Of Plimoth Plantation, Librivox audio book

I hope that everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving this week. My plan for this week had been to go ahead and begin a new collaborative audiobook about Governor William Bradford's chronicle of the early years at Plymouth Plantation. But little did I know, it's been complete since 2010! It just had a different name because someone "translated" it into a more common vernacular. There really are already some great works at Librivox to help contribute to a more educated populace. This work is a solo work, and it's fantastically read. This would be well worth paying for, but the fact that it is free is even better.

Why is this book important? There are many reasons, but one stands out.

Nearly a dozen years ago, I wrote about how the early Pilgrims attempted an experiment into progressivism and a scheme of land and wealth redistribution. Progressives share this similarity with communists and socialists, in that they do not confirm that what you earn is yours. They think government should have a say and dispensate as needed. Needless to say, this experiement among the Pilgrims failed miserably, bred a ton of confusion and discontent, and cost many people their lives. This book is a large chronicle, and it is worth consuming for any true American. However, for the purposes of this highlight let's take a moment to focus. In this audiobook, the section dealing with the failed redistributionist policies appear in the audio file pertaining to book 2 chapter 4, and start around 7:20 of the audio.

https://librivox.org/bradfords-history-of-the-plymouth-settlement-by-william-bradford/

Now, knowing that this has been completed I'm going to go and fulfill a different promise I made some time ago and start an audio book project about Patrick Henry.

New audiobook release: The American Newspaper

After a much longer delay than I hoped would happen, I am very happy to say that Will Irwin's The American Newspaper is now available as a public domain audio book.

For those of you who have strong feelings against media bias, this one is one you will not want to overlook. It's also a short work. There are only 15 segments, and the average runtime for each segment is often times in the 20-25 minute range making it both easy and quick to consume. Irwin properly frames how media use their power for political ends, and how their power is surpassed by virtually none. The amazing part is that someone actually wrote these things down to pen and paper. Some highlights include:

"A newspaper may educate its public up or down: by the very power of constant iteration it may implant one or a number of fixed ideas." - Part 1 - "The Power of the Press", page 2 of 2

"As for the gentleman of high finance who buys a newspaper outright to boom his private enterprises, his finish comes with greater expedition and certainty. Eventually, he finds that the newspaper in itself does not pay. If it is worth his while to retain it for assistance in his larger commercial and social plans, that is another matter. His profit must come in some coin other than business office receipts." - Part 13 - "The New Era", page 1

You're not just supposed to go and admit these things. In the end, journalists have a lot of "social plans" that aren't the kinds of plans we envision for our own lives, but what does it matter what we want? The long and short of it is that progressive journalism is The Matrix. The reason to buy into media is to control people - the profit is not in money, the profit is in "control". You don't have to put a wire into the back of someone's head, all you have to do is have full control over the information that's placed in front of their heads. The end result is the same.

Many of the audio books that I've lately worked to see to completion have been related to the Founding, but this one, this one is at the core of what the progressingamerica project is about. This was published in 1911 smack in the middle of the progressive era. This is all about progressivism. I've been trying lately to diversify, but the core of what happens around here has not been forgotten. Progressivism cannot go unchallenged.