How I Got Here...

My intellectual development

Welcome back!

Before we get into my actual opinions and philosophy and commentary on current and future events, it might be worthwhile considering how I got here, intellectually speaking.

I started becoming interested in figuring out the world probably about the same time everyone does – in my teens. I was introduced by a high school classmate to Ayn Rand’s book, “The Fountainhead.” The emphasis on freedom and rationality which was the hallmark of Rand resonated with me. I became a fairly “orthodox” Objectivist.

I dropped out of high school, worked a couple odd jobs, then joined the U.S. Army – primarily to avoid the draft, because during the Vietnam war – the period we’re talking about – if you were drafted, you were infantry – and I wasn’t that stupid. I knew even then that infantry was little more than “cannon fodder”, and I believed the Army’s lie that you could select the MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) if you enlisted. I hoped to select Intelligence, as I, influenced by the late 1960’s spy movies and television shows, thought that would be more interesting.

Of course, as indicated the Army lied. Not having graduated high school, Intelligence was not allowed. So I selected Supply Clerk, figuring at least I would be stationed at a headquarters and have access to anything I might need. After going through Basic Training and Advanced Training as a Supply Clerk, I was posted to Vietnam. Upon arrival, I was informed the Army had more than enough supply clerks and I would be assigned to a petroleum unit at Cam Ranh Bay. While in my first formation at the unit, the First Sergeant asked, “Who can type?” Since I had typing class – at which I did poorly – I got my hand up marginally faster than anyone else, and thus got the job of being the assistant to the Company Clerk in the company office.

After nine months in that position, I was assigned to a petroleum unit about a hundred miles north at Vung Ro Bay, sixteen miles south of Tuy Hua. The petroleum detachment was a small unit that was billeted with the transportation battalion that operated a cargo pier at Vung Ro. The petroleum detachment operated a pump station on the beach that pumped various fuels from Shell Oil tankers which anchored in the bay.

During those three months assigned there, I experienced my first and only “combat” action when the transportation battalion was attacked in June, 1968. I was however not directly involved in the firefight, spending most of the time guarding the pump station with my detachment. I do consider the evening the most interesting of my time in the Army. The rest of my Army career was either boring, distasteful, or enraging. A military career is, frankly, for people with limited intelligence and a distorted view of how life should be lived. Note that I don’t denigrate “warriors”, which is an entirely different kettle of fish – something we might discuss in future posts.

Subsequently I was reassigned to the Army Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Alabama where I was a clerk in the Judge Advocate General’s office handling personnel files of absent without leave (AWOL) personnel and deserters – of whom, during the Vietnam war, there were many.

During my time in the Army, I got to see how a regimented society works, and how government works, and how war works. This was, needless to say, an eye opener. My attachment to the Objectivist notion of “limited government” was both reinforced and degraded. My dislike for how people in this society worked started here, although I had plenty of negative experiences even before that in grammar school and high school.

Subsequent to the military period, I worked as a security guard, which gave me plenty of time to read and try to figure out what I wanted to do and what everything meant. Learning more about the “libertarian” movement of which Objectivism was a big part, I came across a publication called “The Libertarian Connection”. This was essentially a “fanzine” produced by a couple of life extension scientists named Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, with contributions from the readers (including myself eventually.) In this journal I was introduced to the idea of “anarchism”, specifically the version called “free market anarchism” – which is distinguished from the usually more numerous “left anarchism” which usually adheres to some variant of socialism.

Most people especially in this country don’t comprehend the wide variety of anarchism that exists in history and in the world. There are left anarchists, right anarchists, individualist anarchists, chaos anarchists, and even “Christian anarchists” – they believe the state is bad but we should all serve God; they get mostly short shrift from the other anarchist factions, usually.

Since I was an Objectivist at the time and Objectivism is based on the notion of a “limited state” which still recognizes the (alleged) necessity of the state, I was forced to consider on which side of this issue I should come down on. I spent some time on this. I determined from my readings in Austrian Economic Theory that monopolies were generally bad and also unnecessary. Since the state is defined as an organization that has a “monopoly” on the use of violence over a given population, I reasoned that the state thus had no valid justification. So, based on my “free market” orientation, I came down on the side of “free market anarchism.” (By the way, “free market” in my usage means “no corporations.” We’ll get into that in the future.)

Being a “small l libertarian”, as opposed to the “big L” Libertarian Party, I recognized that my first contact with third political parties was a waste of time, as the Libertarian Party has never achieved more than a few percent of the vote in any election. But it became clear over time that anarchism was considered even less viable as means of social organization. I was always amused by the Libertarian Party’s view that anarchist members were bad for the Party because anarchism was considered a “fringe movement” – despite the fact that the Libertarian Party has always itself been considered a “fringe movement” – and still is.

My personal experiences in life since the military – periods of under-employment and unemployment – had left me further soured on the corporate world, society and human behavior. I got myself into college on the G.I. Bill, studying computer technology and business. I had always been interested in computers, as I saw them for the powerful tool they are. After two years in college, a combination of the government altering the payment schedule of G.I. benefits and the National Direct Student Loan kicking me off the program (claiming I’d been on it for two years when in fact I had only been on it for one) forced me to look for work before completing my education. This led directly to more unemployment, under-employment and generally crappy jobs.

During this period, I also came across writings and novels by people like Dr. Timothy Leary, William S. Burroughs, and Robert Anton Wilson. These people had a radically different view of how people worked, how society worked (or didn’t), and how things should work. I also encountered radical anarchists who were further on the “left” than my “right” anarchism, such as the Situationists.

From the perspective of “what is to be done” about society’s failings, I eventually began researching the history of guerrilla warfare, insurgency, and violent revolution, believing that only a violent overthrow of the state could change things. In the course of that research, I came across historical accounts of people like Nestor Makhno in Russia, the Paris Commune in France, and the Bonnot Gang in France which in turn introduced me to the concept of “individualist anarchism.” This is anarchism which extols the primacy of the freedom of the individual over society’s rules and social controls. Again, we’ll get into in more detail in future posts.

Eventually this led me to the premiere exponent of individualist anarchism, Max Stirner. Stirner was a contemporary of Marx and Engels in the Nineteenth Century who wrote a book whose title is usually translated as “The Ego and Its Own”. This text can be somewhat turgid going given the translation from Nineteenth Century German, but it argues effectively against the concepts of morality and the primacy of society.

Beyond all this reading, I spent many years composing my own more or less coherent philosophy which eventually ended up being a highly radical version of individualist anarchism, a variant which some authors such as Christopher S. Hyatt refer to as “extreme individualism.” Again, more details in future posts.

During this process of developing my own philosophy – and this has taken me decades – I came to various conclusions. One set of such I call “The Fourfold Truths” (which sounds sort of Buddhist, but actually isn’t):

1) Everything you think you know is “wrong”, i.e., factually incorrect. (There was a comedy troupe called “The Firesign Theater” back in the ‘70s that had an album by that title, which I always remembered.) This reflects on how much the bulk of the population has been brainwashed into believing wholesale concepts and “facts” of life and society and history which are simply incorrect.

2) Everything you believe in is “wrong”, i.e., factually incorrect. This pretty much takes care of most of what people believe about human nature, society, religion, the state, etc.

3) Everything you’re doing is “wrong”, i.e., objectively against your best interests. This is the inevitable result of 1) and 2) above.

4) If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to die sooner than you hope to – and probably sooner than you expect to. This is the result of a society – and indeed, civilization – where everything is being run by the first 3 truths. It’s very likely to end badly for most people, and possibly everyone. The growing threat of nuclear war between the US and China and/or the US and Russia is just one example. Depending on what you believe about “climate change”, that might also apply.

We’ll get into these various subjects and their application to society and especially your individual life in future posts. For now, the important takeaway is “The Fourfold Truths.” Because they really are probably ninety-eight percent true for probably ninety-eight percent of the human race. And that means they almost certainly apply to you and how you live your life.

Now, I don’t claim to be an expert on “living one’s life” – like so many of the “self-help” authors, as well as all the philosophers and academicians, and “social influencers” we see today on the Internet. My life has been mostly a disaster, I freely admit. However, it is precisely because of that disaster that I have what I feel is a unique take on life that you won’t find anywhere else but this blog.

The focus of this blog is not simply to rant about social and political issues. It’s about applying rational and radical principles to surviving what is increasingly looking like the “End Of The World As We Know It.” In other words, it’s sort of about “prepping” for an uncertain and unknown future. Since 2020 and the pandemic, it’s pretty clear that things aren’t going back to “normal” – whatever that was. There is a future coming and I think I have a decent handle on what it’s going to look like, at least in certain overall concept. We’ll get into that more in the future here.

For now, my intention is to produce more content along these lines of what it really takes to get through life. My schedule is uneven at this point, so content might not be on a steady schedule for a while. Nonetheless, I suggest you consider subscribing so you don’t miss future installments. As I said in my first post, I intend to take a hammer to your belief system. You really shouldn’t miss it.

For now, enjoy the holidays as much as possible during a new wave of Omicron coronavirus! And yes, wear your damn mask!