The Borg's stated goal is utopian: to "achieve perfection." It greets its victims by saying "Resistance is futile." Sounds a little bit like how bureaucracies work. My point is that whenever power gets too unchecked, too unbalanced, too centralized, it's on a trajectory to abuse that power. And the ultimate destination if left unchecked seems always to be imposition of death. That's just a fact of history and a fact of life. I wish everyone would become familiar with two fascinating studies that have been done on the dangers of centralized power. The first is the book Death by Government, by R J Rummel (d. 2014) His central point -- echoing Lord Acton's famous quote that "power corrupts" -- is that power kills and absolute power kills absolutely. Rummel spent much of his career compiling statistics of 20th century death tolls from government abuses of power. The bottom line? 169 million lives lost through government killing of its own people. How does this compare with all the casualties -- both military and civilian -- of all the wars and conflicts of the 20th century? 38 million. Death by government was more than four times more lethal than all the wars of the 20th century combined. The second study is a course entitled "Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century" in which University of Tennessee Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius draws the direct connection between master plans for Utopian societies and the terror that is always required to push those utopian programs forward. (You can obtain this series of very engaging lectures from thegreatcourses.com.) Seems utopian dreamers have no patience or tolerance for any kind of resistance whether active or passive. I think the best defense is for everyone to champion their own individuality with the understanding that other people matter. That's the whole basis of de-centralized power. Speak your mind thoughtfully, with the understanding that free speech is a use-it-or-lose-it proposition. Cultivate friendships. Reach out in goodwill, one on one and face to face. And be of good cheer. Solid relationships are the best bulwark against state power. A sense of humor always comes in very handy, too. In the end, it is not resistance that is futile. Submission is what really kills us all in the end. Submission is futile.
The Borg's stated goal is utopian: to "achieve perfection." It greets its victims by saying "Resistance is futile." Sounds a little bit like how bureaucracies work. My point is that whenever power gets too unchecked, too unbalanced, too centralized, it's on a trajectory to abuse that power. And the ultimate destination if left unchecked seems always to be imposition of death. That's just a fact of history and a fact of life. I wish everyone would become familiar with two fascinating studies that have been done on the dangers of centralized power. The first is the book Death by Government, by R J Rummel (d. 2014) His central point -- echoing Lord Acton's famous quote that "power corrupts" -- is that power kills and absolute power kills absolutely. Rummel spent much of his career compiling statistics of 20th century death tolls from government abuses of power. The bottom line? 169 million lives lost through government killing of its own people. How does this compare with all the casualties -- both military and civilian -- of all the wars and conflicts of the 20th century? 38 million. Death by government was more than four times more lethal than all the wars of the 20th century combined. The second study is a course entitled "Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century" in which University of Tennessee Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius draws the direct connection between master plans for Utopian societies and the terror that is always required to push those utopian programs forward. (You can obtain this series of very engaging lectures from thegreatcourses.com.) Seems utopian dreamers have no patience or tolerance for any kind of resistance whether active or passive. I think the best defense is for everyone to champion their own individuality with the understanding that other people matter. That's the whole basis of de-centralized power. Speak your mind thoughtfully, with the understanding that free speech is a use-it-or-lose-it proposition. Cultivate friendships. Reach out in goodwill, one on one and face to face. And be of good cheer. Solid relationships are the best bulwark against state power. A sense of humor always comes in very handy, too. In the end, it is not resistance that is futile. Submission is what really kills us all in the end. Submission is futile.
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