As the Supreme Court heard arguments for and against the Chicago Gun Ban, this man offered you another stellar example of a letter (written by a Marine), that places the proper perspective on what a gun means to a civilized society. Interesting take and one you don't hear much. Read this eloquent and profound letter and pay close attention to the last paragraph of the letter...
"Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that's it. In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.
When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunken guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.
There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we'd be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger's potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat -- it has no validity when most of a mugger's potential marks are armed. People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.
Then there's the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.
People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don't constitute lethal force, watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level. The gun is the only weapon that's as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn't work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn't both lethal and easily employable.
When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation... And that's why carrying a gun is a civilized act."
By Maj. L. Caudill, USMC (Ret.)
So, the greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.
Cowboys and the Tea Party political movement have a lot on common. Both believe in individual responsibility; judging a man by his actions not words; and, both are disgusted with government intrusions into our lives and particularly our God given rights.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Obama's Illinois Downgrade Makes It America's Greece
Investor's.com the online offering of Investors Business Daily posted this article several days ago about Illinois being downgraded because of their ridiculous clinging to the liberal economic model,......tax and spend, focus on entitlements, and if you need more money - then take it from those who work.
State Budgets: Inability or unwillingness to fix the state's hemorrhaging pension system and curb union power has led a major credit rating service to downgrade the Land of Lincoln's rating to the lowest in the nation.
On Friday, the bond rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the state's credit level again, to A-, putting Illinois' on par with California. No, actually below California, for S&P gives California a positive outlook.
Illinois' fragile overall financial status netted it a negative outlook, putting it behind California overall. The ratings came out now because Illinois plans to issue $500 million in bonds within days.
Moody's already ranks Illinois 50th among the states, and Fitch ranks the state 49th but warns of a negative watch.
Moody's A2 ranking places it even with Botswana, a southern African nation that is 70% desert, in what is the latest fallout over the $96.8 billion unfunded debt to five state pension systems.
The news comes after failed attempts at even modest pension reform failed in a lame duck state legislative session.
A recent release by the Illinois Policy Institute shows this is only the tip of the iceberg and when you add in other liabilities such as $54 billion in unfunded liabilities for retiree health insurance and $15 billion in pension bonds that Gov. Pat Quinn and his immediate predecessor, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, issued to avoid pension reform, Illinois' total unfunded liabilities amount to $275 billion, or $58,000 in debt for each and every household in the state.
While neighbors like Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan have either challenged the unions on pension reform or embraced right-to-work to encourage the economic growth to fund them, Illinois remains in thrall to big labor.
A major stumbling block on the path to reform has been the state's powerful public employee unions.
We Are One Illinois (WAOI), a group that represents more than 1 million state workers, has formed to fight any reforms, even while the state's pension costs rise at a rate of $17 million per day.
The state will spend $5.9 billion on the pension system in fiscal year 2013, which ends in July 2013, and will spend nearly $7 billion in FY 2014.
The Standard & Poor's report warns that further inaction could lead to downgrading Illinois to "BBB," an "unusual" low rating for any state.
The agency noted a "lack of action on pension reform and upcoming budget challenges could result in further credit deterioration."
State Budgets: Inability or unwillingness to fix the state's hemorrhaging pension system and curb union power has led a major credit rating service to downgrade the Land of Lincoln's rating to the lowest in the nation.
On Friday, the bond rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the state's credit level again, to A-, putting Illinois' on par with California. No, actually below California, for S&P gives California a positive outlook.
Illinois' fragile overall financial status netted it a negative outlook, putting it behind California overall. The ratings came out now because Illinois plans to issue $500 million in bonds within days.
Moody's already ranks Illinois 50th among the states, and Fitch ranks the state 49th but warns of a negative watch.
Moody's A2 ranking places it even with Botswana, a southern African nation that is 70% desert, in what is the latest fallout over the $96.8 billion unfunded debt to five state pension systems.
The news comes after failed attempts at even modest pension reform failed in a lame duck state legislative session.
A recent release by the Illinois Policy Institute shows this is only the tip of the iceberg and when you add in other liabilities such as $54 billion in unfunded liabilities for retiree health insurance and $15 billion in pension bonds that Gov. Pat Quinn and his immediate predecessor, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, issued to avoid pension reform, Illinois' total unfunded liabilities amount to $275 billion, or $58,000 in debt for each and every household in the state.
While neighbors like Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan have either challenged the unions on pension reform or embraced right-to-work to encourage the economic growth to fund them, Illinois remains in thrall to big labor.
A major stumbling block on the path to reform has been the state's powerful public employee unions.
We Are One Illinois (WAOI), a group that represents more than 1 million state workers, has formed to fight any reforms, even while the state's pension costs rise at a rate of $17 million per day.
The state will spend $5.9 billion on the pension system in fiscal year 2013, which ends in July 2013, and will spend nearly $7 billion in FY 2014.
The Standard & Poor's report warns that further inaction could lead to downgrading Illinois to "BBB," an "unusual" low rating for any state.
The agency noted a "lack of action on pension reform and upcoming budget challenges could result in further credit deterioration."
Monday, February 11, 2013
Dr. Carson's Speech - Captivating America
The whole Nation is abuzz with Dr. Benjamin Carson's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast with Obama in attendance. The good Doctor, actually the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, railed against political correctness, about fiscal irresponsibility, about taxation, and host of other issues including his passion for education.
Dr. Carson's creds are over whelming,..I will not take up the reader's time going over them except to say that he is a published author both in the medical field and non-fiction. He and his wife are philantrophists giving scholarships to deserving kids; he is a widely respected surgeon and did all of this growing up in poverty where he learned the importance of education and self responsibility.
I have no idea on Dr. Carson's political affilations or voting record, but he has to be a burr under Obama's saddle as a successful, capitalistic, self responsibility touting black man is opposite of what Obama is and what Obama wants to create for minorities and frankly, everyone else in this country.
Dr. Carson said that people ask him why he gves speeches that border on political issues. He said "why not and that everyone needs to get involved, including physicians, after all six of the founding signers were Doctors." If you do nothing else listen to his entire speech,....and watch Obama's facial expressions and body language.
Dr. Carson's creds are over whelming,..I will not take up the reader's time going over them except to say that he is a published author both in the medical field and non-fiction. He and his wife are philantrophists giving scholarships to deserving kids; he is a widely respected surgeon and did all of this growing up in poverty where he learned the importance of education and self responsibility.
I have no idea on Dr. Carson's political affilations or voting record, but he has to be a burr under Obama's saddle as a successful, capitalistic, self responsibility touting black man is opposite of what Obama is and what Obama wants to create for minorities and frankly, everyone else in this country.
Dr. Carson said that people ask him why he gves speeches that border on political issues. He said "why not and that everyone needs to get involved, including physicians, after all six of the founding signers were Doctors." If you do nothing else listen to his entire speech,....and watch Obama's facial expressions and body language.
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