This entry is part 5 of 73 in the series 2015
Day: December 6, 2015
The Left, the Right and DK, Part 4
The Left, the Right and DK, Part 3
Peace Through Strength
Many on the political left assume that the spiritual Hierarchy side with typical pacifist doctrine of unilaterally disarming the military and using the funds fo social and other idealistic programs. However, according to DK this is far from the case.
We’ve already discussed the Principle of Freedom which is supported much more by the Right than the Left, as many on the Left support restrictions of freedom by big government. DK was a big supporter of freedom and mentioned it often. He was one of the few metaphysical teachers who took a strong early stand against Hitler and for the Allies in order to preserve the freedom necessary for the new age. He criticized the United States for its isolationist approach before Pearl Harbor indicating that Hitler could have been easily defeated if the United States and Europe had been prepared and taken military action earlier.
Indeed Alice A. Bailey and DK were right wing hawks compared to the Left of today.
The Left of today are the main supporters of pacifism and disarmament, but DK was a stronger critic of pacifism than Ted Cruz or Donald Trump is today. He said this:
“I would say to those who preach a passive attitude in the face of evil and human suffering and who endorse a pacifism which involves no risks: With what do you propose to fight the forces of aggression, of treachery, evil and destruction which are today stalking over our planet? What weapons do you bring to this combat? How will you begin to stem the onslaught and arrest the whirlwind? Will you use prayers for peace, and then patiently wait for the forces of good to fight your battle and for God to do the work? I tell you that your prayers and your wishes are unavailing when divorced from right and potent action. Your prayers and petitions may reach the throne of God, symbolically speaking, but then the reply comes forth: The Forces of Light will strengthen your arms and turn the tide in your favour if you stand up and fight for that which you desire. Who will arrest the progress of aggressive selfishness if the men and women of goodwill rest back upon their idealism and do naught that is practical to justify their hope or aid in the materialisation of the desired ideal.
“There are those in the world today who (despite past national selfishness and wrong) are fearlessly and with true insight fighting humanity’s battle, and with them the Hierarchy stands, as it has ever stood on the side of liberty, right understanding and correct attitudes in human affairs. I would say to those who cry, “Peace, peace when there is no peace”: Are you going to profit by their death and sacrifice when the ultimate triumph of the Forces of Light comes to pass? Are you going to take the position that you can then live in a safe world because others gave their lives that you might do so? Are you going to issue forth from the safe security of your pacifist alibi and gratefully acknowledge what they have done and grasp your share of the gains which they have purchased at such a cost? I would warn you not to be glamoured by the false premise that you must stand by your hard-earned convictions, even at the expense of other peoples’ lives and the downfall of nations, forgetting that fear and false pride will make this argument of importance to you. Are the peace-minded people of the world going to reap the benefits of a peace for which they have paid no price?”
The Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 233
If anyone were to speak this way against our enemies today he would instantly be called a right wing hawk.
Many of the spiritually inclined today embrace pacifism and demand the United States , NATO and other allies disarm and use the funds for social programs. This was the idea promoted by the idealists before World War II and the Allies were thus caught completely off guard and unprepared. If they had been prepared to keep the peace through strength then Hitler could not have posed a threat. DK affirms this by saying:
“I would ask you to exercise your imagination in an effort to visualise a world in which there is a complete defeat of the Allies, expressing as they do the ideals for which the Forces of Light have ever stood. I would remind you of two things: First, that these Forces were defeated in the earlier phase of the conflict thousands of years ago, and secondly that—if They again go down to defeat—it will be largely due to the unpreparedness and to the pacific attitude of the neutrals of the world. Had the Allies been ready (and that in itself would have indicated attitudes similar to those now being expressed by Germany) and had the neutrals stood together from the outbreak of hostilities and proclaimed as one voice: This thing must not be—Germany would then have been arrested in her triumphant progress.
“The Allies, however, were not prepared for the onslaught of the forces of evil; on the physical plane, their position was not impregnable. The neutrals at the same time have chosen and are still choosing the negative and weak way; and through fear, a misplaced idealism, or a separative spirit, plus the failure to grasp the acuteness of the world crisis and its significant implications, have placed humanity in a position of imminent though not inevitable disaster. These are points which require careful consideration and consequent readjustment of the attitude of those who are doing nothing to further the efforts of the Forces of Light and of the men of goodwill throughout the world.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Pages 239-240
Further he says that the pacifists “cannot believe that a God of Love could possibly employ the first divine aspect to destroy the forms which are obstructing the free play of the divine Spirit; that Will must not infringe upon their interpretation of Love. Such people are individually of small moment and of no importance, but their massed negativity is a real detriment to the ending of this war, just as the massed negativity of the German people, and their inability to take right action when Hitler’s purposes were disclosed, made possible the great inflow of ancient and focussed evil which has brought the present catastrophe to man. Such people are like a millstone around the neck of humanity, crippling true effort, murmuring, ‘Let us love God and each other,’ but doing nothing but murmur prayers and platitudes whilst humanity is dying. Externalization of the Hierarchy, Pages 345-346
Then he struck another blow toward the idealists who see themselves as above any conflict.
“When the war broke and the entire world was hurled into the consequent chaos, horror, disaster, death and agony, many spiritually minded people were anxious to stay aloof from the struggle. They were not the majority but a powerful and noisy minority. They regarded any attitude of partisanship as an infringement of the law of brotherhood and were willing to sacrifice the good of the whole of humanity to a sentimental urge to love all men in a manner which necessitated their taking no action or decision of any kind.” Discipleship in the New Age, Vol 1, Page 784
“Those who refuse to share in that struggle for freedom will be left out of the gains of freedom, “ Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 253
“Humanity having decided to fight out the battle physically, there was nothing left to do but issue a challenge to the men and women of goodwill to take their stand on the side of such action as would release humanity through the destruction of the evil forces. These had determined to prove that might was right. Therefore, the forces fighting for progress and civilisation had to meet force with force. “ Externalization of the Hierarchy, Pages 178-180
Today we face a greater threat than Hitler because of nuclear weapons held by unfriendly nations and more to come from very antagonistic nations such as North Korea and Iran. Yes, peace through strength is expensive but it is a cost we must pay to prevent a conflict worse than World War II
DK says this:
“It is only when the vision and dream of peace—which beguiles so many well-meaning people—gives way to the determination to take every possible means to achieve that peace in practical ways upon the physical plane that the inner spiritual forces will be enabled to work also more actively on earth.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Pages 256-257
His (Christ) work has been greatly hindered by the sweet sentimentality of the unthinking Christian and by the well-meaning, but oft unintelligent, pacifist. Both these groups would sacrifice the future of humanity to temporary methods of “being nice” or “being kind” or taking gentle measures. The forces of evil, stalking the world today, do not understand such measures … the simple-minded are apt to forget that the Christ said, He that is not with me is against me.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Pages 476-477
“Let the soporific of beautiful peace talk die out and let sane methods of establishing goodwill and right human relations precede the discussion of peace. The world talked itself into a dreamy state of idealistic rhapsody about peace between the first phase of this world war and the present one. This must not again occur and it is the task of the intelligent humanitarian to prevent it. “Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 444
Unfortunately many on the political left want to slash the military budget and funnel those funds into social programs. This is what happened after World War I and DK says this state of unpreparedness to put down evil “must not again occur and it is the task of the intelligent humanitarian to prevent it.”
It would be nice if we did not need to spend any money on defense and had no concerns about rogue nations unleashing nuclear bombs, but such is not the case. As it is, we must secure peace through strength for that is the only deterrent of the forces of evil as conformed by DK
Copyright by J J Dewey
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The Left, the Right and DK, Part 2
Freedom- An Attribute of the Right
So, what are other freedoms overlooked by the Left?
We go through cycles where the political left and right take their turn in pushing us in the Right direction. Sometimes the Left pushes too far and nudges us toward the Left hand path and sometimes the Right goes too far and brings progression to a halt by too much focus on the past.
At present the political left is placing a dangerous amount of energy on limiting freedom and they are attacking the most precious freedom of all which is freedom of speech. If we lose that we will lose all of our important civil freedoms.
When I was in college in the Sixties the Left was very big on free speech. The popular bumper sticker of the day for them was “Question Authority.” They often quoted the famous statement, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Today the left has shifted around 180 degrees on this view and it all began with political correctness. They started putting a lot of attention on speech that could be offensive and then telling the rest of us that we shouldn’t say certain words.
Many made fun of them and came up with humorous lists of politically incorrect things to say.
Here is just one list. LINK
Many saw this approach as obnoxious, but few saw it as dangerous.
Well, the danger has come full circle illustrated by the demands of some college students lately. Students at Yale are demanding restrictions on Halloween costumes, Brown University students are demanding “anti-oppression training” for college employees, Princeton students want former president Woodrow Wilson’s name and image removed from campus and in Columbia. They are traumatized because the class material is not diverse enough. They are demanding that conservative commentators not be allowed speak on campus. Make America great hats are called symbols of hate and those who wear them are attacked or banned. Students at George Washington High in San Francisco felt traumatized by a longstanding mural of the first president and wanted it covered up.
Larry Summers, esteemed president of Harvard who has always leaned left was forced to resign for just making the true observation that males at his school perform better at math than females, ending with the statement, “there is a difference in the standard deviation and variability of a male and female population.”
One of the most bizarre attacks occurred when Smith College president Kathleen McCartney as well as Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley got in big trouble for saying that “all lives matter” when they should have just stuck to the mantra “black lives matter.”
Students and much of the general population that lean left are now so offended by free speech that they support curtailing it by force of law.
A new Pew Research Center poll shows that 40 percent of American Millennials (ages 18-34) are likely to support the force of law to prosecute public statements offensive to minorities.
Even more egregious is that a 2015 Rasmussen poll revealed that 27% of Democrats and 11% of Republicans want global warming skeptics prosecuted for speaking against standard global warming theory. An additional 15% of the general public do not side with free speech and are not sure if skeptics deserve free speech.
In the UNESCO division of the United Nations they recommend prosecuting organizations “devoted to organized climate denial.” If this were to happen then the only research that would be permitted would be that which supported a warming planet due to human activity only. That would be comparable to the ancients only allowing research into a flat earth. Round earthers must be rounded up. LINK
Hillary Clinton gave a strong indication where her loyalties to free speech lie. She attended the famous Laugh Factory in Los Angeles and didn’t like some of the things the comics humorously said about her. When some of the video was placed on their website she insisted they be taken down and wanted the identities of all the comics. The owner, Jamie Masada, said:
“They threatened me, I have received complaints before but never a call like this, threatening to put me out of business if I don’t cut the video.”
A generation ago, when nudity, drug use and cuss words were being pushed upon us through movies and other media the Left often defended free speech and criticized the conservatives for opposing it. Now things have changed. Now conservatives rarely stand in the way of offensive speech while the Left is marching toward alarming restrictions putting the First Amendment at risk.
DK never said anything in any of his works in favor of restricting speech that may merely offend. He, of course, advised students to be wise in their speech, but never advocated force to restrict public discourse.
“No matter what past history may indicate in connection with many of the allied nations (past aggressions, ancient cruelties and wrong doing), they were and are today (during WWII) seeking to cooperate with the Forces of Light and are endeavouring to salvage human freedom political, religious and economic.” Destiny of the Nations, Page 100
It looks like we are reaching a point where these freedoms may need to be salvaged again.
Time and time again DK placed emphasis on free speech and goodwill.
“The forces of death are abroad today, but it is the death of liberty, the death of free speech, the death of freedom in human action, the death of truth and of the higher spiritual values. These are the vital factors in the life of humanity; the death of the physical form is a negligible factor in relation to these, and one easily righted again through the processes of rebirth and fresh opportunity.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 232
The disciple must “gain that control of speech which has often been your goal but seldom your achievement, and remember that the most powerful factor in the control of speech is a loving heart. Wild and fearful talk, hateful gossip, cruel innuendo, suspicion, the ascribing of wrong and wicked motives to persons and peoples, and the divergences of attitude which have separated the many different nations in the world are rampant today and have brought the world to its present distressing situation. It is so easy to drift into the same habits of speech and thought which we find around us and to discover ourselves participating in attack and the spirit of hate. Guard yourselves strenuously against this and say nothing which could inflame hate and suspicion in connection with any race, any person, any group or any leaders of groups and nations.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 82
Freedom, A Pearl of Great Price
It is bad enough that free speech is under attack, but in addition to this almost every freedom our forefathers fought for is being diminished.
The Second Amendment, the Right to keep and bear arms, comes under renewed attack whenever some crazy guy goes on a shooting spree. Yes, there are some accidents and homicides due to guns, but many more deaths and serious injuries due to car accidents. But no one calls for the banning of cars.
Why?
Because their usefulness far exceeds the damage they cause.
And what is the usefulness of guns?
The main one, which was enunciated by our founders, was not for hunting, but to keep us free. A government will be nervous taking us too far toward tyranny if its citizens are armed and other nations would think twice about invading us when the citizens are armed with a couple hundred million guns.
We need to recall that the worst killing spree that has happened on American soil was caused, not by guns, but by 19 men with box cutters who hijacked airplanes. Yet no one called for the banning of air travel.
Again, even with great disasters now and then air travel brings much more benefit and freedom than it takes away.
Big Brother has been taking away freedoms in many other ways. If you count all the hidden taxes the average taxpayer pays more than 50% in taxes.
Government borrowing and charging the reckless debt to you and me and our children is another great inhibitor.
Excessive laws and regulations are suffocating many just trying to make a living.
Other freedoms at risk are our religious freedoms, a free unregulated internet, freedom from excessive and frivolous lawsuits and just a general freedom to speak and act with out of the box ideas.
DK supported the Allies against Hitler to secure freedoms necessary to insure the coming of the New Age, but I would suppose he would be concerned today as he surveys the current situation.
Yes, some things have improved, but it will all be for nothing if we were to lose our freedoms. We must ever remember these great words emphasized by numerous Founding Fathers including Jefferson.
“Eternal vigilance is the cost of liberty.”
DK Quotes on freedom:
For the first time in human history, the lines of demarcation between that which is right from the angle of the spiritual values (the essential freedom of the human spirit) and that which is wrong (the imprisonment of the human spirit by materialistic conditions) are clearly perceived by the majority of the nations of the planet. (Understanding of Humanity after WW II) Discipleship in the New Age Vol II, Page 220
“The freedom of humanity and the liberation of its power to be self-determining (which is an aspect of freedom) has become the dearest ideal and the best thought of the thinkers in all nations. In the last analysis, it is this interference with individual and group freedom which is the worst sin of the evil men.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 266
Nothing of true value is to be gained by any arbitrary or autocratic activity on the part of the spiritual Hierarchy. That is one of the lessons to be learnt, as the work of the totalitarian powers—in the past and today—and its effects are noted. Under the totalitarian system, freedom is curtailed or abolished, the free will of the individual is denied and prevented expression, the individual is regarded as the appurtenance of the all-powerful State and held in that position by police regimentation; individual development is of value only in so far as the interests of the State are served, but the individual himself—as an independent divine unit of humanity—is non-existent, from the totalitarian point of view. Would you, therefore, have the spiritual Hierarchy of our planet work along totalitarian lines, enforcing peace and comfort, taking steps to arrest evil by force and working for the material well-being of men? Or would you have the Masters lead humanity itself, through right understanding, to take the needed action, even if it involves trial and error and a much slower process? Would you have mankind standing on its own feet as intelligent agents of the divine Plan? Or would you have them treated as irresponsible children who must be energetically protected against themselves? Is it not better for the rapidly awakening intelligence and activity of men (in every land) to be trained to recognise the essential unity of all human beings, and so be led to take the action needed which will endorse that unity, which will work for the entire group of human beings in all lands everywhere, and which will also and at the same time preserve the individual and the national cultures, alongside a universal civilisation and a world-wide system of divine recognition? It is toward this general freedom and the intelligent activity of the free individual that the Hierarchy is steadily and successfully working; the concept of unity and of united activity for the good of all is far more widely grasped and understood than you perhaps realise. The totalitarian approach works toward an imposed unity and one which will include all peoples and bind them down to a uniformity of belief—politically, economically and socially—and which will and does basically ignore the spiritual values, putting the State in the place of that divine spiritual centre where spiritual reality is to be found. Externalization of the Hierarchy, Pages 670-671
“The material goal which all who love their fellowmen and serve the Hierarchy must ever have in mind and at heart is the defeat of totalitarianism. I do not say the defeat of Communism, but the defeat of that evil process which involves the imposition of ideas, and which can be the method of the democratic nations and of the churches everywhere, just as much as it is the method of the U.S.S.R. This we call totalitarianism. I would ask you to have this distinction clearly in your minds. Your material goal is the defeat of all that infringes human free will and which keeps humanity in ignorance; it applies equally to any established system—Catholic or Protestant—which imposes its concepts and its will upon its adherents. Totalitarianism is the basis of evil today; it is found in all systems of government, of education; it is found in the home and in the community. I refer not here to the laws which make group relations sound, possible and right; such laws are essential to community and national well-being and are not totalitarian in nature. I refer to the imposition of the will of the few upon the total mass of the people. The defeat of this undesirable tendency everywhere is your definite material goal. Externalization of the Hierarchy,” Page 701
“Freedom is an essentially spiritual attribute, underlying the entire evolutionary process; this should always be remembered as a strengthening and conditioning reality by all men everywhere. It has survived aeons of opposition from the principle of enslaving selfishness and is largely responsible, at this time, for the struggle in which we are all participating.” Rays and Initiations, Page 428
Copyright by J J Dewey
Easy Access to All the Writings
For Free Book go HERE and other books HERE
JJ’s Amazon page HERE
Gather with JJ on Facebook HERE
The Left, the Right and DK, Part 1
The Principle of Freedom
A reader brings up an interesting point, that most Bailey students are from the Left and see me as a heretic to the faith because I lean to the Right on some issues and this division seems unreasonable.
Yes it is interesting that a great majority of Bailey students as well as most in other new age movements lean quite strongly to the Left. If I had to guess the amount I would say it was over 80%.
So, do shear numbers in majority mean that going to the Left is the true right hand path?
Not hardly. History proves that the next level of truth is always seen by the few, not the many.
Before I proceed let me note that when I speak of political divisions I usually use Left and Right instead of liberal and conservative. This is because these titles are misleading as those who are called conservative are liberal in many ways as they give more to charities, they are supportive of space exploration and technology, they look for new ways to expand on freedom, liberally embrace free speech, limited government, etc. Those who call themselves liberal are extremely conservative about conserving all kinds of things – the environment, cultures, historical sites and buildings and unfortunately lean toward the old conservative ways of totalitarian government much more than do conservatives with their emphasis on freedom..
I consider myself on the Right because I choose the Right hand path and it may be no coincidence that the political left and right have taken those names to themselves as the esoteric left restricts freedom and the right seeks to expand it, similar to the political left and right. Both of the groups on the left seek to restrict individual and group freedom with more laws, more regulations, less free speech and less trust in the intelligence of the individual to make his own choices.
So what are the indications that the seeker is on the Right hand path?
As I have said many times, the key indication that one is treading the Right hand path is an embracement of the Principle of Freedom. After all, what is the core ingredient of the various initiations that have to be taken on the path to liberation?
DK said again and again that the initiations remove limitations. And what happens when limitations are removed?
Greater freedom.
How can a seeker be making significant progress toward his next initiation, which brings greater freedom if he fights against the very principle of freedom that is needed to move forward?
The problem with understanding freedom is that everyone thinks they are for it. Slave owners during the American Civil War thought they were fighting for it. Hitler thought he was fighting for it. Even terrorists think they support it.
How can some be so deluded one may ask.
The reason is that individuals tend to see freedom only as it relates to their own little world and totally miss seeing it as it applies to the whole.
If slave owners won the war they would have had more freedom to do what they wanted with their slaves. If Hitler had won he would have had more freedom to carry out his insidious designs. If terrorists get their way then they’ll have lots of freedom to rape and pillage.
Fortunately, most reading this will clearly see that the above groups did not embrace any true principle of freedom. Unfortunately, many cannot see where they are missing the principle with the political views they embrace.
Consider the ways that many miss out on the Principle of Freedom.
They accept the idea that it is okay to limit or take away freedom if their intention is to do good.
For instance, the current society has a plethora of social programs not supported by the majority who actually pay the taxes to support them. Social Security is the exception in that we all pay into it and all benefit. It is no wonder then that it is supported by most and thus the principle of freedom for the whole is upheld.
On the other hand, only about 50% of the people pay any significant federal taxes yet the 50% who do not pay are the main beneficiaries. These people who benefit with no contribution get to vote for representatives that will take money from taxpayers to give them free benefits. This causes more to be spent on social programs than is available, as evidenced by our $22 trillion national debt.
Average federal taxpayers would be willing to see a reasonable amount go to social programs but because those who do not pay keep demanding more, many feel that their money is being stolen from them as well as their grandkids with the piling up of debt.
Thus we have a new type of slavery, for those who do not contribute seek to live off the means of those who do. This is what the slave owners in the Old South did. They lived off the labors of the slaves and reaped the benefits.
Now the situation is reversed in that the poorer half seek benefits with no contribution.
The poor are not the only ones benefiting as many unsupported taxpayer funds go to subsidize or benefit the wealthy.
Yes, the Ancient Wisdom teaches the principle of sharing, but it’s core emphasis is on the principle of freedom and liberation.
Sharing should be encouraged but must have at least 50% support from the group who are asked to make the sacrifice. To support the demand for confiscating by force, funds from a group where majority support does not exist, is to place yourself on the side of new cycle of slave supporters and this is not the path of the esoteric right.
The pilgrim on the true right hand path will support the principle of maximum freedom and seek to influence the majority to support sharing necessary to bring in the new age
Only by creating a sense of personal responsibility and a consciousness of freedom can we insure that our world will not slip back into physical slavery.
A reader writes:
“So, are you saying those that lean to the political left are “leaning toward the Left hand” (spiritual) path?”
JJ: The reason I use “Right” and “Left” as much as possible when I am teaching is to correlate my views with the Right and left hand path more than the literal political right and left.
The political left leans more toward limiting freedom than does the political right, but the Right is far from perfect so I do not set them up as the ideal by a long shot. Now because the political right have some areas where they also want to limit freedom does not mean they are equally egregious. One has to use the Second Key of Judgment and assess the degree each side goes off the path to liberation of the human spirit.
Both political sides are way too black and white and a black and white approach overlooks the Principle of Judgment, as well as principles in general, which must be used to see the Right hand path. Without judgment the seeker will naturally gravitate (usually with good intentions) toward the Left hand path until he reaches a point of tension where the real truth stares him in the face. At that point many will choose correctly and veer to the Right.
Another readers asks:
I feel like you talk about socialist policies, as if they were brought in by a dictator. Was it not the majority rule, that you espouse, that brought about socialist policies? Is it not then the will of the people, that enacted these policies in order to make a more just, and equal society?
JJ: If people want to cooperate in socialistic endeavors through their own free will then I am all for it, but many socialist policies, as well as many acts of Congress and presidential executive orders, run contrary to the will of the people.
Our elected representatives are supposed to represent the will of the people, but often vote against it and in harmony with pressure groups and political leaders rather than the people.
Congress barely passed Obamacare with only Democratic votes which ran contrary to the will of the people.
A big problem with it was that the people were unaware of what was in it and those who did read some of it were usually strongly opposed to it.
When passed the Obamacare bill contained 381,517 obscure words and within three years an additional 11, 500,000 words were added in attempts to clarify and expand its powers. I supposed additional millions of words have been added since.
The bill did not have majority support when passed and has low support now. A Washington Post poll in June 2015 showed support at 39% and in October 2915 a Rasmussen poll showed support at just 32%.
If we eliminated the people from the poll who were getting highly subsidized insurance at the expense of the middle class then support would be much lower.
The New York Times found that more than half the plans offered through the federal Healthcare.gov exchange had deductibles of $3,000 or more. In some states, the median deductible was $5,000 or more.
Sky-high deductibles like that high used to come with extremely low premiums. But thanks to ObamaCare’s many rules and regulations and fees, such plans are a thing of the past.
The Times notes that an Albuquerque, N.M., woman pays $4,800 a year for a plan with a $6,000 deductible. Before ObamaCare, a plan with a $2,500 deductible was available in that state for just $1,625 a year, according to a Government Accountability Office review of pre-ObamaCare premiums.
If you have a social program where a third of the people get free stuff then almost all of that group will vote for a continuation of the freebies. On the other hand, it is theft for those who are getting the benefit without paying for it, to have the power to demand free stuff from those who work hard to earn the money and pay the taxes. Any social program should be supported by the majority of those who actually pay for it. Benefits supplied by the approval of the majority who who pay the bills are much more justified than those opposed by the majority.
Right now almost half the people are receiving government benefits. If we reach a point where over half receive more than they pay in then the takers will have power to demand the givers to give more and more until the country unravels and collapses.
Not a good thing.
The solutions to these problems are presented in my book Fixing America and the core of the solution is presented online free HERE.
Universal Healthcare Lost
Would you say that we have universal healthcare if we had a system that all could afford, even if one worked for minimum wage or was a fruit picker working for piece work with imported Hispanics?
Let us say that a fruit picker had an accident where he wound up spending three months in the hospital involving six operations, yet had no problem paying for the whole thing. Does that sound like the best system ever?
Yes, it does. This was what we once had and we let this utopia slip from our fingers for a bowl of porridge offered to us by Big Brother.
We had such a wonderful system back in 1958 when I had an accident with a homemade rocket exploding that indeed put me in the situation just described.
This happened at the worst possible time. My parents had just divorced and my Dad took off to central America, not to be heard from for years and giving us no support. We had no food stamps no welfare, no child support, no medical insurance and no skills in making money. To make money, my mother, younger sister and I picked fruit in the summer and my mother worked for minimum wage in a potato plant during the rest of the year.
After the explosion I spent eight hours in surgery and a month in the hospital. Then a short time later I had a second surgery requiring a few extra hospital days.
I was quite concerned about the cost to my mother for something that was my fault and discovered that my cost there was $8 a day. There were other rooms that cost $12 and $14 a day, but I had a cheaper one because it was a ward shared with others.
Even so, eight dollars a day in 1958 seemed like a lot for someone in our situation. That’s about $70 in 2019 dollars. On top of this we had the surgery costs and office visits.
We, of course, could not pay it off all at once, but over time we paid the whole thing by picking fruit, working near minimum wage and me mowing laws on the side.
Then, later I had four corrective surgeries by a specialist that required an additional two months in the hospital. To cover the costs my savvy mom found a private charity that paid for the whole thing.
If this happened under today’s system the overall bill would be around a half million dollars and there is no way that a fruit picker could handle it, even if he had good insurance that paid 80%.
Indeed, we used to have a universal health care system, in other words, a system that all could afford and it required no payments to the IRS taken out of paychecks to cover Medicare – neither did it require the government to borrow money to supplement healthcare.
What happened that destroyed such a fair system?
It happened when the government stepped into help in 1965 when Medicare was introduced. It was supposed to help with medical costs, but from that point on they increased exponentially.
Medicare seemed like a good idea to many, especially in consideration of the cost projections at the time. The public was sold on the idea that Medicare’s $3 billion cost in 1966 would only reach an inflation-adjusted $12.0 billion by 1990. Instead, the actual cost in 1990 was a whopping $67 billion. The “experts” were off by 7.44 times. Total Medicare spending reached $440 billion for fiscal year 2007, or 16 percent of all federal spending. Since that time, spending has continued to rise and Obamacare is sending taxpayer costs through the roof.
The only larger categories of federal spending are Social Security and defense.
Would the public have supported socialized medicine if they could have seen what they would lose?
Certainly not.
Unfortunately, young people today have no sense of history, of what a financial paradise health costs were when before 1965.
Back then doctors often put patients a couple days in the hospital for observation. Because costs were so low the payment was no problem. Now, even with insurance, no one goes into the hospital unless absolutely necessary.
Today people are often complaining about the price of gas, but when I had my accident in 1958 the price of a gallon of gas was 40 cents a gallon. In today’s money that is equivalent to $3.48. These supposedly greedy oil companies are now selling gas for as cheap as $2.06 a gallon at the time of this writing in my city. Consumers are winning in that they are buying this product below the cost of inflation.
On the other hand, if you spend a day in the supposedly non-profit hospitals you can expect to pay around $4000. That far exceeds the inflation of the $8.00 I was paying, which would be $70 today. In fact it is 57 times the cost of inflation.
If gas went up the same amount we would be paying almost $200.00 a gallon.
So much for the benefits of being non-profit and benefitting from government help.
Help like this is something we can certainly do without.
A question a real seeker of truth may ask here is which has worked better in proven reality? Has it been free market capitalism in bringing us oil or socialism replacing the free market in bringing us medical services?
Copyright by J J Dewey
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