The God of the Machine - Tranche 27

Posted by mshupe 1 year, 4 months ago to Government
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Chapter XII, Excerpt 3 of 3
The Structure of the United States

Let the Constitution as it was originally drawn, including the Bill of Rights, be examined on its merits and in light of performance, as an architectural plan and mechanical apparatus of an earlier day. It will be found amazing in its correctness, respect of the relation of mass and motion, operative through the association of human beings. The dynamo is the mind, the creative intelligence, which our Bill of Rights and the treason clause assert to be free of political control.

By unprecedented limitation, government was debarred from imposing silence. The states were forbidden to make anything but gold and silver legal tender. Citizenship was a Federal attribute . . . private property is the standing ground of the citizen. Therefore, the transmission line of energy could not be tapped by political agency. The American Constitution, by its treason clause, said that private property belongs to individuals by indefeasible title. America first declared this principle as absolute.

Nor could any member of his family be punished for mere kinship; none could be held guilty for the deed of another. The treason clause remains unique in the long record of political institutions. All these provisions are of importance to the flow of energy. It was the existence of the United States, and the consequential spread of liberty, which made the achievements of science possible in Europe. But, with the return of collectivism, the imputation of collective guilt inevitably returns.


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  • Posted by 1 year, 4 months ago
    We live in a time and place where factions (conservative and progressive) declare their opponents to have committed treason. However, the truly American use of the term is reserved for acts of war only. This reinforces freedom of speech, especially criticism of government policy and politicians, and the money needed to air those criticisms, as an inviolable right. Not only do they wrongly they throw around treason as an epithet, but they also wrongly throw around democracy as an American ideal. It is not.
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    • Posted by VetteGuy 1 year, 4 months ago
      Agree with your comment on democracy. Every time I hear some pundit on tv talk about a "threat to democracy" I want to scream at the tv: "We don't HAVE a democracy! It's a Republic. It's very specifically NOT a democracy".
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  • Posted by VetteGuy 1 year, 4 months ago
    "Let the Constitution as it was originally drawn, including the Bill of Rights, be examined on its merits and in light of performance, as an architectural plan and mechanical apparatus of an earlier day. It will be found amazing in its correctness ..."

    I thought this statement quite profound. The other thought brought to mind is that if any of the founders was plopped down into today's USA, they would probably think the entire constitution had been scrapped. ALL of government these days seems focused on working around the constitution, rather than adhering to it. Executive actions. The whole executive department bureaucracy. Fiat currency. the list goes on and on.
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    • Posted by 1 year, 4 months ago
      Along those lines, King George is a radical for liberty hero compared to today's tyrants and government intrusion. Of course, almost zero Americans understand independence.
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  • Posted by j_IR1776wg 1 year, 4 months ago
    Issues are timely, principles are eternal. Principles can be true or not true but, if true, never change. “…The American Constitution, by its treason clause, said that private property belongs to individuals by indefeasible title. America first declared this principle as absolute…” Without the absolute right to the ownership, control, and disposal of property earned or inherited, America will cease to exist as an idea and in fact.

    Soon after World War II, a group of academics met to discuss the Nazi book burnings in Berlin in the 1930s. One professor opined that it was not necessary to burn books in order to destroy the great literature of history – the only thing needed was to leave them unread for two generations. I believe that the effort to destroy the Constitution by non-so-benign neglect is in full force as measured by the general public’s lack of knowledge and understanding of the importance to their Individual Rights and the actions of government employees high and low.

    The problem we who love liberty face is how to develop the strategies and tactics to win our freedom back.
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    • Posted by 1 year, 4 months ago
      Oh yes, even among US Constitution and free market proponents. They almost always resort to "common good" arguments. Of course, this is precisely the goal of John Dewey's progressive education movement: socialization yes, knowledge and understanding no.
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      • Posted by j_IR1776wg 1 year, 4 months ago
        +100 if I could.
        Now how do we kill John Dewey and Karl Marx?
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        • Posted by 1 year, 4 months ago
          I think the question is how do we kill altruism? How do we install pride? Altruism is a virtue of Christianity and government. Pride is a sin of Christianity and government. Faith and force are corollaries. I think someone wrote a brilliant essay about that.
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          • Posted by j_IR1776wg 1 year, 4 months ago
            All successful social movements and revolutions, including the American Revolution, seem to follow the same path viz. A Philosophy – attempts to convince the populace of the truth and benefits of that philosophy – organization of convinced individuals to help spread the truth of said philosophy in words and deeds – persistence to endure the resistance of the supporters of the entrenched philosophy – widespread acceptance by the populace – success.

            We have the Philosophy thanks to Aristotle, Locke, the Founding Fathers, and whoever that was who wrote that essay on faith and force. I had thought that this site and others such as ARI might have been the modern The Federalist Papers and served the same purpose. They haven’t.

            Do you have any ideas? We seem to be stuck in second gear. (Hat-tip to the TV show Friends.)
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            • Posted by 1 year, 4 months ago
              You're right about ARI. They are of the view that change must occur at the University level, where philosophical ideas get the most leverage. Leonard Peikoff and John Ridpath were the strongest, and today its Tara Smith and Adam Mossoff, in my view. The most visible and involved is Alex Epstein, and Lisa VanDamme is excellent. However, ARI is focused on the century after next. To me, Doug Casey may be spot on with his analysis that nothing changes without a huge currency collapse, which may be imminent.
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