The Courage of Making a Decision

What is the responsibility of freedom? What is it we have to do to choose what path we take, what decision we make?

Isn’t this an easy thing? Don’t we just look at the options get the facts then decide what is in our best interest? What happens if we make the wrong decision? Do we have to accept the results of our choices?

To people that have learned through trial and error from birth in the constantly changing vagaries un-written in the book of life; this process is in fact relatively easy simply because of the small increments through which it is learned. In Toto however it would be an immense undertaking for an adult unaccustomed to decision making.

That had been the job of the culture in which Americans of old had grown up in. The in-variable rules of the playground and society in general have given most of us what we refer to as “common sense”. Such macro trials as World Wars and The Great Depression have instilled in us as a culture, a societal “common sense”. In a society these rules get worked out seemingly effortlessly. That is how it happens – effortlessly - but not painlessly.

The choice that is inherent in our Freedom is not easy. Choice is usually a decision with consequences we know going in may not be what we would wish for; but the alternative we feel is worse. There are always tradeoffs we learn through interacting with society. Which ones we make, is what maturity is all about.

We as a society are in the process of losing the maturity we had held in high esteem and other countries admired. We are losing the ability to make the hard choices.

We have begun raising generations that more and more rely upon not making hard choices to try to better themselves. They at the age of 30 and 40 are still in adolescence. We are creating a generation that values eating fish far more than fishing. By definition work is hard and takes up a person’s time; that is why they get paid to work. Why would someone want to do that if they get more given to them by not working?

We were a country that had learned, through the trials and tribulations of that God given gift called Free Will, the ability to fish and that by fishing we would never be hungry. We were proud of that. However just as we sometimes dismiss the word “pursuit” in our inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness and demand happiness; we also demand wisdom without the trials and tribulations so necessary in the process.

Is it not through the trials and tribulations we go through which gives us a sense of pride in our accomplishments, is this not the way we get “skin in the game”? Is it not the journey we should enjoy more than the destination? Do not learn and grow and become a wiser person for the effort, rather than being magically somehow transported to the finish line?

By doing the same thing everyone else is doing, are we not forming a herd mentality and losing our individual freedom. Are we not becoming as slaves?

David Mamet in his book “The Secret Knowledge” writes “the essence of freedom was and is choice” His book goes through the process of the Jews being freed from the slavery of Egypt and how hard it was for them to accept the hardships of making an unlimited list of choices that came with freedom. Many as he uses the Bible to point out wished for the security of slavery.

Here is what Mamet says regarding slavery and the Socialism of the Left.

“The Jews were led through the Sea of Reeds and, in the desert, complained, and wished to return to Egypt and slavery. Life in Egypt was by no means perfect; its only attraction was the absence of the necessity of choice. But it made all people equal. No slave need choose between good and evil, morality and immorality, all such anxiety had been usurped by or surrendered to the masters.”

Mr. Mamet also in the book talks of the Bible and wisdom. “The Bible is the wisdom tradition of the West.” He also talks of the fear being instilled in the young then and today by liberals for things which they don’t understand such as work and free enterprise. He shows how what they do not know they fear and what they fear they demonize. He I think believes in the Rule of Law based upon the wisdom of the Bible as the guiding light America has followed to become the freest country in the world, where individuals have the Freedom to succeed knowing full well and being completely cognizant of the fact that they may also fail in the effort.

That the real courage lies in making the decision yes making the choice to try.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

Now the Same as Ever

Back in early 2011 world famous writer David Mamet wrote a book titled “The Secret Knowledge”. Mr. Mamet is a Pulitzer Prize winner and up until the writing of a political play and then writing of Secret Knowledge to defend it, a darling of the Left.

I just today finished reading “the Road to Serfdom” by F.A. Hayek and picked the next book off the pile. It was “The Secret Knowledge”. Within the first 4 pages I realized the two books were not separated by philosophy but only time hence style. Hayek wrote during WWII nearly 75 years ago.

The styles of course vary widely as well. Hayek was an economist and Mamet is a playwright. Right off the bat Mamet claims he had a change of political heart after reading “The Road to Serfdom”. The book Secret Knowledge is about his transformation. By political I don’t mean party affiliation but which side of the age old divide between Left and Right he wanted to be on.

By page four I came across this great line.
“But the fiction of top-down Government Control, of a Command Economy, is, at essence, like a Reality Show, which is to say, a fraud. The Good Causes of the Left may generally be compared to NASCAR; they offer the diversion of watching things go excitingly around in a circle, getting nowhere.”

I’m tempted to add that ultimately, inevitably the race will end in a crash.
Kind of reminds me of the “Budget Battle”; the eventual wreck being the economy.

Mamet has come to terms with the reality of the world as being made up of cause and effect, and that there is a cost to everything and that cost is to be born with limited coinage. I’m reminded of the saying Anthony Hopkins made in the movie “Hearts in Atlantis” about reality and wishing otherwise. He said “and wishing cannot make it so.”

I remember too the anger and vitriol which characterized the attacks upon David Mamet.

The same anger the Left uses on any who disagree with them, the full weight of which is especially reserved for those the Left feels they are fighting for. Women and minorities (think Palin and Judge Thomas); also in that mix are those who they decide are traitors such a Mamet.

I’m continually amazed as I read about past conservatives at the similarities of the past with the future. Milton Friedman in his forward to Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” reminds us that “Freedom has to be fought for over and over again”. These thoughts of Freedom and Capitalism vs Big Government have been with us since there was politics. Only the names of the jargon have changed. Milton Friedman wrote that 50 years ago.

He and Hayek are both now dead.

Ronald Reagan in more recent times reminded us that Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.

The battles continue to be fought only the names have been changed to protect the guilty. Now the Same as Ever.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative.

Victory and Denile

Wow what a mess the Obama team is in now compared to where they were almost two years ago. Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal – Potomac Watch.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204358004577030481545613916.html
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Double Wow. Looks like Virginia in which Obama did so well two years ago has pulled a Michigan. By that I mean the Republicans increased their majority in the State House and took over the Senate. Similar to Mi. accept the House and Senate were vice versa.

It wasn’t for lack of money or effort by Obama and his Campaign either. A quote from the article.

“The Obama campaign has held some 1,600 events in the state in the last half-year alone. Only last month Mr. Obama hopped a three-day bus trip through Virginia and North Carolina. Obama officials keep flocking to the state, and Tuesday's election was to offer the first indication of how these efforts are succeeding.”

The quotes from the article are just too juicy to ignore. Try this one on about the Dems gerrymandering like crazy and still to no avail.

“…given that Virginia Democrats this spring crafted an aggressive redistricting plan that had only one aim: providing a firewall against a Republican takeover of that chamber. Even that extreme gerrymander didn't work.”

I apologize for quoting so much from the article but this is all good stuff. Remember last year in the off year upset elections of the Governorships of NJ (Christie) and Virginia (McDonnell)? Well it wasn’t a fluke, this time all the incumbent Republicans won in the House and Senate in Virginia. See quote from the article below.

“Every Republican incumbent—52 in the House, 15 in the Senate—won. The state GOP is looking at unified control over government for only the second time since the Civil War. This is after winning all three top statewide offices—including the election of Gov. Bob McDonnell—in 2009, and picking off three U.S. House Democrats in last year's midterms.”

It doesn’t take a fortune teller to know that heads on the Obama Campaign are going to roll. From the past we see how fond the President is of throwing people under the bus.

I wonder how they will spin this so it is really Bush’s fault.

Oh what a joke he is.

I Almost feel sorry for the guy. But then I remember the hundreds of millions his campaign has and the millions more of tax payer’s money funneled into ACORN like Acronyms plus all the Union boots on the ground and I start to lose my sense of pity especially in Union centric states like Mi. Where are the Republican counterweights to those union boots/thugs?

The Republicans need to take what Christie and Mc Donnell are giving them and follow it in spades.

Still I love to gloat. Can’t help myself.

Victory !!!!!

What a nice thing to see after the apparent softening in Ohio and the re-call of Paul Scott in Michigan’s state house.

So what does our President do??? How does he pick up the reins of government to show the American people his firm grasp on leadership and the economy.??? Well he leaves Dodge/Washington on a foreign tour. This article in Politico titled “Obama spurns Congress for overseas” by Carrie Budoff Brown says it all.
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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68168.html
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I might ask, what do you do to combat a do nothing Congress ??? President Obama seems to think the answer is Nothing, or perhaps do nothing better. Boy now that is leadership. What was that about the cart before the horse?

Or What about that river in Egypt called Denial


Regards, Live Dangerously Be a Conservative

If you can keep it

The never ending opportunity/struggle for Freedom.

Which would you rather have it be an opportunity or a struggle?

Lately I’ve been asked as a Tea Party person; “What hope is there for the Tea Party to finish the change we started in the 2010 election.” “How can we increase our membership?” “How can we rebuild our momentum?” The reasons that this question is being asked now are many. Fellow Tea Partiers seem to think for the main part that those reasons lie with things and people outside of themselves. It is always easier to think that way. I’m always fighting myself to not think that way.

The familiar old whipping dogs for the seeming lesser influence of the Tea Party and a decline in attendance at our meetings are; the Liberal media, the monopoly of union thought within the education community, and the ever-increasing role of big government/big business/big labor within the legislative process. Ie the perceived idea that once in Washington elected officials seem to become corrupted. The common thought from all the above is the question of “What can one person do?”

While all of these things indeed are threats to the individual citizen and their ability to affect government, they have been around in various guises since the founding of our country. For Example after writing the Constitution, Ben Franklin was reportedly asked by a citizen, “What have you created for us?” His reply was “a Republic madam if you can keep it.” By saying “…if you can keep it” Franklin rightly put the responsibility on the shoulders of not the government but on those of the individual citizen. In America, that was the uniqueness of our “Great Experiment” in self-governance.

So whether we now change our whipping dog to the Occupy Wall Street gang or something else such as the citizens themselves whom I’ve heard labeled as; “ignorant, selfish, lazy, uncaring etc. The fact remains that all of these reasons are really just excuses for our own lack of energy in promoting what we believe or the validity of those beliefs. Never questioning our beliefs leads to dogma and the ideologues who preach it.

Keeping the energy level within any movement steady is impossible. While the energy level of a movement ebbs and flows, it is necessary for all the Tea Party groups to understand that the real catalyst for change lies with the energy level (motivation) of the individual within the group. While naïve sounding the simple truth is that the energy of the group is made up of the energy of the members of that group. To regain our momentum, it is necessary for us to tap back into the individuals and what is making them upset and angry, not necessarily what our own ideological reasoning tells us what it “should” be.

There is no easy way to do that and never has been, except in the case of an immediate emergency such as a War etc. The energy level needed to keep people “keeping the Republic” can only be kept up by facilitating the individuals capacity for energy with examples and education how citizens can get involved and how their lives and families will be better off; then through activities letting them through self awareness start to enjoy the journey and their own energy.

To be honest, ask yourself the following question. If I and my family were hungry, would I want to learn how to fish or be given a fish? In my case I would want both, BUT first I would want at least a mouthful. While learning to fish I and my family would need to eat something. The Tea Party’s job is to teach citizens to fish through “class like” meetings mixed with “Boots on the Ground” activities. Do we not need to foster and facilitate both the teaching to fish and going out to actually fishing? Do we need not learn not only through the book but by doing?

That is the factor upon which individual Tea Parties need to focus. We need to not become as ideologues but rather to become far seeing enough to welcome progress towards our goals for what it is. We need to celebrate that progress whether it is with the new member because he/she decided to come to their first meeting or celebrate a Senator, Representative or Township Trustee for that matter who votes for something we believe in. We need to congratulate both along with ourselves for making progress.

Just as with our lives, once we lose the enjoyment of the journey no matter how difficult, the sooner we will lose our way on the path towards our goal. I feel it is important to let people know when they are doing good, as well as when they are not.

Whether we are raising children, herding cats, or trying to get congressmen to vote our way; the carrot is as persuasive as the stick and much more agreeable. Think about it; when the stick becomes more pleasurable to use than the carrot are we not headed toward the tyranny we loathe, whether it be with our children, our cats or our government?

If we accept the responsibility of Freedom given to us by the Constitution, need we not learn how to wield it wisely? Do we not learn this by actually wielding it? Is that not what Benjamin Franklin alluded to? Need we not learn how to wield it in such a manner as to strengthen and promote that individual freedom and a government which does the same?

In other more familiar words there is a Responsibility for Freedom that is needed to be accepted by and acted upon by the Individual to insure a government that will act only as necessary to insure the freedom of the individual to exercise their own God given rights as expressed in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Should we as individual Tea Party leaders and organizers not Only do the same?

Regards, Live Dangerously Be a Conservative

Connecting the Dots

Connecting the Dots

As I got my wood furnace started this morning and settled down to reading more of “The Road to Serfdom” by F.A. Hayek; I was amazed as always about how old the battle between current conservative and liberal thought in all its various and conflicting (nameologies) has been going on.

In other words whatever you label individual freedom vs society’s freedom, the argument has been going on for a long, long time. Hayek for example writing as late as the 1940’s looks at the liberalism of England as the method best suited for the expression of individual freedom vs the “Conservative” state run life of Nazi Germany. The terms today seem reversed.

The constant flux in the meaning of the words conservative and liberal seem to belie the underlying truth of the eternal conflict between the Individual and collective. As long as people must live in the society of others the success of that society will be measured by the mixture of both and not the supremacy of either.

The part of Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” that I read was all about how the corporate monopolists and the Unionist were on the same page as far as limiting Individual Freedom in favor of a top down government run, centrally planned society. I was struck of Hayek’s prescience about how the scientific and intellectual communities were so easily made a tool of the State. He also alluded to how those individualists who differed in view were arrogantly dismissed and not let into the clique of the prevailing thought. How later they would be hounded down, imprisoned and later executed. The dot of today between the words such as accepted scientific theory or scientific consensus and the shunning of those not believing in such for example in regards to global warming was connected.

As I returned upstairs to my computer and started going through my emails; I opened one by Amazon about their sale of nonfiction books which got my attention. Scrolling and reading through the list there were several titles which intrigued me. They were about the brain and how it worked and about unique individuals. I then went to the Amazon site for each and read the parts of the book they will let you read to whet the appetite. Most of the titles were pretty simple and or backwards to what I wanted to study. But it was in this effort that I read some of a book about “outliers” which was simply about individuals who stood out from their surroundings. The author went on to explain why. People such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Gordie Howe. Simply stated the book was trying to make the case that these standouts were simply using their abilities as best they could but that they were more a product of their environment and time than what they possessed as individuals.

At this I was disappointed; this was not what I was looking for. However one of the “Outliers” the book mentioned was Chris Langan. I had never heard of him. I believe he is still alive. The book said he was the smartest person alive. I googled and looked at Wikipedia which confirmed the accolades heaped upon this person within the book.

Mr. Langan came from a broken marriage, the mother had four boys and each from a different father. They were dirt poor and ostracized by the different communities they were forced to continually move to. The eclectic nature of Chris appealed to me. He self taught himself the sciences, was a bouncer of repute in several bars, and all around studied anything that interested him.

Langan’s genius is where he and I part. He for example got a 100% on the SATs, and his IQ was over 200. He as I said taught himself in High school and would only show up for the tests which he invariably got 100%. He then went to college on a scholarship from which he dropped out because he thought he was teaching the teachers more than vice versa. He was probably right.

He also has come up with his unifying theory he calls the Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe which I can only grasp the basis of, which says the Universe was created by God and all the rules physics etc along with it and it is our God given intellect that we have which creates the realities we see and deal with.
The “outlier” book from which I found Langan was of the opinion his genius was wasted because he lacked the social skills necessary to make it in a University setting. This seemed to be against the whole idea of the term Outliers. The book in my opinion would have been more aptly named “The Top People of the Pyramid and how to get there”

The refreshing thing I found out through this email and some study was that there were indeed brilliant people that believed in God and Creationism. The fact that they were shunned by society in no way lessens their achievements. In fact it was ironic that Galileo was also mentioned in the book because while he was following the progression of the science of the time he too was shunned by the prevailing scientific community. Curious Albert Einstein was not even in the book. Must be because he failed to graduate highschool. Lol

The last email I read was by Newt Gingrich titled “What the Battle of the Crater Means Today”

The first line was as follows;
{When our Founding Fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence that it was a "self-evident" truth that "all men are created equal," endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," they enshrined those words as an eternal principle for which the war for liberty would be fought.}

The dots were being connected alright, along a Godly line.

From the morning to 11am I went from Hayek to Langan to Gingrich. My journey went from an anti collectivist anti Nazi economic genius to a certified scientific genius supporting creationism to a former Speaker of the House and supporter of God as one of our most important beliefs in the founding of our country.

It is along this path of dots connected by people I admire that I travel.
It is this free use of my God given gifts that spur me on to continue fighting the battle against Individual freedom through overreaching bigness of government, labor, business and politics.

Some would say I wasted this beautiful autumn morning, I think not. Now up and out into this glorious day.

BTW I did finish cutting my wood for the winter last weekend


Regards, Live Dangerously Be A (Current) Conservative.

Reflections on Splitting Wood

What is the difference between Liberals and Conservatives?

Between Big Government Statists and Limited Government Constitutionalists?

Between Socialism and Capitalism?

Between wanting to solve our own problems, or demanding the government solve them for us?

Simply stated, that difference is Individual Freedom.

Who should decide what to do with the fruits of my labor?
With your labor?

Arthur C. Brooks takes these questions in his book “The Battle “and explains what is so unique in the American Experience. He even makes a case for what I would call the “American Freedom Gene”.

Although in my case he is preaching to the choir, I admire his work for its focus, brevity and highest of all for the extensive research. (Kind of like reading Thomas Payne with footnotes.)

Newt Gingrich said of the work, and I paraphrase here, that reading and committing to memory the main points will allow the reader to argue and win the debate with any liberal. Coming from Newt, that is high praise indeed.

From the footnotes I have started studying and finding out more and more about the conservative roots of my thinking and perhaps my forefather’s predisposition towards Individual Freedom.

From this study I have been better able to understand what it is within myself that cries out and hungers for Personal Freedom. Also from this and other books I am learning why I am so against all forms of big government and for that matter big Labor and big Business.

I am learning that this is not a negative but The Positive upon which this country was founded upon. This is simply standing up for my right to do with what is mine, what I will. This is not so much an anti government sentiment but rather that government has become anti Individual Freedom.

I have enjoyed all of Mr. Brooks’s titles but this one titled “The Battle” in its scope and incisiveness seems to be ahead of the others. As with his other works as in most of the conservative issues the argument is won, however with “The Battle” not only the argument but the war is won.

I read “The Battle” last winter and blogged about it etc, but at this time when my mind is racing to keep up with the current hectic events such as the different presidential candidates and/or the differences between the Tea Party and the Occupy WS thing are popping up I find I need some reflective time.

In this time of enhanced knowledge distribution with 150 TV channels and all the great resources that come with the internet, and all the social/political volunteer stuff I’m into; I find it helpful to help clarify my thoughts by sitting down in my basement by my wood furnace and reading a good book; especially at this time of year in my situation. That is what rural living and the seasons have forced upon me – reflection and hard work. What free time I have had the last three months has been spent cutting splitting and stacking five cords of wood. Two days ago I started my first fire to get my house temperature from 55 to 70.

This is the second winter in my new home and location. Last year I moved into my wood heated home during the start of winter without wood. I had to cut two days worth of wood a day and shovel/snow blow about a thousand feet of driveway. Each morning before those chores I would get a fire going in my basement furnace and sit and make sure a bed of coals was started and that the house was getting warmed; which took about an hour during which time I would shower and sit and read a book getting warm by the furnace; on a morning without a snowfall the previous night that hour might stretch into three.

These morning books were not fiction (those I saved for bedtime), but were pretty in-depth conservative books. Authors like Hayek, Freedman and others from previous generations. That morning time helped me keep my conservative roots sharp and helped me make sense of the senselessness which I see so often in the world.

This morning I started that regimen again. It felt good. Although I have a stack of unread books I had ordered during the summer it was “The Battle” that I picked up. I felt immediately at home, on top of which I proudly reflected upon the full winter supply of wood I had on hand. This winter should prove a lot easier than last.

This pride in self reliance is part of me and what makes me get out of bed in the morning.

I bring up this snippet of my life to show that there is something in me (the “Freedom Gene”?) through which I find great contentment and happiness fighting through these obstacles. Do not however think that I’m a hermit out in the middle of nowhere. After I moved here I had gotten heavily into politics up here, started a Tea Party and set up a weekly conservative breakfast club to keep my social conservatism intact. I find my personal and social life interchangeable.

To bring this back to “The Battle”, here is a link to a page on Arthur C. Brooks

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http://www.arthurbrooks.net/
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Check this guy out and his videos. If you like those; read “The Battle” and devour the footnotes. Have a Happy Winter, I will.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

PS. “Losing Ground” by Murray is another good book predating “The Battle”.

Money Ain't Everything

Money ain’t everything.

Neither is political experience and support of your national party.

Those two things now and in the future are being moved out of the number one priority of a campaign, what that money and the political power of the “political class” tries to buy is jumping into the number one spot.

What the “political class” tries to buy in their minds is the votes of the unwashed electorate.

When the unwashed electorate rises up and demands the respect they deserve – the respect the founders of this country gave it – then the power brokers see the upsets like we have seen since the special elections presaging the 2010 elections where simple common sense outweighed the money and power of the political elite.

When we the people came out to vote, not for slogans but for the better candidate. Not for the slickest ad but for the candidate with common sense, integrity and honor.
That is what Democrat David Weprin found out to his dismay.

He received money from Democrat national Organizations to the amount of $600,000 .
Neither did the money and “fame” he received from backers of the liberal left help him win. Nancy Pelosi gave him the $5,000 maximum allowable by law and threw in another $2,000 from her campaign war chest.
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http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/09/democrat-david-weprin-holds-financi.html
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Also notice from the article that Democrat Weprin’s donations of under $200 amounted to only 2% of his total. Compare that to Turner receiving 18% from small time donors. In respect for full disclosure, I was one of those “really” small time investors.

Nor did Turner get more from PACs, which let’s face it is the epitome of “political class” power. The Democrat Weprin received over 25 times more money from PACs than Bob Turner.

Neither did Bill Clinton and his robo calls help stem the tide. Nor did President Obama’s mailings help stem the bloodletting.

Nor did the vaunted but rusty Democrat machine in NYC. Their voters didn’t bother to vote or if they did were likely to vote for the Republican out of self defense against an Obama backing Liberal like Weprin, and a party backing the shameful actions of the disgraced Weiner.

What mattered was the 50-100 volunteer which at any one time were hitting the bricks going door to door or making phone calls – constantly for the few short weeks of this special election. Added to this, what helped more was that like their candidate they were working for; these citizen soldiers were not being paid. They and their candidate were not of the political class.

They were of by and for the People. Only in this way can the great American experiment in self governance remain a shining example of government being run – of by and for the People.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be a Conservative