As soon as you can define anything or group of things, there will be a right and left, top and bottom, and front and back. Each of us is in the center, in the middle, everyone else is either to the left, right, above, below, front, and/or behind you. Trying to get everyone to the center is impossible. Respecting each other's 'spheres' is a good start to mutual cooperation. It is the taking from each other without agreement that is the primary cause of distress between people -- their justifications are merely popular support, not any true claim. ;-)

Determining the 'middle ground' requires first defining the scale. Depending on how the scale is defined, middle ground can be in between freedom and servitude -- partially free and partially indentured? Socialism could be considered the center of the scale between communism and fascism. Establishment vs. non-establishment -- some things cannot be divided or blurred, either you have a principle or you don't. Political parties can be clearly defined by where they place individual responsibility. There is no middle ground between Life and Death -- there is no real difference between a half-alive zombie and a half-dead zombie.

Just because you have all the fools on your side does not make you right. And for this very reason, the American republican form of government distributes power across every county and state and within the 3 branches of the federal government. The centralization of power is the bane of republican government.

Money is exchanged for 'goods' of equal value. To issue money without a backing in goods is to issue 'bad' money.' Real money is therefore 'good' and bad money is in fact 'bad' -- how bad depends on how much is stolen with it. In the case of Americans, not only has the unpayable federal debt been laid at their feet to pay perpetual interest on, taken directly out of their pay checks, this funny money system has become a very real 'evil' with no plan to end it.

"it works because Americans who are trapped in this nightmare do not want their government money taken away from them!" There you have it...

Obviously! Even a Democrat majority in both houses and a Democrat president did not reverse a single policy of the Bush administration. Look at speaker Ryan -- with a majority of Republicans voted into office to get out from under the Democrat's entitlements programs -- Ryan merely tows the establishment (statist) line. It has been this way throughout my entire life. Never are government usurpations remedied as promised, just new usurpations in the name of promoting the general welfare. The solution is simple: remind the citizens and their State representatives that Washington DC does not rule them -- they are not subjects, but sovereigns. As soon as people start identifying themselves as freemen with the right and responsibility to live free, their representative governments will start to do the same. DC is the land of empty promises, the printer of counterfeit bills that they use to buy votes and power to themselves. And it is a no-holds-barred contest for Washington DC's seats of power.

GhostOfCicero nails it. Whatever happened to judging a man by the content of his character? Frankly the character in those calling others 'racist' shows no sign of embracing MLK's ideal. Calling someone a racist or anti-semite is an attack, not a defense, and is used to silence or discredit someone. It is a cheap shot that is carrying less and less weight, and now generally identifies the racist as the one making the accusation. To call someone racist is in fact racist. Attack the argument, not the man. Racist arguments are all ad hominem. It is not a crime to have an opinion about a person or persons; however, it is a crime to violate another's rights no matter what the opinion.

The 800 pound gorilla in the room is the War On Drugs which unequally targets non-white offenders -- some even say that that was the true purpose of Marijuana Prohibition. The purpose of Drug Prohibition is to create offenders and provide jobs to millions of people involved in the enforcement of these statutes. Billions of dollars are spent every year on arresting, processing, and imprisoning those possessing drugs. Those in the inner cities on the low end of the socio-economic scale cannot afford to pay the fines, so they go to jail. Most urban centers' poorest are generally non-white, but more and more whites are joining the poverty class, and more blacks are getting out. Most of the crime and violence in the US is due to the black market selling of prohibited drugs. When exactly did We The People allow the government to start Drug Prohibition when Alcohol Prohibition was declared unconstitutional? Lawyers' tricks all.

Remember that the Bible says the 'lust' for money is the root of all evil, not money in and of itself. I would not agree that money is the root of all good, but that honest money is the security of honest trade. Money is the storage of energy/power. Without a currency (money), it becomes difficult to trade goods and services, and the raw exercise of power is the only other option. If however the currency can be created and destroyed at whim by men with control over the issuance of currency, money ceases to be a medium of exchange but a tool for theft. Honest money = good, creating money without backing = bad. Grisham's Law: bad money replaces the good.

warren, why not discredit the theory instead of the theorist? Building 7 -- video clearly records its near free fall speed. Ask a demolition expert what possible causes would bring down a building like that. The real issue is not whether Building 7 was brought down in a controlled demolition; the real issue is what it means if it were true. That may be just too much to bear for the 'true believers.' Why wasn't Saudi Arabia invaded since the terrorists were Saudis? Osama bin Laden was a Saudi CIA operative -- how come the Saudis and Bush's are old family friends? Iraq had nothing to do with 911, yet shock and awe were rained down upon them. Another 'hobgoblin' to fear until the people can be counted on to chime in on cue, "BOMB 'EM! BOMB 'EM!" Psst, warren, there is no Great and Powerful Oz ...

Jack, the booms and busts are directly linked to the expansion and contraction of the money supply itself -- right now, completely controlled by private banks that quite literally create money when it is 'loaned' and destroy money when the loan is repaid. This is the inherent danger with fiat currency (which the Federal Reserve regulates). All booms and busts are regulated, and with each contraction of the money supply, real wealth and property are confiscated from the poor souls that get caught with the hot potato. Planning which country/people will get the hot potato is the game, and it moves from country to country, each time gradually putting more and more of the debt obligations in the bankers hands and the people/nations into perpetual debt. This trick is well known in financial circles -- every currency trader knows this. A central bank issuing fiat currency is one of the main planks of the Communist Manifesto -- money backed by silver/gold is the LAW in the USA, and when we traded our gold for interest bearing script in 1913, we have had nothing but booms and busts since -- with the bankers gradually holding all the debts of the nation -- money they simply created out of thin air, we are now beholden to repay at interest, BUT all the money in circulation today has been created by borrowing it -- paying it back 'unmints' the currency and eventually there is no more money, yet still an obligation to repay loans with money that quite simply no longer exists -- result: confiscation of land, homes, property and a permanent class of indentured servitude with no end to the obligation to work off an unpayable debt. We've become permanent tenants on our own property, paying rent and taxes for the privilege of banks to create all the money in the world in order to buy it and rent it back to us.

To be clear, the definition of 'arms' in the Bill of Rights refers to the typical arms carried by the military. Canons were privately owned and secured at the local armory under civilian control -- and also placed in key locations for immediate use in defense. ALL arms are to be under the civil power, 'civil' meaning under the control of the citizens, not the military exclusively. The individual States were to provide education and training in their use, but never to prohibit law-abiding citizens from possessing and carrying them. The right to be armed extends from the right to defend oneself -- all animals in Nature have the responsibility to defend themselves from predators, and their ability to do so depends on whether they have the power to do so, otherwise they are 'prey'. Human predators will do whatever they can to minimize the risk of attacking their prey. When government becomes the predator, only the citizens who have the power to match the power of the predators can hope to survive and remain free. The power to defend oneself is the only thing standing in the way of totalitarianism and the police state.

The salient point is RESPONSIBILITY for one's actions. It cannot be made a crime to simply possess deadly power -- only the use of that power IF it is used with criminal intent. It is not a crime to not report how much power you have (whether in money, arms, tools, knowledge), but ONLY if you use that power to harm another thus violating the right of life, liberty, and personal property. You cannot charge someone with a crime because of what they MIGHT do with their power -- this is at the very heart of Liberty -- RESPONSIBILITY for one's actions.

In fact, a prosperous and respectful community is generally due to a return to time-honored principles and traditions which some call 'timeless'. It seems that when these eternal 'truths' fall out of favor, and the community bears the consequences of such ignorance, a return to these fundmentals is inevitable if any 'change' for the better is to take place. Yet another reason that populist movements that justify the means for the hoped for end are always a danger to that which is true and is always true...

The man who listens to or watches TV several hours per day is programmed, not educated, and will very likely defend opinion as fact and denounce anyone who has not received similar programming as a fool. Turn off the propaganda, and the truth can stand on its own. Free 'education' ain't free -- 'buying into' the lies has a high 'price tag' -- the cost is your mind (with the body and soul to follow).

Wow, if this is true, the LORD hates most of the US politicians, (elected and unelected), the media, race-baiters, war-mongers, religious fundamentalists, carbon taxers, and the current crop of 'the-powers-that-be' ... and all those that support them (gulp). The unavoidable consequences of such acts will bear a costly price -- I suppose that is why the LORD hates such things...

Fear is the underlying message of Statism to the people, whether coming from the left or right. 'Be afraid, be very afraid, but trust your government, we are here to help. If you have nothing to hide then let us do our job -- bend over, you may trust us, but we do not trust you -- we have to check to make sure you are not hiding anything that may be dangerous to you...' Americans are being broadcast false flag after false flag -- it is obviously easy to do and must be working because these events are becoming more and more frequent, even though many of the actors are caught on tape. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...

Very good comments by all! The Middle East comes to mind...

Waffler never ceases to defend 'authority' and the centralization of power. He has admitted to working for the government (most likely the IRS) and has a government pension. In essence he is of the 'if you can't beat them, join them' philosophy and 'we are the government and we are to help'. Ronw13 has nailed it -- personal responsibility and authority over oneself is a concept that just does not jive with group-think and collectivism.

The power to create 'money' and load the People with massive, unpayable debt is a power that has been refused to the US government. However, through trickery and deceit that is exactly what the federal government now does as a matter of daily practice.

Ronw13, Jefferson simply allowed the first national bank charter to expire rather than renew it during his term. Unfortunately, Madison chartered the second national bank that Andrew Jackson later refused to renew despite assassination attempts. Lincoln created the Greenback in lieu of granting another national bank charter -- this was most likely the real reason he was assassinated. Garfield was left with all this fiat currency in circulation and was trying to figure out how to keep the volume of currency in circulation since fiat currency is 'destroyed' when loans are paid back -- he was assassinated shortly thereafter. The Federal Reserve was founded by Wilson in 1913, and FDR later traded in the nations's gold supply to the privately owned Federal Reserve in exchange for the Federal Reserve Note (just another central bank's fiat currency). JFK began reissuing Silver Certificates interest-free -- he was assassinated shortly thereafter and LBJ recalled all those certificates and borrowed from the Fed instead. The power to create and destroy money at will is ultimate power and NO ONE was to be trusted with such power over the People.

Granting power to government that the people themselves do not have to give is the corruption. Ignoring the republican principles upon which the nation is founded has allowed the government to claim powers to steal, imprison, and kill arbitrarily without accountability or consequences.

Popularly attributed to Jefferson, but this quote can be found written/spoken by others in similar forms.

Hear, hear! The idea that I am responsible for the condition and quality of my life is considered 'radical' by both the ruling class and their subjects. Most believe in Liberty for themselves, but regulation for others.

Right on.

So if Socialism is a religion, what do socialists worship? POWER.

Religious freedom also includes freedom from religion and the right to refuse, deny, and prohibit enforcement of religious edicts as 'law.' When a religion exceeds spiritual faith and imposes 'law' contrary to the Common Law upon which this country was founded, it is no longer just a religion, but a theocracy, which is prohibited by the US Constitution and all State constitutions,

The overtly religious obviously take offense to this quote. The overtly reasonable don't seem to have a problem. 'Faith' in this context can be faith in anything -- not just religious faith. Faith in the government to solve our problems, faith in an investment, faith in marriage. When faith becomes a cop-out, the faithful will have to bear the brunt of the consequences -- that is their choice!

To have faith in a principle is noble, but it does not add one iota to its truthfulness or even worth. But if that is what I want to do with my life, I am willing to bear the results and either learn from them or not.

Faith, hope, trust -- all are noble qualities, but that doesn't automatically make the objects of their faith noble or true.

Hey, you, Christians who obviously take offense -- what about Muslim faith, hmm? Sorry, but when faith trumps reason and even conscience, it is time to re-examine.