By Tom Rhodes, 3/16/2018
Government is a necessary evil. All the Utopian thinking will never make anarchy in any form a viable way to protect the freedom and liberty of society as a whole. Taxes to fund government are also necessary. There is no argument, tariffs are a form of taxes. When talking about taxes, we are discussing the funding government. Contemplating all revenue sources, tariffs should be rationally considered. If you want to fund government with just voluntary contributions you might as well believe leprechauns mix pixie dust with unicorn farts to turn into gold that you can find in pots at the end of a rainbow.
Governments exist for a lot of good reasons, including common defense. Governments have historically done a better job of defending borders than any other form of organization, and are certainly a damned sight better at it than international corporations. Those international corporations are government-created entities. In essence tariffs are a form of border defense. They can and do protect a nation from influence and actions of other nations in more ways than one.
Government is funded by taxes. Taxes can come from usage fees, sin taxes, tariffs, licensing fees, or direct taxation of individuals and/or corporations. Those direct taxes can come from income, or consumption tax, or taxing accumulated wealth. All taxes “manage the economy, ” tariffs are no more so than any other form of taxes.
Fundamental libertarian philosophy is that the less involved government is in an individual’s life the more liberty and freedom that individual has. Comparing different tax types, tariffs are considerably less intrusive, and cause less economic disruption, than any of the direct taxation alternatives; income taxes, consumption taxes, and wealth taxes. Publisher and author, Theodore Beale asks, “If you believe that government is a terrible way to get things done, why would you rather have it interfere on a holistic and daily basis with the economic activity of every single domestic citizen rather than on a far less frequent basis with the cross-border shipments of a limited number of foreign corporations?”
The large sway in US national politics from statist and government nanny Obama, to close down the EPA, Trump, is evidence that government is far more controllable by the people than international corporations like Google or Apple. Even knowing that the government is somewhat corrupt and clearly non efficient, having Government convey legal advantage to manufacturing companies that employ large numbers of people in a tariff system is far better than conveying advantage to Wall Street financial companies that do not in a free trade system.
The idea that all taxes are evil and society can exist without taxes and/or government is juvenile and absurd and is no more realistic than socialism with total control of the economy by some few ruling elite and just as dangerous. Government, and therefore taxes, are a necessary evil. Tariffs put more of the taxes on big companies that did the importing than direct taxation. Those big companies own the media, and buy off politicians. They have convinced so called “conservatives” and worse yet libertarians, that free-trade between nations is better, because it forces the individuals not big corporations to pay most of the taxes.
What’s better for a hundreds fat cats and international corporations on Wall Street is free-trade, that’s worse for millions of average workers in industries that were moved overseas to fatten the wallets of those same fat cats and international corporations. As a country we survived and thrived using tariffs not direct taxation on individual income until 1913. Tariffs as a system of taxation to fund that government is far less intrusive on individuals, than any direct taxation system. From a libertarian point of view, that alone makes it superior.
Before you start yelling “FREE TRADE” answer the question posed near the beginning of this article, “If you believe that government is a terrible way to get things done, why would you rather have it interfere on a holistic and daily basis with the economic activity of every single domestic citizen rather than on a far less frequent basis with the cross-border shipments of a limited number of foreign corporations?”
Friday, March 16, 2018
Thursday, March 1, 2018
The Great Divide
By Tom Rhodes, 3/1/2018
There is a Great Divide in America. It is the real divide in the USA, and it isn't Democrat vs Republican, nor Right vs Left. The real divide in the USA is elitist vs populist. About two centuries ago, the populists did something the elitists never dreamed could happen. They said We The People will Establish a Government and organize its powers in such form, that We the People deem most likely to effect our safety and happiness. This was a slap in the face of elitists all over the world. “How dare mere peasants assume they can govern themselves!”
The elitists are those in positions of authority, and those who want and depend on experts to provide and take care of them. The populists, here in the USA, are Normal Americans who want to be self-reliant, and self-ruling, who accept government as a necessary evil instituted to protect their liberty. There are many, who do not want, and fear, liberty and freedom; hey prefer the security of having an elite dictate what they should do and take care of them (aka. Slavery). They are elitists just as much as are those in authority who want to control the masses.
We the People specifically prohibited the government from infringing on our rights, which are natural, pre-political, and exist outside of the auspice of any government. Again the idea that peasants have rights that aren't controlled and granted by the elites is a slap in the face. Elites think by virtue of their position that they know better what rights the common man should be allowed to exercise. Elitists believe in a top-down approach where professional bureaucrats rule the country and dictate cultural norms and what is acceptable dialogue and what is not, while populists believe the people are self-governing and ultimately determine the course of our politics and culture.
Elitists for over 2 centuries have been working to fundamentally transform America, to the historic norm for all of mankind, which has total elite control over the population and where dissent from their views is vilified. The gun debate is simply another battle in the all-out war elites are waging on the American people’s right to even have an opinion, let alone speak out about it and not be punished for it. "How dare you bitterly cling to your religion and guns!"
Elitists want you silenced, controlled, and disarmed. They want you, the populist, the Normal American, to be disempowered; you! not the insane, not the criminals, not the terrorist, not the illegal aliens. You. Why? Because they hate you.
Elitists are appalled at the fact that in even in statist and compliant New York, where they mandated the registration of certain weapons and outlawed high capacity magazines, only a mere 10% of the people obeyed their law. Elitists hate that you won't submit. Elitists hate that you won't obey. Elitists hate that you think you should be able to share ideas and beliefs they don't approve. Elitists especially hate that you refuse to give up your only means of protecting yourself and preserving your rights. Elitists believe that they should control you, thus they should be the only ones with access to the tools of violence that can stop them, because they hate you.
Ask them, elitists openly say that you are deplorable, if you don't agree with their call to be disarmed you're a terrorist, if you express opinion they don't believe or they want silenced your insane, or too stupid, or whatever. They openly try to dehumanize those who don't accept their right to rule and not be questioned. They want you dehumanized so that you don't have rights, so that they can kill you. Look on social media, elitists openly and repeatedly call on violence and killing those who express and hold views they don't approve.
Understand that elites doesn't hate the NRA. They hate you. Elitists understand the power of the NRA is really the power of millions of populists (aka. Normal Americans), coming together to defend their right to protect themselves, their families, their communities and their Constitution. That’s why they fear it. That’s why they attack it. That’s why they can't abide its existence. Because of the Second Amendment, their power to limit the First is diminished. They want your voices silenced. They want the very idea of a self-governing people eliminated. Why else would they bar the use of Foundational Documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, be used in public schools.
Elitists have openly come out in favor of cowardice, they are attacking the right of self-defense. Their argument is you don't need guns to protect yourself. In fact in other countries where elites have more power, self-defense is outlawed. But Parkland demonstrates you certainly can't expect an elitist-run law enforcement agency like the Broward Sheriff’s Office to protect you, there duty is to go home safe and protect the elites from the people. They believe the life of government workers is more important than your child’s life. Those hired by the elites to enforce their will have no duty to protect you. Elitists hate that in the two most recent rulings on the right to self-defense, the Supreme Court characterized that right as "pre-political." That means it pre-existed the government. The damn populist Constitution and Bill of Rights, continues to thwart elitist power and control. If the elitists succeed in disarming you, where does that leave you? You can't protect yourself, and in return, no one from the government will protect you either.
On the subject of elitists vs populists, Frank Cannon, president at American Principles Project, recently wrote; “Fortunately, the American people are fully cognizant of what is taking place, which is why they voted for Donald Trump in 2016. Instead of looking at Trump and Clinton through the two lenses voters typically use, moral character and issue positions, voters applied a third lens: would their views be allowed to be articulated at all without dire consequences under a Clinton administration? “
The reality is the elitists, have had enough of uppity populists and are openly attacking individual liberty and the rights of the common man. We the People can no longer ignore the encroachment of the elites on our fundamental, pre-existing rights, and must act. Frank Cannon also noted that, “We cannot keep pretending, like so many Never Trumpers do, that we are operating in an environment of normal political give-and-take on issues. That time has passed. We are instead operating in a country now where elites demonize the populist position with such ferocity that many are afraid to voice their opinion at all, which is, of course, the entire point of their strategy. Our fight is no longer just over political issues — it is a battle against the very tactics being used by elites to stifle debate and destroy the essence of what makes America great.”
There is a Great Divide in America. It is the real divide in the USA, and it isn't Democrat vs Republican, nor Right vs Left. The real divide in the USA is elitist vs populist. About two centuries ago, the populists did something the elitists never dreamed could happen. They said We The People will Establish a Government and organize its powers in such form, that We the People deem most likely to effect our safety and happiness. This was a slap in the face of elitists all over the world. “How dare mere peasants assume they can govern themselves!”
The elitists are those in positions of authority, and those who want and depend on experts to provide and take care of them. The populists, here in the USA, are Normal Americans who want to be self-reliant, and self-ruling, who accept government as a necessary evil instituted to protect their liberty. There are many, who do not want, and fear, liberty and freedom; hey prefer the security of having an elite dictate what they should do and take care of them (aka. Slavery). They are elitists just as much as are those in authority who want to control the masses.
We the People specifically prohibited the government from infringing on our rights, which are natural, pre-political, and exist outside of the auspice of any government. Again the idea that peasants have rights that aren't controlled and granted by the elites is a slap in the face. Elites think by virtue of their position that they know better what rights the common man should be allowed to exercise. Elitists believe in a top-down approach where professional bureaucrats rule the country and dictate cultural norms and what is acceptable dialogue and what is not, while populists believe the people are self-governing and ultimately determine the course of our politics and culture.
Elitists for over 2 centuries have been working to fundamentally transform America, to the historic norm for all of mankind, which has total elite control over the population and where dissent from their views is vilified. The gun debate is simply another battle in the all-out war elites are waging on the American people’s right to even have an opinion, let alone speak out about it and not be punished for it. "How dare you bitterly cling to your religion and guns!"
Elitists want you silenced, controlled, and disarmed. They want you, the populist, the Normal American, to be disempowered; you! not the insane, not the criminals, not the terrorist, not the illegal aliens. You. Why? Because they hate you.
Elitists are appalled at the fact that in even in statist and compliant New York, where they mandated the registration of certain weapons and outlawed high capacity magazines, only a mere 10% of the people obeyed their law. Elitists hate that you won't submit. Elitists hate that you won't obey. Elitists hate that you think you should be able to share ideas and beliefs they don't approve. Elitists especially hate that you refuse to give up your only means of protecting yourself and preserving your rights. Elitists believe that they should control you, thus they should be the only ones with access to the tools of violence that can stop them, because they hate you.
Ask them, elitists openly say that you are deplorable, if you don't agree with their call to be disarmed you're a terrorist, if you express opinion they don't believe or they want silenced your insane, or too stupid, or whatever. They openly try to dehumanize those who don't accept their right to rule and not be questioned. They want you dehumanized so that you don't have rights, so that they can kill you. Look on social media, elitists openly and repeatedly call on violence and killing those who express and hold views they don't approve.
Understand that elites doesn't hate the NRA. They hate you. Elitists understand the power of the NRA is really the power of millions of populists (aka. Normal Americans), coming together to defend their right to protect themselves, their families, their communities and their Constitution. That’s why they fear it. That’s why they attack it. That’s why they can't abide its existence. Because of the Second Amendment, their power to limit the First is diminished. They want your voices silenced. They want the very idea of a self-governing people eliminated. Why else would they bar the use of Foundational Documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, be used in public schools.
Elitists have openly come out in favor of cowardice, they are attacking the right of self-defense. Their argument is you don't need guns to protect yourself. In fact in other countries where elites have more power, self-defense is outlawed. But Parkland demonstrates you certainly can't expect an elitist-run law enforcement agency like the Broward Sheriff’s Office to protect you, there duty is to go home safe and protect the elites from the people. They believe the life of government workers is more important than your child’s life. Those hired by the elites to enforce their will have no duty to protect you. Elitists hate that in the two most recent rulings on the right to self-defense, the Supreme Court characterized that right as "pre-political." That means it pre-existed the government. The damn populist Constitution and Bill of Rights, continues to thwart elitist power and control. If the elitists succeed in disarming you, where does that leave you? You can't protect yourself, and in return, no one from the government will protect you either.
On the subject of elitists vs populists, Frank Cannon, president at American Principles Project, recently wrote; “Fortunately, the American people are fully cognizant of what is taking place, which is why they voted for Donald Trump in 2016. Instead of looking at Trump and Clinton through the two lenses voters typically use, moral character and issue positions, voters applied a third lens: would their views be allowed to be articulated at all without dire consequences under a Clinton administration? “
The reality is the elitists, have had enough of uppity populists and are openly attacking individual liberty and the rights of the common man. We the People can no longer ignore the encroachment of the elites on our fundamental, pre-existing rights, and must act. Frank Cannon also noted that, “We cannot keep pretending, like so many Never Trumpers do, that we are operating in an environment of normal political give-and-take on issues. That time has passed. We are instead operating in a country now where elites demonize the populist position with such ferocity that many are afraid to voice their opinion at all, which is, of course, the entire point of their strategy. Our fight is no longer just over political issues — it is a battle against the very tactics being used by elites to stifle debate and destroy the essence of what makes America great.”
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