Most People Still Aren't Ready
Having your eyes opened can be a terrible thing especially when it comes at a time of great change. And not the good kind of change, the type that signals “misery ahead.” That was 2007 for me but it’s much worse now.
Ron Paul refers to a “remnant” throughout the ages, a people who desire liberty but are in such a small minority power eludes them; even if they wanted it. They hold the banner high and are seemingly tireless in trumpeting their message. But what if the message doesn’t work? Do we default to the fact that the remnant will always be too small to change things?
Many make the claim that 3% of the population moved the needle to found this country. Do we even have 1% now who desire to have more individual freedom? If we don’t what do we do to change that? The same thing over and over again expecting a different result?
When Vin Armani helped me to realize that the age of “facts and logic” was over, the only thing to do was figure out what was going to work. Obviously, you have to speak the language of the people. And if the language of the people is apparent nonsense to the “facts and logic” crowd, they will either adapt, or do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
In my opinion, it will be the latter and a further march towards totalitarianism. As Vin also said, we may be doing this for a few generations down the line. Accepting a time preference so low that we will never see its results first-hand is probably too much for most people to deal with. I hope some of them change their mind and seek to become a legacy of hope; one that may be pointed back to.
People are addicted to the state and they NEED it, as surely as a heroin addict needs that shot in the arm.
Like any addict, before they can recover, they have to admit they have a problem. For that to happen, they have to hit rock bottom.
Until people are 'rock bottomed' by the state, they will not believe the truth.
Like heroin addicts, that may take living in an alley with everything you own in a shopping cart.
I keep thinking of the part in Ben Stone’s Field Guide about the proverbial “line in the sand,” and how it just doesn’t exist. It’s a myth. I almost feel like people need really recognize how nebulous their own line is and if they do not draw strong boundaries for themselves personally, they won’t get anyone to respect them generally or socially. There are a lot of codependent people that don’t respect themselves enough to say “no.” Sadly, those who do seem to say “no,” are only able to do so in unhealthy, dysfunctional ways. I feel like I am watching an out picturing of my kids. “He’s hitting me! He keeps hitting me!” And they don’t know how to look the other in the eye and say, “If you try to do that again, I will righteously, physically stop you and you might get hurt. Think about what you do next.” OR we have kids who just start beating the crap out of each other instead of effectively saying, “stop it!” I think it shows how bad parenting is right now. We have two parents: permissive parents who let their kids steamroll them and think everyone should let them steamroll others and they think they should sit back and patiently be steamrolled. Then we also have the violent parents who teach their kids that might makes right and the strongest wins and problems are solved by violence. Then I know as a parent how hard it is without the proper modeling not to fall into or vacillate between these two categories. It’s why our world looks as it does. Very few people understand on a personal level how to make boundaries and keep them. I wrote my book about my own experiences drawing boundaries and ultimately shutting out my parents, but I am more and more aware how much this is a really good gauge culturally for how much abuse from govt people will tolerate and how they respond to it. On one hand, you have this idea that societies are stronger when family units are in tact. On the other hand, cultures that value or overvalue family despite them being horrible people (I have friends that are from Asian cultures that can’t understand people who cut off their parents no matter what) seem to also put up with the gravest s atrocities from government. I think people who grew up embracing this “honor your parents” culture and philosophy seem to extend the parent role to govt. It’s really dangerous. A guy who beats his wife or a mother who beats her child has brought him or her self dishonor. But in certain cultures, people will do everything they can and lose all they have to support the drunk parent or beat their own children or wives so that they don’t dishonor the legacy of the parent they think they should be honoring.