Seems an odd question to some. I can tell you the exact price, here in Kansas anyway. It’s $3.92. That’s right, our state legislature just sold out each and every resident of this state to the federal government for $3.92 a person. That is the breakdown of the latest blackmail job from the federal government to return to us our own money for highway funds. All that was required for us to receive our $11.2 million in federal highway funds was to pass a primary seatbelt law. Now the various law enforcement agencies can pull you over for suspicion of not wearing your seatbelt. It is now a primary offense.

Not the first time we sold out, just the latest. Mandatory seat belt laws were awhile back, as was the 21 year old drinking age (that one would have cost us a 10% reduction in highway funding) We are being held hostage by the federal government, the ransom is our very own tax dollars that we dutifully send to the big machine. If we comply with the demands of our omnipotent big brother, we get some of our money back. Some because about 53 cents of every dollar is consumed in the beaucracy, depending on the source perhaps more. Wow! Imagine how that would translate into other transactions for goods or services. How about only getting a half gallon of gas for every gallon purchased?

This is nothing new, the national parks are nearly all a result of theft by the federal government, from the states as well as individuals. Recently, we returned to my father’s Appalacia for our yearly gathering of Ancient Riders. As is my custom, I frequently go for early morning rides. One such morning I stopped at the ranger station in the Great Smoky mountain national park to ask directions to the “road to nowhere”. There happened to be an older gentleman visiting the volunteer who was manning the office and he was a wealth of information. “Red” filled me in on the entire story from his perspective. The TVA, he said had bought all the land and run the families out under imminent domain. They had paid from two to as much as eight dollars an acre, to each of over 1000 families, to acquire the necessary land for the Fontana dam and lake. The TVA promised they would build a road from the other side and a tunnel so the folks could have a way to visit the cemeteries where their family members were buried, over 1000 graves that either were above the lake level or had been moved there. Well, at this point he gave the “gov’ment” a good all around cussing. The TVA had built the road and tunnel all right, but the road ended on the other end of the tunnel so the only access the people had was by horseback. Red said he had made the trip twice a year since 1945. Apparently our leaders deceiving us is nothing new.

On returning home I decided to study this a bit more. Not a whole lot can be found, but it does appear that the TVA took control from ALCOA of the Fontana project around 1935. The dam started producing electricity in January of 1945, about nine months before the war was over. ALCOA would remain the main user of the power from this dam for the next 25 years. Without any of the $70,000,000+ price tag. Finally, in February 2010, the government came through. The department of the interior cut a check to Swain county North Carolina for $52,000,000 in lieu of finishing the road that was promised 65 years ago. Of course, none of the family members of the original displaced residents have seen a dime. They still visit their family plots on horseback.

The cost to the families who were displaced was enormous. Their freedom, their way of life. Here were people who had been independent all their lives, third and forth generation on the same land, handed a check for a few hundred dollars and expected to go find a new home. To assist in the “electrification of rural America”. What a load of crap! How about “to support the corporate interest”? Sound familiar? What was the plus for these simple folks? Education that they didn’t know they were missing? Better living conditions? They never knew they were poor. I contend it was to further empower the government and their corporate interests. People who lived in the hills and raised their own food had little need for the stores and such that were found in the towns, but move them off their land and where are they going to go? The same result of the millions of acres that were taken for national parks. Get the people rounded up and close to towns depending on the government and it’s interests and the power grows.

These people had a price set on their freedom by the federal government, too. Just as we have been doing, and are doing still. $3.92, that is todays price. What will it be tomorrow…less?….more? Or just the best offer.