Murphy’s Bye-Laws

It may seems to the casual observer that the general stress level of the population rises dramatically with the consumption of the last morsel of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving.  No doubt a day with the moniker of “Black Friday” doesn’t imply joyful afterglow.  This sudden thrusting of consumer obligation and manufactured joy onto the recently well-fed acts to counter the gluttony-induced lethargy which rebounds into panic for every second lost not completing the Christmas (excuse me) holiday shopping.  As the seconds tick away while reading this, take comfort in the fact that I am about to impart knowledge concerning the acquisition of gifts, which means this is actually considered shopping!  Just think of me as the latest colorful ad chock full of coupons and unbeatable deals.

Considering the state of the economy, one should strive to keep every lousy cent possible out of the hands of government, who is pretty much responsible for this mess (and by its “solutions,” will be responsible for the next one as well).  This means redoubling efforts to contribute to the counter-economy.  Know a friend or a friend of a friend that makes cookies or homemade jewelry or pottery or clothes or paintings or anything that may be gift-worthy?  Why not purchase from them this Christmas?  Sunni has a great page at her blog that lists some fine purveyors of counter-economic goodies.  While there Christmas shopping, be sure to order some delicious caramels from Sunni; they are the very bestest caramels ever!

Besides buying and recieving gifts during this time, many also take the time to donate to charities.  Maybe it is the encroachment of tax season (are they ever out of season?) and the potential for write-offs that drives this giving; or maybe it is simply the spirit of goodwill that can only stand to muster itself for a few weeks of the year before regressing back into paranoid tension.  Regardless of the motivation, one must make a wise choice when giving.

I was recently alerted to some shadiness behind the obnoxious yellow PlanetAid clothing donation boxes everywhere.  Apparently, only a small percentage of the money made from reselling the donated clothes actually goes to charitable programs; much much less than other typical charities.  A web search for PlanetAid will yield articles detailing indictments and fraud with associated organizations in various countries.  I looked at the Better Business Bureau’s website for Charities and Giving to make comparisons of PlanetAid, Goodwill Industries, St. Vincent DePaul Society, and the Salvation Army, the major charities in my area for clothing donation.  The information from this site was quite helpful in deciding who to donate to based on work in my local area, percentage of overhead, and their mission statement.  So be sure to do a little bit of research before giving to an organization, especially the government!

Speaking of charities and Christmas gifts, the two can be combined (if buying for the non-selfish, non-consumer-addled) via Redefine Christmas.  This is a website that will link to a charity in which donations could be made in someone’s name for a Christmas gift.  For the selfish and consumer-addled, this is like a gift card, only worse!  Consider it an intervention.

Beyond shopping and giving advice, I can only advise to keep your head down and keep moving.  This will all be over soon.  Happy happy.

How many times have you been driving on a highway and saw an oncoming vehicle flashing their headlights?  How many times did you slow down or use extra caution when you saw this blatant act?  To me, and to all other flashers I assume, this signal is a general warning to slow down and take caution.  It could be warning of an accident ahead, a breakdown, or an authoritatively painted car with lights on the roof and an overly-inflated ego overflowing from inside.  Whatever the need for caution, the gesture is a helpful one…and one not looked upon highly by police officers.

As this 2003 NPR story verifies, police and their partners in privateering don’t look highly upon drivers warning fellow drivers of the police presence.  Comments on this Car and Driver message board and certainly countless personal anecdotes attest to the parasitic, predatory nature of traffic police and police in general.  While some of the responses from officers on this forum are encouraging, there is also much to worry about from some others (this Google Search turned up several more police forums and some idiots on FindLaw).  Beyond the obvious safety vs. revenue argument for speed traps, there is also the blatant us vs. them attitude pervading the police community.  This attitude has resulted in the need for the “them” in that argument to adopt the same stance.  One of the comments on one of the above-linked forums says that police patrol highways to keep traffic moving smoothly.  I don’t see how this is possible if people violently slam on their brakes at the sight of a police car.  Apparently, the police sit or even hide on the side of the road like a cat waiting to pounce us to safety.  They remind of the modern highwaymen or highway pirates trying to spring on unsuspecting travelers to shake them down for profit.

The whole scenario points to a simple and fairly low risk counter-economics strategy.  By flashing your lights to warn oncoming traffic, you are taking money away from the state.  This neighborly act is like putting change in expired parking meters (also frowned upon by your local bullies in blue) or putting lanterns in the bell tower of a church.  Some flashers may not realize it, but by performing this simple warning they are slowly undermining the state.  The vast majority of people, I feel, would be in favor of this helping to keep others, even strangers, out of trouble with the police, but this sentiment is hardly ever recognized as the diminished authority  of the state in our minds.  Like bad-mouthing politicians and politics in general, somehow this never translates into the realization of the base premise at work here:  it is the State vs. Us, we are not the state and the state is not us.  Yet the indoctrination is still effective.  Wave a flag or encite a panic and everyone is running to the voting booth to hand off their sovereignty just as fast as they can…without being ticketed, that is.

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Some random media that I like to associate with this post:

A video about a flasher: Here (NSFW – Language)

A poem about highwaymen with no connection to the post, except the blurring of the hero and villain: Here.

Elections are nothing more than lopsided compromises. There is usually something that people will find to try and take away from the experience that doesn’t make them feel like a powerless tool. It has started early this time, just like everything else in this round of the rat race. As the Demoligcratic Party’s primary race drags on at the public expense (what’s next, publicly-funded elections for Fraternal Order of the Moose officers?), the nugget of dignity that people are holding up to justify their making a choice between bad and worse is the fact that a black man and a white woman are in the running for the nomination for the presidency. “We’ve come so far,” they say. How far toward what?

In the beginning, women and blacks were among the most oppressed and exploited class of people in America. There was also the poor white immigrants and, below them, the poor brown and yellow immigrants. While women and blacks have gained traction in the exploitation machine, they have achieved this progress by treading on those yet below them. So does progress mean privilege is expanded and there are more hands on the reigns of the political machine? As long as the goal is expanded exploitation of producers by the political class, then praise be to progress! If the goal is to remove privilege and achieve liberty for all, then more boots on our necks is not progress.

The candidates give lip service to the “progress” and oppression their race or gender have endured, then promptly fight to become the gears that crush and oppress. The institution of oppression is the same; changing the face, color, or gender of the institution won’t change its nature. To vote for real change, vote with your economy and your non-vote. The time has come to stop compromising for further oppression and start smashing the institution of oppression. The time is long overdue to smash the state!