16 Tons And What Do You Get

Everyone from coal country (like my people up the line in NEPA, heyna? Sorry, it's an inside reference.) are familiar with the lyrics of the Tennessee Ernie Ford song that tells of the indentured servitude created and solidified by the concept of the company store. What most people do not recognize is that our government is in the process of creating a federalized version of the company store today. It is unfortunate that many are too naive, or apathetic, to stand up and acknowledge what is happening.

For those who are not familiar with the concept of a company store, I will provide a brief history. Through the early part of the 1900's, coal companies utilized a company store to provide a one stop shop that sold all the goods and services that a miner would need. Of course, this created a monopolization of the miners' entire lives by regulating their income and recapturing all expenditures. Need tools to do your work? You must buy it at the company store at their price. Want to by a house? Borrow from the company store at their rates. Want your children to be educated? The company runs a school. The examples could go on indefinitely. The shortsighted take on this was that the company was simply trying to make the most profit possible. The more accurate and insidious reason was to gain total control over the miners and insure future generations of trained labor. If the miner's were able to save, and/or become educated in something other than mining and (gasp!) improve their standard of living, they may leave mining. The intent of the company was to create a sort of Stockholm Syndrome in the miners to avoid the troublesome task of maintaining a trained workforce.

This is near fruition in our country today. Want to buy a house? The federal government has controlling interest in the major mortgage lenders and banks. Looking for a car? The federal government is the controlling interest of GM. You don't think they will structure tax credits, manufacturing restrictions and trade subsidies to disrupt competition, do you? Want your children to get a private education? That is fine. You just have to pay for the government school education first, even though your child does not utilize their service. Are you in need of medical care? Soon the government will tell you when, how and what care you will be able to receive at their prices. Of course the promise is that most of this will be "free". Yes, for the mere cost of the your freedom (and that of your future generations)the government will take all that pesky personal responsibility off of your shoulders. As the song goes, you will "owe your soul to the company store".

I am not given to conspiracy theories, as more often than not, they lessen your credibility. I refrain from even assuming that the intentions of socialist are evil. They simply have the arrogance to believe that the political aristocratic class has the responsibility of holding dominion over the masses for their own good. We already know that this socialization is all about gaining and maintaining political power. I sincerely hope that we do not find ourselves confronted by a new version of the Pinkerton Guards. They were members of a private security firm who's actions exceeded any Constitutional authority to enforce the interests of the government and coal companies. President Obama has called for a "civil defense force as well funded as the military". Why would this be of need? We already have local, state and federal law enforcement agencies who are sworn to protect and serve the law, and hence are accountable to it. Much like the coal company used the Pinkerton Guards to put down dissenting miners, it is possible to arrive at a time and place where the government uses similar tactics to maintain the political aristocracy.