The War Enabler...
When country "A" decides to declare war on country "B", its ability to do so is directly correlated to its ability to pay for its war machine. Troops, tanks, guns, an air force, bombs, a navy, and on and on.
When a country's currency is tied to a real asset such as gold and there isn't enough gold in the treasury, it simply can't pay the expense of waging war and alternative solutions are found.
A country on a fiat currency system has no problem printing the money to pay for the war machine so war it will be.
For example, some say the US government has already spent $100 billion on the war in Iraq. Additional costs are estimated to be anywhere from another $50 to $200 billion.
Where does all this money come from?
The simplified answer is probably something like: The U.S. Treasury prints paper Treasury Bonds that they "sell" to the Federal Reserve which prints the paper dollars required to pay for the T-Bonds. Now the government has the dollars to pay for efforts in Iraq and the Federal Reserve uses the T-Bonds as an asset against which they can print many more dollars (principal of fractional reserve) to be lent to banks across the country.
See this link for a graphic flow chart of the process:
Perhaps the most dramatic example of what this can lead to is from the Weimer Republic after World War I. It's instructive to realize that in the beginning, the Weimer Republic's currency was the 20 Mark gold piece, a coin about the size of one of our quarters. After World War I, the Weimer Republic was decimated and they fell into the trap of embracing a fiat alternative to honest money, the new currency became the 20 Mark paper note and as could have been predicted, the inflation began.
This was no ordinary inflation though, as the original 20 Mark paper notes eventually inflated to 4,000,000,000,000 Marks. That's 4 trillion Marks to buy what the original 20 Mark gold piece would buy only several years earlier. I have seen pictures of women loading wheelbarrows of paper Marks into the fireplace to burn for heat and cooking because they were worth less than wood. The government was printing them so quickly and in such numbers that, to conserve the ink, they only printed one side of the paper note.
I am reminded of an exchange with a women who lived through those times in the Weimer Republic after World War I in which she was asked, "how could you possibly support someone like Adolph Hitler through his rise to power?" The lady's response to the question put to her was quite simple, "when you have to catch rats to eat for food, any alternative appears more attractive."
I'm not saying this will be the fate of America, but visit this link for a candid assessment of the state of matter today. This article sheds some light on the financial mess our politicians have created:
Scroll down to 12/13/2003 Interview on the left of the page for the Real Audio and MP3 links to listen.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Sunday, July 11, 2004
A Primer - Part IV
Dollars, Oil, and the Euro...
One of the keys to the success of the dollar is that all OPEC oil transactions must be denominated in U.S. Dollars. This creates an enormous demand for dollars as any country in the market to buy oil must sell their currency in exchange for dollars with which to buy the oil they need.
and...
And here's another discussion on the threat to the relationship between the Dollar and Oil.
One of the keys to the success of the dollar is that all OPEC oil transactions must be denominated in U.S. Dollars. This creates an enormous demand for dollars as any country in the market to buy oil must sell their currency in exchange for dollars with which to buy the oil they need.
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~pdscott/iraq.html
From the link..."But the need to dominate oil from Iraq is also deeply intertwined with the defense of the dollar. Its current strength is supported by OPEC's requirement (secured by a secret agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia) that all OPEC oil sales be denominated in dollars. This requirement is currently threatened by the desire of some OPEC countries to allow OPEC oil sales to be paid in euros."
and...
"The United States has at present little reason to fear a challenge to the dollar from Malaysia. But Malaysia is an Islamic country; and the US has every reason to fear a similar challenge from the Islamic nations in OPEC, were they to force OPEC to cease OPEC oil sales in dollars, and denominate them instead in euros."
And here's another discussion on the threat to the relationship between the Dollar and Oil.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
A Primer - Part III
Larry Summers and Gibson's Paradox...
For some background information on Gibson's Paradox, go to The Golden Sextent and scroll down to the Essays section. There you will see a link to Gibson's Paradox Revisited: Professor Summers Analyzes Gold Prices.
Then visit this article which brings it all together... From the link...
For some background information on Gibson's Paradox, go to The Golden Sextent and scroll down to the Essays section. There you will see a link to Gibson's Paradox Revisited: Professor Summers Analyzes Gold Prices.
Then visit this article which brings it all together... From the link...
One very influential person in the Clinton Administration was very much aware of Gibson's Paradox, which Keynes noted was one of the best documented relationships in all of economics. Gibson's Paradox stated that if "real" interest rates decline, the price of gold will rise vis-a-vis the currency. BUT THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION KNEW FULL WELL THAT A RISING GOLD PRICE WOULD HURT THEIR ABILTY TO LEVERAGE AMERICA'S FUTURE FOR THEIR OWN POLITICAL GAINS. Hence, the Clinton Administration began to intervene in the gold market to "cap" the price of gold, just as Lawrence Summers clearly noted they must do in a paper he co-authored while a professor at Harvard in the late 1980s.
Friday, July 9, 2004
A Primer - Part II
Roosevelt 1933...
Going back to pre-1933, we find the ubiquitous $20 gold piece (consisting of 1 ounce of gold) with a value of...$20 dollars of purchasing power.
The US was in trouble due to the Great Depression and the economists of the day were at a loss to solve the problem so it was decided the government had to "finance" the recovery by printing massive amounts of dollars. (Actually, one must wonder what type of solution this actually is since it's simply a hidden tax on everyone through inflation and increased taxes never help to pull an economy out of a recession / depression.) The problem was that gold was a reliable barometer for measuring inflation and if inflation was perceived to be on the rise (which it surely would) everyone would cash in their paper dollars for gold. So in the wisdom of the government, the decision was made to outlaw gold ownership by U.S. citizens.
Check out The Gold Confiscation Of April 5, 1933
It became clear to governments that they could not afford to allow people to own and keep their gold. Murray Rothbard explains
After the gold confiscation, the U.S. government immediately revalued gold at $35 per ounce. So that same $20 gold coin that was just relinquished by the good, law abiding citizens would now cost $35 dollars to repurchase...if it were legal to do so.
See this link for a detailed explanation:
Whatever Happened to Sound Money?
From the link...
This is clearly on of the most blatant and manipulative examples of the U.S. government reneging on a promise to it's citizens.
And, by the way, today that one ounce of gold in a $20 gold piece is worth about $400. It's interesting to note that, in the early 1900s, one could by a nice dress suit with that $20 gold piece and today they still can get a nice dress suite for the value of that $20 gold piece or $400. So gold hasn't gotten more expensive, rather the purchasing power of the dollar has declined...dramatically, thanks to the Federal Reserve.
Going back to pre-1933, we find the ubiquitous $20 gold piece (consisting of 1 ounce of gold) with a value of...$20 dollars of purchasing power.
The US was in trouble due to the Great Depression and the economists of the day were at a loss to solve the problem so it was decided the government had to "finance" the recovery by printing massive amounts of dollars. (Actually, one must wonder what type of solution this actually is since it's simply a hidden tax on everyone through inflation and increased taxes never help to pull an economy out of a recession / depression.) The problem was that gold was a reliable barometer for measuring inflation and if inflation was perceived to be on the rise (which it surely would) everyone would cash in their paper dollars for gold. So in the wisdom of the government, the decision was made to outlaw gold ownership by U.S. citizens.
Check out The Gold Confiscation Of April 5, 1933
It became clear to governments that they could not afford to allow people to own and keep their gold. Murray Rothbard explains
"Government could never cement its power over a nation's currency, if the people, when in need, could repudiate the fiat paper and turn to gold for money."
After the gold confiscation, the U.S. government immediately revalued gold at $35 per ounce. So that same $20 gold coin that was just relinquished by the good, law abiding citizens would now cost $35 dollars to repurchase...if it were legal to do so.
See this link for a detailed explanation:
Whatever Happened to Sound Money?
From the link...
"As James Bovard observes, "citizens had accepted a paper currency based on the government's pledge to redeem it in gold at $20 per ounce; then, when Roosevelt decided to default on that pledge, he also felt obliged to turn all citizens holding gold into criminals." [10] Roosevelt also condemned them as selfish traitors.
One day later Roosevelt reduced the gold content of the dollar by 41%, raising the price of gold from $20.67 per ounce to $35.00 an ounce. The devaluation resulted in a $2.8 billion "bonus" for the government." An especially tidy sum in those days.
One day later Roosevelt reduced the gold content of the dollar by 41%, raising the price of gold from $20.67 per ounce to $35.00 an ounce. The devaluation resulted in a $2.8 billion "bonus" for the government." An especially tidy sum in those days.
This is clearly on of the most blatant and manipulative examples of the U.S. government reneging on a promise to it's citizens.
And, by the way, today that one ounce of gold in a $20 gold piece is worth about $400. It's interesting to note that, in the early 1900s, one could by a nice dress suit with that $20 gold piece and today they still can get a nice dress suite for the value of that $20 gold piece or $400. So gold hasn't gotten more expensive, rather the purchasing power of the dollar has declined...dramatically, thanks to the Federal Reserve.
Thursday, July 8, 2004
Ann Coulter speaks out...
Interesting article by Ann Coulter on the Kerry pick for vp, John Edwards.
From the link...
WSC
From the link...
Despite the overwrought claims of Edwards' dazzling legal skills, winning jury verdicts in personal injury cases has nothing to do with legal talent and everything to do with getting the right cases - unless "talent" is taken to mean "having absolutely no shame." Edwards specialized in babies with cerebral palsy whom he claimed would have been spared the affliction if only the doctors had immediately performed Caesarean sections.
As a result of such lawsuits, there are now more than four times as many Caesarean sections as there were in 1970. But curiously, there has been no change in the rate of babies born with cerebral palsy. As the New York Times reported: "Studies indicate that in most cases, the disorder is caused by fetal brain injury long before labor begins." All those Caesareans have, however, increased the mother's risk of death, hemorrhage, infection, pulmonary embolism and Mendelson's syndrome.
As a result of such lawsuits, there are now more than four times as many Caesarean sections as there were in 1970. But curiously, there has been no change in the rate of babies born with cerebral palsy. As the New York Times reported: "Studies indicate that in most cases, the disorder is caused by fetal brain injury long before labor begins." All those Caesareans have, however, increased the mother's risk of death, hemorrhage, infection, pulmonary embolism and Mendelson's syndrome.
WSC
A Primer - Part I
Over the next week or two during 's absence, I will try to share a topic that I think every American / Patriot needs to be aware of through a series of articles. I'll break the material up into smaller posts to make it more convenient for the reader to assimilate the information at their own pace, and also to give an opportunity to research the facts I provide as time permits. I hope you find this effort to be time well spent.
One of the laws of the Human Condition is that man must be productive in order to survive. Historically, this productivity has been measured in everything from sea shells to gold and just about every commodity in between. These commodities enabled productive man to barter or exchange his wealth for other things he desired.
The problem today is that our productivity is measured in U.S. Dollars, a currency printed at will by the Federal Reserve. Originally, the currency of the U.S. was gold and silver. With the introduction of the Federal Reserve in 1913, they established a paper currency that was redeemable in gold and silver which meant that one could take their dollars to the bank and exchange them for like value in gold or silver. Whether you were a foreigner or citizen of the US, the dollar was "as good as gold". In 1933, President Roosevelt changed that and made it illegal for US citizens to own gold.
The Bretton Woods Agreement of July 22, 1944 replaced gold and established the U.S. dollar as the new reserve currency. After all, since the U.S. had literally saved the world during World War II, and was the only country left standing with a healthy economy in the aftermath, it was reasoned that the U.S. dollar (which was fully backed by gold of course) could and should serve as the reserve currency of the world.
Then in 1971, France became aware that the U.S. was printing dollars with abandon so the began to redeem their dollars for gold per the Bretton Woods Agreements that the U.S. had signed. President Nixon realized that this would be catastrophic for the U.S. as at that rate of redemption, our gold reserves would quickly be depleted so he reneged on the Bretton Woods Agreement and "closed the gold window" which meant that foreigners could no longer redeem U.S. dollars for gold. In other words, they were stuck with paper dollars they had accumulated worth nothing more than the "good faith and credit of the U.S." no longer redeemable for gold but for goods and services provided by the issuer, the United States. We, and the rest of the world were, for perhaps the first time in history, on a complete fiat currency standard experiment. As a result, it would be instructive to view a chart of the volume of dollars that have been created since then with no real backing whatsoever as it is an almost vertical graph.
It might also be interesting to note that since 1971, we transitioned from a nation with the greatest trade surplus to one with the greatest trade deficit. This is not a coincidence.
So if the Federal Reserve can print dollars with no tie to redeemability to a true asset, then the measure of one's productivity is totally arbitrary and subject to the whim and will of the Federal Reserve. Also, the freedom to print the world's reserve currency is extremely fortunate for the U.S.(France referred to it as "exorbitant privilege") as we have become the largest debtor nation in the history of the world. In the words of Dire Straits, the U.S. is getting it's "money for nothing and its kicks for free".
Think about it...
One of the laws of the Human Condition is that man must be productive in order to survive. Historically, this productivity has been measured in everything from sea shells to gold and just about every commodity in between. These commodities enabled productive man to barter or exchange his wealth for other things he desired.
The problem today is that our productivity is measured in U.S. Dollars, a currency printed at will by the Federal Reserve. Originally, the currency of the U.S. was gold and silver. With the introduction of the Federal Reserve in 1913, they established a paper currency that was redeemable in gold and silver which meant that one could take their dollars to the bank and exchange them for like value in gold or silver. Whether you were a foreigner or citizen of the US, the dollar was "as good as gold". In 1933, President Roosevelt changed that and made it illegal for US citizens to own gold.
The Bretton Woods Agreement of July 22, 1944 replaced gold and established the U.S. dollar as the new reserve currency. After all, since the U.S. had literally saved the world during World War II, and was the only country left standing with a healthy economy in the aftermath, it was reasoned that the U.S. dollar (which was fully backed by gold of course) could and should serve as the reserve currency of the world.
Then in 1971, France became aware that the U.S. was printing dollars with abandon so the began to redeem their dollars for gold per the Bretton Woods Agreements that the U.S. had signed. President Nixon realized that this would be catastrophic for the U.S. as at that rate of redemption, our gold reserves would quickly be depleted so he reneged on the Bretton Woods Agreement and "closed the gold window" which meant that foreigners could no longer redeem U.S. dollars for gold. In other words, they were stuck with paper dollars they had accumulated worth nothing more than the "good faith and credit of the U.S." no longer redeemable for gold but for goods and services provided by the issuer, the United States. We, and the rest of the world were, for perhaps the first time in history, on a complete fiat currency standard experiment. As a result, it would be instructive to view a chart of the volume of dollars that have been created since then with no real backing whatsoever as it is an almost vertical graph.
It might also be interesting to note that since 1971, we transitioned from a nation with the greatest trade surplus to one with the greatest trade deficit. This is not a coincidence.
So if the Federal Reserve can print dollars with no tie to redeemability to a true asset, then the measure of one's productivity is totally arbitrary and subject to the whim and will of the Federal Reserve. Also, the freedom to print the world's reserve currency is extremely fortunate for the U.S.(France referred to it as "exorbitant privilege") as we have become the largest debtor nation in the history of the world. In the words of Dire Straits, the U.S. is getting it's "money for nothing and its kicks for free".
Think about it...
Wednesday, July 7, 2004
This just in...
Well, it looks like I might have to diverge from my previous comments about the nature of my posts since I just became aware of this timely article that I felt should be passed on.
Congressman Ron Paul is one of the few members of Congress I have respect for. He is a true American Patriot and his decision to vote for or against an issue is based on its ability to pass the litmus test of the U.S. Constitution. Needless to say, he votes against the vast majority of bills presented in the House as they, in fact, have no constitutional basis whatsoever.
Click here for an important issue you might be interested in.
And check out the honorable congressman's websites at: www.house.gov/paul/ and www.house.gov/paul/tst/.
WSC
Congressman Ron Paul is one of the few members of Congress I have respect for. He is a true American Patriot and his decision to vote for or against an issue is based on its ability to pass the litmus test of the U.S. Constitution. Needless to say, he votes against the vast majority of bills presented in the House as they, in fact, have no constitutional basis whatsoever.
Click here for an important issue you might be interested in.
And check out the honorable congressman's websites at: www.house.gov/paul/ and www.house.gov/paul/tst/.
WSC
While is away...
Clearly it would be folly for me to attempt to maintain the level of excellence RLC contributes to viewpoint so instead I will post some articles that have more of an economic / financial flavor hoping to challenge the reader to consider important issues in these areas that are typically below the radar of the popular media.
Originally, I named the viewpoint website "Patriot". I thought this was a name that spoke to the content found at viewpoint. After some discussions with RLC, it was renamed "Point of View" (after all, it is his website), but it finally evolved into viewpoint. Unfortunately, development of the website was well under way by this time and I simply haven't had time to update the address of the URL to reflect the latest name "viewpoint" so the address of the URL contains "pov" for "Point of View". It's a small matter though as most people will simply bookmark the URL and click on the bookmark to visit us.
I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that viewpoint is an extension of www.wscleary.com, an excellent example of shameless self-promotion, if I do say so myself. Seriously though, the website serves two important purposes for me. It enables me to learn the technology necessary to have an Internet presence and it enables me to use that knowledge to make personal areas of interest available on the Internet. As a result of my efforts, I can attribute several successful job interviews directly to this experience.
Among the pages at www.wscleary.com that reflect my interests over time are the PMZone, a set of web pages that would be of interest to anyone preparing for the Project Management Institute exam for certification. It provides a study section and a test simulator. Originally, I developed these pages to assist me in acquiring the PMI certification but I took on an assignment that made it impractical to pursue the certification because of time constraints.
The Gold Page reflects my interest in what is going on in our great country regarding the Federal Reserve, the US dollar and subsequent implications to the state of the Union.
I created The Guitar Page because of my interest in Classical Guitar and provide MP3 files of beautiful classical music for download.
And, lastly, I created viewpoint to give my brother, Richard, a forum that he can use to communicate his point of view regarding important issues of the day.
In the "Coming Soon" department, we plan to offer several new pages we hope will be of interest.
You may have noticed the "Other Websites" menu option at the left that takes you to a page of links to the websites of others we think you might enjoy. This is the first of three new pages.
We will also be rolling out a "Books" page that will contain links to recommended reading that are consistent with the topics presented at viewpoint.
I intend to add a link at the "Books" page recommending "Anything by E.W. Bullinger", a prolific writer of the 19th century. Two of his works I highly recommend are The Companion Bible which may very well be the most accurate version of the Bible available today, and his Commentary on Revelation which, among other things, provides a compelling case for the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church.
And finally, a "Downloads" page of links to documents in PDF format that Richard Cleary has written over the years. These can be viewed with any PDF reader such as Adobe Reader which is available for free.
Note that the viewpoint Feedback page may not be updated in RLC's absence but if you want to respond to one of my posts, feel free to email it to pobox@bellsouth.net and I will see that your comments get posted to the viewpoint Feedback page.
Stay tuned...
Originally, I named the viewpoint website "Patriot". I thought this was a name that spoke to the content found at viewpoint. After some discussions with RLC, it was renamed "Point of View" (after all, it is his website), but it finally evolved into viewpoint. Unfortunately, development of the website was well under way by this time and I simply haven't had time to update the address of the URL to reflect the latest name "viewpoint" so the address of the URL contains "pov" for "Point of View". It's a small matter though as most people will simply bookmark the URL and click on the bookmark to visit us.
I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that viewpoint is an extension of www.wscleary.com, an excellent example of shameless self-promotion, if I do say so myself. Seriously though, the website serves two important purposes for me. It enables me to learn the technology necessary to have an Internet presence and it enables me to use that knowledge to make personal areas of interest available on the Internet. As a result of my efforts, I can attribute several successful job interviews directly to this experience.
Among the pages at www.wscleary.com that reflect my interests over time are the PMZone, a set of web pages that would be of interest to anyone preparing for the Project Management Institute exam for certification. It provides a study section and a test simulator. Originally, I developed these pages to assist me in acquiring the PMI certification but I took on an assignment that made it impractical to pursue the certification because of time constraints.
The Gold Page reflects my interest in what is going on in our great country regarding the Federal Reserve, the US dollar and subsequent implications to the state of the Union.
I created The Guitar Page because of my interest in Classical Guitar and provide MP3 files of beautiful classical music for download.
And, lastly, I created viewpoint to give my brother, Richard, a forum that he can use to communicate his point of view regarding important issues of the day.
In the "Coming Soon" department, we plan to offer several new pages we hope will be of interest.
You may have noticed the "Other Websites" menu option at the left that takes you to a page of links to the websites of others we think you might enjoy. This is the first of three new pages.
We will also be rolling out a "Books" page that will contain links to recommended reading that are consistent with the topics presented at viewpoint.
I intend to add a link at the "Books" page recommending "Anything by E.W. Bullinger", a prolific writer of the 19th century. Two of his works I highly recommend are The Companion Bible which may very well be the most accurate version of the Bible available today, and his Commentary on Revelation which, among other things, provides a compelling case for the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church.
And finally, a "Downloads" page of links to documents in PDF format that Richard Cleary has written over the years. These can be viewed with any PDF reader such as Adobe Reader which is available for free.
Note that the viewpoint Feedback page may not be updated in RLC's absence but if you want to respond to one of my posts, feel free to email it to pobox@bellsouth.net and I will see that your comments get posted to the viewpoint Feedback page.
Stay tuned...
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Good Choice for Veep:
That we may be of service to Senator Kerry in his ongoing search for a suitable vice-presidential candidate Viewpoint puts forward the name of...Al Gore. Gore has experience, name recognition, he was a journalist in Vietnam which gives him the cache of being familiar with war without the liabilities associated with actually having participated in it, and he would bring a little vivacity to offset Kerry's somnolence. He could also be counted on to be a raging bull as a campaigner given the chance to avenge his loss to Bush in the 2000 election. The fact that Republicans could be expected to capitalize on the fact that Gore sometimes tends to act as if he's lost his mind is a downside, but nobody's perfect. Sounds like an over-all good choice to us.
Monday, July 5, 2004
Voltaire, Call Your Office!
The 18th century French writer Voltaire is famous, inter alia, for having proclaimed what is perhaps the most well-known endorsement of free speech ever uttered: "I may not agree with what you say," he wrote, "but I will fight to the death for your right to say it." Sadly, this noble sentiment has not managed to penetrate the land of unbounded tolerance for all things morally and socially exotic but where speech is tolerated, apparently, only to the extent one says the approved things. No, we're not talking about New York or Los Angeles (although the day may not be far off when we will be). We're talking about Sweden, believe it or not:
Stockholm (ENI). A Swedish court has sentenced a pastor belonging to the Pentecostal movement in Sweden, Ake Green, to a month in prison, under a law against incitement, after he was found guilty of having offended homosexuals in a sermon. Soren Andersson, the president of the Swedish federation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights (RFSL), said on hearing the sentence that religious freedom could never be used as a reason to offend people. "Therefore," he told journalists, "I cannot regard the sentence as an act of interference with freedom of religion." During a sermon in 2003, Green described homosexuality as "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumour in the body of society".
This is what freedom of speech looks like in Sweden. Thank God for the first amendment.
Sunday, July 4, 2004
What's He Saying?
I don't want to make too much of this and maybe I'm misinterpreting him, so you tell me, is William Rivers Pitt over at the anti-Bush site TruthOut actually hoping for an armed insurrection to depose the Bush administration? If not, what else does his poem mean? If so, is the entire left now howling at the moon or are there still a few sane souls to be found on that side of the ideological divide?
The concluding lines of Pitt's poem:The fail-safe, should matters become grave: The next sentence after "...from the consent of the governed."
"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Revolution.
The Declaration of Independence.
Which proves the existence of hope, again.
Misplaced Faith
Here's a piece on the different approaches to religion taken by President Bush and Senator Kerry. It gives a little insight into Bush, somewhat less into Kerry, except there is this interesting anecdote about the senator:
Kerry drew a more detailed contrast with Bush on his approach to science, in particular stem-cell research. Where Bush's attitude toward stem-cell research was shaped by his faith, Kerry declared his trust in facts. "We need a president who will once again embrace our tradition of looking toward the future and new discoveries with hope based on scientific facts, not fear," he said. Backed by the endorsement of 48 Nobel prize-winning scientists, Kerry said he would "listen to the advice of our scientists" before making his policy decisions (as opposed to evangelical groups). "I have full faith," he explained in an entirely nonreligious way, "that our scientists will go forward with a moral compass-with humane values and sound ethics guiding the way."
This is odd. After assuring us that, unlike Bush, he will base his decisions on scientific facts he talks about his faith in the ethical judgment of scientists, which leads one to wonder whether he is consulting the scientists for facts or for moral advice. It appears it's both, but then what's the point of his implicit criticism of Bush?
Bush's reservations about stem cell research have nothing to do with the scientific facts of the matter, of course, and everything to do with the morality of producing human embryos only to have them killed by extracting their stem cells. Why listening to scientists rather than theologians on a matter of morality is a particularly wise course of action is unclear. No doubt that if President Bush had a question about what stem cell research can do, he would consult scientists, but the important questions are about what we ought to do, and in that arena scientists qua scientists must be silent.
In what has to be one of the most vacuous comments of the campaign Senator Kerry says he has faith that scientists will follow a moral compass. Well, I suppose they will, although history gives us reason to wonder which way their needle points. Scientists have not infrequently been guided by the maxim, "If we can do it then we should do it," so one wonders what it is, exactly, that the senator bases his faith in the ethical judgment of his scientists upon.
Scientists, at least in Senator Kerry's view, deal only with facts. By their own admission, in addressing moral questions, they would be mere laymen encroaching upon the domain of theologians and ethicists. These, however, are the very people president Bush has properly drawn upon for guidance in the matter of whether the Federal government should fund stem cell research.
Kerry's beliefs, we are given to understand, lead him to consult scientists on a matter of ethics, whereas Bush's lead him to consult theologians and ethicists. And Kerry criticizes Bush?
For a much deeper look at how Bush's Christian faith shapes him as a man and as a president see Terry Eastland's piece in the March 1st, 2004 Weekly Standard titled Bush's Gospel.
Anathema
Christianity Today reports that Sojourners' David Batstone is calling for the Catholic bishops to excommunicate any Roman Catholic who supports the Iraqi war. In a letter to the Catholic bishops Batstone writes:
Sorry to speak so boldly, but you have no basis for so selectively narrowing your rich moral tradition. .. We recently have witnessed in the United States a decision and act by our political leaders to pre-emptively invade a sovereign nation-state. The social teaching of the Church explicitly prohibits and condemns such aggressive behavior. Pope John Paul II certainly understands this fact, as he made clear in an audience with President George W. Bush last month.
I have not heard one U.S. Bishop even suggest that Holy Communion might be withheld for any politician who enacted, or voted for, the immoral pre-emptive invasion of Iraq. Yet the consequent loss of human lives-both Iraqi and American-and the devastation of Iraqi society have been nothing short of tragic. Furthermore, this act of spiritual arrogance-invoking God's guidance while invading-has deepened historical animosities that surely will lead to more senseless bloodshed in the Middle East and across the globe.
Why is it that the bishops of the U.S. Catholic Church are unable to see this serious breach of morality? Over 250 of you are gathered in Colorado this week, and you only see fit to make public pronouncements about a sole moral issue.
Friends and brothers, I fear that your narrow-mindedness is turning the voice of the Church into something far worse than irrelevant. You risk stumbling into hypocrisy. I urge you to reclaim the full gospel of life, and announce it prophetically to those who would trample on the rights of the defenseless-those who have already been born as much as those yet unborn.
CT notes, however, that:
Most politicians who supported the Iraq war believed they were doing the work of justice and charity. A politician who supports abortion, however, would have a hard time saying he was protecting the unborn - the church radically differs on its teachings of abortion and war. "The killing of an unborn child is always intrinsically evil and can never be justified," the American bishops said in their most recent statement. The Roman Catholic Church has always held that war can be justified. The debate was whether invading Iraq met the qualifications of a just war, and it's worth noting that folks in the Bush camp tended to reference traditionally Catholic doctrine on this issue while folks in the Sojourners camp tended to take a more pacifist view.
CT does a good job of responding to Batstone's argument, and the entire article will be of special interest to Catholics as well as readers of Sojourners.
Dumb Philosophers Dept.
More evidence that philosophers are no smarter than anybody else:
"The Fuhrer alone is the present and future German reality and its law. Learn to know ever more deeply: from now on every single thing demands decison, and every action responsiblity."
Martin Heidegger, from an appeal by Heidegger to the students of Freiburg University
Saturday, July 3, 2004
Hillary and Taxes
Yesterday (7/2) I posted an e-mail from a friend who thought it inappropriate to make light of Senator Clinton for her recent promise to raise taxes "for the common good." My reply is in the Feedback forum under Hillary and Taxes.
Interesting Question
I listen to Sean Hannity from time to time, but although I agree with much of what he says, I don't appreciate the way he handles dissenting calls.
Even so, I heard him say something yesterday that I thought was pretty clever. He had a Kerry supporter on, and he asked the fellow if he could ever imagine voting for any of the seven soldiers accused in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal should one of them someday run for president. The gentleman replied that he could not, implying that anyone who would do such awful things was disqualified from holding high office. Whereupon Hannity asked him why, then, he was going to vote for John Kerry who confessed to doing far worse in Vietnam than what these soldiers were accused of doing in Iraq. The man had no answer.
That's an interesting question, I think.
Bush is the Criminal
Sadaam claims that "Bush is the criminal, not me." Apparently he's had access to MoveOn.org.
Friday, July 2, 2004
E-Mail of the Day
A friend takes me to task for passing along the Scrappleface parody of Senator Clinton's comments about confiscating wealth for the common good:
Well, I will try it again. In the "If Only It Were True" piece you again offer this unhelpful parallel to critique Senator Clinton's not-so-shocking notion of having the wealthy pay taxes for the common good. By passing on this not-even-all-that-funny parody (of Ms Clinton's publisher deciding not to pay her her royalties from her book but rather giving it to the "common good") you seem to be again missing the point.
Collecting and distributing taxes is part of the God-required task of the State (and as Bill pointed out in his lengthy piece, is surely, if done properly, part of the founder's vision of what our government was constituted to do.) For a publisher to renege on a contract, say, violating a private business exchange is altogether a different matter. No social institution is set up to do that kind of thing except the state, which is precisely the sort of thing governments are called upon to do. But you make is sound that since Hillary surely wouldn't want that--har, har, har--her tax policy is therefore discredited.
Worse, you make it sound like nearly any tax policy would be unfounded. (Unless, maybe you think the poor should be taxed in order to benefit something other than the common good!) This is just so odd I cannot understand your point. Surely you don't think that Hillary was suggesting, a la St Francis or Dorothy Day, that we are to be voluntarily poor? You don't think that, do you?
No her comments were not about that, although perhaps that is a discussion worth having. And surely you aren't an anarchist who opposes the right of the state to do good stuff by taxing citizens. And you surely aren't opposed to spending said taxes on the common good, are you (what's the alternative?) To wit, your complaint seems to make no sense. Where's the beef? Or is it, not unlike the liberals you so often (and often properly) skewer for allowing their ideology to lead them to meanly mock anyone and everything "on the other side of the isle", just some uncivil carping going on.
I've come to expect that from the blogs and pundits you troll each day, but I wouldn't expect that from you. It looks to me just an excuse for cheap Hillary-bashing.
Documendacity, etc.
Michael Moore has created quite a controversy with his new film Fahrenheit 9/11. FrontPageMag.com has two reviews, one by former New York mayor Ed Koch and one by Newsweek's Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball. Both reviews take the film to task for being wilfully dishonest.
Also at FrontPage is a must read piece by Lee Kaplan documenting how he underwent training by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) to aid Palestinians in their intifada against Israel. One thing that becomes obvious to the reader is how different, how much more humane, the Israeli soldiers and police are from any other such force in the Middle East and how the left exploits this as a weakness. Another thing that leaps off the page is how incredibly dishonest and deceitful the left is in working to prevent the Israelis from defending their women and children from suicide bombers and other terrorist attacks. Kaplan writes about some ISM tactics:
Such means include the hiding of terrorists like Shadi Sukiya, who was arrested in an ISM office in the West Bank. An arms cache was also found in an ISM office. Two suicide bombers gained entry for their murderous agendas under the auspices of the ISM. These Pakistani Muslims from Great Britain entered Israel through Jordan as clients of the Alternative Tourism Group, an operation set up by Andoni to aid ISM volunteers coming to Israel. They then met with the ISM at their offices for an entire day in Gaza before proceeding on to Tel Aviv where they bombed a popular beach bar, Mike's Place, killing three people.
The ISM are accomplices to murder, but for leftists the end of facilitating the ultimate victory of the Palestinian radicals, which entails destroying the state of Israel, justifies any means, even aiding the deliberate, willful murders of innocent women and children. Consider this:
When one of the trainees asked if we as ISM volunteers favored a two-state solution to secure peace, Brian Malovany, another senior trainer from Oakland who had just joined us explained, "The idea of a two-state solution is pretty much dead." This was an interesting dismissal of all the peace plans ever proposed by the United Nations, the United States, or the official negotiating parties of the Palestinians themselves. "There can only be one state called Palestine," explained Molvany echoing the line of Hamas and other terrorist organizations. "And the Right of Return is non-negotiable. If people ask you about a two-state solution just tell them it's a human rights issue. Whatever you do though, do not dictate to the Palestinians what they should not do."
In other words, Israel must cease to exist. Please read the whole article. It's an eye-opener. Totalitarian communism is dead, but the people who passionately defended and promoted it throughout the twentieth century haven't gone away. They've simply mutated into another virulent form adapted to fight on the turf of the twenty-first century Middle East.
If Only it Were True
Power Line directs us to a humorous parody of Senator Clinton's claim that the Democrats are going to take money from those who have it on behalf of the common good. At Scrapple Face we learn this:
(2004-07-01) -- In the same week that Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, told a San Francisco audience that future President John Forbes Kerry will take money away from wealthy Americans "on behalf of the common good", the former First Lady's publisher announced it would not pay the $5.3 million deferred advance it owes for her book Living History.
"To get the publishing industry, and our company in particular, back on track, we're going to cut that short and not give it to you," a spokesman for Simon and Shuster reportedly told Mrs. Clinton. "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
Mrs. Clinton's office released a statement saying she was "delighted to help cover the publisher's losses from unpopular books by other authors, bad management decisions and bureaucratic waste."
She suggested that her husband, who served with her in the White House during the 1990s, would like to do the same with his $10 million advance from Knopf.
Well, it could happen. Or not.
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