OpEdNews - Page 4 of Article: Transcript of Podcast Interview with Paul Craig Roberts

Paul Craig Roberts:
Yeah, yeah. I'm not "right." I'm not "left." I'm not "Democrat." I'm not "Republican." I'm "sense of justice."

Rob Kall:
Paul, let me do a station ID now. This the Rob Kall Bottom-Up Radio Show, WNJC 1360 AM, sponsored by http://www.opednews.com/
I've been talking with Paul Craig Roberts, who is thoroughly disgusted, who feels it is futile to keep on writing. Paul?

Paul Craig Roberts:
Yep?

Rob Kall:
So " we're in times that call for strong voices now more than ever, really,
I believe. There are a lot of people who have been co-opted by Obama. I'm excited in some ways by the "tea party" people. I'd like to get your idea on them. I don't like a lot of the things that they say, but when I talk to them face-to-face, I find that I agree with some of the things that they say more than I expect, generally. I've done it a couple of times, and each time that I do it I find new things. Now " it's interesting ... you bring up the problems with the World Trade Organization, NAFTA and CAFTA,

click here

globalization, how's that's bad for America and just benefits a handful. I've been saying that. Dennis Kucinich
http://kucinich.house.gov/
http://kucinich.us/

has been saying it. I just don't understand how people who care about American business can not oppose it. The biggest reason I don't like Bill Clinton is because he signed those bills. And we've got a lot to do now. We are in a place " when I say Obama has co-opted a lot of people ... a lot of people keep waiting for him to act like a Democrat, and the more I see him, the more I see him acting like a duopolist, and the more I am convinced that there really aren't two very different parties. They may have some social issues that are different, and disagreement on taxes, but on probably the most important issues they are functioning the same way. What do you think?

Paul Craig Roberts:

Well, of course. Look, Rob " off-shoring destroyed the unions, and that was the financial base of the Democratic Party, and so the Democrats now are dependent on the exact same funding sources as the Republicans. They are dependent on the Wall Street investment banks, they are dependent on the military security complex, the insurance companies, the pharmaceuticals, the big agricultural corporations. So, they've had to behave exactly the same. In fact, you know, George Wallace back in the sixties, the Alabama governor who was running as an independent for the presidential nomination, and doing so well they had to have him shot " He said back then "there's not a dime's worth of difference between the parties." Now, he was making the point. I think it was a bit of an over-statement for those days, because the unions were still there, and the Democrats still had an independent financial base from the Republicans. But now they have the same base. There's no difference between them. And of course a lot of the black leaders have been co-opted and bought off

Rob Kall:
By whom?

Paul Craig Roberts:
" by the establishment. They are all part of it now. So, the kinds of dynamic factors demanding that were demanding accountability and change have all been subdued.

And, you asked about the "tea party." A lot of people are angry. If you look at it, though, they are angry for different reasons. This is not some kind of uniform movement. There are all kinds of different reasons why they are angry, and many of those reasons are mutually contradictory. So, what I think will happen to the "tea party" is that it will be taken over. Probably the Republicans will take it over and use the anger against Obama, who is a "Muslim," and "black," and "selling out the country," and "not a citizen," and all that kind of stuff. A lot of the tea party people are mad about that. So, it's a dangerous situation. I mean, I agree that it shows that people are upset and they should be. But what they're upset about isn't necessarily rooted in any truth or facts. It's a mixture. Some people are upset about what's really happening, while others are upset about all the myths that go around the internet. You know, "Obama's a Muslim," and that type of thing. So, what will come out of it is probably some kind of confusion, something the Republicans will be able to take advantage of. And " even today, on your site, there's an article by Mark Karlin
click here

I'm not disputing the report or anything, but he is down on that part of the tea party which are white Christians who believe the government is oppressive. Well [laughs] the government is oppressive. It is oppressive.
Look ... tomorrow is tax day, right?

Rob Kall:
You bet.

Paul Craig Roberts:
April 15th ... and what does that remind us of? It reminds us that we do not own our own labor. The government has first claim on our labor. Historically, the definition of a free person is a person who owns his own labor. If you don't own your own labor, you are either a serf or a slave. All Americans have been serfs or slaves since 1913 when the income tax was passed. Now, you try to tell this to a progressive. They hit the wall. "Oh, you're for the rich! We have to get the rich. We have to help the poor." Well, you're not doing anything like that. What you're doing is re-creating the conditions of feudalism, in which people don't own their own labor. The government owns it, or has first claim to it.

Rob Kall:
You know, Paul, we're going to disagree on this one.

Paul Craig Roberts:
But it's true. Historically, the definition of a free person is a person who owns his own labor. That is why, in the United States Constitution, income tax is illegal. Hey look, we're not going to re-create feudalism in America.

Rob Kall:
So, would you get rid of all wage taxes?

Paul Craig Roberts:
Yeah.

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