The Alternative

Wasting time at the new faucet

Our old faucet leaked and we bought one that had a sprayer hose coming out of the spout. It could either spray or run a solid stream. Then as I was thinking I needed something to read while waiting for the teapot to fill, it occurred to me how much I missed the leaky one. This new thing only puts out 1.5 gallons per minute of water per EPA mandate. The thing is, I go check the cows, herd them out of floods, I buy inputs, work long hours, and for what? So I can stand around like an idiot waiting for water. We have a one inch waterline from the well to the house and the EPA says it must go through a quarter inch hole before I can use it.

I'm finding time grows short at a faster rate as I age. It is a precious commodity. And I'm going to find a way to alter our new faucet so my time can be spent more wisely. A little American ingenuity is needed to combat the American government. Where are these people fighting for our freedom when we need them?

The answer is they are working for monied interests rather than “the people.” That probably sounds odd coming from a libertarian. Libertarians are the ones who say the rich folks should be free to do whatever they want while trampling all over the working poor, right? As Eric Burdon sang back in 1965, “Oh Lord please don't let me be misunderstood.”

Here is a good example of “monied interests.” Warren Buffet owns a large part of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns the only main rail line across the northern United States. Corn production has increased in

the Dakotas along with oil. Warren Buffet is a huge contributor to the Democrats who obstruct oil pipelines. The alternative is rail transport. Cost of a rail car has gone from $450 to $3,300. Analysts are saying that will put the price of corn at under $2.00 at North Dakota elevators.

General Electric contributed nearly $10 million in lobbying and campaign funds so far in 2014 and $16 million in lobbying alone in 2013. They profit from sales of fluorescent lights. The General Electric connection to our loss of real light bulbs was reported by libertarian economist, Walter E. Williams (after whom we named our dog). But as I read on I discovered GE has received $22.5 billion in defense contracts since 2003. Get the connection? Come on, Walter, are you afraid to offend the regime?

When I moved to Dumont in 1977 my friend, Mike Thornburg, had a diesel VW Rabbit that got 60 miles per gallon. Now a similar car struggles to achieve forty, due to government regulations. The math would suggest thirty percent higher fuel sales. Who benefits?

If you find yourself a little less able to pay your bills as time goes by, look at the facts presented above. The time spent filling a teapot is really insignificant until it is added to all the other waste generated by manipulation of our politicians by businesses seeking unfair advantage in the marketplace.

Leftists will blame capitalism. But what we have is the opposite of capitalism. Capitalism is private ownership of property. Government dictating the flow rate of a faucet, the type of light bulb we can use or where we can sell natural gas is not capitalism. It is crony capitalism. There is a perpetrator and a victim. Individuals are the victims and the government, as an agent for its controllers, is the perpetrator.

Now we find the war fever being utilized by these controllers again. After $2 trillion has been spent in a futile attempt to stifle Islamic extremists, people who were beginning to doubt the effectiveness of our archaic war on terror make excuses to continue because Islamic State is nearly as “brutal” as our allies, the Saudis (who have beheaded many times the number IS has).

This is no slow running faucet. When all the manipulations of government power are added up, it equates to real poverty, especially for our children and grandchildren to whom the burden will be passed. The big corporations will get the blame. But what they are doing is within the legal framework as defined by corrupt politicians and judges, even though it is constitutionally illegal.

Each segment of our society has their own interests in mind. If they see another's government favor as undeserved, they refuse to speak up in fear their own plunder will be taken away as well. It's too bad our freedom fighters are controlled by the government.

I would appreciate any input or argument. Please contact me by email at 4selfgovernment@gmail.com. Or you can comment on the blog and see (almost) daily entries at www.alternativebyfritz.com