Dr. Robert Owens Chronicles the History of the Future

Social Security: To Draw or Not to Draw? That is the Question June 25, 2015

I have just turned 66.  All my friends, family, colloquies, and people in line at Walmart tell me I should apply for benefits since now I can draw “Full” benefits and keep working which is the boomer generations equivalent of having a Winnebago and being a Snowbird.

First a word about “Full” benefits; every once in a while, on a seemingly random basis I receive a statement from the Social Security Commissar that tells me what’s supposedly my hypothetical Social Security Account  is in Bill Clinton’s mythical lock box.  When my turn in the barrel rolls around and I am lucky enough to win a report I notice that it always tells me if I am disabled I will receive X-1, is I claim benefits at 62 I receive X, If I wait and claim benefits at 66 I receive X+1, and if I wait until I am 70 I receive X+2.  So how does 66 equate to full benefits?

Perhaps it is because at 66 I can receive my X+1 and still keep working making 10X with no penalty?  This is what leads me to my current conundrum.

I hear from all sides, “You have paid into this system your whole working life.  That is your money.”  I also hear, “You’d be crazy not to take it.”  And of course, “They owe it to you.”

The problem is I know that every cent I ever involuntarily contributed to the Social Security Ponzi Scheme was spent at least 10 years before they confiscated my contribution.  I also know that to give me my X+1 they are going to confiscate a contribution from some poor working millennial who is making X or maybe even X-1 just to keep the illusion of solvency going.  Then every time I accept the automatic deposit of my fiat money my acceptance and my silence keeps the FDR’s great Ponzi Scheme going, and I have just become part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

Can anyone say Cloward-Piven Strategy?

According to Richard Poe DiscoverTheNetworks.org, “First proposed in 1966 and named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, the Cloward-Piven Strategy seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.”

Yes, I know I have had money confiscated by Uncle Sam since I drew my first paycheck.  Yes, I know that this is legal and I know that the rules of the system say I can now draw a monthly check.  However I also know that to pay me the government can pretend all they want that it is somehow related to the money they have confiscated from me, and I know they will pay me by making money magically appear in my account each month.  I also know that this money is backed by nothing more than borrowing from our foreign creditors or putting more IOUs in the mythical lock-box.

I don’t know if there is anyone else going through this type of anguish about whether or not to draw money from Social Security. Is it just me?

I feel like a square peg in a round hole.  A boomer who hasn’t worried, “Will Social Security be there when I am ready to retire.”  A boomer who hasn’t reached the gateway to X+1 who isn’t singing:

So long sad times, go long bad times
We are rid of you at last
Howdy gay times, cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let’s sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again.

Instead I am conflicted and lamenting for my beloved memory of a constitutionally limited government, personal liberty, and economic opportunity as I sigh:

The party’s over
It’s time to call it a day
They’ve burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away
It’s time to wind up the masquerade
Just make your mind up the piper must be paid.

Recent headlines like, “It may be time to put some money under the mattress” over stories filled with advice from some of the world’s largest hedge fund managers it should at least give people pause for thought.  When we as a people keep charging our Visa to our MasterCard and then charging our MasterCard to our Discover and then getting a cash advance on our Visa to pay our Discover how long can we keep asking ourselves in the middle of the night, “How can this go wrong?”  When we as a nation have Alfred E. Newman for a leader asking, “What, me worry?” how long it will be before we are saying, “That which I have feared has come upon me.”

It is thoughts like these that have me swaying both ways.  On one hand I don’t want to be part of the problem.  On the other I honestly believe we have passed the tipping point so what does it matter?

If anyone else is having this inner debate I would love to hear from you.  Or am I alone in this, and are my beliefs in limited government, individual liberty, and economic freedom merely a nostalgic impediment to my enjoyment of our shabby progressive utopia.

I have never wondered, “Would the money be there for me when I reach retirement age?” Why, because I have always known the government would continue to transfer the money even if they don’t bother to print it or if they have to borrow it from China or steal it from future generations. They will never stop transferring the money because to do so will be to expose the fact that the emperor has no clothes and it has been a Ponzi scheme all along. So don’t worry, you will get the electronic transfer even if it will only buy a loaf of bread by the time you get it.

Should I sign on the dotted line and let Social Security pay back my student loans as the serpent of socialism eats its own tail?

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2015 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens

The Wrong War in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time June 12, 2015

Despite what the Neo-con punditry that perpetually crowd the stage on Fox tell us over and over a war with Iran will not be the walk in the park they promised the second act of our war on Iraq would be. And neither will a third act against ISIS. Unfortunately these Neo-con talking heads are either a reflection or a cheer leading squad for the Neo-con politicians who make up nine out of ten of the current Republicans who have thrown or are about to throw their hats into the ring.

The reintroduction of American fighting forces into the Iraq Theater, which is already going on, is not going to be pretty. The Shia and the Sunni brand of Islam have hated each other for centuries. The various dictators and kings, who held the area in their iron grip since they broke free from the Turks and the colonizers, held the two parties apart for the sake of their own corrupt regimes. Now many of those rulers are gone and the two sides are rushing like a rushing like a runaway train towards a Mideast version of the 30 Years War.

One of the bits of wisdom earned by experience and a misspent youth is, when two seasoned bar fighters start stacking furniture and squaring off the worst mistake you can make is to step in the middle. More often than not you will end on your own fighting both sides at once. Maybe it’s too bad our Ivy League political class didn’t spend a little time in the same world the rest of us occupy where they might have gained some common sense.

These perpetual beaters of the war drums are unabashedly declaring that what we need is another war. When ‘Fox & Friends‘ co-host Steve Doocy told Senator Lindsey Graham that “a lot of people are just worn out by war,” the senator fired back “Then don’t vote for me.”   Others among those auditioning for Commander-in-Chief are more circumspect though none-the-less dedicated to maintaining the current imperial overreach at its present unsustainable levels.

Not one word about closing any of the many bases that we maintain around the world. How many bases are there? Where are our troops on guard? Where are the borders of the empire? This is not so easy to determine. An informed estimate leads to the following:

According to official information provided by the Department of Defense (DoD) and its Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) there are still about 40,000 US troops, and 179 US bases in Germany, over 50,000 troops in Japan (and 109 bases), and tens of thousands of troops, with hundreds of bases, all over Europe. Over 28,000 US troops are present in 85 bases in South Korea, and have been since 1957.

Based on information contained in the DoD’s latest Base Structure Report (BSR), the US has bases in at least 74 countries and troops practically all over the world, ranging from thousands to just one in some countries (it could be a military attaché, for instance). By comparison, France has bases in 10 countries, and the UK has bases in seven.

According to the most recent publicized count, the U.S. military currently still occupies 686 “base sites” outside the fifty states and Washington, DC. While 686 base sites is quite a figure in its own right, that tally strangely excludes many well-known U.S. bases, like those in Kosovo, Kuwait, and Qatar. Less surprisingly, the Pentagon’s count also excludes secret (or secretive) American bases, like those reported in Israel and Saudi Arabia.

These candidates are also committed to a man (+one woman) to confronting ISIS, turning Iran into a target for bunker buster, and of course forcing China off those home-made islands in the South China Sea.

The there’s Hillary. She is perpetually pointing backwards to her first two terms as co-president when her administration bombed Iraq, Sudan, and Serbia. They also gave us Blackhawk down and a never-ending occupation of Kosovo and other garden spots in that old powder-keg, the Balkans as well as voting for our second act in the Gulf War.

Hillary who led from behind in Libya then spent the years since hiding from Benghazi. Hillary, whose foundation slush fund is taking advance payments from who knows who for who knows what? How long would it be before Bill’s first bimbo eruption after he becomes the first man needs to be covered up? Remember the wag-the-dog serial bombing missions that always seemed to coincide with new charges, indictments or a blue dress. How long would it be until Americans are in harm’s way under a Clinton restoration? Not long.

There is one choice among all the candidates that could possibly lead us to something besides the good old boys (or girls), Rand Paul. I honestly believe that Rand Paul would try to jettison the empire to save the republic. I also believe he would be hampered, blocked and sabotaged at every turn. However, does anyone who has watched the Republican circular firing squad nominated Bob Dole-like establishment clones since 1988. Does anyone really think Rand has a chance?

Add to this that both the heads of the government party bird of prey are dedicated to free trade, social engineering and the importation of undocumented voters. What chance does anyone think we have of changing course?

America should only go to war to protect our vital interests. Which set of thugs rules which sand dune does not seem to qualify.

If we would take the shackles off our oil industry we could not only supply ourselves but give the despots in Saudi Arabia a run for our money. If we would once again protect our industry and demand that anyone who wants to sell in our market manufacture in our market (as many other countries including China do as a matter of course we could rapidly rebuild our industrial sector so that we could once again stand independent of the world, the great colossus, fortress America safe behind our ocean walls. If we want or need to project force we have our aircraft carrier battle groups and our B-2 bombers.

President Obama has ended a preemptive war that never should have been started however, he did it precipitously. He left a vacuum that has been filled by the vilest of bad actors. This festered with the Arab Spring becoming the winter of our discontent setting the stage for the next progressive president, no matter who he or she may be to fearlessly march us into the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the

Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2015 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens

We Are A Conquered Nation June 4, 2015

It’s time to take the gloves off.  For decades I have been writing that the Progressives who have ruled our nation since 1988 have been using every tactic at their disposal to transform America from the indispensable nation to a disposable dystopia.  I have railed against the open border mass immigration importation of Democrat voters that has swamped our culture and warped our electoral process.

I have long believed we have passed the tipping point and the reason I keep on is so that when my grandchildren turn to their children living in a third world hell hole that was once the richest most powerful nation on earth they can say, “At least your Great Grandfather tried to let people know what was coming.”  For this reason I have written the History of the Future.  For this reason I ran a quixotic campaign for the Virginia State Senate in a gerrymandered district that was drawn for and belonged to a man famous for attending less than fifty percent of the Senate’s meetings and sleeping through much of those.  I won every vote that was not his by birth and lost by two to one.  However in that campaign I was free to say the things politicians can never say.

I told people that it was time for the States to stand up and bring federalism back from the brink of extinction.  That it was time to demand real money instead of fiat currency that destined to bring us to financial ruin.  I told them that it was time to declare English the official language for education, ballots, and government forms.  I called for a ten year moratorium on all immigration so that those who were already here legally could be assimilated.  I called for a vigorous enforcement of the laws against hiring illegals with massive fines for anyone who violated them.  Coupling this lack of work with a denial of all government benefits so that our illegal population would self deport and go home.  I called for the imposition of a 10% tariff on imported manufactured goods so that the native industries could be protected and the income could fund tax cuts for Americans.

That was my platform.  It was well received and well supported outside the areas of the district where public support was not the major industry.  It went down to a rousing defeat.

Over the years anyone who has read this column knows that I have called the two government parties two sides of the same coin and two heads on the same bird of prey.  I have pointed out that no matter which party is in power we end up with a bigger federal government, more laws, more taxes and more undocumented democrats.  Signaling that we have passed the tipping point in 2012 we re-elected the biggest spending president in American History in the midst of  a recession he has successfully turned into the New Normal whose actual platform was a bigger federal government, more laws, more taxes, and more undocumented democrats.  The handwriting isn’t on the wall, because there is no wall, because the executive branch has refused to build it even though the legislative branch mandated it and funded it.  The handwriting is in columns like this and in the works of Pat Buchanan, Anne Coulter, Mark Steyn, and the words of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and countless other watchmen on the walls.

However, even though Americans have and are listening. Conservative radio talk is ubiquitous; Fox has buried CNN and MSNBC.  Coulter, Styen, Levin, and many others write multiple best sellers.  The documentaries of Dinesh D’Souza break box office records.  Yet the political class continues to be re-elected to rule exactly in the opposite direction.

Socialism is dying everywhere in the world except in America.  Our progressive conquerors use the agencies of the imperial executive branch to harass, tax, prosecute, and spy.  We are watched, regulated and held back at every step.  They have used free trade to export our manufacturing base changing us from the arsenal of democracy into the marketplace for a communist dictatorship.  Crony capitalists walk away with billions, billions more disappear in federal rounding errors, and banks are bailed out as the Creature from Jekyll Island inflates bubble after bubble.

It isn’t time to roll over and go back to sleep.  People woke up in 2010 when the Tea Party was born.  I was there at the birth.  I went to the rallies.  I spoke at the meetings.  I attended the conventions and supported the candidates that swept the House in 2010.  What happened?  Those brave new world conservatives that had just turned out Nancy Pelosi went to Washington, voted to make John Boehner the Speaker of the House, renewed the Patriot Act, and then passed continuing resolution after continuing resolution to keep the money rolling and the government growing.

Knowing what was coming I wrote and published The Constitution Failed in October of 2010, which is a book many people still reject merely because of the title.  They erroneously think I am saying the document itself is a failure or that it was flawed from the beginning when what I am really saying is the execution of it has failed.  The thumbnail sketch being, “If the Constitution was written for the express purpose of giving us a limited government and we now have an unlimited government it has failed.”

I am not saying that it didn’t bring us the most freedom and the greatest opportunities any people in the History of the world have ever had.  It did.  I am not saying that it didn’t allow America to rise from 13 struggling states on the edge of the world to the greatest nation History has ever known.  It did.  What I am saying is that if our founding document guarantees us a limited government, individual freedom, and economic opportunity, and we are now laboring in the Progressives New Normal as the NSA watches our every move and listens to our every conversation something is very wrong here.

Everywhere I go and everyone I speak to seems to know intuitively how to solve our problems.  Seal the border, cut off the free meals, and the illegal immigration problem will solve itself.  Stop immigration long enough for the millions of legal immigrants to become culturally American.  We all came from somewhere else, and after a generation, or at most two, we are all Americans because the old melting pot was allowed to work instead of the Progressive smelting pot that is Balkanizing America.  Everyone can see we need to protect our industry and do everything we can to foster its resurgence.  Everyone knows we need more domestic energy not less, less regulation not more, and that the healthcare system was healthier and more affordable before the Affordable Care Act.

Everyone everywhere can see these things, or at least a vast majority of native born Americans can.  Yet does anyone honestly believe that the perpetually re-elected or their carbon copy replacements are going to shut down the nomenclature in OZ, the casino in New York, or the giveaway to China?  Everyone everywhere can see we are on a crash course to nowhere on the express to the dustbin of History.  The best people can say is it will last long enough for them to continue living the high life.

This is not the case.  I began this plea by saying it’s time to take the gloves off and it is.  The economy is heading for the biggest crash we have ever known.  Our foreign policy or lack thereof is leading us to international humiliation.  The immigration invasion is leading us to the third world.

Believing that once a people lose their freedom there is no way to restore it by internal means without a complete collapse of the ruling superstructure as happened in the Soviet Union I am soon bringing out a new book, Political Action Follows Political Philosophy.  While every author hopes his books will sell, this is a book I plant as seed for our descendants. It is a distillation of the Enlightenment political theory upon which our freedoms and our Constitution were founded as expressed against the background of the events which led to their demise: The History of the Future.

As I close today I pray for the freedom of all, and I counsel: keep the peace, keep the faith, we shall overcome.

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2015 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens