What is freedom? There is no freedom lest you be purged of society's mind games. True freedom is a psychological cosmic process where you find your true self, not the self that pretends to live free while being tortured by the manipulations of man. The true self is eternal and not bound by the silly laws of government and societies.
Granted though, there will need to be a way to live in practice that makes every man valuable, cherished and deemed necessary. There has to be something beyond government's tyranny and terrorism. It's a corner difficult to turn because so much is unknown and people have been trained to live with government as their master. A truly brave need world will yet evolve.
Evil is the destruction of freedom. So freedom is the absence of evil, which is 'authority'. As objective morality increases and we align our behaviour with natural law, evil will disintegrate all by itself but that's gonna take a lot of work.
I was always taught that freedom requires responsibility… and honor. It seems the more laws and requirements and protections seem to have contributed to a lack of community … of course, the lack of stay at home moms has contributed to the lack of community as well… someone told me early on in my truth seeking years that there was a plan to get mothers into the workforce, at first I thought, no way… it was an ‘organic evolution’ I thought… but, how wonderful it would have been to have had other moms in the neighborhood doing mom things and connecting that way. I no longer doubt that this phenom was steered on purpose.
My parents and my actual public school teachers in the 80’s… unfortunately, they bought into a lot of the BS too… but, I don’t blame them. They were part of the population that built this country up, so they could be murdered by ‘healthcare’ staff, also deceived and prevented from understanding basic healthcare, like ozone therapy and vitamin c approaches… established evidence ignored by the schools and their career overlords.
I was raised by both of my parents but my mother who was Italian always pushed dont talk to strangers, which has turned into me never asking anyone for help. My wife was taught always open your mouth.
It’s taken me 60 years to get to a point where as I live my life, if I can in any way, help others out I will. There are so many good people all around us with similar goals, that look to give a helping hand to someone, even a stranger, when they can. You know the funny thing is helping someone normally costs you nothing but the reward can last you a lifetime. It can be an extremely humbling experience when in your time of need, someone reaches out and helps you! All of these occurrences that take place really makes me think there’s something more to this life than just what we see. There are so many lessons in life that have taken me far to long to learn, even to turn the other cheek instead of escalating a situation, but that’s a story for another post. Somehow this has been coming clearer to me by the days, weeks and years that pass.
The other day I had to get a building permit in a rough part of the city. It’s always a hassle going there. Out of the dozens of papers, plans, licenses, certificates, registrations etc. I was missing one page of the contract, which meant I would be unable to get the permit and have to take another day and go back. I got into the elevator and on my way out, without the permit, was speaking to a stranger. I eventually said everything is so hard, he saw I had a roll of plans and said what’s the problem, so I told him. When we walked out the door I ran into an old friend that is a city building inspector. Come to find out the stranger I was speaking to was the inspections supervisor and he said go upstairs and issue this man his permit. I asked my friend who is that guy and he said he’s my boss. Within a half hour I walked out with my permit thankful I didn’t have to go back into the city. I can’t help but be humbled and think having a mindset of helping people will some day come back to you. It may not be right away but I’m learning it’s always good to help someone if and when you can.
I just said to Hat, in response to his comment, that we need to bottle his idea and use it—because it is the way to go. What you have said here falls into that same category.
I have been giving a lot of thought to this concept of late. We cannot be the separatist curmudgeons living on the fringes of communities. We're far better off being the nicest people anyone knows.
Christopher reading Hats and your posts made connections with thoughts I have had. The human brain is an amazing thing that can connect in full circles. A little over 236 years ago in the spring of 1789, The first inauguration, of George Washington, was held. The word inauguration defined is “the beginning or introduction of a new system, policy or period. A period to mark the beginning of something”. We who are the aware see the harms this past administration has done to so many people in our lives which stems from its weaponization. Pain is not always physical. We all have struggled at some point trying to let go of pain others have caused us. I’m not suggesting that we sweep away all of the harms this administration and government has done to us, but sometimes we imprison ourselves holding on to anger. Maybe on Monday January 20th we should look at it as the beginning of a new period in our lives where we start to move beyond the pain others have caused us. As the song says “So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we had the key”. Chained even in the mind is the antithesis of being free.
I have a very close friend as I’m sure most of you do. She can’t let go of harms someone had done to her as a child. It’s a constant weight she carries every day and as I have watched for decades it has remained a corrosive destructive part of her life. We to often give power to a person that had hurt us, it can be years or even decades ago, but without forgiveness the pain imprisons us. In my friends case the person that caused much of this harm was her father. Amazingly he has been dead for almost 10 years now, but what he did still brings suffering to her. In a way it’s a choice she’s made to hold on to the pain. It’s a horrible thing, how one person, especially a person of power, can tear another down by treating them horribly or worse, abusing them. No one, certainly not a child, ever deserves this.
Forgiveness isn’t necessarily for the person that caused your pain and it’s not excusing what they did to us, it’s to free ourselves from the pain they caused.
When someone hurts us, in a way, we begin to look at it as if it’s a debt that person owes us. We are owed justice. The problem is, the person that hurt us usually can never pay back what they have taken, certainly not if they have died. It’s up to us to forgive and move forward with our life in a positive manner. God is the only one that can make good on that debt, so by forgiving, you are making a deal with God, and God always pays his debts. It may not be today or tomorrow, but eventually if you work at it and truly forgive, you will be payed back double.
It’s taken me all these years of really trying to not let family and friends get to me. Maybe all the years have thickened my skin, or maybe I have finally figured out “life’s too short”. I hope this recent inauguration brings us a new period of hopeful change we have all been waiting for. J.Goodrich
A lot of wisdom here in what you say James. They may have hurt us in the past, but by holding on to the resentment and grudges we continue hurting ourselves and basically take over the job they were guilty of doing. Forgiveness...For (it's FOR us) give ( we Give up the pain and resentments, and we GIVE that person over to the Divine Presence within) Why would anyone want to hold onto pain, yet so many do, for years sometimes. It starts with not dwelling on it, releasing them to the karmic lessons the universe will inevitably teach them. Stop turning over and reliving the events in the mind, and hosting vengeful fantasies, all that is painful. What sane person would want to voluntarily give themselves pain? Yet so many do and pretend they can't help it. That is not true. It starts with noticing immediately every time you start to slip into those unhappy thoughts, and putting a stop to them, and not allowing them to continue, turning immediately to thoughts of gratitude and appreciation for the good things in your life, and everyone has something if that's what they choose to look for. Forgiveness without kindness to yourself is a kind of hypocrisy. Forgiveness is peace, it's trust, it's refusing to do to yourself what others have tried to do to you that was so painful, and forgiving yourself for continuing to do to yourself what you think they did to you. Forgiveness of others is the same as forgiveness of yourself, recognizing that all of us have hurt someone and made harmful mistakes. Forgiving them makes whatever you did that you know was wrong justifiably worthy of forgiveness as well, and there is something deep within you that will be blessed by it. Please forgive me for rambling on about this but for me it is a key issue in working towards a happy and fulfilling life, and to a big increase in the happy synchronicities or serendipitous circumstances that occur as a regular feature of your experience here.
I think most people want to live in a community of some kind - the idea of a village where people look out for each other and care what happens to their neighbour, lend a hand when disaster strikes and join together for communal celebration - Christmas or whatever. So we should be people who give AND take - certainly not the ones you refer to as 'wanting to be kept.' No grifters or freeloaders.
There is a real tension here, though. A lot of the people who are attracted to this idea of being free and independent are also extremely wary of the groups of any kind. Humans are social creatures, but introverts, and those who are extremely jaded by oppression, start out warier of groups.
I believe people will be happier with a bit more healthy community interaction, like that which you describe. But resistance is built up because of collectivism and unhealthy community.
Farms are communities and always have been until we were turned into a useless class and herded . I'm currently living and working on farms and the situation you describe sorts itself out naturally through necessity. As long as everyone is willing to be responsible and put in the effort, which is the true value that money has replaced. I would also stress the importance of each individual in a community understanding the principles of natural law so that the community is on the same vibration and understands morality and freedom, as is the key to our collective freedom.
Yes, it's wonderful. It's natural living. It reverses so much societal damage in one perfect, natural arrangement whilst providing abundance. It's a symbiosis and how we all used to live. It's the opposite of globalism.
nationalism is a form of bigotry (‘forced marketplace’)
religion is a form of bigotry (‘forced spirituality’)
killing is a form of bigotry (discrimination-based violence)
Fear is the driver. Violence is never the answer. Only a temporary deterrent at best.
Control is the politician’s underlying argument, which is entirely rational in the irrationality of government-based marketplaces, or ‘forced marketplaces.’
History is impossible to prove with 100% accuracy due to corruptible recordkeeping always advocating for the ‘winners’ or ‘better killers’.
Why rapid commercialization of #Bitcoin is vital: align incentive through incorruptible and therefore trustworthy records.
Until then, we all have blood on our hands including myself.
Public protocols such as Bitcoin are forms of voluntary marketplaces anchored by incorruptible recordkeeping thereby eliminating fear-based prisoner’s dilemma game theory of ‘kill or be killed’ as the driving force of commerce.
In today’s forced hierarchical marketplaces (ie, ‘supranational, international, national, state, county, municipal’), ‘have nots’ (ie, poverty, lack of education, disenfranchisement) must always exist to support ‘haves’.
Fear is always the driver in forced marketplaces because records are always corruptible and therefore must be assumed corrupted. Collusion in groups becomes the driving force of commerce and arises cults of personality (‘bigotry’).
Yes, Bitcoin invented the concept of public protocol. Public protocols are still pre-commercial. Like private protocols such as 'TCP' and 'IP', public protocols most likely need to 'stack' in order to commercialize. Sending lots of love and prayers ♥️💪💯
"I hang my hat" yeah I like that. Not always the force of violence for violence, although I suppose there are times when that is necessary, and quite justified as per Ecclesiastes. Better is force of character and ethical altitude, "blessed is the peacemaker" and sometimes turning the other cheek is indicated. I once backed down a convicted rapist who was attempting to violate a young woman and accomplished it without resorting to actual violence. Just the aura I projected, a frequency that said "this is not going to happen" and smothered that evil energy in the moment. There are those who are the "protectors," that is their calling and gift. I really enjoy the Lee Child books with his hero protagonist Jack Reacher. The body count can get rather high. However there is a sort of rough justice, the strong standing up for the weak, not that of the establishment organization type, but where those who have demonstrated by their actions and intent that they think cruelty and vicious violence is within their moral code, and have thus opened the door to suffering the same at some point. What goes around comes around. Someone will inevitably be there to inflict upon them the karma that they have opened themselves up to by their own inner beliefs and reality. Not necessarily something I would enjoy doing, but I am actually glad that there are some people who can and will enjoy it. The kind that make real Sheriffs and good private sector security agents.
Real natural laws are always in operation and can be known by their results and consequences. Morals, as anything codified, like man made laws, being unliving (unloving?) sometimes can be indistinguishable from smug self righteous judgmental ego assumptions written in stone and enforced by legal prohibitions and social disapproval. I am one of those who believe that real laws are discovered through observation, reason, intuition or spiritual revelation from within. The consequences of obedience or violation of such becomes obvious to the aware and observant, though linear time can make those results less obvious to the cognitively impaired and ignorant. I had to smile about the reference to "hats." I am one who has always liked the way hats can be used to express recognition, reverence, personal style etc. I am one of those who wears his hat most of the time, as might be expected from someone known as Hat, and I think real hospitality is making someone comfortable, and I am more comfortable wearing my hat at the table in public and sometimes in private. When I take it off in respect of the Source, when in prayer, in a Holy place, at the graveside, to show great appreciation (My hat's off to you) and I enjoy tipping it to women, the elderly and so on.
I tried to find messages and was not able to figure it out. I just deleted the extra substack that was labeled "The Craftsman" you gave me since I have all my essays on the original Hat Bailey substack and it just added confusion. If there were messages on that one they are all gone now. It looks like my subscription was linked to that account so all my comments have been deleted.
Great point about honor. I think we have to dd that into our calculations, to be sure.
As far as communes go, that is not really what we are forming. People who deem themselves members can, of course, do what they wish on their own property, and in private association with others. But I certainly will not be recommending the commune as a model to follow. Probably for many of the same reasons that you would not recommend it!
Here too, people can do what they wish on their own property. But we are to going to be forming or recommending any hierarchical structures.
Re: Lord of the Flies—did you know that a real-life version of that happened, except it turned out the opposite. A bunch of kids were marooned for months and ended up forming a highly functional society.
If as you say "..Americans, it is said, have no ethnicity...." then why do we constantly see news reports about African Americans, Japanese American, Italian Americans, Jewish Americans etc.? Is the use of such expressions a convenient way to create differences? Is this the subtle way that power brokers influence politicians and hence policies seeking to favour some or denying others? Those that proudly state themselves to be (add "nationality") Americans are seeking exceptions based on a mis-guided notion of self imposed importance to the exclusion of all others. This practice just promotes social division.
I try not to answer questions with whole articles too often, but in this case, it would be helpful. There is an answer, but it requires a bit of history. The article is focused on the trans issue, but before the rats ran into the room marked "TRANS," there were a whole bunch of other rooms. (The metaphor makes sense in context.) They need to divide us into competing groups:
Don't let the craziness of New Jersey sway you, but Freehold is already a city here in Jersey. The term "Freeholder" had been used as the title of county commissioners -- the Board of Chosen Freeholders -- until a few years ago when enough people got upset over the slavery implications of the old term.
When I moved to Jersey, the folks at the newspaper where I worked would call the Chosen Freeholders the Frozen Cheeseholders. This seemed appropriate for government. I still call the county commissioners the Frozen Cheeseholders.
Enjoying the discussion of character/ethics, too. Attention is an important trait; more important than IQ. Curiosity and skepticism are important traits. Can probably be summed up as:
Give people the benefit of the doubt.
You still get to doubt -- and you should doubt! -- but you give the benefit while you explore, investigate, reflect, scrutinize, criticize.
On the benefit of the doubt: YES! That is really good. I think that falls, at least in part, into the civility bucket.
On Freehold:
Oh for the love of crumbcake—does everything have a slavery implication?
There was an expression I heard many times when I was younger. I won't mention it here, but the way I always heard it used, it was a (very mild) slur at Italians. (I am more Italian than anything else, and it just sounded funny.) It was only a couple of years ago that I learned that its original form had a very different meaning and was directed at blacks in the slavery era. Had I publicly said it in the mild way that I had always heard it used, it would have been career-ending. But I had no idea!
And there are two other expressions that I had always heard, but had no idea (until comparatively recently) had bigoted origins, or the use of which could be deemed as such.
Dog nab it. Is that really baggage we want to take on?
I wanted to share this follow up with my friend the city building inspector. This is my personal story and my feelings. Take it for what it’s worth, it’s worth a lot to me!
I went to the home of my old friend, the city inspector, that “helped me” get the building permit last week. Before this I honestly had not seen or heard from him in years. He asked for help with some finish work at his home. He happens to have 5 brothers that grew up in the same town that I did. I went to his house and we began to talk. He told me growing up his father had a bad drinking problem and when he drank he became very harsh and abusive to him and his brothers. He said at one point his father told him he was no good, he was useless and that’s why he will never give him anything of value because he’d ruin it. This, went on through his childhood and pushed him into years of self loathing, drinking and abusing himself. It’s something how evil people try their best to push us to loath and dislike ourselves.
One day he said he met a friend that had gotten sober and he told his friend he had rage inside of him because of the way his father had treated him, he just couldn’t understand why he treated him and his brothers so badly. A year later he told me he ran into the same friend and again told him he was still dealing with this anger, and still drank to excess. His friend told him he needed to get help, he gave him information of an Al-Anon meeting. Slowly my friend began to get the help he needed, understand, and heal.
I was a very lucky kid, I had a caring earthly father. My father was no pushover and I definitely didn’t want to disappoint him but if us kids ever got in trouble, and we all did, my father would do whatever it took to help get us out of it. After I did my wrong, my father was mad for a while but eventually he had his way of getting things back to normal. This was a learning process that I couldn’t wait to get to the end stage of and it also allowed me to gain trust in him, my father was always on our side. My inspector friend told me he still goes to meetings and hasn’t had a drink in over 14 years.
We all have a father, a loving father that’s for us, someone that helps us overcome our mistakes, someone that cheers us on as we pursue our dreams, someone that believes the very best in us. When we know God is our Father we know He’s there as a constant source of strength and encouragement. He’s there to lift us when we fall, to encourage us when we’re down. It’s a comforting feeling to know, when things get bad our Heavenly Father will always welcome us home with open arms. My friend, I’m happy to tell you, finally found Him. J.Goodrich
I really have trouble understanding cruelty to children—to one's own, or any others. It's just so alien to me.
Yes, as parents, we get frustrated. Sometimes we err in our parenting techniques. Men have the added hurdle of testosterone, which can give us a temper and cause us to externalize our anger or frustration. But parental failings in this regard—occasional, accidental, human—are not the same as intentional and protracted cruelty, like that which you describe this father subjecting his sons to. I just don't get how anyone can be that mean to helpless children.
I suggest choosing Our behavior within the three Laws. We may be nasty verbally and antisocial, but as long as We choose Ethical behavior, no problems are created.
If someOne is nasty verbally, it is up to the listener to choose how to feel about it.
The three Laws of Ethics (Natural Law expressed as the three things not to do):
1. Do not willfully and without fully informed consent hurt or kill the flesh of anOther
2. Do not willfully and without fully informed consent take or damage anything that does not belong to You alone
3. Do not willfully defraud anOther (which can only happen without fully informed consent)
"Eventually I did have a run in with establishment figures here in the form of a Sheriff's Deputy, and my decision was not to be angry or fearful, but to be calm, and gracious, recognizing that this was a good man who suffered from the common delusion many suffer from, but this was a man who had a genuine desire to protect and serve his community with courage and commitment. As a result in the end I did not cause him to esteem me as an enemy but actually came to earn his respect for me and my principles, and I never again had a problem with him."
—We are going to need to bottle this and use it. This is the way.
Well I guess I have that risk taking gene. It was a risk dropping the SSN and moving to Texas from the sinking state of California in an unlicensed unregistered pickup with no driver license or state ID. Sounds a bit crazy I know, but I was not as careless as it might seem, I was relying on certain principles, and my own honest intentions to be a harmless and helpful human being. I used certain subtle methods of being invisible that I felt inspired to take through experience rather than confrontations. There were a series of things which would work together to make my move a success in the end that happened seemingly by accident. In the final analysis wasn't it a greater risk to continue a life that was unsatisfying and which supported the very entities who were keeping us in a form of slavery? The pioneers who settled the West took great risks, and though they experienced hardships, they set an example of self sufficiency and self worth, and although sometimes it was only their descendants who reaped the greater rewards we honor their courage and determination. Eventually I did have a run in with establishment figures here in the form of a Sheriff's Deputy, and my decision was not to be angry or fearful, but to be calm, and gracious, recognizing that this was a good man who suffered from the common delusion many suffer from, but this was a man who had a genuine desire to protect and serve his community with courage and commitment. As a result in the end I did not cause him to esteem me as an enemy but actually came to earn his respect for me and my principles, and I never again had a problem with him. Resisting with anger and resentment would have been the wrong thing to do. There were violations of certain Texas and US constitutional provisions that some have been successful in getting compensation for unjustified or illegal detention and mistakes in procedure, but I was not interested in that. It was not the earthly court to which I made my appeal, but to something a bit higher and I am happy with the outcome.
It helped that I had established a reputation over many years of friendly nonjudgmental, peaceful and ethical service to my small community. This will serve our purpose well as people gain that kind of impression of our special community and learn to respect our principles and purpose. We pose no threat to anything that is good, beautiful, worthwhile or true, and we bring value, love and positivity to every situation in which we find ourselves. Thus we gain support from all who are of good will and opposition only from those who are willing to see themselves as of evil intent.
What is freedom? There is no freedom lest you be purged of society's mind games. True freedom is a psychological cosmic process where you find your true self, not the self that pretends to live free while being tortured by the manipulations of man. The true self is eternal and not bound by the silly laws of government and societies.
Granted though, there will need to be a way to live in practice that makes every man valuable, cherished and deemed necessary. There has to be something beyond government's tyranny and terrorism. It's a corner difficult to turn because so much is unknown and people have been trained to live with government as their master. A truly brave need world will yet evolve.
We are the ones who will figure out how to make it happen. So keep the ideas coming. Ultimately we must go from theory to practice…
Evil is the destruction of freedom. So freedom is the absence of evil, which is 'authority'. As objective morality increases and we align our behaviour with natural law, evil will disintegrate all by itself but that's gonna take a lot of work.
Yes. The only authority is natural law which is a construct of the creator for our benefit. We just have to align to it.
I was always taught that freedom requires responsibility… and honor. It seems the more laws and requirements and protections seem to have contributed to a lack of community … of course, the lack of stay at home moms has contributed to the lack of community as well… someone told me early on in my truth seeking years that there was a plan to get mothers into the workforce, at first I thought, no way… it was an ‘organic evolution’ I thought… but, how wonderful it would have been to have had other moms in the neighborhood doing mom things and connecting that way. I no longer doubt that this phenom was steered on purpose.
"I was always taught that freedom requires responsibility… and honor."
—I thank whoever it was that taught this!
My parents and my actual public school teachers in the 80’s… unfortunately, they bought into a lot of the BS too… but, I don’t blame them. They were part of the population that built this country up, so they could be murdered by ‘healthcare’ staff, also deceived and prevented from understanding basic healthcare, like ozone therapy and vitamin c approaches… established evidence ignored by the schools and their career overlords.
It's a good thing that homeschooling is up from just a couple of thousand in 1970 to over five million today.
I was raised by both of my parents but my mother who was Italian always pushed dont talk to strangers, which has turned into me never asking anyone for help. My wife was taught always open your mouth.
It’s taken me 60 years to get to a point where as I live my life, if I can in any way, help others out I will. There are so many good people all around us with similar goals, that look to give a helping hand to someone, even a stranger, when they can. You know the funny thing is helping someone normally costs you nothing but the reward can last you a lifetime. It can be an extremely humbling experience when in your time of need, someone reaches out and helps you! All of these occurrences that take place really makes me think there’s something more to this life than just what we see. There are so many lessons in life that have taken me far to long to learn, even to turn the other cheek instead of escalating a situation, but that’s a story for another post. Somehow this has been coming clearer to me by the days, weeks and years that pass.
The other day I had to get a building permit in a rough part of the city. It’s always a hassle going there. Out of the dozens of papers, plans, licenses, certificates, registrations etc. I was missing one page of the contract, which meant I would be unable to get the permit and have to take another day and go back. I got into the elevator and on my way out, without the permit, was speaking to a stranger. I eventually said everything is so hard, he saw I had a roll of plans and said what’s the problem, so I told him. When we walked out the door I ran into an old friend that is a city building inspector. Come to find out the stranger I was speaking to was the inspections supervisor and he said go upstairs and issue this man his permit. I asked my friend who is that guy and he said he’s my boss. Within a half hour I walked out with my permit thankful I didn’t have to go back into the city. I can’t help but be humbled and think having a mindset of helping people will some day come back to you. It may not be right away but I’m learning it’s always good to help someone if and when you can.
J.Goodrich
You are 100% right.
I just said to Hat, in response to his comment, that we need to bottle his idea and use it—because it is the way to go. What you have said here falls into that same category.
I have been giving a lot of thought to this concept of late. We cannot be the separatist curmudgeons living on the fringes of communities. We're far better off being the nicest people anyone knows.
Christopher reading Hats and your posts made connections with thoughts I have had. The human brain is an amazing thing that can connect in full circles. A little over 236 years ago in the spring of 1789, The first inauguration, of George Washington, was held. The word inauguration defined is “the beginning or introduction of a new system, policy or period. A period to mark the beginning of something”. We who are the aware see the harms this past administration has done to so many people in our lives which stems from its weaponization. Pain is not always physical. We all have struggled at some point trying to let go of pain others have caused us. I’m not suggesting that we sweep away all of the harms this administration and government has done to us, but sometimes we imprison ourselves holding on to anger. Maybe on Monday January 20th we should look at it as the beginning of a new period in our lives where we start to move beyond the pain others have caused us. As the song says “So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we had the key”. Chained even in the mind is the antithesis of being free.
I have a very close friend as I’m sure most of you do. She can’t let go of harms someone had done to her as a child. It’s a constant weight she carries every day and as I have watched for decades it has remained a corrosive destructive part of her life. We to often give power to a person that had hurt us, it can be years or even decades ago, but without forgiveness the pain imprisons us. In my friends case the person that caused much of this harm was her father. Amazingly he has been dead for almost 10 years now, but what he did still brings suffering to her. In a way it’s a choice she’s made to hold on to the pain. It’s a horrible thing, how one person, especially a person of power, can tear another down by treating them horribly or worse, abusing them. No one, certainly not a child, ever deserves this.
Forgiveness isn’t necessarily for the person that caused your pain and it’s not excusing what they did to us, it’s to free ourselves from the pain they caused.
When someone hurts us, in a way, we begin to look at it as if it’s a debt that person owes us. We are owed justice. The problem is, the person that hurt us usually can never pay back what they have taken, certainly not if they have died. It’s up to us to forgive and move forward with our life in a positive manner. God is the only one that can make good on that debt, so by forgiving, you are making a deal with God, and God always pays his debts. It may not be today or tomorrow, but eventually if you work at it and truly forgive, you will be payed back double.
It’s taken me all these years of really trying to not let family and friends get to me. Maybe all the years have thickened my skin, or maybe I have finally figured out “life’s too short”. I hope this recent inauguration brings us a new period of hopeful change we have all been waiting for. J.Goodrich
Excellent and important message—one which I think I should reference in an upcoming installment (on being happy).
Happiness or being miserable is definitely a choice we make that starts everyday when we wake up.
Amen.
A lot of wisdom here in what you say James. They may have hurt us in the past, but by holding on to the resentment and grudges we continue hurting ourselves and basically take over the job they were guilty of doing. Forgiveness...For (it's FOR us) give ( we Give up the pain and resentments, and we GIVE that person over to the Divine Presence within) Why would anyone want to hold onto pain, yet so many do, for years sometimes. It starts with not dwelling on it, releasing them to the karmic lessons the universe will inevitably teach them. Stop turning over and reliving the events in the mind, and hosting vengeful fantasies, all that is painful. What sane person would want to voluntarily give themselves pain? Yet so many do and pretend they can't help it. That is not true. It starts with noticing immediately every time you start to slip into those unhappy thoughts, and putting a stop to them, and not allowing them to continue, turning immediately to thoughts of gratitude and appreciation for the good things in your life, and everyone has something if that's what they choose to look for. Forgiveness without kindness to yourself is a kind of hypocrisy. Forgiveness is peace, it's trust, it's refusing to do to yourself what others have tried to do to you that was so painful, and forgiving yourself for continuing to do to yourself what you think they did to you. Forgiveness of others is the same as forgiveness of yourself, recognizing that all of us have hurt someone and made harmful mistakes. Forgiving them makes whatever you did that you know was wrong justifiably worthy of forgiveness as well, and there is something deep within you that will be blessed by it. Please forgive me for rambling on about this but for me it is a key issue in working towards a happy and fulfilling life, and to a big increase in the happy synchronicities or serendipitous circumstances that occur as a regular feature of your experience here.
I think most people want to live in a community of some kind - the idea of a village where people look out for each other and care what happens to their neighbour, lend a hand when disaster strikes and join together for communal celebration - Christmas or whatever. So we should be people who give AND take - certainly not the ones you refer to as 'wanting to be kept.' No grifters or freeloaders.
I agree.
There is a real tension here, though. A lot of the people who are attracted to this idea of being free and independent are also extremely wary of the groups of any kind. Humans are social creatures, but introverts, and those who are extremely jaded by oppression, start out warier of groups.
I believe people will be happier with a bit more healthy community interaction, like that which you describe. But resistance is built up because of collectivism and unhealthy community.
Farms are communities and always have been until we were turned into a useless class and herded . I'm currently living and working on farms and the situation you describe sorts itself out naturally through necessity. As long as everyone is willing to be responsible and put in the effort, which is the true value that money has replaced. I would also stress the importance of each individual in a community understanding the principles of natural law so that the community is on the same vibration and understands morality and freedom, as is the key to our collective freedom.
Even people I know who don't want to work on a farm seem to become happier when they are on a farm, or around the animals. There's something about it…
Yes, it's wonderful. It's natural living. It reverses so much societal damage in one perfect, natural arrangement whilst providing abundance. It's a symbiosis and how we all used to live. It's the opposite of globalism.
Well Done Christopher and such great comments!
Thank you very much for sharing your ideas! ♥️☀️☮️🌈🏁
Please feel free to add in thoughts of your own!
Thank you very kindly! Here's my effort:
racism is a form of bigotry
sexism is a form of bigotry
nationalism is a form of bigotry (‘forced marketplace’)
religion is a form of bigotry (‘forced spirituality’)
killing is a form of bigotry (discrimination-based violence)
Fear is the driver. Violence is never the answer. Only a temporary deterrent at best.
Control is the politician’s underlying argument, which is entirely rational in the irrationality of government-based marketplaces, or ‘forced marketplaces.’
History is impossible to prove with 100% accuracy due to corruptible recordkeeping always advocating for the ‘winners’ or ‘better killers’.
Why rapid commercialization of #Bitcoin is vital: align incentive through incorruptible and therefore trustworthy records.
Until then, we all have blood on our hands including myself.
Public protocols such as Bitcoin are forms of voluntary marketplaces anchored by incorruptible recordkeeping thereby eliminating fear-based prisoner’s dilemma game theory of ‘kill or be killed’ as the driving force of commerce.
In today’s forced hierarchical marketplaces (ie, ‘supranational, international, national, state, county, municipal’), ‘have nots’ (ie, poverty, lack of education, disenfranchisement) must always exist to support ‘haves’.
Fear is always the driver in forced marketplaces because records are always corruptible and therefore must be assumed corrupted. Collusion in groups becomes the driving force of commerce and arises cults of personality (‘bigotry’).
only through communication is love actualized.
Sending lots of love
♥️☀️☮️🌈🏁🥳🏆🐛🦋
Thanks!!
On Bitcoin—I know it has become the go-to crypto for many, but it requires so much energy. I wish there were a better way to do it than that…
Yes, Bitcoin invented the concept of public protocol. Public protocols are still pre-commercial. Like private protocols such as 'TCP' and 'IP', public protocols most likely need to 'stack' in order to commercialize. Sending lots of love and prayers ♥️💪💯
And the same back to you!
Most welcome and thank you for your kindness!
Good points, and yes, if the comparison is Bitcoin vs. fiat/central bank, then there is no comparison.
I was more thinking about other less energy-intensive cryptos, or other decentralized currencies…
"I hang my hat" yeah I like that. Not always the force of violence for violence, although I suppose there are times when that is necessary, and quite justified as per Ecclesiastes. Better is force of character and ethical altitude, "blessed is the peacemaker" and sometimes turning the other cheek is indicated. I once backed down a convicted rapist who was attempting to violate a young woman and accomplished it without resorting to actual violence. Just the aura I projected, a frequency that said "this is not going to happen" and smothered that evil energy in the moment. There are those who are the "protectors," that is their calling and gift. I really enjoy the Lee Child books with his hero protagonist Jack Reacher. The body count can get rather high. However there is a sort of rough justice, the strong standing up for the weak, not that of the establishment organization type, but where those who have demonstrated by their actions and intent that they think cruelty and vicious violence is within their moral code, and have thus opened the door to suffering the same at some point. What goes around comes around. Someone will inevitably be there to inflict upon them the karma that they have opened themselves up to by their own inner beliefs and reality. Not necessarily something I would enjoy doing, but I am actually glad that there are some people who can and will enjoy it. The kind that make real Sheriffs and good private sector security agents.
Hey, is there gonna be another season of Reacher?
Real natural laws are always in operation and can be known by their results and consequences. Morals, as anything codified, like man made laws, being unliving (unloving?) sometimes can be indistinguishable from smug self righteous judgmental ego assumptions written in stone and enforced by legal prohibitions and social disapproval. I am one of those who believe that real laws are discovered through observation, reason, intuition or spiritual revelation from within. The consequences of obedience or violation of such becomes obvious to the aware and observant, though linear time can make those results less obvious to the cognitively impaired and ignorant. I had to smile about the reference to "hats." I am one who has always liked the way hats can be used to express recognition, reverence, personal style etc. I am one of those who wears his hat most of the time, as might be expected from someone known as Hat, and I think real hospitality is making someone comfortable, and I am more comfortable wearing my hat at the table in public and sometimes in private. When I take it off in respect of the Source, when in prayer, in a Holy place, at the graveside, to show great appreciation (My hat's off to you) and I enjoy tipping it to women, the elderly and so on.
"real laws are discovered through observation, reason, intuition or spiritual revelation from within"
—That's exactly the point we have reached in my other book. I concur!
I tried to find messages and was not able to figure it out. I just deleted the extra substack that was labeled "The Craftsman" you gave me since I have all my essays on the original Hat Bailey substack and it just added confusion. If there were messages on that one they are all gone now. It looks like my subscription was linked to that account so all my comments have been deleted.
That is so sad. Many good comments in there!
I will root for "Earthian! Haha!
We want to walk away from 1984 and avoid ending up at Animal Farm. Am I reading this correctly?
If we are to be worthy, if we truly care about bringing forth a new world, a sense of honor will be its bedrock.
Honor sanctifies your handshake as contract, your vow as commandment. It separates the We-Crowd from the Me-Crowd.
Without honor trust is keeping your fingers crossed and hoping for the best.
In proceeding, I would consider what social constructs communities like the Amish and Findhorn Foundation have to offer and modify accordingly.
At all costs, I would avoid any correlation between this Genesis and any association with Commune.
I would also be vigilant toward all hierarchies. They are the weeds that strangle the crop and always denote vested interest.
And I would keep a copy of Lord of the Flies within reach.
My best to you and all who share your vision.
Great point about honor. I think we have to dd that into our calculations, to be sure.
As far as communes go, that is not really what we are forming. People who deem themselves members can, of course, do what they wish on their own property, and in private association with others. But I certainly will not be recommending the commune as a model to follow. Probably for many of the same reasons that you would not recommend it!
We are also not hierarchical. There will be no central authority—only this: https://christophercook.substack.com/p/alliance-human-independence
Here too, people can do what they wish on their own property. But we are to going to be forming or recommending any hierarchical structures.
Re: Lord of the Flies—did you know that a real-life version of that happened, except it turned out the opposite. A bunch of kids were marooned for months and ended up forming a highly functional society.
Thanks!
If as you say "..Americans, it is said, have no ethnicity...." then why do we constantly see news reports about African Americans, Japanese American, Italian Americans, Jewish Americans etc.? Is the use of such expressions a convenient way to create differences? Is this the subtle way that power brokers influence politicians and hence policies seeking to favour some or denying others? Those that proudly state themselves to be (add "nationality") Americans are seeking exceptions based on a mis-guided notion of self imposed importance to the exclusion of all others. This practice just promotes social division.
Your government via the media, the census etc encourages this focus… for a reason. It’s a propaganda tactic.
I try not to answer questions with whole articles too often, but in this case, it would be helpful. There is an answer, but it requires a bit of history. The article is focused on the trans issue, but before the rats ran into the room marked "TRANS," there were a whole bunch of other rooms. (The metaphor makes sense in context.) They need to divide us into competing groups:
https://christophercook.substack.com/p/why-the-left-is-so-insane-on-the
Don't let the craziness of New Jersey sway you, but Freehold is already a city here in Jersey. The term "Freeholder" had been used as the title of county commissioners -- the Board of Chosen Freeholders -- until a few years ago when enough people got upset over the slavery implications of the old term.
When I moved to Jersey, the folks at the newspaper where I worked would call the Chosen Freeholders the Frozen Cheeseholders. This seemed appropriate for government. I still call the county commissioners the Frozen Cheeseholders.
Enjoying the discussion of character/ethics, too. Attention is an important trait; more important than IQ. Curiosity and skepticism are important traits. Can probably be summed up as:
Give people the benefit of the doubt.
You still get to doubt -- and you should doubt! -- but you give the benefit while you explore, investigate, reflect, scrutinize, criticize.
On the benefit of the doubt: YES! That is really good. I think that falls, at least in part, into the civility bucket.
On Freehold:
Oh for the love of crumbcake—does everything have a slavery implication?
There was an expression I heard many times when I was younger. I won't mention it here, but the way I always heard it used, it was a (very mild) slur at Italians. (I am more Italian than anything else, and it just sounded funny.) It was only a couple of years ago that I learned that its original form had a very different meaning and was directed at blacks in the slavery era. Had I publicly said it in the mild way that I had always heard it used, it would have been career-ending. But I had no idea!
And there are two other expressions that I had always heard, but had no idea (until comparatively recently) had bigoted origins, or the use of which could be deemed as such.
Dog nab it. Is that really baggage we want to take on?
Cheesehold probably offends vegans, too.
And I love crumbcake!
I'll take that as a maybe. LOL!!
I wanted to share this follow up with my friend the city building inspector. This is my personal story and my feelings. Take it for what it’s worth, it’s worth a lot to me!
I went to the home of my old friend, the city inspector, that “helped me” get the building permit last week. Before this I honestly had not seen or heard from him in years. He asked for help with some finish work at his home. He happens to have 5 brothers that grew up in the same town that I did. I went to his house and we began to talk. He told me growing up his father had a bad drinking problem and when he drank he became very harsh and abusive to him and his brothers. He said at one point his father told him he was no good, he was useless and that’s why he will never give him anything of value because he’d ruin it. This, went on through his childhood and pushed him into years of self loathing, drinking and abusing himself. It’s something how evil people try their best to push us to loath and dislike ourselves.
One day he said he met a friend that had gotten sober and he told his friend he had rage inside of him because of the way his father had treated him, he just couldn’t understand why he treated him and his brothers so badly. A year later he told me he ran into the same friend and again told him he was still dealing with this anger, and still drank to excess. His friend told him he needed to get help, he gave him information of an Al-Anon meeting. Slowly my friend began to get the help he needed, understand, and heal.
I was a very lucky kid, I had a caring earthly father. My father was no pushover and I definitely didn’t want to disappoint him but if us kids ever got in trouble, and we all did, my father would do whatever it took to help get us out of it. After I did my wrong, my father was mad for a while but eventually he had his way of getting things back to normal. This was a learning process that I couldn’t wait to get to the end stage of and it also allowed me to gain trust in him, my father was always on our side. My inspector friend told me he still goes to meetings and hasn’t had a drink in over 14 years.
We all have a father, a loving father that’s for us, someone that helps us overcome our mistakes, someone that cheers us on as we pursue our dreams, someone that believes the very best in us. When we know God is our Father we know He’s there as a constant source of strength and encouragement. He’s there to lift us when we fall, to encourage us when we’re down. It’s a comforting feeling to know, when things get bad our Heavenly Father will always welcome us home with open arms. My friend, I’m happy to tell you, finally found Him. J.Goodrich
◦
This is a fantastic story. ❤️
I really have trouble understanding cruelty to children—to one's own, or any others. It's just so alien to me.
Yes, as parents, we get frustrated. Sometimes we err in our parenting techniques. Men have the added hurdle of testosterone, which can give us a temper and cause us to externalize our anger or frustration. But parental failings in this regard—occasional, accidental, human—are not the same as intentional and protracted cruelty, like that which you describe this father subjecting his sons to. I just don't get how anyone can be that mean to helpless children.
I suggest choosing Our behavior within the three Laws. We may be nasty verbally and antisocial, but as long as We choose Ethical behavior, no problems are created.
If someOne is nasty verbally, it is up to the listener to choose how to feel about it.
The three Laws of Ethics (Natural Law expressed as the three things not to do):
1. Do not willfully and without fully informed consent hurt or kill the flesh of anOther
2. Do not willfully and without fully informed consent take or damage anything that does not belong to You alone
3. Do not willfully defraud anOther (which can only happen without fully informed consent)
Choosing to Depress (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/choosing-to-depress
"Eventually I did have a run in with establishment figures here in the form of a Sheriff's Deputy, and my decision was not to be angry or fearful, but to be calm, and gracious, recognizing that this was a good man who suffered from the common delusion many suffer from, but this was a man who had a genuine desire to protect and serve his community with courage and commitment. As a result in the end I did not cause him to esteem me as an enemy but actually came to earn his respect for me and my principles, and I never again had a problem with him."
—We are going to need to bottle this and use it. This is the way.
Well I guess I have that risk taking gene. It was a risk dropping the SSN and moving to Texas from the sinking state of California in an unlicensed unregistered pickup with no driver license or state ID. Sounds a bit crazy I know, but I was not as careless as it might seem, I was relying on certain principles, and my own honest intentions to be a harmless and helpful human being. I used certain subtle methods of being invisible that I felt inspired to take through experience rather than confrontations. There were a series of things which would work together to make my move a success in the end that happened seemingly by accident. In the final analysis wasn't it a greater risk to continue a life that was unsatisfying and which supported the very entities who were keeping us in a form of slavery? The pioneers who settled the West took great risks, and though they experienced hardships, they set an example of self sufficiency and self worth, and although sometimes it was only their descendants who reaped the greater rewards we honor their courage and determination. Eventually I did have a run in with establishment figures here in the form of a Sheriff's Deputy, and my decision was not to be angry or fearful, but to be calm, and gracious, recognizing that this was a good man who suffered from the common delusion many suffer from, but this was a man who had a genuine desire to protect and serve his community with courage and commitment. As a result in the end I did not cause him to esteem me as an enemy but actually came to earn his respect for me and my principles, and I never again had a problem with him. Resisting with anger and resentment would have been the wrong thing to do. There were violations of certain Texas and US constitutional provisions that some have been successful in getting compensation for unjustified or illegal detention and mistakes in procedure, but I was not interested in that. It was not the earthly court to which I made my appeal, but to something a bit higher and I am happy with the outcome.
Perfect. You just said it perfectly.
It helped that I had established a reputation over many years of friendly nonjudgmental, peaceful and ethical service to my small community. This will serve our purpose well as people gain that kind of impression of our special community and learn to respect our principles and purpose. We pose no threat to anything that is good, beautiful, worthwhile or true, and we bring value, love and positivity to every situation in which we find ourselves. Thus we gain support from all who are of good will and opposition only from those who are willing to see themselves as of evil intent.
🔥
Your wisdom makes you a natural leader.