Paradocracy

Across the United States, residents appear to have ceded increasing authority and, concomitantly, responsibility to the power structures of government. 

Whether at the local, state or federal level, residents appear increasingly prepared, or more likely groomed, to accept government as the universal answer to all social problems; likewise, they appear more prepared than ever to embrace government as the legislator of all things moral and ethical.

Where there arises any sort of discomfort, threat or discord within the community, individuals appear more likely than ever to consult law enforcement or, more broadly, the word, suspected word or conscience of the law; they incorrectly assume that the law has a conscience, that its agents are properly incentivized, or even authorized, to promote — or even begin to understand — the interests of the community. 

Moreover, where there appears to be no obvious violation of the law, many members of the community have almost robotically assumed that n…

Taxes serve as a wicked form of indefinite indentured servitude — a sort of access fee — levied against newcomers and existing residents alike who failed to get a stranglehold over the property and the population, then passively relented when the fledgling power structure claimed some rights and privileges over them.

The insulated ruling class — the power structure — then cultivates its power with the fertilizers of struggle, silence and stupefying sophistry, which bear the fruit of complex institutions that only the insiders understand, which collectively serve to benefit those who know how to navigate the growing and obfuscatory web, while the stupefied majority and the passive rule-followers look the other way or find reasons to avoid any conflict. 

What their principles demand of them, their fear and laziness overcome. 

They wishfully assume that justice will come into being on its own, that the world will sort things out — or they otherwise warp their perspectives to endorse intelli…

Virtually the entirety of South and Central America, as well as European powers Britain, Spain and France, peacefully abolished slavery — without war — in the first sixty years of the nineteenth century. 

Why, then, did the United States enter into a bloody war that cost over half of the nation’s wealth, 800,000 lives and many hundreds of thousands more in casualties? 

The answer: the War Between the States was not about slavery. 

It was a war of invasion to further empower the central government and to reject state sovereignty, nullification of unconstitutional laws, and the states’ rights to secession. 

In 1947, Confederate veteran Julius F. Howell corroborated this explanation in his recorded account of his wartime experiences, which he delivered to the Library of Congress at the age of 102:

"Now comes up the question of what we Southern soldiers fought for. My friends, as a boy of sixteen and a half years old, I didn't think about any of abolition of slavery. My mind wasn'…

The precepts of socialism and communism endure palatably insofar as they apply to families and communities linked by the organic bonds of mutual interest. 

By the nature of their character, these precepts sound agreeable to the extent that we embrace them in our own lives within our own respective families and communities. 

Where that mutual interest begins to wane, however, we witness either abuse of — or, alternatively, enslavement to — the system erected to execute those ends. 

Naturally, people desire optimal outcomes. Due to this proclivity, individuals tend to overstate their commitment to idealistic ends. 

Realistically, individuals make tradeoffs, where they express preference (on the margin) for certain applications of their time, labor and capital. 

Due to the enormity of civilization, the infeasibility of meeting and much less caring about every individual, persons must make decisions to optimize the enjoyment of their lives. 

The communist ideal dictates, “To each according to h…

This past weekend, I witnessed a woman drop a carton of almonds on the floor at the grocery store. 

She was talking on the phone and decided against picking them up, allowing them to remain scattered around the check-out lanes. 

This is the attitude of the San Francisco Bay Area resident, the paragon of the modern Leftist, who’s obviously far too important to assume responsibility for herself, as that responsibility is reportedly reserved for those with “privilege,” whatever that means. 

It appears that we are witnessing a developing competition to the bottom, whereby every resident aspires to outdo the other in terms of struggle, excuses and handicap instead of responsibility, triumph and success. 

The glorification of struggle — even self-imposed struggle — has become some sort of twisted yellow badge of courage celebrated by the community empowered to assume that some other abstract body (of people or institutions) is responsible for their failings. 

Of course, their stations in life ar…

In a recent article from CBS News, readers learn of a two-year-old boy suffering from a rare genetic condition that affects his mobility. 

According to the boy's family, who live in Farmington, Minnesota, they couldn't afford to spend upwards of $20,000 for the specialized wheelchair they desired for their son. 



In hopes of receiving some assistance from the community, the toddler's parents contacted the local high school robotics team, named Rogue Robotics, who in turn collaborated with the University of Delaware's GoBabyGo program to build the custom wheelchair for the little boy.

According to the team's coach, it took the group a couple of weeks to build the vehicle, and they completed the project in time to deliver it to the family just before Christmas.

Oddly, however, where the average reader may see a story of compassion and charity, the Left witnesses an opportunity for controversy and exasperation.  

On a relatively popular and conspicuously-socialist Facebook …