Now this is interesting:
L: Yes. It's too late now, but for years I've had a fond fantasy that Russell Means would persuade some band or tribe somewhere to exercise the sovereign independence they truly and legally have, and tell the US government to go get stuffed. The US can keep its welfare checks and other "help." Instead, once acting independently, they could set up a free-trade zone and invite businesses to lease land for a dollar for 99 years – sort of like the original Hong Kong setup – and levy no taxes. Businesses would gladly move to South Dakota – or wherever – to enjoy a real tax haven without having to leave the continental US. Even without the taxes, the businesses would create countless jobs and benefits for the tribes –work with dignity. If there were also fewer regulations than in the US, technological progress and innovation could happen faster. Instead of being romanticized welfare projects, such reservations could become shining beacons of liberty, prosperity, and progress…
I'm sure he must have tried – a pity the idea never caught on.
Doug: Absolutely. It worked for China; it should work even better for Indians, who are not burdened with the legacies of Maoism. But I guess INTJs are just as rare among American Indians as among Americans of European descent. Perhaps even more so.
Worse, native culture has been all but destroyed, not just by the wars and decimation of their population, but by the welfare mentality foisted upon natives by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The BIA since its founding has been the most notoriously corrupt of all government agencies, which is saying something. It still spends billions per year, largely keeping Indians dependent and on their reservations – hanging around the fort, as Russell said. The BIA is one agency that should be abolished tomorrow morning, and then a thorough criminal investigation launched for malfeasance and misfeasance among both its current and retired employees. It's time Indians controlled the property they own and are stopped being treated like wayward children.
But to answer your question, going back to something I said earlier, as much as I respected Russell, his greatest failing may have been that he did not educate himself deeply on the philosophical matters that concerned him. He never read enough of the classics and current literature to gain a thorough theoretical understanding to back his gut libertarianism. He could argue from the heart, but not as effectively from the head – he was quite capable of it, very intelligent, but he just didn't bother. This may be why, as passionate and impressive as he was, he couldn't talk any of the tribes into doing as you say.
L: Reminds me of the king telling Mozart in Amadeus: "Herr Mozart, you are passionate, but you do not persuade."
Doug: [Laughs] Exactly.
The last thing Russell got involved in some was project in the Dakotas – I wrote about it in theInternational Speculator at the time; it had to do with setting up a free country, just as you described. I meant to get in touch with him about it, but urgent things got in the way of important things. Anyway, he had some health problems at the time, and I didn't think he was the sort of guy who'd want to go out with a bunch of tubes stuck up his nose in a white man's hospital. I thought he might look to pick a fight with the Federales and go out in a blaze of glory. It didn't end up that way, and that may just be the greatest tragedy of Russell's life.
I've always wondered why American Indians do not form their own "Hong Kong" here in the USA. For example, the Puyallup Indians have prime port land of their own, and it appears their lands run all the way to include Mount Rainier.
The Indians in the Northwest were keen on alliances with the paleface immigrants, but were given genocide instead. Alliances presume a change in policies as well, so fundamental freedom as an operating system, free from force or fraud, might be a good idea right now.
And certainly, as far as the USGovernment is concerned, we are all Indians now.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
L: Yes. It's too late now, but for years I've had a fond fantasy that Russell Means would persuade some band or tribe somewhere to exercise the sovereign independence they truly and legally have, and tell the US government to go get stuffed. The US can keep its welfare checks and other "help." Instead, once acting independently, they could set up a free-trade zone and invite businesses to lease land for a dollar for 99 years – sort of like the original Hong Kong setup – and levy no taxes. Businesses would gladly move to South Dakota – or wherever – to enjoy a real tax haven without having to leave the continental US. Even without the taxes, the businesses would create countless jobs and benefits for the tribes –work with dignity. If there were also fewer regulations than in the US, technological progress and innovation could happen faster. Instead of being romanticized welfare projects, such reservations could become shining beacons of liberty, prosperity, and progress…
I'm sure he must have tried – a pity the idea never caught on.
Doug: Absolutely. It worked for China; it should work even better for Indians, who are not burdened with the legacies of Maoism. But I guess INTJs are just as rare among American Indians as among Americans of European descent. Perhaps even more so.
Worse, native culture has been all but destroyed, not just by the wars and decimation of their population, but by the welfare mentality foisted upon natives by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The BIA since its founding has been the most notoriously corrupt of all government agencies, which is saying something. It still spends billions per year, largely keeping Indians dependent and on their reservations – hanging around the fort, as Russell said. The BIA is one agency that should be abolished tomorrow morning, and then a thorough criminal investigation launched for malfeasance and misfeasance among both its current and retired employees. It's time Indians controlled the property they own and are stopped being treated like wayward children.
But to answer your question, going back to something I said earlier, as much as I respected Russell, his greatest failing may have been that he did not educate himself deeply on the philosophical matters that concerned him. He never read enough of the classics and current literature to gain a thorough theoretical understanding to back his gut libertarianism. He could argue from the heart, but not as effectively from the head – he was quite capable of it, very intelligent, but he just didn't bother. This may be why, as passionate and impressive as he was, he couldn't talk any of the tribes into doing as you say.
Doug: [Laughs] Exactly.
The last thing Russell got involved in some was project in the Dakotas – I wrote about it in theInternational Speculator at the time; it had to do with setting up a free country, just as you described. I meant to get in touch with him about it, but urgent things got in the way of important things. Anyway, he had some health problems at the time, and I didn't think he was the sort of guy who'd want to go out with a bunch of tubes stuck up his nose in a white man's hospital. I thought he might look to pick a fight with the Federales and go out in a blaze of glory. It didn't end up that way, and that may just be the greatest tragedy of Russell's life.
I've always wondered why American Indians do not form their own "Hong Kong" here in the USA. For example, the Puyallup Indians have prime port land of their own, and it appears their lands run all the way to include Mount Rainier.
The Indians in the Northwest were keen on alliances with the paleface immigrants, but were given genocide instead. Alliances presume a change in policies as well, so fundamental freedom as an operating system, free from force or fraud, might be a good idea right now.
And certainly, as far as the USGovernment is concerned, we are all Indians now.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
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