Tag: education

John Steinbeck’s 1954 Speech to Eastern Europe: The defense of the individual against the collective

If I could claim to have had a teacher which had a great influence on my life as many contemporaries feel is so pertinent, it would be Joseph Campbell—which I’ve talked about before. Campbell was in the time of his life at the center of many intersecting ideals and he acquired that center through a grand adventure that could only have been found pursuing an extremely individual course through his life. One of those adventures found him to be one of the characters in the John Steinbeck novel Cannery Row as the great American novelist chronicled those years in that literary work. Steinbeck and Campbell were friends until Campbell fell in love with Carol Henning, Steinbeck’s wife. The group lived a pre-hippie existence in California as communism was becoming all the rage in America and all these intense experiences became the subject matter of Steinbeck’s novels. In a speech given by Steinbeck over Radio Free Europe in 1954 to the repressed people of Eastern Europe Steinbeck revealed some of his more mature political ideals refined over the years through his art and experiences. It is an eloquent defense of free expression and the power of the individual that represented the culmination of Steinbeck’s life work which is very pertinent to this very day. Instead speaking to the censorship behind the Iron Curtin, as Steinbeck had in the following speech, in the present day, the same censorship is occurring behind the veil of intelligentsia. The goal is the same—just the method of execution has changed. So before elaborating on the life of Steinbeck, Campbell, and our modern times—read that pertinent speech.

“To my friends,

There was a time when I could visit you and you were free to visit me. My books were in your stores and you were free to write to me on any subject. Now your borders are closed with barbed wire and guarded by armed men and fierce dogs, not to keep me out but to keep you in. And now your minds are also imprisoned. You are told that I am a bad writer but you are not permitted to judge for yourselves. You are told we are bad people but you are forbidden to see and to compare. You are treated like untrustworthy animals, subjected to conditioning as cold and ruthless as though you were rats in a laboratory. You cannot travel, you cannot read freely and you cannot work at the profession of your choice. Your writers are the conditioned servants of a regime. All of this is designed to destroy your ability to think.

I beg you to keep alive the integrity of the individual in his ability to judge and compare and create. May your writers write secretly and hold their writing for the time when this grey anesthetic has passed as pass it must. The free world outside your prison still lives. You will join it again and it will welcome you. Everything around you is cynically designed to destroy you as individuals. You must remember and teach your children that they are precious, not as dull cogs in the wheel of party existence, but as units complete and shining in themselves.”

http://www.theblaze.com/blog/2014/06/30/a-powerful-eloquent-speech-on-individualism-from-an-author-youd-never-expect/

John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. (February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American author of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books, and five collections of short stories. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939), East of Eden (1952) and the novella Of Mice and Men (1937). Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception”.

Steinbeck graduated from Salinas High School in 1919 and went from there to study English Literature at Stanford University in Palo Alto, leaving, without a degree, in 1925. He traveled to New York City where he took odd jobs while trying to write. When he failed to have his work published, he returned to California and worked in 1928 as a tour guide and caretaker[7] at Lake Tahoe, where he met Carol Henning, his first wife.[3][7][8] The two were married in January 1930 in Los Angeles, where, with friends, he attempted to make money manufacturing plaster mannequins.[7]

When their money ran out six months later, Steinbeck and Carol moved back to Pacific Grove, California, to a cottage owned by his father, on the Monterey Peninsula a few blocks from the border of the city of Monterey, California. The elder Steinbecks gave John free housing, paper for his manuscripts, and from 1928, loans that allowed him to write without looking for work. During this period of the Great Depression, Steinbeck bought a small boat, and later claimed that he was able to live on the fish and crab that he gathered from the sea, as well as fresh vegetables from his garden and local farms. When that didn’t work, he was not above getting welfare, or rarely even stealing food from the local produce market.[7] Whatever food they had, they would share with their friends.[7] Carol became the model for Mary Talbot in Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row.[7]

Many of Steinbeck’s works are on required reading lists in American high schools. In the United Kingdom, Of Mice and Men is one of the key texts used by the examining body AQA for its English Literature GCSE. A study by the Center for the Learning and Teaching of Literature in the United States found that Of Mice and Men was one of the ten most frequently read books in public high schools.[28]

At the same time, The Grapes of Wrath has been banned by school boards: in August 1939, Kern County Board of Supervisors banned the book from the county’s publicly funded schools and libraries.[14] It was burned in Salinas on two different occasions.[29][30] In 2003, a school board in Mississippi banned it on the grounds of profanity.[31] According to the American Library Association Steinbeck was one of the ten most frequently banned authors from 1990 to 2004, with Of Mice and Men ranking sixth out of 100 such books in the United States.[32][33]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck

Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience. His philosophy is often summarized by his phrase: “Follow your bliss.”[1]

Campbell traveled to California for a year (1931–32), continuing his independent studies and becoming close friends with the budding writer John Steinbeck and his wife Carol. On the Monterey Peninsula, Campbell, like Steinbeck, fell under the spell of marine biologist Ed Ricketts (the model for “Doc” in Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row as well as central characters in several other novels).[8] Campbell lived for a while next door to Ricketts, participated in professional and social activities at his neighbor’s, and accompanied him, along with Xenia and Sasha Kashevaroff, on a 1932 journey to Juneau, Alaska on the Grampus.[9] Like Steinbeck, Campbell began writing a novel centered on Ricketts as hero, but, unlike Steinbeck, he did not complete his book.[10]

Bruce Robison writes that “Campbell would refer to those days as a time when everything in his life was taking shape…. Campbell, the great chronicler of the ‘hero’s journey’ in mythology, recognized patterns that paralleled his own thinking in one of Ricketts’s unpublished philosophical essays. Echoes of Carl Jung, Robinson Jeffers and James Joyce can be found in the work of Steinbeck and Ricketts as well as Campbell.”[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell

To this day many of the people who infect the literary world are the same Marxists, socialist and political Democrats/communists who hung around circles like the one Campbell and Steinbeck had experimented with creating the same kind of stunted philosophic exploration witnessed in Eastern Europe during 1954. Nowhere else in the world were these concepts challenging convention than they were in places like the Monterey Peninsula during the time of Campbell and Steinbeck who would both move on to become some of the most prolific American writers of the 20th Century. Both men later in their life would be described as conservatives or libertarians depending on the source even though they were surrounded by the typical coastal communists so prevalent in artistic and scholastic circles. In the battlefield of ideals—both men would reject collectivism ultimately. Steinbeck’s thoughts on the matter were easy to see in his speech to Radio Free Europe. Campbell would ultimately develop the simple line, “Follow your bliss,” which is an extremely individual proclamation. Campbell would bounce back and forth for the rest of his life between the cause of that “bliss”–the origin of what makes a unique life part of some programmed destination—be it a god, or some unforeseen force—but his declaration was one that supported vehemently the value of an individual in pursuit of their own life.

I see the work of John Steinbeck as some of the pinnacle moments of observation and discovery ever recorded in human history–because of the impact they had on culture thereafter.   His novel, and thus the performance by James Dean in the movie version of East of Eden are some of the most haunting and realistic portrayals of complex human problems ever seen in print. What is vastly important about all these literary works—those of Steinbeck and of Campbell was their sincere dedication to the lives of the individual as the rest of the creative world plunged down the drain of collectivist thought most adequately reflected in the communist push to take over the Democratic Party. Even though modern times has slid treacherously toward socialism—the kind of America that was a product of uniquely individual thinking can be found specifically in Steinbeck’s writing. Those who hated it—those college professors and critics who declared negativity toward Steinbeck were the same type of people spoken to in Eastern Europe—those who desire to destroy the individual in favor of collective salvation. These were aspects of John Steinbeck that were formed during that critical year of 1931 when he and Joseph Campbell were penniless and far from famous—where they worked out a complicated web of the human struggle between collectivism and individualism even when it threatened to destroy things they held precious—namely women. America’s literary future took a drastic turn for the good in these adventures between those two men which would be one of the few pillars left between the America we hope to preserve and the vile intentions of the European collectivists and their desire to spread the dark ignorance of philosophy that John Steinbeck tried to shine through across Eastern Europe in 1954.

This adventure was told in lurid detail in the great book, A Fire in the Mind. Click the link below to read it for yourself. I like the authors—even if they lean too far to the left for me. They are—following their bliss and captured in time the great work of these two men John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell in their struggle to behold the strength of the individual.

http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Campbell-A-Fire-Mind/dp/0892818735

From the Back Cover of the book:

MYTHOLOGY / BIOGRAPHY
“A marvelous account of the life of a man who fell in love with stories and became our greatest teller of timeless myths. A feast for the mind, the imagination, and the heart.”

–Sam Keen, author of Fire in the Belly

“Joseph Campbell was an amazing, abundant, humane man. This book, by incorporating his journals, letters, and a massive offering of his intellectual sources, helps us understand how, in this half-dead world, such a character comes to be.”

–Robert Bly, poet and author of Iron John: A Book About Men

“Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind ignites the soul of the reader with immortal longings. To read it is to swim in a river of old with Joseph Campbell, whose capacity for knowledge was as vast as his passion for living. [It is a] potent telling of the quest of one who brought life to myth and myth to life.”

–Jean Houston, author of The Search for the Beloved

Joseph Campbell forged an approach to the study of myth and legend that made ancient traditions and beliefs immediate, relevant, and universal. His teachings and literary works, including The Masks of God, have shown that beneath the apparent themes of world mythology lie patterns that reveal the ways in which we all may encounter the great mysteries of existence: birth, growth, soul development, and death. Biographers Stephen and Robin Larsen were students and friends of Campbell for more than twenty years. With exclusive access to his personal papers and journals, they weave a rich tapestry of stories and insights that catalogue both his personal and public triumphs.

The authors, STEPHEN LARSEN, Ph.D., is the author of The Shaman’s Doorway and The Mythic Imagination. He is a practicing psychotherapist and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at SUNY (Ulster). Robin Larsen, Ph.D., is an exhibiting artist and art historian. She is editor-in-chief of the tricentennial biography and anthology Emanuel Swedenborg: A Continuing Vision. The Larsens co-direct the Center for Symbolic Studies in New Paltz, New York.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

FROM THE PAGES OF AYN RAND: Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie and the great Sergio Leone

The first time I was on television was on a commercial for the restaurant I worked for when I was only 16 years old.  I was a part of the filming and of setting up some of the shots and it gave me the opportunity to work with a crew from Channel 19.  The commercial just happened to air that week during “Tough Guy Week” where nightly they played movies from the toughest characters in Hollywood, people like Steve McQueen, Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee and best of all, Clint Eastwood.  I had been familiar with Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns before, but on the night that my commercial aired it was the same night that For A Few Dollars More played on television, so I ended up watching the entire film so that I could see how the commercial turned out.

The “Man With No Name” character in the Sergio Leone westerns—the trilogy A Fist Full of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, Bad, and the Ugly starring Clint Eastwood was a benchmark in tough guy films.  There had never been another character like the one that Eastwood played in those westerns in all of human history—including stage plays from the Renaissance.  Eastwood’s character was a brand new concept that few understood at the time—but loved.  That love continues 50 years later and has had an impact on cinema that has only escalated.

Eastwood would continue to work this personification of a male Übermensch conceived by Leone for several more films—particularly High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Sudden Impact.    To a smaller degree Eastwood played the same role in the contemporary comedy Every Which Way But Loose as a bare knuckle fighter.  Eastwood’s characters were so popular that they spilled over into other films like Star Wars where the characters of Han Solo and Boba Fett were direct embodiments of the Leone westerns that were only 10 years old at the time.  Kevin Costner would take on a similar Übermensch role in The Bodyguard which was the romance drama of 1992 that women swooned over.  Arnold Schwarzenegger would adopt Eastwood’s screen presence in films like The Terminator, Commando, and Conan the Barbarian, and following Eastwood’s movie production pattern at Warner Brothers did a comedy with Danny DeVitto called Twins—where his  Übermensch character could be played off the hapless antics of a much smaller man.

Progressives in Hollywood of course hated all this attention on these tough guy films and the actors who played them.  In 1989 Tim Burton tried to make a common everyday guy into a tough guy with his Micheal Keaton Batman film which attempted to stop the trend of these superhuman character films that were out of reach for the common man.  Progressives did not want these Übermensch types to steer the American public away from their social messages of interconnected reliance on each other, feminist causes, and sexual experimentation in gender roles–so they tried to get the situation under control.  The most obvious attempt was in the Batman films by Warner Brothers.  While the first film was visually stimulating, the sequel fell apart leading Val Kilmer to play in the 1995 version of a Batman reboot.  The movie was good, but Kilmer wanted nothing further to do with the role—likely from internal pressure within the Hollywood community to stop making Übermensch films.  The next Batman film was with the progressive George Clooney playing the caped crusader, which bombed and was a terrible film filmed with progressive slanted messages—which the public rejected.  This would cause Hollywood to return grudgingly back to the Übermensch concept by plucking the older material directly from comic books.  There was some experimentation with Spiderman to take the Übermensch concept and make him more altruistic which fell apart after Spiderman 3 in 2007 completely imploded on itself as Hollywood had lost the formula.  Christopher Nolan would dig deep into the roots of the Übermensch and get it right which has launched the current superhero parade of films from Ironman, The Avengers, The Hulk, Superman and all the good stuff that’s coming.

Meanwhile James Bond went from an obvious Übermensch in the late seventies and early eighties to a much more “progressive” and less secure secret agent in the 90s which nearly destroyed the character when Timothy Dalton took control after Roger Moore and showed that Bond wasn’t always so sure of himself—which audiences didn’t like.  The Bond franchise is still struggling to find itself as fans still love the old Roger Moore, Sean Connery version of James Bond over the newer—less sure of themselves—James Bonds.  Personally I find the new Bond films by Daniel Craig to be nearly unwatchable.  I enjoy them for the stunts, but the Übermensch Bond is not there.  Progressives love the new Bond and promote it actively—but it just doesn’t take to the American consciousness.

Then there is Quentin Tarantino who loved the old Leone films as much as I did and resurrected the Übermensch concept with a new spin to appease his producer Harvey Weinstein—he cast the lead as a woman and gave the origin for the special mystical power of the Übermensch to the East as a tribute to martial art films from the past.  The result was a fun romp through a bloody series of films where the heroine Uma Thurman was essentially playing Eastwood’s “Man With No Name” character from the Leone films.  It doesn’t matter in the least that Thurman’s character was a woman—what matters is that she was an Übermensch.  Angelina Jolie would take the Übermensch type of character into her portrayal of Tomb Raider where she played the video game character Lara Croft.  To this day even though critics panned the film as not very good, Jolie is known as Lara Croft even though she has made dozens of very good films.  It was her confidence—and Übermensch character in Tomb Raider that fans will always remember about her.

So what is the point of this little history of films produced by Hollywood?  Well, most of these stories lean back on the Leone films which were real breakthroughs at the time and indicated that mankind changed forever.  Human beings want their Übermensch in spite of what political or social forces wish to acknowledge.  And the first filmmaker to really get it right was Sergio Leone.  Without him, it is unlikely that any of the above would have happened—and Hollywood would be just another industry failing in America under progressive leadership.  Instead, Disney now has control of the Star Wars franchise and the world just spent a week wondering if Harrison Ford’s broken leg from the new Episode VII set would hinder his ability to resurrect his Übermensch Han Solo once again.  Disney is rumored to be planning a Boba Fett film which will essentially be a science fiction spaghetti western inspired directly from Sergio Leone—and it will make a ton of money—and progressives will be left scratching their heads wondering why.

So let me give you the secret dear reader.  Let me explain to you the reason why this trend has emerged and given birth to a comic book culture that is taking over today’s youth steering them away from the pacifism of progressivism.  When Ayn Rand spent approximately twenty years writing two books—one, The Fountainhead and two, Atlas Shrugged, she took Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch and completed the work that the German philosopher was unable to due to madness.  In The Fountainhead was the first real attempt to provide an Übermensch to ever occur as a fully functioning character.  The novel published in 1943 was part of a growing trend for human beings to grapple with the Übermensch concept.  In just 1938 the first Superman comic was produced based on a 1933 fanzine trying to take the overman idea as proposed by the socialist George Bernard Shaw and Nietzsche’s direct influence of Hitler’s National Socialism and complete the destructive nature of the incomplete philosophic principle.  The Superman comic was a direct reaction to the type of sentiment which led to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal ideals in America and had a bit of a liberal spin on it.  Ayn Rand further flushed out the Übermensch concept and put them on the pages of her novel, The Fountainhead—which to me is one of the greatest novels of all time.  Rand would then further perfect the concept into Atlas Shrugged which 60 years later is still selling like French Fries at McDonald’s.  It was in these two books that the Übermensch found the right philosophic balance and emerged as a new way of thinking.  It was this concept which found itself into the Sergio Leone films thus inspiring modern Hollywood in ways that would be inconceivable otherwise.  If not for Ayn Rand, her early work as a screenwriter for Cecil B. Deville, her casual associations with Walt Disney, and John Wayne and her deep work in philosophy with the fresh eyes of an immigrant who had seen the worst that communism had to offer—the movie For A Few Dollars More would have never happened, and likely Clint Eastwood would have remained an obscure actor doing bit parts on television shows.

Without Ayn Rand’s fleshing out the concept of the Übermensch there would not have been a Star Wars, there would not have been an Arnold Schwarzenegger in film, and Kill Bill would have never even gained the ability to be made.   Without question there would be attempts, but they would have failed.  When direction was given on how Han Solo should get up out of his chair after killing Greedo in the cantina, or how Boba Fett was supposed to walk down a hall, reference was pointed back to Clint Eastwood—“do it like the characters in the Leone films.”  And it was Ayn Rand who invented the type of Übermensch who appeared for the first time in The Fountainhead so that Clint Eastwood could have some sort of reference on how such a character should behave—since one had never been seen before in the history of the world.  Ayn Rand took the speculative theory of what an Übermensch was supposed to be and fleshed it out in her novels.  Filmmakers like Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood then brought that Übermensch concept to Hollywood which has changed the world.

There is no going back now.  It is only a matter of time that society acknowledges their intense desire for the Übermensch.  The evidence is obvious from the intense interest in comic book films, space odysseys, and an 84-year-old Clint Eastwood who is still tougher than men a fraction of his age.  It’s not the muscle which produce the toughness, it’s in the mind—the beholding of the Übermensch concept—something that became very real to me the first time I really came to understand it watching my first television commercial on Channel 19 during “Tough Guy Week.”  The world has been forever changed for the better in a tug-of-war between the Übermensch and the progressives who despise having to even hold a rope against the strength of such characters.  They have no choice.  Their years of progressive philosophy inspired by Immanuel Kant and Karl Marx are coming to an end in failure.  What is coming are the philosophies of the Übermensch brought to man’s mind through films inspired directly from the pages of Ayn Rand.

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Rich Hoffman

  www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

28 Years of Bad American Presidents: The cause of a nation’s fall from grace

Let’s make something clear since Jay Carney brought it up on his last day as the White House spokesman—the Bush administration was not a good 8 years for America. And certainly, Obama has been bad for American just in even worse incompetence. There isn’t a competition between the Republican loser in office and the Democrat—they both were terrible. At the end of Obama’s second term, America will have seen 16 years of terrible presidents and America has suffered terribly for it. America will be well over $18 trillion dollars in debt and will have virtually everything that has been taken for granted–good jobs, a flourishing economy, food, power, and medical help in question as Obama leaves the White House. However, the folly doesn’t start there—Clinton was a terrible president, and Bush the senior wasn’t a cup of tea either. It is then no wonder that America is a shell of its former self as the political leadership has reflected a society on the decline. The people who have elected these losers are of less quality than previous generations and the result has been horrible leadership in the White House that has had a detrimental effect on America’s quality in every category.

 

Nobody will argue that Dick Cheney was far from the best vice president—just as Joe Biden appears to be a complete buffoon in the same position. Jay Carney’s reference to the poor Bush presidency as a defense of the Obama presidency is like saying that thunder is better than lightning in a rain storm—as they accompany each other in the grand scheme of things. It is best to not have a storm at all if no damage is desired—and in politics, it is best to avoid terrible presidents—so to avoid damage once they leave.

Yet is it clear now why America went to war in Iraq? It was to prevent the spread of terrorism, not because of “oil.” It was to keep wealth and resources out of the hands of diabolical terrorists. Does everybody now understand why there must be a border between Mexico and The United States that is secure—because all the impoverished countries from the south in Central America are flocking to the border hoping for relief from their circumstances? The cause of those circumstances is the socialist and tyrannical policies of their corrupt governments giving America the obligation to protect itself by imposing freedom on those places. When such strength is not present—there is no reason for tyrants to oppress their people with no option but to flee those lands of terror in pursuit of opportunities for freedom.

America never should have to concern itself with the affairs of other countries, but when it is the only good place in the world beholding freedom—and immigrants flood our boarders looking for freedom from oppression, America has a right to defend itself by helping those countries have freedom on their own. But if those countries do not have a philosophy that allows for freedom, then it won’t last, like what has happened in Iraq. It is not enough to give a country a set of laws and turn them loose in pursuit of democracy. If most people in the country are corrupt by bad, collectivist thinking, they will not be able to maintain freedom under any circumstances.

For over twenty years now bad presidents have led America on a chase mimicking these bad global governments instead of standing for what was right in defense of freedom. At least Ronald Reagan as an actor/president understood that America had an obligation to help oppressed people so that freedom would spread around the world instead of tyranny—his presidency was a strong one that left the entire world a better place. There were presidents before Reagan who were also pretty good at defending that basic premise from both political parties—but as for the last twenty years, representation for freedom from the White House to the world has been terrible.

Many of the problems experienced presently in the American nation are due to weak leadership and foreign policy vision. Bush and Obama have very little understanding of economics and abandoned capitalism under their terms. Clinton was simply a socialist who defended his corruption with his legal skills as a diabolical lawyer. Without question, he is likely enjoying these current problems as they fit his open border philosophy where the value of America is diminished in favor of a new global government.

The premise that every time Obama is criticized for being a complete idiot, which he is, a defense for his stupidity is not to point at George W. Bush and say “he did it too.” They were both idiots, and they have both left America worse as a nation than it was when they took over as president. But for context, the Pentagon moved the Aircraft carrier George W. Bush off the coast of Iraq to show the terrorist insurgents that America is nearby. That brought forth the thought that it is now unimaginable that a future aircraft carrier would be named, the “Barack Obama.” Such a carrier would be a laughing-stock, and certainly would not incite fear into the opposition. It is in that reality that the quality of the presidents can best be determined. For as bad as Bush was for the free market, he at least understood how to project strength in the military—even if it was at times overreaching. It is better to reach too far in foreign policy than to not reach at all—like Obama has. Lack of American projection of strength to the world leads every cockroach to come forth as a potential tyrant and ruthless dictator—which is what is happening from Russia to the Middle East. And in the end, that is why Barack Obama will forever be known as the worst president in the history of America, and make the top ten list of worst leaders of all time the world over. Obama will own that designation on his own and no deflection to George W. Bush will cover his ignorance from the responsibility of that title.

It is not enough to simply defeat a dictator or to send military support—or to throw money at countries who are functioning from poor philosophic beliefs and collectively based cultures. When that sense of collectivism carries over into religion these countries become even more dangerous to themselves and others. What all poor countries have in common is collective based economies based on Karl Marx and Keynesian thought, and religions based on sacrifice and worship through collective yielding to higher powers. Those failures of thought are what cause hopeful immigrants to pour into the U.S. border and terrorists to believe they have a right to impose religious law against non-believers through force and terror. The failure of the American presidents of the last 20 years is that they failed to identify this root cause—and have instead let them fester unchecked until presently the world is in disarray. Money cannot be thrown at the problem of poor philosophy, and neither can lip service. People have to think differently. They have to “think” like Americans instead of just running to America hoping to be put on welfare and cared for by the tax payer in The United States for the rest of their lives. They have to adopt new philosophies that allow them to have flourishing economies and religions that don’t require the eradication of those who don’t believe the same things under the premise of social collectivism. If traceability between these two differences in thought could be made it is the difference between Immanuel Kant, and Adam Smith—or the difference between Aristotle and Plato. The root cause of evil is in philosophy, and it is the philosophy of poor nations which leave people looking to escape into The United States, or to flee tyrants on their way into Bagdad that causes the trouble. The only way to really help the people of the world is to change the way those people think—and Obama, Bush, Clinton as well as many other presidents have put American value into reactive defense instead of assertive projection of philosophies born on American soil—which would do far more good than all the tanks, planes and missiles in world history of stopping tyrants in their tracks. Recent American presidents have failed to show pride in that American philosophy born of Adam Smith, John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and Ayn Rand—and that is why they are embarrassments in the context of history—all of them.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

The Idiotic Presidency of Obama: A fool in sole possession of his place in history

For those who thought I was unfair toward President Obama when his campaign opened an office in Mason, Ohio—history has proven me right once again. As usual, those types of people who lean in that particular political direction as Obama supporters have shown why they are so incompetent and living evidence as to why democracies will always fail. The mob cannot rule—because collectively they are too stupid to. I said so much about the Obama supporters who showed up to open the Mason office and many thought I was too harsh. Well, what does anybody think now?

Obama is the worst president in American history and may go down as one of the worst leaders in the history of the world, which is saying a lot considering Europe had some terrible kings, and the Roman Empire had a large percentage of fools serving as Emperor. Obama has proven as President of the United States that he is either a diabolical terrorist sent to undermine America as a world power, or he is a complete idiot incompetent to manage anything or anyone. I have often said that Obama was not qualified to manage even a McDonald’s restaurant—and this statement has more than proven to be true. Granted, managing a McDonald’s is not an easy task on a good day, but one would think that it should be within the management capacity of the world’s most powerful so-called leader. Obama could not even do such a thing—he is completely and utterly incompetent.

The list of scandals is growing under Obama’s care, and if there were a defining moment when Obama lost control of his foreign policy, it was Syria when he did not make good on his promise to defend a metaphorical line in the sand. This opened up the opportunity for Russia to push the U.S. in Ukraine, this antagonized aggression in Iran, Iraq and embolden terrorists in Afghanistan—as well as throughout the Middle-East. The wheels are now completely off, and are rapidly deteriorating. The world knows Obama is a fool, and they no longer respect American involvement in anything—which is the fault of the President and his administration.

Obama has in his Justice Department a common thug in Eric Holder involved in scandal after scandal from the IRS, gun dealing, open border debacles, and NSA surveillance. Obama has screwed up virtually everything he has touched in every category that he has touched it. If he has done anything right, it is in his con artist presentation—his ability to get elected and make promises—but he has not been able to make good on anything. I have often referred to him as a used car salesman—who will do and say anything to sell a car—but once you get the car—you realize it’s a lemon. What Obama gives isn’t even a lemon—it’s rather a picture of a lemon printed on garbage.

Obama’s ultimate failure is his socialism that he brought to the American economy. If Bush ran America into debt fighting terrorism, and attacking the free market with micromanagement—Obama put a dagger square in the back of capitalism placing the American economy into the hands of complete idiots—much like himself. Whether it is the Veterans Affairs scandals of mismanagement which actually killed innocent people—it is Obamacare which is destroying the greatest healthcare system in the world. Obama has propped up unionized businesses foolishly and squandered away billions of dollars on green energy hippie concerns. He has further strangled the U.S. economy by going to war with coal, and using the EPA to halt virtually every business development in the nation with over-regulation and government enforced corruption. Before Obama it was difficult to do business with the federal government—now it is nearly impossible. Mindless bureaucrats are in charge of creativity and productive enterprise—which has nearly stopped manufacturing and new job growth. All Obama can do to solve the problem is mindlessly create more government jobs like firefighters, cops, and teachers—or even worse, IRS agents, healthcare workers, or EPA staff which are simply flow over members of the Sierra Club and PETA. He has given activists power over the productive and the productive have simply thrown up their hands and said to hell with it. It’s not worth the headache, the law suits and the pain in the ass to start a new business. Even if a company could launch a new product, their profits are confiscated by the federal government and distributed to the poor, the lazy, and the idiot—the typical Obama supporter. Productivity under Obama has stopped. Existing companies have held their own, but new growth has been embarrassingly stagnating in future development and implementation through capital assets. That is the fault of Obama and his policies of federal terrorism of capitalism.

Obama spent the first four years blaming the previous administration on the state of the world. Now, six years into his presidency, he owns the parade of follies shown daily on the nightly news. All his bad management has caught up to him and he can no longer escape it. What will turn out to be his greatest failure will be that he did win a second term—because history will remember his faults instead of giving him the benefit of doubt of the four years he would have been in office left unproven. Now, he is proven. He’s a proven fool and is simply embarrassing as a human being—let alone a manager of anything.

Obama is way over his head and is proof of what happens when you put a radical community organizer into a responsible position. America and all the trouble currently plaguing the freest country on earth is the result of putting an idiot—and domestic terrorist like Obama into a governing position. Whether Obama is a terrorist by deliberate deceit or under just being a fool is the only question left to answer. Obama will always be known as the worst president in American history and a major step backward in human development. The results of his life and times as an American politician are now beyond refute and are solely in his possession. America would have done much better if it had simply plucked a stressed out fast food manager out of a nearby restaurant and put them in The White House. The results would have been much more productive.

Rich Hoffman   www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Why Public Education is Dangerous to the Human Race: The meaning behind Ohio school scores

It is an unpopular position to state that the American education system is disgraceful, and that the labor unions are destroying the minds of American youth.  My position against public education has caused many uncomfortable engagements with people who obviously do not know the facts, or are willingly ignoring them. I have associated with entertainment professionals, science foundations, business leaders, and just casual everyday people and due to my positions, they are not sure whether they like me, or hate me.  Yet I am unconcerned by these appraisals, because to my eyes, the worst thing any society can do is destroy the mind of young people.  In the 1930’s the United States had the best school system in the world.    Now we are ranked at 32 – below Cyprus.   More money thrown at teacher unions has not helped American schools.   The curriculum taught in these schools have destroyed them and the kids in attendance.  The situation has become notably worse in just the few years I have spent covering these issues and making my disapproval so vocal.  I know that sooner rather than later, my opinions about public education will be mainstream—so any current resistance to my evaluation will dissolve with time.

Honestly, I can’t think of a more pleasurable event than watching the minds of children coming on.  Our society puts a lot of effort into these young people from ages 3 to 5, and it is wonderful to see children learning to talk and interact with the world in a completely open manner—not fearful of failing, no resistance to adventure—just open books looking or good material to imprint upon their brains. Conversely, the saddest is when those minds are turned off.  Some of the saddest moments of my life were not the death of loved ones, or the occasional tragedies that happen, but in watching people I have known deliberately turn off their minds through intoxication or deliberate stupidity.  A room full of college kids getting “high” in a small fraternity room at Miami University, a passed out girl nude and gang raped by everyone at a party covered with beer, spit and semen, or a former reading advocate who gave up books for cocaine and found themselves a twisted mess within months of making the perilous decision are examples of what I consider the worst examples of human detriment.  The young girl I am thinking of saddened me because I thought at the time that once not that long ago she was somebody’s pride and joy.  She was a wide-eyed child figuring out that circles and squares were different and she was learning how to string together words to make sentences.   The world was alive with adventure and thought and within a decade of that behavior she was robbed of her dignity and abused by others in the same state to be forever tarnished and lowered in her own mind never again to reach for the stars of opportunity.  After a few of these events, the young mind always reaches for less, and less until they are unhappy grey hairs on a collision course with their own death only to live fruitless, uneventful lives as a malcontent.  Those paths to destruction begin young, and are planted in their minds at public schools—and for that reason—I hate those places.

Children before they attend public schools are alive and curious.  After they are numbed and destroyed.  By the grades of 3 to 5, most children are so turned off to the world they no longer function properly.  By the grade of 6 to 8, children are pulled nearly exclusively into the didactic world of puberty—the public schools are not palaces of adventure and learning—but of sexual pursuits or the option of it through peer group development.  Peer groups form and sexual pairings occur along the lines of those boundaries.  The appeal of gang raping an intoxicated female once grades 9 through 12 are reached are that alcohol and drugs break down those peer boundaries and inter-pollination of sexual advancement can take place through thoughtless exchange.  By the time these tarnished youth arrive in college, the peer groups further devolve into complete social neurosis paving the way for democratic unity.  With peer groups stripped away, these minds are now ready to accept their role in the “middleclass” under of course the political upper-class who makes the law and substitutes the teacher role as an object of authority.  Once jobs are obtained, and children are born, the public educated victim becomes more “conservative” and may even vote for a Republican.  This they hope gives them redeeming value for all the mistakes they made in their past.  Two decades later, they are in physical decline and willing to yield to the youth of the next generation not departing wisdom but in worshipping them with a lust not felt in 40 years.  Regret fills their minds, corrupts their hearts, and destroys their families.  By the time they are in a coffin and visitors come to see their vacant bodies, there are a few good things that are remembered by those left behind, but mostly it is sadness.  The sadness is not in missing the person who has died, but in all the potential they had, which was not developed, or lost during their lives by thinking wrongly about things.  This pattern of living is getting worse, and is the fault of our public education system.

To measure just how bad the situation is the below statistics come from a friend of mine who used to be a school board member.  The information she provides is startlingly illuminating as to the real contents of the public education problem.  Public schools are not teaching children, they are simply performing a scam selling an elixir—a cure all to life’s problems—but once consumed the student discovers there is nothing there.   I am willing to call the situation what it is—after the scam that it is because of the way it is destroying minds and sending young people into lives of unhappy adulthood where the magic of youth has been destroyed.  The confirmation of such an assertion can be seen in the college readiness scores shown below of a number of area schools.  More information can be found at my friend’s site linked below.

The college readiness statistic is based on a score of 100%.   That means 100% of the senior students in a school took the test and 100% passed the test. Every student had to take and pass at least one AP class.  Few schools reach the 100% mark. The math and reading scores are based on the number of seniors that took and the number that passed the Ohio State Exit exam.  Listed below are some examples of the scores.

WALNUT HILLS – Rank: Ohio 1  National 77  College Readiness Score 81.3

College Readiness:  92% tested   78% passed

Math – 100% proficient  0% not proficient   scored at 4.8

Reading – 100% proficient 0% not proficient scored at 4.4

WYOMING – Rank:    Ohio 2   National 110  College Readiness Score 74.4

College Readiness:  83% tested   71% passed

Math – 98% proficient 2% not proficient   scored at 4.6

Reading – 97% proficient 3% not proficient  scored at 4.4

SYCAMORE H. S. – Rank: Ohio 23 National 514   College Readiness 46.6

College Readiness:  51% tested  45% passed

Math – 96% proficient 4% not proficient  scored at 4.5

Reading – 97% proficient  3% not proficient  scored at 4.3

KINGS – Rank:   Ohio 31   National 666   College Readiness  42.2

College Readiness:   52% tested   39% passed

Math – 94% proficient  6% not proficient  scored at 4.2

Reading – 94% proficient 6% not proficient scored at 3.9

MILFORD – Rank:   Ohio 32   National 707  College Readiness 41.4

College Readiness:   54% tested 37% passed

Math – 91% proficient  9% not proficient   scored at 4.2

Reading – 94% proficient 6% not proficient   scored at 3.9

MASON H. S. – Rank:  Ohio 34    National 720  College Readiness 40.9

College Readiness:   44% tested   40% passed

Math – 96% proficient    4% not proficient   scored at 4.6

Reading –  97% proficient  3% not proficient   scored at 4.2

LAKOTA EAST  –  Rank:  Ohio 36   National 750  College Readiness 40.4

College Readiness:  44% tested  39% passed

Math – 96% proficient  4% not proficient   scored at 4.4

Reading – 97% proficient 3% not proficient  scored at 4.1

LOVELAND  –  Rank:  Ohio 43  National 955  College Readiness 35.7

College Readiness:  42% tested  34% passed

Math – 94% proficient  6% not proficient scored at 4.3

Reading – 96% proficient  4% not proficient scored at 4.1

LEBANON – Rank:   Ohio 51  National 1119  College Readiness 32.6

College Readiness:  41% tested  30% passed  (approximately 60 students)

Math – 92% proficient  8% not proficient   scored at 4.1

Reading – 94% proficient 6% not proficient scored at 3.9 (near OH Average)

LAKOTA WEST –  Rank:  Ohio 53  National 1178  College Readiness 31.3

College Readiness:   34% tested 31% passed

Math – 96% proficient  4% not proficient  scored at 4.4

Reading – 95% proficient 5% not proficient  Scored at 4.1 (above OH average)

CENTERVILLE –  Rank:   Ohio 70   National 1436  College Readiness 27.0

College Readiness:   32% tested  25% passed

Math – 94% proficient  6% not proficient   scored at 4.4 (above OH average)

Reading – 96% proficient  4% not proficient  scored at 4.2 (above OH average)

SPRINGBORO – Rank:   Ohio 84   National 1629 College Readiness 23.5

College Readiness:   29% tested 22% passed

Math – 97% proficient  3% not proficient scored at 4.5 (above OH average)

Reading – 98% proficient  2% not proficient  scored at 4.1 (above OH average)

MONROE – Rank:  Ohio 93  National 1698  College Readiness 22.5

College Readiness:   38% tested 17% passed

Math – 89% proficient  11% not proficient scored at 4.0 (near OH average)

Reading – 96% proficient  4% not proficient scored at 3.8 (above OH average)

VALLEY H. S.(297 students)  Not ranked  College Readiness 18.3

College Readiness:   30% tested 14% passed

Math – 92% proficient  8% not proficient scored at 4.2 (above OH average)

Reading – 90% proficient 10% not proficient scored at 3.7 (near OH average)

The reason I am going to all this effort to post these scores is so that a valid comparison can be made.   Note that Walnut Hills has a college readiness score of 81.3 and that 92% of their senior class took the test.  Compare that to Lebanon where only 41% were tested and 30% of those passed the test. If you calculate that out you will find that only 60 AP students passed the test. That is 60 out of approximately 500 students.

http://lebanonschoolfactsii.blogspot.com/2014/06/all-propaganda-manipulates-people.html

The test is pure propaganda meant to disguise what is really going on, and the schools and law makers are all openly participating in the deception.  The entire purpose of the test is not to ensure that children are learning, but to keep the money flowing into their incompetent jobs of the labor union employees and tax funded colleges.  It is a scam designed to feed off the minds of people only to discard them like dirty laundry in search of the next victim.  Ultimately once children learn to read, and think and they see what is really going on, they take on a kind of prison inmate position to the school experience and they make their moves to survive in that culture.  They pair up with a peer group to protect them and hope to get out alive.  This starts them on a life of bad decisions that lead one into another for the rest of their lives and is caused by the public education experience.

I feel very passionate about those houses of horror.  I despise them more now than ever—because I know that the testing, and school scoring have no basis in reality, but are designed with one intention in mind—to convince tax payers to continue funding the insane behavior.  They are lies because the real statistic is that Cyprus is now ahead of The United States in educational aptitude.  To truly understand how bad the situation really is read the below report, which refers to a 1983 document titled A Nation At Risk.  The situation is dire!  And remember this; the Department of Education was formed in 1979.  The 1983 report was only 4 years into the DOE existence.  We are now three decades of destruction into its incompetency now.

http://www.hks.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/Papers/PEPG12-03_CatchingUp.pdf

So I offer no apologies to the insanity that is public education.  It is a failure and should be massively defunded—abandoned, and rebuilt around competitive models.  The labor unions should be outlawed, and the curriculum must be totally overhauled.  It is the number one problem facing the modern United States because public education is breeding stupidity—not saving the world from it.  And for that, I have strong feelings that are quite rational—if the facts are understood in context.

Rich Hoffman www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

HOW TO LIVE FREE: A guide to becoming a tax exile

One of my son-in-laws worked very hard to become an American citizen. I still believe citizenship is a concept worth fighting for in spite of the obvious criminal takeover of the government by con artists and thieves. That is not an inflammatory statement, just a fact—the evidence is obvious. So I am torn by what I think is right and what might strategically make sense—which a close friend of mine has done—and is technically one of the freest people on earth. He is now an expatriate—otherwise known as a tax exile. I’ve known this friend for over 40 years now and can state emphatically that he is more intelligent than a room full of $500 dollar an hour lawyers. He knows law better than any person I have ever met and has technically been an outlaw most of his life and has only been caught by the legal system once. Getting caught is what happens when living life half in and half out of what many in the sovereign citizen movement call “The Matrix” occurs. You can’t really live half in half out and not have the two worlds mix in a way that gets you into trouble. So my friend learned from that experience and is now 100% out and living free. He is offering his vast intellect to others who wish to do the same and follow suit.

Should you dear reader wish to quit the world as you know it in favor of freedom—real freedom—you can contact him to receive these services through me. If you so desire, I will point you to him, and he can help you become a tax exile. This friend of mine could easily argue Supreme Court Law with any sitting or former judge, he could argue law against any lawyer in the country right now, so his services should be expected to be rated as such. He is an eccentric in all the stereotypical ways, but he is a certifiable genius and has successfully beaten the legal system to arrive at a status which grants him the following abilities.

1. No more TSA, go around them at airports.

2. No hassle at Customs anywhere on Earth

3. No more Social Security (FICA) taxes

4. No more Income taxes

5. No more Public School Taxes

6. No Property Taxes (you decide if you want to pay for fire, ambulance)

7.No Traffic Tickets (unless you injure someone or drive super fast) They can still issue citations against you for public endangerment)

8. No zoning beyond ridiculous fire hazards etc.

9. No public officials may come on your property (some exceptions such as your house is on fire AND about to catch neighbors house on fire, then they can intercede.)

10. No prosecution or fine, or Incarceration for victimless crimes.

11. No child Protective Services or requirement for public schooling

12. No forced injections

13. No FEMA camp for you or your family

14. You can exchange your Equity in the United States Corporation as desired for the products, fixtures, “things” you need or would like to have instead of what the State thinks you should have.

15. You can live where you want, do what you want with your property so long as it doesn’t harm others.

16. You can travel Freely.

17. You will have standing to remove and severely punish public officials or corporate officers if they do you harm. There are two different court systems one for free men and one for slaves (U. S. citizens)

The list goes on in that fashion extensively.

Part of the journey toward this tax exile status is that you will have to go to the State Superior Court in your State. You must “show up alive” and claim title/execurptorship over your Estate -self rule. Basically you declare to the judge, “Hi your honor, reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”  His typical response will be, “My God we have another Living Person!” It is a kind of behind the scenes code that is available to anyone who wishes to cross over in this fashion. After a lot of reading and forms to fill out mostly by mail you become a statistic published by the Treasury Department under U.S. Expatriations. You will then no longer be a “child of the State” and will no longer be treated like one. It takes a few months of these form exchanges, but it is certainly possible. It is much easier under the guidance of my friend than trying to go it alone. He is offering himself as a guide through that process to make it not so scary.

If I didn’t know this person so well, and have seen him in action so often, I wouldn’t believe any of this was possible. This is the same guy who as a 23-year-old guy stood in front of the Mayor of Cincinnati, all of city council at the time, and every powerful builder and developer, instructing them brick by brick to build what is now The Banks Project in Downtown Cincinnati.

The construction for the new riverfront area between the two stadiums is the result of a public participation planning process officially began in October 1996. Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati engaged Urban Design Associates to prepare a plan to give direction in two public policy areas:

  1. To site the two new stadiums for the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals
  2. To develop an overall urban design framework for the development of the central riverfront which would capitalize on the major public investment in the stadiums and structured parking.

A Riverfront Steering Committee made up of City and County elected officials and staff was formed as a joint policy board for the Central Riverfront Plan. Focus groups, interviews, and public meetings were held throughout the planning process.

A Concept Plan was published in April 1997 which identified three possible scenarios for the site of the stadiums and the development of the riverfront. The preparation of a final Master Plan was delayed due to a November 1998 public referendum on the site of the Reds Stadium. Once the decision on the Reds Stadium was made by the voters in favor of a riverfront site, Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati appointed sixteen prominent citizens to the Riverfront Advisors Commission who were charged to “recommend mixed usage for the Riverfront that guarantees public investment will create sustainable development on the site most valued by our community”. The result of that effort was The Banks, a September 1999 report from the Advisors which contained recommendations on land use, parking, finance, phasing, and developer selection for the Central Riverfront. The final Master Plan includes The Banks recommendations from the advisors. But where did the advisors get their idea from—this same friend during the winter of 1993. It took them half a decade to let it sink in, but they eventually implemented almost every design proposed by my “genius” friend. Go back and watch the tape from that period in the records at City Hall. Nick Vehr knew him, because Nick was there, before he tried to bring the Olympics to Cincinnati then started his own public relations firm.

http://www.ask.com/wiki/The_Banks?o=2800&qsrc=999&ad=doubleDown&an=apn&ap=ask.com

The only reason to name names and places in this situation is to confirm that this offer is real. My friend is a tax exile—as he always said he would be. After thousands of hours of reading and arguing against his Social Security number—which has been a life long obsession with him going back into his grade school days, he has succeeded. He used to have epic arguments with his elementary teachers over Social Security responsibilities before most kids could read the “Tom and Jane” books of early learning. He read all the Encyclopedia Britannica editions over a single summer before the fifth grade. If there is anybody on earth who understands law and the loopholes in it—it is this guy—and he has quite a track record that has pissed off a lot of people over the years. Because he doesn’t care about terrestrial concerns in the way average people do—a lot of people have taken credit for his ideas without a challenge from him—because that’s just how he is.

He has been after me for a long time to take the same path as he has. I have been reluctant for obvious reasons. My American citizenship is of sentimental value to me—and it would appear that this is purely cosmetic—legally. It is a willful illusion these days—but one that I wish to defend. He on the other hand is not about illusions. He is a fact based analytical thinker with more processing capability than most computers. And if you lean in his direction, he can help take you where he is currently. Just let me know by leaving a comment on this page and I will put you in touch with him and you two can take it from there.

It is a big, scary decision—but it is an option. In a world where options seem limited, this is one which works in your favor if you are willing to drop illusion and embrace reality for what it really is, not what you hope to make it into. So before hopelessness carries you into despair, contact this guy if you really want out of the loop. You don’t have to be ground into nothing by a system of tyranny designed to consume every last essence of your being. You do, have choices, and now you dear reader know of one that can dramatically change your life and fortune—for the better. All you have to do is have the courage to ask.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Great Quotes From Thomas Jefferson: The cause of all failed democracies–stupidity

Someone I know was showing a new addition to their house that he was proud of, and there were a couple of tag-alongs hanging out to enjoy the benefits of his luxury. This didn’t seem remarkable by itself, however they were watching a movie and in it there were images that were alien in design when one of the guys pointed at and declared with a laugh—“those look like penises.” I had to wonder if I had heard what I did, this was a guy in his early 40s—clearly above the age of such sophomoric humor. But I did, and he thought it was funny—that the images on the movie screen were so similar to phallic representation. I don’t normally associate with those types of people, so it is often shocking to me how stupid people are happy to be—but this guy was proud of his lack of sophistication leaving me no wonder as to why the nation of America is in such bad shape. There are hoards of these types of people voting, working, and living in the world around us—and they are really—truly unambitious in the ways of learning.

 

This guy was a reminder that any nation where such stupid people are in a majority is a guarantee that democracy will fail. If people are so stupid and easily distracted and see penises in every object that could be construed inadvertently as phallic—there is just no hope that anybody of such a caliber can be expected to vote for a proper elected official, decipher the contents of the nightly news, or even read a newspaper with the eye of a critical thinker. For such people, their minds are turned off—their primary desires are food and reproductive concerns. They are the bricks of a crumbling civilization cracking at the foundations that will soon be a mere pile of rubble. They are unequipped for the task of a democracy—and are the exclusive reasons that they all fail.

 

A successful nation cannot be maintained by such people. It is impossible to consider that life can go on for any country that is run by minds addicted to low quality attributes. And America finds itself in this condition currently. It is a far cry from the vision of the Founding Fathers and their philosophic approach to the beginning of America. Those were wise men, deeply committed to thought. They worked hard all their lives to be men of knowledge and still felt they hadn’t done enough. This was obvious to me when I took my family to visit Monticello in Virginia which is the home of Thomas Jefferson. I had always respected Jefferson as my favorite president, but after actually visiting his home, I had even more respect for him.   Fairly or unfairly, I have judged most of the people I met against Thomas Jefferson. For instance, the guy watching the movie doesn’t even live in the same universe as Jefferson’s America. On the other hand, my father-in-law is very close.   He and Jefferson would be right at home with one another. My father-in-law knows something about just about everything and you could speak to him all day and only tap the surface of his knowledge. You won’t hear fart jokes around his dinner table—or references to penises without a deep scowl. He puts up with the rest of the world with a kind of quiet impatience where he overlooks a crowd and places his consciousness behind layers of protective friendliness; much the way an adult speaks to a kindergarten class knowing they have extremely low vocabulary skills and worldly knowledge—slow and purposeful. He doesn’t even try to speak to them because it takes too much work to dumb himself down enough to have a conversation that they can understand.

 

Jefferson seems remarkable today, but in his day, he was not alone in his ambitions. When the Constitution of America was written, there were many like Jefferson who woke up each morning trying to prepare their minds for virtually anything. It was a hobby for them to be smart—and Jefferson made good use of his time in this regard.

 

Thomas Jefferson started learning very early in life and never stopped. The following is based on a popular email distribution listing that has been going around which makes some excellent points about one of the most prominent, and finest examples of what Americans should strive to be.

At 5, Thomas Jefferson began studying under his cousin’s tutor.

At 9, studied Latin, Greek, and French.

At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages.

At 16, entered the College of William and Mary. Also could write in Greek with one hand while writing the same in Latin with the other.

At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe.

At 23, started his own law practice.

At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.

At 31, wrote the widely circulated “Summary View of the Rights of British America?” And retired from his law practice.

At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.

At 33, wrote the Declaration of Independence.

At 33, took three years to revise Virginia’s legal code and wrote a Public Education bill and a statute for Religious Freedom.

At 36, was elected the second Governor of Virginia succeeding Patrick Henry.

At 40, served in Congress for two years.

At 41, was the American minister to France and negotiated commercial treaties with European nations along with Ben Franklin and John Adams.

At 46, served as the first Secretary of State under George Washington.

At 53, served as Vice President and was elected president of the American Philosophical Society.

At 55, drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and became the active head of Republican Party.

At 57, was elected the third president of the United States.

At 60, obtained the Louisiana Purchase doubling the nation’s size.

At 61, was elected to a second term as President.

At 65, retired to Monticello.

At 80, helped President Monroe shape the Monroe Doctrine.

At 81, almost single-handedly created the University of Virginia and served as its first president.

At 83, died on the 50th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence along with John Adams.

Thomas Jefferson knew because he himself studied the previous failed attempts at government. He understood actual history, the nature of God, his laws, and the nature of man. That happens to be way more than what most understand today. Jefferson really knew his stuff. A voice from the past to lead us in the future:

John F. Kennedy held a dinner in the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: “This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.”
— Thomas Jefferson

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
— Thomas Jefferson

“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes, a principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.”
— Thomas Jefferson

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
— Thomas Jefferson

“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.”
— Thomas Jefferson

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
— Thomas Jefferson

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
— Thomas Jefferson

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
— Thomas Jefferson

“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
— Thomas Jefferson

It would be impossible for many contemporary voters to even comprehend many of these statements by Thomas Jefferson because they have devolved as human beings into a kind of slime permeating society as a parasitic organism. The world makes so much sense when I read, write, and contemplate things alone with my thoughts. But things rapidly fall apart when such ideas are bounced off the minds of people like that penis guy. There is no way to speak to someone like that, let alone expecting them to vote correctly or even raise children properly. When I hear from those people, the real hopelessness of our present condition is grossly knowable. Most people are just too stupid to be Americans. They are not smart enough to understand its freedoms, its Constitution, its global necessity. They are not capable of voting and living good productive lives—because it’s just not in their minds.

 

I used my father-in-law as an example of some modern embodiment of Thomas Jefferson. I actually know quite a few people like this—but in the context of society at large; they are like drops of water in the ocean. They are few and far between and what fills those gaps are people who think fart jokes are funny, a woman’s breasts are something to crash a car to see, and everything that is elongated in a cylindrical shape has a reference to phallic pursuits. There is simply no hope for a society made of such minds, and it is from such people who Obama was elected president and continues to rule like a European prince placed in power not by intellect, but by the heritage of his past. It was the very dumb, and literally stupid that elected him—and will continue through the rule of the masses to keep idiots constantly flowing into the White House leading to the end of American civilization as Jefferson conceived it yielding to the buttheads who would rather listen to a fart joke than read Ulysses.

Rich Hoffman

   www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

The Deliberate Destruction of the American Economy: Belgium suddenly interested in Treasury bonds

Over the Memorial Day weekend there were a lot of issues discussed among family and friends–the sports scores of the local baseball teams, the Hockey playoffs, the NBA playoffs, how well the respective NFL teams did in the recent draft, the latest summer box office films and the general emptiness of economic purchases. But the extent of discussion about what is really important, topics like politics and philosophy, only general rumblings about President Obama made the cut. Over the weekend, my father-in-law turned 70 and we wanted to treat him to the movie Godzilla. Along the way to the theater, from his very affluent neighborhood and the surrounding area which is well above average in per capita income—economic activity was vibrant. Restaurants were full, stores were packed, and the movie house was crowded—there was no trace of the generally terrible economic news which is about to hit America. All seemed well.

After the movie there was a very nice party for my father-in-law who loved the Godzilla film and was enjoying his birthday to a live blue grass band hired for his personal entertainment. I watched the party goers closely, mostly avoiding the devastating news that the American economy is nowhere near as good as it appeared. There is trouble coming, which is in evidence by the fact that the news no longer covers the terrible events of Greece, Italy, or Cyprus, because there is no end in sight for them to prosper economically. Their financial crises did not go away—they just stopped being covered—and the same fiscal cliff is headed for our shores in North America.

I thought of an article I had just read by Brandon Smith of Alt-Market.com which did a good job of painting a picture of how bad the economy actually is caused in part by the Federal Reserve quantitative easing practices. While reading it I thought of my father-in-law who has been fiscally very successful and came a long way in his life, and he has seen it all. He saw the post World-War II boom, the communist years of the 60s, the economic destruction of the 70s, the vibrancy of the 80s, and 90s, and the sharp decline of American economic power since the terrorist acts of 9/11 occurred in 2001. It would be important to note that the intent of those attacks was to shatter not just the symbol of American capitalism—The World Trade Center—but the actual economy itself. Now $17 trillion dollars in deficit spending later the picture is clear—America will not recover easily from this economic tsunami. When one does the math, if America spent all of the profit of its GDP for the next 20 years on reducing the deficit—it would not succeed. The enemies of America know it. Most people are vaguely aware of it—but they avoid naming it as thought by refusing to acknowledge its existence, a different reality will present itself. But it won’t. To illustrate this condition I refer you dear reader to Brandon Smith’s article—at least a very relevant portion of it. The whole article can be seen at the link below.

On the surface, the economic atmosphere of the U.S. has appeared rather calm and uneventful. Stocks are up, employment isn’t great but jobs aren’t collapsing into the void (at least not openly), and the U.S. dollar seems to be going strong. Peel away the thin veneer, however, and a different financial horror show is revealed.

 

U.S. stocks have enjoyed unprecedented crash protection due to a steady infusion of fiat money from the Federal Reserve known as quantitative easing. With the advent of the “taper”, QE is now swiftly coming to a close (as is evident in the overall reduction in treasury market purchases), and is slated to end by this fall, if not sooner.

 

Employment has been boosted only in statistical presentation, and not in reality. The Labor Department’s creative accounting of job numbers omits numerous factors, the most important being the issue of long-term unemployed. Millions of people who have been jobless for so long they no longer qualify for benefits are being removed from the rolls. This quiet catastrophe has the side bonus of making it appear as though unemployment is going down.

 

U.S. Treasury bonds, and by extension the dollar, have also stayed afloat due to the river of stimulus being introduced by the Federal Reserve. That same river, through QE, is now drying up.

 

 

While many people assume that the stimulus measures of the Fed are driven by a desire to save our economy and currency, I see instead a concerted program of destabilization which is meant to bring about the eventual demise of our nation’s fiscal infrastructure. What some might call “kicking the can down the road,” I call deliberately stretching the country thin over time, so that any indirect crisis can be used as a trigger event to bring the ceiling crashing down.

 

In the past several months, the Fed taper of QE and subsequently U.S. bond buying has coincided with steep declines in purchases by China, a dump of one-fifth of holdings by Russia, and an overall decline in new purchases of U.S. dollars for FOREX reserves.

 

With the Ukraine crisis now escalating to fever pitch, BRIC nations are openly discussing the probability of “de-dollarization” in international summits, and the ultimate dumping of the dollar as the world reserve currency.

 

The U.S. is in desperate need of a benefactor to purchase its ever rising debt and keep the system running. Strangely, a buyer with apparently bottomless pockets has arrived to pick up the slack that the Fed and the BRICS are leaving behind. But, who is this buyer?

 

At first glance, it appears to be the tiny nation of Belgium.

 

While foreign investment in the U.S. has sharply declined since March, Belgium has quickly become the third largest buyer of Treasury bonds, just behind China and Japan, purchasing more than $200 billion in securities in the past five months, adding to a total stash of around $340 billion.

 

http://beforeitsnews.com/economy/2014/05/who-is-the-new-secret-buyer-of-u-s-debt-2-2625144.html

The article may be dismissed by Keynesian economists as the work of conspiracy theorists but it is actually quite true in content. Power is being divided up throughout the world and America is not being considered a player in that effort. Rather the very rich, who already know of the coming crises have mostly sold off their investments in America so they can capitalize off its fall from power. Belgium, as a small country is suddenly interested in American Treasury bonds? This is no accident.

Sadness washed over me at the event for my father-in-law as the sun set on the horizon and the blue grass music played on and darkness shrouded everyone listening, and talking. The metaphor was a proper one, and soon in America what used to be clear in the light of day and taken for granted would be cloaked in darkness and difficult to see without assistance. The economic vitality that virtually everyone was taking for granted was coming to an end, and nobody wanted to know it—even though they can feel the chill in the air of a coming darkness in American history.

The economic collapse is a military strategy, not a purely fiscal accident—and every American celebrating Memorial Day should see it for the threat that it is. This attack is not with tanks and troops, but of quantitative easing and Treasury bonds—sold to Belgium of all places—and the chanting fools of old Europe who wish once again to take their homeland and make it the most relevant place on earth—once America is out-of-the-way and no longer in charge.

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:



“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Rich Hoffman

  www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Elliot Rodger’s Shooting Spree: The real cause of a terrible incident–sex, not guns

Watch this video before reading the rest of the article.  The video is from Elliot Rodger the alleged gunman from the latest rampage in California and shows exactly why he went on a shooting spree stabbing and shooting to death six people.  I thought of leaving this topic alone and not covering out of respect for the families until a grieving father of one of the victims blamed the NRA for the death of his son—giving progressives fuel for the fire of gun grabbing legislation.  He desired to use his grief as a platform for more gun control mandating a proper analysis of this terrible shooting—which starts with this video.

The following contents come from a below linked YouTube video with some basic editing inserting additional information:

The father of one of the six victims gunned down on Friday night by Elliot Rodger blamed the NRA and politicians for the death of his only son, Christopher Martinez. He shouted with grief at a press conference: ‘You don’t think it will happen to your child until it does.’ (NY Daily News) ‘Sexually frustrated’ Santa Barbara killer promised to ‘kill as many people as possible’ The hate-filled son of Hollywood director Peter Elliot was identified Saturday as the gunman who killed six people in a murderous rampage near a California college.  Chin Elliot, the mother of the shooter read a 130+ page email by her son that sent her frantically calling her ex-husband who was dining with his new wife and friends.  The two parents raced to Isla Vista in an attempt to stop the slaughter they knew was coming—but were too late. 

Shooter Elliot Rodger, 22, posted an incendiary YouTube rant promising a slaughter of sorority sisters and strangers on the street hours before the night of murder that ended in his suicide.

The killer stabbed three men to death at his Isla Vista apartment before he embarked on the killing spree that also wounded 13 people on Friday night.

In a 130+-page manifesto, described as a “rambling autobiography” by Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, detailed Rodger’s life story and his plan to kill his roommates. “I would have to kill my housemates to get them out-of-the-way,” he wrote. “In fact, I’d even enjoy stabbing them both to death while they slept.”

Two of the three bodies pulled from the Rodger apartment have been confirmed as the roommates.

Rodger killed himself behind the wheel of his pricey black BMW after a deadly fire fight with Santa Barbara Sheriff’s deputies.  The lone gunman carved a football-field length path of carnage, near the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara, which included a total of 10 locations with 12 separate crime scenes, Brown said at a press conference Saturday night.

Three of the victims have been identified as Veronika Weiss, 19, Katie Cooper and Christopher Martinez.

Martinez’s father, Richard, shouted with grief and blamed “craven” and “irresponsible” politicians and the NRA for the death of his only son at a press conference on Saturday. You don’t think it will happen to your child until it does,” Martinez said as he held a photo of his son as a child playing baseball. “Chris was a really great kid, ask anyone who knew him. His death has left our family lost and broken. “When will this insanity stop,” the crying dad screamed. He added, “We should say to ourselves, ‘Not one more,” before he dropped the mic and stormed away from the podium.

A lawyer for Rodger’s father confirmed the son’s involvement to ABC News. The deranged gunman announced his plans for mass murder in a deeply disturbing seven-minute video.  You denied me a happy life, and in turn I will deny all of your life,” the baby-faced Rodger says at one point before offering a chilling laugh. “It’s only fair. I hate all of you.

“If I had it in my power, I would stop at nothing to reduce every single one of you to mountains of skulls and rivers of blood, and rightfully so.”

The deadly shooting spree lasted for six terrifying minutes, with Rodger involved in two shootouts with sheriff’s deputies before he was discovered inside the BMW with a gunshot wound to his head.  The chilling and creepy YouTube clip, titled “Elliot Rodger’s Retribution,” offered insights into the twisted mind behind the remorseless rampage.

Rodger’s diatribe declares both his hatred of women and his violent intentions to take revenge for years of rejection. He promises to shoot up a sorority house on the UCSB campus as payback.

The disturbed speaker says he’s a virgin who never as much as kissed a girl.

“On the day of retribution, I am going to enter the hottest sorority house of UCSB and I will slaughter every single spoiled, stuck-up blond slut I see inside there,” he announces. “All those girls that I’ve desired so much.”

“I’ll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you,” he says later. “You will finally see that I am in truth the superior one. The true alpha male.

He then pauses for another horrifying laugh.

Rodger’s father is a Hollywood director and assistant director whose credits include work on “The Hunger Games.”According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, investigators were “analyzing both written and videotaped evidence that suggests this atrocity was a premeditated mass murder.”

The gunman, of Calabasas, Calif., arrived in Isla Vista driving a black BMW and opened fire at 9:27 p.m. Friday, Brown said.  Bullets were soon flying through the darkness as the shooter blasted away from behind the wheel of his car, with one witness saying as many as 20 shots were fired.

“I heard shots, screams, pain,” student Michael Vitak told KEYT-TV after the shooting.

Vitak said he watched in horror as one woman was killed and a second seriously wounded. “I hope she is going to be fine,” he said. 

Eyewitness Nikolaus Becker was sitting outside The Habit Burger Grill when he heard the pop-pop-pop of what he thought were firecrackers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iLliJJ8Sig

To even begin to ascertain that the shooting spree in California involving Elliot Rodger could have been eliminated with more stringent gun control is to ignore the real culprit in this case which is far more to blame.  Even if guns were removed from every single individual in the world—the root cause of the shooter’s behavior would persist.  The evidence of this case points toward the relationship of Elliot and his father Peter as the real problem.   Young men need from their fathers guidance on the matters of sexual pursuits and during a time when Elliot needed his father—there was a divorce in his family and a new woman took his father away.  Divorce happens to a lot of kids, and it hurts them.  But Elliot had the added complications of Asperger’s syndrome and a pampered life where values are often cheapened without reference.  Often parents in cases like Chin and Peter Elliot throw money at their children hoping to appease them as they pursue their career paths.  In Peter’s life, his only major film credit is The Hunger Games—so he has been busy social-climbing in Hollywood to earn his next work which appears to have interfered with the development of his son.

Are the parents at fault for the deaths caused by their son Elliot Rodger………..yes.  Should they rake themselves over the coals over it–no.  They are victims themselves of a society that believes families can be wrecked and rebuilt like Lego blocks openly accepting progressive lifestyles which led to the detriment of their son.  Other families manage to raise children who do not go on shooting rampages, but their children are never-the-less distraught the same.  They just don’t go to the added level of acting on their anxiety as Rodger did.

To stab to death his roommates is a very personal way to kill, and it would have occurred whether or not there were more gun laws.  Rodger was going to kill people one way or another because sex was a mystery to him—he wanted it, and he couldn’t find it, and he was angry about it.  It was his parent’s job to help him solve that problem, but they didn’t take an active role—and the result is what occurred.  In a world driven by sex, a young man needs to at least experience such things and the parents need to advise him how to get there.

I have some knowledge of this problem.  I had two friends who were really close to me who had similar difficulties.  Both were very intelligent—in some ways too intelligent to play the mating games women often want to play—biologically.  So they entered past their 18th birthdays without kissing girls and the pressure was incredibly difficult for them.   Both of my friends had difficulties with their parents–one was too Christian and the other was too progressive—both led to extremes in the family environment.  If my friends had been less intelligent, they might have not noticed so much, but because they were—they found it impossible to please their parents and attract a mate making sex impossible. For one I took a collection to buy him his first sexual experience—just to get the monkey off his back.  Once he had his experience, women naturally detected his lack of virginity and it helped him launch into relationships that allowed for sex with girls.  The other friend resisted my offer for another six years being a good Christian and all.  Finally he let me buy him a private stripper which put a real naked woman in front of him.  There was no sex, but it did help, and a few years later he found a woman who wanted to have sex with him and found his guilt over the stripper incident cutely naive.  She married him and they are still that way to this day.  I’m not typically a supporter of the silly didactic sexual stuff, but it is a primary biological need.  Adults need to see that their children learn to care for their basic needs, and sex is one of them—just like eating is.  Every man needs to show their sons how to behave in a confident fashion that wins the hearts of women.  If that does not happen, a man does a son a terrible disservice.

Peter Rodger should have helped his son solve this problem three years prior at age 19 when it was obvious that the young man was not able to convince girls to undress for him on his own.  Once the momentous occasion of sexual interaction occurs for young men, they find that all subsequent activity becomes much more natural—so a dad can certainly help a son with this problem by at least putting a naked woman near the boy so that all the emotions of such a thing can be dealt with avoiding the awkwardness more experienced girls of the same age will feel when dealing with a male virgin in the height of their sexual years.  This should be done to assist the boy in living a productive life, not just in preventing shooting sprees.

This topic is difficult for people to even discuss—and ultimately that is the reason for the shooting rampage in this case.  Peter Rodger could have solved the problem by taking his son to a strip joint—which are disgusting places, but far better than having such a social meltdown.  It would certainly be a last resort, but it should never be neglected how important sex is to young men—especially in a society addicted to it.  My rational with my friends was that we often enjoyed other things besides girls—so if they could get those primal needs out-of-the-way, they would have higher quality lives that would allow them to continue enjoying more intelligent activity without distraction.  Peter should have helped his son find a girl instead of starting new relationships with new women and hanging out with the Hollywood crowd trying to find work.  The son left without a father in the home alone with his mother—had to endure a female relationship without sex with a female that his father had rejected causing all sorts of mixed up emotions—because most young men seek in their sexual mates, women who are like their mothers.  It would not surprise me that it was this problem that ultimately led to Elliot Rodger’s sexual frustration–how to defend the position of his father by rejecting his mother who is the aim of Elliot’s sexual fulfillment in potential mates.  That duality combined with Asperger’s syndrome was destructive to Elliot’s mind and was the cause of the shooting spree.  It was not caused by a gun; the act of terror was caused by a broken mind.  It was preventable not with a new law, but with love and common sense.

Rich Hoffman

www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com

 

Help the Children of the World SEE GODZILLA: What box office totals really measure

For me, movies have always been a measurement about the temperament of a society in general. The kinds of films that make money, and those that don’t speak largely about the values of earthly civilizations. I enjoy most films, small art pictures like Atlas Shrugged sometimes because they don’t make much money and speak to a very focused and intelligent audience. I also like films like the new Godzilla movie which speaks directly to the masses with enthusiastic hope. What is different now as opposed to even a decade ago is that occasionally, huge blockbuster films like Godzilla are released simultaneously around the world and provide a very clear picture of what those worldly economic conditions are relative to the United States which can be directly measured by ticket sales.

Godzilla earned an estimated $103 million from 64 overseas markets this past weekend—during its opening. Warner Bros. reported that 51 percent of those sales were from 3D showings.

The movie’s biggest markets were the U.K. ($10.4 million) and Russia ($9.1 million), and it had the top opening of the year in Australia ($6.1 million). Other major territories included Mexico ($8.9 million), France ($6.5 million), Korea ($4.5 million), Brazil ($4.2 million), Italy ($3.6 million) and Spain ($1.6 million).

Godzilla opens in China in June, and then Japan in July. If it lives up to its potential in those two markets, it should wind up with over $400 million from overseas sales.

Produced by Legendary Pictures and released by Warner Bros., the monster movie reboot earned an impressive $93.2 million at the domestic box office.

Godzilla‘s domestic debut ranks second in 2014: it wound up in between Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($95 million) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($91.6 million). It also opened significantly higher than last summer’s World War Z ($66.4 million), and more-than-doubled Pacific Rim‘s $37.3 million.

It’s also worth noting that Godzilla earned more in its first three days than Star Trek Into Darkness earned in its first four ($83.7 million) on the same weekend last year. It was also above 2011’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($90.2 million).

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3845&p=.htm

To sum all this up properly just in the North American continent Godzilla made $93 million dollars. Over the entire rest of the world the film made $103 million without China and Japan being factored. Those countries will see the film over the next couple of months. With all politics removed from public relations jargon promoting all these other countries as equal to the United States, and the demand for Godzilla being universally equal all over the world—it could be observed that dollar for dollar—The United States—a capitalist country has the buying power of the rest of the world combined.

For instance, Brazil is a large country, but because they lean in the direction of socialism, they have a per capita income that is far below that of The United States. $4.2 million is about how much most states made in America displaying vividly that in Brazil there are not nearly enough movie theaters available to show the film. In America, I have around seven different theaters to choose from to see Godzilla while in Brazil, there may only be a few theater in each major city. The rural areas of Brazil are lucky to have power let alone have a theater down the road from their house making it impossible to even think of seeing Godzilla. So as a country, their demand to see the movie was high, but their people because they are poor did not have much opportunity to attend a theater. Even more pressing to the whole problem is that there is not enough per capita income to dictate that an investor could even open and operate a movie theater in the country. Italy and Spain are both socialist countries and put out a pathetic number in response to the Godzilla box office. Again, it is not that people did not want to see the movie. Those that could did. But in those countries, there just aren’t enough theater owners who want to embark on the entrepreneurial activity of theater ownership.

France put up a respectable number as they have several major cities that have movie theaters. In the future however because of the socialist policies of the current government penalizing the rich, there will likely be far less real-estate investment into movie theaters leading the country back into something like what Spain, Italy and Brazil are putting out as far as economic activity.

Economic activity is of course the access of investment into theater ownership and access to money to attend a movie by the general population through disposable income. If taxation consumes much of that income, then movie attendance will of course decrease. After China loosened up a bit toward western films and actually allowed their citizens to watch movies like Godzilla, they are usually good for around $40 million in opening weekend box office totals out of a population matrix of over a billion people. Much of this market base is around the capitalist region of Hong Kong, but the communist portions of the country are still deeply deprived of business investment and disposable income to even purchase a movie ticket. There are likely millions of children within China who would love to see Godzilla, but they can’t because no movie theater owners want to deal with the communist government to operate such things with all the restrictions involved. After all, China only allows ten films a year from America. The rest of the year there aren’t many opportunities to see movies that are good. China isn’t making many movies, and neither is the rest of the world. Only America makes movies like Godzilla and only a select few are allowed to be seen within a communist country. Godzilla will be one of them—thank goodness.

Here is a sad statistic; the entire country of Australia which is a large landmass, only produced $6.1 million in Godzilla sales—mostly on the east coast of the country.   Australia has also functioned under socialism for a number of years which has killed their economic growth and the results can easily be seen in the terribly deficient movie theaters available. Obviously people in Australia would love to see Godzilla, but they do not have enough movie theaters to allow such a thing. They have not been friendly enough toward entrepreneurial activity to allow their people such a positive leisure time activity like seeing Godzilla.

Is it fair to judge the world against such standards—well, yes it is. Godzilla is the kind of movie that boys, girls, young, old, virtually every market demographic in the world would like to at least see, but those opportunities do not exist in countries struggling with socialism, communism, and over restrictive governments. Countries like Russia have at least stepped up to the plate and allowed for western films to be shown in their city multiplexes and they produced a respectable $9.1 million, just shy of England which boosts a much smaller landmass and total population. Such comparisons speak very accurately about the economic strength of the cultures viewing the film Godzilla.

Godzilla is s global phenomena built with Japanese branding for many years, so it is a stable platform to make such comparisons. And the economic status of the world is easy to measure against such a globally unified reference point. If you want to measure the strength of a nation, just look at how many people attend movie blockbusters and determine if they have access to a movie theater, have expendable income, or live in a country that allows the kind of free speech needed to see such a thing. Then ask why they can’t, and you will have the answer as to which political systems work best for the people they are supposed to serve, and which ones simply use people as a platform for their own self-importance.

I bet dear reader—that you had no idea that the new Godzilla movie told so many stories on so many levels—but now you do.

Rich Hoffman   www.OVERMANWARRIOR.com