Dear Friends,
It seems to me, future historians will get rich, writing about the insanity of our elites. How could the most well educated people ever, go utterly insane? That will be the theme. Millions of words will be carefully crafted into pages and books about it. Novels will be fashioned about the lives of those who allowed it to happen. Statisticians will count up the deaths in the hundreds of millions, again, because of government action. Another annul in the history of malevolent government will be written… and probably ignored by the next crop of stupid egoistic elites. Our times surpass the French Revolution, WWI, WWII, or Mao’s Great Leap Forward, by an order of magnitude. Both in the death count once it’s all over and the stupidity and malevolence of the elites who brought it about.
In the moment it’s easy to forget we’re part of history. Remember, this moment will be recorded on a government data bank, in an NSA computer… forever. Perhaps as the physicists say, time moves like a film, an image of reality flickering on for a moment then gone, but the frame rate of reality is the Plank length. Each passing cell in the film of time, the wise try mightily not to surpass their past selves, in stupidity. Sadly many of us seldom achieve that goal. When you or I fail, it leads to our chastisement at the hands of fate, but when the elite do stupid things, and fail, it leads to millions of deaths and untold suffering for mankind. Each passing cell of time the elite surpass themselves in stupidity, making the world worse for themselves, and everyone else on it… for whatever stupid reason they’ve concocted.
History is a recount of the exciting… not the mundane. No one cares if on Dec 2, 1805, there was a great bar fight, someone had a good meal, or if Eggbert Slokum pitched hay that day. We’re interested in the Battle of Austerlitz, the rise and fall of Rome as well as Alexander’s psychopathic conquering. Famines, wars and empires are interesting, because in them are lessons to be learned. Some are just outside our ability to comprehend. Other lessons urgently taught by history are unpalatable so are ignored. Because history’s consequences aren’t immediate, like eating night shade salad, they seem immaterial. Those who survive though, won’t make that mistake again, and will pass on the information. Unfortunately, an out of control elite leading a people to destruction, are always illiterate.
The lessons of history are lost on those who are admonished by them. The elite, who are the primary targets of history’s schooling, find them unpalatable. Psychopaths intent on power, will cross any bridge, then burn it behind them. Every example of an elite or tyrant who does that is a similar tale… disaster for the tyrant, oligarchs and the people. Oh, historians might misallocate the blame to an invasion, famine or climate change… but reality is, collapse always and everywhere is the result of stupid leadership. Invasion would have been unthinkable when that state was powerful, famine is temporary and wise leadership with stores of grain can stand long periods, even as Anthropogenic climate change is man made, in that it’s made up… like King Kong.
We’re in it now, we can stand and fight, run and hide or lay down and die. The choice is up to each of us to make. The smart will make it better for everyone, the stupid will make it worse, psychopaths will seek to profit, and martyrs will lay down and die. History is filled with examples of what works, what plays into the despot’s hands, and the innovative. Speaking up, refusing to lie, and even civil disobediance have worked. Uprisings have seldom restored a system, they typically install a new despot, taking revolution off the table, unless the elite start openly killing people. Its not the system, that’s bad, its the elite that are running it. They need to be removed and replaced. With people who will do their job. Overseen, by someone with the power and motivation to police them, like a Numa.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
