by Frederick Mann
Copyright © 1998 Build Freedom Holdings ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
[First Draft -- questions, comments, and suggestions are most welcome.]
PROJECT PEME-THEORY
"Language creates spooks that get into our heads and hypnotize us." -- Robert
Anton Wilson
"It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head." -- Sally Kempton
"The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." -- Steve Biko
The initial writings and debates on "peme-theory" can be found at '#TL075: Pemes = Political Memes' and '#TL076: The Twilight of the Phobocrats'. Since then I've made two major improvements: (1) Distinguishing between positive and negative pemes; (2) Subdividing peme-theory into three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced. [Editor (DTF's) note: see also #TL077: Peme Resource Directory]
My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has participated in the peme debate. Your contributions have played a major role in bringing about these improvements.
I've also come to the conclusion that a wide range of novels (fiction & science-fiction) is probably the best way for the positive pemes of peme-theory to spread, while vanquishing the negative pemes. A major advantage of this strategy is that we can be as radical as we like -- because it's fiction! (See "Peme Logistics & Spin-Offs" below.)
When you dump your "political ghosts" -- the negative pemes -- the enemy's "outposts in your head" -- and replace them with positive pemes, and you escape from the dictates of the "peme rules" (below), then you experience the kind of freedom Robert Ingersoll describes...
Ingersoll's Vow
When I became convinced that the Universe is natural -- that all the ghosts and gods are
myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, the sense,
the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell, the dungeon was
flooded with light, and all the bolts, and bars, and manacles became dust. I was no longer
a servant, a serf, or a slave. There was for me no master in all the wide world -- not
even in infinite space. I was free -- free to think, to express my thoughts -- free to
live to my own ideal -- free to live for myself and those I loved -- free to use all my
faculties, all my senses -- free to spread imagination's wings -- free to investigate, to
guess and dream and hope -- free to judge and determine for myself -- free to reject all
ignorant and cruel creeds, all the "inspired" books that savages have produced,
and all the barbarous legends of the past -- free from popes and priests -- free from all
the "called" and "set apart" -- free from sanctified mistakes and holy
lies -- free from the fear of eternal pain -- free from the winged monsters of the night
-- free from devils, ghosts, and gods. For the first time I was free. There were no
prohibited places in all the realms of thought -- no air, no space, where fancy could not
spread her painted wings -- no chains for my limbs -- no lashes for my back -- no fires
for my flesh -- no master's frown or threat -- no following another's steps -- no need to
bow, or cringe, or crawl, or utter lying words. I was free. I stood erect and fearlessly,
joyously, faced all worlds.
And then my heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and went out in love to all the heroes, the thinkers who gave their lives for the liberty of hand and brain -- for the freedom of labor and thought -- to those who fell in the fierce fields of war, to those who died in dungeons bound with chains -- to those who proudly mounted scaffold's stairs -- to those whose bones were crushed, whose flesh was scarred and torn -- to those by fire consumed -- to all the wise, the good, the brave of every land, whose thoughts and deeds have given freedom to the sons of men. And then I vowed to grasp the torch that they had held, and hold it high, that light might conquer darkness still.
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899)
Introduction to Meme-Theory
Douglas Hofstadter: "One of the most important new ideas of our times is that of
'memes' -- the vision of ideas as autonomous entities, leaping from brain to brain in much
the same way that viruses leap from body to body, spreading and replicating and
'infecting' the population of 'hosts.' This catchy metaphor has become increasingly
powerful and deep, and Aaron Lynch's book ['Thought Contagion'] is
in the vanguard of efforts to clarify it and make it vivid for lay audiences. The very
meme of 'memes' is thus taking hold and spreading through the human ideosphere, and it is
my hope that Thought Contagion will be a primary vector in this global epidemic.
Luckily for us potential hosts, it is both benign and fascinating."
According to Richard Brodie -- Virus of the Mind (http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm):
"The meme is the secret code of human behavior, a Rosetta Stone finally giving us the key to understanding religion, politics, psychology, and cultural evolution."
"Biological Definition of Meme (from Dawkins): The 'meme' is the basic unit of cultural transmission, or imitation."
"Psychological Definition of Meme (from Plotkin): A 'meme' is the unit of cultural heredity analogous to the gene. It is the internal representation of knowledge."
"From a gene's point of view, a human being is just a way of making more genes."
"[Working] Definition of Meme: A 'meme' is a unit of information in a mind such that more copies of itself get created in other minds."
"A meme is a replicator that uses the medium of our minds to replicate. Meme evolution happens because our minds are good at copying and innovating -- ideas, behaviors, tunes, shapes, structures, and so on."
"The most interesting thing about memes is not whether they're true or false; it's that they are the building-blocks of your mind."
"Memes can and do run your life, probably to a far greater degree than you realize."
"Cognitive Definition of Meme (from Dennett): A 'meme' is an idea, the kind of complex idea that forms itself into a distinct memorable unit. It is spread by 'vehicles' that are physical manifestations of the meme."
"A virus of the mind is something out in the world that infects people with memes. Those memes, in turn, influence the infected people's behavior so that they help perpetuate and spread the virus."
According to Aaron Lynch (Thought Contagion): "Memetics [the science of memes] represents... a paradigm shift. In a nutshell, it takes the much explored question of how people acquire ideas and turns it on its head: the new approach often asks how ideas acquire people." [emphasis added]
Introduction to Peme-Theory
Pemes = Political Memes.
I distinguish a subset of memes: political memes or pemes. Pemes influence political behavior. If memes are the secret to understanding behavior, pemes are the secret to understanding political behavior.
My idea is the creation of a wide range of novels (science-fiction & "regular") that serve as vehicles or mind-viruses to neutralize negative pemes and to spread positive pemes.
Broadly, I regard libertarian pemes as positive and anti-libertarian pemes as negative.
I classify pemes along two dimensions:
(1) Positive - neutral - negative;
(2) Surface - middle - deep. (The "neutral" designation may be unnecessary.)
BASIC PEME-THEORY
Positive surface pemes are those practically all libertarians agree with, i.e., these
pemes have acquired most libertarians. These pemes also have the potential to acquire many
members of the general population. "Freedom of speech" is a positive surface
peme.
I propose that the novels be written on three levels:
(1) Basic peme-theory;
(2) Intermediate peme-theory;
(3) Advanced peme-theory.
The purpose of a basic peme-novel (level 1) is to serve as a vehicle or mind-virus for a relatively few, simple libertarian surface pemes to acquire members of the general population.
I propose these basic pemes:
(1) Respect others and their property;
(2) Freedom of speech;
(3) Freedom of association;
(4) Private property is good;
(5) Voluntary exchange;
(6) Keep agreements;
(7) Government doesn't always work;
(8) You can't always trust government;
(9) Cut the size of government;
(10) Self-government works better;
(11) Reduce taxes;
(12) Free enterprise (with some government control) is good;
(13) Government must do certain things;
(14) Profit is good.
(This is a gradualist approach, spreading some pemes I know to be flawed, because I anticipate that these pemes will acquire more people than purer pemes.)
The basic extropian principles can also be introduced:
(1) Boundless Expansion;
(2) Self-Transformation;
(3) Dynamic Optimism;
(4) Intelligent Technology;
(5) Spontaneous Order.
See the above website for more details. (They shouldn't be emphasized too much in the basic level, because they belong more properly in the intermediate level.)
Basic peme-novels should hook people on peme theory, without containing anything too radical that might repel them.
Some pemes/issues can be handled by both sides being argued without a conclusion or resolution being reached. The reader then identifies with the side he likes, without being repelled by the other.
Bicameral Model of the Mind
See chapter 5 of Wake Up America. I postulate three broad
stages of mental evolution/development:
(1) Unconscious -- obedience is paramount;
(2) Proto-conscious -- "I'm right; you're wrong" is paramount;
(3) Conscious -- producing results is paramount.
See also: Neo-Tech: Zonpower: Chapter 28: Infinite Power from Conscious Dynamics and http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0395563526/4814-9977617-707606
Many humans, probably the majority, operate mostly in stages 1 and 2. The first two stages are also characterized by a strong need for "external authorities," particularly God and Government.
"Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty; the obedient must be slaves." -- Henry David Thoreau
See also http://www.mind-trek.com/reports/misc/obedienc.htm and http://www.mind-trek.com/treatise/hdt-cd.htm.
Some basic peme-novels should push the "obedience is good" peme heavily -- in exaggerated fashion. There should also be many "I'm right; you're wrong" arguments -- without resolution.
Negative surface pemes such as "mandate from the people," "the public interest," etc. should be challenged.
Political action and educating others to expand liberty belong in the basic level.
According to Richard Brodie (Virus of the Mind): "The deep thoughts we think and the elegant intellectual models we build are all kluged on top of these advanced survival and mating functions of the brain, which in turn are kluged on top of the primitive survival and mating functions -- fear, anger, hunger, and lust."
All peme-novels should stimulate the fear, anger, hunger (scarcity), and lust "buttons."
In addition to the Brodie and Lynch books mentioned above, peme authors should be familiar with Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini -- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0688128165/001-3706740-2881844.
Peme authors should also be familiar with most of the Build Freedom materials.
There should be hints about mysterious "Deep Anarchists," hidden "Deep Pemes," and secret "Peme Rules" that will be discovered in future peme-novels.
INTERMEDIATE PEME-THEORY
The intermediate level (level 2) is where the freedom lover shifts from political action
and educating others about freedom (indirect action) to living free (direct
action).
This is the domain of personal power memes and positive middle pemes such as:
(1) I can beat the system;
(2) The basic extropian principles;
(3) Increase your personal power;
(4) Superhealth and life-extension;
(5) Convert your knowledge of freedom into personal advantages;
(6) Government is evil;
(7) Tax is theft and evil;
(8) Overcome your fear of "the system";
(9) Seize your freedom;
(10) Freedom technology: the practical means to live free in an unfree world;
(11) Legally and elegantly exit "the system";
(12) Create alternative entities to compartmentalize your life;
(13) Become a "perpetual tourist";
(14) Use trusts and offshore entities;
(15) Government "weak spot" analysis: obedience, tax system, money system;
(16) "Build freedom" (rather than "fight against tyranny" and "fight for freedom");
(17) The economic means to freedom;
(18) Create "underground" businesses;
(19) Create alternative money and banking systems;
(20) Outflank the phobocrats and terrocrats (coercive political agents or terrorist bureaucrats);
(21) Practice freedom for fun and profit!
Freedom lovers operating only on level 1, tend to see "the system" as a huge obstacle to freedom -- they can only be free if "the system" is drastically changed. Freedom lovers operating at level 2, tend to see "the system" as far less of an obstacle, because they understand it better and they develop the means to beat it.
In fact, people who live free tend to stop thinking of having to beat "the system." In reality, you interact with specific individual human beings. You think in terms of avoiding these individuals or preventing them from interfering with your life.
[The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth has probably influenced thousands of people to successfully utilize a certain method he describes briefly.]
The purpose of an intermediate peme-novel (level 2) is to serve as a vehicle or mind-virus for personal power memes and positive middle pemes to acquire people who have already been acquired by positive basic freedom pemes.
Intermediate peme-novels should appeal to readers of basic peme-novels who want to further their political development, libertarian types who've become disillusioned with political action and trying to educate others, and libertarian types who already live free or want to learn how to do so.
Readers should become aware of the futility of endless "I'm right; you're wrong" arguments.
Living as a Free Sovereign Individual
Much of the material at Build Freedom
is relevant to intermediate peme-theory. See also http://www.wepin.com,
http://www.mind-trek.com, and http://www.livefree.com.
Harry Browne's How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World exemplifies level 2. You learn what I call "Freedom Technology": The practical knowledge, methods, and skills to live free; the street-smart know-how to outwit bureaucrats and their agents, running rings around them; etc. Browne's How I Found Freedom is available from http://www.bookzone.com/bookzone/10001105.html. See also '#FFP05: Harry Browne's Freedom Principles'.
We can make a distinction between "indirect action" and "direct action" to increase freedom. Political liberation activities aim at "changing the system." In order to do so, "opinion leaders" and large numbers of people have to be influenced and educated. This requires activities by activists that cost effort, time, and money and are expected to yield long-term benefits. Many "indirect-action activists" become disillusioned after many years of work yielding meager results at best.
Direct action involves actions you take to change your personal situation so that you quickly gain the benefits of greater freedom. Suppose, for example you earn $50,000 per year and pay $15,000 in taxes, giving a net of $35,000. Suppose you can find a legal and relatively safe way to exit the tax system. You effectively raise your earnings from $35,000 to $50,000 -- a 42% increase.
If it's not appropriate to completely exit the tax system, you may be able to compartmentalize your affairs, with some in the system and some outside. There are many ways to increase your freedom from the tax system -- and you can enjoy the results quickly or immediately.
The Internet increases the scope for working and operating businesses "outside the system." See also http://www.livefree.com.
Of course, you don't have to make an either-or decision between direct and indirect action -- you can practice both.
A theory underlying direct action is that the power of the tyrant depends on the support of the victims. See '#TL06: Discourse on Voluntary Servitude'. Support comes in the forms of obedience, paying taxes to the tyrant, and using the tyrant's money and/or banking systems. If a critical number of victims withdraw their support, the tyrant's power collapses.
In addition to (often unrealistic) fear, the "Stockholm Syndrome" probably has a great deal to do with why so many freedom lovers identify with and support their oppressors -- see '#TL076: The Twilight of the Phobocrats'.
According to Andre Bacard (Hunger for Power: Who Rules the World and How -- http://www.well.com/user/abacard/):
"It is hard to overstate how deeply many followers conform to their leaders. The passion to obey is every bit as intense as the hunger to command. When Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin died, millions of Russians rushed into the streets and cried. Persons whose families had been sent to Siberian labor camps mourned the mass murderer who fomented their nightmares. These rank-and-file citizens deluded themselves that Stalin was innocent of all wrongdoing, that his orders were misinterpreted by zealous subordinates (like themselves)...
In 1838, according to Jean Paulhan, Barbados island stages a strange revolt. About two hundred slaves had recently been emancipated by the Proclamations of March. These freed citizens begged their former master, Glenelg, to return them to bondage. An Anabaptist minister, the spokesman for the group, read aloud a list of grievances. Glenelg, either because he was scrupulous or because he feared government officials, refused to be swayed. Consequently, the former slaves massacred him and his family. The Russian and Barbados followers could face a known, though terrible, leader easier than they could confront an unknown, leaderless life."
"Psychological reversal" -- sometimes manifesting as doing the opposite of what you need to do to produce the results you want -- should be addressed. See '#TL13F: The Millionaire's Secret (VI)' and '#TL13G: The Millionaire's Secret (VII)'.
Certain institutions make it easier for individuals to partially or completely "exit the system" -- e.g., the Internet. So do some alternative money and banking systems (more on this below).
The creation of such real free-enterprise institutions depends on the availability of competent freedom lovers who have greatly increased their personal power. Maybe the peme-novels will help develop and bring them "out of the woodwork."
Personal Financial Freedom
The single most important element of intermediate peme-theory (level 2 freedom), making it
realistic to live and operate as a sovereign individual, is financial freedom. For some
suggestions on how to achieve personal financial freedom "outside the system,"
see 'Economic Means to Freedom'.
Language (Memes & Pemes) and Freedom
At the intermediate level, the obedience peme should be questioned, challenged, and
attacked remorselessly. To increase your personal power and freedom, you have to learn to
creatively disobey "the system."
The negative middle peme, "power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely," should be exposed and destroyed. "Weakness corrupts and absolute weakness corrupts absolutely."
"Toxic memes" should be addressed, as well as some aspects of "Slavespeak" -- see '#TL07A: The Anatomy of Slavespeak'.
Slavespeak consists of two major divisions: personal Slavespeak and political Slavespeak. Personal Slavespeak consists of toxic memes such as: "I can never win," "She made me angry," "Nobody will ever love me," etc. They're often self-fulfilling prophecies. Toxic memes tend to have a debilitating effect on personal power. Slavespeak could have a cumulative effect that breaks you down over the years -- see article on "initials" below and section on "Dinging and Dedinging".
Political Slavespeak consists of negative surface-, middle-, and deep pemes. Examples of negative middle pemes: "You've got to pay your taxes, or go to jail," "You must obey the law," "You can't win against City Hall."
At the intermediate level, negative surface- and middle pemes should be addressed, while deep pemes should not be questioned. All deep-peme Slavespeak terms such as constitution, government, state, country, nation, law, president, emperor, prime minister, king, queen, governor, judge, authority, etc. should not be challenged and should be used as if valid.
General Semantics should be addressed at this level. It may be useful to read The Players of Null-A (also published as The Pawns of Null-A), The World of Null-A, and Null-A Three by A.E. Van Vogt. See also:
E-Prime (standard English minus all forms of the verb "to be") should also be addressed:
The negative middle peme "society" (for some it seems to be surface and for others deep) should be challenged -- see '#TL075: Pemes = Political Memes'.
At this level, readers should become profoundly aware of the influence of language -- memes and pemes -- on perception, thought, and behavior.
The following article recently appeared under the headline: "STUDY FINDS INITIALS COULD INFLUENCE WHEN PEOPLE R.I.P."
Associated Press
"The argument is that there's some psychological symbolic factor that can exert its impact cumulatively over the years." -- Nicholas Christenfeld, Psychologist
NEW ORLEANS - Maybe names really will hurt you. People with initials such as ACE or GOD are likely to live longer than those whose names spell out words like APE, DUD, RAT or PIG, a study suggests.
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of California at San Diego, looked at 27 years' worth of California death certificates.
People with monograms such as JOY or WOW had a better chance of living longer -- and were less likely to commit suicide or die in an accident -- than those with neutral or meaningless initials such as JAY or WLW, or those named, say, BUM or UGH, said psychologist Nicholas Christenfeld.
He presented his findings Friday at a meeting in New Orleans of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
"The argument is that there's some psychological symbolic factor that can exert its impact cumulatively over the years. You get teased at school, wonder what your parents thought of you -- maybe fate is out to get you -- but at every stage it's a little tiny depressant to be called PIG, or a little tiny boost to your esteem to be called ACE or WOW," he said in an interview. "All we can do is look at the final outcome."
The findings do seem to support the idea that liking your name and liking yourself may be linked, and that parents should be sensitive when naming children, said Penelope Wasson Dralle, a professor in LSU Medical Center's psychiatry department.
"If people tend to look at your name and look up at you and laugh, you're sort of at a disadvantage," she said. But, she warned, the study "really doesn't glve us any cause and effects."
The study looked at the 5 million or so people who died in California from 1969 through 1997.
Concentrating on men because marriage generally doesn't change their initials, the researchers found 2,287 men with initials that were deemed plainly negative, such as ILL or DED. An additional 1,200 spelled or came close to words considered indisputably positive: WIN and VIP, for example. The researchers found 11 "good" sets of initials, and 19 "bad" ones.
"Neutral" words and those that had both bad and good meanings were tossed from the list. So DAM and WET didn't make it. Nor did RAY and SUN.
All in all, men with WINning initials lived 4.48 years longer than a control group of people with neutral or ambiguous monograms, while DUDs, ASSes and such died an average of 2.8 years earlier than a control group.
The researchers did not compare the good and bad groups directly, instead comparing each to separate control groups.
Six suicides were reported among the 1,200 men in the good group, vs. 79 among the 2,287 men in the bad group. That works out to half a percent vs. 3.5 percent. There were 31 accidental deaths -- 2.5 percent -- in the good group vs. 138, or 6 percent, in the bad group.
"The notion being that accidents aren't really accidents -- whether deliberate or not, if you think less of yourself, you may be more likely to drive your car into a bridge abutment," Christenfeld said.
Dinging and Dedinging
A few years ago I heard of businessman Kingsley Wimbush who operated a company in California. He and his personnel apparently became phenomenally successful, partly because of his recognition of "dinging." Many of us, most days, experience all kinds of little disappointments, verbal putdowns, negative self-talk, and the general negative effects of Slavespeak. These negative incidents constitute dinging. I suspect that some people allow themselves to be gradually "dragged down" by dinging in a cumulative manner.
The cumulative allowing yourself to be "dragged down" can manifest as "burnout." It tends to be particularly noticeable among those salespeople who by the nature of their occupations have to deal with many more rejections than successful sales. (Newsell by Dr. Michael Hewitt-Gleeson also contains some important information on this topic -- see http://www.sot.com.au.)
"Dedinging" is a procedure whereby, every day, we recover from all that day's dinging incidents. I haven't yet come across the details of the dedinging procedure. I suspect it's one of the greatest "increasers of personal power." We need to track it down or redevelop it.
DINGING IS LIKE A VERBAL SLAP IN THE FACE!
-- SOMETIMES BY AN INVISIBLE HAND!
See #TL12A: DINGING AND DEDINGING -- SUBTLE SUPPRESSION -- SELF-SABOTAGE.
Alternative Money, Currency, and Banking
The power of the tyrant depends to a considerable degree on victims using his money and/or banking systems. In addition to obedience and financing through taxes, the money/banking system is a "weak spot" of the tyrant -- an area where he's most vulnerable.
So the creation of alternative money and banking systems, and persuading many people to use them, is an important freedom weapon.
For an alternative money system proposal, see 'The Economic Means To Freedom - Part V'. E.C. Riegel has written an important book, The Surprise Weapon: PRIVATE ENTERPRISE MONEY - A Non-Political Money System, the text of which is available at http://www.mind-trek.com/treatise/ecr-pem/index.htm.
Hundreds of "LetSystems" ("Local Exchange and Trading Systems") operate in various parts of the world -- see http://www.gmlets.u-net.com.
Based on combining the best ideas and principles of what has already been created -- including the business exchanges utilizing "barter currencies" and (mistakenly) called "barter clubs" -- viable systems need to be created that don't kowtow to tyrants and don't support them.
Intermediate peme-novels could introduce readers to such alternatives, increase understanding of them, popularize them, and bring competent creators of alternative money/banking systems "out of the woodwork."
PEME LOGISTICS & SPIN-OFFS
In progress -- will be completed soon.
ADVANCED PEME-THEORY
The advanced level (level 3) is where the freedom lover becomes a Deep Anarchist by
"incorporating" certain powerful personal memes and positive deep pemes, while
clearing from his or her mind certain powerful negative deep pemes. The Deep Anarchist
also transcends the "peme rules" (see below).
The purpose of an advanced peme-novel (level 3) is to serve as a vehicle or mind-virus for personal power memes and positive deep pemes to acquire people who have already been acquired by positive basic and middle pemes -- and (paraphrasing from Gurdjieff's "First Series": Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson) to destroy, mercilessly, without any compromises whatever, in the mentation and feelings of the reader, the beliefs and views, by centuries rooted in him, about everything political in the world.
Powerful personal memes:
(1) I am free and sovereign by nature;
(2) I have power of choice -- one of the most awesome powers in the universe;
(3) I focus on producing results;
(4) I shift my focus from "fixing what's wrong" to "building on what's right";
(5) I organize my life and affairs so the path of least resistance automatically leads to the results I want;
(6) I can always find better ways to view current situations, improve my thinking, communication, and behavior in respect of them, and find superior ways to bring about a more positive future;
(7) I learn to engage and utilize the minds of others as potent freedom weapons.
(1) Free and sovereign by nature
In 1973, I read Harry Browne's How I Found Freedom... Around 1983, having lived
free for many years, one day I suddenly discovered I was free. It was a gut- level
visceral and emotional experience. I literally jumped with joy. It changed my perspective
of both myself and the world considerably.
(2) Power of choice
Many people seem to live their lives as if they have few choices -- as if their
"career," "job," "home," "marriage,"
"poverty"/"wealth," "health," "location,"
"political system," etc. predetermine much of their future. In addition, their
heads may be riddled with toxic memes and negative pemes. They don't realize that they
effectively chose practically everything they have -- life is something that happens to them. So they lose sight of their power of choice -- one of the most awesome
powers in the universe.
(3) Producing results
See "Wake Up America - Chapter 5.
(4) Shifting from "fixing what's wrong" to "building on what's
right"
See http://www.cpmpublishing.com. (I still
have a lot of work to do in this area.)
(5) Path of least resistance
See '#TL13A: The Millionaire's Secret (I)'. Robert
Fritz's principle of organizing your life and affairs so the path of least resistance
automatically leads to the results you want is the single most valuable positive meme I've attempted to implement.
(6) Better ways...
Dr. Michael Hewitt-Gleeson's Software for the Brain contains some
powerful formulas for continually reprogramming your brain. He also provides a superb
'Brain Freebie' course -- see http://www.sot.com.au/.
(7) Utilizing the minds of others as potent freedom weapons
Svein Olav G. Nyberg <solan@MATHS.ED.AC.UK>: "The most potent weapon of the
oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." -- Steve Biko "But cannot also the mind of the oppressor be a potent weapon in the hands of the oppressed? Indeed, cannot anyone's mind be a potent weapon in our hands if we know how to wield it?" See '#TL075: Pemes = Political Memes'.
Clearing Negative Deep Pemes
(8) The entire "political system" is a hoax, a fraud, and a sham. The
falsely-called "constitution" has never been agreed to, adopted, or signed by
anyone in any manner that would make it legal or valid -- '#TL07: The Constitution of No Authority'. The same applies to all other pretended
"countries" of the world. All the phobocrats pretending to be
"president," "king," "queen," "prime minister,"
etc. are impostors and liars.
(9) The notion that some of the noises and scribbles of the imposters and liars who masquerade as "king," "queen," "president," "prime minister," etc. -- the notion that these noises and scribbles constitute "the law" is an absurd hoax, fraud, and sham.
(10) At the deepest level, the power of tyrants depends on the concealment of the above
hoaxes by the use, reinforcement, and spreading of certain negative deep pemes:
"constitution," "government," "state," "country,"
"nation," "law," "president," "emperor,"
"prime minister," "king," "queen,"
"representative," "senator," "governor," "judge,"
"authority," etc.
Deep anarchists operating on level 3, tend to see "the system" as a total hoax, fraud, and sham -- a nothing. (Nevertheless, because of all those with negative deep pemes in their heads, telling them "the system" is real, you always have to watch out for individual "masters" with guns.)
From John Pugsley's Journal, Private Conversations with the Money Masters
(edited)
...People cordon off a piece of land and arbitrarily announce that it is henceforth a
"sovereign nation." Ruffians and schemers soon grab the posts of so-called
"government," and by the power they vest in themselves set about plundering the
individuals who live there. This has been going on for thousands of years, until today the
entire earth (other than a portion of the oceans) is divided among different gangs, who
wear pinstripe suits, and run their plunder under the flag of so-called
"governments."
According to Richard Brodie: 'Virus of the Mind' --
<http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm> (edited)
"The universe is full of stuff. However, anything we say about that stuff is purely a
concept -- a set of memes -- invented by human beings. All concepts are composed of memes.
For instance, the supposed "United States" are only so-called "States"
because we have invented 50 distinctions -- pemes -- carving out that
"territory." "Alabama" (so-called) isn't a reality, it just appears to
be there because we say so, because we are programmed with an "Alabama" peme. If
we didn't have an "Alabama" peme, that land would just be more dirt."
Definitions and Questions to Identify Negative Pemes
Negative pemes consist of ideas, concepts, phrases, and terms, the use, acceptance, and
spreading of which increases the power of the "masters" who operate coercive
political systems; while their use, acceptance, and spreading reduces the power of the
"subjects" of coercive political systems.
There are negative surface pemes, middle pemes, and deep pemes. Negative surface pemes are relatively easy to identify and invalidate. An example of a negative surface peme is "mandate from the people." This is used by politicians and bureaucrats to "justify" their coercive actions. It increases their power. "Subjects" who accept the "mandate from the people" peme, effectively reduce their own power because they implicitly "authorize" politicians and bureaucrats to take coercive actions against "subjects."
An example of a negative middle peme: "You've got to pay your taxes, or go to jail." "License" as in "driver's license" is a negative middle peme. "Passport" is a negative middle peme. "Borders" as in so-called "borders" between pretended "countries" is probably a negative deep peme.
Negative deep pemes are much more difficult to identify as such and invalidate. Negative deep pemes are generally accepted as valid by practically all people, including most freedom lovers. If you try to question, attack, or invalidate a negative deep peme, most people will think you're crazy.
Two questions may help you identify negative pemes:
(1) Which words/concepts -- if I accept and use them the way most people habitually do --
place me at a disadvantage in relation to the political "masters?" (Which words
tend to increase the power of politicians and bureaucrats, while reducing the power of
their victims?)
(2) Which words, if the political "masters" didn't have them nor any equivalents
for them, would dramatically reduce the power of politicians and bureaucrats?
The Peme Conflict Principle
If people argue endlessly about words such as "society," "property,"
etc. -- particularly if acrimoniously -- then either these words are negative deep pemes
for them, or negative deep pemes are associated with them. In the case of
"property," some people seem to have a negative deep peme called
"scarcity/property/fight" or "hunger/property/fight" -- see '#TL076: Twilight of the Phobocrats'.
| "Man in the street" | - | "The Emperor is wonderful!" |
| Violent anarchist | - | "Kill the Emperor!" |
| Typical libertarian | - | "The Emperor has no clothes!" |
| Deep anarchist | - | "Why do you hallucinate an ordinary naked man as "Emperor" (so-called)?" |
| Egoist (Svein Olav G. Nyberg <solan@MATHS.ED.AC.UK>) | - | "It was I who nicked his clothes." |
The Granfalloon Argument
In Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut coined the word "granfalloon" to describe
abstract concepts like "nation," "state," "country,"
"government," "IBM," "society," etc. He wrote: "To
discover the substance of a granfalloon, just prick a hole in a toy balloon." In his
book The Incredible Secret Money Machine Don Lancaster explains: "A
granfalloon is any large bureaucratic figment of people's imagination. For
instance, there's really no such thing as the Feds or the General Veeblefeltzer
Corporation. There are a bunch of people out there that relate to each other, and there's
some structures, and some paper... All these people, structures, and paper are real. But
nowhere can you point to the larger concept of "government" or
"corporation" and say, "There it is, kiddies!" The monolithic, big
"they" is all in your mind." [emphasis added]
A granfalloon is the lumping together of many diverse elements into an abstract collection, and to then think and speak as if the abstract collection is one single entity capable of performing actions. This phenomenon leads people to say absurd things such as, "The government runs the country."
Bentham's "Emptiness Test" in a Nutshell
Jeremy Bentham described what I call the Emptiness Test in Bentham's Theory of
Fictions by C.K. Ogden: "Look to the letter, you find nonsense -- look beyond
the letter, you find nothing."
The "Construction of Systematic Thought"
According to Robert Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:
"But to tear down a factory or to revolt against a government or to avoid repairs of
a motorcycle because it is a system is to attack effects rather than causes; and as long
as the attack is upon effects only, no change is possible. The true system, the real
system, is our present construction of systematic thought itself, rationality
itself. And if a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left
standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory. If a revolution
destroys a systematic government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced
that government are left intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves in the
succeeding government..." [emphasis added]
What if the basic "construction of systematic thought," the basic "rationality," for most people consists of negative pemes plus the peme rules (below)? If so, then in order to induce people to change the most fundamental beliefs that really count, might it not be necessary that we persuade them to dump their negative pemes and stop obeying the peme rules?
These issues are dealt with comprehensively in '#TL07A: The Anatomy of Slavespeak'.
Let me emphasize the Wilson, Kempton, and Biko quotes:
"Language creates spooks that get into our heads and hypnotize us." -- Robert Anton Wilson
"It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head." -- Sally Kempton
"The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." -- Steve Biko
The most powerful negative pemes are negative deep pemes such as "constitution," "government," "state," "country," "president," "law," etc. They are the enemy's most powerful weapons, the most hypnotic "spooks," the most potent "outposts in your head."
As long as these negative deep pemes remain unquestioned and unchallenged in your mind, and you continue to spread them in accordance with the peme rules, your mind continues to serve as "the most potent weapon of the oppressor."
Peme Rules (revised)
1. Peme survival and propagation is the ultimate imperative.
2. Pemes shall infect, pervade, and absolutely rule all human brains.
3. Pemes shall speak through the mouths and write through the pens and keyboards of humans at every opportunity.
4. There shall be surface pemes, middle pemes, and deep pemes; pemes shall be positive, neutral, or negative.
5. Pemes shall divide humans into opposing and conflicting political and economic factions -- such as "conservative"/"liberal," "capitalist"/ "socialist," and "statist"/"anarchist" -- who shall endlessly argue, fight, and even kill... in the name of pemes.
6. All humans shall be subjected to "compulsory education" (a negative surface peme) to ensure that their brains are thoroughly implanted with surface, middle, and deep pemes -- positive, neutral, or negative.
7. Negative surface pemes shall induce mild soporific, stupefying, and debilitating effects in human brains.
8. Negative middle pemes shall induce medium soporific, stupefying, and debilitating effects in human brains.
9. Negative deep pemes shall induce severe soporific, stupefying, and debilitating effects in human brains.
10. Some humans shall attack and even expose certain negative surface and middle pemes -- such as "national security," "public interest," "gun control," "society," "license," etc. -- while others shall justify and defend these pemes.
11. Under no circumstances shall any human be allowed to question, attack, or expose any negative deep pemes.
12. Any humans who have cleared a few negative surface and middle pemes from their brains shall deceive themselves into believing that they've cleared all negative pemes from their brains and that they're "politically enlightened."
13. Any humans who attempt to clear any negative deep pemes from their brains shall experience a strong and compelling inner voice telling them, "I've got to stop this or I'll go crazy!"
14. Any human who attempts to question, attack, or expose any negative deep peme shall be ignored, ridiculed, or vilified by other humans.
15. Pemes shall further divide humans into a political "master" class and a "citizen subject" class. The former shall rule the latter.
16. "Citizen subjects" shall pay "their taxes" (a negative surface peme) to their political "masters" -- to maximize the survival potential of the primary negative peme purveyors.
17. Negative surface pemes (to a small extent), negative middle pemes (to a greater extent), and negative deep pemes (to an extreme extent) shall increase the power of the political "master" class.
18. Negative surface pemes (to a small extent), negative middle pemes (to a greater extent), and negative deep pemes (to an extreme extent) shall reduce the power of the "citizen subject" class.
19. Pemes shall also divide humans into pro-freedom faction and anti-freedom factions.
20. Whenever anti-freedom humans (primary negative peme purveyors) communicate, they shall make a special effort to use negative surface, middle, and deep pemes in their language -- in order to maximize negative peme survival and propagation.
21. Whenever pro-freedom humans (secondary negative peme purveyors) communicate -- although they may question, attack, and expose a few negative surface and middle pemes -- they shall make a special effort to use negative deep pemes in their language -- in order to maximize negative peme survival and propagation.
22. At the deepest level, negative pemes shall operate through a special class of humans called "lawyers" as the most powerful negative peme purveyors of all.
23. At a broader level, negative pemes shall operate through "preachers," "politicians," "bureaucrats," "teachers," etc. as primary negative peme purveyors.
24. A special class of humans called "police" shall -- using violence if necessary -- protect some humans and attack or punish others, as directed by pemes (such as "justice," "law and order," etc.) in the brains of "lawyers" (sometimes called "judges"), "politicians," "bureaucrats," etc.
25. At a planetary level, negative deep pemes shall divide humans into sometimes opposing and conflicting "countries" and "nations."
26. Under the direction of "politicians," a special kind of human called "soldiers" shall attack and kill, not only humans in opposing or conflicting "countries" and "nations," but sometimes also humans from their own "country" or "nation."
27. When activated by thought or communication, negative pemes shall induce in humans emotions and attitudes which shall include fear, blind obedience, idolatrous worship, resistance, resentment, rebelliousness, anger, hate, revenge, the urge to kill, etc.
28. In general, negative pemes shall direct humans to engage in all kinds of plots, conspiracies, betrayals, vicious infighting, dramatic legal battles, scandals, rebellions, revolutions, wars, etc. -- in order to create spectacles that keep human brains occupied, entertained, and/or traumatized, and to divert their attention from discovering negative pemes, particularly negative deep pemes.
29. No human shall be allowed to understand these peme rules -- in order to maximize negative peme survival and propagation.
30. All humans shall ignore, ridicule, or vilify anyone who attempts to communicate these peme rules -- in order to maximize negative peme survival and propagation.
THE DESTROY-THEIR-HABITAT STRATEGY
At 10:49 PM 4/2/98, Martin Lindstedt <mlindste@clandjop.com> wrote (edited): > >Every regime rewards its regime criminals with special >privileges. The modern methodology, as opposed to the >days of god-kings and feudalism where the despot's >favorites were rewarded with land and slaves from the >conquered, is for the ruling oligarchy to give special >offices and privileges to the regime's criminal >"nobility." Today's methodology of oppression is >to reserve both the korts and the kurrency to some >favored state-god baal-priesthood. > >Remember Jakob Fugger's advice to Charles V? "Control >the korts and kurrency, Sire, and let the rabble have >the rest." This is exactly the strategy used by the >NWO/ZOG against our countrymen. Wherever the time >isn't right to openly appoint the "illuminated ones" >either because there might be a fuss, putting the >masses on the alert, or the position is too small for >a true "illuminated one," the electoral process can be >curtailed by reserving the position for a compromised >lackey, or some useful idiot with a state-sponsored >credential, or an oligarch in training. In any case, >nobody who will not support the regime will be allowed >to fill the kort appointment while at the same time >the illusion of free elections is maintained. > >So what is the appropriate political counter to this? >Take the example of Phil Sheridan's treatment of >the Indians. Some of them, like the Commanche were >difficult to corner and kill by soldiers mounted >on second-rate horses across the waterless plains. >So rather than rely solely on killing the Indians >one at a time, Sheridan proposed destroying the >environment necessary for the Indians to survive >as nomads by exterminating the buffalo herds. >Killing Commanches was hard. Killing buffalo >was asy. Exterminate the buffalo herds and you >starve out the Commanche. They will have to go >to the reservation and learn to plant corn and >put their children in government skules. > >And that is how we destroy the regime. Rather >than destroy regime criminals one at a time, let >us instead shoot their sacred cattle whenever >possible. Destroy the belief in their CONstution >by showing how it avails them nothing. Point out >the sleekness of their baal-priesthood on one hand >and the idiocy and poverty of their children on >the other under the new regime. Point out how the >lawyers rob them blind and send them to prison for >trifling offenses while at the same time promoting >regime criminals engaged in murder and state-sponsored >terrorism. The belief system, the civic faith, must >be destroyed by showing that the masses of those who >believe in it are routinely robbed in favor of a >priviledged few. The way to destroy any faith >is to demonstrate the utter futility, even the >counterproductive destructiveness of that faith. >The common man must destroy his idols himself, and >the only way to get him to do this is to show that >his former faith is contrary to his interests. One >destroys the regime by destroying its civic faith... > >So if you would be free, destroy the political >environment that the criminal regime and its horde >of regime criminals need in order to survive. While >this will eventually happen anyway, as it has happened >with every past empire in human history, it is in our >best interests to help this process along...
What is the "habitat" on which phobocrats and terrocrats feed? What does their survival and power depend on?
1. The easily visible statist faith or mythology -- negative surface pemes -- e.g., "the government must provide a safety net for the disadvantaged."
2. The electoral or voting system.
3. The obedience of "citizens" or "subjects."
4. The tax system.
5. The less visible statist faith or mythology -- negative middle pemes -- e.g., "The government must do for people what they cannot do for themselves" (Abraham Lincoln); "The government must handle certain vital functions, like "police," "courts," "jails," "national defense," "legal tender," "education," etc."
6. The money/currency/banking system.
7. The legal system.
8. The invisible-to-most statist faith or mythology -- negative deep pemes -- the deepest idols -- e.g., "government," "state," "country," "president," "law," etc.
The above "habitat" suggests strategies for each peme-thory level:
Level 1 - Basic
1.1. Spread basic positive freedom pemes such as the Bill of Rights -- basic freedom
education.
1.2. Utilize electoral politics -- e.g., Libertarian Party.
1.3. Attack a few negative surface pemes -- e.g., "Society has the right to dictate
the form and conditions of marriage," "The government must protect people by
prohibiting marijuana," etc.
Level 2 - Intermediate
2.1. Persuade individuals to stop voting. (The apparent contradiction between 1.2 and 2.1
is intentional. I suspect that many people, in their political development, need to go
through the stage of "voting libertarian" (level 1) and become somewhat
educated, before they're ready for the "don't vote" (level 2) strategy.)
2.2. Encourage individuals to practice "creative disobedience," such that they
remove some support from the system without taking undue risks -- e.g., operate a home
business as a sideline without a business license and without reporting anything.
2.3. Exit the tax system to the maximum legal extent without taking any undue risks. You
may have to educate yourself first. If properly done, those outside the system are less at
risk than those in the system. The taxtortionists operate on information provided to them.
If you don't provide them information, they usually have little if any ammunition to use
against you.
2.4. Develop the ability to think in terms of having to deal -- only when necessary --
with specific terrocrat individuals, rather than "the government" or "the
IRS."
2.5. Expose and destroy negative middle pemes -- e.g., "Pay your taxes or go to
jail!"; "Only the government can build roads, bridges, canals, etc."
2.6. Use and/or help create alternative money/currency/banking systems.
2.7. Expose the corrupt "lawyers," "judges," and their "legal
system." Build on the disgust and hatred many people already feel for these shysters.
Level 3 - Advanced
3.1. Expose the falsely-called "constitution" for the fraud, hoax, and sham it
is -- demonstrating that the entire "political system" is also a fraud, hoax and
sham.
3.2. Mercilessly attack and destroy the validity of the deepest negative pemes -- the
deepest idols -- shoot the terrocrats' most sacred cows -- e.g., "government,"
"state," "country," "president," "law," etc.
3.3. Particularly attack and destroy the validity of the notion of "law" -- the
very idea of "law" (so-called) -- the idea that some terrocrat noises and
scribbles constitute "the law."
"When compared with the suppression of anarchy every other question sinks into insignificance. The anarchist is the enemy of humanity, the enemy of all mankind, and his is a deeper degree of criminality than any other. No immigrant is allowed to come to our shores if he is an anarchist; and no paper published here or abroad should be permitted circulation in this country if it propagates anarchist opinions." -- Theodore Roosevelt
I wonder what Roosevelt would have said of the deep anarchist, who penetrates to the deepest terrocrat sacred cows and mercilessly butchers them?
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