THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER

 Vol. 1                                       Issue 2                                           02/01/01

A FREEWHEELING CONSERVATIVE COMMENTARY.                    READER DIALOG ENCOURAGED.

Produced occasionally when I'm good and ready, but probably at least 10 times a year.

J.E. Sohmer   P O Box 129  Jefferson, CO 80456

Where the air is thin and the hunting and fishing are good.

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SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES:  "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

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MYTH BUSTING WISDOM

I submit that in a nation with over a 50% effective tax rate on earnings (in 1776 real Americans rebelled at 3%) that it is time to pay more attention to the 13th Amendment (sadly, never properly passed in the first place).  Yes, add up all income taxes, Federal, State and Local, direct and indirect, excise taxes and local taxes, and I submit we are in a condition of slavery.

The price of any product or service you buy is loaded with taxes.  It is the individual citizen who pays the entire bill, at the point of a gun. Cost of taxpayer defense is extra.

To comprehend the political dialog ongoing daily it is necessary to have some understanding of the ideological framework within which the discussion is occurring.

Contemporary American Liberalism finds its principal root growth in the Progressive movement of the late 19th century coupled with Marxism in the 20th century.  Liberals consider themselves to be reformers, utilizing the power of government to change people "for the better".  They consider human nature to be malleable.  Liberals are not shy about their own sense of superiority over "the peasants" and generally believe that the end justifies the means in accomplishing their various noble missions.  Upon close examination, most Liberals are atheists, and not infrequently the spoiled children of rich Republicans.  From the perspective of Libertarians and Conservatives, Liberals are Statists. (See below)

Contemporary American Libertarians find their roots in 18th and early 19th century Liberalism.   Libertarians champion minimal government and free market economics. They see the principal function of government as that of protecting the legal climate of private contract law.  On social issues, Libertarians are laissez faire, and, like Liberals, tend to be atheists.  Many "Libertarians", I suspect, are also Liberals in costume.   Libertarians are suspicious of what they see as the "social side" of Conservatism and the economic socialism of Liberals.

American Conservatives reach back in western history to the Old Testament for their philosophical and legal foundations, but more recently English common law.  The torch was passed from the Old World to the New World primarily by Edmond Burke.  Conservative thinking is guided by "the wisdom of the ages" which includes free markets, the sanctity of private property, personal responsibility, a recognition of, and respect for God, and a desire for free individuals (God's children) to develop their fullest personal potential here on earth.  American Conservatives revere the American Constitution for its recognition of sovereignty as originating with the individual citizen (the people) and extending up, a complete reversal of the legal reasoning of European monarchy, the debate between Jeffersonians and Federalists notwithstanding. The bitterest divisions in American politics today are traceable to this particular point as Conservatives see Liberals (Statists) re-creating  the logic of Monarchy utilizing the tools of 20th century Statist dictatorship.   American Conservatives object to Liberal socialism and the Secular Hedonism advanced by both Liberals and Libertarians.

Statist is a term that is enjoying a revival among those concerned with the common thread of late 19^thand 20th century ideologies, most especially communism and fascism, that led to well known disasters. From the American Conservative perspective, in a somewhat broader sense Statism necessarily must also include any political initiative that advances the notion of top down sovereignty and control.  This includes the American far left, currently represented through the Democratic National Committee.  There has been a long historical relationship, more than philosophical, between the American left and communism that has been well documented and thoroughly verified by the release of files from the old Soviet Union.

With the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the utter failure of command socialism/central planning, it is fascinating to witness the apparent morphing of philosophical communists worldwide, including American Liberals, into a fascist mindset.  I would suggest that the Statist Left (communists) and the Statist Right (fascists) really shake hands on the back side of a circle.  The Statism they share in common is the ugly legacy of the 20th Century.  Communists prefer central economic planning and ownership.  Fascists (National Socialists) accomplish the same objective through central regulation and political direction of otherwise private corporations.  Watch who is providing leadership to the so-called environmental and animal rights movements.  These are mainly the same folks, whose primary interest is grabbing control of the private sector and your lives, not concern about snail darters or the family cat.  Watch the Liberals wrestle with the California power situation. Socialism in any form whatsoever is inherently Statist, and will fail.

Democracy. In its pure form this means that in a room full of three people, two men could choose to rape the woman. This is also known as mobocracy. Minority rights do not exist and might makes right. The communist play on this, in the absence of a structure of law, is to invert the mob into a "dictatorship of the proletariat", frequently labeled as a Peoples Democratic Republic.

Constitutional Republic. In the American model, democratic processes are used within the legal context of a Constitution and a structure of law created under said Constitution, specifically designed to protect individual citizens from government excesses and mob rule. It is a system of laws, not men, under God, and inconsistent with left wing notions of intellectual and moral relativism.

I realize that this very cursory overview is subject to the charge of oversimplification, but dialog needs to start somewhere, and my assumption here is that there are people out there who have never given these things much thought and might have become curious.  The summary above is accurate, if incomplete. **

 A truly in-depth education is available within the materials listed in the recommended reading list referred to below.

CURRENT READING RECOMMENDATION:

1.) THE CONSERVATIVE MIND

            RUSSELL KIRK

            REGNERY PUBLISHING            XXX                 XXX

2.) WAR ON THE WEST: GOVERNMENT TYRANNY ON AMERICA'S GREAT FRONTIER

            WILLIAM PERRY PENDLEY

            REGNERY PUBLISHING            312 PGS           $24.95

3.) FREEDOM IN CHAINS: THE RISE OF THE STATE AND THE DEMISE OF THE CITIZEN

            JAMES BOVARD

            ST. MARTIN'S PRESS              326 PGS           $26.95

God Bless America

JIM

JIM SOHMER

AMERICAN NATIONALIST CONSERVATIVE

JEFFERSON, CO 80456