On a micro economic level, individual A who has a large family, buys a large vehicle to transport said family to school, work, the store, an environmental rally, wherever.  Added to the cost of the vehicle is a “carbon offset fee”, added by the producer of said vehicle so that the producer can buy “carbon offset credits”.  Let us say that individual A has religious and personal beliefs that lead said individual to have a large family.  Individual B does not have a large family and buys a small vehicle without a “carbon offset fee” because said individual does not share individual A’s beliefs.  Individual B’s vehicle is, in effect, subsidized by Individual A and Individual A is being forced to subsidize B’s vehicle because of his beliefs.  That is simply not allowable in a free society.  Furthermore, the producer of the vehicles does not have to reduce its overall CO2 emissions because it simply passes the cost of the “carbon credits” it acquires onto Individual A.

Rather than force people to subsidize others through “carbon credits” and other schemes, I have a more effective solution; those who are concerned about the level of CO2 released into the atmosphere should lead by example.  Since almost everything a living human does releases CO2 into the atmosphere from breathing to traveling to eating food which is grown, harvested and transported using petroleum products, I suggest that those individuals reduce their emissions of CO2 to zero immediately.  The proper application of arsenic, selenium, strychnine or lead ought to do the trick.  Those of us who remain can go out and plant some shrubbery.  Without those who wish us to reduce our CO2 output emitting CO2 there should be a reduction in CO2 in the atmosphere and with the additional plants the planet can be saved.

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Now I realize that there are those who will say, “Doug, these ideas are old and outdated and besides Ayn Rand was a nutter.”  To them I would say that there are certain principles which are timeless, one of which is the preservation of individual liberty.  Furthermore, I would argue that the furtherance of individual liberty should be the object of any enlightened society  and that the current trend toward collectivization is not a step forward but retrograde movement toward slavery and totalitarianism.  As free individuals we should not be dependent on the state, instead we should solve what ever problems may arise through individual action or voluntary association, if necessary.  If we depend on the state, we become its slave and we sacrifice that liberty which is our birthright and for which so many American lives have been sacrificed.  We squander our inheritance and like Esau sell that which should be most valuable to us for a mess of pottage, the false security of a state taking care of us.

Perhaps the leadership of the Democratic party should listen to the words of Vice-president Biden, it IS patriotic to pay taxes, especially if you are an elected or appointed servant feeding at the public trough.  The arrogance toward the “common classes” currently on display in Washington DC is exactly what doomed the ancien regime in France.  Perhaps it is time we had a little rebellion again.  After all it was the founder of the Democratic Party who famously said:

“God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. … What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”

Perhaps it is time we resisted and held those we elect to be accountable for their actions.  After all, it was years of government waste and mis-management that got the United States and several of the individual states into the current political, economic and fiscal messes that they are in, perhaps it is time for some real change.  We can start by not re-electing a single incumbent to local, state or federal office.  If that doesn’t provide enough change, then perhaps a little rebellion is called for.