Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Totalitarianism

  • The Presidential Power of Pardon: A Political-Theological Theme

    According to Carl Schmitt, Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty, University of Chicago Press, 1985, p. 56: All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts not only because of their historical development—in which they were transferred from theology to the theory of the state, whereby, for example,…

  • ‘2A’ a Terrorist Marker?

    Top o' the Stack. It emerged in the Congressional FBI whistleblower hearings that the abbreviation '2A' is a "terrorist marker." That came as news to me. (But see here.) I have been using '2A' from time to time as an innocuous abbreviation of 'Second Amendment.' The context, of course, is the Bill of Rights which are…

  • Slouching Toward Totalitarianism

    Can Trump save us? Klingenstein: Is our regime totalitarian, emerging or otherwise? What makes it so? How far along are we? Can we fight back? Ellmers: I think the essay that Ted Richards and I wrote for your website, and the several excellent responses that you published, cover this pretty well.  Klingenstein: How much can Trump fix it? Ellmers: Very hard…

  • Authoritarianism from the Left

    Michael Anton I solicit comments on the following excerpts (bolding added): The greatest factor in hastening the end of American-style democracy over the past 125 years (at least) has been increasing government centralization and administrative rule. To answer the question posed by Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein’s edited volume, Can It Happen Here?: Authoritarianism in America: it…

  • Misplaced Moral Enthusiasm

    I would have thought that stopping the influx of Fentanyl would have priority over banning menthol cigarettes. Here is a curious argument: If it sounds a bit nanny state-ish to ban an otherwise legal product used by consenting adults, consider this: In 2009, Congress gave the FDA authority to ban all other flavors in cigarettes,…

  • The Obsolete Man

    The Twilight Zone marathon is in progress at the SyFy channel. One of the best episodes of the series which ran from 1959-1964 is The Obsolete Man (1961). Rod Serling's opening narration is eerily prescient and eerily  relevant to our present police-state predicament: You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads…

  • And You Call for a Cease-Fire?

    Take a look at the massacre map. Then read this: The world is yet again staring at the near inevitability of another global conflagration.   The flashpoint is in the Middle East and the Hitler of our time: the Mullahs of Iran.   The West, led by Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have chosen to follow in…

  • Dinesh D’Souza on our Incipient Police State

    Here, with a link to a trailer of his new movie. ………………………. 'Terrorist' is experiencing semantic spread.  It emerged in the Congressional FBI whistleblower hearings that the abbreviation '2A' is a "terrorist marker." That came as news to me. (But see here.) I have been using '2A' from time to time as an innocuous abbreviation of…

  • Facing Reality: Two Truths About Race in America

    Some notes on Charles Murray. Substack latest. Includes a comment by 'Jacques,' a credentialed philosopher who dare not appear under his real name in these race-delusional and totalitarian times. The Republic is collapsing into a police state. Here is another bit of evidence of how the totalitarian state can and will mercilessly crush anyone it…

  • The Smart Home Blues

    Sino-styled surveillance is upon us. No up-to-date police state without it. So only a dumbass would spring for a 'smart home.' Be smart, and keep your house dumb.  How dumb? As dumb as a ding-dong dumbbell Dem. In today’s world of politically correct insanity, it’s truly baffling that a significant number of Americans willingly invite…

  • ‘2A’ a Terrorist Marker?

    It emerged in the Congressional FBI whistleblower hearings that the abbreviation '2A' is a "terrorist marker." That came as news to me. (But see here.) I have been using '2A' from time to time as an innocuous abbreviation of 'Second Amendment.'  The context, of course, is the Bill of Rights which are the first ten…

  • Amerika, the Police State

    Have you been paying attention, or are you a useful idiot? America, No Turning Back The Catholic Case for Guns A Maoist Cultural Revolution?

  • Are There Any Decent Democrats?

    There is at least one. His name is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. I recommend his A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals (Skyhorse Publishing, 2022). It is mercifully short,  x + 110 pages long, and well worth your time. It is extremely well-documented. The text itself runs to…

  • Who Killed JFK?

    Here:  In a remarkable television broadcast on December 15, 2022, Tucker Carlson made an explosive charge. He pointed out that, contrary to law, the White House was refusing to release thousands of pages of documents about the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Carlson said that these documents proved CIA involvement in…

  • Erasure of the Historical Record

    The erasure of the historical record via alteration of documents, book burning, iconoclasm, shadow-banning, and the like is common to totalitarian systems whether Communist, National Socialist, Fascist, Islamist, or  'woke.'