There would have to be a 4th class, right?  If the 3rd class are those that will not "sacrifice their private interests as to give themselves seriously and earnestly to the work of making a change" then either there are or there aren't ever some of those who DO.  Granted the 4th group is only as big as those that know who they are — if only that small minority could become a majority, the consciousness of America would reverberate around the world.

In 'No Treason' Spooner makes a very fine point: our ancestors cannot bind us to their words spoken in their time, they do not have the authority to do so.  I always felt that an American, when reaching adulthood, should sign the Declaration of Independence and make the words their own — that would be my agreement to be a responsible citizen.  Those that choose not to sign will continue to be treated as wards of the state until they are declared competent. ;-)

I've certainly been 'duped' into working for 'knaves' alongside a few who can see the naked truth but believe themselves powerless to do anything or even what to do.  Interesting that so many of us have no Civics training or simple understanding of Common Law — without that we are but inferiors to lawyers and made perpetual wards of the state.

Spooner makes himself perfectly clear from the very first page.  It is hard to argue with such facts, especially as Spooner expresses them!  No 'tough love' here, just hard fact.

Is this so hard to understand?  All those complicit benefit from the racket.  In the blame game, victimhood is currency.  Fame and influence are the prizes in a 'no holds barred' battle to impress upon the malleable minds of the masses their narrative, their branding, their authority, and ultimately their commands.

A republican form of government based upon the natural rights of humankind is regulated by the People, who are the source of the government's power and can take it away.  In an authoritarian form of government, the government is superior and the people inferior, the rights of the people determined by the authorities.  The government regulates the people.

Socialism is a democracy in which everything is up for vote, but the authorities still determine what is being voted on and what the choices are — as well as do the counting of the votes.  Authoritarianism whether from the Left or the Right is still Tyranny.  No matter how many people vote for authoritarianism, the dictates of tyranny have no lawful basis and we are not beholden to them.  Please note that government is a vehicle to tremendous power, wealth, and influence — no matter the form whether monarchy, socialist democracy, communist dictatorship, military dictatorship, or aristocratic oligarchy, you will never get the wealth out of government because that is THE game of wealth and power.  Better then we observe the American republican form with its distributed branches, and power inherent in the People so that no one can rule all.

If only!!  ;-)

The answer is Yes! It is possible "to control and regiment the masses according to our will without their knowing about it."  It has never been more apparent in the mass media and social media.  The propagandist does not need 100% belief by all; to convince a small but loud minority is enough to sway the masses, if only to disrupt and attack the opposition.  Propaganda is a form of war upon the individual, to bring him/her into line, to control the 'narrative' and adopt it as one's own.

Without government regulators, what would we do?  Be fine.

They're not "gonna" go in, they have already been going in busting people, confiscating their homes, cars, money for a couple grams of pot.  The abuse of power is absolutely fascistic!  Where has the Constitution given the power to do this?  Alcohol prohibition required an amendment to the Constitution, which was later repealed.  Where is the amendment for drug prohibition?  Who made the American Medical Association a lawful governing body?  Why can we not receive medical services from someone not licensed by the AMA?  These are gate-keepers all, protecting their racket.  When will Americans rise up against arbitrary authority?

Marijuana is legal in Canada today!  More US States are voting on legalization in November.  Trump has signaled a desire to re-schedule marijuana and let the State governments decide their own regulations.  Mexico is likely to legalize as well.  All the Central American nations are ready to end this war.  Legalize all 'drugs' which are forms of medicine in varying strengths, risks and benefits.  Let people take responsibility for making informed choices.  The real resistance is from those that make money from the racket — lawyers, doctors, police, prisons, officials are all employed by the drug war, not to mention the foreign growers, the distributors, the corrupt cops, officials, and politicians that play a role.  The evils associated with prohibition far exceed the evils of consumption.  It's a racket.

That's all well and good, but it still requires the citizen to inform him/herself and to "react responsibly."

Controlling past, present, and future is immense power.  It is no surprise that every effort is being made to control what the world sees and hears about everything.  The narrative has been written and distributed to the powers-that-be — you can tell when the same 'talking points' are found in dozens of media outlets at the same time.  But too many people depend on this racket now, and the jig is up. 

The reputations of CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS have been decimated due to their own rhetoric.  Once trusted and respected, they now are believed less than super market tabloids.  It is obvious that these are not businesses to make money for their shareholders, but gate keepers and propagandists for political purposes.  Why don't people put 2 and 2 together and see that when the Democrats out spend Republicans 3 to 1 on advertising, that money goes to the networks, that is their bread and butter.  They constantly are merely making themselves richer hand over fist, even while the ratings are in the tank and voters reject them.  Campaign money forms huge slush funds earmarked for the media companies ultimately.  It's very expensive to distribute and maintain a narrative that contradicts reality, therefore, it takes lots and lots of money, and they get it.  Of course a discerning mind will not fall for it, and thus the dumbing down of America into feuding classes instead of stewards of independence and liberty.

The 'truth' already is, whether I know it or not.  The truth is 'realized' and 'discovered' — it is 'revealed.'  A good teacher will facilitate this realization in the student, but the question must be asked in order to receive the answer.  Why is the student studying?  What is it you wish to learn?  It is the seeking of truth that reveals the truth — otherwise we would already know the truth as it is always and forever in front of us (i.e. reality). 

I will remember the experience of realizing something more readily than the experience of being told something.  My biggest complaint about 'school' was that I was being 'taught,' being given 'answers' to questions I wasn't asking, highly suspect 'answers' to 'leading' questions at that.  I preferred the library with lots of reference indexes so I could pursue my own train of thought. 

True knowledge is gained through personal experience whether in school or the woods.  Discerning that experience I would call seeking truth.  I would rather pay to learn from elders with a life time of experiences, than to attend a free course 'taught' by a young professor with little experience — of course, I can learn from anyone.  An honest dialogue with anyone will reveal liberating truths if all speak truthfully and listen to what they say.  It's all in the question.  ;-)

The incestuous relationship between the Democratic Party, the dominant media corporations and the intelligence community has resulted in a propaganda machine to control the minds of the world.  Such utopian dreams have enslaved most of the world's populations under the thumb of their rulers.  The narrative is reality, control the narrative.

"The science is settled."  "There is no debate on this."  "This is a violation of our values."  Banned from social media for offending someone, "violating community standards."  All this jargon is to shut people down, publicly humiliate opposing ideas and facts, virtue signal at every turn while having no virtue in practice. 

Let bad arguments be made, and allow good arguments to respond.  Let reason work it out.  Either there is a desire to resolve a problem or to force a solution.  The truth rules, better to face facts than make excuses.

That's not a bug, it is a feature of censorship.  It doesn't change the fact that the emperor is still wearing no clothes.  The programming does not work for everyone, and people can awaken (and do) and are able to let go of obvious falsehood and become liberated from the bondage of lies.  It takes constant effort to keep a lie alive, it takes only a second to realize it.

So, to produce is economics, and to steal is politics.  Got it. ;-)

There's a big difference between academic freedom and 'education.'  The public school indoctrination programs have been extended to the university and even into corporate America that hires these graduates.  The PC culture and regulation of thought and speech is rampant in corporations today, particularly those that do not produce any food or durable goods.  Propaganda is big business!!  And a very easy business to skim money from multi-billion dollar campaigns.  The media companies can charge whatever the market will bear, far above the cost of doing business.  It is a racket within a racket within a racket.  The average Joe has no concept of how much their 'education' has been to keep them in their place.

Bad news sells.  Government requires conflict to justify their existence — no conflict, no need for them.  As peace is acquired, more 'trouble' is needed to keep the government in business — make more laws prohibiting what people already do and issue permits to do the same thing.  Thus the victim class to be used as a bludgeon against the free and responsible, to vote away the power and property of their neighbors, in the process enriching the political class at the expense of the common man/woman.

No comment... ;-)

Burned books cannot be read.  Just because you are reading this does not mean that speech isn't banned — banned speech is not heard, you do not know what has been censored.  In the take-over of the world, controlling thought (i.e. the narrative) is integral.  This battle for the control of our labors has been incessant — conditioning our minds for 'service' and 'sacrifice.'  It's the oldest racket in the book, 21st century style.  The pursuit of happiness is but selfishness, and liberty the road to vice and ruin. 

The “European tradition” which “favors dignity over liberty and civility over freedom” regulates “well-ordered spaces for safety and civility.”  Rather than Americans adopting such authoritarianism, how about Europe and the rest of the world start valuing Liberty in their own countries.  It is America that has been a beacon of liberty around the world, it is up to the people in their own countries to declare their own rights and take a stand for themselves.  THEN you will see the oppressor right to your face, Waffler.

Without switching topics, Robert, the quote is accurate.  But I will agree with you that the US has become a 2-party nationalist socialist democracy — I need not remind you the German acronym for that...  Since the days of FDR fascism has been instituted by removing the restraints of the government and placing them upon the People.  From fiat currency, to militaristic expansion, federal regulation of the States' means of production, the commercialization of private enterprise, subjecting the common man to the interstate commerce clause, government subsidy of industry, and on and on — all depend on the taxing the People.  Every plank of the communist manifesto was introduced and implemented by FDR and all the socialists that followed, subverting the constitutional republic.  Robert, the central banks are pillars of socialism, you can't have one without the other.  Socialism is the Monopoly game of the globe's wealthiest and most powerful.  US politicians are all millionaires — have you ever taken a deep dive into how they make this money doing nothing?  Socialism is VERY profitable for those with government contracts, which typically overpays for everything.

The screaming socialist-leftist Democrats are the irony, as 'liberals' who do not wish liberty but to regulate others' power (i.e. money, speech, labors, property, children, philosophy, ad infinitum).  "White people this, and white people that..."  The day soon approaches when racism against whites will be recognized for what it is.  Such obvious extremism is probably what you wish to separate yourself from.  I can't figure out if you are triggered by 'leftist' or 'socialist'  but both have embraced hypocrisy by saying one thing and doing the opposite.

I AM taking responsibility for my life, I don't blame others for the quality and condition of my life, I am responsible.  And if there is a cause for which I am willing to fight, I begin by taking responsibility for the problem. 

Robert, I know you to be a fighter, especially with regards to homosexual issues, which is a 'classic' liberal.  But the gay rights movement is more about demanding some form of benefit from the state as a 'right.'  So in that vain, the right to consensual sex has been co-opted by the 'left' to push for more government control, regulation, and entitlements.  The 'left' is notorious for claiming sexism and racism whenever one opposes their leftist policies in classic 'revolutionary' fashion.   On the merits of people's actions and ideas, there is no real debate, just accusations to demean the opposition.  No talk of constitutionality, how to pay, whether the accusations/theories are true, no investigation into the hidden sources of these parroted agendas — yes, parroted, over and over from multiple leftists, all apparently getting the same talking points.  This is the Left.  

Robert, help me out, what are you taking responsibility for?  What will be the means for the end?  Do you consider yourself to have any 'rights' to government programs?  Do you require anything from me or society?  Cheers.

;-)  Where to begin?!

For the most part, all the talk of politicians and all their legislation is designed to condition us to accept their lies. 

Americans are waking up to 'fake news' which has been fake for a long time, but only now is the facade starting to fall. 

Next will be the realization of the 'fake authority' of government officials of all stripes, making arbitrary rules for others to follow with criminal penalties.  'Fake laws' that do not apply to the common man are 'enforced' daily.  Of course there's also 'fake medicine' that merely treats conditions rather than cure disease.  'Fake food,' merely tastes good but without any nutrition.  'Fake education,' required by law to receive.   'Fake money'! ;-) Don't even get me started!!

Everyone of us has been born into a deluded world with professional liars at the helm.  Reality is purposely veiled by all the followers and believers who then project that upon the children.  The liberation from the bondage of lies and deception is a constant process of awakening and acting in accordance with the laws of nature (i.e. reality).  For me, this is what the spiritual path is — I know no other way to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Spoken like a true leftist ... socialist ... liberal ... authoritarian ... collectivist ... whatever.  Where is your defense of liberty?  You have confused classic liberalism with 'social work' in which the people are the unwilling clients. 

I do not doubt you have great ideas on how it all could be; however, you have trumped our will as a result.  How are your ideals and hopes different than a Christian congregation?  Your compassion needs an outlet, but as an atheist, you have made social justice your religion. 

I have no more problem with that than other organized faiths, as long as you keep within your proper jurisdictions.  If you want to join a club, go ahead and agree to the terms, but you cannot force those obligations on anyone else who has not agreed.

How about inspiring people to join rather than judge and blame?  Freedom means taking responsibility — what are you taking responsibility for?  That would be clearer.