Thursday, August 5, 2021

Which Needs Do Different Political Ideologies Consider to Be Basic Government Services?

      The infographic below is a political spectrum that shows six different political ideologies, and their views on which human needs should be considered basic or essential services that government should provide.



Image created by the author of this blog, Joe Kopsick

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     One of the things that inspired me to create the image above, was the image below, which I have seen in libertarian discussion groups online.
     This image was created to help explain the perspectives of the libertarian minarchists (advocates of the minimum amount of government necessary), and voluntaryists (libertarians who want to abolish the state as well as all coercive forms of taxation and government).





Image not created by the author of this blog





     Here is another version of the image above, which was created in order to illustrate the importance of embracing voluntaryism, rejecting the violence that the state legitimizes, and rejecting the force that the state authorizes (in order to apply the law and collect taxes, etc.).




Image not created by the author of this blog





     I urge my readers to compare and contrast the three images above, with images depicting Thomas Maslow's "hierarchy of needs".
     Those who do so will notice that the services deemed basic or essential by the progressives and communists, lines up almost perfectly with the set of basic human needs which comprise the lowest level or levels of Maslow's hierarchy (i.e., those corresponding to maintaining the health, nutrition, and well-being of the human body).
     Also, the services deemed basic by the communitarians and socialists, loosely corresponds with the human needs found in the center of Maslow's hierarchy (i.e., those that relate to belonging).





Image not created by the author of this blog









Original image created on August 5th, 2021

Article published on August 5th, 2021

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Did Ghislaine Maxwell Kill JonBenet Ramsey and Princess Diana?: An Infographic

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     The image below, created by Pizzagate researchers, may also help explain why Diana and JonBenet were chosen as sacrifices (if that's what happened).
     The moon goddess Diana, and the similarity between the ram (as in "Ramsey") and the goat whose head is shaped like a pentagram, could have signified to Satanists that they were meant to be sacrificed.






First image created by the author on December 28th, 2020

Originally published on December 28th, 2020

Mysteriously deleted from this blog some time between
December 2020 and August 4th, 2021

Second image (not created by the author)
added on February 21st, 2021

Published again on August 4th, 2021

Edited on August 4th, 2021

Monday, August 2, 2021

Glossary of Twenty Key Terms for a University Course in the History of Western Political Theory

     What follows is a set of twenty key terms in political theory, and their definitions. These definitions were written by the author of this blog, Joe Kopsick, but were based on the contents of a political theory course that was imparted to him at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the spring of 2009.
     The course was taught by Jimmy Casas Klausen, who assigned students works written by Western political theorists throughout history until the present day. These works included Plato's Republic, Sir Thomas More's Utopia, Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition, and famous works by Aristotle, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.



Action

     Hannah Arendt says that action is an end in itself and it is the highest mode of 
activity and creation. She says that freedom comes through action, that the freedom of action cannot be eliminated, and that we define and create ourselves through action.


Alexander [the Great]

     Alexander was a Macedonian ruler and a student of Aristotle. Aristotle says that the Athenian polis was brought to an end through self-corruption, and its goal changed from common interest to profit. Aristotle believes that Alexander's goodness saved Greece.


Amour Proprie

     Rousseau says that amour proprie, vain self-love, is unnatural, and that vanity arises only in civil society. In vanity, we empty ourselves of meaning, as meaning and love can only be given to us by other people. He says that vanity is the cause of dependence, domination, and inequality, and that man is naturally independent and unselfish.


Chrematistics


     Aristotle believes that chrematistics, the art of acquisition, trade, and exchange, is 
an unnatural form of acquisition for the household. He argues that chrematistics makes gains on the exploitation of others. He says that living well is self-limitation and self-sufficiency without conspicuous consumption.


Collective Deliberation

     Aristotle believes that reason that is agreed on by everyone is more valuable than orthodoxy. He believes that a group of citizens gathering to combine their competencies and positive qualities will make policies better than any one person could. Hannah Arendt believes in active citizenship, civic republicanism, and the value of political association to develop the power of action, deliberation, and efficacy.


Corpus Mysticum

     The corpus mysticum describes the body politic of the church. The church is the corpus mysticum of Christ, and the people are part of the mystical body. The church's spiritual head is Christ represented, and its second spiritual head is the spiritually-ordained king. This puts the state in a lower position of authority than the church. Hobbes says that the corpus mysticum is an artificial body, and this is why we are able to take it apart and study it.


Cynics


     The Cynics was a school of philosophy that questioned and rejected every social 
convention and claim to authority. Cicero believes they questioned shamelessly and called Cynicism an "anti-tradition." Cicero believes that indecency and shame can be justified.


Despotism


     Rousseau says that despotism is the unjust rule of one man. He, Aristotle, and 
Plato agree that despotism is the worst type of governance. Rousseau says that the farther away we move from the state of nature and from despotism, the closer we get to perfectibility. He says that between the state of nature and despotism, there is happiness in "a middle position between... our primitive state and... egocentrism...”.


Fortuna


     Machiavelli says that fortuna (fate, fortune, luck, or favor), has direct bearing on a 
ruler's success or failure to maintain power. He believes that with virtĂș, one may triumph over fortuna.


Liberality

     Liberality is generosity. Machiavelli warns that excessive generosity may turn 
government into a slave. Machiavelli says that generosity should be practiced virtuously, and not known about. Cicero believes that generosity helps to build a network of friends, and that a man should measure his actions by honorableness rather than by his own advantages.


Maieutics


     Maieutics is the belief that the truth is latent in the human mind. Plato says that 
Socratic maieutics resembles obstetrics. Thus, Socrates is the "midwife of reason," and his dialectical method is the obstetrics that gives birth to logos.



Matter in Motion

     "Matter in Motion" is an individual driven by a passion. For Hobbes, the individual is the principal unit of analysis, and thus the matter of political science. He says that the decay of sense is an obscuring of motion made in sense.



Nonsenso, Raphael

     Raphael Nonsenso is a character in Thomas More's Utopia. He is a philosopher whom has seen the world as a sailor. He describes Utopia as the happiest society. He is a representation of Thomas More and his opinions.


Oikos


     The oikos is the private realm of the household, and the polis is the public realm 
of the political community. Aristotle believes that wealth and trade are associated with the household economy, and that it is wise to make a distinction between expertise in household management and expertise in business management. Hannah Arendt agrees that matters of labor and economy belong to the oikos. She believes that the rise of the social has destroyed the political by subordinating the public realm of human freedom to the concerns of mere animal necessity.
     [Note: oikos is the root of the word "economy".]

 

Perfectibility

     Rousseau says that perfectibility is the characteristic of man that desires self 
improvement. Perfectibility and reason allow men to evolve, and modern day culture was brought about by perfectibility. Men improve upon themselves by having a capacity for change which allows them to be molded to fit their environment. Perfectibility becomes possible when people move away from the state of nature and from despotism.


Plurality


     Plurality is a condition that preserves unity without being detrimental to either 
liberty or uniqueness, Hannah Arendt wants the polis to be an artifact of uniqueness, She says that the rise of the social is bad. Aristotle agrees, and also says that the household must be distinct from the whole of society.


Sovereignty


     Sovereignty is political authority within a territory. Hobbes believes that 
sovereignty is unconditional, absolute, and irrevocable. He believes that the sovereign must be separate from the people in order to prevent civil war. Rousseau believes that the sovereign and the people should be one and the same, in order for there to be common happiness.



State of Nature

     The state of nature is a state of anarchy that existed before the rule of law, and before the state had a monopoly on force. The natural condition of mankind, according to Hobbes, is a state of war in which life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" because individuals are in a "war of all against all". Rousseau believes that natural man is gentle, timid, piteous, non-confrontational, and amoral.



Telos


     Teleology is the study of ends. It is the belief that the essence of something is 
found in the thing into which it grows. The telos is the purpose, goal, or end. Aristotle said that the telos of man is to be happy and to live well and live justly. He also says that living happily requires living a life of virtue.
     [Note: To read "The Squirrel and the Acorn", a short essay that I wrote in May 2009 about teleology and political science, please visit the following link:
     http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-squirrel-and-acorn.html]


Three Causes of Quarrel

     According to Hobbes, the three causes of quarrel are competition, diffidence, and glory. Men quarrel for gain, safety, and reputation. He says that in anarchy, these three quarrels lead to a state of war. Rousseau says that competition does not occur in a state of plenty. Aristotle says that diffidence occurs when people act out of fear of aggression and seek retribution. Hobbes believes that glory is exclusive pride for oneself, one's family, or one's homeland.




Author's Note:

     
To read another glossary - or "encyclopedia" - of political theory terms, which I devised by myself, please visit the following link, and read my August 2018 article titled "Encyclopedia of Economic Systems and Key Terms in Political Theory":

     http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2018/08/encyclopedia-of-economic-systems-and.html





Notes taken in May 2009

First published to this blog on August 3rd, 2021

Introduction and notes in brackets written on August 3rd, 2021

Sunday, August 1, 2021

Numerous Connections Between Jeffrey Epstein and Comet Ping Pong Owner James Alefantis Suggest Pizzagate Could Be True After All

      I have created the informational graphic below, to show why I believe there is a high probability that the "Pizzagate" conspiracy theory is true (or at least parts of it), due to the fact that so many social, business, and political connections exist between Jeffrey Epstein and James Alefantis.
     I have created this social network map for readers who can admit that Jeffrey Epstein probably provided prostitutes and/or child sex slaves for high-profile politicians, but still do not think that any part of the "Pizzagate" theory could be possible.

     For the record, I do not believe that Hillary Clinton is personally involved in the sex trafficking or torture of children in the basement of Comet Ping Pong Pizza in Washington, D.C. (owned by James Alefantis).
     But I do believe it's possible that Alefantis was selling child pornography on the encrypted section of his restaurant's website, and also that James Alefantis and John Podesta may be involved in sex crimes against children. It's also possible that Alefantis and Podesta may be involved in cannibalism, Satanism, and/or torture (or, at the very least, pig butchering and the illicit art trade).









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Created and published on August 1st, 2021

Expanded and Updated on August 2nd and 3rd, 2021