until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power,
from which all its own power and authority are derived,
and treats him accordingly.
Henry David Thoreau
Resistance to Civil Government
6/22/14
6/21/14
On spin
Sometimes I listen or watch or read the spin that politicians and government hacks lay out there, and I wonder: How stupid do they think we are?
But these are people who have been elected and/or placed in positions of trust, so I suspect they know there are quite a few actual or willfully very, very stupid people among us after all.
You read Nineteen Eighty-Four and conclude that no one could really get away with declaring, "War is Peace!" "Freedom is Slavery!" "Ignorance is Strength!"
And yet every day the ether is filled with those very words, or damn near close.
Reporters ask questions, pols respond, and the reporters dutifully journal what the pols said, without further question, even if the "answers" make no sense on their face, and call it journalism.
Surely, the observer says to himself, most people recognize that the reporters' questions were evaded, never truly answered.
Surely?
But these are people who have been elected and/or placed in positions of trust, so I suspect they know there are quite a few actual or willfully very, very stupid people among us after all.
You read Nineteen Eighty-Four and conclude that no one could really get away with declaring, "War is Peace!" "Freedom is Slavery!" "Ignorance is Strength!"
And yet every day the ether is filled with those very words, or damn near close.
Reporters ask questions, pols respond, and the reporters dutifully journal what the pols said, without further question, even if the "answers" make no sense on their face, and call it journalism.
Surely, the observer says to himself, most people recognize that the reporters' questions were evaded, never truly answered.
Surely?
6/19/14
If only it were true
Mark Twain
(The sad truth, of course, is that these thieves and self-serving scoundrels are quite intelligent and wily creatures – just not quite as smart as they think they are.)
6/17/14
Liberty.me: An interesting new site
Lovers of liberty have a new place to turn on the web – new to me, at least, I'm not sure how long it's been there.
It's called Liberty.me. I haven't really explored it too much yet, but it looks like a nice font of information.
It was recommended by an old friend whose recommendation is good enough for me.
It's called Liberty.me. I haven't really explored it too much yet, but it looks like a nice font of information.
It was recommended by an old friend whose recommendation is good enough for me.
6/13/14
How to use smoke and mirrors to frighten millions
The newscast is alarming. A couple shoots three people in Arizona before dying violently themselves. A gunman shoots up a school in Oregon. Two little girls knife their classmate in Wisconsin. A little boy brings heroin to his elementary school in Philadelphia.
Two conclusions can be reached.
1. We live in an increasingly violent and dangerous nation.
2. In a nation of more than 300 million people and 3.79 million square miles, the news people needed to travel more than 3,000 miles to find four violent and dangerous acts.
One conclusion ramps up fear and the desire for a stronger police state. One conclusion concedes that people are generally peaceable and nearly always will not commit violence against one another.
Yes, murder and mayhem happen every day – SOMEWHERE within those 3.79 million square miles.
Millions of planes land safely every day. Scores of millions of people resolve their conflicts far short of harming or killing one another. The reason the violence is news is because it is so rare, so unusual.
But don't mention that fact to the demagogues building your cage.
Two conclusions can be reached.
1. We live in an increasingly violent and dangerous nation.
2. In a nation of more than 300 million people and 3.79 million square miles, the news people needed to travel more than 3,000 miles to find four violent and dangerous acts.
One conclusion ramps up fear and the desire for a stronger police state. One conclusion concedes that people are generally peaceable and nearly always will not commit violence against one another.
Yes, murder and mayhem happen every day – SOMEWHERE within those 3.79 million square miles.
Millions of planes land safely every day. Scores of millions of people resolve their conflicts far short of harming or killing one another. The reason the violence is news is because it is so rare, so unusual.
But don't mention that fact to the demagogues building your cage.
6/12/14
Guard thine enemies from oppression
A thought for the next time you wish someone would shut up, or you wish someone would stop that guy, or you wish someone would outlaw that ...
"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."
"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."
— Thomas Paine
6/10/14
Problems and solutions
Most news stories follow the same template: Define a problem and explain what the government is saying or doing about the problem.
Listen carefully enough, and you'll hear that the government can only make the problem worse.
The more individual men and women exercise their freedom, the sooner an authentic solution is found.
Listen carefully enough, and you'll hear that the government can only make the problem worse.
The more individual men and women exercise their freedom, the sooner an authentic solution is found.
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