Occupy This!

“She just really trusts capitalism and doesn’t recognize that capitalism is kind of responsible for a lot of the injustices we have in the world.” -- Sociology major, graduate of Brown University, member of the state-run media and Occupy Wall Street community agitator.

For those not fortunate enough to have attended the ivy covered walls of Brown, let's first discuss what Capitalism really means. Obviously, this young lady missed the discussion on this critical issue.

In its purest form, Capitalism is private ownership of wealth and property. With this comes the ability to conduct commerce and trade without any restrictions from government. It is simply freedom to conduct business the way you see fit.

America in its early days came as close to a pure capitalistic system as has probably ever existed. As long as government remained small and very limited, as the Founding Fathers intended, Americans prospered. We grew to be the wealthiest nation and greatest world power in the history of the world in less than 200 years! The "poor" in this nation have lived in opulence compared to most of the world's impoverished areas. 

With just an idea and some elbow grease, the most recent immigrant or the poorest person could build a business empire that would employ thousands. Their accumulated wealth was then invested in other ventures creating more jobs, as well as philanthropic ventures like hospitals, colleges and religious endeavors.

But after several wars and political movements, government expanded to the point that private ownership is on the decline and commerce greatly inhibited. 

Attempt to drill for oil, or farm on your property and host of federal, state and local alphabet agencies, along with radical enviro-nazi groups will make you wish you never even owned the land. If you attempt to leave your business to your children, the IRS will pounce and eat up your life's work in estate taxes. Build a better mousetrap, and all sorts federal agencies will attempt to regulate its manufacture and distribution. Consumer groups along with their attorneys will attack until you surrender the idea and/or give up your dream completely.

No matter how small the business, there is some government bureaucrat that will either tax, regulate, or destroy it. Even the smallest lemonade stand, a kids Summer income stream for decades, is not too small for government intervention. 

Does this sound like capitalism to you?

But on to the point of the ivy league educated agitator - Capitalism is responsible for a lot of injustices in the world.

If that were true, what is the alternative?

Communism/Socialism - Where the wealth is concentrated in the hands of a handful, or even just one Dear Leader, and misery and poverty is spread equally to everyone else? With over 160,000,000 murdered victims to its credit, this doesn't seem to be a good alternative.

Theocracy - Where whack-a-doodle Imans make up laws as they go and decapitate you for the slightest offense? Islamic economies have accounted for over 270,000,000 deaths and counting. I'll pass.

Fascism - A cozy marriage of government and corporate interests designed to concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a select few people that control and manage virtually every business decision? Since there is a fine line between Communism/Socialism and Fascism, we could just as easily claim the same body count. But since so many historians try to make a case that they are all different, probably only a fraction of the Communism numbers.

I'm not going to waste my time exploring any other systems. They are all inherently flawed. America is not and has not been a capitalist economy in many years. One could make a good case that we have never been a true capitalist system. We are much closer to Fascism or Socialism than Capitalism these days. 

When government can force banks to give loans to people with no credit and then promise to cover their losses when these mortgages go bad, that is NOT Capitalism. 

If elected leaders choose business winners and losers by tax/regulatory policy or outright handouts, that is NOT Capitalism

Requiring citizens to purchase health insurance, while at the same time passing laws designed to destroy the private sector insurance market at worst, and at best driving the price up beyond the reach of the average citizen or business, thus forcing them to accept substandard government-run insurance, is NOT Capitalism.

Capitalism is not the problem, it is the solution. Growing an even larger and more corrupt government to "manage" private property and "redistribute the wealth" will not make anyone richer. None of the demands of the OWS crowd will result in more prosperous individuals or nation. You cannot take from one and give to another without impoverishing both!

I know the OWS crowd has a lot of silly demands. So here are a few of mine, they come from a pretty reliable source:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me - God is your source - not the state, not Obama and not your fellow citizens. If you take the king's coin, you become his servant. Think about that if you are desiring money from the government. Do you really want to become a slave to the state? Or do you want the freedom to make choices for yourself on when and how to spend, invest and share your hard earned wealth?

2. Six days shalt thou labor and rest on the seventh - You will never get anywhere in life without working for it. God gives you the power to get wealth. But it only comes through honest labor. Sitting around banging drums in a park is not honest labor - especially once Soros' money runs out.

3. Honor thy father and thy mother - This goes beyond your birth parents, but includes your Founding Fathers who were pretty darn smart. They rightly knew the dangers of a mob intent on stealing from the treasury, which is actually stealing from your fellow citizens.

4. Thou shalt not kill - the correct rendering is murder. Carrying out justice or fighting in a war to preserve freedom or protect the innocent is not murder no matter what Jane Fonda thinks. BTW - Abortion is murder, but that seems to be permissible for the no shower types.

5. Thou shalt not steal - Guess what, if you are taking money from the government, they have stolen it from some poor citizen, therefore you are an accessory to theft. Government cannot and will not ever supply all of your needs, much less your desires. You need to find a more reliable source - see #1 and #2 above.

6. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor - The lies being spewed by the OWS crowd are disgusting. Please move to Cuba, China or some other 3rd world utopian hellhole if you think America is so bad. If a person starts a business and then builds it into a successful enterprise, they are not a villain, nor evil. They are not "taking" anything from you. For now, you may choose to spend your money, whatever the tax man doesn't confiscate, with whichever business you choose.

7. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, ass, wife or anything else that belongs to your neighbor - Imagine what life would be like if the OWS crowd took this commandment seriously. Who are the greedy ones? The people that have worked hard, invested and built a business, or the ones demanding that they "share their wealth."

And don't forget that you shall not make unto you any graven image to represent God or any other spiritual being. Adultery is not good either and it can be committed in your heart just by lusting for someone. And of course taking the Lord's name in vain has been quite popular with the agitating community. All of these push you further away from the love, peace and prosperity that you are demanding from Wall Street and the government, that can only come from God.

One final note, I find it interesting that the demands of the OWS crowd sound so eerily similar to Lenin's demands: end all wars, nationalize banks, equality of wages. Its simply 21st century Socialism regurgitated and repackaged for another generation of useful idiots to parrot. The people who lived and died under the oppressive Soviet government learned the hard way that Socialism always sounds good until you have to live, or die, under it.

America is not perfect. But at least there is still a flicker of freedom here. This is the reason so many people do their best to come to this country. It offers hope that only freedom can provide. That hope dies if/when the OWS mob gets their way. Something an ivy league graduate should fully understand if she were taught truth, not socialist propaganda.

Final Thoughts From Our Founding Fathers

"Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants."
 Benjamin Franklin

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure (and) which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." 
Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence

"Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature." 
Benjamin Franklin

"Every step we take towards making the State our Caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our Master." 
Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" 
Benjamin Franklin

"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.... If the next centennial does not find us a great nation ... it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces." 
James Garfield, the twentieth president of the United States, 1877

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." 
Patrick Henry

"In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed....No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people."
 Noah Webster

"It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains."
 Patrick Henry

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." 
Abraham Lincoln

"Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom." 
Patrick Henry