You know what I want for Christmas? I want Christian men to grow some balls. Because, quite frankly, I'm tired of tolerating hatred towards us. The ACLU is busily forcing communities to remove Nativity Scenes while public education makes special concessions for Muslims, Buddhists. and homosexuals. But if your kid bows his head to give thanks to Our Heavenly Father before a high school football game, he's in big trouble. The atheists claim that allowing Christians to express their faith in public schools oppresses the non-believers, or something. They also insist that, since public schools are funded by tax money, the government should enforce the separation of church and state rules and prevent Christians from doing so.
Forget that no such separation exists in The Constitution, or that the majority of that tax money they're so worried about is, by and large, paid by Christians; like little children, they want what they want when they want it and no one else's opinion matters. They have no problem oppressing Christians, or offending them. The popular culture thinks Christianity is only good for a punch line and that Jesus is an object of ridicule.
We, as Christian men, tolerate, and tolerate, and tolerate this stuff, without doing what every fiber of our beings wants to do; find the perpetrators of these deeds and give them a serious ass-kicking (in the spirit of Christian Love, of course) because that's what we have been told that Jesus would do. That we should follow his example and turn the other cheek, love our enemies, and let it all slide like water off of a duck's back.
What about the Jesus that picked up a whip and a bundle of rods and chased the moneylenders from the Temple? What about The Guy that stood in full view of the public and called the reigning religious authorities of the day, "a brood of vipers?" I mean, The Guy was a carpenter! If you've spent any time at all around construction guys, you would know that they aren't exactly the "turn the other cheek" type.
Now, before I get accused of trying to get Christians to go all "Medieval Crusades" on the non-believers, understand this: this fight will not be won on the streets. Bar-room brawls are no way to spread The Gospel, and certainly no way to bring people into the fold. No, I want us to simply stop being silent. I want us to stop being ashamed to confront those that would spew inaccuracies and hatred. When some TV show decides to disrespect The Savior, we should inundate the network with complaints. When some child is persecuted for professing faith, we should make our support known. And when we are attacked by haters, we should defend ourselves with the same fervor, intensity, and tactics that they use. Jesus was a proponent of self-defense; He knew that the world the Disciples would face was hostile and brutal. He admonished them to arm themselves in order to prepare for what awaited them. We need to do as He said and arm ourselves with the weapons of our day and fight the fight.
We, who believe, have nothing to fear.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Random Thoughts for Veteran's Day
Mention the word ‘veteran’ and what do you think of? Chances
are you think of a man that has seen combat in some capacity. Guadalcanal,
Normandy, Bastogne, The Frozen Chosin, Pork Chop Hill, Khe Sanh, Hill 867, Ia
Drang, Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan, Iraq…all of these places evoke a mental
image of men in combat. Hostile fire, incoming, ambushes, patrols; these are
the things that veterans did. And it’s right to think so. Let’s face it; we
need men to go into the dark, dirty, dangerous places and do dark, dirty,
dangerous things to insure the safety of our nation. We should celebrate our
warriors because they are the ones that pay for bad politics. However, there
are other people, people who are every bit as dedicated, professional, and
willing to face danger, even if they never enter a combat zone. You won’t see
movies made about them. There will never be an epic entitled “Supplying Private
Ryan” or an action movie about “Blackhawk Down for Maintenance” But those men
and women that work long, tedious, hours to keep the birds flying, the mail
flowing, and the paperwork filed deserve our thanks too. And, if the shit
really, in truly, catastrophically hits the fan, they will be required to pick
up a rifle and fight the battle that needs fighting.
It’s happened before.
When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941, they
found an American and Philippine Army that fought ferociously. Unfortunately,
the American and Philippine armies were outnumbered and outgunned. The Japanese
advanced, the Allies pulled back in a fighting retreat. Replacement parts,
food, ammunition, fuel, and reinforcements were in short supply. The American
Air Corps (the organization that would eventually evolve into the US Air Force)
was eventually swept from the skies by Japanese aircraft that were superior in
numbers and capabilities.
When pilots found that they had no more aircraft capable of
flying, they picked up a rifle and took their place on the line. When sailors
were forced to abandon their duties at the ammo dumps, flight lines, and
various ships, they picked up a rifle and joined the Marines on the line. When
cooks, personnel clerks, supply sergeants, mechanics, and whatever other
support personnel found themselves called to man the line, they went. They
fought, and they died alongside their brethren in the Infantry.
When Bataan fell, the Japanese didn’t segregate them by
Military Occupational Specialty (“You’re a pilot? Oh, then you can go to the
POW camp with air conditioning!”), they brutalized, bayoneted, and beat
sailors, soldiers, marines, and air corps with equal brutality.
Moreover, none of them said, “Man the line? I’m a sailor! I
don’t man lines!” They did what they were called to do. They had no idea that
the sacrifice they made, the battles they fought, was the turning point for the
Japanese. Because they held out so doggedly, they threw the entire timetable
for the Japanese off schedule. They also provided America the time necessary to
arm and equip the military that would eventually fight its way back to the Philippines
and on to victory.
Such were the men who served. And such ARE the men and women
who serve today. The names change, the uniforms change, the equipment changes,
but the people who serve remain constant. They believe in something larger than
themselves. To them, the words “Duty, Honor, Country” are more than a pithy
slogan; they are what lie at the very core of their character.
Who are the veterans? You can’t tell by looking at them, the
experiences they have had, the people they saw die, the friends they made. And
lost. You wouldn’t know that the old man you pass on the way to the store drove
a truck almost all the way across Europe rain or shine, day or night, to and
from the front lines. And how could you tell that the guy on the Harley limps
because he caught a bullet in Bosnia while on duty for the UN?
That skinny kid at McDonald’s? The one with the brushcut
and the funny eagle tattoo? He jumped out of airplanes in the middle of the
night, landed in the dark on what was hopefully open ground, and then carried
60 pounds of equipment on his back during a forced march that would have had Lance
Armstrong puking his guts out. If he was lucky, he got to rest for an hour
before moving on to a place where shots were fired in anger. Both from and at
him.
And that middle-aged guy with the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor?
He may be a little hard of hearing since that mortar shell landed a little too
close while he was “peacekeeping” in Beirut.
You know the guy that laughs when you complain about it
being too cold? It’s because he knows what real cold is like; real cold is
trying to load a cargo plane and launch it before the blizzard sets in
(something that happens a lot in Alaska, or Greenland, or South Dakota)
That woman that seems a little rough around the edges? She
cusses a little too much and seems a little impatient with people? You tend to
get like that when you’re a female MP doing a “man’s job” in some Third World
shithole where everyone, including many that are supposed to be on your side,
hate you.
The guy that never seems to know when to quit working? He
got that way while he was palletizing beans and bullets headed for the guys on
the sharp end, knowing that if he didn’t do his job, one of them may get killed
because of it.
That pleasant old man that is quick to joke, easy to talk
to, and seems not to have a care in the world? After leading young men through
2 tours in Vietnam making life and death decisions from minute to minute, it’s
tough to get upset when the boss wants you to work a little overtime.
That doddering old wreck at the ballgame that stands for the
National Anthem with a tear in his eye? Such moments remind him of the friends
he lost in the Pacific.
Pretty much any one of them did what they did without
hesitation. No doubt, on 9/11/2001, everyone who ever served would have gladly
re-enlisted to take the fight to the enemy.
America calls, we answer. It’s what we do.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Zombies = Politicians
I have to admit it; I am a huge fan of The Walking Dead. It is one of the few shows on TV that I find to be well written while taking an implausible premise and making it believable. It showcases the human condition when normal people are thrown into extreme circumstances that are beyond their comprehension.
The two main groups of characters are as follows:
Zombies: Unthinking automatons that wander the earth consuming everything in their path with no consideration for the consequences and no concern for who gets hurt by their actions. If they are in a group, they mill around aimlessly until something alive shows up, whereupon they kill and consume it. They move into an area, and that area is immediately uninhabitable by normal people. Though they bear some resemblance to people, the truth is that they have nothing in common with those that are alive and trying to make their way. And they smell bad.
Survivors: Confounded by how this situation came about, they try their best to survive in an increasingly hostile world, in which they are hopelessly out numbereed. They seize what few moments of joy they can while having to deal with the stress of day-to-day living and all of the baggage that comes with human interaction. They seek to salvage what is left of a devastated world, and carve out some sort of security while knowing that there is no way they can halt the teeming masses of mindless consumers. The one bright spot is that they are heavily armed and are learning that, to survive, you have to do the hard, dirty, work of eliminating your enemy without remorse.
If it were up to me, I would force every politician to sit and watch every episode, and learn from those people that are trying to survive. The lesson that I would want them to learn is this: When your entire existence is based on roaming around and looking for resources and lives to take from those who have based their lives around trying to build some semblance of security for themselves, you run the risk of forcing those people to do whatever grisly, horrible, task they deem necessary to preserve it. And once you have crossed the line from nuisance to threat, you may find yourselves facing a group of people that are angry, scared, desperate, and heavily armed.
So far in the series, there have been no allies of the zombies. No Quislings have surrendered their people to the zombies in the hopes of being the last to be eaten. The same cannot be said of politicians. Whether it be the useful idiots of Occupy Something That Creates a Nuisance, or the fat cats that sidle up to the Washington DC trough for another mouthful of spending pork, all politicians have their allies. Those allies, whether by circumstance or intent, are arrayed against those of us that are trying to get by.
The heart of the matter is this; do not count on politicians to fix the things in this country that need fixing because, for them, they are not broken. For them, our crisis is an opportunity to seize more money, power, and influence. H.L. Mencken said it best, "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
Once you understand that, once you realize that all of the 'benefits' of government come with a price tag that far exceeds its value, you will begin to understand that the "Us versus Them" paradigm isn't about the "haves" and "have nots" or "Republicans" versus "Democrats"; it's about "those that want to earn their way to prosperity, raise their children to do better than they did, leave the world a little better than they found it, and generally be left alone to do these things in peace" versus "those that envy the first group, see them as undeserving of what they have, and are actively seeking ways to wrest it from them and control their lives."
We are coming to a point in history where we are all going to have to decide the group to which we want to belong, and act accordingly. Which reminds me, I have to go reload some ammo and sharpen my parang.
The two main groups of characters are as follows:
Zombies: Unthinking automatons that wander the earth consuming everything in their path with no consideration for the consequences and no concern for who gets hurt by their actions. If they are in a group, they mill around aimlessly until something alive shows up, whereupon they kill and consume it. They move into an area, and that area is immediately uninhabitable by normal people. Though they bear some resemblance to people, the truth is that they have nothing in common with those that are alive and trying to make their way. And they smell bad.
Survivors: Confounded by how this situation came about, they try their best to survive in an increasingly hostile world, in which they are hopelessly out numbereed. They seize what few moments of joy they can while having to deal with the stress of day-to-day living and all of the baggage that comes with human interaction. They seek to salvage what is left of a devastated world, and carve out some sort of security while knowing that there is no way they can halt the teeming masses of mindless consumers. The one bright spot is that they are heavily armed and are learning that, to survive, you have to do the hard, dirty, work of eliminating your enemy without remorse.
If it were up to me, I would force every politician to sit and watch every episode, and learn from those people that are trying to survive. The lesson that I would want them to learn is this: When your entire existence is based on roaming around and looking for resources and lives to take from those who have based their lives around trying to build some semblance of security for themselves, you run the risk of forcing those people to do whatever grisly, horrible, task they deem necessary to preserve it. And once you have crossed the line from nuisance to threat, you may find yourselves facing a group of people that are angry, scared, desperate, and heavily armed.
So far in the series, there have been no allies of the zombies. No Quislings have surrendered their people to the zombies in the hopes of being the last to be eaten. The same cannot be said of politicians. Whether it be the useful idiots of Occupy Something That Creates a Nuisance, or the fat cats that sidle up to the Washington DC trough for another mouthful of spending pork, all politicians have their allies. Those allies, whether by circumstance or intent, are arrayed against those of us that are trying to get by.
The heart of the matter is this; do not count on politicians to fix the things in this country that need fixing because, for them, they are not broken. For them, our crisis is an opportunity to seize more money, power, and influence. H.L. Mencken said it best, "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
Once you understand that, once you realize that all of the 'benefits' of government come with a price tag that far exceeds its value, you will begin to understand that the "Us versus Them" paradigm isn't about the "haves" and "have nots" or "Republicans" versus "Democrats"; it's about "those that want to earn their way to prosperity, raise their children to do better than they did, leave the world a little better than they found it, and generally be left alone to do these things in peace" versus "those that envy the first group, see them as undeserving of what they have, and are actively seeking ways to wrest it from them and control their lives."
We are coming to a point in history where we are all going to have to decide the group to which we want to belong, and act accordingly. Which reminds me, I have to go reload some ammo and sharpen my parang.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Offal on Wall Street
So, a bunch of shrill, malodorous, malcontents have taken up residence in various and sundry public places in cities around the country. In between eerie chanting and defecating on everything in sight, they are protesting...something. They're not sure what it is, but they know it has something to do with capitalism. Or war. Or something.
Let's face it; these are not serious people. Oh, maybe a few of them are. The first few that started the protest might have been, but like the person who tells one too many people about his house party, the movement soon became overrun with people who neither know nor care about whatever the cause is.
This is not the Tea party. The Tea Party knows what it wants and what their goal is. The OWS crowd seem aimless to me. They say that they blame the banks for the current economic crisis and then they extol the virtues of the very institution that really caused the crisis. They claim to love this country and then they defile the very symbol of this nation.
The best thing that could happen is for everyone to ignore these losers and, hopefully, they'll all just go back home.
Let's face it; these are not serious people. Oh, maybe a few of them are. The first few that started the protest might have been, but like the person who tells one too many people about his house party, the movement soon became overrun with people who neither know nor care about whatever the cause is.
This is not the Tea party. The Tea Party knows what it wants and what their goal is. The OWS crowd seem aimless to me. They say that they blame the banks for the current economic crisis and then they extol the virtues of the very institution that really caused the crisis. They claim to love this country and then they defile the very symbol of this nation.
The best thing that could happen is for everyone to ignore these losers and, hopefully, they'll all just go back home.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
The Game
In case you don't remember, America is deep in debt, the economy is in the tank, and the government gives no indication that it intends to do anything good about it. Oh sure, they make all kinds of noises about being concerned about the economy, and they spew platitudes about what they want to do for the middle class, but in reality? They have no intention of making the hard, unpopular choices required to get America back on track.
The reason for this is both simple and disheartening; a politician's first, last, and only priority is to get re-elected. Look at the history of any politician; read what they have said, and then look at what they have done. I suspect, more often than not, you will find that their records for delivering on their promises are dismal at best. From Barack Hussein Obama to your local City Councilman, you will find that, nanoseconds after winning an election, the politician in question abandoned any pretense of doing what he said he would do in favor of doing nothing. Every single skirt and suit on The Hill subscribes to Napoleon's philosophy, "If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing." and it is working. It has worked for hundreds of years, even before Napoleon said it.
No doubt, he'll have a ready supply of excuses to appease those few hardy souls that actually manage to maneuver their way through the 'yes' men and handlers that surround him and call him on his lack of action. Oh, sure, he'll sit and talk with you for a few minutes. He'll look serious and concerned as he tilts his head towards you and makes eye contact. He may say things like "I'm glad you brought this to my attention." and "That is serious, I'll have my staff look into that." and my favorite, "I'll give it my full attention." all of which means exactly the same thing, "Since you have had the unmitigated gall to address me in person, I will deign to send you a form letter thanking you for your concern and then go back to my treasure hunt here in Washington DC." Don't get me wrong, it will sound legitimate to most people. He will adapt his reasons for not doing anything to the issue at hand. It will be "The other party is holding up progress" or "There are a number of unforseen problems we must deal with, first." The exact words don't really matter because the message behind them is always the same, "It's not my fault."
To try and pin them down on when they intend to make good on a campign promise is akin to stapling Jell-O to the wall; it can't be done. Politicians are a cunning, cowardly lot. They take no stand, define no motivation, and subscribe to no tangible belief. The best word to define their core values is "fluid" not only because they piss on them regularly, but because they adapt to the prevailing mood of the mob. For proof, just look at the current GOP; during the Bush years, they had no problem spending us into immense debt, expanding government, or trampling The Constitution. Now, however, they're suddenly transformed into strict constitutionalists all puffed up with indignation over what the Democrats are doing to this nation. They roar at the other side of the aisle and call upon citizens to support them in their quest to save this country from ruination at the hands of Obama & Co.
It's all balderdash.
If you want real "Hope and Change", you had better have one or all of three things to offer them; money, power, more money. THAT is their only true motivation. Show up empty-handed and, well, you get what you pay for.
So, is there hope? At the risk of sounding like a politician, yes and no. Do not look to either of the major parties to fix the problems of this country becase for the politicians it's not broken. It's working exactly the way they want it to. The more dire the straits the people are in, the more they look to, and depend on, government to solve the problems. That translates into more power and money for them because, of course, the only things they can do to help are increase regulation and raise taxes.
Political Action Committees are one way to change things but eventually, they succumb to "mission creep" a situation in which an organization expands its mission beyond its original goals. A prime example is the National Rifle Association. Started in 1871 by a group of National Guard officers wanting to improve the marksmanship capabilities of the American public, they did so with great success. In 1934, they became politically active during the debate over the National Firearms Act in which they actively debated against private ownership of fully automatic firearms. Since then, they have performed adequately in some instances, and have been on the wrong side in others. Regardless, they are considered to be the number one gun lobby in America. Unfortunately, they have also become a bloated bureaucracy unto themselves.
Do you want to know how to bring about change? In the words of my good friend Kevin Starrett, Founder and President of the Oregon Firearms Federation, "The only things politicians understand are fear, and pain; the fear of losing an election, and the pain of having to live under the laws they helped enact." There is NOTHING a politician fears more than being out of the game and becoming irrelevant. They are possessed of huge egos and frail character. To be cast out among the masses, to be forced to live like one of the proles, is a fate worse than death itself. As Kevin has proven on numerous occasions, NOTHING will bring a politician to heel like a grass roots movement large enough to cause them the above circumstance.
Enter the Tea Party.
If ever there was a juggernaut in today's politics, it is the Tea Party. Both Republicans and Democrats simultaneously court and condemn them. Above all, they fear them. Why? Because, despite accusations to the contrary, they are not controlled by one group or party. They are a true grass roots movement comprised of Americans from all walks of life that have had enough of politicians' abuse of this country and its wealth. So if you're looking to join a group, that's the one I recommend.
On a personal level, I recommend doing what you need to do to empower yourself. Not being one to dictate to others, I will only suggest these four things:
As it is stated at the Western Rifle Shooters Association, "We're screwed. There's gonna be a fight. Let's win."
Amen.
The reason for this is both simple and disheartening; a politician's first, last, and only priority is to get re-elected. Look at the history of any politician; read what they have said, and then look at what they have done. I suspect, more often than not, you will find that their records for delivering on their promises are dismal at best. From Barack Hussein Obama to your local City Councilman, you will find that, nanoseconds after winning an election, the politician in question abandoned any pretense of doing what he said he would do in favor of doing nothing. Every single skirt and suit on The Hill subscribes to Napoleon's philosophy, "If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing." and it is working. It has worked for hundreds of years, even before Napoleon said it.
No doubt, he'll have a ready supply of excuses to appease those few hardy souls that actually manage to maneuver their way through the 'yes' men and handlers that surround him and call him on his lack of action. Oh, sure, he'll sit and talk with you for a few minutes. He'll look serious and concerned as he tilts his head towards you and makes eye contact. He may say things like "I'm glad you brought this to my attention." and "That is serious, I'll have my staff look into that." and my favorite, "I'll give it my full attention." all of which means exactly the same thing, "Since you have had the unmitigated gall to address me in person, I will deign to send you a form letter thanking you for your concern and then go back to my treasure hunt here in Washington DC." Don't get me wrong, it will sound legitimate to most people. He will adapt his reasons for not doing anything to the issue at hand. It will be "The other party is holding up progress" or "There are a number of unforseen problems we must deal with, first." The exact words don't really matter because the message behind them is always the same, "It's not my fault."
To try and pin them down on when they intend to make good on a campign promise is akin to stapling Jell-O to the wall; it can't be done. Politicians are a cunning, cowardly lot. They take no stand, define no motivation, and subscribe to no tangible belief. The best word to define their core values is "fluid" not only because they piss on them regularly, but because they adapt to the prevailing mood of the mob. For proof, just look at the current GOP; during the Bush years, they had no problem spending us into immense debt, expanding government, or trampling The Constitution. Now, however, they're suddenly transformed into strict constitutionalists all puffed up with indignation over what the Democrats are doing to this nation. They roar at the other side of the aisle and call upon citizens to support them in their quest to save this country from ruination at the hands of Obama & Co.
It's all balderdash.
If you want real "Hope and Change", you had better have one or all of three things to offer them; money, power, more money. THAT is their only true motivation. Show up empty-handed and, well, you get what you pay for.
So, is there hope? At the risk of sounding like a politician, yes and no. Do not look to either of the major parties to fix the problems of this country becase for the politicians it's not broken. It's working exactly the way they want it to. The more dire the straits the people are in, the more they look to, and depend on, government to solve the problems. That translates into more power and money for them because, of course, the only things they can do to help are increase regulation and raise taxes.
Political Action Committees are one way to change things but eventually, they succumb to "mission creep" a situation in which an organization expands its mission beyond its original goals. A prime example is the National Rifle Association. Started in 1871 by a group of National Guard officers wanting to improve the marksmanship capabilities of the American public, they did so with great success. In 1934, they became politically active during the debate over the National Firearms Act in which they actively debated against private ownership of fully automatic firearms. Since then, they have performed adequately in some instances, and have been on the wrong side in others. Regardless, they are considered to be the number one gun lobby in America. Unfortunately, they have also become a bloated bureaucracy unto themselves.
Do you want to know how to bring about change? In the words of my good friend Kevin Starrett, Founder and President of the Oregon Firearms Federation, "The only things politicians understand are fear, and pain; the fear of losing an election, and the pain of having to live under the laws they helped enact." There is NOTHING a politician fears more than being out of the game and becoming irrelevant. They are possessed of huge egos and frail character. To be cast out among the masses, to be forced to live like one of the proles, is a fate worse than death itself. As Kevin has proven on numerous occasions, NOTHING will bring a politician to heel like a grass roots movement large enough to cause them the above circumstance.
Enter the Tea Party.
If ever there was a juggernaut in today's politics, it is the Tea Party. Both Republicans and Democrats simultaneously court and condemn them. Above all, they fear them. Why? Because, despite accusations to the contrary, they are not controlled by one group or party. They are a true grass roots movement comprised of Americans from all walks of life that have had enough of politicians' abuse of this country and its wealth. So if you're looking to join a group, that's the one I recommend.
On a personal level, I recommend doing what you need to do to empower yourself. Not being one to dictate to others, I will only suggest these four things:
- Get out of debt as fast as possible. As it says in Proverbs 22:7, "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." Money is power, start accumulating yours. The tools are out there, just use them to free yourself.
- Read. A lot. Read the works of people that have done what you want to do. read the works of like-minded people. Read because you like to; it sharpens the mind.
- Get involved. In the digital age, it takes almost no time to send an email to your congresscritter. If you're really mad, send a snail mail. It still carries a lot of clout and can't be 'accidently' deleted.
- Stay healthy. Living well (and a long time) is the best revenge.
As it is stated at the Western Rifle Shooters Association, "We're screwed. There's gonna be a fight. Let's win."
Amen.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
A Cinematic Nightmare
I have long been a student of resistance movements. From Francis “The Swamp Fox” Marion on up to the various European resistance movements in WWII and later in Eastern Europe resisting the Communists, the exploits of Wendell Fertig in the Philippines, and even Mujahideen of the 80’s fighting the Soviets, and to a certain extent, the Fedayeen of today’s Iraq, I have marveled at the willingness of some people, many of whom have no military training at all, to stand and fight against a well-trained and well-equipped enemy. I often wonder how our country, our people, with our Second Amendment and our history of revolution would fare against a foreign invader of superior strength.
Not surprisingly, my interest spills over into the books I read and the movies I watch. Among my favorite books are “Jack Hinson’s One-Man War: A Civil War Sniper”, and “Behind Japanese Lines: An American Guerilla in the Philippines” and among my favorite movies are “The Patriot” and “Red Dawn”. In fact, I’ve got the Special Collector’s Edition of Red Dawn. So you can imagine my joy when I found out that there was a remake of Red Dawn in the works. For two reasons: first, being one of my favorite movies, I always wondered how it would look with modern special effects and military hardware. The second reason is that much of it was filmed in my hometown of Detroit. Apparently, Detroit bears a striking resemblance to a bombed out warzone, making it the perfect place to film a war movie.
The big difference, originally, was that the enemy had changed from the USSR to the Peoples’ Republic of China. This makes sense because A) the USSR no longer exists, and B) China can field an army equal to the entire population of the United States. Despite their protestations to the contrary, I firmly believe that the next global conflict will be a result of their expansion into Russia, so I was looking forward to seeing just how this version would measure up.
Unfortunately, I had forgotten a small, but important, detail about the era in which the original had been made; John Milius directed the original Red Dawn. Now, John Milius is a far cry from being a conservative, but he is a gun guy and a stickler for accuracy when it comes to the details of his depictions of the military. Moreover, when he was at the height of his career, a peak that coincided with the making of the original Red Dawn, he had the juice to push his projects through, no matter how politically incorrect they were.
The same cannot be said of those that are involved with the remake.
The current version of Red Dawn was made under MGM Studios at a time when MGM was in dire financial straits. Around that same time, the script for the movie was leaked to some obscure website which is apparently read by Chinese government officials. Consequently, MGM was barraged with protests from China regarding the depiction of China as an expansionist, totalitarian power bent on conquest. Nepal, and Tibet aside, MGM decided that the Chinese were right, especially since MGM makes millions off of China when it distributes films overseas. So, in the interest of keeping the relationship between MGM and China friendly, MGM decided to digitally alter the movie to make the enemy North Korea. I mean, North Koreans, Chinese, what’s the difference? You’ve seen one Asian Commie, you’ve seen them all, right?
Wrong.
There is a huge difference. Now that China is emerging as an economic powerhouse while simultaneously upgrading and modernizing their military, they can, should they so desire, project power directly to our shores. If they did decide to invade, there is a very real possibility that they could successfully gain a foothold on the Continental United States, likely with the full consent and cooperation of our own Progressives.
On the other hand, North Korea couldn’t successfully invade Texas. Hell, Mexico has been trying to take Texas back for 150 years and they can't do it. A small, backward country run by a psychotic despot, North Korea would be hard-pressed to successfully defeat the South Dakota National Guard ( to their great credit, the SDNG has served admirably overseas. It also has a huge number of competitive shooters in its ranks, thereby making them a formidable bunch no matter who the enemy is). For North Korea to successfully land on our shores, there would have to be a series of catastrophic coincidences so unlikely that it would require Divine Intervention to accomplish them.
A more likely scenario would be for the North Koreans to land here, discover the abundance of food and services, desert the North Korean Army, apply for political asylum en masse, and then open convenience stores and restaurants all over the country.
When faced with political pressure from China, MGM folded like a cheap suit. Instead of making, marketing, and distributing a decent movie with a plausible plot, they have buried the project in the hopes that it will be forgotten. If it ever does see the light of day, it will require the same amount of suspension of disbelief that “The Lord of the Rings” required while providing nowhere near the quality.
Once again, Hollywood has proven to be populated by craven eunuchs that would rather appease the Chinese than please American movie goers. Will I see it if it is ever released? Maybe when it goes to DVD.
Not surprisingly, my interest spills over into the books I read and the movies I watch. Among my favorite books are “Jack Hinson’s One-Man War: A Civil War Sniper”, and “Behind Japanese Lines: An American Guerilla in the Philippines” and among my favorite movies are “The Patriot” and “Red Dawn”. In fact, I’ve got the Special Collector’s Edition of Red Dawn. So you can imagine my joy when I found out that there was a remake of Red Dawn in the works. For two reasons: first, being one of my favorite movies, I always wondered how it would look with modern special effects and military hardware. The second reason is that much of it was filmed in my hometown of Detroit. Apparently, Detroit bears a striking resemblance to a bombed out warzone, making it the perfect place to film a war movie.
The big difference, originally, was that the enemy had changed from the USSR to the Peoples’ Republic of China. This makes sense because A) the USSR no longer exists, and B) China can field an army equal to the entire population of the United States. Despite their protestations to the contrary, I firmly believe that the next global conflict will be a result of their expansion into Russia, so I was looking forward to seeing just how this version would measure up.
Unfortunately, I had forgotten a small, but important, detail about the era in which the original had been made; John Milius directed the original Red Dawn. Now, John Milius is a far cry from being a conservative, but he is a gun guy and a stickler for accuracy when it comes to the details of his depictions of the military. Moreover, when he was at the height of his career, a peak that coincided with the making of the original Red Dawn, he had the juice to push his projects through, no matter how politically incorrect they were.
The same cannot be said of those that are involved with the remake.
The current version of Red Dawn was made under MGM Studios at a time when MGM was in dire financial straits. Around that same time, the script for the movie was leaked to some obscure website which is apparently read by Chinese government officials. Consequently, MGM was barraged with protests from China regarding the depiction of China as an expansionist, totalitarian power bent on conquest. Nepal, and Tibet aside, MGM decided that the Chinese were right, especially since MGM makes millions off of China when it distributes films overseas. So, in the interest of keeping the relationship between MGM and China friendly, MGM decided to digitally alter the movie to make the enemy North Korea. I mean, North Koreans, Chinese, what’s the difference? You’ve seen one Asian Commie, you’ve seen them all, right?
Wrong.
There is a huge difference. Now that China is emerging as an economic powerhouse while simultaneously upgrading and modernizing their military, they can, should they so desire, project power directly to our shores. If they did decide to invade, there is a very real possibility that they could successfully gain a foothold on the Continental United States, likely with the full consent and cooperation of our own Progressives.
On the other hand, North Korea couldn’t successfully invade Texas. Hell, Mexico has been trying to take Texas back for 150 years and they can't do it. A small, backward country run by a psychotic despot, North Korea would be hard-pressed to successfully defeat the South Dakota National Guard ( to their great credit, the SDNG has served admirably overseas. It also has a huge number of competitive shooters in its ranks, thereby making them a formidable bunch no matter who the enemy is). For North Korea to successfully land on our shores, there would have to be a series of catastrophic coincidences so unlikely that it would require Divine Intervention to accomplish them.
A more likely scenario would be for the North Koreans to land here, discover the abundance of food and services, desert the North Korean Army, apply for political asylum en masse, and then open convenience stores and restaurants all over the country.
When faced with political pressure from China, MGM folded like a cheap suit. Instead of making, marketing, and distributing a decent movie with a plausible plot, they have buried the project in the hopes that it will be forgotten. If it ever does see the light of day, it will require the same amount of suspension of disbelief that “The Lord of the Rings” required while providing nowhere near the quality.
Once again, Hollywood has proven to be populated by craven eunuchs that would rather appease the Chinese than please American movie goers. Will I see it if it is ever released? Maybe when it goes to DVD.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Disjointed Reality Rant
I have long suspected that our society is becoming dissociated from reality. It started in our schools, continued on into our culture, and has finally and possibly fatally, affected the Halls of Congress. When I was little, the popular version of The Pilgrims told how they arrived from Europe seeking religious freedom, made friends with the Indians who, in their enthusiasm to please the new arrivals, taught them how to raise corn, roast turkeys, and make clothes that didn’t make them all look like pictures on an oatmeal box. Nowadays, children are taught how the white man invaded America with the express purpose of conquering the land, exterminating the natives through genocidal bio-warfare involving smallpox-infected blankets, and polluting the air and water. Both versions perpetuated the image of the indigenous people living in harmony with nature. We are often reminded of how they killed only what they needed and used every part of an animal, wasting nothing.
It is there where reality ends and fantasy begins. The people living here when the Pilgrims arrived were still living in the Stone Age. They used every part of the animal because they had no Wal-Mart, no convenience stores, and no mass production. Most often, they moved into an area, ate everything that walked, crawled, or flew, and then moved to another area to consume that flora and fauna. Occasionally, they moved into an area that was already populated by other people engaged in the eat-everything-and-move method of survival. Then the two groups would fight and the losers were exterminated and, depending on how hungry the winners were, possibly eaten. What the romanticists fail to realize is that living in nature, by its very definition, is an adversarial relationship. Mother Nature is a vicious bitch that will kill you for no other reason than you happened to get wet during the winter, or because the cut on your arm got infected. Researching and developing physics, metallurgy, medicine, chemistry, agriculture, animal husbandry, math, scientific method, or any of a million other areas of study vital to the advancement of one’s society is difficult when the task of finding breakfast takes until lunch time. Or dinner time. Or if you’re killed while pursuing said meal.
The Pilgrims themselves had adopted a form of Socialism in that all food was equally shared regardless of who did the work. Unfortunately for them, human nature kicked in and, as in all cases when everything belongs to everybody, no one attended to the necessary duties of survival. A combination of inclement weather, communal living, and a complete lack of familiarity with their new environment worked against them. The end result was that many died of disease, starvation, and probably boredom. Had they not brought provisions with them, it is entirely possible that they would have been forced to adopt a system in which they ate everything edible in a given area, and then move on to where there was more edible stuff. In other words, except for dressing funny, they would have acted very much like the people that were already there.
You can dispute the details of the things I have listed, but, the reality is that a bunch of people left Europe for reasons of their own, arrived on these shores, discovered that there were people already here, and as is usual when different cultures encounter one another, had varying degrees of conflict until the more numerous and technologically advanced culture rose to the ascendant position.
While our schools have allowed the truth to be obfuscated by political agendas, our culture has abandoned any pretense and just shed any vestige of reality whatsoever. We embrace the lies nowhere so much as we do in our entertainment. The abundance of shows that are categorized under the heading “Reality Shows” is a perfect indication of just how lost we’ve become. The typical format is for a group of people to be thrown together in unusual circumstances, with the requirement that they cooperate to achieve a common goal, or perhaps just cohabitate, or even work against another, similar group. They are given a set of tasks they must perform in order to prove their worthiness to continue. Audiences, through the magic of the internet, convey their support, critique the performance of their favorite group, or express their admiration. The contestants are held up as examples of the way things should be done. The most egregious violators of reality are those shows that purport to display an individual’s or a group’s ability to “survive”. The aforementioned contestants, usually young, physically fit, and above average to stunningly attractive, are then set on an island and given a set of tasks to perform while the audience watches.
It is all a scam. Taking your average twenty-something out of their day-to-day life, transporting them to a tropical island, and forcing them to sleep outside in the rain isn’t really a life or death situation. Uncomfortable? Absolutely. But in Southwest Asia there are thousands of young men and women living in conditions far worse than that. And, those on the television show don’t need to worry about being ambushed, blown up, shot, or mortared. And therein lies the rub; there is no real hazard. Anyone who is injured has the advantage of being medevaced out. Food is provided for them. Heck, they can quit if they want to. “Survivor” should either insert an element of real danger to the mix (my preference would be to release a Bengal Tiger on to the island) or change its name to “Discomfort”
Another style of reality shows are the ones that give us glimpses into the worlds of repo men, bounty hunters, and cops. In those instances, the audience goes from merely curious to completely voyeuristic. We watch (yes, I’m as guilty as anyone) as people make their living by placing themselves in conflict with others. The reasons why are important only in that they identify the good guy from the bad guy. The show about repossession agents shows only the trials and tribulations faced by the people with the tow truck. It doesn’t show the guy that lost his job and is in the process of his life falling apart as he scrambles around trying to make ends meet. The bounty hunter is displayed as doing the dirty work of bail enforcement while ignoring the family members of the bail jumper who are scared shitless when the bounty hunter barges in looking for his target. Their anger is viewed as an invalid response to the people who are just trying to do right when, in fact, it is probably a response to some loud-mouthed jerk disrupting their lives and scaring their children.
The shows that follow the police may actually do some good. We cannot know how many ass-kickings have been prevented by the presence of a camera taking video that is slated for national broadcast. No doubt, many an officer has been exonerated by the presence of video and citizens have possibly been prevented from suffering abuse at the hands of an abusive police officer. Regardless, they do not show the blood, the terror, the heartbreak, and the violence that is a daily occurrence on any city’s mean streets. They show those incidents that are quickly resolved and are edited for language and content.
Yet, we are exposed to these shows and images 24 hours a day. Our children are indoctrinated during their school year and then they come home and watch whatever is on television, amounting to more indoctrination and a greater distancing from reality. In all situations, they are conditioned to believe that adversity should be conquered in 47 minutes (minus commercials) or less and that all situations are resolved with a benign ending if not a happy one.
The real, soul-crushing tragedy about this is that those that have faced real adversity, overcome overwhelming odds, or have sacrificed, truly sacrificed, are lost to them. Young men no longer know about Hugh Glass’ six week ordeal in getting back to civilization after being mauled by a grizzly and left for dead. Nor do they know of Dieter Dengler’s escape from a Laotian prison camp, the tragedy of the Donner Party, the horrors and triumphs experienced by survivors of The Holocaust, the rise of Communism, or the breakdown of order. We seek to live vicariously through the exploits of television heroes while ignoring the wisdom and experience of people that have suffered real trials in situations neither controlled nor choreographed.
Nowhere do we see a greater disconnect from reality than in our own government. Under the guise of “problem solving” our Congress, Senate, and Executive bicker and squabble about whose method is superior, whose plan will most benefit our country, and which sector of society should pay their fair share, whatever that means. We have had a government that has had no budget for over 2 years. Rather than make hard, unpopular, decisions, they vote for extension after extension after extension, never solving anything and careful to offend no one. The problem is not determining who is right, the problem is that everyone is wrong.
The Democrats would have us believe that the only way to get out of debt is by incurring more debt. That the best way to stimulate the economy is to raise taxes on an already over-burdened people and allow nearly half the population to live off of the taxes paid by the other half.
The Republicans think that by explaining that entitlements need to be cut in order to save the country, those whose entitlements are to be cut will just shrug and say, “Oh, okay, being as how it’s for the good of the country and all.” and that there will be no backlash. Plus, they have the added attraction of infighting between those that wish to continue the status quo, and those that see the cliff we are headed towards and wish to change course.
The reality? Our country is broke, in debt, and there doesn’t appear to be anyone willing to lead us out of this mess. The previous administration saw fit to use the attack of 9/11 to create the largest bureaucracy in our nation’s history to that point, costing us trillions. The administration before that enacted legislation that laid the groundwork for the housing bubble to pop, the financial sector to collapse, and for China to be the recipient of our manufacturing base. All of which ultimately cost us trillions. The current President, obviously being a student of the previous two, saw no reason to bring spending under control and, in a masterful blending of philosophies, spent money like George W. Bush while lying his ass off like William Jefferson Clinton.
Unfortunately for us common folk, Economics has much in common with Mother Nature in that it has a cavalier disregard for what we want, or even what we need. And, just as in nature, the more so-called experts that meddle with the natural forces, the more pronounced are the laws of unintended consequences. I’ll use Hawaii as an example; When ships began making regular stops there, the inadvertent introduction of rats on to the islands wrought havoc upon the local wildlife. Experts decided that the problem was the lack of a predator, so they imported mongooses to prey upon the rats. The Problem? Rats are nocturnal, Mongooses are diurnal, so they likely never saw one another. The species that paid the price was the sea turtle. Being blissfully unaware of the rat/mongoose problem, the sea turtles came ashore and laid their eggs as they had for millions of years. Unfortunately, due to the meddling of experts, rats and mongooses both saw the sea turtles eggs as nothing so much as a huge buffet delivered right to their beach. End result? Rats and mongooses flourished while sea turtle babies had to contend with even more predators than the usual seagulls and fish that awaited their arrival.
How does this apply to the current budget crisis? Simple; experts of the same philosophical bent as those that “solved” the rat problem in Hawaii, saw that the middle class was suffering under a crushing tax burden. Their solution? Institute a series of tax increases upon “the rich”; a segment of society that apparently has a level of income that enables them to live without the benefit of government aid. The amount of income that identifies them as “rich” changes with each administration, the current number being $250,000 per year. Generally speaking, those that can be identified as rich produce some good or service that the public at large deems necessary and buys regularly, or they work for a corporation that does. When the government decides through debate, desire for re-election, or Magic 8-Ball that it’s necessary to raise the taxes of the producers, those that produce are understandably loathe to suffer a reduction in their income, thus, they cover the shortfall by raising prices on whatever good or service they provide. End result? Those that are not rich, known as “the rest of us” end up paying our own taxes and covering theirs. So higher taxes (the rats) are met by higher prices (the mongooses) which end up putting a greater burden upon the rest of us (the sea turtles). Get it?
Now, it would seem that the best course of action would be for politicians to leave well enough alone and let the economy chug along on its own. Unfortunately, politicians, like bureaucrats everywhere, must justify their existence by doing things. It doesn’t matter if they do the right thing or the wrong thing, the important thing is that they are doing something. The truly infuriating thing is that, despite all of their claims of doing this to benefit this group or that group, in the long run it ends up benefitting the same group: politicians and their cronies. They have no real interest in fixing things because, for them, it ain’t broken!
Reality? In their view, we are just Multi-Use Labor Elements placed here to benefit them. They will do just enough to placate us in order to keep us from hunting them down and feeding them to ravenous sea turtles.
It is there where reality ends and fantasy begins. The people living here when the Pilgrims arrived were still living in the Stone Age. They used every part of the animal because they had no Wal-Mart, no convenience stores, and no mass production. Most often, they moved into an area, ate everything that walked, crawled, or flew, and then moved to another area to consume that flora and fauna. Occasionally, they moved into an area that was already populated by other people engaged in the eat-everything-and-move method of survival. Then the two groups would fight and the losers were exterminated and, depending on how hungry the winners were, possibly eaten. What the romanticists fail to realize is that living in nature, by its very definition, is an adversarial relationship. Mother Nature is a vicious bitch that will kill you for no other reason than you happened to get wet during the winter, or because the cut on your arm got infected. Researching and developing physics, metallurgy, medicine, chemistry, agriculture, animal husbandry, math, scientific method, or any of a million other areas of study vital to the advancement of one’s society is difficult when the task of finding breakfast takes until lunch time. Or dinner time. Or if you’re killed while pursuing said meal.
The Pilgrims themselves had adopted a form of Socialism in that all food was equally shared regardless of who did the work. Unfortunately for them, human nature kicked in and, as in all cases when everything belongs to everybody, no one attended to the necessary duties of survival. A combination of inclement weather, communal living, and a complete lack of familiarity with their new environment worked against them. The end result was that many died of disease, starvation, and probably boredom. Had they not brought provisions with them, it is entirely possible that they would have been forced to adopt a system in which they ate everything edible in a given area, and then move on to where there was more edible stuff. In other words, except for dressing funny, they would have acted very much like the people that were already there.
You can dispute the details of the things I have listed, but, the reality is that a bunch of people left Europe for reasons of their own, arrived on these shores, discovered that there were people already here, and as is usual when different cultures encounter one another, had varying degrees of conflict until the more numerous and technologically advanced culture rose to the ascendant position.
While our schools have allowed the truth to be obfuscated by political agendas, our culture has abandoned any pretense and just shed any vestige of reality whatsoever. We embrace the lies nowhere so much as we do in our entertainment. The abundance of shows that are categorized under the heading “Reality Shows” is a perfect indication of just how lost we’ve become. The typical format is for a group of people to be thrown together in unusual circumstances, with the requirement that they cooperate to achieve a common goal, or perhaps just cohabitate, or even work against another, similar group. They are given a set of tasks they must perform in order to prove their worthiness to continue. Audiences, through the magic of the internet, convey their support, critique the performance of their favorite group, or express their admiration. The contestants are held up as examples of the way things should be done. The most egregious violators of reality are those shows that purport to display an individual’s or a group’s ability to “survive”. The aforementioned contestants, usually young, physically fit, and above average to stunningly attractive, are then set on an island and given a set of tasks to perform while the audience watches.
It is all a scam. Taking your average twenty-something out of their day-to-day life, transporting them to a tropical island, and forcing them to sleep outside in the rain isn’t really a life or death situation. Uncomfortable? Absolutely. But in Southwest Asia there are thousands of young men and women living in conditions far worse than that. And, those on the television show don’t need to worry about being ambushed, blown up, shot, or mortared. And therein lies the rub; there is no real hazard. Anyone who is injured has the advantage of being medevaced out. Food is provided for them. Heck, they can quit if they want to. “Survivor” should either insert an element of real danger to the mix (my preference would be to release a Bengal Tiger on to the island) or change its name to “Discomfort”
Another style of reality shows are the ones that give us glimpses into the worlds of repo men, bounty hunters, and cops. In those instances, the audience goes from merely curious to completely voyeuristic. We watch (yes, I’m as guilty as anyone) as people make their living by placing themselves in conflict with others. The reasons why are important only in that they identify the good guy from the bad guy. The show about repossession agents shows only the trials and tribulations faced by the people with the tow truck. It doesn’t show the guy that lost his job and is in the process of his life falling apart as he scrambles around trying to make ends meet. The bounty hunter is displayed as doing the dirty work of bail enforcement while ignoring the family members of the bail jumper who are scared shitless when the bounty hunter barges in looking for his target. Their anger is viewed as an invalid response to the people who are just trying to do right when, in fact, it is probably a response to some loud-mouthed jerk disrupting their lives and scaring their children.
The shows that follow the police may actually do some good. We cannot know how many ass-kickings have been prevented by the presence of a camera taking video that is slated for national broadcast. No doubt, many an officer has been exonerated by the presence of video and citizens have possibly been prevented from suffering abuse at the hands of an abusive police officer. Regardless, they do not show the blood, the terror, the heartbreak, and the violence that is a daily occurrence on any city’s mean streets. They show those incidents that are quickly resolved and are edited for language and content.
Yet, we are exposed to these shows and images 24 hours a day. Our children are indoctrinated during their school year and then they come home and watch whatever is on television, amounting to more indoctrination and a greater distancing from reality. In all situations, they are conditioned to believe that adversity should be conquered in 47 minutes (minus commercials) or less and that all situations are resolved with a benign ending if not a happy one.
The real, soul-crushing tragedy about this is that those that have faced real adversity, overcome overwhelming odds, or have sacrificed, truly sacrificed, are lost to them. Young men no longer know about Hugh Glass’ six week ordeal in getting back to civilization after being mauled by a grizzly and left for dead. Nor do they know of Dieter Dengler’s escape from a Laotian prison camp, the tragedy of the Donner Party, the horrors and triumphs experienced by survivors of The Holocaust, the rise of Communism, or the breakdown of order. We seek to live vicariously through the exploits of television heroes while ignoring the wisdom and experience of people that have suffered real trials in situations neither controlled nor choreographed.
Nowhere do we see a greater disconnect from reality than in our own government. Under the guise of “problem solving” our Congress, Senate, and Executive bicker and squabble about whose method is superior, whose plan will most benefit our country, and which sector of society should pay their fair share, whatever that means. We have had a government that has had no budget for over 2 years. Rather than make hard, unpopular, decisions, they vote for extension after extension after extension, never solving anything and careful to offend no one. The problem is not determining who is right, the problem is that everyone is wrong.
The Democrats would have us believe that the only way to get out of debt is by incurring more debt. That the best way to stimulate the economy is to raise taxes on an already over-burdened people and allow nearly half the population to live off of the taxes paid by the other half.
The Republicans think that by explaining that entitlements need to be cut in order to save the country, those whose entitlements are to be cut will just shrug and say, “Oh, okay, being as how it’s for the good of the country and all.” and that there will be no backlash. Plus, they have the added attraction of infighting between those that wish to continue the status quo, and those that see the cliff we are headed towards and wish to change course.
The reality? Our country is broke, in debt, and there doesn’t appear to be anyone willing to lead us out of this mess. The previous administration saw fit to use the attack of 9/11 to create the largest bureaucracy in our nation’s history to that point, costing us trillions. The administration before that enacted legislation that laid the groundwork for the housing bubble to pop, the financial sector to collapse, and for China to be the recipient of our manufacturing base. All of which ultimately cost us trillions. The current President, obviously being a student of the previous two, saw no reason to bring spending under control and, in a masterful blending of philosophies, spent money like George W. Bush while lying his ass off like William Jefferson Clinton.
Unfortunately for us common folk, Economics has much in common with Mother Nature in that it has a cavalier disregard for what we want, or even what we need. And, just as in nature, the more so-called experts that meddle with the natural forces, the more pronounced are the laws of unintended consequences. I’ll use Hawaii as an example; When ships began making regular stops there, the inadvertent introduction of rats on to the islands wrought havoc upon the local wildlife. Experts decided that the problem was the lack of a predator, so they imported mongooses to prey upon the rats. The Problem? Rats are nocturnal, Mongooses are diurnal, so they likely never saw one another. The species that paid the price was the sea turtle. Being blissfully unaware of the rat/mongoose problem, the sea turtles came ashore and laid their eggs as they had for millions of years. Unfortunately, due to the meddling of experts, rats and mongooses both saw the sea turtles eggs as nothing so much as a huge buffet delivered right to their beach. End result? Rats and mongooses flourished while sea turtle babies had to contend with even more predators than the usual seagulls and fish that awaited their arrival.
How does this apply to the current budget crisis? Simple; experts of the same philosophical bent as those that “solved” the rat problem in Hawaii, saw that the middle class was suffering under a crushing tax burden. Their solution? Institute a series of tax increases upon “the rich”; a segment of society that apparently has a level of income that enables them to live without the benefit of government aid. The amount of income that identifies them as “rich” changes with each administration, the current number being $250,000 per year. Generally speaking, those that can be identified as rich produce some good or service that the public at large deems necessary and buys regularly, or they work for a corporation that does. When the government decides through debate, desire for re-election, or Magic 8-Ball that it’s necessary to raise the taxes of the producers, those that produce are understandably loathe to suffer a reduction in their income, thus, they cover the shortfall by raising prices on whatever good or service they provide. End result? Those that are not rich, known as “the rest of us” end up paying our own taxes and covering theirs. So higher taxes (the rats) are met by higher prices (the mongooses) which end up putting a greater burden upon the rest of us (the sea turtles). Get it?
Now, it would seem that the best course of action would be for politicians to leave well enough alone and let the economy chug along on its own. Unfortunately, politicians, like bureaucrats everywhere, must justify their existence by doing things. It doesn’t matter if they do the right thing or the wrong thing, the important thing is that they are doing something. The truly infuriating thing is that, despite all of their claims of doing this to benefit this group or that group, in the long run it ends up benefitting the same group: politicians and their cronies. They have no real interest in fixing things because, for them, it ain’t broken!
Reality? In their view, we are just Multi-Use Labor Elements placed here to benefit them. They will do just enough to placate us in order to keep us from hunting them down and feeding them to ravenous sea turtles.
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