The Pragmatic Art

O what tangled web we weave...

I will eagerly grant that two months does not an administration make, but I must say that my initial reservations concerning Donald Trump seem to be manifesting.

I certainly have no love lost for the Clinton Crime Family, and I was elated that Hillary lost - though it seems she refuses to be forgotten.  Her presidency would have been an unmitigated disaster.  Should the Liberal Elite manage to install her as mayor of New York City, we can at least rest assured that the labor union mafias of Thog's Neck will keep her contained.

As I noted throughout the election cycle, here on my rant page, I had genuine misgivings about Trump, as well.  I could not envision a man who is a walking, talking brand being anything more than a well-meaning pragmatist whose primary motivation would be protection of (his) business interests.

As we've noted often enough here, the marriage of corporate and government interests is the very definition of fascism, and one is not comforted by the 10-foot tall fasces that frame the podium in the US House of Representatives.  We have also noted that the only substantial difference between Socialism and Fascism is whether government owns the business, or business owns the government.

In his first two months, we must grant that he has spent an inordinate amount of time heading off a vicious attack from nearly every corner of the Deep State.  In case you are not up on your political jargon, the Deep State is a term coined in the 1940s to describe those who are life-long bureaucrats whose jobs span multiple administrations - particularly the intelligence systems and the law enforcement operations.  In the US, that includes the NSA, CIA, FBI, DOJ, and related departments.

To a certain extent, the President exercises some control over these agencies.  He appoints the heads, who in turn appoint their staff, who in turn hire fresh meat for the mill.  Since at least the latter half of the Reagan Administration, the same faction (i.e. NeoCons or Bush Crime Family) have controlled most of the long-term functions of the Deep State.

Clinton is most definitely a member of the ruling NeoCon faction, as is Obama.  Trump most certainly is not.  Trump represents another faction that has been out of favor for the past 30 years, namely the Nationalists.  Make no mistake, the Globalists and Nationalists have the same goal - world domination - but who gets to run it is the primary bone of contention.

Make no mistake: Trump has plenty of support, not from the grassroots, but from the Nationalist elites.  His primary opposition are the ranks upon ranks of lifers who have been hired over the past 30 years, and who remain loyal to the Globalist wing.

To be clear, we here on the Far Side have never expected great things from Trump, only different things.  Our greatest hope is that the shocking rise to power of Trump will envigorate and activate the good men and women at the level of real life, and get them to realize just how much power they really have.  Sadly, I'm afraid the coming major disappointment over Trump will suck the wind out of their sails.  We shall see.

What we know about Trump, and increasingly see, is that he is a pragmatist.  Most successful Presidential candidates write books (or have them written) covering their political philosophies.  Trump wrote The Art of the Deal.  If you've read it, then you know that he falls squarely on the side of fascism.  He believes that government exists to protect business interests (not people's rights, as the Enlightenment posits).

Trump is also an artful negotiator - we must admit that regardless of personal feelings about him.  As such, he is well-versed in the concept of the means justifying the ends.  Any good negotiators knows that you sit down to the table with a set of goals and try to get the other side to give away the means to achieve them, or at least do so at the least possible cost.  There are no absolutes in a negotiation, only goals and means.

Trump's modus operandi is quite simple: weigh the relative value of everything, and figure out what you are willing to concede in order to get what you want.  Like the hiker several years ago who cut off his arm in order to survive, seemingly vital things are sacrificed for the greater good.  Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame might define pragmatism as, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."  Trump might add a rather narrow definition of who he thinks "the many" are.

In two months, Trump has already shown his pragmatism.  He answers every attack with an equal but opposite force, holding back his "nukes" until the other side escalates or caves.  He knows the Border Wall is his biggest ace politically (grassroot support), so he pushes that at the expense of Russian relations and peace efforts.  Accuse him of collaborating with the Russians, he doubles down by sending troops to Poland and chilling the happy talk.  He needs to placate the Military-Industrial forces, so he vastly increases the budget, while cutting back on arts and humanities.

Trump is an artful dodger.  He knows when and where to push, and he knows when and where to parry - even retreat.  He has clearly internalized The Art of War and The Prince.  He knows how to deflect an opponent's thrust and use it against them.  He is, in short, a white collar warrior.  We can respect that without necessarily agreeing with his goals.

Two months out of four, possibly eight years is hardly enough to judge his legacy, though it is certainly enough to become concerned about the relative weight he places on certain ideals.  In any event, he will not resign and he will not surrender, that much we can count on.  Being pragmatic, though, makes him a bit chaotic and unpredictable, especially since we don't know his precise agenda.  That much we will have to wait for time to reveal.

It is notable that his characteristic Twits and seemingly unregulated mouth (though we believe he is quite calculated in that regard).  He has also toned down considerably the rhetoric on tax cuts, Russian relations and has virtually gone silent on veterans' affairs, which he used to great advantage during the campaign.  We must also interpret his cost-cutting with regards to personnel is motivated by clearing house of Globalists, rather than pure budgetary reasons.

We can safely assume that Trump's actions have multiple layers to them.  Even after only two months, we can begin to connect a few dots to see where exactly his goals, principles and - yes - weaknesses are.  One major weakness is his burning need for applause, and we can assume that much of his agenda will amount to little more than clap traps.

It is always a good idea to maintain a healthy sense of skepticism towards government, but the wise reader will also cast a wary eye on Trump. It is tempting to pop the champagne and celebrate victory, but as Yogi Berra reminded us so eloquently, "It ain't over till it's over."

Pilot To Bombadier

Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions.
     - Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli

For those who don't read, a group that excludes the highly intelligent visitors to this site, Machiavelli created the philosophy of power, often malnamed 'political science.'  Though most of his writings, The Prince being most notable, were guidebooks for wise leadership.  It is his quote regarding the disarming of the populace that inspired the founders of the United States to include a ban on banning arms in the hands of the people.

One can think of Machiavelli as the Sun Tzu of the West.  Sun Tzu wrote a highly influential book called The Art of War nearly a millennium before Machiavelli was born.  Machiavelli likely got a copy of it from Marco Polo or other traders in the East.  Sun Tzu instructed warriors thusly:

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

Between the two quotes, we can see the design and execution of things such as the Boston Marathon bombing, 9/11, 7/7, and hundreds of other similar events throughout history.  To understand the gravity of the quotes, one must put one's self in the place of ruthless, power-mad 'leaders' and realize that We the People are the enemy.  We are the deceived.  We are the ones conquered without a fight by little more than simple symbolic manipulation.

Few people think of their 'leaders' as mortal combatants against their best interests.  So-called 'democracy' is a brilliant subterfuge that makes us think we have chosen those we call leaders, while at the same time finding all they do in places of power to be reprehensible and subversive to our best interests.

Josef Stalin, that great defender of human rights (tongue firmly in cheek), told us:

Ideas are more powerful than guns.  We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas?

This is the self-same Stalin who killed more than 25 million of his countrymen and called it a statistic.  History hardly recalls that fact, yet Hitler, who only killed 4 million, has become synonymous with evil incarnate.

So how do we tie all this together?  Well, people will ignore things that do not serve their immediate needs.  Therefore, 'leaders' are free to act upon the populace in ways that subdue them without a fight.  This is done by controlling the ideas that the masses can and are allowed to have.  And the ideas are controlled via the media.

If you pick up a dictionary from before the 20th century, you will find that the word 'terrorism' was once defined as an act only perpetrated by a State actor.  Terrorism, as a policy, never serves the interests of a group fighting an evil power.

If Muslims are behind recent acts of terror, what purpose does it serve them?  They only alienate the masses who they logically want to enlist to their cause.  It creates animosity towards their message and themselves, and brings down even greater hatred and bellicosity on their heads.  Does that sound even remotely logical and beneficial?  Didn't think so.

On the other hand, a State actor can inflict acts of terror, clamp down on individual rights, tighten security, demonize large parts of the population, and create whole new industries for profit out of a single act.  While not exactly nice, it is a logical step for any group wishing to subdue a large population and consolidate power.

False-flag terrorism is as old as warfare.  It is a staple of morally bankrupt leadership and a highly effective technique for controlling large groups of people.  An act of terror causes people to act in their immediate self-interest, which causes them to rally to leaders, demand security and seek revenge.  This is exactly the reactions that 'leaders' want when consolidating power.  The best part is - from a certain point of view - that as soon as the masses start to figure it out, you can create another act of terror and completely wipe out the memory of the previous one.

Whenever we see an event such as Boston, we must ask ourselves, like good Romans, "Cui bono?" (to whom the good/benefit)  An act of terror does not benefit the masses.  They lose rights and freedom in exchange for vaporous promises.  It does not benefit the supposed perpetrator(s).  They alienate the very people they want on their side and bring down the wrath of greater powers on their heads.

The only possible benefit is to those in power.  It consolidates their power, allows greater intrusiveness into the lives of their 'followers'.  And it justifies even more theft of the labor and wealth of the masses in the form of taxes to support ever larger bureaucracies that peddle the all-elusive 'security.'

In the age of psychology and mass media, this technique has been honed to a fine edge.  A century and a half of study has led to an almost formulaic ability to induce fear and panic in large groups of people.  Madison Ave. and the like have mastered the application of psychological tenets to mass mind control.  Even without having watched a single minute of the media coverage of Boston, I can list the techniques used to control the ideas in the minds of the masses.

First, they float the multiple/single perpetrator balloon.  Whichever the masses glom onto the fastest is the one they run with.  Then, they float the Muslim/homegrown terrorist balloon.  Whichever the public buys first is the one they run with.  They artificially limit the choices we have to think about, then amp up our emotional responses to whatever 'choice' the instant polling and blogosphere sampling tells them is the most 'swallowable' explanation.  The rest is simply offering a bunch of canned responses that are designed to make people feel safer, while offering no real solutions and charging exorbitant amounts of money to implement the plan, whatever it is.

Back to Stalin and Hitler...Stalin killed six times more people than Hitler, yet there was no long-term political expedient outside of consolidating his power.  Thus, we know little or nothing about the atrocities he committed.

If fertilizer plants blowing up have little or no power to shock and awe, they are mourned and paraded, but little if anything will change in the aftermath, even though the safe operation of a fertilizer plant obviously has more benefit to the masses than stopping bombers at public events.  There is no emotional content to exploit with a fertilizer plant, but high-profile public feel-good events offer oodles of exploitable content.

Simple math for our erstwhile 'leaders.'

After all, the Russian people were evil, nasty Commies, so losing 25 million of them was a victory, not something to wail and gnash teeth over.

Cui bono?

The only way to fight this sort of manipulation is to guard our reactions when they happen.  Don't react immediately on fear and panic, but take a moment to consider who benefits.  This immediately takes the power away from the 'leaders' and prevents them from implanting ideas in our heads.

The concomitant action is to avoid all media contact.  Don't turn on the TeeVee.  Just read headlines online or in the paper.  Don't read the articles.  That will give you all the pertinent information you need and prevent the implantation of ideas.  Over the following week, the picture will be much clearer than if you ingest all the emotional rabble-rousing in the media.  Remember, the media is NOT your friend.  They are carefully controlled outlets for the party line.

The number of people doing this is growing.  Witness the talk of 'false flag' in the mainstream media.  Beware though.  When the media pick up on this sort of meme, it is because they have figured out a way to use it against you and control what ideas you have about it.  Note the event and keep moving.

Finally, harden yourself.  Yes, it is tragic when people die, but it happens all the time.  Don't let the 'leaders' use those deaths to control the living.  That is the worst form of cynicism and crassness there is.  Look at what has been done to the children in Sandy Hook.

Instead, note the tragic deaths of the victims and mourn for their families, but guard your feelings and don't let them be weaponized.  Only a psychopath or sociopath can not feel the death of others.  But it is equally sick to use death and tragedy for gain, and we would do well to remember that.  It may seem callous to turn off feelings, but how much more callous is it to use our feelings against us?

There will be time to mourn when the war is won.

Oh yeah, happy birthday Adolf.  Has anyone thought about all the strange things that keep happening on or around Hitler's birthday?