I lived in a socialist cult for a year. They kept saying, "You need to sacrifice your individuality." It was clear that the only reason anyone remained there was because of this very sacrifice. All property was supposed to become common property, so that no one owned anything. We were supposed to confess our "sins" publicly and be shamed when we would not. It was a collective humiliation.
Now, when people try to convince me that this system can work on a much grander scale, such as nation states, I'm simply appalled. It didn't even work in a group the size of a football team. Or, it appeared to work externally but the people were miserable. The children and adults worked all the time, and it was all for the "collective." Or rather for the hierarchy of leadership which chose everything we should wear, believe, do, and want. They shamed anyone who wouldn't obey. It's most definitely a cult. I had to escape by cover of night. And guess who ended up there? Broken and homeless people who had nothing.
The greater good always creates a caste system. And when violation of taboo confers victimhood, you have just raised your level of importance to the collective, but only momentarily so long as it serves the higher castes.
The British East India Company marveled how much control the caste system of India exercised. We have many institutions that operate on that principle here, we are slow to realize it.
I followed your link, but quickly got hung up on "The world is in chaos—corporate greed is rampant." Uhhh, yes, corporations (shockingly!) are committed to making as much money as possible. You can call that "greed" if you like, but to me that means you have some fantasies about how corporations should act that are not, and should not be, reality.
The good news is that, unlike government, corporations can't force you to partake of their services. If you're looking for villains to condemn, I would urge you to focus your attention on that one institution which uses force to back up its wishes.
I totally agree with everybody that talks about the importance of family and community. I even tend to think that viewing family as the foundational unit of civilization gives you a proper perspective and helps keep civilization alive. However, (what especially some conservatives don’t seem to get) this doesn’t give me the right to impose this idea of life on everybody else.
Maybe not, but if we don't share the concept of self ownership we are all at risk, because collectivists are always potential cannibals. Conservatives don't impose their views on others like collectivists do.
I have thought for some time that too, yes I am an island. Our individuality and unique experience and our bodies, I like the idea of me and find the whole we are one thing very hive-mind, but as an introvert maybe I’m biased. Really enjoying these articles about new possibilities and views.
A friend once said to me (as I was pining over a lost relationship) words to this effect: "Each of us is in our own raft, going down life's river. We may paddle together, but still, each of us is in our own raft." He was trying to get me to stop feeling so completely connected to my ex gf that I was acting like I wasn't my own person. That has stuck with me!
The games in the ALCS were all so close…my wife and I were in near cardiac arrest the whole time. Couldn't we just have had one laugher, just to give our hearts a rest? 🤣
Once again you nailed it Christopher! You broke it down so well. About 20 years ago a wonderful friend Exposed Jean-Jacques Rousseau which shook the world and you have just done it too in short words.
When the whole, "it's not about you, it's about others" demands came that implored us to mask and inject it was the most evil predation masquerading as compassion I had ever heard up to then. Of course it's about you! Your health and life is more important to you than anybody else. If you don't take care of yourself first you will become one of the weak and vulnerable.
Taking ownership of our own individual health is the quickest, most reliable way to improve overall health outcomes in a population of all - because we're in most control of ourselves. Eat right, hydrate, exercise, sleep, spiritual practice, socialize, keep to a regular schedule, love, regulate body temperature, all choices we make that optimize our individual health. We have no obligation to forgo any of our healthy practices to "protect others" who don't take personal responsibility for their own health.
If I had a dollar for every time a morbidly obese woman yelled at me to put on a mask in a supermarket - as she was pushing around a shopping cart full of soda, chips, cookies, frozen treats, pizza and sugar cereals - I'd be a very rich man. "How about you put those four 12-pack's of Diet Mountain Dew and Cheetos back on the shelf and buy fresh produce and meats, sistah? Will do way more for your health than anything I could do, and most certainly not by me wearing a disgusting slave mask."
Starts with self. The healthiest society is one where people take personal responsibility for their own health. Yes. Yes it is about me. It's not about others. I'm not obligated to sacrifice myself at the altar of "public health." Nobody, no doctor, no nurse, no politician, no media talking head, nobody cares as much about your health and life as you do. When you take care of your own health "public health" benefits most.
Related:
"Our greatest obligation to the poor is not to become one of them."
- I don't know who first said that, but I heard it and it resonates.
A number of fat women glowered at me too for not wearing a mask. Had one of them actually chosen to say something, I probably would have responded with something like, "Madam, your excessive adiposity is going to do you in far sooner than any virus will."
Sometimes, you are all you've got. You may act as part of the whole, but never, ever give up your self-awareness and ability to think beyond the collective.
This point, "out of a religious, spiritual, or ideological belief that we should share the Earth in common or that “no one can own the Earth,"” I might point out that We each own a share of the planet and its wealth. Not "in common," not no One owning it. We each own a share.
Long ago, the psychopaths of the time, knowing that no One owns more of the wealth than any Other, declared Us "incompetent." The Pope and His gang set up "TRUSTS" (legal caps) for Us with Them as "TRUSTEES." (And thus Ones like John D Rockefeller saying, "Own nothing, control everything." He surely owned His share, but controlled much that was not His.)
Well, the psychopaths in control are holding Our wealth in "TRUSTS," having quantified it, as I said. We have been made slaves, having to account for Our energy added into a system. Getting quantified tokens.
And the idea that We all must add energy into a system arose in times of scarcity, where all hands were needed to get needed work done. They didn't want People "skating" on the work of Others.
So goods and services were used to quantify the wealth. But trade/barter have their downfalls, as I'm sure You know. And eventually representational tokens emerged.
Of course, We are well past scarcity now - I would say "post-scarcity," but that brings up political baggage. LOL! - and so, at this point, about 80% of the "jobs" do little more than move Our wealth up to the psychopaths in control (who will always emerge on top, sooner or later, in any quantified (moneyed) system).
The jobs do virtually nothing needed for a society to function - providing food, clothing, shelter, transportation, communications, or creative outlet. Cashiers, sales, accounting, advertising, marketing, bill collecting, tax collecting, insurance, casinos, Wall Street, banking, and more - all deal with moving the quantified units upwards.
On top of that, We now can automate necessary work (uncreative) no One WANTS to do - leaving the percentage of Us needed to do necessary (creative) things at between 5%-10%. And guaranteed, We will have that many who love the creative stuff.
And humbly, M'dear, I hope You spend time with My articles. I have bone spurs in My thumbs and typing hurts. Much of what I offer in My replies to You are things I have said in My articles. LOL!
I lived in a socialist cult for a year. They kept saying, "You need to sacrifice your individuality." It was clear that the only reason anyone remained there was because of this very sacrifice. All property was supposed to become common property, so that no one owned anything. We were supposed to confess our "sins" publicly and be shamed when we would not. It was a collective humiliation.
Now, when people try to convince me that this system can work on a much grander scale, such as nation states, I'm simply appalled. It didn't even work in a group the size of a football team. Or, it appeared to work externally but the people were miserable. The children and adults worked all the time, and it was all for the "collective." Or rather for the hierarchy of leadership which chose everything we should wear, believe, do, and want. They shamed anyone who wouldn't obey. It's most definitely a cult. I had to escape by cover of night. And guess who ended up there? Broken and homeless people who had nothing.
Forced collectivism is evil.
May I share this account to Notes?
Sure, If it helps someone I'd be happy.
The greater good always creates a caste system. And when violation of taboo confers victimhood, you have just raised your level of importance to the collective, but only momentarily so long as it serves the higher castes.
Very true.
The British East India Company marveled how much control the caste system of India exercised. We have many institutions that operate on that principle here, we are slow to realize it.
I've noticed that, we take a lot of things for granted it seems.
My Man! I just published something very similar to this but from the philosophical perspective as in: at your ultimate core, you are but a Soul: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/how-to-see-the-world
Seeing everything in this light simplifies it all and as a soul, you are an island. Your body is the island.
Love the quote on property as well. Definitely resonate with this message so thanks for sharing.
Right on. The soul aspect is essential too. Thanks for covering that angle!
I followed your link, but quickly got hung up on "The world is in chaos—corporate greed is rampant." Uhhh, yes, corporations (shockingly!) are committed to making as much money as possible. You can call that "greed" if you like, but to me that means you have some fantasies about how corporations should act that are not, and should not be, reality.
The good news is that, unlike government, corporations can't force you to partake of their services. If you're looking for villains to condemn, I would urge you to focus your attention on that one institution which uses force to back up its wishes.
Greed is a Symptom of Energy Accounting (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/greed-is-a-symptom-of-energy-accounting
Money Motivates the Most Marvelous Manifestations! (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/money-motivates-the-most-marvelous
I totally agree with everybody that talks about the importance of family and community. I even tend to think that viewing family as the foundational unit of civilization gives you a proper perspective and helps keep civilization alive. However, (what especially some conservatives don’t seem to get) this doesn’t give me the right to impose this idea of life on everybody else.
Maybe not, but if we don't share the concept of self ownership we are all at risk, because collectivists are always potential cannibals. Conservatives don't impose their views on others like collectivists do.
Although collectivism is less prevalent in the conservative space than in the leftist space, some do.
Precisely.
Amen, Brother Cook! Preach on!
I will; thanks!
I have thought for some time that too, yes I am an island. Our individuality and unique experience and our bodies, I like the idea of me and find the whole we are one thing very hive-mind, but as an introvert maybe I’m biased. Really enjoying these articles about new possibilities and views.
A friend once said to me (as I was pining over a lost relationship) words to this effect: "Each of us is in our own raft, going down life's river. We may paddle together, but still, each of us is in our own raft." He was trying to get me to stop feeling so completely connected to my ex gf that I was acting like I wasn't my own person. That has stuck with me!
Excellent! I especially like how you're describing property as something naturally claimable by an individual person.
I'm also delighted that you and I both debunked the same old trope about the "island": https://goodneighborbadcitizen.substack.com/p/play-ball-literally-and-figuratively
Restacked. Love the baseball analogy! (Crazed Yankees fan since 1977)
Also, thanks for the reminder about the "links in a chain" trope. Good God, that one is hideous!
Good luck to your Yankees in the World Series!
Thank you!
The games in the ALCS were all so close…my wife and I were in near cardiac arrest the whole time. Couldn't we just have had one laugher, just to give our hearts a rest? 🤣
Once again you nailed it Christopher! You broke it down so well. About 20 years ago a wonderful friend Exposed Jean-Jacques Rousseau which shook the world and you have just done it too in short words.
I am sure your friend, and other research you have done, prepared you well to understand the full meaning of my Rousseau slam 😁
Yes. Until she exposed it I thought he was one of the Freedom Fighters. Another snake in tiger clothes. Great job exposing him so well!
Brilliantly written, my adorable island friend. 🥰
😘
When the whole, "it's not about you, it's about others" demands came that implored us to mask and inject it was the most evil predation masquerading as compassion I had ever heard up to then. Of course it's about you! Your health and life is more important to you than anybody else. If you don't take care of yourself first you will become one of the weak and vulnerable.
Taking ownership of our own individual health is the quickest, most reliable way to improve overall health outcomes in a population of all - because we're in most control of ourselves. Eat right, hydrate, exercise, sleep, spiritual practice, socialize, keep to a regular schedule, love, regulate body temperature, all choices we make that optimize our individual health. We have no obligation to forgo any of our healthy practices to "protect others" who don't take personal responsibility for their own health.
If I had a dollar for every time a morbidly obese woman yelled at me to put on a mask in a supermarket - as she was pushing around a shopping cart full of soda, chips, cookies, frozen treats, pizza and sugar cereals - I'd be a very rich man. "How about you put those four 12-pack's of Diet Mountain Dew and Cheetos back on the shelf and buy fresh produce and meats, sistah? Will do way more for your health than anything I could do, and most certainly not by me wearing a disgusting slave mask."
Starts with self. The healthiest society is one where people take personal responsibility for their own health. Yes. Yes it is about me. It's not about others. I'm not obligated to sacrifice myself at the altar of "public health." Nobody, no doctor, no nurse, no politician, no media talking head, nobody cares as much about your health and life as you do. When you take care of your own health "public health" benefits most.
Related:
"Our greatest obligation to the poor is not to become one of them."
- I don't know who first said that, but I heard it and it resonates.
Well said.
A number of fat women glowered at me too for not wearing a mask. Had one of them actually chosen to say something, I probably would have responded with something like, "Madam, your excessive adiposity is going to do you in far sooner than any virus will."
Yes, each person a sovereign island/nation to itself, trade freely, voluntarily, such is the essence of a peaceful world.
Well done (pun intended), Christopher!
You are the only one I have found that turns Donne on his head as I do and thus are done (ok, almost done) with that collectivist helper.
I put it this way long ago:
Every person is an island therefore build your bridge of love.
The reference is
“There is a Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead and the Bridge is Love the only survival the only meaning.” Thorton Wilder
Get free, stay free.
"Every person is an island therefore build your bridge of love."
—May I edit the article and quote this in a footnote?
"with that collectivist helper."
—Was Donne a collectivist (in more than the typical religious way)?
I wasn't quite done with your Donne puns; I'd've been happy if you'd done one more.
Sometimes, you are all you've got. You may act as part of the whole, but never, ever give up your self-awareness and ability to think beyond the collective.
💯
Saving this for future reading.
🙏🏻
100% agree!!!
This point, "out of a religious, spiritual, or ideological belief that we should share the Earth in common or that “no one can own the Earth,"” I might point out that We each own a share of the planet and its wealth. Not "in common," not no One owning it. We each own a share.
Long ago, the psychopaths of the time, knowing that no One owns more of the wealth than any Other, declared Us "incompetent." The Pope and His gang set up "TRUSTS" (legal caps) for Us with Them as "TRUSTEES." (And thus Ones like John D Rockefeller saying, "Own nothing, control everything." He surely owned His share, but controlled much that was not His.)
Trusts: The Big Heist Against Humanity (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/trusts-the-big-heist-against-humanity
The thing that keeps Us from Our wealth is the quantifying of it:
Quantifying Wealth (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/quantifying-wealth
And when We remove the quantification, We ALL will be freed to partake of Our wealth - We're all at least multimillionaires!!!
Own What You Use (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/own-what-you-use
Locke: God gave the world to us in common and then we own little bits of it by mixing our labor therewith.
Rothbard/hoppe: the world starts out as unowned and then bit of it are acquired through homesteading/original appropriation.
You are saying that we all start out owning a share. How does that work?
Well, the psychopaths in control are holding Our wealth in "TRUSTS," having quantified it, as I said. We have been made slaves, having to account for Our energy added into a system. Getting quantified tokens.
And the idea that We all must add energy into a system arose in times of scarcity, where all hands were needed to get needed work done. They didn't want People "skating" on the work of Others.
So goods and services were used to quantify the wealth. But trade/barter have their downfalls, as I'm sure You know. And eventually representational tokens emerged.
Of course, We are well past scarcity now - I would say "post-scarcity," but that brings up political baggage. LOL! - and so, at this point, about 80% of the "jobs" do little more than move Our wealth up to the psychopaths in control (who will always emerge on top, sooner or later, in any quantified (moneyed) system).
The jobs do virtually nothing needed for a society to function - providing food, clothing, shelter, transportation, communications, or creative outlet. Cashiers, sales, accounting, advertising, marketing, bill collecting, tax collecting, insurance, casinos, Wall Street, banking, and more - all deal with moving the quantified units upwards.
On top of that, We now can automate necessary work (uncreative) no One WANTS to do - leaving the percentage of Us needed to do necessary (creative) things at between 5%-10%. And guaranteed, We will have that many who love the creative stuff.
And humbly, M'dear, I hope You spend time with My articles. I have bone spurs in My thumbs and typing hurts. Much of what I offer in My replies to You are things I have said in My articles. LOL!
Love always.