{"article":{"id":18661,"heading":"The Rise And Fall Of Empires","author":"Rev. Trench","created":"2002-08-27 22:11:37","modified":"2002-08-27 22:11:37","last_modified":"Wed, 28 Aug 2002 05:11:37","article":"<p>In the various discussion of Anarchism, <br>  <br> this-or-that ism, or whatever, it must not be missed <br>  <br> that America shows all the signs of a declining <br>  <br> empire. Our culture has essentially been stagnant <br>  <br> since the 1950's except for a brief burst of new <br>  <br> vitality during the 60's. And a lot of people were <br>  <br> killed over the few advances that were made. Blacks no <br>  <br> longer have to go to the back of the bus, but a female <br>  <br> who exhibits the mating patterns of a male is still <br>  <br> labelled a slut. (that's mainly religious BS.) And <br>  <br> nobody can smoke weed without living in continual <br>  <br> fear. They won't even trust us to control our own <br>  <br> bodies anymore. <br><br>     The fact is that this civilisation is going to end <br>  <br> one way or another wether we help it along or not: all <br>  <br> we can really do in my opinon is help each other to <br>  <br> avoid it's worst effects while it is doing so and <br>  <br> wait. It's inevitable. It's being mismanaged into the <br>  <br> ground by people who were invariably born into <br>  <br> positions of power and see no direct connection <br>  <br> between their actions and the political games they <br>  <br> play with each other while in control of all this <br>  <br> machinery and the effects of these decisions on the <br>  <br> society as a whole. There is a term for this in Feudal <br>  <br> societies, which this is no matter what anyone tells <br>  <br> you: Noblesse Noblige Plus. It translates roughly to, <br>  <br> \"Nobility Does Not Obligate\" and is the opposite of <br>  <br> Noblesse Oblige, or \"Nobility Obligates\". And much <br>  <br> thanks to Marc Miller, designer of the RPG Traveller, <br>  <br> for supplying me with this tidbit while he was <br>  <br> explaining the decline of his fictional Third Imperium <br>  <br> in his game. It basically means that these people feel <br>  <br> that their positions are supported by invisible hands <br>  <br> and that the party has been running for so long that <br>  <br> they can't even concieve of it ever ending. And thus, <br>  <br> they feel no obligation whatsoever towards the people <br>  <br> that they govern and who make all of their wealth and <br>  <br> priviledge possible and see them only as a means of <br>  <br> maintaining that priviledge for themselves and as toys <br>  <br> that they can occasionally use to their own stupid <br>  <br> purposes and throw away when no longer useful. <br>  <br> Frankly, Syndicalism is a great way to show them that <br>  <br> unless they treat their workers properly then their <br>  <br> priviledge will end or be usurped. But just TRY <br>  <br> forming a union in today's environment... <br><br>     BTW, I think all prostitues should unionize like <br>  <br> in Australia and other countries where it is legal. <br>  <br> That way they could keep all the proceeds for <br>  <br> themselves and blow off the pimps who are just running <br>  <br> a protection racket on them anyway. If they form <br>  <br> collectives and have guns, then they can protect <br>  <br> themselves adequately enough. <br><br>     My silly thoughts for the day... <br><br>     -Trench <br><br>  <br>  <br> ===== <br>  <br> A Nihilst is one who bows to no authority and accepts no <br>  <br> doctrine, no matter how widespread, for which there is no <br>  <br> proof. <br>  <br> A Nihilist would rather light an 11 megaton candle than curse the <br>  <br> darkness. <br>  <br> For more about Nihilism, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.counterorder.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.counterorder.com<\/a><\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Some thoughts on the future of civilisation, from you favorite crazy sci-fi head, moi. Enjoy!","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2002\/08\/18661.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}