On the Banks

Letter to my Grandchildren from Inside a Cult

 

Image: Public domain

 

From my latest article on LewRockwell.com:

I don’t have any grandchildren yet. But if I ever do, I want them to understand what it is we went through during this time in history, and even more, to understand how it is that we got here. So this is for them:

I first learned about “cults” when I was 13, the age my son is now. I watched with fascination as the horrific events of the Jonestown mass suicide/murder were revealed to the world. I paid close attention to the story, clipped all the newspaper articles about it, and imagined scenarios in which I would find a way to hide until everyone was dead or gone, and save myself–and my family, if they were there too–had I been there.

What didn’t occur to me at the time was that, had I been there–had I uprooted my life to go and join this group of people in the jungles of Guyana, had I been in the frame of mind to go along with everything they did leading up to the events of November 18, 1978 (including practice runs for the mass suicide)–then chances are, I would have willingly stood in a circle with my friends and drunk the cyaninde-laden Kool-Aid as so many others did.

And that is what is so puzzling, and so fascinating, about cults. From the outside, we can’t imagine why those people would have done those things. What could possibly drive otherwise normal people to act in ways that seem not only insane, but counter to their own interests–in the case of Jonestown, counter to their most fundamental instinct for self preservation?

What could get someone to be willing to sacrifice their own life, and the lives of the people they love?

I hope to provide some insight into this question, as I find myself now, at the end of the year 2020, living in the midst of what I can only describe as a massive, dangerous, and self-destructive cult.

SO WHAT IS A CULT?

Teri Buford O’Shea escaped from Jonestown only a few weeks before the mass suicide and murder. She defines a cult this way:

“A cult is when you aren’t allowed to see your friends or family…I’m talking about total isolation – someone takes all your money and brings you to a place where there’s no communication, or if there is you aren’t allowed to use it.”

Cult deprogrammer Steven Hassan created the BITE model to explain some of the key elements that cults employ to control their members:

Behavior Control: An individual’s associations, living arrangements, food, clothing, sleeping habits, finances, etc., are strictly controlled.

Information Control: Cult leaders deliberately withhold or distort information, lie, propagandize, and limit access to other sources of information.

Thought Control: Cult leaders use loaded words and language, discourage critical thinking, bar any speech critical of cult leaders or policies, and teach an “us vs. them” doctrine.

Emotional Control: Leaders manipulate their followers via fear (including the fear of losing salvation, fear of shunning, etc.), guilt, and indoctrination.

Reading both O’Shea’s definition, and Hassan’s BITE components in 2020, it is striking to me the extent to which all of these things have been inflicted upon Americans over the past eight months:

Isolation and the intimate control of our activities and relationships, in the form of forced social distancing, the closing of businesses and schools, and most cruelly, the isolation of the elderly and others in care homes; taking money, or in our case, destroying the source of income and livelihood for millions of people in this country;control of communication and information, through what has now become overtcensorship, with hints that some forms of communication may be shut down entirely; emotional manipulation through the shaming of those who do not go along with the diktat of the day, and other tactics; and an authoritarian thought-control regime, where critical thinking on the part of individuals is ridiculed, views that contradict those of the leaders are actively censored, and intellectual debate is replaced by “us vs. them” tribal warfare.

It is this last part that gets to the heart of it. To me, the essence of a “cult” is that it provides an external replacement, a substitute, for one’s own power of reasoning and moral judgement. It demands blind obedience to this substitute, and punishes harshly anyone who dissents from its pronouncements.

 

Read the rest here.

 

 

 

Dog-Eat-Dog Statism for Special-Needs Families: You’re Either at the Table or You’re on the Menu

 

Image: Non-commercial use

 

I wrote this six years ago, but I think the issues I raise here are more relevant than ever:

 

I wouldn’t have expected a conference on therapy for children with autism and related disorders to have much to say about politics, but in a country where the state’s tentacles reach into pretty much every aspect of human life, I should have known better.

My daughter is developmentally disabled and I am pursuing more child-centered therapies for her than the more widely recognized ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) method, so last fall I attended the DIR Floortime Conference on Floortime, a more play-based form of therapy.

As soon as I walked in, I was struck by two phrases: “Parent Choice” and “Advocacy.” I was pretty sure that “Parent Choice” wasn’t going to mean what I hoped it would mean. So I asked someone who was wearing a big button with the phrase on it, and found that indeed, “Parent Choice” in this context simply refers to having the “choice” to force your insurance company to pay for alternative therapies in addition to the more established ABA method.

The issue revolves around a bill that was passed in 2011, SB 946, that mandates insurance coverage for developmental therapies to treat autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder. However, either due to the way the bill was written or to the way it has been interpreted – and with much thanks to the ABA lobby – the insurance codes only apply to ABA therapy and not to alternatives. So now the DIR/Floortime lobby is rallying to change that. Of course, as someone who doesn’t believe in forcing other people to give me anything, I couldn’t support this kind of “choice”, but I just smiled and moved on.

As it turned out, the guest of honor at the conference’s gala dinner was Dr. Louis Vismara, senior policy consultant to California Senator Darrell Steinberg, the author of SB 946. Dr. Vismara spoke on the first morning of the conference and assured parents that he would work hard to get the problem fixed so that parents could also force their insurance companies to pay for Floortime therapy. There was much applause.

There were other concerns too. Some parents had felt the effects of state budget cuts and had to struggle to get the services they needed for their children. Dr. Vismara sympathized with these concerns and stressed the importance of being active in “advocating” for their children. He said that, in the world of public policy, “you’re either at the table or you’re on the menu.”

He ended his talk by urging parents to get involved in the political process, and to contact his office with any practical proposals. “If a specific problem is identified and there is a solution”, he said, then that solution has a “strong chance” of being implemented.

I had identified a specific problem and had a solution in mind. So at the end of his talk, I went up to him and asked him about it.

 

Read the rest here.

 

 

WTMWD #48: What is "Non-Violent Communication" and what does it have to do with liberty? With Gretchen Wahlstedt

 

 

 

 

I speak with my sister, Gretchen Wahlstedt, about her experiences with Non-Violent Communication, what that actually means, and the role it can play in the fight for liberty. We also talk about the current state of civil (or not-so-civil) discourse, and whether anything can be done to bridge the growing divisions between people in 2020 America.

 

 

 

A Year Ago Today: Some Gratitude and Some Rage

 

 

This photo is actually from a year ago yesterday. My dad had gone into ER because (we later found out) he had a stress fracture in his knee. He was able to stand, and even walk, so they sent him home, but the next day–a year ago today–he couldn't stand, and went into the hospital. We didn't know it then, but he was leaving his home for the last time. From the hospital, he went into rehab, to build his strength while his knee healed. 

What we didn't know was that his cancer was progressing very fast. And on Christmas night, he was taken from rehab back to the hospital. Four days later he passed away, with all of us with him. 

I hate that my dad is gone. I wish we could have had him for many more years. But given that he is gone, there are some things I am grateful for about his passing:

1. I am grateful that we didn't know how bad his cancer was, or that he was dying. That's a weird thing for me to say, because normally I want all the information I can get and I am deeply opposed to deception. (And I don't mean that anyone deceived us here, just that we didn't know.) But this time... I'm glad we didn't know. I'm glad that we were able to honestly sit there with him and tell him that the plan was to get him stronger so we could bring him home;

2. I'm beyond grateful that my family lives here, in the same town as my parents, and that I was able to visit him nearly every day that he was in rehab. I am so grateful for the time I had with him, even though I still kick myself for not spending more time with him;

3. I am grateful that I told him, after he had been in rehab for well over a month, and was getting very tired of being there, that nobody could force him to stay there and if he really wanted to come home we would make that happen. He said no, that he thought the best plan was to stay there and work with the therapists to get stronger. But I am so glad I got to tell him that–it would have haunted me forever if I hadn't;

4. I am grateful that we were able to resolve all of our shit well before he died, and that there was nothing left unsaid between us;

5. And I am grateful that he told me how much he appreciated my being there for him those last few months. I didn't think he needed to say it at the time, and was almost offended that he thought he did. But it matters now and I'm so glad he said it.

When we took my dad into ER, a year ago yesterday, my mom started doing her qi gong in the hospital–to hold herself together, I'm sure. I got some pictures of her, and this is one of them. I love these pictures. They say so much about their relationship, and about each of them as individuals. About how they were each very different from each other, on different paths and with very different focuses in life, yet still so deeply connected.

Losing my dad was really hard. It is still really hard. It wasn't long after he left us that "it" all started "coming down"–just like he'd spent our whole lives telling us it would. And if he had gone into the hospital, and into rehab, only a few months later than he did, our experience would have been very very different.

I get that the elderly are the most at risk from Covid-19. Just as they are from a host of other infectious pathogens that entire economies haven't been destroyed over. And I get that that risk–for them, not for the rest of us–seems to be worse than for flu and other corona viruses. But none of that justifies how this has been handled. None of that justifies shutting people away and not allowing them to see their loved ones in their last months, weeks, or days of life. 

I agree that measures should be taken to protect the elderly from Covid-19 (and from other things that might kill them, including loneliness and despair). But if isolating them in that way is the best that the people making these decisions could come up with, then they have failed so miserably that they should never again be allowed to have responsibility for anything beyond–possibly–dressing themselves. Everyone involved in coming up with, and enforcing, these decisions should be so deeply ashamed as to be placed on suicide watch for a good long time.

I can't even imagine, and don't want to, what our last two months with our dad would have been like had he gone into the hospital today instead of a year ago today. He hated being in that place. He chose it, because he thought it was the best way for him to build up his strength, but he did not like being there. The only thing that kept him going was being able to see his people every day. I don't even want to think about what a nightmare it would have been for him, and for us, knowing how miserable and alone he was every day, or the guilt and pain we would have to live with forever after he died.

What has been committed here is a crime. Call it a crime against humanity, or call it a crime against a whole lot of people, but it is a crime and we need to call it that. And one day, the people responsible for this crime will be held accountable.  

 

 

WTMWD #43: Kerry McDonald on a powerful weapon against teen depression. Also: What to do about Halloween!

 

 

 

 

I speak with unschooling mom and homeschooling advocate Kerry McDonald about an upcoming 4-day webinar to help inspire teens' inner entrepreneurs – and about why it is more critical than ever that we encourage our teens to find ways to create and to contribute now.

We also talk about Halloween...

FEE's "Entrepreneur Week" is Nov. 16-19, and is FREE. You can sign up here.

Kerry's book, "Homeschooling in the Time of Covid-19" is available for download here.

Her article "How our Culture Disempowers Teens", from last year, is here.

And her recent article on the Halloween bans is here.

 

 

Why I Won't Be Putting Masks on my Kids:

 

 

 

 

This is a video that by some miracle is still up on YouTube. It is in German, and maybe that's why it's still up. It is a video of a German neurologist, Dr. Margarite Griesz-Brisson MD, PhD, explaining that wearing masks for any extended period of time can cause permanent brain damage.

There's a translation here (which I can't personally vouch for as I don't speak German), and a partial transcript here.

(UPDATE: Now here, because the account for the link I posted earlier has been "...archived or suspended for a violation of our Terms of Service" - WordPress. You all are paying attention now, right? You're starting to physically copy and save anything you see online that might be important because you know it may not be there the next time you look for it. Right?)

From that transcript:

“The rebreathing of our exhaled air will without a doubt create oxygen deficiency and a flooding of carbon dioxide. We know that the human brain is very sensitive to oxygen depravation. There are nerve cells for example in the hippocampus, that can’t be longer than 3 minutes without oxygen – they cannot survive. The acute warning symptoms are headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, issues in concentration, slowing down of the reaction time – reactions of the cognitive system.

"...The second problem is that the nerve cells in your brain are unable to divide themselves normally. So in case our governments will generously allow as to get rid of the masks and go back to breathing oxygen freely again in a few months, the lost nerve cells will no longer be regenerated. What is gone is gone.

"For children and adolescents, masks are an absolute no-no. Children and adolescents have an extremely active and adaptive immune system and they need a constant interaction with the microbiome of the Earth. Their brain is also incredibly active, as it is has so much to learn. The child’s brain, or the youth’s brain is thirsting for oxygen. The more metabolically active the organ is, the more oxygen it requires.  In children and adolescents every organ is metabolically active.

"To deprive a child’s or an adolescent’s brain from oxygen, or to restrict it in any way, is not only dangerous to their health, it is absolutely criminal. Oxygen deficiency inhibits the development of the brain, and the damage that has taken place as a result CANNOT be reversed.

 

Dr. Griesz-Brisson is not the only one saying this. 

In March, a study of healthcare workers in Singapore found that "(m)ost healthcare workers develop de novo PPE‐associated headaches or exacerbation of their pre‐existing headache disorders" after increased (mandated) PPE usage, including wearing N95 masks. This repeats the findings of a similar study done in 2003, and another study from 2008 found that surgeons experienced a decrease in oxygen saturation levels after the first hour of wearing a surgical mask.

As Dr. Griesz-Brisson points out, headaches can be one symptom of oxygen deprivation. And while these studies involved the use of N95 masks and surgical masks, not cloth masks, I have heard anecdotally from several people who wear masks to go shopping, etc. that doing so gives them headaches and can cause lightheadedness and a drop in O2 levels (yes, one friend measured this.) So while it is technically true that these studies were not done using cloth masks, I am pretty confident that one would get the same results if they were.

There are other studies showing some of the harm that face masks can cause, including immunosuppression. I won't go into all of them here, but am providing a few links in case anyone wants to look at them.

Meanwhile, in early September, a group of 70 doctors in Belgium wrote an open letter to the Flemish Minister of Education, calling on him to "abolish mandatory mouth mask at school." The doctors argued that forcing masks on children hampered their development and would cause serious problems for them. 

From their letter:

In recent months, the general well-being of children and young people has come under severe pressure. We see in our practices an increasing number of children and young people with complaints due to the rules of conduct that have been imposed on them. We diagnose anxiety and sleep problems, behavioral disorders and fear of contamination. We are seeing an increase in domestic violence, isolation and deprivation. Many lack physical and emotional contact; attachment problems and addiction are obvious. ‘

The mandatory mouth mask in schools is a major threat to their development. It ignores the essential needs of the growing child. The well-being of children and young people is highly dependent on the emotional connection with others. (…) The aim of education is to create an optimal context so that a maximum development of young people is possible. The school environment must be a safe practice field. The mouth mask obligation, on the other hand, makes the school a threatening and unsafe environment, where emotional connection becomes difficult.

 

But, as with mandatory vaccines, doesn't every parent have a duty to put their own child in harm's way in order to potentially protect others?

To put it bluntly: No.

However, for those who are genuinely worried about the harm you might be causing to others by not wearing a mask, or by not putting a mask on your child, take heart: It really does look like–with a few very specific exceptions–wearing a mask is not going to help anyone else, and in fact could be helping to spread the virus.

And, as many epidemiologists and others have been saying from the beginning of all of this, it does not make sense to try to isolate an entire population from a new virus in the first place. The way that humans have always dealt with new pathogens is to interact with them and develop immunity to them. More and more doctors and scientists are speaking out about this now.

But getting back to the mask efficacy issue, here are some links to articles that explain why I say that the masks aren't going to help prevent the spread of the virus (if you think that's a worthy goal in the first place):

This is a very good piece from Jeremy Hammond, back in June, examining the mask efficacy issue, including a discussion of the specific situations in which they may help prevent transmission. (I spoke with Jeremy about masks on my podcast in June.)

This is a wonderful piece from Roger Koops, who has a Ph.D in chemistry, and is the author of several papers on pharmaceutical technology and chemistry. He goes into painstaking detail here, to explain how serious PPE masking works, and how cloth masks interact with viruses. It is well worth reading the entire piece, although I will warn you that you won't come away with any false sense of security regarding cloth masks and viruses intact.

This letter from Patricia Neuenschwander details many of the reasons that healthy people should not be wearing masks, and includes links to studies supporting what she says. She includes a reference to this study from the Chicago School of Public Health, which says:

"We do not recommend requiring the general public who do not have symptoms of COVID-19-like illness to routinely wear cloth or surgical masks because:

• There is no scientific evidence they are effective in reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission..."

And finally, (it's not really "finally" because there's a lot I'm not including here) the folks at Rational Ground have put together some illuminating graphs that shed light on the effect (rather, non-effect) that mask mandates have had where implemented. You can see those here.

They have also created a phenomenal interactive tool that looks at mask use by location, against Covid-19 cases and deaths. I really recommend taking a look.

In fact, because I know that some of you won't take a look, I'm going to post a few sample results from that tool, as well as some of their graphs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't really know what else to say. Except that every time I see a post from one of my parent friends, about how they are getting their child to wear their mask, I just want to weep. Especially when it is a parent of a child with special needs. Our kids are already "harmed" developmentally. They don't need more harm done to their brains through oxygen deprivation. And certainly not for a cause for which there is little if any justification.

As always, I welcome any information that counters any of what I have posted here. I would especially love to be wrong about the harm that masks can cause to children. Because I know that no matter what I or others say on the topic, there will be countless parents who still decide to put masks on their kids. 

 

 

Can California be Saved from its Politicians?

 

 

My latest piece on FEE.org:

 

It's hard to choose one image, or juxtaposition of images, that best sums up the state of California at the end of summer, 2020.

Is it the eight-year-old girl's birthday party being broken up by a long line of police officers, or the lone paddleboarder arrested out in the ocean for violating social-distancing orders? While only two months later, violent mobs tore through Los Angeles, obstructing traffic, destroying businesses and burning buildings?

Is it Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claiming that she was "set up" when she went to have her hair done at a salon—an activity she has complicit in prohibiting for ordinary citizens—or some of Governor Newsom's wineries remaining open while wineries and other businesses outside of Napa were ordered closed over Fourth of July weekend?

Or is it the "let them eat cake" tweets from the woman who was instrumental in helping wipe out out the livelihoods of freelancers and other independent contractors across California, or perhaps the comical attempts by a puppet politician for the pharmaceutical industry to portray those who oppose the forced vaccination of their children as "violent?"

Perhaps it's the "fire tornado," or the millions of acres of charred land left in the wake of devastating wildfires—largely the result of years of failing to employ rudimentary principles of forestry management that Native Americans understood centuries ago.

Or maybe it's just the recent uptick in the throngs of people who have been steadily making their way out of the state for well over a decade.

...

The people who rule over the state of California—and yes, "rule" is the correct word—may be ridiculous, but they are not harmless. And they are waging open political warfare on everyone living in the state.

 

Is there anything we can do to stop them? Read on to find out...

 

Letter to our Son's Summer Camp

Our son has a summer camp that he has gone to for the past several years now. He absolutely loves it, and it really is one of the things he most looks forward to each year. 

This year, the people running the camp really did try to keep it going, even if only for part of the summer. But for whatever combination of reasons (lockdown "restrictions", and the fears of other families, etc.) they were unable to. I cried when I got the email.

A few days ago, they sent out an email asking for parents to voice any concerns they might have about coming back in the summer of 2021.

Here is my reply (I've changed the name of the camp). I am posting it here in case it is helpful as a guide or template for others who might want to correspond with their children's schools or camps, etc.:

 

Hello,

We love, love, love Camp Wilderness Adventure. It is one of the things our son most looks forward to every year. So we were heartbroken when there was no camp this year, although we understand why you had to make the decision you did.

Our main concern now regarding next summer is that there might be restrictions in place that would either prohibit our son from attending, or would make the experience significantly less than what it has been in the past.

Again, we understand the position you are in: You have to deal with both state government orders (which, as many have pointed out, are NOT laws, and the governor of California does not have the lawful power to dictate to businesses the conditions under which they may operate), and with the fears and preferences of many different families. Of course you cannot build your business around the preferences of a single family, and we understand that.

However, since you asked, we do want to let you know what our preferences and concerns are:

1. We are not at all concerned about our son contracting Covid-19. All the available evidence shows that this virus does not pose a serious risk to young people. Children in particular, are more at risk from common influenza viruses. Should he become infected, we would keep him isolated from any elderly or vulnerable people in our lives;

2. We are very concerned about the social isolation our son is currently experiencing, as well as about the kinds of restrictions that are being put forward as the "new normal" for children in schools and other settings. To be very very clear: We have no interest at all in these restrictions. We find them dehumanizing, psychologically damaging, and in some cases dangerous to children's health. And given our first point, above, they are also completely unnecessary;

3. Some government and public health authorities are saying that these measures will have to be in place until there is a vaccine for SARS-Cov-2. Without going into all of the problems that are surfacing about this particular vaccine, let us be absolutely clear that under no circumstances will we be having our son vaccinated. So if this becomes a condition of his attendance at Camp Wilderness Adventure, then he will not be able to attend. Again, this would be heartbreaking for him and for us;

4. We understand that it must seem as if all of these restrictions and conditions are being imposed upon you and there is nothing you can do about them. But that is not true. Many people, including business owners, ARE fighting the orders that have already been imposed, and are planning to fight any future orders. We can provide information about some of these people, and resources, if you are interested.

Again, we understand that you are operating a business and that you must satisfy the needs and preferences of a wide range of different people. And we understand that there is a lot of fear out in the world right now around this virus. We believe that that fear is unwarranted, especially in the realm of children's and young people's activities. And we are committed to helping to educate about this and to combatting the fear, so that everyone's children can go back to having normal childhoods, to being around other children and to not being taught that it is normal to fear other people.

We are not alone. Just last week, a group of highly esteemed scientists came out with a statement–the Great Barrington Declaration–saying essentially what we have said here: That the lockdowns were misguided, that the vast majority of the population–including children–should be able to get back to their normal lives, and that only the elderly or otherwise vulnerable need to be protected.

We understand that you have a business to keep alive, and we are in no position to tell you how to do that. However we also feel that there is something critically important at stake here. How we interact with each other, how our children learn and play, the very foundations of human interaction and human society are being turned upside down, and for no good reason. We do not know what your opinions or beliefs about that are, but we hope that you will choose to do what you believe is right, and not just what is expedient or the least troublesome.

Thank you for your time, and for all that you have created over the years! We hope that our son will be able to spend many more years with you all!

Sincerely,

 

Faith in Miso Soup

 

 

I happened to be in Paris on 9/11. In the days that followed, I would walk along the Seine and feel the huge, solid stones that made up the walls along the river. Those stones gave me comfort: Because of all they had been through, I knew that humanity wouldn't be crushed by this latest episode of violence. That something would endure.

Now, 19 years later, humanity is under attack again. This time, by villains who have been given a safe space from which to operate, a space of near-zero accountability, of near-perfect freedom to carry out their crimes. And tonight, we ordered Japanese food from a restaurant we like. And as I took a bite of katsu curry, I was transported back to Japan for a moment. I felt again what it was like to live in a civilized culture, a place of beauty and trust.

I had a sip of miso soup, and I remembered my first night when I moved there, making miso soup for myself from ingredients I had bought in a little grocery shop, in my tiny little apartment, at the beginning of what was to be a Great Adventure. And it gave me some comfort. Why? Because I just looked it up, and miso soup has been around since at least the Kamakura period (1185-1333), so well over 600 years. I think of everything the world has been through in those 600 years. Everything Japan in particular has been through. Yet miso soup has survived. Katsu curry has survived (although not for quite as long). Sentos have survived. They will survive this too.

Humanity and civilization are under assault, by the same forces that have been assaulting us for centuries: those who desire power over others, and the institutions that give it to them. But I have faith that when this current assault is over–and one day it will be over–it's perpetrators will be dead, and miso soup will still be here.

 

 

Time to End the State of California?

 

 

Californians have a problem: The government of California. Not Governor Newsom, not any particular legislators, but the state government itself.

The problem is that–high-school civics lessons notwithstanding–we really do not have effective ways of restraining the state, regardless of who sits at its helm. Many have pointed out that the lockdowns here are in violation of the US Constitution, and that the Constitution does not come with an exception for "emergencies" or pandemics. But none of that matters. Because the reality is that there is no good enforcement mechanism for Constitutional provisions, or indeed, for our fundamental rights regardless of what the Constitution has to say about them.

The problem we are faced with is not that we happen to be ruled by a dictatorial madman hell-bent on crushing the economy and our livelihoods even after any pretense of a rationale for doing so has disappeared into thin air. The problem is that we live under an institution that provides no meaningful protection against this happening. 

Here's my proposal. It is not perfect, and some will say it does not go far enough (and they will be right), but it makes use of tools that we already have at our disposal, and is something that can be implemented immediately and–most importantly–peacefully.

My solution? Nullify the California state government and do not replace it. Allow the county governments that are already in place to continue operating, and to take over any legitimate functions currently handled by the state government. 

My proposal would start with individual counties and cities refusing to enforce state laws, declaring themselves to be independent jurisdictions, and declaring the California State government to be null and void. We have already seen some California counties and other local authorities do the first part of this, with several across the state refusing to enforce the governor’s lockdown and mask orders.

Some will argue that I have not thought through all of the possible implications of making such a drastic change. They're right, I haven't. But neither did Governor Newsom think through the implications of shutting down the bulk of the state's economy for an indefinite period of time. Of course he didn't. He didn't have to, as he personally will bear none of the costs of his actions.

Should we think this through a little more, discuss the implications, consider different ways to accomplish the goal? Of course. But we should do so urgently, as each day brings more small businesses closer to ruin and more individuals closer to bankruptcy and psychological and emotional collapse. 

The state government's response to a virus has laid bare the dangers of allowing one entity to have so much power over so many people. Radically changing how the state operates has become a necessity for the millions of people whose lives and livelihoods are being held hostage, not by one particular dictatorial governor, but by what has become an all-powerful and menacing institution. We need a solution to this problem now.

 

 

 

Mandatory Vaccines? Just Say No

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mere Anarchy Loosed Upon the World

 

“We would do well to disabuse ourselves of the notion that institutionalized violence creates order. It does not.”

This is a piece I wrote back in 2011. It is more relevant than ever now:

As I write this, my son is running around the house naked, even though I’ve asked him twice to put his clothes on. I can hear the bathroom sink swooshing on and off as he makes a swimming pool for his zoo animals. I weigh getting up and possibly waking his baby sister, who is sleeping on my chest, against the lesser likelihood that he will catch a cold from running around the house naked and wet. I decide to stay put. The swooshing continues.

I wonder how a man named Scott Oglesby would deal with my son’s exuberance, his lack of “respect for authority,” his occasional noisiness. Last December, Oglesby, a police officer, was at Stevenson Elementary School in Bloomington, Illinois, when he heard a seven-year-old special-needs boy having a seizure. Oglesby ran into the room where the boy was being restrained by a school psychologist, shouted “you’re giving me a headache!” and grabbed the boy by the throat, holding him up in the air until he turned red, before throwing him down in a chair. Oglesby is now on “restricted duty,” but no criminal charges will be filed against him.

I’d like to think that cases like Oglesby’s are rare exceptions. But every week there seems to be another story about someone being shot with a taser over a traffic violation, or for not responding the way the officer wanted them to. There was the paralyzed man thrown from his wheelchair by an officer in a Florida jail; the New York City cop who stopped a woman from driving her dying daughter to the hospital; the mentally handicapped teenager who was tasered to death after waving a stick around; and, in May of 2010, in another increasingly common militarized raid on a family’s home, the shooting death of seven-year-old Aiyana Jones as she lay sleeping next to her grandmother. (There is little doubt as to what happened because the 20 officers who burst into the girl’s home had brought with them a camera crew for a reality-TV show.)

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world…”

When I first read Yeats’ “The Second Coming,” years ago, I saw in the first stanza a lament about the loss of a central authority, of political authority. Now I think he meant something else.

I have to believe that there was a time when people would have responded to the likes of Officer Oglesby by unceremoniously dipping him in tar, tossing a bucket of feathers over his head and casting him out from civilized society. Today he and his ilk are given “administrative leave” at best, and are soon back on the streets to endanger the rest of us. At the same time, more than half a million Americans sit in prison for the crime of using or selling substances the government disapproves of. Our nation has the highest per-capita prison population in the world by a very wide margin. Yet people like Officer Oglesby and the officers who killed Aiyana Jones do not count among the incarcerated. We are told that it is a punishable crime to ingest certain prohibited substances, a bigger crime to sell them. But, it is not a crime to shoot a seven-year-old girl in the head while she lies sleeping next to her grandmother. We have become deeply confused as to who the criminals are.

 

You can read the rest here.

And please check out "Why Peace?" the collection in which this essay first appeared. 

 

 

 

WTMWD #25: Why is the Attorney for Freedom so Optimistic?

 

 

 

 

My guest in this episode is not just any old guest. He was a student of my dad's, many years ago, and the way he tells it, my dad had a transformative influence on him and on the direction his life has taken. He is now (and has been for many years) a full-time liberty advocate, through his law firm "Attorneys for Freedom", and also through numerous other projects he has developed over the years. His latest being the "Live and Let Live" movement.

I talk with Marc Victor about my dad's influence on his thinking and his life, some of his latest lawsuits against tyrants, the Live and Let Live movement... and why he is optimistic about the future.

Live and Let Live.org

The website dedicated to my dad: ButlerShaffer.com

Marc's lawfirm: Attorneys for Freedom.

 

Thoughts on Masks: 1

 

Image: Public domain.

 

One more thought on the masks:

This is really such a brilliant tool (whether intentionally or not) for both controlling, and dividing people.

Because whatever your view of masks - useful, useless, symbol of obedience and oppression, or symbol of caring about others - you display that view every time you step outside of your home. You're either wearing a mask or you're not. And the people around you will judge you, based on THEIR views of what masks mean, just as you will judge them based on your views.

And that judgement starts to heat up - even more so if mandates are put in place, because then the people who don't believe masks are necessary blame those who DO for the mandates; and those who do believe the masks are necessary think that they must be EVEN MORE necessary if the government has gone so far as to mandate them...

And it just escalates. And both sides, the Maskers and the Anti-Maskers, start to revile each other. Those on each "side" start to have very strong opinions about those on the other "side": They are stupid, "sheeple", "Karens", or they are "heartless" and "selfish".

Which is just the way the people who are benefitting from all of this want it.

As long as we are all divided, as long as we have some big, contentious - and in this case, highly visible - thing about which we disagree, and feel threatened by, then our attention is on each other, and not on them.

It can be really hard to not have disdain, and even hatred, for the people you perceive to be a threat: Either to your freedom, or to your health. But fighting with each other is exactly what the people who want COMPLETE CONTROL over our lives (and that IS what they want) want us to do. It helps them SO MUCH.

Please don't help them.

 

 

The Life Force

 

 

I don't get out much. I joke that my husband and I have been "sheltering in place" for the past thirteen years, ever since our son was born. So it had been a while since I'd been out to a grocery store. Since the beginning of "all this", in fact. But this morning our daughter had a bad seizure,  we used our last Diastat on her, and I had to go to the pharmacy to get more. 

I was prepared for what I would see, but not for what I felt. Everyone was wearing masks–not like on the streets in our neighborhood–even in the parking lot, even in the afternoon heat. And when I walked inside, with mine around my neck, the woman stationed at the door called out to me and told me to put it up. I had already decided I wasn't going to argue with anyone or try to explain why it was stupid to wear one in this situation, so I just put it up and went in.

I'm not sure I can describe how being there made me feel. Isolated, maybe? Everyone walking around in these masks and staying apart from each other, and nobody having a clue how all the others feel about it, whether they are genuinely afraid of the virus and believe the mask will help protect them from it, or whether they think the whole thing is stupid but just needed some hamburger buns. Because of the masks, we can't read each others' expressions, but the overall impression is one of universal compliance, unquestioning obedience. Of course it is–you can't get in the store without a mask, so everyone inside is wearing a mask. I did it too.

Even knowing that, I found it hard not to judge the people around me–the ones who were doing exactly what I was doing. And I had to marvel at the almost brilliant efficacy of this scheme in creating yet another division to rip through society. Yet another way to divide people into "usses" and "thems". The Maskers, and the Anti-Maskers, and how we're all being pushed into taking sides.

Here we all are, just trying to go about our lives, and we suddenly have this new world thrust upon us: A world where a whole lot of people are scared to death of a virus, and if you're not also scared to death, then you are the enemy. You are as dangerous as the virus and are to be opposed. There are the state-imposed orders about social distancing, but there is also the genuine fear among a great many people. And it's hard to argue with fear.

I left the store feeling very heavy and very sad. Sad for what my society is becoming, sad for the people in the store, sad for me, and for my inability to do anything to change it. I guess this is why fear is such a very powerful tool, why it is over and over again the tool of choice for those who wish to wield power over others. Because when people are afraid enough, reason ceases to matter.

I can rattle off a long list of reasons, with sources to back them up, for why most people do not need to fear Covid-19; reasons (again with sources) why cloth masks aren't going to do much if anything to protect most people in most situations from becoming infected; and most importantly, reasons (with mountains of sources) why EVEN IF THIS WAS A TRULY DEADLY THREAT TO ALL OF US, government-dictated solutions are the absolute WORST response possible. We've seen this last part in bold, flashing, neon living color this time around, yet I doubt that very many have even grasped it, and I am certain that when a much worse virus appears, they will clamor for more of what has proved so completely disastrous this time.

They're afraid. And when people are afraid, they're not so good at thinking rationally. All they want is for Mommy and Daddy to save them, and for far too many people, Mommy and Daddy means the state.

So I'm not sure how to describe what I felt as I left the grocery store. I felt almost as if I was gasping in disbelief, as if I had witnessed something historic and significant, but like a time traveller who isn't allowed to change the course of history, all I could do was stand open-mouthed and watch in horror. No, not horror. Just sadness.

"You have to go down in order to go up." It's something an old ballet teacher of mine used to say. What she meant was that you can't jump very high from straight legs. You need to first bend your knees and plie down low, giving you the force to spring upwards. 

We are down very low now. We should be thinking very carefully about where we want this deep grand plie to take us.

The grocery store happened to be around the corner from the rehab facility where my father spent the last few months of his life. I used to drive down there nearly every day, and now even setting off on that path brings back those memories, so I try to avoid it. But today, sitting in my car, I felt an overwhelming urge to go there. Just to go sit in the parking lot for a few minutes. I felt that there would be some comfort there. And a very tiny piece of me still believes that if I were to go inside, I would find him there. Sitting up in his bed, watching an old movie or maybe talking with my sister or my mom.

So I drove there. And I parked in the lot, and I cried. I remembered my dad's last weeks and days there. There was one elderly lady in a wheelchair, who was always clutching a life-sized baby doll to her whenever I saw her. I wonder now if she is still there. And I wonder how many of the residents there don't understand why their people aren't coming to visit them anymore.

The costs of the crime that is being perpetrated on us are incalculable.

I started up the car again to go home, and found that that made me cry even harder. I was sobbing now, and driving, and I realized I had to go to my mom's house. So I drove there. I went up and knocked on the door, still sobbing. She opened the door and I told her where I had been. She hugged me and we stood there holding each other and my tears fell on her white hair.  We went inside–neither of us wearing masks–and talked about my dad. I could see the pain in her face, and for the first time ever her eyes reminded me of my grandmother's.

One of the last things my dad said to my youngest sister–but I think he meant it for all of us–was: "Whatever you do, do it for the life force."

Don't worry Daddy, we will.

 

 

 

A Young Girl Learns the Value of Questioning Authority

 

 

Back in March, Kirkus Reviews had a profile of me, in which I discuss my writing, my life, and especially Annabel. You can check it out here.

From the profile:

In Annabel Pickering and the Sky Pirates: The Fantastical Contraption, 13-year-old Annabel, a latter-day Pippi Longstocking, gets ensnared in a battle between authoritarians and freedom fighters after her parents are kidnapped by the police, who turn out to be the bad guys. She finds herself assisted in her own escape by rebel pirates, who turn out to be the good guys.

Bretigne Shaffer, a journalist who has turned to full-time fiction writing, considers themes of betrayal in Annabel Pickering. The middle-grade adventure book follows Annabel’s steam-powered adventures, which transport her from an elite girls’ school to the rule-breaking world of buccaneers. Set in an alternate 19th-century England—illustrated via Florian Garbay’s black-and-white images—Shaffer explores Annabel’s psychological changes as she sees loved ones’ darker sides. Shaffer explains that she wanted to show children the “nature of empire and war, freedom of speech and thought, [and] how prohibition affects society.” She also, she admits, is interested in pirates, having briefly written about piracy in the South China Sea in her past life as a journalist.

In Shaffer’s novel, which Kirkus calls “an engaging introduction to a world of wonder and intrigue,” children are brought up to respect the queen and the near-autocratic rule she enforces over her kingdom. When Annabel’s parents are abducted, she manages to evade capture and takes refuge with eccentric spinster Miss Doubtweather. Eventually Annabel, Miss Doubtweather, and her niece escape with the band of ill-mannered, law-breaking, fabulously brave pirates. 

As Annabel’s understanding of the complexities of intellectual and social freedom evolve and she learns that her kidnapped parents were part of a secret society of freethinkers, she begins to view them as moral heroes. This is heady stuff for middle graders, but Shaffer makes it accessible and age-appropriate. It’s also, she believes, essential for younger readers, particularly American ones, to think about the price individuals and societies pay when respect for authority turns into reverence.

 

 

This Review Made Me Sad

 

I'm not complaining. Annabel has been getting mostly really great reviews (including the ones here and here.) But I saw a new review on Amazon a few days ago, and it just made me sad. When I was writing Annabel, I knew the book wasn't going to be for everyone. No book is. I knew that some would enjoy it and some would not, and even that it might piss a few people off. Some, I'm sure, won't even make it past the dedication.

But I wasn't expecting this. I wasn't expecting to feel that it had hurt anyone. Yet here this is:

Sad story-wasn't for me:

The main girl (Annabel) gets bullied by people she thinks are her friends. There are a couple other characters that are deemed "crazy" by everyone. Lots of bullying going on. Not a story my 11 year old daughter enjoyed.

 

All of these things are true, of course. But, at least in my mind (I know, I'm not the reader, so it doesn't really matter what I intended), they are laying the groundwork for the very positive things that come later. That doesn't matter though, because now I've made someone sad - and it looks like her 11-year-old daughter too. So now I'm sad.

I wasn't prepared for this.

 

 

The Implosion of the 'Coronavirus' Hysteria Smells A Lot Like 1989...

 

Image: Public Domain.

 

My piece, from yesterday, at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity:

What it smelled like was this:

All of a sudden, anything at all was possible. All of a sudden, people realized that the chains that bound them weren't as real as they had always believed them to be. Of course, in China, as exhilarating as the demonstrations were, it did not end well. But for Eastern Europe, it was very different.

I remember seeing the images of the picnickers (and others) from Hungary hopping the fences into Austria. Just hopping what looked like two-foot high little wire fences. Like that was the only thing that had ever been holding them in. To me, those were the most moving images of all: People realizing that they were free.

By the time they started hammering away at the Berlin Wall, everything had already happened. It seemed like just the tearing down of a symbol at that point. I had visited Berlin, five years earlier, and I remember people telling me it would never come down. Everyone hated it, everyone wanted it down, but nobody knew how to do it, and there seemed to be a widespread acceptance that there was nothing they could do about it.

Until there was.

 

Read the rest here.

 

 

The Sidewalk Chalk Movement

 

 

My 84-year-old mom has started vandalizing the sidewalks of Burbank. In her defense, so have a lot of small children. Her messages are just a little bit more provocative. She writes:

 

Because there are so many out walking these days, our girls and I are writing in chalk on our sidewalks "Do You Own Yourself" in honor of Butler who would open each new property class with this question to students.

I would encourage anyone who agrees that it's a good question to ask ourselves, to get out the chalk and join us.

        Jane

 

What do you think? Does anyone else have ideas for questions or statements or little tidbits of information that might be appropriate to put on sidewalks during these times? Please post them here! ...and get out there and put them on your sidewalks too.

And yes, my sisters and I are all now getting mailings from AARP, but she still calls us her "girls." 

 

 

Letter to Belmarsh

 

My letter, published on LewRockwell.com, to the staff of Belmarsh Prison:

 

A lot of other people are writing to politicians, elected representatives, celebrities, and other people who have “platforms” or “influence.” I’ve decided to write to you.

...

There is a long-standing tradition in Western culture of honoring disobedience to immoral laws. In my own country, this tradition was upheld by abolitionists who defied the Fugitive Slave Acts and helped escaped slaves get to freedom; It was upheld at the Nuremberg trials after World War II, when some German officers were hanged for obeying laws that violated more fundamental principles of human rights; And it is enshrined in something much older, known as the “Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates.”

This doctrine dates back to at least 39AD, and was formally articulated by Christian pastors in the Magdeberg Confession of 1550. It can be summed up as follows:

When those in high authority command that those beneath them enforce laws that are immoral or unjust, those authorities beneath them have a duty to refuse to enforce those laws, and if necessary to actively resist them.

The persecution of Julian Assange is a grotesque abomination of justice. And it represents a direct assault on our ability to hold our governments accountable for their actions. If the government of the United States succeeds in extraditing Julian Assange, or if he is allowed to die in prison in the UK, then we will have lost much more than the life of one man. We will have allowed the most powerful government on earth to cement its lawless rule over us all, to effectively prohibit free and open discourse about its actions in our societies.

So why am I writing to you? Because I don’t believe in politicians. I don’t believe that “elected representatives” really represent anyone other than themselves and the people who keep them in power. But, strangely, I do believe in people. Not all of them of course. There are good people and there are bad people. But I do believe, very strongly, that out of all the people who happen to work at Belmarsh prison, there are some good ones. How many, I don’t know. Maybe a hundred? Maybe thirty? A dozen? Three or four? Maybe just one.

However many of you there are, you are the ones I am speaking to. I believe that there is something you can do–one of you, some of you, all of you–although I can’t say for sure what it might be, to change how this story ends. I am writing to remind you of the Doctrine of Lesser Magistrates, and to urge you to do the right thing. Not only for Julian Assange, but for all of us. Our history is quite literally in your hands.

 

Read the whole thing here.