There is lots of talk these days that we need to fight. Most people saying that we need to fight can’t usually even tell you what we need to fight for beyond maybe parroting what ever the last thing they heard on their brainwashing of choice was. You hear it from everywhere and everyone for one reason or another. “Fight to save the country” “fight to save democracy” “Fight to save freedom” “fight for your country” “fight to tear it down” “fight for this” “fight for that” If you ask them to elaborate, or present alternative evidence or even an alternative view point, you will get a blank stare, at best, but looking around I don’t see much worth fighting for anymore.
The country? What is the country? Is it the land? The land has been here long before we were here and will be here long after were gone. Is it the people? Which people cause there is not one group of people to call Americans anymore, identity politics saw to that. It doesn’t matter what your views are for any topic, politically or otherwise, but about half of the people today want you dead or in camps, and if you don’t subscribe to either side they both are against you.
How about society? The society of rampant materialism, where nothing is made to last so that you have to constantly be buying something. Where families no longer talk because they worship different celebrities or political figures. Where the health and reproductive potential of children are being irreparably changed or destroyed before they are old enough to understand whats happening. Where people have become so disconnected and divided that no one knows each other or cares about each other. A society of constant hostility and no sense of belonging. Food that is slowly poisoning you, medicine that makes you sicker than the sickness your trying to fix. Where naturally occurring plants are illegal, but artificial poisons are legally pumped into the water. Where your told that the only way to succeed is to pile on debt at a college for a degree that won’t help you just so that you can get out get in more debt to buy a house so that you are forced to work your life away until you maybe get 10 years of retirement “freedom” before you’re put in a facility because you are deemed nothing but a burden? A facility where statistically they are to be abused or neglected for the last years of their lives. Do you look around right now and think to your self yeah this perfect, I feel free! we need to fight to keep this going?
Shepherds, Sheep, and the Empire
Most of this is in reference to the sheep, not the shepherds. The shepherds are the celebrities, the CEOs, politicians, marketing departments and so on. They are the Empire’s talking heads and are all pandering to and trying to manipulate the sheep for their own gains, especially when they call to fight against or for something. They are not dumb and know exactly what they are doing.
The sheep are the people hearing the call. The ones that you know who come at you in conversation and parrot what their chosen shepherds are saying. That’s why when you question them they get taken back and usually get angry. Even if you ask them something as simple as why. They cant figure out why cause they never thought about it. They just took the call at face value and are angry that you are not doing the same.
They don’t take a moment to think about what they are being told to fight or fight for or if it actually serves them, their tribe or hell even their city or country they supposedly ‘“belong.” They at large don’t know what they are doing, and that is who this article is ultimately referring to, because the Empire is going to keep doing it’s thing with the shepherds screaming from the hill tops, but the sheep are who you have to ultimately deal with In your life.
They are the foot soldiers for the shepherds all be it unwittingly usually. You can try to change them but your not likely to succeed at least not in the short term. Now people love to blame the government for everyone’s problems but the problem is The Empire, The Empire of Nothing is everywhere, the government is only one of the tools within its system. One tentacle on the octopus that is the Empire.
Fat, lazy, dependent, consumers that are just smart enough to work the machines and not ask questions until AI or automation can take over the job completely is all The Empire needs or wants. The alternative means competition if not directly as a competing company then just from the point that less people need their products, services and “solutions.” They don’t want strong, self reliant thinkers, because then they will sell less “solutions” when people can fix things for them selves. This applies to all industries. If they can fix a car they don’t need to buy a new one. If they can fix their own health then why do they need pharmaceutical companies. Its all competition in sense and the Empire doesn’t like competition.
It’s a culture problem
What ever your culture allows to happen will happen. If your culture is weak it will allow it self to be pushed around. If it tolerates laziness you will get laziness. If it rewards strength you will get strength. If your culture is strong and others weak yours will typically prevail. The Empire manipulates this situation to its own end usually financial reward and or control for its self and its higher ups. People won’t want to hear this because it is not going to be a quick fix but it is the problem that we ultimately have and the Empire exploits it.
The Empire only can do what the people allow, people mistake this power with the ability to vote. While voting is supposed to play a role in the government proceedings, the weight the peoples vote carries cannot out weigh the money that the Empire throws around after someone is elected. Voting takes no effect directly on the empire. This is where the old saying “vote with your wallet” become applicable. This will at least more directly effect the Empire. This power more directly stems from what the people and its culture will allow but you have to participate, If you don’t like something stop buying it or supporting it and support the alternative.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter who is in control of “the system” if the culture is opposed to it. You cannot force opposing views on a culture and you cannot change a culture by force, eventually it will fight back or go under ground. However culture naturally adopts and changes over time and that can be manipulated and the people themselves manipulated to change the culture. You have to be aware of this in order to not let it happen to you. You have to allow some change because somethings shouldn’t continue, but you shouldn’t let the good get changed and thrown out with the bad.
Through a desire for a utopian world that should be, rather than living in the world that actually is, along side a desire to be 100 percent safe, at the expense of everything else, cultural manipulation has nudged the culture to drift away from freedom and toward tyranny. It has the strong being demonized and the weak to being put on a pedestal. Through cultural manipulation wedges have been driven between every group, belief, race, and every other demographic on the list. It has shifted importance from facts and to emotions. People are encouraged to sleep walk through life and their inconsistency in their values has allowed for the culture to be manipulated against them. Allowing hypocrisy and rampant weakness to take over. That weakness has allowed everything else we now face. Many of the problems we face today could have been handled by a strong culture and a strong people simply saying no in the beginning.
Can it be saved or should we let it burn?
I am not going to lie, I am burnt out on the fighting, the division, and all the sheep that play right into it.
Just about everything people scream to fight to save is part of what is enslaving or killing them. The shepherds scream fight to save the system and the sheep repeat it thinking its right. They are fighting to stay in the status quo because people don’t like change even If the status quo is killing them. It comes out of convenience and ease and unwillingness to do the hard right instead of the easy wrong. Maybe saving the Empire of Nothing is not whats best for people.
The only thing I see worth fighting for is freedom and liberty, to bad most people don’t understand what that is anymore. They will shout freedom as they pass more laws. Most people say they want freedom but they don’t want others to have it too. They want to be free to live how they want but don’t want others to live how they want to live. They want their way to be right and for everyone to have to live their way. They say they want freedom but really they want tyranny that they agree with.
But hey maybe the culture can be turned around and we can regain what we have lost and therefor fix the system. Though I am not optimistic. The system was built to operate exactly how it has which has gotten us to this very moment. More likely we will have to rebuild like the phoenix from the ashes of the previous culture. The division is too great at this point, no groups seem wiling to live and let live. Everyone wants to control the other side. Its already collapsing all around us, maybe its already fallen and just everyone hasn’t caught on to the fact yet. Maybe that is whats better in the long run.
Maybe the Empire needs to burn, through fire the forest is rejuvenated. This is the most artificial and mentally, physically, and spiritually unhealthy environments ever created. There is no solidifying culture anymore and in all honestly with the population so big and with the wide spread geographical differences there can’t and shouldn’t be. Humans were never meant to live in populations this big. cities this big are simply feed lots for human tax cattle.
Wolves don’t need shepherds
Many regenerative farmers and perma-culturists like to bring up that if every one changed their grass lawns over to food producing plants, there would be no food crisis. We wouldn’t need near as much industrial/commercial farming of food that is in most cases making us sick. This is what decentralization can do.
Now imagine if you pooled your resources, with your family, friends, or tribe and bought a couple of acres together. If done correctly you could likely produce all the food you need or at least the majority of it. You would no doubt be healthier for it if nothing else. Financially you would be in a better place because its a lot easier to cover bills for one property with 12 people contributing than just 2 or 1 as it is in most cases. Not to mention the homeschooling and other opportunities it would provide.
Sometimes modern problems require ancient solutions, we need to get smaller and decentralize in just about every sense in order to simply survive these days not to mention to take back your power from the Empire of Nothing. We need to bring back our tribes. Stop worrying about the world, or the country, your state or even your city as it most likely is still too big. Most if not all of this worry is used as a way to manipulate and control you. Worry about your family, and friends and your tribe.
Build your tribe and cultivate your own culture of strength, independence, and understanding of rights and what freedom actually is. Become a tribe of wolves, be fit willing and able to defend yourself because no one else is coming to save you. Put your energy into that instead of fighting for something that doesn’t benefit you or your tribe any way. If you feel you must fight fight for true liberty and freedom which usually is not what others are calling freedom. Wolves can take care of them selves, that’s why they don’t need shepherds.
Modern Barbarian’s a reader/ follower supported page.
To support my work
Subscribe at substack for exclusive content including an exclusive newletter Barbarian Tradecraft
Or shop with our partners
https://modern-barbarian.com/partners/
Check out our merch store
https://modern-barbarian.com/shop/
Help us grow and share our content to your timelines and feeds.
Follow us at