Extreme Angst

Extreme Angst

Charlie Earl

Woe is me. Some of my recent columns have prodded readers to call me an “extremist.” Me? Curmudgeonly, grandfatherly, jocular me…an extremist? Following a nano-second of introspective analysis, I must concur with my critics. Yes, dear misguided souls, I am an extremist, but a lovable one (immodest poetic license). In 1964 Senator Barry Goldwater accepted the GOP nomination for President and uttered these words:

          I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty

          is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in

          the pursuit of justice is no virtue!

Barry Goldwater did not get my vote in his ill-fated campaign against LBJ. I was eighteen that year, and 21 was the legal age for voting in 1964 (something we should reconsider to dilute the low-information-voter pool). If I were eligible, I would have cast my ballot for AuH2O even though I was largely unaware of the importance of his statement. Each and every day…the Senator from Arizona’s words are more prescient and necessary. Extremism is a natural result of passion, and if we have no passion for liberty, we may as well chain ourselves to the walls of tyranny.

It is possible for passion to lead from extremism to ultra-loonyness. An historic example might be John Brown, an abolitionist who believed so fervently that he initiated a nearly-suicidal attack on the armory at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Passion and extremism do not always lead to insane action and demented behavior, though those who distrust intense beliefs may characterize them as crazy. Lethargy morphs into indifference and perhaps sloth, but not all lethargic people are non-productive. Likewise with the passion to extremist model: Not all true believers are deranged. Think back to junior high school when you may have had a crush on someone who failed to acknowledge your existence. You probably pined for attention and notice. You may have undertaken some absurd actions to gain your beloved’s awareness, but so long as you weren’t a stalker or an invader of private space, your passion and your unrequited love were not dangerous. Puppy love can be sweet.

Obviously…I submit that extremism has unnecessarily and unfairly become a pejorative in our political discourse. Progressives and their Marxist cohorts passionately argue for “fairness and equity” yet their nonsensical extremism is tolerated, celebrated and endorsed. Their passion for instituting a Marxist agenda is mistaken for compassion for the downtrodden. Yet…their extremist goals and strategies are largely ignored because they have the cover of “caring.” Why should “extremism in the defense of liberty” be treated any differently? Particularly by those who claim to be conservative, constitutionalists or small-government activists. People who support a given political goal or ideological position should not be too quick to criticize and demean those who passionately embrace the cause. It should be a given that the passionate extremist should not be violent (unless necessary for self defense) or abusive (though so-called verbal abuse is often twisted for the “victim’s” advantage). Our movement to protect and re-assert our natural rights must have extremists in the vanguard. People will not follow the timid when urged to charge the barricades of despotism and tyranny. In fact…the timid and the “civil” advocates will not lead…it is too unseemly. They wouldn’t want anyone to get the idea that they believed too passionately about “that freedom thing.” Intuitively…I suspect those within the freedom movement who repudiate the extremists and radicals who are passionate for liberty are really in their hearts-of-hearts longing for positions of power and influence with the old-order statists. Consequently, they are fearful of making waves and resent those who do. Just my suspicious interpretation based on gut analysis.

Clearly this column is a self-serving justification for my alleged extremism. I don’t “feel” like an extremist. I have no trouble resisting the impulse to choke career politicians. I, so far, have managed to avoid knee-capping any sneering representatives of the bureaucracy. I do believe that I have a rational basis for my fear that our individual liberties are in “extreme” peril. Many of them have been discarded or modified already, and I fear the insatiable appetite of the Big Government monster cannot be satiated. The leviathan must be stopped. It must be dismantled. It must be discarded, and no tiny remnant should be allowed to grow again. I am an extremist and always will be.

The man was right. “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.”

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

  

 

Pragmatist to Purist

Pragmatist to Purist

Charlie Earl

Perhaps it is a function of my age, but I have given up on pragmatism as a solution for our national condition. Pragmatists are committed to finding “common-ground” solutions. Pragmatists perceive the resolution of the problem to be the primary goal rather than an insistence on a principle as the ultimate outcome. In many instances pragmatism may be a workable model, but when the “liberty factor” of a nation slides beyond the point of minimal return, then pragmatism is no longer a feasible option. I have become a purist. I desire that our nation and its leaders faithfully adhere to The Constitution of the United States …. every jot, every tittle, every clause, every phrase and every word.

When the distance between the reality of today and total tyranny in the future is large, then pragmatism may have an alluring appeal. We do not want to waste valuable time and resources arguing about every little issue that confronts the government. There are not enough anti-acids in the world to justify a state of constant contentiousness about every matter whether great or small. Peaceful co-existence seems so much healthier and easier than bickering and battling. So…the pragmatic option is preferable to the political bloodshed from fighting over somewhat meaningless issues. That is….until we discover that every pragmatic solution has led to an incremental loss of our liberty.

Over the years the pragmatic approach has led us further down the dark path toward tyranny. Each little concession or accommodation has chipped away another fragment of our personal liberty. I must admit that at one point in my life I viewed the pragmatic style as “good governing,” but I have come to realize that it’s merely a subtle form of surrender. It is the equivalent of a death by a thousand cuts rather than the sudden impact of a guillotine. Either way your hopes and dreams are dead but one style prolongs the agony. Finally… I realized that the unrelenting need for bandages and transfusions was not a prescription for freedom or opportunity. My government has been transformed from my protector to my nemesis.

Pragmatism can be a successful strategy for negotiating our daily lives. It is always pragmatic to spend less than you earn and to have a systematic savings plan. It is pragmatic to place some plants in shady areas and others in full-sunlight. Regular servicing of your automobiles is a pragmatic method for assuring that you will eke some value out of a depreciating asset. Pragmatic governance, however, is a different matter particularly when the purpose of pragmatism is either to pass legislation or to avoid conflict. Conflict resolution is often overrated. When principles are at stake, the only acceptable outcome is the total reinforcement of the principle. Any other result leads to the dilution of the principle and is the first step on the slippery slope of surrender.

So…here I am in the final trimester of my life declaring myself to be a proponent of absolute purism in the realm of governance. Just as there are no “almost virgins,” there can be no almost constitutional government. Political officeholders are no purer or stronger than are we. They are subject to the same temptations and weaknesses that we are. If a short-cut is available and no one complains, they’ll take it. If pragmatic “giving-in” yields positive approval ratings, they’ll do it. The only mechanism that will infuse our political careerists with the titanium spines of principle is a resolute citizenry. We cannot expect our political leaders to hold fast when we are unwilling to hold them accountable.

Therefore….as much as the bickering and role-playing annoys me, I cannot, I must not yield to my avoidance impulse by accepting a less-than-perfect outcome for any issue or legislation that is being considered by our governments. I, and you, must stand for the purist principle by rejecting any compromise …. or compromiser…who chooses pragmatic expediency over the principle of individual liberty. Any stance that is not purist in its nature becomes an admission of defeat. Defeat is not acceptable.

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

The Ten Year Plan

The Ten-Year Plan

Charlie Earl

By now you have detected that every proposed scheme for avoiding a fiscal collapse in the United States includes a long-term plan. They vary from the rather swift ten-year version to the more gradual 40-year solution. You also realize that the long-term proposals have been suggested and submitted for several decades. The logical conclusion is that long-term fiscal plans are obviously written on vapor. No meaning, no integrity….no matter…just ignore them because chicken lips have more value. You should know by now that if you truly value your life, you will never allow a politician to design your residential fire-escape plan. It would take up too much time, wouldn’t work and would lead you back into the inferno.

One of the advantages of being as old as I am is that I can remember the so-called glory days of the Soviet Union. The Politburo and the apparatchiks (bureaucrats) would set production goals for every sector of the Soviet economy, and would issue them in 5-year and ten-year plans. Those of us who lived in the prosperous land of the free would sneer at those plans because we knew they would be “revised.” We also understood that the plans were merely internal propaganda by the Marxist overlords to pacify the people. The plans and the production quotas were as bogus as their national leadership. Same as here in 21^st Century U.S.A.

No Congress can bind the budget of a later one, therefore any plan or proposal for “getting to balance,” “deficit reduction,” or “debt retirement” is a scam. By 1990 many in the Soviet system had discovered that their political masters were blowing smoke, so how long will it take until the majority of Americans realize the Congressional/Administration budgets are mere illusions? Maybe they already sense it which may explain the massive rush to drain the treasury. They may have surmised that as the private sector dwindles in numbers and productivity, their rides on the gravy train will become less frequent. Their thought processes may go something like this: “Do the gettin’ while the getting’s still good.”

The government apologists and trained monkeys (sorry, government economists) claim that a too rapid decrease in government spending would volcanically affect the economy. In other words…fewer federal dollars would be flowing to government contractors, subsidized enterprises and entitled citizens thereby vastly decreasing the dollars circulating in the economy. In addition, they surmised, the radical displacement of government workers would place a greater stress on the unemployment and assistance services, thus accelerating the out flow of federal obligations. They may be right, but the gradual increase in government spending, the continual addition of new government employees, and the inexorable growth of government’s share of the economy will have the same long-term effect. The major difference is that with the instantaneous reduction, we may be able to preserve our liberties. The long-term method guarantees that our freedom will diminish. It’s a no-brainer for me, but if it’s a toss-up for you, then we have a problem, and I submit that YOU ARE the problem.

In my humble view our fiscal mess screams for the abrupt solution rather than a series of artificial plans and steps that lead to the same inevitable result but with ever-greater government power. Some things should be done slowly so one can savor the resulting product. Fiscal disaster, economic chaos and erosion of liberty are not on my short list of lingering outcomes. Other things should be completed quickly to minimize the pain and avoid their ultimate destruction. While there may be hypochondriacs among us, medical experts caution us about ignoring danger signals that could indicate potentially severe problems. The economic and prosperity of a nation are similar because to ignore the clues and avoid remedies could prolong the illness and place the life of the patient in jeopardy. Open wide and take your medicine….now!

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

cearlliberty@gmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

  

Flawless Floors and Safety Nets

Flawless Floors and Safety Nets

Charlie Earl

For many years our fearless political and bureaucratic leaders have been warning us that if we do not enlarge, enhance or initiate new programs, too many Americans will fall “through the cracks.” The self-appointed social consciences of our nation do not hesitate to insist that each of us through enforced taxation be required to guarantee that no one in the United States will ever go hungry, live without adequate shelter or be denied the use of a cell phone. The metaphorical “safety net” is designed to insure that people in dire need through no fault of their own will not be abandoned by the society and the nation. Here’s a shocker: Nets have holes…sometimes very large ones particularly when administered by bureaucrats and designed by politicians.

As I ponder my obligation as a child of God and a taxpayer in one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, I shudder with anger at the audacity of our political leaders. They coerce our property from us to construct their safety nets by appealing to our sense of compassion then deride our cheapskate attitudes because the net has gaping holes. What they really want is to construct a flawless floor of dependence on government. They seek a floor so tightly designed that no one can slip through the cracks. But you and I know that such a floor cannot exist in the social arena. The flawless floor is an imaginary device for squeezing taxpayers until they too wish to reside on the flawless floor inside the tightly woven fabric of the ultimate safety net. Just like pedophiles use candy to lure children, our political and bureaucratic leaders use compassionate security to seduce the populace.

When people allow the government to assemble the flawless floors of dependence, they are, in essence, implicitly permitting the state to erect walls as well. When one surrenders the property gained through one’s efforts, the state believes it is justification for limiting peoples’ ability and opportunity for accumulating wealth. Hence….the state forges forward constructing the walls that impede and limit the people. Just as with children and pets, if people allow government to expand its reach and portfolio, it will assume that further reach and expansion are acceptable … perhaps even desirable. It is the progression from flimsy nets to sturdier nets to hammocks to floors that leads to enslavement and tyranny.

Historically, our political leaders and their functionaries have been abusing the Constitution of the United States since it was framed. Notably though, the perversion of constitutional principles was accelerated at the beginning of the 20^th Century until today when we find ourselves on the cusp of losing our republic. There are very few citizens alive today who were living 100 years ago. Even fewer were old enough to discern or experience the subtle changes in our national direction. It is no wonder, therefore, that so few people currently comprehend the perversion of our national persona. Unless they are historically, philosophically and legally astute, they will not and cannot detect the corrosive elements that have infected our Framers’ vision.

Ignorance may be bliss as the poet, Thomas Grey, penned, but our ignorant bliss eventually yields despotism. So…here we are today, and a vocal minority pleads with their fellow citizens to open their eyes and observe the coming tyranny. The major problem is that our uninformed fellows have been living and adjusting to a soft tyranny for their entire lives, and they cannot see what the problem may be. In fact….they may welcome the onset of true tyranny with open arms because if the safety net is good, the flawless floor is even better. They do not comprehend that as the walls are being built, the floor is decaying.

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

cearlliberty@gmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Hope on the Trampoline

Hope on the Trampoline

Charlie Earl

One of the lines from Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Man” exclaims that “hope springs eternal in the human breast.” This astute observation illustrates why so many people purchase lottery tickets (state-run gambling). The poetic line also explains why so many voters cast their ballots against their own self interests. They appear to hope that the indicators suggesting a particular candidate holds principle different theirs will dissolve once the happy warrior assumes office. They hope beyond hope that THIS candidate will be the faithful one who takes her or his oath of office seriously. Conversely, others dare to hope that their preferred office seeker will be the innkeeper who turns open the spigots of government revenue for their plundering. It is our nature to waver between hope and despair in national, personal or human affairs. Often it seems that when the times are darkest, hope springs forth.

One of the great advantages of my being a curmudgeonly commentator is that I have a literary license for examining the dark side of our social, moral and political existence. Curmudgeons are cranky grumblers, and I have catapulted the attribute into the stratosphere of disgruntled discontent. Like you, however, I do experience moments of unreasonable optimism and hope. Like you, I can find no rational justification for my tiny fits of feel-good frenzy. Unlike you, however, I temper my irrational moments by analyzing current events through the harsh prism of liberty. You and others like you see a little gain or a perceived advantage from one party, candidate or policy, and your automatic “hope response” kicks in. You want the statement to be true, definitive and absolute. My curmudgeonly antennae direct me to respond with cynical skepticism. In my view….when we are allowed to RETAIN a portion of our freedom, it suggests that we will not REGAIN that which has already been lost. You see the slight sliver of hope for restoration, and I grieve over the liberties lost and opportunities wasted. While you may do the victory dance that celebrates the present state, I am weeping over all the dances that have gone before with tragic outcomes.

Perhaps my jaded view arises from my four decades of political activism and as a media practitioner. Back in the early 80’s I was one of those “extremists” who fought every inch and centimeter of government growth. People from both old parties condemned my colleagues and me for our unyielding positions and our insistence that compromising basic principles would lead to losing our freedom. Subsequently….many of my fellow workers in the vineyards of liberty have become co-opted by the system, intimidated by their parties or have dropped out of the process altogether. Blessedly…..some have died and escaped the woeful circumstances that they presciently predicted while many others have retired to lick their wounds and weep alone. The march toward tyranny is continuing unabated because too many voters confuse electoral success with principled victory. Winning isn’t enough when the aftertaste of victory is bittersweet.

Our varying views on pragmatism and political reality are similar to people’s views about crop circles. The most optimistic observers seem to accept that the amazing designs were created by some benign extra-terrestrial beings. The skeptics assume that every field-based creation is the product of vandals or hooligans. The wizened and battle-weary curmudgeon bemoans the waste of valuable crops. Too many voters expect the next crop of political messiahs to lead us out of the wilderness of big government, and a few others have decided that any potential political leader is a hooligan and a thug, so they decide to capitalize on the chaos and distrust. Meanwhile….the curmudgeons among us are looking for seed to restore the field.

Finally….the curmudgeons among us are a testy lot (present company included). We recognize the slippery slope of compromise that has befallen our nation and its people. We have discerned that each and every tiny movement away from principle takes us farther from the standard….the foundation. When our friends, families and co-workers attempt to nudge us into compromise, we react forcefully…. with horror and loathing. We become more resolute. We may not have the insight and understanding of Jeremiah. In fact many of us are second-string, associate, assistant minor prophets, but we do share something with Jeremiah. We weep.   Jeremiah 6:16.

When one springs upward with hope on the trampoline of life, one cannot escape the law of gravity. The critical key is….will one land on the trampoline to repeat the exercise or land with both feet on the ground?

Charlie Earl

cearlwriting@hotmail.com

cearlliberty@gmail.com

http://thelibertylegation.blogspot.com

www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com