Galt's Gulch
17

"Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished... " - Thomas Sowell

Posted by awebb 9 years, 8 months ago to Pics
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Quote of the Day.

Happy Memorial Day

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  • Posted by Bobhummel 9 years, 8 months ago
    Dr. Sowell has one of the greatest, freedom loving minds in the history of humanity.

    For this Memorial Day, when you look at our Flag fluttering aloft, keep this in mind:
    "Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it; it flies with the last breath of each soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who died protecting it".
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  • Posted by jconne 9 years, 8 months ago
    All true but...
    It's the objective value of freedom that justifies the cost - not just the cost justifying the memory.

    From Founding Fathers to Ayn Rand, we have many advocates of how freedom serves man's nature and potential for flourishing.

    Sadly, our current culture, facilitated by our public (government) education, and motivated by altruistic/collectivist philosophies produces an electorate incapable of recognizing people and policies that protect our freedom.

    If we fight wars, our warfighters and citizenry deserve no less than a clear identification of who is the enemy and a commitment to destroying the enemy's capability to harm us. This includes those providing the funding and ideas.
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  • Posted by KCLiberty 9 years, 8 months ago
    Blind patriotism is the base of an Atlas Shrugged society. Our military hasn't been used to protect our "freedom" since the war of 1812. And, I'm a veteran, I was once in that boat.

    That said, I don't think most people know what freedom is anymore. The Dept. of Education has accomplished its goal of creating drones for the banksters.
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  • Posted by Esceptico 9 years, 8 months ago
    Sowell is excellent on economics, but just another neocon when it comes to politics. Here we are supposed to assume all the illegal wars the US has fought has preserved our freedom, which we know is not true. Then he justifies all of this by falling victim to the “sunk cost effect” of conservative politics. This is an error he would never make in economics.

    Sorry vets, I think you got suckered into fights.
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    • Posted by Zenphamy 9 years, 8 months ago
      Yes we did, and faced 10yrs in Leavenworth if we didn't.
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      • Posted by Esceptico 9 years, 7 months ago
        Yup, that's what all the soldiers are for: to fight for the freedom to be a slave or a prisoner. Thank you for your service. The government tried to draft me and I used their own damn rules and appeals to stall it off until they did not want me any more. At least there is no draft now, which is one major step forward.
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    • Posted by $ jdg 9 years, 8 months ago
      This is why I could never be a soldier, or a police officer either, under the law as it stands. They don't let you choose your fights, and swearing to let someone else pick them for you is nothing less than abdication of your own moral agency.
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    • Posted by jtrikakis 9 years, 8 months ago
      We are "suckered" into anything. We follow orders no matter if we agree to them or not. It sounds like you never served, bur reap the benefits of those who have. Maybe the military should just say, we'll defend whom we want and for the rest, best of luck. I bet you would see things much different.
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      • Posted by Esceptico 9 years, 8 months ago
        There is no need to “go defensive” here. The last “legal” war was WWII. I am merely pointing out “war lover” mentality we see all too often and I do not thank those who spent tax money to fight the illegal wars of politicians. I do not see how the U.S. having more than 900 military bases in more than 140 countries is proper. The people there to be “serving” the politicians, but I do not think they are preserving freedom. This is another place Ron Paul is right.
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        • Posted by jtrikakis 9 years, 8 months ago
          I guess you missed the vote on 02/03 to invade Iraq. Yes, it was a bad move and it should have never taken place, but it was approved by congress. Both Barry and Ron voted against it. Next, I am not defensive. I don't give a rats ass if we go to war or stay in the club and get drunk. They pay the military to cut grass and shoot a gun. Its a flat salary, with no yearly bonus like the feds enjoy. Finally, 900 bases are funded by civilians not by the military. Some places are more enjoyable than others, but end game is the feds approve the budget that dod civilians create. I do have 1 question and what change to Ronn Paul bring to America? He talks cool (like Barry), but what did he really do?
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          • Posted by Zenphamy 9 years, 8 months ago
            Ron got more young people turned onto the idea of a small government and the elimination of fiat money than anyone else has ever done. I'm not betting the bank on the results, but I've met several that read AS and other AR writings because of it.
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            • Posted by jtrikakis 9 years, 8 months ago
              "Of course the 900+ bases are funded by civilians — we are called taxpayers" Not really and here is why... tax payers don't decide on the budget, but they pay to price for that budget via forced tax and gov borrowing. Today, more borrowing than tax revenue. To you other point, I agree with Ron Paul on small government and the elimination of fiat money 100%. The trick is having income and not paying taxes. Not an easy thing for sure. The final point of getting young people to support AS that's fine until the bills come due. I walked by the 1st DC 99% march in 2011. Mostly young people. Bet they are either working or looking for work these days.
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          • Posted by KCLiberty 9 years, 8 months ago
            Actually, Barry wasn't in Congress yet, but he did say several times he would have voted for it if he had been. Nice try for false association though. Kucinich voted against it and a handful of others. But, more importantly, Congress has no authority to "approve" an action of the Commander in Chief. They can declare war or not. To declare war there must be a goal, which is why they could not. For Afghanistan, Ron Paul proposed the Constitutional approach of Letters of Marque and Reprisal - which is to be used when there isn't a "nation" to go to war with. It also makes use of mercenaries like Black Water legal, unlike their use in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Egypt, which is not legal, constitutionally.

            Just a guess - Navy? It has been my experience as an anti-war veteran that the most vitriol and hatred comes from Navy and Air Force guys - not those who actually fought the illegal wars.

            As far as Ron Paul's accomplishments, he woke up over 2 million people and counting. I'd say that is pretty good. Oh, and by the way, in both the '08 and '12 campaigns, Ron Paul got more donation money from military and DOD personnel than all the other Republican candidates combined.
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            • Posted by jpellone 9 years, 8 months ago
              Just need to correct you KC. Many Navy and Air Force personnel were on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, the Commander-In-Chief can only declare war for a limited time without congressional approval.

              Ron Paul wants the US to completely withdraw from all countries and just protect our borders. Using his thinking, the only military we could have is the Coast Guard while ISIS and Putin take over the rest of the world. How safe would this country be with Russia and Islam completely surrounding us?
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              • Posted by KCLiberty 9 years, 8 months ago
                Back at ya': Actually the Commander in Chief cannot declare war, only Congress can. They can use military force for a limited time to react to an attack, etc.... But they cannot declare war, only the people through their representatives can do that. (Well, that is the way it is supposed to work. It's all there in the Constitution) I know there are Navy and AF "on the ground", the Air Force rescue teams are the best, the Seals, and both of course have amazing pilots, etc...., but it is a pretty small percentage of total personnel that participate in battle.

                Why would you make the jump from protecting America to getting rid of the Army and the Navy? That makes no sense. Ron Paul wants nothing of the sort. He believes in a large, strong military that can not only protect America from any type of invasion/attack but also mobile to respond to other nations should we declare war.

                As far as Putin and ISIS taking over the world.....Well, in Ukraine we hired mercenary snipers and brought in CIA and "democracy" groups to overthrow, with a violent coup, a popular and democratically elected leader and installed a puppet government that was beholden to the EU central bank. That is after creating fake "color revolutions", like we did in Egypt and Libya with that ridiculous "Arab Spring" crap, in Lithuania and now Macedonia (just happening this week) to prevent Russian oil and natural gas to getting to Europe. Of course to flex muscle, we have now surrounded Russia with missile bases. This is all after we installed a puppet in Georgia and used our CIA's Al Quaeda model to destroy Chechnya.

                There is much evidence already that we, the US and UK, created ISIS. We helped them take over Libya and that nation is now a miserable place of murder and pain. We are helping them destabilize Syria, where they are beheading Christians and mass-murdering all men and male children and raping the women in towns we help them take over. Your assumption that we would be surrounded by Russia and "Islam?" if we stopped mucking about in the Middle East is without any basis in reality. Face it, we have a military empire. We need this military empire to secure the dollar as the world reserve currency so the banksters can continue their control. If you mess with the dollar, or more specifically the petro-dollar, we take you out. That is the morality of our empire and why we've killed millions of innocent brown people in the last ten years.

                You should really stop watching and reading mass media. It poisons your brain.
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            • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 8 months ago
              KC, I am an anti-war veteran too -- we must maintain
              peace through strength, and if we draw our weapon,
              we fire it conclusively. . we do not wing 'em. -- j
              .
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          • Posted by Esceptico 9 years, 8 months ago
            Your post seems to me to be defensive. We are defensive whenever we know we are putting forth a position we can’t justify. As part of the defensive technique, is to use fallacies such as the Fallacy of Diversion to divert the attention to some other subject. For example, whatever the congressional vote may have been it does not change the fact there was no declaration of war. By using your argument, you also commit the Fallacy of Argument from the Majority, which is to say that the mere fact the majority believes x therefore x is true.

            Of course the 900+ bases are funded by civilians — we are called taxpayers. We who pay taxes to support the bases at the point of a gun. I do not understand how this applies to anything your proposed, but I am open to an explanation.

            As to your final sentence / question, I do not understand what it is you are asking. Sorry, sometimes I am just dense.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 8 months ago
    You gotta love Tom Sowell. He cuts right through the blurriness of some discussions, makes a salient point, and no more needs to be said.
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  • Posted by gilmorehome 9 years, 8 months ago
    Members of "OathKeepers" know the cost. They continue to keep their Oath as part of the Oathkeepers. The Vietnam Vet in the picture (on the OathKeepers FaceBook Page in the link below) and his blood brother, who lost his life in Vietnam, and all those who served in the history of America do as well. They keep the candle of hope burning and refuse to be in the dark despite all the attacks on Liberty and Freedom both foreign and domestic. If there were a JG's "Valley" for them to find peace, I wish it for them. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...
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  • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 8 months ago
    "Freedom has cost too much blood and agony
    to be relinquished..."

    ... or to become the price of sectarian domination
    by the top political one percenters. -- j
    .
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