All That Is Necessary

What Is Your Gut Telling You? - And I Ain't Talking About Diet

I could list dozens of headlines from today, yesterday, the day before that, etc., that paint a pretty bleak picture of our reality today economically and socially.  And I mean BLEAK!  From the horrendous economy, to run-away growth in government power and control, the housing crash, islamic terrorism, nations dying economically like Greece........you get the picture.

My gut is telling me this will not end well.  How about yours?  This is not reveling in doom and gloom theories.  This is looking at all that is going on today and thinking about the possible paths the USA and world will take. 

My gut is telling me a lot of voters will demand the government "do something".  Of course, it is the government that caused all this in the first place.  The rise of liberalism to power in the 1960's began the decline of America.  

My gut is telling me that the world will not choose wisely.  Instead of more freedom and liberty, they will choose command and control.

My gut is telling me there are entities out there that are actively seeking our destruction, and have been for decades.  Again, not conspiracy theories, just human nature.

My gut is telling me that as an average Joe, I am not at the top of any pecking order if things go bad.

My gut is telling me I should get better prepared for anything that might come because nobody else will do it for me.

My gut is telling me this didn't have to happen.

My gut is telling me to never forget what the collectivists have done to the USA.

Solutions Require Responsibility

Saw this great post from "bonifacestreatise" entitled "Solutions".  He writes about how no one can seemingly come up with solutions to the growing socialist state in the US. 

"I often hear from the talking heads that there is no solution. Ok to be honest they claim they do not know what the solution is to the big government mess."

Well, he does see a way out, but it is not an easy one.

"I have good news for the people. There is a solution. A bunch of men around the time of 1776 figured out a solution. The problem with that solution is the fact that it demands responsibility. I have to say it because I firmly believe this to be true is that nobody wants responsibility."

I always harp on freedom, liberty AND RESPONSIBILITY!  Responsibility is extremely important, and, he is correct, no one wants to be responsible anymore.

"Why all this damned government? Because nobody wants to be responsible....Once the burden of being responsible is removed then all things are possible. Subsidized everything!"

This makes it very difficult to reverse the growth of government.  It is difficult not because we don't know what to do.  It is difficult because too many of us don't want to do what we know is necessary, and that is take responsibility for our own lives.

I like his post, and his site.  Take a look at it.

Great Quotes On Freedom And Responsibility

I love quotes!  Here are some really good ones:

"We defend freedom here or it is gone. There is no place for us to run, only to make a stand. And if we fail, I think we face telling our children, and our children's children, what it was we found more precious than freedom. Because I am sure that someday - if we fail in this - there will be a generation that will ask."   Ronald Wilson Reagan

"Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks.  Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools.  And their grandchildren are once more slaves."  D.H. Lawrence, Classical American Literature, 1922

"Liberty means responsibility.  That is why most men dread it."  George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, "Maxims: Liberty and Equality," 1905

"No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck."  Frederick Douglass, speech, Civil Rights Mass Meeting, Washington, D.C., 1883

"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid."  Dwight D. Eisenhower

"The tragic truth is that the language of "victimization" is the true victimizer - a great crippler of young minds and spirits. To teach young people that their lives are governed - not by their own actions, but by socioeconomic forces or government budgets or other mysterious and fiendish forces beyond their control - is to teach our children negativism, resignation, passivity, and despair."   Louis Sullivan

It Is Still A War, And You Must Still Choose Side You Are On

I wrote this about two months ago, but thought I would re-post it.  If you read the news these days it is apparent the Left is in a full out press to enact the most collectivists laws in our history.  Yes, it is a war.

What war am I talking about?  "The War Within The States".  It is the war between two different versions of the United States Of America. 

On one side you have the group currently in charge.  They are the collectivists, the believers in an all-powerful government.  They believe all wealth and decisions are best placed in the hands of a select few who know better than you how to live your lives.  They are also the voters who vote for these people.  These voters like the idea of a nanny state.  They want to give up their freedom for security.  So, you have the ruling "elite" and their willing serfs that make up one side of the war.

On the other side you have those that believe in the Jefferson statement that "That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.", or in Washington's statement of "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action".

In a nutshell, those are the two sides.  YOU CANNOT SIT ON THE FENCE IN THIS WAR.  If you try, you will fall into the collectivist side, whether you like it or not.

This is not a racial, gender or socio-economic struggle.  Your color doesn't matter, your sex doesn't matter, and your current economic level doesn't matter.  Your beliefs and attitude matter.  Do you love freedom, liberty and personal responsibility?  Then you are on my side.

We can win this war.  Not by bullets or riots, but by ballots and emails.  Don't be quiet or think you don't matter.  Pester the hell out of your representatives - at all levels, run for office or help a like-minded freedom-lover to run.  Don't be quiet at that get-together where liberals think everyone there thinks as they do.  Speak up, you might be surprised.

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.

Edmund Burke

Bottom line - this is a civil war for the control of our country.  Fight like you believe it!

Where Is Our Future - Once Again

This is a post of mine from about 10 months ago.  I think it is time to re-post it:

Where there is life, there is hope.  Not sure who came up with that phrase, but it is very true.  I am not talking about the false Hope & Change garbage that the Messiah and his minions are prattling on about.  I am talking about real hope.    The hope that my future, your future, our kids' future, will be better than what exists today.  Don't get me wrong.  What we have today is pretty damn good!  The USA has brought more freedom and, yes, hope, to the world than any other country, EVER.

We can continue to make this so.  However, the collectivists among us, namely the Liberals, Democrats, Communists, etc., want to stop our success.  Why?  Take your pick - guilt, envy, jealousy, greed, laziness, hate.  They believe in limits, in failure, in a world where the future is bleak, without hope.  Face it, have you ever seen a happy liberal?  (I mean other than when they are taking money from someone to give to someone else.)

I choose to side with those who believe the future is unlimited.  I believe in real hope that things will get better, that those who choose freedom, liberty, personal responsibility will win in the end.  Yes, it looks bleak at the moment.  The forces of collectivism are in charge, for now.

How to fight?  Start where you can, with your family.  Educate them, especially your kids, nieces, nephews, etc.  Have them read about our Founding Fathers, the risks they took to give us freedom.  Point out how the collectivists of today are trying to take these freedoms away, even in the smallest way.  (e.g. Do you think the Founders really had in mind the federal government regulating how much water your toilet could flush?!?!)

Then branch out.  Call you D.C. congress-critters.  Can't hurt.  They are politicians, so you never know what they are thinking.  But in D.C. it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

With your friends and acquaintances don't be silent when they advocate collectivism.  Don't be a jerk, but just express real confidence in freedom and personal responsibility.  Make them think!

Do any little thing you can think of to promote liberty.   This is a marathon, not a sprint.  Just put one foot in front of the other for now.  If you feel like giving up, just look at your family.  Do you want them to live in freedom, or under a collectivist regime?

Just remember, where there is life there is hope.  Start today.

Here is a quote to help:

"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions,
that I wish it always to be kept alive."
— Thomas Jefferson

World Trade Center A Great Example Of Our Decline

Saw a commentary in the Wall Street Journal that seemed quite appropriate to describe our fall as a nation.  It is entitled "The Right and Wrong Stuff".  It contrasts our ability to decide to get to the moon and do it in eight years with the fact that eight years after the World Trade Center terrorist attack we still have nothing but a hole in the ground.

"It took eight years from the time John Kennedy declared we would go to the moon to the day an American landed on it, 40 years ago this week. It was also eight years ago this September that terrorists struck the World Trade Center, the site of which continues to be a hole in the ground and a national disgrace."

In an earlier time Americans would have rebuilt the two towers better and stronger, maybe adding a floor to shove it in the faces of our enemies.  And it would have taken only a couple of years.  Not anymore.  Now we wring our hands in worry, bring lawsuits against everyone, worry we will upset our enemies.

"We’ve long resisted the notion of American decline, and our country has always managed to overcome its periods of despond. But it is hard not to see in the contrast between the moon program and the failure to rebuild Ground Zero a warning about America’s national will."

We have become a mere shadow of our former greatness.   And we are continuing willingly down the path of decline thanks to the collectivists and those who do not fight back.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving - More Good News

My daughter found this one for me.  If you haven't seen it you will really enjoy it.  If you have seen it, it is worth another look.

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009

(It won't let me embed it, so you need to click the link.) 

It IS worth it!  Never underestimate anyone.