From: pecampbe@mtu.edu (Paul Campbell)
Subject: Re: Weinberger's Pardon
Organization: Michigan Technological University
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 00:26:49 GMT

In article <10JAN199314321870@oregon.uoregon.edu> dreitman@oregon.uoregon.edu (Daniel R. Reitman, Attorney to Be) writes:
>In article <1993Jan10.060854.20847@mtu.edu>,
> pecampbe@mtu.edu (Paul Campbell) writes...
>>No. It's not. Although the name has changed (they call themselves
>>liberals in this country), communism by any other name (socialism,
>>American Liberalism, or Marxism) is the same thing.
>
>Dear Mr. Campbell:  I believe you have fallen into Richard Armour's definition
>of "communist".  "Americanism . . . anyone who disagrees with you."  Armour, It
>All Started with Columbus (19__), at ___.

No. I relied on Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Frederic Bastiat, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Edmund Burke, and several
American philosophers such as Jefferson, Webster, Washington, Madison, and
Lincoln.

>>          The 1st Plank:  THE ABOLITION OF PROPERTY IN LAND AND
>>APPLICATION OF ALL RENTS IN LAND TO PUBLIC PURPOSES.
>>[we have so called 'property taxes' or the '99 year lease']
>
>Ahem!  Property taxes do not abolish rights to land ownership.  They recognize
>the right and use it to finance government.  As for long-term leases, in some
>circumstances (such as land/housing trusts), they are useful means for
>assisting persons who otherwise would be unable to obtain property to do so.  

A '99 year lease' is a term for a legal construct in the United States. It
is not the same as a long term rent.

The primary purpose of the American Revolution was to deliver the Land Titles
out of the hands of Great Britain and return them to the people. After the
Revolution, the land became the property of each state's people. Land title
was then held by way of Allodial Title. The land owner was superior on his
land; the sovereign.

Although the particulars of the transition (including the legal status of
it) are different for each state, the current situation is different. Each
State "owns" the land and holds a qualified title, called an equitable
title. It rents out the land; it issues legal title to the land. Most
land "owners" in the United States are merely renters, on a "99-year lease".
If the holder of a legal title does not pay rent (taxes), then the state
has the legal right to move in and rent it out to someone else. 

>>          The 2nd Plank:  A HEAVY PROGRESSIVE OR GRADUATED INCOME
>>TAX.
>>[translation: IRS]
>
>May serve other purposes as well.  A fair tax burden in government financing,
>thereby preventing pre-French Revolution conditions, for example.

A graduated income tax can never be considered fair; the benefits of
government are not likewise graduated. You are right, the purpose of the
IRS in this country is not really to collect revenue, contrary to public
opinion.

The real point of audits is to instill fear, not to extract revenue; the IRS
aims at winning through intimidation and (thereby) getting maximum voluntary
compliance.  - Paul Strassel, Former IRS Headquarters Agent `Wall St.
Journal' 1/28/80

Our government has found that the most effective way to control a person is
not by the the ballot or the bullet, but rather by the 'bucket'.  Today, in
a country that fought a revolution to rid itself of a repressive government
and excessive taxes, government takes 40 percent of everything we earn in
the form of taxes.  - Byron C. Radaker, Chairman and C.E.O., Congoleum Corp.

>>          The 3rd Plank:  THE ABOLITION OF ALL RIGHT OF INHERITANCE.
>>[translation: probate]
>
>Wrong again!  Probate is a system for implementing rights of inheritance and
>the rights of creditors against the estate, and for dealing with intestate
>cases.

If this were so, nobody would flock to living trusts. The entire living
trust creation would become unnecessary.

>>          The 4th Plank:  THE CONFISCATION OF THE PROPERTY OF ALL
>>EMIGRANTS AND REBELS.
>>[translation: the new property confiscation for drugs laws]
>
>A completely different purpose.  I do, however, have civil liberties complaints
>about civil forfeiture.

Really? Then what is the purpose, if not to create legalized theft? Are
you going to deny that the "War on Drugs" is not currently being used to
issue general search warrants on political rebels?

>>          The 5th Plank:  CENTRALIZATION OF CREDIT IN THE HANDS OF
>>THE STATE, BY MEANS OF A NATIONAL BANK WITH STATE CAPITAL AND AN
>>EXCLUSIVE MONOPOLY.
>>[translation: The Federal Reserve]
>
>Sure, sure.  Monetarism as a theory of policy was favored by, among others,
>Margaret Thatcher.

My agency in promoting the passage of the National Bank Act was the greatest
financial mistake of my life.  It has built up a monopoly which affects
every interest in the country.  It should be repealed, but before that can
be accomplished, the people will be arrayed on one side and the banks on the
other, in a contest such as we have never before seen in this country.  -
Salmon P. Chase (1862)

By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly
and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.  There is
no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than
to debauch the currency.  The process engages all the hidden forces of
economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not
one man in a million is able to diagnose.  - John Maynard Keynes,
`The Economic Consequences of The Peace'

>
>>COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPORTATION IN THE HANDS OF THE STATE.
>>[translation: FCC & DOT and state DMV's]
>
>That's regulation, not centralization.  Bundespost (monopoly on all German
>communications) is centralization.

Really, what's the difference? Just because they delegate communications
and transportation doesn't change the reins of power. The FCC dictates
exactly how communications can be used. They grant new licenses literally
on whim and favoritism. The same is true for the trucking industry; if
you don't believe this, ask a long haul trucker in the United States.

>>          The 7th Plank:  THE EXTENSION OF FACTORIES AND THE
>>INSTRUMENTS OF PRODUCTION OWNED BY THE STATE AND THE BRINGING INTO
>>CULTIVATION OF LAND AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL GENERALLY IN
>>ACCORDANCE WITH A COMMON PLAN.
>>[translation: too many licensing agencies to even think about]
>
>American regulation has no central theory.  And if there's any planning in the
>American economy, it's done by the corporate sector.

Look at the USDA as an example. This agency tells you when to plant, where
to plant, what to plant, and how much. Every farmer has to file a petition
to allow them to farm every single year. That's not regulation.

>>          The 8th Plank:  EQUAL LIABILITY FOR ALL TO LABOR AND THE
>>ESTABLISHMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ARMIES, ESPECIALLY FOR AGRICULTURE.
>>[translation: Social Security Agency]
>
>CCC and WPA would be a closer analogy.  Social security was Bismarck's
>invention.  Not exactly a left-wing ideologue, in my opinion.

Try to get a job without having a social security number.

>>          The 10th Plank:  FREE EDUCATION FOR ALL CHILDREN IN PUBLIC
>>SCHOOLS.
>>[even 'private' schools must follow government regulations]
>
>And what's wrong with a guaranteed education for all?  The primary purpose of
>regulation of private schools is to insure minimum standards.

There is nothing wrong with guaranteed education. The primary purpose of
regulation in private schools USED to be minimum standards. Now, the
standards are used to control what private schools can and can't teach.
Also, keep in mind that there is a difference between indoctrination and
education. While I was in High School, they took great pains to
indoctrinate me to revisionist history and political correctness.

>FLAME ON!                           
>My translation of Mr. Campbell's note:  You've been on the Upper Peninsula so
>long it's freezing your brain.  
>FLAME OFF!

Probably. I spend much less time learning history and unlearning propaganda
here. I picked up most of that visiting the likes of California,
Indiana, and Ohio.
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