Monday, May 29, 2006

War Is the State: Myths about Memorial Day, Governments and War.

Myths about Memorial Day, Governments and War.

War is the State

Another Memorial day, and the country is divided into at least 3 camps and possibly more:

1] the pro war establishment [those who want government and wars, and believe them justified and therefor celebrate wildly ]

2] the anti-war establishment [ those who believe in governments but are usually against war, or are suprised/enraged/horrified when they occur],

3] the "don't know don't care lets just have a party" crowd.

My comments here address only those in catagory [2].

War Is the State

An early to mid 20th century US historian , Randolph Bourne, famously quipped "war is the health of the State".

Myself, I believe it is more accurate to say:"War _Is_ the State".

To believe in the institution of governments and at the same time expect them not to start wars is futile- after all, war is the primary business of all governments everywhere.

War [regardless of whether a particular war is considered "just" or "unjust"]is one of the many inevitable , [although perhaps unforseen by some] consequences of having a government in the first place.

You want government , you will get wars.Get used to it

Quit wasting your time complaining about wars started/perpetuated by your government and the people in group [1] , i.e. the flag-waving "patritioc" types who madly celebrate, quit voting for candidates who promise to end a war [if they do, they'll start another], quit demonstrating against wars etc, etc; instead concentrate ALL OF YOUR TIME AND ENERGY on minimising your own risk to your governments primary business; that is engaging in wars against [a] its own citizens,[b] engaging in wars against the government and citizens of other countries.

Look for ways of avoiding the ensuing wild celebrations of the state, its wars and its minions on days such as today, and for ways which might work even better in the future.

Most importantly,forget about trying to change the rest of the world, or even a majority, into peace lovers via outreach and demonstrations, letters to the editor etc.- instead, "button your lips",get out of the way, and learn to concentrate on finding ways to associate as far as possible in your own life only with those who already hold similar views to yourself, and for ways to avoid the effects of governments and their wars, and of funding them, via legal, or possibly illegal methods, depending on your personal morality and where you choose to draw your own lines,as in reality the terms "legal" and "illegal" are always subjectively interpreted, and also subject to change at any time.

And never forget- war _is_ the state.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

13 Common Myths About Governments- part 2

Part [2] 13 Common Myths About Governments


[13 Common Myths About Governments That I Run Into In Everyday Life and Which I Believe Will Inhibit Your Own Personal Freedom and Growth Potential. ]

Myth [1]: The government can stop you from being free and from living a free life.

{For many, this is perhaps the most damaging belief that they can hold. It is also the one that , as personal freedom consultant, I run into the most often}.


Reality: the only thing that stops you living your life in the way you want is you and your assumptions and beliefs, particularly those concerning governments and their power over your life and the lives of others. Outside the obvious situation of a person already physically life - imprisoned by the government, the prison you are actually in right now, if you believe the myth {that the government can stop you from being free}, is one entirely of your own making.

Nothing, including the government, or even your mother in law or your ex, can stop you living the life you want to live.


The Government’s Interest

Of course, you also need to understand that it is not in the government’s interest for you to discover this reality, and so it must “invest” large amounts of its revenues {partly taken from you, of course} in attempting to convince you otherwise, through its schools, books and media outlets etc.

More Hollywood Inspiration

I know it is only a movie, based on an entirely fictional book by Stephen King, but the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, is a classic, and very inspiring movie about overcoming both “the system”, and the idea that governments can stop you from living a free life – while simultaneously showing that its no picnic to do so either.


Myth [2]: government is a beneficial, benevolent entity.

Reality: when all is said and done, the only single defining characteristic that all government actions { laws, proclamations, ordinances, "advisories" etc.} and all governments share, besides the unintended consequences of their actions, is the threat of the use of violence {ultimate force} against those who try to resist its laws, proclamations, ordinances, "advisories" etc.

The true, core nature of every single action of all governments, all the way down to the most innocent sounding local proclamation or ordinance, is violent coercion for disobedience, whether we like to admit that or not.

Government is merely a "socially approved" institution solely dependent on robbery and violent threats and coercion to achieve any and all of its objectives, or, as Harry Browne famously said “ the government is just the Mafia with flags outside its offices”, or words to that effect.

The Inherent Corruption of All Government Funding -“If Pigs Could Fly”

Hand in hand with this is the assumption that any government, or any part of it, or any person in it, can be uncorrupted or incorruptible.


All governments are funded by “legal” theft- so it is extremely unrealistic to expect anything other than 100% corruption, 100% of the time, from an institution founded and funded almost exclusively on the “principle” and practice of “legal” extortion in order to maintain its own existence.

I am continually amazed by people who acknowledge the truth of how government revenues are acquired, yet still persist in the fantasy of expecting any good deeds from governments- or a similar fantasy that any bad acts they are aware of can be corrected just by electing the “right people”. The lack of consistency of thought in this area truly boggles my mind. {“If pigs could fly”, and all that jazz}:


Myth [3]: The government can create wealth.

Reality: The only thing government can do is take money by force from one group and give it to another group. This is not creating wealth but merely moving money around via force, benefiting some at the expense of others.

Myth [4]: You can become freer by voting for _any_ political party.

Reality: voting for your freedom is a complete waste of your time - regardless of whom the candidate might be. Disregarding myth [3] for right now, the only person who can free you to your own standards is you – because you, and you alone, hold those exact standards.

I suspect that one of the main reasons that people delude themselves into expecting social change via voting is that it is attractive { although self-delusional } to think that the easier alternative { i.e. voting by pulling a lever}, as opposed to actually making the effort to change your own life, can actually work.

The temptation to try to affect social change through politics is great, and therefore difficult to overcome, but I feel that it is vital for you to overcome this almost reflexive instinct in order to achieve greater freedom.


Internet “Dating”

The same principles { ease, laziness} appear to me to be involved in the fantasy of "internet dating”, another waste of your time that makes a lot of money by catering to people who live in a fantasy world where every thing happens magically “by computer”, “at the push of a button”, such as at: http://www.match.com

{ Go to the above link to “meet” a lot of other people who also live in a fantasy world where every thing happens magically “by computer”, “at the push of a button” } .

Myth [5]: you can free others if your party gets elected.

There are no major differences between any political parties, despite appearances to the contrary. For the record I’m including Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives “Libertarians”, Greens “independents”, fascists, socialists and communists of all stripes.

All share far more similarities than their superficial differences can possibly hide. All are [inevitably] pro- state, even so -called parties for "limited government", or "constitutional government". { If it interests you, I’m an ex “hard-core” constitutionally limited government anarcho- libertarian myself – but then I woke up.}

Voting to force everyone to "be free" to _your _ standards is a complete waste of your time, as is giving money to those who would claim to do so, because government cannot and does not work as a means of social change. Meaningful social changes must happen despite governments, as and when people see, on a personal level, such changes as benefiting themselves, regardless of the supposed benefits to the rest of society.

The only reason I can see to vote is because you might be able to skew things your way - e.g. make more money by restricting competition, imports or whatever, benefit from increased subsidies etc. , but even then, the chance that your one vote will actually make a difference to the outcome is statistically, highly unlikely.


Myth [6]: That you can vote for others to shrink government to your own preferences, or only get involved in the areas your political party approves of.

Reality: the only person who can shrink government is you - via your own direct attempts to avoid paying it anything, and by general avoidance of using its "services" to any degree that you can. Expecting to be able to force others to do what you think is right via your elected agent of change is futile.

Myth [7]: Government Programs Achieve Their Publicly Stated Objectives:

Reality: government programs cause the exact opposite of their announced intention{eg a government "war on poverty", illegal immigration, abortion, smoking or a "war on drugs”, or you name it, automatically increases poverty and / or drug use, smoking, immigration etc., or at best, makes absolutely no difference.}

This is unavoidable, simply because of the reality of the true nature of governments [2], i.e. that all government action is based on the principle of violent coercion, and so people sooner or later just find ways to avoid that coercion in their own lives, whereas outside of government, the market’s “programs” work because of voluntary, cooperative actions between buyer and seller, each acting in his / her own self - interest, so the threat of violence is unnecessary, and inevitably counterproductive.

Take Your Pick

And if you need further convincing, just take a close look at the reality of ANY government program.

Myth [8]: the government “justice system” "works", or can “work”.

Reality: As an extension of myth [7] above, the “justice system”, as the quintessential and therefore supposedly ultimately necessary government program { i.e. the usual justification given for governments existence in the first place }, is essentially no different from any other failed government program; it cannot work { and just as inevitably, large amounts of revenues must be spent to promote the exact opposite idea}.

As all government programs must fail, the justice system works no better than any of its other more recent social programs. This goes for the FBI and all other federal, state and local agencies, the police, the sheriffs’ depts. the court system, the judiciary etc. etc.

Expecting "justice" from this system either for yourself or others is a big mistake. It is always safer to assume the exact opposite will occur, and then every now and then { once every 20 years? }, to be pleasantly surprised.

This leaves aside the whole question of whether or not it is “moral” for one group of humans to serve judgment on other individuals- no matter how egregious that persons "crimes" are deemed to be, by any group of so-called "justice seekers", and regardless, corrupt persons {government} judging others as criminals is an obvious hypocrisy, at least to me.

A rule I follow is: NEVER expect “justice” from the government and its “justice system”! {Expect injustice- you will not be disappointed.}

Myth [9]: the government defense system "works", or can be made to "work".

Another supposedly quintessential and necessary government program,
The reality is somewhat different: see [2], [7] and [8]. It cannot work, it does not work, The army, the navy, the air force, the Pentagon, it’s all a scam. Enough said.


Myth [10]: The government keeps you free and guarantees your rights.


Reality: The government has no interest in keeping you free. Its interest is only in making you believe that you are free and protected by it so that it can justify both its existence, and the removal of more money from yours and everyone else’s pockets - despite the fact that it can, and often does, take that money regardless of any such justification. However, too much of this [blatant extortion] results in social unrest and revolution, and then government revenues will drop to zero. {Not good }.

Myth [11]: The US constitution and Bill of Rights will protect your freedom.

Reality: The US constitution and Bill of Rights { or any other written law in any society, and no differently from any book or movie you read or see } is inevitably, a subjectively interpreted document, and can never mean anything concrete that is agreed on by all.

It will therefore be interpreted at the convenience of the person reading it, even more so if that person is in power and in need of appearing to favor the groups that represent and pay for him / her.

What in your opinion, the government should do to protect yours and others “freedom” is inevitably going to be different from what others think it should, or can do.

Myth [12] : Governments can be limited to certain functions.

Just as damaging as the above myth [11], and usually appearing hand in hand with it, is the assumption { i.e. myth} that a government, once formed, actually can be limited to certain functions.

Reality: This is always no more than a “selling point” offered by those vying for power in order to gain that power over others - a deception, a fantasy a lie. {No! Say it isn’t so!}

If you want my advice { few do]} don’t waste your precious time on this earth complaining about any government’s “unconstitutional” actions, { its all “constitutional”!}, or in trying to return it to supposed constitutional limits. As I said at [11]]: the constitution and bill of rights “will {therefore} be interpreted at the convenience of the person reading it, even more so if that person is in power and in need of appearing to favor the groups that represent and pay for him / her.”

Myth [13]: The US constitution was originally written to limit the scope of federal government interference in your life.

Reality: If you believe that , just take a good look around ! The evidence would appear to be overwhelmingly to the contrary.

As I point out in [11], the government and the supreme court ultimately determine what “it” all "means", and thus “it” always "means" what they say “it” means, even if what they now say it means is the complete opposite of what they said before.

“What it is, is what it is”

Even more importantly, beyond the whole subjective value issue raised at [11] and [12], that is exactly the way it was intended, as far as I can see, { see the illuminating writings of "Brutus" the anti-federalist, included in "The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Debates" by Ralph Ketcham,

plus: "The Secret Proceedings and Debates of The Convention To Form the US Constitution" by Robert Yates, a convention delegate:

Reality: The way it was set up was intentional, meaning that where we are now { on the verge of fascism} is exactly where we are supposed to be, according to the original grand design. As the famous singing philosopher, James Brown once yelled {screamed?}: “What it is, is what it is.”


More Historical Evidence: What You Probably Don’t Know - The Judiciary Act of 1789

Just in case you still have any doubts about my outrageous assertion, consider that the Judiciary Act of September 24th 1789, was signed into law by our supposedly freedom loving founders in Congress, the day before they passed the Bill of Rights {September 25th 1789}, and that obviously, at that stage of the game, the contents of both bills were undoubtedly very familiar to all present in Congress, and, that section 25 of the Judiciary Act specifically authorizes the Supreme court to interpret _all_ state law, { if nothing else, directly negating the provisions of the 9th and 10th amendments before they ever even get a chance to be ratified by the states}.

It pays to remember that the Judiciary Act became law almost immediately, yet the persons who signed the Bill of Rights the very next day knew that its 10 provisions had, like the constitution itself, to be returned to the states for individual ratification before it {the Bill of Rights} would ever become law, and that in fact it took more than two years for the Bill of Rights to become law, and also that when it did finally become law, the provisions of the Judiciary Act had already been in effect for most of those two years prior to the states approval of the Bill of Rights. Genius! Talk about an “end run”!

The Constitution and Bill of Rights is, as far as I’m concerned, another shameless political scam, or as Albert J. Nock has commented, a "coup d'etat", { see chapter 1, section 2 of above link} designed to fool the masses and to quietly usurp and replace the common law systems of the various states with a civil law system, whereby all power ultimately resides at the federal {supreme court} level- completely undermining any supposed common law judicial independence of any member state, {again, as noted by the anti-federalists "Brutus", and the “Pennsylvania Minority” even before the constitution itself was ratified.}

Forget Your “Rights” , Get Some Sleep

So forget your “lost rights”, you cannot lose what you never had - the Bill of Rights was an after -the -fact political "bone" thrown to the gullible after their fate has already been sealed within the main body of both the constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1789.

Don't lose any sleep over imagined "constitutional violations!"- remember, in the end it's all "constitutional!"

Until the next time, “beam me up Scotty!” -

Financial Safety Services, and Onebornfree Personal Freedom Services.
www.onebornfree.com

13 Commonly Held Beliefs [Myths] About Governments- part 1

[part 1] 13 Commonly Held Beliefs [Myths] About Governments


Or, Beam Me Up , Scotty” or, “I’m From Another Planet and I’m Here To Help You”


Have you ever got involved in a conversation with another person, only to find that they share virtually none of the same beliefs and assumptions about the world that you customarily operate under?

For me, this happens a lot, {as you can no doubt imagine}. In fact, I've become so used to this “from another planet” feeling these days, that more often than not when introducing myself to others, I preface any remarks I am going to make – assuming I have been unable to limit conversation to “how’s the weather?” or “nice shoes”, with the announcement that I am indeed from" a galaxy far, far away" {a quote originally from the movie "Star Wars", but used to great effect by Linda Fiorentino's character Bridget, aka Wendy Kroy, in John Dahl's classic ‘90's noir movie " The Last Seduction"- which also happens to be my favorite movie of all time}.

“Beam Me Up Scotty”

Yet another “take” on that “from another planet” feeling is expressed succinctly via the popular bumper-sticker: “ Beam me up Scotty, there is no intelligent life down here!” a quote alluding to the popular ‘60’s and early ‘70’s TV series “Star Trek” – although I’m unsure as to whether any of the main characters on that show ever actually uttered that exact phrase, now immortalized in popular culture. No matter, it makes the point.

With those two phrases in mind, this blog entry is devoted to a brief look at 13 common beliefs I don’t hold, and which cause me to experience - on essentially a minute by minute basis, that all too familiar, “yes indeedy, I'm from another planet " feeling.

I originally had intended to cover at least four major areas here, but I soon realized that I have way too much material, so what I propose to do here is to cover two related areas { freedom and government myths}, subtly blended by yours truly into one vast, shapeless mass {as these issues overlap considerably}, and to leave other myths { investments, economics} perhaps for another day.

My Evil Plan:

Just to be clear, the reason I've decided to list these , what I consider to be myths, is to provoke thought, discussion, argument, ridicule, accusations, threatening letters, etc. etc; and not to try to help anyone to live freer lives, as might first appear to be the case.

{It's what I do best, after all: provoke argument, ridicule, accusations, cancellations etc.}

Yelling and Shouting for Fun and Profit

Consequently, as part of my evil plan, much of what I list here is done in the manner of bald assertions, with only brief explanations, if any. This is after all, the popular style these days in both the press and on US TV – i.e. bald assertions backed up with righteous indignation / arrogance, {“hey, he must be right, he’s shouting louder than the other guy”!}.

I figure if it works for the O’Reilly’s, Limbaugh’s, Michael Savages and all of the other morons of the world, let alone for those in political power, then it can work for me too!


N.B. Nothing here should be construed as a political manifesto, or as being "pro-anarchism", “anti- government” etc.

I am neither for, nor against anything governments do or don’t do, { they are going to do “it” or not do "it", anyway}, nor "pro" or "anti" anarchism ["anarchy" defined as a complete absence of government ]. I'm merely interested in telling the truth as I see it, and then possibly, teaching others to accept and adapt to these agreed truths as discovered - for suitably large fees, of course.


Nothing here should be construed as being a call for either social {i.e. political} or personal change of any description – nor should it be construed as being opposed to any such changes- I don’t care what happens or which way the wind blows, as always, and just like you in your own way, I will merely try to adapt to or avoid whatever “comes down the pike” next, as best I know how.

Because of posting difficulties, the 13 beliefs themselves will be posted as part [2] in the next blog, to follow immediately...