Money: the Opiate of the Masses

One of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, is quoted as having said: "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."

This is a simple statement based upon a profound truth of human nature: we live in the NOW. It is the rare individual who can comprehend the eventualities and inevitabilities of Tomorrow completely enough to act Today in a manner responsible enough to ensure the best possible future outcomes. Most of us only appreciate our health when we are ill. Most of us only appreciate our wealth when we are beset with poverty or hardship. Most of us only appreciate our freedom when we have become enslaved.

Benjamin Franklin continues: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury."

The citizens of our nation today are confronted with a simple choice to either:

• Continue to accept an adulterated and transient form of security and hollowed-out equality which together are eroding and eventually will destroy our freedom. The implementation of this decision is embodied in the horrendous fiscal policy of our country.
• Preserve our freedoms at the cost of accountability; to no longer defer into the future the consequences of our actions. Cut taxes and cut programs.

Recently, media articles have appeared which raise the specter of a "tipping point" in our constituency. Because of refundable tax credits and a serpetine and corrupt tax code, a full 47% of 2009 tax "payers" pay no Federal income tax. In other words: 47 of every 100 citizens of our country get every benefit offered by the federal government (national defense, the post office, and every arguably unconstitutional social entitlement program) without paying anything for those benefits.

Franklin describes the certain outcome if that tipping point is reached and maintained: "From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship." Already, the inhabitants of the presidency have a demonstrated record of abusing their constitutional powers and exceeding their legal mandates; these actions are usually precipitated not out of necessity or expedience, but rather from an overwhelming arrogant conviction that the progressive way is the enlightened way.

Benjamin Franklin lays out the further progression thusly: "The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been about 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence:

• From bondage to spiritual faith; (the 15th and 16th centuries as the colonies were established)
• From spiritual faith to great courage; (the American Revolution)
• From courage to liberty; (the establishment of the US Constitution)
• From liberty to abundance; (the 19th and early 20th centuries)
• From abundance to selfishness; (the decades following World War II)
• From selfishness to apathy; (the 90s until present)
• From apathy to dependence; (beginning with the New Deal in the early 20th century with drastic increases until present)
• From dependence back into bondage."

This last step, my friends, as well as the undoing of the unfavorable prior steps, can be undone through an awakening among all Powerful Patriots in our great nation.