The battle for freedom, Wendell Krossa (Note: The attacks on freedom are a bothsideism issue and problem, but obviously one side dominates more today, as noted below.)
Why do some among us incessantly try to meddle in other’s lives, to dominate and control others? Why do these people not understand that where there is no freedom- no individual self-determination as in Classic Liberalism- then there is no love. Freedom and love, that is to say “love” as the fundamental criterion of authentic humanity, are inseparable realities.
The latest commentary here continues to probe the totalitarian impulse, one of the worst of the “evil triad” of inherited animal impulses that has done incalculable damage in human relationships and societies across history (i.e. the destructive anti-humanism of the “elite/commoner” divide). Of particular interest here are the ideas that incite and validate this inhumane impulse, the archetypal themes that incite and validate this archetypal impulse.
“Archetypal” as in the deeply embedded impulses and validating themes of the human subconscious. The things that powerfully shape our lives even when we are not fully aware of that influence. The things that influence us to hold certain beliefs and engage certain behaviors because they are “emotionally satisfying”. As Kristian Niemietz states, “Emotional satisfaction, not rational thinking, and despite contrary evidence, dominates our choice in beliefs” (“Socialism: The failed idea that never dies”).
Domination of others as in the current trend across Western societies to ban free speech, is more base animal behavior than human. It is certainly not about “compassion for victims” as proclaimed by the Woke Progressive activists, the zealots for fighting “disinformation/misinformation” that then reaches beyond (concept creep) to censor and ban the free speech of any who disagree with the Woke Progressive overlords.
Some very interesting discussions…
Vivek Ramaswamy on Lex Fridman discussing the core function of government as protecting borders and protecting property rights. And the need for massive cuts to government beyond these two basic functions…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxtXuNX77Hk
Thank God we live in a time with free spirits like Matt Taibbi. This is beyond good, way beyond. I love the spit, fire, and spicy sauce of Matt’s language. I will soon post quotes from this…
https://www.racket.news/p/my-speech-in-washington-rescue-the?r=5mz1&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
A ‘sitesplainin’ clarification: Wendell Krossa
What do I mean when I refer to “Classic Liberalism”? And as people talk about creating a “safe AI” why not ensure that safety by programing AI with Classic Liberal principles?
Basic principles, systems, institutions of Classic Liberalism, liberal democracy, or Western liberalism.
Daniel Hannan in his Introduction to “Inventing Freedom” provides the following lists and descriptions of the basic features of a truly liberal society or civilization:
“A belief in property rights, personal liberty, and representative government…
“Three irreducible elements. First, the rule of law…Those rules exist on a higher plane and are interpreted by independent magistrates…
“Second, personal liberty: freedom to say what you like, to assemble in any configuration you choose with your fellow citizens, to buy and sell without hindrance, to dispose as you wish with your assets, to work for whom you please, and conversely, to hire and fire as you will…
“Third, representative government. Laws should not be passed, nor taxes levied, except by elected legislators who are answerable to the rest of us… the rule of law, democratic government, and individual liberty…
“The idea that the individual should be as free as possible from state coercion… elevate the individual over the state…
“Elected parliaments, habeas corpus (see below), free contract, equality before the law, open markets, an unrestricted press, the right to proselytize for any religion, jury trials…
“The idea that the government ought to be subject to the law, not the other way around. The rule of law created security of property and contract…
“Individualism, the rule of law, honoring contracts and covenants, and the elevation of freedom to the first rank of political and cultural values…
And this full summary:
“Lawmakers should be directly accountable through the ballot box; the executive should be controlled by the legislature; taxes should not be levied nor laws passed without popular consent; the individual should be free from arbitrary punishment or confiscation; decisions should be taken as closely as possible to the people they affected; power should be dispersed; no one, not even the head of state, should be above the law; property rights should be secure; disputes should be arbitrated by independent magistrates; freedom of speech, religion, and assembly should be guaranteed”.
Hannan’s book is invaluable for tracing the historical emergence and development of Western freedom down through the English tradition, from pre-Magna Carta to the present.
Definition of habeas corpus (varied online definitions):
“A habeas corpus application is used by persons who feel they are being wrongfully detained. Upon application, the individual is brought before a judge who will determine whether the detainment is lawful.”
“A writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.”
“The literal meaning of habeas corpus is “you should have the body”—that is, the judge or court should (and must) have any person who is being detained brought forward so that the legality of that person’s detention can be assessed. In United States law, ‘habeas corpus ad subjiciendum’ (the full name of what habeas corpus typically refers to) is also called “the Great Writ,” and it is not about a person’s guilt or innocence, but about whether custody of that person is lawful under the U.S. Constitution. Common grounds for relief under habeas corpus—”relief” in this case being a release from custody—include a conviction based on illegally obtained evidence; a denial of effective assistance of counsel; or a conviction by a jury that was improperly selected and impaneled.” (Miriam Webster)
One of the best at defining and articulating Classic Liberal ideals and principles, notably in the US version- Full interview of Vivek Ramaswamy on Lex Fridman podcast. Vivek for president. Note how Vivek frankly acknowledges and responds to deformities of Classic Liberalism on the right side of US society.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Qk_3a3lUw
A note on the “equity” curse of collectivism: Wendell Krossa
When you force “equity” outcomes on populations you destroy the motivation of individuals to improve themselves and their families. You undermine the motivation of people to create new businesses (products and services), to build personal assets/property that then benefits the greater good (increased spending capacity, increased hiring capacity, etc.).
Look at what forced equity (collectivism) did to China under Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”, or Stalin’s collectivism. 100 million dead, societies ruined, environments destroyed, as the inevitable outcome of centralized planning of resource distribution by state elites and bureaucrats.
I believe it was former socialist Joshua Muravchik who noted that socialists, in their zealotry to socially engineer “communalist humans” through coercive collectivism, have never understood human motivation. Socialists are possessed of the obsession to “liberate the oppressed” from Marx’s number one evil- personal property (see his “Heaven On Earth: The rise, fall, and afterlife of socialism”). Socialists frame their collectivist crusade as the righteous battle for greater or common good against the evil of individual selfishness and greed.
Socialist framing of the individually-oriented Classic Liberal system, repeatedly falls back on a simple-minded tribal dualism that distorts entirely and demonizes the human impulse to create a better life, to improve oneself and one’s family as the most fundamental expression of love. When people’s individual freedom and rights are protected as in Classic Liberal societies, then liberated people, knowing their personal rights and freedoms are protected, creatively produce solutions that benefit others.
Free creative, hardworking individuals have done more to promote greater or common good than any other approach to organizing societies, notably in the billions of people lifted out of poverty over the past 2 centuries, now approaching the majority of humanity.
Another take on the “psychopathology of left-wing compassion” might be this apparent quote in Joshua Muravchik (taken from a review): “Robert Owen- He became a humanitarian, and lost his humanity.”
The “probing deeper” project of this site… What lies behind, Wendell Krossa
Fitting pieces together for a bigger background picture and then considering the deeper roots of it all- the bad ideas that have always incited and validated bad behavior across history.
“There are no really bad people. Just people acting badly under the influence of bad ideas”, paraphrase of Bob Brinsmead.
Back to the present:
Take the US situation as an illustrating example of what is happening today across Western liberal democracies. Since around 2016, we have seen a renewed expression of the totalitarian spirit, particularly on one side of the population- i.e. on the “left” side, coming from those previously identifying as “liberals, Democrats”. Many in that sector of the population have shifted to embrace what even many of their fellow liberals frame as “highly illiberal” positions and policies. “Totalitarian” views and policies.
And yes, the totalitarian spirit stews and slinks around also throughout the Right side of our societies. It is a fundamental and commonly shared impulse, a residual from our animal past. The pathological impulse to domination and control of others.
But one side- i.e. the left (now embracing and promoting “Woke Progressivism”)- exhibits this impulse more widely and prominently today through (1) its domination of education, (2) in the protection and promotion of the left by major state agencies and institutions like the FBI, CIA, Military, (3) in the defense and promotion of the left by mainstream media, and (4) in the favored bias toward the left by big tech social media such as the affirmed leftist bias by Google that was exposed recently by Robert Epstein during his Joe Rogan interview. And so on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azu8XnZdxeA&t=26s
And if and where the Right tries to respond to leftist domination with its own version of meddling control of free citizens, then that must also be exposed for the deforming pathology that it is. Fairness is critical to a healthy, peaceful society.
The emergence and expression of the totalitarian spirit in US leftism/liberalism is related to a larger historical crusade that never fully died away after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The contemporary eruption of the totalitarian impulse among US Democrats (i.e. the 70% that now favor censorship of opponents) is part of the larger resurgence of totalitarian Marxism that is the result of US 1960s Marxists deciding to play a long-game approach by penetrating the educational system and indoctrinating generations of students to then enter and populate all sectors of society.
Note in the link below, around the 7 min 30 second mark, Rob Schneider’s comments that 60s Marxists decided to retreat, recoup, and then go “underground” to focus on infiltrating the US education system. British historian Niall Ferguson has similarly noted that 60s Marxists realized that they could not win wide public support so chose instead to focus on infiltrating Western education systems to indoctrinate future generations. Is there a correlation here with the significant majority of professorships in the humanities and social sciences of Western universities that are “liberal/Democratic/leftist”?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a85Go-v1Peg&t=543s
Insert note on “Political Views of American Academics” (Wikipedia):
“Lawrence Summers said at a symposium about ‘The Social and Political Views of American Professors’ that he considers it a problem that some academics express an “extreme hostility” to conservative opinions. He observed that faculty who were invited to give Tanner Lectures on Human Values were almost always liberals, and expressed concern that an imbalance in political representation at universities could impede rigorous examination of issues”.
Well, that’s a mild and overly cautious statement that appears fearful of upsetting touchy “tyranny of minority” wokesters. I prefer the fiery spirit and spitting language of Matt Taibbi (see link above).
And here in Canuckville… (Canada for you ignoramuses)
And just like US Democrats, so also here in Canada the liberal side of our society has bought into the reframing of the old Marxist collectivism in “Woke Progressivism”. This is not traditional liberalism, Classic or liberal democracy, by any stretch of imagination, though it does hold shreds of that tradition that came out of England over past centuries (i.e. elements of inclusion, toleration, diversity, etc.).
Unfortunately, far-left features in the Progressive narrative dominate, distort, and reduce the influence of the residual better features. Just as Paul’s Christ distorts and buries the humanizing influence of the better insights of Jesus’.
Woke Progressivism, in the US variety, is the latest reframing of leftist collectivism that billions suffered under during last century’s eruption and spread of Marxist revolution. Growing numbers of US liberals/Democrats have affirmed the recent uninhibited shift of their side toward old school Marxism in noting that US Democrats have gone “far-left”, meaning into the extremism of “leftist Wokeism”.
Woke Progressivism as neo-Marxism? Yes, both embrace the fundamental tribal dualism that separates populations into basically two opposing classes of “oppressors versus oppressed”. In Progressivism, while the old “capital owners and capital-less workers/peasants” is still in the mix, a new element tribal dualism includes separating people into the classes of “victimizers versus victims”. This is the separation of people into the more general classes of “good versus evil” that is now based significantly on skin color. White/Jewish/Asian as victimizer and black/brown as victim.
Elon Musk, in an interview, said this DEI grouping and defining of people has to end. DEI people, he said, claim that all those in their “victim” category are to be viewed as “virtuous”. Noting the insanity of such generalized grouping, he said that they even put Hamas in the victim category and hence under the umbrella of “virtuous”. That is patently crazy. Others note that even violent criminals are treated by Progressives as “virtuous victims” and subsequently released into the public arena to commit further crimes instead of being incarcerated.
There are many strands (fronts) in this new surge of collectivist totalitarianism for us to try to comprehend- i.e. the programs and policies of DEI, ESG, Woke Racism, decolonization, de-growth and de-development, social justice, broader environmental alarmism, etc.
Overall, these varied sub-projects or sub-crusades, are all part of the larger revival of the Western Marxism that faded in the 60s as those activists realized their goal of society-wide revolution would not gain public support due to the overwhelming anti-communism fever of that era. So they chose to go “underground” into Western education institutions to play a long-game approach to undermining and collectivizing industrial/capitalist society.
Atmospheric physicist Richard Lindzen, adding another element to this, has noted that 60s Marxists realized that by going after the energy that fuels Western society, they could more effectively accomplish their goal of bringing down capitalist industrial civilization. We now see this approach in environmentalist projects to push “de-development, de-growth”, etc.
As some note, this is the “watermelon” thing- i.e. old reds finding new life in the green movement.
My interest in all this…
This relates to my project on this site to engage the thorough problem-solving that was mentioned by the military guy after the 2014 eruption of the ISIS crusade in Syria to establish their caliphate. He said that you can beat back these eruptions of religious violence with superior force, but they will only continue to repeatedly erupt until you go after the fundamental ideas that incite and validate them. Good point, military guy.
Focusing issues more intently, I would argue that it is most critical to go after the retaliatory, violent God theories that center the narratives of religiously violent extremists. The Ultimate Reality themes that function as the cohering center of human narratives, the embodiment of ultimate ideals and authority, whether deities or other “secular/ideological/scientific” speculations on metaphysical realities.
And we are not just talking about Islam here. All the major world religions hold similar views of deity validating violence toward differing others. Islam has simply inherited what went before.
And as posted repeatedly here, psychologist Harold Ellens and psychotherapist Zenon Lotufo have detailed how “Cruel God” theories of religions deform human personality with fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, despair and depression, nihilism, and violence. Hence, the critical need to understand and promote “Kind God” alternatives.
Further on the Islamic thing: Note that Muhammad’s spiritual mentor- i.e. Waraqa- was an Ebionite priest (a Jewish Christian sect) who was the cousin of his wife Khadija. Waraqa taught Muhammad everything about theology. Note the influence of the gospel of Matthew on the Quran, Matthew being a later version of the “Gospel to the Hebrews” that Waraqa used to teach Muhammad.
Example: Matthew states that after being rejected by the hamlets of Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, etc., Jesus angrily damned to hell those who rejected him and his miracles/message (“they will be cast into outer darkness where there will be gnashing of teeth”). So also the Quran, on almost every page, sometimes every other page, notes that those who “reject the message and the messenger” will be cast into hell.
Add other correlations between Ebionism and Islam, like water purification rites. It’s the parent/offspring thing in regard to these historical religions.
Now: Stepping back more to view the big background picture and long-term history of our narratives– Historians have detailed for us the fundamental drivers behind the “profoundly religious crusades” of Marxism, Nazism, and environmental alarmism. They are all driven by the same basic themes of “apocalyptic millennialism”. Meaning- they are all driven by profoundly religious themes. There is not much new under the sun, more often just the endless restating of the same old themes as ever before. (Sources: Historians Arthur Herman, Richard Landes, Arthur Mendel, David Redles, Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, and so many more.)
Insert note to counter denialism and self-delusion: I repeatedly urge readers to recognize that what identifies often today as “secular ideological”, and even “scientific/materialist”, is, in terms of core structure and themes, still often profoundly mythical and religious.
Continuing…
And what the historians refer to as “apocalyptic millennialism” I would expand to the larger complex of the mythical themes of “lost paradise, corrupt humanity ruining paradise, the subsequent decline of life toward apocalyptic ending, the divine demand for sacrifice/payment, suffering as redemptive, the divine demand for violent purging of evil threat, and the hope for salvation in a restored communalism paradise”.
This complex of themes, that is expressed through ever-changing new terms, definitions, and movements, has endlessly deformed human narratives, consciousness and life to horrific mass-death outcomes.
Much more to come on this totalitarian impulse being released and validated once again in our societies…