There is little doubt that there are Islamic fundamentalist-based terrorists. Al Qaeda, Boko Haram and all that. ISIL/ISIS. What motivates them and ‘their followers’ is basically unfathomable to me* but they are there and they are doing bad stuff to all and sundry – including other Muslims.
There is little doubt that we have bad-to-the-bone whackos in our society, too, and they act out in harmful ways as well. Even against other whackos. Both sets of obvious evil-doers are indiscriminate as to their targets. No one, it seems, is safe from their malevolence. It is just plain dangerous out there. They are all part of the dark-side, Luke.
Of course, not all bad guys acting out are Islamic mis-interpreters or even extremists of any philosophical kind and it would be a mistake to think that way. But our everyday whackos are pretty indiscriminate, too. We are afraid of them as well. We got your garden-variety bad guys and your Islamic bad guys and, of course, the list of sub-category bad guys could go on and on. Hell’s Angels, Mafia, Red Scorpions, Triads, snakeheads, pervs, pedophiles and the PMO just to name a few.
So, why are our governments so quick to bunch your basic lone-whacko into the Islamic fundamentalist extremist mix? Hint: the main reason mankind accepted ‘governance’ in the first place was for protection or security reasons. From the original big, tough guy in the tribal village to modern day tax collectors, we pay tribute to mean people so that they or the other mean people next door don’t hurt us. Government is, more than anything, the protection racket.
Today’s best examples of this are not ISIL or Al Qaeda. It is China and Russia. Putin makes Osama bin Laden look like a choir boy. The number of people killed by the Chinese government since 1950 is several times greater than the population of Canada.
So, given all that; given that all ‘other’ government bodies do bad stuff; given that the US has a recorded history of black flag ops, several assassinated leaders, the most people per capita in jail and the most powerful arsenal in the world, what makes you think they are all good guys in the US government? What makes Canadians think their village tough guy is a good guy?
At the very least our so-called good guys lie and propagandize, steal and pollute, incarcerate and bully, pass laws to curb freedoms and enforce them through an ever-growing police force. And they kill people. If they are the good guys, it is not by much and their way of doing things is remarkably similar to the ways of the bad guys.
So, the question is: are we really governed by the good guys? Or are our leaders just a bunch of bad guys of a different stripe who are, if results are anything to go by, just better at being thugs than the wanna-bes of ISIL and Al Qaeda?
*It is NOT unfathomable at all – it is simply the seeking of power. But what makes that unfathomable is why someone would want power? We all die eventually so even if you gain power, it is for a very limited time. And, after so many members in your harem, so much money in your bank account and so many fancy cars to drive, what is the big pay-off from having power?
Our Off the Grid Home 
I think its time you picked up an older computer. This one’s still a day ahead of you. And the rest of us!
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Geez , my computer is 6 years old now!
But…..on topic with the Blogmaster JDC’s premise
…… as Dwight D Eisenhower said in his farewell address as President of the United States in 1961
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower
Somewhat ironic when one considers his decorated military background.
It aint just the ‘men in black hats” who are bad. And the good guys dont always win………….
He was way ahead of his time…..kind of like this computer
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I dunno, JA. I think it is nonconfidencevote whose computer is off. Mine is saying the tenth.
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Well, if helps Johns time travelling “angst”….. Im watching an old Star Trek rerun from the 1960’s right now. Deja Vu.
I remember watching it when it was first broadcast……….
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Hmmm….just noticed that my declaration about the ’10th’ was, in fact dated the 11th!! This is a dilemma.
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We need Stephen Hawking to come on here and explain it.
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Interesting spleen vent.
I look at the majority of “terror” incidents as more a failure of the economies involved.
France, where youth unemployment is 20% on average and if you’re a person of color(ie black, african muslim,etc.) MUCH higher. This is the same for Spain, Germany, Greece, Italy and on and on and on. The full time employees in Europe are almost impossible to fire and with the EU economic downturn ….none of them are in a hurry to retire.
So.
What do angry, disillusioned, young adults with lots of time on their hands and access to the internet do? Become even angrier with all the crap they absorb from an internet that spews hate, lies and glorifies death.
One can only imagine what the US protests of the 1960’s would have looked like with the internet to add fuel to the fire.
But I digress.
Most of the idiots involved in these “terrorist” acts are home grown. The Brits in London with the Subway bombings, Canadian in the Parliament shooting, these latest glory seeking fools in France…….
All pawns in the “game” . All dead for a ridiculous, childish dream of “helping the cause”.
Every time I see another “20 something” idealistic child’s face spread all over the media for another pointless bombing/shooting/ hostage incident i wonder…….
Where in the bloody hell are the moderate muslims who should be condemning this?
Where is the Aga Khan?
One of the richest men in the muslim world…..silent.
The Sultan of Brunei …silent.
All the Mullahs in all the moderate mosques……silent.
Well , they better start talking because EVERYONE is getting FED UP !
And THAT should be scaring the shit out of the morons in power.
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I agree. I hadn’t thought of it before but, really, it is the normal, everyday, peaceful Muslims themselves that have to at least attempt to rein in some of their ‘freaks’. I mean – it is not JUST their problem, of course, but the problem is associated with them (fairly or unfairly) and thus they should be seen to be addressing it…or trying to…..
Mind you, we have bastards in power and we are NOT addressing it…..so, I dunno……….
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So, their mania is about preserving the status quo? Ours may be..’cause it is working for our bad guys….but I can’t see the ISIL freaks being accused of quo defending.
I think the bad guys are bad guys ’cause it’s in the bone.
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They want a state with sharia law which enshrines male status. Now where is that dull razor blade.
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It appears that it is about maintaining the status quo. Consider the case of Raif Badawi, who was arrested in June 2012 and charged with offenses including cyber crime, disobeying his father and disobeying his faith. He was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison, a fine of 1 million Saudi riyals ($266,666) and 1,000 lashes. Consider also the number of mutilations of female while not practiced in all Muslim countries one is given pause when one reads that in the UK roughly 20,000 thousand girls under 15 are at risk for this procedure each year. Many are sent on FGM vacations each year. WTF! A quick review of materials on the web shows various justifications for such barbaric practices. Hard to fathom. But knowing the depths of such thinking killing innocents to maintain such practices does focus the depravity on a certain mind set.
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No worries! I think I’ve solved the problem. I just don’t open the blog until the next day.
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Of course. Absolutely. Mind you, what about the breaking news aspect of this blog? You’ll be left behind the curve.
I will continue to try to fix it. My computer clock ‘says’ the right date but my WordPress is likely ‘out’ but I don’t see a means to change WordPress’s clock and date.
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Really thought provoking post there, here are a couple of mine:
“Hint: the main reason mankind accepted ‘governance’ in the first place was for protection or security reasons. From the original big, tough guy in the tribal village to modern day tax collectors, we pay tribute to mean people so that they or the other mean people next door don’t hurt us. Government is, more than anything, the protection racket.”
Yes, an extortionist-protectionist racket, operated by an oligarchy, as it’s said, with layers of players who administer it for them. The experiment in self-government that was America, easily grasped in the writings of Madison, Jefferson, Adams, et al, was perhaps an historical best effort that, unfortunately, early on was completely thwarted and sent reeling down the slippery slope toward the restored control of the centralized, authoritarian government. As to what motivates the oligarchy and their minions, you wrote:
“It is NOT unfathomable at all – it is simply the seeking of power. But what makes that unfathomable is why someone would want power? We all die eventually so even if you gain power, it is for a very limited time. And, after so many members in your harem, so much money in your bank account and so many fancy cars to drive, what is the big pay-off from having power?”
Oh, this is Zen-tastic! A question for the ages, indeed. All the classic answers (absolute power corrupts absolutely) apply, do they not? Almost every politician I’ve ever met or observed closely appears to be motivated primarily by the aura of power they seek. It’s said the first custodians of the newly-formed state’s power the U.S. were mostly just farmers and such, not the real “oligarchy” of the time on this continent. One might reply: “who were, indeed, the oligarchy of the 18th century, if not these folks?” And, there is plenty recorded about the process they went through to agree on a central government, especially some of the conflict between say Jefferson and Hamilton, the latter who championed the central government that eventually metastasized.
But it all comes down to “can’t take it with you,” paraphrasing the ideas at the end. There’s only so much that power can do for any of us in our relatively short lives. The psychological illusion of what power provides, turbo-boosted by the continuous sensory reinforcement coming in, seems to present a nearly irresistable temptation to indulge, and the actor of the moment prevails over what should reflect a more complete understanding stemming from conscience.
We need better men in office, but, it does seem that “better men” do not seek office, especially given what is happening lately.
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I can hardly claim to be better than anyone what with the all the OBVIOUS flaws and the not-so-obvious ones that I have already half-revealed in the blog but, if I were in a position of power, I would surely be better in government than who is there now. Well, depending on how cute the interns were, of course. No man is a fortress.
But would I be otherwise corrupt in any way? No. Absolutely not. But not out of a higher standard of behaviour but simply because the job offered is a noble one cast in a good cause for people who give you their trust. How in hell, so many of them can seemingly ignore that kind of responsibility and endorsement is beyond me.
I will confess this: the older I get the easier it would be to resist the temptations of corruption. At the rate I am going, I will be a potential saint in five years.
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Hell, I would vote for you! Never mind the interns. Not sure about the noble cause, but clearly if it ever was, it isn’t anymore.
Five years ’til sainthood? Not too shabby!
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The Philosophs pondering the question of how some men gained power over men, concluded it was by trickery.
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I don’t think there is much doubt, really. Voting is a total con. How else does one explain Harper IN with 35% of the vote? How else to explain two Bush presidents? (the odds of one person: one in 325,000,000. Father and son team? Priceless – as in few can afford it). I know the NOMINATION process is crap with a big stink and that is just step ONE!
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The voter’s minds are very soft. How else to explain the acceptance of tacit one-party rule by the false bifurcation of the “two-party system?”
“If voting could change anything, it would be illegal.”
See George Carlin, and others who took the “red pill” on all this.
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“If voting could change anything, it would be illegal.” That says it all, right there.
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You are on to something. I am always amazed when someone I personally know and supported, runs for public office and upon achieving victory goes to Ottawa as a Member of parliament for the Conservative Party and once there, proceeds to keep his mouth shut, do what Stephen Harper tells him to do and never speaks up to challenge the Prime Minister about his unwavering support for countries who are apartheid, support genocide and steal land, over and over and over from the indigenous people contrary to International Law and United Nations Resolutions as well as the Oslo Accords. My MP, Randy Kamp, is a very religious, Christian man but he sits still for the mass murder of children and women because ???????????
Cowards, all. Canada is on the wrong side of history on this one.
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I know a lot of politicians of various stripes and almost all are good people in your presence. And they may not even be active in the evil-doing when they are not in your presence. The real issue is that for evil to be done, good people only have to do nothing. And we all allow this. Our society condones staying silent. Our society actually thinks it is good manners:”If you don’t have anything nice to say, say nothing!”
The truth is that it takes more than ‘nice’ to do good. You have to have the courage to speak up and the courage and wisdom to know if you are right or wrong after the issue has been aired. AND you have to ACT on that knowledge. But if it is always on the hush-hush, politically correct or something NOT talked about, it is likely NOT good. Randy has to at least SHOUT OUT his sense of the truth now and then. Otherwise he is not good for anyone, he is condoning the shadow-world and he is NOT Christian (despite what his church attendance suggests).
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