To The Manor Born: Why Europe remains the domain of Farm Animals® and we do not, so far

Recently, I had a run with some people on a Linked In Group. The group is Italian American Professionals. being of half Italian ancestry, I thought it might be a good group to join in terms of networking. Of course, the road to hell was paved with good intentions and in this case, the road to this group was littered with the dung of farm animals, of which had good intentions as well.

I knew it was going to go bad when someone brought up "free" healthcare in Europe as to why they have less obesity in Italy. Being a blogger of the Classical Liberal variety, I had to fight hard not to take the bait and I am here to tell you that I lost. Several members in this group are Italian and live in Italy. They cannot understand why someone not only wouldn't want "free" healthcare, but any entitlements that are "free" from the government. I have to say I was incredulous. After a back and forth, I found that my words were falling on deaf ears: Farm Animals® can't understand the language of human beings.

This of course fueled a further digression into the roots of European political economy. Those roots of what we see today were sewn from Feudalism or what is also described as Manorialism, which rose from the Villa System of the late Roman Empire.

From Wikipedia:

Manorialism was characterised by the vesting of legal and economic power in a lord, supported economically from his own direct landholding and from the obligatory contributions of a legally subject part of the peasant population under his jurisdiction. These obligations could be payable in several ways, in labor (the French term corvée is conventionally applied), in kind, or, on rare occasions, in coin.

While the article on Manorialism said it died piecemeal, I disagree. Manorialism evolved into at best social democracy or at worst, socialism. The thing to understand is that most people are at the bottom in the chart to the right, as it seems to be in every society and organization. The Peasants look for personal and economic security from the King, lord and knights, and in return, they give their labor or time as it were. Today we might call that consideration. The key is that they are not equal stakeholders in any way, and in a sense, they are indentured to the ruling classes. Some might say that it’s the same with capitalism, that the robber barons dominate the system and workers are subordinate to them and will always be that way. There is a difference though, but first let's quickly deal with the idea that somehow everyone can be equal economically. In normal distributions of systems, the bell curve usually rules. Most people for a given parameter will be in the middle with some variability. As the curve moves to either side of the bell, the numbers change exponentially. The key to this distribution is what happens in nature. As man tries to influence a system, it will shift the median and in the case of socialists they seek to have uniformity that occurs with a particular instance in nature: Entropy. As a system loses energy it tends to become uniform. To put it another way, if you want a uniform system, it will lose something in the process and it’s a net negative. The end game with entropy is a dead system.

With capitalism, there is always the opportunity for someone from the bottom to get to the other side of the bell curve. This idea and the very results of which destroy the progressive’s template. We have stories every day of people succeeding in spite of the obstacles they have in their way. If you want to read a great example, read Clarence Thomas’ autobiography. The progressive left hates this and will discredit any narrative that breaks their template. In essence, they are nihilists that do not believe that people are capable of making themselves into what their mind desires, but are limited by some intrinsic factor. Look at progressive policy towards blacks. They’ve promoted a safety net such that the plantation moved from the deep south to Washington DC. The progressives are no better than the KKK or some racist antediluvian troglodyte from the reconstruction era, but because they want to help with someone else's money somehow it’s ok. It’s tyrannical to take what another has earned because you know someone is better off with it and it’s heinous to believe that certain people aren’t capable of capitalizing on opportunities to better themselves, but this is where the progressive is. This extends to any minority that they believe need special rights or protections and they call it. With capitalism, and I mean as an ideal, everyone has the same opportunities, but outcomes are not guaranteed. With manorialism, outcomes are guaranteed by limiting opportunities. It is anathema to capitalism.

In the election of 2008, Americans had a choice to make and we chose a manorialist. With the 2012 election, we have a choice to make, will we chose the manorialist or the capitalist (some out there might say ersatz)? If we cause the victory of Obama, through voting for him or staying home or voting for some third party candidate, we will have sealed our fate. The question I have is, are we all talk or do we walk the talk? If we really aren’t Farm Animals®, then we’ll have to prove it.

Happy Independence Day

In spite of all the festivities, pomp and circumstance, are we any freer than we were 235 years ago? Some may see this as a rhetorical question, some as a ridiculous one, still others won't care a whit, having become accustomed to the hamster wheel.

Recently, I had read a quote by the new age philosopher Vernon Howard, who said: "Our freedom can be measured by the number of things we can walk away from." He also said: "Freedom begins as we become conscious of it." Vernon was one interesting cat and I encourage anyone to check him out. In this context, how many things can we walk away from? Are we conscious of our freedom or lack of it?

To expound on the first question, I'll further ask, can you give up your iPhone or other smart phone, computer, fast food, alcohol, drugs, the need for a bigger house, better car, crappy job, great job, wife, husband, children, petty grievances and desires, hatred of others, hatred of self, religion, god, malignant self-importance, the need always to be right? What are we running from, what are we running to? Some of these, such as family, have certain obligations that are a trade off in whatever perceived freedom might be gained. Some are trade offs that we perceive for some benefit that the do gooders like to call the common good. Still others here are mere objects of desire and delusion that we use to reinforce our sense of self-importance, relevance and perceived fecundity. While some are useful tools, they still latch on like spidey's web, creating dependence that is in fact anathema to being free. Are you willing to walk away, give it up?

To the second question, are we aware of it? Certainly not in a conscious and caring way that would want to remediate it. While in some ways, the impetus of our founding, to be free of the king, is looked on with such anti-monarchial pride, the yoke of taxes, or social, economic, and political burden we have taken on since, makes or genesis seem mild in comparison. Part of it is based in paternalism or what I call the ideology of Farm Animals®, and part in the distraction of meaningless bullshit that we encumber ourselves in everyday life.  Basically we would rather give up personal sovereignty to ensure some sort of guarantee of existence. In other words, safety. In our own hearts be true, we know this and we know how feckless we have become. So we surround ourselves with more stuff in an effort to delude ourselves of what it is real. If you don't believe me, look at it in the extreme with Horders, which is all the reality show rave now. All addiction is based on disconnecting with reality. Reality is harsh, it can suck. Buy more stuff, drink more alcohol, eat more food, do more drugs. It'll all be better in the morning.

Now, back to our collective independence day. Are we more free than we were then? I think not. Collectivism makes it harder if not more difficult to walk away and in a way is the ultimate addiction that is a necessary and purposeful distraction for those who are behind that curtain. Like a cow with a nose ring, we are led around by our noses by those that are less than us and worse, who we appoint, encourage, reward and enable. Democracy has allowed us to become masters of our own enslavement and while not by divine right of a king or queen, we are still slaves, indentured servants and fools.  we still have an awfully long way to go if we want to be considered truly free.

Thank you for reading this blog.

The Fed, Big Sis, and Wikileaks: What should we be afraid of?

Much sturm and drang has been circulating about Julian Assange and the Wikileaks fiasco. The ersatz lover-boy whose latest crime is using a leaky condom has become public enemy number one for the conservative crowd and the messiah for the anarchists and left wing loonies. What or where is the truth?

According to Wikipedia,  Julian Assange is an Australian journalist,^[5][6][7] publisher,^[8][9] and Internet activist. He is best known as the spokesperson and editor in chief for WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website. Before working with the website, he was a computer programmer.^[10] He has lived in several countries, and has made occasional public appearances to speak about freedom of the press, censorship, and investigative journalism.

Ok. He likes to expose or uncover information that would otherwise not be known to the rest of the world. This information included over one quarter of a million diplomatic cables, over half of which were unclassified, 40% confidential and 6% are secret. It would seem to even a casual observer of the events that unfolded that the umbrage directed at Mr Assange has more to do with the message than with the act itself. The information released is very embarrassing to the United States, to the State Department, Barack Obama and his administration and ultimately America itself. The real problem is that the king was not only shown to be naked, but to have a small and almost non-existent dick. So where's the beef? More later.

So in the recent news cycle, all is abuzz and aflame with the life and times of Julian Assange. In the mean time we still have problems here at home and this distraction of the day with Assange is just that. A distraction. It's a straw man meant to pull our attention away from more important things. Like the TSA. We were all abuzz with the TSA, the groping, locking people in glass cages for hours, and then nothing. If anyone has been awake at all, they would have noticed that the Obama administration has eroded our personal freedoms in ways the left wing media would love to blame on George W. Bush. We have all our data and voice streams monitored, we are X-Rayed in airports, groped, fondled, and otherwise mistreated with efforts to compromise our dignity. We have a government that tracks all of our financial transactions and through all of this, not a peep. Not much. What I hear is "if I am not doing anything wrong, I have nothing to fear" or If it keeps us safe from terrorists, it's ok with me".

Such fecklessness is the sign of Farm Animals®. We've become so conditioned to trust government because it has become the hand that feeds some of us. Like the wine, beer drinking, cheese and brat eating surrender monkeys of Europe, we will tolerate anything for the promise to keep us safe. In spite of a new covenant in the Declaration of Independence, we have come full circle, embracing the paternal system of feudalism, which we shook off over 200 years ago. Where did we go wrong? A little late for that question, but I can tell you it's been Obama's plan all along. He's a fabian socialist, and his progressive agenda is to move us towards socialism as much as possible before we catch on and hopefully, to him, after it's too late. With the elections of 2010, he's done a lot of damage. Who would have thought even 3 years ago that the government would control what it does today? The intrusion into our lives, and moreover, the control. Like the frog in the pot, the water is warmed slowly until it's too late.

So here we are, how many days and weeks into the Assange conspiracy and we still believe in the straw men created by the press and the government. They expect us to cower, to follow like supplicants or worse like lemmings, to follow whatever tune the pied piper plays. We will find no greater security is hanging Mr. Assange and/or closing wikileaks too. We will find no more security in trying to democratize Afghanistan or for that matter any place else. In fact, ask yourself the question, does the information that has been leaked make you any less free? Does it take away your life, liberty or property? Does endanger you personally?

Where I do part ways with Assange is releasing information that would expose individuals to death or mayhem if their names were revealed. Outside of that, this information has been a revelation to how truly incompetent our President is and who our real enemies are. For his part, Mr Assange is the recipient of the 2010 Sam Adams Award. Samuel Adams, in my opinion, was the father of the American Revolution. He embodied the true revolutionary spirit of this country and he had determination not to be a subject of any monarch, but I digress...

As a country, we have a choice to make. We can chose to be led around by our noses and pricks like some peasant fool that believes in fairytales and magic shows, or we can wake up and see things for what they are. We need to focus on our freedoms, liberties and also economic stability at home if we expect to be a good example to the rest of the world of what a country should be like. We had been at one time, but we've lost our way. No amount of blood spilled in Afghanistan or Iraq will fix that or change it. In fact it's slowly dragging us down and the cost of which has not been fully realized by us as a nation, we will pay for it, at least some of us will.

If Iraq and Afghanistan were about Al Qaeda and Bin Laden, this could have been settled long ago. While it has been said: do not attribute to malice what can be explained through stupidity, sometime I wonder. And if you think I say this from a position of being a dove or antiwar person, you are mostly wrong. No sane human being wants war. Fighting all the time is unproductive, it kills the best and brightest, and it wears a society down. That said, when one does fight, do it quickly, with finality, and go home. We have not done that. We could have.

And lastly, The Fed. If anyone saw Mr Bernanke on 60 Minutes last Sunday, you really should have asked one question, well, at least one: Where does that 600 Billion dollars that you want to by treasuries with come from? Of course the reporter didn't ask it and the answer is, print it. The Fed and Obama and out ideas and at the end of the road. They will either have to white nuckle over the progressive cliff or force themselves to look at reality and realize that FDR-like proposals and thinking will not get us out of this recession. It didn't work then and it won't work now. Again, the side show in the rest of the world is obscuring what lies before us. The Tea Party was born of our discontent, but like a attention span addled child, will they forget why they came to the table? I hope not.

The circus that has presented itself in the last couple years and couple months is indicative of Team Geppetto. As we see our liberties and our money slip away, so will our lives, at least the quality thereof. As the US slips in the world, from number one to number two, we will find ourselves in a place not of our liking, but of our choosing. As much as we are hoodwinked, we also have a choice in it and as much as I think the latest news cycle with Wikileaks is a distraction from our real problems, in a way, Mr. Assange has also brought to fore a lot of the genesis for our current problems and laid bare the man behind the curtain. I don't hold him up as some example of propriety or heroism as some might and I also do not excoriate him as some treasonous monster that must be destroyed. All I say is thank you for some clarity in a world that is so full of shit. Thank you Mr. Assange, wherever you are.

And thank you for reading this blog.

Israel and the Rest of the World

What has become apparent in these last few days if not confirmed is that Israel (and the United States) and judge by a different standard than the rest of the world.

We have found out the the peace protesters attacked the Israeli commandoes. We then found out they were armed. They we find out that they had stun grenades. Then we find out they were funded by the Turks. Yet the onus is on the Israelis. Somehow they should have given the peace terrorists a bouquet of flowers and kissed them on the lips. Is there something wrong here?

When we look to the rest of the world, North Korea sinks a South Korean Naval vessel in South Korean waters and nothing happens. Everyone is more afraid of China than they are of us or anyone else. This is just a continuation of the Obama Obsequiousness World Tour. No bad deed will be punished, unless of course it's allegedly perpetrated by the US or Israel. It fits Obama's narrative that the US has been the purveyor of evil in the world.

And what about evil? Ahmedinejad calls for the destruction of Israel, not on one occasion but continually over the years, while he now has enough material to create 2 nuclear weapons. Hamas' mantra is what? The destruction of Israel.

Pat Buchanan and rest of the anti-Israel malcontents will say, what does the destruction of Israel have to do with the US? It hasn't happened. Take a few steps back and look at the proponents behind this. It's islam, it's global jihadists. It's not about the fact we are the best or the richest, or the freest. It's about a world view that sees the end game as a global caliphate. In spite of the assertion that Israelis forced out palestinians, whatever that is, the jews were forced out by muslims over 1000 years ago, continuing the diaspora. So who forced who out first?

Look at the muslim invasion of Europe, now in its third iteration. Sharia law is allowed in the UK, and Rowan Williams sees Sharia and Islam dominance in England and Europe as inevitable. They are giving up without a fight (and people in this country worry about Mexicans. In time we will want them with open arms compared to the coming muslim problem).

So while the destruction of Israel doesn't raise a few hackles, who's next after them? Us of course. The problem is, we have no Charles Martel in our time. By the time the west recognizes there is a problem, it's wont be one anymore as it won't matter. We want to be so open minded as to let bad things in and accept them. Aristotle said that "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." A wise man whose ideas have been forgotten by most. The rational mind has been supplanted by the feeling one. 


While I am not an interventionist, I think we need to recognize threats when they arise. It's the rational thing to do. Criticizing Israel is just an attempt by those who would enjoy her destruction to foment that in an incremental fashion because of the accurately perceived weakness that our enemies and other countries who interests are not the same as our own see in Obama and his regime. They know this stranger lover will throw his own under the bus in order to be loved by those that hate him. He's a deranged narcissist and cannot help himself. The result is that those outside out circle have grown hungry in their appetite for our destruction and the destruction of of allies. It's a case of malignant and pro-active schadenfreude on their part. 


So some will ask, why not bring these people into our inner circle? I will ask, will that change their intentions, and if you believe so, show me an example where that was true. I believe it is good to have talks that build common ground if possible, but sooner or later the white elephant in the room will have to be dealt with, whatever that is. Diplomacy has mixed results here at best. It's a poker game where every tool in the toolbox must be brought to the game. Obama & Co. think they can get it done with just one tool. The problem is that these problems are out of the scope of community leaders and their normal solution of spreading around walking around money. Talk is cheap, especially with those that are resolute. 

So where does this leave us? In the case of Israel with the Jihadist Flotilla, They have a few choices. All have their consequences. When the commandoes boarded the boat, they actually didn't expect the resistance they received and actually wished to pursue more peaceful methods of interdicting. It didn't go well and it will not be repeated, I assure you. it was a one shot deal. The Israelis have a legitimate concern about these "humanitarian" boats bringing weapons to Gaza. What was found on the boats justifies their concern, yet we have the mess. 


Ultimately, Israel will do what they have to do to protect their interests. Obama should be supportive and the truth supports that position. The problem is he is breaking his back trying to get our enemies to love him, or at least not hate him. The time has come for tough talk. All tools need to be put on the table and shown to these despots and other half rate and third world idiots of what their options are. The problem is, what are our options? Frankly, we are over extended. What could we do? 


The bottom line is that in a dangerous world where certain countries are becoming more dangerous. While we should avoid posturing and also becoming over extended, we need to send a message that cuts through all the noise. 

1. The United States will defend itself against all enemies foreign and domestic with extreme prejudice. 
2. The United States will support our allies in the face of aggression. We will defend them if asked. 
3. The United States will use all tools available in diplomacy. Nothing is off the table. 
4. The United States will judge it's relationships not by words, but by actions, and their will be accountability. 
5. The United States will no longer support countries financially or otherwise that "Take the piss" on us. 

After these statements of facts are made, then our actions must match them. The model for this was created by Ronald Reagan and modified by me. I would be slightly more hard ass. Again, actions must match words, or it's meaningless. It is like the guy that says, you better not cross this line, then the other guy crosses it, and he draws another one and makes the same demand again. It's a recipe for being playing and being feckless. It done by the Farm Animals® in Europe, but obviously it has not served them well. 

The real bottom line is that the rest of the world is behaving like a petulant, obstinate child whose behavior has been reinforced by doing nothing. It's time for some tough love. If we want this double standard to stop, we must be willing to stand up and say enough is enough. Neville Chamberlain has been dead a long time and unfortunately was reanimated in November of 2008. It's time to send him back. We know where his pusillanimity lead, and it's no different this time around. 

Thank you for reading this blog. 

In New Jersey, Need Trumps Ability: Why Christie Matters

With socialism, marxism, and collectivism, need always trump ability. If you do not believe me, look at the standard marxist statement: To eat according to their needs, from each according to their ability. This means that what is given from the government, which acts as a proxy by force, to those that can't or won't do. It also means, that by force, this proxy for bad ideas takes what is earned by those who not only can but want to. It's not a free will gift and it is taken without respect to the people that earned it, but rather as an unwanted obligation and a demand that they should be happy to do it.

The New Jersey legislature passed a tax hike on all those who make more than a million dollars a year. This adds up to 16,000 people out of 3.9 million. Who speaks for them? Obviously to the socialist controlled New Jersey legislature, no one should.

The bill passed along party lines, 46-32 and 23-17 in the assembly and senate respectively. In a moment of honesty, a socialist in the assembly shows their true colors:

“We’ve got a lot of people who can’t afford to pay their taxes” and need the rebates that the measure may restore, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said before the vote. “Six- hundred thousand older adults would be better off.”

There are a couple problems here. If people can't afford to pay their taxes, ask why? Why are they being taxed so high? If the answer is to pilfer those that have more money, it's irresponsible and thievery. Socialism is based on coveting and stealing. It never occurs to the dems to cut expenditures because they are bribing people with their own money. The 600,000 that are complaining of cuts to senior citizen programs are a sizable voting block where 16,000 are not. How is that for taxation without representation? Oliver should read her history to understand the consequences of such aberrant thinking.


Why Chris Christie matters is that he says he will veto this bill. The demo-socialists do not have the votes to override the veto. A good thing. Time for some fiscal responsibility and honesty.

“This is a defining moment -- it seems to me to be all about taxes, taxes and taxes,” Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, a Republican from Parsippany, said during more than an hour of floor debate before the vote. Referring to Democrats, he said, “that’s all you guys do.”

And that is the truth. Socialists like to bribe people with their own money, and they do it as a bribe for votes. This is done to convert those that can to those that need. The more that need, the more votes the arbiters of socialism will get and thereby hold on to power. This is the path to becoming Farm Animals®. If you doubt me, look at another bit of honesty from a socialist that feels sacrifice is duty and who is also the high priest at the altar of sacrifice:

“I don’t have an issue with millionaires, I just have an issue with people not sharing in the sacrifice,” said Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat from West Deptford. “Those 16,000 people can help 600,000.”
What Sweeney isn't honest about is that the taxes he wants to steal from the 16,000 is to restore programs to bribe the 600,000. Sfacime.

It is a good thing to see a governor stand on proper rational principle and not emotion based straw man arguments and populism. He was elected to govern and govern from a position of responsibility, not of a tyrant that succors the hoi pelloi into a puerile stupor for the purpose of political hegemony. Its time to grow up.

This is why we need Chris Christie.

Thank you for reading this blog.

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Posted By The Right Guy to The Right Guy at 5/21/2010 12:26:00 PM

Mama Grizzly Bear Is On The War Path

The Mama Grizzly Bear, Sarah Palin, was on the war path yesterday at a meeting of the NRA in Charlotte, North Carolina. Palin warned those in attendance that Obama wants to gut the second amendment. She also said that "Mama Grizzlies" will bring the GOP big wins in November.

In spite of Obama's anti-gun ownership beliefs, he has been distracted, so far, from enacting measures to limit second amendment rights. Issues like healthcare, cap and tax and amnesty have come to the fore and delayed Obama from acting against gun rights. Considering that November is fast approaching, time is nigh for him to do anything legislatively. That does not, however, prevent him from acting through bureaucrats and executive fiat. Remember, Obama excoriated rural americans that they cling to their bibles, guns and religion.

I do not think these comments have been forgotten and in the context of the 2010 and 2012 elections, these points must be driven home: That Obama is a fabian socialist and effete mountebank that wishes to transform america into a feckless European-like nation where the citizens are like Farm Animals®, and Obama is the messianic farmer that will care for his flock. Such narcissistic hubris is unbelievable, even in a politician. A despot for sure, and even Woody Allen wishes he was a dictator. You'd think a Jew would be leery of anyone being a dictator. How quickly we forget.

If Obama makes moves to throttle the second amendment, you can believe he will have several other tricks up his sleeve that will follow soon after. In fact, I have to say for the record, that I am shocked that the feds haven't jumped in after Arizona made carry, both open and concealed, practically ubiquitous with the new law. Don't take his silence as anything like defeat. Change is coming here too.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Is the UK screwed? The Vote Is Coming In

Now there's an oxymoron: Scottish Conservatives. In the land that makes the  best adult beverages, we have conservatives that would be to the left of Obama.

David Cameron and his conservatives are leading the charge with 305 seats versus 255 for Labour and 61 for Liberal Democrats. 326 is needed for a clear majority and 29 seats fell to other parties.  So much for Gary's preaching of multiple parties. They will now have a hung government.

Likely, the Liberals with forma a coalition with Labour. Some of the minor parties could align with the conservatives, but even so, there is no 326 seat majority.

The god news is that the conservatives have made some serious gains. Still, the Brits do not have anything considerable in the way of classical liberals, libertarians or a "Tea Party". The conservatives in the UK may be pro-business and pro-lwer taxes, but it's relative, and they also support many big government programs that are anathema to liberty. Think of RINOs as a large group. We certainly wouldn't welcome them here, but in the context of british politics, it's going in the right direction so to speak.

With the results in the UK, and the ascendancy of the likes of Geert Wilders, it doesn't take one to realize that even in small or relative ways, Europe is getting pangs of moving right, as being hard left for decades is starting bring home consequences in immigration, taxation, and national debt. Even the Farm Animals® there are starting to get restless.

Normally, America sneezes and the world (Europe) catches a cold. Could the reverse be happening? Or is it sychronicity? Inevitability? Certainly not chance.

What I see is a good start, but I would like to see classical liberal elements make progress in Europe. Until then, they will be Farm Animals®.

Thank you for reading this blog.