The Consent of the Governed

I just found commonsenserevisited.com and downloaded the .pdf version of the pamphlet of the same name. I love it so far, but I'm having trouble getting past the first paragraph of the introduction.   "Paine made the case for individual sovereignty, declaring that all powers of government were derived from the individuals who created the government..."   I feel like I have no need to read further. Individual Sovereignty and Government by the Consent of the Governed are the foundations of freedom. The safety valve for liberty, inherent in individual sovereignty, is the right to choose not to be governed at all. Those who choose to create a government have no claim on any persons but themselves and no right to exercise sovereignty over any geographic area beyond the private property of those who have placed themselves under the authority of that particular government.   This is clearly the truth behind the words of the secessionist American Declaration of Independence of 1776 as well.   Personally, I look forward to joining in a Compact of Mutual Aid with like-minded individuals and to see the blossoming of Society that will follow when the false doctrine of collectivist democracy (government by force) is tossed on the trash heap of history to fade from memory with the evil idea of the Divine Right of Kings.

2009-09-30T02:20:30Z

2009-10-02T21:33:07Z

Sure enough, the bailouts created "too Gigantuous to fail" institutions in the financial world, giving them an unfair and monopolistic leg over their competitors. At the same time another 30% of banks failed recently without any intervention. Consumer choice is depleting and we are truly getting a rigid oligopoly financial system. Do you think Federal reserve members didn't see this coming? Do you think that maybe they would want to see their buddies wielding the upper hand.It is striking proof that free market economics do not cause monopolies. Favoritism and government intervention make these things happen. The government's only job is making sure that what it has now effectively created, doesn't happen. That said and done, the media is finally using buzzwords that Fiscal conservatives used to argue against the bailouts. It creates moral hazard... now they tell us. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082704193_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009082800437 Scientists want the government to tax all sweet products in a coercive approach to making us eat healthier. Congress wants to pass a health bill that requires by law to purchase a service from a private company. (Ps. car insurance is not the same as health insurance. Driving on the road with a vehicle is specific activity that is a possible danger to other individuals. Health insrance requires you to cover yourself from any risks for simply existing.) The only way that this becomes okay in a society is the power paradigm shifts from bottom up to top down and the citizens become assets of the state rather than the power holders. <a href="http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financial-Industry/Fructose-in-the-firing-line" target="_blank">http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financial-Industry/Fructose-in-the-firing-line</a> On Saturday, September 12th, over 450,000 people marched on Washington, and no major news media covered it, except conservative talk radio and conservative bloggers. Otherwise it was media blocked. States are already feeling the strings attached to those stimulus dollars. In Education, there are a few states that won't allow their teachers to be evaluated or fired based on test scores, especially federally mandated test scores. Yet, the Obama has effectively attached a clause to billions of dollars in stimulus money for the "race to the top" program of his that requires them to step down their defensive stance of protecting their teachers from federal mandates requiring evaluations of this type. Without bowing down federal laws that require teachers to be evaluated based on standardized test results, these states become ineligible for funds. Naturally, they are scrambling to back down on their word, give up their state sovereignty, and hand more power over to the federal government in the name of a few dollars. Oh, but it's for the children, right? Yeah the same children who are going to be paying this stimulus spending for years to come. http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2009/09/09/298498usschoolsjudgingteachers_ap.html?tkn=MXVF2zT%252FS%252F2IUWWaHYv8zzxKLgbyrhFxYgfg

2009-09-20T04:11:16Z

Some News Flashes

2009-09-28T20:00:29Z

I either want to find or help start a group of citizens or a non-profit organization to promote True Foundational American History in our public school system. Since our federal government won't leave our schools to our states, lets take them back ourselves by teaching our children about the truth of America's founders. To require the reading and teaching of Historic documents from the Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution, The Federalist Papers, The Anti-Federalist Papers, etc. even to the point of studying Marcus Tullius Cicero's writings on Natural Law that inspired our Founders. This won't be to teach Politics but to teach the principles of our History. If there are groups out there like that, could you refer me to them or lets start something. I live in PA we could start here or anywhere.

2009-09-17T21:37:10Z

True American History

2009-09-24T19:16:30Z

I try to talk about what is going on with government every chance I get:  like at the grocery store, drug store, anywhere where there are people. I talk about liberty and freedom with my friends and try to educate them about what is really going on. If my friends and family rely on the mainstream media, there is no way they will get the truth. It is up to each of us to speak the truth.

2009-09-17T03:32:22Z

Spread the Word

2009-09-28T20:01:04Z

Here's an article I wrote that my local newspaper printed. It's about half way down under "Another Way...": <div><a onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), " rel="nofollow" href="http://online.dailyamerican.com/pdf/09/07/16/07-16-09/a040716091.pdf" target="_blank">http://online.dailyamerican.com/pdf/09/07/16/07-16-09/a040716091.pdf</a> I try to do "something" for Liberty everyday even if it's just reading a page or two of a website like this one.  If more people would just take a moment to get a better understanding of what liberty really means more would be able to "see through" the fallacies thrown at us daily. That's just my take on what would bring our country back to the foundations of liberty it was started on. I hope you might be inspired to try something on your own too.  The ideas of liberty and free market economics are worthy of the effort in my opinion.</div> <div> </div> <div>May I suggest sending a FaceBook friend invite to Lawrence W. Reed, president of the Foundation for Economic Education (<a href="http://www.fee.org">www.fee.org</a>.) He's under the name "Lawrence Reed."  I'll predict you'll not regret it!</div> <div> </div> <div>Kent Lalley</div>

2009-09-16T17:09:49Z

Another Way to Look at the Nation's Economy

2009-09-28T20:01:32Z

When champions of liberty vacate the seat of power they leave a vacuum for tyrants to fill. Mike Benoit

2009-09-15T16:20:43Z

When champions of liberty vacate the seat of power they leave a vacuum for tyrants to fill. Mike Benoit 120 post

When champions of liberty vacate the seat of power they leave a vacuum for tyrants to fill. Mike Benoit

TyrannyBusters

2009-09-15T16:20:58Z

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_J._Peter" target="_blank">Laurence J. Peter</a> US educator & writer (1919 – 1988) Where are we going? What is the destiny of America? Who is responsible to save our nation? It seems apparent that at this time in our history we are struggling to know where we should be going. Given the constant cries for a “bailout” for every form of financial crisis it seems that Americans have resigned themselves to government solutions to our problems. Many are now admitting that our financial crises have been contributed to (if not caused outright) by the government’s unnatural involvement in this economy. Despite this we do not seem to have the courage, or foresight, to address our problems in any other way but through greater government debt, guarantees, etc. Certainly, the endless piling on of debt onto the backs of the American people cannot continue indefinitely. Is this the direction we really want to go in, or is there any alternative? To answer this question, I am reminded of Benjamin Franklin. Mr. Franklin has been called “the quintessential American” of his time. He was self-educated and after studying printing in his brother’s newspaper shop he went off on his own to Philadelphia, where he started his own printing company. As reported at The Franklin Institute website: His most famous publications were a newspaper called The Pennsylvania Gazette and his annual Poor Richard’s Almanack. He had many new ideas for publishing and he is known for printing cartoons, illustrated news stories, and letters to the editor. He believed in the power of the press, using his printing press as a way to bring the news to all people. He used cartoons and pictures so that everyone could understand the news, even people who had not learned to read. Mr. Franklin was instrumental in bringing street lighting to Philadelphia. Ben also helped to set up the first postal system in Philadelphia. In order to make Philadelphia a safer city, he started the Union Fire Company in 1736. A few years later, in 1752, he set up America’s first fire insurance company. He even organized a Night Watch and Militia to help keep peace and safety in Philadelphia. While in Paris, Ben proposed the idea of Daylight Savings Time. In 1731, Ben founded America’s first circulating library so that people could borrow books to read even though they might not have been able to afford to buy books to read. He discovered the conductivity of heat by color and established the first volunteer fire-fighting union (in the world!) and fire insurance company in Philadelphia. In an incredible history of his life, The Real Benjamin Franklin, the essence of Mr. Franklin is revealed. I found it very interesting how creative he and his associates were. For example, he (and his “master-mind” team) had the idea of laying bricks on one city block of Philadelphia. At that time, no city blocks were paved in the entire city. Despite naysayers, they went at it and successfully paved one of the city blocks. As a result, the citizens of Philadelphia became inspired and paved the entire downtown area. Mr. Franklin also devised the first lottery system in order to raise funds for the building of a church in Philadelphia. He was instrumental in the implementation of a new money system for the colonies, including the printing of a new form of money, so the colonies would not be dependent on British notes. Addressing other needs of his time he invented the lightning rod, through which he discovered electricity. He also invented the Franklin stove, which was a more efficient way to produce heat from wood (for which he refused a patent, as he stated it should be for the good of the people). His other inventions include: bifocals, the glass harmonica, the library chair, swim fins, the long reach device, the catheter, and Daylight Savings Time. <div>   <div class="MsoNormal" style="0.5in;">So what can “Good old Ben” teach us today? To whom did Mr. Franklin look for the solutions of the problems of his day? He obviously took direct, personal responsibility for his environment and was not afraid to engage in the process of : “ask and ye shall receive.” </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="0.5in;"> Given what he created and cognized, he clearly had opened himself up to receive alternative answers to the dilemmas he and his countrymen faced. </div> </div> It’s amazing how we take so many of today’s institutions for granted, such as the library, volunteer fire departments, insurance, etc. We often fail to understand that it was committed individuals, such as Benjamin Franklin, who looked problems in their face and asked “how can I help to solve this problem?” instead of: “government, solve this for us, please!” As we see more and more of the failure of governments surface in the future, let us remember the greatness, the faithfulness and the true righteousness of men like Benjamin Franklin. Let us imbue into our soul their spirit of self-empowerment, and self-reliance. Let us have the courage to take back our sovereignty and our divine right of self government. I have no doubt that we can save our nation, and end up where we want to go, if only we can remember who we really are.

2009-07-24T21:41:29Z

Where do we go from here?

2009-08-07T23:45:37Z

It is interesting to consider the effect of the federal government’s involvement in the area of food choice and diet. I have previously stated that the founder’s were adamant that the federal government should not be involved in legislating food choices for our nation. No enumerated powers were given to the federal government in this regard. The 9th and 10th amendments clearly restrain any involvement in these issues. Despite these “chains of the constitution” we, the people, have sat back while the federal government goes merrily on dictating laws and choices for the American people.  9th amendment: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 10th amendment: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Thomas Jefferson once stated: “If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls who live under tyranny.” I had the privilege a few years ago to be a mentor at a local grade school in my home town. This program laudably has the intention of providing support and encouragement to children of single parents. In addition to helping a young 1st grader contemplate reading and how to kick a ball, I would often sit and have lunch with the students. I was appalled at the quality of the food that was being served to the students. I felt that the food was the most packaged, least healthy food any human being could eat. For example, the fried chicken “patties” were formed into hearts and other shapes, and covered with sugar sprinkles in order to encourage the students to actually them. Canned mushy carrots, along with other “vegetables” of the least nutritional content possible were served. Topped with “desert bars” that must have been manufactured by the millions and preserved with who knows what chemicals. What does this have to do with the federal government, you might ask? Do you remember the food pyramid which was given to “enlighten” the American people as to the “healthy” diet we should all have? I found the original FDA food pyramid in an article by Disabled World – 2007-10-20. As you may recall the FDA said: “You should center your diet around the foods at the base of the food pyramid, and eat less of the foods at the top.” Here is that pyramid:  <img class="alignleft" src="http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/uploads/pyramid.jpg" alt="" width="382" height="292" /> Old food pyramid picture As you can see, we were told to center our diet around bread, cereal rice, pasta, etc. What’s wrong with this picture? According to Harvard scientist Dr. Walter Willett, the original USDA Food Pyramid is terribly misleading and flawed. He states that the Pyramid has not kept up with scientific nutritional research. The original food pyramid made a number of blanket claims supporting its food list, such as, all fats are bad; all complex carbohydrates are good; protein is protein; dairy products are essential; potatoes are good for you; and there was no recommendation for exercise. Among Dr. Willett’s criticisms include the blanket statement that: “All complex carbohydrates are good.” Dr. Willet notes that six to eleven servings of carbohydrates are way too much, and that the Pyramid does not differentiate between refined carbohydrates, such as pasta, and truly complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain cereal and bread.  In an article published by NaturalNews.com, Mike Adams states: A new study says Americans are getting fatter thanks to an increase in their consumption of carbohydrates. Women, the study reveals, are consuming 335 more calories per day than they did in 1971, and men are consuming 168 more. That may not seem like much, but it sure adds up quickly. An extra 335 calories a day packs on an extra pound of body fat every ten days. The study says most of the increase in calories is from carbohydrates, but it leaves out perhaps the most crucial point of all: these are refined, processed carbohydrates <del>- the very worst kind. From a nutritional standpoint, you can’t paint all carbohydrates with the same brush. Whole grains and carbohydrates with a low glycemic index are, of course, far better for you than refined carbohydrates like white flour and refined white sugar. I’ve seen far too many studies lump all carbohydrates into the same category without regard for where they stand on the nutritional scale. </del> You see the same thing in the Food Guide Pyramid, which puts grains, breads and other carbohydrates as the “eat most” category of foods. That leads most people to falsely believe that eating a dozen doughnuts is keeping them in full compliance with the food guide pyramid, since doughnuts are technically breads and grains. To help explain how this correlates to food in school systems throughout America I am reminded of the “ketchup is a vegetable” controversy. From Wikipedia: <img class="alignleft" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Stammtisch_Ruhrgebiet_Januar_2007_Oberhausen_Pommes.JPG/180px-Stammtisch_Ruhrgebiet_Januar_2007_Oberhausen_Pommes.JPG" alt="" width="180" height="213" /> (Ketchup alongside French fried potatoes) The ketchup as a vegetable controversy or ketchupgate refers to a proposed United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Drug Administration directive, early in the administration of Ronald Reagan, that would have reclassified ketchup and pickle relish from condiments to a vegetable, allowing public schools to cut out a serving of cooked or fresh vegetable from hot lunch program child-nutrition requirements. The Reagan administration was, in fact, responding to a Congressional cost-savings mandate. The White House Office of Management and Budget estimated a potential US $1 billion annual savings in the cost of subsidized meals for low-income students. In reporting on the proposed directive Newsweek magazine illustrated their story with a bottle of ketchup with the caption “now a vegetable.” The proposed directive was criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike, and was never implemented. As we can see the FDA issued specific “guidelines” (which were really mandates) around the foods that could be served to students, all tied to federal subsidizing of meals for low income students. These guidelines led our public school systems to legally adopt the serving of meals that were “nutritious” according to those guidelines. Unfortunately for the poor souls that ate this food, we now have a generation of obese, disease, and cancer ridden people. (To complete the history of the original food pyramid on April 19, 2005, the USDA, now under assault from numerous scientific nutrition groups, launched their new food guidance system called “My Pyramid,” giving Americans a website to help them calculate their personal healthy food choices, based upon age and activity.) Why are we continuing to go along with this ridiculous system? In contrast to us paying billions for this “enlightenment from on high” the free market is more than capable of offering real, up to date information, without being told to do so by some government. As one example among thousands, the website noted above (Naturalnews.com) has a service for you to “Stay informed, empower yourself.” Each weekday, they email you breaking news on natural cures, green living, disease reversal and more. So there you have it. We can have a system that “empowers ourselves,” where we take responsibility for our own health and the health of our children and families; a system that gives us real opportunity for true wellness, long life and abundant health. Or we can continue to allow an unconstitutional, wholly ineffective, system warned against by the founders and specifically by Jefferson whom I must quote again: “If people let the government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls who live under tyranny.” Is it time yet for the Revolution?

2009-07-24T21:38:45Z

The FDA, the Food Pyramid, and Our Health

2010-02-11T00:06:56Z

James Madison, the father of the US Constitution, stated: "If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad." We are all aware that George Washington issued a warning in his farewell address against entangling alliances with other nations and cautioned us explicitly to pursue the opposite of war as our fundamental foreign policy. If possible, Thomas Jefferson was even more opposed to war as an instrument of effective policy. Among the many times he spoke on this subject he stated: "I love peace, and am anxious that we should give the world still another useful lesson, by showing to them other modes of punishing injuries than by war, which is as much a punishment to the punisher as to the sufferer." "War has been avoided from a due sense of the miseries, and the demoralization it produces, and of the superior blessings of a state of peace and friendship with all mankind." "Having seen the people of all other nations bowed down to the earth under the wars and prodigalities of their rulers, I have cherished their opposites, peace, economy, and riddance of public debt, believing that these were the high road to public as well as private prosperity and happiness." "I abhor war and view it as the greatest scourge of mankind." "War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses." The founders were intimately aware of the corrupting influence of power and the endless examples in history of rulers taking their nation to war for improper reasons. These reasons included personal glory, revenge against insult or simply a conquest of other lands for the natural resources that said lands possessed. It is a truism that the people fight the wars while the leaders reap the political benefits of conquest. The concern for the corrupting influence of power was later warned against by Dwight Eisenhower who stated in his farewell address: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist." Eisenhower's warning was from one who had personal knowledge of the culture of war given his position as the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II, the first supreme commander of NATO and our 34th President. Today, America has become a nation dominated by a "military industrial complex." The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, February 20, 2008 reports: <ul> <li> U.S. military spending accounts for 48 percent, or almost half of the world's total military spending.</li> <li> U.S. military spending is more than the next 46 highest spending countries in the world combined.</li> </ul> In an article entitled <cite><a href="http://www.cdi.org/weekly/2000/issue10.html#2" target="_blank">The Billions For "Defense" Jeopardize Our Safety</a>, Center For Defense Information, March 9, 2000 </cite><cite>reported:</cite> The lion's share of this money is not spent by the Pentagon on protecting American citizens. It goes to supporting U.S. military activities, including interventions, throughout the world. Were this budget and the organization it finances called the "Military Department," then attitudes might be quite different. Americans are willing to pay for defense, but they would probably be much less willing to spend billions of dollars if the money were labeled "Foreign Military Operations. Given where we obviously are today is there any possibility that America could return to the peace loving nation longed for by the founders? The venerable Benjamin Franklin was once quoted as saying: "He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of primitive Christianity shall revolutionize the world." The originator of that primitive Christianity Jesus of Nazareth (also known as the Prince of Peace) once said: "Put up again thy sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish by the sword." Matthew 26:52. <div>I can only pray that the American people have the courage to "put thy sword into its place" and return to the "light upon the hill" that lights the way for the world to embrace peaceful resolution to its problems. Given the absolute dominance the military industrial complex now has on our government, the impotence of our elected representatives, and the blatant disregard for constitutional limitations exhibited by the executive branch, it is only we, the people, who can change the direction of our nation. I leave you with another quote from Thomas Jefferson who gave us our declaration of independence: <div style="padding-left: 30px;">I do not believe war (is) the most certain means of enforcing principles. Those peaceable coercions which are in the power of every nation, if undertaken in concert and in time of peace, are more likely to produce the desired effect. </div> </div>

2009-07-24T21:35:33Z

The Founders and their Abhorrence of War

2009-08-07T23:21:09Z

What role was the Federal Government to play in Agriculture? As we all are aware, the federal government now plays a dominant role in agriculture in America. The government picks and chooses as to which types of agricultural choices receive subsidies. Many recent articles have been written as to how small farmers have been driven out of business by the billions of dollars that are given to huge farming operations. The political clout of big agriculture continues to ensure payments are made to them, despite market prices rising ever higher for their commodities. Who receives what subsidies is clearly controlled by the political and monetary clout of the various producers. I can assure you that the "little guy" has little chance of "equality" in this process. For example, the small, local organic producers of vegetables that are now so highly prized by the consumer for their superior quality receive no benefit whatsoever from the government. In fact, the government has done everything possible to stack the deck against these type of producers, all at the prodding of big agriculture. The Food and Drug Administration allegedly exists to protect the people, despite the known practices of big agriculture improperly influencing and controlling the process of what is "approved" by the government. The relatively recent "rubber-stamping" of genetically modified seeds as "the same" as what nature created is an example of how the process actually works. Without the government's involvement, the people's choices themselves would govern which products the producers produced. A free market, governed by supply and demand, and protected by the civil justice system is far superior to any government's decision making process. It literally costs we, the people, billions upon billions of our dollars every year that we pay to run these unconstitutional bureaucracies so that we, the people, can suffer from their unending consequences. If one subscribes to the concept of "do less, and accomplish more," all we would need to do is to return to the founders' constitution, eliminate these improper departments and consequently save billions every year while dramatically improving how agriculture works in our country. I believe the fundamental error in how this has all been created actually resides with the people. We collectively have lost our understanding of the role of the people, vs. the role of the government. We have succumbed to pleas from politicians that they will solve our problems for us, if we would only "trust them". It is said that you get what you deserve in life. I would like to see us "deserve" something better than paying dearly for abuse heaped upon us from false "saviors".

2009-07-24T21:34:08Z

Agriculture and the Constitution Today

2009-08-07T23:21:09Z