Freedom to chains

and the house, and the car, and HAS A MORTGAGE ON THE CHURCH! LEGALLY!

Historically, when any nation has taxed its people more than 25% of their national income, initiative was destroyed and that nation was headed for economic eclipse

Presently (1965) the American People are being taxed 33 percent of their total income

History says we’ll roll forward on momentum for a little while, but we’d better get some more gas in the tank pretty quick You see, ours is not the first “By-George” good government to arise on the world stage, there have been several Rome, Spain, Greece, China, and others, and each enjoyed about a hundred and fifty years at its zenith, and that’s just about our time in the new world, and then each decayed away Not one of them was ever destroyed by anybody else’s marching legions Each rotted away morally, socially, culturally, economically simultaneously You know one of the most cruel paradoxes’ of history is this, because each was a good government it bore bountiful fruit and when it bore bountiful fruit the people got fat, and when they got fat they got lazy, and when they got lazy they began to want to absolve themselves of personal responsibility and turn over to government to do for them things which traditionally they had been doing for themselves

At first there appears to be nothing wrong asking government to perform some extra service for you, but if you ask government for extra services government, in order to perform its increasing function, has to get bigger, right? And as government gets bigger, in order to support its increasing size it has to, what? Tax the individual more, so the individual gets littler And to collect the increased taxes requires more tax collectors so the government gets bigger and in order to pay the additional tax collectors, it has to tax the individual more so the government gets bigger and the individual get littler and the government gets bigger and the individual gets littler, until the government is all powerful and the individual is hardly anything at all The government is all powerful and the people are cattle Now, some believe that the need is for a vigorous, strong man to rise on the

Continued from page 8 scene To regulate and regiment the affairs of men Yet, history tells us there have been several such.

Once upon a time there was a nation great and powerful and good Few were suffering from the aftermath of war, from a depression And then came upon the scene a leader, an idealist, selfconfident, intolerant to criticism A wise lady limited his early activities to combating the financial depression, nobody could argue with that, but in a while he began to regulate business and establish new rules to govern commerce and finance Some of them in diametrical disagreement with the God-Made laws of supply and demand, but anybody who disagreed with those new rules was promptly fired The new leader saw that under the old system of free enterprise landlords prospered, so he levied new taxes to take away their profits and destroy what he called the “Monopoly of Capital” To please laborers, he controlled prices To win the favor of the farmers, he gave them loans and subsidies The National Debt mounted, alarmingly Whenever anybody tried to tell him “that governments, even as people, can go broke, when they spend beyond their incomes”, he said “They just didn’t understand deficit finance ”

Well, what do you say? Did he build on rock or on sand? I say on sand For you see this was the story of Emperor Su Tung Po (Tsu Tong Phao) who led China to its doom more than a Thousand Years Ago I am satisfied with all my heart that if Uncle Sam ever does get whipped, here too, it will have been an Inside Job It was internal decay, it was not external attack that destroyed the Roman Empire Starting about 146 B C internal conditions in Rome were characterized by a welter of class wars and conflicts, street brawls, corrupt governors, lack of personal integrity and moral responsibility About 290 years after Christ a Roman Emperor named Diocletian took over He really grabbed the bull by the horns He took over in a period of turmoil and severe depression. The first thing Diocletian did was call in the gold and closed the banks and raised the taxes He reduced the power of the Senate Delegated its power to

What are we to do about Michael Jackson?

The music star who once took the world by storm The effervescent entertainer, intent on pleasing audiences with his dance moves and iconic moonwalk The thirteen Grammy award winner who churned out memorable songs such as “Thriller,” “Beat It,” and “Billie Jean,” propelling him to achieve an unthinkable level of popularity and appeal

Despite this startling record of success, we knew something was off His interview with Martin Bashir in the documentary Living With Michael Jackson back in the early 2000’s revealed enough for us to know that something nefarious was going on at “Neverland,” Jackson’s famed estate “Why can’t you share your bed? That’s the most loving thing to do, to share your bed with someone,” Jackson tells Bashir at one point Prompting an important question When did it become socially acceptable in American culture to share your bed with a child that is not your own?

Despite such alarming statements, Jackson was exonerated by the courts. Enduring a very public trial in 2005, he was found not guilty on all charges Jackson walked free This led his friend, famous actress Elizabeth Taylor, to declare, “Thank God Michael is vindicated for all time Now maybe people will leave him alone ”

Until now A new documentary on HBO, Leaving Neverland, is bringing allegations of child sexual abuse against Michael Jackson to the forefront of the national consciousness once more The documentary focuses on Wade Robson and James Safechuck’s accounts of childhood sexual abuse carried out by Jackson Apparently, the evidence is quite compelling, so much so that even Oprah Winfrey decided to interview the men, arguing that “this moment transcends Michael Jackson ”

And it does Child sexual abuse is quite prevalent, even in our present day According to statistics posted on the National Center for Victims of Crimewebsite, “1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse ” A startling number, considering the fact that so often, the public appears hesitant to readily embrace stories of abuse when survivors come forward

With this story now front and center, the documentary has generated much attention and controversy, inciting the Jackson family to once again vigorously defend one of their own They are not the only ones – others have taken to social media, strenuously arguing the iconic star’s innocence Jackson, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 50, is no longer here to defend himself Yet he provided plenty of protestations of innocence in the past It is hardly conjecture to assume what he would say if he was with us now While one can easily get bogged down by the particulars of the allegations, one thing is painfully clear For far too long, Michael Jackson was given a free pass by much of the American public, because we chose to believe that his celebrity and importance to our culture somehow precluded him from carrying out the acts described by those who have come forward in the past Michael was a god-like figure to some, an iconic one to many We loved the way he made us feel, listening to his catchy lyrics and watching him as he burst into dance on stage How could a man who entertained millions be involved in heinous acts of child abuse?

Yet we have learned in the last few years that fame does little to tame inner demons In fact, it may serve to embolden them After Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer, and now Michael Jackson (among countless others), isn’t it past time to start taking allegations of abuse more seriously?

In the wake of these graphic revelations, some have offered a defense of Jackson, centering around his abusive childhood His father, Joe, notoriously beat his children, as many of the Jackson progeny have gone on to detail in various accounts These horrid tales of abuse notwithstanding, they cannot serve as a sufficient excuse for Jackson’s behavior How many among us have endured abusive childhoods, without growing into adulthood and sexually abusing children?

Despite Jackson’s passing, the indelible mark he left on American culture is undeniable His presence remains, as his songs can be heard at bars, public events, even grocery stores across the country Perhaps now, instead of replaying his hits and venerating the memory of a deeply troubled man, we can come to grips with the allegations against him, and choose to listen to those left in his ruinous wake

“I always get what I want,” Michael Jackson reportedly told Wade Robson’s mother, Joy, decades ago

After more than 25 years of allegations, the question remains Will we continue to let him get what he wants?

Samuel Moore-Sobel is a freelance writer To read more of his work, visit wwwholdingontohopetodaycom