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Praetorium Honoris

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

More Politics

(Source)
Some of us are racking our brains right now.

To be fair, Herr von Kuehnelt-Leddihn said this in the 20th Century, it is now the 21st Century, so, in essence, he nailed it. Perhaps he didn't envision this happening in the first quarter of the century, but it has certainly come to pass.

Yes, I have been kind of "political" as of late. There is a lot going on in this country which makes me worry. A couple of things posted by friends of mine over on koobecaF have set me to thinking, always a dangerous thing.

The first was a post by Scott R., a fellow continually in trouble with the koobecaF kops, who posted this quote from Herr von Kuehnelt-Leddihn:
For the average person, all problems date to World War II; for the more informed, to World War I; for the genuine historian, to the French Revolution.
Of course, this is rather a Eurocentric view of things, many Asians might have doubts about that particular quote. But it made me look the guy up, chase that source under that opening graphic, there's more quotes of interest.

Another koobecaF post from a guy for whom I have a great deal of respect concerned the French Revolution. Specifically this article. While Solzhenitsyn, indeed many others as well, may have mourned "Bastille Day" (officially la Fête nationale), the article itself is rather replete with what I like to call "bad history."

FWIW, Solzhenitsyn was a typical Russian novelist, rather brooding and moody and seeing most things through the lens of his own early life under Soviet Communism. Who can blame him? The chap lived in my old home state for a while and, as I recall, a lot of folks simply did not like him. Great writer, crappy human. As I didn't know him, I'll let that go, just relating decades-old gossip as I remember it.

So yeah, the 14th of July was Sunday last and was indeed the date of la Fête nationale, 'tis a big day in Paris, parades, flyovers, and the like. I can't say what it's like out in the provinces. Like most revolutions, there are lingering bad memories from those days, even 200 years on.

An interesting note (maybe only to me): in France the holiday is also known by it's date (le 14 juillet), as is our own Independence Day. I do have a certain set of friends, purists if you will, who insist on not calling Independence Day, the Fourth of July. Which is just, as they insist, the date of the event, not the event itself. As they say, "Would you refer to Christmas as 'the 25th of December'?"

A salient point, I guess.

Concerning that article about Bastille Day, I'll have more to say on that in a later post. Mostly to correct the bad history evinced therein. History is my thing, I hate seeing it abused. That article kind of went up my posterior in an uncomfortable fashion, sideways as it were.

As for Herr von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, I am currently perusing an interesting book he wrote back in 1943 called The Menace of the Herd, or Procrustes at Large, which is available here, at my favorite price, free. Check it out. Herr von Kuehnelt-Leddihn was not a big fan of democracy (neither am I if you know what a democracy actually is) and that book goes into the whys and wherefores from what I've gathered so far.
The deliberations of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were held in strict secrecy. Consequently, anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall when the proceedings ended in order to learn what had been produced behind closed doors. The answer was provided immediately. A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it." (Source)
We live in a republic, not a democracy. There's a difference ya know...

Another interesting article on that topic is here. (I may incorporate a link to that website on the sidebar. POCIR)

Enjoy.




46 comments:

  1. Exciting times; no wonder the Chinese considered that a curse.

    Thanks for the post.
    Paul L. Quandt

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  2. Words mean things. When I hear democracy, I immediately correct them to representative republic. Most have cow eyes...

    Our republic needs several things to operate well. Two stand out to me: an educated, informed population (no, indoctrinated leftists since birth don't count), and a people that respect and follow the Biblical standards of morality (basically, a self-policing population).

    The more I see, the more I read, the more I wonder what we will devolve into.... It reminds a graph of the natural log, and it's a steep curve, like the electrical decay in an RC circuit, tau. I fear we are on that slope, politically and socially speaking.






    Cow Eyes: STxAR's definition of physically alive with very little conscious, questioning thoughts, ever. Mostly a person that never asks why they are running, they are just keeping up with their neighbor; full blown herd mentality. Antonym: sparkly eyes, as in, "Ooo, your eyes are sparkly!! What's going on in there??"

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    Replies
    1. Your differentiation between 'cow' vs. 'sparkly' eyes is spot on - with way too few people in the sparkly camp. One of the reasons I like reading this blog and accompanying commentary is how everyone seems to be in the sparkly camp!

      And the sentiment in the post's opening quote crosses my mind frequently when I hear the absolute garbage that comes out of the mouths of a large number of our politicians at all levels of government. "Who voted for this idiot, and why did they think they'd be good stewards of the public trust?"

      It also reminds me of the sentiment that a democracy will only survive until the voters realize they can vote themselves free stuff and then act on that realization.

      Interesting times, indeed.

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    2. Tom - It seems that the majority of our politicians are either unbelievably stupid, or evil to the core. Some seem to be both.

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    3. Or both, which is how you get Joe Biden being part of the problem for 50 years and blaming it on President Trump.

      Or Nancy Pelosi...

      Or Kamala Harris...

      Or the (brains not) Firing Team composed of the 4 idjits of the apocalypse....

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    4. You're a mind reader Beans...

      (Kinda scary.)

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    5. The 4 Harridans of the Apocalypse. Just my opinion....

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    6. Mrs. Andrew doesn't think I'm a mind reader, else I wouldn't get into so much trouble.

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  3. The problem with wanting "only the trained" to vote/rule, is that it is hard to separate "only the indoctrinated," and "only the in crowd." The folks at the FBI who are usually described as "The Deep State" probably assume that they are the "correctly trained." And so, it is completely OK for them to over-rule/undermine a legal election, because they "know better" than all those rubes from Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin... you know, Fly-over Country, who had the unmitigated gall to vote for someone that all those "in the know" "properly trained" "smart enough" people didn't like.

    Now originally you had to own property to vote. You had to have some 'skin in the game' and not just be looking for the next hang out. I Could be happy with pay taxes. (Not fooling around with exemptions and credits and the like, but people with a net tax bill that is greater than 0.) But try pushing that thru. That is anti-democratic. Or something.

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    Replies
    1. Or I could see the "only veterans" option proposed by Robert A, Heinlein, though you won't see that happen, short of a catastrophe.

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    2. Even Plato (by way of Socrates) finally decided that while Rule-by-the-philosopher-kings sounds good, in practice it is impossible to implement in a way that doesn't just turn into good old-fashioned kings, or dictatorships.

      Delete
    3. You make some good points, Debra. Theory seldom survives upon meeting reality, sometimes it vanishes, sometimes it evolves into a different theory.

      I too am of the opinion that to vote, one should at least have a non-zero tax bill. If you don't pay into the system, you have no skin in the game.

      Good comment(s).

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    4. In today's overly taxed world, finding someone who doesn't pay any taxes is a feat equivalent to Diogenes finding an honest man. It ain't happening. If you participate in the economy, you pay taxes.

      Our forefathers would have been shooting by now over the burdensome tax system we have.

      I think the landline-phone tax to pay off the Spanish-American War finally got repealed, maybe.

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    5. I was thinking along the lines of paying income tax, actually filing a Form 1040. Sales tax and all, yes, everyone pays that, most of the people don't even really notice. Don't get me started on the Federal, State, and local taxes on gasoline. "It's for infrastructure repair and maintenance." They claim, yet when it's time to fix stuff, we need bond initiatives and such. Effing thieves they are.

      So yes, no Form 1040 filed, no income taxes paid, ya don't vote, period. Just my thought. YMMV

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    6. Problem with that is a lot of retirees make less money than the minimum income level to pay income taxes. And rent, so don't pay property taxes directly.

      So... gotta watch that whole Form 1040 thingy.

      Delete
    7. Somehow a system of only allowing those with skin in the game to participate in the "game," i.e. vote, needs to be determined.

      Somehow weeding out the free shite crowd would go far towards making politics more reasonable. Form 1040 was just one thought. Perhaps once one has retired, after years of paying taxes, one could be granted "lifetime voter" status. A lower age limit would also be needed I think.

      Delete
  4. The welfare state has been turned into a simple scam. Use taxpayer dollars to buy votes. LBJ was on that like white on rice (sorry. Too good a line to pass up). Then there was the auto bailout. From government coffers into Auto Corporate, from there into union funds, and from there to the DNC. What could possibly go wrong?

    At least Reno, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City are honest in their advertising--"Hey, here is your chance to get something for nothing!".

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    Replies
    1. Shack.

      (LBJ is the most hated President here at The Chant. A soul-sucking evil bastard.)

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    2. Even more than Obi-Wan? LBJ is no higher than 4th in my books. The top three all were president in the last 40 years and all came from the same party.

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    3. One word sums up my feelings on LBJ: Vietnam.

      So yes, even more than Obi-Wan, a lot more.

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    4. Yeah, down this way, he is a twig... And his three berries as far as I'm concerned are JimmyC, BJC, and HusseinO.... Barstewards, the lot.... But LBJ was in a crass of his own....

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    5. "One word sums up my feelings on LBJ: Vietnam." Actually Viet Nam was a gift from HST.

      Paul

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  5. The pure evilness of the 'we are more entitled than you' crowd that is most of our politicians is a horrid thing. Stupid people who lord it over non-stupid and stupid people.

    So stupid that they can keep getting caught doing illegal and immoral things and yet still keep their jobs, even get promoted. And get rich off a meager government salary. Burns me bum, it does.

    And how do you like how San-Fran Nan(cy Pelosi) overstepped the even slack boundaries of civility in the House of Representatives and got penalized by not being allowed to talk for a whole day? Yet she's the Speaker of the House?

    Dueling should be reinstated... Extra points for style kills...

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    Replies
    1. I like that idea.

      I'd also like the laundry concession on The Hill, every challenge will result in soiled progressive britches, guaranteed.

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    2. Ohh! Just ONE public hanging. Please. I'll help.
      Not good. I just had the thought that I am one cold loner. As opposed to one cold Lone Star.

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  6. Hey AFSarge;

    I read yesterday that the New York Times had a story about Warner Von Braun and it was his genius that got us to the moon before the Russians. But then they retracted the story because some "woke" idiot complained and they stated during the retraction that the article didn't meet their "community standards" because Von Braun was a "Nazi". I was saddened by this, in 20 years many peoples names will be forgotten because they didn't pass the "modern" purity test and their genius will be scrubbed from the history books.

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    Replies
    1. I saw that as well, dumb asses.

      They're everywhere.

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    2. Scrubbed indeed. Checking the barn wall for fresh paint. Some animals are more (or less) equal....

      Whenever I hear utterances about 'people of color', I am going to remark that white is a color.

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    3. Well, the New York Daily News says John Glenn was the first man on the moon.

      https://freebeacon.com/politics/new-york-daily-news-reports-that-john-glenn-was-first-man-on-planet-moon/

      What is it about New York City that concentrates stupidity to beyond toxic levels?

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  7. Just came across this and had to share. You wanna see just how loony the left is?

    https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Berkeley-becomes-first-U-S-city-to-ban-natural-14102242.php?t=ea39d0f200&f?

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FIRE TRUCKING MORONS! They have already had rolling blackouts. So go ahead, add more load to your creaking transmission infrastructure. And just how do they propose that all that extra juice be generated?

    We got out of there just in time.

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    Replies
    1. You can't make this up. These people are bloody lunatics.

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    2. But.. but... Solar and Wind will power everything... Along with magical unicorn farts and emissions from the Free Shite Army, right?

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    3. I'm glad we left five years ago as well. My kids can't wait to leave and move East somewhere. Sad, our whole lives have been spent there on the West Coast.

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    4. Also heard someone ask the question "How long before they change the name of the San Andreas Fault to Trump's Fault?

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    5. It is my considered opinion that California should be placed under martial law and those responsible for destroying that lovely state be tried for violating their oaths of office.

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  8. The article said, "As the city’s population soars, the need for more housing has also increased."
    What I'd like to know is who is moving there? It is probably a good idea to attract all of the wealthy (and I mean RICH) loonies into one general location. We can keep an eye on them easier. And, I want to say something which I am not going to.

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    Replies
    1. The free shite crowd seem to be the ones attracted to those places.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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