I heard it on…Princess Bride?

October 4, 2008 by Aspen Eggimann · 1 Comment

“Do you always begin conversations this way?”

The most humorous conversations are peppered with quotes from the classic movie Princess Bride. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading and go watch it. Like any good classic it gets better and more applicable each time seen.

What can we learn from this classic? Let me point out a few lessons that I think fit perfectly with our times.

1. When I hear our presidential candidates use the word “change” every couple of minutes, unfailingly Indigo’s voice comes into my head saying, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Change is not being in Afghanistan versus Iraq, or visa versa. It is getting out of foreign nations we shouldn’t be in.

Change in education is not working on “No Child Left Behind” as was suggested in the VP Debate. Change would be getting the Federal Government out of education and and giving that power back to the parents and states.

2. As for the bailout just passed in Congress;

“Think it will work?”

“It would take a miracle.”

One senator, after changing his vote to yes on the economic bailout, said that the fear on Wall Street was going to affect Main Street.

Maybe it is time that Wall Street be afraid.

As a nation we cannot continue on in our current economic situation. We have become a nation that consumes more than it creates, spends more then it earns, and takes more then it gives.

Wall Street does affect Main Street, so let us start the process of changing our economic strategies as a nation. Having the government there to catch business when it falls only prolongs and extenuates the long range problems we will face.

3. Longfellow said our nation was a “ship of state” and that all humanity hung upon its fate. If that is the case where is the watchmen crying, “Look! The cliffs of insanity!”

4. I always get a funny feeling when I hear someone in government make statements about easing the burdens of the American people, having the government look out for the middle class and defending the common workers of America. For as the Dread Pirate Roberts said, “Life is pain… Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.”

It is human nature to tend to fall into a trap of wanting things to be easier, to not have to think about problems and to let someone else do the dirty work for us. But it is better to do the work then buy up the services of the government and let it run our lives.

In closing, “Let me explain — no there is to much — let me sum up.”

First, understand that the current debates between presidential candidates are not about change in policy; they are about change in approach.

Second, as uncertain as the future of our economy is right now, “bailouts” aren’t going to help. Ronald Reagan once said that you can talk to a child until you’re blue in the face about spending — or you can cut their allowance. Giving more money isn’t going to cure the mismanagement of it. Our $700 billion dollars is only a band aid on a gaping wound.

Third, lets listen to people who are telling us we are headed towards disaster.

Fourth, now is the time to reclaim the responsibility of self-governance and watch over our nation and communities. Lets stop abdicating our responsibility to others in exchange for convenience.

And next time you watch Princess Bride, think about government — I promise you’ll learn a lot.

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Copyright © 2008 by The Cause of Liberty. All rights reserved.

Filed under: America, Elections, Financial Freedom, Foreign Policy, Free Enterprise, Human Nature, Monetary Policy, Personal Responsibility, Rights & Duties
Tagged: election, Inigo Montoya, Longfellow, Princess Bride, Princess Bride Movie Quotes, quotes

Conquering the World; Losing Our Soul

September 17, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · 8 Comments

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” -Mark 8:36

Let me get this straight — we’re spending $12 billion a month to tame Iraq, while our own financial infrastructure is crumbling and we’re adding AIG’s blunders to our credit card to the tune of $85 billion?!

Our military is deployed in over 150 countries (out of 195 total countries), with more than 369,000 of our nearly 1.4 million active-duty troops serving outside the United States.

Meanwhile, the standard of living for those in the bottom 10% of our population was lower here than other developed nations except the United Kingdom, which has the lowest standard of living for impoverished children in the developed world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2001 the bottom quarter of families in the United States had zero net worth. The bottom 90% of families had less than 20% of the net wealth, and the top 10% owned 80.7% of all the net wealth.

The wealthiest man in America, Bill Gates, has more wealth than the bottom 45% of American households combined.

In 2001 our annual military expenditures were $333 billion. The requested figure for 2009 currently stands at $706 billion. We’ve increased our military expenditures an average of 8.775% per year since 2001. Add that to the facts that America’s military expenses represent 48% of the entire military spending around the world. All of Europe combined represents 20%, with a 2008 bill of $289 billion. China comes in third with $122 billion, representing 8% of the world’s military funding.

One country, representing 4.56% of the world’s population and 7% of the globe’s land mass, accounts for almost half of all military spending.

“Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes … known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” -James Madison

Meanwhile, the total federal debt burden is $52.7 trillion, with your share of that being $175,000. The sum of America’s unfunded liabilities and unfunded, off-the-balance sheet entitlement promises currently exceeds three times the size of the entire U.S. economy. Health care costs are more than twice as high per capita in the United States as in the rest of the developed world. Half of America’s youth in urban areas and 30% of all young Americans do not graduate from high school.

And on top of all of that, our culture is rotting like a corpse. There are more outlets for hard-core pornography in the United States than McDonald’s restaurants. The Wall Street Journal estimated that total revenues from pornography during 2001 was likely between $10-20 billion, which means that it exceeds revenues for any professional sport. We’re kissing sewage and we like it, to borrow from a degenerate hit song by Katy Perry.

And need I mention anything about our failed education system?

Can somebody PLEASE tell me why we think we’re morally superior enough to spread our brand of “democracy” across the globe? Can somebody please tell me that I’m dreaming? Can somebody please tell me how to stop the madness?

Are we consoling ourselves by saying that although we have our problems, we’re still better than the rest of the world? Is that really how we measure our success — by freedom and prosperity relative to countries who don’t even have a fighting chance at what we have? Shouldn’t we measure ourselves against a better scale — what we could and should be relative to the legacy we’ve been given?

What will America be profited if we gain the whole world and lose our own soul?