Power, The Ultimate Addiction

Power. It is the ultimate addiction. It's grip on the human mind is stronger than sex, money, and even drugs. Power, particularly political power, has been the most destructive force throughout human history. It has caused the deaths of millions of human beings in every nation across this planet. The narcotic of power leads to greed, corruption, aggression, violence and eventually despotism. Power, as Lord Acton so aptly put it, does "corrupt, absolutely". No race, ethnicity, gender or political affiliation is immune to the drug of power, and all nations have had leaders who abuse power. Let us look at what the usurpation of power has done in the twentieth century alone.

Bloody Century

The 20th century was arguably, the most bloody century in recorded human existance. Two world wars, numerous genocides, "police actions", revolutions, and the rise of countless dictators were the norm for the globe during this bloody century. Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Francisco Franco, Che Guervara, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, Ho Chi Minh, Kim Il Sung, Mussolini, etc the list goes on and on. All of these evil men were men who held absolute power over the lives of their people. Gulags, concentration camps, death camps, death squads, mass murders, torture, were the means by which these despots remained in power. Use of a police state apparatus against their own citizens gave these men the power to murder, starve, torture and enslave all who opposed their will.

Our nation, the United States, is not immune from this future. We have seen the steady and concentrated erosion of our liberties since the end of WWII and more recently the since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. President George W. Bush and other Republican fascists have been working day and night to establish a police state in America. Secret trials, prisons and use of torture have made the USA hated and despised around the globe. The use of miltary tribunals to try suspected "terrorists" whether Americans or not has been attempted. All of this is a result of too much power in the hands of men. In matters not whether a man is well educated, like many in the political class, or is uneducated; the gift of absolute power to one man, or a group of men corrupts and destroys not only the person exercising such power, but the liberties and lives of their fellow citizens. Power is what all politicians crave. Once aquired, like a narcotic, the obsession for more power causes men to commit the most heinous of crimes. Lying, slandering, bribery, theft, corruption and even murder are used to maintain power. Men's souls are destroyed while they seek power. It is often said that the libertarian is an atomist only concerned with himself. This charge is false. As pointed out by Peter Brow on his Nation of Liberty website, the true atomist is the statist. He cares only about himself. More particularly, he cares about his personal aquisition of power, making him the true atomist. The English and American Libertarian tradition is in direct opposition to the aquisition of power and it's corrosive effects on the human mind. Let's examine this tradition a little more closely.

The English and American Libertarian Tradition

This great Anglo-American tradition is a philosophy of Liberty vs Power in a political state. Starting with the English Revolution of the 1640's,and in a direct line through the American and into the French Revolution, this tradition attempts to maximize the liberties of individuals against the power of the state. During the English Revolution the English Levellers exerted this philosophy in it's purest form. These libertarians called for complete freedom of religion, abolition of all church privileges, abolition of the monarchy, the House of Lords, and freedom for the individual Englishman. Also the right against unreasonable search and seizure, the use of Habeus Corpus, opposition to conscription, abolition of the famous royal Star Chamber court, and freedom of press and speech were proposed. Although the Levellers failed to implement their program due to the treachery of Oliver Cromwell, the fight for liberty was begun.

Later in 1688 the English "Glorius Revolution" was completed. The power of the monarchy was limited, and the power of Parliament increased. Men like John Locke and Algernon Sidney brought forth essays and writings against absolute power. Locke, in his Second treatise of Government proposed the radical doctrine of popular sovereignty and the right of revolution by the people against a tyrannical government. Algernon Sidney in his Discourses on Government also opposed absolute monarchy and put forth his radical doctrine of the right of revolution and regicide. Sidney paid for these writings with his life in 1683 by being beheaded for treason .

In 1720 English radicals Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard began publishing their radical anti-clerical, and anti despotic, Cato's Letters.
In these articles Trenchard and Gordon put forth the arguement that men who are in power always aspire to aquire more. Power, lead to corruption and despotism as the despot and his minions plundered their country to enrich themselves and increase their power. In article after article these men exemplfied the ideology of Radical Whiggery. Both men correctly pointed out that mercantilist corporations, state religions, and government bureaucrats are all involved in enslaving their nations while enriching themselves at the expense of the lives and liberties of their fellow men. Trenchard and Gordon's writings were one of the most read writings on the libertarian tradition by our Founders.

These Radical Whig writings came to their most successful fruition during the American Revolution beginning in 1765 with the Stamp Act and culminating with the birth of the United States. The American Revolution became the true libertarian revolution against arbitrary power. This libertarian tradition also infected Europe helping cause the French Revolution as evidenced by the abolition of feudalism, abolition of church privileges, and the abolition of the monarchy.

This direct line now leads us back to power, and the consequences of unbridled authority.

How the Quest for Power Destroys a Man

The quest for more political power usually leads to the destruction of the power hungry individual, his nation and it's people. Power causes men to plot against each other, betray confidences and friends, break promises, in turn destroying their very soul. The quest for power can make good men vicious, kind men uncaring, and evil men monsters.

Most men who seek power do so for their own benefit. They claim to be public servants, but really only wish to make the public serve them. Once power is acheived, a ongoing desire for more develops. As this desire increases attempts are made usually through the manipulation of a supposed "crisis" that "requires" more government power. This government power translates into power for the ruling clique or person. It also requires a large standing military to maintain a climate of fear, a police state apparatus to keep the populace in line, and government propaganda machine to keep a semblence of legitimacy around the clique. All in all this quest for power annhilates liberty, morality, and generosity. It eats men out from within. Just look at any bureaucrat, local state or federal, that has a large amount of authority. Generally they are arrogant, condescending , and have little compassion for the concerns or problems of their consituents. Power corrupts the soul of a man. It leads to hate, aggression, war, brutality, and tyranny.

Power as a Dark Force

Power can be used for either good or ill, although it is usually used for evil. This was seen most perceptively by Star Wars director George Lucas in his outstanding six episode space opera. As related by Jedi Master Yoda: " fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering."
Power fanatics are very afraid. They are afraid of losing their power and domination of others. They are angry and aggressive because they need these negative emotions to fuel their quest for greater power. They are hateful because they crave the inferiority, misfortune and tragedy of others. Arrogance pervades their personalities so as to hide their insecurity and uncertainty about themselves. Their hatred is projected out on their unfortunate subjects because the object of their hate is right before them in the mirror. When all of the layers are removed these people are unhappy, tragic souls who resent and despise themselves.

In Revenge of the Sith Anakin Skywalker is plagued by doubt, anger and fear of loss. He allows his fears and negative emotions to dominate his thinking. During this time the evil Palpatine, the future emperor, plays on Anakin's fears, resentments and his burning anger. It is his fear of his wife dying in childbirth along with his growing discontent with the Jedi Order that causing him to fall prey to Palpatine's evil influence. Anakin's fears prove to be his undoing and are a direct cause of his quest for power and eventual transformation into Darth Vader. Anger, fear, doubt, aggression, and hate are the harbringers of power. Men like Josef Stalin hated mankind. He used his absolute power in the Soviet Union to massacre, starve and enslave his people. Mao Tse Tung, brutal despotic founder of Communist China, stated " food is a weapon", a statement he clearly meant when he starved millions of his people. He also stated "political power comes through the barrel of a gun". This statement was fulfilled by his creation of a massive standing army to occupy his country and keep the populace from revolting.

None of these power hungry individuals are happy people. The exercise of absolute power over others is a sure sign of mental degredation. To cause others to suffer and die so one can be all powerful is the consequence of a mind filled with hate and self loathing.

Lessons for the Future

We need to heed the warnings of history. From ancient Rome to modern America, the results of absolute power are the same. The death of liberty, freedom and morality is the sure consequence of allowing one man, or group of men to become all powerful. The USA is no different. Since the 9/11 attacks we have seen the erosion of our sacred liberties in the name of fighting "terrorists". We have seen government agents aquire more power and authority to spy of citizens. We have seen the executive branch of the federal government grow larger and larger. These are warnings, dire warnings. We are one "terrorist" attack away from the end of constitutional free government. When such an attack happens, the American "experiment" in libertarian government and democratic republicanism will be over. It is our job as citizens and patriots to oppose all increases in power for public officials. We must speak out loudly against encroaching tyranny. If we are silent, Power, the Ultimate addiction will have infected so much of the political body that there will be no return.

Conservative Fascists And the End of Liberty

This is the second part of our series 'The End of Liberty". In this essay we will examine the extreme right wing of the American oligarchy. This oligarchy consists of the conservative fascists within the American media, the military, and the poltitical/financial complex. This fascist "fifth column" is hell bent on annihilating the American experiment in self government and taking us back to a day when the elite ruled over the "rabble", and men knew to obey their "betters". If this fascist cabal succeeds American liberty will die and the United States as a free, enlightened republic will disappear forever from the Earth. If this happens, a knew Dark Age will envelop the world. We as defenders of freedom and liberty must defeat this plot. First, we must identify the cabal in order to destroy it. Let us begin.

Government Media Propagandists

Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter all have one thing in common: Extreme nationalistic fascism. None of these so called "conservatives" has any clue what American republican government is about, nor do they care. Like all sycophants for desoptism, they use the gift of demogouery , hate, and 500% patriotism to destroy rational freethought and debate. All of the above have called for "regulating" the internet, jailing "traitors" who oppose the Iraq War, defacto dismantling of the First Amendment, and total war against Arab states in the Middle East. None of this should surprise us. Nationalistic fascism always has it's adherents who seem to crawl out from underneath their rock during times of war, crisis, or national calamity. Most of these fascists are hypocrites and liars. Rush Limbaugh once called for executing people who deal and those who casually use drugs, yet he has been proven to be addicted to narcotics which he illegally bought through his maid from drug dealers. G. Gordon Liddy, an extreme moralist, is a convicted criminal. One of the Watergate burglars, he was part of the criminal Nixon regime and an enemy to freedom. Bill O'Reilly, another bully and moralizer, just last year was forced to pay off a woman he was having phone sex with ( not his spouse), who he also threatened with physical violence and termination of her employment. Although I am not aware of any skeletons in Sean Hannity's closet, nothing would surprise me about him. Hannity is a sadistic and elitist demagogue who craves power and blindly supports any act of the Bush Administration or the Republican Party.

Recently,fascist Ann Coulter called for supression of "liberal" speech. These "liberals" are "traitors" and "enemies of America". Ms Coulter enjoys calling her opponents "un-American". I would very much disagree with her. If anyone is "un-American" it is Ms. Coulter. Calls for censorship, conquering Islamic nations , as she put it " we should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity". Let's examine Ms. Coulter's philosophy: commit the USA to aggressive war, assasinate foreign leaders, enslave the indigenous populace and forcibly "convert" them to the Christian religion. Hmmmm. What is remotely "American" about that? NOTHING, if you look at it through the eyes of revolutionary classical liberalism and not through the eyes of the statist/fascistic mindset. This nation's founders would not recognize such an evil philiosophy as anything remotely patriotic or "American". Ann Coulter, like all fascistic minds, is morally, emotionally, and mentally bankrupt.

All that enters these deluded minds is POWER, DOMINATION, AND CONQUEST. We must remember the right wing fascist is usually an insecure, intolerant, paranoid individual who should never be allowed to have power.

Worship of the Military/Industrial Complex

Since the end of World War II and the advent of the manufactured "Cold War" the American military has grown in size and power exponentially. This growth has created the most powerful , and largest military on this planet. In conjunction with this growth has come the inevitable growth of the favored and corrupt special interests that feed the military Leviathan.
Defense contractors, munitions developers, technology companies who create more and more surveillance technology, are all getting enormously wealthy, not off of a free market, but off their monopoly privileges, and are actively supporting the federal government in it's destruction of American liberty.

The United States, along with all of the other nuclear powers has the potential to annhilate human existance on this planet forever. Even with this awesome power the American military and it's corrupt leadership crave more and more power. Conquest, invasions, overthrowing foreign governments, and assasination has become the norm in American Foreign policy. Jefferson's ideal of "Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship with all nations, entangeling alliances with none" is dead. The neoconservative cabal is in a mad rush to Americanize the globe and in the process destroy all freedom and liberty.

Corporate Government

The United States government maintains a mutually beneficial relationship with Big Business. This relationship has fleeced the American people for decades now. Subsidies for corporations, monopoly contracts with government bureaucracies, and the literal bribing of American politicians through large financial donations to their favored Congressmen and Senators has caused the American people to pay higher prices for goods and services that would be cheaper on a truly free market. This symbiotic relationship between government and corporate America has instigated wars ( Vietnam, The Gulf War, Iraq War, etc) and enriched both government bureaucrats and corporate CEOS. This form of modern mercantilism is rapidly destroying the ability of the United States to be a financial superpower. Massive government and private debt ( some say totalling over 20 trillion dollars) is a cancer that will inevitably result in revolution or dictatorship.

Central Banking Fraud

One of the biggest frauds perpetrated by the conservative/fascist elites is the imposition of central banking on America. The First attempt was during and just after the American Revolution by conservative elites looking to recreate the corruption and hierarchy of the British government. The second attempt was even more dangerous. Led by conservative despot Alexander Hamilton, the conseravtive Federalists, generally made up of former Tories and wealthy merchants, were able to foist the Bank of the United States on the young republic. Hamilton, a monarchist and advocate of the wealthy dominating government, began by proposing corporate welfare and the uniting of "the wealthy interest" to the federal government. The Jeffersonian Republicans put up a fierce battle stopping the corporate welfare, but were unable to stop the Bank.

This Bank was to accumulate huge debt by which the Federal government would be financed. Bonds, and Bank stock would be sold and conceivably purchased by wealthy elites who would then control the federal government. Along with this debt would come the boom and bust cycles common to central banking. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson after being elected repealed all internal taxes imposed by Adams and Hamilton. Further the national debt was rigorously paid and the Bank's power was curtailed. The Bank's charter expired in 1811 under the presidency of James Madison.

The next great hurdle, after the Bank's recharter in 1816, was the Jacksonian movement to destroy and repeal the Bank of the US. Andrew Jackson, a firm Jeffersonian, opposed the recharter of the Bank in 1836. He vowed to "destroy the monster". Destroy the monster he did. Jackson vetoed the recharter of the Bank. Before the veto, Bank Chariman, Nicholas Biddle used the power of the Bank to cause a depression in an attempt to cause Jackson to lose the Presidential election. Biddle had no scruples in manipulating the electoral politics of the nation. Biddle's high handed actions backfired and Jackson was not only re-elected, but the Bank was dead.

The financial elite came back again, this time in 1913 with the establishment of the Federal reserve System. The FRS, a system run by private banking interests, sets interest rates, manipulates credit and debt, and has caused an endless chain of boom and bust cycles since it's inception. All through these cycles wealthy interests become even more wealthy and powerful, while the common people of the USA suffer depressions, recesssions, high taxes, massive debt, and eventual poverty.

Conservative fascists love the corruption, power and wealth that central banking brings. Central banking from the American Revolution to our day has been used to elevate members of the Old Order to higher and higher levels of power and influence. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and other financial elites use this system to fund war after war, all the while the American people become poorer and poorer through inflation, deflation and a continuous declining standard of living.

Regulation of Personal Freedom

Conservatives have always held the Hobbsian view that men are corrupt, stupid and incapable of self government. Men, they maintain, must be "ruled" by fear, powerful central government, and financial interests, all of course, run by themselves. They, of course are immune to the corruption, stupidity and evil of the "rabble". Right wingers complain about high taxes, religious discrimination ( against conservative Christians only), regulations, and bureaucracy. Unfortunately their rhetoric does not match their actions. Since G.W. Bush has been President the Federal government is the largest it has ever been. The Administration has imposed secret trials on "terrorists", including one American, Jose Padilla, torture of prisoners, perpetual war in the Middle East, supported the Patriot Act, and all of it's unconstitutional acts, and proposed eliminating the Posse Comitatis Act of 1878 to allow the standing military law enforcement power in the USA. These acts are the acts of a nascent fascist state. It is the great grandchild of the monarchies and aristocracies of the Old Order. Freedom has been given warning to depart the USA. Conservatives of today are not hidden libertarians or freedom fighters. They are fighting against freedom and for power against the people. You will hear conservatives repeat over and over about "morality", "faith" and "family values", which they say "liberals" and libertarians lack. They conveinently leave out conservative hypocrites, who have no problem lying, slandering, and defrauding taxpayers with their transfering the wealth of taxpayers to special interests. One conservative hero, fascist ex-Marine Colonel Oliver North, when he worked for the NSC during the Reagan administration helped draft secret plans to have the President declare martial law and suspend the Constitution of the United States during a "national emergency". He secretly used the Contra rebels to import narcotics into the USA, all the while declaring himself a patriot.

Colonel North is a decided enemy of personal freedom. He is a rabid supporter of the Patriot Act, the War in Iraq, the use of secret evidence, and the doctrine of classiflying American citizens as "enemy combatants". Colonel North is just one of many fanatical conservatives who oppose liberty.

Unfortunately, most rank and file conservatives support these maniacs and sociopaths. Sadly, they have been buffaloed by the rhetoric of right wing radio, magazines like the National Review, The Weekly Standard, and Commentary. These journals promote the state over it's citizens and the power of "organic society" over it's members. This is the doctrine of the all powerful state at the center, with the citizens as satelites. The American Revolutionary doctrine of the sovereignty of the people, individual liberty. and freedom is casually cast aside by these criminals.

What to Do?

The question remains what do we, the American people do? How do we stop these evil tyrants? Every act, and bill proposed must be protested vehemently. Throngs of Americans should hit the streets like our forefathers did protesting against the tyrannical acts of the British government like the Stamp Act and Tea Act. Americans of that era were true "Sons of Liberty". The patriots put the British bureaucrats, monopolists, and Tories on notice that economic and civil slavery were unacceptable and that freedom and liberty are a natural right. We must do the same against the Patriot Act, Secret Evidence Act, and other liberty destroying laws. Conservative fascists are not defenders of freedom. They are the mouthpieces for the ruling economic and bureaucratic elite.

A Radical Libertarian Program

Although I am a supporter of the National Libertarian Platform, and the one from my home state of California, I feel it important that I outline my own platform for a free society and the libertation of America.

The Federal Level

Abolition of all direct federal income taxes
Abolition of the IRS
Repeal of the 16th Amendment
Abolition of all federal affirmative action programs
Constitutional Amendment to repeal lifetime tenure for federal judges
Abolition of the Federal Reserve System
Term Limits for Congress
Constitutional Amendment to allow states to amend Constitution without Congress
Constitutional Amendment creating a national referendum similar to the one in the Swiss Confederation
Constitutional Amendment requiring a 3/4 vote of Congress to raise any taxes
Constitutional Amendment abolishing the President's peacetime Commander in Chief role
Constitutional Amendment requiring both the House and Senate to approve treaties
Abolition of the standing military, with the creation of a national militia system
Repeal of all taxes on Social Security and unemployment checks
Repeal of tyrannical laws like the Patriot Act and the Secret Evidence Act
Repeal of all anti-discrimination laws
Abolition of all federal "right to work laws"
Abolition of all "return to work" orders
Abolition of conscription ( military or civilian)
5 year "sunset" provision for all laws

Of course I am probably missing some, but let's move on

State Level

Constitutional Amendment strenghtening the 10th Amendment and limiting the federal government to truly limited powers
Total separation of religion and government
Repeal of all laws defining corporations as "persons"
Abolition of all laws on the use of drugs ( except punishing violent criminal acts while committed while using drugs)
Abolition of all laws concerning sexual relations between consenting adults
Abolition of all laws preventing citizens from owning firearms
Separation of family life from the state
Abolition of all alimony laws
Abolition of all asset forfeiture laws

Local Level

Abolition of all zoning laws
Abolition of all municipal laws that attempt to make a city into a homeowners association
Reduction of all property taxes to an absolute minimum until a lottery and voluntary system is established
Severe restriction of eminent domain to public necessity only ( not for any private use)
Banning the public financing of stadiums for private corporations ( NLB, NFL, NHL etc)

All these are just steps to a free society. A free society must exist in the hearts and minds of the people. Without that, no program will work.

Crimes of the Bush Regime, and the End of Liberty

In this essay I am going to deviate from some of my earlier political history of our country and focus on what I believe are the crimes of the Bush regime and the consquences that will follow. The largest and most frightening consequence is the end of American liberty and the slow, steady implementation of a police state. This growing police state is supported by so-called "conservatives", religious fanatics, leftist polticians, and unfortunately many average American citizens.

A List of Anti-Liberty Laws and Actions

Let us start with a list of some of the anti-liberty laws that have been proposed and implemented by the Bush regime and supported by both leftists and rightists across the spectrum. After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the American Imperial regime went into full tilt against liberty. Liberty became the focal point as to why people ( all foreigners) were able to attack the United States. Lax security, lax immigration, lax and inept law enforcement and military incompetence, were all used as weapons to create and cultivate a mindset against personal liberty. This mindset, best shown with lunatics like Sean Hannity and Michael Savage, is a fanatical and phony 500% patriotism. It is a patriotism based, not upon the principles of liberty or the American Revolution, but upon nationalistic fascism. After the attacks we saw the following laws or policies enacted:

The USA PatriotAct
The use of Secret Evidence against non citizens ( soon to be used against citizens)
The imprisonment of foreigners without due process
The imprisonment of American citizens ( like Jose Padilla) without due process or the right to habeus corpus, and defined as an "enemy combatant"
A massive increase in the national debt, through astronomical deficit spending
The abolition of privacy in attorney-client conversations in federal correctional facilities
Gun confiscation in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
The creation of "free speech zones" like the ones outside the Democratic and Republican National Conventions
The creation of a "faith based" office in the executive branch, in violation of the First Amendment
An Undeclared, Unconstitutional War based on falsehoods

These are just a few of the successful assaults on the liberties and lives of Americans by the conservative-fascist coalition. More are coming. Let's review the recent Jose Padilla decision.This decision is the most frightening since it completey overturns the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments to the US Constitution, and violates the Constitution by denying Padilla a right to habeus corpus. Padilla the supposed "dirty bomber" was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare airport in June 2002. After a writ of habeus corpus was filed on his behalf to secure his release, he was transfered to the custody of military authorities in Virginia. The administration then declared Padilla an "enemy combatant" with no rights as provided in the US Bill of Rights. This doctrine, new in the USA, is a terrifiying and despotic measure that all freedom loving people should be aware of. The precedent and it's reprucussions are devastating. This "star chamber" type process denies Americans their constitutional and natural rights of liberty and due process. It is only a matter of time before this new doctrine will be applied to other Americans, more than likely in domestic cases. The expansion of this arbitrary process is inevitable. Liberty is lost by the silent encroachments of government, slowly but surely, until there is little or no liberty left. What is left is a truncated and modified form of false liberty, a liberty that requires government permission to live outside of prison.

The Corporate Government-Media Complex and The Doctrine of Passive Obedience

American media today is not the vibrant free and partisan press it was in the era of our nation's beginning. Today the media, through FCC rulings and deregulation of monopolies, is a large centralized propaganda arm for the federal government. FOX, CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC are all part of the same structure. Conservatives and liberals both whine incessantly about a "liberal" or "conservative" media when in reality it is nothing more than a corporate-government media monopoly. Through mergers, tax breaks, and government infiltration our once robust press has become a fraud. This fraud is an illusion of objectivity and "fairness" when in reality it is nothing but mere propaganda. This propaganda censors vital news stories, places government spin on the story, and in many cases through ommission or outright lying distorts the truth or substance of the news. Blowhards and fascists like Bill O' Reilly, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage engage in ad hominem attack, anti-intellectualism, and attempt to prop up government power through religion, militarism, and 500% patriotism.

Part and parcel of this propaganda perpetrated by the corporate media is the ancient doctrine of passive obedience. This doctrine has been used by despots for centuries. The Divine Right of Kings ( as propped up by the Biblical Romans 13), Marxist and Fascist states, feudal societies, etc all crow about obeying "legitimate authorities" and "constituted government". This doctrine is a doctine of slavery. When you hear Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly talk about "your President", "our Commander in Chief" susbstitute king in it's place. What they are doing is using the doctrine of passive obedience to keep the people from rebelling and starting a revolution against their power. This doctrine is embraced by both extreme leftists and rightists who see government as supreme and the people as cattle to be farmed for the aristocracy that is in possession of government. Compare this to the statement of the town of New London, Connecticut in their resolve against the Stamp Act in 1765:

Sec 1 " That every form of government, rightfully founded, originates from the consent of the people"

Sec 2 " That the boundries set by the people in all Constitutions are the only limits within which any Officer can lawfully exercise authority"

Sec 3 "That when ever these Bounds are exceeded, the People have a right to reassume the exercise of that authority which by Nature they had, before they delegated it to individuals"

And finally one of the last sections: " It is presumed that no Person will publically, in the Pulpit or otherwise, inculcate the Doctrine of Passive Obedience, or any other Doctrine tending to quiet the Minds of the People in a tame Submission to any unjust Impositions."

Many fascistic conservatives would consider such comments as treasonous or seditious, just like their forebearers in the English monarchy. We must be vigilent in our fight for liberty. Right now we still have some semblence of liberty: elections, right to protest and petition, etc but conservatives like Hannity, O'Reilly and Savage along with the Charles Schumers, Hillary Clintons, and Charles Rangels are salivating for their chance to abolish all speech they dislike.

The Bush Regime and the Art of Lying

George Bush is a liar. He lied about the reasons for the Iraq War. He lied about many of the details and circumstances surrounding 9/11, he has lied about believing in "freedom" while at the same time propping up the doctrine of "enemy combatants". These lies are, in my opinion, impeachable offenses and criminal in nature. If this sounds too harsh, hang on there's much more. Bush has also created the largest deficit in the history of the US, next year being projected at 717 billion dollars! Now that's conservative, huh? The federal government is now larger than it was under FDR, and LBJ put together! Another conservative ideal, I guess. Of course Bush is rabidly supported by Establishment sycophants in the media like George Will, Rush Limbaugh and other big government so called "conservatives". George Will, an arrogant big government statist, is always pontificating on the good ole' days of statist Teddy Roosevelt, Alexander Hamilton and recently John Marshall. Marshall is a particular hero to Will since he expanded the power of the unelected lifetime tenured court, only something a conservative would love. Will recently wrote an article praising Marshall and his expansion of government against state rights and powers. Will, like most conservatives, loves John Adams also, and is fond of denigrating men like Jefferson and other Anti Federalists, ridiculing them as being unrealistic about government. Government, you see for the Wills, Bushes, Cheneys, Clintons, etc is one of power. Men are sinful, stupid, tumultuous and need a strong government and ruler to keep them in line. This Hobbsian view is a total refutation of the principles of the American Revolution and is instead an embrace of European aristocratical views.

Bush's War on Liberty

With the advent of 9/11, the dry drunk we call President Bush has proposed and supported more inroads on the liberties of the people than any other President in recent memory. His creation of the Department of Homeland Security and his use of Communist advisors, East German Markus Wolff ( head of the dreaded Stasi), and Yegarny Primakov ( head of the KGB) should be a dire warning to Americans. Some "conservative", using Communist despots and murderers to help us with "security". Bush and his then Attorney General, religious fanatic John Ashcroft supported the abolition of attorney-client privilege for federal prisoners, and supported the use of torture for "terrorist" suspects. This of course violates the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution, but the Consitution is irrelevent to this administration.Under Bush's radical fascist doctrine of defining criminal suspects as "enemy combatants" they are to be held incommunicado, and indefinately. These "enemy combatants"are not only foreigners as evidenced by the Jose Padilla case. Now American citizens can be defined by this unconstitutional and immoral doctrine.

Bush's support and signing of the USA Patriot Act is one of his most egregious acts. This "law" violates the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments to the Constitution. It allows the use of "sneak and peek" warrantless searches, monitoring of emails without a warrant, and places a gag order on attorneys, and defendants during a civil suit or criminal case. These laws are worthy of a state of slavery, not one of freemen and women. Conservatives have abandoned their "small government" ideals. Now to be a conservative means supporting unlimited war, unlimited power, and invasions on the rights and liberties of Americans. Statists like O'Reilly and Hannity frequently denounce people who oppose the President as "traitors" and accuse them of "aiding the enemy". Some so-called conservatives like Ex-Communist David Horowitz never lose their love of total power. Horowitz may call himself a conservative, but deep down he is still a Marxist-Leninist. He advocates shutting down newspapers, arresting anti-war protesters, and jailing Bush opponents indefinately.

Bush has not once denounced these calls for tyranny, and he counts these men among his strongest supporters.The President and his minions want nothing less than total control over the population of the United States. Many neoconservatives are calling for the creation of a domestic spy agency like M15 in Great Britian to spy on suspected "terrorists" in the United States. Bush, of course supports such a plan. Morton Halperin, a CFR elitist, has just called for the federal government to create this agency. This type of centralized government is not an American ideal. The United States is one of the few, if not the only nation, to not have a national police force or domestic spy agency. This step, if implemented, would cause America to slide further down the road of despotism and tyranny and would turn this great republic into a state worse than the Soviet Union or Communist China. What would become of American Liberty if such a creation were born? American Liberty would perish and America would plunge into a world of darkness and dictatorship like never seen before.

Right Wing Class Struggles, The Aristocracy vs the People

As Peter Brow has pointed out on his excellent revolutionary libertarian website, the Nation of Liberty, there are two forms of "class struggle" theory, one leftist and one rightist. Both are evil and hateful, but here we will deal only with the right wing version, better known as "snobbery"as Mr. Brow calls it.

This right wing theory is a theory of the love of the wealthy and powerful. All who are not among the elitist rich are considered the "rabble" and "lazy" by the right wing class warrior. President Bush is a avid supporter of this theory by his very actions, if not his words. His connections to oil, gas and defense industries and the massive wealth accumulated by these special interests cause men like him to see wealth as the driving force behind life. Once this mindset is in place every thing in political life is geared towards supporting the aristocracy. Now I am a supporter of abolishing all taxes in favor of lotteries and user fees, but we must examine the motivations behind the massive tax cuts of the Bush regime.

As Libertarians we tend to see things like the abolition of the estate tax, corporate taxes and taxes in commerce as good ideas. Partially, this is true since the theft of taxation destroys the wealth of individuals and businesses, but we must be careful to not to miss the aristocrats motivations. First and foremost their reasons are to further enrich the aristocracy and dilute the savings and economic power of the middle class. We must realize that corporations are NOT persons, but artificial creations of the state with no true consitutional rights. Only human beings have rights, not THINGS. Secondly, if Republicans and Bush in particular wanted to help working people he would abolish paycheck witholding taxes, taxes on social security checks, unemploment checks, and total abolition of the income tax. Instead we have a massive increase in government spending, tax cuts for the elite and more poverty for the rest of us.Most aristocrats like Bush care more about maintaining the corporate-goverment aristocratical oligarchy, as the middle and lower classes sink further into poverty. Massive spending in conjunction with no revenue and no government reduction of spending is a recipe for disaster. This is right wing class warfare where the privileges of the wealthy and their connections with government must be maintained at all costs. These are not the principles of the American Revolution.

Bush, is in league with corporate criminals and scoundrels in the defense industries ( Haliburton, Enron, , the Carlyle Group, etc) to fleece American taxpayers of their hard earned money for power and profit.
Right wing class warfare proposes the idea that people that are poor "deserve" it, and that they are simply losers and deadbeats. Interestingly these same right wingers never propose to reduce taxes on the poor and middle class, or reduce the massive amount of regulations that small businesses and workers deal with. Here lies the hypocrisy; crow about individual responsibility, laziness and welfare mothers, yet continue to keep the welfare state alive and well, keep taxes up and continue to support the massive federal bureaucracy and subsidize big business interests. These "free enterprisers" "donate" money to politicians: ie bribes, and then get those same polticians to pass laws regulating their competitors. Corporations are not freedom enhancing organizations. Corporations are whores. Look at Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Ellison is a huge proponent of a National ID Card and RFID implementation. He is not a freedom lover, and his corporation, Oracle, is a huge beneficiary of government largesse and contracts. As seen throughout history corporations are not the defenders of freedom, free markets or liberty, but are instead defenders of the status quo and their government benefactors. Bush, et al, are those benefactors.

Total Control Surveilence Society

The America of 2005 is a state that is rapidly approaching a surveilence/ command and control society. Republicans, like Bush, are nothing more than intolerant and fanatical collectivists leading us down the road to despotism and slavery. Here are a few items on the federal level leading to the Control State:

The Creation of the Department of Homeland Security ( ie Fatherland)
The Creation of the Transportation Security Agency ( illegal searches, intrusions, etc) " No Fly" lists kept by TSA are a step toward limiting the movements of citizens.
Proposals to use cameras to monitor Americans on public thoroughfaires ( airports, buses, trains)
Use of military propaganda to create an atmosphere of miltarism and phony patriotism
The use of FEMA to move whole populations, forcibly, and seize lawfully owned firearms in violation of the Second Amendment, under the guise of a "disaster", ie: Katrina
Provisions of the Patriot Act violating our most sacred rights under the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments.
"Sneak and Peek" searches without a warrant
Abolition of attorney-client privilege at federal prisons
The passage of the National ID Act, requiring states to all have the sme basic information on their CDLS

Those are just a few on the federal level, and there is more to come. Now let's examine how this "government creep" stretches out to state and local governments, who are sometimes more tyrannical.

Building Code Enforcement with no protection from illegal search and seizure. It is redfined as an "inspection" therefore, no violation of rights exists!
Cameras at intersections and street corners to enforce traffic laws. I believe these lights in violation of the law since an infraction must be committed in the presence of a peace officer. The use of these cameras is twofold, to generate revenue for greedy city governments and most importantly to create a precedent for surveilence in public without probable cause.

The enactment of municipal codes which begin to regulate neighborhoods like a tyrannical homeowners association

Use of Emminent Domain for non-public uses ( roads, bridges, dams, aquaducts, etc) and instead using it to steal the private property of one person to give it to another ( always wealthier or more powerful), usually a corporation that has a contract with the city or county.

The use of environmental laws to destroy the value or condemn the property of individuals. Uusually these laws, advocated by environmental fanatics and leftists, is an attempt to destroy the the ability of the property owner to use his property as he sees fit.

The implementation of laws requiring people to purchase insurance policies such as vehicle, homeowners, or flood. Since a lender does not have to lend to people without such insurance, why is a law needed when these items can easily be purchased by anyone with common sense? These laws exist to back up bad investments by corporations who know that normally they wouldn't lend the money, but if the government ( the taxpayers) back it, why not?

The use of criminal informants in drug and other criminal cases against defendants. These informants are normally liars, theives and other dregs of society willing to lie, cheat and steal their way out of a conviction.

The use of 5th Amendment stealing asset forfeiture law as depriving people never even convicted of a crime of their property and forcing them to prove to the government why they should have it back! Most are not even charged with a crime.

Conservative Collectivism

Modern Bush style conservatism has turned into a form of tyrannical, heartless collectivism. Hatred of anything "left" like antiwar protesters, Cindy Sheehan, non-religious or people of non-fundementalist faiths, opponents of American foreign policy toward Isreal, etc all bring out the worst in these freedom destroying individuals. Hatred of liberty, and the harshness of police state measures seems to be the grand ideal among these folks. Liberty is always seen as license, libertinism, and "whining" by the collectivist conservative. Bush is elevated to God like status where criticism dare not fear to tread. Remember, the king is above any criticism. He is exalted and to be trusted, no matter what. Collectivist conservatives are not proponents of limited government, they are proponents of what Jefferson called "unlimited government". Calls by Bush and other collectivists to "regulate" the internet ( meaning censorship) to "protect morals", is a grave danger to liberty. A free man or woman does not need someone to "regulate" their "morals".

Let's be clear government is a collection of individuals in positions of power who are obstensively are sent there to protect and defend the liberties of the people, never to take it away. Never. Now whether right or left, the seizure and devouring of power on a daily basis becomes an addiction for some ignorant or sociopathic individuals, and sadly, what we would think of as "normal" people also fall for this mental outlook when in power. The Collectivist conservative wants government to rule over people and impose traditional religion, the "opiate of the masses" as Marx called it. Also on the agenda is the imposition of the warfare/welfare state, military conscription in the guise of "serving your country", complusory national service, and near worship of political "leaders" or as in Colonial America, "betters".

Reject Collectivism, and Support Freedom

All polticians, left and right, should be rejected as intolerant collectivists. If one chooses to vote, vote for a Libertarian candidate or some other independent freedom fighter, but do not, not ever, support the "two party system" which is nothing more than two gangs fighting over the spoils of the people's hard earned liberty and livelihoods

REJECT COLLECTIVISM, REJECT BUSH, AND SUPPORT FREEDOM.

Your life might depend on it.

The Left as Enemies of the Principles of the American Revolution

In this essay we will examine the opposition of the Marxist-Leninist Left to the principles of the American Revolution here in the United States. The American Left, as I will refer to them in this essay, truly despise the radical libertarian principles of the American Revolution and the social impact it has had on the United States and the world. In this essay the principles of the American Revolution are not the current principles of the neoconservative movement, nor that of modern conservatism. The American Revolution's principles are that of Locke, Sidney, the English Levellers, and the American Revolutionaries in opposition to the principles of the Old World of which Marxist-Leninism is a product.

The Marxist Leninist Mindset

The Marxist Leninst mind sees man only in economic terms, much like Old World conservatism. Men in both theories exist only in the context of their economic lives, not in their moral and spiritual existance. The Left claims to be "revolutionary" and set on "freeing" the "proletariat" from the oppression of the upper classes. There is nothing "revolutionary" about Marxist philosophy. Marxist philosophy replaces the king, lords and church with the party, the "leader" and "dictatorship of the proletariat". These are all variations of feudal European thought. For example feudal landownership that the nobility used to exploit their serfs is not much different than Marxist "collective farms".In both instances the workers and farmers have no real interest in the property they work on. One works for the lord, the other for the state. In both cases men become slaves. In both instances men are ruled over by overseers and kommisars who direct them what to sow and reap, dole how much they can earn and prevent them, by coercion and police power, from revolting or seeking redress of any grievences. Men are the slaves rather than the masters of their servants, the polticians.

The American Left, once the proud libertarian patriots of the American Revolution, were replaced in the early 20th century by Marxist revolutionaries and "progressives". These Marxists slowly invaded the Democratic Party ( originally formed as the Democratic-Republician party by Jefferson and Madison) and took the party from it's revolutionary Jeffersonian roots to a socialist and statist political party.
Now the Democratic Party is made up of socialists, diversicrats, "multiculturalists", and outright Marxists. Many in the Democratic Party express genuine hatred for " dead white males" like their party's founders. Affirmative action, multiculturalism, and other racially divisive programs are the norm and the principles of individual liberty and Jeffersonian Democracy are cast aside.

The American Left have completely abandoned any semblence of believing in Jeffersonian principles, as have their supposed "conservative" Republican opponents. Both parties believe in a command-control society with orders given from above, or in the old Tory term, from "their betters". Economic and social life are tightly controlled by the leftist mentality, much as it used to be in a monarchial society. Aristocracy in the form of government bureucrats, politicians, and corporations dominate the landscape. Although most leftists do not believe in organized religion, they substitute it with their own religion of multiculturalism, group thought, and social engineering. This is all enforced by their courts of Inquisition. Hate crimes, set asides, affirmative action, preferences, etc are the new dogma of their new secular religion. This religion is like it's nemesis, the Christian Right. Both demand undying devotion to their religious or secular worldview. Both demand uniformity based upon their tyrannical and fanatical belief systems totally at variance with the principles of the American Revolution. Both reject the Revolutionary doctrine of natural rights, and freedom of all against the tyrannical acts of government, ANY GOVERNMENT.

The American Revolution vs the Modern Left

As I have shown in previous essays the American Revolution was a radical libertarian revolution against power and arbitrary government. Left wing ideology ( of the modern kind) is the epitome of power and arbitrary government. Look at the Soviet regime, China, Cambodia's Pol Pot, and North Korea. Are those poor people free? I think not. They are SLAVES. Slavery doesn't just mean chattel slavery, but more importantly mental slavery. Slavery that enslaves the mind is worse than that which enslaves the body. If one can be made to think a certain way, his slavery is total and complete. Communist regimes, following the old order of the alter and the throne, use people like animals. Brainwashing, slave labor camps, mental indoctrination, etc are all the complete antithesis of the American Revolution. The American Revolution on the other hand stood for the rights of mankind. Freedom of speech, assembly, press, religion, protection of habeus corpus, and jury trial, although ancient English liberties, were improved on and complimented by the Lockian view of natural rights. Natural rights are those rights inhernet to us as human beings. Rights of conscience, person and movement being just a few.
Leftists hate this concept. They hate it because if men have natural, unalienable rights and liberties then their feudal plantation of tyranny is immoral and subject to being overthrown. This, is for them ( the Left), is their greatest fear: loss of absolute power.

The Left vs the Sovereignty of the People

Popular sovereignty is a truly radical concept that is rejected by both the right and left. It is the prime ideal of the American Revolution. The Sovereignty of the People is the inalienable right of the people to possess self government and their right to overthrow any government that does not suit their ends. In this ideal all government is instituted for the happiness of the people, and any government that becomes a tyranny or violates the people's rights breaks the social contract with the people who no longer owe any allegience. This doctrine is far more radical than anything a Marxist revolutionary could come up with. This ideal flies in the face of Marxist oppression and despotism. The Left totally and completely rejects this revolutionary ideal. Along with their right wing opponents they rape and plunder the common man through taxes, inflationary banking schemes, regulations, aristocratical privileges for politicians and special interests, and a declining standard of living.
Both left and right are like two Mafia crime families fighting over territory; the territory is the liberty and fortunes of the people..

Conservative Allies

We are taught, or should I say indoctrinated, to believe that the left and right are polar opposites and enemies. This is a falsehood. On the surface, they seem like bitter enemies. Fights over gay marriage, taxes, free trade, budgets, social programs, etc are all surface oriented. Underneath this veneer is the iron hand of despotism. Both camps advocate a powerful centralized government far worse than the British Parliament that the American Revolutionaries revolted against. Now we hear conservatives proposing federal control of marriage, regulating intrastate commerce, preaching total war and empire, and picking and choosing states rights when it benefits them. The left loves this, even though they may hate the conservative social program. More centralized government means more power for when they get into office. Affirmative action, set asides, hate crimes, and other racist measures will be passed at the federal level, further feeding the federal leviathan.
Neither care about Jeffersonian Democracy. In short, there will be a future essay detailing it later, Jeffersonian Demcoracy means rule by the people over their agents. Smaller, local government, and more liberty and freedom for citizens. Jeffersonian Democracy also means preserving and cherishing the natural rights of the people against power centralized government. This is anathema to the left.

Marxism and the Neoconservatives

The current neoconservative movement has it's roots in the left and zionism. Both zionism and Marxist-Leninism are despotic philosophies.
Most neocons: Wolfowitz, David Frum, Donald Kagan, Richard Pearle, Elliot Abrams, William Kristol, have their roots in left wing ideology. Most, if not all, of these neocons are followers of Leon Trotsky and Leo Struass. They totally and completely reject the ideology of the American Revolution. Limited government, individual freedom and liberty, and the sovereignty of the people are alien concepts to these folks. As a matter of fact, many like Bill Kristol overtly have stated that the "Jeffersonian vision" of America is dead. Instead the ideal of a huge imperial Leviathan running roughshod across the globe enforcing what they term "democracy", which is really fascism with the rhetoric of freedom. True democracy is where the people rule, and liberty is secure. Representative democracy or in the language of the American Revolution "republicanism" is not the ruling of the world. Neocons, like their fanatical brothers in Isreal, the Likud, love powerful and centralized government. They are true heretics to the ideals of America and it's revolution.

Marxist Cultural Revolution

I am a supporter of revolution, but only a revolution that secures liberty and freedom. Marxist "cultural warriors" are a different story. Since they hate the principles of the American Revolution and it's radical consequences they are constantly doing their best to engender a cultural revolution within the United States to destroy a once great Western civilization. Below I will outline their strategy:

Destroy the Middle Class

Through high taxes, regulations, and racist affirmative action programs the cultural Marxist begins his breakdown of American Revolutionary principles. Marxists hate the middle class, and strive to drive down their wages and culture. Workers are enslaved by big government taxes like witholding taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, and a multitude of other inane but no less oppressive taxes. The IRS is the enforcement arm of the federal income tax pillage. Seizures of bank accounts, administrative "hearings" without the benefit of jury trial, and imprisonment are the norm as hard working middle class Americans are fleeced to support politicians in Washington and their privileged lifestyle.

Attack on American History and it's Revolution

Most Marxists, unlike the Marxist left of the early 2oth century, spend an inordinante amount of time and energy smashing American libertarian and patriotic icons like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. The American Revolution is labeled a "capitalist" revolution and one where slaveholders and other wealthy elites simply wanted separation from Britian. Now there is some kernel of truth that some American conservatives hated the social and economic consquences of the Revolution, but as Murray Rothbard points out in his "Conceived In Liberty" series, the Revolution was a mass movement of the people. He correctly points out how a minority may hold a leadership role, but that for a revolution to succeed the masses must be behind it. The radical wing of the American Revolution stood for the rights of the people against government and special interests. Men like Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Richard Henry Lee and Patrick henry stood at the forefront for the liberty of the masses. Marxist revolutionaries on the other hand used libertarian rhetoric, but enslaved the masses after the Revolution was completed.

Marxists hate the American Revolution due to it's radical and far reaching libertarian results which are at total variance with their worldview of revolution. The freedom of the individual, economic and personal liberty, the diluting of class distinctions, the annihilation of monarchy and nobility, and the separation of church and state were all results that the Revolution produced. This is anathema to the Marxist, the purveyor of Old World centralized power, who hates personal freedom and individual liberty. Now these cultural Marxists wish to uproot and destroy all of our revolutionary foundation by labeling the Founding Fathers "racist", "sexist", "homophobe", "dead white males" and other nihilistic and empty terms. This propaganda must be refuted! We must redeem our revolution against the despotism and hate that the Marxist Left spews.

Marxists and their consevative opponents have a vested interest in downgrading and shunting the aside the American Revolution: POWER.
Both need to destroy the principles of liberty to erect their tyrannies.

Marxist Deconstruction of Society

In the last 40 years Marxists have practiced the "deconstruction" of American history and society. They have infiltrated colleges and schools and through tenure, served for decades slowly engrafting their hateful and anti-American ideals into the curriculum. Many colleges now have ultra radical left groups who riot for affirmative action, scream for more taxpayer subsidies, and openly discriminate against whites and asians.
One of the methods of deconstruction is to indoctrinate people into hating their race ( usually white males) by calling them "oppressors" and
"white racists". Some colleges even have seminars where young left wing "minority" students stand and berate whites and call them names and telling them to be "ashamed" of their race. Also third world cultures and despotisms are elevated to high status as equal with American republicanism. Witch doctors are praised for using "alternative" medicine, and savage societies are considered 'enlightened". The more savage, the better. Within this vein, the curriculum is changed. Men like Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Shakespeare, Milton, Seneca, Aristotle,and other pillars of Western civilization are shunted aside as "dead white males" and not worthy of being taught to a "diverse" student body.
This deconstruction of American History is really a brainwashing of the young into the nilhistic principles of group think, race hatred, and self immolation. This is and will eventually destroy American society.

Expropriation of Private Property

Marxists hate the concept of private ownership of property, no matter how small. The United States is a nation of the middle class. Yes, there is a wealthy aristocracy at the top that uses it's wealth a power to feed off the people through government, but for the most part 85-90% fall in the middle income bracket. Marxists truly despise the middle class or "bougsousie" as they call them. Marxists used the income and other taxes such as property taxes to expropriate the private property of the middle class to drain them of wealth. Once done, they hope to drive them hopelessly into poverty and ignorance, eventually leading to slavery.

Marxists also love property, government property. Look at the current and former leaders of communist dictatorships. Men like Fidel Castro, the leaders of China and North Korea, and the former leaders of Eastern Europe lived lavishly. Personal servants, limos, bodyguards, all the women they want, high diet, alcohol, etc are all on the menu for these despots. These men are truly the nobility of the comunnist world, with the people as their serfs, and slaves. What communists are actually doing is living like the feudal aristocrats of Old Europe, emulating the despots of
the middle ages. While they live lavishly their people starve, suffer from disease and alcoholism, and live lives of ignorance and superstition. They are reduced to what Jefferson called the " the war of all against all."

Folks, this is the true face of Marxist-Leninist/ Left wing ideology. Don't be fooled by their rhetoric. Remember they hate the very concept of America- individual liberty and self government.

The Radicalism of the American Revolution, Part 2- Extralegal Government

In Part two of the Radicalism of the American Revolution we will examine the radical committees of public safety, correspondence, and inspection that became the de-facto government due to the collapse of the "constituted authorities" as the British and Tories called it.

The Collapse of British Authority in America

From 1764 to the total collapse of British regal authority in America in 1774/ 1775 the American colonists undermined the "constituted authorities" in colonial America. British authority was uprooted and destroyed by extralegal means. These extralegal means generally took the forms of committees of correspondence, committees of public safety, congresses like the Stamp Act Congress, and the first and second Continental Congresses. Conservatives of the time ( mostly the wealthy aristocrats, royal government officials, and military leaders) were appalled by these methods of nascent revolution. They denounced the colonists as "factious", "disaffected men", "seditious", "democrats" and "downright republicans" who were intending to "overthrow all government."

With the advent of the Stamp Act crisis, the colonists formed into "Sons of Liberty" who directed resistance to the Stamp Act by petitions to Parliament, petitions to their Assemblies to resist the tyrannical act, and in the case of the Connecticut and New York Sons of Liberty entered into military alliances. Stamp collectors were threatened, effigies of royal officials and stamp agents were burned in public, and newspapers denounced the act as unconstitutional. Supporters of the act were declared "enemies of their country." Royal officials denounced the protests as "mobocracy", " mobs of the lower sort", and "dangerous and designing men". Due to this, extralegal resistance newspapers in Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts, continued their publishing without the stamps. Courts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts stayed open and ships with stamps were not permitted to land. All of this was in defiance of the Stamp Act and the "constituted authorities".

Petitions, Remonstrances, and Declarations

Other extra legal means used were the use of petitions to Parliament, and remostrances and declarations stating the rights of the colonists and declaring that supporters of the British were "enemies of their country".
Town meetings, public gatherings and secret meetings of organizations like the Sons of Liberty were used to apply pressure to Britian.

The words of the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions ring out resoundingly:

" That the General Assembly of this colony have the only and sole exclusive right to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this Colony, and that every attempt to vest such power in any person or persons whatsoever other than the General Assembly aforesaid has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom."

And again:

" That any person who shall, by speaking or writing, assert or maintain that any person or persons other than the General Assembly of this Colony, have any right or power to impose or lay any taxation on the people here shall be deemed an enemy to His Majesty's Colony."

These ringing words were the opening salvo of the American Revolution, a revolution for liberty against arbitrary power. Sound like conservatism? Hardly. Conservatives have generally been the defenders of strong government, "law and order", and hierarchy. Back to the colonists. Effigies of royal officers, stamp distributors, and Tories were burned, hanged and given mock funerals to frighten and intimidate the government and rouse the populace.

The Destruction of Property

This may sound like a shock, but the revolutionaries frequently incited crowds to destroy the property of tories, royal officials, and ships of the royal navy. Governors Bernard and Hutchinson of Massachusetts had their homes ransacked and destroyed by revolutionary mobs incensed by the tyrannical acts of the British government. In Rhode Island ,royal navy ships were scuttled and in the case of the Gaspee in 1772, burned to the ground. The captain of the Gaspee was assaulted and shot ( he survived) and no prosecution was ever attempted. In Massachusetts the Boston Tea Party in December 1773 destroyed the tea belonging to the British East India Company by throwing it into Boston Harbor . Government stamps during the Stamp Act crisis were seized and burned , and revolutionary mobs threatened the stamp distributors with death if they accepted their commissions. There were many, many other incidents of violence, property destruction and confiscation, all of which further radicalised the colonists.

Economic Coercion

As the Revolution progressed committees of safety, and inspection were formed in addition to the committees of correspondence. These committees were designed to enforce the economic boycotts proposed in each colony and the Continental Congress. Committees of Inspection forced merchants and businessmen to boycott British goods, and to enter into nonimportation and nonexportation agreements. All merchants who refused the boycott agreements were labeled as "enemies of their country" and "tories". Committees demanded the merchants to turn over their records to the committee for inspection to ensure the agreements were being adhered to. Merchants not in compliance were boycotted and
advertised as "traitors".

Committees of Safety were extralegal bodies which organized communities to defend themselves against the British military and American Tories. These committees forced accused tories and traitors to appear before them to explain any suspected behavior. Any person judged guilty by these committees were usually banished and their property confiscated. Lists of tories were published in public places declaring them as "traitors", "enemies of their country", and calling for them to depart. These committees also assisted in organizing local militias and appointing militia officers. These committees, while elected by the people, were a virtual revolutionary dictatorship.

Nullification of Unconstitutional Laws

In every colony the eventual nullification of British authority took place. Some, like Massachusetts and Rhode Island, were displaying this radical doctrine early on, and others, like Georgia and Pennsylvania came around near the end of the Revolutionary War. This doctrine of nullification was as radical then as it is now. All governments despise challenges to their authority and particularly challenges that defy the "legitimate authorities". Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and other New England colonies were the first to use this doctrine and appeal to the "natural rights" of the colonists. Mobs of angry colonists would confront tories such as stamp distributors, customs offciers, and other royally appointed officials and threaten them with hanging, and other forms of violence. These officials would be forced publically to renounce their office or the policies of the British government. This is in direct contravention of the "consensus" and "conservative" historians which to this day maintain that the American Revolution was a mild, and really non-revolutionary event. The theory of a "conservative" revolution is a fraud perpetrated by conservative elements in the United States to justify their anti-republican views and policies.

Lessons for Today

What do we learn from this radicalism? Is it proper for our society today?
I believe the answer to both questions is yes. All people have a natural right to defend their liberties and freedom from government or private entities. A short example would be the Alien and Sedition Acts during the late 1790's. Just twenty two years after the end of the Revolutionary War, the Federalists passed the most tyrannical acts in the history of the United States. The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by rabid conservatives, many old Tories and Tory sympathizers, to destroy free speech and opposition to their centralizing policies and schemes. The Federalists used the same rhetoric used by the British governement during the Revolution calling their opponents "disorganizers", "enemies of government", "reptiles", "jacobins", and "traitors". The Federalists, like the modern day conservative movement, loved power and "order". They exaulted then President Washington into a monarchial and almost God-like firgure who should be above political attack.

President Adams, long a believer in aristocracy and "balanced" government was a staunch supporter of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Adams relished in having his opponents ( the Jeffersonian editors) prosecuted and seemed to embrace a British view of government, by maintaining that people could not critisize their "leaders" or "governors".
The response to this tyranny was Jefferson and Madison's Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. These libertarian resolutions declared the states to be independent and only united in compact for federal purposes. Jefferson's version stated that the States had the authority to "nullify" a unconstitutional federal law, and that such laws were "void" and "of no force". This was the spirit of the American Revolution. As shown above the colonies used such language in the revolution against British authority. The nullification and voiding of unconstitutional federal laws is a radical and revolutionary ideal worthy of the enlightened patriots of the American Revolution. The Alien and Sedition Crisis shows that a populace should be ever vigilent to defend their liberties. Men in power, and who make their living off of that power will normally not part with it without violence or revolution. A revolution, as Murray Rothbard has correctly pointed out in his "Conceived in Liberty" series, must have the support of the mass of the populace to succeed. Violence used by the American revolutionaries was to throw off tyranny and oppression, while violence used by the British was used to defend the oligarchy and their interests, separate frome the people.

In today's climate to oppose the policies of the Federal government, question the Iraq war, or openly critisize President Bush is met with derision and ad hominem attack by reactionary forces. Fanatical right wingers have elevated President Bush to near God-like status, to be held above reproach. Christian Rightists have even admonished their opponents with the tyrannical thoughts of St Paul in Romans 13 to obey government since all are appointed by God. This IS NOT THE DOCTRINE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION! In the United States the PEOPLE are sovereign, not the government! Howard Phillips of the Constitution Party constantly states that in America "God is the sovereign". No, Mr Phillips, in the United States the PEOPLE are the sovereign as stated in the Declaration of Independence. Government is only valid when having "the consent of the governed".

What we need is a revival of the Spirit of 1776 and Jefferson's Revolution of 1800. We must be on constant watch and jealous of any power delegated to government, especially the central government. As Jefferson stated "free government is founded in jealousy, not confidence."

Confidence in government will result in slavery and the annhilation of the natural rights of the people. Let us harken back to the American Revolution and utilize the path our Founders have laid for us before it is too late.

The Radicalism of the American Revolution

In this essay I will lay out the origins and effects of the radicalism that pervaded the American Revolution, and it's after effects on American society. My intent is to refute the lies, propaganda, and falsehoods propagated by neoconservatives, and religious fanatics and leftists who continue to shovel nonsense to a gullible public that the American Revolution was "conservative". This view that both groups peddle has infected the American mind making America one of the most anti-revolutionary nations in the world, and has caused a reactionary conservatism to develop in the United States in complete contravention of it's revolutionary foundations.

First let me begin with a few comments on the idea of America itself. The English colonies were seen by many European immigrants as a refuge from the tyrannies of the Old World. This virgin continent was seen as a tabla rasa by these immigrants in which they would be able to celebrate their different forms of religion without the intervention of the state, where they could pursue economic freedom without the brutal hand of feudalism and hierarchy, and were land was abundant. The idea, whether immediately recognized, or not, was liberty. This is what separates America from all of the other nations of the world ; the revolutionary ideal of opportunity, individual liberty, and self government. The British colonies would be the fertile ground for the seeds of these freedoms to grow. The English tradition of liberty burned bright in the American colonies, unlike the Spanish, French or Portugese colonies where absolute despotism was the primary ideal in their governments. Let us move on to the radical beginnings of the American Revolution, and it's consequent after effects.

Liberty vs Power

Deep within the minds of the colonists was idea of liberty vs power. Government whether in Britian or America was a powerful institution. Government, especially in Great Britian was the purview of the aristocracy and wealthy sycophants of the monarchy. The common people were either excluded by high property qualifications for voting and holding office, or were disenfranchised by ignorance, poverty, and corruption. Although, these conditions existed in America also; they were blunted by the weakness of feudalism, and relatively equal distribution of wealth. Powerful families, government bureaucrats, the high clergy, and the King's executive officers represented the power elite that that the sword of liberty was aimed at. Americans were a far freer people than those of Europe. That said, they still were oppressed by the ideals of the Old World. Now I will list the philosophies that made the American Revolution the most radical revolution to ever occur.

Abolition of Monarchy

This needs very little explaination. The monarchy of George the III was overthrown in America, and abolished. All allegience and loyalty to the king was repudiated and all royal offices and governments abolished. This in and of itself, was radical in a world of kings and aristocracy.

Establishment of a Republic

The United States became the first true republic since ancient times. A government which lodged sovereignty in the people, not a monarch, Parliament, or feudal aristocracy. A government was set up dividing governmental power into executive, legislative and judicial offices. Also, the first American constitution, the Articles of Confederation, abolished all titles of nobility in the United States and provided for a limited central government. It also prescribed term limits for members of the Confederation Congress, a far cry from the British Parliament with it's pensioners, placemen, and unrepresentative districts, or "rotten borroughs" if you may.

Prohibition of Titles of Nobility

As I eluded to above titles of nobility were abolished and prohibited by not only the Confederation, but by each state in the United States. Citizens were declared equal under the law. This was a radical idea considering that all of Europe was governed by an aristocratical nobility. Although Americans did not have dukes, lords and knights in the colonies, they had royally appointed governors, who were members of the aristocracy, and who served at the pleasure of the king.

Hostility to Standing Armies

Americans had inherited the English revolutionaries hostility to standing armies. Standing armies, it was correctly pointed out, always were the destroyers of freedom and liberty at the behest of the despot. All the colonies had militias made up of the bulk of the male populace. These militias were locally run and democratically governed. Officers were elected and removed by the members for poor leadership or lack of confidence. This was a far cry form the conscripted paupers and poor commoners of the British Isles most of whom were impressed into military service.

Expulsion of the Tories

It is estimated that over 100, 000 Tories were expelled from the United States during the War of the Revolution. Most fled to Canada or back to Britian. Their property was confiscated, they were tried before revolutionary committees, and forced to flee. Some of the more egregious Tories who militarily joined the British were executed. Most states sold the large confiscated land holdings and parceled them out in small tracts that the common and middle class colonists could easily afford. This helped establish a large middle class of farmers and artisans. Tory lands were taken without legal proceedings much of the time; and revolutionary committees generally declared Tories outlaws and traitors.

Establishment of Revolutionary Government

The American Revolution overthrew the "legitimate authorities" in the colonies and instead established extra legal government. This extra legal government consisted of Committees of Safety and Correspondence, Revolutionary tribunals and Committees of Inspection for enforcement of boycotts and prosecution of offenders. Committees sent representatives to localities to relay and enforce the decrees and orders of the committees. These would be an example for the French in their revolution where they were called "representatives on mission". Committees published the names of violators of boycotts and embargoes, prosecuted Tories, and organized defensive measures for towns and other localities. Those defying the committees were labeled "traitors" and "enemies to their country". Most of these committees were democratically elected in their localities.

Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty

The American Revolution was not only the first modern war of national liberation, but the first to declare the "sovereignty of the people", and that "all government derives from the people". It was articulated that the object of government was protection of the rights of the people, and that their happiness was the "only legitimate purpose" for government. It was further declared that government that was closest to the people was the most effective and provided the most security for their rights and happiness. These doctrines were extremely radical and did not derive from the doctrines of European government. Popular sovereignty was unheard of in Europe where people were ground down by poverty, ignorance, slavery, and feudalism. Contrary to what neoconservatives and many libertarians believe , the American Revolution was about democratic governance. It was about the right of a free people to govern themselves, not just about free trade, or capitalist property relations.

Religious Liberty

Contrary to the lies and myths of the Chrisitan Right, the American Revolution was also about religious liberty. Although religious liberty did not come immediately or quickly, it did come. The United States was the first nation to base government authority on the "consent of the governed" instead of belief in God. Both the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution ban religious tests for public office and do not invoke God in any way. Seven states just after the Revolution gave Roman Catholics the right to vote and hold office, and nearly all of the colonies that had state established churches disestablished them. Virginia, with Jefferson and Madison at the helm, became the first state in the Western world to completely separate religious belief from civil rights. All men " would be free profess their opinions in matters of religion" as the 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom articulates. Within 60 years all official state sponsered religions were abolished the last two being Connecticut in 1818 and Massachusetts in 1833. This was a radical and truly remarkable ideal which the American Revolution brought to fruition for the Western world.

Individual Liberty

The American Revolution also brought the rights of individuals to the forfront of the the struggle. Freedom of the Press, Speech, and Religion were articulated as inalienable rights that all human beings are entitled to. Ancient English liberties were expounded on and improved. The US Constitution provides for the Right to Counsel, the right to Trial by Jury, the Right against self incrimination, the Right against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures, the abolition of Cruel and Unusual Punishments, etc. These rights are found in the 1st,5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments of the Constitution. Also the right of habeus corpus is granted , only to be suspended by the US Congress during rebellion or invasion, and denying such power to the executive branch. Lastly the right of not only individual states, but individuals themselves to possess firearms for self defense and more importantly, defense against tyrannical government. These rights were not allowed in Europe, and were even considered dangerous and unecessary by conservatives in America.

The Right to Private Property

The right to own private property is very important. In America land was abundant, and feudal land titles, while in existance, were weak. People in America could easily buy, and sell property. Most colonists were small farmers on farms 50 acres or less. Private property ownership is necessary to a free republic. Men must have means and property to live comfortably, unlike their counterparts in the poverty stricken Europe of the time. Possession of property was seen as giving human beings the ability to be independent, prosperous, and to be able to pursue and secure their own happiness. We must be careful to not construe this belief in private property to be a belief in unrestrained corporate power. The Founders did not believe in bodies like corporations being independent of the people. They saw the tyranny associated with mercantilism by watching the power of British corporations like the East India Company over their lives. Monopoly powers granted to owners of private property were feared and guarded against by refusing to give Congress that power. Corporations were seen as artificial entities subject to government charter and review, not with rights like human beings.

Limited Federal Powers

It is forgotten today that the American Revolution was a revolution against a tyrannical central government. ( the British Parliament and King) The Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution provide for a federal structure in which the States grant the central authority power for certain defined purposes like foreign affairs, national defense, coining money, regulating foreign commerce, etc. The States then reserve all other powers to themselves. This confederate fabric was very radical in a world of strong centralized government which were governed by absolute monarchies, supreme legislatures, high clergy, emperors and other similar despotisms. The concept of a federal republic was to ensure that power was divided among the different jusrisdictions to preserve liberty and the self government of the citizens of the States. Compare these ideals to today where there is nothing the Federal government does not regulate or do. This is a result of the neoconservative mindset that strong central government ruling over people is best.

Abolition of Feudalism

Although feudalism was weaker in America than in Europe, it still existed and impacted colonists adversely. Primogeniture, entail, quitrents, slavery, indentured servitude, and other vestiges of feudalism existed in every colony. In Virginia, Entail and Primogeniture were attacked at repealed with the effort of Thomas Jefferson, who faced massive opposition from Virginia conservatives. In New York State feudal land servitude was destroyed by the Revolution, as Tory estates that were confiscated were parceled out to common farmers and the feudal land titles abolished. Quitrents and other "rents" paid by tenants were abolished and large landholdings broken up for good. Men like Jefferson attempted to abolish slavery nationally through such documents like the 1784 and 87 Northwest Ordinances. The abolition only failed by the votes of a few southern states. Jefferson did succeed in abolishing the slave trade in Virginia, and wrote a radical constitution providing that every man be given 50 acres of land to be a freeholder and private property owner. Such land would come from Virginia's vast open range. In Virginia due to Jefferson's effort women were given the equal right of inheritance through his abolition of primogeniture and entail. Such changes are not the result of a "conservative" revolution. These are the results of a inate radicalism.

The Common Man as an Equal

After the American Revolution no longer did the common man: the farmer, artisan, baker, sailor, or workman, see themselves as the "lower sort". The Revolution broke the chains of aristocracy and it's mindset of inequality and suppression of the poor and middle class. Men were freed from the shackes of bowing to their "betters" and a new invigorated market society developed based upon talent and merit instead of aristocracy.

As you can see, my dear reader, the American Revolution defies both the conventional logic, or propaganda if you will, about it's intellectual origin. It is not a "conservative" revolution as both the right and left promote. The right promote it as "conservative" since they hate radicalism, especially Enlightenment radicalism, while the left promote it as conservative because it doesn't embrace Marxist tyranny, which they somehow consider "radical".

Embrace the radicalism of the American Revolution! Read the writings of Jefferson, Paine, Madison, and other Jeffersonians. Read the writings of the English Levellers, Locke, Algernon Sidney, etc and you will find a true radical movement for the liberties of man. The Enlightenment, of which the United States is a product, has brought more freedom to the world than any other than any other is under attack by reactionary right wing and left wing forces. Be aware of our rich and radical history, embrace it, and promote it, and spread it's message of freedom far and wide, and maybe, just maybe we can save America. If we don't become aware of our radical history, or believe the propaganda peddled by the elites that the American Revolution was "conservative" or "reactionary" as some leftists have called it, the fruits of the American Revolution will be lost along with our liberty.

All Hail the Emperor!

All Hail the Emperor!

This was the cry of the citizens and politicians of Rome when the name of Caesar was spoken or he rode by. Heads bowed, hands saluted, and the populace was awed by the Emperor, who was elevated to near god-like status. When founded,the American Republic eliminated royalty, nobility, and imperial government. The President, contrary to the wishes of monarchist John Adams, is not called "your majesty", "royal highness", "my lord", or "the sovereign". The Founders, particularly the Jeffersonians, rejected such slavish and aristocratical titles and ideals.


With the rise of the National Security State after World War II, the growth and usurpation of power by the executive branch has changed the face of the American Republic forever. The Executive, once considered the weakest branch of the federal government, is now the most powerful of the three branches. Every President since Harry Truman has involved American forces in overseas adventures and wars with little or no imput from the US Congress. The Congress has not provided any check on the powers of the President and has allowed it's own power to be seized by the President and the federal courts. This has created the rise of an imperial mindset to grow in the United States.

This mindset, what I call the new royalty, has been propagated by both major political parties. Whether a Democrat or Republican in office, each party vehemently defends "their man" no matter what. Lies, corruption, dishonesty, are all cast away by political partisanship. The Republican Party has now taken this royal worship of " their man" to a height not seen before in the United States. Let us examine how George Bush has been elevated to being the new king.

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy, Michael Savage and other right wing propagandists promote the idea of the infallability of the President. He is referred to as "our leader", "your" or "our President", "your commander in chief", and other slavish and bootlicking terms.
Underneath these terms the real political theory can be examined. It is an old theory, one of old monarchy, despotism, and the divine right of kings. The terms referred to above are a subtle substitute for "your majesty", "your highness", "your excellency", etc. As I have related in other essays these are the old doctrines of monarchist Sir Robert Filmer, Edmund Burke, England's King James I, and the brutal kings of France.

With the advent of the new "war on terror" after the 9/11 attacks, the American right wing has made several inroads into destroying our republican government. The Patriot Act, the increase of the standing army, the creation of a de-facto national ID card, and the creation of an American domestic spy agency called the National Security Service. These events only increase the power of the federal government and the executive branch. The Right loves it because they do not believe in representative government, Jeffersonian Democracy, or the principles of liberty. They are in love with kingship, whether he is called a dictator, king, emperor, governor, or supreme ruler. This is our future unless the Jeffersonians among us rise up and reinvigorate our dying republic with the true ideals of freedom: individual liberty, freedom of religion, press, person, protection of habeus corpus, trial by jury,and the repudiation of monarchy and all of it's trappings. In America today we are seeing the elimination of the experiment in republican government and the trappings on the American monarchy taking shape. This monarchy rules with the help of a wealthy oligarchy of big business, big government bureaucrats, strong central government, and a standing army. This is our future if the authoritarians, both right and left, succeed.

If one more terrorist attack happens in America, particularly if it is catastrophic, we will see the end of American democracy. It will not matter whether the President is George Bush, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton or some other politician, martial law will be declared, elections suspended, and the rule of one propagated. Congress will eventually be disbanded, and an American Caesar will come to power. Once that Caesar is in power, American liberty will be buried under a new martial society, 500% patriotism, propaganda, and extreme nationalism.

Here is what life under the new Caesar will be like: internal passports to travel within the USA, police checkpoints throughout the states, the establishment of a domestic spy agency (NSS), the annhilation of all state and local power and authority, and the wedding of private corporate interests with the federal government. This is called fascism. Fascism is the philosophy of state socialism and the uniting of Big Business. Big Business serves the fascist state and in return receives monopoly powers and privileges, just like during the monarchies of the middle ages. A aristocracy is erected, the middle and lower classes are degraded through a declining standard of living, poor education, violence and high crime, and the loss of the locus of sovereignty in the people. High at the top of this pile of corruption, bureaucracy, and statism will be a dictator. This dictator will rule through a corrupt and venal oligarchy full of sycophants willing to do his bidding. The people will live in banality, immorality, and fear. This is exactly what the dictator and his minions want.


When this happens there will be no freedom, no liberty, no protests, no opposition to those in power, and no right to privacy. There will be no voices shouting from the rooftops against the new king, no one yelling rebellion or revolution from their soapbox. The only voice heard loudly and strongly will be " ALL HAIL THE EMPEROR!, GOD BLESS HIS ROYAL MAJESTY!"

If those words are heard, it will be too late.