The Disconnect
Date: June 10th, 2009
Category: Ideology of Freedom
By Robert Ringer
About two years ago, I recall having a conversation with an acquaintance of mine who built custom homes. At one point, he happened to mention a house that he’d had on the market for about three years.
I said, “You’re asking $650,000 for that house, right?” That was the price I’d remembered from three years earlier. His response took me aback: He said he was now asking $1 million for the same house!
“What makes you think you can get that much money for a house that just three years ago you were trying to sell for $650,000?” I asked. “Especially with the real estate market starting to weaken?”
This time, his response was incredulous (i.e., he sounded incredulous that I had asked the question, and I felt incredulous when I heard his answer). “Robert,” he said, “the whole point of real estate is that prices go up, not down. Why would I ask the same price I was asking three years ago?”
This may sound like an innocent, even naïve, statement — and, in truth, it was. But millions of innocent people have died as a result of their naiveté. Like, for example, the Jews who didn’t leave Germany when they had the opportunity to do so because they didn’t take Hitler seriously.
The point is that nature punishes us just as harshly when we are well-intentioned but stupid as when we are smart but harbor bad intentions. Either way, universal law delivers to us the results we deserve.
Granted, homebuilders and real estate developers live with so many delusions that they make Alice in Wonderland look like she was in the real world. Having been a real estate broker in my twenties, I can attest to the fact that no matter how many times they get burned, builders and developers cannot bring that scarred gray stuff between their ears to accept the reality that the value of their properties is not what they think they should be.
But builders and developers are not the only earthlings who are disconnected from reality. There are a couple of hundred million other poor souls — in the United States alone — who are stubbornly plugged into “The Disconnect.” Like the somas in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, The Disconnect is a mental condition foisted on the public by progressives — both inside and outside the government — whose goal is to decide what’s best for you and me … and, in the process, control our lives.
Nowhere is The Disconnect more evident than in the highly favorable ratings Barack Obama is receiving, even though his performance ratings in almost every specific area are medium to poor. The Disconnect affects those who are genetically programmed to act like sheep especially hard.
Which means that the sheep — dragging you and me along in the process! — are going to get the exact government they deserve. Remember, nature punishes us just as harshly when we are well-intentioned but stupid as when we are smart but harbor bad intentions. In his groundbreaking book The Liberal Mind, Dr. Lyle H. Rossiter puts it this way:
[In] providing for his own material and interpersonal well-being, and the well-being for those for whom he has assumed responsibility, the competent person has no need of parental services. While always humanly fallible and vulnerable, and always subject to failure and loss, his efforts to run his life through his own initiative ordinarily suffice well enough and are personally satisfying in their own right.
In particular, he has no need or desire for the government to assume a task that he is able to perform for himself, with or without the assistance of others. Beyond certain very limited though critical government functions, such as the protection of property and contract rights, military defense against other nations, and the coordination of those relatively few matters best regulated as public goods, the competent man desires only to be let alone by the government in order that he may continue to live his life as he chooses — while he honors the rights of others to do the same.
Translation: Americans need to grow up and start acting like adults! Our problem today is not the economy. In a free society, good and bad economies come and go — sort of like global warming and global cooling. They are natural occurrences … no big deal.
Our real problem is that we no longer live in a free society, and the reason we are moving toward total enslavement is because, much like the builder I mentioned at the outset of this article, we naively believe that the market for freedom always goes up. Take it from none other than Pravda: The market for freedom in America is going down!
And it will continue to go down so long as conservative commentators continue to say things like “I can’t for the life of me figure out why President Obama would do that. If his ‘stimulus plan’ doesn’t work, he’s toast. He’ll be voted out of office.”
Why talk about how to reverse the trend toward totalitarianism when so many Americans continue to believe that Obama and his cronies are well-intentioned but simply misguided? No, no, no, no, no … they are
not well-intentioned. And I have news for you: Fascist dictatorships don’t get voted out of office.
Fortunately, some get it — Dick Morris, David Horowitz, and a few other television commentators have it right: The Obama fascists want to destroy the U.S. economy so they can establish control over every aspect of your life. Since no one else will say it, I’ll step up to the plate: They are running a race to head off free elections in 2010 — and, if that should fail, 2012 for sure.
Is it too late? Hopefully, it is not. But we all have to pitch in and help rehabilitate our family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers who have been afflicted with The Disconnect. Do whatever you have to, even if it means paying them for one evening to miss The Bachelor or Survivor and watch Fox News.
Oh, and one word of caution. If it’s a person who has never before watched Fox News, don’t start him off with Glenn Beck. After all, you don’t want to rip The Disconnect wiring from his brain so fast that you cause permanent damage. I suggest you start with lighter fare, and bring him along slowly. Rehab is a task that has to be handled gingerly.
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June 11th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Robert,
You have accurately and poignantly articulated the same perceptions and concerns that many of us have regarding the blind complacency and submission of Americans forfeiting their autonomy and adult responsibilities. The comfortable illusion and negative dynamic reality that Americans were living in, is coming crashing down on their heads (as well as the rest of us), and yet they’re too disconnected from the illustrative lessons of history as well as the ability of the media to lie through selective dissemination of news, as well as the media’s now standard practice of lying by the omission of critical facts and details in many stories.
I often find myself in an apoplectic state of incredulity when, like you, I try to point out all the obvious signs of the loss and forfeiture of our individual freedoms and autonomy, and the person or persons I’m speaking to, replies with a nonchalant response that I’m over-reacting or that I am somehow misreading trends and reality. They somehow believe that what happened to other countries and nations, can’t possibly happen here as we’re ‘THE UNITED STATES’!
I’m not sure at this point that many of these somnambulistic people can be aroused to at least be a little alarmed at what has occurred, and is occurring in the loss of our liberties, privacy, and freedoms.
The reality is that the rest of us, who have a more objective and realistic historical perspective, have the obligation to ourselves and future generations, to continue to sound the alarm over the rapidly deteriorating political landscape, and to encourage Americans to reject the obvious government altruism being extended, with their not so hidden agenda of an eventual American dystopia.
June 11th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Do you have an evidence to corroborate your assertion that Obama is trying to eliminate free elections in the U.S.?
June 11th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Robert, I have followed your writings for many years and have usually agreed with your thoughts.
But, I have to disagree with some of your premises for the disconnect article.
If we lived in an ideal world where people were honest and forthright you’d have this thing nailed. But, since the deregulation practices starting with Reagan, the greedy have taken over the earth.
It is my belief that we are in the mess we are in not because of big government, but because of the greed that allowed wall street to destroy our economy.
Enron, Halliburton, AIG,etc. without the constraints of regulations have all contributed to the ability of a very greedy few to take from the many.
Whether we like it or not, we now need government intervention. Only the govt. can stop all of this nonsense, bring us back to center, and then allow individuals to flourish in a free economy.
That’s my 2cents.
June 13th, 2009 at 2:11 am
Robert Ringer is a good man and an inspiration. For years he has been educating individuals. He is phenomenal. In my opinion he should be listed among the great educators of our time.
Sadly, I don’t think his efforts or the combined efforts of all the great educators of late will *prevent* the “disconnected” masses from supporting those who will inevitably destroy American Liberty and The Rule Of Law.
America, in the end, will crash. And at that point in time, it will be the true moment of truth that some of us have been waiting for. I firmly *do not* believe that education alone will prevent or resolve the moment of truth from arriving. I refuse to expend much energy in trying to prevent what is ahead. I vehemently disagree that, “we all have to pitch in and help rehabilitate our family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers who have been afflicted with The Disconnect.”
We face a tidal wave of ignorance, a tsunami, that is unstoppable. I feel a bit sorry for the great educators of late and all those who exhaust themselves trying to prevent the masses from crashing the entire system. Allow me to illustrate why I feel this way: I was watching The Glen Beck Show on Fox News the other day and it’s obvious that the permutations of the “Tea Party” protest are intensifying. I can see that it’s not going to take very long for some individuals to figure out that “talk is cheap” and action is precious. The murmurings of the overtaxed populace are slowly coming to a boil. One day, it will dawn on them that “actions speaks louder than words.” Right now the discontent is just slowly simmering and it may take years before a true tax revolt is started. However, there are exceptions: “The Coach,” who was interviewed by Mr. Beck, is someone who is ahead of the general population and those who took part in the “Tea Party. “The Coach” claims that he is not going to pay his taxes and that he’s ready, willing, and able to go to prison as a means of protesting the out of control spending, taxation without representation, and the generational theft that the government is engaging in. Now that’s a genuine protest. It reminds me of Henry David Thoreau and how he refused to pay taxes. He was even thrown in jail until someone paid them in his behalf, then he was released a short time later.
Personally, I think “The Coach” is premature in his timing. There will be a time to withhold taxes and go to prison. There will be a time to withdraw all the rest of your money from the fractional banking system and use it to buy and sell in a protest market (aka black market). There will be a time to sell all the rest of your stocks and use the money to finish building your personal *stockpile.* The bottom line is that there will be a time for some serious protest. Yes, there will be a time to go *all in* and educate, educate, educate. When? The critical time is just before, during, and after the socialists (who now firmly control the U.S. government) crash the entire 233 year old system…..that’s when. When those who support socialism finally crash the entire system— beyond any temporary repair— it will then be the opportune time to protest and go all in.
Some would say that it’s time to act now before it is too late. Some would say now is the time to educate with a passion and protest with resolve. I disagree. I want to see more pain, suffering, and bewilderment on the part of the masses who voted for Barack Obama. In fact, I want to see, first, a level of stagflation occur in the U.S.economy similar to that of the Jimmy Carter era. I want to see some riots of discontent. I want to see news stories about how large numbers of old people are freezing or cooking to death because they cannot afford electric and/or heating oil to maintain the temperature of their homes. I want to see stories of the same old people eating cat food because they cannot pay for human food. I want to see, on a widespread basis, mothers who cannot feed their children. I want to see young people rioting and vandalizing because they’re hot with anger. I want to actually see politicians who are truly angry and afraid. I want to see a true, overt, funding crisis occur in the U.S. Government and the start of a wicked, out of control, hyperinflation. I want to see a desperate and exasperated socialist-government in a total panic because it cannot print money fast enough to sustain the level of socialism and dependency that it has fostered. I want to see some true hopelessness and death before I act. I’ve traveled the world, and I know what hopelessness and death look like, so I’ll wait for the real thing. I want to see the horror of socialism colliding with reality, then I’ll dedicate myself 100% to a true protest/revolt/education campaign.
Why do I want to wait and see all of the above before I put my life on the line like “The Coach” is doing? Why don’t I act with 100% conviction, now, to try and help prevent the cruel and horrifying events that I think will take place? Why? Why?? Why??? ….Why won’t I “pitch in and help rehabilitate our family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers who have been afflicted with The Disconnect?” Because, I don’t believe that the chances are in favor of those who want to try and prevent the coming catastrophe……that’s why.
Just as sure as the sun is going to rise, human nature, being what it is, will prevent the masses from turning against their beloved socialist government no matter how much you or I or Mr. Ringer try to reason and educate them. Does that mean that me and you should not try and help educate anyone at all? No, of course not; but it’s a losing battle that we should not exhaust ourselves in or expect to achieve the desired results …… Truly, I don’t even think that if we had an army of educators, that are of the high caliber of Mr. Ringer or Mr. Beck, that we can, or will, stop the crash of western civilization. The collectivist masses have become to reliant on socialism to reject it, they’re hooked.
The government has become like a mommy who spoils her dependant children to the point of ruination. Education alone won’t motivate those who embrace socialism. Severe pain is what motivates the masses, not reason, education, or long-term-thinking. They have to learn the hard way—and that’s just what’s going to happen in my opinion. When the time is right to rise up and crush socialism, and not a minute before, then is when I, personally, will act. When a lot more people are saying, “Give me liberty or give me death,” and they are truly meaning and feeling it in their hearts; that’s when the time is right to act boldly and attempt to defeat the lie—–and not a minute before.
I ask you: What did the founding fathers do before they attempted to throw off the yoke of the British? They waited until the British made life so unbearable for the general population that the masses would fight to the death to free themselves—-then the founding fathers made their move. I would employ and join those who would use the very same strategy: I want some serious pain and suffering on my side in the coming fight. Those who can turn serious pain and suffering into their allies will have a powerful force for true change that you can believe in. And if I’m wrong, and we all muddle on down the road for the next 50 years without a dramatic climax, and I die of old age, like F.A. Hayek did, without having to face the genuine collapse of western civilization, then I’m wrong and I will not end up wasting my time in jail for nothing of any long term value—like “The Coach” is doing.
And if Mr. Ringer is correct in his assessment that “The Obama fascists want to destroy the U.S. economy so they can establish control over every aspect of your life. Since no one else will say it, I’ll step up to the plate: They are running a race to head off free elections in 2010 — and, if that should fail, 2012 for sure.”
If Mr. Ringer is correct in the above bold statement, then it’s even more important than ever to wait until they make their move, then counter punch them to death—”For sure.”
June 17th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Mr.Ringer:
If you think Glen beck is TRUSTWORTHY fare for anywone, you have very little perception. For a while I was misled because, sure enough, he hits the nail on the head some of the time. That is what makes him a dangerous person. I LIKE him and want to agree with him. But I have observed too many times that he has an agenda (whether his own or one imposed in some Faustian way) to mislead in much the same way as the famous Missouri terrorist characteristics (which included veterans) that he so roundly decried. Do you really believe that James von Brunn is a hero of the 9-11 truth movement? That is just one exmple of what Glenn Beck has fed to his listeners. Did you note how independent and determined to tell the real truth about FEMA camps he was, only to do a 180 between Fox and Friends in the morning and his show in the afternoon of the same day, followed by contracting out the job to Popular Mechanics, the shill debunker of 9-11 truthers?
As John Stossel would say, “Give me a break.”
June 22nd, 2009 at 1:08 am
Bcotto- IIMHO you are missing reality with your last comment: “then allow individuals to flourish in a free economy.”
…because that is NOT was is happening sir! Please be one of the AWARE ones and educate yourself?
Reality Seeker & deusimplicitus – I agree with you that this is the road that “they” are going down! But the question is, What can be done to KEEP it from happening, at least to SOME of us? The AWARE ones such as yourself? SECEDE? I submit that MAY be the/AN answer! And just “sounding the alarm” won’t work either, because there are TOO MANY of THEM!
Proof: See the election results! And COUNT the apathetic NON-voters! It’s TOO MUCH of a dead-ass, non-thinking, non-involved MASS, to move!
I submit that ANY plan, that tries to define both “Method AND Performance”…..will FAIL.
It’s got to be one, or the other. I prefer to follow PERFORMANCE based plans/solutions.
What say you?