Tag: coronavirus

Economic History · Federal Government

Compulsory Liberalism

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Over the last several years, as COVID lockdowns, mandates, and forced injections became the rage, there was an accompanying (and loud) blaring of voices calling out the “hypocrisy of the Left.” These banshees fixated on the tactic perhaps because they felt it would go a long way in de-legitimizing the standing of opponents as defenders of freedom, though in fact little more than randomized ranting ever occurred. Their failure can be ascribed to a fundamental understanding of liberalism itself, and what measures are sustained to preserve it.

For starters, the issue is not one of liberalism gone awry. It is common for Intellectual Dark Web types to present such narratives, lamenting the distraction from a genuine freedom order wherein differences might be hashed out using the court of public opinion or through elections. Truthfully, a system built almost entirely on enfranchising and uplifting the commoner’s aspirations without any serious application of responsibility is bound for swift degeneration. Even if certain values are upheld or safeguarded, they are unlikely to stand much chance against the churning and insatiable drive of each generation’s ego and inability to check personal impulses over the short run. This was ably described in The Conservative Mind as follows:

“There is no perversion of liberalism, but simply its natural progression. Liberalism (fortunately) has always been a secondary state, living on like a saprophyte on the tissue of the previous age, inheriting its monuments, feelings, and social hierarchy.”

The reference to subsisting on the grounds of predecessors helps explain the muscular liberalism of Macron, Trudeau, and Biden. As stewards of a schizophrenic and paranoid ideology, said public actors cannot afford to actually endorse a continuation or renewal of liberty and freedom for the masses; to do so might call out liberalism’s own internal contradictions and flaws, perhaps leading to another philosophy gaining appeal. The central belief and all associated indoctrination efforts must be kept outside the cold, and only forceful demands on the populace at-large will be acceptable. Of course the consequence might still be steering folks towards alternative ideas, but at least liberalism can die with dignity as that process unfolds.

Let us recognize that there can be no correction of the problem under existing terms. The Rand Pauls of our world frequently offer up amendments and speeches imploring for government officials to “give back” their power and “restore the Constitution.” To do these things would mean undermining the very essence of liberalism’s primacy, which dictates its moral justification in utilizing tyrannical means to protect legitimacy and the system as a whole vis-à-vis other tyrannical elements. Any significant lessening of effective state abilities is therefore counterproductive, and not credible suggestion to a liberal actor. All the dissident can do is sneer and outflank liberals verbally, while being thoroughly ignored when actual policy questions arise.

So, rather than indicting liberalism for the crime of useful hypocrisies, it may be time to go out and create your own.   

Uncategorized

OBEY

economiccommander1 Comment

Long before the rise of Donaldo, the Plural Left decided to use appeals to dictatorship and oppression as a means of destroying their opponents. Their favorite method is comparisons between modern America and Nazi Germany, except that the GOP somehow replaces those spooky German steppers atop a cruel big business regime bent on crushing the rights of minorities through force and propaganda.  The last word has an interesting ring because it causes us to invoke the old newsreels of the 1930s, plus elaborate posters meant to sway public minds. Get in line and obey appears to be the thumping order, given by some totalitarian leader or leading general.

I agree wholeheartedly with their conclusions, albeit in the realm of caveats. There certainly does exist an empowered propaganda arm driving social opinions, but it hardly can be seen as conservative or even Republican in nature. Rather, organizations have closed ranks to promote their interests in a manner at this junction indistinguishable from the brush-washed images of times past.

Let’s start with access to information. The other day I happened to be visiting a relative’s house when I noticed the following messages on their Windows 10 login screen:

Indeed, people merely attempting to use a workstation now have live updates telling them what to read, always from approved sources. To the dumb and youthful, this will strike as a great way to get involved and fight the power, even if they are simply being indoctrinated. One might make a compelling argument that cultural Marxists have finally succeeded in extending pas the flailing universities to enter homes across America, despite supposed right-wing “resistance.”

From the springboard of social brainwashing, obedience-makers can begin to recruit delusional organisms into their political army. Check out the following email from Coursera, describes the Far-Left Rock the Vote group as “non-partisan,” and encourages students to cast their ballots:

Assuming voting is not enough, lemmings also enjoy the possibility of reporting small businesses for real or imaginary racism to the Yelp secret police:

Perhaps companies who fall prey to any negative claims can beg Yelp for forgiveness and provide the financial sacrifice necessary to clear their public name. Alternatively, they might get burned down by the aggressive proponents of social change. Either way, loyalty to the burgeoning mainstream prevails.

The attainment of love is set to require State or corporate approval as well. In no less than two dating apps I have found propagandistic messages promoting domestic terrorist groups and, in the case of Bumble, requiring users to agree. Yes, that’s right. There is no mere acknowledgement; every person using the app is mandated to concur with the owners, or otherwise lose functionality:

Looking at this deluge of brain construction, Upton Sinclair’s quote about Fascism coming to America under the guise of cultural norms deserves some adjustment. Forget about the Cross, as churches can simply be shut down due to a pandemic, and the American Flag is merely a hygienic item for BLM leaders. Whatever arrives upon our shores will be bearing a rainbow pennant with social justice PPV streamed on Netflix.

Culturalism

They Have Always Been This Way

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Conservative circles have been hooting and hollering for months now about leftist attempts to exaggerate coronavirus deaths and prolong the visibility of the scamdemic for political purposes. Some go so far as to believe the virus would magically vanish in seriousness if Joe Biden happens to win the election in November. That is, assuming he gets a chance to be inaugurated before Kamala takes the reins.

Neither suggestion is beyond the realm of possibility, but these tactics are by no means new. Since the beginning, actors on the Left have made concerted efforts to manipulate and twist information towards political ends, with little regard for what damage could be done to the lives of individuals affected. This is because at heart they lack all belief in the metaphysical, and thus perceive the world using a purely materialistic stride allied to the attainment of resources and power.

A perfect example lies in the case of the Marzabotto Massacre in September 1944. Popular opinion holds that the commanding German major, Walter Reder, allowed for wanton civilian targeting and destruction in the village while his units closed in on the Red Star Brigade, a notorious partisan group led by Mario Musolei, better known as “Major Lupo.” These perceptions are based upon the testimony of a certain Alsatian collaborator from Reder’s ranks, Julien Legoli, who deserted to the Allies after the event and used the claims to bolster his own position, this despite the fact that no fighting took place in the town when the Red Star Brigade was destroyed.

Thanks to Legoli’s treachery, Reder was arrested in September of 1945 by American forces, who could not substantiate the claims, and thus released him to the British, who were also unsuccessful in determining grounds for war crimes prosecution. Reder was next passed on to Italian authorities, who placed him on trial in the fall of 1951. He would later be convicted and sentenced to life in prison, largely due to fear of communist reprisals if dismissal was reached.

In the words of the British lawyer F.J.P. Veale, who investigated the event, the Marzabotto Massacre amounted to “[…] noting but a Communist fairy tale.” But the Left would not be deterred, and they proceeded to have a mausoleum constructed in the town depicting the names of Reder’s supposed victims, even though this list included everyone who had perished from that region during the war, regardless of location and circumstance.

Reder would sit in an Italian prison until 1985, when he was finally paroled, only to die six years later. His saga serves as a prime example of how the Plural Left has no qualms about manipulating people and data to attain some elusive moral or financial victory. It should be a lesson to all those alive today: those actors on the street and in the media offices are not concerned with truth, or at least not the variety championed by their opponents. What they follow is raw ideology and the grinding need to assume political power, for everything else is death.

Do you still believe they desire tolerance and civil debate?

#VanLife · Culturalism · Federal Government

Can You Even Survive?

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Throughout my life I’ve heard people on the Internet and in-person speculate about an apocalyptic future. They’ll speak in lurid terms of how things will go down, the number of rounds they have stacked, and which battle lines shall be drawn. It usually ends up as some variation of patriots vs. fascists/communists, Christians vs. Muslims, or one race against the other. Everything appears settled, and they employ a princely authority in making these fixed conclusions about the days to come.

Yet something typically gets left out: how long will they actually live under such circumstances? It is easy enough to talk tough, but the realities of such an event suggest far less stringent lines being drawn. Just for starters, does the expectant “freedom fighter” have the following:

  • Reliable transportation that is not too much of a gas guzzler, especially if supplies get cut off.
  • Ability to grow food and pump water without ready access to supermarkets or public utilities.
  • Secure lodgings that are actually defensible (not most apartments or townhomes).
  • Practical hand tool skills to help with fortifications.
  • Knowledge of compasses and maps, in case GPS service is unavailable.
  • Not only a supply of defensive hardware, but at least respectable training with them.

The last point is worth honing in on where the “I’ve got 5000 rounds stored up” fellers are concerned. Despite what Hollywood makes us believe, the typical “gunfight” is short and conservative in nature. People are not spitting off hundreds of rounds while crouching behind cover, Gears of War style, unless they happen to be poorly-trained. Proper education emphasizes the importance of trigger discipline and sight picture, not Rambo mayhem, because it is easier to miss than do justice.

Individual readiness matters because the average joe is liable to be on his own, at least for a while. Apart from family or close friends, the notion that you will quickly enlist in some organized group led by military tacticians who proceed to do all the hard work is fantastically low. Such nodes are likely to be haphazard and nonuniform in nature, while also potentially hostile to the existence of our patriotic liberty-monger.

In short, any dramatic occurrence of that fashion (and God forbid it ever materializes), would very probably weed out the most determined jockstraps in the mix, plus a lot more. Sure, being a Gadsen-toting activist with empowered bumper stickers and opinions might feel great, but when a mob of the historically oppressed and butthurt is bearing down on your location, waving around an oversized piece of equipment in panic will close those curtains quick.

To be fair, I guess everyone just wants to go down like Custer in their own head, even if the reality is quite different.   

Culturalism · Federal Government

Of Masks and Men

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Perhaps the most amusing aspect to the coronavirus panic has been the complete chaos in messaging around masks, varying from the fiercest concerns to passive indifference, at least until a change occurs. The government refers to it as “science-based evolution,” but we know better. Now masks are being required to enter public places, as if things suddenly shifted in that direction.

What makes it so fascinating is how authorities adapt and weave to escape responsibility. You might recall that I pointed out back on February 11th how a suspicious number of Chinese were being spotted wearing safety masks in public in response to the Rona. The normal reaction was to claim it was due to their experience with SARS, or simply a sense of precaution.

In the United States, our Surgeon General actually made the following tweet on February 29th:

Adams’ rage can be explained by considering the projected supply shortage, yet at the same time American firms were shipping MILLIONS of masks to China to help with their response. Of course it only took about a month for our man Jerome to produce this video:

Oh so now masks are more effective, or per chance he just wanted to demonstrate his mad KonMari skills with cloth origami. Around the same time, the CDC updated their own guidelines in support of wearing masks, I suppose because production might have picked up by that point.

Now that all is well in the world, we can go out, only face masks have become a requirement at most stores, because science. The same science that had no evidence before, but now does, because the government decided it exists. Maybe the next advisory will recommend wearing Trojans over the tongue to prevent ingestion of particles from a TikTok celeb.

Do you still trust science?

Federal Government · investing · Personal Finance

That Kind of Hertz

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In an eleventh hour weekend move, the car rental company Hertz filed for bankruptcy, sending its shares for a lovely ride:

“Give you a lift?”

I’m curious what stands to follow, especially as many states continue their draconian frighten in place orders despite the economic bleeding. The travel industry and airlines might raise particular concern, but even some restaurants could hit the chopping block due to their brick and mortar ways. And that’s all excluding oil, which has a lot of livelihoods attached to it throughout various parts of the U.S.

If nothing else, this crisis should inform politicians of how fragile the financial web remains in our country. Sending over thirty million to the welfare rolls in order to save them from the invisible enemy strikes the mind as nanny state idiocracy, which we surely don’t have in America. After all, this is the greatest country on earth.

Right?

Is your degree worth it? · Is your major worth it?

Colleges Are Going Bankrupt

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It’s a weird thing in many respects, but the COVID-19 panic-demic has helped highlight the profound weakness of the modern economy, and in particular those sectors which are still stuck in the Dark Ages. At the crown of this sordid pile would be institutions of “higher education,” such as colleges and universities.

The virus’ malevolent hamstringing of normal economic behavior means that schools which desperately held on to the brick and mortar model for years to keep the debt-financed tuition payments flowing now find it difficult to get paid – or secure payers in the future. They are finally coming to terms with the corrupt and usury-enslaving system which they helped propagate, and the image is a grim one.

Current reports suggest smaller liberal arts colleges will be the first to suffer, because they are “extremely tuition-dependent.”

Imagine that. Names of the at-risk parties included in various articles are Alma College, Albion College, The King’s College, Wheaton College, Mount Ida College, and more. The mighty (and rich) have fallen.

Part of the problem might be the higher education industry’s blatant lack of association with reality. According to a summary of author John Ellis’ insights into the university sector:

“American universities keep grinding out more PhDs (writing theses no one may ever read) than they have tenure-track teaching jobs so that an increasing number accept hourly wages as adjuncts and look forward to increases in the minimum wage.”

Exactly. These wage slave and government-funded institutions have never cared about the actual employment market, even as technology makes tenured professorships and secure faculty admin jobs a thing of the past. They were all in the money.

Sadly, the casualties of their folly will fall on the recent PhD graduates and support staff who have invested their time in hopes of a vanishing career. Even Harvard, with its $37 billion dollar endowment, is finding ways to shed low wage contract employees. But they STILL tried to get bailout money.

Speaking of bailouts, higher education will shortly be on the list. Moody’s has reported that over 30 percent of public and private colleges are already running deficits, and it will get worse as they come knocking. We just have to get through with pensions, the Post Office, Big Oil, and maybe healthcare too.

Life is good.

Federal Government

The SBA’s Dramatic Failure

economiccommander1 Comment

For all the desperate hand-wringing about the need for Congress the pass SOMETHING, the outcomes are usually pretty poor. Several weeks ago our federal legislatures enacted the CARES Act, a $2 trillion juggernaut meant to prop up the flailing economy. In its assorted blubber they inserted the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, designed to provide up to $2 million in working capital for small businesses.

Thus far, it’s not working too well. Instead of that magic number, firms are being promised closer to 25-35k, with strains making the current disbursement around 15k, at least for the time being.

It’s truly remarkable. The government capable of mass printing and borrowing to fund gigantic programs and nation-building wars is bumbling where the fate of its own business owners are concerned. The Small Business “Administration” has been swamped by requests in a heartbeat, despite having over 3,000 employees and a budget of $710 million.

Is the solution an increase in their budget, which Trump has already attempted as recently as February? Perhaps an even larger stimulus is needed, because money appears to be the magic solution for every problem Congress faces.

Or, we could structure programs in a manner that makes sense, and not demand an archaic application process which many cash-based companies will inevitably struggle to complete.

Just a suggestion.

Personal Finance

Did Nature Punish Humanity With Corona?

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The empowered conservative blogosphere was recently alight with outrage over Papa Frank’s suggestion that the coronavirus might be one of nature’s responses to climate change. Breitbart commenter John Truman Jr. received over a thousand upvotes for responding as follows:

“Francis preaches the anti-gospel of Karl Marx. He is a leftist activist when we need a spiritual leader. Worst. FakePope. Ever.”

Laying petty politics aside, the Supreme Catholic Diversity Warrior might have a point, although he reaches poor conclusions elsewhere. Frank’s opinion harkens back to the George Carlin bit where the comedian predicted that nature would eventually get rid of humans and then proceed to “heal and cleanse itself.” He added that the planet might use VIRUSES to eliminate the human population, referencing HIV.

Sure, coronavirus hasn’t been all that devastating yet, but some peculiar data did emerge concerning pollution. In Venice, a drop in canal boat traffic left the waterways looking clear and beautiful when compared to before. Across the Atlantic, reports suggest a 30 percent decline in air pollution for the Northeastern United States, attributed in large part to the lower flight totals caused by the outbreak. Similar information has emerged in India due to less airline usage.

What’s interesting is that prior to these developments, suggesting policies to avoid sharp population growth in the West (and the accompanied pollution it entails) was responded to with the “Ecofascism” or “EcoNazism” slurs. Now we see how much of a toll globalization, mass immigration, and liberal transport policy have had on the environment, all because of a pandemic.

Will attitudes change for the good of the planet, or are we destined for a Carlinist judgment day?