Bennett just floated another title balloon over the virtual fence – this will be the fourth in the series. Then, just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water, another idea came floating in. I’ll save that one for installment number five.
Charles John Huffman Dickens wrote about the inequities and inequalities of nineteenth-century England. His stories provide a glimpse of life’s concerns and issues in those times through his masterfully created characters and their stories in those situations. He wrote what he saw around him, taking his readers on a journey of enlightenment and allowing them to experience their trials and tribulations through his prose, illuminating things most people never saw or simply chose to ignore.
Dickens’ Old Curiosity Shop, 1841, is the story of an old man with a disquieting secret: his gambling addiction, which creates uncomfortable encumbrances, causing him no end of problems. Is it gambling or the obsession that drives the story or the ensuing life situations it makes? You decide…
I won’t bother you with the story’s details. The preceding paragraphs set the tone for my commentary. As usual, I strongly recommend you investigate this story independently; the parallels will help this commentary make more sense. Who knows, you might take away some valuable insights, as well.
So, I’ll get right to the point while my literary license is still in full vigor.
I chose this title because Dickens’ story speaks to me and the parallels I see to our times, kindling my curiosity.
The Old Curiosity Crop is a collection of people who wonder, investigate, reason, and think critically, a trait missing from most of America. This title plays on the definition of curiosity: inquisitive interest leading to inquiry. The Old part should be self-evident. I see that thinking is no longer required; people regress to Pavlovian responses, being conditioned to react without thought.
I propose that addictions and preoccupations are issues in modern times, continuing from antiquity. The obsession with power is arguably the oldest mania chronicled. It has ruined every country, nation, or republic on this planet from the beginning. It will continue until we completely destroy this planet and everything on it to feed our greed or learn to channel our energies toward more productive pursuits; my money is on complete destruction.
Humankind considers itself the preeminent life-form on the third rock from the sun. We judge ourselves as highly intelligent and show the capacity for marvelous inventions, yet we forego our opportunity to learn from our history, dooming ourselves to repeat it.
“I’d like to share a revelation I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to another area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.” ~ Agent Smith from The Matrix
According to archeologists, humankind has been on this planet for about 200,000 years. What have we learned…? Our preeminent skill is taking… from the planet and each other. We refined the art of subordination, subjugation, and surmounting our opponents using the tools we developed for that single purpose. Our focus is on control of each other; it is our addiction and obsession!
How many wars must we fight before we realize that it is simply the means to an end – and that end being the acquisition of money and power! Since money equals power, I’ll just use power.
How many times will we repeat these behaviors before we learn anything… My guess is ad infinitum and ad nauseum. We haven’t changed in millennia, so why start now? It’s served us from the very beginning, but I submit it’s beginning to fail us. Unfortunately, only a few from the Old Curiosity Crop recognize it.
Mans’ Quest is ultimately for power, and we will do whatever is necessary to acquire it because, as Machiavelli tells us, the end justifies the means. We want it and will ruin anyone or anything that stands in the way. WOW!!!… Addiction and Obsession!
And to this end, we’ve learned the art of the “Grin-Fuck, (GF).” That is the ability to smile while we lie, cheat, steal, betray, and murder to achieve our goal… POWER!!!
And, speaking of GF, we endure career politicians, some of whom aligned with Big Brother decades ago; some, for over fifty years, and too many approaching that number. A couple are in their nineties, an age that too many are approaching. Yet, we ignore their lunatic and senile ramblings, excusing it as old age and castigating anyone who dares to mention it as ageist. We have an accusatory name for everything we don’t like but fail to find in ourselves.
There is an expected gain of wisdom as we age, yet for some, with that age comes an increased reliance on habits – yes, those things that worked so well in the past, that familiar arrow in the quiver that always seems to find its mark. It’s a common tactic for the Corrupt Career Politicians (CCP).
Mankind calls any assembly of mechanisms that perform a repetitive task, a machine. It’s the basis for the term political machine. These political machines crank out politicians from an ideological mold cast decades ago and modified only slightly to suit modern times. The only changes are superficial and illusionary, varying little from the original.
A political party comprises individuals who organize to win elections, operate governments, and influence public policies. Did you notice the conspicuous absence of doing anything for the public in general? I mean, other than influencing public policy…
Who do they serve?
The answer is self-evident… they serve the party, of course.
The Democrat and Republican parties are the primary parties in Congress.
Democrats are the party of Jim Crow, the Ku Klux Klan, Apartheid, Segregation, Bigger Government, The American Civil War, and Democratic-Socialism.
That’s quite a resume’.
Republicans are the party of conservative values, economic freedom, extensive regulation of the economy, government-funded social programs, and affirmative action.
Another stellar legacy.
Independents vote for candidates on issues rather than on a political ideology or partisanship; a voter who does not have long-standing loyalty to, or identification with, a political party; a voter who does not usually vote for the same political party.
Some call Independents “The Undecided or Noncommittal.”
Again, I ask… Did you notice the conspicuous absence of doing something, anything for the people or the republic?
Why do they want to control the government and everyone’s lives?
Think about it for a while.
Voters fall into one of three main categories: 38% Independent, 31% Democrat, and 26% Republican. So… you did pay attention in math class; Yes, that’s 95%, leaving 5% for those with a penchant for one of the 418 other ideologies. Naturally, some parties blend doctrines, like the Democrat-Socialists and the Super-Duper Ultra Uber MAGA Republicans, but they represent a relatively small part of their primary party affiliation. It’s a matter of perspective and point of view.
If you don’t see the similarities, they’re all proponents of Partisan control. That’s the chief function of political parties.
1. Win elections…
2. Operate the government…
3. Influence public policy…
A government, on the other hand, by definition, ‘should’ provide the parameters for everyday behavior for its citizens, protect them from outside interference, and, if required, provide for their well-being and happiness as circumstances or party affiliations dictate; it extends to everyone in the republic, even lawmakers and politicians.
The missing element in all this is adherence to the Constitution and service of the citizens; I suppose that’s implied. I fail to find any reference to pandering to the donor base or selling influence, but that would be illegal and against the Constitution… right? None of them would ever break the law unless they could amend or simply ignore it without consequence; this is where the political ideology enters the discussion.
Our Constitution signifies that No One is above the law, but because governments are our invention, they are prone to our frailties, idiosyncrasies, and peccadilloes. They are as corrupt as we are because they are us – we are the government, or at least we used to be. And then there is their favorite idiom from Machiavelli; “The end justifies the means,” and we accept the application of Machiavelli’s Gambit even when the implied benefits are unrequited.
These definitions are from a civics textbook used in the olden days – it’s how it used to be; it’s from the Old Curiosity Crop, people like me. We learned how to think, reason, and develop personal views and ideas based on facts, not the latest pabulum from the Mainstream Media Mafia or Big Brother.
Mark Twain said: “I am not one of those who, in expressing opinions, confine themselves to facts.”
Remember, Mark Twain was a political satirist.
The Old Curiosity Crop remembers how it was intended to be. Still, The New World order has a much different use for government courtesy of a splinter-group from the CCP. Their successful corruption of the administration and the adulterations of our Constitution vests them total control based on their purported ‘experience’ and ‘wisdom.’ They mechanized and weaponized the process to wrest and institutionalize their power. The result is secured control by eliminating any possible avenues to challenge it.
They’ve walled themselves off in the DC Swamp and assimilated two of the three governmental branches as their enforcers. The next target is the US Supreme Court; they’ve already begun their FUD campaign.
Recall the concept of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt from a past post. Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (often shortened to FUD) are manipulative propaganda tactics used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics, polling, and cults. FUD is generally a strategy to influence perception by disseminating negative and dubious information and is a manifestation that appeals to fear.
These DemoSoc insurrectionists have effectively divided the republic; now, they enthrone themselves and their New World Order. It’s what we experience today with their eradicating our First and Second Amendment rights.
George Carlin expresses this in one of his routines…
“In 1942, there were 110,000 Japanese-American citizens, in good standing, law-abiding people, who were thrown into internment camps simply because their parents were born in the wrong country. That’s all they did wrong. They had no right to a lawyer, no right to a fair trial, no right to a jury of their peers, and no right to due process of any kind. The only right they had was…right this way! Into the internment camps. And just when these American citizens needed their rights the most…their government took them away. And rights aren’t rights if someone can take ’em away. They’re privileges. That’s all we’ve ever had in this country is a bill of TEMPORARY privileges, and if you read the news, even badly, you know the list gets shorter, and shorter, and shorter.”
Regardless of your feelings for Mr. Trump, the current legal bullshit of over 90 counts in 4 indictments is a testament to this statement. They want to prevent him from running for president and possibly winning, so they will use their legal chicaneries, legerdemain, and FUD to prevent it by assassinating his character by damning him in the public eye. And if they can’t convict him, they will bankrupt him with legal fees – so far, they exceed $40 Million; that could easily double.
Please reread the paragraph above by George Carlin.
Is this accurate or true?
If they can take anything away, it is NOT a right!
“When all the guns have been banned,
When all the words have been censored,
When all the history has been erased,
When all the freedom has been taken,
Only then will you discover why our right to bear arms,
was so high on the list.” ~ The National Rifle Association
This quotation represents The Old Curiosity Crop!
August 31, 2023
~ The Author ~
Charles R. Dickens was born in 1951, is a veteran of the Vietnam war, for which he volunteered, and the great-great grandson of the noted author, whose name he shares.
He is a fiercely proud American, who still believes this is the greatest country on the planet, with which we’ve lost control and certainly our direction. He grew up in moderate financial surrounding; we’re not rich by any stretch, but didn’t go hungry – his incredibly hard working father saw to that. As most from that era, he learned about life from his father, whose story would take too long to tell, other than to say that, he is also a fiercely proud American; a WWII and Korean war, veteran Marine.
Charlie was educated in the parochial system which, demanded that you actually learn something, and have capability to retain it before you advance. He attended several universities in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, and chased the goose further to a master’s, and has retained some very definite ideas about education in this country.
In addition, Charlie is a retired blues guitar and vocalist – a musician. This was his therapy career. Nothing brings him as much joy as playing music, and he wishes that he could make a living at it… but alas… life goes on!
That’s Charlie… a proud, opinionated, and passionate American.