By Evelyn Pyburn

In the name of freedom, the world around, we cannot let the events of Tiananmen Square be forgotten.

June 4 marked the 36th anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square, of hundreds and maybe thousands of peaceful protesters. The exact death toll has never been released by the Chinese government, but some have suggested it was as high as 10,000, in part because after the event many were later executed.

For most of the world, the words “Tiananmen Square” instantly evoke the image of a lone man standing valiantly in front of a tank that leads a row of tanks into Tiananmen Square, where the Chinese dictatorship murdered peaceful protestors seeking greater freedom.

The protestors – largely Chinese college students, were totally unarmed. As the tanks entered Tiananmen Square, a lone, unarmed man, who had apparently been shopping, deliberately walked in front of the line of tanks, carrying two shopping bags.

A photographer, who was some distance away, snapped a picture at that moment – a picture that has since become widely heralded as the most famous picture in history. For millions of people around the world, just a glimpse of that iconic picture is instantly recognizable for the statement it makes.  That lone individual, peacefully confronting the tyranny of a massive government military attack conveys an unmistakable and profound message to all who have ever struggled for freedom anywhere, throughout history. By simply standing peacefully, unarmed and determined, in front of such aggressors, this unidentified man made clear for all to see, the true nature of this enduring struggle.

It speaks to everyone – including the aggressors. For that reason the Chinese government has most forcefully and aggressively clamped down on all references and reminders of the incident in the hope that future generations of Chinese citizens will have no knowledge of the nature of their government and its dreadful actions on that day. Their efforts have been largely successful because most young people in China, today, are unaware of anything about Tiananmen Square.

As one Chinese reporter explained, since many of those who were involved or knowledgeable about the horrific event, have either died or are in their 70s and soon will be gone, it will indeed be up to the people in other countries of the world to keep the truth and the memory of Tiananmen Square alive. They must make sure it is never forgotten, because it is as sacred a day in the annals of human freedom, as any can be.

The reporter said, “Few dates are as difficult to say out loud in China as June 4,” adding that in the past few years the repression has increased.

Family members of those murdered were prohibited from mourning and have since been kept under constant surveillance by government officials. Their lives have been that of constant terror for 36 years. Each year as the anniversary date approaches, surviving family members of those who were murdered are required to leave their homes and go into seclusion so they are not accessible to journalists or other inquirers.

One of the unshakable things I read at the time about Tiananmen Square was from an observer who wrote that when the Chinese college students approached US journalists covering the demonstrations, to explain the reason they were demonstrating, they would frequently quote verbatim words from the US Constitution and other founding documents, only to have the journalists stare at them blankly – not recognizing the words they were hearing.

The journalists did not know that the Chinese college students were referencing American history and ideals. They did not understand that those young students knew more about the journalists’ history than they did. The journalists did not recognize that the Chinese students were trying to explain that they were carrying forth that same quest for individual liberty.

How appalling, and undoubtedly a foreboding of the current state of US media today.

Among the 70-year –old survivors, are those who formed a group called the Tiananmen Mothers, who have spent the past 36 years trying to keep the reality of Tiananmen Square alive. Realizing that for the most part younger generations in China do not know about the event, and as the membership of Tiananmen Mothers dwindles, they have resigned themselves to their failure and declared that in the future “reporting on the massacre will be limited to outsiders.” 

So while their voices have been silenced that doesn’t mean the rest of the world must be silent. We can remember on behalf of those who have been silenced.

By Evelyn Pyburn

When liberties seem to be in conflict, one must check their basic premises. One must go back and determine what they know (or don’t know) about the Bill of Rights.

It should be remembered that the whole point of the Bill of Rights is to protect the individual citizen from the over reach of government. It was not intended to dictate how individuals should interact with each other. The Bill of Rights is all about restraining government, not citizens.

So when it comes to issues like discrimination, we should keep in mind that the Constitution is addressing government – government is not supposed to discriminate in how it deals with citizens. Citizens are free to discriminate!

Every citizen discriminates every day in a thousand different ways. It is the human condition that we have to make choices in order to survive and we must be free to do so. We must be free to choose– to discrrimnate.

To attempt to prevent citizens from choosing is not unlike attempting to legislate morality, which is a violation of freedom of religion — a violation of allowing each person to  choose their philosophy about life and the freedom to choose how to live one’s life. It is to attempt to use force to make individual citizens think in some approved way. It is violence against the human mind. Nothing should be considered more vile by human beings, whose very means of survival is the human mind.

To change biases requires addressing the mind. It falls to the very challenging task of persuasion and reason — reason being the hallmark of the human mind.

To coerce people to think some specific way, is an impossible quest, as history has amply demonstrated. It also requires the use of force against people who have not initiated the use of force themselves. The very essence of a free society is accepting that the only moral use of force is for self-defense or the defense of others.

Government is pure force. It is the legalized use of force. Ultimately, everything government does, it does at the point of a gun. That is the vision one should hold in mind when suggesting government should “do something.” The only legitimate use of government in a moral society is to protect its citizens from the use of force by foreign adversaries and to stand as defender and arbitrator when citizens use force, one against another.

Hence, the only legitimate purpose of government in a free society, is the moral use of force. In a moral society government is established in recognition of that fact.  Government should exist to defend the country, the citizens, from outside forces, and to restrain how citizens use force against each other. Such is the purpose of law enforcement and courts, to protect citizens from murder, theft, fraud, government, etc.

Almost all other issues that a society sees as legitimate concerns — such as philanthropy in regard to human kindness, welfare and charity, most issues of health and safety, all of education, research, innovation and community benefits or enhancements — could and would be provided for by the private sector. Many are already provided for in creative ways, and they would be to an even greater extent if not for the competitive interferences of government force. There would be voluntary systems and processes and alternatives that ingenuous citizens would quickly devise should they see a need for them– innovations that would amaze us all.

So in trying to decide when government is right or wrong the conclusion should fall to the issue of force and how much emphasis was put on restraining government in the use of force. Anything that requires the use of force against citizens who have initiated no use of force themselves teeters at the brink of being a crime in and of itself.

For government— or to use government as a surrogate, to force someone — which essentially means using the point of a gun – to do something against their will, has to be seen for what it is – wrong. So when we are told the Constitution says it is illegal to discriminate, or to adhere to one religion over another, or over no religion at all, or that we have to wear a mask, or drive a certain kind of car, or use one cooking stove over another — it is all untrue. It is all a crime against humanity. What the Constitution and the Bill of Rights say is that none of those things should be dictated to any citizen in a free country – most especially since it is an abhorrent violation to choose – a human being’s very means of survival.

By Evelyn Pyburn

Unleashing the American citizen — that’s what Trump is doing.

It’s the act that built America — allowing citizens to pursue their own happiness, dreams and ambitions. How some of Trump’s actions will impact our economy and relations with other nations may not be readily evident, but the fact is it cannot be worse than the smothering of citizens by government debt and regulations that inhibit the glorious ability of average everyday citizens to do great things.

President Trump and his cabinet picks are making the news absolutely entertaining. His forthrightness about what he thinks and how he says it, is startlingly refreshing – as compared to the banal political clichéd comments we are all so used to hearing. He subtly reveals how much politicians from both sides of the aisle have systematically deceived us about what was going on behind closed doors for decades and perhaps a century. He speaks clearly and bluntly, and amazingly the world does not end – and only a few citizens become apoplectic “clutching their beads” —- and more than a few politicians.

We are truly living in an exciting era of history. It is exciting because it appears to be the next gigantic step in the process of advancing civilization – and this isn’t really the most exciting part of it – that is yet to come. All Trump and the legions of people who voted for him are doing right now is removing the shackles that has restrained the ingenuity and ambition of the common man – not just in the US but for people around the world. What every day people will be able to do with that freedom – THAT will be the really exciting part.

There is no doubt that the citizens of other countries want their freedom just as much as do we in the US. Their points of view do not make the headlines but they are there, observing and rooting for us. Those who expressed empathy with illegal immigrants crossing our southern border, contending they were seeking freedom were not incorrect. While that was a huge aspect of what was happening — which was rigorously and studiously avoided by our own media — it is blatant evidence that most people want freedom. But, all freedom- seeking peoples can’t just come to the US – they have to fight for it in their own countries. So be assured that they are taking notes on what is happening here. And, be assured that their dictatorial, collectivist autocrats are well aware of that, worried as they are about what their citizens will do. It is primarily why they too hate Trump and are currently shaking in their boots. Even in countries like China or Iran this is happening.

President Trump is going to go down in history not just as the greatest president in the US, but the greatest leader ever. He is that because he respects the common man. We are on the precipice of the second Revolution for freedom for the common man — the first having been that of George Washington and that era of founders. They respected the common man and their rights — and not just for the colonists. Their rejection of tyranny was “the shot heardaround the world” because it was an awakening for the commoners around the world.

Trump’s election is the second shot heard round the world.

By Evelyn Pyburn

So Billings, Montana has been noted as a place where people work hard.

Good job!

For all the things we are noted for this is perhaps the best. It’s been my observation over the years that human beings in general seem not only to like to work, but we are hard-wired to work. Whether we intend it or not, hardworking people thrive better than those who don’t, can’t or won’t work.

And, not only do we as individuals do better — in our standard of living, mentally and physically — but all that hard work contributes greatly to a happy, vibrant and robust community in which to live.

And more than that, it is the unleashing of all the ingenuity, creativity and productivity that is involved in work that makes us the strongest nation in the world, of all time. It was the unleashing of citizens to live, create and produce, as we choose, that allowed all that we enjoy in life to happen, while at the same time helping to support everyone around us. It was because of a government that placed individual liberty as a priority that we have choices and opportunity for happiness – to be the best of who we are.

Considering how much our work means to us it is rather confusing about why it tends to be so maligned. The weekends are greeted with glee, we seek means of avoiding work, look forward to retirement, and often complain about our work. Somehow that too must be part of our nature – perhaps the disdain is what incentivizes us to create and generate efficiencies that allow us to create more and to have time to direct to other efforts we enjoy even more.

A good indicator that even when we don’t have to, we still want to work is that most people upon “retirement” are quickly involved in some other endeavor, whether they call it work or not. I hear it from retirees all the time – “I am busier now than I have ever been.”

And in seeing the implosion that happens to those who are not so engaged, one must conclude that there is something about work that is important. Quite frequently when young people – perhaps a very talented singer who quickly rises to stardom and wealth — we see them self-destruct on drugs or flounder in aimlessness; perhaps that is an indicator that we need to be engaged in things that challenge us and gives us purpose no matter our status in life.

Perhaps not having a purpose that involves work is what generates a malaise that leaves so many anxious about how the world sees them or who live in chronic anxiety about the future or are consumed with anger that seems to have no focus.

Perhaps it is absolutely necessary to have that occasional moment of euphoria when we accomplish something — achieve a goal — and can sigh and say, “Ahh!”

By Evelyn Pyburn

It was quite disappointing to read the Governor’s Housing Task Force report and find not a single mention of property rights. It is after all the colossal violation of property rights that contributes most significantly to the imposition of costly regulations that make housing unaffordable.

The closest they came to giving even the slightest nod to property rights was a statement that said, “… homebuyers have the right to build and live on smaller pieces of land if they choose.” No dah! What an amazing discovery – in a free country, no less.

The task force was most accurate in identifying that the root of the problem of costly housing emanates mostly from local municipalities where “professionals” ply their trade of violating property rights and imposing utopian ideals and their costs upon citizens – which is usually rubber stamped by city administrators and councils in pursuit of special interests or lack the courage to stand up for the rights of property owners.

When you have bureaucrats telling citizens what kind of fence they have to have on their property and where to put it, or that they have to plant trees and what kind of trees, or how wide their garage door has to be and where it has to be, whether they can put an apartment in their basement, install a basketball hoop, have a three story building, conduct business in their building or how to build a deck – REALLY! at some point they are violating the right to determine how to use the property for which the property owner paid.

Those kinds of restrictions would never happen if government — at all levels —  respected the citizens they serve – if government recognized the Constitution and citizen rights.

I remember some years ago, William Perry Pendley, an attorney and property rights advocate, and former president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, saying  that almost all regulations are unconstitutional but they remain in force because no one has ever challenged them. That’s why the recent Chevron court decision was greeted with such applause by the business and private sectors – – it laid bare that fact.

If getting permitted in the process of building a house can add as much as 20 – 30 or 40 percent to the overall cost, which was cited as a problem by the task force, maybe the answer isn’t to try to get bureaucrats to respond quicker but to recognize that the person who OWNS the property shouldn’t have to ask permissions of someone who does not OWN the property. The bureaucrats certainly shouldn’t be dictating the minutia of what the property owner CHOOSES to do, right down to the details of fences, landscaping or paint colors!!!

Of course there are issues of safety and interconnecting with utilities,  traffic, etc. that have to be dealt with in collaboration with government officials, but they are not the things that make housing unaffordable. And even for issues of esthetics or other communal concerns there are processes that can be pursued that do not violate individual rights – but they most often do impose costs upon those who are trying to push the cost onto someone else. And, further, let’s bear in mind while all these regulations impose economic losses on many property owners there are others who position themselves and promote such regulations to enrich themselves in one way or another.

Anyone who understands how the free market works should truly be scratching their head as to why we even have a housing crisis. Any time there is a market demand for any kind of commodity or service, the market – ie. entrepreneurs and producers – usually responds so quickly that most consumers have been served long before politicians and bureaucrats can hold their first committee meeting. Anytime that does not happen there is usually only one reason – government. Even when it doesn’t appear to be government, if one digs deep enough they find it is government.

That local government is at the root of the problem is most unfortunate because those are the people least likely to want to address the problem.  There were occasional mentions, by the task force, that even though local governments had the authority to act, in some cases the State may have to take action. But, there were also objections from those worried about losing “local control.”

There is no need to lose local control, not if local leaders take up the challenge and address their local regulations with a total focus on removing unnecessary edicts and costs and letting the market (ie. homeowners) determine the product. That will undoubtedly require some different leadership – citizen leaders, not bureaucrats offering “model” solutions from on –high. We need a group of people who understand markets and respect property rights, as well as knowing what the barriers are – those who have been most often ignored in the past. 

But if that cannot be achieved and solving the problem must become the role of the State – then lets gett’er done.