Oil Profits: Cry Elsewhere

Today, Exxon Mobil announced a 2^nd quarter profit of 10.36 billion in profits. As with any news like this, all local news and national news media outlets hit the streets to interview the American public at gas stations across the nation. After informing these people about the profits that Exxon Mobil has posted the normal outcry and moaning begins. “The oil company is stealing from us, they shouldn’t be able to hit us and set prices the way they do. Something needs to be done about this so that the American people don’t have to pay this amount for gas prices.” This is the general type of quotes and answers that get aired on the news.

So the gasoline companies are stealing from the American people? Let’s find out who really is stealing the American’s people money by doing a breakdown of what goes into the $3 price per gallon for gasoline. Taking from the California Energy Commission web site the following is found out.

Over a half of the cost for the price of a gallon of gas goes into the importing of the crude oil from the unstable countries of the Middle East. This is a $1.72 in total cost for the importing of oil from these countries. The next largest percentage, about 25 percent, of the cost of gasoline goes into the actual refining process of the oil. The refining of oil is the process to extract various types of fuels, such as kerosene, from the crude oil. This refining cost is on average .80 cents. Thus far, the complete total for a price of gas is at 2.52 cents and the gasoline companies haven’t even sold a gallon of gas. Next, .60 cents on average is the total tax and storage fee that goes into the price of gasoline, this could vary depending upon state tax on gas and is about 20 percent of the price per gallon. This brings the total gas price to 3.12 before the gasoline has even reached the gas station and entered your car. The average amount of money that is being used to market, distribute and eventually have profit on the gasoline is on average .10 cents, finally reaching the 3.22 for gas. Yet. taking into consideration distributing and marketing costs remove .05 cents from the .10 and the actual profit the gas company pulls in is .05 cents. Yet, to post the 10.36 billion in profits Exxon Mobil had to sell at least 518 million gallons of fuel, based off of the .05 cents of profit after the costs of distribution and marketing.
Yet, out of the 10.36 billion of profits close to 7 billion of that money has to go back into the refining process. Ultimately the overall profits of the oil companies when taking in the cost and expesnse of doing the business is closer to 3 billion then the 10 billion posted profit.

It is interesting to note that the media never provides this type of information when reporting about the profits of the oil companies. Likewise, the news media is suspect when it comes to the fact that they never air an individual who actually understands what goes into the price of gasoline. Last, it is obviously part of the spin and goal of the media never to put on the air anybody who actually applauses the Big Oil companies and their profits, but intstead place the blame on the real culprit for the cost of rising fuel in the first place, the government.

The government, at both the federal and state, take more money and earn more on the price of gas then the companies producing the gas in the first place. So if anybody wishes to cry foul and ask for ways of lowering the price of gasoline, write to your local official and demand a lowering of the gasoline tax at your state level and write to your senator and congress man asking for the same to be done on the federal level. Whilst writing your congress man and senator you can also request that lands be opened for further oil drilling and exploration for oil. This is the main problem for the high cost of fuel, the $1.72 price for the importation of oil, which doesn’t need to take place. Due to the various government regulations and restrictions placed on the oil companies it is a surprise that oil companies are actually able to survive at all. There are plenty of oil reserves being untapped off the coast of The Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska that would greatly reduce the importing of oil from unstable nations and thus reduce the overall cost of oil. There is even a process of extracting oil from a certain type of shale that has become a more viable option since the process has improved and can thus become a profitable endeavor. Some measures have been taken as only yesterday, July 26^th 2006, oil companies will be allowed to drill 500 feet from the coast of the Gulf. Yet, this is not nearly enough to truly reduce the price of fuel and oil in the United States.

So, where was the outcry from the public when the Government began placing restrictions on the oil companies? Where was the outcry from the public when the government raised gasoline taxes? Where was the outcry, when regulations placed on the refinement process have caused the complete lack of expanding and building of new refineries over the country in the last 20 years? So for those who wish to cry and scream at Big Oil, cry elsewhere for they are not to blame for the current price of gasoline.

(Note, this is part of what I was going to say in my original oil article, but not the original article I intended to write.)

The UN a Circus Atmosphere

The recent events in the Middle East have exposed one important fact of reality about the UN, that it is an organization of people full of hot air and little else. Kofi Annan and the other members of the UN have incessantly over the last two weeks since the Israeli conflict has been going on to call for an immediate cease fire. Yet, in the calling for this ceasefire will anything truly be resolved with the conflice that has been tearing its way through the Middle East these last 40 years? What is the UN plans to enforce its resolution and to ensure that the violence in the Middle East will finally come to an end?

The secret answer to these questions is absolutely nothing, just like how the UN and its members did nothing to enforce the many resolutions against Iraq. It could of course force monetary sanctions against those who are causing the violence. Yet, how does one force economic sanctions on terrorists? Of course, the UN could force sanctions against the states that are sponsoring the terrorist groups, mainly Iran and Syria. Yet, this worked wonders in Iraq, well it did for the many members of the UN who ended up lining their pockets with money from the coffers of Iraq in the ever so successful Oil for Food program. The one important aspect that the Oil for Food program showed is that any type of economic sanctions leveled against a dictator will only result in harming the people of the country and not the ruler of the country.

It is similar to telling an unruly child that he is being punished by sending the child to his room, while in that room there is a computer, Cable TV, DVD Player, and several video game systems. Thus, it is, with the continuing calling for sanctions by the UN against the unruly nations of the world. The leaders of these nations ignore and don’t care about these sanctions as they can just move resources and money from other programs and then continue focusing on the programs that caused the sanctions to be leveled in the first place. Also, with the lack of past enforcement of previous resolutions, what does the disruptive nation really have to worry about from the UN if it goes against its sanctions, more sanctions? Just like the unruly child who will continue misbehaving until real punishment is administered, a crack on the behind, so too the nations who continue to sponsor terrorist and wish for the destruction of Israel won’t stop until they are proverbially punched in the mouth and out for the count.

Of course the UN has never once achieved a knock out count in its 60 year history. The UN is just like the body that preceded, the League of Nations with its failure to prevent World War 2 by not having any power and its willingness to have “peace” at any means, even appeasing thugs and psychotic leaders. The UN has reached the likeness of the League in every shape and form, calling for cease fires with people who don’t care about the lives of their own people. While in its anxiousness to have peace and stop the violence, it allows those who initiate the violence to remain unpunished and to continue to have their toys. Yet, unlike the unruly child being sent to his room, the toys that are being kept are AK-47s, grenades, bombs and rockets that rain down on the very people they are supposed to be having a ceasefire. A ceasefire with people who have sworn a vow and is totally commited to sole purpose of seeing the total anhilation of the Israeli nation. Yet, the UN still thinks and believes that a ceasefire and negotiations with people of this thinking will actually have any type of real result?

The UN and its members should come to terms with the fact that their words and the hot air that drives them can and should be put to better use, blowing up balloons at children birthday parties. Figuring the big joke of the UN, and the clowns who are its members, actually believe that what they say matters and that it can enforce anything. Honestly, does anybody feel threatened by a clown in big red shoes and a white painted face of surrender and a flower of peace in its coat pocket?

Delayed

The Oil and War article I promised would be up today is going through a delay currently. This delay is not because of a lack of writing on my part, but more too much writing. The original article was reaching a second page and I am trying to keep my blog entries to one page and at most 1,000 words. This being said I figured it was better to save the Oil and War “Heavy” version for a future Article to sell to a possible publication and instead am working on a “Lite” version of the article, or I might continue on with the heavy version possibly and then split it up into two parts, possibly even three. Regardless of what I decide to do, I will hopefully have this up sometime tomorrow as I need to rework some of it and will be thinking over how I wish to compose it while at work tomorrow. It would be up sooner if I didn’t’ have to work tomorrow. (Inserting self promoting plug about the importance of the continual clicking on my Google Ads by friends and others alike. 20 clicks average yield is 9.00 and today yield was 4 clicks .51 cents. Please help me fulfill my dream of writing full time.)

Guns and a Wreck

No update from me as my evening and writing time was taken up due to a wreck outside of my place that caused the front door to my apartment to be caved in. I will have more on that with pictures later on. Yet, a friend provided a link to the following story from the Milwaukee AM Radio Station News Radio 620 I thought would be an appropriate substitute. Tomorrow I will have my article up about oil production and you can read about the Wreck on the Writer’s Pen Blog.

SATURDAY, July 22, 2006, 10:19 a.m.
An American town where everyone is REQUIRED to have guns... and they have almost no murders with guns

As far as I can tell, the liberal argument against concealed carry is an emotional one that boils down to:

More guns=bad!

More guns in the hands of criminals=bad!
More guns in the hands of law-abiding folks=not bad!

Here's a story that backs up my argument.

I ran across this interesting story Friday from Kennesaw Georgia. It starts out a typical, cookie-cutter crime story:

I ran across this interesting story Friday from Kennesaw Georgia. It starts out a typical, cookie-cutter crime story:

KENNESAW - The city on Wednesday recorded its first murder in more than two years when a man stabbed his father to death and attempted suicide, police said.

Around 6 p.m., officers from the Kennesaw Police Department responded to a call of a stabbing at a home on Confederate Trail. Upon arrival, the officers found two men lying unconscious on a bedroom floor.

The men were father and son, Robert Messina, 62, and Brian Messina, 33. Investigators say the elder Messina had been fatally stabbed several times with a knife.

The interesting stuff, as is often the case in MSM stories, is buried at the end.

Kennesaw mayor Leonard Church said he was taken aback when Police Chief Tim Callahan informed him of the murder.

"It was shocking," Church said. "It's unfortunate because of the situation and we feel for the victim."

Church attributes the city's low murder rate to two things.

About 30 years ago, Kennesaw passed an ordinance requiring every head of household to own a firearm. The law is not strictly enforced, but Church said knowing that law is on the books has likely kept many criminals from preying on families there.

"That law has absolutely something to do with the low crime," Church said. "It's that and a great police force."

Church said he could not estimate how many Kennesaw residents own a firearm because Cobb County issues firearms permits.

WHOAH! A town that REQUIRES every head of household to own a gun. And has required it for 30 years. And has almost no murders. And when it does have a murder, it's a guy who uses a knife. The police spokesman is even quoted as saying: "Any kind of homicide is a shock to us," Luther said. "It is not something we look forward to or plan for."

In other words, murder is so rare in this community, the POLICE DON'T EVEN PLAN FOR IT? I mean, think about that. The police don't even have a plan for it because they never suspect it will happen.

The last time Kennesaw had a murder was more than 2 years before. The killer used a bat.

Case closed.

In Kennesaw the 2 things liberals abhor are working: Guns and police. Go figure.

Diplomacy with Evil, Only Benefits Evil

The current situation in Israel, that many are speculating could evolve into a Third World War, is the result of a misconception and thinking that evil can be reasoned with and appeased. For years now, Israel has been forced to posture and show a good face in an attempt to meet with various leaders of Arab-Islamic states and nations. All the while these states and their leaders have led, funded, and allowed training grounds to be built within their borders with the sole purpose being the complete eradication of the Jewish State and her people. In an attempt to avoid war and maintain the “peace”, it is leading to the opposite of anything resembling peace. The reason for this is the misconception of what peace actually means. Peace is not, and does not mean the lack of war or a diffusing of a war from taken place. Peace is and means that evil is no longer allowed to exist to such a state that it is an overall threatening presence.

Take the Israeli situation, Israel was forced to appease and give into various demands of her enemies all for the ideal of peace and avoiding any type of conflict that will result in X number of deaths. The most recent and audacious of these appeasements was the force removal of its citizens from the Gaza Strip and the “returning” of it to the Palestinians. The Palestinians in turn thanked Israel by voting into power the terrorist political party of Hamas. A similar situation was previously done to appease a leader and maintain peace. The leader was Hitler, the appeasement was to allow him to keep a portion of Poland in the hopes this will satisfy him and he would stop expansion. Everybody knows how well that worked with the end result being Hitler’s continue expansion of power through his conquest of Europe and the death of millions of Jews throughout Europe.

Just as Hitler wasn’t appeased with his small piece of the pie, likewise, the Islamic States with their army of terrorist will not be appeased with just the Gaza Strip. In trying to force diplomacy and appease the aggressor, the aggressor only becomes bolder in its attempts to press the issue. The reason lies simply on the fact that the aggressor views its actions have had a positive result and thus, thinks that similiar actions will result in the same end. It also views the non-aggressor as weak and easy for the taken. Thus, the terrorists received Gaza for blowing up Jewish civilians and instilling fear into the hearts and minds of the people, the Jews on the other hand received what? A staging ground that is closer so terrorists can kill them even more proficiently.

It should be obvious now that any type of negotiation with evil only benefits evil, and hurts the good. Diplomacy for the sake of avoiding conflict with an aggressor likewise leads to the opposite effect. The only way to “negotiate” with evil is to use the same language that evil understands, the language of force. Evil only exists because the good allows it to exist in the first place. If Israel was allowed to do what it is currently doing years ago, eradicate its enemies and allow evil to no longer exist, then the current situation might have been resolved. Yet, evil was allowed to continue existing for the sake of peace, so that killing and bloodshed could be avoided. Yet, how much more killing and bloodshed has occurred since then, in the name of peace?

Forget about peace, bring on war and then peace, because trying to avoid the inevitable is like tyring to ski uphill, it can't be done.

Update on Cross Productive Advertising

As you know, I have a Tech Toys blog that focuses on Tecnnology and Video Games. Being a video game player and owning a Xbox 360, I normally check out the "face" of Xbox Live Major Nelson's web log. He has set up a google ads account as well on his site. So thus I found it rather ironic when stopping by today to see on a site ran by a person who works for Microsoft and promoting the Xbox 360 the following ad stating:

PS3 Play Testers Needed, Get a free Playstaion 3.

For those of you not familiar with Video Games, The Playstation 3 is Sony's next console and Microsofts major competitor. Does anybody else find the irony in this and the similiarities of my own situation with a Liberal Ad appearing on my blog ?

Conservative Blog, but Liberal Advertising

    

    It is quite ridiculous that whilst running a Conservative Objectivist Blog and having advertisements on that blog to generate some funding, that at least these ads will be in accordance and nature with my blog. Yet, the stink that is Liberalism is befouling that blog. It will be of great interest to know how this ad got on the blog in the first place. Normally, a refresh of the browser page will result in a change of the ad, yet, after a few attempts this has not happened. Even after closing the blog window down completely and reopening it, it has not changed. Thus, one of the reasons of this post is to have the words Conservative and Right as much as possible so that my ads will be properly focused on Conservative Values.

Of course, it could also be that some hacker has gone ahead and fixed my ads in a way so that this ad will not move or can’t be move in some fashion. If this is the case then a change in ads will have to take place. Yet, after clicking on the ad to see its contents I couldn’t become angrier about what this ad was actually advertising on my blog. It is a dribble piece about the lack of “equality” in America and how the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. This is a standard in the socialist liberal mantra and is one of the core pursuits and agendas they wish to achieve. I stopped reading the tripe about three paragraphs in since I couldn’t stomach it anymore.

    This notion that there is some sort of “equality” to be found for all men is a wish and whim that is only attainable by one means, bring down the high and put then down to low levels. Metaphorically, it is to have everybody living in the same pigsty and eating from the same slop bucket. Yet, notice every time you read or hear one of these triads and tantrums that it is the rich getting blamed and slammed, for they are the evil pursuers of greed. That it is the riches fault for being greedy money hungry animals who don’t have a caring bone in their body and hoard all their money to themselves whilst buying expensive vehicles and private airplanes to traverse to exotic locales. All the while the only exotic locale a poor person gets to visit is the newest high end restaurant and eating the remains of a lobster tail or steak that a rich man didn’t deem fit enough to eat or couldn’t finish eating, probably because he is fat man since he is rich and can glutton himself on anything he wishes.

    This talk of equality and the lack of it by the Liberals and Socialist ignore one important axiomatic fact about humans and the lives they lead. This is the fact that all men are born with a free will to make choices upon which to lead their lives in whatever manner they deem and desire to be worthy pursuits. The Socialist and Liberals ignore this fact because they view that humans are predetermined in the lives they live and that they can’t escape what fate has before them. So, in order to escape what fate has before them, society needs to change to accommodate these unfortunates and present them with a different type of fate, a fate that has no worries and concerns for all needs will be fulfilled. A fate that will be ran by the rich Socialist Liberals who are spouting off the tripe in the first place. This is the true meaning of this type of rhetoric after all. It is a desire to have power and to rule every individual’s life. It is the governing of every move and thought a person has so that everybody can live in equality. How can somebody make a bad decision, when the decision is already being made for you? How can you become any poorer, when you already poor? Why should you desire to have anything more, when everything is being provided for you? How can you feel envy towards your fellow man, when he is sleeping in the same pigsty with you?

You can read examples of the following results of “equality” in the following books: Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind, Anthem and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. For real life examples I give you the breadlines of former Soviet Russia, the propaganda and restriction of information by Communist China, and the thousands of Cubans who risk their lives in shoddily crafted boats to escape the oppressive nature of a Dictatorial leader. Yet, it is funny, why are the Cubans wishing to risk life and limb and flee this haven of equality and come to the shores of United States of America that spawns the pit of inequality by the greedy?

They come because here in the United States of America they have hope. Hope that here in America at least they have the chance, even if it might not be fulfilled, but the chance and the opportunity to live their lives as they deem worthy and to set lofty goals for themselves. They come to see the fact that there are others wealthier then they are, instead of seeing every neighbor living in the same run down hut. This sole fact of seeing somebody doing better then you presently stand should instill in an individual a desire to push himself to do better and to achieve that level. Yet, instead, due to the type of tripe and garbage coming out of the mouths of the Socialist Liberals, the opposite effect happens and instead of admiration for the success your fellow man has achieved, it is envy. Envy because the successful stole from you your means to reach this goal and since this was stolen you should rightfully have it back since it is yours. I am proud of the fact when I see “inequality” because that means I know I am still free to pursue that wish I desire.

To conclude, anytime you hear somebody spouting off at the mouth about the lack of “equality,” , restrain your arm from lifting while excerting some serious self control in your desire to slug him in the face, because after all, you wouldn't want to make him a member of the greedy rich when he sues your ass.

Bush Tax Cuts: Low Taxes increase Tax Income

Today, President Bush announced the following about the current state of the American Economy and the National Deficit:    

“When the economy grows, businesses grow, people earn more money, profits are higher, and they pay additional taxes on the new income. In 2005, tax revenues grew by $274 billion, or 14.5 percent; it's the largest increase in 24 years. (Applause.) Based on tax collections to date, the Treasury projects that tax revenues for this year will grow by $246 billion, or an 11 percent increase. The increase in tax revenues is much better than we had projected, and it's helping us cut the budget deficit. “

Notice an important idea in the above quote that sates the following idea, there is an increase in tax revenue without an increase in taxes. Let me stress this again, that no increases in tax rates were needed to increase tax revenue, and more importantly, to make a dent into the national deficit. Yet, how is this possible you might be asking? This is the end result of allowing people to actually have control over the money they earn and allowing them the liberty to use it to whatever needs are important to that individual. On a simplistic level it is easy to understand by using the following scenario.

By having the ability to keep more of what he earns, an individual can put this money to further use in the economy for his own personal gain. Instead of having his money sitting useless in the government’s coffers where it goes to waste and is of no value to the individual, and more importantly, the economy. Yet, by putting his money into the economy in some form, investing, saving, or buying a new product or service, it is being a productive source in the economy at large. This capital in the economy at large can have several different outcomes, the following just being one outcome.

Since individuals have more money to spend some are buying more of a certain product, and a local plant is able to hire on new employees at all levels in the company. While hiring new employees for the company, it is also able to increase the wages of the employees already working at the company due to the fact that ownership is paying less money toward taxes. In addition to the lower taxes, the company is also able to lower the prices of many of the products it provides because the costs for raw materials has gone down to produce these products have gone down, for all companies are experiencing the same type of affects from low taxes that this company is experiencing. Thus, our individual is able to get a higher paying job, resulting in his ability to put more money towards his credit card debt, which had been piling up over the last year while he was working in a lower paying job.

This is using plain terminology and showing how this can affect a person on the individual level. President Bush uses the following analogy to explain affects of lower taxes:

One of the most important measures of our success in cutting the deficit is the size of the deficit in relation to the size of our economy. Think of it like a mortgage. When you take out a home loan, the most important measure is not how much you borrow, it is how much you borrow compared to how much you earn. If your income goes up, your mortgage takes up less of your family's budget. Same is true of our national economy. When the economy expands, our nation's income goes up and the burden of the deficit shrinks.

Just as our individual in the sample provided was able to increase and expand his personal economy and get out of debt. This very principle applies to the national debt as the nation’s economy grows, more overall capital is available and is being put to use in a productive manner meaning more overall money and individual wealth in which the government is able to collect taxes from, without having to increase taxes because of an increase in the tax base.

Bush’s tax cut is a step in the right direction, and one lesson that some state governors could learn a valuable lesson from when it come to true economic growth. Yet, more is needed to continue this increase in the expansion of the American economy. This further expansion lies on a similar concept found in the reason for the tax cuts, but deals with production. Just as the above shows how productive money can be when people are freely allowed to put to good use. Producers must be freely allowed to do what is needed to remain competitive in the market and be a productive company. Thus, the next step in this economic rebirth is to remove the restrictive measures that are in place for many sectors in the economy. It is about time these companies are allowed to freely produce the products that drive the economy and let them drive the economy onward toward a brighter, richer economic future, and one step closer to true laissez-faire.

Minimum Wage Increase Equals Doom

    Governor Ed Rendell (D) of Pennsylvania, with one stroke of his pen, just signed into law the death blow to true economic growth that the state badly needs. This death blow is in the form of the recently passed law that will see minimum wage increase from the current federal standard of 5.15 and increase incrementally over the next few years until finally reaching a level of 7.15 per hour. This increase in the minimum wage might sound like a decent idea at first to many who don’t think beyond the ramifications of what this actually means to future job growth. Yet, this is going have drastic ramifications in the one area that matters most job growth, also known as new business growth.

    The reason this increase is going to have this type of ramification lies in the fact that once a government body begins mucking around in the economy on any level, even setting standards of wage, the only end result that can happen is disaster. For instance, since the increase of minimum wage is going to take place now and employers will be forced to pay employees this wage, the effect that will happen is actually less jobs being created by the employers. The cause of this is the increase in minimum wage has forced the hand of employer were extra capital might have been used to hire on an extra hand or two, must now go to keeping on what employees they have.

Eventually this can lead to even further problems for the company as understaffing becomes a major issue and production or quality of service slips due to lack of personal. Thus, the end result of the scenario is that the business either moves out of state where economic opportunity is better for the owner of the business, or the business closes due to an inability to remain competitive in the market. Either way the end result is the same, instead of having a person working, you now have an unemployed worker begging the government for more handouts.

    Just as the above scenario shows what happens for a business already in the state, the same can be applied to any business owner or entrepreneur who might be interested in starting a business venture in the state. Why should the business owner or entrepreneur want to start a business in a state that dictates, by point of a gun, what he is going to pay his employees? Any business owner is going to take his business elsewhere; to a place that market conditions are more generous when it comes to the rights of the business owner, not the worker. Thus, no new economic growth comes from out of state and no new jobs are being created from new businesses and established businesses can’t create more positions due to the stipulations of the minimum wage law.

    Nationally this type of arbitrary wage increase, either by the government or by a union, is the very source to the current problem of illegal immigration running so rampant today. When new business owners’ are faced to paying a wage of 7.15 to a legal resident of the state or pay an illegal 5.75 for the same job and more likely than not, get a better work performance from the illegal then you would from the worker getting paid at the higher wage? The answer to this question is obvious for it is the one that makes more economic sense for the business owner, especially if one is paying a 7.15 dollar wage to a dishwasher.

    Yet, instead of decreasing and eliminating many of the taxes that are forced upon Pennsylvanians and thus actually increase the tax base, Rendell feels that it is more important to give workers a higher arbitrary wage then to allow them to keep more of the money they earn. Instead of increasing the tax base and creating an economic friendly atmosphere, he is doing the opposite, driving away both employer and worker, to states that have lower taxes and employers hungry for new workers. When the time comes, this writer will be writing in more economic Free State in the near future, to earn his own keep and to keep what he has earned.

 

(Part one of a Discussion on Economical Theories)

 

    

More Blogs

I have decided to create more blogs then the one I currently have setup. The reason for this is due to the wide range of topics I enjoy researching and then writing about my findings in doing this research. Thus, instead of cluttering up just this one blog with many topics and various subjects, I will have this one reserved for political matters and musings. My other Blogs will consist of the following topics art and culture; technology and video games; and literature and writng.

I have decided to do it this way for the clean approach in my writing and so that when asked for sample of my writings on various topics I can provide links to the blog that corresponds to the particular subject of interest.

Look for more to come. I am going to make an attempt to write on all four subjects. There won't be daily updates to all four, but there will be writings on all four by the end of a weeks time.

A Celebration of the Individual

A Celebration of the Individual
by
Keith Engel (c)


July 4th 2006 and another day of celebrating Independence from the rule of Britain has come. Yet, this is not the only reason to be celebrating Independence Day for it is also a day of celebration for the Individual and the Individual Rights that were set down in the Declaration. The rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and in addition the right to property, are the rights that are being celebrated on this glorious day. Yet, what does it mean to be celebrating each of these rights and why is the right to property included with the three found in the Declaration?

To celebrate the right to Life means to celebrate the fact that your life is yours alone. Your life belongs to nobody else, rather this be another person, the state, or some other organization or entity. Nobody can lay claim to your life and just as this right is extended to you, so you must extend this right to other individuals. The right to life is the most important right because with out the protection of your right to life, none of the other rights matter. In order to ensure that your right continues on in existence you must be given the chance to live you life as you see fit.

This is the right to liberty. Liberty is the right to make decisions for your life based off of the fact that your life will require certain action and decisions to ensure its continued existence. The right to liberty is nothing more then having the freedom to live your life as you see fit and nobody can tell you how to live your life. It is not their life, getting back to the right to life, to inform you, or to point with a gun at your head, to tell you, what it is, you, are supposed to do with, your, life, or you possessions.

This brings us to the right not covered by the founding fathers and is excluded from the Declaration of Independence, the right to property. The right to property means that during the course of your life you will need to acquire items to ensure its continued existence. The first piece of property is that you own your own life, hence getting back to the right to life, and that your life is yours to live as you see fit, the right to liberty, and belongs to nobody else. Hence the right to property first affirms the fact that you own your own life, without the right to property your life is not yours. Next, the right to property means that any property obtained during the course of your life is yours to use as you wish or disperse with as you see fit. A few extra words on the right to property, the right to property does not mean that property will be given to you or that property should be expected. This is what the founding fathers didn’t understand about the right to property and hence why it was excluded from the Declaration.

Thus, with the understanding found in the above core rights the last right is derived and that is the right to the pursuit of happiness. The meaning of this right means that because you have a right to your life, the liberty to live it as you see fit, and the right to property to see to your continual existence, that you can live for your own happiness. Once more it is not a guaranteed happiness, but just that, the pursuit of reaching happiness with your life, by the means of the rights to life, liberty and property to see you to this end in life if you so desire to strive and achieve such a goal as happiness.

This is what it means to me to be celebrating Independence Day on a July 4th day. Yet, it is also a celebration of those individuals who live by these rights everyday and who strive to better themselves by living their own lives as they see fit and pursuing there own happiness. It is a celebration of the Independent Man, a dying breed and a mysterious figure long thought forgotten in lore and story. Yet, it this very figure of the independent man that needs to be brought back to the fore in America if it wishes to continue to have a future existence.

Independence Day Celebration

There will be two postings today, the first is the below poem that I wrote two years ago, the other will be an article celbrating Independence Day.

The Higher Praise to…

There is no better sight in this life
Then seeing a man standing tall
Free from the shackles of strife
Nothing will ever make him fall
For he follows his own mind
In making the decisions for life
Never will he be in a tight bind
Following this ultimate rule of life

There is no better sight in this life
Then seeing a man accomplish a task alone
Cutting his way through the world like a knife
For he will never allow anyone to own
The tool upon which he lives and survives
It is his to use and conquer what he sees
Not squandering his life or other lives
For his life is measured in great deeds

There is no better sight in this life
Then seeing a man earning what he owns
He counts his success not in saving life
But in the irony of life’s ups and downs
For it is the fighting and struggling for it
That makes living all the sweeter
The hot sweating and grisly bleeding of it
Which allows him to come out the better


There is no better sight in this life
Then seeing a man on high peering over
For he is seeing the future, the future of all life
For in the infinite distance of forever
It isn’t into the dark abyss of night
Nor the hell bound train the world is riding
But the hidden and the forbidden hope of light
For the future rewards those who do the creating


For there is no better sight in this life
Then seeing a man of independence
Living by his own rule’s in this life
Never giving over to the credence
Of the morality of self sacrificing
Never living for the life of the other
But just enjoying the simplicity of living
This is why I give no praise the higher
Then to the Independent Man living

Keith Engel ©
Monday, August 30, 2004