Life, Liberty and the
Pursuit of Happiness
"Man (and woman) always wants most what they cannot have."
By J.M. Hamilton 3-30-13
Jefferson's words to this very day give us hope. In his manifesto against King George, he defiantly wrote:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
We often forget that the price for writing these treasonous words was quite possibly finding oneself on the wrong end of a hemp made rope. The Declaration of Independence being merely a political document, Mr. Jefferson's words had to be codified into constitutional law, via the fifth and fourteenth amendments. It was decided on the heals of Mr. Lincoln's emancipation proclamation that in order to protect the slaves from the predations of others, Mr. Jefferson's point had to be driven home, again, with the fourteenth amendment:
"Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
From this, we quickly learn that happiness and property ownership are quite possibly one in the same. And given our collective attraction to the material, does anyone doubt it?
To a libertarian, and more than a few liberals, those few words must bring solace and joy... for what could be simpler, government is there to protect, and presumably facilitate, life, liberty and happiness/property. What more need be said. In my mind, our nation's Jeffersonian law would be simple: man is free to do whatever he wants, as long as it does not threaten the lives, or life, or property, of his fellow man, period. It is due to man's hubris, a professional legal class, and the desire of one class of citizens to control, subjugate, or gain advantage over, another class of citizens, that we have volumes upon volumes of legal books outlining state law, rules, regulations, constitutional law, and judicial rulings. In effect, turning the Jeffersonian ideal on its head.
However, lately many a western government has been complicit with the major banking institutions of the world in depriving persons of both property, and we might safely add: life, liberty and happiness. Just as J.M.H. predicted in my write up, Thinking the Unthinkable, Western Government's have begun to back off bailing out banks on the backs of the poor, via austerity, and - having exhausted monetary and fiscal policy - are starting to apply haircuts to the bank bondholders, the rich, and the elite. First it was Iceland, then Greece, and now Cyprus. Who's next, Italy or perhaps Spain? The longer this four year financial crisis drags out, the longer the pain and suffering will continue. Now everyone, rich man and poor man, will likely begin to feel the pain, equally, as capital controls come into play, and wealth confiscation gathers steam.
Seems as though the rich man can't catch a break, and neither can the poor or the middle class. Now, there is no succor, or safe haven... one might as well park one's money in a mattress or multiple mason jars within the second chalet's backyard. Besides, what interest are you earning at the bank?
Even Mr. Buffett appears to be having his doubts.... as reported in Barron's this week, the King of Capitalism decided not to double down on Goldman Sachs. As evidence, he did not execute upon all his Goldman warrants, earned for helping to bailout Goldman at the height of the financial crisis (circa 2008). Of course, as Barron's goes on to note, Berkshire is quite heavy in the banking sector, already - with substantive ownership in American Express, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and Bank of America. Surely, Mr. Buffett knows that many of these institutions are tied, directly or indirectly, to Europe via bonds, derivatives and CDS. And surely, Mr. Buffett knows that Chairmen Bernanke can't possibly print enough money to bail them out, all over again.
Or can he?
Either way, Mr. Buffett appears to have hedged his bets on Government Sachs, at least for the moment, or maybe - just maybe, Mr. Buffett doesn't want to be deprived of liberty and equity in the event of yet another crash. This blog has pointed out that politicians are often owned by the banks, but that sword also cuts both ways; the mega-banks are often wards of the state, and dependent upon the state for backstop and support. Truly a symbiotic relationship. This means that when ordered by the state (as we saw in Cyprus), the cartel will have no problem dipping into your accounts to garnish your money on the state's behalf. And what a perfect vehicle for doing so, after all the banks have been helping themselves to your funds for years, in the form of outrages fees and charges, and interest rate suppression. Who knows, the cartel may actually charge an administrative fee for taking your funds out of checking or savings, and for turning same over to the government. Just one more privation we have to look forward to.
As I wrote earlier in this piece, man seems to have an insatiable desire to imposes one's will upon another, via the laws of the land. Rather than keeping it simple, as Mr. Jefferson wrote, the citizens of this nation have been in effect under the laws of the puritanical Taliban, since its founding. All the way to the present day, in the form of religious right and their representative body, the Republican Party, religion - particularly Christian religion - has been used to justify all manner of intolerance and codify this intolerance in countless laws; many of these laws, beliefs and values cast a direct assault on the liberty, freedom and happiness of others. Victimless crimes, like drug possession, have allowed America, the land of the free, to have the highest incarceration rate in the world.
Rather than respect the rights of persons, religious bigotry has been utilized to impress the majority's values upon the whole of the country, often upon long suffering minorities, such as gay persons. But there's new hope that Jefferson's ideal may actually be coming to the fore. The old order appears to be demographically fading away, thank God; and a more tolerant and relaxed younger generation appears to taking over.
This is best exemplified by the pending SCOTUS decision, and the hearing this week to allow gay marriage, and by a conservative court, no less. If SCOTUS decides in the gay community's favor, their victory is a victory for us all; it is a victory for civil rights; and the gay community's win is a victory for tolerance and hope. But above all, this is a win for freedom. No longer will persons be persecuted under the law, for loving another adult. No longer will persons be deprived, under the law, of life, liberty and happiness in the institution of marriage, and the numerous state and private sector benefits that come with that institution.
BUT... there is a dark side, if the gay community wins. I have often written about unintended consequences, and to be careful for what one wishes for. I don't know who first said, "man wants most what he cannot have," but I would take this line a step further and say, "man wants most what he cannot have - until he catches it by the tail, and the beast turns and badly mauls him."
The Supreme Court, which consists exclusively of attorneys, may have another motive if they ultimately approve gay marriage. There's a whole pack of wolves waiting on the sidelines salivating, watching, pacing... perhaps even praying for the high courts decision, not in your favor, but their favor. These wolves, consisting of attorneys, judges, therapist, psychologist, parenting coordinators, guardian ad litems, etc, etc, etc.... make up the probate industrial complex. And abandon all hope ye who enter here. For these bastards will rob you blind, take away your children, and your futurity, and rend your very soul.
Not that I'm speaking from experience, or maybe I am, but you might have possibly read it here first, a whole new body of case law will be developed, centered around gay parenting and gay probate matters, if the supreme court's decision comes through. Millions and billions in attorney and doctor fees will be made in this endeavor by the probate industrial complex, and it will be the gay community's loss. And the lives of gay parents, and the children of gay parents, will be sacrificed on the altar of this endeavor.
Perhaps I am stereotyping, but I have often found many of my gay neighbors to be a little brighter or certainly more worldly, and sometimes wise... an obvious generalization. My guess is many will avoid the institution, like the plague. Before you get married, gay or straight, please do the cost benefit analysis, sign a prenup, and think twice before you have children within the marriage. Better to adopt, or have children directly or through a surrogate, as a single adult, or even before you get married --- than to pro-create, or adopt, within the institution of marriage, or prior to the marriage with your future spouse. Men, in particular, take note!
Some might think me mad for writing such things but I have a divorce rate and actuarial tables to back me up, and I have seen an ocean of sorrow and tears emanating from these courts; and I can assure you my thinking in these matters is already quite prevalent, among many of the nation's youth. Marriage is fleeting, divorce is for life. Sadly, marriage is a decaying institution in rapid decline, and the attorneys - indeed a whole probate industry - are looking for fresh meat and SCOTUS just might provide. The probate industrial complex is killing the institution of marriage, for both straights, and soon enough, the gay community. And they have wreaked havoc on the lives of children, for generations, by playing God.
There is perhaps no political group, or judicial body, more anathema to the Jeffersonian ideal than the probate court and the practitioners operating within that court. Corruption abounds.
You see, there is no such thing as life, liberty or happiness for those who enter the probate court system. And win, lose or draw, you can kiss your property goodby, because a great deal of it will end up in the attorney's or judge's pockets. Of that, I can assure you.
The tail the gay community is presently holding onto is not the tail of the institution of marriage, but the devil's tail issuing forth from a probate judge's black robes.
"Man (and woman) always wants most what they cannot have."
By J.M. Hamilton 3-30-13
Jefferson's words to this very day give us hope. In his manifesto against King George, he defiantly wrote:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
We often forget that the price for writing these treasonous words was quite possibly finding oneself on the wrong end of a hemp made rope. The Declaration of Independence being merely a political document, Mr. Jefferson's words had to be codified into constitutional law, via the fifth and fourteenth amendments. It was decided on the heals of Mr. Lincoln's emancipation proclamation that in order to protect the slaves from the predations of others, Mr. Jefferson's point had to be driven home, again, with the fourteenth amendment:
"Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
From this, we quickly learn that happiness and property ownership are quite possibly one in the same. And given our collective attraction to the material, does anyone doubt it?
To a libertarian, and more than a few liberals, those few words must bring solace and joy... for what could be simpler, government is there to protect, and presumably facilitate, life, liberty and happiness/property. What more need be said. In my mind, our nation's Jeffersonian law would be simple: man is free to do whatever he wants, as long as it does not threaten the lives, or life, or property, of his fellow man, period. It is due to man's hubris, a professional legal class, and the desire of one class of citizens to control, subjugate, or gain advantage over, another class of citizens, that we have volumes upon volumes of legal books outlining state law, rules, regulations, constitutional law, and judicial rulings. In effect, turning the Jeffersonian ideal on its head.
However, lately many a western government has been complicit with the major banking institutions of the world in depriving persons of both property, and we might safely add: life, liberty and happiness. Just as J.M.H. predicted in my write up, Thinking the Unthinkable, Western Government's have begun to back off bailing out banks on the backs of the poor, via austerity, and - having exhausted monetary and fiscal policy - are starting to apply haircuts to the bank bondholders, the rich, and the elite. First it was Iceland, then Greece, and now Cyprus. Who's next, Italy or perhaps Spain? The longer this four year financial crisis drags out, the longer the pain and suffering will continue. Now everyone, rich man and poor man, will likely begin to feel the pain, equally, as capital controls come into play, and wealth confiscation gathers steam.
Seems as though the rich man can't catch a break, and neither can the poor or the middle class. Now, there is no succor, or safe haven... one might as well park one's money in a mattress or multiple mason jars within the second chalet's backyard. Besides, what interest are you earning at the bank?
Even Mr. Buffett appears to be having his doubts.... as reported in Barron's this week, the King of Capitalism decided not to double down on Goldman Sachs. As evidence, he did not execute upon all his Goldman warrants, earned for helping to bailout Goldman at the height of the financial crisis (circa 2008). Of course, as Barron's goes on to note, Berkshire is quite heavy in the banking sector, already - with substantive ownership in American Express, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and Bank of America. Surely, Mr. Buffett knows that many of these institutions are tied, directly or indirectly, to Europe via bonds, derivatives and CDS. And surely, Mr. Buffett knows that Chairmen Bernanke can't possibly print enough money to bail them out, all over again.
Or can he?
Either way, Mr. Buffett appears to have hedged his bets on Government Sachs, at least for the moment, or maybe - just maybe, Mr. Buffett doesn't want to be deprived of liberty and equity in the event of yet another crash. This blog has pointed out that politicians are often owned by the banks, but that sword also cuts both ways; the mega-banks are often wards of the state, and dependent upon the state for backstop and support. Truly a symbiotic relationship. This means that when ordered by the state (as we saw in Cyprus), the cartel will have no problem dipping into your accounts to garnish your money on the state's behalf. And what a perfect vehicle for doing so, after all the banks have been helping themselves to your funds for years, in the form of outrages fees and charges, and interest rate suppression. Who knows, the cartel may actually charge an administrative fee for taking your funds out of checking or savings, and for turning same over to the government. Just one more privation we have to look forward to.
As I wrote earlier in this piece, man seems to have an insatiable desire to imposes one's will upon another, via the laws of the land. Rather than keeping it simple, as Mr. Jefferson wrote, the citizens of this nation have been in effect under the laws of the puritanical Taliban, since its founding. All the way to the present day, in the form of religious right and their representative body, the Republican Party, religion - particularly Christian religion - has been used to justify all manner of intolerance and codify this intolerance in countless laws; many of these laws, beliefs and values cast a direct assault on the liberty, freedom and happiness of others. Victimless crimes, like drug possession, have allowed America, the land of the free, to have the highest incarceration rate in the world.
Rather than respect the rights of persons, religious bigotry has been utilized to impress the majority's values upon the whole of the country, often upon long suffering minorities, such as gay persons. But there's new hope that Jefferson's ideal may actually be coming to the fore. The old order appears to be demographically fading away, thank God; and a more tolerant and relaxed younger generation appears to taking over.
This is best exemplified by the pending SCOTUS decision, and the hearing this week to allow gay marriage, and by a conservative court, no less. If SCOTUS decides in the gay community's favor, their victory is a victory for us all; it is a victory for civil rights; and the gay community's win is a victory for tolerance and hope. But above all, this is a win for freedom. No longer will persons be persecuted under the law, for loving another adult. No longer will persons be deprived, under the law, of life, liberty and happiness in the institution of marriage, and the numerous state and private sector benefits that come with that institution.
BUT... there is a dark side, if the gay community wins. I have often written about unintended consequences, and to be careful for what one wishes for. I don't know who first said, "man wants most what he cannot have," but I would take this line a step further and say, "man wants most what he cannot have - until he catches it by the tail, and the beast turns and badly mauls him."
The Supreme Court, which consists exclusively of attorneys, may have another motive if they ultimately approve gay marriage. There's a whole pack of wolves waiting on the sidelines salivating, watching, pacing... perhaps even praying for the high courts decision, not in your favor, but their favor. These wolves, consisting of attorneys, judges, therapist, psychologist, parenting coordinators, guardian ad litems, etc, etc, etc.... make up the probate industrial complex. And abandon all hope ye who enter here. For these bastards will rob you blind, take away your children, and your futurity, and rend your very soul.
Not that I'm speaking from experience, or maybe I am, but you might have possibly read it here first, a whole new body of case law will be developed, centered around gay parenting and gay probate matters, if the supreme court's decision comes through. Millions and billions in attorney and doctor fees will be made in this endeavor by the probate industrial complex, and it will be the gay community's loss. And the lives of gay parents, and the children of gay parents, will be sacrificed on the altar of this endeavor.
Perhaps I am stereotyping, but I have often found many of my gay neighbors to be a little brighter or certainly more worldly, and sometimes wise... an obvious generalization. My guess is many will avoid the institution, like the plague. Before you get married, gay or straight, please do the cost benefit analysis, sign a prenup, and think twice before you have children within the marriage. Better to adopt, or have children directly or through a surrogate, as a single adult, or even before you get married --- than to pro-create, or adopt, within the institution of marriage, or prior to the marriage with your future spouse. Men, in particular, take note!
Some might think me mad for writing such things but I have a divorce rate and actuarial tables to back me up, and I have seen an ocean of sorrow and tears emanating from these courts; and I can assure you my thinking in these matters is already quite prevalent, among many of the nation's youth. Marriage is fleeting, divorce is for life. Sadly, marriage is a decaying institution in rapid decline, and the attorneys - indeed a whole probate industry - are looking for fresh meat and SCOTUS just might provide. The probate industrial complex is killing the institution of marriage, for both straights, and soon enough, the gay community. And they have wreaked havoc on the lives of children, for generations, by playing God.
There is perhaps no political group, or judicial body, more anathema to the Jeffersonian ideal than the probate court and the practitioners operating within that court. Corruption abounds.
You see, there is no such thing as life, liberty or happiness for those who enter the probate court system. And win, lose or draw, you can kiss your property goodby, because a great deal of it will end up in the attorney's or judge's pockets. Of that, I can assure you.
The tail the gay community is presently holding onto is not the tail of the institution of marriage, but the devil's tail issuing forth from a probate judge's black robes.
P.S. A good
read for anyone interested in learning how our probate system works, click here.
Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment