In Bed With the Devil
by Brent Johnson
Recently, California passed by one vote AB 2068, authored by Darrell Steinberg (D - Sacramento).
AB 2068 adopts recommendations made by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in a January 1999 policy statement designed to prevent youth violence. The bill affects children who are receiving benefits from the Child Health and Disability Prevention program, which is administered by County governments to poor families under the supervision of the California Department of Health Services.
The bill requires pediatricians to screen children as young as five years old for "risk factors" indicating violence by asking them personal and intrusive questions, including:
"This has to be one of the most frightening bills I have ever seen introduced by the California Legislature," said Libertarian Party state chairman Mark Hinkle.
No Parental Rights for Children in Public School
Over the past several years, there have been numerous incidents in the public school system involving young girls forced to submit to strip-search, under threat by school officials that the police would strip them if they refused to cooperate. These threats were made in response to instances of alleged theft. Children were forced to take off their bras and panties, and were subjected to physical penetration, without permission of or even notification to their parents!
A slew of lawsuits resulted, with outraged parents demanding that justice be done. In each and every circumstance, the court rulings handed down included an admonition by the judge hearing the case that parents "lose your parental rights when you place your child into public school."
In Bed with the Devil
The solution to these and the many similar problems of over-regulation by government is so simple that most people cannot or will not see it. First we must properly define the problem; only then we can discover the correct solution.
What both of these situations have in common is that the government is involved with the violated individuals. In the case of AB 2068, the government is simply exercising control over the issuance of benefits to which nobody is entitled! Poverty does not carry with it the right to have your child's education, health care, etc. paid for by the government (which means paid for by We the People). This may be a terribly unpopular perspective, but it is nevertheless true. You have a right to the pursuit of health care, the pursuit of an education, etc. However, you have no inherent right to these things. That's why they are called "benefits." If you want to receive a government benefit, then you have to do everything the government tells you to do, no matter how outrageous or unreasonable, because you are not entitled to any benefit.
Rather than complaining that government officials are out of control, that they are engaging in Nazi-like programs to turn our children into spies on their own families, just stop your involvement with any government benefit programs. This will emasculate all government officials, because if they do not have anyone accepting their privileges, then they cannot exert control over anyone.
In the heinous circumstance of young girls being forcibly strip-searched by public school officials without parental notification or consent, the entire situation arose because these were public schools. If you want your child to be protected from such violations, take him or her out of public school today!! I believe that anyone that allows his or her child to remain in public school is a bad parent.
You can home school your children (don't have the time? Make the time! Aren't your children worth it?), or send them to private or parochial school. I would prefer a child of mine to grow up illiterate, rather than to reach adulthood well-educated while believing that government officials have absolute power to determine how he will live. Take your children out of public schools and they will never be subjected to the violations of government school officials. More importantly, leave your children in public schools and relinquish your parental rights. You get to choose.
Government exercises total control over the issuance of benefits and privileges. If you accept a government benefit (even if you don't know you are doing so), then you are subject to whatever controls the government sees fit to impose in connection with the offering of the privilege. If you don't want to be subject to government controls, then don't accept the benefit!
Some people will read this article and say that I am unsympathetic, that I do not care about people less fortunate than me. They will say that I am an extremist who does not want to see poor people improve their way of life. This is patently untrue. I simply do not accept that the way to help people to improve their lives is through government programs. What did poor people do before there were government welfare programs to help them? What did sick people do prior to the existence of government health care programs?
I believe that government benefits serve more to cripple than to help the poor. I also believe that those charged with administering government programs do not hold the welfare of the individuals they serve in very high regard. Their actions reveal their true motives.
Illinois Refuses to Remove Man from Welfare Rolls
Several years ago there was an Illinois man who reported that he had gone on welfare out of necessity, to support his wife and two children. Due to diligence and hard work, he managed over time to secure an 80,000 dollar a year job, at which point he notified the welfare agency to remove him from the list of recipients.
The Illinois Welfare Department refused to do so! They actually told him that they would receive a larger appropriation if he remained on the roster of recipients! It took this man 18 months of perseverance and argument before the bureaucracy finally took his name off the Illinois welfare rolls.
My point is that government officials and agencies cannot be trusted. They have shown themselves to be liars. They do not care for the well being of the individual. They have shown by their actions that they care only about appropriations, political correctness, and maintaining control over everyone and everything that comes within their sphere of influence. So why would you place your child's welfare, or your own for that matter, in the hands of the government? Why would you place your family's health and well-being under the control of a government bureaucrat who will not hesitate to lie, cheat, and mislead you, all the while knowing that whatever he does to you, government judges will protect him from any action you might file against him or his agency.
The Solution
It is way past time for you to make some hard choices. If you lay down with the Devil, you cannot expect to maintain truth, justice, and freedom in your life and the lives of your family. If you get in bed with a vampire, then evil will follow you all of your days. If you and your family wish to live free from government intrusion, you must stop accepting government benefits, regardless of the hardship it may cause you. If you need help, ask your church, synagogue, temple, family, friends, neighbors, fellow Americans, etc. Just don't ask your government, because it is not their job to help you.
The purpose of government is not to take care of your needs. The purpose of government is to protect and secure your Creator-endowed, natural rights. Stop using the government for that which it was never intended to do. Then you can claim your rights and liberties. Then you can truly bequeath to your children a free country, or at least the hope of a free country. Then you can begin to live as a Real American.
Recently, California passed by one vote AB 2068, authored by Darrell Steinberg (D - Sacramento).
AB 2068 adopts recommendations made by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in a January 1999 policy statement designed to prevent youth violence. The bill affects children who are receiving benefits from the Child Health and Disability Prevention program, which is administered by County governments to poor families under the supervision of the California Department of Health Services.
The bill requires pediatricians to screen children as young as five years old for "risk factors" indicating violence by asking them personal and intrusive questions, including:
- whether the parents or family members have substance abuse problems;
- whether the parents are employed;
- whether any family members are involved with gangs;
- whether the parents spank their children;
- whether the parents watch violent television programs;
- whether the parents keep guns in the home.
"This has to be one of the most frightening bills I have ever seen introduced by the California Legislature," said Libertarian Party state chairman Mark Hinkle.
No Parental Rights for Children in Public School
Over the past several years, there have been numerous incidents in the public school system involving young girls forced to submit to strip-search, under threat by school officials that the police would strip them if they refused to cooperate. These threats were made in response to instances of alleged theft. Children were forced to take off their bras and panties, and were subjected to physical penetration, without permission of or even notification to their parents!
A slew of lawsuits resulted, with outraged parents demanding that justice be done. In each and every circumstance, the court rulings handed down included an admonition by the judge hearing the case that parents "lose your parental rights when you place your child into public school."
In Bed with the Devil
The solution to these and the many similar problems of over-regulation by government is so simple that most people cannot or will not see it. First we must properly define the problem; only then we can discover the correct solution.
What both of these situations have in common is that the government is involved with the violated individuals. In the case of AB 2068, the government is simply exercising control over the issuance of benefits to which nobody is entitled! Poverty does not carry with it the right to have your child's education, health care, etc. paid for by the government (which means paid for by We the People). This may be a terribly unpopular perspective, but it is nevertheless true. You have a right to the pursuit of health care, the pursuit of an education, etc. However, you have no inherent right to these things. That's why they are called "benefits." If you want to receive a government benefit, then you have to do everything the government tells you to do, no matter how outrageous or unreasonable, because you are not entitled to any benefit.
Rather than complaining that government officials are out of control, that they are engaging in Nazi-like programs to turn our children into spies on their own families, just stop your involvement with any government benefit programs. This will emasculate all government officials, because if they do not have anyone accepting their privileges, then they cannot exert control over anyone.
In the heinous circumstance of young girls being forcibly strip-searched by public school officials without parental notification or consent, the entire situation arose because these were public schools. If you want your child to be protected from such violations, take him or her out of public school today!! I believe that anyone that allows his or her child to remain in public school is a bad parent.
You can home school your children (don't have the time? Make the time! Aren't your children worth it?), or send them to private or parochial school. I would prefer a child of mine to grow up illiterate, rather than to reach adulthood well-educated while believing that government officials have absolute power to determine how he will live. Take your children out of public schools and they will never be subjected to the violations of government school officials. More importantly, leave your children in public schools and relinquish your parental rights. You get to choose.
Government exercises total control over the issuance of benefits and privileges. If you accept a government benefit (even if you don't know you are doing so), then you are subject to whatever controls the government sees fit to impose in connection with the offering of the privilege. If you don't want to be subject to government controls, then don't accept the benefit!
Some people will read this article and say that I am unsympathetic, that I do not care about people less fortunate than me. They will say that I am an extremist who does not want to see poor people improve their way of life. This is patently untrue. I simply do not accept that the way to help people to improve their lives is through government programs. What did poor people do before there were government welfare programs to help them? What did sick people do prior to the existence of government health care programs?
I believe that government benefits serve more to cripple than to help the poor. I also believe that those charged with administering government programs do not hold the welfare of the individuals they serve in very high regard. Their actions reveal their true motives.
Illinois Refuses to Remove Man from Welfare Rolls
Several years ago there was an Illinois man who reported that he had gone on welfare out of necessity, to support his wife and two children. Due to diligence and hard work, he managed over time to secure an 80,000 dollar a year job, at which point he notified the welfare agency to remove him from the list of recipients.
The Illinois Welfare Department refused to do so! They actually told him that they would receive a larger appropriation if he remained on the roster of recipients! It took this man 18 months of perseverance and argument before the bureaucracy finally took his name off the Illinois welfare rolls.
My point is that government officials and agencies cannot be trusted. They have shown themselves to be liars. They do not care for the well being of the individual. They have shown by their actions that they care only about appropriations, political correctness, and maintaining control over everyone and everything that comes within their sphere of influence. So why would you place your child's welfare, or your own for that matter, in the hands of the government? Why would you place your family's health and well-being under the control of a government bureaucrat who will not hesitate to lie, cheat, and mislead you, all the while knowing that whatever he does to you, government judges will protect him from any action you might file against him or his agency.
The Solution
It is way past time for you to make some hard choices. If you lay down with the Devil, you cannot expect to maintain truth, justice, and freedom in your life and the lives of your family. If you get in bed with a vampire, then evil will follow you all of your days. If you and your family wish to live free from government intrusion, you must stop accepting government benefits, regardless of the hardship it may cause you. If you need help, ask your church, synagogue, temple, family, friends, neighbors, fellow Americans, etc. Just don't ask your government, because it is not their job to help you.
The purpose of government is not to take care of your needs. The purpose of government is to protect and secure your Creator-endowed, natural rights. Stop using the government for that which it was never intended to do. Then you can claim your rights and liberties. Then you can truly bequeath to your children a free country, or at least the hope of a free country. Then you can begin to live as a Real American.
