Contentment Without Religion

by Russell D. Longcore

An undercurrent of comments began after I ran Laurence Vance’s article Are Evangelical Christians Warmongers? One reader calling himself “Anubis” (the jackal-headed Egyptian god) started it by commenting “Another reason I’ve become an atheist. If there was a God he would…”

I took the bait and replied “Being an atheist is unintelligent and flies in the face of reason. Being a-religious makes sense. You can acknowledge God’s existence and have a relationship with Him without embracing any particular religion.”

“Nathan McMurray” added this: “Careful Russ, you don’t know the specifics of why this reader chose atheism over theism. If it was based on “unintelligent” presuppositions then yes, his choice would be unintelligent and, therefore, fly in the face of reason. But there are many of us atheists that have examined the facts of the various Holy Scriptures and found that none of them point to anything that would resemble an all-knowing creator entity; much less an entity that has taken a keen interest in a certain species of upright walking apes and with whom they copulate. At best, all anyone can say with certainty is they are a hopeful agnostic.”

Then Richard, in the choir loft, said “Have you not read or heard that Christ brings liberty to the spiritual slave? Those who are at liberty are bound by duty to follow Christ, not chains.” Hhhmmm. Those at liberty are bound?

The stage is set, and I haven’t written about spiritual issues in quite a while. I can only write about secession so much. At some point…which I’m beginning to think I’ve already reached…there is not much more to say about secession until the triggers occur. So an article about living happily without religion seems controversial enough to get me writing again.

Here is the theme of this article: A human being can live a life filled with happiness, contentment and meaning WITHOUT religion. And that same person may have a vibrant, deep relationship with God without religion. I contend that it is actually easier to live a meaningful spiritual life without religion.

To Nathan, I say: What “facts” have you examined in Holy Writ? Can anything from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 be considered proven facts? I don’t mean the dates and rulers, like when Darius the Mead was on the throne. It doesn’t take much to line up a story with a kingdom. Nobody’s basing their world view and preconceptions about God on the handy dates in Biblical stories. That’s all small stuff. But they ARE betting their lives on all the rest of the stuff in the Bible that’s simply been made up over the last 6,000 years.

It’s the big stuff that I can’t swallow any more. The entire account of creation. The existence of Satan. The Exodus. The parting of the Red Sea. The giving of The Law on stone tablets. Taking laps around the Sinai for 40 years. Old Testament stories about the children of Israel, and strange prophecies. All of the stories about Jesus in the Four Gospels. The prophecies in The Revelation. Heaven and Hell. Sin and salvation. And the ridiculous ways that Christians explain the things that their God either does or doesn’t do in their daily lives.

The Bible is widely considered to be the Word of God. Why? Because it says so…in the Bible. It is its own reference material…it takes its authority from itself. Think how counter-intelligent that is. I am X because I say so. The Bible is widely touted to be THE Truth…ultimate truth…for the same reason…simply because the writers who were included wrote that it was so.

How Did The Bible Become The Bible?

The Canon of Scripture, meaning the compilation of the sixty-six books of the Bible’s present form, came to be as a result of a simple majority vote among the bishops of the Christian Church at the Council of Laodicaea in 364AD. There were another 44 books circulating in the Christian world that did not make the cut. Is that any way to determine truth? By a popular vote? Most of the books circulating around Christendom were written decades or centuries before 364AD. And each of the Gospels was written decades after the writers walked with Jesus in his ministry. Let’s see you write out incidents and conversations you had 20 years ago or more…verbatim. Why do you trust the judgment of a bunch of bishops to determine which books were God-breathed and which were not?

Holy writ is only deemed holy by its adherents. To wit, Bible-believing Christians reject the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Book of Mormon as heresies.

There is a writer that I recommend for a supplemental perspective on the veracity of the Bible. Lysander Spooner was a Deist and attorney who wrote extensively about religion and politics in the mid-1800s. He has written “The Deist’s Reply to the Alleged Supernatural Evidences of Christianity.” In this five-chapter work, he delivers a withering argument against the very foundations of Christianity. I challenge you to read his work and refute it.

You can find the work and read it for free at: Lysander Spooner

Also, read “The Deist’s Immortality, and an essay on man’s accountability for his belief.”

And What About The Central Character?

Today’s Christians and Catholics take it for granted that Jesus is God. But in the first three CENTURIES after Jesus’ life, there was NO consensus in Christendom that Jesus was God. And in the early 4th Century, the division came down to two clerics. Athanasius held that Jesus was the Son of God. Arius held that Jesus was “a” son of God, like others mentioned in the Old Testament books. The fight over the deity of Jesus Christ was splitting Christendom. At the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, one of those handy votes was taken, and the Athanasians…the pro-deity camp…won the vote. Is that any way to determine the deity of the individual upon whom you rely for your soul’s very salvation? For a revealing book about the Council of Nicea, read ”When Jesus Became God,” by Richard Rubenstein.

What if it is all myth?

For the first 55 years of my life, I could not…would not…even entertain the offhand, errant, blasphemous thought that the Bible could be wrong…or just not THE truth. Then some events happened in my life that caused me to rethink everything about ultimate reality. Most of the people I have ever encountered think the Bible is the word of God. But are you strong enough in your faith, or beliefs, to really honestly merely THINK about the possibility that all religion is myth? It’s no sin to doubt, and no sin to think controversial thoughts.

If you consider that all religions are myths, you will be forced to entirely retool every world view you presently hold. You’ll have to deal with:

• Who and what God is
• The Creation story
• The existence of Heaven and Hell
• Satan and evil
• The life of Jesus
• The “miracles” and ministry of Jesus
• Christmas
• Easter
• Sin and salvation
• What Christianity means…and doesn’t mean
• World history in light of myth
• The entire Bible not being God’s Word
• Your family’s reaction to you
• ENORMOUS peace of mind
• No more false guilt

Why Does Mankind Want Religion?

Religion is man’s attempt to explain the origins of himself and the universe. It’s all flowing from mankind out and back toward itself in an endless loop that never requires verification…only faith and belief. It started with those that worshipped the nature around them, and has evolved over time as mankind has learned more about himself and the universe. But think about this: why would you worship anything at all? It is because the human brain seems to have the ability to want to attribute meaning to everything. I don’t think my Doberman Kaiser or my cat Sam spend much time looking for meaning in their lives.

If God’s energy is in everything, then is everything God? There are two schools of thought. First, God created everything outside of himself, and creation stands extant of Him. God is here, and creation is over there. Second, God created everything of himself, and so the pure energy of God that holds all created things together unites all of creation inside God. The first school of thought represents Western Civilization. The second represents Eastern Civilization.

God’s face is obscured by the opaque screen of religion. Show most people in the world the Michaelangelo rendering of God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and you’ll have what most people today think God looks like. In like manner, most people have their concept of Hell and the horned, red Devil from Dante’s Inferno, written in the 14th Century. Each religious tradition, creed, cult or church builds elaborate rules and regulations (dogma) about what human behavior is acceptable to God and what is not acceptable. And the more preposterous and authoritarian the dogma, the more faith and belief
(and adherence) are required. But the Creator is not defined by religion, only diminished. He is brought down to human level of energy, we are not elevated to his energy level.

This Creator of all but Himself has always had the power to manifest Himself to every human being that has ever lived upon this planet. If God truly wanted a relationship with mankind, or any man individually, he could simply reveal Himself. If and when God does reveal Himself to man, all “religion” will of necessity cease, as man will no longer need to reach out to God or try to explain a being he cannot experience with his five senses. Belief will be unnecessary, since mankind will KNOW God. The most jaded, cynical scientist and atheist, faced with a real God, could no longer hold onto their worldviews.

All of the rules and regulations found in the Bible, and the silly games attributed to the Creator, are an insult to the character of an infinite Being. God does not need to sneak around and play complicated faith games with humans if he desires human relationships. Accepting Him at the level of his existing universal revelation is a superior way to set aside faith and actually KNOW God.

ALL RELIGION requires you to believe things that cannot be proven. In Hebrews Chapter 11 it says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This doesn’t say you can know a thing, but says that you can hope for a thing and your faith is the substance you get. I don’t know about any of you, but I would much rather operate my life and my core worldview based upon things that I can KNOW, not simply things I must believe. Knowing is always a higher level of energy than believing.

The GOOD NEWS…THE GREAT NEWS…is that God actually DID reveal himself to mankind through his very creation.

I believe that God has revealed these seven attributes about Himself in creation:

1. Creativity
2. Kindness
3. Love
4. Beauty
5. Expansiveness
6. Abundance
7. Receptivity

To learn more about these seven attributes of God, read ”The Power of Intention,” by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

I most heartily recommend the Deist worldview to seekers of truth. It is the worldview that requires the least amount of faith and manufactured guilt, reveals the most truth about God and the cosmos, retains meaning for human existence, and makes the most sense for those who aspire to maximum individual liberty.

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Could Tuesday 9-27 be False Flag Day?

* * * EXTREMELY TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL * * *

ATLANTA, GEORGIA September 26, 2011 5:00 pm Eastern

Dear Readers-

Never since the inception of DumpDC in May 2009 have I posted a link like the one you’ll find below. But I just received this link from a VERY TRUSTED SOURCE.

It may be nothing. Absolutely nothing may happen Tuesday the 27th.

But if you read this story, you might notice that way too many “coincidences” are scheduled to happen tomorrow.

I recommend a defensive strategy between now…whenever you read this..and Tuesday morning at 9:00 Mountain Time, 11:00 Eastern. Get as much cash out of your bank accounts as you can. Leave only enough money in the account to keep it open, even if that is only a dollar. Take your cash home. Then wait to see what happens on Tuesday. If nothing happens, re-deposit your money Wednesday. It only cost you your time. But if TSHTF Tuesday, you’ll be glad you’re in a strong cash position.

CLICK HERE!!! I’ve Got A Bad Feeling About Tuesday

A Tale of Two State-Sponsored Killings

by William L. Anderson

(Editor’s Note: Executions…yet another thing that government regularly screws up and should never be trusted with.)

The other night, the State of Georgia killed Troy Davis for the alleged murder of an off-duty police officer. The execution was controversial because a number of witnesses who testified at Davis’ trial later recanted their statements. What was most interesting to me about that was that prosecutors had no problem accepting their testimony when it implicated Davis, but when those same witnesses later claimed to have been coerced and said that they lied because that was what police and prosecutors wanted, suddenly those same conveyors of truth had become “unreliable.” Likewise, those wearing the black robes of judges came to the same conclusion.

The case itself became a symbol of the state ramrodding through executions even though there could be doubt about the guilt of the convicted, and I join in the disgust and anger that others who have opposed this execution have expressed. However, Davis’ state-sponsored homicide was not the only execution in the USA that night; the New York Times had an Associated Press article about an execution in Texas:

White supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed Wednesday evening for the infamous dragging death slaying of James Byrd Jr., a black man from East Texas.

There were no vigils and no protests of this government killing, and the headline in the NYT said it all: “White Supremacist Executed for Texas Dragging.” The placing of the two accounts together supposedly highlighted the contrast between the natures of the stories. In one, the state was killing a black man convicted of killing a white cop and there was doubt about the verdict, thus bringing together all of the political issues at once. In the other, we see a vicious, racist killer getting his just desserts in an open-and-shut case.

With Davis, we have a story about issues of racism, the killing of a state agent, and wrongful convictions, all wrapped in the ugly shroud of executions. One cannot put together a case with more political implications, and the response to it was what one would expect. The wounds of past injustices are great and only opened more when the State of Georgia injected poison into the body of Davis, and also injected more venom into our Body Politic. Racism. Cop killing. Wrongful convictions. Executions. There is nothing to add.

Brewer’s state-sponsored homicide brings different emotions. I remember seeing an African-American juror who had voted death to Brewer being interviewed on television afterward, and he said that while he opposed the death penalty, the nature of this case made such punishment justified. To put it another way, the horrific circumstances of the murder of Byrd and its racial and political implications permitted people to do away with their own principles and to support that which they normally would oppose. (To their credit, the family of Byrd asked for clemency for Brewer, while the family of Mark McPhail, the dead officer, supported Davis’ execution.)

He had participated in the murder of a black man, and was identified with groups that openly are racist. His views of others of a different race made it easier for those who say they oppose executions to support his being put to death by state authorities. Like Davis, who allegedly killed a member of a politically-favored group, police officers, Brewer not only had violated the life of someone else, but he had engaged in politically-incorrect behavior. Thus, the government apparatus that seeks to execute went into high gear in order to make sure that these alleged miscreants were to face the full fury of the law.

Before Brewer was to be killed, he declined to make a statement; Davis, about to die, calmly expressed one last time that he did not do what he was about to be killed for allegedly doing. They were different men, different events, yet they are tied together and not just because they were executed on the same date in the same country.

Would Troy Davis have supported the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer? Would Lawrence Russell Brewer have supported the execution of Troy Davis? I don’t know. What I do know is that when it comes to state-sponsored killings, all principles are discarded. People become what they have hated, and supposedly-principled people become the worst of hypocrites.

People who say they are “pro-life” try to justify executions in that same light. John Ashcroft, who lost his U.S. Senate election in 2000 to a dead man, had enraged black voters in his state of Missouri because he single-handedly denied the appointment of a black judge to the federal bench because Ashcroft claimed that the judge “was soft on the death penalty.” Yet, Ashcroft was one of the most staunchly anti-abortion members of Congress and always was feted by “pro-life” groups for his legislative actions.

Likewise, many others who oppose state-sponsored killings of people convicted in the courts believe that taxpayers should be forced to fund the killing of children who are ready to be born, the “partial-birth” abortion in which a medical professional brings out the head of a child from the womb, stabs the back of the head with scissors, bringing death. Like those in the execution chamber, the child is not deemed worthy of staying alive by people in legislative office and by men and women wearing black robes, not to mention the editors of the “Newspaper of Record.”

What I am describing is a Culture of Death, and a state-sponsored Culture of Death at that. In fact, a society cannot degenerate into that awful culture without the prodding and the sponsorship of the State. In the end, the State itself becomes Death.

Government

I don’t know if Troy Davis did what police and prosecutors claimed and what jurors and judges believed, although given what I know about how the courts in the USA work, I have my doubts. On the other hand, no one disputes the perfidy of what Lawrence Russell Brewer did, and it is understandable why jurors were willing to discard their own principles so that they could order his execution.

As I see it, once we give the State the privilege of killing whom it may choose, things are set into motion that are expressly unjust and cannot be reversed. The fact that Brewer took part in a terrible murder no more justifies his execution than the chance – and only the chance – that Davis shot a cop to death justified the State of Georgia killing him. (The officer was off-duty, but the fact that he was employed as a police officer was enough to label Davis a “cop-killer.”)

By giving the State the power to kill others “legally,” we also must realize that the State will kill those whom are politically deemed unfit to live. Plenty of people commit terrible murders for which no one is officially put to death. Only when a killing is deemed politically-incorrect is someone executed, and if politics ultimately is to become the standard of who is to live and who is to die, then we have become people who have passed the Point of No Return.

Following Davis’ execution, the economist Robert Higgs wrote:

“Those who compose the state have estranged themselves from their fellows and arrogated to themselves the power of life and death. Heedless of natural law, they are cruelly selective and opportunistic in their obedience even to the “laws” they have made. They have traded their consciences for power and political place, and their souls are as cold as ice. They are, morally, the walking dead.”

I would add that other people who support such things also join those who are spiritually dead. That is where state-sponsored killings always lead.

William L. Anderson, Ph.D. teaches economics at Frostburg State University in Maryland, and is an adjunct scholar of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He also is a consultant with American Economic Services.

Copyright © 2011 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Rick Perry’s Lost Debate Opportunity

By Russell D. Longcore

In Thursday night’s political theater presentation, aka “debate,” Texas Governor Rick Perry got buttonholed by Senator Rick Santorum about the Texas law that allows children of illegal immigrants to attend Texas colleges for the in-state tuition fees. He made a somewhat impassioned defense of it, and said that opponents have “no heart.”

The Governor was handed a rare opportunity to hammer his opponents, and it appears that he was entirely unaware that the hammer was at his disposal.

More is the pity.

Here is what the Guvna could have said in a stern, lecturing voice that would have set the rest of the field…and the audience…back on their heels:

“Texas is a state. Texas is not America, and it is not Washington. Under that old tattered, ignored Constitution, states could do pretty much what they damn well pleased. It was the Washington government, the creation of the states, that had all the restrictions. The legislation to provide college tuition aid to the children of illegal immigrants that live in Texas was passed by the Texas legislature, men and women duly elected by the people of Texas, and I signed it into law in 2001. If the sovereign citizens of Texas did not want this legislation to pass, their elected representatives would not have passed it. If Texans also wanted to buy those students an Ipod, a Slushie and a red balloon, they could have done it. You know why? BECAUSE TEXAS IS A STATE! We Texans are paying for that tuition subsidy out of our own pockets. About 1 percent of college students at Texas’ public schools are illegal immigrants who qualify for in-state tuition under the law I signed.”

“And to the charge by former Governor Romney that we are creating a “magnet” for illegals and not offering such a discount to out-of-state students, I say this: MIND YOUR OWN DAMNED BUSINESS, GOVERNOR. You are certainly entitled to your own opinion about this issue, but the only opinions I care about regarding this issue are the opinions of the voters in Texas.”

“And to you in the audience who booed me about this issue, I say this: Get a copy of the US Constitution and read it. The states are made up of what Governeur Morris (who wrote the Constitution) called WE THE PEOPLE in the Preamble to the Constitution. It is the People who hold ultimate authority in America, not Washington. The states were meant to be the greatest laboratories of liberty ever devised by human minds, and continuously compete with each other to see which state best protects individual liberty and property rights. If you and your fellow state citizens decide to build a bridge of steel or of Lego blocks, and you pay for it, it’s nobody’s business but YOURS unless you ask some other state to pay for it. So rather than showing your ignorance of civics with your booing, shut up and start reading.”

Rick’s poll numbers would have jumped by 20%. But maybe that’s a side of Rick Perry that doesn’t exist at all. Perhaps in his quest to have America love him, he’s cashed in his loyalty to his state and to Federalism. Maybe he never had either.

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Flash Editorials September 24, 2011

By Russell D. Longcore

International: BIG controversy coming to a head about Palestinian statehood. Can’t think of a reason why they should be prevented from organizing a new nation, and can’t think of a reason why the Israelis and DC should have veto power. Oh yea…I remember now. Washington and Tel Aviv don’t like Hamas leadership, even though Hamas was lawfully elected to office. Perhaps if the Palestinians got statehood, they would stop trading mortars and rockets with Israel. And before Washington labels Hamas “terrorists,” let’s ask Iraqis, Afghanis and Pakistanis who THEY consider the top terrorist nation in the world. And could somebody in the damn earth remember that PM Yitzhak Rabin, PM Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan were all considered terrorists back in 1948 when they were fighting for a state of Israel?

The Nation: So President Barry wants the rich to pony up more tax money, stating that they need to pay “their fair share.” The top 10% of the earners already pay 70% of the income taxes collected, while the bottom 45% pay no Federal taxes whatsoever. But we all know this ain’t about fairness, it’s about redistributing wealth at the end of a gun. The only fair tax is a sales tax, and DC will NEVER change to the sales tax. Will Congress have the balls to tell Barry ‘no’? Just as soon as you see pigs flying around the Rotunda.

Religion: Politics meet religion in Ohio – The Ohio legislature recently passed the so-called “Heartbeat Bill,” named because it outlaws abortion at the first detectable heartbeat of a human fetus. Now the bill must be passed by the Ohio Senate before it can be signed into law. It will be the most restrictive abortion law in the nation if passed. Remember folks…this is not about reproductive rights. You have all the reproductive rights you deserve…right up to the instant you get pregnant. Then your rights properly morph into responsibility…which is what REAL rights always do anyway. This is about whether or not it’s OK to kill another human being because its existence is inconvenient. Natural law bestows the right to life and NONE of us get here without some help. Good luck, Ohio. Godspeed. About 50 million lives have been snuffed out since Roe v. Wade in 1973. The oldest of them would be nearly 40 years old now…paying into Social Security and Medicare. OOOPS. Unintended consequences suck, don’t they?

Economy: This week’s new unemployment claims are at 423,000. According to The US Department of Labor, the total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending September 3 was 6,889,058. But there have been no less than 22 weeks in a row in which the number of new claims was above 400,000. That’s at least 8.8 million NEW claims just in the last five months. Who ya gonna believe?

Business: Moody’s Corporation, the financial ratings service, downgraded the credit ratings of mega-banks Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup, saying that Washington is now “less comfortable” with the idea of further bailouts for troubled lenders. The banks face an uphill battle to comply with the Dodd-Frank law’s requirements. Lower ratings mean more difficulty raising capital. No bank is too big to fail. Neither is any government.

Sports: The National Feminine Football League continues its plunge toward mediocrity as it tries to make the most violent sport less violent. Michael Vick, the Philadelphia Eagles’ QB, suffered a mild concussion in Atlanta due to a collision with one of his own teammates. Later in the game, Falcon cornerback DeSean Jackson collided with another Eagle, and both of them suffered concussions. Jackson got a fine from the NFFL. Extra-large powerful men running toward each other and colliding will occasionally cause injuries. It’s pretty hard to play aggressively and cautiously at the same time. The NFL sucks.

Entertainment: “Modern Family” garnered the most Emmy Awards at this year’s gala. One big (gay, straight, multi-cultural, traditional) happy family. Is this what the modern American family looks like?

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Secession: Timing Is…Everything

by Russell Longcore

(Editor’s Note: Here is a reprint that I’ve updated.)

Not so long ago, secession was a taboo subject for discussion in polite society. It was almost un-American to thoughtfully consider a state leaving the Union for any reason. Everyone thought that Lincoln’s War settled that issue. But today’s America is a seething cauldron of resentment toward Washington and the “Mobocracy Looter Minions” that populate the District of Columbia and its suburbs.

If you watch any news service for seven days, you’ll learn that the dollar is weak and growing weaker. You’ll learn that other nations are preparing to disconnect from the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. And you’ll learn that America is in big trouble, at home and around the world. (wonder why Chicago didn’t get the Olympics? What countries like the USA right now?)

Over half of the American states have passed legislative resolutions exerting their rights under the Tenth Amendment. That’s nice, and symbolic…and somewhat unusual for slaves to stand up to the plantation owner. But it’s not really necessary.

So when is the best time to actually pull the trigger and secede from the United States?

I believe that states should be making concrete plans right now for secession. States already have intricate plans in place in case of natural disasters and such. Should not a state have a plan in place in case of political disaster?

The United States Federal Government is a dying monster. But is still possesses political might, military might and potency. Dying monsters quite often thrash about and injure those that are too nearby. So at this point in time, while Washington still APPEARS viable, state secession would not seem to be a wise move.

After all, why would a state willingly take the chance of incurring the wrath of Washington? It would be like in the Tolkien movie “Return of the King,” when the good guys presented themselves at the Black Gate to divert the gaze of Sauron’s all-seeing eye. Washington might turn its fury on a seceding state to make an example of it, in order to discourage any other state from trying secession.

Washington is working 24/7 to produce substantive changes in American governance and culture. And, at some point, some state might decide that enough is enough. But I believe that it will take an event that happens outside of Washington to bring about Washington’s collapse.

The most likely event is the worldwide rejection of the US Dollar as reserve currency, and the worldwide use of any other currency as reserve. Even the change of the dollar as the currency of choice of any major petroleum bourse¹ will spell disaster for the dollar.

Iran has already formed an oil bourse, which uses the Euro, the Iranian Rial and a basket of other currencies as the settlement currency for petro transactions. Its first day of trading was Monday, October 26, 2009, on the Free Trade Zone Iranian island of Kish. Iran, having the world’s second largest gas reserves and third largest oil reserves, is trying to play a more active role in oil and petrochemical transactions in international markets.

Between the rejection of the dollar worldwide, and the selloff of US Government securities by nations like China, combined with runaway money printing by Washington and the hyperinflation that MUST follow, the dollar has nowhere to go but down…and precipitously.

The value of the dollar will tumble against other currencies….very soon. It will happen as other nations scramble to get rid of American currency and securities holdings and protect the very survival of their own nations. Washington has been passing bad checks for too long, and the nations are stepping to the pay window.

It is at this moment in time, when the dollar freefalls, that the states will have a golden opportunity to secede. States must do what it takes to assure their own survival, and not as a slave state to Washington. When the dollar collapses, the economy will suffer a meltdown. And that meltdown will provide states the perfect opportunity for secession. I really don’t believe that anything short of a meltdown would be serious enough for any state to secede. That’s a tragic indictment of the states and the fealty they have toward Washington. The mental patients are truly running the asylum.

But a secession alone won’t solve anything. The heavy lifting just begins when a state secedes.

First there would have to be a Provisional Government installed until the formal government could be designed and brought into being as a legal entity.

The very next thing that MUST be settled is the issue of money. If a new nation adopts the very same banking environment that America has right now, the new nation will be doomed to fail. The new nation MUST have a 100% gold/silver standard. It must also prohibit by law fractional reserve banking. Both government monopoly on monetary policy and fractional reserve banking are counterfeiting by another name. It must be prevented before it starts.

Monetary policy and banking worldwide is failing. A new nation needs to go another way, and that way is to return to sound money. Most of the other challenges that a new nation would face will be easier if the new nation has money backed with precious metals at 100% reserve. But you cannot counterfeit your way to liberty and prosperity.

Timing is everything. If states secede at the time that Washington is drowning in worldwide debt and the financial markets worldwide cause the collapse of the dollar, Washington may be powerless to stop secession. Ask Moscow how well they stopped the secession of the Western Soviet republics in 1989.

I know I’m getting to be “Johnny One-Note” about monetary policy, but that should tell you how crucial it is. Remember that no nation in the history of the world has survived that counterfeited its money. Not one. Ever.

But also remember that the Byzantine empire, on a gold standard, lasted over a thousand years…until it debased its own money.

1. A bourse is a commodities exchange in oil, petroleum and natural gas.

Secession is the Hope For Mankind. Who will be first?

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Secession: Solution to the Washington Debt Threat

by Ron Holland

(Editor’s Note: This reprint is even more true today in light of the possibility of even more debt, brought to you by Washington.)

Frédéric Bastiat must have been looking toward the future of the United States today when he said, “When plunder has become a way of life for a group of people living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it, and a moral code that glorifies it.”

I fear the federal government will plunder much of our private wealth, retirement plans and personal savings through hyperinflation, financial controls and confiscatory tax rates all in the name of protecting the public from a future debt crisis unless the states can secede from the Union and the crushing Washington debt load.

The first actual secession following several attempts by the New England states took place in the South and it ended with the defeat of the Confederate States of America. Now secession is again in the news and this time it may be the only solution to surviving the coming Washington national debt crisis.

We need to forget the causes of the earlier War Between the States, regional differences, slavery, tariffs and other related issues. The new secession effort will be state based but a national movement all across the United States ranging from Vermont to Georgia, Texas to Alaska etc. Economic survival and prosperity rather than regional issues will be motivating factor.

The first secession was a product of anti-southern tariff taxes resulting in the Southern states paying the majority of the revenue to fund the distant federal government. A mistaken defense of the dying institution of slavery by slaveholding elites in the South also contributed to the failed secession effort. Third, the advancement of corporate manufacturing profits and railroad expansionism by the Northeastern establishment elites were a major contributor. Finally the promotion of a conflict by the European Rothschild banking interests funding both the Northern abolitionists and the Southern secessionists guaranteed a violent breakup of what should have been a peaceful parting of the states.

Still the right of democratic state-by-state secession did not die at the point of a bayonet at Appomattox Court House in 1865. The belief in peaceful devolution of government powers and services to regions and local jurisdictions to allow citizens to control the power of politicians and government is a positive advancement for the 21st century. In addition, the right of devolution of states, geographic regions and groups around the world promotes competition and freedom.

I believe legal state secession from the Washington Empire just might become the only way for American citizens to escape the disastrous consequences from the coming global run to liquidate holdings of Washington treasury obligations and the dollar. Breaking free of the false chains that threaten our economic future from the likely Washington debt/dollar collapse might be our last chance to safeguard our financial security and liberty from the hyperinflation and crushing new tax increases to be forced on this and future generations from the bailouts and national debt.

Imagine no Washington income tax, no interference in the internal affairs of individual states, no involvement in perpetual wars around the world without a declaration of war, no Washington tax-feeding bureaucrats telling individual citizens, state legislatures or state agencies what to do.

Consider the benefits of sovereign states voluntarily participating in a decentralized republic or confederation, maybe like America’s first central government created by our patriot founding fathers, the Articles of Confederation. A decentralized nation where marriage, religious views, history, symbols, culture, abortion, gay rights etc. are determined on a state basis, Where citizens can eat, drink, smoke or do whatever with regulations and conduct governed by the norms of a state or locality rather than a distant federal government.

Can you envision a healthy economy, with minimal government debts combined with a rising standard of living and job growth guaranteed by low taxes, minimal regulations and currency competition? All of this without the Federal Reserve and Wall Street creating excessive bubbles followed by contraction and collapse and then demanding bailouts.

Imagine for a moment a people and sovereign states with future generations free from the illegitimate Washington national debt which threatens to destroy the prosperity, savings, housing values and jobs for our children and grandchildren. Review the US National Debt Clock which tells the entire story and our future. Today the official US National Debt breaks down to $40,079 per individual.

Finally, when you consider the total unfunded liabilities of Washington, the liability per American citizen is $177,515. Remember, none of the citizens of the individual states or America in general have had the opportunity to vote on the bailout or approve these debts most of which have gone to international corporations, Wall Street and world banking cartels. We, our children and future generations should not have to fund or pay off an illegitimate debt created just to bail out a few global corporations and wealthy special interests.

The Washington Empire is now run for the benefit of New York financial and economic interests who own and control most of Congress. Due to the recent bailouts and added debt which the majority of Americans opposed, the United States is now sadly on the path toward economic, debt and currency destruction.

Why should my state, South Carolina or other states join the federal government in future poverty, loss of freedoms and lagging economic prosperity with a dismal future determined by their foreign creditors? I say, it is time to free the states and citizens from the dark economic future which Washington and Wall Street have created. Just maybe we can finally be free at last from Washington’s national debt.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, from his I have a Dream speech said, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.” To quote another Southerner, Jefferson Davis was right when he stated, “I love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it.”

I think it is time for Americans left and right to reconsider where our nation and the federal government have ended up. Few would question that the all-powerful Washington government living on borrowed debt and fake prosperity is a political model which has failed miserably.

Today the constitutional protections have become just another dead document through the actions of Bush and Obama. A recent, WSJ/NBC poll showed that only 3% of Americans believe the government is doing a good job. Given the margin of error in the poll, the real % could have been zero.

Let’s revisit the political wisdom of the original republic founded through the blood and sacrifice of our patriot founding fathers. Back to something like the original republic of sovereign state republics, the Articles of Confederation.

Today in 2010, join me in voting both for the dream of Dr. King and the vision of Jefferson Davis. It is time to replace the failed Washington leviathan with a new limited central government based on the original vision of sovereign states where we become again, “these United States” instead of “the United States.” I’m voting in 2010 and 2012 in support of the Tenth Amendment and for the right of nullification.

Finally, if necessary, I’ll support temporary secession efforts from the empire until we restore the original republic of our founding fathers. We must be free of an illegitimate national debt, an unconstitutional Federal Reserve and protected by currency competition and the choice of a currency based on the gold standard.

Copyright 2010 Ron Holland.

Ron Holland, a retirement consultant, works in Zurich and is a co-editor of the Swiss Mountain Vision Newsletter. He is the author of the special report, “Get Ready To Escape the Obama Retirement Trap” and you can email him for the complete report at ron.holland@bfi-consulting.com.

Are Evangelical Christians Warmongers?

By Chuck Baldwin

I’ve been an evangelical Christian since I was a child. I’ve been
in the Gospel ministry all of my adult life. I attended two
evangelical Christian colleges, received honorary degrees from two
others, and taught and preached in several others. I’ve attended
many of the largest evangelical pastors’ gatherings and have been
privileged to speak at Christian gatherings–large and small–all over
America. I have been part of the inner workings of evangelical
ministry for nearly 40 years. I think I learned a thing or two about
evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity in America. And I’m here to
tell you: I don’t like what I see happening these days!

Let’s get this straight right out of the gate: nothing touched by
man can be perfect, because none of us is perfect. There is no perfect
church, perfect school, perfect mission board, perfect Sunday School
class, perfect pastor, perfect deacon, or perfect Christian. Until the
afterlife, we are all yet encased in Adamic flesh, complete with human
weaknesses and imperfections. And only the Pharisaical among us are
too proud to admit it.

That said, I do think it is more than fair to say that, historically,
Christians have always attempted to be–and have always publicly
taught the importance of being–peacemakers. Historically, Christians
have preached–and tried to practice–love and brotherhood. The early
church was born in a baptism of love and unity. Oh sure, there were
always individual misunderstandings and differences, but, on the
whole, the church was a loving, caring, compassionate ecclesia.

Mind you, Christians historically were not afraid or ashamed to
defend themselves, their families, and their country. The Lord Jesus,
Himself (the Prince of Peace), allowed His disciples to carry personal
defense weapons (see Luke 22:36,38). Yes, while some Christian sects
were conscientious pacifists, these were the exception, not the rule.
The vast majority of Christian believers understood the Biblical,
Natural Law principle of self-defense. But believing in the right of
lawful, God-ordained self-defense was never to be confused with
warmongering.

So, what has happened to turn the most peace-loving institution the
world has ever known (the New Testament church) into the biggest
cheerleaders for war? I’m talking about un-provoked, illegal,
unconstitutional, unbiblical–even secret–wars of aggression. The
biggest cheerleaders for the unprovoked, unconstitutional, pre-emptive
attack and invasion of Iraq were evangelical Christians. Ditto for the
war in Afghanistan, the bombing of Libya, the attacks in Yemen, etc.
Who is calling for the bombing of Iran? Evangelical Christians. Who
cheers for sending more and more troops all over the world to maim and
kill more and more people (including innocents)? Evangelical
Christians. Shoot (pun intended)! Most evangelical Christians didn’t
even bat an eye when the federal government sent military and police
personnel to murder American citizens, including old men, women, and
children–Christian old men, women, and children, no less–outside
Waco, Texas.

And where are today’s evangelical Christians giving a second
thought regarding their fellow Christian brothers and sisters in many
of these Middle Eastern countries that are being persecuted,
imprisoned, tortured, and killed by the puppet regimes being put in
power by the US government–at US taxpayer (including Christian
taxpayer) expense? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but more
Christians have been persecuted under the US-imposed regime in Iraq
than were ever persecuted when Saddam Hussein was in power. Oh! And
don’t forget that it was the US government that was responsible for
putting Saddam Hussein in power to begin with. The US government set
up Osama bin Laden, too. But I digress.

In addition to the “white” wars (the ones everyone knows about),
the US government authorizes some 70 black ops commando raids in some
120 countries EVERY DAY. In fact, the secret, black ops military of
the US is so large today it now totals more personnel than the ENTIRE
MILITARY OF CANADA!

A recent report noted, “In 120 countries across the globe, troops
from Special Operations Command carry out their secret war of
high-profile assassinations, low-level targeted killings,
capture/kidnap operations, kick-down-the-door night raids, joint
operations with foreign forces, and training missions with indigenous
partners as part of a shadowy conflict unknown to most Americans. Once
‘special’ for being small, lean, outsider outfits, today they are
special for their power, access, influence, and aura.”

To see the complete report of America’s secret wars, go to:

http://tinyurl.com/3q7s335

Yet, how much of this knowledge would even faze the average
evangelical Christian today? All we hear from today’s “churches”
is “bomb,” “attack,” “wipe them out,” etc. Then, at the
same time, they get all emotional about sending missionaries to the
same countries that they had just cheered-on the US military in
raining down missiles of death and destruction upon (to bring
salvation to the lucky ones that weren’t killed, I suppose).

And who are the ones that belittle and impugn Ron Paul? Evangelical
Christians. Why? Because he tells the truth about America’s foreign
policy being responsible for much of the hatred and bitterness
erupting in foreign countries against us. I guarantee you that many of
the “conservative” Republicans who booed Dr. Paul’s comments to
this regard at the GOP Presidential debate this week would identify
themselves as evangelical Christians.

See the report at:

http://tinyurl.com/3otfnzr

The disciples of our Lord were called “Christians” first by the
Gentiles of Antioch, because of the manner in which the disciples
reminded them of Christ’s nature and teachings. I never thought I
would hear myself say what I’m about to say, but the truth is, the
term “Christian” today means anything but Christ-like. To many
people today, “Christian” refers to some warmongering,
mean-spirited, throw-anyone-to-the-wolves-who-crosses-them person, who
then has the audacity to look down their nose in contempt against
anyone who disagrees with them for even the smallest reason. And the
word “church” has the stigma of being simply an enclave of
warmongers to many people today. And that, my friends, is one reason
so many people are so turned off with today’s Christianity. And I
can’t say that I blame them. I’m turned off too!

Am I a pacifist? Absolutely not! Do I believe an individual, a
family, a community, or a nation has the right to protect and defend
itself? I absolutely do! And the fellow who breaks into my home or who
attacks my loved ones will personally discover I believe that! But
this blind support for illegal, immoral, unconstitutional war is
anything but Christian. Not only is it turning people against our
country among people abroad, it is turning our own countrymen against
the Christ we Christians claim to love right here at home.

I dare say that the modern Warfare State would grind to a screeching
halt tomorrow if evangelical Christians would simply stop supporting
it! And the thing that most evangelical Christians fail to realize is
that the Warfare State is one of the primary tools that the evil one
is using to usher in his devilish New World Order that even babes in
Christ know to be of Satan. Hence, Christians are helping to promote
the very thing that Satan, himself, is using to enslave them.

Yes, I’ve been an evangelical Christian for most of my life and an
evangelical pastor for all of my adult life. And if we Christians do
not quickly repent of this bloodlust that seems to dominate
evangelical Christianity today (spiritually and militarily), the word
that was first used by un-churched Gentiles to describe Christ’s
followers will be used as a curse-word to describe those who
facilitated the ruination of our country.

Chuck Baldwin is a syndicated columnist, radio broadcaster, author, and
pastor dedicated to preserving the historic principles upon which America
was founded.He lives in Montana.

Flash Editorials September 17, 2011

By Russell D. Longcore

International: At the EU’s meetings this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that there will be NO Eurobonds. The German economy is being used by the rest of the EU leeches as the host, and as you all know, leeches eventually kill the host by bleeding it to death. My guess is that soon, Germany will SECEDE from the European Union and reissue the Deutche Mark, saving their own country from ruin.

The Nation: At Monday night’s “Tea Party Debates,” EVERONE on stage…including Ron Paul…said Social Security and Medicare should be saved. And apparently, Governor Perry felt fine about writing in his book that SS was a Ponzi scheme, but when faced with voters, he nearly soiled himself trying to get away from those words. SS and Medicare are indeed Ponzi schemes, and ALL the candidates who want to save them are criminals. Deal with it.

The Nation II: Need any more reason to secede? In the debate, a teenager named Tyler Hinsley asked the candidates, “Out of every dollar that I earn, how much do you think that I deserve to keep?” No presidential candidate could give a straight answer. The correct answer? 100%.

Religion: I see that evangelical kook-burger Pat Robertson tells his 700 Club audience that it’s OK to divorce your spouse if he/she has Alzheimer’s Disease. I guess that whole “til death us do part” promise doesn’t count if your spouse is non compos mentis. Same goes for a spouse in a coma, I guess. Kick ‘em to the curb and get you a new, better equipped model. Apparently the Reverend never saw the movie “The Notebook.” Pat…you’re an anal opening surrounded by a sphincter.

Economy: The weekly unemployment figures show a spike to 428,000 new jobless claims, 14,000 higher than last week. What else do I need to say?

Business: The green shyt hit the fan this week, covering both Republicans and Democrats with the aromatic effluent. Solyndra, a solar tech company, got a $535 million loan guarantee from Washington, then filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Bush administration started the process for the loan, and the Barry bunch finished it. The American taxpayers take it in the shorts. Who was their financial advisor? Goldman Sachs. But let me ask why anyone gives a shyt (staying with a theme here) about a mere half a billion. There is about $18 Billion in cash missing in Iraq…just disappeared and cannot be traced. The Bush administration flew cargo planes loaded with pallets of $100 bills to Iraq and handed out the cash like Trick or Treat candy. Anybody care about that?

Sports: The NFL has partnered with Homeland Security with the new “If you see something, say something” ad campaign, along with enhanced pat downs at all 32 football stadiums when you try to get into an NFL game. More training for Americans to do what they’re told. Makes me want to boycott the No Fun League for collaboration with the enemy.

Entertainment: Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney will soon wed Nancy Shevell,his third. The band at the reception will be ZZ Top, performing their hit “She Got Legs.”

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Massive Default Is Best Way To Fix The Economy

By Brett Arends, MarketWatch

(Editor’s Note: You’ll find this an interesting article, although impractical. Nobody in DC is going to suggest this. So, here’s the takeaway: the massive bankruptcy of the nation WILL HAPPEN…just not voluntarily. It’s only a matter of time until the markets collapse. Then, all the Monopoly money will go back in the box and the game will begin again. Next time, there will be a few places with hard currency monetary systems, and that’s where YOU need to be.)

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — You want to fix this economic crisis? You want to put people back to work? You want to light a fire under the economy?

There’s a way to do it. Fast. And relatively simple.

But you’re not going to like it. You’re not going to like it at all.

Default. A national Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The fastest way to fix this mess is to see tens of millions of homeowners default on their mortgages and other debts, and millions more file for bankruptcy.

I told you that you wouldn’t like it.

I don’t like it much either. It sticks in the craw that people got to borrow all that money and won’t have to pay it back.

But you know what? The time to stop that was five or 10 years ago, when the money was being lent.

It’s gone.

And mass Chapter 11 is, by far, the least obnoxious solution to our problems.

That’s because the real cause of our economic slump isn’t too much government or too little government. It isn’t red tape, high taxes, low taxes, the growing divide between the rich and the poor, too much government debt, too little government debt, corporations, poor people, “greed,” “socialism,” China, Greece, or the legalization of gay marriage. It isn’t, in short, any of the things all the various nitwits say it is.

It’s the debt, stupid.

We’re hocked up to the eyeballs, and then some. We’re at the bottom of a lake of debt, lashed to an anchor. American households today owe $13.3 trillion. That has quadrupled in a generation. It has doubled just in the last 11 years. We owe more than any other nation, ever. And for all the yakking about how people are “repairing their balance sheets,” they’re not. From the peak, four years ago, they’ve cut their debts by a grand total of 4%.

And a lot of that was in write-offs.

More than a quarter of American mortgages are underwater. Many are deeply underwater. In states like Nevada and Florida the figures are astronomical.

The key thing to understand is that most of that money has gone to what a fund manager friend of mine calls “money heaven.” Most of these debts will never, ever be repaid in real money. Not gonna happen.

Think how corporations handle this kind of situation.

It happens all the time. Banks and bondholders find they have lent, say, $1 billion to a company whose assets and earning capacity will only repay, say, $300 million. What happens? Does the company soldier on with $1 billion in debt it can never repay? Do the stockholders send back their dividend checks? Do they sell their homes to pay off the bonds?

Not a chance. The company goes through Chapter 11. The creditors ‘fess up to their blunder, they face up to their losses, and they fix it. They write down the loans and take the equity instead. The balance sheet is cleaned up, and the company starts again.

Why not homeowners?

Most of the objections to this idea are well-meant, but misinformed.

A fund manager I asked raised the issue of “moral hazard.” Why should anyone pay their mortgage if some people were getting a pass, he asked?

The answer: For the same reason GE and Verizon kept paying the coupon on their bonds while Lehman Brothers defaulted. You want to keep your credit standing. And you want to keep your equity.

If a company defaults, the stockholders get wiped out. If a homeowner defaults, the bank takes the home. I like keeping my home, as well as my savings, and my credit rating. Most people are the same.

Some will say the financial impact would be terrible. But the banks would just be facing up to reality. And a lot of these mortgages are already trading at distressed levels.

Some will say, “why should people get away with borrowing imprudently?” The response: Why should the banks get away with lending imprudently?

There’s no point telling people not to borrow money. They always will. I have yet to see a Wall Street executive turn down free money. I have yet to see a company in an IPO say, “Don’t give us so much money!” People like money. They will take as much as they are offered.

In a free economy, the people who are supposed to ration the loans are the lenders. Banks are supposed to lend carefully and responsibly. What else are they paid for? Accepting deposits? You could hire people on minimum wage to do that.

Some will say, “it’s immoral” for borrowers to default. Alas, most of these people are being inconsistent. They are usually the first ones to defend a company when it closes down a factory and ships the jobs to China, or pays the CEO $50 million for doing a bad job, on the grounds that “this ain’t morality, pal, this is business!”

But when Main Street wants to do the same thing, they start screaming “Morality! Morality!”

We don’t live in an economy based on morals and fairness.

T Mobile doesn’t charge me what’s “fair” each month. They charge me what’s on the contract. Your employer doesn’t pay you more if you need more. He pays you your economic value. Did Dick Grasso give back his bonus? Bob Nardelli? Dick Fuld? We operate in an economy based very firmly on contracts, and nothing else. Companies, and the wealthy, live by the letter of the law.

American mortgage contracts allow for default. Half of the states in this country are “non-recourse,” which broadly speaking means you can send in the keys and walk away from a bad loan. The other half are sort of “semi-recourse.” The bank can come after you for any shortfall, but only in a limited way. Broadly speaking they can’t touch retirement accounts and basic assets. You can typically keep your car, personal effects, often things like life insurance.

Most of the people who are deeply underwater don’t have that much anyway.

And the banks knew this. When they were lending $500,000 to a bus driver with $1,000 in his checking account, they knew that their loan was only guaranteed by the value of the home.

If they didn’t know it, they should have. Their incompetence is not our problem.

It’s tempting to say, “if someone borrows money, they should repay it.” Generally speaking, I agree. I pay all my debts. But while that makes sense when applied to any individual, it doesn’t work so well when it’s applied to everyone.

We have tens of millions who cannot repay their debts. But they are all trying to. That sucks huge amounts of money out of the economy. And that means these people cannot function properly as consumers or workers. That’s the reason people aren’t coming into your restaurant. It’s the reason people aren’t taking your yoga class. It’s the reason they haven’t hired you to redo the kitchen.

And so tens or hundreds of millions of perfectly responsible business owners and employees are also suffering from this slump. That’s the reason we have a shortage of demand. That’s the reason no one is hiring.

Even worse: People who are underwater on their mortgage, but who do not want to default, cannot move to where the jobs are either. They are stuck with their home.

You want to break this logjam? Try Chapter 11 for the nation. Massive defaults. Clear the decks, clean the books.

What are the alternatives?

Government cutbacks, higher taxes, and a balanced budget? In a normal economy, fine. But in this situation, when the private sector is also slashing its spending, that could lead to absolute catastrophe. That’s what happened in the Great Depression. And our debt levels are worse than in the Great Depression.

Government borrowing? That’s the Keynesian solution. “The consumer can no longer borrow like a crazy person,” says the Keynesian, “so Uncle Sam has to do so instead.” It’s just transferring private madness to public madness.

Inflation? That’s probably the least bad alternative. But it’s just default by another name. And instead of taking money from the imprudent banks that caused the problem, it robs grandma’s savings.

Twice before, advanced economies have gone through what we are going through now — namely a massive hangover after a massive debt binge.

The first was the U.S. in the 1930s, the second was Japan in the 1990s.

The U.S. didn’t get out of it until the 1940s unleashed inflation and reduced the debt’s value in real terms.

Japan still hasn’t gotten out of it. They have deflation, while government debt has skyrocketed.

The correct moral hazard is to punish the banks who lent imprudently by making them eat their own losses.

I told you that you wouldn’t like it. I don’t either. But the alternatives are worse.

Brett Arends is a senior columnist for MarketWatch and a personal-finance columnist for the Wall Street Journal.

Copyright © 2011 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved.