A Fool's Lament

Am I moving toward futility?
Am I my own worst enemy?
Will I continue to ruin all that is good?
Discard the values for which I once stood?
My mind once clear, my resolve intact
Now I drift and a sense of direction I lack
Her trust she gave me freely and sure
And like a fool, I tossed it on the floor
Have I reached the point of no return?
Or will she again offer the gift I spurned?
What a fool to toss a gem into the dung
Or cause a beautiful song to be unsung
She stood by my side and gave me her heart
Her devotion to me was steadfast from the start
When troubles and doubts made me crack
She assured me that she’d always have my back
Why did I allow the worm of selfish deceit
To burrow within me and cause me defeat?
My weakness is great and I have no reason for pride
Because the oneness of trust, my lie did divide
This woman was the best thing that happened to me
And my selfish act of shame may cause her to flee
Forever more I’ll curse my wretched and evil lie
That caused this woman I love to sorrow and cry
I’m not a man of honor, deserving to be respected
When covering her back was an honor I neglected
I lost her trust and I caused her walls to be rebuilt
And for that I must carry this heavy burden of guilt
I will never hurt my baby girl again or take her trust in vain
And I’ll allow her the time she needs for healing all the pain
My one and only wish, the hope on which I will forever cling
Is that the bell of forgiveness my baby girl will one day ring
And the trust which was lost due to an act which is mine to be blamed
Will through many loving and patient efforts, at last graciously be regained

Reconsidering Our Freedom And Bravery

This is America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, right? I’m not so sure any more on both counts. Lets start with freedom: We think we are free in this country, and admittedly we probably enjoy more freedoms than citizens of many other countries, but, are we truly free in an essential and fundamental sense? What I mean is, are we free to be a completely autonomous beings and determine our destiny with no outside interference. My answer is no, we are not. Let me explain how I’ve arrived at that conclusion by enumerating some basic freedoms every one of us has been denied and we probably haven’t even thought about. Freedoms so fundamental, yet their denial to us so unnoticed.
We do not have the freedom of anonymity. Now, to live in complete anonymity is neither desirable nor possible. The ideal is that we are all part of a general larger group called a community and a specific smaller group called a family. However, as physical and mental maturation increase, we begin to develop our own individuality until we become the unique individuals that we are. We then should be free to determine our destiny without outside coercive interference from the above groups. We seek and receive guidance from without and we are accountable to maintain a peaceful and harmonious coexistence with the groups in which we are a part, but our individuality and personal destinies should be a matter of self determination. But, this ideal cannot be attained in its purest form because we are always subject to the coercive forces of government. You may ask what anonymity has to do with the government’s coercive power over us. Simply stated, a prerequisite to coercive victimization is the state of being known and being accessible to the victimizer. The lack of anonymity ensures both of these states.
Shortly after birth, the government assigns us a unique social security number through which we can be identified and studied. The government, as well as other entities, can track our earnings and credit information by using our social security number. It can also be a helpful aid in tracking and locating individuals.
Once an infant has been assigned a social security number, his anonymity is forever lost and with it, the possibility of the purest form of self determination. The only way that anonymity can ever be regained is by staging ones death and thus becoming free from the assigned social security number. But this would be a criminal act and would cause the individual to live in fear of discovery and that would also be detrimental to the pursuit of the purest state of individual autonomy and self determination. Indeed, one cannot evolve into an autonomous individual while on the lam. In my essay Misdirected Rage, I explained how the government creates criminals out of decent citizens. This is yet another example. It is illegal in this country to be anonymous! We were not given a choice whether or not we wanted a social security number or not. Indeed it was assigned to us before we were even completely cognizant of our existence. Also, we cannot attain employment without one, at least not legally. Frankly, we can’t carry on much of anything in this country without a social security number. Lending institutions require it for loans. Banks require it to open an account. Even a drivers license cannot be attained without it.
Why does the government need to keep track of its citizenry and in the process render anonymity illegal? Two reasons come to mind immediately: power and money! That’s right my friends, it finally comes down to power and money. How can a person who is not known be controlled and extorted from? Answer: they can’t! The government cannot impose its multitude of laws on someone it doesn’t know exists. It also cannot tax someone it doesn’t know exists.
This brings me to another freedom we don’t have in this country. Again, a freedom so fundamental as to be so obvious to everyone, but its denial basically unnoticed. We do not have the freedom not to spend our money. One could argue that the money itself technically is not ours but property of the US treasury, and that argument has some validity if we had the choice to barter as was done years ago. But, doesn’t it say on our paper money that it is legal tender for all public and private debts?
Yes, my friends, it does. And that rules out private barter and also forces us to use federal reserve notes, which is the government endorsed and required form of money. As long all payments and earnings are in federal reserve notes, the government considers itself justified in taking it from us. You see, it would be very difficult for the government to tax and control barter trade. I realize that a barter system is not feasible or even desirable in this modern age and my illustration is not intended to endorse the barter system, but to demonstrate how the government has created a stacked deck against its citizens with the current monetary system.
But, alas, we do in fact have a justification for saying that the money we earn is ours and not the governments. We earned the money by providing a service. The money was not given to us, but rather we gave ourselves for the money. We gave of our talents. We gave of our time. And finally we gave by free choice. We chose to work and use our talents for the betterment of our community and to provide for our needs and our families. But our vocation is not only a means of attaining payment to provide for our needs. It is also an expression of our individuality and uniqueness and thus our contribution to the ongoing and ever progressing fabric of reality.
Having established a justification for our individual ownership the wages of our labor, I return to the second fundamental freedom we do not have in this country. We are not free to choose not to spend money. Now, as with complete anonymity being undesirable, so it would be undesirable and impossible not to spend money at all. But how often are we forced to spend money against our will and sometimes even beyond our ability to afford? And what is the cause of this unwanted and cumbersome spending. I think you all know the answer. That’s right, it our coercive, bullying government extorting our sustenance and calling it taxation in order to cloak it in a disguise of legitimacy. How many times have we been forced to spend our hard earned money on something of which we did not choose to spend it? We have federal, state, and local taxes. We have social security taxes. We have annual vehicle registration and inspection for each vehicle we own. Every four years we have to pay to renew our driver’s license. By law we must carry liability insurance on our vehicles. There are property taxes and per capita taxes just to name some of the more obvious ones. There is even an occupational privilege tax! Can you imagine that folks? I didn’t realize that working and earning a living and in the process keeping off the public dole was a privilege. It’s amazing how creative the government can be when it comes up with new and innovative ways to plunder its citizens.
And many of the taxes above come directly out of our paychecks before we even get them. How presumptuous our government is to think that they get the first slice of the pie. How arrogant that they think they should get their "share" before our families. Listen Mr. and Ms. Politician and listen good. My family and their needs come before your supposed needs! They are my priority and the source of enrichment and joy in my life. You, rather, are the source of frustration and angst and I hold you in contempt!
We have briefly touched on the issue of freedom and I have discussed two fundamental freedoms that we do not have and cannot regain in a legal manner. I have mentioned in some of the letters I have written to legislators and also in phone conversations that I believe that our government operates on what I like to call law of savages. Simply stated, might makes right. Now I have expressed that opinion to my state senator in a phone conversation regarding the recent legislative pay increase and he whole heartedly disagreed with my assessment and was quick to remind me that what we have is a "representative" form of government. My response quite simply was that neither myself nor the majority or Pennsylvanians approved of the raise. How is that representative government? You see, until I’m convinced otherwise, I will continue to believe that might makes right is the operating principle in our present government. The government has the power and so they are right, end of story. How else can you explain the confiscatory tax structure and the oppressive laws that are legion? Folks, I stated in Misdirected Rage that even the Almighty, whoever you believe that to be, only felt it necessary to give us ten laws or commandments. Now it is not my intention to bring religion into this issue, but even common sense dictates that in order to live peaceably with one another, we only need a few simple guidelines. We should treat others as we want to be treated. You know, don’t murder, steal, or harm others. Laws of that nature are legitimate and universal. Laws to protect us from ourselves or from life itself are bogus and illegitimate no matter what legislative body or judge says otherwise! Laws that are intended to enrich politicians or the government or allow them further license to intrude into our lives are bogus and illegitimate no matter what legislative body or judge says otherwise! Am I supposed to be impressed with a law because it has some governors or president’s signature on it? I’m not impressed. Most laws are just ideas that an insulated elite have decided are better than other ideas and then enforced that idea on all of us. "Representative Government" or "Might Makes Right" I believe it is clearly the latter that is the driving philosophy in our present government because if it was the former, there would not be so many disenchanted, disenfranchised and just plain disappointed people as there are now.
Okay, now lets talk about bravery: I think us as American citizens have become so complacent that we don’t even know any more how to regain our freedom and stop the oppression of government. This is partly do to our lack of vigilance, but it’s not completely our fault. It is also because our representatives have betrayed our trust in such a systematic and insidious way that we have become like the proverbial frog placed in cool water and then slowly boiled to death without even a flinch. Our representatives have allowed the group mentality to take over and transform them from honest, well-intentioned individuals to just another cog in a giant, self perpetuating machine. What started out as a mission of statesmanship has become for most politicians a self-serving agenda and a frantic effort to maintain that position of power and influence. And the longer one stays in that atmosphere, the more difficult it becomes to identify and empathize with those in the private sector, especially the middle class.
The result is that our bravery has been compromised. We may be brave when it comes to the enemy without, but we have succumbed to the enemy from within, our own oppressive government. We have allowed ourselves to be contracted and have our potentiality severely reduced by illegitimate mandates that are law only in name but not in reality. We live in fear and have our lives complicated my bogus mandates that stifle individuality and autonomy. We allow our wealth to be plundered and have to sacrifice or delay financial independence while our representatives forget what the word sacrifice means.
I propose we become brave again and take back our freedom. Lets demand that laws be reduced and refuse to obey the "laws" that are intended to protect us from ourselves or nature. And "laws" intended to enrich those in power but do nothing to make our lives better. If it isn’t a universal law intended to keep anarchy at bay, disregard it with as the contemptuous trash it is. I think we should all stop working and then we won’t have to pay many of the taxes that come directly out of our paychecks. Can you imagine that?! We’d bring those crooks to their knees if we did that. Send a message to the government that you are sick and tired of being punished for being a productive citizen. Withhold your skills because they are not appreciated! Demand that your representatives prove to you that they do not operate on the "might makes right" principle.
And finally, vote your representative out and get some new people in there who won’t betray your trust and plunder your wealth and diminish your potentiality with oppressive and unnecessary laws.
If we regain our bravery, regaining our freedoms won’t be far behind. If we don’t do this, than lets at least stop being hypocrites and admit this is no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Who’s Property Is It Anyway?

I’m a little confused lately as to whether we actually have private property rights in this country or not. I’ll explain what I mean with two examples: A very dear friend whom I’ve known since the second grade, recently lost his father to cancer. During the short time between his fathers diagnosis and death, Palmyra borough, after having performed "smoke tests" on his parents sewer pipes, determined that their sewer pipes needed to be dug up and replaced. All this at his parents expense, of course, and also while his mother was dealing with her husband’s illness and imminent death. All this despite the fact that his parents had a private plumber come and examine the pipes with a camera attached to a "snake" device that was sent through the pipes with no leaks detected. My friend’s mother even attended a borough council meeting in an attempt to get them to reconsider their plan. But, the borough would not be persuaded to reconsider and the yard was dug up and the pipes replaced.
Next example: we are good friends with a couple who are currently in litigation with the township where they live because the township wants to route sewer pipes through their property and force them to hook up to them. Why? because North Codorus Township, where this couple resides, decided to join with a nearby borough and put in a public sewer system. The couple has done their homework though. Because of conditions in their property, the sewer pipes will become exposed over time and pose both a potential health hazard and detract from the beauty of the property. This couple has gone to township meetings and presented their arguments. Even an engineer who examined the property, concurred with the couple’s assessment. But the township would have none of that and began to threaten to evoke eminent domain in order to proceed with its plans. Another resident of the township who’s property will be effected by the sewer line installation had sent several certified letters to the sewer authority claiming that the sewer lines would be going through a Native American burial ground on his property. His letters were never responded to and seem to have gone into a black hole somewhere. Additionally, Mr. Boyer, the supervisor of the North Codorus Sewer Authority, displayed a complete lack of compassion for residents on a fixed income who may not be able to afford the higher rates as a result of this new system. Mr. Boyer arrogantly stated that those who cannot afford to pay may have to move.
What I don’t understand is the double standard that exists whenever the government deems it "necessary" for some upgrade or improvement to be done to our property. Then it will use whatever coercive tactics at its disposal (pretty much any threat, even imprisonment or seizure of our property) to ensure that we obediently give the green light to their demands while we get out our checkbooks and try to figure out what plans or purchases we are going to have to put on the back burner due to this new financial priority has been dropped in our lap!
Consider when you decide to improve your home or property. Suppose you want to add a deck or put in a swimming pool. By law you need to obtain a permit from your city or township. That’s right, you need to get permission to make improvements or additions to your property. And the very act of having to ask, entails that you could be refused. But this begs the question, if we need to acquire permission to improve our properties or if we can have mandated improvements enforced on us as in the above scenarios, how can we be said to be the property owners? I once asked a retired state legislator the same question, and he could not dispute the logic and confessed that true property ownership is a myth.
Private property is a myth that the government chooses to perpetuate at all costs because it allows them to have their proverbial cake and eat it too. You see, property tax is one of the many effective ways that the government enriches itself while at the same time having unpaid caretakers to maintain and improve the properties. But if we all came to realize the truth that we don’t really own our properties and are therefore not responsible for and refused to pay the property taxes, how many properties will the government seize and how many "tenants" would they imprison until they realized it was futile? I believe not many.
So I believe everyone who reads these words should consider them very carefully. Would you stand for me coming to your house and telling you what you can and cannot do with your property? Could I make threats that I will take your property from you if you don’t do what I say? Could I demand you pay me a certain amount of money based on the value of your property or else I will confiscate it? The answer to all three questions is a resounding "NO!" Why? Because I do not own your property and therefore have no right to make any demands on you regarding your property. So, tell me, how can the government make these demands and continue to get away with it? Why is it only your property when the tax bill comes due? I know, the government needs the tax dollars to operate. But why do their needs supersede our needs? I think that is what angers people the most, the governments arrogant presumptuousness that they come before all else. I mentioned elsewhere that the government operates on what I call the law of savages, which is basically the principle, might makes right. The government takes what it wants because it can. We on the other hand cannot because we do not possess the government’s might.
I think those in power would do well to heed the words of the great statesman and founding father Thomas Jefferson who wrote:
"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere."
I believe that we have long passed the risk of wrongful exercise of rebellion and that not to rebel would be an insult to the spirit of this great nation and the memory of its founders.