The first failure of Socialism in the America’s occurred at Plymouth Plantation, in the 1620s…

From a piece by Rick Williams Jr.:

On December 16, 1620, the tiny ship loaded with “tools and weapons, a stock of dried and salted foods, a few goats, pigs, and chickens” landed at Plymouth Rock. Their hardy Christian faith and work ethic enabled them to hang on with tenacity, despite battles with the elements and Indians. The Pilgrims also experienced the devastating “Starving Time” when half of them perished from malnutrition, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. This time of want was due primarily to their unbiblical economic system.

For the first two years of the settlement, the colonists labored under an economic system that they called, “The Common Course and Condition.” This was a primitive and simple form of socialism. The family households commonly shared whatever products they could produce. If one family worked diligently, rising early, working hard until sundown, and produced a bumper crop, while his neighbor lay in bed until noon and produced little, they shared equally the sum of both. There was no incentive to work hard and apply one’s God-given talents and abilities. This system produced consistent shortages. There was never enough food for everyone. It also produced squabbles among the colonists. There was resentment and envy—predictable results in socialist economies. Fortunately, the colonists had elected a young, but wise and godly governor for the colony—William Bradford. In 1623, Bradford recognized the failure the “Common Course.” Bradford would later write that this failed economic system “was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment.”

Bradford had a better plan. Each family would be given a piece of land based on the size of their family. Larger families received larger tracts. Each household was allowed to grow corn for their own families and to do with it what they wished. The results were phenomenal.

“This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use.”

While under the original system, the women of the colony had complained that they were “oppressed.” The Pilgrims experience proved that a biblically based economic system could provide liberty and a “family-friendly” means of production: “The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn.” Bradford had recognized that “the primary agency of economic planning is the family, as the primary owner of property.” Bradford realized that the family and ownership of the means of production were an unbeatable economic formula. This recognition caused the economy of the fledgling settlement to flourish and when 60 more settlers arrived in 1623, there was more than enough food for them as well. And despite continued challenges from Indians, pirates, and sometimes harsh weather conditions, the little colony prospered as God blessed their steadfast faithfulness.

The best (and unkindest) teacher is cold, hard, reality.

Bradford and the Pilgrims learned the value of Capitalism over the inherent failure of Socialism (that some people simply will not contribute if the can rely on others to do their part) and the end of a veritable blunt instrument.

Given how many people in this nation voted for a man with an undeniable Socialist stand on most economic issues, it is obviously a lesson America will be learning again soon…

Too bad they don’t require Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged in high school…

Tags: Socialism

Californians Gather To Celebrate Annual Wildfire Tradition

So, I keep asking my friends in California, explain to me why you live there again?

• You have the annual Wildfire festival.
• In the odd year that the Rains come, you have massive mudslides and flooding.
• You have one of the highest tax burdens in the country.
• And you have to deal with the insanity vortex in the Bay Area.
• Oh, and the occasional earthquake that could always be the potential (and often predicted) Big One.

Wow, makes living with a 14,000 foot volcano less than 60 miles away seem almost idealic.  I guess I can put up with the rainy season in Puget Sound (the time of the year known to out of staters as “Fall/Winter/Spring”).

Tags: California

I despair of ever being able to comment on things with the flair of Bill Whittle, or the ability to phrase complicated issues in easy to understand ways, like Walter Williams:

Evil acts can be given an aura of moral legitimacy by noble-sounding socialistic expressions such as spreading the wealth, income redistribution, or caring for the less fortunate. Let’s think about socialism.

…This mechanism makes the particular victim invisible, but it still boils down to one person being forcibly used to serve the purposes of another. Putting the money into a government pot makes palatable acts that would otherwise be deemed morally offensive.

This is why socialism is evil. It employs evil means, coercion or taking the property of one person, to accomplish good ends, helping one’s fellow man. Helping one’s fellow man in need, by reaching into
one’s own pockets, is a laudable and praiseworthy goal. Doing the same through coercion and reaching into anothers pockets has no redeeming features and is worthy of condemnation.

Some people might contend that we are a democracy where the majority agrees to the forcible use of one person for the good of another. But does a majority consensus confer morality to an act that would otherwise be deemed as immoral?

I don’t believe any moral case can be made for the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another.

You should read the whole thing yourself, to get the meat of Williams’ argument.

Oh, but here is his parting shot:

The bottom line is that we’ve become a nation of thieves, a value rejected by our founders. James Madison, the father of our Constitution, was horrified when Congress appropriated $15,000 to help French refugees. He said, “I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.” Tragically, today’s Americans would run Madison out of town on a rail.

Tags: Socialism

When GHW Bush failed to deliver the coup de grace to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and failed to support the uprisings against him in the aftermath of the 1st Gulf War, the stage was set for the current conflict.

Likewise, the failure of Clinton and the UN to effectively deal with Somolia in the 1990s leads us to the ongoing problems in that region, which has now brought us piracy at a level unseen for many decades.  And now, this piracy threatens the lifeblood of modern civilization – oil.

From FT.Com:

A Saudi supertanker laden with an estimated 2m barrels of oil that was seized by pirates was on Tuesday confirmed to be anchored off the coast of Somalia.

While most other seizures have been of vessels heading into or out of the Suez Canal, the latest incident will raise question marks about the safety of the route from the Arabian Gulf to the Cape of Good Hope – a route taken by the largest oil tankers heading from the world’s main oil-producing regions to both Europe and North America.

The development therefore puts at risk a far higher proportion of the world’s energy shipments than the 12 per cent that shipping organisations had already considered in danger. “That route from the Cape to the Gulf was not considered the riskiest route,” said Mr Mukundan.

What is the response of the US Military (from AFP)?

The top US military officer said Monday he was “stunned” by the reach of the Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker off the east coast of Africa, calling piracy a growing problem that needs to be addressed.

But Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were limits to what the world’s navies could do once a ship has been captured because national governments often preferred to pay pirates ransom.

That’s right, the US Navy and Marines will…do nothing…

“…once they get to a point where they can board, it becomes very difficult to get them off, because, clearly, now they hold hostages.

“The question then becomes, well, what do you do about the hostages? And that’s where the standoff is.

“That’s a national question to ask based on the flag of the vessel. And the countries by and large have been paying the ransom that the pirates have asked,” he said.

So once again, our miltary leadership acts more like international lawyers than warriors.  And the willingness of the victims to pay ransom for the ships and crews trumps action against the pirates.

But things may be beginning to change (courtesy Times Online):

The furious Saudi foreign minister said the banditry was akin to terrorism and demanded an international crackdown on the pirates.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal said: “Piracy, like terrorism, is a disease which is against everybody, and everybody must address it together.

“This outrageous act by the pirates, I think, will only reinforce the resolve of the countries of the Red Sea and internationally to fight piracy,”

The prince suggested that several nations in the Red Sea region were willing to form a coalition to combat the ascendency of pirates in the Gulf of Aden and surrounding waters.

The Saudi’s, and the other oil producing states in the Persian Gulf, certainly have the resources, and the need to protect their tankers and merchant ships.  They may not have the military hardware or trained personnel to protect their shipping, or to strike back against the pirates.

But the level of piracy, and the growing reach of the pirates, should be sounding warning bells in Washington DC, Beijing, and other states dependent upon trade trasiting the horn of Africa.

The International Maritime Bureau has reported that at least 83 ships have been attacked off Somalia since January, of which 33 were hijacked. Of those, 12 vessels and more than 200 crew were still in the hands of pirates.

There is no doubt that the Pirates base of operations is Somalia.  When the last group of warlords that exerted some type of central control (the Islamic Courts – not a nice bunch of guys) was ousted in 2007, the last vestiges of government in the area went with them.

There is no doubt the the US and UN bungled the mission to Somalia in the 90′s, leaving things worse than when they arrived.  There is also no doubt that the world missed an opportunity after the overthrow of the Islamic Courts to attempt to impose order on Somalia.

There can be no doubt that Somalia will continue to be a festering sore of lawlessness, misery, and piracy until the warlords are put down, and order is restored.

It will not be cheap, and it will not be easy.  But having just come through the crucible of the Iraq War, there is no doubt that America has the military know how and skill set – what we used to call “lessons learned” (usually the hard way).  The Gulf States have the financial resources, and almost as importantly, the proper religious leanings to bankroll actions to intervene and start the rebuilding process.  But America does not have the manpower to take on this task, while the Afghanistan conflict continues to brew.

However, the Chinese have the manpower to spare, and financial interests in Africa, and are also dependent upon Persian Gulf oil.

So, perhaps we have a clear opportunity for President Elect Obama to use some of his vaunted Worlwide Political Capitol, and use Petro State money, with Chinese Troops, and American know how, to solve a pressing problem, and restore some order to one of the most chaotic failed states in Africa.

Just a suggestion.

Tags: Oil, Pirates

Courtesy of Politico:

Arms control advocates and anti-war activists are ratcheting up pressure on President-elect Barack Obama to dump Defense Secretary Robert Gates and replace him with a more strident anti-war voice.

Having an Anti-War Secretary of Defense makes as much sense as electing a man whose friends and acquaintances are all Marxists and Black Nationalists (or Palestinian Terrorist spokesman, or shady Real Estate dealers) as President of the United States.

Oh, wait a minute…

All courtesy of Brainyquote:

A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.

All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

America was indebted to immigration for her settlement and prosperity. That part of America which had encouraged them most had advanced most rapidly in population, agriculture and the arts.

Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.

By rendering the labor of one, the property of the other, they cherish pride, luxury, and vanity on one side; on the other, vice and servility, or hatred and revolt.

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent
encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation’s.

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.

Madison was one of the founding fathers whose contributions to the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the nation, were prodigious.  He was the author and primary proponent of the Bill of Rights.

Madison served in Congress, as Secretary of State to Jefferson, and was the first Congressman to be elected President.

His wife Dolley set the standard for future first ladies (serving in that role unofficially for Thomas Jefferson during his administration as well).

Tags: Madison, wisdom

A big Shout Out to all the Veterans out there.

The American Veteran is a Liberator.  A friend to the oppressed; an enemy to the oppressor.

Courtesy of Military.Com, here is a history of Veterans Day:

Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislation that was passed in 1938,November 11 was “dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.’” As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.

In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress — at the urging of the veterans service organizations — amended the Actof 1938 by striking out the word “Armistice” and inserting the word “Veterans.” With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, Nov. 11became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

In 1968, the Uniforms Holiday Bill ensured three-day weekends for federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. Under this bill, Veterans Day was moved to the last Monday of October. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holiday on its original date. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on Oct. 25, 1971.

Finally on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of Nov. 11, beginning in 1978. Since then, the Veterans Day holiday has been observed on Nov. 11.

There is a lot more good information and background there.  Please stop by.

And while you are enjoying this holiday, please remember those who have served, and those that serve today.

Tags: Veterans