btw, for those looking for a good example of abusing the powers of arrest and detention and politically rigging prosecutions and violating rights by fiat, read what robert malone just published today:
There are some of us who have been warning of this leftist/fascist/globalist strategy for a LONG time, but it seems few care to listen. But Gatito has nailed it perfectly. This is the intent of all of those demanding no funding for police, no bail necessary to release violent criminals, making dangerous drugs, legal, etc, etc, ad nauseam. It is the underlying foundation of terrorism. Terrify the masses until they beg for government to step in and save them. When seen in this light, all the seeming madness of leftist/fascist/globalist, and Democrap/RINO policies suddenly make bone-chilling sense.
My mother, recently passed, was in Germany during the reign of Hitler and told me this is exactly (with the addition of a failing currency and tremendous inflation) what happened.
As a Gen Xer, I also had civics and philosophy classes warning of the dangers of sacrificing civil rights for safety. Our reading curriculum was books like 1984, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, Brave New World. The entire education system seemed to revolve around warning about fascism and the erosion of civil liberties. Now, I go into schools and all I see is billboards celebrating “activists” and DEI.
I am willing to accept that my education might be outdated, but I have been presented with no evidence that the new paradigm isn’t incredibly dangerous and that it is liable to lead to the new generations welcoming back in authoritarianism.
Our Founders, if nothing else, were students of history. And from that comes wisdom; wisdom through experience.....or better yet wisdom through someone else's experience.
Smart people learn from their mistakes; the smartest learn from other's mistakes.
"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other"
exactly! And that's why they also use euphemism to make them feel good about how the words sound rather than the evil represented by the grotesque symbolism used to camoflauge wickedness as empathy.
Perfect example:
"Gender affirming care"
The other side of the same coin is to label people as "anti" this and "anti" that...and DENIER's, etc. etc.
It sounds to me as if you managed to go to a good school at a good time. When I talk to young people, I am staggered by their ignorance and lack of curiosity.
I had a patient a couple of years ago who was a special needs teacher. Early 40s. This was during lockdowns in Ontario. I commented that it was like 1984… she had no idea what I meant never having read or even heard of George Orwell.
Gobsmacked, I told her to read 1984 and Animal Farm… and we wonder why the younger generation appears so ignorant
My favorite philosophy prof in college was a Hungarian expat who fought the Soviets in '56. His best friend and fellow revolutionary was killed next to him, and he very narrowly escaped a similar fate.
Needless to say, he brought a certain real-world pragmatism to an otherwise somewhat academic subject.
Those were the days when Olivia Newton John adorned the walls of many a student, and we loved the prof so much that we had shirts printed up for the entire class, emblazoned with:
I agree with you , but I don’t believe our society is intelligent enough to fight against tyranny. One group is going to do what you say. I’d prefer a Bukele to the shit show we have today (and I mean all of them).
Someone is going to do it. Being the group saying “we told you so” isn’t going to get us anywhere. We have laws. We have a constitution that’s basically shredded at this point. The powerful people today aren’t even known to the average person. Their names aren’t even discussed. The “Bukele” causing our society to fail is already there.
We’re at the stage when a revolution is necessary. And most likely a very bloody one. But is our society able? I would venture to guess 98% would start fighting each other instead of the people destroying our country.
"I’d prefer a Bukele to the shit show we have today"
There's a line in the Empire Strikes Back book (not in the movie, though) where Luke ponders whether or not one can use Evil Judiciously then just put it away.
If you are familiar with the concept of Dungeons and Dragons Alignment (see example at link), note that one could sort of "wrap" the diagram around into a ball with Neutral Neutral in the center.
If you can picture that (I'm not explaining well what I see) note that at the extreme edge of, say, Chaotic Good (Han Solo in the linked example), when wrapped around, butts right up against Chaotic Evil. And, if it's like the Secret Passages in the board game Clue, Lawful Good in the upper-left most corner butts up against Chaotic Evil's lower right corner.
That was a terribly long way of saying... the line between "Nobody minds if you bust the skulls of terrible people" and "That guy, right there *stormtrooper points at Pi Guy* is a dissident and needs his skull busted." could be very thin, especially when those busting skulls are absolutely certain that they're the Good Guys.
Yes, I get that. And obviously I’d prefer to just have trustworthy people who don’t want to rule over anyone.
Our society is no longer able (due to many things) to govern itself, as we can see by what is happening all over this country. If we could, people wouldn’t be able to cause havoc and cause fear. So what is one to do?
And to your point, I’m guessing every one of us who wants a society free of all rulers is already written on a list somewhere, to have our skulls crushed at some point.
"And obviously I’d prefer to just have trustworthy people who don’t want to rule over anyone."
SciFi author Sarah Hoyt's website tagline used to be, "Taking over the world and leaving it ruthlessly alone!" I like that. I haven't lost hope yet, I guess.
But, if there's a list, I'm proud to be on it with you. You're one of my favorite Substack acquaintances.
Thank you sir. I enjoy your comments, and feel the same. It’s very nice to have a little online community with the bad cat and I’m always happy to read what you have to say among a few others.
That's what I am thinking based on some of the interactions I keep having on social media. They want this polarization to continue because at some point, probably over the next ten months, there will come a point where they will bring the rhetoric to a boil with the hope that one side or the other behaves in a way to rationalize taking more of our freedoms.
The point is, to take the good action. First thing is the golden rule. Part of that is peaceful non compliance. Another part is calling things out for what they are. I truly think that when you love your enemies it is like pouring hot coals on them. My interpretation of that is that it disrupts the cycle of hate employed against others. Kind of like Superman turning back time by flying in an opposite rotation to the earth. Of course I could just be talking out of my ass.
How, at this point, do We, the ostensibly still-free People, get redress of our grievances *without* hiring the object-of-perseecution of State Fascism.
If we let the State get away with doing what they have done to *us*, in destroying honest elections and persecuting *our* choice of leader, then *all* individual freedom is lost to Fascism.
That DJT is dictator-wannabe is pure canard.
Either we elect him, or the State wins, period. If he usurps power, then we will axe him, too.
is it though? to a great extent they are all wannabe dictators. neither trump nor biden are respecters of rights. both seek to delimit and interfere with commerce. trump is the one who shut the country down and railed against governors who wanted to stay or re-open while printing and flinging money in true banana republic style. biden is clearly absurdly lawless in nearly every regard and took what trump started and made it far, far worse.
i agree with you that trump gets oddly singled out by people supporting even more dictatorial options, but this does not exonerate him, it just makes him the lesser of evils.
what are we to call this bi-partisan repudiation of the idea of the republic is not a slide toward dictatorship?
Respectfully, I think you err here by a priori conflating babies with bathwater.
Or perhaps we just disagree on which is DJT. Now, don't get me wrong: You may be right in your characterization of him and his anti-(classical-)Liberal errors, but I don't think so. I don't think DJT is anywhere near as Authoritarian Socialist as you make him out to be, and I think he has learned from his errors, just like all babies do. Just like all of us humans do.
And sometimes we *do* have to make judgement and take some chance in choosing leaders, because the "lesser" evil *is* better than the greater and that process *will* work in the long run. Think about it.
Sorry: I want to answer your ultimate question, but could you rephrase it for me? I don't want to misinterpret.
(Btw, that "4 out of 5 love democracy" has been my favorite for a long time.)
picking trade wars that tell you and i with whom we may transact and under what terms and fees is not a vast interference with rights and commerce (and a negative sum one that always harms the imposing nation to boot?)
he did not champion the truly unpreceedented act of shutting down america and then vilify and attack the governors (like geogria and florida) who tried to re open.
i find this rationale to be really problematic:
"And sometimes we *do* have to make judgement and take some chance in choosing leaders, because the "lesser" evil *is* better than the greater and that process *will* work in the long run. Think about it."
it's playing a sort of one move lookahead that dooms you to reside at local minima of possibility frontiers forever and excludes the possibility that one day one might actually have a choice that was NOT an evil.
i would actually argue that it's precisely being trapped in that sort of "well, if your bad guy does not win, then theirs will and he's worse!" thinking that has ruined our political sphere and left us never having any good choices.
both sides are endlessly chipping away at rights and acting ever more the dictator. neither are ever really giving them back or engaging in any sort of fiscal responsibility or even honesty. it's a one way ratchet away from the principles of a republic and of a free people. "my side slides us toward dictatorship more slowly" is not really much of a rallying cry.
OK, this "picking trade wars" bit I have to disagree with.
The premise seems to be that the status quo ante-Trump was free trade. It wasn't. It was one convoluted agreement with specific carve-outs for friends of the regime after another. "Picking trade wars" resulted in ending these market interventions that deals like NAFTA imposed, which led to more free trade, not less.
3) But no voter has perfect information on future action, and therefore *every* vote is an individual judgment. The Democrats are making a play at casting votes *for* voters, with their ballot harvesting, electronic tabulation, mail-in fraud, etc. This is the *real* threat to honest democracy. Voting *against* the Democrats (i.e. the greater evil) is the only way to change this, and now we need *overwhelming* voting against them just to counter the cheating.
Dag, Tim. That's one of the best exchanges I've read here.
I know you're more Trump than I - I'm more of a "lesser of two evils" Trump guy - but I sure do wish that, in a nation as great as this, we could find two better candidates than these guys.
I like EGM's hypothesis, though: the "lesser" evil *is* better than the greater and that process *will* work in the long run. Think about it."
Now, we may differ on who's actually less evil but I think this is a good strategy, and is better than not voting when you think the options aren't so good. I'd considered not voting at all, simply withholding my support. But that isn't the way to bet.
I have found the contrapositive argument for the "lesser evil" idea to have more bite (stated as carefully and clearly as I can, but read/think it slow):
If one does *not* vote for the LO2E (in one's own honest individual judgment), then one is, in essence/reality, *increasing* the chance that the greater evil wins.
Remember, no individual judgment on future human behavior is demonstrably/automatically true. We can all be mistaken. What we seek is a *collective* wisdom (a real thing; I wish I had archived the studies that showed it) as opposed to so called "mind viruses", i.e. collective madness or the madness of crowds, which is also obviously a possibility!
Incidentally (imo), this is also why a Constitutional Republic should always naturally have only 2 main parties. Otherwise, the opposition party (the one not in democratic control of the Federal gov't. at any given point in time) has little chance of changing the situation, and the People have little chance of "spanking" their overlords. I use a 40/30/30 split as example. See, 60% of the Peeps want change, but divide their protest vote among more than 1 opposition party, leading to continued rule by the powers-that-be, who can now claim a mandate (that's a 10% win margin).
1) There is no free trade between nations. There are bilateral agreements, most of which amount to nothing more than mercantalism, and most of which are unfair (unbalanced) to us. This is especially true when private sector corporations have to deal with controlled economy nations like China. NAFTA, for example, was nothing more than quotas, the exact opposite of free trade. Imo, DJT was the one insisting on fair trade. Navarro, and the success of the policies, convinced me of this.
4) Yes, both sides become part of the State, which mindlessly acts to expand its hegemony over individuals and their easily violated natural rights. This is the nature of any State no matter who is in charge. That is why the People have constitutions in the first place, but freedom breeds wealth breeds apathy breeds slavery. We are on the downhill part of that Tytler cycle for at least 100 years, and the Republican Party has been not much more than Democrat-lite.
But DJT (not him, per se, but his election) slayed those neocons in 2016!! By standing by him now, we reclaim what should be the small gov't. Party and reinforce the People's desire to return to limited, Constitutionally corralled Federal government. At least it starts the long process of getting back to it.
RFK Jr. is a standard issue Leftist in every respect, wildly out of step with the mainstream and way to the left of any liberty minded folk. He was simply right about one thing, vaccines. In fact, since he has been harping on vaccines for many years now, in his case, it was more of a broken clock, blind squirrel type of thing. It just so happened that the regime/system wandered into his little corner of the world where he had been doing some admittedly, good work. Just go find any interviews of him recently and he is a Kennedy Dem all the way down. He would probably be a wash with any other Dem. But he hates liberty and freedom and seriously condescends to the great unwashed.
His only issue with vaxs is the ingredient that causes autism. He is for vaxs overall and was for punishment of people who did not comply. He is a climate crisis supporter..how he made his living..an elite, voted for Clinton's. Obama and Biden and will/would again..treats women poorly. Speaking out on one issue does not make him a presidential candidate
The bad cat is right on this. Trump is myopic to the point of blindness on so many things. Now, to be clear, I voted for him twice and will do so again. But he ain't the answer to our problems.
Trump can't judge character cause his is lacking. Sure, he has some positive traits; loyalty, love of country, hard worker, tweet master, wait, what? But discernment, wisdom, humility. Nope and those are all required in a good leader.
If you read Scott Atlas's book, "A Plague Upon Our House", it is SO obvious that DJT is a SERIOUSLY insecure man. On those few instances when Atlas was granted personal or phone time with Trump while working on the Covid Task Force, Trump would in EVERY SINGLE CASE, begin the convo by peppering Atlas with questions about whether he did the right thing by locking the country down. And not questioning in an honest, sincere way, in a way that is seeking an honest appraisal. No, but in such a way that it was obvious that Trump wanted, no, was desperate for validation.
That, my feline friends, is not the trait of a leader.
Not only your post, but your comment NAILS IT regarding Trump. He just doesn't have the moral compass or the thoughtfulness not to use force when it suits him. The lockdowns were a tell, especially since I'm not aware he's said anything about what a mistake they were.
We DO have a choice in RFK, Jr. He is a man of principle. He's been a vocal supporter of bringing back our bill of Rights, which were indeed trampled by the two other candidates in this race.
And he totally gets how the deep state works, and what the levers that might take them down a peg, restoring some form of decency to the purpose of Government, which has become a self-enrichment program for those in power and those that are close to power.
I am proud to support Bobby for standing for freedom. For us, for those around the world. Just this issue alone is sufficient reason that he should be president.
Don't tell me he can't win. We all can be the difference.
But has he learned from his errors? I mean there were rumors he might choose Nikki Haley for VP🤮. Even if he hasn't learned, he seems to be the lesser of al the evil options. At least we know some good policies we can expect and maybe we can hold him accountable? Ugh I just realized how little I believe we could hold him accountable.
3) My judgment is that he will not get captured by the State
4) Once we force the Republican Party to accept him ( we do this simply by electing him), then it will have more influence on "moderating" his "bad" behavior if only to preserve Party popularity.
5) Impeachment.
But I bet we'll be pleasantly surprised by how un-fascist he really is. For example, he has indicated that he is pro-choice, if only for the purposes of remaining popular.
Individual judgment does. This is mine. All peeps use your best judgement, let the chips fall where they may, and don't blame honest folks for errors in judgment, just refine your own and move on.
That's *real* democracy, as opposed to the Democrat's plans for 1984 hell.
But how do we start the necessary change without using an obviously un-capturable narcissist, who will not join any cabal of oligarchs, like we have now in the deep state.
That was back when Democrats actually abided by the electorates wishes. The '94 "Gingrich revolution", still the largest postwar midterm swing, was a direct response to the over-reach of "Hillary-care", and caused Bill Clinton to move hard to the center from the left in governing.
I agree, as long as you know that your just using a "wedge" to keep the door from completely shutting. That's Trump in my opinion.
but on the other hand, slippery slopes almost always end in a cliff. The only constant in slippery slopes is that the "fall over run" always follows a path of of ever increasing downward steepness.
'There is no slippery slope to loss of liberties, only a long staircase where each step downward must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders'
- Alan K. Simpson
Seems to me it's always a case of slowly...then suddenly...all at once.
It is a bipartisan slide to dictatorship. Worldwide, even. That's becoming more and more obvious with the passing of each day. Ours is a Potemkin Village of a Republic. Just about everyone here recognizes this and sees no good way out of this mess, with millions of future Democrats entering the country.
They pulled back the curtain 4 years ago. Trump's main attraction now is that he is despised by the very worst people in this country. 2020 was probably the worst year any president has ever had. Wrong response to all events. Maybe this is all a show, and he is the man TPTB have designated to drive us to dictatorship, after letting the leftists run wild. Who know? But he is the only card we hold, absent the actions of an enterprising Marine Corps Colonel.
You are correct. They cheated, openly, brazenly, even rubbing our noses in it with all the videos, Dinesh D'Souza documentary, and all the other evidence. There were no convictions, no prosecutions, not even an investigation. No consequences so why wouldn't they continue to cheat? Of course they will.
My conundrum. A 2X Trump voter, I cannot forget or forgive his Covid management and reckless spending on it. He also annoys me. But voting for an independent candidate seems fruitless. And Trump definitely seems the lesser evil.
It's not at the top but from the bottom upward that meaningful realignment with foundational values might be achieved. No elected or appointed post is too small to start with. The grip of the two major parties can only be broken by the strength of a truly independent electorate. It takes time and there's no glamour in it. But it's the only way.
Agree, but the central levers of power are eating away at local control. It would not hurt to have someone at the top loosening the noose already around our necks. That's Bobby Kennedy.
A dilettante princeling would be someone who has gotten where he is solely on the basis of his connection to the royal family....more like Hunter.
RFK Jr. has made his own way. He has had some stumbles, like with drug addiction in his youth. He brought himself out and has been an accomplished environmental lawyer, author and children's advocate against the pharma and big Ag sickeners. Not to mention 13 books, most recently the Wuhan cover up, an exhaustive review of the ridiculous biodefense program, and The Real Anthony Fauci, a well referenced and powerful indictment of the Covid madness, placing it in context, and revealing the whole corrupt scheme.
It's not fruitless. Declare YOUR Independence, for god's sake! RFK, Jr. is about our freedoms. One of those freedoms is expressing your opinion at the ballot box. Sounds, like you don't feel free, Susan.
In a 3 man race, RFK needs only 35% in a close call. we can do this.
I am a volunteer on his campaign. He will be on every state ballot, for sure. I don't think a majority of either party will jump. But there are lots of independents. Can he do it? In going to work my butt to make it happen. Let's see how things look in October. Another biden term is unacceptable to me.
You are right about the large number of independents. We certainly have become unhappy with our two main parties! We are ripe for change. Maybe Kennedy has changed, too, like I think Trump has. See, I like having two parties, so the People can always rally around a strong opposition party whose protest vote is strong enough to displace the one more-or-less in control when the People decide it's time. This keeps both parties trying to please everyone, and the Peeps stay in control, not the party establishments. So I would like to see populist outsiders like RFK and DJT change the two parties for the better (more responsive to what voters want at any given point in time) as opposed to running as third party candidates that tend to split the protest vote and leave the system unchanged. I don't know know if I'm describing this well, but regardless if the outsider RFK can change the Democrat Party for the better (or replace it!) more power to him, and you.
That is why "Public Emergency" is the Statists bread and butter. Even the legit ones *always* lead to the hegemon growing unless the Peeps exercise their Constitutional corral.
We have failed since Wilson birthed progressivism (read: American Fascism).
To the hard-core individualist, society is like women, can't live with em, can't live without em. The times we're living in are the closest humanity has ever come to utopian individualism. The personal devices have ushered in social anarchy. To the individualist these're the best of times. I suspect the "society people" are feeling this, and it's stressing them in ways they don't fully understand. Whatever the course may be, society isn't going away. It's not in the cards and always be annoying whether run by global collectivists (left) or national collectivists (right), macrocollectivists or microcollectivists. This's to say I echo what Tim is saying. Our choice is between the collectivism that's less annoying, but we certainly can and should set our sights on something better.
I'm sorry but comparing drug cartels and idiots wanting the unvaccinated jailed are not even in the same realm of reality. There is no Injustice done to put a murderer behind bars. What human rights are being trampled by putting a murderer behind bars. Are they doing it without a just Court? Because in this country we are losing our courts and we have lots of Injustice coming out of those courts.
I agree 100% that what they are doing in the cities most likely is being done on purpose because they want power they want control they want people to be afraid. They are allowing criminals back out on the streets. I really don't think you can compare what's happening in our cities to what's happening in El Salvador nor in my mind can you compare Bukele to Mussolini. I suppose only time will tell
how about the human right to due process? how do we KNOW they are murderers?
you realize that's literally the same claim that was made about the unvaxxed, right? that they were murdering others by spreading disease? who can we trust to always and accurately make such judgements?
what about the people saying "well, take the guns and you'll stop crime!" if they could point to good evidence that this were true (they, can't, but let's suppose) would it make it OK to just take them? how about just unilaterally and by fiat barring anyone they deem "anti-social" or "dangerous" from having one?
how about of someone notices that one small demographic in the US causes over half the murders? shall we just round them up without trial?
i think you're stepping out onto quite a slippery slope here by presuming that guilt can be known and sentence passed without process or defense.
no such power is only used once or only used for good.
one day, it will be wielded by a leader your truly hate whose values you abhor.
imagine the politician you hate most wielding the absolute power of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
is that a country you'd want to live in?
there is no such thing as "due process and justice, but just for the good people."
that always goes bad. it's the thin end of a dictatorial wedge.
Well, I don't know what "due process" looks like in El Salvador. One speculates that the men jailed by Bukele as murderers will see the inside of a court sooner that have the "insurrectionists" who strolled through the Capitol on J6.
Yes, and remember what the false accusations they flung at hero journalist/whistleblower Julian Assange... keeping in prison and torturing him without trial. Free Assange!
Do you know for certain there is no due process? Have you written about this before? I never skip any of your articles but maybe I missed one. Please link!
Is that what is happening in El Salvador? Do you have proof that there is no due process? Are the working people being starved out as they were under Stalin, Lenin and Mao?
If you want to say what is happening in the US is anti our constitution, I'm right with you. We have a two tiered justice system. We are allowing our farmland to be bought up by foreign entities. So with what is happening here El Salvador looks like something to check out.
Pure democracy without *real* individual rights (especially property, fight me) is the greater tyrrany, and the greatest is today's Democrat-manufactured "democracy."
When the banks blew up in 2008, George Bush famously said: "I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system." Since then, the Fed and the Treasury have become full-blow financial despots with all the power they need to control the economy completely.
Well duh! I've been feeling that Trump is well nigh inevitable precisely because everyone is going to accept him as better than the alternative, which is precisely what the big $ boys wanted. Liberals foolishly believed the rich were loyal to their ideals, but they're really only loyal to $, so they rode liberalism to their stop & now they'll get off. If you wanted a RIGHT wing dictatorship, Biden was the only way to get there. Now, the Right can prosecute & imprison anyone they like - thanks D's for setting that precedent by prosecuting a president! All those court opinions limiting immunity etc will come in handy! All the power used to suppress anti vaxx etc will now be used to suppress the Left, and so on. When you're waiting in line at the concentration camp, remember that YOU voted to create these powers! Ugh. I hated Bush because he wasn't fairly elected & I hate Biden because he wasn't fairly elected, but YOU idiots thought it was just fine as long as YOUR side won. Ugh. You fight for principles, not people or parties. It was wrong to close churches over COVID & it'll be wrong to close universities over whatever they choose to close them over. The government should NOT be subsidizing either side; it should NOT be suppressing either side; it should NOT be running "public" health whatever that BS is, and it should NOT be invading every country on earth trying to stop WW3 by fighting eternal wars. We need LESS government, not better or more what we want government. It's all evil. Government is evil - it may be a necessary evil, but don't forget the evil part, and it should be as small as possible. Virtually nothing it does needs to be done. We don't need food inspectors, markets handle that quite well. We don't need labor laws - markets handle that fine & a vibrant labor market will do more for workers' rights than government ever could. Environmental laws are nonsense - private property rights work better. And so on. Government doesn't tax us to provide services, it provides services in order to tax us - cutting us in for a share of the loot so we don't object to the theft. Just gut it all - stop voting for your preferred warden. Prosperity is the best policy that ameliorates all other social ills better than any policy ever could. Look at it this way: government reduces growth in exchange for some good, but if you had the growth & let that growth compound, in a few years wealth would have solved the problem anyway. And the wealth bit actually works. Go for growth, and the other things come along for free. Unlike government programs which rarely work & always have unintended side effects. Government is madness.
"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."
~ FDR
It should not be forgotten that the entire drug cartel problem is wholly a creation of State drug prohibition.
The War on Drugs™ was, up until Bush II's War on Terra™ and then The Pandemic™, the greatest source of State depredations and consequent threat to our liberties.
The Feds created vast bureaucracies like the DEA filled with little totalitarian Napoleons infesting the entire country, armed podunk police forces with surplus military hardware and armoured vehicles, and, of course, created an enormous prison complex to cage vast numbers of people for possessing the wrong sort of plant or powder.
And, naturally, after over five decades of "fighting" this "war", one can find whatever illegal substance one might want on a nearby street corner.
It should be obvious to any sentient being at this point that none of these "wars", including those of the military variety, are actually meant to be won, but rather "fought" indefinitely, thus continuously enriching and empowering the State at the expense of the rest of our treasure and liberties, whilst providing endless propaganda opportunities to bamboozle Boobus Americanus into cheering for his own impoverishment and enslavement.
Everything that is happening now is following the same playbook.
You make me think of the 100 year war in history. Maybe war is the natural state and peace is short interludes to allow people to catch their breath regain their self-delusion, restock their arms, and breed an new generation of soldiers. Am I getting cynical much?
btw, for those looking for a good example of abusing the powers of arrest and detention and politically rigging prosecutions and violating rights by fiat, read what robert malone just published today:
https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/bidens-persecution-of-political-opponents
still want the US president to be able to act like bukele?
There are some of us who have been warning of this leftist/fascist/globalist strategy for a LONG time, but it seems few care to listen. But Gatito has nailed it perfectly. This is the intent of all of those demanding no funding for police, no bail necessary to release violent criminals, making dangerous drugs, legal, etc, etc, ad nauseam. It is the underlying foundation of terrorism. Terrify the masses until they beg for government to step in and save them. When seen in this light, all the seeming madness of leftist/fascist/globalist, and Democrap/RINO policies suddenly make bone-chilling sense.
yeah, agree.....but sometimes the tree of liberty...needs refreshing....
You have my pitchfork!
I'm talking blow torches and pliers
*updates CV, slide across table*
I'm here for the Blow Torch job. I'm not much on guns but, if you need something burned or blowed up, I'm your guy.
Division of labor is the basis of civilization.
https://youtu.be/SKRma7PDW10?si=wUkWVJijXGT-eHM_
;]]
Nothing against getting Medieval on their asses, but perhaps throwing in something a bit more modern is in order.
https://www.sigsauer.com/spear.html
Lmao. Yes
Indeed.
My mother, recently passed, was in Germany during the reign of Hitler and told me this is exactly (with the addition of a failing currency and tremendous inflation) what happened.
My parents as well.
I definitely have a love/hate relationship with your Substacks. I love that they make me think and I hate that they make me think.
as a philosophy professor in high school (one of my all time favorite teachers) once said to me:
"sacred cows make the best hamburger."
As a Gen Xer, I also had civics and philosophy classes warning of the dangers of sacrificing civil rights for safety. Our reading curriculum was books like 1984, Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, Brave New World. The entire education system seemed to revolve around warning about fascism and the erosion of civil liberties. Now, I go into schools and all I see is billboards celebrating “activists” and DEI.
I am willing to accept that my education might be outdated, but I have been presented with no evidence that the new paradigm isn’t incredibly dangerous and that it is liable to lead to the new generations welcoming back in authoritarianism.
I'd say your education is timeless:
The nature of mankind will never change.
Our Founders, if nothing else, were students of history. And from that comes wisdom; wisdom through experience.....or better yet wisdom through someone else's experience.
Smart people learn from their mistakes; the smartest learn from other's mistakes.
"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other"
- Franklin
You aren’t outdated and the side pushing DEI know it. That’s why they push DEI.
exactly! And that's why they also use euphemism to make them feel good about how the words sound rather than the evil represented by the grotesque symbolism used to camoflauge wickedness as empathy.
Perfect example:
"Gender affirming care"
The other side of the same coin is to label people as "anti" this and "anti" that...and DENIER's, etc. etc.
Yeah it used to be shell shock. And the great people that worked along side my grand dad were called wet backs. Hell they called each other wets.
You know that nonsense book-marketing blurb "a modern classic?"
The actual classics *earned* it. They don't go out of style. They are classics because they nailed what required nailing.
It sounds to me as if you managed to go to a good school at a good time. When I talk to young people, I am staggered by their ignorance and lack of curiosity.
Another reason(s) “they” hoped to kill off the older generation.
I had a patient a couple of years ago who was a special needs teacher. Early 40s. This was during lockdowns in Ontario. I commented that it was like 1984… she had no idea what I meant never having read or even heard of George Orwell.
Gobsmacked, I told her to read 1984 and Animal Farm… and we wonder why the younger generation appears so ignorant
mine said:
"A cow's heaven is a flower's idea of hell; Irreverence is our only sacred cow".
When cows are outlawed, only outlaws will have cows.
You can have my Prime Rib when you pry it from my cold dead hands.
has to be medium rare though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42GaHU4txpc
Medium would make it harder to pry. Just saying.
well at least the cows are better off
Those aren't cows, they self identify as grass cannibals.
Lolol. You are so funny Jimmy!
Your "irreverence" is causing global vulcanism...and unregistered cow farts.
I'd rather not "register" cow farts. I think that's why milking stools only have 3 legs!...:)
Dangit Florida Man! Your logic is irrefutable. 🤷♂️
Well shiiiiit, you're just a hop-skip-and-jump away!
Sometimes good ole' boys have the one thing the average city slicker doesn't have:
Wisdom!
So wait, I'm not a useless eater, but actually an unregistered farter?
We prefer the term "un-documented".
My favorite philosophy prof in college was a Hungarian expat who fought the Soviets in '56. His best friend and fellow revolutionary was killed next to him, and he very narrowly escaped a similar fate.
Needless to say, he brought a certain real-world pragmatism to an otherwise somewhat academic subject.
Those were the days when Olivia Newton John adorned the walls of many a student, and we loved the prof so much that we had shirts printed up for the entire class, emblazoned with:
"Let's Get Metaphysical".
lol! Perfect. And very, very human, imo.
“rounding up the undesirables without trial or process”
You mean, like the Jan 6 protesters???
bingo.
"be careful what you lionize"
Perfect.
I nearly puked when I saw the picture of the Toronto Star...
I grew up in Toronto, and delivered Saturday editions as a kid some 60 years ago.
Haven't read a copy in over 20 years.
Only good for lining birdcages...
I lined my birds cage with the Toronto Star, and by the next morning the bird had hung himself.
I agree with you , but I don’t believe our society is intelligent enough to fight against tyranny. One group is going to do what you say. I’d prefer a Bukele to the shit show we have today (and I mean all of them).
Someone is going to do it. Being the group saying “we told you so” isn’t going to get us anywhere. We have laws. We have a constitution that’s basically shredded at this point. The powerful people today aren’t even known to the average person. Their names aren’t even discussed. The “Bukele” causing our society to fail is already there.
We’re at the stage when a revolution is necessary. And most likely a very bloody one. But is our society able? I would venture to guess 98% would start fighting each other instead of the people destroying our country.
"I’d prefer a Bukele to the shit show we have today"
There's a line in the Empire Strikes Back book (not in the movie, though) where Luke ponders whether or not one can use Evil Judiciously then just put it away.
If you are familiar with the concept of Dungeons and Dragons Alignment (see example at link), note that one could sort of "wrap" the diagram around into a ball with Neutral Neutral in the center.
If you can picture that (I'm not explaining well what I see) note that at the extreme edge of, say, Chaotic Good (Han Solo in the linked example), when wrapped around, butts right up against Chaotic Evil. And, if it's like the Secret Passages in the board game Clue, Lawful Good in the upper-left most corner butts up against Chaotic Evil's lower right corner.
That was a terribly long way of saying... the line between "Nobody minds if you bust the skulls of terrible people" and "That guy, right there *stormtrooper points at Pi Guy* is a dissident and needs his skull busted." could be very thin, especially when those busting skulls are absolutely certain that they're the Good Guys.
http://tinyurl.com/2b5h22kp
Yes, I get that. And obviously I’d prefer to just have trustworthy people who don’t want to rule over anyone.
Our society is no longer able (due to many things) to govern itself, as we can see by what is happening all over this country. If we could, people wouldn’t be able to cause havoc and cause fear. So what is one to do?
And to your point, I’m guessing every one of us who wants a society free of all rulers is already written on a list somewhere, to have our skulls crushed at some point.
"And obviously I’d prefer to just have trustworthy people who don’t want to rule over anyone."
SciFi author Sarah Hoyt's website tagline used to be, "Taking over the world and leaving it ruthlessly alone!" I like that. I haven't lost hope yet, I guess.
But, if there's a list, I'm proud to be on it with you. You're one of my favorite Substack acquaintances.
Thank you sir. I enjoy your comments, and feel the same. It’s very nice to have a little online community with the bad cat and I’m always happy to read what you have to say among a few others.
That's what I am thinking based on some of the interactions I keep having on social media. They want this polarization to continue because at some point, probably over the next ten months, there will come a point where they will bring the rhetoric to a boil with the hope that one side or the other behaves in a way to rationalize taking more of our freedoms.
I'm not sure what the point of this essay is. Are we supposed to take no action against evil, ever?
Here's another idiom: "Perfect is the enemy of good."
One person can stamp out a small fire. But if they don't, you're going to need a lot of manpower and a bunch of trucks to put out the raging inferno.
The point is, to take the good action. First thing is the golden rule. Part of that is peaceful non compliance. Another part is calling things out for what they are. I truly think that when you love your enemies it is like pouring hot coals on them. My interpretation of that is that it disrupts the cycle of hate employed against others. Kind of like Superman turning back time by flying in an opposite rotation to the earth. Of course I could just be talking out of my ass.
100000%
That's one of the reasons they use to fill our streets with CCTV cameras. For your safety. Ok, this was safe before we arrived but who cares.
Yes, but...DJT.
How, at this point, do We, the ostensibly still-free People, get redress of our grievances *without* hiring the object-of-perseecution of State Fascism.
If we let the State get away with doing what they have done to *us*, in destroying honest elections and persecuting *our* choice of leader, then *all* individual freedom is lost to Fascism.
That DJT is dictator-wannabe is pure canard.
Either we elect him, or the State wins, period. If he usurps power, then we will axe him, too.
is it though? to a great extent they are all wannabe dictators. neither trump nor biden are respecters of rights. both seek to delimit and interfere with commerce. trump is the one who shut the country down and railed against governors who wanted to stay or re-open while printing and flinging money in true banana republic style. biden is clearly absurdly lawless in nearly every regard and took what trump started and made it far, far worse.
i agree with you that trump gets oddly singled out by people supporting even more dictatorial options, but this does not exonerate him, it just makes him the lesser of evils.
what are we to call this bi-partisan repudiation of the idea of the republic is not a slide toward dictatorship?
Thank you for the reply, M. malo.
Respectfully, I think you err here by a priori conflating babies with bathwater.
Or perhaps we just disagree on which is DJT. Now, don't get me wrong: You may be right in your characterization of him and his anti-(classical-)Liberal errors, but I don't think so. I don't think DJT is anywhere near as Authoritarian Socialist as you make him out to be, and I think he has learned from his errors, just like all babies do. Just like all of us humans do.
And sometimes we *do* have to make judgement and take some chance in choosing leaders, because the "lesser" evil *is* better than the greater and that process *will* work in the long run. Think about it.
Sorry: I want to answer your ultimate question, but could you rephrase it for me? I don't want to misinterpret.
(Btw, that "4 out of 5 love democracy" has been my favorite for a long time.)
so, for example:
picking trade wars that tell you and i with whom we may transact and under what terms and fees is not a vast interference with rights and commerce (and a negative sum one that always harms the imposing nation to boot?)
he did not champion the truly unpreceedented act of shutting down america and then vilify and attack the governors (like geogria and florida) who tried to re open.
i find this rationale to be really problematic:
"And sometimes we *do* have to make judgement and take some chance in choosing leaders, because the "lesser" evil *is* better than the greater and that process *will* work in the long run. Think about it."
it's playing a sort of one move lookahead that dooms you to reside at local minima of possibility frontiers forever and excludes the possibility that one day one might actually have a choice that was NOT an evil.
i would actually argue that it's precisely being trapped in that sort of "well, if your bad guy does not win, then theirs will and he's worse!" thinking that has ruined our political sphere and left us never having any good choices.
both sides are endlessly chipping away at rights and acting ever more the dictator. neither are ever really giving them back or engaging in any sort of fiscal responsibility or even honesty. it's a one way ratchet away from the principles of a republic and of a free people. "my side slides us toward dictatorship more slowly" is not really much of a rallying cry.
OK, this "picking trade wars" bit I have to disagree with.
The premise seems to be that the status quo ante-Trump was free trade. It wasn't. It was one convoluted agreement with specific carve-outs for friends of the regime after another. "Picking trade wars" resulted in ending these market interventions that deals like NAFTA imposed, which led to more free trade, not less.
3) But no voter has perfect information on future action, and therefore *every* vote is an individual judgment. The Democrats are making a play at casting votes *for* voters, with their ballot harvesting, electronic tabulation, mail-in fraud, etc. This is the *real* threat to honest democracy. Voting *against* the Democrats (i.e. the greater evil) is the only way to change this, and now we need *overwhelming* voting against them just to counter the cheating.
Love this response!
Hate that I must ask for some time (I am slow) to give proper response, which I promise asap. Now, to work!
Dag, Tim. That's one of the best exchanges I've read here.
I know you're more Trump than I - I'm more of a "lesser of two evils" Trump guy - but I sure do wish that, in a nation as great as this, we could find two better candidates than these guys.
I like EGM's hypothesis, though: the "lesser" evil *is* better than the greater and that process *will* work in the long run. Think about it."
Now, we may differ on who's actually less evil but I think this is a good strategy, and is better than not voting when you think the options aren't so good. I'd considered not voting at all, simply withholding my support. But that isn't the way to bet.
Thanks, Pi.
I have found the contrapositive argument for the "lesser evil" idea to have more bite (stated as carefully and clearly as I can, but read/think it slow):
If one does *not* vote for the LO2E (in one's own honest individual judgment), then one is, in essence/reality, *increasing* the chance that the greater evil wins.
Remember, no individual judgment on future human behavior is demonstrably/automatically true. We can all be mistaken. What we seek is a *collective* wisdom (a real thing; I wish I had archived the studies that showed it) as opposed to so called "mind viruses", i.e. collective madness or the madness of crowds, which is also obviously a possibility!
Incidentally (imo), this is also why a Constitutional Republic should always naturally have only 2 main parties. Otherwise, the opposition party (the one not in democratic control of the Federal gov't. at any given point in time) has little chance of changing the situation, and the People have little chance of "spanking" their overlords. I use a 40/30/30 split as example. See, 60% of the Peeps want change, but divide their protest vote among more than 1 opposition party, leading to continued rule by the powers-that-be, who can now claim a mandate (that's a 10% win margin).
What do you think?
1) There is no free trade between nations. There are bilateral agreements, most of which amount to nothing more than mercantalism, and most of which are unfair (unbalanced) to us. This is especially true when private sector corporations have to deal with controlled economy nations like China. NAFTA, for example, was nothing more than quotas, the exact opposite of free trade. Imo, DJT was the one insisting on fair trade. Navarro, and the success of the policies, convinced me of this.
6) or is it 7)
Gotta go, more later.
Don't forget, my wonderful bad cat, we are on the same side!
4) Yes, both sides become part of the State, which mindlessly acts to expand its hegemony over individuals and their easily violated natural rights. This is the nature of any State no matter who is in charge. That is why the People have constitutions in the first place, but freedom breeds wealth breeds apathy breeds slavery. We are on the downhill part of that Tytler cycle for at least 100 years, and the Republican Party has been not much more than Democrat-lite.
But DJT (not him, per se, but his election) slayed those neocons in 2016!! By standing by him now, we reclaim what should be the small gov't. Party and reinforce the People's desire to return to limited, Constitutionally corralled Federal government. At least it starts the long process of getting back to it.
What, the *Democrats* are going to do this?!?!
Do you feel the same way about RFK Gato?
RFK Jr. is a standard issue Leftist in every respect, wildly out of step with the mainstream and way to the left of any liberty minded folk. He was simply right about one thing, vaccines. In fact, since he has been harping on vaccines for many years now, in his case, it was more of a broken clock, blind squirrel type of thing. It just so happened that the regime/system wandered into his little corner of the world where he had been doing some admittedly, good work. Just go find any interviews of him recently and he is a Kennedy Dem all the way down. He would probably be a wash with any other Dem. But he hates liberty and freedom and seriously condescends to the great unwashed.
His only issue with vaxs is the ingredient that causes autism. He is for vaxs overall and was for punishment of people who did not comply. He is a climate crisis supporter..how he made his living..an elite, voted for Clinton's. Obama and Biden and will/would again..treats women poorly. Speaking out on one issue does not make him a presidential candidate
My question also.
But the more important question is will Trumpists vote for RFK in sufficient numbers?
2) Do you really think DJT would allow a future Fauci to trick him again? Really?
yup.
in fact, i'd bet on it.
it won't be public health, but it's going to be some other issue. trump lacks the character and courage to stand on principle in a crisis.
The bad cat is right on this. Trump is myopic to the point of blindness on so many things. Now, to be clear, I voted for him twice and will do so again. But he ain't the answer to our problems.
Trump can't judge character cause his is lacking. Sure, he has some positive traits; loyalty, love of country, hard worker, tweet master, wait, what? But discernment, wisdom, humility. Nope and those are all required in a good leader.
If you read Scott Atlas's book, "A Plague Upon Our House", it is SO obvious that DJT is a SERIOUSLY insecure man. On those few instances when Atlas was granted personal or phone time with Trump while working on the Covid Task Force, Trump would in EVERY SINGLE CASE, begin the convo by peppering Atlas with questions about whether he did the right thing by locking the country down. And not questioning in an honest, sincere way, in a way that is seeking an honest appraisal. No, but in such a way that it was obvious that Trump wanted, no, was desperate for validation.
That, my feline friends, is not the trait of a leader.
So, Tim, I would retract that bet. You will lose.
Not only your post, but your comment NAILS IT regarding Trump. He just doesn't have the moral compass or the thoughtfulness not to use force when it suits him. The lockdowns were a tell, especially since I'm not aware he's said anything about what a mistake they were.
We DO have a choice in RFK, Jr. He is a man of principle. He's been a vocal supporter of bringing back our bill of Rights, which were indeed trampled by the two other candidates in this race.
And he totally gets how the deep state works, and what the levers that might take them down a peg, restoring some form of decency to the purpose of Government, which has become a self-enrichment program for those in power and those that are close to power.
I am proud to support Bobby for standing for freedom. For us, for those around the world. Just this issue alone is sufficient reason that he should be president.
Don't tell me he can't win. We all can be the difference.
I'll take that bet.
I offer to up my sub, and I'll take bragging (posting) rights.
;-)
But has he learned from his errors? I mean there were rumors he might choose Nikki Haley for VP🤮. Even if he hasn't learned, he seems to be the lesser of al the evil options. At least we know some good policies we can expect and maybe we can hold him accountable? Ugh I just realized how little I believe we could hold him accountable.
1) I think he wants to be popular.
2) Constitutional checks and balances.
3) My judgment is that he will not get captured by the State
4) Once we force the Republican Party to accept him ( we do this simply by electing him), then it will have more influence on "moderating" his "bad" behavior if only to preserve Party popularity.
5) Impeachment.
But I bet we'll be pleasantly surprised by how un-fascist he really is. For example, he has indicated that he is pro-choice, if only for the purposes of remaining popular.
I hope you are correct
Hope has nothing to do with it.
Individual judgment does. This is mine. All peeps use your best judgement, let the chips fall where they may, and don't blame honest folks for errors in judgment, just refine your own and move on.
That's *real* democracy, as opposed to the Democrat's plans for 1984 hell.
We have to start somewhere, Mr Gato.
Sliding more slowly provides more time to rally.
that seems assumptive to me.
in my experience, it mostly locks us into an inevitable slide and prevents the sort of change that would actually let us change course.
when in the last 30-40 years have we actually managed to use the time to rally?
last time i can think of is the early 90's with the gingrich congress who at least managed to push some fiscal responsibility for a minute.
that was 40 years ago.
But how do we start the necessary change without using an obviously un-capturable narcissist, who will not join any cabal of oligarchs, like we have now in the deep state.
That was back when Democrats actually abided by the electorates wishes. The '94 "Gingrich revolution", still the largest postwar midterm swing, was a direct response to the over-reach of "Hillary-care", and caused Bill Clinton to move hard to the center from the left in governing.
I agree, as long as you know that your just using a "wedge" to keep the door from completely shutting. That's Trump in my opinion.
but on the other hand, slippery slopes almost always end in a cliff. The only constant in slippery slopes is that the "fall over run" always follows a path of of ever increasing downward steepness.
'There is no slippery slope to loss of liberties, only a long staircase where each step downward must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders'
- Alan K. Simpson
Seems to me it's always a case of slowly...then suddenly...all at once.
And maybe, just maybe, DJT will not just "slide", but help start the rally.
Either Slide, or Stance.
Confrontation or negotiation.
Buying time sounds smart to me.
We need to organize....or time is but a waste.
That's what they're counting on:
Time; they have all day and a year's
It is a bipartisan slide to dictatorship. Worldwide, even. That's becoming more and more obvious with the passing of each day. Ours is a Potemkin Village of a Republic. Just about everyone here recognizes this and sees no good way out of this mess, with millions of future Democrats entering the country.
They pulled back the curtain 4 years ago. Trump's main attraction now is that he is despised by the very worst people in this country. 2020 was probably the worst year any president has ever had. Wrong response to all events. Maybe this is all a show, and he is the man TPTB have designated to drive us to dictatorship, after letting the leftists run wild. Who know? But he is the only card we hold, absent the actions of an enterprising Marine Corps Colonel.
"It is a bipartisan slide to dictatorship."
Uniparty delenda est!
Yes!
hey, Doc. 2024 is not the usual forced choice of lesser of two evils:
https://rumble.com/v4bnvjo-nbc-news-u.s.-presidential-race-is-now-a-three-man-race.html
After 2020, I have no faith in elections. We live in an Oligarchy, I'm afraid.
You are correct. They cheated, openly, brazenly, even rubbing our noses in it with all the videos, Dinesh D'Souza documentary, and all the other evidence. There were no convictions, no prosecutions, not even an investigation. No consequences so why wouldn't they continue to cheat? Of course they will.
My conundrum. A 2X Trump voter, I cannot forget or forgive his Covid management and reckless spending on it. He also annoys me. But voting for an independent candidate seems fruitless. And Trump definitely seems the lesser evil.
It's not at the top but from the bottom upward that meaningful realignment with foundational values might be achieved. No elected or appointed post is too small to start with. The grip of the two major parties can only be broken by the strength of a truly independent electorate. It takes time and there's no glamour in it. But it's the only way.
But neither Party *establishment* (the neo twins uni-party) wants Trump.
So...we use him as our warhorse to start the process of breaking the grip of what I call the Statists-at-heart (collectivists-in-action).
Agree, but the central levers of power are eating away at local control. It would not hurt to have someone at the top loosening the noose already around our necks. That's Bobby Kennedy.
RFK Jr. is a wretched dilettante princeling and an absolute scumbag of a human being. But other than that...
No. If we are so feeble as to fail even to take back local control we deserve to fail utterly.
I totally agree that local control is very important.
A dilettante princeling would be someone who has gotten where he is solely on the basis of his connection to the royal family....more like Hunter.
RFK Jr. has made his own way. He has had some stumbles, like with drug addiction in his youth. He brought himself out and has been an accomplished environmental lawyer, author and children's advocate against the pharma and big Ag sickeners. Not to mention 13 books, most recently the Wuhan cover up, an exhaustive review of the ridiculous biodefense program, and The Real Anthony Fauci, a well referenced and powerful indictment of the Covid madness, placing it in context, and revealing the whole corrupt scheme.
I hear you
It's not fruitless. Declare YOUR Independence, for god's sake! RFK, Jr. is about our freedoms. One of those freedoms is expressing your opinion at the ballot box. Sounds, like you don't feel free, Susan.
In a 3 man race, RFK needs only 35% in a close call. we can do this.
1) Is he on enough state ballots to have any chance at enough electorates?
2) Will a majority (I think you will need a *vast* majority) of current Trump voters jump to RFK?
3) Won't he just split the opposition vote, and allow the Fascist Dems to win?
I am a volunteer on his campaign. He will be on every state ballot, for sure. I don't think a majority of either party will jump. But there are lots of independents. Can he do it? In going to work my butt to make it happen. Let's see how things look in October. Another biden term is unacceptable to me.
You are right about the large number of independents. We certainly have become unhappy with our two main parties! We are ripe for change. Maybe Kennedy has changed, too, like I think Trump has. See, I like having two parties, so the People can always rally around a strong opposition party whose protest vote is strong enough to displace the one more-or-less in control when the People decide it's time. This keeps both parties trying to please everyone, and the Peeps stay in control, not the party establishments. So I would like to see populist outsiders like RFK and DJT change the two parties for the better (more responsive to what voters want at any given point in time) as opposed to running as third party candidates that tend to split the protest vote and leave the system unchanged. I don't know know if I'm describing this well, but regardless if the outsider RFK can change the Democrat Party for the better (or replace it!) more power to him, and you.
They 'narrowcast" the emergency to elicit URGENCY; it is far easier to act than to think.
Emergency is just the thin edge to unthinking action; whatever action, that is, which allows tyranny to further narrow the narrowcast.
That is why "Public Emergency" is the Statists bread and butter. Even the legit ones *always* lead to the hegemon growing unless the Peeps exercise their Constitutional corral.
We have failed since Wilson birthed progressivism (read: American Fascism).
Spot on.
Sweet. I need a new book
Lol!
No, I meant when I type "progressivism", you should read it as "American Fascism".
But there probably is a book with that title. The problem is, it might be written by someone who (erroneously) puts Fascism as the *right* endpoint.
Ah. Well I am in search of a good new book if you have any suggestions
To the hard-core individualist, society is like women, can't live with em, can't live without em. The times we're living in are the closest humanity has ever come to utopian individualism. The personal devices have ushered in social anarchy. To the individualist these're the best of times. I suspect the "society people" are feeling this, and it's stressing them in ways they don't fully understand. Whatever the course may be, society isn't going away. It's not in the cards and always be annoying whether run by global collectivists (left) or national collectivists (right), macrocollectivists or microcollectivists. This's to say I echo what Tim is saying. Our choice is between the collectivism that's less annoying, but we certainly can and should set our sights on something better.
I'm sorry but comparing drug cartels and idiots wanting the unvaccinated jailed are not even in the same realm of reality. There is no Injustice done to put a murderer behind bars. What human rights are being trampled by putting a murderer behind bars. Are they doing it without a just Court? Because in this country we are losing our courts and we have lots of Injustice coming out of those courts.
I agree 100% that what they are doing in the cities most likely is being done on purpose because they want power they want control they want people to be afraid. They are allowing criminals back out on the streets. I really don't think you can compare what's happening in our cities to what's happening in El Salvador nor in my mind can you compare Bukele to Mussolini. I suppose only time will tell
how about the human right to due process? how do we KNOW they are murderers?
you realize that's literally the same claim that was made about the unvaxxed, right? that they were murdering others by spreading disease? who can we trust to always and accurately make such judgements?
what about the people saying "well, take the guns and you'll stop crime!" if they could point to good evidence that this were true (they, can't, but let's suppose) would it make it OK to just take them? how about just unilaterally and by fiat barring anyone they deem "anti-social" or "dangerous" from having one?
how about of someone notices that one small demographic in the US causes over half the murders? shall we just round them up without trial?
i think you're stepping out onto quite a slippery slope here by presuming that guilt can be known and sentence passed without process or defense.
no such power is only used once or only used for good.
one day, it will be wielded by a leader your truly hate whose values you abhor.
imagine the politician you hate most wielding the absolute power of arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
is that a country you'd want to live in?
there is no such thing as "due process and justice, but just for the good people."
that always goes bad. it's the thin end of a dictatorial wedge.
Well, I don't know what "due process" looks like in El Salvador. One speculates that the men jailed by Bukele as murderers will see the inside of a court sooner that have the "insurrectionists" who strolled through the Capitol on J6.
Yes, and remember what the false accusations they flung at hero journalist/whistleblower Julian Assange... keeping in prison and torturing him without trial. Free Assange!
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolution/934/text/ih
Bobby Kennedy will pardon Assange and Snowden on DAY ONE. Doesn't that tell you something?
Hey Gato, can you herd these cats?
As far as the US I think your analysis holds up so long as we have "blind" justice.
We simply don't now; which is another form of tyranny.
It's a rock and a hard stone.
Do you know for certain there is no due process? Have you written about this before? I never skip any of your articles but maybe I missed one. Please link!
Is that what is happening in El Salvador? Do you have proof that there is no due process? Are the working people being starved out as they were under Stalin, Lenin and Mao?
If you want to say what is happening in the US is anti our constitution, I'm right with you. We have a two tiered justice system. We are allowing our farmland to be bought up by foreign entities. So with what is happening here El Salvador looks like something to check out.
"There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice".
Montesquieu
I disagree with Montesquieu.
Pure democracy without *real* individual rights (especially property, fight me) is the greater tyrrany, and the greatest is today's Democrat-manufactured "democracy."
Yeah I do too. But the quote was fitting
Oh, I agree with that, my friend!
When the banks blew up in 2008, George Bush famously said: "I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system." Since then, the Fed and the Treasury have become full-blow financial despots with all the power they need to control the economy completely.
bingo.
"we saved it for a minute" turned into "we destroyed it forever."
principles matter. you cannot repudiate them to save them.
Well duh! I've been feeling that Trump is well nigh inevitable precisely because everyone is going to accept him as better than the alternative, which is precisely what the big $ boys wanted. Liberals foolishly believed the rich were loyal to their ideals, but they're really only loyal to $, so they rode liberalism to their stop & now they'll get off. If you wanted a RIGHT wing dictatorship, Biden was the only way to get there. Now, the Right can prosecute & imprison anyone they like - thanks D's for setting that precedent by prosecuting a president! All those court opinions limiting immunity etc will come in handy! All the power used to suppress anti vaxx etc will now be used to suppress the Left, and so on. When you're waiting in line at the concentration camp, remember that YOU voted to create these powers! Ugh. I hated Bush because he wasn't fairly elected & I hate Biden because he wasn't fairly elected, but YOU idiots thought it was just fine as long as YOUR side won. Ugh. You fight for principles, not people or parties. It was wrong to close churches over COVID & it'll be wrong to close universities over whatever they choose to close them over. The government should NOT be subsidizing either side; it should NOT be suppressing either side; it should NOT be running "public" health whatever that BS is, and it should NOT be invading every country on earth trying to stop WW3 by fighting eternal wars. We need LESS government, not better or more what we want government. It's all evil. Government is evil - it may be a necessary evil, but don't forget the evil part, and it should be as small as possible. Virtually nothing it does needs to be done. We don't need food inspectors, markets handle that quite well. We don't need labor laws - markets handle that fine & a vibrant labor market will do more for workers' rights than government ever could. Environmental laws are nonsense - private property rights work better. And so on. Government doesn't tax us to provide services, it provides services in order to tax us - cutting us in for a share of the loot so we don't object to the theft. Just gut it all - stop voting for your preferred warden. Prosperity is the best policy that ameliorates all other social ills better than any policy ever could. Look at it this way: government reduces growth in exchange for some good, but if you had the growth & let that growth compound, in a few years wealth would have solved the problem anyway. And the wealth bit actually works. Go for growth, and the other things come along for free. Unlike government programs which rarely work & always have unintended side effects. Government is madness.
But real Anarchy is hell. Capitalism (Classical Liberalism) requires an appropriate, limited gov't.
100%.
It's just remarkable, ain't it, how people desperate for peace and liberty are always looking around for a new and improved savior?
Kids, it's us. We is our own savior. If we can keep our wits about us.
"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."
~ FDR
It should not be forgotten that the entire drug cartel problem is wholly a creation of State drug prohibition.
The War on Drugs™ was, up until Bush II's War on Terra™ and then The Pandemic™, the greatest source of State depredations and consequent threat to our liberties.
The Feds created vast bureaucracies like the DEA filled with little totalitarian Napoleons infesting the entire country, armed podunk police forces with surplus military hardware and armoured vehicles, and, of course, created an enormous prison complex to cage vast numbers of people for possessing the wrong sort of plant or powder.
And, naturally, after over five decades of "fighting" this "war", one can find whatever illegal substance one might want on a nearby street corner.
It should be obvious to any sentient being at this point that none of these "wars", including those of the military variety, are actually meant to be won, but rather "fought" indefinitely, thus continuously enriching and empowering the State at the expense of the rest of our treasure and liberties, whilst providing endless propaganda opportunities to bamboozle Boobus Americanus into cheering for his own impoverishment and enslavement.
Everything that is happening now is following the same playbook.
Everything.
" "wars", ..., are actually meant to be won, but rather "fought" indefinitely"
Well, once they declare Peace, the Gravy Train is cut off.
You make me think of the 100 year war in history. Maybe war is the natural state and peace is short interludes to allow people to catch their breath regain their self-delusion, restock their arms, and breed an new generation of soldiers. Am I getting cynical much?
Anthony Blinken said the election in El Salvador was legit. That makes me think it wasn't.
Welp..