tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post5538760104455105443..comments2023-11-05T04:53:34.346-08:00Comments on Unqualified Reservations: OLXII: what is to be done?Mencius Moldbughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16472157249344139282noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-14715965058050995532009-03-02T22:20:00.000-08:002009-03-02T22:20:00.000-08:00^^ nice blog!! thanks a lot! ^^徵信, 徵信社, 徵信, 徵信社, 徵...^^ nice blog!! thanks a lot! ^^<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.taipei-detective.org.tw/" REL="nofollow" TITLE="徵信">徵信</A>, <A HREF="http://www.taipei-detective.org.tw/" REL="nofollow" TITLE="徵信社">徵信社</A>, <A HREF="http://www.taoyuan-detective.org.tw/" REL="nofollow" TITLE="徵信">徵信</A>, <A HREF="http://www.taoyuan-detective.org.tw/" REL="nofollow" TITLE="徵信社">徵信社</A>, <A HREF="http://www.taichung-detective.org.tw/" REL="nofollow" TITLE="徵信">徵信</A>, <A HREF="http://www.taichung-detective.org.tw/" REL="nofollow" TITLE="徵信社">徵信社</A>, <A 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democracy is that factions contest for resources. Hello? That's the problem with <I>people</I>, and as with most libertarians, your problem is that you just fucking hate the rest of us.<BR/><BR/>So how are you different from the "democrats" who wish to mould their people? The only difference I can see is that they want to make us loveable, while you're content to feel superior to us.Dr Zenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14447633362204112316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-62520410774363770642008-07-08T23:10:00.000-07:002008-07-08T23:10:00.000-07:00""Everyone knows" they said "that the fellows in R...""Everyone knows" they said "that the fellows in Rome don't want us to live like human beings. There are hailstorms, landslides, droughts, malaria and...the State. These are inescapable evils; such there always have been and there always will be. They make us kill off our goats, they carry away our furniture, and now they're going to send us to the wars. Such is life!"<BR/><BR/>"The fourth national war of the peasants was brigandage and here, too, the humble Italy was historically on the wrong side and bound to lose. The brigands had neither the arms forged by Vulcan nor the heavy artillery of the government troops. Even their gods were powerless: of what avail was a poor Madonna with a black face against the Ethical State of the Neapolitan followers of Hegel?"<BR/><BR/>- CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI, by Carlo Levi<BR/><BR/>Of course, there is nothing to be done, as this series of articles - and, especially, the truly, uh, helpful and reasoned comments threads - makes clear enough. (People who feel the need - perhaps for purposes of extra added scientificness - to write "hominid" for "human being" are especially inspiring.)jshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14649905402946783306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-42535755317337259462008-07-08T12:44:00.000-07:002008-07-08T12:44:00.000-07:00These are not "thought experiments", but games. Yo...These are not "thought experiments", but games. You are having way too much fun to be taken seriously. You seem to be writing in the wrong form; perhaps poetry is in fact your form. Because, repeat, these rearrangements of history, standard and exotic, fresh and stale, are not thought experiments, as you seem to fancy they are. They are just big cereal boxes taken down from the shelf and put back in less order, and you haven't wiped the milk off your bib. Sorry for that image, but this is the point: imagery is all you really have yourself. And it is not anything like the imagination required to seize and hold history. Yours is more like the imagination required to play a video game--as indeed you are quite the "child of the hour" (to quote from that underground classic: The Modern Epoch, http://stagepoetrycompany.typepad.com/).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-40053015891796693412008-07-08T12:39:00.000-07:002008-07-08T12:39:00.000-07:00These are not "thought experiments", but games. Yo...These are not "thought experiments", but games. You are having way too much fun to be taken seriously. You seem to be writing in the wrong form; perhaps poetry is in fact your form. Because, repeat, these rearrangements of history, standard and exotic, fresh and stale, are not thought experiments, as you seem to fancy they are. They are (and this is admirable enough) big cereal boxes taken down from the shelf and put back in less order, and you haven't wiped the milk off your bib. Sorry for that image, but this is the point: imagery is all you really have yourself. And it is not anything like the imagination required to seize and hold history. Yours is more like the imagination required to play a video game--as indeed you are quite the "child of the hour" (to quote from that underground classic: The Modern Epoch, http://stagepoetrycompany.typepad.com/).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-61138679116757931942008-07-08T10:27:00.000-07:002008-07-08T10:27:00.000-07:00To sfg's comment on European wars of the 19th cent...To sfg's comment on European wars of the 19th century: yes, they did have them, but from 1815 until 1914, they fell typically into two categories, neither of which was comparable to the great ideological wars of the twentieth century. There were colonial wars, such as the British fought in India, Afghanistan, and South Africa, or the French did in Algeria. Then there were wars between two or more continental European nations. Prussia fought many of these: against Austria-Hungary, against other German principalities, against Denmark, against France. These were brief; the Austro-Prussian war was called the "Seven Weeks' War," while the Franco-Prussian war lasted a little over ten months. Both colonial and continental wars were relatively small in scale and were fought by professional armies. <BR/><BR/>One of the minor but noteworthy aspects of the American War Between the States was the curiosity displayed about it by European militaries. Many - notably British, German, and French - dispatched numerous observers, for the very good reason that two generations had passed in Europe since the last war of comparable dimensions (the Napoleonic war). In the mean time, military technology had changed dramatically: the smoothbore flintlock that had been the common soldier's usual weapon had been replaced by rifled weapons on the percussion system, some of which were breechloaders and/or repeaters; smoothbore cannon firing spherical balls or grapeshot were being supplanted by rifled artillery firing a variety of more sophisticated shells; rail supplemented horse-drawn transport on land, while steam ships and ironclads were replacing wooden sailing vessels. The European militaries had all these advances, too, but had not experienced their use by two large and comparably trained forces over a vast geographic area. They were not to do so until 1914, by which time technology had made war even more deadly.<BR/><BR/>As for western Europe's high standard of living and "most democratic" political arrangements (I should rather say "most bureaucratic") - we need to ask how much of this might have been possible had there not been a Pax Americana in which the U.S. taxpayer bore most of the expense of providing western Europe's military defense. Its condition of being "too weak" to have more wars seems to me to be largely an artefact of American policy. Had this not been what it was, the western European countries would either have had to pay for their own defense (making their extensive welfare states unaffordable) or would have had to capitulate to Soviet domination, either as satellites or via "Finlandization." In either case, western European "social democracies" would not have developed as they have done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-85021167002950716422008-07-08T08:28:00.000-07:002008-07-08T08:28:00.000-07:00Here's a post by some guy talking about roughly th...<A HREF="http://www.seangabb.co.uk/flcomm/flc047.htm" REL="nofollow">Here's a post</A> by some guy talking about roughly the same thing as MM is, although not in such extreme terms. Nonetheless, he has roughly the same view of the modern state as MM does, although he does not use MM's term "Cathedral". He proposes fast action (which, in Britain anyway, is theoretically possible if the Conservatives got a majority because of the way the parliamentary system works). The Cathedral would be fired, and inasmuch as more of Britain's Cathedral is formally in govt employ, that would probably work better there than here. WHat I found interesting was this bit, about the effect of massive, fast action against large numbers of people:<BR/><BR/><I>The chief purpose is to destroy the Enemy Class. Moving as fast as we can, we must abolish as much as we can of its institutional means of action and support. What makes a sinking ship such good drama is the collapse of hierarchy and every other relationship that it sometimes involves. The connections that normally hold people to each other in effective groups are severed, and what was a stable society is dissolved into a terrified mob—some fighting desperately to get into the few lifeboats, others clinging to broken spars, others drowning in quiet despair. That is what we should be planning to do to the Enemy Class. Dealing with one institution at a time sounds the more sensible and moderate approach. In fact, it would only lead to a series of set piece battles, in every one of which the Enemy Class could deploy its full weight against us. The general shipwreck that I suggest is far more likely to succeed. People who are on the dole, or working 14 hours a day in telesales to pay mortgages—and whose friends and contacts are nearly all in the same position—will have lost their ability to oppose or delay us. Their verbal opposition, though loud, would be no louder than if we did nothing. So long as we kept our heads, any violence could be easily suppressed.</I><BR/><BR/>Although I think he's wrong about people on the dole. They've got all the time in the world for political agitation. The dole is a key part of the Cathedral in delivering voters.<BR/><BR/>Compare the above to the description of 1980s <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogernomics" REL="nofollow">"rogernomics"</A> reforms in New Zealand. NZ is a case worth studying as it is about the only example I know of, of a modern welfare state reforming itself substantially in a non-progressive direction.Leonardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12933465055957555595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-58290134588833016992008-07-08T06:13:00.000-07:002008-07-08T06:13:00.000-07:00His mad what, genius?His mad yo momma!<I>His mad what, genius?</I><BR/><BR/>His mad yo momma!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-59657743307198914152008-07-07T20:48:00.000-07:002008-07-07T20:48:00.000-07:00Mnuez: Mencius, your mad.His mad what, genius?<I>Mnuez: Mencius, your mad.</I><BR/><BR/>His mad what, genius?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-21274869528625260182008-07-07T06:05:00.000-07:002008-07-07T06:05:00.000-07:00Mnuez: you could argue why he's nuts instead of ju...Mnuez: you could argue why he's nuts instead of just saying it.<BR/><BR/>My main problem with this sort of thing is that, yes, the people are stupid, and the elite is only sometimes stupid. Unfortunately, the elite is also usually self-interested and will try to bilk the public wherever possible. Did we really have fewer wars under the Hapsburgs, Tudors and Hohenzollerns? Seems to me the Euros were having wars all the time until after WWII they got too weak to have any more. I'd also like to point out that the most democratic countries are in Western Europe, and those have the highest standard of living. Bush's idiotic Iraq adventure may well be brought to a close by term limits; if Hitler had had to stand for re-election he might have been out the door in 1943 and the Germans might have kept large pieces of Poland and Czechia. <BR/><BR/><I>Bad government isn't even CLOSE to being the leading cause of death and misery. A much more plausible candidate might be cultural, having to do with our failure to figure out how to actually increase the number of effective scientists except through a very small number of apprenticeships to existing effective scientists, nor to notice this fact.</I><BR/>I'm curious: what role does American anti-intellectualism play in this, do you think?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-2967101205595135072008-07-06T21:32:00.000-07:002008-07-06T21:32:00.000-07:00So perhaps nothing can be done. We should just ben...<I>So perhaps nothing can be done. We should just bend over and enjoy it.</I><BR/><BR/>Bingo!<BR/>1) Things really aren't so bad here in Vinland; now maybe they're about to get a whole lot worse, but maybe not. Prophets of doom have got a long and spotty record, so we'll see.<BR/>2) There is nothing any individual can do. There are 300+ M of us; ever hear the expression "piss in an ocean of piss?"<BR/>3) Even if by some miracle neocameralists did gain the power to implement MM's vision, intellectual gurus and their earnest, well-intentioned followers have an absolutely hideous track record running societies. Yeah, I know, <I>you</I> won't be running anything. Well, the Communists said the same thing. Heck, they still say it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-74157223848899357522008-07-06T14:44:00.000-07:002008-07-06T14:44:00.000-07:00Mad? Not at all. However, political science - or w...Mad? Not at all. However, political science - or whatever we want to call what MM is trying to practise - is today about where medicine was some centuries ago. The capacity to diagnose diseases correctly was developed long before the ability to cure them successfully. Cures have taken much cogitation, background research, and experimentation - often unsuccessful - to bring about. Hippocrates was a good diagnostician, but the best that could be said of his treatments is that they were largely ineffectual. Some later additions to the physician's armamentarium were as likely to kill as to cure.<BR/><BR/>As I have read this blog it has appeared to me time after time that MM has diagnosed one or another aspects of political pathology with brilliant perception. Whether his prescriptions can succeed is anyone's guess. We would do well to recall the maxim of Paracelsus, that the main difference between a medicine and a poison is the dose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-89684360705960851832008-07-06T09:35:00.000-07:002008-07-06T09:35:00.000-07:00mnuez, I don't understand the timing, This latter...mnuez, I don't understand the timing, This latter post has been mostly interrogative, right? MM is mad because of the questions he asks? I'd think one of the last two or three Open Letters is much better evidence of madness than this survey-type thing....<BR/><BR/>I'd say MM is playful rather than mad, and that if he has a secret, it's that he believes that libertarians and reactionaries need brainstorming more than anything else. It's just that this isn't his stormiest post, which is why I'm surprised it is now that you've chosen to respond this way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-40535288565277668472008-07-05T22:27:00.000-07:002008-07-05T22:27:00.000-07:00In the event that this is all a joke, a personal c...In the event that this is all a joke, a personal challenge or a response to some dare: Haha, you got me. I considered it possible (and around 70% likely) that this series is mainly serious. That said, and on the assumption that you <I>are</I> in fact serious with this series...<BR/><BR/>Mencius, your mad.<BR/><BR/>To detail how I "know" that your mad, complete with evidence of the frightening illogical leaps that you're prone to upon which you then build edifices that would make that Babylonian revolutionaries against the Lord seem like servile ants - would be to legitimize your madness as potentially Not Mad; as something requiring "evidence" and "examples" for your madness to be logically established. The levels of insanity that you've recently reached deserve no such legitimization, they're insane on their very face to anyone who isn't a believer in the strange magical religion that you've invented for yourself. Unfortunately, of course, you happen to be <I>precisely</I> the sort of person who <I>can</I> (and easily!) gain followers for the wild and wacky religion that he dreamt up some long day and fanatically convinced himself of it's truth. So be it. Let it be noted that I was of the first to call it.<BR/><BR/>mnuez<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>As an irrelevant aside, you're one of the most brilliant people I've ever come across. Your knowledge is so awesome that it stacks up higher than I can tell, your analysis yields some stunningly brilliant insights (and phrased so deliciously one can't help but feel emotional about it), your freedom of thought, spirit and moral preference showcases you as one of the exceedingly few hominids worthy of being called a human (nay, even of being called "alive") and the amount of exceedingly pleasant hours that I've spent on tangents to which you've directed me (both in terms of external reading as well as in terms of my own thoughts) leave me very very seriously in your debt.<BR/><BR/>You're still mad.mnuezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10328856077944673860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-44488419697507569202008-07-05T12:17:00.000-07:002008-07-05T12:17:00.000-07:00Here’s an idea. States that are dissatisfied with...Here’s an idea. States that are dissatisfied with the degree of tampering by Washcorp, such as Oklahoma:<BR/><BR/> “STATE OF OKLAHOMA <BR/>2nd Session of the 51st Legislature (2008) <BR/>HOUSE JOINT <BR/>RESOLUTION 1089 By: Key <BR/>AS INTRODUCED <BR/>A Joint Resolution claiming sovereignty under the <BR/>Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United <BR/>States over certain powers”<BR/><BR/>Can form state sponsored militias. They can even have a draft and issue military style firearms. They can stipulate that the militia is for state border defense and will never be stationed overseas. States bordering on Mexico could station forts on the border.<BR/><BR/>If political power is ultimately backed up by a gun, a State with an independent mind (Texas?) can form State sponsored militias. The Feds could issue a lot of orders to the State but would they ever order the Marines and F-16’s in over a policy dispute such as remittance of funds to Washington that will only come back as revenue sharing. State military bases, state armored cars, soldiers that are our own 17 year old sons operating under dueful legimitate political and military authority. I think it would be a way to inject a little Federalism into Washcorp and a little competition into the 50 sovereigns we have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-22115176323436954082008-07-05T10:48:00.000-07:002008-07-05T10:48:00.000-07:00I think mithcell had it right. Any real change wi...I think mithcell had it right. Any real change will need outside support from the reactionary governments (China, Russia, Saudi Arabia) that hold the USGs debt. <BR/><BR/>Somebody should start an anti-NGO NGO to "lobby" for the rights of foreignor contries (Sudan, Burma) to run their own affairs. Call it "The Sovereignty Project." <BR/><BR/>It will not be effective on changing foreign policy but it can introduce "the cause" to the bond holders. When the debts come due they will let us get all the Quakers! Besides it would be fun to defend the Burmese Junta. What did they ever to us?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-39450857374418460072008-07-04T20:20:00.000-07:002008-07-04T20:20:00.000-07:00In my opinion, the most important thing to be done...In my opinion, the most important thing to be done is to think clearly about what makes a good reactionary. Are we going to be like Kuehnelt-Leddihn (pro-ideology)? Or Kirk (anti-ideology)? Do we support incremental change, or hard reboot? And if not both, why not? (The latter is a particularly burning question in Blodeland.) <BR/><BR/>Let us try to define: What is heresy to a reactionary? Is it the open borders stance on immigration? Political correctness? Support for taxpayer-funded insurance? The reason this is important is, if too many things are heresy, the tent is too small. If nothing is heresy, you end up with the Republican Party. <BR/><BR/>Try out this assertion for plausibility:<BR/><B>The primary tenet of the reactionary is the assertion that people are not all equal.</B> Never mind the eyes of the law or the eyes of God, I'm talking about <I>our eyes</I>. One man is not necessarily as good as another, and we have a responsibility to discriminate between good and bad not just in isolated acts, but in human character. <BR/><BR/>Never mind the universal frame of reference. Look at the frames of reference held by the individuals who build our civilization, who gave us geometry and air conditioning and germ theory - they did not regard all humans as equal, and <I>they could not have built a civilization out of a world of hut-dwelling illiterates if they had.</I><BR/><BR/>Start with the simple assertions, and try them out on your open-minded friends IRL and on the web. Don't start by reading them all these open letters (not unless you're both trapped in broom closet with web access for six days). <BR/><BR/>"Are you so sure it is "arrogant" to say that law-abiding citizens are better than criminals?"<BR/><BR/>"Are you so sure everyone could learn to be a physician if they just had 12 years of public instruction and the chance to win competitive scholarships to an affirmative action-riddle higher education system?"<BR/><BR/>"Are you so sure it would be good if everyone were a physician?"<BR/><BR/>"Are you so sure monarchists and Nazis are the same thing?"<BR/><BR/>"If sticks and stones may break our bones but names may never harm us, why is an accusation of racism treated as being equal in severity to a severe beating or rape?"<BR/><BR/>Don't let up with the common sense! Ever. If you do make a new reactionary out of a dain-bread leftist, they may well not be a Jacobite, neocameralist, or whatever. I'd prefer it if they'd become a Paulist libertarian, myself. The point is, let's think hard about which political positions are the heart and guts of reaction, and which are just gall bladder.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-22973102323928375032008-07-04T11:39:00.000-07:002008-07-04T11:39:00.000-07:00GMP,Practically speaking, I personally would pull ...<B>GMP</B>,<BR/><BR/>Practically speaking, I personally would pull it off exactly like insurance is pulled off. If you're up to date on, say, your fire department premiums and your house catches on fire, you don't get charged for services.<BR/><BR/>Whether I have any idea what I'm talking about is a separate question.<BR/><BR/>The goal is simply to align incentives rationally, however, not for me to try to design a society for hundreds of millions of people.Alrenoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11119846531341190283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-60574705242456670932008-07-04T10:55:00.000-07:002008-07-04T10:55:00.000-07:00Regarding Hitler, you could think of him as an ine...<I>Regarding Hitler, you could think of him as an inept CEO.</I><BR/><BR/>An inept CEO that the stockholders cannot fire or command? <BR/><BR/>Or perhaps the sort of CEO that owns his own company 51%+? How'd he get title to all that "stock"? Certainly he did not buy it with his own money.<BR/><BR/>That is to say, the "CEO" analogy kind of falls down.Leonardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12933465055957555595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-29233976262295782812008-07-04T10:50:00.000-07:002008-07-04T10:50:00.000-07:00Salomon's book was a bestseller in postwar Germany...<I>Salomon's book was a bestseller in postwar Germany. It is now anathema, of course, in that thoroughly occupied country - in which only the faintest trace of any pre-American culture can still be detected.</I><BR/><BR/>This reminds that I was somewhat shocked when I found out (when reading Stephen Fritz's book <I>Frontsoldaten</I>) that pulp adventure fiction about combat on the Russian Front was a popular genre in West Germany in the Fifties. Understandable when you recall that this when the Cold War was still fresh and intense, but unthinkable now. <BR/><BR/>P.S. As late as 1964 a Bundeswehr barracks was named after WW2 Gen. Eduard Dietl. It was not renamed until 1995.togohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02564696576032840221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-59382383319766845512008-07-04T00:40:00.000-07:002008-07-04T00:40:00.000-07:00The closest thing that we've seen to MM's vision i...The closest thing that we've seen to MM's vision is feudalism, and it appeared after the destruction of the ancient world by barbarians. MM has already concluded that the system won't reform itself and that reactionaries won't succeed in smashing it, so what's left but to flush the whole fucking thing down the toilet and start over?<BR/><BR/>Other points:<BR/><I><BR/>Surely a healthy, stable society should be able to thrive in a steady state without any technical improvements at all.</I><BR/><BR/>There has never been a healthy, stable society that thrived in a steady state. The fact that population tends to grow, and different segments of the population grow at different rates, guarantees this. If population growth had continued at turn of the century rates with no technology improvements, we would have roughly 600 million people now and no green revolution. The end result would be a bunch of half-starved farmers on quarter acre plots of land who die off when there's a bad harvest, which does not lead to stability.<BR/><BR/>Regarding Hitler, you could think of him as an inept CEO. His goal was to conquer Eastern Europe and repopulate it with Germans, which would have substantially increased Germany's value. If it had worked out, there would probably be 300 million or so German taxpayers by now, assuming that Nazi pro-natalist policies would have been successful (this would be nearing the point where Germany would need yet more Lebensraum, but I digress). Hitler expected to do this at the cost of 100,000 German soldiers (according to Hitler's Table Talk), which would have been a great deal if it had worked out.<BR/><BR/> His plan was never realistic, and Germany never really had a chance to win the war (which means the Jew thing doesn't affect the bottom line one way or another), but you don't expect neocameralism (or any other form of government) to abolish incompetence, do you? From this perspective, WWII was sort of like Hitler's equivalent to Microsoft Bob or New Coke.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-53590475266936146012008-07-03T22:47:00.000-07:002008-07-03T22:47:00.000-07:00Creating a successful movement would probably requ...Creating a successful movement would probably require something like the following steps:<BR/><BR/>1) Create alternative sources of trusted information<BR/> a) we need something like Digg/Reddit that's more high brow, ie aimed towards existing readers of the New York Times.<BR/> b) need uberfact and an internet alternative to the peer review process. The source needs to become more trusted than the university.<BR/> c) A network of reactionary bloggers<BR/> d) A site listing the best books and articles on every topic. A significant portion of people might find it more valuable than university syllabi<BR/> <BR/>2) Create an organization<BR/> a) Come up with a plan that will maximize agreement among reactionaries ( such as a Constitutional amendment allowing home rule)<BR/> b) Build a central web site that promotes that idea. Build a massive mailing list to coordinate action.<BR/> c) Create meetups and clubs in cities across the country to promote the movement. Have book clubs and parties.<BR/> d) Find wealthy donors to help fund advertisements for the movement.<BR/> e) Try and make the movement "cool" - perhaps create ironic hip blogs media that made fun of the existing civil service state. Have a campaign of YouTube videos.<BR/> <BR/>3) Political action<BR/> a) have the local groups advocate to their friends and to their state representatives in favor of the reactionary Constitutional amendment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-2112854378121494202008-07-03T19:51:00.000-07:002008-07-03T19:51:00.000-07:00There a couple of ideas that would be in between a...There a couple of ideas that would be in between a full reboot, but might be good enough:<BR/><BR/>Any one of the following Constitutional amendments:<BR/><BR/>1) allowing state ( or even better, municipal) secession from the United States<BR/><BR/>2) an amendment dissolving the Constitution and returning to the Articles of the Confederation<BR/><BR/>3) a "home rule" amendment that would allow a state or city to petition for home rule status. Under "home rule" status, the state would be allowed to keep all non-defense tax dollars and would be exempt from all federal regulations.<BR/><BR/>According to public choice theory, concentrated interests of factions win out over the interests of the majority. Thus the doctors lobby can easily get laws enacted that take from the pockets of everyone buying health care and give it to the doctors. A home rule bill flips this on its head. One city would have the concentrated interest in gaining home rule status, which would hurt every single cartel a little bit. Perhaps the concentrated interest of the city would win out.<BR/><BR/>Now these all sound unrealistic. But imagine if all the efforts of conservatives, libtertarians, reactionaries, anarcho-socialists, etc. went into getting one of these amendments passed, as opposed to getting someone like Reagan elected. Getting a reactionary elected means nothing. It doesn't change the rules of the game. But if all the efforts, went into a rule change, well, it only takes one rule change to fundamentally alter the incentives of the state.<BR/><BR/>Also, keep in mind that if efforts are concentrated it does not take that many voters to pass a constitutional amendment. If you assume only 1/3 of the voters vote, and you only need 3/4's of the states, so you can ignore New York and California, it turns out you might need as few as 20 million votes. We've passed amendments with unintended progressive consequences ( the income tax). Why not pass an amendment that would have unintended reactionary consequences?<BR/><BR/>If not, then there is the <A HREF="http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2008/06/olx-simple-sovereign-bankruptcy.html#6810386367386985528" REL="nofollow">plan I proposed two weeks ago</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7958140996781104565.post-72342645033263813162008-07-03T16:24:00.000-07:002008-07-03T16:24:00.000-07:00Tggp, to be honest I thought your critique of Menc...Tggp, to be honest I thought your critique of Mencius was quite weak. The only point of contention I want to make right now, though, is that any nation governed by Sharia law has never been, is not, nor will ever be “technologically advanced.” The Arab world today without oil would be Africa. The Islamic Golden Age was an illusion; a significant majority of advancements during that period was due to recently conquered dhimmis, recently converted Muslims (usually against their will), and the transition of Greek knowledge into the Arab world.<BR/><BR/>This point to me, among other things, shows how your worldview suffers from serious failings. Might I suggest studying Islam as it is? You can start at http://www.jihadwatch.com/islam101/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com