End of Socialism?

Posted on July 18, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that the time of the progressives, socialists and communists is coming to a close. With the wide dissemination of the internet and the dramatically enhanced access to information it offers people will increasingly be lifted from the ignorance enforced by the progressives, socialists and communists. Light will shine on their philosophy.

Today the power of that faction appears to be at it’s apex. The US is controlled almost exclusively by progressives. The President and both houses of Congress have sizable majorities of progressives. Most are democrat but some are republican. The Supreme Court is at the tipping point. A few more hard leftists and the job will be done there too.

But the power of progressives, socialists and communists lays in ignorance. Not of reading writing or arithmetic but in history, economics and current events. These are the ideas that undermine progressivism. People who have not been steeped in the tea of communism and the “benefits” to mankind that it offers see the world differently.

We have our eyes open. We are pragmatic not dogmatic. Progressives, socialists and communists are dogmatic. Even as they point the finger of dogmatism at every one who disagrees with them. But they fail to see their own dogmatism.

To follow a political philosophy that has at it’s core the fact that when it gains control millions of people will have to be murdered to “protect” the revolution requires quite a bit of faith. Those egoists, people who refuse to follow the tenets of social justice and communal salvation, will have to go. They have all done it. From Vladimir Ulanoff to Pol Pot. Moreover they will always to do it when ever they get power. It is ignorance of this fact that feeds the left. Ignorance of the atrocities that they have done and pledge to do if they ever get power.

But the ignorance that feeds progressivism, communism and socialism doesn’t stop there. Every modern event must be couched in just the right terms and in the right way. Until recently the progressives have controlled the unbiased media. The have controlled the horizontal, the vertical, they have controlled what we have seen. Welcome to the outer reaches of the progressive limits. (There are none).

US collages have a plurality of progressive, socialist and communist professors. They aim at convincing every student to follow their pernicious philosophy. The fact that most don’t is a testament to common sense. But it is also a testament to the power of knowledge. Those who know the history of progressivism in the US and it’s ties to Fascist socialism will recognize the parallels today. People who understand the difference between rhetoric and truth will see through the veil of half truths the unbiased media place in front of us. Folks that have access to the information to dull the blade of ignorance are less liable to be misled. Too many of us will refuse to sit in the cave and watch pretty shadows dance on the wall.

That is why it is imperative the progressive, communists and socialists control the internet. They must keep us ignorant, angry and dependent. Their power depend on it. The Elite that run the show on the left know this. If people knew the truth they would loose their power in a heart beat.

Fortunately people are waking up. The actions of the progressives are enlightening the people to the reality of who they are. The mask has been lifted a little. It should be totally removed. Then the people would recoil in horror at who they have voted for and supported in the past.

When that happens the progressives will have breathed their last breath, The socialists will have disheartened the last soul and the tyranny of communism will evaporate from the Earth. All this good from one thing… Light shining on reality.

Didn’t someone else say that evil grows in darkness and withers in the light?

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Sustainability

Posted on July 15, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that the Progressive Elite want to force the people of the world to reset our way living. They believe that we must move out of our large homes that require us to have cars and move into high density apartments. Within walking distance to amenities. In that way, even if we are too stupid to do it ourselves, we can just be pushed to it. How do I know this… they are saying it on WSJR today, Sunday July 11, 2010.

By using government to drive up costs for energy, housing, transportation, etc… forces people to move closer together… to cut down on those costs. Taxing carbon is one way to artificially force up the cost of energy. Regulating the economy of cars (CAFE standards) is a way to drive up the cost of basic transportation. Government policies that create high unemployment rates drive people to accept dependence on government. There are many ways government can force society to this “more sustainable” way of living. The key is enough government power and the right people in charge.

The American Constitution forbids such power in the hands of our elected leaders… but today the Constitution is a “living breathing document.” If five people on the Supreme court agree… Voila, the Constitution is re-interpreted. The barn wall probably needed repainted again. The people in charge are critical…

People who are willing to move society away from independence and comfort to discomfort and dependence. People who, if it is needed, would eliminate those that would stand in the way of the revolution (fundamental change). People who have no squeamish qualms about the means. A cabal with only the goal in sight. The progressive Elite.

The progressive Elite constantly remind us that it is not possible for everyone on the planet to live as Americans do… Comfortably. Lower class Americans live better than middle class Europeans. Europeans know it and are resentful. But are not willing to give up dependence on the State. They are willing to give up personal independence and personal comfort for the support of the State. For them it is a good trade. But when they see the positive effects of the other side of the equation they are resentful.

Resentment is a tool to the progressive Elite. They make people resent the wealth of the capitalist. But keep the people ignorant of the avarice of government in both money and power. “After all comrade, would you deny a pig a place for his head?” People who are resentful are in a fog. Overwhelming emotions have that effect on us. People in a fog are easy to herd and then marshal into an army.

Like the Brown Shirts. They were resentful of the wealth of the Jews. (Wealth the Jews earned from being Capitalists).The National Socialist Party turned that resentment into hate and used the hate to herd the whole of Germany into one camp. Then the faction that controlled the camp marshaled the Germen people into a killing machine that visited great sorrow on humanity. Hate and resentment are bread and butter to progressives, communists and socialists.

But today capitalists are called racists, haters, bigots and everything that is an anathema to a capitalist. The progressive Elite tell us we should hate the greedy racist capitalist. While to be a true capitalist is to be the exact opposite of a bigot. Bigotry is bad for business. Bigotry is a luxury that is reserved for progressives, socialists and communists. When you sell a guy a sofa you don’t care about the color of his face… only the color of his money. The market system is the greatest eliminator of racism there has ever been.

The progressive Elite like to use bigotry to “fight” bigotry. After all, isn’t “affirmative action” a form of State sponsored bigotry? The means taints the ends. The progressive Elite don’t care if it does. The ends are so glittering. They are certain they are right… “So personal is their knowledge.“

Isn’t that the definition of a zealot though? Someone who looks at the end and disregards the means. The means being subservient to the end. And the end is total power… Thrasymachus would applaud.

Posted in Group Politics, Mercy, philosophy, polictics of class envy, Societal Myth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Societal Structure

Posted on July 11, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that government is one third of a structure that we live our lives in. (The other two being tradition and modernity). The form of government determines the real and potential standard of living of the people that live under it. Historically the more oppressive – the lower the potential. But no matter the form it has great influence on the structure.

That is one of the reasons I am so amazed by anarchists. They seek to destroy the structure. No matter it’s form. Never thinking for a moment, regardless how effectively they destroy the structure, that another will quickly rise to replace it. Most probably in the form of a tyranny (as a reaction to the chaos). Setting them back in their goal of total liberty.

The reason the structure will rise so rapidly is that, as Socrates said through Plato, we are social by our nature. It is our sociability that provide us the goods we need. In his day the division of labor was simple. There was a {warrior (and farming) division and a religious class}- Citizens, and a slave class. Slavery kept labor costs vary low. Very low labor cost meant little division of labor. That kept innovation low and prices for commodities high. But although there was a simple division of labor the benefit of society was an improved standard of living. Socrates and his fellows didn’t have the philosophical framework to understand that an economy is not a zero sum game. But they did recognize the value of our social natures. They didn’t realize that economies are dynamic. Like living organisms. They thrive when watered, aired and fed. They dry up and shrivel when they are not properly cared for. Economies rise and fall with innovation. To the ancient philosophers economies were static.

Adam Smith’s book “The Wealth Of Nations” was an innovation in the way people thought about markets and trade. Of course he didn’t produce his work in a vacuum. But he articulated his ideas well enough to start a new area of scientific enquiry.

This book, The Wealth of Nations, hints at an underlying law in human societal structure. One of the great energy sources of all human societal structure is our want to get ahead. (Greed). Every one wants better. When the governmental structure was such that it quashed this part of human nature. It was, and always will be, to protect the power of the Elite. The Elite always want a structure that ensures them their “rightful” power.

The irony of the ancient societal myth is never mentioned in anything I have read. That is, To be a citizen one must have means. But to want means is to have avarice. (And that) The labors of society rightfully belong to the Aristocracy. Anything they allow the peasants to keep is magnanimous (big in the soul). The producers of those goods had no right to the products of their labors. For them to want to keep their own products was greedy. But to want what one did not produce or help to produce was not.

Just like the rhetoric coming from the socialists, progressives and communists. The products of a person’s labor rightfully belong to the Elite. For those that labor to want a share is for producers to be greedy. If the State needs the funds, to buy votes for the ruling faction, it is the States right.

Communists, socialists and progressives want to bind society their leadership. They know, (if not explicitly), that to do that they must bring back the structure that was lost by embracing markets. Markets are natural levelers of men. As buyers you and I don’t care about the seller’s race, creed, ethnicity, tattoos, etc… all you care about is the price and the quality of a good or service. [ala Hume and Voltair] That is why the Statist Elite want to get off the market system. Markets have lowered sovereignty too low. (As far as they are concerned). Far be it… from wanting “Progress,” in truth they want an Retreat. They want to move humanity back to a time when the Elite were kings and the people were slaves. They long to move us back to that halcyon time.

The trick is to make the people believe that Elite are on their side. Just as Julius Caesar did to destroy the Republic and create the Empire. He took Roman societal structure back from republican rule to the arbitrary rule of tyrants. He made the people love him by giving out money, forcing the forgiving of debts and enacting some much needed reform. (No one is totally evil or totally good). In doing so he earned the absolute and blind following of the Roman people. He then used that following to make himself emperor. Fundamentally changing Roman societal structure. Today, history is repeating itself and, our historians are silent.

It all boils down to one fact… What kind of structure do you want your children and their children living in?

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Arizona Law and Illegal Immigration Law

Posted on July 8, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that the stance of the Federal government as stated by Eric Holder is idiotic. To say that state authorities have no ability to arrest people found to be in violation of federal law opens a whole can of worms.

Is this a blanket statement? If it is then what about machine gun laws? They are federal. If a local law enforcement officer comes across a person brandishing a machine gun, that officer wouldn’t be allowed to even notify federal law enforcement about it… according to Holder. Let alone arrest him or her for it. Does this make sense to you?

If it is not a blanket statement then why the constitutional carve out for illegal immigrants? What legal basis could there be for it? So, if Mr. Holder claims that there is a carve out of federal law for illegal aliens, then is it because, there is a clear need for them in the US. One that is so important that it outweighs the mass of legal precedent. Legal precedent that is… all people are equal, under the law. Or has it changed to… all groups, are equal. There are some that are more equal then others. Illegal Aliens for example…

But if the administration is right, that local and State law enforcement cannot enforce Federal law, then I expect people will be getting out their printing presses and printing up $100 dollar bills. Only the FBI can enforce Federal law under the Holder leadership. A person could knowingly pass a printed counterfeit $20.00 bill and the Federal government would frown on a local police officer taking notice.

Slavery is another example. Does it make sense for local and State officials to turn a blind eye to a slavery ring operating in the US? Say…Trafficking in young girls? Under Holders assertion local and State police would be barred from reporting Human traffickers to federal authorities. To do so would make it less likely that people would report crime to the police. Using Holder’s logic.

What if Local police came across a treason plot that was about to be hatched? Holder would argue that it isn’t local police authority to intervene. If the government was overthrown and a communist regime set up, that then murdered twenty five million Americans, according to Eric Holder, that would be the price for liberty…. Or something. All to overturn a law Mr. Holder has not read.

No… Holder and the administrations want to use illegal immigration as a lever. A lever to use to move the American people to accept “comprehensive” reform. The law, as it is written, is “unsustainable.”

The definition of “comprehensive” is making all the illegal immigrants citizens… again. It had such a negative effect on illegal immigration the last few times it was tried it should definitely be tried again, and again, and again… Government loves to re-try things that have failed in the past. The bigger the failure the more it must try again.

The definition of “unsustainable” is anything the government wants to take over and control. If the government wants to take over and control health care they call it unsustainable. A word that, I am sure, has been thoroughly polled and tested… for it’s public palatability.

The real issue is that a faction of the American political Elite see an opportunity. They believe, if they make millions of poorly educated people who can’t speak English citizens, then the new citizens will reward that faction with their political support. It is not totally unfounded. Most of the poor and uneducated in South America vote reliably for communist governments. The faction of the American Elite that want to make them citizens agree with communist philosophy… they just call it progressivism. Their (illegal immigrants and the Elite’s) interests seem to be aligned.

Of course this would make a true underclass in the USA. Something the progressives have wanted for years. Real inequality… Not the ginned up, pretend variety they have been claiming is in the US. Real poverty, enforced by a language barrier and an education ceiling. Trapped in poverty and ignorance the Elite believe the Latinos will keep them in office forever…

Forever trapping the “undocumented workers” in poverty. Because to ever let them get up would undermine the power of the Elite… And if the power of the Elite is ever threatened… The Elite become dangerous even to their old allies.

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Get the Economy Growing Again

Posted on July 4, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that if the US government really wanted to get the economy moving again there is a well charted course. The problem is, the government does not like that course. It believes that if only it goes the way it wants, eventually it will prevail, regardless of the cost.

Cut taxes, rescind the health care law, stop all pending legislation to cap carbon, Lower regulation, cut spending, resume drilling, streamline the permitting process and sponsor public service messages promoting starting a business.

Cutting taxes should be a no brainier. The economy responds every time it has ever been done. In all of history there is no example where lowering taxes did not positively effect the macro economy.

If the government announced tomorrow that the health care law was abolished… the S&P 500 would gain 500 points in a week. The giant specter of uncertainty in the markets about how this legislation will effect the cost of labor will be lifted. Uncertainty in markets cool those markets. Raising volatility and lowering expectations.

Everyone who owns a business (if they are sane) know that if the cost of energy goes up dramatically their imbedded cost of doing business will also rise. They will have to raise their prices. The rise in energy prices causing the rise in consumer cost. They are inextricably entwined. If the government intentionally drives up the cost of energy through some power grab legislation the macro economy will suffer. Overnight inflation in the cost of energy will shock the economy. The reverberations will echo throughout the world economy. The impact will be spread out over a long time span. (So the people can better enjoy it).

Regulation is nothing but friction to an economy. It is selectively enforced and written with an eye to benefit the politically connected at the cost to the politically naïve. Regulation has become the epitome of Bastiat’s perversion of Law. Moreover regulation is seldom well written. This round of regulation was written by lobbyists outside the Capital grounds, (So the comings and goings could be kept secret). It is massive and fraught with carve outs for the Elite’s friends. (Wait and see).

It will do nothing to stop another fiasco but will drive up the costs to the financial sector. Remember, while the banking system was melting down, the regulators at the SEC were looking at porn. Porn that cannot be blocked from their computers due to their civil rights… or something. So this regulation will result in more government regulators. Who, I assume, will continue the great tradition of looking at porn instead of doing their jobs. Win win. If we suffer another melt down the government will simply create more friction for the economy and hire on some more people to look at porn.

Cutting spending, seems at first blush, to be counter intuitive. After all didn’t John Maynard Keynes claim that government spending drives up aggregate demand and thus keeps the economy going while private sector spending is at a nadir. He did but he was wrong.

Government demand is fundamentally different from private sector demand. In many ways. In marketing, in payment and where the money comes from. I have written many blogs on the subject. To go into it here would be redundant.

The drilling ban is a knee jerk response to a catastrophe. This catastrophe is a very rare occurrence and will drive a deeper understanding of how to deal with future catastrophes like this in the future. But in the meantime to stop all Gulf drilling is foolish. It will serve no purpose except as propaganda for the Administration. The economy of the Gulf region is negatively impacted. At a time when the US macro economy is in peril and the region’s economy is already damaged by the spill’s impact to the fishing and tourist economy. In this light this drilling moratorium is utterly stupid.

A good metric to use to determine if the legal costs have gotten out of control in a society is to compare the legal cost of a road project to it’s engineering costs. If the legal cost outweighs the engineering cost the legal system is set up for the benefit of the legal system not for the benefit of society. In this case regulation should be streamlined to lower the legal costs of doing business.

Today we are bombarded with public service messages. Keep off drugs, feed the pig, save a life don’t drink and drive, etc… The list is endless. What about public service messages that espouse the benefits of starting a business. Holding business owners as heroes in society.

Is it possible that these ideas could have a positive impact on economic growth?

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Elana Kagan’s Nomination To The Supreme Court

Posted on July 1, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that the inevitable outcome of the judicial philosophy of Aharon Barak is an oligarchy of judges. There is no other possible outcome of such a philosophy.

Elena Kagan, Obama’s newest supreme court nominee, says Ahron Barak is her judicial hero. To say such a thing implies, at the very least, some sympathy to the judicial philosophy of the man. To be sympathetic to such a philosophy is to be ignorant of the inevitable outcome or to sympathetic to the outcome. Neither is a resounding attribute for a Supreme Court Justice.

His philosophy, that I find so onerous, is;

Judges should be able to decide if the people can change the Constitution, Judges should have the final say in all matters relating to the government, Judges should be able to change the meaning of laws (a dynamic new power), Judges should be removed by other judges only, and that no human action whatsoever is outside the discretion of the law.

In other words, Judges should decide what the Constitution means, the meaning being dynamic, they should re-interprets the meaning of the constitutions they felt necessary, they should rewrite law to suit their needs and be unaccountable to no one for anything except themselves. I ask… Why bother with the expense and trouble of the other three branches then Aharon. Simply the convenient bureaucracy? Or the illusion of freedom?

I cannot believe that everyone on the planet including Aharon Barak cannot see the inevitable outcome, the fruit if you will, of the type of philosophy. Absolute power in the hands of unelected, unaccountable, flawed human beings without limit to their time in office. Hey, The military junta that rules Myanmar should start calling themselves the Supreme Court of Myanmar. Then Aharon Barak and the rest of the Progressives would have to, logically, turn their disdain to admiration. What the tyrant calls himself effects public opinion.

I am a great admirer and follower of the philosophy of William James. His philosophy of Pragmatism is a terrific guide to understanding the good and bad in a given ethos. In his method you look at the fruit of any philosophy to determine if it is “truth” or not. If the fruit is bitter… it is sophistry. If it bears sweet fruit for humanity it is, at least a form of, truth.

Under the philosophy of Aharon Barak, the fall into the tyranny of, a faction (Lawyers) that rule for it’s self serving interests will accelerate. Within a generation that faction will have seized control in perpetuity. (After all, who is more qualified to enact law, prosecute law, control and protect the Constitution, be commander and Chief and run the lives of the people… than an attorney). Democracy will mean (like it did in ancient Rome before the overthrow or Tarquinious), that the people will get to vote for the people who install their oppressors.

The US Constitution gives too much power to Lawyers. As a result lawyers have become a defacto oligarchy. Today they control all three branches of government. Every court ruling that awards someone millions of dollars for cutting himself while breaking a window to rob some people the result is more power for the faction (Lawyers).

Putting in a person who claims Aharon Barak as a hero on the Supreme Court is dicey at best. To do it without having seen sufficient jurisprudence to show temperament from Mrs. Kagan is just plain stupid.

I expect she will win overwhelmingly… Such is the caliber of our leaders.

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Afghanistan and Choices

Posted on June 27, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that at this point in Afghanistan the United States as a nation has to ask itself one question; Is the USA a nation, that when it is attacked, goes and knocks over the anthill. Or a nation that knocks over the anthill, then rebuilds it, so the ants never need attack it again?

History sorts out the good from the bad. Even though the victors write history… Time edits it. History will reflect the stomach of those that live today. No one looks back at destroyers with ennui. No, they look back with horror. We all love builders. Those that rebuild that which they have had to destroy… But better.

In 1700BC there was a people in India called the Harappan. They had indoor toilets and well built cities. All their cities were laid out the same. Streets at given widths depending on the usage. With a writing system that has never been figured out. The only examples of which are stone obelisks and tombs.

The Harappan people disappeared around 1500BC. They didn’t seem to have fallen to conquerors. There is a lack of archeological evidence. There has been some archeological evidence that they were fleeing from something. There is speculation a natural disaster wiped them out. But their disappearance is a mystery.

No matter the cause the cities abandoned by the Harappan were then inhabited by others. Barbarians by their standards. The new inhabitants then had access to all the accoutrements of the Harappan people. But never came close to emulating the Harappan level of technology. (Or standard of living).

The new people had access to the things of the Harappan but didn’t have the philosophy of the Harappan. Therefore they could only diminish in standard of living once the philosophy was disengaged from the technology. The point being that the philosophy is more important than the stuff of a civilization.

By not only rebuilding the stuff of Afghanistan America should instill some new philosophies there. Like ethical government service. Government corruption being utterly corrosive of liberty. The corruption in the government of Afghanistan is epic. According to reports from Afghanistan.

If the philosophy of ethical government service is all the Americans instill in the people it will have been a resounding victory. Ethical government service would lead to all goods coming to the people of Afghanistan. No amount of charity can give to them what this philosophy has to offer.

Rebuilding roads is good. Building schools for the Taliban to blow up may be helpful. But rebuild the people’s confidence in their government and you have won a victory. One that will destroy the Taliban with more alacrity than unbridled violence ever could. But to have an impact on one’s allies and one’s foes one must appear to be iron willed in the endeavor. They are putting their lives on the line.

I heard John McCain say something presidential for the first time today. He said “no one follows a half hearted trumpet.” That is an excellent point. Had Patrick Henry said Give me liberty or give me a warm bed. It wouldn’t have had the oomph. The colonials wouldn’t have followed him… If Winston Churchill had said “Aw…Jerry’s not so bad lets just go have a pint.” …we might have had to live under a socialist government.

No amount of stuff, violence or talk can give to the people of Afghanistan what one little change in their ethos can… Peace, Prosperity and true Piety.

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Adam Smith and Recent Chinese history… on the American Elite

Posted on June 24, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that Adam Smith once said;

“The statesman, who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, [money], would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted, not only to no single person, but to no council or senate whatsoever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.”

The wisdom of this single statement is profound. What Adam Smith is saying is that government officials cannot be trusted to control private money. Their self interests will get in the way. He goes on to say that to do so is even dangerous of liberty. We have seen over and over the prophetic nature of this quote.

Today we see China… the first Maoist State. It has entered the world economic stage as a Capitalist nation. The Middle Kingdom is becoming a world superpower. Exactly because the autocratic government there has let the Chinese people have use of their own capital.

China has come from a total communist state with rampant starvation to a wealthy industrial powerhouse. This immense change couldn’t have happened, had the Chinese government, that had been steeped in communist ideology, not woken up and released their grip… and let the people control their own money.

After all isn’t money simply a convenient representation of work? You exchange units of work value for other units of work value. In this exchange both interests are raised. The communist government of China woke up to this fact, and, with great courage they changed paths.

This change in paths has resulted in the greatest rise in the standard of living of mankind in the shortest time ever.  All by letting people do what they want with their own money. Simply because a government let up it’s grip on the people…

No one hear is saying China has no problems with it’s government… Far be it from me. The rise in it’s militaristic attitude, It’s quashing of free speech, Tiananmen Square the list goes on and on. No… the government in China is totalitarian. Nevertheless, it has made some good choices… it has allowed the free market to work. The consequences of this cannot be denied.

We see what a great man once said… and we see the evidence of his clairvoyance in front of out eyes. Yet the Elite in America claim that capitalism is dead. Like Nietzsche claiming God is dead. The claim presupposes the consequence but the consequence makes the claim impossible… making them both an impossibility.

To what end are they uttering such an absurdity? To lay claim to more and more of the people’s capital. The Elite seem to think that there is no level of taxation and intrusion that is too much. The healthcare intrusion’s effects haven’t even been felt by most people and the Elite want to forge ahead with their plan to; Cap and trade, raise taxes, increase regulation of every sector of the economy, etc…

With the undeniable evidence of China… Why are the American Elite, engaging in this… taking of the people’s economic sovereignty? Or “direct(ing) private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals“, as Adam Smith Said it…

Abraham Lincoln once claimed in a debate; that he didn’t need to be told that a house was being built… He could tell, simply by looking… I bet most people can. But they have to open their eyes and look.

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Heroism or Villainy… Depends on your perspective.

Posted on June 21, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

I read that Chuang Chou (the Taoist) once said;

“Not only so. There is a great awakening, and then we shall know that all this (present experience) is a great dream. Fools, However regard themselves as awake now-so personal is their knowledge. It may be as a prince or it may be as a herdsman, but so sure of themselves! Both the Master (Confucius) and you are dreaming; And when I describe you as dreaming I am also dreaming. And these words of mine are paradoxical: That is the name for them. And a myriad of generations will pass before we meet a sage who can explain this, and when we meet him it will be the evening of our little day.”

If we are dreaming then it means that there is a great purpose to our being here. When we awake from the dream we will be enlightened from our dream. Our dream (lives) have meaning.

What meaning and to what end. There are as many answers to that question as there are askers. But to ask and ponder is close to getting it right. Perhaps the meaning… is to question the meaning. To live the lives we wish and fulfill the prerequisites of the dream. Maybe if the dream’s goals are not fulfilled we must re-enter the dream and try again. (Isn’t that close to what Buddhist’s and Hindu’s believe?)

But I ask you… How does you dream affect the other dreamers? Does the logical outcome of your actions improve the experience of the other dreamers or diminish the experience? We all have an effect on the experience of the others whether we admit it or not.

Coriolanus (Gaius Marcus) was a man who wanted the admiration of his fellows. But he disdained doing anything to bend to their needs. He was responsible almost single handedly for the taking of the Capital of Volscia, Corioli. Then turned the same day to attack the elite center of the Volscian relief Army. Smashed them and ran down, badly wounded, the survivors. He then refused any money, gold or booty from the ransacked city, except for a horse and clemency for a Volscian friend. That is where he got the surname “Coriolanus“.

He then ran for Consul… and lost. (Due to his arrogance). This turned him bitter. When he tried to get the People’s Tribunes ejected from the Senate during a time of famine… the people were incensed. They charged Coriolanus with usurpation. He answered the charges with such arrogance that the people were further ired and voted to exile Coriolanus. As a result he was ostracized from Rome fled to Volscia. From the head of a Volscian Army he rained ruin on Roman interests. After the war, he was murdered, by a partisan Volscian crowd, at a meeting to make account of his action’s, against the Romans, in the late war. His murderer’s then started a new war with Rome and died in it. A war in which Rome retook all the land Caius Marcius took from her… and avenged his murderer. The circle was complete. Plutarch compared the life of Coriolanus with Alcibiades.

Looking at this story from the perspective that we are all simply dreaming… We see that Coriolanus visited ruin on his brothers and sisters. Simply from a feeling of revenge. Although Coriolanus would have been livid were he treated the way he treated the Roman People he had no sense of irony that he should get revenge on people that he would have treated much harsher had he been in their position. He expected better treatment from others than he was willing to give.

His dream was short, violent, and he met a bad end. All because he held others to a different (Higher) standard than he held himself. (Except in war). He and many others paid the price for his nightmare.

There are many like him alive today. They only await the opportunity to avenge themselves on society for a slight that they give out daily… So personal is their knowledge…

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We Judge Others By Ourselves

Posted on June 17, 2010 by john

Dear Friends,

It seems to me that people judge others by themselves. The best template we have to place others in is the one we ourselves have forged… And it is the one we know best.

That is why a thief is the most afraid of being stolen from. A liar always believes everyone is lying to them and an adulterer always is the most afraid of having someone cheat on them. It is in our nature. We all have faults and we project them on others.

That is one of the reasons that the uber rich are progressive if not actually communists. They believe that everyone is as heartless as they are. To them it is impossible to believe that another person would do a virtuous thing. Then turn around and do another. There has to be a catch. They themselves always have a hook. Basically they are the avatar of the man Thrasymachus and Nietzsche believed in.

Like Nietzsche’s book The Will to Power. (A dark book that chills the soul to read). Nietzsche is smart enough to know the tribulations en route and the end of the road that he proposes. Yet he goes ahead and proposes it. The path and the end is chaos. A state of perpetual war… man against man. Victory to the cleverest, strongest or most political. Mankind would very quickly shed the accoutrements that are given to us by our social nature. Like housing, ready access to food, transportation, heated homes, etc…

People of this ilk often become extremely rich. But not all extremely rich people are of this ilk, i.e. sociopaths. The ones that are however have the ability to sow much mischief in the world. Placing all mankind in the same box as themselves they can only see total government to curb mankind’s total greed. They have no concept that others have no desire for riches beyond what makes them comfortable. Beyond that to make one comfortable further riches only serve to gain more security. But at an acceleratingly diminishing rate of return. At some point the wealthy Neitzchian would get a better return, (in improvement in his or her lot in life), by investing it in science research. The security and improvement in the standard of living would accrue to him as well as society. And could possibly lengthen his or her life span.

What about Power? The ultimate goal of the self centered. Power rover others. Power to coerce action at another’s expense simply for the satisfaction of some whim. Like old king Di Xin, he, reportedly, had a pool filled with wine and ruled by his whim… Once Caesar and some friends were riding past a small filthy French town. His friends said to Caesar, “How would you like to live in such a wretched place?” To which Caesar replied, “I would rather rule there that serve in Rome.” Later Caesar overturned the Republican system that had served Rome well for most of a millennium.

If this is the template that you judge others by… Isn’t your view going to be skewed? If I am a self centered despot in waiting… I will think everyone else is too. When I get power I will gear my input on law to reflect my view of humanity. (Based on myself).

These are the Elite. The ten percent of any group that will take control. (The dross floats to the top). Rarely is someone put into power who did not seek it. Numa Pompey is the only one who comes to mind. (And that tale is probably more myth than reality). So When almost everyone who writes law is an utterly self centered, despot in waiting, is it hard to explain why we have law that is always written with an eye to serve some faction?

Lately every law, that is written and passed in the USA, is expressly for a faction against the overall good. Take the “Health Care overhaul”. It has as it’s purpose to redistribute wealth. From those that have health care to those that don’t. The actual reason the people don’t have it is never addressed. Except a background hum that they are poor. (The poor already had healthcare under Medicaid). Reality was never allowed into the debate.

The result will be much higher cost of healthcare for every American. Lower standard of care for normal Americans. A higher rate of structural unemployment… Among other negative effects. The Elite however will have no diminishments in their health care. They have a separate system. The rest of us are forced into the government “choices” by law. The Elite are not.

With Elitist theory, as I have explained, we can clearly see why…

But, I am told, there is no need of a NUMA.

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