I’ve reached the end of my history review of the God-awful year 2020. Now questions need to be asked and solutions devised. First question: ARE there any solutions to the shit show we just experienced? That’s a good starting query actually. Let’s proceed.
How does individual liberty win in a world where logic and reason have been abandoned by the majority of its inhabitants? How do you have a conversation when the person on the other end is repeating a narrative they’ve been fed? Remember, narratives don’t have to be true they just have to sound plausible. Having them come from so-called experts - technocrats - is vital. The COVID 19 response should be our first teacher on this point.
I believe I’ve made it clear in this series that Americans are not a people who plan. They react. If you’re constantly reacting to challenges that are coming at you, it’s easy to make mistakes. Stepping back and taking in all of the information available is key to being able to work your way out of a negative situation. When it came to the government response to COVID 19, it’s obvious they failed to fully understand and address the situation. An individual making mistakes in judgment for themselves, and their family, is vastly different than a group of technocrats making mistakes that affect 330,000,000 people.
Have you heard the term “The Great Reset” (GR)? How about “Build Back Better?” The GR is a plan by the World Economic Forum (WEF) similar to the “Green New Deal” with the stated goal of fundamentally restructuring the world’s economies around climate change reforms and equality of outcome for individuals. WEF has a website and a podcast. They are not hiding their intentions/goals/plans. Almost every world leader has used the term “Build Back Better” since June 2020 including Joe Biden. What does it mean? Do you think you should find out?
Allow me to finish part 12 with this thought. I’ve heard people say that the totalitarian action and language we’ve experienced in the last year is a struggle between “authoritarianism and libertarianism.” Really? When has libertarian ideology been an option? I’m talking about a real option not just theory. In the grand scheme of things, yes, those are two options, absent of any nuance. However, what we have seen is a struggle between real totalitarianism and a soft fascism. Libertarian ideology isn’t even on the board.
I started this by saying questions need to be asked and answered. Along with the question of ARE there solutions, we should also ask: given the current choices between totalitarianism and fascism, how is the libertarian message supposed to be pushed forward/made an option?
Something you mentioned in the podcast with Kerry last week seems like a good base to address a few of the questions presented. You were disturbed that a lot of conservatives were eager to send their kids back to the schools that were going to turn their kids into nice progressives, cause them to hate their parents, and try to load them on boxcars 10-15 years from now. Before specific solutions are offered, people have to internalize that clamoring for the creature comforts of 2019 is like spending a fortune to repair an old car that never ran well or going back to the guy who beat you. This is a time to be more aware of choices. It’s a time to, dare I say, get excited about new realities like unschooled offspring.
I think libertarians should keep in mind two famous maxims, Howard Zinn’s You Can’t be Neutral on a Moving Train and Karl Rove’s We’re History’s Actors. Sending your kids to public schools or wearing masks to appease the covid cultists seems like it’s neutral, but it’s not. Anybody know the “orphans on boxcars” history? Put yourself in the minds of someone who would hatch such a scheme. There’s a breed of people living amongst us who think like that. Why should they have all the fun?
The dichotomy is what they want, because they win either way. I am not sure how, but the false choice between totalitarianism delivered through the global elites and expert classes and nationalism delivered by a subset of the same cretins is no choice at all. Their is a coalescing of forces that pushing back on these notions, but without any cooperation between sectors and groups. Common allies against both choices whether or not they have passed the purity tests put in place by status seekers of a movement trying to maintain their control. We have to change the dividing lines so soft fascism is on the same side as totalitarian, global utilitarian psychopaths who love their numbers too much. After this week in the market, the rebel scum are making themselves known and sending a message, which is encouraging, but still too fractured to generate enough power to make the necessary dents. I am not sure how any of it is accomplished without some serious political disruption to push the very idea of the underlying frame of the constitution into the negotiating sphere. Push power more local, you may create local totalitarians, but at least you are close enough to kick 'em. Maybe there is daylight there, but for now, everyone looks to be into their corner trying to convince everyone to be as "pure" as they in a given ideology. Can't we agree that separate ideologies can coexist under a framework of liberty that enables decentralization of current power centers of gravity? Unsure, but the peasants are pissed, and they are lashing out wherever they can, some productive, some not, but each exposing where the line actually is between the people and those who consider themselves gods/overlords. The white pill is believing their systems days are numbered. Only way to change things is action, so I hope I see a lot more folks like yourself demanding radicalization from so called "protectors" and push back against the oligarchs who have delivered us this fragile network of systems crumbling before our eyes. What choice do we have?