Armchair Philosophy, May 27th, 2020
Topic: Federal power and the rights of the states.
Sic semper tyrannis. The words of John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln. In modern American history, these words are seen as those of a villainous assassin who wrought destruction and encumbered the advent of civil rights. In other words, he is seen as an anti-american terrorist. But I like to play devils advocate and, today, I would like to consider the context and meaning of this simple latin phrase. And, yes, before anyone asks, I was inspired to ask this question after watching a few minutes of Grant on History channel and noticing the belittlement of Robert E. Lee's contributions to the Union forces. This felt propagandistic to me, so I wanted to consider the single most propagandized event related to the war, President Lincoln's assassination.
Thus, always to tyrants. Most Americans do not see Abraham Lincoln as a tyrant. I am sure that many would consider the framing to be funny, if not utterly ridiculous. After all, Lincoln freed the slaves. But let us truly consider the implications of the results of the US Civil War. In what way was Abraham Lincoln most a tyrant.
Now, I am no history buff, so please excuse any inaccuracies in my direct reference to any events that took place, but I believe that the the perspectives of the war can be interpreted without a perfect knowledge of the events themselves. That said, I would like to consider this question, did slavery end with the Civil War, or did it simply transform? Now, if I were to speak to a socialist or communist about this, I am sure that they would speak of capitalism becoming the slave driving force of the US, through cheap labor and the such. This is not my intent. What I am questioning is legal control over another person, persons, or entity. To be more direct, did the States become slaves to the Federal Government of the United States of America upon the Union victory in the Civil War?
Let us consider this, while there is no strict law in the Constitution preventing secession from the Union, multiple Supreme Court Justices have claimed that doing so is illegal, and the reunion of the Confederate States of America back into the United States of America was through force of war and legally tied all states, regardless of their desire to secede, back into the union. This, while not directly legal, essentially forcibly bounds all states to the union regardless of their desire to secede. The only exception is if the majority of the remaining union agrees to let them leave the union peacefully, or they win a war for independence. That being the case, it could be argued that the states are now slaves to the union.
If the federal government has the right to use force to maintain membership of its union, then what rights do states truly have? The 10th Amendment guarantees that all rights not in our constitution are designated to our states, but that also means that any rights designated to the states could be removed through the actions of a super-majority within the Federal Government. So, is our Union actually just the rule of a Federal tyrant over the powers of the states? That may actually be the case. Though, history is written by the winners, and our history books like to read that Booth was the real tyrant.
Let's keep the discussion going! I look forward to reading your thoughts below.
Just thought I'd share this comment I was trying to comment on a Lotus Eaters video. Btw, ya'll should follow the Podcast of the Lotus Eaters if you aren't already. Great analysis and discussion
It's been a while since I've made a video, and this time with a locals exclusive. A cherry on top that I managed to fit within the size requirements. I like making shorter form content like this, considering my tendencies to ramble. Having content exclusive for my followers here is something I'll be working on doing more and more. I'll be creating more value here for my subscribers as well, with some subscriber exclusive content in the future. No timeline promises, cause I think we know how I get when I make a ton of promises (go hardcore for a week and then fall flat on my face unable to keep up with the sprint, lol).
Anyhow, let me know your thoughts and questions below. Have a great day everyone!
A direct upload! It turns out I recorded a video just short enough to meet the minimum upload offerings that locals offers to small communities like mine. That means you guys get this exclusively on locals!
I didn't sleep much last night, so I decided this was the perfect time to mull over my confused thoughts on how businesses are viewed from a legal perspective. Businesses are somewhat legal enigmas to me. Corporations are kinda treated as persons so that they can be double taxed, but have other protections, other types of businesses aren't treated the same way. They're able to consolidate power like governments, yet aren't subject to any form of limitations in regards to violating natural rights the same way the government is, despite being treated somewhat like persons they can still buy each other. It's just very odd to me from a principled, legal, and philosophical position.
Anyhow, my ramblings here are just that, ramblings. Still, I am curious what you all think of this topic. ...
The 2020 election is over, and the battle has just begun. What do I expect to come from the end of the election? Will the legal suits turn over anything for this election, or will they mean something for later down the line? I reflect on these questions and more in this discussion, and I also reflect on some final thoughts relevant to the Rise and Fall of Empire Series, that, thus far, being episodes 8 through 10 of the Construct Cast. Let me know your thoughts, and if you have any reflections of your own from this year's political cycle or other developments that you can't seem to get off your mind in the comments below.
In this episode of the Construct Cast, I discuss my analysis of Sir John Glubb's The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival, with an emphasis on my own consideration for what it would take to help an empire survive, or reboot. If immortality for an Empire is impossible, is rebirth impossible in the same way? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Editor's Note: Returning to the podcast versions of the Construct Cast, I want to catch our content up to the videos we have had released over the past month. I apologize for this getting away from me for a bit. With the rise in content production, I had allowed this to get away from me. We will be returning to audio podcast uploads of the Construct Cast as per our original regular schedule, at 12PM EST on the day of the original upload, going forward.
In this second Crossover podcast, we are once again recording with Kevin @Eng_Politics. His channel is a bastion of political thought and analysis from the perspective of a conservative engineer. Interested in diving deeper into my concept of Progressive Traditionalism and combating the concept with his own beliefs of what it means to be Conservative, we decided to put our definitions and beliefs to task in this crossover episode!
Be sure to check out Kevin's locals community here:
https://engineeringpolitics.locals.com/
And if you're more interested in the video version, here is a direct link:
https://engineeringpolitics.locals.com/post/235260/the-engineering-politics-podcast-30-conservatism-vs-progressive-traditionalism
So I just confirmed that, after a year off of the Keto diet, my Ulcerative Colitis (a type of IBS) is still not only in remission, but seemingly cured as if it never was there, including no more polyp growth.
This self-experiment has shown me that a prolonged period on Keto, about 2 years for me, was enough to create the long lasting effects to repair and cure my gastrointestinal system to complete recovery from what was supposed to be a lifelong, incurable illness. I still have a minor level proctitus at the exit, to put it in the least gross way I can think, but with the rest actually fully cured to where my new GI doctor asked if I was misdiagnosed originally is a major accomplishment.
For those seeking a source on how to get here like I did, I recommend following Thomas Delaur's YouTube channel for general inflammation control/healthy keto/ workout advice, only eat meat that is 100% Grass fed and pasture raised (including eggs), and drink a glass of Kefir at least once a week. Good ...
Controversial capitalist take, but I personally don't think stock ownership should give any power to the stockholders over business decisions. Buyouts and ownership should be separate from stock investment. How? There are various options to discuss. Why? Theoretically an investment firm could invest ownership stakes into every major investment firm over time and concentrate all of their investments to own controlling stakes across entire industries or even all publicly traded companies.
Actually, this isn't so theoretical if you look at BlackRock's partnerships with Vanguard and State Street. The three companies operate in virtual lockstep and theoretically wouldn't even need 51% collective ownership in the companies they invest in because any company with an array of other investors should have some theoretical minimum that they can guarantee will follow the leadership of these big 3 in most cases. I've seen estimates that they only need a collective 35% share to all but guarantee any ...
