Saturday, February 09, 2019
Archetypal Essence and the Stories that Guide Nations
The United States has thus far not been “transformed” into a socialist country. God knows they’ve tried and occasionally appear to be on the verge of making it so, but sanity seems to always return when we can least expect it.
Like individuals, each culture on the planet has its own mythology and quirks of behavior. Each has a story, and it’s political proclivities are typically an extension of that story. I often wonder how much an ill-defined innate essence dictates the behavior and destiny of a nation as opposed to mere objective aspects.
Things change in the life of nations but is America’s expansive enterprise, individuality, and dynamism that far removed from the spirited independence of its founders?
America has often been critiqued as being a “cowboy” - simplistic, a bit course, independent, and unsophisticated but somewhat philosophical (more Mark Twain than Sartre). Americans — in a caricature sort of way — are more comfortable telling jokes and speaking of their dreams around a campfire than plotting the next revolution from a coffee shop. ‘Certainly not to suggest that a wide variety of personalities do not exist within the U.S. but, even among such variety of opinion and manner, a common thread seems to continually emerge.
With all the talk of “diversity” that leftland perpetually notes — while assuming that all diverse cultures and lifestyles should magically hold the same political views — American character continues to be driven by a notable independence. Many Americans would no doubt jump at the opportunity to benefit from the next government “freebie” and may even on occasion play along with Jacobin bromides about “group solidarity” but, in the end, “leave me the fuck alone” probably captures the spirit of most Americans’ worldview and does so far beyond mere mundane variations in class or skin color.
I really enjoy watching the people of diverse persuasions in the “Walk-away” movement express their views on YouTube. I think Jefferson and Adams et al. would be proud to see so many adhering so closely to the hopes set forward in the initial designs of America.
While the Marxist / socialist worldview has certainly gained traction after a steady diet fed to the public from education and media, I wonder if it really has a chance of ever sticking. It usually doesn’t take much to sway a sober American back into sanity when confronted with the reality of what collectivism really means to one’s daily pursuit of happiness.
American’s are truly diverse — and much more so than most cultures, in spite of what we are told by our intellectual betters — but revolutions for some collectivist abstraction will likely never gain a foothold over the simple and somewhat course but independent desire to be “left the fuck alone.”
The Green ......Deal
Only in the “progressive” mind would the elimination of air travel be seen as a revolutionary advancement. Next they’ll tell us that their current desire to return to trains may stand in the way of an even bolder plan to return to the horse and buggy.
As usual, leftism is ultimately about feeding power to the omnipotent state and saddling the lives of citizens with constraints, deprivation, and equally distributed destitution.
...Fortunately, it’s unlikely that a majority of citizens will ever be swayed to this level of stupidity.
The next great progressive Democrat proposal will be the establishment of a “Committee for Public Saftey.”
Friday, February 08, 2019
Socialism in San Francisco and Los Angeles
Massive wealth inequality, high taxation, punitive regulation and constraints on commerce and freedom, homelessness, crime, filth, destitution, dependency, and now ...a Typhus outbreak.
The result never quite matches the ideal.
Whether in Venezuela or California, the same philosophy breeds the same result.
Some things never change.
Wednesday, February 06, 2019
Almost Hilarious
The Democrats really blew it — again.
In addition to their usual smug lack of decorum, afterward they provided “a Democrat response” that was beyond cliche’. Stupid meaningless nonsense about “joining together” mixed with clueless complaints about “factories closing” (during one of the biggest economic booms in the country’s history). Of course,the usual rambling about “racism, diversity, and a woman’s right to choose.” Almost cringeworthy.
My favorite part of the President’s speech was his proclamation that the U.S. Will “never be a socialist country.” One could certainly expect the likes of Bernie Sanders and the Cortez Jacobin to sit stoically but, revealingly, most Democrats apparently shared their stance — no big surprise.
Trump could have botched the whole thing and Democrats could have politely applauded when references were made to great economic strides etc. but no, nothing could have been more opposite from either side. The speech was sober, disciplined and somewhat inspiring. The Democrats’ response during the speech and afterward, pathetic. The media will have trouble spinning this one.
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Follow the Leaders into Bondage and Oblivion
“Global Warming,” like so much in contemporary bandwagon meme production, turns out to be its opposite; “the Earth is warming,” “Donald Trump is a terrible president,” “socialism is the wave of the future,” “war can be eliminated if WE (free societies) take the first step,” “we can solve social problems if we empower a centralized government to act.” ...Blah, blah, blah.
If intellectuals, “experts,” and journalists insist on something, it’s likely to be, at minimum, not true and even more likely to be its opposite.
One thing you can always be certain of; the “solution” to exaggerated or fabricated problems will always be a more centralized and powerful state.
...Roll your eyes and laugh at them.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Prometheus Stealing Fire from the Gods. A Mezzotint Engraving by Max Klinger
Subversion 101
I’ve watched this a few times over the years in a variety of contexts. Each time I find its prophetic accuracy remarkable. Like the brilliant insights found in Eric Hoffer’s “The True Believer”, it gets to the real motivations and strategies of authoritarian ideology. The roots of all politics ultimately lie in psychology. When a country’s collective psychology becomes dysfunctional, one can be sure that its demise is at least in part aided by deliberate subversion.
As a side note, I don’t recall who said it but it was noted that, imposing a socialist planned society in The U.S., the best vehicle of subversive takeover would be the Democrat’s party — who would have known.
