E-Mail 'Starting an Old Engine, Part 1, by John Leyzorek' To A Friend

Email a copy of 'Starting an Old Engine, Part 1, by John Leyzorek' to a friend

* Required Field






Separate multiple entries with a comma. Maximum 5 entries.



Separate multiple entries with a comma. Maximum 5 entries.


E-Mail Image Verification

Loading ... Loading ...

39 Comments

  1. Fooled me…from the first few paragraphs I was expecting a practical article about repairing and tinkering with old machinery, not a philosophical essay. I’m disappointed. Since part 2 is tomorrow, I’ll come back in 2 days.

    1. Me too! I was all geared up for pulling seized plugs or maybe even retrofitting modern bearings. I am not disappointed.
      Now I have to read this article a few more times.
      Putting our Republic back together is a big complicated project like restoring a locomotive.

      FF below described me when he said 8th grade audience.
      That is why I often re-read articles.
      Like Jimbo said, from a technician to an engineer thanks for keeping it practical.

      1. Absolutely no offense taken. Like many of us, the educational line of demarcation was middle school for me. Something about girls, guitars, and guns.
        I really try to concentrate when reading heady stuff like this article.
        I appreciate your input and I often times read your replies twice too. Good stuff.

  2. One problem. The liberals have an excellent track record of undermining most, if not all eventually, attempts at moving the country back to common sense government. Unfortunately, a lot of Republicans assist them in their efforts. I fear having a constitutional convention would shrewdly be taken over by the left as the right has very few strong leaders. A convention is a two edged sword that could save our country or totally destroy it.

  3. He’s a engineer- they charge extra for the practical stuff.
    But I believe you seem to have missed the greater lesson in this article; Tactical civics, of which I wholly agree. Prosecution of ‘reps’ who file unconstitutional (pork-loaded) bills would put an end to a great many woes we have in the halls of congress.
    From technician to engineer- thanks for keeping it ‘practical’.

    1. You could remedy much of the problems in Congress by repealing the 17th Amendment (for clarification read Article 1, especially Sections 3-4, re: how Senators are selected). That takes care of big lobby money at the Federal level and brings the Senate back to the States. There are many other remedies but like the joke about “what do you call 99 lawyers at the bottom of a lake…, it’s a good start!

  4. An encouraging and poignant article. This plan by Tactical Civics could be a potential saving grace for the nosedive of this country. I pray you are successful. God Bless

  5. I say that the political parties should be dissolved
    No more Republican no more Democrat.
    Remove all donations money land etc from the political sphere (no way for money or favor to be in politics)

    Set forth a maximum cap on all funds that can be spent in campaigns to be paid for by the person running solely.

    To lobby Congress or elected officials you must stand before like a town hall you must stand infront of all members and make your pitch.(if Congress has enough to time to declare name changes for libraries streets post offices etc they have time to sit in thier chair and do thier job)

    Keep church and state seperate still.
    (All religions are free to be practiced in this union.) (All religions have the same common tennents at thier heart “help people, don’t hurt people, be a good person.” Some even have the same books to a point.)
    So as long as a religion doesn’t hurt no one it’s protected. But it’s dogma has no place in the law making process.

    There shall be no credit or loans made or given at any level of government. Out side of emergency. If a state requires federal assistance it will be entitled only to the amount of money it generates in taxes and only allowed to borrow 1 years worth to be paid back in 4 years time and will only be allowed to raise taxes temporary to fund this by 25%. Aid will only be allowed to be sought by a popular vote in that state in a special general election. The governer of that state will then be required to stand before Congress hat in hand and request it. Funds will then be conditionally released for the specific problem.

    The government must print \ make its own money supply.

    25% of all federal taxes (by state) must be set aside in holdings anually

    25% of all state taxes must be set aside in holding annually

    25% of local or municipal taxes must be set aside annually.

    Any time the savings needs to be used it must be voted on and approved of by no less than 75%.

    Not everything but a start as I see it

    At least it’s what I think

    1. OK, I’ve read this article and the following thread and it all sounds wonderful….if we were a county of 1,000,000 people spread out over the current USA landmass. But we are not! Our society has evolved over the last 250 years and we are a country of 330,000,000 people. Realize that practices, beliefs, expectations have been long since institutionalized. And now you want this house of cards to be suddenly torn down and abandon everything that got us here? That is just “pretty words” and no common sense. Do you know how many miles it takes a fully loaded oil tanker to turn around? That oil tanker is our country and turning it around will take time, herculean effort, civil war, death, unrest, and much more!!

      To make the changes that this publisher and participants want to make will take a lot of time. As the saying goes…you eat an elephant one bite at a time. We need a group of single-minded people that drive a well-defined vision year-over-year just like the progressive socialist has done since Woodrow Wilson’s time. It should start with the constitutional convention that defines the first change that can be made.

      Don’t be delusional, keep it in the middle of the road, stay safe, stay healthy.

      1. No one is suggesting a quick fix to our enormous problems; as you say, that is impossible. All we can do is take one bite at a time, starting from the local level. Tactical Civics has great resources to help you with that, and we could certainly use your help.

  7. As a brother in Christ, a respecter of the founding fathers, a veteran, an engineer and the owner of a 1948 Ford 8N your words ring true on many levels. Truly the apathy of our society has led us to an attitude of “let someone else take care of it” especially concerning government. Local involvement in governmental affairs can fix alot of the problems we have, if we can steer our culture in that direction. I’ll be looking into the Tactical Civics organization

  8. The article surprised me as well, I was expecting to read about reviving old machines, which I enjoy, but it was a surprise. The talk of “starting and old engine” in this context makes me think of Atlas Shrugged. The article was excellent, and I look forward to part two.

    1. Hahaha. Yup, I too, was thrown for a loop and had to read the article twice.
      Weird timing too. I found a late 80’s Toyota Land Cruiser that’s been parked for about 15 years with a seized engine.
      Going to knock on a door this weekend and see if I can pick it up.

      1. No to derail the comments, but that is cool about the Land Cruiser, I hope you’re able to pick it up and get it running! I brought home an old Brillion cultipacker yesterday that is in pieces, I think I can repair it. We had a stray dog kill 12 of our chickens, and when I was looking for the rest of the chickens in the brush I tripped over the cultipacker. I never knew it was there, the neighbor told me to take it on.

  9. Thanks again Jim for an exceptional article that was totally appropriate. Couldn’t resist delighting in the last part, “face Prosecution”. They SHOULD fear this.
    There is always a WakeUP factor to freedom lost aware we the people. It’s slow. It’s growing. And when enough have had enough safety to fire the desire for freedom only evil will be in fear.

  11. Interesting article so far but if I could make a slight correction on the paragraph referring to the Civil War and slavery.

    “The insatiably mercantile North saw in the South’s lingering vice of human chattel slavery, a pretext for a war…” The Civil War had nothing to do with slavery. That’s just pablum which the public school systems feed the simple-minded knaves who never dig deeper into history than the headlines. The Civil War was about States’ Rights and whether the Southern states had the right to secede from The Club when they no longer wished to belong. In many of the founding documents, the Founding Fathers refer to “these” United States because they pictured a loosely-organized European Union type of an organization, not a centrally-ruled behemoth such as we have today. Again, the Civil War was not about slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation wasn’t even effective until halfway through the war, and only applied to slaves in Southern states. It did not free slaves in Northern states who were supporting Lincoln in his war: MO, TN, KY, WV, MD, DE, and parts of LA.

    The second part of the author’s paragraph is spot on: “The victory of central control was so destructive, and the propaganda so compelling, that the whole country was shocked and awed into believing that the absolute power of central government was as necessary and inevitable as it was invincible.”

    The reason why Lincoln has been “deified” in this country is to get Boobus americanus to swallow hook, line, and sinker the idea that a large, central, government is for our own good. It is packaged behind the sham that “Lincoln freed the slaves” and by this simple sleight of hand, we’re all unthinkingly propagandized into believing that this huge central government that we have is great and wonderful, and that one big country is better than a United States with a southern neighbor called the Confederate States.

    The next time you hear the Gettysburg Address, think about the last line: “…that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” You’ve heard that line a million times but you’ve never really, really, thought about it. We’ve been too conditioned to think about it in a certain way. I was in my fifties, I’m embarrassed to admit, before it finally hit me like a ton of bricks!

    We all know some Southerners. Let’s face it, they’re just really different. They talk funny, they eat all kinds of weird foods and drink something called mint juleps. And my military friends growing up who were from the south not only had strange names like Billy Bob but had to call their dad “Sir!” Are you kidding me? The Civil War was all about States’ Rights. The war was about the Northern States telling the Southern Boys you have no right to leave our club! What did the Southerners want? They wanted nothing more than a government of the People of the South, by the People of the South, for the People of the South. Then Lincoln gets up halfway through the war that ended up killing 2% of the total American population and wounding another 3%, to tell us that Government of the People is not going to perish from the earth? Oh, unless your one of those reprehensible Southerners, YOU don’t get to have a government of the people! Anyone who eats okra is obviously too dumb for self rule.

    I hope my Southern friends will pardon the sarcasm this morning. 🙂

    Lincoln was hands down the worst president this country ever had and the nearest thing to a dictator we’ve experienced. He set in motion the machinery that haunts us today in the form of a HUGE centralized government that violates more and more States’ Rights with each and every passing year. We, and the world, would have been much better today in 2020 had our good friends in the Southern states been left to go in peace in 1860 when they had decided they wanted to take their croquet set and go home.

    I’ll withhold my comments on the rest of the article until I read Part 2.

    1. Excellent view on causes of Civil War. To anyone who thinks that poor, southern boys who had to furnish their own rifles and horses, if they were fortunate to have them, would have fought and suffered starvation, lack of basic needs, even boots, for slavery, is not understanding the goals. They were fighting for the right for self government and not be denied the right to make their own decisions at the state level. These young men would not have suffered and died for the “right” to own slaves. Read their letters written home, first person accounts of their struggles, and you will see their thoughts.They were heroic in their efforts to preserve their rights for self government and have been maligned by history and the machinations of Abraham Lincoln since. Read the brutal accounts of the effects of Reconstruction days and lasting effects. Well said.

    2. I agree. Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus and sought out inventions that would kill Southerners at a quicker rate.

      However, if two countries were allowed to exist — with an agrarian South — numerous things might not have occurred. For instance, westward expansion would have been delayed, various presidents might not have been elected, etc. The U.S. might not have had the manpower or will to enter WW I, possibly changing the future history of the world.

      There were two interesting books I read about the “what if” scenarios: if the South had won the “War of Succession” and if Germany had won WW II. I recommend that you look them up, but apologize for not having the titles.

  12. There is a writing style where the writer so enjoys their own writing that they intentionally bury the lead and just go on and on. Very difficult to read and usually very unsatisfying. I read to learn as does everyone. Not to stroke the ego of the writer. Here is the simple straight forward way to write a informative article.

    1. Tell them what you are going to tell them. A simple one or two sentences that lets the reader know what you are going to say.
    2. Tell them. Preferably in one or two paragraphs you full explain your point. It could be longer but that would probably indicate that your subject is too large for a single article.
    3. Tell them what you told them. Again one or two sentences to state the main point/message. Your opportunity to end with what you want your reader to remember.

    Alternatively if you really want to turn off a reader the best way to do this is drone on for paragraph after paragraph without ever getting to the point.

  14. I was a bit disappointed as well, since I have been dreaming of finding and operating an old steam engine. I do greatly appreciate the content, but consider it a bait-and-switch.

    Oh well.

  15. I’m surprised anyone still believes this country as it is, can be salvaged and reformed to become a republic. It can’t. It’s headed for destruction, dismemberment, and being conquered by very different people. Already the rule of law is a memory in Washington D.C. as arrogant parasites and corrupt people break the law with impunity, and weak voices call out for charges and jail to the sound of crickets. The masses see this and understand. Seeking Amendments to the Constitution and so on, is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking Titanic. Alea Iacta Est. Surely, our G*d can do anything, but do any of you believe He will save or preserve a nation of ingrates and devilish people?

    1. Hi Sean: I agree with your comment. If Ben Franklin is quoted accurately when he was asked what sort of government we had when he came out of “congress’ and said, “a republic if you can keep it.” Then our form of government has been under attack from its beginning. Our founders did not want a democracy- it was the tyranny of the 51%. I think it would take an act of G-d to bring this country back to its original form.

      1. The ‘Act of G-d’ would be revival… a return of our whole nation to submission to G-d. If we want to see this kind of change happen, we must BEG on our knees every day for revival.

    2. If I want to live in a tent on my own property, who’s going to stop me? My lifestyle is my choice, period. There are places where growing food isn’t legal? I sure am glad I don’t live there. Most children nowadays aren’t even taught common sense or respect. They are slaves to their devices and social media, completely spoiled, not even knowing the meaning of the word chore. The changes must be made on the familial level. Another civil war is the last hope for revolution from the tyrannical progressive socialism. Free thought ended with the alien technological takeover. I saw it happen to my younger brother. He thinks the constitution is outdated legislation. What a shame, that digital age technology is destroying freedom. I have a degree in antique automobile restoration, and feel somewhat baited, but definitely am not disappointed. When the gun and freedom loving taxpayers such as myself are gone, that is when the populace should really start to worry. My father taught me well. Not.all wars are fought with gunpowder. We just need to stand up for our rights. There shall be no other money than silver and gold. All the rest is just debt. I constantly convert my fiat to tangible. I refuse to join any social media or even own a cellphone. I.M.O., If you want freedom restored, outlaw cellphones, everything would change dramatically. I know a man that has to go to a foodbank to feed his kids, yet he has the latest smartphone and a large bill to go with it. Not much of a man, and of course refuses to listen to me. Some real losers in this country, The winners just need to stand for what we believe. S.B. tends to be a bit religious for my taste, but I am not afraid to try to listen and learn. Thanks for reading my rant. Very simply, we cannot let China’s germ warfare, or the political overreaction destroy our way of life. Our founders are rolling, it’s not the American way.

  17. Ever watch a favorite horse or dog die ?? Not a thing you can do or try will change things , this thing we call home ,the land of the free ,is diying ,the death throes are clear for all to see ,if one will see and understand ,it’s like telling a child there puppy is dead it crushes you ,
    Well folks the USA is in its death throes ,
    Where do we go from here???don’t know about you but I’m preping to rebuild ,USA will be gone ,died of a cancer,from within ,ever been bed side of someone diying of cancer? Ever seen the last spark of life leave?
    That’s what we have with the USA

    Oh well who is John Galt ,, and what was his message??

  20. Many thanks for the comments. Apologies to all those who want, “just the facts”, and are offended by an invitation to an intellectual walk-in-the-woods. Everything is connected to everything else and God made a world in which themes echo endlessly like images in a hall of mirrors.
    I do love actual greasy rusty unkillable old engines, but since I do not own an oil well and refinery, I think flint-knapping wil be of more long-term utility than engine rebuilding, if we fail to halt the disintegration of our culture. Wood gasifiers or steam engines do not alter the equation: whatcha gonna oil them with?
    To those distressed by my mentioning slavery in the same sentence as Lincoln’s War, read it again and noitice that I said it was pretext, not cause.
    I agree fully that a new Constitutional Convention/COS is the worst possible idea. Perhaps your private dream-world forbids the possibility that it will run away like the first one did but in an opposite direction. But tell me if you can how adding new limitations on federal overreach will help when the sufficient structural and explicit ones we have already are not working for lack of enforcement. As Part II will describe, TACTICAL CIVICS™ teaches how we can..must..take up the duty of enforcing the Constitution we already have, as specified in the text itself.
    Our Constitution already prescribes honest money, and printing ain’t in it.
    Thanks again!

  21. Yankee Terrier ,,was a hard post indeed , but I must call it as I see it ,i was born during ww2 , as a tot I remember the pride in country ,the men and women of my family that served are all gone ,Im glad they can’t see how things are now ,my dad was shot down at coral sea never to walk again without pain , my uncle survived the Indianapolis sinking ,another uncle did D day came home body intact but his mind still on the beach
    My anger of how things are going has turned to grief ,,,

    Watching some one or something you love die is hard ,,
    I have done all I can

    1. Dear Oldhomesteader, What a wonderful heritage you have. Like you, my parents were born during WWll. My grandpa fought in the AF and my great uncle in the Navy in the South Pacific. I have this feeling that we will be called to great sacrifices also. I like what you shared except for the last sentence, “I have done all I can.”

      I do not believe you are done. Why? Because you inspire me. I look forward to reading your comments and hearing what you have to share. I have so much to learn. You may not feel like it, but you are mentoring us younger folk. With much appreciation for learning from your wisdom, Krissy

  22. The problem is that most Americans are hard working and tolerant people. The majority of that group have not yet realized the scope of the lies and propaganda of the MSM and others. They can see that there are problems but the distractions and fake news keep them from putting all the pieces together. But something totally unexpected happened in the last couple of months and there will be some serious unanticipated consequences from this. Bankruptcies, job loss, children missing out on college, businesses failing, food shortages and more. This covid-19 emergency and it’s consequences may drag out for years. Politicians will be voted out of office, law suits will continue to take their toll for years. The truth will leak out around the fake news shield the leftist media will throw up to hide the truth. This is going to be a game changer. A lot of Americans will be mad and a lot will not be content to just sit and take the abuse anymore. The November election could go either way, it could be stolen with mail in ballots and other dirty tricks. Either way Life won’t be the same. One way or another we are in for some very interesting times. It’s hard to say what America will look like in a year or two or four.

  23. I skipped reading it yesterday, busy, i work on lots of old stuff, I should have know better. Red it all today. Went and followed the links, so far it has only cost me 50 bucks and a few hours.

    I would guess that the investment in time and money will go up. Looking for a great return on the investment !

Comments are closed.