This is a list of some films I’ve seen that I think may be of particular interest to Libertarians, Anarcho-Capitalists, and Austrians. They all have some libertarian angle or another, and bring to life what it means to live under force, rather than to live under voluntarism, laissez-faire, and the non-aggression principle.
Libertarian Themes In Divergent and Captain America
Is the Hunger Games a Libertarian Manifesto?
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/orig13/steimle1.1.1.html
Messages in the Hunger Games
Phyles – Like Divergent Factions, Only Voluntary – Doug Casey
http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/doug-casey-phyles
Manifestos of the Divergent Phyles
What if you were free to voluntarily join one of the factions portrayed in the movie? You’d have the benefit of a social system based on shared values, yet also retain your individual sovereignty and freedom of association.
Abnegation Manifesto
I will be my undoing If I become my obsession.
I will forget the ones I love If I do not serve them.
I will war with others If I refuse to see them.
Therefore I choose to turn away from my reflection, to rely not on myself,
But on my brothers and sisters, to project always outward, until I disappear.
Some members include a final line: And only God remains.
Amity Manifesto
Conversations of Peace
Trust
A son says to his mother:
“Mother, today I fought with my friend.”
His mother says: “Why did you fight with your friend?”
“Because he demanded something of me, and I would not give it to him.”
“Why did you not give it to him?”
“Because it was mine.”
“My son, you now have your possessions, but you do not have your friend. Which would you rather have?”
“My friend.”
“Then give freely, trusting that you will also be given what you need.”
Self-Sufficiency
A daughter says to her father:
“Father, today I fought with my friend.”
Her father says: “Why did you fight with your friend?”
“Because she insulted me, and I was angry.”
“Why were you so angry?”
“Because I was hurt by her words.” (or “Because she lied about me.”)
“My daughter, did your friend’s words change who you are?”
“No.”
“Then do not be angry. The opinions of others cannot damage you.”
Forgiveness
A husband says to his wife:
“Wife, today I fought with my enemy.”
His wife says: “Why did you fight with your enemy?”
“Because I hate him.”
“My husband, why do you hate him?”
“Because he wronged me.”
“The wrong is past. You must let it rest where it lies.”
Kindness
A wife says to her husband:
“Husband, today I fought with my enemy.”
Her husband says: “Why did you fight with your enemy?”
“Because I spoke cruel words to her.”
“My wife, why did you speak cruel words to her?”
“Because I believed them to be true.”
“Then you must no longer think cruel thoughts. Cruel thoughts lead to cruel words, and hurt you as much as they hurt their target.”
Involvement
One friend says to another:
“Friend, today I fought with my enemy.”
The other friend says: “Why did you fight with your enemy?”
“Because they were about to hurt you.”
“Friend, why did you defend me?”
“Because I love you.”
“Then I am grateful.”
Candor Manifesto
Dishonesty is rampant, Dishonesty is temporary, Dishonesty makes evil possible.
As it stands now, lies pervade society, families, and even the internal life of the individual. One group lies to another group, parents lie to children, children lie to parents, individuals lie to themselves. Dishonesty has become so integral to the way we relate to one another that we rarely find ourselves in authentic relationships with others. Our dark secrets remain our own.
Yet it is our secrets that cause conflict. When we are dishonest with the people around us, we begin to hate ourselves for lying; when we are dishonest with ourselves, we can never attempt to correct the flaws we find within us, the flaws we are so desperate to hide from our loved ones, the flaws that make us lie.
What has become clear is that lies are just a temporary solution to a permanent problem. Lying to spare a person’s feelings, even when the truth would help them to improve, damages them in the long run. Lying to protect yourself lasts for so long before the truth emerges. Like a wild animal, the truth is too powerful to remain caged. These are examples we clearly see in our own lives, yet we fail to understand that they do not just apply to the dynamic between ourselves and our neighbors, or ourselves and our friends.
What is society but a web of individual-to-individual relationships? And what is conflict except one person’s dark secret crashing into another person’s dark secret? Dishonesty is a veil that shields one person from another. Dishonesty allows evil to persist, hidden from eyes of those who would fight it.
Dishonesty leads to suspicion. Suspicion leads to conflict. Honesty leads to peace.
We have a vision of an honest world. In this world, parents do not lie to their children, and children do not lie to their parents; friends do not lie to one another; spouses do not lie to each other. When we are asked our opinions we are free to give them without having to consider any other responses. When we engage in conversation with others, we do not have to evaluate their intentions, because they are transparent. We have no suspicion, and no one suspects us.
And most of all — yes, above all else —we are free to expose our dark secrets because we know the dark secrets of our neighbors, our friends, our spouses, our children, our parents, and our enemies. We know that while we are flawed in a unique way, we are not unique because we are flawed. Therefore we can be authentic. We have no suspicions. And we are at peace with those around us.
Truth makes us transparent. Truth makes us strong. Truth makes us inextricable.
We will raise our children to tell the truth. We will do this by encouraging them to speak their minds at every moment. For the child, withholding words is the same as lying. We will be honest with our children even at the expense of their feelings. The only reason people cannot bear honesty now is because they were not raised hearing the truth about themselves, and they can’t stand to. If children are raised to hear both honest praise and honest criticism, they will not be so fragile as to crumble beneath the scrutiny of their peers.
A life of truth makes us strong. Adulthood will be defined as a time at which each member of society is capable of bearing every other member’s dark secrets, just as every other member will be subjected to The Full Unveiling in which every hidden part of their life is laid bare before their fellow members. They, too, will see the hidden parts of their fellow members’ lives. In this way we bear one another’s secrets. In this way we become inextricable.
Dauntless Manifesto
We believe that cowardice is to blame for the world’s injustices. We believe that peace is hard-won, that sometimes it is necessary to fight for peace.
But more than that:
We believe:
that justice is more important than peace.
in freedom from fear, in denying fear the power to influence our decisions.
in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.
in acknowledging fear and the extent to which it rules us.
in facing that fear no matter what the cost to our comfort, our happiness, or even our sanity.
in shouting for those who can only whisper, in defending those who cannot defend themselves.
not just in bold words but in bold deeds to match them.
that pain and death are better than cowardice and inaction because we believe in action.
We do not believe:
in living comfortable lives.
that silence is useful.
in good manners.
in empty heads, empty mouths, or empty hands.
that learning to master violence encourages unnecessary violence.
that we should be allowed to stand idly by.
that any other virtue is more important than bravery.
Erudite Manifesto
We submit the following statements as truth:
Ignorance is defined not as stupidity but as lack of knowledge.
Lack of knowledge inevitably leads to lack of understanding.
Lack of understanding leads to a disconnect among people with differences.
Disconnection among people with differences leads to conflict.
Knowledge is the only logical solution to the problem of conflict.
Therefore, we propose that in order to eliminate conflict, we must eliminate the disconnect among those with differences by correcting the lack of understanding that arises from ignorance with knowledge.
The areas in which people must be educated are:
1. Sociology – So that the individual understands how society at large functions.
2. Psychology – So that the individual understands how a person functions within that society.
3. Mathematics – So that the individual is prepared for further study in science, engineering, medicine, and technology.
4. Science – So that the individual better understands how the world operates. So that the individual’s study in other areas is supplemented. So that as many individuals as possible area prepared to enter the fields devoted to innovation and progress.
5. Communication – So that the individual knows how to speak and write clearly and effectively.
6. History – So that the individual understands the mistakes and successes that have led us to this point. So that the individual learns to emulate those successes and avoid those mistakes.
Leaders must not be chosen based on charisma, popularity, or ease of communication, all of which are misleading and have little to do with the efficacy of a political leader. An objective standard must be used in order to determine who is best fit to lead. That standard will be an intelligence test, administered to all adults when the present leader reaches fifty-five or begins to decline is function in a demonstrable way.
Those who, after rigorous studying, do not meet a minimum intelligence requirement will be exiled from the faction so they can be made useful. This is not an act of elitism but rather one of practicality: Those who are not intelligent enough to engage in the roles assigned to us—roles that require a considerable mental capacity—are better suited to menial work than to faction work. Menial work is required for the survival of society, and is therefore just as important as faction work.
Information must always be made available to all faction members at all times. The withholding of information is punishable by reprimand, imprisonment, and, eventually, exile. Every question that can be answered must be answered or at least engaged. Illogical thought processes must be challenged when they arise. Wrong answers must be corrected. Correct answers must be affirmed. If an answer to a question is unclear, it must be put to debate. All debates require evidence. Any controversial thought or idea must be supplemented by evidence in order to reduce the potential for conflict.
Intelligence must be used for the benefit, and not to the detriment, of society. Those who use intelligence for their own personal gain or to the detriment of others have not properly borne the responsibility of their knowledge, and are not welcome in our faction.
Intelligence is a gift, not a right. It must not be wielded not as a weapon but as a tool for the betterment of others.
Divergent Aptitude Test: Which Manifesto and Faction Is Best For You?
https://www.facebook.com/DivergentSeries?sk=app_203946119628644
Future Chicago is Divided Into 5 Factions – Divergent Wiki.
http://divergent.wikia.com/wiki/Divergent
Other Manifestos
Holstee Manifesto
http://cdn-media-2.lifehack.org/wp-content/files/2011/11/The-Holstee-Manifesto-e1321642060353.jpg
Wear Sunscreen Manifesto
Frank Lloyd Wright Manifesto
http://cdn-media-2.lifehack.org/wp-content/files/2011/11/Screen-Shot-2011-11-18-at-10.55.42-AM.png
An Incomplete Manifesto For Growth
http://www.nonbillablehour.com/2012/03/auto-draft-2.html
The Passive Aggressive Manifesto
http://bettermess.com/the-passive-aggressive-manifesto/
Other Libertarian Movies
Dear Tor,
You mentioned something about the TV series Revolution a while back.
I’ve just started watching Season 2. Glad they started to make the USG the bad guys and not the militias.
I left a comment at TV.com.
About time the writers realized the representatives of the USG have to be the bad guys!
8.0
By BevinChu, 34 seconds ago
Thank god the writers for Revolution have finally figured out the political message they should be conveying. Namely, that the USG is the bad guy. This is the reality, and this should also be the fiction.
During Season 1, series creator Eric Kripke and the writers couldn’t quite make up their mind who they wanted the bad guys to be. Out of left liberal Political Correctness they tentatively made the militias the bad guys.
Bad call. Very bad call.
Fortunately they reversed themselves toward the end of Season 1, when the USG carried out a Boston Bomb style false flag operation in which it nuked Atlanta and Philadelphia.
The writers saw the light by Episodes 1 through 5 of Season 2.
Assuming this is not a red herring, this reversal was absolutely the right move. Had the writers not done this, Revolution would no longer be worth watching. It would be little more than US government propaganda.less
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Also seeing similar trends in the series “Continuum” on Syfy.
So far, they’re messing with time travel – and part of the story is flashbacks / flashforwards.
Printed media (can’t be altered by keystroke) is banned, and owning it is a felony.
Babies are born with a “life debt,” the cost of being cared for is something they must pay off during their life. (And there are incentives to growing government, as it pays off part of your life debt.)
And the main protagonist was just forced (though neural implant) to commit murder…
In Season 1, we already saw people turned into organic robots (mind control via chip implants – permanent slavery, too, all actions, and likely thoughts, controlled or erased.)
The “bad guy” is fighting against the corporate interests, and (flashforward) “commits mass murder” by turning off those organic robots. And of course, he’s a terrorist, for fighting the corporate/gunverment oligarchy. And by turning off? He terminated the control chips – which kiled the people who were “working off their default on the life debt.”
The Life Debt, BTW, is the national deficit, fractionally assigned to each person…
We’re getting AWFULLY close to home:
Implanted chips to deliver medications via wireless control.
http://www.thedailysheeple.com/new-medical-microchips-to-be-implanted-by-2017-delivering-drugs-routine-birth-control-through-wireless-communications_042014
And of course, they’ll tag violent criminals and the criminally insane…. (Which already includes Christians, preppers, patriots, sovereign citizens, gun owners, people who speak of freedom, protest the government, want government accountability, lower taxes, living off-grid, and soon enough – living without chips…)
Clovers, THINK where it CAN go. Not where you WANT it to go.
Imagine the Mona Lisa; That’s what you WANT, and believe you can legislate. But it will ALWAYS turn out like Medusa, AND HAVE THE SAME RESULTS AS SHE DID! Turn people to stone and destroy them!
Destroy SOCIETY.
And we’re nto even talking Borg-ification; the Borg could adapt. We are talking total cessation of forward movement: NO free thought. NO self-control.
That’s how animals live.
Sooner of later, it WILL be turned to the WORST possible ends. ALWAYS. And just because you hang LAST doesn’t mean you won’t hang… (and you might not even make “last.”)
Continuum>Revolution
UK sci-fi is best, because despite what would seem to be crushing tyranny, people are still going to clubs, hooking up, etc. Life goes on. It’s funny it’s cheeky. The skill of the writers is employed to make the future seem palatable.
In US sci-fi, the ideas and concepts might be newer and more intriguing than UK sci-fi, but the people are always pathetic ragamuffins without a nickel to their names or an independent thought in their heads. If they manage to act at all, it is only to seek some kind of revenge or destroy something. Things have changed and life has stopped. Inexplicably progress itself brings about a SHTF scenario to the US.
TPB will keep American Art, Manufacturers, and Commerce infantilized, is what one can glean from this discrepancy.
RSA
http://www.thersa.org/about-us/who-we-are
I just watched the 18th episode of season 2. I’m not sure if I’ve watched all the episodes this season, but I’ve seen most.
Most weeks the only storyline that interests me is Aaron Pittman. How much of our world is real, and how much is nanotechnology? And how do we avoid the fakery, and make sure technology serves us, and not the other way around? How do we avoid all these douchebags with swords?
Always a good lesson, governments, politics, and herds of humans never add value. They are mere juvenile distractions, with no meaning or purpose whatsoever. It is only when there is no force, and there is voluntary collaboration, that there can be true value.
Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
Aaron Pittman – Revolution
http://revolution.wikia.com/wiki/Aaron_Pittman
Coming from one of less than five remaining armed societies, I have to tell you, swashbuckling is lost on me. I’ve never once thought: “Damn, I wish I had a sword instead of a firearm”
“Let’s ride our horses out to the sword range, and carve up some fruit, me hearties.” – Yet another thing I’ve never said.
Thanks to fast forward, this show is quite enjoyable. I try never to waste my time on “Chicken fights”
Chicken fights occur in Family Guy and often include several minutes of joke free animation where Peter fights this Giant Chicken. Because there are no jokes, I always fast forward right through these, and never watch them. For me, animated fights hold no value, so I skip right over them.
I’ve come to see political fights as “chicken fights” as well, nothing of value ever comes from them. Nothing new is ever revealed in them, simply wait until they come to their conclusion, but don’t waste your time watching them. That’s my take on the matter.
Epic Chicken Fight – Family Guy
Divergent Genius – Changing Educational Paradigms
Dear Tor, Jean,
I haven’t gotten that far. I’m still playing catch up. I’m on Revolution S02E07.
The series is not very consistent in the way it depicts reliance on firearms vs. edged weapons and other more primitive weapons. The protagonists are constantly killing the enemy and taking M-16 variants from them. Yet in the very next scene, they are shown carrying only cutlasses and crossbows! This happens repeatedly. It gets ridiculous after a while. As the old saying goes, “Never bring a knife to a gunfight.”
Edged weapons are always useful. Even today, front line grunts carry tactical knives with them, as a close in weapon of last resort.
But the way Mathieson is depicted as totally reliant on his Civil War era cutlass is ridiculous.
Dear Tor,
The video about what motivates us is dead on.
Clover bureaucrats with their control freak mentalities and compulsion to enforce “The Rules” will never understand.
Freedom to think and act leads to problem solving.
There are a lot of people who are rule-followers and not much more. Setting up arbitrary rules, and then deriving one’s self-esteem from how well one follows contrived rules just never appealed to me.
Those who seek to imprison you within the walls of their rules must be avoided at all costs. They are probably the greatest force for evil currently in existence. Freeing oneself from moronic rule-makers and their moronic rules is definitely worth the effort.
I feel no connection to CloverPA or CloverFromWichita whatsoever. I don’t consider them the same species even. I would try to avoid hitting them in the road the way I might avoid hitting a deer, but I consider the deer to be the more evolved animal of the two.
Whatever they think they’re communicating is lost on me. Their standing in the road of progress hypnotized by the lights of authority,
just makes them an obstacle in my way, something I want to rapidly identify and then avoid, nothing more.
I read that article you translated about Taiwan’s electrical system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_Taiwan
I look into these protesting people’s faces, and I see the limits of language and technology. And just painful to witness animal stupidity that is so common and inescapable everywhere. Deer trapped in the lights of political epilepsy. No nukes. Baaaaa.
http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Thousands_rally_in_Taiwan_against_nuclear_plant_999.html
I’m hopeful this can be the place where some of us learn to cooperate in new more productive ways.
There really isn’t much enlightenment going on anywhere anymore. There isn’t much freethought to be found. The same old fears of epidemics, nuclear accidents, and meteor strikes. The same tired accusations and red herring mongering. It’s so predictable yet endlessly effective it seems.
Pet Ownership Certification in Turkey
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pet-ownership-will-require-a-certificate-in-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nID=65628&NewsCatID=341
The clovers on reddit just love this law. I disavow and disown them all. These moronic lawphiles sicken me.
I have no sympathy or empathy for them whatsoever.
The power of empathy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw
“Only I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their Games,”
Peeta Mellark to Katniss Everdeen, p. 142
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Suzanne_Collins
Largest Hunger Games By Forced Participants
1 China Game 1,364,020,000
2 India Game 1,243,130,000
3 United States Game 317,911,000
4 Indonesia Game 247,424,598
5 Brazil Game 201,032,714
6 Pakistan Game 186,243,000
7 Nigeria Game 173,615,000
Battle Royale – Clip 1 – The Rules
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04bZIZDn0jo
Purpose of the Hunger Games/Battle Royale
In the original novel, the Game is officially a military research project designed to create such fear and paranoia among the population that they will never revolt against the government.
Battle Royale Wiki
http://battleroyale.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
An introduction from a, ‘not-so-recent film’ which I thought was Very powerful:
The story of the birth of freedom. Something the Clover’s of the world hate [which makes them Very Ugly]:
“The theme of this picture is: whether men ought to be ruled by God’s law, or whether they are to be ruled by the whims of a dictator like Ramses.
Are men the property of The State [as the Clover’s of the world wish] or are they free souls under God?
This same battle, continues throughout the world today” ….
– From an Introduction to the film, ‘The Ten Commandments’.
Whatever your views are, much is owed to Christianity. Many have written about it.
I should post a link to a great article I’ve read about that, but I’m exhausted.
Of those who follow the faith or not, I’m sickened by those who fight against freedom and liberty. Clover is one of those who fight against freedom and liberty. … I wonder why? How could any man or woman be compelled to fight against freedom and liberty? Are they robots or androids? Have they lost their humanity? What is it that separates them, from us?
I think – as they say – in a word: they have lost their ever loving freaking minds.
Flash!
S04E03, the latest episode of Game of Thrones just aired on Sunday.
The writers advanced several of the power struggle plotlines.
They saved the best however, Daenerys Targaryen’s plotline, for the last.
I left a comment at tv.com. FYI.
I live for the Daenerys Targaryen plotline.
9.0
By BevinChu, 15 hours ago
Speaking only for myself, I live for the Daenerys Targaryen plotline. It is the most philosophically compelling plotline in the entire Game of Thrones saga.
Most of the other Game of Thrones struggles are over power alone. The players may have scored victories (Tywin Lannister), or met with disaster (Theon Greyjoy). But either way they were fighting over power alone.
By contrast, somewhere on her long road to monarchical restoration Daenerys Targaryen apparently realized that liberating enslaved peoples might do more than help her reclaim a throne, it might be a value worth pursuing for its own sake. Otherwise she would have crossed the Narrow Sea long ago, as her late, unlamented brother was so impatient to do.
Admittedly, reconciling the abolition of slavery with the restoration of a hereditary monarchy does pose certain philosophical challenges. George RR Martin has yet to finish writing the final installment of the Game of Thrones saga. So we can’t say for certain what he has in mind. But the journey will surely be an engaging one.less
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“I have something to say to the people of Meereen…”
Are we warming to the new Daario Naharis (Michiel Huisman) yet? As if anticipating the fact that not everyone would like the change, the show moves quickly to remind us that he’s a complete badass. The beginning of Daenerys’ assault on the massive slave city of Meereen teaches us several things beyond the fact that Daario is good at killing people (and horses). We get a little taste of the larger action promised in season four, as a great number of battles have been promised by the show’s producers. The tracking shot of arrows hitting the ground toward Dany and Daario is especially pleasing, as it shows off the evolved action style the show is taking on. It’s starting to look like a big sword-and-sandals action epic fit for the big screen. It’s amazing what runaway success and a bunch of money will do for a production that started with a wing and a prayer.
We also get yet another display of the growth of Daenerys Targaryen the leader. She’s not just a blond girl with dragons anymore. She’s a completely terrifying conqueror with a big army. The Champion of Meereen jokes that she leads an army of men without their bits, but I’d argue that Dany has balls big enough for all of them. The episode doesn’t really clear up what comes next for Meereen, but it all seems pretty straightforward from here. The little blond girl is in charge.
http://filmschoolrejects.com/tv/game-of-thrones-review-episode-403.php
Dang it! Bevin. You’ve gotta quit doing that.
I soo want to read what you wrote, but I’m waiting until the whole season is out on DVD.
The used-to-be-better-half caught that somebody died. I had to tell her to shut the Hell Up as she tried to tell me ‘who’.
You’re all turning me into one of those freakin zombies: plugging my ears and saying “Nah, nah, I can’t hear you!” Ha!
Dear Helot,
Okay. I hear you. I’ll put giant
SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!
banner warnings on any posts about GOT.
Actually, it wasn’t that bad. I didn’t reveal any details. I merely touched on the underlying philosophical theme.
Daenerys Targaryen’s speech to the slaves of Meereen in this episode, sounds almost like a Josie the Outlaw or Larkin Rose rant on the Myth of Authority or The Tiny Dot!
The Hunger Games, the Daenerys Targaryen plotline in The Game of Thrones, and other libertarian memes have emerged at the very moment when the S is about the HTF in post 9/11 Amerika
I have to believe it means something. It is Jungian synchronicity. No doubt about it.
Thank you, Bevin.
I appreciate that very much.
This allows me to talk about it some, too.
RE: “Daenerys Targaryen’s speech to the slaves of Meereen”
Didn’t she say things like that last season? (Or was that what you meant?)
Last season was just a few months ago for me.
I was really impressed by the storyline and the dialogue.
That was One hot chickas. Especially when she told the slave army how they were now free, and how she said the same to the slaves in the city she set out to defeat. (Was that Meereen?)
Anyway, Impressive stuff.
“Jungian synchronicity” … Ya. I’ve noticed too.
More-so everyday.
Dear Helot,
Yes. She’s been doing that to one city-state after another.
Meereen will be the third I believe.
What makes her plotline stand out is the moral and ideological dimension to it.
Probably all the other power struggles are merely over who wants the throne. Her power struggle includes a moral and ideological dimension because she is changing the game itself, not merely the game winners.
Soy un Copetón!
So why don’t you kill me?
Tor Libertarian,
The answer is easy for me. She is pretty. 😉
That was a very good cover of Beck with good video editing.
I thought the same!
In Noah, Adam and Eve are luminescent and fleshless, right up until the moment they eat the forbidden fruit.
I recognized the Genesis’ Noah motif instantly as one common to the ancient religion of Gnosticism. Here’s a 2nd century A.D. description about what the Ophites believed:
“Adam and Eve formerly had light, luminous, and so to speak spiritual bodies, as they had been fashioned. But when they came here, the bodies became dark, fat, and idle.” –Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies, I, 30.9
Irenaeus – Early Christian Writings
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/irenaeus-book1.html
The mystical tradition more closely related to Judaism, Kabbalah, a form of Jewish Gnosticism, once held a similar view. According to Adolphe Franck’s The Kabbalah:
http://sacred-texts.com/jud/rph/index.htm
“Before they were beguiled by the subtleness of the serpent, Adam and Eve were not only exempt from the need of a body, but did not even have a body—that is to say, they were not of the earth.”
Darren Aronofsky has produced a version of the Noah story direct from the original Kabbalist and Gnostic sources.
The Secret Gnostic Key to Aronofsky’s “Noah”
http://www.aleteia.org/en/arts-entertainment/aggregated-content/the-secret-gnostic-key-to-aronofskys-noah-that-everyone-missed-5237320601042944
Noah; Divergent; The Double; and A Story of Children – Guardian UK
http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2014/apr/04/noah-divergent-double-guardian-film-show-video-reviews?commentpage=1
@Jean,
re: burning the necks.
You’re right, it was necessary.
http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/dictionary/Dict/ASP/dictionaryBody.asp?name=Hydra.html
Herakles destroyed the Hydra as his Second Labour. As fast as he cut off one head, another or two grew up in its place.
Herakles therefore enlisted the aid of his companion and charioteer Iolaos, who used firebrands to cauterise each stump severed by Herakles, until eventually the monster was slain.
To prevail, we’ll assemble a revolutionary Herakles quick strike force. And also a secondary Iolaos wave that comes along immediately afterward. Ensuring that the vanquished beast doesn’t regrow itself, and then bite us in the ass.
The NAP is hereby amended with this revolutionary clause:
It is aggression and theft to take from your neighbor, that which is not yours.
It is self-defense and raiding to take back from the Hydra, that which it appropriates and uses to tyrannize you with.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
The distinction between theft and raiding is not a new idea. It was common among the Norse people.
In the mind of the Norse people, raiding was very distinct from theft. Theft was abhorrent. According to the Norse mythology (as told in Snorra Edda), theft was one of the few acts that would condemn a man to a place of torment after his death.
On the other hand, raiding was an honorable challenge to a fight, with the victor retaining all of the spoils.
Herakles and Iolaos
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rojbn9BFA0s/TkOW_JXwK0I/AAAAAAAAHGs/4xAtVIhlQvc/s1600/Iolaos.jpg
Viking Raids – Hurstwic
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/society/text/raids.htm
Hurstwic – Viking Combat Training
http://www.hurstwic.org/
Introductory Viking Combat Workshop. Saturday May 3, 2014 from 2 to 4 PM at Hurstwic’s Valhalla training facility in Millbury, MA
http://www.hurstwic.org/training/text/workshop.htm
Valhalla Rising
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/32000000/Mads-Mikkelsen-Valhalla-rising-mads-mikkelsen-32025325-1680-1050.jpg
John Wayne in Baby Face (1933)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpLpgGKEC6o
John Wayne in The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He32DyBle2s
I prefer his roles in Realist movies pre-1935 before American actors became cartoon peons in cornball Corporatist Oligarch Crapfilms.
John Wayne, American actor, Freemason, Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 56, Arizona
Wayne was a Master Mason in Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 56 F&AM. HE became a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason and later joined the Al Malaikah Shrine Temple in Los Angeles. He later became a member of the York Rite.
He was initiated into DeMolay in 1924 at the Glendale Chapter, Glendale, California. He received the DeMolay Legion of honor in 1970. He followed his father as a Mason.
Wayne was married three times and divorced twice. His wives were all Latin women. He had 7 children and 21 grandchildren.
· Josephine Alicia Saenz They had four children
o Michael Wayne born 11/23/34 died 4/2/03 – Film Producer
o Toni Wayne LaCava born 2/25/36 died 12/6/00
o Patrick Wayne born 7/15/39 – Actor
o Melinda Wayne Munoz born 12/3/40
· Esperanza Baur
· Pilar Pallete. They had three children
o Aissa Wayne born 3/31/56 – Actress, Attorney
o John Ethan Wayne born 2/22/62 – Actor
o Marisa Wayne born 2/22/66 – Actress
Family photo 1965
http://blog.ricecracker.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/med_pst60030_17_001-jpg.jpg
Nice one. So we’re already in the FEMA camps. They’ve been patiently building them around us in slow motion all this time.
All that’s left is to make gasoline $100 a gallon, and food $10 an ounce and we won’t be able to move hardly at all.
– – – – –
What if you could buy a human hunting license, for say $100 million dollars? At a minimum, the deficit would be payed off, and 170 people would be dead.
– – – – –
The Purge 2 “Anarchy” Trailer (2014)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaoh3PqHG7I
The New Founders of America invite you to celebrate your annual right to Purge in The Purge: Anarchy.
The Purge Trailer (2013)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0LLaybEuzA
Given the country’s overcrowded prisons, the U.S. government begins to allow 12-hour periods of time in which all illegal activity is legal. During one of these free-for-alls, a family must protect themselves from a home invasion.
Whoa, yup:
“I’m quite sure that the concept of a government-run reservation would have an ill effect on anyone. But that seems to be what the socialists are working for now – to have everyone cared for from cradle to grave.”
John Wayne quote.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000078/bio
I think that’s what we have now. Surrounding us is a government reservation run by competing national intelligence services.
These intelligence services are omnipresent everywhere in the world, shaping societies to their respective government’s advantage.
The Americans – (TV series – 2013)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4D96fPl_hI
The Americans – See What I’ve Become
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQl2Mp_xD2U
Dear Jean,
Thanks for the detailed and thought-provoking response.
I found out I am Amity. Just like Anthony in that Twilight Zone episode is Amity. I can take some criticism, but too much, and I start wishing the offenders into the cornfield, often as a kneejerk, not fully conscious thing.
Gee Tor, that’s a fine post. A real good post. Wouldn’t want you filling up this blog with even more words, even though they are good words. Real good words.
1) I envision these phyles as being very small in total. In real Chicago, maybe all factions/phyles might total a few thousand people out of many millions. I do think Candor holds a lot of possiblities. People who don’t deceive each other would be extremely valuable, I would think.
There is no reason why humans can’t voluntarily choose to emulate robots. It would mean being 100% consistent in your responses is all. Just because no one today behaves in this manner, doesn’t mean a phyle couldn’t choose to adopt this behavior standard and maintain discipline and carry it out.
It is only humans who have designed and built robots. It’s follows logically, that whatever they create in other things, is likewise possible for they themselves to adopt.
I think the Candors only mean they have no suspicions of each other. They understand that members of Dauntless faction may very well lie to them, and deceive them. Though they would lack experience, if forced to lie to a Dauntless under extreme duress, they might choose to attempt it.
It seems possible for a Phyle, a small group of people to completely abandon guile and deception from their environment. More details and proof of concept are required of course.
same sex 4% worldwide 300 million LGBTs
Interestingly, that part of the Amity manifesto you mention is marked as removed in the actual manifesto. I removed the note saying it was later removed from the Amity Manifesto because I thought it would be too confusing.
You bring up the Harry Potter books, which are the gold standard, in these types of books.
On principle, my gut feeling is that House Slytherin is just as valid as the other houses. Most of what Voldemort does isn’t really that bad if you compare it to what humans do. Why would it be wrong to try to live as long as possible, if that were an option for magical people.
I understand why mega-statists consider Slytherin to be villains. But how can voluntarists consider knowledge to be evil? Even including the knowledge of how to manipulate others?
It seems like utter madness to me. Nothing is evil except using force against another peaceful human being, right? No one has an obligation to make things easy and straightforward for others.
This is only a requirement of central planners, because they need this kind of mystical self-restraint so there altruistic enslavements can function as desired. Manipulation is not force, it’s just successful competitive behavior is all.
The evil of Slytherin and Voldemort, is just a convenient propaganda fable that allows the mega-statists to contrive a vast network to combat and defeat the supposed evil.
The now bureaucratically united Hogwarts will very soon far surpass Slytherin and Voldemorts evil, I can assure you.
An important omission regarding Erudite/Slytherin is that they are the people who invent things. And build and maintain the means of production.
These kind of socialist/corporatist novels always omit that inconvenient truth. The most important phyle is always the people that no how things work, and are able to maintain them. What Ayn Rand calls the men of mind. The unmoved movers on whom are entire prosperity is built.
The other factions might all perish and society will still thrive, but without the Erudite/Slytherin class, all you have left is Uganda and utter propertyless brutish short-lived savages.
Gay/Lesbians are 4% of the world population, around 300 million. They are the darlings of the UK, Europe, and now the USSA, because by only partially solving the “dilemma” of their existence, endless tyrannies and behavioral edicts can be rolled out.
Here is a real life example of a self-selected faction/phyle. Why not allow them to isolate themselves, or immerse themselves as they choose. Why can’t they have a true reservation, just like the United States once promised to the Native Americans?
Abnegation is a real phenomenon. White people who prevent themselves from having more than 2 children per couple. Who consent to be quiet, respectful, sober, and all around good subjects.
The truth is, the white, and north-asian men who invented nearly everything, and who maintain nearly everything are not Abnegation by nature.
Elon Musk and Reed Hastings deserve unlimited freedoms and privileges. To even begin paying back what they’ve contributed. Yet the dogooder Abnegation hordes would go full Walking Dead zombie should it be publicized that they in any way started collecting on the debt society owes to them.
Americans worship dogooders, not doers. That’s why it’s constantly in decline and only a few steps ahead of total descent into a raving lunatic Uganda asylum of screaming white, brown, and black primates.
We are more hygienic and civilized than other places because of our innovations and wealth creation, not because we’re any different than all the other apes in all the other countries.
Hi, Tor,
Good response… It’s a Real Good Response… 😉
Going to cherry-pick, I’m on a hair-trigger here since som A-hole decided to change SOMETHING on our test machines. Two applications both doing strange things… Probably ’cause this is “more secure” or something. Not that these morons would know secure if it jumped up and bit their perianum… (Nothing much else to bite…)
ANYWAY:
While it would be possible for a group to establish rules of relating, as per Phyles you designate / groups designated in Divergent – similar to the Houses of HP, or the Clans of Battletech. Even what we see here, WRT Tribalism in the human species (Eric, we’ll have to agree to disagree on that a bit. I think there’s an “us” and “them” embedded in the human psyche, though it’s flexible – IE, it’s “US” against the Business “Them” WRT IT; But we’d both go out and cheer the Patriots, say, as a different “tribe” of “us”; we’d be fighting “Them” of the Giants. Etc.)
So, per our discussion, I gathered (without reading the books) that Divergent factions were Absolute in their credos. It’s total submission to their rules, and they believe (IE, they’re fanatics here) that EVERYONE will be better if it’s done THEIR way. So, Abnegation believes if everyone sacrificed themselves, Everyone would be happy. Dauntless believes if everyone just faced their fears, everyone would be fine. Etc.
Which means that someone from Candor would tell the truth to the others (their core beliefs are tied into doing so), and EXPECT the same from Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, etc.
Amity might well be inclined to lie…. Just as an example. The lie is easier to tell than the truth, it’s a little white lie to make things flow more smoothly… Keeps everyone happy. And if we all made everyone happy, there’d be no more problems! If only those damned Candors would STFU! and play nice, the world would evolve into Utopia.. (So, the factions are all in opposition. None give any credence to the other views, nor is there a common approach.)
Also, from the movie trailers, looks like the entire city is one faction or another – based on the Wiki info on being Factionless, it would appear the only option for participation in society would be to have a Faction.
In a roundabout way, that brings us to the Erudite/Slytherin types. It’s not the knowledge I see as a problem, but the morals (god complex) this type usually has. It’s a doctor who brags about how he makes life-and-death decisions every day and we poor mortals don’t approach the number of L&D decisions he makes every day before lunch in our entire lives. His pride & ego make him think he IS god. [And this applies to the other fields, too: Politics:Pull/Influence; Athletics: Strength, Flexibility, Endurance; Intelligence: Manipulation of others, control of information; popularity: Ego fulfillment, Pull. Etc.)
So, WRT Slytherin, the problem wasn’t that they liked using their minds; nor the knowledge; nor the fact that Voldemort was Slytherin. The problem was, they just wanted the POWER to order others around – and were willing to be slaves for eternity to get that power and prestige. To be Proxies for someone else’s power and will. Magical Clovers.
Erudite wanted to Rule… By Divine Right of their Superior Intellect.
Leopards don’t change their spots. Politicians are politicians regardless. They will simply flock to certain callings and factions/houses/businesses more than others. Unfrtunately, I don’t think it will be teaching others – where their love for knowledge or debate might awaken a young mind, or spark ideas that would bring wealth to many.
They want to control others; that is their love. Those of lower IQ are just dullards to be used and discarded. Those not crafty enough to have informants everywhere? Or not manipulative, or Machiavellian enough? Merely inferior stock, use and dispose of.
Even the doctor example at the beginning, he at least serves a purpose and was corrupted by Pride, as people Came To Him.
These others seek out minions and cat’s paws and proxies to work through. None of the people in that chain benefit from the machinations, and in fact many more will be injured by those machinations. The only objective in exploiting the knowledge or intelligence you have, is to get more power. To repeat the process… Manipulate, exploit, scheme, and gain more power over others… And repeat…
Like a video game. It’s addictive through the same ego-gratifications AND chemical drug rewards (endorphins, serotonin) as the games themselves. And the intermittent responses, THAT is addictive. Try it with Candy Crush, say, or Bejewelled, or even with Scrabble (though you have to look closely, the chance and rewards routine follows the same path.)
In this situation, I don’t see these people as Inventors or Builders of ANYTHING. Once addicted, they are addicts forever: Hard to stay “clean” when your body produces everything on its own.
Having said all that…
It IS the same intelligence, bent to a PRODUCTIVE end (maybe some abnegation? instead of aggrandizement?) which would lead to productive ends, as you suggest. These people COULD BE the creators and producers. Just that a subset of them are hell-bent on controlling us, and taking us to hell WITH them.
As for the bureaucracy of Hogwarts (actually, you mean the Ministry of Magic – the woman watches HP and Twilight so much I can probably recite the script in my sleep, dammit) – well, DUH! Bureaucracy is ALWAYS evil, that’s the POINT!!! 😉
Jokes aside, THAT was the reason for the court structure in medeival Europe. Keep everyone fighting and scheming against each other, and the King stays on the throne as most of the plots never get dangerous. And the petty intrigues feed the ego and validation as noted above. 🙂
Humans are venal, vile creatures, even the best of us.
More succinctly, “Every man has his price.”
Hilarious. I was totally a little bastard Anthony for my poor parents back in the day. I would guess a lot of us were, truth be told.
If Anthony were to take the Divergent Faction quiz, he would no doubt get diagnosed as Amity, same as me. He’s not that committed to doing a good job. He’ll settle for the gratification of hearing what a good job he does, regardless of how shit he really is.
Anthony can only tolerate criticism to a point. Go beyond that threshold, he’ll try to wish you into the cornfield. (Don’t know that one yet, but if anyone goes to authority about me, or threatens to, that’s when I cross under on the moebius path and cease having any dealings or empathy for them)
Divergent Aptitude Test: What’s Your Faction?
http://www.quotev.com/quiz/1671187/Aptitude-Test-Whats-Your-Faction/
Amity quizzes, stories,
http://www.quotev.com/search/Amity
Amity, the peaceful, are nice and help people who need it. They don’t like war and will help stop it.
Nice is actually a forced attitude, it implies that should conditions change significantly, the ability or desire to appear nice might end.
I am nice/peaceful, yet somewhere after a half hour of alt news, there’s this moebius strip where things change, because the police state has become so oppressive and out of all bounds and is going to extinguish me, unless I learn the ways of the erudite or dauntless and learn to do something about it.
We got back to Patton:
“A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.”
Doing something is the key…
Winding down afterwards would be the follow-through. 🙂
There is a risk of violence, but should sufficient numbers, show sufficient resolve, there need not be violence.
-peaceful anarchy
http://peacefulanarchy.org/
-Peaceful Anarchy: Imagine A Society
Without the State
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/barnett/barnett36.1.html
-Can peace be obtained through anarchy?
http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/can-peace-be-obtained-through-anarchy/
-Peaceful Anarchy In A Nutshell
http://ahimsazine.com/arch/nutshell.html
-Why Aren’t You an Anarchist?
http://freeliberal.com/archives/001869.php
Sorry, Tor, but both the Candor and Dauntless conclusions are based on false premises. They can never achieve anything when they go in the wrong direction.
Dauntless:
We believe that cowardice is to blame for the world’s injustices. We believe that peace is hard-won, that sometimes it is necessary to fight for peace.
Cowardice is not the only reason for how things are. Not the only source of problems. Assuming that weakness (cowardice = weakness as lack of courage) is the root cause of all problems, when an excess of violence can CAUSE the same problems…?
Yeah, even _I_ see a need for limits, but only a small percentage of people need that imposed from the outside. Less than 3% of the population, I’d guess.
Candor was Ok until almost the end of their Manifesto:
We have no suspicions. And we are at peace with those around us.
Outright LIE. You never know someone has told the whole truth. And it presupposes a binary: True, or False. We discuss similar WRT talking to the cops: Remember a detail later on, go back – now you’re changing your story, a suspect, and guilty of obstructing justice. So suspicion will always linger.
And most of all — yes, above all else —we are free to expose our dark secrets because we know the dark secrets of our neighbors, our friends, our spouses, our children, our parents, and our enemies. We know that while we are flawed in a unique way, we are not unique because we are flawed. Therefore we can be authentic. We have no suspicions. And we are at peace with those around us.
Yeah, tell that to the gays/lesbians killed for being gay/lesbian. The black men lynched for being black. The whites murdered because they were white.
Monoculture (and mono-biology) would be necessary. Robots can do it, humans can’t. There will always be some soulless ginger who raises hell. (Just picking on redheads because of the “soulless” meme, don’t mean anything by it – it’s an example.)
It also pre-supposes that we will all be HAPPY in our ASSIGNED role. IE, a baker who would rather be an auto mechanic: He tells everyone, Ok. Everyone tells him they want bread, so shut up and bake.
Honest? Sure.
Transparent? Sure.
Festering anger and hatred on the part of the baker? Probably… And even if he’s honest about THAT, what’s going to happen? The nail that sticks out from the rest ASKS to be pounded… Someone will “hammer” him back into “his place.”
And honesty, TOTAL honesty, to children? “I’m sorry, Tommy, we don’t have enough to eat/ buy food, so tonight we go to bed hungry.” Compared to Mom and Dad eating less than they want/need, but ensuring Tommy has a full belly. It’s dishonest, yes, but it makes for a secure child.
I won’t even bother with House Slytherin, I mean, Erudite. (Besides the fact they’re the bad guys in the series, the knowledge they pursue includes the knowledge of how to manipulate others. Their intent is writ large in their very list of studies.)
Amity is a contradiction from the start, too:
Involvement
One friend says to another:
“Friend, today I fought with my enemy.”
The other friend says: “Why did you fight with your enemy?”
“Because they were about to hurt you.”
“Friend, why did you defend me?”
“Because I love you.”
“Then I am grateful.”
The fight itself removes Amity from even being possible: the fight violated Amity, yet CAUSED Amity. Spending our way to prosperity, are we? Starving our way to food? Sitting on the couch to get strong?
And lastly for that bit, if there were Amity, how could the speaker have an enemy? I knwo, it’s a Zen Koan thing, but still: it presupposes that there is a LACK of Amity somewhere, and accepts dishonesty as a coin of the realm.
Abnegation is denial of self. To the point of being Nothing. Not even an ant in the hill has THAT little respect for itself. It allows others to walk all over you unopposed – possibly literally. Gandhi didn’t even preach that denial of self existence; not even the Zen masters teach THAT.
Color me Divergent… Force when needed, amity when possible, honesty whenever possible, self-denial when proper, knowledge – all I can get, never know what will be useful.
What is possible differs by situation….
Your thoughts?
RE: “Force when needed”
From a review of Captain America: Winter Soldier, “a thoroughgoing denunciation of the state”:
“When someone attacks a publicly supported state using the state’s own means of bloodshed and property destruction, not only is it evil (because it invariably involves hurting the innocent and punishing the guilty with criminal disproportionality), but the state can easily use such an attack as an effective excuse for expansions of its size and police power; and it can do so with much support and very little resistance from a populace terrified by the attacks. Whatever short-run “victory” the attacker thinks he wins (cutting off one head) will be more than undone by the reactive swelling of the state (two heads taking its place). This pattern is so clearly predictable that a state will sometimes inflict “false flag” attacks on itself and on its subjects, just to get the same effect (like an ingenious Hydra increasing its power by proactively cutting off its own heads).” …
http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/04/dan-sanchez/the-state-shield-or-hydra/
I imagine that hacking at a Hyrda is a bit similar to burning Poison Ivy. It’s not, ‘a good thing’, Nick Fury.
What you’ve just described is an anti-fragile state. I don’t believe America and China are anti-fragile. The International Corporations, European Union Founders, Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom might be.
There are three states for things: Fragile: those things that don’t do well under adversity; Neutral/Robust: those things that are unaffected by adversity; and, Antifragile: those things that benefit from adversity.
A system of cooperating governments in which each makes its own decisions and allows the others to see how it fares is antifragile. It is antifragile because a failure of one policy in one government, first, does not affect the others, and, second, the others learn from that mistake and don’t repeat it.
Contrast that with a single government with a single, central bureaucracy. When that single bureaucracy makes a policy mistake it affects adversely all of the lower levels of the society.
The single, central government is fragile because adverse events affect it while the disbursed decision making government is antifragile because an adverse event affecting one does not necessarily affect the others adversely.
Once you see that single entities are more fragile than multiple, unconnected entities, the policy implications for banking, industry, and other collections are that the more, independently run entities the more antifragile the system as a whole becomes.
Author Taleb explains these concepts clearly with many examples showing the concept of antifragilism is what would make a competitive, capitalist system superior to all currently existing corporatist states.
His approach is neither political nor economic. It is rather well-based in common sense and logic. This is a good read. It helps to understand the world as we see it and suggests that alternative approaches to many organizational choices, while not intuitive, will yield more robust systems as well as the opportunity for improved system results.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/antifragile-nassim-nicholas-taleb/1110867836?ean=9781400067824
Interesting comparison to the Hydra.
So, a thought: Would it not serve the same ends to pro-actively chop off heads, to help the government expand, as quickly as possible… Until it goes to war with itself, or the people realize the Gov’t is worse than the “terrorists” it claims to fight?
Give it enough rope to hang itself?
It hasn’t helped anyone yet. I think that’s been the main conservative strategy wherever they’re out of power.
Sit back and watch the show, they say. Let things get so bad, that our side will ride in and save the day. They only care about vanquishing their enemy. They’re two heads in eternal combat with each other.
I Want Obama to Fail! : Rush Limbaugh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgKCWt7jrrc
You’re still not talking about the entire beast yet. You’re only talking about ignoring the heads, until the one in power fails. This is entirely acceptable to them, their hydra is anti-fragile against this.
Last Battlefield – Star Trek – auth: Gene Coon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi97fXRkgss
“50,000 years you have been fighting. There’s nobody alive on Cheron because of hate. Your planet is dead.”
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield_(episode)
Bele & Lokai of Cheron
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jUfrJJ7rILw/UWbW07FJzBI/AAAAAAAAKnw/AnyWXgRN2dk/s1600/STguys.gif
What if Ron Paul does kill the Fed. And shuts down DC completely. There goes the B head and the G head of the three-headed hydra. Win?
No. Lose. Here comes ORganized Religion and ORganized Institutions to fill the vacuum. The Hydra abides.
It’s not a game you can win at some point. They’d love it if we concentrate on determining which heads are good, and should remain. And which heads are bad, and should be chopped off.
Removing heads has no lasting effect, and they stay in power regardless of how high our headcount ends up being. We beat the Brits. We won every war. Then we won the Cold War. Soon we’ll win the War on Terror…
Nope, you’re only winning battles. They win the war. There are millions of dollars to be made, talking about parts of the Hydra. These people are much more talented and accomplished than I. But, I recognized the con, which they may or may not.
They’re just Cowboys trying to ride a Hydra for 8 seconds, and then get handsomely paid in the great political rodeo.
Heracles and the Hydra
http://www.theoi.com/Ther/DrakonHydra.html
This wasn’t written merely as a fable. It’s was a treatise on battling complex enemies, and a chronicle of the results to date.
Well, burning the necks was essential there.
But when I suggest that, people don’t like it. 😉
OTOH, making the heads fight each other, they tend to forget about “us”.
I LIKE scorched earth, but the two “best” [least-bad] solutions seem to be: burn it apart before it gets much toehold; or, assist it in growing, feeding on itself, and ultimately strangling itself, ASAP. Option 2 will get sympathy and aid from “the people,” where Option 1 will likely cause the sheep to bleat in fear for more “safety.”
In some ways, it’s a no-lose situation. Except I have to LIVE here… And it’s getting less likely I’ll escape, ever.
Jean,
That might just be the most important question. How does one fight a Hydra?
It’s a difficult battle because there are assimilated human beings that are used by the Hydra to communicate with human beings.
There has to be a way to slay the Hydra, yet leave the ensnared sheeple intact. Hydras are formidable foes to be sure.
When we see gil, clover, bob, or mikefromwichita posting here, are they acting as individuals? Or are they sockpuppet-bobbleheads speaking for the Hydra?
Today one of the Hydra heads said: “`the decision has already been made to make cars safer for everyone what is the point of complaining about it.“`
(I use the three quote ticks to make it clear it’s a quote from the Hydra hive-mind, not from a human being.)
Andrew Jackson Slaying the Many Headed Monster
https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/omalley/389money/images/hydra-large.jpg
Andrew Jackson and the Bank War
https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/omalley/389money/jackson.html
Here is my result from the Divergent Aptitude Test:
Amity-You are at peace when the people around you are getting along. You appreciate music and the arts, and it is easy to make you laugh. One of your goals is to find as much happiness as you can.
You believe that aggression and hostility are to blame for most of the world’s problems. Others see you as sometimes flaky or indecisive, but also as easygoing and warm.
Here are test scripts straight from MIT without Facebook
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/14129978/
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/3028780/
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/18008402/
Divergent Aptitude Test Simulation » Studios
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/14129978/studios/
Divergent Test Results Are on the Left Side
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/188559/comments/
The Divergent Fan Club Projects
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/319306/
Divergent Lovers
http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/344692/