Your country sucks - Part II

“Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” 

― John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

Here´s another revelation that might shock you when you move to another country; you will realize that people regardless of religion; skin color or culture are basically the same. Listening to a Turk talking to a Egyptian, the French conversing with Spaniards, Norwegians gossiping with Russians etc you soon realize that if only the language were the same you would never be able to tell them apart.

On certain topics (religion and history especially) a few differences comes out, but the argumentation and views can as well be the difference between a New Yorker and Philadelphian, or between a North and Southern Swede.

If you constantly listen to mainstream media in the west you might believe that Muslims always are out to kill Christians and that suicide bomber is the norm and not the exception. The fact is not only the opposite; a vast majority of Muslims regard suicide bombers and religious fundamentalist views with the same revulsion we feel about Anders Breivik or reverend Jim Jones.

Another thing that is constantly ignored by media is the history and background story of a certain conflict. Problems in the Middle East (and Israel) are the most obvious examples since conflicts in the area go back to the Crusades, and even far beyond that.

Another story forgotten is the Balkans. Even if we do not go back as far as Byzantium or the Ottoman Empire there are so many other issues it will boggle your mind. Merely the fact that Serbs were slaughtered and exterminated in tens of thousands during WW II by Croats give you a broader understanding of the Yugoslavian “civil war” and why the supposed bad guys, the Serbs, did what they did in the early 1990´s.

There are plenty of such examples across the world and in Europe you can find plenty of issues between and within countries. This is one of the many reasons why the European Union, in its current form, is such a bad idea. There are over 70 official languages in Europe and hundreds of different dialects and smaller, almost extinct languages – and there are as many different cultures. Every single boarder has changed countless of times.

Only in Spain (where I live today) you have Basque, Catalan, Andalusian, and Galician –movements looking to break free from their, in their view, Castilian overlords and this is a story that goes back hundreds of years. For an American (yes I am going to bash you some more…) this is something incomprehensible.

I have worked for several US companies and every single time we have training or have a VP visiting holding a speech, they seem to think of and talk about Europe as one entity. The fact that, for example, differences between North Italy and Sicily is so huge and has such a long history that it make any difference seen in the US pale in comparison is completely forgotten, ignored and is even an inconceivable thought for most Americans. Assigning diplomats seem to prove this… 

My point however is that regardless of the differences that do exist between cultures, countries and historic views; the people; the individuals, are the same. We all want the best for ourselves and our loved ones. We all look for a better life. We all want to be free. And, what will probably surprise you, we also think of the world, politics and even religion in the same way. You will realize this once you hear a Turk say that Turkish politicians are morons, or when a Shiite Persian argue that the Mullahs are bigoted xenophobes.

I remember listening to a discussion between one Polish, one Brit, and one Lebanese, a couple of Czechs, one Moroccan, one Vietnamese and one American – all of which agreed that their own politicians are liars and that all people should have the right to their own religion and that the world would be a much better place if normal folk talked to each other over a beer or five. If we only took the time to get to know our neighbor and had a barbecue instead of listening to mainstream media and to those in charge, there would be no wars or conflicts.

I couldn't agree more.

The individual is a great person ready to help and understand. The hospitality of normal folk, across the world, would astound you. It does not matter who you are or who they are, once you work together, drink together, live together and share your experiences you´ll find out how similar people are in the real world.

The problem is in part government and in part people in group.

People in groups often lose their sensibility. Look at a football game or the world championship of Hockey and you´ll see people starting to act less and less like individuals and more and more like Neanderthal group of thugs waving flags and singing death threats towards a supposed “enemy”. If you look at larger group’s people’s intelligence seem to drop even further and a smug salesman in suit with a decent understanding of this group-psyche can basically get people to do whatever he wants.

The government, in turn, prey on larger groups. Convincing one group that they can win benefits and get greater lives if they just steal from; beat up; or in other ways impact on another group. Consequently we get blacks against whites, Muslims against Christians, the Rich against the poor, women against men and so on and so forth. This is further enhanced by socialist and fascist policies since those ideologies are built, partly or fully, on the premise that there is a horrific adversary somewhere that needs to be quenched and killed. Also (at least historically – but also today in many places) we have religious nuts and fanatical fuck-ups who´s agenda links up with that of government and thus influence the groups alongside politicians.

The people, as individuals, are good people, great even, and they will constantly surprise you and this regardless of who they are or where they are from.

People, as in Groups, and influenced and govern by soul-sucking entities up-high are however horrid hooligans with no grasp of fairness.

If I needed further proof of the greatness of Libertarian ideas and a boost in freedom thinking, then moving about in the world really did the trick. If I was an ultra neo-liberal anti-government extremist - which often was said about me in Sweden – when I was living in my birth nation I am much, much more so today. And the reason is because today I know more about my fellow man, I know more about how the world works and I now know that shit is shit regardless if you live in Los Angeles, Athens, London or Stockholm.

You should all travel more, see the world and move to another country, if only for a year or two. Not only will you grow as a person you will also get fantastic new friends and most likely you will come to the same conclusion as I have; government is the problem and freedom is the solution.

Your country sucks - Part I

“I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.” 

― Maya Angelou

You do notice a few things when moving to another country. Personally, having lived all over the place, I can tell you a lot about how previous axiomatic views have been turned upside down.

For example when I lived in Sweden I honestly believed that the Swedish healthcare system, despite year-long queues, was one of the best in the world and that our Swedish public transport system was second to none. Of course that is far, far from the truth.

I still believe that once you actually get help, especially for major surgeries, Sweden is one of the best, but other than that I can with absolute certainty say that the only country in Europe (which I know of) that has a worse healthcare system then Sweden is the UK (yes, I have lived there).

For minor issues in Sweden you need to call before and go to an assigned specific healthcare central in your area – sounds socialist and horrid yes? Well, it gets better. Firstly when you call you need to do so during certain hours, usually you have a window of an hour on, for example, a Tuesday morning, so good luck if you´re working... Secondly the low level of service and professionalism offered will make you feel like a dehydrated turd that happen to get stuck underneath the doctors/nurses shoe(s). Thirdly you will probably be in waiting, despite having a scheduled time, for an additional hour or so.

Despite what the UN and the Swedish government tells you the healthcare system is substandard in most aspects that count for everyday folk trying to get help for everyday issues.

And I did mention the year long queues for surgeries and major problems right? I have a close friend waiting for a heart surgery right now (have been waiting for months) and his operation was just moved a few weeks into the future because they got one (sic!) new individual who needed it faster. Isn´t that something? One new person shows up and a very important life-saving operation need to be moved weeks, so… where are the other doctors? Other hospitals? 

In countries like Estonia, Czech Republic and Germany (all of which are countries I have lived in) the level of professionalism and sympathy and service is so much higher than Sweden that you might be shocked if you move there. And they have NO QUEUES!

Although the Swedish healthcare system can be debated the Swedish public transport system cannot - it is so bad, so horrific and so crappy I do not know where to begin.

In Sweden it seems that Swedes are happy if there is one bus going each day if that that bus is only 5min late. The only metro system in the country, in Stockholm, is overcrowded and very difficult to grasp. Not to mention the prices. The cost of a monthly metro pass can feed a small African country for a week. The railroad system is getting old and train lateness is nowadays so common that people rather take that once-a-day-bus. I have seen a few expat Americans stating that the Swedish transport system is fantastic and easy. Every time I see such a comment I ponder on what a hellish nightmare it must be in the US. Even Greece (yes, I´ve lived there too), today, has a better public transport system then Sweden. In most Eastern European countries it is so much better that it will make Swedes cry from envy.

But moving on; we Swedes are told that people in other countries know of Sweden because we´re so great in Sports, that people in other countries know of Björn Borg, Olof Palme and that we are so great in staying neutral in all conflicts that our greatness is acknowledge everywhere. We Swedes are, if you listen to a school teacher, known for our work ethics, our equality and for being environmentally and politically savvy. People across the world know of Sweden because we are a fantastic socialist paradise and we have so many great companies. Basically Sweden is a magical place filled with rivers of honey and pink unicorns fluttering around spreading joy joy feelings.

The words “Bah, humbug!” have never been more appropriate.

People in other countries know of IKEA, meatballs and Swedish women. That is it! Most can hardly even point out Sweden on a map.

Sometimes, in other countries, Sweden is brought up in public or political debates, usually as a good example by liberals/lefties and once in a while you can hear of Sweden and Zlatan in the same sentence, but other than that? Most normal people around the globe have either never heard of or they do not care about that cold place with cold people at the edge of human civilization.

Not that such revelations is only for us Swedes, pretty much anyone moving abroad will find better or worse things with their new home. I also need to emphasize: “Moving!”, because a lot of times you hear fellow countrymen utter stupidities because they have been to the Canary Islands once and spent a summer cleaning fish in Norway and because of that they think they are so worldly.

The people having it worst when moving abroad are probably Americans. I do not think there is a more clueless group of people comes to the world and worldly knowledge. Americans seem to think that their country is in the lead and best in every area. The fact is that the United States has less then 5% of the world´s population, but have almost 25% of the world’s prisoners - which is the only statistics where the US is at the top. Well, there is one more thing; military expenditure!

Americans also seem to think that the world view of them is good, if not great. The fact however is the complete opposite; Americans are literary hated everywhere. Not only because of their continuous wars and mass murders, but also because of their arrogance and lack of worldly knowledge. Regardless of where I have been or to whom I´ve talked to, almost everyone despise, hate and loath Americans. Only the French can sometimes be mentioned with the same aversion but then mostly in a fun love-hate sort of way.

Don´t get me wrong, we all love American TV-shows and movies, and there are plenty of great American companies and seen over time the US is probably the most successful country that has ever existed on this planet, but (or perhaps because of that) there are so many issues – especially nowadays.

It is not only because of NSA, CIA or the millions of murdered, it is also a lack of understanding and very isolated world view (the world is located be between Main and California), and it’s the arrogance, it is all of it and so much more.

But regardless where you are from or where you are going remember that politics always suck; socialism and fascism exists universally in different forms and degrees; and there are pros and cons with each country. There are no paradises, there is no perfect society in existence, and people are basically the same everywhere.

You think there are huge differences between a Shiite woman in Iran and a Christian woman in Italy don´t you? Think again!

The vilest of organisations and a few drug cartels

Anyone surprised by THESE news?

Although I can see the benefits, at least in the short run, I have a hard time figuring out why the, in comparison, nicer and less evil would want to team up with such a despicable and abominable murderous entity as the US government.

Though, from a government standpoint, I see lots of advantages. First they create the drug lords and cartels through the inhuman “war on drugs”, then they use government entities to get money from the drug trade and through the entire process they induce pain, suffering and fear into the general public - and where do people go to ease their suffering and to what entity do they run with their fears? That’s right! To Government!

It’s a Machiavellian scheme with a Faustian smell of such evil it makes all cartoon villains head for retirement.

The leaders of our obese TV-watching generation love this arrangement. It makes them feel important, it gives them power and they get to send killer squads into jungles to hunt down their previous friends and benefactors. This while useful idiot’s campaign outside public offices demanding harsher penalties and increased government founding for drug education of the young while our masters, inside mentioned offices, snort a line and rub their hands together while signing another petition to send more of the mentioned young to pointless wars.

 The truth, as always, is hidden, ignored and spat at.

If you tell someone that legalisation would save countless lives and end drug cartels, they look at you as if you´re wearing a pink tutu and you´d just told them you´re from another galaxy and that you love to eat puppies for dinner. If you tell your neighbour that ending the “war on drugs” would almost completely stop people from dying of overdoses, he will think you have a meth lab in the basement and will probably call the cops. If you argue that drugs on a free market would be cleaner, healthier and be available at the nearest store instead of buying from shady characters people will laugh at you. If you tell relatives that terrorism would, practically, end across the world if drugs were legal, they think you´re joking. And, worse of all, when you tell people about the government-fear-cartel paradigm no one will believe you.

Perhaps this revelation will change a few minds, but generally the public will continue to go with their fears over to the most corrupt, inept, lawless and evil group in the world; their own government.

Which form of tyranny is most acceptable?

There are many -isms, ideologies and religious ideas based on autocracy. Every form of government, even our experiment with Democracy, is oppressive. There is a reason for it; government is by definition oppressive and people are, in general, highly stupid and when they are not stupid they are selfish. This combination of a pre-determined oppressive upper management and large groups of highly stupid and/or highly self-centred people means that a democratic country will automatically head in a totalitarian direction.

People have tried to circumvent this, usually by law. For example the republican form of government is an attempt to build a country of and by law instead that of a country ruled by sovereign decrees or ruled by the vim of many. This too has always failed – from the Romans to contemporary USA. Sooner or later the country/empire crumbles from inflation, outside threats and a population increasingly succumbed by “free lunches”.

Communists/socialists have tried to build a form of government were everyone is supposed to be involved and take part in every decision that affects them. Locally and nationally the worker/inhabitant should be able to vote on and effect decisions and in doing so the communist/socialist believes that people will be happier, become more involved and that the end result will be better. This too has always failed in the most horrific of ways with hundreds of millions of dead as a consequence.

Monarchies, empires, sultanates and many others have come and gone with various results and various degree of oppression. We also have had, and still do have, religious types telling us to heed the words of God(s) and let those guide us.

Democracy seems to be, so far, the least objectionable form of government. But democracy too have failed on numerous occasions - from early city states in Greece, Germany and Italy to the Weimar republic there seem to be a built-in mechanism that can propel a democracy into totalitarianism. Looking around today it is easy to see a lot of problem with the democratic form of government. Democracy in itself is also, at least in some ways, oppressive.

We do not need to resort to bringing up the classical “black-haired majority VS the light-haired minority” –argument, in order to understand why or how a democracy is tyrannical – it is enough to listen to our neighbours and relatives to realize there are a lot of unresolved and overbearing issues.

Consequently if we push most of above ideas aside for a moment and instead focus on the most favourable and arguably most successful form of government; that of Democracy, we can conclude that although this form of government is, in part, a success story, it too comes with a lot of problems –especially in the long run.

Tyranny does not only come from above via of a small minority or from a king or Pharaoh, it can also come from the majority. Especially when the majority is; A) Tricked/Fooled/bamboozled into thinking/voting in a weird and soon to be totalitarian way. B) The politically correct road becomes the only road and all unbelievers are bullied to vote in a specific way. C) Government becomes too large and unmanageable so that each part of it is so anonymous that no-one really knows who decides what – there is no accountability.

We know from history that a smug salesperson can convince people and get them to vote for things they actually do not want. Adolf Hitler’s road to power is the most obvious example, but almost every general election works in the same way. We have a lot of political parties that want power, but few want power to do good and better humanity. A scarce number of politicians may both say good things and have good intentions, but they always get gobbled up by the system.

And if we´re really honest with ourselves; living under the scrutiny of moral busybodies wielding close to omnipotent power in a hard-to-grasp-democracy while they try to guide us to, what they perceive to be; moral path, which is religiously or politically correct, is not far from the same tyranny as that of a almighty sole sovereign. It is in another form and with the illusion that we can later vote for something else, but in the end; does it really matter if one person or the majority tells us what to do? Furthermore; isn’t it better to know who to blame? A king may be horrific, but at least we know, if something goes wrong, who to blame. Also any changes made by a king is immediate, in a democracy it is always slower or may not happen at all.

I have always seen those that torment and chaperon us with moral superiority as just as bad as any dictator. Not directly the same of course, but morally and at its core; is there a difference? A dictators lust for power and control over people’s lives sort of end with his control and decision power. Although there are exceptions the dictator does not need to proclaim moral dominance, he only wants obedience. This “obey or else” paradigm, however horrific it may be, is only slightly more objectionable then the “We know best what is best for you so obey or we will tell everyone you are a fascistRascistBiggotedMoron” paradigm. In both systems you may go to jail for not complying, in both you are obliged to follow rules, laws and sometimes you are even forced to vote.

The difference, you might argue, is that in a democracy we can still object and voice our opinion – which is partly true. But what if a democracy slowly, but surely, impose more and more laws and regulations aimed to push you into the politically correct folder with public flogging (not literally… yet...) as the alternative? Is that really so much better? And in order for us to be able to object and voice our opinion we need to know what is wrong and where the problem is, and we need to have a forum or an outlet to be heard. Especially with today’s surveillance society and todays situation whereas mainstream media and those deemed better control everything for normal folk, can you really argue your voice is being heard? In what way is that different from that of a dictatorship?

Yes, Democracy is better than dictatorship, at least in the short run, but morally and as a long-term consequence it is hard to see the difference.

To me the republican idea is probably best, at least in theory - as consequence it too seem to end up in the same bin as democracy, but isn’t there a way around that?

My thinking has always been to combine several ideologies and forms of governments to get the best result. For example combining a constitutional monarchy with republican ideas in a mixture with lots of governmental control functions easy to view, read and understand for any commoner. This also means that any form of socialism or stateism automatically goes out the window since such ideas also comes with big government – and the bigger the government is the harder it is to understand, grasp and see what the problem is and how to fix it. This coincidently is one of the main reasons why I usually title myself as libertarian since the libertarian ideology favours limited government and consequently we can in a libertarian society easily determine what is wrong with any existing government and fix it. In this sense libertarianism is the truest form of democracy.

I am not completely convinced that a libertarian utopia is the best form of government and I have too many conservative traits to completely throw out all government functions. The oxymoron of a republican monarchy with a limited government and plenty of control functions does appeal to me, and even if a few of the socialist- and social conservative worries about libertarianism would come to pass, I still see this form of government (and potential oppression) as the most favourable.

And the beauty of the libertarianism is that underneath the umbrella of free choice and individualism there is an option to have socialist- syndicalist or anarchist communities. As long as people join, for example a communist enclave, out of free will and have the option to, whenever they so pleases, to leave such a society, it is okay – you can do so.

However this beauty is also what I object to when I say I have conservative traits. Basically I do not think such a society would work very well and it is probably easily corrupted or taken over by unscrupulous types. Also I believe that people need structure, that they need a (very) small degree of overlordship. To take an extreme and today popular example; it is possible for paedophiles within the libertarian model to create their own country within the country and since (very young) children cannot fend for themselves, how can they cope? And what about the mentally challenged?

I know the arguments against such objections and I suppose that in a free and honest society based on free choice and individuality any such extreme example would fail since no one would trade with or protect the paedophiles from outside threats, and the social pressure coupled with direct coercion would stop them, but I can still not completely ignore the risk.

Also, as a quasi-conservative, I do like things like Monarchy, school uniforms, tradition and history. I believe that we cannot go forward without knowing what happen before and that sometimes when moving forward we should do so step-by-step and not rush.

The libertarian idea of a perfect society is the best I know of; at least it is the least tyrannical. Not sure if we can ever get to a point where there is no oppression, perhaps in a distant future, but until then I will continue to argue for a conservative republican monarchy version of the libertarian society.  

God´s loophole... 5th base...

I feel holier already..

2014 – The year when everything will be decided

This is the year when we will definitely know how deep the chasm really is, and this is the year when it all will be decided. I say this because beyond this point there is no return, no longer can action taken turn the tides and this year we will know much more about the policies that will guide us for the foreseeable future.  

This year the US will have midterm elections, the European Union will elect a new parliament and several notable countries such as Brazil, Hungary, Colombia and Sweden will also elect new parliaments. Brazil is important because it’s one of the biggest economies and the biggest in South America. Hungary is important because their debt is tied to Austrian and German banks and because their road towards fascism is well traveled. Colombia is important due to its ties to US and because boarder tensions with Venezuela is closing in on an outright war which will likely reach a boiling point within a year or two. Sweden is important in Northern Europe and it’s my birth nation.

That inflationary money-printing taken place across the world since 2008 have now been fully (except for a few trillions hold by certain banks) injected into the world economy so we´re going to reach stock- and bond peaks during this year or early 2015; stock- and bond markets can thus not go up much more. This means that the banks will start putting those tucked away trillions to work in order to keep real-estate and housing scams going and also keep inflation up - when this happens you only have about 1 year before the fat lady sings.
Prices will consequently continue to rise in the short run. The only question here is whether interest rates will start going up and destroy the fake “recovery” in the short run and crash markets in the long run, or if injection of FIAT (and new scams) will escalate further and assure hyperinflation down the line. The outcome is basically the same, but interest rates going up coupled with a few policy changes will crash economies faster and make The Greatest Depression shorter in length and depth i.e. the "good" option.

I also believe that conflicts in and around Iran-Syria-Irak will either escalate or, at the very least, lead to strange new alliances and of course I also fully expect the Saudis to do something stupid. On the conflict-front I also see growing tensions in and between several African countries, something that will certainly pick up speed as the famine disasters (that you probably not read about yet) get worse and people’s desperation increase. Africa will be a huge slaughter and famine house, certainly after 2015 and forward. 

During 2014 the Empire of lies will certainly strike back comes to protecting their police-state mass-surveillance. NSA and several other agencies (in several countries) have been a bit on the defensive lately with revelations by Snowden and Jacob Appelbaum etc. along with TPB and other torrent sites refusing to obey. Anonymous-networks and several independent news sources continue to defy mainstream-media and challenge The Powers That Be. I believe that our soul-sucking tyrants will strike back. Whether or not actions taken will succeed or not is not clear, but I think that there will be a few mysterious disappearances and/or a few weirdo car/flight crashes or, if those in power are really smart about it, we´ll see hackers go to jail for spreading kiddy porn and a few anonymous people will get caught helping Alky Aida.
They will definitely also try to scare us so more terrorism och new terror organizations will pop up, or perhaps one or two new (old) horrible enemies that we´re all supposed to hate? Not sure exactly how, who or when, but I am very certain such things will occur during this and the coming years.

Another thing notable during 2013 that will continue is that some countries will dive deeper into extremism. We´ve seen countries like Russia, Spain and Hungary impose laws and regulations against free speech, against gays, and against protesters. Other countries, like Sweden, are instead putting the politically-correct feminazi/socialist gear into overdrive with draconian laws stating, among others, that men are always guilty of rape. Yet other countries, like the US and UK, are taking sort of a middle road putting both the politically correct and more obvious oppressive policies into action. This goes on at the same time as fascists, communists and anarchists are gaining ground. Subsequently this year will be the year when such movements gain momentum and we will start seeing already created authoritarian embryos blossom and so give us a clue of what our future totalitarian societies will look like. Basically we will soon know whether our country/ies will head down the communist/socialist path of utter destruction or the fascist/socialist path of destruction. Although the difference is more in name then actual reality, a small dissimilarity will soon be visible for anyone paying attention.

Looking over how market behavior over the past months and how Evil Inc. (Goldman Sachs) and others seem to move equities and investments around it would surprised me if we already this autumn will see market crashes and new wars, but I think that The Powers That Be still have one or two more tricks left and I also believe they will continue/increase the speed of the printing press to postpone the unavoidable. With that in mind I believe in a "market correction" before or after the summer of 2015, then a horrific xmas and entering 2016 anything goes...  (remember the banks extra cash mentioned above? They will come in here, and then you can start counting down...)

In general 2014 will be a “normal” year, but this year will decide much of our faith and, even more important; from this point on things will start to deteriorate faster simply because there are no cures or remedies left. Our malevolent masters can still print more; they can still come up with more scams to cover previous ones; they can still take us to war or come up with other distractions (terrorism, war, refugees to hate, other countries to go to war with), but at the end of the day it cannot be postponed any longer – the era of The Greatest Depression is upon us.

With that said I hope you enjoy what I believe to be the last year of so-so normality. Perhaps the year 2015 can be decently ordinary, but there it definitely ends.

I have repeatedly told you readers to stock up on dried-up food packages, coffee, sugar, batteries and such to be ready for what to come, and I will continue to do so until time is up, but you really should start now. If you do not have an emergency or escape plan, please start working on it now. Even if I am totally wrong it does not hurt to talk about or plan for the worst because there might be a terrorist attack or a natural disaster so having reserve rations and a few ideas about what to do if a catastrophe happen is a good idea.  

Have a great 2014 everyone!