John Taylor Gatto - part 1

This is the first of what will probably be many posts on Gatto's work. With documentaries like "2 Million Minutes", "Waiting for Superman" and "Flunked" out there, people are realizing the decrepit states that public schools are in. Gatto surmises, correctly I believe, that the public schools are doing EXACTLY what they are supposed to do. Creating a stratified society, locking people in at their caste, or level, and producing new waves of consumers is the goal, and it is working quite well when looked at through that lens. Pay particular attention past the 4 minute mark when he talks about the Utopianist (for lack of a better word) tendencies of those who want to control the population via the State. We call them 'progressives' nowadays, as they wish the Government to control all delivery methods. The Church and the Family were 'getting in the way'. We are seeing the fruits of this labor now.

Required reading: Weapons of Mass Instruction, John Taylor Gatto

Ralph Raico

You've never heard of him.  I know this because he is about as far from the mainstream as one can get.  I came across his name via the Lew Rockwell site - www.lewrockwell.com - and I was immediately intrigued as he was described as being an historical free spirit.  Apparently his body of work is outstanding.

In this speech (all of 146 views) he mentions: William Graham Sumner, T. Roosevelt, Martin Van Buren, Herman Goering,  Jessica Lynch and Kevin Tillman.  I don't think it's possible to mention such a varied and eclectic bunch in 32 minutes but he does it with seamlessness and skill.

Pay particular attention to the last 12 minutes or so when he informs you of the true intentions of Empire.  Through Sumner's work he explains very clearly, that the people about whom you've never heard are the ones who are telling you from the grave why things have gotten so bad.  These names have been kept from you.   They are not on your list in History class.  As mentioned in the previous post, this has been deliberate.  How many William Graham Sumner essays were you assigned from Kindergarten through College?  What possible reasons could Raico have to mention Grover Cleveland and Martin Van Buren as 'great presidents'?

Recommended reading: Ralph Raico archives at LewRockwell.com

The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America

That seems like a very harsh title.  I'd heard of Charlotte Iserbyte's book by the same title, but a 12 minute video?  It must be a product of the lunatic fringe.

Unfortunately, it's not.  It is, however, what you find when you stop looking at "established sources" only for your information.  Look up the quotes, research the people mentioned.  Do YOUR homework for a change.  Don't be one of the people too limited to be unable to refute any of the facts stated here.

Remember, the title says 'deliberate'.  It has been deliberate - frighteningly enough.

Required reading: The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto

Economic Knowledge

Peter Schiff was right.

Peter Schiff and what he has done the last 8 years or so is one of the great examples of 'new media'. Peter Schiff called out the purveyors of the Housing Bubble and told them, to their faces, that they were full of it. 20 years ago he would have been dismissed as an eccentric oddball, and pushed aside. Now when that is tried, whoops, bad move. Why? Because some copyright challenged people were recording Schiff getting laughed at and ridiculed.
Look at the dates on the videos, and watch how the only contrarian of the group - Schiff, is marginalized and made fun of. That feeling you get when you are hearing the truth - pat attention to it. The sheeple got sheared, and those that ignored the herd were able to get out of the way of the crash.

Peter Schiff was right. And thanks to Youtube, we now have easily accessible proof.

Recommended reading: Crashproof 2.0 - Peter Schiff

A Government Program you might dislike

Apparently there are 'residential camps' in the USA. OK they have barbed wire, and look scary - so what. Well, who paid for it? These are multimillion dollar outfits. Where's the budget entry? I've seen these on some of the fringe sites out there, but when it comes to cable, and then gets bounced from the rerun list - we should take notice. Note the quisling congressmen interviewed. I can't think of a better expose' of what the US congress has become.

Recommended reading: Behold a Pale Horse - Bill Cooper. Cooper was on to this in the 1980's. Of course no one listened. He referred to the Americans as 'sheeple'. The first person I've ever heard use that term.

The 4th amendment - required reading.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Why 250 million Americans aren't up in arms against is baffling to me. Perhaps it is a 'test' to see what people will accept - how far they can be pushed. 2 or 3 steps away from this is people being 'searched' because they said something unacceptable to the Powers That Be. Hey wait! you might say - that's the first amendment!!. There has been a movement (it has failed) to take away the second amendment for about the past 60 years, your 4th amendments are being eroded right under your nose. If the PTB want to take the 2nd and 4th away - why not the 1st? As long as people say nothing, it becomes possible.

Required reading: The Bill of Rights.

The Madness of a Lost Society

There are more and more videos like this on the www. Some of it is, undoubtedly, a result of the proliferation of the web itself. Some of it reflects the breakdown of our school systems - most notably and egregiously, our public school system. Think about things like 'civics', 'citizenship', 'values', 'character Ed.' and the like. Not only are we not teaching them in our schools, they SHOULDN'T be taught in school - they should be learned at home and in the community. The following video, in 4 minutes, shows what happens when "The Civic Education that Everybody Needs" as V. D. Hanson has written, is scrapped.

What does my school do to 'fix' the problem? We hire more $1000 a day 'progressive educators' from Columbia's Teachers's College. Well, at least the people in the video and our student population have solid levels of self esteem.

Ben Bernank

Yes, the spelling is supposed to be 'Bernanke'.  This video is the perfect representative for what the FED is all about.  What is more surprising - the comments that disfavor the video.  I guess what the people who love their Financial Commissars to manage their lives don't want something scary like 'freedom' altering their worldview.

Why is this so?  Many have little to no education about what the FED is or what it does.  One thing that it's done that a few people can understand is this:  It has destroyed, through inflation, 96% of the American dollar since its inception in 1913.  No, inflation is not inevitable.  Prices went DOWN during the 1800's, when we had a gold standard.   That's what happens in a free market.

Recommended reading:  Griffin, G. Edward, The Creature From Jekyll Island

Motivation

Welcome to my first post.  For the time being I'll keep things simple, as this is a learning process for me.  Eventually I'd like to embed video, show tutorials, and comment on pertinent topics.