First time I ever heard of Freedom Fest. I can't make it this July, but it's now on my calendar. If you know of any on-going groups, please let me know. Thank you.
I am usually not a naysayer.. opting intead to be silent.. but not today lol. I am a bit jaded especially since I paid money to go to Vegas one year as well as in 21 in South Dakota. Ironically it was one of the final nudges for me to see how the system has turned everything into a recuperation scheme.. previously I thought something must be on the up and up. Right? Most of the headliners are "freedom loving" conservatives who speak in platitudes about liberty et cetera. While there were a few true believers there, it was mostly a carnival of distraction and recuperation that had the actual function of neutering liberty movements. It was aggravating watching libertarians and anarchists fawn over these people who think freedom is a mere tax cut or that the system can be fixed by putting more Republicans in office. There are some cool things but as you said, it is a candy store and candy is not known for its nutritional value.
I had a great time in South Dakota…though we all got covid really bad.
And in Memphis, I made some great connections with people who are the real deal.
You are right that there are also people who don't quite get it, yet. But I would like to offer that having them in the same place with anarchists and minarchists is a good thing. I have been slowly won over over the years—so can others! It's better to have these meetings and keep the dialogue, fellowship, and coordination of projects rolling. There are so many people and things I would not know without them.
I agree with your sentiments that there are some positives. However, it is sort of like having your opponent organize your practice sessions and game strategy, while simultaneously attempting to convince you they arent your opponent and are there to carry your torch. Most often it is the libertarians and company who get roped back into supporting the system instead of converting former statists. Many of the people who headline should be shown the door instead of getting a VIP pass.. its like the scorpion and the frog. If a liberty movement is ever going to be successful it would need to create its own leaders instead of letting notable public figures co-opt the stage, therfore making it impossible to raise up a real son or daughter of liberty. (Coughs in Larry Elder types) I won't be attending any more of them.
Perhaps we will indeed. I had to look it up, so I have not been.... looks interesting for sure. However, last time I was in Mexico, my father and I were robbed by the federales just north of Tulum. That was a fun trip.
I love that whole coastline between Cancun and Tulum. It was an unfortunate event, and this is not an excuse... but we were essentially wearing a tourist sign. I had rented a bright red cherry jeep and we were rolling with the top off. That vehicle does not fit in with the locals...
It’s hard not to see that our form of representative government has long since past. “Church goer” Mike Johnson’s complete flip on continued funding of the ongoing wars while the invasion at our border continues is one example. What do they have over Mike? The January 6th committee scam where Bennie Thompson illegally destroyed evidence that would have helped prove Trump’s innocence goes without a whisper from republicans. Now Bennie Thompson has put a hit on Trump with the bill to remove secret service protection from Trump once he is found guilty in this next sham trial in New York. A trial with charges that have past the statute of limitations, bootstrapped federal charges onto state charges, a democrat partisan judge that donated money to Biden, meetings at the White House with state prosecutors, the judges daughter a democrat hack, and jurors placed that hate Trump. The man is destined to die by bipartisan hands. And we have the bi partisan government forced sale of tick-tock which you might say ok it’s a Chinese company great but it’s also going to set precedence for the governments forced sale of X. We have a government that it’s total objective is to enrich themselves and crush all decent. There are no limits to the corruption even the murder of a former president to gain power and continue to enrich themselves. The old Soviet Union has nothing on our form of totalitarian governance, including forced dangerous experimental chemical injections, frightening times.
You are correct about everything except the very first sentence, whose implication contains what I believe to be a fundamental and pervasive flaw. The notion that "our form of representative government has long since past" clearly implies that there was some point in the past when it was better. It wasn't.
Read Spooner writing in the 19th century…Mencken writing in the early 20th…Churchill writing about parliament's machinations in the 17th century… It's all the same crap. There was no magical point in the past when this system "worked" or "wasn't corrupt" or conformed to some "original vision" of the Founders. It has always been FUBAR. And it has always been morally flawed.
Maybe it was a necessary step in our evolution, maybe not. But there is no ideal state that ever existed. And even if there were a point in time that was "better" (a dubious proposition), there is certainly no getting "back" to that point now.
The widespread belief in the myth that there was a point when it was "good" and that now it has gone "bad" is holding us back from evolving. It keeps the most politically active lovers of freedom (patriotic conservatives, writ large) on a pointless hamster wheel.
We will never evolve until enough conservatives finally realize that.
Very true. Nevertheless it is important to understand significant historical milestones in the evolution of centralization. The Federal Reserve Act. The Income Tax. The black budget section of the CIA and their dirty tricks. The vote buying/money laundering institution known as the Military Industrial Complex. The CIAs corruption of mainstream media with Operation Mockingbird. Etc.
Recognizing those milestones is entirely counterproductive IF it produces the following thought process:
"Look at all these terrible milestones. Corrupt people did these things. If only we can get rid of those corrupt people and then, through effective political action, roll back those milestones, all will be well."
No. That is the trap. And it is a trap that most conservatives are stuck in. "We can fix this." We can get back to some earlier purer condition—the Founders "original vision."
No! Even if some such vision existed, we cannot get back to it. And it doesn't exist and never exited. Our system is at best a necessary step on a much longer journey. But it is still a problem, and it is still only a step. Indeed, these milestones were inevitable BECAUSE of the nature of the system.
Until conservatives recognize this, we are doomed to keep repeating the same battles in an ever-worsening hellscape.
First time I ever heard of Freedom Fest. I can't make it this July, but it's now on my calendar. If you know of any on-going groups, please let me know. Thank you.
I am not sure that I can go this year. Next year almost surely, though!
What do you mean by "ongoing groups"?
Local meetings? Online groups seem sketchy under the current regime.
You could try https://freedomcells.org/
I am usually not a naysayer.. opting intead to be silent.. but not today lol. I am a bit jaded especially since I paid money to go to Vegas one year as well as in 21 in South Dakota. Ironically it was one of the final nudges for me to see how the system has turned everything into a recuperation scheme.. previously I thought something must be on the up and up. Right? Most of the headliners are "freedom loving" conservatives who speak in platitudes about liberty et cetera. While there were a few true believers there, it was mostly a carnival of distraction and recuperation that had the actual function of neutering liberty movements. It was aggravating watching libertarians and anarchists fawn over these people who think freedom is a mere tax cut or that the system can be fixed by putting more Republicans in office. There are some cool things but as you said, it is a candy store and candy is not known for its nutritional value.
I had a great time in South Dakota…though we all got covid really bad.
And in Memphis, I made some great connections with people who are the real deal.
You are right that there are also people who don't quite get it, yet. But I would like to offer that having them in the same place with anarchists and minarchists is a good thing. I have been slowly won over over the years—so can others! It's better to have these meetings and keep the dialogue, fellowship, and coordination of projects rolling. There are so many people and things I would not know without them.
I agree with your sentiments that there are some positives. However, it is sort of like having your opponent organize your practice sessions and game strategy, while simultaneously attempting to convince you they arent your opponent and are there to carry your torch. Most often it is the libertarians and company who get roped back into supporting the system instead of converting former statists. Many of the people who headline should be shown the door instead of getting a VIP pass.. its like the scorpion and the frog. If a liberty movement is ever going to be successful it would need to create its own leaders instead of letting notable public figures co-opt the stage, therfore making it impossible to raise up a real son or daughter of liberty. (Coughs in Larry Elder types) I won't be attending any more of them.
Well, perhaps we shall run into each other somewhere else, then. Have you been to Anarchopulco?
Perhaps we will indeed. I had to look it up, so I have not been.... looks interesting for sure. However, last time I was in Mexico, my father and I were robbed by the federales just north of Tulum. That was a fun trip.
Tulum is amazing. My wife and I honeymooned in Cancun in '03. I guess things have gone a bit downhill since then…
I love that whole coastline between Cancun and Tulum. It was an unfortunate event, and this is not an excuse... but we were essentially wearing a tourist sign. I had rented a bright red cherry jeep and we were rolling with the top off. That vehicle does not fit in with the locals...
It’s hard not to see that our form of representative government has long since past. “Church goer” Mike Johnson’s complete flip on continued funding of the ongoing wars while the invasion at our border continues is one example. What do they have over Mike? The January 6th committee scam where Bennie Thompson illegally destroyed evidence that would have helped prove Trump’s innocence goes without a whisper from republicans. Now Bennie Thompson has put a hit on Trump with the bill to remove secret service protection from Trump once he is found guilty in this next sham trial in New York. A trial with charges that have past the statute of limitations, bootstrapped federal charges onto state charges, a democrat partisan judge that donated money to Biden, meetings at the White House with state prosecutors, the judges daughter a democrat hack, and jurors placed that hate Trump. The man is destined to die by bipartisan hands. And we have the bi partisan government forced sale of tick-tock which you might say ok it’s a Chinese company great but it’s also going to set precedence for the governments forced sale of X. We have a government that it’s total objective is to enrich themselves and crush all decent. There are no limits to the corruption even the murder of a former president to gain power and continue to enrich themselves. The old Soviet Union has nothing on our form of totalitarian governance, including forced dangerous experimental chemical injections, frightening times.
You are correct about everything except the very first sentence, whose implication contains what I believe to be a fundamental and pervasive flaw. The notion that "our form of representative government has long since past" clearly implies that there was some point in the past when it was better. It wasn't.
Read Spooner writing in the 19th century…Mencken writing in the early 20th…Churchill writing about parliament's machinations in the 17th century… It's all the same crap. There was no magical point in the past when this system "worked" or "wasn't corrupt" or conformed to some "original vision" of the Founders. It has always been FUBAR. And it has always been morally flawed.
Maybe it was a necessary step in our evolution, maybe not. But there is no ideal state that ever existed. And even if there were a point in time that was "better" (a dubious proposition), there is certainly no getting "back" to that point now.
The widespread belief in the myth that there was a point when it was "good" and that now it has gone "bad" is holding us back from evolving. It keeps the most politically active lovers of freedom (patriotic conservatives, writ large) on a pointless hamster wheel.
We will never evolve until enough conservatives finally realize that.
Very true. Nevertheless it is important to understand significant historical milestones in the evolution of centralization. The Federal Reserve Act. The Income Tax. The black budget section of the CIA and their dirty tricks. The vote buying/money laundering institution known as the Military Industrial Complex. The CIAs corruption of mainstream media with Operation Mockingbird. Etc.
Yes, for sure. BUT…
Recognizing those milestones is entirely counterproductive IF it produces the following thought process:
"Look at all these terrible milestones. Corrupt people did these things. If only we can get rid of those corrupt people and then, through effective political action, roll back those milestones, all will be well."
No. That is the trap. And it is a trap that most conservatives are stuck in. "We can fix this." We can get back to some earlier purer condition—the Founders "original vision."
No! Even if some such vision existed, we cannot get back to it. And it doesn't exist and never exited. Our system is at best a necessary step on a much longer journey. But it is still a problem, and it is still only a step. Indeed, these milestones were inevitable BECAUSE of the nature of the system.
Until conservatives recognize this, we are doomed to keep repeating the same battles in an ever-worsening hellscape.