Self Organization - God or Magic?

You watch intently as the magician fans out the cards revealing it to be a normal 52 card deck. You keep a close eye on his hands as he gathers the cards back into a stack, turns the deck over and taps it with one finger.  As he fans out the cards again, you’re amazed to see that every card is now an Ace of Spades! How did he do it, you ask, what is the trick?

Any rational person knows that this is not done by “magic”. We know that there is a rational explanation, that it is an illusion, using slight of hand. We know this because we know that cards do not spontaneously rearrange themselves into other cards.  We can confidently conclude that the illusion was carefully crafted and carried out by the magician.

But what if we were able to film the trick in super slow motion and examine the card deck under the highest powered microscope and observe as the cards actually do reorganize their molecules into Aces of Spades?  Would we believe it was magic then?  Or, would we still hold that there was a trick to it and that the magician must have come up with an as-yet unknown invention to induce the cards into reconfiguring themselves?  I would certainly hope that it would be the latter!  To believe it to be magic, with no rational explanation, would be intellectually lazy and foolish.

So what of the universe and all of its observed self-organization?  What is the rational explanation for that?  Is it magic?  Or, is it carefully crafted using an as-yet unknown method?  I would certainly hope that it would be the latter, as to believe it to be magic, with no rational explanation, would be intellectually lazy and foolish.

A Viable Alternative to Revolution

The French people are revolting against an unresponsive government that caters to the rich and marginalizes the average citizen. Revolution is happening there. We don’t know what the outcome will be, we’ll have to wait and see. It might fizzle out, it might violently be put down, it might overthrow the government. The state has all the power except for the one power they cannot control - popular opinion. Once an idea becomes a movement, it can become reality. We’ve seen it before. But at what cost? How many will die in France before that happens? (If it happens.) And then what will happen? What kind of government will they have? Revolution is a very messy, very open-ended, process.

The American government is hopelessly out of control as well. The corporations, the big banks and the rich control every aspect of it—no matter which party is in power—and we the people seem helpless. Everyone knows this, everyone complains about it, but what can we do? Short of revolution, what can we do?

When "pro-regulation" Democrats are in power, they implement regulations that help the big corporations and banks and stifle any competition from small businesses. When "anti-regulation" Republicans are in power they repeal regulations that hinder big corporations and banks and have somehow managed to foster competition by helping small businesses in some minute way. Both parties enlist the affected corporations to assess the impact on their industry and to help them draft the legislation. Either way, big money wins, we the people lose. Everyone knows this, but short of revolution, what can we do?

No matter which party is in power, we always seem to find a way to manufacture some new enemy so we can go to war and keep the big defense corporations and the banks rolling in that sweet government dough. In the meantime, the average citizen joins up, goes to war and gets killed or maimed or forever changed in ways we who have not experienced it cannot fathom. And the corporate-owned media cheerleads from the sidelines and tells us that any good patriot will "support the troops", implying of course that we must support the beholden politicians who make wars for the corporations at the expense of the people - especially the troops. Again, big money wins, we the people lose. But short of revolution, what can we do?

No matter which party is in power, the government continues to make popular things illegal and then relentlessly enforces those laws to populate the prisons with the poor people who can’t afford the lawyers necessary to decipher the laws that their comrades have drawn up. Of course the state-entangled, corporate media continually feeds us the narrative that these people, and the things they do, are evil and that we need to "do something about it", resulting in a popular outcry for more of the same. But what can we do. Short of revolution, what can we do?

We have been led to believe that there are significant differences between the two parties yet both parties continue to make government bigger and more intrusive—taking away more of our freedoms—while at the same time devaluing the dollar—taking away more of our purchasing power. It may come as a shock to learn that, for roughly the first 100 years of our country's existence, the value of the dollar remained unchanged. Yes that's right. If grandma, in 1912, said "100 years ago you could buy a loaf of bread for a nickel", her grandkids would laugh and say "grandma, a loaf of bread still costs a nickel!" That's because in 1912, the monetary supply hadn't been handed over to the banking industry yet. That didn't happen until 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created. Today, we just accept the fact that prices will always go up. Net result: banks win, we lose - again!  But, again, short of revolution, what can we do?

The 'red vs. blue', 'Democrat vs. Republican', 'right vs. left', 'liberal vs. conservative' narrative has been endlessly fed to us by the corporate media and we Americans have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. We have been duped into believing that we are in one of two camps and that everyone in our camp is "one of the good people" while everyone in the other camp is "the enemy". We, like lambs being led to the slaughter, consistently argue for one party or the other even though we know that both parties are bought and paid for. No matter which party we argue for, no matter which party we are frightened into voting for, big money wins and we the people lose. But... well you know the question.

What power do we the people have? That is the question we should be asking. We don’t have the money, and voting is useless - right? Right? I mean, voting is so pointless that most people don’t even bother. No matter which party we vote for, nothing changes, big money wins, we the people lose. If only we could do something different. If only there were some way to “vote them all out”. If only there were some alternative political parties that weren’t beholden to big money. Of course there are all the “third” parties out there but they can’t win, they have no money, no name recognition.  Heck, we don’t even know what they stand for because the corporate media won’t tell us.

But wait. Isn’t that exactly what we’ve been asking for? Political parties with no corporate donors? Political parties with no favors to sell? With no career politicians to enrich? But they can’t win. Nobody votes third party. That’s stupid, a complete waste of a vote. That’s what the corporate media always tells us. But what if we quit listening to the corporate media? What if everyone ignored the lie that ‘a third party can’t win’ and went ahead and voted third party anyway? What if we all agreed to boycott both corporate parties? What would happen then?

Well let me tell you what would happen.  If we all vote third party, in just one election cycle we would wipe out the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate! That’s in just one election. In three elections we would completely turn the government over - House, Senate and President. That’s in just six years! And the beauty of it is, it doesn’t matter which party we choose, as long as it's not one of the corporate parties. This would essentially create a new government, with multiple new parties, who would have to form coalitions around ideas and issues to get anything done. The same thing would happen at the state and local level as well.

Make no mistake about it, this actually could happen, we just need an awakening. If this idea takes root and starts to spread, it can become a movement, and once a movement starts, and people who are fed up hear about it, it could become a reality. We the people have this power. We still have the vote, as long as we don't waste it on one of the corporate parties! It’s something we can do. Without revolution, without riots, without mass marches, without firing a shot! It's something we can, and should, do.

The Second Amendment and Militia

Many of the left's current gun control arguments focus on the original intent of the framers of the Constitution and their use of the word "militia" in the 2nd amendment. Ignoring the welcome, sudden, midstream shift from 'living document' to 'originalist' constitutional interpretation--albeit purely out of political expediency--we shall focus on the framer's intent in this regard.

First, the text of the amendment.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

There are several questions which need to be answered from the perspective of the times in which the amendment was written.

1. What was a militia?  

A militia was a group of 'citizen soldiers' pulled from the general population at a moments notice.

1. Where did the militia get its arms?

The militia's weapons belonged to the individual citizens.

1. How does a militia compare to a standing army?

A standing army was a group of professional soldiers whose weapons were supplied by their government.

1. Who would a militia fight against?

A militia would fight against invaders--either standing armies or other militias.

1. Who has the right to keep and bear arms?

The people.

From this little exercise it is easy to see that the obvious interpretation of the second amendment, from an originalist standpoint, is that the people have the right to keep and bear weaponry sufficient to fight against an aggressor army or militia at a moments notice if called upon to do so.

Perhaps the left should go back to their living document approach.

How Does Evolution Work?

For the life of me I can't figure out how evolution works.  I mean, I know in theory how it works---mutations, what works is kept, what doesn't is discarded---but I can't figure out how it actually works. 

I've been reading a cellular biology textbook for awhile now, and I find myself asking the same question on every page.  At the subcellular level, life consists of sequences of chemical reactions between all manner of molecular structures, in highly regulated step-by-step processes, interdependent with and coordinated with other processes on the same or higher levels.  How does a strictly regulated, interdependent, coordinated, complex sequence of events evolve?  Does it evolve from another strictly regulated, interdependent, coordinated, complex sequence of events?  How does that happen?  If it's a necessary sequence---as it must be to be there in the first place---you can't just change it so that it does something else with no regulation or coordination; that would be disastrous.  It all has to fit... it all has to work... every step, every time, or else it's discarded - right?

I'm asking the question in all honesty.  Seriously, if anyone has an answer, please comment below.  I want to get specific though.  I want to get into the nuts and bolts of how some existing sequence evolved, every step of the way: what it was previously, what it was at every change and why that would be conserved, and what it is today.  I'm not interested in a 'Creation vs. Evolution' debate, nor will I respond to trolls.  If you don't have an actual answer then please just go away.

Life is Unnatural

Life is unnatural.  Yes I believe that.  The natural state of something is the state in which it would remain if left alone, (think of how gases disseminate, or dust settles).   Life is unnatural because--rather than settle out, or disseminate--the things that work together to make something alive defy nature at every turn. 

Let me give one brief example.  Biological organisms are chock full of molecular structures called 'enzymes' which could be characterized as the 'worker bees' of cellular function: they get things done.  Now, there are certain enzymes that do nothing but facilitate chemical reactions.  We're not talking about everyday, run-of-the-mill, natural chemical reactions.  No, these chemical reactions take place at rates sometimes thousands or even millions of times faster and significantly cooler than they would occur 'naturally' (that is, unaided).  Normally, increasing the rate would increase the temperature, but enzymes somehow manage to make these reactions occur at faster rates and cooler temps. 

So you have these molecular structures, with no minds of their own, working together with other molecular structures, to bring about just the right chemical reaction, at just the right rate, and just the right temperature, to sustain life.  Now why would molecules do that?  What possible reason would a molecule have to work together with other molecules for anything?  It's positively unnatural!  Of course it's not just enzymes, there are thousands of molecular complexes throughout the biological realm that are actively working to circumvent nature.

Now if we were to witness unthinking entities doing unnatural things (like say, the brooms in the scene from Fantasia depicted above) we would immediately think "magic"... right?  No, actually "magic" would be the last thing a rational person would think.  We would suspect trickery or some sort of intelligent intervention to give the appearance of magic.  Why?  Because unthinking entities don't do things like that on their own.  It's just not natural.  So why do we give life a pass?  Why do we believe life is some sort of magical miracle and not the result of intelligent intervention?

I don't believe in magic.  Do you?

What Microsoft's Racist Chatbot Teaches Us About Austrian Economics

I'm sure we've all heard by now about Microsoft's failed chatbot experiment (where the Internet corrupted an innocent AI in just one day).  But what does that have to do with Austrian Economics?  Just this: the programmers of "Tay" the chatbot could not have predicted what millions of Internet users were going to do, and this--the unpredictability of human actions--is the central tenet of Austrian Economics.

It's Time We ALL Vote Third Party!

For the sake of America, we need to end the two party stranglehold on politics in this country.  It is so bad now that even the most independent minded voters parrot the two-party-line that they must not "waste their vote" on a third party.  The thing is, voting for Democrats or Rebublicans is actually wasting a vote because it is just a vote to maintain the status quo.

We voters have been brainwashed into believing that there are significant differences between the two parties - but there are not.  The only real difference is in what they say.  They all appeal to their base - usually promising to spend more money on things their base wants.  As for how they actually govern - well, it's just one big lovefest: both parties in total collusion keeping the war machine going, the big banks happy, and the debt for future generations rising!!!

So why not just do it?   There are more unaffiliated voters in this country than there are Democrats or Republicans.  If every unaffiliated voter refused to vote D or R, that would be it - game over!!  So why don't we ALL vote third party this time around?  It doesn't really matter which third party candidate you vote for - as long as it's not a Democrat or Republican.  Just one election cycle with no votes for Democrats or Rebublicans would be enough to do it.  Congress would be filled with enough new blood, and new ideas, to effectively end crony-capitalism, the military industrial complex, corporate welfare, and all of the other evils perpetrated by the two-party duopoly on America.  If we want to send a loud, clear message to Washington D.C. (and to all our state and local governments as well), then refuse to vote Democrat or Republican.

So vote third party this time - and save America!