George Carlin: A Four-Letter Threat to Authority

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:46:47 GMT  <== Politics ==> 

Butler Shafer at LewRockwell.com - a tribute to one of the best deniers of authority. [lew]

It is difficult to find words that convey the sadness I felt upon being awakened, this morning, to the news that George Carlin had died the night before. He was the successor to the man I continue to regard as the most significant dismantler of authority in my lifetime, Lenny Bruce. To most people, Bruce and Carlin were nothing more than dealers in four-letter words; men who loved to shock the sensibilities of others. But there was a deeper meaning in their humor, and modern libertarian thinking would not have been possible without their important groundwork.

Each man understood, at least implicitly, that the authority some men presume to exercise over the lives of others depends upon the subjugated regarding their managers with an unquestioning reverence and awe. One ought never to be so bold as to offer an opinion contrary to that provided by the authority figure. More than that, one must always look upon himself or herself as fundamentally inferior to this authority. One does not dare to gaze upon the king, to whom groveling is the expected position.

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The last comment I heard George Carlin make was in a video of a book-signing, in which a young man asked him if he believed that 9/11 was an "inside job." Carlin did not offer an opinion on the matter, but only replied -- in words I do not recall precisely -- that it was a mistake to ever accept consensus-based definitions of reality. What better words to inscribe upon a tombstone or other memorial to this remarkable man!

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On Carlin...

Submitted by klhrevolution on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:52:31 GMT

I can not see what all the hoo-haa is about. The only thing I ever enjoyed is a youtube clip concerning the real owners of this country. Other than that he seemed vile... To each his own!

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