Dr. J.R.R. Tolkien is the most important fantasy writer in all of history and the most important writer of the 20th century. His two most famous works – “The Hobbit” and its sequel trilogy “The Lord of The Rings” – are the foundation of the entire fantasy genre. The themes and ideas of his writings have captivated people for almost a century now and nowhere is his keen insight into the nature of humanity, history, and society better demonstrated than in his writings about government and what we would today called the State. Tolkien in his own private letters identified himself as an anarchist. In this article I will be exploring exactly what he meant by calling himself an anarchist, why we should be paying attention to his insights about government, and the economic ideals he championed, which are fundamentally free market in nature. Using his public works and his private letters as sources, I will demonstrate that Tolkien was, in modern terms, an anarcho-capitalist.
Category: Economics
Why The Minimum Wage Has Never Worked, Will Never Work, And Only Devastates Poor People
The minimum wage is a hot topic right now with a lot of ill-informed people having very loud opinions about what it should or shouldn’t be and what the government should or shouldn’t do. As Latter-day Saints we are of course drawn into the discussion because we, as a matter of commandment, have been directed by the Lord to care for the poor and needy, to uplift the sick and afflicted, to lift up the heads that hang low, and to strengthen the feeble knees of those ready to collapse under life’s burdens. But, caught up in the tumult of political opinion, many of us have no idea what we should or shouldn’t do regarding a great many things, including the minimum wage.
This article is meant to address that by looking at the effects of the minimum wage on poverty, jobs, prices, monetary value, income inequality, and its roots as a racist practice designed to cripple the ability of minorities and women to care for themselves and their communities. After looking at all the evidence of history the conclusion becomes inescapable – the minimum wage is a racist policy designed to destroy the ability of poor people, especially minorities, to be able to care for themselves or improve their lives and that if we want to actually help everyone in society, including helping those in need, we must take drastic action to rein in government actions, including abolishing the minimum wage.
The Great Dangers of Democratic Socialism to Minorities
There is a lot written about the titanic failures of Socialism and I’m sure more will be written in the years to come. But, thanks in part to the fetishization of democracy and the propaganda fed into the minds of people that convinces them of the lie that all you need in order to have a just, equal, free, and prosperous society is to “enhance democracy” within it, there is not enough written about the grave dangers of democratic socialism. And I use the term grave here exactly because that is where most minority peoples would end up in a democratic socialist society – in the grave. Every genocide, every act of slavery, every war crime, every act of segregation, every act of apartheid, every act of systemic oppression has always been a public, democratic, popular endeavor. Placing within the hands of a majority the power to do whatever it wills has been and always will be a disaster. This article is about how “democratic socialism” does nothing but exacerbate these threats to the lives and liberties of those weakest in any society – its racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.
Review- Robert Heinlein’s “Job: A Comedy of Justice”
In this first entry in my irregular book review series, I sit down to review Robert A. Heinlein’s “Job: A Comedy of Justice.” Heinlein is considered one of the greatest science-fiction writers in history whose influence can be felt all across the spectrum of Western culture, including in art, television, books, and literature. His writings explore ideas of individualism, society, community, faith, religion, sex, and human rights.
In “Job: A Comedy of Justice,” Heinlein adapts the classic biblical poem of Job into a modern tale set in the late 90s where a man and woman are being hurled through parallel universes at random as reality begins to collapse in the face of the oncoming End of Days and Final Judgment. In my review I cover the story of the book itself, examine the ideas of liberty and human rights that story espouses, study Heinlein’s prose, and evaluate how Heinlein’s need to proselytize for his own radical religious and sexual ideals affects the character and storytelling.
This book has Heinlein at his best and his worst and I explore it all.
The Insidious Ways That Governments Use Propaganda To Control You
Over the last year I have written repeatedly on the different ways that governments utilize propaganda to manipulate the public into obeying those in power even when such obedience violates the individual’s basic humanity, his or her basic human rights. Yet, I am still left me lacking an explanation for how propaganda is used to manufacture the consent of the masses to taking part in a system that is built to profit the very few rich and powerful political and corporate leaders at the top at the cost of all the rest of us.
I couldn’t understand why people have fetishized democracy as if merely having a system of elections would protect people from those in power while ignoring the ideals and values that make democracy anything other than the choosing of a new dictator every four to six years. I could not understand how something like the Deep State/Double Government could develop in the most fervently democratic age in human history.
That changed once I was exposed to the book Propaganda by Edward Bernays. An experienced propagandist himself, having produced propaganda for the US government during World War I, Bernays literally wrote a book about how the government uses propaganda in times of peace to “engineer the consent” of the masses and to secure their obedience to those in power.
In this article I delve into his book and pull out some choice excerpts that can helps us to understand the ways that the masses are indoctrinated with government propaganda without realizing it, how the government uses propaganda to manipulate and control the masses, and what we can do about it. This one is an eye-opener for everyone, no matter what your political or religious beliefs.
A Diverse Set of Warmongers and Authoritarians – Assessing The Joe Biden Administration
While Democrats are fawning over Joe Biden assembling the most physically diverse Presidential Cabinet in history, the real question is repeatedly begged and ignored. Sure, their skin tones are different and some of these people have different sets of genitals than the others, but just how diverse are they where it really matters? Where do they stand on the issues that are currently wrecking the nation and destroying people’s lives? Skin color doesn’t matter if they’re all authoritarians and warmongers. After all, no one is going to be happier that the boot stomping down on their face or the guy ordering the bombing of their school, was a transgender woman and not the typical white straight male. Their lives will still be destroyed and their families will still be slaughtered. So, are these people truly diverse or are they the same old brutalists in suits and heels who have always ran the show? In this article I explore the backgrounds of numerous Biden Administration officials and what their positions and past actions tells about Biden’s plans for the future.
The Psychological Origins of The State
Typically when discussing politics and the origins of political movements, countries, and ideas one defaults to history as a way to explain and understand what has happened in society. This obviously makes a great deal of sense as it helps us to see where some movement or idea has come from, how it has functioned in the past, how it is effecting the world today, and to theorize about what most likely will happen in the future due to its influence. But, as a means of actually understanding the whys and wherefores of these issues the historical method can only produce half answers. History cannot tell us what it is about the human condition that leads us to making the choices we do, it cannot explain what about the human mind leads us to doing the things that we do. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t do so. In fact, I recently completed a series of articles looking at the origins of the State that does just that – it examines the psychological origins of the State, what about the human mind leads people towards Statism. This is a collection of those articles in a single place.
The Lockdowns Are Killing Us
We have repeatedly been told that if you do not support the state ordered lockdowns then you oppose science, hate your grandparents, and want people to die. Well, the results of the lockdowns are starting to become too obvious for this delusion to hold up. Reality is setting in and no matter of vitriolic propaganda or perpetuated ignorance can disguise the truth any longer. The lockdowns have devastated the mental health of millions of people and suicides are skyrocketing across the planet. The fear, terror, and anxiety induced by the vulgar and ignorant media coverage of the virus coupled with the government ordered lockdowns which have turned billions of free people into prisoners in their own home have resulted in mass riots in dozens of cities all over the Earth. The elderly are dying from the misery and isolation caused by the lockdowns and have started protesting, demanding their rights to see their loved ones returned. Scientific studies are being released that prove the lockdowns didn’t reduce deaths from Covid-19 no matter how strict the procedures were, meaning the lockdowns have only killed people. Challenges to the legality of the lockdowns and the ability to enforce them have begun to spring up. No matter where you look, one thing is again and again proven an absolute fact: the lockdowns are a complete failure that have done nothing but destroy lives and kill people and must be ended immediately, without delay.
Why I Am A Radical (And Why You Should Be, Too!)
I am often asked why I feel that I have to be so radical in my positions. Cannot I not moderate my views and make compromises in order to win immediate political victories? The answer is a resounding, “NO!” And this article is the reason why. It is an explanation of why compromising, often presented as some virtue, is in fact an evil that has wrought nothing but misery for millions of people and why I am a radical who refuses to abandon the morality and truths that I know and why you shouldn’t either. This is why we should all be radicals and why being a radical is the only way to make the world a better place.
How Mormonism Can Change The World
What would a society where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of the major influences on everything look like? How would it function? What would it mean for rich people? For poor people? For property owners? For homeless people? For politicians? For the public? What would it look like in terms of sex, marriage, and children? What would its economy look like? If we could carry out a generations long experiment with the effects of Mormonism on a nation, what would be the end results and how would they stack up against other places with such a heavy Latter-day Saint influence? Our critics would have us believe that it would be a dystopian nightmare. Are they right? What proof otherwise do we have? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot.