Thank you for this thoughtful article. For all those who use a ring or a watch type wearable to tell you how you feel please take it off and learn to listen to your body. Ask it questions. Feel right now your butt on the chair, your feet on the floor, the slight wind from the fan. Stop right now and listen. What do you hear around you. Look up from the screen and survey your surroundings. Make a concerted effort to not use GPS. go outside and see where the light and shadow are coming from. With practice you could find your self in any location and know north, east, south, west. Look at a map and at least know the general direction you are going. Above all observe your thoughts. Live a lucid life.
An uncomfortable mirror, indeed. Loved your post, Joshua, albeit I skimmed through the end bit as my smart watch told me to stand up. Oh well, I’ll re-read it proper when my tracker thinks I’ve gone to sleep :-)
"The worst states in history revoked the human right to exit."
Unvaccinated Canadians were made painfully aware of thier lack of sovereignty.
Justin Trudeau " So we've said you don't get to get on a plane or a train unless you are vaccinated. You don't get to work for the federal public service unless you're fully vaccinated. And as provinces move forward on proof of vaccinations, to make sure that people enjoying non-essential services like restaurants or gyms or movie theaters show proof of vaccination to keep them safe and to encourage people who haven't yet made the decision to get vaccinated, to get vaccinated. We are going to be unequivocal about that."
Same in Australia. We could not leave the country for 2 years. Shocking. Unless 98% of the population was double vaccinated all borders were closed. A living nightmare. We lost our jobs and went underground.
Australia was clearly a testing ground for The Great Reset (along w Canada, New Zealand, and a few others). Sending you good vibes from across the world.
We have to go back to the Enclosures in Britain in the 18th century, followed closely by the Industrial Revolution to trace the roots of modern slavery. People were changed from rural artisans living on commonly owned land to slum dwelling tenants & wage slaves.
Brilliant piece. You have expressed a point I have been trying to make for years far more eloquently and succinctly than I ever have. Many thanks. Very glad to have found your work and will recommend.
Following a comment received I have just run some of your text through GPTZero which indicates you used AI for some of the text of this article. Please can you confirm if that is the case.
I'm completely transparent about using AI as a collaborative tool in my workflow - it helps with research, fact-checking, and refining arguments, just like working with human editors or research assistants. I also have a good friend who helps edit a number of my pieces. I often bounce frameworks and ideas off both AI tools and human collaborators as part of my creative process. For this piece, I actually went back and forth with AI about the definition of slavery to make sure I wasn't being careless with the comparison or undermining the reality of chattel slavery.
But the core ideas, the connections between my previous work, and the argument itself - that's the culmination of years of my own research and thinking. I'd genuinely challenge anyone to prompt AI to write something like this. Ask ChatGPT to 'write an essay connecting 1871 corporate law changes, consciousness-control patents, and wearable insurance data into a theory about invisible slavery' and see what you get.
AI can help me catch errors and improve clarity, but it can't develop the frameworks I've been building or the map I've been constructing. The idea that comfortable coercion has replaced obvious violence? That cognitive sovereignty is the foundation of all other freedoms? Those insights come from scouring texts and late-night debates with friends, not from algorithms.
My understanding is that these detection tools flag clear, well-structured writing all the time - they often can't distinguish between AI assistance and simply good organization. If coherent argumentation looks 'AI-like' to a computer, maybe that says more about how we've been conditioned to expect scattered, unfocused thinking as somehow more 'authentic' than systematic analysis.
I appreciate you raising this directly, Iain - it's an important conversation about how we evaluate intellectual work in the AI age.
Thanks Joshua for your candid reply. I am no Luddite and I do see the potential benefits of AI, especially for managing large, complex systems. My concerns centre on people's evident tendency to outsource their own critical thinking to it. For me, as a research tool it can only serve a very basic function. Rather like Wikipedia, it is useful for names and dates but little else in my view. It is like the mainstream media in many respects, it's just another information source and is clearly programmed to be biased toward official narratives. Alas, having admired your writing skill, I am now unable to discern how much of that is attributable to you. Perhaps it might be worth putting a disclaimer, along the lines of a summary of your response to me, before publishing such AI assisted articles. Of course, your decision is nothing to do with me. It's just a suggestion.
I thought I made this point with the prompt challenge, but anyone who knows me knows it's silly to suggest my ideas aren't mine. I started writing in long form precisely because I was annoying people in my life who were tired of hearing my rants about these topics. I've been developing these frameworks for quite some time and working fulltime on refining them (with my inner circle) for the last 5 years.
I'm curious - do you think writers should also disclaim when they use editors, research assistants, Google searches, Grammarly, or spell-check? Most professional writing involves multiple tools and collaborators.
I'm confident readers can evaluate the work on its merits - the accuracy of claims, the validity of connections, and the strength of arguments. I think the value lies in the quality and accuracy of ideas, not whether someone used spell-check or more advanced editing tools to polish them.
I didn't suggest these are not your ideas. We all have ideas. Yes, I think people should reference their sources, thank their editors and any research assistants they have collaborated with. I don't think they need to reference spell checkers or similar basic digital tools, but you appear to have used technology to a far greater extent than most.
I do not think people should pass off work as their own when it has been written, in sections, almost entirely by AI as yours apparently has. You say you started writing in long form but AI identifies sections of your long form article as being written by it, not you. Presumably, as someone who values AI, you don't challenge its analysis of the text you claim to be yours. Initially I was sceptical myself, but tests appear to produce consistent results.
As I said, it is really none of my business. However, I shared your piece because I admired the writing style which, it turns out, isn't yours or, if it is yours, the extent to which it is yours is unknowable. So I feel duped, perhaps simply revealing my own ignorance.
I am not criticising the ideas you have expressed in the piece. I wholeheartedly agree. It is, however, very ironic that you have rightly castigated our enslavement by algorithm but have used just such an algorithm to write your critique.
There is a fourth choice: knowing that it was revealed in Scripture that the beast system would materialize, and that we could escape its claws by living in the hope of salvation. They can kill the body but they can’t control a soul sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of the redemption of the body. Trust in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and in patience of hope, wait for the joy set before us.
God will judge the earth and all who do wickedly and who reject so great salvation offered to all men freely while grace is yet applied to the sinner. Get his righteousness today by trusting in God’s work at the cross. You will escape the second death, see God face to face, and live eternally in a new heaven and a new earth.
It is the comfortable and easy way. Someone else will do that for them. Not much different than placing one's fate in the hands of "God" only. Comfortable, requires very little effort except repetition of the same. Anyone else not being that comfortable is then seen as the enemy, someone to be jealous of, etc. It is not really anything new.
Josh. You’re getting there… closer and closer. Be still my heart!
Incredible article. When Josh tells you to look at your documents and notice things like proper nouns (your name) in all capital letters, he is talking about Capitus Diminutio Maximus. This is the definition from Blacks LAW dictionary.
Definition of Capitis Diminutio Maxima
Overview
Capitis diminutio maxima is a term from Roman law that refers to the most severe form of legal status change. It involves a complete loss of a person's rights and status.
Key Characteristics
ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION
Loss of Liberty The individual becomes a slave or is imprisoned.
Loss of Citizenship The person loses all rights associated with citizenship.
Loss of Family Rights The individual is severed from their family ties.
Consequences
This form of capitis diminutio results in the total extinguishment of a person's legal capacity and status, affecting their rights and obligations under the law“ Blacks Law Dictionary third edition.
One reason we are so confused is that they speak to us in LAW DICTIONARY, Legalese, and we listen in collegiate dictionary, common English. It is a powerful tool they use. No word you know has the same definition in legalese as it does in Common English. Even the words and, or, is. Get law dictionaries. Use them. The ONLY place you see names in all caps are on dead entities. Business names and headstones in cemeteries. The dead. The non living. The PERSON. Look Person up in a law dictionary.
I stayed away from citing Blacks Law Dictionary in my 1871 piece largely bc there's some speculation about the veracity, however, I lean toward thinking it's spot on.
Thank you Josh! The law dictionaries are the key. I own as many editions as I can find of all of them. Blacks, Bouviers, Ballantines, etc. the definitions in the older ones are true and correct. They change the definitions now to fit their power grabs. It is imperative that folks understand that. SCOTUS has gone back a thousand years to find correct law. Law does not expire. Definitions of words do not change. Owning ALL of them is critical to protect yourself.
You know doubt have come across Unam Sanctam (1302) which was a papal bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII requiring the complete submission of all people, including kings, to the authority and dictates of the pope.
The Vatican has always been a part of the “game”, so to speak. (Council of Nicea). All organized religion is part of the regulate, tax and control game. It was the original police force, so to speak. One of the original tax collecting organizations. It, along with politicians and bankers especially are the oldest professions. They created the whore. They are the whore of Babylon the Bible describes. Please do not mistake me for an atheist. I am no such thing. I do not dishonor God in such ways as they. I love and honor Him as He loves us all. Privately. His bible and His words are a book of LAW. NOT of religion. My favorite and my guide is Matthew 10:16.
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
This is the key attitude to freedom. You must NEVER become the wolf. (Attitude wise. Humble but stealthy is the key. ALWAYS humble and kind. Even with the wolves. Especially with the wolves.
Quay. Good post. Agree. Only one caveat. Israel is primarily two entities. 1. A firstborn son with a view to ruling under the right’s primogeniture. But as a disobedient son he must be brought to repentance. 2. Israel is the wife of Jahoveh. As she trafficked with the surrounding Gentile nations these past 3500 years since the captivity, she has become the whore of Revelation. And must be restored. Both son and wife will be brought to repentance but that requires the Time of Jacob’s Trouble over the final 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. Gods plans and purposes regarding His Chosen are without change of mind.
Yes. I’ve heard of the Unum Sanctum. A great example of what we are discussing and also that the word Bull is a perfect example to look up in a LAW dictionary. It has no connection to anything you know in Common English. Great point!! Study this stuff folks!
Graeber wrote about this at length in his excellent book Debt: The first 5000 years.
He talks about how the horrific abuses rained down on the conquered Indians of the Mesoamerica had its root in the nasty debt the conquistadors were subject to, from the elite among them to the poorest foot soldier. The mad scramble for gold and silver at the exclusion of near everything else had its root in the banking houses of Europe.
The system has always been broken whether overtly stealing from us or when for example housing skyrocketed while many thought it was good for their "investments".
All of that reminds me of the bullshit of the American dream that George Carlin talked about.
I found great freedom with a Private Membership Association and getting tons of free support from 12-Step financial recovery groups like Debtor's Anonymous, Underearner's Anonymous, Workaholics Anonymous, and Artists Anonymous. Great article!
Thank you for this thoughtful article. For all those who use a ring or a watch type wearable to tell you how you feel please take it off and learn to listen to your body. Ask it questions. Feel right now your butt on the chair, your feet on the floor, the slight wind from the fan. Stop right now and listen. What do you hear around you. Look up from the screen and survey your surroundings. Make a concerted effort to not use GPS. go outside and see where the light and shadow are coming from. With practice you could find your self in any location and know north, east, south, west. Look at a map and at least know the general direction you are going. Above all observe your thoughts. Live a lucid life.
Beautiful comment.
An uncomfortable mirror, indeed. Loved your post, Joshua, albeit I skimmed through the end bit as my smart watch told me to stand up. Oh well, I’ll re-read it proper when my tracker thinks I’ve gone to sleep :-)
"The worst states in history revoked the human right to exit."
Unvaccinated Canadians were made painfully aware of thier lack of sovereignty.
Justin Trudeau " So we've said you don't get to get on a plane or a train unless you are vaccinated. You don't get to work for the federal public service unless you're fully vaccinated. And as provinces move forward on proof of vaccinations, to make sure that people enjoying non-essential services like restaurants or gyms or movie theaters show proof of vaccination to keep them safe and to encourage people who haven't yet made the decision to get vaccinated, to get vaccinated. We are going to be unequivocal about that."
One of the biggest worms to ever sully the face of the planet
What a cowardly disgrace of a manling
May God forgive what he did to Canadians - but in the meantime may he repent
Same in Australia. We could not leave the country for 2 years. Shocking. Unless 98% of the population was double vaccinated all borders were closed. A living nightmare. We lost our jobs and went underground.
Australia was clearly a testing ground for The Great Reset (along w Canada, New Zealand, and a few others). Sending you good vibes from across the world.
We have to go back to the Enclosures in Britain in the 18th century, followed closely by the Industrial Revolution to trace the roots of modern slavery. People were changed from rural artisans living on commonly owned land to slum dwelling tenants & wage slaves.
The one big difference between now and then? The chattel slaves didn’t pay to build the plantations.
Brilliant piece. You have expressed a point I have been trying to make for years far more eloquently and succinctly than I ever have. Many thanks. Very glad to have found your work and will recommend.
Thanks so much for the kind words. It means a lot.
Following a comment received I have just run some of your text through GPTZero which indicates you used AI for some of the text of this article. Please can you confirm if that is the case.
I'm completely transparent about using AI as a collaborative tool in my workflow - it helps with research, fact-checking, and refining arguments, just like working with human editors or research assistants. I also have a good friend who helps edit a number of my pieces. I often bounce frameworks and ideas off both AI tools and human collaborators as part of my creative process. For this piece, I actually went back and forth with AI about the definition of slavery to make sure I wasn't being careless with the comparison or undermining the reality of chattel slavery.
But the core ideas, the connections between my previous work, and the argument itself - that's the culmination of years of my own research and thinking. I'd genuinely challenge anyone to prompt AI to write something like this. Ask ChatGPT to 'write an essay connecting 1871 corporate law changes, consciousness-control patents, and wearable insurance data into a theory about invisible slavery' and see what you get.
AI can help me catch errors and improve clarity, but it can't develop the frameworks I've been building or the map I've been constructing. The idea that comfortable coercion has replaced obvious violence? That cognitive sovereignty is the foundation of all other freedoms? Those insights come from scouring texts and late-night debates with friends, not from algorithms.
My understanding is that these detection tools flag clear, well-structured writing all the time - they often can't distinguish between AI assistance and simply good organization. If coherent argumentation looks 'AI-like' to a computer, maybe that says more about how we've been conditioned to expect scattered, unfocused thinking as somehow more 'authentic' than systematic analysis.
I appreciate you raising this directly, Iain - it's an important conversation about how we evaluate intellectual work in the AI age.
Thanks Joshua for your candid reply. I am no Luddite and I do see the potential benefits of AI, especially for managing large, complex systems. My concerns centre on people's evident tendency to outsource their own critical thinking to it. For me, as a research tool it can only serve a very basic function. Rather like Wikipedia, it is useful for names and dates but little else in my view. It is like the mainstream media in many respects, it's just another information source and is clearly programmed to be biased toward official narratives. Alas, having admired your writing skill, I am now unable to discern how much of that is attributable to you. Perhaps it might be worth putting a disclaimer, along the lines of a summary of your response to me, before publishing such AI assisted articles. Of course, your decision is nothing to do with me. It's just a suggestion.
I thought I made this point with the prompt challenge, but anyone who knows me knows it's silly to suggest my ideas aren't mine. I started writing in long form precisely because I was annoying people in my life who were tired of hearing my rants about these topics. I've been developing these frameworks for quite some time and working fulltime on refining them (with my inner circle) for the last 5 years.
I'm curious - do you think writers should also disclaim when they use editors, research assistants, Google searches, Grammarly, or spell-check? Most professional writing involves multiple tools and collaborators.
I'm confident readers can evaluate the work on its merits - the accuracy of claims, the validity of connections, and the strength of arguments. I think the value lies in the quality and accuracy of ideas, not whether someone used spell-check or more advanced editing tools to polish them.
I didn't suggest these are not your ideas. We all have ideas. Yes, I think people should reference their sources, thank their editors and any research assistants they have collaborated with. I don't think they need to reference spell checkers or similar basic digital tools, but you appear to have used technology to a far greater extent than most.
I do not think people should pass off work as their own when it has been written, in sections, almost entirely by AI as yours apparently has. You say you started writing in long form but AI identifies sections of your long form article as being written by it, not you. Presumably, as someone who values AI, you don't challenge its analysis of the text you claim to be yours. Initially I was sceptical myself, but tests appear to produce consistent results.
As I said, it is really none of my business. However, I shared your piece because I admired the writing style which, it turns out, isn't yours or, if it is yours, the extent to which it is yours is unknowable. So I feel duped, perhaps simply revealing my own ignorance.
I am not criticising the ideas you have expressed in the piece. I wholeheartedly agree. It is, however, very ironic that you have rightly castigated our enslavement by algorithm but have used just such an algorithm to write your critique.
Iain - you make good points here & below. Especially by revealing parts of the article were WRITTEN BY AI.
Sadly ironic that parts of a piece warning of the seduction of tech being “convenient”, were written by tech because the writer found it convenient.
Illustrates what we’re all up against.
There is a fourth choice: knowing that it was revealed in Scripture that the beast system would materialize, and that we could escape its claws by living in the hope of salvation. They can kill the body but they can’t control a soul sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of the redemption of the body. Trust in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and in patience of hope, wait for the joy set before us.
God will judge the earth and all who do wickedly and who reject so great salvation offered to all men freely while grace is yet applied to the sinner. Get his righteousness today by trusting in God’s work at the cross. You will escape the second death, see God face to face, and live eternally in a new heaven and a new earth.
Yes, you described it and the grand majority of humans, live it.
They seem unable to help themselves. No self control, no discernment.
It is the comfortable and easy way. Someone else will do that for them. Not much different than placing one's fate in the hands of "God" only. Comfortable, requires very little effort except repetition of the same. Anyone else not being that comfortable is then seen as the enemy, someone to be jealous of, etc. It is not really anything new.
Josh. You’re getting there… closer and closer. Be still my heart!
Incredible article. When Josh tells you to look at your documents and notice things like proper nouns (your name) in all capital letters, he is talking about Capitus Diminutio Maximus. This is the definition from Blacks LAW dictionary.
Definition of Capitis Diminutio Maxima
Overview
Capitis diminutio maxima is a term from Roman law that refers to the most severe form of legal status change. It involves a complete loss of a person's rights and status.
Key Characteristics
ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION
Loss of Liberty The individual becomes a slave or is imprisoned.
Loss of Citizenship The person loses all rights associated with citizenship.
Loss of Family Rights The individual is severed from their family ties.
Consequences
This form of capitis diminutio results in the total extinguishment of a person's legal capacity and status, affecting their rights and obligations under the law“ Blacks Law Dictionary third edition.
One reason we are so confused is that they speak to us in LAW DICTIONARY, Legalese, and we listen in collegiate dictionary, common English. It is a powerful tool they use. No word you know has the same definition in legalese as it does in Common English. Even the words and, or, is. Get law dictionaries. Use them. The ONLY place you see names in all caps are on dead entities. Business names and headstones in cemeteries. The dead. The non living. The PERSON. Look Person up in a law dictionary.
Fantastic comment, thank you for sharing.
I stayed away from citing Blacks Law Dictionary in my 1871 piece largely bc there's some speculation about the veracity, however, I lean toward thinking it's spot on.
https://stylman.substack.com/p/the-corporate-veil
Thank you Josh! The law dictionaries are the key. I own as many editions as I can find of all of them. Blacks, Bouviers, Ballantines, etc. the definitions in the older ones are true and correct. They change the definitions now to fit their power grabs. It is imperative that folks understand that. SCOTUS has gone back a thousand years to find correct law. Law does not expire. Definitions of words do not change. Owning ALL of them is critical to protect yourself.
Brilliant expose of our all caps strawman identity
Thank you!
You know doubt have come across Unam Sanctam (1302) which was a papal bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII requiring the complete submission of all people, including kings, to the authority and dictates of the pope.
The Vatican has always been a part of the “game”, so to speak. (Council of Nicea). All organized religion is part of the regulate, tax and control game. It was the original police force, so to speak. One of the original tax collecting organizations. It, along with politicians and bankers especially are the oldest professions. They created the whore. They are the whore of Babylon the Bible describes. Please do not mistake me for an atheist. I am no such thing. I do not dishonor God in such ways as they. I love and honor Him as He loves us all. Privately. His bible and His words are a book of LAW. NOT of religion. My favorite and my guide is Matthew 10:16.
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
This is the key attitude to freedom. You must NEVER become the wolf. (Attitude wise. Humble but stealthy is the key. ALWAYS humble and kind. Even with the wolves. Especially with the wolves.
Quay. Good post. Agree. Only one caveat. Israel is primarily two entities. 1. A firstborn son with a view to ruling under the right’s primogeniture. But as a disobedient son he must be brought to repentance. 2. Israel is the wife of Jahoveh. As she trafficked with the surrounding Gentile nations these past 3500 years since the captivity, she has become the whore of Revelation. And must be restored. Both son and wife will be brought to repentance but that requires the Time of Jacob’s Trouble over the final 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. Gods plans and purposes regarding His Chosen are without change of mind.
Yes. I’ve heard of the Unum Sanctum. A great example of what we are discussing and also that the word Bull is a perfect example to look up in a LAW dictionary. It has no connection to anything you know in Common English. Great point!! Study this stuff folks!
Modern HVAC, transportation, digital communications, air travel make the contemporary prison surprisingly comfortable with few rebels
Great minds...
https://stylman.substack.com/p/the-price-of-convenience
Thank you - not sure how great mine is (or ever was), but your second article is great too
Graeber wrote about this at length in his excellent book Debt: The first 5000 years.
He talks about how the horrific abuses rained down on the conquered Indians of the Mesoamerica had its root in the nasty debt the conquistadors were subject to, from the elite among them to the poorest foot soldier. The mad scramble for gold and silver at the exclusion of near everything else had its root in the banking houses of Europe.
We are still saddled with it.
I need to read more Graeber.
Cogent analysis and warning as usual. I will send to RFK Jr-maybe he'll read it.
The same RFK Jr. who refuses to acknowledge the genocide and mass starvation , who is subservient to Israel.
Hahaha. RFK jr is a part of this system and he's invested in it.
It's worth a try.
🎯
The system has always been broken whether overtly stealing from us or when for example housing skyrocketed while many thought it was good for their "investments".
All of that reminds me of the bullshit of the American dream that George Carlin talked about.
https://youtu.be/l-o_XCDTyB4
Carlin's work is all timeless.
The integrated deep reflection of life today is captured here masterfully.
Amazingly powerful look at the real world we live in
I found great freedom with a Private Membership Association and getting tons of free support from 12-Step financial recovery groups like Debtor's Anonymous, Underearner's Anonymous, Workaholics Anonymous, and Artists Anonymous. Great article!