Nationalize GM? That Was Called Out in 1967

In 1967, Marxist intellectuals and other radicals gathered together in London for The Congress of the Dialectics of Liberation. Among those who gave speeches where the likes of Herbert Marcuse, Stokely Carmichael, R.D. Laing, and others.

One of the speakers, John Gerassi, talked about Imperialism and Revolution in America. In speaking about a leftist revolution in America, he said:

And where is the revolutionary programme of the US? Where is that programme that says that we must nationalize General Motors, and explains what we will do with General Motors

(The Dialectics of Liberation, Penguin Books, 1968, p.92-93)

Here you are. That was 1967, this is 2009.  May I introduce Government Motors.

Daniel Webster on the War of 1812

“Who will show me any Constitutional injunction which makes it the duty of the American people to surrender everything valuable in life, and even life itself, not when the safety of their country and its liberties may demand the sacrifice, but whenever the purposes of an ambitious and mischievous government may require it?”


Silly Statist Bills: Don't Sell Water Bottles

I know this is old news, but notice  Bill 112 2008 proposed by Kuldip Kular (Ontario Liberal Party MPP in Canada).

Kular wanted to take prohibition to a whole new level. Kular’s bill suggested that the government should “prohibit the sale of single-use plastic bottles of water in Ontario”.  Yes, that’s right, he wants to prohibit single-use plastic bottles of water. What a genius.

The proposed fine for the horrible menace to society of selling water bottles? $500-1,500. A second offense? $10,000-25,000.

Kular’s bill is merely another silly bill, but it reflects a pathetic and freightening attitude in government that wishes to control its subjects most minute decisions. Thankfully it was struck down. But not until it got 3 readings.  I hope there was a lot of laughter, because that is about all this bill is good for. Shame on you Mr. Kular.

Why Communism Needs the State

What role does the state play in the Communist vision of revolution?

“But to destroy [the State] at such a moment would be to destroy the only organism by means of which the victorious proletariat can assert its newly-conquered power, holding down its capitalist adversaries and carry out that economic revolution of society”

(Letter from Engels to Philipp Van Patten, April 18, 1883)

In short, they saw state as a coercive, violent tool to protect and perpetuate an act of theft and prevent property owners from reasserting their control of property. This is why Marxism can’t abide no government or even a small government. It needs a big government to keep those nasty individualists and capitalists in check and prevent them from holding on to their stuff.  Some of us, however, would not like to be  “held down” in the manner suggested by Engels.

The idea of using violence to supress property rights is not new, its even illustrated negatively in a parable of Jesus Christ, when he portrays wicked tenants who think they own the owners property and hence attempt, as workers, to take control of the owners property  (Luke 20:9-15).

The Great Awakening and American Political Culture

“The Great Awakening was the have important consequences for America. It transcended narrow colonialism by raising up national figures, and led to the revival of numerous churches in various denominations. Many schools, some of which would  become the most advanced institutions of learning in the world, such as Princeton, Brown University, Rutgers University and Dartmouth grew directly out of the Great Awakening. Furthermore, the fact that “state churches” opposed the Great Awakening preachers…sharpened the debate on the seperation of church and state, and important principle the Founding Fathers would embrace at Independence. The Great Awakening, in fact, established the basic beliefs which would see America through the War of Independence and the formulation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It drew the nation together in the conviction that all men are equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, the most famous being the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

from The Fall of Christendom and the Rise of the Church by Peter Pikkert, p200-2001, p248-249

Reformational Progress

“Although the Reformation manifested itself in various ways in different areas of Europe, it shared a number of common denominators. The feudal nobility and the Roman Catholic church hierarchy suffered a loss of power and prestige, which benefited the bourgeois middle class and the monarchs of Europe’s emerging nation states. Regions such as The Netherlands, which were formerly under Spanish or German domination, gained independence, and even in areas where Catholicism prevailed, religious independence gelled through the wide dissemination of Christian literature and Bible translations in the vernacular instead of Latin. Education was stimulated through the establishment of numerous schools and became accessible to the new new middle classes. This, in turn, cultivated a spirit of individualism and critical thinking.

This spirit of individualism which Protestantism fostered was to have long-ranging effects on Western culture. It was a catalyst in the development of democratic forms of governments which further undermined the medieval political and ecclesiastical hierarchies. This opened the door to the elimination of religious restrictions on trade and banking, removing a large obstacle to the development of modern capitalism.”

from The Fall of Christendom and the Rise of the Church by Peter Pikkert, p200-2001