Posted on December 14, 2012 by Geoff Crocker
Menzies House welcomes Frank Waller, a new contributor who is concerned about the erosion of rights and freedoms occurring in Australia under a Labor government. Remediation will require more people like Frank to voice their opinions to force change and restore our freedoms.
What does the Magna Carta, the storming of the Bastille and media censorship have in common? If you believe they have nothing in common, you would be wrong. Even worse, you may be ignoring one of the most important lessons in history.
Let’s begin with one of the most important documents ever written—the Magna Carta, (The Great Charter of the Liberties of England).
By 1215 the power and control exerted by the king of England was out of hand, and much of the population was becoming uneasy. There existed few restraints on royal power, and one could readily end up dead or permanently imprisoned if one fell from royal favor.
No trial was necessary—the King’s word was final. Gruesome tortures or worse, awaited those (traitors) who displeased the King for any number of reasons. However, enough became enough and the Feudal Barons eventually came together to challenge the King face to face, presenting the first version of the Magna Carta as a direct ultimatum to his unchecked power. The powerful barons eventually prevailed and the rest as they say is history. This brings us to one of the most powerful articles of the Magna Carta itself, article [29] (still on the books today).
[29.] NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any otherwise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right. [44]
Note the reference to “lawful judgment of his Peers”. This simple phrase is the circuit breaker that makes it difficult for the powerful few, to exert tyranny over the citizen.
Now let’s travel through time to the morning of 14 July 1789, to revolutionary France and the “Storming of the Bastille” in Paris.
The storming of the Bastille and the role it played in the French revolution are historical fact. Not so well known is the actual building’s purpose, or the reason that it became such an important flashpoint for the people at that time.
The Bastille or “Bastille Saint-Antoine” was not a palace, or a place of residence. It was primarily a royal prison. Although the Bastille played various roles including document storage, its most controversial role was as a political prison. A place where “enemies of the state” were jailed for “crimes” as trivial as disagreeing with King Louis XVIIV and breaching government censorship rules of printed media. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille).
Thus the Bastille prison came to represent the very aspects of heavy-handed repression that the Barons had attempted to overcome in Britain nearly 550 years before. It was a hated place; a symbol of totalitarianism and when it was over-run by the people it was torn down and demolished one brick at a time. Today, “Bastille Day” in France commemorates this important mark in French history.
Moving forward to the present, the Gillard government considers recommendations in its recently conducted “Finkelstein enquiry”. These recommendations, if followed, will set up a new regulatory body whose main purpose is greater control the news media and further restrict free speech in Australia.
The Hon Ray Finkelstein QC, a retired Federal Court Judge, openly admits the purpose of the proposed new body when he says. “It could not be denied that whatever mechanism is chosen to ensure accountability, speech will be restricted. In a sense, that is the purpose of the mechanism.”
Thus, a new question arises; what will happen when an Australian inevitably falls foul of such government censorship rules? Will the offender be issued with a fine or a cease and desist order? What happens if the fine goes unpaid or the remarks continue?
Is the Gillard government really going to use taxpayer money to incarcerate an Australian citizen if they continue to speak freely in contravention of government policy?
Will there be provision in the federal budget to set up a modern-day Australian version of the “Bastille Saint-Antoine” where political prisoners can be incarcerated?
Hopefully, for the sake of all Australians the costly lessons of history will not be lost on our present Government, but instead inspire our elected representatives to consider this extremely important issue.
Frank Waller is a fourth generation Australian whose pioneering ancestors came to Southern Victoria from England over a century ago. He balances time between his young family, a busy career in aviation, and the demands of his Gippsland farm.
Frank’s libertarian ideals philosophically favour smaller Government, greater personal responsibility, and peaceful social interaction free of intrusive state intervention. He considers free speech to be one of the foremost pillars of western civilization and its free sharing of thought to be fundamental in the advancement of human understanding.
The United States bill of rights comprises 10 “no-go zones” which protects peoples liberties from Government interference. The US bill of rights uses the even older English bill of rights of 1689 for its inspiration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689. Both documents are still valid legal documents, and both allow citizens to carry firearms for their own self defence.
The Second Amendment to the U.S constitution is very concise, a single line which reads.
“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.”
The simple beauty and clarity of such an important statement should never be underestimated. The true genius of this amendment is that it gets more important and thus more popular, as the government becomes more omnipotent. There is beautiful circular reasoning to this, that goes like this.
1. Our government is restrained by its governing document which is the U.S. Constitution.
2. The Constitution confirms our right to bear arms.
3. Therefore, we will support the U.S. constitution, which limits the government’s power.
4. We are armed, and we require that the government follows the constitution.
5. Back to number1.↑
With the stroke of a pen, the power of the people is absolute, and totalitarian power is held in check for now.
As most people would be aware, gun ownership in society is a touchy subject; many innocent people have been slain in tragic circumstances by evil people using guns. In the USA alone the death toll each year from guns is around 3 per 100,000 population with about double that for suicides.
Regarding gun deaths, let’s get down to the nitty gritty and look at Democide. Democide refers to the murder of an individual or a group of people through direct actions that were taken by their government. The numbers are staggering, since 1900 its estimated that more than 242 million people have been killed. Some of the worst Governments include China; (soviet) Russia; North Korea; Uganda; Mexico; Cambodia; Rwanda and others. These deaths do not include war, but rather forced starvation; labour camps; political executions, genocides, forced relocations and the like, even the actions by China against their own peaceful protestors in Tiananmen Square would fall into this category. Obviously, civilians in these instances did not have the capacity that U.S Citizens have of defending themselves against their own government, in many cases, firearms were heavily regulated or confiscated before the government crack-down got under way.
No discussion of civilian gun ownership would be complete without including the example of Switzerland, a culturally cohesive country with high living standards, surrounded by the deteriorating socialist, multi-cultural, and sometimes violent melting pot of modern Europe. One major difference between Switzerland and the rest of Europe, is that the Swiss have border control with Europe; are well armed; and share a strong national identity. Enough said!
In Australia, our very own government refuses to let Australian Citizens use self-defence as a reason to own a firearm, you cannot own a firearm solely to defend yourself anywhere in Australia. Apparently, Australians are either perfectly safe as they are, or they cannot be trusted to own a firearm, unless they have a valid other reason.
So, we have yet another odd conundrum, courtesy of your ever-helpful government. We are stopping you from protecting yourselves, in order to protect you. Welcome to the utter absurdity of the nanny state!
How fiat currency and socialism are destroying Christendom*. Part 1
You may be wondering what is wrong with our society, why are otherwise strong and certain people brow beaten and unsure, why does socialism suddenly seem to be an unstoppable juggernaut? Why has money gained importance over everything else, and why is everyone trying to get a government handout?
These are existential questions that need an answer, and to answer them we must first focus closely on two things that are dysfunctional within our society. Two basic macro structures we all take for granted, which are eating our society from the inside out, our corrupt monetary system, and its sly friend socialism.
Inflation targeting is probably the most obvious and familiar part of this system to most people. Much money has been spent over the years trying to convince people that inflation is a good thing. Apparently we should all be thrilled that prices are increasing by 3% per annum. I watched a how-to video recently, where a financial advisor said in a straight faced manner that inflation occurred when prices rise? This person was obviously clueless and was confusing cause and effect. The cause of inflation is an increase in the money supply which devalues the currency thus causing prices to rise across the board, (we are not talking about supply and demand of products, but rather supply and demand of money itself). When prices rise, savers are impoverished as their savings lose purchasing power, while householders find it difficult to make ends meet as prices for everyday items keep rising. Farmers and small business cannot increase production fast enough to account for the steadily rising input prices. So as time goes by, key components of our society are eviscerated. Savers are impoverished or forced into risky investments; families are squeezed financially, putting pressure on marriages, increasing the numbers of divorced couples and further impoverishing all involved. Farmers, and small businesses, are eventually forced to borrow large sums of money to expand their businesses, if they don’t they are crushed by the relentlessly rising prices to the point where they are either working for almost nothing at all, or they sell the business or farm to one of the big borrowers or foreign investors next door. Even governments themselves are squeezed as projects run over budget and taxes must be increased.
However, this is all good if the GDP is increasing by 2 or 3 percent each year, right? The more people that borrow money, get divorced, sue each other, flip houses for profit (or loss it doesn’t matter), employ plumbers to fix leaks, replace defective Chinese equipment or rebuild their home after a fire; the higher our GDP is, and thus the better off we are. (According to GDP)
Therefore, citizens, you have a choice; you can “pick your poison” so to speak. Your choices are as follows: take on more debt, work harder to stay in one place, or expect a lower standard of living. It’s as simple as that.
As time goes by, lives are destroyed; expectations go unmet; good schooling becomes a luxury; retirement becomes unaffordable; while envy and jealousy take hold as younger people look at baby boomers and find it difficult to achieve their lifestyle. People lose patience with the system, the government, and each other. Income inequality increases, as fewer and fewer larger entities control more and more of the profits and wealth. Everyone else works harder or watches helplessly as their living standards fall. Charitable activities also cease as “time is money”, and it’s just easier to ask the government for a handout.
Thus, quietly and without fanfare, socialist thinking takes hold. Just like a mirage in the Australian desert, socialism offers all the answers. It caters perfectly to the situation and promises redemption of all those affected. It will redistribute or “share” the wealth; it will “close the tax loopholes”; it will take care of those who can no longer afford to retire; it will provide medical care for those who can no longer afford it; it will house the newly homeless; feed the hungry; supplement the farmers income; and all this at very little cost, almost none in fact.
The only problem is, there is a cost, a hidden one, our good friend inflation from the first paragraph, the very same inflation causing the problems in the first place!
To be clear then, once the cost of socialist policies exceeds the available free cash in the economy the bills are paid for by borrowing, or QE (Quantitative Easing), or in the future probably, MMT (Modern Monetary Theory). All these mechanisms fall into the category that if you can’t blind them with science, just baffle them with bullshit. They all have different sophisticated names, but it all boils down to the same thing, money created out of nothing.
In the final analysis, socialism could not grow, mutate, and destroy the economy, unless money could be conjured out of thin air to feed the beast.
So the fuel for socialism is fiat currency, and the support for fiat currency comes from socialism, neat isn’t it! Which is why, when socialism becomes established, and the borrowing and handouts really get going, it usually continues, and is virtually impossible to get rid of. The socialists are quick to make friends with the printing press, and the resultant impoverishment of the population results in the even more widespread request for help, assistance and funding. Once you get to this point, the path of least resistance for the government is the creation of even more debt, and the path to eventual hyperinflation and societal collapse is almost guaranteed.
In part 2: I will examine who benefits most from this insidious arrangement and attempt to explain how it has become normalised within our society.
*Christendom: Christian majority countries, and the countries in which Christianity dominates or prevails.
Frank Waller 
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