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Why One Citizen Is Not Breaking Up With America This Valentine's Weekend
Submitted by John Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,
“I love America and I hate it. I’m torn between the two. I have two conflicting visions of America. One is a kind of dream landscape and the other is a kind of black comedy.”? Bono
Almost every week I get an email from an American expatriate living outside the country who commiserates about the deplorable state of our freedoms in the United States, expounds on his great fortune in living outside the continental U.S., and urges me to leave the country before all hell breaks loose and my wife and children are tortured, raped, brutalized and killed.
Without fail, this gentleman concludes every piece of correspondence by questioning my sanity in not shipping my grandchildren off to some far-flung locale to live their lives free of fear, police brutality, and surveillance.
I must confess that when faced with unmistakable warning signs that the country I grew up in is no more, I have my own moments of doubt.
After all, why would anyone put up with a government that brazenly steals, cheats, sneaks, spies and lies, not to mention alienates, antagonizes, criminalizes and terrorizes its own citizens and then justifies it in the name of safety, security and the greater good?
Why would anyone put up with militarized police officers who shoot first and ask questions later, act as if their word is law, and operate as if they are above the law?
Why would anyone put up with government officials, it doesn’t matter whether they’re elected or appointed, who live an elitist lifestyle while setting themselves apart from the populace, operate outside the rule of law, and act as if they’re beyond reproach and immune from being held accountable?
Unfortunately, not only do we put up with a laundry list of tyrannies that make King George III’s catalogue of abuses look like child’s play, but most actually persist in turning a blind eye to them, acting as if what they don’t see or acknowledge can’t hurt them.
The sad reality, as I make clear in my book A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, is that life in America is no bed of roses. Nor are there any signs that things will get better anytime soon, at least not for “we the people,” those of us who belong to the so-called “unwashed masses”—the working class stiffs, the hoi polloi, the plebeians, the rabble, the riffraff, the herd, the peons and the proletariats.
For instance, we’re still being spied on by our own government. Incredibly, while the British courts recognize that mass government surveillance of cellphone and online communications is not only illegal but violates human rights, the U.S. courts and politicians continue to pander to the government’s whims, whether or not they run afoul of the rule of law. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) actually wants to make the NSA’s mass surveillance a permanent practice.
Not only is the government unapologetic about spying on its citizens, but government agencies are using their collective surveillance data to carry out Orwellian pre-crime programs that attempt to nab “criminals” before they ever commit a crime. To do so, they have to study our social media posts, our buying habits, and where we travel to and from, and on and on.
We’re still being treated like serfs working for an overlord, with little actual rights when it comes to our property, our bodies, our children or our welfare. It doesn’t really matter what the justifications are for such taxes, regulations, prohibitions and fines if they result in us having little-to-no control over how we live our lives. In Seattle, for example, even one’s trash is subject to government regulation. Residents who fail to separate out their food waste for composting are fined for each violation.
We’re still bartering our freedoms away for the phantom promise of security, and we’re no safer and much less freer than we were two decades ago. First, it was the Patriot Act, which continues to sanction all manner of government intrusions into our lives, from the government tracking what cold medicine we use and how we spend our money to what we read and with whom we communicate. Then it was whole-body scanners in the airports, which were expensive, invasive and ineffective. Most recently, we’ve been subjected to a song-and-dance number about the need for body cameras on police officers to rein in abusive cops, with little said about how these surveillance cameras will be used to identify and track those in their range, or how difficult the footage will be to acquire if needed for our own defense.
We’re still being fooled into thinking that politics matter and that there’s a difference between the Republicans and Democrats, when in fact, the two parties are exactly the same. As one commentator noted, both parties support endless war, engage in out-of-control spending, ignore the citizenry’s basic rights, have no respect for the rule of law, are bought and paid for by Big Business, care most about their own power, and have a long record of expanding government and shrinking liberty.
Our communities are still being held hostage by militarized police. Despite the fleeting attention paid to the transformation of community police into extensions of the military, the transfer of military equipment from the federal government to localities continues unabated, with more than $28 million worth of tactical equipment distributed in the last quarter of 2014. The federal government, in conjunction with local police, has created a standing army on American soil—something those who drafted our Constitution believed would devastate our freedoms.
We’re still exchanging one set of wars for another, to the delight and profit of the military industrial complex. We’ve gone from waging war against Iraq and Iran to sounding the war drums against North Korea, Syria and ISIS wherever it happens to rear its head.
Every once in a while, we get tossed a bone to satisfy that gnawing, nagging hunger for something that looks and tastes like freedom, democracy and free enterprise. Political elections, town-hall meetings, awards ceremonies, sports spectacles, high-dollar lotteries, reality TV shows, morning news programs and patriotic-themed blockbuster movies: these are all the trappings of a so-called free nation without the substance (what Shakespeare referred to as a “tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”). Indeed, Big Business, in conjunction with Big Government, have become very adept at distracting the citizenry so that “we the people” often have no clue as to the real nature of the political game being played.
Temporarily assuaged, easily distracted and suffering from an appalling case of public amnesia, we fall right back into our complacency and compliance, content to turn a blind eye to blatant abuses, forgive past transgressions, and forget all of the reasons why we should be mad as hell about the state of our nation.
So why do I stay? Why do any of us continue to put up with the gut-wrenching, soul-sucking, misery-drenched, demoralizing existence that is America today?
Perhaps I stay because I was raised to believe that anything worth having is worth fighting for, and I believe with every fiber of my being that freedom matters. In fact, I come from a long line of Americans who understood that there is a price to be paid for freedom, whether that means standing up to the British military, sitting down in a bus seat reserved for “whites only,” or pushing back against corporations who pollute our waters and pillage our lands for profit.
Perhaps I soldier on because I remember what it was like to grow up at a time when the only surveillance I had to worry about were the neighbors who reported back to my mother whenever I did something wrong, and I desperately want my grandchildren to experience that kind of carefree existence. I want them to know that there’s more to life than metal detectors, lockdowns, random searches and pre-crime units trying to nab them for a crime if they dare step out of line.
Perhaps I persevere because I know that there are genuinely concerned Americans out there, including some good cops, honest politicians and pragmatic idealists, who want to pitch in and turn things around for the better. As long as there is this small but vocal minority who cares enough to stand up and speak out, then all is not completely lost.
Perhaps I stick it out because I know that surveillance, overcriminalization, militarized police, power-hungry politicians and greedy corporations are not exclusive to America, and there’s nowhere you can escape to where tyranny cannot follow. No matter what you think of Ronald Reagan and his politics, he was right when he warned that, “If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.”
Most of all, perhaps I keep fighting on because I’m just not ready to give up on America. At least, not yet.
In the words of that revolutionary firebrand Patrick Henry:
Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! — I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
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As they say, "birds of a feather flock together".
Anyway you need a muslim fifth column like they have in France, Sweden, and Denmark to use as an excuse to maintain the militarized police state.
Those damn rednecks, returning veterans, and white separatists just aren't cutting the mustard anymore.
"Love is not having to say .... you married a sick mofuck !" .... Ryan O. Kneel
quit bitchin' and try pitchn'...in that is...do something difficult such as becoming actively involved in postitive local change...we are living off the sacrafices of our forfatthers...what are we returning to that cache of precious social values?...the bastard TBTFers are only there becasue we let them...nobody ever said the USA was, or was supposed to be perfedt, but so far its the best that ever was...eh, Charlie?
What we have here .... is a fundamental .... lack of understanding of Capitalism .... and all the liberty it implies !
Yeah, been there done that.
Just voted in another bunch of lying scumbags local hacks with their hands in the back pockets of the developers.
Not satisfied with all the foreclosed houses in the area the scumbags want to drop impact fees so more new housing can be built, even though the voters wanted the impact fees in place to stop overdevelopment.
notice he said positive local change.
what you did, PE, is voting; that's not positive local change in my book.
you don't fix a government problem with government solutions.
think outside the blox.
organize, create your own solutions.
don't subsidize their tyranny, nor give the appearance of consent to their illegitimate system by voting.
For me it's simple; at this point in my life I can't be bothered learning another language. I have a hard enough time with English. As for the other English-speaking nations, no thanks.
haha.
i'm too lazy to learn another language, so, i'll just accept tyranny.
you know, spanish is pretty easy to learn for english speakers, and you have most of central and south america as options once you can speak passably.
if you put your mind to it, you can do it.
It's not about laziness, amigo. I studied Latin and German for two years each and French and Spanish for a year each. I was a fairly good student in maths, sciences and history, but all I remember from languages is ero, eris, erit, erimus, eritis, erunt. I'll readily admit that I didn't have the mental capacity to learn foreign languages as a youngster. Now, I'd rather devote my time and energy to things I'm confident of accomplishing. Some have the correct synapses for language, but mine are wired more toward other applications.
Which America are we to fight for ?:
The 1st (when blacks were enslaved) or the 2nd (when *all* of us were) ?
"I choose to battle on..." --- with what? Let's see, they own the media, the courts, the money, the election counting machines, more guns, the police, the military, your bank details, your personal details, the gps on your phone, your smart tv info ... what exactly do you plan on fighting with? Your toothbrush?
In Patrick Henry's day they had a free press and a population that hadn't been "educated" in government schools. There are so many countries that are so much freer once you leave you will be incredulous you stayed so long. Just saying.
The reasons to stay behind
(1) You are tied down by your day job and lack the initiative to start over in a foreign land, or
(2) You dont have a job and no money even to move across town, never mind out of the country, or
(3) You have not travelled enough, not spend the time to read and understand foreign culture to know where to go
number 3 not a great reason...there's lots of resources on the web with info on expatriation, and info on what it's like for an american living abroad.
here's a few
https://www.dollarvigilante.com/
http://www.sovereignman.com/
http://www.internationalman.com/
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/resources/expatriateweb...
Read up on FATCA/FBAR too while you're at it.
Can't beat them, join them.
Position everything into your own corporation. Become like the man.
Your corporation will not have to pay much tax and pays you only what you need. If you buy something the corporation buys it. If you want to leave the country, the corporation needs you to set up an office in wherever....
It doesn't matter what the corporation does, it is better if it does it than you.
" British courts recognize that mass government surveillance of cellphone and online communications is not only illegal but violates human rights, "
This is not a landmark case as the NPR link suggests.
I believe it applied to Brit e-mails which went outside the country en route to another Brit who was inside the country (eg: using gmail/hotmail to a neighbour or friend etc). The NSA was scooping them up in the US and handing them over to GCHQ back in the UK. E-mails which never left the country were supposedly not intercepted by GCHQ in the first place due to the law. This ruling only clarifies that foreign-routed e-mails cannot be intercepted.
The $64,000 question: Do I believe that my e-mails which use gmail are not now being intercepted? or even that my UK-only e-mails have never been intercepted? NO.
GCHQ conducts itself in secrecy and acts above the law, as do the UK Met Police (who were orderd by a court a few years ago to destroy DNA samples of people who were never charged with an offence but were caught secretly storing them. Nobody held to account).
Act like a pair of curtains son and pull yourself together. I be in bonny England and I fucking kid you not, I know folks from all over this land that will fight these fucking air thiefs to the fucking death. Running away wont solve anything son, you will be amongst folk you dont know which know you talk funny, best of luck though if thats the path you choose.
Me? I stand right fucking here, with everything I have, with friends that feel the same way, with mother fucking resolve that this isnt it, that life means more than this, with the intention of giving those think they can a right fucking go for their money.
You fucking want some NSA GCHQ? You know exactly where the mix is and you know his mates will back the cunt up, now once again, come and fucking get some. You think we are all cowards son? Run away for what? You think life will be even a touch better wherever you choose? Dont fucking think so mate. We are legion my friend but you just never realised it yet.
Fuck these cowards who think they rule you. Come and get me, I have given you plenty over the years to get it and you've done fuck all.
Bunch of child molesting protecting fucking cunts.
Utter cunts
:-)
@Inthemix96: You Brits are magnificent. Truly.
Neil Sedaka - "Breaking Up Is Hard": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQD3At3E7TA
The Clash - "Should I Stay Or Should I Go": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67oAP6c8wQQ
Credence Clearwater Revival: "Fortunate Son": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvwQmxLaknc
The Rolling Stones: "Sympathy For The Devil": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBecM3CQVD8
I agree with Whitehead's decision to stay and stick it out. It kind of reminds me of General Custer's last stand at Little Big Horn. Good luck.
I don't know about the rest of you but I find it incredible that the USA has made every nation follow its directive of getting them to disclose the whereabouts of any accounts Americans have and yet it still panders to the corporations which have trillions stashed outside the country and pay no tax.
How ordinary Americans can put with this shit particularly as it is the same corporations that have exported their jobs, is beyond me.
Ordinary Americans are meth addicted food stamp using morons who care about nothing other than watching television all day. It's over. You're never going to get these losers to do anything constructive with their lives so you may as well bug out for greener pastures. I hope the Chinese construct slave labor camps for their American vassals to inhabit. Fuck the USSA.
REPEAL FATCA
America is moving toward and substantially is already a police state. Welcome to the future, my friends.
I'm not sure. You are probably right. Just as a contrarian view, it seems that cops are going out of their way to be kinder because of everyone is filming them. So this whole police-state issue could be exaggerated on some local levels, but on others it is for certain. For example at local state and county fairs the cops are just crazy drunk with authority and strut around with all their military gear in front of families. If it were up to me, most cops would not be allowed to carry guns (only specialist teams could do so).
In other countries I visit though, there are police roadblocks and checkpoints around, they stop cars and look inside and ask questions. So that is very invasive too. If you leave USA because of too many police, then where to do you go? Another option is to move to a small town in USA, where cops are probably less interested in screwing people.
Why stay in an abusive relationship? The sex becomes rape, you are a prisoner in your own house, then they take half your shit.
I'm never looking back.
What country did you move to?
So why do I stay? Why do any of us continue to put up with the gut-wrenching, soul-sucking, misery-drenched, demoralizing existence that is America today?
Maybe it's because the collective, whether those who think they are awake like it or not, is a reflection of what America has become, and getting off the couch, away from the computer screen while texting and ingesting fast-junk food, is a little too inconvenient...let somebody else do the dirty work? Denial is an infectious and contagious dis-ease that runs rampant in America, very few are immune.
Exactly, and what's left of the Constitution are some of the few roadblocks stopping a clear highway to global tyranny. America must die for Panem to rise.
My sentimets zactly Mr. Whitehead! Well said!!
Bravo "InTheMix96"
Spoken like kinfolk to Patrick Henry, Tom Paine and Sam Adams.
Them that bow their heads mate, deserve ridicule. You want some? Come get the cunt.
I bend for no man, and neither do the people I know on personal level. They caused this my friend, not me or those I know. Let them take it back.
Once again, come get some you cunts.
;-)
it's pretty rad to be american if
1) you have no debts
2) have a good career/job
3) dont have kids/family
the world is coming to an end and it will be bloody, but im enjoying it at the moment!!
But the women are pretty terrible looking...
You got it all and yet you ain't got anything.
If you like your America, you can keep your America. Just like your doctor who took early retirement, and the health insurance plan that was just cancelled for you.
Yeah, us crazy expats; we're justs nuts. Sorta just like Cho Hyun-ah.
Education and money are freedom; with 94% of CONgress being re-elected in 2014 and nearly 50 million being on foodstamps, Americans have neither...
I am a Seattlite also and Seattle is the epitome of this. On a grand scale, the scenic beauty around me is spectacular; the variety close at hand and accessible. The weather one gets used to, rain doesn't stop much. BUT the government's attempts to micro manage every aspect of my daily life is verging on the extreme and the ridiculous. Seattle's latest program is to have zero car accidents in five years are so. Until people stop driving cars there will never be zero car accidents. Until drunks stop driving, marijuana smokers stop smoking and of course we just legalized the use of a substance the use of which impairs drving ability, until rain storms stop happening, it stops snowing, people don't fall asleep at the wheel, etc. non of which the government can do anything about, there will be accidents. In their attempt toward their goal, Seattle has become a city of SIGN pollution. IN the misguided attempt to mircro manage driving, Seattle has 5 to 20 chevron arrow signs on every curve of every street, road, rural lane, freeway, freeway ramp etc. whether the signs are needed or not, signs telling you what speed your allowed to go on every on ramp etc.. Some sign posts have 2 signs posted one on top of the other. It is as if they don't even understand how EYES work. City streets lined with houses, trees, apartments, condos etc. have 9 to 11 of these signs, and now we've gone digital with electronic signs all over the place just not on the freeway. And on the freeway there are huge elecronic speed signs for each lane with 2 additional electronic signs saying "reduced speed zone". I have contacted the State Dept. of Trans. regarding the proliferation of all thses signs and was told that they are not placed on the basis of need such as view obstruction or a history of accidents on a certain curve. As a "preventitive" these signs are being placed on every curve of every kind of roadway and the minimum # of signs for each curve is 5. We have signs telling the driver to slow down to 20 mph when approaching an intersection etc. even if there are not children or pedestrians present. Those who came before us at least had the common sense to require a slow down when there was a reason present. The DOT can't keep up with the road surface repairs but we have spent billions on unecessary and expensive signs which have proliferated to the point that they are a driving distraction as well as a visual blight every where one looks. This whole phenomenon is symptomatic with the government's determination to do our thinking for us and their arrogance that they know what is best for us, even when driving our own cars. Seattle is full of idealists that believe it is just fine to use others money for their own ends if they think it is best. We need a good dose of Dr. Phill's "get real" here. Seattle is spending half a billion on more bike lanes and safety measures in a City that is noted for all of its hills and it rains nine months of the year. Is it not a bit insane to ignore the topography and climate when allocating resources in a community? Too think that Seattle would ever have the bike ridership of say a Copenhagen which is flat as a pancake, ( I know I lived there for 7 months) is crazy but that's Seattle's goal. Le't's just ignore reality and waste money attempting to do something that cannot ever be done. The misallocation of funds in support of an activity that serves a tiny protion of the population is rampant here. In the meantime, the streets are full of potholes, TPTB complain there is not enough $ for road resurfacing projects etc. Ok, I'll stop now and just say I have a love hate relationship with Seattle, I love it for all that mankind had nothing to do with and I hate the over zealous mircomanagement of daily live, the egregious misallocation and waste of $ now visible at every turn of the road, the complete disregard for physical reality, the lack of understanding of human nature and a bureaucracy at every level of govenment that lacks WISDOM.
I lived in downtown Seattle for more years than I care to remember. My favorite little-appreciated Seattle traffic fact is that, for obscure reasons, it is legally permissible to go around those little traffic circles (as on Capitol Hill) on either the right OR the left side. So be daring, go left, and enjoy!
FWIW I believe that Seattle is the most tolerable of large US cities, though it's the outdor environment that is the major positve, not the city itself, whch is merely "OK".
"of course we just legalized the use of a substance the use of which impairs drving ability"
Seattle only just legalized alcohol, cough syrup, antiallergy medication, and Big Macs?
OOPS!!! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says there is no statistical increase in risk of auto accidents in drivers using marijuana!
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/02/07/3620555/marijuana-use-in-car...
...at which point I stopped reading this, realizing it was all rambling, ignorant bullshit dressed in it's "prosiest" best. You're no James Joyce, don't try to write a new "Uselessys" based on your blindfolded libertarianism and "Dr. Phil-osophy".
All a common person in America needs to do to realize the full extent of his plight is find himself at odds with a prominent and wealthy celebrity, politician, business executive, or corporation and watch as his government stands in the middle and pretends to sort things out fairly.
And don’t forget to notice how differently your case gets handled than when the same prominent and wealthy celebrity, politician, business executive, or corporation is at odds with the government.
Also if you want to move somewhere where you can keep speaking English to everybody, its gonna cost quite a lot and be incredibly complicated and you still might be denied by a later legal change in you countries of choice for residency. Getting a job abroad to support a residency application is not any easier than it is to get a meaningful job in the USA. And you'll have to bank through the USA unless you want to abandon your citizenship (because our laws threaten foreign banks with regards to doing business abroad with US citizens). Or you can go somewhere, probably hot, where everybody speaks a version of Spanish to hide out without a bank account, but the list is getting smaller every year. Really legally, your pretty stuck here, unless you're already fairly well off in the money department.
One thing people need to understand about electronic surveillance is that everybody gets around their own domestic proscriptions by using a third party to carry out those activities which are clearly forbidden internally. The US spies on the UK, which in turn spies on the Germans, which in turn spies on the Americans- as a quick example of how the safegaurds are bypassed.
But to suppose that "it isn't happening here" wherever "here" might be is a chimerical idea. I believe it was Winston Churchill who spoke of the threat of a thousand years of darkness made more sinister by the works of perverted science. Well, here it is.
America, the real America, will eventually prevail over this universal darkness because it is the only place that has a population that is in sufficient possession of the means of resistance in both a physical and ideological sense. It is easy to suppose that everyone is asleep if you get all your ideas from TV or live in a major metropolitan area, but there is a lot going on out in the heartland that is not being covered or discussed.
If you lived in my neck of the woods, you would see Rattlesnake flags flying constantly and a majority of the bumper stickers are of the "molon labe" persuasion. People out here are buying guns and ammo, stocking up their pantries and planning big gardens.
This is all helped by the fact that sighting a police vehicle or a regulatory bureaucrat is about as likely as spotting a golden eagle on top of your barn. There are no stop lights out there, no security cameras, and if you call the cops-- help should arrive within an hour or so. I'm three minutes away from the guy who opened his own store because he was out of beer and too drunk to drive into town and get more. You can knock on any door and the people will give you anything they have. People have barn parties all the time, where everyone brings something and they all do drugs and drink themselves silly until they get tired of it and go home. No sobriety checkpoints, no closing times, and no problem. If someone is too lit to drive, they catch a ride knowing that their car is safe where its at or they crash on the sofa.
You can't possibly imagine how wonderful that is. Or how determined these people are to defend their liberties from a challenge that they all know is barreling down upon them. Get out into the country while you still have the chance and make your stand with those who will fight and have the means of doing so when the time comes.
May I frame paragraph #3 and hang it on my wall?
And THAT^ is why I'm returning to my beloved USA.
When you have the most powerfulish man is the world singing about this, you just know we are on the downhill slide.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FYoanLxhPGY
Depending on what neuron you choose to swing from you are either here or you're not here.
I'm sorry....but when you find out your girlfriend has been pulling a train with all of your best friends on Valentine's Day....it's time to move on. jUst saying.
Hang all 535 +ICiC - baddabing
opium is much better than patriotism for a dead idea and nationalism for a dead country. the euphoria is much more pure.
the usa is babylon, writ large. i hate bible references but they are getting a little too close for ignorance.
In the world today there are US Vassal states and US enemy states.
US Vassal states have the same neoliberal policies as the US.
US enemy states which might offer more towards social democracy are continually under attack; either covertly or overtly.
The bottom line is there is no escape.
Give me liberty or give me my tyrants death.
Have you noticed? The US Government is attempting to become god.
The sliding-to-Gomorrah America, IMHO, resembles God less and Satan more.
And our supposed "closest allies to the peeps" ie, churches, refuse to call out what teh Fed Govt, TBTF WS Finance and MIC are doing to them. Makes me wonder if organized religion really was created by the Jews millenia ago as a Population Pacification Program while they stripped them down to their shorts.
I really wanna believe. The Scriptures have wonderful lessons but damn when the theft is so ubiquitous and clearly connected to such a very small group, how can the Churches be so blind?
Not a peep from mine and as result, my attendance and tithe has ceased until things get right.
The impact of churches has been greatly lessened by the banking cartel’s ownership and use of the media and the U.S. Congress.
And with a Congress directly opposing much of Gospel fundamentals, the churches are marginalized. But a highly significant factor is that religious institutions as centers of influence are targets for the cartel to buy and control. In the list of influence centers purchased by the vast wealth the Fed prints out of nothing, G. Edward Griffin lists scores of institutions from the Congress to tax-exempt organizations, to radio and television networks to magazines and film to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. And in his list: "church organizations."
I hear where you’re coming from. On a road trip this weekend, trying to find a radio program I could listen to, I was treated to no less than five different “religious” stations denouncing Islam as I scanned programs. And as fantastic as it might seem, one so-called religious historian actually said that Revelations depicts the literal Babylon-on-the-Euphrates as becoming a world anti-Christ Empire before it is destroyed by God.
How could this be with the dusty desolate remains at this location? Two words, he said: Oil and Islam.
Another religious station where a U.S. military sniper was being interviewed, the host suggested the strategy for tackling the Muslim enemy was like the killing of roaches: you can’t just kill a few, he said, to get rid of them you must fumigate them all.
Of course the reason for this anti-Muslim war talk on these so-called “Christian” radio stations is the takeover of programs and hosts by the neo-cons in their support of Israel and its expansion.
http://www.bigeye.com/griffin.htm
What else are we to expect from governments of men? It only serves to reinforce what Christ teaches about the state of this fallen world. The consequences of the fall are quite clear to us. The America I was propagandized to believe in as a late baby boomer never was.
As painful as it is, it's better this way for a Christian. There is no illusion. I wait on the Lord, it is my only comfort. As it should be.
The reason corrupt Churches don't discuss this is because they are corrupt and complicit. The reason good Churches don't dwell on the state of our country is because it would be like dwelling on the blueness of the sky or the green of the grass. It is up to you to discern if your Church preaches the kingdom of this world or The Kingdom of Heaven.
America is not this : www.infobae.com/2015/02/15/1627000-el-estado-islamico-difundio-la-decapi...
I don't know what the big deal is, there are 3 good countries yanks can move to, no need to renounce citizenship, no need to invest outside the good ol USA, just sell everything, and find a rental in Canada, NZ or Australia.
Live under the radar and go back home when/if things get better.
I personally choose to live in SA for now, as I'm adventurous and I speak the language, but clearly all these countries are in far worse shape than even the disaster that is the USA right now.
But I'm a small fish, and don't have a lot of assets here, so no big risk.
If I was really worried, as so many zhrs seem to be, I'd be long gone to one of the three previously mentioned countries.
A hell of a lot better life than sitting at home in your concrete bunker all paranoid with your 8 million rounds of whatever and 42 automatic weapons.
Get a fucking life for fuck's sake.
Hell, if I get hit by a bus tomorrow I'll have had more fun in the last 12 weeks than it sounds like most of the preppers have had in the last 12 years.
Gee ... you sound a lot like Patrick Henry.
Cwunt.
The problem with the optimist thesis is it assumes there is something still worth saving.
There isn't, and hasn't been for quite a long time.
For those that would stay and play out their own personal "waterloo", just remember the enemy has more ammo than you do, and more places to stuff you into than your own dusty stronghold full of canned goods.
Fuck Bono. Why would I care what a Irish dude thinks?
Why would you care what THAT Irish dude thinks.
I happen to love reading Oscar Wilde though, another Irish dude.
Keep the message and discard the messenger.
No where in the article does the author mention Immigeratio policy (race based (non white), then illegal immigration) or $1 T deficit spending and money printing as core issues allowing / funding the very conditions and negative developemnts that he highlights.
Speak to the truth 'bro.
" Nor are there any signs that things will get better anytime soon, at least not for “we the people,” those of us who belong to the so-called “unwashed masses”—the working class stiffs, the hoi polloi, the plebeians, the rabble, the riffraff, the herd, the peons and the proletariats."
I think you oughta add "goyim" to the list.
What was once believed to be the land of the free utterly ended with the 14th amendment re-making state citizens into "Subjects under the Jurisdiction of the federal government". Just a clever way of instituting incremental levels of feudalism and nobody noticed until now? And it apparently wasn't even legal.
http://www.tnonline.com/2012/may/26/so-called-14th-amendment-not-lawfully-adopted-or-ratified
Maybe we deserve whatever we get.
I know that he loves me. Sometimes, he comes home and he's upset about this or that from work. But I know he loves me. He tells me. I can fix him.
Or...
Martina McBride - Independence Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VPpAZ9_qAw
What is "America?" Is it the land mass of the 48 states plus Alaska and Hawaii? No. It is an idea, and that idea is liberty. Benjamin Franklin said, "Where liberty is, there is my country." If the political entity that controls the 50 states is hostile to liberty, which it clearly is, those who love and want liberty will consider living under some other political regime that would be more congenial.
Analysis Paralysis.
The evidence and trend is crystal clear.
Now is the time to "just do it". Get outta dodge.
To each his/her own. We "broke up" with USA and have never been happier. Don't get me wrong; Singapore is no bastion of freedom either. But still we are far happier and live better and at the end f the day don't think of how to "get outta here" the way wedid when we were in USA.
"Why One Citizen Is Not Breaking Up With America This Valentine's Weekend"
uh..i'm honestly dumb..struck....oh....nevermind...it was....a.....Annie For Benevolent Dicktator moment, nevermind.
I left the USA about 7 years ago for Israel. No, not because I'm a Zionist. No, I am not a dual citizen - they don't allow my type to take on citizenship here. The point is - I'm moving back to the US because while it objectively is a total shitshow of Hollywood film proportions - the USA is still one of the best countries in the world. Most countries are totally corrupt shitholes - the US certainly is disappointing with a failing government and an increasing ethic of entitlement and graft. However, we still at least have negative reactions to that shit in the US. Many other countries (Israel included) are premised on this shit - the desperation is primal - and people never had hope or a sense of freedom to begin with. The US is unique and special in this way - as obviously blind sighted and nationalistic it is to big-up your own country - the US is materially different. There is a chance to save it or at least, there is a chance to retreat into portions of the country where autonomy is stronger. I'm not saying there won't be a collapse that will be horrific - but generally collapse is going to affect every part of the world. I personally feel safer with my family and in the confines of a society I can predictably maneuver - or at least engage with persuasively because of shared values and mythology.
I don't think there is that much need to leave the country completely, the US is a big country and there are many cities you can avoid. The only reason I would bug out of the USA again might be if Ann invited me to fly up to her redoubt.
Ann says... check out the southern hemisphere. She also says, "nations" with extremely impoverished and incompetent morons pretending to be "government" have little to zero impact on people in the boonies or outlying fringes. And so, many places that have absolutely abysmal governments on paper, are actually virtually devoid of actual government if you live in selected areas. Like, for example, about 320 of the 330-some islands of Fiji. Or alternatively, the emptiness of the atacama desert in southern Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and portions of western Argentina. Or alternatively... :-)
I just got a place in the Philippines and it's great. (Bono could also skip paying his millions in Irish taxes moving here if he starts hating the USA too muchly; alas, Americans cannot).
The good old days -- a family of 5 all jammed on one little scooter going down the two-lane highway --- and no cops, no CPS, no jail, and no sending anyone off to re-education camps for such a thing, either. Ditto for all the family-run tasty street food restuarants along the side of the road.
It's also true that it's very cheap here. WI-FI and beautiful women are everywhere. Roads are good, easy to get around. It's also located on the door step to the rest of Asia where going to Thailand or Cambodia is cheap and no big deal. I still have one foot in the USA 6 months of the year but not sure for how much longer.
My Filipina wife and I just bought some property in the Philippines too. We will be building a house soon. You should have mentioned you can get around just about anywhere speaking english.
SHTF is gonna suck there too dude. You better set up for off the grid living because the grid is ready to go down there just as a matter of SOP. I go there frequently, for 10 years now, wife is Cebuana. The trick is to find property out in the province where there is no NPA presence. Clean titled, no tax dec garbage. Water source and good soil so you can plant a garden and raise chickens and pigs. Fruit and coconut crops are a no brainer. And of course your wife owns it because foreigners cannot own property there.
I checked out Camiguin Island a few months ago, very nice but volcanic as hell. Crossed it off my list. Also went to Surigao City at the north tip of Mindanao. Super nice place but bombs are going off in buses there and lots of banditry violence from NPA and Muslims all over, gets worse the further south you go. Crossed that one off too. Safest place for expats is Subic area of Luzon from what I hear. They may be right but there are too many people there for my taste.
That the Philippine government is corrupt is an understatement. And they are very progressive and target foreigners with lots of bullshit regs in increasing frequency. Lots of scams running from inside family to bleed you of your money too. Trust no one.
Best of luck to you.
Grimaldus
The author is stuck. Can't leave. Might be the wife threatening to take half his shit, who knows? One thing for sure, that turd is circling the bowl and time is running out. Best to haul ass while the getting is good.
BoJo, Mr. Mayor of London, who is outrageously a Yank, is reportedly this morning giving up his US passport/nationality.
All bad things will come to an end . The economic system is on the brink of collapse and then with a bit of luck it will be open hunting season for the banksters , the secret agents , the police collaborators , the politicians and all their families . I too suffer from an acute case of Schadenfreude , the bad luck and disgrace of the government and it's minions is my JOY , I feel tremendous pleasure to hear of bad luck , accidents and disasters happening to government officlals , the zionist Cabal , the banking system and all collaborators of the USA government . Extermination of the 1 % and government officlals will happen , that's the anly way ahead . Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent . ( JFK)
You have a message..you have a bell to ring whether on a trading floor or a pub , a warning to give and and a message..just sound it and give it with all your heart. You dont need a radio tv or the internet to give it..you don't need to leave your land..any more than founding fathers or this musician did
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FPtJtpTuMdI
To stay is to shovel shit against the tide.
All societies rise and fall. It is a lonmg cycle, much longer than one man's life.
It is better to go to a country that is rising and ride it to the top.
As long as you are there and not engaging in civil disobedience you are complicit, aiding and abetting, colluding and contributing directly to the end of human civilization; especially if you live in D.C., Hollywood, Silicon Valley, North Seattle or Manhattan.
The ZH progressives running rampant here cheer for that shit man.
This is the progressive utopia! Moar Big Government violence against citizens!
Embrace the progressive suck!
And not a goddamn constitutional conservative in sight.
Hold onto your butts, the progressive end-game is always the death of millions.
Grimaldus
Americans do not run from problems, we fix them.
That's a pretty unbelievable statement. Do you have any proof, or an xxample that is not over 50 years old?
One thing I learned while living in some of the banana republics I have lived in over the past 15 years, is that big government is a total failure in so many ways that it creates a huge underground economy, so most of these places are in reality quite libertarian.
I mean, I would say some SA countries have 50% of their economies as pure cash, unregulated, untaxed. And most are probably around the 20% to 30% level.
They can't even figure out how to build a fricking road, so how do you think they are going to enforce any of the thousands of stupid regulations they have on the books?
And even in the event that after 5 or 10 years an inspector (of whatever type, building, business, tax etc.) finds you and knocks on your door, how much do you think you need to pay to have him go away for another 5 years? You'd be shocked at just how little it is. We're talking a couple hundred bucks, maximum, and that's only because you're a dumb gringo and have to pay extra.
And if you are a foreignor, not a resident (who needs or wants to be a resident?) then you are completely under the radar and about as free as you could want to be, totally legally, not breaking any laws.
The only downside living this way is the usual requirement to leave the country for a few days every 6 months. Big deal, people who make this choice love to travel anyway. Very small inconvenience.
You can quite easily draw cash you need from any ATM, no need to sit on any large amounts or even carry them with you. And in countries with currency black markets, there are now services like xoom that allow you to take advantage of better rates in the 'real' market.
And of course there are also other ways, not strictly legal or illegal, using middlemen who give you cash from locals trying to get money out, and they recive your cash in Miami, or the caymans or wherever. Cost is usually under 2%.
Anyway, you don't need a lot, and when all your friends and relatives come to visit you in your beach house, you can ask them to bring you a couple months expenses in USD cash. Easy, legal, cheap, risk free.
Now of course most of these countries have the potential to turn into venezuela, a place I won't even visit now, but shit, even there you've had over 10 years to see the warning signs and clear out.
Where I am now, I can pack my suitcase, lock the door of my rental and be on a plane in under 2 hours.
Although some of my girlfriends would probably be pissed if I did that without saying good-bye.
mutton:
I can appreciate the sentiment, which is why I think the USA will always come out on top, IN THE LONG RUN, but I don't see any reason to be physically present and supporting financially a corrupt system.
The most important war by far is the intellectual war, and that has been lost badly up to this point. So I went Galt years ago and make sure I do as little as possible to support the current corruption in essentially every country in the world.
Thanks to the internet, you can do all the fighting you want from just about any beach on the planet.
The saddest thing about this piece is that the author and many commenters actually believe that the America they idolize actually existed, and is not just another lie.
I'm sure that people in the USSR had the same feelings as the author for the 70-odd years that the soviet system struggled about their lost "mother Russia".