Muse 004: Extremism

Origin Story

In Greek and Roman mythology, a muse referred to each of nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus (god of sky and thunder) and Mnemosyne (goddess of memory), who preside over the arts and sciences. The above is, of course, the definition of a muse as a noun but it can also be used as a verb. That can be defined as “ to be absorbed in thought” or “say to oneself in a thoughtful manner”. I like all of this as it relates to what I intend these writings will to be for both myself, as well as, anyone who finds value in them.

Extremism

I went to Wikipedia to pull the following text: “Extremism is ‘the quality or state of being extreme' or ‘the advocacy of extreme measures or views’. The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense, to refer to an ideology that is considered to be far outside the mainstream attitudes of society. It can also be used in an economic context.” This term is widely used today to describe terroristic type actions by people that are indeed performing acts of evil, however, it is also flung at people that hold the opinion that modern banking and the aloofness with which our central banks throw money around is evil. In that latter example is where I have an issue. In 1802, Thomas Jefferson is quoted as saying, “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” Then 120 years later, Henry Ford said, “It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” Here we are around 100 years later and we are seeing these very institutions our forefathers warned us about conducting unprecedented acts of oppression, surveillance, censorship, and outright fraud. Ominous is not a strong enough word for this moment. Do you know who else were considered extremists? The founders of the United States of America. Elon Musk tweeted a meme that I will include below. It’s amazing how well a complex concept can be broken down with a simple image.

Yesterday we celebrated the Declaration of Independence and I would bet that not even a quarter of people asked would know that 32 of the 56 extremists (aka signers) were under the age of 45 in 1776. Contrast that will the gerontocracy that is running the country today. However, it is important to remember that not all of the signers were young, of note was a 70-year-old polymath by the name of Benjamin Franklin. These freedom maximalists stood to lose everything by waging this war against England, and some of them did. We owe them much more than most Americans (in name only) will ever know. Who today are the extremists that will be known as signers for the generations to come?