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Samizdata quote of the day In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
– Martin Luther King
Over the last two years, I’ve discovered a lot of ‘anti-statists’ I’d have once been certain I would count on when things got tough, turned out to be timid souls with feet of clay.
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These days, it’s such an important and relevant quote.
I know so many cowards.
One thing I’ve learned over the last two years is that cowardice often stems from the sub-conscious.
On a positive note, in the last election, I learned that there are 74 million+ US voters, who are anti-statist, and that I am not the only one. Up until 2016, I really thought I was alone.
@Exaperated
I had a similar feeling on 24th June
Does anyone know if there has been a new brain fart coming out of Downing Street regarding masks? I did a little shop at Asda this afternoon and mask wearing was down from almost universal previously to about half today.
My wife was called by a friend of 27 years today, asking if we were ok, mindful that we had been disinvited from all social engagements in the village because I am unvaxxed and survived Delta. She has been vaxxed twice…
Idiots. I am not at all a vindictive person, but there is a nasty part of me that hopes that the next few months will prove difficult for them.
Stonyground (January 23, 2022 at 5:16 pm), you surely know that in England it is not legally obligatory to wear masks from this Thursday 28th January in shops, hairdressers, cinemas, theatres, public transport, etc.
As it happens, I am in England at the moment. I too see that many (inspired by Boris’ own example, perhaps?) are sensibly anticipating this permission (or I think I do compared to Scotland’s average – maybe England was always saner).
IIUC, masks in England are already not legally required in pubs and restaurants (i.e. not even while walking to your table), nor in ‘impractical’ places such as gyms.
I don’t pay much attention to the media so I wasn’t aware that the rules were about to change. It is interesting that about half of the shoppers have ditched their masks a week early.
I’ve discovered a lot of ‘anti-statists’ I’d have once been certain I would count on when things got tough, turned out to be timid souls with feet of clay.
Most people are timid souls with feet of clay. Some of those who scoff at cowards are themselves very brave, or foolhardy, or both. But most scoffers have never been put to a serious test, and are dragonslayers only in their own imaginations. While we’re collecting quotes, let’s collect this one :
“He jests at scars that never felt a wound”
eg “If I had been a German in WW2, I would have been a member of the resistance. If I had lived in te Soviet Union, I would have stood up to be counted.” Yes, dear, of course you would.
If you restrict your alliances to people who don’t have feet of clay, you will have very tiny alliances. The hard work is trying to work out how to bolster the very limited courage of your fainthearted allies. Encouraging tiny inconsequential rebellions is a good start, and making people feel they are part of a crowd, not an isolated individual wuld help. Perhaps this collective feeling does not come naturally to libertarians, so perhaps they are at a disadvantage here.
“eg “If I had been a German in WW2, I would have been a member of the resistance. If I had lived in te Soviet Union, I would have stood up to be counted.” Yes, dear, of course you would.”
We’re not talking about having to run the gauntlet of the Gestapo or NKVD. We’re talking about not being an arse who goes around tattling on people for ‘breaking the rules’ and generally behaving like some sort of camp guard if given any power (I’m thinking of that nurse who was quoted as gleefully turning the begging husband of a dying woman away from being able to see her on her deathbed ‘because covid’). That didn’t require any bravery, it just required ‘not being a c*nt’.
It is not a case of ‘restricting’ alliances to people who don’t have feet of clay, because it is not my choice (or Samizdata Illuminatus’) being discussed here.
If someone does not show up and stand with you when the shit starts happening; they say nothing, do nothing, and by their actions accept the official narrative, then they have demonstrated they are not my ally. It does not make them my enemy, but they are clearly not on my side. It is not my choice being exercised, but rather theirs.
I was never asking anyone to throw a Molotov, just stop wearing that idiotic mask & for their own sake, don’t get the ineffective experimental ‘vaccines’ (which are not really vaccines at all) and the endless boosters. The key to surviving Russian roulette is do not keep spinning the chamber & pulling the trigger over and over again just because someone is telling you to.
Went to Tesco’s today (big one) and it was just me and a couple of other people without masks. Disappointed me a bit to be honest.
Apparently in Korea you need to wear a mask whilst swimming. Yes, you read that right. Not a special swimming mask, just a regular one. One of my wife’s friends lives there and she was telling us about it.
Some in the free market think tank world have been poor over the past two years. Perry knows who I’m talking about.
I remember how timid I was at the start of the lockdowns in March 2020. I did not know what to think and, basically, went along with the “its only a couple of weeks to flatten the curve” LIE.
I only gradually (much too gradually) came to understand what was going on. Then the screams of “conspiracy theorist” and “paranoid” started to be directed at me (as they had already been directed to others) – but one has to accept that.
As for people dependent on Corporate funding (such as the ASI and IEA) – they are in a difficult position, and not just on Covid.
The Corporations depend on the Credit Money flow from (in the end) the Central Banks – in Britain the Bank of England.
That monetary and financial system is insane (utterly insane) – but if you are dependent on funding from Corporations that are (in turn) dependent on that monetary and financial system, they are not going to like you saying that the system is insane.
As for the Corporations now – they still just ask for “support” (government subsidies) to help them with the effects of government taxes (“Green” taxes and other taxes) and the effects of government edicts (not just lockdowns – edicts generally). They do not oppose the taxes and edicts themselves.
It is impossible to have any real respect for Corporations that behave like that (asking for “support” rather than opposing the taxes and the edicts) – and they basically all behave like that.
Which means it is impossible to respect the present Corporate system – because they behave so badly.
Perhaps, on balance, it would be wise not to be dependent on financing from Corporations that one can not honestly respect. But it is hard to see how people can not be associated with the Corporations – as they dominate economic life.
Catch 22.
And I have not even got on to the support the Corporations nearly all show for the Frankfurt School Marxist DIE (Diversity, Inclusion, Equity) agenda, and the support they show for the Corporate State Fascism of the “Davos” crowd. United Nations Agenda 21 and Agenda 2030. Now manifesting itself as the Social Credit system called, in the West, the “Environmental and Social Governance” (ESG) score system.
Clearly money was the leverage that tied the whole covid agenda together. In the USA, above and beyond direct employees, a staggering number of the people rely directly or indirectly on the federal government for income or funding: universities, states, state agencies, local school boards, teachers’ unions, hospitals, media, foundations, NGOs, federal contractors, researchers……There are always strings attached to federal largesse. Then, of course, multinationals donate to political campaigns in exchange for undermining competition from small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs by way of impossible regulatory demands. This explains why Biden’s approval rating isn’t at 2%. This extends beyond our borders and enables the USA to manipulate foreign governments, as well, whether it’s direct funding or trade deals. Lots of pressure from those same multinationals.
At one point, I wondered why the craven medical journals caved so quickly, but, of course, they are underwritten by Big Pharma.
I’m barely scraping the surface, aren’t I?
Jon Eds
North or South?
Silly me, the North isn’t that bat-shit crazy.
Is this a post about Sean Gabb?