14. A
mind-set perspective
To conclude this missive, I will look at the situation from
the point of view of the mind-sets of the protagonists on the two sides. And
try to give a tiny peek at what may be on the way in the future.
The new mind-set
I said earlier that in about 1995, I sensed a change in the
patterns of what I felt able to think about. I found that I could think
thoughts, which I could not have thought before. That process of mental release
has continued, slowly, over the intervening three decades. But during the
second half of 2023, and even more in 2024 and early 2025, I feel that the
process has accelerated.
Not only has it accelerated in terms of what individuals can
find themselves thinking, but it has also broadened into the minds of many more
people. As witness the increase in Reform UK party membership since early
December 2024. As I write these words on March 30th, Reform
membership, having overtaken Tory membership before the new year, has broken
220,000, despite internal squabbles. And many of the new members are young
people.
Clearly, in recent months, very many people have become
concerned about the bad things that are being done to them. And those concerns
are starting to translate into desire for action, and a will to take action. Already,
two visible results of these changes of mind-set are a strengthened pushback by
ordinary people against government overreach, and a new determination to fight
hard for our human rights and freedoms.
The Re-discovery
As I experience it, for us human beings there is now a sense
of emergence, if not yet from the political tyranny to which we are subjected,
then at least from the mental tyranny of thinking that the present system is
natural, morally right and immutable. There is growing anger, contempt and
hatred against the parasites and pests that game that system for their own
purposes, whether selfish or tyrannical; and against the state and its moral
inequalities. Yet on the other side, there
is a new sense of confidence in ourselves and our capabilities. There is a
prospect of better times ahead; albeit, we have a lot to do to get there.
The new mind-set, I think, is moving in the same direction
as the new attitudes and ways of thinking, which spread during the Renaissance.
Back then, our forebears embarked on an era of Discovery: of ideas both old and
new, of new places, of ourselves. The paradigm which underlies the new
mind-set, I think, is Re-discovery. We are starting to re-discover ourselves,
and to recognize our potential. I expect that the process of re-discovery, just
like the Renaissance, will be a spiritual revolution: a change for the
better in the human spirit.
We will re-discover our Humanity, our nature as human
beings. We will re-discover that we are naturally good, and that this is our
planet. And that its resources are for us to use wisely, to build a home and
garden fit for a civilized species. We will re-discover our Reason and our
rationality. We will re-discover our “bullshit meters,” which enable us to
reject lies, hype and unfounded scares.
We will re-discover our human spirit, and our confidence in
ourselves. We will re-discover our consciences: the built-in weather-vane or
barometer, that gives us a sense of what is right and wrong for us human beings
to do. We will come to judge individuals by their behaviours, rather than by who
they are, or by things outside their control. And we will reject and ostracize
those that fail to behave up to the standards of humanity, including
peacefulness, truthfulness and honesty, responsibility, and respect for human
rights and freedoms.
We will re-discover the ideas and values of the
Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. We will re-discover our natural
industry and productivity, and our ability to solve problems. We will
re-discover honest business and trade for what they are: the natural ways for
human beings to relate to each other in the public sphere. And moving forward,
we will re-discover, and re-illuminate, the crucial idea of human rights.
More and more, we will come to think outside the political
paradigm. We will reject the Westphalian political state, with its “sovereignty,”
its taxes, its bad laws and its violations of rights and freedoms. We will
reject the “social contract” falsehood. We will reject all the old political
parties. We will reject all politicized laws that go against the natural law of
humanity. We will reject political government, and we will withdraw our consent
to it. We will reject, too, all supra-national political organizations, such as
the UN and EU. Along with those companies, multi-national or not, that have
used politics either for their own profit, or to further political agendas they
favour.
Each of us will re-discover our membership in the great and
natural community of all human beings worth the name. We will come to care
about all our fellow human beings; but only about our fellow human
beings. We will neither feel nor show concern or compassion for those that
behave, or have behaved, towards us or others in an inhumane manner. They didn’t
care about us; so we won’t waste our care on them. You might as well expect
Jews to feel compassion or concern for nazis.
We will reject promoters, supporters, makers and enforcers
of laws that harm, or violate the rights of, innocent people. We will reject
the arrogant, the dishonest, the deceitful, hypocrites and those that show other
psychopathic behaviours. We will reject the parasites that use political power
for their own gain, or for the gain of their cronies. We will reject the pests
that use political power to harm innocent people, and to get away with it. We
will reject all those individuals in government, that fail to serve the people
they are supposed to be a benefit to, or that act with dishonesty or in bad
faith towards any of us. Or that harm us or violate our rights, or support,
co-operate with or condone any political agenda that harms us or violates our
rights.
We will see those that have promoted, supported, made or enforced bad policies without any foundation in evidence, such as nett zero, for what they are; traitors to human civilization. We will see those “experts,” that lied about or ignored evidence in pursuit of policy goals, as the quislings they are. We will see those that worked towards, or utilized, the perversion of the precautionary principle into a tool for tyranny, as the perpetrators of crimes against humanity that they are.
We will re-discover what we human beings want and need in
order to fulfil ourselves. We need human rights and dignity respected and
upheld. We need self-determination and independence for everyone. We need an
end to oppression, exploitation, war, bad laws, gross or persistent injustices,
violations of rights and freedoms, the mental miasma of lies, deceit, hype,
gloom and fear, and the culture of safety at any cost. We need an unrestricted
free market economy. We need maximum freedom to choose and act for everyone,
and objective, common-sense justice for all.
Our enemies’ mind-set
In contrast to our positive, forward moving mind-set, our
enemies’ ways of thinking are still mired in politics, and in the system – the
state – that enables politics as it is today to continue.
They are arrogant; they think they are superior to others.
They are hypocritical; they think that what they tell others to do doesn’t
apply to them. They have little or no concern for ethics or for human
rights. They are happy to lie or deceive, and they shun the truth. They
routinely deal in bad faith. They favour hype and fear over rational analysis
of the evidence. They want to smear, insult, and suppress the views of, those
who disagree with them. They are reckless, irresponsible and intolerant, and
they accept no accountability. Looking at their behaviours, and listening to
their words, we see these characteristics coming out again and again.
But I am coming to think that the lies, hype, fear and ad
hominems our enemies spout may be more than just propaganda tools. I think they may be genuinely afraid of
something. Deep down inside, do they perhaps feel panic and fear for their own
futures? Might they have divined, for example, that the political system, on
which their entire privileged way of life depends, is not sustainable? That the
state is, ethically, already bankrupt; and perilously close to financial
bankruptcy, too? And that, on its present course, it will soon fail?
These twin senses of bankruptcy and fear might well explain
many of the things that are going on today. It may well explain why so much
that political governments do is directed towards getting in more, and more,
and more “revenue” for their state, and for the client class that hangs on to
their coat-tails. Why our enemies rant so much about “safety” and
“sustainability.” Why they think their scares are “existential” problems. Why
everything is “worse than we thought!” Why, every time people lose interest in
one set of scares, our enemies dream up new scares to replace them. Why they
want to spy on us with facial recognition cameras; for, I think, our enemies
are afraid of us, and what we might do to them once enough of us come to
understand how badly they have treated us. Why extinction is one of the
things they are so worried about. And why they seem so often to be in a mad,
breathless rush to take Action! to get their plans implemented right now.
It could also explain why they refuse to acknowledge, or
even to look at, the facts and evidence. They don’t want anyone (least of all
themselves) to find out that their apocalyptic claims about climate change, or
air pollution, or whatever is the scare du jour, are unfounded! It could
explain why they brook no contrarian views, and so often seek to suppress those
views. Could it be, perhaps, that they have so much invested in their scams,
that they feel they can’t afford to let the truth come out?
Minds on the move
As recently as two years ago, I was concerned that far too
many people were trapped in a mind-set that led me to label them as “pawns.” They
are not bad people, because they are naturally economically productive, and
they avoid politics in most aspects of their lives. Nevertheless, they have in
the past allied themselves with our enemies, by supporting the current
political set-up. They do this, primarily, by continuing to vote for the old, mainstream
political parties, so underwriting the charade of sham “democracy.”
But just recently, something seems to have flipped. This has
caused the mental release, which I spoke of at the beginning of this chapter,
to begin broadening its base. People who used to be half-asleep, and behaved
like pawns, have started waking up. The rise of Reform party membership is just
one symptom of this. I am confident that more symptoms will start to show quite
soon.
I think I see the beginnings of a tidal wave of anger,
hatred and contempt, to be focused against the political parasites and pests
that have robbed us, oppressed us and violated our human rights and freedoms
for so long. And that will lead to a strengthening movement among our fellow
human beings, to get those parasites and pests off all our backs.
Some of us will be minded, more and more, to become
politically active in Reform or another non-mainstream party, or to take part
in political protests. In support of the farmers, or against the bad law du
jour that is before the parliament, for example. But there is another way,
beyond political action and protests, in which each of us can take action to
help get rid of nett zero, anti-car policies, centrally planned immigration, government
waste, heavy and unjust taxation, ubiquitous spy cameras, and other bad things
that are being imposed on us.
That way is, to play our part in the moral and intellectual fight.
For ultimately, the war we are in is a moral and ethical one. What has been and
is being done to us is, in reality, wrong at a fundamental level. Indeed, I
take the view that before we can mount effective political action against what
is being done to us, we need first to engage in, fight and win this moral war.
A few tips on the moral fight
Now, you don’t need to be an intellectual to contribute in a
moral war. Even the child who saw that the emperor was naked, and said so, did
his bit. To start to make our contribution, each of us must re-examine the
attitudes in our minds. We must re-form, and strengthen, our views on the
issues. Then, we must do what we can to communicate our thinking to others. So,
I will give you here a few tips on how, over the years, I have managed to put
myself through a process of moral strengthening, and improve my own thinking
processes. I hope you may find at least some of these tips useful.
One, I have made myself into what I call an evidence-based
person. In any matter in dispute, I always look for the evidence. That is,
facts which can be independently checked by anyone who is knowledgeable and
motivated enough to do so. A wise man recently told me: “Don’t get mad, just
stick to the facts.” The facts, all of the facts, and nothing but the facts.
Two, whenever I am accused of something – polluting the
atmosphere, causing dangerous climate change, or whatever else – I always
demand proof of the accusation. That proof must be founded on hard, objective
evidence. And it must meet the same standard, of proof beyond reasonable doubt,
that I would require if I were on the jury in a court of criminal law.
Three, without convincing evidence that I am guilty of
something, I never let myself accept or feel any guilt over the matter. I
resist the clever techniques of those that want to manipulate my mind, and
instil in me a false sense of guilt. I am “un-nudgeable.”
Moreover, I reject any kind of collective guilt. I am, of
course, responsible for the effects on others of my own willed actions. But,
unless I have explicitly taken on some responsibility for someone else’s
behaviour (such as bringing up a child, or doing a management job in business),
I feel no responsibility for what anyone else does without my say-so.
Four, if a problem is brought up regarding some activity,
and the problem appears to be – or may plausibly be – real, I will always try
to assess it in quantitative terms. If the numbers don’t add up, there is
something fishy about the problem as stated. And it may well not be a real
problem after all.
Five, when judging an individual, I try always to judge them
by their behaviours, not by superficial traits, or by who they are. “It’s what
they do that matters, not who they are.” And if their behaviour is wrong, and
most of all if it causes unjust harm to others, the individuals that do it
deserve to be brought to justice, and made to compensate the victims.
Six, too many people treat laws made by politicians as
valid, because they have been made according to some procedure that is deemed
to be “lawful.” But in reality, many are bad laws. They might be “legal,” but
they are not lawful. “Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny,” as Edmund Burke
put it. Or, in the words of John Locke: “a great part of the municipal laws of
countries” are no more than “the fancies and intricate contrivances of men,
following contrary and hidden interests put into words.” And such laws are “only
so far right as they are founded on the law of Nature.”
In short, don’t assume that government is always right. And
when something it does to us is morally wrong, call it out for what it is.
Seventh and last, identify who are your fellows and who are your enemies. What are the differences? We human beings are naturally peaceful, truthful, honest, straightforward and respectful of the rights of other human beings. We also strive to act in good faith. Moreover, the great majority of us strive to “live and let live” in our dealings with our fellows. In contrast, politicals behave very badly towards others. They indulge in lies, dishonesty, deception, arrogance, hypocrisy, irresponsibility, evasion of accountability, aggression, recklessness towards others, favouritism, targeting of scapegoats, intolerance, bad faith, and violations of human rights and freedoms. Judged on their behaviours, they are not us.
Our moral movement and its consequences
Our moral movement, I expect, will likely be focused in the
first instance against the bad behaviours that are so rife among our enemies.
Some of which, I have listed in the section just above, as well as in earlier
chapters. We will contrast these behaviours, and the inhuman parasites and
pests that use them, against the behaviours which are natural to us human
beings worth the name. Some of which, I have also listed above and in earlier
chapters.
To put the mechanics of our moral movement in a nutshell: First,
identify the behaviours, present and past, of those in or paid for by
government. And particularly those that have, or have had, political power or
influence. Second, evaluate each individual, as best you can, for what they
have done for (or against) the people they were supposed to serve, and what
they have done for (or against) you. And use the judgement by behaviour
principle to work out who are your fellows, and who (or what) are your enemies.
Third, co-operate with and cherish your fellows, and fight against your enemies
with all your strength. Striving, all the while, to bring every one of your
enemies to common-sense justice, to make them compensate their victims in full,
and to subject them to the criminal punishment that they deserve. And not to
let a single one of them get away with anything.
We human beings will come to see the parasites and pests,
that need the political state in order to survive and prosper, as the moral
Neanderthals they are. We will dump the dishonest, and those that act in bad
faith. We will blow away the state and its politics. We will abolish the “public
sector,” sack all its employees that fail to deliver value to taxpayers, and
cancel their cushy pensions. If they want to survive, they will need either to
find productive jobs, or create their own businesses. At the same time, I expect, in the UK we will re-set the laws to how they were at a suitably chosen past
date; perhaps in early 1992, prior to the Rio “summit.”
Beyond this, we will punish the worst offenders as they deserve.
For example, I expect that those, that promoted or supported nett zero, will be
sent to an enclave, in which they must live a nett zero lifestyle. We will see
whether or not a nett zero economy is sustainable! And those that wanted to end
the use of fossil fuels will be made to live in an enclave without any fossil
fuels, or any products made using them.
Some of our enemies, perhaps, may reform themselves, start to behave as human beings, compensate those they wronged, and join our convivial community. But many will not. Thus, those that live by the state will die with the state. Homo sapiens politicus, the political animal, whose habitat is the political state, will be superseded by homo sapiens convivendus, the convivial and economic animal, whose habitat is peace, justice, rights and freedoms, the free market and free trade. Those that fail to make themselves human will share the fate of their forebears of 40,000 years ago. And good riddance.
That is where I shall leave matters for today.
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