Dear Friends,
It seems to me, a subtext of our culture is that we as individuals are inept, and not to be trusted, while government is adept, and always to be trusted. While the reality is that no one is always adept or inept, and no one is always wise or foolish, both individuals and governments. All are capable of right action, smart thought and wise awareness. Nevertheless, individuals are inculcated with the notion, we should not trust ourselves, our hearts or conscience. Always to question ourselves… but not the government, or more precisely, the experts. While it makes sense to question our base desires, questioning one’s conscience, is foolish. Individuals, you and I, are more capable to decide what suits us. Therefore, it’s our duty to smash that pernicious and negative mindset, that we should always defer to experts.
Cultures have subtexts that are unspoken ideas that permeate the zeitgeist. America used to have the subtext that anyone can get rich. That was one of the reasons the US was so resilient in the face of socialist propaganda. The progressive economist Veblen, said, the reason Americans can’t be made to hate the rich, is because every American thinks he could become rich. Making that mindset self destructive. Progressives have successfully changed the subtext of US culture, from anyone can get rich, to only old money is legitimate. The elite have created such a labyrinth of bars to wealth, and incorporated the difficulty in our public education curriculum, that natives only seek a job… fearing the challenges of starting a business, and so, few are entrepreneurs.
Part of the reason so few are entrepreneurs nowadays is that we don’t have self confidence. The self confidence that comes from accomplishment, not from baseless praise. The experts took industrial arts, and home economics out of the curriculum, because it makes kids self sufficient. The ability to take care of oneself gives a sense of confidence. While, the inability to care for one’s own basic needs, cuts the self confidence from a person. Those who can’t even cook a biscuit, are natural followers, not leaders. I suspect, a symptom of this toxic mindset is the fact so many people eat out… even cooks. Because, as long as we’re a cog on a sprocket, we’re comfortable. Lacking that sense of self sufficiency that industrial arts and home economics gives, we become weak, susceptible to propaganda and ductile.
This programming is so deep, powerful and esoteric that it keeps us from seeing the obvious. Because the obvious goes against our programming. We still worship government. Despite the multitude of catastrophic government failures. The US government just had a debacle in Afghanistan, and immediately, launched into another potentially nuclear war. That war is rapidly becoming another debacle. Who could have seen that coming? Oh, everyone, who isn’t programmed not to. The 2008 financial crisis went past, and government did nothing to solve the underlying problems, and so we face them again today, but worse. The dragon has grown. Meanwhile, us individuals have shored up our personal economies, cut our spending to balance our budgets, and kept peace with our neighbors.
Empirical evidence would suggest, individuals are in fact the competent ones, and government is usually inept. The exact opposite of our cultural subtext. Individuals have to constantly clean up the mess that government creates… economic, international and domestic. When government creates a perverted incentive, it’s individuals that adapt to keep our nation running smoothly. The more government screws it up, the harder we have to work to keep it straight. Which shows, we are more than a cog on a sprocket, and more adept than government with all it’s experts, and billions of dollars. They rely on us to bail them out constantly. I’m here to tell you… government and experts are not adept, they’re inept. We’re the wise, smart and competent ones, realize it then think, speak and act accordingly.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
