You know, some days I wake up and I despair. Samizdata is filled with a waterfall of stories because we’re living in one of the most dangerous hate-filled ages of humanity, festooned with statists, hatists and ecologists.
The world is awash with these idiots, fools, and destroyers of the human spirit.
But then…
But then on other days I know, I feel it in my bones, from the smile on my son’s face, that we will emerge triumphant from this gathering gateway of horror.
Oh I pray, I pray to the atheistic God I worship, that a saviour will come to free us from this tyranny.
And then I realise that we don’t need a God, and we don’t need a saviour.
The spirit is within us all. This is the spirit of freedom, the spirit of adventure, and the spirit of hope.
It has sustained us since we crawled out of Africa one hundred thousand years ago, the product of four billion years of evolution. It has sustained us through four thousand bitter years of recorded history, and it has sustained us throughout that most terrible of centuries, the twentieth century of socialism, fascism, and communism.
We will not let these people destroy us; we will not let these people crush us underfoot. We will defeat them. We will free them from the horror which wraps their minds.
Yes, the past and the present belong to them, my friends, and may belong to them for a few more years yet.
But.
The future? The future, be assured. The future belongs to us.
Andy… step…away… from the bong
Andy,
May we assume that you’ve never seen “Cabaret”? (Even if it is “Me” and not “Us”.)
I stepped away from the bong, many many years ago. Did you know that cannabinol not only rots the brain, BTW, but rots it permanently? Bye bye memory, bye bye…errr…, ….
The problem is reading too many Robert Graves books, particularly, White Goddess.
Don Eyres writes:
May we assume that you’ve never seen “Cabaret”?
Absolutely, so I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. I will be going to see Terminator III, Rise of the Machines, though.
I’ve got this motorbike fetish. Particularly for 1000cc Ducatti Monsters.
Andy,
If you need to come down from that high… read this.
Yes… shameless blogho’ing… but sometimes you have to intervene, even when it hurts, when someone goes bonkers or OD’s on euphodelic substances!
John Moore (Useful Fools) writes:
… but sometimes you have to intervene, even when it hurts, when someone goes bonkers or OD’s on euphodelic substances!
Well, I’ve not been OD-ing on anything, except perhaps insomnia, a lifelong complaint, so I must be going bonkers. It’s not really surprising, given the current insane state of the UK! 🙂
I’m not pulling the piece though. It’s how I feel.
But thanks for the concern 🙂
And then I realise that we don’t need a God, and we don’t need a saviour.
The spirit is within us all. This is the spirit of freedom, the spirit of adventure, and the spirit of hope.
That is God. Love your neighbour as yourself, remember? As a conservative/libbo my main comfort is that God is on my side. Too bad the Church isn’t :-/
Also, atheists = smartarse wankers 🙂
Andy, I get days like that too, and decide that things are not that bleak after all.
Got one today when I read in the Economist that sales of books, especially serious books, surged in the UK over the last 7 or so years.
I suspect this is an Internet phenomena as more people get exposed to more information, not pre-filtered, spun, and dumbed-down by the mainstream media.
More people thinking for themselves and trying to understand their world = Good News!
OK, I know it’s just a rhetorical flourish, but why be nasty to ecologists? A scientist who seeks to understand the systems of natural world is a useful person to have around.
Puritan, superstitious, anti-capitalist greenies have claimed that ecology is normative and that their mangled interpretation is the only true faith, but you don’t have to accept their word for it. Would you use the word “economists” intending us to understand Marx, Lenin and the esteemed central banker Ernesto Guevara?
Phil,
Depends which books. The luminaries of the Khmer Rouge were intelligent chaps who enjoyed an excellent education at the Sorbonne.
Andy,
Depends upon your definition of freedom. Even old-style economic marxism sought to set men free. How about a clear and unambiguous summation of the dangers that confront us, along with a strategy to combat each of them – something a bit more substantial than this Dennis Nordenesque post.
After all, it might not be.
To all those who suspect substance abuse in Andy’s screed let us never forget that the most insidious and addictive mindbender of the age is PeeCee. So with that in mind and the love of freedom in my soul I’m off to hard-slap my ho.
GW: The Internet will wash away PeeCee in a torrent of information, as is appropriate for a house built on the sand of Left-wing lies and their need to control the distribution of information. The age of the VLWC is almost over!
Without the chaos of the twentieth century we would still be governed by a ruling elite and we proles would “know our station”.
The watersheds of the first world war, the Russian revolution and the tide of the labour movement were necessary to sweep away the old order. Change brings with it chaos. Then, eventually the dust settles. It’s still settling – look at the aftermath of the French revolution and draw a comparison with the Russian one.
Personally, I’m thankful – I wouldn’t want to work in the conditions endured by my grandparents. The social revolutions have given us power – and, paradoxically, strengthened the grip of captialism. The difference is that more of us share in it now and overall, personal wealth is greater. I ain’t complaining… 😉
Socialism needed to happen. It has, now its time is gone.
Personally, I’d rather be alive now that at any other time in history.
Thinks a bit harder.
Nope, I really can’t think of a time period where I would rather live.
Hmmm… I guess I’m going to have to write that piece on Timothy Leary. He was quite libertarian you know, and was a regular writer for a certain space colony oriented society back in the 70’s. Only met him once myself…
Andy,
In Cabaret, the Nazi anthem is “The Future Belongs to Me”.
V/R
DFE
Kit Taylor writes:
That is God. Love your neighbour as yourself, remember?
I think Jesus’ Golden Rule, which he ‘borrowed’ from Hillel, is much overrated.
What if I’m a communist citizen, who is happy to obey the wishes of the Soviet Union, and thrust myself into the nuclear reaction chamber, to save K19, The Widowmaker? The Golden Rule would imply that it’s perfectly OK for me to help thrust one of my shipmates in there with me, whether he wants to go, or not.
I prefer the following:
So don’t love your neighbour. Just leave him alone.
Unless, of course, he’s Harrison Ford using a ridiculous Russian accent. Then it would be your honoured duty, as a citizen of the Soviet Union, to throw him off the film set for crimes against acting! 🙂
Also, atheists = smartarse wankers 🙂
Hmm…interesting opinion. The terrible thing about smart arses though, and I know it often annoys me quite unjustifiably, is that they’re often right. May they rot in hell, for this evil sin! 🙂
And I also claim never to have masturbated, in my entire life. Nor cast any first stones. And I have never lied.
Phil Bradley writes:
I suspect this is an Internet phenomena as more people get exposed to more information, not pre-filtered, spun, and dumbed-down by the mainstream media.
I think you’re right. Also, it’s far too easy and tempting to buy books off Amazon. Damn their cotton britches! 🙂
And the terrestrial television, in the UK at least, is so uniformly awful these days, that of an evening, reading is a far better entertainment. When will someone bring back Doctor Who? It’s an outrage, and would get my £113 pounds a year voluntarily, just by itself, to whoever remade it, as long as Tom Baker was in it, of course, the one true Doctor, as some kind of senior Time Lord! 😉
(Though Jon Pertwee was pretty good, too, especially in that one with the giant spider! 🙂
Guy Herbert writes:
OK, I know it’s just a rhetorical flourish, but why be nasty to ecologists?
No, it was fully intended. You may like to check out pages 35 to 37, of the following PDF link to Murray N. Rothbard’s Power and Market, on conservation laws.
(It’s 163 pages of PDF file by the way, so may take a little time to download, but it seems fairly quick, this end 🙂
Guessedworker writes:
How about a clear and unambiguous summation of the dangers that confront us, along with a strategy to combat each of them
Well, it was only an “Ode” written by an old sentimentalist who perhaps loves his son too much, who couldn’t get to sleep until he’d gotten it out of his system.
But, if it’s the dangers you want, and a strategy to combat them, roll up, we got ’em! 🙂
The Problem
The Strategy
Mark Ellott writes:
Without the chaos of the twentieth century we would still be governed by a ruling elite and we proles would “know our station”.
Well, I don’t know quite where to begin here, But in the UK, towards the end of the nineteenth century, when we had the gold standard, and prime ministers like Gladstone, and Salisbury, I think we were doing alright. The problems came from the conservative statists of Germany, and destroyers like Bismarck, and then the great gold standard collapse and First World War, which this odious man generated. (Though he was directly responsible for one of my favourite films, Sink the Bismarck!)
Also, in the US, it was the overseas intervention into WWI, which really got their Big State going.
So we could’ve done a lot better, than the 20th century we did have, in my book.
Also, on a personal note, I come from a Ukrainian-Polish Jewish family (amongst other families), and most of my relatives were killed in Poland, or White Russia, or the Ukraine, by socialist murderers, in the 1940s. So I’m afraid we’ll have to agree to differ on the idea that we ‘needed’ socialism, in the twentieth century, to shake things up a bit.
Though I do hope, along with you, that socialism’s time has come and gone. But there’s a new generation of fools born every minute, and socialism is a ferociously attractive addiction. So I wouldn’t bet against it making a big return at some point, though I predict this will lessen over time, as those of few of us who now believe in liberty, try to de-shackle humanity from its stone age past, a wavy-line process, yes, with many ups and downs, but one where the trend has been, for many centuries now, towards ever greater liberty.
Dave O’Neill writes:
Nope, I really can’t think of a time period where I would rather live.
Fair comment. I’m hopeful myself. I just wish we could get off the planet sooner, and get some stuff going on, on the Moon, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt, to get those Robert Heinlein sales up. The sooner we get that process kicked off, the better for the process of liberty.
However, I’d loved to have been around at the time of the American Revolution, if I could get my hands on some kind of one-shot-and-return Tardis device. That must have been really something! 😎
Don Eyres writes:
In Cabaret, the Nazi anthem is “The Future Belongs to Me”.
Das ist sehr interessant, ein Song im Ordnung mit die Frage, und fur ein tausend Jahren vielleicht? 😎
Cheers, fella! 🙂
Right, to Euston, to board the Virgin Express to Penrith! What’s the betting this state-franchised monopoly, riding upon the rails of a state network rail monopoly monolith, is on time? Thought so. Absolute Zero. But, you never know! 😉
Thanks for all the comments 🙂
I’d loved to have been around at the time of the American Revolution
No anti-biotics, dentists, soft toilet paper…
Nah… I’ll take the current time period myself. Maybe the 60’s when the space program actually was doing new things…
I somehow doubt if there is going to be the expansion into space that I imagined as a kid. Delos D Harriman is not out there trying to get to the moon, there are some private psace endeavours but I am currently less than convinced.
Yesterday I filled a life long dream. I flew on Concorde. Mach 2, 57,000 feet – I saw sky that was almost black and the curvature of the Earth.
I fear greatly that that is the closest I am ever going to get to space.
Dave is on the money. I wish I’d lived in the future when we don’t need dentists at all. I’d much rather have been genetically engineered to be physically perfect and not bear the pains and foibles of being human.
I rather think that 200 years hence people will look at us and wonder how we coped with living in such primitive conditions- ‘DSL internet, how primitive!’
Anyway, enough from me… I’m off to have a filling 🙁
When I was at uni I was stunned by primitiveness the laboratory techniques we used, basically pouring things into test tubes and adding a pinch of this and a pinch of that like some 15th century alchemist. You’d think they’d have some sort of futuristic magic wand just to wave over things by now.
Andy Duncan said:
I think Jesus’ Golden Rule, which he ‘borrowed’ from Hillel, is much overrated.
What if I’m a communist citizen, who is happy to obey the wishes of the Soviet Union, and thrust myself into the nuclear reaction chamber, to save K19, The Widowmaker? The Golden Rule would imply that it’s perfectly OK for me to help thrust one of my shipmates in there with me, whether he wants to go, or not.
Oh goodness me no. You’ve ascribed equivalence to the wholely voluntary act of me entering the reactor to the distinctly different act of violently coercising my komrad in with me. That’s collectivist talk!
I’m in the reactor because I have followed my wishes to be there. If I truly loved my komrad as myself I’d leave the reactor door on the latch so that he too could pop for a quick melt if he felt like it.
It is an eternal problem of political discussion that people can’t/won’t disasociate ideas from one another. See how individualism is synonymised with hatred of society and family.
An experiment was once done where rats had electrodes implanted in the pleasure centers of their brains. Hitting a button stimulated the electrodes, which gave the rats a feeling of pleasure. The rats did absolutely nothing but hit that button. They chose the pleasure over sleep, sex, food, water, everything. I think we humans are headed down this path. The higher our standard of living, the wealthier and healthier we are, the more we long for entertainment and pleasure. It will be our downfall just like the rats.
There is hope though. If, as a society, we can shake off the old time shackles that define what it means to be human, and embrace future neuroscience to better understand how we really are, we may be able to save ourselves.
An experiment was once done where rats had electrodes implanted in the pleasure centers of their brains.
This discovery occured over 50 years ago and the relevant areas in the brain were mapped in detail. So why have I never heard of a single instance of someone voluntarily getting themself an inplant?
The optmist in me, thinks we too easily under-estimate ourselves.
Andy,
You’re still missing the point of my pedantry, which is about the most annoying thing you can do to a pedant. I was distinguishing ecologists, who in general may tell us what is, from conservationists (and others) who tell us what to do.
(In general I’m a lot closer to Rothbard than the current consensus–let alone my erstwhile green compadres–on this point, but I remain a pragmatist and a gradualist… I’m not about to leap off a political-economic cliff clutching any theorist to my breast, thanks.)
Oh, for goodness sake, Andy, get a grip! Life is good! Anyone been to Sainsbury’s lately? It has lots of nice food. I’m serious. Nice food is one of the indicators of a successfully evolving country. The food in Poland is still pretty shite even 10 years after communism, OTOH. Even if you like pickled cucumber, three times a day is a bit much.
Where do you live? Can I visit and take you out to the supermarket? (*ducks*… didn’t mean to sound rude, it’s just the way I come across…)
I wish I’d lived in the future
Actually, I wish we lived in the future I thought we’d have.
I would swap the internet for spaceships and colonies.
:-/
Atomicrazor…
I agree with Alice there.
I remember the food we used to have in the 1970’s – things are hugely better now. When I went to the US as a kid I thought it was the promised land – I go to the US every month or so now and have even lived there…
We caught up and in some respects, supermarkets for example, over took them.
I just bought fresh herbs, lasagne sheets and a nice Chablis, try doing that in 1977 at your local Tesco.
I have always wished I was born in the future. Maybe reading the Foundation Trilogy when I was young, not to mention watching the space program develop in the ’60’s, inspired a longing to see what things would be like far into the future. Before the fall of the Soviet Union, I always described myself as a short term pessimist but a long term optimist.
Since that collapse, I must say I have become very optimistic about the future. There are two reasons for this feeling.
First, I believe the greatest legacy of the 20th century is the fantastic spread of communication technologies that has now created a world culture. I often think of my grandfather, born in 1896, who saw the first cars, planes, radios, televisions, movies, watched men walk on the moon, and died in 1978, at the dawn of the computer revolution that truly has changed some very fundamental aspects of how we live and work.
The Iraq war, regardless of one’s feelings about the political part of it, was a watershed in the use of computerized and space-based technologies. Just as having a car, or television used to be the standard for belonging to the “modern world”, as earlier it was a telephone or radio, the very obvious dividing line between “modern” and “not there yet” is now access to the world wide computer and video telephone networks.
The second related cause for optimism is that knowledge is a powerful force when it can be exchanged and constantly reintegrated into a continually updated picture of what is actually going on. It is no accident that the repressive regimes remaining, literally clinging to existence by their fingernails in some cases, are all desparately trying to restrict their citizens access to the internet and satellite television. They know that the information available there which contradicts the bull they are spreading can only lead to further unrest.
We are barely into the 21st century. The people in charge of the various technologies are still trapped in formats and formulas which are already out of date, but they will soon be replaced by the next generation, and then the next. Those that have grown up with, and been dissatisfied by, the way things have always been done are the ones who will make the next round of changes in the movies and TV we watch, and the computer applications we use, etc., etc.
I am not a utopian. The world will always be an arena full of challenges for humans to deal with and conquer. The truly important thing about remaining free to live life as one sees fit is that the more independent minds, the more innovative ideas for the problems we encounter. The reason the collective, “the Borg”, is so dangerous is that everything is reduced to one master strategy. If it is wrong, misguided, foolish, lunatic, whatever, and no one else is allowed to have an independent thought, the game is over.
Thus we have the truly basic absolute for humans: The anti-mind is the anti-life. All else is commentary.
Screw all those complainers. I thought it was lovely.
veryretired said:
We are barely into the 21st century. The people in charge of the various technologies are still trapped in formats and formulas which are already out of date, but they will soon be replaced by the next generation, and then the next. Those that have grown up with, and been dissatisfied by, the way things have always been done are the ones who will make the next round of changes in the movies and TV we watch, and the computer applications we use, etc., etc.
And perhaps The Support Economy is the way forward?
We’re moved through an age of mass production that has provided more, generic things for everyone, to an age were capitalism provides better, unique things for individuals. There must be good parallels to draw with government there.
Phil Bradley writes:
The optmist in me, thinks we too easily under-estimate ourselves.
Personally, I’m a terrible masochist. I take my pleasure reading about England’s cricket team, and then muttering about the return of some more spirits like Ian Botham, to get some fire back into the boys in white. I’m just old enough to remember Headingley, and the look in Bob Willis’s eye when he took out Australia’s batting, after Botham’s remarkable performance. Ah, those were the days.
It’s harmless fun, really, and only costs fifty-five pence daily, for a copy of the Daily Telegraph, which is a lot cheaper than artificial pleasure-inducing cocaine! 🙂
Guy Herbert writes:
You’re still missing the point of my pedantry, which is about the most annoying thing you can do to a pedant.
🙂
I was distinguishing ecologists, who in general may tell us what is, from conservationists (and others) who tell us what to do.
And ‘statists, hatists, and conservationists’ would’ve scanned better, too! The point is therefore taken 🙂
(In general I’m a lot closer to Rothbard than the current consensus–let alone my erstwhile green compadres–on this point, but I remain a pragmatist and a gradualist… I’m not about to leap off a political-economic cliff clutching any theorist to my breast, thanks.)
No, I’m a cliff-leaper. We have nothing to lose but our chains.
(Though I may have read that somewhere else, before.)
And besides, it’s a lot more fun, and a lot easier to take a purist position without flaws, than defend the indefensible, as poor Doctor Liam Fox had to do this morning, on the Today program, when he was easily twisted into a shambolic mess by a refusal to countenance the abolishment of the NHS, the obvious step to stop parasitic UK immigrants from exploiting its largesse.
I’m also now unsure as to my position supporting Boris Johnson, which is slipping away from me, as I get further into Rothbardianism, but even Rothbard approved of tactical devices to directly increase liberty, such as helping the Blonde One. But gradualism is definitely beginning to lose its appeal. Even Mr De Havilland could be on the right track. As the statists get increasingly desperate to get us to vote, to legitimate the state, with now their plans to use all-postal ballots which get higher returns than voting stations because of their ease of use for the apathetic, there may come a point where so few people bother to vote, at all, that the state becomes illegitimate (though I’m sure they’ll carry on, as Blair has done as if the Lord God himself, despite only getting 28% of eligible voters to support him at the last election). Once this point of illegitimacy is clearly reached, all sorts of interesting things could happen.
Alice Bachini writes:
Oh, for goodness sake, Andy, get a grip! Life is good! Anyone been to Sainsbury’s lately? It has lots of nice food. I’m serious. Nice food is one of the indicators of a successfully evolving country. The food in Poland is still pretty shite even 10 years after communism, OTOH. Even if you like pickled cucumber, three times a day is a bit much.
Oh come on Alice, Sainsburys is useless, particularly the one in Maidenhead I used to frequent, where I had an argument with some santimonious management twerp about their lack of Chianti Rufina. I’d had the temerity to fill in her customer suggestions book with something along the lines of ‘You always seem to run out of Chianti Rufina on Fridays, would you mind ordering some more?’, and she rushed over to bawl me out, as I left the store. Maybe she had some bonus due, which got ruined by someone actually daring to suggest an improvement in a book clearly marked for the purpose. I’ve never spent a penny in there since, and I’m therefore claiming all credit for Sainsbury’s recent eclipse by Asda, to go third in the race behind Tescos. No doubt that suggestion got ripped from the book immediately, and thrown in the nearest bin, along with all the other suggestions which would’ve helped them challenge Tescos over the last few years. And anything which knocks a dent in the fortune of Labour-loving Lord Sainsbury, is good in my book. And don’t get me started on Jamie Oliver… 🙂
But Tescos, now that’s a different matter; the most ruthless provider of consumer goods on the market. I love my local branch of Tescos, in Henley-On-Thames, where we sometimes even see our local culinary marvel, Antony Worral-Thompson, who lives just up the road near Shiplake. And yes, some of the food is fantastic. It is this kind of thing which does, indeed, fill me hope. That despite the statists attempted complete takeovers of society, the free market of free people keeps trumping them, and will eventually push them out completely, with a major step coming when the British economy falls over Gordon Brown’s waterfall, which may even push fresh mountain-goats’ cheese off the shelves (or in my case, Polish sausages). Even the many Guardian readers of Henley (boo, hiss), could revolt, if the putanesca supplies dry up! 🙂
Can you imagine the horrors if we had a ‘National Food Service’ as well as a ‘National Health Service’? Queues for mouldy bread and potatoes, no doubt, with special outlets for key workers to get hold of their chardonnay and meat-free microwave meals.
What disturbs me are ID cards, the increasing lateness of Tax Freedom Day, the odious attempted abuses of Common Law by David Blunkett, the ominous Euro Constitution, Gordon Brown’s rapacity, and the difficulty of obtaining Green Cards if you have a British Passport, if it all gets too much (to mention nothing of the US’s increasing government spending, protectionism, and various other statist evils). We will win eventually. I’d just rather be around when we do.
Sorry to hear about Polish food. I grew up on various sauerkrauts, pickled cucumbers, and the like (which may have contributed to my bitterness :), so I can handle it all in moderation. But three times daily is a bit much. Though I hear they also do terrible things, in Holland, with pints of rancid milk five times a day? Was I the only child in England who was happy the day Margaret Thatcher, as schools minister, withdrew those dreadful bottles of warm milk we were forced to drink by the state, to turn us into productive citizens? The thought of them, even now, can ruin my whole day. Yuck!
Andy Duncan writes:
Right, to Euston, to board the Virgin Express to Penrith! What’s the betting this state-franchised monopoly, riding upon the rails of a state network rail monopoly monolith, is on time? Thought so. Absolute Zero. But, you never know! 😉
The Virgin Express? On time, quick, comfortable, clean, two ‘free’ bottles of water. Rob, the ‘train manager’ was helpful, courteous, could easily be heard of the tannoy, kept taking away all the rubbish, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a better train journey. Compared to my last journey north from Euston, under…whisper it… British Rail, it was like going forward into the future about 500 years. So, Mr Richard ‘Beardy’ Branson, you may have many faults, too many links with government, and a dodgy line in Notting Hill jumpers, but can’t fault you for the railway trip. Ok, so the ‘privatised’ rail system is really a state franchise, the track is owned and managed by a government body, and there’s no direct competition on this north-western route (except from planes, coaches, and cars, of course), and because I’m forced to subsidise the rail system through taxes, I’d rather the fare had been a bit lower, but I paid it, despite the alternatives available, so you’ve pitched it right for my custom. So credit where credit is due. And the bottom line? A damn sight better than British Rail used to be, on this route.
Thank God for the semi-free market!
I used to have to commute on Virgin, weekly from Preston to London. Words fail to describe how vile a service Virgin offered.
I have chosen to drive ever since when visiting friends.
Had to call it, as I saw it. Maybe I was EXTREMELY lucky then? I thought it might’ve been too good to be true.
And even my Thames Train ticket inspector, on the Twyford to Henley run, tells me NEVER to risk Virgin cross country, especially at the weekend.
Charlie writes:
Screw all those complainers. I thought it was lovely.
🙂
Sounds like a good trip, I had a good Virgin one to the Midlands a while ago. Still, I can’t abide flying Virgin Atlantic, no matter how cheap it is.