Dangerous anarchists undermine the social order in my local community.

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Hi friends. I’m going to experiment with taking a more casual attitude towards the Worst-Case Scenario for a while. This means that the blog posts will not be as in-depth or researched as usual, and will mostly contain comments on the world as I think them up. However, the positive side to this is that, hopefully, I’ll be able to post more often, perhaps even as much as once a day. To kick off that theme, I’d like to tell you a story about a very terrifying event I witnessed yesterday. A gang of shameless anarchists disrupted the social order and broke a number of very important and long-established laws, including committing multiple severe felonies, without the slightest regard for the damage they were doing to their community. Here’s how it happened.

I was walking back to my house from Golden Isles Coins and Collectibles after purchasing a Krugerrand when I spotted the first anarchist. He was a small Latino boy of between five and seven years, sitting at the end of his driveway under a sign defiantly declaring, “Lemonade 50C” [sic]. The stand did not display any health and safety rating, so I was forced to conclude the local health inspector was unaware of the foodstuffs being sold. What’s more, the child clearly was not old enough to be working even a part-time job under child labor laws. Now, this is not necessarily damning. After all, he may not have been technically employed, since he was personally running all of the trade. Yet that in itself raises another question – where was this young man’s business license? Clearly, he wasn’t filing any 1099 forms or reporting any of his gross income to the Internal Revenue Service. Finally, he had no understanding of the need to tax prepared foodstuffs at a rate higher than the state-wide sales tax, as is the law in North Carolina. Indeed, and the crime was widespread: A few feet away I saw another person, an older Latina woman who was no doubt complicit in the illicit business being advertised. She was chatting absent-mindedly with a neighbor in Spanish as a deliberate affront to American values.

This experience was disturbing enough, but what I saw about fifteen minutes later was much worse. As I drew near to my house, I spotted a young black man of at least eighteen standing on the sidewalk, with no intention of using it for its appropriate public purpose, and waving a cardboard sign that said, “Car Wash $5.” I couldn’t believe my eyes – two blatantly illegal business operations in one walk from the gold store. I stared across the street to where the man was pointing, and sure enough there was a full gang of laborers washing a car in a parking lot. There was no one present above college age, and they did not appear to be reporting to any manager or supervisor. A single individual among them collected the payment from cars that drove in, but as far as I could tell she was not in a position of authority so much as in a flimsy trusteeship with the rest of the laborers. Essentially, it was mayhem.

As far as what laws these hooligans were breaking, it’s hard to even know where to begin. As I said, they weren’t funneling their money through any particular business head, so there was no accounting and no clear legal personality should their company be sued for poor service. Worse than that, though, was the complete absence of any government guarantee of good service in the first place. They lacked the required North Carolina car wash license which is used to ensure that gullible car owners aren’t victimized by devious car washing services such as this one. I seriously doubt that they even had a North Carolina business license, what with no manager and all. Of course, just like with the lemonade black market, none of this income was being reported, and the sales of the services were not taxed. But that’s not even the worst part. No, I didn’t see the true horror of all this anti-social behavior until I had observed their process for some time.

After much consideration, I found the utterly horrifying bottom line is that, from my best estimates based on the number of participants and the rate of five dollars per car, these laborers were not even making the federal minimum wage. The repercussions of this kind of exploitation are extraordinary. If they had a business owner, he would lose his business license and possibly go to jail for his heartless exploitation of them. Unfortunately the business had no owner since it was just an impromptu anarchist cartel, so I’m not sure whom I ought to excoriate, revile, and despise for the fact that these laborers were being savagely exploited. I think I will try blaming the customers for giving money to the poor slaves without educating them on the damage that is done by sub-minimum wage work. I may even have to send an email to the local car wash workers’ union, who will hopefully be able to help them by requiring them not to sell their services anymore. It takes a lot of activism and effort to effect positive social change, but rest assured, loyal readers, I will do whatever it takes to ensure that these oppressed laborers are empowered and their seditious violation of social order is corrected.

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Tea Party Plans for Success at 912 Protests in 2010

This year’s 912 protests promise to be truly extraordinary, as an unexpected and powerful coalition of conservatives, libertarians, new patriots, and principled Americans has formed to plan and oversee the events. The Tea Party Patriots recently released this announcement in preparation for the protests. In it, they explained that the operation now boasts the support of “partners at FreedomWorks, Institute for Liberty, the Ayn Rand Center, the National Taxpayers Union, and the Patrick Henry Center.” The intellectual diversity represented by these various groups, in particular with the inclusion of the notoriously atheistic and anti-Republican Ayn Rand Center, underscores the Tea Party’s commitment to fiscal responsibility, individual liberty, and government openness, rather than to any party lines or hidden agenda.

Perhaps even more impressively, the 912 protests of 2010 will have focal points in three separate cities: Washington, D.C., Sacramento, CA, and St. Louis, MO. The protests were big back in 2009 with just one central event, with about 75 thousand limited government advocates demonstrating on the streets of D.C., and tens of thousands more spread in various smaller cities across the nation. The Tea Party’s decision to expand into three cities this year shows confidence that their plans will be even more successful, possibly even reaching D.C.-sized demonstrations in each region of the States. This ambitious attitude likely stems not only from the large coalition of supporters which the Tea Party has built since 2009, but also from the mounting urgency of making a lasting impression on Congress and America before the mid-term elections 52 days later.

The 912 Project was created by Glenn Beck in March of 2009 to remind Americans of the core values like love of freedom, responsibility and accountability, and respect for God and fellow men that we all felt on the day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Over the next several months, the project evolved as the aspects of accountability and freedom were amplified, until they spawned a nationwide taxpayer rally to get the government back to serving the interests of the people, rather than destroying wealth in the false name of American values. The taxpayers’ march on Washington on 9/12/2009 was unprecedented in its size, scope, and influence.

Now the Tea Party Patriots plan to do it all again by coordinating cross-country travel and organizing what could be one of the largest taxpayer demonstrations in the history of the world. Most major cities across the nation will have local events on the big day, but everyone is strongly encouraged to make travel plans to attend the marches in D.C., St. Louis, or Sacramento if at all possible. I will be heading to D.C. from the Raleigh-Durham area. Anyone who wants to join (and you really all should!) can subscribe to my blog by clicking the grey button in the upper-right corner of the screen. You will then receive email updates as I negotiate travel plans from Raleigh to D.C. When enough people are on board, the costs really will not be high, and of course the demonstration itself is free!

If you liked this post, please feel free to share it on your Twitter or Facebook page. You may also like Coverage of the Raleigh Tea Party Rally in Five Minutes with One-on-One Interviews

NC District 13 Republican Congressional Candidate Bill Randall speaks at a townhall meeting at Crossroads Entertainment.

I attended a townhall meeting with Bill Randall to cover the event and talk to Mr. Randall. Out of courtesy, (and for lack of digital memory) I did not film my one-on-one conversation with him. Let it be said simply that he and I discussed the philosophy of the Constitution, case law, and legal precedent, and that while I do not wholeheartedly agree with his stances, I have respect for the way he carried the discussion and thank him for his time.

I did ask Mr. Randall a question while he was speaking, which is captured very shakily on camera. The four-part video of his speech and several of the questions he answered is shown below. Topics discussed include the wars, the Federal Reserve, the state of our economy, the limitations the Constitution places on the federal government, the life of an unborn child, and the importance of granting equal rights to all citizens regardless of their personal views or practices.

Bob Etheridge assaulted civilians, but that’s what Congressmen always do.

Congressman Bob Etheridge (D-NC) is taking a lot of heat right now. Watch the video and then listen to my take on this event.

I respond in multiple parts:

The following links are relevant to the videos:

• UPDATE: As of Tuesday the 15th, it’s official: MSNBC has decided to defend Etheridge’s assault on the grounds that the students being assaulted were probably Republicans. They have also determined that it is still unwise to manhandle someone, especially if you get caught.
• The Guardian has joined MSNBC in explaining that the Congressman’s actions were not terrible and criminal due to the fact that the gentlemen pictured were almost certainly Republicans who knowingly disagreed with the Congressman and chose to breathe his air anyway.
• The Washington Post has called the incident a  “gaffe”, declaring that it will not significantly affect Etheridge’s campaign for re-election and equating it with off-hand remarks made by Michelle Bachmann and Joe Wilson. That’s right, the Washington Post thinks that this is all about what Etheridge said, and not the fact that he physically attacked innocent young men.
• The New York Times has decided today is a good day to remember why Republicans aren’t allowed to shove people.

• Bob Etheridge assaults innocent civilians: the original video.
• Bob Etheridge’s contact information.
• Renee Elmers’ self-professed views.
• Frank Deatrich makes it clear that the federal government’s policy of redistributing wealth and controlling lives is simply not okay through his answers to this questionnaire.

A Student’s Perspective on the Merits of Reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Fourth Grade Students With the Presumption That They Will Appreciate and Accept the Document

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a document adopted approximately unanimously by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948 with applicability to the present and the indefinite future. It is not a treaty; its purpose is to define what rights and freedoms all people hold in the context of international law, and to provide a normative standard by which to evaluate subsequent legislation, in essence pointing a giant finger of shame at nations who do not comply with its definitions and mandates. I say it was adopted ‘approximately unanimously’ because, in spite of what one might expect, eight nations chose to abstain from a vote, unwilling to approve its contents and not desiring to see the look of shame from the international community if they went against the grain.

My professor of international law recently informed our class of a local elementary school’s decision to educate its fourth grade class on the UDHR by having them read it aloud and then discuss it with an adult for a study period. This sort of session inevitably comes with an assumption that the students will approve of the declaration and agree with its contents. Moreover, to those students who do not agree, it is expected that ‘education’ on the topic will help swing them to the right side of the fence. But the UDHR is a terrible document which these United States should never have approved, and to reveal it to fourth grade students as an assumed good, rather than as a potentially contentious work, is a tremendous mistake in education.

For brevity, I shall discuss here only the sections of the UDHR which I consider to be most obviously and immediately contentious or disdainful; it should not be assumed that any sections not bashed and criticized herein are otherwise approved. I draw the reader’s attention to Article 2 of the UDHR, which states, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status…” This article opens with a laudable claim, that we are all entitled to the same rights, but then continues to list some potential reasons why we might not be granted equal rights, as a preemptive strategy for dismissing them. The writers ought to have stopped at “…without distinction of any kind,” not obscured their message afterward. While I do not contest the validity of this article in the most literal sense possible, one cannot doubt that it will be (and, indeed, has been) interpreted to legitimize affirmative action. It opens the door to crying “Racism!” whenever a man of one skin color is given a job over another man of a different skin color, and in that way actually serves to decrease equality among races and ethnicities. It is effectively equivalent to the statement that we are all equal, especially some of us.

Article 3 proclaims, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” My immediate reaction is to ask for clarification of the phrase ‘right to life’. Once I need to ask for a clarification of anything, I consider the battle to already be over. But continuing anyway, I see three possible interpretations. Either this phrase means that we all have the right to not be murdered (killed by an aggressor), or that we all have the right to not be killed by another human (whether by an aggressor, a defender, or an executioner), or that we all have the right to have our lives actively protected by the government (such as with federal health care subsidies and public medical facilities). Even if I thought that all of these were good ideas, which I surely do not, I would still oppose this article on the grounds that citizens must be informed to make proper decisions, and ambiguous legal documents are inherently an impediment to an informed citizenry.

Article 4 follows with another puzzler: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” I want to know what servitude is. If criminals are forced to mow public parks to pay their debt to society, would we call this servitude?

Article 5 makes a statement that has been particularly relevant in recent years: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Anyone who follows current events at all will know that the definition of ‘torture’ has been contested, particularly in the context of investigations to preempt terrorist attacks on the United States. Torturing a convicted murderer for information is no concern of mine if it has the potential to prevent the deaths of innocent citizens in future attacks.

Making a leap to Article 23, we see a whole new level of egregiousness. This article goes beyond ambiguous or arguable claims and proceeds to the outright wrong. “(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment…” This is blatantly ridiculous and flies in the face of scientific economics. Employment is not, has never been, and will never be, a right. It is a privilege earned by productive capacity – a reward for being willing and able to do useful things. The arbiter, or decider, of who is and is not entitled to work is public demand in the free market. That is, a person whose services are desirable will become employed in a free market; a useless person will not. Furthermore, I cannot conceive of what the phrase ‘protection against unemployment’ means except that people whose usefulness to an operation has expired are somehow owed compensation for the fact that they are no longer useful.

The article goes on, “(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.” This is not a declaration of a human right; it is a declaration of social welfare – by the supposedly universal United Nations! Even if the reader is a socialist himself, he ought to consider that the issues of free markets versus socialized markets are by no means settled, and should not be treated as if they are settled. There is no nation-wide consensus that everyone has a right to employment; diplomats representing the various nations are therefore at fault for behaving as though such a consensus exists. Setting aside all debate over whether capitalism is the right system to adopt, the simple fact that such a debate exists means this article is disrespectful of government by, of, and for the people.

In the spirit of government regulation to limit the rights of humans, rather than promote them, Article 24 states what appears to be an afterthought of Article 23: “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.” This generalization, which again invokes ‘right’ where ‘privilege’ is more appropriate, is reminiscent of the infamous French laws which inhibit enterprise and the earning of an honest living by limiting the hours a person can work in a given time interval. No one has a right to limitation of working hours, and further, to limit working hours is a damaging and immoral breach of personal freedoms. The time distribution of labor is an issue to be settled by private contract between employer and employee – if a man is discontent with his job, let him negotiate or quit it, not cry for intervention which will slow down more enthusiastic workers.

Article 25 continues the process of outlining positive entitlements and privileges under the guise of fundamental rights: “(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control…” It requires no explanation or leap of logic to see that this requires by definition a welfare state, a public reallocation of resources based on need rather than ability, which, if charities are insufficient to provide for the stated needs, will inevitably be accomplished by force – stealing, in the name of ‘taxation’. This follows in stark contrast to Article 17: “(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”

Article 26 adds as another afterthought the positive entitlement of public schools, with the added stipulation that schooling is not optional. “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory…” In addition to being impossible to maintain without violation of the right to property, this declaration calls into question the right to hold independent views and make independent decisions, considering the tendency of government-operated educational facilities to disrespect differing views, as seen in the inspiration for this essay.

To summarize, the UDHR is an evil document riddled with a combination of unintended and intended failures. Its repeated lack of specificity on critical issues not only renders it difficult to implement in law, but prone to abuse. Furthermore, to attempt to instill these generalizations in children squelches the opportunity for analytical thought and glosses over the importance of translating ethics into actual, enforceable law. It promotes the recent, expanding, and incredibly naïve mentality that the government solves problems by making broad declarations rather than implementing particular policies. Since the 2008 presidential campaign, the United States have observed a tremendous rise in deification of the administration, and this sort of child indoctrination does not help. The UDHR reeks of naïve attempts to fix real problems with idealistic proclamations. If the government could improve standard of living (increase economic output) by declaring, “People have a right to a basic standard of living,” it would. This does not happen. Citizens of the States would be wise to consider why, rather than adopting entangling international doctrines of socialism.

The bottom line, which is perceived negatively by some, but persists regardless of one’s philosophical inclination, is that the question of whether people have positive entitlements does not have a consensus answer. Everyone is absolutely certain of the answer, but they are certain of mutually exclusive things. Thus it is wrong of the diplomats who adopted the UDHR to have done so; they cannot claim to be representing their people when they make sweeping generalizations on seriously contested issues. Moreover, it is evil for an educational institution, particularly one educating children, to present a vague, moralistic, and highly contentious document as if it should be presupposed to have similar academic integrity as the Law of Gravity. Finally, it is politically unwise for the United States to allow themselves to become subject to doctrines such as this. If the ideas presented in the UDHR are valid, the States can implement them of their own accord, and, if not, then clearly we have no business adopting the doctrine. We do not need the United Nations to tell us to be socialist; we are doing just fine at that already.