From: John Young <jya@pipeline.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 21:16:49 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: Re: Saving money
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19971025125724.00b95048@pop.pipeline.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



"Self-reliance and socialism are diversions confected by
capitalism to conceal its evils," some poor bastard 
finally understood, muttered to nobody and died.

Nearly all governments are socialist to some degree
in that they provide services (bribes) that other social
structures do not; even the vilest must do so to fend off the 
hordes, rebels and revolutionists, or go broke funding
the military, guards, spies and police, as most eventually
do like the wealthy being sucked empty by their lawyers,
bankers, families and lovers.

Indeed, the most fervent proponents of coercive force
are those who have the greatest wealth to protect against
the folks trying to get it by all possible means. "More cops,
more laws, more education in obedience, more loyalty
oaths and prenupital 'surely you're joking's."

However, even those of great wealth know that mere
coercive power is not enough, that you've got to employ
religion, education, culture and social pressure to induce
acceptance that some have it and some don't, and screw 
those who don't -- keep the Armalite handy. 

Borrowing from the Catholic Church, John Calvin tweaked 
this wealth-hoarding philosophy to a high-definition blind faith in 
predestination: one is born to have it and too bad about the 
others -- which relieves those who got it by luck and crime 
(misnamed self-reliant hard work and careful planning) and 
can't quite find solace in their own self-deception, can't
quite believe their protectors are trustworthy.

Calvinist voodoo in updated guises has been for a couple of 
centuries the fundamentalist faith of the newly wealthy of the 
industrial (and now electronic) culture, and economic 
soothsayers know how to keep the grants, lecture fees and 
book profits coming by peddling all sorts of new versions 
especially tailored to fit semi-ignorant, fearful souls unsure 
how to capitalize on their capital, and terrified that it will 
evaporate just as inexplicably as it rained down on the very 
spot they happened to be at while all around them folks
were dying of drought.

None of this applies to the good hearts on this list, who are
amazingly generous of their time to contribute wit and wisdom
and frank admission that what else can one do except
joke about god's folly, endure the drought and pray that the 
rains come and shit storms don't. As now in southeast Asia.

What an amazing RICO op is Wall Street, now World Street, 
comparable to RICO government, now world gov, composed
of the same Bosses and Pols working hand in hand to
smirk, smirk blame the other, both knowing that self-reliance
and socialism are for clueless fools unable to grasp the 
wonders of highly organized theft to avoid labor (and taxes) 
altogether, that coercive-capitalist-gov self-delusion unable
to stanch the endlessly increasing cost of defending security 
threats.

Now, I have to confess that stock market plunges lift my spirits 
wonderfully. Without that I have only the WSJ's thigh-slapping
comedies of financial vainglory and ruin. And aoccasional 
upbeat homilies here about how to get ahead -- none believable 
of the jokemaster authors. Tim, Adam, Good Humorers.