Joining us on booktv. We remind our internet viewers you can send questions or comments at any time by emailing speaker at heritage. Org and legal of course post the program on the homepage following todays activities for future reference. I do want to acknowledge our good friends at the Hoover Institution who are cohosting todays program and through their complements as many of you noted weve been given copies of the most recent book by our special guest. I do call your attention to that. There are several in the foyer if you have not already picked one up. Doctor williams is a distinguished professor of economics at george mason university. And this his most recent book teammate the case for what he calls the moral superiority of liberty and its main ingredient limited government. Doctor williams examines the loss of liberty in nearly every important aspect of our lives. The massive decline in our values. And the moral tragedy that has befallen the americans today, namely our belief that its acceptable for the government to forcibly use one american to serve the purposes of another. We are pleased to discuss that in the articles included in he does like to spend a good deal of time in qanda so get your questions ready and see if you can stop the professor. [applause] i would get us started but we think about a number of issues, the initial premise is i own walter williams. I. E. In my property and you are my property. Thats my initial premise. The things i have to say would be absolutely wrong if the premise is the United States congress owns me and i do not own myself. When you start with the idea of self ownership within certain acts were certain acts are in mortal. The reason that it is a moral is that it violates private property. It violates private property. Theft is immoral and violates private property. Now, i believe that most americans have contempt for these ideas that is most americans believe that it is okay for the government to forcibly use one american to serve the purpose of another american. And in fact, two thirds to three quarters of the federal budget does precisely that. That is where Congress Takes the property of one american and gives it to another american in the name of crop subsidies, business bailout, welfare, food stamps and a host of other programs. Now, i am not making the argument, and i tax argument because i think that every american has an obligation to pay for the constitutionally mandated functions of the federal government, and those constitutionally and david are integrated in article one, section eight of the United States constitution. There is nowhere in the constitution authorizes congress to take the money of one person and give it to another for whom it does not belong. The other contempt that americans have of the constitution is a kind of contempt of the founding principles of our country and this is demonstrated by asking a question how successful a politician be today who held the moral values of the framers were the founders of the nation. James madison acknowledged father of the United States constitution stood on the floor of the house to protest. He said, and im quoting him, i cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the constitution which granted a right to congress of expending on the objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents. James madison also said charity is no part of the legislative duty of government. Now can you imagine what the American People would do for a president ial candidate today making the same comments. To take the money take the money of one american and give it to another to spend the money of the constituents for the purpose of benevolence. To help a fellow man in need of. I think that reaching reaching in somebody elses pocket to help one fellow man in need is worthy of condemnation, and for the christians among us commandment man shall not steal it didnt mean thou shalt not shall not steal unless you get a majority vote in the United States congress. Now we find Many Americans love government because government does things that if a private person did the identical thing he would go to jail and consider the following. I can walk up to somebody with a gun in my hands and i can take the 200 then having gotten the 200 i can go down and help her out and buy a medical and food and shelter. I got three people to agree with me that i should take somebodys money by force. Would it be a crime, yes it was. Now i believe most americans could or might agree with me, but heres the problem. Is there any distinction between that act and when the agents of the United StatesCongress Tells me you know that 200 that he made last week that he planned he will not do that with your money and we will go downtown and hopefully be out. That is if you press me for distinction, the only distinction i can find. That is a legal theft. The second act is just legal theft its a matter of ability. Many people might say its legal, while for the moral people, like audi alone cannot be our guide. That is there are many things in this world that were that are clearly a moral. That is that slavery was legal. They were illegal. So the moral question that we have to ask ourselves is there a moral case for taking their rightful property of one person and giving it to another to whom it does not belong. And in mine many years. There are topics that talk about in the book actually is a collection of the syndicated column over the last four or five years and i believe that there is one essay or speech that i gave. I talk about a range of topics and one of them has the issue of race in the country. Most of the pathology that we see in the black communities today such as baltimore and other cities. That is the illegitimacy rate. But in 1938 the rate on blacks was 11 . In 1880 in the statistics the race and economics in 1880 depending on 70 to 80 they live in a two parent families and 1925 harlem 85 live in the two parent families. Im coming up on 80yearsold. We didnt know anybody that was shot. We didnt go to bed with the sound of gunshots. The kids that live in the project today dont have the opportunity to have figured out in the 40s. That is the Job Opportunities is a different story today. In fact in 1948, the Unemployment Rate among black teenagers. It was 9. 4 and the Unemployment Rate among the white teenagers was 10. 2. Black teenagers were more active in the labor force in 1948 than were white teenagers. What explains that, can we say back in 1940 there was less Racial Discrimination and far greater opportunities than today. Thats not true or maybe they were more highly skilled. After school on the weekends and during the summer is not nearly as important as other things a kid can learn that would make it more valuable in the future. Its important for all people. A good fraudulent schools that live in very poor pathological households and if they are going to learn anything that will make them more valuable in the future they are not going to learn in school and they are not going to learn in their neighborhoods. And they cut off the job opportunity you lessen their chances of upward mobility. And speaking of education, theres Something Else that the average american and tragically the average black family that does not know is that the education receives by black kids in Public Schools is absolutely a fraud. Education of white kids get is not something to write home about, but the education of black kids is devastating according to the National Assessment of education process, the socalled nations report card that is put out by the National Center for education statistics. It shows that the average black 12th graders, the tests were given at the fourth grade and eighth grade and 12. The average black 12th graders. That is just simply fraudulent education. Now when this is on diploma, some of them go to college. And college is a disaster for them and would be a disaster for anybody, any race comparing eighthgraders of any race with 12th graders of any race to be disappointed by the outcome of eighthgraders. And some universities or many universities engage in absolute fraud in the name of promoting what they call diversity. A good example of this was the recent scandal at the university of North Carolina where black football and Baseball Players were recruited to the campus and they took funny classes but never met or in the studies department but never met and there was one lady who was assigned to the football teams. They could not read and write at the eighthgrade level and some of them, she said about 15 of them could not do so at the third and fourth grade level. This was an absolute fraud in the university of North Carolina and many other schools as well. They recruited these kids. Between the Basketball Program and the Football Program picks up 40 million a year. They come out of college. So they are going to get a job at home depot or somewhere else and they are going to suffer through the memory being held at the champion on campus and live a life of disappointment. Now another topic in americas contempt for liberty but i would like to stop here and address some of your questions or observations. Is there anyway you can possibly involve the is to suggest im pretty good in basketball is a matter of ethnic pride i take seriously. Thank you. [applause] youre not going to remind them that. He did much better than i did. [laughter] since you closed on the discussion then i will ask should College Athletes than unionized to get more rights . I think that we should and the charade that is indeed and we ought to pay these young men in market price. Everybody at the university, coaches are getting paid 2 million a year, assistant coach is a million and everybody has a whole lot of money accept the kids that are actually playing basketball and football so we need to get rid of the charade. Another question about Higher Education. You sort of criticized programs that take from a and give to the. I dont go to george mason. So what do you do with Public Education and Higher Education in particular . Nobodys obligated to educate somebody else. And matter of fact there is a huge misallocation of resource roughly 50 of students on the coach and assistant belong in the campuses. One of the problems with Public Education is the Financial Markets are not as liquid were as perfect as we would like for them to be. But i would like to see is people to be able to get loans to pay for their own education and then be forced to pay it back as opposed to having taxpayers pay for their education. The scripture i think requires promises on its ways and measures will lead towards liberty and functional relationships among people and i want to ask if you have ever read farewell address from 1837 help us is on the topic of honest money at the end of the second bank of the u. S. And pointed to help appointed to help the gold and silver coins were meant to be circulating as money to protect the laboring class for being inflated in the largest corporations and politicians with more and more credit money into existence while the value of the paper money the people are left with. Even going back to Roger Sherman on the evils of the fluctuating meaning of exchange from 1752. We just wanted it to be so easy having the credit money that weve lost the sense of liberty that comes with honesty and relationships. The honesty is very important it is having all of us lying to one another. And i think that thats one of the heroes because he did get rid of the Second National bank and the first National Bank was heavily criticized by jefferson and mason the other founders. But however, the nation or people sulfated to have the Federal Reserve act of 1913 and what the Federal Reserve act did is enabled the government to steal from its citizens through inflating the currency. That is than if you see the effects of the economic effect of the inflation is to redistribute income from the creditors and debtors and you ask who is the greatest in our country, who has the greatest interest and inflation to the United States government if they are ever on trial. They were engaging in the monetary policy. I have no idea what the answer is, doctor williams, youve been at this for a few years. Are you optimistic for the future or pessimistic and what is your reasoning for the answer complex people have asked me that question and my initial response is to ask them are the American People as human beings, are we any different from the romans to the portuguese from the french, the spanish, the british. These are great empires of the past that went down the tubes. During Queen Victorias jubilee were challenged on high seas and almost lose such as argentina. It is inconceivable on the high seas. A matteroffact people used to say the sun would never set on the British Crown. Somebody said in response to that the reason why the sun never sets on the British Crown is because they wouldnt trust would trust the british in the dark. [laughter] so, we are following the path of other great empires of the past. Now come if there is an optimistic note, is that the optimistic note is the first two years of the Obama Administration where they held the white house, the senate and the house of representatives these people became so brazen in the kind of things that they were doing. Its the emergence of the Tea Party Movement for the states attorneys generals were suing the federal government. State legislatures are passing the tenth amendment resolutions. So there is a budding spirit across the land, but the question is whether it is too little and too late. I would hope that is not a case. I would hope that there is a continuing spirit of rebellion. And theres another note of optimism, and that suggested. And hes proposing the way. If they ignore the epa regulations and the administration would have to somehow backed down. Its for some of the people that would ignore the epa regulations but the rest of us. But the rest of us have to just ignore it. They think the framers gave the Second Amendment to the United States constitution. The right to keep and bear arms so that we could go here and. Com being. Thats not why the framers what the framers of the constitution gave the Second Amendment these are quotes by madison and jefferson and george mason. They set it to enable the American People to protect themselves against their elected representatives. They said to protect themselves against the rulers. He wasnt talking about king george. Its a great level of distrust that if you read the constitution were just read the bill of rights. But the language of the bill of rights it says Congress Shall not infringe and shall not disparage, Congress Shall not prohibit. If the framers didnt believe the congress would do that, that is i suggest to the people that when we die and if thats the next destination we see anything like the bill of rights we know that we are in hell. [laughter] because the bill of rights in heaven would be an insult saying that we cant trust god. If you read the federalist paper 45 in federalist papers for some of you. It was written by James Madison and they were trying to convince the citizens to ratify the constitution. They were making arguments for the ratification of the constitution. They were trying to explain that the constitution is about. They do not want to give up their rights to the government. And let me just go back a minute it declared at the end of the war. It declared each state with a sovereign nation but there were 13 other nations so these 13 nations came together in 1787 to create the federal government. Its the state with the principles and federal government was aging so going back to federalist paper 45, James Madison trying to explain to these people who guarded their sovereignty, he said and im quoting him he said that the powers that we have delegated to the federal government are few and well defined commands restricted mostly to the internal affairs, the powers left with the states and the people are indefinite and numerous. Thats a statement in the federalist paper 45. If we turn that upside down we would have what we have today. The power of the federal government are indefinite and numerous. And those are the people in the states that are welldefined. And so if we ask the question which way are we headed as a nation, are we headed towards a more personal liberty or are we headed towards more government control i think it would unambiguously be the latter. My question is twofold. I experienced the teaching in baltimore and im wondering if it is possible to change the mentality of two things come educators in the School System and elected officials in innocent pali is one of my biggest dilemma was both being forced to pass through and i experienced that one in a passing grade. And also as elected officials instead of treating the community as victims from addressing the committee saying these are two parent families. Its the statistics of people whether they have a rel