As the story went, Davy Crockett was the best hunter, Indian fighter and politician of his time. He died in Texas trying to fend off the invading Mexican army. The legend of Davy Crockett belongs to a collection of stories that are intended to define America’s national character.

Probably the most famous American legend after Davy Crockett is Johnny Appleseed. After Davy and the Pioneers had conquered the frontier, Johnny set forth on an apple crusade armed with a Bible and cooking pot. Johnny Appleseed was an actual man named John Chapman, he helped settlers to comply with Federal law. You had to plant fifty apple trees if you wanted a free homestead.

Then there was Pecos Bill, the greatest cowboy who ever lived. Pecos Bill rode a horse named Widowmaker; the two of them were best friends UNTIL Sluefoot Sue showed up.

Sluefoot Sue was a beautiful girl who came riding down the river on the back of a fish. When Pecos Bill saw her, his belly did flip-flops. So, he asked Sluefoot Sue for her hand in marriage, and she agreed. But she had two demands.

First, she wanted a bouncy bustle (It was the latest style). Second, she wanted to ride Widowmaker. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out. As soon as Sluefoot Sue was mounted in the saddle, Widowmaker started bucking.

Sluefoot Sue’s bouncy bustle caused her to bounce higher and higher until the reins broke, and she was bucked into the sky never to be seen again. Thus, she was punished for three separate crimes: vanity, conduct unbecoming a lady, and getting between a man and his horse.

The last of the State legends that I will include in this story is John Henry, the steel-driving man. He was killed while attempting to compete with a steam drill. Each of these legends is designed to speak to some point in the nation’s past.

But State sponsored legends only tell part of the American story. To really understand the broader sweep of American folklore, you must also examine American film. Especially the Western as it began early in this century, and especially the bad guys.

The first bad guys appeared in a film called The Great Train Robbery. The villains of this movie board a train and kill the crew.

Ultimately, they are destroyed, but at the end of the movie there is an important scene. A tough looking desperado (played by George Barnes) fires his six-shooter directly into the camera. This gunslinger would become the model of masculinity upon which all future Western villains would be based. And where you have villains, you must have heroes.

So, let’s examine one of the most important heroes of American film. The meanest gunslinger of them all: William S. Hart. Hart was a Shakespearean actor, and a huge fan of Western culture. He brought the frontier ethos to Hollywood: Solitary individualism and the cowboy code of silence. Hart was actually one of two pre-depression Western Heroes. The other was The Virginian. Played by Gary Cooper, The Virginian was released in November of 1929, only a month after the stock market crash. The ruthlessness of both The Virginian and William S. Hart were designed to reflect a change in values that Washington wanted to impose on the American people in response to the terrible economic conditions of the depression. (Never mind who caused the depression in the first place).

In particular, Washington wanted to promote the idea that fixing America’s problems would require ruthlessness and direct physical action.

Now we must briefly discuss two men who came before Hart and the Virginian: Tom Mix and Douglas Fairbanks. Tom Mix was the nice guy cowboy. He carried guns, but he didn’t use them. Instead, he used his lasso to rope the bad guys. He was often rescued by his best friend, Tony the Wondorhorse. Mix represented a model of manhood that was based on strength and kindness, and he shared the roaring twenties with another screen hero: Douglas Fairbanks. Fairbanks was the ultimate Anglo Saxon. He combined athleticism, charm, and good looks, but more importantly, his characters always portrayed fully integrated men. Fairbanks sense of humor and charm stood in direct contrast to most of the other masculine heroes of the American screen that would come later.

Now that we have discussed the nice guys and the not-so-nice guys, let’s turn to the gangsters. At the beginning of the great depression, millions of people were thrown out of work, and some began to feel that the system of Capitalism had failed. Even though the Communist party in America had never been strong, Washington launched an all out anti-communism campaign to promote toughness, individualism, and self-reliance. It is from these anti-communist roots that the Gangster hero was born. The most important Gangster movie was called Little Caesar.

Hollywood hoped that when people watched Little Caesar fight and win in the struggle for money and power, they would be able to experience release of their own frustrations. Little Caesar was an anti-communist. So is Fifty Cent.

Thus, an evolution of American masculinity emerged: The charm and integrity of Mix and Fairbanks, morphed to become the ruthlessness of Hart and the Virginian, and then morphed again to become the anti-social viciousness of Little Caesar. While the story above is incomplete, it illustrates the role that Washington and Hollywood have played in shaping the American masculine worldview.

Along these same lines, Washington constantly reinforces the image of the frontiersmen because he forms a connection between the Virginian and the Patriot. Both are pro-state anti-intellectuals. Hart and the Virginian may have been tough, but they were not thinking men. They knew instinctively what was right and wrong and took action. This formula is repeated again and again by modern actors such as Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

To better illustrate the relationship between the Virginian character type and the Patriot, look at the two pictures. The picture of Mr. T above left shows him as a Little Caesar/Virginian blend. The lower right picture shows him as Patriot. In both images masculine identity is equated with a lack of introspection. Both are tough anti-intellectuals; real American men.

If we use the history of the cinema as a guide, American masculinity can be expressed through three primary character types;

1. The Virginian 2. Tom Mix 3. Little Caesar

Hollywood has actually summed up these character types in a movie called:

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence

Starring John Wayne, this movie was an attempt by Hollywood to come to terms with the closing of the frontier. It was intended to be a sad look at the loss of the values of the old West. What makes this movie special is that it clearly shows the conflict between the three primary American masculine character types:

John Wayne (above) as Tom Doniphon plays a ruthless frontiersman (The Virginian).

Lee Marvin (right) as Liberty Valence plays an outlaw (Little Caesar), And James Stewart (below) as Ransom Stoddard plays an effeminate intellectual (Tom Mix).

The premise of the movie is that after the American frontier had been conquered, the gunslingers would have to be eliminated since their services were no longer required. But who could get rid of these bad men? In the movie, two choices are given.

The first is that the conquered West will have to be civilized by Virginians; men of action who can meet the bad guys blow for blow. The second is that the West will be civilized by men of reason; The Mix’s. In the end, the movie concludes that only Virginians are qualified to do this job. Like another movie, The Magnificent Seven, it was a sad farewell to the old West.

In noting the passing of the men of the West, however, Hollywood created two replacement heroes: James Bond, and Harry Callahan. Again, they are extensions of the Virginian/Mix/Caesar formula.

Bond was designed, above all, to be an employee of the government. In fact, the central message of all Bond movies is that government men have to protect the common people. Bond may be tough, but he is always obedient. The message is clear: Real men follow orders. And lesser men (non-government men) should never interfere.

The other government hero was Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan. But before we cover Callahan in detail, it’s important to note why Hollywood brought him into existence. Earlier in the century, two films had been made in an attempt to address the growing alienation of the American people from government: The first was Mr. Smith goes to Washington, filmed in 1939 and the second was On the Waterfront, filmed in 1954. The theme of both movies was that government can still be reformed, if you just get rid of the few bad apples.

When it became obvious in the 1970′s that the Federal government had become hopelessly corrupt, Washington responded by ordering Hollywood to endorse all forms of government; especially law enforcement.

Hollywood obediently responded by reverting yet again to the Virginian/Mix/Caesar formula. They created Callahan. Silent, athletic, and willing to break the law, Callahan became a government superhero. In reality, Callahan had several roles to play. First, he was intended to send the message that men of few words (like the Virginian) are necessary to maintain the social order.

Second, Callahan made it clear that breaking the rules (like Little Caesar) is a necessary part of survival, especially for cops. Bond and Callahan had another thing in common: Both of them were designed to promote the idea that social unrest is never justified. True men, we are told, place themselves under the control of government, which is the only organization that has enough information to make wise decisions.

Thus, Hollywood and Washington created a complete system of American masculine mythology. But to understand this mythology you have to understand the underlying character types.

The Virginian — Tough, anti-intellectual, pro-state, silent, man of action.

Tom Mix — Sensitive, intelligent, honest, fully integrated, good guy.

Little Caesar — Ruthless, independent, brash, competitive, fighter.

Actually, The Virginian, Tom Mix, and Little Caesar are not character types. They are archetypes. What is an archetype? Well, to answer that you need to know about a psychologist named C.G. Jung. He was an expert on mythology. Jung discovered that every culture has invisible heroes. In psychological terms, these heroes are called archetypes. They can be combined in different ways to create masculine role-models. Thus, The Virginian, Tom Mix, and Little Caesar archetypes can be combined to create men like Bond, Callahan, and even a President.

To illustrate, consider all the recent talk about Ronald Reagan. The federal government loved Reagan. In their view, he was a tough, silent law-man, not afraid to stand down the evil Soviets. As a result, he received the highest honor that the American government could bestow. He wasn’t Sainted; he was Virginianized.

C.G. Jung’s most important discovery was that archetypes are responsible for character development. When he died, his work was continued by another man: Erik Erikson. Erikson was an expert on the human life cycle. He was fascinated with the invisible role-models that Jung had identified. Erikson discovered that If the archetypes can peacefully coexist within a man, he will reach a position of ego integrity. If they cannot, the resulting internal conflict will lead to neurosis.

Thus, an epic struggle take place in the heart of every young man as he struggles to achieve this position of ego integrity. In America, it’s a battle between the three Anglo-Protestant archetypes: The Virginian, Tom Mix, and Little Caesar. Ultimately, every young American man must reconcile these three identities, and then choose one who will serve as a role model for the rest of his life. In general, Anglo Saxon boys favor the Virginian, Jewish boys favor Tom Mix, and Black boys favor Little Caesar.

For such an important life decision, one would think that the American educational system would be right there, helping young men along with information and good advice. Obviously, that is not the case. Why not? Because the country is at war. With the Arabs? No. In the eyes of Washington, war is a permanent condition. Although the total number of wars are difficult to estimate, the most important ones are probably the oil war, the intellectual property war, the currency war, and the tax war. So, how do you win a war?

By controlling as much information as possible.

This leads to a question: What is more important: Giving young men the knowledge that they need to reach a position of integrity as they move through the stages of the life cycle, or protecting the State? The answer, of course, is to give young men the knowledge. Young men are real; the State is just a collection of special interest groups, nothing more.

I’ve already noted that boys who prioritize the Virginian or Little Caesar archetype tend to become anti-intellectuals. This may explain to some extent the huge drop in literacy and the low college attendance of America’s young men. Many people believe that the source of America’s masculine anti-intellectualism is unknown, but to a large extent it’s the result of a policy decision made in Washington. In 1975 The DOD gave a $100 million grant to a think-tank called The Stanford Research Institute, also known as SRI. In return, SRI produced a flowchart of American archetypes. The report was called: The Changing Images of Man. The purpose of the report was to redefine Christianity and American Culture so that it could be analyzed in terms of behavioral science. The flowcharts trace (among other things) the stages of character development of young men and women. The charts also show how particular types of character development can promoted, or blocked.

And in terms of character development, another issue related to SRI has emerged: Mental illness among little boys. One of the most common forms is called Attention Deficit Disorder. It’s a so-called mystery disease that causes boys to misbehave for no apparent reason. I’m willing to bet that many of these young men are simply trying to reconcile their archetypes. It’s interesting to note that Anglo Saxon boys comprise the majority of diagnosed ADHD cases, and there is probably a good reason for that. As noted earlier, white boys tend to become Virginians.

Teachers in the feminized school system instinctively recognize the three archetypes and respond to each in a different manner. The Tom Mix’s are fully cooperative, and thus represent no threat. The Little Caesars are completely outside the system, and thus judged to be not dangerous. But the Virginians are a problem. These boys represent independent masculine strength inside the system. To a feminist, this is unacceptable. The teacher hates the young Virginian because he is masculine, and he hates her because she is blocking his archetypical fantasy. So what is the answer? Ritalin.

America’s boys are being forced to internalize the worldview of The Virginian, Tom Mix, and Little Caesar as a single unit; they are never allowed to see the three archetypes separately, or to understand the separate worldview that each archetype represents. As a result, the boys suffer terribly in the attempt to reconcile forces that they can’t understand. This leads to criminal behavior, and leaves many adults wondering why America’s young men have so many problems. There is, of course, a solution to all this: Tell them the truth.

All young men should be thoroughly trained in the archetypes, and the stages of the life cycle. They will be healthier and happier, and everyone else will be too.

Bibliography:

• Big Bad Wolves
  Masculinity in the American Film
  By Joan Mellen
• Legends of America
  A Golden Book
• C.G. Jung Speaking
  Interviews and encounters
  Edited by William McGuire and R.F.C. Hull
• Identity and the Life Cycle
  By Erik H. Erikson

Ron Liebermann [send him mail] is a contractor and manufacturer of Mylar balloons in Louisville, Ky.

How
can we get more money?

Many
psychologists have served the State in this project, but perhaps
none better than the famous leftist Abraham Maslow. Hailed as a
visionary during the height of his popularity during the 1960's,
he created a set of priorities called Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs,
which defines the motivation of individuals. Let's take a look at
the hierarchy:

Physiological:

Food,
Clothing, and Shelter.

Safety:

The
need to be free from danger and to have confidence about future
security.

Social:

The
need to identify with a group.

Esteem:

The
need to have a high opinion of oneself.

Self-Actualization:

The
desire to be fulfilled.

Now let's look
at the list again, from the viewpoint of the State:

Physiological:

Food
Stamps, Welfare, Section 8 Housing.

Safety:

Dept.
of National Security, Dept. of Economic Security, Dept.
of Homeland Security.

Social:

Faith
Based and Community Initiatives.

Esteem:

Grade
Norming, Affirmative Action, And Political Correctness.

Self-Actualization:

Patriotism,
U.S.A. Freedom Corps.

In the State's
view, Maslow's great accomplishment was that he identified a set
of control points for human behavior, and made it possible for the
State to use these points to pursue national objectives. One of
these objectives was winning the Cold War.

Young
readers may not be familiar with the Cold War, so here is a brief
history:

The
Cold War was a political battle between Russia and America after
World War 2. Both countries wanted to rule the world. Russia
had tanks, Communism, and oil. America had Democracy and Capitalism.
America, in a bold gamble to outwit Russia, began to transfer her
industrial capacity to undeveloped Asian and European countries
in an attempt to win their friendship, and also to make them economically
dependent on American consumers. As a result, American factories
and the jobs that went with them were sent away.

Remembering
this is important because free trade economists like Mises are often
blamed for America's deindustrialization. In truth, America's industrial
decline was a deliberate State action; American jobs were exported
as foreign policy.

While
this transfer of industry was taking place, the government ran into
a couple of new problems:

1. How can
   we maintain Federal tax revenues?

2. How can
   we explain the closure of so many factories to the American
   people?

The
first problem was easy. Washington set up a system that forced importers
to pay a series of bribes to the Federal Government. The first was
an army of expensive Washington Lawyers to lobby congress, the second
was Trade Tariffs, and the third was Transfer Taxes.

Explaining
deindustrialization to the American people was also easy. As long
as economic growth remained strong, pesky details like declining
production of goods didn't matter. During the Cold War years of
1948 to 1973, the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.7%. Everyone
was happy. What wasn't discussed was the share of non-productive
government spending that made up this growth, and the debt behind
it.

It
was also during this period that the government found that it could
match its social programs to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and use
these programs to underwrite its own growth. At about the same time,
the work of two other psychologists became important in the management
of national affairs. The first was a man named Stanley Milgram,
who ran a series of behavioral tests in 1964. He found that 60%
of all humans will commit torture (and murder) when the order comes
from a strong authority figure.

The
second psychologist was a man named Philip Zimbardo. He discovered,
through a cultural anthropology experiment at Stanford University
in 1971, that people derive almost all of their identity from group
affiliation. During filming of The
Planet of the Apes, the Gorilla actors wouldn't chat with
the Orangutan actors.

The
reader might ask: Fine, but what does the Cold War have to do with
these men?

The
answer lies in the fact that Russia has recently regained control
of almost all the countries that it held by military force twenty
years ago. Now it controls them by restricting the supply of oil
and gas. Add to this the fact that Marxists have overrun American
schools and universities, and that America's industrial base has
moved to China, a Communist country. One is led to an unpleasant
possibility:

The
American government may have fatally overextended itself in an attempt
to win the Cold
War.

Almost
anyone would say this is impossible, because the Soviet Union has
collapsed. But when viewed in terms of geopolitical control of Europe,
leadership in manufacturing in Asia, and resurgent Cultural Marxism
at home, the idea makes sense. So let's assume that Bush and his
partners from the bureaucracy have looked at the problem, and decided
that a new plan of action was needed.

When
it comes to State action, there are only four choices:

1. Economic
   Pressure
2. Diplomatic
   Posturing
3. Covert
   Activity
4. Explicit
   Armed Conflict.

Economic
Pressure in the form of tariffs and quotas are no longer very effective,
as a result of the decreased purchasing power of the American consumer.
Diplomatic Posturing is all well and good, but limited in its persuasive
value. Covert Activity just got the Peace Corps kicked out of Russia.
This leaves only one option: Explicit Armed Conflict.

So
to put it another way, America was beaten industrially by Asia,
and geopolitically by Russia.
Economic disaster has been forestalled temporarily by expanding
the money supply, but that too must come to an end some day. When
that day arrives, it will become impossible to maintain the single
most politically important government activity: Transfer Payments.
The Transfer Payment System is a giant vote-buying scheme that functions
by taking money from young poor people and giving it to old rich
people. As far as Bush and his men are concerned, a hot war is the
only way to counter Soviet geopolitical control of Europe, and to
the preserve the Transfer Payment system. They don't care about
the cost of the war: The alternative is political revolution.

Now,
let's get back to Maslow, Milgram, and Zimbardo. When a government
decides to start a war, it needs:

1. Patriotic
   symbols to enlist the support of the people, this is Maslow;

2. A strong
   authority figure to command the troops, this is Milgram;

3. A dehumanized
   enemy who can be justifiably killed, this is Zimbardo.

A citizen subject
to this combination of operant conditioning will rejoice in military
victory, Pray for the President, and hate the enemy. His identity
will transcend all former boundaries; he will become a member of
a group that Lenin called the Super-Class. Members of the
Super-Class base their self-esteem not on family, religion, or accomplishment;
but rather on patriotism and brotherhood.

The
plan, however, has a flaw: It represents an abandonment of the financial
principles upon which the nation found success: The market economy.
Let's look for a moment at the definition of the market economy
as provided by Mises: The market economy is the social system of
the division of labor under private ownership of the means of production.
Everybody acts on his own behalf; but everybody’s actions aim at
the satisfaction of other people’s needs as well as at the satisfaction
of his own.

Now
let's look at the definition of Volkswirtschaft, (or Nationalism)
also by Mises:

The
Volkswirtschaft is a sovereign nation’s total complex of
economic activities directed and controlled by the government. It
is socialism realized within the political frontiers of each nation….
The righteous citizen should always place the volkswirtscaftliche
interests above his own selfish interests. Volkswirtschaft
may be thought of as Economic Nationalism.

The
term Economic Nationalism is used in Washington these days to describe
Asian economies, because the U.S. government can't admit that it
deindustrialized America on purpose. So Washington now claims that
Asian Economic Nationalism must be countered by an American equivalent.
And to do this, they need to get the people on board. Since volkswirtscaftliche
is so similar to Communism, the American people would never agree
to it if it were explained openly. It must therefore be implemented
secretly, by coercion. This explains why psychology has become the
core discipline of modern public relations, and in fact, of the
modern State itself. Flags in Kuwait, Flags in New York, Flags in
Baghdad.

The
use of psychological warfare against the American people represents
an attempt on the part of the State to erase the past, in order
that it might more easily shape the future. It is certain that somewhere
in the bowels of the Pentagon, a supercomputer is working overtime
to measure and report on the effectiveness of every theory, every
campaign, and every new slogan. The American consciousness has become
a computer model, and the government, it's programmer. (There is
a legend that Ben Goertzel is the father of this effort.)

Little
wonder then that the average American feels helpless and nihilistic
when faced with such a stunning display of intellectual force. It
seems impossible for any one man to counter the accumulated years
of research that the government can bring to bear against its citizens.
In the view of many, the best that one can hope for is to hold the
line against further encroachments, and hope that things will somehow
get better. Holding the line, however, is not the answer because
the government can redraw the line again and again. And each time
the box gets smaller.

What
then is to be done? If our movement is to succeed in halting the
growth of the State, it will need fighters who see the war of ideas
clearly, and who are willing to speak out fearlessly, intelligently,
and publicly. It is these people on whom the nation now depends:
citizens who can match the intelligence and drive of the left, and
who can combine those qualities with a Christian zeal for truth
and reason in a time when both are brutally suppressed.

April
26, 2003

Ron
Liebermann [send him mail] is
a contractor and manufacturer of Mylar balloons in Louisville, Ky.

Protecting
the status of the Petro-dollar as the world's reserve currency.

Simply
put, the dollar has for several decades been positioned as the only
way for an industrialized country to pay OPEC for oil. No matter
who you were, you had to buy American dollars and then send those
dollars to OPEC, who would then use the money to buy American debt,
or American weapons.

It
was the perfect set-up. Greenspan printed worthless dollars, and
gave them to people who gave us free gasoline, and free TV sets,
and free wicker furniture. The game changed, however, when the Euro
was introduced. Now, many oil-producing nations are accepting the
Euro instead of the dollar. Saddam loves the Euro.

This
new competition from the Euro makes Uncle Sam very angry. So Uncle
Sam came up with a plan; he sent a secret message to all the Arabs:

You
will only accept American Dollars, or we will kill you.

This,
to a large extent, explains the secrecy surrounding the activities
of the American government. It would be difficult for President
Bush to go on TV and explain the benefits of his Dollars or Death
foreign policy. Many left-wing pacifists would say that we shouldn't
kill people who accept the Euro. (Unless they are French.)

In
spite of the threats, the Euro is continuing to gain in popularity.
So what? You might ask. If oil sellers take one kind of worthless
note instead of another, that's no skin off our backs. But the American
government can't print Euros. It can only print dollars. Therein
lies the problem:

No
more Petro-Dollar reserve currency; no more free stuff for Americans.

Now,
a lot of Americans might be angry to hear that they won't be getting
any more free stuff. Especially those people who have come to believe
that the American government owes them free stuff. And there
are lots of Americans who believe that.

Here
is a partial list of people who are going to be very upset when
the Free Stuff Program comes to an end:

1. African
   Americans who expect to receive reparations. No money, cancelled.
2. Poor
   people who expect to receive welfare and medical benefits. No
   money, cancelled.

3. Students
   who engage in after school activities, such as sports. No
   money, cancelled.

4. Old
   People who expect to receive expensive medicine. No money,
   cancelled.

5. Farmers
   who expect to receive money not to grow anything. No money,
   cancelled.

6. Feminists
   who expect the State to act as husband and father. No money,
   cancelled.

7. Mexican
   immigrants who expect to receive emergency room medical care.
   No money, cancelled.

Actually,
the government would never officially cancel any of these programs.
They will finance everything with increasingly worthless notes.
The resulting inflation will make goods and services less affordable.
They will then hire good-looking economic commentators who will
go on TV to offer explanations that skirt the truth by a country
mile.

Old
people will call their Congressman and shout: Where is my free
stuff? Al Sharpton and Farmers and Mexicans and Moms will march
in the streets. But it won't help. Broke is broke, although stealing
Iraq's oil may take up some of the slack.

Fortunately,
the U.S Government has one last card up its sleeve: the U.S.A. Patriot
Act. Rioting and unlawful assembly will be classified as acts of
terrorism. Thus, the government has the means to control domestic
turmoil, and a convenient foreign enemy to blame for the whole mess.
There is only one group that will be protected: Government employees.
Their pay and benefits will be indexed to inflation, so they won't
take the hit.

For
everyone else, it's time to start making TV sets and wicker furniture.
I wonder if RCA
is hiring?

February
12, 2003

Ron
Liebermann [send him mail] is
a contractor and manufacturer of Mylar balloons in Louisville, Ky.

Logic is often
applied to human problems in an attempt to determine truth; and
since truth is the foundation of liberty, free men must apply the
rules of logic rigorously. Americans, until the counter-revolution
of the sixties, had long been champions of this ideal.

Over the last
hundred years, a problem has developed in America. Government has
slowly turned away from the idea of using truth as a standard, and
has replaced truth with the fallacies. The fallacies may be thought
of as an organized system of anti-logic; they are an evil mirror-image
of the truth.

Our government
has seized upon the fallacies because logic, unlike truth, is mutable.
That's why Christians use logic and faith together. Christians believe
that God exists, that right is better than wrong, and that truth
is a virtue. To say that there is a conflict between fixed Christian
ideals, and the hidden and self-serving goals of government would
be an understatement.

In order to
maintain support for an increasingly irrational agenda, the government
makes extensive use of the fallacies. To understand the government,
look at the Fallacies. It then becomes easy to see how they operate:

THE FALLACIES

Fallacies
of Distraction

False Dilemma:
Only two choices are given, when in fact there are more options:

(A) Invade
Iraq, or

(B) Continue
sanctions.

Complex Question:
Two unrelated points are co-joined as a single proposition:

We must invade
Iraq to restore democracy, and safeguard the oil supply.

Appeals
to Motives in Place of Support

Appeal to
Force: The reader is persuaded to agree by force: If you are
a good American, you will support the war. If you don't, you are
a traitor.

Appeal to
Pity: The reader is persuaded to agree by sympathy: In these
hard economic times, we must raise taxes so that no child is left
behind.

Changing
the Subject

Attacking the
Person: The person's circumstances are noted:

Saddam uses
Viagra and lives in a palace and steals incubators.

Anonymous Authority:
The authority in question is not named:

Officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, claim
that the British Ricin suspects are connected with Al Qaeda.

Inductive
Fallacies

False Analogy:
The two objects or events being compared are relevantly dissimilar:
We must occupy Iraq to establish democracy, just
as we did with Japan.

Fallacy of
Exclusion: Evidence that would change the outcome of an inductive
argument is excluded from consideration: Iraq has an arsenal of
weaponry that must be destroyed. (Most of it is of American origin)

Causal
Fallacies

Post Hoc: Because
one thing follows another, it is held to cause the other:

The
attack on the World Trade Center caused the invasion of Afghanistan.

Insignificant: One
thing is held to cause another, and it does, but it is insignificant
compared to other causes: The collapsing American economy is caused
by low consumer confidence. (Rather than over-taxation, and over-regulation)

Missing
the Point

Begging the
Question: The truth of the conclusion is assumed by the premises:

American values are universal, therefore Arab society will eventually
welcome American hegemony.

Straw Man:
The author attacks an argument different from (and weaker than)
the opposition's best argument: U.S. military interventions are
not a violation of the sovereign status of individual nations, rather
they are a safeguard of human rights within those nations.

Fallacies
of Ambiguity

Equivocation:
The same term is used with two different meanings:

Affirmative
Action is the intentional inclusion of members of a group,
or alternately, the intentional exclusion of members of a
group.

Amphiboly:
The structure of a sentence allows two different interpretations.

Presidential
Quote: Our goal is not to expand the Government, but to create an
agile organization. (We will expand the government, but that's not
the goal.)

By the way,
this is the origin of the expression telling a fib.

Category
Errors

Composition:
Because the attributes of the parts of a whole have a certain
property, it is argued that the whole has that property: The American
government will benefit from war, thus the American people will
benefit from war.

Division: Because
the whole has a certain property, it is argued that the parts have
that property. Government spending is 40% of gross domestic product,
so it claims to create 40% of the wealth. (In fact, the government
creates no wealth, it destroys wealth).

Non Sequitur

Denying the
Antecedent: Any argument of the form: If A then B, Not A, thus
Not B:

If
we invade Iraq, democracy will be established. If we don't invade
Iraq: the people will be enslaved forever.

Inconsistency:
Asserting that contrary or contradictory statements are both
true. America is a peace loving country, and we are also the world's
Policeman.

Syllogistic
Errors

Fallacy of
Drawing an Affirmative Conclusion From a Negative Premise:

All Patriots
are American, and some Americans are not Patriots, therefore some
Americans are dangerous.

Existential
Fallacy: A particular conclusion is drawn from universal premises:

All
men desire truth, and some men are dangerous, so
some truth is dangerous.

Fallacies
of Explanation

Subverted Support,
The phenomenon being explained doesn't exist:

Arabs
want to destroy America because they hate democracy.

Limited Depth,
The theory that explains, does not appeal to underlying causes:

The
government is expanding so that it may better serve the needs
of the people.

Fallacies
of Definition

Circular Definition:
The definition includes the term being defined as part of the
definition: America is a democracy, because the American people
believe in democracy.

Failure to
Elucidate: The definition is harder to understand than the term
being defined:

The U.S.A.
Patriot Act stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to intercept and Obstruct Terrorism

For the full
set of fallacies visit: http://datanation.com/fallacies/div.htm

Modern media
tries to make the case that some government agencies may be dishonest,
but the government itself is trustworthy. This, of course, is hogwash.
Or rather, it is a Category Error, Fallacy of Composition. (I think
hogwash sounds better.)

The danger
associated with government use of the fallacies is that lying comes
at a personal cost to the people who engage in these activities.
Like soldiers who develop bloodlust, lying government and media
personnel eventually lapse into moral bankruptcy. And moral bankruptcy,
as British writer Theodore Dalrywmple has noted, signals the onset
of fascism. As evidence, consider the following dark unspoken proposition
now coming out of Washington:

Old people:
Do you want your social security check and your medicine? Young
people: Do you want jobs in the new centrally planned economy? Then
shut up. We've got some killing to do, and the sooner we get it
over with, the better. After we take what we need, there might be
something left over for you.

The purpose
of this unspoken offer is not merely to buy silence; it is intended
to make people feel as if they are morally complicit to a crime.
Once you take the money, you are bought and paid for. Our government,
which destroyed free enterprise with graft, now enforces the silence
of its citizenry with lies and unspoken threats.

The solution
to all this, of course, is to tell the truth, and to expect the
same of others.

Learn to recognize
the fallacies, and get into the habit of spotting them every time
you read the news. They are easy to see, if you make the effort.
And if you really want to fight, develop a strong moral code based
on both logic and faith, and live by it.

January
30, 2003

Ron
Liebermann [send him mail] is
a contractor and manufacturer of Mylar balloons in Louisville, Ky.

That’s
why we have the Department of Defense, rather than the Department
of Killing People. The word Defense is friendly, and carries moral
authority. When civilians are murdered by the Department of Killing
People, the result is collateral damage. Fascist code words re-label
theft and murder to make them appear as commerce and justice.

The
four organizations listed below employ code words to disguise their
one true objective: Complete subjugation of the human race. Curiously,
each claims a different justification in order to pursue this goal.

Following
is a description of the worlds primary code language generators,
along with the moral claim of each.

D.O.D.
– Vote Delivery Machine, and Home for Unwed Mothers.

Official
Description: The Department of Defense is the nations largest
employer, with 1.4 million men and women on active duty. Annual
published budget of 270 billion dollars. The D.O.D. also maintains
a classified budget, amount unknown.

Moral
Claim: Evil can be eliminated if we eliminate freedom.

I.A.D.B.
– Training camp for Tin Pot Dictators, including the American
kind.

Official
Description: The Inter-American Defense Board. This organization
operates a top-level military planning center, and college. The
I.A.D.B. teaches government employees and military commanders the
methods of acquiring power . I.A.D.B.graduates, according to their
website, occupy positions of great influence.

Moral
Claim: Anarchy can be eliminated if we eliminate freedom.

Interpol
– Money watchdog. Makes sure everyone pays taxes somewhere.

Official
Description: Short for International Police, it isthe second
biggest international organization after the United Nations. It’s
stated mission is to gather and disseminate criminal intelligence
in order to combat international crime.

Moral
Claim: Crime can be eliminated if we eliminate freedom.

NATO
– World Government enforcement tool.

Official
Description: The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance. Their stated
role is to safeguard the freedom and security of its 19 member countries.
According to the NATO website, the North Atlantic Treaty derives
its legitimacy from the U.N. Charter.

Moral
Claim: War can be eliminated if we eliminate freedom.

Now
that we have examined the four sources of fascist code language,
we can look at the specific code words that they employ:

Covert
Operations

Operations
which are planned and executed as to conceal the identity of
the sponsor. Example: Have a CIA funded terrorist fly a plane
into the World Trade Center.

Psychological
Consolidation Activities

Activities
directed at the civilian population in areas under friendly
control, in order to rally support for military objectives.
Example: Have the Pentagon oversee production of a pro-war movie
such as Black Hawk Down.

Psychological
Media

Controllable
media which establishes communication with a target audience.
Example: The New York Times, CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Google.

Psychological
Operations

Operations
that convey information to foreign audiences in order to influence
their behavior. Example: Drop food and money on Afghan refugees.

Psychological
Situation

The emotional
state or behavioral motivation of a target audience. Example:
Patriotic fervor.

Psychological
Operations Approach

The technique
adopted to induce a desired reaction on the part of the target
audience. Example: Incite Patriotic fervor, then declare war.

Psychological
Warfare

The use
of propaganda in order to influence the attitudes and behavior
of hostile foreign groups. Example: Suggest the possible use
of nuclear weapons.

Psychological
Warfare Consolidation

Psychological
warfare directed toward populations in friendly areas with the
objective of promoting cooperation. Example: Have CIA operatives
grant cash rewards for useful intelligence.

Perception
Management

Actions
that convey or deny selected information to a civilian population
in order to influence their behavior. Example: Force a search
engine to de-list unapproved websites.

The
code words listed above represent deception, chicanery, and manipulation.
In other
words: Evil.

In
order to understand why organizations use these methods, it is worthwhile
to examine the makeup of systems in general. A book by John Gall
entitled Systemantics describes the nature of systems, and how they
eventually become living, breathing entities. Not only do they develop
a collective consciousness, but they also develop the desire for
growth, and mechanisms of self-preservation.

A
system can be (among other things) a country, an organization, or
a religion. In the case of a country, Patriotism is the mechanism
of self-preservation. In an organization, it is allegiance to a
cause. In a religion, it is faith. In all cases, the adherents are
bound within a collective organizational consciousness.

The
ego-like qualities of this organizational consciousness cause each
system to lust for ever greater power. Greater power requires more
personnel, which requires ever larger budgets, in a never ending
spiral of growth. The lack of profit which would keep a private
company in check does not serve as a restriction for a system that
can extract taxes as needed from a captive regional or global population.
Even if commercial activity declines as a result of excessive taxation,
the tax supported systems continue to grow.

To
justify this growth, these systems have no choice but to abandon
the original purpose for which they were created. Thus, a moderate
original goal must be replaced with a lofty objective, couched in
a complex terminology, that is designed to sound virtuous. The elimination
of evil, anarchy, crime, and war. In all cases, the objective requires
growth.

Government
bureaucracies play this game, as well. Currencies are expanded worldwide
in a global competition of debasement. Inflation is the favored
tax of geographic tax supported systems known as countries. As taxes
increase, so must patriotism by a corresponding amount to avoid
insurrection.

Eventually,
the practical justification for a tax supported system grown huge
disappears all together, leaving behind nothing but the naked lust
for power. With it’s own language, it’s own culture, and it’s own
survival mechanisms, the system feels that complete world domination
is the only objective worthy of it’s infinite sense of self. Thus,
the world falls under the control of tax supported thugs who have
the strength, and the motive, to rob almost every person on the
planet.

It’s
probably too late to stop the current cycle of asset confiscation,
currency debasement, and economic collapse. Our best hope is to
train a new generation of citizens who are educated, brave, and
willing to fight for their freedom, they same way our forefather’s
fought so many times before.

March
20, 2002

Ron
Liebermann [send him mail]
is a contractor and manufacturer of mylar balloons in Louisville,
Ky.

LRC
needs your help to stay on the air.

The
State does not wish for the battle against evil to be discussed,
except in terms that it can control. Thus, the State defines heroism
as triumph over adversity, or danger. To call heroism a triumph
over evil makes the state uncomfortable. It knows that an increasing
number of Americans are engaged in a heroic battle against domestic
tyranny, which is clearly evil. The State thus denies it’s evil
nature, all the while increasing it’s tyranny.

Government
animosity towards heroism has it’s roots in the conflict between
Jeffersonian Democracy, and the Marxism we have today. Our original
democracy promised equality of opportunity, whereby each man was
expected to succeed or fail according to his own effort. This individual
effort stands as a threat to Marxist equality of condition. Our
government attempts to enforce equality by destroying the bond between
effort and reward. Through taxation and redistribution of wealth,
the State punishes effort, and rewards allegiance.

Everyone
knows, of course, that lack of effort does not create equality,
it creates poverty. When a Marxist such as Al Sharpton promises
to elevate the poor, he is really promising to deliver equality
as an illusion. Children are taught to expect reward without effort,
and status without achievement. Military rank is a prime example:
Promotion occurs as a result of political correctness. The ability
to win battles is no longer a factor.

The
Marxist disconnection between effort and reward has resulted in
a new pathology: The cult of non-effort. To witness non-effort in
action, tune to MTV. There, one can view young Anglo’s Hanging Out
and young blacks Chilling. The cult of non-effort is a celebration
of sloth within a materialistic utopia. Kid Rock, Snoop Doggy Dog,
and Puff Daddy are the primary arbiters of this worldview. This
cult takes other forms, as well. Consider the lottery. Everyone
is equal in the eyes of Lady Luck, so effort is pointless. The lottery
is self-funding Marxist propaganda.

According
to the cult of non-effort, nobody works, everybody is rich, and
all men are joined in a brotherhood of ego. Lurking just below the
surface however, is a deadly cynicism. Even the followers of this
new religion know it’s a lie. The success of the cult of non-effort
is evidence that American youth are attempting to fabricate a heroic
mythology, but without the benefit of worthy heroes. These young
men don’t know it, but they have been stripped of their heroic myth.

What
is the heroic myth, you say? It is the spiritual battle that each
man fights with evil, that places his life and personal struggle
within a context of greatness. Every man fights this battle. The
heroes of his mythology are drawn from his culture. Over the last
hundred years, there have been three cultural Icons who have played
central roles in the American heroic myth: Ragged Dick, John Galt,
and Christ.

Ragged
Dick is a novel that was written by Horatio Alger, in 1868. To quote
the publisher: Young Dick is a plucky street boy who smokes, gambles,
and speaks ungrammatically, but he is also honest and hardworking,
striving not for wealth and status, but for a steady job, a decent
place to sleep, and respectability. This was the first of a series
of poor-boy-makes-good books that connected virtue and hard work
with success. Ragged Dick is effort personified.

Atlas
Shrugged is a 1957 novel by the Objectivist Ayn Rand. In
this novel, John Galt, the protagonist, makes a conscious decision
to think. It is that momentous decision, to become self-aware, that
changes his life forever. The libertarian creed of self-determination,
rather than collective responsibility, is reasoned as the highest
ideal. John Galt is integrity personified.

The
Bible is a collection of divinely inspired stories, woven into an
account of what many believe to be an accurate history of the world.
Christ, the rebellious central character of the New Testament, exists
as the Son of God who has been sent to atone for the sins of man.
Mankind, through worship, projects his most basic sense of self
onto Christ. Out of love, Christ returns this sense of self, in
the form of mercy. He serves as a vessel for our trust, and through
forgiveness, provides grace. Christ is virtue personified.

These
three figures are part of a group of hundreds of real and fictional
heroes that together form a standard of bravery, honor, and good
conduct. St. Augustine wrote extensively on the subject, saying
that the conflict between good and evil rages not only in mankind
as a whole, but in every individual.

Fathers
are the primary mythical heroes. Young men internalize the heroic
myth, and use it to form an identity. This identity serves as a
rudder, which helps each man to steer a course through a dangerous
and complex world. Marxist governments hate and fear the heroic
myth, and wish to destroy it. They know that it challenges their
authority at the deepest level.

Why
do they fear it so? There are three primary reasons:

(1)
The heroic myth is masculine, and chivalrous.

It
exists exclusively in the minds of men. It is Camelot, King Arthur,
and the Damsel in distress. This fact is intolerable to female Marxists
who demand, but can never achieve, heroic equality.

(2)
The heroic myth is self-aware.

The
conscious man explores his mind and heart openly. Marxism, through
repression, uses shame and guilt to force portions of the conscious
mind to submerge into the sub-conscious. Conscious men are not easily
repressed. Nor are they easily governed.

(3)
The heroic myth is spiritual.

Heroes,
above all, are moral beings. The inner voice that calls upon each
man is the voice of his own conscience, and proof of his spiritual
autonomy. Marxism, by definition, is atheistic and authoritarian.
These forces stand in perfect opposition.

The
heroic myth serves as a model for all men who wish to be free. That
is exactly why our Marxist government cannot allow it to exist.
Feminism encourages divorce, which separates fathers from sons,
breaking the heroic myth continuum. Secular Humanism denies the
existence of God, which removes the basis for a moral life. Finally,
leftist propaganda defines masculinity as the source of violence,
rather than acknowledging it’s true function as the source of honor.

Young
men need a strong hero myth for proper character development, the
same way they need vitamins and minerals for a healthy body. It
is a primary objective of our Marxist government never to allow
that to happen.

As
Americans, we must reintroduce heroic mythology into the minds of
young men.

We
must swim against the tide of popular opinion, and the Marxist agenda
of the public schools and universities. This heroic call to greatness
is the path to freedom.

February
21, 2002

Ron
Liebermann [send him mail]
is a contractor and manufacturer of mylar balloons in Louisville,
Ky.

LRC
needs your help to stay on the air.

Edward
L. Bernays, nicknamed the Father of Spin, was the creator of modern
propaganda. Bernays was Sigmund Freud’s nephew, and applied Freud’s
work to the art of mass persuasion by blending advertising techniques
with an understanding of human psychology. Bernays worked for the
Committee on Public Information, otherwise known as the CPI. This
government agency was created by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917
for the purpose of mustering public support for World War One.

The
original propaganda campaign had three rules:

1. Stress
   emotion over logic,
2. Demonize
   the enemy, and
3. Promise
   a war that will make the world safe for democracy.

The
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan has followed Bernays’ playbook to the
letter. We waved our flags, while the evil wife-enslaving Taliban
were destroyed by the freedom loving Northern Alliance. The CPI
is clearly still hard at work today. It has been given new life
in the War on Terror (emotion over logic), which is intended to
destroy the Evil Axis (demonize the enemy), in order to create a
safe world for our children (promise democracy). One can only guess
at the breadth and scope of the overall propaganda effort, but it
would be no stretch to assume that it employs thousands, and costs
billions.

The
February issue of Vanity Fair carries a fifteen page spread
of the President’s cabinet. Foremost in this group are The Spin
Team, who are in charge of what they call the Image Offensive. This
is a new euphamism for Propaganda. The Spin Team claims that the
offensive is an attempt to explain the conflict to the American
people in terms of economics, diplomacy, and law. In practice, they
use classic Freudian imagery of fear, hope, danger, and reward.

Employing
domestic propaganda to win wars seems to be only part of a larger
agenda. The Total State continually seeks to expand its power, and
does so by encouraging citizens to view the government as a benevolent
parent. Elected officials are presented as authority figures, rather
than public servants. Through the influence of state-controlled
media, we begin to view politicians as our own internalized caretakers.
In other words, we grant them parental authority.

As
further evidence, witness the rise of personality journalism. When
reporting on government affairs, the media now excludes substantive
debate. Instead, journalists depend on human interest. We watch
the President give a speech, and then listen as the commentators
note how strong he looked, and determined, and handsome. There is
no reason to discuss the merits of his plan. Note also that the
President has much more gray hair since the events of September
11. During his State of the Union, the President was strategically
placed in front of a group of admiring young men. He is being groomed
to serve as a patriarch, or should democracy fail completely, a
Monarch.

Even
the titles of our so-called leaders have changed to reflect the
new order. We now have a Commander of Homeland Security, a Commander
in Chief, and a Drug Czar. Authority figures, all of them.

In
his 1982 book The
Ominous Parallels, Leonard Peikoff, protégé
of the famous Objectivist Ayn Rand, describes the evolution of the
Total State and the doctrine of Statism. He says modern Western
culture is in a state of philosophical bankruptcy. The Total State
uses this bankruptcy to pursue three goals: the worship of unreason,
the demand for self-sacrifice, and the elevation of society or the
state above the individual. These are the same goals that were pursued
by Germany during World War Two. They called it National Socialism.

National
Socialism is a blend of Marxism and Imperialism, which together
form the basis of the Total State. Following are a description of
each, by Darren Perkins:

Marxism
is the basis of the governmental system of Socialism. Socialism
applies the moral code of humanism, where science is man’s ultimate
source of wisdom and knowledge. Man is held in restraint by The
State that compels and restricts the individual to work for the
common good of society.

Imperialism
is the basis of the governmental system of Corpratism: Corpratism
applies the moral code of materialism, with an opportunity to conquer
and subjugate, to feed ones indulgence in a system of privilege
and class rank. What makes sense gives way to what is possible.
Based on the governing principle of supreme dominion, license to
participate in the system comes from the Imperial Head and his ruling
elite.

The
objectives of the Total State are twofold. The first is to formalize
the rank and privilege of this ruling elite. The second is to eliminate
dissent. National Socialism allows the Total State to achieve both
objectives. Under the ruse of civic engagement, the wealthy elite
dominate the political process through soft-money campaign contributions.
This ensures complete political power, and freedom from tax or disclosure
obligations. By some estimates, this group has moved trillions of
US dollars into hidden offshore bank accounts. This money will never
be taxed or acknowledged, yet it controls our government.

The
second objective, to eliminate dissent, is even easier. Our Marxist
university system, which is government subsidized, has defined a
narrow set of parameters that qualify as acceptable speech. To engage
in dialogue outside those parameters is to risk be charged as a
racist, sexist, homophobe, xenophobe, or anti-Semite. Such charges
often carry with them the status of hate crime, which is punishable
by imprisonment. Citizens who challenge government policy directly
may also face the charge of sedition. To quote the President: Either
you are with us, or you are with the Terrorists.

There
are many examples of how the state elevates itself above the individual.
A recent Executive Branch proposal calls for two years of compulsory
civil service for all youth. Claims upon personal income now reflect
an appalling tax burden of 50%, which is actually closer to 60%,
if you factor inflation. An 85% tax rate by the year 2015 is entirely
possible. Property taxes continue to rise and outright land confiscation
takes place under the thin pretense of environmental concern. This
is happening now in Klamath Basin, and happened under Clinton when
he signed an executive order that made a federal monument out of
1.7 million acres of Utah, an area the size of Delaware.

The
greatest danger of Statism lies in the fact that it usurps parental
authority in order to train young minds in obedience to the state,
which it falsely champions as patriotism. Statism demands unthinking
loyalty, which is sold by the media and taught by the public schools.
Ultimately it robs each citizen of his most important asset: the
ability to reason.

Evidence
abounds that our youth are in fact losing this faculty. There has
been a steady recorded downward trend in the basic skills, knowledge,
and analytical powers of our nation’s students. Critical thinking
skills that used to foster debate within the classroom have been
replaced with dogma, every student is keenly aware of the taboo
subjects that must be avoided. The Scholastic Aptitude Test has
been made easier to keep scores from dropping, and 75% of California
high school students cannot pass their exit exams, a reflection
of a growing nationwide trend.

Thus,
the victory of the Total State is complete. The true beneficiaries,
the Elite and its attendant classes, will continue to employ Edward
Bernays’ methods. The American people will be propagandized and
taxed until they are reduced to virtual slavery.

It
is a myth that Einstein created the most dangerous technology of
the twentieth century when he helped split the atom. The technology
created by Freud is much more dangerous. Einstein’s bombs can frighten
and occasionally kill, but Bernays’ propaganda, combined with the
rigid controls of National Socialism, allows the Total State to
hold hundreds of millions of people hostage in an invisible prison.

February
8, 2002

Ron
Liebermann [send him mail]
is a contractor and manufacturer of mylar balloons in Louisville,
Ky.

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