Geography Is Destiny: Embracing Fundamental Truths, Identifying Fantasy & Infantilization, and Making Choices that help us Avoid Evil Outcomes

There are other factors and causes that go into demographics, but geography is the first cause, the root cause. All other factors are subordinate – not unimportant, but subordinate.

Geographies give people groups their characteristics.

This is a fundamental truth.

Nothing can change it.

How we feel about this, or any other fundamental truth, is irrelevant.

Geographies give people groups their characteristics.

People are much more like plants, in that regard, than we might like to admit, demoralizing as that idea may be to our sometimes vaunted sense of ourselves & our ability to rise above our circumstances & the environments that shaped us. We are no doubt the most adaptable creature on the planet, but that adaptability does have limits. The laws of physics apply even to us.

People have no choice but to adapt to the physical world around them, the environments they spring forth from. The idea that we can somehow operate outside of – or independent of – the limits of the physical world which shaped us, in which we have no choice but to exist – and of which we are an inseparable part – is fantastical. We are bound to the physical world that we spring forth from – a part of it – shaped & programmed by it. We have been hardwired by it. There is nothing any of us can do to change that. That programming is optimized to maximize our adaptability, but again, it does have limits – hardwired limits.

None of this should be particularly shocking or controversial. It’s not even remotely new information.

People are a part of the physical world they grow out of. They are shaped by it.

People are much more like plants, in that regard, than we might like to admit.

They are literally shaped by the soil they grow out if – shaped by the specifics of the environment that they have no other choice but to adapt to.

Again, this is in no way new information – it’s long been know & understood. This forgotten knowledge is perhaps yet another part of our cultural amnesia.

I do not mean to belabor these points, but we are now in a position where we have to try to undo the vast ignorance bestowed upon us by many decades of growing infantilization – unlearn fantasy, and relearn fundamental truths.

Geographies give people groups their characteristics.

This is a fundamental truth – and we must stop entertaining the comforting lies that suggest otherwise.

Those lies comfort in the short term, only to destroy in the long.

We desperately need people who understand these things – the destruction these comforting lies inevitably bring when embraced as truth – adopted as acceptable modes of thought, or used to direct policy & make decisions about our vital interests & our place in the world.

We are living in a time that requires competent & practical-minded adults that can easily recognize & accept these fundamental truths.

Adults face truth, comfortable or not, and make decisions accordingly.

In this time of great need, facing serious challenges and existential threats – challenges which require the undivided attention of those who can see the world clearly – it’s time that we begin behaving with the unapologetic & unwavering resolve of competent & practical-minded adults – confront fundamental truths – and send the children out to play.

We have important decisions to make about our future, and therefore, important conversations that we must have.

This means that we must behave as adults, embrace truth, and reject fantasy. We must put away the comforting lies told to children. We are not children, and serious choices about our place in the world urgently need to be made.

It’s time to take stock of our most vital interests and chart a beneficial pathway forward.

Only adults – those who are capable of acknowledging fundamental truths – can have a seat at the table and participate in those discussions.

The children, must be sent out to play.

Our Task: Evaluate & service Vital Interests, through the lens of Fundamental Truths, to find Beneficial Pathways Forward.

In order to do this, we must remove Obstacles to Truth.

What are those obstacles?

One of the biggest, as we’ve mentioned, is the infantilization that we’ve been increasingly afflicted by for many decades now. It’s like a spell of ignorance cast upon the great body of the people, not only here in our own nation, but now around the world.

We’ve been afflicted with a widespread epidemic of infantilization. The proponents of this infantilization have argued to the contrary of the fundamental truth of geography – argued against the existence of these unalterable physical realities and their affects on the people groups who grow out of them. They have argued that people are, in fact, not different due to the geographies which they grow out of, but rather, are more like interchangeable widgets – replaceable, interchangeable, the same – coming more or less standard with the same characteristics & capabilities – much like a car or a toaster, fresh from the factory, each essentially fulfilling the same general role. They contend that things like the unalterable physics that shaped & programmed us, gave us our hardwired programming and our unique characteristics as a people, as well as things such as our cultures & traditions, themselves stemming from those geographies – are somehow not important.

These fantasy beliefs – this infantilization which vigorously disregards fundamental truths – is an affliction which has brought us only increased frustration & failure, continual decline & decay, and an increased & unnecessary level of human suffering – blinded us not only to the fundamental & unalterable truths of geography and the characteristics it bestows upon the people who grow out if it, but to many other critically important fundamental truths as well.

Those who blindly promote & engage in the now widespread epidemic of infantilization despise fundamental truths. They are terrified by them – see them as the enemy – view them as an existential threat. They cannot bear to face the realities of the natural world – in which the rest of us have no choice but to exist. They despise these fundamental truths! These fundamental truths stand in the way of their cherished delusions, their ability to shields themselves from harsh & scary realities by embracing comforting fantasy beliefs – fantasy beliefs which are powerful talismans that, in their view, protect them against the harsh dangers of the natural world.

These perpetually frightened & terrified people are to be pitied, but not in any way encouraged, reinforced, or enabled. Reinforcing their delusions is the worst possible thing that we could do – for them, and for ourselves. Essentially, they are sick, in very real terms. They need our care, not our help in reinforcing their delusions.

We can shelter & protect these frightened people, give them our care & compassion – protect them & others who are put in very real danger by their delusional beliefs – but we cannot allow them to hold positions of responsibility or leadership, at any level, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant. Their view of the world violates a fundamental principle of being an adult: facing reality. As such, they are not fit for any position which requires the ability to make adult decisions. This could not be more self-evident.

Despite these obvious truths, we have nonetheless widely allowed these perpetually terrified & delusional people – who cannot bear to face any kind of fundamental truth regarding the realities of the natural world – to assume positions of responsibility & leadership at all levels, and in virtually every realm, to our great & lasting detriment. No one – with any intellectual honesty – can look around at our circumstances and tell me that this is wrong.

Consequently, due to the deeply unwise practice of allowing these delusional & perpetually terrified people into positions of responsibility & leadership at all levels, we now widely embrace policies and modes of thought that are no longer capable of realistically facing & evaluating any fundamental truths, even the most basic unalterable physical realties we face, such as our geographies – which, without god-like powers – we simply cannot change.

This is an affliction that goes much deeper and is much more serious than most realize. We will ALL need to educate ourselves about it, if we truly hope to change it – if we truly hope to put the evils that we’ve released, back in Pandora’s box. (Isn’t it interesting that our ancestors warned us about this danger – multiple ancestors, in multiple different stories – not to mention stories from multiple cultures & civilizations as well?)

What do I mean, exactly, about educating ourselves?

Well, books have been written that describe, in great detail, the situation that we now face (And you will very clearly recognize the parallels when you read them). We’re not the first ones to have faced these circumstances, and we can learn a great deal from those who have. Many of us are now doing that – learning more about the situation we now face, from those who’ve been there before, and adding to that knowledge – sharing both widely.

Essentially, the infantilizers, and the children – they cannot allow anyone to acknowledge fundamental truths, that of geography, or any other. To do so threatens their own fantasies & delusions, their own ability to believe in those fantasies & delusions. Not to share those delusions is to challenge them! To challenge them is to destroy them! To destroy them is to make the believer vulnerable to the dangers of the world – to shatter their protection from it – to attack them!

They can allow none of it! They will force their delusions on you – at all costs – whatever it takes! YOU WILL COMPLY – OR ELSE! Sadly, this is not hyperbole, and this is not a new occurrence… not a new phenomenon – but yet another repeat of a very old.

These perpetually terrified & delusional people – akin to fevered religious zealots who worship at the feet of a highly-destructive ideology which treats the adults of the world as children – expect ALL people to share in their delusions with them – expect ALL people to adopt the fantasy beliefs of children. Not to share in these delusional fantasy beliefs, in their minds, is to attack them. This gives them license to do anything (nothing is out of bounds), to get rid of you & your attacks, as you are an existential threat to them. These are the modern world’s totalitarian enforcers in waiting. They will screech and howl at ALL fundamental truths because these fundamental truths remove their fantasies – leave them naked & defenseless against the many dangers of the world. You will face the fear & wrath of a cornered animal fighting for their lives when you challenge their delusions with fundamental truths. These are people who cannot be reached on any logical or rational level. They will recoil & howl at the attempt. Simply look around and you can see this happening nearly everywhere today.

And so, we can very clearly see that these perpetually terrified & delusional people will also inevitably screech & howl against the fundamental truth that geographies give people groups their characteristics. However, no amount of screeching & howling will change the unalterable physical reality that is geography – nor its effects on the people groups who grow out of these geographies and have no choice but to adapt to them – nor will it change the menu of realistic choices available to them because of this, as both the opportunities, and the challenges presented by these geographies & their effects are considered.

It cannot be overstated that these perpetually terrified & delusional people are a danger to all of us when allowed to take any position of responsibility or leadership, even those that may seem small or insignificant. They will always & forever seek to force their delusions on everyone around them – no matter the cost.

It should be self-evident that this is something we simply cannot allow. Not now, and not ever.

We must remove obstacles to truth.

These people will ever be, obstacles to truth.

They simply cannot acknowledge fundamental truths.

And as such, they cannot take part in these adult conversations. They are simply not capable.

We must accept this, behave as adults, face these realities, and send the children out to play.

Having now defined the audience and identified those who are, and those who are not capable of taking part in this discussion – for the record, let us make our case in more detail.

We must accept the unalterable physical reality that is geography – convenient or not.

We must accept that geographies give people groups their characteristics.

We must take these things into account when we make decisions about our vital interests and our place in the world.

The need to evaluate vital facts & information when making important decisions should be self-evident.

What does this mean?

Well, geography matters.

Unalterable physical realities – geographies – must be taken into account when making important decisions about our vital interests and our place in the world:

Unless… Unless you posses the god-like powers that enable you to level mountain ranges; make vast swaths of infertile soil, both fertile & productive; create energy out of thin air; separate continents or raise mountain ranges to provide physical security from the constant threat of invasion; level mountain ranges & remove the many other inconvenient & impassable terrains in order to connect those who are isolated, thus removing the obstacles to easy trade that would otherwise inevitably bring them surplus, and with it, prosperity.

Unless you have access to those god-like powers: Unalterable physical realities – geographies – must be taken into account when making important decisions about vital interests, and one’s place in the world.

This is a fundamental unalterable truth.

These unalterable physical realities – these geographies that give people groups their characteristics and thusly, also shape the menu of choices they have available to them – must be realistically evaluated & considered – taken into account when evaluating our own vital interests (and theirs) & making decisions about other parts of the world, and the people who grow out of those geographies. We must clearly understand what the realistic capabilities of both parties are, rather than engage in fantasy. And we must consider the vital interests of both sides. If a trade doesn’t satisfy both parties, what incentive do they have to cooperate in the future? [This is a bedrock truth of building stable relations of any kind – based on any sort of trade – interpersonal, social, commercial, or otherwise.]

This is true for all types of trades & exchanges. Satisfying both sides impacts future relations & thusly, future possibilities.

Trade, foreign policy, immigration, you name it. It matters in all scenarios. Are we benefiting ourselves? Are we benefiting the other party? Are we both being honest with one other about our circumstances? Developing high trust works the same here as it does anywhere else. Developing stable relations works the same here as it does anywhere else. Trade, diplomacy – any kind of exchange – requires trust. Reputations & honesty matter when it comes to trust. What you can expect from someone is dictated by past experience, by reputation.

None of these things can be approached with any honesty, honor, or integrity, and thus no trust can be built – if unalterable physical realities – the geographies that shape the menu of choices available to a people – are not realistically taken into account – on both sides.

Establishing a stable history of relations – and thereby establishing trust & the expectation on both sides that you will be dealing with an honest broker – makes a difference in all future relations – trade, foreign policy, immigration, you name it.

If we expect anyone – or any nation – to honor their agreements, an expectation of honesty, and thereby, a history of trustworthiness, is required on both sides. Otherwise, agreements will be made and both parties will simply do whatever was in their interests to begin with, regardless of agreements made. That is, in fact, mostly what we see today. Because there is no honesty. Because there is no taking into account fundamental truths & unalterable physical realities.

For our part, dishonesty has become the model of business – in all realms. For decades now, this has grown in prevalence.

Our business & industry, for instance, as a whole, anywhere above the level of small and some medium-sized businesses, now largely operates by that unofficial motto: “Dishonesty is the model of business!” Thus they have long been incrementally lowering trust with their customers, and consequently, contributing to lowering trust within all of society as well. People just expect it now. They’re still disgusted by it, but they expect it. If competition were more robust & there was less regulatory capture, which limits that competition, many of these businesses would simply collapse and be easily overtaken by competitors. People are tired of the dishonesty and would be happy to instead do business with companies that are honest, companies they could trust, companies who had integrity. However, they often have little other choice in the marketplace besides the monopoly business that mistreats them.

Monopolies that prevent competition and accountability encourage the growth of dishonesty & mistrust, encourage predation by those monopoly interests – promote the expectation of all those things, normalize them. Later we will see that these same tendencies carry over into the practice of international trade and evince themselves in the globalist practices that we have become all too familiar with as well. Sadly, dishonesty, is now largely the model of American business – everywhere it’s practiced. It’s an unfortunate truth. And unfortunately, the problem doesn’t stop there.

Dishonesty is the model of our foreign policy & diplomacy too. We are not an honest broker with other nations. It sickens many of us to see our State department & our diplomats (and even our international business & financial interests, because we know these are mostly comingled now) make agreements with other nations when we want to secure their cooperation, and then promptly break those agreements or immediately begin to undermine those nations or their interests. It’s a despicable practice that damages trust & guarantees those powers will act in kind, undermining us & our interests at every opportunity in the future.

This low-trust behavior is de-civilizing. It destroys. It does not build. Whatever short-term advantage may come from it is vastly outweighed by long-term losses. This is yet another case where we see tremendous damage coming from a fixation on short-term time horizons. We have allowed people into positions of responsibility that are incapable of considering our vital long-term interests, or considering long-term time horizons in general, at all, on any level. Trade, foreign policy, immigration, you name it.

This has created a three-part stew of dysfunction.

1) An inability to consider long-term time horizons & vital interests; 2) an inability to recognize & acknowledge fundamental truths & unalterable physical realities – geographies, and the menu of choices flowing from that – the constraints as well as the opportunities; 3) the inability to act with honor & integrity, thus damaging trust and the expectation of others that they are dealing with an honest broker –> It’s all a giant three-part stew of dysfunction that fuels the growth of low-trust relationships & de-civilizing forces that make building stable relations – trade relations or foreign relations, and thusly, also building Civilization & the Cycle of Prosperity – impossible.

None of this can be done without trust & honesty – without the expectation that both sides are dealing with honest brokers – which requires a reputation of trustworthiness, and a history of those honestly-brokered exchanges.

Honesty, trust, reputation, and expectations matter. Taking into account fundamental realities obviously matters – is required to be able to maintain all of these things – to be able to build stable trade & diplomatic relations with other nations – to be able to build Civilization & the Cycle of Prosperity – ours and theirs. (If we believe the two civilizations in question are incompatible, then we should just be honest about that, otherwise there is no incentive – or opportunity – for either party to look for areas where compatibility may be able to be developed.)

Given the above facts, it should be crystal clear why we must be honest with ourselves, and each other, about the unalterable physical realities that – we – and others face.

Only by doing this can we fully understand our own circumstances – and that of others – and make practical decisions about where we may be able to cooperate & trade.

We must look at the real world physics we face, and be honest with ourselves, and each other, about what that means – acknowledge the challenges, and the opportunities that flow from these physical, unalterable truths.

It is these real world physical realities that – more than most understand, or would like to admit – give us the common ground that we share – the common values & shared interests that we tend to naturally organize around.

Due to a widespread & now multigenerational infantilization crisis which has long endured – been allowed to spread like an undiagnosed & untreated cancer – it’s common for people to want to reject these real world physical realities and pretend that they can just be disregarded as unimportant – to pretend that both people and cultures are the equivalent of interchangeable widgets. This is – judging by any objective measure of the evidence available to us – clearly not true. It’s the stuff of children’s fantasies.

We must start being honest with ourselves, and one another, about these truths – these unalterable human, cultural, & physical realities.

Similar geographies tend to give people groups similar, or at least somewhat compatible characteristics – a similar & compatible ‘personality’ as a people group, if you will. Similar circumstances tend to shape similar outlooks & similar habits, which over time become encoded, not just physically, in our DNA, but culturally as well. These similarities give us the ability to more readily understand, and work with one another. This is just the natural result of the physical realities over which we have absolutely no control.

This is not inherently good or bad – it’s just the way things are – the nature of the physical world we inhabit.

It’s only “good” or “bad” in relation to whether it’s convenient to our particular interests, at a particular time.

People who grow out of the same soil, and the same or similar environments with similar challenges, tend to understand one another more readily – and they tend to have common interests, which often also results in common values. Likewise, this often results in a common set of incentives that these similar people pursue.

This is the fundamental nature of the world we inhabit. It is not something we can change.

We must take these things into account when making important decisions about our future, our vital interests, and our place in the world.

Some, we have common interests with, others, less so.

Regardless of differences or similarities, we can usually trade and be of mutual benefit to one another. (But not always.)

It’s important to understand these fundamental truths so that we can make realistic assessments regarding the menu of choices open to us, in any particular situation, involving any particular people group or geography in question.

There will always be challenges & opportunities, and we must know what those are in order to make practical choices. Ignoring fundamental truths & embracing fantasy will obviously not serve us well in those pursuits.

It’s critically important that we readily recognize & acknowledge this set of facts so that we may find beneficial ways to trade & interact, rather than being doomed to uncontrolled repeating cycles of increasing conflict. (Embracing & practicing fantasy & infantilization GUARANTEES this outcome of repeating cycles of increasing conflict.)

What does all of this mean for us & our place in the world?

Identified at the outset, ours is a question of our future, our vital interests, and our place in the world – identifying fundamental truths & finding beneficial pathways forward – finding a way to forge beneficial stable relations with the world we inhabit, and its people.

The answer to that question?

Trade.

Trade is the answer. It always has been.

Reciprocal trade.

Not predatory or foolish trade, which is, incidentally, the only kind of trade we engage in at present.

Globalism is the term that we often use to refer to precisely this type of grotesquely perverted & destructive international trade which is both predatory & foolish, all at once, depending upon your position in the trading scheme. (Hint: Anyone not at the top of the global corporations & financial firms doing this trading, or the governments & bureaucratic agencies that they’ve purchased with giant buckets of money – which represent the predatory side – are then on the “foolish side” of this trading scheme. It’s a rather lopsided distribution.)

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Trade IS the answer: –But– there must be rules – and it must be reciprocal. The failure of Globalism – a grotesque & destructive perversion of international trade – perhaps ironically, through its own abuses & short-sightedness, demonstrates that truth – that there must be rules & that the trade must be reciprocal. We know this because: 1) It does not build stable, mutually beneficial systems. Thusly, it threatens, rather than promotes continuity. We can see the truth of its fragility first hand, today, as we watch it crumble in real time – and as we all suffer the ill effects of that. 2) It does not practice a true accounting of costs imposed & benefits received, on both sides of a trade. It does not measure or take into account the many forms of capital required for a civilization or a culture to remain healthy & to maintain & replenish itself – thereby promoting instability & threatening the continuity of not just trade, but also governments, nations, & civilizations themselves. 3) It does not encourage or respect sovereignty or self-rule. Again, threatening stability & continuity. 4) It does not encourage responsibility, statesmanship, or stewardship. Again, threatening stability & continuity. 5) It does not incentivize the building or strengthening of, but instead weakens, rule of law systems that protect property rights & enforce contracts & contract law – widely understood to be one of the pillars that makes building a civilization possible, and thus, 6) It does not – it cannot – contribute to the Cycle of Prosperity on both sides of the trade which is taking place. 7) Thusly, Globalism is a trading scheme, and a practice, that only contributes to de-civilizing forces, and as such, greater & greater levels of human suffering. Looking around at what’s happening in the world today, it will be difficult to argue with that analysis without resorting to significant levels of intellectual dishonesty.

Globalism is widely understood to be predatory to both, its trading “partners” (I use the term loosely), and its home countries. It spends down the capital – in its many forms – of both places to make its profits, without giving anything back in return. It’s allowed to do this mainly because we don’t practice a full accounting – don’t measure, monitor, & protect those forms of capital – despite those many forms of capital being critically important resources required for the continuation of a civilization and its culture.

It can be readily understood that “globalism” is simply the practice of a particular form of predatory trading scheme that uses weaponized infantilization – applied on a global scale – in order to mask & hide its predatory activities, and their destructive effects. This predation inevitably contributes to fragmentary forces that eventually tear that system of international trade apart & threaten the continuity of ALL the civilizations who depend upon it for their survival. This is, in fact, exactly what we are seeing happen today. (We will explore this set of facts in more detail throughout this discussion, and have already done so in other places as well.)

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With the aforementioned caveats being understood, we can say one thing for certain with regard to our vital interests & the most beneficial pathways forward:

Trade is the answer. It always has been.

We have a very long tradition of international trade – those of us of Western descent whose ancestors originated on the steppe, culturally speaking of course (this is the soil we grew out of – the geography we adapted to). We place great value on trading with even those we may be dissimilar from – those with whom we may not have strong shared interests or values. Those traditions are the result of the geographies we were forced to adapt to on the steppe. We later leveraged that heritage of trade in the age of sail to expand our trade networks to the many island & coastal peoples of the world – resulting in the great naval powers we still have today – a resource of traditions & practices which appears to be the “magic combination” that will determine who the great powers of the globe will be into the foreseeable future – a collection of tools, practices, & traits that unlock the great potentials of cooperation, accumulation, innovation, & prosperity.

It is this heritage of trade – this commercial ethic of service to others, and also restraint – that our people, our culture, and our civilization leverage at every opportunity. (Many of our ethics, values, & traditions reinforce & amplify one another – social, cultural, religious & otherwise.)

Providing we can coexist without too much conflict, we prefer trade to war or conquest, because it is of such great benefit. We understand that there is great value in trading with others who make different things than we make. There is great value to all groups in this – regardless of their origins or dissimilarities. This trade contributes to the Cycle of Prosperity. The accumulation of surplus, the investment of some portion of that surplus into innovations & inventions that bring even more surplus – with less inputs – which leads to greater & greater levels of prosperity – giving humanity an unprecedented opportunity to thrive – to flourish and bloom.

This Cycle of Prosperity is the story of human civilization – how it was built, and how it is maintained. The Cycle of Prosperity is something those of us in the West who came from the steppe are particularly good at. It is one of the most important ‘secrets’ of our success. Our natural ability in that regard is the direct result of the geography we were forced to adapt to in order to survive. We had absolutely no choice in the matter.

All people groups, everywhere in the world, are products of the geography they were forced to adapt to in order to survive. Absolutely none of us, had any choice whatsoever in the matter.

This is a fundamental & unalterable truth.

These are all facts that have become unpopular to acknowledge, but nonetheless, they are critically important foundational truths with which we must reacquaint ourselves.

Doing so is a fundamental requirement – the key to reorganizing ourselves in manner that benefits all groups, wherever they happen to have originated from – whatever geography they were forced to adapt to, whatever unalterable physical realities they may face – whatever challenges & opportunities those circumstances may bring.

If we want to preserve a system of international trade that contributes heavily to the Cycle of Prosperity – a benefit for all people groups – a system which does not naturally devolve, as history shows we are want to do, into repeating cycles of conflict that consistently & incrementally eat into those gains in prosperity – we must acknowledge these unalterable physical realities and reconfigure accordingly. We must embrace systems that acknowledge fundamental truths & promote stability and continuity, not just of trade, but of rule of law systems, governments, cultures, & civilizations. [Constant security & war costs are very expensive and do drain prosperity, significantly. This adversely affects the progress of all humanity.]

We must push aside the plaque of infantilization that has become epidemic throughout the world, and instead, begin to have frank & open, adult conversations about the unalterable physical realities that we face – and each of us, regardless of our origins, must take into account our vital interests as we consider beneficial pathways forward.

This plague of infantilization is perhaps the greatest obstacle we face, nationally, globally, and as a species.

This plague of infantilization is working diligently every day to destroy prosperity, human progress, and much of the rich cultural diversity that exists around the world. In conjunction with the many globalist forces that use this plague of infantilization as a tool – as a powerful weapon against peoples & cultures – it’s now doing to the peoples & cultures of the world what it has done to our people & our culture – burn them down for profit & give nothing back in return – spend down ALL of the capital required to replenish & maintain their cultures & civilizations.

We are in a grand battle, here, right now, to make a transition away from these Twin Plaques of Evil – away from infantilization & TOWARD FRANK & OPEN ADULT CONVERSATIONS, and away from a cancerous nation & culture destroying globalism & TOWARD RECIPROCAL TRADE THAT BENEFITS ALL – both critically necessary reconfigurations. That great battle that we see happening all around us, today, & every day, is ultimately about those things. Those are the root causes.Our enemies who oppose these reconfigurations – evil to be sure – appear to be intent on fighting us to the point of the destruction of our nation & our civilization. The fabric of both have been greatly frayed already. We should not be surprised by their evil desire, because over the last several decades they have already widely burnt our people & our culture – spent down ALL of the capital that is required for us to replenish ourselves, as a people, as a culture, as a nation, and as a civilization. To them, what’s the significance of a few more steps in that direction when they’ve already gone this far?

This is just what evil does.

It’s the very nature of that beast – to destroy.

But not just to destroy, to undertake a wanton destruction that is good for no one.

(In the end, they too will be destroyed – even though their supreme arrogance & supreme ignorance may blind them to this fact. They have a sickness. And it’s imperative that we protect ourselves from that sickness.)

We can simply look at the decade’s-long work of this evil beast and judge it against our current circumstances to confirm the truth of its evil nature for ourselves – the fact that it produces only wanton destruction. [Short-term gains(for some), long-term destruction(for all).]

The whole world – all of humanity – and its ability to prosper is currently under unprecedented assault. Every agenda – despite the mask used to disguise its actual purpose – has this destruction of prosperity & human flourishing as its goal.

Simply playing the clock forward on any of these many “emergency” agendas and looking at their consequences makes that indisputably clear. The only justification they are ever able to provide for any of these (evil) “emergency” agendas is the completely empty CLAIM that they are “necessary”. However, they can never point to any evidence to back up those claims. They use a general ignorance of the subject matter & a general ignorance of the underlying science & scientific method involved in order to lie – in order to hide the fact that they have no real evidence to support their claims. They usea subterfuge involving layers of outright lies & purposeful deceptions – in order to hide that fact. (We will cover many of those methods & lies in detail in another place.)

Isn’t that interesting though?A “necessity” – for which there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever – could readily be understood, in actuality, to simply be a desire. They “want” this. None of these things are “necessary”. They simply want them – desire the wanton destruction & human suffering – the destruction of prosperity & human flourishing that results – because that poverty & suffering gives them an opportunity to gain more control. (It’s often difficult for people to wrap their minds around this level of evil. They count on that! They prey on that disbelief. They count on people thinking: “No one could tell such a big & terribly harmful lie, so there must be something to the claims they make.”[ReadRape of the Mind]) (This is about more than money, it’s about control – total control – and doing whatever it takes to get it.) Once you’ve learned to spot the techniques they use to lie, once you’re able to see through the flimsy lies & deceptions, this becomes crystal clear.

Four techniques, in particular, stand out, with regard to these various (evil) “emergency” agendas – though there are many other techniques.

The first, if something seems confusing & convoluted – be suspicious. That is your first clue. This is especially true if it’s something being presented from a “study” or what claims to be a scientific journal. This is an indication, not that the subject matter is particularly complicated or impenetrable, but that they are purposely making the subject difficult to understand in order to hide outright lies & outright fraud. Competent scientists & writers present material – even complicated material – with clarity, rather than with an unnecessarily confusing convolution. Once you’ve learned to be aware of this technique, it tends to stand out.

The second technique they use to lie involves twisting the meaning of language & terms. This is probably already familiar as it has become increasingly common in all realms. This too tends to stand out like a beacon once you know to look for it. Look for subtle & not so subtle attempts to twist language & meaning, or even, just a lack of clarity.

Third, and I cannot emphasize this one strongly enough: BEWARE OF MODELS. MODELS ARE NOT EVIDENCE. Models are guesses, based on estimates, which are also guesses – very often involving complex systems where the component parts are difficult to monitor or measure in the first place, which is exactly why the “models” are need. It should be obvious to anyone that the accuracy of any such instrument that is based upon at least two layers of guessing is not going to be very good – and is very likely to be catastrophically wrong – meaning, not even remotely close to being in the ballpark when it comes to predicting actual outcomes. These “models” could rightly be understood to be essentially, fantasy – in other words, not based on actual data & measurements, not based on evidence. Again, models are based upon multiple layers of inaccurate guesses – fantasy. If any “study” or any “scientist” quotes “model data” as evidence – run the other way at top speed! They are lying to you. (And they might even be too ignorant to know that themselves!)

This absolute FRAUD of PRETENDING MODELS ARE EVIDENCE is how we got the covidiocy atrocities/lies/alarmism/false “data”/false estimates/justifications for overreach & naked totalitarianism. And it’s how they justify DOING THE EXACT SAME THING with the “climate change” alarmism that they push at every possible opportunity.

The bottom line is that if you ask them for experimental evidence to back up any of their claims, you will find out that they do not have any at all.

Fourth, making a claim which cannot be easily verified or disproved – or is very unpopular to try to debunk. (The great Pacific garbage gyre comes to mind (who isn’t against pollution?); or that climate or ecological systems are changing – and IF they are – that this represents a “crisis”. – All ecological systems – everywhere in the universe – are slowly changing from one thing into another – this has always & will always be so.)

If a claim is made that cannot be easily verified, or can never really be verified – be suspicious. You are very likely being lied to. Ask for evidence. Always ask for evidence. If none can be provided, discount the claims, the person making the claims, & any organization they’re related to. (This includes so-called “journals” or “scientific publications”. Unfortunately, these have been widely captured & corrupted now. Giant buckets of money are a very effective tool.)

[Regarding “change”: All things are always in a state of changing – changing from one thing or state into another – everywhere in the universe. From the largest to the smallest scale, absolutely nothing is static, anywhere, ever. All systems reach an equilibrium of forces by changing. This has always been, and will always be. This is a fundamental truth. Climates, ecologies, planets, solar systems, galaxies, atoms, particles… all things are always changing. What might seem stable to us is an illusion caused by the very small time scales on which we exist. We should not fear change. Everything, is always changing. This is just the fundamental nature of the natural world that we inhabit. There is nothing to be “done” about it. It just is.

All systems, everywhere, large & small, are always in the process of changing from one thing, into another, everywhere in the universe. Nothing is still, or static, or permanently stable, or constant – unless viewed on a very short time scale. The concept that anything is static is a fallacy. Everything is always in motion – on its way from being what it is, and into being something else.]

This collection of techniques, and the fallacies of thought & fundamentally flawed mental frameworks associated with them, are simply a means used to lie & deceive.

Again, these lies & obfuscations – in all their forms – exist because none of these many “emergency” agendas are “necessities”, they are simply a means of control, a means of getting ever more of that control until they’ve gained total control – totalitarianism. (The “emergency” nature of these many agendas, is yet another tool – used to evoke fear so people will comply without question.)

The fortunate thing for us, is that throughout most of the world – wherever people are paying attention – they are beginning to realize this obvious fact and talk about it publicly – say it out loud & express their outrage. It’s been said before, and it’s never been more true: if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.

Keep this in mind when it comes to raising the alarm about these issues:

There is a giant resource differential that exists between the groups who lie and those who try to uncover the truth.

One side has enormous amounts of money funneled to them through the government (think of the “climate change” industry & the enormous subsidies that exist there, or even the enormous sums of money paid to NGOs to facilitate illegal alien invasion).

The other side is composed mostly of individuals & scientists who don’t make any money from the endeavor, but simply want people to know the truth, or recognize the damage that will result from these “emergency” agendas & are simply trying to educate & spread the word about that.

One side has an enormous budget with which to advertise & push its agenda – the other doesn’t.

Two critically important additional things to remember here:

REMEMBER: it doesn’t take centuries-old grand conspiracies – ancient secret societies & darkly-lit smoke-filled rooms full of people plotting grand schemes toward grand ends to accomplish any of these things – movement towards any of these agendas. It only takes people or organizations of means, well placed at the confluence of government & industry – exactly what lobbying was designed to accomplish – offering the right incentives to make these things happen. Giant buckets of money are an incentive that accomplishes more than any number of darkly-lit smoke-filled rooms or secret societies could ever hope to. Malincentives accomplish evil ends. The mechanisms are simple, and it requires very little to no plotting whatsoever. It requires only releasing those malincentives out into the wild, so to speak. People will flock toward giant buckets of money every day of the week and twice on Sunday. To put it simply, follow the money. It’s the tool. The factions that pursue this money are also a tool. Regardless of the tools used, the goal is always more power & control – until complete power & control – totalitarianism.

REMEMBER: totalitarians want control, regardless of cost. This is the evil. That cost is ALWAYS wanton destruction & great human suffering. In all of human history, that story has never played out any differently, and it never will, because it can’t. This progression is subject to the laws of physics & human nature, and so, it plays out similarly every single time, and always will. People sometimes get distracted and think this is just about money. Money is just a means to an end – a tool. The end point – the goal – is always complete power & control – totalitarianism. And evil – wanton destruction & great human suffering – is ALWAYS required to get there. There is no altering this calculus, and it is always at play.

What does this tell us?

We must destroy evil – its means, its methods, & it mechanisms.

We cannot bargain or negotiate with it.

We cannot coexist with it.

Attempting to do so will only result in our certain destruction.

We can either destroy evil, or be destroyed by it.

One can clearly see by our circumstances that we have yet to learn that lesson.

Playing within a completely rigged system – which evils controls – will only result in our further destruction.

This is a fundamental truth that we must come to grips with – whether that is pleasant or not.

We must transition away from the Twin Plaques of Evil that now attack us – and all of humanity.

Despite what these evil forces would prefer – enemies of truth, civilization, & humanity itself – we must not accept any more of their infantilization & wanton destruction.

We are not children, and this is not story time.

It’s time to remove these obstacles – these enemies of fundamental truth; these enemies of the long-term planning & investment required for real, stable, and lasting human progress & prosperity; these enemies of the rule of law systems required for the stability & continuity of international trade, of government, of culture, of civilization, & of human flourishing itself.

We have important decisions to make about our future, and our place in the world – and it’s time to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of that.

This is the task that lies before us.

In a nutshell:

We must end the infantilization, of ourselves, and the world. It is a blindness – a sickness that’s doing us no favors.

We must be honest with ourselves, and each other, about the unalterable physical realities of our circumstances and make decisions accordingly. There is no need for blame or shame in considering any of these things – and nothing whatsoever to be gained from those fruitless endeavors. None of us had any choice whatsoever over the circumstances we were born into or the fundamental & unalterable physical realities that confront us – and indeed, shaped us. We can however make choices that allow us – and indeed incentivize us – to progress ever forward, regardless of how disadvantaged our starting positions – and our natural geographies may be. This requires long-term planning & investment, facing fundamental truths, & perhaps, even uncomfortable facts. This approach is the only pathway forward which leads to stable & lasting incremental progress & prosperity – greater & greater opportunities for human flourishing.

We must accept the way the natural world that we inhabit works – accept the things we cannot change – accept the way the Cycle of Prosperity works, and thereby, accept the way human flourishing works.

These are not difficult things to understand.

Trade routes, trade & investment – that is the story of human civilization – how it was built – and how it will be maintained. (Or lost, should we fail.)

We must embrace systems that acknowledge fundamental truths & promote stability and continuity, not just of trade, but of rule of law systems, governments, cultures, & civilizations. (Stability and continuity require adaptive, flexible, & nimble systems, rather than ossified, fragile, & monopolized systems that cannot adapt to changing conditions & circumstances.)

We must replace globalism – a grotesque & destructive perversion of international trade – with a reciprocal system that works to the benefit of all parties involved – contributes to the cycle of prosperity & builds civilization, rather than tearing it down by spending all of the capital required to replenish & maintain that civilization and giving nothing back in return.

How did this happen in the first place?

Well, it should be no surprise that if you release a group of people from their responsibility to the people and the social groups that they flow forth from – let them pretend like their fates are not linked – that these people will then most certainly not do what is in the best interests of those people & social groups that they flow forth from – the people themselves, the nations, the cultures, or the civilizations. This, like so many things we’ve talked about, should be self-evident.

So then, we should not be surprised that traders – our international business & financial interests – as well as our governments & bureaucrats, when released from their responsibility to their people, become progressively hostile to those people & their interests. This is, in fact, exactly what we see today, and what we have been seeing for a good long while now. (Perhaps it’s time to finally recognize & acknowledge this, and do something about it.)

This is what the current system of global trade has wrought. People – in industry & government – released from their responsibility to their people & their nations, their cultures & their civilizations.

We sometimes get distracted talking about & debating the different details & merits of different trading systems and miss this obvious set of facts.

We’ve divorced the operation of trade from any consideration of what is good for a people, a nation, a culture, or a civilization. (We pay those considerations lip service, but nothing else. Look at actions, not words.)

This, is ultimately the problem.

This is quite obviously not a good thing. It’s not, and was never going to be, an approach that is stable or sustainable.

We’ve divorced the operation of trade from any consideration of Statesmanship or Stewardship – from the things that are required to be able to do that critically important & necessary work of building & maintaining Civilization.

This cannot go on.

Given that fact, what is to be done?

Let’s explore the specifics of this system a little bit further to see if we can isolate where some of the particular problems that allowed for this to happen live – where some of the things that tend to go unnoticed reside – and then see what there is to be done about these problems – how we might fix them.

To do that, we’ll get into some of the details of this misconfigured international trading system of ours, the people who operate it, how it works & what it accomplishes. In the vein of embracing the spirit & principles of scientific inquiry, and in particular, the concept of validity, we should ask ourselves the question: Are we measuring what we say we’re measuring – with the terms we use – when we talk about this system of trade? Are we calling this trading system what it really is? Are we using valid terms when we describe it?

One could notice that, based upon our policies & others, we are already operating thinly veiled modern forms of mercantilism – a term which we often conflate with protectionism, which could, itself, really just be considered regulation, but we’ll get into all of that momentarily as we drill down.

There are some obvious discrepancies that we can take note of here.

Though we claim to be staunch supporters of “free” trade, we clearly practice some amount of protectionism/regulation/mercantilism – AND – we’ve allowed major trading “partners” to continue to operate under forms of quite blatant mercantilism(protectionism). (While we can’t dictate terms to others, we could encourage alternate behaviors, if it were really that important to us. However, we don’t even try.)

What’s very important to note here, is that we operate under different trading models than many of our so-called trading partners. One would be right to wonder what the effects are from these different trading factions pursuing these different trading models.

What does this do for us? It paves the way for the abuse of the nations who don’t put into place any protections, and in particular, it paves the way for the abuse of their people. It leaves these nations, and their people, completely vulnerable to all of their assets being spent down, all of their capital in all of its forms being burnt as fuel & not replaced – by ALL of the forces involved in this trading; the foreign mercantilists, and the domestic traders – the globalists who are completely divorced from their responsibility to their people, their nation, their culture, and their civilization.

When it comes to these domestically-based globalists (or their counterparts in other nations who are doing the same thing to their people), don’t listen to their words – look at their actions. What have any of these globalist forces – in government, in the bureaucracy, or in international businesses & industries – done to build up or replenish us?

Have they sparked new industries to replace those they sent overseas? No. But they could have, and they should have. Have they trained any of our people for these new industries of the future? No. But they could have, and they should have. Have they built or invested in any of the infrastructure that will be required for these industries of the future? No. But they could have, and they should have. Have they done anything to prepare the way for the future – lifted even a finger to cultivate & encourage even a modicum of interest in any of the above? No. But they certainly could have. How do we know this? Well, we’ve certainly seen them quite adeptly undertake much more nefarious aims that have a similar degree of complexity to them, so far with great success.

All of this should be making it increasingly apparent that we operate under a system that has no responsibility to its people, its nation, its culture, or its civilization.

Pay attention not to what the people in this system say, but what they do. They have done nothing to build us up & replenish us. They are divorced from any responsibility to their people. They undertake none of the work of Statesmanship or Stewardship.

Ironically, noblesse oblige, a rough analog to these responsibilities, is more likely to be found, when it can be found at all, in the common man – the average person off the street. These so-called elites no longer have any concept of, or responsibility to, any of the ethics that have made us so greatly successful, in particular – the ethics of service to others & restraint. They are completely devoid of restraint, and appear to be just about out of service to others as well. But they certainly remember how to serve themselves – at the expense of everyone else, of course. They are divorced from any responsibility to their people, to the places they spring forth from, and to the things that made them what they are – the things that made their success possible in the first place.

How do they give back? They don’t.

But oh do they ever pay lip service to that. These people are masters of the virtue signal. They are tireless wavers of the false flag of compassion.

Again, look at their actions, not their words.

Do they build the industries & infrastructures of the future with their wealth & influence, train people for those jobs & industries, or prepare the ground in any way? As we’ve covered, no.

What do they do instead?

With the great wealth & influence they amass – gained with the help of widespread regulatory capture & their puppets in government & the bureaucracy, in addition to the media – instead of investing that wealth & influence in the future of their people, their nation, their culture, & their civilization (or even in their own families – who could then be groomed to take on that continued Stewardship), they give that vast wealth & influence to foundations, NGOs, university endowments, & think tanks, organizations that then promptly go to war with those same people, their nation, their culture, & their civilization. (Gates, Buffet, Bezos, et al. It’s a long list. Foundations, NGOs, & the like, have become a cancer on our nation, and humanity as a whole. They are NOT “doing good”, as they claim.)

Everywhere there is this pool of free money from foundations & the like – bureaucrats, grifters, marxists, busybodies, hucksters, misanthropists, infantilizers, & other assorted parasites & totalitarians in waiting – who only want to steal, hector, & destroy – flock to this pool of free money like flies on dung.

They then use this unearned & undeserved wealth & influence as a platform from which to tirelessly attack everything that made the accumulation of that wealth & influence – that surplus – possible. With this, those who are completely divorced from any responsibility – to their people, their culture, their nation, & their civilization – have succeeded in incrementally & increasingly destroying the very circumstances & conditions that allowed for them to bloom & flourish in the first place, rather than replenishing any of those things – the things that created the circumstances & conditions that enabled their success – and would otherwise enable everyone’s success. One could rightly question, not only the wisdom of this, but the sanity of it. One might even consider that type of wanton destruction, evil – because it is – by its very definition.

Instead of investing – thereby contributing to the cycle of prosperity – these people have chosen to destroy.

They have completely rejected & abandoned the responsibilities of Statesmanship & Stewardship traditionally expected of those in their position.

There was a time when these responsibilities were just understood – acknowledged as a critically important & basic part of one’s obligations – a responsibility to one’s people, a noblesse oblige, a debt owed by all those capable of being Stewards & Statesmen – a general duty owed by the capable, to all of humanity as a whole. Now, they simply ignore those responsibilities and waste those resources – their wealth & influence – on a war with their own people, their own culture, their own nations, & their own civilizations.

We have a so-called elite, a so-called trading & government class that no longer has any responsibility to its people, its nation, its culture, or its civilization – no longer has any concept of the ethics that made those things possible, including the ethics of service to others & restraint – no longer posses noblesse oblige & no longer posses any concept of Statesmanship or Stewardship.

Is it any wonder that these people – now firmly in charge of our system of international trade (which includes our financial system) – are now destroying that system at warp speed?

We should ask an important question of ourselves here.

What incentives have they been given to do otherwise? (Remember, incentives are a two-sided coin.)

We, as a people, also have responsibilities.

Stewards & Statesmen come from all quarters. When some fail, others must step in & take up those responsibilities.

This is our task.

Without going too deep into the weeds, we’ve established some of the main causes & components of the how & the why we got here.

Now let’s get a bit deeper into the validity of the terms & definitions we’re using to discuss this international trading system of ours. It’s possible that conflations, confusions, and distractions are keeping us from the understanding & perspectives required in order to recognize, address, & resolve the problems that exist there.

What are the trading frameworks that people generally see these issues through? If we’re going to speak to others & try to influence them, we need to understand these frameworks so we can speak to them – point out important things here & there, make our case & do our work of persuading people to embrace anew the things that made us successful in the first place, & abandon the practices, attitudes, & mindsets that are actively destroying us, and our ability to succeed.

There is much conflation & self-serving rhetoric around these issues, but what are the root causes we’re dealing with when it comes to those attempted obfuscations? What is the root source of the problem?

Let’s start with an obvious statement of fact & drill down to see what we might uncover.

As a nation & a people, there is obviously great power in developing your industry – in leading innovation, in happening to the future, rather than letting the future happen to you.

People intuitively know this – that they need to innovate & lead. The advantages, and the costs if you don’t do it – are self-evident.

Misunderstanding this natural urge to innovate & lead – to invest today, so that you may do that in the future – being distracted from that core issue – is what’s behind most of the arguments, confusions, & disagreements about things like trade, protectionism, mercantilism proper, and optimum import-export balances – by the people on all sides of these issues.

At its core, this isn’t about maximizing or minimizing anything, imports or exports, but rather, it’s simply about making sure investments are being made that will result in future opportunity, innovation, & market-industry leadership. Were we to make sure this investment was being done, and that it could be clearly seen, measured, & understood – issues about import-export balances, protectionism, and the like, would melt away. People care about investments being made, innovation & market leadership, and opportunity being widely available – now & in the future. That’s it. Everything else is just noise – confusion & conflation.

Ultimately, all of these arguments, confusions, & disagreements are simply a byproduct of being distracted from & confused by that intuitive & inherent desire to invest, innovate, & lead – that need to happen to the future, rather than letting the future happen to you. (We can clearly recognize this intuitive & inherent desire to invest, innovate, & lead in the movements calling for reshoring & America first.) Any discussion about maximizing exports & limiting imports, for instance, has little to do with the static dogma that went along with the original conceptualizations of mercantilism proper, as they were once understood, and everything to do with the advantages inherent to being a leader & an innovator – the advantages of taking control of your destiny, of happening to the future, rather than letting that future happen to you.

The need to invest, innovate, & lead is obvious, and that is what is at play here, the root cause. The root cause of the unhappiness with the current system, and the desire to change it into one that benefits our people & our nation.

The charge of protectionism often leveled at the people who simply want to invest, innovate, & lead – want to invest in themselves, their people & their nation – in addition to the slanderous comparisons, for instance, to mercantilism proper used to assail them; these are simply tactics of slander used by people whose interests are best served by not allowing that investment, innovation, & leadership to develop – unless they control it – which is the real issue here. They are wholly unable to control or compete with these innovative forces, because these people, at their very cores, are not innovators, but rather parasites & monopolizers – vultures. They are lumbering, slow, & ossified, rather than fast, nimble, & creative. They simply acquire what others produce, acquire what others innovate. They are wholly incapable of innovating themselves. They are vultures. They hide what they are behind rhetoric. They attack the innovative forces through various means of false equivalency – comparative slander & rhetorical slander.

Charges & claims are rarely to be taken at face value in this ongoing running battle. Self interest should always be taken into account when trying to interpret the noises that these various factions make with their mouths.

Word games, false equivalencies, self-serving rhetoric, & conflation are simply tools to be wielded on the field of battle.

Let’s dispel a myth and thus take away one of these tools. No one who’s informed on the subject matter really believes in the static dogma of mercantilism proper anymore – despite charges & claims to the contrary. However, that doesn’t mean that they do not very clearly understand that rules for the game are still required – rules for any game – including trading, are still required in order to keep all parties honest.

There is no longer the widespread belief, as was once the case with mercantilism proper, that trade or wealth is a zero-sum game – that gains by one can come only at the cost of the gains of another. It is widely understood that, through trade, wealth can be increased for everyone. Hence the phrase, a rising tide lifts all ships. However, as mentioned, it’s also widely understood that rules are still needed – that there are still rules of the game that must be followed, otherwise great damage can be done. It is a fact of human nature that people will try to take advantage of one another without rules to govern any particular game. Thus, assuming that ALL things trade related – so long as they don’t restrict trade – are naturally good, is obviously naïve and quite clearly not the case. Many things are bad, predatory, and destructive, ultimately resulting in reduced trade and prosperity – thereby representing a receding tide that exposes all ships to the dangers of running aground or being dashed on the reefs. Obviously these bad, destructive, & predatory things must be suppressed.

Some amount of regulation of trade is obviously necessary. (Rules of the game are still required.)

The question is how much regulation, and to what end. This is what really matters. The details of these decisions are what will determine our success or failure.

Again, there is tremendous rhetoric around this issue.

All of it is purely self-serving.

One can easily identify the aim of this self-serving rhetoric just by analyzing the language used. (Which also helps identify the general source of the messaging when it’s disguised behind front organizations & the like, a common occurrence.)

When the rules suit a person or organization’s interests, they’re simply called “regulation”.

When the rules don’t suit a person or organization’s interests, they’re simply called “protectionism” (or mercantilism).

Regulation good = safety, fairness.

Protectionism bad = backward, greedy, & unnecessarily limiting.

In reality, protectionism & regulation are exactly the same thing – rules. The only question is whether they are beneficial to a particular trader or faction’s own personal interests – and whether they are beneficial to a people & a nation.

The rhetoric is purely self-serving & justificationary – called regulation when it suits a person or organization’s interests – called protectionism when it doesn’t suit a person or organization’s interests.

So let’s, once again, directly & deliberately, for the record, dispense with some of this inevitable rhetoric up front:

To pretend that games don’t need rules in order to keep the players honest is to ignore the fundamental truths of human nature.

Games need rules. Trade needs rules. Otherwise, all parties will take advantage of one another.

This is just human nature.

It will never change & there is nothing to be “done” about it.

This leaves us with the real issue at hand:

What should those rules be? Whose interests should they serve?

These are the real questions that we need to answer.

Perhaps the first step in getting to the point where we can answer those questions consistently, in a satisfactory manner, is simply by doing the obvious & making sure that we’re actually asking these questions, actually considering them – rather than floating along on natural trajectories that follow the natural forces of self-interest, which themselves, when not incentivized into beneficial directions & productive pursuits, inevitably lead to the growth of conditions where only monopoly interests are being served, thereby creating powerful fragmentary forces which ultimately destroy the systems which we all depend upon.

Adopting a framework & a perspective that explicitly acknowledges the aforementioned core, fundamental truths, seems like an obviously necessary first step:

1) There must be rules, and 2) Those rules need to be calibrated to serve interests – very importantly, an equilibrium of interests – a balance of interests. 3) All of these interests then need to be incentivized into beneficial directions & pursuits – productive pursuits.

We seem to have trouble doing that, historically speaking – acknowledging those truths, adopting those frameworks, & implementing those practical rules.

History shows that we tend to swing wildly between extremes – extreme protectionism, and extreme openness – swinging wildly from too many rules, to far too few – with an equilibrium of interests seldom even considered. Interestingly, these swings tend to accompany war & conflict.

“Throughout history, wars and economic depressions (or recessions) have led to increases in protectionism, while peace and prosperity have tended to encourage free trade.”[Source]

One could ask an obvious set of questions here.

Have we got the order of these things correct – the causal directionality of them correct? Have we got the causal factors correct?

Did the growth of monopoly forces cause the conflict?

Did the failure to control the growth of monopoly forces cause the conflict?

Did the failure to consider an equilibrium of interests lead to the conflict?

Did the misconfigured trading rules, themselves, which ultimately allowed for all of the above, cause the conflict? (It certainly played a part in the birth of our own nation. Interestingly, one could argue that there is a rebirth of those same conditions multiplying right now.)

Ultimately, are the misconfigured trading rules – which can stem from multiple causes – to blame for the cyclic periods of war & conflict that we see?

Were these periods of conflict ultimately the result of a simple failure to institute & protect necessary rules of the game that thereby allowed multiple factions to gain a monopoly on the interests being served, which then allowed them to increasingly abuse & take advantage of multiple other parties, including whole peoples & nations? (The end point of this is fragmentary forces that create conflict, war, & instability in all systems – trade, governmental, social, & economic – the inevitable breaking apart of systems that can no longer provide multiple factions, and people in general, with what they need to survive & prosper.)

In short, the question might be more fully & properly stated thusly: did the misconfigured trading rules cause the war, and the reconfiguration was required in order to try to stabilize trade, trading systems, and ALL other systems; essentially, ALL relations – not just internationally, but domestically as well – a necessary reconfiguration & rebalancing of the interests served, within a nation & its people – and between nations & peoples?

It certainly seems plausible, if not likely.

Certainly these things are complex & other factors are also at play, but we do know, for instance, that even vastly different peoples living in close proximity to one another can often get along with one another quite well when the economy is good. However, when the economy begins to falter, conflict tends to flare up quickly, particularly between these dissimilar peoples.

What does this suggest?

I don’t think this is an unimportant or unrelated link. It’s a supporting piece of evidence. Trade, economy, resources – they are common sources of conflict & competition. Unbalanced rules that do not serve a balance of interests – or result in a decline of available resources – are guaranteed to create conflict. This is really just physics. People either have the resources (the energy: food, etc) that they need to survive & prosper, or they don’t. If they look around & see unfair rules, or a lack of rules causing this, there will be conflict. Looking at it from this angle, to expect otherwise is to display extreme naïveté & ignorance. It can really be no other way. The laws of physics & human nature(which are, themselves, literally based in the laws of physics) will always prevail.)

Therefore, having an unbalanced set of trading rules – because it results in a decline of available resources – is certain to increase conflict, not just among different peoples, cultures, & civilizations, but among similar peoples as well, as we know that even here, different factions & different interests always exist. As a people recognize that these trading rules are not serving them well, but rather abusing them, conflict even within a civilization will predictably increase. Historically, this is precisely what we’ve seen. And incidentally, this is precisely what we’re seeing right now as well. (There is a monumental effort to distract from this unbalanced set of trading rules – and the attendant abuses, dissatisfaction, & anger that accompanies them – which is currently ongoing. One can see evidence of this, particularly when analyzing the multiple instruments of irrationality that are being created & fueled by nefarious status quo factions, used to fuel division, infighting, & chaos, all in an effort to distract attention from this unbalanced set of trading rules & thereby used to try to maintain their monopoly on interests served – despite the fact that this will destroy the entire system, and everyone who depends upon it – these status quo factions included.)

Trade, trading rules, interests served, conflict, & war – these are forces that are forever linked, related & hopelessly intertwined. They can never really be separated or considered in isolation.

With this analysis, I think it becomes increasingly obvious that the rules of the game & the balance of interests served are both critically important fundamental considerations that can either promote stability & continuity – of trade & of all the systems that depend on it – or destroy that stability & continuity. Additionally & relatedly, they are clearly critically important causal factors of conflict – that if not appropriately addressed and left ill-configured, will eventually lead towards full blown war – and thusly, to the destruction of the many systems that we all depend upon.

Consequently, I think we can also begin to see the necessity of using a framework that acknowledges these fundamental truths and makes it clear that this is ultimately an issue about instituting, protecting, & enforcing trading rules that serve an equilibrium of interests – an issue of taking into account and striking that balance of interests – and making sure that all of those interests, and thusly, we, collectively, are always being guided by decision criteria that incentivize beneficial & productive pursuits.

In sum, from this perspective, considering all of the above factors, a range of things becomes obvious:

Trading rules – those necessary rules of the game – must strike a balance of interests, or their will be conflict.

As service to monopoly interests increases, conflict also increases.

What incentive is there for cooperation when there is service only of monopoly interests? Why cooperate if your interests aren’t being served?

Increasing service to monopoly interests increases fragmentary forces – as people (and nations) will naturally choose to defect from monopoly systems that aren’t serving their interests.

Service of monopoly interests ensures conflict. This is just physics, equilibrium, human nature. Forces will equilibrate. People will defect from cooperation if their interests are not being served.

Putting it all together:

The increase of monopoly interests being served increases conflict – particularly due to a reduction in available resources & opportunities, and factional fighting over what is still available – thereby also naturally increasing fragmentary forces – defections from cooperation due to interests not being served – which thusly results in the incremental weakening and eventual destruction of trading systems as people whose interests are no longer being served defect, which also results in the incremental weakening and eventual destruction of all of the systems – governmental, social, & economic – that relied on – and were built by – that trade and that trading system.

One thing that we know to be reliably true: When these systems begin to crumble, the monopoly interests being served by them will increasingly rely on force to try to maintain cooperation – to try to coerce all parties into cooperation with a monopoly system that no longer serves their interests. This is a strategy with a relatively short shelf life – if it works at all.

Something very important must be noted here that always seems to be overlooked – probably out of convenience, but perhaps also out of ignorance. People seem to delude themselves into believing that force is the answer to the problem of cooperation. Force is simply a tool. Force is a tool that, if used properly, can help enable a reconfiguration – a transformation of an unsustainable system into a more sustainable system that serves an actual balance of interests – which will then naturally gain you the aforementioned cooperation. It has no productive use other than that. It is not an end or a solution in & of itself – not an alternate option to the necessary re-balancing of interests served. It’s a tool to help with reconfiguration – a tool to help strike a balance of interests served.

Beyond this use, it becomes counterproductive, destructive – it becomes destruction for destruction’s sake.

Force & coercion, if it is successful at all – when employed as a long-term solution, in lieu of undertaking a necessary re-balancing of interests served – simply breeds increasingly strong fragmentary forces that will ultimately result in a fracturing of, not only trade relations – domestically & internationally – but will also result in threats to the stability & continuity of all dependent systems – trade, government, social, economic, monetary & financial.

Force is a short-term tool, not a long-term solution.

Force employed without a counterbalance of positive incentives and a balance of interests being served, is simply destruction for destruction’s sake. (Again, the very definition of evil.)

So, the obvious question here is, can we avoid at least the worst of the cycles of war & conflict – the cyclic periods of trade disruptions & declines in prosperity & opportunity that are historically evident – by purposely & deliberately setting the trading rules right to begin with?

All of the above analysis, when considered in conjunction with the historical evidence, would tend to indicate that we can.

However, we must also be realistic in our expectations.

It is unlikely that we will be able to avoid ALL conflict & war, especially when one considers human nature and the competitive & sometimes hostile nature of the natural world that we inhabit.

Despite these ever-present natural challenges, there is every reason to believe that we will do exceedingly well, if we adopt the aforementioned framework and perspective that acknowledges fundamental truths, and also adopt a decision criteria that consistently incentivizes productive & beneficial pursuits – rather than adopting criteria that fuel the relentless pursuit of malincentives & special privileges which inevitably results in greater & greater service of monopoly interests, growing abuse, & thus, fragmentary forces that result in the incremental weakening & eventual destruction of multiple systems that we all depend upon.

Again, I would contend that we are continually abused by these historical cycles of war & conflict – these cyclic periods of reduced prosperity & opportunity and increased abuse & poverty – because we are consistently & reliably failing to acknowledge fundamental truths and failing to set our trading rules properly.

In short, we fail, and are consistently abused by cycles of war, conflict, & poverty – because:

1) We have yet to explicitly & consistently acknowledge the obvious that we stated above: Some amount of protection – on both sides of a trade – is good and necessary, while too much is bad.

And,

2) Because we have yet to adopt a standard framework that states this more formally & directly.

A framework that acknowledges these fundamental truths and this general progression of logic:

1) There must be rules, and 2) Those rules need to be calibrated to serve interests. —>Which then begs the obvious question, 3) Whose interests exactly? —>To which the answer is: 4) An equilibrium of interests – a balance of interests.—>Which then precludes & prevents, by its very definition, 5) A monopoly of interests. And finally, we must 6) Adopt a decision criteria that consistently incentivizes that balance of interests served (people & groups) into productive & beneficial pursuits.

In sum, it could be said that encouraging open trade is good & necessary for widespread prosperity – it makes everyone more prosperous – but being too open is also bad, because it encourages abuse – which results in the fragmentation & destruction of those trading systems, and all of the systems that depend on them.

There is a balance to strike between the two – too many rules & too few rules – and we fail to strike that balance because we consistently fail to explicitly acknowledge the fundamental truths, the root causes, and the progressions of logic presented above.

Additionally, it is the decision criteria we use for striking that balance that’s important, which we will get into shortly. (And which we have discussed in other places before – but in short, these are matters of: 1) Replenishment of all forms of capital spent, 2) Long-term investment in people & infrastructure, 3) Investment in productive rather than parasitic pursuits, as well as, 4) Pursuit of areas where comparative & competitive advantage exists {or investment in R&D that works towards developing those areas of comparative & competitive advantage}.)

Removing Obstacles

As with removing obstacles to truth, we will also have to remove obstacles that seek to prevent striking this balance of interests as well.

What are the obstacles to striking this balance of interests?

Also, what are the obstacles that will attempt to prevent us from adhering to the decision criteria stated above which helps guide us when: recognizing & replenishing all forms of capital spent; deciding where to make long-term investments; as well as, identifying which pursuits are productive and which are likely to pay off?

As one might expect, the factions that are already deeply entrenched, and their particular specific interests, will be our biggest obstacles.

Regulatory capture & lobbying, in general, could be seen – quite rightly – as a modern form of naked mercantilism & protectionism – the pursuit of protections for narrow monopoly interests, usually masquerading in some convenient disguise.

For example, “free trade” is a very popular disguise, cloaked in virtue – a morally defensible position from which to practice the theft & abuse of multiple forms of capital, while serving a narrow monopoly interest. Though “free trade” is a much-vaunted value – it is often given lip service, rather than actually being pursued in earnest. It is nominally “free”, “fair”, & “virtuous” – but actually predatory, destructive, & irreciprocal, as currently practiced.

Many of the instruments of irrationality that we see at play today could be understood simply as tools employed by these factional monopoly interests in order to distract from their widespread theft & abuse – while ever-increasing amounts of protectionism & mercantilism are implemented (through lobbying & regulatory capture) – to the specific benefit of those factional monopoly interests.

Here we start to see something very, very interesting. Isn’t this creeping progression – more & more lobbying – more & more special treatment & special privileges gained from that – more & more preferential regulation & regulatory capture gained from that – more & more outright protectionism & mercantilism gained from that – isn’t all of this simply a slow-moving & insidious form of totalitarianism at some point? That is the natural end point of this creeping progression.

Totalitarianism could be seen as precisely the same thing as monopoly interest, minus time – the end point of monopoly interest fully realized & fully matured.

Monopoly interest is simply totalitarianism in training, totalitarianism in waiting – the difference between the two, only a matter of time, degree, & maturity.

If we don’t protect against it – totalitarianism, and its creeping predecessor, monopoly interest – that is most certainly what we will get. That is, in fact, what we’re seeing today.

The only protection from it comes through serving a balance of interests – thereby preventing a monopoly of interests – essentially, killing totalitarianism in its crib, every single day.

This is the heart of the matter.

If you think about it, this issue – equilibrium, an equilibrium of interests – may be familiar.

We are not the first to confront it, nor to grapple with it.

This constant struggle to gain monopoly advantage – and how to best protect citizens, governments, & civilization from the ill effects of that – is nothing new.

This issue was also front & center at the time of our founding – the very issue at hand which gave birth to one of our most important Organizing Principles: setting up an equilibrium of interests, a balance of interests – so that none could establish a monopoly over another – and by establishing that monopoly, destroy the incentives for cooperation, which would multiply & amplify fragmentary forces as parties defect, and thereby promote the growth of conflict, and thusly, increasingly threaten stability and continuity – a rather key problem for republics to endeavor to avoid.

We have come full circle since our founding.

This fight we are in – this is all about equilibrium – preventing monopoly.

As it turns out – we are in the same boat as were the founders – once again confronting the same forces. It would behoove us to finally understand that we do not suddenly know better or know more than they did. They were not quaint people working with outdated tools to confront ancient problems that no longer exist. They were working with revolutionary tools to confront fundamental truths & root causes – enduring problems whose natures never change – as are we.

We are not unique in our struggles. This is the human condition.

This issue – equilibrium – a balance of interests, comes up again and again, over & over, because it is a fundamental truth – a fundamental challenge inherent to civilization & the human condition.

It’s a challenge that’s never going away, and as such, it would behoove us to explicitly acknowledge this, and to begin dealing with the issue more directly and more effectively.

We know for certain, based on our analysis so far, that there is no shortage of myriad obstacles standing in our way, and likewise, there is no shortage of factional self-serving rhetoric which will continue to argue for narrow monopoly interests and against striking a balance.

Our job is to sift through this self-serving rhetoric – identify it, push it aside, & effectively strike that balance of interests despite that self-serving rhetoric – put into place the proper incentives that guide our choices constantly & consistently toward beneficial & productive pursuits & reciprocal trade.

Our job is to state clearly the rules of the game, and how & why they work.

We can start that work by removing a specific & commonly used rhetorical obstacle.

Let’s begin by dispensing with the self-serving lie that ALL protections are bad – a rule-set that benefits those who want for there to be no protective rules so that they may continue to steal, abuse, & monopolize – spend down the multiple forms of capital required for nations, cultures, & civilizations to exist, without paying for, or replacing them.

As has already been well established, here and in multiple other places, by multiple other authors & researchers – it’s clearly necessary to protect & replenish the many forms of capital required for nations, cultures, & civilizations to function, if they are to continue to exist – to persist & flourish. To pretend otherwise is an increasingly untenable position to hold that simply marks one as either egregiously ignorant, and willfully so, or purposely disingenuous in order to mask nefarious actions & intentions. Remember, we are dealing with masters of the virtue signal here. Deception is a major & important tool for them, necessary in order to maintain their disguise of virtue & goodness. They are not like normal people.

It’s time to dispense with the malicious & self-serving lie that the protection & replenishment of the multiple forms of capital required for nations, cultures, & civilizations to function – to exist & replenish themselves – is somehow a bad thing, and recognize that lie for the self-serving rhetoric that it is – recognize it as an excuse to continue to steal & abuse, to prey on peoples, cultures, & nations, in perpetuity, and without consequence.

Rules & protections are necessary. Means & methods of undertaking that protection & replenishment are necessary.

Human nature, devoid of rules & civilizing forces, is to take advantage wherever one believes one can get away with it.

People and nations, and most certainly corporations, will absolutely try to take advantage of you – if you let them. This is an unalterable truth – a fact of human nature. Protections against this are always required. We do not now, nor have we ever – nor will we ever – live in a virtuous utopia.

(Just for the record, in order to dispense with a common piece of Totalitarian Rhetoric – The Purification Ritual – which totalitarians like to use to sell the idea that this virtuous utopia is possible – if we just kill enough people – let’s state this very clearly: Were we to kill off absolutely everyone, down to the last man, the above unalterable truth would still be true – human nature would still exist. Were there only two of us left, these people would still try to take advantage of one another, if they thought it likely that they could get away with it. Pair down our numbers by any set of principles you like, and this fact will still remain. There is no changing it. Purifying purge fantasies of a totalitarian nature are just that – fantasies.

No matter how many people you kill, the laws of physics & human nature will still be there staring you in the face when that orgy of violence has finally exhausted itself.

You will never, under any circumstances, kill your way to a virtuous utopia.)

[We can very clearly see the dangerous rhetoric that lays the groundwork for these purge rituals cranking up into high gear, right now, today – throughout government & industry, across state media, and throughout the public & private sectors writ large, including within academia, within public education, & throughout the nefarious ecosystem of foundations, NGOs, & think tanks. This should concern, and perhaps even terrify, anyone who’s paying attention. Take these people at their word. They intend to purge, and they are diligently laying the groundwork for that right now – seeding the delusional ideologies that will support that effort – essentially, training & programming their troops & building their armies. They have already made much headway.] [But don’t take my word for this, listen to someone who’s experienced it firsthand -> Read Rape of the Mind.]

Returning to the important work of removing rhetorical obstacles & self-serving lies – which self-serving rhetoric & language, specifically, do we encounter most often which argues against protections & replenishments for peoples, nations, cultures, & civilizations?

There are two sets of rhetoric & terms – two levels of obfuscation.

One set of terms seeks to obscure the fact that regulation & protectionism are simply different words referring to the same thing – rules. This is the first level of obfuscation.

It’s a deception that hides the fact that we are simply dealing with a continuum of rules – a spectrum with two extremes. We are presented instead with two distinct categories, one good and one bad. This lays the groundwork for the later deception, where justificationary claims & value judgments will be made in order to place one’s personal preferences in the “good” category & the adversary’s preferences in the “bad” category.

It prevents any discussion about a proper calibration of the rules of the game – prevents any discussion of finding a beneficial & productive set point somewhere along the continuum between the two extremes on the spectrum.

Ignorant of the very existence of a spectrum of possible set points, the rules can forever be incrementally pulled towards one extreme of the spectrum – a movement which goes completely unnoticed. (One might notice a sort of dialectic at work here. —Thesis->Antithesis->Synthesis. Those who offer these “bookends”(Thesis & Antithesis), and the resulting Synthesis(the preferred outcome) – control the framework, the conversation, and the narrative. It ensures nothing outside of this acceptable framework is ever discussed or considered.) [To beat it -> reject the framework! Present a different framework with different bookends -> the Truth!]

The deeper level of obfuscation beyond that, is of course, using the terms “free trade” & “fair trade” – thereby placing value judgments on the types of trading rules these factions prefer in order to justify those rules and give themselves moral cover, so to speak – thereby morally justifying the preferential treatment & protections they seek & receive – giving themselves both moral, as well as legal & policy protections, and thusly, allowing them to continue to steal, abuse, and pursue narrow monopoly interest – allowing them to continue to prey on peoples, nations, & civilizations, without consequence – while also maintaining the appearance of virtue & goodness.

Let’s expand a bit on how that works.

If we were to ask ourselves whether “free trade” & “fair trade” are valid terms – or whether they are simply a justificationary value judgment used as a way to advocate for a particular personal preference or factional interest, how would we begin to analyze that & answer the question?

Well, if you didn’t want to be restricted or regulated from what you were already doing – or wanted to do, you’d probably advocate for “free” trade. However, given that there are still rules and this isn’t actually completely rule-free trade, as the name might imply, it can readily be seen that this is just a justificationary value judgment placed on the rules which you prefer in order to advocate for your particular self-interests & preferences. (It’s not really rules-free trade, it’s just trade rules that benefit you & your interests.)

Whether this set of rules & preferences is ultimately good or bad is another, separate matter, which depends upon the specifics, of course.

Is this set of rules & preferences within the set of rules that constantly guides our choices in productive & beneficial directions? Is it reciprocal? Does that benefit to you come at the cost of someone else’s benefits or interests? Etc. All important questions. Part of striking the equilibrium of interests.

What about the term “fair trade”?

If you wanted to control the particulars of the rules, you’d likely advocate for “fair” trade. This is also clearly a justificationary value judgment placed on the rules that you prefer in order to advocate for your particular self-interests. The same “good or bad” caveats apply here as above.

As we now recognize these commonly used terms for what they are – nothing more than justificationary value judgments placed upon preferred rules in order to advocate for factional self-interests & preferences – we could ask a very important question here.

Is that all-important equilibrium of interests even being addressed or considered at all today?

Or, is there only the naked pursuit of narrow monopoly interests?

Based on what we’ve already discussed, we know that increasingly, there is no attempt at striking an equilibrium of interests – there is, in fact, only the naked pursuit of narrow monopoly interests. The evidence is all around us, everywhere we look today. At this point, even the well-manicured disguises have begun to lose their camouflaging effects. Whether or not the underlying mechanics used to accomplish this bit of stage theater are fully understood or not, the audience has begun to find the storyline less & less believable.

Based upon what we’ve laid out here, it can easily be understood that, as currently configured, “free trade” is just code for predatory trade. Likewise, “fair trade” is just code for “beneficial trade terms which I control and benefit from” – which is also just code for predatory trade. Each is irreciprocal & does not seek a balance of interests, nor adhere to any decision criteria that continually guides us toward productive & beneficial pursuits.

It would benefit us greatly to put a stop to these now ridiculously transparent word games and be honest with one another instead. We have important decisions to make about our future & our place in the world, and we do not have time for word games that obscure fundamental truths and hide predatory interests.

We must recognize fundamental truths & be honest with one another.

Protections, for both parties, on both sides of a trade, are necessary.

This has always been, and this will always be.

This is precisely why contracts & contract law were developed – to specify those terms & those protections.

Were we virtuous creatures with no capacity to take advantage of one another, no such tools would ever have been required.

The fact that those tools are widely acknowledged as being critically important components of our success, and the success of ALL nations & civilizations, should tell you much about the realities of human nature.

So we can see quite clearly that rules for the game are required – call this regulation, protectionism, mercantilism, free trade, fair trade, it doesn’t really matter – that range of choices just indicates your particular position on the spectrum of possibilities – justificationary arguments made advocating for what you’d like those rules to be, not whether or not rules need to exist. Clearly they do. Again, this is precisely why we created contracts & contract law. Some form and some amount of protection is required, for man, as he trades.

This use of rules & protections & contracts & agreements is the natural state of trade and the natural state of man, as he trades. These things have always existed in some form or another, even if it was only verbal at first – and we have always endeavored to make these agreements & protections better – always endeavored to perfect them. Rules & protections – protectionism, mercantilism, free trade, fair trade, call it whatever you like – setting the terms of trade with other peoples & nations – is required to protect the interests of those doing the trading – of those on both sides of the trade.

This use of rules & protections, however, does prevent the use of unrestricted predatory trade though, which is why it’s hated & vilified by those who practice that unrestricted predatory trade. (Particularly the globalists who hide behind the “virtues” of free & fair trade.) It’s well understood that actual protections for ALL of those doing the trading might actually allow people to protect & replenish their cultures, their nations, and their civilizations. “Gasp! What a horrific thought!” said totalitarians & globalists the world over.

While we’re in the neighborhood, let’s address another self-serving justificationary argument here that feeds into the fallacy that ALL protections are bad.

This is the fallacious idea that ANY protection automatically takes on non-beneficial forms – that it necessarily has to be disadvantageous to us – that it is inherently damaging to competitive advantage. Quite the opposite can be true. In fact, rather than encouraging the inherent laziness, parasitism, & ossification of predatory trade, it can very readily be used to encourage creativity & innovation – massive advantages to any trading nation. We always have a choice in what we want to encourage and discourage, incentivize & disincentivize. That is what matters – the choice of incentives. Let’s not pretend that some inherent state of nature is going to magically strike that balance for us – such as the fantasy of “free trade” & “fair trade” like to pretend.

Controlling the terms of our trade with other nations & peoples is the only way to incentivize them into: 1) Building Rule of Law Systems, 2) Cooperation 3) The Cycle of Prosperity, 4) Incrementally Building Up Civilization, and 5) Stability & Continuity – of Trade, of Government, of Culture, & of Nations. If you don’t understand this, you know nothing of human behavior, or incentives, and consequently, you have nothing of substance or value to contribute to the conversation. You cannot sit at the adults table. This is a conversation for statesmen & stewards – not the willfully ignorant, not the wholly uninformed, and certainly not the self-serving grifters who parrot any of the aforementioned false narratives for themselves or their puppetmasters – children or infantilizers, one & all.

Beneficial trade terms are the answer – the incentive – which entices both sides to be on their best behavior.

Terms can also easily be set to be automatic – tied to independently measurable metrics – so they do not become used as a political tool. (Want beneficial trade terms? Implement and maintain incremental improvements to you rule of law systems, to your contract enforcement systems, etc. These metrics set the trade terms.) As those independently measurable metrics move up or down, trade terms automatically adjust. This is a free-floating set of terms that are determined by performance rather than human whims or preference, which are always subject to capture & corruption. (More can be said about this system, but we’ll cover those details elsewhere. This is just meant to be an overview – an introduction to the tools that are available to us.)

Over the long term, these are the things that will consistently incentivize human progress & prosperity, incentivize the building up of civilization – incentivize all of the 5 points mentioned above.

Will it usher in a utopia & end all war, conflict, & suffering? Of course not. No such possibility exists. But it’s as close to that as we know how to get.

Aggressive powers & despots will always arise & need to be dealt with.

The above system is an incentive for all logical & rational actors. They will take advantage of these obviously beneficial incentives and chose trade over other options.

Illogical & irrational actors will have to be dealt with in other ways. They are the reason we maintain strong militaries & martial forces. This is an unavoidable fundamental truth about the natural world that we inhabit. There is no changing it.

Now having gone through quite a bit of detail regarding our particular circumstances, can we make some speculations about some of the particular events we’re seeing and, based upon historical frameworks, gain some additional insight into these events, and perhaps even where we might be headed?

It could easily be argued that we are facing a renewed form of mercantilism today.

If one were to consider the blended use of mercantilism & imperialism, and entertain the idea that those things are not necessarily directed towards the benefit of the peoples in the nation, or nations, directing that blend of mercantilism & imperialism, it makes for an interesting scenario that I think has three distinct components.

Using the short section headed Mercantilism vs Imperialism here [Wayback] as a source for quick background reference, we might notice some interesting parallels to our own circumstances. It might be suggested that it’s not just a new attempt at feudalism that we face, but that there also may be an attempt to extend new forms of mercantilism & imperialism – a new & more modern blend of the two.

Traditionally, we know Mercantilism as using a nation’s economy to create favorable trade balances (favorable to whom, is the question) – and Imperialism – as a combination of military force & mass immigration used to force mercantilism onto a region & people, traditionally a less-developed region & people. But who’s to say these strategies can’t be adjusted & adapted to fit new circumstances?

Is it out of the realm of possibilities that an already mercantilist trading group comprised of a collection of governments (or government factions), oligarchs, global corporations & financial firms – with the balance of trade & the trading terms already favoring them and thereby benefiting their deeply entrenched narrow range of interests, and disadvantaging all others – might use military force & mass immigration to force their preferred trading rules (modern mercantilism) on ALL peoples & nations?

Might it also be possible that they would move with great haste, when the opportunity came to consolidate that power?

Is it out of the realm of possibilities that they might use different types of mass immigration where required in order to accomplish that consolidation of power, or in order to accomplish any range of a number of different objectives?

Though in its original form, mass immigration of a nation’s own citizens was used in conjunction with enforcing mercantilism on distant colonies (a dangerous game that lost notable powers their empires, the British Empire, of particular note) – who’s to say that mass immigration can’t happen in any direction and form desired, – and, from & to any place desired, in order to accomplish specific objectives?

Mass immigration could be seen as simply a tool – wielded however the user desires.

In other words, if a people in some nation that you might want to subjugate decided that they didn’t want to cooperate with your new global Imperial Mercantilist Empire, why not just flood them with a more compliant mix of immigrants from around the world who will be unable to form any kind of cohesive group to resist your efforts, and will not be educated enough about the issues at hand to understand what’s happening to them in the first place?

Clearly mass immigration can be understood as just a tool that can work in whatever direction is needed.

Isn’t this scenario exactly what we’re seeing today, not just here, but throughout the West?

What we’re seeing develop certainly has the appearance of being simply a new global Imperial Mercantilist Empire. Why should the so-called elites in this system care about the people in these various regions? Remember, as we discussed earlier, they are disconnected from their responsibility to these peoples, nations, & regions. To them, these people are just cattle to be moved from pasture to pasture as needed. The strategy is simply to build up a region & a population until that is no longer profitable or convenient, and then simply cull them & replace them with different cattle. Build up, destroy, & rebuild – both the people and the infrastructure. Wash, rinse, & repeat, in perpetuity. To bastardize a phrase: Death & destruction is my business, and business is good!

The point here is that imperial mercantilist military policies can readily include using mass immigration of its own people into distant colonies – or using mass immigration of other peoples into its own nations. It’s a multidirectional flow possibility that can accomplish multiple goals depending on the level of development that already exists within the nation, the region, or the people in question. (What phase of development are the people & infrastructure currently in? Are they in the build up part of the cycle – or at maturity, and thusly ready for culling – ready for the destruction part of the cycle?)

It’s interesting to note that we now see a whole of government approach to erasing the borders of our own nation, a policy which is allowing a flood of people from around the world to come in every single day – a flood that amounts to multiple millions per year now, every single year, smoothly & reliably. Our military & law enforcement agencies – federal, state, & local – are visibly & openly participating in this as well – helping to process & expedite that increasing flood of people from around the world into our country. There has been no attempt whatsoever to stop it, or slow it down, only to increase it and make it less noticeable to the public. I would call that, not a failure or an accident, but a purposefully directed strategy.

By all appearances, it looks as if we are clearly in the “slated for destruction” part of the cycle – at maturity & ready for culling. From an information warfare & psychological warfare perspective, look at the messaging around these issues, and in general, and tell me that this isn’t precisely the goal.

The study of the birth & decline of civilizations can help us to understand another facet of this. The particulars which are relevant to us in this scenario are well explained by Quigley’s work in The Evolution of Civilizations. As an established civilization declines – fails to adequately address challenges over long periods of time – the core area of the civilization becomes weak and they become less & less able to exercise control or influence over areas on the periphery. These areas on the periphery are still a part of the core civilization, but more difficult to access & influence, and also border other areas which may give them influences from outside the core civilization – influences from neighboring areas which can sometimes be beneficial & adaptive – sometimes representing new & advantageous practices or traditions that don’t spread into or exist in the core areas of the civilization. As the core of the established civilization continues to weaken and its influence shrink ever inward, it’s influence on ALL of the peripheral areas begins to vanish and some of these peripheral areas may then begin to flourish & bloom, if they have the right mix of circumstances – a process that usually takes place over a period of centuries, rather than years or decades. These peripheral areas are often the places that give birth to new civilizations that come to dominate & replace the old – these new civilizations being some mix of the old, and some mix of completely new influences.

Two scenarios, and an observation – three points – become interesting with this knowledge in mind.

Now knowing how the birth of a new civilization often happens, it could readily be understood that undertaking any sort of colonial activity can be a very dangerous game to play. This work of seeding & strengthening peripheral areas that could then well become significant powers in their own right, and eventually threaten the core civilization, is quite a gamble to take in view of how new civilizations are often born. Again, in the case of the American colonies, it eventually cost the British their empire.

This is the observation, colonial adventures – of any type – may well have a very high cost. Seeding peripheral powers may eventually cost you your core civilization – especially if you do not address problems over long periods of time & instead allow yourself to become incrementally weaker because of them. (Looking at history, these problems were almost always solvable, and the solutions often Already Existed – AND WERE KNOWN, but were opposed and NOT ADOPTED by the controlling factions because they had become highly corrupt & ossified.)

Secondarily, and related, one could understand that we are operating a form of colonization right now, except it’s more of an economic form of colonization, rather than the migratory colonies of old. With this economic form of colonization, we’ve simply moved production & manufacturing to peripheral areas for the cheap labor – these places, now being essentially an extension of our own economy – the equivalent of manufacturing colonies. Thusly, we’ve made these peripheral areas significantly stronger & more powerful, while we, the core area, have gradually become weaker & weaker over a period of decades. Can you see where this might be going? This is a very dangerous game that repeats the past mistakes of previous powers – mistakes which cost those powers their empires. The lands of those former empires are now mostly subservient to others, and have arguably been in decline ever since. These former powers now seem to have lost all sovereignty, even on their own shores.

Is this really a mistake we want to continue to repeat?

There is a third and also related point. It could well be understood that – with the advent of the modern technologically-integrated global economy and the interconnected nature of the global world where travel & communication are relatively easy & effortless, compared to ancient times – the current crop of so-called elites (those representing the global Imperial Mercantilist Empire) are now themselves in a position to operate as a sort of peripheral power, a virtual peripheral power that is unmoored from the original geographical limitations previously placed on rising peripheral powers and declining core powers.

It’s now quite easy for them, through what is often called a sort of new cosmopolitan ethic, or an international ethic, to see themselves as “without a country” – without allegiances or ties to geographies or people. Unmoored from those previous constraints, they now possess, instead, a new cosmopolitan culture, an international culture. They see themselves as elite citizens of the world, moving and interacting only within rarefied bubbles of other elites, wherever on the planet they so desire – ruling over the cattle in the various pastures of the planet as they see fit – the so-called elite of these various different places having more in common with one another than the cattle they herd – having a shared culture & set of beliefs all their own, elite cosmopolitan citizens of the world.

Does this description sound out of character given what you’ve heard these people talking about & proposing quite openly?

Does this set of descriptions, scenarios, & observations have fairly good explanatory power?

I will leave that to the reader to decide.

Which factions might see themselves as benefitting from an effort like this? Plenty of our own idiots would certainly fall into this group. Factions from abroad, too? Factions from the EU, from the WEF, from the CCP, from the UN? It certainly seems likely. These are often overlapping groups. When we look at where the funding & messaging for these efforts comes from, it makes that pretty clear. The fingerprints that identify the sources of this funding & messaging are plain to see, if one cares to look for them.

With these things in mind, I will make three more observation here.

It might be time that we took current events much more seriously.

It might be time to put much more urgency behind those important decisions that we need to make about our future and our place in the world.

It appears that we are well down the road to allowing others to make those decisions for us.

Clearly we have an issue with allegiances – not just dual or multiple allegiances, but what can be more correctly understood as broken allegiances – complete disconnections from responsibility.

This inevitably leads to these disconnected factions with these broken allegiances becoming progressively hostile to the people & nations they flowed forth from – as well as their interests.

What can be done about that?

What might we due to incentivize continued responsibility to peoples & nations, to suppress & prevent the disconnection from, and hostility to these peoples & nations – to prevent the continual cycle of preying on these peoples, nations, & civilizations – prevent the spending down of the many forms of capital required for a civilization to function, without any thought to replacing & replenishing it? How can we incentivize the long-term investment in those peoples & nations, rather than simply the predation of them?

First & foremost – the most obvious & the easiest first step to take: Don’t release people from their responsibilities to one another. Don’t allow that to be acceptable. MERCILESSLY VILIFY these people when they do release themselves from their responsibilities to the people & places they spring forth from. At that point, they’ve earned it – and they do care how they’re perceived – or they wouldn’t go to such great lengths to virtue signal & try to hide their irresponsibility & predatory behavior. Social pressure and the destruction of one’s reputation has vastly underrated power.

Aside from these obvious first steps, we’ve already mentioned some of the things that can be done, and we’ll mention some others a bit later. Without going into great policy detail here, we can give the broad strokes of a couple of the more important and common sense safeguards.

These are things that are not terribly different from the way many things used to be handled – when we still acknowledged the importance of rules for games & reciprocity in all things, including trade – before the era of widespread regulatory capture and the growth of modern mercantilism, particularly the global Imperial Mercantilist Empire that we can clearly see operating today. (GIME!, heh!) [Actually: GIME -or- GIMP works well -> Global Imperial Mercantilist Poly-Empire. Go ahead, throw something out there. Have fun! These people have earned all the scorn & ridicule we can muster.]

Common sense safeguards that incentivize investment, innovation, & leadership, rather than parasitism & irreciprocity:

First, if a product is manufactured in a foreign country, it is subject to the trade terms of that country of origin – regardless of where the company that owns that product is headquartered. Whatever trade terms that country has secured with our country are thereby inherited by that product. [This assumes the use of trade terms automatically set & adjusted by free-floating metrics based upon the actual performance of rule of law & contract enforcement systems, which we’ve explained elsewhere.]

This incentivizes businesses who want to trade & manufacture internationally to work with foreign nations & regions to constantly maintain and improve their rule of law & contract enforcement systems in order to maintain the most beneficial trading terms possible. This is good for civilizations & cultures around the world – good for the progress & prosperity of all humanity. As we’ve discussed, it works to contribute to the Cycle of Prosperity, to incrementally build up civilization & civilizing forces, & to promote stability and continuity – of trade, of governments, of rule of law & contract enforcement systems, of cultures, & of civilizations.

Additionally, this practice promotes long-term investment in the peoples, infrastructures, & industries of the future where those businesses & manufacturing facilities exist.

Specifically, this forces companies to “fly the flag” that displays where the product was actually manufactured, and to then accept that country’s trade terms for the product – incentivizing businesses to pursue the areas of competitive & comparative advantage that already exist in that locality (or are attainable in the short term), rather than simply moving ALL production offshore for the labor arbitrage.

Some things it will be beneficial to have manufactured domestically, particularly things where there is a comparative or competitive advantage, or where – with some R&D – these things are within reach & can be developed. Thusly, it will incentivize creativity & innovation, rather than incentivizing wholesale abandonment of domestic markets & investments in favor of the endless pursuit of labor arbitrage.

Additionally, similar to the rules for the manufactured products themselves, wherever a company manufactures most of its products is where that company must be flagged. It is then subject to the operating rules of that country of manufacturing origin, as well as the trading terms that country has with other trading nations.

Getting the sweetheart deal of being considered a domestic company, with all of those perks, protections, & benefits – including the labor arbitrage – while actually operating what is a foreign enterprise that simply sells into the domestic market – is just a way of skirting the trade rules – and it’s time we were honest with one another about that and stopped with the games.

This practice of skirting the trade rules with a wink & a nod does not incentivize good behavior or responsibility to the interests of the peoples & nations where these falsely flagged “domestic” companies are homed, or where the actual manufacturing is taking place. It’s simply robbing these peoples & nations of the ability to investment in themselves, in their people, in their industries, and in their infrastructures. It’s simply a multijurisdictional scheme to obscure costs and profits – really just another form of socializing costs & privatizing gains – accomplished through multijurisdictional operations designed to help obscure both the methods, and the related costs.

To believe that these companies (and the factions who run & benefit from them, inside & outside of government) will remain even remotely allegiant to their peoples & nations, or their interests, under different rules than this, or something like it – is as we’ve explained in extensive detail now – to be naive of human nature. We struggle to get large companies to be and remain responsible even when they remain domestic companies and not obviously removed from their responsibility to their peoples & nations. Simply by looking around today, we can see that this behavior just gets worse – more disconnected, more irresponsible, & more hostile – as these companies become more international in nature. (And as we’ve lain out, this disconnected, irresponsible, & hostile behavior also spreads to everyone in the government, the bureaucracy, & the financial sector – all of whom are involved with facilitating this international trade, & all of whom benefit from it.)

As we covered earlier, when you release people from their responsibility to the people, nations, cultures, & civilizations that they flowed forth from, they then become detached & hostile to those people & their interests.

This is just human nature and we should expect no different.

This common sense structure, in conjunction with many of the other things we’ve discussed, or will discuss, helps maintain these allegiances & responsibilities, encourages long-term investment, creativity, innovation, & competitiveness, while also encouraging the building up of all civilizations & peoples across the world, in a way that promotes stability, continuity, civilizing forces, & prosperity.

I think we’ve covered the main issues fairly well, thus far.

So, let’s talk about what happens if we fail – fail to address & resolve problems, fail to acknowledge fundamental truths, fail to defeat the epidemic of infantilization, fail to exclude children & infantilizers from these adult discussions, fail to make wise decisions about our vital interests, our future, & our place in the world, fail to make necessary reconfigurations.

Victory is promised to no one, and progress & prosperity – in a competitive & sometimes hostile world – are never assured.

What can we expect – based upon history & the fundamental truths that we know about the world – if we cannot manage the beneficial reconfigurations described above?

The field of possibilities can probably be understood to be somewhere between: 1) complete collapse & disorder, 2) warring states and warring factions, 3) transfer of power to an alternate order & collection of powers – or, should we succeed – 4) a reciprocal international order anchored by a power, or alliance of powers, willing to underwrite & enforce a system of rules-based reciprocal international trade.

First up, lets address the obvious, and then we’ll get into the most likely of the above scenarios.

The obvious: What happens if we fail and the status quo prevails?

The Status Quo – while it might appear like that item is still on the menu – is not really an option. We’ve simply run out of the ingredients to make it. We’ve been substituting for quite some time now, and frankly, the dish has become rather disgusting & not really fit for human, or even animal consumption at this point. I know, I know, it looks like it’s still on the menu, and some of you really, really want it to be, but trust me – if you order that dish – you’ll hear a terrible commotion, the breaking of dishes, the grinding of gears, & the smell of –something- burning, followed by what sounds like a lot of cursing, fighting, crying & dying… and eventually – after a very long & uncomfortable period of mournful whaling & sobbing – the chef will limp out and tell you, very apologetically, that’s no longer on the menu.

The truth, that you’ll never here from the pundits, the talking heads, the bureaucrats, or the politicians – even the ones you like – because none of these people will ever be honest with you – even the ones you like, trust, and respect – is this:

We’re exhausted. Our people, are exhausted. All of the things that would have ordinarily allowed us to replenish ourselves have been spent down & neglected – for generations.

We’ve spent down our people, our culture, and our civilization – our strategic, our industrial, our technological, & our cultural advantages – for many decades. We’ve made no attempt to replenish any of these things. We’ve simply spent them down. We’re exhausted, in every possible way, and our people – the entirety of our population & our civilization – are fed up with the endeavor.

Almost no one will tell you this, but it is the truth.

Only a very tiny minority of parasites benefit from the current ossified & failing arrangement. And only an uneducated & uninformed – but screeching loudly minority – support them.

That is the extent of the support for the status quo – only grifters, hucksters, & the ignorant – continue to support this ossified system.

Look anywhere besides state media and you can see this truth for yourself.

Here’s another truth:

These people – the grifters, the cheerleaders, & the hucksters – the pundits, the politicians, the bureaucrats, & the talking heads – they don’t matter. They have absolutely no solutions. They are not interested in widespread prosperity. They are inherently destructive to civilization & culture, and they are quite happy – and quite adept – at setting us against one another in a never-ending series of grand distractions so that they may continue to steal, while destroying the very fabric of civilization in the process.

Whether it’s politics as a team sport – where they keep us rooting for “our side” in a rigged fakery that makes professional wrestlers blush (how’s that power of the purse working out for us lately?); or the never-ending line of hucksters & race-baiters that stoke the fires of tribalism and laugh all the way to the bank; or whether it’s the endless line of “charities” and “humanitarian causes” and the foundations, nonprofits, & NGOs who line up to wave the false flag of compassion while cashing enormous checks from the government – all while both parties work diligently to make all of those crises, which cause terrible human suffering, worse by the day – all in a successful effort to keep the money train that supports them rolling. (Who knew there was such an enormous amount of money in all of these very important “helping” endeavors? The hucksters & the grifters, that’s who!)

Wherever you look in this ossified system, it’s all a magnificent fraud – a giant distraction that they’re hoping no one will notice. The only problem is – no one who’s paying attention buys into this theater anymore. And there’s been a bit of a panic about that. The tremendous & ongoing overreach that we’ve seen is a symptom of that panic. The stage theatrics are being increasingly dispensed with now, and all that’s left is sheer coercion – an open use of force that escalates daily, weekly, and monthly – lurching forward in great spurts & starts.

We are at war with these people. And they are at war with us. There can be no question about that at this point. They say this quite openly, both with their words, and with their actions.

We are locked in a grand battle – with all of these people – to try to make a transition away from infantilization, and toward frank & open adult conversations – and – a transition away from an ossified & fragile, highly-financialized & non-productive, irreciprocal & grotesquely perverted form of international trade that benefits only a tiny minority of people at the top – and actively destroys absolutely everyone else – sentencing them to serfdom, slavery, slow death, or genocide.

There is every possibility that everything is going to be burnt down & destroyed during that fight to reconfigure – if it goes to the mat – and it looks increasingly like it will. (The enemy has already undertaken this wanton destruction on their own, unprovoked. Imagine what they’ll do when there’s significant resistance, which there hasn’t really been yet. The enemy has a sickness – they will always double down on wanton destruction. It’s been difficult for people to wrap their minds around that. The enemy is not like you. They are evil. They are not going to stop until you stop them. This is an uncomfortable truth that people must wrap their minds around – if they are to avoid being destroyed by this enemy.)

If this fight goes to the mat, there will be little to nothing left to fix, and few left to fix anything that does remain.

If it were to be ordered – that is roughly what the Status Quo option on the menu will look like when it arrives at your table.

But let’s put all that aside for the time being & look at other options.

Well, actually, let’s explore that scenario now. What happens in that scenario where we exit the world stage, permanently?

I know you’ve been promised utopia when that happens, but don’t forget about the specter of infantilization that we’ve been living under. It’s quite possible that those you’ve trusted haven’t been completely honest with you about that. There’s been a distinct & ongoing lack of candor for quite some time now.

The truth is, we are the only nation capable of protecting international trade on the high seas – policing the sea lanes & maintaining conflict-free trade routes (and coercion-free trade routes – those who would like to take over, will not maintain that restraint). This is a function which makes it so that everyone – even those without the ability or resources to provide for their own security & protection or overcome their own isolation – can trade with the rest of the world, relatively unimpeded – and reap the prosperity of being able to do so, a level of opportunity that’s nothing to sneeze at. (As we’ve covered, this system has become grotesquely distorted & abused – a major part of our problems. None of us standing on the side of the line that represents the light of civilization – those of us trying to protect its continuity and its ability to thrive – are happy about this; and as big as the task may be, we aim to fix that grotesque distortion & abuse.)

What are the reasons for that unique capability to protect international trade on the high seas?

They are multifold, and not all of them obvious.

No one else has the geography that would allow them to play this protective role successfully, nor do they have the culture of restraint and service to others required – the ethics which are very frequently overlooked and critically important components that are required in order to be able to successfully play that protective role – or even to be able to support, maintain, & promote the long-term stability & continuity of international trade, in general, for that matter. (I do not say this out of arrogance – we were adapted for this international commercial role, this international trading role, over millennia. Initially, at least, we had absolutely no choice in the matter – it was an issue of adapting to our environment, or dying. Later, we increasingly embraced this role because it was a highly-successful strategy.) [A big part of our problem is that we’ve increasingly allowed people who aren’t a part of this heritage and these ethics – people who don’t identify with, understand, represent, or exemplify them – to increasingly have control over this protective role – with the predictably destructive results that we are now seeing currently. We are going to have to do something about that.]

Additionally, no one else currently has the military power required to play that role either. To say that other militaries would be stretched thin is a vast understatement and an undeserved kindness. Even with a grand alliance, any power, or group of powers, would fall well short of the military strength required. Fighting a near-shore conflict is one thing. Maintaining order the whole world over is another altogether. The resource differential between the two is enormous. The militaries & navies of any other power, or group of powers, would simply be far too weak to play that sea lane protective role – and take care of the other necessary security & military duties as well.

The result of that weakness?

Massive conflict – widely dispersed & unpredictable –as people & powers the world over fight to control & protect whatever piece of trade is near to them. The result would be coercion & banditry on a scale never before known to the modern world. Say goodbye to long supply lines & shipping anything safely across the seas, anywhere on the planet. These aspiring powers, or groups of powers, would play whack-a-mole with these planet-wide sources of banditry & coercion until, eventually, they’re simply too weak to do it anymore at all. (Which would not take long – assuming they could expand enough to do that in the first place – which is highly doubtful based upon geography, economics, the laws of physics, and the laws of human nature.)

As these powers or groups of powers are incrementally weakened, they will likely be destroyed, or fall back to the position of being a greatly constrained regional power, unable to project power much beyond their own borders. As this happens, international trade as we know it will cease to exist. Being able to ship goods from distant shores will be impossible if you do not have military escorts, which most of the world will not be able to afford or assemble (as most cannot do even today, during times of relative tranquility & prosperity). Refueling & resupplying capabilities – which greatly limit the distance these protective details are able to travel – are critically important capabilities that few seem to understand & take into account when consider these scenarios. Blue water navies are extremely difficult to develop, maintain, & use. They are tremendously expensive, and they do not fall out of the sky ready to use. They require an extraordinary amount of expertise to operate – expertise which cannot be gained in any short period of time. Most nations simply do not have the traditions & depth of knowledge required, and these things do not fall together overnight.

These are the realities we face – the actual constraints that exist, in the real world.

When one dispenses with fantasy and ignorance, the actual menu options available, shrink precipitously.

This is, frankly, a fairly unpleasant reality for everyone all around. Those who want to do the job, and those who really don’t.

Let’s address these groups.

First, the pretenders – those who do not have any of the prerequisite requirements – but do, however, possess a concerning level of genocidal & inhumane tendencies & predilections which should make anyone who’s paying attention fairly squirmy & uncomfortable. (Would you want these people guarding your door as you & your family try to sleep?)

Some, such as the aforementioned parasitic & tyrannical regime that regularly genocides & abuses its own people and its weaker neighbors, the CCP, want that job – protecting international trade on the high seas, that sea trade protective role – very, very badly – but can’t even begin to hope to do it successfully, for many reasons. And they certainly won’t attempt to do it in any sort of humane manner. They are keen to try out that role on a very limited regional basis, right now – and there is no doubt that they’re highly willing (and even a little excited about?) committing unspeakable atrocities in the process. They have a long & distinguished history of doing just that. Don’t let anyone fool you, they have no intention whatsoever of maintaining any sort of restraint – if they are able to consolidate power, even regionally. They don’t do so now, and they haven’t done so historically. Why would we expect that to be any different in the future? They will begin coercing like nobody’s business, just as soon as they are able.

They have delusions of grandeur that make them believe they can expand beyond this regional role, but that is pure children’s fantasy. This plan of global domination involves a multiethnic genocide of a scope that would make a movie supervillain blush. I guess they just assume everyone is going to passively stand by & allow this to happen? History, human nature, and the laws of physics would tend to argue against this outcome. But the fact that they have that plan should be all the evidence you need that they do not even remotely begin to posses the ethics (of restraint & service to others) required to do this job successfully. Coercion – despite fantasies to the contrary – is nowhere near enough. It takes both sides of the coin to do this job. Incentives, and coercion – with the coercion held in reserve, used sparingly & only against belligerent & illogical actors who are unable to see the benefits of trade. They have this mix completely backwards – and don’t even know it. They will fail – HARD – the second they’re out on their own. The ONLY REASON they haven’t done so already, is because we’ve been protecting them & fueling their rise. Foolishly, I might add. That we’ve done this is a great moral stain on our record. We’re a party to the atrocities – the genocides & crimes against humanity – that they’ve committed, and continue to commit today – because by fueling & supporting them, we continue to fuel & support those atrocities & crimes against humanity. And let’s be honest, without us to continually & consistently fuel their growth, they cannot hope to grow their economy or their military enough to serve in this role – even if they did have the other necessary components – which they clearly do not.

Some want this role very, very badly, but cannot even hope to successfully play it.

As currently configured, with all of the unnecessary sprinkles that some want to put on that donut, we don’t particularly like or want the job – that sea trade protective role and its other duties(which are the issue for us) – but we are the only ones who are even remotely capable of doing it. (This is a generally good description of our nation & the vast majority of our people, as it stands today – at least as the role is currently configured. Were the role to be properly re-configured… well, that is an interesting thing to consider, isn’t it?)

As it stands, these are the realities that we face.

This is the truth of the menu options that lie before us.

While you may have been lead to believe that a “magic utopia” will spring up in our place to take care of all these things – should we exit the world stage – the more likely result is extreme chaos & violence while others fight over the pieces. This result would not be historically unprecedented given similar circumstances. And frankly, no one else is currently strong enough to consolidate control, despite grand posturing & rhetoric to the contrary. Many will find that riding paper tigers makes the dismount irrelevant. Famine, fire, pitchforks, and angry mobs will become far more important & immediate concerns to these bellicose & bawdy pretenders.

So, when we take an honest look at the cold hard realities behind this issue, we find that – in the real world, where geography, economics, the laws of physics, & the laws of human nature always reign supreme – considerable obstacles exist for those who have the fantasy in their heads that make them believe they can successfully step into the role of protecting international trade on the high seas.

Are there any who are capable of overcoming these many obstacles & growing into this protective role? Maybe, but it’s highly doubtful. I refer you back to our original discussions at the outset. Geography is a cold mistress. Without god-like powers, even the great powers of the earth will find it exceedingly difficult to alter the laws of physics & human nature.

But let’s play that clock forward.

Let’s assume it is possible to grow into that protective role.

What are the easiest obstacles & deficits to overcome?

Which of the deficiencies in the components required to play this protective role is easiest to overcome -and- what does the timeframe required to overcome those deficiencies look like?

1) Geography. Without god-like powers, this is a deficiency that is impossible to overcome, even given an infinite amount of time.

Are there workarounds? Short of genocide & conquest, no. (Don’t think that is not on the minds of some. It most certainly is. But don’t take my word for it, listen to them tell you this in their own words!)

2) Ethics – of service to others, of restraint. This took us millennia to develop. And we did not choose it consciously. It was required for us to adapt to our geography. (And we have other social & religious values & traditions that have long reinforced & amplified those ethics.) And it must be stressed again, though it is frequently overlooked, these are ethics that are required for playing this protective role successfully, and to even be able to excel at international trade at all, particularly when there is no preexisting structure to fit yourself into. Some will hate hearing this truth, but without us, that preexisting structure disintegrates & vanishes. (And given the history of how trade & civilization developed in tandem, especially with the establishment of long trade routes – both are likely to degrade as a result – by how much, remains an open question.)

As we try to answer the question of timeframes required to address deficits, particularly regarding ethics, we can ask:

Can the process of developing an ethic of service to others and an ethic of restraint be sped up? Maybe. A very big maybe.

It’s a rather involved conversation that includes overcoming several obstacles – a process & a set of topics that will inevitably make some people bristle – and as such, by virtue of being naturally contentious, it is far from assured that we, or any group of people, can actually institute such a process, even though it would be exceedingly good for humanity.

The reality is, even if we can speed up the process, and I think we can, it’s a process that will likely take generations to complete – a process that will require generations for those ethics to permeate & be embraced throughout the whole of a population.

However, we could leverage those capable people who are already able to exemplify & maintain those ethics, and thereby speed up the progress of any nation/region/or civilization in question. This would avoid the need to wait for full permeation of those ethics within a population. Whether a particular people & culture might be amenable to this kind of leadership structure is an open question.

Rather than getting into all of the specifics of this process here, let’s just focus on the “time required to develop” aspect. Just ask yourself this question to help illuminate that time requirement: Who do you know of that’s even attempted to explain how to do this – how it all might work?

That lack of that widespread knowledge within the population might be an issue when it comes time to get widespread buy-in & cooperation from your people. Meaning, significant time might be required in order to educate around that issue – and to then give people time to fully absorb, embrace, & incorporate those ethics. Consequently – and the point I’m trying to make here – is that even if this is possible, it wouldn’t be something I’d want to gamble my near & medium-term future on.

3) Military – in the medium to long term, possible, but ONLY with the trade required to pay for it – which requires the cooperation of other great powers – if you don’t have the natural geography to support it ON YOUR OWN. Even this, arguably the simplest of the obstacles to overcome, will be a decades-long pursuit.

We can clearly see, that even the simplest of these deficits will take decades to overcome, at a minimum. Others will take generations, even if we speed them up, but will otherwise take centuries, or perhaps even millennia. Others deficits, without god-like powers – are insurmountable – even with an infinite amount of time. Those are realities we will have to deal with until the sun burns out.

As we can plainly see, even when something seems like it might be possible at first glance, even when it looks like it might be on the menu – upon deeper analysis – it’s often not actually available.

To put it simply, if you don’t have the inputs or the natural production capabilities, these “possibilities” are just fantasies that people dream about. Fantasies – stories & movies – can be fun, but they are not reality.

Even if we were to push all of these issues & deficits aside, there is another critically important thing that we should very seriously consider – human nature, and past behavior. (Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.)

With that in mind, I would ask this critically important question: Do you want to trust your future to those who have no moral problem whatsoever with undertaking the live organ-harvesting of their own people, and using genocide as a form of crowd control? If they do this to their own people, what do you suppose they’d be willing to do to you? (We often – in great fits of naiveté – assume that the rest of the world is just like us, when in fact, significant portions very clearly are not. It would behoove us to understand that fact with crystal clarity, and to be able to clearly recognize those who are, & those who are not, just like us.)

After this analysis, it should be quite clear that we are stuck with the rather stubborn fact that we are the only nation capable of protecting international trade on the high seas – policing the sea lanes & maintaining conflict-free (and coercion-free) trade routes, a function which makes it so that everyone – even those without the ability or resources to provide for their own protection or overcome their own isolation – can trade with the rest of the world, relatively unimpeded – and reap the prosperity of being able to do so, a level of opportunity that’s nothing to sneeze at.

But there are at least two significant & pressing problems with this.

The first, I must be completely honest with you about. As currently configured, we simply don’t want to play that role anymore. And there are multiple reasons for this.

There is significant & widespread opposition to the pointless, destructive, counterproductive, & immoral “forever wars” that have been – disingenuously – but traditionally bundled together with this protective role. Those “forever wars” are intensely despised by very wide majorities of the population – of all political stripes. The bundling together of those “forever wars” with that protective role – disingenuously presenting them as a necessary part of playing that role – understandably colors our view of that role. This is one of the main reasons we don’t want to play it anymore. This is an issue that deserves its own dedicated analysis, in another place. However, we can say several things about it here, in short.

These “forever wars” are inherently unwinnable as designed, and this is not an accident. There is never any criteria set for victory, and that is on purpose, so that we can in fact, stay forever – or more accurately, stay for however long there is money to be made. To actually “win” this type of “forever war”, it would require colonization and a complete takeover & “re-education” of the populations in question – a complete cultural replacement or reorganization – a centuries-long process, at a minimum. It’s simply not in our national character to undertake such endeavors.

Any talk of “nation building” is a ridiculous joke if you’re not willing to “stay on” in a country for the multiple generations that will be required to do such things. Building nations & civilizations takes many, many decades, if not centuries. Talk of such nation building is completely disingenuous without the centuries-long commitment required – and a buy-in from your people to undertake that effort->A fact which bring us right to the heart of the matter->Let’s be honest here, we have only ever been lied into these wars & these disingenuously presented “nation building” efforts. None of us have ever wanted – nor agreed to – any of that, and we’re tired of the charade.

Secondarily, it is right to question the wisdom of decades-long deployments that allow our enemies to study, in great detail, all of our weapons, our capabilities, our tactics, and our strategies. The sheer recklessness & stupidity of this is difficult to overstate.

When military action is necessary – to protect our interests or that of our allies – which sometimes it is – it should be blindingly fast & decisive, and then we should promptly go home. Decades-long deployments are foolish, and a sure sign that fraud is at play – a sure sign that captured forces are grifting off of the human suffering being created.

As a result of these, and other bound up issues, we simply don’t want to play that protective role anymore – and configured as it is – we never really did. We were never really comfortable with that role, as configured. This is really an issue of configuration. Essentially, we don’t like the sprinkles that some want to put on that donut.

The costs are far too high, and the taste, exceedingly bitter.

As currently configured & practiced, it’s cost us large portions of all of our industries, thereby taking tremendous opportunity away from all of our people – for multiple generations now – and it’s unleashed other runaway forces including the aforementioned infantilization, oligarchy, and government overreach that are now veering hard into outright totalitarianism.

In sum, the way this system currently works, it’s now increasingly costing us all of our hard won prosperity & opportunity, our culture & our traditions, our sovereignty as a nation, our identity as a people, our self-determination, our ability to self-govern, our ability to invest, innovate, & lead – and with that – it’s cost us our ability to happen to the future, rather than letting the future happen to us.

Who would willingly agree to such a circumstance?

One could rightly ask, what, exactly, has been left for us at this point?

Why on earth would anyone cooperate under such terms?

What possible incentive could there be?

The role, as currently configured & practiced, has simply cost us far too much.

I’m not completely certain there’s any way to change our minds about serving in that protective role at this point, given the staggeringly high cost that we’ve paid – and particularly given the very limited & unattractive options & incentives currently being put forth & offered in that regard. Meaning: I don’t hear a lot of positive or beneficial incentives being put forward to try to entice us into supporting this continued endeavor. What should have been a process of enticing our people with incentives that benefit our people, our culture, and our nation, has instead devolved into a rather ugly game of open coercion, punishment, persecution, and threats of worse to come. That game never ends well for anyone playing it, on either side.

Capable & competent people who are not intellectually, morally, & ethically bankrupt would recognize this immediately, adapt accordingly, and thusly, change course. (But that’s not going to happen because we are in the grips of those who are afflicted, to their very core, by a culture of sickness & evil – literally speaking, and not metaphorically speaking. These are people who are fully dedicated to wanton destruction – destruction for destruction’s sake.)

The second major issue with continuing in this protective role is related, and again, one of cost – and opportunity.

If we can’t play this protective role while also investing in ourselves & our future – our people, our culture, our communities, and our nation – our industries & our infrastructure, why should we agree?

In fact, perhaps the more befuddling question is why anyone is pretending like this can’t be done.

Frankly, we know for certain that it can, and the fact that this option is continually being ignored & not pursued is one of the main problems – one of the main reasons there is an impasse, and growing anger & mistrust.

This protective role – this function – is very expensive. It has a tremendous cost – financially, economically, and culturally.

If we can’t undertake the range of necessary replenishments in order to recover from those costs – if we can’t continue to also progress ourselves, why on earth would we ever agree to play this role, or indeed, cooperate at all?

If we can’t invest in ourselves – our people, our culture, our communities, our nation, our infrastructure, & our industries – while we serve in this role, we’ll simply refuse to do it. (You’re seeing only the first faint hints of that, right now.)

It won’t matter the COERCION that’s attempted to try to FORCE us to play this role, and – contrary to popular belief – WE CAN’T BE REPLACED.

The incompetent & intellectually bankrupt – who do not understand any of the cold hard realities of geography, economics, the laws of physics, the laws of human nature, or the ethical requirements for even being capable of playing this protective role – or international trading roles, in general – continually make the mistake of believing either of those things are possible – coercion or replacement. They simply aren’t – and that’s a fact that’s obvious to anyone who has even a passing familiarity with these issues. Pursuing either path – coercion or replacement – will lead straight to destruction. The destruction of the preexisting system, the only people who were capable of maintaining it, and ALL of the interests of ALL of the people who were served by it & who benefited from it – whether they were on the top, bottom, or middle. (Look around at what’s happening right now, if you need to see evidence of this – and keep in mind that we’re just getting started down that very ugly road.)

The specifics of how this attempted coercion or replacement plays out have been discussed ad nauseam in multiple places by multiple people – and the historical analogs are legion. As such, I won’t recount ALL of those details & issues here, beyond those that I’ve already highlighted, which very often tend to be overlooked.

The bottom line is – we’ve all been lied to – about the range of possibilities that exist around this issue – part of the specter of infantilization that still obstructs our view & clouds our thinking, to this very day.

To reiterate, in its current form, as it exists today – this grotesquely perverted form of international trade, both in its terms & its protective roles – is completely irreciprocal & unsustainable, not to mention a tremendous threat to our national security – a threat which continues to progress completely unaddressed & unanswered. This grotesquely perverted form of international trade has spent us – our people, our culture, our nation, and our civilization – to the point of exhaustion & failure. Neoliberalism and globalism have completely failed. They are intellectually, morally, & ethically bankrupt. They are unworkable & unsustainable – and we are watching their collapse & replacement in real time.

Taken from the very first paragraph of a brief description here, we can quickly see & address the high points of these failures:

1. “sustained economic growth” [But how is that sustained growth achieved? This, is the issue. Reciprocally? Irreciprocally? Parasitically? With irresponsible & unserviceable debt strategies? By promoting investment in non-productive pursuits, or productive pursuits? By promoting the Cycle of Prosperity, or undermining it? By promoting the continuity & stability of trade, of governments, of rule of law & contract enforcement systems, of peoples, cultures, & civilizations, or by undermining that continuity & stability?]

2. “free markets as the most-efficient allocation of resources” [Define the “free” in free market. Free of costs to your particular interests? Free of costs to everyone’s interests? Free of all rules? Free of responsibility to peoples & nations, cultures & civilizations? Free of the requirement of paying for or replenishing the many forms of capital spent, which are all required for the continued functionality & existence of these peoples, cultures, nations & civilizations?]

3. “freedom of trade and capital.” [Again, the freedom to spend – without payment for or replenishment of – all of the forms of capital not measured which are required for a civilization to function, and for a people, a nation, & a culture to continue to function, exist, & replenish themselves? Define “freedom”, “trade”, and “capital”. These things matter. The devil, as they say, is always in the details. Leaving the details undefined is begging for abuse by those who are neither moral nor ethical. This abuse by those who are not moral or ethical is exactly what we’ve seen under this system.]

[Wayback]

The issues of: 1. “sustained economic growth”; 2. “free markets as the most-efficient allocation of resources”; 3. “freedom of trade and capital.” – These are ALL ill-defined and even more poorly understood by neoliberal globalists, and they have clearly failed. They have no answers or other ideas. They are clearly bankrupt. All they can do is double down on failure – double down on fundamentally flawed ideologies & policies – fundamentally flawed ideologies & policies which do not take into account fundamental truths, the laws of physics, or human nature. Ultimately, these are ideologies & policies that operate on a combination of wishful thinking, theft, predation, & a poor accounting of resources used & benefits gained.

It’s time to abandon this fatally flawed ideology, its policies, and its now clearly crumbling systems, and instead, adopt those that take into account fundamental truths. Our stability, our continuity, and our continued prosperity depend upon it.

Others have widely recognized these failures as well:

“Beginning in 2007, the financial crisis and Great Recession in the United States and western Europe led some economists and political leaders to reject the neoliberals’ insistence on maximally free markets and to call instead for greater government regulation of the financial and banking industries.”

Despite recognizing these failures & misconfigurations, we continue to make a repeated fundamental mistake. We continue to swing wildly from one extreme to another in our ideological beliefs – and in our polices – rather than simply basing them on fundamental truths.

The answer is not to careen wildly from one extreme to the other: lurching from “no rules trading” and headlong into totalitarian central-government planning, for instance – both of which really just represent different extremes of wishful thinking unmoored from facts or reality.

Rather, the answer is to base our decision criteria & our policies – indeed our very understanding of all issues – on fundamental truths – fundamental, ever-present & unchanging truths: the laws of physics & human nature, the unalterable physical realities of geography, and the unique characteristics that people groups develop as they adapt to geography & environment, and thereby develop certain unique characteristics, including unique ethics – a process which can sometimes make them particularly well suited to specific roles & tasks – a process which can sometimes give them uniquely valuable tools.

Policies & systems based upon fundamental truths are the answer.

To state it very clearly again, for the record:

Neoliberalism and globalism have completely failed. They are intellectually, morally, & ethically bankrupt. They are unworkable & unsustainable – and we are watching their collapse & replacement in real time.

We, as a people, are quite simply no longer willing to make such great sacrifices for what is so clearly a completely broken, failed, fatally flawed, destructive, evil, bankrupt & unworkable, irreciprocal system.

We cannot.

To do so would mean our certain death.

No people, anywhere on earth, would willingly pay that cost.

To expect otherwise is to display profound ignorance.

Again, there is a war raging right now to change how this grotesquely perverted form of international trade is done. (No one who currently benefits from this system – and it is an exceedingly small number now – wants it to end. And they are in open warfare with those of us who know that is has to end – if we are to survive – as a people, a culture, a nation, & a civilization.)

We will either win that war, & secure for ourselves a sustainable future filled with opportunity – following a more beneficial path that will allow us to invest in ourselves – our people, our culture, our communities, our nation, our infrastructure, & our industries – and thus bring prosperity to our people – or – we will be utterly destroyed.

There are no other possible outcomes.

Anyone who’s led you to believe differently, is lying to you.

What does this mean?

If this necessary reconfiguration continues to be opposed; if we have to take that fight “to the mat” – and it looks increasingly like we will – without significant help & pressure from our allies around the world to help us force that reconfiguration (we understand their governments will not be with us) – the world will have to live without the participation of our nation & our people on the world stage – in its current form. Trade, products, purchasing, food, fertilizer, trade route protection, security guarantees, technology, you name it – it all goes away.

Either temporarily, while we fight this war, and eventually reconfigure to something that is actually sustainable for us.

Or permanently, because we’ve been destroyed in that struggle to reconfigure.

We have many enemies, internal & external, foreign & domestic.

Victory is far from assured.

Only destruction, should we fail, is certain.

Again, you may have been lead to believe that a “magic utopia” will spring up in our place to take care of all the aforementioned things – trade, products, purchasing, food, fertilizer, trade route protection, security guarantees, technology – but the more likely result is extreme chaos & violence while others fight over the pieces. History, the laws of physics, the realities of geography, the realities of human nature, and the realities of often overlooked ethical requirements all suggest that this is a highly likely outcome.

The harsh truth is that we have infantilized ourselves, & each other, for far too long, and this is now the unpleasant reality & the unenviable set of circumstances that we are left to deal with because of that.

Can we – as a people – somehow be convinced to, once again, support, undertake, & maintain this protective role – protect international trade on the high seas, protect & underwrite a system of reciprocal international trade, including all of the responsibilities of leadership & restraint that come with that?

I honestly don’t know.

Certainly not in its current form.

If reconfigured, and made clearly and unquestionably beneficial to us? Maybe.

Incentives are a powerful tool.

If we can take ownership of this system – be proud of, and participate in it – be an integral part of that system again, as we once were – there is a strong possibility that we can be convinced.

I certainly see a beneficial pathway forward – a way that we can do that, and make that system work for everyone. I’ve presented much of that here, and I’ll continue to make that case, here and in other places.

But it may not be enough.

I’m likely to need a significant amount of help.

Both domestically and internationally.

I know there are people both here & around the world who would like to see that – the reconfiguration of the grotesquely perverted form of international trade that currently exists – would like to take an active part in that transition & conversion process, as well as, take an active part in the new, more beneficial system.

But I also know their governments – like ours – don’t want that.

Governments, bureaucrats, and those with monopoly control on industry will fight this. There is little to no daylight between these entities anymore. This has become increasingly clear to anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock.

So therein lies one of the major problems.

The people of the world have more in common with one another than they do with their own governments.

But maybe that’s not a problem.

Maybe that’s actually an opportunity.

Maybe that problem is an opportunity that points the way toward a solution.

Maybe it’s time to strike a new deal. And maybe we can help each other do that.

Why continue to embrace an ossified system that’s abusing all of us?

Why not strike a new deal that’s more to the liking & benefit of those around the country & around the world who now have more in common with one another than they do with their own governments?

If we’re already being abused, what do we have to lose?

What is the threat if we don’t cooperate with this ongoing abuse? More abuse?

This is a short-sighted approach that breaks a cardinal rule of incentives – ignores one side of the coin all together – and the most important & powerful side, in fact.

Overuse of punishment – simply a tool used to gain compliance – renders it increasingly ineffective. And it ignores the other side of the coin – the need to provide positive incentives. It’s necessary to provide incentives in order to entice someone into engaging in a behavior that you want to encourage. You simply can’t get cooperation without this side of the coin being addressed – and sometimes – without both sides of the coin being addressed. This is simple & rudimentary behavioral science that any competent person in any position of responsibility or leadership would already understand – a bare minimum amount of knowledge required to be considered even remotely qualified for any such position. Yet, it’s clear that our intellectually, morally, & ethically bankrupt – so called betters – don’t even understand this simple fact. They are not fit for any position of responsibility or leadership, in any realm. They don’t even understand simple & basic rules, of any kind, in any domain – this domain or any other. That’s a major problem.

Remember, despite significant & vocal opposition at the time, from many corners & factions who warned of exactly the consequences that we are now seeing happen today – these are governments who walked us straight into a fragile & dead-end global system that’s unsustainable & is now collapsing before our eyes – one that’s allowed totalitarian forces, here & abroad, to grow exponentially & now vie for power. I’d call those pretty significant failures of foresight, and pretty significant ongoing acts of incompetence & mismanagement. Even now, when they know for certain that these things are true, they are still unwilling or unable to change course. They fully intend to walk us blindly off a cliff.

Additionally, here at home, in their infinite wisdom, these same governments thought it wise to abandon our Organizing Principles – and everything that makes us who & what we are as a people – in favor of a clearly totalitarian Hegel-Wilsonian Administrative State that now grows like a cancer & attacks us – and our interests – daily. [Wayback]

Given all this, why not strike a new deal?

One that’s more to the liking & benefit of those around the country & around the world who now have more in common with one another than they do with their own incompetent & hostile governments?

It’s certainly an interesting question to ponder I think.

It seems to me this is a question whose time has come.

How might we begin to answer it?

How might we begin to at least signal the willingness to have that conversation, and the desire to strike a new deal?

What ideas & issues would we mobilize behind?

Maybe it’s time for the people of the world to have a conversation about that.

Maybe a very simple slogan can signal support for having that conversation, and maybe, striking a new deal.

What about:

People not government. PNG. Or png. Whatever you like.

It’s simple enough. No need to over think it. It’s just a simple phrase that signals the willingness, and the desire, to have a conversation – the desire to strike a new deal.

The signaling possibilities are legion – go nuts, be creative, do whatever you like.

One could put it in their profile wherever they’re active online; sign their posts with it; make memes with it; go on sticker campaigns; do podcasts or webcasts about it; display it subtly in the background for those “in the know” to slowly discover on their own; undertake great graffiti campaigns with sidewalk chalk wherever people might see it – wherever people might drive, or walk, or congregate – even deep in the heart of enemy-controlled territory, outside their homes, businesses, & buildings, wherever they’re known to frequent – let them know that the people of the world are in the market for a new deal…

Maybe it’s time to put some folks on notice – and in a way that can’t be silenced.

Should we decide to be amenable to these campaigns, it’s going to make censoring our voices very difficult.

Maybe something comes from this, maybe not. It doesn’t cost anyone anything to display this message – to signal the desire to strike a new deal.

Maybe it’s silly. Maybe no one’s even interested in having that conversation. Maybe people like the status quo. Maybe no one’s even paying attention.

Who knows? It’s just a thought.

But maybe, it will turn out that people are a lot less alone than what they might think.

And maybe it’s time to find out.

Three little words – three little letters. What have we got to lose?

People are always asking what they can do – how they can make a difference. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is the start. A small thing that doesn’t cost you anything. A small way to spread the message. A small way for your voice to be heard that can’t easily be silenced. A start. The first step of a longer journey. Everyone has a role to play, if they want it.

Spread the message if you’ve understood these same truths – wherever you are.

I suspect others will hear you. I know we’ll be listening.

It certainly seems clear that we’ve come to a point where it’s time for some serious conversations to be had, and for some serious choices about our future to be made.

It seems apparent that, given our circumstances, people everywhere have a very clear choice to make about their future.

It’s never been more apparent that there are really only two sides to choose from.

The side of civilization, prosperity, & human flourish, on the one hand – or the side of wanton destruction, evil, and human suffering on the other.

Us – or the enemy. Civilization – or its destruction.

The choice is stark & clear. This is one of the rare times in life when there really is no grey area or middle ground.

We all have a very clear choice to make – a future to choose.

We are the authors of that future, and it’s a time to write a new chapter in our story.

Throughout the world, our true allies – those who have also understood these same fundamental truths – can help us make these transitions, away from infantilization, and away from a grotesquely perverted form of international trade. Our true allies can join us on that journey, and embrace a new & brighter chapter in our history – one filled with possibilities, opportunity, & hope – rather than one filled with fear & dread.

Which do you prefer?

Fear & dread?

Or hope?

It’s really that simple.

A future filled with possibilities – or – a future filled with fear & dread – a future of certain doom.

Which message speaks to you?

Are you enticed by good, or evil?

The enemy offers a future of doom & dystopia.

We offer a future filled with possibilities, hope, & opportunity.

One option represents reality – the world as it actually exists. The other option represents fantasy.

I’ll leave it to you to decide which is which.

There is a choice to be made.

Will you choose the path of hope, or the path of fear & dread?

The path of good, or the path of evil?

Will you join us, or will you oppose us?

This new chapter begins with a fork in the road.

One path is short, with a dead end already starting to become visible just around the bend.

The other stretches for many generations into the future. It’s a path that’s rich with opportunity – a future with boundless possibilities scattered about the journey – for those brave and determined enough to seek them – for those excited by the future, rather than terrified by it.

This path holds out the possibility of maintaining a system of international trade which truly benefits all, rather than only a tiny few.

It’s a path that incentivizes the types of long-term investments in ourselves, and one another, which benefits all parties, and all of humanity as whole – over the short, medium, and long term.

If we leverage the proper positive, beneficial, & productive incentives, and prohibit the predictable malincentives – this path also holds out the possibility of suppressing & avoiding the widespread conflict & predation that’s otherwise always caused by systems of international trade which are governed by factionalized monopoly interests. These are forces which have always & will always naturally exist & grow – if we do not actively suppress them. They grow as a result of the increasing competition to control – and disproportionately benefit from(this is what all monopolies do) – international trade and the far flung trade routes that enable it. (This is just the result of human nature in a game with no rules – or too few rules of the right type – rules that are insufficient to “keep the scales honest” & the pursuits productive & reciprocal.) These factionalized monopoly interests inevitably create fragmentary forces through their predations. People will naturally defect from systems that do not serve their interests.(We’re seeing this happen, right now, today.) This fragmentation is inevitable – if we do not purposefully Incentivize this international trade into beneficial, productive, & reciprocal forms – and at the same time – prevent the Malincentives that lead to predation, and thus, fragmentation. Again, we’re seeing that happen, right now. [Malincentives invite totalitarian forces to rise – fuel their ascent. Removing malincentives removes their fuel and food – causing their decline & fall. We must feed the type of system we want to see bloom – and starve the type of system we want to prevent.]

Should we decide to walk this fork of the path – this reconfigured system, what is really just a realignment of incentives – would very importantly present us with the opportunity to help even those who are most geographically & institutionally disadvantaged, allowing them to make more consistent, steady & stable, permanent incremental improvements – rather than the short-term, fleeting gains possible under the current system. These incremental improvements are made possible by incentivizing – investment in & development of – the necessary infrastructure & institutions, particularly the rule of law systems & contract enforcement systems, which will allow them to reliably & incrementally improve their circumstances, year after year, & generation after generation – should they decide that they do indeed want such things.

[This is the only way people groups can truly change the effects of the physical, geographic circumstances they were born into & had no choice but adapt to. It’s only this slow & incremental change, on a human scale, without god-like powers, that is possible. This is the true human condition that we all face – self-evident, once the fantasy & wishful thinking of infantilization is removed. Virtue signaling and waving the false flag of compassion will not alter these fundamental truths.]

[(Automatically) Granting Beneficial Trade Terms in exchange for implementing & maintaining Rule of Law Systems that protect Property Rights & reliably enforce Contract Law – is the best way available to us to help a nation’s people achieve permanent & lasting gains. It is THE KEY COMPONENT to helping nations & peoples with a disadvantaged natural geography develop their infrastructure and their institutions – in a way that promotes the Cycle of Prosperity for them, and ultimately builds up their civilization & minimizes the need for using conflict to settle differences – conflict which inevitably eats into surplus & prosperity, reducing the opportunity for human flourishing. This pursuit is the true work of the Statesmen of the future – wherever they reside.]

Statesmen build civilization – maintain the Cycle of Prosperity – create & maintain the institutions that support those efforts. This has somehow been forgotten.

What currently passes for statesmanship & statecraft, foreign policy, & foreign relations, is a disgraceful abomination, and quite frankly, evil. Let us count the ways: 1) The constant undermining of cultures & civilizations – at home & abroad; 2) the constant attempts at destabilization & regime change – again, at home & abroad; 3) a policy of forced so-called “democracy” (an embarrassingly ignorant misuse of terms when what should actually be referenced as the gold standard is a republican form of self-government) – despite a people often having no experience with this form of government, or desire for it, nor any understanding of how to keep & maintain it – and perhaps, therefore, not really being ready for it – even if they were to want it; and finally, 4) endless dishonesty with, and predation on, weaker & less developed nations & regions. It’s all a tremendous abomination, and an embarrassment to our people. WE WANT NONE OF IT – and we are in a pitched battle against those who advocate for, and participate in, the evils of such a disgraceful, dishonorable, disrespectful, dehumanizing, despicable, predatory, & de-civilizing set of policies & behaviors.

There is a clear difference between us and the enemy.

We do not pursue conflict & destabilization and then attempt to benefit from the endless human suffering that we ourselves caused.

That is evil. And that is what the enemy does – over, & over, & over again.

There is a very clear difference between us, and the enemy we fight.

Build vs Destroy. Opportunity vs Poverty & Suffering.

We prefer to invest in those with whom we trade.

We prefer to invest in their people, and in their civilization.

This is good for us, and it’s good for them. It’s reciprocal.

We prefer to invest.

True investments bring benefits for today & benefits for tomorrow – benefits for the short, medium, and long term – benefits for the individual, the family, the community, the nation, the culture & the civilization – and all of humanity as a whole.

We can either choose to make those true investments in one another, or we can choose to try to take advantage of one another, lie to ourselves & each other, and deal with the unavoidable range of negative consequences that will inevitably result from that destructive, irreciprocal, anti-social, uncivilized, & de-civilizing choice. It is a choice – and we must choose.

Good, or evil.

Build, or Destroy.

Opportunity, or Suffering.

Civilization, or its destruction.

We’ve already made that choice – those of us standing on this side of the line – the side that represents the light of civilization – the side that represents the protection, the building up, and the continuation of civilization.

That choice is what this fight is ultimately about.

The enemy will always try to distract & confuse, muddy those waters – mesmerize with manufactured irrationalities.

But make no mistake, that choice is what this fight has always been about.

We will either win that fight that we are already in – a fight to continue with a reconfiguration that’s beneficial to our people, our nation, our culture & our civilization, and all of humanity – today, tomorrow, and into the foreseeable future – or we will go down with the ship.

There are no other possible outcomes for us.

There are no half victories.

We will either succeed in creating a pathway forward that builds & maintains civilization, for all of us – or – we will fail, and the order that we once maintained, will come crashing down – the pieces left for others to fight over – a process that historically takes centuries to play out and involves long periods of terrible human suffering.

This is the truth that all of us must face.

Our true allies throughout the world – those who have understood these same fundamental truths – can either help us reconfigure a productive & reciprocal pathway foreword where all can trade & benefit – or, face the prospect of a world without us; a world where we – by necessity – face inward & tend to our own interests, where there is the very real possibility that – without allies – we lose this battle that we’re currently in, and permanently exit the world stage.

Who will take our place if this happens?

As we’ve covered in detail, the truth is, no one else really can.

No one may like that – and we may not like that ourselves, given that it’s a job that – in its current configuration – our people never really wanted to begin with, and were never really all that comfortable doing. Nonetheless, we are stuck with this rather insistent collection of fundamental truths & geographic realities:

No one else has the geography, the economy, the security capabilities, the ethical components, or the deep & complex markets & financial systems required to be able to do this job. And few people seem to realize that without our consumer base, there simply isn’t anyone to buy the vast majority of products being produced around the world, a purchasing power which is what largely supports this international system of production & trade.

[There is a very important collection of facts about Civilization & Trade that’s critical to understand, but that, very unfortunately, are no longer taught (or perhaps never were):

Long trade routes, developed to supply rich nations with luxury goods, are a fundamental & critically important component required in order to create & build a civilization – where before there was none. One can easily track these developments throughout the rise of all of history’s great civilizations.

(The development of these long trade routes indicates these civilizations have discovered, mastered, & begun to use – either knowingly or unknowingly – the Cycle of Prosperity: creating a surplus, rather than merely living at a subsistence level – meaning, producing only the bare minimum of what is needed. The long trade routes are a hallmark of the wealth created by this discovery. That wealth (surplus), in turn, is required in order to create (and maintain) those long trade routes. They cannot exist without it. Should the Cycle of Prosperity be interrupted, or become weak, wealth will decrease, trade routes will begin to shrink & crumble, and civilization will follow in its wake. This is just physics. —This is also why productivity, and productive pursuits, rather than parasitic pursuits, are so important. Productivity is Surplus(wealth, plenty). Parasitism is Draining Surplus – Creating Subsistence Living Conditions, or Deprivation Living Conditions(lack of wealth, lack of plenty, a shortage of resources required).)

These are far too little discussed and understood facts – critical to the birth of civilizations – and to their maintenance – facts which certainly warrant a much greater focus, not just in our educational efforts, but in our policy efforts as well.

Trade, trade routes, production & productivity – protecting & incentivizing productive, rather than parasitic pursuits – how we treat these things, and how we incentivize & protect them – matters.

Pretending like any these things are optional, or unimportant – or can be done by just anyone – is extraordinarily foolish – a folly that, if pursued long enough, is punished with great human suffering.

Prosperity is guaranteed to no one. It didn’t always exist, and it can vanish again in a heartbeat – if we don’t respect & maintain the things that made it possible in the first place.]

_________________________________________________

These are the uncomfortable truths that we must all confront.

We may not want to recognize or accept them, but they are the unalterable physical realities that we are faced with, like it or not.

If we can accept these truths, and engage in a reciprocal & productive pathway forward, we will likely be able to avoid the worst of the chaos & suffering that’s sure to follow if, instead, this necessary reconfiguration continues to be resisted.

It’s time to make some very important decisions about our vital interests, our future, and our place in the world.

Whether we like it or not, this choice is upon us.

At this point, we’ve established the fundamental nature of that choice in great detail – we’ve established a very clear line and detailed what lies on each side.

It’s very clear that the preservation & continuation of civilization lies on one side, and that the destruction of civilization lies on the other.

People have begun to assemble on each side of the line.

We’ve invited all those who are willing, to stand with us – to join us.

We’ve taken note of those who’ve made the choice to stand on the opposite side – those who favor only increasing theft, predation, and war, and the inevitable growth of de-civilizing forces & human suffering that result from those choices. These are people who’ve made the choice to stand with evil and to actively & knowingly cause human suffering. The price will be high for these people, should they lose this battle. Ironically, should they win, the price will still be high. This is the true nature of evil. Win or lose, there is only suffering.

Stand with us. Chose civilization. Chose opportunity. Chose hope. Help us build a future that maintains civilization & prosperity – a civilization that works toward productive pursuits & reciprocal trade – to the incremental benefit of all. Help us build the Cycle of Prosperity for all people of the world.

Help us pursue the statesmanship, the foreign policy, the beneficial trade terms, & the true investments that will benefit all peoples of the world, and all of humanity.

Helps us begin a new chapter that recognizes the true work of Stewards & Statesmen the world over – no matter the geographies they may hail from.

Wherever you are, stand with us. Help us build.

Support those of us who would create, rather than destroy – trade & invest, rather than extract – build people, culture, & civilization up, rather than tear them down.

The truth is, we need each other’s help to avoid the worst possible fate – the extreme chaos, conflict, & violence that will otherwise occur without this necessary reconfiguration.

The hour is growing very late, and we’ve waited far too long to address this problem.

Looking around, it’s difficult to believe that anyone can be happy about the consequences of continuing to pursue what is very clearly a highly unstable, volatile, and unsustainable path with an arc into poverty, conflict, & human suffering that’s undeniable.

If we do this work of reconfiguration – and only if we do this work – we can continue to benefit one other, through trade, much more than if we (all of us around the world) are forced to undertake various forms of dissociation to protect ourselves from continued irreciprocity, parasitism, & abuse, including what will be extensive, but unavoidable trade restrictions, and war – both of which are inevitable – if we continue to be dishonest with ourselves, and each other – about fundamental unalterable truths, about human nature, and about our own individual geographic realities – including the various differences & capabilities those realities produce – in characteristics, in values, in interests, and in the incentives we pursue – as well as the realistic menu options left available to us due to those natural constraints – both the challenges, and the opportunities.

It must be reiterated here how critically important it is – as we do this work – that we remove the malincentives that are fueling our drive towards war, collapse, and totalitarianism. One or all of those outcomes are inevitable if we fail to remove those malincentives. [Malincentives invite totalitarian forces to rise – fuel their ascent. Removing malincentives removes their fuel and food – causing their decline & fall. We must feed the type of system we want to see bloom – and starve the type of system we want to prevent.]

There is much work that lies before us – but there is no reason to foolishly & fruitlessly adopt an attitude of defeat or dread regarding the work that is to be done. That is an unnecessary & wholly unproductive pursuit – a waste of energy that produces nothing good in return. Why not spend that energy, instead, to build & create?

A great sense of purpose, belonging, & community, and a great sense of strength & resolve, can be drawn from knowing that we’re building the things that we need – for ourselves, for our families, & for our communities, for our nations and our civilizations – while at the same time – also removing thorns from our side.

This is important work.

With this work, we are happening to the future, rather than letting the future happen to us.

We are taking control of our destiny.

We are being the authors of our future – writing the next chapter in our story.

To be successful, we will need to continually – and without apology or hesitation – remove the obstacles put in our way by the evil forces we’ve identified – real world evils that remain ever-ready to stand in our way and continually undo all of our successes – real world evils that work tirelessly to destroy all that we create.

The evils & the obstacles that we face come in many forms.

Fantasy & infantilization are chief among them.

If we are to be successful, we must not let fantasy & infantilization – or the people who promote & practice it – dictate our thinking or cloud our decision making processes – on any level – and certainly not with regards to our foreign policy, our trade policy, or our statesmanship.

We do precisely that almost exclusively today. We have allowed the evils of fantasy & infantilization to run wild & unchecked for far too long.

Look around at the plague of clown-world behavior & irrationality that surrounds us and tell me that’s wrong.

There is a very simple way to indentify – and thus exclude – the irrational actors who spread this fantasy & infantilization, and thus carry out the everyday work of evil – an easy way to identify both the children & the infantilizers. (Remember, these are ostensibly, supposed to be adults.)

Simply ask the question:

Who are the children – and – who are the infantilizers?

The explanatory power of this simple, yet effective question – and its answer – may surprise you.

But don’t take my word for it. Test it for yourself!

Look at any situation that makes you shake your head, and ask:

Who are the Children?

-and-

Who are the Infantilizers?

One can readily identify both groups using this simple tool.

And they’re everywhere – from the highest to the lowest levels.

If you haven’t already noticed, you will be shocked at how deep into the so-called “professional” & “competent” world this epidemic goes – in virtually every realm, without exception. (This is a late-stage Invasion of the Bodysnatchers type of problem that we have.)

These groups have been given free rein and have now gotten completely out of control.

We’re going to have to do something about that.

These forces, and these actors, could easily be considered Instruments of Irrationality – forces of chaos, confusion, & destruction. Obstacles.

We must dismantle these Instruments of Irrationality. We must see & understand them for the Obstacles that they very clearly are.

In particular, we must spotlight – and require restitution & public acknowledgement of wrongdoing – from those who create these Instruments of Irrationality & fuel these cults & cult-like “movements”.

These “movements” are not natural or organic. They are manufactured, for purpose. They are Instruments of Irrationality meant to distract, confuse, & destroy – weaponized fantasy & infantilization. [The magician distracts you with one hand as he performs the “trick” with the other. Our enemy has many hands.]

Public spotlighting, shaming, & accountability is necessary in order to end the use of these weaponized Instruments of Irrationality.

Until we do that, people will take them seriously – pretend they are legitimate.

The emperor has no clothes, and it’s time to say so – it’s time to point & laugh.

We, and the world, suffer from an epidemic of widespread infantilization – at all levels – everywhere in society, and in all of our institutions – public & private, social & governmental. This is inarguable. It’s apparent to anyone who cares to look.

For many decades, this infantilization has increasingly seeped into our foreign policy, our trade policy, and our statesmanship – poisoning those institutions, their culture, the knowledge base they work from, the various vehicles they create to accomplish their work, and the outcomes they obtain.

Allowing instruments of irrationality – fantasy & infantilization – to dictate our statesmanship, our foreign policy, and our trade policy can only end badly. It cannot help but to have tremendously destructive consequences.

It’s time to face that reality.

The embrace of fantasy & infantilization has built for us – poisoned & fatally flawed vehicles – that cannot possibly hope to succeed in bringing us the beneficial outcomes that we need. We must reconfigure. We must eliminate these poisoned & fatally flawed vehicles and the malincentives that fuel them. Eliminate – not reform.

It’s time to put an end to the Instruments of Irrationality that caused this to happen. All of them – absolutely everywhere they can be found.

Yes, this absolutely, unequivocally, includes the bureaucracy – the administrative state. This is non-negotiable. It is a poisoned & fatally flawed vehicle that attacks us daily.

There is no bargaining with such evils, they can ONLY be destroyed.

This is a truth that must be spoken at absolutely every opportunity.

We must stop embracing the fantasy that “reform” is possible.

Its’ time to put an end to the practice of using Fantasy & Infantilization as a Decision Criteria.

What does this mean?

We must base Decisions about our Vital Interests & our Place in the World on Fundamental Unalterable Truths.

To start:

Nations, peoples, regions – they must accept the geographic realities that they exist within. There is no changing these things – they are unalterable physical realities.

ALL fundamental & unalterable truths must be acknowledged & taken into account, including human nature.

We have not magically changed the inalterable calculus of the human condition. We do not have any of the god-like powers that would be required to allow us to ignore – or to alter – any of these fundamental truths.

These facts – these fundamental & unalterable truths – must play a major and deciding role: in our analyses of our vital interests – and in our statesmanship, our trade policy, & our foreign policy.

They must shape both the outlook – and the initiatives – of our Statesmen & our Stewards.

Right now, we’ve allowed people to be in charge who can’t even bear to face ANY of these realities. This can only have the catastrophic results that we are indeed witnessing, increasingly, and in real time.

It’s time to stop the madness.

It’s time to embrace reality.

This means that we, as a nation and a culture, must also accept the reality of our own geographic circumstances. (This reality likely comes with duties & responsibilities that we, as a people, might rather not have – but which no one else can really perform. We will have to come to terms with this, and adopt a configuration that works for us in this regard. The one we currently have is obviously not beneficial to us, and as such, cannot go on. It’s clear to nearly everyone that this system is catastrophically misconfigured – unhealthy, irreciprocal, fragile, & wholly unsustainable.)

Just as we must accept our own geographic realities, we must also accept that of others.

Without god-like powers, there is nothing that can be done to change these realities – these fundamental & unalterable truths.

We can only configure ourselves to do the best that is possible given those realities – given both the constraints, and the opportunities that flow from them. There is no reason whatsoever to be despondent about any of these realities. We can still prosper greatly despite them – all of us can.

To that end – as we acknowledge these fundamental truths – we, in particular, here in our own nation, and in the West in general, must stop deluding ourselves into believing that we can (or should try to) “fix” any of what ills the world. Or that any of the world wants or even needs this “fixing”. These things that we often try to “fix” are ultimately just the product of geography. And engaging in this “feeling sorry for people because they are not exactly like us” is just an insidious form of infantilization which encourages us to treat the populations & peoples of the world as if they were children. They are not. They are – like all adults – perfectly capable of making their own decisions and deciding what is best for themselves.

This infantilization of the various peoples of the world encourages us to undertake terribly unsuccessful & destructive policies & actions that are not based in fundamental truths or reality – actions that are bad for us – and bad for the people we’re trying to “fix”, or help. It results in what are essentially pursuits to accomplish evil – pursuits that destroy, but do not replace what was destroyed with anything that a people can actually use or benefit from. Destruction that no one benefits from is the very definition of evil. It is destruction for destruction’s sake. It accomplishes only great human suffering. We must stop undertaking these evil pursuits.

We are not so wise as to know what a people who are not like us may or may not need. This is yet another god-like power that we also do not posses. (Not everyone is like us. And different people need different things to prosper. One would think that this should be self-evident, and yet… )

Assisting with incremental improvements that are desired, where we’re able, is the best that we can hope to do for any of the peoples of the world – regardless of where they come from, and regardless of their geographic circumstances. These things will ultimately take generations, if not longer, and that’s ok! All of us have time. There is no reason to rush or panic.

These fundamental & unalterable truths – these geographies – these things that we often try to “fix”; these are the things that give a people and a civilization their personalities – the characteristics that make them who they are – recognizable & distinct from other groups & other places. It may have fallen out of fashion to recognize this simple & insistent fact, but that does not make it any less true, now, than it ever was. We should celebrate those things rather than trying to “fix” them. If a people decide that they want to alter their circumstances, we can give them the mechanisms to engage with – such as beneficial trade terms & beneficial trading status – which will allow them to alter their circumstances at a pace that is comfortable & healthy for them. That is the best way for us to help any people, anywhere in the world.

These are the same means & mechanisms that would allow us to De-incentivize & Suppress De-civilizing forces, while also Incentivizing Productive & beneficial Civilizing forces – allow us to bring out the best in ourselves and suppress the worst, so to speak.

[It’s very important for us to stress here, in order to constantly promote Civilizing forces and constantly suppress De-civilizing forces – throughout the world:

In addition to using the beneficial Trade Term & Trade Status tools: We should most certainly cut off trade with those who insist upon creating De-civilizing forces & who constantly behave in a belligerent & inhumane manner – rather than making the extremely foolish choice to enable them & constantly fuel their rise – thus, allowing them to constantly attack & undermine us – and others – as well as, encouraging & enabling them to poison us – and others – with those same De-civilizing forces.

We should look at De-civilizing forces as infectious, because they are.

To pretend that cutting off trade is somehow out of bounds and that the problem will simply go away if we ignore it, is the epitome of ignorance & recklessness. When we do this, we are simply training – through actual behavioral science reinforcement schedules – those belligerent, inhumane, & De-civilizing factions to become ever-more belligerent, De-civilizing, & inhumane. Shielding them from the consequences of their behavior simply makes their behavior even worse. This is extraordinarily simple & rudimentary behavioral science. Those who do not recognize that are egregiously ignorant and dangerously reckless.

It is not an exaggeration to say that these egregiously ignorant and dangerously reckless people put our entire future in jeopardy.]

[We must always tend to both sides of the coin when it comes to incentives – this means: incentives and punishment. (Punishment may sometimes simply be the removal of positive opportunities (the removal of trade opportunities). Sometimes, that is all it takes to incentivize more Civilizing behaviors. Pretending like that is not an option, or somehow out of bounds, is to display profound weakness, and a profound ignorance of human nature and reality.)

Neglecting one side of the coin, when it comes to incentives – is to reject – Fully Half or More – of the Leveraging Power available to us from those incentives.] (In this case, cutting off trade would be considered a Non-exclusionary Timeout technique – for those interested in a more in-depth study of the mechanics behind the tools available to us.)

It’s time for all of us, wherever we are, to accept the fundamental truths of our geographies – the challenges, and the opportunities that flow from that.

Every people group, everywhere in the world, must come to terms with these facts – these physical, unalterable realities.

We cannot change these realities for ourselves, and we cannot change these realities for any of the rest of the world, nor the problems & obstacles that ultimately flow from these physical, unalterable realities.

No matter how much we may dislike this information, we cannot change it. We cannot “fix” any of these things.

The only way to change the effects of these things – should we decide that we even want to – is slowly & incrementally, using incentives.

These are the fundamental truths with which we must contend. We simply have no other choice.

It’s time for every civilization & every culture to accept these realities – pleasant or not – take into account their vital interests – and develop a plan to successfully deal with these realities in the future – taking advantage of the natural opportunities that flow from these circumstances where possible, and making conscious decisions to slowly and incrementally overcome challenges & obstacles in areas where opportunity may be lacking – a sure way to unlock ever-greater long-term opportunities for your people, your culture, and your civilization.

This is the true work of Stewards & Statesmen. This work will not magically happen on its own.

This brings us to a final point, an internal conversation that, we, and every nation must have.

Where do we stand, internally?

We are in a struggle to identify stewards, statesmen, & educators – in a struggle to rebuild institutions that can produce & maintain new generations of these capable & very important people. (Our current institutions have lost that capacity.)

We live in a time when fewer & fewer people can even define what a steward or statesman is, and we completely lack the institutional capacity to produce them.

I’ve said before, and will repeat, this is why education is one of our most important battles.

Our enemy encourages ignorance at every turn. (Evil thrives on ignorance.)

The enemy provides distraction & entertainment to make that growing ignorance easier & more palatable for our people.

The distinction between the sides in this grand battle couldn’t be more clear.

One simply needs to look at who encourages ignorance – and – who encourages & promotes truth, education, & unfettered access to information – to clearly see which side is which in this battle.

[Our side wants you to have access to information & make decisions for yourself. The enemy wants you to be ignorant, wants to restrict your access to information, and wants to decide for you what you should think. This sounds a lot like infantilization, doesn’t it? THAT, is precisely why – above the scale of the family – infantilization is pure & unadulterated evil. This is not hyperbole. Above the scale of the family, infantilization results only in growing ignorance & great human suffering.

— There is much more we’ve already said about this in other places, but we must start reiterating & getting comfortable with that information – so that we may fully absorb it & begin to think with it – quickly recognize this destructive force & guard against its effects whenever we encounter it, because it is a fundamental & ever-present danger that we might encounter – a part of human nature which can be easily weaponized and is not ever going to change or go away.

Our ancestors warned us of this dangerous & destructive force, and we have forgotten their warnings. It’s time to get reacquainted. Above the scale of the family, used to protect undeveloped & vulnerable children & infants – Infantilization is evil.

The citizens who exist within the many civilizations & cultures of the world – are not infants – and treating them as if they were, has catastrophically destructive and evil results. The suffering this produces, should be both obvious, and unacceptable, to absolutely every civilized person, and every civilized nation. We owe it to one another, as civilized people, to END this practice.]

It’s time to reacquaint ourselves with fundamental truths.

It’s time to reconfigure ourselves to live more in line with those fundamental truths.

It’s time to have a serious conversation about the true work of Statesman & Stewards.

It’s time to begin the critically important work of finding & forging new generations of this Vanguard Force – a force in whose hands we will leave the critically important work of creating, building, & protecting Civilization & Culture – today, tomorrow, & long into the foreseeable future.

It’s time we had some very important conversations about our vital interests, our future, and our place in the world, so that we may begin to pass on that work to future generations – and the knowledge & wisdom with which to do it.

It’s time to carry on the long & continued work of our ancestors.

Please Help Support the WHCA!

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NO MORE LIES

Truth – Transparency – Reciprocity – Sovereignty – Self-Determination – & the Rule of Law (by codified Natural Law)

by Christopher Alan Reid

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Geography Is Destiny: Embracing Fundamental Truths, Identifying Fantasy & Infantilization, and Making Choices that help us Avoid Evil Outcomes

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