WEBVTT

NOTE The Moral Promise of Political Independence

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000
This session obviously has been on the minds of not only this group here but other people throughout the country.

2
00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:15.000
So it is a fascinating subject. I'm delighted that Lew invited me to meet with you and speak with you on this

3
00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:23.000
because of course there's all ramifications and thoughts that we can bring up about this particular subject.

4
00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:26.000
My topic for today is the moral promise of political independence.

5
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:33.000
and Independence. Political independence is really the goal that we seek and it can be achieved in many, many different ways.

6
00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:41.000
You know, many years ago there was a discussion among bankers and a particular governor of one of the states

7
00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:47.000
and they had a project coming up and there was to be a bond issue

8
00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:53.000
and the bonds were to be sold and backed by the banks with a tax connection

9
00:00:53.000 --> 00:01:03.000
and they were concerned that too many of these bond issues were not being used in the proper way and not in a productive manner, which tends to be the case when the government is involved.

10
00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:12.000
And the governor was asked, what do you think, and this particular bond issue was for veteran's benefits.

11
00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.000
Nobody can be against veteran's benefits because all veterans deserve anything they ask for.

12
00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:22.000
And you can never vote against the veteran benefit in Washington or you are unpatriotic.

13
00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:28.000
So it was obvious that this was a very popular thing with this particular state, and they asked the governor, and they said,

14
00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.000
what do you think the veterans will do with this money? Will it be productively used?

15
00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:38.000
And he said, well, he thought that a third of the money would be spent on booze.

16
00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:48.000
He says another third would be spent on women. He says then the rest would be wasted.

17
00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:53.000
We certainly wouldn't want to waste any money. Today, I think, we send money to Washington.

18
00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:58.000
A third is spent on the bureaucrats, a third is spent on the interest, and the rest is wasted.

19
00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:03.000
So there's a fair amount of waste that is associated with government.

20
00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:07.000
And the bigger the government, the worse the problems are.

21
00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:11.000
And I think that today we certainly hear rumblings.

22
00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:16.200
and the rumblings. The word secession, only somebody like Lew Rockwell and the Mises Institute

23
00:02:16.200 --> 00:02:21.920
would actually say the word secession, you know. Others are a little bit more shy and

24
00:02:21.920 --> 00:02:25.960
they'll say, well, let's talk about the 10th Amendment that's enforced some of these rules.

25
00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:31.320
Let's demand states' rights and a few other things, although they're talking about the

26
00:02:31.320 --> 00:02:38.760
same issue, getting rid of the huge burden and the tremendous cost of this monster that

27
00:02:38.760 --> 00:02:41.200
that we have in Washington.

28
00:02:41.200 --> 00:02:49.920
Not too long ago, this subject came up in the operating room at a slow moment, and we

29
00:02:49.920 --> 00:02:55.000
were discussing this and I was proposing, you know, the Republic of Texas.

30
00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.640
I said, you know, I was daydreaming, I was describing this wonderful libertarian state

31
00:02:59.640 --> 00:03:06.660
that had government about this big and no income tax and a sound currency and a thriving

32
00:03:06.660 --> 00:03:13.560
metropolis and no conscription, no military involvement overseas and whatnot.

33
00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:19.120
It sounded so attractive and I said but the only I have not solved one problem. I

34
00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:22.560
haven't solved the problem of immigration and how what would we do

35
00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:28.140
about you know this burden at times it seems to be to many of us about the

36
00:03:28.140 --> 00:03:31.700
immigration. Of course we have to realize that's connected to the welfare state

37
00:03:31.700 --> 00:03:35.700
and possibly the Republic of Texas wouldn't have quite the burden that we

38
00:03:35.700 --> 00:03:41.580
have today but anyway what another physician was there he says yes he says

39
00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:44.540
that would be a problem he says I guess we would have to have a lot of troops

40
00:03:44.540 --> 00:03:54.720
along the Red River for your geography of course I was thinking about the Rio

41
00:03:54.720 --> 00:04:02.420
Grande everything about all you Yankees wanting to come down to Texas but I

42
00:04:02.420 --> 00:04:14.420
I guess that's a good daydream and worth thinking about, and it's a wonderful exercise to go through and talk about this because it is dealing with the theory and the understanding of what liberty is all about.

43
00:04:14.420 --> 00:04:21.420
And if we can bring it about in the context of the right of secession, I think it's very, very productive.

44
00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:30.180
Now, we have heard recently, in these past 100 days, talk about political independence.

45
00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:35.980
We have heard on the television on a daily basis that there has been a revolution in Washington

46
00:04:35.980 --> 00:04:39.180
and that things are so much different.

47
00:04:39.180 --> 00:04:43.860
I guess they spent a million dollars or so on a TV program telling us yesterday that

48
00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:48.780
the revolution is here and the changes have occurred and all of a sudden we have reversed

49
00:04:48.780 --> 00:04:56.020
What's the trends in Washington? I have a little trouble with that. I think the rhetoric

50
00:04:56.020 --> 00:05:01.540
has gotten better. I think it's a reflection of what's happening in the country. I think

51
00:05:01.540 --> 00:05:06.660
it means that the politicians have to speak to those of us who are concerned about the

52
00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:12.300
growth of government, and that's a positive sign. Now, we have to be a little bit concerned

53
00:05:12.300 --> 00:05:19.540
And when we hear a Bob Dole start talking in a way that he is trying to satisfy the

54
00:05:19.540 --> 00:05:29.300
Tenth Amendment Movement, can you imagine anybody who has so little ability and understanding

55
00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:33.900
of what the Tenth Amendment really means for him to come up and say, what we must do is

56
00:05:33.900 --> 00:05:35.420
enforce the Tenth Amendment.

57
00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:40.500
I am sure that he was never aware of the Tenth Amendment with 95 or 98 percent of all his

58
00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:43.500
and all those votes he's ever cast since he's been in Washington.

59
00:05:43.500 --> 00:05:45.500
But nevertheless, that's a positive sign.

60
00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:48.500
We have to look closely for our positive signs.

61
00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:55.500
But that is one, the fact that we do see some things happening in this country.

62
00:05:55.500 --> 00:05:58.500
But how much has happened in these last hundred days?

63
00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:03.500
Could we say that the battle is being won and that we don't have as much need

64
00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:06.500
for the Mises Institute to go out and teach the next generation

65
00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:08.500
about what a free society is all about?

66
00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:16.500
Hardly. I mean, we see these signs, but I would like to suggest that the last 100 days

67
00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:20.500
probably hasn't done a whole lot for us yet.

68
00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:26.500
Besides, besides, even those things that you might have agreed with that were passed in the House

69
00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:30.500
have a long way to go. They have a long way to go

70
00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:34.500
till they get to the Senate, and then through the conference, and then to the President's desk.

71
00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:49.500
But even some of the things done in the name of less government, done in the name of the free society and free enterprise and the things that we believe in and playing to our audience and claiming this has done so much good, but what have they done?

72
00:06:49.500 --> 00:07:03.500
For instance, for years it has been proposed that one of the chief ways you can limit government spending and get us back on the right spending trail is to deliver to the president more power with a line item veto.

73
00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:09.260
doesn't make any sense to give more power to the executive branch of

74
00:07:09.260 --> 00:07:14.660
government my concern is it already has way too much power already and that does

75
00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:20.300
not make a lot of sense what about the balanced budget amendment basically sort

76
00:07:20.300 --> 00:07:25.460
of nice to think that balanced budget amendment would help and possibly it

77
00:07:25.460 --> 00:07:30.980
would help a little bit if done in the right context but in today's context if

78
00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:39.460
If you have a Simon, Senator Simon from Illinois, wildly enthusiastic about the

79
00:07:39.460 --> 00:07:43.540
balanced budget amendment, could we not be a bit suspicious to think that maybe

80
00:07:43.540 --> 00:07:48.060
he believes that taxes will be raised? And I think they will be. If that

81
00:07:48.060 --> 00:07:53.180
particular amendment got passed, I think we would have more taxes and still not a

82
00:07:53.180 --> 00:07:58.980
balanced budget. So hardly should we celebrate about the balanced budget

83
00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:06.780
Amendment being passed. Excuse me. There were other proposals in the first hundred days

84
00:08:06.780 --> 00:08:13.940
and some were passed. One of the most atrocious has been in the area of crime. Crime and punishment.

85
00:08:13.940 --> 00:08:20.380
Conservatives, Republicans are law and order people, which I think is a good idea. We ought

86
00:08:20.380 --> 00:08:24.940
to obey the law. We ought to obey the Constitution. We ought to obey the laws that protect private

87
00:08:24.940 --> 00:08:25.940
of Private Property.

88
00:08:25.940 --> 00:08:31.140
But we shouldn't be deliberately empowering the federal government to further abuse the

89
00:08:31.140 --> 00:08:33.180
rights of private property.

90
00:08:33.180 --> 00:08:40.140
So they have essentially, with the one particular amendment, have undermined, if not destroyed,

91
00:08:40.140 --> 00:08:44.700
the Fourth Amendment, where they have abolished the exclusionary rule and says that no matter

92
00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:49.380
what the circumstances are, they can march into our houses and our businesses and search

93
00:08:49.380 --> 00:08:56.960
Search and Take without a proper search warrant, a vicious violation of the Constitution.

94
00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:01.900
And this is done, the disturbing part about this is it's not done by liberal Democrats

95
00:09:01.900 --> 00:09:06.260
who believe in big government, it's done by those who are leading the charge in Washington

96
00:09:06.260 --> 00:09:10.980
to reduce the size of government and here they are enhancing and making government that

97
00:09:10.980 --> 00:09:12.220
much bigger.

98
00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:17.820
So I am of the opinion that we have a long way to go before we reverse the trends in

99
00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:18.820
in Washington.

100
00:09:18.820 --> 00:09:23.580
But in the same sense, I am very pleased with what is happening in the country because there

101
00:09:23.580 --> 00:09:28.020
are more and more people today than ever before who are questioning things.

102
00:09:28.020 --> 00:09:33.780
The fact that we can have a conference and talk about smaller units of government, 10th

103
00:09:33.780 --> 00:09:38.720
Amendment movements, militia movements, states' rights movements where they're really serious

104
00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:40.820
and saying, we've had enough.

105
00:09:40.820 --> 00:09:43.180
We've had enough of this federal government.

106
00:09:43.180 --> 00:09:48.780
We can't afford any more justice that we're getting from Washington, she says.

107
00:09:48.780 --> 00:09:54.580
We've had about as much justice and fair distribution as we can afford, and the people are waking

108
00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:55.580
up.

109
00:09:55.580 --> 00:10:02.260
I've always been of the opinion that our real trend, our real change will come, and I do

110
00:10:02.260 --> 00:10:05.340
believe it will come, but it won't come gracefully.

111
00:10:05.340 --> 00:10:16.740
It won't come by us automatically coming up with new members of Congress arriving in Washington,

112
00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:23.500
like we had last time, who will deliberately and discreetly change the law and bring about

113
00:10:23.500 --> 00:10:24.500
changes.

114
00:10:24.500 --> 00:10:29.140
I am more convinced that the change will come, but it will come more with a calamity and

115
00:10:29.140 --> 00:10:30.700
with a Bang.

116
00:10:30.700 --> 00:10:36.140
Because the forces are so great against us that the momentum is there, the special interests

117
00:10:36.140 --> 00:10:43.060
are there, that those even who are well-intended, those many new members, believe me, are well-intended

118
00:10:43.060 --> 00:10:45.700
and are still representing our views.

119
00:10:45.700 --> 00:10:48.140
After a few years, I'm not so sure I will say that.

120
00:10:48.140 --> 00:10:53.460
But at the current time, there are many members of Congress who are reflecting the views of

121
00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:55.860
us who would like to see a lot less government.

122
00:10:55.860 --> 00:10:58.580
But their voices will not be heard.

123
00:10:58.580 --> 00:11:05.340
There was one example, a new member by the name of Newman up from the Midwest.

124
00:11:05.340 --> 00:11:10.700
He was dedicated to voting for less government and within the first few weeks, the first

125
00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:14.180
significant vote that came up, these other things, if they don't ever get passed, they're

126
00:11:14.180 --> 00:11:19.940
not significant, but a significant vote came up, they needed supplemental appropriation.

127
00:11:19.940 --> 00:11:23.940
That's in addition to the original appropriation of last year, they came up short.

128
00:11:23.940 --> 00:11:30.740
The supplemental appropriation was for military, so-called, for defense or for this country, no, it was for military.

129
00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:44.540
Operations in Somalia and over in Serbia and Persian Gulf and Columbia, who knows what, but it was maybe $2.3 billion.

130
00:11:44.540 --> 00:11:48.240
And the new member, Newman, said, he can't vote for this.

131
00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.240
And he was on the Appropriations Committee and they said, well, we need this vote.

132
00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:57.480
He says, but we came here to cut, not to add.

133
00:11:57.480 --> 00:12:00.200
And they said, well, we're going to have offsets

134
00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:01.800
so that we'll actually cut to make up

135
00:12:01.800 --> 00:12:04.760
for this money we need today for these very important things.

136
00:12:04.760 --> 00:12:06.800
And they were over a five-year period.

137
00:12:06.800 --> 00:12:09.280
They were going to cut $2.3 billion out of the budget.

138
00:12:09.280 --> 00:12:10.320
Now, that's all one thing.

139
00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:11.640
That's daily activity.

140
00:12:11.640 --> 00:12:13.440
That's the way the government functions.

141
00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:15.400
But the important thing was the leadership

142
00:12:15.400 --> 00:12:17.460
of the Republican side said to them,

143
00:12:17.460 --> 00:12:21.320
if you don't play ball, if you don't go wrong with this,

144
00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:23.120
we're going to kick you off the committee.

145
00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:27.320
How can you be on this very important committee if you don't go along with us?

146
00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:30.920
And these are the guys who are supposed to be cutting back up there.

147
00:12:30.920 --> 00:12:37.320
So it's sort of sad when you think about it that the rhetoric is sounding pretty good,

148
00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.920
but we still have politics as usual.

149
00:12:40.920 --> 00:12:47.120
After last week, there was a big argument on cutting taxes.

150
00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:51.320
And even the feeble attempt to cut taxes, the media, of course, chews them up and says,

151
00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:59.320
because you know you're taking, you know, all these good programs away from the starving poor and the babies and whatnot.

152
00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:06.320
But this tax cut, some of it is pretty good.

153
00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:12.320
I mean, this idea that everybody who has a child will get $500 of tax credit back, not a bad idea.

154
00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:15.320
Give them their money back. Maybe they can take care of their kids.

155
00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:18.320
But they did a poll. They did a poll with the American people.

156
00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:22.320
All this propaganda, and the American people, they ask the people in the poll,

157
00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:25.320
how many of you think that this is going to come about?

158
00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:28.320
75% of the people said, there's no way.

159
00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:32.320
I mean, most people that I meet, and most people in the country,

160
00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:36.320
aren't even paying a lot of attention to what's going on out there,

161
00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:37.320
and they don't believe them.

162
00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:41.320
And I think that's a healthy skepticism.

163
00:13:41.320 --> 00:14:00.320
It certainly serves our interest for the skepticism to be maintained because otherwise they won't listen to the real reforms that are required because indeed we will have to have real reform when the time comes.

164
00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:09.320
A couple days ago, some of you may have seen this, in the Wall Street Journal there was an article on the front page that had to do with Detroit.

165
00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:14.320
Detroit had a system of government developing.

166
00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:21.320
Detroit, this was mainly an inner city in the poverty-ridden areas where people were living on welfare checks and social security had nothing

167
00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:23.320
and high rates of unemployment.

168
00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:25.320
And what has developed there?

169
00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:30.320
There was a development of a group of individuals who had no jobs

170
00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:34.320
but they weren't necessarily looking for more welfare and they wanted to be productive

171
00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:40.320
and they developed little businesses of going around and providing services for the people who couldn't get out.

172
00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:48.320
They would go and do their shopping and mail and laundry and all these things and help the people

173
00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:54.320
who were still able to live in their own homes but to some degree not be able to take care of all their needs.

174
00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:58.320
And these people, of course, were being paid in cash.

175
00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:03.320
And they, you know, are the law breakers. These are the people, the IRS, are trying to crack down.

176
00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:19.320
Here the market and their local little government is developing, they are just chucking the whole system and trying to take care of people, providing this wonderful service, taking care of themselves, but they don't pay their taxes and they don't report this and these become the enemy of the state.

177
00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:25.320
The state is always trying to figure out how we can crack down on these people and how we can stop this.

178
00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:30.320
As conditions worsen though, I do believe there will be more and more of that.

179
00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:36.360
Eventually, the state disintegrates under the conditions that we have today.

180
00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:43.720
All monolithic states, especially if they're built on and dependent on deficit financing

181
00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:49.200
and they operate with a fiat currency, their time is limited.

182
00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:53.800
They can stay in existence for a long time, but they cannot stay in existence forever.

183
00:15:53.800 --> 00:16:00.920
The Soviet Empire, as Mises predicted, and other strong socialist nations are the same,

184
00:16:00.920 --> 00:16:03.400
they eventually disintegrate because they can't function.

185
00:16:03.400 --> 00:16:07.340
The fact that the Soviet Union lasted as long as it did, lasted that long because they were

186
00:16:07.340 --> 00:16:10.720
dependent on us and our subsidies flowing into them indirectly.

187
00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:14.240
Well, some of that's sort of coming to an end.

188
00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:18.240
Mises didn't have a whole lot more respect for the welfare state than he did for the

189
00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:19.640
social state.

190
00:16:19.640 --> 00:16:20.640
He distinguished the two.

191
00:16:20.640 --> 00:16:24.680
knew, he said the welfare state was somewhat different, but the welfare state eventually

192
00:16:24.680 --> 00:16:29.360
led to the same crises with the tendency for the welfare state to lead to a form of socialism

193
00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:34.120
and most likely in this country it would be a fascist type of socialism, but then again

194
00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:37.040
eventually collapse.

195
00:16:37.040 --> 00:16:43.240
We have that, I think we're seeing the early signs of that.

196
00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:49.080
Not too long ago I was speaking in an audience, a very conservative audience, and I was preaching

197
00:16:49.080 --> 00:17:00.080
I was reading the Gospel as I knew it about less government, and everything was going well until I suggested that even Social Security may need reforms.

198
00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:08.080
One elderly gentleman, obviously on Social Security, he says, fine, everything you've said so far has been okay, but don't mess with Social Security.

199
00:17:08.080 --> 00:17:15.080
That's off limits, because I'm only getting back the money I put in. We've heard that story before.

200
00:17:15.080 --> 00:17:23.080
So I went to check and find out how long it would last if the individual is now receiving that money, only the money that they put in.

201
00:17:23.080 --> 00:17:31.080
How long would the system last? Well, in the literal sense, no days at all, because there's no money there, there's no wealth there.

202
00:17:31.080 --> 00:17:38.080
There are only treasury bills stuffed over into an accounting slot that says that there's so much in a trust fund.

203
00:17:38.080 --> 00:17:45.480
The trust fund has $495 billion. So let us concede that there's $495 billion in the trust fund.

204
00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:49.680
Well, how long would that last to keep those people receiving benefits?

205
00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:56.080
How long would that last if we just paid it out and we didn't tax the people anymore if we quit the Ponzi scheme?

206
00:17:56.080 --> 00:17:58.880
It would last a little over a year and a half.

207
00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:02.780
We're spending about $315 billion a year on social security.

208
00:18:02.780 --> 00:18:07.480
So all these things tell me that there's an end coming to this.

209
00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:15.480
There's an end to the paper money system as well as the welfare system because the bankruptcy will come.

210
00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:23.480
And this then offers us an opportunity, the way I see it, to offer up our ideas about political independence

211
00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:30.480
and the ideas of liberty and whether or not they should be protected at the local level or a national level.

212
00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:33.480
We have two forces going on in this country.

213
00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:39.880
We see the exciting things happening about this full discussion about political independence,

214
00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:46.040
secession, smaller units of government, rejection of the federal government, for reasons sometimes

215
00:18:46.040 --> 00:18:50.360
which are very practical because people are starting to realize they're out of money.

216
00:18:50.360 --> 00:18:54.040
It's not so much they've rejected the notion that it'd be great to get that money, but they're

217
00:18:54.040 --> 00:19:00.680
recognizing that the government is being bankrupt. But we see this tremendous growth in these ideas,

218
00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:05.000
and that's very very encouraging. At the same time what do we see with those in

219
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:10.000
charge of government? Are they are they less enthused about bigger government? I

220
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.920
mean we're talking about trying to get smaller units of government. At the same

221
00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:20.480
time our two major parties have fully endorsed the notion of the World Trade

222
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:25.920
Organization. The biggest bureaucracy, good conservative members of Congress

223
00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:30.440
endorsing the World Trade Organization. So we have the World Bank, we have the

224
00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:35.600
IMF. We have the World Trade Organization and we have had just recently a

225
00:19:35.600 --> 00:19:40.760
president willing to speak out and even be blunt about the New World Order,

226
00:19:40.760 --> 00:19:45.760
globalism, one world government. So we see this powerful force pulling us in this

227
00:19:45.760 --> 00:19:49.920
direction at the same time that people are starting to recognize that we need

228
00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:54.600
less government not more government. I think this will lead to a crisis.

229
00:19:54.600 --> 00:19:59.540
It has to because they don't have the moral authority and they don't have the

230
00:19:59.540 --> 00:20:05.940
and the funds to pursue at will this notion that they can run and control the government.

231
00:20:05.940 --> 00:20:11.940
Now how willing will they be to give this power up?

232
00:20:11.940 --> 00:20:13.060
Not very willing.

233
00:20:13.060 --> 00:20:14.660
They will not be.

234
00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:20.840
Those who are in control of the monetary system tenaciously hold on to that power just as

235
00:20:20.840 --> 00:20:26.340
they will tenaciously hold on to these concepts of one world government and trying to keep

236
00:20:26.340 --> 00:20:34.900
together the notions of the New World Order and the international banking system.

237
00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:38.460
So this is the way I see things coming.

238
00:20:38.460 --> 00:20:45.460
I see these two forces coming and eventually there will be a collision.

239
00:20:45.460 --> 00:20:51.220
We obviously want to argue for and work for and promote the ideas of political independence

240
00:20:51.220 --> 00:20:55.980
and individual liberty, mainly because it's in our self-interest, it's in the self-interest

241
00:20:55.980 --> 00:21:08.600
This is an argument that should be enough, that we have a right to our lives, these rights,

242
00:21:08.600 --> 00:21:14.360
this right to our life, granted to us by a creator, and we have a natural right to these

243
00:21:14.360 --> 00:21:16.620
rights.

244
00:21:16.620 --> 00:21:21.900
Then we should argue for that on a moral basis, but just think about the practical basis of

245
00:21:21.900 --> 00:21:24.460
what a society really is like.

246
00:21:24.460 --> 00:21:30.140
When we have this independence and this freedom, of course there's great prosperity and there's

247
00:21:30.140 --> 00:21:37.300
a development of trust in the individual rather than the development of a society that mistrusts.

248
00:21:37.300 --> 00:21:42.780
Today our government teaches us to mistrust each other because they are always coming

249
00:21:42.780 --> 00:21:49.420
in and interfering with our contracts rather than promoting the obedience to contracts.

250
00:21:49.420 --> 00:21:55.500
government is that body that is interfering with the voluntary solutions to so many of our problems.

251
00:21:55.500 --> 00:22:04.700
So the free society and when we honor individual liberty, we obviously have a free market economy

252
00:22:04.700 --> 00:22:11.180
and we obviously have a great deal more prosperity and I'm also convinced a lot more peace in the

253
00:22:11.180 --> 00:22:18.940
world because there would be a lot less need to fight foreign wars. The essence of a free

254
00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:21.780
Murray's society, of course, is individual liberty.

255
00:22:21.780 --> 00:22:26.380
Sometimes that comes across as vague for some individuals not quite comprehending what individual

256
00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:32.380
liberty is, and they think of liberty as civil rights and collective group rights, which

257
00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:35.940
is very, very confusing and misleading.

258
00:22:35.940 --> 00:22:41.220
But Murray used to emphasize, and I agree with the emphasis for political reason, that

259
00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:46.800
is that if you honor and protect and understand property rights, you probably will understand

260
00:22:46.800 --> 00:22:49.800
and just about everything you have to about individual rights.

261
00:22:49.800 --> 00:22:54.800
Because if you can own your own home and own your own business and the government's not to interfere,

262
00:22:54.800 --> 00:22:57.800
then you have your religious freedom, you have your freedom of the press

263
00:22:57.800 --> 00:23:01.800
and all the freedoms that you need which are the civil liberties that we believe in,

264
00:23:01.800 --> 00:23:03.800
but it's the integrity of the property.

265
00:23:03.800 --> 00:23:10.800
It is the lack of the belief in the integrity of the property that we suffer so much from today.

266
00:23:10.800 --> 00:23:17.220
government that serves the interests of these individuals who are in control, the

267
00:23:17.220 --> 00:23:24.400
the lobbyists who can manipulate government and in those forces are way

268
00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:28.720
way too powerful. They're so powerful that the government in order for the

269
00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:34.360
politicians to stay in office then are forced to compromise and say well I must

270
00:23:34.360 --> 00:23:37.960
serve my constituents interests and I know we're coming up short but we better

271
00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:42.240
are spent a little bit more and worry about paying for it later on.

272
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:47.280
So they violate the concept of property rights in a very general as well as specific sense.

273
00:23:47.280 --> 00:23:53.860
Probably the most vicious attack on the right for you to keep and own that which you produce

274
00:23:53.860 --> 00:24:04.440
and which should be abolished as soon as possible would be the concept of personal income tax.

275
00:24:04.440 --> 00:24:09.140
The way that the government finances the system, they do it through direct taxation, but the

276
00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:13.760
indirect method of taxation, which is to inflate the currency.

277
00:24:13.760 --> 00:24:18.220
So therefore, the monolithic state has to undermine the concept of honesty and money.

278
00:24:18.220 --> 00:24:20.360
They must undermine the concept of commodity money.

279
00:24:20.360 --> 00:24:22.480
They must destroy the gold standard.

280
00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:28.040
So therefore, systematically from 1913 on, we have had, when gold was $20 an ounce and

281
00:24:28.040 --> 00:24:33.180
now it's $400 an ounce, we have had the systematic undermining of a gold standard.

282
00:24:33.180 --> 00:24:39.420
So there is no restraint on the monetary authorities to create new money out of thin air, principally

283
00:24:39.420 --> 00:24:44.780
for the benefit of buying treasury bills so that these deficits can be taken care of.

284
00:24:44.780 --> 00:24:50.420
The one real sad part about these last hundred days is that there has been, if nothing else,

285
00:24:50.420 --> 00:24:53.540
a further endorsement of the Federal Reserve system.

286
00:24:53.540 --> 00:24:59.580
The Republican people in Congress right now are much more enthusiastic about the current

287
00:24:59.580 --> 00:25:06.140
monetary system and they have not they have not challenged it but the the if

288
00:25:06.140 --> 00:25:10.660
you had the rules of honesty and money as we did in the 19th century of course we

289
00:25:10.660 --> 00:25:13.860
didn't have the we didn't have the notion that we should run a welfare

290
00:25:13.860 --> 00:25:18.920
state and police the world that also helped a lot but now we have a welfare

291
00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:22.300
system out of control we still believe we're the policemen of the world and

292
00:25:22.300 --> 00:25:26.540
we've undermined the gold standard so therefore the monetary system is allowed

293
00:25:26.540 --> 00:25:33.540
have begun to be used by the bankers and the politicians to do their will over and above the income tax.

294
00:25:33.540 --> 00:25:35.540
It's every bit as vicious as the income tax.

295
00:25:35.540 --> 00:25:40.540
So while we're abolishing things, we should abolish the Federal Reserve as well.

296
00:25:46.540 --> 00:25:54.540
And the other way there's a vicious and steady attack on our property rights is through that of regulations.

297
00:25:54.540 --> 00:25:59.320
There have been some court rulings somewhat favorable to us in saying that if regulations

298
00:25:59.320 --> 00:26:04.580
destroys the value of your property, the government then is obligated to reimburse you.

299
00:26:04.580 --> 00:26:09.500
Well that's an improvement over what we have, but in a way it doesn't answer our questions

300
00:26:09.500 --> 00:26:16.500
because if my property in Texas has been violated by some regulation and I've lost the value

301
00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:22.180
of my land, is it justifiable for the government to go and tax you to reimburse me for what

302
00:26:22.180 --> 00:26:23.180
they've done to the land?

303
00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:27.380
Obviously, the best correction would be, get the regulators off our back.

304
00:26:27.380 --> 00:26:29.580
I mean, that's what we need to do.

305
00:26:29.580 --> 00:26:34.180
So we have the taxes, we have the Federal Reserve, we have the regulations, and then

306
00:26:34.180 --> 00:26:39.580
basically we undermine private property even when the federal government borrows so-called

307
00:26:39.580 --> 00:26:41.260
legitimately in the market.

308
00:26:41.260 --> 00:26:45.260
They don't borrow from the Fed, but they borrow from those who are willing to loan to the

309
00:26:45.260 --> 00:26:46.260
government.

310
00:26:46.260 --> 00:26:51.060
That is a burden on the future property earnings of the next generation.

311
00:26:51.060 --> 00:26:53.660
And this is where we are today.

312
00:26:53.660 --> 00:26:59.420
We're at a point where that deficit is starting to annoy people, annoy politicians enough

313
00:26:59.420 --> 00:27:01.140
that they'll even talk about it.

314
00:27:01.140 --> 00:27:03.340
You know, they're at least talking about the deficit.

315
00:27:03.340 --> 00:27:06.860
I came across a figure just the other day that I thought was interesting.

316
00:27:06.860 --> 00:27:13.100
It says that it's easy to figure out because our national debt is essentially $5 trillion.

317
00:27:13.100 --> 00:27:17.640
So if interest rates go up 1 percent, the cost to the government, just to finance the

318
00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:19.940
debt, goes up $50 billion.

319
00:27:19.940 --> 00:27:24.720
How many people here expect interest rates to go up over the next two or three years?

320
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:26.800
Most people would agree, and I think so too.

321
00:27:26.800 --> 00:27:32.260
I think that once a currency is destroyed, the only way you tend to protect it on a short

322
00:27:32.260 --> 00:27:33.720
run is you raise interest rates.

323
00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:36.680
And what do we have happening to the dollar and international exchange markets today?

324
00:27:36.680 --> 00:27:41.080
We have a crashing dollar, and the Fed's saying, well, we're not going to raise interest rates.

325
00:27:41.080 --> 00:27:42.640
They'll raise interest rates.

326
00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:48.120
The market will raise the interest rates, because when the dollar buys 30 yen, maybe

327
00:27:48.120 --> 00:28:00.120
Maybe they'll start thinking that maybe interest rates are going to go up, but that is the case, interest rates are going to go up and that's out of the control of the average politician up there.

328
00:28:00.120 --> 00:28:14.120
I was visiting up there a couple weeks ago and I visited with a group of conservative members and they were very concerned because the big discussion of the day was whether or not the tax credit would be for the people of income of $200,000 a year or $95,000 a year.

329
00:28:14.120 --> 00:28:44.120
I mean that was the issue of the day and I said that's you know important you should always argue for the best and it shouldn't be any limitation for that matter but I said have you have you ever considered what's going on with the dollar and actually they don't I mean it's they don't have a clear understanding about the importance of the dollar the Federal Reserve system most members of Congress do not understand how the Federal Reserve system works the newer members I was

330
00:28:44.120 --> 00:29:02.120
and I think there's sort of lost in the maze of things up there so that if the orders come down that you would vote to have strong law and order, whether it violates the concept of states' rights and individual rights, that's beside the point.

331
00:29:02.120 --> 00:29:13.120
One of the pieces of legislation that would have been most disturbing for me to deal with was that of the reform of civil law and the lawsuits because if there's anything you want me to get riled up about,

332
00:29:13.120 --> 00:29:27.120
They've filed up about talking about litigation and physicians and these outrageous things that are occurring in the courts, but they've literally, if this goes through with the House, they've nationalized, they've superseded everything the states do in civil courts.

333
00:29:27.120 --> 00:29:41.120
People in a box that say that if you don't vote for it, you mean you want to support the trial lawyers and all these other people and you don't think there's a litigation crisis out there, and yet what they've done was literally nationalize all the civil courts and overrule all the state courts.

334
00:29:41.120 --> 00:29:44.640
This is all done in the name of less government.

335
00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:48.160
That is a little bit disturbing.

336
00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:53.760
Most people here I'm sure are aware of a writer in the 18th century, the 19th century, a French

337
00:29:53.760 --> 00:29:56.120
writer by the name of Bastiat.

338
00:29:56.120 --> 00:30:04.080
Bastiat talked a whole lot about the morality of liberty and freedom and most of us like

339
00:30:04.080 --> 00:30:11.040
to quote him because in spite of the shortness of his book, The Law, it packed a lot of information

340
00:30:11.040 --> 00:30:13.040
and a lot of true Senate.

341
00:30:13.040 --> 00:30:20.040
Bastiat said when plunder has become a way of life for a group of people living together in society,

342
00:30:20.040 --> 00:30:26.040
they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it

343
00:30:26.040 --> 00:30:29.040
and a moral code that glorifies it.

344
00:30:29.040 --> 00:30:35.040
And I think we're there. We have a legal system that authorizes it through the welfare state.

345
00:30:35.040 --> 00:30:40.040
And what about the moral code? The moral code that they demand that they have a right to this.

346
00:30:40.040 --> 00:30:44.600
they don't even tell everything is an entitlement entitlement and inferring

347
00:30:44.600 --> 00:30:49.960
that they they have this natural right to be given this nobody really questions

348
00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:53.960
the victims who have to be taxed and regulated in order to pay for this and

349
00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:59.560
yet the the plunderers are still alive and well and more numerous than ever and

350
00:30:59.560 --> 00:31:03.360
they're playing tricks and they'll deceive us and use all kind of language

351
00:31:03.360 --> 00:31:08.760
to pacify us and yet there this is a time and an age when if this crisis is

352
00:31:08.760 --> 00:31:25.760
is building where those of us who believe in liberty are going to be challenged by those who want one-world government if this is coming to pass where we have to meet with it, we have to have our ammunition, we have to have the strength to defend our position on moral terms as well as economic terms because it is crucial.

353
00:31:25.760 --> 00:31:35.760
It would be nice for the Texas Republic to be developed and be a libertarian example for the world. That's not likely to occur.

354
00:31:35.760 --> 00:31:44.760
I'm really quite satisfied, I'd be quite satisfied if we could immediately secede from the United Nations at the moment.

355
00:31:47.760 --> 00:31:51.760
Not too long ago there was a vote in the Congress and it was carried by two-thirds.

356
00:31:51.760 --> 00:32:02.760
The vote was suggested to curtail the power of the President, to curtail his power to authorize United States troops to be put under United Nations commanders.

357
00:32:02.760 --> 00:32:12.760
It failed by two-thirds. Can you believe that? Two-thirds of the people in Congress thought that he should have this power. This came up after Somalia.

358
00:32:12.760 --> 00:32:23.760
I have to say that it did happen before the new Congress was in there, but just the fact that it's happened within the last six months shows you that the movement toward one world government is alive and well.

359
00:32:23.760 --> 00:32:29.760
The movement toward liberty is alive and well, and we can win because we have truth on our side.

360
00:32:29.760 --> 00:32:34.560
on our side and we have events moving in our direction and the people need to be awakened

361
00:32:34.560 --> 00:32:40.520
to the fact that this is indeed a time of crisis in which we live and that we can do

362
00:32:40.520 --> 00:32:45.980
something about it rather than taking the crisis and throwing up our hands and allowing

363
00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:51.320
them to establish a more powerful fascist state, this is the time we must be prepared

364
00:32:51.320 --> 00:32:54.160
to present our views.

365
00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:57.440
This is not a perfect example but it's a pretty good example if you compare what is

366
00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:00.340
is happening today in Russia versus Estonia.

367
00:33:00.340 --> 00:33:03.640
Russia is in total chaos, doing very poorly,

368
00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:05.280
and not a whole lot of hopes.

369
00:33:05.280 --> 00:33:08.560
How many want to go to Russia and invest their money today?

370
00:33:08.560 --> 00:33:10.560
Not a whole lot of people.

371
00:33:10.560 --> 00:33:12.920
But think about Estonia.

372
00:33:12.920 --> 00:33:15.200
They have developed more free market principles.

373
00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:19.200
They have at least lent their name to sound money

374
00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:21.080
and have restrained the monetary authorities.

375
00:33:21.080 --> 00:33:23.360
They have talked about and used a certain amount of gold

376
00:33:23.360 --> 00:33:27.200
to back their currency, and they have a much better economy.

377
00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:36.200
There's nothing that says that they are secure and over and past all the chances of ever becoming a status communist state again, but at least you can see the difference.

378
00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:39.200
And that is what we have to be prepared for.

379
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:52.200
If it is true that the welfare state is coming to an end, and I think the dollar has to be watched because a total dollar collapse would be the ushering in event that would and could precipitate the total failure of this system,

380
00:33:52.200 --> 00:33:56.680
System, then we must be prepared and we must be willing to be aggressive to present these

381
00:33:56.680 --> 00:34:03.080
views and fortunately for us there are groups like the Mises Institute and others teaching

382
00:34:03.080 --> 00:34:09.620
and educating so many young people that we are much better off and these ideas are much

383
00:34:09.620 --> 00:34:10.620
more receptive.

384
00:34:10.620 --> 00:34:15.480
It is up to us, those who are concerned and those of us who do understand these issues,

385
00:34:15.480 --> 00:34:18.740
to do our very best to preserve liberty here in America.

386
00:34:18.740 --> 00:34:19.740
Thank you very much.

387
00:34:19.740 --> 00:34:21.740
Thank you very much.