Maximizing personal power for the greater good

[Yarco]

After watching the "Deconstructing Property Rights" video on the blog, I have some thoughts.

Namely, I want to be a lion and not a gazelle!

Obviously this comes from a limited human ego perspective. But for as long as I'm stuck in that perspective, I'd like to do everything possible to avoid being exploited, enslaved, and raped.

This whole COVID situation has taught me that it's not 100% certain that you can rely on the government or modern society to protect you. It takes something catastrophic, but the system can at least temporarily fail as a result of a wide range of potential disasters.

I agree with all the flaws Leo pointed out in the Libertarian perspective. We should fairly contribute and take from the system that has taken hundreds of years to get to this point.

But I also think we shouldn't be completely dependent on the system.

I see it as different levels of safeguards that modern humans have in place...

At the top level, people rely on the government to protect them and ensure an easy survival for them. This is where the majority of the population falls. They wouldn't be able to go a week without an organized society, a fully stocked grocery store, internet, etc.

However I now feel that you have an obligation to yourself to add extra layers of protection for yourself.

Namely: Get physically fit, learn self-defense, be mostly self-sufficient for most of your survival needs. That might be learning to grow your own food, or maybe just keeping an extra month or two of canned/dried food in case something happens.

For your own sake, and the sake of your community, you owe it to yourself to maximize your power.

Obviously power can be easily corrupted. A strong and powerful person can look to exploit others. But when combined with higher levels of consciousness, I think this is less likely.

A very powerful but conscious and uncorrupted person can be a steward for their community. Like a sheepdog watching their flock. You can protect your local land... whatever you want to make that. Your home, your street, your immediate friends/family, your village. If you're powerful, you can protect not only humans. But you could also protect animals from being killed for food if you wanted.

The federal government is strong. But if it fails, the local government is quite weak and powerless in comparison. We should work to strengthen social support at a local level. So even if the federal government fails the people, we can still hold things together municipally or at an even lower level.

A powerful person contributes back to their community that allowed them to get so powerful. Through charity and community projects, you can give back and strengthen your community. Give food to the needy, give youth activities to do to keep them out of trouble. Through this you will get a safer and stronger community with more involvement and less crime. Start small at a neighborhood level and then build outwards.

Raise everyone up. If everyone's level of power and autonomy increases, it's less likely for one powerful person to exploit them. Not only to prevent exploitation from powerful people inside your own community, but also people outside of it. If China does ever invade the US, the most recent 3 generations of people who grew up playing video games, drinking Mountain Dew, and not exercising aren't going to be able to put up much of a fight.

In terms of someone to emulate, the best that I can think of is Jocko Willink. He's physically strong and able to handle himself. He knows martial arts as well as how to use weapons to defend his property and those he cares about if it comes to that. He is also financially self-sufficient through his own business. Presumably he has a very extensive network of family and friends that he helps, and that would also immediately come to his aid for anything he needed. Combine that with a stage yellow person and you could really make a difference in the world.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Yarco