“Good People”

[Anti Federalist]

Been saying this for years now...


“Good People”

by eric • December 19, 2014 • 7 Comments

http://ericpetersautos.com/2014/12/19/good-people-2/

I’ve mentioned my neighbor, the state cop, before. We know one another; I’ve been over to his house – and he to mine. He has an old bike – and we’ve hung out in our respective garages talking bikes (and cars).

He seems to be a nice guy and probably is a nice guy … on this level. And yet, it is a near certainty he spends his workday committing numerous acts of petty and not so petty violence, “enforcing the law” without much caring – much less thinking about – whether these laws are moral.

Or so I must assume.

After all, he continues to enforce these laws – and does not appear to have doubts or second thoughts about having done so.

The same mentality, in other words, as a German NCO in the Waffen SS who spent his workdays enforcing another era’s laws. Who went home afterwards to his wife and kids, whom he loved. Who had hobbies, waved to his neighbors. This disconnect is entirely common throughout the ages.

Like the German NCO, my neighbor is probably not a sadist who delights in his work. But he is very much a mindless automaton, just following orders.

He has told me so – openly.

I don’t write the laws, I just enforce them.

Or words to that effect. He said them with a shrug of indifference; just part of his day’s work.

This is one facet of the problem we face, which I’ll get into some more in a moment.

Also, I suspect that as regards some orders, my neighbor the cop strongly supports enforcement. Not in the sadistic sense. In the righteous sense. For example, while I doubt he’s a teetotaler with regard to the (currently) legal “drug” (alcohol) I am very confident (based on things he’s said to me) that he fully supports arresting and caging people at gunpoint, confiscating their assets and so on, who merely possess/imbibe/peacefully sell and exchange various currently not-legal “drugs.”

The irony is lost on him. The viciousness of the policy does not occur to him.

Und so weiter.

Remember Morpheus’ speech in the original Matrix?

Most people are not evil in the conscious sense. They are unconscious of their evil. They believe the matrix (i.e., the system, “the law”) is moral – and will stridently (violently, if need be) defend it. They believe they are doing the right thing. Cops, especially, have an almost religious order fervor about them – and “religious” is precisely the right word. Blind obedience to authority – because it is authority.

It is interesting to note that the public is being conditioned to regard them in a religious sense as well. To worship the state’s uniformed corps (both civilian law enforcement and military). When one “falls” in the “line of duty,” North Korean-style funerary rites ensue. Comrade Ogilvy from Orwell’s 1984 comes to mind.

Most people regard “evil” in an almost cartoonish way. Funny costumes, odd haircuts and quirky mannerisms.

Superficialities.

But it is much more subtle. It masquerades as good.

Very few people – cops in particular – consider themselves or their work to be evil. Even history’s great psychopaths – Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler – were not mmmuuuhahhaha! evil men, rubbing their hands together in orgiastic delight at the thought of the suffering and mayhem they caused.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

Both men – and most such men – honestly appear to believe they are doing good.

A “greater good,” certainly (the Thousand Year Reich for Hitler; world communism for Stalin), however many eggs it was necessary to break in order to make their respective omelettes.

But good “omelettes” (as they saw it) nonetheless.

It’s a very important thing to understand.

We are not fighting evil. We are fighting a warped, misdirected sense of good.

It manifests in countless ways. The liberal who honestly regards himself as the great benefactor of mankind, notwithstanding the violence he directs toward actual flesh and blood men. The conservative who honestly believes he is opposed to “big government” yet approves – often passionately – government interferences with the freely made choices of other people when he disapproves of those choices, even when no harm is caused him or any other plausibly actual flesh and blood victim .. not comprehending that by refusing to defend everyone’s freedom he has destroyed the only viable basis for defending anyone’s freedom.

Good – and evil – must therefore be redefined.

Or, rather, they must be honestly defined.

What then is good? It is the rejection of aggressive violence. A refusal to inflict harm. To accept that the only real good we can do in this world is the good that we do ourselves. With our own hands, our own resources – freely given. To accept that others may not see things our way and – so long as they are not doing us (or others) actual harm – to willingly leave them be.

Evil thus becomes self-evident.

It is aggressive violence. Inflicting harm. Causing pain. Imposing your “values” – and greater goods – on those weaker than yourself, using force. In sum, denying others their equivalent humanity. To place yourself in the superior position. To presume – to arrogate unto oneself – a kind of divine authority to rule.

It does not matter whether you are a “big king” or a “little king.” Evil consists in asserting kingship over others – whether wrapped in “divine right” or the ballot box.

My wish this Christmas is that people take a moment to reflect on the nature of good – and evil – and consider whether their actions comport with the former or the latter.

I believe that most people think themselves good; want to do the right thing. Are trying to to be good.

Here’s to hoping they succeed, someday.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

[DamianTV]

How many human lives have been sacrifieced to the "good people" that are "just following orders"?

No war is a good war. But what has happened is the definitions of "good" and "evil" have been completely reversed. Disobedience is now "evil" and blind unquestioning obedience is considered "good".

More very complex Group Think Psychology.

As the power of the individual evaporates in place of Emotional Dependancy, the thinking of the individual becomes more and more twisted by the perceptions of the group. The group will insist that Welfare is Good and will never put forth the effort to examine things like the Cloward Piven Strategy. They will insist that Forcible Theft by Labels, such as Taxation, or "Fines for your own good" are not evil. The group completely fails to understand that for a few to be rich, many must be poor. These conclusions can only be made by the individual and will directly contradict the Group Psychology. And as Group Psychology becomes ever more powerful, the individual loses their entire sense of self.

Group Psychology has been weaponized to turn the confident free-thinking man into abused emotionally dependant children with zero self determination what so ever.

Once the individual is lost in the sea of stupidity, any definition those that publish their Propoganda can be had. Thus Up becomes Down, Slavery becomes Freedom and Evil becomes Good. This weaponized attack on the minds is so powerful that people could be told that the sky is blue due to global warming and cow farts, and enough would believe this so sincerely that they would attack any who question the judgement of the liars to the point that the individual literally displaces truth with propoganda in their minds. Being ostracized from society is such a powerful psychological weapon that it can literally replace memories with false versions of what really happened. The emotionally dependant will never be taught any form of psychological self defense when the masses are told that Tomatos are pure Poison. They will not see that Truth is Self Evident and Logic is Self Sustaining. Airplanes fly because of magic. Poverty is not a form of Theft or Violence. Physical Violence committed by Men with Labels and Costumes is "Good".

If we want to alter the minds of men to return the power of the individual, men will need to be taught how to psychologically defend themselves against the constant attacks of the Group and Propoganda.

Truth is Self Evident.

It matters not if the Group runs around and spouts utter nonsense such as one plus one equals eleventeen, the Truth of the Math will always remain. It is our understanding of the Math that has become twisted and warped. The idiot group distorts Logic to suit their Thinking. Our greatest difficulty is convincing people to think, and that is no easy task. Most of our food is processed. It is much easier to let someone else do the processing of our food than to do it ourselves. Same thing applies to Thinking. It has become widely popular to allow someone else who claims to be smarter or to have the "right" answers to do the Thinking instead of "reinventing the wheel". People have become lazy and dependant because we now have Thought Crimes. Any attempts to understand the Self Evidence of Truth are attacked by the Group. Accept the wisdom of the Group that the Earth is Flat or you will be excluded from society and not allowed to breed. The Sun revolves around the Earth.

The Group usually wrong. The Group, although powerful, does not weild unlimited power. This is why the individual, the "Free Thinker", or the "Thought Criminal" are removed from society. We do not challenge the ideas as they are presented to us. Torture is a means of maintaining Peace. You know nothing about Banking; how could you know something that a Trained (Obedient and Brainwashed) Banker does not?

Try a Thought Experiment for yourself. And by that, yes, I mean become a Thought Criminal. The Thought Experiment is simple. Brainwashing. When you hear the term "Brainwashing", what are the first images that come into your mind? Its very similar to the Ink Blot test. It isnt right or wrong, it is just the first image that appears. Typically when I've tried this, the first concept of Brainwashing comes in the form of Clockwork Orange. A person is strapped into a chair with a series of recorded images and phrased repeatedly telling them what to think. There are often intermittent forms of torture with enough breaks to allow the propoganda to take root in the mind of the subject. Oddly, this is not that far from the Self Evident Truth. The difference between the Truth and the images that pop into the mind are superfluous. The chair has no straps. And there is no Torturer in the room. Yet, the Images remain. The chair is a couch. The Torturer is the Group outside demanding that your thinking is wrong, and the Debt Collectors, and the Cops, and the ever present Threat of Violence. Thus, the Brainwashing can still occur every time someone turns the TV to ON and their Brains to OFF. Once the Brain is turned off, any idea can be implanted.

Since the Group is fed the same idea, they believe the idea is correct because only a small percentage of "fools" did not conclude the same thing. It gets worse when the Group makes an effort to either "educate" the "fools", or possibly those that just missed that broadcast. The idea goes Viral because the Brainwashed will now repeat the same message that is in their heads as long as they remember it. Guns are Bad. Obey. Loans and Debt are Wealth. Produce for others and you will be rewarded. It doesnt matter what a person watches on their Brainwashing Box, the message is exactly the same. News will repeatedly tell everyone about how bad Guns are. But turn the channel to a Movie. The Movie now repeatedly tells you that Guns are bad. Try another channel, perhaps a Sitcom. When the topic of Gun comes up, Citizens should not have Guns will again be the form of the idea. News tries very hard to promote itself as Fact while the Fiction repeats the exact same idea. When the Topic is changed, the same conclusions are forcefed. The individual loses themselves in the Ocean of Ideas because they were never given even a drop of wisdom. The individual tends to conclude "if everyone has the same idea, then I should adopt this idea because the masses have concluded it is correct", and thus, the Earth becomes Flat. We know the Masses are WRONG. But more importantly, understanding why the Masses believe that "Guns are Evil"affords us a means of Self Defense against the same tactics shoved in our faces.

If we are to maintian a True sense of "Good and Evil" and not the Brainwashing Propoganda that twists those definitions, we can NOT lose sight of our own Individuality, and that is exactly what is being eliminated from the oppressed society we call Humanity.

[VIDEODROME]

We are devolving back into a Tribalism mentality. Ironically, this is partly thanks to modern media technology like FOX News or Facebook. The "Good People" are those whose sense of identity is bound up in contributing to and being apart of their Tribe. In the example of this OP, the "Tribe" is "The Good People" of the government and law enforcement.

I feel like there are also signs of this in other areas of society even with things as trivial as school sports teams. People's ego or sense of identity seems so fragile they will get into a fist fight if their kid isn't winning in little league. Their pitiful sense of identity is heavily built on external things now like Sports Teams, Political Parties, Religion, their damn Smart Phone, and worst of all a warped sense of Nationalism (American Exceptional-ism).

Fierce individualism is probably seen by such people as an eccentric aberration or something unnatural and to be distrusted. Individualists are not seen as "Team Players". Individualist types are more likely IMO to casually delete their Facebook page which probably seems alien or insane to a person with a Tribalist mindset who feel restless if cutoff from their social network.

Basically, I feel like this Tribalism effect is just one aspect of how our society and nation have become infected and our election politics have become extremely polarized. All the while jackasses like Sean Hannity fan the flames encouraging people to hold firm to extreme positions and not have any kind of real dialogue.

I think Marshall Mcluhan was onto something when he referred to Gutenberg creating Literate Individualist Man. Mass Media has rolled this back leading to people behaving more like their tribal ancestors.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

it really annoys me it's almost like you don't exist now if you don't have a facebook or do texting. not like that's necessarily a bad thing

[Lucille]

Peters is really great, and exactly right.

Isabel Paterson on "good people."

https://mises.org/library/humanitarian-guillotine

Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward virtuous ends.
[...]
Therefore it is obvious that in periods when millions are slaughtered, when torture is practiced, starvation enforced, oppression made a policy, as at present over a large part of the world, and as it has often been in the past, it must be at the behest of very many good people, and even by their direct action, for what they consider a worthy object. When they are not the immediate executants, they are on record as giving approval, elaborating justifications, or else cloaking facts with silence, and discountenancing discussion.

[...] And the good people cannot be exonerated for supporting them. Neither can it be believed that the good people are wholly unaware of what actually happens.