America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln
This is a quote from a President that is consistently ranked in the top 5 and at times is rated as 3, 2, or 1. Our current President uses Lincolns name frequently while addressing the public or patronizing to his base. They see Lincoln as the great emancipator. The man who single handed freed the slaves. In essence, the emancipation proclamation freed no one. It only confirmed the freedom of those living in the Union. I say it from that view point because although Lincoln proclaimed all slaves in the ten states of the Confederacy as well as those in the Union, it was logical to assume those states in rebellion would not take this unto law and follow it's mandate.
But let's not get into the semantics of this event. The purpose of my bringing this quote out and referring to his proclamation (which did in fact set up the passing of the 13th amendment) is to demonstrate how some in today's political arena attempt to manipulate societies lack of historical knowledge for their own benefit. President Obama likes to place himself in the same vein as Lincoln based on his Illinois roots and the assumption that Lincoln was a savior of the oppressed black.
Lincolns primary focus was the restoration of the Union at all costs. In a letter to Horace Greeley who urged Lincoln to free the slaves, he stated in the simplest of terms his full focus and intentions. "If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. . . . I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."
So, taking this all into account we much take things not out of context or in terms that serve to separate and manipulate. Lincoln's quote, as well as his letter, indicate the humility and honesty of the man. Lincoln believed not only in freedom for the oppressed but also in the liberty of those already free and experiencing the idea of America as envisioned by the founders. Lincoln thought more of the Constitution and its premise of a limited federal government as well as the Declaration of Independence and it's claim of human equality.
A large and faceless central government can have all the good intentions in the world yet lack the compassion on a personal level to carry them out. The Government with a capital G survives and grows on the back of the populace that functions independently of it. Those under it's employ must subsist by means of taxation, tariffs, and penalties or fines of those who create capital and wealth. Taxation in its own right is a hindrance to liberty because it diminishes the individuals ability to fully enjoy the fruits of his labor and also because it is taken without consent or preauthorization. It was taxation at its core that brought about the American revolution because it became taxation without representation and also it tended to serve not the colonies from which it was collected but instead the King and England. It had become a form of oppression and slavery in itself. The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first shot in the revolution figuratively and the beginning of our nations love/hate relationship with the institution that has become the monster it is today.
It takes a private sector or rather an economy of independent, nongovernmental businesses or investments that have capital gains of a significant nature to maintain a State or Federal Government. The Government in and of itself produces no tangible product to sustain itself. Police, Fire, Courts, the Military, and all other government agencies require the citizens and it's taxing authority to function efficiently. When Government becomes so large and cumbersome the populace will eventually find themselves being demanded of more and more of their income. As this cycle progresses, businesses and individuals that once supported the bureaucracy find they cannot support themselves under the weight of oppressive taxation. This is the facet that serves to collapse economies and bring a country to its knees in terms of being able to sustain those who have come to depend on the Government for their existence.
With this being said, you can understand how a Government run amok can be the primary enabler for dependence and a lack of personal responsibility from the subculture who feels entitled to the earned income of those who pay taxes that go to programs that subversively hold a person down and keep them in a state of perpetual dependence. The individual ceases to be and becomes a ward of the state.
Europe is in an economic and social tailspin because of its entitlement structure and pension programs as well as practices like free college educations. You can look to Greece and its inability to accept austerity measures regarding government funded benefits, pensions, and entitlements. In economics, austerity refers to a policy of deficit-cutting by lowering spending often via a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided. Austerity policies are often used by governments to try to reduce their deficit spending[2] and are sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to demonstrate long-term fiscal solvency to creditors. (definition gained from wikipedia)
Abraham Lincoln
This is a quote from a President that is consistently ranked in the top 5 and at times is rated as 3, 2, or 1. Our current President uses Lincolns name frequently while addressing the public or patronizing to his base. They see Lincoln as the great emancipator. The man who single handed freed the slaves. In essence, the emancipation proclamation freed no one. It only confirmed the freedom of those living in the Union. I say it from that view point because although Lincoln proclaimed all slaves in the ten states of the Confederacy as well as those in the Union, it was logical to assume those states in rebellion would not take this unto law and follow it's mandate.
But let's not get into the semantics of this event. The purpose of my bringing this quote out and referring to his proclamation (which did in fact set up the passing of the 13th amendment) is to demonstrate how some in today's political arena attempt to manipulate societies lack of historical knowledge for their own benefit. President Obama likes to place himself in the same vein as Lincoln based on his Illinois roots and the assumption that Lincoln was a savior of the oppressed black.
Lincolns primary focus was the restoration of the Union at all costs. In a letter to Horace Greeley who urged Lincoln to free the slaves, he stated in the simplest of terms his full focus and intentions. "If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. . . . I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."
So, taking this all into account we much take things not out of context or in terms that serve to separate and manipulate. Lincoln's quote, as well as his letter, indicate the humility and honesty of the man. Lincoln believed not only in freedom for the oppressed but also in the liberty of those already free and experiencing the idea of America as envisioned by the founders. Lincoln thought more of the Constitution and its premise of a limited federal government as well as the Declaration of Independence and it's claim of human equality.
A large and faceless central government can have all the good intentions in the world yet lack the compassion on a personal level to carry them out. The Government with a capital G survives and grows on the back of the populace that functions independently of it. Those under it's employ must subsist by means of taxation, tariffs, and penalties or fines of those who create capital and wealth. Taxation in its own right is a hindrance to liberty because it diminishes the individuals ability to fully enjoy the fruits of his labor and also because it is taken without consent or preauthorization. It was taxation at its core that brought about the American revolution because it became taxation without representation and also it tended to serve not the colonies from which it was collected but instead the King and England. It had become a form of oppression and slavery in itself. The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first shot in the revolution figuratively and the beginning of our nations love/hate relationship with the institution that has become the monster it is today.
It takes a private sector or rather an economy of independent, nongovernmental businesses or investments that have capital gains of a significant nature to maintain a State or Federal Government. The Government in and of itself produces no tangible product to sustain itself. Police, Fire, Courts, the Military, and all other government agencies require the citizens and it's taxing authority to function efficiently. When Government becomes so large and cumbersome the populace will eventually find themselves being demanded of more and more of their income. As this cycle progresses, businesses and individuals that once supported the bureaucracy find they cannot support themselves under the weight of oppressive taxation. This is the facet that serves to collapse economies and bring a country to its knees in terms of being able to sustain those who have come to depend on the Government for their existence.
With this being said, you can understand how a Government run amok can be the primary enabler for dependence and a lack of personal responsibility from the subculture who feels entitled to the earned income of those who pay taxes that go to programs that subversively hold a person down and keep them in a state of perpetual dependence. The individual ceases to be and becomes a ward of the state.
Europe is in an economic and social tailspin because of its entitlement structure and pension programs as well as practices like free college educations. You can look to Greece and its inability to accept austerity measures regarding government funded benefits, pensions, and entitlements. In economics, austerity refers to a policy of deficit-cutting by lowering spending often via a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided. Austerity policies are often used by governments to try to reduce their deficit spending[2] and are sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to demonstrate long-term fiscal solvency to creditors. (definition gained from wikipedia)
It is my opinion that this country was created to set the standard and establish a precedent for individual liberty as a means of governance and that the states would be separate in their existence from the others yet cooperative in the area's involving each states prosperity, survival, and intellectual progress. The states initially were recognized as 13 individual sovereigns much like Spain is Spain, France, France, and England, England. The big difference is they were ethnically separated from one another in that their nationality difined who they were and their duty was to their country, sometimes at the expense of their neighbor. In America
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