Not-a-Lemming : Freedom

Mr. Obama, Don't Build That Wall!

FutbolGuru — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:44:00 GMT

This week we are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of one of the 20th Century's most shining moments - the Fall of the Berlin Wall. A barrier that represented far more than an edifice of concrete and steel. The Berlin Wall represented a rift across Europe and a major ideological divide between East and West. And as long as that wall remained, so loomed the specter of war. And when it fell, though it signaled the beginning of much work, it also spelled a major victory for the democracies of the West.

The Berlin Wall separated not just familes in a city but an entire nation. And as I mentioned in the preceeding paragraph, it also represented, in a much broader sense, an ideological gulf. A gulf in how cultures had decided to treat the human condition. The Soviets on the east side of that wall were led by the Russians and the philosophy of Marx which claimed it could elevate the common man to his rightful place in society while punishing the greed of the wealthy. In this philosophy the State was represented by the Communist Party which viewed human rights as secondary to the needs and aspirations of the State. In the Soviet Union humans were granted rights at the whim of the State.

Opposing this philosophy, The West, spearheaded by the United States, was armed with a much different view of human rights that was backed up by a unique Constitution. In America's Constitution it is the State that derives its power from the People and there is no sanctioned Party. The west, for the first time in history, viewed human rights as the center of our world view, codified in the precepts of freedom and liberty, and indeed superceding the wishes of the State. The State, in fact, was granted power from the people. These two governments had evolved along much different paths and by 1989 had arrived at vastly different places.

The Soviets, in their attempt to place the entire service and manufacturing sectors under the authority of their government in the hopes of being 'fair', had reached an unsustainable level of corruption and inefficiency. While their government promised retirement and health care to every citizen, both were services in name only. The fastest way to die in the Soviet Union was to check yourself into a state hospital - the only legitimate hospitals in the country. And pensioners had become paupers, living out their 'golden' years in crumbling tenements, entirely reliant on increasingly slim government subsidies. The only people with access to useful services were Communist Party members who used technically illegal private hospitals and doctors. And with their hands in the government coffer Party officials skimmed enough funds to fuel private Swiss accounts that ensured their golden years would indeed be golden.

In contrast, across the sea In America, hard work was being rewarded with stability and security. Wise investment resulted, over time, in net return. Those with the energy and tenacity to pursue the American dream nearly always found it. Sure, there was no free lunch, but Americans knew that a free lunch wasn't worth eating. There was, and remains, a poor class with little desire to work. And as a reward for their laziness they received little. Those putting in the time and energy were not punished for their achievements but rose to the middle and upper classes. Perks for fortitude were comfortable retirement, quality health care, and security. It was understood by many and for the most part, backed up by laws, that if you didn't work, you were going to pay the price. The result was a vibrant growing nation whose philosophy spread to the far corners of the globe and elevated those nations it touched with booming economies and strong middle classes.

And those behind the wall could only look across and dream. Little did they know that their dreams would soon become reality, and with the fall of the Wall in 1989 their own economies exploded. Nations like Poland, Germany (East), Hungary, The Czech Republic, and others have experienced unprecedented growth and affluence in the last 20 years. Sure, their people don't have the promise of free retirement and health care, but at least they now have the opportunity to pursue these goals since the promise was never anything more than a cruel lie. The fall of that Wall, more than any other event in history, proves the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and their vision of limited government.

So why, 20 years later, is the United States, brick by brick, rebuilding that Wall? The ideologies of the East proved the greatest social failure of all time. Never had so many people been so oppressed and deprived for so long, relative to their neighbors, throughout all of recorded history! And the very country that paved the way for the destruction of that heinous barrier is now adopting the ideologies that smothered those trapped behind it. If anything proves that health care, retirement, manufacturing, banking, and economic planning have no business in government, the Berlin Wall is it. Yet the United States, after spending trillions of dollars to first halt the expansion of that Wall, and then ultimately see its destruction, is step by irrevocable step, taking over health care, retirement, manufacturing, banking, and economic planning! We are building that Wall. And the two major political parties, neither of which is endorsed in our Constitution, are making it happen. The Democrats (aided by their willing accomplices in the media) through direct action and the Republicans (aided by their willing accomplices in the upper class) through direct inaction. And once that Wall is in place, as the one in Berlin showed us, it is incredibly difficult to dismantle and often comes at great pain and only after generations of oppression.

Will we as Americans be the next generation of oppressors? Will we make the Soviet mistake even while those crushed by that terror, and those who corrected it are still alive? Many of whom are still in power? Will we doom ten generations of Americans to misery and corruption? Or is the mass suicide of the lemmings unavoidable? Lemmings, lacking a written word, a spoken language, and a culture, can be forgiven for their gullibility. Even if a lemming manages to survive being herded over a cliff by an overeager film maker, it can't warn its kin of the danger the next time around. But humans. Humans have no excuse. And should we decide to codify this path in law, not even our children - much less history - will remember us kindly. "You had a golden age and you threw it away." That's not me. Is it you?

Futbol Guru - www.not-a-lemming.com

"Any man who will trade liberty for security deserves neither." - Benjamin Franklin

The United States Versus North Korea

FutbolGuru — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:25:00 GMT

Actually I'm not sure we would win. Not that we don't outgun them, but that place is a lot like Afghanistan. Very mountainous and overflowing with patriotic fervor. I won't call them fanatics because they have good reasons for acting the way they do based on the information they have. But winning that war isn't really what this post is about.

Information about North Korea is hard to come by but I feel qualified to write about North Korea. I'm qualified because I spent years researching a novel about a Los Alamos nuclear scientist who gets abducted by North Korean commandos and brainwashed into helping them with their weapons - for a while at any rate. It's a great book and you'll come away not only knowing how nukes work (and why they are so hard to build) but why and how North Korea is the way that it is. And why our current policy never seems to work. Unfortunately you will never get to read it because the odds for a lowly FutbolGuru to catch the attention of a NY publisher are just a few zeros better than winning the lottery.

No, this post isn't about a matchup between the US and DPRK - the real name for North Korea is Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, BTW. Generally her citizens refer to their country as Choson. This post is about how the US and the DPRK are alike. Sometimes a comparison essay is far more illuminating than a contrast essay. And often more truthful.

Most essays about North Korea begin with pointing out how the KWP (the nominally communist Korean Workers Party) control everything. And they do. Lemmings, lemmings everywhere. If you aren't in the KWP you can forget it politically. But they are democratic as their name implies. Every leader is elected to office by the people. Of course there is ever only one candidate on the ballot, the party sanctioned KWP candidate. So when Kim Jong-il gets elected as Chairman of the Party, or head of the National Defense Commission, the ballot contains only his name.

As Americans we tend to laugh at this. But is our 'system' really much better. They get on party supplied candidate. We get two party supplied candidates. At best our electoral system is only twice as good. Especially when it produces candidates like Walter Mondale, Bob Dole, Jimmy Carter, and John McCain. The occasional independent candidate is pilloried in the press by both sides. They have one party, we have two. As far as our political system is concerned, we're only twice as good!

What about propaganda? North Korea believes it is the best country in the world. It calls itself the 'workers paradise.' That title is a laughable joke at best. Conditions for workers are abysmal. Party members get better treatment but eve that depends on the depth of the famine. There are accounts of guards during the Pueblo Incident, standing in a utterly barren field, surrounded by denuded hills, loudly decrying the agricultural perfection of the Juche system. These people have actually come to believe their own propaganda! But are we really that much better?

In 1776 we shocked the world and invented something new. A free, democratic society. Over two hundred years later sees the world with many free, democratic societies. Yet we continue to loudly proclaim ourselves as the center of world freedom. In truth, our government regulates our society much more strictly than most other free nations. Only on the issue of gun control do we still have an argument, as if holding weapons are the sole determiner of freedom. In fact, among the western, industrialized nations, the only nation that comes close to North Korea in sheer number of regulations and penetration of government into all facets of citizen life, is the United States! From my automobiles to the toilets in my house, from hiring practices at the company I work at to how I can build a house, every facet of my life falls under some degree of government regulation.

Literature, it is said, is both a reflection of, and the rudder of, society. North Korea understands this only too well. In North Korea artists are held in high esteem. They are trained by the state and spend their lives working for the state. Every nuance of their work is scripted and censored. The North Koreans understand that the way to control society is to inculcate them with ideology in a way they will understand. This is the single most effective means of shaping and maintaining the ideological bent of a society and they have been very good at it. Kim Jong-il himself was trained at Kim Il-sung University as a film maker and has directed numerous motion pictures. It was his first job. He even 'invented' a new form of Korean opera.

In America, despite the proclamations of various radio talk show hosts, there is virtually no state control of the media. It isn't needed. The media has known that literature shapes society from the start. Look at what comes out of Hollywood and New York. Little of this entertainment reflects traditional American values. Rather in most cases it denegrates traditional American values in favor of promulgating liberal views. In fact, it goes one step farther by using one of the key tactics used by North Korean propagandists - it makes fun of traditional American values. The North Koreas have known for a long time that if you want to discredit something, you make fun of it. Yes, they rant and rave about Americans, but mostly they just make fun of us. They call us stupid. They dress their circus clowns as bumbling G.I.s. Very similar to the way Hollywood portrays anyone who doesn't agree with their viewpoint.

Unfortunately, especially for people such as myself, book publishing is little better than the film industry. Until you actually try to get a book published you might not realize that the entire industry is controlled by a tiny, select group of gatekeepers called literary agents. Most people who become literary agents do so because they have connections to the publishing industry and no other real talents - the same way KPW Cadres in North Korea become Party officials. Agents choose work based on whether or not it appeals to their sensibilities. Money is secondary. Just like a KWP censor. A quick Google search on 'Literary Agents" will give you an excellent indication of what is being published, and what isn't. Oh, and probably 99% of agents operate from New York City. Is there a relationship between the kind of material being censored out of publication and the fact that publishers and booksellers are getting killed? Does the industry have the ability to self-assess?

Central economic planning? They have it. Now we have it, too. Direct control of major industrues? Yes and yes. Direct control of banking? Can you say, bailout. Both nations are fixated on nuclear weapons. Both nations are fixated on missiles. Oh, and here's a few interesting questions: What two nations spend the largest percentage of their GDP on their military?* What two nations have the most men under arms?** What two nations have the fewest political parties?***

Control of political parties. Control of manufacturing, banking, and the economy. Control of literature, the press, and entertainment. Irrespective of who is doing the control, whether it be a central government or a congolomeration of unrelated entities, it is still is pretty much everything you need to maintain a society in a desired state. This is what the North Koreans do. This is what we do.

There are differences beteen the US and the DPRK of course. To imply there isn't would be ludicrous and a lie. But there are also curious similarties. And to imply the huge differences between our nations is entirely due to government would be disingenuous. Our nation was huge and filled with natural resources free for the taking (after we killed all the indigenous peoples.) North Korea only received independence after World War II, and five years after that was bombed into the Stone Age. Not that they didn't deserve it, but they are to a large degree a product of their initial conditions. And they didn't chose the best of friends. Still, it is important to recognize these differences if only to try to correct those problems that we do have here. Problems that arise, for the most part, from our similarities with a totalitarian state. Sadly, it is these similarities that will prevent a true self-assessment and, if history is any guide, only grow worse over time.

*US and DPRK.

**US and DPRK

*** US - 2; DPRK - 1

-Futbol Guru, http://mises.org/community/blogs/not-a-lemming

If It's Wrong, It's Wrong

FutbolGuru — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:05:00 GMT

America means something.

America is different. It really is. As far as I know, and I don’t know everything – close, but not all – there has never been a situation where a man from a class of people imported as slaves, has risen to be leader of that nation, without a violent rebellion, in just a few generations. My last blog was about that and I stand behind every word.

When our forefathers started this nation, they conceived of a place that would be different than the Europe from which they were fleeing. Europe to our ancestors was not a kind place, full of ruthless monarchies in which freedom was virtually non-existent. Mobility between classes was basically impossible. Religious persecution was widespread. And racism was like nothing we’ve ever seen – vestiges of which live in Europe to this day.

So they left and started a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. America really did, for most of it’s history, have a stranglehold on the moral high ground. Yes we have our black marks, among them slavery and the genocide of the native peoples. But the very fact that a black man is now president is proof positive that these evils are gone, and even when they were being committed always faced a strong opposition that, unlike Europe, couldn’t be imprisoned for their opposing view.

Sadly, America has allowed fear to steal much of the moral credit that we had built up over the years. We have stooped to what the founding fathers felt was one of the most abhorrent of evils – torture. At least five of the amendments in the Bill of Rights was aimed directly at eliminating torture. Why? Because Europe tortured. Nazi Germany was just the last incarnation of a continent overflowing with torture since time immemorial. And while it isn’t torture, you can add denial of due process to that as well. In America, you don’t simply hold people, indefinitely, without due process. Stories of people rotting in castle dungeons in Europe are legion. But Not Here. Because We Are Different.

Were different. We torture now, too. And we also confine people indefinitely without due process. And somehow, we justify it. The question goes something like this, “If you could stop the deaths of thousands by torturing, would you do it?” This implies the answer is, “Yes,” but it also exonerates the North Vietnamese from torturing our downed pilots. It exonerates the Nazis for torturing those who they thought might have information of Allied actions. Both of these groups were defending their countries, and while we may not agree with their governments, we seem to have adopted their methods, and in so doing, associated ourselves with them.

The most amazing thing about our new found methods, however, is how it has split along partisan lines. The people who are most strongly in favor of torture and indefinite incarceration are on the Religious Right. The very people who should be most concerned about human rights and morality! While the people most strongly denouncing torture are on the Left, which is much less religiously influenced and has a far higher percentage of atheists. And even though I have to count myself as having far more right-leaning tendencies than left, the people on the left are completely correct in this regard.

In point of fact, torture is wrong no matter what you use it for. This can be proved through the following simple exercise called, “Where Do You Draw The Line?” Suppose you have a ‘torture’ that doesn’t do any physical damage. Say, waterboarding. Waterboarding doesn’t hurt anybody. It just uses the body’s natural physiological responses to break down will. At least, that’s the argument. Okay, so that kind of torture is alright. I guess rape as torture is okay then, too. Rape doesn’t ‘hurt’ the victim. And used as torture it just uses the body’s natural physiological responses to break down will. Rape a woman, or a man, enough times and maybe they’ll tell you what you need to know. Even you waterboarders have to balk at that. Or, maybe not.

So you get a little information waterboarding. But you’re only doing it to save lives. And you know there’s more information. Well, you’ve already said that it’s okay to invade the body of your subject, so what’s to keep you from taking the next step? You know the information is in there. You know people are about to die. Or at least you think they are. Close the door. Turn off the cameras. How is this any different than the methods used by the Gestapo to get information on invasion plans. To save millions. To protect their country. Some of the intelligence gatherers in America actually envy the liberty that other nations have to torture! And send people there to be tortured. Inconcievable.

I can’t think of anything more un-American than torture, under any circumstance. But I’d be wrong, because indefinite detention is even worse. We’ve gone all the way back to the Dark Ages now, where feudal lords and caliphs would hold enemies in their dungeons basically for the rest of their lives. Yes, they were enemies of the state. But does this make indefinite detention okay? America was founded on the pretext that it does not.
In fact, by protecting the freedom of speech, we are in effect giving protection to our enemies, who are free to speak out against us in our own country. On the surface this seems insane from an internal security standpoint. But it goes to the very core of what makes America different. The ideas of Freedom and Liberty. America is not about security through silencing her foes. America is about winning them with her shining light. Doubtless some of them will not be won and we may have to fight them. But they should die on the field of battle, looking in our eyes, not rotting in a prison cell wearing a blindfold. That is the act of a coward. Are we not strong enough to survive the ranting of a terrorist? Has detaining them without due process actually helped or hurt our cause?

It is time for America to return to her core values. Not the values of family and God. Those are not our core values. In fact, our values of Family and God flow from our core values of Freedom and Liberty for all. It is only when we begin to curtail our most precious values that others begin to suffer. Do we trust the Founding Fathers in their wisdom born of hardship and suffering? Or will we make the mistake of thinking that we, born in luxury and raised in a life of ease, know better? Have not America’s values been the gravity that has attracted immigrants the world over for two hundred years, and kept us powerful and strong? Will we so easily abandon them for a ragged band of terrorists who managed to score one, grotesque victory that will live in history as perhaps one of the most heinous acts of all time? Right up there with torture.

-Futbol Guru

A Truly Great Day

FutbolGuru — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:57:00 GMT

Today is a great day to be an American. For the first time in the history of the United States, a black man will become the President of this land. Today a black man becomes the most powerful individual in the world.

It would be easy to become a lemming and join the herds of fuzzy brown creatures hurtling in opposite directions towards the cliffs. In one direction are the nay-sayers, not only horrified of the thought of a black President, but once again facing the prospect of a liberal leader. In the other direction are those convinced that no matter what happens it will be better. Both are wrong for so many reasons I’m not even going to talk about it.

Today isn’t a great day because Barak Obama ascends to the Oval Office. Today is a great day because his inauguration proves, once again, that the United States is the finest, most progressive nation on Earth, and her citizens have no parallel.

A mere forty years ago, within my shockingly inconsequential lifetime, black people were, by virtue of their skin color, denied access to colleges and universities. The very idea seems absurd to us today but here we are, barely a generation removed, and a black man is President. The sea change in attitudes is very nearly impossible to quantify or even express. Civil Rights was a long hard struggle and black people have every reason to be proud of their achievements. And I am proud of the achievement as well, for it highlights that We are still the melting pot. That We still hold these Truths to be self-evident: That All Men Are Created Equal. No where else in the world is this the case.

Sixty years ago Nazis were murdering Jews but you won’t see a Jewish Chancellor in Germany any time soon. What are the odds of an ethnic Khazak being elected to the Russian presidency? Or an immigrant from India becoming the Prime Minister of England. Does anybody really think there will ever be a non-Arab leader of Saudi Arabia? Or a non-Italian leader of Italy? What about an Inuit PM in Canada?

People talk about racism in America. Yes, at one time it was as bad here as anywhere. A black man could be lynched for nothing. A Native American could be murdered and there would be no investigation. That’s gone, now. Gone. America is no longer a racist nation. In fact, we are the ONLY non-racist nation on the planet. If you want to see racism, go to China where Mandarin Chinese oppress all other ethnicities, like Han, Mongol, Tibetan, etc. Did you even know that China had more ethnicities than the United States and if you’re not Mandarin you’re pretty much screwed? But they all look the same to us. And Africa. Every atrocity there is race based. Rwandan Hutu’s murdered as many as one million Rwandan Tutsis during the genocide of 1994. Do you even want to talk about Sudan? And yes, there are people who dislike Iranians even more than Americans do. They are called Iraqis. Or didn’t you know they are different races? Iranians consider themselves Persians while Iraqis are Arabic. And naturally, both feel superior to the other so of course they hate each other and try to kill one another whenever they get the chance.

But America is special. It is different, and that is a good thing. It is different because it wasn’t founded based on race. It was founded based on the idea of freedom, liberty, and equality. It took a while even for us to realize what that meant and there were injustices along the way, but even then it was at the core of what we are. And in time that idea has finally erased the most widespread vice of humankind – racism.

To be called an American, to call oneself an American, is a thing of tremendous power and pride. Nowhere in history, nowhere in the world, has there ever been a place like this, where a race can go from slavery to leading the entire nation in a few generations. For the past sixty years our victory in World War II has defined us as a nation. What we were able to accomplish in a few short years said more about us as a people than any other event in our history. I believe that milestone has now been exceeded. We, as a nation, have now beaten an even greater enemy. The enemy at the heart of World War II and every war ever fought. An enemy that no other nation on Earth has ever defeated. And that enemy is racism.

There are still racists, and there always be racists, but institutionalized racism in America can now be officially laid to rest. And whether you are on the left, or on the right, Republican or Democrat, man or woman, that is a thing you can be proud of. For the nation to which you’ve sworn allegiance, a Nation of the People, for the People, and by the People, has achieved what is perhaps the greatest victory of all time.

It is a great day to be an American.

-Futbol Guru, http://mises.org/Community/blogs/not-a-lemming