by Kathi Tarrant
Both parents wake up in the morning, in a house on a piece of land they don’t own as it is considered government property with a taxable income. While attempting to throw a lunch together and get the kids off to school, they think about the drive to work in a vehicle they must pay to register, inspect, and perform maintenance on, over on roads that probably haven’t been properly maintained in years, with a stop at a gas station that charges them .56 to .74 cents per gallon tax to repair said roads.
And there’s the lingering thought: the price of gas and heating oil now appear to know no bounds.
The parents often work long hours 5-6 days a week; taxed on income as the employer via the government tells them — sometimes threatening them – what they must do re: mandates. They also pay additional tax on practically every other purchase item. And since inflation has risen 7% in the last year while wages have only increased 3%, questions begin to arise about survival based on need.
The average American family often unwittingly subjects themselves to subliminal messaging via social media and others. And since these are no longer required to tell the truth—if they ever were–announcers will insinuate how white males, for example, are the problem which may help to explain the recent spate of young shooters.
COVID isolation, despair and deprivation have contributed to a 30 percent rise in PTSD amongst others. Since kids are known to act out on occasion, and there is a dynamic at work, the attempt to stigmatize, exclude, de-humanize and eventually eliminate their sense of identity is a reality.
In other words, when a happy future starts to seem unattainable, and the psychology of reversion takes place–to behave in a primitive, anomic and violent way—the search for meaning can very quickly descend into barbarism in the way “The Lord of the Flies” describes.
As it turns out, we’re not as free as we thought we were. Unless our conscience lulled by socialism wakes up, we’re doomed for extinction. Fortunately, perpetual decline and fall is not inevitable. Despite powerful forces out there, there is still time, providing we understand what is happening and the grave consequences of letting it all take place without a fight.
Kathi Tarrant is a pro musician running for a House seat in the Waterbury-Chittenden district.
Categories: Opinion
This is what happens to a society when it no longer acknowledges God.
Salvation is from God not man.
John 3:16, John 14:6, Romans 1, 2 Chronicles 7:14
Thank you — powerful vision.
The ‘Lord of The Flies’ metaphor has been used many times before. Unfortunately, Ms. Tarrant gives no indication of the specific strategies she feels are neccessary for success in this ‘fight’. I look forward to seeing her platform.
Well, this time maybe you could give her credit for pointing it out. The first step in recovery is knowing and accepting that there is a problem. Waking people up is the first step.
Enough ‘pointing’. Solutions, not Symptoms, please. Again, I look forward to seeing Ms. Tarrant’s platform.
Yes Jay, I realize you are on top of the latest whatever, but many people are still asleep.
To each his/her own re: strategies. I decided to run for office: tarrant4vthouse.com
So true. I’d vote for you if I could. Best of luck with your run. We’ll all need it; unless I’mistaken, VT got new voting machines this year.
No, we are certainly not free. Did we really think that we ever were?
Driving. We are all increasingly at risk of disability or death – driving anytime, anyplace – due to careless laws and people. Think excessive speed, DUI, weed, and distractions in abundance. Are we “free” when considering a drive somewhere on a Saturday evening after 6 P.M.? Are we “free” when we must navigate a drive to work that is – every morning- riddled with idiots driving excessive speeds, weaving and bobbing in congested traffic, and distracted by their danish pastry or checking themselves in their mirrors?
Shootings. You or your loved ones can be shot anywhere, anytime. At church, out shopping, on and on. We have an essential right to bear arms. Great, but…..
Schooling. Long lists of regulated requirements and curriculum mandates for everything education.
Are you free to choose the school and education for your kids, that you think best for them? When needing to figure out financing for your kids’ college education, is it possible to avoid the gauntlet of voluminous paperwork and high-priced “counselors” VSAC?
Media and information. How much access do we have to information about who, what, when, where, how and why? How much, really? Media in Vermont is largely controlled by corporate interests and/or progressive-leaning spin doctors.
Leadership, laws and policy. .Much of what we get, is what is paid for. Lobbyists, rent-seekers and grifters, on the big issues of the day (think weed, abortion, “clean” heat ) mostly, run Montpelier.
Mandatory…recycling, composting, insurance, (for some) vaccination, masking, auto inspection, home inspection, on and on. Some of this is necessary and helpful, of course, but still…we are over-mandated, hyper-regulated.
Health care. We endure so much harm from unhealthy behavior and environmental exposure, costing so much money. Franken foods, fast foods, petrochemicals, careless behavior, opioids, you name it. And we can’t leave greedy and excessively numbered health care administrators out of this one. So, costs and insurance premiums are escaping orbit. Pay, or die.
Food. Think you have freedom and choice? Encourage you to rethink. Try and find a canned or frozen product that does not contain excessive sodium, sugar, or both. Soups, cereals and frozen foods lead the pack.
And a personal peeve…..noise. Loud souped-up mufflers, Leaf blowers screaming like jet aircraft. Over-sized beast tractor mowers used for teeny lawns. On every block and country road.
No amount of political side stepping can disguise the Truth. The “powerful forces” are evil and demonic. The 7% inflation is actually double. Today, it is not unusual to find items sold for 25% or 50% higher than two years ago. A State of roughly 645,000 with a budget of $8.1 billion cannot be sustained on ever increasing property taxes, income taxes, sales taxes, miscellaneous taxes, and fees the Legislature and Administration dreams up every session. Any person running for office can point out the problems. Yet, many refuse to speak the Truth of why it is happening in fear of losing support. Unless someone has the guts and fortitude to speak the Truth, charge and prosecute the criminal corrupted syndicate running this State, and be prepared to repeal and dismantle unconstitutional laws and the illegal bureaucracy (aka boards, commissions and committees) expect more of the same.
Kathi, thank you for the brief synopsis on the restrictions our govt places on every minutiae of our personal lives. The list is long and you barely touched on it, but keep going if you want to motivate voters. Your ideology is not what is normally expected from a performing artist from NYC in Vermont. Your website indicates you graduated from Goddard College…how did you survive there with your ideas about freedom, guns etc? I saw your “Guns are Not the Problem” article quoted from the Times Argus back in June. How about posting that on the VDC? Glad to see that you are running for the Washington-Chittenden House seat as it has been occupied by two clowns for too long, and this white male will have the privilege of voting for you.
Nice article Kathi! please get another one out with your solutions, we are eager to hear from you. Kathi is a winner.
A perfect depiction of the progressive success story. It’s amazing that so many support it.
The depiction of the progressive success story that so many embrace.
Well then, why are things so crazy and expensive? Why is everything that moves or stands still taxed? Why can’t we just be left alone to live our lives?
Remember, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness? Freedom and Unity is our motto. Vermont strong is our macho image. With all these wonderful sayings, you would think we have risen to Utopia.
Here’s another well-known utterance: Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome is the definition of crazy. To answer my first question, it’s because elections have consequences. We are living a failed progressive experimental life. This life in Vermont has been created by the voters unrelentless support of politicians who have brought this state and it’s people to their knees.
We aren’t living, we are serving the beast that created this. The voters have brought us here. As Vermont circles the proverbial drain and before the big flush, people can continue to remain crazy or we can vote our way to a new vision. The beatings will stop when the morale improves. Time to vote like your life depends on it because it does! Take Back Vermont!
Well put.
The American Dream was not founded on government control, ownership or redistribution of everything: It was founded on Individual freedom to do with your resources what you see fit so that maybe, just maybe, you can reach unlimited success if you are wise and lucky.
Are people pre-disposed to gravitating toward these failed socialist experiments, or is it careful marketing promoted by a powerful few, eager to maintain their power?
Very well put, thank you!
Again, “socialism” isn’t the problem. “Marxism” and “socialism” aren’t synonymous.
Socialism is the steppingstone to communism. This fact has been pretty well hashed out by most of the historians I’ve read, including in the doctrines written by Karl Marx. Take the Socialist Slave system that the south had in place before the free loving and independent citizens of the north put an end to the abomination. At the time, many of the great political thinkers around the world hailed the southern plantations as an example of how great socialism could be. Everyone knows that for socialism to work at its optimum, there must be a worker class and an elite class who govern. Socialist proponents refer to this as “everyone works to the best of their ability”. It’s no accident that plantation owners were called “Governor”. Anyone who still falls for the notion that somehow, this time, socialism will provide a fair and “class free” society really needs to take a look at the history and see how it really works out in practically every case.
Phantom, If you are truly a recovering liberal, you need to rethink that statement. History proves you wrong.
So, you were a member/follower of the Liberty Union Party of the 70’s. That explains your love of socialism. I think you might be commenting to the wrong people. Wasn’t Bernie one of the founding fathers of the semi-communist Liberty Union Party?
Kathi…..Wish I could vote for you in W pawlet. Didn’t know you were running for the House.
Rather see you go for AG but wish you best. -Dennis Morrisseau