The God Of The Machine
Posted by BradHarrington 9 years, 2 months ago to Politics
OK, Let me start off with a couple of notes:
(1) It doesn't look like post preview is a function of this board, so I hope that it appears half-decent, as I haven't been able to discover a way to look at it before I publish it;
(2) It also looks like most people are posting links as opposed to text, and then comments are made in text; I would prefer to post text as my primary method and embed links as needed. I hope this software will left me do that. Nor does it look like I have any bold/italics capabilities either;
(3) Most of the stuff I churn out is for the local paper here in Cheyenne, Wyoming (Wyoming Tribune Eagle), so it has a local Wyoming flavor to it. Don't let that bother you, however, as I always use local events as a starting point for wider political and philosophical conclusions. You've probably got the same kind of junk happening in your town anyway, or worse;
(4) OK, let's try it out!
The God Of The Machine
By Bradley Harrington
Published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on February 20, 2015, under the title of “What Happens When Rules Fail Us?”
“America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.” - Claire Wolfe, “101 Things To Do ‘Til The Revolution,” 1996 -
Most of the time, in discussions of political issues, I pick up little more than the same pre-conceived platitudes one can find in any public school classroom.
Once in a great while, however, I hear something that jars me right down to the soles of my boots.
“Brad, we need to talk,” William “Ben” Bennett phoned me the other day.
Ben and his wife, Kim, own the Korean House Restaurant on the southeast corner of Snyder Avenue and Pershing Boulevard, and I’ve known and respected them for years.
So, I paid Ben a visit.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He pushed a bright orange piece of paper across the table at me.
“That came in the mail a couple of days ago,” he said.
An invoice from the Health Dept: “Routine Inspection, $90.00; Late Fee, $25.00; Total Due, $115.00.”
“Kim and I opened this store up 14 years ago,” Ben said, “and I’ve gotten dozens of those things since. I always pay them, and on time. I never got the first notice. I don’t believe I owe those people that $25.00.”
“Make sure you think it through,” I said. “Those people can make your life very difficult. I’m not saying you should pay it, I’m just pointing that out.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Ben retorted, scowling. “You think I don’t think of it every time a renewal, license or health fee shows up, while I’m asking myself: WHY is it that I have to pony up hundreds and hundreds of dollars every year for the ‘right’ to make a living?
“And what do I get in return?” Ben asked. “Those incompetent fools have screwed up Snyder Avenue with their road work for four years running now... While they’ve brainlessly cut through gas and water lines, almost blown the front door off my restaurant, tipped over a 20-ton gravel truck on the sidewalk, and shut off my water - and my business - more times than I care to count.
“I’ve repeatedly gone to the City Council, the County Commission and WyDot,” Ben fumed. “Nobody ever listens to anything I say. They just stare at me, thank me for ‘my service,’ and tell me they’ll make a note of it.
“You want to know about my ‘service’?” Ben queried me. “I spent years of my life in the Air Force and in Vietnam, supposedly fighting to keep America free. Do you know how our politicians treated us?”
Ben pulled a pencil out of a holder, snapped it in two and flung it against his front door.
“There goes the first GI,” he said. “No problem, we’ve got another one where he came from!”
Another pencil snapped and followed the first.
“We’ve got warehouses full of GI’s. They’ll obey our orders and drop into our LZ or we’ll put them in jail!
“And for what, Brad?” Ben cried, tears on his cheeks. “So Kim and I could come back to America, the ‘land of the free,’ and be ordered around and treated like criminals by a bunch of worthless bureaucrats who view us as nothing but chattel - while we pay their salaries no less?”
Ben stood still for several moments, stared at the broken pencils on the floor, then dropped back into his chair.
He whispered: “And I have no power to do anything about it. Those people can walk in here, close my doors and put us into the poor house without even so much as a court order - while I have the cleanest restaurant in this whole damn town. Justice? Where do you see it?”
Listening, I had been grasping a memory, something his words were reminding me of. Then I had it: The Battle of Athens, 1946 - when servicemen returning from World War II found it necessary, ultimately with the help of the rest of the town, to seize the operation of McCinn County, Tennessee, back from a corrupt political machine that had hijacked it years earlier while they had been fighting Hitler.
And I pondered... The problem here isn’t that Ben’s some whacked-out nut-job looking to incite a revolution. No, the problem is that Ben’s just a normal American guy who pays his taxes and follows the rules... But who has also realized that “the system” no longer pays him any attention, that the machine has become its own God.
“What happens, Brad,” Ben asked, “when the ‘rules’ have made slaves out of all of us? When the system no longer hears us and is stacked against us? When we no longer have a voice? What on Earth are we supposed to do then?”
What, indeed?
Bradley Harrington is a computer technician and a writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming; he can be reached at brad@bradandbarbie.com.
(1) It doesn't look like post preview is a function of this board, so I hope that it appears half-decent, as I haven't been able to discover a way to look at it before I publish it;
(2) It also looks like most people are posting links as opposed to text, and then comments are made in text; I would prefer to post text as my primary method and embed links as needed. I hope this software will left me do that. Nor does it look like I have any bold/italics capabilities either;
(3) Most of the stuff I churn out is for the local paper here in Cheyenne, Wyoming (Wyoming Tribune Eagle), so it has a local Wyoming flavor to it. Don't let that bother you, however, as I always use local events as a starting point for wider political and philosophical conclusions. You've probably got the same kind of junk happening in your town anyway, or worse;
(4) OK, let's try it out!
The God Of The Machine
By Bradley Harrington
Published in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on February 20, 2015, under the title of “What Happens When Rules Fail Us?”
“America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.” - Claire Wolfe, “101 Things To Do ‘Til The Revolution,” 1996 -
Most of the time, in discussions of political issues, I pick up little more than the same pre-conceived platitudes one can find in any public school classroom.
Once in a great while, however, I hear something that jars me right down to the soles of my boots.
“Brad, we need to talk,” William “Ben” Bennett phoned me the other day.
Ben and his wife, Kim, own the Korean House Restaurant on the southeast corner of Snyder Avenue and Pershing Boulevard, and I’ve known and respected them for years.
So, I paid Ben a visit.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He pushed a bright orange piece of paper across the table at me.
“That came in the mail a couple of days ago,” he said.
An invoice from the Health Dept: “Routine Inspection, $90.00; Late Fee, $25.00; Total Due, $115.00.”
“Kim and I opened this store up 14 years ago,” Ben said, “and I’ve gotten dozens of those things since. I always pay them, and on time. I never got the first notice. I don’t believe I owe those people that $25.00.”
“Make sure you think it through,” I said. “Those people can make your life very difficult. I’m not saying you should pay it, I’m just pointing that out.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Ben retorted, scowling. “You think I don’t think of it every time a renewal, license or health fee shows up, while I’m asking myself: WHY is it that I have to pony up hundreds and hundreds of dollars every year for the ‘right’ to make a living?
“And what do I get in return?” Ben asked. “Those incompetent fools have screwed up Snyder Avenue with their road work for four years running now... While they’ve brainlessly cut through gas and water lines, almost blown the front door off my restaurant, tipped over a 20-ton gravel truck on the sidewalk, and shut off my water - and my business - more times than I care to count.
“I’ve repeatedly gone to the City Council, the County Commission and WyDot,” Ben fumed. “Nobody ever listens to anything I say. They just stare at me, thank me for ‘my service,’ and tell me they’ll make a note of it.
“You want to know about my ‘service’?” Ben queried me. “I spent years of my life in the Air Force and in Vietnam, supposedly fighting to keep America free. Do you know how our politicians treated us?”
Ben pulled a pencil out of a holder, snapped it in two and flung it against his front door.
“There goes the first GI,” he said. “No problem, we’ve got another one where he came from!”
Another pencil snapped and followed the first.
“We’ve got warehouses full of GI’s. They’ll obey our orders and drop into our LZ or we’ll put them in jail!
“And for what, Brad?” Ben cried, tears on his cheeks. “So Kim and I could come back to America, the ‘land of the free,’ and be ordered around and treated like criminals by a bunch of worthless bureaucrats who view us as nothing but chattel - while we pay their salaries no less?”
Ben stood still for several moments, stared at the broken pencils on the floor, then dropped back into his chair.
He whispered: “And I have no power to do anything about it. Those people can walk in here, close my doors and put us into the poor house without even so much as a court order - while I have the cleanest restaurant in this whole damn town. Justice? Where do you see it?”
Listening, I had been grasping a memory, something his words were reminding me of. Then I had it: The Battle of Athens, 1946 - when servicemen returning from World War II found it necessary, ultimately with the help of the rest of the town, to seize the operation of McCinn County, Tennessee, back from a corrupt political machine that had hijacked it years earlier while they had been fighting Hitler.
And I pondered... The problem here isn’t that Ben’s some whacked-out nut-job looking to incite a revolution. No, the problem is that Ben’s just a normal American guy who pays his taxes and follows the rules... But who has also realized that “the system” no longer pays him any attention, that the machine has become its own God.
“What happens, Brad,” Ben asked, “when the ‘rules’ have made slaves out of all of us? When the system no longer hears us and is stacked against us? When we no longer have a voice? What on Earth are we supposed to do then?”
What, indeed?
Bradley Harrington is a computer technician and a writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming; he can be reached at brad@bradandbarbie.com.
Unfortunately, we have our hands full here for now.
They don't refer to Madison, WI as "Mad Town" for nothing!
Just to let you know, I enjoy your writing. You are intelligent, articulate and your reasoning is solid. Thank you for posting.
Powerless to prevent it's misuse - The Roman philospher Boethius observed in the days of the first Christian Roman Emperors the tyrant does not take take power but rather it is given to him by the citizens. As long as the citizens are happy with a one party dictatorial and decidedly fascist government we will drift from dictator to dictator until one decides to ignore the eight year rule and ignore the congress much as Emperors did the Roman Senate. it is the fate of all governments in history that none have lasted as much as 200 years without their citizens failing in their responsibilities and giving the ultimate power to a ruling class. By design or by saying what's the use we can do nothing that George Soros cannot buy and subvert - an idea no doubt planted by Soros. There is plenty of power. But it has to be used. Rights do not come with out Responsibilities,
The next big piece of the puzzle is the creation of a the Protective Echelon and that is well underway fed by a never ending stream of never ending crisis. Under the likes of Hillary or Kerry that new Department or directorate more aptly will change from agencies to divisions. Just like always.
What difference this time. The handcuffs and chains are more velvet lined. We have the new version of the roman stadium games and along with it the means to propagandize in a more subtle manner.
But the citizens willingly give up their responsibilities and with that their rights. So let's call that the couch potato vote - or lack thereof.
A large group is out there wandering around unrepresented and for the most part unorganized. Like the odd nail that sticks it's head up they are immediately beaten down by the hammers of the bully pulpit and the Government Party (establishment) propaganda teams meaning the controlled media and education systems. So far. There is that fast growing Protective Echelon to cause real concern.
Changes that could and should be made range from the very simple to some a bit more complex.
Most of them have to do with empowering or re-empowering citizens who have shown they are all too willing to reject responsibility. That's the hard part. Examples.
Census - Change people to citizens.One word.
Education - Either add the word or send the Department of Education back to the States.
Voting. Balance and level the playing field with some or all of the following.
Primary all on the same day. They are all locally focused anyway. Use of caucus, primary ballot direct vote, or any other form of choosing a candidate is the business of the party. Set a campaign season every two or four or whatever years with one month to campaign and one week to vote followed by at least a month to take care of runoffs or the results of the mandatory addition of None Of The Above/No confidence.
Keep the funding for local races local. There are approximately 186,000 precincts. Soros isn't rich enough to control them all. The number of voters average 1100 (all 2004 figures.) Which with None of the Above and locally voting in a recall provision for those who don't have that power mean it's a case of talking to your neighbors. Face to face. Instead of giving them up as a lost cause to the power of electronics. That's how Soros does it. That's how the Government Party does it.
Direct vote there is no need except easier to control from the top by the established ruling elite class for the Electoral College.
So yes you pegged yourself and nailed the issue
Proper role in society? Depends on your viewpoint. Servants of George Soros to some by abdication of responsibility with no controls. The present path.
Employees of the citizens who are required to stick to their assigned tasks - defense of the nation from enemies foreign and domestic be they military, or just local muggers and defense against the sometimes ravages of nature head the list. Local muggers include government and corporatist/commercial criminals as well.
The list of course goes on. But these examples coupled with some a bit more complex to undo or change -
BUT by amendment which means back to a vote of the citizens who hold or held the ultimate responsibility. Not by ignoring, finding as way around or usurping the Courts job of interpreting.
If nothing else Mr. Harrington you hold the moral high ground.
Why? For one reason we now have a portion of government that is allowed to act without reference to the Bill of Rights and Civil Rights. Like the Military Conscription Act just waiting to be used.
300 million people sentenced for the crimes of twenty who brought down two buildings, killed 4,000 and in the end - won.
I'd say more than tweaking is needed.
There are those who will say oh we can't do that it violates this or that from the Constitution. They must have their collective heads in the sand invoking that which is routinely violated and ignored by the Government Party and yes that means both establishment Democrats and Republicans. You can't rely on that which doesn't exist except as history. Nor can you rely on what they say when judged by what they do.
I'd say I probably more resemble what is now known as the "classical liberals," only with all the contradictions removed. Of all the Founding Fathers, my outlook on government most resembles that of Thomas Jefferson.
When it comes to government, I barely support the idea that we even need to have one - and whatever one it is that we happen to have, should be funded voluntarily.
Regarding the Constitution, quite frankly, I regard it as a seriously-flawed document in a number of respects, all of which can be highlighted by Lysander Spooner's observation: "The Constitution has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it."
In my opinion, the Constitution was an experiment - and, as should happen with all experiments, this one needs to be re-evaluated - and what has happened since it was enacted needs to be taken into account - then the "experiment" needs to be tweaked or replaced with a new idea, as this one was a dismal failure at limiting what government we might need to its proper role in society.
Did any of this help you peg me any?
Brad
https://mises.org/library/law-0
Excellent article. I look forward to more from you. You are absolutely correct, and it is sad to say, that though your article has a Wyoming address, you could substitute any city name, and still be accurate.
A question I have worried on for a while is, are we too far gone for peaceful solutions? Rand, Ghandi, MLK, and many others have stated that force should not be used to enforce your will on others, but I feel helpless in any peaceful solutions. When it has been shown repeatedly that our media, govt, and even the sanctity of our ballot boxes have been corrupted, are there any peaceful solutions left for us?
in '08 and misspelled something -- too much liquid
armoring against the bad news, I guess -- when
lamenting that:::
BHO's victory was ironic -- turning the tables on
slavery, from black slaves then to predominantly
white slaves now, working to feed the govt machine
redistributing dollars. . pissed off a liberal or 2. -- j
You do realize that by oath of office ALL members are the military are constitutional centrists - at least they are supposed to be exactly that. Most of us have actually read it and wondered at times what it had to do with the citizens of USA? Silly us. We found out much to our embarrassment - not much. Works for me and way ahead of whatever is in second place - make that third place. Second Place is reserved for the Silver Medalists in the Southeast Asian War Games or insert your own mistake.
Brad
A Constitutional Centrist? Surely you jest. I haven't voted for any of these buffoons since 1980.
What on Earth ever made you think I support ANY of these liars and thieves? Was it something I said?
Brad
NOTE: That last sentence is NOT to be taken to mean that I intend on hanging anybody, of course...
Brad
Brad
Hell, in 2025 I'll be 65. Let's do it!!! I'll push your wheelchair as needed.
Brad
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