Democracies don’t count

Trevor Watkins 13/9/23

"I don't care who votes. I only care who counts the votes” J Stalin

Like sad children pinning their hopes on getting a pony for Christmas, the abused South African electorate earnestly wish for a miracle in the forthcoming national elections. This time will be different, they lie to themselves. 

Otherwise serious people, like the leaders of the opposition parties, strategise and plan how they will parcel out their pathetic share of the popular will. They dream they will magically turn into princesses after the polls, despite the vast evidence to the contrary. 

Can you name a single, credible recent election? Zimbabwe is a joke. The 2020 US election was a carefully contrived coup d'etat. The first-past-the-post system in the UK makes a mockery of representative democracy. Nobody believes in the Russian elections in the Ukrainian Donbas. Not many believe in the Ukrainian elections themselves. Watch the US “democratic” party block all opponents of Biden in 2024.
Why do you believe the 2024 South African elections will be different?

“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.”

If you want to know what people think and want, try selling it to them. Its a great system that works incredibly well, from supermarkets to stock markets, from restaurants to repair shops. If you want stupid stuff, and are willing to pay, you will get stupid things. If you want to reduce hunger in the world, buy lunch for a stranger . If you want to change the climate, I have a bridge in Manhattan I can sell you. If you want to tell me how to think and behave, go to hell.

Democracy is the impotent begging the incompetent to extract them from the excrement. It's an embarrassment to all participants. It is a macabre dance of fools performed quintenially. It is all a huge game of make believe, where the politicians pretend to care, the people pretend to participate, and the comrades win all the tenders. And yet we persist. 

 “Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.”

The vast web of rules and regulations enforced by unelected bureaucrats is all that holds the South African state together. “Did you got a licence for that?” brings fear and trembling to the tax-paying, law-abiding and chicken-hearted population. Writing an angry letter on social media could get you Penny-Sparrowed. You will never get enough permits to organise a march. Your gun will never be licensed. So you lapse into a state of bureaucracy induced inertia, a pliant tool in the hands of the state. 

What is to be done? Well, we can take a leaf out of the majority of our countrymen’s book. Simply bypass the state, ignore the regulations, never pay the fines, profit from the incompetence of government.  Join resistance groups like OUTA and Afriforum or a taxi association. Lobby for the repeal of stupid regulations. . Get legal insurance. Grow a pair.

Could we solve our problems by increasing freedom rather than reducing it?

Our knee-jerk solution for every problem is that there ought to be a law, a rule, a regulation that describes the solution in exquisite and impossible detail, at the cost of restricting freedoms and stealing money from taxpayers. Why do we never think of doing less,  of simply getting out of the way and letting a solution evolve? Because bureaucrats don’t get hired or paid to do that.

Conclusion

A minority of all South Africans will go to the polls next year. A majority of that minority will vote to unthinkingly maintain the status quo. The same incompetent leaders now in power will continue in power. Sooner or later the sheer scale of the unfolding disaster will vomit up an absolute leader. Such a leader will probably be worse than our current parliament of poephols, but perhaps he will make the trains run on time. Be careful of what you wish for.

The Four Hoarse men of the Epoch Collapse

 

Trevor Watkins 3/7/23

We are approaching the end of the post-WW2 epoch. This epoch brackets the life and times of the baby-boomer generation, now in their seventies with only a few remaining years. 

This was the epoch of progress, marked by peace, optimism, recovery, and achievement. Emerging from the horrors of World War 2, the West built a new era, free from global destruction, blessed with vast prosperity, dramatic improvements in well-being for most. Transistors, computers, space travel were invented. Starvation, many diseases, race and gender discrimination were eliminated . This could justifiably be called the epoch of human progress. And it is collapsing.

Most epochs start and end in war. The epoch of discovery started in 1815 after Waterloo and ran until 1914. This epoch was characterised by the invention of electricity, flight, the motor car,  the telephone, and many other modern marvels. The epoch of catastrophe started in 1917 and ended a mere 22 years later in 1939.   In my opinion, 2020 marks the end of the epoch of progress, and possibly the start of the epoch of collapse. 

Ironically, the concept of progressivism is destroying the benefits of progress. The old enemy, socialism, conceived in the British library, born in Russia and matured in China, is now infesting Western civilisation.

We have the Ukraine war providing the martial bookend of this period of relative peace. The threat of nuclear armageddon has not been wielded since the early 1960’s. Thousands of civilian deaths, meat-grinder trench warfare, indiscriminate bombing of populations, make this war a palpable, epochal catastrophe.

Many revered and respected institutions simply collapsed in the face of the Covid threat. Hallowed concepts such as freedom of speech, movement, religion, bodily choice,  all evaporated like a shallow puddle in the heat of government authority and fear-mongering. The medical community, previously revered and respected, revealed its authoritarian underbelly. Governmental institutions like WHO, CDC, FDA, NIH were all deeply complicit in a campaign of lying and corruption on an epic scale.

The intelligentsia became stupid. They abandoned reason and restraint in deference to an appalling philosophy based on victimhood, racism and gender confusion. Schools and universities were infiltrated and perverted. New words like “woke” and “cancel culture” became ubiquitous. Most of our august institutions of higher learning  are now an embarrassment to themselves and to posterity.

The global warming farce is draining the West of its vital energy supplies, to the delight of her enemies. In an orgy of self-righteousness gullible “activists”, uninformed teenagers for the most part, put pressure on pliable politicians to adopt lunatic ideas. If implemented, their ideas would guarantee the dawn of the epoch of collapse.

Echoing the ignorant mistakes of legislators in the 1930’s, governments in lockstep with banks and financial behemoths invite an economic collapse to rival the Great Depression. All the many benefits that free markets and free trade brought to the world since the 1960’s are being squandered in a vain and hopeless pursuit of social equity. Economic collapse and social collapse go hand in hand.

Is there any relief from this gloomy litany? Is there any hope to be had? “Cometh the hour, cometh the man.” Who can save us from these turbulent times?  I offer 4 unlikely candidates, all men, all white, all older than 50. One hoarse, one inarticulate, one unemployed, and one gravelly-voiced. 

These are my 4 hoarse men to fight the epoch collapse.

Robert Kennedy Junior

Afflicted by a medical condition that results in a hoarse and raspy voice that makes every word he utters sound painful and forced, he is on a mission to become the next president of the United States. He has the cachet of the Kennedy name, long experience as an environmental litigator, controversial views on big Pharma, and a powerful intellect.  He is working incredibly hard on his campaign, taking virtually every platform offered, and effectively  spreading his message.

Elon Musk

Elon is the outstanding figure of our time, immensely rich, immensely creative, immensely well known. He owns Tesla, Spacex, Twitter and a variety of other leading edge companies. Prodigiously smart, he nevertheless has a challenging style of speech, often hesitant, staccato, and difficult to listen to. He appears to be honest,  blunt and forthright, and does not tolerate fools gladly. As he has shown with his Twitter acquisition, he can use his vast funds, decisive management style and considerable skills to make a real and profound difference.

Tucker Carlson

Tucker Carlson is the honest broker of the American right, and the bete noir  of the American mainstream media. His show on Fox News regularly attracted more than 3 million viewers, sometimes more popular than the entire line-up of competing news channels. Until he was unceremoniously fired for undisclosed reasons. He is unafraid to speak uncomfortable truths, to tear down shibboleths, to say what others will only think.  He does not have any speech impediments that I know of.

Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan is an American Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion and commentator, podcaster, comedian, actor, and former television presenter. He hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast in which he discusses current events, comedy, politics, philosophy, science, and hobbies with a variety of guests. He has a $200 million contract with Spotify to host his podcast. Wikipedia claims that, In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, his show promoted discredited COVID treatments and used false anti-vaccine claims to dissuade people from COVID vaccination In other words, he was right when Wikipedia was wrong. He is the ultimate representative of the common man, respected, thoughtful and often outrageous.

Can 4 men change the arc of history? Can they succeed where so many others are hopelessly failing? John F Kennedy, RFK junior’s uncle, remade the world in 3 brief years.  Elon Musk has remade 3 different industries into the most successful conglomerate ever. Tucker Carlson can successfully capture the attention of millions consistently. And Joe Rogan is big enough and ugly enough to leave an indelible mark on the story of our time. And none of them are currently politicians.

Freedom Insurance

Trevor Watkins 1/6/2023

If, in a fit of fabulous philanthropy, Elon Musk decided to donate 10% of a billion dollars ($100 million, about R2 billion, or .0005 of his net wealth) to the best proposal on how to address the current South African catastrophe, what would you suggest? Here is my proposal.

Avoiding catastrophe in Southern Africa - a proposal to the Musk Foundation

South Africa is in bad shape.  The problems are mostly political. Bad ideologies leading to bad strategies which result in widespread corruption and failure.  Apartheid socialism in the past, Marxist socialism in the present.

South Africa does not lack resources. It does not lack competent people (world class banks, mines, farms, insurance companies, manufacturing industries). It has a history of innovation (world’s deepest mines, first heart transplant, Kreepy Krauly). 

Why should deeply disillusioned South Africans trust any proposals for a new structure?
South Africans of all persuasions are reasonably proud of and united around our existing constitution, despite its flaws. It is subscribed to by all registered political parties. It does not inspire partisan animosities. By undertaking to enforce the provisions of the existing constitution you can avoid endless debate over technicalities.

Like most Western countries,  the South African state takes responsibility for almost every aspect of the life of its citizens and residents, limited only by the terms of a constitution little understood and rarely observed. Most citizens cannot imagine an alternative to an all powerful state controlling the levers of power. We have sacrificed our freedom to the illusory safety and security we believe only the state can provide. The only question is which gang gets to run the state, and even that is only decided every 5 years. I call this  the bigger gang theory of governance.

But there is an alternative which has operated for centuries. Insurance can provide most of the safety and security services which the state ineffectually offers, at much less cost and with far greater efficiency. 

The time for playing by the rules of a corrupt system with a corrupt referee are over.

 I propose the concept of Freedom Insurance.

Objective

To provide a superior structure for the provision of the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights (BOR) of the South African constitution, in the interests of all South Africans.

Harsh Realities

1. Countries and societies do fail with awful consequences.

2. The government/state model has failed and should be bypassed.

3. You can’t please everyone. You can’t save everyone. You must be willing to pay your way.

4. There is no free lunch.

5. Many powerful people may be deeply annoyed by these proposals.

6. Competence and competition are critical to our survival.

7. Bold Action is necessary, words are no longer enough.

Challenges

1. South Africa is a  country deeply divided by race, income, ideology, expectations.  However, the constitution is one of the few unifying forces, admired and respected by the vast majority.

2. The existing government has close to unfettered power over all organs of state. Any alternative approaches will not be well-received.

3. Political solutions by opposition parties have failed for 30 years, and show no prospect of success in the short term.

4. The country is on the brink of becoming a failed state with policing, judiciary, infrastructure, education, and health services all near collapse.

Non-negotiables

Any proposed solution must be

1. Non-political.

2. Sustainable.

3. Exclude the many failed state agencies, parastatals, quasi government organisations, captured agencies.

4. Free market based.

5. Not just another overseas investment plan.

6. Not just another aid program or charity.

Proposal

Use the Musk Foundation funds to establish and capitalise a new insurance company (provisionally known as Freedom Insurance (FI)) which will underwrite and guarantee specific sections of the bill of rights in the South African constitution.

Like any insurance company Freedom Insurance will sell policies to individuals and groups.These policies will cover losses arising from adverse events or violations of the bill of rights - life, property, bodily integrity, captivity, subject to specific conditions. 

Freedom Insurance will

1. Pay compensation to injured parties.

2. Attempt to recover costs from violators.

3. Undertake legal action against violators.

4. Attempt to  mitigate the incidence of violations.

5. Maintain a tribunal to judge violations by members and others, and to assess warrants of search or seizure.

6. Will operate in conjunction with private security agencies, legal agencies and arbitration agencies.

Target audience and conditions

1. Freedom insurance will be available to all residents of South Africa.

2. Freedom insurance will not be free. 

3. There will be a range of products designed to service a range of markets.

4. In all  cases the actions undertaken by Freedom Insurance will be subject to the terms of the client’s policy and their payment status.

The Bill of rights

Freedom Insurance will underwrite the following sections of the BOR.

Sections

9. Equality

1. Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.

Comment

Given the parlous state of the police services and judiciary, this provision is often breached. Most South Africans now resign themselves to 

• receiving minimal assistance from the police in the event of a crime, 

• a botched investigation and 

•  no successful prosecution.

Freedom Insurance will compensate clients for their losses, investigate and apprehend the perpetrators of the crime, take restitution from the perpetrators, and ultimately turn them over to the state for prosecution  with a detailed affidavit.

3. The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.

Comment

Freedom Insurance will undertake legal action against the specific state agency for correction and reversal of the effects of any unwarranted discrimination. Freedom Insurance will pay compensation to the client for any losses suffered due to this discrimination.

11. Life

Everyone has the right to life.

Comment

In the event of a client’s death, Freedom Insurance will pay out the agreed death benefits. If the death was due to the state or other malicious actors, Freedom Insurance will  investigate and apprehend the perpetrators of the crime, take restitution from the perpetrators, and ultimately turn them over to the state with a detailed affidavit.

12. Freedom and security of the person

1. Everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right ­

a. not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause;

b. not to be detained without trial;

c. to be free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources;

d. not to be tortured in any way; and

e. not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way.

Comment

Freedom Insurance will investigate the circumstances of your abduction or captivity. If it is due to state action, a legal challenge will be undertaken. If it is due to malicious actors,  Freedom Insurance will  investigate and apprehend the perpetrators of the crime, take restitution from the perpetrators, and ultimately turn them over to the state with a detailed affidavit.

2. Everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right ­

a. to make decisions concerning reproduction;

b. to security in and control over their body; and

c. not to be subjected to medical or scientific experiments without their informed consent.

Comment

Freedom Insurance would be very active in protecting individuals against vaccine mandates and similar, by bringing legal proceedings against the implementing bodies. Freedom Insurance would also cover the costs of harms arising from forced medication, and will  investigate and apprehend the perpetrators, take restitution from the perpetrators, and ultimately turn them over to the state with a detailed affidavit.

14. Privacy

Everyone has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have ­

a. their person or home searched;

b. their property searched;

c. their possessions seized; or

d. the privacy of their communications infringed.

Comment

Freedom Insurance would be active in protecting individuals against breaches of their privacy, by bringing legal proceedings against the implementing bodies. Freedom Insurance would also cover the costs of harms arising from such breaches.

21. Freedom of movement and residence

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement.

2. Everyone has the right to leave the Republic.

3. Every citizen has the right to enter, to remain in and to reside anywhere in the Republic.

4. Every citizen has the right to a passport.

Comment

Freedom Insurance would be active in protecting an individual’s freedom of movement, by bringing legal proceedings against the implementing bodies. Freedom Insurance would also cover the costs of harms arising from such breaches.

Products

All members will pay a standard R100 setup fee to cover registration, app setup, billing setup, ongoing communications.

Product Name	BOR section	Harm	Exclusions	Benefit
Freedom App (Installed on member’s phone)		1.Violence,  2.abduction,  3.incarceration,  4.abuse, 5.accident		1.Report violations, 2.Request help, 3.Communicate with nearby members,  4.Identify location,  5.Capture evidence (similar to existing security apps), 6.Administrative support
Life	11	Death	Suicide,  deliberate self harm	1,R100k life insurance,  2.R5000 funeral cover, 3.Estate legal support
Freedom	12.1	1.Deprived of freedom without just cause, 2.detained without trial, 3. violence from public or private sources, 4. tortured, 5. cruel or degrading treatment.	Found guilty by FI tribunal or recognised court of associated crime.	1.Daily stipend of 3 times monthly contribution,  2.Defence agency support, 3.legal support,  4.public relations support
Body	12.2	Denial of the right ­ 1. to make medical and reproductive decisions, with informed consent. 2. to security and control over their body;		1.Defence agency support,  2.Legal support,  3.public relations support,  4. compensation for losses  suffered due to denial of rights
Property, land, house	25	1.Theft 2.State confiscation 3.Expropriation	Unjustly acquired property	1.Repay insured value of  property, 2.Defence agency support,  3.legal support, 4.compensation for  losses suffered directly due to loss of property
Work	22	Denial of right to choose trade, occupation or profession freely.		1.Defence agency support,  2.legal support,  3.public relations support,  4.compensation for  losses suffered directly due to loss of work
Health	27	1.Disease, 2.disability,  3.injury,  4.bodily harm.  As Listed on a schedule.	Pre-existing conditions, conditions not specified in schedule. Treatment costs subject to max limit.	a.Daily stipend of 5 times monthly contribution, subject to max limit.
Discrimination	9.1, 9.3	1. Everyone is equal before the law 2. Public body or state discrimination by race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.	Private discrimination is excluded. A private individual or company may discriminate as they see fit.	1.Defence agency support,  2.legal support,  3.public relations support, 4.compensation for losses suffered directly due to discrimination
Privacy	14	1.Unwarranted search or seizure of person, home or property 2. Unwarranted invasion of private communications	If warrant approved by FI Tribunal for public security reasons	1.Defence agency support,  2.legal support,  3.public relations support, 4.compensation for losses  suffered directly due to search or seizure or invasion of privacy.
Movement	21	Denial of 1. freedom of movement. 2.access to a passport and exit from SA 3. right to enter, to remain in and to reside anywhere in the Republic.	Found guilty by FI tribunal or recognised court of associated crime.	1.Defence agency support,  2.legal support, 3. public relations support, 4.compensation for losses  suffered directly due to loss of privacy. movement or passport.

Policies

Policy Name	BOR sections	Products	Monthly PP	Includes	Notes
Basic	9,  11	App, Life	R10	1,App, 2.R100k life insurance,  3. One time R5K loss of freedom, 4, R5k funeral cover	Aimed at lower income groups
Standard	9,  11,  12.1,  12.2	App, Life, Freedom, Body	R100	1.App, 2. R500k life,  3. Loss of freedom  daily stipend of 3 times monthly contribution  4.R5K funeral cover ,  5.defence agency support,  6.legal support,  7.public relations support	Minimum support expected for all citizens and residents
Family	9,  11,  12.1, 12.2,  22,  25,  27	Life, Freedom, body, property, work,  health	R1000	1.App, 2. R500k life,  3. Loss of freedom  daily stipend of 3 times monthly contribution  4.R5K funeral cover ,  5.defence agency support,  6.legal support,  7.public relations support 8.Daily stipend of 5 times monthly contribution, subject to max limit for scheduled health conditions.	Support for an average family member
Full house	9,  11,  12,  14,  21, 22,  25,  27	Life, Freedom, body, property, work, health, Discrimination, Privacy, Movement	R1500	1.App, 2. R1000k life,  3. Loss of freedom  daily stipend of 3 times monthly contribution  4.R5K funeral cover ,  5.defence agency support,  6.legal support,  7.public relations support 8.Daily stipend of 5 times monthly contribution, subject to max limit for scheduled health conditions. 9.compensation for losses suffered directly due to 9.1discrimination,   92 to search or seizure or invasion of privacy 9.3 to denial of movement or passport.	All 1st generation rights specified in BOR

Next steps

1. Establish a trust to administer the  donated funds. Board Members must be strictly non-political. Suggestions: Elon Musk, Wendy Appelbaum, Rob Herzov, Johann Rupert, Patrice Motsepe, Magda Wierczyka.

2. Setup a new insurance company, called Freedom Insurance.

3. Establish an executive structure. Suggestions: Nick Hudson(Panda), Wayne Duvenhage (Outa), Thuli Madonsela, Paul o’Sullivan.

4. Recruit partners - security agencies, arbitration agencies, banks, legal firms.

5. Start marketing.

Conclusion

This article suggests a way to address the current South African crisis. This is achievable and sustainable   given sufficient funds and intention. It is an economic solution, not a political one. It leverages widespread popular support for the constitution and provides real world benefits to most South African residents. It is not a revolutionary proposal but falls completely within the ambit of the existing Bill of Rights. 

Individually, South Africans are at the mercy of the gangs; political, criminal and economic. Freedom Insurance can provide a unifying structure, a rallying point, for powerful but legal resistance to the depredations of the state.

This proposal would do what the politicians have failed to do.

Author: Trevor Watkins is the founder of the Individualist Movement, the author of two books, and a contributing author for the Free Market Foundation. He publishes on a blog at libertarian.org.za.  The views expressed in the article are the author’s and not necessarily shared by the members of the Foundation.