Mohamed. Prophet Without a Religion
Well, there probably was once a Religion, out in that God Forsaken Desert. I’m guessing Zoroastrianism – the first and perhaps finest of the Higher Religions (now practiced exclusively by the Sufis), being the first Religion to discern Good and Evil and to develop a sense for Morality. But what bothers me about Mohamed was that he seemed to have insisted that his own Revelation should entirely wipe out everything that had come before him. Islam has no Bible, has no Torah. It has Mohamed’s personal diary. It has stories of his Table Talk. Then we have complete Sects of Islam obsessing over the Political Succession Struggles. And we have no religious context at all for any of it. And this is why I suppose that Islam, generally, has had such a problem discerning right from wrong, good from bad, wisdom from folly. Why Islam has usually been its own worst enemy, when it hadn’t been busy provoking even worst enemies. It’s because it is a Religion without any solid Religious background or content.
Well, what exactly was Mohamed’s Revelation? First he insisted that all Religious Idols should be abandoned. When the Idol Merchants of Mecca refused, he went to war with them. Bloody war. Religious Truth would take priority over Life and Love. Kill Kill Kill. Incidentally, perhaps no Religious ‘Truth’ has ever been more bloody. For awhile the Jews had killed people for Idol Worship. They used it as a pretense for genocide, to clear out the valleys they wanted to occupy. They needed to find a reason to hate their enemies and so they invented the hatred for Harmless Little Religious Statuettes. Of all the Religious Revelations in the World to choose from, this became Mohamed’s Pet Cause. And it didn’t stop with at Islam – killing over idols – it spread to the Greek Orthodox Church, and they became killers. Then the European Protestants caught the bug and used it as an excuse for stealing any number of monasteries and raping any number of nuns. Now, shouldn’t we wonder about Doctrines that turn Religions into Huge Storms of Death. When Christ told us we would know a Tree by its Fruit, shouldn’t we wonder of a Revelation which completely centers upon a Doctrine that had only spelled out widespread death at its every irruption, and then ended in Failed, Corrupt and Morally Bankrupt Religion. No Religion that had destroyed its Small Representations of the Divine has ever gone on to either Spirituality or High Moral Inspiration. Jews became Pawnbrokers. Muslims killers. And Protestants are now Republicans, when it became illegal for them to continue as Slave Masters.
Well, Religions can insist upon their Truth, and claim that their Truth is more important than Life itself. Well, okay. If somebody really believes that Idol Worship is a sacrilege then what can you do? But the problem with Mohamed was that after he had sent thousands of his men to die for his Anti-Idol Campaign, when he was finally beaten back into the corner himself and the Idol Merchants of Mecca were holding the sword to his own throat, suddenly it all changed. When it was his life on the Line, surprise, surprise – a New Revelation! Suddenly Mohamed was signing a contract that would guarantee that every Muslim would come to Mecca once a year to spend their money on Idols… bowing to Idols… marching around Idols. Idols Idols Idols. Mecca, the City of Idols would become, well, their Mecca! In the very same Koran where we have the damning of Idols, we have the philosophical slam-over to the complete other side of the Thing – a complete surrender of all previous principles. We have Mohamed sign an Eternal Contract that would commit every Muslim for all Eternity to bow down to the Idol Merchants of Mecca, five times a day, and promise that they would and visit and spend their money, even specifying the various Tourist Stops. Any ordinary person would have recognized in all of this the most humiliating of defeats and betrayals, and see in their Leader his and their own worst Traitor to the Cause.
But Muslims acclaim this self-contradictory, self-betraying Prophet as the Best of All Prophets. Well, perhaps if they had a Religion, they could have somebody to compare him with. Mohamed can only be a Best Prophet if he is an only Prophet. Compared to absolutely anybody else, Mohamed would have had to come in Second Place. Or maybe I don’t know enough Arabs. It may be that he just seems so much better in comparison to the rest of the Home Town Crowd.
Or maybe the Koran just sounds so much better in Arabic. But we still have the Newspapers that describe a Dysfunctional Islam. The Principles of Religious Tolerance should only go so far. When a Religion obviously has serious moral and spiritual problems, it needs to be fixed. Islam should consider listening more to its Sufi Minority, rather than persecuting them. Islam needs a Religion. Resurrect Zoroastrianism. It can do without its Prophet… it has enough enemies already and doesn’t need that one more.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Burma – Democracy or Anarchy
Burma – Democracy or Anarchy
We should all prefer to look at events as they really are and not simply through the prism of Western Imperialist Propaganda. Yes, Imperialist Western Capitalism looks for any occasion to topple any existing order, to ruin it, and then go in and buy up everything while it is at its cheapest. So to the Imperialists, ‘Democracy’ BECAUSE it is such a de-stabilizing influence, is pushed forward. Nothing collapses prices like good old Democracy. For the Imperialists, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by sowing the seeds of discord and ruin.
But much can be lost. We need to remember that the Chinese Cultural Revolution, that killed millions and set China back ten years in its development, that it started as Pro-Democracy Demonstrations, as they are generically called by the West. Also, the insurgency in Cambodia was labeled Pro-Democracy. You see, the West only wants to shake things up. You see, it simply does not matter to them. If they can destroy a Golden Palace just so they can make off with a single candlestick, then they see it as all gain on their part. The West is not after Win-Win, but they only care that they might find some business opportunity in the Chaos.
And we do know that the West is hypocritical in regards to Democracy. Iran is a Democracy. Venezuela is a Democracy. In Palestine, Hamas had won the democratic elections. But in every single case where Democracy brings forward a party not already corrupted by Western Imperialist Interests, then it is immediately rejected and the Propaganda Machine goes into overdrive, even using CNN and the BBC, to tell us that these democratically installed Governments are ‘dictatorships’ and that the elected officials are ‘tyrants’ and ‘dictators’.
But, we need to consider that there is some truth to the matter that democracies are not all the same. We need to wonder what the ‘Pro-Democracy’ Demonstrators are after. And we need to consider what the Military Juntas are trying to protect. We need to consider that Democracy is indeed inherently corrupt. If some party of individuals can corner a Country’s government throw revolution or election, or whatever, then they are basically in control to commit any pillage or abuse – to tax an entire nation for their own personal benefit. Stuffing the bureaucracy with cronies and supporters. Selling mineral rights to God Know Who. Look at the Republicans in America. They win an election and use their Political Power to sign over Public Lands into their own pockets. They make laws depriving Workers of their traditional rights. Democracy is inherently corrupt.
Then we need to consider Democracy as being primarily a force for Ethnic Self-Determinism. Woodrow Wilson had said so, and then Hitler had proved the principle. All else being equal, a Democratic Majority will be an ethnic group (American Republicans mince their words about it, but demographically the Republicans are the White Nazi Party of America). And then Democracy becomes a simple vehicle for certain Ethnic Privileges on one hand, and certain institutionalized oppressions on the other, against the Minorities. The Nazis did it in Germany. And today the Zionists do it in Israel (ask any Non-Jewish Israeli citizen why they cannot own property or have their own business). Democracies are inherently racist.
Indeed, this is what the entire Burmese Thing may be about. Certain Ethnic Divisions in Burma see Democracy as an opportunity to take everything away from everyone else and grab it for themselves. While the Generals see their own Regime as the only hope for maintaining a United Burma despite its ethnic divides. Remember that the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Iraq had only been able to live in peace, among so many ethnic divisions BECAUSE they were NOT democratic. Democracies brought Blood Baths in its wake.
Also, there is some kind of a myth regarding Non-Violent Protest. As I stated above, until the huge Blood Baths transpire, and until we see the rise of horrible Reigns of Terror, then, yes, these are all ‘peaceful’ protests. You see, while the Government can still defend itself, then the demonstrations remain ‘peaceful’. But what happens when such governments weaken and begin to crack. Then we see ‘Protestors’ move to take over Government Buildings. We see Protestors beginning to make arrests of their own. We see the Non-Democratic Usurpation of Government. We see Revolt and Chaos.
Look at the Indian Experience. What started out as Peaceful Protest under Gandhi turned into the worst ethnic riots in the History of the World. Peaceful Protests are anything but peaceful, if allowed to prevail.
China is blamed for its Tanumen Square Massacre, but what the Chinese Government had averted was probably another disaster on the same dimensions as their Cultural Revolution. Indeed, the Chinese Government was comprised of these former ‘Peaceful Protestors of the Cultural Revolution’ – these were the last people on Earth who could be fooled by ‘Peaceful Protestors’. In the end, nobody is more bloodthirsty and violent than a ‘peaceful protestor’ who manages finally to get his way. Oh, there are some exceptions. It amazes me that South Africa didn’t revert to a frenzied slaughter of the minority whites. But elsewhere in Africa we are seeing that Democracy is beginning to take its toll on Fairness and Equity. Majority Rule is about Winning and Losing. It has nothing to do with Fairness or Principle.
And again the West is hypocritical. 30 years ago when Iranian Students took over the American Embassy in Iran, America was not so enthusiastic about these “Peaceful Demonstrators”. When America is the target, then the American Presidents are not so quick to prod forward the beasts of the mob.
And then, 5 minutes before Timothy McVeigh blew up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, he had been a peaceful protestor. And Lord knows that all such violent murderers, in fact or in heart, are not opposed to gaining their ends by Vote as well as through conspiracy, murder, and rebellion. Indeed, the National Rifle Association probably spends as much money in its political lobbying as it does on its own versions of Terrorist Training Camps… they call them ‘shooting ranges’, but I suppose that the indoctrination goes much the same way.
So, anyway, we need to put aside the simplistic Good vs. Evil picture that the Media is now presenting in regards to Burma. I’d be willing to give the General’s the benefit of the doubt. In a World in which Democracy has tossed up Winners like Adolf Hitler and George Bush, we need to have some sympathy for those who do not immediately trust in the automatic perfection of Democratic Institutions. Oh, and then there is the healthy distrust of Western Capitalism, where just 3 individuals own controlling interest in all of the News and Entertainment Media. Is it any wonder that we only seem to be hearing ONE VOICE in all of this?
We should all prefer to look at events as they really are and not simply through the prism of Western Imperialist Propaganda. Yes, Imperialist Western Capitalism looks for any occasion to topple any existing order, to ruin it, and then go in and buy up everything while it is at its cheapest. So to the Imperialists, ‘Democracy’ BECAUSE it is such a de-stabilizing influence, is pushed forward. Nothing collapses prices like good old Democracy. For the Imperialists, they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by sowing the seeds of discord and ruin.
But much can be lost. We need to remember that the Chinese Cultural Revolution, that killed millions and set China back ten years in its development, that it started as Pro-Democracy Demonstrations, as they are generically called by the West. Also, the insurgency in Cambodia was labeled Pro-Democracy. You see, the West only wants to shake things up. You see, it simply does not matter to them. If they can destroy a Golden Palace just so they can make off with a single candlestick, then they see it as all gain on their part. The West is not after Win-Win, but they only care that they might find some business opportunity in the Chaos.
And we do know that the West is hypocritical in regards to Democracy. Iran is a Democracy. Venezuela is a Democracy. In Palestine, Hamas had won the democratic elections. But in every single case where Democracy brings forward a party not already corrupted by Western Imperialist Interests, then it is immediately rejected and the Propaganda Machine goes into overdrive, even using CNN and the BBC, to tell us that these democratically installed Governments are ‘dictatorships’ and that the elected officials are ‘tyrants’ and ‘dictators’.
But, we need to consider that there is some truth to the matter that democracies are not all the same. We need to wonder what the ‘Pro-Democracy’ Demonstrators are after. And we need to consider what the Military Juntas are trying to protect. We need to consider that Democracy is indeed inherently corrupt. If some party of individuals can corner a Country’s government throw revolution or election, or whatever, then they are basically in control to commit any pillage or abuse – to tax an entire nation for their own personal benefit. Stuffing the bureaucracy with cronies and supporters. Selling mineral rights to God Know Who. Look at the Republicans in America. They win an election and use their Political Power to sign over Public Lands into their own pockets. They make laws depriving Workers of their traditional rights. Democracy is inherently corrupt.
Then we need to consider Democracy as being primarily a force for Ethnic Self-Determinism. Woodrow Wilson had said so, and then Hitler had proved the principle. All else being equal, a Democratic Majority will be an ethnic group (American Republicans mince their words about it, but demographically the Republicans are the White Nazi Party of America). And then Democracy becomes a simple vehicle for certain Ethnic Privileges on one hand, and certain institutionalized oppressions on the other, against the Minorities. The Nazis did it in Germany. And today the Zionists do it in Israel (ask any Non-Jewish Israeli citizen why they cannot own property or have their own business). Democracies are inherently racist.
Indeed, this is what the entire Burmese Thing may be about. Certain Ethnic Divisions in Burma see Democracy as an opportunity to take everything away from everyone else and grab it for themselves. While the Generals see their own Regime as the only hope for maintaining a United Burma despite its ethnic divides. Remember that the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Iraq had only been able to live in peace, among so many ethnic divisions BECAUSE they were NOT democratic. Democracies brought Blood Baths in its wake.
Also, there is some kind of a myth regarding Non-Violent Protest. As I stated above, until the huge Blood Baths transpire, and until we see the rise of horrible Reigns of Terror, then, yes, these are all ‘peaceful’ protests. You see, while the Government can still defend itself, then the demonstrations remain ‘peaceful’. But what happens when such governments weaken and begin to crack. Then we see ‘Protestors’ move to take over Government Buildings. We see Protestors beginning to make arrests of their own. We see the Non-Democratic Usurpation of Government. We see Revolt and Chaos.
Look at the Indian Experience. What started out as Peaceful Protest under Gandhi turned into the worst ethnic riots in the History of the World. Peaceful Protests are anything but peaceful, if allowed to prevail.
China is blamed for its Tanumen Square Massacre, but what the Chinese Government had averted was probably another disaster on the same dimensions as their Cultural Revolution. Indeed, the Chinese Government was comprised of these former ‘Peaceful Protestors of the Cultural Revolution’ – these were the last people on Earth who could be fooled by ‘Peaceful Protestors’. In the end, nobody is more bloodthirsty and violent than a ‘peaceful protestor’ who manages finally to get his way. Oh, there are some exceptions. It amazes me that South Africa didn’t revert to a frenzied slaughter of the minority whites. But elsewhere in Africa we are seeing that Democracy is beginning to take its toll on Fairness and Equity. Majority Rule is about Winning and Losing. It has nothing to do with Fairness or Principle.
And again the West is hypocritical. 30 years ago when Iranian Students took over the American Embassy in Iran, America was not so enthusiastic about these “Peaceful Demonstrators”. When America is the target, then the American Presidents are not so quick to prod forward the beasts of the mob.
And then, 5 minutes before Timothy McVeigh blew up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, he had been a peaceful protestor. And Lord knows that all such violent murderers, in fact or in heart, are not opposed to gaining their ends by Vote as well as through conspiracy, murder, and rebellion. Indeed, the National Rifle Association probably spends as much money in its political lobbying as it does on its own versions of Terrorist Training Camps… they call them ‘shooting ranges’, but I suppose that the indoctrination goes much the same way.
So, anyway, we need to put aside the simplistic Good vs. Evil picture that the Media is now presenting in regards to Burma. I’d be willing to give the General’s the benefit of the doubt. In a World in which Democracy has tossed up Winners like Adolf Hitler and George Bush, we need to have some sympathy for those who do not immediately trust in the automatic perfection of Democratic Institutions. Oh, and then there is the healthy distrust of Western Capitalism, where just 3 individuals own controlling interest in all of the News and Entertainment Media. Is it any wonder that we only seem to be hearing ONE VOICE in all of this?
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Splendidly Enlightened Dreams... So What?
Splendidly Enlightened Dreams
Often people new on the Spiritual Path suppose they are being neglected by the Great Spirit, or whatever, when their Enlightened Experiences come few and far between.
Then, when I speak to them of my own Experiences, hoping to inspire them, well, what actually occurs is that these people again focus upon their perceived spiritual depravations. Well, then I need to explain to them that I am an old man, and though my own experiences had been few and far between, the great deal of time that transpired in between seems to have made up for it all. Just consider, if I had just one decent Vision or Dream per year, then that would make for 60 wonderful stories. That seems like a lot, doesn’t it? But it is only one per year.
But now my concern is that when one has amazing Dreams and Visions, then one expects that there will be some carry-over into our Real Lives. But it seems that life goes on more or less the same as usual.
I’ve had something of a Trilogy of Dreams relatively recently. The dreams were either Lucid or Vivid to the same degree. In one I was in a Church and began to levitate, and as I floated toward the front of the Church toward the altar I became a body of light and became like a ball of golden light. For a moment I WAS light.
Several evenings ago I had the most vivid dream of being levitated up, this time with some assistance from a very powerful Spiritual Healer, and felt that I was made porous, and I could feel the flow of energy going through me, and as I was horizontal facing upward, the energy came up through me. I felt that it was to purifying me, but I felt at the same time that I already felt very clear. There seemed to be no points of resistance or obstruction. I was clean at some ultimate level of being.
In another dream I began to levitate, but with a degree of power, and so I took off like a rocket. It was with great effort that I could steer, but worked toward a northerly trajectory. I wanted to rise up into the sky and then attain a kind of Universal Consciousness – to see all and Be All. But what happened was that as I began to see the entire Universe, it became a small garden just below me. I woke up wondering, but it seemed to indicate that my Universe should be done to scale, that my universe should be of a manageable size.
Now, some of the establishing premises for those advocating Dream Work, and Lucid Dreams, and indeed all of this kind of Spiritual Effort, is that there should be some effect that comes through to our Lives from these successes on the Spiritual Plane.
Yes, one could dodge the primary issue, the expectation of a pivotal All-Transforming Moment of Enlightenment that is supposed to lift us up to some new Super level of being and consciousness. Instead I could speak of incremental change, of the Improving Self. I could claim to be better than when I started. Well, who isn’t? Maturity and Age is supposed to bring a certain amount of Wisdom. There is no magic there.
Indeed, this suggests a new point, and that is that these Spiritual Experiences really are not all that unique, or shouldn’t be. Perhaps every spiritually normal and healthy man should have this same species of experiences.
But, still, to speak of incremental change is still a dodge, an evasion of our expectations. We have only to go over the Literature – that of the Catholic Saints, or the Hindus, or the Sufis, and that of the few Buddhist Saints there have been, and we see that there had been Experiences so powerful that they reached all the way into the Actual Lives of the recipients.
Now, I have not lost hope. And forgive me for discussing the incremental improvements even after I dismissed their importance, but I noticed that I am both receiving more help from others, in my dreams and Visions, as well as being more of a Team Player… less of a Spiritual Loner. You see, we need to remember the Most Important Distinction between Good and Evil, between Spirituality and the Demonic, and that is that True Spirituality is Collective. Love is Unifying. It is the Demonic that stands off alone.
Oh, that reminds me of one representative dream. I was walking along a jungle trail and was singing “I Can See Clearly Now”, and was getting kind of funky with it. Then I happened upon this one Theatrical Troupe, and I found they were rehearsing the same material. So I found the Production Manager and asked if I could be given a job somewhere, since we seemed to have the same Interest. Well, that apparently indicated I had passed some test and they included me in a small group that set out toward the Top of the Mountain.
I guess if this essay has a Point it must be that if I were alone I would have to worry about my eventual Fate… that is, whether I was doing all the right stuff. But now that I find myself in the hands and company of others, some of them Saints, Gurus and Goddesses of the Highest Reputation and Acclaim, then I really shouldn’t have anything to worry about. As long as I keep being a Team Player, I will get what progress I am supposed to get.
Often people new on the Spiritual Path suppose they are being neglected by the Great Spirit, or whatever, when their Enlightened Experiences come few and far between.
Then, when I speak to them of my own Experiences, hoping to inspire them, well, what actually occurs is that these people again focus upon their perceived spiritual depravations. Well, then I need to explain to them that I am an old man, and though my own experiences had been few and far between, the great deal of time that transpired in between seems to have made up for it all. Just consider, if I had just one decent Vision or Dream per year, then that would make for 60 wonderful stories. That seems like a lot, doesn’t it? But it is only one per year.
But now my concern is that when one has amazing Dreams and Visions, then one expects that there will be some carry-over into our Real Lives. But it seems that life goes on more or less the same as usual.
I’ve had something of a Trilogy of Dreams relatively recently. The dreams were either Lucid or Vivid to the same degree. In one I was in a Church and began to levitate, and as I floated toward the front of the Church toward the altar I became a body of light and became like a ball of golden light. For a moment I WAS light.
Several evenings ago I had the most vivid dream of being levitated up, this time with some assistance from a very powerful Spiritual Healer, and felt that I was made porous, and I could feel the flow of energy going through me, and as I was horizontal facing upward, the energy came up through me. I felt that it was to purifying me, but I felt at the same time that I already felt very clear. There seemed to be no points of resistance or obstruction. I was clean at some ultimate level of being.
In another dream I began to levitate, but with a degree of power, and so I took off like a rocket. It was with great effort that I could steer, but worked toward a northerly trajectory. I wanted to rise up into the sky and then attain a kind of Universal Consciousness – to see all and Be All. But what happened was that as I began to see the entire Universe, it became a small garden just below me. I woke up wondering, but it seemed to indicate that my Universe should be done to scale, that my universe should be of a manageable size.
Now, some of the establishing premises for those advocating Dream Work, and Lucid Dreams, and indeed all of this kind of Spiritual Effort, is that there should be some effect that comes through to our Lives from these successes on the Spiritual Plane.
Yes, one could dodge the primary issue, the expectation of a pivotal All-Transforming Moment of Enlightenment that is supposed to lift us up to some new Super level of being and consciousness. Instead I could speak of incremental change, of the Improving Self. I could claim to be better than when I started. Well, who isn’t? Maturity and Age is supposed to bring a certain amount of Wisdom. There is no magic there.
Indeed, this suggests a new point, and that is that these Spiritual Experiences really are not all that unique, or shouldn’t be. Perhaps every spiritually normal and healthy man should have this same species of experiences.
But, still, to speak of incremental change is still a dodge, an evasion of our expectations. We have only to go over the Literature – that of the Catholic Saints, or the Hindus, or the Sufis, and that of the few Buddhist Saints there have been, and we see that there had been Experiences so powerful that they reached all the way into the Actual Lives of the recipients.
Now, I have not lost hope. And forgive me for discussing the incremental improvements even after I dismissed their importance, but I noticed that I am both receiving more help from others, in my dreams and Visions, as well as being more of a Team Player… less of a Spiritual Loner. You see, we need to remember the Most Important Distinction between Good and Evil, between Spirituality and the Demonic, and that is that True Spirituality is Collective. Love is Unifying. It is the Demonic that stands off alone.
Oh, that reminds me of one representative dream. I was walking along a jungle trail and was singing “I Can See Clearly Now”, and was getting kind of funky with it. Then I happened upon this one Theatrical Troupe, and I found they were rehearsing the same material. So I found the Production Manager and asked if I could be given a job somewhere, since we seemed to have the same Interest. Well, that apparently indicated I had passed some test and they included me in a small group that set out toward the Top of the Mountain.
I guess if this essay has a Point it must be that if I were alone I would have to worry about my eventual Fate… that is, whether I was doing all the right stuff. But now that I find myself in the hands and company of others, some of them Saints, Gurus and Goddesses of the Highest Reputation and Acclaim, then I really shouldn’t have anything to worry about. As long as I keep being a Team Player, I will get what progress I am supposed to get.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Morality for Profit
Morality for Profit
The Moneyed Interests that have taken such huge strides in conquering the World (Globalization enslaving us all more than any Nazi or Communist had ever envisioned ) have a constant mantra that they repeat endlessly, and that is Public Government should be completely eradicated and supplanted by Private Contractors and Private Companies openly motivated by Profit. The supposition being that the Profit Motive would impose a level of discipline and Efficiency to be preferred over Public Corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies.
Well, honest people around the World supposing that People are basically good, decided to give it a try. The argument seemed to make sense and nobody was told that the real intent was to rip everybody off.
Now we have discovered that no Public Corruption, those small inefficiencies due to human error, could possibly compare to Private Corruption propelled by the Profit Motive.
In Health Care we find that every refusal to provide care made some rich class of property owners even richer. And so every trend to refuse care was encouraged and rewarded. It became company policy to refuse every service that the company was nominally contracted to provide. After all, it only makes good economic sense to suppose that the most money can be made by giving out absolutely nothing, or as little as possible. And so the Public traded off Good Services attained at the expense of some small inefficiencies for a system that refused everything, but where the benefits of the Efficiencies went only to the New World Conquerors – the Idle Rich Shareholders in these Private Profit Pillage Companies.
In all matters of Insurance and Public Service, Private Companies have calculated that they have better access to the Legal Courts than their clients, and so no Payment and no Service is ever simply given because it is due, but all policies must be brought to Court. Private Insurers now suppose they owe it to their Stock Holders to NEVER operate as contracted, as they had once promised with all of their Propaganda.
We were once indoctrinated to believe that Power was corrupting. Well, now we know that there is one form of Corruption that exceeds anything that an over-enthusiastic Politician may ever envision for the Public Good, and that is the Corruption of the Profit Motive, of those who NEVER EVEN PRETENDED to desire to do Good for the sake of Goodness, but from the very start claimed only to care about MONEY.
What should we do, as a Society, about all of this. Well, first, ban any For Profit Company where monetary self-interest would be in conflict with their Charter or Service. All Health Care, All Insurance, should be administered by a Public Account, and all such Services and Benefits should be Universal.
Medicine, Law, Insurance, Utilities – ALL of it should be universally provided. Rich people should not have their own Doctors or their own Lawyers, or even better insurance. What is good for the Rich must be good for everybody. And if the Rich and Powerful do not like what is Equally Available, then that is their motive to improve it across its entire range. But while the Rich and the Powerful are allowed to pursue their own Happiness while climbing on the backs of everybody else – buying up all the Bread to leave the crusts for everybody else, then, from what we know of Human Nature, they will continue to do so.
If History has shown us anything that we can fairly generalize upon, it is that Rich People are Bad People. We must begin to reject all the Modern Propaganda, given from those who wish only to screw us, that wants to hypnotize us into believing that Greed is Good.
If there truly is an Anti-Christ, it is in this notion that what had always been considered the most reprehensible of Evils is now to be considered a Virtue.
A generation ago we were told to reject Communism because it was Materialistic. But now the Capitalists are teaching a positive Satanism.
Really, Good and Bad, Virtue and Vice shouldn’t be that hard to distinguish.
The Moneyed Interests that have taken such huge strides in conquering the World (Globalization enslaving us all more than any Nazi or Communist had ever envisioned ) have a constant mantra that they repeat endlessly, and that is Public Government should be completely eradicated and supplanted by Private Contractors and Private Companies openly motivated by Profit. The supposition being that the Profit Motive would impose a level of discipline and Efficiency to be preferred over Public Corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies.
Well, honest people around the World supposing that People are basically good, decided to give it a try. The argument seemed to make sense and nobody was told that the real intent was to rip everybody off.
Now we have discovered that no Public Corruption, those small inefficiencies due to human error, could possibly compare to Private Corruption propelled by the Profit Motive.
In Health Care we find that every refusal to provide care made some rich class of property owners even richer. And so every trend to refuse care was encouraged and rewarded. It became company policy to refuse every service that the company was nominally contracted to provide. After all, it only makes good economic sense to suppose that the most money can be made by giving out absolutely nothing, or as little as possible. And so the Public traded off Good Services attained at the expense of some small inefficiencies for a system that refused everything, but where the benefits of the Efficiencies went only to the New World Conquerors – the Idle Rich Shareholders in these Private Profit Pillage Companies.
In all matters of Insurance and Public Service, Private Companies have calculated that they have better access to the Legal Courts than their clients, and so no Payment and no Service is ever simply given because it is due, but all policies must be brought to Court. Private Insurers now suppose they owe it to their Stock Holders to NEVER operate as contracted, as they had once promised with all of their Propaganda.
We were once indoctrinated to believe that Power was corrupting. Well, now we know that there is one form of Corruption that exceeds anything that an over-enthusiastic Politician may ever envision for the Public Good, and that is the Corruption of the Profit Motive, of those who NEVER EVEN PRETENDED to desire to do Good for the sake of Goodness, but from the very start claimed only to care about MONEY.
What should we do, as a Society, about all of this. Well, first, ban any For Profit Company where monetary self-interest would be in conflict with their Charter or Service. All Health Care, All Insurance, should be administered by a Public Account, and all such Services and Benefits should be Universal.
Medicine, Law, Insurance, Utilities – ALL of it should be universally provided. Rich people should not have their own Doctors or their own Lawyers, or even better insurance. What is good for the Rich must be good for everybody. And if the Rich and Powerful do not like what is Equally Available, then that is their motive to improve it across its entire range. But while the Rich and the Powerful are allowed to pursue their own Happiness while climbing on the backs of everybody else – buying up all the Bread to leave the crusts for everybody else, then, from what we know of Human Nature, they will continue to do so.
If History has shown us anything that we can fairly generalize upon, it is that Rich People are Bad People. We must begin to reject all the Modern Propaganda, given from those who wish only to screw us, that wants to hypnotize us into believing that Greed is Good.
If there truly is an Anti-Christ, it is in this notion that what had always been considered the most reprehensible of Evils is now to be considered a Virtue.
A generation ago we were told to reject Communism because it was Materialistic. But now the Capitalists are teaching a positive Satanism.
Really, Good and Bad, Virtue and Vice shouldn’t be that hard to distinguish.
Is Barbarism Better?
Is Barbarism Better?
It is a favorite theme in modern Western Culture to denigrate Advanced Civilizations while glorifying the characteristics of Barbarism – individuality, freedom, snubbing one’s nose at Authority. The Bandit, the Rebel, the Viking, the Outlaw are set across to us as Heroes, while Civilizations are portrayed as Evil Empires and the advocates for Civilization are represented as degenerate dictators.
Yes, one factor involved here is that it is so much easier to make Barbarism appear to be attractive and fascinating … with the right editing. Civilization, though, looks boring.
But lets remember the basics. Civilizations can be distinguished from Barbarisms entirely on the basis of Population Density. The Institutions of Civilization permit greater population densities. Barbarism, on the other hand requires broad open spaces. In order to support so much Individuality and Freedom, great distances have to be placed between the individuals involved, so as to avoid conflict. The Pursuit of Happiness is fine until there is no longer enough Happiness to go around. So when the Population increases within Barbarisms begin to stress these Barbarian Values, then the very bloody conflicts that ensue, cut down the very Population increases that had been the problem. So it is that Barbarisms depend upon Wars, or violent civil conflicts… whatever can be the excuse for wholesale slaughter. It is this cyclical violence inherent to Barbarism that is edited out of the Popular Media Presentation of ‘Noble’ Barbarism.
The movies tend to depict Barbarian Violence as accidental or aberrational… these noble savages were minding their own business when some other nasty tribe attacked them. Actually, the violence really is built into the System. Every Barbarian People will resort to violence as it feels itself being squeezed. It’s a defining characteristic.
How are Civilized People different? Well, Civilized People develop a tolerance for the Institutions that permit for a higher population density. Respect for authority, property, accepted roles, polite forms, shared values, and especially the inhibited resort to aggression and a respect for peace.
Now, Barbarism is applauded for its Freedoms, but we must understand that it rests upon Violence. We are told that Civilization is oppressive and is essentially boring, but we need to know that this is what Peace looks like. Well, Barbarians pretend to admire Peace, but usually as a consequence of their endless Wars, where Peace is understood to be a much desired breathing space – a vacation from their day to day work – before they find they need to rush into another conflict. Yes, they enjoy these momentary respites from violence, but it doesn’t keep them from pursuing their same violent tendencies as a matter of course.
Now, there are no perfect Civilizations and no Exact Barbarisms. No Civilization has yet survived. They have all fallen. Their Institutions should perfectly enable an Infinitely Dense level of Population, but in practice we find that Civilizations eventually bust apart at their seams. The better Civilizations get further and last longer. They have Population Control Institutions – we see widespread institutionalizations for Monks and Nuns and we see a Virtue made of celibacy, virginity… indeed, anything that restrains population growth, so that Civilization might be able to hit a viable Equilibrium, where it may be able to sustain itself at an Optimum but not increasing Population Level. And this is theoretically possible. Now, some people confuse Ideals with Realities and object that since babies are needed, no virtue should be made of celibacy. Well, such objections are silly. No matter WHAT a Civilization teaches, the Sexual Urge will always be strong enough to guarantee MORE than enough babies. Whatever ground can be gained against the Sexual Urge, and the Female Instinct to create much cherished Pet Babies, is to be appreciated, but will never be enough.
But Barbarisms can never be self-sustaining, not without murderous violence. You see, Freedom involves a great deal of copulation, and copulation brings population, and population will engender either Civilized Institutions that could promote the tolerance of higher population densities, or the Barbarisms will simply explode, setting back the numbers back to comfortable levels.
The World today pretends to be Civilized – the Barbarians, like the Ancient Greek Barbarians before, call themselves Civilized… apparently not knowing what the word really means. But as the Media reflects, and as History describes, much is conducted by the Ways of Barbarism. The World Wars of the 20th Century came about as Population Pressures were beginning to manifest along with the opposing doctrines of Anarchy and Communism – Communism as a Intellectual Civilizing Mechanism which could support a greater population density; and Anarchy as a visceral spark to begin the Genocidal Slaughter that could return the Barbarism back to its comfort level.
Then we have what almost seems like accidental Institutions for Population Control. For instance, in America, we have the widening Police State where 25% of the adult population is jailed – and jailed at that time of life where they would otherwise be raising families. Prisons are the New Monasteries and prisoners are the new Monks and Nuns. And it seems as though it had all be organized by some vast accident, until we think that most offenses are Drug Related. You see, after the First World War, alcohol was criminalized, but when popular discontent ended that Prohibition, the State went on to criminalize Drugs, all while maintaining a large enough flow of drugs to guarantee that 25% of Americans could be incarcerated. It seemed like it was somebody’s idea that there would be Prisons, and a body of laws was created to enable these Prisons to be packed to capacity. Nobody published a Political Philosophy to justify this Police State Mechanism, but it exists nonetheless. It is a strange way of running a Civilization, but it is indeed an Institution for maintaining and controlling Population Density. I have been a constant defender of Civilization and Civilized Institutions, but, really, History shows us much better models than this, and it is difficult to defend just any Civilized Institution.
We can only conclude that some Civilizations are better than others.
Now, we can have hope in the fact that all Civilizations arise from Barbarisms that had decided to organize… Barbarisms that had gotten tired of their endless wars and conflicts and decided to give Civilization a try. Perhaps a new Rising Barbarism, aspiring to a Better Civilization, would be better than a Civilization that depends now upon its Prisons.
It is a favorite theme in modern Western Culture to denigrate Advanced Civilizations while glorifying the characteristics of Barbarism – individuality, freedom, snubbing one’s nose at Authority. The Bandit, the Rebel, the Viking, the Outlaw are set across to us as Heroes, while Civilizations are portrayed as Evil Empires and the advocates for Civilization are represented as degenerate dictators.
Yes, one factor involved here is that it is so much easier to make Barbarism appear to be attractive and fascinating … with the right editing. Civilization, though, looks boring.
But lets remember the basics. Civilizations can be distinguished from Barbarisms entirely on the basis of Population Density. The Institutions of Civilization permit greater population densities. Barbarism, on the other hand requires broad open spaces. In order to support so much Individuality and Freedom, great distances have to be placed between the individuals involved, so as to avoid conflict. The Pursuit of Happiness is fine until there is no longer enough Happiness to go around. So when the Population increases within Barbarisms begin to stress these Barbarian Values, then the very bloody conflicts that ensue, cut down the very Population increases that had been the problem. So it is that Barbarisms depend upon Wars, or violent civil conflicts… whatever can be the excuse for wholesale slaughter. It is this cyclical violence inherent to Barbarism that is edited out of the Popular Media Presentation of ‘Noble’ Barbarism.
The movies tend to depict Barbarian Violence as accidental or aberrational… these noble savages were minding their own business when some other nasty tribe attacked them. Actually, the violence really is built into the System. Every Barbarian People will resort to violence as it feels itself being squeezed. It’s a defining characteristic.
How are Civilized People different? Well, Civilized People develop a tolerance for the Institutions that permit for a higher population density. Respect for authority, property, accepted roles, polite forms, shared values, and especially the inhibited resort to aggression and a respect for peace.
Now, Barbarism is applauded for its Freedoms, but we must understand that it rests upon Violence. We are told that Civilization is oppressive and is essentially boring, but we need to know that this is what Peace looks like. Well, Barbarians pretend to admire Peace, but usually as a consequence of their endless Wars, where Peace is understood to be a much desired breathing space – a vacation from their day to day work – before they find they need to rush into another conflict. Yes, they enjoy these momentary respites from violence, but it doesn’t keep them from pursuing their same violent tendencies as a matter of course.
Now, there are no perfect Civilizations and no Exact Barbarisms. No Civilization has yet survived. They have all fallen. Their Institutions should perfectly enable an Infinitely Dense level of Population, but in practice we find that Civilizations eventually bust apart at their seams. The better Civilizations get further and last longer. They have Population Control Institutions – we see widespread institutionalizations for Monks and Nuns and we see a Virtue made of celibacy, virginity… indeed, anything that restrains population growth, so that Civilization might be able to hit a viable Equilibrium, where it may be able to sustain itself at an Optimum but not increasing Population Level. And this is theoretically possible. Now, some people confuse Ideals with Realities and object that since babies are needed, no virtue should be made of celibacy. Well, such objections are silly. No matter WHAT a Civilization teaches, the Sexual Urge will always be strong enough to guarantee MORE than enough babies. Whatever ground can be gained against the Sexual Urge, and the Female Instinct to create much cherished Pet Babies, is to be appreciated, but will never be enough.
But Barbarisms can never be self-sustaining, not without murderous violence. You see, Freedom involves a great deal of copulation, and copulation brings population, and population will engender either Civilized Institutions that could promote the tolerance of higher population densities, or the Barbarisms will simply explode, setting back the numbers back to comfortable levels.
The World today pretends to be Civilized – the Barbarians, like the Ancient Greek Barbarians before, call themselves Civilized… apparently not knowing what the word really means. But as the Media reflects, and as History describes, much is conducted by the Ways of Barbarism. The World Wars of the 20th Century came about as Population Pressures were beginning to manifest along with the opposing doctrines of Anarchy and Communism – Communism as a Intellectual Civilizing Mechanism which could support a greater population density; and Anarchy as a visceral spark to begin the Genocidal Slaughter that could return the Barbarism back to its comfort level.
Then we have what almost seems like accidental Institutions for Population Control. For instance, in America, we have the widening Police State where 25% of the adult population is jailed – and jailed at that time of life where they would otherwise be raising families. Prisons are the New Monasteries and prisoners are the new Monks and Nuns. And it seems as though it had all be organized by some vast accident, until we think that most offenses are Drug Related. You see, after the First World War, alcohol was criminalized, but when popular discontent ended that Prohibition, the State went on to criminalize Drugs, all while maintaining a large enough flow of drugs to guarantee that 25% of Americans could be incarcerated. It seemed like it was somebody’s idea that there would be Prisons, and a body of laws was created to enable these Prisons to be packed to capacity. Nobody published a Political Philosophy to justify this Police State Mechanism, but it exists nonetheless. It is a strange way of running a Civilization, but it is indeed an Institution for maintaining and controlling Population Density. I have been a constant defender of Civilization and Civilized Institutions, but, really, History shows us much better models than this, and it is difficult to defend just any Civilized Institution.
We can only conclude that some Civilizations are better than others.
Now, we can have hope in the fact that all Civilizations arise from Barbarisms that had decided to organize… Barbarisms that had gotten tired of their endless wars and conflicts and decided to give Civilization a try. Perhaps a new Rising Barbarism, aspiring to a Better Civilization, would be better than a Civilization that depends now upon its Prisons.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
We Need Planned Economies
Nowadays I am often troubled in mind concerning the requirements to fulfill two or three of the most demanding needs for our World Civilization. These needs are, first, for universal Health Care, and, then, for engineering the World in preparation for the impacts of Global Warming. And then, additionally, we are harassed from behind by our aging infrastructure, and then we face a future of inadequate infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing populations, most of all in America, but nothing anywhere is getting any younger or any bigger or any better without the input of fresh human and financial resources.
Well, one should refrain from saying both ‘human’ and ‘financial’ resources, when, really, we are only discussing human resources. When anybody talks of financial resources, they are only discussing the money it would take to hire people, and so it all resolves down to human resources. For what the World needs to do, it must find the workers to do it.
Long story short, we will increasingly have to move toward Planned Economies. As it now stands, a great many jobs are taken up in redundancy, as thousands of nearly identical companies offering nearly identical products and services, employ people who do about the same thing. It is all quite inefficient. Look in any Telephone Directory’s Business and Commercial Section and you can see how much consolidation could be accomplished. All of the many companies now listed under a single heading could be consolidated into Single Companies. Then all the people who are freed up for new employment could be diverted to Health Care and engineering projects.
Then there is the problem of free for all Capitalist Pillaging. Many capitalists are very successful and make a good deal of money. This would be fine except that such money sets up entire industries devoted to luxury production which address none of the World’s problems, but only bleed off precious resources. Perhaps millions of people must be employed to satisfy the whims of the ultra wealthy. This would be fine if Employment were an end in itself, which many people believe and often the Rich apologize for their extravagance by claiming that it provides Employment, but when we are looking at a World that has a short list of major priorities, then there really isn’t any human resources to be wasted in satisfying the demands of selfish and sensual hedonism.
Also, there are some things that Socialist Planning does far better than Capitalism. The standout triumph of Socialism is in education, and talent scouting the best students and allocating resources to fully achieve their potentials. This had been demonstrated in the Olympic Games where for decade after decade the Socialist Countries, man for man, completely outplayed and outperformed Capitalism, who could put forth the talent from only their most affluent and elite classes. You see, capitalism is, or it resolves in time to be a system of Class Society, a system of Privilege against Poverty. There, the Lower Classes are suppressed, and in this focused suppression many talents and potentials are largely wasted.
Yes, it may seem, now, that I am addressing problems that do not even exist, well, yet. But much of the frustration expressed concerning Universal Health Care, Major Infrastructure Repair, and Global Warming Initiatives is that people cannot envision where the Human Resources could possibly come from to address such issues. Yes, there is already an existing pool of unemployment in all advanced and developed nations of about 10% and more in the undeveloped Nations. But the concern of using these people is that it would be inflationary – current Economic Theory is predicated upon the axiom that full employment is destructively inflationary. Well, this is true as far as it goes, but true in the same sense that the first Theorist of Capitalism was correct in saying that Capitalists would most be benefited by reducing their employees to subsistence slave wages and the most miserable of conditions. Paying out the least money is of course the way a Capitalist System would run itself. Besides, unemployed people are indeed getting money from somewhere, and so when we are discussing the Unemployed we are really talking about the Criminal Subculture and Black Market or Contraband Fringe Economies. And it would take some convincing for me to believe that they are not lending to inflationary pressures themselves. But anyway, as Globalization is now managing the World Economy, full employment is considered the worst problem since it is inflationary, and inflation is the Banking Systems worst enemy (and it is no secret that the Banks are running the Show). As it now stands the Banks are doing the Planning, and they are only considering their own narrow viewpoints.
But if economies were entirely planned, considering the production of essential supplies to meet essential demands, there would be no worry of inflation. However, there would arise the need to prioritize the allocation of Human Resources. There is much work that needs to be done, and it needs to be done efficiently. It needs to be planned. You know what they say: “If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail”. Every successful capitalist company knows this, but then we are supposed to ignore this principle as it could be applied to our entire Civilization? The haphazard nature of Capitalism, as it promotes division and conflict, simply misdirects and wastes too much that could prove to be critical in the critical times in which we live.
Now, I have often criticized the failures and inherent defects of Democracy. But now I should point out that if Democracy were to ever be complete, then the People’s Power to Rule really cannot be complete unless the People could decide upon economic issues. As it now stands, Capitalism and the Banks are above any political constraints and the Owners and the Board of Directors are answerable to no Democratic Institution. The purview of Government has been isolated away from influencing anything that is truly important to the People – their Economies, and the primary reason why Western Capitalists wish to spread the model of Western Democracy throughout the World is because Western Capitalism has successfully enslaved the Institutions of Western Democratic Institutions, by corruption and influence. And it is this Corruption that they wish to impose on the remainder of the World.
Governments need to step up and assert themselves over their present Capitalist Masters. It is simply axiomatically obvious that almost any government derived from most any system of selective meritocracy would have to be better for the People and the World than a system imposed for the sole benefit of an upper crust of greedy predatory Capitalists.
Well, one should refrain from saying both ‘human’ and ‘financial’ resources, when, really, we are only discussing human resources. When anybody talks of financial resources, they are only discussing the money it would take to hire people, and so it all resolves down to human resources. For what the World needs to do, it must find the workers to do it.
Long story short, we will increasingly have to move toward Planned Economies. As it now stands, a great many jobs are taken up in redundancy, as thousands of nearly identical companies offering nearly identical products and services, employ people who do about the same thing. It is all quite inefficient. Look in any Telephone Directory’s Business and Commercial Section and you can see how much consolidation could be accomplished. All of the many companies now listed under a single heading could be consolidated into Single Companies. Then all the people who are freed up for new employment could be diverted to Health Care and engineering projects.
Then there is the problem of free for all Capitalist Pillaging. Many capitalists are very successful and make a good deal of money. This would be fine except that such money sets up entire industries devoted to luxury production which address none of the World’s problems, but only bleed off precious resources. Perhaps millions of people must be employed to satisfy the whims of the ultra wealthy. This would be fine if Employment were an end in itself, which many people believe and often the Rich apologize for their extravagance by claiming that it provides Employment, but when we are looking at a World that has a short list of major priorities, then there really isn’t any human resources to be wasted in satisfying the demands of selfish and sensual hedonism.
Also, there are some things that Socialist Planning does far better than Capitalism. The standout triumph of Socialism is in education, and talent scouting the best students and allocating resources to fully achieve their potentials. This had been demonstrated in the Olympic Games where for decade after decade the Socialist Countries, man for man, completely outplayed and outperformed Capitalism, who could put forth the talent from only their most affluent and elite classes. You see, capitalism is, or it resolves in time to be a system of Class Society, a system of Privilege against Poverty. There, the Lower Classes are suppressed, and in this focused suppression many talents and potentials are largely wasted.
Yes, it may seem, now, that I am addressing problems that do not even exist, well, yet. But much of the frustration expressed concerning Universal Health Care, Major Infrastructure Repair, and Global Warming Initiatives is that people cannot envision where the Human Resources could possibly come from to address such issues. Yes, there is already an existing pool of unemployment in all advanced and developed nations of about 10% and more in the undeveloped Nations. But the concern of using these people is that it would be inflationary – current Economic Theory is predicated upon the axiom that full employment is destructively inflationary. Well, this is true as far as it goes, but true in the same sense that the first Theorist of Capitalism was correct in saying that Capitalists would most be benefited by reducing their employees to subsistence slave wages and the most miserable of conditions. Paying out the least money is of course the way a Capitalist System would run itself. Besides, unemployed people are indeed getting money from somewhere, and so when we are discussing the Unemployed we are really talking about the Criminal Subculture and Black Market or Contraband Fringe Economies. And it would take some convincing for me to believe that they are not lending to inflationary pressures themselves. But anyway, as Globalization is now managing the World Economy, full employment is considered the worst problem since it is inflationary, and inflation is the Banking Systems worst enemy (and it is no secret that the Banks are running the Show). As it now stands the Banks are doing the Planning, and they are only considering their own narrow viewpoints.
But if economies were entirely planned, considering the production of essential supplies to meet essential demands, there would be no worry of inflation. However, there would arise the need to prioritize the allocation of Human Resources. There is much work that needs to be done, and it needs to be done efficiently. It needs to be planned. You know what they say: “If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail”. Every successful capitalist company knows this, but then we are supposed to ignore this principle as it could be applied to our entire Civilization? The haphazard nature of Capitalism, as it promotes division and conflict, simply misdirects and wastes too much that could prove to be critical in the critical times in which we live.
Now, I have often criticized the failures and inherent defects of Democracy. But now I should point out that if Democracy were to ever be complete, then the People’s Power to Rule really cannot be complete unless the People could decide upon economic issues. As it now stands, Capitalism and the Banks are above any political constraints and the Owners and the Board of Directors are answerable to no Democratic Institution. The purview of Government has been isolated away from influencing anything that is truly important to the People – their Economies, and the primary reason why Western Capitalists wish to spread the model of Western Democracy throughout the World is because Western Capitalism has successfully enslaved the Institutions of Western Democratic Institutions, by corruption and influence. And it is this Corruption that they wish to impose on the remainder of the World.
Governments need to step up and assert themselves over their present Capitalist Masters. It is simply axiomatically obvious that almost any government derived from most any system of selective meritocracy would have to be better for the People and the World than a system imposed for the sole benefit of an upper crust of greedy predatory Capitalists.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
The Paradox of the War Against Drugs
Easily, those who would be most set against the legalization of Drugs would be the Drug Lords themselves. It is the illegality of drugs that keeps them in business. The money is tax free and the entire industry is completely unregulated. It goes far in explaining why the competition is so intense to seek placement in that Illicit Industry that the people are killing each other for positions and markets. Need we wonder that no legal industry has quite that same level of intensity. Being made illegal is not so much a deterrent as it is the primary condition that establishes the attractiveness of the commerce.
Of course the Drug Industry cannot stand alone… there is the minor problem of what they call ‘laundering’ all of the cash money, as the modern Western Banking Establishments require explanations on where money comes from. But here enters in the Gaming or Gambling Industries which allow any careful player to almost break even. One can take any amount of ill-gotten moneys into a Casino, cash it in for chips, and while losing a reasonable percentage, soon cash out with perfectly clean and legitimate ‘winnings’. Yes, one needs to pay cash on these winnings, but that is in part what makes them legitimate. And this is to say that the Governments who tax these Casinos are in fact part of the money making chain of the illicit Drug Industry.
Additionally, there is simply so much cash involved in the illicit drug trade, and then in the gambling industry, which is impossible really to regulate properly since they sell no traceable product, having no inventory to account for, so that they can declare whatever profits or losses they wish to declare, and who could ever know the difference. Essentially this creates a great deal of free and unaccountable money.
Now, let us ask ourselves why nearly every single Politician in the Western World, liberal or conservative, Right or Left, is totally enthusiastic toward maintaining this War against Drugs. Well, it must be obvious. A great deal of this unaccounted for money must be going into their political coffers.
And then there is Law Enforcement itself. You see, Law Enforcement does not even pretend to claim that they have stopped the import and sale of illicit drugs in their jurisdiction. You see, in effect, when a product is outlawed and made to be a contraband item, then it automatically creates a Black Market in which the Police become the Gate Keepers – the unofficial licensers of the commerce. Indeed, this effect is tacitly acknowledged in many developing nations and communities where the local police are paid only token wages and salaries, while they are expected to make their real livings by controlling those areas of commerce that had been outlawed specifically in order to generate revenues for the police departments. So it is that in countries that culturally condone gambling, prostitution, drugs and alcohol, that these commodities are made illegal anyway, as it subsidizes their police forces. Indeed, in Mexico many of the police have no compunction about driving around openly in stolen vehicles. In their frame of Cultural Reference, to be a policeman simply makes one a King of Crime. And so we hardly need to wonder that nobody tries nearly so hard to make an honest living.
Then we may consider Public Policy. In most of the Western World, even in the developed nations, we have economies regulated by the Banking Interests so that there is a real level of unemployment that resides at about 10 to 12% (yes the ‘rate’ of unemployment is lower, but that ‘rate’ of unemployment considers only how many people lose their jobs over a certain period, but then little effort goes toward calculating what percentage of the population then remains chronically without work). Now, when more than 10% of the people have no income, exactly how do the politicians suppose that these jobless individuals can keep buying food, paying rent, etc? Well, it simply must be assumed that there is some sort of an underground economy that is covering for this high level of unemployment. So it is that in America’s Inner Cities, where unemployment levels approach 40% that the illicit Drug Commerce, Prostitution, Auto Theft are frankly encouraged. Yes, arrests are made occasionally, but the prison terms are made intentionally short and bearable, and indeed serve as schools of crime where all of the criminals involved can compare notes and form their business connections. Think of the Ocean’s Eleven movies, but on a Macro-Cosmic scale.
Then there is the Vested Self-Interest of the Prison Industry itself. In America there are more Prison Guards – correctional officers they call themselves – than there are Teachers and Doctors put together. Indeed, the reason why America has such crappy standards in both Education and in Medical Coverage is because so many resources are tied up in their Prisons. More than 20% of America’s population live behind bars. Oh, we may also think of the costs of prison construction. Then there are the Criminal Lawyers. America has more lawyers than engineers, mostly because they need hundreds of thousands of lawyers to prosecute Drug Offenders, and then hundreds of thousands of additional lawyers to defend these same people. For every criminal there are two lawyers, or actually three, since there must also be a Judge, who could actually do all of the work himself, but sits on his hands while the other two take up time and money squabbling for effect. Indeed, it would create a crisis in employment for these otherwise useless ‘Suits’ if drugs were ever legalized. Unemployed Lawyers and Prison Guards would swamp our towns and cities. But it would allow Society to reallocate these resources. Those of the Right Wing could go off and die for their Country in thinly veiled Petroleum Wars, and those of a liberal bent could become health care providers, engineers and teachers. Yes, there would have to be a period of adjustment while they grew accustomed to not being quite so useless.
It should now be perfectly clear that there are so many vested interests involved in maintaining the War Against Drugs, that it should be considered almost as the Foundation for our Modern Democratic States – the proceeds funding the Political Establishment, subsidizing Unemployment, Law Enforcement, the Legal Industry… indeed, the free money finds itself almost everywhere. Thus it is that there is not a single political voice advocating the legalization of Drugs.
But let us consider the legalization of drugs simply in theory. First, legalization should go beyond simply allowing for the legalization of the present list of contraband products. As pleasant as the existing range of drugs are, if the Pharmaceutical Giants – the Large Drug Companies – were permitted to apply themselves to the Recreational Drug Market, then we could anticipate a far better range of products – drugs without all of the stupid and unhealthy side-effects of the accidental biologically based drugs that we see now. Indeed, now the Pharmaceutical Companies have their hands tied. One suspects a certain Puritanical bias in the Drug Regulators. For instance, it must be remarkable that none of the Drugs now being designed to deal with Depression do anything to make anybody happy, that is euphoric. One would think that being a little bit ‘high’ would be the perfect answer to depression. Indeed, on the street there are a great many simple drugs that can induce harmless but happy states of euphoria. But the Drug Regulators absolutely forbid any drug that can be described as ‘pleasing’. And so it is that all of the drugs now being sold for depression are actually more likely to induce states of lethargy or stupor. Indeed, they are depressing in and of themselves, and so it is that the Puritans of State permit them.
This Puritanical Bent in Western Societies is curious in that it is relatively recent phenomena. One only needs to go back in history just a few centuries to see that Great Britain and Europe had gone to war against China for not permitting the trade in Drugs – the Opium Wars were conducted in order to protect Europe’s legal trade in Drugs. Apparently, since then, certain interested parties figured out that the industry would be more attractive if it were made illicit… effectively turned into a Police State Monopoly, which is really what contraband black markets are anyway.
Anyway, though the Vested Interests of Corruption would take a big hit, for Society in general there could be many advantages to Drug Legalization. We should consider first legalizing Drugs – all of the stupid drugs we have now, simply in order to shut down the Cartels. But subsequently we should then allow the Pharmaceutical Companies to create and sell any number of concoctions just so long as they are not absolutely poisonous. The benefit here would be that the legitimate money involved in the Legal Pharmaceutical Trade in Recreational Drugs would be taxable and so would add to the resources of the legitimate economies and social infrastructures. Of course, the Bankers would have to rearrange their policies concerning what they believe to be acceptable levels for Unemployment, because we need to realize that the Illegal Drug Industry is in fact one of the World’s largest Employers.
Then we should consider that without their hands tied that these Giants of the Pharmaceutical Industry would eventually be able to conjure up some pretty interesting pills… again with simple market forces almost guaranteeing that annoying side-effects would be kept to a minimum. So the work-a-day world of keen sober efficiency would not be too adversely effected – people would still want to keep their jobs and be sober enough to do them (as they do now with the wide availability of illicit drugs). Only people would have a bit more help with enjoying their leisure time.
Of course the Drug Industry cannot stand alone… there is the minor problem of what they call ‘laundering’ all of the cash money, as the modern Western Banking Establishments require explanations on where money comes from. But here enters in the Gaming or Gambling Industries which allow any careful player to almost break even. One can take any amount of ill-gotten moneys into a Casino, cash it in for chips, and while losing a reasonable percentage, soon cash out with perfectly clean and legitimate ‘winnings’. Yes, one needs to pay cash on these winnings, but that is in part what makes them legitimate. And this is to say that the Governments who tax these Casinos are in fact part of the money making chain of the illicit Drug Industry.
Additionally, there is simply so much cash involved in the illicit drug trade, and then in the gambling industry, which is impossible really to regulate properly since they sell no traceable product, having no inventory to account for, so that they can declare whatever profits or losses they wish to declare, and who could ever know the difference. Essentially this creates a great deal of free and unaccountable money.
Now, let us ask ourselves why nearly every single Politician in the Western World, liberal or conservative, Right or Left, is totally enthusiastic toward maintaining this War against Drugs. Well, it must be obvious. A great deal of this unaccounted for money must be going into their political coffers.
And then there is Law Enforcement itself. You see, Law Enforcement does not even pretend to claim that they have stopped the import and sale of illicit drugs in their jurisdiction. You see, in effect, when a product is outlawed and made to be a contraband item, then it automatically creates a Black Market in which the Police become the Gate Keepers – the unofficial licensers of the commerce. Indeed, this effect is tacitly acknowledged in many developing nations and communities where the local police are paid only token wages and salaries, while they are expected to make their real livings by controlling those areas of commerce that had been outlawed specifically in order to generate revenues for the police departments. So it is that in countries that culturally condone gambling, prostitution, drugs and alcohol, that these commodities are made illegal anyway, as it subsidizes their police forces. Indeed, in Mexico many of the police have no compunction about driving around openly in stolen vehicles. In their frame of Cultural Reference, to be a policeman simply makes one a King of Crime. And so we hardly need to wonder that nobody tries nearly so hard to make an honest living.
Then we may consider Public Policy. In most of the Western World, even in the developed nations, we have economies regulated by the Banking Interests so that there is a real level of unemployment that resides at about 10 to 12% (yes the ‘rate’ of unemployment is lower, but that ‘rate’ of unemployment considers only how many people lose their jobs over a certain period, but then little effort goes toward calculating what percentage of the population then remains chronically without work). Now, when more than 10% of the people have no income, exactly how do the politicians suppose that these jobless individuals can keep buying food, paying rent, etc? Well, it simply must be assumed that there is some sort of an underground economy that is covering for this high level of unemployment. So it is that in America’s Inner Cities, where unemployment levels approach 40% that the illicit Drug Commerce, Prostitution, Auto Theft are frankly encouraged. Yes, arrests are made occasionally, but the prison terms are made intentionally short and bearable, and indeed serve as schools of crime where all of the criminals involved can compare notes and form their business connections. Think of the Ocean’s Eleven movies, but on a Macro-Cosmic scale.
Then there is the Vested Self-Interest of the Prison Industry itself. In America there are more Prison Guards – correctional officers they call themselves – than there are Teachers and Doctors put together. Indeed, the reason why America has such crappy standards in both Education and in Medical Coverage is because so many resources are tied up in their Prisons. More than 20% of America’s population live behind bars. Oh, we may also think of the costs of prison construction. Then there are the Criminal Lawyers. America has more lawyers than engineers, mostly because they need hundreds of thousands of lawyers to prosecute Drug Offenders, and then hundreds of thousands of additional lawyers to defend these same people. For every criminal there are two lawyers, or actually three, since there must also be a Judge, who could actually do all of the work himself, but sits on his hands while the other two take up time and money squabbling for effect. Indeed, it would create a crisis in employment for these otherwise useless ‘Suits’ if drugs were ever legalized. Unemployed Lawyers and Prison Guards would swamp our towns and cities. But it would allow Society to reallocate these resources. Those of the Right Wing could go off and die for their Country in thinly veiled Petroleum Wars, and those of a liberal bent could become health care providers, engineers and teachers. Yes, there would have to be a period of adjustment while they grew accustomed to not being quite so useless.
It should now be perfectly clear that there are so many vested interests involved in maintaining the War Against Drugs, that it should be considered almost as the Foundation for our Modern Democratic States – the proceeds funding the Political Establishment, subsidizing Unemployment, Law Enforcement, the Legal Industry… indeed, the free money finds itself almost everywhere. Thus it is that there is not a single political voice advocating the legalization of Drugs.
But let us consider the legalization of drugs simply in theory. First, legalization should go beyond simply allowing for the legalization of the present list of contraband products. As pleasant as the existing range of drugs are, if the Pharmaceutical Giants – the Large Drug Companies – were permitted to apply themselves to the Recreational Drug Market, then we could anticipate a far better range of products – drugs without all of the stupid and unhealthy side-effects of the accidental biologically based drugs that we see now. Indeed, now the Pharmaceutical Companies have their hands tied. One suspects a certain Puritanical bias in the Drug Regulators. For instance, it must be remarkable that none of the Drugs now being designed to deal with Depression do anything to make anybody happy, that is euphoric. One would think that being a little bit ‘high’ would be the perfect answer to depression. Indeed, on the street there are a great many simple drugs that can induce harmless but happy states of euphoria. But the Drug Regulators absolutely forbid any drug that can be described as ‘pleasing’. And so it is that all of the drugs now being sold for depression are actually more likely to induce states of lethargy or stupor. Indeed, they are depressing in and of themselves, and so it is that the Puritans of State permit them.
This Puritanical Bent in Western Societies is curious in that it is relatively recent phenomena. One only needs to go back in history just a few centuries to see that Great Britain and Europe had gone to war against China for not permitting the trade in Drugs – the Opium Wars were conducted in order to protect Europe’s legal trade in Drugs. Apparently, since then, certain interested parties figured out that the industry would be more attractive if it were made illicit… effectively turned into a Police State Monopoly, which is really what contraband black markets are anyway.
Anyway, though the Vested Interests of Corruption would take a big hit, for Society in general there could be many advantages to Drug Legalization. We should consider first legalizing Drugs – all of the stupid drugs we have now, simply in order to shut down the Cartels. But subsequently we should then allow the Pharmaceutical Companies to create and sell any number of concoctions just so long as they are not absolutely poisonous. The benefit here would be that the legitimate money involved in the Legal Pharmaceutical Trade in Recreational Drugs would be taxable and so would add to the resources of the legitimate economies and social infrastructures. Of course, the Bankers would have to rearrange their policies concerning what they believe to be acceptable levels for Unemployment, because we need to realize that the Illegal Drug Industry is in fact one of the World’s largest Employers.
Then we should consider that without their hands tied that these Giants of the Pharmaceutical Industry would eventually be able to conjure up some pretty interesting pills… again with simple market forces almost guaranteeing that annoying side-effects would be kept to a minimum. So the work-a-day world of keen sober efficiency would not be too adversely effected – people would still want to keep their jobs and be sober enough to do them (as they do now with the wide availability of illicit drugs). Only people would have a bit more help with enjoying their leisure time.
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