OWS & Constitution Day- These Truths Are Self-Evident

“[I] would come down on the left of center... I'm on the left because I think there [should be] a little more attention to human needs than to property rights.” -George Carlin

Let me be the first to say I fully respect and recognize the rights of the people to assemble and to protest—peacefully. After all, these rights were specifically recognized in the First Amendment of our Constitution. That's not my issue with the Occupy Wall Street protesters at all (and to be honest, it's about time Americans pay attention to what is going on).

With that said, I'd be remiss if I did not draw some obvious conclusions about the fundamental nature of this movement. As we all know, the OWS uprising started on September 17th—the day we as Americans celebrate the signing of our Constitution. Has anyone wondered why? Out of the 365 days in the year, why that day? 

Well, it's important to understand two very important facts:

1. The Constitution is the very document that limits the power of the federal government in the interest and protection of everyone’s Individual Rights (that among these are life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness).

2. Capitalism is the predominant economic system of the US and is synonymous with our freedoms because it is the system of individual rights. 

It’s quite clear, from much of the signage I have witnessed with my own eyes and the chants I have heard with my own ears, that the OWS crowd as a whole has a problem with these two concepts. It is quite evident to me that they chose to hijack Constitution Day for one reason and one reason only: because it was symbolic to their mission of undermining individual rights (specifically, those of the "rich"). 

If not a system of individual rights, then what? 

Again, look no further than what the aggregate of OWS is championing: Human Rights. 

What's the difference?

As George Carlin so plainly pointed out in the quote above, some would rather have a system where human needs trump property rights of an individual. In a previous posting entitled "Objectivism in Practice- JPMC Donates 'Unprecedented' $4.6M to the NYPD; OWS Suggests Nefarious Motive," I questioned the sanity of the uprising calling for government force to redistribute wealth while simultaneously calling for "Human Rights." Their motives and "logic" have become more clear to me now. OWS's idea of human "rights" is different from individual rights in that it separates property out of the realm of “rights,” doing so by perverting the very concept of “rights” and treating property as a need-based entitlement to be redistributed from the haves to the have-nots, and in this case, to do so via mob rule (yes, this is what Democracy looks like!). If the people of OWS had it their way, citizens would have the “right” to vote on tax rates of a particular group of people, say, millionaires (is this beginning to add up to you, too?). Those “Human Rights NOW!”, “Tax the Millionaires!”, “People Before Profits!” and “Robin Hood Was Right!” signs are starting to make sense now. For what it's worth, here’s a link to the OWS website somewhat describing their vision (though it is not very substantive or rational): Replace Capitalism With Democracy

What is odd, and what the OWS crowd doesn't seem to understand is that you cannot have one without the other; no human rights without property rights fully respected. As Ayn Rand noted in The Virtue of Selfishness:

There is no such dichotomy as "human rights" versus "property rights." No human rights can exist without property rights. Since material goods are produced by the mind and effort of individual men, and are needed to sustain their lives, if the producer does not own the result of his effort, he does not own his life. To deny property rights means to turn men into property owned by the state. Whoever claims the "right" to "redistribute" the wealth produced by others is claiming the 'right' to treat human beings as chattel.

And that's exactly how the OWS crowd would like to treat that top 1% they like to denigrate—like chattel. Going back to the “majority rule” aspect of property redistribution, it’s no wonder they like to call themselves the “99%” (although the numbers hardly add up); they propagandize this notion that they are an overwhelming majority in order to seek legitimacy and authority to justify their calls for theft.

(As a side note, to further tie this to reality, we also saw this false human rights/property rights dichotomy with the healthcare overhaul. Remember the "healthcare is a human right!" mantra we heard from the Democrats and leftist organizations not too long ago? Somehow, the product of the effort of others becomes a “right” to be seized and redistributed, because of course, that’s the humane thing to do. Yes, according to this philosophy, its humane to treat people like slaves.) 

It is this very notion of human “rights” that is so detrimental to the future sustainability of our Republic. What we need desperately in this country is to have the INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS of the 100% upheld, respected, and reinstated fully. That will not happen until property rights are respected absolutely!

Whenever you hear someone make this false dichotomy between human "rights" and property rights, you can try to get through to them using a personal mantra of mine: Property Rights are Human Rights are Individual Rights are Absolute!

TCW Store Open for Business!

The official store of products promoting the The Capitalist Warrior^TM blog has now been launched on Zazzle! As someone who holds capitalism as the ideal, it only makes sense that I endeavor into my own enterprise to further spread the only politico-economic system in accordance with man's rights. In addition to the flash panel below, a link to the store can be found in the tabs section above. Be sure to comment and let me know what products you would like to see. More to come soon!

Browse other personalized gifts from Zazzle.

Steve Jobs- The Man Who Put the "I" in "You"

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Steve Jobs is a capitalist in every way that a man can be—physically speaking, in the value and products that he created and the wealth that he accumulated for his company and himself through uncoerced value for value exchange via the marketplace—spiritually speaking, in his embrace of rational egoism and individualism (as demonstrated by the quote above), his love of life, his pursuit of his own happiness and his embrace of independent thinking and creativity. He was a true man of ability and value creator. 

Although there is no “I” in Steve Jobs, there is in mostly everything he created. From the iPod and iTunes, to the iPhone and the iPad, Steve Jobs has had a profound impact in strengthening our own individuality—he is the man who put the “I” in “you.” 

Admiration and gratitude are the two sentiments I have towards this man who has made my life, and the lives of so many people on this earth, that much more easier and enjoyable. He has set a standard of productive genius that I can only wish to half-emulate in my lifetime.

Steve, you will be greatly missed.   

Objectivism in Practice- JPMC Donates 'Unprecedented' $4.6M to the NYPD; OWS Suggests Nefarious Motive

The "Occupy Wall Street" protest, now in its third week, has recently brought to light (que the sarcasm!) a disgraceful act committed by banking giant J.P. Morgan Chase: Charity! $4.6 million to be exact, donated to New York City’s finest. 

While OWS suggests on its website a causal link between the anti-capitalist uprising and the generosity extended on behalf of JPMC, with one supporter commenting, “wow, good catch. so now we know the cops are literally bought and paid for in this,” it is clear from the facts that this is nothing less than a benevolent act of a successful business self-interestedly investing into the security of our city. Although OWS would like you to believe that JPMC donated those funds as a bribe for protection against demonstrators, with some going so far as to say the banking giant directly funded the arrests of more than 700 on the Brooklyn Bridge, it took no less than 2 seconds worth of research to pull up an article dating back to June 4, 2011 that describes this exact donation in question being made, months prior to the beginning of the protest on Wall Street. According to JPMC’s website:

JPMorgan Chase recently donated an unprecedented $4.6 million to the New York City Police Foundation. The gift was the largest in the history of the foundation and will enable the New York City Police Department to strengthen security in the Big Apple. The money will pay for 1,000 new patrol car laptops, as well as security monitoring software in the NYPD's main data center.

This begs the question, how could JPMC’s intentions have been easily misconstrued to be something more sinister? To understand how a charitable act could be misinterpreted, it’s important to understand the mindset of the statist. Statists believe that people are inherently bad, and thus, must be coerced to do good (if they did not fundamentally believe this, there would be no point to their support for the use of force). Therefore, they believe that an act of charity (possible thanks to Capitalism), as evidenced by OWS and many of their supporters on the blogosphere, must be accompanied by a nefarious agenda. Their solution is State control, as evidenced by the protesters' signs calling for wealth redistribution from the rich to the poor via government force. Ironic, and inconsistent, with other signs amongst the group proclaiming to be in support of “Human Rights.” How can anyone take this group seriously?

It’s simply illogical to believe that JPMC’s donation was a bribe to police for an upcoming protest that was not even being planned or discussed at the time of the donation. Is there a time-machine nobody know’s about? It stands to reason that if JPMC did in fact feel threatened by OWS, they would have hired a private security firm to protect their property (as most businesses do anyway). But what strikes me most is that this accusation is not so much of harm to JPMC as it is to the integrity of the officers that are on the streets protecting the rights of all citizens. This is nothing less than an act of vengeance against an entire department for the potential (pending an investigation) misconduct towards a few demonstrators by a few officers. 

On a final note, the generosity exhibited by JPMC is nothing less than a simple demonstration of objectivism in practice, and goes to show a government solely limited to it's moral role of protecting individual rights could in fact be funded (contrary to the statist’s beliefs) in a non-coercive, voluntary way, especially by the rich and successful. The reality of the situation is, we all benefit from what JPMC has done. The NYPD now has more resources to combat crime and protect all of our rights. This act deserves nothing less than gratitude and commendation. 

(With that said, I want to extend my deepest apologies to the past, the present, and the future generations of this great nation and of this world, on behalf of my generation for its part in the OWS uprising. We, the ‘gimme’ generation who have had it so easy, who have been handed so much, instead of giving thanks, we demand more. We have now grown to be an insatiable parasite. May we one day be forgiven.)