❝❝The economic choices allowed by government to most American citizens are meant to control them, not to free them.❞❞

— NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ goverment ∙ choice ∙ control

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Tags: guest content ∙ Timothy Daughtry ∙ control ∙ think ∙ opinion ∙ intimidation ∙ violence ∙ ideological ∙ bubble ∙ offended ∙ crisis ∙ rhetoric

❝❝Despite their poetry, many monotheists expect others to sublimate their faith to the monotheism. They aren't interested in what we share except as a justification for control.❞❞

— NeoWayland, comments from Column: Come Darkness, Come Light

Tags: maxims ∙ monotheism ∙ faith ∙ share ∙ justification ∙ control

But none of that is a reason to impeach him.

Tags: Jeff Thomas ∙ government ∙ control ∙ desire ∙ pursue ∙ extract ∙ history

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

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❝❝Ever notice when someone picks a scapegoat, it's because they think the scapegoat can't fight back?

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I agree with you that politics is a source of great evil in the World.

I disagree that the Trump and the Republicans are the cause. Or even most of the cause.

One annoying thing about politics is that people are willing to overlook the misconduct of "their" side even while slinging wild accusations against the Enemy. The accusations may or may not be accurate. But you can count on the Enemy not being quite the Ultimate Horror Unleashed on Mankind. And you can count that your side is not quite the paragon of virtue and self-sacrifice that they claim.

Politics is about controlling the other. Never you, always the other. When government is involved politics is about control backed by force.

Politicians are never on your side. Even as they stand wrapped in the flag clutching holy writ promising that they will be your bestest friend ever no matter what.

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I'm sorry, but I can't agree. Obama used the IRS and Justice Department against his enemies, among other things. And the Democrats looked the other way.

Rather than get into a long and pointless discussion of who did what worse, I want to point out something that most people overlook.

The politicos NEED you to blame the other party and never question the wisdom of your party's decisions. It's always the other party that is doing things Too Terrible and always your own party that promises to Save The Day. When you buy into that, you perpetuate the system. You're always going to be victimized and you're never ever going to be saved. If you were saved, you'd have no reason to vote the party line.

---

I know I have my political critics on this site, but believe me when I tell you that there are conservatives who are just as threatened by the Democrat leadership as you are by Trump.

Too often today, people make excuses for what their side does by trotting out the disasters from the other side.

I want less government. I think government is a terrible danger to liberty. I think politicos and technocrats complicate things because they don't want you asking questions and they don't want you changing the status quo. They don't want you understanding what they do.

So when I see someone insisting that this flavor of politico is slightly less objectionable, I tell them they are wrong.

---

Accurate, as far as it goes.

*sighs* Look, I know that other pagans think I am simplistic and partisan when it comes to politics. And believe me, I realize how ironic it is for me to denounce mixing paganism with politics while having a political blog called Pagan Vigil.

Politics is one of my darker passions. I'm better at it than any amateur has any right to be. I understand the temptations and lusts because those are my temptations, my lusts, but for a bit of discipline and some promises I made. There's a line from Doctor Who, “Good men don’t need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many.” These days I try to use my abilities and urges in a good cause. Mostly I succeed.

I've said that politics is about controlling the other. It's literally "power over." All the processes, all the carefully defined rules to protect democracy, all the blame exists SOLEY to keep people from looking too carefully at "the sausage being made." To keep people from asking how much freedom they are "supposed" to sacrifice for "the Greater Good." To keep them from asking themselves why expecting the other guy to sacrifice and compromise is GOOD but they themselves aren't supposed to sacrifice and compromise. To keep them from accepting that POWER OVER for their principles just might not be as as effective as power with based on things we all share.

Smashing the opposition just makes more pieces that can regrow.❞❞

Tags: scapegoating ∙ World ∙ Donald Trump ∙ Republicans ∙ control ∙ politicos ∙ Barack Obama ∙ IRS ∙ Justice Department ∙ party politics ∙ Democrats ∙ government ∙ technocrats ∙ political flavor ∙ pagans ∙ simplistic ∙ partisan ∙ blog ∙ darker passions ∙ temptation ∙ lust ∙ amateur ∙ discipline ∙ promises ∙ Doctor Who ∙ power with vs power over

❝❝There was a late night bull session I attended. One very drunk person announced, very authoritatively, "Socialism is jealousy."

Then she passed out.

She may have had a point.

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I'll go you one farther. There are studies that show primates have a strong sense of fairness. Some other studies show the fairness idea is linked to play in wolves and coyotes. I've seen speculation but no mention of studies that the idea exists in elephants as well. Taken together, these may indicate that it is part of the biology, at least for social animals.

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I'd say it relies on control and orientation in time. Given that it's extremely difficult to control other's behavior except through force, someone who is past-orientated will choose coercion and false signals. Especially if their behavior was controlled in the past.

Future orientation and risk taking are more likely to depend on cooperation. Especially if one doesn't have the resources to pull off the future alone.

Going forward, power with beats power over. But someone stuck in the past won't see that. As for the "leaders," they're gaming the system and don't practice what they preach. "But just do as I say, don't do as I do," as the old Genesis song says.

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❝Everyone who lives in America is a socialist to some degree.❞

True. But did they choose, or was it chosen for them "for the greater good?" In many cases before they were born? Did they ever have an alternative choice? Were they even allowed to think about it?

That's how socialism works. It's always involuntary except for those calling the shots.

❝It’s just that the rank and file among us don’t have $12 billion to buy votes from farmers we’ve screwed over.❞

If he had bought votes, the farmers wouldn't be screwed, would they? You've moved beyond mixing metaphors here, you're mixing conspiracy theories.

---

Your premise about vote buying is wrong. There's plenty to criticize about Trump's tariff strategy (which I've done), but there was no vote buying. That's the problem with most of the accusations against Trump. The loudest people ignore what Trump has done and blame him for things he hasn't done. You can't buy votes after the fact. And you keep overlooking all the other people adversely affected by the tariffs.

I used the word choosing because we are supposed to live in a representative government. Socialism removes choice. Socialism removes freedom. Socialism removes prosperity. The only reason why the United States works economically is because of the partial free market. The free market works. The free market works better than anything else in history. The only reason Americans can afford even partial socialism is because of the abundance produced by the free market.

So are Americans socialist? Yes, but not from choice. Someone had to do it to them. Someone had to lie to them about what they could get. Someone else had to pay the bills. Would Americans choose socialist programs? I don't think they would if they understood the costs.

I didn't claim you wrote anything about choice. I asked about choice. That's not words in your mouth, that's a question you don't want to answer.❞❞

Tags: sociaism ∙ choice ∙ primates ∙ fairness ∙ prosperity ∙ freedom ∙ wolves ∙ coyotes ∙ elephants ∙ biology ∙ control ∙ orientation in time ∙ coercion ∙ false signals ∙ future ∙ past ∙ power with vs power over ∙ involuntary ∙ bought votes

““You don't control government. It's easy to think of the perfect law that will stop the bad guys while leaving the good guys unhindered. But no law will be written the way you have in mind, it won't be administered the way you have in mind, and it won't be adjudicated the way you have in mind.””
     — Harry Browne, Principles of Government

Tags: Harry Browne ∙ control

Standard Approved Government Solution

Tags: Harry Browne ∙ goverment ∙ limits ∙ does not work ∙ power ∙ misued ∙ control ∙ expensive ∙ expansive ∙ 2003

Demonstrating that certain modern liberals don't understand economics

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❝❝It was never, ever about tolerance.

It was always, always about control.❞❞
     — NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ tolerance ∙ control

❝❝One of my professors pointed out that Mark 12:17 could be interpreted to keep politics out of religion and religion out of politics. It's probably not true, but I like the thought. Politics is about controlling others and we know it corrupts almost everything it touches.❞❞
     — NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ religion ∙ control ∙ corruption

“The End of Cash; The End of Freedom”

Tags: clipping ∙ Ian Welsh ∙ government ∙ taxes ∙ cash ∙ freedom ∙ India ∙ cash business ∙ France ∙ terrorism ∙ electronic payments ∙ track ∙ control ∙ surveillance ∙ electronically ∙ PayPal ∙ Visa ∙ Mastercard ∙ Wikileaks ∙ Left