Libertarianism Is Not Only Wrong, It's Dangerous!

Abraham Lincoln 

We are living in ever-changing times. These changes are happening in all facets of our lives. On the political front, there are more and more people who call themselves or at least identify with what has come to be called libertarianism. Over the last year, I have been putting to study the behavior and attitudes of these pro-claimers of liberty and justice for all. Frankly, I have not been impressed with their narrative from their outspoken correspondence which makes comments like. "You sure love letting people steal your money!" 
Moreover, their behavior brings to mind the famous quote from one of the most popular presidents of all time, Abraham Lincoln.

"The perfect liberty they seek is the liberty of making slaves of other people." -- Abraham Lincoln

To a libertarian, property rights are sacred. Any government is bad. Capitalism has no flaws, and the capitalist are the modern-day nobles of our society. Worker rights and activism is evil. Lastly, they feel the poor are pampered and "good-for-nothings," who should be left to fend for themselves. For example, an outspoken libertarian Murray Rothbard, who claimed to be such an intellectual, advocated a dangerous spew to the least common denominators of our society. The libertarian’s emphasis is the demagoguery of government and taxation, and here is an example of his rhetoric:

   

Rothbard was an early pioneer of modern-day libertarianism. In a nutshell, libertarianism is a radical anti-state political philosophy. It unites a free-market system of economics,with a no exception attachment to property rights, a so-called profound love of human liberty and a love of peace, with the conclusion that society should be allowed to develop with no interference from the state whatsoever. In fact, the libertarian feels there should be no state,  period. The libertarian hates worker unions. They [Libertarian's] claim labor unions pursue policies that disrupt a capitalism in action that is the cause of their prosperity.
Renowned libertarian Ludwig Von Mises once said:

Ludwig Von Mises

  

       "What is today euphemistically called the right to strike is in fact the right of striking workers, by recourse to violence, to prevent people who want to work from working."

With The Libertarian Who Needs Facts?

One thing this writer has uncovered in research of the libertarian and the followers of its ideology is that facts don't matter. Who needs facts, seems to be their mantra. Studies have shown when people leave one ideological extreme they usually end up in another. The methodology of the libertarian is not that hard to follow. Oppose their perceived evils of the world with a fairy tale; "Obama coming to take your guns, Obama is a Muslim and not a natural born citizen who is going to hand America over to our enemies, there is epidemic voter fraud." These are but just a few of the libertarian backed fairy tales of our current times. The bottom-line is the academic libertarian loves abstract, fact-free arguments. This type of behavior may go over well with like-mined right-wing authoritarian followers, where nobody is going to pull the old fact-checker out. But, en masse, it matters to the American people and time after time these flawed untruths being levied by deep-pocket backers of the Libertarian party have backfired on the libertarians.

The Libertarians Think They Are The Modern Day Founding Fathers!

All the modern day political parties want the founding fathers on their side. The facts, with any earnest study, clearly shows all modern day political parties laid their roots in the 1700s. All of us are liberals, conservatives, libertarians, and independents against the monarchy which hovered over us, and we fought as a nation to unleash ourselves. We all fight for liberty and the pursuit of happiness. History has revealed to us times when our founding fathers not only encouraged rants against government, but led the charge. There were also times when our founding fathers were against rants of rebellion, anarchy, and the anti-government rhetoric that has become so common-place in today's environment.

James Madison

"It cannot have escaped those who have attended with candor to the arguments employed against the extensive powers of the government, that the authors of them have very little considered how far these powers were necessary means of attaining a necessary end."

"Stable ownership is the gift of social law, and is given late in the progress of society."

 

"All the Property that is necessary to a man is his natural Right, which none may justly deprive him of, but all Property superfluous to such Purposes is the property of the Public who, by their Laws have created it and who may, by other Laws dispose of it."

The Constitution of the United States is the very definition of a strengthened government. The Federalist Papers were nothing more than an extended argument in support of the Constitution. In fact, the founding fathers comprised a balance that was arbitrary and coercive. Fast forwarding to modern times, the founding fathers had no way of foreseeing the New Deal. There was no need for this type of action back when our nation was being forged. However, there are examples when the founding fathers were quick to resort to the resources of the state as quick as any modern day liberals. For example, Ben Franklin, played the Pennsylvania legislator like a "piano in the dark," using it to fund a hospital he wanted to establish. One of the first instances in our nation’s history, using the state to do good social work. It's also worth bringing to the light that the founding fathers' words were much nobler than their actual deeds. Most were quite comfortable with owning slaves. Women were given no voice whatsoever. George Washington himself, by executive order, made it a crime to criticize the government.

For almost 150 years, in fact, the Bill of Rights was paid lip service in patriotic orations and ignored in the marketplace. It wasn't until after World War I that the Supreme Court began the process of giving real meaning to the Bill of Rights.[ Source: Robert Allen Rutland]

Why Are Libertarians Dangerous? 

The libertarians are dangerous because of their growing influence within the Republican Party for starters. Then there is the emergence of the radical Tea Party, which is nothing more than the repackaging-of-the-fascist-playbook. These people are political crackpots and are, usually, harmless. However, with America electing a black president, the Republican Party hierarchy began to come to the realization that its Southern strategy no longer can win national elections. Catering to the lowest common denominator in our society; the uneducated, racist, anti-government types, and their fairy tale propaganda is spurning not only division among people in America it is emboldening anyone with an ax to grind. To act out in violent anti-social ways which have brought on the genesis of new terms like ' hate crimes', and 'don't tread on me,' mentalities. With the already flawed doctrines of the Republican Party being proven to be failures, we see a faction develop that says we must hang on to power no matter what.  In short, Republicans have taken the libertarian mantra that " government is bad," and run with it, largely with the help of deep-pocketed influences like the Koch Bros. Judicial decisions like corporate-person-hood and money is free-speech and lastly gerrymandered voting districts we are, in fact, looking at a governess by organized mob. Take all of this into account with the following  Republican doctrines already in place and we have a civil storm brewing in this country. This storm is why Libertarianism is not only wrong, it's dangerous. Here are just but a few of the ills of the libertarian's influence on the Republican Party.

Reagan's "Government is the problem."

Phil Gramm's contention that the country's "economic crisis" and "moral crisis" were due to "an explosion of government."

Talk radio hosts' advocacy of armed resistance to "jack-booted government thugs."

Dole's 1996 campaign, advancing the notion that taxes were "Your Money" being taken from you.

Gingrich's Contract with America (welfare cuts, tax cuts, limitations on corporations' responsibility and on the government's ability to regulate them)

Dick Armey's comment that Medicare (medical aid for the elderly) is "a program I would have no part of in a free world."

Bush's tax cuts, intended not only to reward the rich but to "starve the beast", in Grover Norquist's words: to create a permanent deficit as a dangerous ploy to reduce social spending.

Jeb Bush's hope that the Florida state government buildings would one day be empty.

Intellectual support for attacks on the quality of working life in this county and for undoing the New Deal.

   In closing, here is a video by an ex-libertarian who, mind you, clearly states his narrative is a worst case scenario if the libertarians were to gain a foot-hold of our We the People government. For one, this writer hopes never to see such a day. 

Written By: Johnny Hill

What Would Christian Reconstructionism In America Look Like?

Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-GA)

What would Christian Reconstructionism in America look like? For starters, meet state representative Bobby Franklin from the 43rd District of Georgia [Cobb County]. Franklin advocates that the Tea Party should push for making all taxes illegal, and other federal powers he claims are unconstitutional, instead of pushing for mere tax cuts. Franklin would abolish driver’s licenses, public schools, income taxes and mandatory vaccinations. Franklin has proposed legislation to make gold and silver the only legal tender. Franklin wrote a bill calling rape victims “accusers."  Franklin also introduced a bill that would require a woman to provide evidence that their miscarriage occurred naturally or face felony charges.


Back in February 2011, in the Marietta Daily Journal , Franklin made several " off the cuff" comments.

"Cobb County, in its Soviet style central planning, has deemed that you have to have two acres just to have a chicken."

Franklin has been on record saying allowing gays in the military is no different than allowing convicted drug dealers to enter.  Franklin adds:

"We've really adopted all 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto in one form or another in this country."

Rep. Franklin's " Life, Liberty and Property Restoration Act," in which four spheres of government; self-government, family government, church government, and civil government would create a six-person legal repeals panel to undo the incursion of civil government on the other three. What's odd is the requirements Franklin mandates to sit on such a panel. "None of the members shall have graduated from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association or have ever been admitted to the practice of law in any state." [Source: Talkingpointsmemo.com)

Christian Reconstruction in Their Own Words.

Rousa Rushdoony

Rousas Rushdoony has been coined the father of the Christian Reconstruction movement in America. Many credit him with the home schooling movement as well. It was Rushdoony's prolific writing,  Institutes of Biblical Law, that spawned much of what has become known as the Christian right.  This movement advocates that segments of society be reclaimed from the humanist and reconstructed on the basis of biblical law. 

Reconstructionists claim that the unfettered free markets are biblically mandated.

What this is really saying, is that GOD is the force behind capitalism and government intervention is putting faith in man as opposed to GOD. 

    

The Reconstructionists have over the years aligned themselves with radical groups like the John Birch Society. [JBS] In 2006, the Chalcedon foundation published an article celebrating the JBS. The JBS chairman of that time,  John McManus, was interviewed.

John McManus

"For forty-eight years a single organization has led the way in preserving America's national sovereignty while helping to fortify the moral blockade on our failing culture... '' 

Here is what the constitutional conservatives, theocratic libertarians and tea party movement people look and sound like. 

The Institute on the Constitution is an organization offering classes on teaching a Christian nationalist view of the Constitution around the country. This organization featured the above video speaker, Rev. Joseph Morecraft, where he spoke on the topic God and Politics. This so-called, self-proclaimed speaker of GOD himself advocates Godless conservatism has failed. Morecraft goes on by saying that the time has come for Christians to start acting like Christians, and to proclaim Christ Lordship over politics, too. These type proclamations and foundations from the likes of Rep. Franklin and the good pastor Rev. Morecraft are the building blocks, for lack of term, that has manifested the emergence of the “theocratic libertarian." This overall narrative has been marketed by the Reconstructionists and their Dominion Theology. Throw in the Ron Paul school of Austrian economics and spread these narratives through the deep-pockets of the Koch Bros media echo chambers, and you muster in the anti-government crowd and lo-and behold, you have a mess on your hands.[In this writers view] 

Dominion Theology And Why It Is Dangerous.

This worldview advocates abolition of much, if not all of the federal government, regulatory structures, social safety nets, and unions.

It is the adherence to biblical law that becomes the method of control over society once government is decreased, very much like the Taliban has imposed in Afghanistan, and Islam has in Iran for example. It has become apparent that these factions in America have been emboldened and seem to wish for the circumstances in our country to be so bad that people will start buying into their doctrine. Christian Reconstructionists seem to pray for the demise of government so they can prescribe their medicine upon “We the People," no matter how bad that medicine taste. A primary target of the Reconstructionists, the John Birch Society, the Tea Party and the Ron Paul's of the world, is unions. 

Gary North, one of Ron Paul's right-hand men, back in 1978 in a Biblical Economics Today article titled A Christian View of Labor Unions all but called on a holy war against unions.

 Folks, this is the guy heading up Ron Paul's new home-school project that this writer reported on back last year in a LiberalAmerica.org  article titled, Ron Paul: Homeschooling With A Radical Approach. 

Gary North comments:

The unions are as good as busted. It's PATCO all over again. Other governors are already on board the union-busting train. Walker set the pattern....The return of the rank and file of union members to the Democrat Party, if it happens, will be mostly geezers with walkers. When you think `union' think `walker.'

The PATCO reference refers to Ronald Reagan's firing of striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization in 1981. 

Funny how the GOD of the right-wing movement played dictator in this situation ,when the using of executive order suits his fancy. How ironic. Just like with the recent fiasco in Nevada with rancher Cliven Bundy, it was an executive order by then President Ronald Reagan that created the land use fees and not the tyrannical U.S. government. This double standard has long been the order of the day with these Christian zealots.

 Fast forwarding to the present political atmosphere, Ron Paul and his protege son, Republican senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul have had a long term association with the Christian Reconstructionists.  Rand Paul Was The Featured Speaker At the Theocratic Constitution Party 2009 Rally. The Tea Party crowd have long described themselves as supporters of the libertarian viewpoints promoted by Ron Paul. However, Ron Paul is not a classical libertarian. Paul is from the right libertarian perspective. Ron Paul likes to parade himself as a Christian Libertarian or Theocratic Libertarian, a worldview more closely associated with the aforementioned Rousas Rushdoony and Reconstructionism.  In closing, what has to be fully understood is the agenda that the Reconstructionists, Tea Party and Ron Paul type Libertarians are advocating. This Christian nationalism dynamic must be recognized for what it truly is and that it's much more than a movement driven by economics and tax reduction. In essence, they want to reconfigure the constitution to their personal whim for their own collective personal gain. The "wolf in sheep's clothing,' comes to this writers mind. But all one has to do is follow their comments to get a real understanding of what their goal would be. To circumvent the constitution's basic tenets; the separation of church and state, doctrines that allow all of us the freedom to choose our faith or lack of, and more importantly to keep it from our public places like schools, governmental buildings, and the courthouse just to name a few. 

Gary North wrote in Dominion Strategies in 1986:

Gary North

"What they are saying in their fund-raising letters is clear, and has been since 1980: `American fundamental Christianity is at last out of the pews and into the streets (Washington for Jesus), and the humanists are going to see their friendly little monopoly over America blown to kingdom-come.' Whether kingdom-come is officially premillennial or officially postmillennial isn't particularly relevant at this point. I assume that an activist, `let's get involved' Christian leader has become an operational postmillennialist and an operational Christian Reconstructionist until he writes a detailed book or produces a detailed tape series spelling out exactly why and in what ways he is not in deed (though not in word) on most specific issues, a Christian reconstructionist and a postmillennialist. Deeds are what counts. Motivational speeches are what count. The intricate details and particular qualifications of a man's personally held (and rarely spoken) eschatology are not what count."

Rev. Joseph Morecraft

I believe the children in the Christian schools of America are the Army that is going to take the future. Right now. . .the Christian Reconstruction movement is made up of a few preachers, teachers, writers, scholars, publishing houses, editors of magazines, and it's growing quickly. But I expect a massive acceleration of this movement in about 25 or 30 years, when those kids that are now in Christian schools have graduated and taken their places in American society, and moved into places of influence and power.'"

Written By: Johnny Hill

Is America Really A Christian Nation?

God Bless  America, One Nation Under God, slogans from my childhood growing up in rural Bible belt North Carolina. They were as common as hello, good morning. Fast forwarding, to this present day I find myself asking the question, Is America Really A Christian Nation? There was a time in America, when the Christian faith had a major influence in everyday America life. Most everybody claimed they were Christians. In 1972, 64% of all Americans identified themselves as Protestant. While 93% of Americans claim affiliation with some form of religion. Nowadays, those type numbers have changed drastically.

The rate of Americans today who claim no religious affiliation whatsoever is growing at rapid rates. 

In a 2012, Pew Research Poll, In the last five years alone, the unaffiliated have increased from just over 15% to just under 20% of all U.S. adults. Their ranks now include more than 13 million self-described atheists and agnostics. Nearly 6% of the U.S. public, as well as nearly 33 million people who say they have no particular religious affiliation (14%).

The facts bear out the reality that a religion is no longer something that people have on their mind. Evidence shows that the younger you are, the less likely you will identify with a religious organization.

88 percent of those that are religiously unaffiliated “are not looking for religion”.

Many studies and surveys have found that religiously unaffiliated people tend to support gay marriage and legalized abortions. The data reveals that some 24% of the religiously unaffiliated are registered Democrats or lean Democratic. One of the most shocking, revelations to this writer, is the fact that Protestants are no longer the majority in America. At one time, in the past, Protestants made up 64% of the American population. Another trend is that more and more people do not go to church services on Sunday. Why? 

51 percent of all U.S. adults believe that churches and other religious organizations “are too concerned with money and power”.

What these number reveal is that religion has lost its influence on a vast majority of the present day Americans. Moreover, with the ever-increasing political factions trying to invoke religion into the everyday business of government.  And, claiming that America is a " Christian Nation," founded on " Christian Principles," one needs to revisit the founding fathers waywardness of this very notion.

    

Despite the aforementioned data. Despite the factual historical  record of statements from our founding fathers, despite the Bill of Rights and the constitutional doctrine of  "church and state." We have today factions in our country who still make a claim and have a desire to make America a Christian nation. The Tea Party and the Libertarians backed by their deep-pocketed media echo-chambers would have us go back to a time that the American people have progressed from or woke up from that was never intended in the first place. These factions are quick to throw Jesus, God and Israel into their political jargon. They do all this under the guise of what they call physical conservatism. But, when you examine the motives of these groups its the religious mantra that they seem to rely on to garner support for their cause. Which we have seen played out since 2010. Tax breaks for the rich, off the backs of the middle-class and poor. Deregulation and the doing away of unions and workers rights. Regressing Civil rights and Voting rights with regressive voter suppression measures. We have seen these factions cut money for public education, and social safety net programs. All in the name of GOD, the Tea Party is nothing more than a rewrite of the old Jerry Falwell crowd who have lost their luster. And now don't know what to do with themselves but cause polarization not only in our country, but; in the Republican party as well. What is evident is that the long-held battle cry of social conservatism is their compelling driving force. Anti-gay, Anti-same-sex-marriage, anti-minorities, anti-woman, anti-workers rights, anti-minimum wage increase, and lastly anti-government. They have been the impudence for the Republican party being labeled the "party of no."

The Tea Party Movement Has Been Co-Oped By Big Money Donors.

So, while the Republican party and it's factions of Libertarian's and Tea Party members claim they are physical conservatives the gong they bang the loudest come from the social issues. As the mid-terms near and posturing for the 2016 presidential race starts to format itself, its the age-old social issues that have these potential candidates posturing for support and money. And, what better way than ring the tried and true church bells of religion.

In closing, I wonder what Jesus answer to the question would be, Is America a Christian nation?