"Such is life"

In the 1870's, A bushranger in the badlands of Australia named "Ned" Kelly eventually became a folk hero and symbol of resistance against universal oppression. His family was unfairly persecuted by local authorities, so he formed a gang and started robbing banks, to finance world-wide insurrection, (by) ...first implementing a 'regional strategy.' He took hostages, killed a sheriff, and almost single-handedly charged a platoon of armed constables while wearing medieval-style armor. Captured and hanged, his followers today view the struggle in religious and proletarian terms,... he is a new Robin Hood and Che, an inspiration to the downtrodden everywhere.... whether or not he really invisioned a Free Victorian Republic or not is moot-his legacy endures...

Eschew Obfuscation.

apotheosis hypothesis

Ockham's razor is the rule of thumb for determining which competing explanation to use when comparing possible answers to science problems,, based upon the known, observable data. This maxim is the law of parsimony, or economy, and utilizes the fewest assumptions, the simplest answer being the best solution. "Entities must not be multiplied beyond neccessity."

Jarry and Borges dissent. They claim each event and moment in the universe is unique and beyond the ultimate rule of scientific law,

Peer review. Double blind study.


The first time the word 'Progress' entered the English language in the way that we now tend to think of the word, was in about 1810- this period was the entry of the concept that in one lifetime one would witness momentous technological change and by the time you died almost everything around you would be different. It was also during this era that the words 'middle-class' and 'millionaire' were coined.

Octopus

Danny Casalaro was finishing a book that would have wrapped together all the major scandals of the Reagan-Bush era, but he was found dead in a hotel room with both wrists slashed, all the way up to his elbows.... his manuscript missing. (You cannot slash BOTH wrists this way- once the tendon was cut on one hand, it would have been made useless and the other wrist could not have been harmed... Danny was afraid of needles and razors anyway, ...he was on a 'mission'.)

Reagan's team apparently cut a deal with the Ayatollah's of Iran- release the hostages, and we will sell you advanced weapons for your conflict with our buddy, Saddam Hussein. The very hour Reagan was inagurated, the hostages were released, and a few days later the US began transfering missiles to Iran.(The so called October surprise) .Reagan wanted the Lebanon prisoners also let go, and saw an opportunity to funnel the proceeds for the arms sales back to the Contras in Central America (Congress had cut off funding- the Boland Amendment). This operation was termed "Yellowfruit." Reagan denied even negotiating with 'terrorists', let alone trading arms with them.....

Now, the contras were involved in cocaine trafficing, assisted in this enterprise by the CIA and related American federal agencies. Noriega in Panama knew intimate details about this, because he was a pusher himself, while on the CIA payroll.

Saddam Hussein also benefited. The Agriculture Department granted him millions in dollars worth of credits that allowed him to purchase attrack helicopters, chemical weapons (to kill kurds ) and nuclear weapons components from us- we played one side against the other and along the middle. Another source or conduit for the money was the Banco nazionale lavaro (BNL).

Another bank, the Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI), was involved, and used to help launder the illicit drug money the Bush's and co. received from their proxies in the Americas, as well as over $250 billion from coerced and manipulated oil sales in the Middle East. Profits thus derived help to finance the CIA, Mossad, and other related entities.

Curious investigators began to pry, ...they were silenced, ... Now Bush Sr. had to cleanup. Since Noriega knew too much, we illegally invaded Panama, dropped bombs on poor civilian targets, and captured 'El Pineapple.' The subsequent trial carefully silenced Noriega....

Bush now had to do neutralize Saddam Hussein. A monetary deal was offered related to the IMF and the World Bank, but it was curiously refused. Our ambassador, April Glaspie, then encouraged Saddam to invade Kuwait... For the disobedience of being independent, we attacked Iraq in January of 1991.
But the war was a pyrrhic victory- it set the stage for the one to come

(more to come-INSLAW promis, Wackenhut, etc.)

Nova

For years, two images from science fiction have been in my mind and i have searched for a different application - Dr. Who inside the Tardis, and Superman inside the phonebooth. I wonder if it might be possible step inside a machine and emerge young again.

Somewhere i read about a Chinese scientist who believed that the transfer of hereditary characteristics was due mainly to electromagnetic, not material genetic, influences. He was able to alter the end result of a rabbit pregnancy by subjecting the embryo to magnetic forces, making the animal resemble another species...

Death is the result of a loss of genetic information.

About 1974, Dr. Dotto, a brilliant Italian who already held many patents and degrees , invented a 'Ring'(27" across) that was said to cure cancer and reverse ageing- the theory implies that life is ultimately a matter of physics, not chemistry or biology. He found that our cells respond to minute electro-magnetic pulses....As we grow old, our DNA double helix strand winds a certain way, and information is eventually lost as more and more transcription occurs- Dotto applied magnetism with alternating warm and cold regions(?) to cells, and the DNA re-wound back to its healthful state. Dr. Dotto tried to retire too his family castle in his 80's to study 'religion', but he was eventually murdered, run over by a car, frontwards and backwards , many times.

Street-thug criminals account for about 30,000 deaths a year in the US. Corporate white collar criminals murder about 500,000 Americans every year- half due to the tobacco cartel, others occur when auto executives cut corners, chemical plants allow toxic emissions into the air, etc.

Justice is ....getting what we deserve.

Wisdom is...being able to see a situation in its own light. If we are

Perception is (mostly) intentional.

The Feds will soon build an enormous blimp, 17 times bigger than the Goodyear one you see over football games- this bag of gas will be used for surveillance, 10 miles high in the sky, and will be able to remain aloft for two years at a stretch, as it peers into the details of our lives (it must have some special advantage over the 500 + spy satellites already observing our (almost) every move ?)...

"Blood and Soil"

Most political ideologies seem to champion the common man- the Nazi's sought to return to the alleged purity of the Teutonic yeoman farmer on his acre, the Communists glorified the working man in the field and factory against the bosses...Jefferson and Jackson seemed to uphold the higher value of the farmer, craftsman, and laborer over the indolent and corrupt banker-merchant class....The basic antagonism has always been between capital and labor..., the economic factor overides any racial or any other consideration.
The bosses falsely imagine that they are necessary, in order to coordinate labor- but recent history in Argentina has shown this to be false- during the depression that struck a few years back ( deliberately caused by the IMF) , factory owners abandoned their idle businesses. The workers then occupied these buildings and organized and began to produce- at a level of efficiency that was far higher than what the original owners could achieve....Over 200 businesses were thus seized and are now operated by the former workers...(but authorities have recently cracked down, attempting to evict the proles).

The notion that the man in the street, individuals who work with their hands, somehow possess a wisdom or dignity, a special insight into reality that others lack, was expounded by many philosophers during the 19th century. .... 'Ordinary folks' may have some measure of common sense, ...But this idea is now considered to be quaint.

During the Spanish Civil War,The Republican-Anarchist government around Barcelona organized worker collectives that ran industry for about 2 years, and over 5 million people were involved....the experiment worked well until Franco's forces shut it down...
During the Russian Civil War, Nestor Mahkno, who saved the revolution twice, formed workers councils that came close to achieving a form of pure communism... For once the peasants lived free from the brutal tyranny of the rentlords and bankers. But Lenin and Trotsky hunted Mahkno like an animal, due to his 'revisionism.'

American Indians were horrorfied at the acquisitive-greed of the white colonists- Indians were taught from a very young age to share everything.

Jefferson incurred huge debts throughout his life, he died broke, relying upon friends for his daily bread.

We live in an experimental society...

Change endures.

What really differentiates us from the slime mold is ...' The Sermon on the Mount'. Without Jesus Christ's message, without our study of it and our feeble attempts to take it seriously, we would descend to the level of brute beasts, or worse.


"Does wisdom perhaps appear on the Earth as a raven which is inspired by the smell of carrion?"

- Nietzsche

Viva Fidel

Before Castro took over Cuba, Batista ran the island with a iron fist, turning the place into a giant, ignorant casino for the Mafia and sleazball Americans- one woman in nine was a prostitute. Once in power, Fidel kicked the Dons out, sent teachers into the countryside to educate the populace, built medical clinics that are still the envy of the world, and drafted a constitution that would have made our founding fathers proud. Fidel sent relief teams to third world countries to try to improve living conditions, his army defeated the Apartheid forces of South Africa in a legendary battle in Angola...
Literacy in Cuba rivals that of the US, and any poverty that exists there is due to the embargo...every community has day-care centers that are 'free'...while most Americans have to take a second or third job just to make ends meet,
and are generally miserable, the Cuban people relax in a traquil jovail atmospere full of kindly mirth. There never was any Soviet 'subsidy'- sugar was traded for machine parts.

But in the last 14 years the noose that President Kennedy put around Cuba has tightened, forcing innovations- Cuba is now the worlds leader in developing novel methods for raising organic produce... Americans who want a 'regime change' (there) are advocating for a Cuban people who would be fat, dumb, hiding from muggers and killers, harried, and totally exploited by corporate greed.... Is it any wonder that Fidel has to maintain strict control over the island, given the arrogant stupid Empire 90 miles away? (Incidentally, Cuba is the only country to quarantine AIDS victims. As a result , they do not have an aids epidemic, unlike all their neighbors. ....Soap operas on tv are restricted, as well as trashy 'dime-store' novels, in order to keep the people from debasing themselves with the inane).

Golem

Prague was once ruled by a sad eccentric, Emperor Rudolf 2nd. He filled his court with alchemists, astrologers, mystics, exotic beasts, cabbalists and cranks....The astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler found refuge there....this was Prague's golden age, despite the tragedies of the royal family ....the magico-occult sentiments extended to the local protestant population...Rudolfs sucessor became embroiled with Emperial and Catholic forces, and the 'mystics' were routed by a numerically superior force at the battle of White Mountain, in 1620. This clash helped decide the political direction all of Europe would eventually take, being the first battle of the 30 years war...one of the soldiers fighting against the rebels was the soon to be famous Rene Descartes.

Descartes went on to have a profound influence upon Western culture, and he helped mold (albeit reluctantly) Isaac Newton. Our dominant scientific paradigm- epiricism, reductionism, rational materialism- ....can be largely characterized as being created by these events.
Imagine if the Czechs had prevailed in 1620, and Descartes had been killed.- then the magico-occult philosophy of Prague might have become the West's inheritance, and we could quite possibly be using a different, more humane, technology- the Hermeticists believed that all matter was alive, thus it was accorded respect.

(The occult view was never completely suppressed- Swedenborg in the 18th century, Jung in the 20th, and others have kept the fire alive...- hopefully holism will soon overtake the dead mechanistic sentiment)

Last year,Fortis company,based in Halifax,Canada, and nominally run by a 'John Marshall', tore up a huge swath of jungle in Belize, just to build a useless dam... Construction workers entertained themselves by hunting endangered animals like spider monkeys, scarlet macaws, and jaguars. Despite enormous international opposition from alarmed organizations and individuals ( including actor Harrison Ford-his movie "The Mosquito Coast" was filmed near the dam's site), untold rare species... a tropical eden, was destroyed.


Starting in the 1950's, several dam construction projects were begun in Rhodesia and neighboring nations - much wildlife was threatened, but conservationists joined with industry and government, and formed 'Operation Noah'- teams went into the threatened zones and captured thousands of antelope, big cats, buffalo, giraffe, etc., and relocated them to safe areas.

Development doesn't always have to mean total destruction.

A peasant in rural China began to have strange dreams, until they convinced him that he was Jesus's brother, the new Messiah. Thus began the bloodiest civil war in history, in 1851. Hong Xiuquan formed an army and fought the Emperor for the next 13 years, seizing control of almost half of the country- his military theocracy abolished private property, ended polygamy and foot binding....many women fought in the rebel army....(But) Hong became distracted by his mystical pursuits, and neglected the campaigns...Imperial troops eventually routed the Taiping forces in 1864, and the 'Kingdom of the Heavenly Peace' was no more. Over 20 million people died in the conflict.

A return to a purer republicanism, as possibly envisioned by Jefferson, Jackson, Mason and Madison....

"The Garden of Forking Paths", written by Borges in the 1940's, is one of the best short stories ever composed. When read closely, you see that current speculations in quantum theory were so accurately depicted ......(that) the work deserved a Nobel prize for physics.

Scary Procedure

The Safar institute in Pittsburgh (allegedly) has been able to drain the blood out of dogs, and then replace it with a frozen saline solution- these dogs are considered to be clinically dead for three hours-no heartbeat, no brainwave pattern. Then, the blood is returned, and an electric shock applied, and the dog revives, with normal brain functioning and no worse for the ware.
(i thought this should have been a bigger news story, but the religious implication probably interfered- where was the 'spirit' during the three hours the dog was dead?

Doctors want to start doing this to humans soon- the main application will be on the battlefield... when soldiers are about to succumb from their wounds, all you have to do is 'kill' him/her, and revive them later at hospital !

"Damned dirty ape!"

Recently uncovered documents show that in the late 1920's, Joseph Stalin sought to create a race of super soldiers, by breeding apes with humans.The Soviet army was in rough shape after the civil war, so Stalin needed troops that would not complain about poor quality food, troops that were extra tough and obedient. A scientific team was dispatched to Africa, where the experiments (supposedly) failed. - (Lets hope the administration doesn't learn about this one, although judging by the behavior of some of the people around town, i think maybe this twisted Soviet scheme worked).

Humans and chimpanzees are genetically so close that they can share each others blood.(Not recommended- disease factors are too serious a threat- you might 'go ape').

"If the American people had ever known the truth of what we Bush's have done to this nation, we would be chased down the street and lynched." Bush Sr., in an interview with White House correspondent Sarah McClendon, december 1992.

Khazars

A Turkic Medieval kingdom by the Caspian Sea converted to Judaism about 600 AD- The Khazarite dominion. Some claim that most of todays Ashkenazic Jews are really descended from these peoples-and are not related to the Hebrews from antiquity. The genetic evidence is mixed, and the issue is loaded with controversy- if true, what claim can Jews make toward the land of Israel-Palestine?......

The ancient Persian leadership would often get drunk, in order to determine whether or not a policy was fair enough. The Goths did the opposite- their chiefs got drunk, to ensure their decisions were sufficiently brutal.

Eliminate the Department of Defense. We should have a citizen militia instead, and every citizen must serve 2 years -no exceptions. Convert the Pentagon into a giant bingo hall and flea market.


"Why do they hate us?" The USA has enemies because of our support for tyrants who oppress their own people, and because big business exploit's other countries mineral wealth.

The lottery is a joke. It takes advantage of the desperate and is a regressive tax.

An example of media bias- during the Clinton years, the president was investigated for some time concerning a real estate investment that lost money, called Whitewater. The special prosecutor in the case, Ken Starr, expanded the reach of his office to include looking into Clintons private sex life. For about a year, Starr's daily actions in this case became constant news ,and his probe was a much discussed issue.
Now, Patrick Fitzgerald, a prosecutor from Chicago, has been investigating very serious criminal allegations against the Bush White House for over two years, and only just before the indictment of Scooter Libby was there any serious press coverage. Bush's crimes are well documented, and have resulted in the needless murder of over 100,000 innocent women and children.....

While Clinton's major policies were almost never substantially different from Reagans or the Bush's, Republicans still hated him- for generational and stylistic reasons. Concerning Bush, the national media is mostly muzzled.

Along the Zambezi river a lazy lion yawns, while alert antelope and giraffe exchange glances with muddy buffalo as they stride beneath the shadows of gathering vultures. To return to old Rhodesia i yearn, to feel the fetid savanna heat and see the dizzying falls again..my rhapsody lulls me to sleep, where i dream of eternal discourse and exotic travel upon this lonely world of wonder .....

A staged 'pretext' for war, in the Gulf, or here at home-lets hope it never comes .

The extropian and transhuman movement might win. Our science and technology is fast approaching a point-termed the 'singularity'- where different fields will converge - allowing humans to vastly extend their lifespan, enabling one to live long enough to live forever.

When old rats are given blood from young rats, they become much more youthful. Vampirism could become poplular very soon........

Most 'Jogging' as a form of excercise is absurd. Ultimately it destroys the skeletal system.

Protect the environment, explore outer space, self actualize and seek peace.
Be balanced, practice reciprocity, and be active and try to reform society for the good. Read and walk alot. Do not be deceived.

Previous Jesus

The Talmud and other ancient records tell the story of a messiah-wizard from Galilee who performed miracles until the authorities executed him- about 100 years before the birth of 'Christ.' During the first century AD, a man allegedly raised the dead, gathered disciples, and said he was the son of God- his name was Apollonius of Tyana.
There exists over a dozen traditions around the world of a dying-redeemer-god, complete with baptism and sacraments-Osiris, Rama, Mani, Dionysus, et al.

Religion and philosophy has been a necessity- without the input of Confucius, Siddartha Gotama, Jesus of Nazareth, Plato, Plotinus, Nanak, Lao-tze, St. Francis, and many others, our civilization's probably would not have flourished. But some issues are taken too seriously (absolute truth, sex) and religion all too often has devolved into rigid dogma....

The Bush-Bin Ladin crime family, linked up with the Russian-Ukrianian-Israeli Mafia (RUIM) and London-Vatican interests, have

Lysander Spooner, where are you now that we need you !!!

Backbone broken or Neutrality?

The internet is in grave danger. Corporations like AT&T and Verizon and their whores in Congress have crafted legislation that would give accessing and routing priority to higher paying web sites. Undercapitalized web sites would be downloaded at much slower speeds, or even not at all. Equal opportunity to access ought to be a fundamental right online- support genuine net neutrality!!!

The conservative think tank Cato Institute has determined that President Bush has broken approx. 750 of his own laws that he helped push through Congress. When questioned about his own legal abuses, he replies that he is essentially above the law.

New timeline

A Russian mathematician and scholar, Dr. Fomenko, has recently devised a radical interpretation of world history-his book, 'New Chronology,' condenses antiquity and the dark ages into a brief time frame, and claims that most history began about 1000 AD- Jesus died around 1080AD, the Renaissance and Reformation barely happened at all, and Fomenko claims history was deliberately falsified after 1550, for political purposes, to denigrate the achievements of Russia. While certainly untrue, this tome is said to be an amazing and compelling monument to the human imagination, if nothing else. (Its unfortunately popular in some slavic countries, chess champion Gary Kasparov is a believer).


Lyndon Larouche's 'system' is even more fascinating, and harder to refute.

unfortunate detour

Stalin industrialized Russia in the span of about ten years, and Marshal Zhukov was the decisive force against the Nazi's. But Stalin wrecked the communist project probably more than anybody else- Stalin would have imprisoned characters like Karl Marx, and his purges have created a permanent negative legacy from which communists worldwide have never been able to fully recover.

The fatal blow occurred early on- Lenin was embroiled in debate over the nature of the party itself (about 1920). Democratic forces led by Rosa Luxemburg advocated for multiple parties. When it was decided that only one party would exist, she wanted to allow differing factions. Lenin said no, and the rest is history.

The Iron law of Oligarchy combined with nationalism eventually toppled the Soviet Union. Reagan didn't defeat Soviet communism- they could have muddled through, like many other repressive states that are economically depleted...and Reagan absolutely did not encourage Yeltsin in any way... Gorbachev took the fear away and allowed citizens to protest in the street, (then) it was all over.

The Soviets were never very 'communist' anyway- they practiced a form of 'socialism' technically called 'state capitalism.' And Communism, albeit watered down, is still around- in Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, West Bengal,... and hundreds of cites around the world are run by Communist mayors.....

Thomas More wrote a very influentual book about 1515-"Utopia." This communist tract may have influenced the early Mormon church. A special 'United Order' was formed by Joseph Smith where all property was held in common, but the effort eventually faltered.... its ironic, because now the Mormon church is absolutely 'capitalistic' and pro-corporate.

Forensic evidence indicates that the greatest Egyptian Pharoah,Ramses the Great, was blond. The Nubian genetic influence upon ancient Egypt seems to have arrived late- about 700 B.C.

Most marriages on the planet are between 1st, 2nd., or 3rd. cousins.

Non-voters should recieve a modest fine.

Illegal immigrants constitute about 20% of our Federal prison inmate population.

Illegal immigrants utilize welfare type services here at a much higher rate than do native citizens- 24% vs. 16%.

Mexican law forbids the non-native born from holding elected office, the foreign born immigrant in Mexico cannot become a police officer, and is denied most other important jobs...while their leadership schemes to retake the American southwest, the 'Reconquista'......

Its a bird, a plane, its ....

We sometimes see something glowing and strange in the sky- some Renaissance paintings clearly depict UFO's. Aristotle witnessed a landing....Around Washington DC in 1952, fighter jets were scrambled numerous times to chase odd craft that travelled faster than anything available at the time(or since). The Pentagon then held the biggest peacetime news conference up to that time to tell the public that our radar was malfunctioning....

3,000 witnesses saw triangular craft that defied our known physics in 1990 during the 'Belgian wave." In Mexico and Brazil, it is not too unusual for important officials to report seeing the inexplicable in the sky-

UFO's are a fact, they are intelligently controlled....but what exactly are they? Time travellers from Earth, an advanced species that has been here all along, beings or devils from another dimension?


I dont think they originate from another planet- the occupants are TOO humanoid, they tend to breathe our air, unafraid of our germs...and the alien-genetic- hybrid theory seems far-fetched, it assumes a medical limitation that one would not expect from stellar travellers...

Knowledge and goodness are never enough. One needs wisdom and will, attached to purpose, also.

Lies ?

I watched a PBS documentary about the Islamic Empires last night- on several occasions they whitewashed and distorted history. First, when the story of Mohammed was presented, the fact that his wife was fifteen years older than him was carefully omitted- i feel this is important, as it gives clues about the psychology involved. Next, as the Moslems conquered central Asia, it was reported that they encountered 'Paper' and thus made it available to the world. The Chinese invented paper, but it was reported in such a way to make it look like maybe the Moslems did. Then, it was related that the Arabs devised the checking system, but my understanding is that it was the Knights Templars who first came up with credit and checking.....
History use to be rewritten about once a generation, now it seems like it is being rewritten every ten years or so....

Small minds talk about other people

Average minds talk about events or things

Great minds talk about ideas

Everytime i have a discussion with a Libertarian it always ends badly. They feel the individual has a right to express themself economically without any restaints.....while some of their ideas are ok with me, they want almost all state functions to be taken over by business interests, and this is exactly what the current privatization trend is all about- the libertarians falsely imagine that a great informed and active citizenry will always be able to keep corporate power in check. But people are very easily controlled- how can you organize a successful boycott if most people are too lazy and ill-informed or brainwashed to participate?

Most people cannot walk five miles or do twentyfive pushups. Pathetic.

Eat
Sleep
Work
Consume
Watch TV
Die

The U.N./WHO- W.T.O. alliance has plans to confiscate your vitamins and herbs. It's called 'Codex Alimentarius'. The proposed law would restrict access to, or ban many supplements that are currently available over the counter; and if enacted, the signers of the WTO treaty would have to comply, or could face penalties .
The 18 faceless, unelected officials in Geneva can overide our laws, thanks to our treasonous Congress critters).

Betrayal

The aristocratic merchants turned rebels against the British crown, seeking to increase their profit margins, and started the American Revolution.
At the Constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the intent was to amend the Articles of Confederation, but disputes erupted, and the present Constitution emerged as a 'compromise.' It essentially preserved the economic status quo that existed before the war, albeit with some added safeguards for the citizenry....the result of the convention was a plutocratic coup d' etat. Patriots Sam Adams and George Mason were so disgusted that they boycotted the process.
Oppostion to this state of the union has periodically flared- in 1839, in the Hudson River valley, an anti-renter movement erupted. ..Then in Rhode Island, in 1841-1843, the Dorr rebellion became a crisis that ended in violence. Later, trade unionism, esp. the formation of the International Workers of the World (IWW), sought to redress the wrongs institutionalized by the convention, and various American rebels still seek solutions to the question of unatural wealth inequity. Its not too late- its up to you.

Bomb

In 1971, the Bretton Woods monetary system was scrapped, and American currency was allowed to 'float'against all others,being unchained to any metal standard (the Vietnam War and Saudi Arabian oil issues were involved in Nixon's decision) ....This change in policy eventually led to our present trade, debt and currency predicament- our national debt is now about $9 trillion dollars...other countries service this debt (about 55% of it is now 'owned' by China and Japan) thru the purchase of Federal bonds and notes. ....In theory this debt could be used to our advantage, as a declining dollar makes it easy for others to buy our exports- but our manufacturing base has eroded about 17 % under Bush; we don't export like we use to. Recently several governments have stated their intention to stop buying our dollars-Syria, Russia, Iran, a few others -if China or Japan tommorow decided to dump its dollars, the US would be in a hyperinflationary scenario....

Abe Lincoln did not end slavery- he expanded it. Prior to the Civil War, whenever the feds wanted extra cash, they usually slapped a duty on imports. During and after the Civil War, taxes upon individuals gradually increased, culminating with the 'Federal income tax' and banking laws of 1913....so now most people are saddled with the burden of working almost half a year to pay their share- and in this country we don't get much back in return....