MAGA...?
I'm happy to admit I didn't even know what #MAGA meant until I looked it up just now.
The slogan is interesting. When was America "great"? How did it get that way? Was it after the Bretton Woods agreement where we became the world reserve currency, taking gold from nations everywhere and storing it in Fort Knox with the promise they could get it back (the exact gold they put in) and that our new world reserve currency would be backed by said gold, creating a "stable" currency the world could rely on? Was it in 1971 when the Nixon Shock essentially gave the middle finger to that whole agreement allowing the federal reserve and treasury to essentially create money out of thin air backed only by our productivity and military strength? I wonder if it has something to do with the nations we've invaded who attempted to build their own gold-backed currencies which threaten the petrol dollar?
I guess most people don't think about this stuff, though. They want personal prosperity, screw everyone else. If global free trade and open borders increase human wellbeing and a natural equilibrium of market-driven equality... well, why have that when we can just use force to keep more for ourselves?
The use of monopoly violence that is government will hopefully be seen as a primitive, archaic response to conflict within my lifetime. Good ideas don't require force and there are more effective ways to deal with conflict such as non-violent communication.
Now that's a good place to write about non-violent communication. Steemit, I mean.
I wonder how many downvotes you'll get if this post goes above the $10 threshold, which seems to be considered "fair".
Other than that, I agree with everything you wrote :)
Hahah. Yeah, I got slammed pretty hard yesterday. I had three (3!!!) posts trending at the same time, one of them was in the number one spot prior to Ned's post. I was quite proud of that. Has never happened in the 9 months I've been here. A certain whale didn't like one author having three trending posts on the same day though. Seems I broke an unwritten rule.
That NVC post was one of my first posts on Steemit. I'm proud of that too.
Congrats man!
It took nine months to get the number one spot... Hmmm! 🚼
Well done Luke!
Here's to more of @lukestokes !!!
It was great before 1913, when the federal reserve was created.
Can we repeal 1913? That same damn year gave us the Federal Income tax as well.
I think America may have been great when it was closer to a minarchy because it was, in many ways, a first of its kind experiment in freedom and it prospered very well by letting people do their own thing. It quickly turned into a "kill the natives and steal their land" thing after that, but that's another story.
Luke, Have you ever seen this book?
http://www.ier.edu.vn/upload/product/tai-lieu-tham-khao-dao-tao-giao-vien-lich-su-va-day-hoc-lich-su-tai-hoa-ky-149754535413.pdf
It's an eye opener.
I find it truly amazing how many police actions and "not wars" that we have been in that really don't get mentioned or taught.
I found the first 30 pages of that book alone to have a lot of "holy shit" moments.
It does kind of go along with what you are talking about.
I've heard of it, but haven't read it yet. I'd probably enjoy it, thanks.
Here is a sample... Did you know any of this? I certainly didn't. It adds some impressions for me as to why Russia may not have thought too highly of the U.S. for quite some time. It also makes this interfering with presidency stuff today laughable.
Ugh. I knew some of it concerning how the US (and many of the other Allies) were very concerned about Russia and taking steps to weaken their position after the war, but I didn't know there were boots on the ground as described.
This book is jam packed with things like this. I am actually reading it again... got sucked into it. Think I might make it into a book review style post, but it'll take a bit. I'll also only touch on snippets. You shared some book suggestions with me early on in the summer and they were some of the first things I ever bought with crypto currency. I guess we can count this as me sharing a 1995 book with you. I believe you'll get some knowledge value out of it which you can then use how you see fit of course. :)
It is a good read. I once used it to make a list of the things I'd never been taught. I stopped keeping the list at around page 30 because it was getting to be too extensive and I could tell I'd likely spend more times taking notes than reading the book. So instead I try to revisit it every few years. It is not perfect, no book is, but it is very informative.
I've got to admit, I didn't know what it meant until last November when my friend used it to describe a voter. As a pacifist, vegetarian and protector of unpolluted air, water and organic food, I am horrified by the fascist's elimination of the EPA. Those types of laws make the west coast what it is today. It looks like the rest of the public is on reactive mode, now. I just want to find a good job and save up for a Tesla. My bike works, but supporting Elon Musk might be the only way a civil servant can combat big oil, other than protesting peacefully.
I'm sorry the job isn't working out. I hope you find something good quickly. Work is hard, yo. Testlas are expensive. It'll be quite some time before I could justify buying one.
The world is awakening to a great reckoning at hand, brought forth by technology.
Diversifying value as you have written about in the past is a wise move...
Prosperity, for all the citizens of the world, means a leveling of the playing field in which The American Empire has enjoyed the majority of the spoils since WWII.
Before it, The British Empire.
"Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on earth."
(grabs popcorn)
Please accept my formal apologies:
This should be a good one, sits back and enjoys the show. No further comment...
I'm assuming it's "Make America Great Again," is that right? MAGA in Filipino means "swollen" or "swelling" fwiw
That's often a very well suited translation lol...
Haha yeah, I figured, given the context.
Where have you been in a cave ? LOL
Politics doesn't interest me. It's mostly a bunch of narcissistic, megalomaniac, authoritarians duping the masses with psychological warfare. I'm much more interested in what's directly around me and how we can build solutions for a peaceful, voluntary future.
For me, the "again" part has always held a sour note, from day one. I start with the issue that there is no "again," because there is no going back and we can "unknow" what we know... which makes it a dumb statement; like wishing we were back in "simpler times" of horses and carriages... it's a nice peaceful memory, but it's functionally irrelevant.
Then there's the issue of the rose-colored lenses that go with the passing of time. It's almost like "beer goggles for history."
You're exactly right that "good ideas don't require force," but there's a civic responsibility (in my opinion) that goes with that statement... namely that we're also accountable for thinking for ourselves and being socially/civicly involved. Unfortunately, that's where-- again, just my perception-- the Libertarian/Anarchist philosophy tends to fall apart, because it assumes a level of intelligence and engagement that many people neither care about nor particularly want, even if we show them it's a "better way" till we're blue in the face. So we end with "great ideology, almost impossible to implement."
But I am sort of wandering here... "great" is a highly individual and subjective thing; ask 100 people and you'd get 100 answers. So it's basically a "catchy slogan" that's functionally meaningless...
But hey, I could be entirely wrong about that!
That's a good critique, but I think it really hasn't been shown or demonstrated yet. Even with Dan leaving, I'm hopeful Steemit can play a role it showing people what it might look like with agorism, self-banking, smart contracts, secure communications, etc. Technology makes much of government obsolete.
Well, you may be right... and I like the way Steemit is a "soft sell" to get more mainstream people involved in something they'd mostly reject as "black box fringe dweller stuff."
To me, the best "pitch" here is that Steemit offers a return to more engaging "social blogging" for those who have grown tired of Facebook/twitter soundbytes, without deeper engagement. Then, as a fringe benefit, you also get introduced to the world of alt. economics and greater self-reliance. The average person on the street hears the word "anarchist" thinks of people dressed in black throwing molotov cocktails at demonstrations... and immediately reject the idea as "not part of any reality I want."
So I am hopeful, on the soft sell angle. And I'm hopeful that those of us who care can create a "model city" of sorts, here with Steemit.
Like Michael Dean of the Freedom Feens says, it's an "America of the Mind," not a real historical America. The delusions and propaganda trump reality in their view of greatness.