{"id":1097,"date":"2017-12-05T07:12:55","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T12:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=1097"},"modified":"2017-12-05T07:12:55","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T12:12:55","slug":"no-tin-pot-dictators-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=1097","title":{"rendered":"No tin pot dictators, please."},"content":{"rendered":"

If people want to honor military personnel, I’ve no issue with that. But if you start demanding that we honor the military itself<\/em>, I do have a problem.<\/p>\n

The military is just another extension of governmental might. Imagine if someone insisted that we\u00a0adore the IRS or the CDC. Sounds a bit daft, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n

Encouraging citizens to adore the military as an organization<\/em> tends to push a country in a direction that rarely leads to more personal freedom or civil liberties.<\/p>\n

I recently saw an article that discussed a rising trend in some countries where the citizens want a more-authoritarian and militaristic government. Polls show some people in those countries actually wanting the military to\u00a0be<\/em> the government. \u00a0Not I. I like having civilian control over our military.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If people want to honor military personnel, I’ve no issue with that. But if you start demanding that we honor the military itself, I do have a problem. The military is just another extension of governmental might. Imagine if someone insisted that we\u00a0adore the IRS or the CDC. Sounds a bit daft, doesn’t it? Encouraging … Continue reading “No tin pot dictators, please.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[46],"tags":[66],"class_list":["post-1097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-social-commentary","tag-rant","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgY3e-hH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1078,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=1078","url_meta":{"origin":1097,"position":0},"title":"Do we need a ‘Bill of Responsibilities’?","author":"Jorah","date":"November 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It's popular in America to say that we support our troops. I agree! But I don't think it's nearly enough to say 'thanks for your service' or to buy a meal for a veteran or active duty service member. I think we might need a \"Bill of Responsibilities for Citizens\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Social commentary","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=46"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":848,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=848","url_meta":{"origin":1097,"position":1},"title":"People who annoy me. November 29 installment…*","author":"Jorah","date":"November 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":" People who confuse the flag and the concepts the flag stands for. People who promote something close to worship of the American military. There are MANY people who risk everything to help others. Why aren't you in awe of those folks as well? If you can't figure it out,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Social commentary","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=46"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":759,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=759","url_meta":{"origin":1097,"position":2},"title":"Why don’t we teach our kids critical thinking skills?","author":"Jorah","date":"August 16, 2015","format":"aside","excerpt":"I was reading this thread on Quora, and one of the comments included the observation that we teach American schoolchildren scientific facts (if even this), but rarely teach the scientific method, which would better enable them to figure things out for themselves. I have thought about this off and on,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Philosophizing"","block_context":{"text":"Philosophizing","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=59"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":384,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=384","url_meta":{"origin":1097,"position":3},"title":"Day 34\/70: Push","author":"Jorah","date":"December 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Jorah\u00a0earned 218 points for: Plank: 185 sec\u00a0(+64 pts) plank-a-day, not part of the Push workout for today. Decline Push-Up: 10 reps\u00a0(+15 pts) YAYOG W5\/D4 Push. Supersets. 1st declines done with feet on large stab ball. 3-sec hold at bottom, slow negs\/fast pos Shove Offs: 21 reps\u00a0(+31 pts) done onto 5th\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post"","block_context":{"text":"Post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":401,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=401","url_meta":{"origin":1097,"position":4},"title":"Day 40\/70: Push","author":"Jorah","date":"December 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Jorah\u00a0earned 191 points for: Plank: 150 sec\u00a0(+52 pts) plank-a-day Decline Push-Up: 6 reps\u00a0(+9 pts) I do NOT want to work out today... Declines done off of a large stability ball, w 3-sec holds at bottom. Shove Offs: 18 reps\u00a0(+27 pts) ...done off of 3rd step on stairway, standing about 3'\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post"","block_context":{"text":"Post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":358,"url":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?p=358","url_meta":{"origin":1097,"position":5},"title":"Day 24\/70: Push","author":"Jorah","date":"November 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Jorah\u00a0earned 345 points for: Plank: 163 sec\u00a0(+57 pts) 67 sec\u00a0(+23 pts) 49 sec\u00a0(+17 pts) 73 sec\u00a0(+25 pts) Plank-a-day. Trying for 3 minutes or at least to do a P.R. (no 3 minute today... lower back still very sore from kayak trip on Sunday). <<>> What the heck, I'll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Post"","block_context":{"text":"Post","link":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/?cat=30"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1097"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1099,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1097\/revisions\/1099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madstone.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}