We are a nation of sheep, Animal Farm, part 2

[Briar Hopper]

You read that right. We are a nation of sheep. We contentedly graze and get fat on the lush grass (luxuries, plentiful food) of this country. The individual sheep may bleat in protest occasionally, when the farmer(big government) has his way with them. They hardly ever bleat in concert, as they are never violated at the same time.

The fleecing starts around the end of January, and continues until April 15th. The sheep are so used to it, they don't even notice when the shears draw a little blood too.

The other farm workers (local & state police, insurance companies) have free rein to take what they want of the sheep. Loud bleating can be heard occasionally. The farmer may raise his head and listen for a moment, but soon goes back to work and ignores the bleating.

Some farms (states) fleece a little more than others. The sheep are tied to their grass and reluctant to hop the fence for greener pastures, and a chance to let the hemorrhoids heal up.

Tool Man Tim Taylor's thread on Connecticut laws pertaining to vehicle weight and highway access, is a good example.

Kentucky is even worse. The police have received millions in extra funding from the Democrats in power, to enforce traffic laws. On one notable 7 mile section of interstate under construction near Lexington, Kentucky, no less than 4 to 6 cruisers were out in full force with radar and laser, 24 hours a day, to enforce the 45 mph limit. In spite of the fact that concrete barriers were up, and no workers or construction vehicles were ever near traffic. In spite of the fact that the road wasn't narrowed, there were no dips, and no rough surfaces.

Let me quote Brock Yates(Car and Driver editor) here:

While the nation reels from terrorism that was inconceivable before September 11, thousands of our best law enforcement officers are sent out each day, not to protect the public from this real menace, but rather to nail a hapless housewife or shoe salesman for running 10mph over an arbitrarily set speed limit.

Yet the system rolls on. Cops are diverted from more serious missions while bureaucrats tally increasing revenues and insurance companies jack up premiums based on the specious theory that speeding is related to safety.

You may read the full text of his commentary in the January 2002 issue of Car and Driver magazine.

We are a nation of sheep. We need to learn to bleat in concert(together) and loudly enough that the farmer bows to our wishes.

 

[Shovelhead]

Gieco insurance, among others , gives radar, and laser radar equipment to local police with the explanation that it makes us safer drivers.



B. S. ... . It lets them jack our rates after we get nailed by that same radar and aquire driving points.



BTW... . for those of us who enjoy two-wheels as well... . these same insurance companies have resurected the "Black Lists" of bikes they refuse to insure. Normaly "Crotch Rockets".

It makes NO difference how long you have been insured by that carrier, or how long you have been riding.





"All animals are created equal..... but some are more equal than others"

 

[dmurdock]

I must be on the outside of the herd, because come tax time, I always end up with my back to the fence

 

[Fireman Dave]

What happened?

Briar:



Let me guess: You got a speeding ticket today on your way to the post office - only to get your insurance and property tax bills in the mail.



Sorry, just kidding.



Dave

 

[The patriot]

Pass the preperation H

I'm getting wacked for an extra 10-15K on top of my regular $300. 00ish a week. I had the misfortune to sell a piece of real estate and make some profit on it.

Eric

 

[Briar Hopper]

No tickets lately. One more, at least until after March 2002, and I'll lose my license. No, nothing's happened. Just disgusted at the overwhelming abundance of cop cars on the road around here. I drove 9 miles to Lexington today, and counted 13 local police cars, and 3 state troopers. All the cars, except two, were moving. One speed trap on that road. Then I came home by way of the interstate which parallels that road. TWO speed traps on that stretch of interstate. Also 4 police cars , and saw two state police cars going the opposite direction. My Valentine One was putting on a light show worthy of Chevy Chase's house in National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation " movie. Better check my batteries and make sure I can still get the truck started in the morning. I wonder what the sound effects were like. Maybe like the radar squawks in an F-16 with 15 MiG 21 fighters after it. At least you get to SHOOT those down!

I have to wonder at a system that breeds this kind of resentment on a large scale towards cops, who are supposed to be the good guys.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Minimal complaints here.

Believe it or not, I don't see all that much activity from the state police where I am at. Maybe I am just lucky that I have not been around when the planes or choppers are up. Here in PA, the locals can only use timing devices but not radar. There is a move to allow that though. Scary



The latest grab however is coming from the bridge authority operating between NJ and PA. I forget the increases they want but for trucks it is something like four times the current rate.

 

[baby.driver]

Liberty

More than a cursory look at history will show our liberty being circumscribed almost from the moment the ink was dry on the Bill of Rights. Unnecessary and unrealistic traffic laws are just the tip of the iceberg.



Jay

 

[Champane Flight]

How about Health insurance?

Yea,and the Republicans continue to help their good freinds the insurance companys rape and pilage the american worker with high cost,sub-standard coverage,and non-exsistant health insurance(God forbid any sheep bleat about a national health care system,they could be called socialists!). Instead we can have the insured members of this society pay what the uninsured can't and the doctors want!



You have to be kidding,first you cry because of NO police protection,then when they catch YOU breaking the law its all the Democrats fault!The laws the law... ..... If you break it,you pay. I drove professionally for 15 years and had only one ticket in over 1,400,000 miles. I was guilty. I think a Republican was in office then,it must have been their fault!Couldn't have been I was actually speeding?

 

[The patriot]

Briar Hopper, I dont think you could top NJ for abundance of state police. (God ... . I hope not anyway)

Last summer I drove over 1000 miles on vacation, and I didnt see any police until I got back here. Were they catching rapists? Bankrobbers? Any type of felons? NO!! They were writing traffic tickets!

I didnt feel any safer with all that extra protection either.

Eric

 

[Briar Hopper]

Champane Flight, I am not blaming the situation on political parties. My remarks had to do with the governor of this state, a member of the Democrat party, and his actions in ramping up traffic enforcement needlessly, to the tune of millions of dollars of state taxpayers' money.

You missed my point, entirely, Champane Flight. The law is the law, yes. But we are being ruled over, by our elected representatives, instead of us ruling over them ! And like sheep, we just take it. Unfair laws mean a major effort of many people together, to get them changed. It should not be that way. The lawmakers should be more in tune with the wishes of the people, but they are not. As soon as they arrive at the state capitols, or Washington, D. C. , all common sense flies out the window, and we get THEIR will imposed upon us...

Less government, not more, Champane Flight, is my point. We need less government, not more. It's not a free country anymore.

Baby Driver said it best with his two sentences up above. Bill of Rights? What's that? Not something that applies to us, except when the politicians pay lip service to it.

We are sheep, because we just take it, and take it, and take it, and don't do anything about it. It's hard to make a living, and fight the government at the same time.

 

[WyoJim]

I used to buy horses in Springfield MO and haul them back to Montana.



An old boy down there said to me "Going east, once you cross the Missouri things go down hill fast. When you cross the Missippi you are in the pits"



Oh how right he was.

 

[Power Wagon]

Re: How about Health insurance?

Originally posted by Champane Flight

Yea,and the Republicans continue to help their good freinds the insurance companys rape and pilage the american worker with high cost,sub-standard coverage,and non-exsistant health insurance(God forbid any sheep bleat about a national health care system,they could be called socialists!). Instead we can have the insured members of this society pay what the uninsured can't and the doctors want!

May God have mercy and spare us from even more controls by government. Since when should I be forced to endure health care with the compassion of the IRS, the fiscal efficiency of the Pentagon, the accuracy and speed of the USPS, the rapid progress and responsiveness of Congress, and the kind and gentle loving concern for the citizens shown by Janet Reno at Waco?



Someone, rightfully, protests that our law enforcement - charged with public safety - is being used as a fund raiser in a most capricious manner. In doing so, pointing out that governments, on a state, local, and federal level will do all manner of evil if they can get away with it. The more power and money they have, the more they use it to take more away from you. That is the nature of government. Recognized and then gaurded against by our founding fathers. They understood the nature of government, having had the guts and conviction sufficient to rebel against another one that had run away with itself.



CF, I am dumbfounded. You complain that insurance companies "rape and pillage the american worker". Actually, they do not. They "rape and pillage" your employer. And, that's done because government has structured our tax laws to make insurance a non-competitive business. Yet, when faced with absolute and undeniable proof that government NEVER has your best interests at heart, and only exists to feed, fatten and empower itself, you bleat frantically that we are somehow being abused if we don't turn over yet another major portion of our lives to generosity and loving kindness of Congress. May God save us from the help of government. Bears and Wolverines are far less dangerous. At least you can defend yourselves from them.



Yes, insurance can be scam. You don't have to buy it. You do NOT have to pay for it. YOu do NOT have to go to the doctor, nor receive any other care. But if government is providing it, you WILL pay for it. Several times over, whether you like it or not, want it or not, and you'll get far less than you get now for your money - or your employer's money.



There exists in not a single place on earth any evidence that a federal or central government can run health care, provide housing, provide jobs, or any other such busybody services without first empowering itself, and without causing the people major harm. The people, if not bled dry by a runaway government not only CAN but DO provide very well for themselves. And don't you dare say otherwise. To do is an insult of the highest magnitude against your neighbors and fellow citizens.



Your complaint is that the "republicans" are in cahoots with the insurance companies. I'd like to point out that's not exactly true. Corporate money in support of political parties flows in massively greater quantities to Democrats than to Republicans. In the last election, GW Bush raised all of his campaign funds from individuals only, which meant his campaign funds were raised approximately at $100 per person. He used neither federal nor party (soft) funds during the entire primary and pretty much through the rest of the election as well. The reaction of the DNC to grassroots funding of W's campaign? "It's not fair, this proves we need government funding of elections".



In reality, corporate interests lie in funding Democrats, who are famous for regulating industry, picking and choosing who lives and who gets regulated to death, and then trading massive campaign funding for preferential treatment at legislation time. If we were civilized, it would be called "blackmail". But people like you refer to it as "protecting the people from big business".



BTW, I am not a Republican. I do not belong to any political party. I am a Constitutionalist. I happen to believe that the Constitution is probably the best roadmap for a successful country to ever be devised. It certainly worked well for the time we followed it. I resent your wholesale attacks on that institution. Such things as federal control of business, health care, and taxes on income are an abomination to the concept of liberty and Constitutional self-government. And as you should be SO much aware, it required an ocean of blood to purchase and preserve this Constitution and the liberties of the people. It is very saddening to see someone such as yourself be in such a rush to dismantle and destroy it. Our federal government should be small. It should have only specific tasks... Read the constitution.



Those specific tasks include: Defense, regulation of interstate commerce, protecting the borders. Regulation of foreign trade. Establishing a currency. A federal court system. Postal service. (I think that last one is wrong, but we should amend the Constitution before we try to change things) It should exist to defend the liberties and civil rights of the individual. Other than that, it should never, EVER deal with individuals. No taxes, no regulations, no controls, no services. The states can and should do that, where they are under the far more direct control of the people. If a state wants to try running it's own health care system entirely, it should be free to try. That way, we can demostrate what stupidity government health care is without saddling the entire country with a beast we can NEVER get rid of.



When was the last time the federal government started a major spending program and got rid of it? Never. But states can and do. They are far more likely to correct errors. Congress just adds more.

 

[Briar Hopper]

Thanks, Mark !

One round of cheers for Power Wagon ! You said it so well, even better than I could have. Thanks for finding the words when I couldn't... .

 

[mdlowry]

It seems to me that some places treat the police force more as a way to raise revenue, rather than an agency that is charged with catching the bad guys.

 

[Amianthus]

Will it matter?

Whilst kudos should be given to Mark (Power Wagon) for eloquently stating how perverted our government has become, will it really make a difference? "Bleat" as I might to my representatives, I think my cries fall on deaf ears. I still believe that we are part of the greatest nation on earth. In most places, Mark would be looking at jail time for such a critical statement.

mdlowry, it's been that way for a while. I've paid my share of the "driving tax". You know, that reverse lottery where you get picked at random, and YOU get to pay. It does suck.

 

[Briar Hopper]

Yes it's been that way for years. My point precisely. Why do we all just go on along with it, like we do? Instead of fighting it? That's something I don't understand. I guess it's because we're all too busy trying to get our share of the pie (the American Dream) to take the time necessary to fight back.

It's not so much the "tax" I object to, it's the SYSTEM ! The points system that so obviously benefits the insurance companies. Not to mention all the other nuances of the law, that aid and abet the insurance companies. The diversion of cops from more important pursuits.

Ever seen your insurance agent's house? Look it up in the phone book, go drive by it. Chances are, it's 3 to 5 times bigger than yours, in a nicer neighborhood, or out on substantial acreage, has 5-10 bedrooms, a 10 car garage, an indoor swimming pool, and a maid in a too-small French uniform. At least that somewhat describes the homes of the last 3 agents I've had.

What a wonderful system. God Bless America ! Let's go for it ! More tickets! More points on licenses! More land closures! More government-imposed restrictions on everything! We need meters on commodes, so we can pay a tax every time we flush !

Let's drop the speed limit to 45 MPH, make it easy for the cops! They're the good guys, we don't want them to have it too hard, do we?!?!

Let's go back and find something else to take away from the Indians! Find some more churches and "cults" to burn down !

We need more taxes, so that no able-bodied minority regardless of race or handicap, ever has to work again !

Shut off the Alaska Pipeline, diesel prices are getting too low again !

 

[Champane Flight]

Several.

I do like your speech PW,however if you are trying to change my mind about our healthcare system,it just ain't gonna work.



I can name several countrys that socialized medicine is working,Canada,France,Spain,and Denmark. It works well,our insurance companys and our health care officials will try to convince you otherwise,but it works.



The goverment has control of several factions of our healthcare right now,Medicare,Medicaid,VA,and our military healthcare system. And we are paying for it and our private healthcare insurance too!Not to mention paying the balance out of pocket deductables that the private does not cover and the extra amounts the doctors and hospitals cannot get from our goverment programs!



Yes,I do not have to have insurance,then if hit by a illness,I could just give up my savings,my home,and everything I have worked for all these years. Just hand it over to the hospitals and doctors. Yes my employer does pay the majority of my insurance. Then WHY do they not shop around for a cheaper insurance with better benefits?In most cases of big Corps they underwrite themselves,thats why.



Now in the same hand,we can either get rid of ALL goverment intervention in healthcare(would not be a pretty site). Or get rid of the insurance companys. Or maybe do away with all the lawyers.



BH I guess I did miss your point,I do agree with your veiws on public servants,being served..... However the only voice we sometimes have,is disobedience,and of course the vote.



We had a speed trap nearby here. The locals borrowed a old semi-trailer and parked it on private property near the highway. Painted with "LOOK OUT,SPEED TRAP AHEAD!!!!"in bright colors. The city officials finally changed their habits... . There are other ways to voice your and others disaproval besides our legal system. Maybe a little cheaper in the long run to.



The sad part of America is we can all come together to go to war,but when it comes to social changes needed,we tend to say "Well it has not effected me yet. "The old saying "Every man for himself". Just to true. Let me ask you for one BH,"How can I help you?"I have a few ideas,but very little funds.

 

[Doc Tinker]

MAN!. . My eyes are hurting from all this reading.



Doc

 

[Briar Hopper]

Thank you, Champane Flight, for your consideration. I've thought of trying to set up a lobbying organization with a website, where motorheads and car enthusiasts could all sign in to voice their disapproval of over-zealous enforcement of traffic laws. Booths to have people sign petitions could be set up at all different kinds of racing events across the country, as well as flea markets, car shows, gun shows, etc. Fund-raising and involvement from people willing to dedicate the time would be critical to the success of such a plan.