We are regularly told that we “owe” money to the government; it literally says this on the forms we’re obliged by law to fill out each year that oblige us to provide information that could be used against us by the same government that says we “owe” it money – and so much for the Fifth Amendment that says we have a right to not be forced to self-incriminate.
Kind of like the way the First Amendment doesn’t apply anymore when the government uses proxies such as “social media” to censor free speech; which is pretty clever, one must admit.
And the way the Fourth Amendment is suspended at airports and on the “public” – that is, government-controlled – roads, when the government’s courts say it’s “reasonable” to subject people to random searches, without probable cause to suspect a crime has been committed or is about to be committed – provided there is a “compelling” interest in randomly searching people just-because.
And so it goes.
But what – if anything – do we owe our fellow man?
It cannot be money or any other material thing – absent having incurred a debt of some kind – because if not, to say money or material things are “owed” is to say what a mugger says in a dark alley. Just without the mugger’s straightforwardness. Which is why, of course those who mug us legally do not use straightforward language. They use inverted language.
More finely, they use language against us. In order to make us think we do, in fact” “owe” the mugger money – as much as he says, whenever he says.
A good example of this being what I wrote about the other day when the government sent a mugger to “assess” the value of what I (like many homeowners) quaintly like to think of as my house, since it was me who paid for it with my money that no one else worked to earn. This is a silly, of course since if I did own it, it would a crime for some random person to “assess” its value and then demand money from me based on this “assessment.”
But you see how it goes. By calling it an “assessment” it sounds better than what it is. Just as them telling you what you “owe” sounds like something it isn’t; i.e., a morally legitimate obligation to pay for something you agreed to pay for.
They will say, of course, that by agreeing to buy a home, you have agreed to pay what they say you “owe” in order to be allowed to occupy the home. It doesn’t say that anywhere on the contract/paperwork, of course. It is just accepted with strange insouciance as part of the deal. Just as it is accepted – by most people – that when you go to work, you somehow “owe” other people a portion of what you earned.
This is called your “fair share,” which is another interesting inversion. It is not far-removed from the idea – asserted in some cultures – that a woman “owes” a “fair share” of herself to any man in need of sexual release. The underlying principle is essentially the same. Because you have something they need – something they want – you have an obligation to give it up.
So what do we owe – if anything?
Three things, if we wish to live in peace with one another. They are – in no particular order of priority – Civility, Forbearance and (when agreeable to both parties) Cooperation.
Civility is often regarded as politeness – and that is certainly an element of it. A civilized society is not possible, by definition, when people are uncivil toward one another. That is to say, when they are casually impolite toward others. But civility is more than just good manners. The pretended civility of obedience to authority – out of fear of authority – is not a hallmark of civilization. It is a measure of its opposite. It is the coerced bonhomie of “comradeship,” as in the old Soviet Union. Or the “neighborliness” of Minnesota under Tim Walz, where armed troops are sicced on people who dared to walk outside their homes contrary to orders.
True civility is – fundamentally – respect for what isn’t yours. Like your neighbor’s house or any “assessed” portion thereof. If it’s his, it isn’t yours. Just as yours isn’t his. Such an agreement makes for the kind of real civility Americans enjoyed at one time – when most Americans respected the sanctity of other people’s property. Which, in turn, had the marvelous benefit of inducing others to respect the sanctity of theirs. It was very civilized. As opposed to the faux civility of pretending to smile when the “assessor” appears – and when you hand over what you “owe” to the lady behind the desk at the county tax office. Probably, you’d like to smash her face in. But you have to be polite – just like a comrade in the old Soviet Union – because if you’re not, it is understood what will happen to you.
Forbearance is another way of saying live – and let live. That is to say, you have the asbolute right disagree with and even seriously dislike what others say and even do. But so long as what they do does not directly cause tangible harm to you, exercising forbearance is the right thing to do. A fine example is accepting that a person who prefers not to wear a seatbelt or a helmet has the right to take that risk – with the proviso that he assumes the responsibility that goes along with it. When a society disconnects responsibility from risk-taking, one ends up with a society in which every putative risk – no matter how trivial – becomes a justification for exercising tyrannical control over people whose actions have not actually caused any harm and who therefore bear no responsibility for what they haven’t done.
We saw how that went during the “pandemic,” as it was called.
Imagine how much more civil – how much more peaceful – it would have been if people had exercised forbearance toward one another. If people had accepted that other people who wished to wear a mask ought to be free to wear one but that no one should be forced to wear one. That those who wished to stay home had a right to stay home but that no one had any right to force anyone else to remain “locked down” at home.
That it is acceptable for a private business to open its doors to anyone who wishes to enter because no one is forced to enter. As opposed to forcing private businesses to close their doors to customers who wished to enter because both were willing to accept responsibility for the risk, if any.
Forbearance is really just a fancier word for saying minding one’s own business. As opposed to minding the business of others, which is anathema to both true civility and to civilization.
Finally, cooperation – mutually and freely agreed upon. The latter italicized to emphasize the difference between true cooperation and the coerced “cooperation” of authoritarianism. The kind entailed by the comradeship that existed in the old Soviet Union and neighborliness of Walz’ Minnesota.
When people are free to get along – and free to disagree, when they don’t – you end up with real cooperation, the kind that builds rather than destroys civilizations. Your neighbor comes over to ask whether you’d be willing to help him put up a fence. You agree – and neither of you resents the other. As opposed to your neighbor “asking” – in the authoritarian sense that he’s telling you – that you “owe” him a sum of money because he needs a fence built and you’d damned well better hand it over.
Or else.
Civilization and “or else” cannot coexist for long. Eventually, “or else” comes to replace civilization – and then you have what we’ve already almost got.
With more on the way.
. . .
If you like what you’ve found here please consider supporting EPautos.
We depend on you to keep the wheels turning!
Our donate button is here.
If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
PS: Get an EPautos magnet or sticker or coaster in return for a $20 or more one-time donation or a $10 or more monthly recurring donation. (Please be sure to tell us you want a magnet or sticker or coaster – and also, provide an address, so we know where to mail the thing!)
If you like items like the Baaaaaa! baseball cap pictured below, you can find that and more at the EPautos store!
[…] Guest Post by Eric Peters […]
By the way, they are coming back at us with a new PLANDEMIC:
https://jamesroguski.substack.com/p/we-need-stronger-surveillance
The WHO has declared Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove stressed the need for stronger surveillance!
And the assault is global:
Declaration On Future Generations
https://jamesroguski.substack.com/p/declaration-on-future-generations
The United Nations’ “Silence Procedure” has been set to end at 4pm Eastern on Friday, August 16, 2024. If no nation objects to the document, it will be assumed to have been accepted.
Please note paragraph 32 in the document:
32. Strengthen cooperation among States to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration between countries of origin, transit and destination, including through expanding pathways for regular migration, while recognizing the positive contribution of migrants to inclusive growth and sustainable development.
All happens at the same time (with WW3 ops as well), but like during the coup-19 times, it’s just ‘coincidence’…
At this point my only allegiance is to my kids and grandkids. I don’t owe this civilization anything. Don’t owe this country either, not with what its become. Maybe God for planting me in the best place, and not some mud hut in Shitstanistan. Have a few neighbors who I plan on sharing with when the time comes, problem is, they are in a similar situ as me and probably wont lack for anything.
Ugh that phrase “fair share” is grating to me. I can’t help but ask who determines what “fair share” of my earnings belongs to people I’ll never meet and why their decision is magically valid? It’s amazing how so many ordinarily criminal or evil acts are given legitimacy because of the state or democracy.
Now that they don’t have Julian Assange to kick around anymore, like clockwork, the long arm of the Beria Garland ‘Justice’ Department is reaching out to extradite another foreign bogeyman for alleged digital crimes which occurred outside the US:
‘[NZ] Justice Minister signs Kim Dotcom’s extradition order.’
‘Oops. Don’t worry I have a plan 😉’
https://x.com/KimDotcom/status/1823993237931221340
And it ain’t the Carlos Ghosn thing, since he says he’s not leaving. Bug out time!
The more government there is, the less civil and less charitable people become. It is a duty you don’t do, because it becomes someones else “job”.
It’s a feature not a bug.
It’s the governments job to do those things then, so people don’t do them. I don’t have to be a teacher, a social worker etc.
In a way I kind of do it of do it already. When PBS/NPR send me a donation request, it goes back with a note saying I already paid (via my taxes), and I won’t give another red cent until they stop taking tax dollars. (granted I probably wouldn’t since I don’t want or support any of the programming they make). Guessing nobody running the stations will ever see that note, but it’s what I do.
And that “charity at gunpoint” leads to animosity and distrust on both sides. Giving should be done freely and reception with gratefulness.
Rand spoke of how people felt good about being charitable, or gained favor in the community, thus making charity a selfish act. And she’s not wrong. I feel better when I tithe. But I also know the church isn’t wealthy the mission is sound and everyone is better off.
The ironic thing is, if the governments got the hell out of the way, and left people alone, more would step forward in charity to help those in need, because they would want to do so, not because they felt obligated. Forcing people at gun point to fork over their hard earned (ala Communism) means the government can control everyone. And as everyone here knows, hungry, (and disarmed) people are very easy to control, especially if one has a screaming hungry child at home. Animosity indeed. I do not give to charity and others as much when the government is screwing me over, and the Federal Reserve is intentionally destroying what little value is left of the dollars in my wallet. Communism is not “charity” no matter how the demons in government try to spin it. In the end, it is still theft, plain and simple. It did not work in the past, it will not work “this time around”, and it will not work because they are trying it.
Indeed, Shadow –
Also, charity is more viable when people can afford to be charitable. Imagine if we all had 100 percent of what we earned (especially over the course of say 20or 30 years of working). Most of us could retire – in the sense of not needing to work – at around the age of 40 or so. We’d easily be able to afford to help those genuinely in need that we knew about. And – the best thing – charity could not be abused because it could be withheld the instant the giver felt he was being taken advantage of by a loafer or a lout.
Plenty of charitable organizations have declined, become much smaller or gone out of business since government got into “charity” during the 20th century. People have no idea how many of these organizations that once existed, especially during the 19th century, that got co-opted. They were working fine, and in many cases actually solved problems. But control freaks used government to end that.
‘Kamala Harris will propose what her campaign bills as “the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries—setting clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits on food and groceries.”’
https://x.com/PhilipWegmann/status/1823909676557177173
The handwriting’s on the wall: this is how they will starve us out. Make food distribution unprofitable, and food … disappears.
Stalin accomplished the same thing by making food production unprofitable.
This is serious stuff. The communists really are going to try to kill us.
The gas crisis in the 1970’s is a clear example how price “gouging” bans work.
So she is lying even that it would be the “first” time the federal government has done it.
People just don’t get how dangerous a person like she is.
How is food expensive? Dollar General has cheap food and takes EBT.
Might not be filet mignon, but one can live on it.
Grocery stores are notoriously a low-margin business, sustained only by large volume.
After my sister’s mountain town in Colorado was cut off by flooding for about a week in an incident several years ago, word spread like wildfire that a Safeway truck was en route. By the time it reached the store, hundreds of residents crowded the parking lot, waiting to pounce.
That’s the future Kakamala plans for us refuseniks: wait like Gazans for aid deliveries, with snipers poised on the rooftops to ensure public order.
The profit margin on groceries is often less than one percent, a terrible return when you consider the investment necessary to even have a store. It’s been that way for decades. My family once operated a small grocery chain in Chicago, but sold it off in the early 1960’s. It was sold so the money could be invested in things with much better returns. It was probably the best financial decision they could have made. As they did it just before the neighborhoods most of our stores were in became unlivable and a few locations were destroyed in the riots.
Kamala’s regulated-price grocery store plan, illustrated:
https://tinyurl.com/3wtrmkwm
The bread lines are coming, and the food shortages to go along with it. The same bread lines that Bernie Sanders said was “…a good thing”. The same fool who said we had too many choices. Sanders should have read when Gorbachev visited a regular grocery store in Dallas, Texas, and was shocked to see that it was better than the ones for the elites in the then-USSR. I swear, people will have to learn the hard way what some of us grew up with and have been trying to warn about. The problem is, too many Americans (not here, mind you) are too proud and stupid to admit they are wrong about anything, and will instead, blame those of us who have already been there-because it would mean looking into the mirror when they realize what they have given up so freely for something that was anything but.
This morning I received yet more education from EP Autos. “Forbearance”, to many of us, was just the protocol enacted when we couldn’t pay our student loans, haha. I’m happy to now consider the broader definition, and it is what is missing from many people I know in their understanding of the path toward freedom.
Forgive me for my density, perhaps, but I read through this part a few times to no avail:
“The pretended civility of obedience to authority – out of fear of authority – is not a hallmark of civilization. It is an indices of its opposite.”
Perhaps an INDEX of the opposite? Maybe a typo on “indicator”?
Great article, otherwise, Eric.
Eric, On the road: I am driving along and I approach another vehicle going in the same direction. The driver of that vehicle has chosen to drive below the speed limit. Passing is difficult as there is a double line system in the middle of the road. How does civility, forbearance, and cooperation get applied in this situation? Do i practice forbearance and follow 2 or 3 seconds behind, or does the driver in front practice civility and either travel at the speed limit, or pull to the side and let me pass?.
Hi John,
I would simply pass the car ahead when the opportunity presents, if the driver does not yield/pull off to the shoulder to let you by. I do this regularly, as a matter of fact. Yes, I know – the pass may be “illegal.” This is of no moral concern to me. So long as there is no law enforcer in the view, I just execute the pass. Ideally, of course, the slow driver would yield – as it’s the civil thing to do.
I have a cabin in the sierras in CA, where I drive frequently to detox from the insanity in the Bay Area. Towards the end, there’s about 50 miles of twisty ascent, single lane in each direction. Generally, there’s no passing allowed, except for some short areas and turnouts every 5-ish miles. The turnouts are advertised ahead of time, with signs saying “slower traffic keep right”, etc. The slow drivers, who usually have a train of frustrated followers they’re blocking, almost never use the turnouts, but the faster people who are paying attention, do.
I, too, pass illegally where it’s safe. This has gotten me in trouble, once, because someone took a picture of me doing it and called it into the cops. I got pulled over a few miles up the road and berated about it, but no ticket because the cop has to see you doing it.
At this point, I want to have a cow catcher on the front of my car and push these people off the mountain.
“…I want to have a cow catcher on the front of my car and push these people off the mountain.”
Well, that sounds pretty Cooperation, OL. 😉
The solution is simple to install a few hundred “Covid Booster Shot” reminder signs along the way with directions to the nearest CVS/Walgreens slaughter house.
It’s gotten so rare to have a slower driver get out of your way, I was taken by surprise when someone the other day actually did!
It was at a four way stop sign, a trucker had the right away, and he waved me to go ahead (we were both turning in the same direction). It was very nice of him to do so as he had to go slowly (he had a big load). He didn’t have to of course, so it was good that he in fact did the nice thing and did it! Kudos to the real professional truck drivers still out there!!
While driving my Trabant, I am constantly overtaken no matter on what road I am traveling and by whatever vehicle is behind me. The proper thing to do on a two-lane road is: Move as closely to the right as possible, turn on your right blinker and slow down to a point where people can safely pass. Most idiot US drivers don’t know what this means so one may have to roll down his window, and motion with his arm to pass.
Haha, judging from his videos, I don’t think a couple of stripes in the road ever stopped Eric, John.
“It’s Communism”: Kamala’s First Economic Plan Proposes Price Controls To “Combat Inflation”
To follow: mile-long lines for food, meat coupons, shortages, food black market.
from zh comments….
Empty Shelves on the way…But the good news is that the loaf of bread that isn’t available will only cost you a buck fifty…
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/vp-harris-first-economic-plan-proposes-federal-price-controls-combat-inflation
Of course nothing about the government overreach that created the inflation to begin with……..
‘[They] do not use straightforward language. They use inverted language. More finely, they use language against us.’ — eric
Huh. Some bloke named Orwell said that too. But nothing has changed since he was writing in 1946.
Since Russia rolled into Ukraine’s Russian-speaking eastern provinces in Feb 2022, the cry of moral outrage from the United Snakes has been, ‘BAD VLAD is not respecting sovereign borders! Bad! Vlad!’ Then two weeks ago, everything changed as the Ukies surged into Russia’s Kursk region. Et voila! The party line pivoted on a dime:
Ukraine’s Incursion Into Russia Flips the Script on Putin
‘The reality of 130,000 displaced Russians and a chaotic official response may begin to puncture Vladimir Putin’s line that Russia is heading toward victory.’ — NYT
Winning! We didn’t really mean all that stuff about ‘respecting sovereign borders.’ Anyway it’s gone down the memory hole, never again to be mentioned in the Lügenpresse.
You see the principle at work here: It’s ‘all legal’ when WE do it. And the frayed-collar presstitutes obviously have been handed a new memo that clattered out of the Operation Mockingbird teletype machine. We’re all on the same page now, comrades. 🙂
I sometimes wonder if there is actually a war going on between Russia and Ukraine. It feels a lot like the war between Oceania and Eastasia.
Me too! The entire narrative seems like such bullshit. Russia would have smashed Ukraine IMO long ago…
It is if they intend a quick victory. I suspect they know and have helped with the American empires corruption, bankruptcy, and decadence. What they’re doing is bleeding “us”, running down stockpiles of conventional munitions and armaments, and further depleting the remaining actual good troops.
I’m hoping the constitutional republic can rise from the ashes of empire, but it’s a bleak sort of hope.
‘In a first which hasn’t been witnessed since World War 2, Western battle tanks have been operating inside Russian territory. Sky News is reporting Thursday that Ukrainian troops have used British Challenger 2 tanks during the ongoing cross-border offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.’
Think that might be significant? Bad Vlad certainly does.
Imagine Canadian tanks grinding their way into Minnesota. The US would take umbrage. In fact, it would have a full-scale hissy fit.
All governments, regardless of the titles bestowed upon them, are some shade of oligarchy. Every government that has ever existed has been controlled by an elite few that prey upon the many.
My strict policy since about March of 2020 is to immediately and publicly call out injustices when I see them. I welcome the tyrants to bear their fangs in response. This provides clarity to those all around me that the use of force is being applied, it provides an example to others that it’s ok to call out and criticize the shit and it also fatigues the tyrant. We all get (and probably deserve) what were willing to put up with.
Ben Franklin said you can’t escape taxes and death.
The tax man’s taken all my dough
And left me in my stately home
Lazin’ on a sunny afternoon
And I can’t sail my yacht
He’s taken everything I got
All I’ve got’s this sunny afternoon
Save me, save me, save me from this squeeze – The Kinks, Sunny Afternoon
Back in the early 90’s I wrote a personal check to the US Treasury to satisfy the national debt, it was for some six trillion dollars.
I didn’t mail it to the US Treasury, it would have bounced.
Uncle Sam could loan me the money and then the check could be cashed.
It’ll have to be a loan for 35,000,000,000,000 dollars.
They might not get a penny of it. I’ll just keep it all. Maybe give some to 350 million people. They’d each receive 100,000 dollars. They would settle for 50,000 dollars each and I could keep 17 trillion of the 35 trillion. Five percent interest on certificates of deposit would earn about 850,000,000,000 dollars, so it is better that way, then the interest paid will make me happy as a clam. Should be able to buy the entire Milky Way Galaxy.
I’ll be like Leo Wanta and scratch up some 28 trillion dollars using dummy accounts in banks all over the world and bilk the Russians until the cows come home.
[You vill own nothing, eat ze bugs, and be happy]
Describes the super majority of Americans to a ‘Tee’.
Eric,,, Like all of us,,, you bought the rights to the property,,, not the property itself.
Watch “It’s a mad mad, mad, mad world”. There is a discussion about taxes near the beginning. About 10-15 minutes in,,, after Jimmy Durante kicks the bucket. Jonathan Winters describes America’s taxes. One of the best comedies ever, ever made. Actually enjoyable by the whole family.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057193/
Thanks, Ken –
It’s been years since I watched that movie; I plan to again soon!
The best part of that movie is when Durante literally kicks the bucket. Ethel Merman is also hysterical. I agree, one of the best comedies ever made.
“Libertarians are not heartless, and I don’t mean to suggest that they are. I think they often recognize many of the same problems that we recognize, but they are so uncomfortable with political power, or so skeptical of whether political power can accomplish anything, that they don’t want to actually use it to solve or even address some of these problems.”
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/07/beyond-libertarianism
R & D: Two wings of the same bird of prey.
Constantly amazes me how much Mericans love to be played
“Former President Donald Trump donated not once but twice to re-elect Kamala Harris as the attorney general of California.
California records show that Trump contributed $5,000 in September 2011 toward Harris’ 2014 reelection campaign, and followed up with another $1,000 in February 2013. His daughter Ivanka Trump also donated to the campaign, contributing $2,000 in 2014.”
NPR
Feels like there’s a lot of kayfabe going on.
Yep, Helot, I read that and JD Vance can go to Hell. Just another social engineer who thinks he can perfect the world through force.
Interesting read. I find myself agreeing with his points, but struggling with his prescriptions. So long as we put little or no value on human life, we can put no value on human liberty.
The reason it is good to tolerate the evil of a little government is the same reason we back burn from a fire line to stop a wildfire. There is no other way to fight evil. But it must be done by skilled men of absolute integrity, and even they should never be trusted or left on their own for long.
Top men will get the job done. Where have I heard that before? From the mouth of every collectivist ever. So you’re a utopian, too. Got it.
Do you have a better idea? My utopia would be anarchy, but as soon as someone more powerful and less principled comes along, my anarchy vanishes and I become a subject. If not a slave. Or maybe just dead.
So yes, If that makes me a utopian then I guess that makes me a utopian. I’ll add it to my label collection along with racist, sexist, misogynist, male chauvinist pig, fascist, liberal, nazi. Thanks for the promotion bro!
Thats quite a collection there Ernie, kudos. I think you have a few years on me, but I’ve been called most of those things. Will redouble my efforts at offending snowflakes of every stripe.
If you find anarchy so problematic then, by definition, it’s not a utopia to you. Your actual utopia, the “little government” you mentioned, designed to protect your liberty and constrained by a constitution has been tried and has failed. The greatest violator of your natural rights can’t, at the same time, be the guarantor of them.
All of those other labels you enthusiastically embrace are unrelated and irrelevant to this discussion but somehow you seem to think by bringing them up it gives you some kind of “cred.” They don’t but go on with your bad self.
I posted that same thing from an LRC link a few days ago. Garbage ideas and garbage writing. He wants the ring of power “for the children.” Yeah, right.
I get the sense OF is gonna be gone before election day and Mr. Eyeliner Not My Real Name MIC Spook Cutout My Son Vivek is gonna be in the top slot. Supposedly Nimrata predicted all of this. She slides into the jump seat. Watch for it.
This is a good watch as well on Kamala’s “unburdened” word salad. Dovetails with the language described in this column…
https://x.com/mrreaganusa/status/1819310371838287915
Communism/Socialism won’t work in a poor country. This is what the Communists have realized. Communism will only work in a rich country like ours. They said Russia was filled with poor peasants but America is filled with rich, smart people and so Communism will be successful here. A lot of Communists have fled Russia starting in the late thirties and have settled in New York, Chicago and Hollywood. They now control major news outlets, media outlets and a surprising number are in politics. They hide in plain sight and many times change their names to appear Anglo/Saxon so as to fool the dumb Goy.
True europeasant,
That Marxist “to each according to his needs, from each according to his abilities” BS only works if everyone is a saint. In real life too many have infinite needs (actually wants) and zero abilities but somehow they think the rest of us should do our “fair share”. Fish heads all around.
If you look at the Communist Manifesto, you’ll realize America is communist, since many of the Manifesto’s key points are met.
From p.52 in the link below:
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes, check. (You don’t own it if you pay taxes on anything).
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax – check.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance – check (estate taxes).
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels – check. (See p.1 above).
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly – check. (Federal Reserve, although technically it’s not the State bank).
8. Equal liability of all to work – check.
10. Free education for all children in public schools – check.
https://www.marxists.org/admin/books/manifesto/Manifesto.pdf
Lenin had to seize from the wealthy landowners (bourgeois) first, before he could give anything to the poor-and after the fall of the Romanov’s. In the quest to make everyone equal, everyone had to be poor, and the government dictated what a person’s “need” was. No surprise that such a system failed, and people starved. In a note of irony, at the end of his life, Lenin was figuring out (too little, too late) that Communism was not working. Even more ironic, was his warning about Stalin before his death. No one listened, and the rest is history.
Mutual cooperation leads to emergent order. An enigma to those who favor top-down command and control. Guerrilla warfare vs hard ranks and generals. The bazaar and the cathedral. Tyranny vs anarchy.
General Washington took down the best army in the world using guerrilla tactics. So did Ho Chi Min’s generals, and the Taliban. Freedom to take action without waiting on orders (and local knowledge) will beat the regimented fighters every time. Might lead to some atrocities if there’s no self-discipline though.
I’m reading a substack blog called Abort, Retry, Fail. It’s a casual historical look at the computing industry, but very well researched and complete. This morning I was presented with part II of the story of Compaq computers. Compaq built the first IBM PC compatible computer by reverse engineering the BIOS rom. That showed others the way and soon there were several different “PC compatible” machines on the market. This in stark contrast to Apple, whose ROMs were much more complete, and therefore cloners could be (and were) sued for infringement. IBM thought they could counter the clones through hardware, specifically a 32 bit expansion bus that required licensing. Compaq countered by forming a consortium to design the ISA, or industry standard bus, without any licensing requirements. I’m sure IBM was flummoxed by the move. The cathedral doesn’t understand the bazaar.
The Internet is, obviously, the bazaar of communications. After 100 years or so of cathedrals (complete with their massive broadcast tower “spires” reaching toward the heavens), the keepers of the cathedral didn’t like what they saw happening in the bazaar and clamped down hard with the DMCA. Put the kibosh to any thought of emergent order that’s for sure. Also pretty much sealed the fate of the Internet to be a client-server model. And the demonization of peer-to-peer applications. Shame that.
There’s hope though. Even though there’s little to celebrate now, there’s clearly a new emergent order taking place down in the catacombs underneath the cathedrals. A lot of the same tools that are used for frivolous activity now can easily be modified for guerrilla communications. We see the left using tools that were being used for flashmobs in the early 00s to organize protests now. The right is memeing like the kid throwing spitballs from the back of the room. The cathedrals are rotting from within as the viewers reject the message.
It’s working.
“General Washington took down the best army in the world using guerrilla tactics. ”
Guerrilla warfare may have been indespensable, but was insufficient,, Genral Washington could not have defeated British General Cornwallis at the decisive battle of Yorktown in 1871 without the French Army under General Rochambeau and the French Navy under Admiral de Grasse.
That said, your overall points remain valid. My 2 bits.
Another concept that’s been around for a while is “giving back” to the community. Somehow a person who works hard, starts a business of some sort and becomes successful is expected to “give back”. That idea is pure B.S. since that individual has paid taxes, obeyed the law and has provided gainful employment for many individuals. The ones who should be “giving back” are the criminals who maim others. The lazy who abuse the welfare system. Shoplifters who take from retailers which in turn raise prices for honest customers and government bureaucrats who suck the taxpayers dry and should be made to return everything with interest of course!
Everyone who goes on about “Our Police” or “Back The Blue” should watch that video. I showed my Mom one at the time from Australia where they were using truncheons on their population and she did not believe it was real.
As that old saying goes “Denial is not a river in Egypt”.
I had a quick comment to my indoctrinated daughter last week in which she was touting the virtues of universal health care in England, to which I replied; yea, until you run out of other people’s money. (Or devalued by virtual printing of it)
Hi Hans.
I read a science fiction story years ago where the U.S. government provided everything to the population. If I remember correctly the tax rate was around 98%. The story is about an owner-operator (truck) trying to flee to Mexico but gets caught up at the border wall (made from cutting down the California Redwoods). Interesting story and sadly perhaps prescient.
I worked with a number of Brits back from 2010-2012. To a person, they would visit American dentists to get the treatment unavailable in the UK.
I have had European friends stay with me when they got medical care here that they were denied back home. They of course had to pay cash here.
Least they had the cash so they could get here, pay for it, at least they could save the hotel bill staying with me.
There is an evil sickness in holding a gun to someone’s head and demanding their property, which just so happens to be the preferred method of operating procedure of government.
I’ve discounted the existence of demons most of my life, but as of late I’ve become more open to the idea. How else does one explain the actions of Saint Fauci, or the “philanthropy” of Bill Gates?
Is it not the devil’s greatest trick, to convince us he does not exist?
It is only very recently, in the last 100 years or so, that man’s belief in demons has diminished. Much of it has been re-focused on “scientifically respectable” things like viruses. As I’ve aged, I’ve come to appreciate and even revere the wisdom of my ancestors. Their explanations for this world were much more complete and accurate than modern man credits.
I’ve always wanted to write a book on ‘Old Sayings’.
There is so much wisdom packed in the old time sayings that anyone could clearly understand (navigate life) just by heeding the advice of our forefathers.
For example: “Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see”
A very old saying even more poignant today.
Seems most folks have forgotten to apply any/all of this old time wisdom.
Hi John,
In re demons: Humans are capable of evil beyond the capacity of any other animal, which makes human evil seem plausibly supernatural. Most animals resort to violence to eat or to protect themselves or their territory. They do not conspire to enslave their fellow creatures nor wheedle their prey into believing it’s all for their own good.
I believe in evil, alright. And it walks on two legs.
Also: I believe we’re all capable of it. This is what I believe is meant by “sin nature.” That is to say, we are born with a drive to get what we want, focused on our needs. Young children are narcissistic and entitled by nature and all of us were young children, once. If we are not civilized – if we do not form attachments to others and develop a conscience, the result can be a Stalin or a Hitler. Or the tax collector.
Hi Eric,
“I believe in evil, alright. And it walks on two legs.”
Yes, but the evil is in the head. It’s a software glitch, a mind virus, and we all become infected with it as we are brought up from the young age. We are not born with it. Young children are not infected yet, which is why we all like them, as we like dogs and other animals. They are not capable of evil.
So what is this mind virus? The Native Americans (Algonquins) called it “Wetiko”. They said the White Man is infected with it. I think it’s simply the idea, a belief in money and profits as a moving force and basis of all things in life. It corrupts everything. For a while, the White Man was able to rape the world for profits and enjoy it. Now it has come back to byte him in the ass, as there’s not much left to rape.
So how do we remove this virus from our heads? You just have to recognize it and act accordingly. It’s a conscious act. If enough people do this, things will change. If not, they won’t. In the latter case, this civilization will go the way of the dodo bird, deservedly so (which is what I think is going to happen, sadly).
That’s the way I see it.
Hi Yuri,
Interesting. I’m not sure I agree young children aren’t capable of evil; there are extreme examples that suggest otherwise – such as young children who have committed hideous torture/murder. Based on what I have read and my own experience, it seems to me probable young kids must be taught respect for others and their things, future-time orientation/delayed gratification and so on to develop beyond the stage of just taking what they want in the moment and becoming angry if their wants are not immediately gratified.
Money is just a means of exchange, a store of value; I see nothing inherently evil about that as such. Nor with being compensated for work done. It seems to me reasonable and right that a person who works has a right to the fruits of his labor and that no one else has a claim upon the fruits of his labor. I do not believe in any form of coercive collectivism. I believe in free exchange and voluntary cooperation. A human society in which people are responsible for themselves and their dependents that holds others responsible for themselves and theirs. In such a system, there would be both “reserve” for charity where necessary that would be freely provided – as well as the extremely important check on abuse of charity, which has been lost (and is being abused now).
The big (even foundational) problem, as I see it, is centralization of political and economic power, which always and inevitably leads to giant-scale corruption and tyranny. “Big government” and “big corporations” are our worst enemies, as I see it.
Eric,
‘“Big government” and “big corporations” are our worst enemies, as I see it.”
I’d say not just ‘big” but all government and corporations are our enemies. It’s a tool of enslavement of mankind.
As for money, I’m also not inherently against it, but the thing is, money is only needed in a world of scarcity, which is created artificially. If all natural resources were not taken by a small minority, leaving the majority of people having to work for this minority to feed themselves, money wouldn’t be needed. The Incas and the Aztecs didn’t care much for gold, and were happy. Then came the White Man and enslaved them all.
This is simply not true: “If all natural resources were not taken by a small minority, leaving the majority of people having to work for this minority to feed themselves, money wouldn’t be needed.”
[If] “…a man acquires a good not in order to consume it or to use it in production, but in order to give it away in a further act of exchange. Such conduct on the part of people makes a good a medium of exchange and, if such conduct becomes common with regard to a certain good, makes it money.” …
https://mises.org/mises-daily/carl-mengers-theory-origin-money
The Incas and the Aztecs did indeed use money:
“Cocoa beans were the most common and main currency that the Aztecs used. The higher the quality of the beans, the higher its value. […]
Larger purchases were traded with Quachtli or cloth. Its value grew if it was woven tightly and it could costs as much as 300 cocoa beans.” …
https://www.legendsandchronicles.com/ancient-civilizations/the-ancient-aztecs/aztec-economy-trade-and-currency/
Hi Yuri,
I disagree with you as regards scarcity being artificial. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Nor is there a garden of Eden. The Incas and Aztecs enslaved people as a matter of routine and – in the case of the Aztecs – killed them for sport and to propitiate their gods. I have stood atop one of the Aztec temples where such sacrifices were made. The Indians of North America routinely warred with neighboring tribes, killed and enslaved their defeated foes. Here is an actually honest clip from a movie regarding this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVqQosyOpg4
The world is imperfect and life is sometimes unfair; it will always be so.
I agree that “limited government” is a paradoxical thing that contains the germ seed of big government. But it seems to be the best we can get in this world, when there are more than a handful of people living in a very sparsely populated area.
Even so, America of say 1990 was a damned sight better – in terms of day-to-day freedom – than the America of today. I’d be ecstatic if it were possible to recover the freedom (not to mention the sanity) that existed in 1990.
Wouldn’t you?
Eric,
Re: “I disagree with you as regards scarcity being artificial.”
No, but I insist that it IS artificial. Somebody has clearly grabbed all the resources on this planet, and the majority of people have to work to make a living. Why is this? There’s this idea that things are not what they seem. If you pay for something, you don’t own it, as you know. That means somebody else owns it. A house, a car, anything, even yourself, if you pay income taxes. You may say it belongs to the State, but then the question is who owns the State? It’s not you or me, because if we did, we’d be getting dividends, which we don’t. We just have to pay for everything. The specifics may vary from country to country, but the essence is the same. In my country, you have to pay the State even if you just want to gather firewood in the forest. You never get anything back from them.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. This planet is incredibly rich, and was made for us humans to live and enjoy life. It could support and feed everybody.
And whoever that entity is what owns everything on this planet, is not in this for the money, because why would they do this and remain anonymous otherwise? We don’t know who that entity is (Rothschild or whatever, doesn’t matter) and can only guess. Why would somebody own everything and remain anonymous? Well, the answer may be that they are not in this for the money, but for something else. One explanation is that they want to extract negative energy from us, and that’s why they try to squeeze us harder and harder all the time. Another explanation is that they are Anunnaki mining for natural resources like gold here, for themselves. I don’t know, but in any case, it’s the same – we are all enslaved.
This is the essence of communism by the way. They’ve been building it for a long time now, and are almost there. The whole planet is communist now.
Re “Even so, America of say 1990 was a damned sight better – in terms of day-to-day freedom – than the America of today.”
I completely agree, but this is rather beside the point. Americans were allowed to enjoy some freedoms and were made to think they were free, which they never were in fact, because this was an efficient way of using them. If people think they are free, they are much more motivated and work better.
As for NA Indians and Aztecs being barbaric, my answer would be how do you know? This was a long time ago. Even if you went to a temple somewhere and saw a sacrificial stone or something, this doesn’t prove it was actually used for this purpose. It could be anything. The historians lie all the time. I do not believe them for a second.
But even if the NA Indians and Aztecs WERE barbaric, so what? What they didn’t do was rape the planet, like the White Man does. They didn’t kill passenger pigeons or buffalos for sport, for instance.
The world is imperfect, yes, but it was made much more imperfect for us by somebody, and that’s my point.
One of the biggest problems we have with avoiding tyranny has to do with the ridiculous mythology known as “democracy”. We were never supposed to be a pure democracy but every single theft of our liberty and property has been the result of what politicians have been calling “democracy”.
I see that word all over Lew Rockwell this morning. I’m not interested in “true” democracy because the fuck if I want to allow others to decide what they can steal from me or “vote on” how I live my life.
The bullshit lie of “democracy” is exactly how we lost our republic, our freedom, and any rights to our property and how the country was turned socialist despite the best efforts of the founders of this country to make it into a republic.
Now, we’re hardly different from actual communism. That’s how discussions of “comrades” has become a meaningful reflection of the life we live under this incessant tyranny.
The only difference between where the U.S. is now, and actual Communism, is that Americans have yet to be disarmed. But that is coming. If the government is successful at taking the guns away, people will look back at today as being a paradise in comparison to what they will face.
‘V For Vendetta’ Got It Wrong: Tyranny Comes To Britain Under The Political Left
Soviet doctrine and the ideals of the Third Reich were inspired by Karl Marx; meaning, both regimes were built on far-left philosophies. Progressives today often maliciously associate Nazis with conservative thought, but both Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini were avid followers of Marx
In fact, finding and defining a “conservative” totalitarian regime is almost impossible in modern times. Without the defense of free markets, individual liberty, meritocracy and a healthy respect for constitutional fairness one cannot call himself conservative
V For Vendetta is based on the graphic novel by the same name written by Alan Moore (picture below), a talented British scribe but also known by many in the comics industry as a leftist and communist.
the intolerable fallacy being perpetuated is that when the jackboots finally march on the western world they will do so in the name of conservative values and religion. Well, the dystopian nightmare has arrived in the UK, and the truth is quite the opposite.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/v-vendetta-got-it-wrong-tyranny-comes-britain-under-political-left
“both Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini were avid followers of Marx”
Completely false.
Fascism was an economic “third way” between Marxism and capitalism. Fascist economic doctrine was based on corporatism, i.e. the idea that “private” enterprises were to be used in the service of the State, rather than have the State seize and own the means of production.
If you actually listen to Hitler’s speeches and read “Mein Kampf” you will discover that his greatest enemy was Marxism, and that his anti-Semitism originated from the fact that Marx himself was Jew and leading promoters of Soviet Marxism, such as Leon Trotsky, were Jews.
The distinction is entirely academic, they differ in tactics, not in strategy or ideology.
Reduced to elemental truth, both communism and fascism are systems of ruthless oppression and the base thought is that some chosen group gets to rule all others.
Properly constructed, the political spectrum runs from something like “total State control of everything and everyone” on the Left, and “anarchist free-for-all” on the Right.
Essentially all of politics falls somewhere in between those two poles, and most people who consider themselves to be “right wing” are nowhere near as far right as they think they are.
Nope. Completely true.
Mussolini invented Fascism because he kept losing elections under the Socialist banner.
“The worst thing that can happen to a socialist is to have his country ruled by socialists who are not his friends.”
— Ludwig von Mises
Hi Horst,
My understanding of the economic distinction between Marxism and fascism is that in the latter system, private property is allowed as a legality, but its use is strictly directed by the state. In the former system, there is no legal right to private property; the state – acting (supposedly) on behalf of the “people”- is the legal owner of all property. But the “state” boils down the people who control it. Thus, while Stalin did not legally own anything, he controlled everything.
Both systems deny the right of the average individual to control property, thereby making legal ownership an irrelevance.
Correct. Mussolini morphed Marxism into Corporatism with the distinctions as you described.
Eric,
There’s no distinction between communism and fascism. They are all simply the two sides of the same coin. Communism is looking at it from the property point of view (you own nothing), and fascism is looking at it from their power over you (they have absolute power over you, symbolized by fasces).
Therefore, the USA is both communist and fascist. So is every other country, including Russia. It’s all the same everywhere. They masquerade as different regimes in different countries, but in fact, it’s all the same empire of big money.
Good morning, Yuri!
Yup. It’s a question of better or worse; never ideal. It will almost certainly never be so as human nature is the source of our troubles. The best that can be done is to mitigate them to some extent. This was achieved to a remarkable degree in the United States for some time, which is now ending. What comes next may bet better, eventually – or much worse. It is no longer a question of holding on to the world we used to know. A new one is coming.
Hey Horst,
…Or perhaps it was Lincoln, whose hands rest upon huge fasces as he sits upon his Jovian throne.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Lincoln_Memorial,_Washington,_DC_in_2012.JPG
Of course, fasces as a symbol of a powerful state authority goes back to Ancient Rome, but, you know, fuck Lincoln.
Incorrect. A communist is a socialist, but a socialist is not necessarily a communist.
Communism says that the end point of History is the creation of a borderless, global state in which the proletariat seize the means of production and equally distribute the goods produced to everyone.
Socialism does indeed involve redistribution of wealth — such as old age pensions, single-payer government medicine, welfare, and so on. But it differs from communism as it is not necessarily international nor does it pronounce itself the answer to the “riddle of history.” It’s simply a domestic policy with an infinite number of variations. There are MANY socialist policies in the U.S. today. Great Britain was one of the most socialist countries in the world from 1945-1975 or so but it was not a communist country.
Likewise, National Socialism and other fascisms has socialist policies, but were neither communist nor Marxist. The critical difference between Soviet communism and National Socialism was that the Soviet Union sought international socialism in which the State owned the means of production, while National Socialism enacted socialist policies for the German nation and the German people only, and sought control of private enterprise rather than direct state seizure of it.
Indeed, democracy and communism have more in common with each other than communism and fascism do. Both democracy and communism pronounce everyone equal. Fascism does not. Not for nothing did the U.S. and Britain form a military alliance with the Soviet Union. Not for nothing did the Allies declare war on Germany for invading Poland… but on on the Soviet Union for invading Poland.
The false claim that communism and fascism are basically the same thing betrays an enormous historical and philosophical ignorance.
Fascism {
‘All within the state,
nothing outside the state,
nothing against the state.’ }
Benito Musolini
if we do not form attachments to others and develop a conscience, the result can be a Stalin or a Hitler
I concur. I also sharply disagree with Eric’s statement that Adolph Hitler did not form attachments to others and did not develop a conscience.
“But what – if anything – do we owe our fellow man?”
Golden Rule and the Non-Aggression Principle.