By: Gary D. Barnett
“They say philosophers and wise men are indifferent. Wrong. Indifference is a paralysis of the soul, a premature death.”
~ Anton Chekhov, Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov
I saw a term today describing a particular individual, not one who seems to be involved or interested in world events, politics, war, or all the terror going on around us, but who is said to be a “steady optimist.” While I can appreciate the sentiment, and I do live my life for all the special things; family, nature, love, knowledge, freedom, and an enlightened spirit, eternal optimism in a state of horror is not any answer to it all. This does not make me a pessimist by any standard, but it is my implicit belief that one of the biggest problems with much of the entirety called the masses, is that most are living in a state of indifference. I find this attitude very troubling of course, but also extremely dangerous, and a direct line into the perpetual pit of slavery. Eternal optimism should be considered the will to never give up the fight for life, but should never be the impetus for giving up entirely by hiding from the truth.
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The sheer reality of this world today, is that tradition, honesty, morality, empathy, and certainly harmony amongst common men, is being systematically destroyed (and voluntarily accepted) right before our eyes, as the multitude of plebiscites continue down the road of apathy as solution. This can in some degree be seen as untrue because history is replete with revolution, overthrow of governments, riots in the streets, and the end of oligarchical regimes once they become too far economically separated from the much larger ruled populations. Where I disagree with many who look at these revolutions as the people rising up to gain freedom and prosperity, is that each and every time, they rebuild a system bound to fail, all with so-called new ‘leaders’ who are simply like the old ‘leaders.’ In other words, the people seem to always revert back to a similar system of top-down rule, even after temporarily throwing off those systems in the past.
In the U.S. for example, and while there were multiple reasons for the initial American uprising, it is written in history, incorrectly in my view, that the ‘people’ revolted mainly over taxation, (tariffs) and decided to throw off the British Crown. It is certainly much more complicated than that, but the bottom line is that the rich founders, mercantilists and politicians, (those who orchestrated the revolution) eventually had ulterior motives for everything they did, especially concerning the scrapping of the current (first) constitution (The Articles of Confederation) for the central power-granting Constitution that is still claimed as the “law of the land” today. That act was an intentional coup d’état meant to change the entirety of rule to favor the federal State instead of the people.
Invariably, every time a government, empire, and/or oligarchical ruling system is overturned, another of the same or similar type system replaces the old one, thereby causing the exact same problems to occur. This is not just in America, but worldwide. Actually, the American Revolution was not a revolution, but a civil war. Britain ruled the government and country, and the so-called revolutionaries wanted to overthrow that government in order to take it over. The so-called ‘Civil War’ in 1860 was not a civil war or a revolution, it was a secession by the South, who were not seeking to take over the country or government, but to build their own new government. Had it been successful, there would have been two governments over two different regions, so little would have changed over time, as governments always seek more money, power, and control. Why throw off a tyrannical government in order to start a new government? This policy in hindsight, has always been insane, as no real change occurs.
I bring this up because a revolution or uprising by the people, if it happened at all, would simply be replaced by a same or similar governing body, but with new political heads. That is not really a revolution, but nothing more than a changing of the guard. There are several historians, podcasters, and political analysts who expect our situation to be remedied by a revolt of the masses due to the extreme tyranny and economic “inequality” that has become completely pervasive. This is never a valid solution, unless the system itself is torn down and completely eliminated, not to be resurrected with different criminals this time around. This is why the scam of voting is so ridiculously asinine. Those who vote assume that all that is necessary to regain freedom and prosperity is to get new masters, and this ‘thinking’ is so ludicrous as to be idiotic.
It is the system itself that is rotten, not those who are selected to run it, (although evil) so simply ‘reforming’ the same system will never cure the disease of politics and political rule. It matters not how it is labeled or by what name is attached to any governing system, because one person or many, ruling over any other is the antithesis of freedom, and never the twain shall meet. This includes all political systems, whether communist, fascist, democratic, or republic, as all are one and the same in the end; all made up of a few masters and the rest slaves.
This is why I do not believe that the ‘people’ (masses) are waking up, and are on the verge of real revolution. In all of history, when people throw off one set of rulers, they immediately select another group to take their place. It is the age old adage of doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result. How appropriate, considering that Americans have so far chosen 47 presidents in 60 elections consecutively, so why would anyone believe that an awakening has ever taken place? Things only get worse every single election, more freedoms lost, more war, more tyranny, less privacy, huge inflation, monetary destruction, and now AI, biometrics, mass surveillance, martial law, genocide by proxy, and on and on.
There has been no awakening, and if that actually happened, it would only last until the next master selection process. I am not depending on this population to wake up, and why would I? They never have, and even if an attempt was made, they would seek a king to rule over them. One main factor overlooked, is that intellectual growth has not only faltered among the hundreds of millions of Americans over time, but has been literally decimated, and by design. This does not bode well for those of us who truly desire freedom and are willing to fight for it.
Criticize me if you will for not jumping on the bandwagon of hope, but hoping is a worthless venture, as hope requires no risk, and therefore no reward can be achieved. In order to stop this constant and expanding onslaught of totalitarian rule, mass action is required, but that would only be the beginning, for a different approach would have to be sought, and that approach would necessarily include the elimination of the ruling class, and the self-responsibility of each individual. Do you, any of you, actually believe you will see such a thing in your lifetime?
Revolution and civil war can only bring more death and destruction, while actual reformation requires individual commitment and the guts not to bend to rule of any kind. Compliance is the mortal enemy of freedom, while self-determination and the will to sustain it can bring about a life fulfilled and unencumbered by the threat of a controlled existence.
“Counterfeit freedom brings only apathy. True freedom brings responsibility.”
~ Abhijit Naskar
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