Dear Friend:
There are numerous things in life that are extremely hard for the average individual to figure out and acknowledge as being true — or as being the way things really are. Having been brought up in a world marinated in fantasy and make-believe, they are experiencing the impossible task of attempting to reconcile present reality with what they have always wholeheartedly assumed or hoped would turn out to be true. Yet it seems the more they are confronted with reality, the more tenaciously they cling to their deeply-ingrained illusions. In today’s topsy turvy world, reality is often scoffed at and illusion is usually king.
Most find the world of reality is not, as far as they personally are concerned, a very pleasant place in which to live. In their world of make-believe, “positives” are frequently viewed as negatives, and “negatives” are viewed as positives. (More on that point later). To use biblical terminology, from a national perspective, from the sole of our foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores (Isaiah 1:6).
“GO WITH THE FLOW?”
As we go through life from youth, it’s so very easy to “go with the flow” — to absorb as it were by osmosis the beliefs, the attitudes, and the convictions of those around us in society, without being led to challenge any of the basic premises upon which those beliefs and convictions are based. As Mark Twain wrote in his autobiography, “In religion and politics, people’s beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination from ‘authorities’ who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken at second hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.”
Though some doubts may flicker across the minds of most people from time to time when they accidentally stumble over some unpleasant truths that call for a radical change in their belief system and lifestyle, they quickly get up, brush themselves off, and hurry on about their empty, purposeless lives as if nothing had happened. Over time, however, they
grow mental or psychological callouses that increasingly harden their minds toward the acceptance of truth and reality. With the passage of time these callouses develop and grow, then morph into virtual rhino hides which make them virtually impervious to truth — the acceptance of basic reality.
As has been said on a number of previous occasions, when we start off with false premises we inevitably and invariably end up with false conclusions. For example, the premises or foundations upon which Socialism/ communism/liberalism are all based have been tested worldwide for close to 100 years and have proven to be catastrophic. Most socialistic/communistic nations are head over heels in debt and falling apart at the seams. Most of their citizens are in a similar situation. The causes for such affects were recognized many decades ago and widely publicized but to no avail. Perhaps the most famous and succinct warning was issued in 1848 by a French philosopher and political economist in his famous book, The Law. Frederic Bastiat recognized the horribly destructive consequences of applying Socialist theories on a national or international basis. He famously warned people to beware of “that which is seen and that which is not seen.” In other words, the initial perceived benefits of socialism (such, for example, as the “benefits” of the welfare state) have to be weighed against the long-term results. After more than 75 years of socialist programs (they began in 1933 with the advent of the Franklin Roosevelt administration) America is now reaping “that which (was) not seen” by most Americans. Those disastrous results are all around us: unpayable personal and national debt, and society (having discarded the Constitution and the basic moral — biblically-based further— building blocks upon which the American Republic was originally based) disintegrating at an alarming rate. Socialism, under whatever label it may be disguised, is simply unsustainable. It is economically unfeasible. To “work,” it has to operate with a deficit of at least 10-20 percent annually. To make up that shortfall, the government employs what former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan called the “shabby secret” of inflation. It’s an insidious, hidden form of taxation or confiscation of wealth and is diabolically destructive. In a newsletter called The Objectivist, published in 1966, Greenspan wrote: “In the absence of the gold standard [Constitutional money, Article 1, Section 10], there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value... The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for owners of wealth to protect themselves. That is the shabby secret of the welfare statists’ tirade against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of that insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasp’s this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists’ antagonism toward the gold standard” [Constitutional money]...
“Stripped of its academic jargon, the welfare state is nothing more than a mechanism by which governments confiscate the wealth of the productive members of a society to support a wide variety of welfare schemes. A substantial part of the confiscation is effected by taxation. But the welfare statists were quick to recognize that if they wished to retain political power, the amount of taxation had to be limited and they had to resort to programs of massive deficit spending. i.e., they had to borrow money, by issuing government bonds, to finance welfare on a large scale.”
As a result of that “insidious process,” our National Debt piled up by these political criminals is now approaching ten trillion dollars ($10,000,000,000,000). Unfunded (and totally unpayable) Socialist/Liberal promises made by Democratic-controlled congresses for the past 40-50 years, add another $72,000,000,000,000 to that hideously grotesque figure.
Now you know what Bastiat meant when he wrote of “that which is seen and that which is not seen.” He knew his history. As an honest economist, he understood the long-term consequences. He was able to recognize “that which is not seen” — the end results of adopting and applying Socialist “principles” that virtually guarantee a nation’s demise.
During the current presidential election, Ron Paul was the only candidate with the courage to raise these vital issues. The other wannabee presidents basically ignored fiscal reality, spouting mindless platitudes that carefully skirted the subject. Regardless of the obvious magnitude of our nation’s financial crisis, they refused to address it in realistic terms.
Particularly over the last 50-60 years, Americans have been living in a dream world that is moving so fast, and changing so quickly, that few seem to have taken the time to think about what is happening in and to the United States. That often-times wilful blindness and unwillingness to face basically simple political and economic realities has inexorably led our nation into its present dire straits. Is the American Dream — founded on biblically-based republican values — about to collapse? Is an American Nightmare — based on humanistic, socialistic, “man is god” ideas now unfolding from every point of the compass?
Twenty eight years ago, this writer published a book dealing with those possibilities. It was titled, Descent Into Slavery? It dealt, and — in 2008 — still deals, with many more of the other factors that progressively led up to what is happening on both the national and international stages. It’s as relevant today as in 1980. Many of the trends highlighted in the book have now come to fruition, and are in today’s headlines. [Descent Into Slavery? is available at $16.00. Order form on page 6.]
“NEGATIVE ... PROPAGANDA”
In late June I sent an e-mail to a close relative who lives in another part of the country. With it, I attached a series of photographs as further documentation on a piece I had sent them some weeks earlier. They all dealt with the super-abundance of crude oil and natural gas in Alaska, and the fact that there is enough oil in Alaska to supply the United States for 200-300 years. The photos showed that the development of oilfields and oil pipelines in Alaska has had absolutely no adverse effect on the natural, pristine beauty of the Alaskan wilderness. The wildlife (caribou, wolves, bears etc.) that live in abundance in some of the more accessible areas where oil is being taken from the ground are thriving and perfectly happy in these present surroundings. The photographs showed that some of the wildlife, including bears, use the pipeline (and the framework that elevates it in order to allow wildlife to roam freely) as if it were natural playground equipment. It’s a major attraction, and in the summertime many hundreds of caribou, wolves, and bears can be seen roaming and grazing contentedly in the vicinity of a remote, and extremely small, oil and natural gas facility. I suggested in an e-mail that the vast proven oil reserves located in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) — only 2,000 acres within a 19,600,000 acre mass — should be opened up to development in order to solve the “energy crisis.”
What was the reaction to my educational efforts?: “Des, I don’t like this sort of propaganda... I promise not to send anything like this to you... I don’t appreciate all things negative....”
Upon receipt, I started to draft an answer. However, upon reflection I decided it would be pointless — an exercise in futility. It is still in the “draft” file of my computer.
Briefly, I would have pointed out that their “use of the word ‘propaganda’ is interesting. It comes from the root, ‘propagate’ ... to spread, to broadcast, to make widely known, to scatter widely. In the purest sense, the information ‘propagated’ could be totally true, or totally false — or a toxic blend of truth and error.
“The information I sent you on Alaska is true, regardless of what other ‘propagandists’ may say. Originally, I got the information from an executive with ARCO... Quite a few Democrats and Republicans in Congress want to develop these vast resources ... but behind-the-scenes forces are thwarting their efforts.
“In case you may think that the above information is ‘off the wall and out to lunch,’you can confirm my findings by calling Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in Juneau. Her number is (907) 365-3500...
“Of course, in the final analysis the issue is not “who is right?” The issue is what is right for the nation, the American people as a whole. Should the American people be forced to pay $140 a barrel to Arab countries for oil that comes out of the ground “for under $5 a barrel” (Wall Street Journal, 1/27/05), or should we use our own oil which costs under $15 a barrel?...
“Congress (both Democrats and Republicans) has deliberately and maliciously destroyed our once great nation over the last 50-60 years. These criminals have also run up unpayable, long-term, unfunded obligations of around $70 trillion which they have placed on the shoulders of OUR children and grandchildren [names withheld]. Should we not think of them?
“Am I being ‘negative’ by stating these documentable facts? Absolutely not! I am being totally realistic. With others, I have engaged in often fruitless efforts to wake up some of the American people. However, regrettably very few want to face reality.
“Before I make statements such as those above, I am very diligent to check and recheck my facts. So far, for the last 32 years I have been very successful at that task. All six books I have written (with well over 100 newspaper articles) are still in print and readily available, if anyone wants to check out the authenticity of that statement. Although I have never put myself forward as any kind of ‘authority,’ my record of accuracy and consistency cannot be challenged. I have merely done in-depth research, documented the facts, and ‘told it like it is.’ If I have told lies, twisted the truth to my own ends, then I am a liar — and need to be set straight! Could I be wrong in my assessment of national and international affairs? Absolutely! But I need to be shown where I am wrong, and how I can correct the situation.” As Mark Twain so astutely observed, “Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance.”
In a final paragraph to my relative, I added: “To close on a positive note, it’s not a matter of “who is right.” In the final analysis, it’s solely a matter of what is right. If we go by that criteria, and that criteria alone, we can’t go wrong. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, we must train ourselves to pursue the truth, that only, that always, that to the very end.
THE LIBERAL MIND
To understand why people like my close relative consider hard, documentable facts to be mere “propaganda,” and why they don’t “appreciate all things [TRUTH!] negative,” is relatively simple. They have abandoned the basic principles upon which — for hundred of years — truly educated individuals, at least in the West, have always based their opinions. In the words of scripture, “even as they did not like to retain God [the Bible] in their knowledge [education, or educational system], “God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (Romans 1:28). Such a mind can’t “endure proof or trial.” It is “not of standard purity or fineness” (Webster). Many such people, generally known as “Liberals” (and proud of it!), are totally sincere. Unfortunately, in most cases — particularly in the political sense — they are sincerely wrong. As a result, the nation is paying a hideous price.
Liberals don’t think, they feel. They feel sympathy, compassion, and love for their fellow man. They feel the need to “help” people, by making up their own laws and doing what feels right to them. They mold society accordingly. The simple fact is that all their lying propaganda spread through the schools, the media, and by political leaders has resulted in more ignorance, more crime, more drugs, more hatred, lower morals, more illegitimate children, poorer education, and a cruder, filthier, and frightened population. Their fiscally insane, unconstitutional economic policies, practiced by Congress over the last 50-60 years, have led to the hideous financial situation in which our once great nation now finds itself. [Reread Alan Greenspan’s comments quoted earlier. It’s all a matter of cause and effect!] Liberals adamantly refuse to attribute our nation’s problems to their liberal beliefs, but conveniently ascribe them to some other unknown cause. Liberals can’t see, or refuse to see, the dreadful consequences of their own actions. While their actions may seem right, they totally avoid the facts of life. The most important thing about the Liberal mind is its complete refusal to face any facts. The Liberal mind makes excuses to remove facts that disagree with their feelings. They have blinded themselves to reality!
When one “buys” the full package of liberal lunacy, and is then confronted with the results of such “reprobate” behavior, what are the options? When viewed from a biblical perspective, and acknowledging the vagaries of human nature (“the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?” — Jeremiah 17:9, and “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,” Romans 8:7), such people are probably left with no options. Throughout human history, their modus operandi has never changed: Like cornered rats, they act instinctively. They throw up wave after wave of verbal flack. Lots of noise, but no substance. They accuse and demonize those who tell the truth. They sneer and smirk. They smear truth-tellers, and ridicule reality. Anything to avoid facing the truth and acknowledging reality. With no way out, some will then resort to the old “put down” — “Just who do you think you are? Where did you get your authority from?”
When unable to answer questions in a logical manner, they might resort to a tactic used against the Apostle Paul when he told the truth in the first century: “We find this man to be a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition” (Acts 24:5). Or they and their friends (liberals, “conservatives,’ “republicans” or “democrats”) may behave in the same childish manner as the morons in Ephesus when confronted with the idiocy of their idol worship. When they heard the truth and were unable to refute it, “they were full of wrath, and ... with one voice for about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians” (Acts 19:34).
How about that for monumental idiocy? Tried to reason with Liberals recently? If so, has not the result been much the same? Have they not, in a sense, became “full of wrath, and cried out with one voice for hours, Great are the destructive ways of Liberalism. No god but Liberalism.”
In these crisis days, don’t be tempted to stoop to such moronic Liberal behavior. Instead, dedicate yourself to pursuing the truth, that only, that always, that to the very end. The results will be immensely rewarding. Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ IS “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). When we acknowledge him as “the bread of life, (we) shall never hunger, and (we) shall never thirst” (John 6:35; also 4:14).
Best Wishes
Des Griffin
