Government

This is looking at Government from an American, Libertarian, and idealistic PoV, that many foreigners will not understand. These are my ramblings about the philosophy of Government. These are ideals. Pragmatically, we are forced to accept a little bit of wrong, and life is more gray than black and white... but we should glance at the ideals to understand how far we are willing to compromise on them. Read this with that balance in mind. 📑 All       ℹ️ Info           ~ Aristotle Sabouni Created: 2022-01-16

Q: What is Goverment?

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• A: It's a reflection of the people, culture, history, and rules to govern.
  • Government is no more good or evil than the people running things (or the people voting them in).
  • When the culture is fighting for liberty and tolerance: they're good.
  • When the culture is fighting for oppression and conformity: they're not good. (No matter the rationalizations for that tyranny: injustice, inequality or diversity).

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• A: Primarily: Government is a tool of force.
  • That is why it exists. It is a way to force people to do what you want, or else people with guns will come to their house and either take away their life, liberty or property. If you doubt that Govt. is about force, stop paying your taxes or break the law, and see how long it takes for the men with Guns to come take your property, freedom, or your life (if you resist). There are many subtleties and differences in when force should be used or not, but Governments boil down to, "Do what we say, or we kill you".

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Guns

Lies

Oppression

Organizations

Waste

Rule of Law

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Laws, Guns • [19 items]

2nd Amendment was about the militia ...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed ~ 2nd Amendment, Bill of Rights

2nd Amendment was for muskets ...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed ~ 2nd Amendment, Bill of Rights

California Gunpocolypse Offensive package of anti-legal gun owner laws that increased crime. Slowly getting overturned or circumvented.

Concealed carry They commit fewer crimes, have better shooting records than cops, and have stopped mass shootings and saved lives.

Duncan v. Becerra California enacted an illegal magazine ban, and it eventually got slapped down.

Gun Quotes : Militia Meaning Words change meaning over time. The militia means what it meant at the founding, not the modern meaning.

Gun control or gun ban? If we assume guns are the problem, why would you tolerate a little murder (control), if you could get rid of it all (ban)?

Illinois SB0173 Mandatory firearm knowledge before legislators can introduce firearm related legislation? A good gun control law.

Just Ban Assault Rifles Anyone that says, "Just ban assault rifles" shows they are completely ignorant about guns, assault rifles, or bans.

Magazine Limits Magazine limits have never been shown to have any impact on gun crime, crime, or casualties in mass shootings.

Microstamping Microstamping was a moronic attempt to outlaw guns, with no positive upside.

No Fly Lists for gun owners The left demands closing the loophole that allows people on the No Fly List to buy guns. No mass shooter has been on the list.

Peruta v. San Diego California is one of only 10 "May-issue" Conceal and Carry permits states (as opposed to "Shall-Issue").

Reasonable Gun Laws A list of some of the UN-reasonable gun laws that the left thinks is reasonable.

Red Flag Laws Red Flag laws sound reasonable (flag people that are threats, and take their guns away temporarily), but they aren't.

Rifle, Pistol or SBR SBR (Short Barrelled Rifle) is considered more dangerous than a pistol or a rifle. Is that reasonable?

Shotspotter Progressive threw other people's money at a tech to send cops to the sound of gunshots. It didn't work.

Smart guns are dumb "Smart guns" (safe guns) prevent both intended and unintended use of a gun, resulting in virtually no interest.

Unreasonable outcomes Reasonable gun laws would have protections against these unreasonable outcomes.

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• FBI/Synagogue Shooting - FBI let a know terrorist in the country, let him get a gun, let him hold hostages in a Synagogue, then the men got out on their own, and the FBI lied about all of that
• Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping - The FBI made a big deal out of arresting 13 men on a plot to Kidnap the Governor of Michigan (Gretchen Whitmer)... but the FBI was seemd to be egging them on (entrapment). Only 2 pled out, 4 others were charged (2 acquitted, other 2 hung jury and are being recharged), the FBI couldn't call many witnesses or people involved, and had to recuse because of conflicts. A shit show.
• Raid on Mar-a-Lago - After Russiagate hoax, spying on him, attacking his people, 3 fake impeachments, and the J6 Kangaroo court all failed to find anything against Trump and exclude him from office, the Biden's DOJ/FBI attacked the former (and future) President Trump with a raid to try to exclude him from running for office.
• Russiagate - Hillary paid for "Russian Collusion" narrative. The FBI knew it was false, but used it to illegally tap, distract and harass Trump, and using that material attack, entrap and imprison his allies. The media/social media had evidence it was false, but suppressed it. It was a coup to undermine a duly elected President, and undermine his and American interests for 3 years.

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Government, Oppression • [8 items]

American Government
Why our Government is different than others? Of course it's debatable whether we are that different. But there is one fundamental difference: Americans once understood liberty and tolerance. Even if both were selectively applied, at least we tried to understand them. Most government and people's don't even get that far.

California Coastal Commission
The CCC is what happens when community organizers run development planning: they claim, "To protect, conserve, restore, and enhance the environment of the California coastline" by obstructing development and improvement of one of our countries great resources, saving it from humanity and the usefulness it might have to individuals or our country.

California Notary
My wife spent like $500 (and a few days in class) getting her notary. Well, sorta. She spent that to get trained, passed the test, and go everything she needed. She was blocked by the County Recorder, for no good reason but to exert power, because that's what Bureaucrats do in California. No accountability.

California Water Crisis

California's water drought has nothing to do with rain, and everything to do with the failure of government. Cal captures 1% of the water, then since 2007 flushes 46% of that into the ocean for "environmental purposes" (a baitfish the delta smelt), 43% goes to farming, 11% goes to urban areas. When there's a problem they raise the cost of water and punish the 11%: because that's where the money is.

Harrison Bergeron and the Law of Jante
The idea that the individual should be valued based only on their contribution to the collective, is one of the most detestable philosophies ever invented. From Harrison Bergeron, Sirens of Titan, Law of Jante, tall poppy, Procrustean bed or Dog in the Manger, the allegories and lessons throughout time are not positive. But still the philosophy exists.

Net Neutrality
We had no net neutrality for the first 60+ years of networking, the Obama admin invented a few "regulations" in 2015 to protect us from liberty (imaginary demons under the bed and non-problems that weren't happening), and the left/media acts like repeal of that (liberty) will be going back to the slavery of 2015.

Suffocating Liberty - the cost of red tape
Each new tax, law or regulation, comes with costs (compliance, non-compliance, enforcement and punishment). We have 174,545 pages of regulations, 73,954 pages in our tax code, 23,000 page in our federal legal code, double that for statutes, 300,000 criminal punishments from administrative agencies. Then add in the state+local laws, regulations and taxes on top.

Tragedy of the commons
We often get dire warnings about Malthusian Catastrophes, Ehrlich's population bombs and how individuals can't be trusted to manage shared interests. We need government to protect us from ourselves. History shows the opposite: individuals form small governments for common interests better than big governments, unless big government stops them.

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Government, Organizations • [17 items]

ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms sounds like a fun party, and was once a proud institution. Long ago. Just kidding. They basically are the epitome of a nanny state

Berkeley
You are what you do, and when you assault people because you don't like what they think or say, your actions are intolerant. Berkeley stands for riots and antifa attacks on free speech. When actions and deed conflict, trust the deed.

CBO
The CBO or Congressional Budget Office is an agency that has never been right in it's entire existence.

CDC
The CDC's main goal is to protect public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the US and internationally. You know, like pandemics (COVID), from depression and death caused by over-reactions to it (shutdowns), and things like that?

CIA
The CIA is tasked with overseas intelligence gathering, with extremely limited domestic intelligence collection allowed. While there are many highly competent people doing their best to protect our country, there seems to be extreme dysfunction at the top, as they are a clown car of incompetence for the last generation.

California Coastal Commission
The CCC is what happens when community organizers run development planning: they claim, "To protect, conserve, restore, and enhance the environment of the California coastline" by obstructing development and improvement of one of our countries great resources, saving it from humanity and the usefulness it might have to individuals or our country.

EPA
After most of the local pollution problems had been fixed by state and local governments, the fed got involved and created the EPA to give their "oversight". And of course that increased the stupidity and politicization of the environment. They helped in a few places, hurt in many others, did symbolic do-nothingism. Empowering government empowers corruption and waste.

FBI
You'd think an unconstitutional institution founded on combatting the organized crime that prohibition had created, that was run by a hypocritical transvestite that abused power and blackmailed everyone, kept dossiers on civil rights leaders, and framed Presidents with colluding with Russia, couldn't lower their reputation. But being Biden's henchman against Parents proved that wrong.

FCC
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission), and later the "fairness doctrine", was created so FDR could bully any TV/Radio stations that did unfavorable pieces on the administration. It was also a way so that his son (who lived in the White House) could be paid rich consulting fees to get licenses fast-tracked, while those who didn't pay or the enemies would be slow-tracked.

FDA
FDA (Food and Drug Administration) was created because of a propaganda scam (Upton Sinclair's debunked, "The Jungle") that said we need corrupt food inspections. The agency fails at inspections, delays life saving drugs, treatments and devices by a decade (while people die), and they drive up their costs and reduce competition. Is it really worth it?

MIT
MIT: Communism for Kids publisher. Seriously.

Military
Stories about the Military, or working around them in Aerospace.

NEA•NEH
I have nothing against the NEA/NEH, except what's funded and how it's funded. If people want to fund or buy this drek? I have no problems with it. I only have a problem with them sticking a gun in my face, and taking my money to fund it. And if you doubt that's what's happening, stop paying your taxes long enough, and see how it ends.

NPR
State dept. and Air America in the 1930's was infiltrated by communists. McCarthy showed that they never left, they just moved around. NPR is evidence that this is as true today as it was back then. I listened to them for years on my commute, and could count a few times a day they did leftist spin, and can think of no examples of them taking a conservative or moderate position.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
While this organization served a purpose, you can't make people care about things that are good for them. So Europe got fat, lazy and complacent about external threats. They both relied on the U.S. to provide their defense, and resented us for our patriarchal role. But that doesn't mean they're mature and ready to step up on their own.

United Nations

“The time has come to recognize the United Nations for the anti-American, anti-freedom organization that it has become. The time has for us to cut off all financial help, withdraw as a member, and as the United Nations to find headquarters location outside the United States that is more in keeping with the philosophy of the majority of voting members, someplace like Moscow or Peking.” ~ Barry Goldwater

WHO
Wold Health Organization is a corrupt and incompetent division of the corrupt and incompetent United Nations. Its purpose is to coordinate information and help distribute aid during a health crisis. Its function is to provide cover/politics for evil countries, and to magnify the harm to its biggest sponsor (the U.S.).

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Government, Waste (or) Government Waste • [19 items]

Abolish the FBI Ask why do we NEED the FBI? If you think about it, most of their duties are superfluous and could be done better at the state level.

Affordable Housing The first thing to remember about affordable housing, is that it isn't.

Bay Bridge Boondoggle The bay bridge is a metaphor for San Francisco: late, over-budget, boondoggle, with fundamental design issues.

California Water Crisis California's fake water drought has nothing to do with rain, and everything to do with the failure of government.

Costs of Defensive Medicine Saving lives takes a back seat to medical liability as a consequence of abusive medical litigation; aka "Defensive Medicine".

Government R&D Spending Government wins in R&D infrequently. They lose in R&D investments often. What can we learn?

Green Energy The left believes that Green Energy exists, it's cheaper, and could provide all our power needs. Pure ignorance.

Housing and Urban Development HUD (Housing and urban development) has various programs that are meant to help low income and first time buyers into their own homes.

Military Acquisition Costs: why do things cost so much? A military screwdriver doesn't cost $500, the amortized costs of the program can account for it that way.

Military industrial complex Ike warned about Iron Triangles (collusion between Government, Politicians and Business), not just the military.

NEA•NEH I have nothing against the NEA/NEH, except why it's funded, what's funded and how it's funded.

Net Neutrality "Net Neutrality" means giving the government taxing and regulatory authority over the Internet.

PBS As a product of big government, PBS sees the solution to every problem as more goverment.

Prop D Vacancy tax penalizes landlords for the inability to find storefront tenants, after the city has made it harder to find tenants.

Shanty Town I have no problems with social experiments. I just want honest accounting of them.

Solar Power If solar worked well, you wouldn't need subsidies. There's a lot of flim-flam and cooking the books.

Student Loans Paying Student Loans allows the left to punish good behavior, reward bad behavior, and bully others into paying for it.

The Last Shuttle Launch is a new beginning The last Shuttle Launch has happened today. The end of an era. Hopefully the beginning of a new one.

When is there too much Government? Too much government depends on which side of the law you're on: oppressor or oppressed. For leftist oppressors? More, please.

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Rule of Law • [3 items]

Examples of Voter Fraud Illegal voting: non-citizen (Illegals), proxy voting, duplicate voting (more than one state).

Voter Suppression The left cries "Voter Suppression" at anything that improves election integrity: if fraud favors you, then you favor fraud.

VoterID and Voter Fraud Facts, fallacies, and data to allow readers to come to their own conclusions about Voter fraud and VoterID.

Conclusion

If you distrust others, then you probably think we should use government to micromanage the unwashed hordes and force them to do what is right, in every aspect of their lives (called progressives).

If you trust others, you probably think we should use force as little as possible and keep Govt. as local as possible, and as the last resort, in order to enable freedom, distribute and delegate power, and to teach responsibility ( called libertarians).

I'm pragmatically in the latter camp.

That's fundamentally what most political fights are about: do you advocate patience and teaching (libertarianism), or bullying/theft/redistribution and threats of force (stealing someone's life, liberty or property) if they don't comply.

Of course there's a time and place for both -- but every law/regulation/tax is where we think we should draw those lines.

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🔗 More

Terms We need to agree on what terms mean. This used to be easy, before SJW's/Marxists started Orwelling our language.

Organizations Organizations that I felt the need to comment on (more often on the negs than the positives). But there's good/bad in all.

Main Page The root of all evil... and the home page for this website.

Wisdom Wisdom is what you get, when you didn't get what you wanted.

Tyrants What makes a Tyrant? (1) Belief in righteousness (2) Populism/Selling the rubes that they're the cure.

Tags: Terms  Organizations  Main Page  Wisdom  Tyrants