Reflections From a Murky Pond

There is a massive and likely insurmountable ideological divide in America with Conservatives and Liberals holding views, beliefs, and goals that are fundamentally and diametrically opposed to each other.

Expressions of this ideological divide between Conservatives and Liberals span almost every facet of American culture, society and politics.

Political Corruption, Venality, and Stupidity

One major ideological divide in America is how to respond to rampant corruption, venality, and gross stupidity that is repeatedly displayed by the politicians in our nation’s government.

Conservatives

Conservatives are aware of the sad fact that politicians are almost always corrupt, venal, and/or stupid and that they’re, by the nature of our election systems, bought and paid for through campaign financing by various interests. Knowing this, Conservatives often seek to limit the breadth and scope of the government’s powers.

Liberals

Liberals are aware of the sad fact that politicians are almost always corrupt, venal, and/or stupid and that they’re, by the nature of our election systems, bought and paid for through campaign financing by various interests. Knowing this, Liberals consistently seek to increase the breadth and scope of the government’s powers.

These are fundamentally different approaches to dealing within a long running problem in American politics that both sides of the divide agree exists and is endemic.

There is seemingly no sphere of human endeavor that the puling Leftists won’t attempt to invade and subvert into a mockery of itself all in the name of what they try to foist off on mankind as “Human Rights” and “Social Justice.”

It was only a matter of time before these Leftist filth made a push to pervert and control the internet in the same manner.

As always, they seek to wield fictional rights as a sword in their broad ranging jihad against individual liberty, capitalism, and any thought that merit should hold any meaning whatsoever.

The current case in point is the filth from the Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition and their 10 Internet Rights And Principles with my specific rebuttal in-line:

1. Universality and Equality
   All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights, which must be respected, protected and fulfilled in the online environment.

One – people may well be born equal in dignity and rights but their later actions will not result in equal worth or outcome.

Two – neither rights nor privileges must be protected on the net anymore than they me protected in any other venue and, in no case, is fulfillment required to be enforced.

2. Rights and Social Justice
   The Internet is a space for the promotion, protection and fulfillment of human rights and the advancement of social justice. Everyone has the duty to respect the human rights of all others in the online environment.

The internet is a method for communication, nothing more. Any other idea is phantasmagoria meant to further a non-normative agenda.

3. Accessibility
   Everyone has an equal right to access and use a secure and open Internet.

Technically true – everyone has the right to purchase whatever level of access they can afford unless their crimes have resulted in their forfeiture of this right.

4. Expression and Association
   Everyone has the right to seek, receive, and impart information freely on the Internet without censorship or other interference. Everyone also has the right to associate freely through and on the Internet, for social, political, cultural or other purposes.

No; everyone has the right to use their purchased access to seek, receive, and impart legal information without government censorship except when that censorship is for reasons of national security.

Technical limitation required by internet providers are to be expected and no individual, group, corporation, or government is required to provide a forum for such expression and can, within their own systems edit or delete information at will.

5. Privacy and Data Protection
   Everyone has the right to privacy online. This includes freedom from surveillance, the right to use encryption, and the right to online anonymity. Everyone also has the right to data protection, including control over personal data collection, retention, processing, disposal and disclosure.

People have no more right to privacy online than when using any other form of communication. Government can surveil people within the limits set forth by their nations’ laws.

Additionally any entity may require any level or type of personal data as a prerequisite for providing to an individual an online service of any sort.

As for control over the later use of one’s information – that is a good thing and a privilege that should be maintained wherever possible but it’s not a right.

6. Life, Liberty and Security
   The rights to life, liberty, and security must be respected, protected and fulfilled online. These rights must not be infringed upon, or used to infringe other rights, in the online environment.

This one beggars the imagination of any and all rational humans. I can’t even begin to address the gross stupidity of this point in their manifesto.

7. Diversity
   Cultural and linguistic diversity on the Internet must be promoted, and technical and policy innovation should be encouraged to facilitate plurality of expression.

If there’s a market for such things they will happen organically, without significant intervention by any governing body. Nor should such ghettoization be actively encouraged.

This idea is counterproductive to the free flow of information, ideas, and knowledge and is nothing but another example of Leftists’ hatred for normative / majority behaviors, ideals, morality, and cultures.

8. Network Equality
   Everyone shall have universal and open access to the Internet’s content, free from discriminatory prioritization, filtering or traffic control on commercial, political or other grounds.

Translation – The productive members of society must pay for the internet access of the worthless eaters and looters; this is ever the generalized goal of “Social Justice.”

9. Standards and Regulation
   The Internet’s architecture, communication systems, and document and data formats shall be based on open standards that ensure complete interoperability, inclusion and equal opportunity for all.

If there’s a market for this it will happen organically, without significant intervention by any governing body. In point of fact, it already has to a large extent.

These puling Leftists real point is the “inclusion and equal opportunity for all;” by which they really mean equal results for all. It is nothing but an attempt to suborn the standards to bring everyone down to the level of the lowest common denominators.

10. Governance
    Human rights and social justice must form the legal and normative foundations upon which the Internet operates and is governed. This shall happen in a transparent and multilateral manner, based on principles of openness, inclusive participation and accountability.

The Internet’s normative foundation is as a communication medium, nothing more and nothing less. It has nothing intrinsically to do with human rights or “Social Justice.”

Most of the above are nothing but but Leftist “dog-whistles” for nationalizing – actually “extra-nationalizing” as in the UN – the internet backbone and providing broadband access to everyone and anyone without direct charge – unless, of course, they’re a productive member of society, in which case they would not only have to directly pay for internet access but also indirectly pay for the internet access that would be provided for the useless eaters of the world.

I freely admit that the moment anything starts jabbering about “Social Justice” my first thought is to put few hollow-point rounds in their guts and that I rarely get past that thought.

That is simply because I believe in defending my real rights from their supposedly benevolent tyranny and their goal to steal from me and mine in order to give to those without measurable worth or merit.

And, as is always the case with these vermin, they want some form of monitoring / governing body to police the internet to ensure that nobody except the productive and normative members of society are ever offended by what is said on the internet.

When dealing with these sorts it’s absolutely necessary to remember that their goals never change and their attack vectors rarely do so. It’s always the same thing, incessant attacks upon individual liberties, capitalism, and national sovereignty with the goal being to subjugate humanity to a tyrannical nanny state world quasi-government devoted to enslaving the productive to feed the needs and desires of the worthless dregs at the bottom of society.

~*~

Keep your eyes open. Travel light but load heavy, and always put another round in the enemy after they’re down. 😉

So, it really looks like the federal government will “shut down” at the end of the week. OK, shut it down.

Quit playing chicken with each other and pretending to yourselves that Americans are so dependent upon federal services – those that would actually be suspended in the case of what they call a “shut down” – and do it. Then, just maybe, an agreement on the 2011 federal budget can be reached – or not.

Rural America is the seat of America’s lasting wisdom and common sense. Its folk are normally prudent and possessed of sound judgment, without reliance on esoteric knowledge. As such, they can normally be expected to exercise sound judgment in and all practical matters.

Salts of the Earth they are sometimes called.

Most politicians and businessmen tend to avoid Rural America for this reason. Mendacity or “flim-flam” will not work for long among the folk of Rural America. Hence, whole swaths of America’s heartland have become “Fly-Over States,” carefully ignored by politicians and businessmen. This largely suits both parties quite well.

The problems, such as they are, arise when politicians or businessmen fail to fly over the region. A case in point:

A plane crashed in the middle of rural Tennessee.

Panic stricken, the local sheriff mobilized emergency responders and descended on the farm in force. When they got there, the disaster was clear.

The crashed aircraft was totally destroyed with only a burned hulk left smoldering in a tree line that bordered a farm.

The sheriff and his men entered the smoking mess but could find no remains of anyone.

They spotted a lone farmer plowing a field not too far away as if nothing had happened.

They hurried over to the man’s tractor.

“Hank!” the sheriff yelled, panting and out of breath. “Did you see this terrible accident happen?”.

“Yep. Sure ‘nuf did.” the farmer mumbled unconcernedly, cutting off the tractor’s engine.

“Do you realize that is Air Force One, the airplane of the President of the United States?”

“Yep. I surely do.”

“Were there any survivors?”

“Nope. They’s all kilt straight out,” the farmer answered. “I done buried them all myself. Took me most of the morning..”

“President Obama is dead?” the sheriff shouted.

“Well,” the farmer grumbled, restarting his tractor. “He kept a-saying he wasn’t… But you know how bad that sumbitch lies.”

Common sense as exemplified by the Tennessee farmer above has been the downfall of many a confidence trickster and their less honest kin, politicians over the years.

Fact Checking is a big thing in the internet age. It’s most often used to debunk various hoaxes and urban legends, much as Mythbusters does on television. That does present a problem though…

Now I’m sure the owners and operators of Snopes.com, David and Barbara Mikkelson, are completely ethical, honest, and professional…but how would I fact check that belief? 😆