When the populace become "Pirates" they elect those that reflect their values.

This actually started on another thread which proposed that for the past 8 years the government has become corrupt and has lead the people down the wrong road. I believe it is the other way around and unless we understand that, we will not be working as effectively as we might to change things.

We can actually go back further than 8 years to see horrifying and corrupt actions of the US Govt. I remember during the Clinton administration there was the big uproar over Elian Gonzales. On the day that the swat team broke down the door with their guns drawn and kidnapped that child from law abiding citizens..... it was all over the news. I was sitting in an airport. I was sick to my stomach reading the article and looking at the pictures of that terrified child with an automatic rifle pointed at him. I thought to myself, "well, it is not significant that the government DID this because that is what governments DO. What will be significant will be whether the populace ACCEPTS this or demands prosecutions". Needless to say..... the populace did nothing .... after all the stock market was doing well and portfolios were growing by leaps and bounds....so why rock the boat. At that point I knew that the country was officially over because the PEOPLE had given tacit approval of this police state action.

When a society as a whole rejects it's moral compass, prefers the immediate unearned pleasure to the long term pleasure that must be earned, prefers stealing goods from one's neighbor rather than working for one's own livelihood, prefers the convenience of immediate pleasure over the responsibilities of family, prefers eliminating unwanted children or elders as too much trouble, and prefers to allow others to do the "thinking" for them, in effect that society leads itself into extinction preferring a culture of death over a culture of life...... At that point, the society itself sets the tone and ELECTS LEADERS LIKE THEMSELVES.

This is a bottom up phenomenon that we are seeing now, not a top down. Of course evil will entice the weaker nature of man into this position, but it is the choices that a society has made for generations that determine it's course.

This is why educating the masses to Libertarian thinking, and respect for the rights of every individual over the theft of the collective is going to be a long-term task. What we are trying to do is turn society's direction back to the only truly moral course. That of the freedom of the individual over the collective. We must make OUR philosophy "the norm" of thought.

I think that if we see it this way we can see a whole different picture of our purpose. Instead of continually banging our heads against the political machine, we would see that the way to change the politicians is to change public perception and social mood so that they will ONLY elect Constitution minded Libertarians to office.

But this is a tough and long road...... so we get tempted to point upward and shake our fist instead of looking at those around us and working one on one to change minds and hearts. This is why I get much more encouraged when people are giving needed information to the uneducated masses (like at the recent Tea Parties..... gather a bunch of ignorant sheep in one place and hand them info while their minds are sitting there vacant) than when they are screaming at the politicians. Educate, Educate, Educate in order to change the country and the world.

It is the PEOPLE that must change their outlook and their demands upon their elected officials. THEN we will get different people elected. WHAT THE COUNTRY HAS BECOME IS WHAT THE POPULACE HAS WANTED! Clinton and Bush and Obama were elected because THEY ARE what the country has BECOME - not the other way around. We have become a nation of killers, thieves, liars and con-men..... a nation of PIRATES.

So again.... this is a project that MUST be worked from the bottom and move up.... Replacing those at the top will ONLY be possible if the people DEMAND it.

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"Not armies, not nations, have advanced the race; but here and there, in the course of ages, an individual has stood up and cast his shadow over the world." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6pAcBXt2j8