The Rotten Core

[Malachi151]

http://www.rationalrevolution.net/rotten_core.htm

America faces one of its most serious challenges in history right now. This challenge comes not from without, but from within. Every generation, probably in every culture, hears the cry that the culture is facing problems, and we hear that cry in America today as well, however the problem in America is not the object of these cries, but instead the problem lies with those who are making the charges.

Every civilization at some time faces the issue of rot, and the nature of that rot and how it is dealt with determines how well that civilization is able to survive.

In America today that rot is taking place in the core and it is going largely untreated.

The problem in America is not coming from radicals or the fringe, but rather the lack of these groups is evidence of the full extent of the rot itself at the core.

When the Enron scandal first broke back in 2001 I was listening to an interview with an economic pundit on the news. The question was posed to him as to whether the corporate scandals were an example of a few bad apples, or a rotten tree. The response given was that this was just an example of a few bad apples and that the tree was solid and fine. At that time I felt immediately that he was wrong, and I took myself to task to research just how deep the problems really were. Over the past two years of analysis and introspection my worst fears about the depth of American problems have been confirmed 10 fold.

Since I began my look deeper into the American core we have faced the largest terrorist attack on American soil and waged war in two countries, Afghanistan and Iraq.

No, the problem is not just a few bad apples, its the tree trunk, and possibly even the roots. The rot in America is at the core of the most cherished institutions. The rot is that what the majority of the American public values as good is in fact the very source of our problems. The rot is the way in which Americans hide behind superficiality, religion, and patriotism to protect themselves from reality and interaction with a world that does not match their "beliefs". The rot in America is that the quick and easy answer, whether true or not, is the only one that matters. The rot is evidenced by the fact that we live in a nation that has enough private wealth to fundamentally and deeply change the world for the better, yet we rationalize why people shouldn't spend their money on anything but themselves, and people would rather waste money on trinkets and lavish home furnishings then figure out how to actually help the world. We have convinced ourselves that consumerism is helping the world, and that if it isn't, then its our "right" not to help anyway. This rotting core is sold to us every day here in America and the reality is the vast majority of people are buying, not only are they buying, but they can't get enough and are demanding more!

I see the problem evidenced every day here in America in the bumper stickers common on vehicles. It is impossible to drive through any town or city I have been to (and I have traveled a lot recently) without seeing numerous cars with large American flags on the doors and flags that stick up out the top of the windows, like flags that one would use in a parade. Bush/Cheney bumper stickers are still everywhere. It seems about one in five cars has at least one Jesus fish on it. There are a variety of American flag bumper stickers, which say things like: “Fear This!”, “These Colors Don’t Run”, “God Bless America”, “Pray for Our Troops”, and “United We Stand”. Last night I saw a bumper sticker for the “Prayer Shield Program” on the back of a car along with a sticker that said “Go JEB!” and “God is my pilot”.

Now, the use of such stickers is one thing, but the telling aspect is the predominance of these and almost total lack of any opposing views. To me this is evidence of blind and religious patriotism, and all you have to do is drive through any American town to see it.

I remember shortly after the war in Iraq started, I was in Arkansas at the time, and on the road one day I saw a H2 Hummer, GM’s new fuel guzzling $50,000 military wannabe SUV, with a giant American flag mounted to the trailer hitch on a flag pole that came up higher than the top of the truck driving through town. The symbolism could not be any more clear to me.

I went to a Wal-Mart a few weeks later and noticed that the entire store on the inside was covered in American flags, on the ceiling, hanging from the walls, on the ends of isles. Not flags for sale, just flags as part of the decoration, literally there were over 100 flags on display in the store, large flags. I looked down one isle and there were about 15 flags mounted to the wall on flagpoles hanging out at an angle. The store was packed solid with hundreds of people as well with shopping carts full to the top, it was a busy day, and patriotic music was playing over the store speaker system. Again I was struck by the symbolism, though I was probably the only one in the store who was.

I was in yet another Wal-Mart shortly thereafter, a different one, and they announced that a semi-famous gospel singer that was popular in the 1960s was going to be coming to the store later that day to sing patriotic songs and sign autographs.

The examples of mergers between Church, State, and Corporation in America are even more pervasive than that. GM now has a gospel music campaign that is touring America, it seems like about half the ads on TV have patriotic symbolism in them, and of course an American car dealership would not be a car dealership without more flags than a military homecoming parade.

I remember one thing that did strike me when the war in Iraq first started. The message changed at the last minute to one of liberation, and because of this I actually thought that I might just see the use of both the American and Iraq flags together. I thought that I might see some cars driving down the road with an American flag on one side and an Iraqi flag on the other, or that at the very least I would see an example of crossed American and Iraqi flags in the media, or that at one of Bush’s press conferences I would see both American and Iraq flags together behind him…

Well guess what, I never witnessed such thing. In the entire time since the start of “Operation Iraqi Freedom” I have yet to see one single example of the use of both American and Iraqi flags together. To me this says a lot.

It speaks to the reality of the war in Iraq. I have studied enough wars of liberation to know that when a society truly believes in the liberation of a country, of a friend and partner in life, that they celebrate not just by just trumpeting their own flag, but they embrace the flag of their friends as well. I have seen no example of such activity in America.

The rot that is facing America is institutional and fundamental. This war in Iraq was billed as a war of liberation about a week before it started, and the fact that it is such a war is debatable, but deep down we all know this was a war of fear, hate, blind revenge, and patriotism.

The American public backed the war in Iraq out of fear, hate, blind revenge, and patriotism, and after Saddam’s statue fell we then gave ourselves a pat on the back and called it liberation. Liberation it may well be, and I hope that it is, but the reality of what this war is or is not is beside the point in terms of how it reflects on American society and we all know it.

When evidence of profiteering in the war and insider deals are exposed in the media instead of questioning these issues many Americans have already begun the apologetics for such actions. Americans are already rationalizing exploitation of the Iraqis. Whether or not the exploitation actually occurs is again irrelevant in terms of how the rationalization of exploitation reflects on the American public. “The Iraqi’s should be thankful to us, so if we do a few things in our favor, well, they owe us anyway.” “Of course the administration is trying to make it so that American companies get all the rebuilding contracts, we paid for the war, our companies should get the work.” “America needs the rights to Iraqi oil to pay for the cost of the war; for helping them get rid of Saddam.”

There are two kinds of rot that take place in a civilization, the kind that everyone is aware of, and the kind that everyone takes part in. The kind we have here is the latter. The kind they had in Iraq was the former.

The biggest example of the former in recent history was that of the Soviet Union. The world shook when that nation fell and we all stood up to take notice. It fell because the people of Russia knew there was a problem and they became part of the solution. When that system fell it fell practically overnight and it fell in on itself and the ruin was mostly contained within it’s own boarders. If America falls it will take a much different path. If America falls it will be like the fall of Germany.

We have an election coming soon in America, about one year away. That election will be the defining moment of half a century. That election will tell us if America is going to stand or fall. If Bush is not reelected then America has a great change of surviving, reflecting, and progressing. If Bush is reelected then the message is grim. Whether Bush wins because none of the other candidates are worthy of the office of president, or because the people by a majority like Bush, the message is the same either way. Either we as a nation approve of the obviously treacherous actions and attitude of the Bush administration, or we are a nation that can’t produce a decent political leader. Either way the point is one and the same, the country is falling, but not in the relatively benign way of the fall of the Soviet Union, its falling down a much more violent and dangerous path of self denial, blind patriotism, delusion, fear, self censorship, and apathy.

If this happens, the United States is no small Germany rising out of the rubble of war and depression, but instead the United States is a towering super power with a firm command of all of the most awesome resources in existence on earth today. The only thing that keeps these resources in check is the will of the people.

In They Thought They Were Free Jewish journalist Milton Mayer writes:

“Now I see a little better how Nazism overcame Germany ~ It was what most Germans wanted -- or, under pressure of combined reality and illusion, came to want. They wanted it; they got it; and they liked it. I came back home a little afraid for my country, afraid of what it might want, and get, and like, under pressure of combined reality and illusions. I felt -- and feel -- that it was not German Man that I had met, but Man. He happened to be in Germany under certain conditions. He might be here, under certain conditions. He might, under certain conditions, be I.”

[corplinx]

way to spam the forum with a huge copy and paste from your blog yet again

[Suddenly]

Cool! Is this show and tell? Here's a trip report from my trip to Atlantic City last year that I posted to rec.gambling.poker. Enjoy!

"I'm a reasonable man, so I know this isn't snow"

I leave my office in Fayetteville, West Virginia about 3:45 P.M. this past Thursday. It is 65 degrees, sunny, and no wind. The plan is to drive to my parents' house in northern W.Va. for dinner and then drive to AC Friday morning to play poker for 2 days before driving back on Sunday. (Turns out I am innocently running smack into ATLARGE)

One hour later, the sun is gone. Rain starts to fall. The wind picks up. Over the next hour the rain starts looking a bit light and fluffy for standard H2O. I'm reminded of an old Doonesbury strip where Uncle Duke is standing on a tropical beach and it appears to be snowing. This is where I got the title for this section. Anyway, I start to reason that this must be some freak mountain thing, and that it is still warm so the snow will not stick to the road. About this time I notice my radio antennae has 1 inch of
ice on it and that my windshield wipers have frozen solid. I stop at the next exit, and have to force my car door open. It got so cold so fast that the rain on my car froze into a shell. Not a good omen.

"Severe Tire Damage"

Without further incident, I'm checked into the Comfort Inn on Rt. 30 and at the Taj by 5:00 PM on Friday. I like the Trop better, but I've had good success at the Taj 5-10 in the past with the intention of either running $200 of the $500 I brought up to where I can sit 10-20 or higher, or being out $200. I sit at a
5-10 HE table and see familiar faces. Not the best table to be at but I figure what the heck, I could use some experience against tougher players. I figure that from my past trips I have an idea of how they play, but since I play here maybe once every two months, I'm not around enough or memorable enough that they have any idea of how I play. Besides poker for me is more about the challenge than the money. I started my current bankroll with a $20 bill in a home game 3 years ago and through home games, occasional trips to AC and Indiana, and paradise .50/1.00 I've run that up to around 2k. I have the financial resources to bankroll myself and start out at the higher limits, but somewhere along the
line I decided to try to learn the game and build a decent bankroll out of that first $20.

I sit in the 4 seat, and shortly thereafter I find 2 red aces. I raise and get 3-bet by the 8 seat. I cap and we see the flop 3 handed with the 6 seat along for the ride. Flop is Q93 two diamonds. I bet out, 6 seat raises and 8 seat 3-bets. I remember this guy and know he likes to try to run people over. I cap it, the 6 seat drops, and the 8 seat tries to make it 5bets, but the dealer stops him. I know he would bet this way with aces, kings, or queens at this point, and a very slight possibility of a flush draw + top pair. Turn is the Jd, giving me the nut flush draw. I check and call, river is a 3c, I check and call and get shown QQ.

The only other hand of note at the taj was JJ in the small blind. 2
callers to me, I raise, and we see the flop 3 handed. Flop is 349 with 2 spades. I bet out, the 8 seat calls, and the 10 seat drops. Turn is the 7s. I check, 8 seat bets and I checkraise. He stops, looks at his cards and calls. I figure he has the small flush and check the river, he checks and
shows me JTs.

At this point I've played for 1 hour and am down $200. I've had aces three times, Kings once, and have won no pots. I did, however chop a pot when my 2 red aces were matched by two black aces. No big deal, I play kind of aggressive and ran into some big hands, which happens occasionally. However,
I only have $500 with me to play this trip, so it is time to move down in limits. 2-4 at the Taj is depressing, so I set off for the Trop. I go to my car, and as I'm driving out of the garage all of a sudden I see VERY LARGE METAL SPIKES in my path. I also see the words "Severe Tire Damage" out of the side of my vision, so I jam on the brakes, making a mess of my car's contents. I then figure out that I'll be fine as long as I don't back up over the spikes, and gingerly drive forward. As I drive to the Trop I can't
help but be somewhat alarmed by the spikes, and even now I can't justify their existence, as there has to be a less violently dramatic way to keep people from sneaking into the garage through the exits. I guess maybe the Taj is just evil.

"And I still have the darned quarter"

So I get to the Trop and get into a 2-4 game. Early on I get 33 in the cutoff, 3 callers to me and I call. Button raises, I call and we are now 4 handed. I catch a 3 on the flop and win a decent pot when the Button turns out to have KK. First game breaks up. I then get into the 2-4 game near the podium. Every hand has averages 6 callers, with 3 going to the river, not much pre-flop raising, typical 2-4 stuff. On my second big blind, I get a
free play with 73o. Flop is AAJ, all check, turn is a 3, all check, river is a 7, and I check hoping to induce a bluff. No bet, my 3 pair takes down the $9 pot. At this point I have approx $130 in front of me, and $200 in my pocket.

Then, the innocent 2-4 game turns into the kind of game had it taken place on line it would have resulted in several "{Site Name Here} is rigged" type posts. Wild, flushes over str8s, boats over flushes, etc. I'm looking for good multiway starters, pairs, suited connectors, suited aces depending on position, and so on. I'm seeing J4o, tossing it, and watching absolute river carnage. All is fine and good, even as I flop a nut str8 with 89s in a 8 handed raised pot and get whacked by runner - runner spades and lose to K8s. I'm having fun. As far as I see it if you complain about this sort of thing you need to either stop playing 2-4 or go play golf and get really aggravated. I just love the comments and LLHE logic tossed around the table during these kinds of games. About 2hrs in I have won no pots, and I'm down to $40, so I rebuy for $100. At this point the player on my left leaves and
Hakt0ne sits down. I continue to bleed chips. Draws miss, some hit on the turn and get killed on the river. More people with nametags are sitting down. Still haven't won a pot.

Aha, I get TT in the big blind. Six callers to me, and I raise and flop is seven handed: T73 rainbow. I bet, 4 callers. Turn is a 9. I bet, get raised and everyone else folds. I re-raise forgetting that this isn't 10-20 or 5-10 or even paradise .50/1.00. The raiser looks at me with a confused and worried look. He had been giving a lot of poker advice to us helpless fish and had physically threatened one player after he thought he got slow-rolled. This is when I now KNOW he has 68. He calls. River doesn't pair the board and I check. He checks and I ask if he has the small end. He says yes with a worried look and I muck. He then snaps into "I knew that fool only had trips and I was going to reraise on the turn but I wanted to see if he'd fill up and then I wanted to checkraise blah blah blah blah...." I mean, why buy books to learn to play when you can come to the Trop and learn
to give free cards to make sure you lose less in case some one fills up to beat the gutshot you hit on the turn.

No pots won yet, down to 6 lonely white chips on the table. I post the big blind and get a free play with 3-4. Flop is 34K. WoooHOooooO!! I bet, and Hak raises me. Whoops. I call, just us in the pot and he shows 44. Hey, I can still nail running threes to win or Kings to chop. Needless to say, I'm soon rebuying with my last $111 of trip money with the stated goal of winning one pot. All I want. Either I go broke for the trip and get a quick start home in the AM or win a pot. It's all one poker game, right? Anyway, when I'm down to about $75, Hak tells me about an Italian good luck charm, he slips a quarter under my chips and says that if I add that quarter to the toke when I "win my next pot" my luck will turn around. Soon, I'm down to my last 5 chips. I have 78s on the button four callers to me, I call, flop
is six handed and comes 88J. A guy whose name (I think) is Carlos bets out, I raise all in and we are heads up. Turn is a 2 and the river is, well not a 8 or 7, which I need because Carlos has 22.

7.5 total hours of 2-4, down $287, won 2 pots, really didn't take any seriously ludicrous beats, just lost to a lot of flushes, houses, two quads, and the occasional 2-outer. I don't recall ever laying down a winner, and I laid down many hands. I had KK 4 times, all with flopped aces (one came on the turn - thankfully the guy to my right called when his Axo flopped bottom pair) and laid them all down amid multiway post flop action. I think my favorite was when an eight of spades on the river made one player
a set of 8's and another a flush, both beating my two pair. What I would consider weak play online seems to be a good idea in this kind of game, just read the players and fold when they have a better hand. Begins to get a little weird when it happens every time you are in a pot.

"The final analysis, or Random thoughts from the 567 hour drive back to God's Country"

1) Although I lost, I had a very good time and felt good about the fact that I didn't go on tilt. I stuck to my starting hand standards, I didn't let my dry spell cause me to play weak in that I still bet my draws for value, made very few mistakes in reading my opponents (not real tough at 2-4), and didn't do a lot of whining outside of some gallows type humor and goofy comments. It was a bad run and I really didn't care except it seemed statistically anomalous, like making a hole in one in golf or bowling a
perfect game. Funny thing was, other players were complaining to me about their luck. In a way, I guess as long as I am blessed with the ability to not worry so much about a 70+ BB loss in a 2-4 game I am lucky to some degree. Now if something like this run happened to me on the golf course, I'd probably have a stroke. Go Figure.

2) I had more fun losing at the Trop than I usually do when I win at the Taj. This does not auger well for my future presence at the Taj.

3) 2-4 seems to hold unique challenges. I play mostly .50/1.00 on paradise, which I thought was low limit poker, but I have semi-bluffed reraised with 22 on a paired flop on paradise, in certain situations, and with much success. If you semi-bluff re-raise in a typical 2-4 game, well, good luck with that one. Now, re-raising for value with a nut flush draw and 6 other players, that can happen. What is really humorous is the people who take
this game seriously, pose as experts, that get upset with other players, give lessons, etc. when the edges are so small and the variance so high that short term results are meaningless. Heck, I figured I played very well and didn't win a pot for over 5 hours.

4) While driving through Virginia, I went over the Shenandoah river and through the Blue Ridge Mountains, which John Denver sang about in his ode to West Virginia, "Country Roads". However, the Blue Ridge Mountains are not in West Virginia and the Shenandoah river cuts across a corner of the state for like 10 miles and is roughly as historically and culturally significant to W.Va. as is Derek Jeter. This is why this state is a joke - because people here love the song, play it at WVU football games, etc. I
mean, if Sinatra sang about the Sears Tower and Michael Jordan in his song about New York, I doubt it would be liked much by New Yorkers. Its like we are so pathetic that just to be noticed is enough. Just a rant. It was a long drive.

5) I'm always cracked up by the fact that just into wva at the White Sulfur Springs exit on I-64, the little blue sign for "lodging" has two choices: "The Budget Inn", and "The Greenbrier". Like I said, long drive.

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by Suddenly
Cool! Is this show and tell? Here's a trip report from my trip to Atlantic City last year that I posted to rec.gambling.poker. Enjoy!

"I'm a reasonable man, so I know this isn't snow"



Doonesbury! Duke is in charge of Samoa, and after a volcano, a storm, and various other natural disasters...

Edit to add: Oh, so you said...

[Chaos]

People, you´re being unfair.

Malachi has posted something that makes a lot of sense, for a change. In fact, for the first time, I completely agree with him.

If you don´t want to see the signs, that´s fine by me; Germans in the early 1930´s didn´t want to see them, either, and they got what they deserved for it. Enjoy the fall; once you hit the bottom, it won´t be that pleasant anymore.

[Malachi151]

What difference does it make if I wrote this and posted it on my site first, or I just wrote it as a post origionally? It's my political opinion.

[corplinx]

Originally posted by Chaos
People, you´re being unfair.


Unfair about what? Yet another anti-big-corporation compare-bush-to-hitler diatribe that could have been written by a high schooler in homeroom? This kinda of stuff is a dime a dozen.

This is a message board, not a place people come to read sermons. At least keep it short and sweet.

[Chaos]

Originally posted by corplinx


Unfair about what? Yet another anti-big-corporation compare-bush-to-hitler diatribe that could have been written by a high schooler in homeroom? This kinda of stuff is a dime a dozen.

This is a message board, not a place people come to read sermons. At least keep it short and sweet.

Short and sweet? Like your "I don´t want to think. I don´t want to change. I prefer to do whatever I want"? Then I prefer long and correct.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by Chaos
People, you´re being unfair.

Malachi has posted something that makes a lot of sense, for a change. In fact, for the first time, I completely agree with him.


I'm glad you have the time to read all of Malachi's posts, sifting the good from the bad. Or perhaps you think it's all good, even when you disagree. I have not found it to be so.

He ran out of 'free chances' from me quite a few posts back.

MattJ

[Mike B.]

Originally posted by Suddenly
Cool! Is this show and tell? Here's a trip report from my trip to Atlantic City last year that I posted to rec.gambling.poker. Enjoy!


ROTFL
:roll: :roll: :roll:

[Mike B.]

Originally posted by Chaos


If you don´t want to see the signs, that´s fine by me; Germans in the early 1930´s didn´t want to see them, either, and they got what they deserved for it. Enjoy the fall; once you hit the bottom, it won´t be that pleasant anymore.

THE SKY IS FALLING!!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!!
;) ;) ;)

[Suddenly]

Originally posted by Chaos


Short and sweet? Like your "I don´t want to think. I don´t want to change. I prefer to do whatever I want"? Then I prefer long and correct.

How about long and pointless?

The central irony of the above long winded political diatribe is the section where great relevance is found in the frequency and composition of bumper stickers. No real reason is given for why patriotism is so bad per se, just implied that there is a heck of a lot of it because the author sees so many bumper stickers.

This is pretty silly reasoning IMO, but then I thought a bit more.

This whole article is like one big bumper sticker. Nowhere does it give substance to support it's claims. It just says the same stuff over and over with spurious claims. Patriotism is widespread because of bumper stickers. The war was an imperial war of agression because the author saw no Iraqi flags (which somehow completely ignores the WMD's/terrorism argument which is now proving in hindsight spurrious, but I guess interferes with the author's neat little false dichotomy).

Then out of nowhere the author says America is like Nazi Germany because Americans are stupid because they don't realize that being patriotic is stupid. Car dealerships using flags is contended significant, even though that sort of thing has been going on for decades.

[Suddenly]

Originally posted by Chaos
People, you´re being unfair.

Malachi has posted something that makes a lot of sense, for a change. In fact, for the first time, I completely agree with him.

Therein lies the problem. Unless you already agree with him, it doesn't make sense. It has no persuasive value as it is just preaching to the choir.

If you don´t want to see the signs, that´s fine by me; Germans in the early 1930´s didn´t want to see them, either, and they got what they deserved for it. Enjoy the fall; once you hit the bottom, it won´t be that pleasant anymore.

Yep. Use Nazi Germany without concrete parallels. That would be the first argument I'd use if I wanted to convince people without having evidence to back up my claim: "You better agree with me or you are like the Nazis." Real effective when arguing with people who do not think critically.

[Chaos]

Re: Patriotism

IMHO there are two kinds of patriotism:

- loving your country because it is good, it has made great achievements, you´re free there and can live your live (with some limitations) as you want to live it.

- believing anything is good as long as your country does it or as long as is it is done for your country.

I call the first version "meaningful patriotism", and the second version "empty patriotism", because I think it is only a hollow shell of the first.

I do not deny that American patriotism started out as meaningful patriotism, and that America gave lots of reasons for that.
Any politician who has far-reaching political plans uses patriotism to make the population support these plans; to use a less infamous example from European history, Bismarck did this a lot. Most politicians try to evoke empty patriotism.

By now, most Americans have turned to empty patriotism. THAT is what Malachi´s article speaks out against. The bumper stickers, the omnipresence of the U.S. flag and the absence of Iraqi flags are some of these many little hints from which a careful, meaningfully patriotic observer can deduce the rise of empty patriotism.

Let me repeat it: there is nothing wrong with meaningful patriotism. Neither I nor Malachi claim this. We´d just want you to be careful about it turning into empty patriotism - which may or may not be exploited to whatever end.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by Chaos
Re: Patriotism

IMHO there are two kinds of patriotism:

- loving your country because it is good, it has made great achievements, you´re free there and can live your live (with some limitations) as you want to live it.

- believing anything is good as long as your country does it or as long as is it is done for your country.

I call the first version "meaningful patriotism", and the second version "empty patriotism", because I think it is only a hollow shell of the first.


Why make up terminology?

Patriotism: love for or devotion to one's country

Nationalism: loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially : a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups

Are these two words good enough for you? It seems to me that anything you might call 'empty patriotism' can be lumped in with nationalism, can't it?

You may want to check with Malachi before claiming that he sees nothing wrong with standard patriotism. Does he even approve of the concept of a nation-state? (Perhaps he'll let us know.)

He says:

Still though, I think that patriotism is understandable for WWII memorials, etc. (well, not really, but for the sake of argument anyway)

old post of his (http://host.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&postid=1869925339&highlight=patriotism#post1869925339)

MattJ

[Chaos]

Originally posted by aerocontrols


Why make up terminology?

Patriotism: love for or devotion to one's country

Nationalism: loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially : a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups

Are these two words good enough for you? It seems to me that anything you might call 'empty patriotism' can be lumped in with nationalism, can't it?


OK, you´re right. But I still think mine are the more graphic terms.


You may want to check with Malachi before claiming that he sees nothing wrong with standard patriotism. Does he even approve of the concept of a nation-state? (Perhaps he'll let us know.)

MattJ

Judging from the examples of patriotism (mostly really nationalism) he cites, I guess he is with me.
I´ve also felt he regrets that America is (in his opinion) heading the way it is - which would also be (standard) patriotism.

[Tricky]

Originally posted by Suddenly
Cool! Is this show and tell? Here's a trip report from my trip to Atlantic City last year that I posted to rec.gambling.poker. Enjoy!

Cool, Sudsy!
Here's day one from my vacation log of last summer. I have 17 more days if anyone is interested.
**************
Day 1: Snoring in Sonora
The day broke gray and sticky, but we were unperturbed. We knew we were heading to a land where rain was but a legend. We got on the road before 9:00 AM (amazing for my bed-loving belovéd) and took our familiar road west on I-10. Since this is the road to San Antonio, Austin and others of our favorite destinations, the road was not new to us. There was one new thing though. We stopped in Sealy (City motto: "It's not a speed trap, it's freeway-based revenue enhancement) at a place called Tony's Family Restaurant. It looked like your typical greasy spoon, but I was more than pleasantly surprised by the quality of both the food and the service. They started out with the legendary "good cup of coffee". It was better than good. It was the kind of coffee that gives coffee its reputation as the ambrosia of the AM. I had basic egg, bacon and grits, with the eggs over easy and stirred into the grits. Elaine looked on in revulsion. She only had biscuits (which she said were average) but agreed it was a place to return to.

Upon examining our timing, we realized that we had one of our shortest legs up front (don't go there). We decided to kill a little time by stopping by the River Walk in San Antonio. We both love the river walk, so there was no discussion at all about this. We parked the tour bus and walked down to the very touristy Paseo Del Rio to stroll and snack. I had in mind this place called the Kangaroo Court, which I remembered had great baked oysters. We stopped in, but we were disappointed that they had trimmed their oyster selection to only one, so we decided to look further. I'm glad we did. The next place we stopped turned out to be the highlight of this side-trip. It was called Cafe Olé, which sounds extremely corny. Well, it is very corny. While we were there snacking on our appetizers (breakfast was still digesting, so we were eating light), we heard the sounds of a mariachi band playing a few tables away. Well butter my ears and call me corny, 'cause I love that kind of stuff. The interesting thing about this band was that they were all female, and very talented too. In a few minutes they came by our table and asked Ms. Gooze and I if we wanted a song. Of course we did. "peppy or romantic," they asked. Well, I'm no idiot. "Romantic," I replied without even looking over at the missus who was most likely batting her eyelashes. They proceeded to play a lovely song about a man who falls in love with a maracas player, but their love is cruelly interrupted by the Cinco De Mayo parade during which she is mistaken for a pinata of Pancho Villa and battered to death by shrieking school children. Of course, that's just my interpretation. I don't speak Spanish. But one of the girls had some very nice maracas, so I inferred the rest. Still, it was indeed a lovely song and we snuggled and coo-ed exactly on cue.

We left San Antonio (barely escaping with our lives, because the roads are so poorly marked there) and started on Unexplored Territory. Soon, we saw sights we never see in Houston. Hills, rocks, GEOLOGY!!!! I was in heaven. Also, there is a city called "Welfare" just outside of SA. I had to laugh at the sign, "Welfare, one mile". I expected a line of bums. Welfare is just down the road from "Comfort". But it was wonderful to see geology again. We are on the western edge of the Rocky Mountains and the faint traces of orogeny (it means mountain building, you prevert!) were evident. The stacked layers of sediments were bent and tortured by the mountains' agony of birth. In one site there was a hoodoo-like column of softer rock with a cap of harder rock on the side of a road cut. The vegetation has become more scrubby and the most common type of tree now are small bushy things that dot the rocky hillside like an invasion of giant green tribbles. I know the sights are tame compared to the stuff we will be seeing soon, but I can't help but get excited.

We arrived in Sonora around 5:00 PM to find that the whole town had packed up and moved to the empty warehouse next door. No, not really, but Sonora is without a doubt one of the most boring towns in the universe. When we checked in at the Best Western (the luxury hotel of the town) we asked the lady at the desk if there was a movie theatre in town and she nearly collapsed with laughter. So we took a dip in the pool and had an exciting time shopping at the discount store across the street from the hotel. The fun never stops here. Oh, yes we did see the sights. We saw "The old town" (a creaky old jail with rotting walls and blacksmith shop with rusting tools. These sights were amazing because they were free. There wasn't even a person trying to sell us souvenirs. That alone made it worth the price. Later we went for dinner at the Sutton County Steak House, a nice enough place, but the cow that steak came from must have been raised on ice cream and cheese fries, because when I finished, there was a pile of fat on the plate that would have fed some third world countries for a week. Elaine, good girl that she is, had a salad. We retired to our plush surroundings at the Best-compared-to-everything-else Western for a relaxing snooze. Tomorrow, the Caverns of Sonora, which have been touted to me as the best caverns in Texas. If we find bats and mole crickets, it will have more life than the Town of Sonora.

[aerocontrols]

I'm confused by Suddenly and Tricky.

Didn't we have a problem several months ago where Jedi Knight and some of his adversaries were spamming each other's posts, in exactly the same fashion as you are doing to Malachi's post here? Wasn't that problem resolved by making a rule (or perhaps enforcement of an old rule) that such behavior was not allowed?

MattJ

[Tricky]

Originally posted by aerocontrols
I'm confused by Suddenly and Tricky.

Didn't we have a problem several months ago where Jedi Knight and some of his adversaries were spamming each other's posts, in exactly the same fashion as you are doing to Malachi's post here? Wasn't that problem resolved by making a rule (or perhaps enforcement of an old rule) that such behavior was not allowed?

MattJ
Sorry. I gathered from the initial post that the real topic was "incredibly long and boring stuff that we have written". Actually, mine's pretty funny.

[Suddenly]

Originally posted by Chaos
Re: Patriotism

IMHO there are two kinds of patriotism:

- loving your country because it is good, it has made great achievements, you´re free there and can live your live (with some limitations) as you want to live it.

- believing anything is good as long as your country does it or as long as is it is done for your country.

I call the first version "meaningful patriotism", and the second version "empty patriotism", because I think it is only a hollow shell of the first.

I do not deny that American patriotism started out as meaningful patriotism, and that America gave lots of reasons for that.
Any politician who has far-reaching political plans uses patriotism to make the population support these plans; to use a less infamous example from European history, Bismarck did this a lot. Most politicians try to evoke empty patriotism.

By now, most Americans have turned to empty patriotism. THAT is what Malachi´s article speaks out against. The bumper stickers, the omnipresence of the U.S. flag and the absence of Iraqi flags are some of these many little hints from which a careful, meaningfully patriotic observer can deduce the rise of empty patriotism.

Let me repeat it: there is nothing wrong with meaningful patriotism. Neither I nor Malachi claim this. We´d just want you to be careful about it turning into empty patriotism - which may or may not be exploited to whatever end.

Yes, things were much better in the past, a car only cost a nickel, but schools some how were always 10 miles from your house, and amazingly it was uphill both ways....

People have been laying this good patriotism/bad patriotism thing on people for years and decades. WWI being a good example of patriotism run wild and out of control. Vietnam was also similar. I'm sure there were jingoistic aspects to every other war. Not exactly new. I'm not saying this isn't a bad thing, I am saying that suggesting it is a new thing and this time it is going to lead to Naziville is a quantum leap, and an irresponsible assertion.

However, you and Malachi both are taking actions and extrapolating the intent and reasoning behind those actions. People are proud of America. Thus stores use flags and such in marketing. Bumper stickers and antennae flags appear. Strange that you and Malachi can devine from these communications the primary motivation of the communicator, when deep down inside I doubt even they know how they think. I have serious doubts you have had many discussions with the kinds of people that put "These Colors Don't Run" bumperstickers on their 4 wheel drive pickup trucks. I have, and they aren't as simple as portrayed. Lets face it, they are rednecks, but not many of them are stupid. They have their ideas w/r/t human rights and liberty, and just don't see the same threats that you do. Regarding the common American as some sort of bloodthirsty savage full of hate and bent on world domination is roughly as valid as calling the French "cheese eating surrender monkeys," which is to say, not valid at all. This whole article smacks of intellectual elitism, with the references to Wal-Mart and Hummers. Lets rip on the silly rednecks.

The whole point about Iraqi flags mystifies me. I think there is a serious disconnect with American culture there. Plus, a huge false dichotomy. The war as I recall was marketed more on the WMDs and terrorism angle than as liberation. Most people see the Iraqi government as an enemy seperate from the people. The flag can be seen to represent the government that is harboring WMDs.

That you and Malachi seem to interpret an act (omission) that is not only ambiguous in its message but also subject to cultural distortion (Americans are historically very particular about displaying the flag - the U.S. flag must be the highest one, etc.) as somehow profound seems to indicate a lack of critical analysis on this issue. That whole article is a bunch of innuendo and anecdotal points of the type I'd like to believe only comes from right wing nitwits like Coulter and O'Reilly, but I guess the left has its idealouges as well.

I'm not disputing conclusions, which is all the article seems to be, a conclusion.

[Suddenly]

Originally posted by Tricky

Sorry. I gathered from the initial post that the real topic was "incredibly long and boring stuff that we have written". Actually, mine's pretty funny.

You left out "hard to comprehend". Yours failed on that ground. The original had huge leaps of logic, while mine had pokerspeak. Yours is plain English, so it is disqualified and therefore spam. Plus, my trip took place over 18 months ago so it is technically now "history."


:p

[corplinx]

The reason Jedi got mad is because people spammed his posts because they didn't like him. I don't think anyone dislikes malachi and is posting to be a snert. I think we we are giving him the same response we would give Maureen Dowd if she posted a complete article of hers to the forum.

[Suddenly]

Originally posted by corplinx
The reason Jedi got mad is because people spammed his posts because they didn't like him. I don't think anyone dislikes malachi and is posting to be a snert. I think we we are giving him the same response we would give Maureen Dowd if she posted a complete article of hers to the forum.

(Nods head in agreement)

Malachi's cool. Evidenced from his total failure to fly off the handle at my somewhat immature response.

I was just responding laterally. Now if I did such a thing to all his posts ......




.... I'd run out of material. :)

[hammegk]

I like rants. How about this one?


No. 1

2. What I am about to set forth, then, is our system from the two points of view, that of ourselves and that of the OTHERS [].

6. Political freedom is an idea but not a fact. This idea one must know how to apply whenever it appears necessary with this bait of an idea to attract the masses of the people to one's party for the purpose of crushing another who is in authority. This task is rendered easier if the opponent has himself been infected with the idea of freedom, SO-CALLED LIBERALISM, and, for the sake of an idea, is willing to yield some of his power….

11. The political has nothing in common with the moral. The ruler who is governed by the moral is not a skilled politician, and is therefore unstable on his throne…Great national qualities, like frankness and honesty, are vices in politics, for they bring down rulers from their thrones more effectively and more certainly than the most powerful enemy. Such qualities must be the attributes of the kingdoms of the OTHERS, but we must in no wise be guided by them.

14. In any … who have lost their personality amid the flood of rights ever multiplying out of liberalism, I find a new right - to attack by the right of the strong, and to scatter to the winds all existing forces of order and regulation, to reconstruct all institutions and to become the sovereign lord of those who have
left to us the rights of their power by laying them down voluntarily in their liberalism.

17. Before us is a plan in which is laid down strategically the line from which we cannot deviate without running the risk of seeing the labor of many centuries brought to naught.

21…. Without an absolute despotism there can be no existence for civilization which is carried on not by the masses but by their guide, whosoever that person may be. …. The moment the mob seizes freedom in its hands it quickly turns to anarchy, which in itself is the highest degree of savagery.

22. Behold the alcoholic animals, bemused with drink, the right to an immoderate use of which comes along with freedom….. The peoples of the OTHERS are bemused with alcoholic liquors; their youth has grown stupid on classicism and from early immorality,



Want more?

[billydkid]

Originally posted by Chaos
People, you´re being unfair.

Malachi has posted something that makes a lot of sense, for a change. In fact, for the first time, I completely agree with him.

If you don´t want to see the signs, that´s fine by me; Germans in the early 1930´s didn´t want to see them, either, and they got what they deserved for it. Enjoy the fall; once you hit the bottom, it won´t be that pleasant anymore.

People like to enjoy the notion that the Germans were somehow unique and that that kind of thing just couldn't possibly happen here. Germany was a democracy. Hitler was democratically elected. It can happen anywhere. When I was younger I thought Barry Goldwater was a wacko. I now agree that "extremism in defense of liberty is no vice", bearing in mind that you can not justify destroying rights in order to protect them. Actually, I don't know if Barry was one of those anti-commie, stop the dominoes guys, but in terms of eternal vigilance (and by that I mean relative to our own government and not to the supposed threats of "dissidents" - the more open dissention, the more activists the better) I am with Barry.

[hammegk]

Oh. You want "more" to worry about & "discuss".

Here ya go.


Continuing
1.22.
........their youth has grown stupid on classicism and from early immorality, into which it has been inducted by our special agents - by tutors, lackeys, governesses in the houses of the wealthy, by clerks and others, by our women in the places of dissipation frequented by the OTHERS….

25… The would-be wise men of the OTHERS, the intellectuals, could not make anything out of the uttered words in their abstractedness; did not see that in nature there is no equality, cannot be freedom: that Nature herself has established inequality of minds, of characters, and capacities, just as immutably as she has established subordination to her laws …

26 … we have set up the aristocracy of our educated class headed by the aristocracy of money. The qualifications for this aristocracy we have established in wealth, which is dependent upon us, and in knowledge, for which our learned elders provide the motive force.

27… we have always worked upon the most sensitive chords of the human mind, upon the cash account, upon the cupidity, upon the insatiability for material needs of man; and each one of these human weaknesses, taken alone, is sufficient to paralyze initiative….


No. 2

2.. … The OTHERS are not guided by practical use of unprejudiced historical observation, but by theoretical routine without any critical regard for consequent results. … For them let that play the principal part which we have persuaded them to accept as the dictates of science (theory)….

3. Do not suppose for a moment that these statements are empty words: think carefully of the successes we arranged for Darwinism, Marxism, Nietzsche-ism. To us Ourselves, at any rate, it should be plain to see what a disintegrating importance these directives have had upon the minds of the OTHERS.

5. … The part played by the Press is to keep pointing our requirements supposed to be indispensable, to give voice to the complaints of the people, to express and to create discontent. It is in the Press that the triumph of freedom of speech finds its incarnation. But the OTHERS States have not known how to make use of this force; and it has fallen into our hands ….

No. 3

5. …. if talkers get the right to babble, if journalists get the right to scribble any nonsense side by side with good stuff, once the proletariat has no other profit out of the constitution save only those pitiful crumbs which we fling them from our table in return for their voting in favor of what we dictate, in favor of the men we place in power, …

7. We appear on the scene as alleged saviours of the worker from this oppression when we propose to him to enter the ranks of our fighting forces - Socialists, Anarchists, Communists …

10. … THE DIVISION OF MEN INTO CLASSES AND CONDITIONS. It is essential for all to know that OWING TO DIFFERENCE IN THE OBJECTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITY THERE CANNOT BE ANY EQUALITY, …

12. Remember the French Revolution… its preparations are well known to us for it was wholly the work of our hands.

16. At the present day we are, as an international force, invincible, because if attacked by some we are supported by other States.

No. 4

3. But even freedom might be harmless and have its place in the State economy without injury to the well-being of the peoples if it rested upon the foundation of faith in God, upon the brotherhood of humanity, unconnected with the conception of equality…. This is the reason why IT IS INDISPENSABLE FOR US TO UNDERMINE ALL FAITH, TO TEAR OUT OF THE MIND OF THE "OTHERS" THE VERY PRINCIPLE OF GOD-HEAD AND THE SPIRIT, AND TO PUT IN ITS PLACE ARITHMETICAL CALCULATIONS AND MATERIAL NEEDS.

4. In order to give the OTHERS no time to think and take note, their minds must be diverted towards industry and trade.

5. …Their only guide is gain, that is Gold, which they will erect into a veritable cult, for the sake of those material delights which it can give.

No. 5

6… The science of political economy invented by our learned elders has for long past been giving royal prestige to capital.

7. … Nowadays it is more important to disarm the peoples than to lead them into war: ..

10. IN ORDER TO PUT PUBLIC OPINION INTO OUR HANDS WE MUST BRING IT INTO A STATE OF BEWILDERMENT BY GIVING EXPRESSION FROM ALL SIDES TO SO MANY CONTRADICTORY OPINIONS AND FOR SUCH LENGTH OF TIME AS WILL SUFFICE TO MAKE THE "OTHERS" LOSE THEIR HEADS IN THE LABYRINTH …This is the first secret.

11. …THERE IS NOTHING MORE DANGEROUS THAN PERSONAL INITIATIVE: if it has genius behind it… We must so direct the education of the OTHERS communities that whenever they come upon a matter requiring initiative they may drop their hands in despairing impotence

No. 6

1. We shall soon begin to establish huge monopolies, reservoirs of colossal riches, upon which even, large fortunes of the OTHERS will depend to such an extent that they will go to the bottom together with the credit of the States on the day after the political smash ...

6…What we want is that industry should drain off from the land both labor and capital and by means of speculation transfer into our hands all the money of the world, and thereby throw all the OTHERS into the ranks of the proletariat

7. To complete the ruin of the industry of the OTHERS we shall bring to the assistance of speculation the luxury which we have developed among the OTHERS, that greedy demand for luxury which is swallowing up everything. …

No. 7

1. … What we have to get at is that there should be in all the States of the world, besides ourselves, only the masses of the proletariat, a few millionaires devoted to our interests, police and soldiers.

4. The principal factor of success in the political is the secrecy of its undertakings: the word should not agree with the deeds of the diplomat.

5. … THE PRESS, WHICH, WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS THAT MAY BE DISREGARDED, IS ALREADY ENTIRELY IN OUR HANDS.

No. 8

1. … resolutions should be set forth in expressions that shall seem to be the most exalted moral principles cast into legal form…. It will surround itself with publicists, practical jurists, administrators, diplomats and, finally, with persons prepared by a special super-educational training IN OUR SPECIAL SCHOOLS. These persons will have consonance of all the secrets of the social structure… political alphabets and words; they will be made acquainted with the whole underside of human nature, with all its sensitive chords on which they will have to play.

2. We shall surround our government with a whole world of economists. That is the reason why economic sciences form the principal subject of the teaching given to OURS. Around us again will be a whole constellation of bankers, industrialists, capitalists and - THE MAIN THING - MILLIONAIRES, BECAUSE IN SUBSTANCE EVERYTHING WILL BE SETTLED BY THE QUESTION OF FIGURES.

No. 9

2. The words of the liberal, which are in effect the words of our masonic watchword, namely, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," will, when we come into our kingdom, be changed …, namely, into "The right of liberty, the duty of equality, the ideal of brotherhood."

9. In order to annihilate the institutions of the OTHERS before it is time we have touched them with craft and delicacy, and have taken hold of the ends of the springs which move their mechanism. These springs lay in a strict but just sense of order; we have replaced them by the chaotic license of liberalism.

11. Above the existing laws without substantially altering them, and by merely twisting them into contradictions of interpretations, we have erected something grandiose in the way of results. These results found expression in the fact that the INTERPRETATIONS MASKED THE LAW.

12. This is the origin of the theory of course of arbitration.

13. You may say that the OTHERS will rise upon us, arms in hand, if they guess what is going on before the time comes; but in the West we have against this a manoeuvre of such appalling terror that the very stoutest hearts quail - the undergrounds, metropolitans, those subterranean corridors which, before the time comes, will be driven under all the capitals and from whence those capitals will be blown into the air with all their organizations and archives.

No. 10

4. WHEN WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED OUR COUP D'ETAT WE SHALL SAY THEN TO THE VARIOUS PEOPLES: "EVERYTHING HAS GONE TERRIBLY BADLY, ALL HAVE BEEN WORN OUT WITH SUFFERING. WE ARE DESTROYING THE CAUSES OF YOUR TORMENT - NATIONALITIES, FRONTIERS, DIFFERENCES OF COINAGES. …

5. TO SECURE THIS WE MUST HAVE EVERYBODY VOTE WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF CLASSES AND QUALIFICATIONS… The people will submit to this regime because it will know that upon these leaders will depend its earnings, gratifications and the receipt of all kinds of benefits.

10. Liberalism produced Constitutional States, …THEN IT WAS THAT THE ERA OF REPUBLICS BECOME POSSIBLE OF REALIZATION; AND THEN IT WAS THAT WE REPLACED THE RULER BY A CARICATURE OF A GOVERNMENT - BY A PRESIDENT, TAKEN FROM THE MOB….

No. 11

4. The OTHERS are a flock of sheep, and we are their wolves. And you know what happens when the wolves get hold of the flock? ....

5. There is another reason also why they will close their eyes: for we shall keep promising them to give back all the liberties we have taken away as soon as we have quelled the enemies of peace and tamed all parties ....

No. 12

1. The word "freedom," which can be interpreted in various ways, is defined by us as follows -

2. Freedom is the right to do what which the law allows….

3. …: what is the part played by the press to-day? It serves to excite and inflame those passions which are needed for our purpose or else it serves selfish ends of parties…

4. NOT A SINGLE ANNOUNCEMENT WILL REACH THE PUBLIC WITHOUT OUR CONTROL. Even …all news items are received by a few agencies, in whose offices they are focused from all parts of the world.

6. …. All the so-called liberals are anarchists, if not in fact, at any rate in thought. Every one of them in hunting after phantoms of freedom, and falling exclusively into license, that is, into the anarchy of protest for the sake of protest ....

8. Literature and journalism are two of the most important educative forces, and therefore our government will become proprietor of the majority of the journals.

12. All our newspapers will be of all possible complexions - aristocratic, republican, revolutionary, even anarchical - for so long, of course, as the constitution exists …

No. 13

1. .. the press will distract the current of thought towards, new questions, (have we not trained people always to be seeking something new?). ….

3. … In order that the masses themselves may not guess what they are about WE FURTHER DISTRACT THEM WITH AMUSEMENTS, GAMES, PASTIMES, PASSIONS, PEOPLE'S PALACES …: these interests will finally distract their minds from questions in which we should find ourselves compelled to oppose them

4. The part played by the liberals, utopian dreamers, will be finally played out when our government is acknowledged. …, till there is not among the OTHERS one mind able to perceive that under this word lies a departure from truth in all cases where it is not a question of material inventions

6. Who will ever suspect then that ALL THESE PEOPLES WERE STAGE-MANAGED BY US ACCORDING TO A POLITICAL PLAN WHICH NO ONE HAS SO MUCH AS GUESSED AT IN THE COURSE OF MANY CENTURIES?

No. 14

5. IN COUNTRIES KNOWN AS PROGRESSIVE AND ENLIGHTENED WE HAVE CREATED A SENSELESS, FILTHY, ABOMINABLE LITERATURE.

No. 15

1. When we at last definitely come into our kingdom by the aid of COUPS D'ETAT …. Every kind of new institution of anything like a secret society will also be punished with death; those of them which are now in existence, are known to us, serve us and have served us, we shall disband …

3. In THEIR societies, in which we have planted and deeply rooted discord and Protestantism…..

4. Meantime…, we shall act in the contrary way: we shall create and multiply free masonic lodges in all the countries of the world…. AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THESE LODGES WILL BE ALMOST ALL THE AGENTS OF INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL POLICE since their service is for us irreplaceable

5. The class of people who most willingly enter into secret societies are those who live by their wits, careerists, and in general people, mostly light-minded, with whom we shall have no difficulty in….

6. … they thirst for the emotion of success and applause, of which we are remarkably generous...... You cannot imagine to what extent the wisest of the OTHERS can be brought to a state of unconscious naivete in the presence of this condition of high conceit of themselves…

7. If we have been able to bring them to such a pitch of stupid blindness is it not a proof, and an amazingly clear proof, of the degree to which the mind of the OTHERS is undeveloped in comparison with our mind? This it is, mainly, which guarantees our success.

13. … OUR JUDGES WILL KNOW THAT WHENEVER THEY FEEL DISPOSED TO PLUME THEMSELVES ON FOOLISH CLEMENCY THEY ARE VIOLATING THE LAW OF JUSTICE.... Such qualities it is proper to show in private life, but not in a public square which is the educational basis of human life. (Is it not a coincidence that OUR created "Bar Associations" has declared that "May 1st" to be "Law Day;" the same date that the WE created the "xxxxxi" under the guidance of A.W. in 1776? Is it also a coincidence that the OUR created "Communist Nations" celebrate "May 1st" as a National holiday?).

No. 16

2. We shall exclude from the course of instruction State Law as also all that concerns the political question. …. THE UNIVERSITIES MUST NO LONGER SEND OUT FROM THEIR HALLS MILK SOPS CONCOCTING PLANS FOR A CONSTITUTION, LIKE A COMEDY OR A TRAGEDY ….,

5. Each state of life must be trained within strict limits corresponding to its destination and work in life. The OCCASIONAL GENIUS HAS ALWAYS MANAGED AND ALWAYS WILL MANAGE TO SLIP THROUGH INTO OTHER STATES OF LIFE, BUT IT IS THE MOST PERFECT FOLLY FOR THE SAKE OF THIS RARE OCCASIONAL GENIUS TO LET THROUGH INTO RANKS FOREIGN TO THEM THE UNTALENTED …

No. 17

1. The practice of advocacy produces men cold, cruel, persistent, unprincipled, who in all cases take up an impersonal, purely legal standpoint. ..

7. … In our programs ONE-THIRD OF OUR SUBJECTS WILL KEEP THE REST UNDER OBSERVATION from a sense of duty… to the State. It will then be no disgrace to be a spy and informer, but a merit: …

8. Our agents will be taken from the higher as well as the lower ranks of society, from among the administrative class who spend their time in amusements, editors, printers and publishers, booksellers, clerks, and salesmen, workmen, coachmen, lackeys, et cetera.

No. 18

2. As the majority of conspirators act of love for the game, for the sake of talking, so, until they commit some overt act we shall not lay a finger on them but only introduce into their midst observation elements …

3. Our ruler will be secretly protected only by the most insignificant guard, because we shall not admit so much as a thought that there could exist against him any sedition with which he is not strong enough to contend and is compelled to hide from it.

4. If we should admit this thought, as the OTHERS have done and are doing, we should IPSO FACTO be signing a death sentence, if not for our ruler, at any rate for his dynasty, at no distant date.

No. 19

3. In order to destroy the prestige of heroism for political crime we shall send it for trial in the category of thieving, murder, and every kind of abominable and filthy crime. …

4… through the Press and in speeches, indirectly - in cleverly compiled school- books on history, we have advertised the martyrdom alleged to have been accredited by sedition-mongers for the idea of the commonweal. This advertisement has increased the contingent of liberals and has brought thousands of OTHERS into the ranks of our livestock cattle.

No. 20

3. … taxation will best be covered by a progressive tax on property…

5. The tax upon the poor man is a seed of revolution and works to the detriment of the State which is hunting after the trifling …..

6. A tax increasing in a percentage ratio to capital will give much larger revenue than the present individual or property tax, which is useful to us now for the sole reason that it excites trouble and discontent among the OTHERS. (Now we know the purpose of the 16th Amendment!!).

7. … it is indispensable that the capitalists should yield up a portion of their incomes …. State needs must be paid by those who will not feel the burden and have enough to take from.

20…. loans burdened the finances of the State with the payment of interest and made them the bond slaves of these capitals .... The concentration of industry in the hands of capitalists out of the hands of small masters has drained away all the juices of the peoples and with them also the States .... (Now we know the purpose of the Federal Reserve Bank Corporation!!).

26. The budgets of income and expenditure will be carried out side by side that they may not be obscured by distance one to another.

29. .. Foreign loans are leeches which there is no possibility of removing from the body of the State until they fall off of themselves or the State flings them off. … THEIR States …. go on in persisting in putting more on to themselves so that they must inevitably perish…..

32. So long as loans were internal the OTHERS only shuffled their money from the pockets of the poor to those of the rich, but when we bought up the necessary person in order to transfer loans into the external sphere, all the wealth of States flowed into our cash- boxes and all the OTHERS began to pay us the tribute of subjects.

34. … The right to issue interest-bearing paper will be given exclusively to industrial companies who will find no difficulty in paying interest out of profits, whereas the State does not make interest on borrowed money like these companies, for the State borrows to spend and not to use in operations. (Now we know why President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 when he refused to borrow any more of the "Bank Notes" from the bankers of the Federal Reserve Bank and began circulating non-interest bearing "Notes" of the "United States of America"!!!).

37. But it is a proof of the genius of our chosen mind that we have contrived to present the matter of loans to them in such a light that they have even seen in them an advantage for themselves.

No. 21

3. States …open subscriptions for … their interest-bearing paper... Next day by artificial means the price of them goes up… - look you, they say, what confidence is shown in the government's bills of exchange.

4. But when the comedy is played out there emerges the fact that a debit and an exceedingly burdensome debit has been created. For the payment of interest it becomes necessary to have recourse to new loans, which do not swallow up but only add to the capital debt. And when this credit is exhausted it becomes necessary by new taxes to cover, not the loan, BUT ONLY THE INTEREST ON IT. These taxes are a debit employed to cover a debit .... (NOW WE KNOW OF THE PURPOSE OF THE ******** CRY FOR BALANCING THE BUDGET!!)

8. I beg you to concentrate your particular attention upon this point and upon the following: nowadays all internal loans are consolidated by so-called flying loans, that is, such as have terms of payment more or less near. These debts consist of moneys paid into the savings banks and reserve funds. If left for long at the disposition of a government these funds evaporate in the payment of interest on foreign loans, and are placed by the deposit of equivalent amount of RENTS.

No. 22

1 In all that has so far been reported by me to you…. the secret of what is coming, of what is past, and of what is going on now, rushing into the flood of the great events coming already in the near future, the secret of our relations to the OTHERS and of financial operations. …

3. Surely there is no need to seek further proof that our rule is predestined by God? … - the bringing of everything into order? … true freedom consists in the inviolability of the person who honorably and strictly observes all the laws of life in common, that human dignity is wrapped up in consciousness of the rights and also of the absence of rights of each, and not wholly and solely in fantastic imaginings about the subject of one's EGO.

No. 23

1. …We shall re-establish small master production which will mean laying a mine under the private capital of manufactures. … manufacturers on the grand scale often move, though not always consciously, the thoughts of the masses in directions against the government. A people of small masters knows nothing of unemployment and this binds him closely with existing order… Drunkenness also will be prohibited by law and punishable as a crime against humanness of man who is turned into a brute under the influence of alcohol.

2. Subjects, I repeat once more, give blind obedience only to the strong hand which is absolutely independent of them….

No. 24

14. The King must not be at the mercy of his passions, and especially of sensuality: on no side of his character must he give brute instincts power over his mind. Sensuality worse than all else disorganizes the capacities of the mind and clearness of views, distracting the thoughts to the worst and most brutal side of human activity.