Yes, ultimately politics is always ultimately enforced at the end of a gun. Libertarians are delusional and those who rely on a long-dead "constitution" are delusional. But there is a corruption in the chase for political power that always occurs, too, because the masses are unable to understand nuance, subtlety, or long-term planning, and because the opposition, which isn't ever *entirely* wrong, must be ruthlessly crushed; therefore simple propaganda must be used, which corrupts and distorts the underlying messaging.
But there's not a way out of this conundrum. According to Julian Assange, we aren’t able to sit out of politics. Either we are a participant of history or a victim of it: “I think first it’s necessary to have an understanding that one is either a participant in history or a victim of it, and that there is no other option. It is actually not possible to remove oneself from history, because of the nature of economic…and intellectual interaction. Hence, it is not possible to break oneself off….Because no one wants to be a victim, one must therefore be a participant, and in being a participant, the most important thing to understand is that your behavior affects other people’s behavior, and your courage will inspire actions. On the other hand, a lack of courage will suppress them.”
Lastly, though, consider Ernst Jünger and his idea of an independent "anarch" that stands outside of history. Jünger would ask himself during World War 2 what one could “advise a man, especially a simple man, to do in order to extricate himself from the conformity that is constantly being produced by technology?” In contrast to Carl Schmitt and his push for a totalitarian state, the answer Jünger, an atheist, eventually settled on was: “Only prayer.” For, “In situations that can cause the cleverest of us to fail and the bravest of us to look for avenues of escape, we occasionally see someone who quietly recognizes the right thing to do and does good. You can be sure that is a man who prays.” Ultimately only a recovery of a sense of the transcendent, he decided, could serve as an antidote to nihilistic modernity’s temptations. Without it, “our freedom of will and powers of resistance diminish; the appeal of demonic powers becomes more compelling, and its imperatives more terrible.”
Yes, governments are like criminal enterprises -- sometimes worse. (C.M. Kornbluth's "The Syndic" is a fun read.)
But when looking at any government, one must compare against likely alternatives. Civil war is worse than the current U.S. government. And the historical instances in which government has been replaced with close to nothing involve either an island (Iceland or Ireland), or mass quantities of divine intervention (Israel in the time of the Judges).
Maybe a band of anarcho-idealists could round up enough mercenaries to overthrow a particularly loathsome island government -- say Cuba, but even that is an expensive an risky experiment.
I'd rather focus on incremental, but probable, improvements. Maybe I'm getting old.
For some good examples of how government and mafia are the same phenomenon:
- In more remote parts of Columbia, the government does not build schools, hospitals, or roads. The drug cartel does. They get the approval of the people because they are providing real services. They have become a real government there.
- In Russia, if you don't pay your business's taxes, armed government agents in ski masks simply steal your inventory. They are indistinguishable from ordinary robbers, except that the police won't even try to stop them.
- In America, pharmaceutical companies dictate government policy, mandating their product and exempting themselves from the mass death caused by it. They have in effect become the government.
Perhaps I have not read enough of Your work and You have explained this elsewhere, but You start off with, "Every regime of Sovereignty..." What is a "regime of Sovereignty?" I am sovereign, and Others who have withdrawn consent from the psychopathic legal/governmental system, are sovereigns, too.
I'm not sure I agree with the general assumption here, i.e. -- any political order is by definition a kind of mafia. Do we mean "all governments", within the capitalist form of production , or, quite literally, "any political order"? On the other hand, what the heck "every régime if sovereignty" means? I can, actually, and I will, dive deeper in your notions. I just need to free a bit of time, hopefully during the weekend.
I'm sure, however, that there are some important directions scetched here, so -- thank you for the read.
Yes, ultimately politics is always ultimately enforced at the end of a gun. Libertarians are delusional and those who rely on a long-dead "constitution" are delusional. But there is a corruption in the chase for political power that always occurs, too, because the masses are unable to understand nuance, subtlety, or long-term planning, and because the opposition, which isn't ever *entirely* wrong, must be ruthlessly crushed; therefore simple propaganda must be used, which corrupts and distorts the underlying messaging.
But there's not a way out of this conundrum. According to Julian Assange, we aren’t able to sit out of politics. Either we are a participant of history or a victim of it: “I think first it’s necessary to have an understanding that one is either a participant in history or a victim of it, and that there is no other option. It is actually not possible to remove oneself from history, because of the nature of economic…and intellectual interaction. Hence, it is not possible to break oneself off….Because no one wants to be a victim, one must therefore be a participant, and in being a participant, the most important thing to understand is that your behavior affects other people’s behavior, and your courage will inspire actions. On the other hand, a lack of courage will suppress them.”
Lastly, though, consider Ernst Jünger and his idea of an independent "anarch" that stands outside of history. Jünger would ask himself during World War 2 what one could “advise a man, especially a simple man, to do in order to extricate himself from the conformity that is constantly being produced by technology?” In contrast to Carl Schmitt and his push for a totalitarian state, the answer Jünger, an atheist, eventually settled on was: “Only prayer.” For, “In situations that can cause the cleverest of us to fail and the bravest of us to look for avenues of escape, we occasionally see someone who quietly recognizes the right thing to do and does good. You can be sure that is a man who prays.” Ultimately only a recovery of a sense of the transcendent, he decided, could serve as an antidote to nihilistic modernity’s temptations. Without it, “our freedom of will and powers of resistance diminish; the appeal of demonic powers becomes more compelling, and its imperatives more terrible.”
Yes, governments are like criminal enterprises -- sometimes worse. (C.M. Kornbluth's "The Syndic" is a fun read.)
But when looking at any government, one must compare against likely alternatives. Civil war is worse than the current U.S. government. And the historical instances in which government has been replaced with close to nothing involve either an island (Iceland or Ireland), or mass quantities of divine intervention (Israel in the time of the Judges).
Maybe a band of anarcho-idealists could round up enough mercenaries to overthrow a particularly loathsome island government -- say Cuba, but even that is an expensive an risky experiment.
I'd rather focus on incremental, but probable, improvements. Maybe I'm getting old.
For some good examples of how government and mafia are the same phenomenon:
- In more remote parts of Columbia, the government does not build schools, hospitals, or roads. The drug cartel does. They get the approval of the people because they are providing real services. They have become a real government there.
- In Russia, if you don't pay your business's taxes, armed government agents in ski masks simply steal your inventory. They are indistinguishable from ordinary robbers, except that the police won't even try to stop them.
- In America, pharmaceutical companies dictate government policy, mandating their product and exempting themselves from the mass death caused by it. They have in effect become the government.
When does the revolution begin?;)
Perhaps I have not read enough of Your work and You have explained this elsewhere, but You start off with, "Every regime of Sovereignty..." What is a "regime of Sovereignty?" I am sovereign, and Others who have withdrawn consent from the psychopathic legal/governmental system, are sovereigns, too.
We Ethical Sovereigns – The Society Of Ethical Sovereigns (SOES) (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/we-ethical-sovereigns-the-society
Heinlein had it it right when he described humans as a place where
"The Big Monkey Rules". ..... It's always been that way.
Human nature is constant.
I'm not sure I agree with the general assumption here, i.e. -- any political order is by definition a kind of mafia. Do we mean "all governments", within the capitalist form of production , or, quite literally, "any political order"? On the other hand, what the heck "every régime if sovereignty" means? I can, actually, and I will, dive deeper in your notions. I just need to free a bit of time, hopefully during the weekend.
I'm sure, however, that there are some important directions scetched here, so -- thank you for the read.
Wow!
I like your writing! Always hard-hitting and relevant!