Author Archive
Social Justice, Stateless Societies, and Hooey.
In wars, victories are often incremental rather than total. We progress victory by victory towards an end result which is far better than our starting point, but we entertain no delusion if we are to be successful: victories are rarely if ever total and complete. Our enemies evolve, push back, and human history is a testament to how foes once [...]
The Framework for Prosecuting Torture Under the Bush Administration
The law clearly prohibits torture under the Geneva Conventions, and as the Conventions are the supreme law of the land by virtue of the fact that the United States ratified the Geneva Conventions, the prohibitions and limitations placed upon state action in war and combat are binding upon the United States, including its officers, officials, [...]
Follow the Money: A Study in How Money Matters Work Where Narratives Are Concerned.
Follow the Money: A Study in How Money Matters Work Where Narratives Are Concerned. "We now have a coalition of the willing that includes some 30 nations who have publicly said they could be included in such a listing.... And there are 15 other nations, who, for one reason or another do not wish to be publicly named but will be supporting [...]
Statism Chapter Two Excerpt
Chapter Two: Vessels of Myth, Conduits of Narrative “Modern propaganda is a consistent, enduring effort to create or shape events to influence the relations of the public to an enterprise, idea, or group.” -Edward Bernays “Ideology is a ‘Representation’ of the Imaginary Relationship of Individuals to their Real Conditions of [...]
Statism and Myth as a Tool of Survival and Perpetuation Part VIII: The State Above the Law
When individuals establish for themselves a government of their own choosing, they generally establish a structure for that government, and explicitly spell out the mission of that government, its purposes, and most importantly, the limitations they impose upon that government. Every bit of detail which outlines the functions of the various [...]
Statism and Myth as a Tool of Survival and Perpetuation Part VII: The State and the Law
“Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.” - John Adams, letter to George Wythe There are reasons why we impose [...]
Statism and Myth as a Tool of Survival and Perpetuation Part III B: Controlling Narrative By Banning Citizen Surveillance
Perhaps nothing is so annoying to a statist than an individual who places himself in a position of superiority, as opposed to the ancillary function which most statists believe is the proper role of citizens. In the world of statists, citizens are to complement the state by conforming to its every demand, no matter how unreasonable or intrusive. [...]
Statism and Myth as a Tool of Survival and Perpetuation Part V: Towards Perfectability and Utopia or, Aiming for the Stars and Winding Up in Ghettos and Gulags
“...and it should be possible to design a world in which behavior likely to be punished seldom or never occurs. We try to design such a world for those who cannot solve the problem of punishment for themselves, such as babies, retardates, or psychotics, and if it could be done for everyone, much time and energy would be saved.” -Skinner, [...]
Statism and Myth as a Tool of Survival and Perpetuation Part Two: Statism as an Answer to Manufactured or Foreseeable Crisis
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?” (Who will guard the guards themselves?) -Roman poet Juvenal, Satires, VI. 347 “In September 1994, a video was leaked to the Canadian press of John Snobelen, Canada’s minister of education, telling a closed-door meeting of civil servants that before cuts to education and other unpopular reforms [...]
Statism and Myth as a Statist Tool of Survival and Perpetuation Part One
The state is the dominant mode of societal organization in our world today. States are proliferating at a rate of 3.1 additional states per year, with the U.N. growing from some 50 members in 1950 to to 191 members today (28, The Untied States of America Enriquez, Juan Crown 2005). Eventually, all states find themselves fracturing this way and [...]