Americans Vote With Their Guns – My Decision About Owning Firearms

George Noga

In times and places where crime surges, gun sales skyrocket.

 

Americans Vote With Their Guns

My Decision About Owning Firearms

By: George Noga – September 27, 2020

In my post of May 17, 2020 (on our website), I wrote that I do not presently own a firearm but am reevaluating that position. I now have made my decision, revealed later in this post. First, let’s look at some astounding data about recent gun sales.

Gun sales in the USA are skyrocketing. March gun sales were up 85% year-over-year while April was up 71% and May was up over 80%. During June the FBI reported 3.9 million background checks, the highest monthly total since records have been kept. Gun purchases increased 136% over June 2019 and 40% were first-time gun buyers. Each week in June was in the top ten of all time gun sales. The trend continued in July with 3.6 million FBI checks and 1.8 million new gun sales, a 122% increase over July 2019. Of first-time gun buyers, 40% are women and sales to African Americans are up 58%. Thru July 2020 gun sales were 12,141,032 – nearly equal to all of 2019.

Crime Causes Guns – Not Vice Versa

The stale canard that guns cause crime needs to be put to rest for all time. Over the past few decades, the US homicide rate has fallen by 50%, despite an increase of 150 million guns and amidst a surge in open carry. Until recently, the US murder rate was the same as in 1950 and the ratio of homicides to guns fell by 70%. Guns prevent or stop crimes 3 million times each year. In Britain 45% of burglaries occur in occupied homes versus only 13% here. In the US, criminals know they may encounter an armed homeowner, whom they fear much more than the police.

Progressives blame crime on the presence of guns despite the overwhelming evidence contained in the preceding paragraph. They cite selective studies that show correlation (but not causation) between guns and crime. However, the causation just as plausibly works in the opposite direction, i.e. crime causes guns. When crime increases and people feel endangered, they are much more likely to buy firearms. That is precisely the phenomenon we are now experiencing with the 2020 gusher of gun sales.

A tidal wave of potential gun buyers, who were sitting on the fence, has decided en mass to buy firearms. They reached their decisions based on events of recent months including: (1) sustained riots, looting and mayhem in many cities; (2) violence spreading for the first time into the suburbs; (3) huge spikes in violent crime in scores of cities; (4) movements to defund police; (5) politicians who condone the violence; and (6) failure and uncertainty of police to provide protection. It is dead obvious to everyone but progressives that crime causes guns – not the other way around.

My Decision Whether Or Not To Buy Firearms

Although I always have been a strong supporter of gun rights, I have not owned a firearm since my .22 caliber rifle when I was a teenager. I never have felt the need to own guns, especially since I live in a walled, 24-hour security guarded area. Moreover, I do not relish the hassle of shopping for firearms, learning how to use and to maintain them, regular target practice and properly storing and safeguarding them. As a septuagenarian, I believed I never would need to reevaluate owning firearms.

Then everything changed. I no longer feel as secure in the suburbs. I am not sure I can count on law enforcement for protection. The mayhem America is experiencing seems to have no defined ending point. And, not inconsequentially, I may not be able to buy firearms after January 2021 if progressives take control of America.

My present calculus is that the hassles of owning firearms are far outweighed by the risks of not owning them. The worst possible predicament is to be in a situation where you desperately need a firearm but do not have one. It is akin to buying an insurance policy. Therefore, I will be buying firearms in the near future. Perhaps I will write a blog post about my experience buying and learning to use firearms.

Our next post October 4th addresses systemic racism in America.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Election 2020 Update – 40 Days Remaining

George Noga

Insights and analysis not found elsewhere: suppression polling and Biden’s fitness

 

Election 2020 Update – 40 Days Remaining

By: George Noga – September 23, 2020

This is a special midweek Election 2020 Update. Readers have clamored for MLLG’s take on two issues. First, our analysis of polling that shows Trump trailing. The Real Clear Politics average has him down 6-8 points. The second most frequently asked questions relate to Biden’s fitness. Both those issues are addressed herein. We will publish a final Election 2020 Update November 1st, two days before the election. Visit our website (www.mllg.us) to view prior election updates dated 2/9/20 and 7/20/20.

Suppression Polling

Nearly all polls, including those conducted by media, academia and major polling organizations, are neither independent nor intended to accurately inform you where the presidential race stands. They are ersatz polls, doctored up to discourage Trump supporters. These so-called suppression polls intentionally understate Trump support. Their theory is that Trump voters, believing the election lost, will become discouraged and fail to vote. Following is our MLLG guide for understanding the polls.

First, Trump lost the 2016 popular vote by 2+ points but still won. Second, polls understate Trump’s support by a minimum of 2 points due to overrepresentation of Democrats and reluctance of Trump voters to reveal their true preference to pollsters. Third, add another point (minimum) to Trump to offset the effect of suppression. The total is a minimum of 5 points that Trump’s prospects for victory are understated.

Let’s postulate that polls show Biden 54% and Trump 46%, i.e. Biden is up 8 points. Now, shift 2 points from Biden to Trump to account for the understated support for Trump and overstated support for Biden; the adjusted poll is Biden 52%, Trump 48%. Next, shift 1 point from Biden to Trump to account for suppression; the results become Biden 51% and Trump 49%. But remember, Trump can lose the popular vote by 2 points and still win; hence, the final adjusted poll results show the race a dead heat. Of course, the margin of error – usually 3-5 points – must also be considered.

Polls always tighten before the election as pollsters, protecting their reputations for accuracy, transition away from suppression polling.

National polls are of less value than state and demographic polls. Currently, Trump has a realistic chance to flip Minnesota and Nevada from 2016 but may give back Wisconsin. Trump is substantially outperforming 2016 among black and Hispanic voters but is hemorrhaging support among suburban voters – particularly women. The debates could prove dispositive, especially in light of persistent doubts about Biden’s fitness. The effect of the recent Supreme Court opening still is an unknown. All things considered, the race appears very tight – despite what the polls show.

Questions About Joe Biden’s Fitness

I take no pleasure writing about Biden’s mental health, but there it is – in plain sight for all to see. It is the 900-pound gorilla in the room. Even his most ardent supporters no longer can ignore his many episodes of incoherence. With an assist from Occam’s Razor, the most likely (and perhaps only) explanation is that: (1) Biden has dementia; (2) he is being treated by a physician; (3) he is taking medication; and (4) his very limited public appearances are carefully managed to avoid a meltdown.

The explanation offered above is consistent with many known facts. Trump has called for drug tests prior to the debates as he believes Biden is on medication. In fact, an injection of a stimulus drug before the debates can ameliorate the effects of dementia. Biden is tightly scripted in public and relies on earbuds and teleprompters to answer questions from friendly media lobbing softball questions. As caregivers know, those with dementia have good days and bad days. On his bad days, Biden’s staff shields him from public view and shuts down the campaign. The complicit media ask no questions.

It will be exceedingly difficult to mask Biden’s condition and to avert disaster for 40 more days, which include three presidential debates. All it will take is one brief episode at the wrong time to sink his campaign. And even some of Biden’s good days are problematic. Then there is Kamala Harris waiting in the wings.

Next up: I reveal my decision about buying firearms.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

President Biden or President Trump . . . Whoever Wins Should Not Really Matter

George Noga

Who is President of the United States should have little effect on our lives.

President Biden or President Trump . . .

Whoever Wins Should Not Really Matter

By: George Noga – September 20, 2020

For America’s first 200 years, whoever was elected president was largely irrelevant because he had little power over our lives or that of our neighbors. This is as our founders intended. The Constitution grants government only a few limited and enumerated powers and contains many checks and balances against the concentration and abuse of power. Government’s purpose was to protect our liberty. Who was on the school board, mayor or governor mattered much more than who was president.

Until a few decades ago government stayed mostly inside its constitutional box; whoever held office made little difference in our lives. Presidents exercised limited power and vetoed unconstitutional laws. Congress did not cede power to armies of unelected bureaucrats and the judiciary was largely apolitical. States jealously guarded their rights as part of a federalist republic. The media held government accountable. Ordinary citizens wielded power to convene grand juries and to nullify unpopular laws. Finally, Americans regarded liberty as a priceless jewel and voted accordingly.

How did we get from a Constitution of limited government to one that dictates which rest room we use and how much water is in our toilets? How did we get to a president who declares he will stop the rise of oceans? How did we get to a congress that passes unread 2,000 page laws in the dead of night? How did we get to a hyper-political judiciary that conjures new rights from thin air? How did we get to millions of bureaucrats and 200,000 pages of regulations? How did we get to neutered states, a statist media and a populace that meekly accepts all these horrors?

The answers are both sad and predictable. Per Jefferson, “It is the natural order of things for government to gain and liberty to yield”. Capitalism has made Americans so rich we forgot the source of our liberty and prosperity and it has sown the seeds of its own destruction. Per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Americans have transcended basic needs and achieved material prosperity. This allows people the security to indulge in risk-free political witchcraft. Any society with psychologists for its pets is one that has badly lost its perspective. Like Esau, we sold our birthright for a bowl of stew.

Unfortunately, who we elect president in November will profoundly affect our lives. Presidents have transmogrified into kings, wielding enormous unchecked power unthinkable for the first 200 years of our republic. Americans once saved most of their passion for religion; now politics has largely supplanted religion. We view elections as contests between good and evil rather than as ones of policy. Everything in our lives has become politicized, including science, religion, news and education. We have come to regard those with whom we disagree as not merely wrong, but as devils.

American democracy is caught in a hyper-partisan death spiral. Winning at all costs threatens our constitutional foundation and the rule of law. The quest for immediate electoral victory is coming at the cost of long-term stability, such as by eliminating the filibuster, which has stood as a bulwark for moderation for nearly 200 years. The dehumanization of our political adversaries sanctions increasingly extreme behavior.

Our liberty is a priceless jewel of eternal and inestimable value. However, its setting has become badly tarnished. We must dedicate ourselves to restoring its original luster and grandeur to that worthy of the gem of incalculable value it holds. If we succeed, one day in the future who becomes president will again have little effect on our lives.

Next on September 27th, I reveal my decision about buying firearms.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Can the Constitution Survive Progressivism?

George Noga

The Constitution is 233 years old Thursday – but will we be able to keep it?

Can the Constitution Survive Progressivism?

By: George Noga – September 13, 2020

Happy Constitution Day Thursday! The Declaration of Independence established the moral foundation of the United States and the unalienable rights of man. It proclaimed that governments are instituted among men to secure those rights. The raison d’etre of the Constitution is to protect those rights which, for 233 years, it has accomplished through an ingenious system of checks, balances and separation of powers.

Liberty is not the natural condition of mankind. Since we quit living in trees, 115 billion homo sapiens have trod this earth, of which fewer than 1% lived lives of liberty. Constant vigilance is needed to protect freedom; Benjamin Franklin recognized this when he warned, “A republic, if you can keep it”. The words of any constitution are only as good as the will of the people to enforce them. Following are excerpts from the constitution of another country – see if you can you guess which one?

  • Article 64: The state shall effectively guarantee genuine democratic rights and liberties as well as the material and cultural well-being of its citizens.

  • Article 66: All citizens age 17 and over have the right to elect and to be elected, irrespective of sex, race, occupation, party affiliation, political views or religion.

  • Article 67: Citizens are guaranteed freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, demonstration and association and free activity of political parties.

  • Articles 68-70: Citizens have freedom of religious beliefs, are entitled to submit complaints and petitions and have the right to work.

  • Articles 72-79: Citizens are free to engage in scientific, literary and artistic pursuits. They shall have the right to reside in and travel to any place. Citizens are guaranteed inviolability of the person, home and privacy of correspondence.

Liberty is one of the most fragile things ever created by the hand of man and is never more than one generation away from extinction. As President Ronald Reagan said: “We don’t pass (freedom) to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on to them to do the same.” People get just one shot at freedom; those who had it and lost it, are unlikely ever to have it again.

The biggest threat to our liberty today is progressivism. If they gain unchecked power, as they could in 2021, they vow to abolish the filibuster, pack the Supreme Court, admit DC and Puerto Rico as states, abolish the Electoral College and impose national mail in voting combined with vote harvesting. They pledge open borders, citizenship for illegal aliens, gun control and abolition of free speech via hate speech laws. They aim to eviscerate the Constitution to achieve power and to maintain it in perpetuity.

Progressives will abolish 233 years of freedom because they believe they know what’s best for everyone and are willing to shred the Constitution to achieve it. The words of our Constitution, no matter how mellifluous, won’t protect Americans from tyranny any more than the words of the constitution excerpted previously in this post protect the citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea.

On September 20th, I reveal my decision whether or not to buy firearms.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Will the 2020 Election Be America’s Last?

George Noga

The progressive plan to permanently control the United States

Will the 2020 Election Be America’s Last?

By: George Noga – September 6, 2020

Should Democrats take full control of government in the 2020 election, they plan to hold onto power in perpetuity; they intend for 2020 to be the last election in the United States. Americans will continue to vote in show elections just as they do in Russia, Belarus and Cuba, but the results will be preordained. Following are the elements of the progressive plan for permanent control of the United States of America.

Statehood for DC, PR, Others: They will make DC and Puerto Rico states immediately, resulting in 4 new Dem senators and 6-7 new electoral votes. Republicans would then need 53 of the original 100 seats to control the senate. If necessary, Dems will also make Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Marianas states.

Pack Supreme Court: Progressives will add as many new justices as necessary to gain a majority. This can be accomplished in a matter of days by simple majority votes.

Abolish Electoral College: This requires a constitutional amendment, but a packed Supreme Court could green-light it anyway, paving the way for a popular vote.

National Popular Vote: With the Electoral College kaput, there would be a national popular vote including vote by mail, vote harvesting and massive fraud in deep blue states. The federal government would wrest control of elections from the states.

Abolish Filibuster: New laws could be enacted in mere hours; any wacky progressive idea could become law without checks, balances or guardrails.

This is not idle speculation. Democrats publicly support every

one of the policies listed herein – perhaps except social credits.

Massive Expansion of Voting: Citizenship for illegal aliens could add upward of 20 million votes; open borders would add millions more. Progressives will enable felons, including those incarcerated, to vote. They will expand the franchise to nearly 10 million 16-17 year olds. All these cohorts will vote Democrat by humongous margins.

Abolish Freedom of Speech: So-called hate speech laws will be enacted to criminalize communications that offend liberal sensibilities. Straight out of George Orwell, progressives will use the threat of hate speech to stifle opposing political speech.

Eliminate School Choice: All forms of school choice, including charters and vouchers, will be abolished. Government schools, run by unions and bureaucrats, will dutifully turn our (now voting) children into automatons indoctrinated in progressive dogma.

Social Credits: The capstone of progressive control will be a system of universal basic income (UBI) linked to social credits – such as now being used by the Chicoms. The amount of a person’s social credits (based on obeisance to progressive diktats) determines the amount of UBI, access to health care, education and other benefits.

If progressives control government, all the above can be placed in effect immediately. They could add 40 million new voters – heavily Democrat. Progressives publicly advocate for every one of the above policies, except maybe social credits. Even if only some of the policies are enacted, it would be enough to turn the USA into Venezuela or Zimbabwe. The 2020 election could very well be the last election in America!

Next on September 13th is our inimitable take on Constitution Day
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Without Remembrance There Can Be No Redemption – 75th Anniversary of Japanese Surrender

George Noga

“The secret of redemption lies in remembrance.” (former German president)

Without Remembrance There Can Be No Redemption

75th Anniversary of Japanese Surrender

By: George Noga – August 30, 2020

Wednesday marks 75 years since Japan’s WWII surrender. It is fair to ask if Japan has behaved in a manner during the past three-quarters of a century to deserve redemption for its atrocities. This is a post I wish didn’t have to be written and I take no satisfaction in publishing it, but it must be written and presented to a candid world.

Most everyone agrees Germany and Italy, our other WWII enemies, merit redemption. They have atoned for their war crimes in many ways. They have accepted responsibility for their heinous acts. They do not deny their forebears’ crimes and teach WWII history honestly to their children. Today’s German and Italian youth regard the Nazis and Fascists as dishonored, demented comical caricatures.

Japan’s World War II Atrocities

Most Americans are aware that Japan tortured our POWs, used slave labor and forced young Korean girls, euphemistically called comfort women, into sexual slavery. They may have heard about The Rape of Nanking, but don’t know what took place there. Yet these aforementioned atrocities are just a few episodes in a long, shameful train of racism, genocide, massacres, holocausts and ethnic cleansings by the Empire of Japan.

Nanking was particularly gruesome. Over a period of six weeks, the Japanese butchered 200,000 unarmed POWs, another 50,000 male civilians and raped 80,000 young girls and women, often mutilating them in the process. They forced parents to kill their children (and vice versa) and committed other acts too sordid for me to recount herein. They had no remorse because they regarded Chinese as subhuman.

Japanese atrocities are too numerous to catalogue; they include the Bataan Death March, massacres in Shanghai and Hong Kong and the Yellow River flood, where they destroyed dikes and murdered one million civilians. Just during Japan’s occupation of the Philippines, there were 72 documented massacres leaving over 120,000 dead; the list includes Laha Airfield, Bangka Island, Parit, Sulong, Tol Plantation, Balikapan, Chekiang, Sandakan Death March, Truk, Pingfan and over forty more massacres.

Japan’s Response to the Atrocities

Japan did not apologise for the Rape of Nanking until 2013, or 76 years after the fact. Not until 2015 and only after decades of lawsuits did Japan apologize for its slave labor. It took Japan 73 years to publicly admit its sexual slavery of young Korean girls. To make all of these apologises, Japan had to be bludgeoned, kicking and screaming; they made them only under extreme duress and they were pro forma and insincere.

In willful and flagrant disregard of the unambiguous historical record, the Japanese people remain in denial. They refuse to teach in their schools about the Rape of Nanking and exclude it from their history books. On the rare occasions it is brought up, they say it involved only a few rogue soldiers. They persist in ignoring, downplaying, and obfuscating their record of atrocities. They remain a racist nation today; any Japanese who is even just one-sixteenth Korean is treated like scum. Unlike German and Italian youth, they still revere, and even worship, their WWII ancestors instead of regarding them as the demented, perverted, genocidal butchers they really were.

If the secret of redemption truly lies in remembrance, Japan has failed miserably. To anyone who now wants to give Japan redemption, my response is straightforward. Remember Pearl Harbor! Remember the Bataan Death March! Remember the Rape of Nanking! Remember the POW camps! Remember the 100 or more other Japanese atrocities about which that nation has a 75 year case of national amnesia!

The Japanese people do not deserve redemption until their collective memory improves and until they learn and acknowledge the truth about their ancestors.

Our September 6th, we list the lessons taught by the coronavirus.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Progressives Okay Child Labor For Green Energy

George Noga

Statehood for the District of Columbia? Not so fast!

Progressives Okay Child Labor For Green Energy

By: George Noga – August 23, 2020

Microtopics: In our post of 8/30/17 we presciently wrote, “Tearing down Robert E. Lee statues is the camel’s nose under the tent. Does anyone doubt where this ultimately is heading – Stone Mountain, Mount Rushmore, etc.”. . . . Those who consternate about money in politics need to remember Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer. They spent a billion dollars and all they have to show for it is American Samoa. . . . . . It’s getting better all the time. The decade of the 2010s brought vast reductions in poverty, hunger and disease. Extreme poverty fell from 18% to 8%; life expectancy increased 3 years; and half the people in the world are now middle class. . . . . During this same time, the annual growth rate in Europe was 0.9% versus an historically low 2.0% in the USA. Sales (VAT) and payroll taxes in Europe are 2 to 3 times higher than in America.

Progressives for child labor: Democrats in the House recently passed a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that is a gigantic pork fest. An amendment was proposed to prohibit child labor in the mining of rare earth minerals needed to fund the charging stations for the electric buses mandated by the legislation. Every Democrat on the committee voted against the amendment. When you are trying to save the earth from fossil fuel, it apparently is okay to use young children in the mines of Zambia and the Congo.

Statehood for DC – not so simple: The House voted, strictly along party lines, to grant statehood to the District of Columbia and thus guarantee 2 new Democrat senators. This is part of the progressive plan to govern in perpetuity without any checks and balances. If they gain control of government in the 2020 elections, this is sure to pass in 2021. Normally, statehood requires passage only by simple majorities in Congress and signature by the president. Unfortunately for Dems, this does not apply to DC as it violates the 23rd Amendment. Dems propose to repeal the 23rd Amendment, but that requires a 2/3 vote in Congress plus ratification by 38 states. Good luck with that.

Antifa versus John Stuart Mill: Antifa believes in shutting down all opponents – with violence if necessary. Contrast this with Mill who wrote in On Liberty: “He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion. . . . . Nor is it enough that he should hear the arguments of adversaries from his own teachers . . . He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them, who defend them in earnest, and who do their utmost for them.”

MLLG government reforms: (1) Move most federal agencies out of Washington and closer to the people. Move Agriculture to Iowa, Interior to Montana, Energy to Texas, etc. (2) Require federal employees and Congress to send their children to public schools in Washington. (3) Eliminate/reform civil service to enable firing bureaucrats. (4) Make Congress and federal employees prepare their own tax returns. (5) Require Congressmen to notify the next of kin of soldiers from their district killed in battle.

Non-Renewable energy lasts forever: If something is finite, it must eventually run out. If something is renewable, it can never run out. However counter-intuitive, both the preceding statements are wrong. Markets use price signals; as prices rise, people are incentivized to curtail use, recycle, seek substitutes and find new sources. Energy and other resources are not finite in any meaningful economic sense. As time goes on and population soars, minerals are becoming more – not less – plentiful. Try as I might, I can not find even one natural resource that ever has been depleted; can you? It is possible however for renewables to run out, e.g. rivers can run dry, obviating dams.

Montana Moment: I am in Montana for the summer. While hiking among pristine mountains, streams and fields, I ran into God. I was taken aback, but summoned the temerity to ask what he was doing in Montana. He replied, “I am working from home”.

On August 30th we reflect on the 75th anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

MLLG Book Review – Apocalypse Never by Michael Shellenberger

George Noga

Apocalyptic environmentalism is the dominant secular religion of elites.

MLLG Book Review

Apocalypse Never by Michael Shellenberger

By: George Noga – August 16, 2020

This is only the second book review I have published in 13 years. For inquisitive minds, the first was The Secret Knowledge by David Mamet (still an excellent read); that post was so long ago, it is not on our website. For bracing summer reading, while sheltering from coronavirus, you can do no better than Apocalypse Never, published by Harper and available from Amazon as an e-book for $14.99. A more in-depth review published by The Wall Street Journal also is available online.

As you may infer by my posting a book review, Apocalypse Never is one of the best books I have read in years. It appeals to everyone regardless of their beliefs about climate change and the environment. Michael Shellenberger is a lifelong, unabashed green activist; nevertheless, I found myself agreeing with everything he wrote. No matter where you stand on climate/environmental issues, this book is a must read!

Michael Shellenberger is singularly qualified to write this book. He became a green activist while a teenager, raising money for the Rainforest Action Network. Time magazine named him a “Hero of the Environment”. In 2008 he won the “Green Book Award” for science writing. In 2002 he proposed the New Apollo Project, a precursor of the Green New Deal, which garnered $150 billion from the Obama Administration.

He has campaigned to promote renewable energy, stop global warming and numerous other environmental causes. His publication credits include The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post to name a few. In 2019 the UN-IPCC invited him to be an expert reviewer of its next assessment report. In January 2020 he testified before Congress about the state of climate science. In short, Shellenberger may be the most qualified person on this planet to write about environmentalism.

The final chapter in his book, False Gods for Lost Souls, is the most poignant; in that chapter, Shellenberger posits that: “Environmentalism today is the dominant secular religion of the educated, upper-middle-class elite. . . . It provides a new story about our collective and individual purpose. It designates good guys and bad guys, heroes and villains. And it does so in the language of science, which provides it legitimacy. . . . Apocalyptic environmentalism . . . has replaced God with nature. Under apocalyptic environmentalism, sin stems from our failure to adjust to nature, rather than to God.

Shellenberger goes on: “Secular people are attracted to apocalyptic environmentalism because it meets some of the same psychological and spiritual needs as Judeo-Christianity and other religions. Apocalyptic environmentalism gives people a purpose: to save the world from climate change, or some other environmental disaster. It provides people a story that casts them as heroes. . . . at the same time, apocalyptic environmentalism does all this while retaining the illusion among its adherents that they are people of science and reason, not superstition and fantasy.”

Apocalypse Never excels at blending science, research data, history of the green movement, biopics of its leaders and his personal observations from extensive travels around the globe. He masterfully fuses gripping vignettes about real people in third world countries on the front lines of the environmental crises du jour. His unbiased and incisive logic in dissecting issues at the heart of climate change is a tour de force. Make no mistake, Shellenberger remains a committed environmental advocate, but one whose ideas are worthy of respect from those on all sides of the issues.

The author concludes by offering hope – an incredibly rare commodity in these days of doom and gloom about climate change and the environment. Shellenberger demonstrates that most of the fear mongering about climate change is wrong and that there is more reason for optimism than pessimism about the environment.

Our next post August 23rd is about DC statehood and several other topics.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Hiroshima and Nagasaki – 75 Years Later

George Noga

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (Santayana)

Hiroshima and Nagasaki – 75 Years Later

By: George Noga – August 9, 2020

Today is the 75th anniversary of the US attack on Nagasaki while August 6th marked 75 years since Hiroshima. This post reexamines the justification and morality of using atomic weapons on Japan and includes top secret US war plans for the invasion of Japan declassified only a few years ago. Watch for our related post, scheduled for August 30th, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Japan’s surrender.

We begin with some context and perspective. The casualties for Hiroshima were 65,000 and for Nagasaki 45,000. The US bombing of Tokyo had 100,000 casualties, the allied bombing of Hamburg 50,000 and the Battle of Stalingrad 1,500,000. The battle of Dukla Pass, which few Americans know about, had 200,000 casualties. During Japan’s Rape of Nanking (China) they brutally slaughtered 300,000 civilians, triple the atomic casualties in Japan. During all of WWII, 80,000,000 people perished.

As time passes, American attitudes are changing. In 1945 Americans overwhelmingly supported use of atomic bombs; recent surveys show such support vastly diminished. Today’s progressives assert the use of atomic bombs on Japan was racist and genocidal. A few years ago US plans for the invasion of Japan (Operation Downfall) were declassified and they provide compelling evidence that, without using atomic bombs, there would have been 4 million additional casualties – 2 million Japanese, 1 million American and 1 million Chinese, as Japan’s war in China was still raging. Following are two excerpts from the Operation Downfall war plans.

  • General MacArthur estimated 1 million US casualties; his staff believed they would be much higher. In the initial stages, 1,000 Americans per hour would die.
  • Japan had over 20 million men remaining in its combat forces; for the first time in the war, Americans would be vastly outnumbered.

Were the atomic attacks on Japan justified; were they moral; were they racist; were they genocidal? The A-bombs saved at least 4 million lives, 2 million of which (by their own estimate) were Japanese. Atomic casualties represented 14 one hundredths of one percent of all WWII casualties, 7% of those at Stalingrad and were about equal to those from the conventional bombing of Tokyo. The unarmed Chinese civilians (considered subhuman by the Japanese) gruesomely and sadistically slaughtered by the Japanese during the Rape of Nanking were triple Japan’s atomic casualties.

Wouldn’t it have been immoral not to use atomic bombs to save 4 million lives and to avert the biggest bloodbath in the annals of warfare on this planet? The real genocidal racists were Japanese. Those who America (regrettably) interned during the war were treated humanely, while the Japanese committed unspeakable atrocities against the Chinese, Koreans and even American POWs. Many Americans, especially the young, ignorant of the past, are influenced by revisionist progressive claptrap.

Hopefully, this posting puts America’s use of atomic weapons in the proper context. Pass this post on to your children and grandchildren should they have any doubts about the morality of dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Don’t miss our post in two weeks (August 30th) commemorating the 75th anniversary of the surrender of Japan on the USS Missouri. It analyzes the question of whether or not Japan – 75 years after the war – is deserving of redemption for its WWII atrocities?

Next on August 16th, we review Apocalypse Never, an environmental blockbuster.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Changes Afoot at MLLG – Truth and Denial in America

George Noga

Mokita: Truths everyone knows but pretends don’t exist and agrees not to talk about.

Changes Afoot at MLLG
Truth and Denial in America
By: George Noga – August 2, 2020

I will get to truth and denial in America – but first news about changes at the MLLG blog. The most noticeable changes are to the format; I have made our posts easier to read by enlarging the font and adding more space between lines. All links are activated and you are one click away from emailing me, adding a name to my email list and visiting my website, including direct links to prior posts referenced within a posting. Please email me with your questions or comments and I will respond as needed.

I am grateful for your prolific forwarding of my posts, but therein lies a problem. I have had up to four generations of forwards, i.e. the original recipient forwards it to several people who then forward it to others, and so on. One reader can thus be responsible for 100 or more forwards. However, if any one of these 100 should hit the “unsubscribe” link, it is you, the original recipient, who is unsubscribed. I have addressed this with Constant Contact but there is nothing they can do. Please continue to forward, but if you stop receiving my emails, go to our website to resubscribe.

I am making one substantive change to content. My posts tend to follow a set pattern: I describe a problem or issue and marshall relevant data and logic to analyze it. I strive to present a fact-based, principled perspective you do not see elsewhere. It has worked well for the past 13 years and many of my posts will continue this approach. However, beginning in September/October you also will see a new approach that addresses the most weighty issues of our time in a less formulaic and more provocative manner. Thanks again to all my loyal readers and supporters. The best is yet to come!

Truth and Denial in America

English is a prolific language with one million words, of which 200,000 are in active use. This is far more than any other language. Yet there is no English word for a commonly understood truth that isn’t talked about. The people of Papua New Guinea have just such a word; mokita is a universally acknowledged truth that everyone pretends doesn’t exist and is never discussed. There are many mokitas in America.

Truth is no less true when it is unpopular, politically incorrect or even offensive. Realities exist despite what we want them to be, despite what PC may dictate and despite suppression. Subordination of objective reality to political diktats is a central tenet of totalitarianism and progressivism. In the end however, objective reality, unlike progressive denials, doesn’t go away when people stop believing in it.

As often is the case, Winston Churchill said it best: “The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it, ignorance may deride it, malice may distort it, but there it is.” Progressivism is a denial of objective reality and exists only when truth is suppressed.

Mokita is present whenever truth yields to power or fear of reprisal yields to political correctness. Anyone who utters a mokita, by speaking a known truth, is savaged by the progressive mob, not because they are wrong but because they violated a mokita.

Next week’s post is about the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us