Excellent advice. There is more than one way to beat the system. First you need to realize there is a system. Some of it is intentional. Some of it is left over from earlier systems. Some if it is just there by happenstance. The universe is not for you or against you. It’s agnostic toward your existence. So it’s really up to you to forge your path. Hard work, integrity, reliability, smarts, kindness do pay off. But you have to pay your dues. Everybody pays their dues. The earlier you put the hard work in, the sooner you can reap the rewards. If you want to coast through life, well good luck with that. Life is competitive in every aspect.
The bright shiny thing is often not what makes people happy. Finding purpose in life, love, friendship, good health make the difference.
The more you worry about what other people think, the more unhappy you will be. The more you compare yourself to others, the more unhappy you will be. Compete with yourself. Make yourself into what you want to be. Do a little bit more than others and it pays off. Be reliable. In an unreliable world, be the rock.
People will reward you for that. Word will get around.
If you want to be an astrophysicist, you have to go to college and grad school. If you want to be a carpenter or a trucker or a chef, you don’t need that. What you don’t want to do is stumble through life without any vision. Your vision may change. That’s ok. But you have to have a goal. Once you figure out the system, you learn how to work the system. You can go around it, or you can go through it. But you have to understand it. Fortunately technology is giving many people a lot of optionality. Working remotely gives you a lot of freedom.
We have a very wasteful society. We waste money, human potential, all kinds of valuable resources. There are ways to live intelligently, with success, with dignity and conscientiously. You don’t have to be a cog in a machine or a shitty person. But you do need to make a decent living and you need to find a reliable way to do it that doesn’t subject you to a lot of uncertainty . If you have resources a lot of this stuff gets exponentially easier, because you aren’t struggling to survive. The situation in this country is not sustainable. There will be a big recession/depression at some time in the near future. Non-dollar denominated real assets will be key. That can be a lot of things - gold, silver, Bitcoin, food, energy, and land. If you are self sustaining, the rest of the system doesn’t matter as much.
I am trying to apply it to greater degrees in my own life, at the same time that I exhort others to do the same. The challenges are real. But as I say, what other choice do we have?
It is getting harder and harder to stand up for truth in this world. I appreciate you and what you are doing, it seems we are remnant, but we must continue to shed light on the lies that are being forced upon us. hopefully, we can bring about an awareness and others that are being led astray. Continue to shine, Christopher.
Not only is no one coming to save us ; there are some difficult choices ahead. Dissent today is going to cost us.
Whoever is ultimately in charge has already succeeded in censoring any one who expresses a rogue intention and without so much as a peep out of the collective majority .
Fear? Blind obedience?
The sleepy compliance was alarmingly obvious during Covid as you mentioned .
Further evidence that we are losing ground rapidly is the expansion FISA and warrantless surveillance .
Not only is the government overreach alive and well , it’s broadening and affecting American citizens on an unparalleled scale.
Like resisting a shock collar, any outcry will lead to further restrictions and violations of our human autonomy.
Once you are a targeted as a troublemaker; you will be on the receiving end of a crash course in the terrifying capability of classified cyber technology and an accompanying psy-ops that will signal the slow methodical deconstruction of everything you value and hold dear.
The Resistance is real.
The choices are narrowing and ironically, choosing autonomy over tyranny will most certainly result in losing the very essence of that autonomy….. for a time anyway .
We will be hostages until the tide turns and we have enough momentum and collective conviction to shift the paradigm.
I agree things are crazy. But there is already a human propensity to focus on doom, and thus to lose hope. And when we lose hope, we lose whatever chance we had.
I’m sure you still have lots of options and I’m hopeful that you will continue to have many. I love your work , your astute insights and mostly your honest and sincere spirit. You wrestle with everything before you share it and I know I can relax knowing I’m in good hands because you have done your due diligence.
Thank you for that .
Maybe read a few of my posts ; especially the very first one which describes my journey .
I’m actually digging so deep to hold my head high, maintain hope and encourage the targeted community; I’ve actually amazed my own self lol , at my resilience and ingenuity.
I contend that the targeted phenomenon ( estimated at 30,000 American citizens, millions globally ) is a prototype for what’s to come.
In other words, we are living your future.
As I write this , I’m packing up and being uprooted once again from my community, forced out of employment and I’m daily denied most liberties that you still enjoy.
I focus on gratitude and though most of my energy is spent surviving each contrived obstacle, I spend my days writing , sharing , documenting and speaking up … which incidentally makes my life exponentially more difficult.
I have no choice now but to lay down in despair or help lead the way to a future that fights the good fight for human sovereignty.
I’ve never been quite so forthcoming with you. Thanks for reading.
I believe I found in you a kindred spirit and you solid ; what with the wife and all . lol
I personally believe we have missed the window of time where we could have stopped the advance of the global elite agenda .
While we may not be able to stop the advance of tyranny , I plan to be counted among those who make it difficult. 💪🏼.
I definitely do not wish to minimize the obstacles Any that can be walked around should be walked around. But I also know that sometimes, they plunk the mountain right down on top of us, and there is no getting around that.
Indeed, IIUC, that was Viktor Frankl's conclusion after his experience in the death camps. That sometimes, THEY drastically reduce a person's freedom and range of options…but that even then, we still have that one thing that no one can take away: the freedom to choose our own thoughts.
It sounds to me like you are choosing to do what you can under difficult circumstances. I admire that.
I know this is extreme, but would leaving the country end the targetting?
I’d be long gone if that were the case . I lived in Marseille France for several years when my children were young and still have friends in Belgium ; one who was the ambassador to the Belgian Congo .
Although not on a no fly list we are listed as NIS ( non investigative subjects), persons of interest and flagged as threats. TSA and Border Patrol are notified when we travel and the harassment is notable.
And , I have never broken the law.
One thing that does seem to help a bit is relocating. frequently. I discovered this by default when I took to living nomadically to regain some control of my life.
Each move requires vast resources and careful covert training of law enforcement and local businesses as well as hiring defense contractors to assist in the job. I’m hemmed in on every side and any movement does give me some lead time while they regroup and try to keep up . If anything , it does give the me the illusion that I’m calling the shots.
And sometimes I am.
But the window is small, the amount of time that it is allowed is brief and misleading. Thanks for asking though.
Love the plankton analogy. As usual, your work is informed and on point. I would say-as it pertains to college-I agree but with a caveat. I went to college largely because that was the life path set for me by my parents (and I deeply appreciate them for that, among many other things). While in college, I found the careerism
approach to be deeply troublesome for reasons I couldn’t really articulate.
After a few semesters, I decided it was a game I didn’t want to play. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that is what I did, it was more of a gut reaction to stimuli I didn’t completely comprehend at the time.
When I was in my mid 20s, I decided I did want a college degree (though never really questioned why I wanted it) and recognized the opportunities available to me others had worked hard to create, and returned to a local third tier state university to study history for no reason other than 1) I like history and 2) I wanted a degree. I consciously decided I didn’t care about what job I would get after college, I just decided getting a history degree was what I would focus on for the next two years.
I worked third shift at a hotel which meant I never had to take my personal time to study, and didn’t have to stress out about getting up for 8:00 and 9:00 classes. I treated going to class as my after work recreational time. The professors were excellent-they demanded critical thinking of the students, they weren’t indoctrinating us-my classmates were interesting and the experience was very rewarding. It was also very inexpensive and I left with very little debt.
All that is to say my caveat on college is this. It can be an extraordinarily rewarding experience, and thanks to certain reforms in the mid 20th century there are many non prestigious and very affordable universities all around the county. You won’t impress anyone by name dropping the school, but if you aren’t playing the stupid game we are conditioned to play, then who cares. The key is to go to college to learn and develop your mind, not for careerism.
Many of these schools have costs that amount to only $500-$750 a month or so if you break it down over 12 months. That is not a negligible amount, to be sure, but it is a pretty great value for the cultivation of the mind. Of course, it depends entirely on the work you’re willing to put in. If you take out loans to do it, spend a year waiting tables and bartending after college and live small, and you can pay them off.
The costs do keep rising, though, so if it gets to the point where that cost can’t be met, well, we do have the internet. Always remember will hunting’s point-you can get the same education for $2.76 in late fines* as you can for $276,000 in tuition. Just depends on how much work you’re willing to put in.
*one way college is superior to the library option is the opportunity to engage in discussions with professors and classmates. That can’t be replicated with independent study. Though I imagine at this point there are forums on the internet where one can engage in various discussions that are similar to those that take place in the classroom.
Indeed I did, and I was certainly echoing the ethos. I’ve spent years since then encouraging people to take my approach to college-though it’s often like talking to a brick wall, lol. I tell folks if they want a career, go to trade school. If they want an education, go to college and study one of the humanities. Maybe I need to include in that advice your points about how the game is stupid and doesn’t have to be played.
I actually finished all but 18 credits. But I must say, virtually everything I know now I learned after. I did learn some cool stuff in Linguistics class, and of course Russian. But other than that, it was mostly indoctrination.
Hi, I also went back to study history. Like you, I learnt a lot from my excellent professor & honed skills. This experience was totally unlike those taking vocational courses. Of course, it did nothing for my job prospects - I didn't expect it to.
Totally agree. That was sort of the point I was trying to get at regarding the unique value of university. And it didn’t do anything for mine, either, but like you, I wasn’t expecting it to. Which speaks to authors point about not participating in the stupid game our society presses onto us. Choosing to go to college to enrich and develop the mind rather than for the credential is an excellent way to declare oneself to not be part of the game.
If things truly do go haywire, it will be something no one has seen before if only because of the swiftness of it occurring. Sure, societies, civilizations and cults have busted apart before, but usually in slow motion.
The presumed leaders will be guessing and anyone can make guesses. They will likely be biased towards their own good advancement and that is kind of natural. The systems will break down because not all contingencies can ever be planned for. Trust yourself first...very good advice.
My only objection to this article is that you did not write it and hand deliver it to me when I was 16.
I had to learn all this through trial and error.
Great story about meeting your wife.
Unfortunately I was directed here by one of your other articles where you mentioned this one was cited as containing "hate speech." I have to agree with them. Hate speech is any speech that works against the Communist Revolution. So... the whole thing is hate speech. Advocating for murdering every Jew in the Levant is not hate speech because of the Red Green Alliance. Cheering for or encouraging the murder of anyone to the right of Barack Obama is not hate speech because it helps the Revolution. It's why a definition of terms is necessary for debate.
I wish that were true, but even that is based on a faulty assumption…namely, that if everyone pays attention, they will all do what we want them to. It is more likely, however, that a majority will always vote/engage in political activity to do exactly what has been done: to grow government and turn it into a vehicle for stealing from some and giving to others. Whether you have one percent participation or 90 percent, the majority of those participating will vote to grow government and use it to steal. That is human nature, and government gives them the vehicle to deploy power in pursuit of those aims.
That is one of many reasons why all systems that use voting will always grow, no matter how small they start out as. That is also one reason among many any system that uses voting—yes, even ours—is fundamentally immoral.
But even if my guy wins, things will still be done to me to which I did not and do not consent. Voting gives others the power to determine what happens to me. Not just the person elected, but the people who voted for him. My fate is now partially in their hands. I did not consent to that. I do not consent to that!
A few songs that match “No one is coming to save you …”, with accompanying lyrics.
Freewill - You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice. If you choose to not decide you still have made a choice. You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill. I will choose a path thats clear, I will choose free will.
Tom Sawyer - No his mind is not for rent, by any god or government
Love Rush. In fact, a small gathering in my back yard turned into a 10-hour part with the neighbors from both sides, and more, and we were talking at one point about Rush, how many times we'd seen them, etc. I now I get to type to you about it, with a decent hangover :-)
I would love to - I have several podcasts where I’m riffing on these themes, particularly for a #FreedomMusicFriday.
My most recent podcast with a Rush theme focused on the themes from the great book Why We Drive by Matthew Crawford. Spatial cognition gives rise to independence, driving is an expression of that.
Your movement forces you to map the world around you. It's after a child starts walking that their brain takes off on it's expansion. Crawford relays that the study focused on a young boy who acquired locomotion much later, and his cognitive skill with memory was severely impaired.
In short, by ordering your world in your head, you actively place importance on objects, places etc. That exercise is a driver for independence because you don't have to wait for things - you can go get them without asking where they are. Hope that makes sense. Matthew's book is great, I highly recommend it.
Christopher, thanks again for a deep and thoughtful discussion of the current human condition. I did not get the jab, I want no jab and I remain mostly "out" of the system. That being said, being an Elder is tough, especially financially. Fortunately, I am not in debt and I have a basic roof and food. God remains my Guide and His Son my Savior, not for "blind faith" but for the reality that we are not just, as you say, plankton, but we are created by God, loved by God and each of us has a path that no one else has tread, in the history of the world. That fact alone is enormous. I may be a "plodder" and not wealthy or famous but I know things based on my own difficult experience. As the Bible says "me and my house will follow the Lord". Blessings always to you, Christopher, WEW
I enjoyed your thoughts again Christopher. The cool thing is that when we step off into something different, and decide not to remain plankton, often there is support that shows up. I am very happy to see your reach growing. And I am glad you write as you wish about what you feel passionate. That is freedom.
Excellent stack....I saw a bumper sticker today that said "Asteroid 2024 - blow it all up!" I thought, really? With all we've been given : freewill, grace, gratitude, reasoning and (at one point) freedom and all you want to do is blow it up? I get playing out of the system, but wishing fir tge apocalypse? C'mon...
It is probably just a sardonic and hyperbolic statement on the state of our choices. Too bad very few people will realize that the problem is not the choices the system it offers, however, but the existence of the system itself.
Excellent advice. There is more than one way to beat the system. First you need to realize there is a system. Some of it is intentional. Some of it is left over from earlier systems. Some if it is just there by happenstance. The universe is not for you or against you. It’s agnostic toward your existence. So it’s really up to you to forge your path. Hard work, integrity, reliability, smarts, kindness do pay off. But you have to pay your dues. Everybody pays their dues. The earlier you put the hard work in, the sooner you can reap the rewards. If you want to coast through life, well good luck with that. Life is competitive in every aspect.
The bright shiny thing is often not what makes people happy. Finding purpose in life, love, friendship, good health make the difference.
The more you worry about what other people think, the more unhappy you will be. The more you compare yourself to others, the more unhappy you will be. Compete with yourself. Make yourself into what you want to be. Do a little bit more than others and it pays off. Be reliable. In an unreliable world, be the rock.
People will reward you for that. Word will get around.
If you want to be an astrophysicist, you have to go to college and grad school. If you want to be a carpenter or a trucker or a chef, you don’t need that. What you don’t want to do is stumble through life without any vision. Your vision may change. That’s ok. But you have to have a goal. Once you figure out the system, you learn how to work the system. You can go around it, or you can go through it. But you have to understand it. Fortunately technology is giving many people a lot of optionality. Working remotely gives you a lot of freedom.
We have a very wasteful society. We waste money, human potential, all kinds of valuable resources. There are ways to live intelligently, with success, with dignity and conscientiously. You don’t have to be a cog in a machine or a shitty person. But you do need to make a decent living and you need to find a reliable way to do it that doesn’t subject you to a lot of uncertainty . If you have resources a lot of this stuff gets exponentially easier, because you aren’t struggling to survive. The situation in this country is not sustainable. There will be a big recession/depression at some time in the near future. Non-dollar denominated real assets will be key. That can be a lot of things - gold, silver, Bitcoin, food, energy, and land. If you are self sustaining, the rest of the system doesn’t matter as much.
Sharing!
Sling Shots and life straws.
I vibe with this note. Learn from the past - whilst living in the present - to plan for the future.
Talent = hard work compounded over time
Nothing in life is easy. Life is eternal work. The only (non)limiting factors = Time, Dedication, Effort, Discipline.
History repeats itself every generation. other than material advancement, nothing changes. It only repeats with more problems.
I've got a Life Straw…
That's true. Excellent advise!
The self sustaining part has never really been considered by many people in the past few decades, but it is now.
Some have had a taste of what it means when the store shelves go empty. It's made a lot of people open their eyes.
People need to “make their own way" because nothing is going to be given. And the way things are going, there will be, that much less, to give.
The world changed drastically over the past few years, and I don't think it can go back. The current “system" is being deconstructed.
“Stop being plankton!” Best quote of the day! Great essay.
Thanks!
I am trying to apply it to greater degrees in my own life, at the same time that I exhort others to do the same. The challenges are real. But as I say, what other choice do we have?
It is getting harder and harder to stand up for truth in this world. I appreciate you and what you are doing, it seems we are remnant, but we must continue to shed light on the lies that are being forced upon us. hopefully, we can bring about an awareness and others that are being led astray. Continue to shine, Christopher.
Thank you, and you too, Jana.
Also keep spreading HOPE. If we all despair, then we will lose.
Continue to shine that light of truth that only a few of us are carrying into the world that is full of lies and deception.
Words to live by!! Love it!!!
Not only is no one coming to save us ; there are some difficult choices ahead. Dissent today is going to cost us.
Whoever is ultimately in charge has already succeeded in censoring any one who expresses a rogue intention and without so much as a peep out of the collective majority .
Fear? Blind obedience?
The sleepy compliance was alarmingly obvious during Covid as you mentioned .
Further evidence that we are losing ground rapidly is the expansion FISA and warrantless surveillance .
Not only is the government overreach alive and well , it’s broadening and affecting American citizens on an unparalleled scale.
Like resisting a shock collar, any outcry will lead to further restrictions and violations of our human autonomy.
Once you are a targeted as a troublemaker; you will be on the receiving end of a crash course in the terrifying capability of classified cyber technology and an accompanying psy-ops that will signal the slow methodical deconstruction of everything you value and hold dear.
The Resistance is real.
The choices are narrowing and ironically, choosing autonomy over tyranny will most certainly result in losing the very essence of that autonomy….. for a time anyway .
We will be hostages until the tide turns and we have enough momentum and collective conviction to shift the paradigm.
Until then buckle up.
Let’s go for a ride.
We can start by focusing on our options rather than our obstacles.
Easy to say until you have none.
But do you have none now? Do we have none now?
I agree things are crazy. But there is already a human propensity to focus on doom, and thus to lose hope. And when we lose hope, we lose whatever chance we had.
So we should fight all of those tendencies.
I’m sure you still have lots of options and I’m hopeful that you will continue to have many. I love your work , your astute insights and mostly your honest and sincere spirit. You wrestle with everything before you share it and I know I can relax knowing I’m in good hands because you have done your due diligence.
Thank you for that .
Maybe read a few of my posts ; especially the very first one which describes my journey .
I’m actually digging so deep to hold my head high, maintain hope and encourage the targeted community; I’ve actually amazed my own self lol , at my resilience and ingenuity.
I contend that the targeted phenomenon ( estimated at 30,000 American citizens, millions globally ) is a prototype for what’s to come.
In other words, we are living your future.
As I write this , I’m packing up and being uprooted once again from my community, forced out of employment and I’m daily denied most liberties that you still enjoy.
I focus on gratitude and though most of my energy is spent surviving each contrived obstacle, I spend my days writing , sharing , documenting and speaking up … which incidentally makes my life exponentially more difficult.
I have no choice now but to lay down in despair or help lead the way to a future that fights the good fight for human sovereignty.
I’ve never been quite so forthcoming with you. Thanks for reading.
I believe I found in you a kindred spirit and you solid ; what with the wife and all . lol
I personally believe we have missed the window of time where we could have stopped the advance of the global elite agenda .
While we may not be able to stop the advance of tyranny , I plan to be counted among those who make it difficult. 💪🏼.
Thank you for your kind words and comradeship.
I definitely do not wish to minimize the obstacles Any that can be walked around should be walked around. But I also know that sometimes, they plunk the mountain right down on top of us, and there is no getting around that.
Indeed, IIUC, that was Viktor Frankl's conclusion after his experience in the death camps. That sometimes, THEY drastically reduce a person's freedom and range of options…but that even then, we still have that one thing that no one can take away: the freedom to choose our own thoughts.
It sounds to me like you are choosing to do what you can under difficult circumstances. I admire that.
I know this is extreme, but would leaving the country end the targetting?
I’d be long gone if that were the case . I lived in Marseille France for several years when my children were young and still have friends in Belgium ; one who was the ambassador to the Belgian Congo .
Although not on a no fly list we are listed as NIS ( non investigative subjects), persons of interest and flagged as threats. TSA and Border Patrol are notified when we travel and the harassment is notable.
And , I have never broken the law.
One thing that does seem to help a bit is relocating. frequently. I discovered this by default when I took to living nomadically to regain some control of my life.
Each move requires vast resources and careful covert training of law enforcement and local businesses as well as hiring defense contractors to assist in the job. I’m hemmed in on every side and any movement does give me some lead time while they regroup and try to keep up . If anything , it does give the me the illusion that I’m calling the shots.
And sometimes I am.
But the window is small, the amount of time that it is allowed is brief and misleading. Thanks for asking though.
www.orsja.org
Love the plankton analogy. As usual, your work is informed and on point. I would say-as it pertains to college-I agree but with a caveat. I went to college largely because that was the life path set for me by my parents (and I deeply appreciate them for that, among many other things). While in college, I found the careerism
approach to be deeply troublesome for reasons I couldn’t really articulate.
After a few semesters, I decided it was a game I didn’t want to play. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that is what I did, it was more of a gut reaction to stimuli I didn’t completely comprehend at the time.
When I was in my mid 20s, I decided I did want a college degree (though never really questioned why I wanted it) and recognized the opportunities available to me others had worked hard to create, and returned to a local third tier state university to study history for no reason other than 1) I like history and 2) I wanted a degree. I consciously decided I didn’t care about what job I would get after college, I just decided getting a history degree was what I would focus on for the next two years.
I worked third shift at a hotel which meant I never had to take my personal time to study, and didn’t have to stress out about getting up for 8:00 and 9:00 classes. I treated going to class as my after work recreational time. The professors were excellent-they demanded critical thinking of the students, they weren’t indoctrinating us-my classmates were interesting and the experience was very rewarding. It was also very inexpensive and I left with very little debt.
All that is to say my caveat on college is this. It can be an extraordinarily rewarding experience, and thanks to certain reforms in the mid 20th century there are many non prestigious and very affordable universities all around the county. You won’t impress anyone by name dropping the school, but if you aren’t playing the stupid game we are conditioned to play, then who cares. The key is to go to college to learn and develop your mind, not for careerism.
Many of these schools have costs that amount to only $500-$750 a month or so if you break it down over 12 months. That is not a negligible amount, to be sure, but it is a pretty great value for the cultivation of the mind. Of course, it depends entirely on the work you’re willing to put in. If you take out loans to do it, spend a year waiting tables and bartending after college and live small, and you can pay them off.
The costs do keep rising, though, so if it gets to the point where that cost can’t be met, well, we do have the internet. Always remember will hunting’s point-you can get the same education for $2.76 in late fines* as you can for $276,000 in tuition. Just depends on how much work you’re willing to put in.
*one way college is superior to the library option is the opportunity to engage in discussions with professors and classmates. That can’t be replicated with independent study. Though I imagine at this point there are forums on the internet where one can engage in various discussions that are similar to those that take place in the classroom.
All good points and an interesting story. It sounds to me like you made a conscious choice—you picked your priorities and you are happy with them.
That seems quite consonant with the ethos of my post!
Indeed I did, and I was certainly echoing the ethos. I’ve spent years since then encouraging people to take my approach to college-though it’s often like talking to a brick wall, lol. I tell folks if they want a career, go to trade school. If they want an education, go to college and study one of the humanities. Maybe I need to include in that advice your points about how the game is stupid and doesn’t have to be played.
Sounds like a plan, amigo!
I actually finished all but 18 credits. But I must say, virtually everything I know now I learned after. I did learn some cool stuff in Linguistics class, and of course Russian. But other than that, it was mostly indoctrination.
Hi, I also went back to study history. Like you, I learnt a lot from my excellent professor & honed skills. This experience was totally unlike those taking vocational courses. Of course, it did nothing for my job prospects - I didn't expect it to.
Totally agree. That was sort of the point I was trying to get at regarding the unique value of university. And it didn’t do anything for mine, either, but like you, I wasn’t expecting it to. Which speaks to authors point about not participating in the stupid game our society presses onto us. Choosing to go to college to enrich and develop the mind rather than for the credential is an excellent way to declare oneself to not be part of the game.
If things truly do go haywire, it will be something no one has seen before if only because of the swiftness of it occurring. Sure, societies, civilizations and cults have busted apart before, but usually in slow motion.
The presumed leaders will be guessing and anyone can make guesses. They will likely be biased towards their own good advancement and that is kind of natural. The systems will break down because not all contingencies can ever be planned for. Trust yourself first...very good advice.
And in collapse, there is always the hope that a new (voluntary) order might arise from the ashes.
Yes! Make your own way. Walking the trail of the leviathan provides an ersatz life.
well said.
My only objection to this article is that you did not write it and hand deliver it to me when I was 16.
I had to learn all this through trial and error.
Great story about meeting your wife.
Unfortunately I was directed here by one of your other articles where you mentioned this one was cited as containing "hate speech." I have to agree with them. Hate speech is any speech that works against the Communist Revolution. So... the whole thing is hate speech. Advocating for murdering every Jew in the Levant is not hate speech because of the Red Green Alliance. Cheering for or encouraging the murder of anyone to the right of Barack Obama is not hate speech because it helps the Revolution. It's why a definition of terms is necessary for debate.
Ah, if only we had time machines, my friend—the things we would (re)do!
And yeah, to blazes with communism.
So you’re saying, voting for a particular candidate won’t do much good.
Voting by itself won’t help. It would have helped us today if people had paid attention 30-35 years ago.
I wish that were true, but even that is based on a faulty assumption…namely, that if everyone pays attention, they will all do what we want them to. It is more likely, however, that a majority will always vote/engage in political activity to do exactly what has been done: to grow government and turn it into a vehicle for stealing from some and giving to others. Whether you have one percent participation or 90 percent, the majority of those participating will vote to grow government and use it to steal. That is human nature, and government gives them the vehicle to deploy power in pursuit of those aims.
That is one of many reasons why all systems that use voting will always grow, no matter how small they start out as. That is also one reason among many any system that uses voting—yes, even ours—is fundamentally immoral.
You have to find someone you can trust. Every district and state does.
But even if my guy wins, things will still be done to me to which I did not and do not consent. Voting gives others the power to determine what happens to me. Not just the person elected, but the people who voted for him. My fate is now partially in their hands. I did not consent to that. I do not consent to that!
A few songs that match “No one is coming to save you …”, with accompanying lyrics.
Freewill - You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice. If you choose to not decide you still have made a choice. You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill. I will choose a path thats clear, I will choose free will.
Tom Sawyer - No his mind is not for rent, by any god or government
Love Rush. In fact, a small gathering in my back yard turned into a 10-hour part with the neighbors from both sides, and more, and we were talking at one point about Rush, how many times we'd seen them, etc. I now I get to type to you about it, with a decent hangover :-)
I did "The Trees" for another FMF a while back: https://christophercook.substack.com/p/get-rush-anti-communism
You choices are great for other ones, as would be "2112" and "Red Barchetta."
But hey, we are trying to get #FreedomMusicFriday to spread, so maybe you can write about some of these too!
I would love to - I have several podcasts where I’m riffing on these themes, particularly for a #FreedomMusicFriday.
My most recent podcast with a Rush theme focused on the themes from the great book Why We Drive by Matthew Crawford. Spatial cognition gives rise to independence, driving is an expression of that.
https://rumble.com/v4ny323-sunday-nights-radio-red-barchetta.html
Good topic. Though I would struggle to listen in full with my schedule. Can you express in a summary why spatial cognition gives rise to independence?
Your movement forces you to map the world around you. It's after a child starts walking that their brain takes off on it's expansion. Crawford relays that the study focused on a young boy who acquired locomotion much later, and his cognitive skill with memory was severely impaired.
In short, by ordering your world in your head, you actively place importance on objects, places etc. That exercise is a driver for independence because you don't have to wait for things - you can go get them without asking where they are. Hope that makes sense. Matthew's book is great, I highly recommend it.
That totally makes sense. It is very compelling, and appeals to my love of freedom (and exploration). Thank you for the summary!
Christopher, thanks again for a deep and thoughtful discussion of the current human condition. I did not get the jab, I want no jab and I remain mostly "out" of the system. That being said, being an Elder is tough, especially financially. Fortunately, I am not in debt and I have a basic roof and food. God remains my Guide and His Son my Savior, not for "blind faith" but for the reality that we are not just, as you say, plankton, but we are created by God, loved by God and each of us has a path that no one else has tread, in the history of the world. That fact alone is enormous. I may be a "plodder" and not wealthy or famous but I know things based on my own difficult experience. As the Bible says "me and my house will follow the Lord". Blessings always to you, Christopher, WEW
"each of us has a path that no one else has tread, in the history of the world."
Yes.🔥
Thank you, Christopher! You are a man of great discernment!!! Thanks for the “fire”. WEW
Sage advice, nice pep talk 🤗
We all need pep talks!
I enjoyed your thoughts again Christopher. The cool thing is that when we step off into something different, and decide not to remain plankton, often there is support that shows up. I am very happy to see your reach growing. And I am glad you write as you wish about what you feel passionate. That is freedom.
Thanks Terra. Good point about support!
Excellent stack....I saw a bumper sticker today that said "Asteroid 2024 - blow it all up!" I thought, really? With all we've been given : freewill, grace, gratitude, reasoning and (at one point) freedom and all you want to do is blow it up? I get playing out of the system, but wishing fir tge apocalypse? C'mon...
It is probably just a sardonic and hyperbolic statement on the state of our choices. Too bad very few people will realize that the problem is not the choices the system it offers, however, but the existence of the system itself.
I have to chuckle. I'm not a fan of Dickinson/Halford screeching either 😆. I am more of a Led Zeppelin fan myself
This is another Freedom elucidating gem. Thanks for the work. It's of enduring value for all of us.
Cheers!
Thanks!
Bruce Dickinson can fly passenger jets, though. That is pretty cool.
Now I’m pumped 💪🏻
Good song, huh?
Nice!
And immediately made me think of this one from COC:
https://youtu.be/yvsQsao1F88
Listening now. Digging it.
Thanks!
Never give up. Never settle. Never compromise.
Never give someone else power to steer your boat.
Love it!
A smart person told me once that NOBODY wins in a compromise.
Sounds like someone who definitely likes winning. :)
It's not about winning. It's about making yourself primary. Most of us have been taught out of doing that in favor of other people or institutions.
Everyone can win, every time. It's how you set up the game that's important. And there is the clue. Keep that in mind for your new social systems.
Yes, most of the interactions in which I engage are win-win.