“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country ... We are governed, our minds are moulded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society ... In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons ... who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.””
democracy
Democracy: The God that failed /
“What happens in other forms of government–namely, that an organized minority imposes its will on the disorganized majority–happens also and to perfection, whatever the appearances to the contrary, under the representative system. When we say that the voters “choose” their representative, we are using a language that is very inexact. The truth is that the representative has himself elected by the voters, and, if that phrase should seem too inflexible and too harsh to fit some cases, we might qualify it by saying that his friends have him elected. In elections, as in all other manifestations of social life, those who have the will and, especially, the moral, intellectual and material means to force their will upon others take the lead over the others and command them.”
Democracy: The God That Failed /
Let us marvel at the blatant hypocrisy and the naked will to power.
First, we have the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law:
1 The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
2 Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
(d) freedom of association.
Then there is the Canadian Bill of Rights:
The Parliament of Canada, affirming that the Canadian Nation is founded upon principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God, the dignity and worth of the human person and the position of the family in a society of free men and free institutions;
Affirming also that men and institutions remain free only when freedom is founded upon respect for moral and spiritual values and the rule of law;
And being desirous of enshrining these principles and the human rights and fundamental freedoms derived from them, in a Bill of Rights which shall reflect the respect of Parliament for its constitutional authority and which shall ensure the protection of these rights and freedoms in Canada:
Therefore Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
1 It is hereby recognized and declared that in Canada there have existed and shall continue to exist without discrimination by reason of race, national origin, colour, religion or sex, the following human rights and fundamental freedoms, namely,
(a) the right of the individual to life, liberty, security of the person and enjoyment of property, and the right not to be deprived thereof except by due process of law;
(b) the right of the individual to equality before the law and the protection of the law;
(c) freedom of religion;
(d) freedom of speech;
(e) freedom of assembly and association; and
(f) freedom of the press.
2 Every law of Canada shall, unless it is expressly declared by an Act of the Parliament of Canada that it shall operate notwithstanding the Canadian Bill of Rights, be so construed and applied as not to abrogate, abridge or infringe or to authorize the abrogation, abridgment or infringement of any of the rights or freedoms herein recognized and declared
Even the Emergencies Act explicitly defers to the supremacy of the Bill of Rights and the Charter:
AND WHEREAS the Governor in Council, in taking such special temporary measures, would be subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Bill of Rights and must have regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly with respect to those fundamental rights that are not to be limited or abridged even in a national emergency.
Given all this, and despite the fact that the declaration of a national emergency* cannot be justified, we have the following orders that are directed to abrogate and abridge our apparently foundational liberties:
Today, the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, with the support of the Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, and the Honourable Bill Blair, President of the Queen’s Privy Council in Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness, announced the declaration of a public order emergency under the Emergencies Act, to end disruptions, border blockades and the occupation of Ottawa’s downtown core.
The public order emergency grants the Government the authority to apply the following temporary measures:
- Regulating and prohibiting public assemblies, including blockades, other than lawful advocacy, protest or dissent
- Regulating the use of specified property, including goods to be used with respect to a blockade
- Designating and securing places where blockades are to be prohibited (e.g. borders, approaches to borders, other critical infrastructure)
- Directing specified persons to render essential services to relieve impacts of blockades on Canada’s economy
- Authorizing or directing specified financial institutions to render essential services to relieve the impact of blockades, including by regulating and prohibiting the use of property to fund or support the blockades
- Measures with respect to authorizing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to enforce municipal and provincial laws by means of incorporation by reference
- The imposition of fines or imprisonment for contravening on any of the measures declared under this public order emergency
I explicitly mention the names of those who have perpetrated this crime upon us so that they may be properly regarded by history as tyrants and cowards. It is now clear to anyone with eyes to see that there is only one acceptable way to think and act in Canada. If you are so reckless as to allow dissident opinion to creep into your brain, you will be punished for it. And by dissident opinion, I mean nothing more than to believe that the Charter and the Bill of Rights actually secure individual liberties that you can assume the Government of Canada will respect. To take these foundational documents at face value is a grave error.
Hans Hermann-Hoppe was correct.
Required reading: On Power by Bertrand de Jouvenel
* A national emergency is:
an urgent and critical situation of a temporary nature that
(a) seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it, or
(b) seriously threatens the ability of the Government of Canada to preserve the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Canada
and that cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada.