American Conservatism

Once we recognize that Libertarianism is essentially neo-feudalism, and that it is now the dominant conservative philosophy of the Republican Party, it’s not hard to understand Republican priorities. 

The basic idea of neo-feudalism, at least as I discuss it here, is that power is properly derived from wealth and the willingness to seize it, and not from votes. Power is held by wealthy employers and investors, who use it to build loyalty among the less fortunate, by means of patronage or bullying, without being hindered by popular elected officials. 

 

While this aligns somewhat with fascism, neo-feudalism has different reasons for many of the same priorities. Yet it’s still a a weaponization of the state’s power for the use of wealthy individuals, the church, and corporations—specifically away from traditionally marginalized or non-wealthy groups. (I’d call it more of a “semi-fascism,” although perhaps it’s just another example of how fascism localizes itself wherever it rises.) Shrinking the size and power of democratic government is therefore essential to this philosophy, because it moves power away from the majority and their votes, and toward individual wealth and existing power.

 

Those with the most capital tend to have a small check on their activities in a democracy already, because they aren’t elected officials and their power can’t be voted away. They also have a built-in barrier to being elected, despite their ability to spend more on their races, because in a democracy the policies they promote will be unpopular with most citizens. 

So instead, they build fear and distrust of any government by and for the people by targeting marginal groups, and then point to the weakened and/or untrusted state to create a power vacuum that they themselves can fill. Trump himself is a good example of how this works in action, and the continuing election of extremely wealthy fraudsters like Rick Scott show just how popular this anti-democratic movement has become. 

Here are some the tools being used:

-Citizens United & unlimited campaign contributions to PACs, including from foreign sources, to ensure higher influence of wealth in votes

 

-Deliberate shift away from democracy and voting by limiting who can vote

-Push for any assistance to be church- or corporate-based, creating reliance on generosity of individuals and not society as a safety net for poor

 

-Intense opposition to any government assistance, as it lessens employer dominance; this includes govt-funded healthcare, unemployment assistance, social security, etc.

-Pumping money into military budgets at expense of everything else, for this system will require massive enforcement AND because a weak government makes foreign takeover a real concern and the budgets are just increasing annually as the wasteful spending drains taxpayer dollars and stifles American innovation and excellence.

 

-Privatize everything, even the military, to link corporate control to all of society’s functions - and enables massive profit-taking for the well-connected (look at the immense fortunes built by decades of ineffective “training” in Afghanistan)

With this “neo-feudalist” lens, it becomes fairly straightforward to predict where the GOP will land on any given issue. Despite their lack of a policy platform, we don’t actually need to read it. After all, it would only expose their most unpopular beliefs, and we can ascertain those simply by looking at what keeps power in the hands of the powerful. 

From their opposition to social security, to universal healthcare (harder to exploit people when they aren’t desperate), to FEMA (can’t funnel money through their own organizations that way), to women’s rights, to contraception (same issue on exploitation), to military privatization, to private prisons, to taxes (especially to taxes), it’s all predictable if you see what shifts power to the already-powerful. 

 

It’s what conservatism has always done. It’s simply more brazenly authoritarian now, because it’s fighting back against real power from an engaged and evolving nation. 

Conservatism is authoritarian, and it always was. When conservatives face change they will always abandon democracy and impose their beliefs through force to retain power. It has happened here before and it is happening here again.

 

Small government? That has always applied to one thing, and one thing only: reducing the power of the state to regulate the wealthy. And today that means reducing the ability to vote. Rules limiting what you can read, how you worship, what you can do in private as a consenting adult, where you can speak and what you can say, that’s where conservatives adore big government. But letting the will of the common people prevail? That’s where conservatives want to drown democracy in a bathtub.

Dear Anti-vaxers

I'm just gonna skip the formalities and get straight to the point. I am sick and tired of hearing all the bull shit and excuses for why Americans won't get the Covid 19 vaccine. I've been angry for a while about it, but this morning I've decided I'm gonna say my peace and attempt to be done with it; wash my hands of it...

Dear Anti-vaxxers, you are correct about your rights to your body, but ironic that consideration isn't given to pregnant women over their own bodies. 

You are correct about your Constitutional rights, but you aren't in the least considering those rights of your fellow citizens or considering the flip side of the coin which is your civic duties to this nation and its citizens. 

You are correct that you shouldn't have to be forced to take a shot you don't want, but that's the WHOLE POINT. You SHOULDN'T HAVE TO BE FORCED TO DO THE RIGHT THING!!! 

You are correct about these vaccines being pushed out on the market very quickly, but what you don't know is that this technology has been in development for nearly 20 years in attempt to fight other SARS Covid viruses, so it was easy, with $50 billion of our tax dollars injected into the industry and allowing all 3 phases of testing and trials to be completed simultaneously, to transition the technology into fighting this newer deadly pathogen. Now the Pfizer vaccine has received full FDA approval after rigorous testing. 

You are correct that there are some side effects from getting the vaccine, none of which compare to DEATH...

You are correct about saying we don't know the long term effects of this vaccine, but let's look at the efficacy of other vaccines on the market... when's the last time you had polio? Measles? Rubella? Typhoid? Tetanus? Scarlet fever? Diphtheria? Oh that's right! You haven't had them because your parents GOT YOU VACCINATED!!! 

The REALITY is that the modern world you and I live in is because of medical technology. 

I had childhood cancer that I SURVIVED TWICE because of medical technology. 

There's less infant mortality because of medical technology. 

There's more prevention of transmittable diseases because of medical technology. 

People live longer lifespans because of medical technology. 

Less people die from surgery and post surgical complications like infections due to medical technology. 

We can detect cancers, diseases, and other illnesses through simple tests now and begin treatment quicker so you don't die!!! Because of medical technology. 

You have the right to be upset about being inconvenienced by the nation not being reopened for regular business and pleasure as you would like, or having to show a card proving you are vaccinated, but just know this one thing very emphatically:

YOU ARE THE REASON THINGS CAN'T AND HAVEN'T GONE BACK TO NORMAL YET!

25% or more of Americans say they absolutely will not take the jab, not even to get to the "herd immunity" they ranted on and on about for the entire year of 2020. They don't even want to give Donald Trump the credit he deserves. It took him 9 months of lies and misinformation to pull his head from his fat orange ass, but once he did, the response was swift and effective. Biden just made the process faster and more efficient to get the vaccine into as many Americans as possible to stave off more unnecessary deaths from a 100% preventable disease. 

Y'all didn't want to be inconvenienced by having to stay home when sick. 

Y'all didn't want to be inconvenienced by washing your hands or social distancing. 

Y'all didn't want to be inconvenienced by wearing a mask to protect yourself and others. 

Y'all didn't want to have the bars, restaurants, clubs, gyms, bowling alleys, movie theaters, etc. shut down either. 

Y'all especially didn't want to consider the health and well being of other people besides yourself. 

Y'all wanted to act patriotic, but won't actually do anything to protect your fellow citizens. Y'all flew Trump flags and screamed about Antifa and BLM as over 400,000 Americans during that time had died and has now more than doubled that since due to the mutations and new variants like delta and omicron. 

Y'all threw Covid parties and some of you lost friends, family, loved ones or your own life due to arrogance, stupidity, or just plain hubris.

Y'all spread hate across the Internet towards those of Asian ancestry. Hate crimes went up by 300% due to the rhetoric of calling Covid 19 the "China Virus" or "Kung-flu". A close friend, an immigrant from Vietnam had her adult child harassed and bullied on a college campus this last year. 

Y'all blamed the Obama's, the Clinton's, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Gates, Hunter Biden, the Chinese communist party, LEFTISTS, Marxists, socialists, ANTIFA, and ANYONE else you could use as a SCAPEGOAT to AVOID TAKING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY in this matter. 

The reality is that it doesn't really matter where the virus came from in how we treat it (there are ongoing investigations on the origins of this pathogen), medically, and how we treat one another, humanely. This sad situation over the last two years has shown us very clearly that 25% or more of the American people DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE OTHER 75% or less. That is their RIGHT. It's just a shit attitude and a shit way to treat your fellow humans; fellow citizens.

Anti-vaxxers DON'T YOU DARE COMPLAIN ABOUT THINGS BEING CLOSED OR BEING BURDENED OR THAT YOUR A VICTIM. YOU'RE NOT. We saw very clearly now that YOU are the bully and you want to PRETEND PATRIOTISM while showing vile contempt for the rest of us. I heard so many people from this minority in the Anti-vaxxer community that they were perfectly fine with people dying so they didn't have to be inconvenienced. 

Empathy is inconvenient. I get it. I just don't want to see the victim card played EVER AGAIN by ANYONE that was fine with millions of deaths across the globe. 1% of 7.5 billion humans is 75 million people. Current global death toll because of caring, hard working doctors, technicians, scientists, chemists, and all their supporting staffs is only 3.76 million. Those lost lives are tragic and my heart goes out to any and all who lost loved ones to this preventable disease... all because folks were too inconvenienced to mask, wash hands, social distance, stay home when sick, and get vaccinated. 

Y'all claim to be adults so now it's time to grow the fuck up. 

Now we have new variants that are more contagious and harmful if not deadly. Thanks for that. Was it worth it?

The LOKI Paradox

Namaste my fellow geeks as well as to my friends, family, and fellow knowledge seekers. Now as you all know, or at least I believe you all to be aware, there is a new show out on Disney+ called LOKI. I'm gonna start with a little recap of the MCU and then postulate from there about the direction of the show. Also, even though today is the release of episode 2, I have not yet watched it yet... so there won't be any spoilers...

As we know from Norse mythology and it's subsequent role in the MCU over the Infinity saga, LOKI is a formidable, cunning adversary. Born LOKI Laufeyson, his father Laufey ruled over the ice/frost giants of Jotunheim. LOKI was unusually small for a frost giant and was left in a temple to die, shortly after to be found and rescued by ODIN after the war between the frost giants and the Asgardians. ODIN brought LOKI back to Asgard and used his magic to make the child look like an Asgardian; adopting and raising him as a son to be brothers with Thor, his biological child. 

We know from Thor that LOKI felt burdened with glorious purpose to rule over Midgard, Asgard, and the other realms. In the sequel, we saw LOKI fake his own death and indeed show himself as a mischievous scamp. We later find out that he messed with Odin's mind, usurp the throne of Asgard, parade around in his father's clothes, commemorate statutes in his true image, but went as far as commissioning a theatrical play of his accomplishments, featuring Liam Hemsworth, Sam Neil, and fan favorite Matt Damon. This segment was good for some laughs, to be sure. 

Unfortunately, LOKI from the first Avengers (Assemble) was bound by his pursuit of glorious purpose. The Infinity stone, the tesseract, fell into the hands on Loki due to the time travel angle he figured out by smelling the cologne of Tony Stark from the future who was dressed as an agent in combat attire. Brilliant. We saw how he was teleported to Mongolia and almost immediately was met by the Time Variance Authority or TVA. LOKI was knocked silly by a time baton and apprehended into TVA custody; TVA agents releasing something unusual that was going to reset that last part of the timeline for the locals as the agents, with LOKI,  disappeared through their temporal portal. 

After the fear tactics and humiliation, he is brought into a courtroom and ruminated about himself being the victim of conspiracy at the hands of who he deemed as the real culprits in the Avengers. LOKI very casually suggests he be allowed to return to his timeline and rectify the situation by destroying the Avengers. To his shock, he is told that their deeds of time travel are allowed, but LOKI teleporting out of Avengers tower with the tesseract was unacceptable, he was a variant, and they were going to kill him... until Agent Mobius M. Mobius stepped in with a different direction to the story. We find out just after that they are in a large city like structure before Mobius gives LOKI his "This is your life" greatest hits and misses. Followed by the revelation that this variant of LOKI was needed to hunt down an even more dangerous variant of LOKI. That catches up to the end of episode 1.

I want to rewind and go over a few details of episode 1 before I reveal my theory about the show. 

1) the Skrull when LOKI first arrives in the TVA. 

2) inside the courtroom you could see 3 panels on the wall, each with a mural of different classes of TVA employees. You could see the agent enforcement group, the civil servant group, and what look like the Judges...

3) after LOKI's brief escape, a woman is seen briefly in what looks like 1950s attire with brown hair similar to Peggy Carter...

4) the fact that LOKI laughed at his own death, but cried at his adopted mother's death showed a great deal about the character of this variant. Other variants apparently weren't this remorseful...

5) LOKI calling the 3 time keepers "Space lizards". This ironic and likely could be a plot point later on, likely linked to He Who Remains, the sole survivor of the destruction of the previous universe. 

6) if you recall the short video with Miss Minutes, she described an ancient multiversal war (madness) with a short animated video that looked exactly like the home planet of Thanos, Titan. Doubt that's a coincidence. Perhaps this will be a pivotal plot point for the Eternals?

7) I have to mention Casey's box of Infinity stones. In the TVA, we're told that the magical powers of characters and Infinity stones just flat out doesn't work there. Ironically there are more green time stones than any of the other colors, leading me to wonder how many times the Sorcerer Supreme: Dr. Strange and/or the Ancient One had been pruned by the TVA? This too could explain the variant difference in the Red Skull Johan Schmidt on Vormir...

Okay, now it's time for my personal theories about what is going on in the show. 

1) I personally believe the TVA is located inside of the quantum realm, based upon evidence from Ant Man and the Wasp. Fan theories pointed to evidence of a large city existing inside the quantum realm and this could both explain the presence of the TVA and Janet Van Dyne being able to survive for nearly 30 years. This also could explain why Scott Lang was immune from the snap of the Infinity Gauntlet, as the magical powers of the Infinity stones don't work in the quantum realm.

2) The Ancient One had a talk with Professor Hulk in Endgame about the "sacred timeline" which defined for the viewers the overview that mortals of this universe have about the timeline. It is highly likely she was aware of the TVA, albeit unaware that their existence is outside and beyond the physical bounds of their current universe.

3) It is highly likely that we've already seen the first glimpses of the Multiverse in Dr. Strange as we explored the shattered dimension as well as the realm of Dormammu, the 9 realms of Thor, and the quantum universe of Ant Man and the Wasp.

4) The TVA seems clearly upset about losing agents to another variant of LOKI, meaning there are ALREADY alternate timelines in play. I've postulated about this in other blogs on the subject and my analysis is that Disney Marvel is going to write off the other Marvel projects done by other studios like FOX and SONY, to be in different timelines and that the TVA is misleading the audience into believing there is only 1 timeline in THEIR protected SACRED TIMELINE. 

5) The variant dilema. Marvel writers could very easily use this idea of variants to explain away some of the inconsistencies of the MCU such as Terrance Howard in the original portrayal of Colonel Rhodes a.k.a. War Machine, Edward Norton as the Hulk, and surely the Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield Spider-man variants from Sony. This also could possibly be the catalyst to bringing the extended cast of characters in from the previous studios like the X-men and the Brotherhood, Fantastic 4, Defenders, Sinister 6, Dr. Doom, etc. 

6) Another variant dilema is the pandora's box they've opened with this concept. There could likely be variants of our favorite heroes in the MCU. Quicksilver variant could have actually been Ralph Bohner or vice versa. Will we end up seeing Captain Hydra variant where Steve Rogers joined Hydra instead of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Will we see a reboot of those characters from non-canon stories like Agent Carter or the Defenders like Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones? Did I just stumble onto the premise for the upcoming animated Disney+ show "What if...?"? We've already seen in the trailer for "What if..?" Peggy Carter dressed up as Captain Britain with the infamous shield from Howard Stark. T'Challa as Star Lord. Marvel Zombies... Seems like those possibilities are endless.

7)Why was the time travel done by the Avengers deemed as acceptable, but LOKI jumping out of his path on the timeline was forbidden? My theory is because the entire Infinity Saga was just a big time loop, similar to the one we saw in Dr. Strange as he entrapped Dormamu into rage quitting from boredom of killing the sorcerer supreme in an infinite loop.

Steve Rogers was the time anchor for the entire time loop, starting from his time travel into the future from being frozen in ice, "Capsicle" to Tony Stark. The TVA didn't punish the Avengers because of Steve Rogers time loop that nearly always ended with LOKI making the best versions of the titular hero characters by inducing pain, misery, and suffering, devoid of the events of the subsequent movies that humbled him to being an anti-hero rather than a villain. Steve Rogers had already gone back in time, as we can clearly see the older version of his character as a pallbearer at his late wife Peggy Carter's funeral, seen in CA: Civil War. The loop was already in progress, the Avengers just didn't figure it out yet... except Steve and Bucky. Bucky knew Steve's secret because he encountered the older version of Steve at some point in the past where he was already married to Peggy Carter at that point under his alternate identity as Roger Stevens. They had 2 children together. Bucky kept his secret and in the future for Steve, the present for the rest of the Avengers, both Bucky and Steve looked very chill and Steve opted not to relay his life story for his friend Sam Wilson. Steve got to disappear and be dead to the world, as we saw in Falcon and Winter Soldier. 

When Steve left the current timeline, he likely took his time to return the stones to their proper place in the timeline due to the fact that he was already aware of the loop he was in. As it resulted for him personally to have his dream life with Peggy Carter, I doubt he really was too concerned with the idea of any kind of sacred timeline, only to pass on the legacy of Captain America to the next worthy person he could think of in Sam Wilson: a good man with a good heart. He clearly returned all the stones because the present for Sam and Buck was seamless when the older version of Steve Rogers returned with an intact shield to pass on his legacy to Sam. 

LOKI, on the other hand, obsessed with his GLORIOUS PURPOSE, sought to use the Infinity stones for a nefarious, self-serving purpose, as opposed to the Avengers who used time travel to stop the universe from being destroyed by Thanos and his dark order. The TVA snatched the variant LOKI out of the Gobi desert in Mongolia and returned a cloned version of himself back into the timestream to keep the Sacred Timeline intact, the version where LOKI was apprehended by the Avengers and taken back to Asgard to pay for his crimes. The captured variant of LOKI learned that there was no timeline where he didn't live as an antagonist or villain existing only to bring out the better versions of others like the Avengers. Mobius gives the character a bit of hope that there can be a life beyond the preset limitations set upon him by the alleged all-knowing Time Keepers. This is likely also a point of reference for the remainder of the show as this variant audibly threatened to burn down the TVA... a different, more sinister version of this character might not have the moral compass of this LOKI, i.e. the girl pointing at the image of the devil in the cathedral in the first episode. 

The existence of the variant LOKI still alive, yet replaced in his own timeline leads the viewers to question how many different LOKI variants there could be in the story. Mobius wants to understand the psychology of this variant in hopes to find a way to stop the more deadly, likely female, variant wreaking havoc on the Sacred Timeline, likely leading us back to another multiversal war between the different timeline universes. As I said before, this is a good way to bring in more characters, possibly even more cosmic characters like the Celestials, namely Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer.

Another point of reference for the story is the previous Disney+ show WandaVision. In the Miss Minutes video we learn that a divergent timeline branch that spawns a variant from the Sacred Timeline is called a NEXUS event. Wanda, we had learned is a NEXUS BEING, capable of rewriting reality due to her contact with the Mind Stone in the staff of LOKI, incredibly increasing her innate Scarlet Witch magic. We've already learned that the title of the next Sorcerer Supreme movie is Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Could Wanda Maximoff be the catalyst for breaking the sacred timeline and expanding into a dangerous multiversal war? Are there other Nexus beings in the current MCU or will they be introducing more in the near future?

Well, this has been fun and a lot to think about I'm sure. I thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read my thoughts and hope this day finds you with blessings and joy as you watch the newest episode tonight. This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.

Misophonia

Namaste and welcome to my blog, my friends, family, and fellow knowledge seekers. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy day to read my thoughts. Let's just jump right in and get started.

Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds such as eating, chewing, loud breathing, snoring, and repeated pen-clicking, for example, trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable given the circumstances. These likely come from the sympathetic nervous system that regulates our fight, flight, or fuck responses. 

Someone who has this disorder might describe a certain sound that "drives you crazy", ranging from an angry or annoyed reaction to panic and the need to flee, a.k.a. the fight or flight response I mentioned previously. 
Although this is not recognized in the DSM-IV ("Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders") and it is not classified as a hearing or psychiatric disorder. It is thought to be related to a form of sound-emotion synesthesia, with parallels to some anxiety disorders. 

Be courteous to those with mental health issues. Treat others the way you would like to be treated, yourself. 

This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse. 

The ASSASSINATION of a Peaceful Dream.

Namaste and I welcome you to my blog on this Martin Luther King Jr. day. I hope this day finds you warm and well. Today I want to briefly write about individuals that have been assassinated for, basically no other reason than trying to spread the message of peace, love, and fellowship among humans, to the point of attempting to alleviate the suffering of the masses at the hands of the greedy, powerful, and ruthless.

I wish it weren't so, but those that seek to end the wars and end the hatred are sadly often met with more hatred and more violent responses. Dr. King, among others, wished for a peaceful dream where white folks and colored folks could live peacefully, free of hatred and discrimination, judged by the quality of character over color of skin. Imagine a world where everyone gets the same fair shake at the life they deserve. 

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

John Lennon

Abraham Lincoln 

Mahatma Ghandi

John F. Kennedy 

Jam Master Jay

Robert Kennedy

 

Tupac Shakur

Benazir Bhutto

Huey Newton 

Qasim Soleilmani (I only added this person because he was on his way to Iraq to broker a peace deal between Iraq and Iran before his illegal assassination ordered by Donald J. Trump, that has increased hostilities in the middle East and strained American foreign relations with the region; our allies in NATO and United Nations.)

Notorious B.I.G.

And many many more who tried to change the world only to be met with an untimely death at the hands of an assassin.

Rest in peace.