Voting – when you get right down to it – is a form of compliance. You are going along with it – as opposed to opposing it. “It” being the system that is used to interfere with your natural right to be left alone (so long as you leave others, who have the same right to be left alone) and that enslaves you by asserting its unnatural right to compel you to hand over money that by right belongs only to you (because no one else has a rightful claim to it).
Compliance is – ultimately – compliance.
Whether one complies a little or less but still complies means one is compliant. When we vote for government, we get governed. I understand the “hold the line” point of view espoused by some well-meaning people, who urge that people vote for less government – because it was my own point of view for a long time. I also understand that we’re apt to get more government when it is only those who want more government vote. But at least this getting-more-government would no longer be incremental. At least it would no longer be possible to pretend – as many do – that we will somehow vote our way out of this.
We have been voting our way into limitless government for a very long time. Longer than any of us now living have been alive. Is the steady progression toward more rather than less government not self-evident? All that can be achieved by voting again is the possibility of feeling better, briefly – until the reality sets in. Again.
Consider the most recent presidential election. Many of us – me among them and mea culpa for it – voted for Trump because we allowed our hope to cloud our reason. We actually believed that by voting for Trump, there would be less rather than more government. What did we actually get? More government – again. We got government troops deployed on American streets. We got the hard-push for a federal ID card that will be used to further cinch tight the net that we’re already caught in. We got a massive tax increase that many do not understand is a tax increase because these taxes are styled “tariffs” – as if that makes them cost us any less than a tax.
We did not get the elimination of the federal expropriation of our earnings – the income tax. People are still forced to “contribute” to Social Security (another tax by another name). We did not get the elimination of any of the multitude of pestilences that afflict us. All we got was vague talk in that general direction, which is all we ever get.
What else did we expect to get?
Voting – as it is currently structured – is like being in a room with 100 other people, half of them with no money and no compunction about taking yours and everyone given a vote as to how much of the other guy’s money they think ought to be given to them or spent on something they would like to see “funded.” This is literally what it is, with the small tweak that the voters vote for one of the 100 to be their “representative.” You are not allowed to vote to keep your money – and that everyone else keeps theirs. More finely, your vote does not matter if the others vote otherwise.
Do you suppose a good-looking woman would be ok with a vote among a group of men as to whether she “owes” them her favors? Why is it any different, fundamentally, when it comes to our money or our right to be left alone?
It isn’t, of course. But voting can make it seem like it is. It drapes a shawl of legitimacy over illegitimacy. Over morally abhorrent action. It makes theft – ordinarily something almost everyone agrees is wrong – lawful. It makes the use of violence – something that in any other context repels most people – something that people just accept as a normalcy when it is done by government. Because it was voted for. Because it is abided, even by those who voted against it – because they accept that violence becomes acceptable when everyone has had an opportunity to vote yea or nay.
It is an extremely effective form of mind control. That is why we are urged to vote – by the government. That is something worth thinking about. Most people do not seem to think about it at all.
But how would we get anything done without voting? Precisely the point. “We” are not a collective – or ought not to be sucked into thinking of ourselves in the plural. We are individuals and perfectly capable of figuring things out on our own, including mutually agreeable, cooperative things. Do you need a vote to get your friend to help you with something? No. You call him up and ask him to help – and he probably will, because he is your friend. If you are able to force him to “help” then the relationship is no longer friendly. It is the sort of relationship established by the ballot box.
De-establishing that kind of relationship requires taking other people’s right to be left in peace (as well as their money) off the ballot. That requires a private ballot – in the voting booth of one’s own conscience – to stop voting for a system that legitimizes the taking of other people’s money and abusing their natural right to be left in peace.
When enough people refuse to vote for that – without ever going near a ballot box – then the ballot box will lose its power. The power so many good people give it without understanding what they are voting for when they enter it.
. . .
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Well, Eric; I believe your mind’s a’comin to you now…at least until the next election.
Thanks, Ed!
I’m cured. It took Trump to do it, I admit. Apologies to all.
Candace says our government is Zionist Occupied:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSSURE-KQro
This is a real laugh, the Ziowhore defender finds that offensive, but the slaughtering of millions of woman and children, not offensive.
What a totally depraved sick culture we live in!
Morning, Jack –
I agree. It’s also mean and nihilistic. This is demoralizing and enraging – if you’re neither. I despise being associated with the actions of “my” government and deeply resent being compelled to “contribute” to the financing thereof. If I were more of a man, I’d build a homestead, off-grid cabin someplace and be done with it.
“Humanity is terribly flawed’ — Lord James McClinsey
This is the most meaningful comment here. Somehow “libertarians” cannot accept this and keep looking for a personified evil, such as Miriam Adelson.
Leave the poor woman alone. Do you really think that an 80yo widow, even very rich, has the power to subvert a county with the largest number of billionaires almost all of them even richer than she is?
Yes, AG –
qan others. Age does not excuse Adelson; she is not just some nice old lady. She and her husband are ardent Zionists who use their wealth to leverage the government of the United States for the benefit of the Greater Israel project. This has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents. There is lots of blood on the Adelson’s hands.
Oh, stop it, Eric. You are more intelligent than your emotional answers suggest.
You keep mindlessly bringing up “ardent zionists” as the answer to everything.
You are missing my point entirely. There is so much money in the hands of non-Jews to counter whatever bribes the Adelsons paid. So why the likes of Bill Gates or Elon Musk or even Warren Buffet – not “ardent zionists” as far as I can see – did not plump some more cash on the table in front of Trump telling him not to listen to those blood-thirsty kikes?
Did you ever think about it? Are those Non-zionist multi-zillionaires blind to what’s going on? Or are they so indifferent to what’s happening to this country?
Or, perish the thought, they are quite content with what’s going on? Or, heaven help us, wish it?
Take 2:
“Humanity is terribly flawed’ — Lord James McClinsey
LUKE 21:28
I asked Bing Ai why government is immoral:
“government and authority are inherently immoral, as they rely on coercion, suppress personal responsibility, and lead to the corruption of those in power.”
If you ask Google “why government is immoral” it gives you a huge list of reasons, try it.
So if you vote, ergo, you are sustaining immorality.
I asked Google Ai why voting is immoral, a huge response, part of it:
“Complicity with coercion: Some political philosophies, such as libertarianism or voluntaryism, argue that all government rule is based on coercion and the initiation of force. By voting, an individual delegates authority they do not inherently have (the right to coerce others) to a representative, thereby endorsing and becoming complicit in the state’s actions, including potentially unjust ones.”
————-
The source of government coercion in western culture is straight out of the Holy Bible. See Romans 13. Government initiates the use of force and so does the god of the bible and Israel. In verse after verse in the OT, Yahweh tells his people to go over the hill and kill all for having a different god or whatever. Why anyone thinks the Holy Bible is holy is beyond me, the Holy Bible is the most wicked evil book I have ever read. Trump’s administration is full of Bible believers.
————-
Since both republicons and demoncrats are bribed by Jewish money, either party is hopelessly corrupt if not downright evil. The idea that voting between Zionist whore A or B will make a difference is a delusion. Either way, voting in Amerika is sustaining Zionist evil when the entire government is taken over by Jewish interests.
Amerika is so cucked to Jewry most people won’t even talk about it because of fear. Candace does talk about it, in her latest online rant she talks about how Amerika is a Zionist Occupied Government, or ZOG. I often write it as ZOGUSA or ZOGUK, or ZOGdownunder. All western nations are ZOGged. Anyways, 10 years ago saying ZOG was a term by white supremacists only, but now it is catching on, and Candace is definitely not a white supremacist like the ADL has classified anyone saying ZOG. The ADL is full of shit, Jews run the asylum, and it is Jewish supremacists screaming hate at anyone who dares cross their bullshit narratives like the Holohoax or Global Warming. Like I always say – fuck Jews and fuck Israel, I do not care for either and if Israel gets blown away, good, because I do not give one fuck for a nation full of murderous evil Jews. The fact that Trump supports pure evil Israel is all you need to know about that fat orange fuckstein who brags he is bought and paid for whore of Miriam Adelson. Notice how not one MSM journalist dares to call that treason. Trump is an Israeli firster, the destroyer of MAGA. Many Christians are saying Trump is the antichrist. I agree, see YT channel antichrist45.
—————–
There is another damn good reason not to vote, every state uses your vote participation to sign you up for jury duty. Since I want nothing to do with cops or courts, I do not vote on that reason also.
—————
Our government and media has promoted global warming, which is a total scam, here is the current temperature map for the USA:
https://s.w-x.co/staticmaps/acttemp_1280x720.jpg?crop=16:9&width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&quality=60
It is only Nov. 10th, and a freeze is coming to Atlanta tonight. Notice not one government or media scumbag is being held accountable for promoting the CO2 driven warming hoax.
Voting for the R or D is akin to choosing Coke or Pepsi.
Elections in America are no different than a WWE match. It doesn’t matter who wins because both candidates are working for the same owners.
Every election season we hear the same old diatribe: “It doesn’t matter who you vote for as long as you vote.”
These are the truest words ever spoken in regards to politics.
And if you vote third party, you’re wasting your vote.
Back in the old days you might get a steak dinner…
Trump pardons 65-year-old Diesel mechanic who went to prison for modifying emissions systems:
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2025/11/07/trump-pardons-cheyenne-diesel-delete-mechanic-troy-lake/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&_kx=eoKQF6QLMrMg2Jzp8cxc76ZdfR13LLnQgZJGvVvY2uw.UXPtrV
Thanks, X. Another example of how DJT is the ultimate evil. /s
Probably the same folks who are rightly complaining about his usurping tarriff authority (that congress gave him) will complain that he didn’t unilaterally kill the EPA and these regulations.
What do we get when we vote? Tiburon, Commiefornia:
‘The Tiburon town council made history on Wednesday when it passed the strictest and most comprehensive tobacco and nicotine sales ban in the country. The ordinance passed unanimously, with Vice Mayor Jon Welner absent, enacting a complete ban on all tobacco and nicotine products in the southern Marin County town — including cigarettes, cigars, vapes and other e-smoking devices — as well as deliveries of any tobacco goods.’
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/bay-area-tiburon-first-in-us-tobacco-nicotine-ban-21145772.php
After all, banning weed was so successful back in the day!
Green leaf smokes GOOD.
Brown leaf smokes B-A-A-A-A-A-D-D!
Yet another thing we get when we vote for Trump: another stinking Middle Eastern military base in a new country:
‘The US is planning to establish a military base in Damascus, Syria, Reuters has reported, as the Trump administration continues to strongly back the new Syrian government that’s led by former al-Qaeda leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
‘The report said that the US will establish a military presence at an airbase on the outskirts of the Syrian capital for the purpose of enabling a security pact that Washington is attempting to broker between Israel and Syria.
‘The US military would monitor a potential deal that would include the demilitarization of areas to the south of Damascus. Officials compared it to the US monitoring of the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, which Israel has constantly violated, and the ceasefire deal in Gaza, which Israel has also been in breach of.’
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-establish-military-base-syrias-damascus
‘Former al-Qaeda leader’ — al-Qaeda [‘the base’] is an old CIA scam from twenty years ago.
‘New base in Syria’ — this is the new scam: another base, which could appropriately be named ‘America al-Qaeda’, to reinforce Israel’s regional dominance, to no benefit whatsoever of the USA.
It’s more proof that the Israel Lobby totally pulls the strings of its groveling puppet Trump. We can’t even operate our ramshackle domestic air traffic control system at full capacity. But establishing a new base in Syria to advance little Shitrahell’s interests is totally fine with the Orange Oaf and the Christian Zionist freak Pete Hegseth.
Attention, both: your Lord Jesus will say, ‘I never knew the sorry likes of you.‘
I vote but I know I’m just wasting my time. As someone probably smarter than me once said: “If voting made a difference do you think that they’d let you vote?”.
So glad I sat this one out. At least I did NOT vote for the Pentagram and the “Department of War” now deciding to be “on a (probably permanent) war footing”:
https://meaninginhistory.substack.com/p/us-on-a-wartime-footing-plus
We are so beyond screwed I don’t have words for it any longer.
Amen, MetalQueen!
I wash my hands of this evil con. And feel clean, having done so.
Well said, Eric!
Above all else, my primary moral objection that ensures that I never vote, is what you touched upon; That we have the natural right to be left alone as long as we leave others alone. By voting, we are advocating that our will be enforced on others; and giving others the pretext to do it. And doing such, how could we complain when their will is inflicted upon us, since the ‘will of the majority’ is the supposed pretext of the very system we’d be participating in by voting?
There is never an option to vote for being left alone and leaving others alone; when one votes, it is just to indicate which flavor or authoritarianism he prefers. So if enough of the mob agrees with you, you get to be counted among the majority whose will can [theoretically] be inflicted on everyone else. [Of course, in reality, no matter who wins, the majority of the same BS will continue just the same as has been the case for the last 100 years].
A good illustration of the utter absurdity of voting, and the mindset of the masses, is to listen to some of the “conservative” podcasts. “We have to rally the troops and get to it, in order to make sure the Republicans don’t lose the mid-terms. THIS IS IMPORTANT! It is the only way to stop communism!….” (LOLOL)
-That, said with a straight face, while Trump and the Benny Hill Players are in office, doing things which are no-doubt making Joe Stalin salivate in his grave. Yep…if we just vote harder! Ahhh….who are we kidding though? Let’s just admit that if those Jew Yorkers would have voted for mass-murderer mask-mandater Cuomo, or GWB-idolizer Curtis Sliwa, they could have [Richard Nixon jowl-flapping voice] prevented communism! It’s comical.
I vote for liberty. That’s a vote which can not be cast in any ballot box, because liberty is not obtained by delegating one’s personal rights and responsibilities to someone else, and enabling and legitimizing the giving of special rights and privileges to them which are crimes. (You know when you’ve made a very good point in your articles, when the AI bots start filling the comment section as they are doing here!)
I’ll start voting again when “None of the above” is added to the ballot.
and the position is left vacant when “non of the above” wins.
Yep!
Voting gets you two things
1. A chance
2. Often the lesser evil
In our little town, we now have a council that should be balanced 5-2 for those who care more for what’s best for their neighbors over their personal desires.
Sometimes it works out.
Says the fat cat, as he sits back and rakes in his $100 a month! 😀
(Watch out, buddy; I hear George Soros is planning to bribe your council with some Big Macs!)
Big Macs are tasty treats. Perhaps I could be persuaded… but it would take much more than one… that $100/month doesn’t go far.
How is it that you don’t vote and think that you are not complying while sporting a driver’s license, license plates, a social security card and paying property, income, and sales taxes–and buying the insurance and complying with all the other orders/mandates of the same governments (even wearing a mask when you are visiting friends in a hospital) that you aren’t complying with. When the government ORDERS you to vote and you don’t vote, then you will be non-compliant in my book.
I believe it is (self) destructive to frame the issue as the “have nots” voting to take your money (the reason we have a republic is to protect the rights of minorities). It seems you are complying with a view of the world that you were raised to think was “right” i.e. that you should be able to support yourself, and you think you would be able to support yourself if only “the government” wasn’t taxing you to support free loaders–even as you post that you will die because you don’t have health insurance if you get cancer/heart disease/stroke etc. Other people, including very rich people, believe that everyone cannot support themselves even if there were no taxes. They believe a just society just as it protects the rights of minorities from violence (legal rights) should protect people from dying/suffering due to lack of medical care, food, and shelter. Also to provide training/education so that they can improve their economic status/be productive. I always resisted single payer due to rationing but rationing is already implemented in health care so single payer would be cheaper (cut out insurance middleman). You believe this is the role of “charity.” I worked for Catholic Charities and their argument was (1) go ask for charity and see how much you collect (Trump is forcibly institutionalizing homeless and a Fox news reporter wanted to euthanize them), (2) charity has been regulated out of existence (you and me can’t feed the poor) including many nursing homes, hospitals, orphanages and schools (cost of compliance) and (3) people should not have to beg (imagine yourself begging–you say you will just die (many veterans with PTSD/maimed would do the same))–what would happen to a single mother who had to beg (she’d get a lot of prostitution offers (or not)) to feed her children (what happens to the children of prostitutes/drug addicts/alcoholics (ask Ellen DeGeneres)).
Many people complain about welfare to the poor, but not the welfare to the rich/connected–who is the last president that actually served in the military (did not get a waiver, but got one for his son) and yet how much do these sons spend on military and wars (while getting planes and real estate deals in return)? How much taxes do they pay?
Everyone here just accepts what they say about Mandami because he wants to raise taxes on millionaires by 2 percent and corporate tax rate to match New Jersey. Busses can’t be free (even as Eric says that cars are unaffordable and hard to park in a city (congestion)), but parks can be free (what’s the difference? How much does it cost to subsidize private firms (corporate welfare)? Why subsidize Tesla but not the ordinary commuter (fed gov’t workers get subsidized public transportation)? I don’t know if his policies will work or not (sure many/most will try to ensure he fails), but he has a happy, hopeful personality (which Reagan comes closest to in my lifetime, but he was old). He got 90,000 young people to canvas the city for him (talk face to face with voters). He doesn’t say millionaires or corporations are bad, he just says New York needs more money and the poor/middle class cannot pay it. Trump talks a good game, but his tax cuts went to the rich, the tariffs are paid by us; the military budget is $1 trillion (no audit for defense), $20 billion for Argentina (his friend) and Israel, but food stamps and medicare are cut; he flies a plane dropping crap on protestors (first amendment/us). Eric thinks he did something by voting for Trump–and he did, but it was the bare minimum. If that’s all the effort you want to put into your own government/”citizenship” and that’s the level of interest/time commitment everyone here wants to put in then no wonder the country is in trouble.
And it’s very grave trouble as Eric delineates. Police are now using drones to monitor protests and scope out calls. I believe they are trying to take cars away–first the restraints and now the drivers assist (control the population deprive mobility). I believe Trump intends to build SMART cities for US and is trying to drive a civil war by the gov’t shutdown, closing down food stamps, deploying troops. He and Stephen Miller have already tipped their hand with internal invasion/over the top reaction to Kirk assassination. Sure they want nothing better than to destroy our cities as Israel did in Gaza.
Israel is now preparing to build a SMART city on their side of the Gaza strip: hastened on by the U.S. (Kushner).
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly faced pushback from ministers during tonight’s cabinet meeting when he raised the US proposal to create a “model city” on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line in Gaza that will be demilitarized and rebuilt for Palestinians in the Strip.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/ministers-said-to-oppose-plan-to-build-model-city-for-gazans-on-israeli-side-of-yellow-line/
“Late last week, Smotrich participated in a key meeting on the initiative, approving initial budget allocations to begin preparations. “The final cost will be between $2.7 billion and $4 billion—most likely closer to the upper end. The high price reflects the intention to create a location that Palestinians would willingly move to, with plentiful food, decent living conditions, long-term shelter, medical support including hospitals and, potentially, even educational services,” an Israeli source said.”
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkvz46eiee
Israel already has a “Hebron Smart City” in West Bank. Mint Press released this week a 9-minute video on the ground there what it’s like – suggest all watch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNaCJuUDqDo
I recognize that I am complying in those ways. But the choice there is compliance – or living on the street. When that choice is applied to voting, I’ll consider living on the street.
PS: I never once wore a mask.
“They believe a just society …should protect people from dying/suffering due to lack of medical care, food, and shelter. Also to provide training/education so that they can improve their economic status/be productive.”
That’s true, but the problem is when that support is not based on free choice, but on compulsion.
You may not be aware of this, but there is plenty of research showing conclusively that universal welfare systems, since their introduction across Western countries (broadly from about 100 years ago), have managed to solve very little, while creating a plethora of new problems, like life-long and multi-generational welfare dependency.
“Many people complain about welfare to the poor, but not the welfare to the rich/connected…”
That is one of the hallmarks of the corrupt ‘fascism-lite’ system we have. The one almost nobody these days can understand has little to do with ‘free-market capitalism’, possibly the only version of which existed briefly in the USA in the second half of the 19th century.
Which, co-incidentally, was also a period of gold-backed dollar, no Fed, tiny government sector and the largest & broadest increase in living standards ever recorded anywhere.
“…Mamdami because he wants to raise taxes on millionaires by 2 percent and corporate tax rate to match New Jersey.”
But he wants to do a lot more than that. He is, after all, a ‘Democratic Socialist’, is he not?
Also, the top 1% of NYC taxpayers cover some 90% of all taxes. How much is enough?
“I don’t know if his policies will work or not (sure many/most will try to ensure he fails), but he has a happy, hopeful personality…”
His policies come from the classic Marxist textbook of wealth redistribution, rather than wealth creation. Of course they won’t work; they never have anywhere else, either.
And his ‘happy & hopeful’ personality?
Yeah, that will make being robbed, with the proceeds wasted in yet more unproductive public sector spending, so much more pleasant…
Anyway…to get back to Eric’s point:
Voting means you are freely delegating your decisions to someone else and accept to be bound by whatever this results in, rather than making your own, and accepting responsibility commensurately.
That ‘someone else’ may, at least superficially, appear to believe in many of the same things you do, but ultimately s/he is not and never will be you. Neither will that person have YOUR best interest at heart.
So when subsequently decisions are made that express Margaret Thatcher’s saying about ‘running out of other people’s money’, the ‘other people’ is you. And you have voted for paying more, unless of course you can turn into one of the parasitic classes. In which case it’s great, at least for you; never mind the infantilization this implies.
Is there any wonder then why doing so has become such a popular career choice?
Alas, all such systems must fall sooner or later, as more and more wealth producers ‘go Galt’.
We are now experiencing that terminal stage.
Not sure what you mean by “free choice” vs “compulsion” — do you mean on the part of the taxed? Old Testament says there was a tithe that everyone paid (1/10th of their income; also first fruits, when a child was born, etc.) — is that not compulsion? You say there is a whole class of multi generational welfare dependency–but you ignore that ALL societies have “classes.” US said by ability people could move up (and down), but that never meant ALL people would move up. So they tried sterilizing the feeble minded in the 1930s-1960s and yet feeble minded people were born. There is ALWAYS a low reading group. Peasants, serfs, people living on the other side of the tracks; alcoholics, drug addicts, bone lazy, stupid, easy marks, short sighted, unlucky, handicapped, maimed. Jesus said the poor will ALWAYS be with us. We don’t have Charles Dickens either or Williams Jennings Bryant and the “Cross of Gold” speech.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie:_A_Girl_of_the_Streets
This is a 20 minute interview between Jon Stewart and Bernie Sanders where Stewart is applauding Trump’s socialism — forcing companies to discount drugs on his Trump Rx (not sure how much is going into Trump’s pocket) and also making companies turn over their stock to the fed gov’t.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
Margaret Thatcher certainly didn’t mind squandering other people’s money and lives to hold onto the Falkland Islands or subsidize the filthy rich Queen of England and all her filthy rich tabloid children. But just ask the grocer’s daughter for some food for the peasants and she goes all “running out of other people’s money” on you.
“Voting means you are freely delegating your decisions to someone else and accept to be bound by whatever this results in, rather than making your own, and accepting responsibility commensurately.”
US has nuclear weapons. Person who wins the presidency controls these weapons. Whether I vote or don’t vote I can never make my own decision about the use of nuclear weapons. It is not within my control. In many states and races it doesn’t matter whether you vote or not because they are non-competitive. If there is a race where your vote could make a difference and you believe one candidate is better than the other, it would be responsible to vote because that is the ONLY way you can affect many decisions which you have no control over otherwise.
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire took 400 years–and Rome is still standing. During all that time there were leaders and led. I am not sure what kind of utopia you non-voters are talking about but to my knowledge in ALL of recorded history such a non-government has never existed (unless maybe you’re talking about the wild west and then you had to be a hotshot or else you were dead/same w/pirate society–there’s always a head of the “gang”).
“Not sure what you mean by “free choice” vs “compulsion” — do you mean on the part of the taxed?”
Of course.
There is a vast body of academic work as well as observational data, documenting how lower taxes lead to increased acts of personal philanthropy.
People are more likely to donate to charitable causes if they can do that on their own terms. They will also then usually take more interest in just where that money ends up – something that’s impossible once the government has taken it.
“You say there is a whole class of multi generational welfare dependency–but you ignore that ALL societies have “classes.””
Some societies are much more class-minded than others, but let’s accept your point.
So you consider having millions permanently on the government tit somehow an improvement?
Note that as you yourself say, in an actual capitalist society, like what has, until recently at least, existed in the USA, even people from low socio-economic background have a chance to pick themselves up and improve their lot.
This is much less likely to occur once you’re the third generation of welfare recipients. Not only due to no work ethic, but also thanks to reduced need to do so.
You also seem to imply that the ‘poor’ are helpless to change their lot, so they have no other choice but to rely on government handouts. That’s a pretty depressing and condescending viewpoint to have!
“Margaret Thatcher certainly didn’t mind squandering other people’s money and lives to hold onto the Falkland Islands or subsidize the filthy rich Queen of England and all her filthy rich tabloid children.”
Wars are never good. But sometimes one cannot be avoided.
The Falkland Islanders, who are British subjects, voted overwhelmingly to remain in the UK.
Do you think Thatcher should have left them to be taken over, against their will, by the Argentine military junta?
Should the USA have left Hawaii to the Japanese?
Keep in mind that the islands had no permanent occupation before the French, and then the British, came there.
And, this may come as a surprise to you, but the British actually like their monarchy.
Or at least they did. This may be changing, given the shenanigans of the current King and the woke-infected Princes.
Anyway, who are Americans to judge?
“But just ask the grocer’s daughter for some food for the peasants and she goes all “running out of other people’s money” on you.”
Why should it be the Prime Minister’s job to ‘provide some food for the peasants’?
Do you really think that should Thatcher not sent a fleet to the Falklands and instead somehow gave the money spent on that war to ‘the poor’, that it would mean anything, apart from her being crucified by the Opposition – and the voters – for not defending British subjects who happened to live outside the British Isles?
Why do you think that giving to some arbitrary ‘peasants’ something forcefully taken from others is a moral and ethical thing to do?
“I am not sure what kind of utopia you non-voters are talking about but to my knowledge in ALL of recorded history such a non-government has never existed…”
Utopia is just that. It does not exist.
And yes, governments came about after hunter & gatherer societies evolved into feudalism. They were organized crime outfits then and they are such now.
Have you read Etienne de la Boutie’s ‘The Politics of Obedience’?
If not, give it a go; it can easily be found as a PDF for free.
The book, thought to have been written in 1552-53, pioneers the concept of peaceful non-compliance.
While it may seem impossible these days to be non-compliant in everything the state forces us to do – in itself a sign of how ‘freed & democratic societies’ have turned into the semi-totalitarian monster they are today – not giving consent to be governed, in recognition of the fact that the act of voting changes nothing anyway, is one part of not being compliant that is still legal.
At least for now.
“They believe a just society …should protect people from dying/suffering due to lack of medical care, food, and shelter. Also to provide training/education so that they can improve their economic status/be productive.”
So you believe that a just society is based on slavery and or robbery?
Since teachers and farmers and doctors do not work for free, nor do the assets used in the practicing of their trades [Schools, farms, hospitals; medical equipment; janitors; receptionists; tractors; fuel; etc.] appear out of thin air, but must be made and supplied by others who also don’t work for free, if you believe that people have a right TO those things then you are advocating that either others be compelled to practice trades and supply equipment and facilities for no compensation [slavery] or that others be robbed to pay for those things so that some may have them for free.
If that’s your “just society” I piss on it! YOU are a perfect example of why voting is pointless- because there are so many of your ilk who advocate slavery, just so you (or those whom you presume to be incapable of sustaining themselves or living responsibly) can have free stuff. And all the while you are the very ones complaining about how you are being “taken advantage of” when not given a 6-figure slary for doing menial work. You’re a disgusting turd that somehow continues to cling to the bowl no matter how many times it’s flushed.
Excellently put, Arthur!
Honest language is how evasion is countered; how non sequiturs are exposed.
Thanks, Eric. Sadly, few seem to care about the reality of which we speak. They’d rather just use the 2% of society who can’t seem to get their acts together as an excuse to rob and control everyone.
Gotta love it- calling slavery a “just society”. I guess it’s O-K as long as it’s practiced on all people, as opposed to just knee-grows; and if the masters are Zionists and their beards instead of rich southern white guys.
It just makes me sick that these people not only exist, but that their BS has become mainstream.
I only vote in local elections to vote NO on increasing our property taxes for some boondoggle; unfortunately most of those referendums get passed anyway, the serfs just love their chains.
Here in Indiana, sometimes we get to vote on increases or new taxes. I still vote in these. The last two were actually very close (within 50 votes) of passing (the increase or the new tax). So in those cases it did make sense to vote to stop them. Undoubtedly when the waiting period is up, they will likely try again, but at least it is stopped for a couple more years.
It was particularly delicious to vote down the park district boondoggle. They were very arrogant about it, AFTER wasting millions of dollars on the first phase, and expecting us to pony up more millions for the next one.
A testicular massage from a psychopaths boot
“Policy is meaningless without power, and you can’t make change unless you win first.” – James Carville
Voting is just the final poll in a process that is supposed to come up with someone who matches our viewpoint. Problem is the people running for office never have the status quo in mind. They want to leave their mark in some meaningful way (ideally getting their portrait in classrooms next to George and Abe). Or they have a philosophy they believe. Most voters might have some idea of an ideology, but for the most part they just want to feel good about their decision. Voting NO on school lunch programs feels like maybe being a heartless Scrooge, but voting YES means that money will be pissed away on anything but feeding children. And the ballot never phrases the question like: Would you vote for a new bureaucrat (salary between $70,000 and $115,000) to be hired at every school district to implement the spending of public funds on food that will meet the absolute minimum nutritional standard, or would you rather see better use of already existing programs, charities and private entrepreneurs to feed poor children?
Personally I know which way I vote. Does it matter? Of course not. Voting becomes a game of propaganda, not civic duty. That’s why “campaign politician” is rarely the same as “in office politician.”
Humanity is terribly flawed and has had a lot of time to get it right, which we never do. To paraphrase George Carlin, this is the best we can do, folks. Bring on the asteroid.
When the topic of why I don’t vote comes up the knee jerk response is “Then you don’t get to complain.”
But I flip that logic, non-voters are the ONLY ones who can complain.
The reason is when you decided to vote you agreed to abide by the outcome.
You thought the choice is red or blue stuffed suit. However, the choice is live free of nannies or not.
You can’t say after the fact that since not enough cattle stomped their hooves in support of my preferred stuffed suit that I want to take my ball and go home. No. You have to deal with ramifications of your desire to play the game. A ball team can’t walk away from a game after the clock hits zero and say, oh, nevermind, we didn’t want to play after all. Too late, you lost.
Voters are the ones not accepting the consequences of THEIR decisions cause me to suffer in my daily activities by legitimizing the Hobbesian lesser of two evils obedience death spiral.
I want none of the above, so I reject the whole game. It may be be in fact be just a moral decision without any practical teeth not to vote. But it is a mental reinforcement, your mind doesn’t have to rationalize a discordant. You aren’t forced mentally into a game you really did not want to enter. You have no dog in this fight, you’re in fact a hostage in a corrupt system, serving a prison sentence wrapped in “social contract” upon which you never were given the choice to agree or not.
I’d happily accept full responsibility for all parts of my life if they’d agree just to leave me the hell alone.
Amen, Anon!
You write: “I’d happily accept full responsibility for all parts of my life if they’d agree just to leave me the hell alone.”
This is my motto. I don’t want anything from anyone other than respect for my right to be left free to make my own decisions and be accountable for them. No one owes me a damned thing – beyond mutual respect for our equal right to be left in peace, so long as we’re not hurting anyone by our actions.
I can’t help but believe there is something sinister on the horizon and unfortunately, this government shutdown will implement it. Some on here believe they will replay the “diaper” game. I do not believe the diaper game will ever be replayed and only the psychological impact of such a game and the large transfer of Middle Class wealth to the rich was the only reason for it.
Today the world is suffering from the cost of trying to survive. It isn’t just the US, but costs are imploding everywhere including Canada, Australia, and throughout Europe. We are watching the continuous struggle for Middle Class resources. Soon there will be two classes…ultra wealthy and extreme poverty.
I can’t help but think the government shutdown contributes into this. Why? Because, the economic meltdown must happen to complete the destruction and transfer the remaining assets of the Middle Class. Right now we are approaching a 40 day standoff (not really a standoff because they are all in on it) to introduce UBI and the social credit score. I think the point of this is to get the plebs so destitute that they will accept anything. And very much The Plandemic the citizens will not fight it.
Hey RG,
I’ll take the long drawn out unknown of the sinister horizon for a thousand if it means the whole thing ends with a whimper and not a bang. Not likely, I know, but one can dream. Read that piece of fiction on ZH yesterday about a prolonged shutdown. The one thing no one can dispute, the longer this goes on, the more legitimacy and consent of the governed TPTB lose. Thats a great thing to behold.
Just remember, either way, at some point TPTB will have make a showing in your local AO, boots on the ground, in person, and re-establish their political (in best Cartman voice) ATHORITAAAAH. At that point, everyone needs to show up and reject any and all claims made by the now illegitimate GovCo going forward. And by reject I mean reject in the most forceful, un polite manner available.
I’d be happy to take the unknown chaos of full blown collapse over the slow, certain death being imposed on us by the money power. The money changers, and temple priests don’t want this. Thats why the GovCo shutdown will likely end soon. And, if they can hold the dollar together until the end of next summer, the pandemic 2.0 will be incoming. Never mind what happened last time. I still hear people, even on EP autos saying they recently caved, and wore the mask because, ‘Muh Dr. Dr. sumpin-sumpin.’
After all, why wouldn’t TPTB use what worked last time? No one has gone to jail, No one has been assassinated for their crime against humanity. Fake flu, ebola, monkey pox, or whatever, is the best way to print tens of millions of Chinese mail in ballots and create their brave new blue wave. To reiterate, for the umpteenth time, stolen elections, bought by the highest fake and gay bidders have consequences.
Hi Norman,
One can never use the same playbook because people have a tendency to catch on. Psychopaths only win when the populace lives in fear. The Plandemic’s only objective was to transfer a massive amount of wealth, which they accomplished. Now, they put the nail in the coffin, but the only way to do that is to bring people to the point of destitution. How, do they accomplish that? Lay-off the workers, shutdown the government, increase prices, and load the plebs, municipalities, and commercial enterprises with unsubstantiated debt.
When people are hungry, losing their homes, and cannot afford the basic necessities they bring in the Mark of the Beast. They dangle the carrot…”give us your privacy and access to your everyday life and we give you some moldy bread, horrible healthcare, and a tiny home, but hey, you are alive.”
I didn’t read the article on ZH yesterday, but I have watched people starting to break. As time continues on and the desperation becomes more apparent I can see an UBI being established. The current layoffs (YTD) are approaching 1.2 million, which is probably on the low end. AI and robotics will be the determining factor that these jobs will not return nor will many of the government jobs be reinstated. We see what is happening in the UK with the mandatory digital ID and the new biometric requirements throughout all of Europe. We are foolish if we think that the USSA does not share a similar fate.
Yes RG, they have to bring people to the point of destitution to accomplish their goals. Problem is, it’s a fine line, a double edged sword of sorts. The further along the road to ruin we travel, the more things people lose. But its not just a loss of economic viability we’re talking about. It’s proportional, maybe only somewhat, but people are also losing respect for authority, billionaires, politicians, and the systems we previously placed unlimited trust in.
The greatest loss is the consent of the governed, which started under Covid. That underpins it all. At a certain tipping point the promise/threat of UBI, and CBDC will ring hollow in enough people that chaos may abound.
I’m seeing people out here becoming more resilient, not less as things slowly fall apart. Out of the hottest fire comes the strongest steel. TPTB have forgotten this simple proverb, or, as masters of the universe they imagine themselves, perhaps their arrogance makes them feel they can just pass a bill or issue an edict suspending the universal laws of alchemy. Whichever way it goes, its a helluva time to be alive.
Good morning RG!
Here’s your wake up call: We are past the end of the 80 year debt cycle. It’s looking like the “extend and pretend” policy that was implemented in 2008 has picked up a few more years of fiddling for the powers in charge, at the expense of the dollar’s purchasing power. Most of us libertarians understand this, nothing new here. But what about the masses that have no comprehension of economics? Will enough people demand a UBI system be put in place? I could see some bureaucratic idea like perpetual bonds implemented to “pay” for it, just to keep the plates spinning for another election cycle or two, and of course the people in favor of UBI will conveniently forget about ending all the welfare programs it was designed to replace. And what of the corporate handouts and market meddling like SNAP and military spending? Does Boeing get UBI too? What about foreign owned brands like Bayer?
I have to think most of the eggheads in Washington understand what’s happening. Maybe they believe they can break the cycle, maybe they are biding their time until the thing collapses. FWIW I think most of them are of the latter mindset, letting outsiders and charlatans take power so they can be scapegoated when the crash finally does happen. But there’s enough interest in trying to prevent collapse that concepts like UBI and playing the class card are still out there in the aether. We see this conflict all the time, along with the “Keep calm and trust the system” people who aren’t paying attention to the emotional outbursts of the (useful) idiots.
I honestly think it’s bigger than just the public facing fiat grift. To understand what I’m saying you’ve had to have read or seen The Great Taking by David Webb. I don’t know if what he says about counterparty risk and collateral is air tight, but if it’s not absolutely true legally it certainly seems to be their playbook.
The part about “You own nothing” may already be true and they’re easing everyone to accept the poison pill that they are going to take everything by hook or by crook. Webb’s premise is that literally everything is multiply leveraged, even if you have a slip of paper that says you have title someone in the chain of custody is still carrying the asset as their liability so the safe harbor exemptions, bankruptcy and protected class changes will kick in so you get a legal documentation that someone higher up has asserted their claim to your property.
My guess is it’s going to coupled with a dollar crash. They’ll say “Sorry, we don’t know who owns what so we’re going to pool everything, determine it’s value and you’ll get a monthly stipend based on this impossible to comprehend formula of what you can (to our satisfaction) prove you owned prior to the crash minus what you carried as debt and adjusted based on what you have been deemed to need now.” This will be your UBI and in our infinite benevolence we will give you the choice to buy back your assets or buy food. We will, of course, be coming door-to-door to audit your documents and record your physical belongs, leaving just what you need, taking what we determine you don’t.
That already happened on a limited scale in 2008 and Bear Sterns. The counter-parties were made whole on positions that should have been risk exposed mostly due to the convoluted options and derivatives that evolved over time. Instead of taking the man-years of accounting and untangling, the FED just cut everyone a check and moved on. But like a bloody towel at the safe house, that’s just the sort of thing that brings the anger to a head.
Occupy Wall Street didn’t go away, it became another behind the scenes institution. And thanks to the Internet echo chamber it creates more anger and frustration that opportunistic politicians can leverage for their own power grabs.
Yes, its being totalitarian tiptoed out this time. By 2030 the cull will be on.
Penultimate graf: ‘in the voting
bothbooth of one’s own conscience’Eric notes that we did not get the elimination of the income tax, but rather a sharp tax hike via tariffs. It’s a clever tactic. Importers actually write the checks to pay tariffs, not consumers. I paid plenty of them, when I imported steel from Asia. And the resulting price hikes, passed on to consumers, are disguised within the general inflationary trend caused by Federal Reserve currency counterfeiting.
If people don’t get it yet that the R-party wing of the Uniparty is all for the health of the welfare/warfare state, then they are not paying attention. Trillion dollar War Department budget? Check. Bombing Third Worlders’ fishing boats to escalate the War on Drugs? Check. [Nixon flashes a fleeting smile, as he shovels shit for Satan]. ‘Investing’ in state industries, such as chip making? Check.
Your typical Rotary Club RINO just luuuvvvvvvs Big Gov. Similarly, the D-party communists now replacing them — many with MICIMATT backgrounds, such as Gov. Abigail Spanberger [ex-CIA] and Gov. Mikey Sherrill [ex-Navy] — also luv Big Gov, but for different ideological reasons.
Hell, even I’m a leech on Big Gov. Last weekend I wrote a 128-page submittal to obtain a six-figure grant for our town. When it was rejected, I phoned up the gatekeeper — not to spew rage, but rather to wheedle, flatter, compliment and commiserate. In response, he sent me a gold mine — the unwritten, internal criteria which defeat most applicants. So this weekend I’m writing it all over again, to extract a pound of flesh from Big Gov to benefit real people in our little town. As long as that’s the game, I’ll show up to play.
Thanks for the copy edit, Jim – just fixed!
In the next election I will be voting.
I will vote in person.
I will sign in and receive the ballot.
Then I will tear it up in front of everyone.
Nancy Pelosi will approve.
Will the people there approve or disapprove.
Will it end there or will I end up in court or jail.
Stay tuned.
Amen, Nomoregames!
I’m in Virginia – and I feel clean having not participated in the recent election. Spanberger won. But not with my complicit endorsement of her winning.
I voted on Tuesday, but it was a protest vote. Everything was gerrymandered and there was no real choice. In my little rural town everyone was a “Republican” running unopposed. Actually they were a little clique of friends and family who had gamed the process, the “election” was just a fait accompli. So I wrote in Adolf Hitler and Zohran Mamdani just to fuck with them.
In the city (outside my jurisdiction, of course) everything was gerrymandered Democrat. The guy who “won” had no Republican opponent and was basically coronated when he won the Democrat primary earlier in the year. Again, a fait accompli.
This is a trend I have noticed recently, it’s not simply that there is no difference between Republican and Democrat, it is that Republican and Democrat have self-segregated and only run in guaranteed elections.
I think this was true even in Virginia, there was never really any doubt that Spanberger was going to win based on the preponderance of the blue vote in the cities. Even the Jones election was not competitive. I’m sure all the Republicans “won” in the small town elections and county west of I-77 though, but there’s no Democrats there anyway.
In Roman Catholicism, supplicants often light “votive” candles to petition Mary or one of the saints. It’s essentially an act of prayer. Both “votive” and “vote” are etymologically derived from the Latin word votum, which means a vow or wish. From this perspective, voting is a type of supplicatory prayer to a “god” (i.e. politician) to grant the devotee an answer to his prayer. In other words, voting is a religious act for people who still believe in the religion of government.
What do we get when we vote? Nancy Pelosi.
Today the New York Slimes carries a hagiography of the retiring 85-year-old. It begins thusly:
A Light in Very Dark Days: Nancy Pelosi and AIDS
As the first female speaker of the House announced her retirement, she was remembered back home for showing up at a terrifying moment when others turned away.
As you might guess, this is somewhat distorted history. Nancy’s closest supporters remember her best on another dark day, 9/11, when she courageously led them in singing Hatikvah. It’s the national anthem of Israel, the country that did it — and whose five dancing Israelis celebrated their triumph in Jersey City as the fallen buildings smoldered across the Hudson River.
Just for good measure, the Slimes’ lede photo features Nancy parading in gay old San Francisco in a convertible with a rainbow flag, bearing a rainbow fan in her left land and a rainbow-painted ‘hammer of justice’ in her right.
Death to the Lügenpresse.
To be fair to Nancy Pelosi, the rainbow hammer was Paul’s.
The long time US rep (democrat of course) in my district finally retired a few years ago (thankfully not waiting until he was 85!). He was one of the most corrupt congressmen out there (quite an accomplishment to be one of the worst right?). Instead of spending the rest of his life in prison where he belongs, he married a former staffer (that he was banging of course) thirty years his junior. I imagine she will collect his pension for decades after he dies of course…..
Never knew one of Mrs.Pelosi’s achievements is having learned Hebrew – so she can sing Hatikvah in public and recklessly expose her handlers in the most important moment 🙂 .