Michael Hume

America Is Best On A Project Basis

by Michael D. Hume, M.S.

Here’s the last in a twelve-part series about progressivism. This century-plus-old movement seeks a slow “evolution” of America from a Constitutional republic to a collectivist authoritarian state (as opposed to the sort of bloody “revolution” which accomplished essentially the same thing in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere). Progressivism is not collective statism itself, but the method being employed to bring collective statism to prominence. And since the American free-market republic has created more worldwide strength and prosperity than has any other system in history (and since collectivism has failed miserably wherever it’s been tried), progressivism definitely isn’t progress.

As we’ve shown over the past twelve weeks, progressivism has been successful in slowly changing the average American’s perception of what is “normal” and proper. Today, the progressive government can get away with rampant and blatant departure from the Constitution – the bedrock of American limited government and free-market prosperity. Federal incursions, like the recent fiat-proclamation that Catholic institutions must essentially pay for abortions and contraception, would not have been thought possible a couple of generations ago… and that edict is nothing compared to the “health care” and financial reforms pushed through during the first couple of years of the progressive Obama administration. Decades of success in “moving the window” of American perception has emboldened the progressives (they now feel free to try just about anything) and numbed the temporally-sovereign citizenry (they now feel resigned to swallow just about any affront to their Constitutional protections from their own government). The result? Every day, the nation falls more under the control of an increasingly-powerful government. Each day’s “daily life” is less free, and less lived at the discretion of the individual citizen. Each day, the government of this nation is less “by” the people, less “for” the people, and adds more emphasis to government “of” the people.

The series has touched briefly on the many ways the progressive movement has brought us here; the short answer, though, is that the progressives have slowly taken over all the institutions which influence the opinions of average Americans. We talked about the lifeblood of progressivism: control of the messages we take in through “infotainment” churned out indistinguishably by the “news” media and Hollywood. We talked about the bureaucratic fortress of progressivism: the “permanent and professional” (but unelected) administrative state that really runs the government, regardless of which letter is found behind the name of whatever politician you elect. We talked about the factory of progressivism: the gradual takeover of educational institutions, now in complete control of what an “educated” American believes to be true, from kindergarten through grad school. Through all these institutions (and others, such as labor union leadership), the progressive movement has succeeded in changing American opinion so much that it’s now possible for the statists to achieve their long-sought objective: to have the “sovereign citizens” of the United States willingly hand their hard-won power back to a now-all-powerful government and allow themselves to become part of yet another failed socialist state.

If that happens, the entire world is in trouble. There will be no “shining city on a hill” to which oppressed people from the other “Utopian” collectivist states can flee. There will be no engine of strength and prosperity to protect the world from the aggressive impulses of every would-be dictator from the in-vogue Islamo-fascist to the next collective statist seeking other countries’ resources (a la Hitler). In fact, such a dictator might well rise from the ranks of our own nation… and we all know how well that worked out for 1917 Russia and 1930s Germany.

You know you’re in the presence of progressives when you hear their universal mantra repeated: government is the answer… the more government the better… grow the government! The Founders thought just the opposite when they drafted the Constitution which brought so much abundance to our nation: government is the problem… a government big enough to give you everything you think you want is big enough to take away everything you have… limit the government! And this is the great ideological struggle of our time.

We do need some government, to be sure. But the Founders sought to limit what that government could do to and for us. They realized that you need a policeman to keep crime down, but you don’t want a police state to keep the people down. But the statists, and their progressive soldiers, want you to be ruled by an all-powerful government. And they will be happy to provide such a government.

The Founders set up a nation which performs best on a project basis… the industrial gear-up which overwhelmed Nazi Germany AND Imperial Japan in less than four years is a great example. But the progressives seek to make every “project” a permanent department of an ever-growing government… the Environmental Protection Agency, which was originally intended merely as a project to reduce pollution, is now a prime example of this trend (and there are many others, including the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy, and NASA). When the free market leads a project, it is wildly successful (the “Axis” had no chance once the first bombs fell on Pearl Harbor). When progressives turn a project into a Department, it slumps into mediocrity (at best) or failure (pollution reduction and other targets of the government’s environmental project have never been met, despite the cancerous growth of the EPA into one of the most powerful agencies on the planet). Projects have a goal, even if it’s just to make money (which is not evil, as it turns out). Departments have a survival instinct; how much time do government bureaucrats spend blaming each other, justifying their own existence, and cranking out economy-strangling regulations which never “work?”

Taking the country back from the progressives is the biggest project we’ve ever faced – even bigger than the World Wars and the Great Depression (which many now believe was caused by the very governmental intrusion that purported to “solve” it). In fact, in the progressive movement, America may finally have met her match. We may well end up willingly destroying ourselves, generations after other “super power” regimes learned the same lessons we’re about to learn the hard way.

Think of a project you can undertake to do your part. Me? I’m using my gift for sarcasm to write what I call my “Friday Funnies” which ridicule progressivism (though not in the sort of viciously-hateful way progressives wield ridicule and “humor,” as exemplified by the f-word venom they hurled at President George W. Bush). I refuse to yield all of the humor space to progressives such as Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, and “The Onion.” I’ve created something of a firestorm by submitting my Friday Funnies to my hometown paper as letters to the editor… and though there is nothing the slightest bit hateful in my glib work (read my Friday pieces and see for yourself), a handful of readers have lambasted it as “hate speech.” That’s progressivism. Their side can hurl any nasty f-bomb at people like Bush, and call it “humor.” But any message with which they disagree, or any criticism of their beloved Barack Obama, is “hate speech.” The movement has changed the definition of every word, including “hate” – kinda like George Orwell’s “Ministry of Truth.”

Speaking of truth, the truth is that I’d just-as-soon not read personal attacks and criticism from my progressive neighbors. But I think it’s important. It’s my project. And if I get through to just a couple of young people, attracted by the humor and amusement to a message quite different from what they’ve heard in school and on Comedy Central, my project is successful. Maybe a handful of young Americans are out there reading my stuff, reconsidering the veracity of the messages they get from those who seek to make “Obama Zombies” of them. And, to my surprise, I’m happy to report that not all of my pen-wielding neighbors are statists… the letters in the paper supporting me are about equal in number to those attacking me. (Just an aside: the supportive letters are generally better-written, too.)

What’s your project? If you’re a young person, go back to your high school and visit with your teachers. Don’t waste your time with committed socialists… but many of your old teachers are too overworked to fully realize the degree to which progressivism permeates their curricula. You’ll think I’m nuts, maybe, but try this: pick a national radio host (Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, or Mark Levin, for instance) who’s committed to putting out messages you won’t hear in the progressive mainstream media… listen to that person’s show every day for three weeks… and see if you don’t look at the world differently. Read “A Patriot’s History of The United States,” and see if your perspective doesn’t shift from the opinion you were issued in school. If it isn’t – if you’re still convinced by the progressive message – you’ve lost nothing. But don’t cheat yourself out of the other side of the story. If you believe you’re a rational, open-minded person, prove it; you have nothing to fear from any of the information sources I’ve mentioned, and you might just have a lot to gain. Listen for three weeks, read different books, and do your own thinking. That’s the American way.

They say it’s a bad time to be your own boss; but maybe that’s your project. Start a business anyway. Start with an online business you can run on the side, and see if you can’t become the next great American entrepreneur. See if you can ignore all the propaganda about how the government is creating jobs (it can’t; it’s destroying jobs, daily), and see if you can create a few yourself. It’s tough – the progressive tide is against you – but if you can build your entrepreneurial muscles these days, you’ll be part of the free-market leadership that eventually pulls us out of the progressive mess we’re in.

Maybe your project is to get in shape, and take at least one person (you) out of the muck of dependence on government medicine. Read my Wednesday pieces that talk about the five key daily health habits I call “The NEWSS” – Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sleep, and Supplements – and again, take three weeks of daily dedication to see just what you might be able to accomplish. You’ll need all that new energy and vitality to resist the coming storm of statism.

Whatever other project you pick, make it your foundational project to re-examine and strengthen your personal values. Be a leader, at least in your own home, at least of one family that truly stands for something. Ask God for help. You will need absolute conviction to withstand attacks from the statists, which will definitely come your way once you stand in opposition to the progressive movement. For example, I know my own values, and I know I’m not a hateful person (far from it). So when I read attacks that accuse me of vending hate speech, I know better. They will call you a racist, an elitist, a wealth-mongerer, a greedy person… every name in the book. When they do, make sure you’ve done your values homework, and make sure you know better. And know that, when you’ve become the target of such name-calling, you’ll have confirmation that you’re on the right track.

Progressivism is a word that makes you think of progress. But not all progress is good. Progressives want to progress you away from the America you know and love, and toward a willing forfeiture of your freedom and prosperity. If, instead, you want a nation that is great because it’s good, that leads and protects the world, that feeds the world’s children and comes to the rescue of the world’s victims, you want a different kind of progress. You want restoration. You want your country back. And you want to bear in mind that, no matter what the word sounds like, progressivism isn’t progress.

They’re Serious. Seriously Brainless.

by Michael D. Hume, M.S.

“Your pet carrot will live,” the doctor said, “but it’s going to be a vegetable for the rest of its life.” Maybe you’ve heard that old joke, and you’ve probably heard the old expression “You are what you eat.” Synthesize these two, and add the recent brainless activity of a guv’mint school lunch inspector, and you see how serious our dear leaders are about eating vegetables.

It’s probably now politcally non-correct to remind you that people who’d lost their brain function were once referred to as “vegetables.” Please understand that my hate speech today is not meant to demean mental patients; on the contrary, I would suggest we remove the entire federal government and replace politicians and bureaucrats alike with whatever mental patients we can find who’d be willing to do those jobs (except that this would be abuse of the infirm). The activity (or, hopefully, non-activity) of that new government could not possibly be any more brainless than that of the current “progressive” federal insanity.

Take the widely-reported recent decision of a federal school lunch inspector, who confiscated the mom-provided lunch of a little girl and forced her to eat a school cafeteria lunch instead. The seized lunch? Mom had provided the kindergartener with a turkey-and-cheese sandwich, a banana, some chips, and a box of apple juice… the mere packing of which was a clear example of child abuse. The guv’mint lunch? Chicken nuggets (it’s still unknown which part of the hot dog is used to make those) and institutional vegetables.

It was afterward, when Mom got the bill for the cafeteria lunch, that she had to declare “Wha-wha-WHAT?” and the story got legs. Yes, they threw out the perfectly-good lunch she’d sent, gave her daughter fried food instead, and billed her for the privilege of inflicting this actual emotional abuse on her daughter. I wish I could say I’m making this up… but no, it’s true, and it’s your New America in action.

In defending his decision, the guv’mint inspector pointed out that, without an included vegetable, Mom’s idea of lunch was not up to federal standards. In defending HER decision, Mom pointed out that she serves veggies at dinner, when she can supervise their consumption, rather than sending expensive vegetables to school to be thrown away by her little veggie-hater.

I’m just supposin,’ but I guess if she’d sent her kid to school with nothing but a potato in her lunch box, everything would’ve been cool with The Man. Also, the feds apparently recommend deep-fried food – so if that potato had been, say, cut into strips and deep-fried, the little girl might’ve been given an award. Maybe the “President’s Award For Eating Your Vegetables,” or something else akin to the award we got back in the day from President Kennedy for showing up at gym class.

But no. She got shame and trauma, and chicken nuggets. What’s your guess: do you think she ate those cafeteria veggies? Or were they still riding the tray when she stood in line to submit it to the dishwasher?

Let’s just say, for the sake of right-wing tea-party private-sector business-owner Republican hatred, that she tossed ‘em. That would mean this: your federal government paid to send a lunch inspector to school, paid him to throw away a lunch which included fruit and fruit juice and protein and complex carbs, paid the school to force-feed fried mystery-meat to a child, essentially threw away some mushy steamed vegetables, and sent a bill to a mother to take a couple more bucks out of the real economy. All this the product of good intentions gone off the rails in the name of public nutrition.

Your federal guv’mint is alive and well. But as long as it’s run by statists, it’s going to act like a vegetable for the rest of its life.

You Won’t Find  Prosperity At The End Of The “Progress”

by Michael D. Hume, M.S.

Last week, the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held in Washington, D.C. It surprised no one that there were several protestors on hand, trucked in by left-leaning community organizers… what did surprise some was the honesty with which a handful of those protestors answered questions from a conservative talk host’s representative.

These protestors didn’t know what they were protesting. They didn’t know what their own message was supposed to be. They said they weren’t angry about anything, or against anything. They didn’t even know what CPAC was. So why were they there? They told the interviewer they’d been paid $60 for the day, bused in, given a sign to hold and told where to stand. Who hired them? Their labor union. And they were happy to have the money, being out of work (despite the president’s insistence that things are now better in the “new” U.S. economy).

Can you imagine protestors from the 1960s being hired by their unions and trucked in to protest, say, the 1968 Democratic National Convention? If you were around back then, and experienced the passion and commitment (however misguided, in some cases) of those dissenters, can you imagine protests being conducted by people who had no clue what even they were supposed to be expressing, and who had to be paid to protest?

Things we used to think were outlandish are now business-as-usual. Things we used to do, or say, or even think, have now been proclaimed wrong and bad… and we no longer do, or say, or try to think those things.

That’s progressivism.

There are two basic visions of America’s future, driven by two opposing worldviews out there (and inside each of us). To the extent we (and our society) are dominated by our inner “Victim,” we see America as a mean game of winners and losers, and we want a huge, all-powerful government to control things and make sure everything comes out equally (and to ensure that other guy doesn’t get anything I don’t have, regardless of how much more he wants to work for it). To the extent we’re ruled by our inner “Entrepreneur,” we see America as a land of equal opportunity – not equal outcome – and we realize a government big enough to give us everything we think we want is big enough to take from us everything we have. Our Victimhood believes the government will make winners of us all… our Entrepreneurship knows better, and has seen how the Victim road leads to a world in which we’re all losers (unless we’re among the tiny percentage of government bosses).

The progressive movement was founded more than a century ago to slowly move us toward this big-government future, inch-by-inch, by “evolution” of our society. In other countries where a totalitarian, collectivist government was sought (such as the Soviet Union and Communist China), the radical transformation came all at once, through bloody “revolution” – the statists here, though, knew Americans would never suffer such an affront to their limited-government, Constitutional way of life, and thus they chose to effect the radical change slowly, over decades and generations.

That’s progressivism.

Progressivism is the method by which the statists seek to remove America as the last Constitutional republic on Earth (and thus the last obstacle to a world collectivist state). Regardless of what you might have heard from politicians about “the progressivism of the right,” there is no such thing; all progressivism pushes toward the left. Away from limited government, away from individual liberty, away from opportunity and prosperity… and toward total government control of every aspect of life.

There are several signs that the progressives are close to the goal-line in America. The election of Barack Obama in 2008, along with a rubber-stamp Congress dominated in both houses by the president’s own party. The ram-through of the “Obamacare” legislation which, if allowed to stand, will confiscate nearly a fifth of the U.S. economy into government hands while doing nothing to improve the health of Americans (and, in fact, slowly dismantling the greatest medical system in world history). The widespread sale of the myth of man-made global warming as a way to disparage private enterprise (“Corporations are not people!”) and promote a perceived need for government oversight of nearly every aspect of daily life. The seemingly-endless class and race warfare promoted by the government and progressives, to shore-up the dominance of Victimhood within the society. And the near-total takeover of every major opinion-influencing institution in the nation, from the media to academe to union leadership to Hollywood.

Things are going to get worse before they get better. If a Republican, even a “moderate” (somewhat progressive) one, wins the White House this year (and especially if the GOP ends up with control of Congress), it’ll stall the oh-so-close progressive movement… and the progressives know it. So expect “Occupy Wall Street” to heat up as soon as the fair weather returns to U.S. cities… and the ugliness, violence, and racism we saw on the streets when the weather was still decent this past fall will seem like child’s play next to what you can expect this summer. Obama and his party will have more than a billion (with a bill) dollars to spend in a fiercely mean campaign, so expect to be singled out as a racist and wealth-mongerer if you don’t buy the party line of Victimhood. (You should still start a business, if you can, and get smart about your investments as some small protections against the coming storm.) In a world in which paid, uninformed protestors have become unworthy of even a mention in the mainstream media, and in which wild power-grabs by the federal government draw nothing more than a yawn from Middle America, you can expect the progressives to stomp on the accelerator pedal. They’re close, and they’re very-well aware of it.

That’s progressivism. But it sure isn’t progress.

2012 Looking Like DeJa Vu All Over Again

by Michael D. Hume, M.S.

Are you overcome with a feeling of deja vu, all over again? If you’re like me (and I know I am), you might be. Just four short years ago, in 2008, some giants from New York won an epic contest over some patriots, despite the fact the patriots were favored. And it’s, like, happening again.

In 2008, the patriots, who had been a high-scoring portrait in prosperity and had won every contest in which they’d found themselves, were upset by a small clan of Wall Streeters who (by calling themselves “giants,” among other tricks) had convinced people they were more powerful than they actually were and had sneaked into the big contest. It seems the patriots, when it counted most, just weren’t into it… and their usually-full-throated voice was very quiet that day. Meanwhile, the giants, backed by the power and resources of New York, made a thunderous racket. They proclaimed they had all the answers, and (being much more motivated) stole the victory.

This made these “giant” New Yorkers mistakenly believe they had a mandate over the patriots, and now, four years later, they’re still fighting the same battle… and, despite being the weaker force, might pull it off again.

As the contest grows late, though, the patriots still have a chance to make the game come out right. But they have to get serious, and focus.

The patriots have to be wary of these sneaky giants who like to occupy places like Wall Street… I mean, they’ll try to convince everyone THEY are the real patriots, when they clearly are battling to radically transform the whole game! They’ll say they’re against Wall Street itself, even when it’s obvious Wall Street is behind them! By disguising themselves as patriots, they hope to get the actual patriots to throw them the ball by mistake.

The patriots have to show up. They have to make their presence known. They have to make it clear they will not again be kept silent by this clamoring minority from the Big Apple.

The patriots have to connect. When the game’s on the line, they can’t drop the ball or turn it over to their opponents. They are the superior team, and they have to act like it.

Superior or not, the patriots have to be realistic about the uphill climb they face. The giants have all the cards stacked in their favor: they’ve got the media as cheerleaders, they’ve hand-picked the refs, and their fans (outnumbered two-to-one) get to scream their heads off and hurl insults while the patriots’ fans are required by their own code of character to maintain a respectful decorum (insulting only each other, apparently). The patriots’ fans have to work hard to earn their ticket to the game, and (due to redistribution of tickets) each patriot fan must pay for the admission of at least two opposing fans!

Look, though no less a luminary than Clint Eastwood recently appeared on the TV contraption (as a paid spokesperson) to declare “halftime in America,” the truth is this: if the giants steal another big one this November, it’s lights-out for the patriots. Game over.