Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Progressive Era
by William L. Anderson
by William L. Anderson
The Myth and the Reality
One of the most enduring set of myths from U.S. history comes from the political and social developments in what is called the “Progressive Era,” a period lasting from the late 1800s to the end of World War I. (Of course, one could argue, convincingly, that the Progressive Era never has ended.) The prevailing story told in textbooks, the editorial pages of the New York Times, and the typical classroom holds that this was the time when people began to use the mechanism of government to create the conditions for a better life for all and to begin the arduous process of reining in the excesses of capitalism.
According to the pundits, by the late 1800s many businesses in the United States had grown to gigantic proportions, monopolizing much of the economy. In response to this growing emergency, the government adopted new and “progressive” policies of regulatory agencies and antitrust laws.
Besides regulating business activity, Progressives, through coalitions of intellectuals, political figures, and activists, saw to it that government also began the process of regulating the extraction of natural resources through executive action. (Progressives considered the legislative procedure to be a waste of time that needed to be replaced with a mechanism that permitted the executive branch of government to seek “needed” shortcuts around the give-and-take that accompanied the legislature at work.)
Through Progressive prodding, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which created the Food and Drug Administration and expanded government regulation of food and the workplace. Progressives also secured the right of women to vote and ended the state legislatures’ stranglehold on the national electoral process by mandating the direct election of U.S. senators (which until 1913 were chosen by state legislatures).
Socially, the Progressives were humanitarians who sought to better the lives of ordinary people, with their greatest “triumph” being passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, which ushered in the era of Prohibition. (Most modern Progressives are not particularly proud of this “achievement” by their forbears, but the prohibitionist spirit is much more alive than they would like to admit. Today, Progressive lawyers have been busy suing tobacco companies and the liquor industry and attempting to ban products such as silicon breast implants that feminists and other modern Progressives think are not proper things for people to have.)
Last, the Progressive Era trumpeted science and the “enlightened” Social Gospel, which became the religion of choice for religious skeptics who questioned the core doctrines of the Christian faith. From the implementation of “scientific” principles to govern politics, business, and social relationships, Progressivism helped to create a rational basis for modern society. From the creation of the Federal Reserve System to the Sixteenth Amendment that brought about the national income tax, Progressives were able to do away with the impediments created by the U.S. Constitution, which according to them stood in the way of progress.
If there was a downside to the Progressive Era, its modern supporters say, it was that Progressives were not able to do enough before “reactionary” post–World War I forces set in. “Reforms” such as the banning of child labor, minimum wages, the welfare state, further regulation of business, and a completion of the process of transferring legislative power from the Congress to the executive branch would have to wait until the Great Depression, when the nation had supposedly had its fill of laissez faire. Also, in spite of the best efforts of the Progressives, segregation laws institutionalized racism, which worsened strife between whites and blacks.
While Progressivism has captured the hearts and minds of modern intellectuals and others, there is another story to tell about this era, a much darker tale than what generally is told. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that Progressivism helped to destroy, not preserve, the constitutional order. Far from ushering in the social peace, justice, and prosperity that Progressives promised, Progressivism helped to create the conditions for the Great Depression and helped plunge the country into one war after another. Perhaps the only positive thing we can say about the Progressive Era was that it did not do all of the damage that it could have done.
In taking this look at the Progressive Era, I will be examining a number of social and economic initiatives that took place during that time. I begin with the social policies and laws that came about during that era and dissect Progressivism’s long and sorry legacy.
Early U.S. Progressives.........MORE
"How soon we forget history. Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."
Within The Symbol
WITHIN THE SYMBOL OF THE THIRTEEN STAR FLAG lies the meaning we seek to convey -- that ours was once a Republic born of ingenious political philosophy and a natural hunger for liberty. The greatest statesmen our nation has produced, before or since, dedicated their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the establishment of a new kind of government. They formed for posterity a system which, if preserved, would have done more to secure the happiness and prosperity of its citizens than any in the modern world. They correctly perceived that the attendant rights of liberty are reposed not in governments but in individuals -- that individuals are so endowed by their Creator. The proper role of government is not to grant that which it can never possess, but to protect that which it has so often tread upon. Our founders knew well that a government of men would not, in fact could not, exercise an enduring self restraint. Further -- they recognized what has been aptly termed the internal hydraulic pressure within governments to expand the boundaries of their own power. Restraint, they therefore expressly imposed. But such restraints are effective only so long as we adhere to their design. Increasingly, we fail to do so, and our Republic wanes as if by a wasting disease.
The Threat of Progressivism
The greatest threat to the American Republic is currently the muddled mass of confused and foreign-born ideologies operating under the rubric of progressivism. These are the acolytes of Environmentalism, Marxism, Globalism, and the like. They favor the redistribution of wealth; out from the hands that produce it, into the gaping mouths that cry the loudest. They view with contempt not only the Republic as it stands, but the Republic as it was and the memory of men that spent treasure and blood to establish it. These are the adherents of the philosophy of the "Other," first enunciated by the German philosopher Hegel -- demonstrably the greatest fraud in the history of philosophy. They loudly proclaim that America's success is the sum total of a series of racist genocides, thefts and other high crimes, without the victims of which the Republic could not stand. Our greatest flaw, they tell us, is the small-minded, myopic and violent way we choose to view the rest of the world -- their exalted Other. We hate the Other, they tell us, because the feeble-minded fear what they do not understand. We have failed to embrace the Other because, blinded by our wanton pursuit of self-interested greed, we have failed to bathe in their enlightened radiance. We have failed to see the obvious truths they espouse.
We reject these views in their entirety. Further, we consider them anathema. We agree with the founders that the property rights of individuals are sacrosanct and well worth the bloodied soil by which they were purchased. We neither hate nor fear the progressive's Other. We simply believe axiomatically that to such Other we owe nothing. For far longer than our Republic has existed there have been those among us that have the capacity to accurately judge the character of their fellows by looking them in the eye. In the eye of this Other we have seen one undeniable fact -- the Other intends to feed his own children. He does not intend to feed ours. For this he is not to be much condemned, but neither is he the proper object of our guilt, our charity, or our productive efforts. In our eyes, worship at the temple of the Other amounts to little more than national self-loathing. To sacrifice at the altar of the Other is to burn offerings, not for some amorphous greater good, but for The Abyss itself. And The Abyss can never be sated. In such folly we will not participate.
Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
-George Washington
That is not to say, respecting government, that one form is equal to the next. Some are surely more dangerous than others. Our Founding Fathers knew well the dangers posed to free men by government. Their every effort was to limit that threat by withholding from government all but the most necessary of public powers. They sought to further limit those dangers by the express enumeration of sectors of liberty into which government may not tread. These limitations are evinced most clearly, though not solely, by the language and structure of The Constitution of the United States. For this reason we have made copies of it available to our customers. Whether it be ours or any other proper copy -- please do read and re-read it.
Sadly, despite our Fathers' worthy effort, our Republic's current political apparatus seems to us a wholly inadequate means by which to meet the waxing threat of progressivism and socialist ideologies that seek to redefine the very foundation of the American Citizen. The current GOP seems an anemic remedy to the mounting damage being done by the incumbent DNC. Our future, whatsoever form it will take, may yet be determined by our own action. For our part, we advocate turning back to our American roots -- back to our traditions, our heritage, our culture, and faith in Our Creator. There may we find a cure for what ails us all.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Wahi: the Supernatural Basis of Islam
By Dr. Koenraad ELST
1. The yogic view of the Quranic trance
In discussing Islam, most non-Muslims and ex-Muslims tend to focus on the negative achievements of Islam, such as Islamic mistreatment of women and unbelievers. However, we should realize that in its essence, Islam is only secondarily an ethical system with a characteristic record of conduct. In the first place it is a belief system, a truth claim. The Islamic religion stands or falls with the truth or untruth of two assertions: (1) there is no God but Allah, the Creator of the universe; and (2) Mohammed is the final spokesman of Allah, who through him passed on to mankind a series of messages assembled in the Quran. This Quranic communication is understood to have been a constant process of "revelation" from AD 610, when Mohammed was 40, until his death in AD 632.
The first belief is a theological claim which Islam has in common with some other monotheistic religions, and which, if subjected to cunning interpretation, could even be reconciled with some schools of polymorphous-theistic Hinduism ("the wise call the one True One by many names"). The second belief, by contrast, is the truly defining truth claim of Islam, setting it apart from every other religion: the prophethood of Mohammed.
In this essay, originally published as a series of articles in the on-line monthly Kashmir Herald in autumn-winter 2002-2003, we will discuss some non-Islamic views of this core assertion of Islam. The present chapter will focus on the Hindu view of Mohammed's prophethood.
Before the colonial age, there was hardly any Hindu evaluation of Mohammed's prophetic claims, nor even of Islamic doctrine in general. The first detailed criticism of Islam, and in particular of the Quran, was written by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, founder of the Vedic reform...........MORE/FROM
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
more below
The incident could spark calls for increased regulation, said Kevin Book, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners, a consulting firm. The American Petroleum Institute, the industry's main trade group, put out a statement Wednesday standing by its safety record.
Transocean spokesman Greg Panagos dismissed such concerns. He said the company is a "very safety conscious organization. It's the top priority in the company."
Friday, April 30, 2010
Authorities seek wounded Arizona deputy in desert
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (AP) - Authorities in southern Arizona were searching Friday for a wounded deputy who radioed for help and said he had been shot with an AK-47 assault rifle in a remote desert area used by drug- and human-smugglers from Mexico.
The unidentified deputy called in to say he had encountered a group and been shot in the abdomen, Pinal County sheriff's Lt. Tammy Villar said.
Further details on the shooting were not immediately available.
"Over the past 12 months we've seen an increase in the amount of drugs, and an increase in violence that has been going on in this particular corridor," Villar told KPNX.
"We've had increasing concerns in this area about being outmanned and outgunned, and unfortunately this evening, this is coming true," he said.
The shooting came as Arizona grapples with backlash over its enactment of a tough new law targeting illegal immigration. Civil rights activists concerned the law will lead to racial profiling have called for a boycott of the state.
The law signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last week is supported by many in the state, which has become a major gateway for drug smuggling and human trafficking from Mexico.
Its passage came amid increasing anger in Arizona about violence, drug smugglers, drop houses and other problems caused by poor border security.
Villar said the search for the wounded officer was occurring near Interstate 8 and Arizona 84 about 50 miles south of Phoenix
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
This is your president!!!!
PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!
>From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'
From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about her that made me wary, a little too sure of herself, maybe and white.
Â
From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'
From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself: the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'
And FINALLY, and most scary!
From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'
If you have never forwarded an e-mail, now is the time to do so!!!
We CANNOT have someone with this mentality running our GREAT nation!!
PLEASE help spread the word.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The Fight-Back Begins
By Barry Napier Saturday, April 24, 2010A sudden uprising from the moguls of enterprise threatens to disrupt, if not demolish, Obama’s fake green plans for the world.
The Sierra Club and other socialist despots have been bringing ‘vexatious and frivolous’ law cases against normal businesses for a long time, with Democratic approval.
Al Gore used the same tactic in his run-up to the vice presidential elections. The Democrat rat-pack did the same recently to Sarah Palin, bringing malicious and unfounded accusations against her. ......more
STAND UP FOR FREEDOM
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