Fantastic! You are gifted. Someone who has known freedom(s) and Me and Bobby McGee. That is the first song I ever sang at a Karaoke night. Hemmed in indeed. The freedom experiences were a lack of authority at one end and unlimited submission to it on the other. In one case, the authority wasn't lacking though, as you alluded. It was your own body but more so the architecture of your body and the hunger of it. Nutrition being the overarching requirement. The hem. The requirement of food for your body versus the requirement of contact with anyone who gave a shit about your welfare. But you were the master of the choice. In the other case, you were fenced on one side by the authority that provided, and to all evidence, gave a shit about your welfare and all your needs were met. You were only bound on the other side to the hunger of your mind. The hem. Your thirst was still limited to the resources available. You didn't write of the breadth of choices you had in this respect. I'm thinking that with most monastaries, at least the Catholic ones, attempts were made to have them well equipped with literature. Yet, you were still the master of the choice of what course of Enlightenment might give you an appetite.
Your analysis of today's politics is well framed within the hems of your experience. A long time ago, I made the statement, to the ether I suppose, you want to know what freedom is, it is knowing your limits. I once asked myself a question: Am I free or am I a slave? I couldn't answer this with a simple statement. I had to define for myself what is freedom as well as what is slavery. My, my, I need to dig up my notes from when, when. Maybe I will write it out on Substack maybe not. Difficult subject. But it came to comparisons of lawful and lawless, selfish and selfless. Like much of my work, it is still a work in progress.
The hem. One way may lead one to find one's limits, the other may lead to a bottomless pit. These days, with trillion dollar budgets, who knows how far this will go. I'm guessing that we will discover this one way or another.
Another note, I tried to subscribe, as you know. There was trouble. I'll try again.
You clearly get it, and I'm glad I could provide some ideas for you to chew on. I certainly encourage you to write. It is a dying art and we desperately need to exercise humanity's greatest invention I think of a good essay as YouToob of the mind - you make your own pictures and sounds. Thanks for the great feedback. Always a welcome gift from readers.
I apologize for the subscription hassle. Substack only pays out to Stripe, and Stripe doesn't pay out to Indonesia, so I've been in a low-grade war with their AI answer bots, trying to get a human on the line. If you feel so inspired, might I suggest one of the alternatives below the column? I should mention that I don't yet have any special content for paid subscribers - it's all out here in the open. I am toying with some ideas like serialized novels, exclusive livestreams and community chats, and credit listings for "Producer" on videos I put out. I have a housekeeping column coming up to open discussions on this topic.
Thank you again! I am always deeply grateful to the readers for their enthusiastic support.
You truly do have a gift for writing. I just got back from a midweek hiking trip. No cell, service, no GPS, limited food carried. Certainly free. Having joined the military voluntarily many decades ago for the fun travel and adventure I soon realized the lie. It was in fact slavery in a totalitarian society. I saw many people who were broken by that system, while others revolted and managed to get out one way or another. The enticements of military life, free meals, clothing, education,travel, and pay with benefits. But the deal carries the knowledge of being an enforcer of rules against people who will kill to avoid having outsiders enslave them in the Borg. A few days ago one Aaron Bushnell found freedom from the US uniform by self Immolation over the situation of the Gaza Genocide. "The most enslaved peoples are those who believe they are free." We americans whether we admit it or not no longer, perhaps never had a Republic, we have a bureaucratic, kleptocracy, of military fascist corporatism, hidden behind the illusion of freedom.
Thank you for the compliment. I always appreciate knowing folks enjoy my scratchings.
Military...ugh. I very nearly joined the Air Force. They wanted me in the worst way, because I scored some mythical number on their aptitude test. Ultimately, my father, a WW2 vet, talked me out of it. Best thing he ever did.
Early on in the US, there was a frontier that offered an escape valve for those who found strict governance burdensome. Had I been around, I would have likely been out there on the bleeding edge. I don't get along with authority in any guise, though the monastic experience was quite different for a lot of reasons.
All government is oppression to one degree or another. It is certainly a den of thieves in any case. The US is by no means a Republic, and any vestiges were removed by the 16th, 17th and 23rd Amendments. There was wisdom in its conception, but without the death penalty for public servants who get out of hand, the only incentive is to bilk the peons. To date, the only enlightened form of governance I have encountered are in religious communities (Amish, Mennonites, monasteries, etc.). I believe the best government is in, of and for individual communities. Nation-States automatically devolve into totalitarian nightmares.
I don't know if you've been following the Amos Miller case in Pennsylvania, but the evil bastids have not only been attacking Amish farmers, but food freedom and especially raw milk. On a very different note, the Indonesian government is now levying import taxes on personal clothing and items brought back home by folks travelling, in order to "protect local production". Even personal property and travel freedom is under attack. We may be heading for a truly global revolution, if folks ever snap out of their slave-mindset.
That case is just the beginning IMO. If we don't stand together against the machine it will destroy us all 1 group at a time. The true domestic enemies and terrorists are those pulling the strings and jerking our chains.
Yes, they did have them, and I knew oil tycoons who had them as a status symbol, though they rarely used them because of the hassle. If I had had one, though, I would have missed the unique cultural experiences at the local telegraph offices. That's a tale of its own.
Not necessarily. There were many civilian comm sats by 1980. I believe it was Motorola that produced a sat phone back then. They were prevalent in the ole bidness, because the job sites were usually remote and the Big Wigs had money to burn.
Speaking as a former broadcast radio engineer and two-way radio technician, I have never seen Motorola's involvement in anything that got into low earth orbit. I spent 1.5 years installing, removing, and repairing hi-band and 450 mobile radio in use in manually-interconnected mobile telephone systems in southwestern Wyoming, in the early 1980s. The vast majority of our customers were petroleum exploration and production companies. wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_radio_telephone
I defer to your obviously superior experience. I do remember Motorola having a 9500 series sat phones, but whether they were available in 1980 I couldn't say. What I know if from businessmen with large expense accounts carrying around sat phones back when as a status symbol. Wouldn't surprise me if they had military contacts to get them.
Rufus: Ahhh, Tandy Leather. My friend Patrick and I would go to Tandy Leather back in Nebraska. We had a leather shop and made belts, hats, and leather things. We always thought it odd that a leather supplier would turn into Radio Shack.
A very good article written by RFS (Rufus). Free markets, voluntary contracts, meritocracy, and very little government (if any). Sound money helps, too.
Private property is the basis of all liberty starting with our bodies and minds.
I could never live in a monastery. Catholic Schools were bad enough.
I also tried the freedom/starvation route. It got boring.
My goal was to submit to the "game" long enough to make my "Fuck Off" money and become a hermit. I succeeded.
PS: I don't believe in enlightenment, just knowledge. And just when I'm getting close to knowing it all, the memory goes.
Fantastic! You are gifted. Someone who has known freedom(s) and Me and Bobby McGee. That is the first song I ever sang at a Karaoke night. Hemmed in indeed. The freedom experiences were a lack of authority at one end and unlimited submission to it on the other. In one case, the authority wasn't lacking though, as you alluded. It was your own body but more so the architecture of your body and the hunger of it. Nutrition being the overarching requirement. The hem. The requirement of food for your body versus the requirement of contact with anyone who gave a shit about your welfare. But you were the master of the choice. In the other case, you were fenced on one side by the authority that provided, and to all evidence, gave a shit about your welfare and all your needs were met. You were only bound on the other side to the hunger of your mind. The hem. Your thirst was still limited to the resources available. You didn't write of the breadth of choices you had in this respect. I'm thinking that with most monastaries, at least the Catholic ones, attempts were made to have them well equipped with literature. Yet, you were still the master of the choice of what course of Enlightenment might give you an appetite.
Your analysis of today's politics is well framed within the hems of your experience. A long time ago, I made the statement, to the ether I suppose, you want to know what freedom is, it is knowing your limits. I once asked myself a question: Am I free or am I a slave? I couldn't answer this with a simple statement. I had to define for myself what is freedom as well as what is slavery. My, my, I need to dig up my notes from when, when. Maybe I will write it out on Substack maybe not. Difficult subject. But it came to comparisons of lawful and lawless, selfish and selfless. Like much of my work, it is still a work in progress.
The hem. One way may lead one to find one's limits, the other may lead to a bottomless pit. These days, with trillion dollar budgets, who knows how far this will go. I'm guessing that we will discover this one way or another.
Another note, I tried to subscribe, as you know. There was trouble. I'll try again.
You clearly get it, and I'm glad I could provide some ideas for you to chew on. I certainly encourage you to write. It is a dying art and we desperately need to exercise humanity's greatest invention I think of a good essay as YouToob of the mind - you make your own pictures and sounds. Thanks for the great feedback. Always a welcome gift from readers.
I apologize for the subscription hassle. Substack only pays out to Stripe, and Stripe doesn't pay out to Indonesia, so I've been in a low-grade war with their AI answer bots, trying to get a human on the line. If you feel so inspired, might I suggest one of the alternatives below the column? I should mention that I don't yet have any special content for paid subscribers - it's all out here in the open. I am toying with some ideas like serialized novels, exclusive livestreams and community chats, and credit listings for "Producer" on videos I put out. I have a housekeeping column coming up to open discussions on this topic.
Thank you again! I am always deeply grateful to the readers for their enthusiastic support.
You truly do have a gift for writing. I just got back from a midweek hiking trip. No cell, service, no GPS, limited food carried. Certainly free. Having joined the military voluntarily many decades ago for the fun travel and adventure I soon realized the lie. It was in fact slavery in a totalitarian society. I saw many people who were broken by that system, while others revolted and managed to get out one way or another. The enticements of military life, free meals, clothing, education,travel, and pay with benefits. But the deal carries the knowledge of being an enforcer of rules against people who will kill to avoid having outsiders enslave them in the Borg. A few days ago one Aaron Bushnell found freedom from the US uniform by self Immolation over the situation of the Gaza Genocide. "The most enslaved peoples are those who believe they are free." We americans whether we admit it or not no longer, perhaps never had a Republic, we have a bureaucratic, kleptocracy, of military fascist corporatism, hidden behind the illusion of freedom.
Thank you for the compliment. I always appreciate knowing folks enjoy my scratchings.
Military...ugh. I very nearly joined the Air Force. They wanted me in the worst way, because I scored some mythical number on their aptitude test. Ultimately, my father, a WW2 vet, talked me out of it. Best thing he ever did.
Early on in the US, there was a frontier that offered an escape valve for those who found strict governance burdensome. Had I been around, I would have likely been out there on the bleeding edge. I don't get along with authority in any guise, though the monastic experience was quite different for a lot of reasons.
All government is oppression to one degree or another. It is certainly a den of thieves in any case. The US is by no means a Republic, and any vestiges were removed by the 16th, 17th and 23rd Amendments. There was wisdom in its conception, but without the death penalty for public servants who get out of hand, the only incentive is to bilk the peons. To date, the only enlightened form of governance I have encountered are in religious communities (Amish, Mennonites, monasteries, etc.). I believe the best government is in, of and for individual communities. Nation-States automatically devolve into totalitarian nightmares.
I am in full agreement. Today even the Amish and Mennonites are being pursued and persecuted by the evil that is hierarchial government.
I don't know if you've been following the Amos Miller case in Pennsylvania, but the evil bastids have not only been attacking Amish farmers, but food freedom and especially raw milk. On a very different note, the Indonesian government is now levying import taxes on personal clothing and items brought back home by folks travelling, in order to "protect local production". Even personal property and travel freedom is under attack. We may be heading for a truly global revolution, if folks ever snap out of their slave-mindset.
That case is just the beginning IMO. If we don't stand together against the machine it will destroy us all 1 group at a time. The true domestic enemies and terrorists are those pulling the strings and jerking our chains.
Nailed it. The whole divide and conquer tactic is doing just that - keeping us all at each other's throats so we can't put up a fight against them.
Terrorists indeed. In my old 1890s dictionary, "terrorism" was defined as something perpetrated by authorities to gain more power.
Too bad they didn't have satellite phones in 1980, outside of the backpack ones the military had.
Yes, they did have them, and I knew oil tycoons who had them as a status symbol, though they rarely used them because of the hassle. If I had had one, though, I would have missed the unique cultural experiences at the local telegraph offices. That's a tale of its own.
They would have been more likely to be MICIMATT complex tycoons than oil tycoons, given that they were most likely leasing the Pentagon's satellites.
Not necessarily. There were many civilian comm sats by 1980. I believe it was Motorola that produced a sat phone back then. They were prevalent in the ole bidness, because the job sites were usually remote and the Big Wigs had money to burn.
Speaking as a former broadcast radio engineer and two-way radio technician, I have never seen Motorola's involvement in anything that got into low earth orbit. I spent 1.5 years installing, removing, and repairing hi-band and 450 mobile radio in use in manually-interconnected mobile telephone systems in southwestern Wyoming, in the early 1980s. The vast majority of our customers were petroleum exploration and production companies. wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_radio_telephone
I defer to your obviously superior experience. I do remember Motorola having a 9500 series sat phones, but whether they were available in 1980 I couldn't say. What I know if from businessmen with large expense accounts carrying around sat phones back when as a status symbol. Wouldn't surprise me if they had military contacts to get them.
Motorola has always specialized in the handsets, not the satellites.
Rufus: I remember those old Motorola phones. They were very expensive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola
Android phones are the latest Motorola phone product. It's an odd company founded by two brothers back in the 1920s.
And Texans too. :) We always think big. They produced a lot of stuff for Tandy (Radio Shack) as well.
Rufus: Ahhh, Tandy Leather. My friend Patrick and I would go to Tandy Leather back in Nebraska. We had a leather shop and made belts, hats, and leather things. We always thought it odd that a leather supplier would turn into Radio Shack.
A very good article written by RFS (Rufus). Free markets, voluntary contracts, meritocracy, and very little government (if any). Sound money helps, too.
Private property is the basis of all liberty starting with our bodies and minds.
I could never live in a monastery. Catholic Schools were bad enough.
I also tried the freedom/starvation route. It got boring.
My goal was to submit to the "game" long enough to make my "Fuck Off" money and become a hermit. I succeeded.
PS: I don't believe in enlightenment, just knowledge. And just when I'm getting close to knowing it all, the memory goes.