The God Of The Machine
Posted by BradHarrington 9 years, 9 months ago to Politics
OK, Let me start off with a couple of notes:
(1) It doesn't look like post preview is a function of this board, so I hope that it appears half-decent, as I haven't been able to discover a way to look at it before I publish it;
(2) It also looks like most people are posting links as opposed to text, and then comments are made in text; I would prefer to post text as my primary method and embed links as needed. I hope this software will left me do that. Nor does it look like I have any bold/italics capabilities either;
(3) Most of the stuff I churn out is for the local paper here in Cheyenne, Wyoming (Wyoming Tribune Eagle), so it has a local Wyoming flavor to it. Don't let that bother you, however, as I always use local events as a starting point for wider political and philosophical conclusions. You've probably got the same kind of junk happening in your town anyway, or worse;
(4) OK, let's try it out!
The God Of The Machine
By Bradley Harrington
Published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on February 20, 2015, under the title of “What Happens When Rules Fail Us?”
“America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.” - Claire Wolfe, “101 Things To Do ‘Til The Revolution,” 1996 -
Most of the time, in discussions of political issues, I pick up little more than the same pre-conceived platitudes one can find in any public school classroom.
Once in a great while, however, I hear something that jars me right down to the soles of my boots.
“Brad, we need to talk,” William “Ben” Bennett phoned me the other day.
Ben and his wife, Kim, own the Korean House Restaurant on the southeast corner of Snyder Avenue and Pershing Boulevard, and I’ve known and respected them for years.
So, I paid Ben a visit.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He pushed a bright orange piece of paper across the table at me.
“That came in the mail a couple of days ago,” he said.
An invoice from the Health Dept: “Routine Inspection, $90.00; Late Fee, $25.00; Total Due, $115.00.”
“Kim and I opened this store up 14 years ago,” Ben said, “and I’ve gotten dozens of those things since. I always pay them, and on time. I never got the first notice. I don’t believe I owe those people that $25.00.”
“Make sure you think it through,” I said. “Those people can make your life very difficult. I’m not saying you should pay it, I’m just pointing that out.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Ben retorted, scowling. “You think I don’t think of it every time a renewal, license or health fee shows up, while I’m asking myself: WHY is it that I have to pony up hundreds and hundreds of dollars every year for the ‘right’ to make a living?
“And what do I get in return?” Ben asked. “Those incompetent fools have screwed up Snyder Avenue with their road work for four years running now... While they’ve brainlessly cut through gas and water lines, almost blown the front door off my restaurant, tipped over a 20-ton gravel truck on the sidewalk, and shut off my water - and my business - more times than I care to count.
“I’ve repeatedly gone to the City Council, the County Commission and WyDot,” Ben fumed. “Nobody ever listens to anything I say. They just stare at me, thank me for ‘my service,’ and tell me they’ll make a note of it.
“You want to know about my ‘service’?” Ben queried me. “I spent years of my life in the Air Force and in Vietnam, supposedly fighting to keep America free. Do you know how our politicians treated us?”
Ben pulled a pencil out of a holder, snapped it in two and flung it against his front door.
“There goes the first GI,” he said. “No problem, we’ve got another one where he came from!”
Another pencil snapped and followed the first.
“We’ve got warehouses full of GI’s. They’ll obey our orders and drop into our LZ or we’ll put them in jail!
“And for what, Brad?” Ben cried, tears on his cheeks. “So Kim and I could come back to America, the ‘land of the free,’ and be ordered around and treated like criminals by a bunch of worthless bureaucrats who view us as nothing but chattel - while we pay their salaries no less?”
Ben stood still for several moments, stared at the broken pencils on the floor, then dropped back into his chair.
He whispered: “And I have no power to do anything about it. Those people can walk in here, close my doors and put us into the poor house without even so much as a court order - while I have the cleanest restaurant in this whole damn town. Justice? Where do you see it?”
Listening, I had been grasping a memory, something his words were reminding me of. Then I had it: The Battle of Athens, 1946 - when servicemen returning from World War II found it necessary, ultimately with the help of the rest of the town, to seize the operation of McCinn County, Tennessee, back from a corrupt political machine that had hijacked it years earlier while they had been fighting Hitler.
And I pondered... The problem here isn’t that Ben’s some whacked-out nut-job looking to incite a revolution. No, the problem is that Ben’s just a normal American guy who pays his taxes and follows the rules... But who has also realized that “the system” no longer pays him any attention, that the machine has become its own God.
“What happens, Brad,” Ben asked, “when the ‘rules’ have made slaves out of all of us? When the system no longer hears us and is stacked against us? When we no longer have a voice? What on Earth are we supposed to do then?”
What, indeed?
Bradley Harrington is a computer technician and a writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming; he can be reached at brad@bradandbarbie.com.
(1) It doesn't look like post preview is a function of this board, so I hope that it appears half-decent, as I haven't been able to discover a way to look at it before I publish it;
(2) It also looks like most people are posting links as opposed to text, and then comments are made in text; I would prefer to post text as my primary method and embed links as needed. I hope this software will left me do that. Nor does it look like I have any bold/italics capabilities either;
(3) Most of the stuff I churn out is for the local paper here in Cheyenne, Wyoming (Wyoming Tribune Eagle), so it has a local Wyoming flavor to it. Don't let that bother you, however, as I always use local events as a starting point for wider political and philosophical conclusions. You've probably got the same kind of junk happening in your town anyway, or worse;
(4) OK, let's try it out!
The God Of The Machine
By Bradley Harrington
Published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on February 20, 2015, under the title of “What Happens When Rules Fail Us?”
“America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.” - Claire Wolfe, “101 Things To Do ‘Til The Revolution,” 1996 -
Most of the time, in discussions of political issues, I pick up little more than the same pre-conceived platitudes one can find in any public school classroom.
Once in a great while, however, I hear something that jars me right down to the soles of my boots.
“Brad, we need to talk,” William “Ben” Bennett phoned me the other day.
Ben and his wife, Kim, own the Korean House Restaurant on the southeast corner of Snyder Avenue and Pershing Boulevard, and I’ve known and respected them for years.
So, I paid Ben a visit.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He pushed a bright orange piece of paper across the table at me.
“That came in the mail a couple of days ago,” he said.
An invoice from the Health Dept: “Routine Inspection, $90.00; Late Fee, $25.00; Total Due, $115.00.”
“Kim and I opened this store up 14 years ago,” Ben said, “and I’ve gotten dozens of those things since. I always pay them, and on time. I never got the first notice. I don’t believe I owe those people that $25.00.”
“Make sure you think it through,” I said. “Those people can make your life very difficult. I’m not saying you should pay it, I’m just pointing that out.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Ben retorted, scowling. “You think I don’t think of it every time a renewal, license or health fee shows up, while I’m asking myself: WHY is it that I have to pony up hundreds and hundreds of dollars every year for the ‘right’ to make a living?
“And what do I get in return?” Ben asked. “Those incompetent fools have screwed up Snyder Avenue with their road work for four years running now... While they’ve brainlessly cut through gas and water lines, almost blown the front door off my restaurant, tipped over a 20-ton gravel truck on the sidewalk, and shut off my water - and my business - more times than I care to count.
“I’ve repeatedly gone to the City Council, the County Commission and WyDot,” Ben fumed. “Nobody ever listens to anything I say. They just stare at me, thank me for ‘my service,’ and tell me they’ll make a note of it.
“You want to know about my ‘service’?” Ben queried me. “I spent years of my life in the Air Force and in Vietnam, supposedly fighting to keep America free. Do you know how our politicians treated us?”
Ben pulled a pencil out of a holder, snapped it in two and flung it against his front door.
“There goes the first GI,” he said. “No problem, we’ve got another one where he came from!”
Another pencil snapped and followed the first.
“We’ve got warehouses full of GI’s. They’ll obey our orders and drop into our LZ or we’ll put them in jail!
“And for what, Brad?” Ben cried, tears on his cheeks. “So Kim and I could come back to America, the ‘land of the free,’ and be ordered around and treated like criminals by a bunch of worthless bureaucrats who view us as nothing but chattel - while we pay their salaries no less?”
Ben stood still for several moments, stared at the broken pencils on the floor, then dropped back into his chair.
He whispered: “And I have no power to do anything about it. Those people can walk in here, close my doors and put us into the poor house without even so much as a court order - while I have the cleanest restaurant in this whole damn town. Justice? Where do you see it?”
Listening, I had been grasping a memory, something his words were reminding me of. Then I had it: The Battle of Athens, 1946 - when servicemen returning from World War II found it necessary, ultimately with the help of the rest of the town, to seize the operation of McCinn County, Tennessee, back from a corrupt political machine that had hijacked it years earlier while they had been fighting Hitler.
And I pondered... The problem here isn’t that Ben’s some whacked-out nut-job looking to incite a revolution. No, the problem is that Ben’s just a normal American guy who pays his taxes and follows the rules... But who has also realized that “the system” no longer pays him any attention, that the machine has become its own God.
“What happens, Brad,” Ben asked, “when the ‘rules’ have made slaves out of all of us? When the system no longer hears us and is stacked against us? When we no longer have a voice? What on Earth are we supposed to do then?”
What, indeed?
Bradley Harrington is a computer technician and a writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming; he can be reached at brad@bradandbarbie.com.
Ethically, it was "early" enough a long time ago - for the same reason, and in exactly the same fashion, that it's ethical to shoot any other life-threatening burglar that intrudes upon your property through the use of force, with the intention of seizing whatever he can get away with.
Whether that's necessarily the "smart" thing to do right now, however, is a different story. I'm keeping my gun in my holster - for the time being. But it's close by, and loaded...
Brad Harrington
1) I have been to the restaurant Bradley mentions.
It's where I buy kimchee.
So these are really people Brad is talking about.
2) I'm currently breezing through Bastiat's "The Law".
Very relevant to this situation.
As for Bastiat - yep, he was a master alright, and... Well, we've talked about him before, one of the three things we got from the French that was worthwhile... With the other two being the phrase "laissez-faire" and the Statue of Liberty, of course. <big smile>
Brad Harrington
https://mises.org/library/law-0
Correct.
RE: "I would prefer to post text as my primary method and embed links as needed. I hope this software will left me do that."
It will.
RE: "Nor does it look like I have any bold/italics capabilities either"
Correct again. :)
Also, you don't really need to republish your entire article in your post description. A brief summary or blurb will do just fine.
Again, welcome to the Gulch Brad. We're glad to have you.
And I'm glad to be here! And THANK YOU for taking the time to bring me up to speed on the mechanics of Gulch Usage. I appreciate it, and I look forward to discussing things with you in the future...
Brad
Brad
I shared your sentiments, Re: On The Quiet Front for a few years, especially after my wife Barbie and I crashed our newspaper, "Liberty's Torch," right after the 2012 election. I intended on staying "under the radar" whenever possible and simply engaging in civil disobedience when I couldn't.
What I've learned over the last year or two, however, is that I'm just not constituted that way. To be candid, I just don't know how to keep my mouth shut. Piss on it; "Take life in big bites! Moderation is for monks." <Robert Heinlein>
If that means they're gonna come for me, they can drag me, kicking and screaming and pulling hair and gouging eyes, the entire way.
On the wealth-amassing front, I'd recommend cash purchases of silver and gold. Especially silver, for reasons that are probably obvious (if not, let me know and I'll be happy to explain).
As for the rest of the preps, DO IT. I have been, for several years, and even though none of us wants to see or experience The Crash we've got coming, it generates a peace of mind not achievable in any other way, in my opinion.
Brad
Brad
As someone who dabbles in journalism more than I should, I hear you loud and clear - it's the job of the journalist to be reporting this kind of stuff, instead of the spoon-fed, state-sponsored pap that passes for journalism today.
ARRRRRGH! Journalists. <LOL>
And YES, numbness is definitely a part of it - for those of us who know better. Epistemological chaos reigning in our minds, however, is the only explanation I can think of for those of us who don't. <sad smile>
Brad
I am answering your first two points from my admin account as it concerns "admin-y" type stuff.
As to your first concern about no post preview:
A paid producer of the site (which you are one) can edit their post content.
(Look at the bar of grey options underneath your post title, one should say "Edit".)
This was put in specifically to fix grammar, typos, and formatting.
We offer this option to Producers on the honor system that content will not be meddled with.
As to your second concern, the part about formatting:
There is currently no HTML or BBCode markup allowed in posts.
No matter though, everyone here is pretty tech savvy, they'll just click on the link you post.
As to your second concern, the part printing text as opposed to links:
You can include a url or not in the url form field.
If you do include one, the main title of your post will point to the page you linked to.
If you do not include one, the main title of your post will point to the comment section of the post.
If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to ask.
Brad
That would be nice, as we can't keep stumbling along this way much longer. The rate of acceleration is itself accelerating, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist or a neurosurgeon to figure out that we're headed for the "Bell" of the curve pretty quick.
I figure some "flash point," as I call it, is gonna trigger events here within the next 2-5 years - if it takes that long. We live in interesting times...
Brad
NOTE: That last sentence is NOT to be taken to mean that I intend on hanging anybody, of course...
Brad
Actually, I lifted the title from that book. It just fit perfectly, and that was my way of saying "Thank You" to Ms. Paterson for a great tome. No one that I know of in Cheyenne got the reference, but - given Rand's and Paterson's long friendship - I knew some of you Gulchites would get it. <smile>
Brad
But look at us now.
Those warnings have become intellectual prophecy.
"Yep" to all the above. Except I think a VERY plausible case can be made that we've ALREADY tipped and that the normal political solutions are now no longer possible.
As evidence for that, I offer the accelerating growth of the two greatest enemies to the required reforms (other than just blind stupidity):
(1) The dependent class, comprising all of those on the take in one form or another, promised or otherwise;
(2) The bureaucratic class, i.e., those who have a stake in promoting, continuing and expanding the "system" of the take in its present form.
Both classes are growing by the day, and - in my opinion - they now comprise more than 50 percent of the voting population. Hate to be the one to relate the bad news, but we're headed for civil war/revolution/martial law... Hopefully, those of us who are left afterwards will have enough brains and guts to rise out of the ashes...
Brad
The Crown had several distinct advantages, including geographic distance, a professional standing army from the homeland instead of a colonial militia, and nearly absolute control of seaborne commercial traffic (i.e., the colonial economy). Communications were slow, and even though subject to British law, the colonists had no legal representation. Those listed just to point out the differences we now face. Those same disconnects made colonial visibility into government corruption strictly local.
My daughter, an avowed liberal, expresses some of the same emotional distress as your restaurateur. She makes the usual piddling salary of most high school teachers, and is now facing the delights of Obamacare. She makes too much money to qualify for government subsidies to offset her significantly increased health insurance premiums, and her new insurance has a $5,000 deductible, plus co-pays for appointments and medicine that are several hundred percent higher than she had before. In short, she has to pay for medical insurance for health care she can't afford to use. I've been sympathetic, and have avoided the opportunity to tell her not to expect things to improve under a Hillary Clinton administration.
Sadly, based on the behavior of the colonists, I figure it will be a while before enough people will realize where this will inevitably lead. Every once in a while I'm reminded of one of Heinlein's novels which ends up with a rebellion that starts in 2025, led by a leader who's 81 years old. Uncomfortably enough, I'll be 81 in 2025.
Hell, in 2025 I'll be 65. Let's do it!!! I'll push your wheelchair as needed.
Brad
Brad
Look at the bright(?) side, 25 years of abuse have already occurred.
Brad
Whenever I post a new Papa Possum piece (like I did yesterday).
I always include the full text, copyright notice, and page link within the post body.
Excellent article. I look forward to more from you. You are absolutely correct, and it is sad to say, that though your article has a Wyoming address, you could substitute any city name, and still be accurate.
A question I have worried on for a while is, are we too far gone for peaceful solutions? Rand, Ghandi, MLK, and many others have stated that force should not be used to enforce your will on others, but I feel helpless in any peaceful solutions. When it has been shown repeatedly that our media, govt, and even the sanctity of our ballot boxes have been corrupted, are there any peaceful solutions left for us?
Unfortunately, we have our hands full here for now.
They don't refer to Madison, WI as "Mad Town" for nothing!
Just to let you know, I enjoy your writing. You are intelligent, articulate and your reasoning is solid. Thank you for posting.
Clear case of what I've been saying. Put the secular devil behind you, do not support them nor listen to them in any way.l NEVER vote for them at any level. Gotta punch them out dead in the ankles before progressing to knee capping. Remove their base and this to shall fall. One slip into the Republican or Democrat column on the voters punch card is all it takes. So if your good friend wants to run for some local officers and intends to do it that way explain the facts of life and vote for someone else, anyone else. Once a member of the Devil's Party and they are lost anyway so there is no excuse for being an enabler - especially if it's a good friend you respect.
(TRY and separate the secular from the religious. It's meant to portray evil by any other name is still evil and those who support the lesser or greater are nothing more than supporters of evil. Especially if they admit what they are doing.
The answer is QUIT SUPPORTING THEM. No matter how lonely the battlefield seems.
A Constitutional Centrist? Surely you jest. I haven't voted for any of these buffoons since 1980.
What on Earth ever made you think I support ANY of these liars and thieves? Was it something I said?
Brad
You do realize that by oath of office ALL members are the military are constitutional centrists - at least they are supposed to be exactly that. Most of us have actually read it and wondered at times what it had to do with the citizens of USA? Silly us. We found out much to our embarrassment - not much. Works for me and way ahead of whatever is in second place - make that third place. Second Place is reserved for the Silver Medalists in the Southeast Asian War Games or insert your own mistake.
I'd say I probably more resemble what is now known as the "classical liberals," only with all the contradictions removed. Of all the Founding Fathers, my outlook on government most resembles that of Thomas Jefferson.
When it comes to government, I barely support the idea that we even need to have one - and whatever one it is that we happen to have, should be funded voluntarily.
Regarding the Constitution, quite frankly, I regard it as a seriously-flawed document in a number of respects, all of which can be highlighted by Lysander Spooner's observation: "The Constitution has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it."
In my opinion, the Constitution was an experiment - and, as should happen with all experiments, this one needs to be re-evaluated - and what has happened since it was enacted needs to be taken into account - then the "experiment" needs to be tweaked or replaced with a new idea, as this one was a dismal failure at limiting what government we might need to its proper role in society.
Did any of this help you peg me any?
Brad
Powerless to prevent it's misuse - The Roman philospher Boethius observed in the days of the first Christian Roman Emperors the tyrant does not take take power but rather it is given to him by the citizens. As long as the citizens are happy with a one party dictatorial and decidedly fascist government we will drift from dictator to dictator until one decides to ignore the eight year rule and ignore the congress much as Emperors did the Roman Senate. it is the fate of all governments in history that none have lasted as much as 200 years without their citizens failing in their responsibilities and giving the ultimate power to a ruling class. By design or by saying what's the use we can do nothing that George Soros cannot buy and subvert - an idea no doubt planted by Soros. There is plenty of power. But it has to be used. Rights do not come with out Responsibilities,
The next big piece of the puzzle is the creation of a the Protective Echelon and that is well underway fed by a never ending stream of never ending crisis. Under the likes of Hillary or Kerry that new Department or directorate more aptly will change from agencies to divisions. Just like always.
What difference this time. The handcuffs and chains are more velvet lined. We have the new version of the roman stadium games and along with it the means to propagandize in a more subtle manner.
But the citizens willingly give up their responsibilities and with that their rights. So let's call that the couch potato vote - or lack thereof.
A large group is out there wandering around unrepresented and for the most part unorganized. Like the odd nail that sticks it's head up they are immediately beaten down by the hammers of the bully pulpit and the Government Party (establishment) propaganda teams meaning the controlled media and education systems. So far. There is that fast growing Protective Echelon to cause real concern.
Changes that could and should be made range from the very simple to some a bit more complex.
Most of them have to do with empowering or re-empowering citizens who have shown they are all too willing to reject responsibility. That's the hard part. Examples.
Census - Change people to citizens.One word.
Education - Either add the word or send the Department of Education back to the States.
Voting. Balance and level the playing field with some or all of the following.
Primary all on the same day. They are all locally focused anyway. Use of caucus, primary ballot direct vote, or any other form of choosing a candidate is the business of the party. Set a campaign season every two or four or whatever years with one month to campaign and one week to vote followed by at least a month to take care of runoffs or the results of the mandatory addition of None Of The Above/No confidence.
Keep the funding for local races local. There are approximately 186,000 precincts. Soros isn't rich enough to control them all. The number of voters average 1100 (all 2004 figures.) Which with None of the Above and locally voting in a recall provision for those who don't have that power mean it's a case of talking to your neighbors. Face to face. Instead of giving them up as a lost cause to the power of electronics. That's how Soros does it. That's how the Government Party does it.
Direct vote there is no need except easier to control from the top by the established ruling elite class for the Electoral College.
So yes you pegged yourself and nailed the issue
Proper role in society? Depends on your viewpoint. Servants of George Soros to some by abdication of responsibility with no controls. The present path.
Employees of the citizens who are required to stick to their assigned tasks - defense of the nation from enemies foreign and domestic be they military, or just local muggers and defense against the sometimes ravages of nature head the list. Local muggers include government and corporatist/commercial criminals as well.
The list of course goes on. But these examples coupled with some a bit more complex to undo or change -
BUT by amendment which means back to a vote of the citizens who hold or held the ultimate responsibility. Not by ignoring, finding as way around or usurping the Courts job of interpreting.
If nothing else Mr. Harrington you hold the moral high ground.
Why? For one reason we now have a portion of government that is allowed to act without reference to the Bill of Rights and Civil Rights. Like the Military Conscription Act just waiting to be used.
300 million people sentenced for the crimes of twenty who brought down two buildings, killed 4,000 and in the end - won.
I'd say more than tweaking is needed.
There are those who will say oh we can't do that it violates this or that from the Constitution. They must have their collective heads in the sand invoking that which is routinely violated and ignored by the Government Party and yes that means both establishment Democrats and Republicans. You can't rely on that which doesn't exist except as history. Nor can you rely on what they say when judged by what they do.
northeast) really despise bureaucrats!
Thanks for the post. . the answer is to refuse them
service. . work for someone else and bide your time
as best you can 'til you can retire. . sux.
alternative::: Gulch. -- j
Oh, well... ARRRRRRGH! Journalists!!! LOL
Brad
in '08 and misspelled something -- too much liquid
armoring against the bad news, I guess -- when
lamenting that:::
BHO's victory was ironic -- turning the tables on
slavery, from black slaves then to predominantly
white slaves now, working to feed the govt machine
redistributing dollars. . pissed off a liberal or 2. -- j
Brad
Brad
P.S. I have watched the video of The Battle Of Athens and have passed it on to everyone I know who will understand it.
Welcome to the Gulch.
Ed
Well, at least I'm in good company. <hoot>
Brad