about: ShatterTheIllusion.ca

Purpose

Our civilization is under a huge amount of stress and strain these days, so much so that we really are at a tipping point; this is obvious simply by looking around. Education, poverty, war, safety & well being, substance abuse, firearm misuse, homelessness, food production, environmental abuse just to name a few. Yikes! Seems like an insurmountable list! When viewed as isolated or separate issues it definitely is; trying to fix them in this manner is similar to an unending game of Whack-A-Mole which can only end in frustration, inaction and apathy. Instead, let's mentally chuck the lot, start again, look at things from the bottom up, from the beginning and find a new pathway forward that can, by its very nature, whack a large number of those moles leaving us with the time, energy and resources to manage what remains.

Humanity has reached a point where apathy has become a primary demotivator: "what can I do to change things, it's too big, there's too much!". Fear has been pushed from the top societal levels downward thus re-enforcing the apathy. We are being flooded with constant streams of conflicting news and information to the point where one doesn't know what to believe, what is truth & fact vs lies & misrepresentation. Those who would seek to control use many tools to paint a picture of insurmountable institutions and systems that we should just accept, that appear unchangeable, that invoke fear even when considering a change.

The primary purpose of this site is to present a pathway forward for humanity based on observation, logic and reason. I use the term pathway intentionally as it invokes visions of a small, potentially twisting and turning, but ever forward direction through a surrounding of peace and calm. I hope to shatter the illusion that change of these institutions is impossible, that we need to fear change. Change must come from the ground up beginning with each one of us and spreading outward like the proverbial ripples on the pond. The cool part: this change can be had in the comfort of your own home, fire pit, circle of friends.

Nothing in our universe appears to be carved in stone so the ideas outlined here I do not claim to be the end all, beat all, but rather a solid solution to get us back on track so we can determine the best way forward, whether it's these ideas, others or a mixture. Included on top of this, news and commentary from as wide a variety of alternative news sites and different perspectives that I can manage in a day plus a few thoughts and analysis of my own. Aside from promoting, strongly, the need for humanity to radically alter its direction with a particular focus on the corrupt and fraudulent monetary system that we are sweating under, my goal is fact, full stop. The only sustainable path for a balanced society is carved with fact and truth, not speculation and bullshit. Things get flaky fast with too much BS, they really do. I'm trying to do my part to cut through the crap so we can make sound decisions that affect us all! :)

Your proprietor

Hi there and thanks for taking the time to check out my site! My name is Todd and I am the proprietor of ShatterTheIllusion. A little about me: I consider myself an average Joe who is a geek-turned-chef-turned-geek-turned-chef-turned-? and have also spent many years in the IT industry in various capacities. Although I grew up in a religious household (Lutheran), I consider myself an agnostic at this point and I do not belong to any religious organization. From a political standpoint, although I've voted for every major party at least once (and some of the 'minor' ones as well), I do not, nor have I ever, belonged to any political party or organization; the institution of government holds very little interest for me and I don't accept its claim of authority over me/us anyway. I'm also a proud earthling! ;-) In the two main professions I've had, ground up or root cause has been the focus. This contributes to my embrace of monetary reform. For years I have been training/trained to hunt down and understand root causes and this gives me an advantage here. I'd like to share with you what I have learned about the root cause of most of our troubles today.

Libertarianism

As I progressed in my research it became very apparent that at this point in our journey as a society, it was important to adopt some sort of ideology, political or otherwise in order to advocate for change; it's simply a necessity reflective of our current status quo. Yuck. What's a person to do, especially one who feels there is no need for a government or state at all? The current collection of popular and promoted choices really didn't look all that great.

Then I stumbled upon Murray Rothbard's amazing book: For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, problem solved and I'm now a proud 'Rothbardian Libertarian'.  Whatever your current views and ideology, I strongly recommend giving this book a read through. Murray is an excellent logical writer and while some of his feelings towards people and ideas slip through from time to time (he's only human after all) and I'm not sure I'm in agreement with everything he writes, for the most part he just lays it out and backs it up with proof. None of the chest thumping & soap box screaming that seem to be required for other ideological/political views. Libertarianism, his version of it, is an idea that stands on its own, requiring no sales pitches and/or coercion. I am also hooked by the fact that his version of libertarianism is far more than just a political view point, it's a manner in which one can enjoy their entire existence on planet earth in unreserved freedom! Check it out :)

Economics

was never my thing (prolly 'cause math was never my thing) but during the course of researching monetary system, I stumbled upon Austrian Economics championed by the likes of Mises, Rothbard, Hazlitt and Hayek which all made sense and was the proof in the pudding that another huge problem plaguing us today is government: another root of all crapola. I have a section dedicated entirely to the basics of this line of economic thinking. Don't worry, economics degrees are not required, it's a view from 50,000 ft as it were. Here's some linkage if you're interested in further info:

What is Austrian Economics? - Mises.org
Austrian School - Wikipedia.org
Austrian School of Economics - Brittanica.com

Of conspiracy theory

Some of the supporting material contained within could be considered by some to be 'conspiracy theory' in nature. On some of this same material, I might tend to agree. I would ask however, that you open your mind, dump preconceived notions and digest the material before formulating a final opinion.

The exception to this is our flawed monetary system. There is no conspiracy theory here: governments and central banks have published how the system foolishly operates, but it is often couched in such language as to make us believe it's a good thing or too hard for the lower rungs of society to understand. This my friends is horse crap.

Fact, fiction, opinion?

Ah yes, one of the plagues of modern society is the intermingling of these concepts. I so often bump into opinion being taken as fact and am often guilty of it myself. I have never had any writing instruction outside of the public school system, but I do try to 'think' like a reporter when conveying information and try to present it as factually and unbiased as possible. Alas, I'm only human, so I'll be sure to bugger this up quite often. Please feel free to comment in the Community section and let me know if you feel some material is not being presented correctly. Additionally, the blog section for me, username ToddR, should be considered opinion unless otherwise noted.

Content

Some of the documentary material found here may include information from a religious point of view as well as contain small adverts. This should not be taken as a support, promotion or endorsement of this type of material, sites, beliefs or products. ShatterTheIllusion is currently fully funded out of my own pocket. One note about television: while I do quote and refer to television and it's related programming often, I take nothing on TV at face value, cynicism works well in this context. Unless it's an unedited CCTV feed or equiv, the footage/programming cannot be trusted.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

To any economists or professional criticizers who may stumble across these pages: I am not an economist, I am not a politician, I am not even a very good writer. Rather, I am just a dude who wants the best world possible for his family and friends, a dude who loves to share experiences with same and a dude who loves to sit around the campfire laughing and telling stories about those experiences. Oh, and I like growing stuff. Like many others, I have recognized that there are certain groups of individuals who are actively and unjustly impeding my ability to achieve these goals, my family and friends from achieving theirs. I have also recognized that in order to affect the change needed to rid ourselves of these individuals and their systems, education at the grassroots level is the only way to go. What I am hopefully doing with this site is passing along that which I have learned but in a straightforward and what might even be considered simplistic manner; a few literary liberties have been taken in other words. So be it, it worked for me and I hope it will for others. Having said that, I also feel that while simplistic, the information presented here is not misleading in any way, rather, just not to the fullest possible depth, that is up to each individual reader to pursue or not.

One other note: while I feel the information presented on this site with regards to Austrian Economics, Libertarianism and The Monetary System is accurate and the pathway(s) we need to take, I may also be wrong, this the reality of humanity. Until we try it however, we'll never know. What I do feel I'm right on though is that exploring and trying the ideas presented with regards the aforementioned 3 areas can, at the very least, do no worse than what we have now so there is no reason not to give 'er a whirl since the potential benefits far surpass anything we've got now by a long shot.

About: Why so much America eh?

Why so much America eh?

It's my humble opinion that the phrase and meaning of "America is the greatest country in the world!" has sadly long since passed into mythology. Further, evaluating the greatest this or greatest that is a perceptive and subjective game anyway, highly influenced by many environmental factors, not the least of which is geographic location.

Regardless of our opinion of America, North American history is such that America was very unique in its origins and its subsequent journey from then to now. As North America was being settled, the were no other locations on our globe at the time that possessed such a wide range of geography and climate while at the same time being (relatively) sparsely populated. With the exception of Quebec, the area that become Canada evolved directly from the British system and to this day is tightly connected to it. America however had both the British system (with some French, Dutch and Spanish thrown in for good measure) and a system that was conceived and implemented from the ground up after the revolutionary war of 1775–1783. The post revolution system was shaped by libertarian ideals and no other country in our recent history has been formed in this manner. Lastly, there is huge volume of information and data on which to base ideas, examples and arguments.

Love me some examples

as it's the way I learn best so you will find an ever growing list of examples scattered throughout. If examples are your thing too and you'd like to suggest a topic which needs some or would like to submit one of your own, drop a note here please and thanx!

Generally speaking

unless otherwise stated, topics and examples discussed are reflective of the average/median/mean/general. I fully understand outliers and edge cases and what can be large numbers of them. Getting bogged down in minutae prior to implementing any change however is crystal balling it and a waste of time . . . something a government would do ;)

Oh, and I can't be bothered typing "generally speaking" or "for the most part" all over the place so here it is :)

of People

The vast majority of my working career, 40 years or so, has been spent in customer service, split between hospitality and computer/network/security support. In that time and those capacities, I've been lucky to have met, interacted with and in some cases become friends with, well, I can't even begin to estimate a total number. This, coupled with my personality and career choices, has allowed me to be a pretty keen observer of people and their actions/interactions, so I feel I'm in a pretty decent position to talk about how humans act in the general sense.

What I am trying to convince you of?

NOTHING :) It's not my place to convince anyone of anything, it's up to each individual to do that for themselves. I'm only presenting solutions which I believe to be logical, workable and have the greatest overall benefits for humankind. If you agree, great!, if not, I wish you all the best as you continue on your journey!

Thank-you

I am indebted to the works of John Locke, Frédéric Bastiat, Albert Jay Nock, Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard and Robert Murphy to name but a very a few, without whose remarkable writings and insights most of this website would not exist.I hope you find lots of fact and truth here as well as hope and excitement for a vastly improved future!

At no time in recorded history have we been in such danger of losing control of ourselves at the hands of a small few. I doubt this is a "natural occurrence" but rather by design.

The time for change is now as our current future really looks grim indeed.

I'll wrap this 'about' page up with some wisdom from the great Bill Hicks . . .

Expand: Bill Hicks - Life is just a ride Bill Hicks - Life is just a ride


Thanks again and I truly hope you enjoy your stay!

P.S. this site is a bit of a work in progress with a fair amount of stuff I need to change/fix. Please be patient! :)
P.P.S many of the quotes used throughout the site are taken from authors who were writing during a time when the terms 'man', 'men' or 'him' or 'he' were used to describe all human beings. This is not intended to show any bias one way or another so please, as you are reading, mentally substitute your preferred pronoun if desired, thanx!

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