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The Supreme Law of the Land

This is a quick post written from my phone. By now, everyone knows I never led Native Americans in a revolution. I’m not leading anyone.

I want to take a moment though to discuss how I’ve always viewed these things from a white American perspective.
The United States entered into treaties with native Americans. Treaties are the supreme law of the land. Whatever else the law says, treaties are higher.

I believe in governmental integrity for the United States.Otherwise what’s the point? That means fullfilling treaty obligations. I have a whole book of every treat actually and I think most Americans should.

It is notsolely the responsibility of native Americans to make sure we meet this stuff.

I have no idea how I got thrown into all of this but fine. Just because I don’t want to be a terrorists doesn’t mean I hate native Americans or don’t want to defend them. People who think this need to go back to school.

The State of Nature: An Overview

In Social Contract Theory, human beings enter into into a social contract with each other. They build societies together. They create economies. They build communities and homes.

Why?

Generally, a person is not an island. Not in any way. Your very language is social. And it is literally how you think. A person without a social contract from the beginning is not just feral–they are barely even human. A feral person assumes there’s a community one is supposed to belong to.

All of this is great, but it doesn’t come for free.

When you enter into a social contract, implicitly or explicitly, you get responsibilities. You can’t just fuck around.

Aristotle said that human being are political animals. And they are. You truly are not a human being if you never have something like a polity. These things make for a flourishing life, a human life.

There are many versions of the social contract. You can look at Hobbes, who I think is probably correct.

You may not always feel like paying taxes, going to work, thinking about others. That’s fine. Whatever. But just know that without the social contract, you are less than nothing. So, really, you owe it. And us.

A Reflection on Sequoyah Rising by Steve Russell

A Reflection on Sequoyah Rising by Steve Russell

Jennifer Lawson

As a graduate student, I was interested in many things. I had become somewhat of an expert on Native Studies, but my interests were extremely broad and I was moving away from that. I knew Steve Russell from my undergraduate years. I corresponded with him about U.S./NativeAmerican issues. He gave me reading recommendatons for my undergraduate thesis.

I heard from Steve Russell as a graduate student when he emailed me saying he was working on a book and wanted me to look it over. That’s what we do. We do that kind of thing. It seemed normal, so I did.

There wasn’t much to what he wrote, but I did recommend that he read Jeremy Waldron’s “Supersceding Historic Injustice.” That’s basically all I did.

I forgot about it and did my other work.

Later, Russell emailed me saying the book was published and that I was mentioned in it. One always wants to see how one’s intellectual help made a difference, so I bought the book and read it.

I was horrified.

In that book, Russell argues, first of all against Jeremy Waldron. In Waldron’s argument, he uses the example of a stolen car. When your car is stolen, it’s stll yours.

Russell made the claim that Native tribes were just like that. Stolen goods, being driven off.I didn’t buy it. It wasn’t a good argument.

Later in the book, Russell argues for militant nonviolence to take on, basically, the United States military. He literally says Native Americans can meet America’s nukes.

Totally insane.

What’s more, Russell even states that people who do this would be considered terrorists by The United States. That’s what really got me. People who agree with this book are, quite literally, terrorists.

Upon reading the book, I felt selected. I felt targeted. I felt pressure like I was supposed to do this.

I completely and utterly refused.

For many, many years, I refused.

I maintained contact with Russell on social media, but I didn’t do much Native Studies anymore. Thank God. I very much felt hated for being smart and white. I felt pressure to go along with some idiotic plan.

I’m a philosopher. I don’t make manifestos. I try my best to make reasoned arguments. If they are good, great. If they are not, argue against them.

I am also an activist, as many people know. But I have only taken on select activites, and even then, only briefy.

I highly doubted I could do something like lead Native Americans in some insane revolution, anyway, even if I wanted to, which I didn’t.

I come from a military family. Although I’m not always in favor of war, I know it’s beyond insane to take them on the way Russell mentioned.

This book was published with an academic press. I thought it was garbage. Certainly not academic. If this is the kind of stuff being published, academia does deserve to be attacked. Thank God I know it’s not the only stuff out there.

I don’t have any say on this really, but my hunch is that Steve Russell was a mastermind. And maybe, just maybe, he wanted to punish me for giving him, well, a really good argument.

Let me tell you a secret about John Locke

John Locke is where we get our concept of property in the United States. Basically, when you mix your labor into something, you own it. But. You can’t own people.These days, we commonly use money as a go between for our labor. That’s why when you purchase something when your earned money, it’s yours. However, it all goes back to your labor.

On Military/State Neutrality

I’ve often wondered if a nation that goes to war a lot is actually really strong. I have Swedish Heritage and am fond of it. Sweden has been officially neutral for a long time. People have criticized them for it. On the other hand, the United States has been at war almost all my life. They say practice makes perfect. But what if it doesn’t.
A neutral country has to deal with attacks from all sides in a savvy way. It has to defend itself and not harm another country. Since we live in a violent world, Sweden and other neutral countries likely see constant attacks.
During WEIi, Sweden led enormous efforts to save people from persecution. Officially, they worked for both sides. But in reality they saved Jews, gays, lesbians, people with disabilities, and others in concentration camps by issuing fake citizenship to them.
America likes to think they were the most prominent force to win the war. But maybe they weren’t.

Thoughts from a single American

The United States was founded by philosophers and supported by fighters. This is true. It may be the only country in the world where philosophers got together to create ideas about a founding. But why?

The United States fought Great Britian. I know people don’t like to bring that up, but it’s important because at the time, the people were the lowest of the low. The crown had all the power and controlled the military.

Not so with the United States.

Here, our very being is based on philosophy which was out of reach for most people in Great Britian. Our President has very limited powers. The people control the military.

So, really, a regular, plain clothed civilian–even a poor one–is the most important in the United States. These are the people who, together, run the entire show.

To Work and to Love

Freud may have gotten a bad rap over the years, but he was basically right about a lot of things. I thought of this when I read an article (link below) on AI.

I’m not an expert on AI. I’ve only listened to arguments and thoughts of those who are. Yet, I’ve been interested.

CEOs have their reasons for adopting AI. Whatever one thinks, Their job is to run a great business.

Skills are becoming obsolete at a fast rate due to AI. Is this a problem? Yes.

Most people know I’ve supported UBI for quite a while. They may not have noticed that I haven’t spoken about it lately. I’ve been focused on psychology research.

One thing that Freud said is that everyone needs two things: to work and to love. I believe he’s right. That’s why I read, research and think even though I haven’t been able to hold a job due to disability. That’s why I’ve loved fiercely.

I don’t know if companies will tell us the real reason they are adopting AI. I’ll probably never know. But it is concerning. I’m not exactly sure what will happen to us and our health, but it won’t be happy.

We are used to adopting new technologies. We have been doing it forever. But at their best, technology assists us to achieve happiness and health. In the case of AI, that’s not always clear.

I support new technology because I believe they can be assistive to the sick, elderly and disabled. That’s why I maintain a website. When I can think and work and write, it helps me.

But for so many other things, technology is not exactly great. And with with corporations adopting AI, we will have skills we cannot use.

I encourage you to read this article and think about it for yourself.

A Liberal Concern About Current Leftist Trends

Jennifer Lawson

I know I get limited information about the current state of politics and political trends in the United States. We all do. Our information is filtered through the media and not many of us have good media literacy. That’s actually very difficult to do. However, I have been increasingly concerned, as a Liberal, about the state of the Left for quite some time. I have been very hesitant to make my views known because of political, social, economic, and other, retaliation. This post is about that.

I’m totally not trying to brag, but I have a lot of experience working on Liberal issues. I’m not the greatest, but I do know some things. Initially, I was concerned about where the Left was headed when I started applying to Leftist jobs I was more than qualified for. I knew, even if my resume wasn’t polished, that I should have at least gotten an interview. I began to wonder why I was being rejected.

What’s more, I have worked on issues about people of color, feminist issues, environmental issues, and more. Each time, I knew I was being treated poorly due to my race (white), love of men, and simple curiosity about the appropriate climate actions. As someone who really was honest about being an activist, I wondered why they would blackball people who were looking for better answers, and trying to make social progress on issues. Wouldn’t a valuable movement want that kind of alliance?

So too, when I’ve tried to be a part of a social action, organizations have taken over. This concerned me because I fully believe that peaceful protest should be about the people, not necessarily about about non-profits.

I’ve become skeptical about emails I get from the Left that are not about issues but are always and simply asking for money.

I have over 20 years of experience. I’ve tried to do good work. I’ve done my best. But, really, we haven’t made progress whatsoever. Is this intentional? Is it a part of foreign governments interfering in U.S. affairs? I really don’t know. That’s not my game. But I am sorry about the state of things. That’s why I’m writing this post. It’s really my only course of action these days.

I realize I can be wrong about things. That’s normal. But where ever the U.S. came from, having a healthy Liberal party is vital. I hope people recognize this even if they aren’t Liberal. As a philosopher, I know that passionate debates and good arguments are way too important. And, as we stand, the Left has very few good arguments. This has really caused the state of where we currently stand as a nation. Sometimes, I see sparks of hope. But it’s rare and often goes off track.

I’m writing this for our nation but also for the Left. We need you. We really do. I would like to make this a call to revitalize Liberalism in the United States. I see your manipulation. I see your falseness. Persecute me all you want, but to me, my country is too important.

Whoever the bad actors are–and there are plenty–this post is to make it known that we see you. We really do. And a lot of us actually do care about the state of things.

For those who really do care and are passionate and honest and true, this post is also a boost of solidarity. You have, at least, me.