Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Politicians are Depraved Sociopaths

America is (or was intended to be) a Christian nation.
More specifically, a Protestant nation.
More specific than that, a Presbyterian nation.
The British (Church of England) referred to the American Revolution as "the Presbyterian junto"
I'm a Calvinist. I believe in the Calvinist doctrine of "the depravity of man."
The Framers of the U.S. Constitution believed in "the depravity of man." James Madison studied under John Witherspoon, the Calvinist President of Princeton University and Signer of the Declaration of Independence. As Madison put it, " If men were angels, no government would be necessary." This is arguably the most famous line from The Federalist Papers. We've all heard this in our civics class. We need "government" to keep society in line.

But in that particular essay (#51), Madison was not trying to emphasize the need for society to have a civil government. Everybody already agreed on that. He was stressing the need to control the controllers:

Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

Hence the need for such "auxiliary precautions" as "checks and balances," a "separation of powers," and a Bill of Rights. All because we cannot trust men with political power. Trusting the government is un-American.

But, as we know, the Framers trusted men with political power anyway. They (wrongly) believed that God required men to form governments. If you go through the Bible verse by verse, at each step asking the question, "did God just now command human beings to form what we know as 'the State?'" after each of the 31,103 verses you will have to answer "No." God never commanded human beings to form "the State." "The State" was invented by unGodly rebels like Nimrod. I'll betcha.

The institution called "the State" is responsible for more evil than any other institution ever created by man. More evil than all organized crime. More evil than all "private sector" evil. And the United States, believe it or not, is the most evil government on the planet.

Some will say, "But if we don't have any government, society will be plunged into anarchy."

"Anarchy" in this case means "chaos, lawlessness, rampant crime."

Why would "chaos, lawlessness, and rampant crime" break out without politicians? Because of "the depravity of man." That's the usual conservative answer.

I would like to suggest that human beings are better than that.

The Bible says that every human being knows it is immoral to steal or to hurt other people. See the first two chapters of the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans.

14 The Gentiles do not have the law [which was given through Moses]. But they do what the law says because their own hearts tell them to. They have a law of their own, even though they do not know the law [of Moses].
15 They show that the law is written in their hearts. They know what is right to do and what is wrong to do. Their own thoughts tell them they have done what is wrong or what is not wrong.)
Romans 2:14-15

The King James Version renders verse 15:

Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another

Christians are often told they should not judge homosexuals, adulterers or abortionists. That, of course, is an intolerant judgment of/against Christians.

I believe judging people is a good thing. The world would have been a better place if the German people had properly judged the Nazis, and been a little less "tolerant" and a little more "bigoted."

As the KJV suggests, we all accuse or excuse other people all the time, based on our internal moral compass.

This capacity for judging others holds us all in check. I would like to suggest that our concern over the moral judgments of our family, neighbors, co-workers, employers, and Facebook friends, is more immediately important to us than what politicians in Washington D.C. think about us.

If Washington D.C. were to fall into hell, nobody would notice. "Anarchy" would not break out, even if we lived in a state of literal anarchy, that is, a stateless condition. People will still be judgmental. There will be social pressure not to steal. The Bible says unbelievers tend to pretend to be believers. This is why you have so many "hypocrites" in church.

If you believe in the "depravity of man," you might admit that there are times when you would like to steal, but you're afraid someone will find out. You don't want to be publicly branded as a thief.

Not simply that you don't want to be arrested by the government's police. Most criminals think they can evade the police and "get away with it." Non-criminals like you are more concerned about what other non-criminals like you think about you.

People who don't care what others think are called "sociopaths."

They can inflict harm on others, because they don't care what others feel.

They are not social.

Here's why anarchy (a society without politicians) is our best option.

First, the cost of creating a "civil government" -- a socialist monopoly on security -- to deal with the small percentage of people who are criminal sociopaths is greater than the cost to society inflicted by those sociopaths. You pay about 2/3 of everything you earn to the federal government. Every year. Do you think if we abolished the federal government that private sector criminals would inflict that much damage on you? By abolishing corporate income taxes (which you pay at the checkstand) and income taxes and all other ways Washington D.C. has its hand in your wallet, your disposable income would double, and you could afford to buy a much better system of security than the government provides, at a more competitive price. Capitalists would see to that very quickly. (Right now, there's less of a market for private security because consumers live under the illusion that the government protects them. Which it doesn't.)

Second, government destroys the family, and it is families that create empathy and prevent children from growing up to be sociopaths. More powerful government means less powerful families, with mothers forced to get a job outside the home to pay the government's taxes, and more sociopaths. Then the cry goes up for more government, and you have a vicious cycle of declining civilization.

Third, sociopaths are attracted to government like bees to honey. Politicians are more likely to be sociopaths than any other occupation. You want more government? Get ready to pay more taxes to hire more sociopaths. Sociopaths love the power to control, to steal, to inflict pain, and -- best of all -- to do it "legally." And get paid handsomely to do it. Why on earth would you hire sociopaths to protect you from sociopaths?

Let's start imagining a less sociopathic society. Let's imagine how human beings would interact without sociopaths in "government." Start here.


Friday, July 17, 2015

The Iran Deal - A Christian Anarchist Backgrounder

Republicans seem to oppose a deal with Iran regarding the development of nuclear energy in Iran.

The GOP’s Iran Dilemma by Patrick J. Buchanan -- Antiwar.com

How would a Christian government (as opposed to a secular humanist government, such as we have today) deal with Iran?

To answer this question, I suggest reviewing my answer to the question, "How would a Christian government deal with Iraq?"

The U.S. didn't follow that policy, and destroyed the nation of Iraq, and the largest Christian community in the Arab world. There were over one million Christians in Iraq, and they had the freedom to publicly evangelize, which would be a death penalty offense in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. "ally." Today there are less than 20% of those Christians alive in Iraq.

The United States federal government is the enemy of Christianity. It is also the enemy of followers of Abraham, and followers of Muhammad. The atheistic ("secular") government of the United States is the enemy of mankind.

If the federal government had even the slightest interest in following the Constitution and the Original Intent of the Founding Fathers, it would declare a national day of fasting, prayer and repentance for the monstrous evil it inflicted on Iraq, and continues to inflict on the Middle East.

The federal government should begin asking the question, How can we make restitution for the senseless destruction of so many lives and so much infrastructure in Iraq?

Only then can the United States even begin to start to understand how to approach Iran.

Dealing with Iran requires spiritual (Biblical) insight, as well as political/diplomatic insight. How well has the United States done in this regard so far?

The United States helped overthrow a democratically-elected government in Iran in 1953. It imposed a dictatorship on the people of Iran for the next 25 years. That dictator was overthrown in the Iranian Revolution, and U.S. diplomats were taken hostage. In retaliation, the U.S. assisted Saddam Hussein in his war with Iran, which lasted a decade, and cost the lives of a million human beings. Through its sanctions policy, the United States has imposed an incalculable burden on the people of Iran.

The U.S. cannot see clearly without repenting of its unconstitutional and unChristian behavior for the last 50 years or more. "Patriotic" Americans cannot assess the value of "The Iran Deal" because they are victims of educational malpractice.

Does Iran Really Want a Bomb? — Patrick J. Buchanan

The federal government, consisting of defenders of "the dollar" (the Federal Reserve System") and defenders of the military-industrial complex, are on the side of terrorists. That sounds like the paranoid claim of an insane person, until you give it a little thought and apprehend the facts.

"Terrorism" is the use of violence to achieve a political objective. The U.S. military, propping up dollar-hegemony, uses violence to achieve its political objectives. It puts weapons in the hands of "terrorists" who, it is hoped, will topple governments which are seen as obstacles to U.S./dollar hegemony.

The U.S. and Al Qaeda Are on the Same Side in Yemen | The American Conservative

The U.S. spends almost as much money on weapons as the rest of the world combined. It uses these weapons to achieve its political objectives. That is "terrorism" by definition. Nobody is attacking the United States in an attempt to invade it and "take over." There are numerous groups who, having been attacked by the U.S., seek to defend themselves. But the United States is not defending itself against any enemy that was not created by its own policies. Russia and China would rather have Americans working hard and selling their goods and services to Russians and Chinese. They have no desire to "invade" America, or to drop nuclear bombs on the goose that lays the golden eggs. Americans are already slaves to the Russians and the Chinese, insofar as they spend their days working as capitalists for consumers in Russia and China. "The customer is king," as they say, and capitalists are their slaves.

If you don't want to work for the Chinese, and you prefer using the military to get what you want (something for nothing), then God will raise up terrorists in judgment against you.

This is why the hundreds of billions of dollars that Americans turn over to the military-industrial complex every year -- instead of to

  • single mothers contemplating abortion,
  • immigrants fleeing drug war cartels to work in peace and feed their families,
  • children of absent fathers who need a better education than they get in government schools,
  • or to a couple of billion people overseas who need the help more than Raytheon or Lockheed Martin
-- represent not just bad stewardship, but a sinful rejection of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Go back to Sunday School, and then you'll be equipped to take a position on the Iran Deal.


Monday, July 06, 2015

The United Dis-Nations

Some people say I'm crazy because I'm an anarchist.

Of course, what I say is, "I am not an ARCHIST."

An "archist" is someone who believes he has a right to impose his will on others by force or threats of violence.

Am I really crazy to say that using coercion and threatening violence is unethical and immoral?

Is the following really a crazy thought:

For the last few centuries, human beings have tried organizing their societies using a monopoly of violence called "the State." The State has done the following in the last 100 years:
  • murdered hundreds of millions of innocent non-combatant civilians
  • enslaved billions of human beings (the Soviets and the Maoists enslaved entire countries)
  • stolen (taxed or confiscated or nationalized) trillions of dollars of private property.

We have tried the idea of "the nation-state for hundreds of years now." It has been a dismal failure. Let's try a state-less Free Market system.

Is that really a reckless proposal?

Two things are needed to stop this march of death:

  1. persuade the people who wear government uniforms that what they do is unethical or immoral.
  2. persuade those who salute or vote for these people that their lives will be improved once we abolish the machinery of death.

Too many people believe that without "governments," criminals -- murderers, thieves and kidnappers -- will:

       • murder hundreds of innocent non-combatant civilians
       • enslave thousands of human beings
       • steal millions of dollars of private property.

Compare that with the record of "the State" above.

In 1994, private non-state criminals in the U.S. stole $28 million.
That same year, the government stole $2 BILLION -- one hundred times more -- through just one government revenue program: "asset forfeiture."

"But if we abolish the government in Washington D.C., we will not be able to defend ourselves, and we will be invaded and enslaved."

Yes, by other governments.

Imagine a silent invasion. An enemy government replaces all the people who currently wear U.S. government uniforms with the people who wear government uniforms in Russia or China. It all happens overnight, without a shot being fired. Would Americans notice the difference? You have been invaded and "enslaved." What difference would it make? Would your taxes go up if suddenly all U.S. government employees were Chinese? If the government forced you to bake a cake for a Communist Rally or a homosexual wedding, would you feel better about it solely because the gun pointed to your head was held by your next-door neighbor rather than a "commie" from China?

So let's make this a global project.

Let's persuade human beings in every nation that theft, murder, and kidnapping are immoral, even if conducted by people calling themselves "the government."

Let's abolish the United States using a treaty with the people of Russia who agree that both "governments" will resign and disappear simultaneously from the face of the earth. Let's get rid of all the nation-states at once.

We could form a non-profit organization to promote this idea and hire experts who could draw up legal blueprints which could be adopted as treaties by governments as their last official act, abolishing themselves.

We could call it, "The United Dis-Nations."

The United Nations was promoted as a path to peace. The path to peace and a "Vine & Fig Tree" world is a state-less path.

Christian Globalism: The Vine & Fig Tree Worldview