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One of Life's Lessons
By Scott C. Tips (NHF President and Health Freedom News Editor)
September 15, 2009

My friend Burt Blumert died in California last March 30th. He was 80 years old – or young, depending upon one’s point of view. He had certainly lived life to the fullest, as they say – a gold-coin dealer with an impeccable reputation for honesty for over 50 years, a writer, a book publisher, a hard-core financial backer of causes for freedom, a humorist par excellence, but, above all, an invaluable mentor to many shining faces, eager to make their mark and conquer the World.

Whenever he could, Burt liked to make a point about government to them. As he did with me once upon a time, he would pull out several United States banknotes of equal value, stretching in age over a 70-year period. Pulling the oldest one out first from the stack, he would ask what it said, as he pointed to a particular spot on the bill. In my case, I replied, “This note is redeemable in gold or silver.” As we went through the stack, each more-recently printed bill became less-and-less solid in its guarantee until, finally, we arrived at the simple printed statement on our current bills: “This note is legal tender for all debts, public or private.” “See,” Burt would then say, “This is what government does to your money. It takes something that has value, that is, backed by gold, and turns it into something without true value, backed by nothing at all except an order that everyone must accept it as money.”

Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, a hard-money financial advisor, recently wrote about the same experience he had had with Burt Blumert. And I know that we were not alone. This was Burt’s way of illustrating his point that you cannot trust the government – any government – to do the right thing or especially to take care of you. Governments will inevitably take the most politically-expedient route and trend towards accumulating power.

Fear of Responsibility

As George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “Liberty means responsibility, that’s why men dread it.” Freedom provides a person with the possibility of success beyond his or her wildest dreams – it also poses the risk of utter failure.

Responsibility thus means having to think for oneself. Those of the crowd who are not used to thinking for themselves, or are just generally lazy, prefer that others think for them instead. Most often this means the government.

With the abdication of responsibility from where it belongs – in our own hands – into the hands of others such as government functionaries and bureaucrats, important decisions are made outside of the normal “feedback” loop. That is, the person making the decision is not the same as the one who either enjoys the benefit or suffers the consequences of that decision. This leads to wrong and careless decision-making because the bureaucrat is usually far removed from the harmful results of his or her decisions. After all, who has the most to gain from a correct or incorrect decision about your own health? You or the bureaucrat who made the decision?

That is why health freedom is not only morally superior to centralized, government-controlled decision-making but also practically superior to it. If you make an incorrect health or other decision then you feel the impact yourself and, assuming you are a normal person, will take immediate steps to correct any errors or enhance any benefits. The harm, if any, is generally local. With a government bureaucrat’s wrong decision, the harm is not immediately felt, thus it can continue for a longer time and will be more widespread the more centralized the control. They are too far removed from the harm they cause.

Don't Wait for Government to Save You

It won’t. It cannot. You must do it yourself. Too many persons these days count on the government for everything. They look upon government as a God upon Earth, a giant benevolent protector that can do anything and everything.

The problem with this concept is that government can only give us what it has first taken from us. It creates nothing; instead it appropriates everything it has from us and then redistributes it, keeping a hefty percentage for itself in the process.

What it gives in return is a false sense of security. Whether it is us thinking that the Food and Drug Administration will protect our health or the Federal Reserve will protect our money supply and economy, it is all illusory. We can see the proof of that illusion almost every single day as our faith in these institutions is betrayed. How long will it take us to learn one of Life’s most important lessons?

You must take responsibility for your own life and your own health.

Don't Buy Into the Propaganda

Of course, the mainstream media – television, newspapers, etc. – is dominant, ubiquitous, and incredibly conformist. Unrelenting, the media will try to convince you that its way is the right way, whether in health matters or otherwise. Because it can be in your face day in and day out, this can prove hard to resist.

The antidote is to get your news and information from the alternative press, from magazines such as this one and others like it. Also, simply being aware that you are the target of propaganda by the mainstream press makes you more resistant to its effects. With time and real knowledge, the attempts at manipulation by the mainstream press and government diminish in effectiveness as their true nature is recognized for what it really is.

Live a Good Life

Burt is gone now but he left a legacy that is still being felt and expressed through the countless individuals he touched with his ideas and his helping hand. Not content just to sit back, watch television, dine in fancy restaurants, and simply otherwise pass through Life as a passive object, Burt acted to make things better. And he could do this because he had a solid, unshakeable view of how the World really works, well-grounded in true, not false, premises.

Benjamin Franklin once wrote that “A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is long enough.” Burt Blumert proved that adage true. Now it is time for us to do the same – lead a good life that makes the World a better, and freer, place. And the first step is to take responsibility for our own life and our own health.