CONTENTS
- Letter from the Editor
- Feature Article: "What's Wrong With Society?"
- Department: "Words Mean Things"
- Department: Ayn Rand's Message
- Random Shots
- Archives
- Information Sources
- Other Articles of Interest
- Subscribe/Unsubscribe
- Reprint Rights
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Sometimes people ask me: "What's wrong with our society today?" My answer is simple: "There are too many people who want to have the power to tell the rest of us what we may and may not do, and way too many others willing to let them as long as they keep giving them 'goodies' using money from the pockets of others." It's a simple concept but too many people just don't understand it and the power seekers criticize me for being "too simplistic." The feature article in this issue goes into detail about how they scam you to gain power and how, unless we wake up and stop "giving them permission to enslave us," we will soon be living under a dictatorship. It won't be the first time a relatively free people gave away their freedom for some imagined "security." The whole point is that such a dictatorship can't last too long because it relies upon the work and original thought of those who not only earn their own way, but make jobs for others through their original thought and creative efforts. It is a known fact that when you take the incentive out of the equation, soon those who create new wealth will no longer do so and, like the Soviet Union, will collapse. But in the meantime, again as in the Soviet Union, many people will die as those power seekers attempt to consolidate their power. -Ray Thomas, Publisher/Editor
A simple argument against "forced altruism":
Is it OK to steal from one person and give the stolen property to another person without the approval of the owner, just because of a real or imagined "need?" (Ray Thomas)
FEATURE ARTICLE:WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOCIETY??
Copyright © 2000 By Ray Thomas In any exposition on what's wrong with our society today, you must take notice of two factors:
1. The drive for power; and
2. The wish to get something for nothing.
If you put them together you have the perfect system whereby those persons who seek to have the power to control the lives of others can create a "dependency class" composed of those who want something for nothing. They do this by offering to provide subsistence level support and other freebies in return for their votes to keep the power seekers in power over not only those who want something for nothing (the moochers), but those who produce all new wealth (profit) through their creative thinking and/or productive work, as well (the producers).
The power seekers (looters) get the money to do this by taxing the producer unmercifully, convincing him that this is a good thing. They accomplish this by conning him into accepting the "looter's creed: "FROM each according to his ABILITY and TO each according to his NEED," making "need" a demand upon the creative and productive work and earnings of the producer. Thus the producer is looted by the power seeker, who gives most of the loot to the moocher, who does nothing to earn anything except to continue to vote the way the looter wants him to vote.
This republic may have been doomed from the moment the moocher found out that he could vote himself "bread and circuses" at the expense of the producer, who pays for everything. He (the producer) works and earns his way while creating new wealth (profit) for his employer, the person who created the very environment in which he can work, by using his creativity.
The looter (in the form of the government), demands an unearned "share" of the earnings (through excessive taxation), most of which he gives to the moocher to buy his vote. In this manner, the looter and the moocher work together to rip off the producer for the money to make the whole thing work. The looter isn't interested in your money, per se. You don't have to own the money if you control absolutely how it is spent. Plus which, the looters get the benefit of the "perks" that go along with being able to control the distribution of large sums of money. And that's what they're after: the power to "lord it over" the rest of us while living like kings on our money. Additionally, they usually command large salaries "for their work" in looting the producer and feeding the moocher.
THE HEGELIAN PRINCIPLE There is a simple method they use to accomplish this. It was made known to the world by the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and the principle still bears his name. It has three points:
- CREATE A CRISIS: Or take advantage of an existing one;
- PUBLICIZE THE "CRISIS": See to it that at least one, maybe more stories appear in every day's paper and on radio and TV that whips the public into a frenzy of fright about your "crisis," real or imagined. Keep publicizing it in every way you can until the public begins clamoring for a "solution." Now it's time for point three:
- OFFER A "SOLUTION": A solution that will take away some more rights, put more power into the hands of the power seekers, and usually get more tax money to play with. A solution that couldn't have been accomplished without the previous conditioning of points one and two. A solution that cons the people into approving of yet another theft of their rights and more of their money.
You may have noticed that each day, you read about a new "crisis" in the news, and a continuing "drumbeat" about the other ongoing "crises" they're promoting. All are their use of point one and two of the Hegelian Principle to frighten the people in their efforts to gain more power and more money to "lubricate the wheels" of the system.
CONSTANT CRISES It is the power seekers' modus operandi to keep as many of these crises going as they can, all the time. "The more the merrier." Some will inevitably fail. But some will inevitably succeed, many by coming in just "under the radar" of the few people who are paying attention. It is these "successes" that will eventually enslave you if they are allowed to continue largely unopposed.
ONE CONSPIRACY? Many people think this situation was created by a single, massive conspiracy that is responsible for all our troubles, but they're wrong. Such a conspiracy could not survive because of the large numbers of people required to move it along. Secrecy is a must if such a conspiracy is to work, and complete secrecy is impossible in an organization involving the egos of huge numbers of people, each with their own agenda.
MANY CONSPIRACIES Rather than one large, ungainly conspiracy, there are many smaller ones, all fueled by the same philosophy: collectivism. Their method is the covert promotion of collectivism, where "you are your brother's keeper," rather than your own. Each conspiracy is run by people who think they are the ones who will "call the shots" in the end. Each one plans on being the "dictator" in any dictatorship that arises. What makes it appear to be a single large conspiracy is the fact that they are all promoting collectivism. So they all appear to be working toward the same goals while they are in reality only working toward similar goals.
CAN'T HAPPEN HERE? Many people will tell you that such a conspiracy can't happen here in America. They're wrong. To think that is to be a fool. Conspiracies to take over governments, or simply to control the people are as old as government itself. This very country was born out of one. But one massive conspiracy? Forget it.
IT DOESN'T MATTER It doesn't really matter if it is one massive conspiracy or a thousand smaller ones. They're all using the same basic modus operandi because it works.
THE ANSWER IS THE SAME The answer is the same either way. It is investigation and exposure. When everybody knows what they're up to and can recognize their scams from a mile away if they've paid attention to what's going on around them, they won't fall for any more of the power seekers' cons and their scams will collapse.
IGNORE THEM WHILE THEY PICK YOUR POCKET The problem is that one of their basic cons is to convince as many people as possible to ignore what they're doing so they can "do their thing" without interference. If you do ignore them they can do anything they wish to you and by the time you're FORCED to notice, it's "the law of the land" and requires "an act of God" to get it reversed, if it can be at all.
TOO MANY CONS And with so many scams and schemes going at the same time it's impossible to even keep track of them all, let alone do anything about them. That's what they're counting on. That's how a certain number of them can come in "under the radar" even of people who are paying attention. The whole point is that there are power seekers working to undermine your freedom at all levels of government and even in business, all the time. It's not a single conspiracy and it's not paranoia to think there are such conspiracies. It's just common sense. I'm not going to detail all the scams I've noticed. This article is far too long already. But if you're sufficiently interested, I've done so in an entire section in "Information Central" on my personal web site. Good luck and good reading. And don't forget the barf bag in case it gets to be too much.
Department: Words Mean Things Definitions: When reading a newsletter such as "Beyond Common Sense" it is important that you understand the exact meaning of words as we use them, not as the liberals do. They routinely distort the meaning of words to confuse you. We use words as they were meant to be used and the exact meaning of many words might surprise you.
Department: Ayn Rand's Message Ayn Rand's Message: This section will be dedicated to highlighting sections of her works and philosophy so that those who know nothing about it can learn.
In this issue we examine the power seeker's (looter's) exhortation to "not be judgmental" as a demand that we allow them to steal our money and our birthright without opposition.
"In Britain we are like Gulliver being tied down by a million silken threads, enfeebled and destroyed -- even if you can not cure your ills, perhaps by reaching out a hand and cutting some of the silken threads that hold us down we can work our way loose to free the world from this evil hegemony rolling inexorably towards One Word Governance/Dominance. (Greg Lance-Watkins)
RANDOM SHOTS Random Shots: This section contains a number of short items that aren't enough for a complete article, yet are important. Some are funny, some are tragic. All will make you think.
"It is an absolute that if you produce more than you consume in your lifetime, you're a producer. If you consume more than you produce, you're a moocher or a looter." (Ray Thomas)
- Archives:
- All previous issues are archived here and are available by a single click of the mouse. All contain important articles and information and it would pay you to read them.
- Information Sources:
- Here we bring you links to other sources of truthful information. Information you can't find in the mainstream media as a rule, because they "hue the liberal line."
- Other Articles of Interest:
- This feature will not appear in every issue. When we find one or more articles of special interest, they will be placed here for your information.
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