Mao

83. The Cult of Statism with Larken Rose

About this Episode

Prominent anarchist activist and author Larken Rose joins Craig for a lively discussion on deprogramming people from the cult of statism. People are mostly inherently good at heart but have been indoctrinated from a young age to believe that government is a legitimate authority. Larken Rose makes a clear case for the immorality of government. Larken and Craig discuss how to engage statists using methods designed to combat their cognitive biases and awaken their inner anarchist.

Government preys on people's fears to keep them voting for corrupt politicians' forcible domination of their neighbors. To keep the rules, the ruling class (politicians) have enforcers (police) empowered to engage in acts of violence that most voters would bulk at committing against another human beings. Thus, when Christians vote, they are unwittingly breaking Jesus' golden rule and doing to others the exact opposite of what they want to have done to themselves. 

Christians should be the most suspicious of the state as it is a competing religious entity with all the rituals, fancy buildings and pomp. But unfortunately, some Christians strongly believe in the state and its illegitimate rulers even more than they believe in Jesus. These Christians need to be gently shown the contradictions in their beliefs and that when they advocate for a human ruler, they advocate for the subjugation of themselves and their neighbors. True followers of Jesus should see that Christianity and the cult of statism oppose each other, but Christianity and anarchy are not mutually exclusive.

Larken Rose:

The Most Dangerous Superstition 

YouTube

Candles in the Dark

Facebook

Episode Timestamps:

4:17 – About Larken Rose:

  • Taught to doubt and debate ideas from a young age

  • Began trying to decide what a legitimate or moral government looks like

    • Accidentally fell off the political spectrum

      • Realized that 'legitimate government' is an oxymoron

      • Government has no special power to rob or legislate

  • Assumes people have consciences and can distinguish right from wrong

    • That's why he's an anarchist

  •  Doesn't care what people say they believe about religion

    • How they treat other people matters

    • Do they abide by the non-aggression principle?

  • If the government disappeared suddenly, Larken would prefer to be around Christian Statists than some atheist anarchists

    • They are nicer people without the political monstrosity

    • The quality of people matters most

16:09 – What currently ails the world?

  • People have been taught to believe that when evil is committed by government authorities, it is no longer evil

    • Individuals are tricked into cheering for evil

      • Even Hitler, Stalin and Mao

      • They fall for the false god

        • Because their fears are played on

  • Christians gloss over Matthew 20:25-28

24:33 – How to awaken someone else's inner anarchist

  • People know the corruption of government but try not to know at the same time

  • Larken Rose asks others to be personal, literal and specific while asking questions about why they need the government

    • If they respond, "protect the innocent"

      • Larken asks, "If I found a more efficient way to protect the innocent and refuse to pay for police. What should happen to me?"

      • They get uncomfortable as Larken asks them to be specific about what should happen.

      • They don't want to blurt out the violence of government

  • No arguing is required

    • Because if they advocate for a government they are advocating violence against peaceful citizens

    • Wanting to "help the poor" is no longer fluffy-sounding goodness

  • Should only the state have all the guns?

  • Candles in the Dark

  • No one wants to admit the violence they condone

    • They don't dare look at the conflicts in their beliefs

    • We need to lead them to the cognitive dissonance

41:36 – Don't do unto others what you don't want them to do unto you 

  • Literally every voter does exactly what they don't want the other side to do to them

  • Democracy is the best trick tyrants ever came up with

    • It makes people mad at each other

    • It makes people consent and vote for evil

    • Politicians are all feasting together and laughing at your fears

  • Did you just enable evil?

    • The other bad guy option is irrelevant

    • You cheer for your own subjugation

    • You victimize everybody when you vote

  • Jesus advocated serving others not lording it over them

  • The Soviet Union, China and North Korea are all Constitutional Republics and have their own Bill of Rights

  • It's wrong to ask someone else to commit evil for you

    • Everyone who votes is a hypocrite without knowing it

      • They vote for others to do things they know would be wrong if they did it themselves

      • They are not going to go door-to-door to rob people to give to the poor

54:39 – Statism is a religion

  • It has rituals, ceremonies, grandiose halls, pomp and tradition

  • Voting is just choosing your new god

  • The pieces of paper are religious texts

  • Statism: The Most Dangerous Religion

  • Government authority is not a real thing

  • Pledging allegiance in churches doesn't happen in other nations

  • Vaccines in churches

  • It's frustrating to try to talk people out of their programming

    • Need to use cult deprogramming tactics

      • Belief in government is a cult

      • They don't realize they hold a faith

  • If people were living in a free society and someone came along and suggested we give them the power to forcibly rob and dominate we would say, 'no'

    • But every election comes down to, 'give me power over you and everyone you know'

  • People become violent if you dare bash the pledge of allegiance or trample on the flag

    • Belief in government is a faith; not practical or logical

    • People are trained to pledge loyalty to the authoritarian rulers of the US

    • People are horrified if you admit to being unpatriotic

  • Some Christians will become more upset when they hear, "I don't believe in government"
    then when they hear, "I don't believe in God"

    • Government is what they really believe in

  • Sometimes you need to offend people to shake them out of their indoctrination

1:08:28 – Government: The largest gang

  • Without government, there would still be bad actors, but they would not be able to marshal the firepower that governments have

  • People feel morally obliged to give them their extortion fees 

  • All of the governmental power comes from the people they duped

    • Taxpayers and enforcers

    • Congressmen will not come to try to take your money personally

    • They use it to make nuclear warheads and tanks

  • Corporations cannot make us buy their products; if they tried, people would wipe them out

  • No gang can enslave the population of the US

  • Larken Rose is optimistic

    • If people start ignoring the government and human rulers, the government is done

  • The evil people are way outnumbered by good

  • Rulers are just people

1:18:07 - Religion and anarchism are not mutually exclusive

  • People can use gods to justify violence against others or as a standard to live by

  • Government can never be legitimate, but belief in god is not automatically bad

    • Not automatically authoritarian

  • Religion has been used in the past to create authoritarian rulers too

  • If society's standard is not initiating violence against others, that will allow peaceful co-existence

    • It allows friendly discussions on all sorts of topics

  • Christians have a reason to identify as anarchists: Jesus Christ

  • Christian, who do you pay tribute to? Whom do you ask to save you from your enemies? If its people in Washington, you need to consider who your god is


Related Episodes

Related Blog Post