Thursday, August 11, 2022

COMMON SENSE will tell you that the LEFT wants you to be compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national state.

On January 9, 1776, writer Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries.

  • Today The authors of "Common Sense Revisited" have published similar articles online and, in some cases, a printed version for those who may prefer the hard copy.  
  • I have read much of their material and have chosen to transcribe from my hard copy the last six paragraphs from pages 12 through 13.  Not everyone takes the time to read much of the printed word as they are accustomed to instant gratification via electronic communication whether it be radio, television, or hand-held devices such as pads, nooks, or smart phones.  But if I could pass the following on to those who could pass it on to the ignorant few so that those few would become knowledgeable enough not to become a psychological captive else a fait accompli (an accomplished fact).  ~ Norman E. Hooben
"It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison, and yet not free - to be under no physical constraint and yet to be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national state, or of some private interest within the nation, wants him to think, feel and act. "The nature of psychological compulsion is such that those who act under constraint remain under the impression that they are acting on their own initiative. The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. That he is not free is apparent only to other people. His servitude is strictly objective." Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley, 1958

 

Pages 12 - 13

The inherent desire for power and control never sleeps. In the 1800s, the proponents of surrogate power found the perfect tactic as the theories of Marx, Engels, and other collectivists began to sweep Europe. These theories appealed to the natural human desire to help others. Since then. the collectivists have perfected their ability to appeal to the compassionate hearts of the people-and in so doing, have expanded their power-by presenting a never-ending array of social programs to help children, the poor, the disabled, and others. They gain the votes of the compassionate and, of course, those who come to depend on the programs. The extra bonus is the loyalty of all those who work for the newly created bureaucracies.

In her famous book, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, author Ayn Rand describes the insidious process that takes a society inch by unremarkable inch to collectivism. "The goal of the 'liberals'-as it emerges from the record of the past decades-was to smuggle this country into welfare statism by means of a single, concrete, specific measures, enlarging the power of the government a step at a time, never permitting these steps to be summed up into principles, never permitting their direction to be identified or the basic issue to be named. The statism was to come, not by vote or by violence, but by slow rot by a long process of evasion and epistemological corruption, leading to a fait accompli.”

She understood that the two parties presented to the people in their democratic process provide only an illusion of choice. She said that the conservatives were just there to present the alternative of a slightly slower growth of surrogate power, and with either choice the people still get statism.  With statism comes increasing governmental power because as the government grows, so too must force and coercion increase in order to extract the necessary finances from the people to pay for the growing government.

The growth of force must happen gradually so that the people do not wake up and realize what is happening.  What will it take for people to wake up? How many violations of individual rights and outrageous searches and seizures in the name of the war on drugs will people endure before realizing what is happening?

People don't mind sacrificing to help their neighbors or those in need, but they do not appreciate being forced to sacrifice the fruits of their own labor for the achievement of abstract social goals.  Increasing force is required to maintain a growing top-down massive welfare/warfare state.  The monstrous social experiments in Russia, China, and other communist countries, which have resulted in the mass murder of tens of millions of human beings over the last century, could have been avoided if intellectuals and philosophers had not ignored the fundamental laws of human nature:

· Human beings are born with free will and are driven to express it.

· Human beings act in their own self-interest.

· Human beings will act to help others once they feel secure themselves.

· Human beings do not like to be forced to do anything.

Any institution, government, or business that ignores these fundamental facts of life is doomed to fail. Propaganda, mind control techniques, or brute force will all eventually fail. Collectivism cannot be implemented without force and that force always increases over time. There has never been a government bureaucracy that has come forward and said, “You know, we have completed our task now and there really no need for the taxpayers to continue to fund our department.”

Once begun, the process of collectivism (in whatever form) always leads to totalitarian government and serfdom for the vast majority of the people.”

Credit to:
The Common Sense Revisited Team
Clyde Clevland
Eliyah Finklestein
Cory Morrow
Jonny Cook
...and me for transcribing this piece (not to mention the combining of Huxley and Paine within the title).

By the way the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

They did not do this with Donald Trump!

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