Today’s Thoughts . . . Aug. 21, 2013

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A window into why we’re doomed:Submission training

Today, I am flying – the first time I have done so in almost four years. I used to fly regularly, in order to attend the “ride and drive” events hosted by the car companies. But submitting to the degradation that one must endure was enough to cause me to opt out – of flying.

So, why am I breaking my vow?

Chiefly, in order to visit my parents, who live on the other side of the country and whom I have not seen in, well, almost four years – since I opted out of flying. They are getting old and much as my teeth grind and my heart burns at the prospect, I will endure what must be endured in order to see them.

But, unlike all the lowing cattle at Roanoke Regional Airport today, I alone opted out of the porno scanner. I stood, appalled, as my fellow travelers queued up for their dose of radiation – and humiliation. A blue shirted cretin waved at me to come through the machine. “No. I will be opting out.” Frown. Uncomprehending looks from the people queued up behind me. Not one showed any signs of support. Several seemed annoyed. At me.

This defeats me.

The blase indifference of so many people to being treated like the scum of the earth by the scum of the earth. The easy compliance. The shrugging and so-whating. And, far worse: Their irritation with people who aren’t indifferent.

It makes me very sad.

I don’t like submitting to a fondling in the I surrender stance. But doing it gums up their works a little at least. it slows down the process; makes life a bit more difficult – for them. When I think how easy it would be to really throw a monkey wrench in their works – peacefully, according to their rules. . . and yet, almost no one seems willing. They queue up for the radiation-porno scanner and by doing so have routinized that – on top of all the other affronts they’ve already routinized by their Ā shameful acquiescence.

If they won’t make the effort here – now – in this little, nearly cost-free way – what are the chances they’ll ever take a stand for liberty?

Most normal people mourn the death of a loved one. Most Americans don’t even notice that America has died.

Much less give a tinker’s damn that it has.

26 COMMENTS

  1. Eric, you said:
    I donā€™t like submitting to a fondling in the I surrender stance. But doing it gums up their works a little at least. it slows down the process; makes life a bit more difficult ā€“ for them. When I think how easy it would be to really throw a monkey wrench in their works ā€“ peacefully, according to their rules. . . and yet, almost no one seems willing.

    That is the real problem in a nutshell: the People don’t want to take any longer than they have to. To protest or argue or dispute has so LITTLE impact, and to just acquiesce is so EASY…

    Reminds me of lines from the “Alien Nation” TV show. I found the script, it’s presented as I found it online…


    What do you know about a guy named Tagdot? You okay? Maybe you better come in.
    -lf you’re in the middle of something– -No, please.
    Come in.
    There are many legends, stories about Tagdot.
    Our myths were deeply woven into our culture.
    Same here, l guess.
    On the slave ship, the Kleezantsun, Overseers they used the stories against us.
    CATHY: We lived in our bed racks.
    Thousands of corridors of bed racks stacked a hundred stories high, all fanning out like spokes on a wheel from a central hub.
    The Overseers were charged with maintaining order.
    They pumped gas to keep us submissive.
    But submission was not easy for some.
    Since we landed, l’ve heard that there was a group that acclimated themselves to the gas and tried to organize a revolt on the ship.
    Hell, yes, you had to have them outnumbered, what, a thousand to one? Ten times that.
    CATHY: That’s why they had to strike at our weakest line of defense our minds.
    Already vulnerable from the gas, they twisted our history.
    Myths became real.
    Overseers became demons more dangerous and powerful than all of us together.
    Fear became more painful than death.
    All we had to do to escape the torture was lay back and breathe the gas.
    And that’s what l did.
    l’m sorry.
    l always thought that l was a rational person.
    You are.
    So why do these dreams still scare the hell out of me? Why now? The Overseers, why the tattoos? l was told that it neutralized the gas.
    On the ship, it was a symbol they wore righteously.
    Now it’s their scar of damnation.

    It’ll take time, but those badges and military tats and such WILL end up as a tag of damnation here, too.
    Problem is, the Dark Ages lasted for 10 centuries. (5th – 15th century AD, per wikipedia.)

  2. Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.
    Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.
    Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.
    We do not judge the people we love.
    There are two types of poor people, those who are poor together and those who are poor alone. The first are the true poor, the others are rich people out of luck.
    I hate victims who respect their executioners.
    I am no longer sure of anything. If I satiate my desires, I sin but I deliver myself from them; if I refuse to satisfy them, they infect the whole soul.
    Fascism is not defined by the number of its victims, but by the way it kills them.
    -Jean-Paul Sartre Quotes

    Unchained liberties. Freed markets. Tax less. Tolerate more.
    Libertarians are pro-choice on everything
    Liberty and justice for each Crime does pay, thanks to prohibition.
    Porcupines keep the Donkeys out of your wallet and the Elephants out of your bedroom.
    Porcupines keep the Democrats out of your pocket and the Elephants out of your underwear.
    Elephants oppose having too much fun. Donkeys oppose having too much money. Porcupines oppose having too little responsibility.
    When conservatives are in power, man represses man -when liberals are in power, it’s the other way around.
    Individual Rights. Personal Responsibility.
    Vote Democrat, it’s easier than working. Vote Republican, it’s easier than tolerating.
    Fighting for your freedoms while you vote away mine
    You’re not free unless you’re free to make your own mistakes
    Excuse me, your security is standing on my freedom.
    If you don’t trust us to govern ourselves, how can you trust us to govern others?
    Your life is not my fault. My life is not your business.
    Libertarian. Because we can’t all be freeloaders.
    Ask not what your country can force other people to do for you.
    Our freedom is more important than your good idea.
    A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
    You can have my 1st Amendment when you pry my cold, dead hands off of the 2nd.
    When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir pelcgbtencul!
    go to prison for smoking pot.
    If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it’s free.
    -Libber-Terrean Slow-Guns

  3. Dear Eric,

    You wrote,

    Uncomprehending looks from the people queued up behind me. Not one showed any signs of support. Several seemed annoyed. At me. The easy compliance. The shrugging and so-whating. And, far worse: Their irritation with people who arenā€™t indifferent.

    Grim scene. Reminds me of the Eloi in HG Wells’ “The Time Machine.” They evolved into human cattle.

    Rand had a pithy observation about that, as usual.

    “Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.”
    — Ayn Rand

    So did Jean Paul Sartre,

    “L’enfer, c’est les autres,” i.e., “Hell is other people.”

    Sartre’s play “No Exit” may be right. Hell is probably not a sauna with a broken thermostat.

    Hell is probably a post 9/11 airline terminal in which the security check by TSA perverts goes on for eternity.

    • ā€œLā€™enfer, cā€™est les autres,ā€ i.e., ā€œHell is other people.ā€ Thanks Bevin I am going to remember that one.

    • Morning, Bevin!

      I’d heard Sartre’s observation before – never Rand’s. (And I thought I’d read everything she’d written!)

      Both are spot on.

      The essence of savagery is a refusal to leave other people alone.

      And: Calling a person who cherishes privacy “anti-social” is perhaps the greatest compliment a statist can pay to a person who is not.

  4. I just love you hardcore libertarians…never able to see the forest for the trees. You have “rights”, right? And you think your “rights” are being violated because you have to be screened to get on an airplane, right? But since you care so much about “rights”, and “property rights”, what about — here it comes, pay close attention now — the “property rights” of THE AIRLINE?

    That airplane you want to board belongs to THE AIRLINE, not you, remember? And THE AIRLINE has the right to decide who gets to board its airplane. And THE AIRLINES have decided that only people who have been screened according to certain standards can get on their airplanes. Do you have the right to decide who gets to come into your home? Certainly. And in the same way, THE AIRLINE — not you — has the right to decide who flies on their airliners.

    You want to be pissed at TSA, but that federal agency works in partnership with THE AIRLINES. You don’t want to be screened, tell you what: Contact THE AIRLINES and tell them all about your rights, and see how long and hard they laugh at you.

    One more thing: any nitwit that goes without seeing his parents for four years just because he doesn’t want to undergo a three minute security screening isn’t principled…just goofy.

    • False comparison: the AIRLINE didn’t make the TSA. WE didn’t make the TSA. It was mandated by governmnet to enrich their cronies (Look up who owns Rapiscan again.)

      Further, if the airline has the right to decide who it will and will not service – why not the rest of us? Why can’t I decide I don’t like (one of) {niggers/kikes/frogs/polaks/chinks/gooks/injuns/micks/whites/commies} and simply not associate with them? Not serve them in MY restaurant; not serice them at MY gas station; not rent rooms to them in MY hotel or MY apartment complex?
      Oh, yes: It’s because the GOVERNMENT mandates what I can and cannot do with MY property.

      The property rights of the airlines are being violated, too, by mandatory “safety inspections”, by mandatory air marshals, excessive safety testing, agressive legislation about how one can purchase a ticket, parking laws WRT airports, fuel laws WRT airports (what fuel they can use; who they MUST purchase from; WHERE and HOW that fuel must be stored; how that storage facility must be policed; what height and type of fences must be used; liability insurance for those who break in ANYWAY, and get injured – just to name a few).

      Try again, without (a) making a false comparison, or (b) inserting your foot so far into your mouth you’re chewing your knee.
      We all do that (b) part from time to time, but you can’t derail things here: people are too smart.
      That’s why we’re HERE, not nattering on in a Starbucks.

    • MV,

      Is it legally possible for me – for anyone – to launch an airline that does not involve TSA goons? That does not subject people to random (and thus, unreasonable by definition) searches of their persons and property?

      Answer: No, it is not.

      So much for your straw man.

      But the real issue here – the important one, if you have a soul – is this business of treating people like cattle. Of turning them into cattle.

      How can you defend such a thing?

      Does it make you feel “safe” to be reduced to a state of abject submission before any goon with a gun who barks the word at you?

    • mv phkr,
      Your argument like most people who rile against libertarianism boils down to that some aspect of libertarianism can’t stand on its own inside a statist system. You’re falling for the con that if government decides to partner with, the way a mafia run trash company partners with a family owned restaurant in many cases, that property rights can then be used to say the customer consented.

      The airlines, like all regulated corporate entities wish to pass as much of their costs on to the taxpayer through the government as possible. They also do not want to compete. This is why they went for this deal with government, however it is not like government was going to offer them a choice either.

      There have been a number of schemes to technically get around the TSA some have worked others squished. The difference appears to be in how cheap and easy it becomes for mundanes to use.

      In a libertarian world the airlines would be responsible for their own security. Failures of their security would also impart liability on to them. Airlines would have to balance customer service with security. There could be, in a libertarian system “Archie Bunker Airlines” where every passenger is handed a gun at boarding. Or there could be “Strip search airlines” where everyone was thoroughly searched before boarding. Most would fall somewhere in between. Airlines would be accountable to passengers instead of passing the buck to an unaccountable government agency.

      That was the point of partnering with government. It’s unaccountable and it allows the airlines to just say ‘nothing we can do about it’. Now maybe the airlines will wake up if their numbers fall far enough and buy enough congress critters to fix things but their corporate world view won’t likely allow for it. They can no longer conceive of a system where they are responsible. So all that can be done is not fly until they go out of business. Problem is, then it is just government airlines like amtrak.

  5. Did you use your Swiss passport for ID? šŸ™‚ If I had foreign passport I would likely use it that way to see what happens. They don’t usually blink an eye with my co-workers who are not US citizens and use their passports.

    I use my passport when flying. If they want to play police state, I’ll play along. It seems to mildly annoy some TSA ID checkers, but in the end the message is missed by all. The advantage being far less info on a passport.

    I have to fly for work. In post body scanner flying I’ve been able to avoid it all but once. Just dumb luck and flying to destinations where the airports only have metal detectors.

  6. The reason you were the only one opting out of the porn-o-scanner (brought to you by the RapistScan corporation) is that everyone else who might have objected is already f–king driving to where they want to go.

    Good on you Eric, for doing even that little bit to gum up the works. You never know, it may inspire others to follow your example.

    • I have a camera and am considering trying to film on the way back… I didn’t do so on the way here because I wanted to make it here. But I can always drive home, if need be…. and I know my wonderful wife would bail me out if need be, too.

  7. The last time I flew, it was pure joy.
    I loved every minute of it!

    People who worked for the airlines were helpful – and on my side – even when I did things like open the door that no one was supposed to go through, and walk on.

    That was a long long time ago in a world that was far different from the one we are in now.

    I can understand why people continue to fly. I only hope every one of them have considered the option to drive, first. Via: RV, van, camper, whatever it takes. The cost factor is high. so I can also understand why people don’t.

    Some lame poetry?:

    Snapshot out the window
    Do you see the trail
    Snooze in the seat
    Do you have a choice
    Oxygen oxygen, depraved we
    Depraved we of things, of conditions
    Many
    When landed, things, they are the same.
    We look.

  8. If I got a stare from one of the cretins in line, it would take a miracle for me to shrug it off… or not be arrested for disorderly. I’m at that point that I’m sick of the whole lot of these cattle.

    • Swamprat, I think maybe you’d a just freaked the Fuck Out standing next to my better half as she argued against the prosecutor in court today.

      Just from hearing about it, my heart’s only just now getting back to normal.
      Flying is nothing. Compared to court.

    • “Iā€™m sick of the whole lot of these cattle.”

      I know what you mean, jellybean. It’s awful to realize that if I’m hauled up on charges in court, my fate would be in the hands of my fellow ‘murkins, who are mostly a gaggle of dimwitted , TV addicted turds.

  9. Man, I feel for you Amigo. The last time I flew was in November 2011. I was very nervous at the prospect of traveling through either a patdown or a body scanner. Fortunately, I was able to avoid both. That was the last time I boarded a plane. I don’t think that it would be as “easy ” this time.

    The feeling that I get at airports is very similar to that of getting near a voting booth. I have developed a hostility towards the people next to me like I never had before. At the voting booth, an inner rage nearly comes out with the desire to knock the living shit out of the voter next to me, realizing that somewhere around 97% of them either voted for Obama or Romney (Democrats or Republicans), not giving a monkey’s ass to research other alternatives or realize (or even care about) the consequences of doing either.

    Same thing with airports. I remember flying around 911 and glaring at the other passengers who felt that this security was good for safety or some swill like it. I, unlike most, am often verbal with my fellow jackoff American. I tell them what I think, with no apologies, no regrets. They can piss off a rope, climb a tree or fly a kite for all I care.

    I’m not sad, I’m outraged and want to take them all out.

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