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KulakRevolt  10mo ago (anarchonomicon.substack.com)   1539 thread views

Teach a Man to Revolt: Dreams of a Dark Bill of Rights

anarchonomicon.substack.com

Long take I wrote on what sustains a cultures values and the dream of a "Dark Bill of Rights" that could be unalterable and untarnish-able, like the 1400 year long tradition of Sharia.

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Thank you, that was thought-provoking. I wonder what Thomas Jefferson would have said about it, given his opinion that "A strict observance of the written law is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to the written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the ends to the means."

What if your Dark Bill of Rights ends up dragging the country down? Like the Sharia, the strictest implementation of which turns your country into Afghanistan or the Islamic State when not propped up by selling oil to the accursed infidels?

What if your Dark Bill of Rights ends up dragging the country down?

I won't put words in the mouth of @KulakRevolt but I think the implication is that that's a bet that he's willing to take. You really think that you've stumbled upon the political formula? You put it to the test and you succeed or you die.

This increases the risk of people finding the wrong political formula and wreaking havoc until they are put down, it all but removes the risk of people actually finding the right one and letting it slip out of their hands due to cowardice and compromise. Marxists tried this, Islamic Fundamentalists tried this, and their power has withered in the face of a society which hasn't even halfheartedly followed it's formula for success. The question is whether a strict adherence to the formula of the founders of America would have brought calamity or more success?

There's always the sticky question of how to define "success", however. Some would say that a small-government US with a much lower GDP and less international power (but still #1), but much more personal freedom, local political control etc is more successful than a richer, stronger, less free US.

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