Involuntary Association, Part Three

"In some cases the subordinate relations are voluntary, in others they are necessary, but the duties are all compulsive. When we marry, the choice is voluntary, but the duties are not a matter of choice; they are dictated by the nature of the situation. Dark and unscrutable are the ways by which we come into the world."
Edmund Burke, "An Appeal From the New to
the Old Whigs"

Making College Count, Part Two

"The whole trouble is that the American system from beginning to end is gauged to the run-of-mine American rather than to the picked American. The run-of-mine Frenchman does not get any nearer the University than the adjacent woodpile. He does not get into the equivalent of our undergraduate college. If he gets through the French equivalent of our secondary school, he does so by what our ancestors called the uncovenanted mercies of Providence, and every step of his progress is larded with bitter sweat. The chief reason why my Italian friend found no educated American under sixty years of age is that forty years ago the run-of-mine American did not, as a rule, get much nearer the founts of the higher learning than the run-of-mine Frenchman does to-day, and for the same reason- - he could not, speaking strictly, "make the grade." The newspapers some time ago quoted the president of Colombia as saying that durin the past half-century the changes in school and college instruction, as to both form and content, have been so complete that it is probably safe to say that to-day no student in Columbia College, and perhaps no professor on its faculty, could pass satisfactorily the examination-tests that were set for admission to Columbia College fifty years ago."
Albert J. Nock, 1937

Appeasement Does Not Work

The foreign policy of Oh Blah Blah seems to be based on the idea that if we can just give enough money and sympathy to our enemies, particularly those who attacked us in 2001, they will decide that we are nice people and stop killing Americans. This is the logic behind nonsense like using American money to rebuild what Israel destroyed in its war in Gaza.

Unfortunately, the Catholic Church in America seems to believe the same sort of thing. If the bishops can flatter secondary liberals by endorsing their socialist vision as a "consistant life ethic" or a "seamless garment", they will stop doing the things the Church disapproves of. The most recent example of this is Notre Dame honoring Hawaii Forty-Four despite the fact that he is not only pro-choice, but has also declared war on the Catholic hospital system. Obama and his allies will not reconsider their policies simply because America's premier Catholic university did something nice for him.

Lockean Liberalism vs. The Political Commercial Complex

As shown in the Declaration of Rights, the idea that we are the masters of our own fate led to the belief that citizens have the right to arms for the defense of their own lives. Not only do advocates of entangling politics and commerce not support the Second Amendment, they now apparently believe that patriotism means sacrificing not for Mother, Country, and God, but for Chrysler. Obama solomnly declares private businessmen should accept 39 cents on the dollar because "we all have to make sacrifices." Funny, I do not see the UAW making sacrifices- - they are making out like bandits. The Oh Blah Blah way is making everyone but his political supporters suffer.

Is it any wonder that our masters will not trust us with guns when they assume the private investor should suffer for the good of Chrysler and the UAW?