Study Notes for 9/7-10/2010

Once again read the following at your own risk. Quite possibly my study notes will mean nothing to anyone else. I can say that I learned a lot of interesting things this week.


A History of the American People-Even though England was not a totally free for the common man, the Magna Charta was a huge step in that direction. These ideas grew and came to fruition in the 1640s on both sides of the pond. This date is very important, because it was then in colonial English history that a serious argument between parliament and crown. Parliament prevailed.   When all the second sons of noble Lords and Ladies immigrated to the new world, they brought with them the political culture and heritage of representative government with little desire for aristocracy. This allowed a fiercely independent political and social character to develop in every settlement. Representative government meant that all free men could vote in most cases, something that would never happened in the Old World. There only nobles had that right.

An ugly stain in our history must be mentioned here. Slaves, African or Native, had no rights and were treated like property, an idea which saddens and repulses most Americans. I've had friends of all races and have learned that people are people. I thrill at the words of Martin Luther King. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation, where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Unable to understand how the early Americans could reconcile their deep desire for liberty and the adoption of slavery, I will move on with my studies and continue to seek out friends with excellent character of any race. However, this idea is constantly in the back of my mind.

I think it interesting that actual money was scarce, making it necessary to use produce as payment. AT times this was too bulky, so paper money was introduced. (1649) England made this illegal. (1750-60)

Another curiosity is the use of religion as the cause of war. Christ never was and never will be the author of war. True the Old Testament records God's commands to wipe out idol worshippers. But if we study the life of Christ, he is the ultimate Prince of Peace. Therefore, using Christianity as a platform for war is ridiculous even insidious. Ding Philip's War was fought because Sassamon, a converted Christian native, a  was murdered by three other natives, who were put to death over the crime--a conflict between Christianity and native religious culture. During this period, we see similar silliness in the 30 year's war in Europe and the Salem Witch trials.

The Roots of American Order- "The leaders of the American Revolution, and of the early years of the American Republic, seasoned their classical tastes with several grains of salt. ...Americans paid more attention to the Roman Republic than they did to the Greek Cities; and upon them, the direct influence of the Greek historian Polybius--writing about the Roman constitution---probably was greater than the combined influence of Plato's and Aristotle's political theories..."  Apparently, all the splendors of Athens were built with democratic imperialism bought with the price of blood and led directly to the Peloponnesian War.  The founders of America were looking for something a bit more lasting than Athens 50 years of greatness. Like most promising civilizations that fail, "the weakness of Greek political speculation can be traced back to the weakness of Greek religion. Men must be spiritually free before they can co-operate politically on the highest terms."

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy+ Study Guide-Although I'm reading PC with some students, I'm reading Evaluating Books: What Would Thomas Jefferson Think About This? with Joseph. Until my young people catch up with me, I'm going to spend a bit of time with The Clipper Ship Strategy, American's Great Depression by Murray Rothbard, and What You Should Know About Inflation by Henry Hazlitt. History fascinates me. Or maybe it's the blunders of history that amaze me. So the first evaluation we're going to make concerns the Great Depression.

Statist Viewpoint: The Great Depression was caused by a failure of capitalism or free enterprise.

Thomas Jefferson's viewpoint: "That paper money has some advantages, is admitted. But that its abuses also are inevitable, and , by breaking up the measure of value, makes a lottery of all private property, cannot be denied. Shall we ever be able to put a constitutional veto on it?" TJ, 1817

The Great Depression was caused by the Federal Reserve doing precisely what TJ feared. They inflated the currency and caused massive malinvestment. When the money supply returned to normal, the malinvestments collapsed for lack of viability. When fake money, which is paper money not backed by anything, enters the economy, it distorts prices and profits. This causes businesses and individuals to make mistaken investments. There is always a correction period called a depression. We just went through this again.

"...All the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arise, not from the defects in their constitution, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation..." John Quincy Adams, 1829

Target Switzerland-So far the concept of armed neutrality is fascinating and desirable. The Founders adopted this principle in our Constitution. "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 powers not deleted to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited to it by the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." When our country is imploding, why do we find it necessary to police the entire world. Our citizens, borders, and Constitution are more important than our interests at this point.

"Compare the peasants of Switzerland with those of any other mighty nation. You will find them far more happy--for one civil war among them, there have been fiver or six among other nations--Their attachment to their country, and to freedom--their resolute intrepidity in their defense; the consequent security and happiness which they have enjoyed, and the respect and awe which these things produced in their bordering nations, have signalized them republicans...Let us follow their example and be equally happy." Patrick Henry

"While the Swiss believes in peace and desires it above all else, his good sense tells him this is best assured by preparedness at all times." American Colonel George Bell, 1911 This statement echoes prophetic warnings to prepare every needful thing with an emphasis on self-sufficient home food production and storage.

The Mainspring of Human Progress-It's so amazing to read a book for the fourth or fifth time and still learn something or at lest at a different level. Or maybe the blatant way socialism is being shoved down our throats instead of spoon fed is gagging me. Possibly,  the socialism and fascism that has been slowly eroding our Constitution since the time of Lincoln and now is cascading upon our heads like a veritable Niagara makes me see these ideas in a different light....."There is no denying the fact that human beings progress and prosper in proportion to the degree to which individual initiative is permitted, or at least not prevented. But Old World government has always been based on the fallacious idea of an authority controlling a planned economy for the so-called common good. Actually, it is nothing more than the arbitrary use of physical force by persons upon persons; and regardless of the high motives and good intentions the effect is the same--it always slows down progress and hinders the production and distribution of the necessities of life."


"The Old World revolutions are not real revolutions. They are revolutions only in the sense of a wheel rotating around a motionless center. Under the pagan view, the standard pattern has always been to overthrow one form of authority merely to replace it with another form of authority--from priest to king, from king to oligarchy, form oligarchy to despot, from despot to majority, from majority to bureaucracy, from bureaucracy to dictator, from dictator to king from kin to...and so on, and son on. There have been 6, 000 years of it; and for 6,000 years, people have gone hungry. The simple reason is that human energy cannot be made to work efficiently except in an atmosphere of individual freedom and voluntary cooperation, based on enlightened self-interest and moral responsibility. There has never been but one real revolution. It is the revolution against pagan fatalism--the revolution for human freedom."


"The Greeks had implicit faith in the ability of the government to take care of their needs. It seems never to have occurred to them that the individual person is self-controlling and responsible for his own acts. They labored under the delusion that their democracy was a guarantee of peace and plenty, not realizing that unrestrained majority rule always destroys freedom, puts the minority at the mercy of the mob, and works at cross-purposes to the effective use of human energy and individual initiative Paradoxically, when not kept within bounds, the democratic process has always led to the destruction of democratic ideals and has served as a springboard to dictatorship and war. The temptation to buy votes through governmental spending is too great."


"No government can support its people, for the simple reason that a government must derive its support from the people."

Absolutely love this treatment of the 10 commandments. "Each of the Ten Commandments is addressed to the individual as a self-controlling person responsible for his own thoughts, words, and acts. And each of them recognizes liberty and freedom as inherent in the nature of man. 1)The first commandment tells the indibidual to reject pagan gods and recognize his own worth as a human being, subject to no power but that of the Creator and Judge.2) The second tells the individual to form no image of abstract rightness, but to direct his reverence toward the divine in truth. 3) The third tells the individual not to speak frivolously of the Creator and Judge. Knowledge of fundamental truth--cause and effect--is of first importance and should be taken very seriously. 4) The fourth tells the individual to devote some time (one day out of seven) to reflection on the eternal verities. 5) The fifth recognizes the family as the primary human relationship and establishes the parent's authority over the child as the only authority which a child should accept for his own profit. 6) The sixth stresses the sanctity of human life--the individual's right to live, which is a right that must not be violated by any other person. 7)The seventh establishes the principle of contract--the inviolability of promises given by persons to each other and the double sanctity of the marriage contract, which is the basis of the family. 8) The eight recognizes the individual's right to own property. 9) The ninth recognizes free speech--the individual's control over his own utterances and his responsibility for their truth. 10) The tenth emphasizes again the right of ownership. Not even in thought should a person violate the property rights of another."


Mohammed lived 570-632 AD, around 800 years before the printing press. It can thus be surmised that his teachings have been widely interpreted and confused. Just as designing men twisted and mistranslated the Bible and its teachings before the printing press and individual interpretation of the scripture, so to can we deduce a similar circumstance with the Koran. Nobody who reads the Bible with any understanding can believe that the Pope had authority to forgive the sins of those involved in the Crusades. Nevertheless, when the Crusaders arrived in the Holy Land, they found a culture far superior to European culture in every way: education, refinement, comfort, cleanliness, and so on. Are the religious fanatics of the Muslim faith, similar to the popes and priests of the Dark ages, tricking their own people for the sake of gain?

It give one pause regarding today's religious wars to wonder if we are repeating the wrongs of the misguided crusades. In the Book of Mormon the Standard of Liberty reads thusly. "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children." Alma 46:12 While it is true that these people attacked us on our own soil, it is also true that these attacks were provoked. Just take a look at history with open eyes to see the truth. However, when we followed them across many waters, we were no longer fighting to protect our God, religion, freedom, our peace, or our families. We once again became the aggressor. We fell into the trap these men so brilliantly laid--to lure us into a war we have no hope in winning to destroy our economy. Thus we expose our God, religion, freedom, peace, and families to poverty and annihilation from outside sources.

"When people get into the habit of depending on some centralized authority to provide the things which they alone can produce, mob psychology always takes hold, and they flock to the cities."

"These were times when even a gentleman had to work---or starve. No one of the aristocratic class had ever faced such a choice And those of the lower classes were in an even worse predicament. They had always depended on someone else to provide them with jobs. But on this side of the world, jobs didn't exist. They had to create their own jobs. They had to use their heads as well as their hands. It was either that or starve. They were up against stern reality, and no one could afford the illusion that anything other than his own will controlled his wealth is human energy attacking this earth; that he alone was responsible for his life; that if he didn't save it, nothing would."

Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View-


"The law of karma, a system of cause and effect whereby people's actions determine the circumstances of their lives, has many parallels with an idea that is fundamental to Latter-day Saint theology--the concept that persons must bear responsibility for their actions....Social and economic status, according to this view, are not matters of random fortune, or the whim of the gods, but consequences of personal actions. By their actions all beings determine their own fates, build their characters, make their destiny, and work out their salvation. It is the Christian "law of the harvest" vigorously applied. 'Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' Galatians 6:7."


Karma does not accept an intermediary or Savior. Each action of a person determines their reincarnation.


"Latter-day Saints recognize both the law of the harvest and the intercessory power of a merciful God. LDS stand in between the Oriental faiths and much of the Christian world...For us, the immutable law of infinite consequence sustains nature and critically influences humanity...We believe in a cosmic law of justice, that cause and effect are intrinsic to the human condition--that people are blessed or disadvantaged according to their willingness to comply with divine law."  Spencer Palmer, address given at the BYU University Devotional Assembly, Provo, UT. July 25, 1978

"It appears from Latter-day Saint revelations that " law of the harvest" is more specific and personal in its cause-and-effect relationships than the karma of Eastern philosophy. The violation of specific commandments brings specific punishments, just as obedience to the law entitles an individual to personal blessings. Hindu karma, on the other had, tends to respond to evil deeds indirectly, such as low rebirth" 

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