The government pretends to care deeply and profoundly about human health, using police state measures in a time of crisis, justified by their supposed great concern for health. Yet, the federal government has repeatedly slashed health care funding for the past 40 years. The blatant and extreme hypocrisy and deceit
Continue readingTag: Political Philosophy
Writings of J. Todd Ring: Taoist Political Philosophy – Or, How To Not Make The World Worse, By Good Intentions Gone terribly Wrong
The modern world, and particularly the modern Western world, which has now, as of these past few decades, successfully, and tragically, exported itself to become the basis and norm of the modern world globally, is clearly and indisputably in great and severe crisis, on multiple levels: sociologically, politically, economically, psychologically,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: What Must Be Done: The Briefest Possible Sketch
We must educate and inform ourselves and others; speak up and stand up for both compassion (ie: public health) and freedom; sow non-violent democratic revolution to dethrone the sociopathic corporate oligarchs; nourish ourselves, our families, and our communities in body, mind and spirit; build networks of community, solidarity, cooperation, mutual
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Averting Fascism
Fascism is rising – here is how to avert it. A short video talk, linked below, sparked these thoughts, which I will share. May they bless us with the courage, and the presence of mind, to avert the rising of fascism once again – which, make no mistake, is indeed
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Failure of Propaganda, The Crisis of Legitimacy, and The Resort to Fascism
The propaganda is hitting Goebbels level, it is getting that obvious and stark. The elite are losing the propaganda war – hence, the increasingly shrill and panicked, desperate measures. Keep up the dissidence; speak truth to the people. But do know this, which is critical to understand. We need to
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Greek Philosophy In The 21st Century: Sanity Amidst The Madness?
Platonist, Aristotelian, Epicurean, Stoic, Skeptic, Cynic or Sophist? None of the above are satisfactory, as ready-made off-the-shelf pre-packaged philosophies, at least. They should be studied; not ingested whole, nor regurgitated whole. Plato was best in terms of the ancient Greeks, with regards to metaphysics, on ontology and epistemology, or the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The War On Democracy
(Comment below after listening to the most important three minutes of info you are likely to hear in decades, or have likely ever heard. Noam Chomsky on The Crisis Of Democracy, via Spotify, is linked below. But note this important synopsis of my political analysis, which pretty much accords with Chomsky’s,
Continue readingScripturient: Where is Wat Tyler Now That We Need Him?
I was disappointed that the Occupy Wall Street movement, which began with such vigor and hope in 2011, soon petered out into a sputtering, unfocused political miasma barely a year later. I was even more deeply disappointed that the antifa (anti-fascist) protests, which also seemed to have such promise earlier
Continue readingScripturient: Lessons from History
It is common practice to look back and conflate the events of the past with those of the present, seeking parallels, resonance, and answers from previous events that help explain today’s. We learn from others, from their experiences, and we like to find commonalities in our shared experiences, even from
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Personal Sovereignty, Body Sovereignty – The Foundation Of A Free Society
All our laws rest on constitutional law. All constitutional law rests on habeus corpus, and “the Great Writ”, the Magna Carta. The central axiom and ultimate foundation of all rule of law, all constitutional law, and all human rights, rests upon the principle which was set down and re-affirmed in the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Who Are The CIA?
Who are the CIA? This will tell you everything you need to know. Here’s where things really started to go wrong: 1947, the National Security Act, which created the National Security Council and the CIA, giving the CIA sweeping, ultra-secretive, unconstitutional powers, and near limitless budget through the legalized, covert
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Culture Shock – and The Culture of Puritanical Excess
I backpacked around Mexico and Central America in 1989. I think I’ve been in culture shock ever since. Since returning to la-la land, that is. I went to Latin America to see what is going on in the world, and because everyone told me the culture is very friendly and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Marcus Aurelius & The End Of Empire
To continue the conversation on Marcus Aurelius & The Delusions Of Authoritarianism (yesterday’s essay, or meditations)…. Reading more on the life of Marcus Aurelius I am softened in my views of him; but again, my critique was aimed at authoritarianism, not any one person, or school of thought, other than
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Marcus Aurelius & The Delusions Of Authoritarianism
Marcus Aurelius is an interesting character, and in some respects I imagine he is deserving of the adulation that has been heaped upon him. (He showed the best and the worst of Stoicism, which is always a double edged sword, at best.) But in the end, he was an emperor,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Church & State, Business & State: Restoring Freedom & Democracy, Before They Are Completely Devoured By Medical Martial Law, Or By Any Other Means
In the near future, we could very easily see the kind of totalitarian society with a theocratic face that Margaret Atwood warned us about in, A Hand Maid’s Tale – but whether we do or we don’t, we already have what Chomsky has described (in January 2020) as a global
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Maxims of Empire
(And the Maxims of Liberation) There are at least five known, central maxims which all emperors understand and employ, which have been used for millennia by the elite in order to control, rule over, and generally fleece and rob, oppress and exploit the people. They are: Divide and conquer: keep
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Decline, Decay, Death and Rebirth of Democracy and Freedom
The two greatest threats to democracy and freedom in the West, or to peace, justice, equality, or even a viable future for humanity, are without question, the currently reigning de facto world government of neofeudal corporate oligarchy, also known as neoliberalism, and the fascist order which it is rapidly
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Myth Of Progress – Pricking The Bubble
Again and again, I am reminded of the need for humility, as well as dignity and confidence. I am reminded not only by my own faults and errors, which are numerous enough, but also by many of the people I respect the most. Again, and again, I read an exceptionally
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Six Founding Principles Of Good Government
Or, Public Policy 101: Tax “Bads”, Not Goods Public policy, or government policy, should reflect certain basic principles. Let’s set out a few. Not everyone will agree, but polls repeatedly show the great majority, from the moderate grassroots right, across to the left, in general agree, and in general strongly
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Central Issue: Oligarchy vs Democracy
The central issue, now as always, is not about wealth, or distribution of wealth. It’s not about bread and butter issues. It’s not about taxes or spending, budgets or allocations, or who gets what and how much. It’s about power. The oligarchs know that. The elite know that very well.
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