States engage not only in conquest, plunder, and oppression, but also—in order to create conditions in which the populace is rendered less likely to resist a state’s abuses or rebel against it—in pervasive bamboozlement. Those who support the state ideologically tend to engage in chronic misrepresentation of what the state does and how it does it. So, not only war—the characteristic state action—but statism in general makes truth the first casualty of its claims, proposals, programs, and projects.
Tag: order
Who’s Afraid of Russian Propaganda?
If we believe the people who claim to be so concerned about Russian Facebook activity, we really ought to be concerned about something much deeper: the apparent fragility of American society. For if the Russians can strike a propaganda blow comparable, as some have ludicrously said, to Pearl Harbor and 9/11, isn’t that also true for any number of domestic websites across the political spectrum?
Building Walls
We can’t keep up with our infrastructure needs, yet we are committed to building thousand of miles of walls on highways and along borders. Your tax dollars at work.
If You Build It They Won’t Come
This morning we ate breakfast at a McDonald’s restaurant in Lafayette, Indiana. You had to put your order in at an automated kiosk. But to take care of the people who were confused by these kiosks there was one cashier on duty to take manual orders. There were no people ordering at the kiosks. There were lines of people ordering from the cashier.
Hand Waving
My field is computer science, the home of the uncanny valley. There is much hand waving devoted to the navigation of the uncanny valley. There are far too many dabblers in robotics and virtual reality who want artificial general intelligence (AGI) to be a thing. As a matter of confirmation bias, they want AGI to be true — they are doing wishful thinking about it.
The Students Being Promoted in the Media
These kids opinions are being marketed as if they are knowledgeable and representative of reality. They aren’t. They represent themselves. However, the reason we are hearing them is because their opinions are opinions that people in the media desire for you to hear. The narrative wasn’t created due to the shooting (like is being inferred). The students were chosen for the narrative.
That’s Not Feminism: 3 Ways Women Advocate For Their Own Oppression
Something I often see in the feminist movement (and I am a feminist!) is women demanding for something that appears on the outside will liberate them, but in reality, it only furthers their oppression. Usually, the very nature of the thing they are asking for, the very concept of it is bred from patriarchal ideals and ways of thinking.
Immigration Enforcement: Just as Bad for Americans as it is for Immigrants
The whole idea of “immigration enforcement” is bad for immigrants and natives alike. It violates the rights of both groups while damaging the American economy and making us all poorer. These agencies and their activities are a repudiation of America itself. Time to de-fund and eliminate them.
Prisons are Stupid and Wrong
If you lock someone away as a result of an accident that the State has decided was a “crime”, you’ve shut the barn door after the horse ran away. Worse than that, you’ve locked the horse out of the barn and thrown it to the wolves. The horse will either be eaten, or it will become a wolf in order to survive. This is why prisons are actually Criminal University; training facilities to teach the socially rejected how to commit more and worse actual crimes. Prisons are a net negative.
Statism is Weakness of Character
Recently I saw where someone was told to “go live in the woods” when he said he believed all human interactions should be voluntary and this was why he didn’t “do” politics. Really.