Thanksgiving Morning Thoughts
Matthew Q. Llewellyn, NREMT-I
Founder, The American Libertarian Movement
At the request of the newly established Congress, President George Washington wrote a proclamation titled "General Thanksgiving". In this, he not only established the official day we celebrate on, he also gave a very clear understanding of what Thanksgiving is all about. Here is that proclamation.
"Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and whereas both houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, request me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.
Now therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interposition's of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union and plenty which we have since enjoyed;- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of nations and beseech Him to pardon our nation and other transgressions;- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our national Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wife, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations, especially such as have shewn kindness unto us; and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
G. Washington"
Today, as you sit around the table with family and friends, I want you to think about something else, and what it means to you. It's quite possibly the greatest thing there is to be thankful for, and often the most easily forgotten. And that thing... is freedom. I believe I'll share with you what freedom means to me.
When I think about freedom, I think about every single thing you can possibly imagine. I think about the ability to be anything you want, to go anywhere you choose and to dream the biggest dreams you can and actually be able to reach out and grab them. I remember Benjamin Franklin, who said "Every man is guaranteed the right to life, liberty and happiness, but it's up to each of them to take hold of it." Then I think of all the things that freedom allows... but only, as Franklin said, if we take hold of them.
In this great nation of ours, this, land of the free, you can choose any path you want to go down on... and believe me... the paths are many.
Many people in this great nation choose to live a less than great life. On thanksgiving, many of us give thanks for all of the blessing in our lives. Then, almost as if by nature, we offer a prayer for the less fortunate around us. I however, have to offer a question when I hear this. Are people less fortunate? Or are they lazy?
You will find, more often than not, the answer is lazy... and yes... I will explain. However, I will first say this. I understand, because I've seen it so many times, that people are sometimes forced into situations they never would have picked for themselves. Such as people with debilitating medical conditions or those who have been permanently injured by accidents. Those people are not who I speak of. Truly, let us all be thankful for the health our God has granted us, and let us ask Him to bestow healing and blessing to those without that health. That being said... Let's talk about the ones who choose to be called the less fortunate.
That's right... I went there... I said it... they choose... I'll repeat that... choose... to be less fortunate.
Some of you will probably start thinking "What a cold hearted jerk" right about now... if you are, you probably have not read a lot of my writing. Stick with me... that's all I ask. You'll love this by the time you're done reading it.
Think about what freedom is... freedom... among all the things it encompasses, is choices. That's it. No more. No less. Freedom is choice. You have the choice to succeed, you have the choice to fail. The choice is absolutely yours. The question to submit here is this; Does choosing to fail make you a failure for life? The answer is... no pun intended... your choice.
Each of us can choose many routes in life and follow many, many paths. We can choose to complete high school and never travel any further. Or, we can choose to quit all together. We can choose to go to college and get a degree. Or, we can choose to drop out and flip burgers. We can choose to drink and party, or we can choose to stay home and study. We can choose to use drugs, or we can choose to fill our minds with knowledge. We can choose to work hard for the promotion at work, or we can choose to just keep that paycheck coming in. We can choose to work two jobs and go to night school and achieve our dreams, or we can choose to live off the tax payer and not do a thing at all. We can choose to remain celibate, or at least practice safe sex until we can afford children, or we can choose to make babies faster than we can make dollars. Regardless of what we choose... at the end of the day... it's by our decisions that we arrive there... no one elses.
You have heard people say "He's just a product of a bad environment". That has to be one of the biggest loads of horse excrement I've ever heard in my life. It is impossible for us to become a product of our environment. Why? Because our environments are a product of us.
Take these stories as perfect examples.
There was a young man who went to college and began drinking heavily. Shortly thereafter, he started using drugs. An even shorter time later, he was homeless. He hated his life and everything it was about. After spending almost three years on the street, he had enough of it and tried to kill himself... and almost succeeded. Weeks later, he decided there was a better way. He sought out various paths until he found the perfect one. He used a homeless shelter to sleep and shower at night. During the day, every day, he walked 5 miles to work construction. He hammered nails until he had enough money saved to rent a very cheap and run down apartment. He continued swinging the hammer day in and day out. Eventually, he had enough money saved to return to college. During the day, he hit nails... at night... he hit the books. Many years have gone by... except now people don't call out to him and say "Hey you, bring those 4x4's over here", they say "Doctor, your next patient is ready."
There was a very young woman who was unwed, dropped out of school to take care of her three children from three different males, who found herself homeless, living in her car, and bouncing from homeless shelter to homeless shelter trying to survive. That woman was in a position that easily strikes fear into the hearts of many women. Imagine that for a minute... uneducated... homeless... three children... and no hope in sight. Well... what do you do when there is no hope in sight? You start making your own hope. This woman found a place to live and did the only thing she knew she could do that also make lots of money doing it... she became a dancer at a strip club. After saving enough money, she studied for her G.E.D., then, after securing a new place for her family, she enrolled in college. She used welfare as she needed it to help her along the way... but she's not on it anymore. Today, she is still a single mother, but she is a very successful single mother who owns a successful business. Her bills are paid, she has money to play with in the bank, she drives not one but two brand new cars, the only vehicle she'll ever live in again is the RV her family takes on road trips and her children have more toys than they could have ever imagined. She never wonders where the next check is going to come from, and she never worries about not having a way to survive. She made truly horrible decisions. She arrived at a truly unthinkable outcome. She knew she wanted more, she fought as hard as she could for more... and folks... she got it.
Both of these people survived incredibly difficult situations. They faced some of the very worst things life had to offer. In the man's case, he found himself on every drug you could imagine and almost killed himself from the pain his life gave him. In the woman's, she found herself in the same position as many women across the nation do. To escape, she chose one of the most vile, degrading and horrible paths any woman could ever go down. She sold her body. In her words "I chose the lessor of two evils."
Side note for men and women... This is a free nation... is you choose to visit a strip club, your choice. If you choose to work in one, also your choice. But let me leave you with some very wise words that were given to me as a young man. "When you walk in there, and involve yourself in this sin, sin will consume your heart and mind. You're body will leave whole, but each time you give in, a piece of your soul is left behind." Just some food for thought... moving on.
Choice my friends... choice... that's what Thanksgiving is all about. You can choose to succeed, or you can choose to fail. It doesn't matter how many bad decisions you've made in your past, in fact, it doesn't matter what bad decisions you made yesterday, or even five minutes ago. I've said this for a long time and I firmly believe it... None of us are who we were yesterday. Who we are, is what we are right now, and what we choose to become tomorrow.
As far as excuses... you can leave them at the door. In life, there are no excuses, only attempts to justify continually bad decisions. Rather than make an excuse, admit your error, learn from it, correct it and move on.
If there is one thing I know for a fact... it's this. It's never too late to start fresh. It doesn't matter if you did the wrong things before, it matters that you learn from them and choose to do the right things now.
Theodore Roosevelt said "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty... I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many who led difficult lives and led them well."
So what is freedom to me? Freedom to me... means no matter what you've done... you can find yourself free from your past and become anything you want to be. No one can stop you... No one can make you do it... the only person who can make this choice... is you.
And that my friends... is what Thanksgiving is truly about. Freedom and choice. Be thankful that our Almighty God has given all of us this free nation, where we can choose to become anything we want to be... no matter how big or small.
This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many things. I'm thankful for my life, the success God has allowed me to achieve, the patience He shows me and the wisdom He places in my heart. I'm thankful for my wonderful family. We have been through some difficult times, but through God's graces, we've always come through. I'm thankful for the very special, amazing woman in my life. And last, but certainly not least, I'm thankful for my good friends, new and old.
And this Thanksgiving, I pray that you will all be thankful for your ability to choose, and the freedom that gives you that ability. I pray for everyone who needs to make those better choices and ask God to place in them the desire to overcome their past and do whatever it takes to become every single amazing thing God intends for them. I pray for the poor to seek out greater education and become wealthy. I pray for parents to set better examples for the children by working hard and overcoming life's obstacles. And I pray... that all of you... every single one of you reading this... will come to know the love of Jesus Christ like I have. Lastly... I pray that this nation, this freedom, the freedom I hold so dear to my heart, will continue to receive God's blessings and last another two centuries and beyond.
Remember... there is nothing wrong with admitting you did wrong... it's only wrong to never admit the truth and move forward. In John 8:32, Jesus said "You will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
The Ultimate Fail Safe
The Ultimate Fail Safe
By Matthew Q. Llewellyn, NREMT-I
Founder, The American Libertarian Movement
Today, a time of choosing comes to every single citizen of this great country we call America. You must now choose to do nothing and lose everything, or you must choose to act, and still possibly lose everything. Given, the odds are stacked highly against us. But let us not forget those that faced the same odds and emerged victorious. Most notably, the founding fathers of these great United States. Those men, realizing the importance of freedom, and the price that must be paid for it, placed everything on the line... their futures... their safety... their homes... and most literally, their lives. Today, I ask you to make a much simpler decision, and to take a much easier action. I ask you... to speak.
Today, in a sweeping party-line vote, the democrat controlled Senate voted to bring Universal Healthcare debate to the floor. While many Americans believe this is a good thing, it is only because of their ignorance of the situation, and their ignorance of history, that allows them to think this.
And please... do not feel I am insulting anyone when I say this, because I truly am not. There is a distinct difference between ignorance and stupidity. The stupid man chooses his title, the ignorant simply hasn't been informed.
Quite some time ago, I wrote "The Communist Manifesto: A Close Examination". If you have not read it, today would be a very good day to do so. It's located in the archives of this webpage.
There are a number of things which power hungry, controlling and deceptive leaders must do before they can take full control of a free nation's people. The Communist Manifesto lays a basic step by step process of how this must be done. However, one does not need to read the manifesto to understand this, they simply need to study history.
Take Hitler for example. If you attended a government indoctrination center, aka, public school, you know Hitler was a very bad man. You also know he lost the war. What I already know you don't know, is how he did it. Why don't you know that? Because the government controls education and chooses not to teach how it was done. Why? Because one of the most important steps Hitler, and many other dictators took, was seizing control of the education system. Teaching the steps taken by dictators would be very difficult to do, when the school house you are sitting in is a mirror image of those dictators actions.
For those that are not familiar with the history, I will give you a very brief overview. Keep in mind, it was not only Hitler who used this formula. Nearly every single dictator has used this exact same formula.
Imagine your country is facing financial fears of vast proportions. People are hungry, jobs are fading away and the general public is not able to afford the basic necessities of life. Then someone comes along who promises to fix all of that. He says "I will put every single man back to work", "I will put a car in every garage", "I will put an ice box in every home", (big deal back then) "I will provide an education for every single child", "I will provide healthcare for every citizen", "Not a single citizen will go hungry, be without a job, be without a car, be without shelter, be without education or without medical care. And not one of you will have to pay for it. If you elect me, I will make the government provide all of these things for you." ... Sounds good doesn't it? Every single thing you could ever imagine, every necessity of life provided. Folks... this is how Hitler and every single controlling lunatic since the beginning of time has done it.
When you allow your government to become this out of control... this powerful... it becomes an uncontrollable beast. I do believe Thomas Jefferson said it best... "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have."
Had these lunatics, these, power hungry, oppressive men not been crazy, their actions would have made them saints. Unfortunately, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The founding fathers knew this. This is why George Washington, when asked to become the King of the United States, respectfully declined.
The uninformed in this nation have no idea what's going on, because they have no idea of what's already happened. These people look around them and everything they see is in black and white. They look at welfare, and see poor people being helped. They look at forced wage rates and all they see is fairness for the poor. They look at higher taxes for the wealthy, more taxes on big business and all they see is benefit for the poor. And they look at free healthcare... and all they see is help for the poor.
Allow me to show you the side that they, and perhaps even you, do not see.
They see welfare and see help for the poor. I see welfare and see a hole you can never get out of. They see a few hundred, maybe a thousand dollars a month. I see an opportunity to educate and give the poor the ability to earn thousands of dollars per month. I see welfare, and I see more and more people dependent on government, less dependent on themselves, less able to provide for themselves, and less able, to proclaim and defend their freedom.
They see forced minimum wages as fairness to the poor. I see the employer who lays off 5%, 10% or even more of their workforce, to accommodate the minimum wage. I see everyone's taxes increasing help support an already overburdened unemployment system.
They see higher taxes on the wealthy and big business as fair to the poor. I see people who are already wealthy and have big business, and those that aspire to, losing their incentive to take big risk, expand their companies and ultimately provide more jobs. After all... what is the point in working to dig a bigger hole, or construct a taller building, if someone is just going to come behind you and fill the hole half-way up with dirt or knock down the top half of the building.
And they see free healthcare as providing for the poor. I see a healthcare system seized by the government. I see restrictions on spending and salary. I see, because I have read most of the latest bill, the most literal death panels that will sit around in a room and decide who can get care for what. I see the grandparents being told they are too old to fight cancer. I see 45 year old women told they are too young to receive mammograms. (Yes... that's right... their plan increases the age from 40 to 50, and to every other year instead of every year.) I see people at age 50 being told they won't live long enough to be productive to society, so treating their heart attack, high blood pressure, diabetes, or any number of diseases, will not be possible. And I see the people who made some choices along the way, some less wise than others, who will never receive care for life-threatening conditions. I see the gross rationing of care. I see the lay offs of hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers. I see doctors no longer practicing, or leaving for other countries, because their life long salaries will never pay for their college loans. I see people who already are, or would become great practitioners of medicine, great doctors, medics and nurses, who will decide that helping others is not a viable option. Why? Because feeding their family is not an option. And helping others, will no longer provide what is needed to feed that family.
I see millions finding themselves in welfare and unemployment lines. I see taxes increases, more and more and more, as more people need help, more people need food, more people need bills paid, more people need new clothes and more people... more people... more people and again, more people. All I can see... is more and more people.
Have no doubt, these power hungry socialism, fascism, totalitarianism loving people who are writing these bills see this too... but they only see it towards the end... with one added bonus for them. ... More people.... more people... more people... more people. Ah yes, more people... that we control.
And that's what this all comes down to my friends... power... and control.
Am I suggesting that these elected officials are wanting to do the same things that Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini and other lunatics in history have done? Well... I don't believe it wise to suggest such a thing, rather, I will suggest this very well known fact. If you repeat the same steps, you will receive the same results. So I ask you... When I see our elected officials taking the same steps as tyrannical leaders before them have done. Does it make me a fool, or does it make me right, when I predict those same steps will produce the same results?
Study and learn my friends. Study and learn. And do it as often as you can and gain as much as you can. Knowledge is power. The more knowledge you have, the more power you have.
This healthcare bill, while it may just be another stone in the arch, is one stone that is very close to the key stone. The bridge needed to reign in socialism and fascism is nearly complete. Right now... it seems that nothing can stop it. The democrats have majority control of not only the House of Representatives, but of the Senate and the Presidency.
Well... folks... remember our founding fathers? Those men were most definitely not fools. Not only is this a system of checks and balances, but it's a system with a fail safe. That's right. There's a fail safe. What is it? The filibuster.
Here's how this whole thing works.
To pass laws, there must be a majority vote. To make a law, a bill must first be brought to the floor for debate. If the majority is in favor of bringing something to the floor, there is nothing that can be done to stop them. However, if that majority just so happens to be presenting a bill which offers itself as a threat to freedom and liberty, the bill can be stopped by a filibuster. How? It's fairly easy actually. Have you ever heard the phrases, "beating a dead horse" or "he talked it to death"? Well... that's what a filibuster is. The minority, literally, talks the bill to death. They just take the floor, and when they get it, they never stop talking. Once the moment arrives that it is required for a house to adjourn from session, any bill not voted on dies on the spot. Before that bill can ever make it to the floor again, it has to go through every single little step that a bill must go through to make it to the floor. This process can take months to occur.
The great part about a filibuster is that the majority cannot stop it. To stop a filibuster, there must be a super-majority in favor of stopping it. When it comes to this healthcare bill, the left only has the democrats on their side. Not a single person on the right is going to go for it. This means they cannot summon the power of the super-majority to stop a filibuster.
Folks... this healthcare bill... this giant step to destroying the very freedom we hold so dear can be stopped. But it's going to take action on your part to do it. You need to start calling your elected officials. If they are for this, you need to threaten them with their office and your vote. If they are already against it, you need to call for them to filibuster it. If just one of them will stand up and filibuster this bill... that's it... it's dead... done.. gone. Yes... it's going to come back. But by that time, we will have worked even that much harder to educate the American people about this whole deal. And what else? Before the bill can make it to the floor again, it will be time for Congressional elections.
Folks... we can't stop the bill from coming back. But we can stop it right now, and maybe... just maybe... if we work hard enough, inform enough people, and never let our efforts grow tired. We might just find that we've done what must be done to preserve our freedom. It's up to you folks. I'll do my part, but I cannot do it alone. We must all fight for our freedom together... or truly... we shall kneel to a master together.
That's all for today. I bid you a good day.
By Matthew Q. Llewellyn, NREMT-I
Founder, The American Libertarian Movement
Today, a time of choosing comes to every single citizen of this great country we call America. You must now choose to do nothing and lose everything, or you must choose to act, and still possibly lose everything. Given, the odds are stacked highly against us. But let us not forget those that faced the same odds and emerged victorious. Most notably, the founding fathers of these great United States. Those men, realizing the importance of freedom, and the price that must be paid for it, placed everything on the line... their futures... their safety... their homes... and most literally, their lives. Today, I ask you to make a much simpler decision, and to take a much easier action. I ask you... to speak.
Today, in a sweeping party-line vote, the democrat controlled Senate voted to bring Universal Healthcare debate to the floor. While many Americans believe this is a good thing, it is only because of their ignorance of the situation, and their ignorance of history, that allows them to think this.
And please... do not feel I am insulting anyone when I say this, because I truly am not. There is a distinct difference between ignorance and stupidity. The stupid man chooses his title, the ignorant simply hasn't been informed.
Quite some time ago, I wrote "The Communist Manifesto: A Close Examination". If you have not read it, today would be a very good day to do so. It's located in the archives of this webpage.
There are a number of things which power hungry, controlling and deceptive leaders must do before they can take full control of a free nation's people. The Communist Manifesto lays a basic step by step process of how this must be done. However, one does not need to read the manifesto to understand this, they simply need to study history.
Take Hitler for example. If you attended a government indoctrination center, aka, public school, you know Hitler was a very bad man. You also know he lost the war. What I already know you don't know, is how he did it. Why don't you know that? Because the government controls education and chooses not to teach how it was done. Why? Because one of the most important steps Hitler, and many other dictators took, was seizing control of the education system. Teaching the steps taken by dictators would be very difficult to do, when the school house you are sitting in is a mirror image of those dictators actions.
For those that are not familiar with the history, I will give you a very brief overview. Keep in mind, it was not only Hitler who used this formula. Nearly every single dictator has used this exact same formula.
Imagine your country is facing financial fears of vast proportions. People are hungry, jobs are fading away and the general public is not able to afford the basic necessities of life. Then someone comes along who promises to fix all of that. He says "I will put every single man back to work", "I will put a car in every garage", "I will put an ice box in every home", (big deal back then) "I will provide an education for every single child", "I will provide healthcare for every citizen", "Not a single citizen will go hungry, be without a job, be without a car, be without shelter, be without education or without medical care. And not one of you will have to pay for it. If you elect me, I will make the government provide all of these things for you." ... Sounds good doesn't it? Every single thing you could ever imagine, every necessity of life provided. Folks... this is how Hitler and every single controlling lunatic since the beginning of time has done it.
When you allow your government to become this out of control... this powerful... it becomes an uncontrollable beast. I do believe Thomas Jefferson said it best... "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take everything you have."
Had these lunatics, these, power hungry, oppressive men not been crazy, their actions would have made them saints. Unfortunately, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The founding fathers knew this. This is why George Washington, when asked to become the King of the United States, respectfully declined.
The uninformed in this nation have no idea what's going on, because they have no idea of what's already happened. These people look around them and everything they see is in black and white. They look at welfare, and see poor people being helped. They look at forced wage rates and all they see is fairness for the poor. They look at higher taxes for the wealthy, more taxes on big business and all they see is benefit for the poor. And they look at free healthcare... and all they see is help for the poor.
Allow me to show you the side that they, and perhaps even you, do not see.
They see welfare and see help for the poor. I see welfare and see a hole you can never get out of. They see a few hundred, maybe a thousand dollars a month. I see an opportunity to educate and give the poor the ability to earn thousands of dollars per month. I see welfare, and I see more and more people dependent on government, less dependent on themselves, less able to provide for themselves, and less able, to proclaim and defend their freedom.
They see forced minimum wages as fairness to the poor. I see the employer who lays off 5%, 10% or even more of their workforce, to accommodate the minimum wage. I see everyone's taxes increasing help support an already overburdened unemployment system.
They see higher taxes on the wealthy and big business as fair to the poor. I see people who are already wealthy and have big business, and those that aspire to, losing their incentive to take big risk, expand their companies and ultimately provide more jobs. After all... what is the point in working to dig a bigger hole, or construct a taller building, if someone is just going to come behind you and fill the hole half-way up with dirt or knock down the top half of the building.
And they see free healthcare as providing for the poor. I see a healthcare system seized by the government. I see restrictions on spending and salary. I see, because I have read most of the latest bill, the most literal death panels that will sit around in a room and decide who can get care for what. I see the grandparents being told they are too old to fight cancer. I see 45 year old women told they are too young to receive mammograms. (Yes... that's right... their plan increases the age from 40 to 50, and to every other year instead of every year.) I see people at age 50 being told they won't live long enough to be productive to society, so treating their heart attack, high blood pressure, diabetes, or any number of diseases, will not be possible. And I see the people who made some choices along the way, some less wise than others, who will never receive care for life-threatening conditions. I see the gross rationing of care. I see the lay offs of hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers. I see doctors no longer practicing, or leaving for other countries, because their life long salaries will never pay for their college loans. I see people who already are, or would become great practitioners of medicine, great doctors, medics and nurses, who will decide that helping others is not a viable option. Why? Because feeding their family is not an option. And helping others, will no longer provide what is needed to feed that family.
I see millions finding themselves in welfare and unemployment lines. I see taxes increases, more and more and more, as more people need help, more people need food, more people need bills paid, more people need new clothes and more people... more people... more people and again, more people. All I can see... is more and more people.
Have no doubt, these power hungry socialism, fascism, totalitarianism loving people who are writing these bills see this too... but they only see it towards the end... with one added bonus for them. ... More people.... more people... more people... more people. Ah yes, more people... that we control.
And that's what this all comes down to my friends... power... and control.
Am I suggesting that these elected officials are wanting to do the same things that Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini and other lunatics in history have done? Well... I don't believe it wise to suggest such a thing, rather, I will suggest this very well known fact. If you repeat the same steps, you will receive the same results. So I ask you... When I see our elected officials taking the same steps as tyrannical leaders before them have done. Does it make me a fool, or does it make me right, when I predict those same steps will produce the same results?
Study and learn my friends. Study and learn. And do it as often as you can and gain as much as you can. Knowledge is power. The more knowledge you have, the more power you have.
This healthcare bill, while it may just be another stone in the arch, is one stone that is very close to the key stone. The bridge needed to reign in socialism and fascism is nearly complete. Right now... it seems that nothing can stop it. The democrats have majority control of not only the House of Representatives, but of the Senate and the Presidency.
Well... folks... remember our founding fathers? Those men were most definitely not fools. Not only is this a system of checks and balances, but it's a system with a fail safe. That's right. There's a fail safe. What is it? The filibuster.
Here's how this whole thing works.
To pass laws, there must be a majority vote. To make a law, a bill must first be brought to the floor for debate. If the majority is in favor of bringing something to the floor, there is nothing that can be done to stop them. However, if that majority just so happens to be presenting a bill which offers itself as a threat to freedom and liberty, the bill can be stopped by a filibuster. How? It's fairly easy actually. Have you ever heard the phrases, "beating a dead horse" or "he talked it to death"? Well... that's what a filibuster is. The minority, literally, talks the bill to death. They just take the floor, and when they get it, they never stop talking. Once the moment arrives that it is required for a house to adjourn from session, any bill not voted on dies on the spot. Before that bill can ever make it to the floor again, it has to go through every single little step that a bill must go through to make it to the floor. This process can take months to occur.
The great part about a filibuster is that the majority cannot stop it. To stop a filibuster, there must be a super-majority in favor of stopping it. When it comes to this healthcare bill, the left only has the democrats on their side. Not a single person on the right is going to go for it. This means they cannot summon the power of the super-majority to stop a filibuster.
Folks... this healthcare bill... this giant step to destroying the very freedom we hold so dear can be stopped. But it's going to take action on your part to do it. You need to start calling your elected officials. If they are for this, you need to threaten them with their office and your vote. If they are already against it, you need to call for them to filibuster it. If just one of them will stand up and filibuster this bill... that's it... it's dead... done.. gone. Yes... it's going to come back. But by that time, we will have worked even that much harder to educate the American people about this whole deal. And what else? Before the bill can make it to the floor again, it will be time for Congressional elections.
Folks... we can't stop the bill from coming back. But we can stop it right now, and maybe... just maybe... if we work hard enough, inform enough people, and never let our efforts grow tired. We might just find that we've done what must be done to preserve our freedom. It's up to you folks. I'll do my part, but I cannot do it alone. We must all fight for our freedom together... or truly... we shall kneel to a master together.
That's all for today. I bid you a good day.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Quote of the Day
"This country and this people seem to have been made for each other, and it appears as if it was the design of Providence that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest of ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous and alien sovereignties." First Chief Justice of the United States, John Jay
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Quote of the Day
"I am for doing good for the poor, but differ in the opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer."
- Benjamin Franklin
- Benjamin Franklin
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
All I need to know about life...
All I Need to Know...
By Matthew Q. Llewellyn, NREMT-I
Founder, The American Libertarian Movement
If you haven't read the book "All I Need To Know About Life, I learned in Kindergarten", you no longer need to. Why? Because I'm about to explain it in what I hope will make the time you are taking to read this well spent.
They say children become teens, teens become adults and at some point, adult become children again... sort of. It's believed the early teachings of life, in particular, the ones up to age 7, are what we, as adults, will eventually revert back to as we progress in life. I think many of us have forgotten some of the most valuable lessons we learned at that age.
Play fair:
How often in life do we play fair? Sometimes? Always? Never? Is life itself fair? Many times in life I've heard people say "Why should I? Life isn't fair. Why should I be?". Thomas Babington Macauley said "The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out." Many variations of this have spread, such as this one by J.C. Watts, who said "Character is doing what is right when no one is looking."
I think another childhood lesson that applies very well here is, "If everyone else jumps off a bridge are you going to do it too?"
Just because the world is unfair, whether that be directly through people intentionally causing wrong, or be it the world just not working out in our favor, doesn't mean we have to be. Throughout history, great men became great men, and became remembered, because they chose to be the few. Sure, there are some very evil people who the world will never forget, but for the most part, we remember great people, people who did the right thing, people who, despite the evil and wrong around them, chose to take the higher and less traveled road.
As we go through our lives we are going to face many challenges, some easier than others, but all of them challenging. We will repeatedly have to decide whether we will play fair or whether we will not. Rather than offer a clever saying, I choose to offer a question... Will you be remembered as a great man or woman who's resolve and moral compass could not be shattered? Or will you be remembered as one who swayed with the direction of the wind?
Don't hit people:
One would think this is a very simple theory, but I promise you, it's not. I think the greatest example of this is generally in men. Men fight for the most idiotic reasons I can possibly think of. I've seen men throw punches because someone said something of them that they didn't necessarily care for. Why? What is the point? What are you trying to prove? The only thing that is accomplished by physically attacking someone is proving to the rest of the world that you are not worthy of trust or responsibility. In this modern time, and throughout time really, people have fought for such material reasons.
What are some common, but very misplaced reasons for fighting? Here's a few I've seen over the years.
Someone "talked smack" about you.
Someone spoke ill of your significant other.
Someone "dissed" you or someone you know.
Someone was born on a different street and therefore unworthy of life (gang violence).
Someone (goes with the above) put on the wrong color of clothing.
Someone "disrespected" you.
Someone looked at you wrong. (not even sure how that one works)
Has starting a physical fight ever solved any of these problems?
Think about another constant of the universe... retaliation. Fighting for material reasons solves nothing. If you happen to win, the person you beat will generally plots a revenge strike against you. Invariably, you will later plot another strike against them. Eventually, one of you will end up dead. Does it always go to that extreme? No... But does it commonly? Yes.
If you are going to fight... fight for something that is worth dying for.
Life... Family... Liberty... Country.
Defending your own life or another from a direct physical attack on their life... defending your freedom or the freedom of another... defending your country... these things are worth fighting, and if necessary, dying for. Beyond that... the fist is only a road to destruction... be it the destruction and loss of your life... or the destruction of your character... fighting for unjust reasons is never an acceptable answer.
Put things back where you found them:
This goes beyond simply putting something back... this is an act which creates great self-responsibility and accountability. If you always grab things and then just toss them to the side, you never develop that natural tendency to have order. Without order, you can't succeed in life.
Margaret Mead said, "Human nature is potentially aggressive and destructive or potentially orderly and constructive." (aggression and destruction leading back to the last lesson of not hitting) To achieve success, we must be constructive, to be constructive we must be organized, to do this, we must be orderly people.
Try this in your own life. Simply put things back where they go... no matter where you are. I promise you, this act of being more orderly will not only lead to a more organize home and work, but also a calmer life. Why calm? Because... without order, comes calamity.
Pick up your own mess:
This is a hard lesson that I believe everyone in life has to learn at one point or another, and we, as adults, although we generally pick up after ourselves, we don't generally clean up our messes. Many people cause many problems, without regard to the lives of others, and expect others to clean up those messes. We see this frequently in government... well... wrongfully directed government.
The founding fathers of the United States believed in absolute freedom of the individual, so long as that freedom did not pose direct physical threat to the civil liberties of others. With this freedom, they also believed in personal accountability and responsibility. They believed that men are not only accountable to themselves, but responsible for themselves.
If the founding fathers came back today, or could see today and were then asked to take an interview concerning it, what do you think they would say of the way many people choose to live their lives? We live in a world where people have lost sight of accountability. Many people choose to never learn from their mistakes, and while continuing to make those mistakes, they expect the government to take care of them in any and every way imaginable.
While I have no real issue with people temporarily receiving some help, because let's face it, we all need some help when we're down, I do expect people to eventually start grabbing the rungs of the ladder and pulling themselves up. I know it's not easy... I know beyond not being easy, that it's not just difficult, but sometimes incredibly difficult. If anyone in the world knows this, I assure you, being a man who dropped out of school after the 8th grade, I know all about pulling yourself up from a world of nothing... a world which your own poor choices created.
You know... I stress on this a lot... this whole individual responsibility thing... but why do I stress on it so often? Is it because I don't like helping others? No... it's because I LOVE helping others. There are people out there, most of them, well, probably all of them, in office, who love nothing more than to continue to "clean up your mess" by enabling you to remain in what should have been a very temporary set back in life. But then there are people like me... you hear of me at times. They call me, and those who think like me, racist, sexist, bigots, etc and so on... because we want to find a way to get you off of government programs and onto your own two feet. Why? Because we don't want to help you... No... again... because we would love nothing more than to see you climb up your ladder and become the greatest success you can possibly become. We don't want to give you a little bit of money every month, we want to give you the ability to seize the entire world if you want it. We won't want to going to the bank to cash your government check, we want you to go to the bank in your new car to sign the papers on your new home. We don't want you to stay at the bottom... we want you to take advantage of this land of the free and home of the brave, and make something of yourself. We want you to use every talent and gift God has given you and not only make yourself proud, but if you have children, to inspire them to become all they can be as well.
Friends... we don't want you to clean up your own mess because we don't want to help you... we want you to learn how to climb the ladder on your own so you never have to live in fear of not being able to do it on your own when the time comes.
Don't take things that aren't yours:
This is pretty much a no-brainer folks...
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody:
Do we say we're sorry when we hurt somebody? Not often. Why not? For the most part... our egos. We just have to be right. No matter how wrong we are, we, for some reason, have this need to be right. Peter T. Mcintyre said, "Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong."
There's nothing wrong, with being wrong. Every time you are wrong, you are confronted with the opportunity to become right. Why? Because you can choose to do the right thing... learn... and admit you were wrong.
Not saying you're sorry when you hurt someone, if you sit back and think about it, has probably caused the end of many relationships and friendships in your life. You knew you were wrong, the person you hurt knew you were wrong, but because you refused to admit it, it caused a wall to grow between you and that person. Saying you're sorry... making that admission... it's a matter of trust. It tells the other person, whether it's a boss, co-worker, friend or lover, that in the future, if you make a mistake, not only will you learn from it, but you will make the proper amends for it.
Remember the character quote? It doesn't just apply to doing what is right when no one can see you, but doing what is right when the entire world is watching. Easy right? Well... not necessarily. When the world is watching, and the right thing means admitting you were wrong, it becomes much more difficult. Your ego begins to play a huge role and makes you fear being wrong. Many people, because of this, will stand by what they did and find ways to justify it, because they would rather engage into a battle of words than allow their ego to take a blow.
I couldn't find a quote to fit right here so I'm just going to have to make one... so here goes...
"Mistakes are a fundamental element of life. Refusing to admit and learn from them is a fundamental element of death."
Wash your hands before you eat:
Not only is this a no-brainer.... (keep reading)
Flush:
... but so is this.
Warm cookies and milk are good for you:
Okay... I just called Santa and he confirmed this. He wanted to add, and I quote, "Hot cocoa and a warm bowl of macaroni and cheese are also acceptable items to leave by the fire place. And to the kid who keeps leaving me imitation health milk and fat free fruit bars instead of cookies and milk... you're getting coal this year." Wow... wouldn't want to be that kid... Enough of the humor, let's move forward.
Live a balanced life - Live some and think some, and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some:
I think the writer was pretty clear about this... lighten up... laugh... enjoy the world. This world, and all the beauty it offers, also includes with it many dark times full of sadness. Along with it, are many difficulties which can only be defeated with wisdom... wisdom that sometimes takes many years to learn.
In each and every opportunity you have, sit back, or stand up, or run, or do a cart wheel... Just have fun. Life, while it may seem long, is very short. Make sure you spend more time laughing and smiling than you do straight faced and serious.
Take a nap every afternoon:
You know... the older we get, the most important this becomes. I can not stress enough the importance of this... I really can't.
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
This concludes our lesson... making it last... but it's definitely not the least.
When you go into the world, watch out for all the arrows life is throwing at you. When those dark times in life come your way, and you're afraid you might get lost, hold the hand of the person next to you. You may still get lost, but you won't arrive there alone. And when it seems like the wind blowing against you is too strong to stand your ground, make yourself a bigger object in the wind by standing united with the people around you. No force in life, no matter have great, has ever been strong enough to destroy the resolve of a united people.
I think that's all for tonight folks... Remember these simple lessons in life... and have fun. I bid you good day.
By Matthew Q. Llewellyn, NREMT-I
Founder, The American Libertarian Movement
If you haven't read the book "All I Need To Know About Life, I learned in Kindergarten", you no longer need to. Why? Because I'm about to explain it in what I hope will make the time you are taking to read this well spent.
They say children become teens, teens become adults and at some point, adult become children again... sort of. It's believed the early teachings of life, in particular, the ones up to age 7, are what we, as adults, will eventually revert back to as we progress in life. I think many of us have forgotten some of the most valuable lessons we learned at that age.
Play fair:
How often in life do we play fair? Sometimes? Always? Never? Is life itself fair? Many times in life I've heard people say "Why should I? Life isn't fair. Why should I be?". Thomas Babington Macauley said "The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out." Many variations of this have spread, such as this one by J.C. Watts, who said "Character is doing what is right when no one is looking."
I think another childhood lesson that applies very well here is, "If everyone else jumps off a bridge are you going to do it too?"
Just because the world is unfair, whether that be directly through people intentionally causing wrong, or be it the world just not working out in our favor, doesn't mean we have to be. Throughout history, great men became great men, and became remembered, because they chose to be the few. Sure, there are some very evil people who the world will never forget, but for the most part, we remember great people, people who did the right thing, people who, despite the evil and wrong around them, chose to take the higher and less traveled road.
As we go through our lives we are going to face many challenges, some easier than others, but all of them challenging. We will repeatedly have to decide whether we will play fair or whether we will not. Rather than offer a clever saying, I choose to offer a question... Will you be remembered as a great man or woman who's resolve and moral compass could not be shattered? Or will you be remembered as one who swayed with the direction of the wind?
Don't hit people:
One would think this is a very simple theory, but I promise you, it's not. I think the greatest example of this is generally in men. Men fight for the most idiotic reasons I can possibly think of. I've seen men throw punches because someone said something of them that they didn't necessarily care for. Why? What is the point? What are you trying to prove? The only thing that is accomplished by physically attacking someone is proving to the rest of the world that you are not worthy of trust or responsibility. In this modern time, and throughout time really, people have fought for such material reasons.
What are some common, but very misplaced reasons for fighting? Here's a few I've seen over the years.
Someone "talked smack" about you.
Someone spoke ill of your significant other.
Someone "dissed" you or someone you know.
Someone was born on a different street and therefore unworthy of life (gang violence).
Someone (goes with the above) put on the wrong color of clothing.
Someone "disrespected" you.
Someone looked at you wrong. (not even sure how that one works)
Has starting a physical fight ever solved any of these problems?
Think about another constant of the universe... retaliation. Fighting for material reasons solves nothing. If you happen to win, the person you beat will generally plots a revenge strike against you. Invariably, you will later plot another strike against them. Eventually, one of you will end up dead. Does it always go to that extreme? No... But does it commonly? Yes.
If you are going to fight... fight for something that is worth dying for.
Life... Family... Liberty... Country.
Defending your own life or another from a direct physical attack on their life... defending your freedom or the freedom of another... defending your country... these things are worth fighting, and if necessary, dying for. Beyond that... the fist is only a road to destruction... be it the destruction and loss of your life... or the destruction of your character... fighting for unjust reasons is never an acceptable answer.
Put things back where you found them:
This goes beyond simply putting something back... this is an act which creates great self-responsibility and accountability. If you always grab things and then just toss them to the side, you never develop that natural tendency to have order. Without order, you can't succeed in life.
Margaret Mead said, "Human nature is potentially aggressive and destructive or potentially orderly and constructive." (aggression and destruction leading back to the last lesson of not hitting) To achieve success, we must be constructive, to be constructive we must be organized, to do this, we must be orderly people.
Try this in your own life. Simply put things back where they go... no matter where you are. I promise you, this act of being more orderly will not only lead to a more organize home and work, but also a calmer life. Why calm? Because... without order, comes calamity.
Pick up your own mess:
This is a hard lesson that I believe everyone in life has to learn at one point or another, and we, as adults, although we generally pick up after ourselves, we don't generally clean up our messes. Many people cause many problems, without regard to the lives of others, and expect others to clean up those messes. We see this frequently in government... well... wrongfully directed government.
The founding fathers of the United States believed in absolute freedom of the individual, so long as that freedom did not pose direct physical threat to the civil liberties of others. With this freedom, they also believed in personal accountability and responsibility. They believed that men are not only accountable to themselves, but responsible for themselves.
If the founding fathers came back today, or could see today and were then asked to take an interview concerning it, what do you think they would say of the way many people choose to live their lives? We live in a world where people have lost sight of accountability. Many people choose to never learn from their mistakes, and while continuing to make those mistakes, they expect the government to take care of them in any and every way imaginable.
While I have no real issue with people temporarily receiving some help, because let's face it, we all need some help when we're down, I do expect people to eventually start grabbing the rungs of the ladder and pulling themselves up. I know it's not easy... I know beyond not being easy, that it's not just difficult, but sometimes incredibly difficult. If anyone in the world knows this, I assure you, being a man who dropped out of school after the 8th grade, I know all about pulling yourself up from a world of nothing... a world which your own poor choices created.
You know... I stress on this a lot... this whole individual responsibility thing... but why do I stress on it so often? Is it because I don't like helping others? No... it's because I LOVE helping others. There are people out there, most of them, well, probably all of them, in office, who love nothing more than to continue to "clean up your mess" by enabling you to remain in what should have been a very temporary set back in life. But then there are people like me... you hear of me at times. They call me, and those who think like me, racist, sexist, bigots, etc and so on... because we want to find a way to get you off of government programs and onto your own two feet. Why? Because we don't want to help you... No... again... because we would love nothing more than to see you climb up your ladder and become the greatest success you can possibly become. We don't want to give you a little bit of money every month, we want to give you the ability to seize the entire world if you want it. We won't want to going to the bank to cash your government check, we want you to go to the bank in your new car to sign the papers on your new home. We don't want you to stay at the bottom... we want you to take advantage of this land of the free and home of the brave, and make something of yourself. We want you to use every talent and gift God has given you and not only make yourself proud, but if you have children, to inspire them to become all they can be as well.
Friends... we don't want you to clean up your own mess because we don't want to help you... we want you to learn how to climb the ladder on your own so you never have to live in fear of not being able to do it on your own when the time comes.
Don't take things that aren't yours:
This is pretty much a no-brainer folks...
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody:
Do we say we're sorry when we hurt somebody? Not often. Why not? For the most part... our egos. We just have to be right. No matter how wrong we are, we, for some reason, have this need to be right. Peter T. Mcintyre said, "Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong."
There's nothing wrong, with being wrong. Every time you are wrong, you are confronted with the opportunity to become right. Why? Because you can choose to do the right thing... learn... and admit you were wrong.
Not saying you're sorry when you hurt someone, if you sit back and think about it, has probably caused the end of many relationships and friendships in your life. You knew you were wrong, the person you hurt knew you were wrong, but because you refused to admit it, it caused a wall to grow between you and that person. Saying you're sorry... making that admission... it's a matter of trust. It tells the other person, whether it's a boss, co-worker, friend or lover, that in the future, if you make a mistake, not only will you learn from it, but you will make the proper amends for it.
Remember the character quote? It doesn't just apply to doing what is right when no one can see you, but doing what is right when the entire world is watching. Easy right? Well... not necessarily. When the world is watching, and the right thing means admitting you were wrong, it becomes much more difficult. Your ego begins to play a huge role and makes you fear being wrong. Many people, because of this, will stand by what they did and find ways to justify it, because they would rather engage into a battle of words than allow their ego to take a blow.
I couldn't find a quote to fit right here so I'm just going to have to make one... so here goes...
"Mistakes are a fundamental element of life. Refusing to admit and learn from them is a fundamental element of death."
Wash your hands before you eat:
Not only is this a no-brainer.... (keep reading)
Flush:
... but so is this.
Warm cookies and milk are good for you:
Okay... I just called Santa and he confirmed this. He wanted to add, and I quote, "Hot cocoa and a warm bowl of macaroni and cheese are also acceptable items to leave by the fire place. And to the kid who keeps leaving me imitation health milk and fat free fruit bars instead of cookies and milk... you're getting coal this year." Wow... wouldn't want to be that kid... Enough of the humor, let's move forward.
Live a balanced life - Live some and think some, and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some:
I think the writer was pretty clear about this... lighten up... laugh... enjoy the world. This world, and all the beauty it offers, also includes with it many dark times full of sadness. Along with it, are many difficulties which can only be defeated with wisdom... wisdom that sometimes takes many years to learn.
In each and every opportunity you have, sit back, or stand up, or run, or do a cart wheel... Just have fun. Life, while it may seem long, is very short. Make sure you spend more time laughing and smiling than you do straight faced and serious.
Take a nap every afternoon:
You know... the older we get, the most important this becomes. I can not stress enough the importance of this... I really can't.
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
This concludes our lesson... making it last... but it's definitely not the least.
When you go into the world, watch out for all the arrows life is throwing at you. When those dark times in life come your way, and you're afraid you might get lost, hold the hand of the person next to you. You may still get lost, but you won't arrive there alone. And when it seems like the wind blowing against you is too strong to stand your ground, make yourself a bigger object in the wind by standing united with the people around you. No force in life, no matter have great, has ever been strong enough to destroy the resolve of a united people.
I think that's all for tonight folks... Remember these simple lessons in life... and have fun. I bid you good day.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Quote of the Day
"Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any."
- Thomas Jefferson
- Thomas Jefferson
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Quote of the Day
James Madison -
"A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
"A popular government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
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