black@nisysg.DEC (04/04/85)
Somebody on this net referred to me as a "paranoid populist." Well, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me. Now, as far as being a Populist, let's put out some facts right from the horse's mouth, before too many misconceptions are generated. The following material is taken directly from the Official Platform of the Populist Party of the United States, National Committee, PO Box 76737, Washington, DC, 20013. Economic: REPEAL THE INCOME TAX. Paid almost entirely by the productive middle class, the super-rich pay very little of it and the indolent poor none of it. Endorsed by the Communist Manifesto and by corrupt capitalists bent on buying the votes of the welfarites, it has become the main prop for socialism. REASSERT SOVEREIGNTY by abolishing the privately owned and controlled Federal Reserve System. The international bankers operate the greatest scam in history. They create their funny money literally out of thin air--and then they charge us interest on it! Thus, we have ever-higher interest rates, unending inflation, perpetual war, and an interest- bearing "national debt" of more than $6,000 for every man, woman, and child in America. The per capita interest on this fraudulant debt is $600 per year--and you pay it with your income tax! The Populist Party will end this swindle, give America real money, and solid prosperity. REPUDIATE THE NATIONAL DEBT. The taxpayers have the moral and legal right to repudiate all federal debt except that held by investors who have actually paid for government securities with money threy have earned. The official national debt now stands at approximately $1,400,000,000,000 (one trillion, four hundred billion dollars). The interest alone on this debt now stands at approximately $130 billion per year and is steadily rising along with the principle. Inteerest paid each year to the unconstitutional, privately owned Federal Reserve Bank accounts for the third highest item in the national budget. National survival requires that this debt be extinguished and we will do it. Failure to do so will bring either runaway inflation and the total destruction of our economy, or a depression far worse than the one of the 1930's. Approximately one-half of the official federal debt consists of securities owned by organizations that did not (repeat, DID NOT) invest earned money in them but which manufactured "funny money" out of thin air to "buy" said investments! One of the purposes of the Populist Party is to EXPUNGE this fraudulent debt by the same way it was created--by a stroke of the pen. The Supreme Court or Congress could abolish the Federal Reserve at any time and the federal government could begin issuing debt-free, interest-free money as the Constitution intended, instead of borrowing it from mattoid international bankers. REACTIVATE ANTI-USURY LAWS. When a person buys a house these days he often pays lending agencies for three houses. Interest paid on funny money created out of thin air is the main cause of inflation and recession. Private lending agencies, if they are allowed to exist at all, should be strictly controlled by restored anti- usury laws. REJUVINATE AMERICAN INDUSTRY BY THE ENACTMENT OF FAIR TARIFF LAWS. The Populist Party will protect American manufacturers and workers by enacting tariff legislation to equalize cost at the water's edge, thus bringing back millions of jobs for Americans. REVITALIZE THE FAMILY FARM. To save America's most precious resource-- the vanishing landed American family farm--The Populist Party promises price parity to family farmers but not to agri-business corporations or absentee owners. Foreign ownership of land will be prohibited. The foolish system of paying farmers not to farm in the midst of a starving world will be brought to an end. REBUILD AMERICA INTERNALLY. Many of our highways and bridges are in bad need of repair even as the Democrats and Republicans send billions of dollars overseas. Hundreds of thousands of unemployed will be put to work rebuilding America's vital transportation and communications systems. RECLAIM FREE ENTERPRISE. International parasitic capitalism is incompatible with nationalism and with free enterprise. Business should be free of government interference except when it tends toward monopoly, when law is used to reestablish competition. Government regulations such as are found in OSHA and the mountains of red-tape now hampering businessmen will be eliminated. Except for regulated public utilities, no business will be permitted to dominate the market. The Family: RESURRECT ANTI-DEGENERACY LAWS AND CRACK DOWN ON CRIME. America was founded on the values of traditional Christian morality. Until recently states and local governments and in some cases the national government were able to enact and enforce laws against pornography and lewdness. These powers should be reinstated. An immediate crackdown on illegal drugs, street crime, and organized crime, followed by sure and swift punishment will once again make our beloved country a safe and moral place for all law-abiding citizens. REJECT ERA AND GAY RIGHTS. Legally women already have more rights than men, and that is the way the Populist Party intends to keep it. Homosexuality is not only immoral, it is perversion, and should not be recognized as a legitimate life style deserving special legislation and forcing normal people to accept them. The Populist Party recog- nizes a responsibility to fight this growing social disease. Culture: RESTORE FREEDOM OF CHOICE. Forced racial busing must end. Government interference with religious schools must cease. State's rights with regard to public schools and universal freedom of choice with regard to property rights must be restored. Restore medical freedom. RESPECT RACIAL AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY. Every race has both the right and the duty to persue its destiny free from interference by another race. The Populist Party opposes slavery, imperialist exploitation, social programs which would radically modify another race's behavior, demands by one race for another to subsidize it financially or politically so long as it remains on American soil, forced segregation or integration. The Populist Party will not permit any racial minority, through control of the media, culture distortion, or revolutionary political activity, to divide or factionalize the majority of the society-nation in which the minority lives. REPULSE IMMIGRATION. Repeal the Third-World-oriented immigration law of 1965 and replace it with one which works to preserve America's cultural heritage in the face of a population explosion among backward peoples and a no-population-growth among the founding stock of the nation. At present, there are an estimated 15 million illegal aliens in our midst. They should be found and deported. Our borders must be sealed off from this traffic at all cost, or the country will be destroyed from within after it first has been bankrupted. RECONSIDER THE WELFARE PROGRAM. Welfare for the truly needy only. Deny the franchise to persons on welfare for more than one year. Welfare will cost the taxpayers $70 Billion this year, and is rising fast, with some 30 million on welfare today. Rebuild democracy, help bring prosperity back to the producers of society and bless the taxpayers by getting this vast class of socialist-voting, taxpayer- financed drones off the voting rolls. No representation without taxation. Legal: RENEW CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT BY RESTRICTING JUDICIAL REVIEW. Thomas Jefferson, the first great populist, saw the seeds of the destruction of the Republic in usurpation of power by federal judges. These alleged protectors of our liberties have now become their chief destroyers. Congress should curb the power of these dictatorial judges to interfere in the reserved rights of the states. Court decisions regarding such issues as school prayer, abortion, criminal rights, which have strayed far from public wishes, would be negated. All federal judges--including Supreme Court justices--should be elected. REAFFIRM THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS. The Second Amendment must be vigorously protected from the criminal element, both private and public. RESERVE THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS TO SEEK MEDICAL HELP FREE OF GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE. Limit the power of government to say who can and cannot engage in a particular profession. Stop the unconscionable denial of health foods and vitamins to people who want and need them. Permit cancer victims the treatment of their choice. REASSERT AMERICAN CREATIVITY. Inventiveness should be encouraged. Make this country energy independent, economically secure and healthy by providing for more freedom of choice and less bureaucratic hampering of creativity. REJUVENATE DEMOCRACY BY ALLOWING MORE PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE. Amend the Constitution to provide for the direct election of the president after regional primaries, and the direct election of federal judges. Initiative, referendum, and recall should be encouraged at all levels of government and in all states. The people themselves should be able to vote directly on vital issues. Bring proportional representation to America. Foreign Policy: REESTABLISH THE AMERICA-FIRST TRADITION OF ARMED NEUTRALITY. First laid down by President George Washington, our national policy of nonintervention in foreign wars in which the United States is not directly endangered served us well. Our reckless intervention in two European wars served only to strengthen the power of our Communist and internationalist enemies. Two wars in Asia have been bogged down in a no-win, no-gain foreign policy that has made us the laughing stock of the world. Our allies in Europe and Asia should be forced to provide for their own defense as we gradually withdraw our armed forces. Our aggressive meddling in the Middle East must cease. The Western Hemisphere is within our sphere of influence and should be defended from communist subversion. RESTRICT FOREIGN PRESSURE GROUPS. There can be but two foreign policies: nationalist or internationalist. The America First Populist Party will curb foreign influence in our government. "One World" is treason, so it follows that internationalists at the executive level must be removed from office. Bankers' front groups, like the one-world-oriented Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and the Bildergergers, set our foreign policy at the present time. The United States should withdraw from the United Nations, and remove the United Nations from American soil. REDUCE FOREIGN AID and use it only where our vital national interests are at stake. Now it is little more than another way for the international bankers to rip off the taxpayers. We should help back- ward economies by showing them the advantages of the free-enterprise system and helping them to become self-suffiecient. Military aid should be given only to dependable allies, and surplus foodstuffs bought directly from our farmers and shipped overseas must be kept from falling into the hands of corrupt officials. Shippping advanced technology and military equipment to our enemies is treason. American capitalists virtually built the Soviet war machine, fulfilling Lenin's prophecy that the capitalist would sell the rope to hang himself if he can make a profit on it. REVITALIZE AMERICA'S NATIONAL DEFENSE. Any arms control agreement would require on-the-site inspections. We distrust our enemies. We cannot afford to be at a disadvantage in any way on military matters. The Populist Party seeks no conflict with other nations, and will work to stay out of their affairs, but we are not pacifist. We demand no less than a second-to-none defense force. Waste, inefficiency, and non-military extravagance should be weeded from the Pentagon. Because we are not a police state that fears its own people, the Populist Party opposes a peacetime draft. REWARD FRIENDS, not enemies. The Soviet empire could easily be destroyed simply by aiding dozens of ethnic dissident groups inside the Iron Curtain. But the mattoids need communism to scare the people into tolerating massive taxes and a huge war budget, a la George Orwell's "1984." Proof: They send billions of your tax dollars to communist-leaning countries like Zimbabwe, but criminally ignore the needs of the heroic nationalists in Afghanistan waging a bloody struggle for independence. Adopted 29 February 1984. Don't flame me on this, people. Flame the national committee, if you so desire. This is copied verbatim from the official national platform for the 1984 elections. Now there can be no question as to what a Populist believes. This is no joke; we are serious. We have state-level committees in all 50 states, and the Libertarian party has endorsed our platform at the national level. We are working right now at the local level to get our people into municipal, county, and state offices throughout the country, with future designs on upcoming national elections. Our weekly national newspaper, "The Spotlight," has a circulation approaching 200,000 and growing. The Demoplicans, Repubocrats, and the rest of "The Establishment" have a real problem in the Populist party. We're gaining strength, and they know it. Who do you think has been stirring up the farmers? This article is long enough as it is. I'll be back. --Don "The American Chauvenist" Black Quote of the day: "Lies! Vicious lies!"
mms1646@acf4.UUCP (Michael M. Sykora) (04/06/85)
>/* black@nisysg.DEC / 3:54 pm Apr 4, 1985 */ > > Somebody on this net referred to me as a "paranoid populist." > Well, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to > get me. > > Now, as far as being a Populist, let's put out some facts right > from the horse's mouth, before too many misconceptions are generated. Please notice (it is not clear whether you have or have not) that I called you a "paranoid populist," not a "paranoid Populist." Thanks for the info on the Populist Party. It was somewhat enlightening. A few of the econonmic ideas are perceptive, but the culture and "family" issue stands speak for their scary selves. > This is no joke; we are serious. We have state-level committees > in all 50 states, and the Libertarian party has endorsed our platform > at the national level. We are working right now at the local level As a member of the LP I find it difficult to believe that they endorsed that platform. Where did you get this information? Michael Sykora
fagin@ucbvax.ARPA (Barry Steven Fagin) (04/06/85)
If the LP has indeed endorsed the Populist platform at the national level, then I am ashamed and embarassed to be a Libertarian. Please publish the date of said endorsement, as well as the endorser. --Barry -- Barry Fagin @ University of California, Berkeley
vassos@utcsri.UUCP (Vassos Hadzilacos) (04/06/85)
Was it you or somebody else who asked: will YOU recognise nazism if you see it? Well I recognise nazism in the remblings of the A"P"P's "platform": A little bit of "middle class" demagogy (no taxes etc.), rampant anti-communism, naked racism, jingoism and national chauvinism. It's an old formula buddy. 50 years old. It's meant millions dead, untold suffering, pain and destruction to humanity. It won't happen again, you can be sure about that. Vassos Hadzilacos.
adam@npois.UUCP (Adam V. Reed) (04/08/85)
> This is no joke; we (the Populist Party) are serious. > We have state-level committees in all 50 states, > and the Libertarian party has endorsed our platform > at the national level. > --Don "The American Chauvinist" Black > Quote of the day: "Lies! Vicious lies!" As anyone who knows anything about Libertarianism, and has read Black's article will immediately guess, the above paragraph is indeed a vicious lie - no quotes needed. Not only did the Libertarian Party NOT endorse the "populist Party" platform, but everything in that platform is diametrically opposed to Libertarianism and to the Platform of the Libertarian Party. The National Committee of the Libertarian Party has recently circulated to all members of the Libertarian Party a reprint of an article about the Maddox-Lillie re-analysis of the political spectrum. According to this reanalysis, the traditional categories of "conservative" (economically libertarian, socially repressive) and "liberal" (socially libertarian, economically repressive) are increasingly inapplicable to Americans who consider themselves "Libertarian" (both economically and socially) or "Populist" (repressive and calling for government intervention in both economic and social matters). For those interested, here is a comparison of "Populist" and Libertarian positions: *POPULIST: REASSERT SOVEREIGNTY *LIBERTARIAN: Absolutely opposed to "sovereign immunity" and all other assertions of sovereignty. *POPULIST: REACTIVATE ANTI-USURY LAWS. Private lending agencies, if they are allowed to exist at all, should be strictly controlled by restored anti-usury laws. *LIBERTARIAN: Opposed to all government interference in economic matters. All lending agencies should be private, and not subject to any government control over interest rates or other economic matter. *POPULIST: ENACTMENT OF FAIR TARIFF LAWS. *LIBERTARIAN: Opposes quotas, tariffs, and all other government exactions and restrictions of trade. *POPULIST: Foreign ownership of land will be prohibited. *LIBERTARIAN: Opposes all restrictions on private ownership of land or any other property. *POPULIST: Hundreds of thousands of unemployed will be put to work rebuilding America's vital transportation and communications systems. *LIBERTARIAN: Opposed to "public works" and all other government "work" programs. Opposed to government involvement in transportation and communication systems. *POPULIST: Except for regulated public utilities, no business will be permitted to dominate the market. *LIBERTARIAN: Absolutely opposed to all government restrictions on business, including those promulgated under the guise of "regulating public utilities" or "preventing dominance in the market". *POPULIST: RESURRECT ANTI-DEGENERACY LAWS. America was founded on the values of traditional Christian morality. Until recently states and local governments and in some cases the national government were able to enact and enforce laws against pornography and lewdness. These powers should be reinstated. An immediate crackdown on illegal drugs .... will once again make our beloved country a safe and moral place for all law-abiding citizens. *LIBERTARIAN: Absolutely opposed to government regulation of sexual or any other consensual behavior among individuals and private organizations. Absolutely opposed to government involvement in decisions of individuals with respect to their use of their own bodies, including the use of recreational or any other drugs. *POPULIST: REJECT ERA AND GAY RIGHTS. Legally women already have more rights than men, and that is the way the Populist Party intends to keep it. Homosexuality is not only immoral, it is perversion, and should not be recognized as a legitimate life style .... The Populist Party recog- nizes a responsibility to fight this growing social disease. *LIBERTARIAN: Opposed to all legal and political distinctions based on gender or sexual orientation (although some Libertarians oppose the ERA because of fear that it may serve as an excuse for more coercive legislation). Favor treatment of marriage as a private contract among consenting individuals, without regard to their gender or sexual orientation (i.e., marriage among homosexuals should be treated exactly like marriage among heterosexuals). Absolutely opposed to all government interference with matters of affectional preference and lifestyle. *POPULIST: State's rights with regard to public schools .... must be restored. *LIBERTARIAN: States HAVE NO RIGHTS; only individual people have rights. Absolutely opposed to all government involvement in education, including "public schools". *POPULIST: Every race has both the right and the duty to pursue its destiny free from interference by another race. ... The Populist Party will not permit any racial minority, through control of the media, culture distortion, or revolutionary political activity, to divide or factionalize the majority of the society-nation in which the minority lives. *LIBERTARIAN: No RACE has ANY RIGHTS (most Libertarians would question the validity of the very concept of race; all agree that only individuals have rights). Note that "control of the media, culture distortion (?) and revolutionary political activity" are, according to anti-semitic mythology, the very methods used by a specific minority, namely the Jews, "to divide or factionalize the majority of the society-nation in which the minority lives". (Note that the intellectuals who inspired the contemporary Libertarian movement - Ludwig von Mises, Frank Chodorov, Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard - do happen to be Jewish. This probably means that Libertarianism is an instance of the kind of "culture distortion" or "revolutionary political activity" that the Populists "will not permit".) *POPULIST: REPULSE IMMIGRATION. Repeal the Third-World-oriented immigration law of 1965 and replace it with one which works to preserve America's cultural heritage in the face of a population explosion among backward peoples and a no-population-growth among the founding stock of the nation. At present, there are an estimated 15 million illegal aliens in our midst. They should be found and deported. Our borders must be sealed off from this traffic at all cost, or the country will be destroyed from within after it first has been bankrupted. *LIBERTARIAN: Absolutely opposed to any government interference with international migration. Absolutely opposed to the denial of equal rights to undocumented immigrants or anyone else. Absolutely opposed to government-mandated discrimination between government-approved people ("citizens") and non-government-approved people ("aliens"). I could go on, but I think the above are example enough. Populism and Libertarianism are polar opposites. (Occasional agreement on specific policies, such as dismantling of Liberal-Socialist government programs, is a coincidence resulting from fundamentally different goals: Populists want to substitute their own statist programs because they view the Liberal-Socialists as their competitors; Libertarians want to dismantle them because they are *coercive government programs*.) Adam Reed ihnp4!npois!adam
black@nisysg.DEC (04/08/85)
For those of you who have enquired about the endorsement of the
Populist Platform by the Libertarian Party, I suggest that your best
source of information will be the National Committee of the Populist
Party, at the address given in the original article. First class
postage is $0.22.
Regards,
--Don Black
"The American Chauvinist"
ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (04/10/85)
> For those of you who have enquired about the endorsement of the > Populist Platform by the Libertarian Party, I suggest that your best > source of information will be the National Committee of the Populist > Party, at the address given in the original article. First class > postage is $0.22. > Regards, > --Don Black > "The American Chauvinist" Wrong. There is only one way to find out whether the Libertarian Party has endorsed the Populist Platform: ask the Libertarian Party.