By Ron Ewart, President
National Association of Rural Landowners
and nationally recognized author on freedom and property rights issues
© Copyright December 20, 2009 - All Rights Reserved
My guilty conscience must be working overtime these days. It seems, according to ex King County Executive Ron Sims (of the Ho Chi Minn City of Seattle) and every other liberal/progressive/socialist in America, that I and the rest of humanity (mostly white folks), is somehow responsible for the inequities and social injustice being perpetrated on the poor and certain American ethnic groups, who are trapped in “poordome” by those of us who are a little better well off, and as a result us well-off Americans have a duty and responsibility to “take care” of these people. It must be, because the all-wise people in the government say it is so.
But Sims, a socialist, wants to rectify this tragic, man-caused injustice (his words) by doing what another socialist, Karl Marx, advanced and that is to “take from those with the greatest capability (those of us who are a little better well off) and turn our sweat, blood, tears, effort and money over to those with the greatest need”, those poor folks who are forever trapped in “poordome.” And of course who gets the job of turning our money over to these trapped-in-poverty folks; none other than the government, the great champion of the poor, the aged and the downtrodden, for which there is no cost to any of them. The government essentially uses the power to tax, by the force of severe fines and penalties, (just try not paying your taxes) and sets up social programs, staffed with thousands of government employees, to administer to the poor and those victims who have been discriminated against by the rest of us. But the government programs siphon off huge chunks (now trillions) of our taxes for these high-paid, over-educated, “passionate” administrators, and only a limited percentage ever gets to the poor.
But here is the other side of the black inequity and social injustice of which Professor Sims speaks. Blacks (Sims is Black) are not the only group of people who are the brunt of discrimination. It is a fact. Every segment of society is discriminated against, some more than others. If you are too fat, too thin, too tall, too short, too smart, too dumb, too young, too old, too ugly, too inexperienced, wear glasses, infirmed, disabled or mentally challenged, you are discriminated against, because humans, by there very nature, are discriminatory. Just try looking for a blond head of hair in Japan, Korea, or anywhere else in Asia. It is in fact the challenge of life and a challenge that most folks get over, eventually, unless the individual has bought into the myth that he or she is a victim ….. because government says they are. In spite of this false mindset, there are millions of examples of individuals who have overcome man’s discriminatory nature and moved forward with their lives, no matter their station in life. The real truth is, that everyone seems to ignore, is that achievement transcends race, color, creed, natural origin, or any of the other previously mentioned, discriminated-against characteristics.
If you or others have convinced you that you are a victim, if your roll models are the dredges of society, if you refuse to take responsibility for your life and your actions, if mediocrity or worse, is the best you have to offer, if you look to others to save you from yourself, then you will look down into the depths of depravity and remorse and “bleed” all over everyone else on how bad you have it. However, if you are convinced that you are just as good as anyone else, no matter what your individual characteristics, then you will look out, forward and up. Government can’t give you courage and ambition. Only you can, but you have to want it. Most would rather be victims, especially if there is a “free lunch” every day, for which they don’t have to work.
This life in a free America promises you nothing but opportunity. Some see the opportunity and run with it. Others declare victim status and wait for the government or someone else, to lift them up. And the government is all-to-willing to steal our money to help them, no matter how much it costs. After all, those victims might just vote for the politician that does just that.
In a fireside chat to the American people in January 1944, FDR outlined his expanded Bill of Rights: “The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries, or shops or farms or mines of the Nation; The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; The right to a good education.”
Indeed! Bear in mind that FDR had absolutely no constitutional authority to expand the bill of rights. FDR, in so doing, enumerated the platform of the Socialist’s mantra. Now along comes an Obama, Pelosi and a Reid parroting the failed policies of FDR and the results will be the same. The poor will remain poor and begat more poor people. The costs will rise exponentially and America will go broke, if it isn’t broke already. Our government has spent multiple billions (now trillions) of our tax money on poverty and yet poverty still exists at the same, or at increasing levels. The inescapable axiom is, poverty, if supported to a great degree by government, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Some American poverty statistics: (Source: National Poverty Center)
In the late 1950s, the poverty rate for all Americans was 22.4 percent, or 39.5 million individuals. These numbers declined steadily throughout the 1960s, reaching a low of 11.1 percent, or 22.9 million individuals, in 1973. Over the next decade, the poverty rate fluctuated between 11.1 and 12.6 percent, but it began to rise steadily again in 1980. By 1983, the number of poor individuals had risen to 35.3 million individuals, or 15.2 percent.
For the next ten years, the poverty rate remained above 12.8 percent, increasing to 15.1 percent, or 39.3 million individuals, by 1993. The rate declined for the remainder of the decade, to 11.3 percent by 2000. From 2000 to 2004 it rose each year to 12.7 in 2004.
Since the late 1960s, the poverty rate for people over 65 has fallen dramatically. The poverty rate for children has historically been somewhat higher than the overall poverty rate. The poverty rate for people in households headed by single women is significantly higher than the overall poverty rate. (our emphasis)
Since the 1930’s and the aftermath of the Great Depression-era legislation, entitlements to Americans have increased exponentially, passed by progressive politicians ….. politicians who are more interested in retaining power by exploiting the weakness of mankind with promises of money from the public treasury, than they are about lifting people up out of poverty.
The greatest incentive to lift people out of poverty is poverty itself, unless the government comes along and decides to make poverty a permanent life style by subsidizing it ….. for votes. Social justice is what government decides it is and if the people in government can retain their power by subsidizing poverty with our tax money, poverty, as a life style, will increase and so will the cost. Social justice and subsidizing poverty and the poor, is why our national debt has now reached $14 Trillion dollars and rising at a rate never before seen, in our 233 year history.
It would appear that white Americans are responsible for all the ills of the world (poverty and CO2) and a guilty conscience and reparations (billions of our money) are the only way to cure the guilty conscience and solve the world problem of social injustice. The poor and certain American ethnic groups, who get to vote for their largess, along with the hundreds of despots and dictators who occupy the hopelessly corrupt United Nations, each want a piece of America’s wealth (whether it be for so-called, white-induced poverty, or the fraud that is man-caused global warming) and we now have a group of politicians in Washington who are only too eager to give it to them, no matter what it costs those who produce the wealth of this once-great Nation.
Not only is this so-called “social justice” and “man-caused global warming” insane and a socialist and environmental fraud, it is a recipe for sovereign suicide and America is about to shoot itself in the mouth. It has already shot itself in the foot and is bleeding profusely. Unfortunately, with the Obama Health Care plan, all the health care providers have left the profession and no one is available to bandage America’s foot.
Don’t forget our powerful message to Congress in the form of “A PETITION DEMANDING CERTAIN ACTIONS TO BE IMMEDIATELY TAKEN BY THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS”. A printable copy of the petition can be obtained by logging onto: http://www.narlo.org/CFL Petition.pdf.
Ron Ewart, President
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RURAL LANDOWNERS
P. O. Box 1031, Issaquah, WA 98027
425 222-4742 or 1 800 682-7848
(Fax No. 425 222-4743)
