Ron Paul is sitting in a room breathing deeply. The air composition in the room is made of pure free market elements. Every place outside of this room has only trace elements of the free market. Just off of ConstitutionAvenue (how ironic) in Washington DC is a device built and turned on during Woodrow Wilson’s administration and became known as The New Dealio during FDR’s presidency. This device slowly removes pure free market elements from America’s breathable air.
Over the years efforts to switch off The New Dealio have been met with resistance. The device has an innate self-preservation. The more free market elements removed from the air the less people inhale free market ideas and the desire to demolish the machine wanes. In fact, it recently has become all too obvious there is very little free market air left in the world. Even those that historically stood steadfast in support of the free market have gone rogue and treasonous.
M1 hits 37% growth!! “Most of the significant American banks, the larger banks, are bankrupt, totally bankrupt.” - Jim Rogers, 12/11/2008
by Jake, the Champion of the Constitution Originally published on December 14, 2008 at http://www.nolanchart.com/article5645.html
ATHENS, GREECE - Greek riots over governmental fiscal policy on December 11-12 exemplify growing worldwide economic discontent. Despite whatever cherry-topped fairy-tales that pass for news these days are delivered to the American public, the US banking situation continues to worsen. It is my guess that some of Greek rioters yesterday per this AP article may not have it completely figured out, but they are really rioting against the central banking and fiat money. (Rodgers quote) (photo)
This morning Glenn Beck ranted about the demise of the U.S. dollar making sure to claim he is no conspiracy theorist. Yet with each word of warning he sounds not all that different from Alex Jones.
I’m not saying this is a bad thing. I think it is good in fact. It shows there is someone who (at least on the economy) is out there in the main stream press saying what needs to be said. Beck is not ready to latch on to the “elites taking over the world” argument, and neither am I. Though with each passing piece of evidence suggesting we are deliberately devaluing our currency it becomes more difficult not to grab on to that line of thinking. It seems Glenn Beck is fighting the urge latch on.
He goes from talking of the dollar’s demise right into the worry about globalism saying he doesn’t want to “live in a milk toast world”. Finally, he laments that our “Constitution is damn near gone”. On these points I could not agree with him more.
Now if he’d change his neo-con ways a bit on foreign policy we’d have another ally for liberty. However, when people change their ways they aren’t immediately welcomed with red pill induced hugs. One need look no further than Bob Barr for evidence of that.
Listen to his rant here:
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To win, Ron Paul has to hire the right people.There are only 24 hours in a day and he cannot do it all.Others have to think things through for him and present him with options.And, of course, he cannot run his own campaign.He will be too busy.He needs help.
Well, you say, shouldn’t he hire his political advisor before he commits to wining the Iowa Straw Poll?Isn’t hiring the first step? Answer? Nope.
In the first place, he has to decide about the Iowa Straw Poll right away because it affects the decision on whom he hires. He will want someone who agrees with the plan and who can bring something to the table to help make it work.Finally, if the person he hires doesn’t see the Iowa Straw Poll as a no brainer, he shouldn’t hire him or her anyway.So that is why I list the hiring of the political advisor after the ISP (Iowa Straw Poll) commitment.
Time magazine has an article discussing how in times of economic unrest (and for other more “communal” reasons) alternative local currencies take hold. It is fascinating but at the same time, the IRS still requires (naturally) taxes for any business transaction done in the United States. Yes, even with these alternative currencies.
Alternative means of trade often surface during tough economic times. “When money gets dried up and there are still needs to be met in society, people come up with creative ways to meet those needs,” says Peter North, a senior lecturer in geography at the University of Liverpool, author of two books on the subject. He refers to the “scrips” issued in the U.S. and Europe during the Great Depression that kept money flowing, and the massive barter exchanges involving millions of people that emerged amidst runaway inflation in Argentina in 2000. “People were kept from starving [this way],” he says.
I envision a town implementing their own sound currency backed by gold, paying each other for what they are able to contribute to the local community. The IRS tax problem will prevent any libertarian utopian fantasies about creating a Galt’s Gulch in America, though.
Who controls the amount of alternative currency in local circulation? I wonder who runs the Central Bank of Ithaca, New York?
Closer to home, “Ithaca Hours,” with a livable hourly wage as the standard, were launched during the 1991 recession to sustain Ithaca, New York’s local economy and stem the loss of jobs. “Hours,” which are legal and taxable, circulate within the community, moving from local shop to local artisan and back, rather than “leaking” out into the larger monetary system. The logo on the Hour reads: “In Ithaca We Trust”.
Alternative (or “complementary”) currencies range from quaint to robust, simple to high-tech. There are “greens” from the Lettuce Patch Bank at the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in rural Northeastern Missouri. In Western Massachusetts one finds fine-artist-designed BerkShares, which are convertible to U.S. dollars. According to Susan Witt, Executive Director of the E.F. Schumacher Society (the nonprofit behind the currency) more than $2 million in BerkShares “have been issued through the 12 branches of five [local] banks.” And in South Africa, proprietary software keeps track of Community Exchange System (CES) “Talents”; one ambitious plan is to make Khayelitsha, a vast, desolate township of perhaps a million inhabitants near Cape Town, a self-sustaining community.
Justin Raimondo of Antiwar.com takes on the new push for globalism by picking apart the Gideon Rachman article previously posted more effectively than I ever could. Raimondo points out the suspension of our better judgment in the face of crisis.
Number one is the globalization of the “crisis” mentality that our international elites have seized on as a rationale for extending their power, and not just over the economic meltdown, but also over global warming and “a global war on terror.”
He also points out the severe attack on liberty such a global system would bring:
As much as I admire his ideas, sometimes Ron Paul disappoints me.
by Jake, the Champion of the Constitution Originally published December 6, 2008 at http://www.nolanchart.com/article5596.html
In a thrilling, thought-provoking 4-part video series on Youtube (Part 1, 2, 3, 4) Stefan Molyneux of www.freedomainradio.com declares that “Statism is Dead.” At least in the moral sense, he is completely right. In reality, the Ron Paul rEVOLution and non-statists everywhere have a lot of teaching to do! [By the way, I particularly like Part 3, a movie where everyone, including most libertarians are compared to livestock. Funny, and it holds a lot of truth.]
In Part 2, “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder,” Mr. Molyneux takes a shot at one of my heroes, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas for not pressing for the impeachment of George Bush. The charge is that not only did Bush purposefully mislead the American public about the Iraq War, but he also is committing the murder of his own Army.
There are those of us lamenting the potential demise of the so-called “freedom movement” or what has come to be called the Ron Paul Revolution now that Barack Obama is headed for the White House. Even if it wanes I believe the undercurrent will always be there because liberty is in our nature.
I believe every single human on earth is born with the freedom gene. It is only the social and cultural order that ends up pushing us away from it as we get older and “learn” how the world works. I’ve often spoke of Ron Paul as a teacher, but he could also be thought of as a de-programmer. It is hard to unlearn the political status quo dogma for far too many of us. It takes time, constant effort, and a little luck.
As sure as the sun rises Ron Paul will continue to deliver his freedom message. He does so again below in an interview with Russia Today.
Yes, freedom is popular. In fact, it is human nature.
Bailouts, rescues, economic stimulus oh my. What we have is a few thousand (maybe) people in high places that firmly believe they can control the free market decisions of more than six billion people. That is laughable. Not even Messiah-in-Chief Barack Obama has this power. The market is speaking no matter what efforts the delusional goons do to try to silence it.
Black Friday’s retail shoppers hunting for holiday bargains won’t be enough to stave off what’s likely to become the next economic crisis. Malls from Michigan to Georgia are entering foreclosure, commercial victims of the same events poisoning the housing market.
Hotels in Tucson, Ariz., and Hilton Head, S.C., also are about to default on their mortgages.
That pace is expected to quicken. The number of late payments and defaults will double, if not triple, by the end of next year, according to analysts from Fitch Ratings Ltd., which evaluates companies’ credit.
“We’re probably in the first inning of the commercial mortgage problem,” said Scott Tross, a real estate lawyer with Herrick Feinstein in New Jersey.
No matter what they do, it seems the economic meltdown will continue. Here is what I’m doing “just in case”: Purchasing a safe. Purchasing a few guns and learning how to use them. Buying as much physical gold and silver as I can afford. Keeping 3-6 months of living expenses out of the bank. Stocking up on non-perishable food. Am I crazy?
After Inauguration, he should declare the war illegal because it was initiated by President George W. Bush pursuant to an unconstitutional delegation of power by Congress effectuated by the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq (AUMFAI). Mr. Obama should announce that all combat operations in Iraq will cease 30 days after Inauguration unless Congress enacts a statute directing him to continue the war.
He can depend on congressional inaction. Members lack both the incentive and political backbone to take responsibility for sending men and women to die on a fool’s errand to make Shi’ites, Sunnis, and Kurds democrats after 5,000 consecutive years of despotism and vicious tribal, ethnic or religious enmities.
After Congress balks at President Obama’s challenge, all U.S. combat troops in Iraq would return home in an orderly fashion beginning February 2009. President Obama could blame any ensuing Iraqi strife, ethnic cleansing or domination by Iran on Congress for failing to prolong the war.
Fein goes a bit further and suggests that such action is a win-win for Obama.
The first three comments to this piece on the Washington Times site demonstrates the complete and utter ignorance many people still have about the authority of the Constitution. The document is law. It is not just law, but the “supreme law of the land.” Just because a lawmaking body in the 21st century makes a law in direct opposition to the Constitution doesn’t mean the 18th century document is null and void.
In practice though, that is what the Constitution has become and sadly, that may be all that matters. The great question of our time may be: How can the Constitution effectively protect our natural rights when the citizens have left it up to the federation of money and power hungry bureaucrats in Washington to enforce and follow it? They aren’t interested in natural right preservation. They are solely interested in power preservation.
Maybe the answer lies in the question itself. It is up to the people to enforce Constitutional restrictions on our government, but how can this be done in this era of government and citizen co-dependence?
In time, the only remedy for such co-dependence may be a new Declaration of Independence.
Liberty Maven
ATHENS, GREECE - Greek riots over governmental fiscal policy on December 11-12 exemplify growing worldwide economic discontent. 
