Updated List of Rabbit Holes

There are a lot of intellectual traps (rabbit holes) that people can fall in.

My previous post on this subject generated a lot of comments, although not that much traffic. I decided to make an updated version with all the suggested additions, plus some new ones.

Someone said "It's nice to see a list of common fallacies all in the same place."

These intellectual traps illustrate the nearly complete perfection of the human enslavement Matrix. Is it a deliberate conspiracy, or the result of a series of bad decisions and coincidences? Either way, these false ideas are commonly quoted by pro-State trolls.

1. It's possible to reform a corrupt system by voting! No, you can't.
   
2. Communism would be much preferable to the US system. The USA is already a nearly perfect implementation of Communism!
3. The free market discredited a gold standard. No, government violence caused the gold standard to be abandoned.
4. The free market banking system in the USA was a failure. The reality is that the USA never had a free market banking system. One of the first things Alexander Hamilton did as the first Treasury secretary was to create a central bank. In the present housing bubble and the Great Depression, the free market was blamed, but the recession/depression was really scientifically created by the Federal Reserve.
   
5. Inflation is beneficial, because it "stimulates the economy". The State is needed to "stimulate the economy". The reality is that inflation steals from productive workers and gives the profits to the parasite class.
   
6. You need a State, because only a monopolistic State can provide police/justice/national defense, etc.
7. The State is needed to "regulate the economy". The free market is a proven failure. The reality is that preexisting regulations cause the crisis. Then, the solution is to create even more regulations, exacerbating the problem.
   
8. There's a valid social contract that obligates everyone born in the USA to obey the orders of politically connected insiders.
9. The Constitution is a magic document that guarantees individual freedom and liberty, even though the people who appointed themselves the Constitution's enforcers and interpreters completely ignore it.
10. It's possible to have a government with carefully enumerated, limited powers. Once you give insiders a monopoly of violence, their evil power only grows over time.
    
11. Taxation is a necessary cost of living in a modern society.
12. State licensing requirements for doctors/lawyers/etc. are beneficial.
13. If I want to avoid supporting the State, I should live in complete poverty!
14. If a juror gives a defective pro-State conviction in a trial, that's OK because it'll be reversed on appeal.
15. People are too stupid. They can't be trusted to own guns, work without a State license, etc.
16. Property is theft! There's nothing wrong with private property. In the present, most/all property is stolen property. That's not the same as private property being inherently evil.
17. People are inherently evil. Therefore, a State is needed. Of course, the most evil people then exploit the State for their own personal benefit.
18. Large corporations are a natural free market occurrence. The reality is that large corporations receive massive direct and indirect State subsidies. Large corporations dominate the market because they can most profitably lobby the State for favors.
    
19. Limited liability incorporation is a necessary perk that business owners need in order to operate. The reality is that limited liability incorporation gives management of a nearly insolvent business an incentive to cover up problems. Limited liability incorporation gives owners and management a free put option to declare bankruptcy and cheat creditors, encouraging them to take risks when nearly bankrupt.
    
20. If you didn't have a State with a violence monopoly, there would be bloodshed in the streets. Criminals would not be caught. Several groups of people would have open warfare. The reality is that the State violence/taxation monopoly gives insiders and incentive to start wars.
    
21. If you didn't have a monopolistic State, then private corporations would acquire a monopoly and go around harassing people. All monopolies/oligopolies are backed directly or indirectly by State violence. The reality that government itself is a rogue criminal organization that goes around extorting from people.
    
22. The State is needed to care for the poor. The State is the cause of poverty, by restricting people's ability to work.
    
23. There's no way that the Compound Interest Paradox is true. That contradicts all the brainwashing I received in economics classes. Therefore, FSK is wrong.
24. If there were a major defect in the US monetary system, then someone on CNBC or the Wall Street Journal would have written about it! The reality is that the mainstream media are captured regulators. They act for corporate insiders, and not their readers/viewers. They exist only to provide the illusion of news and debate.
25. There's no way that the President and Congress would sell all Americans into slavery via the income tax and Federal Reserve. They're doing an honest job, looking out for the interests of their constituents.
26. It can't possibly be true that "Taxation is theft!" If it were true, then some mainstream media personality or university professor would have exposed the scam.
27. Fnords can't possibly be real. If they were real, then someone would go around pointing them out.
    
28. Government is needed to prevent evil people from exploiting others. The reality is that the most evil people seize control of the State and use it to line their pockets at the expense of others. The biggest enabler of evil is government.
29. Intellectual property is a valid form of property! Intellectual property cannot be enforced without a monopolistic State.
    
30. Patents are needed to encourage inventors. The reality is that most patents are owned by large corporations. It is expensive to apply for a patent. It is even more expensive to file a patent lawsuit. Most people sued for patent infringement don't find out about the patent until they're sued.
31. Copyright is needed to encourage artists. If you're an unknown artist, you don't benefit from copyright. As an independent artist, your biggest risk is that nobody knows who you are. You want people to copy your stuff and find out who you are! Copyrights benefit mainstream media corporations who only promote certain artists.
    
32. Trademarks are a valid form of property. Why should I be barred from using a name, just because someone else used it already? When starting a new business, I should be careful to find an unused name. In the present, almost all names are taken. Some trademarks, such as "19-0" are obviously stupid.
33. This person is a jerk! If I date him/her, then he/she will improve their behavior! The reality is that you've already rewarded them for their abusive behavior. A parasitic person is used to being in control and manipulating others. A parasite won't give up their evil ways, unless forced.
34. If we appeal to members of the parasite class, and politely explain things to them, then they will change their behavior. One of the main characteristics of evil is that evil doesn't learn. If evil has been working for you your whole life, then why should you change your behavior? As the State and the Matrix collapse, then evil people might learn to change their behavior.
    
35. The "chemical imbalance" theory of mental illness is valid. People who have been labeled with a mental illness are extremely dangerous. They should be avoided and forcibly drugged.
36. A random complete stranger is a total psychopath who would murder/rob/rape you, if given the chance. Therefore, government is needed. The reality is that most people are nonviolent. Suppose that 1 person in NYC goes on a murder/rape spree. This case is then hyped by the mainstream media, giving the illusion that every stranger is a psychopath.
37. The State has spies everywhere! Approximately half the people have the parasitic personality type. Parasites and some productive workers will always aggressively defend their pro-State brainwashing. This provides the illusion of State omnipotence.
38. Resisting the State is pointless! Government is too powerful! Government is ultimately composed of individuals. If you are careful, your risk is minimized. For this reason, I like agorism as a strategy for fighting the bad guys and increasing your personal wealth at the same time.
39. If you study stocks/bonds/options/futures/CDOs/derivatives/etc., the Math is very complicated. Therefore, the bankers are providing a valuable service to society as a whole. The reality is that the banksters are finding clever ways to slice up and sell the massive State subsidy they receive via negative real interest rates and the Federal Reserve. Complicated financial instruments and financial products are a smokescreen that hides the underlying fraud.
40. A clever person investing in the stock market can outperform true inflation. The reality is that the financial system is biased against non-insiders. If you aren't an insider, then your returns in the stock market will almost definitely underperform true inflation. If you use leverage, then you risk bankruptcy during the next recession/depression, although you may profit during an inflationary boom.
    
41. The financial industry is a legitimate business. They aren't parasites leeching off the rest of society. The rules of the monetary system don't require a certain percentage of all productive work be paid to them as tribute. If that were true, someone would have corrected the problem. The reality is that the banksters can always profitably lobby to block reform. They literally print new money and spend it on lobbyists! The banksters literally printed new money and bought up all the mainstream media corporations!
    
42. Some businesses are "too big to fail". They must be bailed out. "Too big to fail" usually means "too politically connected to fail". Executives at a large corporation can almost always profitably lobby the State for favors. For example, GM receives billions of dollars a year in State subsidies, and then spends some of that money on lobbyists. This arrangement is profitable both for executives at GM and the Congressmen who receive the bribes.
43. The State has an obligation to "create jobs". The reality is that all actions of the State are destructive in nature. Every time government does something, wealth is destroyed.
    
44. Mandatory schooling laws and child labor laws protect children. The reality is that mandatory public education is extremely damaging. A 13 year old child would probably learn more by doing useful work, than by being trapped in a school (brainwashing center).
45. Children can't think for themselves until age 18-21+. The reality is that you're biologically an adult at age 13-14. Pro-State brainwashing and schooling prevent children from learning and thinking for themselves.
46. A buy-and-hold stock index investment outperforms true inflation.
47. The CPI is a fair and unbiased measure of inflation.
48. Printing new money is not inflationary, because it "stimulates the economy".
49. Over the past 100 years, the stock market outperformed gold. That argument is invalid, because President Roosevelt seized all the gold in 1933 and it was illegal to own gold from 1933-1975.
50. If you bought gold at the peak in the late 1970s or early 1980s, then you would have underperformed the stock market. Therefore, gold is a bad investment. That's an invalid comparison, because central banks have been selling/leasing their gold reserves to suppress the gold price. They have nearly exhausted their gold reserves and are losing their ability to manipulate the gold price.
51. An evil person isn't actually evil. They just need to be educated. Some people are clueless and need to be pointed in the right direction, such as readers discovering my blog. Some people are just plain evil and won't change their behavior until they're forced to.
52. Social Security and Medicare can't be reformed, because the elderly are a strong voting bloc. The reality is that, if both parties were committed to reform, then the elderly would be SOL just like on every other political issue. The reality is that Social Security and Medicare are huge profit centers for the parasite class. They are politically untouchable because they allow a huge amount of wealth to be stolen, under the guise of helping people.
    

When you crack your pro-State brainwashing, it's very traumatic. Most people avoid some of the intellectual traps, but not all of them. Then, via the Strawman Fallacy, you'll say "X writes about ideas A and B. Idea B is wrong. Therefore, X's writing about A is also wrong." It turns out that X was right about A but wrong about B.

One way that I avoid intellectual traps is that I remember ideas and not the original source. This way, if an article contains a good idea and a stupid idea, I'll remember the good idea. Most good ideas are repeated over and over again. A lot of conspiracy sites reference the Compound Interest Paradox, but IMHO my explanation is best.

When people start discovering the above ideas, it contradicts their conditioning. They start writing incoherently. It took me awhile after I cracked my pro-State brainwashing before I could start writing coherently. For that, blogging has been beneficial.

I've managed to avoid most/all of the intellectual traps. I've nearly completely cracked my pro-State brainwashing. I don't claim I've completely perfectly broken my pro-State conditioning, but I've gone further than the other people I read about.

The above list of intellectual traps is pretty comprehensive. Let me know if I forgot anything important!