Free Competition in Currency Act

Ron Paul recently introduced the Free Competition in Currency Act which has three parts as follows.

Courtesy of DownsizeDC.org:

• The Honest Money portion would repeal the legal tender law, which gives the Federal Reserve a monopoly over the money supply.
• The Competitive Currency section would repeal the words of Title 18 Section 489 of the U.S. Code, which gives the United States government a monopoly over the creation of coins for use as currency.
• The Tax-Free Gold component of the bill would prohibit federal and state taxes, such as capital gains, on precious metal coins and bullion.

If you are new to the idea of competing currencies, then read more here.

Any power a government arrogates to itself, it is loathe to give back
to the people. Just as we have gone from a constitutionally-instituted
national defense consisting of a limited army and navy bolstered by
militias and letters of marque and reprisal, we have moved from a
system of competing currencies to a government-instituted banking
cartel that monopolizes the issuance of currency. -- Ron Paul

Rep. John Murtha Dead

Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha has passed away today. The Congressman died of complications after gallbladder surgery. No stranger to controversy, Murtha was known as one of the " kings of pork" -- but also for his critism of the Iraq War. He was also the first Vietnam War  combat veteran to be elected in Congress. Congressman Murtha was 77 years old.

Civilian deaths and conscription in Afghanistan

As has been the case since the beginning of the conflict in Afghanistan, the numbers of civilian dead or wounded continue to be staggering.  Unfortunately, the Western "solution" to increase support for the Karzai government, which is in effect nothing but one more faction competing for power, will in fact simply increase the source of the problem, as the addition of 40,000 troops to the country will merely increase the amount of night bombings and air support needed for American (excuse me...coalition) forces.

Karzai seems to have a great solution to the problem of civilian deaths -- make everyone join the military!  The Associated Press reports:

Karzai told a conference of the world's top defense officials in Munich that he wants to build and train an army and police force of 300,000 by 2012 that will be able to provide security for Afghanistan by 2015 without external help.

Governments, Technology, and the Rise of the Warfare State

With every advance in technology also comes a regression, of sorts. When the Agricultural Revolution brought immense change to the world, axes and spears were invented to protect property. As civilizations and populations grew over the years, the gun was eventually invented. And when world superpowers, full of precious ‘cargo’ to protect, scoffed at diplomacy the arms race began. Great technological progress has brought the world to one of two options: 1. the power to create, and 2. the power to destroy. Despite all good intentions, the power to destroy continues to live on.

American society has been and always will be changing. Certain values, notions, and ideals are quite firmly ingrained in the American psyche, and they are far from being completely erased (individualism, republican democracy, and "capitalism"). These are abstract things, however. Ideas are not easily replaced, as they typically need a philosophical revolution to do so. Concrete, tangible things, on the other hand, are constantly being added and taken from American society. Ford’s Model T, "The Lawrence Welk Show," the 8-track tape, and Levi Jeans were, and still are, emblematic of American society. However, their heyday was over long ago. The Hummer is the new Model T, American Idol the new "Lawrence Welk Show," the iPod the new 8-track tape, and a flashy $200 pair of jeans the new pair of Levi’s. All of this seems and is a great step forward.  Things became available to the masses and no longer just the elite. And they worked much better, too. All of this progress masked a tragic phenomenon: the progression of weapons technology and the regression of human interaction.