Speaking Out Against Upcoming Moments of Silence

Monday morning November 16, 2015 will be the time when across much of the western world the Paris attacks become officiated and legitimized as terrorist attacks by institutional heads on loudspeakers, such as principals and CEOs who feel it is incumbent on them to say something. Some of the more anxious of these “leaders” are right now mulling over what to say so that they are accurate and general enough on their facts, with a degree of compassion, and also inserting some resolution and embodiment of the institution’s core values. The one item that most will be sure to turn to is the age old “Moment of Silence”.

Speaking Out To The Silence, Walking Out?

If the weakly institution I currently find myself in attempts to have a moment of silence Monday—we do not have loudspeakers so the person calling for it would be in vivo—I will be saying the following roughly, if my courage shows up:

“I am not okay with giving silence to these particular victims when our world loudly and uninterruptedly talks right over the thousands of daily victims who succumb to starvation, thousands unjustly killed in traffic accidents, and the thousands killed by gun violence and governmental weapon abuses. I expect to hear a lot more moments of reflective silence on these daily systemic victims before I acquiesce to give silence to one specific, infrequent, and quite honestly misunderstood grouping of victims. One last thing as for prevention, as this event is being called a terrorist attack, I offer the intelligent words of another: The best way to stop terrorism is to stop participating in it.” (I will decide then whether or not to walk out based on the reception, if any, to what I have said; I wanted to also mention something like coral reef bleaching and other ecological disasters but think the audience would then be pushed away)

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Contextualizations:

1) There has been such a numbing to normalized violences—perhaps ushered in by two world wars though probably starting earlier—in the human psychological environment, that it is no wonder much of what is truly silenced will never have a moment of reflection for its ceasing to exist. Paris, as with cities in general, is an accretion of human-only systems that silence by slaughtering a wider holistic eco-system. Because humans depend on eco-systems whether they admit it or not, eco-systems far away from cities like Paris need to be subjugated for human needs—mostly food and heating supplies—thus a large impetus for colonialism/imperialism that still goes on de facto through corporatized globalization. People—not to mention animals and other things that would draw sympathy from us—die daily in these places of systematic exploitation and sometimes as the result of a proxy war die in the thousands. France has very bloody hands in this respect with places such as Algeria and Vietnam, but I would not presume to blame the Parisians of Friday night for the atrocities of their forebears. However, by the very fact of their living and employing a city they have inherited and are acutely furthering a proven-deadly system that will naturally give them enemies. Because of the nature of their system, however, their enemies will generally be too weak to ever do anything to them. It’s a one way stream and they are generally the ones on the toilet not in the sewer.

2) This event happened in the backdrop of a Western European theater where Russia is boldly involved, and seems to have plans for corralling in as many countries under it’s domain through use of it’s energy supplies. Russia now has the pretext for an even greater involvement in Syria if it wants, as now they can maybe say they will go and take on ISIS because the United States seems to be helping the organization grow larger (I won’t speculate further on this point…). If an accurate text on the history of this era is ever written, it will certainly find both the events of Russia’s 2015 forays in Syria and this terrorist attack highlighted on a chronology of related events.

3) This was an attack of civilized people on civilized people. They both (or all, not limited to 2) may have very different ideas of civilization and come from different epochal idealizations, but they all share civilization and its attraction to using advanced weaponry. To the extent that religion is involved for some of the individuals, that too is a civilized activity that informs many violent acts. Civilization by its very nature is violent, and so long as it continues, so too unfortunately will violences like these and others that are not seen but are felt by its victims.

4) One penultimate note—and this may just be in the “ranking” of how particularly evil we want to tell ourselves these people are (I’m sure this will inflame anyone who lost anyone in these attacks) —is a curiosity to me that they chose a night time attack in a place where there would certainly be a limited amount of children to no children at all. If you want to see this as an act of war as French President Hollande said it was, then you have to note they weren’t attacking children and were either intentionally or unintentionally doing that, perhaps to avoid damage to their image or perhaps because they are not anti-human, just anti Paris, France, whatever larger enemies they believe they have and are fighting.

5) A final note on November 20: a presumed dichotomy exists in the western mind that I attempted above to shine light on with the vocal rejection of a moment of silence, namely between acceptable and unacceptable victims. The moments of silence are to be for those unacceptable casualties that are supposed to emotionally move westerners as they somehow challenge their core values; acceptable victims, on the other hand, are those overlooked casualties that I spoke of that are not mourned for or considered by any great many people, despite the violent and preventable deaths they have to succumb to. These acceptable victims are rationalized as a cost of doing business, or somehow other kept off of the radar screen so as to not interrupt the smooth flow of operations with “unnecessary” emotions.

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Cascadian Independence: A Change Before the Crisis

I often live under a rock (a fertile place, see below*) with the Cascadian Independence Movement just entering my narrow radar screen. After some investigation, however, it seems the movement itself also dances between rock-roofed dormancy and active assertions of the human striving for freedom from unnecessary shackles. There are many humans in social media circles that give off revolutionary vibes, standing atop the rock as one would a soapbox, exuding that something big politically will be happening very soon; who am I to cast doubt and preclude such a future? I have a taste for their revolutionary energy, and all I wanted to do when I first realized this was a real movement within the American continent I occupy—where the political imagination is generally as fluid as a desert—was go hug the nearest conifer and have someone take a me and tree selfie, and photoshop that onto a Cascadia flag with the words “Solidarity With Cascadia”.

The Cascadian nation’s coming into existence is important beyond just those that it will include (I wouldn’t say “contain”, as that has a statist connotation and I think Cascadia is far more a free and open nation), as it could serve as both a model for emerging nations and a further disintegration of the overgrown, malnourished, obese post-imperialist empire euphemistically labeled “the United States”. Cascadia is another front against the sprawling Empire to help take it further off balance; another stronghold of a mountainous island to not be drowned out when the real threat to it’s residents—the one to its east (District of Columbia) not west—topples from within. Cascadia has a deep enough of a foundation in place that it cannot be faulted as being a mere reaction to the politically and economically decadent times. Cascadia is full of insight and foresight that put it in a different league of nations than most that have arisen in the last century; it will prove to be a one word poem, prompting other nations to arise before such a possibility is precluded. Cascadia is yearned for by the people within, not a convenience contrived by people without!

A blogpost on Cascadia could go into many different tributaries that wouldn’t lend itself to the linear writing style here employed, so I will return to the rock metaphor, as a matter of course. On this theme, the vanguard revolutionaries need to be prepared psychologically and not lose their far-sighted visions, when another winter comes and they need to migrate back underground to warm and nourishing places. Their thrusting efforts to birth a new sovereign nation may likely be averaged-out and watered-down by their spermicidal, prudish, conservative “let’s stay put” neighbors that don’t have the same lust for an open-ended Cascadian future. However, I have a sense that the number of winters between their hopes of an unoccupied Cascadia nation and its reality, are quickly thinning. The most important reason for this is the revolutionary zeitgeist: Cascadian pride is a phenomenon that might be comparable to a vine spiraling upwards, clinging to a cliff-side at times, but only to return and reveal more of its glorious self higher up, daringly exposed and awe-inspiring. The vine has deep roots that I cannot appreciate, that are larger and more fertile than Ecotopia even understood, though that book was immensely important in its current growth strides. For me, I am gazing up at the vine, rooting it on. I see more hope for it still because what might be the most important inhibition barring the Cascadian nation from bearing its first fruit (a fir cone baby) is a negative that may soon be negated. The Cascadia nation’s biggest natural predator averred to above—the United States, along with its global reserve currency status—is going to be having organ failures of all sorts that will put it in a hospital bed before too long. In such a state the federal government might become too impaired to grasp at a fledgling nation. One must wonder if FEMA’s imminent deployment in response to the fault line is a pretext for federal presence, “reminding” residents that they are not free to self-determine. In any event, at some point this governmental force will release the Cascadian land from its grip, enabling the people to put on full display the beautiful ideas informing their struggles.

Change before the Crisis: “Get ahead of the times with silver ParaDimes”. One triage tactic the region can take up (if it hasn’t already begun to do so) to further ensure it isn’t as injured by any American economic collapse, would be the encouragement of converting dollars into physical silver and bartering with it for trade. This transition to a silver backed currency will allow a more seamless transition when the need arises, as well as becoming another social glue between the Cascadian people. Even more to the revolutionary side of things would be a continued push for an organic economic method of sharing and mutual aid, which I know already exists locally in many different places over Cascadia where people are even further ahead of their times.

*I admittedly couldn’t figure a way to put in this further elaboration without further confusing the text, so I thought I would say it here. With regards to living in proximity of a rock: there is much bio-activity that happens during all seasons, as permaculture profounder Sepp Holzer has displayed in his “symphonies of nature”. A man ahead of his time is surely not unheard of in a place that is ahead of it’s time, and those familiar with his love of rocks would know that they regulate temperature, increase moisture to dry areas, clean and mineralize water, among many other talents known and unknown such as creating an appropriate pH for a fir tree sapling to grow strong and tall!

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Related:

https://cascadiablogs.wordpress.com/the-cascadian-independence-project/

https://freedomcaravan.wordpress.com/2013/10/13/cascadia-freedom-caravan-to-the-tear-down-the-walls-national-gathering/

http://www.seattlecascadianow.org/

Corporate Campus Crimes

Corporate Campus Crimes²

Fortunately or unfortunately, I live in proximity to several corporate headquarters, and have had to include their campuses to get in a variable trek for my lengthy dog walkings. The experience from these trespasses has afforded me to develop a fledgling academic field by the name of Comparative Corporate Campus Ruminations. I say trespass, but from my perspective there is certainly also an impingement on me—and other lives much bigger than mine—which I suppose is the prime mover behind this post’s existence. So far all the walks have been very tranquil, whether on a weekday morning or a weekend evening. The natural sounds from crickets and locusts emanate from the tree packed margins—the “wild space” separating one corporate kingdom from its neighbor. Tree packed? It’s a relative term contrasted against the spacious, breathable, un-claustrophobic lawns occasioned by small tree islands. The scope of corporate lawns alone is an advertisement that these corporations are economy-driving job creators: think about how much mowing there is to benefit the backbone landscaping industry.

Tranquilized Environments: No More Kidding?

A third, “reserve” parking lot, thought what it’s reserving I can’t say. I think they couldn’t pass up on a “build two, get the third free” deal.

Why should I complain about something so pleasant, like having a free visit to a country club¹? Even the parking is free, that is if you can find a spot. So much of the landscape that isn’t lawn is taken up by an assortment of giant asphalt solar tarps, where to park the car? These passive solar heaters must have been installed to counter the air conditioning system that must make things inside oppressively cold. One good thing then, at least, is that the people that work inside the large five story building must be forced to walk through the greened campus from wherever they park their cars, or where public transportation drops them off. There are, of course, the occasional rebels that decide to park on the asphalt solar tarps, but I’m sure corporations have a means of dealing with people who break their rule(s), such as placing the offender in a south-facing corner office where they are forced to see a blue-tinted sunny landscape all day long, as opposed to a choice cubicle with four generic walls to keep them company.

“Then I guess we don’t have to worry about finding people in that water.”
“Or leeches!”
“What’s the difference?”

Changing Registers: No More Kidding!

In witness to overwhelming tragedy humans will sometimes make light of things to obscure the horror, as I have attempted above. However, I would like now to shine light on this particular tragedy because the voice of the ecosystem, which humans are generally deaf to, has now been eternally silenced. It’s hard to think of the past voices of grave-less plants, fungi, and animals when things are so quiet and peaceful; for me it is a sickening peace, the peace that follows a successful genocide.

With a little imagination the crime becomes obvious: 15 acres of tons upon tons of accumulated biomass—also known as life—virtually annihilated so that a few dozen humans can spend their “productive” hours sitting in a 1/4 acre office building. The crime is not past, and it is not contained to the crime scenery. An actively intoxicated water source—such as the pond in the picture above—is sure to spread toxicity in ways that a criminal designer and property manager had no thought of, or worse, cared little about. Otherwise, maybe their thinking is much more subtle, and entirely anti-life, such as:

“If we let mosquitoes breed, we will inevitably let a whole aquaculture ecosystem spawn full of mosquito predators on up the food chain, such as fish and frogs, and that is absolutely not acceptable. We dare not let mosquitoes be part of an ecosystem that will control their numbers far more efficiently and regularly than our own chemical industry allies.”

Not all corporate campuses will attempt the false glamour of a perpetually poisoned pond. Usually they will contribute their dose of waste and toxicity by implementing a water projecting fountain and be satisfied with chemically treated lawns and deserted mulch beds. With precaution, visit one of these campuses to analyze the health threats for yourself. These crimes are actively happening around us, whether we see them or not, and whether the laws recognize them or not. Don’t hold your breath for any black-robed dishonors to rescue us and correctly judge this as a crime—we must be the judges! We must figure out what is appropriate remediation and justice before our own victimage becomes too great a burden and we need to rely on others to defend us. If not, the case studies will continue to pile up along with ecosystem carcasses.

Notes (correctly disordered):

2 – Concisely Conveying Cronnie Congressmen Cordially Condoning Corporate Campus Crimes (3C²) is an alternate title,though this article doesn’t remark on legislators and other representatives. However, this alternate title is still fitting, for it’s no lie that elected (and unelected) officials are implicitly involved in allowing particular industrial and commercial practices to go unchecked, practices ironically that they sign bills to outlaw private citizens from undertaking. I know some people are upset that corporations have the same legal status as actual people, but I think they’d be more upset if they realized corporations have a higher legal status than us. A two tier system has been created with individuals placed at the sewer level.

1 – Country Club (2C¹)could be looked at as a euphemism for country clubbed down by modern industrial civilization. This relates to another, more sinister euphemism pointed out by Noam Chomsky: the Defense Department was the new title given to the War Department after WW2; the only thing that changed (other than the name) was the increasing amount of wars the USA would become involved with.

Update:

I “meme’ized” this picture:

and here’s another, arguably related:

Flight Song verses

“Flight Song”

sub-verses

Unlike a flock of planes

Haunting the horizon

We don’t leave so easy

Our true fight is arising

Realizing this place

Is not for the living

Realizing our fate

Is not just for sitting

 

And of all those things that won’t stay

The false idols to which we’d pray

I will unearth them for you tonight

(Bury them by fire alight)

Can you hear your choice this time?

 

This is our flight song

To leave is not wrong

For green pastures, not lawn

Our power’s not gone

Starting now we’ll stretch long

We’ll play our flight song

And we won’t care if nobody else will leave

Cause through our flight we may inspire, not please

 

Losing use lends to dreamless sleep

Static civilization’s toll is steep

In an atrophy too deep

Say you’re not yet too weak

It’s been all through your years

A well-used body is your best home

You miss your muscle toned

And in stillness we believed

But now in motion we are relieved

 

And of all those things that won’t stay

The old roles that we used to play

We will burn them for heat tonight

Can you hear the choice this time?

(even if it does not rhyme)

 

This is our flight song

Things just aren’t right song

The path is (A house is not) our home

Our power has far grown

Starting now we’ll stretch long

We’ll play our flight song

And we can’t lead others to follow

All we can do is flee or in misery wallow

 

Migrate out of this rat fight with me

 

Adapted a-way from “Fight Song”

now, out of your seat

to build a better beat

Meditations Vis-à-vis Modernity

Note: I originally wrote this as part of the previous posting, but thought it had strayed sufficiently into a new topic, so here it is!

Being in the moment

We shouldn’t blame only ourselves for being particularly terrible at meditation, and needing a large amount of practice to become adequate and efficient at it. Why is this so? The eastern healing and philosophy traditions speak of the peace from being-in/accepting the moment, and though this might be historically true, it is by no means necessarily true in the wrecked environments of today that only humans dare live in—for some of these environments, even the versatile bacteria avoid them or are killed off swiftly by them, and keeping canaries close by became too depressing a prospect as they would flounder and flop, by neglect if not other evils; (would canaries last long enough through the dystopian supply chain tunnels and holding stations to arrive at your freshly fuming residence?) Most vital things are put on the back burner these days—think about the dried up plants forgotten in some corner—in favor of our spending our time with neatly organized rectangles made up of silicon, copper, glass, and plastics, like I’m doing as I type this.

The question still stands, why are we so terrible at meditating? I think there is something of a survival instinct to not sit and just be in so toxic a place, but to panic a bit and go through the motions of a disturbing yet purposeful, motivating anxiety phase. A meditation session in a common metropolis might go something like this: “focus on the sounds” echoing through the drywall; “breath in deep” the air fuming with wood varnish and furniture fire retardants; “sense your body” sitting in a chair that is bad for your posture; “place your hands on your inhaling belly” malnourished by the sugary yogurt bar; “imagine a solitary place” like being in your car with your windows up. Being in the moment is difficult when it isn’t a moment that deserves any closer attention—escape out of the moment is often the lesser of two evils for the human animal.

The moment that we crave is the one that is constantly changing because we are moving through a subtly evolving context that the total of our human selves were evolved to expect and appreciate (not just a limited portion of our cerebrums). The contextual evolution that we are adapted for has been marred by civilization efforts—artificial balancing techniques that really degrade the whole into segregated islands, treating everything as its own entity, and then seeking to weigh and balance these separate things at the hands of a cold calculating insurer or actuary. We have become normalized to stationary “being” as opposed to migratory “becoming”, and our bodies are rightfully inflamed and will continue to revolt symptomatically, by “catching” diseases like lupus, diabetes, arthritis, until we get up and do something about our not doing something about anything.

China’s town, or, All your base are belong to us

China, first in line to inherit the globalized world markets, wants to protect its kingdom for a smooth transition, and allowing the United States to completely fall apart and destroy the structure is not a viable option. The Chinese have been too clever and patient to allow a full meltdown of the United States to fall too deep and put out a gravity wave that whirlpools down other strategic partners. That’s not to say the United States won’t be allowed to fall down, but it will be in a controlled, systematic way that doesn’t threaten Chinese interests. Now that the strategy has been laid out, the question now focuses in on tactics. The Chinese asked themselves: what do you do with a rabid animal that is too dangerous to shoot?

You cage the beast…

… and confuse its muscles’ abilities to function in unified coordination through methods of tranquilization and hitting it from all different angles at unexpected intervals. The cage, however, is the capstone of the Chinese efforts and is being built in plain sight for all of us to see or not see, we just need an appropriately contextualized lens in front of our eyes. The Chinese are buying up controlling interests of major cities like New York in the form of property assets. The purchasing frenzy is not due to private Chinese individuals trying to escape China and invest in the United States; nay, it is part of the Chinese global economic policy to control and divest the remaining wealth from the United States. New York will be one of several major bases of operation for the Chinese to sift out important resources for its mega-population such as food, one of the most obvious. For energy purposes, I wouldn’t be surprised if they buy up a few bankrupted fracking operations (there are sure to be plenty to choose from soon) and start testing out experimental (and controversial) fracking methods, too destructive and environmentally unfriendly even for the thick-lunged inhabitants of the coal smog Shanghai sphere; remember, these are the people who blow up mountains to get at their coal. If there is to be an accurate global history text written in a few hundred years, it will not speak of North America as having a colonial period followed by a time of flourishing sovereign nation states; it will speak of the continent as an ongoing carving ground for power thirsty empires to keep fueled, much the same way as Africa has been treated since at least as far back as the Berlin conference of 1884. What is going from 13 states in 1776 to 50 states by the mid 1959 if not colonization?

The degree to which the USA didn’t effectively isolate itself is the degree to which China (along with some oligarchic Wall Street allies) will further isolate us. Control of the seas and the ports allows them the ability to truly block or deter residents to enter or leave the country, an option they may use in the future if they sense some threat to their overarching continental dominance. The colonists of the 18th century used to sneak in and out of the country to evade British patrols and blockades, but I think it would be an insult to them to assume we have afforded to us the same skills and grit to get more than a mile from the coast without being disoriented about where we were actually trying to escape to. Further, Chinese technology is sure to catch us if it needs to, and our primitive use of consumer technology is sure to be ineffective in the face of this—I hate to be hopeless but we don’t stand a chance if this scenario develops, at least as Chinese power is waxing. If they truly want us trapped, we will truly be trapped. Who knows how bad it could get? We might have to start producing papers when an armed guard requests them of us whilst entering New York through the Holland Tunnel. We do have our own arms, but they are sure to be factored in to a containment policy where we are “free to shoot” each other on purpose or by accident allowing our munitions to wane.

The role of imports/exports, and control over the internal political and economic life by a Wall Street oligarchic group that I sometimes mention, I will leave to an adjacent, upcoming post.

Not a Hyperbole but at Hypo-bully: the United States Becoming the World’s Biggest Reject

The American Empire’s ship might be sinking, but fortunately-or-unfortunately there is only enough sea to fill up the lower cabins; a demobilizing anchor is increasing in weight—a permanent drag that will keep the empire stuck close to home. In certain regions it used to serve as a stabalizing agent, but now the “sea tide” turning against its foreign legitimacy can be painted in three broad strokes: 1) the coming into question of its multi-decade trend to abuse the privilege of being a global “umpire” in matters of responsibly issuing the global reserve currency, the misuse of which is currently undergoing exponentiation (and diffusion to Japan and the Eurozone) 2) a lack of restraint and caution when using military force, that would be tolerable, if disagreeable, to the other powerful nations, but for the fact that the war policy decisions are actually not rational or predictable, bringing the potential for danger to new levels; 3) oil is running in quantities lower than the full American juggernaut was upgraded and designed to run smoothly on, so a series of downgrading obstacles that the wasteful empire has an inability to jump over are leaving it stuck behind in the race. The ship is going to putter out right as it hits shoal bottom. I intentionally don’t say shale because before the literal bottom of shale deposits could be reached, the operations will be foregone as too costly for the coming meager times.

Why else has the United States lost its global hegemon stature? It has become camera shy before the very global media apparatuses it paved the road for. It probably fears the dreaded global public opinion and so time and again it has been indecisive and reluctant. In particular is the indecisiveness in war decisions that if gone astray might put a blotch on its image (don’t worry USA, there are already huge blotches); it bullies everybody 3/4’s of the way, but hasn’t gone past that point, and all those different 3/4’s add up to a lot of common resentment, but unfortunately for the USA not a lot of fear. It is an antibiotic in many senses of the word, that stops itself short so that resistant bacteria can evolve and develop their own antibodies to help with future deterrence.

In this post, the United States has been regarded as a whole entity acting in unison, but of course this is never the case, and should be elaborated on… more later, but a bit now. Fractures are and will continue everywhere, but one fracture in particular may appear visible in the elite/oligarchic class that is so much to blame for the empire lost. Some of its members will flee the ship and test out their cosmopolitanism in other parts of the world they became familiar with during their profiteering and plundering. I fear the majority, however, will choose to stay local and make the best of the new game of recolonizing America and try to be kings of the smaller ponds available to them.

Cops: Our Knights In Shining SUVs

Police are already positioned to make a relatively smooth transition into a role as “knights” in a post-globalized, disintegrated United States. Their vocation has afforded them a high visibility and a societal normalization that few occupations can match—their existence has become irrefutable and self-evident. There are parodies and hatreds at the margins, but in “times of seriousness” there is a common public consciousness (and servility) that their presence is above questioning and deserving of honor. One thousand overweight D.A.R.E. officers would be invited to speak to an assembly of youth before a single anti-corporate revolutionary would. They have an active and deep rooted fraternal structure evidenced by the PBA pay-to-play scheme. How can anyone be against cops when you are in a friendly relationship by two degrees of separation or less with one? (I can name three cops that friends of mine have as friends). If the government were to make an honest attempt to downsize ahead of the financial calamites headed our way, police will be the last and fewest to be trimmed. Their pervasiveness is astounding, at roughly 800,000 strong, more visible for sure in the densely populated states (spiders hiding behind trees, ready to pounce on speeding cars). And of course, there are a few “bad apple” cops out there, but they were rotten individuals, their badness never stemming from their profession.

                It’s these common notions that exist at the ground level—not in need of reiteration or reporting—that will persist, regardless of which large systems implode and erase abstract authority and control. In addition to their presumed powers that come with the badge, their individual and institutional skills at controlling areas tactically and through the blunt threat of force give them a situational advantage. Many police officers will already be well aware of their power in the dynamic situations confronting our society in limbo, while others will catch on later and realize their prominent role in guiding affairs as people look to them for answers and protection.

As the crisis starts surfacing, on an institutional level the police force will be an active presence before their necessity can be brought into question. As the crisis drifts towards an unstable feudalism, they will remind us, perhaps through curfews or bulletins, that there are marauding gangs and opportunistic raiding and looting parties out there. Their power will attract to them sycophantic opportunists (and family ties) which will further solidify their roles at the top. “Knowing” a cop will carry a lot of weight, positively for that person and negatively for any enemies. All the while we who would rather not be ruled over by the police-turned-lords won’t be given the chance to assert, or the opportunity to discover, that we also have powers of defense and deterrence and don’t really need this parasitic group that will drag on us in an already dire scenario. They will insist that we need to support them, and they will keep us safe, and for their more honorable contribution they expect the utmost praise and privileges. In short—the beginnings of a modern feudal relationship. Police, like the nobles of the middle ages, will insist that they should not be taxed or forced to labor their share, as they are already providing a public good in the form of protection. Those who join with them will provide under-scaffolding, propelling them beyond mere knights to barons.

A few generations in, all memory of this life we are now living will be lost. The former rights and horizontal relationships will be gone, and its on to serfdom for those outside the cop circles. Unless… we begin our vigilance and assertiveness, break free from dependence… and we begin now!