Forced Giving Isn't Charity and It Causes Harm

One of life’s most blessed things, is to give. I mean it! Giving, voluntarily, to a cause, person, group, or candidate, really gives one a sense of accomplishment. At least it does me. Regardless of ones economic situation, giving to who or what one considers important, is one of the things which can really give life some meaning.

Personally, I give to political candidates who express my feelings, and especially at the local level. I tithe to my church. I give to the Nevada Northern Railroad, which is perhaps the one remaining steam railroad or railroad of any kind, which is totally original in every respect. I give to the Durango Railroad Historical Society which has restored the 315, the oldest narrow gauge steam locomotive there is. I am a life member of six historical societies, Colorado Railroad Museum, Museum of the Mountain West, the NRA and GOA. I have supported my kids many times. I am a big tipper at restaurants, because wait persons have to work hard for what they do, and far too many restaurant patrons leave a 10% tip or stiff them. I can go on and on, but that’s just me. It gives me great pleasure to give to those charities for which I approve.

I wouldn’t give a dime to the ACLU, Democrats, unions, the homeless, the lazy, dirty, beggars, or lots of others. I patronize symphony concerts, and give to the Utah Symphony. When I lived in Phoenix I was on the board of the Arizona Opera, and won a beautiful brass lamp for selling the most season tickets to the Phoenix Symphony. I love old people, buildings, cars, trains, carousels, books, film, music, and history. See? Now you know all about me and my likes, for what that’s worth. You can take it and maybe get a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

The point is that when I give to a cause or person, I want to be certain that the cause or person is a worthwhile cause or person. In times past, when a charity outfit existed and gave to the poor or needy, they had a woodshed out back, and the recipient was made to work for his or her handout, which is as it should be. I will give to help my neighborhood, town, state, or even nation. I consider the Tea Party Movement to be our one chance of national salvation, and I give to it, and stand on street corners waving my flag. I sent money to Ron Paul, and locals who are good people and who are running for office. I send money to Sheriff Joe Arpiao and J.D. Hayworth. John McCain has to go!

Many men in history have given their lives and money for their favorite cause. Henry Flaggler was a rich man, and he decided that he wanted to build a railroad to Key West, Florida. He did it, and it ran till a hurricane in the 1930’s took it out. He spent his wealth hiring thousands of men to do what he wanted to do. When you drive to Key West today, you drive over Flaggler’s bridges. Consider our Founders, who took their lives in their hands by signing the Declaration of Independence, and those brave fighters who fought for our independence. Good people are not afraid to give and work for causes or people they consider to be deserved.

The point of this is that when people do as they are able, to help those they consider worthy, it is totally on a volunteer basis. I give to those who will work for what I give them, preserve things, or be a good politician. Those on the opposite side of me will give to street panhandlers, Democrat candidates, and left wing causes, but still they are doing what they do on a strictly volunteer basis, which is as it should be. Slobs and ner-do-wells don’t keep their homes well groomed, thereby harming their neighborhood. Fools don’t discipline their kids and they turn out badly, but even this is voluntary. Fools don’t maintain their cars, and they suffer for it, but it is also voluntary. In a free nation, as we are supposed to be, charity starts at home, as the old saying goes. But does it?

Now that we have gotten the unimportant part over with, let’s get on to the real problem. My personal giving habits, are important only to me, although I did receive one letter from a reader who truthfully believes that some of the homeless are really worthwhile and can be helped. I don’t disagree, but not for me. We are generally adults as we were as children, or were raised as children, and it’s that way with me. I was exposed to railroads, old buildings, etc, as a child, and it stuck. I am probably a so-called ‘snob,’ because I was a spoilt only child who was sent to a superb private school. I can’t help my up-bringing, only to be thankful for it, which I am!

The point is, that whether you wish to give to the homeless, or whoever or whatever you wish to give to, it will be a blessing to you. But suppose you were forced to give to a cause you despised? Suppose you were forced to give to a foreign nation you disliked, or a charity you hated? This is what is happening to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars every week, or maybe more. Your dollars, to the tune of $50 billion of them, and it will be more, believe me, has been sent to bail out Greece. I don’t want to bail out Greece, as it is their problem, not mine. The Germans have sent a lot more, to their loathing. Why do the Greeks need to be bailed out? Because their politicians, like those in D.C. have spent and spent, and spent, in order to get re-elected, and they have bankrupted Greece, just like the D.C. Gang has bankrupted America. The politicos in Spain and Portugal have done the same thing. No citizen in Greece, Spain, or Portugal voted to bankrupt their respective nations, and neither did we, but it happened, thanks to a small group of politicians in every nation.

Politicians have ALWAYS invented causes, bureaucracies, departments, and cabinet positions, which cost huge sums of dollars, and now euros, which will “benefit,” “protect,” or some such nonsense, which are damned lies 99% of the time. This spending, or forced charity, has bankrupted America, Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc. Japan, the UK, America, Mexico, and others may fall in line, and destroy the entire world’s currency and economics, which is why we have gold and silver. They are immune to political votes and destruction.

How about public housing, Medicaid, Medicare, and food stamps? How about TARP, and hundreds of billions of bailouts ‘to save the economy?’ How about foreign aid, and dozens of bureaucracies which are supposed to ‘make you safe,’ or ‘protect you from your enemies?’ Funny, but I don’t consider Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, or Korea, ‘my enemy.’ If a foreign nation is invaded or has a problem, let them solve their own problems, and don’t drag me down with them. I think that if a business, nation, or person can’t make it on their own, or can’t find a suitable private charity to help, they should simply go broke, or evaporate from the earth. Think of how clean and tidy the world would be, without those hangers on, and recipients of government largess, all paid INVOLUNTARILY by billions of taxpayers. The world’s scumbags and trash of all races, which pollute the streets and byways of most major cities, would not exist. Our taxes would be a fraction of what they are now, if indeed there were any taxes at all.

Then there are the public school systems, which long ago have failed to really educate kids, other than those who have had home schooling or caring parents. The public school systems gobble up about 75% of your property taxes. For what? As baby sitters? American children, BEFORE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, were hundreds of percentage points better educated, than they are now. Suppose, before public schools, parents didn’t teach or care for their kids? What then? Those kids would have failed in life, and probably had a short life span. Cruel? Absolutely not. If someone spends too much, drinks too much, does drugs, smokes, drives recklessly, takes chances with a bungee or parachute jump, and has their life cut short, so what? It’s their choice, just as it is a parent’s choice to train their kids and educate them or let them go the way of all flesh, and die young or be poor. Did George Washington, Ben Franklin, or Tom Jefferson go to a public school? Some of the most brilliant, artistic, and successful people in the world, had little formal education [as we understand it today], but they had caring parents.

Forced giving, in the form of taxation and currency degradation, throughout the world, should not exist, and it just as simple as that. Our Constitution limits the power of government, and 99% of what world governments do, is unjust to their constituencies, and actual robbery and wholesale theft. My parents thought that the public school system was abysmal in the late 40’s and early 50’s, and took me out of it, but they were hundreds of percentage points better then than they are now. Don’t blame the teacher’s unions any more than the entire concept of “public” anything, be it rest rooms, schools, housing, or hundreds of bailouts, subsidies, and benefits. All these things are given to the weak sector of the population or business world, at the expense of, and dragging down the strong. If they are weak and stupid, they should fail by their own devices, and not be allowed to hang on at my expense, your expense, or the expense of the world’s taxpayers.

Wouldn’t it be great to reform the world? We have a chance to reform America this fall, and in November of 2012. Let’s do it and contribute to and work for true conservative candidates. So far, it’s working, with several liberals or RINOS (Republicans in name only) being defeated in primaries. Anyone who voted for TARP, including John McCain, should be defeated. A long time Republican Utah Senator who voted for TARP, just got thrown out. Now he says he will run as an independent, which may allow a Democrat to win. How stupid!!!! Keep it up, and send checks to those who are needing of your support.

Regards,
Don Stott
ColoradoGold.com
Whiskey & Gunpowder

May 14, 2010