Too poor for trees, too dumb to know it...

Today's log created quite the soup in my head.

For one thing, there's an ancient discussion on Nick Szabo's blogⁱ. Turns out that back in 2006 he attempted to make the point that "law enforcement"ⁱⁱ is the underpinning of all crime ; but it came out in a very soft formulation indicative of a corrupted soul - "governments kill more people than terrorists".

The formulation is weak because it admits not merely the form of the discussion proposed by the evil in question, but outright adopts its terminology. This is plainly antirevolutionary thought, there to make socialism (usually of the slightly abridged, single-issue-patched variety the writer contemplates) more palatable in general ; not there to remove the evil root and all. That the man hasn't figured out the basics in spite of dabbling in the conculsions a decade ago should in itself settle the corruption pointⁱⁱⁱ.

As you'd expect, he then engages in faux debates with other socialist minds, who have other patches in mind for other areas of the Great Calender : "war" or "poverty" or "mosquitoes" or whatnot. The result ? They spend a few hours fastidiously calling each other "the bad word" in each one's estimation and then go have a bite to eat (provided by USG) and quickly to bed (provided by USG) because tomorrow (provided by USG) they gotta show up to work (provided by USG).

For the other thing, Qntra published a piece on the Dicamba Disaster. The short version of this endless smoldering shitpit is that a new juncture just played out in USG's constant and universal pursuit of the star pattern : USG.Monsanto came up with a major improvement, a magical concoction which could finally turn farming from defensive to offensive. The unfortunate byproduct of its deployment is that trees can no longer grow in the domains of the Great Inca. Yes, you've read that right : no.more.trees.^iv

And guess what ? This is okay.

Yeah, you've read that right also : the Great Inca thinks it is okay for there to grow no trees, just as long as he gets a little more inca. And it'd be alright if there rained frogs - weekly ; daily, all the time - just like it's alright if you lose your first son, and for that matter all your sons. After all, it's all for "the greater good", you know, war-poverty-malaria&smoking.

I don't know whether or how much you're enjoying being on the stage - but let me assure you that as far as the spectatorship is concerned, the show you're putting on is definitely worth the (negative price) entry fee.

1. I'm not gonna link to usg.bloghost. You want a link, become independent. [↩]
2. The quotes are there because the term is currently being misused by socialist gangs - definitionally illegitimate in all times and places, no matter what nauseating claims their own agitprop units put forth, nor whether they manage to convince some for brief stretches.

   All socialism, no matter the flavour, is definitionally illegitimate, no matter the "context", and all those involved will hang, no matter the excuses. [↩]

3. He's by no means the first one. [↩]
4. This is not a joke, nor is it an exaggeration. Your current ability to see a tree depends on everyone-else not killing it. The tree in question doesn't matter, whether it's the poplar down the street that figures in that picture of that girl which for all these years you've kept, yet for all these years you've never published ; or the peach in granpa's yard, that you nearly fell out of when you were seven, or any other tree. Like the ones that allow the birds to perch. Which birds ? All the birds.

   What matters is that trees can't grow next to Dicamba, and the people ruining the soil to sell it to the Chinese in their preferred packaging (soy) now have an economic incentive. [↩]