Words mean things. Why else use them?
There are even lots of rules in grammar to aid one in using each word appropriately for the intent of both the communicator and the intended recipient. Nuance, I believe to be the appropriate word.
In relation to the utter tragedy taking place on Capitol Hill these days, I have more than a few words I would like to discuss with the, "Powers that be".
I would like to assume that the elected officials, who supposedly stand in for the voting block, representing constituents in our Federal Republic, have read and understand both the words and the meaning behind the Constitution of the United States of America? Not this so-called, "Living Document", but the one drafted by the Founding Fathers. That document had the ability to be amended, to evolve with the changing times, but it did not make it by any stretch of the Progressive imagination to be, "Living", i.e. whatever we want it to say, when we want it to say it.
So, assuming that, I have to ask myself, Do you all (collectively) know what you've done? Did you intend to vastly over reach your job description or did you do it, blinded by party politics? This, to me, would be the difference between a malicious attack on the Constitution and an ignorant one. By Constitution, I mean the, "We The People" part of it.
Do you know what, "High Crimes and Misdemeanors" means? Bribery? How about extortion or trading in influence? Does the President's veto power really mean that he is obstructing the will of Congress or is he performing his duties as President to prevent bad legislation from becoming law (according to his opinion). Is it Obstruction for him not to turn over records that you demand from him? Or to force testimony from his staff (remember, everyone working in the Executive Branch works for him). No. Remember, there are three branches to our government, supposedly co-equal with defined responsibilities. Can the President demand the meeting minutes behind a committee closed door session? No, he can't. If you want it, you'd better make your case to the third branch of government, the Judiciary. It had better be a good case, too.
This rabid assault on a duly elected President is unseemly. It is reckless. It is, perhaps, a precedent.
If a party that is anti-Constitutionalist (I'm looking at you Democrats) makes a rabid assault on a President they can not abide by, and fails, it just means that they will re-group and try another tact until they get what they want, be it in the press, public opinion, courts, or mob violence. History is full of this. Traditions get ignored, laws and rules get watered down. Chaos is always close behind.
How does a law get watered down? Well, when it applies to one, but not another individual in society. Usually predicated on that person's position in society. Examples you say? How about Roger Stone? This guy goes to jail, likely for the rest of his natural lifetime, because he was caught in a procedural lie that had absolutely nothing to do with the case against the President simply because he was an ally of the President. The ex-CIA Director, a fellow named Brennan, sits down in front of Congress, is placed under Oath to tell the whole truth, and then proceeds to tell one lie after another as documented in the Inspector General's report. Straight up lied. No apologies or nuance, just flat out lied. I have to note that the man is not only free this day, but completely un-indited for his lies. In fact, the man is making money from CNN as a consultant and contributor. Apparently, Mr. Brennan's position in society permits him to lie to Congress and get away with it, while Mr. Stone goes to jail for giving a different answer to question #38 that was asked several different ways over several different interviews. I guess that is how it works in today's America.
Does Schiff, Nadler, and Pelosi et. al. really understand what they are wreaking upon our Federal Republic? The precedent they are unlocking? This is a double edged sword here. What happens if another President as unpalatable to many Americans such as Obama gets elected in the future? Is the other side going to sit back and say, "Oh, we'll get another shot in 4-8 years, we will have to work on our message and outreach." Or will they look to what is happening now, analyze its failures and then make another attempt to unseat a duly elected President with a flippant, translucent body of evidence? Worse yet, what if the so-called, "Deep State" dispenses with the window dressing of the Constitution and simply over-turns, in broad daylight, the will of the people and simply raises their own Emperor to the purple?
Can't happen you think? Probably not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but who knows when. When enough laws get watered down, enough traditions get eroded away and the will of the people snuffs out, what then? How long before this illusion of choice gets wiped away? Sooner or later, someone will come along and simply say it means what they say it says and to believe otherwise gets you censured, banished, or killed.
Any changes to tradition or law must be made within a common framework, duly deliberated and executed according to a standard set of rules...let's call it the Constitution. Once someone decides to "deconstruct" the "intent" of the Framers, then that someone (or group) has set our feet firmly upon the path to political dissolution. Full stop.
Try to live well in these trying times. We live in a momentous era in this country, and I know not what it will look like in 20 years time.
Zavost
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Truth: From a certain point of view
The discussion on whether truth is objective or subjective has been discussed for thousands of years by people way smarter than I. However, I don't think you have to be "smart" to understand the truth. To me, truth is something that should be self evident.
Today, the "truth" is whatever it needs to be with some people. I read an interesting article the other day that put into words things I have thought for a long time. For some people, truth is the load stone, or Polaris by which we take stock of our own character. From the time we are little, we are taught to tell the truth, to be honest, that we will lose the respect and trust of those around us if we can not be trusted. For the most part, I believe that the majority of people in this country take this to heart. However, there are those who, I think at an early age, figured out that people don't have to like you, or even need to trust you in order to get ahead of others in life. If you have something, or do something that others need then they will want what you have, even if they don't like or trust you. A politician is a great example of this. I can't think of many politicians who I would allow to babysit a child, yet they have their hands on the levers of power in whatever they are elected or appointed to do. Need a streetlight fixed (calling Al Bundy), a pothole filled in, or even a train to no-where then you have to deal with someone who's character can be...well...fluid.
If someone calls me out on something shady, and there is some truth to it, then I would feel embarrassed, and perhaps downplay my role in it. Others, like Elizabeth Warren or Hillary Rodham Clinton, barely bat an eye and simply shift gears to change the discussion or the point of topic and simply roll on. For instance, someone says, "Mr. Stoa, is it true that you use real butter instead of margarine in your biscuits?" After some "Umms" and "Wells..." I'd then likely try to justify my use of butter in the recipe (this plays into the narrative that the media knows all to well, set the verbal arena and then force me to work within it). "Ms. Warren, isn't it true that you have as much Native American blood in you as my Siamese Cat?" Without any blushing of her cheeks or sense of guilt, she will simply say that it is YOU that are causing strife and conflict in our democratic elections. It is YOU that is sowing seeds of doubt and hatred among the electorate. "Um, ok, but is it also true that by taking those jobs you denied the opportunity for real Native Americans to advance?" She will flick her hand to the side, dismissing your question and return with just how ignorant YOU are and by extension anyone who agrees with you. She will only tangentially address the thrust of what you asked by reinforcing how tirelessly she will work to improve the lives of Native Americans in this country, something YOU clearly don't seem interested in. Likewise, "Ms. Clinton, or Rodham, or whatever your name is today, if you earned $100,000 on cattle futures over night, why are you in politics and not out teaching the Titans of Wall Street how to make trades?" In her case, she will simply remind you about how you are clearly living in the past and trying to stir up old, SETTLED, issues. Personal attack, personal attack, and then shift the dialogue. Then a month later there is a short note on page 58c about a blogger found shot and stabbed 29 times in what is clearly a suicide/failed robbery.
Conservatives will lose nearly all the time. As a bloc, they do not control the media. They do not control the Universities, nor public/private education. They don't really control the radio or the Internet. To a progressive, truth is packaging. Malleable. It is a necessary ingredient that can be "titrated" to fit whatever narrative they are pushing that day. Republicans almost always attempt to actually talk about what they are asked about, they will try to refute or justify. A good example of this is "Mitt Romney", if that is his real name. In the 2012 election against Obama, he was the most vile, putrid and repulsive kind of person. Oh, so WHITE, a MAN, and, for the love of Alinsky, a MORMON! Today, Mr. Dilecto has been canonized and anointed the new "Maverick" of the Senate, the new McCain. Oh how they love him now. He is their new hero to combat the evil orange menace. Was the truth, "True" in 2012 or is the truth, "True" now in 2019? If Mitt shared my sense of honor and dignity, he would explain how his "thinking" has moved and changed since 2012. He would explain to us just what the President has done to deserve his ire. I certainly would not create an alternate identity to say what I really believed, I would just say it.
What really scares me about RINOs is this: were they always this way and just really good at hiding it, like Mr. Romney appears to have done, or do they really "wake up" when it looks like they are waking up, like Senator McConnell? Obviously, I can't tell with meaningful accuracy. One look at Clinton (either one) or Warren or Sanders, I know right away that if they say, "it's good day, Mr. Stoa", I will immediately look out the window to make sure that, a) the Sun is out, and b) the weather nice.
Did a young pupil of Obi-Wan's betray and murder Luke's father? Did a need for operational security give Obi-Wan the right to...well...take a few steps to the right or left and change his point of view of the truth? You can see what keeps me up at night.
As usual, live well. Live with virtue even if the world itself forgets the meaning.
Zavost
Today, the "truth" is whatever it needs to be with some people. I read an interesting article the other day that put into words things I have thought for a long time. For some people, truth is the load stone, or Polaris by which we take stock of our own character. From the time we are little, we are taught to tell the truth, to be honest, that we will lose the respect and trust of those around us if we can not be trusted. For the most part, I believe that the majority of people in this country take this to heart. However, there are those who, I think at an early age, figured out that people don't have to like you, or even need to trust you in order to get ahead of others in life. If you have something, or do something that others need then they will want what you have, even if they don't like or trust you. A politician is a great example of this. I can't think of many politicians who I would allow to babysit a child, yet they have their hands on the levers of power in whatever they are elected or appointed to do. Need a streetlight fixed (calling Al Bundy), a pothole filled in, or even a train to no-where then you have to deal with someone who's character can be...well...fluid.
If someone calls me out on something shady, and there is some truth to it, then I would feel embarrassed, and perhaps downplay my role in it. Others, like Elizabeth Warren or Hillary Rodham Clinton, barely bat an eye and simply shift gears to change the discussion or the point of topic and simply roll on. For instance, someone says, "Mr. Stoa, is it true that you use real butter instead of margarine in your biscuits?" After some "Umms" and "Wells..." I'd then likely try to justify my use of butter in the recipe (this plays into the narrative that the media knows all to well, set the verbal arena and then force me to work within it). "Ms. Warren, isn't it true that you have as much Native American blood in you as my Siamese Cat?" Without any blushing of her cheeks or sense of guilt, she will simply say that it is YOU that are causing strife and conflict in our democratic elections. It is YOU that is sowing seeds of doubt and hatred among the electorate. "Um, ok, but is it also true that by taking those jobs you denied the opportunity for real Native Americans to advance?" She will flick her hand to the side, dismissing your question and return with just how ignorant YOU are and by extension anyone who agrees with you. She will only tangentially address the thrust of what you asked by reinforcing how tirelessly she will work to improve the lives of Native Americans in this country, something YOU clearly don't seem interested in. Likewise, "Ms. Clinton, or Rodham, or whatever your name is today, if you earned $100,000 on cattle futures over night, why are you in politics and not out teaching the Titans of Wall Street how to make trades?" In her case, she will simply remind you about how you are clearly living in the past and trying to stir up old, SETTLED, issues. Personal attack, personal attack, and then shift the dialogue. Then a month later there is a short note on page 58c about a blogger found shot and stabbed 29 times in what is clearly a suicide/failed robbery.
Conservatives will lose nearly all the time. As a bloc, they do not control the media. They do not control the Universities, nor public/private education. They don't really control the radio or the Internet. To a progressive, truth is packaging. Malleable. It is a necessary ingredient that can be "titrated" to fit whatever narrative they are pushing that day. Republicans almost always attempt to actually talk about what they are asked about, they will try to refute or justify. A good example of this is "Mitt Romney", if that is his real name. In the 2012 election against Obama, he was the most vile, putrid and repulsive kind of person. Oh, so WHITE, a MAN, and, for the love of Alinsky, a MORMON! Today, Mr. Dilecto has been canonized and anointed the new "Maverick" of the Senate, the new McCain. Oh how they love him now. He is their new hero to combat the evil orange menace. Was the truth, "True" in 2012 or is the truth, "True" now in 2019? If Mitt shared my sense of honor and dignity, he would explain how his "thinking" has moved and changed since 2012. He would explain to us just what the President has done to deserve his ire. I certainly would not create an alternate identity to say what I really believed, I would just say it.
What really scares me about RINOs is this: were they always this way and just really good at hiding it, like Mr. Romney appears to have done, or do they really "wake up" when it looks like they are waking up, like Senator McConnell? Obviously, I can't tell with meaningful accuracy. One look at Clinton (either one) or Warren or Sanders, I know right away that if they say, "it's good day, Mr. Stoa", I will immediately look out the window to make sure that, a) the Sun is out, and b) the weather nice.
Did a young pupil of Obi-Wan's betray and murder Luke's father? Did a need for operational security give Obi-Wan the right to...well...take a few steps to the right or left and change his point of view of the truth? You can see what keeps me up at night.
As usual, live well. Live with virtue even if the world itself forgets the meaning.
Zavost
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Does one make the times or does the times make the Man?
There are many treaties written about how individuals like G. Julius Caesar or Napoleon Bonaparte, that though sheer force of will, remake the world around them. They are the stuff of legends, truly. However, could there have been a Caesar without first the Gracchi brothers and Sulla before him? Could Napoleon come to power if the Bourbons had been able to maintain the strict class divisions that defined high military service? Without the Revolution would Napoleon have simply gone un-noticed and un-noted by history? This stuff keeps me up at night, sometimes. The could-have-beens and the should-not-have-beens.
Colonel Eisenhower stuck behind a desk instead of a 5-star general and eventual President if not for any number of factors. No Hitler if a different person had evaluated his water color paintings in Vienna? No Castro if he could hit a curve ball better? No Bolshevik party if Trotsky had been even a little more suspicious with Lenin or better at dealing with the thug from Georgia? Would it all have happened anyhow, just with the names changed? Would others of equal drive, ambition, intelligence and luck grasp at history when the opportunity presents?
I like the quote attributed to Frank Herbert of Dune Fame, "Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible." I mix this into the thought recipe and see how it changes the flavor...
Lets use modern personalities, that most everyone should be familiar with. How about I start with some public figures, perhaps a married couple who each had their law licences revoked by the Bar for corruption. William Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton. They came to "power", or perhaps prominence when I started my career in the medical field. It seems so long ago for me, but in reality it was only 1993. A governor from the State of Arkansas that carried a noticeable baggage train of scandal and rumor, he came to the Presidency unexpectedly. At the time, I did not think that this man would be President. By the time he ran, our culture and society had been under assault for 30 years. Was this man of the same caliber of the other men who had held that office? Was he the equal of FDR or Eisenhower? Did he take responsibly for those who worked for him like Harry Truman? Did he have the steel and determination of Abraham Lincoln? Did he have a reputation for integrity and honesty like George Washington?
I think the answer to all those is, "No". Society and culture had been weakened. Coarsened by assaults on virtue and personal responsibility. Want to have as much sex as you like without consequences? We invent the birth control pill. Got pregnant anyhow, hey, Roe v Wade now allows unlimited abortion. Perhaps Jefferson slipped that one in when no one was looking. When the bar is lowered to allow behavior into common society that was not permitted before lessens us as a people.
The Clintons came to power in a final refutation of the "Greatest Generation". GHW Bush was the last of that generation to hold the Presidency. Since then, they have all been Boomers. The X-ers may come to power in the 2020 election; who knows. Bill Clinton in the 90's is on the official record as NOT supporting same sex marriage. He is on the record as being against unlimited immigration. He also had to watch while the electorate rejected his grab at power by nationalizing the healthcare system via his wife, the "co-President", Hillary Rodham. His crushing defeat in the mid-term elections of 1994 forced him to the center. His second term was far less ambitious than his first term. One think I liked about Bill Clinton is that he was not soaked in any particular dogma. He liked money, power, and women; and not necessarily in that order.
Obama came to power after eight years of intense cultural demolition. Now we had abortions in the last moments before a baby could cry. Wars that were blamed on us, despite being the victims of a Pearl Harbor-style attack. A recession drummed up by the media that intentionally scared the cattle in the futures market (an overt example of media manipulation of the masses...wait, isn't that called Agi-prop?).
Today, the Democrats fall all over themselves trying to erase the southern border, empty the pockets of the unborn (those they don't kill), and promise anything and everything to the mobs of Rome, er, low information voters. They say things today that Bill Clinton could NEVER have gotten away with. Hell, there are things Obama still seems afraid to say or admit to. I know there is a reason for him to buy the mansion/compound that sits within strolling distance of the White House...why you still hanging around there? I wonder...
Obama took advantage of a willing bureaucracy, grown fat and powerful at the expense of the taxpayer. Entrenched and no longer thinking of themselves as Civil Servants. Instead, there are now princelings who lord over their piece of the sprawling federal machine. Presidents and cabinet members come and go, but the cogs remain...and have become powerful individuals in their own right. Perhaps the best, first, example of this would be J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI was created as an inter-state investigative body to deal with mob crime, violence, and intra-state legalities. He remained in his position, President after President. Rumor was thick about the dirt he had on everyone in Washington. His longevity in the office likely did have something to do with knowing dirt on everyone. How many Hoovers were in the gears of government then? How many now?
What do you call it when the gears of government no longer respond to the will of the elected officials placed in power over them? Today the term "Deep State" is tossed about, and I guess that is a decent enough description, though I think that it still lacks something. President Trump has pulled a part of the paneling away and we can see the termites and cockroaches teeming thick and foul in the political machinery of our country. It absolutely frightens me. I am afraid that even Donald Trump will be unable to sufficiently fumigate the entire, sprawling complex corruption in our country.
Some examples? When the law no longer matters certain groups of people, but remains in full effect on the masses. Such as? Ok, a man takes a photo of an obsolete nuclear reactor on an old submarine and is tossed in jail, yet the former Secretary of State can, cough, mis-handle sensitive classified information and simply laugh it off. The former Directors of the FBI, CIA and NSA lie repeatedly to Congress and directly to the face of the President and then go on book tour to promote a book about their patriotism...am I the only one bothered by this? How are they not in jail? How are they not even "in trouble". It is loud, bright, and unashamed.
Is my country still a Republic? Was Clinton the Gracchi and Obama a Sulla? Who will become Caesar? Unfortunately, I fear Trump will share the same fate as Cato and some powerful demagogue will flourish in the foul soil of our spoiled Republic and put an end to the mockery of justice as it exists today and rule in the open, with the organs of power firmly grasped in their tentacles. The power brokers in Washington, like the Praetorian before them, will only allow those to serve as President that will not disturb their fiefs, continue to shower wealth and power upon their stations, and always look the other way when the public catches a glimpse of the hand on the levers of power.
What is this called? Do we share the fate of the Greek states of antiquity or that of the Roman Republic? Will our next overlord be a Caesar Augustus, ruling with a light hand from behind Republican organs of government or will they rule nakedly like a Caligula or Nero?
Congress is already largely irrelevant. Budgets are voted into existence and then placed on auto-pilot. The grain dole, er Welfare State, is already firmly entrenched and a 3rd rail of politics. The Supreme Court has already been simply rubber stamping painfully obvious violations of the Constitution (I am looking at you Mr. Chief Justice). The President, as we have seen, can be wounded and weakened by the media complex and their political allies in the Progressive movement.
It seems as if the stage is set. Actors have been seen moving about in the wings and in the shadows for some time now. President Trump may be an aberration, a Black Swan event in the machinations of the Progressives, but he can't last forever. His impact will be immediately undone, invalidated, and crammed down the memory hole.
Was he a Black Swan event? Someone to temporarily halt our slide into authoritarianism? I don't know. I do hope that the 100+ years of Progressive ROT can be halted and we can heal our republican organs of government. Demote the Princelings back into Civil Servants and award merit instead of cronyism and nepotism.
Do we allow the obviously corruptible near the levers of power? How to we guard against a future Deep State take over of government, or has it already happened?
Colonel Eisenhower stuck behind a desk instead of a 5-star general and eventual President if not for any number of factors. No Hitler if a different person had evaluated his water color paintings in Vienna? No Castro if he could hit a curve ball better? No Bolshevik party if Trotsky had been even a little more suspicious with Lenin or better at dealing with the thug from Georgia? Would it all have happened anyhow, just with the names changed? Would others of equal drive, ambition, intelligence and luck grasp at history when the opportunity presents?
I like the quote attributed to Frank Herbert of Dune Fame, "Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible." I mix this into the thought recipe and see how it changes the flavor...
Lets use modern personalities, that most everyone should be familiar with. How about I start with some public figures, perhaps a married couple who each had their law licences revoked by the Bar for corruption. William Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton. They came to "power", or perhaps prominence when I started my career in the medical field. It seems so long ago for me, but in reality it was only 1993. A governor from the State of Arkansas that carried a noticeable baggage train of scandal and rumor, he came to the Presidency unexpectedly. At the time, I did not think that this man would be President. By the time he ran, our culture and society had been under assault for 30 years. Was this man of the same caliber of the other men who had held that office? Was he the equal of FDR or Eisenhower? Did he take responsibly for those who worked for him like Harry Truman? Did he have the steel and determination of Abraham Lincoln? Did he have a reputation for integrity and honesty like George Washington?
I think the answer to all those is, "No". Society and culture had been weakened. Coarsened by assaults on virtue and personal responsibility. Want to have as much sex as you like without consequences? We invent the birth control pill. Got pregnant anyhow, hey, Roe v Wade now allows unlimited abortion. Perhaps Jefferson slipped that one in when no one was looking. When the bar is lowered to allow behavior into common society that was not permitted before lessens us as a people.
The Clintons came to power in a final refutation of the "Greatest Generation". GHW Bush was the last of that generation to hold the Presidency. Since then, they have all been Boomers. The X-ers may come to power in the 2020 election; who knows. Bill Clinton in the 90's is on the official record as NOT supporting same sex marriage. He is on the record as being against unlimited immigration. He also had to watch while the electorate rejected his grab at power by nationalizing the healthcare system via his wife, the "co-President", Hillary Rodham. His crushing defeat in the mid-term elections of 1994 forced him to the center. His second term was far less ambitious than his first term. One think I liked about Bill Clinton is that he was not soaked in any particular dogma. He liked money, power, and women; and not necessarily in that order.
Obama came to power after eight years of intense cultural demolition. Now we had abortions in the last moments before a baby could cry. Wars that were blamed on us, despite being the victims of a Pearl Harbor-style attack. A recession drummed up by the media that intentionally scared the cattle in the futures market (an overt example of media manipulation of the masses...wait, isn't that called Agi-prop?).
Today, the Democrats fall all over themselves trying to erase the southern border, empty the pockets of the unborn (those they don't kill), and promise anything and everything to the mobs of Rome, er, low information voters. They say things today that Bill Clinton could NEVER have gotten away with. Hell, there are things Obama still seems afraid to say or admit to. I know there is a reason for him to buy the mansion/compound that sits within strolling distance of the White House...why you still hanging around there? I wonder...
Obama took advantage of a willing bureaucracy, grown fat and powerful at the expense of the taxpayer. Entrenched and no longer thinking of themselves as Civil Servants. Instead, there are now princelings who lord over their piece of the sprawling federal machine. Presidents and cabinet members come and go, but the cogs remain...and have become powerful individuals in their own right. Perhaps the best, first, example of this would be J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI was created as an inter-state investigative body to deal with mob crime, violence, and intra-state legalities. He remained in his position, President after President. Rumor was thick about the dirt he had on everyone in Washington. His longevity in the office likely did have something to do with knowing dirt on everyone. How many Hoovers were in the gears of government then? How many now?
What do you call it when the gears of government no longer respond to the will of the elected officials placed in power over them? Today the term "Deep State" is tossed about, and I guess that is a decent enough description, though I think that it still lacks something. President Trump has pulled a part of the paneling away and we can see the termites and cockroaches teeming thick and foul in the political machinery of our country. It absolutely frightens me. I am afraid that even Donald Trump will be unable to sufficiently fumigate the entire, sprawling complex corruption in our country.
Some examples? When the law no longer matters certain groups of people, but remains in full effect on the masses. Such as? Ok, a man takes a photo of an obsolete nuclear reactor on an old submarine and is tossed in jail, yet the former Secretary of State can, cough, mis-handle sensitive classified information and simply laugh it off. The former Directors of the FBI, CIA and NSA lie repeatedly to Congress and directly to the face of the President and then go on book tour to promote a book about their patriotism...am I the only one bothered by this? How are they not in jail? How are they not even "in trouble". It is loud, bright, and unashamed.
Is my country still a Republic? Was Clinton the Gracchi and Obama a Sulla? Who will become Caesar? Unfortunately, I fear Trump will share the same fate as Cato and some powerful demagogue will flourish in the foul soil of our spoiled Republic and put an end to the mockery of justice as it exists today and rule in the open, with the organs of power firmly grasped in their tentacles. The power brokers in Washington, like the Praetorian before them, will only allow those to serve as President that will not disturb their fiefs, continue to shower wealth and power upon their stations, and always look the other way when the public catches a glimpse of the hand on the levers of power.
What is this called? Do we share the fate of the Greek states of antiquity or that of the Roman Republic? Will our next overlord be a Caesar Augustus, ruling with a light hand from behind Republican organs of government or will they rule nakedly like a Caligula or Nero?
Congress is already largely irrelevant. Budgets are voted into existence and then placed on auto-pilot. The grain dole, er Welfare State, is already firmly entrenched and a 3rd rail of politics. The Supreme Court has already been simply rubber stamping painfully obvious violations of the Constitution (I am looking at you Mr. Chief Justice). The President, as we have seen, can be wounded and weakened by the media complex and their political allies in the Progressive movement.
It seems as if the stage is set. Actors have been seen moving about in the wings and in the shadows for some time now. President Trump may be an aberration, a Black Swan event in the machinations of the Progressives, but he can't last forever. His impact will be immediately undone, invalidated, and crammed down the memory hole.
Was he a Black Swan event? Someone to temporarily halt our slide into authoritarianism? I don't know. I do hope that the 100+ years of Progressive ROT can be halted and we can heal our republican organs of government. Demote the Princelings back into Civil Servants and award merit instead of cronyism and nepotism.
Do we allow the obviously corruptible near the levers of power? How to we guard against a future Deep State take over of government, or has it already happened?
Sunday, October 13, 2019
All that is old is new again
Time marches on. People change, die, and the world gets on. I have been here, though I have not been writing down my thoughts. Perhaps this changes now. Again. My students come and go. Some go with clearer vision, others with validation. Others still walk away in willful ignorance. More still simply seek identity in a world that seems hopelessly complex and infinitely unmoved by the pain it contains.
Since my last writing, others have gathered with me regularly. We share what we know, ask questions always, and listen carefully. We speak together with honesty and openness, no shame or stigma allowed. There is no orthodoxy, no dogma. None can take offence as we discuss everything rationally. Facts, details and questions. Thomas Jefferson would be proud of this group.
Since my last entry, my mother fought a brief, overwhelming fight with Lung Cancer. From diagnosis to her passing was just under 5 weeks. It was both hard and yet oddly clinical. I have worked in healthcare for over 25 years. I have been at many a bedside when fellow human traveler in life has passed. I have been there for them even as family tried to get there in time. I was unable to say goodbye in person. Her disease took her before I could get there, her lucidity lost during the night. I was delayed by a winter storm and got the message from my brother that she was no longer recognizing anyone while I was on the tarmac, just before take off. I was there as she declined over only a few days.
She was an avid blogger and did it for many years. She talked me into doing this as well. Our parents help shape who we become. I was not at her bedside when she passed. When I left for my brother's house that night, I said goodbye. We placed her on Hospice care and I told the nurses taking care of her not to let her pass alone. I wanted telemetry on her until the end. They accepted my solemn request. They knew that she had been a nurse for over 30 years and they treated her like fellow soldier making their final report. They were with her, in the end. She passed shortly after midnight, with her comrades standing vigil. A few days earlier, she had last rights performed on her by our Catholic priest. It was the single most moving and emotional event I have ever experienced. This is a huge admission from one who claims to be a Stoic. Stoicism is not the absence of emotion, but the understanding where it comes from and how to place it in context with events. Even now, more than 10 months after her passing I must wipe the tears from my face.
I will miss her farm-girl earthiness. So many of my family, that were strong, young, and vital in my childhood have passed away. Everything I remember growing up has passed. This personal drama is played out every day, all over the world. It has gone on since forever. All things pass, but all things are renewed. I pondered that as I had brunch with my daughter and her boyfriend. I remember eating out with my family at her age, sporting my hot new Czechoslovak wife. Things change, but oddly, only the names and players. The woman I called Grandma has passed into memory. The person I called Mother has joined her. Some day, a child will call me Grandpa, and it will bring both joy and sorrow to me. Joy at the renewal of life and the transmission of culture to the next generation. Sorrow in that I always see myself as a poor substitute for the giants who came before me. The giants who tried to impart their wisdom to me even as a younger version of me scoffed at their ignorance...
I am living in interesting times, as the Chinese would say. The world and culture of my parents, who grew up in the 1950's is dead on gone. Passed into mythology and rumor. My children now must make their way in a world in transition. The great world the giants erected has been allowed to decay. Rebirth is being delayed while Sulla and Marius, Caesar and Pompey fight to determine the direction of this future. Will it remain a Republic, answerable to the people, the mythological world I thought I grew up in, or will it become a dystopian totalitarian nightmare controlled by the connected and the powerful? We will explore this together over the coming years.
All that was old, MUST become new again. We must stand united on the shoulders of giants and make the world a better place for our children and our descendants. I will do what I can. I will do what I must.
As always, everyone -- Live Well.
Zavost
I will be
Since my last writing, others have gathered with me regularly. We share what we know, ask questions always, and listen carefully. We speak together with honesty and openness, no shame or stigma allowed. There is no orthodoxy, no dogma. None can take offence as we discuss everything rationally. Facts, details and questions. Thomas Jefferson would be proud of this group.
Since my last entry, my mother fought a brief, overwhelming fight with Lung Cancer. From diagnosis to her passing was just under 5 weeks. It was both hard and yet oddly clinical. I have worked in healthcare for over 25 years. I have been at many a bedside when fellow human traveler in life has passed. I have been there for them even as family tried to get there in time. I was unable to say goodbye in person. Her disease took her before I could get there, her lucidity lost during the night. I was delayed by a winter storm and got the message from my brother that she was no longer recognizing anyone while I was on the tarmac, just before take off. I was there as she declined over only a few days.
She was an avid blogger and did it for many years. She talked me into doing this as well. Our parents help shape who we become. I was not at her bedside when she passed. When I left for my brother's house that night, I said goodbye. We placed her on Hospice care and I told the nurses taking care of her not to let her pass alone. I wanted telemetry on her until the end. They accepted my solemn request. They knew that she had been a nurse for over 30 years and they treated her like fellow soldier making their final report. They were with her, in the end. She passed shortly after midnight, with her comrades standing vigil. A few days earlier, she had last rights performed on her by our Catholic priest. It was the single most moving and emotional event I have ever experienced. This is a huge admission from one who claims to be a Stoic. Stoicism is not the absence of emotion, but the understanding where it comes from and how to place it in context with events. Even now, more than 10 months after her passing I must wipe the tears from my face.
I will miss her farm-girl earthiness. So many of my family, that were strong, young, and vital in my childhood have passed away. Everything I remember growing up has passed. This personal drama is played out every day, all over the world. It has gone on since forever. All things pass, but all things are renewed. I pondered that as I had brunch with my daughter and her boyfriend. I remember eating out with my family at her age, sporting my hot new Czechoslovak wife. Things change, but oddly, only the names and players. The woman I called Grandma has passed into memory. The person I called Mother has joined her. Some day, a child will call me Grandpa, and it will bring both joy and sorrow to me. Joy at the renewal of life and the transmission of culture to the next generation. Sorrow in that I always see myself as a poor substitute for the giants who came before me. The giants who tried to impart their wisdom to me even as a younger version of me scoffed at their ignorance...
I am living in interesting times, as the Chinese would say. The world and culture of my parents, who grew up in the 1950's is dead on gone. Passed into mythology and rumor. My children now must make their way in a world in transition. The great world the giants erected has been allowed to decay. Rebirth is being delayed while Sulla and Marius, Caesar and Pompey fight to determine the direction of this future. Will it remain a Republic, answerable to the people, the mythological world I thought I grew up in, or will it become a dystopian totalitarian nightmare controlled by the connected and the powerful? We will explore this together over the coming years.
All that was old, MUST become new again. We must stand united on the shoulders of giants and make the world a better place for our children and our descendants. I will do what I can. I will do what I must.
As always, everyone -- Live Well.
Zavost
I will be
Thursday, September 6, 2018
What I see from the Stoa
Perched atop my Stoa, I wear a mask of concern and heartache. Truth and Justice in America appears to be dead. The laws and customs that forged the greatest, most enduring culture since Rome are now the playthings of the powerful and connected. I now live in a nation with a two tier legal system. One set of rules for the Deplorables, i.e. the unconnected or independent-minded thinkers among us; and another set of rules for those in the Deep State, or those who have the last name of Clinton (and their followers).
From atop the Stoa, I have seen and heard so much that spells the end of all we hold dear and love about our nation. To borrow a tired, old cliche, we stand on the brink, poised dangerously between dissolution and autocracy (and NO, I don't mean Mr. Trump).
I see careerist Democrats acting like absolute CHILDREN at the Judicial hearings on the next Supreme Court appointment. Children who scheme and plan to nullify my vote. To nullify my choice...more on that later.
The Deep State...the persistent state. The un-elected, often times appointed burrowers into the government bureaucracy (those who slide into non-appointment jobs during the lame-duck period of the outgoing President). This is the stuff of novels and cheesy Hollywood movies. But it isn't. Its real life and it is happening right now. Embedding spies in (I'm assuming) all of the major campaign threats to Hillary, employing foreign agents to affect our elections, and rigging their own primaries to shut down an internal threat (I'm looking at you, Bernie).
I can not understand, for anything, the immobility and inactivity of our Attorney General. This never-ending crusade against Trump for colluding with Russia while a great number of players have been unmasked ACTUALLY colluding with known Russian agents, British agents, and 3rd party national cut-aways. I don't see anyone really charging them with anything. This is larger than the Special Council, who seems to actually be part of the actual Russia collusion. Yet...nothing...seems...to be happening to them...
Why?
A perfectly normal career Jurist is nominated for the SC. Democrats lose their MINDS!
Obama appoints someone to the SC who proudly states that the nation could do with the input of a "wise Latina woman". Crickets and yawns.
This fellow says, "you know, the Constitution is a good document and perhaps I will use it as my pole star in making judicial decisions". The Democrats lose their MINDS!
You notice I'm not mentioning the Main Stream Media as there really is no daylight separating the DNC from the MSM (aka Lame-Stream Media).
I see the large Tech Giants determining, for me, what hate speech is. I don't recall electing them to any office, nor to I recall asking for their input on what I wanted to read about or not read about. To me, Twitter, Google, Bing, Yahoo and the lot are nothing more than Communications derived UTILITIES that send and receive data across the Internet. If Google feels they have the right to filter the data I request, then when will the power company decide to shut off my electricity? If someone at my local utility get a whif that I'm a conservative fellow, what keeps them from simply shutting off my power? They are an independent, community-owned collective. They have an interest in generating revenue to stay in operation, just as Google.
I see a Constitutionally elected President getting raped by the Left on a second to second basis. There are not enough crying baby memes ever created to paste on all the activists. I don't recall cities burning when Obama was elected, and the Right certainly wasn't happy about that. How about extending the same courtesy? No? Hmmm.
The major Leftist players and more than I care to think about "Never Trumpers" on the right seek to overturn the 2016 elections. They seek to nullify MY vote. Under the guise of Free Speech they seek to silence MINE. They claim to be doing this in my best interest, but I don't recall seeking their aid in anything.
I'm not a sheep that needs to be guided. I'm not a member of the uneducated, unwashed mass that voted for Trump. I have more education and letters after my name than a Yugoslav Hockey player and I voted for Trump. I will do so again if his wife lets him (she never signed up for this crap) run for President in 2020.
America has always had someone to right the Ship of State when we were in danger of losing it all. Presidents who woke up to International threats (Jefferson and the Barbary pirates), Fought the Second War for Independence (Madison), Drove a stake through slavery (Lincoln), Broke the power of the Deep State version 1.0 (McKinley), Broke the power of Cartels and Monopolies that threatened the power of the State (Theodore Roosevelt), Halted the long slide into Socialism (Reagan), and now, we need our new hero, one to save us from the Second Deep State.
Please, President Trump, continue your work and do what is right for this nation and its people.
Please, Melania, I know you never expected this kind of life when you married Donald, but the nation needs him. History needs him.
I will continue residing upon the Stoa. Guiding those who come to me. Giving of myself to those who ask. The number of students waxes and wanes over time, but that is as it should be. I will be here. Watching. Learning. Even occasionally praying.
Live well.
Zavost
From atop the Stoa, I have seen and heard so much that spells the end of all we hold dear and love about our nation. To borrow a tired, old cliche, we stand on the brink, poised dangerously between dissolution and autocracy (and NO, I don't mean Mr. Trump).
I see careerist Democrats acting like absolute CHILDREN at the Judicial hearings on the next Supreme Court appointment. Children who scheme and plan to nullify my vote. To nullify my choice...more on that later.
The Deep State...the persistent state. The un-elected, often times appointed burrowers into the government bureaucracy (those who slide into non-appointment jobs during the lame-duck period of the outgoing President). This is the stuff of novels and cheesy Hollywood movies. But it isn't. Its real life and it is happening right now. Embedding spies in (I'm assuming) all of the major campaign threats to Hillary, employing foreign agents to affect our elections, and rigging their own primaries to shut down an internal threat (I'm looking at you, Bernie).
I can not understand, for anything, the immobility and inactivity of our Attorney General. This never-ending crusade against Trump for colluding with Russia while a great number of players have been unmasked ACTUALLY colluding with known Russian agents, British agents, and 3rd party national cut-aways. I don't see anyone really charging them with anything. This is larger than the Special Council, who seems to actually be part of the actual Russia collusion. Yet...nothing...seems...to be happening to them...
Why?
A perfectly normal career Jurist is nominated for the SC. Democrats lose their MINDS!
Obama appoints someone to the SC who proudly states that the nation could do with the input of a "wise Latina woman". Crickets and yawns.
This fellow says, "you know, the Constitution is a good document and perhaps I will use it as my pole star in making judicial decisions". The Democrats lose their MINDS!
You notice I'm not mentioning the Main Stream Media as there really is no daylight separating the DNC from the MSM (aka Lame-Stream Media).
I see the large Tech Giants determining, for me, what hate speech is. I don't recall electing them to any office, nor to I recall asking for their input on what I wanted to read about or not read about. To me, Twitter, Google, Bing, Yahoo and the lot are nothing more than Communications derived UTILITIES that send and receive data across the Internet. If Google feels they have the right to filter the data I request, then when will the power company decide to shut off my electricity? If someone at my local utility get a whif that I'm a conservative fellow, what keeps them from simply shutting off my power? They are an independent, community-owned collective. They have an interest in generating revenue to stay in operation, just as Google.
I see a Constitutionally elected President getting raped by the Left on a second to second basis. There are not enough crying baby memes ever created to paste on all the activists. I don't recall cities burning when Obama was elected, and the Right certainly wasn't happy about that. How about extending the same courtesy? No? Hmmm.
The major Leftist players and more than I care to think about "Never Trumpers" on the right seek to overturn the 2016 elections. They seek to nullify MY vote. Under the guise of Free Speech they seek to silence MINE. They claim to be doing this in my best interest, but I don't recall seeking their aid in anything.
I'm not a sheep that needs to be guided. I'm not a member of the uneducated, unwashed mass that voted for Trump. I have more education and letters after my name than a Yugoslav Hockey player and I voted for Trump. I will do so again if his wife lets him (she never signed up for this crap) run for President in 2020.
America has always had someone to right the Ship of State when we were in danger of losing it all. Presidents who woke up to International threats (Jefferson and the Barbary pirates), Fought the Second War for Independence (Madison), Drove a stake through slavery (Lincoln), Broke the power of the Deep State version 1.0 (McKinley), Broke the power of Cartels and Monopolies that threatened the power of the State (Theodore Roosevelt), Halted the long slide into Socialism (Reagan), and now, we need our new hero, one to save us from the Second Deep State.
Please, President Trump, continue your work and do what is right for this nation and its people.
Please, Melania, I know you never expected this kind of life when you married Donald, but the nation needs him. History needs him.
I will continue residing upon the Stoa. Guiding those who come to me. Giving of myself to those who ask. The number of students waxes and wanes over time, but that is as it should be. I will be here. Watching. Learning. Even occasionally praying.
Live well.
Zavost
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Human Cattle-CIS Division
Atop my isolated Stoa, I read a rather amusing and frightening article about Cryptocurrency and the Cashless society.
First, Cryptocurrencies are fine in my book, they have their uses and their place. However, they will never, not ever, replace physical "currency". Whether you barter colored bits of paper, shiny metal coins or your old jogging shoes, there will always be "currency". Puerto Rico is currently experiencing what happens to electronic currency (ATM's) when the power goes out. Granted, as long as your smartphones are still powered up and you and your client have Bluetooth, you can still exchange Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies.
What I'm finding both amusing and scary at the same time is the idea of bundling everything into a chip that is inserted under your skin. How do I define "everything"? Imaging that this chip looks very much like the chip you insert into the scanner today at the local "Try-n-Save". On it resides your "debit card" data. You purchase food, pay tolls, and even identify yourself by waving your hand, or otherwise chipped body part over the reader. Sounds convenient, yes? One need not imaging this as it already exists and thousands of people have already had these installed. Several corporations in Sweden, India, England, and the United States have already started doing this for "security" reasons, among many. These people can even pay for their snack goods at the local corporate vending machine by waving their hand at it. Over 1 billion "B" Indians have already had biometric coding associated with their fingerprints and retinal scans...this is not coming folks, this is here...NOW.
The parts that begin to concern me on this, in no particular order:
First, Cryptocurrencies are fine in my book, they have their uses and their place. However, they will never, not ever, replace physical "currency". Whether you barter colored bits of paper, shiny metal coins or your old jogging shoes, there will always be "currency". Puerto Rico is currently experiencing what happens to electronic currency (ATM's) when the power goes out. Granted, as long as your smartphones are still powered up and you and your client have Bluetooth, you can still exchange Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies.
What I'm finding both amusing and scary at the same time is the idea of bundling everything into a chip that is inserted under your skin. How do I define "everything"? Imaging that this chip looks very much like the chip you insert into the scanner today at the local "Try-n-Save". On it resides your "debit card" data. You purchase food, pay tolls, and even identify yourself by waving your hand, or otherwise chipped body part over the reader. Sounds convenient, yes? One need not imaging this as it already exists and thousands of people have already had these installed. Several corporations in Sweden, India, England, and the United States have already started doing this for "security" reasons, among many. These people can even pay for their snack goods at the local corporate vending machine by waving their hand at it. Over 1 billion "B" Indians have already had biometric coding associated with their fingerprints and retinal scans...this is not coming folks, this is here...NOW.
The parts that begin to concern me on this, in no particular order:
- The chipped individual gains access to specific and predetermined areas of the corporate building with this chip.
- They gain access to parts of the computer network based on the security authorization granted to the chip.
- The company knows where you have been...it also knows were you are...
- These chips are not passive, they emit an EM field, this is how the sensors recognize your hand waving. This means you can be followed, in real time, about your business.
Things this good are always shared by companies and the local government. Imagine the company selling your RF tag frequency to other companies that want to sell you something. Imagine the targeted marketing that can happen when Quilted knows how often you go to the bathroom. Imagine the speeding ticket when the low Earth orbit satellite catches your RF tag number traveling 65 in a 45 mph zone?
Some good can come from this as well, though. Your medical history and data can be stored here, or at least the access codes for that data. It can also all be stolen from you as well. Imagine your tax refund depositing directly to your chip tag as soon as you file the paperwork, now that's cool. It can also garnish your wages and take fees from you without you even authorizing it as well...remember, digital currency can be granted or taken away with a keystroke.
What made me want to write this, though was a flash thought that popped into my head. Imagine a police murder mystery show set in 2025. Scene opens on a janitor coming into work in the morning and finding a person dead on the floor, she reaches for the wall phone only to find a policeman standing in the doorway. See, the biometric chip reported that the victim's heart stopped and this triggered the police to come and investigate. The policeman waves the janitor away, telling him that he'll have this case solved in no time. Pulling up the biometric tag data for the victim, he establishes the time of death to within one or two minutes of actual. He then pulles up ecounter data to determine how many other tags were near him in the last 15 minutes of the victims' life. The computer immediately gives him names and current locations of all the suspects. Driverless pods are dispatched to those locations to pick the suspects up. Each suspect has been given an AI generated call to their smart devices informing them of the incident, their compliance is legally required. They all arrive on the scene within 30 minutes or so and the policeman then taps a few more keys on his pc pad. All the smart devices in that room upload their visual scanning for that period of time and several catch one of the present suspects arguing with and then striking the victim with a heavy, blunt object. Visual and audio are included and because of multiple angles, a 3D representation can even be reconstructed. Case closed before the first commercial break.
This technology starts out about creating a cashless society, then morphs into something Orwell could not have dreamed up no matter how high a fever he may have had.
Think on it and ponder other how other aspects of today's life can be observed, regulated, and punished with just a few keystrokes.
Live well.
Zavost
The Return of the Stoic
Today upon the Stoa, I sweep off the empty beer cans, stack up the protest signs, and scrub the anatomically impossible slogans off the walls. I have been away from the Stoa, attending to life and other such things. In my absence, all that was in decline continues to decline. That which was worrisome has become terrifying. Thoughtful contemplation turns to meloncholy.
Since 2012, the American Culture Wars have become global, though I'm certain they always were, we just did not notice. Our Technology is plundered, our children and grandchildren endebted, thought has become regulated, five-year olds can be suspended from school for using the word, "she", people can be denied a boarding pass on a plane for having a cartoon drawing of an imaginary weapon on his t-shirt. Corruption is no longer hidden, but proudly on display. American royalty, worshipped in place of God. Uncontrolled, ney, encouraged illegal immigration, abdication of space exploration, flouting of common morals and common sense...memory holes and thought rehabilitation.
Where to start? Where to begin tying up all that has become frayed? Is the America of my childhood dead and gone? That of my parents and grandparents certainly is. In fact, it was dying, in stages, for the last 150 years, I would suppose. We are only just now, in the terminal stages of something that started a long time ago. My only hope is that President Trump could be our Diocletian, our Constantine. A chance to arrest the slide, go give our Republic one last chance at redemption.
In my humble, amature historian, opinion, the seeds of today's major problems stem from the converging cultural, religious, political, and geopolitical detritus of the American Civil War. Feel free to disagree, in fact, it is your intellectual right to do so; however, this is my site personal musings, so if it irritates you too much, simply browse away and leave in peace.
So, to expand upon my thoughts.
I believe that the Civil War was more about defining the 10th Amendment to the Constitution then it was about Slavery. Slavery, as an institution in America was in decline. Cheap labor, import/export imbalances and all that were secondary to the centralizing tendency of the Federal Government. Every power that the Federal Government took, or reserved, for itself, was a denial of the State's ability to excessive said power. The Consitution enumerated quite clearly what the Federal Government could or could not do. However, if the State acquiesced and did not challenge (as the Supreme Court has ruled about Congress), then the theft becomes an accepted exception to the Law. Southern States had their own vision and the North had theirs. We shared language and religion, common historical parentage, and a desire for our home State to thrive and prosper. The issue of Slavery has simmered and boiled for decades, a thorn even in the side of our Framers. A confluence of history and a spark set off the Civil War. When a forest burns, its encourages new growth. Change and evolution is granted space to experiment. I leave it to you to draw specifics, there is certainly not enough to space to get bogged down here. On to the next.
President Andrew Johnson. President Lincoln had a vision for Reconstruction and Reconcilliation between North and South. Republicans in Congress had their vision, and the President had his. Unfortunately for Johnson, the swinging pendulum of Presidental vs Congressional power had swung back towards Congress, and they had powerful interest groups to enrich, er, listen to. If the stated goal of Reconstruction was to mainstream blacks into free society then it failed. I'm thinking Jim Crow laws, tax polls, reading rules, KKK (version 1.0, 2.0, etc.) and other variety of Democrat inventions. Republican members castrated Johnson and saw to it that he got nothing done, and when he dared attempt to go around them, he got impeached. Now we arrive at the dawn of Progressivism.
The Constitutional amendment allowing the Federal Senators to be elected via popular vote. This was not what our Framers intended. The Federal Senators were supposed to above the civil emotions of the masses and remain true to the States, fighting for their rights just as the Representatives in the House were fighting for the constituency. This placed a major warp in our governmental machinery. The carefully constructed checks and balances, structure within structure slowly broke down. The Senate simply became a more elite version of the House, regardless of what all the original arguments for the amendment promised.
The creation of the Federal Reserve. This Progressive monster had been aborted twice in our nations' history. The first was killed early on when someone noticed it was unconstitutional and had it dissolved. The second time was by the only Democrat I could have voted for, President Andrew Jackson (I see a lot of Trump in him). Jackson too found it unconstitutional, however, this time, the Supreme Court said that somehow this time it was ok. He dissolved it anyhow. When told he was disobeying the High Court his response was something along the lines of, "what police force are they in charge of?" However, this time it stuck. It was a major crack in the foundations of the Republic. Immediately the value of the dollar began to decline. The stated purpose of the FR was to prevent or dampen the cyclical nature of the American free market economy. Too much boom boom pretty soon boo boo, to borrow a common phrase. This same progressive was to ram through another amendment allowing federal taxation. For some reason, this was necessary, though for the entire past hundred plus years a Federal Tax was unnessary. We built the Erie Canal, the Panama Canal, the Transcontinental Railroad, built bridges and turnpikes and fought a dozen wars (1812, Civil, and WWI to name a few ) all without a permanent Federal Tax. Sounds do me like a quickly centralizing Federal Beauracracy was getting greedy.
Coupled with these dry historical facts is the complex cycles of culture. I recommend a series of books by the authors of the good "Generations" for an in-depth explaination of those complex, cyclical changes in our society. To give a brief over-view of these changes just consider how our morals swing back and forth over time. Victorian morals as it related to a woman's virtue gave way to Flappers and independent women. Hollywood in the 20's and 30's and 40' had ALOT of what we would call Rated R films that were mainstream for the public audience of all ages. Then things swung back hard the other way and in a short time you had "My Three Sons" and "Leave it Beaver", plus Hollywood clamped down on nudity and suggestive behavior. Twenty short years later and you had Helter Skelter and It and Rosemary's Baby, plus a host of other....types of films. Depending on when hisorical events land in the cultural cycle depends on how much of a 'big' deal that event becomes. More on that in another post.
The Progressive Era never really died, it simply evolved to camoflage itself. It created Copy Books and slowly infiltrated the schools and the courthouses. It changed its name and its appearance, but it was always there, building the "Uniparty". A single political agenda, but one with full fat and the other, slightly less fattening. Democrat and Republican, two wings of the same party. Granted, not all at once, and not all the time. There were notible exceptions to this, but if you draw a trending line, it will trend straight towards Uniparty.
So much, so much. So many threads. I grow more and more certain that there are hands at the other end of those threads, tugging and pulling to get us to jump one way or the other. The hands change over time, but the purpose seems insidiously consistent.
I have returned to the Stoa and will muse and ponder my seemingly contradictory stances and thoughts, though if you think about them long enough, you will begin to see the symmetry. Time to sweep off the rest of the trash and garbage that has polluted my Stoa over the years. More to come.
As always, live well.
Zavost
Since 2012, the American Culture Wars have become global, though I'm certain they always were, we just did not notice. Our Technology is plundered, our children and grandchildren endebted, thought has become regulated, five-year olds can be suspended from school for using the word, "she", people can be denied a boarding pass on a plane for having a cartoon drawing of an imaginary weapon on his t-shirt. Corruption is no longer hidden, but proudly on display. American royalty, worshipped in place of God. Uncontrolled, ney, encouraged illegal immigration, abdication of space exploration, flouting of common morals and common sense...memory holes and thought rehabilitation.
Where to start? Where to begin tying up all that has become frayed? Is the America of my childhood dead and gone? That of my parents and grandparents certainly is. In fact, it was dying, in stages, for the last 150 years, I would suppose. We are only just now, in the terminal stages of something that started a long time ago. My only hope is that President Trump could be our Diocletian, our Constantine. A chance to arrest the slide, go give our Republic one last chance at redemption.
In my humble, amature historian, opinion, the seeds of today's major problems stem from the converging cultural, religious, political, and geopolitical detritus of the American Civil War. Feel free to disagree, in fact, it is your intellectual right to do so; however, this is my site personal musings, so if it irritates you too much, simply browse away and leave in peace.
So, to expand upon my thoughts.
I believe that the Civil War was more about defining the 10th Amendment to the Constitution then it was about Slavery. Slavery, as an institution in America was in decline. Cheap labor, import/export imbalances and all that were secondary to the centralizing tendency of the Federal Government. Every power that the Federal Government took, or reserved, for itself, was a denial of the State's ability to excessive said power. The Consitution enumerated quite clearly what the Federal Government could or could not do. However, if the State acquiesced and did not challenge (as the Supreme Court has ruled about Congress), then the theft becomes an accepted exception to the Law. Southern States had their own vision and the North had theirs. We shared language and religion, common historical parentage, and a desire for our home State to thrive and prosper. The issue of Slavery has simmered and boiled for decades, a thorn even in the side of our Framers. A confluence of history and a spark set off the Civil War. When a forest burns, its encourages new growth. Change and evolution is granted space to experiment. I leave it to you to draw specifics, there is certainly not enough to space to get bogged down here. On to the next.
President Andrew Johnson. President Lincoln had a vision for Reconstruction and Reconcilliation between North and South. Republicans in Congress had their vision, and the President had his. Unfortunately for Johnson, the swinging pendulum of Presidental vs Congressional power had swung back towards Congress, and they had powerful interest groups to enrich, er, listen to. If the stated goal of Reconstruction was to mainstream blacks into free society then it failed. I'm thinking Jim Crow laws, tax polls, reading rules, KKK (version 1.0, 2.0, etc.) and other variety of Democrat inventions. Republican members castrated Johnson and saw to it that he got nothing done, and when he dared attempt to go around them, he got impeached. Now we arrive at the dawn of Progressivism.
The Constitutional amendment allowing the Federal Senators to be elected via popular vote. This was not what our Framers intended. The Federal Senators were supposed to above the civil emotions of the masses and remain true to the States, fighting for their rights just as the Representatives in the House were fighting for the constituency. This placed a major warp in our governmental machinery. The carefully constructed checks and balances, structure within structure slowly broke down. The Senate simply became a more elite version of the House, regardless of what all the original arguments for the amendment promised.
The creation of the Federal Reserve. This Progressive monster had been aborted twice in our nations' history. The first was killed early on when someone noticed it was unconstitutional and had it dissolved. The second time was by the only Democrat I could have voted for, President Andrew Jackson (I see a lot of Trump in him). Jackson too found it unconstitutional, however, this time, the Supreme Court said that somehow this time it was ok. He dissolved it anyhow. When told he was disobeying the High Court his response was something along the lines of, "what police force are they in charge of?" However, this time it stuck. It was a major crack in the foundations of the Republic. Immediately the value of the dollar began to decline. The stated purpose of the FR was to prevent or dampen the cyclical nature of the American free market economy. Too much boom boom pretty soon boo boo, to borrow a common phrase. This same progressive was to ram through another amendment allowing federal taxation. For some reason, this was necessary, though for the entire past hundred plus years a Federal Tax was unnessary. We built the Erie Canal, the Panama Canal, the Transcontinental Railroad, built bridges and turnpikes and fought a dozen wars (1812, Civil, and WWI to name a few ) all without a permanent Federal Tax. Sounds do me like a quickly centralizing Federal Beauracracy was getting greedy.
Coupled with these dry historical facts is the complex cycles of culture. I recommend a series of books by the authors of the good "Generations" for an in-depth explaination of those complex, cyclical changes in our society. To give a brief over-view of these changes just consider how our morals swing back and forth over time. Victorian morals as it related to a woman's virtue gave way to Flappers and independent women. Hollywood in the 20's and 30's and 40' had ALOT of what we would call Rated R films that were mainstream for the public audience of all ages. Then things swung back hard the other way and in a short time you had "My Three Sons" and "Leave it Beaver", plus Hollywood clamped down on nudity and suggestive behavior. Twenty short years later and you had Helter Skelter and It and Rosemary's Baby, plus a host of other....types of films. Depending on when hisorical events land in the cultural cycle depends on how much of a 'big' deal that event becomes. More on that in another post.
The Progressive Era never really died, it simply evolved to camoflage itself. It created Copy Books and slowly infiltrated the schools and the courthouses. It changed its name and its appearance, but it was always there, building the "Uniparty". A single political agenda, but one with full fat and the other, slightly less fattening. Democrat and Republican, two wings of the same party. Granted, not all at once, and not all the time. There were notible exceptions to this, but if you draw a trending line, it will trend straight towards Uniparty.
So much, so much. So many threads. I grow more and more certain that there are hands at the other end of those threads, tugging and pulling to get us to jump one way or the other. The hands change over time, but the purpose seems insidiously consistent.
I have returned to the Stoa and will muse and ponder my seemingly contradictory stances and thoughts, though if you think about them long enough, you will begin to see the symmetry. Time to sweep off the rest of the trash and garbage that has polluted my Stoa over the years. More to come.
As always, live well.
Zavost
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