Overlords, Beggars, and Fools

What American Society Is Becoming

On Tuesday, August 27, 2024, I attended a public meeting of the King County Council chaired by Council Member, Dave Upthegrove.  I found the Council’s name unusual so prepared myself accordingly. 

King County, for those of you who do not live in the State of Washington, is located in Western Washington sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Mountain Range. King is the county that contains the City of Seattle, where I am resident on First Hill. First Hill is a city district that lies between Seattle’s Downtown districts and Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill is infamous for having sought its independence from the United States of America during the so-called “Summer of Love” in 2020. 

My purpose at the Council’s public hearing was to give evidence as to why the following motion should be supported.

"It is the intent of the King County Council not to close the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center and keep it open and operating with secure detention services provided."

As you may already know I was assaulted on December 30, 2021 less that a minute’s walking distance from my residence. My assailant was charged with the felony crime of 2nd Degree Assault. In a plea deal to which he agreed two-and-one-half years after the incident, my assailant was convicted of a non-felony crime of 4th Degree Assault — more commonly known as a Gross Misdemeanor. His punishment was mandatory anger-management training and two-years of unsupervised probation. During the two and one half years between the incident and his conviction he spent less than a month in jail and was left to roam the streets of Seattle unhindered. The result of that incident has left me endless discomfort in my left foot and a relentless inability to balance properly on my left leg when my right leg is in the air. What would have soothed my pain during the sentencing hearing was denied — namely, payment for a black-belt in karate that I began after the arraignment hearing to defend myself against future such incidents. Had my request not been rejected by the presiding judge — namely, The Honorable Nelson K. H. Lee, born Lee Kuo Hua — I would have been paid in lieu of mental health counseling to which I was otherwise “entitled” under the law.  Everyone with whom I have spoken, including my own family physician, agrees that karate training has been a far better solution than any psychiatric care that I could have received, but did not request.

The arrangement of the room at the Council hearing was curious. For, the speaker’s podium was set to the right from the point of view of the audience and the left from the point of view of the Council who faced the audience. On the left side of the room from the point of view of the audience, and the right side of the room from the point of view of the Council, was situated the press.

As the American press has recently become a propaganda organ for the American state, it seemed appropriate that the press was situated to the right of the Council and to the left of the People. For, it fulfilled the public’s illusion that the press is there in defense of the people, on the one hand; and it reassured the Council that its public image would be as polished as possible, on the other hand. In the end, of course, the speaker at the podium and the press were left facing each other on opposite sides of the room. Said differently, the speaker spoke to the press while the Council and the audience looked on — well, almost, for the podium was slightly angled in the direction of the long bank of eight Council members at the room’s center-front.

One entered the hearing chamber from the hallway at either end of the room, and seated himself, if there were room, along several rows of long church-like pews facing the raised Councils’ bench at the center of the room along the opposite wall. It was behind the bench that the lower half of each Council’s body was hidden as he or she swiveled on his upholstered chair. This said, during the hearing several Council members did stand up and walk about behind their fellow Council members. Perhaps for exercise, perhaps to show us that they were not all masturbating in boredom.

The Chairperson, Mr. UpTheGrove, sat at the center of the Council’s bench with three Council members to the Chair’s right and four to his left. The heavy-hand of government — its enforcement arm (the police) — loomed behind the audience in sight of the decision-makers, but out of sight of the people. Seated in the middle of the room between the press and the podium, the public pews and the County’s bench, were the Council’s clerical staff — those who do the bidding of the Council and are guaranteed, in-so-doing, generous retirement benefits with the “blessing” of the County’s taxpayers.

In summary, then, those who dared to speak up against the government were viewed on the hard right from the point of view of the people, but the soft left from the point of view of the state. As most of the speakers were from Western Washington’s political soft left; this arrangement seemed appropriate in a county such as that of King.¹

The Overlords

The meeting began with a pronouncement on the part of Mr. UpTheGrove that our allotted time to speak — two-minutes each — would be cut in half. We were told that there were over 100 people on the speakers’ list, and that in order to accommodate everyone’s voice the time for all would have to be cut in half. What he did not tell us is why he and his fellow council members could not extend the length of the meeting to accommodate the pressing needs of the people. I was relatively certain that there were others such as myself — including my closest neighbor seated to my left — who had gone through some trouble to craft within a span of two-minutes what needed a full-twenty minutes to explain. So, I raised my hand. As I was centrally located in the room with only a row of people between me and the taxpayer’s bureaucracy seated in the middle of the room, it would have been very difficult for Mr. UpTheGrove not to have seen it. When it became clear that he intended to ignore it, I stood up and spoke. Whereupon I was promptly told that I was out of order. Being the respectful person that I can often be, I sat down in silence. After all, it was my first Council meeting and already I was being labeled a disturbance. Respectful of the, perhaps, busy schedules of the Council members, my intention had been to reach a compromise: reward those who had made the effort to be physically present with the promised two-minutes, and limit those who selected the Zoom alternative to one-minute. In this way, the temporal sacrifice that the People were being asked to make on the Council’s behalf would be shared among the People and the Council.

No matter, for my initiative appeared to have stimulated another to speak, who was apparently more experienced at Council meetings. She requested that the balcony be opened so that those who were present and standing would have a place to sit. Like me, she was denied. Unlike me, however, she was not told that she was out of order. Rather, she was allowed to make her argument that was also very worthy. Was Mr. UpTheGrove being sexist? Alas, Mr. UpTheGrove responded by stating that the balcony had never been opened before, and for him that was the end of the discussion.

Was this because the Council purposefully sought to keep its audience small? Was it because the Council was afraid that there would be someone in the audience looking down upon the Council? Was the balcony not physically accessible due to repair? Was there a security issue? None of these issues was explained by Mr. UpTheGrove. Accountability to the general public did not appear to be of importance to the County’s Chair. Perhaps it was that Mr. UpTheGrove was simply unable to “think on his feet” while being seated. In any case, the balcony remained closed, and many gathered in the hallway.

And, so it was that the meeting began.

After the 20th speaker or so, still another woman spoke out of turn. In effect, she had exceeded her time limit — a thirty second yellow warning light followed by a red light and an electronic buzzer indicating that she should place her foot on the break, complete her sentence, and yield to the cross-traffic, so to speak. All very regular for those who own automobiles and know how to drive. It was also very regular for the average Seattlelite who insists on walking on the right side of the sidewalk, as if he were driving an automobile along the adjacent road.

As Mr. UpTheGrove said nothing as the woman ran the red light, I stood up for a second time — this time more emboldened. Accordingly, I brought to the attention of Mr. UpTheGrove that his own recently pronounced procedural rule was being abridged, and that he should take action to enforce it. Whereupon, the microphone was shut off, and I sat down. The woman continued to speak, and the meeting was momentarily adjourned until she left the podium. As far as I could tell, the only difference between the meeting being temporarily adjourned while the woman continued to speak, and the meeting not being adjourned, was what was entered into the hearing record that few or no one ever reads or hears. Indeed, the woman’s voice was heard by everyone in the room including the press. She had run a red light in broad daylight and gotten away with it!

In the end, I was at the hearing to bring to the Council’s attention the obvious consequences of its failure to police the public domain and uphold the primary duty of American government — namely, defend the person and property of American citizens. So, even before stepping up to the podium, I was already making good of my presence.

Unfortunately, a very larger portion of those present did not appear to be citizens.

The Beggars

There were about thirty people who spoke before me. These teeny, mini-speeches of one-minute each focused on four major problems: one, a failure of the County to consult those who were effected by its decisions — in particular the residents of Vashon Island; two, those seeking government handouts — the vast majority of those present, in particular, illegal immigrants who were sheltered in temporary publicly funded, open-air encampments; three, those who believed that it was “unfair” to detain adolescent criminals; and four, those who viewed this “unfair” detention as not only “fair”, but necessary.

As a teen, my own assailant, born in 1990, had participated in a drive-by shooting. Shortly after becoming an adult he was convicted of drug-trafficking, theft, and other assorted criminal acts.

In summary, the citizenry — I wish that I could use this term with good confidence, but I am unable — were there for three reasons: one, complain about an abuse of power; two, beg for an ever greater transfer of wealth from those who earn a living to those who do not; and three, insist that the government actually perform its primary duty.

The beggars — those who complained about their miserable living conditions and were eager to see government attend to their respective personal needs — constituted the majority of those present. They were a very motley group with a simple message: “More!”. Among the clearly recognizable languages spoken were French (not Canadian) and Spanish. These and several other languages that I did not recognize were translated. As one had only one minute to speak, those who spoke in a language other than English were allotted a full two-minutes: one minute for their speech, and one minute for its translation. Yep! Mr. UpTheGrove was all about equity!

American parents devote much of their lives in raising their children in the language and ways of their fellow citizens so that everyone can better get along. Accordingly, American children shed many a tear in learning this common language and way of being. Yet, in King County, when present before their own government, these same parents were denied time at the podium equal to that of immigrants who had crossed into their nation illegally and had their alien voices translated at the expense of those whose voices were being curtailed.

What was clearly “unfair” to anyone with the most rudimentary commonsense was perceived by our County Council and apparently those present at the meeting as courteous behavior to our nation’s most recent “newcomers”.

Excuse me, but our government, and We, the People, of these United States owe these illegal aliens nothing!

Now, if you, an American citizen, from the bottom of your heart, wish to show compassion toward these alien migrants in search of economic opportunity, then do so and do so freely. This is America, after all. Simply, do not engage in what makes you feel good at the expense of others who may or may not share your sympathy with illegal border crossings and the salient failure of the American state to carry out its most primary function — defend the borders of our nation so that we might enjoy a clean, safe, and orderly public domain. And this, to say nothing of the security of our own person and private property.

No, I was not there to lecture my fellow citizens. My purpose was to insure that what happened to me would not happen to them. I am covered and at my own expense; training for a black-belt has been one of the better decisions of my life.

Accompanied children, whose voices were barely audible, if even intelligible to an English speaker, were invited to speak. Grown women made no effort to contain their tears about the most common of problems — many of which appeared contrived. Indeed, much of what I was compelled to hear while waiting my turn and preserving my place in line was pathetic, poorly rehearsed, theatrical production — even worse than the black-and-white, televised, soap operas to which my mother used to listen as she attended to the daily chores of our household while my father was away at work.

The majority of the mini-speeches made that afternoon were a litany of look-at-me’s without any consideration for the hard labor of those whose wealth these beggars expect our government to transfer into their own, government-gifted, bank accounts. It were, as if, they were standing before a king who claimed the entire wealth of the nation for his own! From whence came the idea that the duty of the American state is to provide for the material well-being of some while ripping off everyone else? It is simply nirgends in the philosophy of governance of our nation’s founding fathers.

Alas, there was no sense of self-reliance in the beggars’ pleas. I do not recall once — when I could actually understand what was being said — a message similar to “Help me so that I might better help myself”. No, the mantra was uniform across the board: “I am needy, and we are here because you have wealth that we do not have.”

What is worse, this message was reinforced by local community groups who apparently believe that the primary duty of American government is to provide for the needs of one group by robbing, through taxation (overt) and inflation (covert), those whose person and property the government is suppose to defend and protect.

The hearing was so unAmerican and barely tolerable as a result.

The Fools

Before the meeting was opened for public comment, there were two photo-ops during which the Council gathered before the podium. The two special guests included the Indian Consul General of Washington State’s Indian Consulate and another who appeared to be the Director of the Seattle Aquarium. This latter seemed confused about the relative locations of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For, he insisted that Seattle and the South Asian peninsula shared the same ocean. I wonder, if he would have stated the same about the Japan Sea and Seattle’s tiny northeast corner of the Pacific Ocean, if the Consul General had been from either of the two Koreas.

As India typically celebrates its day of Independence on August 15th (India declared its independence from Great Britain on this day in 1947), it was difficult for me to understand why the Consul General was invited before the Council on the 28th. In the end, none of the propositions that were open for public “discussion” had anything to do with either the Seattle Aquarium or the Indian presence in King County.

We were reminded at the hearing’s outset that those of the “general public” who had come to speak were to focus on particular issues and not promote their respective political agendas. That a large number of residents from the Indian subcontinent occupy high government posts in local and State government in Western Washington, and that many of these posts represent political appointments made by the dominating, so-called, Democratic Party was not mentioned.

How much longer can the Washington State public tolerate this abomination of the American state? No, our nation is not perfect, but I know of no nation that is. And yes, we have drifted far away from our own ideal. But, to where are we headed, if it is not a socialist state managed from Davos, Basel, and Geneva, Switzerland, and wherever else the United Nation’s has dug its voluminous roots.²

America is facing a precipice. Those who claim to be taking the nation forward are taking us backward. And, those who are holding us back from restoring the American ideal appear to be in deep slumber.

We are many, but if we do not act, I fear the worse.

In liberty,

Roddy A. Stegemann, First Hill, Seattle 98104
Author of Mount Cambitas - The Story of Real Money and A Call for the Restoration of Monetary Order.

1. King County was originally named after William R. King, a former US Senator from the State of Alabama and 13th Vice President of the United States. In 1986 the King County Council motioned that the County’s name be changed to that of Martin Luther King, Jr., and in 2005 the Washington State Legislature authorized the change. Like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. was an exceptional orator. Unfortunately, there is much behind the oratory of both men that has been left unsaid and is far less flattering. Important in the case of Martin Luther King, Jr. is that his message of peace was completely ignored in King County during Seattle’s infamous “Summer of Love” in 2020. Not only were many people injured and at least two people killed, but there was enormous property damage from which the city has yet to recover as assault crime continues to rise.

2. Davos, Switzerland, is, of course, the meeting headquarters of the annually convened World Economic Forum. Basel, Switzerland is the home of the Bank of International Settlements, and Geneva, Switzerland, is the headquarters of the World Health Organization that made the China model, the model that all governments were suppose to follow in an effort to contain the uncontainable CoVID virus, and to implement and perpetuate the associated shut-down, masking, social-distancing policies that have since been proven to be a scientific farce.