The human mind works much like a telescope. One can focus the lense on a specific area to gain more clarity but inevitably the wider perspective gets fuzzier. This is the case when it comes to the contrarian logic of most political movements. The anti-government folks are especially vulnerable to this special kind of myopia since the target, the government, does not exist in the conventional perspective most people believe it exists.
There are some harsh truths in the anti-government front that very few are ready to accept. Perhaps most have fallen way deep into their own political rabbit hole. Having reinvented or even rebranded themselves constitutes the task of re-evaluation even harder.
It’s not the Government. It was never “The Government”.
Whenever I hear people blaming entities such as “Governments”, “Corporations”, “Science” and other abstract concepts, I soon come to realise that they don’t know what they are talking about. You see, we live in a pretty chaotic world and arguments about anything need to be pretty darn specific if we want to make a factual point and not an over-generalised sensationalist speech. Most, if not all anti-government propaganda, is just generic accusations towards an abstract concept nobody really can fully agree upon.
Your butcher next door is the government. Your father that votes is the government. Your issued car license that you use to drive to your anti-government rally is the government. Everything around us revolves around some kind of governance. Whether we are on Steemit, Facebook, the park or the jungle itself w are bound from some kind of governance. Natural elements and biological entities alike define ethical and operative rules. Within that boundary we get to function based on some given parameters. Call it “government”, “status-quo” or anything else in between. This is how the real world operates.
Governments don’t kill people. People kill people
But I bet you already know that since if you are an anti-government advocate you are most likely to defend the right to bear arms. And you are absolutely right. The individual operating a weapon is solely responsible for any actions taken. If your friend tells you to kill someone, he is not responsible. If a politician tells you to kill someone he is not responsible. Even if a video game suggests killing someone, the game developer is not responsible.From the moment that you, the anti-government advocate defends the idea of personal liberty and responsibility then you have no right to blame “The Government” or “Politician X” or anyone else for dictating the killing of other people. How can you possibly defend the individualist right of personal freedom and responsibility when you admittedly transfer the power of the individual to the whims of an external influencer? Do you want to hold people responsible? Grow balls and go find the soldiers who murdered other people and ask them why they are mass murderers. Those are the responsible ones. Complaining against “The Government” “influencing” is like complaining to a Mcdonald's billboard for making people obese.
Any person who values liberty should cherish free speech in all it's glory. Undoubtedly, the human mind is quite palpable and can be influenced one way or another to perform certain actions. Don’t forget though; Hitler, Hillary, Trump, Merkel, Obama or any other politician arose from the will of millions of people. Those people felt, one way or another, that they were getting represented. The free market, allocated them the political power.
These people, the caring mothers, the hard working fathers, the innocent sisters, also wanted to defend those who threatened their liberties. Through elections they elevated figures that set the coercive parameters to kill those who even threatened their liberties. Leaders across history are not responsible for millions of deaths. Millions of “normal” people are responsible for millions of murders. If you really want to go against the “government brainwashing” at least don’t follow the rhetoric of “bad leader—good leader” or the “hero” soldiers. That is the most erroneous and damaging narrative in human history.
Humans kill humans. Not politicians. The army is a welfare program for murderers sponsored by each and every one of us, directly or indirectly. Politicians just managed the free market of people's will. Don’t ever forget this. If you believe that a handful of people can influence millions then abandon all hope and stop trying with anything. Even if anarchy prevailed those people would still be brainless zombies following another paradigm.
Life has a lot to do with Randomness
We all like to hear the self made story of the guy who became successful. At the same time we equally despise the “commie” that leeches off from the welfare system because he is a lazy bum. Is he though? As a free market libertarian, and anarcho-capitalist you should know that anything of value around you is limited. This is why it has value after all. Limited things are hard to come buy. This applies equally to opportunities in life as it applies to the amount of gold in the earth’s guts.Let's take for example our genes. Nature will normally produce lots of average variations, enough to ensure gene propagation. This is what we observe around us in nature whether we examine animals or plants. At the same time, since those mutations are randomly generated, we will get a small percentage which are more favourable at a given environment. These can produce individuals who are more biologically fit than their peers. Couple this up with a random birthplace and random situations and you easily get the idea how most people end up being fucked.
Do you think a person who works for the government, getting a fat check with a guaranteed job cares about war? Do you think he cares about “anarchy’ ‘cryptocurrencies” or anything else in between? Do you think you would care if random situations brought you in their position? A government employee’s philosophy will be to support his specific lifestyle as it was unfolded from his special circumstances in life. He would seek his own well being even if it meant screwing his fellow citizens over and over again. In much the same way an aspiring anarchist would pump-and-dump a shitcoin on some shady exchange and fuck over his fellow anti-government anarchists. We develop philosophies that suit our well-being. Not the other way around.
Jobs, parents, inheritance or even sheer fortunate encounters matter in how one’s life unfolds. The government has little to do with it. Ron Paul has the 1% supporting him because most of his followers really just want to avoid getting their money stolen from the government. At the same time the masses, the 99% tries to get a piece of the large pie by voting the guys who promise to do it. Most people are statists because simply they can’t afford to be something else. It’s an easy way out and it benefits their well being. Even if they are wrong this is how they do it. In the same way people in Steemit will slave away voting of popular posts even if they don’t agree with it in order to make some easy money while making the richer authors even reacher. Same things applies in the real world. Easy rewards are the main reason people chase the government freebie or the next shitcoin scam.
Its Probably You, Not the Government
I had plenty of conversations with people that go against “The Government”. At some point it becomes clear that themselves have the issues and rather try to shift the blame away from them. No matter how shady some corporations appear to be, no matter how vaccines might be causing autism or not, no matter if GMO’s are good for you or not, you always have a choice. Never forget this.
Why complain about something that the market has set over hundreds of years? Would you complain if you were in the jungle threatened by wild animals and diseases? Would you bitch and moan at mother nature for being “coercive”? The government will try to fuck you much like your boss or even your anarcho buddies in some crypto exchange market. Nobody really gives a shit about you. The food chain looks much the same whether you exchange gold coins or Fed’s monopoly money. I have been in anarchic and crypto forums since 2012. It is beyond me how can any anarchist or anti-government person complain about "The Government” when every other person you meet in crypto forums and anarchic blogs are either manipulative scammers, criminals trying to cover their asses or a hybrid of both.
People will always elect shitty forms of governance and form systems to fuck each other up. It is up to you to take responsibility and work around the system instead of complaining about it. Life is a struggle. A fight. Whether you try to make it in the traditional FIAT world or the crypto one it doesn’t make much of a difference. You will most likely come across the same challenges because both domains are governed by basic human needs. To be realistic, so far in the crypto world, you are way more likely to get fucked than in the real world. This is also another reason there is such a small adaptation from the general public that still votes for puppets to govern their life.
Intellectual honesty is the most important weapon one can have when it comes to matters or responsibility. We need to see the big picture here. Billions of people around the world are getting fucked one way or another. In their desperation they group together and form systems of governance in order to balance shit out without even realising how things are getting out control. Ideological mantra goes kaput when it comes down to our own personal benefit. Governments, ideologies, scammers, killers will always exist because life is based on competition and survival. Your duty is to work around the problem and develop systems that are superior for you and everyone else around you.
All in all you should stop complaining about everything around you because this would give you a greater sense of responsibility. It will allow you to evaluate your own faults and weaknesses objectively. It will motivate you into building a stronger character, one that does not afraid to admit mistakes. Most importantly, it will allow you to accept responsibility even for issues you are not even remotely responsible. This state of mind grants an offensive attitude towards the challenges of life rather a defensive one—blaming mistakes left and right. It will open doors to your perspective you haven’t even dreamed they where possible.
my favorite line of yours: "Life is a struggle. A fight. Whether you try to make it in the traditional FIAT world or the crypto one it doesn’t make much of a difference. You will most likely come across the same challenges because both domains are governed by basic human needs."
Oh, and I spent all day researching Jeff Berwick. You might find my newly discovered information useful: https://steemit.com/tdv/@stellabelle/who-is-jeff-berwick
Awesome piece but you know very well that the fat whales will avoid it like the plague. Too much truth for them to handle.
In one of my lives, I was a farmer. My chickens were free ... in a fenced. It protected the wolves and foxes. Some have crossed the fence ... for freedom. I grabbed by the "strength" but one never came. I found his feathers. I was a bad "government"?
I'm not really sure if anyone needs to stop "complaining about government." There's a difference between "the government" - the coercive entity or the agents of the state that are in fact aggressive and violent - and "governance." The former is anathema to liberty and any ideal regarding peace and prosperity. Yes - individual humans are responsible for the actions carried out under the color of law, but it is the concept of "the state" or "the government" that is the root cause of the problems that extend from it.
The individual humans that act on behalf of "government" have assumed that they in fact have a right to command or compel others to act in certain ways that they deem "beneficial" for the rest of society. This is where the actual logical breakdown occurs. It's not wrong for anyone to point that out or to point out that any coercive government has no actual right to command or compel others to act against their will, especially if their actions do not infringe on the natural liberties of any other individuals. The problem with the existing governments today is the very nature of their assumed authority - that it is coercive, and violently so. It is a problem with the individual human beings who operate it and enforce the arbitrary edicts, but all of them are acting under the falsely assumed authority of "government."
Personal responsibility is the issue here. You're right about that. But we cannot dismiss the harm of the state simply because it's a fictional entity. It's able to function the way it does because the inanities of its claims are not more widely denounced. We can identify and condemn the absurdity of its logical propositions while simultaneously denouncing the actions of the individual agents working on its behalf, under those logical fallacies. We don't need to ridicule those who speak out against the state, or "government." We need to ridicule those who believe that violence under the state's authority is acceptable - and to ridicule the very notion of the state in the first place. It's all nonsensical. It's philosophical and logical ignorance and stupidity.
Again. "The goverment" is made out of people. Governance is the wish of the free market if you want to put it in libertarian lingo. Calling this the root of the problem while humanity has reached such a spectacular state in this time and age compared to the past is massively erroneous.
They have the right because the free market, the majority has gave them that right. In an an-cap society much the same path will be taken. Check Steemit for example. Not much of a difference. Those who have the power call the shots.
So what? The majority wants this. This is why they approve. If we can't handle it then we should live. Complaining about it is pointless. It is a problem for you my friend. It is not a problem for billions of others. So in reality the problem only exists in your mind. It is not a problem from their own perspective. Many anarchists have a hard time digesting this simple reality.
Even if WE can't the majority doesn't care. They approve. Ethics are subjective and defined by given groups of people. They are neither universal nor set in stone.
There are no real logical fallacies from their part. They have the power, they do as they wish. That's their logic. They set the rules. They decide what is wrong and what is right. You are free to make your own society somewhere else and dictate your own rules. Even here in Steemit same thing applies. You can dictate the logical fallacies of fat whales, their dodgy ethics, favouritism, yada yada yada but at the end of the day, even if you have 1000 followers it doesn't matter because a single whale can dictate your actions, even how you behave here in teemit. Reality is harsh my friend. All this intellectualism doesn't really cut it.
Well surely wan, much like I ridicule shady an-caps like TDV, ex cops and ex convicts that found it useful to use the libertarian and an-cap ideology to suit their own shortcomings. I don't want to be associated with scumbags like these guys so I critisize them.
It doesn't matter if its stupidity. You can't go against masses rulled by what you assumed to be stupidity. We have to accept this. Even here in the crypto world most of them are scammers, crooks and criminals trying to get away from their shady past, not because they embrace the philosophical qualities of anarchism. Let's get real for a while shall we? Profit is the main goal for every human. They will lie, steal, con and even kill people to take it. Arguing philosophically about it is pointless. Complaining about it is childish.
Those folks are not the goverment, the goverment is the five or ten people that decide to raise the VAT and income tax by another 1% "one last time"
The goverment is the 5 or 10 people that will try to bribe the above idiots you mentioned in any imaginable way so that they(the goverment) can secure more votes.
The goverment is......
Common Scammers.
No they are not. The raise the VAT because some people allow them to do so. They are there because some people elected them. We elected them. They didn't pop out of thin air.
"The Government" is an illusive concept that is made out of billions of opinions and actions that give power to a simple mechanism of governance. It is not 5-10 people sitting on big chairs. That is an immature, hollywoodish perception of how the world works.
Same can be said about the crypto-community. 9/10 anarchic, libertarian, new age coins are scams. What does that tell you about the alternative option?
The world has scammers, thiefs, good guys, bud guys, all pursuing their own selfish interests. It is not just the governement. Anarchists really have to start digesting this harsh reality.
Your Follow Me image says it all...
Blind Following the Blind - oh, the irony.
It means that we don't know everything and we should be humble to our assumptions about the world.
We are all blind one way or another. Next time you try to critisize me pick something from my post where i explain my words. You need to step it up pal. Your imaginary friend doesn't seem to help either.
Your posts make it quite clear that you don't know what humble means. They don't imply that you are blind either.
You seemingly know everything (one just has to read the comments section on some of your posts) e.g.
You shut people down that have a different opinion to you and you attack them them like a ravaging dog - that's not the definition of humble that I was taught.
You brought up 'alien adductions' in a post that had nothing to do with aliens, or adductions.
So I am going to re-introduce a topic into this post that you haven't answered from an earlier post (what's good for the goose is good for the gander after-all) - so I will ask it again (5th time).
Your sour losing radiates like a nuclear reactor.
I explained my reasoning for that article. If you don't have anything to say about this one then stop spamming me.
No I don't
So you believe that science, Gov't and media can conspire and lie to us - is that correct?
But don't complain about, or blame the Gov't you say?
Do you want people to believe that this all happened by 'chance' and that there was no conspiracy?
Yes I do believe people can conspire to do something. Whether in science, goverment or religion.
this doesn't prove anything my friend. You need to work on your logic
you need to keep reminding yourself of that.
The things I am saying are pretty accurate don't worry. I am an anthropologist and I try to remain as humble as I can. I have studied human livelihood over time. Vaccines, which you oppose, are the single most determinant for human longetivity.
But really, I can't be fucked explaining you again and again basic facts. Do as you wish.
haha never said i oppose vaccines. that is the kind of blanket statement that I try to avoid. I don't have time to read any more of this garbage. You are too self assured and you are unable to see when someone has pointed out the flaw in your logic. good luck sir. steem on.
Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts about anthropological relativism vs. universalism(?) of mathematics?
Government is a disease.
It responds exactly like cancer.
We surely DO need to complain about it.
In fact we need to eliminate it.
We're hardwired for the monkeysphere
Government is VERY good at killing people and breaking things (look at the entire history of the human race. Oppressed by government everywhere you look) Government is NOT very good at doing much else, although it claims the credit for what other's have done.
(who will build the RHOADS? )
Thank you kyriacos for your very considerable arguments and thoughts.
I might disagree at some particular points, but this doesn't diminish the worthiness of your post for me. Finally the government is a accumulation of the people's minds. And they are more to be blamed. The threatening problem is the destruction of the whole planet by war or ecological catastrophees. Only governments have the red button in their hands.
But mankind has the responsibliity for its governments.
maybe when we stop pointing fingers to imaginary entities such as "goverments" we can find the real murderers. they live next door to us.
The people don't represent the government anymore, they gave up that responsibility to the government. Big government is the cause of the problems we face. I didn't tell the CIA to go into foreign countries overthrow governments, install dictators, trade weapons for cocaine, and disrupt peace. Who voted for that authority?
They don't see it as a problem. You see this as a problem. They call it "micromanagement". Same thing applies to Steemit. Dan and Ned don't have to manage everything. Others have taken over and many are conning the system through their close circles.
You didn't tell CIA to into foreign countries. Instead you tell the government that you want jobs, social security, cheaper stuff and so they created wealth by fucking others up. How do you think the american dream rolls my friend? You make a request and the guys are finding the resources even if it means blood.
Everyone voted for this. Everyone wants to live a normal life but at the same time they don't care where all the goodies are coming from. This is the government. Nothing more than our dirty wishes.
I think the word and blaming all of life's ills on 'the government' is definitely a bad thing people get into, but on the other hand telling people to stop complaining about the government might be bad too. Is there a middle ground where we can just analyze each situation on a case by case basis. Because I am sure there are cases in which branches of the government, or people within these branches, make shady choices that we should know about. Overall though I kind of lean on the side of your point that people need to be more responsible for themselves.
Nah, middle ground fallacy doesn't really cut it.
People will make shady choices and pull tricks on you whether they are your government, lover, boss or cryptoi buddy. Choosing to blame the government while accepting the rest as "the natural state of things" is rather hypocrytical.
It's kind of like complaining about people who complain about the government which are a varied group with varying valid reasons to oppose at least part of the institution, but you generalizing them into an entity. Exactly like your complaining about! I am seeing a pattern.
I also don't understand how you don't give any blame to people and organizations that mastermind killings without getting their hands dirty. Of course they are partially responsible. How can you deny that? Sure the person that does the killing is responsible too, but if he has been manipulated, he is not the only one to blame imo.
I pretty much agree with your last 4 paragraphs that we need to take personal responsibility. No doubt about that. That is the only way we can change things. I really dislike the victim attitude. As my dad once told me "If you get good at making excuses, you won't get good at anything else."
No I am not. I am offering a solution. In a way, an advice.
Those people are merely managing the wills of the people. i explain specifically why it is not the case. If most people did not agree with the actions of those companies then they wouldn't have the power to do what they do.
exactly
So you see nothing wrong with manipulating people to commit atrocities. More than managing the will of people, they are inserting falsities in the minds of many in an effort to confuse them into supporting their agenda. You're blind if you don't think that happens. And it's clearly not a moral thing to do in my eyes. Effective, but not moral. And a very dangerous thing to do I think.
I value individual choice above all. Free Speech is free speech. If you are gallible enough to commit attrocities then you are gallible enough to do anything else. They are merely doing marketing. The free market speaks.
Morality is subjective. I don't agree with what they do but it is what it is. Either make a better system or stop complaining about it.
LMFAO!!!!
We don't like to look at the mirror. Especially if somebody else hold it to us.
Great post. I agree 100%. Don't expect big payout on this one, we need to upvote cappuccino art or something more important.
I never expect anything. I know how the voting goes in here. I am just glad I can share my thoughts with you guys.
Yes, in the end just about no matter what you do in life. There will be some kind of governance. Even someone living off the grid is still governed by their environment - mother nature is their governor.
Everything in moderation is a phrase that can be used often in life I suppose. Never go to far down the rabbit hole.
I don't think moderation has anything to do with this. Responsibility does
Yes, I agree - but those two words go hand and hand for alot of things, atleast in my mind.
To truly see the order within chaos takes mindfulness I believe.
spontaneous order. Which is an illusion. Wrote extensively about it here:
Order Is But An Illusion, Chaos Is All There Is
Quality post that one too - keep up the good work ;)
thank you. I will try my best
Very physicalist claim on Chaos, that article. ;)
I prefer to build my own number theory from scratch rather than blindly believe in the standard mathematical construct, on which standard physics is built. :)
good luck falsifying hundreds of years or research
Nah, not very interested in Popperian falsification. To begin with, I find the frame of bivalent logic too restricting and rather stick to good old Pyrrhonian skepticism.
PS: Pyrrhonian skepticism doubts also the basic proposition of Academic skepticism: "εν οιδα οτι ουδεν οιδα"
Without falsification you got nothing. Indeed, there are things we know, things we think we know, and things we don't know we don't know.
This is why falsification is at most important in every intellectual endeavour
"According to both Plato and Aristotle,[2] Heraclitus was said to have denied the law of non-contradiction. This is quite likely[3] if, as Plato pointed out, the law of non-contradiction does not hold for changing things in the world. If a philosophy of Becoming is not possible without change, then (the potential of) what is to become must already exist in the present object. In "We step and do not step into the same rivers; we are and we are not", both Heraclitus's and Plato's object simultaneously must, in some sense, be both what it now is and have the potential (dynamis) of what it might become."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_noncontradiction
In my number theoretical research I've traced Gödel's incompleteness theorems back to Law of Identity, while showing that consistent number theory is possible without it. Maybe I'll write something about it some time.
Bravo! Mr. @kyriacos great post, excellent view, in many passages of his concuedo written with you, congratulations and thanks for sharing this magnificent post
Thank you jlufer
Yes. Anarchism is a long and winding path to the realization that this is already anarchy and has always been. And yes, Ithaca by Cavafy is beautifull and true poem: the journey that Ithaca gives is it's own reward.
How is 'government' different from the sticks and stones on a forest path that you tread carefully so that you don't fall and hurt yourself? Or any other natural element that you take in pragmatic consideration? Also when you collect sticks and stones for a fireplace to keep you warm and to cook a meal?
And yes, It's fun and challenging to engage the creative play of imagining new and better ways of social organizing, experimenting practically, learning.
Interesting to find this after writing my latest blog post.
I believe you and I are coming from a similar position. That government is a side of humanity we can no sooner terminate than our emotions. That government springs forth naturally in the absence of one.
Ultimately segregating governance from ourselves leads to only a different, maybe more permanent type of submission. One in which humanity is lost.
I invite you to read my work but I won't be so crass to post a link in your post's comments.
Appreciate what you do. Followed.
I actually haven't seen your latest post. Nice read.
Indeed some kind of governance emerges eventually. As long as we are governed by our biological desires this mode of living remains inevitable
Dear kyriacos It's like you as an a-theist are complaining about anti-theist that is complaining about the church, the church made out of people that hurt him in reality. He's trying to fight a non existing god or "the church" it self, to stop the attacks. but he has seen it does not work so now his aproach is deprogramming his neighbours. But how does he do that without complaining and questioning them about their god/laws/church showing his neigbours the consequenses for him of their believe. Have a little mercy on the guy. And don't complain so much about the guy.
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It seems to me that you don't complain about government, you complain about anti-government complain. Funny shit. Damn right there's governance everywhere, at least in appearence, behind is the chaos moving, falling, creating, destroying . Some of your arguments are hard to debate since you appeal to facticity and bad faith but using them in "bad faith" . There's no place to debate, your shell is as hard as your pristine knowledge: if you kill you are the killer, dont mind if the government send you, give you a M16 and told you that you are fighting for the freedom of the free world. Obviously the soldier, the damn redneck educated by the media as rambo and cobra has the fault. This is fucked up! When I read your manifesto in the other post, it was like I was reading it in spanish, full of power, congruent and coherent. This one is clumsy and numb. Comfortably numb. It's full of... nothingness.
nobody sends you. You join the army willingly. If you were living in my country you could make the argument that if you don't join in case of war you get shot. In America you have a choice.
free-market. again. if you believe in individuality and self determinism you can't accuse anyone for free speech, even for marketing. in the same way btw, watching farmville ads doesn't make you a farmer. Yes, the Rambo has the fault. The media produce studies that they distribute to the general public. after they get feedback they create content that the general public prefers. So the redneck watches what he wants to watch.
step it up pal.
btw in case you don't see the whole picture and how i make my aguments and why check this one out. you will be pleasantly surprised
https://steemit.com/statism/@kyriacos/statism-the-evolution-of-religion
"nobody sends you. You join the army willingly. If you were living in my country you could make the argument that if you don't join in case of war you get shot. In America you have a choice."
Tell it that to Muhammad Ali.
oh well. still doesn't make a case for today. sodiers are paid mercenaries today. they wnjoy killing. the state is their employer. there is demand for the market and they come to fill it up.
those are the responsible ones. not the state. this is one of the harshest truth very few are ready to accept
The success of government, and corporations stem from the people. So we should blame the people right? What if the people in power are persuading the masses' thoughts though? Then we would have to blame both. The best we can do is wake as many people as we can up so that we can mold this world into the world that we want.
You make a very valid and highly convincing point. There are obstacles with any environment just as much as there is with our government. Adaptation is one of the strongest abilities within all environments, complaining about the hardships of that environment is never going to help create that adaptation ability within oneself.
I always love your writing, It bring a new point of view to myself. Sometimes conflicting but always expanding from seeing a perspective so well said from the opposite side. Thank you.