Article Archives by Subject:  Altruism

01-19-2013

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"To Serve Man"
Subject: Gee, Is It That Time Again Already?

Repeating what I wrote in my last article on this subject, if you are a long-time reader of this blog, then you know that fighting against the imposition of a program of mandatory National Service in the United States by the Obama Administration is the issue that originally propelled me to create the John Galt Pledge site and then begin writing publically concerning a broader range of political issues. For those interested in reviewing past articles on this subject, here is the link to everything on the subject of Service.

Well, here we are, facing yet another Obama-mandated National Day of Service. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that we "celebrated" this. Oh, that's right, it was actually just last September 11th that the Day of Remembrance was magically transformed, by edict, into a call for service. And now, only a few short months later, Martin Luther King Day is reconstructed as well.

And what a convenience this year, having it coincide with the presidential coronation—oh sorry, I meant inauguration. I can think of nothing more appropriately symbolic to represent what another four years of this man's leadership means, and apparently neither can Team Obama, since they have gone to the trouble and expense of creating an official logo.

Now doesn't that makes you think that they just might have bigger plans in store?

Obama is strongly suggesting that you give up your holiday and instead devote your time, energy and money to the service of others. Why? Well, as Barack says, because:

    "This is really what America is about, ... we're all in this together, and we've got to look out for each other, and we've got to work hard on behalf of each other."

And Michelle adds:
    "[T]he goal is that as you make your way through life, who are you pulling up behind you? And as long as you're pulling somebody up behind you you're doing the right thing."

Again, why? Apparently because they say so—case closed. In long standing Obama tradition, assertions are made, never with a need to justify them with reasons, or to back them up with facts.

Confronted by the January 19th call to service, someone on Facebook wondered why more "service" was required, given just how much the average person was already forced to work in order to maintain the current system? Now that's a good question.

According to the Tax Foundation, in 2012, the average worker had to toil a total of 107 days, from January 1st through April 17th, in order to cover their federal, state and local tax bills, a total which amounted to about 30% of all earnings. This year taxes are increasing dramatically and the period of involuntary servitude will extend even further.

So given the fact that the government already is the judge, jury and executioner when it comes to deciding just how much of your productive earnings will be confiscated, why make such a big deal about one more day of service here or there? The answer comes straight out of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

As far as the government is concerned, all of those hours spent working in order to pay taxes is your duty! Remember, "we're all in this together," and you are chained to someone—on second thought, why limit it just one!—who must be "pulled up behind you." As with all duties, you have no choice in the matter. And the government is here to insure that you meet your obligations—exactly as they choose to define them. The fact that your earnings are taken from you by force and used for purposes over which you have no say and for which you may not approve is of no importance. What matters is that you are effectively enslaved.

But, as Orwell pointed out so clearly in his book, totalitarians are not satisfied with owning and controlling our physical bodies and our material wealth. No, what they truly want is control over our souls—which means control of our minds. And this explains the importance of the "voluntary" day of service. They are not looking to extract additional resources from us. If that were the case, they would take the easy route and simply raise our taxes. Instead, the goal here is to shame people into freely accepting their slave status by choice, and in doing so, blur in their minds the distinction between the freely chosen and the state enforced. Once trained to accept that sacrificing their life to the needs of others is morally good, their soul has been disarmed and rendered as defenseless as their body, once guns have been confiscated.

The end goal of Obama and his ilk is to disarm the populace, both physically and spiritually, so that it can offer no resistance against its masters. It is no coincidence that gun control and calls for national service emanate from the same source and at the same time. They are merely two components of one unifying strategy.

Whenever I hear Obama, or any other government official, speak about the importance of service to others, I am instantly reminded of the famous Twilight Zone episode titled, To Serve Man, based upon a story by Damon Knight. A group of space aliens arrive on Earth and make efforts to calm the wary humans, informing them that they are there only to offer knowledge, aid, and assistance in dealing with mankinds problems. Over time, as the aliens share their advanced technology and help resolve the problems of hunger, energy and war, the humans slowly begin to trust and consider them as friends. These feelings of benevolence are further reinforced when one of the alien's books is stolen and the title is translated as, To Serve Man. Although difficult, translation of the book's content continues, and at the end of the film it is revealed that instead of being a humanitarian treatise, it is actually a cookbook!

Be extremely watchful of the person—or the government—who vows to hold your interests above their own. Chances are that they do not see you as a friend, but as their next meal!

And don't simply sit on your hands watching as the dinner table is being set. This government call to service is not benign, but one of the greatest evils being perpetrated by this administration (which is really saying something), and must be loudly denounced and actively thwarted by every means possible. Study your history in order to fully appreciate the dangers here, and don't fall into the trap that Obama is bating with references to "benevolence", "charity" or "volunteerism". Those are actions reserved to individuals and private organizations. Government is force, and the explicit or implicit use of force lies behind every aspect of this initiative. The chains are being dangled before all of us. Recognize them, and then help others to see them for what they are.