Three Axes of Political Conflict

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Comments

[Joe Odegaard]

Orwell wrote "1984" partly as a response to the lies he saw coming out of the Spanish civil war.

[mharko]

Very clarifying, thank you, along with the companion pieces on 3rd parties and integralism. I identify as an American conservative and have for decades without the clear distinctions you have articulated. And yes, I do love me some good schemata.

[BV]

Joe,

Or is it Homage to Catalonia that you have in mind?

I read both 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World in high school. How high Orwell's star has risen! How he has come to outshine Huxley. But Huxley was prescient too.

[BV]

mharko,

Thank you, sir. I'll take schemata over stigmata any day.

[Dmitri]

Hi Bill
I was surprised to learn that Libertarian Party in the US supports illegal immigration. Even followed the link you kindly supplied to validate this counter-intuitive position, LP is not an anarchist movement after all. Not that I enjoy using this language... but what a bunch of sad dumb clowns...

[BV]

Dmitri,

Yes, it is right out of the horse's mouth. I linked to their own statement of principles, not to what someone said about their principles.

Here is what they say verbatim except for numbers I have intercalated:

Libertarians believe that if someone is peaceful, they should be welcome to immigrate to the United States.

[1] Libertarians believe that people should be able to travel freely as long as they are peaceful. We welcome immigrants who come seeking a better life. The vast majority of immigrants are very peaceful and highly productive.

BV: Note the studious non-observance of the legal-illegal distinction which cuts perpendicular to the peaceful-nonpeaceful distinction.

[2] Indeed, the United States is a country of immigrants, of all backgrounds and walks of life…some families have just been here for more generations than others.

BV: "Country of immigrants" is a misleading phrase. I am not an immigrant nor are my four siblings. My father is not an immigrant. My mother is and so my four grandparents. So of these 11 people, five are immigrants and six are native.

[3] Newcomers bring great vitality to our society.

BV: Some do, but a lot don't. Hoe much 'vitality' as opposed to lethality did the mafiosi from Sicily contribute?

[BV]

CONT.

[4] A truly free market requires the free movement of people, not just products and ideas.

BV: Here we have the characteristic libertarian fallacy of failing to grasp that the USA is not a job fair but a nation with a distinctive culture. Libertarians, like classical Marxists, want to reduce everything to economic relations.

[5] Whether they are from India or Mexico, whether they have advanced degrees or very little education, immigrants have one great thing in common: they bravely left their familiar surroundings in search of a better life. Many are fleeing extreme poverty and violence and are searching for a free and safe place to try to build their lives. We respect and admire their courage and are proud that they see the United States as a place of freedom, stability, and prosperity.

BV: That is true of many of them, but is not a good reason to elide the distinction between legal and illegal immigration. This is the kind of feel-good mush that one expects from squishy-headed liberals.

[6] Of course, if someone has a record of violence, credible plans for
violence, or acts violently, then Libertarians support blocking their entry, deporting, and/or prosecuting and imprisoning them, depending on the offense.

BV: But then you need border control in order to vet them.

[7] Libertarians do not support classifying undocumented immigrants as criminals. Our current immigration system is an embarrassment. People who would like to follow the legal procedures are unable to because these procedures are so complex and expensive and lengthy. If Americans want immigrants to enter through legal channels, we need to make those channels fair, reasonable, and accessible.

BV: This is the sort of obfuscation one expects from woke-assed hate-America leftists. Illegal aliens are obviously criminals since they are in violation of the CRIMINAL code. Nancy Pelosi lied about this but then one expects her to lie.

Undocumented entry is not the same as illegal entry. If I lose my valid passport while attempting to return to the USA from, say, Europe, I am trying to enter 'undocumented' but there is nothing illegal about a citizen returning to his homeland.

The minute you vet the 'migrants' to see if they are 'peaceful,' then you have an immigration law, and, by the same stroke, a distinction between illegal and legal immigrants.

And obviously, if you vet the entrants to see if they are 'peaceful' then it might be a good idea to see if they are carriers of tropical diseases we up here are not equipped to deal with . . .

[Joe Odegaard]

Orewll and the Spanish Civil War, an overview:

https://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/en/blog/how-spains-civil-war-defined-george-orwell-politically/

And also: (this article mentions "Homage to Catalonia" as well.)

https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-26/1984-how-george-orwells-big-brother-was-born-during-the-spanish-civil-war.html

Beware people whose only reality is the political !