Today is 4/11.  In America 411 is synonymous with the dialed number on the telephone for “information”; this was what we formerly used if we didn’t have the “White/Yellow Pages” handy.  Now the internet and search engines have made those services obsolete.

But it’s odd, that in this great “Age of Information” that so many have lost the ability to think for themselves and pushed that job onto the government or media.

I don’t have to tell you what is happening all around you.

You already know that you are being held hostage in some form of house arrest.

Oh sure, they call it “Social Distancing”, “Quarantine”, or “Lockdown”.

Odd that they can’t think of a better sounding euphemism for house arrest.  Perhaps “Stay Home Fun Zone!”

But there is nothing fun about the real world implications that these authoritarian measures are having and will have in the coming weeks, months, and years.

Where did we lose our way?  Have we become so susceptible to a media that is constantly in search of click-bait to hold our attention for a moment or too, that we lose our minds and can’t think rationally in the face of a challenge we’ve met time and again for all of humanity?

Every year the world is plagued by viruses that prey on those with weakened immune systems.

Every year hundreds of thousands die from them.

Why did we decide to shut down this year?  Is this year’s virus really that much more dangerous to all of humanity?  Is the death toll really that much higher?

Even that, is beside the point.

“What is my point then?”

Why do we not recognize the real viruses that have infected America and much of the world?

One virus is that we allow the freedoms that so many the world over have died for, to be lost in a mind-numbed state of panic.  Where are the protests over this lockdown?

I don’t know about your country, but in America we have a Bill of Rights.  The very first amendment reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Why are we not petitioning the Government for a redress of grievances right now?!?

They took away the right to peaceably assemble!  Did will really just roll over on the first amendment?

Just in case you weren’t certain, there is no asterisk that nullifies the constitution, stating:

*Except when scary germs are out there!

Did we forget that authoritarian governments the world over are responsible for the untimely deaths of hundreds of millions during just the past century?

Do you think that number is high?  Sadly, it is not.  WWI, WWII, ethnic purges in Europe, Russia, Asia and other countries.

Over 100 million government forced abortions for the demonic “one-child” policy in China, as well as the 60 plus million Chinese who died of starvation during Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”.

Personally I’m not afraid of viruses.  I’m afraid of tyrannical governments.  Because they will leave you no choice.  You will have no freedom.  And they will unhesitatingly take your life.  They will do what is best for their power and wealth, with very little concern for you.

You are far more likely to be killed by them and their policies that seasonal flu (which, FYI, government can’t protect you from either).

When people are trusted with personal liberty and are under rule of law (not of men), where actions have consequences, society very quickly learns how to protect itself and even thrive by working together.

Those whose goods and services are favored through voluntary transactions are rewarded and propagated, those who do not add value fail, and often times after failure they get better and find ways to help and build society.  They don’t get bailouts.

Similarly, we don’t need an autocrat to tell us when we can leave home or when it is ok to do business or any other silly aspect of the current stay-at-home madness.

If I am genuinely worried about a virus or that those I come in contact with may be affected, I can take my own precautions.  You can too.

Those who are in real danger and their loved ones can be trusted to take what they deem are necessary precautions as well.

Sweden trusts their own citizens during this time of panic, why can’t the rest of the world?

Another virus that has swept America and the world is the idea that government can bail everyone out and nobody need to suffer (little thought for the 17 million in the US who already lost their ability to provide for themselves).

Or that since government can print money, we can just print our way out of this mess (worked great in Zimbabwe, Weimar Germany, Argentina, and most recently in Venezuela, right?)

Think about that for a second.  Are you willing to put your trust in a bureaucratic nightmare that can only give to you by taking from someone else?

Maybe you believe that the other person has plenty and it’s reasonable for you to take from them.

This of course is a fallacy.

It is the tyranny of the majority.  It’s two wolves and one sheep voting on what is for dinner.

And do you think the bailouts are really even engineered to actually benefit the poor to begin with?  No!

They may toss a bone to the poor in the hopes of generating perpetually impoverished wards of the state who will keep voting for them (because they have become like drug addicts, dependent on their dealer’s supply), but they don’t get the real money.

No, the real money, the big money, goes to the powerful elites and ensures that their bad investments get bailed out by working class Americans that pay taxes and own small businesses but are not part of the elite.

What do you think the Federal Reserve is doing right now?  This private bank with a government issued monopoly on US dollar creation is now buying up unlimited debt, not just government debt and mortgage debt, but now private corporate debt as well.

And of course, no protest, because “it is a time of panic, this requires drastic (see draconian) action!”  Who benefits form this most?  The ultra-wealthy who instead of losing on risky investments, instead get to keep all the upside action, with little concern for any downside risk.

It’s time to wake up America (and world)!

Government is only valid in securing our natural rights.  It is not valid in placing us all under house arrest and then picking and choosing winners and losers.

Often times you hear someone say “It’s a free country!”, effectively telling someone they may disagree with, that they can do what they want, even if they think it’s a poor choice.

Let’s remember the rugged people who settled this country from coast to coast.

Did they get government bailouts when their ox got sick on the trail?

No!

Did they shut down the country when Malaria was decimating the population?

No!

They accepted that while all die, only a courageous and fortunate few truly live free; many of them determined to do just that, and despite the uncertainties we now face, so should we!

Do we chose liberty and reassert our natural God-given rights?

YES!!!

And that’s the 411 for today, 4/11/2020.