There is a huge difference between forced associations and free associations. In fact, if you pay attention to the issue, you’ll find that the very act of forcing people together carries a poison in itself. We see the fruit of that poison in ethnic hatred, the formation of street gangs and in bullying. Whenever it is that forced associations are examined scientifically, they will be condemned as anti-human. Continue reading “A Lesson from Devon Avenue”
“Law” As A Mind Trick
About half the time it is used, the word “law” is fairly close to a mind trick, and there is nothing noble, righteous, or even ‘conservative’ in that.
More or less all of us were pushed into the trick, which complicates things because people don’t like to admit anything that smells like a mistake. Continue reading ““Law” As A Mind Trick”
What Rulers Believe
I’ve been working on collections of quotes lately, and I have one more that I’d like to present… this one on the thoughts of rulers. For a number of years I’ve been telling people that the incentives faced by productive people and the incentives facing rulers (of whatever stripe) are very, very different. This list, I believe, will make that point.
I’ve been working on collections of quotes lately, and I have one more that I’d like to present… this one on the thoughts of rulers.
For a number of years I’ve been telling people that the incentives faced by productive people and the incentives facing rulers (of whatever stripe) are very, very different. This list, I believe, will make that point. Continue reading “What Rulers Believe”
Status, Evolution And Human Nature
Status is generally defined as a person’s condition, position, or standing relative to that of others.
Please read that definition again and consider this:
Status automatically creates division and conflict. Continue reading “Status, Evolution And Human Nature”
Golden Disobedience
(This post was written by my friend, Sandy Sandfort. It’s an important glimpse into an historical event.)
Inertia is a human frailty. Too often, we go along to get along. We conform. Because of this, those who claim authority can get most of us to do their bidding if it comes with a plausible justification and is only incremental. We get nickel-and-dimed to death, the death of a thousand cuts. Continue reading “Golden Disobedience”
Audiobook: A Lodging of Wayfaring Men
My friend, Max Hillebrand, recently recorded and edited the whole of A Lodging of Wayfaring Men. (BIG thank you.) It will be easier to get via the RSS feeds linked at the bottom, but here it is anyway, in sections: Continue reading “Audiobook: A Lodging of Wayfaring Men”
The Right Time Will Never Come
Lots of good people are frustrated with the state of world, and I understand that only too well. They are, furthermore, eager for the world to improve, and I respect that a great deal.
Their problem arises, however, right on the heels of these desires, when they ask the question, “What should I do?” And that’s where the wheels fall off. Continue reading “The Right Time Will Never Come”
How to Gain Confidence and Courage
For more than two years I wrote a free monthly newsletter called Individual Virtue. Here’s a piece from one of them (with light editing). Continue reading “How to Gain Confidence and Courage”
The Wisdom of Ben Hecht
I was introduced to Ben Hecht, many years ago now, by my friend Paul Greenfield. Like most people of my generation I had never heard of him. He had been fairly famous some decades earlier, know early for his cynical and cutting criticisms, then as Hollywood’s premier script doctor.
Here’s a typical Hecht aside: Continue reading “The Wisdom of Ben Hecht”
The Obedience Cult
(Originally published in 2015)
Not too many years back, warnings of Peak Oil circulated widely, and they made me consider something a good deal more dangerous: Peak Obedience.
If that concept strikes you as odd, there’s a reason: We’ve all been living inside an obedience cult. Continue reading “The Obedience Cult”