Libertarian Commentary #16-08C  by Nathan Barton

Peace in our time? The Epoch Times tells us, “The United States and Russia have agreed on a new ceasefire for Syria that will take effect Saturday, even as major questions over enforcing and responding to violations of the truce were left unresolved. Syria’s warring government and rebels still need to accept the deal.” But according to some reports, the Russians are reinforcing combat aviation assets in Syria, close to the Turkish border (not that ANYplace in Syrian isn’t far from Turkey by US and Russian standards), and the implication is that Turkey and Russia may soon engage in a shooting war, not just bumping off an aircraft here and there. That would mean NATO intervention on the side of Turkey (unless the Turks were stupid enough to make it obvious that THEY are the aggressors. Of course, no matter what Amis and Ruskies agree on, the other six or eight sides in the Syrian Front of the Islamic Wars may not: we are also still told that Saudi forces are massing in a position to be able to strike Syria, but on whose side? Physically-militant religious-political conflicts are nasty family fights much of the time, especially in the Muslim and Arab worlds.

Mama’s Note: We are told to “follow the money” to discover the reason for things, but so far I can’t see anything but loss for everyone in this. The ordinary people are definitely losing big time, as always in war. Such utter insanity. And utter insanity for Americans to become involved, of course.

Raw Story tells us (or reminds us) of the latent insanity and inability to reason in politicians. “Atlantic City’s mayor has called a state plan to cede control of the fiscally distressed gambling hub a ‘fascist dictatorship,’ a sharp reversal of his previous position on the proposed takeover. Details of the proposed legislation, released last week, would deny residents their civil rights by stripping municipal powers from locally elected officials, Mayor Don Guardian said on Monday, echoing previous concerns from community activists. ‘The final piece of legislation that the state presented to us was far from a partnership,’ Guardian said. ‘It was much worse. It was absolutely a fascist dictatorship.’ The plan calls for the state to appoint an official who would have the power to make unilateral decisions about canceling collective bargaining agreements, selling city-owned assets, entering contracts, terminating employees and vetoing city council minutes, Guardian said.”

Dictatorship? Yep, sounds pretty much like one: the same solution the Romans used in times of crisis. But “FASCIST?” Please, give me a break. For one thing, if this isn’t about a partnership, then he misses the entire point. Fascism IS about partnerships: maybe unwilling, but still, cooperation and collaboration between political and industrial and economic powers in which the state is the ultimate beneficiary, and people can (sometimes literally) go hang. But to claim “fascism” today is maddening and irrational. It’s like saying the devil made them do it. As for “denying residents their civil rights,” it seems that local officials have already pretty much done that. What is this, some kind of “delegation of rights” that local elected officials claim by right of vote?

This isn’t “fascism” but just plain old Communism and tyranny. “The Zimbabwean government will now control all mining in the diamond-rich Marange area, after mining companies were ordered to halt all operations because their licenses have expired, the mining minister said Monday. All diamond mining will now be managed by the Zimbabwe Consolidated Mining Company, wholly owned by the government, Minister of Mines and Mining Development Walter Chidhakwa said.” This was reported by the Roanoke Times World and brings home an important lesson. The EXCUSE for the seizure was that their “licenses have expired.” How convenient. When does YOUR pistol permit expire? Or your car registration, or your drivers license? Will “they” renew it? Really?

Does government always lie? Does it matter? Bloomberg tells us that several states are already into “recession.” Quote: “As economists size up the chances of the first nationwide slump since 2009, pockets of the country are already contracting. Four states — Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming — are in a recession, and three others are at risk of prolonged declines, according to indexes of state economic performance tracked by Moody’s Analytics.” According to Activist Post (warning, Activist Post is not a trusted information site), “the three additional states that are “at risk of prolonged declines” are Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

What all of those seven states have in common is a strong dependence on the energy industry.  Last year, 67 oil and gas companies in the United States filed for bankruptcy, and approximately 130,000 good paying energy jobs were lost.“ Specifically, FOUR of these states are (or were) important sources of coal. All of the others (except West Virginia) are important oil and natural gas sources. For the decline in coal, look no further than the White House and Congress, attacking coal-fired power plants (and anything else). For gas and oil, we can look at several villains, including that great American ally (sarcasm here) Saudi Arabia, and probably to a lesser degree the “normalization” of relations by the FedGov with Iran.

But we also have to keep in mind that, in my opinion, we have never really recovered from the Crash of 2009: even while the government and its allies in banking and academia have sworn we have recovered, there is no real indication of any such thing. Indeed, we are seeing many, MANY indications that the world and national economy is in collapse; transportation (land and sea), industrial production, business revenues, increased public and private debt all point to this. So not only has government been lying, but they continue to do so and they are so stupid as to think we ALL are stupid.

This seems to be part of a continued deterioration and fractionalization, both of the Fifty States and worldwide. Which makes this recently posted quote (prophesy?) very interesting. “Gentlemen, the time is coming when there will be two great classes, Socialists, and Anarchists. The Anarchists want the government to be nothing, and the Socialists want government to be everything. There can be no greater contrast. Well, the time will come when there will be only these two great parties, the Anarchists representing the laissez faire doctrine and the Socialists representing the extreme view on the other side, and when that time comes I am an Anarchist.” — William Graham Sumner, (1840-1910) American academic and professor at Yale College.

There are millions of us who must decide what side of the fence we are on. We know that more and more who claim to be conservatives are in fact moving to what Sumner calls “Socialist” (and I call “progressives” including Tranzis), no matter what they claim. Not just in the White House and Congress, but in virtually every statehouse and county courthouse and city hall.