As that mythical ‘3 score plus 10’ is now some distance behind me, the urgency of putting my ideas to ‘pen’ can’t be denied but I’ll try to refrain from cluttering this blog with all of my half-baked ideas. Nonetheless, I’m probably not going to finish everything artfully as every year there seems to be more to do … ah, such is the retired life.
I retired from industrial construction and maintenance. Mainly sawmills, pulp mills and paper mills have provided me with life-sustaining work for some 50 years. In that time I’ve learned how to repair virtually anything that moves, move anything that’s not where it belongs, and build pretty well anything with or without drawings or plans. I derive a great deal of pleasure in having someone point me to a few tons of steel and saying, “Build that.” I get immense satisfaction in looking at something that stands a couple of hundred feet tall, knowing I built it.
My projects now are finishing my own house and poking a sharpened keyboard where our ‘controllers’ don’t want it. You’ll find that along my road in life I’ve learned to dislike bureaucracy and relish the taste of freedom.
Some years back I began to practice writing, my intention being to offer a rational opinion when outlandish statements were made in the press. Well, since that time the press hasn’t gotten better, rather if anything, it’s far worse. I’m still expectantly waiting for reason to return to our society, though I’m not holding my breath.
I’ve not given up hope though. I personally think the philosophy of Ayn Rand, Objectivism, is the only path that will lead us back to reason. How to transition from where we are today without losing an affluent society remains the greatest challenge facing us. Far greater human flourishing is the goal and that requires a greater commitment to reason, … persuasion rather than force. And it will win … in the end. Force is self-limiting in that it is purely destructive, to both human life and human effort. The carnage perpetrated by totalitarian states in the twentieth century is visible to all who will look.
As Victor Hugo said, “There is no stopping an idea whose time has come.” Freedom will triumph … when there are persuasive voices to inform and convince the required number of supporters to initiate that ‘tipping point.’.
Meanwhile, because of space limitations, rejections and changing times, this blog will carry what the newspapers won’t or no longer can. I’ll try to identify if and where articles were published.
Hoping you find some things of interest here, garret seinen
Warning; about wokeness, a few words, my first and maybe final.
Throughout my writing I’ve always used the generic term, man, to describe a reasoning biped, inclusive of both those with bumps on their chests or bulges in their pants. If that bothers you, deal with it. I’ll not share your insanity. Please leave.
Note: I’m choosing to ignore my own warning and a post on ‘wokeness’ is forthcoming.
A Parting Thought: Human beings have a propensity to drive themselves insane, while considering themselves to be near-genius, and it appears to be limitless.
seine rambling 
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thanks for publishing, gs.
Good work!
Thanks for the compliment.
Hello Garret, my name is Mark, I’m 58 and I live in BC. I found your website because you included it in your reply on BJ Richter’s Honking For Freedom Newsletter. BJ wrote wonderfully about the tyranny that descended in Ottawa in February, and I enjoyed your article above as well. Thank you. I too would like to get more involved with arresting the creeping tyranny in Canada. If you’re interested in talking more, I am gmc1980@cablelan.net.
Like you I was motivated recently to write something in réponse to current events. I’m not a blogger or anything and my social media presence is very small. All I have is LinkedIn. I haven’t posted this anywhere. I’d like to share this with you. Feel free to use it as you’d like:
Why We Protest, and Why Tyranny Fails
In the late 18th century in the American colonial states, mankind established and experienced the most honest and advanced implementation of a protected and civil society the world has ever known. The world benefitted mightily from this blessing, but we have also spent the last 240 or so years since then frittering away this precious gift.
The 20th century in particular saw a marked rise in murderous regimes and catastrophic wars. A general erosion of morality was accompanied by a rise in dependance on the state. The covenant that was established in the American colonial period became jeopardized, to the point that now we hardly remember what that covenant is.
The covenant is: while we acknowledge that we live in a collective, and have an obligation to support one another, the desires and aspirations of the collective, especially as expressed by the modern state, CAN NEVER SUPERSEDE THOSE OF THE INDIVIDUAL.
Self-serving and cowardly forces have been subverting this covenant ever since the American colonial period, and now in 2022 things are coming to a head. This year has seen unprecedented public unrest and displays of civil disobedience. As of this writing February 11, there doesn’t appear to be any resolution in sight.
It is easy to see why. The individual has been lied to so much in the past several decades that the collective and especially the modern state has little or no credibility left. The state doesn’t have power just because “laws” and “democratic principles” say so. The state has power precisely because the individual grants it. That means that power is always under review and always must re-earn trust. Obviously, the recent social unrest illustrates that the state’s power is severely doubted by too many individuals.
The whole concept of democracy has been distorted by the corrupt members of the state. A society will implode if it insists on executing public policy based on a simple 50+1 majority. There must also be protection of the individual, especially if that individual is in the minority. There has to be broad consensus and trust in public matters. There has to be a greater relationship between the people and the state than just the corrupt political circus called elections that occur every few years. This is the very reason that the American colonialists designed a system so heavy on checks and balances that it was somewhat difficult to pass laws. The system inherently promoted a small, limited state.
Instead, the state has become a leviathan, and various aspects of the state that the individual has agreed to and supported have been turned against the individual. And now the individual has had enough. The COVID-19 pandemic is the latest catalyst to focus our anger and reaction. Now there will be no backing down until faith in the original covenant is re-established.
Many people have had their right to earn a living either taken away or severely curtailed simply because the state has the power to issue and withdraw licenses for various economic activities.
Many children have been subjected to the most vile and repulsive indoctrination simply because for the most part the state has a monopoly on public education.
Most of us are quite aware that the taxes we pay under this collective agreement (the covenant) are not used for their original intention. Instead, they are used for various social engineering efforts that we never agreed to.
Many of us do not welcome the subtle efforts to restrict our movements, encourage us to just stay home, to not own or know how to operate firearms, not own real estate and private property, and generally become more dependent on the state. Even if we are in the minority, society cannot simply ignore our insistence on reducing our dependency on the state.
Most of us reject the bloodthirsty ambitions of neo-conservative warmongers who occupy most positions of power in the state, that is, when we bother to think about it, or if it actually threatened our back yard. The expression of freedom that we are witnessing now is nothing compared to the public outcry if some maniac got us into a shooting war. Vietnam was the last chance the neo-cons got. Even 9-11 wasn’t enough to convince most of the public of the legitimacy of the “war on terror”.
Most of us are unaware of the fantastically complex details of the modern financial and monetary systems. However, more of us are becoming aware that state deficit spending, modern central banking, and currency debasement is completely unsustainable and will eventually collapse. What’s more, this is certainly not a new phenomenon in human history.
Finally, so many of us are finished with the hysteria, selective statistical reporting, and outright lies involving the COVID-19 pandemic, that we are taking to the streets. We no longer recognize the authority of the state over us when we assemble. We no longer place the collective good higher than our own individual values. We will no longer sacrifice for the collective good since we have been lied to so much. Like the covenant between the state and individual, as soon as the state lost credibility regarding the pandemic, the rights of the individual became much more important than any social obligation we may have.
This is not written to convince any of the corrupt members of the state to change their minds or tactics. This is meant to encourage and focus the brave individuals who stand up against tyranny. In case we have forgotten, or are discouraged, remember that tyranny is bound to fail. It may take many victims down with it, and it may take an agonizing period to lose its power, but no human endeavor can last without honest and virtuous foundations.
Thanks for taking the time to read , comment and share a picture of yourself. Yes, the American revolution was a new cornerstone in human liberty. Though slavery was tolerated, the “all men are created equal” idea spelled the end of what had been allowed in order to have the participants in setting the revolution in motion sign on to the Declaration of Independence. That government derives its power from the consent of the governed was also unique in showing the origin of government power.
The quandary we face today is that we’ve asked the government to take an ever increasing role in our lives, Originally we expected the government to monitor fair treatment between citizens, punishing those who failed to recognize equal rights. For that reason we granted government a monopoly on the use of force. Inevitably, the government has taken a monopoly position in all areas of control. and has thus become both the provider and the monitor of services, and so, doing neither well. The provider of a service must always be monitored by competition or a third , independent body.
That we need to get the government out of a lot of things is evident by their ongoing destruction of the value in our money system.
best wishes , gs