Suffering Is Required

Jews know how to suffer. Most Christians don’t, although they once did. Bitcoiners and homeschoolers know how to suffer. “Vote harder” types seldom do.

There’s no virtue in suffering itself, but suffering is required if you want to be more than mundane. If you can’t accept suffering, anyone with a pin and a threat owns you. So, let’s be clear on this: Living in any way except the one prescribed by authority requires suffering. Continue reading “Suffering Is Required”

Why You Shouldn’t Believe In A Full-Spectrum Crash

There are a large number of people waiting for a full-spectrum, apocalyptic crash of the Western system. What I maintain is that it won’t happen. And I hope to convince you that I’m right.

The risk of this moment is a long, steady decline in quality of life, not an apocalypse.

Not that an apocalypse doesn’t have great dramatic appeal, of course…

Continue reading “Why You Shouldn’t Believe In A Full-Spectrum Crash”

The Wisdom Of The Hippies

Sadly, there are fairly few people left who understand what the Hippies were really about. Mostly people remember the Hollywood version: pot-smoking, political protesting and clumsy dancing. The actual Hippies, especially the early Hippies, were a much different group. They were interesting and brave people: people very much worth remembering. Continue reading “The Wisdom Of The Hippies”

The Truth We Can’t Accept

There is a simple fact that people are unable to ingest. You can explain it carefully, with charts, graphs and solid documentation… and they may even like the sound of it… but after the explanation, it fades away and is forgotten.

The problem is simply that this truth is too foreign. It just doesn’t fit within our mental universe. Most of us don’t directly fight against it, but even so, we aren’t able to integrate it. Continue reading “The Truth We Can’t Accept”

The West’s New Faith

Christianity, as people in their 60s and 70s have observed, was pushed off the public stages of the West over the past two generations. At this point, whoever speaks well of it in such places must be prepared to absorb blows.

Nonetheless, nature abhors a vacuum and just about everyone, including the most strident atheist, requires something to believe in. And so the exit of Christianity drew in new faiths, and one in particular, to replace it. Continue reading “The West’s New Faith”

Demolishing The Warren Report

One of my entertainments, from time to time, has been the Kennedy assassination… John Kennedy’s, that is. I’m not particularly a fan of mysteries, but once in a while one of them intrigues me.

What I’m going to show you today are two images from a CBS News Special Report from 1967, filmed and broadcast because so many people had failed to believe the Warren Report. I’m quite sure they didn’t realize they were making their esteemed report ridiculous, but they did just the same. Continue reading “Demolishing The Warren Report”

What Julian Assange Was Really Doing

Julian Assange is now free and recovering from his long, malicious ordeal. We wish him and his family all the very best. He is a hero, and paid a high price for it. 

A lot of people know the what about Julian and WikiLeaks – that they published secret information – but they don’t know the why. And that’s unfortunate, because the thinking behind all the leaks is both brilliant and illuminating. Continue reading “What Julian Assange Was Really Doing”

Why “Love One Another” Is Easy To Say But Hard To Do

Love one another.” You hear it all the time. But while it’s nice that it’s said, people don’t do it terribly well. It’s a hard thing for them to hold in mind. They can get serious about it from time to time (and again, a good thing), but doing it consistently eludes most everyone.

I think this deserves a moment of our time… if for nothing else than to work through some hypocrisy. Continue reading “Why “Love One Another” Is Easy To Say But Hard To Do”

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Recently a friend sent me a snippet of a conversation he saw in an online community. It read, Public school attendance is indoctrination in obedience. That’s a stark statement, but what struck me was not its bluntness, but that it has become common. 

Not many decades ago, people dared not say such things, even if they thought them. Now there are probably millions of people who feel free to say this.

The times, they are a-changin’. Continue reading “The Times They Are A-Changin’”