Thank you for posting the link and comments regarding Lincoln and the country’s evolution. Your conclusion is spot on at the end. No party ever wins regarding any war, except the bankers and their government supporters providing empowerment. The transition from a government founded on the principles of sovereign statehood into the current form of central Federal control has led to excessive control and loss of freedom. The Civil War led to the founding of federal taxation (prior to the war tariffs were the sole means of Federal Govt funding), the gold standard was quickly disrupted and abandoned, the military industrial complex was established, and govt agency bureaucracy flourished. My ancestors arrived at Charleston SC in 1752, leaving a life of serfdom in Germany to search for freedom in the new land. They moved inland and settled in what is known as Lexington county, a bordering county to Columbia. They acquired a small amount of land, bequeathed by the King of England and began a family farm. When they felt the infringement of freedom they did their part at both Cowpens and Kings Mountain to support the founding of a new nation. They helped build the first Church in Lexington county, St. Stephens Lutheran. My ancestors never owned slaves, I’d like to think that fleeing a life of serfdom had something to do with this, maybe they were just too poor, or maybe having ministers in the family had something to do with it. In 1865, General Kilpatrick, during Shermans march through the South, burned my family’s farm to the ground, destroyed their crops, and killed their livestock. They then burned the St. Stephens Church to the ground. They stole the best and destroyed the rest. Simply living in South Carolina was enough of a crime, the Federal Govt needed to pronounce punishment. So much for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. My family eventually returned to rebuild, but had to give most of their land to the bankers. Later in the 1920’s the government began impounding property to create a dam on the Saluda River and create a hydroelectric facility. People were required to take $15/acre for their land. My family contested this to no avail. Today, I am not able to visit the graves of my ancestors. Their bodies lie now deep beneath the cold waters of Lake Murray, South Carolina, their graves being flooded over. I now look at current events and think nothing has really changed for the better having the power/authority primarily being a Federal government. The Government continues to grow, our freedoms diminish and are under siege, we are told to abandon religious and moral principles, the government continues to confiscate land and possessions leading to the point that we will eventually own nothing, the need for control over the population cannot be satisfied, the bankers and uber wealthy (or lifetime politicians) make out like bandits while generation after generation die while being forced to pay our taxes and support the folly. How can people continue without asking, WHY?

Thank you for posting the link and comments regarding Lincoln and the country’s evolution. Your conclusion is spot on at the end. No party ever wins regarding any war, except the bankers and their government supporters providing empowerment. The transition from a government founded on the principles of sovereign statehood into the current form of central Federal control has led to excessive control and loss of freedom. The Civil War led to the founding of federal taxation (prior to the war tariffs were the sole means of Federal Govt funding), the gold standard was quickly disrupted and abandoned, the military industrial complex was established, and govt agency bureaucracy flourished. My ancestors arrived at Charleston SC in 1752, leaving a life of serfdom in Germany to search for freedom in the new land. They moved inland and settled in what is known as Lexington county, a bordering county to Columbia. They acquired a small amount of land, bequeathed by the King of England and began a family farm. When they felt the infringement of freedom they did their part at both Cowpens and Kings Mountain to support the founding of a new nation. They helped build the first Church in Lexington county, St. Stephens Lutheran. My ancestors never owned slaves, I’d like to think that fleeing a life of serfdom had something to do with this, maybe they were just too poor, or maybe having ministers in the family had something to do with it. In 1865, General Kilpatrick, during Shermans march through the South, burned my family’s farm to the ground, destroyed their crops, and killed their livestock. They then burned the St. Stephens Church to the ground. They stole the best and destroyed the rest. Simply living in South Carolina was enough of a crime, the Federal Govt needed to pronounce punishment. So much for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. My family eventually returned to rebuild, but had to give most of their land to the bankers. Later in the 1920’s the government began impounding property to create a dam on the Saluda River and create a hydroelectric facility. People were required to take $15/acre for their land. My family contested this to no avail. Today, I am not able to visit the graves of my ancestors. Their bodies lie now deep beneath the cold waters of Lake Murray, South Carolina, their graves being flooded over. I now look at current events and think nothing has really changed for the better having the power/authority primarily being a Federal government. The Government continues to grow, our freedoms diminish and are under siege, the government continues to confiscate land and possessions leading to the point that we will eventually own nothing, the need for control over the population cannot be satisfied, the bankers and uber wealthy (or lifetime politicians) make out like bandits while generation after generation die while being forced to pay our taxes and support the folly. How can people continue without asking, WHY?

Thank you for posting the link and comments regarding Lincoln and the country’s evolution. Your conclusion is spot on at the end. No party ever wins regarding any war, except the bankers and their government supporters providing empowerment. The transition from a government founded on the principles of sovereign statehood into the current form of central Federal control has led to excessive control and loss of freedom. The Civil War led to the founding of federal taxation (prior to the war tariffs were the sole means of Federal Govt funding), the gold standard was quickly disrupted and abandoned, the military industrial complex was established, and govt agency bureaucracy flourished. My ancestors arrived at Charleston SC in 1752, leaving a life of serfdom in Germany to search for freedom in the new land. They moved inland and settled in what is known as Lexington county, a bordering county to Columbia. They acquired a small amount of land, bequeathed by the King of England and began a family farm. When they felt the infringement of freedom they did their part at both Cowpens and Kings Mountain to support the founding of a new nation. They helped build the first Church in Lexington county, St. Stephens Lutheran. My ancestors never owned slaves, I’d like to think that fleeing a life of serfdom had something to do with this, maybe they were just too poor, or maybe having ministers in the family had something to do with it. In 1865, General Kilpatrick, during Shermans march through the South, burned my family’s farm to the ground, destroyed their crops, and killed their livestock. They then burned the St. Stephens Church to the ground. They stole the best and destroyed the rest. Simply living in South Carolina was enough of a crime, the Federal Govt needed to pronounce punishment. So much for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. My family eventually returned to rebuild, but had to give most of their land to the bankers. Later in the 1920’s the government began impounding property to create a dam on the Saluda River and create a hydroelectric facility. People were required to take $15/acre for their land. My family contested this to no avail. Today, I am not able to visit the graves of my ancestors. Their bodies lie now deep beneath the cold waters of Lake Murray, South Carolina, their graves being flooded over. I now look at what has happened recently in Maui and other locations and think nothing has really changed for the better having the power/authority primarily being a Federal government. The Government continues to grow, our freedoms diminish and are under siege, the government continues to confiscate land and possessions leading to the point that we will eventually own nothing, the need for control over the population cannot be satisfied, the bankers and uber wealthy (or lifetime politicians) make out like bandits while generation after generation die while being forced to pay our taxes and support the folly. How can people continue without asking, WHY?

Thank you for posting the link and comments regarding Lincoln and the country’s evolution. Your conclusion is spot on at the end. No party ever wins regarding any war, except the bankers and their government supporters providing empowerment. The transition from a government founded on the principles of sovereign statehood into the current form of central Federal control has led to excessive control and loss of freedom. The Civil War led to the founding of federal taxation (prior to the war tariffs were the sole means of Federal Govt funding), the gold standard was quickly disrupted and abandoned, the military industrial complex was established, and govt agency bureaucracy flourished. My ancestors arrived at Charleston SC in 1752, leaving a life of serfdom in Germany to search for freedom in the new land. They moved inland and settled in what is known as Lexington county, a bordering county to Columbia. They acquired a small amount of land, bequeathed by the King of England and began a family farm. When they felt the infringement of freedom they did their part at both Cowpens and Kings Mountain to support the founding of a new nation. They helped build the first Church in Lexington county, St. Stephens Lutheran. My ancestors never owned slaves, I’d like to think that fleeing a life of serfdom had something to do with this, maybe they were just too poor, or maybe having ministers in the family had something to do with it. In 1865, General Kilpatrick, during Shermans march through the South, burned my family’s farm to the ground, destroyed their crops, and killed their livestock. They then burned the St. Stephens Church to the ground. They stole the best and destroyed the rest. Simply living in South Carolina was enough of a crime, the Federal Govt needed to pronounce punishment. So much for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. My family eventually returned to rebuild, but had to give most of their property to the bankers. Later in the 1920’s the government began impounding property to create a dam on the Saluda River and create a hydroelectric facility. People were required to take $15/acre for their land. My family contested this to no avail. Today, I am not able to visit the graves of my ancestors. Their bodies lie now deep beneath the cold waters of Lake Murray, South Carolina, their graves being flooded over. I now look at what has happened recently in Maui and other locations and think nothing has really changed for the better having the power/authority primarily being a Federal government. The Government continues to grow, our freedoms diminish and are under siege, the government continues to confiscate land and possessions leading to the point that we will eventually own nothing, the need for control over the population cannot be satisfied, the bankers and uber wealthy (or lifetime politicians) make out like bandits while generation after generation die while being forced to pay our taxes and support the folly. How can people continue without asking, WHY?