pistol. Lots of them are revolvers. So if the left was honest about restricting weapons used for criminal activity, they would focus on the ones that are used for criminal activity. They would ban 22 caliber revolvers.

So this brings up the followup question:

What are semi automatic rifles, aka 'assault rifles' used for? Where do you usually see an ak-47 or an ar-15?  In wars, or armed conflict. So in wanting to ban those kinds of weapons, the progressives seem to be more concerned about future armed conflict with those who purchase them, not curtailing crime. THAT is their true motivation, not crime reduction. Why else would they ignore the statistics that show the real sources of crime, & focus on something that is used mostly in civil wars & other armed conflict? There is no other explanation. Obama & the left fear armed conflict with americans who do not submit to their ideology, & the way they deal with it is to ban the weapons & reduce the risks. It is a preemptive strike, to lessen the resistance to govt intrusions.

If my reasoning is faulty, someone show me. I don't want to believe the left is doing this to disarm americans so they can oppress us, but that seems to be the only explanation, given the facts. This sounds like old conspiracy theories i've heard, but these simple facts are hard to ignore.

Why do they want to ban a weapon that is not used in crimes, but in civil wars? Why do they ignore the weapons that are used in crimes?

The mission statement of america is individual rights & freedom. This is considered an innate right, not something graciously granted by a benevolent state power. The 2nd amendment is merely a tool to keep those rights intact. It is not a 'hunting' clause, nor a home defense provision. It is there to provide us with the means to 'alter or abolish' the govt should it fail in it's basic duty to secure our rights. Traditional americans see the govt in this way. Our constitution is not to protect the state from the people, but the people from the state. We have not had to use this provision, & hope never to have to. But it is there as a security clause.. a provision for us to keep our mission statement.

Give everyone a million dollars!

Using the left's logic & financial sense, where deficits don't really matter, & 'wealth' is actually just printed, why not give everyone a million dollars? Ok, let's be reasonable. Let's give every household $1m. That's more like $200T.. definitely not too big of a number for creative progressive accounting.

Suggesting this is not a serious proposal.. it is a ridicule of the lack of understanding of fiat currency, wealth, & coinage. If you suddenly dumped trillions of dollars into the market, the value would drop as well. The currency bubble we are building is about to pop, anyway, & adding more stress to the already shaky house of cards will collapse it. Many governments throughout history have tried this.

Now, we haven't done this 'suddenly', but over time. This has lulled us into a false sense of security, where we THINK we can roll the presses AND keep the value. We can have our cake, & eat it too! This is the dream of the progressives with the economy. Free housing. Free food. Free healthcare. Free money! But even though the world, the banks, & the citizens are trying to operate with this corrupt currency, which is devalued more every day, the inevitable will come. The bubble will pop.

And just like the Wiemar republic, there will be a strong, charismatic leader poised to deliver us, restore order, bring stability, & correct past wrongs. I don't think it will be Obama, since he will have to share much of the blame for the collapse, but it will be someone just as charismatic & calculating.

Want to get an idea how fast things can go down? Here's the value of the Mark, post ww1:

German Marks It Took to Buy 1 Ounce Of Gold:
January,1919………..170
September,1919……. 499
January, 1920……….1,340
September, 1920…….1,201
January, 1921……….1,349
September, 1921…….2,175
January, 1922……….3,976
September, 1922…….30,381
January, 1923……….372,477
September, 1923…….269,439,000
Oct. 2, 1923………….6,631,749,000
Oct. 9, 1923………….24,868,950,000
Oct. 16, 1923…………84,969,072,000
Oct. 23, 1923…………1,160,552,882,000
Oct. 30, 1923…………1,347,070,000,000
Nov. 5, 1923…………..8,700,000,000,000
Nov. 30, 1923…………87,000,000,000,000

You can see some mild inflation at first.. then it slowly built up. by the end, it went from 8T to 80T in about 2 weeks. This is exactly what will happen with the dollar, if we do not stop the madness. You could give everyone a million dollars.. no, make it a billion.. they can buy a pack of gum then go back to work.

Savings would be wiped out. Stocks would become virtually worthless. Social security checks & other entitlements would not support you.

One of THE most important things a govt can & should do, is provide a stable, consistent currency. But governments in decline use inflation to cover their excesses, pie in the sky promises, & deficit spending. But there is no free lunch, & the bill will come due. Like musical chairs, or some massive pyramid scheme, those at the end will be left with nothing.

Goldwater Conservativism

Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Tolerance in the face of tyranny is no virtue. ~Barry Goldwater

I agree with this. It is the essence of traditional conservative american political thought.

I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution ... or have failed their purpose ... or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is 'needed' before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should be attacked for neglecting my constituents' 'interests,' I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty, and in that cause I am doing the very best I can. ~Barry Goldwater

How did it happen? How did our national government grow from a servant with sharply limited powers into a master with virtually unlimited power? In part, we were swindled. There are occasions when we have elevated men and political parties to power that promised to restore limited government and then proceeded, after their election, to expand the activities of government. But let us be honest with ourselves. Broken promises are not the major causes of our trouble. Kept promises are. All too often we have put men in office who have suggested spending a little more on this, a little more on that, who have proposed a new welfare program, who have thought of another variety of 'security.' We have taken the bait, preferring to put off to another day the recapture of freedom and the restoration of our constitutional system. We have gone the way of many a democratic society that has lost its freedom by persuading itself that if 'the people' rule, all is well. ~Barry Goldwater

This was the voice of conservatism in the 60's. 50 years later, the problems are much worse. This Barry is probably rolling over in his grave because of the current Barry.

I have been struck by the last quote many times. Even under Reagan, i was appalled at the steady increase in govt.. both in programs, warmongering, the welfare state, & all the statist pseudonyms that have built up up like maggots on roadkill. Now we're on the verge of bankruptcy, & we have no fiscally or politically conservative voice to bring reason & common sense to the government. We need a new Goldwater.. someone who will go into the federal budget, not with a scalpel, but a machete, or better yet, a chainsaw.

The Basis for American Freedom

Here are some of the roots of american ideology:

"Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience." ~John Locke

Government has no other end, but the preservation of property. ~John Locke

“Liberty is to be free from restraint and violence from others” ~John Locke

Government's prime directive is to 'secure' our rights. ..to  provide an atmosphere of freedom so we can possess our own property, which we have labored for. IF they don't do that, we are morally absolved from obeying them. THAT is the basic premise of america.

It is semantics to argue the source, or roots of these 'rights'. We take them if we want them. They are mine by will & mental assertion. No one can give them to me, nor take them away.  They are inherent.

If you are religious, you can appeal to a creator. If you are not, you can appeal to 'laws of nature'. It does not matter to me. I get it, & i'm free. No one can take that root ideology. People might try, & they have over the millenea. But those like me, especially banded together, make a very difficult opponent for oppressors, when they try to intrude. Their lackeys will tire of killing us long before we tire of killing them. We are more willing to die for our values than the statists. We have a sense of perspective, & believe our deaths will be for the freedom & good of our families, neighbors, & countrymen. The statist lackeys are merely paid killers. They may enjoy it, & might even be good at it, but they lack the determination & resolve to die for their cause.

I can only speak for myself. But i believe this to be at the root of many american patriots, & will be a force to contend with as the statists continue their slow erosion of our liberties. For many like me, physical violence is not employed, but as long as we have a voice, we will call for freedom, & demand it. We will not go quietly into the night, nor submit meekly to oppression.

I would like to believe most americans.. ALL americans share this love for freedom & individual liberty. But the current political climate teaches me otherwise. There are many, many people who long for statist domination. I don't know why.

“Freedom is not something that anybody can be given; Freedom is something that people take and people are as free as they want to be.” ~James Arthur Baldwin

The End of America

It has been a gradual process.  It has not happened overnight, nor is it complete.  But the basic concept of America is fading.  It is becoming just another statist, government centered bureaucracy.

The uniqueness & influence of America over the last couple of hundred years has been this unusual concept in human history:   Government of the people, by the people, & for the people. It was founded on the principle that government should serve the people, not vice versa.   Government was to secure our rights to life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness.  The emphasis was freedom.  People had the freedom to live, take risks, face dangers & take responsibility for themselves.  Government on the national scale was very limited & had little impact on people's day to day lives.

The idea of america is for citizen representatives to honor their responsibility to secure the rights & freedoms for the rest of us. Those ARE high ideals, & tyrants have hidden behind those kinds of words for centuries, perhaps millennea. It is still a goal we can aspire to. I know perfection is impossible, with people being what we are, but the concept of America is too important.. too unique in history to let it die. We have had thousands of years of kings, dictators, emperors, coalitions, juntas, parliaments, caliphates, & any other ruling system you want to name. They have always been state centered. Oh, they might be benevolent, or treat people ok, generally, but they are still the rulers, & the rest of us live by their whims. They have the power, & wield it at their pleasure, not for the rights & freedoms of the people.

This message is getting lost in the muddy convolutions of noise & hysteria in our current political climate. The basic ideals are at times given lip service to, but they are not the driving force. The driving force seems to be for the politicians to grab the power, so they can make the rules. They promote themselves as the most benevolent rulers, who will rule us fairly, but they still intend to rule.  This attitude is the major indicator that we have lost our center. We are no longer a republic of free people, but are choosing our dictators in a corrupt system where we pay them to oppress us.

Most of the problems we face are because of the politicians, & bureaucratic decisions.  They spend taxpayer's money freely, tossing it out like parade queens throwing candy.  They start wars & meddle in other nation's affairs.  The promote utopian programs that encourage irresponsibility.  They have incurred a crippling debt that we may never recover from.  But instead of wising up & voting for fiscally responsible officials, we continue electing big spenders to run the gravy train.  But it will end, & badly.  Financial collapse is almost always related to spending more than you take in, whether you're an individual, a family, a company, or a nation.  People have a basic desire for security, & the illusions the politicians sell are very seductive.  They promise to take care of us.. feed us, house us, give us water, cell phones, cable, & free health care.   But these are not things that a government can provide for its citizens.  The productive workers of the country are the only ones who can produce enough substance to buy these things.  Money printed out of thin air to pay for free stuff will only lead to bankruptcy, which will hurt most the people politicians pretend to help.

So is it inevitable?  Is America doomed to become just another state centered system where govt rules supreme?  Unless we stop voting for frauds & charlatans who promise us goodies from the public treasury, the financial basis for the nation will collapse.  Unless we value the individual & champion personal liberties, the state will continue to whittle away at our freedoms until we are just another nanny state.  If there is a collapse of our currency, which seems to be coming, the void created will likely be filled by a powerful entity, promising order & stability.  Those are never good for individual freedoms.  I do not know how long we can last in the current direction.  But if we do not correct our fiscal problems, the future looks grim.

Evolution & Origins. Fact or Fraud?

The idea of evolution explaining the origin & complexity of life is mostly presented as fact in schools, national parks, & anywhere the topic seems to come up. I would like to examine this claim, & question it's validity.

First, i'll present the central question:
Does evolution provide a scientific & logical explanation for the origins & complexity of life?

I say it does not. Here are my reasons:
1. Micro evolution, or natural selection, explains how species adapt to their environment. The result of this adaptation is a decrease in diversity in the species, as the genetic pool limits itself to certain traits that are favorable to the environment. This is dark moths adapting to dark bark on trees, white rabbits doing better in the snow, & other natural selection processes. This kind of evolution does not increase complexity, but decreases it, as fewer genetic traits become available to the species. There is no known mechanism that causes an increase in genetic complexity. Mutations are aberrations in the genetic code, seldom produce anything positive for the species, & do not increase the complexity of the life form. It does not indicate macro evolution.

2. To say that micro evolution proves 'macro' evolution is a leap of logic. It is like saying that since we know people can travel easily between towns, they can travel easily between planets. There is a major difference between natural selection, which is a scientifically observable phenomenon used in breeding & hybridization, and the increase in complexity in a life form.

3. There is no mechanism that can explain why or how life can become more complex through evolution. It is assumed, & that is a faulty assumption. It is not good science, nor good logic. Neither mutation nor millions of years provide any mechanism or even explanation of HOW, but it is erroneously extrapolated based on natural selection. But just asserting that a species adapted over millions of years does not make it true, nor is it based on any scientific or logical constructs. It is speculation & fantasy.

4. One of the most basic concepts in science is that of entropy, or the tendency of all things to move to less complexity. Unless acted upon by an outside source, all of the universe is moving toward equilibrium & a simple state. There is no known mechanism that explains HOW or WHAT is causing life to increase in complexity. If anything, in recorded history, life is decreasing in complexity & diversity. Unique species are lost, and distinct new ones are not being added. We have variation within a life form's genetic limitations, but no moving into more complexity. This is what you would expect with entropy, & it brings a major difficulty to those claiming an increase in complexity through evolution.

5. As to origins, there is no mechanism or procedure that can create life.. real, reproducing life, not just some amino acids or 'building blocks' of life. There is nothing that can be measured, repeated, falsified, or even theorized. It is a leap of faith to believe life began spontaneously & increased in complexity for millions of years. There is no valid scientific explanation for this, even though it is asserted as fact in many spheres.

I am not making an argument for special creation, or alien seeding, or any other theories or speculations of origins. I am including evolution with the others. Our origins are a mystery, which science & logic have not been able to explain to this point. Macro evolution, or the increase in complexity in life forms, is an unproven speculation & fantasy.

Unsustainable Statistics

Here are some interesting numbers..

Total state, local, federal employees: 20m (2008)

Federal contractors:  14.6m (2006)

People on welfare:  100m (2009, does not include SS & medicare)

Total number of jobs in the us:  155m (2012)

Population of the US:  312m (2010)

These are the most current statistics i could find.  Now let's analyze them.

Half of the 312M population works, supporting the other half.. children, elderly, spouses, & other dependents.  Of the 155M jobs in the us, 36M are govt.. either working directly for, or contracting.  They are paid by the taxpayers.  That leaves 119M people working.  There are 100M people getting some kind of govt assistance.. food stamps, housing, adc, etc.  Some of these are probably working, but a great number are not.  But if you total both govt paid workers & welfare recipients, the number totals a staggering 136M.  You only have 119M working to support them, in addition to their own children, elderly, & other dependents.

This is unsustainable.  The dependent class has grown astronomically.  But the burden has not really been felt, as the govt has used borrowed money to support them.  If the taxpayers had been taxed for the actual expenditures, there would have been a revolution.  Taxpayers would not have submitted to paying for this much dependency.  But by borrowing the money & trading free handouts for votes, the politicians insulated themselves from the taxpayer's wrath.  But the reality is the taxpayers are still on the hook for the spending.  The growth of govt has far exceeded the abilities of the american taxpayers to fund.  Borrowing the money to spend is not a solution.  That only postpones the inevitable.  The other problem that the govt is not facing, is the continued growth of the dependent class.  Govt workers & welfare recipients are growing at a much faster rate than the economy.  It is already beyond what is financially feasible.  Continuing down this path will be disastrous  both for the workers & the dependents, when the inevitable crash occurs.

An analogy would be a family.  Say you have 10 people in your family, as i do.  There are 4 total households, with currently 6 people working to support them.  In my situation, all are in the private sector, & none get govt assistance.  Now let's have 3 of those workers quit & expect money from the other 3 for their support.  It can't be done.  The only way you can support these 4 households with only 3 working is to borrow money.  So the households live off of credit cards & 2nd mortgages for a while, & borrow from friends & extended family.  But unless you shut down some of the households, it cannot be sustained.

As a nation, we are running $1T/yr over income.  The debt is $16T & growing.  There are too many dependents living off of the working people.  We cannot have this level of spending, both in govt & welfare.  Social security & medicare are not even factored in these numbers, & their mismanagement makes things worse.  You cannot hide from the numbers.  A currency collapse is in our future if spending is not cut back drastically.

The problem is not a lack of compassion, but a lack of money to fund the compassion.  It is also unrealistic expectations from the working people, to fund exorbitant levels of govt & an entitlement culture.  If we do not stop the madness, the whole system will collapse.. the currency & the whole financial structure will fold.  If we truly are compassionate, we will not allow the govt to bankrupt us & spend us into economic collapse.  Govt workers & dependents will be the hardest hit if the currency folds.

It is folly & madness to think that the rich can be taxed enough to support all of this spending.  We are $1 Trillion over each year.  1,000 million is a billion.  1,000 Billion is a Trillion.  There is not enough revenue to support these kinds of spending levels, & the govt knows it.  That is why they just borrow.. obligating future generations to pay for their irresponsible pandering for votes.  But all it will do is wreck the nation.


Summary:
Total working people:        155M
Total govt workers:           35M
Total welfare dependents:  100M
Net annual deficit:             $1T
Sustainable:                       No
Economic collapse:           Yes