I have found it most curious to observe the nearly universal acceptance of one of the most poisonous of the tacit assumptions upon which humans operate. It is that of the false dichotomy of security and freedom. I will henceforth refer to this as the "Secfree" fallacy, an ultimate lie that says one must choose between freedom and security. Secfree has enabled tyrants of every stripe to cow vast populations into accepting their caprice. Continuing as standard practice even today, few if any of the other tools in the tyrant's bag of tricks can boast of what appears to be a nearly perfect record of success, playing on the mid-brain fear of the individual that if they do not waive just a "smidge" of their freedoms, the boogieman is going to get them and do terrible, unspeakable things.
Secfree may in fact be the ultimate zero-sum belief.
However, as with so many other fallacies and outright lies, once exposed to the withering light of anything better than the most carelessly casual examination, the true nature of Secfree comes into sharp focus.
One of the bases upon which Secfree's success is founded is the deeply tacit assumption that there exists such a thing as a guaranty of security. As with so many other things in life, security is a purely statistical creature, which is to say that it is a game of numbers; of probabilities; likelihoods that some event will happen, or not. Anyone coming to another with smiles, offered handshakes, and promises of safety is either dangerously ignorant of the fundamental nature of life, psychotic as a pineapple, or is selling a bill of goods. Most often, my vote is for the latter.
Because of this nature, security can only be offered as a probability measure. A great and all-powerful "state" can do nothing to protect you when a twenty-mile long asteroid is bearing down upon one's head at ten miles per second. In such a circumstance, you and likely everyone you know is doomed. The same is true of far more mundane threats such as the sick and desperate junkie who is going to have your wallet, no matter what. Hellbent and deciding he will brook no resistance, such a man poses a threat against which no "state" or agent thereof may offer guaranty.
The old saw that says "feces happens" is perennially true. Nobody is able to guarantee anyone security, and yet there are those who are always willing to make the promise in any case. It should be borne in mind that regardless of the conscious reasons for making such promises, fair or foul, at the unconscious level there is always to be found the nut for he who does the promising: power over his fellows, willingly given.
Once the trick that is the exchange of freedom for a vaporous lie is discovered, recognized, accepted as real, and its nature understood, it quickly becomes clear that the one thing all Secfree peddlers seek, whether they are aware or will otherwise admit, is the power that the exchange brings to their pockets. It is human relations played as a strict zero-sum where "heads I win; tails you lose."
The other end of the exchange is easily understood for what it is: people want what they want, and are most often willing to sell their souls in order to have it no matter how absurd, self-defeating, and destructive the choice to procure may prove, even prima facie, often raining those results down upon those around them as well. The average man, what we may call the "Meaner", is sufficiently corrupted with fear and avarice that he will readily find a way to rationalize the destruction of his fellows for the sake of getting what he wants, in this case his hallowed security. The list of excuses people offer themselves to justify and excuse the ghastly things they allow to be done in their names is depressingly long, shameful, and utterly devoid of validity. The Meaner will often go so far as to decide that those who suffered for his choices probably deserved it anyway. Some humans.
Secfree results in the willful handing over of one's sacred birthright in exchange for the privilege of being able to lie to oneself that they are now safe. It is perhaps the most hideous absurdity of them all, no different in effect to taking one's life-savings in cash and setting to it gasoline and a lit match.
The deep irony there is this: freedom is the condition of human existence that offers the best numbers in the game of chance that we call "security". It may seem counter intuitive to a great many people, but once again the most meager effort to honestly dope out the logic chain demonstrates how it is true. A single, simple example, should provide most with enough on which to go such that they are able to continue asking the right questions.
For the sake of "security", the Secfree peddlers constantly spew the bait that we must eliminate guns because no civil society needs or wants them, and that if you give up your firearms, you will become safe. This, of course, is a bald-faced lie of pure brass. History has proven without any wiggle room for argument that no matter how strictly anything may be prohibited, no matter how draconian the punishments for non-compliance, there will always be those who can and will violate the prohibition, sometimes with nefarious intent. Subscribers to Secfree most often come to the defense of gun prohibition with the absurdly false argument that we don't need guns because police will see to our defense. In ever increasing measure, it is police who pose the greatest and most ubiquitous threats to our safety. Such irony.
Imagine the mugger, knife in hand, threatens your life if you do not give him the wallet. Sure, you could hand it over and count on his promise that he won't kill the only witness to his high crime, but do you really want to place the trust of your life, your First Property, into the hands of one willing to rob you in this manner? Will covertly dialing the police via E911 result in your deliverance from danger and back into the bosom of your beloved safety? As an old saying goes, "when seconds count, the police are only minutes away." On average, the best guarantor of one's safety is himself because third party defenders rarely appear out of thin-air and, when push comes to shove, may decide not to fight on your behalf because they, too, want to go home to their families at night.
Now consider the free society where men are at their leisure to arm themselves in anticipation of the unanticipated. When the mugger announces himself, you are free to hand it over if that is what you wish, perhaps even trusting your assailant will leave you in peace in your belief that a wallet and its contents are not worth killing someone. Or you may produce your weapon, leaving you the options of holding the criminal at bay either until police arrive, or you can affect your escape. Finally, in the case where Mr. Mugger decides to go for broke, you have at least the outside chance of shooting him down pursuant to the preservation of the life to which you hold just and valid title. It is clear that your menu of choice is far and away better when you are free, versus being subjugated under the rubric of Secfree.
Freedom provides a far greater options to everyone, with the recognition that in life nothing is guaranteed, most especially safety from harm. But reasonable assurances can be validly made in that respect, once again with freedom providing the greatest allowances for choice such that each individual may provide for himself as his abilities and valid means may enable him, and his predilections enjoin. One man chooses the gun, while another may decide upon a bodyguard, while others are free to remain content to ignore such issues altogether, confident that no evil shall ever befall them.
Freedom is not the mutually exclusive antagonist of security: it is security's greatest hope for realization.
It is my hope that people will consider what I have written here with an open mind, suspending both disbelief and hard feelings, as well as any apprehensions they may experience at the thought of being responsible for their own safety and security in what I believe we can all agree is a world where "authorities" are powerless to render aid to those in need. Do yourselves a great favor and take the plunge in a place of comfort such that you feel able to venture beyond your deeply held assumptions about such matters, and take a walk on the wild side.
My promise to you is that you can only benefit from this, regardless of outcome. And if perchance you feel the uncomfortable tingling that new truths often bring to the fringes of one's awareness, be brave and press onward, and deeply into it. Explore it as fully as you are able, no matter how scary or otherwise objectionable you may find it because I further promise that if you do this, you may come to a life altering moment because the more deeply and stridently one feels that objection, the more likely it becomes that the truth engendered there is important, the change to which most often results in healthy transformation. Always consider the possibility that in the end you may become a better and greater human being for it. At worst, you have confirmed your presently held beliefs and may at least then speak on such matters with better authority.
As always, please accept my best wishes.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Some New Rules For Police
Given how police tend to run amok, always dangerously and often murderously, it is clear that we the people, those to whom all cops swear an oath of fealty and faithful service, are obliged to set the conditions under which police may act, including the metes and bounds of such action, as well as the penalties they shall face in cases where they violate their oaths.
The new rules:
1. If a death occurs at police hands, all cops with immediate involvement are instantly put on unpaid leave for not less than one year, no exceptions. Any cop found to have been unjustifiably culpable for an on-duty death, his career is terminated as of the date of the injury event that lead to it. Beyond any criminal penalties that may be incurred, in addition the terminated cop may never again become a sworn agent for any establishment, state or federal. Furthermore, he is barred from holding any other government position, whether elected, appointed, hired, or contracted. These banishments are to stand for the remainder of the debarred party's life.
2. Any act of violence in which a cop has involvement, directly or otherwise, automatically places him off duty without pay until an investigation is conducted and concludes that he acted within acceptable limits. All such investigations are to be conducted by independent third parties; police are never to be allowed to investigate themselves.
3. Upon the occurrence of violent action, the officer in question is to be placed into an isolation cell and held without communication until the investigative body is convened and is ready to hear testimony. No lawyers are allowed to represent the officer. An isolated officer is to have no access to any material objects whatsoever, except food and water. They are debarred access to writing paraphernalia, electronic or otherwise. All officers within 500 feet proximity to the officer in question are to have their video recorders turned on. If the have no such device, they are to leave the scene immediately and report to their headquarters. Failure in either case shall place the officers so failing on immediate termination with loss of all benefits and retirement, and they shall become lifetime-ineligible for any job with any government agency as per section one. They shall furthermore face criminal charges by special prosecutor with a minimum sentence of one year in state prison, general population, and up to three years.
4. All evidence of police action is to be presented to a grand jury. No police involvement beyond testimony is to be allowed, nor are any attorneys from any agency, public or private, to be admitted to such proceedings except as observers.
5. Any invocation of the Fifth Amendment by an officer under such investigation results in automatic dismissal of the officer and life-long banishments. per section one The investigative panel is restricted in its questioning to relevant queries only. Any off-topic questions shall place the questioner in peril of felony charges for which the minimum sentence shall be one year in state prison, general population.
6. Any police convicted of committing murder while on duty shall be automatically sentenced to death, sentence to be carried out within 4 hours of the failure of the final appeal. In any case where sentence is overturned, sentence shall be commuted to life in prison without possibility of parole, in general population. No exceptions.
7. Every police department shall have in place an Oversight Board comprised of non-police members. Board members will tenure for two years with no salary and may have no connection to police, whether through family, business, or any other avenue. Upon the good conclusion of the term of service, the member will be ineligible to serve again for 5 years. Members shall serve only upon sworn oath of duty and a surety bond, to be held in trust by a reliable third party that is not a governmental agency. Members shall have full access to any and all police documents, communiqués, and all other information related to operations, occurrences, officer data, policies, and so forth.
9. Any willful failure by a Board member to cooperate in such investigations shall result in immediate dismissal from the Board and the ineligibility to serve again for the remainder of the dismissed party's life on any such Board and shall be subject to the banishments of section one. Barring extraordinary extenuating circumstances, such failures shall be taken as a prima facie admission of having committed a felony in violation of sworn oath, and shall result in not less than one year in prison per count, general population.
10. The results of investigations of board members may result in criminal charges being brought in the case where criminal action has been established. Such charges are to be handed to a special prosecutor. Local prosecutors shall be prohibited from pursuing such matters. In the event of a special prosecutor's failure to fulfill his duty to pursue criminal charges in a proper and timely manner, his duties shall be stripped and bestowed upon another. A citizen's petition of 200 signatures or 20% of the community population, whichever is smaller, demanding the dismissal of the special prosecutor for cause, where such relates to prosecutorial misconduct of any sort, including but not limited to vigor, shall be granted upon establishment with a new prosecutor assigned to the task. The outgoing prosecutor shall be subject to investigation by both public and private parties with full exposure for any and all torts, equity failures, and criminal liabilities attaching to the failure of duty. All relevant materials and information relating to the investigations for which the defrocked special prosecutor was liable are to be made available to all investigators, failure to do so constituting for any reason whatsoever to constitute a class-A felony for which each count of conviction shall bring not less than ten (10) years at hard labor or solitary confinement.
11. The purpose of the oversight Board shall be to scrutinize and investigate all police operations, as well as department policy and personnel performance from chief downward. Department policy shall become effective only upon the approval of the Board, said Board being fully, utterly, and personally accountable to the members of the community they represent. The Board shall have the authority to investigate any and all police activities including documentation such as internal reports. They shall have supervised access to all evidence relating to criminal investigations, open or closed. Any conflicts of interest between a Board member and an open police investigation shall disqualify that Board member from investigations of police conduct.
12. The Board shall have the authority to dismiss any member of the police department for cause, pursuant to and in accord with standard guidelines. The officers in question shall have no recourse, but a citizen's petition of 100 signatures or 34% of a community's population, whichever is larger, calling for further examination of the Board's dismissal shall be granted and the decision reconsidered for possible errors in judgment, evidence, etc.
13. The destruction of any evidence relating to a police-involved incident, regardless of nature of said incident or whether said evidence is damning or exculpatory, shall constitute a class-A felony breach of the Public Trust, shall result in mandatory charges, and shall be punished with not less than five years imprisonment per count, general population.
14. Any and all convictions resulting from breaches of the Public Trust by any government official, employee, or contractor, will result in the disparagement of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms for not less than five years after lapse of sentence, no exceptions.
This is how we begin to regain control over police who, at this time, have control over us. Righteous men who choose this profession should have no problem with any of this. The rest... they are most welcome to pursue employment better suited to their characters, such as pushing a broom or scraping road kill off the county byways.
If there is any place where "zero tolerance" may be said to make the least sense, this would be it.
The new rules:
1. If a death occurs at police hands, all cops with immediate involvement are instantly put on unpaid leave for not less than one year, no exceptions. Any cop found to have been unjustifiably culpable for an on-duty death, his career is terminated as of the date of the injury event that lead to it. Beyond any criminal penalties that may be incurred, in addition the terminated cop may never again become a sworn agent for any establishment, state or federal. Furthermore, he is barred from holding any other government position, whether elected, appointed, hired, or contracted. These banishments are to stand for the remainder of the debarred party's life.
2. Any act of violence in which a cop has involvement, directly or otherwise, automatically places him off duty without pay until an investigation is conducted and concludes that he acted within acceptable limits. All such investigations are to be conducted by independent third parties; police are never to be allowed to investigate themselves.
3. Upon the occurrence of violent action, the officer in question is to be placed into an isolation cell and held without communication until the investigative body is convened and is ready to hear testimony. No lawyers are allowed to represent the officer. An isolated officer is to have no access to any material objects whatsoever, except food and water. They are debarred access to writing paraphernalia, electronic or otherwise. All officers within 500 feet proximity to the officer in question are to have their video recorders turned on. If the have no such device, they are to leave the scene immediately and report to their headquarters. Failure in either case shall place the officers so failing on immediate termination with loss of all benefits and retirement, and they shall become lifetime-ineligible for any job with any government agency as per section one. They shall furthermore face criminal charges by special prosecutor with a minimum sentence of one year in state prison, general population, and up to three years.
4. All evidence of police action is to be presented to a grand jury. No police involvement beyond testimony is to be allowed, nor are any attorneys from any agency, public or private, to be admitted to such proceedings except as observers.
5. Any invocation of the Fifth Amendment by an officer under such investigation results in automatic dismissal of the officer and life-long banishments. per section one The investigative panel is restricted in its questioning to relevant queries only. Any off-topic questions shall place the questioner in peril of felony charges for which the minimum sentence shall be one year in state prison, general population.
6. Any police convicted of committing murder while on duty shall be automatically sentenced to death, sentence to be carried out within 4 hours of the failure of the final appeal. In any case where sentence is overturned, sentence shall be commuted to life in prison without possibility of parole, in general population. No exceptions.
7. Every police department shall have in place an Oversight Board comprised of non-police members. Board members will tenure for two years with no salary and may have no connection to police, whether through family, business, or any other avenue. Upon the good conclusion of the term of service, the member will be ineligible to serve again for 5 years. Members shall serve only upon sworn oath of duty and a surety bond, to be held in trust by a reliable third party that is not a governmental agency. Members shall have full access to any and all police documents, communiqués, and all other information related to operations, occurrences, officer data, policies, and so forth.
8. Any behavior by Board members in violation of their sworn oaths of duty shall be investigated by an external agency. In addition, a citizens' petition for such an investigation, having either at least fifty signatures or a number representing 10% or more of the community's population, whichever is smaller, shall bring such investigations to bear. There shall be no governmental power to stop or otherwise thwart or interfere with such an investigation. Any attempts to interfere with such an investigation by any government official, whether elected, appointed, employed, assigned, or otherwise demonstrated by preponderance of evidence as being an agent of said government, shall themselves face felony charges, the conviction pursuant to which shall result in not less than five years at hard labor per count.
9. Any willful failure by a Board member to cooperate in such investigations shall result in immediate dismissal from the Board and the ineligibility to serve again for the remainder of the dismissed party's life on any such Board and shall be subject to the banishments of section one. Barring extraordinary extenuating circumstances, such failures shall be taken as a prima facie admission of having committed a felony in violation of sworn oath, and shall result in not less than one year in prison per count, general population.
10. The results of investigations of board members may result in criminal charges being brought in the case where criminal action has been established. Such charges are to be handed to a special prosecutor. Local prosecutors shall be prohibited from pursuing such matters. In the event of a special prosecutor's failure to fulfill his duty to pursue criminal charges in a proper and timely manner, his duties shall be stripped and bestowed upon another. A citizen's petition of 200 signatures or 20% of the community population, whichever is smaller, demanding the dismissal of the special prosecutor for cause, where such relates to prosecutorial misconduct of any sort, including but not limited to vigor, shall be granted upon establishment with a new prosecutor assigned to the task. The outgoing prosecutor shall be subject to investigation by both public and private parties with full exposure for any and all torts, equity failures, and criminal liabilities attaching to the failure of duty. All relevant materials and information relating to the investigations for which the defrocked special prosecutor was liable are to be made available to all investigators, failure to do so constituting for any reason whatsoever to constitute a class-A felony for which each count of conviction shall bring not less than ten (10) years at hard labor or solitary confinement.
11. The purpose of the oversight Board shall be to scrutinize and investigate all police operations, as well as department policy and personnel performance from chief downward. Department policy shall become effective only upon the approval of the Board, said Board being fully, utterly, and personally accountable to the members of the community they represent. The Board shall have the authority to investigate any and all police activities including documentation such as internal reports. They shall have supervised access to all evidence relating to criminal investigations, open or closed. Any conflicts of interest between a Board member and an open police investigation shall disqualify that Board member from investigations of police conduct.
12. The Board shall have the authority to dismiss any member of the police department for cause, pursuant to and in accord with standard guidelines. The officers in question shall have no recourse, but a citizen's petition of 100 signatures or 34% of a community's population, whichever is larger, calling for further examination of the Board's dismissal shall be granted and the decision reconsidered for possible errors in judgment, evidence, etc.
13. The destruction of any evidence relating to a police-involved incident, regardless of nature of said incident or whether said evidence is damning or exculpatory, shall constitute a class-A felony breach of the Public Trust, shall result in mandatory charges, and shall be punished with not less than five years imprisonment per count, general population.
14. Any and all convictions resulting from breaches of the Public Trust by any government official, employee, or contractor, will result in the disparagement of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms for not less than five years after lapse of sentence, no exceptions.
This is how we begin to regain control over police who, at this time, have control over us. Righteous men who choose this profession should have no problem with any of this. The rest... they are most welcome to pursue employment better suited to their characters, such as pushing a broom or scraping road kill off the county byways.
If there is any place where "zero tolerance" may be said to make the least sense, this would be it.
As always, please accept my best wishes.
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