HOW DEEPLY EMBEDDED COLLECTIVISM?

(Note: This picture of the Firestone / Loray Mill is poor quality, but is from our local newspaper, The Gaston Gazette.  The small building in the front is the former office space of the mill and though you can't see it terribly well, the roof of that building is falling in badly.  The large building also has a tower in front of it, not shown here, that has a Firestone insignia on it. The large building is approx. 600,000 sq. ft.  Hope you like it because you are now paying to renovate this thing for "mixed use" development on the government dime.)

I've been sidetracked for the last couple of weeks.  I got involved in a local dialogue over "Economic Development" with some Commissioners and friends.  God, love them.  What deeds people do in the name of "good" never ceases to amaze me.  It is really hard to argue with people who are completely convinced that doing the wrong thing is justified because it will make some people happy.  

There is a part of our town that is under the shadow of an old textile mill.  It was once a hive of manufacturing activity and mill houses where workers lived.  Since textile manufacturing was decimated here by "free trade" policies, that section of town has fallen on hard times.  (Contextually, we have all fallen on fairly hard times, but those in this area had less cushion to fall on.)  A huge mill stands empty and neglected.  It was owned by Firestone who would have torn it down, but for the vociferous objections of the "Historic Preservation - North Carolina" crowd.  Firestone ended up donating the Mill building to "Historic Preservation - North Carolina for a tax credit just to avoid the smears.  Plus, the building is in such dilapidated shape that no buyers could be found.  Just tearing it down would be quite expensive. The building is so huge that 3000 people used to work there.  That is big.  But its claim to fame is that in 1929 a Communist union uprising took place against the owners of the mill.  Riots and shootings occurred and before it was over, the Sheriff was murdered and a middle aged female operative for the unions was also shot and killed.   This uprising was famous across the country. 

Sympathies for this mill and its history are prevalent in this town on several levels, not for the ownership or the thriving private enterprise factor, but for the working class and for the union uprising.  The grown children of former workers are all bent out of shape to save the mill because their parents worked there.  The derogatory name of "Lint Head" has become a badge of honor.  The work they did, once looked down upon, is now heralded.  After all, when someone puts their work into something, it is a matter of pride.  Understandable.  Totally.  But the union uprising is Communist at its core.  Many people here do not understand that or don't care about that.  

Back to "Economic Development"......

We are now looking at a collectivist's dream.  Years of begging and pleading with various government agencies have resulted in a HUD / FHA guaranteed loan ($34-39 million) to a private developer , city commitments to lease 20,000 sq. ft., and our county doing the same for another 20,000 sq. ft.  The State of NC already granted Historic status to the building which relieves the property taxes by half.  So, we are looking at 4 levels of government subsidies to renovate this one building.  The surrounding area is known for crime, prostitution, drugs, and lower economic class homes.  It's sad.  Without government intervention, we are told, this area will remain blighted.  (Critics of the project are betting it will be Section 8 subsidized housing before this is all over.)  So our good intentioned government officials have all buckled under pressure and the entire city, county, state, and feds will take up the sword to save this area of town.  Hmmmm.....last I looked, that means you and me and everyone.  Our taxes are committed to saving the Firestone / Loray Mill, whether we wanted to or not.

If this were just one instance, it might be viewed as an anomaly, but it isn't.  Every town in America now has an "Economic Development" office that is a quasi-government agency combined with private sector interests.  Our city and county have committed our taxes to many of these "Economic Development" schemes.  We have bought land and given it away.  We have spent money on site preparation.  We have forgiven taxes.  We have given utility credits.  We have guaranteed loans.  In short, we in the private sector are forced to prop up certain chosen business ventures collectively.  Just like Solyndra at the Federal level, this situation is occurring every day all over the country.  We are on the hook.  All of us.  While we get poorer, the chosen few run away laughing all the way to the bank.  Our bank.  Taking our money.  And politicians just keep doing this, over and over again at all levels of government.  I can label this as Fascism or Communism.  Either way, it isn't the American way of life as I know it is supposed to be.  It is tragic, frankly.

So how collectivist are we today?  Deeply embedded.  Somehow government has given itself permission to steal from all to favor the few.  Who are these people?   They have convinced themselves collectivism is O.K., as long as it is for "Economic Development?"  

The officials who spoke to me about this latest instance told me the goal is to "increase the tax base."  They say this will prevent tax increases on the public.  Really.  Really?  But after years of this insane methodology, have taxes reduced?  Not at all.  Or have debts increased? By quite a lot.   And is "increasing the tax base" the proper function of government?  Not in my Constitutional handbook.  Yep, they are increasing the tax base alright.  Getting more from you and me and everyone else ...sucking the golden goose dry. 

THE THIRD WAY - COMMUNISM IN CORPORATE CLOTHING

(This is a continuation of the Code Tsunami theme from a previous post...and a reflection on Angelo Codevilla's Ruling Class thesis.)  
The problem is:  You can see it coming, but you can't stop it from happening.  A friend of mine recently told me it is time to hunker down and just figure out how to survive.  I'm beginning to view political abuse of power as a hurricane heading straight at us.  You watch in awe and fear, but you can't prevent it from its destructive purpose.  I know that sounds terribly hopeless, but while I am engaged in Tea Party attempts to stop the hurricane, and I am supporting candidates who express restoration of the Constitution, at this point, I don't see the hurricane breaking up and dissipating.  The hurricane has gained strength and has kicked up enough flying shrapnel in the form of regulations to take out all of the surrounding countryside, bigger than anything a few serious minded Constitutionalists can fight.

Dick Morris recently came out with a book titled, "Screwed."  In it he describes the dangers of Obama and the Senate passing treaties with the UN before the election in November.  One of these treaties is called, "LOST."  It has been tried before and put down.  Now John Kerry is resurrecting it for Senate approval.  You can find out why this is a bad idea here  and here.  Suffice it to say, this is just one example of what the globalists have planned to further destroy our sovereignty.  

While we are fighting off insane micro-managing regulations at the State or local levels, the nation is under attack at the global level.  Who is doing this?  Is it Republicans?  Democrats?   We're way beyond that now.  The answer is both, actually.  As libertarians in the U.S. grapple with the third party dilemma, which isn't successful enough to solve the problem, we are seeing the entire political system merge into something called, "The Third Way."  

"...in a 'Third Way' society, private property must be allowed. Rather than government owning all property and the means of production, as in pure socialism, an alternative is used. In a 'Third Way' society, property and business is heavily controlled by government regulation, rather than government ownership.

"However, in a 'Third Way' society, the laws to keep us citizens in line come from the communist model of government -- which means complete government control of everything from womb to tomb. We are to have a semblance of freedom. But the working class people must never have enough freedom (or accumulative power) to interfere effectively in either commerce or government. The moneyed elite, however, work under the capitalist system, and capitalist rules, so as to continue generating wealth. The elite get the freedom, the workers get strictly controlled."

The American public knows nothing about "The Third Way."  It isn't part of our common political vernacular, even though Bill Clinton and Tony Blair spoke about it at some length.  (They still do.) 

Reports Don Fiedor:

"Blair said that the world's center-left parties had to put themselves at the forefront of managing social change in the global economy.

"The old left [communists] resisted that change. The new right [conservative capitalists] did not want to manage it. We have to manage that change to produce social solidarity and prosperity."

So there you have it: managing social change in the global economy to produce social solidarity and prosperity. Blair's explanation is a short definition of a political plan that has been in the works for quite some time. It started with the Rhodes Scholars at Oxford University and is now taught in select American schools, such as the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The perpetrators support a blend of the best of communism and capitalism. The captains of big business and industry are to continue receiving every liberty, freedom and privilege they have come to expect. In return, they are expected to produce products, generate capital and support the governing elite.

Government's function will be to control the people, and insure a ready work force. That will be accomplished through a myriad of laws, rules and regulations controlling everything in the lives of the people."

Is it any wonder that Americans don't know where to look for Constitutional leadership?  Both the right and the left at the top of the political parties are well schooled in "The Third Way."  The policies of "The Third Way" provide them with bread and butter / campaign money.  Global corporations and global banks cannot afford to ignore politicians who regulate global policies.  (Here I want to add that Agenda 21 is a handbook for "The Third Way," as it creates global standards for every economic, cultural, and social aspect of life for every human on the planet by combining corporate and governmental policies. You can see a microcosmic version of this with the EU and the failure that has become.)  Further complicating this insanity is that neither base from the right or the left want anything to do with the policies of "The Third Way."  Communism in Corporate clothing is not satisfying to either side.  The Hegelian Dialectic = synthesis is "The Third Way" method taught in Oxford and Harvard and other ivy league halls of elitists, but the real world is not interested in compromising their souls for the sake of either Communists or Corporations.  Americans especially are not interested in this because the entire thing is treason against our Constitution. 

I think this is way beyond the grasp of concept of most the American public.  That is why I think the hurricane is coming no matter who is elected in November.  Americans, generally, see the errors, but don't realize how the game is rigged, nor do they know what they can do to stop it.  Me included. 

Yes, I'll vote for Romney, if he is the Republican nominee.  But Romney doesn't seem to be the anti-Third Way candidate, especially with the Wall St. and global corporate backing he is getting.  My Ron Paul friends will say that Paul is the anti-globalist candidate, and they may be right.  But Paul did not garner enough to get the nomination. Will Romney slow down the hurricane?  Doubtful.  Could anyone?