Guest Post: Fred on the Virtues of Clannishness

An alert reader turned me on to Fred on Everything, “Scurrilous commentary by Fred Reed.” You gotta admire Fred, he’s been there, done that, and has all sorts of considered opinions that are hard to dismiss. His bio, in which he says he’s crazy as a loon, begins with Would you trust this man with your daughter? If so, call. Crazy or not, unlike present company he’s learned in life. For that I give Fred a lot of credit.

Here’s his current post reblogged, a pretty un-PC take on diversity, or as he terms it, anti-togetherness.

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I tend to agree, but there are unpleasant side effects to clans, especially when it comes to those with wealth and power that other clans resent, envy, or both. And if you have power you have to apply it or it doesn’t mean anything. Applying power tends to create losers. Certain clans suffer more than others on a regular basis, something Fred doesn’t reckon with.

Fred thinks true diversity flourishes by leaving other groups alone, but that isn’t how society works, unfortunately. People tend to exploit their privileges to accumulate more. That’s where the trouble starts. The ideal state, says Fred, is not to “force people into association.” What sort of society would operate that way? Methinks Fred’s an anarchist at heart. I can dig peaceable anarchy. Distributed power. So where can I find some?

Author: admin

I'm an ex-this-and-that, including software developer, computer graphics researcher, geospatial analyst, market manager, and technical writer, who now writes full-time when not reading, running a household, foraging for edible mushrooms, pushing progressive politics, or volunteering fsomewhere. I live near Boston with my wife, daughter, two cats and two old cars.