History

Video: The Spanish Civil War

This series of shows were recorded on or before 1983.  They include many interviews with survivors on both sides of the Spanish civil war.

This is a fascinating study in how humanity lurches forward, resists change, grasps on to desperate ideas and is willing to kill each other in the process.   Spain was has a functional monarchy until the early 1930's.  When it tried moving forward to a republican form of government it wobbled and failed after a span of about 5 years.   Many people were more comfortable with the old order while some wanted to try radically new ideas.  Some of those ideas were stupid like communism and eliminating money in favor of a revolutionary council handing out chits.   Those thinking crazy thoughts can somewhat be forgiven because the monarchy had held on so long that the change hit Spain like an earthquake that had built up stresses over centuries.  On the other hand they invited war by trying to change too much at one time.  That is bound to upset someone and one has to consider this because lives are held in the balance.  Unstable stupid people do unstable stupid things like kill 500 people at a go with just the word of one person.

 So what resulted?  The forty years of the Franco dictatorship.  Hardly the progress the so called progressives wanted to accomplish.  It is adequate proof to me that true revolutions happen peacefully through people changing themselves and others.  That unfortunately that things change slowly.   And for libertarians like me I see the poor anarchists reject joining government only to learn the lesson that game theory teaches so clearly.  It only pays to be cooperative when your counter party is cooperative.  Otherwise it pays to be uncooperative.  The communists entered the government and solicited help from Soviet Russia.  They ended up pushing out the anarchists.  Quite an object lesson is what is to be overcome to institute true freedom with libertarian ideals.  This history may have bearing on the future for the next step forward in government is its near total elimination.  There will be resistance to this and I expect there will be some wars too.   People, including the peasants, are resistant to change even if it is for the good.

…..more – 5 more episodes

By Fudgy McFarlen, ago

Video: Broken Rainbow – If you trust government you should watch this video

Do you trust government?   

Do you think Rand Paul was wrong when he said the civil rights act of 1964 theoretically goes too far when it bans discrimination in a private business?  If you do then you are substantively against private property rights.   Keep that in mind as you watch Broken Rainbow.  Had the Navaho and Hopi been treated according to the morality and legal philosophy of a libertarian they would have been compensated for their land.   Instead we played by the rules of the Neofeudalist class.   Since Navaho and Hopi did not have many votes to offer they were run over.   By not believing in private property and libertarianism you open the door to all manner of "sharp operators".  Many of whom end up in the United States Government.

Note when watching this video that the left romanticize primitive cultures and would have you believe several obviously false things.  They would have you believe had the native americans not been hoodwinked by actors in the U.S. Government and Peabody coal that they would have refused to allow mining on their land.  This is a tall assumption.   A more plausible reality is that the price paid by Peabody and company would have risen to market value and the Navaho and Hopi would have sold out sooner or later. 

The left sees opportunity in people treated shabbily.  However their eyes are always on making names for themselves or opening new territories in legal standing and representation.  This is not unlike opening wide open frontier land with little competition.  What would you expect? So many of them are lawyers.  If they do not see a chance for recovering on your claim you will get very little love from them.

By Fudgy McFarlen, ago

Video: The Prize – The Epic Quest for Oil Money and Power

Google keeps deleting the videos.  To get around this I am placing a search link

YouTubeSearch: The Prize

​Part 1

 In the style of the acclaimed CIVIL WAR series, THE PRIZE tells the epic history of oil – how it has dominated global politics, shaken the world economy, and transformed our century. Shot on location in Azerbaijan, Egypt, England, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Russia, Scotland, Turkey, and the United States, the series features fascinating characters, never-before-seen archival footage, newly filmed segments, and interviews with the people who shaped the oil industry. Yergin appears on camera throughout the series to discuss oil's impact on politics, economics, and the environment. We see how oil becomes the largest industry in the world–a game of huge risks and monumental rewards. Narrated by Donald Sutherland, THE PRIZE represents cinematic storytelling at its best – a historically significant tale of a quest for mastery that has revolutionized our civilization." PART ONE: Our Plan "Trace the turbulent, rapid rise of the world's biggest business, how a visionary but ruthless John D. Rockefeller controlled it–and how reporter Ida Tarbell took him on in one of the most famous muckraking exposes ever. A fascinating look at Rockefeller's controversial legacy, the rise of modern business, and how Tarbell served as the role model for the modern investigative journalist

Part 2

The Prize Episode Two: Empires of Oil "Witness capitalism on a grand scale: how Shell Oil and Royal Dutch merged, then challenged the supremacy of Rockefeller's Standard Oil. A compelling tale of how oil transformed everyday life in the farthest corners of the globe, made Russia a great oil power, and helped the Allies win World War I

 Part 3

The Prize Episode Three: The Black Giant "It's the Roaring Twenties, and the magic of oil touches everyone, from millions of new car owners to hopeful Texan wildcatters. The American oil industry wrestles with shortage and surplus, as flamboyant entrepreneur Calouste Gulbenkian stakes his claim in Iraq

Part 4

The Prize Episode Four: War and Oil "The untold story of World War II unfolds: how oil dictated strategy to Hitler; how lack of oil slowed Japan's war machine; how oil ultimately determined victory or defeat. Features rare footage on the critical impact of oil on decisive military events

Part 5

The Prize Episode Five: Crude Diplomacy "Post World War II America awakens to the strategic importance of oil and witnesses a key moment in history when oil production shifts from the US to the Middle East. An extraordinary cast of characters, including Arabian kings, US presidents, British adventurers, Iranian politicians, and American explorers paint a global portrait of how oil shaped the world economy and politics

Part 6

The Prize Episode Six: Power to the Producers "It's the heyday of cheap oil, the dawn of the Hydrocarbon Society…and the introduction of a prosperous new automobile culture for Americans. Follow the flamboyant characters, plots, and counterplots, as the producing countries and the independent oil companies challenge the "Seven Sisters"–and open a new era in world oil

Part 7

 The Prize Episode Seven: The Tinderbox "Relive two decades of upheaval that shook the world as power shifted, and nations and companies jockeyed for position–amidst embargoes, shortages, and surpluses. A unique view of the rise of the OPEC era, beginning with the British withdrawal from the Persian Gulf and ending with the burning oil wells of Kuwait

Part 8

The Prize Episode Eight: The New Order of Oil "The Gulf War marked the beginning of a new era for the Hydrocarbon Society. This program explores the relationship between oil and the environmental c wlitith onscience, and the technological race to balance energy, economic, and ecological needs in the Information Age. WARNING:  This episode is not good because it focuses in on the ecological criticisms.  If you watch it note how GreenPeace member positions himself in front of an oil platform and criticizes.  He tried to make himself look big by doing so but ends up paling in comparison with the work of titans in the form of an oil derrick.  Very little content is useful because we all know cities have smog due to many cars being driven.  What the environmentalists fail to do is solve any problems as they are in effect professional complainers with little to no skill in engineering or science,

By Fudgy McFarlen, ago

The Gus Hall Dossier – The Drollest Communist

Update many years later:  All we get a choice of is either Bolshevik or Zionist.   Reagan was called "Red Ronnie" in the 1950s

I remember watching Gus Hall on one of the UHF channels near Youngstown Ohio when I was a child.  Gus lived in the Youngstown area for quite a long time.  His show would come on and he would groan on in a way most boring to a child.  In contrast I remember how Reagan caught and kept my attention when he narrated "Death Valley Days" prior to being elected governor.  Even then I could tell on some visceral physical level the difference between a socialist and a capitalist.  Socialist don't seem to have much of a sense of humor.  I wonder if there is a tendency towards basic chemical depression in socialists. 

                                                           Does not appear creative, witty or comical

I am currently searching for video of him to prove my point that Howard Dean and he share some subtle demeanor.  After all they are both communists.   I found a page here with video that might have a sliver of him on it.

Note the title of his book:  Ecology: Can We Survive Under Capitalism?

Its all about how we capitalist class are killing the world.  Never mind that we are all a member of the capitalist class whether we like it or not and only leave it upon death.  But then these environMENTAL cases do an advocate environmental death lottery.

If you want to see a load of doo doo Google the title of Gus's book.    Notice all the stuff about radical ecology where YOU are the criminal.  With ecology as their basis the radicals can do anything they want !   All that much better than picking on people because they are Jewish. You might run out of Jews.  But with radical environmentalism you never run out of people to demonize.  See someone you don't like?  They must be eco-criminals!

By Fudgy McFarlen, ago