In Theory

November 8, 2008

In early October, I had an opportunity to talk to a self-proclaimed socialist. His focus was on helping people, and promoting the idea that the role of government is wealth redistribution. We all had fun making him come up with justifications for taking money from hard working men and women and giving it to people who won't take care of their own lives.

We all have ideas about how the world should work. That's great. One person focuses on helping people, another thinks about fairness and rewarding hard work. Both people are, in their own ways, following what they believe is right.

Some people look at candidates waiting to hear what they say about particular issues, and then they vote for that one issue.

Knowing what you believe about how the world should work and being informed about candidates positions is a good thing. Listening to candidates and voting your conscience is what voting is all about.

Unfortunately, it is mostly irrelevant.

I've heard this for a long time now, that we really have a single political party with two faces, that the policies are made behind closed doors, and the political stage is filled with a bunch of puppets who dance for our amusement and distraction. It sounds plausible some how, but it feels too cynical, too unlikely.

But as I get older and as I read more I am beginning to see not just the possibility of this, but specific evidence that explains it. Now, this is not really new to me. I watched The Money Masters years ago. I have my copy of Tragedy and Hope, The Naked Capitalist, and The Creature From Jekyll Island. I heard about the plans for the Ameri-Dollar and the American Union way back in the 80's. I remember when the European Economic Community was just a crazy conspiracy theory.

But still I valued my own Libertarian ideals, and I strongly felt that if we could just spread the word, people would understand that freedom and responsibility are as important today as they were when this country was new.

I still believe that if the people of this great nation decided to actually embrace freedom and responsibility, that we would have it in four years or fewer. But we don't. Of course one reason is that the money interests run the media. Wouldn't you, if you were in their position? But another reason is that the time we spend on political thought is often spent on abstract theoretical political positions like abortion, gun control, immigration, and such.

Now, those issues actually are important, and being involved with them can and will change lives, but if we look at issues only, and ignore the broader financial and geo-political underpinnings of What's Happening, then we're missing the forest because of all the trees.

Go to the book store and browse the political, current events section. All of the Bush insiders who wanted to tell their story have had their books published by now. Just read the flaps of a few and you will start to get the picture that there's more going on here than just another bad war.

It is well understood, after decades of practice, that to move a nation you need to shock people with a threat or perceived threat. Perl Harbor, the sinking of the Lusitania, Communism, Twin Towers. If you want to go to war, give people a reason.

To believe that the actions on September 11 were the result of independently motivated islamic terrorists is, at this point, to be intentionally ignorant and misinformed. If you think the War On Drugs is being fought in earnest, you haven't looked deeper than your own political theories. Try google searches: "CIA heroine" or "clinton cocaine". Information that US government agents have been involved in the drug trade, and that US banks have been deeply involved with laundering the money is easily available, and not just from fringe media outlets.

I'm reading one of the books I found on the current events bookshelf. Crossing The Rubicon by Michael C. Ruppert. He also has a website that chronicles his journey through international drug trade and the motivations of governments to chase the dwindling oil supply.

Do you really think Blackwater is just running warehouses and fixing jeeps, or Halliburton is really just there to put out oil fires? Maybe. But dig just a little and there's more going on than Katie Couric and Brian Williams are talking about.

Remember that, for the moment, you still live in a free country. You can still go to the bookstore and actually buy books that tell you all of this. There's a lot of crap on the internet, that's sure, and you can't believe everything you might read, but just because you haven't heard it before or it seems unlikely doesn't mean that it actually is unlikely.

After all, what good are power, money, and influence if you don't use them to rule the world and enslave everyone in a fantasy monetary system that keeps them under your thumb?

Did you notice something about a 700 billion dollar cash grab lately? Or was it just an accident that banks flooded the market with sub-prime mortgages and then suddenly constricted credit? And before you laugh and say, oh that's just crazy talk, think about it and do a little research.

There's a lot going on in the world that people don't talk about, but you can find out if you look around a bit. Is the Iraq war about oil? Yes. Duh. Afghanistan was about heroine and a gas pipeline, and the Taliban was about US support of islamic radicals to fight the Soviet Union in the 80's. We helped make Saddam Hussain to use against Iran.

People are pulling puppet strings of the world. Maybe they think they're doing some sort of good, shepherds of the people, pulling them into and out of war for their own good. But if you do evil in the name of good, you're still doing evil, and there's a lot of evil that is right at our own doorstep.

But we would rather argue about the political theories about abortion, guns, the merits of universal health care, and wealth redistribution.

Look again at that 700 billion dollar pay-off. There's your wealth redistribution.