Avast There’s an Iceberg Ahead! June 10, 2016
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Politics, Politiocal Philosophy, Uncategorized.Tags: Bretton Woods, Dr. Robert Owens, Fiat money, QE 1, QE 2, QE 3, National debt, floating money, systemic debt, bail-outs
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One of America’s greatest philosophers once quipped, “A nickel isn’t worth a dime today” and the inverse logic of that still holds true.
On Sept. 22, 2011 in a speech to business executives Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “Debt is the biggest threat to U.S. national security.” When the leader of the people famous for $800 hammers and $640 toilet seats has to lecture business leaders about the perils of deficit spending we know capitalism in America has jumped the track.
After World War I the world’s monetary system was in disarray. The victorious Allies sought to revive the gold standard. However the structure which had been put in place after 1918 collapsed during the Great Depression. Some economists believe that the world’s attempt to remain on the gold standard prevented central banks from expanding the money supply enough to revive the world’s economies. The problem was they couldn’t print enough money if it actually had to be worth something.
After World War II, representatives of the once again victorious allies met at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to create a new international monetary system. At the time the United States accounted for more than 50% of the world’s manufacturing capacity and also held most of the world’s gold. Since America was the uncontested economic Superpower these leaders decided to tie world currencies to the dollar. The value of the dollar would in turn be controlled and supported by the fact that the dollar would be tied to gold at $35 per ounce.
While the Bretton Woods System was in force the central banks were given the task of maintaining fixed exchange rates. This was accomplished by massive and continuous intervention in foreign exchange markets. When a country’s currency became too expensive in relation to the dollar, that country’s central bank would sell its currency for dollars thus driving down the value of its currency. And if the value of a country’s money became too low, that country would then aggressively buy its own currency to drive the price up.
This Bretton Woods System worked well until 1971. By then, due to the “Guns and Butter” economic policies of the Johnson and Nixon administrations inflation in the United States and America’s rapidly expanding trade deficit undermined the value of the dollar. As a result America urged the now recovered and economically powerful Germany and Japan to increase the value of their currencies. Both nations did not want to do this. Raising the value of their currencies hurt their exports by increasing the prices for their goods in the United States which was their largest market.
When the pressure became unbearable, when too many nations were redeeming too many dollars against America’s dwindling gold supply the United States unilaterally abandoned the fixed gold value of the dollar allowing it to “float.” Floating with relationship to money means it is allowed to fluctuate when compared to the currencies of other countries. Immediately the value of the dollar fell substantially when compared to other currencies, especially those of Germany and Japan.
This caused turbulence in the economies of nations and sent shockwaves through the political systems of the world. In consequence the leaders of the major countries made an effort to revive the Bretton Woods system. They came together in 1971, and reached the Smithsonian Agreement which for the first time allowed for the negotiation of fixed exchange rates. However, this attempt soon failed.
In 1973, The United States and the other major economic powers agreed to a new system known as Managed Float. This meant that central banks would still intervene with the buying and selling of their own currencies to eliminate any changes that might be perceived as too dramatic.
How long will this system of floating money, fiat currency, and systemic debt last?
Since I started with a quote from my favorite American philosopher, Yogi Berra I will frame my comments about the end result of America’s love affair with monopoly money and ever growing debt with another nugget from this source of double think profundity, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future”
You know, I know and anyone who has enough economic awareness to realize you can’t spend more than you make forever knows that our present governmental financial framework is unsustainable. Why? Apparently our leaders believe you can spend more than you make forever.
If you have ever tried to manage your Visa payments by charging them to MasterCard you know the end of that game. Our leaders have pawned our grandchildren’s future for the votes they buy with social programs, tax giveaways, and bail-outs. However it is hard to lay all the blame on the shoulders of the perpetually re-elected. The government is the people writ large. Almost every household in America is in debt. Almost every business in America is in debt.
Debt is not a bad thing in and of itself. Actually it is one of the most liberating inventions in the world. It allows economic activity to grow based upon future activity instead of just on current holdings. This provides a multiplier effect that has given rise to the modern world.
However, when we spend more of the future than the present can service we have inverted the pyramid and are inviting a correction. Even if the Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media are blathering on about how good the stock market is doing, that the pretend unemployment rate is falling, that there is no inflation, and that the President says everything is coming up roses, the alternative media knows the present course is unsustainable. Unsustainable. That word is spoken day after day on Fox and printed multiple times every day online from thousands of blogs, magazines, and newspapers. All it means is it can’t last forever, or as an alarmist might say, “A crash is coming!” Or as the economic pirates who sail the crony capitalist seas might say, “Avast there’s an iceberg ahead!”
Sure the stock market is flying high. With the Fed pumping 85 billion a month into the banking system why wouldn’t it? With that kind of money coming in why not play the Lotto? Sure the unemployment rate is falling as long as you don’t count the people who have quit looking for a job. Sure there’s no inflation as long as you don’t count energy or food. And of course the President says everything is getting better all the time that is what his teleprompter tells him to say.
So, how long will this system of floating money, fiat currency, and systemic debt last? None of us gets to live in the world we grew up in because the world moves too fast. Things change. What was science fiction yesterday is your cell phone today. One thing we can know for sure is that it isn’t over till it’s over. Yet from a realistic evaluation of the deep hole we have spent ourselves into the future isn’t what it used to be and if the world were perfect it wouldn’t be.
Is there any way to stop this train wreck before we hit the wall? Can we reign in Washington and stop the money borrowed from the future that the best and the brightest are spending? What do you think? I wish I had an answer to that because I’m tired of answering the question.
What do we know?
We know that the record breaking new people elected to the House in the great Tea Party victories of 2010 and 2014 affirmed Boehner as the leader of the co-opted opposition, voted for multiple debt ceiling increases, and renewed the Patriot Act. Now Mr. Ryan is carrying on the failed tradition bailing out Puerto Rico and reaching across the aisle to pass a 1.1 trillion dollar porkulus budget that funds BHO’s fundamental transformation of America. We know that another Progressive Republican à la Romney had no chance to beat BHO and we know it probably wouldn’t have made any difference if he did.
Now along comes The Donald facing off against a restoration of the Billary interlewd. Is there any chance of turning this Titanic around or at least altering course before we hit the iceberg of insolvency and impotence?
At least with Billary we know where we will be headed, into the dustbin of History. With Mr. Trump we are headed into uncharted waters. Who knows what he will do? I suspect even he doesn’t. And as America’s greatest philosopher once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.”
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2016 Robert R. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
Billary Buries Bernie June 8, 2016
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.3 comments
Billary, that two headed marriage of convenience between Bubba-in-a-Tux and an empty pantsuit, the living incarnation of the Clinton Crime Family has finally bested the aging Socialist who represents the youth vote in the topsy-turvy world of Democrat politics. After losing out to Sal Alinsky’s Manchurian Candidate eight years ago, using the Senate as a minor league warm up, the State Department as an ATM, and hauling in over a hundred million dollars making 20 minute speeches that aren’t a cover for bribes Billary proudly announces that she’s a woman and therefore ought to be president.
After taking money from every crony capitalist she can shake down she promises to reign in the crony capitalists. After voting for the Iraq war before she opposed it, resetting a working relationship with Russia into a disaster, calling Assad a reformer, handing Libya over to ISIS and lying to the grieving families of her victims in Benghazi she wants to be in charge of foreign affairs for real this time.
Now he question is will Billary be able to ride the mind numb robots who vote Democrat if a dead donkey is on the ballot, the dead who manage to vote Democrat in election after election, and all the undocumented Democrats just waiting to proudly cast their first ballot aquí into the White House?
Billary may have buried Bernie so I guess now we have to wonder, will she bury the rest of us too?
Bart Simpson For President April 22, 2016
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Politics, Politiocal Philosophy, Uncategorized.Tags: Hillary Clinton, Dr. Robert Owens, Email scandal, Benghazi scandal, Corrupt Hillary
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That ultimate symbol of mischievous scamp Bart Simpson in Season One of the longest running show in TV history when caught red-handed offered up one of his signature phrases, “I didn’t do it, nobody saw me do it, there’s no way you can prove anything.”
This came to mind when I was thinking about Hillary “They’ll Never Indict Me” Clinton and her morally challenged obviously corrupt character. Donald Trump has said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” Hillary could say, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t get indicted.”
Everyone in the country knows that if any of us common people did one hundredth of what she has done in the email scandal alone we would have already been indicted along with the ten year Navy Vet indicted for taking a selfie on a submarine. The Obama Justice Department is not going to indict Mrs. Clinton no matter what the FBI recommends. She is above the law and she knows it or as she infamously said in the Benghazi hearing with regard to our four dead heroes, “What does it matter now?”
As a person who has been involved with and has closely followed the American political scene for more than fifty years this is the first time in my personal memory or Historical knowledge that a potential candidate for one party has promised to prosecute a potential candidate of the other party if elected.
As Secretary of State, Hillary’s accomplishments include the failed reset with Russia and of course her debacle in Libya. As a United State Senator what did she accomplish? In eight years she only sponsored three inconsequential laws:
S.3145, which designated a portion of U.S. Route 20A, located in Orchard Park, N.Y., as the “Timothy J. Russert Highway,” after the former “Meet the Press” host.
- 3613, which renamed the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2951 New York Highway 43 in Averill Park, New York, as the “Major George Quamo Post Office Building.”
- 1241 which made the brick house of 19th century female union leader Kate Mullany a national historic site.
Her major accomplishment is that she married a man who became the most ethically challenged president in American History. As the wife of Bill Clnton she was deeply involved in smothering the serial bimbo eruptions which grew out of his long history of having affairs, sexually harassing women who worked for him, and assaulting others. This is the person who portrays herself as an advocate of women’s rights.
To highlight just one of her hypocritical faux stances for women’s rights look at her advocacy for equal pay. The Clinton Foundation pays women executives 38% less than their male counterparts. During her time in the Senate she paid women 72 cents for every dollar she paid men. According to public records her current campaign pays women staffers less than she pays men. So much for putting your money where your mouth is!
Looking back once more to the email scandal that Hillary so nonchalantly dismisses if as she maintains she never received nor sent any classified material during her entire term as our Secretary of State my question is, what was she doing besides traveling the world at our expense? Was she out of the loop and merely Secretary of State in name only? It is inconceivable that anyone could be the Secretary of State and not send or receive any classified material. That is beyond belief and a lie so transparent it shows total contempt for those it is meant to fool.
In the current election the Great Impresario likes to label people. In many ways it is an effective form of political shorthand. It sums up the thoughts, accusations, and beliefs about a person and brings them crashing in whenever they hear the catcall. Lyin Ted and Little Marco have taken their toll picked up and repeated by the Corporations Once Known as the Mainstream Media and their pet FOX. Now we have Crooked Hillary. The others were just effective. This one seems appropriate.
If Hillary wins the presidency it will be a watershed just as the election and then re-election of her husband was. As his marked the end of public morality hers will mean the end of the rule of law. It will become evident to anyone observant enough to note the sunrise that enforcement of the bewildering lattice of laws and regulations are only aimed at the common folk not at our masters.
If such a legally challenged individual can fool enough of the people all the time to sit in the oval office it reminds me of what Bart said to Homer after it was revealed he had cheated on an important test, “I cheated on the intelligence test. I’m sorry. But I just want to say that the past few weeks have been great. Me and you have done stuff together. You’ve helped me out with things and we’re closer than we’ve ever been. I love you, Dad. And I think if something can bring us that close it can’t possibly be bad.”
Doing bad things for good purposes is the operational rational of Progressive Liberalism. The ends justify the means was the operational rational of all the megalomaniac dictators of world History. Please explain the difference.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2016 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
Imagine an ISIS Attack on DC March 31, 2016
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.3 comments
America’s Trojan War by Dr. Robert Owens portraits a fictional attack by ISIS on America’s capital. America’s Trojan War combines gut wrenching realism and fast paced action to make this feel like it was ripped from the morning’s headlines.
Book Summary: Imagine if 10% of the Syrian refugees flooding into America today are actually more than 20,000 ISIS fanatic suicide warriors ready to die for their Caliph. Forming themselves into four brigade strength units they converge on four armories around DC and then using our own Abrams tanks and Apache gunships they attack the capitol and decapitate our government. This is the story of America rising to the challenge in the second Battle of Washington.
Excerpt #1: When the stairwell doors opened Lisa and a dozen other leaders among the citizen soldiers hurriedly shouted “Hold your fire!!” as half naked and naked women stumbled out into the carnage of the first floor. . . Charging like a bull at a red cape, enraged Americans crashed their way into the many stairwells on the first floor and directly into the waiting massed fire of the Jihadis.
Excerpt #2: Looking at each other across the bullet ridden conference table, the shattered furniture, and the many bodies strewn about they all tried to say, “I love you be safe,” with their eyes before they rushed in different directions leading their squads to the battle none of them wanted and each of them was determined to win.
America’s Trojan War combines gut wrenching realism and fast paced action to make this feel like it was ripped from the morning’s headlines. This is the first fictional book authored by Dr. Robert Owens and available at America’s Trojan War
You can also find his six other books on line through Amazon. Just put in a title and Owens.
Self-Deportation – Is that a thing? March 30, 2016
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
Just as there are ways to have them pay for a wall there are ways to encourage illegal aliens to remove themselves. Make e-verify a workable and mandatory with heavy fines for not using it impose large fines on anyone who employs illegals and criminal charges for second offenses, cut off all social welfare benefits for illegals and watch them drive themselves home. No one rounded them up and brought themselves here. No one paid their way to get here. If we make it impossible for them to hitchhike on America’s good graces they will round themselves up and go home.
There is no need for goon squads rounding people up and carting them off. Why should we pay a bunch of goons when with these common sense policies the problem solves itself?
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2016 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens
ISIS Attacks DC?? Read the fictional Account by Dr. Robert Owens March 28, 2016
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.add a comment
Book Summary: Imagine if 10% of the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees flooding into America today are actually ISIS suicide Warriors. Now imagine that this number is over 20,000 fanatics ready to die for their Caliph. Forming themselves into four brigade strength units they converge on four armories around DC and then using our own Abrams tanks and Apache gunships they attack the capitol and decapitate our government. This is the story of America rising to the challenge in the second Battle of Washington.
Excerpt #1: When the stairwell doors opened Lisa and a dozen other leaders among the citizen soldiers hurriedly shouted “Hold your fire!!” as half naked and naked women stumbled out into the carnage of the first floor. . . Charging like a bull at a red cape, enraged Americans crashed their way into the many stairwells on the first floor and directly into the waiting massed fire of the Jihadis.
Excerpt #2: Looking at each other across the bullet ridden conference table, the shattered furniture, and the many bodies strewn about they all tried to say, “I love you be safe,” with their eyes before they rushed in different directions leading their squads to the battle none of them wanted and each of them was determined to win.
America’s Trojan War combines gut wrenching realism and fast paced action to make this feel like it was ripped from the morning’s headlines. This is the first fictional book authored by Dr. Robert Owens and available at America’s Trojan War
You can also find his six other books on line through Amazon they include two political Science books: two political science books: Political Action Follows Political Philosophy, and The Constitution Failed; three History books: American Colonial History: The Essential Story, The Azusa Street Revival, and America Won the Vietnam War! and a book on leadership NEVER FORGET!. Just put in the title and his last name.
Are We as Dumb as They Think We Are? March 18, 2016
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.Tags: 2016 elections, Dr. Robert Owens, Keystone Pipeline, Afghanistan withdrawal, debt limit, Ted cruise, Marco Rubio John Kasich, Donald Trump
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I’ve been called a fascist by communists and a communist by fascists. I’ve been called a pagan by Christians and a Christian by pagans. I’ve been called an optimist by pessimists and a pessimist by optimists. All of us have been labeled by others. We’ve all been called this by that and that by this, we’ve all had people try to insult us by how they refer to us, but when people insult our intelligence they are usually showing their ignorance.
The actions of the second-stringers, stand-ins, and understudies from the theater of the absurd who now pass for leadership in our Republic not only insult our intelligence, they act as if the American people have the IQ of a potted plant and the attention span of someone riddled with ADD. There is one good thing about people who insult our intelligence; they’re probably misunderestimating the true level of our understanding.
Looking back our President told us that killing the Keystone Pipeline was no big deal. Instead he told us “However many jobs might be generated by a Keystone pipeline, they’re going to be a lot fewer than the jobs that are created by extending the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance.” Making decisions that kill the opportunity to create real jobs is offset by the jobs created by extending payments made to those who are unemployed. That doesn’t make sense to anyone outside the beltway
While Mr. Obama may work day and night to kill projects that might actually provide some work for the rest of us he has no problem investing billions of our dollars in green energy boondoggles that turn a profit for his donors and cronies. Then when the flimflams are about to be exposed as the money pits they are, or on the eve of an election, the Energy Department which turned a blind eye to the initial foolish investment suddenly becomes involved and the announcement is delayed until after the marks, I mean voters, have cast their ballots.
In foreign policy our Commander-in-Chief announced the date for our withdrawal from Afghanistan at the same time he announced the same type of surge he was against in Iraq. The he decides it’s time to negotiate with the Taliban. Are we supposed to believe these highly dedicated, highly motivated, and religiously fanatic battle hardened warriors will rush to make concessions? Didn’t they instead hang tough, demand concessions, waiting to pick up the pieces as our leader leads our valiant, though under-cut warriors, for the door? Does anyone doubt that our creatures in Kabul, will be on a jumbo jet filled with American dollars before our last soldier gets home? All this is presented as a rational settlement instead of an abject surrender and jaded political maneuver.
There’s no inflation. At least that’s what the Federal Government wants us to believe. Everyone who goes to the supermarket buys gas or pays to heat their home can evaluate the reliability of that piece of government information for themselves.
Looking at today Hillary didn’t blame the video when she spoke at the return of the coffins. All it takes is one click of the mouse to find a video that shows her doing it yet the Corporations Once Known as the mainstream Media and their cable twin sisters never mention that as they debate endlessly whether she is lying or not.
Bernie isn’t a socialist. This what we are told yet once again one click of the mouse produces so much evidence that socialist is putting it mildly. In addition, this supposed voice for the working man never had a job until he was in his forties and he has been a professional agitator or politician all his life. He has never had a real job yet the multimedia never mention this at all though the information is once again merely a mouse click away.
On the other hand… Marko is all in for controlling immigration as exposed by his gang of eight debacle. Ted is going to fight the big corporations that control government by taking loans to get elected from the same people he wants to fight. Kasich is going to solve all our problems caused by the professional politicians because he is a professional politician. And of course the Big Kahuna is going to fight the very establishment he has been a part of for more than 40 years.
How could anyone ever see through any of this unless of course they have at least the IQ of that potted plant mentioned earlier? This may be insulting, it may show us what the perpetually re-elected think of their constituents, but it also shows that they’re giving us an advantage. We’re smarter than they think we are so we should be able to blind side them with organizational skills and motivational abilities far beyond what they’ll expect.
They are counting the Tea Party out because we aren’t holding mass rallies any more. They believe they’ve won the organizational battle because they were able to mobilize the occupy everywhere crowd to gather for a street party and pollute some major cities. They believe that since the conservative vote is currently split the GOP will commit suicide in a brokered convention that ignore their own voters and nominates the next Bob Dole/John McCain/Mitt Romney moderate to play the part of the Washington Generals in a Harlem Globe Trotter game: good but never quite good enough. In 2016 they see the Republicans, like the Washington Generals, there to provide a platform for the chosen winner to shine.
The parties of power treat us with such disdain it’s obvious they believe we’re the sheep they work so hard to make us. They believe Americans have been dumbed down enough and fattened with enough entitlements that we’ll barely bah bah bah as they lead us to the shearing shed one more time. Our Progressive leaders in both parties see that this election is the one that counts. This is the election that will either drive us over the cliff into the shabby abyss of collectivist conformity or will give us one last opportunity to return to limited government, personal liberty, and economic freedom.
We may not be demonstrating in the streets. We may not be organizing boycotts. We may not be united behind one candidate. However, we are awake. We are educating ourselves. We are determined that this great experiment in human freedom shall not perish from the face of the earth. Vote for the Constitution. Vote for personal liberty. Vote for economic freedom. If we all do what we can we will accomplish what must be done. We will keep the faith. We will keep the peace. We shall overcome!
Or are we as dumb as they think we are?
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2016 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens. Dr. Owens’ first novel is now available at https://www.createspace.com/6041130
A Government of Fallible Men to Rule Fallible Men March 10, 2016
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
In America today a debate rages concerning the legitimate role of government. Currently the Federal Government is controlled by a group of politicians who consider themselves the ideological descendants of the Progressive Movement.
Beginning in the 1890’s the Progressives led by Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson championed the idea that it was time to progress past America’s old ways of doing things. They felt the traditions, forms, and style of American governance and society should break-out of the mold provided by the Constitution by casting it as a “living Breathing Document” that could be remolded to meet the desires of every generation.
They believed, and their descendants still believe, it is the behavior of men that defines who they are. This contrasts with our Founders who believed that it is instead the nature of men that provides this definition. Our Founders expressly stated that they believed humanity has been endowed by the Creator with rights.
They felt that these rights are inalienable, meaning they are humanity’s by virtue of existence. In other words, these rights have not been earned by man they’ve been given by God and since they haven’t been given by government, government can’t legitimately take them away. Instead of existing for its own right, the reason for government is to protect these natural rights. It’s the need for the order, security and liberty for the pursuit of happiness, which justifies the establishment and continuation of government.
Thus, a government of the people, by the people and for the people should be one based upon the nature of man. It’s in this context that the voice of the people could almost be called the voice of God for if the Creator implanted this nature and these rights within humanity the collective expression freely arrived at and freely expressed should bring to the fore those who will respect and guard these rights.
If this is true then the will of the majority should always be the surest way to ensure the continued existence of man’s natural rights. If we had a nation of perfect people this would be true; however, in establishing and maintaining government we don’t deal with perfect people we deal with people as they are with all the imperfections and prejudices nurture superimposes upon nature. People who don’t educate themselves enough to exercise self-leadership become the pawns of demagogues and the voice of God is perverted into the voice of the world.
Even the Founders, a grouping singular in the history of men concerning the brilliance of their intellects and the purity of their motives knew they couldn’t trust themselves to form or maintain a government of fallible men to rule over fallible men. They knew that history is filled with examples of charismatic leaders who’ve proven that while you can fool all of the people only some of the time it’s possible to fool enough people to take over a country. Then once you’ve fooled a plurality of voters to take over you can make fools of everyone doing whatever you like for as long as you like. This is why the protection of freedom is a limited government.
Power must be concentrated enough to provide order, security and liberty; however, if unrestrained power is given to a majority the opportunity exists for a faction to gain control and use it for purely partisan ends. Thus our Founders rejected direct democracy in favor of the federal model of divided sovereignty and the republican principle of both direct and in-direct representation. That the source of authority emanates from the people and the constituent States is demonstrated in several ways.
The Constitution itself was referred to delegates chosen by the States. In the American government as initially designed the people were represented directly by the House of Representatives and the States by the Senate. The executive was elected indirectly by the people and the states through the Electoral College. The members of the judicial branch are appointed by the executive with the advice and consent of the Senate.
This process of allowing democratic choice within a framework of restraint was designed to create a government based upon the premise of inalienable rights yet cognizant of the fallible nature of mankind. A government powerful enough to ensure the security necessary to guarantee those rights, yet retrained enough not to trample them. Many of the Progressive innovations of the last 100 years have upset this delicate balance moving us from the government envisioned by the founders to the one we have today.
The Seventeenth Amendment mandates the direct election of the Senate. This left the States without any voice in the Federal Government. It also opened the door for a combination of factions acting as an unrestrained majority seeking the benefit of some at the expense of others. Often those who take the limits off government seek unlimited power for themselves. We must follow the guide of our ancestors for the good of our posterity. We must resist the temptation to seek security through government rather than security from government.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2016 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens. Dr Owens’ first novel is coming soon; America’s Trojan War.
To Write the Future Read the Past March 3, 2016
Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.3 comments
Unfortunately most of what we are taught in History survey classes in American schools consists of simplistic formulas. Formulas designed to persuade those forced to attend the government controlled education mills that they should ride the same ideological hobby horses as whoever currently has the power to select textbooks and prescribe curricula. Whether it was the rabidly pro-American imperial History of yesteryear that pushed lines such as, “We never started a war and never lost one,” and “We turned a raw wilderness into a civilized nation.” or, if it is the rabidly anti-American propaganda of today spouting lines such as, “America was founded by deists who used serial genocide and economic fascism to steal a nation, pollute the earth, and poison the sea” neither are correct. Both versions are merely two sides of an extremely myopic view which does not seek to discover nor promote the truth but instead seek to mold the next generation into what they think will be foot soldiers in their own crusade.
History, if it has any value at all is that it fulfills two goals. First, the study of History should provide context. A text without a context is a pretext and we must have context so we can understand how we as a people became who we are, how the world became what it is, and where it might go next. Secondly, the study of History should help us learn from and hopefully avoid the mistakes made by those who have gone before so we can leave a better world to those who come after. However, as stated above, these are rarely the goals of History education. The reason why is summed up in a joke only Historians seem to get.
Objectivity.
Most people in the world believe objectivity exists. They act as if the stories presented in survey of history classes are “the facts ma’am and nothing but the facts.” I was once part of this blissful herd. I was a self-taught Historian before I took the plunge and studied to become a card carrying member of the profession. I was captured by the allure of History when I was nine years old. Nothing in the world made any sense. What I was taught and saw at home conflicted 180 degrees from what I was taught at church. What I was taught at church conflicted 180 degrees from what I was taught at school. What I saw on the streets appeared real because it seemed to be the way the world actually worked, but it was out of synch with my home my church and my school. Not knowing myself well enough to know that I am a person who operates best when things make sense and the world appears orderly I was confused and uncomfortable living in a world so out of joint.
Consequently when I learned in the third grade that there were histories of the world available I latched on to them like a drowning man latches on to a life preserver. I began reading History books every day. They became my raft in a swirling sea of confusion creating an orderly world of sequential reality that I used to build my bridge to the first positive value of History, gaining a coherent understanding of how we as a people became who we are, how the world became what it is, and where it might go next. However, I was a rebellious child, a child who never moved to the second value of History. I never learned to profit from the mistakes of those who went before. Following those in my family who went before I walked out of traditional education at age sixteen figuring I knew enough to make my way in the world. Twenty plus years of manual labor later I thought it might be a good idea to finish my education.
When I finished my Bachelor degree in History I realized that a Bachelor degree in History is good for two things, it can help you become the manager of the electronics department at Wal-Mart and it opens the door for a Master Degree in History. Since I was determined to become a History professor, I chose the latter. On my first day of graduate school this budding self-taught Historian had to grit my teeth as a professor told our class, “There are no facts, and History is only what Historians say it is.”
Of course I had to run up after class to argue, “How can you say there are no facts? Look at the Vietnam War. We know it happened. We know when it started and when it ended. Those are facts and we can know them!” After listening calmly to my impassioned tirade the professor quietly said, “Maybe there’s another side to that story.”
This rude awakening sent me on a journey of discovery: searching for the other side of the story. Along the way I contributed my first chapter in a History book. My research helped me realize there is more than one side to every story. There are often conflicting facts, overlapping timelines, and always another way to look at everything. The truth of this is displayed in an endless series of quotes. Napoleon once said, “History is a set of lies agreed upon.” Voltaire said, “History is a pack of lies we play on the dead.” Ambrose Bierce said, “God alone knows the future, but only an historian can alter the past.” And one of my favorite philosophers, Anonymous sagely added, “The certainty of history seems to be in direct inverse ratio to what we know about it.”
What is the purpose of this self-revealing stroll down memory lane? It isn’t for the purpose of either self-actualization or confession. Both of those goals were achieved long ago. It is instead my attempt to lead you my loyal reader (for those will be the only ones left after such a lesson in historiography) to the second value of the study of History. I am encouraged by the multitudes of people who are today engrossed in this study. So many of the recently awakened yearn to know the History of America, they long to know how our Constitution was written by whom and why. I am here to remind everyone we need to look at all sides, consider every angle, and remember everyone has a point of view, even Historians, and objectivity is in reality subjectivity in a grey flannel suit.
Remember that second value of History? It should help us learn from and hopefully avoid the mistakes made by those who have gone before so we can leave a better world to those who come after. If we merely exchange the unabashedly anti-American lenses of the present for the unquestioning pro-American lenses of the past we will be blind to what we really need to see.
The complexity of reality defies the easy interpretations of partisan politics. Has America always been right? No, the jingoistic refrain of “My country right or wrong” will lead those who blindly salute it into supporting what is wrong as easily as what is right. Has America always been wrong? No, the view currently used to indoctrinate the youth in our public schools which sees America as an imperialistic power that used genocide, racism, and naked aggression to build a hegemonic empire forget all the good America has accomplished. This view presents an America bent on maintaining the privileges of the rich over the rights of the poor and leads those who imbibe its venom into ignoring that America was founded as the world’s greatest experiment in personal liberty and economic freedom.
Both views are too simplistic for people who want to break free of the matrix and see the world for what it truly is: a struggle between those who wish to control mankind for their own benefits and those who wish to see man set free so he can become all that he may be.
This is a call for those who have taken the bread and circus blinders off their eyes not to replace them with another set. Today we don’t have to rely on what we have been taught. We can use the Internet as a portal into every perspective imaginable, histories beyond counting, and all the great works of mankind. Read broadly, study extensively and think for yourself. Don’t exchange the purveyors of self-serving pap on the left for the purveyors of self-serving pap on the right. Open both ears, hear both sides, use the mind God gave you, and find the center path.
America has done some things wrong. America has done some things right. When it all is brought to the scales, when enough is seen to grasp the big picture, it is the non-objective view of this Historian that America has provided more freedom for more people than any other country that has ever existed. It is also my opinion that powers of anti-freedom have sought to regain control since the Revolution, and if those who have been too busy working and raising families don’t spend enough time to learn what History teaches we will soon earn the reward for the failure to hold on to the past. We will lose the future.
Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com © 2016 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens. Dr Owens’ First novel will be out soon
Dr. Robert Owens Chronicles the History of the Future 