There are a good many views or interpretations of history, both of the world and of the United States. The common textbooks, both for secondary schools and tertiary schools (colleges) seldom present any of these views except for the one which the author has chosen. Yes, the events are the same (although which are covered and which are skipped are different), but the way we look at those events is really the important thing: history exists for us to learn from, to benefit from: otherwise, it is a waste of time. Interesting perhaps, but a waste of time.
Our interpretation of history is of course based on our viewpoint. A communist looks at history very much differently from a libertarian. Libertarian views of history, in fact, are very rare - most published views are those of statists, after all. It is important, though, to recognize the viewpoint of something we are reading or studying, even if we don't agree with the point of view; it is equally important to read history with a viewpoint other than our own (provided we realize that it is), to better understand history from our viewpoint.
In some cases, we change our point of view in general, and yet, it may take some time before we realize that has changed our point of view of history: yet if one happens, the other is necessary. Anyone who started their political life as a conservative or liberal (or any other kind of statist) who has become libertarian, is aware of this.
There are several good examples of libertarian points of view that are worth discussing, briefly:
"Hologram of Liberty" by Boston T. Party, a popular and yet private libertarian writer, presents a very different point of view of the United States Constitution and the growth and development of the Republic, one which might make even 100-100 (Nolan chart) libertarians want to throw the book across the room. His premise is simple, and he argues very well for it: that the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, was intentionally written as a flawed document which ALLOWS the explosion of government size and power that has taken place over the last 210+ years, and that those who wrote it knew exactly what their intentional flaws would lead to, because that was their goal.
A second view of history is illustrated by that other illustrious libertarian, Murray Rothbard. In a column he wrote 10 years ago, but recently republished at Lew Rockwell (see below), entitled "Left and Right: The Prospects for Liberty" he pointed out the significant difference between conservatives (including neo-conservatives) and liberals (both classical and modern) in American history in the last century, and what that has done to freedom, not just in the United States, but for the entire world. In particular, he points out that the so-called "Populist" and "left-wing" introduction of various laws in the early 20th Century, regulating the trusts, labor, and introducing the income tax, were in reality supported by, and highly beneficial to the monopolistic "capitalists" of the era and since. He also traces the oddly contradictory classic liberal/libertarian roots of some of Russian (Leninist) communism, and the distinctions between National Socialism (Nazi) and International Communist Socialism (USSR).
Yet a third view of history (and one which many libertarians may find shocking, but which is a strong addition to the entire concept of liberty, as far as I am concerned) may be seen in the writings of Charles Kimball, found at the "Xenohistorian" site (again, see below). Mr. Kimball presents a view of history from a Christian and Biblical point of view, which views human government as a rebellion against God, and the traditional definitions of "civilization" (as contrasted to barbarianism or primitive cultures) as being intentionally biased in favor of this rebellious human government. He goes on to point out how an ugly but successful alliance of human government and false religion has dominated the world's history, but how there have been constant efforts and a gradual rollback of that alliance has taken place (and is continuing today).
(www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard-arch.html)
(www.javelinpress.com)
(http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/worldhis/)
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Red Star, White Star, No Star
The following news story was published on Friday the 4th of February. It frankly disgusts me:
EU group wants hammer & sickle banned
Fox News
"A group of conservative European Union lawmakers from eastern Europe called Thursday for a ban on communist symbols, including the red star and the hammer and sickle, to match a proposed EU ban on the Nazi swastika. The group from Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic said the communist symbols should be included in any ban because of the suffering caused by Soviet-backed regimes in eastern Europe. 'We would like to have an equal treatment of the other evil totalitarian regime of the communist system,' said Jozsef Szajer, an Hungarian member of the European Parliament. EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini has proposed a Europe-wide ban on display of the swastikas and other Nazi symbols as part of a campaign to combat anti-Semitism and intolerance." (02/03/05) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146288,00.html
Talk about symbol over substance! At a time when socialism is taking over more and more of Europe, they want to hide the symbols. Pretend it will go away then. Right.
Let’s see, how many more symbols could we add? How about the various Imperial Eagles (Russian, German, French, Austrian) – after all, millions suffered and died because of these imperialist regimes over centuries. The German (Imperial) Iron Cross must also go, together with the swastika. Oh, and we can’t forget the Roman/Mussolini fasces (the ax with a bundle of rods wrapped around it) – how many acts of genocide did the Romans commit? Let’s see, what about the Turkish/Islamic crescent moon – Turks and other Islamists killed millions of Europeans and enslaved even more over more than a thousand years. We must also add Napoleon’s honey-bees and other trappings, and that French Tri-color, waved by hordes of fanatics who butchered their way from Gibraltar to the gates of Moscow in the “cause” of “Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality.” Of course, that was in response to the tyranny of the Bourbon kings, so we must also ban the fleur-de-lis, even in its modern guise as the symbol of international Scouting (or perhaps BECAUSE of its use by that religious-intolerant-fascist-paramilitary organization).
Anything else? Well, the blood-soaked history of Europe offers so many things that are symbolic of suffering, tyranny, genocide, killing, and such that we have to continue to add to the “Omnibus European Hate Symbols Ban Act of 2005.”
How about the very worst of examples of evil known to modern Europeans: the American Bald Eagle, the Stars and Stripes (those Americans even have the gall to print a military newspaper by that name and with it on the masthead IN EUROPE!), and the White Star. I’m sure that there are some other American symbols of evil to be added – perhaps even the use of the initials USA (like the initials NSDAP or the contraction “Na-zi” (for National Socialist)) should be outlawed. Oh yes, and don’t forget that symbol, the Statue of Liberty. I know it came from France, but that was about five or six “republics” ago, and now they know better: liberty is evil, and American liberty is even more evil.
But this is not enough – there are the symbols of that evil that is even greater than America, greater than the Soviets, greater than the Nazis – an evil that has been around now for nearly 2,000 years. That evil, of course, is Christianity – that bloody, simpering, proselytizing, do-gooder, right-wing, holier-than-thou movement that has swept the world and used as an excuse for mass murder, genocide, destruction of cultures, tyranny, liberty, and virtually every other evil known to modern man. Obviously, if the hammer and sickle and swastika are to be banned, than so must that most evil of symbols (from which both other symbols may have been taken, by the way) – that evil thing called the “cross.” Of course, ALL forms of the cross must be eliminated, whether it be a crucifix (obviously a particularly distasteful use – hanging up a carving of a DEAD guy on your wall- how tacky), Nordic or St. Andrews or St. George or Lorraine or any of the other hundreds of versions. And we must also ban all other symbols of that hated and hateful religion – the rooster used by the German Evangelical (Protestants), the shepherd’s crook/staff, the bishop’s mitre, the various symbols of the mythical “Trinity,” and of course, that hideous book, the Bible – worse than Mein Kampf, Das Capital, and Mao’s Little Red Book combined. Only then can Europe truly be free from fear and bad feelings and a sense of past history.
So go for it, all you politicians and bureaucrats and new-agers and liberated men and womyn and “its” there between the Atlantic and the Urals. Make your future safe by denying your past, and obliterating your present. Nothing is too good for the new order, is it? You make me sick.
EU group wants hammer & sickle banned
Fox News
"A group of conservative European Union lawmakers from eastern Europe called Thursday for a ban on communist symbols, including the red star and the hammer and sickle, to match a proposed EU ban on the Nazi swastika. The group from Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic said the communist symbols should be included in any ban because of the suffering caused by Soviet-backed regimes in eastern Europe. 'We would like to have an equal treatment of the other evil totalitarian regime of the communist system,' said Jozsef Szajer, an Hungarian member of the European Parliament. EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini has proposed a Europe-wide ban on display of the swastikas and other Nazi symbols as part of a campaign to combat anti-Semitism and intolerance." (02/03/05) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146288,00.html
Talk about symbol over substance! At a time when socialism is taking over more and more of Europe, they want to hide the symbols. Pretend it will go away then. Right.
Let’s see, how many more symbols could we add? How about the various Imperial Eagles (Russian, German, French, Austrian) – after all, millions suffered and died because of these imperialist regimes over centuries. The German (Imperial) Iron Cross must also go, together with the swastika. Oh, and we can’t forget the Roman/Mussolini fasces (the ax with a bundle of rods wrapped around it) – how many acts of genocide did the Romans commit? Let’s see, what about the Turkish/Islamic crescent moon – Turks and other Islamists killed millions of Europeans and enslaved even more over more than a thousand years. We must also add Napoleon’s honey-bees and other trappings, and that French Tri-color, waved by hordes of fanatics who butchered their way from Gibraltar to the gates of Moscow in the “cause” of “Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality.” Of course, that was in response to the tyranny of the Bourbon kings, so we must also ban the fleur-de-lis, even in its modern guise as the symbol of international Scouting (or perhaps BECAUSE of its use by that religious-intolerant-fascist-paramilitary organization).
Anything else? Well, the blood-soaked history of Europe offers so many things that are symbolic of suffering, tyranny, genocide, killing, and such that we have to continue to add to the “Omnibus European Hate Symbols Ban Act of 2005.”
How about the very worst of examples of evil known to modern Europeans: the American Bald Eagle, the Stars and Stripes (those Americans even have the gall to print a military newspaper by that name and with it on the masthead IN EUROPE!), and the White Star. I’m sure that there are some other American symbols of evil to be added – perhaps even the use of the initials USA (like the initials NSDAP or the contraction “Na-zi” (for National Socialist)) should be outlawed. Oh yes, and don’t forget that symbol, the Statue of Liberty. I know it came from France, but that was about five or six “republics” ago, and now they know better: liberty is evil, and American liberty is even more evil.
But this is not enough – there are the symbols of that evil that is even greater than America, greater than the Soviets, greater than the Nazis – an evil that has been around now for nearly 2,000 years. That evil, of course, is Christianity – that bloody, simpering, proselytizing, do-gooder, right-wing, holier-than-thou movement that has swept the world and used as an excuse for mass murder, genocide, destruction of cultures, tyranny, liberty, and virtually every other evil known to modern man. Obviously, if the hammer and sickle and swastika are to be banned, than so must that most evil of symbols (from which both other symbols may have been taken, by the way) – that evil thing called the “cross.” Of course, ALL forms of the cross must be eliminated, whether it be a crucifix (obviously a particularly distasteful use – hanging up a carving of a DEAD guy on your wall- how tacky), Nordic or St. Andrews or St. George or Lorraine or any of the other hundreds of versions. And we must also ban all other symbols of that hated and hateful religion – the rooster used by the German Evangelical (Protestants), the shepherd’s crook/staff, the bishop’s mitre, the various symbols of the mythical “Trinity,” and of course, that hideous book, the Bible – worse than Mein Kampf, Das Capital, and Mao’s Little Red Book combined. Only then can Europe truly be free from fear and bad feelings and a sense of past history.
So go for it, all you politicians and bureaucrats and new-agers and liberated men and womyn and “its” there between the Atlantic and the Urals. Make your future safe by denying your past, and obliterating your present. Nothing is too good for the new order, is it? You make me sick.
Punish the Generous
This event happened very close to (one of) my homes, and so is more meaningful.
A good many judges are reported to fear for their lives, scuttling like frightened rabbits from their secure courtrooms to the “safety” of their alarmed cars to rush home anonymously to houses in gated communities with elaborate security systems. This judge should be taking all those precautions, together with this woman, who will very likely need protection from the justified anger of their neighbors and community. If the two girls (one a minor at the time) had spray-painted hate messages on her house, they would have been punished less than they were for leaving cookies one evening. A court system that allows this kind of travesty of justice deserves nothing but contempt.
As a long-time fan of Archie comics (www.archiecomics.com), these two remind me of a not-untypical Betty and Veronica story, but no B&V story ever ended so depressingly as this one has (at least so far).
At least one libertarian, Ari Armstrong, the Publisher/editor of Colorado Freedom Report (www.FreeColorado.com) has donated money to the two girls to pay part of their fine and legal costs. I hope more of us will follow suit. I'm including his letter at the end of this post.
Original story: Gift of Cookies Crumbles; Girls Told to Pay $900
A Colorado judge ordered two teen-age girls to pay about $900 for the distress a neighbor said they caused by giving her home-made cookies adorned with paper hearts. The pair were ordered to pay $871.70 plus $39 in court costs after neighbor Wanita Renea Young, 49, filed a lawsuit complaining that the unsolicited cookies, left at her house after the girls knocked on her door, had triggered an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital the next day.
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050204160509990010
Ari's letter:
February 4, 2005
Dear Mrs. Ostergaard,
I was saddened, dismayed, and outraged to learn from the Denver Post that your daughter, Taylor, and her friend Lindsey Jo Zellitti, were successfully sued for being nice.
Quite obviously, a knock on the door in the evening is not sufficient to send somebody to the hospital. Ms. Young obviously suffered from unrelated problems, for which she scape-goated your daughter and her friend. Unfortunately, the court system assisted Ms. Young in perpetrating a grave injustice.
Please, please, girls, do not let one cynical woman and a callous court system dampen your benevolent spirit. Many of us appreciate your kindness and condemn the overly-litigious judicial system that too often punishes people for their virtues.
Please accept a modest contribution from my wife and me to offset your legal expenses. (Please split the funds between the two families.) I will also ask readers of my web page, FreeColorado.com, and other friends of mine, to join in helping to defray those costs. If you receive funds in excess of the legal bills, I ask that you split the money evenly between the girls to be used for college expenses.
Though Ms. Young and the idiot judge who awarded her damages seem to think of the girls as cookie monsters, the girls are properly regarded as kind and creative thinkers. If the judge had had a lick of common sense, he would have given the girls a medal, not a fine.
Rather than follow the crowd, the girls exercised independent thinking and came up with a constructive, original project. I wish them well as they pursue their goals and values. Please tell them that they did the right thing, and their benevolent fellow Coloradans applaud them for it.
Sincerely,
Ari Armstrong
Editor, Colorado Freedom Report
The addresses for the girl's parents (from the telephone directory) are:
Ostergaard, Richard and Jill, 415 Co Rd 307, Durango CO 81303
Zellitti, Gary and Rhonda 781 Co Rd 302, Durango CO 81303
(Ms. Young's phone number and address is apparently unlisted. No surprise.)
A good many judges are reported to fear for their lives, scuttling like frightened rabbits from their secure courtrooms to the “safety” of their alarmed cars to rush home anonymously to houses in gated communities with elaborate security systems. This judge should be taking all those precautions, together with this woman, who will very likely need protection from the justified anger of their neighbors and community. If the two girls (one a minor at the time) had spray-painted hate messages on her house, they would have been punished less than they were for leaving cookies one evening. A court system that allows this kind of travesty of justice deserves nothing but contempt.
As a long-time fan of Archie comics (www.archiecomics.com), these two remind me of a not-untypical Betty and Veronica story, but no B&V story ever ended so depressingly as this one has (at least so far).
At least one libertarian, Ari Armstrong, the Publisher/editor of Colorado Freedom Report (www.FreeColorado.com) has donated money to the two girls to pay part of their fine and legal costs. I hope more of us will follow suit. I'm including his letter at the end of this post.
Original story: Gift of Cookies Crumbles; Girls Told to Pay $900
A Colorado judge ordered two teen-age girls to pay about $900 for the distress a neighbor said they caused by giving her home-made cookies adorned with paper hearts. The pair were ordered to pay $871.70 plus $39 in court costs after neighbor Wanita Renea Young, 49, filed a lawsuit complaining that the unsolicited cookies, left at her house after the girls knocked on her door, had triggered an anxiety attack that sent her to the hospital the next day.
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050204160509990010
Ari's letter:
February 4, 2005
Dear Mrs. Ostergaard,
I was saddened, dismayed, and outraged to learn from the Denver Post that your daughter, Taylor, and her friend Lindsey Jo Zellitti, were successfully sued for being nice.
Quite obviously, a knock on the door in the evening is not sufficient to send somebody to the hospital. Ms. Young obviously suffered from unrelated problems, for which she scape-goated your daughter and her friend. Unfortunately, the court system assisted Ms. Young in perpetrating a grave injustice.
Please, please, girls, do not let one cynical woman and a callous court system dampen your benevolent spirit. Many of us appreciate your kindness and condemn the overly-litigious judicial system that too often punishes people for their virtues.
Please accept a modest contribution from my wife and me to offset your legal expenses. (Please split the funds between the two families.) I will also ask readers of my web page, FreeColorado.com, and other friends of mine, to join in helping to defray those costs. If you receive funds in excess of the legal bills, I ask that you split the money evenly between the girls to be used for college expenses.
Though Ms. Young and the idiot judge who awarded her damages seem to think of the girls as cookie monsters, the girls are properly regarded as kind and creative thinkers. If the judge had had a lick of common sense, he would have given the girls a medal, not a fine.
Rather than follow the crowd, the girls exercised independent thinking and came up with a constructive, original project. I wish them well as they pursue their goals and values. Please tell them that they did the right thing, and their benevolent fellow Coloradans applaud them for it.
Sincerely,
Ari Armstrong
Editor, Colorado Freedom Report
The addresses for the girl's parents (from the telephone directory) are:
Ostergaard, Richard and Jill, 415 Co Rd 307, Durango CO 81303
Zellitti, Gary and Rhonda 781 Co Rd 302, Durango CO 81303
(Ms. Young's phone number and address is apparently unlisted. No surprise.)
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