Some libertarian intemperance...

Those that know me have learned that I tend toward the rational, logical explanations. This creates a social conundrum: those who look at things more emotionally and less rationally tend to disagree with me and respond to me irrationally and emotionally (screaming, yelling, swearing, name-calling, etc.). Thus, my random thoughts tend to piss off various groups of peoples with various views. I didn't say this was a BIG problem for me... just a conundrum. So, at the risk of getting out the "sticks & stones", onward ho!

I find it interesting that so many genuine US citizens cannot even say what form of government we have in this country. In spite of the fact that the framers set this country up as a constitutional republic, we constantly hear that this country is a democracy. Not so much. See if you can find the word "democracy" (or derivatives thereof) in any of the founding documents. You can't. That's because the framers understood the evils of democracy; that it's like two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner. Amazing though, that "democracy" and it's derivative forms are found all over the Communist Manifesto. Just look at the power of repeating misinformation.

Sir Alex Fraser Tytler (1742-1813), Scottish jurist and historian, professor of Universal History at Edinburgh University is quoted as having said:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years."

Someone else (can't remember right now) said:

"Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back again to bondage."

Truth. History bears it out. Time and time again. Right now, I see us moving from the apathy of the 90's into dependence. It's only a matter of time before we find ourselves right back in bondage. Guess it's about high time... the USA is just a smidge over 200 years old now.

Here's an example:

Katrina survivors are filing lawsuits against the Army Corp of Engineers because the levees weren't high/strong enough to hold back the epic floodwaters of a Category 5 hurricane. 'Scuse me, but when are these people going to take responsibility for where they chose to live? Living below sea level at the shore of a huge body of water in a hurricane-prone area is STUPID (eleventy-one!). WTF did these people expect? Well, we're seeing it now: for common sense and personal responsibility to be wiped away by a process no different than suing a screwdriver manufacturer because you stabbed yourself in the eye with their screwdriver. Hell, I chose to live in Oklahoma... smack dab in the middle of Tornado-freaking Alley. Who do I sue when an EF5 flattens my house? Nevermind that I could have chosen a more milquetoast place to live, someone will owe me BIG time! I know: I'll the manufacturers of the cars that slam into my house. They never said that their cars wouldn't fly through the air when lifted by 200+ mph winds. For that matter, why should I even bother to evacuate or take shelter? I'll just sue the National Weather Service, FCOL!

This is what our society is becoming: an entitlement-based rule-of-man dystopia, the cornerstones of which are (1) everyone expects things to be given to them instead of earning them; (2) personal achievement is bad; (3) the smallest inconvenience is an emergency for someone else; (4) being different than the mob is bad; (5) truths are formed out of how many people believe them to be true; (6) freedom is not as important as security.