Terms
If you wish to converse with me, define your terms. – Voltaire
Voltaire admonishes us to resolve any ambiguities in our language before debating a subject. This is even more important in today’s Orwellian world, where the meanings of words change within a generation, often meaning the opposite when used by the young or the senior citizen. Here is my lexicon of oft misconstrued words, and what I mean when I employ them. It will grow over time as ambiguities present themselves for clarification. They are arranged by subject matter.
ECONOMICS
He who has the gold, makes the rules. – Murphy
- Money is a tangible, durable, commodity, used as a medium of exchange between traders, and/or a storehouse for wealth. It must have intrinsic value itself (desirable and useful for other purposes) to be real money, or a value for value exchange could not be completed. Any commodity could be used for money, and all manner of desirable things have been so employed over the ages. It just happens that gold and silver have always been popular, because of their utility, durability, and scarcity, which maintains a consistent high value on a small quantity of either.
- Currency is a token representing the concept of money, which is employed as a convenient interim medium of exchange, when completing the trade with actual money, is inconvenient or impossible. It has no intrinsic value itself; it is merely a slip of paper, ledger entry, or digital representation of the concept of money. Accepting currency in exchange for something of value, represents an unfinished exchange. Not until this interim currency is traded again, at some future time for something tangible, is the value for value exchange completed. A prudent seller only ever accepts as currency, tokens he is reasonably sure will be readily accepted by traders in the future, in exchange for something he deems of equal value, to complete the trade.
- Note is a legal term for an instrument of debt, such as a promissory note or an IOU. It is a promise to deliver a value at some (often indeterminate) future date. It can be used as currency, only to the extent that one is convinced that future traders will accept it in turn, in exchange for something of actual value. It is far riskier as currency, than is a ‘deposit certificate,’ guaranteeing immediate conversion to real money, to the bearer on demand, at the depository (bank).
- Dollar is a term for a unit of measurement, akin to cup, quart, gallon, etc. It is entirely correct to speak of a dollar of beans or a dollar of nails. When offered a number of dollars [or quarts] in exchange for a value, the proper response ought to be, “A dollar [or quart] of what?” In America, the quantity of wealth assigned to this measurement is established by Congress, in relation to gold or silver money. Originally, one U.S. Dollar was established as the equivalent of one ounce of silver or 1/20th of an ounce of gold. Thus, a dollar of donuts, is the quantity of donuts a baker would be willing to trade, for one ounce of silver money; but it would be entirely legitimate to offer to trade a dollar of rice for them.
- $ & ¢ are symbols that once represented a finite quantity of money; but they have devolved to now represent highly fluctuating quantities of fiat currency. $ represents one unit of Federal Reserve currency in circulation, and ¢ represents 1/100 of said unit. Due to the frequent devaluing of this currency, by the deliberate inflation of its quantity in circulation, any relationship these symbols have to current values or prices is highly transitory, and not to be depended on for future planning.
- Wealth is tangible evidence of past production and/or labor expended, beyond that necessary for immediate survival. Property and money are forms of wealth; currency is not. Debt-based currency is at best, a precarious claim on future wealth.
- Capital is previously produced wealth, available to be employed in the production of more wealth.
EDUCATION
Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel” – Socrates
- Education The entirely spontaneous process, by which a mind develops and acquires knowledge and/or skills. -or- The totality of the results of this process.
- Educated One possessed of a serviceable, orderly, and self-disciplined mind, with average (or above) general knowledge, which is capable of independent rational thought and reason.
- Educate A misguided and often nefarious effort to structure a mind, by attempting to regulate its contents and faculties. [As opposed to teach.]
- Teach Any manner of imparting knowledge or skill so that others may learn. Best done while remaining respectful of the learner, in humble awe of the ability of a mind to learn, when it is receptive to the subject at hand, and eager to assimilate the new knowledge and/or acquire the skill. [As opposed to educate.]
- Educator One who presumes to know the proper structure of a mind, the appropriate contents for it to learn, how best to regulate the education process, and endeavors to educate minds by these standards. [As opposed to teacher.]
- Learn To acquire knowledge, understanding, and/or skills.
- Learned See: Educated with perhaps an emphasis on above average.
- Literate Able to read and write. -or- Having specified technical knowledge or competence [e.g. computer literate].
- Study The intentional and focused application of mental faculties to the acquisition of knowledge.
- School A facility purported to be a suitable environment for learning to take place. [As opposed to public school.]
- Public School A government run indoctrination factory for children, where respect for authority is ingrained, as respect for self, parents, and elders is eroded; young minds are deliberately retarded; individuality is squelched; conformity is promoted; morality is downplayed; conditioning for dull repetitive tasks, while confined in a windowless environment, at a fixed workstation is accomplished; and the maturity process into adulthood is deliberately postponed. [As opposed to school.]
- Reason The proper exercise of the powers of one’s mind to comprehend, infer, and think in an orderly, rational fashion.
- Objective Expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived, without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations.
- Groupthink A pattern of thought characterized by self-deception, forced manufacture of consent, and conformity to group values.
- Intelligence a) The mental ability to learn, understand, or deal with new, complex, or difficult situations, by the skillful use of reason. b) The ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one’s environment, or to think abstractly.
- Intelligent Having or indicating a high degree of intelligence and mental capacity for engaging in rational thought.
- Intellect The mental capacity for rational, intelligent, thought and knowledge, as distinguished from the ability to feel emotion or exercise will.
- Intellectual Activity, study, reflection, and/or speculation guided by the intellect, rather than by emotion or experience.
[Incomplete – Still Under Construction]
POLITICS
Do Right and Leave Others Be. – Liberty gospel according to â—„Daveâ–º
- Incumbrepublocrats The sham duopoly of incumbent ruling elites, tricking complaisant sheeple into believing they need frequent sheering for the welfare of the herd, and have a choice of shepherds; promising, yet never quite providing, eternally green pastures in wolf-free zones. See: Incumbrepublocrats
- Natural Born There are three ways one may acquire U.S. citizenship, one of which is the ‘naturalization’ process, whereby a foreigner renounces previous allegiances to become an American. For ‘birthright’ natives, we recognize both jus soli [right of soil] or jus sanguinis [right of blood] citizenship; but the only way to be considered a ‘Natural Born’ citizen is to qualify as both.We regard those born on our soil as ‘birthright’ natives [by soil], regardless of parentage; but they may also be regarded as citizens [by blood] of a foreign parent’s country. We also regard children born to American citizen parents as ‘birthright’ natives [by blood], regardless of the place of their birth; but if born overseas, they may also be considered citizens [by soil] by the country wherein they were born. [e.g. ‘anchor babies’ are born citizens of both the U.S. and Mexico]. By definition, ‘Natural Born’ citizens are free of such potential divided loyalties, which means they must have been born on our sovereign territory [by soil], to parents who were both already legal U.S. citizens [by blood]. This legal term specifically means precisely that; it is not a synonym for ‘native born,’ or ‘birthright,’ or just the opposite of ‘naturalized.’ It defines a citizen with no legal ties whatever to any foreign country, who thus could never be conflicted by divided loyalty.
- WWIII The so-called ‘Cold War’ waged worldwide between the Soviet Union and its Marxist allies, and the United States and its capitalist allies. Direct confrontation was avoided by waging ‘proxy’ battles in sundry lesser civil wars around the globe. Although the ideological struggle between Marxism and capitalism is by no means over, WWIII itself is generally considered to have ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
- WWIVThe so-called ‘War on Terror’ being waged between Western Civilization, and the worldwide Jihadist effort on the part of fundamentalist Islam, to establish a Muslim Caliphate to rule the world under Sharia Law. Direct confrontation is, of necessity, being waged globally in random acts of terrorism by the Islamists, and in various theaters where Islamic states openly harbor, train, and/or finance the Jihadis. It will only end when the Jihadis have completed their objective, and the worldwide Caliphate is established, which is inevitable.The reasons for this are obvious and inescapable. The Jihadis are committed, relentless, and ruthless, while Western Civilization is somnolent and morally handicapped. We refuse to acknowledge the real threat, and are incapable of permitting ourselves to do what it would take to stop them. Meanwhile demographically, the Muslims are breeding like flies, and Western Civilization has a birthrate significantly below ZPG. As we grow fewer and weaker, they grow numerically stronger; so time is on the side of the Jihadis, and they will prevail in the end.
[Incomplete – Still Under Construction]
PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY, n. A route of many roads leading from nowhere to nothing. -Ambrose Bierce
- Amysticism Disbelief in supernatural entities, causation, or transcendent truth. The skeptical amystic highly doubts the existence of fairies, witches, gods, etc.; rejects causation attributed to such; and employs reason and objective experience to acquire knowledge .
[Incomplete – Still Under Construction]