Pages

Saturday, December 30, 2023

My Ever-Shrinking Intersection

 

Given the ever-widening and fragmented divisions in a society gripped in revolution, I guess this should be no surprise….

Where to start this tale?  For simplicity, a return to 2008 and the financial crisis.  I found myself on the side of those who contacted congress to vote against TARP.  I remember Maria Bartiromo, then on CNBC, whining to the camera, “come on people…”, blaming the people for being against bailing out the institutions that, after the Federal Reserve and federal government, were most responsible for the financial calamity then realized.

After going down in defeat, the real arm-twisting began in congress, and the TARP bill was passed on the next vote – despite overwhelming public opposition (I recall 80% - 90% or more calls to congress against).

Even though by this time, September 2008, the media had done its job of burying the Ron Paul presidential campaign, it was clear that this uprising by voters reflected the economic views advocated by Ron Paul. 

Not that many of these same voters appreciated some of Paul’s other views at the time…. I was firmly against the earlier invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and it wasn’t clear that these notions were shared by those who also were against the TARP bailout.  Many booed Paul when he spoke of the adventurism of US foreign military action.

Shortly thereafter, Occupy Wall Street.  Whatever the origins of this events, I understood and sympathized with the objective.

What camp did this all place me in?  Certainly, my views were influenced by the non-aggression principle, but the divisions in society were not yet nearly as clear as they are today.

However, the signs were already there, even before TARP and Occupy Wall Street.  Barack Obama first verbalized the divide he worked so hard to thereafter create, when, in April 2008 on the campaign trail, he offered:

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

So, he dumped on the workers who had lost their blue-collar jobs, he dumped on gun owners, he dumped on those concerned about unchecked immigration, and he dumped on religious people (and clearly this meant Christians).  Obama’s statement perhaps most clearly describes the divide in America today – but not quite all of it.  And I was on the wrong side.

But, again, this didn’t really make clear my place – as war and military worship didn’t quite fit into my picture.  Many of those same people who were clinging to their guns and religion worshipped the military, went to churches on Sunday that sang military songs and paraded the US flag.  I wasn’t on their side.  But even the left was no longer protested the wars, not once Obama was warmonger-in-chief.

Picture my ever-shrinking intersection in the Venn Diagram of all US residents….

Basically, this divide remained stable but grew more secure through Obama’s term in office, now starting to offer clear evidence of the addition of the rainbow.  In the 2016 election campaign, Hilary Clinton labeled Trump supporters a basket of deplorables. 

“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?” Clinton said. “The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic—you name it. And, unfortunately, there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”

Clinton completed the picture of the divide, to ensure inclusion of the rainbow.  Now, she noted that many of his supporters wanted a change, but this didn’t clean the stink of her larger comment – and she didn’t really want it cleaned up.

Again, having sympathy with the Trump message – so much of it was Ron Paulian, but delivered with bombast – that I could relate.  Trump was against many foreign wars, against the Fed, he was for the working class, etc.  In other words, he was for those against the 2008 bailouts and against all of the job losses – those whom Obama targeted.  They found someone who spoke for them.

It was here, with Trump’s victory, that the divide was supercharged.  Throw in thirty years or so of destroying the minds of university students, and we have a divide that has been clearly examined by many.  I will point here to Angelo Codevilla:

We have stepped over the threshold of a revolution. It is difficult to imagine how we might step back, and futile to speculate where it will end. Our ruling class’s malfeasance, combined with insult, brought it about.

The ruling class had its soldiers, trained in the universities: those on the intersectional, rainbow flag bandwagon.  They were the most rabid covidions; they were the mostly peaceful rioters in the summer of 2020; they hung the black lives matter signs on their lawns; they were the ones who saw insurrection in the events of January 6, 2021; they put up Ukrainian flags.

I was on the opposite side on these issues, but my side was ever-shrinking.  Of course, with each one of these events, a few more of my compatriots were sheared off.  Just to consider one example: Christian churches – those who cling to their religion, their Bibles – those with whom I might have felt some level of brotherhood a decade before.

Many churches took the side of the rainbow flag, they supported black lives matter, they gladly shut down their churches during covid, they sided with Ukraine.  All the while, they kept cheering on war.

But then came October 7, 2023.  I need not cheer on everything done by Hamas to find myself on the side of those who see what Israel is doing in Gaza as genocide.  This distances me from many of the deplorables with whom I have much in common (including a large swath of churches that otherwise hold to the traditional values I share), and it places me with those foot soldiers of the ruling class with whom I share almost nothing. 

While I know that the term doesn’t offer answers on the edges, where I have fallen on each of these issues I think is well-grounded in the non-aggression principle.  My views are further refined by positive natural law ethics and understandings. 

Not that all self-identified libertarians are on the same page on these matters.  One, a very popular and well-known libertarian who argued persuasively against all covid talking points, acted in private quite differently than he spoke in public.  Another argued why, in theory, forcing a jab onto unwilling recipients could be allowed under the NAP, and the same one is a big cheerleader for the current genocide.

But the sliver of the intersection in the Venn Diagram that I occupy and I have clumsily attempted to portray is growing ever smaller.  This issue of Israel and Gaza is shattering all sides of the divide first explained by Obama and expanded by Clinton.

I think this shouldn’t be a surprise.  As has been true for every revolution, the revolutionaries agree on what they are against, but this doesn’t mean they have agreement on what they are for.  And for the rest of us, this means we will find ourselves occasionally siding with some subset of the revolutionaries.

Also, like all revolutions, the coalition behind this one was sure to fracture – and we see it now fracturing big-time, with those who financially supported the universities that were teaching revolution now threatening to cut off that financial support because they don’t like the direction the revolution has taken.  Here, too, I shouldn’t be surprised that I find myself, on certain issues on the side of some portion of the revolutionaries.

Conclusion

None, really, just observations.

14 comments:

  1. I share this with you! Maybe it has to do with our awareness of our separateness from others - maybe our venn diagram is simply not as isolated as it seems. Its a big world & our vision is so very limited. Peace & Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ted, your comment opened a door.

      In most, if not all, cases, the "side" in which I belong is the side opposite that which one is allowed to speak publicly. So I am quite cautious about when or if I open my mouth, even though I am certain that there are many people that I come across every day who feel the same.

      Delete
  2. I identify with this even though it took me much longer to be in the Venn diagram sliver. I started as a neocon because I didn't know anything else. But the failure of the Tea Party and the success of Obama's revolution radicalized me. Conservatives started to get it right by criticizing US support for Ukraine, but then went far left with their unexamined support for Israel. Now Trump is talking about building a huge FBI building. It is clear that the Dems and Repubs are on the same team creating psyop after psyop.

    Remember though change is made by very committed, radical minority groups. Let's get more committed, more radical, and more ready for action. It's the only thing that will work in my opinion. The whole system is illegitimate. It deserves to be judged and removed. Only a remnant will understand the situation.

    https://thecrosssectionrmb.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-ethics-of-liberty-internal.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Have to agree with you here, step by step. We are in complete alignment. Maybe why I visit daily? Thank you, for being “our voice”.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As you know, you are not alone. Your reflections resonate solidly with my experiences. And my pessimism. But as He said, "Narrow is the gate that leads to life." Let us pray that we keep on it and that others find it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Bionic, sir!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Welcome to the club!
    You aren't alone. We need to realize all that's good starts with ourselves and sharing it by our words and actions with those closest to us and those we come into contact with sharing information with them and letting them come to see the world more clearly.
    All good things come from the bottom outward and spread upward. Top down power can never bring good.
    Our battle is to live our lives without compromising our faith or our values regardless of how futile it might seem.
    In the end truth always wins and even the ugliest truths
    are better than the most beautiful lies.
    You're on the right path and you know you can never go backward.
    Thanks and happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
  6. "As has been true for every revolution, the revolutionaries agree on what they are against, but this doesn’t mean they have agreement on what they are for."

    The Bolsheviks were a good example of this. All of them were dedicated to overthrowing the Russian Tsarist regime and they worked together toward that end, but their differences of opinion in the power struggle caused great division within the ranks and resulted in many of the same revolutionaries, Leon Trotsky, e.g., becoming "martyrs" (against their will, of course) for the cause.

    This could fit any movement which seeks to change the social/religious/political order in some way, whether minimally or greatly. Whenever there is more than one person attempting to revise the current system, there will be agreement on what is wrong about the system and there will be disagreement on what should (and how to) replace it, especially when it comes to the manner in which the power is divvied up in the new system.

    And for the rest of us? Well, if we try hard enough and watch for it, we can probably find something in common with virtually anyone who is attempting to change the world, regardless as to how hard-core or offbeat they might be. Learning how to work with those we have disagreement with in order to produce a common goal is the hard part. Looking back on my own life, I have found it easier to simply walk away from them and go my own way. This has not been productive and has greatly inhibited my potential to effect positive change within society.

    However, in seeking truth (the ultimate revolutionary act for sinful human beings), we should be ready and willing to shrink our personal Venn diagram down to one--only one--and stand alone in it when it becomes necessary, which it will if we are truly committed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well said although I'm not sure how much any lone individual can do against Leviathan/Cthulhu

      Delete
    2. In the natural way of operation and thinking, one lone individual (or many lone individuals, even groups of lone individuals) can do virtually nothing against Leviathan or the System. They will lose every time. Bionic has mentioned numerous times that it takes communities and societies, all of which are comprised of individuals, to make a difference. I have had to learn this the hard way and am still trying to become effective at working with others in spite of the differences between us.

      However, Jesus was one lone individual and history is a record of the difference He made. He did not try to change the government, refused to grab for the ring of power, put down any ideas of earthly glory and prominence, but focused on fulfilling the mission He had been given.

      Perhaps we should try to emulate Him.

      Delete
  7. Right there with you bud. I had a discussion on Israel/Palestine with my family over the break and of course none of them can understand recognizing that Hamas is terrible, but also that Israel provoked them (nor did they know that the Israel has supported Hamas or has committed worse atrocities in Palestine or even past terrorist acts like USS Liberty in 67). It is tough to be the one at family events drawing all the fire. But I have learned to stay calm and not let things get overly heated, despite my frustration at hearing CNN/FOX talking points regurgitated at me.

    It makes me wonder if the globalist elite foment events like 10/7, 1/6, or 9/11 to purposefully slice and dice consolidating pockets of resistance to their plans for accumulating ill-gotten wealth and power. For instance, many varieties of conservatives or right-wingers were consolidating against the US war machine in Ukraine, so they pushed a button, and whoops! Israel is attacked and babies are being raped and cooked alive! Now the right is all in favor of militarism, and anyone not supporting Israel's war against innocent women and children in Gaza is lumped in with radical Jihad. Just a thought.

    Regarding universities rebelling against Israel and fostering violent anti-Jewish sentiments and demonstrations, I wrote this on Twitter a while back:

    Just as kings eventually suffered by their own hand in fomenting the masses against the aristocracy, so too are Jews now suffering by their hand in mobilizing minorities against whites. After all, the king is only the most privileged aristocrat, and the Jew the most privileged white.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great article imo if you've never come across it previously

    https://dissidentvoice.org/2021/09/the-great-reset-how-a-managerial-revolution-was-plotted-80-years-ago-by-a-trotskyist-turned-cia-neocon/

    ReplyDelete
  9. If it makes you feel any better, there seem to be populations that are in your little circle (and mine) that are invisible to the broader culture. My social life--what little there is of one--is spent across a variety of Catholic homeschooling communities in a major Texas city. While you don't find many plumb-line NAP libertarians, their instincts are classically liberal, they disdain the feds, they know education should be primarily at home, and most importantly they are not aligned with Israel's brutality.

    The latin-friendly priests I speak to have the same view. And these folks are arch-enemies of the turboliberal alphabet people culture. Lifesite and other pro-life groups seem to draw this community on a national level.

    ReplyDelete