Several weeks ago somebody in some cheesy disreputable Forum, I forget exactly where, accused me of having no morals. Odd, I thought, as most of my essays make quite a point of defending some moral point or another, or at least are involved with defending the causes of Religion and Civilization, which is almost as good as being moral. But I decided it was time to write an essay about Moral Distinctions, as it seems some people could probably use the education.
Well, first we must admit that Morality does have its philosophical problems. For instance, there is the argument I make with Atheists, that if one rejects God because Science can’t demonstrate any God, then it is more or less inevitable that Morality will suffer the same Fate. If one must wait upon Science and Philosophy before one decides to be Moral, then Self Interest and Self Indulgence are likely to take a very long head-start.
Yes, yes, Atheists endlessly point to people, who had become Atheists only yesterday, and insist that they are behaving morally – that it is their “Natural Condition”. However, it is more likely the case that people who behave morally are doing so in respect to customs and traditions of Morality. The best example here is Western Culture, which used to be Catholic Civilization. Civilization had been moralized from top to bottom, not only laying out models of moral behavior but also addressing much of the necessary underlying moral assumptions and moral premises – placing others before Self, Social Importance before Self Importance, and the whole sense of Spiritual Ideals being transcendent over gross materiality, etc. Just deciding one day that one does not believe in God, well, all the Moral Conditioning of the Religion and Civilization still remain…. For awhile anyway.
Really, if the Atheist really wants to prove his point regarding a Natural Morality, he would need to refer to the Primitives and the Barbarians, and demonstrate all their Natural Goodness. Yes, they can show us a Mother’s Love, which is fairly universal, but after that, it all goes downhill fast in the search for Natural Goodness. Remember how I am constantly dwelling on the point that Dense Populations seek out Civilized Institutions, while sparse Populations remain the most chaotic and violent. Well, this is what we see with Primitive Peoples and Barbarians. As Societies develop a better sense of Cooperation and Sociability, then their numbers are able to float upward. But Chaotic and Violent Societies will automatically keep their own numbers low. I once read an article about Primitive Culture, one particularly violent Tribe. They had no sense at all for any of our kind of Morality. Mostly they praised Bravery in Battle. While they could speak of Loyalty as a virtue, it was offset by a larger respect for any cunning, strength or cleverness that could forgo Loyalty and attain to a more Alpha-Dominant Position in the Tribe. Mercy toward enemies was entirely ruled out as showing weakness. Oh, and one had to never appear weak before the Women… or they would stop doing what they were told to do. These were not nice people.
Oh, what fools many Anthropologists into believing in some kind of a Universal Goodness is that Primitive Peoples can be so hospitable to strangers. However, this is a well adapted cultural survival mechanism. This is how it works. When one group of Barbarians overruns another group of Barbarians, there is not necessarily a Fight. Often it is enough to show Superior Strength of Numbers. Well, who has Superior Strength of Numbers? It becomes necessary for the Tribes to carefully look each other over. This is done through Hospitality – there are feasts and celebrations and everybody counts heads and looks to see how big and strong the big and strong ones are over on the other side. If it is too close to call, then Manhood, Courage and Bravery gets involved and there is a Battle. But more often than not, if the Hospitable Tribe also happens to be the obviously Smaller and Weaker Tribe, then it will suddenly be reminded of plans it had all along to head West or South to some newer and prettier Valley. They will pull up stakes and leave, allowing their Guests to move into their old haunts. And if they are lucky then they themselves will prove to be the Bigger Stronger Tribe down the trail and force some other Poor Barbarian People to go on the move in their turn. But if they are always the Smaller and Weaker Tribe, then they will always be the ones to keep going.
One can see the important role that Numbers play here. Bigger Tribes are better able to keep their place, or take preferred places if they should go on the move. This is how Barbarism grows toward Civilization. Larger Tribes can only become larger by adapting to behaviors of Cooperation. For instance, perhaps the most significant improvement was the substitution of Games for Mortal Combats in deciding Group Dominance. In the most Primitive Societies, the Alpha Males would outright kill their rivals, or chase them off into Exile. The Tribe, while having a strong leader, would be weaker in not having so many Second Best Males around to add to the Security Picture. But in the more advanced Societies, the Young Males were allowed to play Games, sort of mock-combats – almost lethal but not quite… like modern Football. By adulthood everybody more or less knew who the Accepted Alpha would be – The Team Caption, and everybody would fall in line behind him. The Older Alphas would bestow honors on the Younger Alphas and marry daughters off to them… all to assure a few more years of their own survival, where in a more Primitive Society, the Younger and Stronger would only have needed to kill off the Older and Weaker. Society would benefit from the additional experience that the Older Alphas had acquired and could apply, while the Younger Alphas were brought up to Authority in a more orderly, convoluted and time-consuming manner. But the More Advanced Society is basically better simply because it is Bigger… and its acquired Traditions of Cooperation, especially in Games probably play out better when it comes to a Fight as well. Even Today, they only insist upon Team Sports in the Schools, as expensive as they are, because it makes the boys more easy to Drill later on when they become Soldiers and are sent off to die for King and Country. Remember what Wellington said, “Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton”. (Wellington was the English General who took the credit for defeating the French Emperor Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. And Eton was some snobby private school).
So, my point here has been that there is no Natural Morality… that the further we go toward Pure Nature, the more immoral it all becomes. All Morality seems to be Adaptive, and rises up to serve the cause of Civilization, Cooperation and Bigger Numbers.
Oh, but what happens when a Civilization establishes itself and then grows comfortable? Even if all of the Customs and Traditions are supported by Culture and Education, still, a certain decay may set in. If Individuals can break the Rules of Cooperation and enrich themselves by it, and be allowed to get away with it Publicly, then the Days of Civilization are numbered. People who follow Rules are called “Losers”. One encounters common expressions such as “Nice guys finish last”.
It is not so much that one needs to cry sentimentally for the cause of Lost Civilization. The real problem is that Fragmented Individualistic Barbarian Societies cannot support the same Population Numbers as Cooperating Civilizations. When a Civilization goes into Decay, soon to follow is always a huge Population Collapse. Always. History shows us that there had been 21 Civilizations. They have all collapsed. We know what that looks like. And it ain’t pretty.
Anyway, how can this decay creep in? What happens to the Morality of a Totally Civilized People? You know, if you read Literatures from any Golden Age of Civilization, you are instantly struck by so many Social Constructs… not just Moral Constructs, but almost everything is intertwined with Principles, Honors, Customs and Traditions. It is completely spelled out as to what a Good Person does and thinks in every permissible Social Situation. Such a Monolithic Social Morality does not crack apart in a minute.
So elements of decadence have to creep in somehow. In our own Catholic Civilization, what happened was the Printing Press brought out the Teachings of Paul – Salvation and Forgiveness of Sins became popular. You know, people think that Christianity had always been Christianity, in the way we think of it today, but Catholic Civilization had actually done a fairly good job at burying the Paulist Doctrines while inculcating Moral Responsibilities. The focus of the High Middle Ages had been on the Blessed Virgin Mother of God… and everybody was supposed to be Her well-behaved Child. Jesus was shown mostly as an infant. Yes, the Bishops knew about Paulist Doctrines, and that is why they were such a decadent bunch of Fat Cats, then as now, but at least in regards to the most part of the People – Rich as well as Poor – all of the Moral Obligations remained clear. Salvation and the Reformation would turn that all around.
So, what Paulist Doctrine and Forgiveness of Sins introduced was a first allowance for a Permissive Morality. People still knew Right from Wrong, Good from Bad, but they were given the idea that God loved them more than He cared about Scoring by the Rules. One could commit Sin and God would look the other way. Boys will be boys, as they say. Sin was Natural and so it would be Tolerated. What actually happened for the most part was that Protestant Greed was unleashed, and the race for Concentrated Wealth would take off. It would take Centuries but at last we could arrive at that epitome of Human Progress where 1% of the Population could control 90% of the Wealth… and pay 1% of the Taxes. I call it an Epitome to be both sarcastic, of course, but also quite truthfully, as that has been the highest and final stage of every Civilization, immediately before its Collapse. It there is a Higher and Better Stage… we have yet to see it transpire.
The next decline in the Descent of Morality, from Moral Permissiveness, is to Amorality. Amorality is of two varieties – there is the Brutish Amorality of the uncultured and the unschooled – people from the Hills or from the Streets who get nothing that they do not steal or fight for. Then there is the Cultured Amorality of the intellectually sophisticated. As I have said, it is no secret to the Thoughtful, that there is no scientific basis for Morality. Yes, Societies benefit by being Moral… but Individuals are well aware that their concern needs be only for Themselves. Yes, it is Historically Inevitable that Amoral Societies eventually undergo huge Populations Collapses – that nearly everybody dies, most especially people who had provoked grudges… the Poor typically slaughter the Rich. Still, that can take generations to happen, and in the meanwhile, all these Smart People can see clear as day that he who dodges the most Rules makes the most money and acquires the most power.
I read about some Game that was put forward by some Scientific Study. Each Player could put forward a sum of his playing chips, and they would be matched by the “House” and re-divided amongst everybody. Everybody could win. But some of the more cunning players soon thought it out, and discovered that they could hold back their own contributions, and still partake of the re-distributions. The Game would eventually fall apart, but for a while the most selfish players would seem to “Win”… having more chips then everybody else when the fighting and name calling would begin.
One needs to wonder why everybody isn’t Amoral – there being so many Worldly Advantages, but so strong are the old Customs, Traditions and Thought Patterns surviving from some Golden Age Civilization. We refer to it as Conscience.
The lowest level to which immorality can sink is Evil. Where Amorality is attuned to self-aggrandizement, Evil actually seeks to do harm for the sake of doing harm. Well, actually, thinking about it for a moment, Evil can be rather Utilitarian. When any one person wishes to be the acknowledged Dominant Individual of a Society – the undisputed Dominant Individual – well, the surest means is to be entirely Evil, and then destroy anybody that wants to complain about it. So Evil is essentially about asserting Dominance. So it is that those who are most successful at being Amoral will eventually, if they are so lucky, be lead to being Evil, to flush out and destroy their competition.
This is why it is so worrisome that America is making such a big deal about being the Undisputed Sole Super Power of the World. If America holds to pattern, then their proof of Power will be through some huge Evil, to force their Enemies to step forward that they may be disposed of.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
New Anti-Insurgency Weapon
New Anti-Insurgency Weapon
Artificial Intelligence is getting better and better. Now they have little vacuum cleaners that can go about the house, cleaning up, even removing empty beer cans and such. The same principle can be applied to ‘cleaning up’ hostile territories – send little machines out to shoot anybody that carries a gun, wears some form of hostile uniform, whatever it takes. If they do not accidentally kill off entire Wedding Parties then they would be better than what we have going now.
Anyway, I was thinking that Flying Robots would be better than ground deployed robot units, mostly because it could be anticipated that the robot machines would eventually break down, and would fall into enemy hands… the Insurgents would be able to scrap the Machines out for the little guns and cameras and stuff. We wouldn’t want that.
So little Airplane Models with small caliber guns, especially at night. Larger Mother Planes circling above could acquire targets and then release the smaller weaponized models to glide down quietly, very close to their targets, and make head shots, rev up and fly away, back up to the Mother Ship. We could call them ‘Killer Bees’ or some such charming thing.
But the engineering complexities kept bothering me… especially the little guns. It would still be possible that maintenance failures could put all such stuff into Enemy Hands. Then there is recoil. Guns have recoil… and engineers hate recoil, especially aerodynamics engineers… a plane in a slow glide can be stopped dead in its tracks by recoil. All sorts of algorithms would have to be set in place to allow for all that stupid recoil. And, besides, gun shots are so noisy. The first gun shot alerts everybody, and Attacks would therefore have to be limited to small attrition raids… killing a few Insurgents before all the rest run to take cover. Yes, repeated endlessly every night, eventually even attrition raids take their toll. But More is always Better, no?
Suddenly it occurred to me that the High Altitude Mother Plane only needs to drop small non-explosive Smart Bomblettes. The Smart Bomblettes could be built to be narrow and with slender teardrop aerodynamics with just small steering wings and rudders, with a little GPS Module and Camera Eye that could keep a Target acquired and centered… the circuit would be no more complicated than the Jitter Eliminator in every Japanese Video Cam now on the market. Dropped from an altitude of a few thousand feet, the Smart Bomblette would steer itself downward, building up speed, to clunk the Terrorist over his head, killing him instantly, and relatively noiselessly, that is, compared to a gun shot.
Just how fast could one of these things go, without any rocket propulsion? Hmmmm… the formula for Gravitational Acceleration eventually runs into the wall of Wind Resistance Drag, but I’m guessing that a slim teardrop projectile with just the barest control stubs would be able to hit 240 miles per hour or about 350 feet per second. That would make for fairly significant clunk on the head… even if one is wearing a big wooly Turban.
They would be cheap enough to build – mass produced IR Camera Arrays wouldn’t be too expensive (regular cameras could be used for Day Light Fair Weather versions of the Weapon… to save money where money could be saved), and then several small circuit boards, and some servo motors and controls with a lithium battery. And once they hit target, or hit the ground, well, there would be nothing salvageable after that kind of impact, or even if captured intact, of what use could it be to somebody on the ground?
Also, the advantage that the Smart Bomblettes would have over the small glider killer bees is that the Bomblettes could be used Day or Night. During the day, the Mother Plane would have to fly a bit higher to avoid observation or vulnerability to small arms fire, but nobody would be able to see the actual bomblettes being dropped… really, they should not be any larger than maybe six inches long… as long as a dollar bill. The only way the Insurgents could avoid such a Weapons System would be to never leave their Caves… supplies would eventually run thin, and the Insurgents would be starved out. Oh, I guess the Bomblettes could also be programmed for clunking Donkeys and Camels over the head… to interrupt the Insurgents ability to keep their Supply Lines going over rough terrain.
Nowadays they use “Predator” style Unmanned Drone Planes… but these continue to require some Operator Input. I can’t imagine that they are not largely computerized, and that the so-called Operator is there only for Appearance Sake (Machines don’t kill people… People kill people… especially those Wedding Parties), but it really needs to be emphasized that the State of the Art for Artificial Intelligence is now at a level sophisticated enough to allow for Seek and Destroy Weapon’s Systems. The Mother Plane Models I spoke of can be programmed to patrol a certain sector and then to come back when it has run out of fuel or Bomblettes. Solar Power panels could be used to keep them up almost indefinitely, that is, they would only have to return to base to pick up more Bomblettes. But, adding another level of Sophistication, there is no reason why such Model Planes could not be re-supplied by docking up, in the air, with even larger Models that could easily enough simply dump more Bomblettes into the smaller Model’s storage bin, and add more fuel as may be necessary, just as the Big Planes are now refueled in the air so they are not always having to return to base but can stay over the Tactical Area until the pilots are too exhausted to continue. But with Artificial Intelligence, there would not really ever be a reason to have the Model Planes return to base…Machines don’t tire nearly as easily or regularly as People do. Artificial Intelligence Weapons could keep operational 24/7, as they say.
Artificial Intelligence is getting better and better. Now they have little vacuum cleaners that can go about the house, cleaning up, even removing empty beer cans and such. The same principle can be applied to ‘cleaning up’ hostile territories – send little machines out to shoot anybody that carries a gun, wears some form of hostile uniform, whatever it takes. If they do not accidentally kill off entire Wedding Parties then they would be better than what we have going now.
Anyway, I was thinking that Flying Robots would be better than ground deployed robot units, mostly because it could be anticipated that the robot machines would eventually break down, and would fall into enemy hands… the Insurgents would be able to scrap the Machines out for the little guns and cameras and stuff. We wouldn’t want that.
So little Airplane Models with small caliber guns, especially at night. Larger Mother Planes circling above could acquire targets and then release the smaller weaponized models to glide down quietly, very close to their targets, and make head shots, rev up and fly away, back up to the Mother Ship. We could call them ‘Killer Bees’ or some such charming thing.
But the engineering complexities kept bothering me… especially the little guns. It would still be possible that maintenance failures could put all such stuff into Enemy Hands. Then there is recoil. Guns have recoil… and engineers hate recoil, especially aerodynamics engineers… a plane in a slow glide can be stopped dead in its tracks by recoil. All sorts of algorithms would have to be set in place to allow for all that stupid recoil. And, besides, gun shots are so noisy. The first gun shot alerts everybody, and Attacks would therefore have to be limited to small attrition raids… killing a few Insurgents before all the rest run to take cover. Yes, repeated endlessly every night, eventually even attrition raids take their toll. But More is always Better, no?
Suddenly it occurred to me that the High Altitude Mother Plane only needs to drop small non-explosive Smart Bomblettes. The Smart Bomblettes could be built to be narrow and with slender teardrop aerodynamics with just small steering wings and rudders, with a little GPS Module and Camera Eye that could keep a Target acquired and centered… the circuit would be no more complicated than the Jitter Eliminator in every Japanese Video Cam now on the market. Dropped from an altitude of a few thousand feet, the Smart Bomblette would steer itself downward, building up speed, to clunk the Terrorist over his head, killing him instantly, and relatively noiselessly, that is, compared to a gun shot.
Just how fast could one of these things go, without any rocket propulsion? Hmmmm… the formula for Gravitational Acceleration eventually runs into the wall of Wind Resistance Drag, but I’m guessing that a slim teardrop projectile with just the barest control stubs would be able to hit 240 miles per hour or about 350 feet per second. That would make for fairly significant clunk on the head… even if one is wearing a big wooly Turban.
They would be cheap enough to build – mass produced IR Camera Arrays wouldn’t be too expensive (regular cameras could be used for Day Light Fair Weather versions of the Weapon… to save money where money could be saved), and then several small circuit boards, and some servo motors and controls with a lithium battery. And once they hit target, or hit the ground, well, there would be nothing salvageable after that kind of impact, or even if captured intact, of what use could it be to somebody on the ground?
Also, the advantage that the Smart Bomblettes would have over the small glider killer bees is that the Bomblettes could be used Day or Night. During the day, the Mother Plane would have to fly a bit higher to avoid observation or vulnerability to small arms fire, but nobody would be able to see the actual bomblettes being dropped… really, they should not be any larger than maybe six inches long… as long as a dollar bill. The only way the Insurgents could avoid such a Weapons System would be to never leave their Caves… supplies would eventually run thin, and the Insurgents would be starved out. Oh, I guess the Bomblettes could also be programmed for clunking Donkeys and Camels over the head… to interrupt the Insurgents ability to keep their Supply Lines going over rough terrain.
Nowadays they use “Predator” style Unmanned Drone Planes… but these continue to require some Operator Input. I can’t imagine that they are not largely computerized, and that the so-called Operator is there only for Appearance Sake (Machines don’t kill people… People kill people… especially those Wedding Parties), but it really needs to be emphasized that the State of the Art for Artificial Intelligence is now at a level sophisticated enough to allow for Seek and Destroy Weapon’s Systems. The Mother Plane Models I spoke of can be programmed to patrol a certain sector and then to come back when it has run out of fuel or Bomblettes. Solar Power panels could be used to keep them up almost indefinitely, that is, they would only have to return to base to pick up more Bomblettes. But, adding another level of Sophistication, there is no reason why such Model Planes could not be re-supplied by docking up, in the air, with even larger Models that could easily enough simply dump more Bomblettes into the smaller Model’s storage bin, and add more fuel as may be necessary, just as the Big Planes are now refueled in the air so they are not always having to return to base but can stay over the Tactical Area until the pilots are too exhausted to continue. But with Artificial Intelligence, there would not really ever be a reason to have the Model Planes return to base…Machines don’t tire nearly as easily or regularly as People do. Artificial Intelligence Weapons could keep operational 24/7, as they say.
Western Civilization Survival Projections
I was thinking about the dynamics of Collapse of the previous 21 Civilizations, and just how much our Modern Progress seemed to copy the pattern. But there seems to be an important exception.
Now, in most cases what had happened was that there occurred a severe concentration of wealth into private hands, effectively cutting off public funds and resources. Importantly, money for police and military security was cut off. The Private Wealthy did not see this as an important problem for themselves because they had the means to hire vast resources of Private Security – the equivalent of the Modern Gated Communities. They just did not anticipate how bad things could get, and that vast hordes of invading barbarians, mixed with multitudes of Urban Rioters would easily be able to overwhelm the Private Security Companies that was supposed to keep wealth Safe. Not to mention the possibility of the Private Security Firms taking their pay and then going rouge, betraying their masters and then taking over the Mobs, to set up Power for themselves. Why take Orders when one has all of the Coercive Power necessary for giving Orders? As has happened so many times before, the Palace Guard takes over the Palace.
Now, today, yes, we are moving toward such dangerous levels of concentration of wealth. But what is different is that the Wealthy have worked out an unprecedented scam – bogus Military Emergencies are declared so that there can be Emergency Issues of Bonds and extensions of National Debt, all in order to fund more and more Military Weapons Systems. Bonds are converted into Cash which pours into the pockets of the Defense Industry… the primary holders of all the Concentrated Wealth. So, while in all previous Collapses, money had been diverted away from Security to go directly into the pockets of the Rich, in this case, Security was used as an opportunity for a Vast Money Laundering Scheme, and so, despite the Concentration of Wealth implications, there will at least be plenty of Security Resources available, and for a very long time to come.
Now, what are the problems. Previously, in other essays I had spelled out the working definitions for Civilization and Barbarism, in short, that Civilizations can support very dense and high levels of Population, where Barbaric institutions can support only thin levels of Population. Democracy and Western style Rugged Individualism is all rather Barbaric. All of America’s institutions derive from cheap and plentiful Land and, yes, thin levels of Population. The political polarization we now see in America is more than likely caused by stress on America’s mostly Barbarian Institutions, as more is being demanded of them then they can inherently deliver. The Rural Red States don’t like crowds and those Blue State City Slickers, demanding so much Cooperation, which might raise taxes a point or two, well, it makes the Red States so mad that they want to take out their millions of guns and go on a giant shooting rampage… which will indeed happen sooner or later.
Next, considering that America is setting up a virtual monopoly on World Military Power… having more Military Power then the next 5 Military Powers put together… 7 if you don’t count Britain and Israel which are actually sort of like the 51st and 52nd States… unless you choose to see America as again the Little Baby Colony of Great Britain… in which role it acted for almost the entire 20th Century. Oh, Israel… by a clever redeployment of Military Loans, kicking back millions of dollars each year into the American Political System, funding both main Political Parties, Israel exercises more influence on American National Politics than any group of states, corporations, or competing political lobby groups. Israel got everything that it paid for… using guaranteed American Loans to do it, but money is money. American Politics has been bought and paid for, making America the virtual Colony of Israel. Thank God that the People in charge of Israel are sensible and level headed.
Anyway, America’s abhorrence for crowds, and the Civilized Institutions necessary for maintaining People’s in Crowded Urban Settings, will contribute to greater and greater political friction around the World. America will see Other Countries institutionalizing Civilized Programs to manage their High Population Densities as Anti-American, Anti-Democratic, Anti-Capitalist. As America loses all other influence in the World, as the dollar must certainly collapse as it cannot indefinitely withstand the doubling and tripling of Bond Debt and Trade Deficits, then eventually America’s last resort will be firing off ALL THOSE MILITARY WEAPONS.
Now, there is good news and there is bad news. First the bad news – If America resorts to a Global Holocaust in order to keep its primacy, then the World’s Ruling Culture and Institutions will remain stunted in its Pre-Civilized Quasi-Barbaric Condition. Rugged Individualism will survive in order to rear its ugly head again and again and again well into the future. The Good News is that lower population levels, even if only temporary, will relax the heavy demands that have been put, lately, on poor Mother Earth.
What would be desirable would be to enable a modern set of Civilized Institutions which would allow for a High Population Density Equilibrium to be established… bringing as many Cultures and Language Groups on board as possible. But I don’t see how that could possibly happen… not in some simple ‘A to B’ trajectory, anyway. What we can see very clearly is that America could initiate a Global Holocaust any time it wants to. Remember, America’s military weakness is in Occupying defeated Nations. If all it wants to do was Kill Everybody, well, that would be easy.
Now, in most cases what had happened was that there occurred a severe concentration of wealth into private hands, effectively cutting off public funds and resources. Importantly, money for police and military security was cut off. The Private Wealthy did not see this as an important problem for themselves because they had the means to hire vast resources of Private Security – the equivalent of the Modern Gated Communities. They just did not anticipate how bad things could get, and that vast hordes of invading barbarians, mixed with multitudes of Urban Rioters would easily be able to overwhelm the Private Security Companies that was supposed to keep wealth Safe. Not to mention the possibility of the Private Security Firms taking their pay and then going rouge, betraying their masters and then taking over the Mobs, to set up Power for themselves. Why take Orders when one has all of the Coercive Power necessary for giving Orders? As has happened so many times before, the Palace Guard takes over the Palace.
Now, today, yes, we are moving toward such dangerous levels of concentration of wealth. But what is different is that the Wealthy have worked out an unprecedented scam – bogus Military Emergencies are declared so that there can be Emergency Issues of Bonds and extensions of National Debt, all in order to fund more and more Military Weapons Systems. Bonds are converted into Cash which pours into the pockets of the Defense Industry… the primary holders of all the Concentrated Wealth. So, while in all previous Collapses, money had been diverted away from Security to go directly into the pockets of the Rich, in this case, Security was used as an opportunity for a Vast Money Laundering Scheme, and so, despite the Concentration of Wealth implications, there will at least be plenty of Security Resources available, and for a very long time to come.
Now, what are the problems. Previously, in other essays I had spelled out the working definitions for Civilization and Barbarism, in short, that Civilizations can support very dense and high levels of Population, where Barbaric institutions can support only thin levels of Population. Democracy and Western style Rugged Individualism is all rather Barbaric. All of America’s institutions derive from cheap and plentiful Land and, yes, thin levels of Population. The political polarization we now see in America is more than likely caused by stress on America’s mostly Barbarian Institutions, as more is being demanded of them then they can inherently deliver. The Rural Red States don’t like crowds and those Blue State City Slickers, demanding so much Cooperation, which might raise taxes a point or two, well, it makes the Red States so mad that they want to take out their millions of guns and go on a giant shooting rampage… which will indeed happen sooner or later.
Next, considering that America is setting up a virtual monopoly on World Military Power… having more Military Power then the next 5 Military Powers put together… 7 if you don’t count Britain and Israel which are actually sort of like the 51st and 52nd States… unless you choose to see America as again the Little Baby Colony of Great Britain… in which role it acted for almost the entire 20th Century. Oh, Israel… by a clever redeployment of Military Loans, kicking back millions of dollars each year into the American Political System, funding both main Political Parties, Israel exercises more influence on American National Politics than any group of states, corporations, or competing political lobby groups. Israel got everything that it paid for… using guaranteed American Loans to do it, but money is money. American Politics has been bought and paid for, making America the virtual Colony of Israel. Thank God that the People in charge of Israel are sensible and level headed.
Anyway, America’s abhorrence for crowds, and the Civilized Institutions necessary for maintaining People’s in Crowded Urban Settings, will contribute to greater and greater political friction around the World. America will see Other Countries institutionalizing Civilized Programs to manage their High Population Densities as Anti-American, Anti-Democratic, Anti-Capitalist. As America loses all other influence in the World, as the dollar must certainly collapse as it cannot indefinitely withstand the doubling and tripling of Bond Debt and Trade Deficits, then eventually America’s last resort will be firing off ALL THOSE MILITARY WEAPONS.
Now, there is good news and there is bad news. First the bad news – If America resorts to a Global Holocaust in order to keep its primacy, then the World’s Ruling Culture and Institutions will remain stunted in its Pre-Civilized Quasi-Barbaric Condition. Rugged Individualism will survive in order to rear its ugly head again and again and again well into the future. The Good News is that lower population levels, even if only temporary, will relax the heavy demands that have been put, lately, on poor Mother Earth.
What would be desirable would be to enable a modern set of Civilized Institutions which would allow for a High Population Density Equilibrium to be established… bringing as many Cultures and Language Groups on board as possible. But I don’t see how that could possibly happen… not in some simple ‘A to B’ trajectory, anyway. What we can see very clearly is that America could initiate a Global Holocaust any time it wants to. Remember, America’s military weakness is in Occupying defeated Nations. If all it wants to do was Kill Everybody, well, that would be easy.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Practical Reasons for Religious Tolerance
Whether rationally justifiable or not, people become very emotionally invested in their Religions. What do you suppose occurs when these people feel that their Religion is under imminent threat? Psychology tells us that people in such a crunch will be impelled to Fight or Flight. Well, we cannot expect that everybody will run away. So much of the Violence we see in Religious History has been when Religion had taken to an active defense to an impending threat.
Usually the Atheist Community points out how reactively violent the Religious Communities are between each other. “Oh how terrible that the Religions are so antagonistic with each other… its all so simply Barbaric.”
But now the Paradigm is shifting.
I heard a News Story on the Radio about the Neo-Atheists. Probably because of the great success the Far Right has enjoyed with Confrontational Hate Politics, the youngest generation of Atheists have decided that they too would benefit from just such a similar strategy… an “Ends justifies the Means” kind of thing”.
So the tone has gotten harsher, more insulting… exactly like the Fox Network is toward Liberals except it is Atheists attacking Religion. Nothing is off limits. If Religion really is Evil, then the War against it should be total.
Oh, and if the Religions react violently to these assaults, well, again, it is something that can be blamed on Religion. When the First Punch can be rationalized away and justified, then the Punch Back can be blamed. All the focus can be placed upon the Religious Evil of fighting back. Besides, with Religion, any fighting, even fighting back, is clearly hypocritical. Yes, it just so happens that in regards to the Atheists, they can never be blamed for Hypocrisy. After all, Morality needs to come before Hypocrisy.
Anyway, lets look at this new Historical Dynamic, where Atheism is stepping into the Role of Opposing Religion for the purposes of instigating a New Religious War. Yes, yes… Atheism is NOT a Religion. My point is only that Atheism is now ACTING like a Religion, and in the worst way.
Oh, wait! I was ready to say that the most cogent argument AGAINST Religion had been that Religions caused polarization and conflict between Civilizations and Societies. We are supposed to believe that if it were not for Religious Differences, then all would go smoothly between different ethnic and racial groups – tribal affiliations, differences in language, culture, moral expectations, property dispositions, etc… all these things would be only a laugh and smile away from resolution if it were not for the hateful divisiveness that only Religion can be capable of. Only Religions cause War. And this is Religion’s biggest problem, or is it?
But now that Atheism seems poised on it own version of Religious War, do they really now find War to be such a problem? Now, I guess Atheism is growing more Higher Minded, and is probably claiming that the Biggest Problem with Religion is a Matter of the Highest Principle – that it Simply Isn’t True! Atheists have a Moral Duty to stop the Religions in their Lies! What is a little violence when it comes to defending the Highest Principles of Truth? Yes, it seems that Atheism is gearing up for War, and they no longer have a problem with that kind of thing… now that they are a part of it.
Anyway, I have one final argument here against Atheism, that it cannot possibly have any Moral Basis for exactly the same reason they insist that there is no God – that there is no Scientific Evidence for it. Yes, yes, I have heard it a million times that Atheism is not hostile to Morality. But just look around. The WORST Criminal Organization – the most ruthless and terrifying criminals – have all sourced out of the Territories of the Former Soviet Union… where Materialism and Atheism had been indoctrinated culturally for just 3 Generations. No, people were not positively taught to be Evil. I’m sure every opportunity was taken to stress the importance of Social Responsibility, Cooperation, Kindness, Altruism. But with the backdrop of Materialism and Reason, with its rejection of Religion and Spirituality… well, Morality just seemed silly. Selfishness… even Ruthlessness simply seemed for useful.
I wish Atheism would admit that they have a serious problem. Civilizations cannot survive, let alone coalesce, without Moral Beliefs… the general acceptance of inherently irrational moral assumptions. But since Atheism has turned Science into a Virtual Religion… Anti-Religion, that is, well, Morality necessarily has to be rejected. Natural Selection is not for Nice Guys.
When Push comes to Shove, the Atheist Community will count on Survival of the Fittest… what we usually refer to as “might makes right”.
And with their superior Technology, they will probably win any fight. But imagine the World these victorious Atheists will inherit, where they cannot make a single compelling argument not to be thieves and liars.
It reminds me of Voltaire, virtually the Father of Modern Atheism… he had been a Big Deal during what they called the Age of Enlightenment. Anyway, Voltaire had been put in charge of conducting the first French Lottery, and he rigged the game so he could win it himself (as any good Atheist would have) and thus became very rich. He bought an Estate and at first ran it like a true down to the bone Atheist. But then suddenly he built a Chapel and hired a Catholic Chaplin to oversee it and to conduct daily Mass. His Atheist friends were appalled. But Voltaire explained… “it is cheaper than letting the servants walk away with all the silverware”. His Estate could not run without a Moral Basis. Voltaire leaves us with the quote “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to create Him”.
Morality exists in the same Spiritual Atmosphere as God. We cannot do without the One because we need the Other.
Usually the Atheist Community points out how reactively violent the Religious Communities are between each other. “Oh how terrible that the Religions are so antagonistic with each other… its all so simply Barbaric.”
But now the Paradigm is shifting.
I heard a News Story on the Radio about the Neo-Atheists. Probably because of the great success the Far Right has enjoyed with Confrontational Hate Politics, the youngest generation of Atheists have decided that they too would benefit from just such a similar strategy… an “Ends justifies the Means” kind of thing”.
So the tone has gotten harsher, more insulting… exactly like the Fox Network is toward Liberals except it is Atheists attacking Religion. Nothing is off limits. If Religion really is Evil, then the War against it should be total.
Oh, and if the Religions react violently to these assaults, well, again, it is something that can be blamed on Religion. When the First Punch can be rationalized away and justified, then the Punch Back can be blamed. All the focus can be placed upon the Religious Evil of fighting back. Besides, with Religion, any fighting, even fighting back, is clearly hypocritical. Yes, it just so happens that in regards to the Atheists, they can never be blamed for Hypocrisy. After all, Morality needs to come before Hypocrisy.
Anyway, lets look at this new Historical Dynamic, where Atheism is stepping into the Role of Opposing Religion for the purposes of instigating a New Religious War. Yes, yes… Atheism is NOT a Religion. My point is only that Atheism is now ACTING like a Religion, and in the worst way.
Oh, wait! I was ready to say that the most cogent argument AGAINST Religion had been that Religions caused polarization and conflict between Civilizations and Societies. We are supposed to believe that if it were not for Religious Differences, then all would go smoothly between different ethnic and racial groups – tribal affiliations, differences in language, culture, moral expectations, property dispositions, etc… all these things would be only a laugh and smile away from resolution if it were not for the hateful divisiveness that only Religion can be capable of. Only Religions cause War. And this is Religion’s biggest problem, or is it?
But now that Atheism seems poised on it own version of Religious War, do they really now find War to be such a problem? Now, I guess Atheism is growing more Higher Minded, and is probably claiming that the Biggest Problem with Religion is a Matter of the Highest Principle – that it Simply Isn’t True! Atheists have a Moral Duty to stop the Religions in their Lies! What is a little violence when it comes to defending the Highest Principles of Truth? Yes, it seems that Atheism is gearing up for War, and they no longer have a problem with that kind of thing… now that they are a part of it.
Anyway, I have one final argument here against Atheism, that it cannot possibly have any Moral Basis for exactly the same reason they insist that there is no God – that there is no Scientific Evidence for it. Yes, yes, I have heard it a million times that Atheism is not hostile to Morality. But just look around. The WORST Criminal Organization – the most ruthless and terrifying criminals – have all sourced out of the Territories of the Former Soviet Union… where Materialism and Atheism had been indoctrinated culturally for just 3 Generations. No, people were not positively taught to be Evil. I’m sure every opportunity was taken to stress the importance of Social Responsibility, Cooperation, Kindness, Altruism. But with the backdrop of Materialism and Reason, with its rejection of Religion and Spirituality… well, Morality just seemed silly. Selfishness… even Ruthlessness simply seemed for useful.
I wish Atheism would admit that they have a serious problem. Civilizations cannot survive, let alone coalesce, without Moral Beliefs… the general acceptance of inherently irrational moral assumptions. But since Atheism has turned Science into a Virtual Religion… Anti-Religion, that is, well, Morality necessarily has to be rejected. Natural Selection is not for Nice Guys.
When Push comes to Shove, the Atheist Community will count on Survival of the Fittest… what we usually refer to as “might makes right”.
And with their superior Technology, they will probably win any fight. But imagine the World these victorious Atheists will inherit, where they cannot make a single compelling argument not to be thieves and liars.
It reminds me of Voltaire, virtually the Father of Modern Atheism… he had been a Big Deal during what they called the Age of Enlightenment. Anyway, Voltaire had been put in charge of conducting the first French Lottery, and he rigged the game so he could win it himself (as any good Atheist would have) and thus became very rich. He bought an Estate and at first ran it like a true down to the bone Atheist. But then suddenly he built a Chapel and hired a Catholic Chaplin to oversee it and to conduct daily Mass. His Atheist friends were appalled. But Voltaire explained… “it is cheaper than letting the servants walk away with all the silverware”. His Estate could not run without a Moral Basis. Voltaire leaves us with the quote “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to create Him”.
Morality exists in the same Spiritual Atmosphere as God. We cannot do without the One because we need the Other.
Freedom and Privacy
Freedom and Privacy
In the West we hear so much in praise of Freedom, but which kind of freedom? There are two kinds of freedom. There is the Freedom in the Light where every free act is done in the open, up and above board. Then there is the Freedom of Darkness, where all depends upon Privacy – concealed motives, hidden incomes, secret pass-times.
Whenever I hear Patriots on the Far Right glorifying the deaths of young soldiers who kill and are killed for Freedom, I wonder whether the gratitude is only about Protecting the Freedoms of Darkness and the Secrecy.
Yes, there are instances where there is some disagreement about what is and what isn’t shameful, that is, on what it is that requires so much Privacy. A great many Homosexuals would be happy to enjoy their Lifestyle in the open, but fear a crazy, bigoted and hostile general Public. Indeed, almost anybody even a shade outside the Sexual Mainstream is anxious about their Privacy. But we need to remember that Society has nearly always considered such things as the proper realm for Privacy. Sex, the Bathroom, and the Laundry – these things have always been private, and should really stay that way. Man as a Spiritual Being doesn’t need to be reminded so often of the Physical Things, and thus the Spiritual Importance of the Privacy of Home and Body.
Yes, while there have been historically recognized religious injunctions against some details of sexuality, in actual practice, most of the time, only discretion had really been required, and Religion would have been happy enough if only private matters had been kept private. While the Rules said “No Kinky Sex”, what was actually meant was “No Kinky Sex on Main Street in front of City Hall in the middle of the day”. Yes. Gay Sex Parades probably would never have been a good idea. But the same could be said for Straight Sex Parades. Such things should remain private.
Yes, yes… we now have large factions of the Public who are seriously hostile to and ready to attack certain groups because of their Private Behaviors. Legislation is invading the Home… even the bedroom. But honestly I think the motivations here are more seated in Democracy than Religion. When it is the Political Parties spending hundreds of millions of dollars to disseminate hostile propaganda and to establish Tax-Exempt Hate Action Groups, then we need to assign blame where the blame is due.
Yes, it is ironic that the same Political Groups that so loudly proclaim the importance of Freedom, are the ones who so readily jump to persecute others. The Conservative Freedom to Cheat on Taxes and Exploit the Lower Classes is somehow Sacred, but the Household Freedoms of the occasional sex act, which never impact anybody, are to be hounded out and destroyed.
And it is probably not even about Sex. Or Abortion. Or whatever. Remember, nowadays it is all about Democracy. And Democracy is about dividing and polarizing the Body Politic into Winning Majorities and Losing Minorities. Dividing. Not Uniting. The only things that matter are the things that can win or lose Elections.
We no longer have Good and Evil. We no longer have Right and Wrong. With Democracy has come a new operative Duality – Win and Lose.
It makes one willing to reconsider exactly whether or not Democracy should really be considered as a kind of “Ideal”, or should be grouped along with all of the other crazy excesses of History… another insane revolution, intoxicating the delusional Masses for an archeological moment, and finally ending in ruin and the collapse of Civilization.
But let’s return to the topic of Public Freedoms and Privacy. What kind of Man is Free – acts Free and lives deliberately – and has no need of Public Privacy? Well, of course, it is an Honest Man… usually a Working Man. Lives on Honest Pay, pays his taxes, largely stays at home, and doesn’t bother anybody. Then there is the Man who can be Free only behind the screen of Public Privacy. These are all of our Cheats and Criminals. I would guess most Politicians and Lawyers. Probably most of our Wealthy Classes are of this group. After all, it has been their Propaganda that has so closely tied Privacy with Freedom… and since Propaganda is not bought cheaply, they must want so much Privacy for some personally compelling Reasons. Also, in a highly competitive Marketplace, it is difficult to imagine how entirely honest men could get to the Top of the Heap when being dishonest and unethical would offer so many competitive advantages. I would suppose that the greatest part of any group of billionaires probably has something to hide. Large Fortunes, that is, Destructive Levels of Concentration of Wealth, and Mushrooms grow in the Dark. Yes, I know there is a difference. Only some Mushrooms are poisonous.
We’d all be much better off if all Public Privacy were entirely removed. Electronic Money to assure that every monetary transaction could be recorded and monitored, and cameras everywhere so there could be complete and total surveillance. We almost have all the Technology we need for it. Only improvements in Cataloging and Compressing an almost infinite amount of Data could make it all a bit more convenient.
Yes, yes, yes, we have been conditioned by Decades of Anarchist Propaganda into thinking that Surveillance is the worst of all possible Evils. Big Brother is supposed to be a Bad Thing. But we need to remember that at the turn of the 20th Century all the experts were worried about two conflicting Revolutionary Trends – it was the Communists versus the Anarchists. Now, a hundred years later, Communism has been defeated. But has anybody heard of the Evil of Anarchism lately. Not a word. Why? Well, because they were the Winners. They used Propaganda successfully to ‘normalize’ their crazy Doctrines. Anarchism became the New Mainstream. But if somebody were to visit from another Planet… the Planet of Objectivity and Reason, then the Anarchism would stand out for exactly what it is. Chaos.
All the Crime, Corruption, and Castles on Hills against the vast slums of Poverty… it’s the Chaos born of Anarchy. The Anarchists won.
We need to go back to the Middle.
And Total Surveillance would be a Good Thing. If the Police know everything, then Honest Men will no longer be condemned for not being able to produce their own alibis. “Where were you when…?” Criminals always have an answer for that question. Only Honest Men are caught short. A Total Surveillance Society would reverse that. Total Surveillance proves the Honesty of an Honest Man.
It would be a bit like Heaven. For after all, in Heaven does not God Know All, See All? And Pure Souls have nothing to hide from God. In the World, at least in the Public Realm… every man’s home still being his ‘castle’…no Honest Man should have anything to hide. It would be a Great Light from which all the Cockroaches of Crime would have to run and hide. We would trade a useless Privacy for a Substantial level of Security and Safety.
In the West we hear so much in praise of Freedom, but which kind of freedom? There are two kinds of freedom. There is the Freedom in the Light where every free act is done in the open, up and above board. Then there is the Freedom of Darkness, where all depends upon Privacy – concealed motives, hidden incomes, secret pass-times.
Whenever I hear Patriots on the Far Right glorifying the deaths of young soldiers who kill and are killed for Freedom, I wonder whether the gratitude is only about Protecting the Freedoms of Darkness and the Secrecy.
Yes, there are instances where there is some disagreement about what is and what isn’t shameful, that is, on what it is that requires so much Privacy. A great many Homosexuals would be happy to enjoy their Lifestyle in the open, but fear a crazy, bigoted and hostile general Public. Indeed, almost anybody even a shade outside the Sexual Mainstream is anxious about their Privacy. But we need to remember that Society has nearly always considered such things as the proper realm for Privacy. Sex, the Bathroom, and the Laundry – these things have always been private, and should really stay that way. Man as a Spiritual Being doesn’t need to be reminded so often of the Physical Things, and thus the Spiritual Importance of the Privacy of Home and Body.
Yes, while there have been historically recognized religious injunctions against some details of sexuality, in actual practice, most of the time, only discretion had really been required, and Religion would have been happy enough if only private matters had been kept private. While the Rules said “No Kinky Sex”, what was actually meant was “No Kinky Sex on Main Street in front of City Hall in the middle of the day”. Yes. Gay Sex Parades probably would never have been a good idea. But the same could be said for Straight Sex Parades. Such things should remain private.
Yes, yes… we now have large factions of the Public who are seriously hostile to and ready to attack certain groups because of their Private Behaviors. Legislation is invading the Home… even the bedroom. But honestly I think the motivations here are more seated in Democracy than Religion. When it is the Political Parties spending hundreds of millions of dollars to disseminate hostile propaganda and to establish Tax-Exempt Hate Action Groups, then we need to assign blame where the blame is due.
Yes, it is ironic that the same Political Groups that so loudly proclaim the importance of Freedom, are the ones who so readily jump to persecute others. The Conservative Freedom to Cheat on Taxes and Exploit the Lower Classes is somehow Sacred, but the Household Freedoms of the occasional sex act, which never impact anybody, are to be hounded out and destroyed.
And it is probably not even about Sex. Or Abortion. Or whatever. Remember, nowadays it is all about Democracy. And Democracy is about dividing and polarizing the Body Politic into Winning Majorities and Losing Minorities. Dividing. Not Uniting. The only things that matter are the things that can win or lose Elections.
We no longer have Good and Evil. We no longer have Right and Wrong. With Democracy has come a new operative Duality – Win and Lose.
It makes one willing to reconsider exactly whether or not Democracy should really be considered as a kind of “Ideal”, or should be grouped along with all of the other crazy excesses of History… another insane revolution, intoxicating the delusional Masses for an archeological moment, and finally ending in ruin and the collapse of Civilization.
But let’s return to the topic of Public Freedoms and Privacy. What kind of Man is Free – acts Free and lives deliberately – and has no need of Public Privacy? Well, of course, it is an Honest Man… usually a Working Man. Lives on Honest Pay, pays his taxes, largely stays at home, and doesn’t bother anybody. Then there is the Man who can be Free only behind the screen of Public Privacy. These are all of our Cheats and Criminals. I would guess most Politicians and Lawyers. Probably most of our Wealthy Classes are of this group. After all, it has been their Propaganda that has so closely tied Privacy with Freedom… and since Propaganda is not bought cheaply, they must want so much Privacy for some personally compelling Reasons. Also, in a highly competitive Marketplace, it is difficult to imagine how entirely honest men could get to the Top of the Heap when being dishonest and unethical would offer so many competitive advantages. I would suppose that the greatest part of any group of billionaires probably has something to hide. Large Fortunes, that is, Destructive Levels of Concentration of Wealth, and Mushrooms grow in the Dark. Yes, I know there is a difference. Only some Mushrooms are poisonous.
We’d all be much better off if all Public Privacy were entirely removed. Electronic Money to assure that every monetary transaction could be recorded and monitored, and cameras everywhere so there could be complete and total surveillance. We almost have all the Technology we need for it. Only improvements in Cataloging and Compressing an almost infinite amount of Data could make it all a bit more convenient.
Yes, yes, yes, we have been conditioned by Decades of Anarchist Propaganda into thinking that Surveillance is the worst of all possible Evils. Big Brother is supposed to be a Bad Thing. But we need to remember that at the turn of the 20th Century all the experts were worried about two conflicting Revolutionary Trends – it was the Communists versus the Anarchists. Now, a hundred years later, Communism has been defeated. But has anybody heard of the Evil of Anarchism lately. Not a word. Why? Well, because they were the Winners. They used Propaganda successfully to ‘normalize’ their crazy Doctrines. Anarchism became the New Mainstream. But if somebody were to visit from another Planet… the Planet of Objectivity and Reason, then the Anarchism would stand out for exactly what it is. Chaos.
All the Crime, Corruption, and Castles on Hills against the vast slums of Poverty… it’s the Chaos born of Anarchy. The Anarchists won.
We need to go back to the Middle.
And Total Surveillance would be a Good Thing. If the Police know everything, then Honest Men will no longer be condemned for not being able to produce their own alibis. “Where were you when…?” Criminals always have an answer for that question. Only Honest Men are caught short. A Total Surveillance Society would reverse that. Total Surveillance proves the Honesty of an Honest Man.
It would be a bit like Heaven. For after all, in Heaven does not God Know All, See All? And Pure Souls have nothing to hide from God. In the World, at least in the Public Realm… every man’s home still being his ‘castle’…no Honest Man should have anything to hide. It would be a Great Light from which all the Cockroaches of Crime would have to run and hide. We would trade a useless Privacy for a Substantial level of Security and Safety.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Subjugating Afghanistan
Subjugating Afghanistan
Recently the Newspapers were all in a rage about the Italian Forces in Afghanistan paying bribes to the Taliban Forces to go easy. Apparently nobody had told the French, and so when the Italians rotated out and the French Rotated in, to what they thought was a Peaceful Sector, they were surprised when actual War broke out all around them. And of course the French, Moral Paragons one and all, absolutely refused to Pay for Peace… not when they could Kill for it.
Anyway, the International Consensus seemed to be that the Italians were not fighting fair, using money instead of mayhem.
Maybe it was because the word “bribery” had been used. You know, the American’s had done substantially the same thing in Iraq, only they did not call it ‘bribery’. There it was announced that General Patraeus “negotiated a settlement with the Sunni Insurgents whereby their militias would receive regular salaries and be issued weapons and ammunition in return for joining in the Fight against Al Qaeda”… all that said without using the word ‘bribery’ even once. But essentially it was the same thing… the Enemy was being paid off to go easy. And it worked! General Patraeus was hailed a huge Hero for practically winning the whole War single-handedly. They called his Strategy “The Surge”… but it was the surge of dollars into Enemy Pockets that turned everything around.
Oh, and it seems that it was more or less a personal agreement between General Patraeus and the Sunni Insurgents he had paid off. As soon as he left, taking his Promotion and moving on to Afghanistan, the Payments to the Sunnis entirely dried up. There were no official allocations or requisitions left in place. It all seems to have been done rather informally, as though General Patraeus had been taking the funds from Petty Cash or the Office Supply Budget. Of course, the Iraqi Government was free to renegotiate the Peace, picking up for themselves where General Patraeus had left off, but it is likely that the Shia Militants would rather keep the Money for themselves and go back to War with the Sunnis. They are, after all, Muslim. Besides, Iraq is a Democracy now. The Shia Politicians can’t very well announce that they are bribing Sunnis can they? So the Iraqi War will inevitably ratchet back up again.
Anyway, I have the feeling that the Italians in Afghanistan were just as careful about what they called their ‘bribes’ as General Patraeus was, but that the Media was not so kind to them as they were to the Americans. There are Perks in being the Last Remaining Superpower in the World. So the Media took the American Statement at face value, while they had no problem looking under the onion-skin of the Italian Statement to declare in outrage “But that is tantamount to Bribery!”
And this is why Democracies can’t fight Wars. Appeasing Public Opinion requires so much silliness. But what is needed in War must be practical and effective. What is practical and effective? Well, one offers significant rewards to those enemies who agree to cooperate – offering Jobs, Positions of Power, Social Respect and Status. But on the other hand there has to be a ruthless savagery delivered upon any Enemy who remains in the Field, to include entire Tribal Enclaves or even towns and villages that provide substantial logistical support for the Enemy. Remember, the Americans did not end their Civil War until Sherman burnt Atlanta and Lincoln assured the Plantation Owners that they could keep their Farms if not their Slaves. A Very Sweet Carrot or a Very Hard Stick. And Democracies are unwilling to do either one thing or the other. Look at the thanks Lincoln got.
Recently the Newspapers were all in a rage about the Italian Forces in Afghanistan paying bribes to the Taliban Forces to go easy. Apparently nobody had told the French, and so when the Italians rotated out and the French Rotated in, to what they thought was a Peaceful Sector, they were surprised when actual War broke out all around them. And of course the French, Moral Paragons one and all, absolutely refused to Pay for Peace… not when they could Kill for it.
Anyway, the International Consensus seemed to be that the Italians were not fighting fair, using money instead of mayhem.
Maybe it was because the word “bribery” had been used. You know, the American’s had done substantially the same thing in Iraq, only they did not call it ‘bribery’. There it was announced that General Patraeus “negotiated a settlement with the Sunni Insurgents whereby their militias would receive regular salaries and be issued weapons and ammunition in return for joining in the Fight against Al Qaeda”… all that said without using the word ‘bribery’ even once. But essentially it was the same thing… the Enemy was being paid off to go easy. And it worked! General Patraeus was hailed a huge Hero for practically winning the whole War single-handedly. They called his Strategy “The Surge”… but it was the surge of dollars into Enemy Pockets that turned everything around.
Oh, and it seems that it was more or less a personal agreement between General Patraeus and the Sunni Insurgents he had paid off. As soon as he left, taking his Promotion and moving on to Afghanistan, the Payments to the Sunnis entirely dried up. There were no official allocations or requisitions left in place. It all seems to have been done rather informally, as though General Patraeus had been taking the funds from Petty Cash or the Office Supply Budget. Of course, the Iraqi Government was free to renegotiate the Peace, picking up for themselves where General Patraeus had left off, but it is likely that the Shia Militants would rather keep the Money for themselves and go back to War with the Sunnis. They are, after all, Muslim. Besides, Iraq is a Democracy now. The Shia Politicians can’t very well announce that they are bribing Sunnis can they? So the Iraqi War will inevitably ratchet back up again.
Anyway, I have the feeling that the Italians in Afghanistan were just as careful about what they called their ‘bribes’ as General Patraeus was, but that the Media was not so kind to them as they were to the Americans. There are Perks in being the Last Remaining Superpower in the World. So the Media took the American Statement at face value, while they had no problem looking under the onion-skin of the Italian Statement to declare in outrage “But that is tantamount to Bribery!”
And this is why Democracies can’t fight Wars. Appeasing Public Opinion requires so much silliness. But what is needed in War must be practical and effective. What is practical and effective? Well, one offers significant rewards to those enemies who agree to cooperate – offering Jobs, Positions of Power, Social Respect and Status. But on the other hand there has to be a ruthless savagery delivered upon any Enemy who remains in the Field, to include entire Tribal Enclaves or even towns and villages that provide substantial logistical support for the Enemy. Remember, the Americans did not end their Civil War until Sherman burnt Atlanta and Lincoln assured the Plantation Owners that they could keep their Farms if not their Slaves. A Very Sweet Carrot or a Very Hard Stick. And Democracies are unwilling to do either one thing or the other. Look at the thanks Lincoln got.
Will the Messiah Be a Woman
I recently had a dream; a dream that fit well within the new regime of dreams I have been having lately which place me as a member of a group. Yes, once I had been an individual, but now I have become a cog on the Great Wheel of Things. Anyway, at the center of this dream was a woman, not a young woman, who it seemed was being groomed and fitted out for some kind of role or contest. She was middle-aged and so it could not have been the usual ‘beauty contest’, but there seemed to be parallels. Attention was being paid to her appearance, but she was also being groomed for Talent and Expression. Interestingly, she did not smile… not that I was ever able to see. Not much levity in her character – this was a serious woman. But there was a great deal of gushing about her from the others. One of the ladies working upon her hair and make-up gave out the optimistic conjecture that she would certainly land First Place. Well, ‘optimistic’ projections into the future make me nervous. I always fear that hoping for the best brings the worst and that over-expectations attract a kind of ‘jinx’. So I spoke up, and not remembering exactly what I said, I said something like “No, we should be lucky if she gets second, and we certainly don’t want her to be proud”. At this moment the ladies had to go off and they got up to leave, including our Subject. As she walked by, while not remembering exactly what she said, she said something like, “yes, I will keep in mind not to be proud”. Well, it seemed like sarcasm and I echoed her on her way out… “You won’t be proud?”. It all came across as rather flat banter; that I DO remember.
After I awoke it occurred to me that I was nervous speaking around this woman, and that she was probably nervous speaking around me. Usually in my dreams I have gushing conversations with the ladies, but this was different. So it set me to wondering what was different. Why the tension?
Now, often in my dreams there had been elements describing the maturation and development of a Messianic Character… starting out decades ago, a Dream Character, as a young autocratic Prince, selfish to an infantile extent – everything was about himself. I would have to protect him from Palace Revolts. His egotism was that provoking. As years went by the Prince became idealistic, again to the extreme… he could not think clearly because of all his ‘principals’. There I had to protect him from his Wars. Wars are what occur when People in Power use any Means to protect even the slightest Ideals… not bothering to ask themselves “Is it worth it?”.
Several years ago this Dream Messiah matured. He was suddenly Wise and Clear Sighted, and not a little bit overwhelmed with the problems of the World, but I remember him resolutely marching off to address them. And he was definitely a male.
Was this Lady something of a feminine Messiah? She seemed already at the Mature Stage. There was no profound Egotism. She recognized the ‘Others’ all about her and made allowances for them. And her lack of Levity may have indicated there was no cloud of Ideals blocking her vision or putting stars in her eyes.
This all set me to thinking about the Real World. Might a Female Messiah be better received, over-all, than a Man? I was thinking that the Collective of Male Testosterone from around the world would perhaps bristle less in reflexive reaction to a Women rising to World Dominance, than some hairy man who wouldn’t get any respect until he had beaten everybody up, just like in any band of primates or pack of wolves. But, no, not really. I remembered that Female Heads of State have had a horrible time being accepted… as a percentage of their total, the girls get assassinated far more often than the boys. Apparently The Game is even rougher for the women.
But a female Messiah might have greater credibility among Women in general. I might suspect that Women from all around the World have begun to be suspect of Men… at home, in Politics, in Business. They look around and they see the men in their lives, as they drink, as they gamble, as they smoke cigarettes and as they run around from whore house to whore house, lying about every single thing they do. Would these women have much trust in a Messiah, if he were a man? I would guess not. Especially after the big let-down of Obama. Male Messiahs would all seem like so much more bullshit.
But is it important what Women think? Well, yes. Women raise children. The first notions in a child’s head are planted there by the Mother. We get our first philosophies on our mother’s lap. If we want a Generation growing up respecting a Messiah, it would probably be best if the Messiah were a Woman.
After I awoke it occurred to me that I was nervous speaking around this woman, and that she was probably nervous speaking around me. Usually in my dreams I have gushing conversations with the ladies, but this was different. So it set me to wondering what was different. Why the tension?
Now, often in my dreams there had been elements describing the maturation and development of a Messianic Character… starting out decades ago, a Dream Character, as a young autocratic Prince, selfish to an infantile extent – everything was about himself. I would have to protect him from Palace Revolts. His egotism was that provoking. As years went by the Prince became idealistic, again to the extreme… he could not think clearly because of all his ‘principals’. There I had to protect him from his Wars. Wars are what occur when People in Power use any Means to protect even the slightest Ideals… not bothering to ask themselves “Is it worth it?”.
Several years ago this Dream Messiah matured. He was suddenly Wise and Clear Sighted, and not a little bit overwhelmed with the problems of the World, but I remember him resolutely marching off to address them. And he was definitely a male.
Was this Lady something of a feminine Messiah? She seemed already at the Mature Stage. There was no profound Egotism. She recognized the ‘Others’ all about her and made allowances for them. And her lack of Levity may have indicated there was no cloud of Ideals blocking her vision or putting stars in her eyes.
This all set me to thinking about the Real World. Might a Female Messiah be better received, over-all, than a Man? I was thinking that the Collective of Male Testosterone from around the world would perhaps bristle less in reflexive reaction to a Women rising to World Dominance, than some hairy man who wouldn’t get any respect until he had beaten everybody up, just like in any band of primates or pack of wolves. But, no, not really. I remembered that Female Heads of State have had a horrible time being accepted… as a percentage of their total, the girls get assassinated far more often than the boys. Apparently The Game is even rougher for the women.
But a female Messiah might have greater credibility among Women in general. I might suspect that Women from all around the World have begun to be suspect of Men… at home, in Politics, in Business. They look around and they see the men in their lives, as they drink, as they gamble, as they smoke cigarettes and as they run around from whore house to whore house, lying about every single thing they do. Would these women have much trust in a Messiah, if he were a man? I would guess not. Especially after the big let-down of Obama. Male Messiahs would all seem like so much more bullshit.
But is it important what Women think? Well, yes. Women raise children. The first notions in a child’s head are planted there by the Mother. We get our first philosophies on our mother’s lap. If we want a Generation growing up respecting a Messiah, it would probably be best if the Messiah were a Woman.
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