This was published both in the Rapid City Journal and Dusty’s own Fall River Reader of Hot Springs, Fall River County, Paha Sapa. She’s graciously given our esteemed publisher and me permission to republish it. I’ve added my other thoughts at the end.
We can all starve together.
by Dusty Pence
I wish that in the cold light of a new day I could tell you that I am hopeful for our country in spite of last week’s election, but that would be a lie. I know that many of you think this transition to a bigger, more powerful federal government is a good path. You think that through government, society will somehow care for the least of us, that the poor will be fed and the greedy punished.
History says that this simply isn’t true, that the approach for which you voted does not work. It never has. It never will. Government is not compassionate. Only people are compassionate and compassion cannot be legislated. Take every dime from every wealthy person on earth—you will not have enough to fund the nation you envision, and once you have confiscated that wealth, no one will have an incentive to create new wealth. Food will be rationed, along with every other vital good, along with our very lives.
Success doesn’t happen by government dictate; it happens when people have the drive and desire to make it happen. Money can’t be endlessly printed—it must be earned, or its value is diminished. A wheelbarrow full of paper dollars might buy you a mouthful of food, but perhaps you think this will make you happy—after all, no one else will have enough to fill their stomachs, either.
We can all starve together. Won’t that be lovely?
I fear for our nation, for myself and most of all for the children in my life. What sort of world will they face? Will they lose every semblance of freedom? Will they be forced to fight to regain their freedom? Will they live in poverty with no hope for escape? Will they have to scrounge and battle for every morsel of food?
Today, we drive our cars and go to work, shop and play, as if nothing has changed. But everything has changed.
Our nation has voted to progress toward a society made up of weak, dependent victims. I do not see a path that will allow us to turn the tide, unless that path is one of revolution.
Dusty Pence is a writer, editor and the editor of the Fall River Forum. She is a native South Dakotan and fourteen-year resident of Fall River County. Pence edited local author Mary Ellen Goulet’s Cascade of Flames and A (not so) Simple Life.
Here my own thoughts on first reading Dusty’s editorial:
Dusty, thanks for speaking boldly in this editorial. And not sugar-coating the truth.
We can avoid the “starving together” only if we are prepared to not do so, and make some sacrifices now. But too many of us, as you point out, don’t want to see that things have changed. Which is one reason that those who do see and are willing to take action and prepare for what is coming must deal not just with the usual gaggle of parasites but to defend themselves, their families, and their community against those who refused to prepare until it was too late.
None of us should want to initiate any violence, but must be prepared to protect ourselves against force used immorally against us: that may indeed be “revolution,” in part because what we have seen the last two elections are fresh victories from the counterrevolutionary forces we have let sweep away so much of our liberty.
To that, let me add: “Freedom” and “Liberty” which we inherit is worth exactly what we paid for it: that is, nothing. We each have to work and fight for liberty for ourselves, our family, and our neighbors, daily. And that doesn’t mean going off to some foreign country, even if there is a legitimate argument that we are helping free others from tyranny. It has to be at home. “Use it or lose it.” When we stop exercising, whether it is running or weight-lifting or riding a bike, after a while, we just can’t do it. Same thing with throwing lead down range: skills are easily (and too quickly) lost. So it is with liberty: we can let it slip away, and before we know it, there is NO way to get it back that does not involve paying a large price: in convenience, security, treasure… and blood. We are well past that point.
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About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.
The Price of Liberty 
Guest Commentary: We can all starve together.
This was published both in the Rapid City Journal and Dusty’s own Fall River Reader of Hot Springs, Fall River County, Paha Sapa. She’s graciously given our esteemed publisher and me permission to republish it. I’ve added my other thoughts at the end.
We can all starve together.
by Dusty Pence
I wish that in the cold light of a new day I could tell you that I am hopeful for our country in spite of last week’s election, but that would be a lie. I know that many of you think this transition to a bigger, more powerful federal government is a good path. You think that through government, society will somehow care for the least of us, that the poor will be fed and the greedy punished.
History says that this simply isn’t true, that the approach for which you voted does not work. It never has. It never will. Government is not compassionate. Only people are compassionate and compassion cannot be legislated. Take every dime from every wealthy person on earth—you will not have enough to fund the nation you envision, and once you have confiscated that wealth, no one will have an incentive to create new wealth. Food will be rationed, along with every other vital good, along with our very lives.
Success doesn’t happen by government dictate; it happens when people have the drive and desire to make it happen. Money can’t be endlessly printed—it must be earned, or its value is diminished. A wheelbarrow full of paper dollars might buy you a mouthful of food, but perhaps you think this will make you happy—after all, no one else will have enough to fill their stomachs, either.
We can all starve together. Won’t that be lovely?
I fear for our nation, for myself and most of all for the children in my life. What sort of world will they face? Will they lose every semblance of freedom? Will they be forced to fight to regain their freedom? Will they live in poverty with no hope for escape? Will they have to scrounge and battle for every morsel of food?
Today, we drive our cars and go to work, shop and play, as if nothing has changed. But everything has changed.
Our nation has voted to progress toward a society made up of weak, dependent victims. I do not see a path that will allow us to turn the tide, unless that path is one of revolution.
Here my own thoughts on first reading Dusty’s editorial:
Dusty, thanks for speaking boldly in this editorial. And not sugar-coating the truth.
We can avoid the “starving together” only if we are prepared to not do so, and make some sacrifices now. But too many of us, as you point out, don’t want to see that things have changed. Which is one reason that those who do see and are willing to take action and prepare for what is coming must deal not just with the usual gaggle of parasites but to defend themselves, their families, and their community against those who refused to prepare until it was too late.
None of us should want to initiate any violence, but must be prepared to protect ourselves against force used immorally against us: that may indeed be “revolution,” in part because what we have seen the last two elections are fresh victories from the counterrevolutionary forces we have let sweep away so much of our liberty.
To that, let me add: “Freedom” and “Liberty” which we inherit is worth exactly what we paid for it: that is, nothing. We each have to work and fight for liberty for ourselves, our family, and our neighbors, daily. And that doesn’t mean going off to some foreign country, even if there is a legitimate argument that we are helping free others from tyranny. It has to be at home. “Use it or lose it.” When we stop exercising, whether it is running or weight-lifting or riding a bike, after a while, we just can’t do it. Same thing with throwing lead down range: skills are easily (and too quickly) lost. So it is with liberty: we can let it slip away, and before we know it, there is NO way to get it back that does not involve paying a large price: in convenience, security, treasure… and blood. We are well past that point.
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About TPOL Nathan
Follower of Christ Jesus (a christian), Pahasapan (resident of the Black Hills), Westerner, Lover of Liberty, Free-Market Anarchist, Engineer, Army Officer, Husband, Father, Historian, Writer, Evangelist. Successor to Lady Susan (Mama Liberty) at TPOL.