Capitalism, Communism, and freedom

I am aware that Marxism is still taught in schools in China, Cuba, North Korea, and maybe others. even their simplified version of Marxist based economics. However, the world has grown up and recognized that it is a discredited option of economics.
It is a fact that mankind is greedy. Not only countries, but individuals, so there will always be the hunt for more money, more possessions than your neighbor. It’s a fact that Marxists often like to overlook.
A society based on equality is not possible, because just like in George Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, there will always be people who “are more equal than others”. A society that doesn’t give his people the freedom to make up their minds themselves will eventually fall.
Sure, capitalism and democracy have their faults, but we never had to build a wall to keep our people in.

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings, the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
Winston Churchill

It is not important how others view us, despite what you have been told. I go through life feeling good about myself, and I don’t care what others think of me, it isn’t their life, it’s mine. I do not own allegiance to a flag, a country, or a ruler, and will gladly break the law or the rules if I think they are morally wrong or unjustified. I am truly free, because I have this attitude, but that is just me.

 One speaks of the respect that needs to be given to authority. Respect is earned, not forced. People in power, whether in your country or mine, or anywhere I chose to live do not gain my respect by forcing it, they would just achieve the opposite, and that is resentment and rebellion. I have lived 25 years in Africa and on one occasion chose to join a rebel army because to obey the law as it was, was wrong (Marxist Mozambique). People who dared voice their opinions were taken away. How long can you do that before the country would be locked up?

True progress only comes from the free exchange of ideas, and the freedom to implement those ideas. I have no doubt that China would be further advanced than it is now if there wasn’t such a restricted form of government.
Even America is not as free as you think it is. I lived also 3 years there, and most Americans are not aware of the erosion of their freedoms by their own government.

If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.
John F. Kennedy

Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.
John F. Kennedy

The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.
John F; Kennedy

A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.
John F. Kennedy

http://www.quotegarden.com/freedom.html

European culture got its boost from the Greeks, and was exported by Alexander the Great, later it was taken up by the Roman Empire.
When China had already an advanced culture, Europe was still run by warlords or small kingdoms.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe plunged into the Dark Ages and the progress of knowledge came to a standstill because of the power and influence of one great religion, the Roman Christian church who accumulated great wealth at the expense of progress. When Islam started out, they did not immediately make the same mistake but allowed culture to thrive. So much so that Europe was far behind them at the height of the crusades.
Fortunately, there have always been individuals who have taken it upon themselves to go on journeys of discovery, and thus ensure the exchange of knowledge.

Zheng He's epic voyages
Six centuries ago, a mighty armada of Chinese ships crossed the China Sea, then ventured west to Ceylon, Arabia, and East Africa. The fleet consisted of giant nine-masted junks, escorted by dozens of supply ships, water tankers, transports for cavalry horses, and patrol boats. The armada's crew totaled more than 27,000 sailors and soldiers. The largest of the junks were said to be over 400 feet long and 150 feet wide.

 (The Santa Maria, Columbus's largest ship, was a mere 90 by 30 feet and his crew numbered only 90.)
Seven times, from 1405 to 1433, the treasure fleets set off for the unknown. These seven great expeditions brought a vast web of trading links—from Taiwan to the Persian Gulf—under Chinese imperial control. This took place half a century before the first Europeans, rounding the tip of Africa in frail Portuguese caravels, 'discovered' the Indian Ocean.
With unrivaled nautical technology and countless other inventions to their credit, the Chinese were now poised to expand their influence beyond India and Africa. Here was one of history's great turning points. Had the Chinese emperors continued their huge investments in the treasure fleets, there is little reason why they, rather than the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and British, should not have colonized the world.

Yet less than a century later, all overseas trade was banned, and it became a capital offense to set sail from China in a multi-masted ship. What explains this astonishing reversal of policy?

Organised religion is just as much a threat to freedom as is the organized state.
I do not make any distinction at all. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and others, can be dangerous when it turns people into “followers” and “fanatics”.
I don’t like any clergyman of whatever religion to determine my future, just as I resent any form of interference from any form of government.
I have therefore decided that if it comes to religion, I go my own way, and have adopted certain aspects of the North American Indian way of being one with nature or God or whatever you may call it. It is a decision that is entirely mine, without outside interference.
Mantenga
mantenga@hotmail.com

Quo Vadis, America?

 I wonder if the powers that be in the United States grasp that in creating the Department of Homeland Security, they not only eroded certain freedoms taken for granted by the American population, but in doing so also repeated certain historic events.

Whether it is called the above, or KGB, or the NKVD (the dreaded Soviet secret police and forerunner of the KGB), even Gestapo, Hitler’s tool to keep “undesirables” in check, fact is there are certain similarities. During the Apartheid years in South Africa, there was also an organization called BOSS, an acronym that stood for “Bureau of State Security”. I cannot help but have an uneasy feeling that there is a certain resemblance between these organs of state. Americans have long taken freedoms for granted, freedoms they are now willing to trade for peace of mind. How long then before the government itself will award themselves the right to dictate what these freedoms are? And how long before America wakes up one day and realizes that “The land of the free” is but a fading memory?

After 9/11, and the rude awakening that followed, the government of the United States reacted, and, in so doing, over-reacted.

 It is far too easy in this country to be accused and charged with a crime. Only those who have liquid assets can afford the best justice money can buy. While it is the right of each person to be represented by council, in reality this means that the most likely outcome will be for the accused to be sentenced. Not due to the incompetence of the court appointed lawyers, although a certain percentage of them will undoubtedly be inadequate, but due to the high workloads they labor under. On paper it is certainly one of the best systems in the world, however, a hundred years ago, even fifty, it worked better. There are just too many new laws created every day. Being politically correct has made it so. The Commonwealth of Virginia, with which I am familiar, will prosecute one even if the accuser withdrew the original charges. In addition, being a country that is stable, untouched by civil strife, the United States can afford to prosecute its inhabitants at leisure, and it does so, vigorously. There are rumors that most, if not all, privately owned jails and detention centers have lawyers, prosecutors and judges on their board of directors. If you take into account that in Virginia the state pays an average of $180.00 per person per day, it is in these gentlemen’s interest to house as many as can be accommodated. In certain cases, such as in Winchester, to add bunks to house double the inmates it was created for.

In addition, the food, although nutritious, is just enough to keep a person alive, but I would like to challenge outsiders to try to get by on a paltry breakfast of 4 fluid ounces of juice, half a pint of milk, ¾ ounce of cereal, 2 slices of bread and 2 boiled eggs. For lunch, an ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes, peas, a small unidentified piece of meat, 2 spoonfuls of fruit, 2 slices of bread and a small glass of watered down juice. Dinner is equally poor, a ham and cheese sandwich, a slice of tomato, 2 handfuls of potato chips, and the same watered down juice. It’s no wonder that management also runs a canteen on the side and makes at least double what the items cost on the outside. Anyone with an understanding of mathematics can see that this is a lucrative business.

 America is a nation founded by lawyers, based on man made laws, and in my opinion will be destroyed by attorneys. I seem to remember it was Shakespeare who urged one to “kill all the lawyers”, but I cannot recall if it was the same playwright who stated that “the law is an ass”. One merely has to look at frivolous lawsuits brought against companies, and even individuals, for millions of dollars. No one in America appears blessed with common sense, nor are they ever responsible for their own deeds. Where else can you sue a fast food restaurant for spilling coffee on yourself and win the case because said establishment had not displayed any warnings that the contents were hot?

Only in America can someone stuff himself or herself for years with junk food and then take the establishments to court for being overweight. Or, people who lost loved ones to bullets fired from a gun wielded by a criminal, who file a claim for damages against the manufacturer of the gun.

Better yet, people who contract cancer from smoking are getting billion dollar settlements, while no one forced them to start smoking in the first place.

 For years millions of illegal immigrants have crossed the borders of the United States, but a single event in 2001 ensured that life would never be the same again.

There must be close to 20 million illegal immigrants in the country, most of which are economic refugees. There are tens of thousands being detained in various facilities all over the country on any given day, scheduled for deportation to their country of origin. However, while one can understand the need to do so, the American public is unaware that American Immigration Services in their zeal to rid themselves of unwanted illegals are tearing husbands from wives, separating fathers and mothers from their families, grandparents from grandchildren.

I have had the opportunity to see things first hand. I was legally in the United States, until my wife divorced me, after which my status reverted back to a standing that would tell Immigration that I now had overstayed my visa. Of course it didn’t help that I fell foul of the law and was charged with felonies after I made the mistake of wanting to talk to her after she had a restraining order in place. Fine, so we established that I was wrong in doing so. Having a felony on your record accords one the distinction of being flagged for immediate deportation without being granted bail. You get tagged as an aggravated felon, who, to most people who hear it for the first time, must sound like you had taken up with the likes of mass murderers or traitors. Be that as it may, once tagged, regardless of what family ties you may have, you will be booted out. I experienced personally what it is like. Once I was convicted after having pleaded an Alford plea (which allows one to plead guilty without admitting guilt) on the advise of my court appointed legal representative, the Immigration Services put a retainer on me.

As soon as I was done serving my time in jail, I was detained by the INS and taken to another facility. It does not matter that I wanted to be deported; I still had to sit for weeks someplace I didn’t want to be.

 Some people are there for months, not knowing when they will be going. Even when a person wins his or her case, and is granted the right to stay in this country, it sometimes takes months for the paperwork to catch up. Months they will never have again. Months away from loved ones. In some cases losing their homes, their possessions, and their livelihoods while sitting locked away. Waiting for what?

 Technically I was a free man, yet I was locked away. I wonder how many Americans would take that kind of treatment without reverting to the tried and trusted statement so often heard overseas, “you can’t do this to me, I’m an American”?

America claims to be based on wholesome values. Hell, even the current First Lady places family values high on her own agenda. How ironic then that in the place I was housed, every day men and women were removed from the United States. People who have husbands, wives, children and even grandchildren who were American citizens. I met people who had come to these shores as babes in arms, yet were being deported to countries they had not the slightest ties with, whose language they didn’t speak, and whose culture was alien to them. I have no doubt that some of these people may not have survived that experience. Notably when they were being deported to countries with less than clean human rights records. Americans would not like it to be done to fellow citizens, yet it is acceptable when it’s done to “others”, to “them”. There are people being deported who could have made contributions to American society. People with High School diplomas, College and University degrees. Potential scientists, mathematicians or future professors or doctors. Especially when one knows first hand that Americans are ill prepared for the world outside their borders. It is a sad fact that, even though America is an advanced first world country, the illiteracy rate is staggering amongst its population. A good number of United States citizens would be unable to cope in the job markets of Europe, Asia, and other parts of the globe, simply because their education level is not on par with the rest of the world. I have had the chance to teach adults English, Mathematics, and Life Sciences. Non English speakers in addition to American citizens, and it is a sad fact that the immigrants leave the natives far behind in acquiring skills.

It is incomprehensible to me that this can happen here, yet the country is a world power. Americans have forgotten that their nation is a melting pot of immigrants. There is not a single person in this nation that hasn’t got roots in other countries, and that includes the “Native” American inhabitants.

It is time I think that the sign on the Statue of Liberty which challenges the world to “send their tired, their weary”, be removed. In a hundred years this country has changed from a welcoming beacon of hope, of freedom, of the pursuit of happiness for newcomers, to a nation increasingly intolerant, xenophobic, and yes, even racist.

 I have received reports of people who have been sent back to their country of origin even though they had fought for this country in Operation Desert Storm. I wonder if the public would appreciate that Immigration returned a West Indian man, a veteran of Desert Storm who lost his leg in that conflict.

Or the story of the parents of a soldier killed more recently in Iraq, deported because they never got their situation changed.

 Is this a case of sour grapes? No. I am looking forward to leaving this country behind. It is after all just one more country. The phrase “give me liberty or give me death” can just as well apply to being deported instead of sitting in some “warehouse” waiting to be processed for removal.

 Dirk Vermeulen,

Farmville, Virginia, September 26^th, 2005

mantenga@hotmail.com

Morgaine, my sister. It is I, your brother, Arthur.

You speak of our welfare. Please! I know your
heart. I know who you are, Goddess of Demons. You
slept with the Devil; you made your pact with Satan;
you gave him your soul for lust of power and you cared
for no one.
Yes, it truly is I, your brother, Arthur. I've come
to warn you. Your time is limited, my sister. Even
now, as the winds sweep across the land, Judgment
comes; as I shine the light on the truth which
that will bring sorrow to the Pagan Community,
Judgment comes. You say you have concern about the
Pagans's welfare, but you lie to them. It is only your
lust for power that concerns you. Such is your desire
to be in control of them, to be admired by them.


A while ago, it came to pass that a man  was sent
to his death, and they thought they were rid of him.
Time passed and he returned from this death; he
returned from this grave, fevered and weak. He was
offered hands in kindness, a place to rest and regain
his strength. Instead he was used. He was used to
build a home and community center for the pagans while
they sat and watched. Even though he had next to
nothing, a spell was placed upon him to give what
little he had to the one who cast the spell. There was
no concern for him at all. Now it is known. The only
reason he was allowed to be there again was to finish
the home of the High Priestess; to finish building the
future community center. Yet this High Priestess felt that the
man was still owing to her and condemned him among
her friends, claiming to have caring feelings for him
when she only wanted him for her slave. The High
Priestess hid things which belonged to him, refusing
his requests to get them back into his own possession.
She thought she ruled over him. She thought she would
have control over him.
In a secret place, in hiding, the man continued
to heal and with that healing came great anger and
the desire for vengeance filled his heart.. Yet the
man asked The One for mercy upon this
High Priestess, so mercy was granted, for a while. Now
this truth is known.

She will not know that he is no longer weak or fevered. And, then,
as she stands before him, he will vanquish her with
the sword of righteousness. He will cut through her
facade.
The community will see her for who she truly is. She
will lose her standing within the Community. All will
turn their backs to her and none will speak to her
again. You  will watch this High Priestess be discredited.

It is written that you would write a letter and
place it on the Internet condemning the man and
saying all manners of evil and lies against him
because of your hatred of him although he has harmed
you not. You did this,  and the truth about you will
be told. The truth, that in your lust for power and
control, you made a pact with others, willingly
going to bed with the demon. This will be made known
to all.
 
Through the Laws of Karma, through the Three-Fold
Law, you will receive justice and the scales will
balance. But be warned. Based on your own
choices, the mercy currently being given you could
evaporate.

Everyone we know will know the truth,
and that truth will disgrace you. They will see your deceit.
They will see that your words, "In perfect love
and perfect trust," are meaningless to you.
Only a remnant of your admirers will remain, if
any. Few, if any, will ever trust you again. Few, if
any, will allow you to even sit with them or be with
them inside their Circles. No longer will you be in a
position of authority in the community, once they
see you for who you really are. Your own words will
bring you down and the scales of justice will begin to
balance. You would be a High Priestess no more. The
Darkness within your heart would be seen by all.
Through your own choices, you will receive
whatever else you deserve.