Tag: covid-19

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.   

Culturalism · Economic History · Self-Improvement

The Trouble With Experts

economiccommander3 Comments

About a week ago some cable network marionettes carted out a few professors to provide “robust analysis” on the new presidential rankings list. To nobody’s surprise, the top spots included figures like George Washington, Abe Lincoln, FDR, and Teddy Roosevelt. At the bottom (counting up), we have James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, and of course Donald Trump. Hilariously, William Henry Harrison, who occupied the White House for a few months before passing away, was ranked higher than Donald, along with Millard Fillmore and Warren G. Harding. The experts proceeded to note that Andrew Jackson lost ground in the rankings, speculating that this was on account of Trump being a fan of Old Hickory. Finally, the empowered and oppressed female professor expressed dismay that slave-holding presidents would still rank high on the list.

Leaving aside the amusing dynamics of FDR being in the top five immediately after the “Stop Asian hate” campaign, and Teddy Roosevelt, who complained about “race suicide,” I was struck by the shallowness of it all. These are after all learned individuals with countless papers, books, and at least one dissertation under their belts, yet the behavior is unchanged. Still we can expect the aggressive public shilling for mainstream narratives, regardless of their cost to history and truth. Anything to avoid getting targeted by a rage pill mob, I suppose.

The broader problem of “listen to the experts” was highlighted by the U.S. experience with COVID-19. As we all know, the government’s response was a hodgepodge of finger-pointing, political hedging, and flat-out delusion. When lockdowns were first proposed, no one could agree with a broad strategy, leading to a patchwork quilt response by the so-called intellectual class. A most vivid instance of this disconnect came when health experts condemned protestors who opposed the lockdowns while shortly thereafter approving demonstrations against police practices. Were the eggheads really motivated by research, or a profound desire to not be tarred and feathered on social media for their consistency?

This raises a bigger question about who one can trust to give good advice. If doctors are “afraid of the backlash” caused by advising against say, the annual flu vaccine, then how can they be relied upon to make proper calls in other areas? As far as many of us know, the man in the white coat could be prescribing indirect poison simply to keep his public image intact. It’s a total minefield, yet even bringing up the issue smarts of being a heretic under the religious purges of olden times. Difference is, they didn’t have social media and Google reputations to worry about.

I suppose it renders my soapbox rather past expiration, but I have to stress the importance of performing due diligence in all aspects of life affecting your health, emotional well-being, and finances. I don’t care if the speaker has a PhD, or indeed rails against higher education every single day to get views. The moment you permit your mind to be outsourced is the start of a long (and potentially hazardous) decline. Steel your brains, and look past the welcoming glow. Experts or not, they’re only human.   

Economic History · Uncategorized

Moderates Don’t Parallel

economiccommander3 Comments

Warning: clichés may abound in this piece. Take a swig of mineral water and hunker down for the long haul.

I like to think of myself as being fairly rational. This is obviously a self-serving perception, but at least in relation to the blaring shrieks of our mainline political animals, the shoe fits. Stories which the media deems as “outrageous” don’t shake me much at all, because in almost every case there is a less radical idea behind the headline.

But exceptions exist. Still in this case I am capable of absorbing the information without becoming irate, although it is certainly disturbing. Officials in the German province of Saxony have announced they will be repurposing refugee camps to detain people who violate COVID quarantine guidelines. According to regional Interior Minister Roland Wöller: “I assume that these will be very, very few cases. At the moment, none is known.”

Oh, he assumes. How comforting. Now consider the context for a minute. German authorities are repurposing refugee camps (and presumably releasing the existing foreigners) while putting their own citizens in cages for the mere crime of visiting family or breaking some draconian curfew. Detention orders must be approved by a court, but we already know the history of Germany’s judicial system well enough. Don’t expect much civil libertarian opposition from judges.

The parallels to 1930s regimes are obvious, but that doesn’t get at the real issue. At least those models were open and unabashed about their intent towards dissidents or enemies, so one can prepare themselves. In the modern day, we have a German state run by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party, two apparently moderate forces meant to defend freedom. A perfect pair to undermine peoples’ rights under the guise of consent and franchise.

What’s more, our brains have become so inundated with WWII dramas and propaganda that many cannot make logical connections unless the aesthetic is absolutely similar. Merkel’s pantsuits aren’t military uniforms, which means she is a believer in democracy, because that’s how democrats look. As for Trump, who a actually opposed the lockdowns and quarantine arrests, he’s an evil fascist, because feelings.

Pray fair the humanity.

Culturalism · Federal Government

Left In Disbelief

economiccommander4 Comments

Much has been made of the COVID-19 panic over the last few months. An otherwise decent economy was put into the ditch by concerned governors, people got reported for not being zealous enough at their distancing measures, and epic debates were held over belief in the virus’ seriousness, or even more than that, its very existence. On the latter point, progressives made stark contrasts between the anti-scientific mutterings of Donald Trump, and the calm, collected rationalism of Fauci the Entertainer, whose belief in science appeared unshakeable, giving  the liberal order a worshipful altar.

Yet the stage only reveals a great tragedy: that leftists believe in nothing, and thus stand for nothing. Their entire existence revolves around a petty and materialistic lust for the immediate moment, for the fleeting blink and thirty-second spell, before a refresh and new paths. Completely incapable of looking past the foggy future, and desperately loathing the crumpled past, they latch onto brief flair, oftentimes without verifying the truth or consistency of prior advocacy. A couple glimpses and the scene changes, having learned little, and contemplated less.

Consider their broader obsession with shutting down and locking up all free actors during the pandemic. Because leftists tend to be irreligious, they naturally view the possibility of sickness (or death) with caterwauling terror. For them there is no afterlife, hence every minute on earth holds value in gold—even if they do spend it locked in a house to discharge tweets of rage against a national leader. The mask, itself a highly dubious  method to prevent transmission, serves as their symbol of collective mortality, and thus billowing ferocity. Any person not observing the guidelines is threatening them, while also showcasing how empty their lives happen to be.

Historically, leftism has not been any different. Mazzini famously criticized the early socialists for predicating their entire movement on material interests, such as pay and working conditions, safely ignoring factors of faith or dedication to community and nation.  Today they screech about healthcare and taxes, both means to allow the bitter souls within a spigot’s burst reason to survive, so again they live in shallow proof.  

If we look to their ultimate principle, that vision enshrining diversity, again the justification is devoid of meaning. Diversity trumpets as a mere check on the opposing side’s power, not for any rational reason apart. Hence the appeals to different cuisines and “global culture,” the latter topic one of little interest to the progressive outside his strictly political realm. For this same reason leftists do not comprehend good comedy: they cannot process any joy outside the fleeting material aspects of party politics, or financial security for themselves. Everything must be in service to goals of self-preservation, no matter contradictions or folly.

The question is imperative because limited faith does not imply affordance of respect for life to others. Progressives have no issue with slaying babies in the womb (or outside), and will make quick work of those who do not fight back. Such behavior is entirely rational, for if they fear death with the terror of a caught fly, inflicting the same on opponents is a natural route to feeling powerful, the unsated lust of every creature unsure of what control they possess when the heart ceases to tick.

And that makes their faith so dangerous.

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

Colleges Are Going Bankrupt

economiccommander2 Comments

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.