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Jan. 20, 2009 - Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux
27:11
1259 True News 18: Obama's Inauguration - The Antidote

Some insulin for the candy floss of deadly rhetoric.

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Hi everybody, it's Stefan Molyneux from Freedom Aid Radio.
I thought that you might appreciate a bit of an anti-diabetes shot after the sugary candy floss of Obama's inauguration speech today.
So I have a little copy of it and I thought we would have a step through it.
So that if you have been injected with this horrible high sugar, empty calories, junk rhetoric, that you might want a bit of an antidote.
So let's have a step through it.
And talk about what is really going on in Obama's inauguration speech.
So he starts off, as all orators do, talking about his humility while pretending that he has the solutions to the problems of war and financial catastrophe and loss of civil liberties and world poverty and the energy crisis and Social Security and the welfare state and every kind of conceivable No problem in the world.
He has the solution because of this mad grandiosity that all politicians can fake.
And so, of course, because he is grandiose and wildly narcissistic, he, of course, has to start off talking about humility.
That is inevitable. So he says here, I stand here today, humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed.
And it's not trust.
That has been bestowed.
You had to choose a leader, and they were tired of the Republicans, so they went with Obama.
It's not trust. If you have to choose between two husbands, if you're a woman, and you have to choose between two husbands, and you choose the one who seems the least abusive, that's not the same as trust and love and voluntarism.
He says, mindful of the sacrifices born by our ancestors.
I'm not sure what that means. Well, actually, I have some idea, but...
We'll get to that. He then goes on to say, I thank President Bush for his service to our nation as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
So we have a nice nod to the war criminal in order to, I don't know, placate or appease the Republicans, which is why he had that vile toad.
Rick Warren lead the prayer despite his opposition to homosexuality and so on.
So he says, 44 Americans have now taken the presidential oath.
The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace.
Yet every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
At these moments America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers and true to our founding documents.
Of course, it's a little bit tough to reconcile we the people, which encompasses hundreds of millions, and I guess more so throughout American history.
We've got hundreds and hundreds of millions of people.
I'm not sure how 44 of them represent we the people, but for that you have to take this seriously brain-stultifying drug of statism to believe that that has anything to do with...
The truth, he says, that we are in the midst of a crisis is now well understood.
Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.
Now, that, of course, is just not true.
The American military is a far-reaching network of violence and hatred and has been ever since the founding of of America when Jefferson attempted to launch a war in the Middle East and hide it from Congress.
Gosh, it's amazing how much stays the same when it comes to statism.
And, of course, there are wars of necessity we could theoretically possibly argue, and wars of choice, and, of course, neither of these were wars of necessity, so our nation is at war.
No, our nation has launched and started the slaughter of civilians.
He goes on to say, our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.
Collective failure, of course, this is the original sin that whatever the government screws up is your fault.
So the government is responsible for managing the economy, for stabilizing the currency, for overseeing Wall Street, for making sure that these kinds of financial catastrophes and deflations and so on don't happen.
And when the government screws up completely, it's a collective responsibility, you see, because 44 people are in charge throughout hundreds of years of history, but any time they screw up, it's really all of us.
Well, this is, of course, just Christianity, right?
Adam and Eve screwed up, so we're all to blame.
Our healthcare is too costly.
Sorry, homes have been lost, jobs shared, businesses shuttered.
Our healthcare is too costly.
Our schools fail too many.
And each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
This is a reference, of course, to oil.
It's got nothing to do with the billions of dollars of military that are provided to the Saudis in order to repress and slaughter their own population.
It is really because you put a tank of gas in your car that we have these problems.
And, of course, it is when you think about just this basic logical reality that he's saying, you know, we're kind of screwed as a country, but thanks, President Bush, for your service to the nation.
These are the indicators of crisis subject to data and statistics.
Less measurable, but no less profound, is the sapping of confidence across our land and nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable.
And that the next generation must lower its sights.
Yes, there is a multi-trillion dollar deficit.
There are hundreds and hundreds of military bases across the world.
There is a massive bloating of infrastructure, the infrastructure of government.
There has been a loss of civil liberties through the Patriots Act 1 and 2.
Of course, the next generation must lower its sights.
That's a basic reality.
If you're in debt, you have to lower your purchasing in order to pay off that debt.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over a conflict and discord.
Blah, blah, blah, blah. Here's some icing.
We'll call it nutrition. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.
How about setting aside childish things like the idea that one guy has the answers to all of your problems?
That, of course, this idea that this messianistic salvation icon is going to swoop in with all of his wise advisors and solve all of the problems that the state has created is a childish thing.
So, of course, To put away childish things would be to say, hey, I can't solve your problems.
In fact, I don't have any real influence over the government at all.
I'm a figurehead. I'm the hood ornament on the car that is going to run you and your children down.
The time has come, he says, to reaffirm our enduring spirit, to choose our better history, to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation, the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
So if all are equal, why is there a political system which rules over us and takes half our income, and in debts and enslaves our children?
All are free...
Well, no. Those in the government are relatively free because they act without consequences and take their money by force.
So, this is all nonsense.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given.
It must be earned, he says.
Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.
It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.
Right. Unlike, of course, those who seek the pleasures of power.
Those guys are just wonderful.
Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things.
Some celebrated, but more often, blah, blah, blah.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
And I guess by this he means the immigrants who were fleeing the governments of their own country in order to come to America and try and gather together some scraps of prosperity where there was a smaller government.
And of course now the government has simply turned into exactly the same kind of government as those that the immigrants originally fled in the 19th and 19th.
Again, this is just the idea that you owe your country because other people sacrificed for you, right?
Because the guy who came over from Russia or wherever, fleeing religious oppression in Tolstoy, paid for 6,000 Quakers to come to Canada...
That the reason that they did all of that was not because they wanted a better life or they wanted more freedom.
You see, they did it all as a massive gift towards you in the future.
They sat there and they thought, okay, well, I could stay in this country where I was born, where I grew up, where I speak the language, or I could go to this new world.
And what is going to motivate me to go to this new world?
Well, it is to give the gift of prosperity and freedom to those who have vastly more prosperity than I could ever.
I mean, it's just ludicrous to think that this is why the immigrants did what they did.
This is interesting. He says we remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth.
Our workers are no less productive than when the crisis began.
Our minds are no less inventive.
Our goods and services are no less needed than they were last week, or last month, or last year.
Which of course begs the question, if this is true, and I mean of course it is true, then why is the economy so different, right?
If the American workers are as productive and as inventive and so on as they were last year, what has changed, right?
And of course it is all of the chickens coming home to roost from ridiculous, bad, exploitive, destructive and violent policies on the part of the government.
So he's sort of asking and answering his own question here.
Oh yeah, I mean this stuff is just amazing.
For everywhere we look, he says, there is work to be done.
The state of the economy calls for action bold and swift, and we will act not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.
We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.
We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise healthcare's quality and lower its cost.
We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.
And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.
All this we can do, and all of this we will do.
Well, you've had some time, oh government of ours, right?
If all of these things can be done, and the government has had control over education for 130, 140, 150 years, and it's been a Department of Energy for decades, if all of this can be done, why has it not been done?
If we're just about to turn a corner and have a vital, flourishing, creative, independent, and positive contribution from This state mafia to the economy, why has it not been done before?
Of course, to ask that question is to answer it.
It never will be done by the government.
Now, he says, whether the market is a force for good or ill, its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched. .
Well, then why, if Barack Obama says that jobs and wealth is created by the free market, why is there a massive stimulus plan?
In other words, why is he robbing from the free market in order to bribe politically connected people?
Again, this is all just candy floss.
This is like force-feeding Big Macs to people with vegetarians.
It's all just nonsense and destructive mental candy canes.
The question we asked today, he said this is slightly before, is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.
Whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care, they can afford a retirement that is dignified.
Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward, but the answer is no, programs will end.
Well, I guarantee you, no programs will end, absolutely for sure, no programs will end.
And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between the people and their government.
How exactly, Mr.
Obama, are government officials held to account?
Who is responsible for the multi-trillion dollar debt?
Who is being held to account?
Whose savings are being expropriated to pay for all of this nonsense?
It's all nonsense, right?
So he says, the crisis, the financial crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.
And this of course is quite fascinating, right?
Because of course the government controls massive sectors of the economy and it controls the currency.
It controls customs and duties and import and export tariffs and excise taxes and protectionism and subsidization and so on.
And it has massive oversights over the financial industry.
Without a watchful eye, there's nothing but beady watchful eyes looking at the financial industry and managing it or forcing it, herding it around to do X, Y, and Z. And, of course, the fundamental question is, The government that runs up massive debts,
that throws a million non-violent criminals into prison where they're regularly beaten and raped, which invades foreign countries committing the international crime of aggression, commits genocide, killing over 100,000 Iraqis,
causing hundreds of thousands more to flee their country, which supplies arms and military advice to Crushing and brutal dictatorships around the world, which overthrows democratically elected governments in Guatemala and Iran and other places around the world throughout history.
This monster clusterfrag of evil intentions and executions, which tortures prisoners, which renditions prisoners to Saudi Arabia and to Syria for brutal tortures, that this criminal agency is the watchdog that we want.
It's like hiring the Mafia to protect your property, to be your night watchman.
As for common defense, he says, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.
So what this means, of course, is that he's going to bring the Department of Offense, the Department of Attack, he's going to actually turn it into a Department of Defense and close all the bases overseas, bring those soldiers home, because that is what is violating America's safety.
I say, oh, people hate America because America is free.
Well, Switzerland is also quite free and is not being attacked by Al-Qaeda.
Al-Qaeda no longer attacks Spain when Spain withdrew its troops.
So it is the presence of troops around the world, American troops throughout the world, that is causing America to be attacked.
This is very, very simple.
We understand this very obviously because Americans felt very enraged when they were attacked and 3,000 people died on 9-11 and therefore they went to attack other countries.
Well, it's exactly the same in the Muslim world.
You go around slaughtering Muslims by the tens or hundreds of thousands and you are going to get attacked.
This is the cycle of violence that is going on And will not stop until the troops are withdrawn.
So when he says, we're not going to compromise, we're not going to, the choice, choose between safety and ideals, well, the ideals, of course, of the Founding Fathers were not to get involved in foreign entanglements, as they said, though, of course, that's not what they did.
But if we just go with the ideals.
So he will be closing down all of these bases, withdrawing these troops back home, closing down the Department of Homeland Security, and repealing the Patriot Acts 1 and 2.
Sorry, I'm just looking for that in here.
No, sorry, it's just words.
Recall that earlier generations, he says, faced down fascism and communism, not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.
And this is hilarious, right?
I mean, it's grim and it's terribly sad, but it is also, there's a kind of dark humor involved.
The idea that this Tom Brokaw is the greatest generation, faced down communism and fascism, It's laughable.
Of course, America was foundational, if not directly responsible, for the creation of communism in the Soviet Union through its involvement in World War I, which caused the German government to avoid a two-front war and send Lenin, armed and with wealth, through Finland to Russia to begin his revolution.
So if America hadn't entered into World War I, there would be no Russian communism to fight in the first place.
The idea that America has faced down communism and fascism when we have a fascistic imperialistic government, when almost all of the ten major points of the Communist Party platform have already been enacted in America, which has just nationalized a large number of financial institutions and has become just another European-style or Asiatic-style imperialistic power.
The idea that America beat communism when America has become largely communist is...
Well, what can you say?
Alright, so what do we get here?
We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers.
At least you threw that in.
We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth.
And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass, that the lines of the tribe shall soon dissolve, that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward based on mutual interest and mutual respect.
To those leaders around the world who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, Right, because America's military overseas is all about building, not about destroying.
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
Right, because it is the Muslim leaders throughout history who have attacked America repeatedly, who have blockaded America, who have overthrown democratically elected American governments because America is all about reaching out the hand and the Muslim world is just mysteriously angry and hostile towards America because America has never interfered with any Islamic countries for the worst and does not prop up Islamic dictatorships with guns and with money.
I can't go through all of this.
this is just too vile for words.
Right.
Our challenges may be new, he says.
The instruments with which we meet them may be new.
But those values upon which our success depends.
Hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty.
And patriotism, these things are old, these things are true.
They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
What is demanded then is a return to these faiths.
What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility, a recognition on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit.
So defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
What... What duties is he talking about?
We have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world.
What are these duties?
Where are they in the Constitution?
Where are they in the ideals of the Founding Fathers?
I mean... If we just go with the premise, right?
We have duties to the world.
Based on what? What contract?
What should we be thrown in jail if we fail to live up to these duties?
The price of citizenship is obedience to the state's policies.
That's not citizenship.
That's Livestock ownership.
The price of being fed by the farmer is giving milk and you're young for veal.
Nonsense. Alright, we're almost done here.
So let us mark this day with remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled.
In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river.
The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing.
The snow was stained with blood.
At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words to be read to the people.
Let it be told to the future world that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country alarmed, at one common danger came forth to meet it.
And this, of course, is the inevitable cycle of statism, right?
And why statism is such a vile, destructive, and blood-soaked creed that regularly shovels bodies into the earth and covers it with the black and foul swamp of rhetoric.
Because, you see...
It was King George that the original revolutionaries were overthrowing because of a relatively small increase in taxation.
It is, of course, the right and prerogative, as was argued at the time, for people to overthrow a government which has become tyrannical.
Then the new government comes along and is far more tyrannical than the old government, which was very quickly established after the American Revolution with the Whiskey Rebellion and the brutal and violent repression of those Who would not pay the new taxes, which were far larger than that which King George was imposing upon the colonists.
And then what they do is the new government then swells and grows and then says that its foundation was the rebellion against the external tyranny.
But of course all government is external tyranny.
The fact that there's some guy who lives in Ottawa rather than Buffalo who takes my money at gunpoint, it's still external tyranny to me, right?
All tyranny is external.
And so when they were overthrowing a brutal dictatorship in order to...
Well, actually, King George, if it's not exactly a brutal dictatorship compared to now, not at all.
Right now's government, American government, is far more of a brutal dictatorship than could even be conceived of by either King George or the revolutionaries who fought to establish a domestic mafia rather than a foreign mafia, because that's freedom, right?
And so what he's basically saying is that when there is a tyranny in place, that we should spill blood to free ourselves from it.
I don't agree with that, but by that token, Americans should rise up against their current governments, which are far more tyrannical than the government that the original revolutionaries rose up against.
America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words.
With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come.
Let it be said by our children's children that we were tested and we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn our back, nor did we falter, and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
I mean, what can we even say about such florid and diabetic nonsense?
This is a steady diet of candy floss that rots the teeth of your righteous anger against the oppressions that you live under and suffer under.
There is nothing called liberty which we carry like a dying body and deliver to the hospitals of the next generation.
This is all nonsense.
All this talk of sacrifice is nonsense.
Americans are sacrificed by their illusions.
The illusions that power, that violence, that coercion, that brutality, that an admittedly wonderfully eloquent speaker and sophist like Barack Obama carries within his magic pouch the solution, the ways to use violence to solve the world's ills, which of course themselves are all generated by violence.
This florid icing over the blood Sandwich of power is inevitable and natural and something which is always going to be put forward, that you look at this guy with his calm and his quiet confidence and this and that, just washing over the violence of the system that he represents.
This is all complete nonsense, and fundamentally what it comes down to, to continue the livestock metaphor that I started with.
in True News 3 and continue here.
What he's basically saying is you live on the best and most powerful farm.
You are kept within the cages of the best and most powerful farm.
You must treasure the small amounts of liberties that we provide to you as livestock owners, we who own you, and restrict your movements and tax you and throw you in jail should you disobey us or disagree with our, quote, policies.
That you live on the best farm, and you should be loyal to the farmer who owns you and disposes of your lifetime sweat, blood, tears, and children's wealth.
And all of the other farms suck.
Yours is the very best farm.
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