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The Road To Serfdom, In Cartoons
For everyone (and on this site we hope this is everyone) who has read Hayek's Road to Serfdom before, feel free to "reread" it for the cartoons. For everyone else: read it now. Feel free to stop when it becomes familiar. Courtesy of mises.org
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Join Satoshi Nakamoto and fonestar on the road to fiefdom!
You are get philosophy from bumper sticker....
Warning, live without warning...
Caution, police line, better not to cross,
Is cop or I one is really dangerous,
Sanitation, Expiration Date,
Question EVERYTHING,
Or shut up and be victim of authority!
i missed you boris. looks like we are around number 8.
step one establish a fiat currency to replace an honest money system; step two steal america silently through money printing.
No -- step two is "reeducating" -- really retraining or brainwashing -- the public to recognize the new fiat (everything) IS the honest system. It's important that the majority believe that the re-educator is The Oracle of Truth.
It is interesting, for example, how many Americans still refuse to believe what really happened on 9/11. Their Oracle of Truths have convinced them that even the laws of physics don't apply, even those that should know better.
"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it."
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the public is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country." -- Edward Bernays
You mean like:
We all evolved from a single cell organism.
Gay is OK, and ,
Abortion is a "womans choice".
Or some OTHER reality ?
I'd go so far as to say we're at 16.
www.hacer.org/pdf/Hayek000.pdf
We are already all slaves. Get used to it.
http://www.planbeconomics.com/2013/10/the-story-of-your-enslavement.html
ADVICE NEEDED
I need some insight into something unusual relating to my blog site; I'm no expert.
Of the 49 blog posts which I have written so far, there is one which is receiving considerable volume of traffic. No big deal in itself, BUT, it is receiving at least 10 times the traffic volume of any other page and yet when I look at where the traffic has come from, nothing is listed. All my other pages at least give me some information and percentage of traffic as to where the viewer has come from.
But the real interesting thing is this; I haven’t posted the link to this page anywhere since the day I wrote it. After that day, it died-off in views considerably (normal and expected), but, unlike all my other pages, it is as though this page is being viewed (circulated?) 100 times more than any number of similar pages which I have not circulated their links either.
I have been watching the stats on this page for over two months now, and the viewing rate has been varied, but solid. The viewing number changes each day, but it’s always on the top of the list without any promotion by me whatsoever.
I’ve Googled the page title on several search engines and nothing comes up other than where I originally posted it, so I have to rule-out most forums etc.
If I completely went dark (online) for a month or two, I can assure you, this page would be viewed hundreds of times more than any other page……why???
How is a viewer hidden (where they came from)?
Reasons for such viewer volume?
Cheers
TSP
Any keywords that differ from your other posts? It could be a bot within blogspot itself, or a search engine spider.
Enjoy your blog, btw. If you're in Sydney, I'd like to buy you a beer.
Yes there is a few keywords not really listed anywhere else. Can't tell you as that will just attract people reading this thread to go and view out of curiosity...screwing up my stats.
Sure thing. Funnily enough, I've just been offered NSW as another region which my company can now trade into, so I'll be visiting Skidknee from this July onwards. No to just one Beer, we'll need many.
PM me a message (here or on my blog) and we'll swap emails. Will tell you which page is being swamped...a heads-up perhaps...dunno!
Cheers
TSP
You might have sent a Bot into a tailspin. Always thought you were on to something with your posts, even before you were banned from ZH for a while.
Sent you a contact request.
Fuck the stats, here ya go: http://twoshortplanksunplugged.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/whos-sniffing-gold.html
Just had a look. It might have been the capitalised WARNING in the title of the article. Such hypothesis would be easy to test.
Agree with the article, too. And I think they have suceeded in turning gold into a pure derivative, and their control mechanism has reached stable equilibrium. IMO it would take a counterparty shock of WWIII proportions to destabilise it.
FWIW, I pop over there everyday to see what's new and re-read stuff.
This is the most clever marketing I have ever seen. Kudos!
LOL....I did think that earlier!
Just tweaking ya - love the blog and wish you would post more.
You could try this,
http://www.wholinks2me.com/
We could be at 18 if you were one of the many US soldiers commiting suicide or one of the choosen few bankers taking the same exit.
we are totally at 18: http://www.democracynow.org/2013/2/5/kill_list_exposed_leaked_obama_memo
Not sure I agree but will say that this is not like Germany. The lead up/order is quite mixed and different but the end will probably be similar.
They will keep up the illusion as long as possible. Once we are publicly at war though, they'll likely find some excuse to come after the dissidents.
I think in their ideal world, they would get everything they want without us knowing any better. Along the lines of "there is no man more hopelessly enslaved than the one who falsely thinks he is free." --Goethe
The above can only happen when you have sufficiently "dumbed down" the populace so that they cannot reason well enough to understand propaganda when they see it. Ah, mission accomplished!
Shit.
No. Plenty see it.
Care to compare the brain power of your average shelp today with that of a 1930s German? No contest. Why? Because it's more than that.
Why did they buy in?
No prior culture of freedom to draw from coupled with having their nation and economy gutted by a "peace" treaty.
See some parallels today? Why is you heritage being trashed? Your culture and values? Your economy looted? Industry dismantled?
To create the needed vacuum. Someone will rise to restore......everything.
That person will most likely be the King Daddy NeoCon to end all. Obama is just paving the way.
The trains will run on time.
Jeb Bush.
lol
Jeb Bush I think is part of the team. He won't become a dictator but play his part. Hillary is part of the team but I believe she and her ilk understand the potential power and have a hunger for it. That is the key. The planners are fine until they put/allow the wrong person to have power. That person then takes power from the planners. I just don't see a Bush being that person.
Team Loser.
Not even the media complains about the world created post-9/11.
They must think there's something good in it for them.
I'd love to know what they think that is. Weren't they once part
of the middle class too?
"Finally...we have had a prisoner exchange for Bo Bergdahl.
We hate him of course.
But we think the 10 ten trillion dollar price tag was too high."
I'm still betting that Barry is Pres. in 2017. False flag -> NDAA -> No more elections!
I am pretty sure America has had enough Bush. If Jeb gets the RNC nomination, DNC wins by a landslide. All the DNC is to put some in another unknown/outsider to win, just like they did with Barry in 2008. I doubt Hillary is going to Run in 2016. She already got health issues and they aren't going to get any better soon. If she runs it will apparent during the Campaign that her health is poor.
Bussing, immigration, affirmative action.
Four chan, I love your icon ... it gives me wood. ;)
Hardwood.
ask him for a link to the picture - apparently it's from a plastic surgery "outlet" - an ad for their product.
you should get a pair. never have to leave the house/computer. . .
Is it just me or are the icons getting tamer and tamer?
Shit, someone should do a modern version based on the US and maybe people there will finally open their eyes and see this trainwreck in progress and do something to minimize the casualties before it becomes epic.
I am Chumbawamba.
I doubt most Americans would see any similarities even if it was explictly about them.
There are a fair few people trying to open sheoples eyes.
Problem is they are too easily distracted once they do manage to lift an eyelid.
My approach to minimizing casualties is to try to make sure that myself and those I care about are not on the casualty list.
If I have anything to spare after that, then I'll try to help others.
A bit like putting on your own oxygen mask on a plane if there's a pressure loss.
If you are a casualty, you are hardly likely to be of use.
Spanish Civil War. "God forbid if you stand for Repiblican values."
I firmly believe that there is such a thing as National Pride and National Honor....that what happens on the field of battle stays there...but that when We the People are called forth to do something...we do it.
If that means coming home...then so be it then.
No one can say the USA didn't try...that sacrifices weren't made.
We don't fight wars forever here. Some people claim to want to of course...but is it or me or are those the same folks who turn the guns on their own people while claiming "higher authority"?
I mean isn't "failure is the only option" the way these things work?
For instance...welcome home Bo.
Sorry you were alone for six years. Looks like you have some great parents. Folks who really would pay any price and bear any burden in order to see their son one last time.
They still haven't seen him...and these things aren't easy either btw. Hopefully there is a memory in there of something...something good...something that can be nurtured and grow.
Lest America forget there was a Medal of Honor winner who left it at the Vietnam War Memorial.
We have had these battles before. "If the Parents can handle it then maybe America can."
welcome home Bo as in Barck Hussein Obama or Bowe Bergdahl? One is a confirmed traitor and the other at least a deserter, likely a collaborator, possibly an enemy combatant.
This is why I love this story. Traitor against what? Christian values? "Losing"?
Bwhahahahahahahaha. Americans just see winning everywhere no matter how pathetic their existence has become.
WE WIN!
Guess what. WE LOSE.
Now return to your regular scheduled programming of "shut the phuck up" and "phuck your buddy" asswipe.
That's why George "Wild Bill" Butler Hickock was one of the greatest lawmen in history. He understood "everyone wanted him dead."
Go forth America...find out what the world really thinks of you. We were still heroic...even after Vietnam.
Something has changed...something "Third Reich like." Even the Jews think the Holocaust was some type of "happy time" now.
Just done for the wrong reason? Or the wrong people?
National Pride and Honour is not okay if you're white (regardless of the nation state, because that's White Power, and that's bad!), but it's awesome if you're anything else.
@fortheworld
Western nations are the only ones that are forced to go multicultural. South Africa can talk of ridding itself of it's white " interlopers" and not so much as a peep out of the MSM about genocide.
I'm going to guess the tongue in cheek nature of my comment wasn't as apparent as it could have been.
dup
R Crumb could a great job on this.
His time lapse of a rural corner was great.
Not as great as say, Zap 0
You get a plus just for the reference.
Robert Crumb would be great at this. But who would read it? I was looking at one of my old Mr. Natural comics the other day and thought how politically incorrect this would be considered today on a college campus, even criminal. The students would crucify Robert Crumb, or Doug Kenny. Remember the National Lampoon Magazine of the early seventies with "The Civil War Between The Niggers and The Jews"?
Question EVERYTHING
This is really the key. But it's a tremendous amount of work and a drain on the spirit. After many years and ongoing training I've got to the point where I have an automatic system devoted to bullshit detection, it just flips on at random times and I go back and verify that what I just heard/saw/read was really just a steaming pile of authentic bullshit. It's really amazing how much actual bullshit there is these days. Pretty much everything.
Oh, and it's never the obvious things that cause a knee-jerk political/moral rxn. That kind of redstate/bluestate Demopublican thing you can safely jump over, every time. The real bullshit is aimed more at what you are willing to accept as good for you. Like you need a new 2015 Dodge. Or you need a get-away vacation. Or you need to buy that special lady a shiny rock or a supersized MacMeal. Shit like that, eats you from the inside, makes you a puppet who empties your wallet on command.
Yeah I'm watching you get out of your new Dodge pickup down at the Micky D's. How do you carry around that extra 200 pounds? Breaking my back just watching you waddle around. Hey the shit crawling through your blood stream is trying to murder you, pal. Ah whatever. Enjoy you nightmare.
The "ex boyfriend" detector eh?
I agree with most of what you said, except for the 'drain on the spirit' bit.
It is a lot of work, but not as much of a drain on the spirit as NOT doing it.
Personally, no car, no TV, no cellphone, no debt - no extra pounds, either.
Just don't take part.
"Just don't take part."
Yes, the way a tiger waiting in the undergrowth doesn't take part -- until it does.
There is nothing -- and then there is nothing -- and still there is nothing and then suddenly everything is made out of knives and the world becomes completely insane.
You lost me at the tiger part.
There is nothing - before you are born - There is nothing after you die.
Once you realize the world is insane, you stand a much better chance of navigating your way through it, until that inconvenient death thing comes into play.
At that point, what the fuck? Is anything important?
Everyone gets lost at the tiger part.
5 million years of evolution and you still can't get past the tiger part.
God I love it.
Ambush hunters.
They conserve energy....until just the right time.
I'm a cat dude, I've learned a lot watching them.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...a man that doesn't like cats doesn't really like women the way they should be liked.
Dogs like fucking everyone. With cats, you really gotta put in some serious time.
;-)
I was always a dog guy, still am in many ways (if I can't eat it or fuck it, I'll piss on it) until "momma kitty" (a stray we fed) had a litter. One by one they all died (momma kitty did something with the bodies, don't know) but one survived.
It was a tabby but huge, he thought he was a tiger. We named it Norman, as in Norman Bates because he wasn't quite right. He'd fight the dogs, other cats, his own momma, kill snakes, he didn't care and never ran from anything, won everytime.
He lasted about two years, found him on the highway, his head as flat as a pancake. I like to think he got bored fighting everything around him and tried a car as that was his nature.
More than likely though, the dogs were faster in the lanes ;-)
His name was Norman..
The wisdom & cunning of a dog is severely underrated.
But I loved that cat too, he was different ;-)
My dog likes cats....says they they taste like chicken.
;)
Perspective is everything
If everyone gets lost at the tiger part, maybe you can explain and save everyone a lot of time.
If not, then I guess you got lost there too and all of the above is BS.
Not trying to be difficult or insulting in any way, I'm always open to learning.
Learning for nothing is unexplainable paradox in our lives. Maybe we do that, so that we can do what we want instead of what they need, but once we do what they needs the what we want part is further away.
cougar, you made me laugh. just the way you wrote that sentence. pretty unusual writing in a way. the structure of the sentence the way it layers over the substance of violence.
artfully done.
i'd go on a hike with you. i bet you're sufficiently vigilant while tramping in the woods.
thanks for the comment. it took me a long time to get where you are. now i only spend money on healthy food, AU/AG, absolutely necessary replacements of personal items: clothes, computer, phone, and keep a cash balance that will allow me to move anywhere quickly. it's actually quite liberating once you realize that you don't need to buy all that shit, because it's just that: a bunch of shit.
Question Everything.
After seeing so many "conspiracy theories" become conspiracy facts; after learning of the many false flags and managed propaganda cycles, I'm not even sure we landed on the Moon.
There is something to be said about the humor found in the various talking heads trying to sell us the globalist soup with a staight face. If you can't laugh about it, being aware of the mass manipulation can be enough to drive you to insanity. These days, i feel that our wannabe rulers are like a kid trying to get out of trouble by telling a lie without considering a moment you might know exactly what is up. Devastatingly funny in a very dark sort of way.
Gummint: ctrl-alt-del
Corrupt, ruling political elite turds: Sand paper skin off, bury in salt, throw into Nevada desert
Join Satoshi Nakamoto and fonestar on the road to fiefdom!
One flip of a switch and your fiefdom becomes serfdom. Digital currency is a progessive FIAT.
There are millions of different switches on planet Earth controlled by many billions of individuals who do not like each other.
There are millions of different switches on planet Earth controlled by many billions of individuals who do not like each other.
show me where to find yours ...
all u bitcoin fools are going to lead sheep right into another FIAT. You really believe a virtual currency is the solution? One that is just as easily controlled by gov'ts?
Fuck "The Road To Serfdom" cartoons
D.O. N.O.T. O.B.A.Y
<-- Resistance through Courage
<-- Compliance through Fear
You are choose own path!
No need for resistance or compliance - there is another way. Non-participation and self-reliance.
Non-participation requires courage, amigo.
Yes, non-participation does require courage - it also involves the painful process of shedding the ego.
up vote for acknowledging egos role
The true battle... letting go of self
"Self importance."
Not "self" though. Your individuality is what makes you special...you "independence" is what they despise.
Corporate types, Government minders...they want you "towing the line."
Blame Bo Bergdahl.
Bwhahahahaha.
He isn't even out of the hospital yet.
"Time to get in line America. There's a traitor among us."
This is from a pathetic bunch of fly boys...one honest enough to even admit that. It was his individualism that made him who he is today...SENATOR.
He stood out because not only did he stand for something...but he acted on that (rebuilt Americas military...and her standing...after Vietnam. Was part of taking America to the height of her power actually.)
We all of course "did where we stand" which is why so few even make one.
But Senator McCain just prove just because you will die for your principles doesn't make those principles any less important.
Bo Bergdahl lived.
That man was trained well.
So was another guy.
From my experience, the IRS, DMV and a dozen other policing agencies demand your participation or the forfeiture of everything you own and your freedom.
ooooh yeah, non-participation & self reliance, courage & letting go of the need for Ego to direct your actions.
the rewards of being released from cultural beliefs as reality, to realise it is all a carefully crafted facade that binds, one imagined for the benefit of a few. . .
step aside.
Schaublin - Well said about ahedding ego.
"Living for others is the only life worth living" - Albert Einstein
I like Logicalman's comment about attempting loss mitigation as his intent in educating. I have stated the same here.
The USA is owned by banking. The models of political systems, voting benefits from the treasury and eventual collapse of government is well understood. This is why ghe reserve currency peg as an 80 year model shifts to a new host.
The brand of Uncle Sam is tarnished beyond repair. The last act of a government is to loot the treasury. It seems apparent to me the owners are finishing tearing down the brand. The promises made to the citizens are unsustainable. It reminds me of the fall of the Soviet Union. It doesnt mean life after remains horrible so to me there is no need to incite revolution the owners are doing it themselves, loss mitigation is love for your neighbor to point out how the world really works. For those with an ear.
It is a barbell economy. One can try to break gravity to make enough to live a comfortable life, have some good toys or one can downsize, work less and enjoy time with friends, family and low-cost hobbies. One can choose without needing to call it checking out of the system or starving the beast. The beast starves itself and in between ships the funds overseas to be reinvested. I doubt by 2021 America will be called the UnIted States. There are going to be a heck of a lot of bitter pensioniers. I expect nobody to guarantee my prosperity or happiness, that perspective makes beneficial decision-making a lot easier.
Well, that, or a bodybag........
Not sure it's courage.
I think it's commitment.
I take part as little as I can.
I do pay the Mob their protection money but that's about it. it's the one step I have yet to take.
No car, no cell phone, no TV, no debt, no packaged food.
Some mornings (-45ºC) this winter, I really didn't feel like cycling. All the way to work I just thought about the fact that I was not playing the bankster's game.
Truly, it kept me going.
-45? Where on earth do you live? Siberia? I lived in central Siberia over one Winter and there is no way I would consider cycling - even though I am normally a keen cyclist.
Agree with your general ethos but (and this is not a criticism just an observation), engaging in paid work and being 'taxed' is exactly the equivalent of having part of one's labour stolen to support the State and the Central Banks. If the work is non-productive it does not matter but if the work involves real wealth generation, one is supporting the beast.
Welcome to Canada... the world's "other" Siberia.
Canada's the place - only 2 days that cold this year.
As for the supporting the beast bit, you are correct, but if you don't pay income tax but you spend the money you get taxed at the consumer end.
I live real small and only buy what I need - if possible second hand, so I don't support the best at that end.
It's really hard not to have some part of your life stolen.
That's pretty harsh cycling weather.
Did you use heated gloves and socks and a heat-exchanger type mask?
Just curious.
non-participation always gives way to failed resistance when the wave finally washes over you.
Eh? When someone decides that doing harm to others will make things better, they have already sown the seed in themselves of tomorrow's oppressor. Non-participation can be done at differing levels, concomitant with the spiritual development and practical circumstances of the individual.
tell that to the native americans. if they could have killed the white people. they would have survived and their culture would have survived.
you have no understanding of the reality of genuine conflict in the world. another self-deluded 'pacifist'.
tell me, if pacifism exists, demonstrate how it exists in the natural world outside of mankind.
competition isn't defined by the caricature of violence. it is defined by survival. the competition to survive knows know pacificsm.
if something potentially threatens the survial of you and your way of living , and your kids way of living---well then, you have a decision to make. and making no decision IS A DECISION. the perpetuation of lifestyle through generations is cultrual warfare. and like it or not EVERYONE is playing the cultural warfare game whether they know it or not. you don't have to be aware of your status as a participant in the natural competition of life for that competition to exist.
and thus the very concept of 'pacifism' is a total and utter fabrication meant , generally, to delude you into being overly fearful of 'violence' in the caricatured sense so that others may worry less about the threat of violence you pose.
We can't win every fight. We are mortal. We will die.
If we die having represented something...Jesus shows the way. "Humility, perseverance, empathy." He was no survivalist. He paid the ultimate...hung up by a cross by Imperial Rome. "Rode in on an ass into Jerusalem"!!!
Changed the world forever.
For the better.
For the record Mountain Men are alright in my book.
So is Andrew Carnegie. He knew his "weapon" (mass production of steel) was causing great suffering for "his"(meaning employees) people.
But he also foresaw an alternative...one that was realized I might add. "Industrialized death." He gave mankind an alternative with this great insight.
He never said no to the money (they say he was deflated after he took it all though. He loved his business better apparently.). But to have the money serve some greater purpose...a more "just and verdant world"...his words certainly rose above it. Just say "Phil Mickelson" or that other clown...Bernie, Barney. What's his name again? At least the gambler guy was honest enough to admit "I'm a gambler." (Many have said a very good one actually.)
And apparently a felon too.
Using money to bet on other people's lives. What a pathetic excuse for an existence.
At least. Hitler didn't hide behind it. "Stick 'em in the phucking gas chambers. Let's end this thing."
Never did understand the suicide part.
Germany wasn't looking so good after he was done "with him." It's not like the German people weren't "all in" though.
Talk about cool imagery. "We're pissed off and we're gonna do something about it." Hard not to identify with that.
The Dark Side of Napoleon...the one who was sentenced to Death...by Italy.
Ooops. "Wrong guy" apparently.
Wrong people and wrong Army as well.
I am not a " self-deluded 'pacifist" How do you presume to know my mind?
Your example of the Native Americans is correct but look at another example of conflict and it will be clear that things are not so simple. Britain (International err Bankers) declared war on Germany in 1939 - "for the survival of the British people" said Churchill. Well, fast forward to today and many UK cities are turning into third world shit holes and the native English people are effectively second class citizens under the law - "racism" is the new witchcraft and god help anyone who expresses mild concern over the slow motion ethnic cleansing.
The best resistance through courage story that I know of is of an old Zen master, who, sitting zazen, was confronted by a sword wielding warlord who said...
"Have you no fear? Here stands before you one who can run you through without batting an eye."
To which the zen master replied,"Yes, and here sits one before you who can be run through without batting an eye."
you forgot the part where, like the maoist army in traditional china and tibet-------the warlords simply kills the master, and burns his and 20,000 other monasteries to the ground.
wow, the zenmaster said in heaven, i guess he just does what he wants. that' pretty zen. what a zen warlord.
And the Zen Master says "look at all that money make...look at all that money flee."
Y.O.U. M.U.S.T. e.B.A.Y.
@downvoters = planned
Explain.
I agree with your general sentiment but would like to hear a little more detail to your objection.
As for me I see them as simplistic and worn-out guff that is designed to keep people believing that their sham democracies and the hidden usurers that control them are better than ANY alternative.
I agree. Reading the text is the only way to go. I don't remember exactly when I first read the Road to Serfdom. I think it was sometime in the early '90s. Reading this book was one of the clarifying moments in my life. Suddenly, for me, a large degree of the fog created by the USSA media machine lifted and I saw clearly what was going on for the first time.
This false left/right paradigm of fascism vs socialism is only one of the many ways the propaganda machine in the West operates to keep the serfs in place fearful and obedient.
Both these philosophies are merely different variants of Statism. Althought they start with different POVs, they arrive at the same result.
Fortunately, I was brought up by an anarchist mother and a father with libertarian tendencies (long before the term Libertarian was coined)
Never had to throw my established world view overboard.
I had to throw my whole self away and start over. Yes, it hurt........
I see that another member reveals below that this cartoon depiction of TRTS was created by General Motors! You can see it in the way the cartoons are very sublety slanted in an anti-union direction. I'm neither pro- nor anti-union. My point is...
ALWAYS QUESTION.
Human social groups have been selecting for obedience to authority for perhaps millions of years and for religion for tens of thousands of years.
I missed the genetic programming for both.
"An organism is a collection of problem solving devices - adaptations - that were shaped by natural selection over evolutionary time to promote, in some specific way, the survival of the genes that directed their construction." Symons, 2005
for any educated observer, these cartoons were written in the context of the incipient cold war and mccarthyist purge. while we like to look back on how bad mccarthyism was, just remember---stalin was killing 10s of million of his own people and mao was starving the same amount or more to death.
gm , having been threaened by the government and central banks, as doing its part to play up its role as industrialist not wanting its private labor force to advantage themselves of public rights to privately unionize.
and to think the 50's were a particularly prosperous time in american history. just thinkg gasoline was about 25 to 30 cents a gallon . private debt very low and public debt being paid of very rapidly. oh yea, and the u.s. had just won world war fucking 2 so there was a lot of trust and confidence in the atmosphere which , while hard to put a dollar value on, contributes greatly to the public wealth . that is gone now. not coming back for a while.
very painful and oddly confusing sometimes. feels like two completely different lives I have lived with meshed memories of totally different people in my head.... vodka helps :P
Vodka...the glue that holds society together.
I feel ya
Read the fuckin' book in early 2009 (part of my awakening research after 2008).
I still feel like a drunken whore after a frat party.
The word Libertarian has been around since the early 50's, so you must either be really old or just not know that.
"Both these philosophies are merely different variants of Statism. Althought they start with different POVs, (if corrupted-Ed.) they arrive at the same result "
Yet 'Anarcho capitalism' is a pipe dream. It sounds great right up to the point where someone bigger (or with more capital) than you decides to renege on a contractual obligation.
And when statism decides which contracts & laws it likes, it will keep and what contracts & laws it doesn't like, it will discard.
What then?
Ants are wonderful creatures, have you ever watched what they can do to a large body given enough time? ;-)
What then, Mr. Divine Right of Kings? Well, at least ostensibly those decisions emanate from reasoned debate resulting in a mandate from the masses, rather than from some hereditary oligarch who doesn't happen to cotton to the cut of the hoi poloi's jib.
I'm not sure "the masses" mandated confiscatory taxation upon themselves, voyeuristic statists sniffing everyones emails & phone calls and regulatory strangulation on how much water to use when flushing a toilet or what lightbulb is "state compliant" not needing a call to hazmat on breakage in the first place.
That would be the definition of insanity, wouldn't it? ;-)
Maybe, but it depends on what you are actually on about this time.
Does that in some way relate to the fact that capitalism wants mitigating? Anarcho capitalism as a fairlytale?
@ CWB: the statement that 'statists state that they start off from different ideologies but always end up at the same place' is wholly specious; you could just as easily say that, without organised civil oversight (statism), capitalism inevitably ends up no better, or even worse.
Historically:
fascist states succeed (briefly) when they have bigger guns than anyone else; ~indefinitely when combined with the will to ruthlessly use/maintain that power indefinitely.
social(ist) democratic states can succeed for decades because they empower labour (the overwhelming majority of their populations); indefinitely if they remain fiscally responsible, thereby retaining their sovereignty
Anyone who tries to tell you different is probably selling skittle shitting unicorns.
The State must control the money...in order to be the state...and by that I mean "maintain it's value."
It is suicidal of the State to put forth as a policy goal...and accept...and execute on...a policy of destroying the one and only thing that gives the State it's sustenance.
The State was never more powerful than when it had a gold standard.
First, I didn't downvote you (if you care).
Second, 'statism' is a loaded term. Clearly, it means something different to you than it means to me. To me, it means the cult of the state, the idea that the state can do no wrong and that individuals have no rights, that the individual must bend their will to the state no matter what the state demands.
BTW I don't believe in 'anarcho-capitalism'. That's just another misguided political philosophy.
social(ist) democratic states can succeed for decades because they empower labour (the overwhelming majority of their populations); indefinitely if they remain fiscally responsible, thereby retaining their sovereignty
Hmm, for decades you say. Wow. And sure, indefinitely if they remain fiscally responsible. That's like asking a wolf to become a vegan.
And what if this overweening, paternalistic state's levers of control are taken over by a malignant authoritarian dictatorship? This is exactly what happened in Germany in the 1930s as described by Hayek. It was in every sense a 'social(ist) democratic state'. Modern 'social democracy' was not invented after the war. Germany had no traditions of individual liberty and still doesn't.
So what's the solution? I don't know that there is one. Cultures take a long time to change. Maybe America can return to its foundational principles, maybe not. (fwiw to you. I'm guessing you're British or Canadian, i.e. not sympathetic.) Whatever. Stay tuned.
"'statism' is a loaded term. Clearly, it means something different to you than it means to me. To me, it means the cult of the state, the idea that the state can do no wrong and that individuals have no rights, that the individual must bend their will to the state no matter what the state demands."
Hahahaha! No kidding it's a loaded term! But in the ZH comment section anyone supporting the idea of 'organised civil oversight' is invariably tarred with that epithet, regardless. Yet contrary to your Hayekian assertion that it is inevitable without exception, no successful, actually socialist society has gone down the road you've layed out for all of them in your definition. In fact, the successful (actually) democratic socialist states of the past/present century were/are the strongest protectors of individual freedoms/civil liberties. Eg. Alberta in Canada, and Texas in the US, two of the most allegedly 'free market' neoliberal states in NA, were some of the last to let go of their disgusting eugenics programs, while Saskatchewan's patently socialist CCF never implemented such policies during their almost two decade long tenure.
RE: "Hmm, for decades you say. Wow. And sure, indefinitely if they remain fiscally responsible. That's like asking a wolf to become a vegan."
Except that the aforementioned CCF was in power for 17 years, and despite inheriting one helluva deficit from the previous administration ran a surplus budget every single year, even while introducing 'universal' healthcare coverage, the basis of Canada's Health Act. And currently Norway, a mixed economy (but often vehemently termed 'socialist'/statist here on ZH), has a SWF that is the envy of the planet; so even if they ran out of oil tomorrow, they'd still have ~800 billion fiatscos to burn through before their nation went into debt. And that nation's books have been in the black year after year after year after year... there are more examples just as easily verified, if you just bothered to look for them:
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/may/27/debt-deficit-oecd-c...
So there is another myth busted. Hell, in light of their propensity for fiscal responsibility maybe the socialists should take the word 'conservative' back, and let the nmewns of the world have 'liberal'.
"And what if this overweening, paternalistic state's levers of control are taken over by a malignant authoritarian dictatorship?"
Indeed, what if? Sounds like something to watch out for as a citizen of that state, starting with any 'overweening paternalisms', rather than blaming the system once you've allowed it to be corrupted. Again: how is that not a risk for any government, unless you have an incorruptible one in mind that I have yet to consider? Besides, the German fascists didn't become that anymore than the Spanish ones did: they started out that way, regardless of their proclaimed intentions. Just because a group adopts a portion of the rhetoric and calls themselves something doesn't mean that is what they are. As you have pointed out fascists are rarely above bald faced lying to reach their ends. Isn't it obvious that a fascist by any other name is not really a 'socialist', anymore than a plutocrat can be a democrat? Simply lip servicing the lingo doesn't mean they've trod the boards. Don't allow yourself to be deceived by Gary Allen's/Rothbardian obfuscating misnomers and unfounded 'universals'. Socialism by definition does not equal Germany during the second world war, or Stalinism, or totalitarianism, or dictatorship.
Socialism seeks to empower labour through secular humanism, fascism seeks to entrench a plutocracy by any means available, end of.
So what's the solution for the US (or even Canada for that matter)?
NONE: it's years past too late. They're deeply indebted into indentured slavery indefinitely because their populations stupidly allowed (and are yet allowing) John Perkin's Economic Hitmen to cement ownership to anything of value they once had, and anything of value left that is yet to be discovered
^^^^^^^^anothe newbie, all of 36 weeks. probally from SALON's bunniesss section.^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hydra Approved! Hail Hydra! But Moar boot licking next time...
Which slide talks about putting private bankers in charge of the currency of the realm?
pods
odd how that got left out. the takeover would not be possible without power over the printing press... how do you buy the media? how do you take over the big corporations and control private industry? all through the printing press.
Since we already had a central bank for more than 30 years when this cartoon was done, it would certainly not, of course, be mentioned. Besides that, we have been serfs for about a century. A free man owns his labor and his person. A serf owns his person, but owes a percentage of his labor to his lord. A slave owns neither his person nor his labor. I think we are on the road to slavery. We passed serfdom around the time my grandfather was a doughboy in the Great War.
The slides repeat, gradually eroding liberty each cycle. Central banks are necessary to fund the State, lest taxation become too obvious to the tax livestock. CBs are among the first institutions esablished in the first cycle of the Road to Serfdom...usually to fund war.
Tyranny, in its many forms, can easily be seen if you are observant.
Charming.
Have any of the Zero Hedgelings ever wondered the effect on your mental and emotional brain parts from constantly exposing yourself to negativity?
Although I do get a chuckle out of this site, I'm starting to find it less and less contrarian as the days go on. It's almost as if pessimism and doom is the new normal. Yes, life is suffering...
So ensure you do not.
That is all.
It is an unfortunate coincidence that the truth is now negative.
Why so negative?
2 negatives make a ... ?
depends on the function. I find Captain America there subtracts from the overall ambiance of the site so... to answer your question, a larger negative.
better to pursue true and suffer, than accept lies and prosper. If you don't understand this, however, there is nothing i can say that will make any sense to you.
don't read it all as the only truth. In every story there are 2 sides but it pays to understand that the world isn't only rainbows and unicorns.
All I got out of it is "prepare for the worst when times are good".
And I already did.
So in a way all bases are covered now.
And ZH for me is a constant reminder that the truth is what you make out of it.
But I also agree with you in one part that being to negative isn't good for once personal mental health and nobody should forget to enjoy the moment now first and not going all in on preperation for the bad times that will come.
I did that during the first 2 years and it turned me a bid into a negative minded person. I got angry when people didn't wanted to know stuff that happened. After a while I understood that fun, family and friend always come first and the rest of the world second. And when I think about the future it's mostly orientated about the future of my wife and kids so that the current times never turn for the worst.
This weekend? Friday night I go out with friends, saturday is BBQ day with family and friends and sundays... eat drink and sleep :)
No talks about economics or politics.
This is our therapy, our release. The world is so full of bullshit and lies, but as we are well on our way down our road of serfdom, we cannot speak out loud about what we see. It is not politically correct to speak of such things in "mixed" company. So ZeroHedge it is! World of Warcraft for realists.
Preppers will be harvested like beehives are by bears.
Why? They just happen to see something "in the future." How is that in fact harm?
"Because the bear is immune to their sting and then gets their honey"?
I find it interesting that man hunts bear. And that man nurtures bees.
Last weekend was a day of trail riding with my son Saturday and archery/hiking Sunday.
The rest of the world didn't exist.
Thanks captain amurika.
please tell us the effects oh flawless one
we're not worthy
now go hump yourself.
The Road to Douchedumb
Starring Bob Hopeless !!!
Denial is the most powerful and harmful drug.
I would class self-delusion as more powerful. The effects of self-delusion are enhanced by congregating with others with the same delusion.
Flux, are you the 100mg or 200 mg of Prozac?
No...but I just fluxed a big bowl of turds....and suprisingly, you were swirling!
One man's pessimism and doom is another man's hope and change.........
Very well played, sir!
Yes, and I would not suffer more of it if I were you.
Be gone with your... Optimism is it?
flux,,,,why you so stoopid, was it too many big gulps as a kid?
Flux fucked.
Invest in Au, Ag, Pt, and Pb.
I once didn't get a job because during the job interview I had to defend the European central planning and explain why it was so great.
I kept on repeating that central planning always leads to faillure.
People like to believe it works because they like to be taken care off.
More for us if we plan it all, do for all.
The best period in my country was when we didn't have a government...
thank god it's pretty clear again we'll have another 500 days like that again as it's clear our current "government" is about to fall after 2 weeks of non agreement after the elections.