Perhaps I am wrong. I am no prophet, and I am certainly not able to pierce the veil that hides the future with psychic vision. Yet I am not alone in seeing our nation on the march towards serfdom and slavery. I have two reasons for my concern.
The first is the more fundamental. We have this thing we call the Constitution. With it we authorized the men and women we elect to lead us. The Constitution sets out the powers of our leaders, and our leaders take an oath to abide by this document. When our leaders abide by their oath, we have the assurance of being a nation ruled by laws. When our leaders ignore the Constitution — and we let them get away with it — we risk becoming a nation ruled by those without scruples.
The second is too much in the news. We are rapidly becoming a socialist state. Much of the nation’s lending industry is now controlled by the Federal Government. Our health care industry is heavily funded by the Federal Government, and the Democratic Party strives now for ever greater dominance in the health care industry. Most recently, our government became the majority owner of GM. For all practical purposes, GM is now Government Motors. Thus the trend is unmistakeably towards government ownership of the economy.
Nothing in our Constitution authorizes our government to run the lending industry (a power our leaders have used to wreck havoc on the economy), the health industry or the automotive industry. That is because the people who wrote the Constitution understood that without the right to own property a man must of necessity become the slave of those who could control property. Without the right to own property, we do not control the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the house that shelters us, or the fruit of our labor. Without the right to own property, we cannot own our bodies. Someone else must let us use their food, clothing, and shelter.
In America, government exist to protect our rights, but government has become the greatest threat to our right to own property. When government begins to gain exclusive control of what we need for our livelihood, instead of us controlling our government, it can control us. And when the people who run our government do not honor their oath of office, we cannot control them. We can only hope to replace such people.
So what should we do? According to the latest news, many think it would be a good idea to boycott Government Motors.
Twenty-six percent (26%) of American adults believe it was a good idea for the federal government to take ownership of General Motors as the auto giant was on the verge of collapse. Nearly as many–17%–say that Americans should protest the bailout by boycotting GM and refusing to buy its cars. Most Americans are somewhere in between. (continued here)
17% does not sound like much, but consider this portion of the poll results.
However, 51% of adults are more likely to buy a car from Ford because it did not any take bailout funding. Just 12% are less likely to buy from Ford.
With some consumers prepared to boycott GM products and others more likely to buy from Ford first, GM will face an interesting marketing challenge as it emerges from bankruptcy.
That may be one reason that most believe that the federal government will pass laws and regulations giving their newest acquisition an unfair advantages over Ford and other automakers.
Ford is viewed favorably by 64% of Americans. Ratings for GM and Chrysler are much lower. (from here)
Because we have received such a lousy education (from the servants of politicians), many of us have a very poor understanding have how our government works. Nonetheless, most of us have enough sense to be suspicious of the bailouts and government ownership of what should be private concerns. What should concern us now the probability that the government will give Government Motors an unfair advantage in the market place. If our government is not forced to divest itself of GM, what is the future of the automobile industry in the United States? What is the future of private industry in the United States? Will you be able to buy what you want or only what Barack Obama tells you that you buy?
Other Views
Thus far From On High seems to be the only Virginia blog (aside from this one) talking about a boycott (here).
I thought I made mention in my Constitutional tests.
Sorry, even though I make a habit of reading your blog, I did not catch any specific mention of a boycott of Government Motors.
Actually, it is a bit difficult to narrow down the blogs I want to search on to those that come out of Virginia. What I usually do is search the aggregators. In this case, not having a better idea I searched on the word boycott, and I only went back a week or two. So I even though I read your blog, I could have missed the reference.
Anyway, those in favor of a boycott need to make the point sharp an hammer it home. Even if Government Motors decides to offer us great deals now, if we let the government take over the auto industry, in the long run we will all pay and pay and pay.
My grandfather was a GM dealer for 40 years. I’ve never owned anything but a GM product. I bought my last two nearly four years ago.
Let me repeat: I bought my LAST two GM products nearly four years ago.