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I just read through the headlines on RT. It's incredible the West's relentless pounding of war drums in Ukraine. I suspect there will be some kind of Mukden/Gulf of Tonkin false flag, with which the BLPM will brainwash the world that it was the evil Vlad Putin who started it. If it happens, I hope the Russian army rolls all the way to the EU's borders.
Jeff J. Brownwww.chinarising.puntopress.comwww.chinatechnewsflash.com
Eh?
More like, roll to Washington and Langeley. And say…
" So, you thought you could pull another WWII, destroy Europe and Russia, and pick up the pieces unscathed, Huh?
Yeah.
They are THAT stupid and ignorant.
From Z-Man blog…
The American media has brought down the cone of silence. Drudge has a government issued warning to Canada at the top. The New York Times and Washington Post are busy peddling their latest Russia fantasies. Soviet media was more informative that the American media is now. If you want to know anything about anything you have to dig around in Substack and independent sites. The American media is now a blanket of darkness thrown over the public square.
The other thing that comes to mind is how blatant the authoritarianism is now. I see the Canadian dictator just ordered the funds for the truckers frozen. He just made up some new rule apparently or his handlers did. Trudeau is most likely illiterate, so he has to rely on others to do these things. The US government is flying surveillance aircraft over the protest to intercept communications. They will then “share” this intel with their “partners” in the Canadian secret police.
This is the new game now. We saw this with Trump. The CIA asked Australia and Britain to spy on the Trump campaign. That got around the rule against the CIA spying on Americans and gave the FBI an excuse to do their own spying. Five years ago, they made up a phony story as cover, but now it is out in the open. We live in a country that has secret police that spy on people with impunity. America is becoming East Germany with better consumer goods.
That last bit is always the undoing of authoritarians. You can run a police state or you can have a happy productive society that has nice things. With posted inflation approaching double digits and real inflation much higher, the economic reckoning is quickly approaching. There is no easy way to tame inflation. It always means a recession and usually an ugly one. People are unhappy now. Imagine where things are when the economy is in the dumper.
The world is moving forward, and the United States is sitting still and pouting. They have their arms folded across their chest, and staring at the game board deciding whether or not to tip it all over and let the pieces crash all over the room.
Numerous people (obviously outside of the mainstream media) have noticed various aspects of the global Geo-Political situation and have written about it. Here, in this article we will look at some of those writings.
And…
Throw in some fine MM comment, thoughts and distractions to round out the presentation.
Let’s start off with some fine Rufus action to set up a positive mood…
Rufus behaviors are what the world needs today
Be the Rufus. This is China today. People are all part of the community and they all work together as one. video 20MB
Some Geo-Political chat
Always interesting to listen to. This is about the fiasco meeting between the USA and China in Alaska.
Race to 6G: Chinese researchers declare data streaming record with whirling radio waves
Experimental wireless line set up in Winter Olympics compound could stream over 10,000 high-definition live video feeds simultaneously, says Beijing research team
‘It is about introducing a new physical dimension, which can lead to a whole new world with almost unlimited possibilities,’ according to 6G researcher.
Using vortex millimetre waves, a form of extremely high-frequency radio wave with rapidly changing spins, the researchers transmitted 1 terabyte of data over 1km (3,300 feet) in a second.
The experimental wireless communication line, set up in the Beijing Winter Olympics compound last month, could stream more than 10,000 high-definition live video feeds simultaneously, the team led by Professor Zhang Chao, of the school of aerospace engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said in a statement on Thursday.
The vortex waves, unlike anything in radio communication over the last century, added “a new dimension to wireless transmission”, said Zhang and his collaborators from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and China Unicom.
They said the experiment suggested China was “leading the world in research on potential key technologies for 6G”.
China to ‘help set international standards’ for 6G mobile technology
Existing mobile devices use electromagnetic waves that spread like ripples in a pond for communication. Information is represented by the “up and down” of these waves, which – from a mathematical point of view – have just two dimensions.
The vortex electromagnetic wave has a three-dimensional form like a tornado.
Extra information could be coded into the whirling, or orbital angular momentum (OAM), of these waves to massively increase the bandwidth of communication.
The spinning potential of radio waves was first reported by British physicist John Henry Poynting in 1909, but making use of it proved to be difficult.
Zhang and colleagues said their breakthrough was built on the hard work of many research teams across the globe over the past few decades.
Researchers in Europe conducted the earliest communication experiments using vortex waves in the 1990s. In 2020, a team with the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone company in Japan achieved a speed of 200Gbps over 10 metres (33 feet).
A major challenge is that the size of the spinning waves increases with distance, and the weakening signal makes high-speed data transmission difficult.
The Chinese team built a unique transmitter to generate a more focused vortex beam, making the waves spin in three different modes to carry more information, and developed a high-performance receiving device that could pick up and decode a huge amount of data in a split second.
A government researcher studying 6G technology in Shenzhen said the experiment in Beijing could be “the start of a revolution” in communications technology.
“The most exciting thing is not just about the speed. It is about introducing a new physical dimension, which can lead to a whole new world with almost unlimited possibilities,” said the researcher, who asked not to be named because he was involved in confidential research projects with China’s largest telecoms firms.
The Chinese government and telecommunications industry will focus mainly on the mass application of 5G in the coming years because the existing millimetre wave technology matured with decreasing cost, according to the researcher.
The commercial roll-out of 6G is expected by 2030, but the military could adopt the technology earlier because “they care more about performance than cost”, he said.
Zhang’s team said their experiment used W band, a radio frequency used in military applications. In 2018, they established a vortex wave link between a plane and a ground station over a distance of 172km, which remains a world record.
The Tsinghua team is also building a prototype quantum radar using similar technology that can accurately detect stealth aircraft.
A research team in Tianjin last month said they had developed a terahertz transmitter, another technological approach to 6G, for China’s hypersonic weapons programme.
The United States and Japan announced a US$4.5 billion programme in April last year as a joint effort to counter China’s rapid progress in 6G technology.
A survey by Nikkei and Tokyo-based research company Cyber Creative Institute in September last year found that China owned more than 40 per cent of the world’s 6G patent filings, followed by the US with 35 per cent, Japan (10 per cent), Europe (9 per cent) and South Korea (4 per cent).
Things used to be so difficult…
Now for a pretty Chinese girl
I just want to remind everyone who these people are that those neocons in Washington DC want to destoy, kill and turn destitute. It’s people like you and me. video 2MB
Not really Geo-political or Chinese but fun anyways.
Sorry, I can’t help but want to lighten up the mood here, don’t you know. It’s about cats, and music and it’s really kind of cute.
It’s videos like this that caused President Trump to ban Tictoc from the United States. It was listed as a “National Security” issue, when the truth was that they cut into the profit margins of the Trump political donor class.
Warning: Watching this video will corrupt your mind! And change you (gasp!) into a dreaded evil communist. Yikes!
Again. The future belongs to those who have Rufus behaviors
This is a key point that all long-time MM readers will certainly recognize. The way out from the life that we endure is though our behaviors and our thoughts. We msut be better people, and we must all work together for the greater good of all. video 2MB
Well, you know this is after the Beijing Winter Olympics. And The Western media has flooded the media with the most outrageous things. Such as this…
Like this screen shot from the American “news” aggregator “DrudgeReport” 8FEB22.
Crying?
Seriously. Crying?
Well, the Olympic athletes have made all sorts of videos of their experiences, and the vast, vast bulk of them have been overwhelmingly positive.
Well, you know that that just doesn’t go well with the American (and Western) narratives.
Thus bringing out this article…
YouTube’s Olympics Highlights Are Riddled With Propaganda
The platform’s search engine is funneling sports fans into watching political content about China.
It’s not something it can come out and directly say, because admitting it sees itself as the rulers of the world would make it look tyrannical and megalomaniacal, writes Caitlin Johnstone.
The Wall Street Journal has an article out titled “U.S. Aims to Thwart China’s Plan for Atlantic Base in Africa“, subtitled “An American delegation wants to convince Equatorial Guinea against giving Beijing a launchpad in waters the U.S. considers its backyard.”
The article quotes the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy saying, “We’d really, really not like to see a Chinese facility” on the Atlantic, and discusses “American concern about China’s global expansionism and its pursuit of a permanent military presence on waters the U.S. considers home turf.”
The Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi has discussed the irony of WSJ yelling about China’s “global expansionism” over a potential military base in Equatorial Guinea without applying that label to the U.S., when the U.S. has hundreds of times the number of foreign military bases as China.
Antiwar’s Daniel Larison wrote an article back in December eviscerating the ridiculous claim that a military base some six thousand nautical miles from the U.S. coastline could be reasonably framed as any kind of threat to the American people.
A massive threat to America!
But what really jumps out is the insane way the U.S. political/media class routinely talks about virtually every location on this planet as though it is a territory of the United States.
The Wall Street Journal referring to the entire Atlantic Ocean as “America’s backyard” and “waters the U.S. considers home turf” follows a recent controversy over the U.S. president proclaiming that “Everything south of the Mexican border is America’s front yard.” This provoked many references to the so-called “Monroe Doctrine”, a nineteenth-century imperialist assertion that Latin America is off limits to any power apart from the United States, effectively declaring the entire Western Hemisphere the property of Washington, DC.
It also follows another incident in which Press Secretary Jen Psaki remarked on the ongoing tensions around Ukraine that it is in America’s interest to support “our eastern flank countries”, which might come as a surprise to those who were taught in school that America’s eastern flank was not Eastern Europe but the eastern coastline of the United States.
The Chinese government’s strategic ambition has expanded so that it now aims to dominate the entire world in military and economic power, according to Antony Blinken, whose country has 800+ bases around the world to China's four.https://t.co/OX3SmCYA7k— Consortium News (@Consortiumnews) February 10, 2022
The casual way these people say such things reflects a collectively held worldview that you won’t find on any official document or in any schoolchild’s textbook, but which is nonetheless a firmly held perspective among all the drivers of the modern empire: that the entire world is the property of the U.S. government. That the U.S. is not just the most powerful government in the world but also its rightful ruler, in the same way Rome ruled the Christian world.
It’s not something they can come out and directly say, because admitting they see themselves as the rulers of the world would make them look tyrannical and megalomaniacal. But it’s certainly something they believe.
They’re about as obvious about it as could be. They make almost no effort to conceal it. And yet you’ll still get empire apologists like Michael McFaul saying nonsense like this:
There was a time, not long ago, when imperial powers like UK, France, Portugal etc claimed their colonies as their "sphere of influence." Thank God we didn't listen o them back then. So why now is it ok to let Russia exercise a sphere of influence over its former colony, Ukraine?— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) February 7, 2022
McFaul knows very well that the U.S. is an imperial power and that it demands a very large “sphere of influence”.
Would you like to see a picture of America’s sphere of influence? Here you go:
To live in the western world is to be constantly inundated with made-up stories about tyrants who want to terrorize the world, while living under a globe-spanning power structure that is actually terrorizing the world. It’s just so bizarre watching these imperial spinmeisters try to frame nations like China and Russia as freakish and backwards while working to literally rule the world like a comic book super villain.
The U.S.-centralized empire is quantifiably the single most destructive and evil power structure in today’s world. We shouldn’t want anyone to rule over the entire planet with an iron fist, but these monsters are the very least qualified among us to do so.
Exceptionally bad, evil, corrupt, self-serving and selfish.
Now for a pretty Chinese girl
I just want to remind everyone who these people are that those neocons in Washington DC want to destoy, kill and turn destitute. It’s people like you and me. They way they do this is to keep videos and pictures of their targetted enemies away from the American people. Like this gal.
I just cannot stress hard enough, how important it is for everyone to behave better, nicer and kinder; to be more considerate and to call out and cite psychopaths, sociopaths and the evil greedy folks that cause so much turmoil in our lives today. Be that Rufus! video 7MB
Caitlin Johnstone: Just Run the News Media Out of Langley
That way nobody needs to pretend they’re doing news reporting instead of intelligence agency stenography and the public is clear they’re being fed whatever story about reality the C.I.A. wants them to believe.
I think it would be a lot more efficient and straightforward if all English-language news media were just run directly out of C.I.A. headquarters by agency officials in Langley, Virginia. This way news reporters could eliminate the middleman and drop the undignified charade of presenting unproven assertions by western intelligence agencies as “scoops” that they picked up from “sources”.
I mean, right now the mass media are churning out stories about “intelligence” which says Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine very soon, citing government officials and anonymous sources. We are never shown the “intelligence”, and we are never shown any evidence of its veracity; we’re simply told what opaque and unaccountable government agencies want us to believe about a foreign government.
We’re not even reminded by the publishers of these C.I.A. press releases that western intelligence agencies have a very extensive history of lying about exactly this sort of thing, and we’re certainly not informed that Kiev appears to be ramping up aggressions in eastern Ukraine.
Seriously, look at this absurd tweet by CNN’s Natasha Bertrand:
Scoop: US and allies have new intel that suggests Russia could be planning to attack Ukraine prior to end of Olympics, contrary to previous assessments. New intel comes as officials have dramatically ramped up the urgency of public warnings related to Ukraine in past 24 hours.— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) February 11, 2022
That’s not a “scoop”. That’s just a news media employee repeating something she was told either directly or indirectly by the western intelligence cartel. She’s literally just telling us what an immensely powerful spy intelligence agency told her to say. And that’s become the norm for mass media reporting on all nations the western power alliance doesn’t like, especially Russia.
So why mess around? Why not just move CNN’s office into the George Bush Center for Intelligence in Langley and have the C.I.A. just publish its reports directly from there? I hear CNN needs a new president anyway. That way nobody needs to pretend they’re doing news reporting instead of intelligence agency stenography, the general public is clear that they’re being fed whatever story about reality the C.I.A. wants them to believe, nobody feels like they’re being treated like a fool, plus it saves a commute for all the intelligence agency insiders who already work in the mass media.
Because it must get pretty tedious, right? Where instead of just having your C.I.A. employer tell you to run a story you have to go through this whole song and dance where an agency officer contacts you and says “Ooh buddy, have I got a scoop for you!” and then you type up what they say in newsy-sounding language citing “sources familiar with the matter” and present it as a news story.
Clearly that’s not news reporting.
Clearly it’s nothing other than garden variety state propaganda.
Ukraine Defense Minister: Russia is not invading anytime soonUkraine President: Russia is not invading anytime soonRussia: We have no plans to invade UkraineThe US: https://t.co/YbyyNA40p5— Radio Free Amanda ??? (@catcontentonly) February 11, 2022
And of course we already know the answer.
Propaganda doesn’t work if its targets know they are being propagandized. It needs to be administered by institutions who the public trusts to tell them the objective truth about what’s going on in the world.
If the U.S. and its Five Eyes allies simply controlled all media through the government like overtly totalitarian regimes, their propaganda would actually be far less effective than the systems of domestic perception management they have in place currently.
The C.I.A. is officially forbidden from operating in the United States (though as we’ve seen many times since its creation and up to the present day this is treated more as a guideline than a restriction), but what it is not officially forbidden to do is contact the media directly or through a proxy under the pretense of feeding them a news story which just so happens to advance the interests of the agency. The plutocratic media who benefit from the same status quo that the C.I.A. protects then uncritically funnel that information into the minds of the unsuspecting public, and before you know it they’re rending their garments over a foreign government they’d previously not thought much about.
In an actual free society with an actual free press, the very idea of this would be outrageous and if such a thing ever occurred it would be immediately condemned as journalistic malpractice with severe consequences for everyone involved. In an inverted totalitarian dystopia with the most effectively propagandized population on earth, it’s just treated as normal.
No, I’m not going to ignore this most important aspect of change today. It’s one where everyone strives to be a better person and contribute inside their communites for the betterment of all. video 12 MB
Do you want more?
You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.
Doesn’t it seem that every single thing that the United States accuses China of, it manifests inside America? It’s almost like this big; enormous wish-machine was turned on it’s head and starts attacking it’s creator. Yeah. It’s like the science fiction movie where a mad scientist creates a robot, and then the robot turns on it’s creator.
Today I saw the horrific images of an African-American Rapper who drove an SUV at high speed through a children’s parade killing and maiming scores of children. He’s a “rapper” who spouts hate and disgust from his urban enclave. It’s all very disturbing. My God! He was out on bail for running over another woman with his SUV. Insanity. Pure insanity.
Why is this happening in America? What is going on?
The answer is simple
America has collapsed. It is dead, it’s just that the people don’t really realize it yet.
When there is no longer a “rule of law”, and “justice” becomes a tiered game of money laundering, society is over. It’s all a simple matter of the rats scurrying from ship mast, to ship mast, and trying to jump on some pieces of wood floating in the water. It’s just the middle of a long, drawn out scramble of survival.
The ship of America has sunk.
Over.
Dead.
Throw some dirt on top of the grave and move on.
Oh sure, the bow of the ship is riding high. Lights are still blazing in the portholes. The band is still playing on the deck, and the Captain is still at the helm. But the ship is no longer seaworthy.
Some realize this. That is why you see mass looting of stores all over the cites in America, those shootings in the suburbs and on the highways, and the crazy behavior of the American leadership. They are all Jack-shit crazy and the world is falling apart all around them.
Here in this article I am going to prove my point by presenting short videos of the freefall collapse of the United States.
Please keep in mind that what you see on the “news” and social media is only a small percentage of what is actually going on. It is actually far worse than what is being depicted.
The real bad things are not being reported on.
China
Keep in mind that while the shit-show known as the United States “democracy” collapses, China moves on. It is a merit driven society that teaches military discipline to everyone from first grade onward.
Here’s a first grade class reporting for military training. Video 5MB
And a nation that is merit driven, unified, and run by STEM (science, technology, engineering and manufacturing) educated people who volunteer for that role is naturally going to overwhelm the fucking clown-show that the “blue blood” oligarchy operates. Fucking FIRE (Fiance, Insurance, Real Estate) folk haven’t a clue how to run a nation.
Here’s a locally produced, 100% all Chinese design and manufactured, Chinese fighter aircraft. video. 5MB
The Chinese do not play. They are a serious, serious nation. And they take their roles seriously. Here is a video of a Corruption Police raid on a kidnapping operation. I like how they rescued the little girl at the end.
You do not mess with China.
But since the USA is in a state of collapse, those in the West cannot see the shit show that they are living inside of. They need to start comparing their world to the rest of the world outside.
Here’s a funny video of a hysterical American screaming that America is not China.
It’s funny because China is so very much better than America in every way imaginable, but the dumbed down poverty serfs have no clue about how impoverished they actually are.
So, anyways, this video has been circulating all over China, and getting a ton load of snickers and giggles.
The guy probably hasn’t a clue as to why all the Chinese are laughing at him. video. 4MB
Clueless. Stupid. manipulated. Ignorant serf that services the billionaire class. Yeah, your fucking silly world is collapsing all around you, and you want to blame China.
Blame China? How about blaming yourself.
China has endured horrors that you have no fucking about. Thousands of years of fighting, and then Japans takeover and horrors followed by massive poverty, and abuse.
China will not forget what they had to endue. Do not push them. video 6MB
China is not a pushover.
China will retaliate if you all threaten them, and the United States is in no state to attack anyone. Hell, it can’t even build a simple fence on it’s borders.
It’s a helpless big lazy blob. So put everything in context. Understand what is going on and what the stakes are. video. 4MB
Videos of the United States in collapse
They are everywhere. Here’s looting and damage in a McDonald’s in the suburbs. video. 2MB
American nighttime roadblock.
Full militarized armored cars, full automatic assault rifles, sidearms, flack vests, and other military paraphernalia show that this is a domestic military road block and not a police action.
Shootings, riots, mobs, organized crime and daring store break-ins are now common throughout the Untied States today.
This is not a lonely, singular, isolated event.
It is common throughout most of the major cities inside of America today. video. 2MB
Shoplifter at Walmart.
And so the guy drives off and the security guard shoots at him. Just another normal day inside of America. But now people are starting to die…
Police said the suspect - dressed in all black with a black mask - attempted to steal unspecified merchandise and, when confronted by the store worker in the parking lot, pulled out a firearm.
The loss prevention officer, who has a concealed carry permit, then shot the armed suspect two or three times at close range, he told police.
The suspect fled the scene and was later detained at a home near 5th and Olympia in Kennewick without incident.
-Ferguson Walmart Shooting
People! This is not an image of a healthy society. video
And while hard crime rages… Guns are being purchased, and used.
People are dying, the government enacts draconian laws, rules and clamps down on the Police State, well-meaning folk try to change things for the better.
But they are not going after the serious issues. They are addressing the trivial. Video. 7MB
Meanwhile in China…
China has face recognition technology, and a completely wired nation that tracks your movements, and permits law abiding people free reign, while snagging the evil, the selfish, the dangerous and those CIA inspired (NED) “bad actors”.
While the American wealthy is trying to steal everything on paper, and the serf citizenry are trying to haul away everything not nailed down, China is building, growing, developing.
China is, and stands, in stark contrast to the cluster fuck that America is today. video 8MB
What is China like?
China is a merit driven nation and it strives to be the best home for it’s people.
It spent time working on the basics. It spent time developing things, and it took time to do so. And the Chinese philosophy is summed up in this little video here. video. 2MB
Back to the American meltdown
Crime is rampant all over the United States.
It’s a consequence of multiple failures on multiple levels and the situation is getting worse, much worse. the society has broken down. There is rampant lawlessness throughout the urban areas. video 5MB
And another robbery inside of America. These are so common these days. Honest citizens hide inside their homes and peer through drawn curtains. they hope that everything will go away and change.
It’s a complete breakdown of society and it’s every man for himself, with zero protections under the law, and zero policing. video. 7MB
This is what it looks like when society collapses. It’s every man for himself.
Mobs rule. Gangs rule. Society fractures, and the wealthy scurry to their enclaves for safety.
What America resembles today is what happened during the Fall of Saigon. video. 43MB
People are out and just being really brazen in their crimes.
They don’t care.
Nothing matters these days inside of America. Here is a guy that hijacked a complete tractor trailer rig and it’s cargo and is in a high speed chase down the highway. Jeeze! video. 28MB
America as it really exists
Consider the reality. Why must the current mess that the United States is, be allowed or permitted to exist. It does not serve it’s people. It’s a war empire that causes destruction all over the world, it rapes and pillages, and is run but a small handful of evil greedy oligarchs. Why?
Why is it important that the world become like America? VIDEO
Here’s some roadside rage. It’s about to get really ugly, really soon. video 6MB
Still not convinced, well lets go to a DIFFERENT city… VIDEO
Still not convinced, it is EVERYWHERE in America. Ok, well lets go to a third DIFFERENT city… VIDEO
Hey! Do you want to know why there are NO homeless in China?
Let this Chinese girl living in America explain it to you. For all of my Chinese friends, they are just flabbergasted at the lack of care and concern the US government has for it’s people.
The world will breathe a sigh of relief when the United States is finally broken up
Yes. The rest of the world will.
Look, if you are not aware of the collapse of America then you are delusional. The fact is pretty clear America is collapsing and it is up to the rest of the world to manage how their own individual nations handle that event. Most will be just fine.
It’s not that I want it to happen, in so much as I want the scales of justice to balance.
For far too long the crimes and the injustices have been propagated for far too long. It is a time of reckoning, and if you are smart you will align yourself with justice, truth and freedom . If you are a fool, then you will align yourself with the United States. It’s your choice.
I however, advise running away and hiding. Go to somewhere safer, and better. Like Uganda…video 7MB
Look at all the very beautiful women in the audience. Jeeze!
What am I doing wasting my time in China? video 1MB
Well, there’s only one of me, and so many interesting and beautiful and smiling people everywhere. So much food to eat. So many interesting people to meet and chat with. So many nice restaurants to eat in. So many great things to do. Sigh.
I love it when a woman cooks food. It just really drives me absolutely crazy! And Chinese food is so very delicious!!!!
Oh, and you know, I do love to go out girl watching. There’s something great about women shopping in the malls, looking great in their outfits, nice makeup and just bouncing about. In America they all rush off to their cars, and then speed away. Not enough time for me to watch their poetry as they walk. video 5MB
Out of the ruins of America new societies will develop. The key is to create societies where everyone has the choice to participate, but only ONLY those that participate, and make the society a good place to live can have any say in government.
It’s a Rufus philosophy. And it is crucial to good governance.
Be the Rufus. Only allow other Rufus’s to control the government. They do it for others, not themselves. video. 16MB
Do you want more?
You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.
Again, yet again, MM here addresses the things that no one ever talks about. And in this case we are taking up the real whale; the massive, titanic-sized “elephant in the room”. While just virtually all of the American media press is gung-ho for a war against China (and assumes that China will be alone), no one is talking about the consequences of such a war.
Nothing surprises me, the more successful China becomes the greater the lies.
-Roger
As the clueless media and their readership assumes that the United States will win any war that it starts in Asia. (Or actually, that it will be a long decades long war, and life would go on without any impact on their own lives.) No one talks about the rightful consequences of a war effort gone terribly wrong…
But we will.
The United States will lose.
And it will lose BIGLY.
And, it’s not just me saying this. It’s RAND, Heritage Foundation, the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies and every single one of the military war games (for the last 18 years), the military think tanks, and the “big buck” experts in Washington DC. As well as all of the generals in charge of the American military.
America would lose.
I have discussed over and over, and over again, why the United States would lose. Don’t want to hear this, do you? Well, tough cookies. Here, we talk about things as they actually are, not as we want them to be. If you are a new comer to MM, you might want to take a refresher course in actual current affairs here…
According to US analysts, by 2025 the USA won’t be able to win a war against China.
Frankly, I think that this ship has already sailed a long, long, LONG time ago.
However, that semi-admission is a desperate attempt to create the political climate to circle the wagons before China officially becomes the second nation the USA cannot defeat.
The first one being, obviously, Russia (I would even include Iran and the DPRK is that list).
Hence all the current Anglo posturing in the Black Sea (which is even far more dangerous for US/NATO ships than the China Seas) is just that: posturing.
The main risk here is that I am not at all convinced by the notion that “Biden” can rein in the Brits or the Poles, especially since the latter are both NATO members who would sincerely expect NATO to protect them (they should ask Erdogan about that).
But, of course, there really is no such thing as “NATO”: all there is the US and its vassal states in Europe.
Should the two wannabe empires trigger a real, shooting war, all it would take is a single Russian conventional missile strike somewhere deep inside the continental USA (even in a desert location) to convince the White House, the Pentagon or the CIA “get with the program” and seek a negotiated solution, leaving the Brits and the Poles utterly disgusted and looking foolish.
I don’t think anything else can bring those two countries back to a sense of reality.
-Andrei
Why concentrate on hybrid/unlimited war instead of an outright nuclear or conventional military conflict between the US and China and/or Russia?
That is because both conventional and nuclear military conflict between any of these three nations is an insane, suicidal choice, while those in charge of defining military strategy are specifically not selected for their suicidal tendencies.
Neither Russia nor China are known for their wars of aggression, and while the US is extremely well known for its homicidal, violent tendencies (having carried out 32 bombing campaigns on 24 countries since World War II), it is fundamentally a bully, only picking on weak countries that pose no threat.
And… it (because of the non-stop demonetization of China) thinks that China is weak enough to pick on.
Based on publicly available information, both Russia and China are now quite far ahead of the US in weapons development, to a point where any possible direct US attack on either of them would be [1] self-disarming at best and [2] suicidal at worst.
Its like when the schoolyard bully realizes he can't bully you anymore, so now he just throws slurs and insults instead of punches. After a while he loses all credibility and starts being ignored. A couple of decades later you go to a school reunion and he is the loser that no one wants to talk to. That reunion was sweet ....
Posted by: Roger | Nov 19 2021 17:20 utc | 16
[1] In the best case scenario, the US launches an attack which is successfully repelled: bombers and rockets shot down, ships sunk, US military bases and port facilities destroyed, possibly US command and control centers also destroyed, as quite pointedly promised by Putin.
The US then lays prostrate and at the mercy of its opponents.
If its cooperation still leaves something to be desired, some combination of deplorables, despicables, imponderables and indecipherables will be organized just enough to make a bloody mess of what’s left of US government structures and power elites, which will then be replaced with an international peacekeeping force (as an optimistic case) or just left to persist in durable disorder, misery and international isolation.
[2] The worst case scenario is the tired old mutual assured destruction, nuclear winter and end of life on Earth, but it is unlikely for a number of reasons.
First, of the US nuclear deterrent triad only the submarine component remains viable, and even it is quite tired.
Aside from a single Minuteman missile launch test most hasn’t been tested in decades, and these are ballistic missiles which, once the boost phase is over, follow a perfectly predictable inertial trajectory.
This makes them easy targets for Russia’s and China’s new air defense systems.
Of the Minutemen that manage to get out of their silos and launch in the general direction of Russia or China, it is unknown how many of their nuclear payloads would actually detonate since these are all quite old and haven’t been tested in a long time either.
The US no longer has the ability to make new nuclear charges, having lost the recipe for making the high explosive needed to make them detonate. But that may be a moot point, since at this point no ICBM is likely to be able to penetrate Russian air defenses. Both Russia and China have state of the art formidable anti-ICBM systems. video
As far as Chinese air defenses, it is notable that Russia and China have integrated their early warning systems and China now has four divisions of Russian S-400 Triumph air defense systems and is planning to add more. video
Turning to the airborne part of the US nuclear triad, its mainstay is still the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, the youngest of which is almost 60 years old. It cruises at 260 knots at an altitude of 34000 feet and is the opposite of stealthy, making it easy to shoot down at a stand-off distance of several hundred kilometers. Since this makes it perfectly useless for dropping bombs, all that remains is cruise missiles, which fly at a positively poky 0.65 Mach, again making them easy targets for modern air defenses.
There are also some newer stealth bombers—very few and, it has turned out, not too stealthy, putting them essentially in the same category as the Stratofortress, and the cruise missiles they can launch are also those same old subsonic ones.
Lastly, there are the strategic nuclear submarines, which are the only part of the US nuclear triad that is still viable. They remain effective as a deterrent, and they do have the ability to get up close to launch a sneak attack with a good chance that at least a few of the missiles will get through the air defenses, but they can’t possibly hope to get around the inevitability of retaliation which will cause unacceptable, fatal damage to the continental US. This makes them useless as an offensive weapon.
The uncloaking, and damage to the USS Connecticut, is worth a good study in this regard. HERE.
Add to this Russia’s updated nuclear doctrine, according to which any attack against Russian sovereign territory or Russian sovereign interests, whether conventional or nuclear, would open the door to a nuclear retaliation, launched upon warning, and Putin’s solemn promise to counterattack not just against the locations from which a strike is launched but against the centers of decision-making.
Considering that Russian missiles are hypersonic and will reach their targets before those of the US reach theirs, and that Russia has the means to shoot down US missiles while the US is unable to shoot down Russian ones, if the US were to launch an attack, those who launched it would be dead before they could find out whether their attack succeeded in causing any damage at all or whether they had just suicided themselves for nothing.
The “Punch Line”
All of this adds up to an inevitable conclusion: under no circumstances will the US attack either Russia or China, using either conventional or nuclear weapons. To do so would result in nuclear annihilation. And for a weakened nation such as the United States is today, it’s wouldn’t take too much to throw it into absolute chaos.
Only an idiot would consider such an action.
However, there are experts who are of the opinion that a world war could spontaneously erupt at any moment without anyone wishing it to do so, just as the world slid into World War I due to a confluence of unhappy accidents. But there is a big difference: the military and civilian leaderships of the warring sides in World War I did not have hypersonic missiles pointed directly at their heads.
They thought that the war would be fought far away from their palaces, headquarters and stately mansions. They were, in some cases, quite wrong, but that was their thought originally: why not test our industrial prowess while sacrificing the lives of several million useless peasants?
Now the situation is quite different: any substantial provocation is an automatic self-destruct trigger and all sides know this.
Especially against Asia.
Pilger is bouncing a few examples of Western anti-China drivel off a Chinese historian. The historian gets a bit impatient and says (words to the effect):
"Look, China doesn't want to take over the world or tell other countries how to behave. In fact we built the Great Wall to keep the barbarians OUT!"
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Nov 19 2021 18:24 utc | 23
Of course, there will be minor provocations such as the US Navy steaming around in the Taiwan Strait or the Black Sea close to the shores of Crimea, but then they do have to earn their keep somehow.
In turn, the Russians and the Chinese will periodically up the ante a little bit by shooing them away with a harshly worded radio message or a few shots fired across their bows. But both sides know just how careful they have to be because any serious error will require immediate deescalation and may entail major loss of face.
And that, as the saying goes, would be worse than a crime: it would be a vast mistake.
The USA Leadership are idiots
And at that, we can see that no matter how much we can parse the issues; no matter how many times we can study the calculus; no matter how many times we can say “nah, no one would be that stupid to risk a war”, we see the United States doing just that.
All part of the required reverberations for the "drum beat of war".
Making the public recognize and demonize an enemy is a requirement! Step by step, little by little.
Don't think there is a war on the way? Just look around at the chaos, misinformation and pursuit of control.
Don't think others hear the drum beat? Read here: https://thesaker.is/russian-options-in-a-world-headed-for-war/
Posted by: James Cook | Nov 19 2021 17:04 utc | 5
The provocations against China are getting more and more outrageous, outlandish and dangerous. This is intentional, and it is not going to end up well.
The calculus so far assumes reasonable people would be in charge of the Leadership of the West. But that variable is “thrown out the window”, the United States and their proxy nations are all run by imbeciles and they are dancing on top of nuclear armageddon.
The Chinese military is dangerous
Here’s a training exercise. Hey! Do you see any cheap AK-47 / SKS clones here? Do you see uneducated peasants? Do you see any starving people that was all that delicious freedom and democracy out of America? VIDEO
And they start training in first grade. Military discipline is part of their lives.
Here’s some third grade students showing first grade students how to assemble and handle rifles, and weapons. VIDEO. It’s a long video at 83MB, but WELL worth the watch. I recorded it while watching my little girls, so sorry about the chit-chat in the background.
Please pay attention to what is going on. Third grade students doing this. 9 years old. We see them teaching the first and second graders in basic squad movement and behaviors. VIDEO.
We will discuss the consequences of the loss of the United States to Asia
In this article we will assume the following…
The United States is successful in triggering a war with China. After all, it has been non-stop provocations for years now. It’s not like China has an aircraft carrier off Boston harbor. Sooner or later there WILL be a response. And it won’t be a subtle hint like the USS Connecticut affair, either.
And, what is omitted from American media (and Conservative) articles and discussions on this subject…
Russia and China work together to fight the USA as they said they would.
Nuclear weapons would be used as they said they would.
The “war” would be short and devastating. Per war game results.
The “war” would be on Asian terms, not defined by America. Per war game results.
First use of nuclear weapons occurs. Per Russian military doctrine.
We will also ignore the ruin and destruction in the rest of the world. This article is not about Israel, Europe, the Ukraine, China, or Japan. This article is about what would happen to the United States once it lost a war.
It would be a first.
And, it would be painful.
Some history…
To understand this article you have to understand history.
America has never lost in a war. The closest to losing a war is what the Confederate States experienced when the South lost the American Civil War. And using that as a template, as well as the pain and anguish that both Russia and China has experienced over the last ten centuries or so, we can compile up a pretty comprehensive picture of what to expect.
So don’t yell at me.
You all should have read a history book or two while you were in school. None of this should be new. The only difference here is that I am providing a reminder that YOU are right now, living in a historical moment. And that moment can have enormous consequences.
We are teetering on the very sharp edge of a very thin line, with a deep abyss on both side.
And using this history, we can compile a listing of potential things to expect to occur once America loses World War III.
Brace yourself…
New borders
Every losing nation ends up having it’s geographical boarders redrawn. For a large nation such as the United States, we would see the entire nation carved up into separate “Protectorates.”
Hawaii would be it’s own Protectorate.
Alaska might be returned to Russia.
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands will become a Protectorate.
Texas would be carved up. Part would go to Mexico. The other half would be a Protectorate.
California would be carved up. Part would go to Mexico. The remaining sections carved up into protectorates.
The remaining states on the continental United States would be reshaped into ten to 25 individual protectorates.
No existing State would be permitted to retain it’s borders.
Think about what happened to Poland after World War I, and then again after World War II. Think about what happened to Africa when the British colonial power left it. Thank about what happened when the “White Settlers” colonized North America.
Protectorate laws
As a “Protectorate” the region would function under the rules and laws of the conquering nation. This would vary from protectorate to protectorate. But some things will be constant.
A protectorate can ONLY trade with it’s physical neighbor.
A protectorate cannot have a standing army, navy, air force, space forces.
A protectorate must pay tribute to the conquering nation. This historically consists of a lump sum, plus a very high annual tax born by the inhabitants.
A protectorate would do anything the conquering nation demands.
New Government
The federal United States government would be crushed, destroyed, and any mention of any former leaders retaining power would be harshly suppressed.
For a new world out of the old, all old and former government influences are to be extinguished. Buildings would be destroyed, historical monuments raised, and all history rewritten. This is not just on the Federal level, but on the state and local levels as well. Everything would be raised and then altered beyond recognition, and a new command and control government structure rebuilt upon the ashes of the former.
Each protectorate will be told (by the conquering nation) what government it shall have. Some will become theocracies. Such as the “Bible Belt States”. Others will become quaizi-republics. Still others will be dictatorships, and others will simply be socialist based government structures.
All will use the police forces to enforce their new laws, rules and regulations.
New laws
There will be new laws. All of the old laws will be discarded. This will be everything from divorce law to business law, to patent law and criminal law. The laws specified by the protectorate will be determined by the conquering nation. You can expect a very harsh social credit scoring system, and the harshest penalties for non-compliance.
They can be arbitrary, vindictive, and capricious.
Loss of a leg for drinking alcohol.
Beheading for jay-walking.
Death for showing disrespect.
Penis removal for wearing shoes on Sunday.
Non-compliance is often death.
Ownership will change drastically
You may suddenly discover that the home you live in has been seized for “public housing”, a “museum”, or a barracks. That your factory where you work is now under new management and everything is being disassembled and shipped elsewhere, or that the apartment complex that you rent out of is now being turned into hospital.
What’s more, you might be granted 24 hours to gather your belongings and leave… if you are lucky.
Ownership takes on a new meaning when the world is turned upside down, and you are on the losing side. And now you will have to obey your new masters. Imagine that these people were now YOUR local government authority…
Quality of life will plunge
Sure, you might have three cars, two motorcycles and live in a McMansion. But all that means nothing when you have a social credit score so low that you are not authorized to drive, purchase gasoline, or use electricity.
What are you going to do? Hide in your house for months?
Many people will find themselves plunged from “Middle Class” into the world of the sub-slave. Today, the United States is a stratified, balkanized society with nine social classes. After conquest, many will find themselves at the lower “bottom feeder” social classes.
And let’s not even talk about the lifestyle changes for those who expect running water, electricity, access to a cell phone and radio. All these things can, and probably will, be subject to the whims of the new protectorate government.
The USD will collapse and be replaced
One of the first casualties of any war will be the total and complete collapse of the “house of cards” known as the United States Dollar. It’s kept alive on vapor, dreams, hope and frantic, fanatical spending. During a war, and afterwards, these pieces of paper will have zero value.
And unless you have something tangible, and not other vapor-currency like bit-coin, you will suddenly become penniless. Then what are you going to use for trade and commerce when your stomach is growling, and you need heat, water, electricity and a meal in your gut?
What are you going to barter with?
An x-box when there is no electricity? A car when there’s no access to gasoline? Your collection of Pokemon cards?
More than likely it will be a service that you, or your family can provide to others. Do they have the necessary training? Or will they need to receive on-the-job training to meet the needs of others during a SHTF scenario?
Think sex, manual labor, or other undesirable activities.
Rights become zero
Forget about the “Bill of Rights”.
You will be a slave. Slaves have no Rights. It’s a historical norm.
Sure it is pretty much meaningless today, but in this scenario, it not only doesn’t exist, but it would be ignored BY LAW. If you think that you have the right to think, speak, dream or practice your religion… then think again.
It will be OVER. And non-compliance would mean death. It’s a historical norm.
Conquered people do not have Rights. They are slaves, servants, or chattel.
Deal with this historical fact.
Places will be renamed
The water-filled crater formerly known as New York City will be renamed “Commode”. Washington DC will become “Fresh Vomit”, and San Francisco will become “Fagland”.
This means different things to different people. But with the renaming of places will come with an entire different understanding of geography. Maps will all be different, and along with it will be the associated perceptions.
Restrictions become many
There will be all sorts of restrictions on everything. The inhabitants of the conquered territories will need to ask permission to do anything and everything. Failure to get the correct permissions, permits, or pay the necessary fees will result in the harshest measures possible.
Driving a car. Traveling. Ownership of a bicycle, access to a bridge. Crossing a border will all be illegal.
And that’s just for movement.
Think about food, clothing and shelter. All will be restricted access. You will be told where to live, what to eat, how to behave, how to dress, what to do, and whether or not you are paid for your labors.
History will be rewritten
Typically all history books and records are burned, destroyed and eliminated. The teachers killed, and a new history constructed to fit the needs of the new ruler class.
Think about the reeducation camps for the teachers and intellectuals in South Vietnam when the North Vietnam took over Saigon (now, Ho Chi Men city.) Think about what happened in Cambodia with the “killing fields”. Think about what happened to the Polish in the Katyn Forest massacre.
TheKatyn massacre, also knownasthe zbrodnia katyńska ('Katyń crime'), was a massexecutionofPolishPOWofficersand citizens ordered by the Soviet authoritiesin 1940. The most widely accepted estimate of the number of dead is about 22,000. Thevictims were murdered in the Katyn forest, Kalinin ( Tver) and Kharkiv prisons, andelsewhere.
-Katyń
Prison camps / rape camps / mass torture complexes
There will be segregation of people into locations. Then new jobs, activities, and tasks will be assigned to them depending on their utility.
Men typically are used either for fertilizer (killed outright in mass graves) or as slaves.It is very rare for a male to survive within a conquered land. They are viewed as a viable threat vector and eliminated in mass. Though, exceptions can occur based on their skills or knowledge.
Women are almost always earmarked as sex toys. Historically the women that manage to survive in this role age from 12/14 to up to 30. Older than that, then they are killed.
All of the women will be dehumanized, raped and sent off to “collection centers”. There they will be provided dehumanizing clothing and attire, and raped until they are of no further use.
Everyone, and every moment will be documented to excess. It doesn’t matter if it was the Nazi’s with the Jews, the Soviets with other Soviets, the Khmer Rouge with their fellow citizens, or Americans against Americans. Each person will be interviewed, indexed, photographed, sheared, and categorized prior to execution.
Know your history.
Children are typically killed. Older people are also typically killed. Pets tend to be eaten.
Schools will change
Historically schools are eliminated, and then when they do reappear, access is severely curtailed and limited. The subjects and information taught in the schools also change as well.
Know your history.
It’s not all boring you know.
Important cities will be erased
If a city manages to survive the war, and the attacks, it will not be spared when the occupation forces arrive.
The Japanese “rape of Nanjing” in China is one such example.
Nanjing was “occupied” by the Japanese when Japan conquered the region. Then then decided to torture and kill every single person in that entire city.
The entire city was rounded up, tortured and killed by the Japanese occupation forces. Many such examples of this occur throughout history.
Have you ever wondered what happened to the American Indians that lived in such places as Kittanning, PA, or Oswego, NY? All erased from history. Their cities plowed under and now exist as State Game Lands, farm land or parking lots.
Cultural landmarks will be destroyed
Expect such landmarks as Mount Rushmore to be dynamited, The statue of liberty to be torn down and used as scrap metal, the San Francisco bridge to be destroyed, and the iconic White House to be leveled into dust.
A new “privileged class” will arise
Those “bottom feeders” in society, who have obtained power and control over groups of people, such as urban ghetto enclaves will often be granted special powers and abilities. They will use these powers to control people, places and things in the new protectorates.
Urban groups will seize control of the cities.
Drug gangs will seize entire geographical areas.
Restrictions on movement, attire, and activity
Seemingly random restrictions will appear and will be mandatory. Such as not being allowed to wear camouflaged clothing, shoes, use a cell phone or use a cigarette lighter. Certain areas may forbid the use of automobiles, and the access of grains, apples, seeds, or corn could mean a death sentence.
Conclusion
Pretty terrible, huh?
Well then, WHY THE FUCK IS THE UNITED STATES TRYING TO PROVOKE A WAR with both China and Russia simultaneously? Are they out of their minds? Because sooner or later, when you poke a lion it will snap back.
Sooner…
…or, later.
So here is what you all have to look forward to unless things change. You cannot continue to act like a bully when you walk into a gang of Hell’s Angels (hard core bikers). They will not be nice.
Summary
Once a war starts, it will only be a matter of time before the United States collapses and is occupied by the rest of the world. During that time, the nation will be broken up, tortured, abused, redefined, purged, and the lives of Americans will be worth nothing.
That’s what you get when your government is corrupt and your leaders are dysfunctional.
The ONLY way to prevent this nightmare scenario is for America to stop trying to provoke a war with Asia, and start trying to reform itself. Though to expect that to actually happen is very, very unlikely.
Do you want more?
You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.
This article is not for everyone. If you are just doing fine and don't think you will ever face losing a source of income or intermittent food supply then you can ignore this article.
But for 90% of the MM readership, you all should at least read it.
I generated this article after noting that a number of my friends back in the United States, as well as a number of MM participants were having trouble.
Serious, serious trouble.
While not life and death situations, they did involve discomfort. Because people, you have no idea what it is like when you haven’t eaten a decent meal in a few weeks. This is real starvation. And not a good situation to be in.
And so I just cannot post anything else until I get my thoughts “off my chest” and onto MM.
Introduction
One of the things that has happened to me, time and time again in the United States was massive layoffs without notice on or right before the holidays. Last total was around five on Christmas Eve. And because we were living paycheck to paycheck (with no savings), and no secondary sources of income we were often thrown into uncomfortable situations.
Like being out of food, or running out of food, and having to wait weeks (or sometimes months) for the local government agencies to provide us support and assistance.
And being a “white collar” professional, as soon as we obtained food stamps, monetary awards or help, the first thing that we would do is try to replicate our habits. When we would get money, we would go to a fast food restaurant or a local diner.
And when we would get food stamps we treated it as “play money” and bought the more expensive frozen food, and snacks that we normally wouldn’t buy.
These latent responses to a catastrophic situation were not good for us.
But you know, we learned and adapted. And here are some of my tricks to make sure that this kind of situation would never occur again.
Basics
Let’s get started.
[1] The woman is in charge of household finance and meals / food.
This is the first and most important aspect of this entire post. Listen up!
Call me an old fashioned man, or whatever you want. But the most important thing that you can do is put the “woman of the house” in charge of finance, and meals.
She will budget the meals, and the finances, and do a very good job at it.
And the ONLY reason why I did not implement this very simple change earlier in my life because I was far too egotistical, and taken in by the progressive “everyone is equal” beliefs.
Men and women are NOT equal. We each have certain strengths and weaknesses. And women are natural financiers, and managers.
Do not waste that resource.
If you want to forever prevent this kind of situation from ever happening again, then learn how to delegate.
The woman (whether working in a career or not) should ALWAYS be in charge of the finances and the meals.
Period.
This is the first, biggest and most important change to your life that will really seriously prevent these kinds of emergencies from ever happening ever again.
Oh, and one more thing. Don’t ever disagree with her (his, if there are gender issues) on the allocations. Creating this kind of division of responsibility should be automatic, painless and should be the last thing to contribute to family strife.
[2] An emphasis on healthy food.
The second thing, also of equal importance is that the domestic management must be such that well budgeted meals, both tasty and healthy be emphasized. This will occur automatically (in my experience) but it does need to be spelled out specifically so all will agree to it.
I am advocating, good healthy simple food. With an occasional restaurant visit or special “date” or event to improve your quality of life.
Expensive gourmet chain coffees are out. So is ice cream. This should be dedicated for special events. Not regular meals as dessert. No snacks. Zero Doritos, and potato chips, pretzels, and and fried pork skins.
Zero.
Am I clear on this?
The idea is that you can still have these things, but in moderation and only on special occasions. If you want to have snacks then opt for the far cheaper salted peanuts than a bag of Doritos.
Let’s look at the third element of “the basics”.
[3] Grocery budget must be heavy on staples, fruits, and vegetables.
Oh, you have heard that before.
Right?
But I am going to really underline this point. If you break down the costs for groceries you will find that staples such as rice, potatoes, flour, and eggs are very surprisingly cheap.
You can buy huge bags of the items for very little, and they alone can make very bland and tasteless meals for a long long time. Of which you can convert into very tasty meals with some salt, and some other seasonings.
For instance, in America we used to just eat rice with soy sauce.
In China they think this is insane.
Here's a try. Take some soy sauce, olive oil, cooking wine, and vinegar. Mix it together, add salt and pepper.
Then cut up tomatoes and onions.
Mix together with the sauces and eat over the rice.
Not a gourmet meal, but it tastes fresh, and will not be all that terrible.ANd it will fill you up. Total cost is probably under 10 cents.
Vegetables are also very cheap. But you will need to be able to buy them twice a week as they perish easily. Fruit tends to be expensive. I argue that everyone should have some fruit in the house (it helps you shit and aids in digestion) but you don’t need to buy the most expensive fruit. Get whatever is on sale, and cheap. In the Summer like now, peaches are cheap. So is watermelon.
Less than 5% of the weekly grocery budget should go to condiments, and frozen food.
…
Didn’t quite “get it” did you? Let me repeat.
Less than 5% of the weekly grocery budget should go to condiments, and frozen food.
Yah. If you are not following this rule you are setting yourself up for trouble. You as a man, or as a woman have a responsibility to your family and your beloved pets. You need to proved for them. You NEED to manage your grocery shopping.
So let me repeat.
Less than 5% of the weekly grocery budget should go to condiments, and frozen food. The rest goes to staples, vegetables, and fruit (On sale).
[4] Start building a larder
You do not need to be a Prepper or a Mormon to start having a “Larder”. A larder is a long term storage of foodstuff and elements that enable that your family will have food during the ups and downs of economic uncertainty. If you start small, but religiously contribute to it, after six months you should have a very sizable larder that you can use to make good, tasty and delicious meals.
A larder should be in the coolest part of your house. Preferably a cellar, basement or garage. It should store staples and cans. You should make sure that you have mouse traps nearby as they tend to attract rodents. If you are doing better, you can add a deep freezer; just make sure that it is new and reliable. Do not skimp and get a used one. All it takes is one breakdown that will ruin your entire stock of frozen supplies.
[5] Know your local resources for food.
You don’t need to go to chain supermarkets for food. You can go to old food warehouses, enormous structures that contain out of date cans and boxes.They sell out of date products. Almost all the canned goods are fine. Boxed goods are hit and miss. Be careful. So what if the cans are dinged. Just makes sure they are not broken.
You can also go to bakery outlets, and look at their end of day specials. You can go to local farmers’ markets and scoot into grocery stores at the end of the day for the best prices.
Better yet talk to the owners and managers. Know them on a personal basis. You might be surprised. I know that Panera Bread gives its end of the day bread out to local organizations and people that need it instead of throwing them away. Just communicate. Build relationships. Contribute to your community. Be local.
The same thing goes for local small farmers and such. You would be amazed at the prices you can get at a local egg farm, or the milk at a diary at the farm. You just need to get up, find out where they are and visit them. Talk to the people. Know them personally. Become a customer, and when times get hard, you might be surprised the help you will get back in return.
[6] Know your emergency services
We are surrounded with Rufus’s. We just are so busy dealing with our day to day lives that we do not realize that there are all sorts of emergency services all around us. Many are in “the Yellow Pages” or whatever constitutes for them on the internet. All are run by Rufus’s. These vary from all sorts of services and can include…
County social services
Private social services
Religious (Catholic, etc.) social services
Food banks
Volunteer organizations
Salvation Army
Animal Shelters
[7] Contribute your skill sets to others
I once had a long time high school friend who suddenly started having really strange cramps and pains. But he was poor, living on the edge of poverty and couldn’t afford a doctor’s visit, and since he worked (and owned a house) he could not qualify for free medical care.
So he asked me what to do, and I reminded him that he used to be the groundskeeper for a local doctor a few towns away.
I told him that what did he have to lose, but to go up and ask him for help.
And you know what? He did exactly that.
Surprised me. No Shit!
Most people never listen to MM. They just want sympathy. Not real help and advice.
But sure as shit he called him up and visited him at his house. The doctor was so happy to see him, and was more than willing to look at him. He did it for free, and then wrote some prescriptions for him. Called them into the pharmacy and paid for them himself.
You never know.
It never, ever hurts to ask.
You might be surprised at the response.
Be part of the community. Smile. Be kind and helpful. Contribute what you can. And when you need help, the community will give it back to you.
Valuable skills that you can contribute to society (just connect with any local social service and tell them that you want to offer free support to those in need) include
Medical profession
Machining, metal fabrication
Mechanic work / shop repair
Handyman
Electrician
Plumbing
Translations Services
Teaching
And even more! And if the first social service isn’t interested, just go down the line until you too are hooked into a local community participating and helping those in need nearby.
[8] Local options
I knew a man who gave free gasoline to various social service organizations and vouchers to those in need. I also knew individuals who did this out of their own wallets. I also know that there are large networks of Rufus’s that lie hidden all around you.
What you need to do is start getting out and talking to the people. Go to the fishermen and where they unload their daily catches. You will probably end up with a garbage bag full of fish. Take it home. Freeze most. Cut off the heads and give to your cats. They will forever love you for that.
Offer them a few bucks (dollars) for some fresh fish Put them in a plastic bag and carry them home. Or whatever is local to your area.
In Pennsylvania there were orchard farms full of trees with apples, pears, plums, and nuts. Walnuts, chestnuts, and others. There’s blueberry farms, strawberry farms. Pecan orchards, and many more. There’s catfish farms in the deep south, and shrimp harvesting in the gulf. Shellfish collectors all over the coast, and everything in between.
We need to start thinking like our grandparents instead of adapting our new reality to that of what we have grown accustomed to having.
[9] Soup Kitchens
I have eaten at numerous soup kitchens. The very first one that I went to was located in New Iberia Louisiana, and I was surprised by the great diversity of people there.
Sure there were some “riff raff”, but there were single mothers with children, a group of marines that lost their money in a game of poker and got stranded, some folk laid off and in between jobs, and others dealing with all sorts of issues.
There is a soup kitchen in just about every American city, and the larger the city the more numbers the kitchens. You must be aware of the operating times. Some only operate between 11:00am and 2:00pm, while others operate at 5:00pm to 6:00pm. You come early and if you are in a distressed neighborhood be safe, careful and come early.
The meals are good, solid fare.
Not just a big tureen of soup as depicted in the movies. But rather a full meal with a main dish, vegetables on the side, bread, a soup, a dessert, and a drink. It’s often cooked by volunteers, who come out and devote their time and energy to make good tasty meals for those in need.
Rufus’s all.
Old and young.
If you are in a situation, maybe between jobs. On unemployment. On food stamps, or just worried about the job situation, you need to seek the local soup kitchen out, and start supplementing your meals.
Once a week at least.
That one meal will expand your home food bank by 1/7 automatically. And it will connect you to others.
Then, maybe… maybe ask if you can volunteer.
You will get a free meal out of it in exchange for work and you will be helping others. It’s a win – win!
[10] Stop eating out American style
Telling that to an American will result in blank stares. But it is true. Same with Starbucks coffee, donuts, and all the rest. We all know about how unhealthy these foods in restaurants actually are, but it’s more than that. They are expensive. And they tear up your body.
I’m in my mid to late 60’s. Do I look my age?
It’s because I haven’t eaten American style fast food in over 15 years. Sure, I have an occasional coffee or a “Subway” or a real hamburger at Burger King, but that is about it. They are rare events.
I eat real food, either in a restaurant or prepared at home.
And I can see the difference in my photographs.
My food is free of GMO’s, hyper-processed ingredients, is almost always fresh and certainly rarely deep fried or heavily salted.
When you are under heavy stress, what you eat makes a big difference in your ability to handle that stress. Eat fresh food, made by a talented loving spouse using real fresh ingredients.
Eat out, but when you do limit it to once a week, and be selective in where you go. Make it memorable.
That means tasty and full of meaningful communication.
[11] Cut out all soda
Growing up in the 1960’s and 1970’s we have become accustomed to eating everything with a soda or a coffee. A coffee is ok, but a soda is not.
I could go into all the reasons why carbonated surgery drinks (regardless of the price) is not good for you, but if you want to break this cycle, then you must break those bad dangerous habits. And soda is one of them.
Start adding red wine to your meals. Cut down on the beer. I am not saying that you need to get sloshed, but at least one or two glasses with every meal will really spice up the meal, make the time desirable for talking instead of playing on the computer and watching television and help your heart. Sure, a bottle costs the same as a McDonald’s number one meal. But it’s an investment that will pay off.
Oh, and make sure that it is real wine. It need not be expensive, but must be real.
[12] A garden (Long term planning)
Sure you can have a garden. Most American homes have yards. But even if you are in an urban environment, a porch with some tomato plants can make a big difference in your access to fresh vegetables.
[13] Fruit and nut bearing trees (Really Long term planning)
If you have a yard, you can also have fruit and nut bearing trees. They produce every years, and sure it can be a pain in the ass to harvest, but one tree will give you bales and bales of apples, or sacks and sacks of nuts. Just because your job is secure now does not mean that it will always be secure. And then what are you going to do with all those apples, oranges, bananas, or walnuts? Humm…
[14] Home canning and harvesting(Long term planning)
If you have a garden you can also can your excess. You can make preserves. You can make apple butter. You can make hot vegetable mix. You can make pickles. You can make homemade salsa. You can make and can re-fried beans. You can make all sorts of things, and once you get started you will never be hungry ever again.
Conclusion
I know many of you will be “rolling your eyes” at my crazy old fashioned ideas and suggestions regarding food and local social services. But please listen to me. I do know what I am talking about.
I just want to put it forth, and posit that in order for us to adapt and survive, we need to be a Rufus. We need to know all the Rufus organizations around us and we need to contribute to the community in whatever means we have. If you are in this situation now, please take heed of my advice, and try to implement some of these suggestions. Not all of them are perfect and ideal for your situation, but you can be rest assured that they will serve to help you during times of need.
Listen to me, not eating for a few weeks really sucks. And if you are in the United States there is absolutely no reason for this to occur.
Stop letting your fears or ideas of what might wait behind that heavy bolted door stop you from stepping inside. Do not let any Hollywood notions of what a Soup Kitchen is stop you from grabbing a healthy meal, and stop listening to the non-stop 24-7 consumer nonsense blasted at you and your family.
Eggs are cheap. Really cheap. Potatoes and onions are cheap. Do you want a good filling meal for under $1 USD?
Try cooking sliced potatoes and onions together with salt and pepper, and then add two eggs, and two (cheapest brand) chicken hotdogs from the freezer. You will be full, you will be fine, and your stomach won’t be growling.
For comparison, one Burger King Meal will equal about eight of these healthier and easy to make meals.
Then start giving back to your community.
After a good six months on this program you will find your health is better, your weight is lower, your stress is down, and you will be part of a community which will greatly improve your life. If you are not good at interacting with people, turn to our spouse…
…you are never alone.
And their (her) abilities in networking and making friends will astound you. My experience has proven this point time and time again.
And remember, everything is temporary.
The bad will end.
But now, if you are in this particular situation, know that this is just the start of some really good things.
It’s a crazy life that we live. Just ride with it. Seek the Rufus’s they are everywhere.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Well, It has been a year, but I finally got my house back from the clutches of some evil fiends that used it, stole it, abused it, and seemingly got away with their crimes. But do not be so sure that what appears on the surface is what actually going on.
Here we are going to use this example to discuss some pretty complex issues. And it know that it is going to upset a few people in the process.
Background
About the background of this particular issue. Let it be well understood that I have discussed this elsewhere on MM, but will recap a summary here.
When the Coronavirus hit China during CNY (Chinese New Year) in 2020, China went DEFCON ONE and locked the entire nation down. It was solid, and all life, business and everything stopped. Cities that had thousands, if not millions of workers emptied out. The workers went home. And they closed their rental agreements in the homes that they were renting out in the cities.
People like MM, here, who own multiple properties suddenly found all of our tenants leaving. Our apartments going empty, and our secondary sources of income dropping to zero.
Well, suddenly we are approached by a large “reputable” company that rents out houses like ours. They are nationwide, enormous in size, and offered to rend our house out within one month at a premium price. Honestly, at the time, we didn’t believe it. It sounded too good to be true. But we figured, what did we have to lose?
And sure enough, two weeks later, we got a tenant who will pay full rent of 7000/month, locked into a one year contract, and would move in as soon as we repainted the interior, bought new furniture, bought a new television, refrigerator and washing machine.
So we signed the contract, and bought the furniture. And they moved in.
But there was something strange. Instead of the 7000/month payment, they only paid 3000. Why was this?
Seems pretty strange huh?
Yes. It did seem strange.
And then one week later the offices didn’t answer our phones calls. The sales representatives all over the nation went silent. And we discovered that the owner and the executives stole billions of RMB, or hundreds of millions of US dollars and went into hiding.
That left us homeowners with unpaid house rent. Renters who are now “deadbeats” living in our homes, and locked into a year contract (or longer. Some up to 3 years.)
Outcome of all this
Well, long story short.
We followed up with legal action that resulted in nothing. The courts ruled in favor of the tenants, and told us to take a lawsuit against the company, which no longer exists, and who’s owners have new identities and living out of the country in luxurious mansions with bodyguards.
We lost, all told perhaps 200,000 which was lost income from rent, and the attorney and filing costs. This is a lot of money from MM, and the entire year of 2020, MM personal lifestyle (personally and family) was severely contracted.
The guy who ran off was killed. Rather quickly. Suddenly and with zero emotion. The assassins even went out and ate noodles afterwards.
And after a terms of the contact, we went people over to open the door to our house and tidy it up so that we can get new tenants…
And this is what we found.
Click on the picture to view the video.
You can download and watch the video HERE, or get a zipped file HERE.
What was the sum total of damage?
These jackasses skipped town, leaving me with sewer, water, electricity,maintenance, security, and management fees that had accrued.
They stole the new television, the new washing machine, and the new coffee table. The new furniture, as you can see are completely destroyed.
The ruins that they left behind and all the junk needs to be hauled off, the damage repaired, and the apartment repainted, and new replacement furniture obtained.
Perhaps 50,000.
Total cost of this fiasco all told?
250,000 RMB
We would have been far better off just locking up the house and not renting it out.
What are my options?
From here what shall I do?
[1] Move on, and forget.
This is what I want to do.
Bad people, base their activity on sensible people moving forward with their lives. They take advantage of this and use it for their own personal gain.
Sensible people don't want to have anything to do with these bad people. As the more you get involved with them, like a "tar baby", the more shit sticks to you.
So sensible people just move on with their lives. And bad people keep on being bad.
Not a good thing. But sometimes' it's best to turn a bad thing into an expensive lesson.
[2] Forgive, then forget.
Ah. This is the Christian thing to do.
This is the Christian thing to do, right?
This is also the thing that evil psychopathic personalities, corrupt bureaucracies, and the habitually evil want. they want you to keep on being the victim. They want to hurt others, gain personally, and then be immune from any kinds of retribution, payback, karma or consequences.
Forgiveness appears to be the "right" thing to do.
However, evil people rely on it to continue their malevolent actions, and those that forgive get entangled (in a quantum sense) so that more bad actions are attracted to them personally.
Not a good thing.
[3] Pay the money to hunt them down and hurt them.
This is a real option available to me.
I can have the entire family killed for 33,000 RMB. But is it worth it?
Or, alternatively, I can go after them myself. It might seem that I might save some money, but it will actually cost more in the long run, distract from my life, and really be a pain in the ass to do.
Not a good thing.
But you know, it's just money. It's only things. It could have been a lot worse. And by being on this world-line path that has this kind of event instead of nuclear war, I'd take this world-line over it any day.
So keep in mind that this is the real world. Not Hollywood. You don't just off some bad evil people because they busted up your house. It's not worth my time, my money, my thoughts, and my efforts.
Phooey! On this option.
[4] Use my MM abilities to send them to the cornfield
This is a pain in the ass to do, but it will achieve my goals.
I suppose that all consciousnesses are neutral and good. But many have actions that don't really seem to indicate this.
Would any "teaching" efforts on my part prevent them from hurting others?
Would it help them learn from personal consequences?
Is it my role, even though they entered my life, is it MY ROLE to teach them anything?
By doing and taking the action to actually "send them to the cornfield", it will entangle me further with their vile nature... unless I take specific actions to prevent that kind of entanglement.
And what I am actually going to do…
I just want [1] the bad people to stay away from us, but also [2] do not want them to hurt others. So which of the four actions listed above will accomplish this goal?
What do you think?
…
Yup.
They are going to the cornfield.
I hope that the butt spanking will be sufficient to prevent their evil, vile and destructive behaviors from affecting anyone else. And maybe, just maybe they will start to contribute to society instead of being a big drain on it.
It is done.
And I am sorry for busting up your illusions on MM being a good, kind gentle soul. Sometimes you have to put a rabid dog down. And someone has to pick up the gun and do it. As distasteful as it is.
And I guess it's me simply because there is no one else willing and available to handle this distasteful matter.
I am just the last one in a long, line of others that either [1] looked the other way, or [2] forgave and forgot.
And because no one else had the strength to put the crazed rabid dog down, it arrived on my door-step.
And now, it's up to me. The ball has dropped. And I am the one picking it up.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Fearless, as Jet Li's Fearless in the United Kingdom and in the United States, is a 2006 Chinese-Hong Kong martial arts film. It is loosely based on the life of Huo Yuanjia, a Chinese martial artist who challenged foreign fighters in highly publicised events, restoring pride and nationalism to China at a time when Western imperialism and Japanese manipulation were eroding the country in the final years of the Qing Dynasty before the birth of the Republic of China.
Lesson One.
This is one of the most important points that Robert Greene has taught us. Once a student, always a student until the day your mentor leaves. For a true master is a great ally, but an even worst foe. Be constantly on guard for your actions, and beware of your environment, least you damage something that has developed to be part of your very being.
LAW 1
NEVER OUTSHINE THE MASTER
JUDGMENT
Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please and impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite—inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.
TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW
Nicolas Fouquet, Louis XIV’s finance minister in the first years of his reign, was a generous man who loved lavish parties, pretty women, and poetry. He also loved money, for he led an extravagant lifestyle.
Fouquet was clever and very much indispensable to the king, so when the prime minister, Jules Mazarin, died, in 1661, the finance minister expected to be named the successor. Instead, the king decided to abolish the position.
This and other signs made Fouquet suspect that he was falling out of favor, and so he decided to ingratiate himself with the king by staging the most spectacular party the world had ever seen. The party’s ostensible purpose would be to commemorate the completion of Fouquet’s château, Vaux-le- Vicomte, but its real function was to pay tribute to the king, the guest of honor.
The most brilliant nobility of Europe and some of the greatest minds of the time—La Fontaine, La Rochefoucauld, Madame de Sévigné attended the party. Molière wrote a play for the occasion, in which he himself was to perform at the evening’s conclusion. The party began with a lavish seven- course dinner, featuring foods from the Orient never before tasted in France, as well as new dishes created especially for the night. The meal was accompanied with music commissioned by Fouquet to honor the king.
After dinner there was a promenade through the château’s gardens. The grounds and fountains of Vaux-le-Vicomte were to be the inspiration for Versailles.
Fouquet personally accompanied the young king through the geometrically aligned arrangements of shrubbery and flower beds.
Arriving at the gardens’ canals, they witnessed a fireworks display, which was followed by the performance of Molière’s play.
The party ran well into the night and everyone agreed it was the most amazing affair they had ever attended.
The next day, Fouquet was arrested by the king’s head musketeer, D’Artagnan. Three months later he went on trial for stealing from the country’s treasury. (Actually, most of the stealing he was accused of he had done on the king’s behalf and with the king’s permission.)
Fouquet was found guilty and sent to the most isolated prison in France, high in the Pyrenees Mountains, where he spent the last twenty years of his life in solitary confinement.
Interpretation
Louis XIV, the Sun King, was a proud and arrogant man who wanted to be the center of attention at all times; he could not countenance being outdone in lavishness by anyone, and certainly not his finance minister.
To succeed Fouquet, Louis chose Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a man famous for his parsimony and for giving the dullest parties in Paris. Colbert made sure that any money liberated from the treasury went straight into Louis’s hands.
With the money, Louis built a palace even more magnificent than Fouquet’s —the glorious palace of Versailles. He used the same architects, decorators, and garden designer. And at Versailles, Louis hosted parties even more extravagant than the one that cost Fouquet his freedom.
Let us examine the situation.
The evening of the party, as Fouquet presented spectacle on spectacle to Louis, each more magnificent than the one before, he imagined the affair as demonstrating his loyalty and devotion to the king.
Not only did he think the party would put him back in the king’s favor, he thought it would show his good taste, his connections, and his popularity, making him indispensable to the king and demonstrating that he would make an excellent prime minister.
Instead, however, each new spectacle, each appreciative smile bestowed by the guests on Fouquet, made it seem to Louis that his own friends and subjects were more charmed by the finance minister than by the king himself, and that Fouquet was actually flaunting his wealth and power.
Rather than flattering Louis XIV, Fouquet’s elaborate party offended the king’s vanity.
Louis would not admit this to anyone, of course—instead, he found a convenient excuse to rid himself of a man who had inadvertently made him feel insecure.
Such is the fate, in some form or other, of all those who unbalance the master’s sense of self, poke holes in his vanity, or make him doubt his pre- eminence.
When the evening began, Fouquet was at the top of the world.
By the time it had ended, he was at the bottom.
Voltaire, 1694-1778
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
In the early 1600s, the Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo found himself in a precarious position.
He depended on the generosity of great rulers to support his research, and so, like all Renaissance scientists, he would sometimes make gifts of his inventions and discoveries to the leading patrons of the time.
Once, for instance, he presented a military compass he had invented to the Duke of Gonzaga.
Then he dedicated a book explaining the use of the compass to the Medicis.
Both rulers were grateful, and through them Galileo was able to find more students to teach.
No matter how great the discovery, however, his patrons usually paid him with gifts, not cash.
This made for a life of constant insecurity and dependence. There must be an easier way, he thought.
Galileo hit on a new strategy in 1610, when he discovered the moons of Jupiter. Instead of dividing the discovery among his patrons—giving one the telescope he had used, dedicating a book to another, and so on—as he had done in the past, he decided to focus exclusively on the Medicis.
He chose the Medicis for one reason: Shortly after Cosimo I had established the Medici dynasty, in 1540, he had made Jupiter, the mightiest of the gods, the Medici symbol—a symbol of a power that went beyond politics and banking, one linked to ancient Rome and its divinities.
Galileo turned his discovery of Jupiter’s moons into a cosmic event honoring the Medicis’ greatness.
Shortly after the discovery, he announced that “the bright stars [the moons of Jupiter] offered themselves in the heavens” to his telescope at the same time as Cosimo II’s enthronement.
He said that the number of the moons—four—harmonized with the number of the Medicis (Cosimo II had three brothers) and that the moons orbited Jupiter as these four sons revolved around Cosimo I, the dynasty’s founder.
More than coincidence, this showed that the heavens themselves reflected the ascendancy of the Medici family.
After he dedicated the discovery to the Medicis, Galileo commissioned an emblem representing Jupiter sitting on a cloud with the four stars circling about him, and presented this to Cosimo II as a symbol of his link to the stars.
In 1610 Cosimo II made Galileo his official court philosopher and mathematician, with a full salary. For a scientist this was the coup of a lifetime.
The days of begging for patronage were over.
Interpretation
In one stroke, Galileo gained more with his new strategy than he had in years of begging.
The reason is simple: All masters want to appear more brilliant than other people.
They do not care about science or empirical truth or the latest invention ; they care about their name and their glory.
Galileo gave the Medicis infinitely more glory by linking their name with cosmic forces than he had by making them the patrons of some new scientific gadget or discovery.
Scientists are not spared the vagaries of court life and patronage.
They too must serve masters who hold the purse strings. And their great intellectual powers can make the master feel insecure, as if he were only there to supply the funds—an ugly, ignoble job.
The producer of a great work wants to feel he is more than just the provider of the financing. He wants to appear creative and powerful, and also more important than the work produced in his name.
Instead of insecurity you must give him glory. Galileo did not challenge the intellectual authority of the Medicis with his discovery, or make them feel inferior in any way; by literally aligning them with the stars, he made them shine brilliantly among the courts of Italy.
He did not outshine the master, he made the master outshine all others.
KEYS TO POWER
Everyone has insecurities.
When you show yourself in the world and display your talents, you naturally stir up all kinds of resentment, envy, and other manifestations of insecurity. This is to be expected.
You cannot spend your life worrying about the petty feelings of others.
With those above you, however, you must take a different approach: When it comes to power, outshining the master is perhaps the worst mistake of all.
Do not fool yourself into thinking that life has changed much since the days of Louis XIV and the Medicis.
Those who attain high standing in life are like kings and queens: They want to feel secure in their positions, and superior to those around them in intelligence, wit, and charm.
It is a deadly but common misperception to believe that by displaying and vaunting your gifts and talents, you are winning the master’s affection.
He may feign appreciation, but at his first opportunity he will replace you with someone less intelligent, less attractive, less threatening, just as Louis XIV replaced the sparkling Fouquet with the bland Colbert. And as with Louis, he will not admit the truth, but will find an excuse to rid himself of your presence.
This Law involves two rules that you must realize. First, you can inadvertently outshine a master simply by being yourself. There are masters who are more insecure than others, monstrously insecure; you may naturally outshine them by your charm and grace.
No one had more natural talents than Astorre Manfredi, prince of Faenza.
The most handsome of all the young princes of Italy, he captivated his subjects with his generosity and open spirit.
In the year 1500, Cesare Borgia laid siege to Faenza.
When the city surrendered, the citizens expected the worst from the cruel Borgia, who, however, decided to spare the town: He simply occupied its fortress, executed none of its citizens, and allowed Prince Manfredi, eighteen at the time, to remain with his court, in complete freedom.
A few weeks later, though, soldiers hauled Astorre Manfredi away to a Roman prison.
A year after that, his body was fished out of the River Tiber, a stone tied around his neck.
Borgia justified the horrible deed with some sort of trumped-up charge of treason and conspiracy, but the real problem was that he was notoriously vain and insecure.
The young man was outshining him without even trying.
Given Manfredi’s natural talents, the prince’s mere presence made Borgia seem less attractive and charismatic.
The lesson is simple: If you cannot help being charming and superior, you must learn to avoid such monsters of vanity.
Either that, or find a way to mute your good qualities when in the company of a Cesare Borgia.
Second, never imagine that because the master loves you, you can do anything you want.
Entire books could be written about favorites who fell out of favor by taking their status for granted, for daring to outshine.
In late- sixteenth-century Japan, the favorite of Emperor Hideyoshi was a man called Sen no Rikyu.
The premier artist of the tea ceremony, which had become an obsession with the nobility, he was one of Hideyoshi’s most trusted advisers, had his own apartment in the palace, and was honored throughout Japan.
Yet in 1591, Hideyoshi had him arrested and sentenced to death.
Rikyu took his own life, instead.
The cause for his sudden change of fortune was discovered later: It seems that Rikyu, former peasant and later court favorite, had had a wooden statue made of himself wearing sandals (a sign of nobility) and posing loftily. He had had this statue placed in the most important temple inside the palace gates, in clear sight of the royalty who often would pass by.
To Hideyoshi this signified that Rikyu had no sense of limits. Presuming that he had the same rights as those of the highest nobility, he had forgotten that his position depended on the emperor, and had come to believe that he had earned it on his own.
This was an unforgivable miscalculation of his own importance and he paid for it with his life.
Remember the following: Never take your position for granted and never let any favors you receive go to your head.
Knowing the dangers of outshining your master, you can turn this Law to your advantage.
First you must flatter and puff up your master.
Overt flattery can be effective but has its limits; it is too direct and obvious, and looks bad to other courtiers.
Discreet flattery is much more powerful. If you are more intelligent than your master, for example, seem the opposite: Make him appear more intelligent than you. Act naive. Make it seem that you need his expertise. Commit harmless mistakes that will not hurt you in the long run but will give you the chance to ask for his help. Masters adore such requests. A master who cannot bestow on you the gifts of his experience may direct rancor and ill will at you instead.
If your ideas are more creative than your master’s, ascribe them to him, in as public a manner as possible.
Make it clear that your advice is merely an echo of his advice.
If you surpass your master in wit, it is okay to play the role of the court jester, but do not make him appear cold and surly by comparison.
Tone down your humor if necessary, and find ways to make him seem the dispenser of amusement and good cheer.
If you are naturally more sociable and generous than your master, be careful not to be the cloud that blocks his radiance from others.
He must appear as the sun around which everyone revolves, radiating power and brilliance, the center of attention.
If you are thrust into the position of entertaining him, a display of your limited means may win you his sympathy. Any attempt to impress him with your grace and generosity can prove fatal: Learn from Fouquet or pay the price.
In all of these cases it is not a weakness to disguise your strengths if in the end they lead to power.
By letting others outshine you, you remain in control, instead of being a victim of their insecurity.
This will all come in handy the day you decide to rise above your inferior status.
If, like Galileo, you can make your master shine even more in the eyes of others, then you are a godsend and you will be instantly promoted.
Image:
The Stars in the Sky. There can be only one sun at a time. Never obscure the sunlight, or rival the sun’s brilliance; rather, fade into the sky and find ways to heighten the master star’s intensity.
Authority:
Avoid outshining the master. All superiority is odious, but the superiority of a subject over his prince is not only stupid, it is fatal. This is a lesson that the stars in the sky teach us—they may be related to the sun, and just as brilliant, but they never appear in her company.
(Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)
REVERSAL
You cannot worry about upsetting every person you come across, but you must be selectively cruel.
If your superior is a falling star, there is nothing to fear from outshining him.
Do not be merciful—your master had no such scruples in his own cold-blooded climb to the top.
Gauge his strength.
If he is weak, discreetly hasten his downfall: Outdo, outcharm, outsmart him at key moments.
If he is very weak and ready to fall, let nature take its course.
Do not risk outshining a feeble superior—it might appear cruel or spiteful. But if your master is firm in his position, yet you know yourself to be the more capable, bide your time and be patient.
It is the natural course of things that power eventually fades and weakens. Your master will fall someday, and if you play it right, you will outlive and someday outshine him.
Conclusion
We are often nothing if we act alone, but we can achieve greatness if we form a bond with a group of people.
Within those people are those of great skill, knowledge, experience and ability. You can use their talents for the greater good of the group. You can also learn from them and then in tern become proficient as they.
However, when you are in a group, you must never outshine anyone. You must fit within the group and all praises o to the group, not to the individual stars. Once a group of hard-working individuals are ignored by a singular member, the negative emotions of human greet, envy, lust and others start to corrupt the group. It can harm everyone.
Be careful of what you do, and be humble in your assigned position in life.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my “48 Laws of Power” Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Well, it is, at least it is not something that I myself would want to do. But that is just me. But I can tell you all something that is important; there are many crafty, clever, and evil people who follow this rule to the letter.
I can include an ex-business partner who only wanted to get into my wife’s pants (or skirt), a couple of work colleagues who would perform run-arounds to disparage me in their pursuit for career growth, and a couple of family members that have an unsavory two-faced attitude about life.
So to best prepare you for these individuals, you must understand how they think and how their ModusOperandi works.
Thus this article…
LAW 14
POSE AS A FRIEND, WORK AS A SPY
JUDGMENT
Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
Joseph Duveen was undoubtedly the greatest art dealer of his time—from 1904 to 1940 he almost single-handedly monopolized America’s millionaire art-collecting market. But one prize plum eluded him: the industrialist Andrew Mellon. Before he died, Duveen was determined to make Mellon a client.
Duveen’s friends said this was an impossible dream.
Mellon was a stiff, taciturn man.
The stories he had heard about the congenial, talkative Duveen rubbed him the wrong way—he had made it clear he had no desire to meet the man.
Yet Duveen told his doubting friends, “Not only will Mellon buy from me but he will buy only from me.”
For several years he tracked his prey, learning the man’s habits, tastes, phobias.
To do this, he secretly put several of Mellon’s staff on his own payroll, worming valuable information out of them.
By the time he moved into action, he knew Mellon about as well as Mellon’s wife did.
In 1921 Mellon was visiting London, and staying in a palatial suite on the third floor of Claridge’s Hotel.
Duveen booked himself into the suite just below Mellon’s, on the second floor.
He had arranged for his valet to befriend Mellon’s valet, and on the fateful day he had chosen to make his move, Mellon’s valet told Duveen’s valet, who told Duveen, that he had just helped Mellon on with his overcoat, and that the industrialist was making his way down the corridor to ring for the lift.
Duveen’s valet hurriedly helped Duveen with his own overcoat.
Seconds later, Duveen entered the lift, and lo and behold, there was Mellon.
“How do you do, Mr. Mellon?” said Duveen, introducing himself. “I am on my way to the National Gallery to look at some pictures.”
How uncanny—that was precisely where Mellon was headed.
And so Duveen was able to accompany his prey to the one location that would ensure his success.
He knew Mellon’s taste inside and out, and while the two men wandered through the museum, he dazzled the magnate with his knowledge.
Once again quite uncannily, they seemed to have remarkably similar tastes.
Mellon was pleasantly surprised: This was not the Duveen he had expected.
The man was charming and agreeable, and clearly had exquisite taste.
When they returned to New York, Mellon visited Duveen’s exclusive gallery and fell in love with the collection.
Everything, surprisingly enough, seemed to be precisely the kind of work he wanted to collect.
For the rest of his life he was Duveen’s best and most generous client.
Interpretation
A man as ambitious and competitive as Joseph Duveen left nothing to chance.
What’s the point of winging it, of just hoping you may be able to charm this or that client?
It’s like shooting ducks blindfolded.
Arm yourself with a little knowledge and your aim improves.
Mellon was the most spectacular of Duveen’s catches, but he spied on many a millionaire.
By secretly putting members of his clients’ household staffs on his own payroll, he would gain constant access to valuable information about their masters’ comings and goings, changes in taste, and other such tidbits of information that would put him a step ahead.
A rival of Duveen’s who wanted to make Henry Frick a client noticed that whenever he visited this wealthy New Yorker, Duveen was there before him, as if he had a sixth sense.
To other dealers Duveen seemed to be everywhere, and to know everything before they did.
His powers discouraged and disheartened them, until many simply gave up going after the wealthy clients who could make a dealer rich.
Such is the power of artful spying: It makes you seem all-powerful, clairvoyant.
Your knowledge of your mark can also make you seem charming, so well can you anticipate his desires.
No one sees the source of your power, and what they cannot see they cannot fight.
Rulers see through spies, as cows through smell, Brahmins through scriptures and the rest of the people through their normal eyes.
Kautilya, Indian philosopher third century B. C.
KEYS TO POWER
In the realm of power, your goal is a degree of control over future events. Part of the problem you face, then, is that people won’t tell you all their thoughts, emotions, and plans.
Controlling what they say, they often keep the most critical parts of their character hidden—their weaknesses, ulterior motives, obsessions.
The result is that you cannot predict their moves, and are constantly in the dark.
The trick is to find a way to probe them, to find out their secrets and hidden intentions, without letting them know what you are up to.
This is not as difficult as you might think.
A friendly front will let you secretly gather information on friends and enemies alike.
Let others consult the horoscope, or read tarot cards: You have more concrete means of seeing into the future.
The most common way of spying is to use other people, as Duveen did. The method is simple, powerful, but risky: You will certainly gather information, but you have little control over the people who are doing the work.
Perhaps they will ineptly reveal your spying, or even secretly turn against you.
It is far better to be the spy yourself, to pose as a friend while secretly gathering information.
The French politician Talleyrand was one of the greatest practitioners of this art.
He had an uncanny ability to worm secrets out of people in polite conversation.
A contemporary of his, Baron de Vitrolles, wrote,
“Wit and grace marked his conversation. He possessed the art of concealing his thoughts or his malice beneath a transparent veil of insinuations, words that imply something more than they express. Only when necessary did he inject his own personality.”
The key here is Talleyrand’s ability to suppress himself in the conversation, to make others talk endlessly about themselves and inadvertently reveal their intentions and plans.
Throughout Talleyrand’s life, people said he was a superb conversationalist—yet he actually said very little.
He never talked about his own ideas; he got others to reveal theirs.
He would organize friendly games of charades for foreign diplomats, social gatherings where, however, he would carefully weigh their words, cajole confidences out of them, and gather information invaluable to his work as France’s foreign minister.
At the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) he did his spying in other ways: He would blurt out what seemed to be a secret (actually something he had made up), then watch his listeners’ reactions.
He might tell a gathering of diplomats, for instance, that a reliable source had revealed to him that the czar of Russia was planning to arrest his top general for treason.
By watching the diplomats’ reactions to this made-up story, he would know which ones were most excited by the weakening of the Russian army—perhaps their governments had designs on Russia?
As Baron von Stetten said, “Monsieur Talleyrand fires a pistol into the air to see who will jump out the window.”
If you have reason to suspect that a person is telling you a lie, look as though you believed every word he said. This will give him courage to go on; he will become more vehement in his assertions, and in the end betray himself. Again, if you perceive that a person is trying to conceal something from you, but with only partial success, look as though you did not believe him. The opposition on your part will provoke him into leading out his reserve of truth and bringing the whole force of it to bear upon your incredulity.
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, 1788-1860
During social gatherings and innocuous encounters, pay attention.
This is when people’s guards are down.
By suppressing your own personality, you can make them reveal things.
The brilliance of the maneuver is that they will mistake your interest in them for friendship, so that you not only learn, you make allies.
Nevertheless, you should practice this tactic with caution and care.
If people begin to suspect you are worming secrets out of them under the cover of conversation, they will strictly avoid you.
Emphasize friendly chatter, not valuable information.
Your search for gems of information cannot be too obvious, or your probing questions will reveal more about yourself and your intentions than about the information you hope to find.
A trick to try in spying comes from La Rochefoucauld, who wrote,
“Sincerity is found in very few men, and is often the cleverest of ruses— one is sincere in order to draw out the confidence and secrets of the other.”
By pretending to bare your heart to another person, in other words, you make them more likely to reveal their own secrets.
Give them a false confession and they will give you a real one.
Another trick was identified by the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who suggested vehemently contradicting people you’re in conversation with as a way of irritating them, stirring them up so that they lose some of the control over their words.
In their emotional reaction they will reveal all kinds of truths about themselves, truths you can later use against them.
Another method of indirect spying is to test people, to lay little traps that make them reveal things about themselves.
Chosroes II, a notoriously clever seventh-century king of the Persians, had many ways of seeing through his subjects without raising suspicion.
If he noticed, for instance, that two of his courtiers had become particularly friendly, he would call one of them aside and say he had information that the other was a traitor, and would soon be killed.
The king would tell the courtier he trusted him more than anyone, and that he must keep this information secret.
Then he would watch the two men carefully.
If he saw that the second courtier had not changed in his behavior toward the king, he would conclude that the first courtier had kept the secret, and he would quickly promote the man, later taking him aside to confess,
“I meant to kill your friend because of certain information that had reached me, but, when I investigated the matter, I found it was untrue.”
If, on the other hand, the second courtier started to avoid the king, acting aloof and tense, Chosroes would know that the secret had been revealed.
He would ban the second courtier from his court, letting him know that the whole business had only been a test, but that even though the man had done nothing wrong, he could no longer trust him.
The first courtier, however, had revealed a secret, and him Chosroes would ban from his entire kingdom.
It may seem an odd form of spying that reveals not empirical information but a person’s character.
Often, however, it is the best way of solving problems before they arise.
By tempting people into certain acts, you learn about their loyalty, their honesty, and so on.
And this kind of knowledge is often the most valuable of all: Armed with it, you can predict their actions in the future.
Image:
The Third Eye of the Spy. In the land of
the two-eyed, the third eye gives you the omniscience
of a god. You see further than others, and you see deeper into them. Nobody is
safe from the eye but you.
Authority:
Now, the reason a brilliant sovereign and a wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move, and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men, is their foreknowledge of the enemy situation. This “foreknowledge” cannot be elicited from spirits, nor from gods, nor by analogy with past events, nor by astrologic calculations. It must be obtained from men who know the enemy situation—from spies.
(Sun-tzu, The Art of War, fourth century B.C.)
REVERSAL
Information is critical to power, but just as you spy on other people, you must be prepared for them to spy on you.
One of the most potent weapons in the battle for information, then, is giving out false information.
As Winston Churchill said,
“Truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”
You must surround yourself with such a bodyguard, so that your truth cannot be penetrated.
By planting the information of your choice, you control the game.
…
In 1944 the Nazis’ rocket-bomb attacks on London suddenly escalated.
Over two thousand V-1 flying bombs fell on the city, killing more than five thousand people and wounding many more.
Somehow, however, the Germans consistently missed their targets.
Bombs that were intended for Tower Bridge, or Piccadilly, would fall well short of the city, landing in the less populated suburbs.
This was because, in fixing their targets, the Germans relied on secret agents they had planted in England.
They did not know that these agents had been discovered, and that in their place, English-controlled agents were feeding them subtly deceptive information.
The bombs would hit farther and farther from their targets every time they fell.
By the end of the campaign they were landing on cows in the country.
By feeding people wrong information, then, you gain a potent advantage.
While spying gives you a third eye, disinformation puts out one of your enemy’s eyes.
A cyclops, he always misses his target.
Conclusion
Do not be a fake friend. What ever advantage that it might provide to you, will be offset by an equal degradation in your other relationships.
Don’t do it.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my “48 Laws of Power” Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Well, this book has quite a bit of controversy associated with it, but most of it stems from reviewers that believe all people are good inside and unicorns deliver their vegan low fat cappuccino with cream.
Well, most people aren’t kind, and this book prepared you for reality.
It doesn’t teach one to be self absorbed or evil or a heretic.
It teaches one to stand your ground and to protect yourself from taking unnecessary burden, unfair treatment, and manipulation from corrupt people.
LAW 2
NEVER PUT TOO MUCH TRUST IN FRIENDS, LEARN HOW TO USE ENEMIES
JUDGMENT
Be wary of friends—they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.
TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW
In the mid-ninth century A.D., a young man named Michael III assumed the throne of the Byzantine Empire.
His mother, the Empress Theodora, had been banished to a nunnery, and her lover, Theoctistus, had been murdered ; at the head of the conspiracy to depose Theodora and enthrone Michael had been Michael’s uncle, Bardas, a man of intelligence and ambition.
Michael was now a young, inexperienced ruler, surrounded by in triguers, murderers, and profligates. In this time of peril he needed someone he could trust as his councilor, and his thoughts turned to Basilius, his best friend.
Basilius had no experience whatsoever in government and politics—in fact, he was the head of the royal stables—but he had proven his love and gratitude time and again.
To have a good enemy, choose a friend: He knows where to strike.
-DIANF DE POITIERS. 1499-1566. MISTRESS OF HENRI II OF FRANCE
They had met a few years before, when Michael had been visiting the stables just as a wild horse got loose.
Basilius, a young groom from peasant Macedonian stock, had saved Michael’s life.
The groom’s strength and courage had impressed Michael, who immediately raised Basilius from the obscurity of being a horse trainer to the position of head of the stables.
He loaded his friend with gifts and favors and they became inseparable.
Basilius was sent to the finest school in Byzantium, and the crude peasant became a cultured and sophisticated courtier.
Every time I bestow a vacant office I make a hundred discontented persons and one ingrate.
Louis XIV, 1638-1715
Now Michael was emperor, and in need of someone loyal.
Who could he better trust with the post of chamberlain and chief councilor than a young man who owed him everything?
Basilius could be trained for the job and Michael loved him like a brother.
Ignoring the advice of those who recommended the much more qualified Bardas, Michael chose his friend.
Thus for my own part l have more than once been deceived by the person I loved most and of whose love, above everyone else’s, I have been most confident. So that I believe that u may be right to love and serve one person above all others. according to merit and worth, but never to trust so much in this tempting trap of friendship as to have cause to repent of it later on.
BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE, 1478-1529
Basilius learned well and was soon advising the emperor on all matters of state.
The only problem seemed to be money—Basiiius never had enough.
Exposure to the splendor of Byzantine court life made him avaricious for the perks of power.
Michael doubled, then tripled his salary, ennobled him, and married him off to his own mistress, Eudoxia Ingerina.
Keeping such a trusted friend and adviser satisfied was worth any price.
But more trouble was to come.
Bardas was now head of the army, and Basilius convinced Michael that the man was hopelessly ambitious.
Under the illusion that he could control his nephew, Bardas had conspired to put him on the throne, and he could conspire again, this time to get rid of Michael and assume the crown himself.
Basilius poured poison into Michael’s ear until the emperor agreed to have his uncle murdered.
During a great horse race, Basilius closed in on Bardas in the crowd and stabbed him to death.
Soon after, Basilius asked that he replace Bardas as head of the army, where he could keep control of the realm and quell rebellion.
This was granted.
Now Basilius’s power and wealth only grew, and a few years later Michael, in financial straits from his own extravagance, asked him to pay back some of the money he had borrowed over the years.
To Michael’s shock and astonishment, Basilius refused, with a look of such impudence that the emperor suddenly realized his predicament: The former stable boy had more money, more allies in the army and senate, and in the end more power than the emperor himself.
A few weeks later, after a night of heavy drinking,
Michael awoke to find himself surrounded by soldiers.
Basilius watched as they stabbed the emperor to death.
Then, after proclaiming himself emperor, he rode his horse through the streets of Byzantium, brandishing the head of his former benefactor and best friend at the end of a long pike.
THE SNAKE. THE FARMER. AND THE HERON
A snake chased by hunters asked a farmer to save its life.
To hide it from its pursuers, the farmer squatted and let the snake crawl into his belly.
But when the danger had passed and the farmer asked the snake to come out, the snake refused.
It was warm and safe inside.
On his way home, the man saw a heron and went up to him and whispered what had happened.
The heron told him to squat and strain to eject the snake.
When the snake snuck its head out, the heron caught it, pulled it out, and killed it.
The farmer was worried that the snake’s poison might still be inside him, and the heron told him that the cure for snake poison was to cook and eat six white fowl.
“You’re a white fowl,” said the farmer. “You’ll do for a start.”
He grabbed the heron, put it in a bag, and carried it home, where he hung it up while he told his wife what had happened.
“I’m surprised at you, ” said the wife. “The bird does you a kindness, rids you of the evil in your belly, saves your life in fact, yet you catch it and talk of killing it."
She immediately released the heron, and it flew away. But on its way, it gouged out her eyes.
Moral: When you see water flowing uphill, it means that someone is repaying a kindness.
AFRICAN FOLK TALE
Interpretation
Michael III staked his future on the sense of gratitude he thought Basilius must feel for him.
Surely Basilius would serve him best; he owed the emperor his wealth, his education, and his position.
Then, once Basilius was in power, anything he needed it was best to give to him, strengthening the bonds between the two men.
It was only on the fateful day when the emperor saw that impudent smile on Basilius’s face that he realized his deadly mistake.
He had created a monster.
He had allowed a man to see power up close— a man who then wanted more, who asked for anything and got it, who felt encumbered by the charity he had received and simply did what many people do in such a situation: They forget the favors they have received and imagine they have earned their success by their own merits.
At Michael’s moment of realization, he could still have saved his own life, but friendship and love blind every man to their interests. Nobody believes a friend can betray.
And Michael went on disbelieving until the day his head ended up on a pike.
Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.
Voltaire, 1694-1778
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
For several centuries after the fall of the Han Dynasty (A.D. 222), Chinese history followed the same pattern of violent and bloody coups, one after the other.
Army men would plot to kill a weak emperor, then would replace him on the Dragon Throne with a strong general.
The general would start a new dynasty and crown himself emperor; to ensure his own survival he would kill off his fellow generals.
A few years later, however, the pattern would resume: New generals would rise up and assassinate him or his sons in their turn. To be emperor of China was to be alone, surrounded by a pack of enemies—it was the least powerful, least secure position in the realm.
In A.D. 959, General Chao K’uang-yin became Emperor Sung.
He knew the odds, the probability that within a year or two he would be murdered ; how could he break the pattern?
Soon after becoming emperor, Sung ordered a banquet to celebrate the new dynasty, and invited the most powerful commanders in the army.
After they had drunk much wine, he dismissed the guards and everybody else except the generals, who now feared he would murder them in one fell swoop.
Instead, he addressed them:
“The whole day is spent in fear, and I am unhappy both at the table and in my bed. For which one of you does not dream of ascending the throne? I do not doubt your allegiance, but if by some chance your subordinates, seeking wealth and position, were to force the emperor’s yellow robe upon you in turn, how could you refuse it?”
Drunk and fearing for their lives, the generals proclaimed their innocence and their loyalty.
But Sung had other ideas:
“The best way to pass one’s days is in peaceful enjoyment of riches and honor.
If you are willing to give up your commands, I am ready to provide you with fine estates and beautiful dwellings where you may take your pleasure with singers and girls as your companions.”
The astonished generals realized that instead of a life of anxiety and struggle Sung was offering them riches and security.
The next day, all of the generals tendered their resignations, and they retired as nobles to the estates that Sung bestowed on them.
There are manv who think therefore that a wise prince ought, when he has the chance, to foment astutely some enmity, so that by suppressing It he will augment his greatness. Princes, and especially new ones, have found more faith and more usefulness in those men, whom at the beginning of their power they regarded with suspicion, than in those they at first confided in. Pandolfo Petrucci, prince of Siena, governed his state more bv those whom he suspected than by others.
Niccoi o MACHIAVELLI, 1469-1527
In one stroke, Sung turned a pack of “friendly” wolves, who would likely have betrayed him, into a group of docile lambs, far from all power.
Over the next few years Sung continued his campaign to secure his rule.
In A.D. 971, King Liu of the Southern Han finally surrendered to him after years of rebellion.
To Liu’s astonishment, Sung gave him a rank in the imperial court and invited him to the palace to seal their newfound friendship with wine.
As King Liu took the glass that Sung offered him, he hesitated, fearing it contained poison.
“Your subject’s crimes certainly merit death,” he cried out, “but I beg Your Majesty to spare your subject’s life. Indeed I dare not drink this wine.”
Emperor Sung laughed, took the glass from Liu, and swallowed it himself. There was no poison. From then on Liu became his most trusted and loyal friend.
At the time, China had splintered into many smaller kingdoms.
When Ch‘ien Shu, the king of one of these, was defeated, Sung’s ministers advised the emperor to lock this rebel up.
They presented documents proving that he was still conspiring to kill Sung.
When Ch’ien Shu came to visit the emperor, however, instead of locking him up, Sung honored him.
He also gave him a package, which he told the former king to open when he was halfway home.
Ch’ien Shu opened the bundle on his return journey and saw that it contained all the papers documenting his conspiracy.
He realized that Sung knew of his murderous plans, yet had spared him nonetheless.
This generosity won him over, and he too became one of Sung’s most loyal vassals.
A brahman, a great expert in Veda who has become a great archer as well, offers his services to his good friend, who is now the king.
The brahman cries out when he sees the king, “Recognize me, your friend!”
The king answers him with contempt and then explains: “Yes, we were friends before, but our friendship was based on what power we had.... I was friends with you, good brahman, because it served my purpose. No pauper is friend to the rich, no fool to the wise, no coward to the brave. An old friend—who needs him? It is two men of equal wealth and equal birth who contract friendship and marriage, not a rich man and a pauper.... An old friend— who needs him?
THE MAHABHARATA, C. THIRD CENTURY B.C.
Interpretation
A Chinese proverb compares friends to the jaws and teeth of a dangerous animal: If you are not careful, you will find them chewing you up.
Emperor Sung knew the jaws he was passing between when he assumed the throne:
His “friends” in the army would chew him up like meat, and if he somehow survived, his “friends” in the government would have him for supper.
Emperor Sung would have no truck with “friends”—he bribed his fellow generals with splendid estates and kept them far away.
This was a much better way to emasculate them than killing them, which would only have led other generals to seek vengeance.
And Sung would have nothing to do with “friendly” ministers.
More often than not, they would end up drinking his famous cup of poisoned wine.
Instead of relying on friends, Sung used his enemies, one after the other, transforming them into far more reliable subjects.
While a friend expects more and more favors, and seethes with jealousy, these former enemies expected nothing and got everything.
A man suddenly spared the guillotine is a grateful man indeed, and will go to the ends of the earth for the man who has pardoned him.
In time, these former enemies became Sung’s most trusted friends.
Pick up a bee from kindness, and learn the limitations of kindness.
SUFI PROVERB
And Sung was finally able to break the pattern of coups, violence, and civil war—the Sung Dynasty ruled China for more than three hundred years.
In a speech Abraham Lincoln delivered at the height of the Civil War, he referred to the Southerners as fellow human beings who were in error. An elderly lady chastised him for not calling them irreconcilable enemies who must be destroyed. “Why, madam,” Lincoln replied,
“do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”
KEYS TO POWER
It is natural to want to employ your friends when you find yourself in times of need. The world is a harsh place, and your friends soften the harshness. Besides, you know them. Why depend on a stranger when you have a friend at hand?
Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure.
TACITUS, c. A.D. 55-120
The problem is that you often do not know your friends as well as you imagine.
Friends often agree on things in order to avoid an argument.
They cover up their unpleasant qualities so as to not offend each other.
They laugh extra hard at each other’s jokes.
Since honesty rarely strengthens friendship, you may never know how a friend truly feels.
Friends will say that they love your poetry, adore your music, envy your taste in clothes— maybe they mean it, often they do not.
When you decide to hire a friend, you gradually discover the qualities he or she has kept hidden.
Strangely enough, it is your act of kindness that unbalances everything.
People want to feel they deserve their good fortune.
The receipt of a favor can become oppressive: It means you have been chosen because you are a friend, not necessarily because you are deserving.
There is almost a touch of condescension in the act of hiring friends that secretly afflicts them.
The injury will come out slowly: A little more honesty, flashes of resentment and envy here and there, and before you know it your friendship fades.
The more favors and gifts you supply to revive the friendship, the less gratitude you receive.
Ingratitude has a long and deep history.
It has demonstrated its powers for so many centuries, that it is truly amazing that people continue to underestimate them.
Better to be wary.
If you never expect gratitude from a friend, you will be pleasantly surprised when they do prove grateful.
The problem with using or hiring friends is that it will inevitably limit your power.
The friend is rarely the one who is most able to help you; and in the end, skill and competence are far more important than friendly feelings. (Michael III had a man right under his nose who would have steered him right and kept him alive: That man was Bardas.)
PLUTARCH
King Hiero chanced upon a time, speaking with one of his enemies, to be told in a reproachful manner that he had stinking breath.
Whereupon the good king, being somewhat dismayed in himself, as soon as he returned home chided his wife, “How does it happen that you never told me of this problem?”
The woman, being a simple, chaste. and harmless dame, said, “Sir, l had thought all men breath had smelled so.”
Thus it is plain that faults that are evident to the senses, gross and corporal, or otherwise notorious to the world, we know by our enemies sooner than by our friends and familiars.
PLUTARCH, C. A.D. 46-120
All working situations require a kind of distance between people.
You are trying to work, not make friends; friendliness (real or false) only obscures that fact.
The key to power, then, is the ability to judge who is best able to further your interests in all situations.
Keep friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent.
Your enemies, on the other hand, are an untapped gold mine that you must learn to exploit.
When Talleyrand, Napoleon’s foreign minister, decided in 1807 that his boss was leading France to ruin, and the time had come to turn against him, he understood the dangers of conspiring against the emperor; he needed a partner, a confederate—what friend could he trust in such a project?
He chose Joseph Fouché, head of the secret police, his most hated enemy, a man who had even tried to have him assassinated.
He knew that their former hatred would create an opportunity for an emotional reconciliation.
He knew that Fouché would expect nothing from him, and in fact would work to prove that he was worthy of Talleyrand’s choice; a person who has something to prove will move mountains for you.
Finally, he knew that his relationship with Fouché would be based on mutual self- interest, and would not be contaminated by personal feeling.
The selection proved perfect; although the conspirators did not succeed in toppling Napoleon, the union of such powerful but unlikely partners generated much interest in the cause; opposition to the emperor slowly began to spread.
And from then on, Talleyrand and Fouché had a fruitful working relationship.
Whenever you can, bury the hatchet with an enemy, and make a point of putting him in your service.
As Lincoln said, you destroy an enemy when you make a friend of him.
In 1971, during the Vietnam War, Henry Kissinger was the target of an unsuccessful kidnapping attempt, a conspiracy involving, among others, the renowned antiwar activist priests the Berrigan brothers, four more Catholic priests, and four nuns.
In private, without informing the Secret Service or the Justice Department, Kissinger arranged a Saturday-morning meeting with three of the alleged kidnappers.
Explaining to his guests that he would have most American soldiers out of Vietnam by mid-1972, he completely charmed them.
They gave him some “Kidnap Kissinger” buttons and one of them remained a friend of his for years, visiting him on several occasions.
This was not just a onetime ploy: Kissinger made a policy of working with those who disagreed with him.
Colleagues commented that he seemed to get along better with his enemies than with his friends.
Without enemies around us, we grow lazy.
An enemy at our heels sharpens our wits, keeping us focused and alert.
It is sometimes better, then, to use enemies as enemies rather than transforming them into friends or allies.
Mao Tse-tung saw conflict as key in his approach to power.
In 1937 the Japanese invaded China, interrupting the civil war between Mao’s Communists and their enemy, the Nationalists.
Fearing that the Japanese would wipe them out, some Communist leaders advocated leaving the Nationalists to fight the Japanese, and using the time to recuperate.
Mao disagreed: The Japanese could not possibly defeat and occupy a vast country like China for long.
Once they left, the Communists would have grown rusty if they had been out of combat for several years, and would be ill prepared to reopen their struggle with the Nationalists.
To fight a formidable foe like the Japanese, in fact, would be the perfect training for the Communists’ ragtag army.
Mao’s plan was adopted, and it worked: By the time the Japanese finally retreated, the Communists had gained the fighting experience that helped them defeat the Nationalists.
Years later, a Japanese visitor tried to apologize to Mao for his country’s invasion of China.
Mao interrupted, “Should I not thank you instead?” Without a worthy opponent, he explained, a man or group cannot grow stronger.
Mao’s strategy of constant conflict has several key components.
First, be certain that in the long run you will emerge victorious. Never pick a fight with someone you are not sure you can defeat, as Mao knew the Japanese would be defeated in time.
Second, if you have no apparent enemies, you must sometimes set up a convenient target, even turning a friend into an enemy. Mao used this tactic time and again in politics.
Third, use such enemies to define your cause more clearly to the public, even framing it as a struggle of good against evil. Mao actually encouraged China’s disagreements with the Soviet Union and the United States; without clear- cut enemies, he believed, his people would lose any sense of what Chinese Communism meant. A sharply defined enemy is a far stronger argument for your side than all the words you could possibly put together.
Never let the presence of enemies upset or distress you—you are far better off with a declared opponent or two than not knowing where your real enemies lie.
The man of power welcomes conflict, using enemies to enhance his reputation as a surefooted fighter who can be relied upon in times of uncertainty.
Image: The Jaws of Ingratitude. Knowing what would happen if you put a finger in the mouth of a lion, you would stay clear of it. With friends you will have no such caution, and if you hire them, they will eat you alive with ingratitude.
Authority:
Know how to use enemies for your own profit. You must learn to grab a sword not by its blade, which would cut you, but by the handle, which allows you to defend yourself. The wise man profits more from his enemies, than a fool from his friends.
(Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)
REVERSAL
Although it is generally best not to mix work with friendship, there are times when a friend can be used to greater effect than an enemy.
A man of power, for example, often has dirty work that has to be done, but for the sake of appearances it is generally preferable to have other people do it for him; friends often do this the best, since their affection for him makes them willing to take chances.
Also, if your plans go awry for some reason, you can use a friend as a convenient scapegoat.
This “fall of the favorite” was a trick often used by kings and sovereigns: They would let their closest friend at court take the fall for a mistake, since the public would not believe that they would deliberately sacrifice a friend for such a purpose.
Of course, after you play that card, you have lost your friend forever.
It is best, then, to reserve the scapegoat role for someone who is close to you but not too close.
Finally, the problem about working with friends is that it confuses the boundaries and distances that working requires.
But if both partners in the arrangement understand the dangers involved, a friend often can be employed to great effect.
You must never let your guard down in such a venture, however; always be on the lookout for any signs of emotional disturbance such as envy and ingratitude.
Nothing is stable in the realm of power, and even the closest of friends can be transformed into the worst of enemies.
Conclusion
I know that I have been pumping out China and 48 Laws of Power posts all week long, but I have a backlog that has accumulated with all the historical events of the last few months. Never the less, all these laws are great reading. Perhaps if you read a law here, and a law there, you can absorb the teachings in a slow and leisurely pace and generate benefit from them at your own speed, and on your own terms.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my “48 Laws of Power” Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
I do not advocate following this law, but you all should be made well aware of it. When you are outside of your friends and family you enter a zone of questionable trust. You do need to be somewhat guarded in your public dealings as not everyone is a friend. No matter what they say. The world is filled with all kinds of people, all involved with all kinds of agendas.
Please take note that there are others that prefer to use this technique. Be wary.
LAW 12
USE SELECTIVE HONESTY AND GENEROSITY TO DISARM YOUR VICTIM
JUDGMENT
One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift— a Trojan horse—will serve the same purpose.
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
Sometime in 1926, a tall, dapperly dressed man paid a visit to Al Capone, the most feared gangster of his time.
Speaking with an elegant Continental accent, the man introduced himself as Count Victor Lustig.
He promised that if Capone gave him $50,000 he could double it.
Capone had more than enough funds to cover the “investment,” but he wasn’t in the habit of entrusting large sums to total strangers.
He looked the count over: Something about the man was different—his classy style, his manner—and so Capone decided to play along.
He counted out the bills personally and handed them to Lustig. “Okay, Count,” said Capone. “Double it in sixty days like you said.”
Lustig left with the money, put it in a safe-deposit box in Chicago, then headed to New York, where he had several other money- making schemes in progress.
The $50,000 remained in the bank box untouched.
Lustig made no effort to double it.
Two months later he returned to Chicago, took the money from the box, and paid Capone another visit.
He looked at the gangster’s stony- faced bodyguards, smiled apologetically, and said,
“Please accept my profound regrets, Mr. Capone. I’m sorry to report that the plan failed... I failed.”
Capone slowly stood up.
He glowered at Lustig, debating which part of the river to throw him in.
But the count reached into his coat pocket, withdrew the $50,000, and placed it on the desk.
“Here, sir, is your money, to the penny. Again, my sincere apologies. This is most embarrassing. Things didn’t work out the way I thought they would. I would have loved to have doubled your money for you and for myself—Lord knows I need it— but the plan just didn’t materialize.”
Capone sagged back into his chair, confused. “I know you’re a con man, Count,” said Capone.
“I knew it the moment you walked in here. I expected either one hundred thousand dollars or nothing. But this... getting my money back ... well.”
“Again my apologies, Mr. Capone,” said Lustig, as he picked up his hat and began to leave. “
My God! You’re honest!” yelled Capone.
“If you’re on the spot, here’s five to help you along.”
He counted out five one-thousand-dollar bills out of the $50,000. The count seemed stunned, bowed deeply, mumbled his thanks, and left, taking the money.
The $5,000 was what Lustig had been after all along.
FRANCESCO BORRI. COURTIER CHARLATAN
Francesco Giuseppe Borri of Milan, whose death in 1695 fell just within the seventeenth century ... was a forerunner of that special type of charlatanical adventurer, the courtier or “cavalier” impostor....
His real period of glory began after he moved to Amsterdam.
There he assumed the title of Medico Universale, maintained a great retinue, and drove about in a coach with six horses.... Patients streamed to him, and some invalids had themselves carried in sedan chairs all the way from Paris to his place in Amsterdam.
Borri took no payment for his consultations: He distributed great sums among the poor and was never known to receive any money through the post or bills of exchange.
As he continued to live with such splendor, nevertheless, it was presumed that he possessed the philosophers’ stone.
Suddenly this benefactor disappeared from Amsterdam. Then it was discovered that he had taken with him money and diamonds that had been placed in his charge.
THE POWER OF THE CHARLATAN, GRETE DE FRANCESCO, 1939
Interpretation
Count Victor Lustig, a man who spoke several languages and prided himself on his refinement and culture, was one of the great con artists of modem times.
He was known for his audacity, his fearlessness, and, most important, his knowledge of human psychology.
He could size up a man in minutes, discovering his weaknesses, and he had radar for suckers.
Lustig knew that most men build up defenses against crooks and other troublemakers.
The con artist’s job is to bring those defenses down.
One sure way to do this is through an act of apparent sincerity and honesty.
Who will distrust a person literally caught in the act of being honest?
Lustig used selective honesty many times, but with Capone he went a step further.
No normal con man would have dared such a con; he would have chosen his suckers for their meekness, for that look about them that says they will take their medicine without complaint.
Con Capone and you would spend the rest of your life (whatever remained of it) afraid.
But Lustig understood that a man like Capone spends his life mistrusting others.
No one around him is honest or generous, and being so much in the company of wolves is exhausting, even depressing.
A man like Capone yearns to be the recipient of an honest or generous gesture, to feel that not everyone has an angle or is out to rob him.
Lustig’s act of selective honesty disarmed Capone because it was so unexpected.
A con artist loves conflicting emotions like these, since the person caught up in them is so easily distracted and deceived.
Do not shy away from practicing this law on the Capones of the world.
With a well-timed gesture of honesty or generosity, you will have the most brutal and cynical beast in the kingdom eating out of your hand.
Everything turns gray when I don’t have at least one mark on the horizon. Life then seems empty and depressing. I cannot understand honest men. They lead desperate lives, full of boredom.
Count Victor Lustig, 1890-1947
KEYS TO POWER
The essence of deception is distraction.
Distracting the people you want to deceive gives you the time and space to do something they won’t notice.
An act of kindness, generosity, or honesty is often the most powerful form of distraction because it disarms other people’s suspicions.
It turns them into children, eagerly lapping up any kind of affectionate gesture.
In ancient China this was called “giving before you take”—the giving makes it hard for the other person to notice the taking.
It is a device with infinite practical uses.
Brazenly taking something from someone is dangerous, even for the powerful.
The victim will plot revenge.
It is also dangerous simply to ask for what you need, no matter how politely:
Unless the other person sees some gain for themselves, they may come to resent your neediness.
Learn to give before you take.
It softens the ground, takes the bite out of a future request, or simply creates a distraction.
And the giving can take many forms: an actual gift, a generous act, a kind favor, an “honest” admission—whatever it takes.
Selective honesty is best employed on your first encounter with someone.
We are all creatures of habit, and our first impressions last a long time.
If someone believes you are honest at the start of your relationship it takes a lot to convince them otherwise.
This gives you room to maneuver.
…
Jay Gould, like Al Capone, was a man who distrusted everyone.
By the time he was thirty-three he was already a multimillionaire, mostly through deception and strong-arming.
In the late 1860s, Gould invested heavily in the Erie Railroad, then discovered that the market had been flooded with a vast amount of phony stock certificates for the company.
He stood to lose a fortune and to suffer a lot of embarrassment.
In the midst of this crisis, a man named Lord John Gordon-Gordon offered to help.
Gordon-Gordon, a Scottish lord, had apparently made a small fortune investing in railroads.
By hiring some handwriting experts Gordon-Gordon was able to prove to Gould that the culprits for the phony stock certificates were actually several top executives with the Erie Railroad itself.
Gould was grateful.
Gordon- Gordon then proposed that he and Gould join forces to buy up a controlling interest in Erie.
Gould agreed.
For a while the venture appeared to prosper.
The two men were now good friends, and every time Gordon-Gordon came to Gould asking for money to buy more stock, Gould gave it to him.
In 1873, however, Gordon-Gordon suddenly dumped all of his stock, making a fortune but drastically lowering the value of Gould’s own holdings.
Then he disappeared from sight.
Upon investigation, Gould found out that Gordon-Gordon’s real name was John Crowningsfield, and that he was the bastard son of a merchant seaman and a London barmaid.
There had been many clues before then that Gordon-Gordon was a con man, but his initial act of honesty and support had so blinded Gould that it took the loss of millions for him to see through the scheme.
A single act of honesty is often not enough.
What is required is a reputation for honesty, built on a series of acts—but these can be quite inconsequential.
Once this reputation is established, as with first impressions, it is hard to shake.
…
In ancient China, Duke Wu of Chêng decided it was time to take over the increasingly powerful kingdom of Hu.
Telling no one of his plan, he married his daughter to Hu’s ruler.
He then called a council and asked his ministers,
“I am considering a military campaign. Which country should we invade?”
As he had expected, one of his ministers replied, “Hu should be invaded.”
The duke seemed angry, and said,
“Hu is a sister state now. Why do you suggest invading her?”
He had the minister executed for his impolitic remark.
The ruler of Hu heard about this, and considering other tokens of Wu’s honesty and the marriage with his daughter, he took no precautions to defend himself from Cheng.
A few weeks later, Chêng forces swept through Hu and took the country, never to relinquish it.
…
Honesty is one of the best ways to disarm the wary, but it is not the only one.
Any kind of noble, apparently selfless act will serve.
Perhaps the best such act, though, is one of generosity.
Few people can resist a gift, even from the most hardened enemy, which is why it is often the perfect way to disarm people.
A gift brings out the child in us, instantly lowering our defenses.
Although we often view other people’s actions in the most cynical light, we rarely see the Machiavellian element of a gift, which quite often hides ulterior motives.
A gift is the perfect object in which to hide a deceptive move.
…
Over three thousand years ago the ancient Greeks traveled across the sea to recapture the beautiful Helen, stolen away from them by Paris, and to destroy Paris’s city, Troy.
The siege lasted ten years, many heroes died, yet neither side had come close to victory.
One day, the prophet Calchas assembled the Greeks.
Image: The Trojan Horse. Your guile is hidden inside a magnificent gift that proves irresistible to your opponent. The walls open. Once inside, wreak havoc.
“Stop battering away at these walls!” he told them. “You must find some other way, some ruse. We cannot take Troy by force alone. We must find some cunning stratagem.”
The cunning Greek leader Odysseus then came up with the idea of building a giant wooden horse, hiding soldiers inside it, then offering it to the Trojans as a gift.
Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, was disgusted with this idea; it was unmanly.
Better for thousands to die on the battlefield than to gain victory so deceitfully.
But the soldiers, faced with a choice between another ten years of manliness, honor, and death, on the one hand and a quick victory on the other, chose the horse, which was promptly built.
The trick was successful and Troy fell.
One gift did more for the Greek cause than ten years of fighting.
…
Selective kindness should also be part of your arsenal of deception.
For years the ancient Romans had besieged the city of the Faliscans, always unsuccessfully.
One day, however, when the Roman general Camillus was encamped outside the city, he suddenly saw a man leading some children toward him.
The man was a Faliscan teacher, and the children, it turned out, were the sons and daughters of the noblest and wealthiest citizens of the town.
On the pretense of taking these children out for a walk, he had led them straight to the Romans, offering them as hostages in hopes of ingratiating himself with Camillus, the city’s enemy.
Camillus did not take the children hostage.
He stripped the teacher, tied his hands behind his back, gave each child a rod, and let them whip him all the way back to the city.
The gesture had an immediate effect on the Faliscans.
Had Camillus used the children as hostages, some in the city would have voted to surrender.
And even if the Faliscans had gone on fighting, their resistance would have been halfhearted.
Camillus’s refusal to take advantage of the situation broke down the Faliscans’ resistance, and they surrendered.
The general had calculated correctly.
And in any case he had had nothing to lose: He knew that the hostage ploy would not have ended the war, at least not right away.
By turning the situation around, he earned his enemy’s trust and respect, disarming them.
Selective kindness will often break down even the most stubborn foe: Aiming right for the heart, it corrodes the will to fight back.
Remember: By playing on people’s emotions, calculated acts of kindness can turn a Capone into a gullible child. As with any emotional approach, the tactic must be practiced with caution: If people see through it, their disappointed feelings of gratitude and warmth will become the most violent hatred and distrust. Unless you can make the gesture seem sincere and heartfelt, do not play with fire.
Authority:
When Duke Hsien of Chin was about to raid Yü, he presented to them a jade and a team of horses. When Earl Chih was about to raid Ch’ou- yu, he presented to them grand chariots. Hence the saying: “When you are about to take, you should give.”
(Han-fei-tzu, Chinese philosopher, third century B.C.)
REVERSAL
When you have a history of deceit behind you, no amount of honesty, generosity, or kindness will fool people.
In fact it will only call attention to itself.
Once people have come to see you as deceitful, to act honest all of a sudden is simply suspicious.
In these cases it is better to play the rogue.
…
Count Lustig, pulling the biggest con of his career, was about to sell the Eiffel Tower to an unsuspecting industrialist who believed the government was auctioning it off for scrap metal.
The industrialist was prepared to hand over a huge sum of money to Lustig, who had successfully impersonated a government official.
At the last minute, however, the mark was suspicious.
Something about Lustig bothered him.
At the meeting in which he was to hand over the money, Lustig sensed his sudden distrust.
Leaning over to the industrialist, Lustig explained, in a low whisper, how low his salary was, how difficult his finances were, on and on.
After a few minutes of this, the industrialist realized that Lustig was asking for a bribe.
For the first time he relaxed.
Now he knew he could trust Lustig: Since all government officials were dishonest, Lustig had to be real.
The man forked over the money.
By acting dishonest, Lustig seemed the real McCoy.
In this case selective honesty would have had the opposite effect.
…
As the French diplomat Talleyrand grew older, his reputation as a master liar and deceiver spread.
At the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), he would spin fabulous stories and make impossible remarks to people who knew he had to be lying.
His dishonesty had no purpose except to cloak the moments when he really was deceiving them.
One day, for example, among friends, Talleyrand said with apparent sincerity, “In business one ought to show one’s hand.”
No one who heard him could believe their ears: A man who never once in his life had shown his cards was telling other people to show theirs.
Tactics like this made it impossible to distinguish Talleyrand’s real deceptions from his fake ones.
By embracing his reputation for dishonesty, he preserved his ability to deceive.
Nothing in the realm of power is set in stone.
Overt deceptiveness will sometimes cover your tracks, even making you admired for the honesty of your dishonesty.
Do you want more?
I have more posts in my “48 Laws of Power” Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Here we are going to look at Law #3 from the Robert Green book “The 48 Laws of Power”. This law discusses the principle of concealing your intentions from others.
LAW 3
CONCEAL YOUR INTENTIONS
JUDGMENT
Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelop them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.
PART I: USE DECOYED OBJECTS OF DESIRE AND RED HERRINGS TO THROW PEOPLE OFF THE SCENT
If at any point in the deception you practice people have the slightest suspicion as to your intentions, all is lost. Do not give them the chance to sense what you are up to: Throw them off the scent by dragging redherrings across the path. Use false sincerity, send ambiguous signals, set up misleading objects of desire. Unable to distinguish the genuine from the false, they cannot pick out your real goal.
TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW
Over several weeks, Ninon de Lenclos, the most infamous courtesan of seventeenth-century France, listened patiently as the Marquis de Sevigné explained his struggles in pursuing a beautiful but difficult young countess. Ninon was sixty-two at the time, and more than experienced in matters of love; the marquis was a lad of twenty-two, handsome, dashing, but hopelessly inexperienced in romance. At first Ninon was amused to hear the marquis talk about his mistakes, but finally she had had enough. Unable to bear ineptitude in any realm, least of all in seducing a woman, she decided to take the young man under her wing. First, he had to understand that this was war, and that the beautiful countess was a citadel to which he had to lay siege as carefully as any general. Every step had to be planned and executed with the utmost attention to detail and nuance.
Instructing the marquis to start over, Ninon told him to approach the countess with a bit of distance, an air of nonchalance. The next time the two were alone together, she said, he would confide in the countess as would a friend but not a potential lover. This was to throw her off the scent. The countess was no longer to take his interest in her for granted—perhaps he was only interested in friendship.
Ninon planned ahead. Once the countess was confused, it would be time to make her jealous. At the next encounter, at a major fête in Paris, the marquis would show up with a beautiful young woman at his side. This beautiful young woman had equally beautiful friends, so that wherever the countess would now see the marquis, he would be surrounded by the most stunning young women in Paris. Not only would the countess be seething with jealousy, she would come to see the marquis as someone who was desired by others. It was hard for Ninon to make the marquis understand, but she patiently explained that a woman who is interested in a man wants to see that other women are interested in him, too. Not only does that give him instant value, it makes it all the more satisfying to snatch him from their clutches.
Once the countess was jealous but intrigued, it would be time to beguile her. On Ninon’s instructions, the marquis would fail to show up at affairs where the countess expected to see him. Then, suddenly, he would appear at salons he had never frequented before, but that the countess attended often. She would be unable to predict his moves. All of this would push her into the state of emotional confusion that is a prerequisite for successful seduction.
These moves were executed, and took several weeks. Ninon monitored the marquis’s progress: Through her network of spies, she heard how the countess would laugh a little harder at his witticisms, listen more closely to his stories. She heard that the countess was suddenly asking questions about him. Her friends told her that at social affairs the countess would often look up at the marquis, following his steps. Ninon felt certain that the young woman was falling under his spell. It was a matter of weeks now, maybe a month or two, but if all went smoothly, the citadel would fall.
A few days later the marquis was at the countess’s home. They were alone. Suddenly he was a different man: This time acting on his own impulse, rather than following Ninon’s instructions, he took the countess’s hands and told her he was in love with her. The young woman seemed confused, a reaction he did not expect. She became polite, then excused herself. For the rest of the evening she avoided his eyes, was not there to say good-night to him. The next few times he visited he was told she was not at home. When she finally admitted him again, the two felt awkward and uncomfortable with each other. The spell was broken.
Interpretation
Ninon de Lenclos knew everything about the art of love. The greatest writ ers, thinkers, and politicians of the time had been her lovers—men like La Rochefoucauld, Molière, and Richelieu. Seduction was a game to her, to be practiced with skill. As she got older, and her reputation grew, the most important families in France would send their sons to her to be instructed in matters of love.
Ninon knew that men and women are very different, but when it comes to seduction they feel the same: Deep down inside, they often sense when they are being seduced, but they give in because they enjoy the feeling of being led along. It is a pleasure to let go, and to allow the other person to detour you into a strange country. Everything in seduction, however, depends on suggestion. You cannot announce your intentions or reveal them directly in words. Instead you must throw your targets off the scent. To surrender to your guidance they must be appropriately confused. You have to scramble your signals—appear interested in another man or woman (the decoy), then hint at being interested in the target, then feign indifference, on and on.
Such patterns not only confuse, they excite.
Imagine this story from the countess’s perspective: After a few of the marquis’s moves, she sensed the marquis was playing some sort of game, but the game delighted her. She did not know where he was leading her, but so much the better. His moves intrigued her, each of them keeping her waiting for the next one—she even enjoyed her jealousy and confusion, for sometimes any emotion is better than the boredom of security. Perhaps the marquis had ulterior motives; most men do. But she was willing to wait and see, and probably if she had been made to wait long enough, what he was up to would not have mattered.
The moment the marquis uttered that fatal word “love,” however, all was changed. This was no longer a game with moves, it was an artless show of passion. His intention was revealed: He was seducing her. This put everything he had done in a new light. All that before had been charming now seemed ugly and conniving; the countess felt embarrassed and used. A door closed that would never open again.
Do not be held a cheat, even though it is impossible to live today without being one.
Let your greatest cunning lie in covering up what looks like cunning.
-Ballasar Gracián, 1601-1658
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
In 1850 the young Otto von Bismarck, then a thirty-five-year-old deputy in the Prussian parliament, was at a turning point in his career. The issues of the day were the unification of the many states (including Prussia) into which Germany was then divided, and a war against Austria, the powerful neighbor to the south that hoped to keep the Germans weak and at odds, even threatening to intervene if they tried to unite. Prince William, next in line to be Prussia’s king, was in favor of going to war, and the parliament rallied to the cause, prepared to back any mobilization of troops. The only ones to oppose war were the present king, Frederick William IV, and his ministers, who preferred to appease the powerful Austrians.
Throughout his career, Bismarck had been a loyal, even passionate supporter of Prussian might and power. He dreamed of German unification, of going to war against Austria and humiliating the country that for so long had kept Germany divided. A former soldier, he saw warfare as a glorious business.
This, after all, was the man who years later would say, “The great questions of the time will be decided, not by speeches and resolutions, but by iron and blood.”
Passionate patriot and lover of military glory, Bismarck nevertheless
gave a speech in parliament at the height of the war fever that astonished all who heard it. “Woe unto the statesman,” he said, “who makes war without a reason that will still be valid when the war is over! After the war, you will all look differently at these questions. Will you then have the courage to
turn to the peasant contemplating the ashes of his farm, to the man who has been crippled, to the father who has lost his children?” Not only did Bismarck go on to talk of the madness of this war, but, strangest of all, he praised Austria and defended her actions. This went against everything he had stood for. The consequences were immediate. Bismarck was against the war—what could this possibly mean? Other deputies were confused, and several of them changed their votes. Eventually the king and his ministers won out, and war was averted.
A few weeks after Bismarck’s infamous speech, the king, grateful that he had spoken for peace, made him a cabinet minister. A few years later he became the Prussian premier. In this role he eventually led his country and a peace-loving king into a war against Austria, crushing the former empire and establishing a mighty German state, with Prussia at its head.
Interpretation
At the time of his speech in 1850, Bismarck made several calculations. First, he sensed that the Prussian military, which had not kept pace with other European armies, was unready for war—that Austria, in fact, might very well win, a disastrous result for the future. Second, if the war were lost and Bismarck had supported it, his career would be gravely jeopardized. The king and his conservative ministers wanted peace; Bismarck wanted power. The answer was to throw people off the scent by supporting a cause he detested, saying things he would laugh at if said by another. A whole country was fooled. It was because of Bismarck’s speech that the king made him a minister, a position from which he quickly rose to be prime minister, attaining the power to strengthen the Prussian military and accomplish what he had wanted all along: the humiliation of Austria and the unification of Germany under Prussia’s leadership.
Bismarck was certainly one of the cleverest statesman who ever lived, a master of strategy and deception. No one suspected what he was up to in this case. Had he announced his real intentions, arguing that it was better to wait now and fight later, he would not have won the argument, since most Prussians wanted war at that moment and mistakenly believed that their army was superior to the Austrians. Had he played up to the king, asking to be made a minister in exchange for supporting peace, he would not have succeeded either: The king would have distrusted his ambition and doubted his sincerity.
By being completely insincere and sending misleading signals, however, he deceived everyone, concealed his purpose, and attained everything he wanted. Such is the power of hiding your intentions.
KEYS TO POWER
Most people are open books. They say what they feel, blurt out their opinions at every opportunity, and constantly reveal their plans and intentions. They do this for several reasons. First, it is easy and natural to always want to talk about one’s feelings and plans for the future. It takes effort to control your tongue and monitor what you reveal. Second, many believe that by being honest and open they are winning people’s hearts and showing their good nature.They are greatly deluded. Honesty is actually a blunt instrument, which bloodies more than it cuts. Your honesty is likely to offend people; it is much more prudent to tailor your words, telling people what they want to hear rather than the coarse and ugly truth of what you feel or think. More important, by being unabashedly open you make yourself so predictable and familiar that it is almost impossible to respect or fear you, and power will not accrue to a person who cannot inspire such emotions.
If you yearn for power, quickly lay honesty aside, and train yourself in the art of concealing your intentions. Master the art and you will always have the upper hand. Basic to an ability to conceal one’s intentions is a simple truth about human nature: Our first instinct is to always trust appearances. We cannot go around doubting the reality of what we see and hear—constantly imagining that appearances concealed something else would exhaust and terrify us. This fact makes it relatively easy to conceal one’s intentions. Simply dangle an object you seem to desire, a goal you seem to aim for, in front of people’s eyes and they will take the appearance for reality. Once their eyes focus on the decoy, they will fail to notice what you are really up to. In seduction, set up conflicting signals, such as desire and indifference, and you not only throw them off the scent, you inflame their desire to possess you.
A tactic that is often effective in setting up a red herring is to appear to support an idea or cause that is actually contrary to your own sentiments. (Bismarck used this to great effect in his speech in 1850.) Most people will believe you have experienced a change of heart, since it is so unusual to play so lightly with something as emotional as one’s opinions and values. The same applies for any decoyed object of desire: Seem to want something in which you are actually not at all interested and your enemies will be thrown off the scent, making all kinds of errors in their calculations.
During the War of the Spanish Succession in 1711, the Duke of Marlborough, head of the English army, wanted to destroy a key French fort, because it protected a vital thoroughfare into France. Yet he knew that if he destroyed it, the French would realize what he wanted—to advance down that road. Instead, then, he merely captured the fort, and garrisoned it with some of his troops, making it appear as if he wanted it for some purpose of his own. The French attacked the fort and the duke let them recapture it. Once they had it back, though, they destroyed it, figuring that the duke had wanted it for some important reason. Now that the fort was gone, the road was unprotected, and Marlborough could easily march into France.
Use this tactic in the following manner: Hide your intentions not by closing up (with the risk of appearing secretive, and making people suspicious) but by talking endlessly about your desires and goals—just not your real ones. You will kill three birds with one stone: You appear friendly, open, and trusting; you conceal your intentions; and you send your rivals on time-consuming wild-goose chases.
Another powerful tool in throwing people off the scent is false sincerity. People easily mistake sincerity for honesty. Remember—their first instinct is to trust appearances, and since they value honesty and want to believe in the honesty of those around them, they will rarely doubt you or see through your act. Seeming to believe what you say gives your words great weight. This is how Iago deceived and destroyed Othello: Given the depth of his emotions, the apparent sincerity of his concerns about Desde mona’s supposed infidelity, how could Othello distrust him? This is also how the great con artist Yellow Kid Weil pulled the wool over suckers’ eyes: Seeming to believe so deeply in the decoyed object he was dangling in front of them (a phony stock, a touted racehorse), he made its reality hard to doubt. It is important, of course, not to go too far in this area. Sincerity is a tricky tool: Appear over passionate and you raise suspicions. Be measured and believable or your ruse will seem the put-on that it is.
To make your false sincerity an effective weapon in concealing your intentions, espouse a belief in honesty and forthrightness as important social values. Do this as publicly as possible. Emphasize your position on this subject by occasionally divulging some heartfelt thought—though only one that is actually meaningless or irrelevant, of course. Napoleon’s minister Talleyrand was a master at taking people into his confidence by revealing some apparent secret. This feigned confidence—a decoy—would then elicit a real confidence on the other person’s part.
Remember: The best deceivers do everything they can to cloak their roguish qualities. They cultivate an air of honesty in one area to disguise their dishonesty in others. Honesty is merely another decoy in their arsenal of weapons.
PART II: USE SMOKE SCREENS TO DISGUISE YOUR ACTIONS
Deception is always the best strategy, but the best deceptions require a screen of smoke to distract people attention from your real purpose. The bland exterior—like the unreadable poker face—is often the perfect smoke screen, hiding your intentions behind the comfortable and familiar. If you lead the sucker down a familiar path, he won’t catch on when you lead him into a trap.
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I
In 1910, a Mr. Sam Geezil of Chicago sold his warehouse business for close to $1 million. He settled down to semi-retirement and the managing of his many properties, but deep inside he itched for the old days of deal-making. One day a young man named Joseph Weil visited his office, wanting to buy an apartment he had up for sale. Geezil explained the terms: The price was $8,000, but he only required a down payment of $2,000. Weil said he would sleep on it, but he came back the following day and offered to pay the full $8,000 in cash, if Geezil could wait a couple of days, until a deal Weil was working on came through. Even in semi-retirement, a clever businessman like Geezil was curious as to how Weil would be able to come up with so much cash (roughly $150,000 today) so quickly. Weil seemed reluctant to say, and quickly changed the subject, but Geezil was persistent. Finally, after assurances of confidentiality, Weil told Geezil the following story.
THE KING OF ISRAEL IGNS WORSHIP OF THE
Then Jehu assembled all the people, and said to them, “Ahab served Ba‘al a little; but Jehu will serve him much more. Now therefore call to me all theprophets of Ba’al, all his worshippers and all his priests; let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Ba‘al; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshippers of Ba’al. And Jehu ordered, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Ba‘al. ”So they proclaimed it. And Jehu sent throughout all Israel; and all the worshippers of Ba’al came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Ba‘al, and the house of Ba’al was filled from one end to the other.... Then Jehu went into the house of Ba‘al ... and he said to the worshippers of Ba’al, “Search, and see that there is no servant of the LORD here among you, but only the worshippers of Ba‘al.“Then he went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside, and said, ”The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.“ So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, ”Go in and slay them; let not a man escape. ” So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Ba’al and they brought out thepillar that was in the house of Ba‘al and burned it. And they demolished the pillar of Ba’al and demolished the house of Ba‘al, and made it a latrine to this day. Thus Jehu wiped out Ba’al from Israel.
-OLD TESTAMENT, 2 KINGS 10:18-28
Weil’s uncle was the secretary to a coterie of multimillionaire financiers. These wealthy gentlemen had purchased a hunting lodge in Michigan ten years ago, at a cheap price. They had not used the lodge for a few years, so they had decided to sell it and had asked Weil’s uncle to get whatever he could for it. For reasons—good reasons—of his own, the uncle had been nursing a grudge against the millionaires for years; this was his chance to get back at them. He would sell the property for $35,000 to a set up man (whom it was Weil’s job to find). The financiers were too wealthy to worry about this low price. The set-up man would then turn around and sell the property again for its real price, around $155,000. The uncle, Weil, and the third man would split the profits from this second sale. It was all legal and for a good cause—the uncle’s just retribution.
Geezil had heard enough: He wanted to be the set-up buyer. Weil was reluctant to involve him, but Geezil would not back down: The idea of a large profit, plus a little adventure, had him champing at the bit. Weil explained that Geezil would have to put up the $35,000 in cash to bring the deal off. Geezil, a millionaire, said he could get the money with a snap of his fingers. Weil finally relented and agreed to arrange a meeting between the uncle, Geezil, and the financiers, in the town of Galesburg, Illinois.
On the train ride to Galesburg, Geezil met the uncle—an impressive man, with whom he avidly discussed business. Weil also brought along a companion, a somewhat paunchy man named George Gross. Weil explained to Geezil that he himself was a boxing trainer, that Gross was one of the promising prizefighters he trained, and that he had asked Gross to come along to make sure the fighter stayed in shape. For a promising fighter, Gross was unimpressive looking—he had gray hair and a beer belly—but Geezil was so excited about the deal that he didn’t really think about the man’s flabby appearance.
Once in Galesburg, Weil and his uncle went to fetch the financiers while Geezil waited in a hotel room with Gross, who promptly put on his boxing trunks. As Geezil half watched, Gross began to shadowbox. Distracted as he was, Geezil ignored how badly the boxer wheezed after a few minutes of exercise, although his style seemed real enough. An hour later, Weil and his uncle reappeared with the financiers, an impressive, intimidating group of men, all wearing fancy suits. The meeting went well and the financiers agreed to sell the lodge to Geezil, who had already had the $35,000 wired to a local bank.
This minor business now settled, the financiers sat back in their chairs and began to banter about high finance, throwing out the name “J. P. Morgan” as if they knew the man. Finally one of them noticed the boxer in the corner of the room. Weil explained what he was doing there. The financier countered that he too had a boxer in his entourage, whom he named. Weil laughed brazenly and exclaimed that his man could easily knock out their man. Conversation escalated into argument. In the heat of passion, Weil challenged the men to a bet. The financiers eagerly agreed and left to get their man ready for a fight the next day.
As soon as they had left, the uncle yelled at Weil, right in front of Geezil; They did not have enough money to bet with, and once the financiers discovered this, the uncle would be fired. Weil apologized for getting him in this mess, but he had a plan: He knew the other boxer well, and with a little
bribe, they could fix the fight. But where would the money come from for the bet? the uncle replied. Without it they were as good as dead. Finally Geezil had heard enough. Unwilling to jeopardize his deal with any ill will, he offered his own $35,000 cash for part of the bet. Even if he lost that, he would wire for more money and still make a profit on the sale of the lodge. The uncle and nephew thanked him. With their own $15,000 and Geezil’s $35,000 they would manage to have enough for the bet. That evening, as Geezil watched the two boxers rehearse the fix in the hotel room, his mind reeled at the killing he was going to make from both the boxing match and the sale of the lodge.
The fight took place in a gym the next day. Weil handled the cash, which was placed for security in a locked box. Everything was proceeding as planned in the hotel room. The financiers were looking glum at how badly their fighter was doing, and Geezil was dreaming about the easy money he was about to make. Then, suddenly, a wild swing by the financier’s fighter hit Gross hard in the face, knocking him down. When he hit the canvas, blood spurted from his mouth. He coughed, then lay still. One of the financiers, a former doctor, checked his pulse; he was dead. The millionaires panicked: Everyone had to get out before the police arrived- they could all be charged with murder.
Terrified, Geezil hightailed it out of the gym and back to Chicago, leaving behind his $35,000 which he was only too glad to forget, for it seemed a small price to pay to avoid being implicated in a crime. He never wanted to see Weil or any of the others again.
After Geezil scurried out, Gross stood up, under his own steam. The blood that had spurted from his mouth came from a ball filled with chicken blood and hot water that he had hidden in his cheek. The whole affair had been masterminded by Weil, better known as “the Yellow Kid,” one of the most creative con artists in history. Weil split the $35,000 with the financiers and the boxers (all fellow con artists)—a nice little profit for a few days’ work.
SN BROAD
This means to create a front that eventually becomes imbued with an atmosphere or impression of familiarity, within which the strategist maymaneuver unseen while all eyes are trained to see obvious familiarities. “THE THIRTY-SIX STRATEGIES.” QUOTED IN THF JAPANESE ART OF WAR.
-THOMAS CLEARY, 1991
Interpretation
The Yellow Kid had staked out Geezil as the perfect sucker long before he set up the con. He knew the boxing-match scam would be the perfect ruse to separate Geezil from his money quickly and definitively. But he also knew that if he had begun by trying to interest Geezil in the boxing match, he would have failed miserably. He had to conceal his intentions and switch attention, create a smoke screen—in this case the sale of the lodge.
On the train ride and in the hotel room Geezil’s mind had been completely occupied with the pending deal, the easy money, the chance to hobnob with wealthy men. He had failed to notice that Gross was out of shape and middle-aged at best. Such is the distracting power of a smoke screen. Engrossed in the business deal, Geezil’s attention was easily diverted to the boxing match, but only at a point when it was already too late for him to notice the details that would have given Gross away. The match, after all, now depended on a bribe rather than on the boxer’s physical condition. And Geezil was so distracted at the end by the illusion of the boxer’s death that he completely forgot about his money.
Learn from the Yellow Kid: The familiar, inconspicuous front is the perfect smoke screen. Approach your mark with an idea that seems ordinary enough—a business deal, financial intrigue. The sucker’s mind is distracted, his suspicions allayed. That is when you gently guide him onto the second path, the slippery slope down which he slides helplessly into your trap.
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II
In the mid-1920s, the powerful warlords of Ethiopia were coming to the realization that a young man of the nobility named Haile Selassie, also known as Ras Tafari, was outcompeting them all and nearing the point where he could proclaim himself their leader, unifying the country for the first time in decades. Most of his rivals could not understand how this wispy, quiet, mild-mannered man had been able to take control. Yet in 1927, Selassie was able to summon the warlords, one at a time, to come to Addis Ababa to declare their loyalty and recognize him as leader.
Some hurried, some hesitated, but only one, Dejazmach Balcha of Sidamo, dared defy Selassie totally. A blustery man, Balcha was a great warrior, and he considered the new leader weak and unworthy. He pointedly stayed away from the capital. Finally Selassie, in his gentle but stem way, commanded Balcha to come. The warlord decided to obey, but in doing so he would turn the tables on this pretender to the Ethiopian throne: He would come to Addis Ababa at his own speed, and with an army of 10,000 men, a force large enough to defend himself, perhaps even start a civil war. Stationing this formidable force in a valley three miles from the capital, he waited, as a king would. Selassie would have to come to him.
Selassie did indeed send emissaries, asking Balcha to attend an afternoon banquet in his honor. But Balcha, no fool, knew history—he knew that previous kings and lords of Ethiopia had used banquets as a trap. Once he was there and full of drink, Selassie would have him arrested or murdered. To signal his understanding of the situation, he agreed to come to the banquet, but only if he could bring his personal bodyguard—600 of his best soldiers, all armed and ready to defend him and themselves. To Balcha’s surprise, Selassie answered with the utmost politeness that he would be honored to play host to such warriors.
On the way to the banquet, Balcha warned his soldiers not to get drunk and to be on their guard. When they arrived at the palace, Selassie was his charming best. He deferred to Balcha, treated him as if he desperately needed his approval and cooperation. But Balcha refused to be charmed, and he warned Selassie that if he did not return to his camp by nightfall, his army had orders to attack the capital. Selassie reacted as if hurt by his mistrust. Over the meal, when it came time for the traditional singing of songs in honor of Ethiopia’s leaders, he made a point of allowing only songs honoring the warlord of Sidamo. It seemed to Balcha that Selassie was scared, intimidated by this great warrior who could not be outwitted.
Sensing the change, Balcha believed that he would be the one to call the shots in the days to come.
At the end of the afternoon, Balcha and his soldiers began their march back to camp amidst cheers and gun salutes. Looking back to the capital over his shoulder, he planned his strategy—how his own soldiers would march through the capital in triumph within weeks, and Selassie would be put in his place, his place being either prison or death. When Balcha came in sight of his camp, however, he saw that something was terribly wrong. Where before there had been colorful tents stretching as far as the eye could see, now there was nothing, only smoke from doused fires. What devil’s magic was this?
A witness told Balcha what had happened. During the banquet, a large army, commanded by an ally of Selassie’s, had stolen up on Balcha’s encampment by a side route he had not seen. This army had not come to fight, however: Knowing that Balcha would have heard a noisy battle and hurried back with his 600-man bodyguard, Selassie had armed his own troops with baskets of gold and cash. They had surrounded Balcha’s army and proceeded to purchase every last one of their weapons. Those who refused were easily intimidated. Within a few hours, Balcha’s entire force had been disarmed and scattered in all directions.
Realizing his danger, Balcha decided to march south with his 600 soldiers to regroup, but the same army that had disarmed his soldiers blocked his way. The other way out was to march on the capital, but Selassie had set a large army to defend it. Like a chess player, he had predicted Balcha’s moves, and had checkmated him. For the first time in his life, Balcha surrendered. To repent his sins of pride and ambition, he agreed to enter a monastery.
Interpretation
Throughout Selassie’s long reign, no one could quite figure him out. Ethiopians like their leaders fierce, but Selassie, who wore the front of a gentle, peace-loving man, lasted longer than any of them. Never angry or impatient, he lured his victims with sweet smiles, lulling them with charm and obsequiousness before he attacked. In the case of Balcha, Selassie played on the man’s wariness, his suspicion that the banquet was a trap— which in fact it was, but not the one he expected. Selassie’s way of allaying Balcha’s fears—letting him bring his bodyguard to the banquet, giving him top billing there, making him feel in control—created a thick smoke screen, concealing the real action three miles away.
Remember: The paranoid and wary are often the easiest to deceive. Win their trust in one area and you have a smoke screen that blinds their view in another, letting you creep up and level them with a devastating blow. A helpful or apparently honest gesture, or one that implies the other person’s superiority—these are perfect diversionary devices.
Properly set up, the smoke screen is a weapon of great power. It enabled the gentle Selassie to totally destroy his enemy, without firing a single bullet.
Do not underestimate the power of Tafari. He creeps like a mouse but he has jaws like a lion.
-Bacha of Sidamo’s last worlds before entering the monastery
KEYS TO POWER
If you believe that deceivers are colorful folk who mislead with elaborate lies and tall tales, you are greatly mistaken. The best deceivers utilize a bland and inconspicuous front that calls no attention to themselves. They know that extravagant words and gestures immediately raise suspicion. Instead, they envelop their mark in the familiar, the banal, the harmless. In Yellow Kid Weil’s dealings with Sam Geezil, the familiar was a business deal. In the Ethiopian case, it was Selassie’s misleading obsequiousness— exactly what Balcha would have expected from a weaker warlord.
Once you have lulled your suckers’ attention with the familiar, they will not notice the deception being perpetrated behind their backs. This derives from a simple truth: people can only focus on one thing at a time. It is really too difficult for them to imagine that the bland and harmless person they are dealing with is simultaneously setting up something else. The grayer and more uniform the smoke in your smoke screen, the better it conceals your intentions. In the decoy and red herring devices discussed in Part I, you actively distract people; in the smoke screen, you lull your victims, drawing them into your web. Because it is so hypnotic, this is often the best way of concealing your intentions.
The simplest form of smoke screen is facial expression. Behind a bland, unreadable exterior, all sorts of mayhem can be planned, without detection. This is a weapon that the most powerful men in history have learned to perfect. It was said that no one could read Franklin D. Roosevelt’s face. Baron James Rothschild made a lifelong practice of disguising his real thoughts behind bland smiles and nondescript looks. Stendhal wrote of Talleyrand, “Never was a face less of a barometer.” Henry Kissinger would bore his opponents around the negotiating table to tears with his monotonous voice, his blank look, his endless recitations of details; then, as their eyes glazed over, he would suddenly hit them with a list of bold terms. Caught off-guard, they would be easily intimidated. As one poker manual explains it, “While playing his hand, the good player is seldom an actor. Instead he practices a bland behavior that minimizes readable patterns, frustrates and confuses opponents, permits greater concentration.”
An adaptable concept, the smoke screen can be practiced on a number of levels, all playing on the psychological principles of distraction and misdirection. One of the most effective smoke screens is the noble gesture. People want to believe apparently noble gestures are genuine, for the belief is pleasant. They rarely notice how deceptive these gestures can be.
The art dealer Joseph Duveen was once confronted with a terrible problem. The millionaires who had paid so dearly for Duveen’s paintings were running out of wall space, and with inheritance taxes getting ever higher, it seemed unlikely that they would keep buying. The solution was the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., which Duveen helped create in 1937 by getting Andrew Mellon to donate his collection to it. The National Gallery was the perfect front for Duveen. In one gesture, his clients avoided taxes, cleared wall space for new purchases, and reduced the number of paintings on the market, maintaining the upward pressure on their prices. All this while the donors created the appearance of being public benefactors.
Another effective smoke screen is the pattern, the establishment of a series of actions that seduce the victim into believing you will continue in the same way. The pattern plays on the psychology of anticipation: Our behavior conforms to patterns, or so we like to think.
In 1878 the American robber baron Jay Gould created a company that began to threaten the monopoly of the telegraph company Western Union. The directors of Western Union decided to buy Gould’s company up— they had to spend a hefty sum, but they figured they had managed to rid themselves of an irritating competitor. A few months later, though, Gould was it at again, complaining he had been treated unfairly. He started up a second company to compete with Western Union and its new acquisition. The same thing happened again: Western Union bought him out to shut him up. Soon the pattern began for the third time, but now Gould went for the jugular: He suddenly staged a bloody takeover struggle and managed to gain complete control of Western Union. He had established a pattern that had tricked the company’s directors into thinking his goal was to be bought out at a handsome rate. Once they paid him off, they relaxed and failed to notice that he was actually playing for higher stakes. The pattern is powerful in that it deceives the other person into expecting the opposite of what you are really doing.
Another psychological weakness on which to construct a smoke screen is the tendency to mistake appearances for reality—the feeling that if someone seems to belong to your group, their belonging must be real. This habit makes the seamless blend a very effective front. The trick is simple: You simply blend in with those around you. The better you blend, the less suspicious you become. During the Cold War of the 1950s and ’60s, as is now notorious, a slew of British civil servants passed secrets to the Soviets. They went undetected for years because they were apparently decent chaps, had gone to all the right schools, and fit the old-boy network perfectly. Blending in is the perfect smoke screen for spying. The better you do it, the better you can conceal your intentions.
Remember: It takes patience and humility to dull your brilliant colors, to put on the mask of the inconspicuous. Do not despair at having to wear such a bland mask—it is often your unreadability that draws people to you and makes you appear a person of power.
Image: A Sheep’s Skin. A sheep never marauds, a sheep never deceives, a sheep is magnificently dumb and docile. With a sheepskin on his back, a fox can pass right into the chicken coop.
Authority: Have you ever heard of a skillful general, who intends to surprise a citadel, announcing his plan to his enemy? Conceal your purpose and hide your progress; do not disclose the extent of your designs until they cannot be opposed, until the combat is over. Win the victory before you declare the war. In a word, imitate those warlike people whose designs are not known except by the ravaged country through which they have passed. (Ninon de Lenclos, 1623-1706)
REVERSAL
No smoke screen, red herring, false sincerity, or any other diversionary device will succeed in concealing your intentions if you already have an established reputation for deception. And as you get older and achieve success, it often becomes increasingly difficult to disguise your cunning. Everyone knows you practice deception; persist in playing naive and you run the risk of seeming the rankest hypocrite, which will severely limit your room to maneuver. In such cases it is better to own up, to appear the honest rogue, or, better, the repentant rogue. Not only will you be admired for your frankness, but, most wonderful and strange of all, you will be able to continue your stratagems.
As P. T. Barnum, the nineteenth-century king of humbuggery, grew older, he learned to embrace his reputation as a grand deceiver. At one point he organized a buffalo hunt in New Jersey, complete with Indians and a few imported buffalo. He publicized the hunt as genuine, but it came off as so completely fake that the crowd, instead of getting angry and asking for their money back, was greatly amused. They knew Barnum pulled tricks all the time; that was the secret of his success, and they loved him for it. Learning a lesson from this affair, Barnum stopped concealing all of his devices, even revealing his deceptions in a tell-all autobiography. As Kierkegaard wrote, “The world wants to be deceived.”
Finally, although it is wiser to divert attention from your purposes by presenting a bland, familiar exterior, there are times when the colorful, conspicuous gesture is the right diversionary tactic. The great charlatan mountebanks of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe used humor and entertainment to deceive their audiences. Dazzled by a great show, the public would not notice the charlatans’ real intentions. Thus the star charlatan himself would appear in town in a night-black coach drawn by black horses. Clowns, tightrope walkers, and star entertainers would accompany him, pulling people in to his demonstrations of elixirs and quack potions. The charlatan made entertainment seem like the business of the day; the business of the day was actually the sale of the elixirs and quack potions.
Spectacle and entertainment, clearly, are excellent devices to conceal your intentions, but they cannot be used indefinitely.
The public grows tired and suspicious, and eventually catches on to the trick. And indeed the charlatans had to move quickly from town to town, before word spread that the potions were useless and the entertainment a trick. Powerful people with bland exteriors, on the other hand—the Talleyrands, the Rothschilds, the Selassies—can practice their deceptions in the same place throughout their lifetimes. Their act never wears thin, and rarely causes suspicion. The colorful smoke screen should be used cautiously, then, and only when the occasion is right.
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What is “welfare”? It is “free stuff” from the government, as long as you meet their criteria. And since it is important to “them” to maintain their budgets, the natural inclination for the welfare system is to grow. To grow larger, and larger, and even larger. All the while, those on welfare are becoming dependent upon the government.
Fun Fact: China doesn't have "welfare". You either work or die.
Their system is free work for anyone. You join the work collective, and you are given free food, free housing, free clothes, and a modest stipend to live off of. If you cannot do the bare minimum work requirements, the collective will kick you out, and you will either beg or starve.
And the end result of decades of this behavior, and this system, is to create a class of people that act as pawns for those that dish out the benefits.
Let’s look at the techniques that criminal masterminds use to keep people dependent upon them, and have them doing things that they naturally would be abhorrent towards.
LAW 11
LEARN TO KEEP PEOPLE DEPENDENT ON YOU
JUDGMENT
To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.
TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW
Sometime in the Middle Ages, a mercenary soldier (a condottiere), whose name has not been recorded, saved the town of Siena from a foreign aggressor. How could the good citizens of Siena reward him? No amount of money or honor could possibly compare in value to the preservation of a city’s liberty. The citizens thought of making the mercenary the lord of the city, but even that, they decided, wasn’t recompense enough. At last one of them stood before the assembly called to debate this matter and said, “Let us kill him and then worship him as our patron saint.” And so they did.
The Count of Carmagnola was one of the bravest and most successful of all the condottieri. In 1442, late in his life, he was in the employ of the city of Venice, which was in the midst of a long war with Florence. The count was suddenly recalled to Venice. A favorite of the people, he was received there with all kinds of honor and splendor. That evening he was to dine with the doge himself, in the doge’s palace. On the way into the palace, however, he noticed that the guard was leading him in a different direction from usual. Crossing the famous Bridge of Sighs, he suddenly realized where they were taking him—to the dungeon. He was convicted on a trumped-up charge and the next day in the Piazza San Marco, before a horrified crowd who could not understand how his fate had changed so drastically, he was beheaded.
THE TWO HORSES
Two horses were carrying two loads. The front Horse went well, but the rear Horse was lazy. The men began to pile the rear Horse’s load on the front Horse; when they had transferred it all, the rear Horse found it easy going, and he said to the front Horse: “Toil and sraeat! The more you try,the more you have to suffer.” When they reached the tavern, the owner said; “Why should I fodder two horses when I carry all on one? I had better give the one all the food it wants, and cut the throat of the other; at least I shall have the hide.” And so he did.
FABLES. LEO TOLSIOY, 1828-1910
Interpretation
Many of the great condottieri of Renaissance Italy suffered the same fate as the patron saint of Siena and the Count of Carmagnola: They won battle after battle for their employers only to find themselves banished, imprisoned, or executed. The problem was not ingratitude; it was that there were so many other condottieri as able and valiant as they were.
They were replaceable.
Nothing was lost by killing them. Meanwhile, the older among them had grown powerful themselves, and wanted more and more money for their services. How much better, then, to do away with them and hire a younger, cheaper mercenary. That was the fate of the Count of Carmagnola, who had started to act impudently and independently. He had taken his power for granted without making sure that he was truly indispensable.
Such is the fate (to a less violent degree, one hopes) of those who do not make others dependent on them. Sooner or later someone comes along who can do the job as well as they can—someone younger, fresher, less expensive, less threatening.
Be the only one who can do what you do, and make the fate of those who hire you so entwined with yours that they cannot possibly get rid of you. Otherwise you will someday be forced to cross your own Bridge of Sighs.
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
When Otto von Bismarck became a deputy in the Prussian parliament in 1847, he was thirty-two years old and without an ally or friend. Looking around him, he decided that the side to ally himself with was not the parliament’s liberals or conservatives, not any particular minister, and certainly not the people. It was with the king, Frederick William IV. This was an odd choice to say the least, for Frederick was at a low point of his power. A weak, indecisive man, he consistently gave in to the liberals in parliament; in fact he was spineless, and stood for much that Bismarck disliked, personally and politically. Yet Bismarck courted Frederick night and day. When other deputies attacked the king for his many inept moves, only Bismarck stood by him.
THE CAT THAT WALKED BY HIMSELF
Then the Woman laughed and set the Cat a bowl of the warm white milk and said, “0 Cat, you are as clever as a man, but remember that your bargain was not made with the Man or the Dog, and I do not know whatthey will do when they come home.” “What is that to me?” said the Cat. “If I have my place in the Cave by the fire and my warm white milk three times a day, I do not care what the Man or the Dog can do.”
... And from that day to this, Best Beloved, three proper Men out of five will always throw things at a Cat whenever they meet him, and all proper Dogs will chase him up a tree. But the Cat keeps his side of the bargain too. He will kill mice, and he will be kind to Babies when he is in the house, just as long as they do not pull his tail too hard. But when he has done that, and between times, and when the moon gets up and the night comes, he is the Cat that walks by himself, and all places are alike to him. Then he goes out to the Wet WildWoods or up the Wet Wild Trees or on the Wet Wild Roofs, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone.
-JUST SO STORIES, RUDYARD KIPLING, 1865-1936
Finally, it all paid off: In 1851 Bismarck was made a minister in the king’s cabinet. Now he went to work. Time and again he forced the king’s hand, getting him to build up the military, to stand up to the liberals, to do exactly as Bismarck wished. He worked on Frederick’s insecurity about his manliness, challenging him to be firm and to rule with pride. And he slowly restored the king’s powers until the monarchy was once again the most powerful force in Prussia.
When Frederick died, in 1861, his brother William assumed the throne. William disliked Bismarck intensely and had no intention of keeping him around. But he also inherited the same situation his brother had: enemies galore, who wanted to nibble his power away. He actually considered abdicating, feeling he lacked the strength to deal with this dangerous and precarious position. But Bismarck insinuated himself once again. He stood by the new king, gave him strength, and urged him into firm and decisive action. The king grew dependent on Bismarck’s strong-arm tactics to keep his enemies at bay, and despite his antipathy toward the man, he soon made him his prime minister. The two quarreled often over policy—Bismarck was much more conservative—but the king understood his own dependency. Whenever the prime minister threatened to resign, the king gave in to him, time after time. It was in fact Bismarck who set state policy.
Years later, Bismarck’s actions as Prussia’s prime minister led the various German states to be united into one country. Now Bismarck finagled the king into letting himself be crowned emperor of Germany. Yet it was really Bismarck who had reached the heights of power. As right-hand man to the emperor, and as imperial chancellor and knighted prince, he pulled all the levers.
Interpretation
Most young and ambitious politicians looking out on the political landscape of 1840s Germany would have tried to build a power base among those with the most power. Bismarck saw different. Joining forces with the powerful can be foolish: They will swallow you up, just as the doge of Venice swallowed up the Count of Carmagnola. No one will come to depend on you if they are already strong. If you are ambitious, it is much wiser to seek out weak rulers or masters with whom you can create a relationship of dependency. You become their strength, their intelligence, their spine. What power you hold! If they got rid of you the whole edifice would collapse.
Necessity rules the world. People rarely act unless compelled to. If you create no need for yourself, then you will be done away with at first opportunity. If, on the other hand, you understand the Laws of Power and make others depend on you for their welfare, if you can counteract their weakness with your own “iron and blood,” in Bismarck’s phrase, then you will survive your masters as Bismarck did. You will have all the benefits of power without the thorns that come from being a master.
Thus a wise prince will think of ways to keep his citizens of every sort and under every circumstance dependent on the state and on him; and then they will always be trustworthy.
-Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527
THE I I.M-IRI I AND THE AND
An extravagant young Vine, vainly ambitious of independence, and fond of rambling at large, despised the alliance of a slately elm that grew near, and courted her embraces. Having risen to some small height without any kind of support, she shot forth her flimsy branches to a very uncommon and superfluous length; calling on her neighbor to take notice how little she wanted his assistance. “Poor infatuated shrub,” replied the elm, “how inconsistent is thy conduct! Wouldst thou be truly independent, thou shouldst carefully apply those juices to the enlargement of thy stem. which thou lavishest in vain upon unnecessary foliage. I shortly shall behold thee grovelling on the ground; yet countenanced, indeed, by many of the human race, who, intoxicated with vanity, have despised economy; and who, to support for a moment their empty boast of independence, have exhausted the very source of it in frivolous expenses.”
-FABLES, ROBERT DODSLFY, 1703-1764
KEYS TO POWER
The ultimate power is the power to get people to do as you wish. When you can do this without having to force people or hurt them, when they willingly grant you what you desire, then your power is untouchable. The best way to achieve this position is to create a relationship of dependence.
The master requires your services; he is weak, or unable to function without you; you have enmeshed yourself in his work so deeply that doing away with you would bring him great difficulty, or at least would mean valuable time lost in training another to replace you. Once such a relationship is established you have the upper hand, the leverage to make the master do as you wish. It is the classic case of the man behind the throne, the servant of the king who actually controls the king. Bismarck did not have to bully either Frederick or William into doing his bidding. He simply made it clear that unless he got what he wanted he would walk away, leaving the king to twist in the wind. Both kings soon danced to Bismarck’s tune.
Do not be one of the many who mistakenly believe that the ultimate form of power is independence. Power involves a relationship between people; you will always need others as allies, pawns, or even as weak masters who serve as your front. The completely independent man would live in a cabin in the woods—he would have the freedom to come and go as he pleased, but he would have no power. The best you can hope for is that others will grow so dependent on you that you enjoy a kind of reverse independence: Their need for you frees you.
Louis XI (1423-1483), the great Spider King of France, had a weakness for astrology. He kept a court astrologer whom he admired, until one day the man predicted that a lady of the court would die within eight days. When the prophecy came true, Louis was terrified, thinking that either the man had murdered the woman to prove his accuracy or that he was so versed in his science that his powers threatened Louis himself. In either case he had to be killed.
One evening Louis summoned the astrologer to his room, high in the castle. Before the man arrived, the king told his servants that when he gave the signal they were to pick the astrologer up, carry him to the window, and hurl him to the ground, hundreds of feet below.
The astrologer soon arrived, but before giving the signal, Louis decided to ask him one last question: “You claim to understand astrology and to know the fate of others, so tell me what your fate will be and how long you have to live.”
“I shall die just three days before Your Majesty,” the astrologer replied.
The king’s signal was never given. The man’s life was spared. The Spider King not only protected his astrologer for as long as he was alive, he lavished him with gifts and had him tended by the finest court doctors.
The astrologer survived Louis by several years, disproving his power of prophecy but proving his mastery of power.
This is the model: Make others dependent on you. To get rid of you might spell disaster, even death, and your master dares not tempt fate by finding out. There are many ways to obtain such a position. Foremost among them is to possess a talent and creative skill that simply cannot be replaced.
During the Renaissance, the major obstacle to a painter’s success was finding the right patron. Michelangelo did this better than anyone else: His patron was Pope Julius II. But he and the pope quarreled over the building of the pope’s marble tomb, and Michelangelo left Rome in disgust. To the amazement of those in the pope’s circle, not only did the pope not fire him, he sought him out and in his own haughty way begged the artist to stay. Michelangelo, he knew, could find another patron, but he could never find another Michelangelo.
You do not have to have the talent of a Michelangelo; you do have to have a skill that sets you apart from the crowd. You should create a situation in which you can always latch on to another master or patron but your master cannot easily ,find another servant with your particular talent. And if, in reality, you are not actually indispensable, you must find a way to make it look as if you are. Having the appearance of specialized knowledge and skill gives you leeway in your ability to deceive those above you into thinking they cannot do without you. Real dependence on your master’s part, however, leaves him more vulnerable to you than the faked variety, and it is always within your power to make your skill indispensable.
This is what is meant by the intertwining of fates: Like creeping ivy, you have wrapped yourself around the source of power, so that it would cause great trauma to cut you away. And you do not necessarily have to entwine yourself around the master; another person will do, as long as he or she too is indispensable in the chain.
One day Harry Cohn, president of Columbia Pictures, was visited in his office by a gloomy group of his executives. It was 1951, when the witch- hunt against Communists in Hollywood, carried on by the U.S. Congress’s House Un-American Activities Committee, was at its height. The executives had bad news: One of their employees, the screenwriter John Howard Lawson, had been singled out as a Communist. They had to get rid of him right away or suffer the wrath of the committee.
Harry Cohn was no bleeding-heart liberal; in fact, he had always been a die-hard Republican.
His favorite politician was Benito Mussolini, whom he had once visited, and whose framed photo hung on his wall. If there was someone he hated Cohn would call him a “Communist bastard.” But to the executives’ amazement Cohn told them he would not fire Lawson. He did not keep the screenwriter on because he was a good writer—there were many good writers in Hollywood. He kept him because of a chain of dependence: Lawson was Humphrey Bogart’s writer and Bogart was Columbia’s star. If Cohn messed with Lawson he would ruin an immensely profitable relationship. That was worth more than the terrible publicity brought to him by his defiance of the committee.
Henry Kissinger managed to survive the many bloodlettings that went on in the Nixon White House not because he was the best diplomat Nixon could find—there were other fine negotiators—and not because the two men got along so well: They did not. Nor did they share their beliefs and politics. Kissinger survived because he entrenched himself in so many areas of the political structure that to do away with him would lead to chaos. Michelangelo’s power was intensive, depending on one skill, his ability as an artist; Kissinger’s was extensive.
He got himself involved in so many aspects and departments of the administration that his involvement became a card in his hand. It also made him many allies. If you can arrange such a position for yourself, getting rid of you becomes dangerous—all sorts of interdependencies will unravel. Still, the intensive form of power provides more freedom than the extensive, because those who have it depend on no particular master, or particular position of power, for their security.
To make others dependent on you, one route to take is the secret- intelligence tactic. By knowing other people’s secrets, by holding information that they wouldn’t want broadcast, you seal your fate with theirs. You are untouchable. Ministers of secret police have held this position throughout the ages: They can make or break a king, or, as in the case of J. Edgar Hoover, a president. But the role is so full of insecurities and paranoia that the power it provides almost cancels itself out. You cannot rest at ease, and what good is power if it brings you no peace?
One last warning: Do not imagine that your master’s dependence on you will make him love you. In fact, he may resent and fear you. But, as Machiavelli said, it is better to be feared than loved. Fear you can control; love, never. Depending on an emotion as subtle and changeable as love or friendship will only make you insecure. Better to have others depend on you out of fear of the consequences of losing you than out of love of your company.
Image: Vines with Many Thorns. Below, the roots grow deep and wide. Above, the vines push through bushes, entwine themselves around trees and poles and window ledges. To get rid of them would cost such toil and blood, it is easier to let them climb.
Authority: Make people depend on you. More is to be gained from such dependence than courtesy. He who has slaked his thirst, immediately turns his back on the well, no longer needing it. When dependence disappears, so does civility and decency, and then respect. The first lesson which experience should teach you is to keep hope alive but never satisfied, keeping even a royal patron ever in need of you. (Baltasar Gracián, 1601- 1658)
REVERSAL
The weakness of making others depend on you is that you are in some measure dependent on them. But trying to move beyond that point means getting rid of those above you—it means standing alone, depending on no one. Such is the monopolistic drive of a J. P. Morgan or a John D.
Rockefeller—to drive out all competition, to be in complete control. If you can corner the market, so much the better.
No such independence comes without a price. You are forced to isolate yourself. Monopolies often turn inward and destroy themselves from the internal pressure. They also stir up powerful resentment, making their enemies bond together to fight them. The drive for complete control is often ruinous and fruitless. Interdependence remains the law, independence a rare and often fatal exception. Better to place yourself in a position of mutual dependence, then, and to follow this critical law rather than look for its reversal. You will not have the unbearable pressure of being on top, and the master above you will in essence be your slave, for he will depend on you.
Conclusion
Powerful people; those with near limitless pools of money, can easily make others dependent upon them. By using this dependence, they can use them as an army; or as a resource to achieve far greater deeds than what thy can attempt alone. We must realize that EVERYONE who has money in America uses this technique.
Whether it is Progressive Marxists that have the welfare of the poor in their hands, or whether it is the Conservative Republicans that have the Social Security incomes of the elderly. All the wealthy use this technique.
How manipulated are you?
What are you willing to do to maintain the status quo? That is the truest measure of your enslavement.
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This is such an important law. This is a law, that if people observed, would mitigate and reduce all the conflicts in the world. This is law 20 from the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. It simply states that you should not commit to anyone. And since I am posting this in September 2020, I wish that that Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison would heed it. It is best if Australia remains neutral in the global affairs rather than cozening up to the likes of Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo. Because when you chain yourself to another, you either rise with them or collapse with them through entanglement.
LAW 20
DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE
JUDGMENT
It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others—playing people against one another, making them pursue you.
PART I: DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE, BUT BE COURTED BY ALL
If you allow people to feel they possess you to any degree, you lose all power over them. By not committing your affections, they will only try harder to win you over. Stay aloof and you gain the power that comes from their attention and frustrated desire. Play the Virgin Queen: Give them hope but never satisfaction.
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
When Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England, in 1558, there was much to-do about her finding a husband. The issue was debated in Parliament, and was a main topic of conversation among Englishmen of all classes; they often disagreed as to whom she should marry, but everyone thought she should marry as soon as possible, for a queen must have a king, and must bear heirs for the kingdom. The debates raged on for years. Meanwhile the most handsome and eligible bachelors in the realm—Sir Robert Dudley, the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter Raleigh—vied for Elizabeth’s hand. She did not discourage them, but she seemed to be in no hurry, and her hints as to which man might be her favorite often contradicted each other. In 1566, Parliament sent a delegation to Elizabeth urging her to marry before she was too old to bear children. She did not argue, nor did she discourage the delegation, but she remained a virgin nonetheless.
The delicate game that Elizabeth played with her suitors slowly made her the subject of innumerable sexual fantasies and the object of cultish worship. The court physician, Simon Forman, used his diary to describe his dreams of deflowering her. Painters represented her as Diana and other goddesses. The poet Edmund Spenser and others wrote eulogies to the Virgin Queen. She was referred to as “the world’s Empresse,” “that virtuous Virgo” who rules the world and sets the stars in motion. In conversation with her, her many male suitors would employ bold sexual innuendo, a dare that Elizabeth did not discourage. She did all she could to stir their interest and simultaneously keep them at bay.
Throughout Europe, kings and princes knew that a marriage with Elizabeth would seal an alliance between England and any nation. The king of Spain wooed her, as did the prince of Sweden and the archduke of Austria. She politely refused them all.
The great diplomatic issue of Elizabeth’s day was posed by the revolt of the Flemish and Dutch Lowlands, which were then possessions of Spain. Should England break its alliance with Spain and choose France as its main ally on the Continent, thereby encouraging Flemish and Dutch independence ? By 1570 it had come to seem that an alliance with France would be England’s wisest course. France had two eligible men of noble blood, the dukes of Anjou and Alençon, brothers of the French king. Would either of them marry Elizabeth? Both had advantages, and Elizabeth kept the hopes of both alive. The issue simmered for years. The duke of Anjou made several visits to England, kissed Elizabeth in public, even called her by pet names; she appeared to requite his affections. Meanwhile, as she flirted with the two brothers, a treaty was signed that sealed peace between France and England. By 1582 Elizabeth felt she could break off the courtship. In the case of the duke of Anjou in particular, she did so with great relief: For the sake of diplomacy she had allowed herself to be courted by a man whose presence she could not stand and whom she found physically repulsive. Once peace between France and England was secure, she dropped the unctuous duke as politely as she could.
By this time Elizabeth was too old to bear children. She was accordingly able to live the rest of her life as she desired, and she died the Virgin Queen.
She left no direct heir, but ruled through a period of incomparable peace and cultural fertility.
Interpretation
Elizabeth had good reason not to marry: She had witnessed the mistakes of Mary Queen of Scots, her cousin. Resisting the idea of being ruled by a woman, the Scots expected Mary to marry and marry wisely. To wed a foreigner would be unpopular; to favor any particular noble house would open up terrible rivalries. In the end Mary chose Lord Darnley, a Catholic. In doing so she incurred the wrath of Scotland’s Protestants, and endless turmoil ensued.
Elizabeth knew that marriage can often lead to a female ruler’s undoing: By marrying and committing to an alliance with one party or nation, the queen becomes embroiled in conflicts that are not of her choosing, conflicts which may eventually overwhelm her or lead her into a futile war. Also, the husband becomes the de facto ruler, and often tries to do away with his wife the queen, as Darnley tried to get rid of Mary. Elizabeth learned the lesson well. She had two goals as a ruler: to avoid marriage and to avoid war. She managed to combine these goals by dangling the possibility of marriage in order to forge alliances. The moment she committed to any single suitor would have been the moment she lost her power. She had to emanate mystery and desirability, never discouraging anyone’s hopes but never yielding.
Through this lifelong game of flirting and withdrawing, Elizabeth dominated the country and every man who sought to conquer her. As the center of attention, she was in control. Keeping her independence above all, Elizabeth protected her power and made herself an object of worship.
I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.
-Queen Elizabeth I, 1533-1603
KEYS TO POWER
Since power depends greatly on appearances, you must learn the tricks that will enhance your image. Refusing to commit to a person or group is one of these. When you hold yourself back, you incur not anger but a kind of respect. You instantly seem powerful because you make yourself ungraspable, rather than succumbing to the group, or to the relationship, as most people do. This aura of power only grows with time: As your reputation for independence grows, more and more people will come to desire you, wanting to be the one who gets you to commit. Desire is like a virus: If we see that someone is desired by other people, we tend to find this person desirable too.
The moment you commit, the magic is gone. You become like everyone else. People will try all kinds of underhanded methods to get you to commit. They will give you gifts, shower you with favors, all to put you under obligation. Encourage the attention, stimulate their interest, but do not commit at any cost. Accept the gifts and favors if you so desire, but be careful to maintain your inner aloofness. You cannot inadvertently allow yourself to feel obligated to anyone.
Remember, though: The goal is not to put people off, or to make it seem that you are incapable of commitment. Like the Virgin Queen, you need to stir the pot, excite interest, lure people with the possibility of having you. You have to bend to their attention occasionally, then—but never too far.
The Greek soldier and statesman Alcibiades played this game to perfection. It was Alcibiades who inspired and led the massive Athenian armada that invaded Sicily in 414 B.C. When envious Athenians back home tried to bring him down by accusing him of trumped-up charges, he defected to the enemy, the Spartans, instead of facing a trial back home. Then, after the Athenians were defeated at Syracuse, he left Sparta for Persia, even though the power of Sparta was now on the rise. Now, however, both the Athenians and the Spartans courted Alcibiades because of his influence with the Persians; and the Persians showered him with honors because of his power over the Athenians and the Spartans. He made promises to every side but committed to none, and in the end he held all the cards.
If you aspire to power and influence, try the Alcibiades tactic: Put yourself in the middle between competing powers. Lure one side with the promise of your help; the other side, always wanting to outdo its enemy, will pursue you as well. As each side vies for your attention, you will immediately seem a person of great influence and desirability. More power will accrue to you than if you had rashly committed to one side. To perfect this tactic you need to keep yourself inwardly free from emotional entanglements, and to view all those around you as pawns in your rise to the top. You cannot let yourself become the lackey for any cause.
In the midst of the 1968 U.S. presidential election, Henry Kissinger made a phone call to Richard Nixon’s team. Kissinger had been allied with Nelson Rockefeller, who had unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomina tion. Now Kissinger offered to supply the Nixon camp with valuable inside information on the negotiations for peace in Vietnam that were then going on in Paris. He had a man on the negotiating team keeping him informed of the latest developments. The Nixon team gladly accepted his offer.
At the same time, however, Kissinger also approached the Democratic nominee, Hubert Humphrey, and offered his aid. The Humphrey people asked him for inside information on Nixon and he supplied it. “Look,” Kissinger told Humphrey’s people, “I’ve hated Nixon for years.” In fact he had no interest in either side. What he really wanted was what he got: the promise of a high-level cabinet post from both Nixon and Humphrey. Whichever man won the election, Kissinger’s career was secure.
The winner, of course, was Nixon, and Kissinger duly went on to his cabinet post. Even so, he was careful never to appear too much of a Nixon man. When Nixon was reelected in 1972, men much more loyal to him than Kissinger were fired. Kissinger was also the only Nixon high official to survive Watergate and serve under the next president, Gerald Ford. By maintaining a little distance he thrived in turbulent times.
Those who use this strategy often notice a strange phenomenon: People who rush to the support of others tend to gain little respect in the process, for their help is so easily obtained, while those who stand back find themselves besieged with supplicants. Their aloofness is powerful, and everyone wants them on their side.
When Picasso, after early years of poverty, had become the most successful artist in the world, he did not commit himself to this dealer or that dealer, although they now besieged him from all sides with attractive offers and grand promises. Instead, he appeared to have no interest in their services; this technique drove them wild, and as they fought over him his prices only rose. When Henry Kissinger, as U.S. secretary of state, wanted to reach detente with the Soviet Union, he made no concessions or conciliatory gestures, but courted China instead. This infuriated and also scared the Soviets—they were already politically isolated and feared further isolation if the United States and China came together. Kissinger’s move pushed them to the negotiating table. The tactic has a parallel in seduction: When you want to seduce a woman, Stendhal advises, court her sister first.
Stay aloof and people will come to you. It will become a challenge for them to win your affections. As long as you imitate the wise Virgin Queen and stimulate their hopes, you will remain a magnet of attention and desire.
Image:
The Virgin Queen.
The center of attention,desire, and worship.
Never succumbing to one suitor or the other,
the Virgin Queen keeps them all revolving around
her like planets, unable to leave her orbit but never getting any closer
to her.
Authority:
Do not commit yourself to anybody or anything, for that is to be a slave, a slave to every man.... Above all, keep yourself free of commitments and obligations—they are the device of another to get you into his power....
-(Baltasar Gracián, 1601-1658)
PART II: DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYONE-STAY ABOVE THE FRAY
Do not let people drag you into their petty fights and squabbles. Seem interested and supportive, but find a way to remain neutral; let others dothe fighting while you stand back, watch and wait. When the fighting parties are good and tired they will be ripe for the picking. You can make it a practice, in fact, to stir up quarrels between other people, and then offer to mediate, gaining power as the go-between.
THE KITES, THE CROWS, AND THE FOX
The kites and the crows made an agreement among themselves that they should go halves in everything obtained in the forest. One day they saw a fox that had been wounded by hunters lying helpless under a tree, and gathered round it. The crows said, “We will take the upper half of the fox.” “Then we will take the lower half,” said the kites. The fox laughed at this, and said, “I always thought the kites were superior in creation to the crows; as such they must get the upper half of my body, of which my head, with the brain and other delicate things in it, forms a portion. ” “Oh, yes, that is right,” said the kites, “we will have that part of the fox.” “Not at all,” said the crows, “we must have it, as already agreed.” Then a war arose between the rival parties, and a great many fell on both sides, and the remaining few escaped with difficulty. The fox continued there for some days, leisurely feeding on the dead kites and crows, and then left the place hale and hearty, observing, The weak benefit by the quarrels of the mighty. ”
-INDIAN FABLES
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
In the late fifteenth century, the strongest city-states in Italy—Venice, Florence, Rome, and Milan—found themselves constantly squabbling. Hovering above their struggles were the nations of France and Spain, ready to grab whatever they could from the weakened Italian powers. And trapped in the middle was the small state of Mantua, ruled by the young Duke Gianfrancesco Gonzaga. Mantua was strategically located in northern Italy, and it seemed only a matter of time before one of the powers swallowed it up and it ceased to exist as an independent kingdom.
Gonzaga was a fierce warrior and a skilled commander of troops, and he became a kind of mercenary general for whatever side paid him best. In the year 1490, he married Isabella d’Este, daughter of the ruler of another small Italian duchy, Ferrara. Since he now spent most of his time away from Mantua, it fell to Isabella to rule in his stead.
Isabella’s first true test as ruler came in 1498, when King Louis XII of France was preparing armies to attack Milan. In their usual perfidious fashion, the Italian states immediately looked for ways to profit from Milan’s difficulties. Pope Alexander VI promised not to intervene, thereby giving the French carte blanche. The Venetians signaled that they would not help Milan, either—and in exchange for this, they hoped the French would give them Mantua. The ruler of Milan, Lodovico Sforza, suddenly found himself alone and abandoned. He turned to Isabella d’Este, one of his closest friends (also rumored to be his lover), and begged her to persuade Duke Gonzaga to come to his aid. Isabella tried, but her husband balked, for he saw Sforza’s cause as hopeless. And so, in 1499, Louis swooped down on Milan and took it with ease.
Isabella now faced a dilemma: If she stayed loyal to Lodovico, the French would now move against her. But if, instead, she allied herself with France, she would make enemies elsewhere in Italy, compromising Mantua once Louis eventually withdrew. And if she looked to Venice or Rome for help, they would simply swallow up Mantua under the cloak of coming to her aid. Yet she had to do something. The mighty king of France was breathing down her neck: She decided to befriend him, as she had befriended Lodovico Sforza before him—with alluring gifts, witty, intelligent letters, and the possibility of her company, for Isabella was famous as a woman of incomparable beauty and charm.
In 1500 Louis invited Isabella to a great party in Milan to celebrate his victory. Leonardo da Vinci built an enormous mechanical lion for the affair: When the lion opened its mouth, it spewed fresh lilies, the symbols of French royalty. At the party Isabella wore one of her celebrated dresses (she had by far the largest wardrobe of any of the Italian princesses), and just as she had hoped, she charmed and captivated Louis, who ignored all the other ladies vying for his attention. She soon became his constant companion, and in exchange for her friendship he pledged to protect Mantua’s independence from Venice.
Men of great abilities are slow to act. for it is easier to avoid occasions for committing yourself than to come well out of a commitment. Such occasions test your judgment; it is safer to avoid them than to emerge victorious from them. One obligation leads to a greater one, and you come very near to the brink of disaster.
-BALTASAR GRACIAN, 1601-1658
As one danger receded, however, another, more worrying one arose, this time from the south, in the form of Cesare Borgia. Starting in 1500, Borgia had marched steadily northward, gobbling up all the small kingdoms in his path in the name of his father, Pope Alexander. Isabella understood Cesare perfectly: He could be neither trusted nor in any way offended. He had to be cajoled and kept at arm’s length. Isabella began by sending him gifts— falcons, prize dogs, perfumes, and dozens of masks, which she knew he always wore when he walked the streets of Rome. She sent messengers with flattering greetings (although these messengers also acted as her spies). At one point Cesare asked if he could house some troops in Mantua; Isabella managed to dissuade him politely, knowing full well that once the troops were quartered in the city, they would never leave.
Even while Isabella was charming Cesare, she convinced everyone around her to take care never to utter a harsh word about him, since he had spies everywhere and would use the slightest pretext for invasion. When Isabella had a child, she asked Cesare to be the godfather. She even dangled in front of him the possibility of a marriage between her family and his. Somehow it all worked, for although elsewhere he seized everything in his path, he spared Mantua.
In 1503 Cesare’s father, Alexander, died, and a few years later the new pope, Julius II, went to war to drive the French troops from Italy. When the ruler of Ferrara—Alfonso, Isabella’s brother—sided with the French, Julius decided to attack and humble him. Once again Isabella found herself in the middle: the pope on one side, the French and her brother on the other. She dared not ally herself with either, but to offend either would be equally disastrous. Again she played the double game at which she had become so expert. On the one hand she got her husband Gonzaga to fight for the pope, knowing he would not fight very hard. On the other she let French troops pass through Mantua to come to Ferrara’s aid. While she publicly complained that the French had “invaded” her territory, she privately supplied them with valuable information. To make the invasion plausible to Julius, she even had the French pretend to plunder Mantua. It worked once again: The pope left Mantua alone.
In 1513, after a lengthy siege, Julius defeated Ferrara, and the French troops withdrew. Worn out by the effort, the pope died a few months later. With his death, the nightmarish cycle of battles and petty squabbles began to repeat itself.
A great deal changed in Italy during Isabella’s reign: Popes came and went, Cesare Borgia rose and then fell, Venice lost its empire, Milan was invaded, Florence fell into decline, and Rome was sacked by the Hapsburg Emperor Charles V Through all this, tiny Mantua not only survived but thrived, its court the envy of Italy. Its wealth and sovereignty would remain intact for a century after Isabella’s death, in 1539.
THE EAGLE AND THE SOW
An eagle built a nest on a tree, and hatched out some eaglets. And a wild sow brought her litter under the tree. The eagle used to fly off after her prey, and bring it back to her young. And the sow rooted around the tree and hunted in the woods, and when night came she would bring her young something to eat.
And the eagle and the sow lived in neighborly fashion. And a grimalkin laid her plans to destroy the eaglets and the little sucking pigs. She went to the eagle, and said: “Eagle, you had better not fly very far away. Beware of thesow; she is planning an evil design. She is going to undermine the roots of the tree. You see she is rooting all the time.”
Then the grimalkin went to the sow and said: “Sow, you have not a good neighbor. Last evening I heard the eagle saying to her eaglets: ‘My dear little eaglets, I am going to treat you to a nice little pig. Just as soon as the sow is gone, I will bring you a little young sucking pig.”’
From that time the eagle ceased to fly out after prey, and the sow did not go any more into the forest. The eaglets and the young pigs perished of starvation, and grimalkin feasted on them.
FABLES, LEO TOLSTOY, 1828-1910
Interpretation
Isabella d’Este understood Italy’s political situation with amazing clarity: Once you took the side of any of the forces in the field, you were doomed. The powerful would take you over, the weak would wear you down. Any new alliance would lead to a new enemy, and as this cycle stirred up more conflict, other forces would be dragged in, until you could no longer extricate yourself. Eventually you would collapse from exhaustion.
Isabella steered her kingdom on the only course that would bring her safely through. She would not allow herself to lose her head through loyalty to a duke or a king. Nor would she try to stop the conflict that raged around her—that would only drag her into it. And in any case the conflict was to her advantage. If the various parties were fighting to the death, and exhausting themselves in the process, they were in no position to gobble up Mantua. The source of Isabella’s power was her clever ability to seem interested in the affairs and interests of each side, while actually committing to no one but herself and her kingdom.
Once you step into a fight that is not of your own choosing, you lose all initiative. The combatants’ interests become your interests; you become their tool. Learn to control yourself, to restrain your natural tendency to take sides and join the fight. Be friendly and charming to each of the combatants, then step back as they collide. With every battle they grow weaker, while you grow stronger with every battle you avoid.
When the snipe and the mussel struggle, the fisherman gets the benefit.
-Ancient Chinese saying
KEYS TO POWER
To succeed in the game of power, you have to master your emotions. But even if you succeed in gaining such self-control, you can never control the temperamental dispositions of those around you. And this presents a great danger. Most people operate in a whirlpool of emotions, constantly reacting, churning up squabbles and conflicts. Your self-control and autonomy will only bother and infuriate them. They will try to draw you into the whirlpool, begging you to take sides in their endless battles, or to make peace for them. If you succumb to their emotional entreaties, little by little you will find your mind and time occupied by their problems. Do not allow whatever compassion and pity you possess to suck you in. You can never win in this game; the conflicts can only multiply.
On the other hand, you cannot completely stand aside, for that would cause needless offense. To play the game properly, you must seem interested in other people’s problems, even sometimes appear to take their side. But while you make outward gestures of support, you must maintain your inner energy and sanity by keeping your emotions disengaged. No matter how hard people try to pull you in, never let your interest in their affairs and petty squabbles go beyond the surface. Give them gifts, listen with a sympathetic look, even occasionally play the charmer—but inwardly keep both the friendly kings and the perfidious Borgias at arm’s length. By refusing to commit and thus maintaining your autonomy you retain the initiative: Your moves stay matters of your own choosing, not defensive reactions to the push-and-pull of those around you.
THE PRICE OF
While a poor woman stood in the market place selling cheeses, a cat came along and carried off a cheese. A dog saw the pilferer and tried to take the cheese away from him. The cat stood up to the dog. So they pitched intoeach other. The dog barked and snapped; the cat spat and scratched, but they could bring the battle to no decision.
“Let’s go to the fox and have him referee the matter, ” the cat finally suggested. “Agreed, ” said the dog. So they went to the fox. The fox listened to their arguments with a judicious air.
“Foolish animals,” he chided them, “why carry on like that? If both of you are willing, I’ll divide the cheese in two and you’ll both be satisfied. ” “Agreed, ” said the cat and the dog.
So the fox took out his knife and cut the cheese in two, but, instead of cutting it lengthwise, he cut it in the width. “My half is smaller!” protested the dog.
The fox looked judiciously through his spectacles at the dog’s share. “You’re right, quite right!” he decided.
So he went and bit off a piece of the cat’s share. “That will make it even!” he said.
When the cat saw what the fox did she began to yowl: “Just look! My part’s smaller now!”
The fox again put on his spectacles and looked judiciously at the cat’s share.
“Right you are!” said the fox. “Just a moment, and I’ll make it right.”
And he went and bit off a piece from the dog’s cheese This went on so long, with the fox nibbling first at the dog’s and then at the cat’s share. that he finally ate up the whole cheese before their eyes.
-A TREASURY OF JEWISH FOLKLORE, NATHAN AUSUBEL, ED., 1948
Slowness to pick up your weapons can be a weapon itself, especially if you let other people exhaust themselves fighting, then take advantage of their exhaustion. In ancient China, the kingdom of Chin once invaded the kingdom of Hsing. Huan, the ruler of a nearby province, thought he should rush to Hsing’s defense, but his adviser counseled him to wait: “Hsing is not yet going to ruin,” he said, “and Chin is not yet exhausted. If Chin is not exhausted, [we] cannot become very influential. Moreover, the merit of supporting a state in danger is not as great as the virtue of reviving a ruined one.” The adviser’s argument won the day, and as he had predicted, Huan later had the glory both of rescuing Hsing from the brink of destruction and then of conquering an exhausted Chin. He stayed out of the fighting until the forces engaged in it had worn each other down, at which point it was safe for him to intervene.
That is what holding back from the fray allows you: time to position yourself to take advantage of the situation once one side starts to lose. You can also take the game a step further, by promising your support to both sides in a conflict while maneuvering so that the one to come out ahead in the struggle is you. This was what Castruccio Castracani, ruler of the Italian town of Lucca in the fourteenth century, did when he had designs on the town of Pistoia. A siege would have been expensive, costing both lives and money, but Castruccio knew that Pistoia contained two rival factions, the Blacks and the Whites, which hated one another. He negotiated with the Blacks, promising to help them against the Whites; then, without their knowledge, he promised the Whites he would help them against the Blacks. And Castruccio kept his promises—he sent an army to a Black-controlled gate to the city, which the sentries of course welcomed in. Meanwhile another of his armies entered through a White-controlled gate. The two armies united in the middle, occupied the town, killed the leaders of both factions, ended the internal war, and took Pistoia for Castruccio.
Preserving your autonomy gives you options when people come to blows —you can play the mediator, broker the peace, while really securing your own interests. You can pledge support to one side and the other may have to court you with a higher bid. Or, like Castruccio, you can appear to take both sides, then play the antagonists against each other.
Oftentimes when a conflict breaks out, you are tempted to side with the stronger party, or the one that offers you apparent advantages in an alliance. This is risky business. First, it is often difficult to foresee which side will prevail in the long run. But even if you guess right and ally yourself with the stronger party, you may find yourself swallowed up and lost, or conveniently forgotten, when they become victors. Side with the weaker, on the other hand, and you are doomed. But play a waiting game and you cannot lose.
In France’s July Revolution of 1830, after three days of riots, the statesman Talleyrand, now elderly, sat by his Paris window, listening to the pealing bells that signaled the riots were over. Turning to an assistant, he said, “Ah, the bells! We’re winning.” “Who’s ‘we,’ mon prince?” the assistant asked. Gesturing for the man to keep quiet, Talleyrand replied, “Not a word! I’ll tell you who we are tomorrow.” He well knew that only fools rush into a situation—that by committing too quickly you lose your maneuverability. People also respect you less: Perhaps tomorrow, they think, you will commit to another, different cause, since you gave yourself so easily to this one. Good fortune is a fickle god and will often pass from one side to the other. Commitment to one side deprives you of the advantage of time and the luxury of waiting. Let others fall in love with this group or that; for your part don’t rush in, don’t lose your head.
Finally, there are occasions when it is wisest to drop all pretence of appearing supportive and instead to trumpet your independence and self- reliance. The aristocratic pose of independence is particularly important for those who need to gain respect. George Washington recognized this in his work to establish the young American republic on firm ground. As president, Washington avoided the temptation of making an alliance with France or England, despite the pressure on him to do so. He wanted the country to earn the world’s respect through its independence. Although a treaty with France might have helped in the short term, in the long run he knew it would be more effective to establish the nation’s autonomy. Europe would have to see the United States as an equal power.
Remember: You have only so much energy and so much time. Every moment wasted on the affairs of others subtracts from your strength. You may be afraid that people will condemn you as heartless, but in the end, maintaining your independence and self-reliance will gain you more respect and place you in a position of power from which you can choose to help others on your own initiative.
Image: A Thicket of Shrubs. In the forest, one shrub latches on to another, entangling its neighbor with its thorns, the thicket slowly extending its impenetrable domain. Only what keeps its distance and stands apart can grow and rise above the thicket.
Authority: Regard it as more courageous not to become involved in an engagement than to win in battle, and where there is already one interfering fool, take care that there shall not be two. – (Baltasar Gracian, 1601-1658)
REVERSAL
Both parts of this law will turn against you if you take it too far. The game proposed here is delicate and difficult. If you play too many parties against one another, they will see through the maneuver and will gang up on you. If you keep your growing number of suitors waiting too long, you will inspire not desire but distrust. People will start to lose interest. Eventually you may find it worthwhile to commit to one side—if only for appearances’ sake, to prove you are capable of attachment.
Even then, however, the key will be to maintain your inner independence —to keep yourself from getting emotionally involved. Preserve the unspoken option of being able to leave at any moment and reclaim your freedom if the side you are allied with starts to collapse. The friends you made while you were being courted will give you plenty of places to go once you jump ship.
Conclusion
As the world ends this crazy year of 2020, we see alliances forming. But many of the participants will to remain as neutral as possible. Yet the United States demands obedience. “You are either with us, or you are against us.” Trump and Pompeo demand.
The smart leadership, and the capable leaders realize the folly in following other alliances that would adversely affect their economies.
Those that do not can expect consequences for their alliances. For once you chain yourself to another, what ever happens to that person will happen to you. If that person is healthy and is a hard worker, you will be carried along with them. But if they are weak, or even worse killed, you will be buried with them.
Always establish your own alliances and maintain the flexibility of options.
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
History can be just amazing. It really can. I have always been interested in history, but that almost ended when I was introduced to history in school instead of stories of the events that took place, I was forced to memorizes dates, names and places. All of which was very, very boring and held no interest to me what so ever. Lucky for me, my father collected some paperback books on history and I would read them at home for fun and enjoyment.
Here is a great little story that took place during “The Great War”, also known as World War I. It involves a German airship and a beautiful Norwegian schooner. Now schooners are beautiful craft. And this one was a nice Gaff-Rigged beauty.
The schooner is a classic sailboat, by definition having at least two masts with the main master being longer than the foremast. Or in other words, the rear mast is taller than all the other masts.
A gaff rig employs a spar on the top of the sail and typically other sails can be set in conjunction with that mainsail with the gaff. Often, on the smaller, non tall ship, gaff rigs, there will be a small triangular sail that fits between the main and the mast like a puzzle piece – this is the topsail.
Now, many of the readership could probably care less about these terms. They want to know the latest news about APPs on their iPhone, not some kind of archaic explanation about how the sails are mounted on wooden boats. But, seriously people, these gaff-rigged schooners were beautiful.
Anyways…
Back during World War I, German has a fleet of lighter than air military craft called zeppelins. And they were used to conduct military operations at that time alongside the biplanes and tri-planes of that period.
Zeppelins were also very interesting.
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century.
Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874 and developed in detail in 1893. They were patented in Germany in 1895 and in the United States in 1899. After the outstanding success of the Zeppelin design, the word zeppelin came to be commonly used to refer to all rigid airships.
Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG, the world's first airline in revenue service. By mid-1914, DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights. During World War I, the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins as bombers and as scouts, killing over 500 people in bombing raids in Britain.
-Wikipedia
Anyways, I came across this pretty interesting bit of history in an old (now long gone) internet web page. Then rediscovered this event in an article on futility closet. I found it fascinating. I think that maybe you would as well.
The following is a reprint from futilitycloset titled “Sky Pirates”. It has been edited to fit this venue, and all credit to the authors.
The only instance during World War I of an airship capturing a
merchant vessel occurred on April 23, 1917, when the German zeppelin L 23 descended on the civilian Norwegian schooner Royal off the Danish coast. At the airship’s approach the crew abandoned the Royal in boats, and the zeppelin made a water landing to capture them.
The ship turned out to be carrying pit-props, a contraband lading,
and Kapitänleutnant Ludwig Bockholt saw her conducted into the Elbe
escorted by two German destroyers. “The capture of the Royal —
actually a schooner of only 688 tons — hardly affected the trade war
against England,” writes historian Douglas H. Robinson, “but Bockholt’s
flamboyant gesture appealed particularly to the men, and tales of the
exploit were told from Tondern to Hage.”
(Douglas H. Robinson, The Zeppelin in Combat, 1962.)
Conclusion
Can you imagine what it must have been like? The skipper and crew are sailing “close hauled” and then the sky darkens and a huge zeppelin descends. There above you are a crew of angry Germans brandishing rifles and lowering ropes from above to land upon your decks. I cannot help but to think that the uniqueness of the moment had a greater impact than any rifle might have held otherwise.
It might make for a nice little scale model diorama, or a scene in some kind of adventure movie. As I keep trying to tell everyone, history need not be dull, stale, and boring. History is alive with stores of experiences and trials.
Do you want more?
I have more posts along these lines in my Happiness Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Most Americans exist within a kind of bubble of isolation. It’s a secure and solid environment that only allows a specific type of information transfer to the citizens. As such Americans are constantly fed a rich and steady diet of propaganda. With is designed to [1] make them feels special and unique, while at the same time, [2] designed to make them fearful of the rest of the world. This propaganda machine is enormous and has completely absorbed just about every news outlet in America from the mainstream to all the outlying fringe sources.
There are so many aspects to this intense degree of control that it would take a couple of lifetimes of writing to even begin to touch the subject matter at hand. Instead, I’m just gonna take bites and chunks out of it as I deem fit. And in this post we are going to blow-up the notion that “America is exceptional because it has a Bill of Rights that includes the Right to bear arms“.
This is yet another fallacy that needs to be revisited. Being exceptional” has nothing to do with what ever “Rights” a government allows you to possess. And the idea that “The Bill of Rights” still exists is laughable. It doesn’t. But most importantly is the idea that ONLY in America can you own and possess guns and firearms. It’s a lie. You can live in numerous other nations and own firearms as well.
It’s just that they aren’t so worried about their government infringing on their ability to own guns. They don’t.
So we never hear about them. There are no news articles about them, and there isn’t billions of federal funds for “studies”, and “Blue Ribbon Panels” looking into the “Gun Control Issue”.
Let’s look at a nation that has more freedoms than what’s present in America. Let’s look at Thailand. The “Land of Smiles”. And let’s look at the ability for local citizens to buy, sell, possess and use guns; firearms, and weapons. Let’s look at what real freedom is like. Shall we?
No Gun Control
One of the things about stable nations is that they tend to let their people own firearms. Those nations that disarm their populace tend to do so for tyrannical reasons (yes, and this includes Australia and the UK). Did I upset you, the reader’s sensibilities, well then… good!
Thailand trusts it’s people. They are permitted to possess firearms.
Consider that in your calculus.
A country that loves pick-up trucks, 7-Eleven convenience stores, and has a special relationship with guns. No, not America. I’m talking about Thailand, a country better known for its beaches, warm weather, and friendly people. Turns out, it also has a thriving gun culture. Shooting is popular and primarily targeted at self-defense training. Guns are easily available, shooting ranges are commonplace, and gun regulations are lax.
Gun Ownership in Thailand
With a population of 67 million people and an estimated 10 million firearms, Thailand doesn’t come close to the number of guns owned in the United States, which has more guns than people.
Still, gun ownership is popular in Thailand.
In fact, of those 10 million firearms in Thailand only roughly 6 million guns are officially registered, meaning likely over 4 million guns are in illegal possession. Illegal firearms ownership is said to be particularly high in the southern border regions between Thailand and Malaysia, which has seen ongoing separatist insurgency and rebellion over the past ten years.
Gun Licensing & Regulations
In Thailand, the right to private gun ownership is not guaranteed by law. Neither is the right to hunt.
Thai citizens, as well as foreigners with a residency permit, can apply for a firearms license, which is granted if a person’s personal conduct, criminal record, living conditions and income don’t raise red flags during a background check by local authorities. A legitimate reason for a license being granted can be self-defense, property protection, hunting, or sport shooting.
Firearms safety classes are not required, and the license costs only 500-1000 Baht (15-30 USD) depending on the province in which the license is issued.
One license is required per firearm, and unlike US states with instant background checks, that license generally takes two weeks to issue and requires registration of the gun after the purchase no matter if it is a private sale or a gun shop sale.
Citizens are not allowed to carry guns in public unless they hold a carry license, which contrary to everybody’s claims doesn’t seem too difficult to attain, at least judging from newspaper headlines such as “man accidentally shot ex-wife with Uzi in restaurant”. State agencies keep a record of every firearms license and carry license issued as well as a record of every gun and whom it is registered to.
Guns on the Thai Market
Thailand doesn’t have its own small arms industry so gun shops sell mostly American imports. European models are less common because most European countries do not issue export licenses to Thailand due to the on-going separatist insurgency in the southern provinces.
Glock and Sig Sauer pistols available in Thailand have US markings rather than being Austrian or German made.
Used 1911 pistols for sale seem to be military excess.
Prices are typically 2-3 times the US retail price. This premium price is a result of the cost for the export permit in the country of origin, secure international shipping, and import fees into Thailand as well as high margins at the gun stores.
Civilian possession of automatic or semi-automatic rifles is illegal, but gun stores stock them since police and military frequent these stores.
Semi-automatic .22LR carbine are excluded from the ban because there is a loophole that allows semi-automatic small caliber rifles. Interestingly the possession of an air gun requires a firearms permit while airsoft BB guns can be bought anywhere.
The Black Market
There is a black market of military-issue guns that have somehow found their way into civilian hands. Some believe that the Thai government provided guns to the southern provinces to arm the counter-insurgents and “defense volunteers” fighting the separatists. Other illegal guns cross the border into Thailand from surrounding countries.
Thai Police Service Pistols
Police officers are not issued service pistols and have to buy a gun to use on-duty out of pocket. I have seen officers carry a mishmash of Glock 19, Sig Sauer P226, Colt 1911M1 as well as really old revolvers and .22LR pistols (yes, seriously) as their sidearm. I have also seen one police officer with an empty holster (Don’t bring an empty holster to a gun fight!).
If an officer can’t afford a gun when they are fresh on the force, they can apply for a loan from the police union and pay it back in monthly installments. Sig Sauer seems to try to penetrate the Thai law enforcement market in a similar way Glock did in the 90’s and continues to do in the US by offering the P320 at very low cost to police officers directly, bypassing the middlemen. These guns are being sold in Thailand close to US retail price.
Shooting Ranges in Thailand
Shooting ranges can be found all over the country not far from temples and bars, palm trees and beaches. Due to the warm climate, these are all outdoor ranges where paper targets, steel plates and IPSC courses are shot. Human silhouette shooting is permitted, as self-defense is a legitimate reason to own and shoot a gun in Thailand.
At the beaches of Ao Nang and in the mountains of Chiang Mai you can find typical shooting ranges.
There, 30 bullets cost 1700 Baht (45 USD) including the rental gun. Typical guns to select from include the Glock 34, Sig Sauer 226 Elite, 1911, Glock 34 IPSC open tuning, CZ 75 and Makarov or.22lr pistols and revolvers.
Shooting ranges are heavily frequented by tourists, posing with pistols held sideways, with shotguns and an ammunition belt wrapped around their neck, or hamming it up with a big revolver.
The Thai IPSC shooters were quietly practicing on a stage set up on the other end of the range, protected by thick concrete walls from stray bullets fired by tourists holding a .357 super-magnum, blowing the smoke from the burning oil off the tip of the barrel, pointed to the sky like Dirty Harry, while his friend was taking a picture of this experience of a lifetime on his phone.
Why bring this up…
When someone is trying to disarm you, you have a duty to question their motives.
Most Americans haven’t a clue as to how the rest of the world operates, and they in their ignorance, think that America is “best”. Well, sorry, it is not. Don’t go a knocking the way Thai’s or the Chinese live their lives.
Just remember, when an enormous government wants to disarm you, and your family “for your safety”, you have a duty to question their motives.
Ultimately, I can’t show cause and effect for events that occurred years ago. But here is some history that you can research for yourself. This is what CAN happen when the people are disarmed, regardless of how much time passes before it actually occurs. Ask yourself this: can events like this even happen if the people are armed?
1911, Turkey
Established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, were rounded up and exterminated. Search Armenian Genocide.
1929, Soviet Union
Established gun control. In 1937, about 2million dissidents, including 30000 military officers, were rounded up and imprisoned or executed. Search The Great Purges
1935, China
Established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents were rounded up and exterminated.
1938, Germany
Established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, leaving a populace unable to defend itself against the Gestapo and SS. Hundreds of thousands died as a result.
“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or native police. German troops alone will bear the sole responsibility for the maintenance of law and order throughout the occupied Russian territories, and a system of military strong-points must be evolved to cover the entire occupied country.”
- Adolf Hitler, dinner talk on April 11, 1942, quoted in Hitler’s Table Talk 1941-44: His Private Conversations, Second Edition, Pg. 425-426.
1956, Cambodia
Established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, 1-2 million ‘educated’ people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. SPECIAL NOTE: The law was passed in 1956, but was not used for 20 years. But it WAS used.
1964, Guatemala
Established gun control. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
1970, Uganda
Established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. The total dead are said to be 2-3 million.
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you.
This is the full text of Law 31 from “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene. It is titled “Control the options to get others to play the cards that you deal. It is a wonderful addition to the laws that I have been collecting and posting herein.
I learned this at one of the first jobs that I ever had. My supervisor advised me that I should never provide more than three solutions or options on a project. When I am presenting options to upper management, I was to offer three and only three options.
All three would be an option that I would be satisfied with. So that no matter what they chose, I would be satisfied.
One option would be an obvious option for rejection. It would have some fault or problem. Maybe it would be too costly, or two time consuming or have other issues that would make it unsatisfactory.
The remaining two options would lie close together in value. They would be very similar in pricing, costs, trade-offs and timing. I would advise what I felt would be the best option, but it would be ultimately the decision of upper management.
This strategy has worked over and over over the many decades in industry. And I tech it to all the junior engineers and interns in my employ. This law 31, lies very close to this experience of mine. For in my own way, I was controlling the options and having upper management play the cards that I dealt.
LAW 31
CONTROL THE OPTIONS: GET OTHERS TO PLAY WITH THE CARDS YOU DEAL
JUDGMENT
The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets.
Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose.
Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose.
Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW I
From early in his reign, Ivan IV, later known as Ivan the Terrible, had to confront an unpleasant reality: The country desperately needed reform, but he lacked the power to push it through.
The greatest limit to his authority came from the boyars, the Russian princely class that dominated the country and terrorized the peasantry.
In 1553, at the age of twenty-three, Ivan fell ill.
Lying in bed, nearing death, he asked the boyars to swear allegiance to his son as the new czar.
Some hesitated, some even refused.
Then and there Ivan saw he had no power over the boyars.
He recovered from his illness, but he never forgot the lesson: The boyars were out to destroy him. And indeed in the years to come, many of the most powerful of them defected to Russia’s main enemies, Poland and Lithuania, where they plotted their return and the overthrow of the czar.
Even one of Ivan’s closest friends, Prince Andrey Kurbski, suddenly turned against him, defecting to Lithuania in 1564, and becoming the strongest of Ivan’s enemies.
When Kurbski began raising troops for an invasion, the royal dynasty seemed suddenly more precarious than ever.
With émigré nobles fomenting invasion from the west, Tartars bearing down from the east, and the boyars stirring up trouble within the country, Russia’s vast size made it a nightmare to defend.
In whatever direction Ivan struck, he would leave himself vulnerable on the other side. Only if he had absolute power could he deal with this many-headed Hydra. And he had no such power.
Ivan brooded until the morning of December 3, 1564, when the citizens of Moscow awoke to a strange sight.
Hundreds of sleds filled the square before the Kremlin, loaded with the czar’s treasures and with provisions for the entire court.
They watched in disbelief as the czar and his court boarded the sleds and left town.
Without explaining why, he established himself in a village south of Moscow.
For an entire month a kind of terror gripped the capital, for the Muscovites feared that Ivan had abandoned them to the bloodthirsty boyars.
Shops closed up and riotous mobs gathered daily.
Finally, on January 3 of 1565, a letter arrived from the czar, explaining that he could no longer bear the boyars’ betrayals and had decided to abdicate once and for all.
The German Chancellor Bismarck, enraged at the constant criticisms from Rudolf Virchow (the German pathologist and liberal politician), had his seconds call upon the scientist to challenge him to a duel.
“As the challenged party, I have the choice of weapons,” said Virchow, “and I choose these.”
He held aloft two large and apparently identical sausages.
“One of these,” he went on, “is infected with deadly germs; the other is perfectly sound.
Let His Excellency decide which one he wishes to eat, and I will eat the other.”
Almost immediately the message came back that the chancellor had decided to cancel the duel.
-THE LITTLE. BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES. CLIFTON FADIMAN, FD., 1985
Read aloud in public, the letter had a startling effect: Merchants and commoners blamed the boyars for Ivan’s decision, and took to the streets, terrifying the nobility with their fury.
Soon a group of delegates representing the church, the princes, and the people made the journey to Ivan’s village, and begged the czar, in the name of the holy land of Russia, to return to the throne.
Ivan listened but would not change his mind.
After days of hearing their pleas, however, he offered his subjects a choice: Either they grant him absolute powers to govern as he pleased, with no interference from the boyars, or they find a new leader.
Faced with a choice between civil war and the acceptance of despotic power, almost every sector of Russian society “opted” for a strong czar, calling for Ivan’s return to Moscow and the restoration of law and order.
In February, with much celebration, Ivan returned to Moscow.
The Russians could no longer complain if he behaved dictatorially—they had given him this power themselves.
Interpretation
Ivan the Terrible faced a terrible dilemma: To give in to the boyars would lead to certain destruction, but civil war would bring a different kind of ruin. Even if Ivan came out of such a war on top, the country would be devastated and its divisions would be stronger than ever.
His weapon of choice in the past had been to make a bold, offensive move. Now, however, that kind of move would turn against him—the more boldly he confronted his enemies, the worse the reactions he would spark.
The main weakness of a show of force is that it stirs up resentment and eventually leads to a response that eats at your authority.
Ivan, immensely creative in the use of power, saw clearly that the only path to the kind of victory he wanted was a false withdrawal.
He would not force the country over to his position, he would give it “options”: either [1] his abdication, and certain anarchy, or [2] his accession to absolute power.
To back up his move, he made it clear that he preferred to abdicate: “Call my bluff,” he said, “and watch what happens.”
No one called his bluff.
By withdrawing for just a month, he showed the country a glimpse of the nightmares that would follow his abdication—Tartar invasions, civil war, ruin. (All of these did eventually come to pass after Ivan’s death, in the infamous “Time of the Troubles.”)
Withdrawal and disappearance are classic ways of controlling the options.
You give people a sense of how things will fall apart without you, and you offer them a “choice”: I stay away and you suffer the consequences, or I return under circumstances that I dictate.
In this method of controlling people’s options, they choose the option that gives you power because the alternative is just too unpleasant. You force their hand, but indirectly: They seem to have a choice.
Whenever people feel they have a choice, they walk into your trap that much more easily.
THE LIAR
Once upon a time there was a king of Armenia, who, being of a curious turn of mind and in need of some new diversion, sent his heralds throughout the land to make the following proclamation: “Hear this! Whatever man among you can prove himself the most outrageous liar in Armenia shall receive an apple made of pure gold from the hands of His Majesty the King!”
People began to swarm to the palace from every town and hamlet in the country, people of all ranks and conditions, princes, merchants, farmers, priests, rich and poor, tall and short, fat and thin.
There was no lack of liars in the land, and each one told his tale to the king.
A ruler, however, has heard practically every sort of lie, and none of those now told him convinced the king that he had listened to the best of them.
The king was beginning to grow tired of his new sport and was thinking of calling the whole contest off without declaring a winner, when there appeared before him a poor, ragged man, carrying a large earthenware pitcher under his arm.
“What can I do for you?” asked His Majesty.
“Sire!” said the poor man, slightly bewildered “Surely you remember? You owe me a pot of gold, and I have come to collect it.”
“You are a pet feet liar, sir!’ exclaimed the king ”I owe you no money’”
”A perfect liar, am I?” said the poor man. ”Then give me the golden apple!”
The king, realizing that the man was Irving to trick him. started to hedge. ”No. no! You are not a liar!”
”Then give me the pot of gold you owe me. sire.” said the man. The king saw the dilemma, He handed over the golden apple.
-ARMENIAN FOLKTALES AND FABLES. REIOLD BY CAHARLES DOWNING. 1993
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW II
As a seventeenth-century French courtesan, Ninon de Lenclos found that her life had certain pleasures.
Her lovers came from royalty and aristocracy, and they paid her well, entertained her with their wit and intellect, satisfied her rather demanding sensual needs, and treated her almost as an equal.
Such a life was infinitely preferable to marriage.
In 1643, however, Ninon’s mother died suddenly, leaving her, at the age of twenty-three, totally alone in the world—no family, no dowry, nothing to fall back upon.
A kind of panic overtook her and she entered a convent, turning her back on her illustrious lovers.
A year later she left the convent and moved to Lyons.
When she finally reappeared in Paris, in 1648, lovers and suitors flocked to her door in greater numbers than ever before, for she was the wittiest and most spirited courtesan of the time and her presence had been greatly missed.
Ninon’s followers quickly discovered, however, that she had changed her old way of doing things, and had set up a new system of options.
The dukes, seigneurs, and princes who wanted to pay for her services could continue to do so, but they were no longer in control—she would sleep with them when she wanted, according to her whim.
All their money bought them was a possibility. If it was her pleasure to sleep with them only once a month, so be it.
Those who did not want to be what Ninon called a payeur could join the large and growing group of men she called her martyrs—men who visited her apartment principally for her friendship, her biting wit, her lute-playing, and the company of the most vibrant minds of the period, including Molière, La Rochefoucauld, and Saint-Évremond.
The martyrs, too, however, entertained a possibility: She would regularly select from them a favori, a man who would become her lover without having to pay, and to whom she would abandon herself completely for as long as she so desired—a week, a few months, rarely longer.
A payeur could not become a favori, but a martyr had no guarantee of becoming one, and indeed could remain disappointed for an entire lifetime. The poet Charleval, for example, never enjoyed Ninon’s favors, but never stopped coming to visit—he did not want to do without her company.
As word of this system reached polite French society, Ninon became the object of intense hostility.
Her reversal of the position of the courtesan scandalized the queen mother and her court.
Much to their horror, however, it did not discourage her male suitors—indeed it only increased their numbers and intensified their desire.
It became an honor to be a payeur, helping Ninon to maintain her lifestyle and her glittering salon, accompanying her sometimes to the theater, and sleeping with her when she chose.
Even more distinguished were the martyrs, enjoying her company without paying for it and maintaining the hope, however remote, of some day becoming her favori. That possibility spurred on many a young nobleman, as word spread that none among the courtesans could surpass Ninon in the art of love.
And so the married and the single, the old and the young, entered her web and chose one of the two options presented to them, both of which amply satisfied her.
Interpretation
The life of the courtesan entailed the possibility of a power that was denied a married woman, but it also had obvious perils.
The man who paid for the courtesan’s services in essence owned her, determining when he could possess her and when, later on, he would abandon her.
As she grew older, her options narrowed, as fewer men chose her.
To avoid a life of poverty she had to amass her fortune while she was young.
The courtesan’s legendary greed, then, reflected a practical necessity, yet also lessened her allure, since the illusion of being desired is important to men, who are often alienated if their partner is too interested in their money.
As the courtesan aged, then, she faced a most difficult fate.
Ninon de Lenclos had a horror of any kind of dependence.
She early on tasted a kind of equality with her lovers, and she would not settle into a system that left her such distasteful options. Strangely enough, the system she devised in its place seemed to satisfy her suitors as much as it did her.
The payeurs may have had to pay, but the fact that Ninon would only sleep with them when she wanted to gave them a thrill unavailable with every other courtesan: She was yielding out of her own desire.
The martyrs’ avoidance of the taint of having to pay gave them a sense of superiority; as members of Ninon’s fraternity of admirers, they also might some day experience the ultimate pleasure of being her favori.
Finally, Ninon did not force her suitors into either category.
They could “choose” which side they preferred—a freedom that left them a vestige of masculine pride.
Such is the power of giving people a choice, or rather the illusion of one, for they are playing with cards you have dealt them.
Where the alternatives set up by Ivan the Terrible involved a certain risk—one option would have led to his losing his power—Ninon created a situation in which every option redounded to her favor.
From the payeurs she received the money she needed to run her salon. And from the martyrs she gained the ultimate in power: She could surround herself with a bevy of admirers, a harem from which to choose her lovers.
The system, though, depended on one critical factor: the possibility, however remote, that a martyr could become a favori.
The illusion that riches, glory, or sensual satisfaction may someday fall into your victim’s lap is an irresistible carrot to include in your list of choices.
That hope, however slim, will make men accept the most ridiculous situations, because it leaves them the all-important option of a dream. The illusion of choice, married to the possibility of future good fortune, will lure the most stubborn sucker into your glittering web.
J. P. Morgan Sr. once told a jeweler of his acquaintance that he was interested in buying a pearl scarf-pin.
Just a few weeks later, the jeweler happened upon a magnificent pearl. He had it mounted in an appropriate setting and sent it to Morgan, together with a bill for $5,000.
The following day the package was returned. Morgan’s accompanying note read: “I like the pin, but I don’t like the price.
If you will accept the enclosed check for $4,000, please send back the box with the seal unbroken.”
The enraged jeweler refused the check and dismissed the messenger in disgust. He opened up the box to reclaim the unwanted pin, only to find that it had been removed. In its place was a check for $5,000.
-THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES. CLIFTON FADIMAN, ED.. 1985
KEYS TO POWER
Words like “freedom,” “options,” and “choice” evoke a power of possibility far beyond the reality of the benefits they entail.
When examined closely, the choices we have—in the marketplace, in elections, in our jobs—tend to have noticeable limitations: They are often a matter of a choice simply between A and B, with the rest of the alphabet out of the picture.
Yet as long as the faintest mirage of choice flickers on, we rarely focus on the missing options.
We “choose” to believe that the game is fair, and that we have our freedom. We prefer not to think too much about the depth of our liberty to choose.
This unwillingness to probe the smallness of our choices stems from the fact that too much freedom creates a kind of anxiety. The phrase “unlimited options” sounds infinitely promising, but unlimited options would actually paralyze us and cloud our ability to choose. Our limited range of choices comforts us.
This supplies the clever and cunning with enormous opportunities for deception. For people who are choosing between alternatives find it hard to believe they are being manipulated or deceived; they cannot see that you are allowing them a small amount of free will in exchange for a much more powerful imposition of your own will. Setting up a narrow range of choices, then, should always be a part of your deceptions.
There is a saying: If you can get the bird to walk into the cage on its own, it will sing that much more prettily.
The following are among the most common forms of “controlling the options”:
Color the Choices. This was a favored technique of Henry Kissinger. As President Richard Nixon’s secretary of state, Kissinger considered himself better informed than his boss, and believed that in most situations he could make the best decision on his own. But if he tried to determine policy, he would offend or perhaps enrage a notoriously insecure man. So Kissinger would propose three or four choices of action for each situation, and would present them in such a way that the one he preferred always seemed the best solution compared to the others. Time after time, Nixon fell for the bait, never suspecting that he was moving where Kissinger pushed him. This is an excellent device to use on the insecure master.
Force the Resister. One of the main problems faced by Dr. Milton H. Erickson, a pioneer of hypnosis therapy in the 1950s, was the relapse. His patients might seem to be recovering rapidly, but their apparent susceptibility to the therapy masked a deep resistance: They would soon relapse into old habits, blame the doctor, and stop coming to see him. To avoid this, Erickson began ordering some patients to have a relapse, to make themselves feel as bad as when they first came in—to go back to square one. Faced with this option, the patients would usually “choose” to avoid the relapse—which, of course, was what Erickson really wanted.
This is a good technique to use on children and other willful people who enjoy doing the opposite of what you ask them to: Push them to “choose” what you want them to do by appearing to advocate the opposite.
Alter the Playing Field. In the 1860s, John D. Rockefeller set out to create an oil monopoly. If he tried to buy up the smaller oil companies they would figure out what he was doing and fight back. Instead, he began secretly buying up the railway companies that transported the oil. When he then attempted to take over a particular company, and met with resistance, he reminded them of their dependence on the rails. Refusing them shipping, or simply raising their fees, could ruin their business. Rockefeller altered the playing field so that the only options the small oil producers had were the ones he gave them.
In this tactic your opponents know their hand is being forced, but it doesn’t matter. The technique is effective against those who resist at all costs.
The Shrinking Options. The late-nineteenth-century art dealer Ambroise Vollard perfected this technique.
Customers would come to Vollard’s shop to see some Cézannes. He would show three paintings, neglect to mention a price, and pretend to doze off. The visitors would have to leave without deciding. They would usually come back the next day to see the paintings again, but this time Vollard would pull out less interesting works, pretending he thought they were the same ones. The baffled customers would look at the new offerings, leave to think them over, and return yet again. Once again the same thing would happen: Vollard would show paintings of lesser quality still. Finally the buyers would realize they had better grab what he was showing them, because tomorrow they would have to settle for something worse, perhaps at even higher prices.
A variation on this technique is to raise the price every time the buyer hesitates and another day goes by. This is an excellent negotiating ploy to use on the chronically indecisive, who will fall for the idea that they are getting a better deal today than if they wait till tomorrow.
The Weak Man on the Precipice. The weak are the easiest to maneuver by controlling their options. Cardinal de Retz, the great seventeenth-century provocateur, served as an unofficial assistant to the Duke of Orléans, who was notoriously indecisive. It was a constant struggle to convince the duke to take action—he would hem and haw, weigh the options, and wait till the last moment, giving everyone around him an ulcer. But Retz discovered a way to handle him: He would describe all sorts of dangers, exaggerating them as much as possible, until the duke saw a yawning abyss in every direction except one: the one Retz was pushing him to take.
This tactic is similar to “Color the Choices,” but with the weak you have to be more aggressive. Work on their emotions—use fear and terror to propel them into action. Try reason and they will always find a way to procrastinate.
Brothers in Crime. This is a classic con-artist technique: You attract your victims to some criminal scheme, creating a bond of blood and guilt between you. They participate in your deception, commit a crime (or think they do—see the story of Sam Geezil in Law 3), and are easily manipulated. Serge Stavisky, the great French con artist of the 1920s, so entangled the government in his scams and swindles that the state did not dare to prosecute him, and “chose” to leave him alone. It is often wise to implicate in your deceptions the very person who can do you the most harm if you fail. Their involvement can be subtle—even a hint of their involvement will narrow their options and buy their silence.
The Horns of a Dilemma. This idea was demonstrated by General William Sherman’s infamous march through Georgia during the American Civil War. Although the Confederates knew what direction Sherman was heading in, they never knew if he would attack from the left or the right, for he divided his army into two wings—and if the rebels retreated from one wing they found themselves facing the other. This is a classic trial lawyer’s technique: The lawyer leads the witnesses to decide between two possible explanations of an event, both of which poke a hole in their story. They have to answer the lawyer’s questions, but whatever they say they hurt themselves. The key to this move is to strike quickly: Deny the victim the time to think of an escape. As they wriggle between the horns of the dilemma, they dig their own grave.
Understand: In your struggles with your rivals, it will often be necessary for you to hurt them. And if you are clearly the agent of their punishment, expect a counterattack—expect revenge. If, however, they seem to themselves to be the agents of their own misfortune, they will submit quietly. When Ivan left Moscow for his rural village, the citizens asking him to return agreed to his demand for absolute power. Over the years to come, they resented him less for the terror he unleashed on the country, because, after all, they had granted him his power themselves. This is why it is always good to allow your victims their choice of poison, and to cloak your involvement in providing it to them as far as possible.
Image: The Horns of the Bull. The bull backs you into the corner with its horns—not a single horn, which you might be e able to escape, but a pair of horns that trap you within their hold. Run right or run left—either way you move into their piercing ends and are gored.
Authority: For the wounds and every other evil that men inflict upon themselves spontaneously, and of their own choice, are in the long run less painful than those inflicted by others. (Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527)
REVERSAL
Controlling the options has one main purpose: to disguise yourself as the agent of power and punishment.
The tactic works best, then, for those whose power is fragile, and who cannot operate too openly without incurring suspicion, resentment, and anger.
Even as a general rule, however, it is rarely wise to be seen as exerting power directly and forcefully, no matter how secure or strong you are. It is usually more elegant and more effective to give people the illusion of choice.
On the other hand, by limiting other people’s options you sometimes limit your own.
There are situations in which it is to your advantage to allow your rivals a large degree of freedom: As you watch them operate, you give yourself rich opportunities to spy, gather information, and plan your deceptions.
The nineteenth-century banker James Rothschild liked this method: He felt that if he tried to control his opponents’ movements, he lost the chance to observe their strategy and plan a more effective course.
The more freedom he allowed them in the short term, the more forcefully he could act against them in the long run.
Conclusion
I cannot help but wonder if Donald Trump in 2020 is conducting an “Ivan the Terrible” technique in order to obtain full dictatorial powers in lieu of Congressional approval. It seems like he wants people to get sick. That he wants Portland to burn. That he wants people to arm themselves. That he wants the Post office not to deliver mail.
I wonder if this is intentional so that some kind of “big event” will force the the people and Congress to grant him wide sweeping powers and control. I wonder.
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Here is the complete text of Law 15 from the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. This law is pretty disturbing to most people as it pretty much goes against the teachings of the New Testament. Jesus, as you might recall, advises you to “turn the other cheek” and “let by-gones be by-gones”. Instead, this law requires that you identify who is an enemy and who is not. Those that are identified as an enemy must be slain completely and totally.
Some people can be considered to be a “Dangerous Enemy”, and that if you do not vanquish the enemy totally that it will regroup, strong and better, and continue to attack you. Do not assume that everyone thinks, acts or behaves as you do. There are many kinds of people “out there” and some are very, very dangerous. Take no chances.
Crush your enemy totally. Don’t go halfway with them or give them any options whatsoever. If you leave even one ember smoldering, it will eventually ignite. You can’t afford to be lenient.
Kill or be killed. It’s the law of the jungle.
LAW 15
CRUSH YOUR ENEMY TOTALLY
JUDGMENT
All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.
TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW
The remnants of an enemy can become active like those of a disease or fire. Hence, these should be exterminated completely.... One should never ignore an enemy, knowing him to be weak. He becomes dangerous in due course, like the spark of fire in a haystack.-KAUTILYA, INDIAN PHILOSOPHER, THIRD CENTURY B.C.
No rivalry between leaders is more celebrated in Chinese history than the struggle between Hsiang Yu and Liu Pang.
These two generals began their careers as friends, fighting on the same side. Hsiang Yu came from the nobility; large and powerful, given to bouts of violence and temper, a bit dull witted, he was yet a mighty warrior who always fought at the head of his troops. Liu Pang came from peasant stock. He had never been much of a soldier, and preferred women and wine to fighting; in fact, he was something of a scoundrel. But he was wily, and he had the ability to recognize the best strategists, keep them as his advisers, and listen to their advice. He had risen in the army through these strengths.
In 208 B.C., the king of Ch‘u sent two massive armies to conquer the powerful kingdom of Ch’in. One army went north, under the generalship of Sung Yi, with Hsiang Yu second in command; the other, led by Liu Pang, headed straight toward Ch’in. The target was the kingdom’s splendid capital, Hsien-yang. And Hsiang Yu, ever violent and impatient, could not stand the idea that Liu Pang would get to Hsien-yang first, and perhaps would assume command of the entire army.-THE TRAP AT SINIGAGLIA
At one point on the northern front, Hsiang’s commander, Sung Yi, hesitated in sending his troops into battle. Furious, Hsiang entered Sung Yi’s tent, proclaimed him a traitor, cut off his head, and assumed sole command of the army. Without waiting for orders, he left the northern front and marched directly on Hsien-yang.
He felt certain he was the better soldier and general than Liu, but, to his utter astonishment, his rival, leading a smaller, swifter army, managed to reach Hsien-yang first. Hsiang had an adviser, Fan Tseng, who warned him, “This village headman [Liu Pang] used to be greedy only for riches and women, but since entering the capital he has not been led astray by wealth, wine, or sex. That shows he is aiming high.”
Fan Tseng urged Hsiang to kill his rival before it was too late.
He told the general to invite the wily peasant to a banquet at their camp outside Hsien-yang, and, in the midst of a celebratory sword dance, to have his head cut off.
The invitation was sent; Liu fell for the trap, and came to the banquet.
But Hsiang hesitated in ordering the sword dance, and by the time he gave the signal, Liu had sensed a trap, and managed to escape. “Bah!” cried Fan Tseng in disgust, seeing that Hsiang had botched the plot. “One cannot plan with a simpleton. Liu Pang will steal your empire yet and make us all his prisoners.”
Realizing his mistake, Hsiang hurriedly marched on Hsien-yang, this time determined to hack off his rival’s head. Liu was never one to fight when the odds were against him, and he abandoned the city.
Hsiang captured Hsien-yang, murdered the young prince of Ch’in, and burned the city to the ground.
Liu was now Hsiang’s bitter enemy, and he pursued him for many months, finally cornering him in a walled city. Lacking food, his army in disarray, Liu sued for peace.
Again Fan Tseng warned Hsiang, “Crush him now! If you let him go again, you will be sorry later.”
But Hsiang decided to be merciful. He wanted to bring Liu back to Ch’u alive, and to force his former friend to acknowledge him as master.
But Fan proved right: Liu managed to use the negotiations for his surrender as a distraction, and he escaped with a small army. Hsiang, amazed that he had yet again let his rival slip away, once more set out after Liu, this time with such ferocity that he seemed to have lost his mind.
At one point, having captured Liu’s father in battle, Hsiang stood the old man up during the fighting and yelled to Liu across the line of troops, “Surrender now, or I shall boil your father alive!” Liu calmly answered, “But we are sworn brothers. So my father is your father also. If you insist on boiling your own father, send me a bowl of the soup!” Hsiang backed down, and the struggle continued.
A few weeks later, in the thick of the hunt, Hsiang scattered his forces unwisely, and in a surprise attack Liu was able to surround his main garrison.
For the first time the tables were turned.
Now it was Hsiang who sued for peace. Liu’s top adviser urged him to destroy Hsiang, crush his army, show no mercy. “To let him go would be like rearing a tiger—it will devour you later,” the adviser said. Liu agreed.
Making a false treaty, he lured Hsiang into relaxing his defense, then slaughtered almost all of his army.
Hsiang managed to escape.
Alone and on foot, knowing that Liu had put a bounty on his head, he came upon a small group of his own retreating soldiers, and cried out, “I hear Liu Pang has offered one thousand pieces of gold and a fief of ten thousand families for my head. Let me do you a favor.” Then he slit his own throat and died.
Now, consider Italy...
On the day Ramiro was executed, Cesare [Borgia] quit Cesena, leaving the mutilated body on the town square, and marched south.
Three days later he arrived at Fano.
There, he received the envoys of the city of Ancona, who assured him of their loyalty.
A messenger from Vitellozzo Vitelli announced that the little Adriatic port of Sinigaglia had surrendered to the condottieri [mercenary soldiers].
Only the citadel, in charge of the Genoese Andrea Doria, still held out, and Doria refused to hand it over to anyone except Cesare himself.
[Borgia] sent word that he would arrive the next day, which was just what the condottieri wanted to hear.
Once he reached Sinigaglia, Cesare would be an easy prey, caught between the citadel and their forces ringing the town….
The condottieri were sure they had military superiority, believing that the departure of the French troops had left Cesare with only a small force.
In fact, according to Machiavelli. [Borgia] had left Cesena with ten thousand infantry-men and three thousand horses, taking pains to split up his men so that they would march along parallel routes before converging on Sinigaglia.
The reason for such a large force was that he knew, from a confession extracted from Ramiro de Lorca, what the condottieri had up their sleeve.
He therefore decided to turn their own trap against them.
This was the masterpiece of trickery that the historian Paolo Giovio later called “the magnificent deceit. ”
At dawn on December 31 [1502], Cesare reached the outskirts of Sinigaglia….
Led by Michelotto Corella, Cesare’s advance guard of two hundred lances took up its position on the canal bridge….
This control of the bridge effectively prevented the conspirators’ troops from withdrawing….
And…
Cesare greeted the condottieri effusively and invited them to join him.... Michelotto had prepared the Palazzo Bernardino for Cesare’s use, and the duke invited the condottieri inside.... Once indoors the men were quietly arrested by guards who crept up from the rear.... [Cesare] gave orders for an attack on Vitelli’s and Orsini’s soldiers in the outlying areas.... That night, while their troops were being crushed, Michelotto throttled Oliveretto and Vitelli in the Bernardino palace.... At one fell swoop, [Borgia] had got rid of his former generals and worst enemies.-THE BORGIAS, IVAN CLOULAS, 1989
Interpretation
Hsiang Yu had proven his ruthlessness on many an occasion.
He rarely hesitated in doing away with a rival if it served his purposes. But with Liu Pang he acted differently.
He respected his rival, and did not want to defeat him through deception; he wanted to prove his superiority on the battlefield, even to force the clever Liu to surrender and to serve him.
Every time he had his rival in his hands, something made him hesitate—a fatal sympathy with or respect for the man who, after all, had once been a friend and comrade in arms.
But the moment Hsiang made it clear that he intended to do away with Liu, yet failed to accomplish it, he sealed his own doom. Liu would not suffer the same hesitation once the tables were turned.
This is the fate that faces all of us when we sympathize with our enemies, when pity, or the hope of reconciliation, makes us pull back from doing away with them.
We only strengthen their fear and hatred of us.
We have beaten them, and they are humiliated; yet we nurture these resentful vipers who will one day kill us.
Power cannot be dealt with this way. It must be exterminated, crushed, and denied the chance to return to haunt us. This is all the truer with a former friend who has become an enemy.
The law governing fatal antagonisms reads: Reconciliation is out of the question. Only one side can win, and it must win totally.
Liu Pang learned this lesson well.
After defeating Hsiang Yu, this son of a farmer went on to become supreme commander of the armies of Ch‘u.
Crushing his next rival—the king of Ch’u, his own former leader—he crowned himself emperor, defeated everyone in his path, and went down in history as one of the greatest rulers of China, the immortal Han Kao-tsu, founder of the Han Dynasty.
To have ultimate victory, you must be ruthless.-NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, 1769-1821
Those who seek to achieve things should show no mercy.-Kautilya, Indian philosopher third century B.C.
OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW
Wu Chao, born in A.D. 625, was the daughter of a duke, and as a beautiful young woman of many charms, she was accordingly attached to the harem of Emperor T’ai Tsung.
The imperial harem was a dangerous place, full of young concubines vying to become the emperor’s favorite.
Wu’s beauty and forceful character quickly won her this battle, but, knowing that an emperor, like other powerful men, is a creature of whim, and that she could easily be replaced, she kept her eye on the future.
Wu managed to seduce the emperor’s dissolute son, Kao Tsung, on the only possible occasion when she could find him alone: while he was relieving himself at the royal urinal.
Even so, when the emperor died and Kao Tsung took over the throne, she still suffered the fate to which all wives and concubines of a deceased emperor were bound by tradition and law: Her head shaven, she entered a convent, for what was supposed to be the rest of her life.
For seven years Wu schemed to escape.
By communicating in secret with the new emperor, and by befriending his wife, the empress, she managed to get a highly unusual royal edict allowing her to return to the palace and to the royal harem.
Once there, she fawned on the empress, while still sleeping with the emperor.
The empress did not discourage this—she had yet to provide the emperor with an heir, her position was vulnerable, and Wu was a valuable ally.
In 654 Wu Chao gave birth to a child.
One day the empress came to visit, and as soon as she had left, Wu smothered the newborn—her own baby.
When the murder was discovered, suspicion immediately fell on the empress, who had been on the scene moments earlier, and whose jealous nature was known by all.
This was precisely Wu’s plan.
Shortly thereafter, the empress was charged with murder and executed.
Wu Chao was crowned empress in her place.
Her new husband, addicted to his life of pleasure, gladly gave up the reins of government to Wu Chao, who was from then on known as Empress Wu.
Although now in a position of great power, Wu hardly felt secure.
There were enemies everywhere; she could not let down her guard for one moment.
Indeed, when she was forty-one, she began to fear that her beautiful young niece was becoming the emperor’s favorite.
She poisoned the woman with a clay mixed into her food.
In 675 her own son, touted as the heir apparent, was poisoned as well.
The next-eldest son—illegitimate, but now the crown prince—was exiled a little later on trumped-up charges. And when the emperor died, in 683, Wu managed to have the son after that declared unfit for the throne.
All this meant that it was her youngest, most ineffectual son who finally became emperor.
In this way she continued to rule.
Over the next five years there were innumerable palace coups.
All of them failed, and all of the conspirators were executed.
By 688 there was no one left to challenge Wu.
She proclaimed herself a divine descendant of Buddha, and in 690 her wishes were finally granted: She was named Holy and Divine “Emperor” of China.
Wu became emperor because there was literally nobody left from the previous T’ang dynasty. And so she ruled unchallenged, for over a decade of relative peace. In 705, at the age of eighty, she was forced to abdicate.
Interpretation
All who knew Empress Wu remarked on her energy and intelligence.
At the time, there was no glory available for an ambitious woman beyond a few years in the imperial harem, then a lifetime walled up in a convent.
In Wu’s gradual but remarkable rise to the top, she was never naive. She knew that any hesitation, any momentary weakness, would spell her end. If, every time she got rid of a rival a new one appeared, the solution was simple: She had to crush them all or be killed herself.
Other emperors before her had followed the same path to the top, but Wu—who, as a woman, had next to no chance to gain power—had to be more ruthless still.
Empress Wu’s forty-year reign was one of the longest in Chinese history. Although the story of her bloody rise to power is well known, in China she is considered one of the period’s most able and effective rulers.
A priest asked the dying Spanish statesman and general Ramón Maria Narváez. (1800-1868), “Does your Excellency forgive all your enemies ?”
"I do not have to forgive my enemies,” answered Narváez, ”I have had them all shot. ”
KEYS TO POWER
It is no accident that the two stories illustrating this law come from China: Chinese history abounds with examples of enemies who were left alive and returned to haunt the lenient.
“Crush the enemy” is a key strategic tenet of Sun-tzu, the fourth-century-B.C. author of The Art of War.
The idea is simple: Your enemies wish you ill. There is nothing they want more than to eliminate you.
If, in your struggles with them, you stop halfway or even three quarters of the way, out of mercy or hope of reconciliation, you only make them more determined, more embittered, and they will someday take revenge.
They may act friendly for the time being, but this is only because you have defeated them. They have no choice but to bide their time.
The solution: Have no mercy. Crush your enemies as totally as they would crush you. Ultimately the only peace and security you can hope for from your enemies is their disappearance.
Mao Tse-tung, a devoted reader of Sun-tzu and of Chinese history generally, knew the importance of this law.
In 1934 the Communist leader and some 75,000 poorly equipped soldiers fled into the desolate mountains of western China to escape Chiang Kai-shek’s much larger army, in what has since been called the Long March.
Chiang was determined to eliminate every last Communist, and by a few years later Mao had less than 10,000 soldiers left.
By 1937, in fact, when China was invaded by Japan, Chiang calculated that the Communists were no longer a threat. He chose to give up the chase and concentrate on the Japanese. Ten years later the Communists had recovered enough to rout Chiang’s army.
Chiang had forgotten the ancient wisdom of crushing the enemy; Mao had not.
Chiang was pursued until he and his entire army fled to the island of Taiwan.
Nothing remains of his regime in mainland China to this day.
The wisdom behind “crushing the enemy” is as ancient as the Bible: Its first practitioner may have been Moses, who learned it from God Himself, when He parted the Red Sea for the Jews, then let the water flow back over the pursuing Egyptians so that “not so much as one of them remained.”
When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments and found his people worshipping the Golden Calf, he had every last offender slaughtered.
And just before he died, he told his followers, finally about to enter the Promised Land, that when they had defeated the tribes of Canaan they should “utterly destroy them… make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them.”
The goal of total victory is an axiom of modern warfare, and was codified as such by Carl von Clausewitz, the premier philosopher of war.
Analyzing the campaigns of Napoleon, von Clausewitz wrote, “We do claim that direct annihilation of the enemy’s forces must always be the dominant consideration….
Once a major victory is achieved there must be no talk of rest, of breathing space…
…but only of the pursuit, going for the enemy again, seizing his capital, attacking his reserves and anything else that might give his country aid and comfort.”
The reason for this is that after war come negotiation and the division of territory. If you have only won a partial victory, you will inevitably lose in negotiation what you have gained by war.
The solution is simple: Allow your enemies no options. Annihilate them and their territory is yours to carve. The goal of power is to control your enemies completely, to make them obey your will. You cannot afford to go halfway. If they have no options, they will be forced to do your bidding. This law has applications far beyond the battlefield. Negotiation is the insidious viper that will eat away at your victory, so give your enemies nothing to negotiate, no hope, no room to maneuver. They are crushed and that is that.
Realize this: In your struggle for power you will stir up rivalries and create enemies. There will be people you cannot win over, who will remain your enemies no matter what. But whatever wound you inflicted on them, deliberately or not, do not take their hatred personally. Just recognize that there is no possibility of peace between you, especially as long as you stay in power. If you let them stick around, they will seek revenge, as certainly as night follows day. To wait for them to show their cards is just silly; as Empress Wu understood, by then it will be too late.
Be realistic: With an enemy like this around, you will never be secure. Remember the lessons of history, and the wisdom of Moses and Mao: Never go halfway.
It is not, of course, a question of murder, it is a question of banishment.
Sufficiently weakened and then exiled from your court forever, your enemies are rendered harmless. They have no hope of recovering, insinuating themselves and hurting you. And if they cannot be banished, at least understand that they are plotting against you, and pay no heed to whatever friendliness they feign. Your only weapon in such a situation is your own wariness. If you cannot banish them immediately, then plot for the best time to act.
Image: A Viper crushed beneath your foot but left alive, will rear up and bite you with a double dose of venom. An enemy that is left around is like a half-dead viper that you nurse back to health. Time makes the venom grow stronger.
Authority: For it must be noted, that men must either be caressed or else annihilated; they will revenge themselves for small injuries, but cannot do so for great ones; the injury therefore that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance. (Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527)
REVERSAL
This law should very rarely be ignored, but it does sometimes happen that it is better to let your enemies destroy themselves, if such a thing is possible, than to make them suffer by your hand.
In warfare, for example, a good general knows that if he attacks an army when it is cornered, its soldiers will fight much more fiercely.
It is sometimes better, then, to leave them an escape route, a way out.
As they retreat, they wear themselves out, and are ultimately more demoralized by the retreat than by any defeat he might inflict on the battlefield.
When you have someone on the ropes, then—but only when you are sure they have no chance of recovery—you might let them hang themselves. Let them be the agents of their own destruction.
The result will be the same, and you won’t feel half as bad.
Finally, sometimes by crushing an enemy, you embitter them so much that they spend years and years plotting revenge.
The Treaty of Versailles had such an effect on the Germans. Some would argue that in the long run it would be better to show some leniency. The problem is, your leniency involves another risk—it may embolden the enemy, which still harbors a grudge, but now has some room to operate. It is almost always wiser to crush your enemy.
If they plot revenge years later, do not let your guard down, but simply crush them again.
Conclusion
History is replete with examples of leaders who defeated their enemies but left them alive out of mercy. Of course, the opponent always bided his time, becoming ever more resentful and determined, until he was strong enough to seek revenge.
Your enemies feel nothing but animosity for you, and want to eliminate you. According to Law 15 of the 48 Laws of Power, the only way to have security and peace is to do to them what they would do to you.
When you get the upper hand, don’t hesitate to deliver the final blow. This doesn’t necessarily mean killing them, but at minimum neutralizing them by totally eliminating their ability to fight back. In the old days, banishment often worked.
For instance, in the 1930s, Chiang Kai-shek had almost decimated Mao Tse-tung‘s Communists, so he turned his attention to the invading Japanese instead. But over ten years, the Communists recovered and eventually routed Chiang’s army, forcing him to flee to Taiwan. He didn’t learn to follow Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally, and it cost him his power.
You need to crush your enemy totally — don’t go halfway with them or give them any options whatsoever. Don’t negotiate — negotiation will undercut your victory. For your security, you must crush them.
Do you want more?
I have more posts along these lines in my Life and Happiness Index…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Prison is full of stories. Some are lies. Some are half-truths and some are truths that add insight to the human condition.
When you are in prison, you adjust. You adapt. You make friends and alliances. You survive.
You get to know other people; other inmates. And you hear their stories. And you learn from them.
Here is one such story…
The Landscape Business Owner
He wasn’t a rich man, but he was making a good living. He had about fifteen steady customers and a small crew that helped him mow lawns and trim hedges. He had a truck (new) that pulled a trailer that held the tools of his trade, and emblazoned on the side of the truck was his landscape businesses name and his logo.
He lived in a modest middle class house in a nice neighborhood. He was making mortgage payments, but they would be paid off in five years and then the home would be his completely.
His life was easy. It was relaxed and very low stress. He would get up in the morning, eat a nice breakfast and coffee at the local diner, and pick up his crew at 9 am, so that they could start work on the lawns while his clients were working at their regular 9-5 jobs in town.
He described the work as easy.
The crew would do the hard boring tasks and he would supervise and do the tasks that he wanted to do. Like, perhaps, planting flowers, or arranging bushes, or trimming moss. He told me that he would just enjoy the day. Do the job. (Take a) Break for lunch. Take a nap in the truck, and then resume work.
Then he would come home on time and his wife would make the dinner while the kids would be off doing kid stuff.
Then one day…
As he was leaving the house in the morning, getting ready for his normal routine… (two eggs, over medium, whole wheat toast, chicken fried steak with gravy and grits with coffee)…
…two police cars pulled up.
One blocked the truck in. The other pulled behind the truck.
“Friendly officer” Dan came out and asked him if he was Mr XXXXXXX. Well, of course he was. He knew the officers himself. Everyone knew everyone else.
His neighborhood was small enough that it would fit within a Norman Rockwell painting.
They told him to turn around, put his hands behind his back, and they loaded him into the squad car to take to the office.
What is going on?
Once he was handcuffed, they informed him that he was arrested for forgery, creating false documents and accessory to crimes valued at the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What?
He was 46 years old. Running a laid-back landscape business, that had been in operation for at least 15 years. His greatest crime that he could recall was being late paying his water bill.
What was going on?
Well, as it turned out the anti-terror legislation passed in the wake of 9-11, eliminated the statute of limitations for anything that could be used by terrorists. So an entire swath of crimes, which normally had a seven year statue of limitations now were open-ended and had no “sunset date”.
Forgery
Identity Theft
Interstate criminal activity
Use of the internet to conduct crimes
Use of a road to conduct crimes
Use of computers to commit crimes…
Any law can be twisted to serve a purpose…
Further, certain states had agreed to match the requirements of the Federal statutes and his (our) state was one of them.
Which meant that he was being dragged into the “system” by federal anti-terror legislation for crimes committed a long time ago, and was being charged on both the federal and the state level. Two sets of charges for one singular crime.
How is this even possible?
What happened?
Well, it seemed that over twenty five years ago, when he was in college, he set up a small operation making fake driver’s licenses. In America, they have minimum drinking ages, and you cannot buy alcohol or cigarettes or even enter a restaurant, bar or club unless you were over that minimum age requirement.
What he would do is make a fake ID.
With a fake ID the kids could get around that legal requirement. They could enter bars, clubs and restaurants that served alcohol. They could also go into liquor stores and buy beer, wine, and hard alcohol.
The client would give him a name, and he would make an ID for them that resembled a state driver’s license in every detail. He had worked out a system where he got original blanks for the ID’s, and used the same machines that the state used. Thus producing a genuine appearing, but fake ID.
He did this for his friends.
And then, as his reputation expanded, for others in other schools as well.
He did this for a few years, and then about two years after he graduated, he shut the business down. He no longer associated with the younger set of “kids” and moved on to bigger and better things.
Yet…
Yet…
His cards were still out there. Still being used. Not just thrown into a cluttered drawer of old socks and brick-a-brack. Not just forgotten. Not just discarded when the clients got older.
Some were no longer being used to buy alcohol…
The events…
Well it turned out, that of the thousands of cards that he sold to students, one was sold to a girl…
…who was now a grown woman.
And who used that fake identification to procure an entire slew of bank credit cards. And she used those card to purchase all kinds of things.
Expensive clothes.
Television screens.
Expensive watches.
Fine clothing.
and automobiles…
When she was caught, she had racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases.
And while under investigation, the FBI and the DHS were able to ascertain her system and method. They were able to track down everything back to a lone fake ID that was made some 25 years previously.
She of course, was looking at state and federal charges for wire fraud, and an entire slew of interstate commerce violations.
But…
But…
She used a fake identification. And fake identification, the generation and creation of it, is now a federal issue that involves terrorism and the Department of Homeland Security.
Thus the arrest, and imprisonment.
Long story short
He was facing both State and Federal charges. He was threatened with everything from Gitmo, to twenty five years in a Federal prison, to life at hard labor in a State Prison.
He accepted a plea bargain.
He got two years of prison in a State Prison (Brickeys – North Arkansas Regional Unit) at hard labor. And that is where I met him.
A look at the issue of “Rights”
One of the first things that you realize when you hit prison is that the idea of what a Right is, and what it actually is do not match. We are told that we have “Rights” and a “Rule of Law”. But that is not true.
The laws in America, at both the States and Federal levels are capricious.
They are whatever those with the guns say they are.
They are in constant change; in flux, and anyone can get snared in them.
Anyone.
Including you.
If the American Federal and State constitution were being followed, this entire event sequence would be avoided.
Following the Statute of limitations.
The criminal activity charge must fit the actual actions.
Local crimes do not apply to international issues.
A trial for jury should never be usurped by a plea bargain.
No double jeopardy.
But none of that matters now.
I am sure that he is out and back to living life.
Presently
Last I heard, his wife took over the business and ran it while he was absent. When he got out, I’m sure that after he was able to readjust, he went back to work. And his life went on and continued.
He fared better than others that I have met. Their stories are also quite interesting and illustrative. I’ll discuss some of them in further posts.
Do you want some more?
I have more stories about my retirement in my MAJestic Index here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
Here we enter into a discussion on how to pray or structure your verbal affirmations. If you are doing it properly, it will look like an operation manual for a VCR or refrigerator. Here we discuss how to write your own operation manual for world-line travel and your personal adventures. For some it might be a little too cut and dry, and not all that “traditional” and “religious”.
But it works, and that, after all, is all that matters.
As I have discussed in my other posts, the idea behind all this is that you are in control of your reality. Your reality is constantly changing and shifting. And in order for it to be exactly what you want, you need to have the discipline to control your thoughts.
I have specified an exacting method to do so.
This is the use of prayers / verbal affirmations along with an “image board” or similar device.
In this post we will specifically discuss how to pray or vocalize your affirmations. With an emphasis on how to structure your prayers for maximum effect.
The Basics
Firstly you must have two elements that you must use simultaneously. This is [1] “prayer” and [2] a “vision / dream board”. A purist might argue that you do not need both simultaneously, but I am not a purist and if you want to use my technique, then you will use both simultaneously.
I have another post on how to construct a dream board. That is here…
But, in any event, this post will concentrate in how your words and phrases used within your verbal prayers can best direct your consciousness to manifest the reality that you desire.
Why Prayer?
If you do not ask for things, the answer will always be “no”.
We have been taught that life is random and that we are just floating on the seas of chance that nothing is within our control. Instead, we are told to obey others, do not “step out of line”, and do as we are told. That is fine for infants, and young children, but quite dangerous for adults.
We cannot be sheets blowing in the wind. We have responsibilities, and obligations, and we absolutely need to control our lives. And since our reality, our universe is ruled by thoughts. We must control our thoughts.
Prayer (or Verbal affirmations) is a specific technique that helps us to control our thoughts.
A Common mistake
Perhaps the most common mistake in using prayer is to “talk to a deity”.
We “pray” to ask for promises, help and guidance from Jesus, God, Mohammad, or other historical figures that we hope and wish listens to us, and agrees to granting our petitions.
Nope.
It does not work that way. The mechanism is quite different.
Prayer is actually YOU directing YOUR thoughts. YOU are reprogramming YOUR brain how to direct YOUR consciousness in movement in and out of world-lines. No other entities are involved.
So, yes, you are actually talking to yourself. I strongly advise that you speak clearly and aloud in doing so, however you can whisper it if you are among others.
Now, that being said… DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND. Non-physical entities can be asked to assist you. You can pray to them. You can ask them to help you. You can petition to them. Yes you can.
However, prayer / intention affirmations are not ONLY a petition to a non-physical being. It is much more expansive and inclusive. Please heed this advice.
Private and personal
The world is filled with busybodies that somehow believe that they have a say in what you do, what you think, and how you act. This is false. No one has that right. No one, and that includes your family and your spouse.
Your affirmations are personal. You should keep them under “lock and key”, and do not share them with anyone.
Unless of course, you want to.
The reason for this is simple. While we inhabit a world line (apparently) alone, we actually share it with the “quantum shadows” of others. Their thoughts, good and bad, will have an influence on your thoughts. Therefore, it is very important to keep your thoughts, your desires, and your intentions secret and private.
You see, when we enter a world-line, it’s not only the physical environment that we enter, but all the the thoughts and non-physical influences that are floating about the world-line.
No realistic limits
There are no limits to what you can wish for and create within this mechanism. Now, the most outrageous and far-out changes to your life will take some time to manifest. While those that are simple can manifest quite quickly.
This all have to do with the number of world-lines that you must pass through. The more outrageous the goal, the more world-lines that you must travel through.
Now, that being said, there are SOME limits.
You cannot turn into another person.
Things that are physically impossible within this universe will stay that way.
You cannot resurrect the dead.
You cannot force another consciousness to do anything.
But aside from that, you are free to desire and plan on anything your heart desires.
Use and duration
A prayer “list” or a list of verbal affirmations will take time to read. Sometimes my affirmation list is actually quite lengthy. It ends up taking 15 to 20 minutes reading it all out loud. And, as such, I am also updating, revising and improving my affirmations.
In general, you need to be reading and praying your affirmations every day, if you can. Eventually there will come a time when you will feel it’s time to quit. As nothing is going on, and you have other things in your life to worry about. That is fine, and it is normal.
When that happens it means that your prayers have effectively programmed your mind and now it is time to give everything a break and allow things to happen and manifest. Let it go. This is normal.
In general, everyone is different, however personally, I find that my prayers redirection effort is on a three-month cycle. Three-months of reading my affirmations, and then three-months off and resting. Then I begin the entire event all over with new or revised affirmations.
Mechanism
I use an excel spreadsheet.
I call it “verbal affirmations”, and have a date with it. That way I know that I am using the most recent version.
I also have it password locked.
You must put a password on your affirmations, and keep it to yourself and tell no one else, nor write it down. This is most important. Make no exceptions.
To lock a MS spreadsheet is very easy.
Just go to FILE, and then assign a password to the book by clicking on the PERMISSIONS button. Like this…
Now inside the spread sheet are just line after line of prayer / intentions…
Content
I separate the intentions into groups.
You do not need to do this, but I have discovered that if I do not, I have a pesky problem with repeating myself and making the entire prayer event much longer to read than it should be. Ugh!
Here are my classifications. Yours can be quite different.
General
New Stuff
Self Control (my emotions and thoughts)
My appearance
My enjoyments
My relationships
My property
MWI Routing and corrections
Safety
Intention Canvas (Desktop splash screen)
Blocking and protections
Asking for assistance
Money & Career
Jealousy
Opportunity
Respect / Power
Personal Health
Household
Fun
Lifestyle
Other / Misc
Death
Now, I am going to go into some detail about my various categories and why they are important and how I structure them. These categories are those in BOLD above.
“New Stuff” category
A significant portion of my affirmations are “carry over”, “cut and paste”, “boiler-plate” affirmations that I have used in other affirmation campaigns. This category is my way to keep track on a new campaign and what I wish to manifest.
Campaigns are prayer / intention projects that I implement as I notice that my life is changing.
For instance, once I realized that after I manifested a tropical South Pacific island life, I suddenly discovered that I wanted to eat fresh loaves of French Bread. So I started a new campaign to manifest this.
BTW. What happened was that there was a family on the island that baked French bread that I was unaware of, and once my intentions manifested, I ended up “discovering” this family and getting nice fresh delicious hot-piping crusty French Bread. What do you know!
MWI Routing and corrections
This is where I define the “rules” on how my affirmations work; how to think of things to say, how to move about the world-lines, as well as what happens. This is not like a game of “Monopoly”. You can make the rules and establish how they will manifest.
This is from my own list…
I understand how this universe works, and how to alter, improve and change my reality.
I use this knowledge to generate a perfect life for myself and for my family.
As such, I am the Captain of my Consciousness.
I move in and out of the world-line realities as necessary to achieve my thought-destination(s).
I do achieve my ultimate goals and I do so efficiently, and quickly while avoiding bad or undesirable world-lines.
I am alert on what to say and do in order to achieve my desires.
I know what affirmations to make to manifest the life that I wish to participate within.
I know, positively, when to stop, change, alter or revise my affirmations in accordance with my needs and desires.
I am aware of opportunities as they arise, and I know exactly what actions to take to maximize my desired intentions.
I am aware of the world-line routing as it occurs and do not panic or worry about how things will manifest.
I recognize that world-line realities that I inhabit might be calm and relaxed, but that substantial positive and proactive events are unfolding for my benefit that might be hidden from me.
“Safety” category
I have had experience, first hand, that clearly show and illustrate the dangers of world-line manifestation. You need to put in place specific affirmations that will purposely isolate you from dangers and strife.
I and my family are safe and secure.
Any battles, wars, conflicts or social upheavals occur far away from us.
My family and I are safe and isolated away from conflict, strife, and danger.
We are always safe.
This category includes so many subcategories as well.
Intention Canvas (Desktop splash screen)
You need to link your verbal affirmations to your “intention dream board” or Desktop splash screen. For starters you need a statement much like this…
I utilize the desktop image display on my XXXXXX PC to help cultivate and imagine the reality that my world-line is.
But you also need to define what the images represent, and how they work. It’s sort of like this…
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
In images related to gold, money, currency and wealth, the intention is broadly associated with large sums of money, wealth and success given and provided to me.
Images portray the situation that I am participating in, and if the image is of a static item it is representative of my personal ownership of that material item.
You get the general idea.
The idea is that you want the good aspects of the image to manifest, and not the bad aspects. If, for instance, you have the picture of Tony Soprano from the television show in your dream canvas, you need to say…
In images showing actors, it is the character, personality and role that they play that manifests in my life, not that of the actual actor.
Images that portray mafia figures, or “bad people” portray myself in similar roles of power. They do NOT, however, manifest these kinds of people against me.
Blocking and protections
Over our lifetime, there are others (quantum shadows) that can disrupt our sentience, our world-line and our environment with all kinds of physical and non-physical events. In olden days they called this the “evil eye”, a “hex” or a “spell”. While we have learned to laugh at these old-fashioned and quaint notions, the raw truth is that they actually do exist and they actually do work.
So, you need to free yourself of all the chains and limitations that others have placed upon you.
I have broken apart any barriers to controlling my reality. These are barriers that are either self-created, or those created by others.
I define my reality, and undo any spells, magick or alterations imposed upon me, or the reality around me by anyone or anything.
I have awareness on how to avoid the manifestation of problems. I follow that advise immediately without question automatically.
I block and shut out all negative, de-constructive, and dangerous thoughts from manifesting and altering my intentions listed herein.
I purposely avoid negative, dangerous, bad, or problematic reality world-lines to achieve my goals.
Asking for assistance
While our consciousness moves in and through the world-line via thought, we can always ask for help. And why not? This can be physical help and non-physical help.
Some of the non-physical entities can perform just amazing feats, if you just ask them.
I ask for help to achieve my intention targets; and I do get help from all the non-physical beings that can assist me.
I also get help from any physical beings that can assist making my dreams and wishes come true and manifest.
Other entities, not limited to but including, Mantids, greys, guardian angels, friendly sprites, and other entities are permitted to assist me obtaining my goals as defined here.
In no way can these other entities hurt, harm, or mess up my life and intentions. They may only help, and are welcome to help gladly.
I know how to embrace opportunities as they manifest around me, and implement those necessary changes and actions promptly.
Personal Health Category
If you do not add this category, then you are being foolish.
Otherwise your wishes can come true, but there won’t be any safeguards or brakes to the damage your physical body might endure in the process.
As I have stated before, world-line travel is not for the meek. Do not assume that you will always be healthy and fine. Life happens, and the further your goals are, the greater the risk to your health.
Plan accordingly.
I am in top physical shape. I am healthy and happy.
I am well-read, have impeccable manners, and am a very elegant dresser.
My wardrobe is professionally matched, and my body is clean, pleasant and attractive.
Nothing is permitted to cause me harm, damage or physical discomfort.
Misc Category
This is an area where you can put things that do not fall within the other categories that you have listed elsewhere.
I know of, and use, the specialized techniques to improve the actionablity of my verbal affirmations listed herein.
My family is happy and I have a very calm and happy domestic life at home.
I am healthy, happy, relaxed and doing what I love.
I am careful in putting affirmations in place so that I will NOT have any bad or negative consequences.
All these affirmations occur as quickly as is comfortably and as safely as possible. At no time is my family, health or safety at risk.
Death
Ah, we are all going to die. We might as well accept that reality and put in place some affirmations regarding it.
Our consciousness travels in a herd with other consciousnesses associated with soul clusters. When they enter a world-line they do so (for the most part) individually, one per world-line, but the quanta is jointly associated through all the world-lines.
Therefore, do not worry about anything. You are never completely alone.
The transition will be smooth. What will happen is that the world-line migration “carrier wave” (in and out of the various world-lines) will stop and your consciousness will stay at “wave propagation” behavior.
Some nice affirmations…
When the time comes for my death, it will be smooth and easy.
Those left behind will be well taken cared for.
Free Use
You are all free to use any of the ideas or affirmations / prayers listed herein. Just go ahead and update them for your very own goals and situations.
I sincerely wish for you to have a most excellent and wonderful and happy life!
Conclusion
If you are going to utilize prayer and affirmations to control the navigation of your personal world-line adventures, then you will need to be very careful about how to do it. If you fail to take the necessary precautions you could easily fall into traps, troubles or events that are uncomfortable.
The way to prevent these missteps is to be careful in writing out your prayers.
You can use the suggestions listed herein to help you in that task. Do not be afraid to dream big and set lofty goals. Just realize that the farther away the goal is, the longer that it will take to manifest. So start now, today and dream big. Sooner is better than later.
I hope that you enjoyed this post. I have others in my MAJestic index, here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
CDC director Redfield admits there were unreported Covid "events" in US, in which case predated outbreak in China.
-The Hill
Functionally, the COVID-19 viral form is American. Not Asian. America has five viral archetypes, China has one. If it is natural, it must come from that regional archetype. And the COVID-19 archetype is one of the five American types. It’s not the Asian archetype.
It cannot naturally arise in Asia.
(Which is of course the argument that the Chinese stole bio-weapon technology from America.)
Only thing is, though, why would the Chinese want to subject their own people to a lethal virus…
You need to be a tin-foil-hat-wearing-Alt-Right- conspiracy-nut to follow the sort of twisted logic that is being bantered about to fit that narrative. Most of the Chinese I know are hyper-patriotic and are tickled pink proud of their nation, their people and their struggles.
So what’s going on?
Is the COVID-19 an American bio-weapon used by Trump in his latest incarnations of Chinese rise suppression…
…or, is it something else entirely.
This post considers the idea that it might have rose naturally, or at least, semi-naturally, from the Americas.
The Argument
Could this COVID-19 virus been in the Americas for most of 2019? Could it been floating around, getting people sick and killing people? Could it be misdiagnosed as other things?
As other things…
The e-vaping “crisis” of August 2019.
Perhaps all those vaping lung problems attributed to e-cigarettes back in August 2019 were really due to COVID-19. Funny thing. Everyone has a low dry cough, a fever, and then their lungs filled up with fluid.
Do you remember what had happened to the more than a few American tourists who suddenly collapsed and mysteriously died in the Dominican Republic? Funny thing. Everyone has a low dry cough, a fever, and then their lungs filled up with fluid.
Remember they thought the tourists were being poisoned.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu season is really bad this year, with almost a 100,000 people reporting symptoms in the U.S. and upwards of 30 flu-related deaths.
- Here's why flu season is so bad this year
Prior to the news out of Wuhan, America was rocked with “an unusually bad flu season”. Now it seems that this “flu” was actually COVID-19. Funny thing, the “flu symptoms” this year were a little different. Everyone has a low dry cough, a fever, and then their lungs filled up with fluid.
This COVID-19 is a terrible virus. Whether it is a bio-weapon or not, whether it originated in America, China or some other place does not matter. What really matters is that we fully understand what we are dealing with.
Instead of point fingers, let’s just look at what was going on over the world leading up to the COVID-19 outbreak in China.
If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy others in my Trump Trade War Index, here…
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.
This article suggests that of the numerous forces tearing America apart, one such force is an out-of-control legal system. No, we are not talking about the US Prison system that incarcerates a full 25% of the inmates on the planet. Though, yes it is a problem. We are instead going to talk about laws and regulations in the United States and the damage to liberty that they have forged. This article argues that when the laws and regulations have become so numerous and complex, that the entire system devolved into lawlessness.
Now, of course, there are numerous forces that are tearing the United States apart, and eventually (sure as shit) it will crumble and die, and a New America will rise up from the ashes. What it will look like, no one knows.
Though, I have painted some pretty dark and gloomy pictures of what could happen in other posts. Don’t you know.
These forces are numerous and include such things as…
The socialists Marxist movement started 100 years ago by President Wilson.
The greedy oligarchy that is gobbling up everything that they can lay their hands on.
The upper middle class which is following the (winning) strategy of the oligarchy.
A collapsing culture and morals.
A decaying infrastructure.
A collapsed educational system churning out imbecile serfs ready to work on “the plantation”.
And, many more.
Here is an article that was written by Alec Orrell . I think that is is really very good. He mapped out how we devolved into orderly lawlessness. His article is titled Legitocracy in America, and it is worth the time to read.
This article is copied as written without much editing aside from some paragraph formatting and the fonts used in this template.
I added some "pull away" text for highlighting and maybe interjected on or two personal comments along the way (though you will be able to easily see that they are from your's truly.)
I have added my own pictures to help illustrate some of his fine points, but there are a couple of decorative "splash" pictures on his originally posted venue.
After reading the article, I would suggest the reader go to his original article and read some of his other works. This fellow is brilliant and a word-smith. (Though he tends to write on a university level, where I tend to be far more plebeian.)
All credit to the author Alec Orrell writing in Human Events.
The commentariat across the political spectrum have recently reveled
in predicting imminent authoritarianism and the “literal death of
democracy” unless sundry bugbears are stopped.
As Murray sees it, the United States’ hyper-complicated and outrageously voluminous law is much the same as no law at all for the ordinary citizen.
The catastrophizing is quaint.
Perhaps they are too terrified, distracted, or dissembling to utter the truth obvious under closer examination: the United States ceased to operate as a constitutional democratic republic at least 100 years ago. Democracy isn’t “in peril”—it’s dead and buried.
The United States ceased to operate as a constitutional democratic republic at least 100 years ago. Democracy isn’t “in peril”—it’s dead and buried.
How did we get here?
How did we get here? Social scientist Charles Murray (The Bell Curve) penned a fascinating but little-remarked book titled By The People in 2015. There, Murray argued the United States has become, in effect, a lawless society.
His assertion may strike some as odd, because lawless usually calls to mind a breakdown in order, like in Afghanistan or Somalia.
But countries maintain order without righteous law all the time.
Dictators the world over regularly keep the peace using suppression and intimidation. There’s no shooting in the streets, but there’s no sense of justice or predictability, either.
LAWS, LAWS, AND MORE LAWS
As Murray sees it, the United States’ hyper-complicated and outrageously voluminous law is much the same as no law at all for the ordinary citizen. The oppressor isn’t a dictator but an incomprehensible and unpredictable justice system passed from one set of leaders’ hands to another, from one political party to another.
Murray writes:
[L]et’s talk about the legal system not as it looks from thirty thousand feet to law professors, where everything can be fit together and rationalized, but how it looks at ground level to ordinary law-abiding citizens …
I am reminded of science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke’s famous observation that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
From ground level, our encounters with today’s legal system as it actually functions are often indistinguishable from lawlessness.
Consider that, between federal, state, city, county, and judge-made
law—along with truckloads of regulations and codes by state and federal
agencies which carry the full force of law—an American today lives under something like 100 times as much law as his or her great-great-grandfather. That’s a chilling comparison.
An American today lives under something like 100 times as much law as his or her great-great-grandfather.
Further, consider that the average American thoroughly understands few or none of the laws governing him.
Sure, he possesses a vague sense of the basics and some traffic law, but that’s all.
Washington, D.C.; April 29, 2019: A study released today shows that the vast majority of Department of Health and Human Services regulations issued over a recent 17-year period are unconstitutional. The first-of-its-kind study reviewed 2,952 rules issued by HHS and found that 71% of final rules from 2001 through 2017 were issued by low-level officials and career employees who lack constitutional authority to do so.
Such rules are unconstitutional. The Constitution requires that significant government decisions must be made solely by “principal officers” appointed by the president after Senate confirmation. Issuing a regulation with the force of law is one of those actions that only principal officers can perform.
The majority of unconstitutional rules were issued by the Food and Drug Administration. Just 2% of FDA rules were issued by principal officers, while 1,860 rules were finalized and issued by career employees.
“In a democracy, those who make the rules need to be accountable to the people,” report co-author Thomas Berry, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, explained. “That’s why the Framers included the Appointments Clause in the Constitution. Only properly-appointed officers in the executive branch may issue regulations that are binding on the public. This preserves democratic accountability for significant executive branch actions.”
One such rule is the controversial “Deeming Rule,” which classifies tobacco-free vaping products as tobacco products. The rule prohibits Steve Green, a California vape shop owner, from telling his customers his story about using vaping to stop smoking and recover from early signs of emphysema. PLF filed three lawsuits challenging the rule last year.
“Among the hundreds of illegal FDA rules, 25 rules were classified as significant because they had an impact on the American economy of at least $100 million or had other significant economic impacts,” said Angela Erickson, PLF’s strategic research director and co-author of the report. “Congress and the White House should ensure that this practice ends and agencies comply with the law.”
The full report is available at pacificlegal.org/HHSreport.
The law is like an iPhone: a miraculous device at which he glances all the time and uses for simple tasks without knowing the first thing about how the internal functions perform their magic.
Should the internal functions of the miraculous device go awry, the average citizen is helpless.
He usually cannot afford skillful lawyers to interpret the laws or to defend him when he is forced to confront the legal system. A lawsuit or a criminal prosecution ruins him, regardless of his culpability.
The wrongfully accused regularly plea bargain to avoid being crushed by the legal process.
The citizen is told that ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, but he cannot correct his ignorance himself nor pay to have others supplement it.
It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow.
Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?
Madison’s sketch of run-amok law bears an uncanny resemblance to the United States today.
He highlights a fundamental truth Americans have forgotten amidst the partisan bickering over which byzantine laws to pass:
Representative lawmaking does not produce democracy when demos (“the people”) cannot grasp the laws, either to express their disagreement with them or to follow them.
In Madison’s view, such edicts aren’t real law, just dressed-up tyranny divorced from the ethos of a constitutional republic.
Were Madison alive to witness the present debacle, he might opine:
The United States possesses no authentic law, only enforced order.
A tyrant who inflicts his will with rifles and a legal priesthood who inflict their will with occult laws are functionally equivalent. In both cases, citizens lose all confidence in a coherent moral order of their own design underlying their day-to-day existence.
The United States possesses no authentic law, only enforced order.
RULE BY LAWYERS
The United States today might be better called a legitocracy—a government by the legal priesthood for the legal priesthood.
Judges, lawyers, prosecutors, regulators, law schools, bar associations, and legal-activism conglomerates like the ACLU and GLAAD use their specialized knowledge to function as gatekeepers of society’s rules, politics, and culture.
Nothing is accomplished without the involvement of the legal priesthood.
Armies of lawyers draft the bills for elected lawmakers, who enact their recommendations with only a vague understanding of their mandates.
Then lawmakers turn the laws backover to prosecutors, regulators, and jurists for implementation and enforcement. More often than not, lawmakers come from the ranks of the law-schooled themselves.
Representative lawmaking does not produce democracy when demos (“the people”) cannot grasp the laws, either to express their disagreement with them or to follow them.
Thus the legal priesthood operates in a closed system, disconnected from the populace and unaccountable in practice to anyone but themselves.
To be sure, the priesthood declaims with great eloquence about “democracy,” a “nation of laws,” and “the people”; but they amount to an insular social class—the card carriers in a one-party state.
The rest of us are merely along for the ride.
One is reminded of the famous maxim:
“Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.” In this case, one might say: “Those who enact the laws and vote for lawmakers decide nothing. Those who interpret and enforce the laws decide everything.”
Much like the aristocracies and theocracies of bygone days, the chieftains of the legitocratic class have fallen into warlording over which of them gets to make the rules that control the society and the state.
They bicker over bizarre ideologies and disrupt elected government at every turn with nuisance lawsuits and politically-motivated prosecutions. They divert political and cultural issues from legislatures and elections into courtrooms.
They divert issues away from legislatures and elections and into the courtrooms instead.
For example, Americans recently were treated to the groaning spectacle of a federal judge deciding how the President may operate his personal Twitter account, and whether biological men must be allowed in women’s locker rooms when they identify as women.
As in all warlordism, the resulting instability destroys the average citizen’s peace, predictability, and trust.
He may not be able to articulate the government’s devolution into feuding legitocracy; nevertheless, he senses that he lives in a failed state.
He senses that he lives in a failed state.
He sees no sacred or impartial justice emerging from the legal system anymore.
Virtue and common sense have no place and no reward.
All he sees are wizards in tailored suits hurling thunderbolts at one another and terrorizing his day-to-day existence with their staggering litigiousness and self-righteous culture crusades.
The average citizen hesitates to publicly speak his mind, defend his person, establish a business, worship openly, or seek redress for real injuries.
Should anyone bother to ask him, the citizen will declare that the words chiseled on the Supreme Court building (“Equal Justice Under Law”) have turned to bitter irony.
He watches with ballooning cynicism as the legal priesthood deploys word games to exonerate one another’s heinous manipulations, then turn and damn ordinary citizens like him to years of legal hell for standing up to their diktats.
Justice is no longer a sacred right grounded in fear of God and His mystery. It is something you hire or receive as a reward for loyalty.
Justice is no longer a sacred right.
The legitocratic class has changed the motto of the United States from “In God, We Trust” to “There Is No God—Trust Us.”
Thus, the average citizen hesitates to publicly speak his mind, defend his person, establish a business, worship openly, or seek redress for real injuries.
He fears to resist the legal system’s incessant cultural bullying, lest he gets sucked into the vortex and land in Oz for years pursued by flying monkey lawyers.
He can’t say how it happened, but the citizen knows he dwells at the bottom of a multi-tiered, politically corrupt, unchecked cabal of a legal system that cares nothing for his well-being.
Will the legal priesthood reform themselves?
Will activist judges voluntarily give up their arrogated and unconscionable power of nationwide injunction?
Will the Supreme Court allow voters and lawmakers to address questions of culture and politics through elections and legislation once again, rather than dictating both from the bench?
Will law schools cease to operate as seminaries of progressive social engineering, imperious elitism, state-enforced credentialism, relativism, nihilism, identity politics, and other ever-shifting philosophies?
Will the legal priesthood stop terrorizing the unanointed and favoring their own, demanding with one voice that the law revert to a form comprehensible and accessible to the average citizen?
Of course they will, right after unicorns fly out of Chief Justice John Roberts’ robes.
Americans live in denial of their rationalized, systemic oppression.
Over the last five or so generations, legalistic authoritarianism has progressively choked the average citizen’s pursuit of happiness, like a slow garroting in a collar of recondite laws.
If one doubts this, it’s only because he hasn’t experienced the extremities of the legal system’s insanity himself yet—the Kafkaesque horror of an endless, politically motivated IRS audit, or a court telling a father he must call his 6-year-old son a girl. The law and government do not serve the will of the people; it’s the other way around now.
The law and government do not serve the will of the people; it’s the other way around now.
Where does that leave the citizen?
He is reduced to hoping the orderly lawlessness of the legal system remains confined to the courts and the government, that disorderly lawlessness does not erupt in public.
He is right to be concerned.
Americans are quarreling with one another in frustration. A growing number of individuals and groups misidentify the root of the tyranny and endanger public order, blaming vague and simplistic concepts like “white supremacy,” “fascism,” “the patriarchy,” “capitalism,” etc. for the oppression they sense.
Meanwhile, disturbed young male shooters at the end of their tether scapegoat women and minority groups for the proliferation of politically correct rules under which they feel smothered.
Tracing their anxieties back reveals a common source: alienation from the rules that govern them.
Unsurprisingly, the legal priesthood plays both sides to lengthen their reach and tighten their grasp: The root problem is not that the people toil under mountains of legal minutiae and can’t even breathe without violating at least five laws.
No, according to them the problem is always too much freedom requiring (you guessed it!) more laws.
Laws restricting firearms.
Laws restricting hurtful speech.
Laws restricting plastic straws.
Laws, laws, laws.
A violent response.
A militia-like civil defense response from ordinary citizens akin to the Roof Koreans of the L.A. riots seems well within the realm of possibility these days.
American citizens must be brought to understand that the struggle gripping the country does not fundamentally pit liberals against conservatives or Democrats against Republicans.
The struggle pits average citizens who want to live under clear, predictable, and widely understood laws against the legal priesthood’s empire of complication and confusion.
And that is the way it is.
One of the first things that you notice when you move to another nation is just how simple it is.
If there is a tax, it's only one singular tax. There are no regulations, and the things that you can do, from driving without a seat-belt, to having your five year old buying a beer for you is astounding.
Here in communist China, I am afforded so many, many MANY freedoms that Americans haven't a clue to what they have lost. That's a fact Jack. Deal with it.
If the public can grasp that their system of government has slowly
changed without their consent, the legal priesthood’s magical powers
will evaporate and the U.S. legal system will be seen for what it is: a
recondite abomination propped up by platitudes. At that time, rescuing
the democratic republic back from the pit of legitocracy stands a
chance.
Until that time, the wizards will continue to rule, and may God help us all.
SHTF Related Index
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Some prepper humor…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
America is no longer a nation. It might still be the remains of a once great empire, sort of like Rome was after the Vandals sacked it, but as a functioning nation, it is no longer.
When you cannot enforce a border, enforce laws, and prosecute criminals, you no longer have a nation.
History doesn’t like vacuums anymore than nature does, and what we’re facing is a vacuum of authority that the USA has never experienced before. That’s the final consequence of a society in which anything goes and nothing matters.
Better check what you believe and who you believe in the days ahead, and recalibrate accordingly. This ain’t no foolin’ around.
-Kunsler
Here is an article written by Gordon Wysong titled “Will we ever prosecute?”. He makes the point that if the worst criminals can walk free, then (regardless of all the lesser crimes that are prosecuted) the nation does not enforce laws. And if laws are not enforced, there is no nation. For a nation without laws is pure anarchy.
It is presented as written, with little editing aside from the blogger-template on word-press. Any photos and commentary are set apart so that the reader can realize that it is not part of the article but rather designed to supplement it.
Links to other related articles are embedded in the text. You can click on them and they will open up in a new tab. That way you will not need to interrupt your reading of this article.
Enjoy.
Imagine that the local cops know that a gang member, named William, broke into the pawn shop and stole guns, jewelry, and money.
William’s fingerprints, film image, and DNA add to the hard evidence log. The owner knows it; the prosecutor knows it; William’s gang associates know it. But he is not arrested.
Nearby shopkeepers and neighborhood mothers are asking why he is walking the street. No one explains it; mum’s the word.
Could it be there is a grand plan to take out the gang’s leaders? No one knows; mum’s the word.
Shopkeepers and residents are about to give up and start moving away from the area, and no one asks them to stay the course.
Fast forward to today.
Fast-forward to today’s still vocal Obama gang. Why no indictments? Mum’s the word. Can anyone hold to the faith in American justice? Those who support the rule of law feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football.
It’s coming — oh, wait, it’s coming…oh, wait…
Without doubt, a criminal cabal is an extraordinarily complex organization, and understanding who did what, why, when, and how is a challenge to the mental faculties of anyone. But, what happens if the full scope of activities is never clear?
Does everyone get off? Does complexity confer immunity?
Is our government that incompetent?
In engineering, there is no perfect answer to anything, so changes are made incrementally, addressing the problems as they are recognized. Each step brings a clearer view of remaining problems, which are then addressed, each in its turn.
The completed project is still flawed, but the solution is practical and productive.
So it should be with a grandiose scheme like the Russia Hoax. The ringleaders don’t have to be handled with kid gloves. They don’t even have to be handled at all. Just start with the low-hanging fruit, and get as far (up the tree) as possible.
Those
old enough to remember My Lai, Vietnam, know that Lt. Calley and Cpt.
Medina were not alone in their actions. However, their prosecution
forever changed the game of passing the buck on war crimes.
So, too, can rabid prosecution of bit players in the Russian Hoax forever change the landscape in plots involving treason.
Those who would participate at the lower levels must know they are subject to prosecution, so they remain circumspect in such a re-enactment of the coup attempt. This would be the Achilles heel of another cabal — those who are intimidated by the prospect of prison. Those who realize they don’t have sufficient rank to escape punishment will be loath to participate in such a scheme. Without them, there will be no operational viability to an unlawful coup.
Admittedly,
there are always problems in pursuing a criminal case. It must be so
under our Constitution, but it cannot be impossible!
Prosecution should not be impossible.
Prosecutors don’t get all the information, but at a certain point, for each criminal, evidence accumulates that there is a real and provable crime.
It may not include every transgression of that person, nor is it the magic revelation, untangling the Gordian knot of the conspirators. It is a simple criminal act.
It is what it appears, and it need not be put in the context of the big picture — it is as plain as the nose on your face.
That stage is the stimulus for a prosecutor. It is the time to move. If the DOJ acts, many of the sins can never be prosecuted, because the prosecution of their lesser crimes may foreclose pursuit of other crimes under double jeopardy protection.
However, failure to move puts evidence and witnesses at risk of being lost. This point has passed for so many of the coup conspirators that it seems there will be no justice for many of them, like Lois Lerner.
Why?
Why no action yet?
A full recounting of all that is already known would be tedious, and to expound on the criminal conduct yet again seems shrill. It is not necessary to understand the intertwining of all the crimes before simply bringing the charges that are facially obvious.
But the deferral of prosecution, for whatever reason it is done, allows many of the cabal to walk free when they shouldn’t.
In fact, the indication is that they are continuing the very conduct for which they should be prosecuted.
Why
has McCabe not been charged with lying to the FBI, lying under
oath? Nothing more is needed to start the dominos falling. Who will
step forward to exonerate him? No one can, and no one will. That
omission — of a vigorously supported defense — will send a message to
the others in the coup conspiracy.
Why
has Samantha Power not been indicted for violating national security
requirements in unmasking or transferring her unmasking authority to
others? It doesn’t pass the smell test that she is too important to be
prosecuted.
Why
is Huma Abedin strolling around, free as a bird? She forwarded
classified emails to Anthony Weiner’s laptop. What else is needed to
demonstrate a crime?
Did Strzok do anything? Did Page? Which one lied to Congress? Their contradictory accounts mean at least one is a perjurer. Sure, there is more “there” there, but it isn’t necessary to keelhaul them; just send them to jail, and send others a message.
Listing all the cabal members, who are quite obviously criminal, is not easy — in fact, it is not doable.
It need not be the aim. A public that finds this whole thing partisan or tedious will not be easily impressed if a 2,000-count indictment naming 43 people is suddenly dropped. Bringing along the public is certainly part of sending the message for future conspirators.
It probably is better done gradually.
Suggested Action
Removing the context and simply prosecuting crimes is the method to educate both today’s and tomorrow’s citizens.
Selecting
single actors, and naming obvious crimes, will have a chance to
convince even skeptical partisans that something is wrong. The lack of
support from other participants will indeed remove most doubt.
The
full scope of what has gone on will never be known, but the lessons for
future participants in such a scheme is essential. The next time, the
prosecution will be more severe, more certain, and more
expedient. Protecting the Constitution is more important than perfect
justice. Some miscreants will escape, but they will never sleep well
again. The lesson must be taught.
A
DOJ that fails to move loses its credibility and its honor. The
foundation of the Republic is placed at risk. Without the rule of law,
what do we have?
At some point, deferral of prosecution is dereliction or abetting. Has it reached that point?
I argue that it has.
Watergate prosecuted Nixon within months. The prosecution of the assassination of Lincoln, and Reagan took months.
It's almost four years and there are ZERO prosecutions. ZERO.
Therefore, I argue that the United States is no longer a nation. Forget about being a nation that follows the Constitution. Rather, I argue that it is not longer a nation in the crudest, simplest, and most primitive terms. What it is is up for debate. But, a nation... no it is not.
Comment by John Paul Roberts
Trump is so far over his head in Washington waters that he is incapable of realizing that the criminal George W. Bush and Obama regimes put powers in the hands of the president that enable him to destroy the plotters of the coup against him. Instead, Trump “distances himself from Giuliani.”
In other words, his enemies have Trump on the run. Has it ever occurred to Trump that every real whistle-blower, people protected by statutory federal law, was completely destroyed by the executive branch, and no one said a word? Yet, here is Trump twisting in the wind on the basis of an unknown CIA agent who orchestrated the whistleblower complaint with Democrat House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff. In US law there is no such thing as an unknown whistleblower, much less one that has more power than the president of the United States.
We are going to lose a president, who intended to mend America and restore peace, and our country along with him, because American peace and prosperity does not comply with the agendas of the elite who rule us.
The American people are so stupid, having demonstrated their unlimited capability for utter and total stupidity by buying in to the Gulf of Tonkin, 9/11, Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction,” “Assad’s use of chemical weapons,” “Iranian nukes,” “Russian invasions,” “Russiagate,” ad infinitum, that the Deep State and their media whores take for granted that the dumbshit Americans will equally accept the latest lie.
America is already in the trash bin of history. Most other countries will say, “good riddance.”
- Trump Is History and So Is the USA
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Some prepper humor…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Know your history. When you give up your right to self defense, and allow others the ability to take control of your life, the result is never pretty. Take heed.
A very emotional @BenLoyolaVA, born in Havana, talks about Castro’s rise, confiscation of firearms and murder of citizens in Cuba and how thankful he is that his parents were able to make it to America. pic.twitter.com/XODNIyKf9K
— Erik Soderstrom (@soderstrom) January 7, 2020
Here are some pictures of people who obeyed their government when they were ordered to turn in their weapons; the only means of self-defense, and what happened to them. After all, what is a picture without the proper context? Who do you think I am? CNN?
When a government takes away your means for self-defense, and then kills you it is called democide. It is a well-known, extensively studied, and well-documented principle. In general, once a government disarms it’s citizenry, the likelihood of mass genocide against selected minorities within that country increase exponentially.
DemocideisatermproposedbyR. J. Rummelsinceatleast 1994 whodefineditas "theintentionalkillingofanunarmedordisarmedpersonbygovernmentagentsactingintheirauthoritativecapacityandpursuanttogovernmentpolicyorhighcommand". Accordingtohim, thisdefinitioncoversawiderangeofdeaths, includingforcedlaborandconcentrationcampvictims; killingsby "unofficial" privategroups; extrajudicialsummarykillings; andmassdeathsduetothegovernmentalactsofcriminalomissionandneglect, suchasindeliberatefamines, aswellaskillingsbydefactogovernments, i.e. civilwarkillings. Thisdefinitioncoversanymurderofanynumberofpersonsbyanygovernment.
-Wikipedia
America
For the last fifty years, the mainstream American media has been on the “war path” about guns, gun control and the disarming of the American people. Every article, every incident, every excuse has been one step closer to the eventual disarmament of the American people. It is so rabid and so frenzied, that one has to wonder about their true motives.
Yes. Just WHY are they so besides themselves in having Americans disarmed?
To justify their rationale, they have used every technique at their disposal. This goes from falsified data, a re-interpretation of history and the Constitution, to radical fanatic liberals creating mass shooting events, to government sponsored false-flag events.
As a bonus, we even had notable Progressive Presidents shed a tear for the television cameras.
They often point to how happy people are when they are disarmed. They use selective examples as “proof” that a true utopia would manifest were Americans to be disarmed. They point to the success in the UK, and use Australia as examples.
I, of course, remain skeptical about all these claims. I just cannot imagine a cat being happy that you de-fanged it, and removed it’s claws. I cannot imagine that everyone in Australia feels like they are living in a wonderful sunny progressive utopia now that they are disarmed. Indeed, these is evidence to the contrary.
This cartoon shows how us “normals” feel about America today. Why in the heck would we ever feel safer when only the government has weapons? It makes absolutely no sense. And you don’t even need to crack open a history book to know the reasons why.
And, contrary to the media narrative, it appears that most New Zealanders did NOT turn in their weapons. This is in defiance and irregardless of the government proclamations.
In America, the progressive government points out the “success” of the disarming of people in the UK, in New Zealand, and in Australia. However, history clearly shows that they are the exception and not the rule.
They are the exceptions.
What they don’t do is use examples that are the RULE not the exception. Here we will do just that. Here we will look at what happens to a people when their government disarms them, and the resultant utopia that they find themselves in.
Boys and girls, let me introduce you all to the concept of “death by government”, or democide. It’s quite common throughout history. It doesn’t matter what time period, what fashions were in style, what political party was in charge, or what technology was in use. Democide is a constant that ALWAYS comes attached to all governments.
The only difference is WHEN the government decides to implement democide.
Democide
Democide is the elimination of a targeted group of people by their government. And, here’s the little secret, it is always preceded by the disarming of the general populace.
It is frighteningly common in human society. As a result there are numerous other terms that are often used. These other terms include genocide, politicide, and other forms of state-sponsored mass murder.
Genocide is intentional action to destroy a people in whole or in part. The hybrid word “genocide” is a combination of the Greek word γένος and the Latin suffix -caedo. The term genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin in his 1944 book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe.
Politicide is the deliberate physical destruction or elimination of a group whose members share the main characteristic of belonging to a political movement. It is a type of political repression, and one means of the political cleansing of population, with another being forced migration. It may be compared to genocide or ethnic cleansing, which involve killing people based on membership in a racial or ethnic group rather than holding a political ideology.
The targeted group of people headed for extermination may be defined by religious, racial, political, class, cultural or other attributes.
Between 200 and 260 million people were the victims of democide in the 20th century, several times more than were killed in all those international wars that occurred during that same time period.
Democide in Turkey
The first widely studied modern democide occurred in Turkey between 1915 and 1923, when the Turkish government decided to eliminate the country’s Christian minority. This group consisted primarily of ethnic Armenians and Greeks. These people were long duration citizens of Turkey, and had roots extending back to before the Islamic conquest.
In Turkey, “reasonable” gun control laws enacted in 1911 permitted the democide of two million Turkish Christians. It wasn’t long after either.
Of course, it was “for the children” and to create a more “prosperous” and “perfect” utopia. It was by a “stroke of a pen.” And suddenly article 166 in the Penal Code was the law of the land.
Then for three and a half years, the police went door to door collecting the weapons, and arresting those for non-compliance. You can well imagine what it was like. In the early morning, all day, going into late at night, a collection of armed police came to your door. They entered, and asked for you to hand your guns over. Then they searched your house to make sure that you weren’t hiding anything.
They did this for three and a half years.
Expert Tip – Never hand in your weapons to the government.
Four years after the bill became law, the disarmed Christians were all collected and rounded up by armed militia, soldiers and local police forces. They were collected in the schools, town centers, and formed into groups.
Then they were either killed outright, or sent on death marches into the hot barren desert.
Two million Christians were murdered on forced marches into deserts without water or food. They were not told where they were going, when any one asked questions, they were beaten up, and then killed. The guards, of course, had food and water. But not the collected (and demonized) unarmed Christians.
Oh, you can well understand that many of the menfolk being marched off to die of thirst and starvation just wished that they still possessed their shotgun, long rifle or pistol. Heck! They would have been happy to just have a bayonet. But it was too late. Once disarmed, they were immediately earmarked to termination.
For just under a decade, the anti-gun legislation was enforced. Unarmed, with no legal recourse, the Christians were demonized. They became shunned, and two sets of laws were enacted. One for the Muslim majority and another for the Christian minority.
Over time, it became harder to go out in public, and attacks and beatings against Christians became common place. The police turned a “blind eye” to the events, and the Armenians held out for hope. A hope that some day, some how, things would go back to “normal”.
It didn’t.
Once the progressive Marxist philosophy of an “improved” utopia could be implemented, it’s all down-hill from there. No wishing, no hoping, and no political connections will save you.
Of course, there were “hold outs”.
These were Christians who lived in isolated towns and rural areas. They still clutched their guns (today the popular term is “bitter clingers“, a term popularized by Hillary Clinton), and resisted the forced collection of their countryman.
They too, falsely hoped that they could “ride out” the “new utopia”, a Marxist Muslim nation, purged free of the dirty Christian influence. But they were wrong. The only thing that they could do was delay their collection and eventual death. They delayed their fate, but for what? Eventual assimilation? Escape via immigration to a neighboring nation?
Today, we would refer to them as “preppers“.
People! You can never win a war fought on the defense. You cannot hunker down and hide and hope to “ride things out” until a point in time when “society comes back to it’s senses”. You just cannot.
Today, Turkey is 99.9% Muslim. Where are all those preppers and their families now?
This democide occurred in view of Western reporters, who took photographs and posted contemporary wire reports. The fact that the democide was known outside Turkey did not deter the Turkish leaders. They did not care.
They knew that no one would dare risk a war to save a Christian minority. For they were surrounded by fellow Muslim nations.
Democide, as the name implies, does not happen in the dark of night without any awareness of it in the country where it occurs. It happens in the bright sunny daylight. And, everyone knows it is going on, and sits by and watches.
They collected the people in large groups in the public open spaces in towns and cities. Then as a group they walked and marched them to collection points and staging areas.
Expert Tip – Avoid large groups of people and crowds.
The Turks knew fully well that the Christians were being mass murdered. In fact they even have a name for it. The Turkish Genocide is often referred to as the “Armenian Genocide”.
The Armenian Genocide, as it has become known, was also widely known outside Turkey. This was the absolute elimination of Christians by the Turkish government. History has shown and proven that the majority Shiite Muslim population supported (or at least passively tolerated) the democide.
Indeed, it was impossible to miss the sight of thousands of Christians at a time being rounded up and force-marched through towns and into the burning deserts on one-way trips. Not to mention all the young nude Christian women nailed to the crosses at the side of the major roads and highways. You just couldn’t miss all the atrocities. It was everywhere.
Seriously. How you not notice something like this at the side of the highway…?
Stalin and Hitler both noticed the lack of world reaction to the democide of Turkish Christians and planned accordingly. For they realized then, that NO NATION would get involved in what they were doing to their very own people. And this, boys and girls, this lack of national intervention is what fed the fires to much greater acts of genocide elsewhere in the progressive 20th century.
The Armenian genocide happened four years after full gun confiscation by the government.
Women and babies were raped. Men were tortured and killed. Everyone eventually died long, slow horrible deaths. It all happened shortly after they were disarmed by the government.
One of the people who paid close attention to what was going on in Turkey was Joseph Stalin.
Russian Democide
It's very difficult to keep up with Stalin. He operated numerous genocides against numerous (and very large) groups of people. It's hard how he kept track of all the wars on civilians that he propagated.
But one thing is constant. He disarmed every single group right before he sent troops to slaughter them.
Most Americans, minus the progressive liberals (of course), know the comic-book outline of Russian Communism.
In the Soviet Union, Stalin’s henchmen purged millions of “kulaks” (farmers deemed to have too much wealth), intellectuals, businessmen, and anyone who had ever traveled outside the USSR or even had had contact with foreigners.
One day in the summer of 1933, in a village in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, a little boy woke on top of the family stove. He was starving—not just hungry but genuinely starving. ‘Dad, I want to eat! Dad!’ he cried. But the house was cold and from his father there came no answer.
The boy went over to his father, who was apparently still asleep. There was ‘foam under his nose’, he remembered. ‘I touched his head. Cold.’
A little later, a cart arrived laden with bodies ‘lying like sheaves’. Two men came into the house, lifted his father’s body into a sack and threw it onto the cart. Then they were gone.
The boy left home after that. He wandered the empty fields, sleeping in stables, scrabbling for grains, ‘swollen and ragged’. But somehow he survived. Some four million of his fellow Ukrainians were not so lucky.
The famine that struck Ukraine in late 1932 and 1933 was one of the most lethal catastrophes in European history.
In the West, it is nowhere near as well-known as it should be.
In Ukraine itself, however, the Holodmor—literally, ‘hunger extermination’—is often seen as a gigantic, man-made operation to murder millions of people.
-Darkmoon
Mass murder of targeted regions, groups of people, or occupations were a favorite “hobby” of his.
For instance, Operation Vesna, which mainly was targeted to destroy strong Lithuanian farmers’ families, was implemented in the end of May- when all farmers’ works in the field were finished, (it means- colonists newcomers from Russia will get already prepared land) but it will be too late for deported Lithuanian farmers to garden anything in new, more northern regions, where they were sent.
Destinations for Lithuanians sent in operation Vesna- Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, Buryat–Mongol ASSR Soviet deportations from Lithuania was a series of 35 mass deportations carried out in the Lithuanian SSR, an occupied republic (in 1940) of the Soviet Union, in 1941 and 1945–1952.
At least 130,000 people, 70% of them women and children, were
forcibly transported to labor camps and other forced settlements in
remote parts of the Soviet Union, particularly in the Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai.
These deportations do not include Lithuanian partisans or political
prisoners (approximately 150,000 people) deported to Gulags (labour / concentration camps, prisons)
The easiest way to kill off a people is to send them off to an isolated and barren area, and let them starve. This is what the Muslims did to the Christian Armenians, and what Stalin did to the Ukrainians.
A few people in the queue started crying. ‘Some are getting too sentimental around here,’ the shopkeeper said threateningly. ‘It is easy to spot enemies of the people.’
In another village, a little boy teased other children with jam and a loaf of bread that his family had managed to obtain. The other children began throwing stones at him; they only stopped when he was dead.
Sometimes families turned on themselves. One man was so enraged by the sound of his children crying for food that he smothered his baby in its cradle and killed two other children by smashing their heads against a wall.
In the province of Vinnytsia, a farmer tried to suffocate his starving children by lighting a fire and blocking the chimney. When they screamed for help, he strangled them with his bare hands.
-Darkmoon
All of this is well documented.
It’s one of the things that Marxist love to do. They document, in detail, their victims and their actions. They use interviews, records, and photographs as part of their documentation efforts.
Expert Tip – When you hear that people are going to “police” interviews for information collection, then you know that genocide is in process.
Stalin’s international socialists deported their “class enemies” to Siberia, where they were put to work in Gulag slave-labor camps, with years of torture through cold, malnutrition and brutal working conditions preceding the release of eventual death.
The Ukrainians were too uppity, too different. They insisted on speaking their own language; their peasants were too conservative, holding onto their village traditions; they were insufficiently enthusiastic about the bright new Marxist future their Kremlin masters promised to build.
And then, at the end of the Twenties, came disaster. Determined to consolidate his rule after succeeding Lenin at the top of the Communist system, and increasingly impatient to break peasant resistance and move towards Utopia, Stalin ordered the collectivisation of the entire Soviet countryside.
The word ‘collectivisation’ sounds technical, a little dry, even boring. But the human consequences were profound and dramatic.
The principle was simple. Richer, more successful peasants had to be ‘liquidated’, by starvation, murder or exile. The rest would be herded into vast state-run farms where they would toil ceaselessly for the greater Soviet good, instead of for private profit.
-Darkmoon
Stalin also devised another means of democide when he ordered the forced starvation of the Ukrainians, and five million more innocent victims were added to his totals.
This assault occurred in the context of a campaign of intimidation and arrests of Ukrainian intellectuals, writers, artists, religious leaders, and political cadres, who were seen as a threat to Soviet ideological and state-building aspirations.
The Ukrainian peasants were given impossible high quotas of the amount of grain to submit to the Soviet state. Special teams were sent in to search homes and confiscate all produce to the last grain. A particularly brutal law called “5 ears of grain law” was passed, following which starving Ukrainians were shot on the spot for gathering grain that remained on the field after the harvest.
As a result, at least four million people starved to death in Ukraine. At the height of the Holodomor, 28,000 people were dying per day. This number does not include the ethnic Ukrainians outside the Ukrainians SSR who died, the half million people deported from Ukraine during collectivization or the thousands of religious, cultural and political leaders who were destroyed. The USSR attempted to cover up the Holodomor, and Russia continues to deny or diminish it to the very day.
There is no question that he was brutal about it. But, what exactly enabled him to subdue such a populous nation, filled with prideful and serious people armed with weapons? And make no mistake, the DID possess weapons. Many had shotguns, and long rifles. Maybe they weren’t as modern as the sub-machine guns and military rifles that Stalin equipped his policing forces with, but they were effective defensive weapons.
This is what enabled him to do what he did. He disarmed the population. In 1929, he passed the full-on anti-gun legislation called code 182 of the Penal Code.
Expert Tip – Collect, store, and hide all firearms and weapons. Tell no one their location. Especially your children.
Once it was passed, the citizens were instructed to turn in their firearms, or face the “ultimate” consequences. The vast bulk of the population obeyed. Shortly afterwards, Stalin started to “cleanse” the nation. He loaded them up into train cars and shipped them far away from their homelands. Much like the American government did to the native American Indians two centuries ago.
He did this by gathering them up and shipping them to staging areas where they could be “processed”.
Expert tip- Do not board the railroad car.
The German-Russian Genocide:Remembrance in the 21st Century. Between 1930 and the beginning of 1937, the Russian Germans lost approximately 300,000 to 350,000 members, one-fourth of their entire group—one out of every four was therefore exterminated through deliberate starvation, deportation, or shooting.
- Germans from Russia Heritage Collection
Yeah, all those links are for genocides that took place in 1941, and it’s only about 20% down the list. To see the exhaustive list go HERE.
Once the Russian populace was disarmed in 1929, a policy of two decades of forced genocide was inflicted on targeted people, minorities, and classes of people.
The formula is a simple one. Disarm a section of the population. Then, use the military to round them up. Then take them to “safe areas”, where they can be utilized as you desire.
“Safe Areas” like this one…
Even now, in an age when we are regularly assailed by images of
horror and suffering, the details of the Holodmor are heartbreaking.
Starving children, mass graves, vigilantes, even cannibalism: the famine
saw human nature stripped to the bone.
‘I was so frightened by what had happened that I could not talk for
several days,’ recalled one woman who escaped after her emaciated body
was mistakenly thrown into a mass grave. ‘I saw dead bodies in my
dreams. And I screamed a lot.’
Expert Tip – Genocide happens over an extended period of time. It might start after the citizenry is disarmed, or it might be delayed by a few years. In any event, expect a long-duration event; often many decades in duration.
German Democide
The German genocidal events are well known to most Americans over the age of 40. Not so well known to the younger generations. The Nazi Germans "purged" the German society of "undesirables" which included just about EVERYONE except the "chosen" Arian race.
In Germany, the “commonsense” 1928 gun control laws of the Weimar Republic preceded Hitler’s Holocaust by a decade. The Weimar politicians did not intend for their gun control laws to lead to the slaughter of millions of people, but it is an historical fact that those gun control laws permitted the Nazis to carry out their Holocaust.
How? By making it economically and militarily feasible to round up and mass murder entire towns without any significant resistance.
In Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe, Hitler proceeded with his own “final solution to the Jewish problem.” Where the German national socialists simply eliminated Jews as quickly as possible in mass graves and gas chambers.
The Holocaust, the Nazi-German annihilation of European Jewry during World War II (1939–1945), is unarguably one of the most destructive and murderous events in the history of human civilization.
However, over the last 70 years, genocides and mass killing events have continued to occur and they are not diminishing in frequency. Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur, Burundi, Syria, and Myanmar have all experienced large-scale murder operations in the last 25 years, some of which may have been preventable.
Developing a deeper understanding of genocides and mass killing events, including their causes, common characteristics, predictability, and mitigation, is thus considered by some as “the most important goal of social science”. In this respect, lessons learned from the Holocaust continue to play a vital role, and the topic remains as timely as ever.
-Science Advances
Once, the citizenry were disarmed, specific groups were demonized and targeted by a technique known as Symbolization. As an American, you might be aware of this technique. It is one where people are considered to be “deplorable”, have “white privilege”, are a “bitter clinger”, live in “fly-over country” and are considered to be “throw-backs”, racists, and Nazi’s.
Here’s an example of modern contemporaneous symbolization used by the progressive negro-American community;
Average Germans were fully aware of what was happening to the Jews between 1938 and 1945, and a large majority either actively supported or at least tolerated it. (I strongly recommend reading Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, by Daniel Goldhagen, to fully appreciate the wholehearted German support for the Jewish democide.)
Expert Tip – When others claim that you have “white privilege”, they are setting you (and others like you) for genocide. It is a well documented process known as Genocidal Symbolization.
In fact, the Nazis quickly learned that they needed only a hundred ordinary military policemen to exterminate towns of a thousand Polish Jews in a single day. All you need is to disarm them, and send in a few truck loads of armed military men with police badges.
Contrast that fact with the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. If the Jews had not first been disarmed, using previous gun registration lists as a map for confiscation, the Holocaust would not have been possible.
The National Firearms & Weapons Law of 1928 precipitated the disarming of the German people. Once disarmed, they were collected, rounded up and killed in “safety zones”, “labor farms” and other similar locations. This action is known as “The Holocaust “.
In Communist China seventy million people were the victims of democide, murdered by overwork in slave-labor camps, by direct execution, and by regional forced starvation.
First came Penal Code 186-7, Article 9. Then the disarming. Finally the collection, and “processing”. Here, let this meme instruct you as to what “processing” means…
Expert Tip – If you need more examples than this to show that there is a connection between disarming a population and killing them, then you are an idiot. The genocide is designed for YOU.
Democide is very common.
On April 5, 1992 war breaks out between on the one side Muslims and Bosnian Croats, who back independence from Yugoslavia, and on the other Bosnian Serbs. Bosnian Serb troops, armed by the Belgrade-controlled federal Yugoslav army, lay siege to the Bosnian capital and by May control two-thirds of the country.
— From April to August more than 6,000 people, mostly Muslims, are shut into detention camps at Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje, known as the “triangle of horror” from which many detainees never reappear.
In August, the first images of skeletal prisoners in these camps awaken the world to the campaign of ethnic cleaning carried out by Serb forces in Bosnia.
- Bosnia: from outbreak of war to Dayton peace accords
In the Soviet Union and in every other case, democide was preceded by “reasonable and commonsense” firearms registration. It was then followed eventually by gun confiscation and then ultimately by the extermination of a despised minority population.
Oh, it’s not just Russia, Germany and China that have been involved in genocide. Millions more were victims of democide in Pakistan, Cambodia, Rwanda, North Korea, and many other countries.
Here is the real reason why many American gun owners will NEVER turn in their weapons to the Government;
Plus, of course, we paid attention during history class.
It’s a New Progressive Global Reality!
Today, we sometimes hear that the Second Amendment has outlived its usefulness, that it is a relic of our barbaric past and is no longer needed in the modern era. We are told that it is obsolete. That it is out-moded. That it is a relic. That we don’t need it in our modern progressive society.
Horrific mass shootings by deranged individuals are cited as the primary reason for Americans to surrender their weapons. Not just their most effective firearms, but ALL their weapons, and rely solely on a state monopoly of a domestic police force for their protection.
We are told that the true and actual just protection must originate from the government, and ONLY from the government. That we should trust the government, and allow them into our homes, into our lives and trust them. For they would only and absolutely work in our sole best interests.
This government-dependent attitude is shortsighted, historically ignorant, and extremely dangerous.
In each of the cases cited above, a necessary preliminary step on the road to democide was the confiscation of privately owned firearms. Nothing happens of significance until the people are disarmed. The risks to the police forces, and their political masters are far too great.
And people, make no mistake on what happens when people are disarmed…
As millions began to die, human feeling perished with them. In one of countless dreadful anecdotes, Applebaum describes how a 15-year-old farm girl was begging beside the queue outside a Communist-run bread shop.
As each person passed, the girl asked for crumbs.
Finally, she asked the shopkeeper, who shouted at her and hit her so she fell to the ground. ‘Get up!’ the shopkeeper said, kicking her. ‘Go home and get to work!’ But she did not move; she was dead.
-Darkmoon
During the past two centuries, while America has avoided tyranny, Turkey, Germany, Russia and the other nations mentioned above haven’t. They embraced it.
Tyranny, coming soon to your home, and into your living rooms.
These other nations have spasmodically lurched between monarchs, democratically elected leaders, and often quite popular dictators. Each time, allowing them frequent opportunities to commit democide against their unwanted minorities.
To me, it seems that the kind of personality that a person has who wants to rule, who wants to be in politics, and who loves the fame and power is exactly the same kind of personality that would conduct genocide in his country.
The situation is fundamentally different in America, because we have a centuries-old tradition of private firearms ownership guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution. At least up until President Wilson became president and started to rewrite the Constitution in his perverted image of a modern progressive utopia.
The Second Amendment does not “grant” us this right; it puts into writing our God-given natural right to effective self-defense, including armed defense against tyranny.
Just as a refresher…
THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
-Preamble to the Bill of Rights
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
-The Second Amendment
People, when talking about the second amendment, you should ALWAYS associate it with the preamble to the Bill of Rights. For it clearly states that the amendments are there to prevent the abuse of Constitutional powers by the government.
Republic vs a Democracy
“Pure democracy” has been described as two wolves and a sheep voting on their dinner plans. The two wolves might see this election as an expression of their highest democratic values, but for the outnumbered sheep, pure democracy is highly problematic.
On the other hand, a republic has been described as two wolves and a well-armed sheep voting on dinner plans. The well-armed sheep can veto the outcome of the dinner election simply by brandishing its firearm.
About all she has left is her name, which she prefers to keep to herself, and the shocking memories of last July. That's when Serbian troops stormed the northwest Bosnian village of Rizvanovici, and S., a 20-year-old Muslim woman with a ponytail, was rounded up with 400 other women in the yard of a neighbor's house.
Two soldiers, wearing camouflage uniforms and Serbian crosses around their necks, picked S. and her friend I. out of the crowd. "They brought us to an empty house and there they did what they wanted to do," says S. dully. "First we had to excite them and then we had to satisfy them."
Afterward the Serbs traded partners. The girls had been virgins. "They were laughing at us," S. recalls. "They said we were pretty girls and [that] we saved ourselves for them."
Her ordeal didn't end there. After being raped and dumped at the yard, one of the soldiers came back to bring S. to his commander. "He told me to take off my clothes and to lie down on the bed," she says. "Then he did the same thing. He started to kiss and to caress me. He saw that I didn't feel anything.
I looked into his eyes and asked him if he had a wife. He said no. I asked him if he had a sister. He said he had one. Then I said, 'How would your sister feel if somebody did the same thing to her that you are doing to me?' Then he jumped up and told me to get dressed and leave."
S., who now lives in a refugee center in northern Croatia, is a survivor of what may be the most sadistic violence to haunt Europe since the Nazi campaigns: "ethnic cleansing."
Now, on top of documented cases of systematic torture and murder in Bosnia, come charges of a new Serb atrocity-mass rape. No one knows how many victims there are, though estimates range from 30,000 to 50,000 women, most of them Muslim.
In the last few months, a torrent of wrenching first-person testimonies from refugees has emerged, suggesting widespread sexual abuse by Serb forces.
They tell of repeated rapes of girls as young as 6 and 7; violations by neighbors and strangers alike; gang rapes so brutal their victims die; rape camps where Serbs routinely abused and murdered Muslim and Croat women; rapes of young girls performed in front of fathers, mothers, siblings and children; rapes committed explicitly to impregnate Muslim women and hold them captive until they give birth to wanted Serbian babies.
-Newsweek
You do not want to be an unarmed sheep.
“On December 14, we marched from the city to the banks of the Yangtze River … all we could see on the river’s 2,000 or more meter-wide surface was the bodies of men, women, and children, slowly floating like rafts. Looking upriver, more corpses, like mountains, moved toward us in what seemed an endless stream. There must have been at least 50,000. The Yangtze River had become a river of corpses.” This account was given by Japanese veteran Akahoshi Yoshio, from Weeping Yangtze River, a memoir collection by veterans published in Japan.
“In the square about 100 people sat, hands tied behind their backs. In front of them were two freshly dug pits, about five meters square and three meters deep… the soldiers carrying out the executions appeared agitated, their faces manically contorted.” Former military correspondent Sato Shinju so recounted in his book March as Military Correspondent.
-The Rape of Nanking, China Today
The sheep has inherent rights as a sovereign individual, including the right to self-defense, a right that cannot be stripped away by a simple majority vote.
Progressive Presidents in America
So, when a democratically elected American president speaks of “fundamentally transforming” his country, and of his need to act outside the constitutional framework, thepopulation should be on guard.
When that leader begins to push for strict new “commonsense and reasonable” gun control laws, including national firearms registration in the name of “public safety,” the citizenry should be on high alert.
Most men are killed. This is the historical norm. As is the systematic rape of women.
Serbian military policy has mandated the systematic gang-rape of Muslim and Croatian women and girls, their imprisonment in schools, factories, motels, arenas and concentration camps for ongoing serial rape, rape followed by murder, sexual torture and sexual slavery.
In addition to the estimated 90 concentration camps set up throughout Bosnia, there are more than 20 rape/death camps. Some hold 15 to 25 women and look like brothels; others hold more than 1,000. More than 7,000 women were held as prisoners in a Serbian-run prison-brothel near Brcko in northern Bosnia, and Muslim women are reportedly held in sexual slavery in the Sarajevo suburb of Grbavica. Young girls just reaching puberty appear to be specially designated targets for gang-rape.
-LA Times
The plight of the women and children was often years of rape, sexual
slavery and a life of servitude. Eventually leading to death.
Can any glib politician, pundit or ivory tower academic give us an ironclad guarantee that tyranny will never arise in the United States? Can they? And even if they promised with their hand on their heart, with tears in their eyes, would we… should we… believe them?
Not even a popular tyranny, like those of Ataturk, Stalin, Hitler or Mao? Can anyone assure us that today’s “commonsense” gun registration lists will not be used for future gun confiscation? Of course not.
Gun Toting Citizens
The future may be unknowable, but history is well understood, and American gun owners know and understand the history of democide in the 20th century.
That is why they will never accede to what is currently portrayed in the predominantly left-wing mainstream media as “commonsense and reasonable” new gun control laws. There is NO SUCH THING as reasonable “gun control”. Disarming a person, a family, a people, is an affront to everything that a human being stands for. Do not allow it to happen to you.
While American gun owners lament and regret the inescapable fact that deranged individuals in a free country may on rare occasions murder a dozen or a score of unarmed victims, they also understand that government democide murders by the million.
It’s always wholesale slaughter of a hated group of unarmed civilians. What ever you do, do not allow yourself to get caught up in conflicts related to this.
And in every case, tyrants can conduct these democides only after disarming their unwanted minorities, rendering them helpless to resist murderous government pogroms.
...But there does seem to be a widespread pattern of on-the-ground commanders encouraging-or even ordering-their men to rape. The testimonies of so many victims and witnesses, and of some captured Serb perpetrators, have a consistency that cannot be accidental.
"It's hard to believe that all these Serbian men, no matter how animalistic you think human nature is, would suddenly get it in their heads to find a 7-year-old girl and rape her," says the lead State Department researcher.
Rape is an integral part of ethnic cleansing, of eradicating entire areas of their historic Muslim populations through brutal intimidation, expulsion and outright murder. In such Bosnian towns as Brcko, Bjeljina, Kljuc, Sanski Most, Prijedor, Kotor Varos, Zvornik, leading citizens-anyone who owned a business, participated in the Party of Democratic Action, held a university degree-were hunted down and liquidated.
The rest of the male population was packed off to prison camps.
Rape clearly was the coup de grace delivered to tens of mortally wounded towns, a way of ensuring that women would never want to return to their homes.
For 12-year-old Vasvija, the terror began after she was evicted from her village of Jelec in August. During her first night in Partizan Hall, a Serb-run detention camp in the nearby eastern Bosnian town of Foca, two soldiers picked her from among the 70 detainees, all women, children and elderly civilians.
"They brought me to a flat, an empty flat," she says, a single tear running down an otherwise passive face. "They raped me." Both soldiers? "Both."
Over nine consecutive nights, Vasvija endured the same hideous treatment at the hands of different men. Once she was taken out with her mother and another inmate.
They were all raped by the same Serbian soldier. Exchanged on Sept. 17 for Serb prisoners, Vasvija, her siblings and her mother now live in a refugee center near Sarajevo. No one has heard from her father, who was beaten and dragged off to a different prison camp when the Serbs overran Jelec.
-Newsweek
All the unarmed civilians could do was hide, surrender, or run. (As a kind reminder, please take note. The civilian population were disarmed within a year of the Bosnian genocide. Once disarmed, there was nothing preventing the military and militia to do with the civilian population as they wished.)
American gun owners will never permit this historical pattern to be repeated in their country, because they understand that the government’s heavy hand will be kept in check only as long as they are armed.
Ask yourself: Were the Armenians, the Jews or the kulaks treated better, or worse, after they were disarmed and rendered helpless by their oppressors, who thereafter held an absolute government monopoly on armed violence?
The answer is too obvious to require elaboration.
Low Information Citizens – Sheep
Naive utopians and other “low-information voters” might not understand the historical pattern, and we don’t expect them to bother to learn it. We no longer care about others think. The situation in the United States has become way too dire, and the situation is approaching survival-level seriousness.
The RINO and Washington DC folk, and the Marxists that saturate every governmental and corporate entity in the United States have absolutely no idea what kind of a shit storm will occur if they keep pushing forward on their progressive dream of disarming the “deplorables” in the hinterlands.
We know what happens. We study history.
As recently as ten years ago, the ISIS would employ foot soldiers to go house by house, room by room to collect the civilians for the ISIS to do with them as they pleased. And, they DID do what they pleased. This is what happens in every war, and most especially in every genocide.
...military leaders of the Bosnian Serbs-with low ranking henchmen like Borislav Herak. A 21-year-old Serb laborer from Sarajevo, Herak admits to raping seven Muslim women and to killing two of his victims in addition to the 18 murders to which he has already confessed.
"We were ordered to rape so that our morale would be higher," he says from a military prison in the Bosnian capital. "We were told we would fight better if we raped the women."
He claims that he and fellow soldiers frequented the Sonja Cafe-one of several alleged "rape camps" outside Sarajevo-which maintained a population of 70 Muslim women and girls; those who were killed were quickly replaced.
Entire villages, such as Miljevina in eastern Bosnia, may have been converted to rape camps.
About 100 people, "all young Muslim women and girls, were raped," says a 20-year-old named Aida. Her attacker was Dragan J., a Serb policeman and neighbor, who excused his behavior, she says, on the ground that "'It is war, you can't resist, there is no law and order'."
Rasema, a 33-year-old mother, offers a similar account. She claims that her assailants raped her in front of her two girls. When she resisted, they threatened, "We will cut out your teeth! Do you want us to slaughter your children, to watch us cutting them into pieces, piece after piece?" In his own defense, one attacker told Rasema, "I have to do it, otherwise they will kill me."
-Newsweek
They would search out specific people and took special note to those
which might be armed, or have a high risk of opposition. They would use
lists obtained, compiled and given to them by local people friendly to
their cause.
Usually educated people, business leaders, outspoken independent people, and people who were the victim of petty grudges would be on the list. There would be other, of course. People with a NRA sticker on their car, people who drive pickup trucks. Those whom wear MAGA hats. Those whom eat pork.
Imagine what the list would look like if a feminist millennial were
to compile the list of everyone in the local town where she lived. Who
would be on it? Would you?
Two young Serb deserters, Slobodan Panic and Cvijetin Maksimovic, now being held in a prison in Orasje, Bosnia, told NEWSWEEK they were ordered to rape and murder for the amusement of their commander in Brcko, in northeastern Bosnia, last May.
Panic says he balked when two battered women, each about 18, were brought to him in a room in a warehouse where 500 to 600 civilians were imprisoned. Serb soldiers "Said they'd kill me if I didn't" rape them, he recalls, insisting that he "only did a little" to his screaming victims, not consummating the act.
Three other women were dragged out for the same humiliating display. During these episodes, Panic says, soldiers stood around in a circle and laughed.
Then they hauled two badly beaten Muslim prisoners before Panic and handed him a gun. "I said, 'I can't, they've never done anything to me'," he remembers. "'You have to or else we'll kill you'," Panic says he was told. He shot each man in the chest. Two more male prisoners appeared.
A soldier handed Panic a knife. "Butcher them," he commanded. When Panic protested, the soldier replied, "I'll show you how it's done." Then, holding Panic's hand around the knife handle, he seized the man by the hair, jerked back his head and cut his throat.
Death, at least, brings an end to suffering. Rape victims who became pregnant relive their horror every day. Sofija, a 30-year-old Muslim, was released from a school turned prison camp in the village of Parzevic in mid-September, after being raped every night for six months by five or six different Serb soldiers.
Now she is hiding from her family in a cold Sarajevan hospital, tormented by the thought of the unwanted child growing inside her. "I do not want to see the baby," the mother of two says without emotion. "I will not feed it. I do not want anything to do with it."
Her roommate says that Sofija talks in her sleep every night, debating whether to kill the baby when it arrives in mid-January. Somewhere in Sarajevo are 12 other pregnant women and girls from the same village as Sofija who were similarly raped and held until long past the time for a safe abortion.
Earlier release doesn't guarantee relief: a 1978 Yugoslav law allows gynecologists to perform abortions only up to the 10th week of pregnancy; thereafter, cases are referred to a hospital ethics commission which, in Roman Catholic Croatia, home to 400,000 Bosnian refugees, may be more inclined to put the babies up for adoption.
Rape is the ultimate act in the Serbs' program of annihilation. They have robbed countless civilians of their possessions, their land, their lives and their dignity. Bosnia will be haunted by hundreds, if not thousands, of Serbian children forced on unwilling Muslim mothers.
-Newsweek
The Evil Progressive Cabal
Cynical and dishonest “progressives” who do understand the historical pattern cannot yet reveal their ultimate goal of creating a disarmed and helpless American citizenry.
Nevertheless, millions of Americans understand their hidden aim with crystal clarity, seeing through the false sincerity of power-hungry leftist politicians who are actually Marxist wolves dressed in Democrat sheep’s clothing – for now.
In August 1992 I went to Croatia, which was as close as I could get to Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was there that I met Mirsada, a sixteen year old girl who had been raped.
I will try to keep her in my mind, because I liked her from the moment I met her and I tried to help her, trying not to act pitifully towards her. She had been detained in a concentration camp near Teslic for 4 months with her mother and sister. She was raped approximately 80 times per day.
At the time I met her, she was heavily pregnant (in her sixth month). After she gave birth to a baby girl, she gave it up for adoption and left for Denmark. She never saw her daughter. I never asked her to talk to me about this as I was afraid my interest would appear disrespectful and that it might hurt her.
But once, when we were just sitting and talking, she told me that when she was in the concentration camp she was not allowed to sleep because the soldiers would constantly come for her, never giving her the time or space to sleep. This was the first time that the situation in which this girl and many other women found themselves really became clear and close to me.
-Biserinternational
But unless and until these secret Stalinists and sundry other “progressives” can figure out a way to disarm Americans, they cannot execute their historically standard final solution to the “reactionaries-standing-in-the-way-of-utopia” problem.
Indeed, this is a thorny problem for them, because tens of millions of Americans, disbelieving their deceitful bromides, will stick to their guns no matter what.
Unlike the Armenians, Jews, kulaks and other exterminated peoples, Americans who support the Second Amendment will never be disarmed quietly by government edict prior to meekly boarding a train to a socialist “reeducation” camp.
They will not be taken at government gunpoint on a one-way forced march into a desert or a Zyklon-B “delousing shower,” simply because they foolishly agreed to be disarmed by their future oppressors in the dubious name of “public safety.”
If American “progressives” truly intend to disarm the American people, they will have to do it the hard way, by taking their bullets first, one at a time.
We WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DISARM US. NEVER.
Because we know what you will do to us. You tell us this all the time. We are not asleep, we are listening, and we are taking your threats against us, our families, and our society very, very seriously.
What Can We Do To Stop Democide?
The most practical thing that we can each do is promote the importance of individual freedoms. Most importantly the Right of self-defense. In America this means the second amendment to the Constitution that is enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
"... The Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution expressed a desire in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution. "
-Preamble to the Bill of Rights
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
-The 2nd Amendment to the Bill of Rights
When humans have rights that are associated with those freedoms, it begins to take the power and control away from the governments and put it into the hands of the people being governed.
As it was the original intention of the United States Constitution before it was “improved” by rich bankers, and idealistic progressives.
Not… not…
Anything resembling what the progressive Marxist socialists have planned… and which CLEARLY looks like it is heading our way now.
It is going to get a lot worse, and serious action steps must be taken to avoid the train wreck that is destined to occur.
What if we disarm, what then?
Well… for one thing, don’t get caught up in the normalcy bias.
The normalcy bias, or normality bias, is a belief people hold when considering the possibility of a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the likelihood of a disaster and its possible effects, because people believe that things will always function the way things normally have functioned.
This may result in situations where people fail to adequately prepare themselves for disasters, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. About 70% of people reportedly display normalcy bias in disasters.[1]
-Wikipedia
After all, this is America. No one is going to initiate genocide in America. It’s a free land of happiness and contentment. Right?
Right?
Washington Post opinion writer Jennifer Rubin appeared on MSNBC's "AM Joy" Sunday and said that not only does Trump have to lose in 2020, but there must be a purging of "survivors" who still support the commander-in-chief.
"It's not only that Trump has to lose, but that all his enablers have to lose," she said. "We have to collectively, in essence, burn down the Republican Party."
"We have to level them because if there are survivors — if there are people who weather this storm, they will do it again."
- Nick Givas at Fox News, about the 2020 national election
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Other Blogs that you all should visit.
These blogs and sites have better information than I every could
compile. These people are experts in personal survival and preparedness.
I recommend them wholeheartedly.
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Here are some free Intention / Dream boards for your use. I would suggest that you copy the (presented image) photos to your computer and alter and customize it to fit your own personalized intentions. As such, please feel free to download and use to your heart’s content.
A dreamboard is a collage of images, pictures and written affirmations of the intentions and desires you wish to achieve. It helps you through visualization, thus activating the Universal Law of Attraction, or “likes attract like.”
- 6 Tips for Making a Dream Board - Fit Bottomed Girls
The so called “Law of Attraction” is an element of the quantum physics law known as the “observer effect“. It has been repeatedly proven that a person’s thoughts alter the reality that they experience.
Though many people outside of MAJestic haven’t a clue as to the mechanism for this behavior.
Here are some attempts to explain this curious effect, and how a person can utilize it for their own personal use. If you are the kind of person that wants to know what all this is all about, and why it is important, these following links might be of help.
Now of course, us in MAJestic (well, at least those in my particular program) actually know how the universe works. We know how to manipulate it, and we do know the dangers of thought imposition.
How it works
Ah, I covered this subject in great detail in other posts.
However, for now, let’s just keep it simple. The universe is nothing like we think it is. Seriously. It does not resemble anything that is being taught in universities, or being promoted in any of the world’s religions.
Time is the movement of consciousness in and out of adjacent world-line variations.
The thoughts generated by the consciousness navigate the movement through these realities.
By controlling your thoughts, you can set destination realities for you to inhabit.
Which, by the way, means that you must be the pilot for your consciousness. You must keep your destination in mind, and your objectives clear. You have to avoid the “rocky shores” or disruptive thoughts. Thus you need to stay away from discordant news, and toxic people.
Dream Boards
I often go on the Internet and see examples of Intention / Dream boards. Their heart is in the right place but they are going about it wrong.
Firstly, a “Dream Board” is one element of “Intention Projection”.
Secondly, a “Dream Board” is useless without an associated prayer.
Also the theory behind how it works, as promoted on the internet, is really not accurate. To fully understand how an Intention / Dream board works, you need to understand just how our universe works. And, you know what, everyone has it wrong.
Prayer
Unless you are backing up your vision board with prayer, you will not derive full benefit from your dream board. It is your thoughts that define your reality. To navigate in and out of the realities that are constantly evolving and shifting around us, you must pilot your consciousness. You need to be the Captain of your consciousness.
To navigate, you need to control and master your thoughts. You need to do the following…
Pray. These are thoughts that show your intentions, and desires.
Create a vision board, or vision “splash screen” on your electronic media.
Isolate yourself from negative media; news, music or movies.
Isolate yourself from negative or disruptive people.
Use of the Vision Board / Splash Screen
You use the sample image as a desktop background. When ever you see the desktop image in the background you say your prayer associated with it. Thus is you want to use multiple backgrounds on a rotating basis, it becomes helpful to have a nice list of intention prayers that you read once a day.
Remember, that in order the intention board to work, you must recite your prayers out loud. (This is can be in a whisper, don’t you know.)
The longer you do this, the more “stable” your destination reality will become. However, there will come a point in time when you will “tire” of the prayers and dream boards. When this occurs, let it go and forget about it all. (It’s an important evolution that is established by your consciousness.)
You can do a different prayer and dream board, if you want. Just know that your intention will most certainly manifest.
The Things people wish for
I went on the handy dandy internet, and researched the things that most people wish for. Then I compiled them into a list and I am presenting intentions splash screens for each item on the list. Please consider these splash screens as an idea from which you can base your very own intention splash photos off of. Or use them raw as shown. It’s all up to you.
The Samples
The samples provided are just that. Samples. If you want to use them, feel free, but you MUST include an associated daily prayer with them.
Also note, that providing the samples here does not mean that I agree with the thought projections. Some of the samples offer vices, and other elements that do not fit my personal preferences. They are offered as suggestions for you the reader to base your own dream boards on.
Please take note that all these images and dream board splashes are made using the Microsoft Visio application. It is amazingly easy to use and simple. You just create a picture and add other pictures and text to your desired image.
Further, please take note that there is a trade off between a singular image with prayer, and a collage of images. A group of images will offer the person a greater degree of latitude and versatility in how the intention manifests. This latitude enables the manifestation to occur quicker. A singular image properly prayed for with strong intentions take much longer to manifest, but the results are more exacting.
Here we provide (mostly) singular images for your study and enjoyment.
Power
This intention desktop “splash” is related to POWER.
If you are desirous of increasing your apparent power within the reality that you inherit, then this image is for you. You are free to use it as is, or make your own along these lines. Alternatively, you can fill the entire image screen with smaller images that illustrate the kinds of power that you might wish to evoke.
Please note that you must use the following dialog in your prayers associated with this image…
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
Images that portray mafia figures, or "bad people" portray myself in similar roles of power. They do NOT, however, manifest these kinds of people arrayed against me.
If you do not take care in your prayers, and in the application of the desktop display intention splash, it could easily “backfire” against you. Therefore, it is critically important for you to have a very clear and well defined image intention with an associated prayer.
After all, unless you are careful on how your thoughts manifest, you might end up having this crew come a knockin’ at your door…
Success in business
Again, here is a a different intention desktop splash. This is for people who are desirous of having a very successful business, and the rewards that come with it.
Again, it’s not enough just to use this image as a desktop background display. You need to associate it with a prayer. I would suggest that what ever prayer that you utilize, that you incorporate the following prayers / affirmations…
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
Images that portray "bad people" portray myself in similar roles of power. They do NOT, however, manifest these kinds of people arrayed against me.
Suave
This is for you men who desire to be considered charming, confident, and elegant by others. Whether that is members of the other sex (women) or men, it does not matter.
And again, you must associate this image display with your prayers…
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
The manifestation of this reality is gradual and safe and is in alignment with my deepest desires.
Good Health
Good health is something that we take for granted, and it isn’t until we get older when we start to panic at how our bodies age. There are things that we can do, of course. We can eat better, stay away from bad people and negative thoughts, and do some moderate exercise.
Also we must not neglect the role that good, directed thoughts play in shaping our life.
While you cannot simply wish or pray to be healthy, it can help assist in the movement of world-line selection towards the manifestation of your desires. The formula works a little like this…
Here is a nice splash image for your desktop. In all cases laid out here, from the Power to the Fame, you MUST provides some kind of minimum physical action from which the desired world-lines can manifest.
Wishing for something to happen = nothing will happen.
Physically working for things = maybe might happen.
Directed thoughts for things = a possibility can happen.
But… you should take careful note…
Physically working towards things + Directed thoughts = cause your desires to manifest.
Please kindly keep that in mind when you utilize these desktop displays and splash screens. These intention boards are only part of a much more inclusive system that requires your participation to work.
You can manifest the world-lines that will be favorable to your intentions, and thus they will appear to manifest for you.
To put it in another way, laying on a couch / sofa eating potato chips and just leaving a intention dream canvas splash display rotate passively on the computer will result in NOTHING.
You must pump your thoughts full of directed thoughts, you must use the desktop display and view it from time to time to refresh your imagery, and you must do a moderate amount of physical action to generate a baseline from which your thoughts can manifest upon.
I have generated two splash intention dream canvas. One is for a man and the other is for a woman. Those of you who are of confused gender, you can follow the guidelines to create your very own specialized splash screen.
Men
Woman
And do not forget to add this prayer…
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
Fame
The desire for fame is one of the most popular desires that people have. Yet, it’s perplexing why this is. Personally, I think that it is rather silly. Why do you want fame? To have followers, groupies or get offered free sex on demand?
People, if that is what you want, then you just go ahead and ask for it directly. If you want to have loads of sex with strangers who are enraptured with you, then ask for that in your intention prayers. You don’t need to ask for “fame”.
The problem with fame is “thought imposition”. The associated thoughts and quantum environment associated with others will severely influence your life. Trust me, you DO NOT want large groups of people thinking negatively about you. Or, even if it is positive, these thoughts can severely impact your ability to direct your own thoughts.
Never the less, I am placing the free desktop splash photo for those desirous of “Fame” here. In every case, you absolutely MUST associate it with the following affirmation / prayer.
I utilize the desktop image display on my computer to help cultivate the reality that my world-line is.
In all cases, the dominant male figure portrayed in the image(s) represent myself.
The manifestation of this reality is gradual and safe and is in alignment with my deepest desires. However, at any event, the manifestation of fame as pictured will be positive in every way, and will not have any negative connotations or spawn negative associated events.
Here’s my suggested image desktop splash intention photo;
Sex
Sex. It’s a biological driven human attribute. If you do not have the desire to reproduce, or at least go through the motions of reproducing, then you are not living life. All humans desire sex.
It might not be politically correct, but that is the way it is.
Which is one of the reasons why tyrannical governments ban vices, such as sex out of marriage in order to control people. It is a very common and human element that is very easy to use to control others with.
As are other things, like mind altering substances (alcohol) and things that are fun. It's a way of controlling people.
“Everything I love is illegal, banned or dangerous.”
When constructing you very own dream splash canvas, you can be very generous with the images used. However, take most special attention to their selection.
Improperly selected images, and splash screens without a detailed prayer / intention affirmation can easily result in conditions, situations and environments that you might find undesirable. Be very careful, precise and exact when selecting the images that you wish to use.
Happiness
The reader will notice that all of the images depict people and are representative of situations that people are in. That’s the way a dream / intention canvas works.
Picture and image the situations.
Do not image things.
You cannot display pictures of money and expect that it is to be associated with you having lots of money in your wallet. Instead, it is just a picture of an item. And you, constantly seeing that item, turns it into a kind of world-line scenery; Something that might lie around you, but not anything that you are associated with.
Not exactly what you want.
You see this all the time. People set up dream intention boards with nice expensive cars, pictures of houses, and images of a lot of nice things. They will include words that describe what they want to accomplish in their life.
While it will contribute to the world-line direction that the creator intended, it will be done so inefficiently. You need to explicitly map out your desires and intentions and navigate properly in a very careful manner.
After all, you don’t want to make the same kinds of mistakes that our hero Elliot made in the movie “Bedazzled“, do you?
Elliot Richards (Brendan) would give anything to have Allison Gardner (Frances O'Connor) in his life, or so he says. Who should overhear? The devil (Elizabeth Hurley) of course. She offers him "seven absolutely fabulous wishes for one piddling little soul". Only Elliot finds out that you don't always get what you wish for.
The image you use, or the images you select MUST have a special meaning and association with you personally. Which is why many intention / dream splash screen canvases must be made intentionally for your own wishes and desires, as well as to have a prayer dialog that you must recite daily that will reset your thought direction, for world-line navigation, properly.
Here is a sample splash screen for a Happiness directed intention.
Wine and Cats
The most effective intention splash screens are those that represent people, and actions. However, you the reader should note that there are other techniques that can be used in a dream splash canvas. Here we explore one such concept.
Here is a splash screen for a person who wants a life filled with wine and plenty of kitty-cat friends…
There are no limits
There are really no limits to the direction that you want your life to evolve into. You simply think about your goals and dreams, all the time, while also removing all the nonsense from others, the news, and other’s manufactured problems. Stay pure, and you will walk the path to your deepest desires.
You can use many clusters of pictures
Many people create an Intention / Dream board that they place on their wall. This is often filled with photographs and images that were cut out of magazines. Every time they see this board, they are instantly reminded of their goals and dreams, and thus it serves it’s most exacting purpose.
In today’s computerized age, I suggest using the computer to do the same thing, and while my examples have one singular photo on it, in my own personal case, I use multiple images myself, creating a collage.
Here is an example of a “fairly decent” dream board. They use imagery that is important to them, and use words to specify the purpose and utility for the images.
You see, everyone is different.
We all have different desires, goals, needs, wants and interests. So each dream splash screen will be different for different people. And, while I argue that you need to let the intention splash screen be a part of a tool kit for manifesting your reality, how you use the tools will depend on your own experiences, lifestyle and needs.
Here’s another example.
Warnings
When you get on the internet, you will see all kinds of examples of people describing their intention / dream boards. You will also find many that monetize this effort.
Do not fall for that trap. The United States has become one great big vending machine and the people are the commodity.
Keep this most important fact in mind. You do not need to pay anyone for anything regarding how you think.
Also… Your thoughts are private.
We have come to accept the idea that you can police discourse on the internet, that the government agencies can extract history, reasoning, and behaviors from you at will, and that your thoughts are subject to scrutiny.
That is false.
Not only is it all against the 1st, 4th and 9th amendments to the United States Constitution, but it is a fundamental nature of yourself as a human. Privacy is a human need.
No. The "elected" officials in the United States are NOT doing their job, nor have they been since the last 150 years or so. But that is a subject for another time.
You need NEVER justify why you desire something to manifest in your life. It is secret and only between you and your God.
Everyone’s mind works differently
When I use the term “mind” I am referring to HOW the consciousness implants thoughts into the brain. It also includes how the brain reacts to the physical stimulus that surrounds it in this reality (that it inhabits).
Everyone’s mind works differently.
Oh we are often under the impression that while there might be deviance in thoughts from the baseline “normal”. That is all false. Really, really false. We all think differently. Do not assume that others will understand you or accept your thought processes. They won’t. It’s a foregone conclusion and do not even bother trying to explain anything.
Do not assume anything. Live your own life to the best of your ability. Do not care, or give any consideration to what others think of you, your actions or your thoughts.
Conclusion
Creating an inspiration or dream board is a fundamental technique for a person to pilot their life to manifest their desires.
It works on the quantum physics principle of the observer effect.
Why it works is not well understood outside of MAJestic. That is because the vast bulk of the world has absolutely zero concept of how the universe works. However, we in MAJestic (well at least those in my sub-project) know quite well the mechanism involved.
It’s simple really.
There is no singular fixed reality. Instead there are a near infinite number of realities.
Our consciousness moves through each one, forming a path.
This path is called time.
We travel at a rate, more or less, around 4Hz.
The selection of the next reality for us to inhabit is determined by our thoughts. Typically, we migrate to realities that are defined by our thoughts that are influenced by the world around us. This can be dangerous and evil people use media to manipulate, and thus cause our travel path to bend and twist towards realities that we might not want to participate in.
Therefore, to manifest the life that we desire to live, we need to do three things…
Turn off all negative, distracting, and disruptive thoughts that surround us.
Stay away from people with strong thoughts and personalities that are contrary to our desires.
Focus our thoughts on our ultimate goals.
A vision dream (intention) splash desktop will help accomplish this. Provided that it is linked to a daily prayer that includes the subject matter listed.
Related Links
Here’s some other related links for the interested fellow or chick.
A little bit more background for the more scientifically inclined…
Ah, and why I ended up learning the utility of all this as part of MAJestic. Here is the end ball game…
Final Note
This is how it works people. And, at that, perhaps this is my MAJestic gift to the world.
The things we did with our extraterrestrial benefactors was intended to help sort out the sentience selection for the human species. It seems to me that it is still in flux, but that need not concern you all. What you should be concerned with is how you can truly embrace the life that we live and customize it to fit your ultimate desires.
Being able to control our thoughts is the FIRST step in mastery of our life. You can do this through [1] prayer, and [2] visualization.
There is a reason why ritual is important. For ritual permits proper direct visualization so that prayer can be conducted without distraction.
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
Here are
some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you
might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up
in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society
within communist China. As there are some really stark differences
between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have
broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones
actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little
different, in subtle ways.
Funny Pictures
Be the Rufus – Tales of Everyday Heroism.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Let’s continue on our exploration of videos and things about Asia. However, firstly, let’s comment on the splash screen above. It’s from the 1990’s situation comedy on television (anyone remember watching television?) called “Seinfield”.
Seinfeld is a situation comedy which ran from July 5, 1989 to May 14, 1998. One of the most popular and influential TV programs of the 1990s, it epitomizes the self-obsessed and ironic culture of the decade. In 2002, TV Guide ranked Seinfeld as the greatest TV show of all time. The show was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld.
The show stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself, and mostly focuses on his personal life with a handful of friends and acquaintances, including best friend George Costanza (Jason Alexander), friend and former girlfriend Elaine Benes.
I think that this funny comedy is a monument to itself. Yet, the trivia associated with it is quite noteworthy…
Larry David famously instituted a policy of "no hugging, no learning", meaning that the show must avoid sentimentality and moral lessons, and the characters must never learn or grow from their wrongdoings.
As Kramer (Michael Richards) became more popular, his entrance applause grew so prolonged that the cast complained it was ruining the pacing of their scenes. Directors subsequently asked the audience not to applaud so much when Kramer entered.
Jerry Seinfeld turned down an offer from NBC that would have made him $110 million for a tenth season of the show.
Michael Costanza, Jerry Seinfeld's friend after whom George is named, filed a $100 million lawsuit against Seinfeld, Larry David, and NBC, claiming invasion of privacy and defamation of character. Costanza claimed damages due to the show's alleged use of his likeness. The case was dismissed with the judges adding that the statute of limitations on the case had run out, as Costanza did not sue within one year of the show's debut in 1989.
The Soup Nazi (Larry Thomas) is based on the actual owner, Al Yeganeh, of a take-out soup business in Manhattan on West 55th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue. Just like in the sitcom, his soups were known for their excellent quality, but Yeganeh was also famous for the unusual way he treated his customers. Instead of calling him a Nazi, local patrons called him a terrorist, presumably because they knew Yeganeh was born in Iran, not Germany. Yeganeh was so angered by the episode (Seinfeld: The Soup Nazi (1995)), that he forbade the use of the "N word" in his restaurants. Even the slightest reference to this show would push his buttons (it can be seen in an interview he did with CNN). So when some cast members and writers from this show bravely visited the restaurant after the episode aired, Yeganeh claimed that the show had ruined his life.
The puffy shirt used in episode 5.2, Seinfeld: The Puffy Shirt (1993), is currently placed in the Smithsonian. A doll-sized replica was included with the fifth season DVD set.
John O'Hurley (Peterman) recalls attending a friend's 40th birthday party and being recognized at the buffet line. A man came up to him to say "that would be grounds for dismissal.", one of his J. Peterman lines. During their conversation, O'Hurley learned that this guy was not only a fan of Seinfeld but a fan of the real J. Peterman catalogue, too. He would actually read the over-the-top item descriptions to his wife in bed. He thanked O'Hurley for finally giving him a voice to use for the catalogue readings. The fan was none other than Tom Hanks.
Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.
Thailand School
Here’s a cute music video of an elementary school in Thailand…
Videos about the Protests in HK
All these (so called) “pro-democracy” protests in Hong Kong get a lot of air-play in the United States. I can’t but help that they are instigated by Donald Trump and his CIA operatives to stir up and instigate some “backyard” conflict for China. You know, just like how the CIA agitated the protests the last time Obama visited HK.
The American news media, whether it is CNN, or (even) Rush Limbaugh all parrot the same line.
They parrot the same old narrative; [1] It’s organic and “grass roots”, [2] all they want is “freedom” and “democracy”, and [3] that they are fighting against Communism. The videos and movies on you-tube all support this narrative. It’s a nice narrative, and everyone in the USA is repeating this.
The only thing is…
The narrative is nonsense.
What do they actually want? Well, for one thing, they want universal suffrage. You know where everyone can vote, with no age limits, or limits on the number of times that you can vote, or whether you are a citizen or not. Pretty radical stuff.
Sounds like the American democrat platform, I’ll tell you what…
While Hong Kong is part of China, it operates autonomously. It has it’s own laws, and own systems, and own ways of doing things. Many of which are freakishly different from the mainland Chinese way.
So… very… predictable… How do we know? It’s all recorded in the history books. You all should read them some time.
And, this is what happens when no one puts their foot down and squashes the SJW movement…
Tear down the Chinese Flag
One of the often promoted videos is how the “Chinese people” joyfully tore down the Chinese flag in Hong Kong. Then they discarded it into the water, and danced around joyously.
What they don’t tell you is what happened afterwards…
Residents are sick of the SJW Kids
Almost all of the protesters are Social Justice Warriors in their early 20’s attending school or otherwise unemployed. Their desire for social upheaval is disruptive to the crowded Chinese community, and the residents are rather fed up with their protests and the interruptions in their lives.
Just like how the black-clad Antifa stopped traffic, and broke apart stores and ships, these SJW troops are doing the same thing. The only thing is, in America they did it in enclaves where the local leadership wanted them to protest and supported the protests. Say Berkley and Baltimore, for example. Not in places where they would get shot. Like in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. That is the big difference between China and the USA.
The Chinese do not accept this kind of nonsense. So they fight back as these two videos indicate.
First, we have a pissed off mother. (Though she is blaming Japan for initiating all the violence.)
Then we have some pissed off office workers…
You will note that this narrative is not promoted in the Western press. At best they might mention that “Pro-Chinese” people lash back at the protesters. But what is really happening is that shop owners, workers, people going to work, and street vendors are all really pissed off that their nice orderly life is being torn apart by these kids.
Hands are NOT tied…
The Chinese government is not ham-strung by an aggressive media propaganda machine, and public opinion. They have lived through numerous SJW uprisings and they know what can happen with they are not squelched rapidly and forcefully.
People die.
President Xi Peng saw this personally… up front and up close. He will NOT permit to happen on his watch. No way. No how.
If you don’t know what I am referring to, then read this article (opens up in a separate window.).
To this end, they have practiced, planned, and have worked on solutions. Here is one such video on what to expect if the local HK government fails to contain the radical Social Justice Warrior elements…
Make no mistake. The Chinese government will shoot to kill if order is not stabilized soon.
Make no mistake. The Chinese take these protests as a very serious threat, and they are prepared to fight against the protesters.
And while I can show you the reader, video after video of Chinese SWAT and paramilitary forces training inside Hong Kong in riot and capture duties, perhaps this recent video of HK police can convince you that the Chinese do NOT mess around…
I have many more videos, but I just cannot put them into a single
post. It will bog down your computer terribly. So to watch the rest of
the videos in this post, please continue…
If you want to go to the start of this series of posts, then please click HERE.
Links about China
Here are
some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader,
might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.
China and America Comparisons
As an
American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United
States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.
The Chinese Business KTV Experience
This is
the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the
British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal
press. This is the reality. Read or not.
Learning About China
Who
doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what
China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in
China.
Contemporaneous Chinese Music
This is a
series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It
is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I
am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series
of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and
enjoyment.
Parks in China
The parks
in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very
mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.
Really Strange China
Here are
some posts that discuss a number of things about China that might seem
odd, or strange to Westerners. Some of the things are everyday events,
while others are just representative of the differences in culture.
What is China like?
The
purpose of this post is to illustrate that the rest of the world,
outside of America, has moved on with their lives. That while they
might not be as great as America is, they are doing just fine thank
you.
And while
America has been squandering it’s money, decimating it’s resources,
and just being cavalier with it’s military, the rest of the world has
done the opposite. They have husbanded their day to day fortunes, and
you can see this in their day-to-day lives.
Summer in Asia
Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
Well, do you know? Most people don’t, and if you were to poll Joe-and-suzy average on the street, you would find that just about no-one has ever heard of it. Yet, it is THE most important amendment to the United States Constitution. In fact, I would argue that the United States is what it is today due to ignoring this amendment.
Yes… yes… yes…
We all know that the Bill of Rights functionally no longer exists. It doesn’t, and it hasn’t existed for over a hundred years. I’m not going to insult the reader with the facts, it has long since been documented time and time again…
The sole purpose of the ATF is infringe on the Second Amendment.
The Utah Data Collection Center would not exist if the Fourth Amendment was being enforced.
Judicial “Plea Bargains” circumvented both the Sixth and Seventh Amendment Protections.
The DHS and TSA has severely degraded Fifth Amendment protections.
The Tenth Amendment was eviscerated when the Southern States lost the American Civil War.
The Preamble to the Bill of Rights is ignored.
The facts are there, plain as day. There is no need to parse individual details. Those doing so are either [1] Living in an Ivory Tower bubble, [2] Mentally retarded, or [3] Shrills for the Oligarchy. There is no other excuse.
I argue here, that just about everything related to the “War on Drugs”, the “War on Poverty”, regulations for “Climate Change”, and just about every single liberal progressive social engineering effort (from cake baking, to LGBT bathrooms), would be stopped dead in it’s tracks, if the Ninth Amendment were being followed.
We now inhabit a world that demonizes Thomas Jefferson and elevates Frederica Wilson. Is there any way out of this mess that doesn’t involve a spaceship?
- From the editors, at Taki's Magazine
What is the Ninth Amendment?
The Ninth Amendment
The ninth amendment states that though only some rights are specifically listed in the Constitution, those rights not specifically listed are not denied to the people. It was designed to further protect the rights of the people by preventing the government from creating restrictions on unlisted rights.
-Wikipedia
I like that sentence…
“It was designed to … prevent the government from creating restrictions … on citizens.”
The exact text reads:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Ah, it’s pretty clear, don’t ya think. Just because the Constitution list the freedom to speak as a Right, this amendment says that there are many, many other Rights that Americans have.
The Ninth Amendment was James Madison’s attempt to ensure that the Bill of Rights was not seen as granting to the people of the United States only the specific rights it addressed.
In recent years, some have interpreted it as affirming the existence of such “unenumerated” rights outside those expressly protected by the Bill of Rights.
-Legal Information Institute
The FDA example.
For instance… consider this RIGHT that is not enumerated within the Constitution;
The RIGHT to eat and drink whatever you want.
Or, in other words, the RIGHT to take what ever medicine or substance and ingest it. If you want to drink alcohol, then the government should not get involved. If you want to smoke crazy-weed, it’s none of the government’s business. I you wanted to take a large dosage of vitamin “D”, go ahead.
That’s what freedom is all about.
A person living in freedom, as delineated by the Ninth Amendment would not have to contend with…
Regulations on “Obama-School-Lunch” composition.
All FDA restrictions, and drug schedules.
Regulations on the manufacture of home-made moonshine.
Regulations on “Magic Mushrooms”, “demon weed”, and “tobacco”.
Even, regulations on eating Tide Pod’s.
Freedom, real freedom, is the ability to enjoy or even harm yourself unencumbered by laws, regulation, or the busybody next door.
Thus, I argue, that the Ninth Amendment clearly says that the RIGHT to eat and drink what you want shall not be restricted, infringed or forbidden by the government.
Thus, the enormous federal bureaucracy (the FDA) that restricts access to food, drugs, and drinks DOES NOT CONSTITUTIONALLY HAVE THE POWER to ban, restrict or reduce access to anything. The only power that they have is advisory.
Or, are you going to use the twisted logic that banning access to local plants falls under the “commerce clause” in the Constitution?
Ah. I can hear the squeals from the busybodies in the audience! Look over there… Jeff Sessions is really going to clamp down on that “demon weed”, and look over there…! Nancy Pelosi is all hot and bothered…”what about the children?”!!!!
Today, we need the Ninth Amendment more than ever before. With larger and larger number of Radical Muslims taking seats in Congress, it won’t be long until pork products will be banned in America, and Islamic food preparation methods will be mandated across the land.
People, the government is NOT our parents.
The United States government was intended to be a mechanism of government, a machine that we the people controlled. Why in Heaven’s name would we create a government that would hurt, harm or restrict our Rights? Hum?
Another Example, the EPA…
Today, most Americans have no idea what the concept of “property” means. They think it is a house. A house that you make mortgage payments to a bank, and yearly tax checks to the government. A house that when you die, your heirs must fight the government to determine how of of “your” property you get to keep in the family.
Nonsense!
Property is anything that you own that no-one can tax, regulate, inspect, investigate, or seize.
Under that definition, most Americans don’t have any property.
It’s true, and I don’t want to rub your face in the doggie-do-do, but that’s a fact. Everything that you “own” can today be seized, inspected, or taxed by the all powerful United States government. Including your very own body. Everything.
And, since you don’t own anything, the government can tell you what you can or cannot do with it. People, if you actually owned property, no one could tell you what to do with it, nor could they tax it either.
Not making a pond, cutting down a tree, or growing grass
I argue that the Ninth Amendment protects your RIGHTS to own property.
The RIGHT to own property that cannot be taxed, inspected, regulated or seized by any government agent.
Which brings me to one of the favorite militarized branches of the progressive left; the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Or, are you going to use the twisted logic that telling you what you can do on your property falls under the “commerce clause” in the Constitution?
Rights retained by the people.
The Federalists contended that a bill of rights was unnecessary. They believed that everyone understood that God made man and gave him Rights. Therefore, we could have a kind and just government that did not need to enumerate any Rights given by God. They believed that the government would always protect the Rights of man.
Such fools. Such simpletons!
They argued that if you started to list the Rights given to man by God, that you would have to list every single Right. Or else the government would insist that only those Rights listed would count as Rights.
Well, they were correct. That is how the government works today.
Madison adverted to this argument in presenting his proposed amendments to the House of Representatives. He said…
“It has been objected also against a bill of rights, that, by enumerating particular exceptions to the grant of power, it would disparage those rights which were not placed in that enumeration; and it might follow by implication, that those rights which were not singled out, were intended to be assigned into the hands of the General Government, and were consequently insecure.
This is one of the most plausible arguments I have ever heard against the admission of a bill of rights into this system; but, I conceive, that it may be guarded against. I have attempted it, as gentlemen may see by turning to the last clause of the fourth resolution.”
It is clear from its text and from Madison’s statement that the Amendment states are but a rule of construction. He made clear that a Bill of Rights might not by implication be taken to increase the powers of the national government. Whether it was in areas not enumerated, or in any other fashion. Further, the simplicity of the amendment, does not contain within itself any guarantee of a Right or a proscription of an infringement of a Right.
In 1965 the Amendment was construed to be positive affirmation of the existence of rights which are not enumerated but which are nonetheless protected by other provisions.
Justice Goldberg devoted several pages to the Ninth Amendment in one of her rulings…
“The language and history of the Ninth Amendment reveal that the Framers of the Constitution believed that there are additional fundamental rights, protected from governmental infringement, which exist alongside those fundamental rights specifically mentioned in the first eight constitutional amendments. . . .
To hold that a right so basic and fundamental and so deep-rooted in our society as the right of privacy in marriage may be infringed because that right is not guaranteed in so many words by the first eight amendments to the Constitution is to ignore the Ninth Amendment and to give it no effect whatsoever.
Moreover, a judicial construction that this fundamental right is not protected by the Constitution because it is not mentioned in explicit terms by one of the first eight amendments or elsewhere in the Constitution would violate the Ninth Amendment. . . .
Nor do I mean to state that the Ninth Amendment constitutes an independent source of right protected from infringement by either the States or the Federal Government.
Rather, the Ninth Amendment shows a belief of the Constitution’s authors that fundamental rights exist that are not expressly enumerated in the first eight amendments and an intent that the list of rights included there not be deemed exhaustive.”
- 381 U.S. at 488, 491, 492. Chief Justice Warren and Justice Brennan joined this opinion. Justices Harlan and White concurred, id. at 499, 502, without alluding to the Ninth Amendment, but instead basing their conclusions on substantive due process, finding that the state statute “violates basic values implicit in the concept of ordered liberty” (citing Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319, 325 (1937)). Id. at 500.
Therefore, although neither Douglas’ nor Goldberg’s opinion sought to make the Ninth Amendment a substantive source of constitutional guarantees. Which is unfortunate. Instead, both read it as indicating a function of the courts to interpose a veto over legislative and executive efforts to abridge other fundamental rights.
Never the less, the text to the Ninth Amendment is quite clear…
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Other Rights that fall under the Ninth Amendment…
Here’s some other Rights that the Ninth Amendment would normally be protecting were it enforced…
Right to Privacy.
The Right to exist.
The Right to own property without infringement.
The Right to eat and drink freely.
Right to Internet Freedom.
Right for the Freedom of Thought.
The Right of DNA privacy.
The Freedom to be forgotten.
The Freedom to be forgiven (Felons).
The Freedom to have opinions.
The Rights of those not yet born.
The Right to be left alone.
All of which were non-enumerated Rights that Americans enjoyed in 1776. Which, unfortunately today, Americans no longer have.
An average citizen here in 1800 would go years, decades even, without seeing one single minion of the federal government, anywhere, not only his entire day, but for his entire life.
- From Aesop at Raconteur Report
Conclusion
I argue that the Ninth Amendment is severely under-utilized.
I further argue that this amendment would render much of the regulatory agencies in the United States obsolete, as they all operate under the assumption that Americans only have enumerated Rights. Not any non-enumerated Rights no matter what the Ninth Amendment says.
The presence of any regulatory agency presupposes that there are ZERO non-enumerated Rights.
Supreme Court decisions that involve the Ninth Amendment have implied that only the enumerated Rights (in the Bill of Rights) are all that is needed for American citizens to have. Their mention of the Ninth Amendment is only in passing without any substantive effect on governance. Hopefully this will change in the future.
That being said. I’m not going to hold my breath. The swamp is big, enormous and very powerful. The ONLY way that the nation can recover from decades upon decades of abuse is to “nuke it from orbit” and start all over fresh.
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
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some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you
might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up
in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society
within communist China. As there are some really stark differences
between the two.
Posts about the Changes in America
America is
going through a period of change. Change is good… that is, after it
occurs. Often however, there are large periods of discomfort as the
period of adjustment takes place. Here are some posts that discuss this
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More Posts about Life
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actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little
different, in subtle ways.
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This article discusses a very uncomfortable point in time. That is when local, state and federal government is no longer in substantive control. It’s a transitional period. It is when one government style fails, and another one takes it’s place. Historically, it is a given development that eventually happens to all nations. All of them. Including the (virginal) United States.
We, as Americans, have never been in this situation.
Because, we and our parents have never experienced it, we think that it will never ever happen to us. As such we tend to laugh, make fun of, and disparage those that argue that it might. We call them “radical preppers”, “members of the tin-foil-hat army”, and “uni-bomber wanna-bes”. Other terms that come to mind include “fruit cake” and “bonkers”.
The argument is always like this;
“First of all, America is large, modern, and well managed. Societal collapse only happens to mismanaged tyrannies. It never happens to an advanced “democracy” like the United States.”
(Yes, I know that United States was formed as a Republic. Most Americans don’t know this. Which is why the statement is in quotations.)
“Second of all, the American people ARE the government. If their elected representatives fall in love with tyranny, the American people will vote them out of office. The American people are far too strong. They have guns. They (the government) will NEVER try to seize them. After all, the argument goes, “When they come to my front porch, I’ll teach them a lesson or two.”
The bravado is laudable.
The time is rapidly coming when we’re going to have to "open the ammo box".
And so what, exactly? Take them out of the box, shine them up, and put them back in the box? Because that is what's been happening for decades now. Conservative keep saying "don't cross this line in the sand", yet don't realize the cliff behind them is one more line in the sand away. Getting tired of all of this bragging about firing back when not one damn thing has been done since forever.
"...first, the French traffic fines are ubiquitous, and the government has set the stage for this by ramping them up. The fines are very high: $70 just for going as little as a single kilometer over the speed limit on a first offense, and as the tourist boards show, oh, yes, they do issue them – and hunt you into the grave to get them. They even fine people for having red light camera-detectors – $32,000, two years' jail, and three years' license suspension. They've also reduced the speed limit, even in rural areas, where higher speeds are a necessity, to one size fits all for geographically diverse, "246 kinds of cheese" France, all in the name of "safety," or as the Brits would say, "your own good..."
The term “collapse” can mean many things. To some people it might mean [1] a scene out of a science fiction movie where there is a total breakdown in all governmental functions. Sort of like a scene from the television show “The Walking Dead”, so (in other words) a zombie movie.
Oh, it might seem all fun and games. But, the real deal will be anything but fun. Think of starvation, sleeping wet and cold with a high fever. Consider your friends and loved ones dead or dying. A real apocalypse will not be pretty.
To others [2] , it might mean that there is a revolution and a period of confusion where local, state and federal government services are disjointed and confused. Think of the French Revolution, or what happened to Nicolae Ceausescu,the dictator of Romania.
There are elements of progressive liberal socialists that are earnestly trying to foment this kind of revolutionary change. They have been weaned in the belief that they, somehow, will become in control. As if revolution is some kind of real-life first-person-shooter. It isn’t.
To still others [3] it might mean the collapse in the stock market and a plummeting in the value of the US Dollar as a means of commerce.
Never a good thing, the United States has been artificially manipulated with a serious of “bubbles”. Sooner or later, these “bubbles” will need to contract. It will not be good for anyone, or any business tied to the stock market.
There is a great deal of variation on what a “collapse” is depending on your social status, your financial situation, your geographical region, and your source of income. Therefore, to be inclusive, I use this term here very broadly.
It is a [1] period of “discomfort” where the established “normal” way of life is altered in some fashion. It is altered because the government is undergoing a change or revision of some sort.
This will be accompanied with [2] either a loss of possessions, Rights or abilities, and / or an increase in restrictions of some form or the other.
Finally, it will include [3] a defanging of the population in some manner. Whether it is the outlawing of weapons, the rewriting of the second amendment or some kind of rule(s) that make it difficult for the American citizen to redress any kind of grievances. This will be especially true when fraud, deception and crimes make the Constitutionally prescribed avenues of redress insignificant.
Kevin D. Williamson: They watched crimes being committed and did nothing. Madeleine Kearns: How do the police balance peacekeeping with First Amendment rights? Kevin D. Williamson: There isn’t anything unpeaceable about the exercise of First Amendment rights. I don’t care for mass protests myself — a large crowd of people all facing one direction and chanting seems to me more properly part of a religious exercise than a political one. But if that’s your thing, then by all means go and bark at the moon. But when people start blocking traffic, pounding on the hoods of cars, damaging property, committing assaults, that’s a different thing. And I don’t think there’s really much of a First Amendment issue presented by policing ordinary crime when that crime happens in the course of a political action.
The “collapse” will be a period of great discomfort for the bulk of Americans.
Depending on your circumstances, you might find anything from progressive socialists unhappy that they cannot get their moca-frappa-latte at Starbucks, to suburban white families starving in the streets. The “collapse” will mean different things for different people. It’s up to you, the reader, to ascertain what it will mean for you and your family.
A notorious, vicious drunk, Johnson had himself filmed as he ordered his men to torture Doe. While he sat behind a desk with two open cans of Budweiser beer, a young woman fanning him from behind, Johnson ordered his men to strip Doe. The portly president kneeled before Johnson in his underwear, quivering, sobbing, begging. Johnson’s men hacked off his ears. Blood poured down his torso. Doe’s body was later found dumped outside a medical clinic.
Based upon history, the resolutionwill not be based on compromise, civility, reason, or peaceful means. The combustible combination of unpayable debt, civic anarchy, and global chaos are set to detonate, creating an era of maximum darkness, death, destruction, and decisions.
Making America Great Again will require personal sacrifice, dreadful choices, survival skills, intelligent decisions, and the courage to win at all costs.
What I refer to as “the collapse” goes by different terms and conventions depending who you might talk to. Some call this “The Fourth Turning” which refers to the theory of generational change. Others refer to this in a more visceral way, referring to it as the SHTF (The Shit hits The Fan.). Still others simply refer to this as “The Collapse”, or “The Event”. Other terms include…
The Collapse
A Generational Reset
A Revolution of the People
A Restructuring of Society
The Event
The Fourth Turning
SHTF
For Americans, there will not be any clear and defined point in time when The Event happens. In general, that will be the point in time when the government goes blatantly rogue. The key word here is “blatantly”.
I argue that this will occur when the FBI becomes autonomous and tries to seize control of the government.
I argue that this will occur when the Judges will become obstacles to normal government operations.
I argue that this will occur when the election system is so broken that widespread fraud is reported without consequence in the media and zero action is taken to correct it.
I argue that this is a point in time when seditious activities are not only discussed openly, but applauded as future events.
I argue that WE ARE THERE now.
However, others disagree. They point out that the ballot harvesting to change the vote tallies in California (and flip 40 some districts) is inconsequential. They argue that it is fine to have an FBI conducting a coup against the President. They suggest that when SHTF occurs they will know about it. They suggest that the stock market is the true and ONLY indicator of The Event.
Maybe.
>>This isn’t merely a question for Trump supporters, but for anyone who still thinks that a political system that isn’t completely run by thugs, with only a simulacrum of democracy as window dressing, is something worth trying to maintain and improve. <<
It is a fool’s errand to attempt to save the Union. The ideological gap between left and right is far to wide to ever bridge. They are polar opposites.
The best we can hope for is an amicable split. Fredrick Douglas wondered if the US is just to large an area to be governed by one central government in Washington. It is, a “one size fits all” system is not working
The sooner the majority of people in this country realize that and start the process of diving the nation in a peaceful manner, the better. Otherwise, we will continue our slow decent into hell.
I argue that The Event will not be televised. I argue that CNN will not have discussion boards of “experts” debating back and forth about the implications of “The Event”. I argue that many things are going on in secret and behind the scenes, and the bulk of Americans will be unaware of what is going on until it is too late.
The ruling class will not accept the outcome of any presidential election it does not win. Trump notwithstanding, this class will rule as it has in the past three years. So long as its hold on American institutions continues to grow, and they retain millions of clients, elections won’t really matter. Our country is in a state of revolution, irreversibly, because society’s most influential people have retreated into moral autarchy, have seceded from America’s constitutional order, and because they browbeat their socio-political adversaries instead of trying to persuade them. Theirs is not a choice that can be reversed. Our ultimate objective is peace, but what kind of peace we may get depends on the extent to which we may compel our enemies to leave us in peace. And for that, we must do unto them more and before they do unto us.
-Codevilla
I argue that this upcoming event was long planned, and while the timeline is offset by the election of Donald Trump, the process and procedure is still in place. Some elements have advanced, and some were stymied. Never the less, the event will go as planned.
“During every stage, the process of imposing tyranny by stealth is cloaked with a veneer of bogus legality. But thanks to the vision and wisdom of our founding fathers, our liberty has two clear and unbreakable lines of defense: the First and Second Amendments.”
I actually read the EU Constitution once...out of curiosity. I wondered how ours can be so short, and if followed, is a remarkable instrument. So when I read it, I was appalled at it. It is written in legalese, and panders to nearly every damn protected group.
It is a body of unelected bureaucrats. When I heard that the UK was going to leave it, I was elated because most people there don’t realize what a bullet missed them if they do manage to withdraw. But I think they won’t. They have their own deep state as well.
- 1/13/2019, 2:42:54 PM by rlmorel
So far it has been a very slow and long drawn out process.
We have become acclimatized to the idea that it is “normal” for our government to be rogue. While there is an obvious “deep state”, and an obvious state of political corruption, there still remains elements of the government that (at least on the surface) maintain the form of decorum and principle. Some.
It’s all “crazy talk”
With the declarations of sanctuary, the governor of California has already seceeded.
The President should invade California with US Army troops, capture the entire government and downgrade the state to federally controlled Territorial status. In so doing, the entire congressional and senate delegations would cease to exist. The territorial border can be placed under firm military control .
As such, we have become acclimatized and accustomed to the government being dysfunctional. Just like we think nothing of getting undressed to board a airplane, pissing in a cup to get a job, or giving out our social security number to every Tom, Dick and Harry that asks for it. We, for the most part, have truly forgotten the foundational principles of liberty that America was founded upon.
We could speak our minds.
We could defend ourselves, our families, and our livelihood.
We we free of taxation.
Our personal matters were private, and kept that way.
We never had to change our behaviors for any reason.
We never had to report to any government official.
We were never forced to buy or purchase anything.
The “good old days” are now gone. We are currently in a transitional nightmare as our Republic barrels down headlong towards a tyrannical progressive socialist dictatorship.
As such, there are elements within government, and their political circles, that want to continue this process and exacerbate it to a fruitful (to them) conclusion. They look forward to the day when they have full aristocratic control of the reigns of power over Americans. They look forward to the day when the populace can be disarmed like the Australians or the Brits, and then implement the (already planned) policies that will merge America into a borderless global “utopia”.
One, of course, ruled by them. And, of course, where everyone else is absolutely and positively controlled by them.
Trump also speaks for the working class dismissed by Democrats as the “Trump Deplorables.” It is the working class that has paid for “globalism” and trade deals by having their jobs given to foreigners.
The way America is ruled, it benefits the One Percent with crumbs spilling down to the top 10 percent. No one else benefits.
Trump is a multi-billionaire who aligned with working Americans. That’s how he got elected. I remember driving through working class neighborhoods and seeing only Trump signs. That’s when I knew he would be elected.
The Democrats have abandoned the working class and the poor for Wall Street money. Bill Clinton and Hillary showed them the way.
- Paul Craig Roberts
To them, they see various elements of success in other nations. They note how easy it was to disarm Australians and Brits. They note how difficult it is for Britain to leave the EU. They note how Brussels has control over other NATO signed nations and are doing things that their civilian population loathe. They are emboldened by this knowledge.
The End Game
Now, what will happen, the one thing that just about everyone can agree upon, is there will be a point in time when the government “takes charge“. This point in time will mean different things depending on the philosophy of the people yearning for it.
To the Conservatives, this means when the Constitution will be followed. The American people would get their Rights returned back to them. The government would greatly shrink in size, the taxes would decrease and the global endless series of wars would end. To many conservative, it seemed like the election of Donald Trump would be the start of a long process where this could actually reverse centuries of corruption.
To the Progressive Socialists, this means when a (parental) socialist government rewrites the Constitution. A “nanny state” would control all the citizenry in benevolence. They would tell us what to eat, how to dress, how to act and how to behave. The rulers would be perfect and benevolent. In their minds they see Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders as leading this effort. They see them handing out favors to “the blessed ones”, and dishing out punishments to those undeserving.
A black uprising led by Kanye West has struck fear into the hearts of Democrats, giving them further incentive to keeping the southern border open to new Democrat voters. With gun grabbing liberal politicians attempting to disarm the deplorables in flyover country, while supporting antifa and black lives matter terrorists, and thwarting efforts to keep criminals and terrorists from illegally entering the country, a violent showdown is inevitable.
In the case of the Tyrannical Progressive Left, this means when the Bill of Rights is no longer considered an obstacle to the desires of those in power. It would be destroyed and in it’s place would be a Bill of Privileges that are things granted tot he citizens by the ruling elite. They hold a very dangerous and radical agenda that is in alignment with Pol Pot, and views the actions of Hitler and Stalin to be amateurish.
On the more normal political front, I spoke with a local union leader who gave me some pretty good insight on how the Trump phenomenon had radicalized her membership. The thing about places like Portland and San Francisco is that they aren’t nice. They have a reputation for being wooly and hippieish and silly, but they are in fact very angry places, full of very angry people. They are also highly segregated places in ways that the South and Southwest really aren’t. Angry white people with money make the world go ’round, apparently.
We can see this happening all around us… in little drips and dabs, depending on what is reported to us and what isn’t. The Bill of Rights has been so rewritten to be nearly meaningless to the average American citizen…
Political Correctness is an affront to the First Amendment.
Every “Gun Control” bill is an affront to the Second Amendment.
Even the Third Amendment is under assault. And the judges now say that it is not a Personal Right. Maybe they should read the preamble to the Bill of Rights.
They say that “No Knock Raids” do not violate the Fourth Amendment…
Etc. Etc. Etc…
The Tattered Constitution
Madeleine Kearns: You’ve written that Portland’s mayor is partly responsible. In terms of policy — what do you think could be done? Kevin D. Williamson: He might consider asking the police officers who work for him to enforce the law. Madeleine Kearns: In what way were the anti-fascist protesters you saw fascists? Kevin D. Williamson: They are the American Left’s answer to the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, down to the penchant for black shirts. They perform the same function: using violence and intimidation to silence political opposition and to terrorize the political opposition. “Fascist” is a notoriously difficult word to define, but they are as close to a textbook case as you are going to find. Madeleine Kearns: You write that their “idol is the proletariat rather than the nation.” Could you please unpack that? Kevin D. Williamson: Utopian political movements — and all totalitarian movements are basically utopian — love the world, except for all the people in it. They all are antiliberal and they all seek to degrade the individual and individualism. Their liturgy requires an object of adoration, and it’s usually the same object: the People, or, as American populists like to put it, We the People. For traditional nationalists, it’s the Nation in abstract and idealized form; for socialists, it’s always been the proletariat, who apparently are the only people included in the People. If you’re acting in the name of the People, you can brutalize persons. The interests of the People require a gulag, the interests of the People require a death camp, and if the people have to suffer for the People, then so be it.
All of these events, these terrible terrible events that we are tired hearing about, and which anger us so are really just symptoms. They are just a multitude of small bites, snips, nips and tears at the Constitution. It has been going on for a very long time, and while many people are aware of it, and frustrated by it, we prefer to believe that the bare bones of the Constitution will still remain intact.
It is like an army of little “piranha fish” are tearing the very fabric of the Constitution and doing so unopposed. Our elected officials either support their efforts, or shiver under their desks in fear.
We believe that all these little nips and tears at the fabric of the Constitution will either eventually end, out of exhaustion, or maybe some strong lawman might step in and take control. Maybe some day, we all collectively hope.
Well, I hate to bust your collective bubble. It’s not going to happen.
What will happen is that there will be a point in time that the “piranha fish” that are tearing at the Constitution will eventually hit the bare bones, the fundamental bedrock of the Constitution. There will be no meat left, and only one final step will need to take place.
That final step will require a bigger fish with the jaws that can break up the bones into tiny bite sized pieces. This bigger “fish” must make it’s appearance. For all the actions and activities of the progressive left are counting on this big fish event.
The Handover
Now, that being said, the big turning point will be when there are [1] organized door-to-door collections of either firearms or firearm accessories.
Other elements that we can look forward to, in prelude to this collection activity will include; [2] Laws for registration of firearms, [3] laws for collection of selected ammo, or firearm parts, [4] registration of guns or their owners and of course [5] the mainstream blanket reporting supporting the collection of firearms.
It is already happening…
Two police officers ordered to remove firearms from a house on a “red flag” protective order fatally shot an armed man Monday morning in Ferndale, Maryland, police said.
Anne Arundel County Police arrived at the house at 5:17 a.m. to remove guns from the home. This was under a new law that allows for the seizure of firearms if a person shows “red flags” that they are a danger to themselves or others.
- November 2018. The Baltimore Sun. More information can be found HERE.
Already there are articles and articles supporting that notion that disarming people makes for a more peaceful world. Such as this nonsense from VOX. Aside from the onslaught of propaganda, there are many people who actually believe that disarming people, and letting the “government” take “parental-style” control over everything will bring about paradise.
A New Jersey law that makes it a felony to possess a gun magazine capable of holding over 10 rounds of ammunition is now active. This wildly unconstitutional law instantly criminalizes hundreds of thousands of New Jersey citizens who legally acquired normal capacity firearms magazines — which include 17-round pistol magazines and 30-round rifle magazines — as tools of self-defense against the very same violent criminals that are protected by the Democrats who passed the gun magazine ban.
Now, the New Jersey State Police have told Breitbart News they won’t rule out “house-to-house enforcement” of the new magazine ban, meaning they plan to conduct house-to-house arrests and gun magazine confiscations. These Nazi-style anti-gun operations will, of course, be carried out at gunpoint, further underscoring the entire purpose of the Second Amendment and the need for citizens to arm themselves with 30-round magazines to defend against government tyranny.
“Breitbart News contacted New Jersey State Police on Monday to ask how they planned to enforce the newly enacted ban,” reports Breitbart.com. “The NJ State Police refused to rule out house-to-house checks. Rather, they responded: ‘We do not discuss enforcement strategies.’”
The very reason citizens need 30-round magazines is because the government wants to use coercion and the threat of violence to take away their legally-acquired firearms and magazines. If citizens surrender 30-round magazines, the next step will be New Jersey banning all magazines, followed by the banning of all semi-automatic firearms. Almost overnight, citizens of New Jersey will find themselves living under an authoritarian regime of pure tyranny and lawlessness… with no means to defend themselves against the state, which will then have a monopoly on effective firearms. This is a repeat of Nazi Germany, which disarmed the Jews before mass murdering six million of them.
It’s so much easier to murder people, after all, when the government disarms them first. And anyone going along with the disarmament is signing their own death warrant.
Those owning the last obstacle to tyrannical control; firearms will be defied and spoken of in the pejorative.
This has been going on for decades, and there is a systematic process that is being honed every few years using “crisis actors”, a easily controlled media, and selective reporting. Today, an event and an anti-gun narrative can be concocted at the flip of a switch.
Remember, boys and girls, the monied elite; the oligarchy has everything all planned out. They fund the politicians and the insurgents. Certainly you can recall this, can’t you…
These events have been planned years ahead of time. When things do not go the way as planned, other elements already in place, still must proceed. The result being a very odd juxtaposition of mainstream media confusion and a bid thud in the people’s reaction.
Do not be under the impression that the 2017 Las Vegas shooting was random. It wasn’t. It was planned months earlier, if not years. There is ALWAYS a mass shooting within the first six months of a Democrat Presidents election. It happened with Bill Clinton, it happened with Barrack Obama, and it was planned for Hillary Clinton. In this case it was a “dud”, as she wasn’t elected. Donald Trump was elected President instead.
However, in 2017, with Donald Trump as president, only half of the anti-gun “machine” could be actuated.
In Australia, it was the "Port Arthur rampage" which prompted a severe crackdown on firearms that saw more than 640,000 weapons turned in to authorities. The Australian government subsequently introduced the National Firearms Agreement — legislation that outlawed automatic and semi-automatic rifles, as well as pump-action shotguns. A nationwide gun buyback scheme also saw more than 640,000 weapons turned in to authorities.
This is a reminder for those of you who still don’t “get it”. Those who are in positions of power in the Untied States have got there, not by luck, but being skilled in the means of deception. They are experts at deceit. They will do [1] what ever is necessary, and [2] use enormous piles of money, [3] mass group manipulation, [4] laws, and [5] states of emergency to disarm Americans.
This is because an armed populace is the only thing that is really stopping them from complete and total control.
(It seems kind of silly, doesn’t it? I mean, don’t they all have enough riches and wealth already? Don’t they have enough power already? What more power could they ever possibly want or even need? – But that’s not the issue is it. Greed, and power are vices that can never be satiated, or satisfied.)
There has been a long-term effort by “the powers that be” to disarm Americans. They are active in both political parties, with a near-complete stranglehold in the Democratic party. Thus, whenever a Democratic President is elected a system of events converge to create a favorable environment for total and complete gun confiscation.
The election of Hillary Clinton was to have solidified the anti-gun movement and resulted in the destruction of the second amendment. With an immediate effort to seize all privately owned firearms.
The plan was to have a virtual smorgasbord of firearms involved in the shooting, thus the effort would be to have a wide swath of firearms banned from public access. (Ah, certainly the reader can remember the wide selection of firearms that the shooter had amassed, both at home and the 24 planned-to-be-banned weapons in his hotel room? The “talking heads” openly wondered aloud why he carried so many firearms up to the hotel room with him. When the reality is that it would support a wide-ranging and all-inclusive gun-ban narrative that was set up and in place prior to launch.)
Poor Hillary Clinton. Plans don't always work out the way they were planned. Hillary Clinton should well take solace in the Beer Hall Putsch.
The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed coup d'état that occurred on November 9, 1923, when the Nazi party's leader Adolf Hitler, the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, and other leaders of the Kampfbund, unsuccessfully tried to gain power in Munich, Bavaria, and Germany.
While I have no idea how this was supposed to manifest, I strongly suspect that it involved a liberal leaning supreme court. One that would be put in place by Hillary Clinton.
Thus, it was expected that the Supreme Court would rule that the second amendment was not an “individual right”, but rather a “right of government”. As bastardized as this would be, this is how I think it was supposed to manifest.
Donald Trump’s Election only postponed the banning of firearms
I hate to break this news to you all, but history is pretty darn clear on this. When the oligarchy wants something done, they will push and push until it is accomplished. As such, let me tell you this. They WILL disarm Americans. At least most Americans. It might not happen this week, or next month, but it will happen.
The next Democrat President, no matter what they promise, will effectively ban the private citizen ownership of firearms.
Firearm collection and banning WILL happen in the United States.
In case I am not clear, I will repeat. You might want to believe that you can stand your ground. You might think that you have inalienable Rights. You might think that you have the law on your side. You might think all of this.
The reality is not like some rock-music video “when the bullet hits the bone”, but rather when the polite police man tells you to turn around and put your hands behind your back. He will tell you to turn your wrists to make it easier to put the icy cold stainless-steel handcuffs on. Or he might use wire-ties if they are going to stop at multiple houses.
You won’t dash back into your house to grab your .30-30, or .303. It won’t be a scene from “The Walking Dead”, or an event where you will act like 007 or Jason Bourne. Nope. As soon as you step outside your front door, armored military vehicles will swarm all over your property.
They will tear up your rose bushes, knock down your shrubs, and block your access out of the driveway. There will be snipers and secondary SWAT team members at the rear of your house, and they will tumble out of the vehicles wearing black, with armor and Kevlar vests. They will have fully automatic weapons, wear combat helmets, and will be pointing the weapons at you and your family.
If your dog starts barking, or leaps at them, it will be killed. Your children will start crying, and everyone will be on edge. Oh sure, they will have a warrant, though they really don’t need it. It’s all a formality, anyways…
The Rulers think differently than the rabble
Firstly, you need to unlearn all what you have read about in History and Civics class. The Constitution and the Government only works in certain ways depending on who runs it.
Today we have a massive “deep state” that operate in ways beneficial for the state apparatus and the oligarchy that control their leadership. What the Constitution says and what you have learned is meaningless.
Many rulers, once they get the strings of power interpret the Constitution to their own personal benefit. This is a basic fact, one that the founders of the United States recognized, but one that we the people have forgotten. Leaders interpret the Constitution however they want it to be used. It’s not just American political leadership that does this, but foreign leaders as well.
Consider Hitler. So did Idi Amin. So does Nicolás Maduro Moros in Venezuela. So does Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa. What do they all have in common?
The law is what ever they say it is.
When a new prisoner arrived at Ravensbrück she was required to wear a colour-coded triangle (a winkel) that identified her by category, with a letter sewn within the triangle indicating the prisoner’s nationality.
For example, Polish women wore red triangles, denoting a political prisoner, with a letter “P”. (By 1942, Polish women became the largest national component at the camp.)
Soviet prisoners of war, and German and Austrian Communists also wore red triangles; common criminals wore green triangles; and Jehovah’s Witnesses were labelled with lavender triangles.
Prostitutes, Gypsies, lesbians, or women who refused to marry were classified separately, with black triangles. Jewish women wore yellow triangles but sometimes, unlike the other prisoners, they wore a second triangle for the other categories.
When they come to power, and they say that there is a new law that takes away guns, and right or wrong, they will disarm you. They will. And you might not want to face that fact, but they will do so. If you show the slightest hesitation they will kill you and your family.
And you, yes YOU, will cringe in supplication as you hand over your firearms, your ammo, your prized memorabilia to the well-armed SWAT team dressed in black that has a .50 cal machine gun pointed at your family.
They will take them.
And you, out of the concern for your loved ones, will hand them all over.
Gun Confiscation will be the LAST warning sign
It will not be the first. It will not be the only one. Yes, it will not be the only warning sign.
In fact, during the time of collection, the economy will still be humming along. The news papers will still talk about the latest political scandals (of a trivial nature of course), and people will still be watching the movies out of Hollywood. It will seem like an ordinary day.
Any armed resistance to the confiscation efforts will NOT be reported. If anything, they will be under-reported by alternative media and labeled as tin-foil-hat conspiracy stuff, if not blanket shadow-banned by the software conglomerates.
What the collection of the guns and weapons will do, however is enable to the government to stop propping up some unfavorable (to them, in leadership positions of power) politically-dangerous positions. They will no longer need to hold various policy positions. They will no longer need to give lip-service to certain programs or actions, or even rules of law. They will be free to implement their long-kept secret plans…
These plans were kept secret for a series of reasons.
Typically they are because they would be unpopular, but also because they would be anti-Constitutional. Thus, with the population disarmed, they could implement their full intended agenda. They will then start to announce very unpopular actions, rules, laws, and policies. These polices, rules and laws will be obviously anti-Constitutional.
They will start to implement these polices rapidly, and quickly.
Ravensbrück was the only major women’s concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück.
Construction of the camp began in November 1938 by the order of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler and was unusual in that the camp was intended to hold exclusively female inmates. The facility opened in May 1939 and underwent major expansion following the invasion of Poland. Between 1939 and 1945, some 130,000 to 132,000 female prisoners passed through the Ravensbrück camp system; around 40,000 were Polish and 26,000 were Jewish from all countries including Germany,18,800 Russian; 8,000 French, and 1,000 Dutch.
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, about 50,000 of them perished from disease, starvation, overwork and despair; some 2,200 were killed in the gas chambers.
Only 15,000 of the total survived until liberation. According to Britannica, on 29–30 April 1945 some 3,500 female prisoners were still alive in the main camp. Although the inmates came from every country in German-occupied Europe, the largest single national group incarcerated in the camp consisted of Polish women.
Within a half of a year, once the policies are enacted, various segments of society will start to fall apart. I cannot predict what will happen to the “neck of the woods” where the reader lives. As the collapse will be gradual… it will be regional… and it will be under-reported.
I will stress… it will be under-reported, if reported at all.
A Period of Discomfort
In my understanding, there will be some periods of discomfort in the United States. It should peak in the middle 2020’s and be resolved by 2030 or so. So, we can expect a climax to this current Crisis sometime in the 2025 range. The question for us, at this time, is what events will transpire between 2019 and 2025 (the six years) before a climax is reached.
The level of discomfort will vary from person to person depending on where they live, their support network, and their degree of preparation.
Of course, what do I know? I am often wrong, and I have made mistakes. I am sure that at any time now, the progressive liberal socialists might mellow out and have a breather. They might calm down and stop their attacks on president Trump, mitigate their politically correct arguments, and take a step backwards from their more radical elements.
They might, you know. It is a possibility.
I however am not discussing the world of rainbows, and prancing unicorns in fields of lollipops and free “medical” marijuana for everyone. No, I am discussing what happens when the worst fears actually materialize. I am discussing what MIGHT happen.
This period of discomfort might vary from person to person. I rather doubt that everyone would experience the same level of discomfort.
For some, it might mean only that the value of their stocks have decreased. For others, it might mean that they might have to alter their way of life as their standard of living has changed. Some people and families might find that it is more difficult to drive around in their cars. Others might discover that their favorite foods are more difficult to obtain. Still others might discover that there just isn’t any work, or that the social-support functions of government has collapsed.
Yet, and for others, it might mean something quite grim.
These kinds of societal evolution can get very ugly. We know what happened during the purges by Stalin in the Soviet Union, we know what happened during the American civil war. We know what happened when Mr. Mao came to power in China. We know what happened in Bosnia. We well remember the French Revolution.
Here we look at the grim side of change.
In the United States, there are forces that are pumping money and chomping at the bit for radical change. Unless some real substantive action takes place, and does so quickly, there will be some difficult times ahead.
Described in detail here…
My Advice
I do not know the future. I only know about trends. From where I sit, I can easily see and forecast a confluence of events. I advise prudence and firstly, [1] suggest the reader to plan a long-term strategy to leave any progressive-socialist strongholds that they might (presently) unfortunately live within. This might require a job or career change. This might require a downsizing of possessions and housing. This will require a change in lifestyle. While initially discomforting, it will be advantageous in the longer term.
Since, any major governmental related crisis will probably involve the defanging of the population, and would advise steps be taken to minimize the governmental neutering of you and your family. To this end, I also suggest [2] during your relocation obtain weapons that the government cannot confiscate. As they will have no knowledge of them.
These weapons should be practical, and they should be something that you are trained and skilled in using. Hopefully they will never be needed. However, you should plan on using it against intruders at close range, firstly. In this regard, a 10 ga shotgun is preferable to a .303 scoped rifle. A 30 round SLS or AK-47 clone would be preferable to a match-grade .22 long rifle. You might also want to have a weapon that can use the same kind of ammo that state police, and the DHS use.
"And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?
Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?...
The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt!
If...if...We didn't love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation.... We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Learn from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. They permitted the government to take them away from their families, take away their freedom and destroy their lives because they relied on the news media to report on the actions of the government. Don’t make the same mistake.
The Event will NOT BE REPORTED.
You will more than likely be unprepared for the SHTF when it occurs. There will not be a Paul Revere galloping from house to house warning you. It will hit you and your family by surprise.
The “bullet won’t hit the bone”, you will be in wireties before you realize what is going on.
Thirdly [3], hide and secure these weapons. Tell no one where they are. Not your spouse, or your children. They (your family members) will tend to place confidence in friends and associates without the realization how deadly serious this issue can be. Only YOU, and you alone, will know the location. Again, tell NO ONE that you have any weapons hidden. It is a secret that you cannot share with anyone.
For storage, I would suggest packing them in grease and then placing them in sturdy PPT packaging and burying them. Place ammo (and a reloading kit) nearby. The idea is to recover them after the bulk of the citizenry is disarmed.
The police, the federal police, and others are trained to search for hidden things. Expect them to ASSUME that you will have some weapons hidden. If you have a history of being a gun collector or one who has an internet history related to prepping or survival, they will start to look for your buried cache. I don’t know what to say about that. Though, a “sacrificial” decoy cache might be a consideration.
As a friendly suggestion, no one ever goes into electrical substations. Whether they are active or inactive. I had a friend who once had a problem with people climbing over his fence and messing with the collection buckets for his maple syrup. So, he started to put “Danger High Voltage” signs all over his property, and layed thick cable here and there. Since then, no one would dare tresspass.
Note that most people would tend to ignore a cement wall, or cesspool, or cemented over driveway.
Finally [4], tell no one about your plans, or why you relocate. No one will agree with you or believe you. Just move to a safer area and tell others that the reason was economic. Do not tell them about your worries. Tell others that you are moving for a better life. Most people will accept this as a valid excuse. In general, heed my advice, AVOID urban areas.
Now is the time to prepare. Not after things start to really go downhill. I pray. I hope. I wish that things will never get as bad as I warn against. However, history says otherwise.
The Core Article
This article was inspired and based upon the writings of a Mr. Selco from Venezuela. They come from his article titled ” These are the signs the SHTF are real“. Yes, I know, Venezuela is not Hattiesburg, Mississippi or Framingham, Massachusetts. However, he is relating events that occurred recently when the progressive socialist government effectively disarmed the populace and started implementing their own brutal policies.
So while his experiences represent another nation, another society and another culture, the reader should pay attention. People are people. Nations follow basic rules of ascendancy and decline, and politicians are politicians no matter where their offices are.
Learn from his experiences. Here is his comments highlighted in color. Comments on it are my own.
How do you know if the SHTF is actually here? One of the cornerstones
of survival is how to recognize that a situation has gone so bad that
the S is truly going to hit the fan.
Basically, we are talking how to recognize that it is time to bug out or hunker down because it is going to be (really) bad.
I call it “survival mode” (no, it is not invented by me), and it means that you at some point based on your own observations, feelings, the situation around you, events, etc. going to are going to jump into that mode where you gonna implement actions based on different priorities than everyday life. It is personal but it may include:
no longer going to work and school
bugging out
bugging in
using violence on “first shoot, then ask” philosophy
In short, you are putting into action decisions that you prepared for a long time because (the) Shit did hit the fan.
One of the members of the Prep Club FB group
asked a very good question about this, and basically what she asked (in
very shortened version and paraphrased) was: “How am I going to
recognize that it is time to leave my job because the whole situation is
going to s**t?”
The easiest (and pretty lame and lazy) answer is that you need to
leave your job as soon as you see something bad is happening around you,
and go home, bug in, bug out or whatever your plan is.
But it is lame because something bad is happening all the time around
us – people being robbed or killed, folks losing jobs, cars being
stolen, food poisoning, protests, political scandals – not to mention
terrorist attacks happening more often and the migration crisis..
But you still need your job to pay bills. Your kids need to go to school. Violence and bad things are always around us, but that does not mean you’ll have to quit your job and bug out. If you do that, you are achieving nothing.
So we are actually talking here how to recognize the “big event”, a real SHTF event, when you need to jump into that survival mode and stop worrying too much about your regular day-to-day life.
The real fun here is that there is no universal answer. There is no specific point at which you will recognize it, but definitely, there are some things to pay attention to.
So firstly, we must remember the story of the two frogs. because that is exactly where most Americans are today. They have been cooking for decades in water while the congresscritters in Washington D.C. has been turning up the heat.
They have even issued laws, rules of engagement and behaviors to look for that criminalize YOU (the reader). The DHS is not your friend, and these rules are written against YOU for a reason.
Remember the two frogs.
I often refer to this story. It is a great story because it illustrates exactly what is going on in the United States today.
A well-known story is about the two frogs. One is thrown directly into a pot of boiling water, and of course, the frog immediately jumps out of the bowl and runs away.
The other frog is being thrown into a pot of cold water and then water is gradually heated to point of boiling ,and at the end, this frog died.
When the water is gradually heated to the boiling point, the frog does not realize it is gonna die.
Most of us are frogs in a big bowl of water that is gradually heated to the boiling point and let me tell you, that water is getting pretty warm. You really need to be the well-prepared and smart frog to realize that the warm (and maybe pleasant) water is going to be deadly boiling in a very short time.
When the police come to your door, often in the middle of the night, they will seize you. They will cart you and your family away. Trying to explain the Bill of Rights to them will not matter. Trying to explain that you did nothing wrong will not matter. Trying to explain that you have Rights (both State and Federal) and they you want to talk to an attorney WILL NOT MATTER.
When the “Big Event”, the SHTF starts to happen, the world that you thought existed would be long gone.
Get out while the “water is still pleasant”
I believe the term is “strategic relocation”, or in other words, it is moving to an area where the situation going to be better if SHTF. It is not bugging out when SHTF. It takes very carefully planning. You are looking far or new place to live, a job, a good environment for kids, natural resources, and a good home, etc., today while times are still (more or less) normal.
It is quite specific for each person based on the region where you
live, job opportunities, family circumstances and a lot of other things,
but in essence, a few things that I would look for are:
smaller communities
places where you already have some network (family, friends…)
availability of resources ( land, rivers, woods, hunt…)
reasonably far away from big infrastructure
laws that allow you freedom (or absence of restrictions) like farming, weapon carry, homeschooling etc.
Keep in mind that again it is not bugging out, it is living in circumstances where you gonna have a much better starting point when SHTF. You still have to work for a living, and the kids need school etc.
Signs that the SHTF has actually arrived
Collapse is already here Authored by Chris Martenson via PeakProsperity.com, It’s a process, not an event… Many people are expecting some degree of approaching collapse — be it economic, environmental and/or societal — thinking that they’ll recognize the danger signs in time.
As if it will be completely obvious, like a Hollywood blockbuster. Complete with clear warnings from scientists, politicians and the media. And everyone can then get busy either panicking or becoming the plucky heroes.
That’s not how collapse works. Collapse is a process, not an event. And it’s already underway, all around us. Collapse is already here.
As I have already mentioned, I would argue that one of the signs that The Event of the SHTF has started is government mandated firearm collection. Also remember, that IT WILL NOT BE REPORTED UPON.
The first thing to look for is closing or shuttering up of arms dealers or gun stores. Look for ammo drying up. Look for the passage of laws that make owning a gun or a gun magazine illegal. Look for pronouncements that suggest police door to door searches are necessary. Look for mainstream media making heroes out of people who turn in guns, report on people who own guns, or something very similar.
The author continues using his experiences as a guide…
Since most of can not afford “strategic relocation's” we are forced to stay and hope to see on time that S gonna hit the fan, and hopefully jump on time into that survival mode and act accordingly.
I am in the same position.
I am not talking here about obvious signs that something bad has happened, because if you hear a huge explosion and there is no signal on TV suddenly, no internet or electricity, you do not have to be a prepper to realize something bad has happened, and you are already in the middle of it.
Here are some of the signs that the SHTF has actually arrived.
Now the author goes into three things to look for. I only listed one major item. To me, once there is some kind of police-collection of firearms door-to-door, you are in the midst of The Event, or SHTF. He names three things to look forward to…
Freedoms disappear.
Hate and Violence increases in frequency.
Access to news becomes harder.
[1] Freedoms and Rights are disappearing.
Again, this experienced individual is saying the same thing that I am trying to say. Only he is doing it much better than I ever could. His first point is that while there has been a gradual erosion of freedom and Rights, there will be an acceleration of their loss. This will either be overt (such as a government pronouncement) or covert (such as you suddenly need certain types of ID to do things that used to be free.).
You usually feel like your rights and freedoms are something written in stone, and you may be right. But in terms of signs of a coming huge SHTF, keep in mind that when your freedoms and rights that are really important are taken away from you, the S is going to hit the fan soon.
Which is my point about the first and second amendments to the Constitution. The attempts at their suppression will eventually hit a threshold level that will indicate the start of The Event. So far, the progressive left is taking bits and taking nips at them. Eventually their suppression or distortion will be such that it becomes obvious that they no longer exist. Sort of like what happened with the fourth Amendment – the “personal privacy amendment“.
And again probably it is going to happen gradually enough that the majority of folks will not go out on the street to fight for those rights, and also, it may happen in a way that the majority of people will welcome it, under some new laws that “save lives” or “keep them safe” or similar.
But the result is going to be same. Your rights and freedoms are
gonna be taken because you are gonna be easier to manipulate then.
As he stated, your rights will be removed because it will be easier to control and manipulate you. The greatest obstacle to progressive socialist rule is the second amendment. Thus, it will… IT WILL be taken prior to The Event.
[2] Polarization, hate, and violence are on the rise.
Up until Barrack Obama came to power with his progressive liberal socialist agenda, who ever heard about the SJW troops, the BLM, and the Antifa movement? I like to think that they have already met their maximum impact and influence and are now on the wane, but history argues differently. Thus, I must agree with the author, the worse is yet to come.
Expect more angering news, expect more troublesome actions and worrisome activities.
I have mentioned all of that before, more then once, but prior to SHTF it is going to be worse when it comes to hate because again, a lot of stuff you cannot see clearly when you are in a state of hate or fear.
A lot of things can be moving in the background while you are coping with disorder, hate, and violence.
[3] Your access to information will be limited.
Pay attention to you ability to get news. Can you get news on Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. I don’t know about youse guys, but the free flow of information is becoming narrower on the internet.
Your free access to independent information will be “shrunk”.
Independent media will be harder and harder to find, or you will be fooled and you will think that actually, you have access to free information while in reality, it is junk, propaganda.
The shutting down of free media and people who hold information will disappear. These are some of the last signs, and again, most people will welcome it.
Independent media will be almost “demonized”.
Could it Happen Here?
(This section is based off from a contribution from policestateusa.com.)
One of the big arguments against gun confiscation in the United States is that it is an obvious and direct violation of the second amendment to the Bill of Rights. The argument is that it would NEVER happen in the United States because we are protected by the Bill of Rights. This argument is historically wrong.
It has already happened in the United States numerous times..
In 1775, during a time of palpable civil unrest among the colonies, the Massachusetts governor ordered soldiers to confiscate firearms from civilians in the interest of thwarting a rebellion.
In 1861, after rejecting the power of states to peacefully secede from the Union, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act, thus authorizing federal troops to confiscate firearms from civilians in preparation for military reconquest of the South.
In 1890, during the height of the American Indian “relocation” effort, U.S. troops disarmed the Lakota people en masse “for their own safety and protection” as they were corralled into their new home. Most of the tribe was massacred when a deaf Lakota man refused to surrender his rifle to the federal soldiers.
In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt used a foreign attack on an American territory to justify the mass confiscation of guns and other property from thousands of people deemed “enemy aliens” all over the United States. After the confiscation, these disarmed individuals were rounded up and placed in concentration camps.
Watch the behavior of people in the know.
Now, here is where the really good stuff resides. Listen to his story…
I will give you some examples.
I had a friend who worked for the secret police before the war. He ended up in the sieged city together with me.
He did not have a clue that things were gonna get so bad, even with his position and his access to the information. He simply was fed bulls**t by people that he trusted.
On the other hand, I had a friend who, prior to the war was a smuggler of different kind of things from Italy, such as marijuana, electronics, and whatever was popular at that time.
He knew something bad was gonna happen, and he bugged out in time to Italy.
In his “job” he had connections with people who “pushed” things for other people who were pretty powerful criminals. Based on moving on those “goods” and information, he simply concluded something bad was going to happen.
The point here is to keep your ear to the ground and see how things and events are moving around you.
Most probably you are not going to see things coming on TV on mainstream media, but if you have a buddy in the police force who will let you know that a lot of equipment is being delivered to them or a friend in some not “legit” places who can give you good information, you can conclude a lot.
There is no specific advice here, but a network of friends with information from the right places is worth much more than a TV network.
Like I have been saying all along. Do not expect to be informed by the news media, or the internet. Things are planned months or even years in advance. When it happens, you will be the last person to find out.
You may miss the signs. I did.
I have seen all the signs above, and I failed to run.
I ended up right in the middle of SHTF.
It is not only important to see and recognize signs. It is important to believe that it can actually happen. Because after I saw all the signs, I just said to myself, “Oh, it cannot happen here. Somebody somehow is gonna solve everything.”
It is very hard to trust in something that you did not experience before. Only now do I believe that a lot of horrible things are possible.
A big “Thank You” for Mr. Selco
This article was inspired and based upon the writings of a Mr. Selco from Venezuela. They come from his article titled ” These are the signs the SHTF are real“.
I urge all readers to go visit his website as there are other articles from his unique perspective and experience.
My Opinion
Since there were no serious negative ramifications to the massive full-scale vote fraud in the 2018 mid-term elections, we can expect that the progressive socialists will use this technique to turn entire states “blue”. While Donald Trump is indeed very popular, this could have a disastrous effect, and could swing both houses, and even the Presidency towards radical socialism.
Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg will hold out until a democrat President takes the reigns of power, and then assist in a full onslaught of pent-up socialist changes from their bucket list. First on that agenda will be the wide scale disarming of the American populace. Followed shortly with isolation and termination of their enemies.
The time scale for this is 2020. The four year time period of 2020 to 2024 will be a very contentious one. As it is likely to be a motivated radical democrat in control of the White House.
The radicals took control of the House today. Far left anti-Trumpers and open Socialists are now in charge of the US House of Representatives. Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib, an open Israel-hater, was sworn in on a Koran today. And after her swearing in she immediately called on President Trump’s impeachment — the “mother f*cker”!! The far left crowd LOVED IT and Cheered with delight!
I believe that the United States is long overdue for a reset. The government has become far too large, far too corrupt and is running amok. People from all over the country can see this. Their solutions are, however, diametrically opposed. As such, my points are…
A reset event is due to occur.
This event is already starting as of 2019.
I have no idea how serious this event will be, as it will depend on many variables and will vary from one family to another. It could be anything from total war and devastation to a minor increase in the cost of a cup of coffee. There are far too many variables at play.
I would advise caution.
The event or elements of it will be well under-weigh before being televised to any extent.
I would advise moving to a region that might escape and avoid major disruptions.
If you are unable to leave, I would then suggest the following prudent measures be considered…
I suggest that a firearm be procured, kept hidden, and be trained to use it properly.
I suggest stockpiling some antibiotics, if need be you can make your own. Here, Here, and Here. Alternatively you can google search “aquarium antibiotics” and buy fish-Pen (250mg) or Fish-Pen Forte (500mg) online. 100 tablets go for about 39.99 at the lower dose and 49.99 for the higher dose. Buy as much as you can afford, there is no prescription necessary. You can also buy all sorts of antibiotics in bulk from Alibaba HERE.
Plan for regional discomfort increasing in stages from 2019 through 2025. Depending on the geographical regions, the severity of the change will vary. The types of changes and the personal influences will be divorced from what is presented on mainstram media and television.
This continued event eventually changes sometime into 2030. With a “new” normal manifesting.
Russian Official on 12JAN19
“I think that America is actually engulfed by its second civil war now,” Rogozin told the Rossiya-24 TV channel, as translated by the state-run Tass Russian News Agency. Reported by Newsweek.
Former Federal Prosecutor: “We Are In A Civil War… I Buy Guns”
Former federal prosecutor Joe diGenova says civil discourse is over in America, and recommends voting and buying guns because “we are in a civil war.”
Speaking with Laura Ingraham on her podcast, diGenova noted that the “all liberal” media has given a pass to both Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) and VA Attorney General Mark Herring for appearing in blackface, while similarly glossing over Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax’s credible sexual assault allegation.
“There’s two standards of justice, one for Democrats one for Republicans. The press is all Democrat, all liberal, all progressive, all left – they hate Republicans, they hate Trump. So the suggestion that there’s ever going to be civil discourse in this country for the foreseeable future in this country is over. It’s not going to be. It’s going to be total war. And as I say to my friends, I do two things – I vote and I buy guns.”
The partial government shutdown is about more than a shutdown. It’s civil war. There are not guns or violence, at least not yet. The U.S. military has not turned against any portion of the citizens. Nobody has openly called for secession yet, at least to the point where it can credibly happen. Not just yet. Yet all these things are just beneath the surface. Any one of these things could happen, almost at any time, although — for perfectly understandable reasons — most of us prefer not yet to know it. Donald Trump came along in the midst of this growing crisis. He didn’t start the fire, nor did his supporters. He merely represents the frustration and outrage of the half or so of the population who has simply had enough. The people who dominate all those red counties on the political map, and who also comprise a sturdy but usually silent minority (bigger than you think) in those blue map locations.
A civil war, in psychological terms, happens when two sides reach a point of irreconcilable differences. The government shutdown and the border wall, while very important issues, are not the only issues dividing this country. The country is divided on even bigger things, such as whether we should move toward higher taxes and socialism or lower taxes and capitalism; more regulation or less regulation; more control for the Democratic-Republican establishment in D.C., or less. Should we use all our military force against militant Islam, or bow down and blame ourselves, as Obama did? Should we permit other countries — China, European countries — the advantages of capitalism while imposing on ourselves the disadvantages of socialism? Or should we fight back, as President Trump has done?
The root issue of all political conflict, including our own, boils down to one factor: The individual versus the state. Does the individual have the right to make up one’s own mind about one’s life, or should government be involved in making many or most decisions for us? Whether the issue is gay marriage, abortion, taxes, capitalism/socialism, whether or when to utilize military force, what the budget should be, or anything else, that’s what it all boils down to. Even the border wall issue applies here. To border wall advocates, it’s an issue of whether the federal government should set up boundaries between our (hopefully) free country and individuals or nations who are not free, who may be hostile and threatening, and should in some way be screened before coming into our (hopefully) free country. This didn’t used to be controversial. But the Democrats have moved so far left — no border wall, no borders at all — that the divide seems new, and it is new for that reason.
Our country today reminds me so, so much of a marriage at the end of its time. I am sorry to say it, but it’s true. Sometimes a marriage therapist tells a couple, “It just seems like so much work. You’re fundamentally divided on so many matters. Why don’t you just divide up your property and go your separate ways? Set yourselves free?” There are times when it’s rational to conclude this, which is why divorce and breakups are often rational.
The smart couples do break up and rationally divide up their property — even time with their children — and move on, often to better and calmer lives. Will that happen in America? Not a chance, based on the way it looks right now.
Americans no longer seem to agree on the fundamentals. The Second Amendment is now up for grabs. For years, Democrats have claimed to support the Second Amendment in theory, but now they are prepared to pass legislation in effect outlawing guns (or ammunition, which is the same thing). It turns out when they said, for all those years, that “the Second Amendment applies to the military, not to individuals, even peaceful ones,” they really meant it. This alone is an unsustainable and unresolvable difference. Am I wrong? Prove me wrong. I’d love to be wrong. I see no compromise on this point.
And now the First Amendment could be at risk too. Increasingly, it seems that leftists, self-described progressives and Democrats really mean it when they say, “Hate speech isn’t protected by the First Amendment.” Seriously? What is hate speech? I have been called a promoter of hate speech for supporting President Trump on many matters and opposing Democrats. Is that what we’ve come to? Is hate speech now speech I don’t like? And regardless of how one defines “hate speech”, how on earth do you reconcile the First Amendment with anyone’s speech — however it’s characterized — being subject to any kind of government regulation or chilling whatsoever?
When two or more parties disagree on matters of principle, you’re at a point of civil breakdown. The First and Second Amendments are at the top of our Bill of Rights for a reason. When the two major political parties disagree on these two most precious components of individual liberty — the right to defend your body and to speak your mind — then civility is over. What a literal civil war would look like, in the twenty-first century in the USA, I frankly have no idea. Maybe we’re already in it. The government shutdown is a metaphor for the impossible, irreconcilable differences between two schools of thought. I keep thinking: This is what civil war looks like. Each side wants the other to humble him- or herself. But it’s not going to happen. Never, ever with the Democrats, who have never once caved on anything, ever. And no longer with the dissenters or so-called “deplorables”, at least if President Trump is any indication.
I don’t know the answer or solution. I only know one thing: The cause of the breakdown, whenever it happens, always resides in the most important issue in any political or social matter: The individual versus the state. If there is any solution to find, it will be there.
In the 1980’s, for example, the newspapers featured stories about the so-called homeless crisis on a weekly basis. That’s when we went from calling them bums to pretending their only problem was a lack of shelter. Once Clinton assumed power, the homeless stories disappeared. It was a running joke for a long time, because it was so obvious, but also because it was so predictable. Everyone got the joke, except Lefty.
As many have observed, the mask began to drop during the Clinton years when so many media members quit their jobs and went to work in the administration. It’s hard to maintain the illusion of independence when there is a revolving door between the media and left-wing political operations. That’s when CNN became known as the Clinton News Network, because they were so hilariously in the tank for them. Some tried to maintain the ruse, but any pretense of objectivity ended in the 1990’s.
Again, there was still a sense that it was just bias and that it was predictable and therefore you could adjust for it. Today, that does not appear to be the case. The mainstream media has become advocates, but not necessarily advocates for the Progressive base of the Democratic coalition. They seem to be serving the agendas, financed by private parties operating off-stage. For example, sites like the Huffington Post and Daily Beast are about moral enforcement than news and current events.
The recent harassment of Alex McNabb by Antifa member Christopher Mathias is a great example of the phenomenon. The Huffington Post provides him with a cover identity as a reporter, but in reality someone else is paying his way. His job is as a witch hunter, looking for anyone in violation of the blasphemy laws. This is a strange new phenomenon that does not have a corollary in the past. Even Woodward and Bernstein were legitimate reporters, even if Woodward had deep connections to the intelligence community.
There’s an argument that this sort of religious advocacy is the natural result of the narrative journalism that evolved in the 1960’s and 1970’s. If you are going to report stories, the point is to inform. If you are going to spin tales, then the first goal is to entertain and there is nothing quite as a gripping as a morality tale. These doxxing stories are just campfire stories for the hard thumping loons of the far Left. The point of them is to tell the reader that they must be vigilant as heretics are everywhere.
The postwar era saw the creation of international institutions ranging from NATO to the United Nations to the World Bank, along with a proliferation of think tanks and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to accompany them. It saw the vast expansion of higher education in the United States, and the transformation of academic degrees into something close to must-haves for the upper-middle class. It saw a great expansion of power on the part of media organizations, and on the part of government bureaucrats and lobbyists, both of whose numbers increased enormously.
But after the turn of the millennium, other Americans, much like the workers and peasants in the old Soviet Union, started to notice that while the New Class was doing quite well (America’s richest counties now surround Washington, D.C.), things weren’t going so well for them. And what made it more upsetting was that — while the Soviet Union’s apparatchiks at least pretended to like the workers and peasants — members of America’s ruling class seemed to view ordinary Americans with something like contempt, using terms such as “bitter clingers,” “deplorables” and flyover people.
Class wars in America disguised as culture wars
Suddenly, to a lot of voters, those postwar institutional arrangements stopped looking so good. But, of course, the beneficiaries showed no sign of giving them up. This has led to a lot of political discord, and a lot of culture war, since in America class warfare is usually disguised as cultural warfare. But underneath the surface, talk is a battle between the New Class and what used to be the middle class.
Jack Minzey on Civil War
Civil War How do civil wars happen?
Two or more sides disagree on who runs the country. And they can’t settle the question through elections because they don’t even agree that elections are how you decide who’s in charge. That’s the basic issue here. Who decides who runs the country? When you hate each other but accept the election results, you have a country. When you stop accepting election results, you have a countdown to a civil war.
The Mueller investigation is about removing President Trump from office and overturning the results of an election. We all know that. But it’s not the first time they’ve done this. The first time a Republican president was elected this century, they said he didn’t really win. The Supreme Court gave him the election.
There’s a pattern here.
What do sure odds of the Democrats rejecting the next Republican president really mean? It means they don’t accept the results of any election that they don’t win. It means they don’t believe that transfers of power in this country are determined by elections.
That’s a civil war.
There’s no shooting. At least not unless you count the attempt to kill a bunch of Republicans at a charity baseball game practice. But the Democrats have rejected our system of government. This isn’t dissent. It’s not disagreement. You can hate the other party. You can think they’re the worst thing that ever happened to the country. But then you work harder to win the next election. When you consistently reject the results of elections that you don’t win, what you want is a dictatorship.
Your very own dictatorship.
The only legitimate exercise of power in this country, according to Democrats, is its own. Whenever Republicans exercise power, it’s inherently illegitimate. The Democrats lost Congress. They lost the White House. So what did they do? They began trying to run the country through Federal judges and bureaucrats. Every time that a Federal judge issues an order saying that the President of the United States can’t scratch his own back without his say so, that’s the civil war.
Our system of government is based on the constitution, but that’s not the system that runs this country. The Democrat’s system is that any part of government that it runs gets total and unlimited power over the country. If the Democrats are in the White House, then the president can do anything And I mean anything. He can have his own amnesty for illegal aliens. He can fine you for not having health insurance. His power is unlimited. He’s a dictator.
But when Republicans get into the White House, suddenly the President can’t do anything. He isn’t even allowed to undo the illegal alien amnesty that his predecessor illegally invented. A Democrat in the White House has ‘discretion’ to completely decide every aspect of immigration policy. A Republican doesn’t even have the ‘discretion’ to reverse him. That’s how the game is played That’s how our country is run. Sad but true, although the left hasn’t yet won that particular fight.
When a Democrat is in the White House, states aren’t even allowed to enforce immigration law. But when a Republican is in the White House, states can create their own immigration laws. Under Obama, a state wasn’t allowed to go to the bathroom without asking permission. But under Trump, Jerry Brown can go around saying that California is an independent republic and sign treaties with other countries.
The Constitution has something to say about that. Whether it’s Federal or State, Executive, Legislative or Judiciary, the left moves power around to run the country. If it controls an institution, then that institution is suddenly the supreme power in the land. This is what I call a moving dictatorship.
Donald Trump has caused the Shadow Government to come out of hiding: Professional government is a guild. Like medieval guilds. You can’t serve in if you’re not a member. If you haven’t been indoctrinated into its arcane rituals. If you aren’t in the club. And Trump isn’t in the club. He brought in a bunch of people who aren’t in the club with him.
Now we’re seeing what the pros do when amateurs try to walk in on them. They spy on them, they investigate them and they send them to jail. They use the tools of power to bring them down.
That’s not a free country.
It’s not a free country when FBI agents who support Hillary take out an ‘insurance policy’ against Trump winning the election. It’s not a free country when Obama officials engage in massive unmasking of the opposition. It’s not a free country when the media responds to the other guy winning by trying to ban the conservative media that supported him from social media. It’s not a free country when all of the above collude together to overturn an election because the guy who wasn’t supposed to win did.
Have no doubt, we’re in a civil war between conservative volunteer government and a leftist Democrat professional government.
Posted on Free Republic on 3JAN19
This was posted on Free Republic on 3JAN19 HERE. Aside from the snarky trolls and generally disparaging remarks, those that actually did read the article have a different opinion than what is stated herein. None of which seems to believe that “The Event” will manifest.
The overall opinion is that it will continue to be “business as usual”. If anything “bad” were to occur, the American population would adjust to it, and not give it a moment’s thought. The general consensus is that nothing serious will occur. There won’t be any major economic downturns, socialist purging, and no fighting Bosnia-style. Americans will just adapt and succumb…
I think the writer is wrong about how the gun confiscation will happen. It will be less violent than his view which seems to predate the AI revolution.
We will get China’s Social Credit scoring and eventually find that we cannot buy airplane tickets or maybe gasoline and other stuff becomes progressively more expensive, like food, because our scores are too low.
Then we are informed that the only way to raise our scores is to turn in our guns. Possession of guns will be a big hit on the SC scores.
Here is a reasoned argument in alignment with the article, however it does not anticipate anything outright serious. The impression that I get, for this writer is that the battles will be political in nature, and not visceral.
It is in the left’s best interest to convince the public that the wheels are coming off. Actually, it's in the best interest of all establishment politicians to do so.
In a very, very real way Trump's election, and the growth of alternative sources of information, have threatened the political class and those whose careers and stature are derived from it. They won't go quietly, and their responses aren't limited by ethics and morality - in the least.
We went from the first year of Trump's presidency, during which there was widespread optimism about the economy and the future, to now - with people lamenting about the collapse of America as we know it. This is orchestrated. No doubt. We can't give in to an impending sense of doom.
The reality is that all Trump has done to date, including the trade standoff with China, his efforts to end the ‘cheap labor express’, verbalizing that the tech industry has spawned monopolies that may have to be dealt with as antitrust issues, standing up to European governments that criticize us but take our money, AND, fighting the left on our own soil - including standing up strongly against people like Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, etc., all has to be done.
None of these things were likely to be easy, and none of them were likely to be painless. But, they had/have to be done.
This next comment agrees that things are trending to be “interesting”, yet how serious they will become and what will happen will be up to the individuals involved to determine. I can agree with that.
I’ve noticed the last few years that every year is much more “interesting” than the year before, but also that humans are like cockroaches, and highly adaptable to their situation.
I saw it in 2007 when housing in my area, Seattle, collapsed. I remember saying, on seattlebubble.com, that real estate could drop as much as 20%. I was chastised for it because it was crazy talk and sounded apocalyptic. And it did, even to me.
Well, prices dropped as much as 50% in many areas and much more than 20% everywhere else. So, was it an apocalypse? Yes. But what was people’s reaction? “What a great buying opportunity".
They ignored that before the collapse, defaults on real estate loans happened, but were definitely not common. And now everyone knew at least one person, if not many or even themselves, that simply walked away from their home, or became squatters in a home someone walked away from. It just became the new normal and was no big deal.
It’s how we seem to operate.
And yes, 2019 will be a lot more “interesting” than previous years. How interesting remains to be seen.
Here are some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society within communist China. As there are some really stark differences between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little different, in subtle ways.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come and enjoy a read or two as well.