There is a part of people that wants to be free - and a part that wants to be enslaved. Today, look at how many people want the government to be Big Daddy and Big Mommy - "free" heath care, "free" food cards and so on.
A decade ago, I once met a man who said something about "the wealth the government creates." I said nothing. Stupid can't be fixed.
Some people apparently think the government has its own money instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul. That's basically what governments do - steal, lie, murder, with a dollop of transfer payments thrown in.
The United States was founded on freedom. I do know I have mentioned this before, but if have ever read Benjamin Franklin, you'd find he was a hugely popular writer in those days - he wrote about freedom, self-reliance and getting rich and retiring early and devoting your life to scientific pursuits and advancing society.
And it just wasn't him - it was just about every educated and influential man of that time. Religious leaders of that time spoke also of freedom and self-reliance and getting rich to help others.
Those who think getting rid of religion is a good thing are as naive as can be. Religion is hugely influential - and it should support a small government, liberty, and self-reliance. Being free and not enslaved.
This attitude of freedom and self-reliance persisted until the 20th Century, although Lincoln put a big dent in it.
Even the so-called "robber barons" - weren't. Andrew Carnegie opened up thousands of public libraries and gave away nearly all his money before he died. And he was the richest man in the world.
J.P. Morgan used his money to start one of the best art collections in the U.S.
Yes, some of them were Robber Barons -the Rockefellers and Gettys were not good people. But most of them were not as the history books portray.
When did this "freedom" or "slavery" start in the U.S.? It's probably been here since the beginning. After all, it was there in Moses' time.
It seems to have started in a big way during the '60's, which is strange, since the pinnacle of the U.S. appears to be have been in the '50s. How did it start to go bad in some ten years?
The growth of that Black Thing known as the government.
I do know Lyndon Johnson had a lot to do with it, starting in the middle '60s, with his "War on Poverty," which turned out to be anything but. And Congress went along with it. And the people too, went along with it. Who protested these laws?
Some did. Daniel Patrick Moynahan predicted what the welfare state would turn into. He was right on the money.
Now the U.S. is in pretty big trouble, economically and culturally. And, again, it's because of a huge destructive government meddling in what is none of its business. Passing destructive laws.
It's amazing the number of people who can't see this. Liberty and self-reliance creates good people. A huge government - serfdom and wanting to be taken care of.
4 comments:
I read the reason they wandered for 40 years is because they complained, turned their back on, and didn't trust God. It's a pretty good microcosm of what happens when a civilization does that.
The further you look into the past the further you can see into the future.
Wilson and FDR had a lot to do with the growth of government power and control.
Been reading Hayek, and he says part of the reason we got big government was that people forgot that liberty and independence made them prosperous and assumed it would always be there. They took for granted what got them to that point, kind of like a football team that steamrolls everybody through hard work and execution but loafs the championship game because they bought their own hype.
There's an old joke about how the Irish in one day created the greatest civilization known to man, and in celebration drank so much Guinness and Jamison that night that by morning they promptly forgot all they accomplished. This is the West in a nutshell.
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