““By the democratic principles we espouse, government cannot have a right that citizens do not grant it. There are certain things that a person has no right to do. A person has no right to murder or rape another. Therefore, people cannot grant government authority to murder and rape. Similarly, no person has the right to forcibly take the property of one person in order to give it to another. Therefore, people cannot grant government authority to do the same thing. If I forcibly took property from one person, for any reason, most people would condemn it as theft, an immoral act. Theft or any other immoral act does not become moral because it is done by government acting on behalf of a consensus or majority vote just as murder or rape does not become a moral act simply because of a consensus or majority vote.””

— Walter E. Williams

Tags: Walter E. Williams ∙ government ∙ authority ∙ citizens ∙ murder ∙ rape ∙ theft ∙ consensus

❝❝I know that expertise does more to define blind spots than establish authority.❞❞

— NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ expert ∙ blind spots ∙ authority

““The first law is that the desire of authorities in charge of security for information will continue in a straight line with no limits in time and space short of the heat death of the universe. The second law is that the willingness of their authorities to supply them with the budget they need to do that has very definite limits, both in time and space. Hence the third law, which is the one we are now operating under. The information assembled by security authorities invariably overwhelms their ability to analyze the information. They are, in effect, suffocated by their own insecurity.””

— David Weber, Cauldron of Ghosts

Tags: David Weber ∙ authority ∙ security ∙ information ∙ budget ∙ overwhelm ∙ analyze

❝❝Language is defined by usage, not expert decision and proclamation. It's why there are new words like smartphone and LOL. It's why there are obscure words like gelogenic and aretaics that most people don't know.

Now, do I know science? Yep, I know the scientific method. I know that science works by explaining past phenomena and accurately predicting future change. I know that there is a difference between physics and chemistry, although hardcore physicists will insist that every thing in chemistry is only a subsection of physics. I know that expertise does more to define blind spots than establish authority.

And I know that insight and understanding is not defined by degrees and publication, but by who can explain and predict. I also know that disparaging the source without considering the argument moves from scholarship to dogma. I know that the institution doesn't have value except in that it can produce results.❞❞

— NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ language ∙ usage ∙ expert ∙ gelogenic ∙ aretaics ∙ scientific method ∙ science ∙ phenomena ∙ predictions ∙ physics ∙ chemistry ∙ authority ∙ insight ∙ understanding ∙ scholarship ∙ dogma ∙ institutions

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

An exclusive look at Cory Booker’s plan to fight wealth inequality: give poor kids money

A Law Intended to Protect Crime Victims Is Being Used to Shield the Identities of Police Officers

Dear Resistance, listen to my lived totalitarian experience – you have no effing idea what you’re talking about

Politico Report Says Russiagaters Should Prepare To Kiss My Ass

Methods and Tricks Used to Create and Perpetuate the Human-caused Global Warming Deception

Divided Democrats struggle to answer Trump's claims on migrant caravan

Watching a Country Make a Fool of Itself

Saudi dissidents fear 'long arm' of state after Khashoggi murder

A Texas Police Officer Is Charged After Mishandling 130 Sex Crime Cases

Georgia Mayor Has Plan To Round Up Town's Sex Offenders on Halloween

California company that hires protesters is accused of extortion

Previously Deported Illegal Aliens Join Caravan: ‘It’s Time for Me to Go Back’

Judge bars New Hampshire proof of residency requirement for new voters

Tags: Cory Booker ∙ wealth inequality ∙ police ∙ shield ∙ unintended consequences ∙ authority ∙ resistance ∙ RussiaGate ∙ global warming ∙ deception ∙ Democrats ∙ caravan ∙ Brexit ∙ Georgia ∙ sex offenders ∙ Halloween ∙ protesters

This is a page from the original version of Pagan Vigil. There are some formatting differences. Originally published at www.paganvigil.com/C1415225799/E20070210153538

A new category and a story about defying government authority with the internet

““Zhang's ban, which was reported by several Chinese newspapers, was regarded as extreme even by the censorship authorities in Beijing. But it was emblematic of the Communist Party's determination to retain control of what this country's 1.3 billion people see, hear and read despite the vast changes in other realms brought on by economic reform over the last two decades.

Ever since Mao Zedong brought the party to power in 1949, information, art and entertainment have been regarded here as government property, distributed to the public -- or not -- according to what party officials think best. But in recent years, as the number of online Chinese climbed to 137 million by the end of 2006, the Internet has challenged this power in many ways. Zhang's experience in Gedong dramatized how robust the challenge has become.

Eager to speed modernization, China's leaders have professed a desire to see people use the Web widely to seek knowledge and economic advantage. But they also have expressed determination to keep it under party control. The goal, they have said, is to keep Chinese away from sites deemed unfit because of pornographic or politically sensitive content -- or, in the case of Fangshan County, because they waste teenagers' time with frivolous games.

"Whether we can cope with the Internet is a matter that affects the development of socialist culture, the security of information and the stability of the state," President Hu Jintao said at a Politburo study session last month, according to the state-controlled press. Hu, who also heads the party, said the solution is not to deter development of the Web but to "nurture a healthy online culture."

Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based media watchdog group, said Hu's government has deployed "armies of informants and cyber-police" and sophisticated computer programs to prevent Chinese Internet users from connecting with sites the party disapproves of or reading postings that stray from political orthodoxy. Sifting the acceptable from the unacceptable costs China "an enormous amount," the group said, without providing a specific number.””

The kids are finding a way. It's games today, but tomorrow it will be political.

And if the kids are finding a way and there are enough of them to get attention, there are plenty of adults who you haven't heard about who are networking and doing their best to undermine all the restrictions.

Let freedom ring.

Posted: Sat - February 10, 2007 at 03:35 PM

Tags: Original Vigil ∙ goverment ∙ authority ∙ internet ∙ freedom ∙ Firefly ∙ Babylon 5 ∙ China ∙ Gedong ∙ Zhang ∙ Reporters Without Borders ∙ clipping

No one person and no one group has all the answers. No one group should be vested with THE moral authority to decide who is and is not a hate group.

The SPLC needs competition.

Tags: Southern Poverty Law Center ∙ hate groups ∙ competition ∙ religion ∙ authority ∙ FedGovs ∙ press ∙ conservative ∙ libertarian ∙ KKK ∙ Nation of Islam ∙ pro-life Christian ministries ∙ militias ∙ hate crime ∙ mala in se ∙ mala prohibita ∙ Mark Potok ∙ hypocrites

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: election ∙ Pennsylvania ∙ Iran ∙ non-citizens ∙ authority ∙ drain the swamp ∙ school shooting ∙ FBI ∙ FEC ∙ bad cops ∙ seizing guns ∙ Antifa ∙ semi-automatic weapons ∙ State Department ∙ troll farm ∙ Democrats ∙ mental illness ∙ San Francisco ∙ landlords

Tags: maxims ∙ picture ∙ authority ∙ freedom

❝❝Societies work best when the moral and legal authorities are separate.❞❞
     — NeoWayland

Tags: society ∙ moral ∙ legal ∙ authority

❝❝The message was clear. There are problems but your Government Is Taking Care Of It. You don't have to worry. It's Somebody Else's Problem. You don't have to be responsible. Just put the right people in charge. Give more money. Give more authority. Sacrifice more rights. Repeat until we get it right. And don't ask too many questions.❞❞
     — NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ government ∙ message ∙ Somebody Else's Problem ∙ authority ∙ money ∙ rights ∙ questions

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: sex ∙ nudity ∙ love ∙ government ∙ authority ∙ bedroom police ∙ pornography ∙ swimsuit edition ∙ cheerleader uniforms ∙ ban ∙ dislike ∙ outlaw ∙ offends ∙ homosexuality ∙ public sexual acting out ∙ banned ∙ rom-com ∙ soap opera ∙ reality TV ∙ art ∙ classics ∙ bakers ∙ florists ∙ photographers ∙ nonsense examples ∙ nekkid pagan guy ∙ naturist ∙ privacy fence ∙ hidden out of sight

❝❝Government authority tends to be used against those least likely to resist.❞❞
     — NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ government ∙ authority ∙ resist ∙ banner

Tags: DEA ∙ cash ∙ billions ∙ asset forfeiture ∙ authority ∙ government ∙ gay pride ∙ rainbow flag ∙ victimhood ∙ victim hierarchy ∙ progressive ∙ Tea Party ∙ Illinois ∙ Russia ∙ Team Obama ∙ Team Hillary ∙ Trump campaign ∙ lawyers ∙ crony capitalism ∙ Carrier ∙ unholy allliance ∙ Mexico ∙ Indiana

Tags: maxims ∙ authority ∙ freedom

Some of the comments I make on other boards are worth saving

Tags: libertarian ∙ authority ∙ trust ∙ bottom up ∙ top down ∙ commenting ∙ Somebody Else's Problem ∙ KYFHO ∙ freedom ∙ virtues ∙ vices

Expanding civilizations, religions, and faith

Except for a few central issues, I really try not to tread on people's beliefs. I don't have time for one thing.

But every once in a while, something comes up that is just too silly.

David Warren was writing about the Gulf oil mess and rules and regulations. He made some great points about the limits of government ability. But then he tossed in this tidbit.

❝❝I like to dwell on the wisdom of our ancestors. It took us millennia to emerge from the primitive notion that a malignant agency must lie behind every unfortunate experience. Indeed, the Catholic Church spent centuries fighting folk pagan beliefs in things like evil fairies, and the whole notion the Devil can compel any person to act against his will -- only to watch an explosion of witch-hunting and related popular hysterias at the time of the Reformation.

In so many ways, the trend of post-Christian society today is back to pagan superstitions: to the belief that malice lies behind every misfortune, and to the related idea that various, essentially pagan charms can be used to ward off that to which all flesh is heir. The belief that, for instance, laws can be passed, that change the entire order of nature, is among the most irrational of these.❞❞

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the "triumph" of Christianity actually cost European civilization science, wealth, and much of what made life good.

This has nothing to do with the merits of Paganism or the faults of Christianity.

That's important. Read it again.

And yes, I know that paganism wasn't Paganism as we recognize it today. That's not the point. Nor is it important which had better beliefs or more superstitions.

It's one of my working theories. Cultures and civilizations expand when they have trade, immigration, and tolerance. Without trade, immigration, and tolerance, cultures contract and become more insular.

It's a generally accepted flexibility of thought that makes trade, immigration, and tolerance possible. The more trade, immigration, and tolerance there is, the more vibrant and interesting the culture becomes. You never know what will cross pollinate or what will take root where.

Thanks to Constantine, Christianity went from several competing groups to one ruled by a Church and an Emperor. Dissent was ruthlessly suppressed. Variations from the cultural norms were destroyed. This isn't inherent in Christianity, but it was inherent in the Christian belief system that the Council of Nicea propagated.

Believe me, there are forms of paganism that are just as intolerant. And oddly enough, those also retreated into themselves.

How we treat the Other may well be the defining characteristic of a great human civilization.

And then we get Stephen Hawking. Yes, that Stephen Hawking.

❝❝There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, [and] science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.❞❞

Two tiny little problems there. Religion does work for many people, but not necessarily because of authority. Faith works for many more, and not necessarily because of authority.

And the other problem. Well, it's hardly worth mentioning, but science is the bastard child of magick.

Oops! I revealed an untold truth!!

Religion, faith, and the desire to control or at least predict the universe led to science. In many ways, they still intertwine.

Just something for you to think about on this Wednesday.

Posted: Wed - June 9, 2010 at 02:02 PM  Morality & Modern Life

Tags: Original Vigil ∙ too silly ∙ Gulf oil mess ∙ trade-immigration-tolerance ∙ culture ∙ Constantine ∙ Christianity ∙ Pagan ∙ The Other ∙ Stephen Hawking ∙ religion ∙ authority ∙ bastard child of magick ∙ science

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