Notes From Up-North

  What makes me a conservative ? I believe in the inalienable right of men to be free to pursue happiness.  This is the classic liberal idea, part of man’s unalterable natural state. Civilized society restricts man's animal instincts for self preservation by organizing to cooperate in pursuit of the fundamental necessities to survive. We call these restrictions government. The most common forms are top-down and authoritarian in nature. Government of people by people was recently introduced to the world.   Viewed historically, it is an idea that must be considered experimental and, as such, subject to failure. Two competing ideologies vie for supremacy in pursuit of government by the people; Capitalism enshrined in the US Constitution in 1788 and Communism introduced by the Russian Revolution 1917. Capitalism is a   laissez-faire philosophy; unrestricted it will crush the weakest. Communism demands central control of all aspects of society; eliminating an...

  Jan 6, 2021; a grievance was laid on the table of public opinion. There is no excuse for violence at the Capital and those involved should and will be punished.  There is also no excuse for depicting peaceful demonstrators as riots.  I am personally opposed to large public demonstrations since they are subject to being usurped by anarchists leading to unforeseen consequences.  That said, peaceful demonstrations have been normalized political speech for many decades. The question is where to go from here? A long view The Republic can only survive with free and fair elections. A very large portion of the U.S. voting population is highly suspicious based on sworn eye witness testimony.  Our long view needs to focus on correcting that problem.  The aggrieved population numbers approximately 80 million.  That’s a lot of political power currently available to organize and pressure federal and state governments to clean up  elections.   A ...

  Since the demise of the Wig Party Americans have generally aligned themselves with the Democrat and Republican parties. During the industrial rebirth of America following the Civil War the Democrat party emerged as advocates for the “little people” while the Republican party generally supported   laissez-faire capitalism until Theodore Roosevelt’s moved to breakup the big monopolies.  That gradually changed after WWII. FDR’s efforts to bring the U.S. economy back from the great depression of the 30’s created voting habits that persisted until 2016.  In the interregnum President Eisenhower warned of the power possessed by the Military Industrial Complex (Big Money). Big Tech emerged and connected the world via the internet and handheld communication devices. Big Media aligned with big Tech and  Big money. Shadowy big money is corrosive in politics.  For six decades following WWII the people continued to identify personal self interest with one of ...

  We are witnessing a brazen attempt to destroy the Aristotelian construct of Just Constitutional governance.   Democrats, empowered by a cabal of shadowy high tech oligarchs, appear poised to crush the Great Experiment (government of and by the people) entertained in U.S.A. for 244 years. Precisely four weeks (28 days) have passed since the Presidential Election of 2020; revelations of massive fraud committed by the deep state, facilitated by foreign adversaries and widely denied by national media; bring the Republic to a "Y" in the road leading to the future.   If the fraud prevails we veer left and lose our franchise leading to tyrannical oligarchy.   Liberty and just constitutional governance live on the right path. Freedom and just government of   and by the people demands free and fair elections. This is a fight!   A fight for freedom.   A revolution against oppressors; in other words, a fight worth risking everything.   When you fight...

  We would be better served if exposed less.   Television news desks feature two types; field reporters and anchor personalities.   The field reporters address news on-site,   reporting facts for the most part.   Anchors are   on-screen personalities that populate programming 24/7. Media syndicates congregate these personalities to deliver a message.   The underlying agenda is heavily weighted to politics. Media   personalities are generally unskilled, over privileged   narcissists dancing around a narrative; as a group they are out of touch with people, just watch them demonstrate detached interest when exposed in public.   They are grossly over rated opinion leaders;   abusing their position across the board.   The country would be better served if exposed less.   Unfortunately the programming is relatively cheap and effective in delivering eyeballs to advertising content, the penultimate goal off all print and ele...

Independence Day, for as long as I remember, has been a time for a little quiet reflection on the blessing God gave me to be born and live free in the U.S.A.    I first wrote this blog article   on July 4, 2016 and am amending it today. AWO     Life, Liberty, The Pursuit of Happiness 2016 Amended 2020 Art Olstead   “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”. Thomas Jefferson; Declaration of Independence, 4, July 1776 These unalienable rights are further defined by the Bill of Rights. Ratified 1779 Happiness depends on the extent to which our needs are satisfied. Basic needs (food, shelter and clothing) must be met before individuals can pursue ...

Art Olstead, 2018 Knowledge of local history develops a sense of place for individuals and pride for communities.  The preservation of artifacts, documents and antidotes presented in proper context creates a fabric that leads to understanding and appreciation of those who preceded.  The effort to preserve and present local history is worthy of public promotion. In the pantheon of historical dissertation and research local history is routinely shuttled to the back of the bus.  Regional, national and international historians are generally regarded as more nuanced and better credentialed with superior access to resources.  Records which have made the   journey to major libraries and academia are animated by lettered historians.  The stories and documents retained by local historical societies are no less important as witness to events that make up the recorded timeline. After all, history happens locally, grand events which effect the sweep of history...