tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post1923428937308896909..comments2024-03-28T06:00:18.802-07:00Comments on bionic mosquito: The Ugly, the Bad, and the Goodbionic mosquitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-34784265204184252132018-09-18T16:18:57.498-07:002018-09-18T16:18:57.498-07:00“Medieval popes proclaimed that they "judged ...“Medieval popes proclaimed that they "judged all and could be judged by none"; when were certain secular authorities able to make such a claim?”<br /><br />This is the basic doctrine of the Dictates Papae of 1075, articles 18-21.<br /><br /><br />“In more general terms, when does idea of sovereignty begin to emerge?”<br /><br />“Sovereignty existed in fact long before it could be described in theory. The turning point was the recognition of the need for a final authority, not the possession of a “ monopoly of power.”<br /><br />“Papal Revolution ca. 1072-1122 gave birth to the modern Western state.”<br /><br />“the Gregorian concept of the Church almost demanded the invention of the concept of the State.<br />It demanded it so strongly that modern writers find it exceedingly difficult to avoid describing the Investiture Conflict as a struggle of Church and State.”<br /><br /><br />“Berman argued that the church from this time forward exercised all the legal functions that we attribute to the modern state.”<br /><br />“Political entities, each with its own basic core of people and lands, gained legitimacy by enduring through generations.<br />Permanent institutions for financial and judicial business were established. Groups of professional administrators were developed. A central coordinating agency, the chancery, had emerged with a staff of highly trained clerks.<br /><br />These basic elements of the state appeared almost everywhere in Western Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.<br /><br />The rate was most rapid in England, France, and the Spanish kingdoms;”<br /><br /><br />“The Peace of Westphalia did no more than legalize a condition of things already in existence.”<br /><br />“At Westphalia the state-system does not come into existence: it comes of age;”<br /><br />‘The peace [in 1648] was not the tombstone of the empire but a charter which gave it another century-and-a-half of life’<br /><br />maxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-6594753937222337932018-09-16T02:44:45.738-07:002018-09-16T02:44:45.738-07:00This may be of interest: http://77.174.52.54/wordb...This may be of interest: http://77.174.52.54/wordbridge/archives/1305Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14809244579227094222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-33396419201233406472018-09-14T17:49:05.621-07:002018-09-14T17:49:05.621-07:00Also voluntary dis-association...even a bigger cri...Also voluntary dis-association...even a bigger crime these days. bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-38106331986812113582018-09-14T17:48:21.470-07:002018-09-14T17:48:21.470-07:00I must give credit to the individual who pushed me...I must give credit to the individual who pushed me into reading this book by Casey....Who was that guy?bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-21114815816961358522018-09-14T17:46:06.900-07:002018-09-14T17:46:06.900-07:00The good news, under the Althusian model, is that ...The good news, under the Althusian model, is that those who find sovereignty in God are free to form their own community.<br /><br />I will take it.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-70128079279983161112018-09-14T17:45:33.378-07:002018-09-14T17:45:33.378-07:00Probably will require the right to bear arms to ma...Probably will require the right to bear arms to make the clause effective...<br /><br />:-) bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-45665278808300429962018-09-14T17:44:48.713-07:002018-09-14T17:44:48.713-07:00The good news, under the Althusian model, is that ...The good news, under the Althusian model, is that those who find sovereignty in God are free to form their own community.<br /><br />I will take it.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-11523150203806514712018-09-14T17:43:26.452-07:002018-09-14T17:43:26.452-07:00I don't know. I think the concept is useful, ...I don't know. I think the concept is useful, even today.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-30476078858303560562018-09-14T07:54:58.435-07:002018-09-14T07:54:58.435-07:00This is a great, nuanced write up BM. I look forwa...This is a great, nuanced write up BM. I look forward to your further explorations on Althusius. It's also great to see the concept of "consociations", of which I've never been exposed to prior, and it's focus on voluntary relationships in a manner that recognizes various governance groups within a "structure".<br /><br />These groups, communal(loaded word, I know), seem to be a natural behavior of "man" in general. They are created with the intention of helping man and the key point of "agreements are not in perpetuity, but require initial and continuing consent. " seems to be one of many potential counterbalances when things go wrong. (hence the evil of the "civil war", which ended any notion that the Constitution was a "voluntary" agreement)<br /><br />Socialist/communists know exactly what they are doing when they claim "no man is an island" in attacking sovereignty(the difficulty here philosophically is where you draw the line between individuality and sovereignty as a concept, if there is one).<br /><br />When they do so, they appeal to man's basic instinct/common sense in knowing that men naturally form said "communes"/groups. But, what they conveniently neglect to mention, is that their version of said groups by default don't include the notion of "voluntary association"- one of the few counterbalances(secession/disassociation) left to any group/society/"consociation" or even individual in dealing with tyranny.<br />Nick Badalamentihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14015961786370759940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-45492515786875578092018-09-14T07:38:41.749-07:002018-09-14T07:38:41.749-07:00Interesting guy this Althusius. Fantastic find! If...Interesting guy this Althusius. Fantastic find! If only we'd received a real education in school and we already knew the names of people like him. OLL has his "Politica" in pdf form. http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/althusius-politica<br /><br />From the intro:<br /><br />"Johannes Althusius has enjoyed the good fortune in recent times of frequent notice in political, theological, sociological, and historical writings. This has been true ever since Otto Gierke in the latter part of the nineteenth century recovered Althusius from two centuries of relative obscurity, and attributed to his Politica (Politica methodice digesta) the distinction of making one of the pivotal contributions to Western political thought." - Translator, F. Carney<br /><br />Otto von Gierke is an interesting author in his own right. He has books entitled "Political Theories of the Middle Age" and "Natural Law and the Theory of Society." He was influential on John Neville Figgis, who was Lord Acton's student and the editor of much of his works (if Wikipedia is to be trusted).<br /><br />Another interesting libertarian parallel is that the Spanish School of Salamanca (think proto-Austrian economics) apparently had an influence on Althusius's social thought.A Texas Libertarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980539931923054404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-24487911714327545182018-09-14T06:42:54.071-07:002018-09-14T06:42:54.071-07:00"Sovereignty" of the god We The People i..."Sovereignty" of the god We The People is THE PROBLEM, NOT the solution. <br /><br />The sooner we all get a grip on this fact and recognize it, the sooner we can all understand the real problems and get to solutions, beginning with repentance for exulting the god "We The People" instead of The Great I Am and His Law as the supreme law of the land.<br /><br />We must turn back to The Almighty and His Commandments, Statutes and Judgments, not "hope" in "We The People's" constitution or this, that or the other Amendment; nor in the current illegitimate court system that continues to turn on you conquered people.<br /><br />Here's just one example of The Almighty's Perfect Law of Liberty: Did you know that The Almighty's Laws have no prohibitions for owning or carrying weapons, not even a requirement for a concealed carry permit ?! Remember Ehud (Judges 3: 12 - 30) ? What is required is personal responsibility.<br /><br />The only way to save this nation is to turn back to Him, His Perfect Moral Laws, Statutes and Judgments, i.e., His Kingdom/Will On Earth. <br /><br />He told us that if His people ” … shall humble themselves (e.g., quit thinking we’re the sovereign, take our proper place and quit usurping His), and pray, and seek my face (e.g., He’s to be the ONLY law giver), and turn from their wicked ways (e.g., seek His Kingdom/Will and promote the enforcement of His Laws, Statutes and Judgments); THEN will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”<br /><br />“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, And I will give you rest. Take My yoke (i.e., His Law 1 John 5: 2 & 3, as well as His tithe [tax] system) upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and ‘YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.’ (Jer. 6: 16). My yoke is easy, and My load is light.” Matthew 11: 28 – 30.<br /><br />Seek Him while He may yet be found. The judgments are happening before your eyes !Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-38193744065761279302018-09-13T15:44:19.779-07:002018-09-13T15:44:19.779-07:00The Abbeville Insistite is having a conference in ...The Abbeville Insistite is having a conference in Dallas in November on Secession and Nullification. I believe Livingston will be one of the speakers.SBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699554522289335818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-75022203737013924242018-09-13T11:33:21.135-07:002018-09-13T11:33:21.135-07:00Amen!Amen!Eric Morrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-14987980694654486132018-09-13T10:55:55.460-07:002018-09-13T10:55:55.460-07:00Thank you SB. I'm a big fan of the Abbeville i...Thank you SB. I'm a big fan of the Abbeville institute, even if they are not perfectly libertarian, and Don Livingston in particular.A Texas Libertarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980539931923054404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-6357054035592825372018-09-13T09:19:36.891-07:002018-09-13T09:19:36.891-07:00Interesting stuff. I was familiar with subsidiarit...Interesting stuff. I was familiar with subsidiarity but not with the name Althusius.<br /><br />Just make sure that the consociation is written and is unambigously explcit as to the power to disassociate by the "lower."JaimeInTexashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08729407700850451849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-24990010931711688532018-09-13T08:11:34.668-07:002018-09-13T08:11:34.668-07:00Sovereignty in the people!?! Sounds like biblical ...Sovereignty in the people!?! Sounds like biblical sedition to me:<br /><br />"...In one of his many arguments on behalf of the Constitution, Madison revealed where ultimate power resides in a Constitutional Republic:<br />'As the people are the only legitimate fountain of power … it is from them that the constitutional charter under which the [power of the] several branches of government … is derived.'51<br /><br />"Alexander Hamilton stated it similarly:<br /><br />'The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.'52<br /><br />"This emphasis on the people by both the federalists and anti-federalists alike is evidence that they had lost sight of Yahweh and His ultimate authority. Such an emphasis on the people cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. George Washington (who presided over the Constitutional Convention) confirmed this self-originating authority in his “Farewell Address”:....<br /><br /><br />"John Adams confessed to the same humanism regarding the States’ Constitutions:<br /><br />'It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service [the establishment of the States’ Constitutions] had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the inspiration of Heaven … it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses.... Thirteen governments [of the original states] thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone….'55<br /><br />"Following are samplings from some of the State Constitutions:<br /><br />'…all power is inherent in the people and all free governments are founded on their authority.' (Pennsylvania, 1790, Article IX, Section II)<br /><br />'...no authority shall, on any pretense whatever, be exercised over the people or members of this State, but such as shall be derived from and granted by them [the people].' (New York, 1777, Article I)<br /><br />'…all political power is vested in and derived from the people only.' (North Carolina, 1776, “Declaration of Rights,” Article I)...."<br /><br />For more, see Chapter 3 "The Preamble: WE THE PEOPLE vs. YAHWEH" of free online book "Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective" at http://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/BlvcOnline/biblelaw-constitutionalism-pt3.html.<br /><br />Then find out how much you *really* know about the Constitution as compared to the Bible. Take our 10-question Constitution Survey at http://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/ConstitutionSurvey.html and receive a complimentary copy of the 85-page "Primer" of "BL vs. USC." <br />Ted R. Weilandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01513069258387315741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-33531460698924325422018-09-12T21:40:55.942-07:002018-09-12T21:40:55.942-07:00"I do see a role that must be played by Chris..."I do see a role that must be played by Christian leaders today if we are to move toward liberty: against war, against torture, against unconditional support of Israel, against government spying, against the violence of “social justice,” against the worst meaning of the term “tolerance.” All in accord with the Gospel, all in accord with moving toward liberty."<br /><br />This would require Christian leaders who act and think like Christians. A tall order for many of our "Christian" rulers of the day.Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06642470307905628310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-56258334158609346192018-09-12T12:37:12.184-07:002018-09-12T12:37:12.184-07:00Althusius gives such a good framework to work thro...Althusius gives such a good framework to work through towards liberty today. That is a good discussion to be having. His model won't work today as much of the culture and context has changed, but it is always encouraging to find people of similar thought in the past.RMBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-73742886059172119942018-09-12T06:56:22.869-07:002018-09-12T06:56:22.869-07:00Tom Woods had an episode with Casey on this:
https...Tom Woods had an episode with Casey on this:<br />https://tomwoods.com/ep-336-a-libertarian-gallop-through-political-thought/<br /><br />I also became more familiar with Althusius through Donald Livingston of the Abbeville Institute in his book <i>Rethinking the American Union for the Twenty-First Century</i>, more specifically his essay entitled American Republicanism and the Forgotten Question of Size. Althusius is mentions throughout. The book is here:<br />https://www.amazon.com/Rethinking-American-Union-Twenty-First-Century/dp/1589809572SBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699554522289335818noreply@blogger.com