Why I’m here instead of some superstar is one of those anomalies that defies explanation. But allow me to congratulate you on earning your degrees.
Almost without exception, a college commencement speaker is a high achiever whose mere presence will tell graduates making it big is possible. The message they deliver varies widely in details and tone, but there are some common lines of thought among the most popular. Let’s look at a few of them:
- Steve Jobs, Stanford University, 2005: “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
- Ellen DeGeneres, Tulane University, 2009: “It was so important for me to lose everything because I found out what the most important thing is, is to be true to yourself.”
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Wellesley College, 2015 (I really like this one): “Do not twist yourself into shapes to please. Don’t do it. If someone likes that version of you—that version of you that is false and holds back—then they actually just like that twisted shape, and not you.”
And one more:
- Michael Keaton, Kent State University, 2018: “You have to take risks. . . . Make mistakes, take chances. . . . And what that will lead to is self-discovery, and it will lead you back to your natural authentic self.”
Do you detect an individualist theme in these passages? “You” permeates their messages. Be true to yourself. Don’t try to be someone you’re not.
Your school probably encouraged the opposite of what these speakers said.
They encouraged groupthink, meaning go along to get along—there is no “I” in “team,” you’re reminded. Make sure your group is diverse, not in thought, but racially, sexually, and culturally. Where did that nonsense come from?
Your opponent, you’ve heard, is capitalism. Can any of you tell me what capitalism is? Probably not. But capitalism—we hear—is the great evil, even if it’s the reason most of you are sitting here today.
Capitalism delivers the goods, okay? Those goods can promote civilization or lead to its decline. You get to choose. But choose with your head, not your skin color or sex.
Whether they know it or not, the speakers I quoted are encouraging a mindset that could lead to capitalist production—get out there and take risks, be true to yourself. Provide people with more and better products. Don’t be another Steve Jobs. Be yourself and do better.
The political establishment is counting on you to treat the speakers’ messages as bromides. Easy to forget. But the speakers are people who have been in the trenches and came out on top. They might be bromides to someone else, but they’re heartfelt to them.
Anyone trying to get ahead in this world faces a reality dominated by politics. Another way of saying that is government increasingly encroaches on our lives. Or you could just say government is corrupt.
Thomas Paine—remember him? American History 101. His pamphlet Common Sense ignited a drive for secession. Paine fought corruption throughout his life. In a footnote to his book Rights of Man he wrote, “It is scarcely possible to touch on any subject, that will not suggest an allusion to some corruption in governments.” In other words, government is not only corrupt, it’s thoroughly corrupt. He wrote that in the late eighteenth century.
Ok, that was then. What about today?
In 2016, the late law professor and author Butler Shaffer asked if the inflation, wars, torture, looting, genocides, and endless levels of taxation are what you would consider “indispensable elements of a sane, decent, free, and productive society?”
If your answer is no, if you think people are capable of much better, then listen up.
Governments control us in blatant and subtle ways but mostly by controlling the information we get and the money we use. Many of the horrors we see every day have their origins in bad information and bad money. The legacy media has become an Orwellian Ministry of Truth. Money has been fiat currency they create from nothing, much like a child playing make-believe but with devastating results.
It’s a racket, of course, a racket that favors government and its close friends.
When you have lies issued under the heading of truth and money that government created out of nothing through its hired hand and fall guy the central bank, you have a society on the road to collapse. You have the wars, inflation, genocides, looting, and every other horror Paine and Butler fought against.
What can you do about this? I mean each of you sitting here waiting to take the stage—what can you do? Is it too unpleasant to think about? Is it too deeply entrenched to uproot?
Not if you’re a fighter. Are there any fighters out there? Raise your hands, please. Or better yet, stand up.
Okay, fighters, keep in mind two things:
First, understand that governments today are all counterfeiters. If you don’t believe it, take that as your assignment to prove. Governments are counterfeiters. They are printing money without any commodity backing. It amounts to trading something for nothing. Did they ask you if they could do this? Of course not. Why would they—it’s theft. But they call it monetary policy. Monetary policy today is counterfeiting.
If we had a free market in money, monetary policy would cease to exist.
Every state today has a central bank to do its dirty work. The people who determine the money supply for over 340 million Americans have stellar educations. They’re the “best and the brightest.” Truly.
But they don’t know what they’re doing. They’ve accepted the premise that a growing economy needs an expanding money supply. Consequently, they see counterfeiting as a positive force, as long as they’re the only ones doing it. If you or I get caught trying it, off to prison we go. Counterfeiters don’t like competition. And a counterfeiter with a legal monopoly on violence can penalize anyone else who tries it. Governments and their pals reap great benefits from counterfeiting—at our expense. That’s the first thing to remember.
Second, people need to hear the truth. Yet, truth is government’s enemy, as seen in their efforts to suppress it. Therefore, it controls outlets through which information passes to make sure what we get is within the range of its approved narratives. These outlets include the mainstream media, churches, and schools, almost all of which have been drafted as junior partners.
Think of them as the proverbial pipers that the government pays. Government gets to call the tune, only in this case government is doing it with our money.
How many of you took an economics class and were told government is a counterfeiter? Maybe they mentioned an “inflation tax” but I doubt they called it counterfeiting—which is how they create the inflation tax. It’s prudent not to call it counterfeiting if you’re on the take from government. And who isn’t these days? Government calls the tune, and it doesn’t like being called a counterfeiter.
Remember those two points: Information and money. Lies, distortions, and counterfeiting are the bread and butter of today’s government.
Now, how to fight. In your everyday lives, make a point of speaking out whenever you can. In spite of attempts to censor it, the World Wide Web is still a welcome recipient of truth in many cases. Find those places and get your message out. Don’t pull your punches. Don’t worry about your popularity but do worry about what you’re saying. You need to self-educate, constantly. I repeat, you need to self-educate, constantly. Make sure you understand that government is not in the business of protecting our rights or guaranteeing our liberty. Government is a criminal gang, period. The lies, cover-ups, and the covid-related deaths of the past few years should make that obvious.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. The free market is our unacknowledged government. We need to let it flourish.
We absolutely need to let it flourish.
Fighting for freedom in today’s world makes you an underdog. But have heart—if underdogs never won, they’d be martyrs. We know they sometimes win. But to win, underdogs need to keep fighting like mad dogs. You want inspiration? Research the uplifting story of the actor who played Superman, Christopher Reeve, who in real life was the epitome of courage. Study the American Revolution, especially the Battle of Trenton, where George Washington’s army found inspiration in Thomas Paine’s words, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
As humans distinguished with the power to think, we all have a dog in the fight for freedom.
Don’t ever quit. A better world is possible, but only if we fight for it.
Good luck, and thank you for listening.
