- Joined
- Mar 5, 2005
- Messages
- 9,930
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My life has been an adventure of learning and reflection. I suppose it must be useful to some people to sit and contemplate their navels, or wonder what the sound of one hand clapping must be. Personally, I've only had moderate success with koans and abstract meditations. I'd have made a very poor Buddhist monk. I've spent most of my lifetime asking questions. It is important for me to know how things work, or how they've come to be. There have been times when I've been in balance and harmony, and I examined how I got there. Conversely, there have been times when I'm confused and unhappy, and I've also examined that experience. I figured, mostly successfully, that if I understood the process, I could duplicate the good experiences, and avoid the unpleasant ones.
Lately, Ive had quite a lot of conversations with people about the bellicose American Empire, the Imperial President,and our Aristocratic Congress. One thing I've done is examine the roots of our current communal predicament. Most of my friends fall to the left of the political spectrum, while many of my co-workers fall to the right. I'm not a wind up robot for any political party or ideology., I've looked right and left, Democrat and Republican, and I've discovered one fundamental principle they both share: the need to have the state(federal government) control us.
The right is controlled by evangelical fundamentalists, intent on making their interpretation of religion the law of the land, to usher in some "I like Ike," kind of America that never was. The left is controlled by radical socialists, equally intent on encoding their, often atheistic Marxist, beliefs into law, to usher in some sort of egalitarian utopia that will never be. Even though they come at us from different directions, they both desire to legislate our thoughts, actions, beliefs and morality. They both have good intentions, i.e., to make things better for everyone, but seem not to be aware of the unintended consequences of their actions. Both political parties want to tell you what to believe, what words you may use, what your children must learn or not learn, what books you may or may not read, movies you may or may not see, and music you may or may not listen to.
May I ask my fellow Americans some questions? Why are you surprised that your governement is out of control, disregarding basic human rights guaranteed by the Constitution? Do you think this situation just arose after a Republican was "appointed" President by the Supreme Court? Or as an after effect of 9-11?It hasn't just happened. The roots of this go back many years. Citizens long ago surrendered their rights to the federal government, and their place in the process to professional legislators-not at all what the founding father's intended. It started with such good intentions, but those noble intentions have had tragically unintended consequences.
The right wants a society based on profit, safety, law and order. Those are noble intentions, aren't they? Some unintended consequences are loss of liberty, personal property and privacy, thanks, in part, to their desire to protect us from some intoxicating substances. The truth is that illegal intoxicants compete with political $upporter$ who manufacture legal toxicants-just look at history if you don't believe that.
The left wants a society based on equality. That is a noble intention, isn't it? But there are unintended consequences. If you own a business, the government legislates what you may or may not ask your employees or prospective employees, and what you must pay them. You may not sell, or refuse to sell, your private property to whom you choose, for whatever reason you choose. The left have created a Stalinist thought police to enforce their social engineering goals. They are obsessed with gender, race,ethnicity and sexuality. Of course, this is in response to the right, who are detemined to legislate what activities consenting adults may engage in, even in the privacy of their own homes. They legislate who may marry whom, and who may not marry whom, what women may or may not do with their bodies and the life that only they can carry. They are obsessed with capitalism, control and sexuality. So my friends, this is how we've arrived at the point where we are today. Bit by bit, in order to achieve "noble goals," with the best of intentions, freedom has been surrendered to the government. I'm reminded of Gore Vidal's quote of the Emperor Trajan, as the Roman Senate proclaimed him dictator:
"How eager they are to be slaves."
When we refuse to accept the responsibility for telling the truth, for doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do, we make ourselves slaves of the state. However, the federal government doesn't grant you the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those rights come from your Creator. They are part of your birthright as human beings. We can make changes for the better if we all step up to bat and take personal responsibility for justice, law and order, peace and equality. If we keep surrendering that to politicians, they will continue to betray us, and if you think things are bad now,"well, you ain't seen nothin' yet."
Lately, Ive had quite a lot of conversations with people about the bellicose American Empire, the Imperial President,and our Aristocratic Congress. One thing I've done is examine the roots of our current communal predicament. Most of my friends fall to the left of the political spectrum, while many of my co-workers fall to the right. I'm not a wind up robot for any political party or ideology., I've looked right and left, Democrat and Republican, and I've discovered one fundamental principle they both share: the need to have the state(federal government) control us.
The right is controlled by evangelical fundamentalists, intent on making their interpretation of religion the law of the land, to usher in some "I like Ike," kind of America that never was. The left is controlled by radical socialists, equally intent on encoding their, often atheistic Marxist, beliefs into law, to usher in some sort of egalitarian utopia that will never be. Even though they come at us from different directions, they both desire to legislate our thoughts, actions, beliefs and morality. They both have good intentions, i.e., to make things better for everyone, but seem not to be aware of the unintended consequences of their actions. Both political parties want to tell you what to believe, what words you may use, what your children must learn or not learn, what books you may or may not read, movies you may or may not see, and music you may or may not listen to.
May I ask my fellow Americans some questions? Why are you surprised that your governement is out of control, disregarding basic human rights guaranteed by the Constitution? Do you think this situation just arose after a Republican was "appointed" President by the Supreme Court? Or as an after effect of 9-11?It hasn't just happened. The roots of this go back many years. Citizens long ago surrendered their rights to the federal government, and their place in the process to professional legislators-not at all what the founding father's intended. It started with such good intentions, but those noble intentions have had tragically unintended consequences.
The right wants a society based on profit, safety, law and order. Those are noble intentions, aren't they? Some unintended consequences are loss of liberty, personal property and privacy, thanks, in part, to their desire to protect us from some intoxicating substances. The truth is that illegal intoxicants compete with political $upporter$ who manufacture legal toxicants-just look at history if you don't believe that.
The left wants a society based on equality. That is a noble intention, isn't it? But there are unintended consequences. If you own a business, the government legislates what you may or may not ask your employees or prospective employees, and what you must pay them. You may not sell, or refuse to sell, your private property to whom you choose, for whatever reason you choose. The left have created a Stalinist thought police to enforce their social engineering goals. They are obsessed with gender, race,ethnicity and sexuality. Of course, this is in response to the right, who are detemined to legislate what activities consenting adults may engage in, even in the privacy of their own homes. They legislate who may marry whom, and who may not marry whom, what women may or may not do with their bodies and the life that only they can carry. They are obsessed with capitalism, control and sexuality. So my friends, this is how we've arrived at the point where we are today. Bit by bit, in order to achieve "noble goals," with the best of intentions, freedom has been surrendered to the government. I'm reminded of Gore Vidal's quote of the Emperor Trajan, as the Roman Senate proclaimed him dictator:
"How eager they are to be slaves."
When we refuse to accept the responsibility for telling the truth, for doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do, we make ourselves slaves of the state. However, the federal government doesn't grant you the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those rights come from your Creator. They are part of your birthright as human beings. We can make changes for the better if we all step up to bat and take personal responsibility for justice, law and order, peace and equality. If we keep surrendering that to politicians, they will continue to betray us, and if you think things are bad now,"well, you ain't seen nothin' yet."
