Archive for November, 2024

entropy again

November 20, 2024

The simplest form of what gets called entropy, is the dissipation of energy that occurs every time energy is directed to do some work. Energy gets lost when it is used.

Some, to all, of this dissipated energy cannot be regathered or reused without even more energy use and dissipation. It is not worth the effort.

This means that a system without an ‘outside’ source of energy (eg. a human body without food, the Earth without the sun), will eventually run down. No system can generate enough energy to keep itself going forever, it must take energy in from outside itself. This is why there are no perpetual motion machines.

As all organisms, materials and machines which use energy or direct energy to work or movement, or action etc. dissipate energy, wear out, suffer friction or accidents, do not replicate correctly etc, the idea of entropy is also applied to overall dissipation of ‘order’ or ‘functionality’ in the system or in relationships between participants in the system. Growth and development occurs when there is enough energy available for functional participants to build (often increasingly complex and) functional patterns and relationships.

‘Things’ and systems break down because it eventually takes more energy to maintain them than they can gather or direct to repairs, or there is no easy-enough access to external energy. It points to the idea that if ‘processes’ or things are not maintained and repaired they will eventually fall apart, or otherwise change from their ordered or functional relational states. However if the input and direction of energy can be maintained this is less likely, but accidents and breaks in relationships usually accumulate. Participants can end up building an order which is hostile to them and undermines their attempts to maintain and repair the system to which they belong.

It seems habitual for human organizations to become so complicated and complex as they grow that they expand beyond the ability of humans or machines to maintain or repair the functional relationships between participants (not enough energy or time) and head into collapse or decay, or to some new emergent order (if there is enough energy).

It is in some sense possible that the USA is more likely to breakdown through overwhelming infrastructure (bridge, roads sewage, water supplies, electricity cables, etc) breakdowns and misconnections, than from stupid politics. But stupid politics will not help maintain functional relationships, or will direct energy away from the problems.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

What is meant by fascism?

November 15, 2024

Intro: Categories

To describe, or define fascism, you have to understand something about categories in the world. Categories are human constructs and ideas. They are not inevitably pointing to a definite ‘thing/process’ in that world. This is not a statement that they can never point at something independent and real.

The first point is that nothing exists alone. Humans exist because of the sun, the physical properties known and unknown of the universe, billions of years of genetic accidents, interactions between creatures, the presence of photosynthesis, the temperature range, the huge amounts of non-genetically related bacteria and viruses in our bodies much of which is essential for our function. Things/processes overlap and constantly change, so a human is entangled with many other processes. This makes definition a process of abstraction from a context.

The second point is that as human constructs categories do not necessarily, refer to things/processes that are all the same in the same way. This has been known since Wittgenstein and Vygotsky, but does not permeate much of our thinking. Wittgenstein talked of family resemblance – people in a family do not always resemble each other in the same way.

So when we are looking at things we can call fascism, they will probably not all be the same in the same way. Italian Fascism was not identical to German Nazism. Mussolini was not Hitler. Spanish and Hungarian fascism were different. In an earlier age, Mussolini might even become regarded as a national hero, along with the Medicis etc.

So there is a family of points which they may, or may not have in common, and which they may have in different degrees. The more of these points they share strongly, the more they have in common and the more ‘ideally’ fascist they are.

Fascism involves

Authoritarianism.

People must be loyal to the leader and the party. The leader knows what is best for you. Discipline must be maintained. Disobedience and disagreement will be punished.

The glory of the leader

The leader has mystical powers of genius. People may not understand his reasons but the reasons will be completely sure. You could follow them if you had equal genius. Faith in the leader is required. [If you don’t share that faith the leader can look crazy].

The leader is chosen by God, or some other mystical force like Fate, Destiny, or National spirit. The leader is the exemplary force of the people and the Nation.

Positions in government are allocated by loyalty to the leader, because loyalty and obedience is paramount.

Contradicting the leader is close to blasphemy.

Religion

Fascism is not anti-religion at all. It supports religions which support it and its policies, declare it to be good and the will of God, and justify the fascist hierarchy and heroic striving to be a better part of that hierarchy. As with everything, religious people who challenge them will be suppressed.

Nationalism

The home Nation is supreme and better than any other nation. It is inherently good, and its real culture has no flaws. If there are things/processes the leader or party declares to be flaws this comes from the power of degenerate others, who must be confined, deported, removed or killed. With the degenerates and other enemies of the leader, or Party, heroically removed, then the nation will be restored to its true glory. It will be Great Again.

Heroism

Heroes are prepared to suffer and lay down their lives for the nation and the leader. Heroism is the great calling for men in particular, but women who have huge numbers of children, and devote themselves to family and nation are also heroes. The nation and the leader are one. Disagreements with the leader are displays of degeneracy (lack of heroism), or deliberate subversion. Heroism in the service of the leader is the supreme virtue.

Racism

Certain people are ideal representatives of the real people of the Nation, by skin colour, facial structures etc. They are superior by way of birth. Other people are ideal representatives of degenerate races, who pollute the blood of the dominant race. They must be confined, deported, removed or killed.
Nothing should be done to further racial equality because racial inequality is a fundamental truth and a real basis of life.

Eventually inferior races will be enslaved, die out or be helped to die out

Sexism

Women and men are completely different creatures. Women exist for the pleasure of superior males, and to bear children. This makes women content and families strong. Women who want a different life are degenerate and threaten the stability of the nation. and must be confined, deported, removed or killed.

Lives of superior race fetuses are far more important than the lives of women.

Hatred of Degeneracy

Disagreement with the leader or a lack of heroic enthusiasm for the leader is a mark of degeneracy and physical and spiritual corruption and decay. Degeneracy must be purged. It is vile.

Prime examples of degeneracy are people who do not embrace their heterosexual gender roles, the more vile and inferior races and mentally or physically deficient people even if of the superior race.

Degenerates are people who lead us to revert to the primal and unheroic slime.

Scapegoating

Fascism depends on purging enemies within. Everything that goes wrong is the fault of degenerate and evil people, who are not the ideal loyal race, gender or politics. In reality, they must belong to a fairly non-powerful group in the Nation, so they can be destroyed with ease, but they are portrayed as powerful and corrupting. Everyone is to be unified in hating the scapegoat. When the scapegoat group is purged, it is probable that another degenerate group will made to replace them, to keep the unity forged going.

Life

True life is obedience. Obedience via one’s free will is true freedom. Dedicated obedience may lead heroes to rise up the party hierarchy to their true level. Everyone occupies the position they do because of their natural abilities or because of degenerate corruption. The latter must be purged.

The lives of those who oppose the Party or the Nation are not sacred at all. They are to be exterminated.

Militarism

Heroism for the party is valued. Beating up opponents is valued. Being in pro-party militias is good.
Military order is good. Everyone must obey their superior without question as long as the instructions do not conflict with the leaders.

Fascists will increase military spending even if cutting spending on everything else.

Eventually the nation will have to reveal its destiny in war and conquest as God plans. The best system must rule its neighbours because of the power of destiny and superiority.

Suspension of Elections

Fascists are suspicious of elections. The only genuine elections are the ones that they win. Eventually they will suspend elections, as elections give the forces of degeneracy a way back in. They might have votes to determine the leader’s acclaim, and the leader will get at least 95% of the vote, but that’s it. The need for elections is essentially a liberal fallacy. Being voted out is an impossibility in a fair system as the leader knowns the people, and they know him, and could not vote him out.

Riches

The rich elites and corporations who support and fund the Party are treasures. They will receive cheap and disciplined labour and regulations favourable to them.
However, they must stay obedient to the leader to maintain their positions. While personal and business profit is expected, business is for the good of the leader and the nation.
The rich initially think they chose and control the party but they soon find out that the party cannot be challenged. It has a life of its own, but they generally accommodate.

***

There may be other features of fascism, but these seem to be the basic points. The more some movement has of them, the more strongly identifiable as Fascist it is.

Tags:,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Making America Great Again

November 9, 2024

I have no idea what this slogan means, because President Trump never seems to explain it. It is probably appealing to people because it sounds good and has no content to disagree with.

However, in Agenda 47, his speeches and past behaviour, he does explain, or demonstrate, the means of getting there, which might be more controversial, and suggest what he means by ‘great’.

To him US greatness is brought about by:

1. Increasing prices and inflation by raising tariffs. This may start a ‘tariff war’ in which other nations put tariffs on US imports and harm US export markets. The upside is that US companies may abandon their capital invested in other countries and come back to the USA, or perhaps they may think the tariffs against US exports will cancel the US market out. We don’t know – we just know inflation will increase.

2. Giving corporations and hyper-rich people even bigger tax cuts, because they are the important people in the USA. Everyone else is perhaps useful for voting in corporate power and providing cheap labour, but without any other value.

3. Getting rid of regulations that stop companies from injuring workers, poisoning communities or harming the planetary systems. Making sure no business, especially any associated with Donald Trump, can ever be convicted of fraud.

4. Preventing shareholders and businesses doing anything about climate change, while handing climate policy over to oil companies.

5. Getting rid of the minimum wage so labour is as cheap in the US as in China or Bangladesh and can compete.

6. Getting rid of Affordable Healthcare and replacing it with something more profitable for companies. Making sure that you can only get vaccinated if you leave the US.

7. Scrap 2 trillion dollars from social services and regulatory enforcement, to make sure people have to work even if they are 90, and to stop the State interfering with corporate activities unless those activities impact the President harmfully. These cutbacks help provide the funds for corporate tax cuts. Musk admits this will hurt ordinary Americans, but the imagined future greatness justifies the acts.

8. Making sure that Donald Trump does not get prosecuted or convicted of any crime at all, no matter what that crime is. Ordering those he appoints to head the FBI and the DoJ to drop all and any charges against him, while proclaiming the charges to be political only.

9. Making sure that the FBI and DoJ go after anyone who has disagreed with, or will disagree with, Donald Trump, to bring harmony and agreement to the US.

10. Deregistering or continually suing media that does not 100% support Donald Trump all the time, as they are clearly unpatriotic. This gets rid of those scum who accuse the President of misrepresenting reality, and stops people worrying about what is being done, what mistakes are being made, and what climate events are happening and the lack of government response.

11. Stopping climate and weather research, as they just make things worse and cause people to worry, or think that maybe we should not be mining more fossil fuels.

12. Getting rid of all people working for the government who might not be completely obedient to President Trump. Loyalty to the Constitution and the USA should obviously be secondary to loyalty to President Trump and to Republican ideology.

13. Arguing the President can terminate, or ignore, the Constitution. It is an old document that does not recognize the need for absolute Presidential power.

14. Making sure to give pro-Trump Christians control of State apparatus, as the USA is a Christian nation, built on Christian principles, and subservient to Christian power (apart from the President of course). Christians who don’t support Trump are atheists, heretics or demon possessed.

15. Hitting sexual deviants as hard as possible to get rid of lesbians, gays, trans people and so on. They probably should be burnt alive to please the Christians, and make America Straight Again.

16. Making sure more women die of complications in pregnancy, by valuing the fetus more than the mother.

17. Deporting tens of millions of “illegals”, many of whom probably do not have anywhere to go back to. This will require rounding people up with armed force (it will be bloody, said Trump), setting up camps to store them, hundreds of millions in transport unless cattle trucks and ships are used. Non-white people will need to make sure they always have identity or citizenship papers, or they may be picked up (and their papers lost). Americans will get used to armed bands rounding people up, so it won’t be noticeable when the Democrats and RINOs go.

18. Building trust and respect overseas by abandoning allies, as was done with those Afghans friendly to the US, Kurds and so on.

19. Handing Ukraine over to Putin and supporting Putin’s expansion of Russia.

20. Helping Netanyahu slaughter Palestinians and start a war with Iran as this will bring about Armageddon and the final days and please the right-Christian electorate.

21. Cuddle up to dictators to preserve world peace and discuss how to bring order to the USA and get rid of undesirables. Become part of the Axis of Evil as that is really cool.

22. Find new ways for Donald Trump to profiteer from Taxpayers. The boarding secret service people at Trump properties at maximum price is wearing a bit thin.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »