(H/T Brad; from the early days of the convoy, but forever heartening) The aristos are scared. Question is: Are they scared enough? That is, do they finally realize it’s time — and past time — to heed the pleas of the peasants? Answer (of course): No. Sure, some of the lower level, more directly accountable ones — provincial and state governors — are grudgingly getting the message. (Thank you, Canadian truckers.) At higher levels, they still seem to think, as aristos always think, that a vigorous ass-kicking or a handy war will put an end to the uppitiness and afterward…
Category: Cultural insanity
A friend of mine works in a field that’s on the cutting edge of the cutting edge. He’s a problem-solving genius and his reputation has taken him all over the world. This cutting edge business (like any industry) utilizes many types of experts. Some are experts in exciting new tech. My friend’s expertise, OTOH, happens to be in a specialty that, while absolutely vital, is old tech. It’s not “sexy.” Even the big schools associated with it no longer teach it. Lots of brilliant young people are never learning it even on a theoretical level, and have no idea it…
When I lived in civilization I used to like to go to plays and ballets and modern dance performances (Pilobolus! Alvin Ailey!) and even the occasional opera or symphony. Those days are long past. Remote living + elective poverty + a growing loathing of cities and crowds washed away my connections to “culture.” But now, although I’m no closer to or more fond of cities than ever, I have a new love (and old friend) in my life. I’ve been searching for a proper screen name for him and I think I’ll go for Rhett, after Rhett Butler. Rhett has…
Well, 2021 hadn’t even died its well-deserved death before the CDC basically created a whole new class of the unvaxxed insufficiently vaxxed. I wonder how many of the previously “fully vaxxed” will now be fed up enough to join the resistance? (I’m thinking of you, Neighbor J and Furrydoc.) In any case, totalitarianism marches on, this time on the excuse of a disease that’s generally been described as a bad cold. Does anybody doubt that 2022 — if it doesn’t bring more outright and serious rebellion from We the People — will bring us vaccine passports and harsher restrictions on…
The other day I witnessed a conversation I could never have imagined. Picture two successful professionals, thoroughly decent people, respected (perhaps even revered) in their fields. Intelligent, moderate individuals, but outside what was once the political mainstream. They relax over glasses of wine, discussing a certain prominent “public health expert.” They discuss whether prison is too good for said expert, or whether dragging him behind a mule cart, drawing, castrating, quartering, and placing his head on a pike in a public square is more appropriate. And no, they hadn’t had that much wine. Both were embarrassed by their own words.…
You can avoid reality, but you can’t avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. — Ayn Rand(ish) —– In what I hope (no doubt in vain) is peak reality-avoidance, the British Evening Standard has written an article attributing the dramatic rise in youthful heart problems to a new psychological malady, Post-Pandemic Stress Disorder. Suddenly, in 2021 — notably not in 2020, the first really traumatic year of the permademic — previously healthy young men are becoming so freaked out over COVID that they’re increasing the UK’s rate of heart problems by nearly five percent. The article doesn’t mention — not even…
One October day in 1844, thousands of followers of William Miller awaited the return of Jesus in glory and their own glorious ascension to heaven. The non-event that followed became known as The Great Disappointment. It didn’t help that the whole non-believing world was laughing their asses off while the devastated Millerites grieved and tried to recoup. You’d think something called The Great Disappointment would have been the end of the Millerite cult. But only if you underestimate the self-justifying irrationality of human beings. Sure, some walked away. But many who walked simply became True Believers in a different sect…
Comments on last week’s blog got me down. Between the vociferous guy who wanted the rest of us to start shooting (but who himself was best at standing on the sidelines verbally sniping) and the vociferous guy who complained that our brave, newfound allies in resisting government diktats weren’t philosophically pure enough for him, I despaired. Oh, as always there were also great comments — and a lot of them. But it’s like when your day goes 90% wonderful but is 10% overrun by a**holes … well, in that case it’s 100% overrun by a**holes. You don’t go home from…
I’m pausing the “Our job” series to talk about what’s going on now, which is so bad it might become good. —– When you thought about your line in the sand I’ll bet you never thought about this. I bet you thought about gun confiscation or internment camps or invasion by blue-helmeted “peacekeepers.” Maybe you believed your line in the sand would be reached if your religion was outlawed or your son or daughter was drafted to fight in one of the empire’s future foreign wars. Your personal line in the sand could be any one, or two, or three…
Grubby work continues around Ye Olde Homestead and I cannot yet face returning to the “our job” series. I hope you enjoy this somewhat random, mostly occasionally “lite” post in the meantime. My reluctance to return to Serious Blogging is partly because the next episodes are planned to cover ideas for building alternative justice systems and nobody can build a great justice system, anywhere, at any time. Because justice systems, however noble their intent, nearly always involve both coercion and unhappy (for somebody) outcomes. But my reluctance to return is in part because events are moving so fast that the…