The fundamental question: Has the notion of Rightful Liberty expanded or contracted since 1776?
Does the concept of Rightful Liberty have any legs among Mankind?
The numbers say - not so much.
A powerful notion or idea sweeps the planet in a generation or three - and that was pre-internet. Now with the net powerful notions can literally catch fire in hours and rise to global recognition in less than a day.
Say what you will about the Constitution - RevWarI was not fought for the Constitution, it was fought for the notion of individual Liberty, best expressed by Jefferson's Rightful Liberty quote used so often around here: Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others.
It has been 238 years since the DoI, and of course people had already been killing one another over the notion of individual Liberty for a while when July 4, 1776 rolled around. Since then we've had a couple-hundred years without the internet, and a couple decades with the 'net. Jeffersonian Liberty hasn't caught on - not even here.
Let's compare to a topic with which I am quite knowledgeable: Aiki.
We'll focus just on the Aiki-do variant for the sake of easy numbers, and Aikidoka - please let's not have a debate. Modern Aikido is a joke in most dojos. If you do not get to the Aiki-jutsu roots of the art, you've got nothing. And do NOT write me and try the argument that "Aikido is the actual practice of Rightful Liberty" - don't waste my time or yours.
Anyway, the old guy in the picture is Morihei Ueshiba, credited by the world for the "creation" of Aikido. He died in 1969 (just 2 years after my birth) and the word "Aikido" began to be used in the 1920 - 1930 period as Ueshiba began to refine his formidable martial skillset (primarily based on Daito-ryu Aikijutsu) into the kinder and gentler Aiki that has today, in most schools, been reduced to the combat effectiveness of a dance & massage parlor. Anyway, compare Rightful Liberty - over which a world war was essentially fought - to Aikido, and tell me which has more reach of active participants. Aikido practitioners number in the tens-of-millions and is practiced in every country on the planet. Aikido can't be compared to something like McDonalds (which is also global), because Aikido training requires the participants to get off the sofa, pay money, and physically invest considerable energy in every session. That is a notion that has "caught-on" in the world.
How many people in America - even one day per week for 60 minutes - get off the sofa, drive to another location, pay money, exert physical energy, to advance Rightful Liberty?
Was the notion of Rightful Liberty Mister Jefferson put forth and the war fought over it simply a birthing contraction, a natural evolution of the Greek and Roman notions, that will now begin to expand once more in violence across the world, or was it merely an aberration that will be snuffed out of existence because so few refuse to embrace it and become a practitioner?
Sadly, I think the odds are better for the survival of hippy-based Aikido dojos than Rightful Liberty.
Kerodin
III Percent Society, here.
Mmm... That might ultimately depend on where you are and who you're surrounded by. It might also depend on the mindset of the people you're surrounded by and whether or not they will tolerate any of that hippy based, new world, esoteric, anarchist bullshit.
ReplyDeleteSo, how big a class can you conduct? I'm thinking a two day gig. You willing to spend a night in the swamp?
Somebody once wrote, "They're nothing without us. Absolutely nothing." You think the guy really believes that? Do you? Skip it, that's rhetorical.
ReplyDeleteHere's me, from an email..."Society has to be built on what we ALL share, and that's why I write about what I do." So what's that, hippy or anarchist in your, ahem, esoteric imagination?
Besides, I can't imagine what more you'd want---this IS anarchy and yes, it does suck. Just like everyone imagined...biggest gangs getting the most loot.
Now "Rightful Liberty"...that sounds a little new-agey, doesn't it? You be sure and inform, but what's the move if you declare it new-agey? And shit, what about that "just power" deriving "from the consent of the governed"? Did that mean anything, or do we simply let that go?
I can walk into a thousand towns, cities and suburbs in America and surround myself with 25-100 people who have at least marginal fighting skills, they get up and go invest time, energy and treasure to learn those skills - yet we Patriots have no such infrastructure.
ReplyDeleteI doubt I could find, in most places, 25 - 100 Patriots who genuinely believe in Rightful Liberty, much less such a number of Patriots who go out weekly, invest time, energy and personal treasure, to advance that cause.
The fight for Rightful Liberty may be mathematically foolish...
Lucky break then, that it's not about math. How powerful was Henry Ford? What did Rand manage? How many lives did Steve Jobs affect?
DeleteI guess I'll be sayin' it to the end...most everyone is looking the wrong way. When you look at what you can't control, it should be no surprise that it doesn't get controlled. Unless one chooses to live as a thug, there's only one person any of us can control. Duh.
So socially the first question must be, "Do I wish to be a thug or not?"
Voila...the NAP, ZAP, whatever. When a bunch of people choose it, voila...Rightful Liberty. It's just as valid with two as with two million; ask H.
The problem is the politics in most dojos - Aiki and otherwise, are more akin to Brown University than DoI.
DeleteAny idea how we get as many people to "actively" support Rightful Liberty as those who choose Aiki, or Redskins, or Nascar?
Because I have tried most of the PR/marketing/sales methods I know, and I could sell more people on snake oil than Rightful Liberty. And I'm a damned good sales guy. ;)
For starters, stay away from Brown University! Snake oil is easy to sell because reality has nothing to do with it. And maybe consider that those Nascar folk DO want Rightful Liberty; that may open lots of new possibilities.
DeleteYou're looking for agreement and agreement doesn't matter, contra what Curtiis charged of me. All that matters is that people who want to live, make one simple decision that consists of one single word toward thugs---"No." And mean it of course, which is where the courage comes in.
The goal is to live YOUR life, so all action must be consistent with that. Those who would stop it, bye-bye. Those who wouldn't, are either potential allies or don't matter. A huge part of the scam is the belief that those who would stop you are overwhelming in number and force. That's simply false, that's all---a tough challenge, yes, but insurmountable, no.
Those NASCAR fans don't give a shit about you or me, or even the craziness all around us. The shocker is that they don't have to; they just need to want to live THEIR lives. In my experience, the vast majority do. Ask Zoomie.
This whole mess arose from everyone worrying about everyone else. Buying into that paradigm won't help a lick; that's why it never has. The answer has ALWAYS been in the mirror, since the battle has ALWAYS been Individualism versus Collectivism.
Oh were it only that simple.
DeleteFunny, I was thinking the same about your approach. Maybe it's both.
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