I didn't get very far before I found your poor construct of the etymology of 'government'; "ment" as thought? really? Of course, you had to go there, as it is the basis for this screed. I hope your prof was good enough to "minus" this work.
Thanks for the thorough response Franklin. I lean towards agreeing with you on that comment, it afforded the chance to provide more nuance to the etymology which I think is useful. I tend to find most of your writing interesting and thought provoking. Thanks for sharing your mind.
Of course - Don't mention it! And thanks for the callout, giving me an opportunity to return to this and address this! As always, let me know if there's anything I can do to help!
I like this Substack, but I appreciate this callout. I wanted to believe the etymology expressed in the article but upon a little searching he seems to be misleading. Hope this can be a point of honesty in revising or acknowledging.
Mitchell! Thanks for this comment and I appreciate the words towards the substack! So in my article on Government (https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/enjoying-your-enslavement), I reference where I got the etymology. From that article we read:
"According to Etienne de la Boetie2, "Government - The Biggest Scam in History," the word "Government" can be translated to "Mind Control" in Latin. The root words "Gubenare" and "Mens/Mente" mean control and mind, respectively."
I then asked GPT4 - which would deny this if if was somewhat true - but in summary, here's what I got:
Latin Roots: The term “government” traces its lineage back to Latin. The Latin verb “gubernare” means “to direct, rule, guide, govern.” It originally had a nautical connotation, akin to “steering” or “piloting” a ship.
The suffix “-ment” often indicates a state, condition, or action.
While it doesn’t directly stem from the Latin “mente” (meaning “mind”), there is a fascinating parallel: In some languages, particularly Old French, the suffix “-ment” indeed resembles the Latin “mente.”
So it does look like there is some interpretation there, however, my point would still stand as there is a parallel between the old french -ment, resembling the latin mente; which stood for the mind.
We can at the very least agree that govern is to control or steer. Thanks for this comment and let me know your thoughts.
So to control (direct) the condition of the people is a correct definition of government. We know that when your physical condition is controlled by someone else (think prisoner of war) the mind can also be manipulated. Pair this with the blatant control over the narrative that is fed to the media and government has achieved mind control (of those who are not vigilant to fight against it) over its citizens. We saw this play out during the pl@ndem!c.
“By focusing our limited energy and attention on ourselves and our families, we can be sure…” that somebody else will manage ours and our children’s futures. Are you sure that you’re not part of the “invisible government“?
I think he means we should focus on strengthening our familial relationships so that we can support each other in being self reliant, instead of relying on Government and their Institutions.
I feel the same way! Question everybody and everything! You have to be smart and think for yourself! Controlled opposition is crawling up out of the woodwork nowadays in this information age. I am going to check out his book though.
I didn't get very far before I found your poor construct of the etymology of 'government'; "ment" as thought? really? Of course, you had to go there, as it is the basis for this screed. I hope your prof was good enough to "minus" this work.
Hey Gordon, thanks for this comment. I responded to Mitchell who commented after this. Let me know your thoughts!
Thanks for the thorough response Franklin. I lean towards agreeing with you on that comment, it afforded the chance to provide more nuance to the etymology which I think is useful. I tend to find most of your writing interesting and thought provoking. Thanks for sharing your mind.
Of course - Don't mention it! And thanks for the callout, giving me an opportunity to return to this and address this! As always, let me know if there's anything I can do to help!
I like this Substack, but I appreciate this callout. I wanted to believe the etymology expressed in the article but upon a little searching he seems to be misleading. Hope this can be a point of honesty in revising or acknowledging.
Mitchell! Thanks for this comment and I appreciate the words towards the substack! So in my article on Government (https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/enjoying-your-enslavement), I reference where I got the etymology. From that article we read:
"According to Etienne de la Boetie2, "Government - The Biggest Scam in History," the word "Government" can be translated to "Mind Control" in Latin. The root words "Gubenare" and "Mens/Mente" mean control and mind, respectively."
I then asked GPT4 - which would deny this if if was somewhat true - but in summary, here's what I got:
Latin Roots: The term “government” traces its lineage back to Latin. The Latin verb “gubernare” means “to direct, rule, guide, govern.” It originally had a nautical connotation, akin to “steering” or “piloting” a ship.
The suffix “-ment” often indicates a state, condition, or action.
While it doesn’t directly stem from the Latin “mente” (meaning “mind”), there is a fascinating parallel: In some languages, particularly Old French, the suffix “-ment” indeed resembles the Latin “mente.”
So it does look like there is some interpretation there, however, my point would still stand as there is a parallel between the old french -ment, resembling the latin mente; which stood for the mind.
We can at the very least agree that govern is to control or steer. Thanks for this comment and let me know your thoughts.
So to control (direct) the condition of the people is a correct definition of government. We know that when your physical condition is controlled by someone else (think prisoner of war) the mind can also be manipulated. Pair this with the blatant control over the narrative that is fed to the media and government has achieved mind control (of those who are not vigilant to fight against it) over its citizens. We saw this play out during the pl@ndem!c.
“By focusing our limited energy and attention on ourselves and our families, we can be sure…” that somebody else will manage ours and our children’s futures. Are you sure that you’re not part of the “invisible government“?
I think he means we should focus on strengthening our familial relationships so that we can support each other in being self reliant, instead of relying on Government and their Institutions.
I feel the same way! Question everybody and everything! You have to be smart and think for yourself! Controlled opposition is crawling up out of the woodwork nowadays in this information age. I am going to check out his book though.
If ONLY we could get these conversations into every classroom! I shudder to think what goes on in class rooms today.
Rascallyrabbit! Thanks for this comment! Unfortunately the same guys who are the bad guys (https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/donating-to-a-good-cause-how-billionaires) are the ones who created modern education: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/origins-of-modern-education
That exactly is why I keep my kids OUT! I am blessed to have a job that allows this!