Writes Eric Barnes: "I was reading an old article yesterday from Speaking of Liberty that you wrote in the early part of this century. I could only think how frustrating it must be for you and others of the same mind.
"We live in an age of rather complete ignorance in the general populace, a skewed electoral system wide open to manipulation, a media which no longer investigates and reports but, instead, repeats the handouts given to them. We have no 'leaders.' Other than the occasional Ron Paul, unfortunately rare, the rest focus all efforts on making sure they are reelected and becoming richer.
"If every candidate were forced to pass the kind of test on the Constitution that we routinely got in high school civics back in the 1950s (no such courses any longer being taught, of course), I doubt quite seriously that any of them could pass. Liars and thieves, most of them, yet reelected constantly by a blind constituency ignorant of the most basic facts of economics.
"As for what passes for 'money', I had an interesting recall this morning when I dropped a quarter on the floor and heard that dull 'thunk'. I remembered going into a country grocery store, about 1945, with a friend of mine, both of us about 10-11 years old. My friend bought a candy bar and dropped a dime on the counter. It made that same 'thunk.' The storekeeper instantly grabbed my friend's wrist and had his wife call the police. They responded and got very serious about the passing of a 'slug', a non-silver coin. My friend was taken into custody and his parents had to go and get him. At the time, I was asked to put any change I had on the counter. None of the coins were slugs and I was let go. All I can remember beyond that was my friend was let off with a warning and became very careful about change! LOL
"But if the government does it, it's okay. For me, it's still counterfeit."
