We’ve reached Autumn in the North, the beginning of the great time of distraction for the sheeple. While they watch their NFL games, prepare for the gluttony of Thanksgiving, then transition quickly into the iPhone buyfest that is Christmas, who knows what the NSA is tapping into or what Obama and Kerry are bombing. The Fall indeed… That's why it's nice to have a bolthole. Down in Chile it is Spring and a time of renewal… and a lot more freedom.
Want to join in the discourse? Send your questions, comments, queries, and concerns to tdv@dollarvigilante.com, comment on a post, or get on the forums.
On to the feedback…
KALGARY?
Dear TDV,
I've been working in Calgary, Canada, for the past few months and I must say it's quite depressing seeing all the mass conformity. I've gotten to the point where I don't even try and have civil discourse with anyone as it's practically impossible. I've come to the conclusion that there is going to have to be a major reset for people to change their way of thinking and honestly that may not even do it.
Susan R.
Jeff’s Response:
Hi Susan,
Oh my god, I know. Don't get me wrong… and I hate generalizing about groups of people as that simply isn't the way libertarians and anarchists think. But you can definitely tell with some areas that a lot of people have been drinking too much propaganda kool-aid. And, of couse, in Kanada, most people get their "news", still, from the government news channel (CBC) and think it is an impartial, truthful viewpoint on events and affairs!
And, there is an old adage, something about hating the people you know most due to familiarity. Familiarity breeds contempt, I believe it goes. And after nearly 30 years in Kanada I have a really, really hard time dealing with the general populace.
Calgary is one of the worst places for this. For those who don't know, Calgary is sort of the Dallas, Texas, of Canada. A lot of oil and beef money (which is fine… money and production is good), but they also are the Canadian version of Republican (called Konservative in Kanada)… and they seem to buy into government policing and military.
And then, on top, they have that usual Canadian smugness about socialized healthcare… where I regularly (almost daily) hear from friends and family still stuck there about how they have to wait weeks just for basic medical care and months or years for anything major. Get ready, USSA, Obamacare is about to go into effect… enjoy your communist medical care… for diseases and medical issues mostly caused by the fascist pharmaceutical and food industry! Whooeee this fasco-communism is fun!
Back to Canada. In many ways, Canadians are now more patriotic than Americans in thinking that "their" country is better than the US (which they always suspected… even though no one can name 3 global Canadian companies… and Blackberry just collapsed… and most people can name about a thousand global US companies). I nearly cried when Canada won the gold medal in hockey at the winter olympics in Vancouver because I knew that a majority of Canadians would consider that as showing that their version of socialism and fascism is the best.
My advice to you is to just not interact with too many locals… it is too frustrating as they are truly brainwashed. Look to things like TDV Groups to find locals who do understand economics and politics and have meet-up groups. TDV Group meet-ups are like AA for alcoholics… a place and time to meet up and talk with other people who understand your struggles and find some positivity out of it. TDV Groups are a bonus for TDV subscribers, and you can become a subscriber by clicking here.
BEST SITES ON THE ‘NET
Hey TDV,
This is for Jeff, Gary, and Jim Karger. What blogs and websites do you frequent regularly?
Ward P.
Jeff’s Response:
– DrudgeReport.com (for basic news)
– LewRockwell.com
– Libertarian News
– Activist Post
– Infowars
Gary's Response:
I checked in with Jim and it seems he's on the road this week. Here are my answers:
–FreeDomainRadio.com
-LewRockwell.com (I used to be fairly addicted to that one…)
-Cracked.com (They betray a typical "progressive" slant, but they present interesting facts in funny ways.)
Other than that I bounce around a lot.
TDV LOVES "DEXTER"…AND THE FEELING'S MUTUAL
As a subscriber and huge fan of the work you and Jeff are doing, I was happy to read you've become a "Dexter" fan. Have you finished the 4th season yet?
RL [a "Dexter" producer]
Gary's Response:
Heh. It was great to get a missive from one of the Emmy-winning people resposible for one of the finest few seasons of television I've ever seen. I had indeed just finished watching the 4th season when I got this message. I was still trying to deal with the shock and grief…and still checking for John Lithgow under my bed before going to sleep. Sadly, I promised my dear friend in Minneapolis that I wouldn't watch any episodes without her so I'll have to wait till she joins me down here in Chile next month to get to the latest (and last) season.
This letter made me wonder…Just how many liberty-loving folks are there in the entertainment industry subtlely corrupting the minds of their audience. You have glaringly obvious ones like Josh Whedon and his sorely missed and inspiringly libertarian "Firefly" (the main protagonist of which actually said "All government's good for is gettin' in a man's way"). Then you have that amazing show which Jeff Berwick has been urging me very strongly to watch, and which I really had been meaning to watch: "Breaking Bad".
If you follow Jeff on Facebook, you know that "Breaking Bad" has become something of an obsession for him. And with good reason. The show is not only sparklingly written and acted…it is a zippy morality tale of modern prohibition. I can't help but watch it and feel like the writers are yelling, "there wouldn't be this drug lord/gangster violence or outrageous profit motive for it if we stopped pointing government guns at people prevent them from doing these drugs which they end up doing anyway!"
See, prohibition doesn't end addiction and destroyed lives. In fact, it's been shown to increase addiction rates. Some people think that without prohibition, drug abuse would increase, but that's wrong. Prohibition is shallow morality ("don't you dare enjoy yourself too much!") at gunpoint that makes naughty fun cooler while ruining lives with kidnapping and torture at great financial cost. Prohibition also artificially inflates prices so that customers resort to petty theft to get the prohibited thing they want while providers resort to extra-legal, lethal methods to negotiate their disputes. And not to mention that prohibition of naughty things that people can enjoy responsibly (like alcohol and cocaine) drives the development of worse things that are harder to enjoy responsibly (like crack cocaine and meth).
In any case, it's wonderful to have "Breaking Bad" fill in while my absence from my lady friend forces me to take a break from "Dexter." Thanks for Season 4, RL.
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