October 2018 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

[WAR] The ministry of truth: NATO liberation of Libya, 2011
by Zenaan Harkness 29 Jun '20

29 Jun '20

If the following were not true, we'd be incredulous that someone would propose such an unbelievable and lame movie plot. Sadly, this is what North America and NATO stand for. I Thought NATO “Liberated” Libya in 2011? http://journal-neo.org/2016/08/04/i-thought-nato-liberated-libya-in-2011/ “Operation Unified Protector is one of the most successful in NATO’s history… We have done this together for the people of Libya, so they can take their future firmly and safely into their own hands. Libyans have now liberated their country. And they have transformed the region. This is their victory” - Former NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, speaking in October, 2011. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_80052.htm “In Libya, the death of Muammar al-Qaddafi showed that our role in protecting the Libyan people, and helping them break free from a tyrant, was the right thing to do” – US President, Barack Obama, speakingin October, 2011. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-obama-foreignpolicy-idUSTRE79L0MH20111023 “I am proud to stand here on the soil of a free Tripoli and on behalf of the American people I congratulate Libya. This is Libya’s moment, this is Libya’s victory, the future belongs to you” – Former US Secretary of State and Democratic Nominee for President, Hillary Clinton, speaking in October, 2011. https://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/19/172519.html On August the 1st, US warplanes bombed Islamic State (IS/ISIS/ISIL) targets in the Libyan city of Sirte, almost exactly five years after Western imperialists declared NATO’s 2011 war in Libya a complete success. http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/17/nato-s-humanitarian-intervention-in-libya… These strikes are not the first conducted by the US in Libya this year, in a broader campaign that is officially aimed at defeating an enemy that the US had a major hand in creating in the first place (I’m sure the military-industrial complex isn’t complaining however). Peter Cook, the Pentagon’s Press Secretary, said in a statement released on the 1st of August in relation to the strikes that: http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/881794/… “Today, at the request of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), the United States military conducted precision air strikes [which is Orwellian/Pentagon-speak for dropping bombs (not uncommonly on civilians)] against ISIL targets in Sirte, Libya, to support GNA-affiliated forces seeking to defeat ISIL in its primary stronghold in Libya… The U.S. stands with the international community in supporting the GNA as it strives to restore stability and security to Libya.” Wait a minute though, have I missed something? I thought Libya was “liberated” in 2011 and the country is now a beacon of ‘freedom and democracy’ for the Middle East and North Africa? Are the Libyan people not enjoying being “free from a tyrant;” similar to the liberty the Syrian people will experience if Assad the ‘tyrant’ is overthrown and the country is handed over to al-Qaeda? Since the future belonged to the Libyan people in 2011, is the country not a vibrant and prosperous democracy today? Is Libya not one of the major hubs of the Mediterranean, with trade booming and flocks of tourists travelling from across the world to sample the delights of the country – from the fascinating culture of the indigenous people to the stunning (I must admit) Roman ruins? I thought the standard of living for the average Libyan was much higher than it was before the tyrant was deposed? Is Libya not helping to build the African continent up to try and alleviate the millions of people who live in poverty? I thought the “most successful” campaign in NATO’s history meant that terrorism could not gain a foothold in the country, considering the Western alliance spends the majority of its time (after antagonising Russia that is) talking about fighting terrorism? I thought NATO’s love-bombs only hit the baddies, and never killed or maimed any civilians? Are the Libyan people not enjoying the fruits of another Western foreign policy success story? Are the Libyan people not enjoying the stability that always follows a Western war of aggression? I thought the Libyan “kinetic military action” was yet another triumphant imperial endeavour, just like Afghanistan, Iraq and the numerous other countries that were lucky to be the targets of Western ‘humanitarian’ forces? Steven MacMillan is an independent writer, researcher, geopolitical analyst and editor of The Analyst Report, http://www.theanalystreport.net/ especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”. http://journal-neo.org/

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Personal Black Box?
by jim bell 23 Jun '20

23 Jun '20

A few weeks ago, I got done binge-watching every episode of NCIS, and am now up to Season 4 of Criminal Minds. Naturally, this induces a bit of what I'll call cinematic paranoia. In what seems to be a majority of episodes, a victim gets attacked, usually ends up dead, and the plucky investigators are stuck trying to figure out what happened. Naturally, they usually do, but only after about 45 minutes of high-tension showtime. It occurs to me that what people may need, for physical security, would be what might be called a "personal black box", analogous to an airplane flight recorder. Or, a civilian version of a cop's body-cam. Any modern smartphone would have the basics of such a device: A high-resolution camera, microphone, and a huge amount of storage. And a quick 911-call if necessary. The mere possession and use of such a device would probably deter the large majority of potential attackers. And even if it does not completely protect a given user, it would allow far more easy identification of the perpetrator. Parts of this, of course, are not a new idea. https://www.sparkfun.com/news/702 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/gadgets-and-gear/gadgets/your-ow… https://www.zdnet.com/article/fitbit-activity-data-as-evidence-in-court-wea… https://www.medgadget.com/2005/08/cpod_a_personal.html https://newatlas.com/australia-black-box-flight-recorder-soldiers/51267/ However, storage is not enough: In use, in some instances, an attacker would presumably be aware enough to take or break the device, so some sort of continuous or discontinuous upload of the data could be done, to be available no matter what else happens. Say, a frame per second when nothing seems to be happening, and a greater rate when triggered somehow. Could a heart-rate monitor be employed, sensed one axis of the phone's accelerometers? Or if the wearer falls down? Or if a sufficiently-loud noise is heard, etc. Or if a trigger-word is spoken a la Siri? Can the data transfer be made economical? Even an average of 1 megabit/second would be over one gigabyte during a 3 hour usage per day. That's substantially greater than most people currently use. One possibility is that the phone could upload the data to the cell phone company, where it could be "parked" for a few seconds or minutes. If nothing happens to the phone to cause a trigger (some sort of attack) the phone could instruct the cell phone company to abandon the data. Conversely, if a trigger occurs, the cell phone company would move 100% of the data to a backup system for later retrieval. Presumably, the cell phone company would offer discounted rates for such transfers, and only offer that service if the local service is sufficiently unloaded at that moment. Jim Bell

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Write Ross Ulbricht
by grarpamp 17 May '20

17 May '20

https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/85y9im/ross_ulbricht_turns_34_on_marc…

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Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is DEAD!!!
by jim bell 17 May '20

17 May '20

What a relief!!!Thank heavens for leaks!!! Jim Bell

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[RUS] Who split Germany after WW2?
by Zenaan Harkness 11 May '20

11 May '20

Most us propagandized flunkies in the inglorious West don't actually know our history. For those who appreciate a quick catch up here and there, read it and empathize: http://russiafeed.com/divided-germany-cold-war-washington-moscow/ Who divided Germany during the Cold War – Washington or Moscow? The Soviet proposal for a neutral, united Germany was refused by the West, in order to create their own puppet state by Nikolay Starikov December 8, 2017, 12:17 pm

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"democracy" vs Monarchy - the Russian conversation
by Zenaan Harkness 18 Apr '20

18 Apr '20

Modern "democracy" makes its own extremely strong case against itself. "Monarchy" is just one form "benevolent dictatorship", when it works, but is anything but benevolent when it doesn't work. Hereditary monarchy consistently descends into something as bad as "democracy" is today. Personality cult worship is also a societal pathology. Putin actually did save Russia from total disintegration (to the great chagrin of Harvard's "economic shock therapy" oligarch creators) - and a significant percentage of the Russian population bemoans that Putin "did not go far enough" (in putting unethical oligarchs in jail for instance). Although the lie we've been fed for decades that "democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest" has lead many away from the path of critical thinking about our Western system and how it is used to dominate us, the truth is that this quotable quote contains an assumption at its core underlying that lie, which also leads people astray, "that government is something important, necessary". Mechanisms of conflict resolution are what's needed. Government is one form of conflict resolution, notwithstanding the tyranny of the majority/ the mob, the tyranny of the minority, and the usurpation of not only government, but any and every form of shared common delusion or collective concensus agreement - there are always problems to solve. And yes, we've never had a real anarchy, or a real libertarian or direct democracy. BUT, we have had "relatively benevolent" benevolent dictators - in the modern floss world, Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman and others, and throughout history, some of the rulers have been, from the point of view of their citizens, generally, and genuinely, benevolent - not the majority I presume, but certainly some. So benevolent dictatorship - if you truly have an actually benevolent dictator at the top - is one of the most constructive and functional societal arrangements, as long as the various forms of descent into tyranny are successfully guarded against - hereditary right does not make logical sense and history shows us it readily descends into tyranny (old Roman empire, many Monarchies). One could be cautiously hopeful that Russia will carry through with its excellent "democratic" threat of Etherium based public ledger, publicly auditable national voting, and even more to eventually put everything to the vote - a true direct democracy (as Malcolm always says, at least the people would have only their collective selves to blame, for every law and clause). Now although we in The West are supremely enlightened since 400 years and view the world eminently objectively from unassailable glass towers << COUGH >> << COUGH >>, with our deeply nuanced understanding and abiding and unconditional empathy for our Russian brothers <<...>>, we immediately understand not only why they (rightly I would say) view Putin as a benevolent dictator and somewhat of a saviour of all Russia and Christendom, but carry some not insignificant concern for the day, roughly 6.5 years from now, when Putin steps down from his benevolent dictator role. Our Russkie brethren have a significantly more vibrant public discussion (a bit unbalanced in some ways, and very different to what we see in the pathological Western MSM), and one which is naturally drawn from their very rich (as in interesting) past, thus the real and significant desire of a portion of the Russian population to return to Monarchy (see below). In a very real sense this shift is unstoppable, just as the Christian revival is unstoppable in Russia (they are STILL opening on average 3 new churches a day, day in, day out, and have for a few years now) - since as some (<cough>Razer<cough>) have utterly failed to grasp, that which you try to (or temporarily successfully) suppress, be it the Huwaite Nazis or the Russian Orthodox Churches, you do nothing but strengthen the backlash when it comes. The cycle (the resolution of the existential crisis sweeping the globe, both Eurasian and Western) is likely not back to Monarchy, as the path of the awareness and realisation of sovereignty in this reality has gone thusly: God/Creator -> Monarchs -> Man (the individual) -> _ _ _ _ The natural or cyclical progression is something other than "back to Kings and Queens" - the majority simply won't give up their dawning sovereignty, and so some other resolution is inevitable. Since vesting sovereignty in the individual, in Man, has actually yet to be really done, that is what must eventuate, notwithstanding the vehement and violent opposition from the oligarchs who rabidly continue to attempt to suppress the sovereignty of the vast majority of individuals in their unbalanced and relentless pursuit of "more power" which journey, of itself, can never conclude except by suppression of everyone except for a single individual - Atlas Shrugged must be read for those who fail to grasp this simple conclusion. In other words, we are still in the transition from the ultimate power of the Earthly Monarch, to vesting sovereignty in Man, the individual. The glorification of the individual, as seen so strongly in the West, carries its own psychoses and societal pathologies (also seen widely in the West), yet before a different journey can begin, we seem bound to play out the present one to its conclusion - and the struggle for sovereignty (its true vesting in the individual) is now a very small step away - technologically, direct democracy is almost trivial today, requiring nothing more than a little leadership and collective will in this direction, and Russia's Ethereum-based voting looks to be the first solid step on this journey. Don't worry though - the individual quest for meaning and significance shall continue, and once the extreme vesting of sovereignty in the individual is (shortly - over the next decade) attained, then discovery and pursuit of the next step in the evolution of mankind shall begin - seeking the deepest understandings and experiences within the nature of our existence, consciousness and its source, and the mystery of the matrix of this particular "reality" within which we find ourselves - for want of words, that search for the divine, for "the Creator", for "God" - but this time by "going within" rather than settling for the mediation of the priest, the imam, or the medicine man. Nikola Tesla (not Nickola) spoke/ wrote quite poignantly to the art (science?) of contemplation and its use in the pursuit of creativity, knowledge, and manifestation in reality - in some ways he was quite the modern exemplar of this journey. May you find that which Soul seeks for itself, ** Democracy Is Fraud! - We Need Monarchy! - Hugely Popular Russian Priest on Top TV Show ( Dmitry Smirnov) https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Mark Boden on Sun, Feb 25, 2018 Dmitry Smirnov is one of the best known priests in Russia and has a very large following. He is ubiquitous on television, radio, and YouTube, where his videos frequently get 100s of 1000s of views on his channel. (Russian only). He is a brilliant public speaker and excellent at debate, known for his sharp wit and quick comebacks. He is especially loved for his sermons, which are all on his YouTube channel, and is by far the most popular preacher in Russia. ** The Coming War to End All Wars https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Ed Curtin on Sun, Feb 25, 2018 “The compulsive hatred of Putin by many who have almost zero idea about Putin or Russian history is disproportionate to any rational analysis, but not surprising. Trump and Putin are like weird doppelgangers in the liberal imagination.” —John Steppling, “Trump, Putin, and Nikolas Cruz Walk into a Bar” ** If America Wasn’t America, the United States Would Be Bombing It https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Darius Shahtahmasebi on Sun, Feb 25, 2018 On January 8, 2018, former government advisor Edward Luttwak wrote an opinion piece for Foreign Policy titled “It’s Time to Bomb North Korea.” Luttwak’s thesis is relatively straightforward. There is a government out there that may very soon acquire nuclear-weapons capabilities, and this country cannot be trusted to responsibly handle such a stockpile. The responsibility to protect the world from a rogue nation cannot be argued with, and we understandably have a duty to ensure the future of humanity. ** The Guardian Is Right – Ghouta Is 'Syria’s Srebrenica' https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Catte on Sun, Feb 25, 2018 Simon Tisdall’s latest fact-lite, emotionally manipulative lament that the West isn’t doing enough to save the lovely terrorists in Syria makes one unintentionally accurate claim. “Eastern Ghouta,” he says “is turning into Syria’s Srebrenica.” We agree with him on this, but not for the reasons he offers in his article. Let’s remind ourselves about the real story of Srebrenica and the wider context of the break up of Yugoslavia. Srebrenica didn’t happen in a vacuum. It was part of the “civil war” that shattered the former Yugoslavia into warring regions. NATO supported the civil war and encouraged the secession of Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. It saw chaos in the region as advantageous to its interests.

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[RUS] Yolo's money shot^Bquote — “I would still like to at least get some facts supporting our unsuccessful meddling.”
by Zenaan Harkness 22 Mar '20

22 Mar '20

Oh how we love a good troll. And All the better when it's a troll stating a fact. And on the international stage, Sergei "Yolo" Lavrov is a troll on a roll, at the top of his game (+ with a number of other Russkie public figures to be frank) - a great time in history for the comedy connoisseur. ** Watch Russian FM Call British FM a Liar To His Face - He's Absolutely Right (Video) https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Michael Bateman on Fri, Dec 22, 2017 Oh what a tangled web we weave, when at first we practice to deceive ... Lavrov is on a roll here. Three weeks ago he, correctly, called US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley a liar, albeit, not to her face. Watch Boris Johnson bumble through this embarrassing exchange with Lavrov in Moscow yesterday. One thing we can say about Trump, he appears to be speeding up the end game, leaving foreign and military policy essentially to the war hawks - whether this is a good or a bad thing is debatable, but more war is certainly not less war, and more guns and bombs does not mean less shooting and deaths: ** Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US Are About to Invade Syria - Brace For Impact https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Alexander Orlov on Fri, Dec 22, 2017 The Russian Defense Ministry recently announced that the United States is training a new armed force at the former refugee camp in El Khaseq province, citing the Center for Syrian Reconciliation. ** Trump Opens up US Arms Sales to Kiev, Escalates War in East Ukraine, and Ensures More Russian Aid for Rebels https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by Daniel Larison on Fri, Dec 22, 2017 Trump is pressing ahead with the foolish option of arming Ukraine: The Trump administration has approved the first ever U.S. commercial sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine, in a clear break from the de facto U.S. ban on arms sales that dates back to the Obama administration. ** Iran Is on a Roll - the Deep State Is Definitely Planning a Major Attack https://russia-insider.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fa2faf7034c3c3c413… ------------------------------------------------------------ by (Fash the Nation)Tom Shackleford on Fri, Dec 22, 2017 Primer on Iran Iran is a nation with a long and proud history, dating back to the Persian empire. It is about the size of Western Europe and has a population in excess of 80 million. Iran also has the 3rd largest reserves of conventional (cheaply extracted) oil in the world and the 2nd largest natural gas reserves. Iran is clearly a force to be reckoned with. As such, it considers itself the protector of Shi’a Muslims, who often live under extreme Sunni repression throughout the region. No amount of US pressure has succeeded in halting the “protector” policy.

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root "login" xterm to increase security?
by Zenaan Harkness 20 Mar '20

20 Mar '20

So someone cracking into one's local user account via browser sploit, one of the first acts would likely be to plant a password capture script, e.g. wrapping sudo or something otherwise requiring password entry. Once a password is obtained, via brute force or trojan, sudo gives the entire system away. A convenience is some do "useradd me disk" - but again, any crack of local account (even without password), now gives away all disks. Convenience vs security. So what to do? 1) delgroup me disk "Important" data such as keyfiles ought be stored with no "primary user account access", so group "disk" ought not be part of "primary user"'s groups. Are there any other groups that "really ought" be removed from the local primary user account? 2) Disable sudo and disable su su (as well as sudo) again has the problem of password capture if su or sudo is run from the primary user account after a sploit + trojan planted. So, obviously, we need "clean" root logins, i.e.: - separate root account for admin/disk tasks - clean login, i.e. not via primary user account but using a clean "login" process outside any user account And so logically, the immediate test is as follows (does not work for me, gives me a .profile/.bashrc shell, not a login prompt): xterm -ls Note man xterm: -ls This option indicates that the shell that is started in the xterm window will be a login shell (i.e., the first character of argv[0] will be a dash, indicating to the shell that it should read the user's .login or .profile). The -ls flag and the loginShell resource are ignored if -e is also given, because xterm does not know how to make the shell start the given command after whatever it does when it is a login shell - the user's shell of choice need not be a Bourne shell after all. Also, xterm -e is supposed to provide a consistent functionality for other applications that need to start text-mode programs in a window, and if loginShell were not ignored, the result of ~/.profile might interfere with that. If you do want the effect of -ls and -e simultaneously, you may get away with something like xterm -e /bin/bash -l -c "my command here" Finally, -ls is not completely ignored, because xterm -ls -e does write a /var/log/wtmp entry (if configured to do so), whereas xterm -e does not. QUESTIONS: a) anyone know how to make xterm -ls give a 'clean' login prompt? b) is any presumption of a "clean" login prompt inside xterm, when launched from a primary account xterm session, a folly? c) is there any other option for root in X, which could be considered "resonably secure" in the face of a cracked local X using account? 3) Qubes. Isolate each activity into its own VM. Notwithstanding hardware/CPU level firetruckery (another problem which as grarpamp reminds us requires OpenFabs, OpenHW, OpenCPU etc), isolating each activity, especially public facing activity such as web browsing, appears to be a very reasonable proposition - this way a browser crack means root access in the browser's VM, and not automatically into the rest of the system (VM sploits notwithstanding).

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[MINISTRY] word of the day⦂ “pettifoggery” - Muller scrambles to limit evidence as indicted Russians actually appear in "electshun interference" case
by Zenaan Harkness 17 Mar '20

17 Mar '20

Ministry - pettifoggery - USA government's bullshit being called ... ... by Mueller-charged actual Russian company "Concord". (I was just -so- sure that was meant to be Concordski, but hey, what do I know?) Ironic winning has never seen such levels — seriously off the chartski: Mueller Scrambles To Limit Evidence After Indicted Russians Actually Show Up In Court https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-12/mueller-scrambles-limit-evidence-… So at least some of these wicked nasty interfering Russians decided to have a little fun with Mueller, Russkie style. ‼ dang ‼ yeah baby, bring it on :D They wants their evidence of course (this -is- an axshual case in an actual court with a looming actual trial after all) and Mueller is now scrambling to hide his sorry arse from an embarrassing "in Soviet Russia, evidence charge you, Mr Mueller" :) Read it but do NOT chuckle, for in Russia, joke laugh you, da¿ The indictment accuses the firm of producing propaganda, pretending to be U.S. activists online and posting political content on social media in order to sow discord among American voters. … Mueller also accused Concord of "knowingly and intentionally" conspiring to interfere with the election by using social media to disparage Hillary Clinton and support Donald Trump. And Concord Management decided to fight it... Mueller probably didn't see that coming [no shirt, Shirlock] And the judge: In a mad scramble to [now] put the brakes on the case, Mueller's team tried to delay the trial - saying that Concord never formally accepted the court summons related to the case… The Judge, Dabney Friedrich - a Trump appointee, didn't buy it - denying Mueller a delay in the high-profile trial. So sad... so many salty, salty red tears for Mueller.

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[MINISTRY] capitalism v fascism/ corporatism - what are we (the West) living under?
by Zenaan Harkness 11 Feb '20

11 Feb '20

This is a write up which some whom you might consider sending it to, could find easy to read, which is the utility of this piece. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-22/destroying-capitalism-has-failed-… Destroying The "Capitalism Has Failed" Narrative Authored by Jeff Thomas via InternationalMan.com, http://www.internationalman.com/articles/capitalism-has-failed Today, more than at any time previously, Westerners are justifying a move toward collectivist thinking with the phrase, “Capitalism has failed.” https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/20180122_cap.jpg In response to this, conservative thinkers offer a knee-jerk reaction that collectivism has also had a dismal record of performance. Neither group tends to gain any ground with the other group, but over time, the West is moving inexorably in the collectivist direction. As I see it, liberals are putting forward what appears on the surface to be a legitimate criticism, and conservatives are countering it with the apology that, yes, capitalism is failing, but collectivism is worse. Unfortunately, what we’re seeing here is not classical logic, as Aristotle would have endorsed, but emotionalism that ignores the principles of logic. If we’re to follow the rules of logical discussion, we begin with the statement that capitalism has failed and, instead of treating it as a given, we examine whether the statement is correct. Only if it proves correct can we build further suppositions upon it. Whenever I’m confronted with this now oft-stated comment, my first question to the person offering it is, “Have you ever lived in a capitalist country?” That is, “Have you ever lived in a country in which, during your lifetime, a free-market system dominated?” Most people seem initially confused by this question, as they’re residents of either a European country or a North American country and operate under the assumption that the system in which they live is a capitalist one. So, let’s examine that assumption. A capitalist, or “free market,” system is one in which the prices of goods and services are determined by consumers and the open market, in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government, price-setting monopoly, or other authority. Today, none of the major (larger) countries in what was once referred to as the “free world” bear any resemblance to this definition. Each of these countries is rife with laws, regulations, and a plethora of regulatory bodies whose very purpose is to restrict the freedom of voluntary commerce. Every year, more laws are passed to restrict free enterprise even more. Equally as bad is the fact that, in these same countries, large corporations have become so powerful that, by contributing equally to the campaigns of each major political party, they’re able to demand rewards following the elections, that not only guarantee them funds from the public coffers, but protect them against any possible prosecution as a result of this form of bribery. There’s a word for this form of governance, and it’s fascism. Many people today, if asked to describe fascism, would refer to Mussolini, black boots, and tyranny. They would state with confidence that they, themselves, do not live under fascism. But, in fact, fascism is, by definition, a state in which joint rule by business and state exists. (Mussolini himself stated that fascism would better be called corporatism, for this reason.) In recognizing the traditional definition of fascism, there can be no doubt that fascism is the driving force behind the economies of North America and Europe. In addition, the concept of any government taking by force from some individuals the fruits of their labour and bestowing it upon others is by no means free-market. It is a socialist concept. And, in any country where roughly half of the population are the recipients of such largesse, that country has, unquestionably, settled deeply into a socialist condition. However, this is by no means a new idea. As Socrates asked Adeimantus: Do not their leaders deprive the rich of their estates and distribute them among the people; at the same time taking care to preserve the larger part for themselves? So, which is it? Are we saying here that these countries are socialist or fascist? Well, in truth, socialism, fascism, and, indeed, communism are all forms of collectivism. They all come under the same umbrella. So, what we’re witnessing is liberals, rightfully criticising the evils of fascism, but failing to understand it for what it is—a form of collectivism. Conservatives, on the other hand, do their best to continue to operate under their countries’ socialist laws, regulations, and regulatory bodies, whist continuing to imagine that a remnant of capitalism remains. And so we return to the question, “Have you ever lived in a country in which, during your lifetime, a free-market system dominated?” Such countries do exist. It should be pointed out, however, that even they tend to move slowly toward collectivism over time. (After all, it’s in collectivism that they gain their power.) However, some countries are “newer,” just as the US was in the early nineteenth century and, like the US, the governments have not yet had enough time to sufficiently degrade the economies that have been entrusted to them. In addition, some citizenries are feistier than others and/or are less easy to convince that, by allowing themselves to be dominated by their governments, they’ll actually be better off. Whatever the reasons, there are most certainly countries that are far more free-market than the countries discussed above. But, what does this tell us of the future? What can be done to turn these great powers back to a more free-market system? Well, the bad news is that that’s unlikely in the extreme. To be sure, we, from time to time, have inspired orators, such as Nigel Farage or Ron Paul, who remind us what we “should” do to put these countries back on track, so that they serve the people of the country, rather than its leaders. But, historically, such orators have never succeeded in reversing the trend one iota. History tells us that political leaders, in their pursuit of collectivism, never reverse the trend. They instead ride it all the way to the bottom, then bail out, if they can. However, it is ever true that, in some locations in the world, there have always been free-market societies. Over time, they deteriorate under the hands of their leaders and, as they do, others spring up. The choice of the reader is to look upon the world as his oyster - to assess whether he is more or less content with the country he’s in and confident that it will continue to be a good place in which to live, work, invest, and prosper, or, if not, to consider diversifying, or even moving entirely, to a more rewarding, more capitalist jurisdiction.

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