Digital Cowboy

I haven’t done a good anarcho-capitalist, anti-government rant lately and I just ran across something from a while back, while cleaning out my email. I thought I would share it with you unsuspecting victims who no doubt came here looking for more cute kiddie or beefcake pictures.

My mother forwarded the following email to me and a whole bunch of other people, including everyone else that works at her small company and her 85 year old aunt. She caught me at the wrong time and I was infuriated that people were so brainwashed by their government education that they actually believed we had improved on most of the things on the list. So I decided to reply to all when I responded.

I seriously doubt the accuracy and/or validity of a number of these “facts” to start with, but decided not to get into a pedantic snopes-a-thon to prove it. For instance, the “average American worker” didn’t work very hard if they were making 22¢ an hour and only making $200-$400 a year.

My response follows the original email.

               “THE YEAR 1903″

Where we were a century ago. This ought to boggle your mind.

The year is 1903, one hundred years ago… what a difference a century makes. Here are the U. S. statistics for 1903….

The average life expectancy in the US was 47.

Only 14% of the homes in the US had a BATHTUB.

Only 8% of the homes had a TELEPHONE.

A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.

There were only 8,000 CARS in the US and only 144 miles of paved ROADS.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average wage in the US was $0.22/hour.

The average US worker made between $200-$400/year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000/year, a dentist $2,500/year, a veterinarian between $1,500-$4,000/year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000/year.

More than 95% of all BIRTHS in the US took place at HOME.

90% of all US physicians had NO COLLEGE education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as “substandard.”

Sugar cost $0.04/pound. Eggs were $0.14/dozen. Coffee cost $0.15/pound.

Most women only washed their HAIR once a month and used BORAX or EGG YOLKS for shampoo.

Canada passed a law prohibiting POOR people from entering the country for any reason.

The five leading causes of death in the US were:
1. Pneumonia & influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska hadn’t been admitted to the Union yet.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30.

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn’t been invented.

There were no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

One in ten US adults couldn’t read or write.

Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from HIGH SCHOOL.

Coca Cola contained cocaine.

Marijuana, heroin and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.”

18% of households in the US had at least one full-time SERVANT or domestic.

There were only about 230 reported MURDERS in the entire US.

Just think what it will be like in another 100 years.

It boggles the mind!

My response…

But government was growing at an unprecedented rate and look where we are now. Better off? Personally, I don’t think so.

Specifically, I would challenge:

90% of all US physicians had NO COLLEGE education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as “substandard.”

The five leading causes of death in the US were:
1. Pneumonia & influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

Now, 100 hundred years later, we have a “health care crisis,” many Americans struggle to afford any health insurance or medical care at all without government hand outs and numbers 4 and 5 on that list are now, STILL, the number 1 and 2 cause of death. In addition, today’s doctors, with their much revered college educations are far more likely to be your cause of death than the gun violence the media loves to harp on and on about.

And speaking of gun violence….

There were only about 230 reported MURDERS in the entire US.

Coca Cola contained cocaine.

Marijuana, heroin and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, “Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.”

And yet, in 1903 there was no “drug problem” and certainly not one that would require a multi-billion “War on (SOME) Drugs” to be waged by the government. Now Coca-Cola contains caffeine, a drug at least as addictive and deadly as cocaine in it’s pure form. Only made “safer” because it’s legal, thus easier than cocaine (today) for the Coca-Cola company to control in the quality and dosage they use. Yet, it is estimated that as much as 80% of the violent crime in this country today is, at least indirectly, related to the (government banned) drug trade. The vast majority is DIRECTLY related. When was the last time you heard about a drive by shooting in the turf war between Jack Daniels and Jim Beam? (More on that later.)

One in ten US adults couldn’t read or write.

This was only so high because the socialist movement towards mandated government schooling was beginning to get traction. Less than 40 years prior, the literacy rate in America was around 97%. And that figure even takes slaves into account. (At that time, slavery had just been “abolished.” For many decades prior, slaves were commonly prohibited from learning to read and write.) In addition, I don’t believe that 10% couldn’t read or write at all and I would be willing to bet a shiny nickel that if we used the 1903 standard of what constitutes “literacy,” the literacy rate would be far lower than 90% today.

A few other significant differences between now and then:

There was NO income tax. NO “Social Security.” NO Medicare. NO Medicaid. NO Welfare. The “$200-$400/year” that the average “worker” earned ALL went to the household. (That figure is largely misleading and irrelevant because the Industrial Revolution had not yet turned America fully into “workers.” A majority of households were supported by a self employed entrepreneur or family business, as opposed to today. They weren’t “workers” and that is NOT an average household income.) Today, AT LEAST 45 cents of every dollar earned in this country goes to government in some form, at some level. (That’s a conservative estimate. It’s probably closer to 55 cents.)

In 1903, the failed experiment called “Prohibition” had not yet been tried. At least when it was, the Constitution was still respected enough that it was understood that a Constitutional Amendment was required to impose it — and another to repeal it. It was repealed because it INCREASED the consumption of alcohol in the country and led to an epidemic rate of violent crime. Today we have the failed “Prohibition II” — the insane war on drugs. History repeats itself with EXACTLY the same results. Only this time it was done illegally with no Constitutional Amendment to authorize it. And so far, it’s gone on 3 times as long as it took for our more intelligent predecessors to realize THEIR miserable mistake.

Maybe that’s because only 6% of them had “graduated” from the government indoctrination centers we now call “schools.”

I’ll stop now. I could go on for pages (about how there was 0% inflation for decades because the markets were free and the Dollar was backed by gold, etc.) but I’m sure you’re all bored by now. After all this was supposed to be cute.

What unConstitutional government run rampant has done to this country is appalling.

Personally, I would be glad to trade places. Even if women did only wash their hair once a month.

At least they were still mostly free in 1903.

(Sorry if I’ve made you regret sending this to me, Mom. Caught me at the wrong time. }:-)
___________

I don’t get as many forwards from Mom any more and when I do, only my sister and I are on the distribution list. I wonder why?