Trump
Reading about Donald Trump makes me think my friend Steve is right.. I should buy some land as far away from everyone as possible.. Okay, I’m joking, but only somewhat. I read the polling numbers, and there’s more than 40% of my fellow citizens who would vote for this guy? I wonder if the people talking about ‘kicking the illegals out’ realize that the illegals are the people who are adding the most value in a lot of places – a lot of them are really hardworking folk! If you forget the bullshit money politics and look at where that strawberry actually came from, you realize that if you kicked them out, our economy would fail in large and impressive ways. Now, I’d really like it if robots were picking the strawberry and the illegals were A: legal because we’d adopted a open border policy and B: taking a siesta, but I recognize that’s still a few years out, so for the moment, please don’t kick out the people who are actually doing the work.
Trump does, however, bring up a interesting ethical question. What is your ethical responsibility if Hitler gets elected? Suppose Trump does get elected, and he starts putting Muslims in concentration camps, a la the Japanese in WWII? What form should my resistance take? Writing blog articles is probably not enough at that point.
Of course, if that does happen, I assume I’ll also be placed in a concentration camp, shortly after the secret police discover this blog on the wayback machine.
By the way, if Bernie doesn’t get elected, I will take it as a sign that it’s too soon for socialism – at some point, at some level of automation and computer science, socialism is going to become the only sane answer. At that point more than 50% of the US will, I really hope, be able to figure that out. We aren’t quite there yet – we *need* a bunch of people to work their asses off for a few more years. One thing I do love about things like Minecraft – and the web – is that it has taught millions of people to program, and millions of people to understand automation and building automated systems. Guys, there is still some work left to do before we can truly live in a socialist paradise where the only people working are the ones who want to..
March 6th, 2016 at 12:50 pm
Thanks for the tip-of-the-hat! Let me predicate my response for those that don’t know me, I am an Anarchist/Libertarian. I used to be just a Constitutionalist, but I realized that everything the Founders covered in that document was not enough to safeguard our liberties and freedom. For 240 years, our leaders have incrementally taken away many things that we fought for during the Revolutionary War.
As our citizens started leaving rural areas and congregating in the cities, it became necessary to not only govern those things permitted in the Constitution, but to also govern those societies of large amounts of people in very small, congested areas. I believe as a family, a tribe, and up to the size of a small town, that common sense dictates our actions and responsibilities (everyone starves if no one works, etc.). As populations in small footprints grew, it became necessary to impose laws and enforcement to keep the machine running. This machine is not in the interest of the individual, but rather the machine itself. Just as many fear an AI that decides humans are unnecessary, governments make decisions for everyone based on the logic of preserving themselves and society versus the individual.
For 50 years, I was indoctrinated through the media, school, and society. I experienced the requirement to earn money so I could feed, house and clothe myself and my family (most cities don’t allow you to build a log cabin, have livestock, grow crops, etc.). As I have had time to reflect on where we come from and where we are headed, I realized I want to be an individual more than I want to be a cog in the machine.
We all know, the more complex a machine becomes, the more likely it is to break down. Historically, no society or government has lasted more than about 400 years without revolution, losing a war, and so on. Our technology has essentially created the largest machine ever made. A Global Supply Chain, interconnected economies, where the slightest pressure on one side of the planet is felt almost instantaneously everywhere else. I am afraid to continue relying on such a precarious system. As an example, just look at this presidential cycle. Each candidate is only interested in their constituents, but not the rest of the citizens.
I agree with much of what Jon says, but the logical, experienced side of me says that it won’t all happen in our lifetime. I am 53 years old and my health is slowly slipping away. I may or may not have another 20 years left. I have taught myself many off-grid skills. I have realized that just a small hand-full of people living together can be diverse and still enjoy each other without prejudices and jealousies. I want whats left of my life to be peaceful, drama-free and enlightening. I can’t experience that by being part of large groups, like society, where everyone is more concerned with themselves than with the family/tribe.
Socialism may be the best way, but only for small groups. I don’t think it works for large societies, as I don’t see the viable economics of redistribution, nor do I see capitalism as the right answer either. No matter which is used, all large societies, are fascist against some segment of its population.
To avoid further “headaches, and heart aches, and bad times too” (cue up soundtrack of Hair) i am moving off-grid soon. Jon, if a small tribe of us develop over time, you are welcome to visit or stay…