Repeating Another Economics Mistake With Obamacare

Philosopher George Santayana stated a now famous proverb that "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The best current example of this is what just happened in the United Sates with the huge government spending in rescuing the criminals of Wall Street who took us over the financial cliff by their irresponsible speculation, led by Wall St. big-wig, Bernie Madoff. Madoff was the only one to go to jail so far, the rest got bailed out by the taxpayers and the socialist policies of President Obama. If this was not enough, Obama has now passed health care reform, commonly referred to as"Obamacare;" increasing government spending like drunken sailors on a night out.

Historians have confirmed that the heavy government expenditure by the FDR administration during the depression of the 1930s did nothing to end the depression. In today's Wall Street Journal this point is well documented in an article titled "Did FDR End the Depression?" After all the spending made by the Roosevelt administration in its first eight years, the unemployment rate in 1939 was at the same rate as in 1932 - 20%. Obviously we've failed to learn from history so we have been condemned to repeat it. In Europe where they did not have such government spending the unemployment rate was 12% during the same period according to the article.

Another historical economics lesson we've failed to learn is minimum wage laws. In his popular book, "Basic Economics" economist Thomas Sowell states: "By the simplest and most basic economics, a price artificially raised tends to cause more to be supplied and less to be demanded than when prices are left to be determined by the free market." Economist in the US, Europe and Canada have long known that minimum wage laws have the opposite effect, increasing unemployment, yet we routinely keep passing these damaging laws. The main reason, for this is thought to be that this is popular for politicians and will gain them goodwill from the voters, even though it makes no economic sense.

The Crusades: Facts vs. Fiction - A Very Brief History of the Crusades

If you were asked to explain what the Crusades were could you give a clear response? The Crusades are the most misunderstood, maligned and falsified historical story ever told. If you’re a product of a U.S. University or any other school system you’ve probably been told that the Crusades were a Christian atrocity committed against the Muslims and that is why they hate us today. Since this is a huge subject I will try to be brief in what I discuss. First, I want to clarify what the Crusades were in fact, second I want to provide some documentation and examples of what really happened. Finally, I will make an objective assessment of the Crusades as well. As Sergeant Friday of Dragnet fame would say: “Just the facts ma’am.”

If you listen to the popular culture of today you hear that the Crusades were a Christian holocaust against the Muslims and we, as Christians, should not only be ashamed, we should apologize. In fact Pope John Paul II in the year 2000 did apologize to Muslims for the Crusades. Muslims, in turn, say that their hatred of the West is due, in part, to the Crusades. Former President Bill Clinton, when he spoke after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City made this statement: “Those of us who come from various European lineages are not blameless” vis-à-vis the Crusades as a crime against Islam. He then summarized a medieval account about all the blood that was shed when Godfrey Bouillon and his forces in the First Crusade, conquered Jerusalem in 1099.[i]  This is representative of what our culture today believes about the Crusades. Most people have bought into the lie. The truth is that the Crusades were not unprovoked, as you will see here.

First, the Crusades were not a Christian holocaust or genocide against the Muslims, it was quite the opposite. Let’s start from the beginning. After the death of Muhammad in 632 AD, the Muslims began a military conquest that started in modern day Saudi Arabia. In what became known as his farewell address, Muhammad told his followers: “I was ordered to fight all men until they say, “There is no god but Allah.”[ii] The Muslims aim was to conquer the entire world and make everyone convert to Islam. They proceeded to conquer militarily all of the Middle East, Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, and large parts of Europe, including Sicily, Southern Italy, Cyprus, Sardinia, Corsica, Crete and Spain. North African, also fell to the Muslim onslaught. All of these conquered areas were Christian territory.

When the Muslims conquered Jerusalem, they desecrated all Christian shrines and murdered all the Christians and Jews that they found there. Many were brutally butchered like animals. The holiest site in Jerusalem, the Temple, was desecrated and replaced with the Muslim Dome of the Rock, still standing today, to symbolize that Islam had succeeded Judaism and Christianity; the dome was built between 685 to 691 AD.

The Crusaders had some military successes but all were short lived. The Muslims, in turn, showed no mercy. In 1266, in a battle in Egypt, the Crusaders were forced to surrender. They negotiated surrender to the Muslim commander named Baibars. Baibars agreed to allow the Crusaders to leave unharmed if they turned over the fort they occupied. The Crusaders agreed, opened the gates and let the Muslims in. The Muslims, in turn, failed to keep their promise, seized all the Crusaders and beheaded all of them. In 1268, this same Baibars, conquered Jaffa, in modern day Israel, and butchered all the inhabitants.

The Christian Byzantine Empire which was surrounded by the hostile Muslim Turks, appealed to the Europeans for help since the Turks had conquered a large part of their empire. The Europeans were becoming very alarmed. On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II, in the French City of Clermont, in front of a large crowd, gave an impassioned speech that moved the large crowd. He called for the First Crusade, in large part due to the Muslim conquest and the slaughter of all the Christians, but also because of reports that Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem were being murdered along the way. Rodney Stark, in his book God’s Battalions, lists some Muslim atrocities of Christian pilgrims: Early in the eighth century, seventy Christian pilgrims were murdered. Shortly thereafter 60 pilgrims were crucified in Jerusalem. In 796 Muslims burned to death twenty monks in front of the Monastery of Mar Saba. In 809 multiple attacks occurred in many churches, convents and monasteries in and around Jerusalem, many were raped and murdered.[iii]

By the late 11^th Century, the Christians of Europe were well aware of all that Christendom had lost, as well as the atrocities committed against their brothers and sisters. They had seen the Holy Land conquered and their fellow Christians murdered, crucified and annihilated like street dogs. They had seen the land of the New Testament, modern day Turkey, conquered. Most Byzantine Christians were forced to flee their homes and country, knowing that the Muslims would persecute or kill them outright. Today, the population of Turkey, the land of the New Testament and the Seven Churches is 99.8% Muslim. The few remaining Christians live under severe oppression and religious persecution.

Warfare during the period of Muhammad and the Middle Ages, was exceptionally brutal. They had no Geneva Convention that we have today where we prescribe rules for treating combatants and prisoners. In this period, for example, if a besieged city failed to surrender upon request and the attacking forces were successful in overrunning it, they would slaughter everyone they found in the city as an example to others. Everyone would be killed, men, women and children. Not one person or animal would be left standing. The Muslims used this tool to deadly effectiveness wherever they conquered. After all inhabitants were killed, the city would be burned and razed to the ground. Today, Muslims complain that we have prisoners of war in Guantanamo, Cuba where they’re treated like honored guests at a five star hotel. President Obama ordered it closed so that the world would like us better and they would stop attacking us.

It is no secret that Muslim governments practice religious persecutions against Christians. These persecutions go on today unabated. In an article in the “Weekly Standard” February 1, 2010 issue, entitled “Bare Ruined Choirs,” it describes the persecution going on in the island of Cyprus. In 1974 Turkey attacked Cyprus and still occupies half of the island today. During this time Turkey has destroyed many Christian churches: “Some of the recent destruction, such as the bulldozing of St. Catherine Church in Gerani in the summer of 2008, and cannibalizing for buildings in the nearby village of Trikomo. Incidentally, the razing of St. Catherine is not an isolated case: In the past five years 15 churches have been leveled.”

The Crusades were private armies recruited by nobles, knights and individuals. Most Crusaders were French, and a smaller percentage were German. The French were commonly referred to as Franks. King Richard the Lion Hearted of England led the Third Crusade from 1188 to 1192. King Richard was a brilliant military commander and he had the best success against the Muslims, due in large part to the exceptional discipline of his troops and his leadership ability. King Louis of France, who later was made a saint, St. Louis, led two Crusades from 1249 to 1252. In all there were eight Crusades from 1095 to the beginning of the fourteenth century, around 1305 AD. The Crusaders were motivated by piety – they wanted to reclaim the Holy Land from the infidels. Crusaders had to raise their own funds. Most sold all they had to go on the Crusades. Most Crusaders never made it back home. In the First Crusade, it was estimated that 130,000 departed. Only 15,000 survived to return home. About half of the casualties were due to health, disease or the stress of the trip, the other half died in battle.

I want to make it clear here that I am not approving of the Crusades or what they did, on the contrary, the Crusades were a bitter disappointment and a monumental disaster of epic proportions. Every one of the eight Crusades committed atrocities, not only against Muslims, but also against their own Christian brothers and sisters and Jews. The Crusades were a very sad chapter in human history. What they did cannot be excused. So what did they do? Right from the beginning, as some Crusaders left Europe, they committed atrocities that were totally uncalled for or necessary.

The Crusaders that left Europe made it a point to meet in Constantinople so they could martial their forces before heading towards Jerusalem. From the start, they committed unspeakable atrocities against Jews and other Christians. For example, in the First Crusade, led by Peter the Hermit, as they left Germany along the Rhine Valley the Crusaders attacked and slaughtered the Jewish populations of Speyer. In another German city of Worms, the Bishop tried to protect the Jews, the Crusaders broke down the walls of the Bishop’s compound and murdered about 500 Jews. This was repeated again in Cologne and in Metz.[iv]

In the modern city of Split, former Yugoslavia, this Christian city was attacked and plundered with many Christians murdered like dogs. Constantinople itself, the jewel of Christendom of their day was attacked and plundered by Crusaders of the fourth Crusade. The City was burned to the ground and robbed of most of its treasure. The list goes on and on.

Conclusion

The Crusades were a total disaster in any human term, but they are not what Muslims say they were or why they hate us today. They are not what our popular culture tells us today. The Crusades, even though a complete and total failure, were started with good intentions due to the fact that they had lost so much Christian territory and so many fellow Christians to the Muslim sword. It is fine to give an opinion on the Crusades, but first we must be informed with the truth. Good intentions are not enough. They must be followed with good works. We cannot say that about the Crusades. We cannot deny the truth.

Recommended Reading and References

1. Stark, Rodney, God’s Battalions, The Case for the Crusades, Harper One, 2009

2. Madden, Thomas F., The New Concise History of the Crusades, Rowan & Littlefield Publishers Inc. 2005.

3. Brownworth, Lars, Lost to the West, Crown Publishers, 2009

4. Pod cast by Lars Brownworth on the history of the Byzantine Empire called 12 Byzantine Rulers can be downloaded on iTunes or at: http://www.losttothewest.com/ Although this deals with Byzantine Empire it also covers some great information of the Crusades. This 17-part pod cast is terrific. Brownworth is a master storyteller.

5. Why You Are Wrong About the Crusades, by Lars Brownworth is a short article on his “Lost to the West” web site mentioned earlier. 

6. Ibrahim, Raymond, Sword and Scimitar, 14 Centuries of war between Islam and the West, Da Capo Press, 2018.  This book lists all the famous battles and goes into detail of all the atrocities. Highly recommended.

______________________________

[i] Stark, Rodney, 2009, God’s Battalions, The Case for the Crusades, Harper One, p.5.

[ii] Ibid, p.12

[iii] Ibid p.85

[iv] Ibid p.126

See No Evil

Last Sunday the weekly TV program "60 Minutes" had a piece on the Patriarch of the Eastern Catholic Church, also known as the Orthodox Church. The bishop is the world leader of Orthodox Christianity with over 300 million followers worldwide. As I pointed out in my last post on this blog on the history of the Byzantine Empire, after the Ottoman Muslim Turks conquered what was Asia Minor in Roman times, the Muslims have been on a genocide against Christians. This is the area where Christianity was born, the seven early churches of the New Testament are all here. Today, it is reported that there are 4,000 Christians left in modern Turkey.

One of my parish priest, Fr. Tom, who spent time in Turkey as a US Air Force Chaplain said that he had to get permission from the town mayor to ring the church bell. Suffice it to say, if you're Christian in a Muslim country you're the same as a lamb in a wolf's den. Among the things that the Christians of Turkey cannot do is to operate a seminary. The last seminary was closed and it is against the law to operate it.

Which leads to my question: What happened to the Christians of the world that they let this genocide continue? The United States is a close friend of Turkey. The fact that they persecute our fellow Christians is never mentioned. What about the Europeans? They're about ready to admit Turkey into the European Union. No questions about Muslim persecution of Christians - never mentioned. Can you imagine what would happen, for example, if the U.S.A. persecuted Muslims in America? The Muslims killed a bunch of innocent people and burned some towns when a Danish newspaper published a cartoon they deemed "offensive," but we do nothing when the Muslims kill and persecute our brothers and sisters. There some things in life that I will never understand; or am I in a different planet?

Divided We Fall

Have you ever wondered why Christians are so divided? It is estimated that there are over 38,000 Christian denominations in the world. The very first and greatest division in Christianity happened in 1054 AD when the Roman church split with the eastern church over some minor differences, one of them being when one word, filioque, was added to the Nicene Creed, in what became known as the Great Schism. This was not only the beginning of the end but the fatal blow to Christianity as a unified religion. The first deleterious consequence of this split happened in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Muslim Turks. Constantinople, today known as Istanbul, was the capital of Christianity since 335 AD. The Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople was the greatest and most grandiose Christian Church in the world. With the fall of Constantinople, the last vestige of the Roman Empire ended forever; Christianity lost half of its geographic territory and was seriously wounded.

The Eastern Roman Empire was more commonly known as the Byzantine Empire after the fall of the Western Empire, around 476 AD. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of a Christian era and the elimination of Christianity in a large part of the world. Imagine what it would be like today if we lost all of Europe to a Muslim power. Today you know The Byzantine Empire as the modern country of Turkey. Turkey was known as Asia Minor in Roman days and was the cradle of Christianity. We are still paying the price today for the loss of the Byzantine Empire. The Muslims gained not only a large area of land the size of a continent, but they gained enormous political and military power that they still exercise today.

The Ottoman Empire was one of the world’s strongest and most enduring empires of all time, certainly on par with the empires of Persia, Babylon, Greece of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire. The Ottoman Empire ended with the end of World War I. With the break-up of the Ottoman Empire, the British became the dominant power broker in the area and they proceeded to cut up the area in a hodgepodge of countries such as Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. In Iraq, they drew the national borders to include three diverse ethnic groups, the Kurds, the Sunni Muslims and the Shia Muslims, which in turn gave us the problems we have today.

I’ve often wondered out loud how the Western Europeans could let their Christian brothers be conquered without lifting a finger. A very small army from the City state of Genoa, a force of about 800 soldiers, did answer the call from the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI, but the rest did nothing. I’ve often verbalized this rhetorical question, knowing that there is no answer coming. The Muslims did not just start fighting us on 9/11 they’ve been fighting us since the death of Mohammed around 632 AD. A brief summary:

At the death of Mohammed, the Muslims started their military and religious conquest of everything they could take, starting from the area of current day Saudi Arabia. They not only conquered land but also killed all those who refused to convert to Islam. The Muslim conquest was so enormous that it was breathtaking. For example, they conquered not only the entire Middle East and North Africa, but also large parts of Europe, including Spain, Greece, Yugoslavia, Sicily and Southern Italy. They were finally stopped just short of Vienna. Spain was finally liberated from the Muslims in the famous war with the Moors in 1492. The Spanish King, Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, could not approve Christopher Columbus’s exploration of the America’s until the defeat of the Muslim Moors. Sicily and Southern Italy were liberated by Norman-French private armies in 1095, Led by Roger de Houteville, who later became the first King of Sicily, Roger I. In my hometown of Geraci Siculo in the beautiful Madonie Mountains of north central Sicily, there are splendid Saracen ruins such as castles and huge escape underground tunnels. The Muslims in Sicily and Southern Italy were known as Saracens.

Many liberal people today argue that we should never go to war. Yes, technically, that is true, war is very bad, but wars in some cases are necessary. In 1453, Western Europe decided, “war was not the answer.” They let their Christian brothers be slaughtered, annihilated, and have their entire empire be conquered. During the conquest of Constantinople, the Turks murdered anyone that refused to surrender. The defenseless Byzantines were crushed, never to be seen or heard of again. Download Lars Brownworth’s pod cast of the history of The Byzantine Empire called “12 Byzantine Rulers”. Brownworth, a scholar of this area, delivers a compelling tale with great narration that will leave you spell bound; a gem for any history buff.

Today, most Christians will not even cooperate with each other even when they agree. For example, they rarely cooperate to end abortion, even though they agree on the dignity of life. Recently, a group of Protestants and Catholics did cooperate with the signing of the Manhattan Declaration. I urge all of you to sign this declaration by clicking on this link. Some people grumbled that they would not sign it because they claim that some liberal Christians signed it. What? How can you fail to cooperate with someone who is on your side? The Manhattan Declaration is a great move since it marks one of the first time that Christians have decided to cooperate. Together they can accomplish things like political power to prevent liberal domination of the abortion issue in law. Apart they can have little effect. Being divided is exactly what the opposition wants. Divided we fall, united we win. We must learn from history or we will be condemned to repeat it as it was pointed out in my first post on this blog.

“Peace in our Time” Obama and the Coming Iranian Train Wreck

Within a few days of my first piece on this blog, “Why History is Important,” I received my December 7, 2009 issue of “The Weekly Standard” magazine. Upon opening the magazine I found a story written by a German political scientist, Matthias Küntzel, titled “Obama’s Search for Peace in Our Time.” The article is an uncanny comparison to what I discussed in “Why History is Important” and why we will repeat history rather than learn from it. It looks like President Obama either has not studied history, or has failed to learn from it. Click on the link above to read this important article.

The Küntzel piece details the history of how the “5 +1” powers, France, Britain, China, Russia + Germany and the United States have appeased Iran for the last 10 years and how the Iranians have played the “5+1” powers like a champion yoyo player rocks the baby. Küntzel is especially hard on his own country, Germany, on how they have impeded any sanctions for their friends, the Iranians.

Just when the Europeans were tired of Iran’s intransigence and wished to start meaningful sanctions, the United States got a new President, Barack Obama, who’s strategy is to appease, be nice, apologize and twist himself into a pretzel just to gain favor with the Iranian thugs and world opinion. To quote Küntzel: “Whereas George Bush denounced the Islamism of the Iranian regime, his successor attempts to ingratiate himself by offering compliments and apologies. Whereas before it was the Europeans who packaged their failures as successful “dialogue,” now it is Washington that does it.” This is no surprise since Obama campaigned on the promise of being anti-war, anti-Bush and so convinced of his ability to convince anybody that he will hold out till hell freezes over for negotiating with Iran to stop their nuclear program. As with our friends and neighbors, some people will never learn; the only problem is that when the leader of the strongest nation in the world does it, we will pay a heavy price.

War and the Nature of Man

Victor Davis Hanson is a great scholar of ancient history. In his latest article on Imprimus, the Hillsdale College publication titled "The Future of Western War," he makes a great case about how war is in the nature of man and part of who we are. Now this, in no way glorifies war, but discusses our human nature and how it is in our human nature to make war. When I was a child, I recall that I would think about whether I would end up in a war, since my dad had been involved in one, the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, and in World War II. I wondered whether that would also be my fate. Sure enough, although I was in a world completely different that I was born in, the hills of Sicily. As a child of 12 years old my family moved from Sicily to Los Angeles, California. In 1968 I found myself in Saigon, South Vietnam in the U.S. Army. My fears had come true. I was now in a war just as my father had been.

I highly recommend this article by Dr. Hanson. Very true and revealing of the heart of men.

Why History is Important

Besides the Book of Proverbs in the Bible, my favorite proverb is one made famous by the Spanish Philosopher George Santayana: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I believe that this is one of the most important lesson anyone can learn in life. It is important in our personal life and in the life of any family, nation, peoples, tribe or group of people. In your personal life, I’m sure that each of us has learned many important lessons just by our experiences; things that we want to repeat and things that we would never repeat. Now, if we fail to learn such lessons, then we will repeat them, whether it’s a relationship, a political philosophy, or a business strategy.

One of the most important lessons in our recent history is the famous meeting between British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Adolph Hitler in September 1938, which produced the famous “peace in our time” agreement. Chamberlain was an honorable man who had gone through the worst war in world history, World War I, and he did not want another one less than 20 years later. After Hitler invaded the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, the Europeans were very worried about an all out war with Germany. Determined that he would do whatever he could to avoid war, Chamberlain went to Germany to meet the Führer in September 1938. Hitler signed an agreement with Britain that, in exchange for peace, Czechoslovakia would give up the Sudetenland and Germany would be allowed to keep parts of Poland that they wanted. Chamberlain returned to England and proclaimed that he had achieved “peace in our time.” See this You Tube video of Chamberlain proclaiming“ peace in our time.

In summary, Chamberlain had given Hitler part of Poland and part of Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland, if he would not make war on the rest of Europe. We refer to this as appeasement, meaning giving in to a bully so that he will leave you alone. As the world well knows, Hitler had no intention of abiding by this agreement, which he had signed. The next year, 1939, he invaded Poland and Russia and World War II exploded. Here is where I go back to the quote from George Santayana mentioned earlier. Have we learned from history or are we repeating the same thing? In politics, for the most part, those who are of the left always argue, “war is not the answer.” They always argue that diplomacy is what we need and it is the only way to solve problems. Now, I agree that diplomacy should be used, but there is a limit to what it can do.

Giving in to bullies never works. Starting from your childhood bully down the street, to a world bully such as Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong-il, the North Korean dictator, we’ve learned that you can never appease them. For the last 20 years the United States has tried to appease Kim Jong-il to no avail. The same can be said for the Ayatollahs of Iran, or the tyrants of Palestine, Syria, Cuba or Venezuela.

History is important because it teaches us lessons in life that we can never learn from books, lectures or flowery eloquent rhetoric. There is a saying that children should be allowed to make their own mistakes because that will be the way they learn. If mom and dad tell them they will not learn, but experience will be a better teacher. Again, if we fail to learn from history, we are condemned to repeat it.