CRUSHING OUR FREEDOM THROUGH FEAR WILL NOT WORK AGAIN

CRUSHING OUR FREEDOM THROUGH FEAR WILL NOT WORK AGAIN                          

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

The Coronavirus provided progressive leaders an opportunity to spin a crisis. The ultra-wealthy, pseudo scientists and political big brother figures were the first to “yell fire” in our nation. Covid-19 was falsely predicted to kill many millions worldwide and numerous millions in the United States. This prediction was widely wrong with more and more frightening predictions for this autumn. The greater the speculation that more deaths would occur from the virus, the greater the power of the scientific community to keep us in lock step following their dictates.

Even more revealing, much of the scientific evidence and practices for combating the virus have not demonstrated they have worked. Instead of admitting they were incorrect, they have dug deeper into non-scientific narratives to keep the United States’ citizens in panic of dying from Coronavirus. They decided to quarantine the general public, not only isolating the infected but quarantining even the uninfected. This is the first time in the history of pandemics that the healthy population was treated the same as the highly vulnerable members.

These bureaucratic elites want to confiscate our rights, our belief in our constitution and freedom to make choices. They view citizens as their subjects that should be controlled in all aspects of their lives. These so-called “deplorables” should be taught by criminal punishment to follow the rules developed by the elites, not use their own knowledge and judgment. This arrogant attitude of elites is repulsive and perilous to our nation. The progressives have built a powerful bureaucracy in the majority of our institutions that they believe is their right to exercise.

Americans are realizing their progressive leaders are after the power to control every aspect of our lives. These politicians are loving exercising their “fascist power” to pick winners and losers. Somehow it makes them feel more like emperors rather than just government representatives following the will of the people. Slowly but steadily more citizens are peacefully protesting by making their own choices, which are better for them and their families. US small business owners are disgusted with the nonsensical government restrictions and are resisting by challenging their unconstitutional mandates. There has not been any looting and rioting in these protests against this unconstitutional usurpation of power, but the protestors have been described by the leftist media as being aggressive agitators.

However, when the BLM crowds sprung up in cities throughout the USA the large crowds were tagged as “mostly peaceful” demonstrations.  But our eyes witnessed destruction of businesses, burning, looting, violence towards others, confiscation of police stations and seizing and ripping down our national monuments to erase our proud history. These demonstrators were anything but peaceful in contrast to the “end the lockdown” protests. Also, concern over spreading the virus were muted during the BLM protests.

The radical experiment of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights has demonstrated that the majority of citizen voices can keep us on a better course than any top down totalitarian governance. Capricious laws can intimidate people to follow them for a period of time. Although, in the long run, resentment towards repressive laws ignites the people to react. This repetitive cycle has been witnessed repeatedly in history and is now occurring in Hong Kong.  The Chinese leader, Xi, is brutally ending the necessary freedom of the advocates of a capitalist economy.

In the United States the Coronavirus epidemic, not a police action has been used by progressive governors and local state officials to employ rules and mandates to put fear in the hearts of law-abiding citizens. Progressives are not directly employing violent methods to establish compliance but subtle fear and using mob social disapproval as enforcement. They are playing with fire when they encourage mob rule. Many of the silent majority are standing up by spontaneous personal stances all over our country and are forcing many progressive governors and officials to retract their inexplicable restrictive decrees.

These civil peaceful statements show the average American citizen will not cower to progressive policies once they realize their leader’s underhanded intentions to bypass our constitution. New Jersey Governor Murray was asked whether his arbitrary edicts were constitutional as they restricted the freedoms of the people of his state. While smiling broadly, he glibly stated, “That is above my pay grade.” Even though as governor, he swore on the Bible to uphold our constitution. These arrogant elitist statements are no longer being overlooked as they are exposing these politicians’ true distain for our Constitutional Republic.

Americans of all political stripes should demand government officials abide by our constitutional law and quit playing “tin horn” dictator with law abiding citizens while acting like wimps with out-of-control anarchists and young naïve followers tagging along for excitement and a dangerous evening “happening.”

Patriotic Americans must continue to increase standing up for our way of life or we will lose it all.

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. Dr. Maglio is an author of weekly newspaper articles, INVASION WITHIN  and a recent book entitled, IN CHARGE PARENTING In a PC World. You can see many of Dr. Maglio’s articles at www.drmaglioblogspot.com.

FREEDOM TAKES DUTY, HONOR AND COURAGE

FREEDOM TAKES DUTY, HONOR AND COURAGE

By Domenick J. Maglio, PhD., Traditional Realist

It is easy to rely on others to take care of us.  Dependency takes less effort but as soon as the people caring for you are no longer willing or able, the circumstances of one’s life deteriorates. However, being accountable for your own life decisions takes energy and time. Learning to be independent and responsible minimizes the vulnerability of being helpless when facing the hard knocks of living.

Confronting and overcoming difficult situations in life takes courage. Many times people dealing with problems become immobilized due to fear of failure. Those with strong moral values are compelled by honoring their beliefs to do their duty regardless of the possible adverse affects. Practically every time people do a heroic act by putting their lives on the line to save someone else in civilian life or in combat, they usually express the same thing. They did what anyone else would do. It was their duty to assist the person in need. This is not phony humbleness. It is the thinking of an honorable individual.

When people are convinced they have a right to be free, anyone or anything that attempts to restrain or usurp that freedom immediately gives warning that there is something wrong. It might be a governmental bureaucrat who informs them that private property is no longer theirs to use. It may be a business that calls individuals day and night disregarding their privacy or billing them for services not rendered. It might be a professional’s office that makes appointments and keeps the clients waiting for hours. It might be an institution like education, health or military that treats people without dignity or respect.

People not only have a right but a responsibility to stand up regardless of the degree of hassle or retaliation. They should voice their objections about the inappropriateness of other’s actions. This tends to inhibit a person from continuing their obnoxious actions. Standing up to disrespect and discourteous behavior  protects others from suffering the same fate.

Even national leaders should have the honor and courage to go to war rather than to surrender to an overpowering tyrant. Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, inherited the unenviable position of being the leader of the British Empire. It was the only power left in Europe to fight for their freedom against Nazi Germany in WWII. Other less resolved nations were overwhelmed by the blitzing power of the German war machine.

Prime Minister Churchill refused to surrender to a superior armed force even after numerous devastating defeats. Churchill’s sense of duty to his nation led him to do incredible acts of valor. He put his life on the line taking long and secret dangerous trips across enemy positions to communicate personally with allied leaders. He made memorable speeches highlighting past heroic British people. He inspired the English people to face insurmountable odds and persevere to victory. The honor and duty of Englishmen emphasized by Churchill did not allow the people to be frightened into submission. He led his people every step of the way to endure the brutal extended periods of bombing of London and crushing defeats by the Nazis to retain their nation.

The responsibility of national leaders is to present a consistent disciplined, honest message to the citizenry. Churchill’s sincere, dignified behavior influenced the people to follow suit in their actions with others. The leader’s role modeling sets the tone of the nation.

The behavior of authority figures does influence the citizenry. The actions of the people rise to the high standard set by them. It is the duty of every citizen to insure being treated as a person with dignity. This requires conviction that overrides our fear of reprisal. In the same manner it takes vigilance to counter the small daily attacks on reducing our ability to think and do things we believe are in our best interest as long as they do not interfere with the rights of others.

When people believe they have the unalienable right to be free bestowed by their creator they rightfully resent individuals, groups or governments who limit their freedom. This powerful articulation from our founding fathers is one of the most important truths that have been the bedrock of America’s exceptionalism.

The enslavement might begin with political correctness by government leaders but the media, educational and business institutions will follow the leader in squelching people’s freedom.

Without courage to do the morally right things we gradually see our inherent freedoms evaporate one by one until we become docile sheeple living under tyranny.  As Edmond Burke warned us, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS NEED FREEDOM TO FULFILL THEIR MISSION

PRIVATE SCHOOLS NEED FREEDOM TO FULFILL THEIR MISSION

By Domenick J. Maglio, Ph.D.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, private school students do not primarily come from high socio-economic backgrounds. The image from the past of elitist private schools has been altered by the progressively dismal results of public education.

Using vouchers in the school choice movement has enabled many families with children who have significant academic and emotional difficulties to attend private schools.

Private education has had positive results with educating all types of students.  When private schools have been given the freedom and flexibility to run their own programs to meet the individual needs of children they do a significantly better job.

Hollywood star, Matt Damon who is a strong proponent of public schools, reluctantly admitted to the decline of public education. "The private school that I send my kids to is the thing closest to the public school that I went to that I could find. And that’s why I send my kids to private school. "

Common Core is being introduced to our school districts throughout the United States to reverse the academic slide. This decision will continue the decline of public school students. A segment of highly motivated, high socially-economic students will prosper but the majority of students will not be given sufficient time to mature before being stamped as failures. They are going to be seen as unfortunate casualties of the numbers game.

All students arrive at school with specific strengths and weaknesses. In private schools the administration can tailor-make the instruction for each student by creatively tweaking staff assignments and facility resources to be more efficient and effective in meeting the student’s unique needs.

These adjustments are done not for political advancement but for practical reasons to provide quality education to each student within the boundaries of the budget.. The hiring of additional staff and firing those who do not fit in is based on realistic and specific needs to meet the educational goal of increasing student performance.

Private schools do not want or cannot afford to change the entire program every few years to market the latest educational fad. The financial implications of the cost of new materials, equipment and training are prohibitive. They realize that a consistent structured environment provides a more encouraging and conducive environment for learning.

Most importantly, the owners of these schools have a strong mission that required them to put everything on the line to enter the business of education while competing with “free” taxpayer education.  Their philosophy of educating children gradually altered to meet the needs of a changing population.  In a real academic situation they learn what works for improving the performance of the students.

Private education will be devastated if they are forced to accept Common Core testing protocol to measure success. This in essence will cause private schools to abandon their freedom to be creative that produces high student performance. Private schools will become high priced carbon copies of the Common Core cookie cutter approach to education.

Parents have been disenfranchised in public/government school systems. They are powerless pawns in their child’s education.  They witness their child’s academic work primarily being directed towards a normative test with no recourse to change it. This is reversed in private school.  The private school, like any business, realizes the consumer has to be treated with respect and provided with a quality product or it will be fired by the parents. The decentralization of power into the hands of parents and students empowers them to become committed members of the school community they have chosen.

The uniting of parents with administration and teachers is the key element to providing an educational environment of excellence. The child knows there is no room to “play one against another.” Everyone stays on the same page, which focuses the child’s education on striving to be the best he can be.

The school community can produce miracles when everyone is working toward the same goals. The school head should have the freedom to make subtle or even more definitive adjustments on the steering wheel to keep on course. Students need a steady wind behind them to guide them toward the desired destination.

The freedom and power being in the hands of the person at the helm of the school, not in Washington, D.C., is essential for a private school to fulfill its mission of providing an optimal learning situation for each student.

Rights and Entitlement Rob the Spirit

RIGHTS AND ENTITLEMENTS ROB THE SPIRIT

By Domenick Maglio PhD Traditional Realist

A government to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have.

                                                            Thomas Jefferson

FDR believed and Obama believes that the government should and could provide guaranteed rights to its citizens. These rights will be granted without any responsibility preconditions, reservations or repayment. These rights were not endowed by our Creator as envisioned by our founding fathers. Instead they are decreed through the power of the government.  Thus any other government would have the same power to reinterpret and even deny any rights.

The rights that have been proposed are not limited to the following list. The right to a useful and well paying job or years of unemployment insurance, the right to adequate food and clothing, the right to vacations, the right to a substantial home, the right to a college education, the right to a spouse, a right to divorce, a right to abortion, a right to health care regardless of mistreating oneself.

Our founding father’s legacy was the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These rights are endowed by our Creator. They did not relieve citizens of being responsibly self-reliant. Instead they restricted the federal government’s power to maximize citizen’s freedoms. These learned men understood that people can better use their energies to provide for themselves than can any bureaucrat.

The USA has a $14.3 trillion debt and growing. We are on the brink of national bankruptcy. We have seen politicians from both parties make ridiculous promises but do not have the courage to lay out a plan to pay for them. Watch out for anyone whose promises sound too good because they usually are. The “smart “ politician grants a new give away program but makes sure the payment will kick in well after he is reelected or leaves office. Our country’s debt is placing our sovereignty in jeopardy due to the cowardice of our politicians. Jefferson stated that debt was the greatest danger to America’s survival. 

These entitlement programs, because of inefficiencies, unintended consequences and corruption always cause budgets to go beyond the original estimates. As more people are unable or unwilling to find employment the need for public assistance grows. Almost 50% of Americans receive some sort of government assistance. The “safety net” and other government handouts are becoming an acceptable way of existing in America. For a growing number of people working for a living will become of little value when taxes almost equal earnings.

Motivation to be industrious loses to idleness when people’s earnings are robbed by the government. When revenue from taxes falls with a drop in the number of people in the private sector and the dependency of more people on the dole, services are diluted to meet the higher demand. Quality and choice of services are inevitably limited by the reality of a dying economy.

The lines become longer, the services poorer and expectations become more fatalistic. Citizens are reluctant to give up their right to free services and learn to accept mediocrity. Week by week, month-by-month, year by year the spirit for life is sucked dry. They become hopeless and helpless.

People surrender their independence to better their lives for the miserable handouts they receive from government. Empty shelves, lack of choice and drabness become acceptable, the norm. Self-reliance and faith in God are replaced by a numbness of the spirit.

Some individuals somehow believe the answers to improve their lives rests with the government bureaucrats even though the government fails time after time to meet their promises. Propaganda, alcohol and drugs will increase to dull the pain. They lose the knowledge that they can accomplish anything they want as long as they are willing to pay the price.  There is little urge to be free.

This is the final step in the process of people willing to give up their freedom for false promises and security. It is not a forced slavery but it becomes slavery nevertheless.

Americans, wake up sooner rather then later. Socialism/communism makes for ungrateful, psychologically weak and spiritless citizens who have sold their souls to the government.

Dr. Maglio is the author of  Invasion Within and Essential Parenting.  He is a psychotherapist and the owner/director of Wider Horizons School.

Visit: www.drmaglio.com.