Ron Paul: Campaign for Liberty
Former presidential candidate Ron Paul is a man to love, admire and respect. For decades, Paul has been the most vocal supporter of sound money management, small government and freedom in America. While the American people did not favor his platform for creating a new America, Paul is charging forward with a new revolution to ensure America’s future.
Paul sent this e-mail today and I thought I’d share it with others. If you care about America’s future, read on.
(via Ron Paul and Campaign for Liberty)
Friday, June 13, 2008
Over the past 17 months you and I delivered a message of freedom, the likes of which American politics has not seen in decades. With the primary season now over, the presidential campaign has come to an end. But the Revolution has only begun.
Today I am happy to announce the official launch of the Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty. Please visit our new website and join us: http://www.campaignforliberty.com
Over the next few months I will be developing a program, assembling a team, and announcing new and exciting projects. We will have a permanent presence on the American political landscape. That I promise you.
Right now, I need your patience and support. I want the Campaign for Liberty to be a grassroots campaign; so your energy, your creativity, your feedback, and your participation are essential.
Together, we will educate our fellow Americans in freedom, sound money, non-interventionism, and free markets. We will write commentaries and broadcast videos on the news of the day. And I’ll work with friends whom I respect to design materials for homeschoolers.
Politically, we will expand the great work of our precinct leader program. We will make our presence felt at every level of government. We will keep an eye on Congress, and lobby against legislation that threatens us. And we will identify and support candidates who champion our great ideas.
“In the final analysis,” I wrote in my new book The Revolution: A Manifesto, “the last line of defense in support of freedom and the Constitution consists of the people themselves. If the people want to be free, if they want to lift themselves out from underneath a state apparatus that threatens their liberties, squanders their resources on needless wars, destroys the value of their dollar, and spews forth endless propaganda about how indispensable it is and how lost we would all be without it, there is no force that can stop them.”
Our time has come to act on these words.
May future generations look back on our work and say that these were men and women who, in a moment of great crisis, stood up to their politicians, the opinion-makers, and the establishment, and saved their country.
For liberty,
Ron Paul
P.S. Please join me. Go to our website, www.campaignforliberty.com, and become a member of the Campaign for Liberty. Our goal is 100,000 members by September. Can we reach it?
The Big Myth: Race and Classification (Part 1)
“The Big Myth: Race and Classification” is a series of blog postings with one goal in mind: To help enlighten the uninformed and prove that race is only an idea and social construct designed to divide like human beings
Growing up as a little boy in Detroit, Michigan, I often questioned my family about racial classification in America. I couldn’t understand at the time why a family so diverse in skin tones and features could be broadly classified as “Blacks” or “African-Americans”. I had a strong disconnect with these labels and what I witnessed in my own surroundings. Something was seriously wrong. I couldn’t accept this seemingly baseless idea without doing some digging of my own.
As I grew older, my criticism of race as an idea grew more intense. I sought out literature and research on racial classification. The things I learned would only confirm what I long suspected: There really wasn’t a thing such as race. It was an idea — Founded by man — to carry on our obsession with segregated thinking with regard to human beings.
By now, many of you aware of my views regarding racial classification. There are also readers of my blog who believe I am doing a disservice to “related peoples” of the past. I disagree. Like millions of other people, we were born into a socially oppressed era where ideas to control and divide people ruled. We were raised and taught to accept this idea in our schools, churches and colleges. For me, I couldn’t accept this nonsense. I couldn’t agree to the terms of an idea that was forced upon my identity. I couldn’t accept my identity — Or that of my family’s — Being swept under a big rug to cover up who we really were as individuals and human beings.
I’d like to encourage you to read about the origins of racial classification. This is the only way to inspire people to change the way they see and view race in America and around the world. The more we collectively understand, the better we can relate to each other. Of course, I know there are those who simply won’t bother with this stuff, simply because they’re already convinced that race truly does exist. For those who care about the details — And especially the truth — Here’s a starting point:
Let’s start with the “Caucasian race” (via Wikipedia):
The Caucasian race, sometimes called the Caucasoid race,[1][2] is defined by the Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English as “relating to a broad division of humankind covering peoples from Europe, Western Asia, parts of the Indian Subcontinent and North Africa” or “white-skinned; of European origin” or “relating to the region of the Caucasus in SE Europe”.[3] The concept originated in attempts chiefly by 19th c. European thinkers to develop a method of racial classification. This typological method was discredited and the concept is not relied on in scientific work related to humans.[4][5] However, it survives along with the similar classification “white” on many sociological studies, most of which require respondents to choose their “race” from a list of terms. Some also allow “other” or “mixed”. The idea is to use the self-selected classification (sometimes selected by the surveyor by appearance) for correllational studies, sometimes in conjunction with other sciences, especially medicine and public health. People in Europe, especially in Russia and nearby, generally use the term “Caucasian” exclusively to identify people who are from the Caucasus region or who speak the Caucasian languages.
Origins of the term (”Caucasian”)
The term “Caucasian” originated as one of the racial categories developed in the 19th century by people studying craniology. It was derived from the region of the Caucasus mountains[6]. The 18th century German philosopher Christoph Meiners first named the concept of the Caucasian race[7], but the term was more widely popularized in the 19th c. under the name “Varietas Caucasia” by the German scientist and naturalist, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840) who “borrowed the name Caucasian” from Meiners.[8] Blumenbach based the classification of the Caucasian race primarily on skull features, which Blumenbach claimed were optimized by the Caucasian peoples,[9] particularly a single skull from the Caucasia which resembled German skulls.[10] It was from this similarity that he conjectured Europeans having arisen in the Caucasia.[10] Blumenbach wrote about the “primeval”[7] Caucasian race which he believed was “the oldest race of man”[7] and the “first variety of humankind”[7].
Are you convinced yet that you’ve been duped into accepting a non-existing classification? Ready for more enlightenment? Continue reading the Wikipedia article.
Is My Heart Empty (Or Am I Just Numbed?)
There are so many things I struggle with on a daily basis. My mind is filled with a million thoughts that I often feel helpless of ever fulfilling. There are so many things I want to do, but feel paralyzed to ever do anything (Who’s actually going to stand with me?) I seem to revisit so many things from the past to understand the present (and future). Somedays, I’m simply drained by everything around me and eventually end up taking a nap or disconnecting from the world to slip into my own world.
One of my biggest flaws in life has been my ability to love too freely and openly. As a child, I had the overbearing presence of my mother, but her love was undeniable (even when she whipped me like a mad woman). I’m not sure where or how I became such a loving person (It wasn’t my father, because I can only recall him abusing drugs and my mother, although there are memorable pictures of us together), but somehow, I was born to love.
During the earlier years of my life, I always attempted to inspire my family with jokes and love. Nothing was more important to me than seeing my family together and happy. I loved being around them and I enjoyed being surrounded by loving people. It just made me feel great all over.
I can recall “falling in love” with my first ever crush as a child. I was head over hills for this girl to the point I cried. I don’t recall telling her of my feelings, because after all, we were just kids. Throughout elementary and middle school, there would be more girls I’d admire (although I never “fell in love” with them), but I rarely ever communicated my feelings, simply because I never felt these girls were interested in someone like myself (after elementary, I was a loner, didn’t have a circle of “buddies,” and was mostly quiet and reserved.)
When I turned 17, I fell hard for an attractive girl I met online who lived in Pennsylvania — But only after being told so many things that alluded to her interest in something more than friendship. I even whipped myself into shape: I lost 75 pounds within four months, simply because I didn’t want to be a fat kid meeting a slender, tall woman. We met in person a few times, but then it soon became evidently clear that I was being misled. While I valued her friendship, I was certainly hoping for more based on the indicators I was reading. Suddenly, hope became depression, and I slipped into an abyss of tears for days on end — It’s probably the most I’ve ever cried in my life (I think this had a larger impact than the final separation from my ex.)
At 19, I had my first ever girlfriend (I’m of course leaving out dozens of women I’ve casually met, but we’ll focus on the important ones). Due to my observations of my peers over the years, I believed I was terribly late to the game of dating. I actually felt quite embarrassed about it, but it was an opportunity that simply happened: I became friends with a former instructor’s niece and the rest is history. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of the dynamics of our relationship: She went to school in Ohio, while I lived in Michigan. Plus, I wasn’t comfortable about nature of her school: It was known for frequent parties and I didn’t have good vibes about her environment, friends or commitment to our relationship.
I ended the relationship. (There were several good reasons for doing so, and I believe to do this day that I made the right decision to protect myself in the long run).
In between my first girlfriend and my next one, I continued meeting and interacting with different women. I later realized that most of the women I met and interacted with, wanted more than the simple friendship I desired. There was a good span in my life where I had no interest in dating anyone — I simply wanted to make some good friends and figured that, eventually, I’d meet the woman that was intended for me in a relationship.
When I turned 24, I met a seemingly mature young lady from Canada. We would go on to have interesting conversations about life and everything else, and a few weeks later, she was at my doorstep to visit me. Right off the bat, she knew she wanted a relationship — I did not. I was content living and being alone, doing what I wanted (when I wanted), and being free of any stress. Internally, I strongly opposed her proposal for a relationship, but then I later decided, “What could it hurt?” We later got engaged (which, again, I sharply opposed internally), then married (yep, I opposed that too).
I am leaving out a TON of details here. However, I’ll sum it up perfectly: It was a disaster. I lost practically everything I’d created for myself as far as a comfortable life is concerned. For several years, I’d rehash over the new home I walked away from (I was 95% into closing the deal), having my own place to live, a car, an abundance of resources, etc. I couldn’t stop whining about how badly I fucked up my life, all because I didn’t have the strength to overcome the challenges I was being faced with.
The one thing I never dealt well with was love and disappointment, and this final disappointment was too much to bear. It cut me deep and wide, and I’d spend the next few years being tortured by this woman and her presence, getting together and breaking up again, and so on. It was the beginning of an amazing transition in my life — One that I’m not sure was for the best, but certainly for the well being of maintaining my happiness and sanity in life (I guess this started my transitioning of internalizing my pain, growing distraught over the traditional and assumed roles of men and women, and detesting the idea of dating altogether. You could even say that I grew to literally hate women of my generation at times, as they practically angered me with their princess-like personalities and attitudes.)
Looking back on all of these experiences, from losing at love to the death of my father, or being wronged by a family member as a child, I often wonder what has happened to me as a person, and most importantly, my heart. People tell me that my heart is closed, that I’m cold and that I don’t give people chances, and I can’t say that I disagree. However, despite everything, there’s still a burning desire deep within to experience love (or “pair bonding”, whatever it really is) for once in my life. I have no idea what it’s like to be loved by a woman who understands, appreciates and is committed to me.
Regardless of the outcome, I’ll live my life, no matter what.
Mass Media’s Influence on Dating (and Why I Refuse to Participate)
While I haven’t dated over a hundred women in my twenty-eight years of living, I am keenly aware of the tragedy that dating has become. Let me be the first to tell you that humanity has constructed a monster of a social concept that is spiraling out of control (with no end of a solution in sight.) This monster wasn’t created by evolution, oh no, and anyone who says otherwise has been living under a rock.
The Monster Is Real
This monster was created by a myriad of influential people whose only mission in life is to control people. You see, as long as people are distracted from everything which matters, they can continue on their journey of global domination. The vehicle which has destroyed courtship, nuclear families and commitment lies squarely within the confinement of a “box” called “television”. Like cancer, it ravages and infiltrates the mind with poison, eventually overtaking most of the people who embrace it.
Television Has a Purpose
Is television bad? Yes — Because most people are gullible enough to allow it to control their lives. Why are shows such as Desperate Housewives and networks such as MTV and BET so widely popular? Think about it. These are tools designed to make humanity self-destruct, just so a few people can continue their mission. Simple enough, right?
“Dating” Is Something Else
The thought of dating in 2008 makes me nauseous. Most men today are merely accessories, while most women now casually date for the fulfillment of feeling desired and sexy. Dating today must be called something else, because it’s not the same as say sixty years ago. There’s only a small percentage of the sexes today who are not impacted by this infestation of mass media — They are an exception to a grossly understated rule. They are the warriors who have resisted the temptation to join a mindless ritual of undermining the purpose of humanity, its morals and natural ability to nurture.
My observations (and reality) are based on years of analyzing pop culture, couples, interaction and more. No, I am not a scientist, just a free thinker with an uncommon view of life and people. I am often told that I must have more faith in people, yet how can I, when the world insists upon repeating the same tale?
The Dating Construct
Here’s how dating today is designed:
Mass media (TV, magazines, radio and CDs) –> Distortion (’Detached’ sex, independence of monogamy, lack of family unit, etc.) –> Mind Control –> Mass Impact
There’s no denying the effect mass media has played on my generation and the one before. There is a reason for young men and womens’ rebellion of relationships, etc. Everything points to a very discouraging trend of the abolishment of family and moral standards. Or, is it merely the coming of who we really are as mammals? (Perhaps we were never intended to be monogamous, loving people — Just beings to breed and continue our existence.)
Numbed to Dating
Psychologically, I’ve become nearly numbed by my observations and experiences over the years. As a kid, pre-teen and teenager, I always had vivid images of being a father, partner and loving mate — Not any longer. The thought of a family hardly ever comes to mind and a relationship even more so. Subconsciously, I have become immune to the ideals I once had as a young man, for they are simply unrealistic given reality and my newfound knowledge.
Just Say ‘No’ to Fairy Tales
I do not believe in fairy tales, ladies and gentleman, and my life was filled with many. Through my own discovery, I’ve grown to realize that there’s no pie in the sky that awaits anyway. Love is merely pair bonding and monogamous relationships are simply another social construct to hide our real nature as animals — Concepts designed to simply keep people controlled.
The suppression of alertness is what hurts human beings most. Unfortunately, many people today believe more in fairy tales than freeing themselves with the real reality most choose to ignore.
Marriage: It’s All Emotional
Nothing frustrates me more than to witness social conditioning impacting every corner of everyday life on this planet. From government to politics and race to religion, it’s pretty sad that few people ever bother to deconstruct the meaning of most things we believe to be valid and right.
Let’s take marriage for example. Does a sheet of paper and ceremony truly mean anything? No. It only has value and merit because we say it does (Same is true for the American dollar, laws, etc.). Will a marriage certificate make you love someone more? No. Will it make you more committed? No. Will it make life better? No.
Everyone’s getting married just to say their partner is now their spouse and to be recognized for a few lousy tax benefits? Marriage is emotionally and psychologically-based. Its foundation is rooted in centuries of concepts created by man to wield control, maintain order, etc.
Becoming “married” is no different than the emotional trigger which occurs when we decide to date someone we’re attracted to. The relationship is only valid now because two parties have agreed to such and have made it so. Marriage is just a glorified relationship with public interests attached (taxation, marriage license, etc.)
It’s sickening how rooted make believe things are in our society. How do we not stop and think about these things? Do we accept everything at face value, simply because of what we’ve been told all our lives?