Interview 1135 – James Corbett on The Anarchist Standard
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via AnarchistStandard.com: James and I discussed the “powers that shouldn’t beâ€, their plans for world government, their psychopathy, and practical steps people can take to resist them.
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Great interview! I think he pushed the right buttons and recieved some very thought provoking answers.
I don’t think most Canadians are consciously aware they live under a “democratic” socialist system though. I’ve been alive for 24 years now, and spent every bit of it within the confines of the borders of Canada and the nature of my work life allows me to talk to people about political subjects quite a bit, and people really are under the illusion that this country is a straight up capitalistic one that is based completely in supporting the individual.
The generation I’m a part of is coming to realize, or at least beginning to understand whats going on in this country and abroad though. I’ve lived most of my formative years in Sask/Alberta in the border city, and people in Alberta/Sask seem to be a little more complacent because of the comfort/money that a great economy provides, but having moved back to the east coast where the government has destroyed the economy, people are pretty damn aware to the evil that is this Government.
Anyway I’ll my rant lol.
Don’t write us old farts off!
I’m 53 and my girlfriend is 67. Both of us have seen through the BS that is the political climate, and have relatively recently gone through the process from liberal democrat>constitutionalist>Libertarian>Anarchist. We’ve decided that voting for puppetmasters validates this flawed system and we are abstaining and trying to persuade others to do the same. I’ve always been what I would describe as a “free thinker”, despite my indoctrination into statism from birth – for me, anarchy wasn’t such a leap, as I’ve questioned authority from a young age. I was (pleasantly) surprised at her conversion, as she is older and tends to be a little more conventional than I.
In a way, I worry more about the younger generation than my generation, as they have been growing up within an even-more conformist, regulated and supervised environment than we did. I truly hope that we will see a day where we will stand together, old and young alike, for a truly free society and world.
I hear you, and I didn’t mean to throw yesterdays generation under the bus. It’s just that from my own experience I tend to get the ol’ eye roll from the 40-60 age range when I begin to even slightly approach more libertarian minded views. I find when the younger and older generations are compared, the older generations seem more “survivalist”, and the younger generation seem more open minded but lack the will power to accomplish very much on their own.
I’ve had one too many great freedom minded discussions with my friends and when the conversation begins to wind down it’s immediately followed up with a “Hey man, wanna smoke a joint and play some ps4?”. Hahaha
Hell I was retired before I had time to think and research to come to the truth. I was on the treadmill for 40 yrs before…. raising kids and paying bills.
NOW I realize I have been ripped off and lied to my whole life…what timing eh?
Self rule and the non-aggression principle is the true answer for me. Just wish I had found out much much earlier.
Mike
Spliffs up with call of duty, its so true of so many who decry and superficially despise the system.
My own hypocracies are manifold and began with one too. Malcolm McLaren, John Lydon and Viviene Westwood, the establishments anti establishment. Anarchy in the UK, safety pins and home made bondage trousers. This pop punk may have been as authentically from the street as a Saville Row suit but regardless it spawned a need for the real thing in a generation.
CRASS. The Clash. The Dead Kennedy’s and more were soon in the record shops. The winter of discontent, streets piled high with refuse, night after night of candlelit cities and a cold bitter battle in parliament as the coffin lid was nailed shut on the post war ideology of social justice. Thatcher and the NeoCapitalist ETA began with anarchy peace and freedom on the lips of millions. But most bought their social housing, crossed the picket lines and were soon maxed out on these new things called credit cards. Though not me. To me the state remained an enemy.
My point would be that back then anarchists were common. My youthful idealism and optimism even thought we would be engaged in the heyday of the anarchist uprising. But the truth is its been almost forgotten. Or at least its no less marginal than it ever was. I suppose such an amorphous label could never hope to truly mobilise anyway.
Yet the naive and narcissistic self centric universe of the angry mind will always be drawn to it. And the anger is justified. I no longer think anarchy can bring peace or freedom. But it is a good perspective for the historians of the age to record that future generations might learn the lessons greater society currently is not ready to learn.
disobeying laws you disagree with is a simple action that may improve your life while adding sand to the gears of the state
Can one completely change ones world view after a certain age?
I am 60 yrs old, was registered Libertarian for 30 years and only changed to Republican in 2011 to support Ron Paul – but was raised by John Birch parents. I have experienced many philosophical and political transitions over the decades before I accepted anarchy, almost against my will.
But my wife is the true test. She is slightly older, a “generic Republican” for her entire life (because her Kansas farmer German Lutheran parents were), a public school teacher indoctrinated to teach the value of “community helpers” – the police are your friend, and never question authority. She never understood why I despised Republicans as being leftist Statist commies.
Her world changed in ONE day when she watched the 4409 video of the explosions in Building 7. She realized that her Government lied and murdered. She was shattered.
She then listened to Ron Paul and she gained hope that there was an alternative. She regards him as a modern day Prophet “speaking the truth in love.” She became a delegate to the 2012 AZ convention to support Ron Paul and was completely betrayed by the system. She participated in suing the Republican party for election fraud. Today she completely distrusts Government, the Party system, the police, the media, and the banking system.
She now likewise hates republicans, wants to learn to handle weapons (which I am loath to teach to a red headed woman for reasons of self preservation), and wants a “bug out plan”.
Yes, change is not just due to proper indoctrination in ones youth. Change can come at any time in ones life if one is willing to look at the world, and after sufficient disappointment in the dream of a Statist utopia.
James, usually you are very precise about everything (I appreciate a lot and more) but you haven’t been regarding psychopathy.
Ones I have read an article about research which was trying to find out how many psychopaths are in top management. Research was conducted in USA and I think Wall street was a target but unfortunately can’t provide any link. There was hypothesis that concentration is higher then in general population. Hypothesis was proven wrong.
It’s better to talk about psychopathic behavior. The same way it’s not ok to say that people are evil when we’re aware of Milgram experiment.
Hahaha. I hope you can appreciate the irony of decrying a lack of precision on this topic on my part when your refutation is that you read an article once (that you don’t remember and can’t link to) that conducted research on Wall Street (maybe) that may or may not have disproved a hypothesis about psychopathy. So if it’s a lack of precision that is the concern, let’s be specific.
In 2011 Clive Boddy published an article in The Journal of Business Ethics hypothesizing a link between psychopathy in financial firms and the Global Financial Crisis: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10551-011-0810-4
I interviewed him about that research later that year: https://www.corbettreport.com/interview-423-clive-boddy/
I have discussed some of the other literature on the subject, including Lobaczewski’s “Political Ponerology,” for example in my first podcast on psychopathy: https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-090-our-leaders-are-psychopaths/
I also share your concern (or what I perceive as your concern) about “spotting the psychopath” turning into a 21st century witch hunt, a concern I elaborated on in another podcast about the subject: https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-213-revisiting-psychopathy/
I don’t believe that a lack of specificity on the topic is quite the right critique. Having said that, if you do have a link to a study that disproves (or contraindicates) Boddy’s hypothesis, please do share it. That’s what the open source investigation here is for so we can learn our way forward. I would be interested to see any such research, where it was conducted, what methodologies were employed, and what conclusions were reached…precisely. 🙂
Geesh! At what age would this guy like to “write off” the older generation? I’m a little long in the tooth but have understood for a long time that we live in an upside down false paradigm. Everything we have been taught has been wrong. That understanding forces a lot of us to fly solo. Thanks, James, for sticking up for us.
Great discussion with very thoughtful answers by James.
I am one of the “older generation” (66 years of living here on planet earth)and like most people I fully awakened over 9/11/2001, though I have never trusted the state just from what I could see and read( in high school I used to by IF Stones weekly at a socialist book store in downtown Vancouver. While I haven’t traveled down the road or rabbit hole as quickly as some others (like James) I do see the full court press of the “deep state” on so many fronts and understand the mechanisms that allow so few to control so many and the instigation of new measures to tighten this control by enticement or coercion to contract.
Echoing the remarks of other “oldsters”, it’s never too late (mental conversion- mine at 50+ also). But active participation, going beyond merely intellectual consent and concurrence…depends on many, many other shackles also mentioned: partners, children, work obligations, preparedness (for what fresh horrors TPTSNB have in store for us soon), significant others’ awareness/situation…these all “weigh one down” (if you want to express it negatively), or at least, present one helluva a challenge in forming my response today. 5 years hence? 10? I can only do today, but that’s more than a little “controlled” by individual circumstance, feelings, legal and moral obligations put into place and motion long ago, prior to ones painful awakening, isn’t that so? cheers
Hi James, another oldster here. I’m 61 and my husband is 73. Please describe what differences you see in survivalists and anarchists.
And what similarities. A survivalist would like to be prepared to function outside of the system as much as possible.