On the Banks

WTMWD #85: What is a "Directed Evolution Experiment"? And Are we Living in One? - with Kevin McKernan

 

 

 

I speak with Kevin McKernan about the recent Project Veritas video in which a Pfizer employee claims that the company is contemplating directed evolution experiments with the SARS-Cov-2 virus.

Kevin walks us through the reasoning behind his view that we are already witnessing a massive directed-evolution experiment in the real world, as a result of the medical interventions introduced in response to Covid-19.

We also talk about the some of the fundamental problems that lie at the heart of the dysfunction in medicine and medical research that we've been living through – and some practical ideas for fixing it.

Kevin is CSO and founder of Medicinal Genomics. His Substack articles on directed evolution are here, here, and here.

The work on directed evolution by Tawfik and Griffiths that he mentions can be found here.

The John Goodman books Kevin mentions are here and here.

Kevin and I spoke about the responses to Covid-19 and problems with PCR testing here, here, and here. And about problems – and some solutions – with peer review here and here.

You can follow Kevin on Substack and  on Twitter.

...and if you want to support Project Veritas, you can do so here.

We Are More Free to Create than We Realize

 

I was on Tom Luongo’s podcast, Gold Goats 'N Guns, speaking about a range of topics, from parenting in an increasingly crazy world, to the exodus from California, and especially, my vision for a long-term living community for intellectually disabled individuals, using the Private Membership Association model - and how we all really have a lot more freedom to create alternative solutions than many of us realize.

If you don't already read and listen to Tom, you should. He's one of the most thoughtful and insightful commentators on world events and the economy that you'll find. And now especially, much of what he has been talking about is really coming to a head. This is one good place to start. And I've invited him to be on my podcast too - so look for that soon.

You can listen to my conversation with Tom here.

 

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Human Spirit - Butler Shaffer

 

 

I think this is my favorite of all of my dad's talks. I was there when he gave it, nearly 20 years ago, at a time when the post-9/11 authoritarianism was still fresh, still even felt like maybe it could be temporary. Surely people wouldn't just come to accept this as their "new normal", right? 

My dad's words here are as poignant as ever. This is audio only - if I can find a video version, I'll post it here.

 

 

WTMWD #81: Deep Work for Anarchists - with Starr O'Hara

 

 

I talk with writer Starr O'Hara about her journey to anarchism, her latest book "How to Survive Dystopia (With Your Humanity Intact)", and the work we can each to do to "conquer ourselves" so that we can move forward.

We also talked about her upcoming re-launch of a group she has started to support like-minded freedom folk actually get stuff done. The group is called "Extremists Being Awesome" - and it sounds like that's exactly what it is! They meet for two hours, five days a week, and she says the existing members have accomplished some incredible things since they started.

Starr will be opening the group up to new members in a few weeks - if you want to learn more about it, and be notified when the group opens up again, follow her Substack for updates.

Starr's book is here.

Her Substack is here. 

And she is also on Twitter.


P.S. Apologies for the audio skipping you might hear in this episode. We had an issue with the connection freezing up briefly several times. It didn't last long enough to disrupt the flow of the conversation, but I apologize for any annoyance caused.

 

WTMWD #80: My Mutual-Aid Vision for the Future, and Fighting Back Against Medical Tyranny - with Susan May

 

 

I was interviewed by Susan May, the founder of “RiseUP with Susan May” and the RiseUP community, and creator of the Facebook group “Gather and Get Moving with Susan May”, a "...safe place for medical freedom advocates to connect and be inspired to action."

Susan and I talk a little about my own history, and about my experience fighting medical tyranny while in the hospital with our daughter. We also talk about my vision for a Mutual-Aid society and community dedicated to caring for those with special needs.

My Freogan Fellowship website is here.

I'm Starting A Private Substack Publication - For Those Who Are Serious About Building Solutions

 

 

A few years ago, I had an idea. It was more than an idea - it was a compulsion. It was an urgently felt need to create a space where people who care about the human flourishing that happens when we are free could come together.

That was it. Not a plan for saving the world, just a place where we could hang out with each other, share our ideas, commiserate, and feel at home. And maybe, by virtue of doing all of this, we would come up with some ways to make a real difference in the world. Or maybe we would just feel a little less alone in that world.

I spent some time brainstorming with a friend about setting up some kind of platform for this, and finally decided to launch my idea as a podcast. And in March of 2020 - the week that California Governor Gavin Newsom decided to forcibly shut down our lives - I recorded my first episode, with Jeffrey Tucker, then with AIER, and soon to become one of the brightest lights in the battle against Covid tyranny. I’ve recorded many more episodes since then, with some of the best and most interesting advocates of liberty, at a time when human freedom is under unprecedented assault all around the globe.

I’m proud of my podcast. But it’s not quite what I set out to create. Mostly: It’s not very interactive. And so after a lot more brainstorming, I’ve decided to launch a new online community: Building Parallel Solutions. It’s a little different from my original idea, in that it is focused on creating solutions rather than just hanging out together. (Although there’s certainly room for that too.)

We’re starting out on Substack, as a private publication, I’ll be adding a private group on a social-media platform (probably MeWe), and we will also have occasional online video meetings. I will also be adding a paid membership option for those who want a little more direct support in creating solutions - I’ll post more about that later.

For now though, I think that what I said in my podcast manifesto fits nicely here:

It's the "nearly" that I'm interested in.

That–possibly very small, possibly not so small–number of people who can see and think for themselves. Who understand for themselves the difference between right and wrong, who don't need to have anyone else tell them that it is wrong to make another person your slave, or to lock another person in a cell when they have harmed no-one.

That's who I think of as the audience for my podcast ("What Then Must We Do?") You might call what I'm doing "preaching to the choir", but that's not it. I'm looking to reach the people who already recognize the problem, and who want to do something about it…

Maybe none of us is powerful enough to defeat the violence that is the state. Maybe even together we are not enough. But I am certain that if there is any hope for us at all, it lies entirely with this group of people.

Oh, and if I sound a little elitist, as if I think the "Non-Nearlys" are somehow inferior to the "Nearlys"… well, yes, I do. I do think that thinking for oneself is superior to not thinking for oneself. I also think that great masses of people who don't do much thinking for themselves, who don't have their own moral compasses, are one of the most deadly threats to all of humanity, and always have been.

But here's the thing about being among the "Nearly" (or, as Albert Jay Nock called them, the Remnant): it is a choice. Anyone can choose to start questioning what they have been taught their whole life. Anyone can choose to listen to their own conscience over the values and opinions that are fed to them by the people and institutions around them. Anyone can do this.

"What then must we do?" I honestly don't know. The forces arrayed against individual human beings just living their own lives as they choose seem more powerful and more entrenched than ever before. So, do I know how to change that? To defeat the people and institutions that wish to (and do) rule over us? No, I don't. But I do believe that between us–between all of the "Nearly"–we can figure this out.

“Building Parallel Solutions” is an invitation-only publication for people who are serious about - you guessed it - building parallel solutions. If that’s you, and you’d like to be a part of this, just drop me a line at [email protected], with “Please add me to BPS” in the subject line.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Join the Open House for Free Minds, this Saturday!

_{From Freogan Fellowship Learning:}

 

...and take 15% off of our fall classes!

We'll be giving everyone a chance to meet our instructors, hear about our classes, and get your questions answered - and to give us input. What classes would you like to see? What formats are best for you? We'd love to hear from you!

Join us this coming Saturday, 10:00am Pacific Time, 1:00pm Eastern Time, US. Just fill in the form on the website, and we'll send you a link to the meeting (the link will be at the bottom of the page.)

We look forward to seeing you there!

WTMWD #79: Can Liberty Dollar Save the World?

 

 

 

I speak with Wayne and Kathy Hicks of Liberty Dollar Financial Association, about Liberty Dollar's history, and its rebirth as a Private Membership Association.

If you're looking for solutions to state-controlled money and financial systems, and if you're not entirely sure that Bitcoin (or any cryptocurrency) is the answer, then you need to listen to this episode. Liberty Dollar's new incarnation is truly revolutionary - and it doesn't stop at money and finance.

We talk about food security, the Liberty Dollar social network platform, and how the "outside-the-box" nature of LDFA can help to reclaim the economy from the world of crony corporatism.

You can find Liberty Dollar Financial Association here. (This is my affiliate link, so if you sign up using this link, I will get a little something.)

And LibertyNet, the social-network platform, is here.

It's Easter Again and Always

 

 

I don't know whether or not Jesus rose from the dead after he was crucified.

There, I've said it.

It's one of the reasons I don't call myself a "Christian" - even though I believe in a "higher power" (which I am reluctant to call "God", only because I imagine it looks very different from what most people mean when they say "God"), and I believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ. But that's for another post.

Whether or not the actual Jesus actually came back from the dead - a possibility I don't discount (because I also believe in miracles) but about which I don't have certainty - the story of his rising is of tremendous importance to humanity, perhaps now more than ever before.

Why?

Because what we humans are, what we are at our essence, is not something that can be destroyed by death.

What we are is not defined by anything of the material world – despite the increasingly deafening (and fearful?) roar to the contrary. It's hard, even, to define it with words. But if I had to define it, I would say that it is love. Or maybe: the marriage of love, intelligence, and the power to create.

Many have said that we are in a spiritual war, and we absolutely are. It is a war against the forces of darkness and for those of us who are committed to the light, it can feel overwhelming and frightening and even hopeless. It sometimes seems inevitable that the powers of darkness will win.

They seek control of every aspect of our lives, everywhere on the globe, and it seems they will get it; They are able to convince our friends, neighbors, relatives, that it is in their best interest to take whatever experimental medical concoctions they come up with, and we have no choice but to watch as our friends, neighbors, relatives, go along unquestioningly; They tell us we are nothing but physical beings, machines, and that we should let them make us more machine-like, and it seems that they will.

But here's the thing:

The forces of darkness have only a very limited set of weapons at their disposal: Fear, lies, and violence. That's it.

These may seem like formidable weapons. They may seem impressive and frightening. But here's what we've got:

Love, truth, and the power to create.

The darkness can't create anything. It is the opposite of creation. Its tools can't be used to create anything worthwhile or lasting. You cannot build a flourishing civilization on lies. Or on fear, or on the threat of violence. That is not to say that those tools are not powerful or cannot accomplish anything at all. But they are not generative. They are not creative. And a society built with those tools does not allow for creativity, or real flourishing.

It is more important than ever to cultivate the tools of light. If you've never understood the importance of "turn the other cheek", understand it now: Feeding vengeance, hatred, and violence only feeds the darkness. Feeding love and forgiveness feeds the light and helps it to grow.

This is how we will win.

Because our powers are generative, and in accordance with the principles of life. The powers of darkness are only ever destructive. Darkness can control, and it can consume, but it cannot create.

The way we win is by remembering who we are.

My Christian friends may laugh at me for saying this, or they may shake their heads and despair for me, but I don't believe one needs to have certainty about Christ's rising from the dead in order to appreciate the meaning of Easter:

We humans are not simply material beings. What we are cannot be reduced to our physical bodies or the chemistry they are composed of. We are made of love and light, and our souls transcend our earthly existence. By knowing this and honoring it, we achieve victory over death, and victory over darkness.

Happy Easter.

 

 

WTMWD #78: Not Crypto, Not Barter - Could XClave Bux Be the Alternative Currency We Need?

 

I spoke with Markus Allen, founder of XClave, a few months back, about his radical concept for creating independent private towns, including plans for an independent currency. At the time, I fully intended to post the episode in a timely manner.

Then our family decided to move out of California, and the next few months were a frantic blur.

Now, nearly 5 months later, this particular episode is more relevant than ever. With governments seizing the bank accounts of those who oppose their actions, and inflation starting to get very very real, we are in need of practical solutions to the problem of state inolvement in money and in financial systems. Could XClave Bux be the answer?

Listen to this episode and see what you think.

 

 

Check out XClave here.

...and XClave Bux here

 

 

 

I speak with Kerry McDonald about Freogan Fellowship Learning, and our escape from California

 

Image: Public Domain.

 

I spoke recently with Kerry McDonald, Senior Education Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education and author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom, for her newly launched “LiberatED” podcast.

We spoke about my family’s reasons for leaving California, the challenges in pulling up roots - even for someone like myself, who has picked up and moved to new places and new cultures more times than I can count - as well as why it is so important to speak up and fight back from where we are too.

Kerry asked what advice I would give to families contemplating leaving one of the more tyrannical jurisdictions… and I do my best to give a helpful answer.

I also talked about my independent education venture, Freogan Fellowship Learning (the education arm of my private membership association, Freogan Fellowship), and how we’re helping to revolutionize education.

You can listen to the whole thing here.

 

 

 

WTMWD #77: Can Poetry Save the World? I Ask Joyce Beckett, Professor of Literature for Freogan Fellowship

 

Image: Public Domain

 

 

Joyce Beckett is an Oxford-educated professor of literature who will be teaching a class in English and Irish literature for Freogan Fellowship Learing - the education arm of the private membership association that I recently started.

Here, Joyce speaks about the experience of poetry as a bulwark against the cultural and spiritual "colonization" that is the effect of mass media and culture.

Most of Freogan Fellowship Learning's classes are designed for teens - however this one is also open to adults. As Joyce says:

"Anyone, at any stage of their lives, with an interest in the profound effect
of words on the senses will be most welcome."

Joyce will also be offering a free sample class on Tuesday, January 4th at 5:00pm Pacific Time. To sign up for that class, or for more information about her full-semester class, visit Freogan Fellowship Learning.

 

I Talk With Millennial Woes About Things We're Not Supposed To Talk About

 

 

 

I appeared on Millenniyule with Millennial Woes yesterday, to talk about "rebuilding civilization." I think Woes and I recognize many of the same problems, and we both recognize the magnitude of what it is we are up against, but we have very different ideas when it comes to solutions. 

We discuss, essentially, what civilization is, and what is needed in order to protect it from those who might destroy it. I explain why he's wrong, he explains why I'm wrong, and we manage to have a civil conversation for about an hour and a half, wherein nobody gets cancelled, no epithets are hurled, and nothing gets flung around the room (although my cat does start to get nervous near the end.)

I doubt that either of us changed the other's mind much, but I did come away with a clearer understanding of his position - something the social-media moguls would really rather I not do. Why? Because if people can engage directly with those of a different viewpoint, if they can come to understand their position, instead of some distorted charicature of their position... then we might be a little less afraid of each other. And that doesn't help those whose very survival depends on the rest of us being at each others' throats all the time.

A healthy civilization - one that can thrive and endure - requires these kinds of conversations. It requires people to engage with ideas they do not agree with, even ideas they may find uncomfortable. That we are so far away from this as a norm, and that intellectual elites, those who run social-media platforms, and much of society itself are all actively working to squash this kind of conversation, tells us a great deal about the state of our own civilization and its prospects.

 

 

WTMWD #76: Christmas in the Darkness / The Rules of Christmas

 

 

 

I've recently started posting on Substack. (You can see my stuff here.) A lot of what I'm posting are articles and blog posts that I wrote many years ago, but that are still (sadly, in many cases) very relevant today.

This is one of them. I wrote it at Christmastime five years ago, and it is even more true in today's world.

Following my piece is my husband, reading the timeless "Rules of Christmas."

Enjoy. And Merry Christmas.

 

We're Already There

 

 

From the Freedom's Phoenix Online Newspaper.

 

"Paradise is exactly like where you are right now… only much, much, better."

Laurie Anderson

 

What if I told you that we're already living in Galt's Gulch?

What if I told you that we don't actually need to find a bunch of like-minded people and go in on a big piece of land together, far away from everyone else, and build our own societies from the ground up?

Not that there's anything wrong with that of course.

But it's not necessary. We already have the tools at our disposal - most of them anyway - to create and maintain free societies right where we are.

COMMON LAW:

Volumes have been written, some of them very very good, about how a stateless society might operate, how rights might be protected and crime dealt with in the absence of a monopoly on violence and the justice system.

But we already have a body of law that upholds the rights of individuals, protects their property, and defends contracts. It exists in stark contrast to the multitudes of laws created by politicians and their cronies – laws that often directly violate this older and more fundamental body of law. And it is enforceable.

Dale Brown, founder of the Detroit Threat Management Center, understands this. When he saw police failing to protect people from crime in one of the worst neighborhoods of Detroit, he moved in and started doing it himself. As he told Tom Woods, back in 2016:

"Any citizen can take someone into custody if they commit a violent act,” said Brown. “(I’ve learned better ways of crime prevention) because I have to. I'm accountable. I have no qualified immunity. That means, if I put my hands on someone it has to be legal. There has to be a way for me to explain it as a civilian. As a result, we've had no court date in 20 years. No lawsuits... in 20 years.”

Brown's methods rely on common-law principles. He and his Threat Management team only take action against those committing genuine crimes against people or their property. Because they are not agents of the state, they do not enforce laws against drug use or other victimless "crimes." And they employ the power of citizens' arrest, which is available to all of us.

Imagine how our world might look if there were Threat Management-like operations in every city. With the abject failure of police departments to protect people and property, their willingness to commit violent actsagainst those they are sworn to protect, and their inherent lack of any real accountability, private solutions like this have never been more necessary.

Others are using principles well established in contract law to hold accountable those in positions of power, using tools such as the Notice of Liability to stop city governments, school districts, and other entities from committing acts of trespass, for example; or

We do not need to establish a brand-new system of laws in order to begin protecting ourselves from political aggression.

PARALLEL INSTITUTIONS:

Likewise, we do not need to isolate ourselves in order to create parallel institutions and services to replace the crumbling state-dominated ones. Nor do we need to isolate ourselves geographically in order to build real, in-person communities based on a respect for individual liberty.

For many years, alternative-medicine practitioners and others have operated under private membership associations (PMAs), serving members only and not the general public. Their PMA status places these operations outside of the jurisdiction of much of the regulatory state, creating a space within which free-market activity can flourish.(For more information about PMAs, or to establish one yourself, see here and here.  Here's ours.)

Meanwhile, creative ways are emerging to assist people in exiting broken systems, forging new ones, and connecting with others who wish to do the same.

 

 

Read the rest here.

 

 

Looking Forward to Appearing on Millenniyule 2021!

 

I only found out about Millennial Woes because my friend Radical Liberation was going to appear on Millenniyule 2021. I checked out Millenniyule, and what he was talking about really seemed to fit with a lot of the things I'm doing and writing about, so I wrote and asked if I could be on this year, and... Woes signed me up to come on the show on Dec 28th!

Now, after listening to RadLib's Millenniyule episode, I'm even more excited. Nearly everything (of course not EVERYTHING because that would just be spooky) they talk about resonates with me, and much of it is stuff I've written or spoken about over the years. For example, this, and this.  This,  this, this and this. Also this. And especially THIS!

...and it just reaffirms my belief that this is a time when many of us are finding our true tribes. Not necessarily the ones we were born into, or even the ones that we thought lined up with our ideologies or spiritual beliefs... but the ones that really DO line up. And what I think it is is that a whole lot of us have a pretty good idea of what the big problem is. Maybe none of us perceive it completely, but a whole bunch of us have a good rough idea. And we are passionate about finding solutions. So here we are, coming from different directions, right, left, libertarian, Christian, not Christian... and we're all aiming at the same thing while at the same time trying to formulate in our own minds what that thing looks like. And it's pretty awesome.

Anyway, this is well worth listening to:

 

 

...and be sure to listen to my episode on Dec. 28th UK time, (4pm the 27thPacific Time.)

 

 

Free Introductory Class: Austrian Economics for Teens, from Freogan Fellowship

 

From Freogan Fellowship:

Have you been hearing a lot about the "Austrian School of Economics" lately? Are you interested in finding out more, but not yet sure about committing to an entire semester-long course?

Join us next Tuesday, December 21, at 6:00pm Pacific Time, as instructor Josh Mawhorter takes students through an issue that is central to the debate between free markets and a centralized economy, and that illuminates some of the key distinctions of the Austrian School: The labor theory of value.

To sign up for this free class, just send us an email!*

Here, Josh explains one of the fundamental problems with the labor theory of value:

*Note: Because we are a private membership association, students who take our classes must become members of the Freogan Fellowship. This is free, easy to do, and can be revoked at any time!

"Propaganda and the Personal" Free Introductory Class, Wednesday, Dec. 22

 

From Freogan Fellowship:

What are some of the techniques that have been used to control large numbers of people through the manipulation of information and mass media, and what makes us susceptible to it? How can we avoid falling prey to propaganda?

Join Lila Stone for a free introduction to her course "Propaganda and the Personal", on Wednesday, December 22.

Visit www.FreoganFellowship.org to sign up.

 

 

Mike & Vanessa Colomb on PMAs for Healthcare, and "Healing Hubs" Starting up Around the Country

The Freedom Angels spoke again with Mike and Vanessa Colomb, of Renegade Ranch. (Their earlier interview with the Colombs is here.) This one is very much worth listening to if you're interested in building parallel structures in areas such as healthcare especially. They talk about some projects they already have going, and about how others can get involved:

 

 

 

"A Change in the Weather", Video

Thanks to Pam Popper for reading my article "A Change in the Weather" in this video back in October: