Ten men acting together can make a hundred thousand tremble apart.
Three weeks ago Saturday, the FBI were out in undercover force at the ‘JusticeForJan6th’ rally – and looking lonely, since everyone from Trump to the proud boys had worked out it was a false flag operation. But precisely because the ‘demonstrators’ physically present were so overwhelmingly and obviously fake, the large virtual attendance in cyberspace was much entertained, with more mirth being had at the expense of some (overt) police who were a bit slow to realise that the guy they were arresting was yet another under(not-very-much)cover Fed.
None of which alters the fact that that the right “peaceably to assemble” for political protest is bifurcating. One side knows it need only be ‘mostly peaceful’ while the other knows that assembling at all can bring speedy arrest followed by long-delayed trial.
Ten oh-so-obvious undercover FBI agents are good for a laugh, but they still made those who mocked them laugh apart. Chanting “F*** Joe Biden” (“Let’s Go Brandon” 🙂 ) in a sports stadium is one way to laugh together, but it reminds me of the chariot racing clubs in the Roman and Byzantine empires – those ancient ‘blues’ and ‘greens’ chariot fans acquired strong political overtones because assembling for an overtly political purpose was forbidden.
(Just in case anyone wonders) the oft-repeated headline quote of my post first appeared (AFAIK) in ‘Lectures on the French Revolution’ by Lord Acton (who is more famous for saying “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”). The ‘ten men’ saying was Acton’s summary of the revolutionaries’ own arguments. He wrote that, since Mirabeau
After club president Mirabeau died (of natural causes) in 1791, effective leadership of the club passed in time to Robespierre, who honoured his predecessor in the most appropriate way imaginable – he had Mirabeau denounced as a counter-revolutionary traitor and his memorial bust in the club smashed, while giving a particularly vivid demonstration during the terror of how the Jacobins acting together could make a great many more Frenchmen tremble apart (or come apart, under Madame la Guillotine’s ministrations).
People now know that the FBI have infiltrated all the “anti government” groups – sometimes with agents, sometimes by blackmailing people already in the groups (for example by threatening their families with false prosecutions in the conviction machine that is the Federal “Justice” system – the FBI LOVES doing that).
When I used to warn people about all this (up to and including January 6th 2021) they used to dismiss me as “paranoid” – their-group-could-not-possibly-have-been-infiltrated-by-the-FBI they had all been in the military together, or they had even been at school together… but they were infiltrated, they all were. If someone suggests an illegal act – that person is almost certainly an FBI stooge. You may have known him all your life – but what you do not know is that the FBI is blackmailing him over his son (or whatever).
These days I get a different response – no one calls me “paranoid” any more, these days the response I get is “we already know that”.
Actually that is progress – it really is. To make the world a better place – one must first understand just how evil the world has become. And understanding the power, and the evil, of such organisations as the FBI, is a vital part of that.
All those endless films and television shows that depict the FBI as the “Good Guys” have to be unlearned (that conditioning has to be overcome) – they are most certainly not the “Good Guys” – they are “Bad Guys”, very dark indeed. Do not underestimate them – there are no depths to which they will not sink. Sadly that is true of all the other Federal Government agencies as well.
The darkest libertarian view of the Federal Government is now, horribly, correct.
Niall – remember what happened to the “Blues” and “Greens” of the East Roman Empire.
Justinian sent in the army and slaughtered them.
What do you think the “Critical Theory” Marxist indoctrination in the military, and the witch hunt for military personal “guilty” of such things as believing in the Bill of Rights (the Bill of Rights is considered crime-think by the Biden-Harris regime) is about?
It is about creating a force that will do anything against “reactionaries” – anything at all.
Remember the “reactionaries” are “racist white supremacists” – especially the BLACK reactionaries, who are especially “white supremacists”. This is actually being taught.
And “racist white supremacists” – especially BLACK “racist white supremacists” have-no-rights, they must be destroyed, by any means necessary.
Who is such as “domestic terrorist”?
Easy – anyone who (for example) suggests election fraud, or who objects to their children being subjected to Marxist “Critical Theory” indoctrination in school – such as person is obviously a “white supremacist” (especially if they are black), and a “domestic terrorist” and “insurrectionist” – they must be hunted down and destroyed.
So says “enlightened”, “Progressive”, even “liberal”, opinion. Including the banks and other Corporations.
For those of us on the libertarian right, the situation sounds pretty hopeless. Anyone got any ideas?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_de_Maistre
https://web.archive.org/web/20030812162858/http://maistre.ath.cx:8000/
Re those ancient ‘blues’ and ‘greens’ chariot fans acquired strong political overtones because assembling for an overtly political purpose was forbidden.
Not a lot of people know that chariot racing was invented by the Gauls and Celts, and nicked by the Romans. A wee while after the chariot racing got banned, a few Scots in the Glasgow area took to football instead. It’s a complete coincidence that one of the “Old Firm” teams wears green and the other wears blue, and the tribal chants having nothing to do with politics or religion (allegedly).
Horse drawn chariots with spoked wheels seem to have come from what is now Russia and the Ukraine – way back when the IndoEuropeans were first expanding. It was a warrior culture worshipping a Sky God (or Gods).
These were the ancestors of both the Gauls and the Romans – thousands of years ago.
As for Celtic and Rangers – look how Rangers fans are persecuted and Celtic fans (equally sectarian and political) are not persecuted.
This is the two standards of “Justice” with which Americans are also familiar – people on the left allowed to do things that people believed to be “on the right” are not allowed to do.
Orwell escaped from Spain because the communist secret police in the republican area
(quoted from memory). As my post hints, one could say something similar of Biden’s people.
Thanks to Niall’s first comment, i learn that this is from a work first published in 1910.
I’d like to point out that the concept already appeared, with less hyperbole, in the 1st part of Gaetano Mosca’s magnus opus, published in 1896. (English translations published in 1939.)
The way Mosca put it, is that an organized minority will always prevail over a disorganized majority.
(See also Mancur Olson’s The Rise and Decline of Nations, on why smaller minorities get organized faster and better than larger minorities — let alone the majority. Although iirc Olson did not point out that ‘getting organized’ implies becoming subject to a new ruling minority, eg union officers.)
The US became a horrible dystopia pretty damn quick.
Keep in mind that, in a country of 330,000,000 people, you hear about a lot more stuff than anyone ever actually sees. Life’s pretty normal here if you get off the internets.
The transformation of the United States was not quick – it took a very long period of time.
For example, on MONEY – the Supreme Court judgement that finally tore up the Constitutional protections for basic contacts (the gold clauses in private and public contacts) was in 1935 – by five “Justices” to four the Supreme Court decided that, on this vital matter, the Constitution was toilet paper. But that did NOT mean that the Federal Government (and the banks) created trillions of Dollars from nothing at once – it takes a long time for cultural (societal) to get totally destroyed “there is a lot of ruin in a great nation”.
Nor did the 1935 judgement come from nothing – the two “Greenback” cases in the 19th century laying the groundwork for the government (and the banks – its pets) having the PRETENDED (unconstitutional) right to create money-from-nothing.
To go back still further – Roger Sherman (the only person to sign all of the basic documents of the United States – from the Declaration of Independence onwards) was worried that the wording of the Constitution was not tight enough – and that in some future time judges could twist the words of the Constitution to allow for the creation of money-from-nothing for the benefit of the government, the bankers, and corrupt commercial interests.
And that is, eventually, what happened.
So it has not happened fast – not at all.
And the other elements of government have also taken a long time to corrupt. Under the influence of “Pragmatist” philosophy and-so-on.
Honest money and honest money lending (lending out Real Savings – not Credit Creation) is not some “add on” – it is the foundation of everything else.
This.
Honest money and honest money lending (lending out Real Savings – not Credit Creation) is not some “add on” – it is the foundation of everything else.
When a company like, for example, Apple, sells bonds, it is borrowing money based on an expectation of repayment because in the future they will earn money, and especially so, that the bond money will be invested and increase that future earnings. Government bonds are, in a sense, the same. They sell bonds based on the expectation that they will be able to tax people in the future to repay the bond. So the distinction between “real savings” and “credit creation” isn’t, in my view, quite so bright.
If you think the government promising to take money from you that you haven’t even earned yet, and pass that same obligation on to your children and children’s children rings disturbingly similar to slavery, then I’d agree with you on that too.
If you think that you continuing to pay off debts taken out by governments two hundred years ago that you had absolutely nothing to do with is grossly unjust, I’d agree with you on that too.
If you also think that the recent agreement between 80 countries to set a base minimum corporate tax rate sounds an awful lot like a cartel that would be illegal in any other circumstance, I’d also agree with you on that too.
Sorry if this is a bit off topic…
New York Governor Kathy Hochul:
Source:
https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/rush-transcript-governor-hochul-attends-service-christian-cultural-center
Archived:
https://archive.is/NtGqu
Additionally, video of her speech saying the above quote was played during JRE episode 1717 with Alex Berenson starting at 52 minutes and 28 seconds into the episode.
Allahu akbar.
USA crimdef lawyers, take note. Record this statement. If you ever get a crim client charged with shooting a threatening vaxxer (which this exhortation makes much more likely), this statement gets you partway to checking off the “reasonable belief that your bodily safety is threatened” box that makes a defensive shooting justified. If the Gov of NY is saying this, it’s a real threat.
So, in one swoop, this vaxxer whackadoo makes it more likely that like-minded vaxxer whackadoos will attack the unvaxxed, and also that the unvaxxed can shoot to defend themselves legally. What a loon.
Or an MI5, or 77 Brigade stooge.
It looks like Moslem terrorism has gone out of fashon these days, how many of those people were ‘known to the security services’ ?
God seems to have really messed up His communications with the Amish. Not only did they completely fail to receive divine inspiration to stop attending their churches and go to vaccine clinics instead, but the appropriate divine punishment for this behaviour did not follow. Apparently pretty well every Amish caught the ChiComCold at some point or another, but God (acting on some strange caprice) has withheld the rise in the death rate so fervently prophesied by Kathy and all her political friends. Not only are the Amish apparently as numerous as ever, but their failure to lock down caused them to have their “best financial year ever”.
It’s almost enough make you wonder if Kathy Hochul is a false prophet 🙂 – but not nearly enough to make the MSM wonder. Their faith is firm.
Frasor Orr.
Historically when banks (and other such) move from lending out Real Savings to creating “money” from nothing they eventually go “bank-rupt”.
Sir Robert Peel’s 1844 Banking Act failed because it thought the problem was “bank notes” when actually the problem was bank “deposits” that DID NOT EXIST (some “deposits” existing only in the accounts – without a physical existence, but still used as basis for lending).
Again and again banks would scream for a “suspension of cash payments” (i.e. for the government to support them in breaking private contracts for payment in physical commodity) – and say that this was the “only way to save the financial system”.
This proves that that the “financial system” was corrupt (intellectually corrupt – i.e. based on false premises), but this conclusion was, too often, not drawn. And in modern times the financial system has become totally divorced from reality – today saying that the financial system is “corrupt” or “corrupted” is to massively understate the case. For “corrupt” or “corrupted” implies there is still some connection with reality.
In the past the Credit Money (“Broad Money” of the banks) would collapse every few years back towards the “monetary base” of gold or silver, many people would suffer – but the basic economy would still exist.
Now there is no monetary base any more – no connection with reality at all.
You mention governments and their follies – but banks and their pet corporations are no more connected to reality than governments are, not-any-more.
The “system” really is a fairy castle in the air – held up by magic pixie dust and Moonbeams, and that is all it is.
Why do the “capitalist” banks and other corporations support the Marxists? BLM, Antifa, the “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” agenda, Social Justice……
Partly this is because they are run by “educated” (i.e. indoctrinated) people – but it is more than that.
Deep down the executives of the banks and circle of pet corporations they support know they are nor real capitalism – that they are based on Credit Bubbles, NOT honest savings.
To deal specifically with the example you give. Are those Apple Corporation bonds being bought by “Aunt Agatha” types out of Real Savings from a life time of work?
No they are not – at least not mostly. Mostly the bonds are bought with money that did-not-exist before it was used to buy the Corporate bonds.
I repeat – this is not like the 19th and early 20th century – where there was a lot of abuse on top of a system of physical money and real savings.
Now the abuse-is-the-system, it is not on top of anything honest – there is nothing honest (nothing real) left.
I am put in mind of an episode of “Dr Who” (from pre “Woke” days).
The Ancient Timelord “Omega” (one of three great Time Lords who created the technology and practices of the Time Lords) has been trapped in something like a Black Hole for a very long time – and he wears a mask to stop his physical body being eaten away by the forces in the bizarre place that he is trapped in.
What Omega does not know is that the mask does NOT work – his body has been eaten away (only his will, his mind, is left – and it can exist, as energy, on in this place).
So when he takes the mask off – there is NOTHING behind the mask.
It is a tragedy – because he thought he was still alive (still had a physical existence) and could finally GO HOME (which is all he wanted to do).
“But I exist!” is his terrible cry of despair when the truth hits him – because he now knows that, physically, he no longer exists. He can never go home – he is not alive, he is physically dead.
That is the position the Western financial system is in.
There may still be people in it who are honest – who, like Omega, think that they are still alive – that they still have a physical existence.
But when the mask falls, and it will fall, the terrible truth will hit them.
There is NOTHING left – the forces have totally eaten them away.
Niall – how the left (who do not believe in God) can use God for their political propaganda is despicable. And it is not confined to government – many “religious leaders” have no faith in God (as an actual being) at all. “A metaphor for the community” (meaning the Collective – with people like themselves in control of the Collective) is what they actually hold.
As for the Amish. If the left were the “Greens” the declare themselves to be they would leave the Amish alone – but they plan to slowly destroy the Amish (and all other dissenting groups).
Everyone must be in vast cities of steel, glass and concrete – controlled (by government and a few “pet” giant corporations) from the cradle to the grave – that is their real objective.
After all farming and handicraft communities such as the Amish stand in the way of “re wilding”.
A new version of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is happening right now in Scotland, with special comedy acts. Special accommodation has been laid-on for the audience.
Of course, the VIP actors and comedians won’t be staying on the cruise ship. Right now, private jets are arriving at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Prestwick Airports. How will these VIPs get from the airports and hotels to the conference centre?
Of course, this is a showcase example of “sustainability” in action. Like, not enough places to recharge these VIPs electric toys.
Any increase in the price of vegetable oil for human consumption is entirely coincidental. Chip shops in Edingurgh and Glasgow are being asked to give generously.
Rudolph Hucker.
Words fail me concerning the level of hypocrisy this event involves.
The international establishment elite are laughing at us – and doing a lot worse things than laugh at us (who they plan to make serfs).