That's my little epiphany. Hi. My name is Zodiac and I'm a registered Republican and a libertarian conspiracy nut. I was already right-of-center when I submitted my formal application to the One Party to vote for Ron Paul in the primaries so I don't consider it deceptive (not like it would have stopped me.) I've read conspiracy blogs for years and have occasionally managed to show people the light. Years before the term 'blog' was ever uttered by the MSM. A bonus to reading them is that you find out stuff months before the general public does (the stuff they become privy to through the MSM at all.) FYI, the bee disappearance is due to genetically modified crops, and tossing aspartame, sodium benzoate and HFC will improve your health. I am wondering if tyranny shouldn't be embraced. Damn IE doesn't cache what I've written and my nearly-complete post got ate when I pressed the Backspace key! Let's start from the beginning. I'd like to form a political party. It will be based on the philosphy I will try to outline and hope to have the opportunity to elaborate on. The concept of a free society functioning as intended is contingent on its citizens being capable of independant thought. Time and again, humanity has demonstrated a lack of this essential capacity. Let's call it Antilibertarianism. It rejects the notion of a free society being achievable due to a number of factors. It seeks to enslave all of humanity for the good of mankind. Now if I'm a libertarian conspiracy nut, I think everyone is a slave anyway already. What we'd be doing here is dropping the pretense. More later. For now, I have formed a social group for like-minded individuals. Naturally there will be a flurry of requests to join but rest assured I will give each one a thorough looking-over.
Freedom is slavery; slavery is bliss; bliss is ignorance; ignorance is freedom. Mr. Zodiac, I would be honored to join your party.
If none of our thoughts are independant, where are they coming from? Zod? And what makes you and the rest of your hypothetical ruling elite any better than the rest of humanity?
The band DEVO said something similiar: "Freedom from choice is what we want - freedom of choice is what we got." So seeing as how the level of takers (pessimistic victims) is expanding inversely proportional to the level of givers (productive optimistic citizens) we are about to reach the "tipping point" anyway.
"Epiphany", always a red flag for steaming bullshit ahead, class. To the point, and punchier. The rest amounts to....
Freedom works just fine if you're not a libertarian and therefore are capable of taking into account the fact that no man is an island and that an awful lot of the things we do with only ourselves in mind have significant external consequences. When the government sets rules that force people to take external costs into account that's the government allowing freedom, not impinging thereupon. Of course not all government rules are properly designed to mitigate collective action problems and thereby allow people to act freely within the rules in a way that actually does no harm to others (e.g. anti-marijuana laws, laws that enshrine fear of teh gay, etc.). Still, when "freedom" doesn't work it's because that freedom isn't, in fact, free, and imposes significant costs on outside actors.
When I conquer the Yankee gubmint, political parties will be banned and politicians will be required to submit an actual plan for the voters' consideration.
Yes but it would be more meritocratic in structure than it sounds. That's a little messed up. I would have given my blessing to have this thread locked or deleted, but I revealed a bit of personal info that I otherwise wouldn't have, and in a far more relaxed manner to boot. Now it's all fair game in the RR thanks to a troll's post and a suspicious official's response.
"My version of society" doesn't make an argument equivalent to yours, demanding that there is a person or people whose perception ought to be recognised as superior. So I ask again - what makes this imagined class of rulers better than the rest of us that gives them the right to rule over us? And the question applies whther they're as monstrous as Stalin or as benevolent as Gandhi.
I suppose the same right that makes some people generals and others sergeants. Ability, competence, whatever you prefer.
Give everyone a rifle and basic infantry training with a focus on guerrilla and anti-armor tactics. Make tyrannicide legal, but murder illegal. They'll eventually figure it out.