Like introducing 'just a little sewage' in the water supply

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Mon, 28 May 2001 10:03:06 GMT

FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED NOV. 19, 2000
THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz
Like introducing 'just a little sewage' in the water supply

Some guy named Ed -- presumably from Las Vegas -- wrote in to respond to my column of Nov. 12:

"Well Suprynowicz, once again, while I agree with the essence of your article and the gestalt of your philosophy, I have to voice my criticism regarding your hyperbolic use of sarcastic allegory, allusion and at times comic rhetoric. But moreso, I wish to point out a dangerously irresponsible use of your journalistic privilege.

"I was not able to discern your point regarding the Elian/Reno debacle. It began with a 'see, I was right' message regarding the election, but devolved into a chance to cleverly and humorously dissect an easy target: the state of Russian politics.

"You said nothing new, gave no insight, offered no resolution. To what end, please? A chance for absurd comparison on the availability of arms? Really. Another needless caustic comment on the condition of the Russian infrastructure? If anything be drawn from your detail of their disasters, perhaps it should be how fragile and delicate are the machines to which we trust our lives. If anything can be explored in more depth, might it not be better to seek ways and means whereby Russia can become a viable part of today's economy and society?

"Your cheap shot at our educational system seemed a vaudevillian attempt to get an easy laugh. I don't think anyone doubts the need to rehabilitate the system which educates and develops our youth; nor can there be many who are unaware of the problem. Could I convince you to turn your acutely analytical mind toward exploring solutions rather than getting a quick laugh at the expense of the children?

"It is easy to find the absurdly humorous among human events, so your sparkling rhetoric regarding the bust in California and the one in Canada both seemed more wasted cheap shots to get a chuckle. I was only able to discern your well-known proclivity for denouncing police as storm troopers. Tell me something: Would you want to live in today's society sans police?

"Offer me solutions, not the blades of your own personal vendettas. Really, can you do that? I think it would elevate you from a clever writer to a great writer."

I replied:

# # #

Hi, Ed --

1) The Russians deserve to be made fun of. They tried for 80 years to export at the point of a gun (successfully, in the case of the thus-tyrannized and impoverished sovereign nations of Eastern Europe, where hundreds of thousands were imprisoned, tortured, and murdered) the deadly doctrine of collectivism, which holds at its heart the notion that we don't even own our own bodies (I have a feeling Gen. McCaffrey would agree), or the products of our labors. They are now paying the price for not fighting harder for freedom -- an object lesson for "go-along" cowards around the world.

We should not and shall not deferentially turn away and cover our eyes rather than add to their suffering by pointing out their failures with cackling glee: in fact, cackling glee is precisely the right approach. Hold up the mouldering corpse of the failure of socialism and wave its stinking, putrescent failure in the eyes of the world, including the majority of Americans who still figure income redistribution under the threat of the gun will work better here, since we have a "more reasonable, compassionate set of bureaucrats and politicians." The correct response is: "See, it DIDN'T WORK! It NEVER DOES, no matter how ruthlessly its credo is enforced.

"As Hayek and von Mises foretold, there is no 'stable mixed system' -- allowing 'just a little dose of collectivism' into a free country is like introducing 'just a little raw sewage' into a clean water supply. And the graduated income tax was ONE OF THE MAIN PLANKS OF THEIR MANIFESTO. ... Continue to try this here, and freedom-loving Americans will resist with whatever amount of force is necessary."

2) Yes, the comparison re the availability of arms does expose an "absurdity." It is absurd that a barefoot Afghan goatherd now has more freedom to arm himself with weapons of current military usefulness than many if not all Americans -- living here in what the world used to revere as "the land of the free." Is the reason you think I no longer need to point this out, your belief that all of America's 20,000 unconstitutional gun control laws have been magically repealed while we slept?

3) If the reason the Russians are suffering is the "fragility and and delicacy of the machines to which we trust our lives," why are massive power outages and dam failures and plane crashes and ship sinkings so unusual in the West that their rare occurrences merit massive press attention, yet so commonplace in the "former" Soviet bloc that they hardly merit comment any more? In fact, these technologies grow ever more reliable and robust in an environment of free economic competition. All this stuff is happening in Russia because three generations were raised to NOT RESPECT OWNERSHIP OF PRIVATE PROPERTY. Why maintain anything you do not own, and therefore from which you cannot profit? What good will be the suffering of millions of Russians, if we do not help others learn from their tragic mistake?

4) You say "I don't think anyone doubts the need to rehabilitate the system which educates and develops our youth." Ed, you are wrong. I, along with such notables as John Taylor Gatto and Marshall Fritz of the Separation of School and State Alliance (www.sepschool.org), believe the system of mandatory monopoly government-run schooling (perhaps more appropriately dubbed our government youth propaganda camps) must be ABANDONED AND DISMANTLED COMPLETELY -- not "rehabilitated" -- if our liberties are ever to be restored.

Should we have "rehabilitated" the Nazi death camps after overrunning them in 1945? Why rehabilitate anything which is evil in its very purpose? (Americans were more literate in the first half of the 19th century than they are now -- THAT'S not why Horace Mann and his gang set up the government schools.)

I respectfully suggest you may need to go read ANY of the books of Mr. Gatto, the former New York (Public School) Teacher of the Year, for some background on how the docile, doped-up, historically ignorant citizens with whom these institutions now burden us are PRECISELY WHAT WAS INTENDED.

I fear you really want to hear anything BUT solutions, Ed, because (like so many) you cling to the rotting collectivist status quo (legacy of the "Progressives" of 1912-1919, and then of that world-beating confidence team, James Farley and Franklin Roosevelt) precisely as the Russians cling to Lenin's rotting corpse, assuring anyone who'll listen that "It'll be OK if you'll just give us enough funds to embalm him one more time; why are you being so STINGY, we just need a LITTLE MORE MONEY, it's all for for the chillllldren, waaaaahhhh!"

I have written a 500-page book offering a first stab at the "solutions" you seek. If you live in the Las Vegas area, copies of my book are available at Master Shooter's Supply on West Sahara, at Machine Gun Kelly's Gun Vault near the airport on Sunset Road, and at Spurlock's Gun Shop on East Basic Road in Henderson (of course). Otherwise, feel free to order by dialing 800-244-2224 (locally in Nevada, 252-0655) or by visiting web site www.thespiritof76.com/wacokillers.html, where credit card and bulk orders are also accepted, as is payment in silver, gold, and other hard currencies.

And Have a Nice Day.

Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and editor of Financial Privacy Report (subscribe by calling Niles at 612-895-8757.) He is the author of "Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998."

Vin Suprynowicz, vin@lvrj.com

"When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong. The minority are right." -- Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926)

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H.L. Mencken

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Previous Posts:
The king's men are doing fine
An Important Invitation from Vin Suprynowicz
Getting by with a little help from his friends
The 'secrecy' noose tightens
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'Where we'd have the Haves and the Have-nots'
A chance to really clear the air
The Parade of Collectivism marches on
Goofy 9th Circuit finds new reason to reverse convictions
Will rewrite nation's history to suit new tenant

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History

Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair

End the War on Freedom

Like introducing 'just a little sewage' in the water supply