Acres of Diamonds
January 25, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · Leave a Comment
Have you ever heard the fable about the unhappy Arab farmer who, after inheriting the family farm, longed for riches and a more glamorous way of life? Feeling sorry for himself, he sold his land to a neighbor at a bargain price and headed for Europe. Years later, after wasting his funds and not finding the glamorous lifestyle of his dreams, he returned to his birthplace to find his former neighbor living like a sultan. Flabbergasted, he asked how such riches were possible. “Simple,” said his former neighbor, “I discovered ‘Acres of Diamonds’ on the land you sold me.” His unseen fortune was at his feet.
Every one of us has “diamonds” and “gold” just waiting to be discovered inside of us. We can spend our lives looking for fortune and security outside of ourselves, but this is not where it can be found. It is inside of us. It is our ability to think and to choose. It is our commitment to self-reliance.
Move the Cause of Liberty by (1) subscribing to the Sentinel, a free weekly newsletter boldly illuminating the principles of freedom in a darkening nation, and (2) pledging your Life, Liberty, and Sacred Honor to the Cause by signing the Declaration of Dependence.
Email This Post
Copyright © 2008 by The Cause of Liberty. All rights reserved.
The End of the Republic!
January 25, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · Leave a Comment
Alexander Tytler, a 17th Century historian, studied the rise and fall of nations and taught what we now know as Tytler’s Cycle.
According to Tytler, all nations go from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to freedom, from freedom to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, and from dependence back to bondage.
The critical thing, said Tytler, that leads a nation to switch from abundance to selfishness, is when they vote themselves benefits from the national treasury. Benjamin Franklin showed his understanding of this when he wrote:
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”
The Year America Flipped the Switch
America flipped this fatal switch in 1913, during the Progressive Era, by passing the 16th and 17th Amendments and the Federal Reserve Act, all of which enabled us to vote ourselves benefits from the national treasury.
The 16th Amendment gave us income tax. Prior to this amendment, the federal government was prohibited from tapping the pocketbook of individuals. They determined their budget, then levied the states for taxes. It was a huge barrier between the federal government and the individual, and it was demolished with the 16th Amendment.
The 17th Amendment changed the way that Senators are elected. Prior to this amendment, Senators were elected by state legislatures, which meant that they weren’t beholden to the people at large, at least not directly. The Senate represented the rich and the states, while the House represented the poor and the people. This scheme of representation was perhaps the single most important key to our Constitution, as it checked and balanced the interests of major factions.
“Forced to choose, the poor, like the rich, love money more than political liberty; and the only political freedom capable of enduring is one that is so pruned as to keep the rich from denuding the poor by ability or subtlety and the poor from robbing the rich by violence or votes.” -Will Durant
The 17th Amendment kicked the legs out from underneath the Constitution. Now, Senators are elected by the people, just like Congressmen. How do they stay in power? By voting more benefits to their constituents. They no longer fight for the rights and freedoms of the states, which means that with this amendment the balance of power swung heavily in favor of the federal government, to the detriment of the states.
They no longer fight against wealth redistribution — in fact, they encourage it. They no longer check and balance the House — they’re joined at the hip, representing the same interests.
Combine the effects of the 16th and 17th Amendments and you have a bloated federal government whose power multiplies like a virus. These two amendments demolished our most critical constitutional checks and balances. They, combined with the Federal Reserve Act, set the stage for the Great Depression, the New Deal, and virtually every form of wealth redistribution in existence today.
They eroded the foundations of our constitutional Republic and swayed us toward the evils of democracy. They allowed us to vote ourselves benefits from the national treasury, resulting in the legalized plunder of one group of people to benefit another.
“…a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.” -Thomas Jefferson
If we wish to transcend the bondage of selfishness and dependence, we must repeal these life-threatening amendments. In the meantime, do your part in keeping our Republic healthy by living a self-reliant life, as well as helping those in need so that the government can stay in its proper sphere of protecting inalienable rights only. The less our citizens depend on the government for their daily needs, the stronger our Republic will be and the longer it will last.
Move the Cause of Liberty by (1) subscribing to the Sentinel, a free weekly newsletter boldly illuminating the principles of freedom in a darkening nation, and (2) pledging your Life, Liberty, and Sacred Honor to the Cause by signing the Declaration of Dependence.
Email This Post
Copyright © 2008 by The Cause of Liberty. All rights reserved.
Can you sleep when the wind blows?
January 25, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · Leave a Comment
Are you able to remain calm despite what emergencies may occur in your life?
The story is told of a young man who went to work for a rancher. The first day of work the rancher asked the man, “Can you sleep when the wind blows?” The young man was confused and didn’t know what the rancher meant. That night a severe storm woke up the young man and he jumped frantically out of bed, afraid that the cows would be lost in the storm. He ran outside, only to find that the cows were safe and warm inside the secure barn. The rancher had taken care of them before retiring for the night.
As he went back inside, the man saw the rancher sleeping soundly, and he then knew the meaning of the question the rancher had asked.
One powerful way to eliminate fear from your life is to prepare. If you are prepared, there is never any need for fear. If you have done all in your power you can then stand still with the assurance that, no matter the outcome or result, everything will work to your ultimate benefit.
Can you sleep when the wind blows?
Move the Cause of Liberty by (1) subscribing to the Sentinel, a free weekly newsletter boldly illuminating the principles of freedom in a darkening nation, and (2) pledging your Life, Liberty, and Sacred Honor to the Cause by signing the Declaration of Dependence.
Email This Post
Copyright © 2008 by The Cause of Liberty. All rights reserved.
The Exodus to Freedom: A Vision For Cultural Change
January 24, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · Leave a Comment
I single-handedly saved the entire health care industry today. Okay, that might be exaggerated just a bit, but hear me out.
I arrived at my orthopedic doctor’s office at the appointed time, opened a book, and settled in for an expected long wait. A full hour later a nurse showed me to an examination room, and asked me what the problem was. I explained that I had a hairline fracture on a bone in my forearm and that I had already been to InstaCare, who had x-rayed and found the injury. I told her that InstaCare had emailed the x-rays to their office. “Oh, well our computers have been down all day and we won’t be able to download them,” she answered.
Did I mention that this was 5:35 in the afternoon, four days after I had been to InstaCare? Did I also mention that this was something that I had told them over the phone when I set up my appointment? If they knew all day that they wouldn’t have been able to see the x-rays anyway, would not a simple phone call have saved us both a lot of time? I own a small service business, and my common practice is to call and let customers know when I will not be able to perform any part of the agreed upon service, or if I am going to be later than the agreed upon time. Maybe it’s just me, but I consider it a matter of common courtesy, not to mention a good business practice.
The nurse then told me that we would have to take another x-ray. I asked if there would be an additional charge to which she answered, “Yes.”
By the way, have I mentioned that my wife and I pay $787 per month for health insurance? Yes, that’s right–$787 per month–another house payment in our budget. You’d think that we had spent enough to pay for several open-heart surgeries and a few chemotherapy treatments after a few months of that. Well, now that I consider the fact that the hospital once charged us $462 for a 2-minute procedure to draw my wife’s blood, I guess that $787 is a small drop in the bottomless bucket of the health care industry.
At this point of my visit I decided that enough was enough. I stood up from the x-ray table Read more
-
Free Newsletter Subscription
Subscribe to The Sentinel, a free weekly newsletter boldly illuminating the principles of freedom in a darkening nation, and receive two free gifts. Your personal information will never be shared.
Subscribe To The Cause Of LibertyPolls
Loading ... Loading ... Loading ...