Saturday, July 07, 2012
More From Peter Hitchens on Fiction Books
Along with some responses to comments on other posts, including ‘We Won the War … or Did We?’: A Summing Up. What is of interest to me:
On the Good Bad Books issue, I’m grateful for the response, and for the recommendations. Oddly enough, the educated middle class have for years been quite happy to own up to reading thrillers of a certain sort – le Carre, P.D.James’s detective stories, maybe Eric Ambler in the right company. And of course Sherlock Holmes. But not, I think, the sort of books I mentioned. By the way, I just don’t like Bernard Cornwell’s books. I may have been influenced by the fact that Sean Bean is the actor chosen to star in the TV version, and I just can’t enjoy his performances in anything. I also seem to recall feeling there was something anachronistic about the language and the minds of the characters, and anachronism is something which I cannot stand in historical fiction.
TEDxHarvardLaw - Stephan Guyenet - The American Diet
I had posted this video before, but it was removed from that YT account. Another copy is at YT though:
Friday, July 06, 2012
"God will put the right one in my life when it's time."
It is said that this belief, however it is formulated, should be adopted by Christians fleeing the modern dating scene. It may seem to be a pious thought, but it is instead an example of Christianity-lite because it ignores human nature in favor of some idealized (or overly spiritualized) notion of romance and God's providence. As it has been a while since I browsed the contents at Boundless, I can't say with any certainty that this mindset is defended there. It has been criticized by Dalrock and others, who are probably correct to condemn this sort of passive attitude as being proper to a woman, Christian or otherwise. Indeed, Christian women probably take this belief as giving them permission or validating their desire to pursue their career and the life of a care-free single. Rather, in addition to preparing themselves to be good wives and mistresses of the house, women should make themselves available to be pursued by men, and do so in the appropriate places that will signal a proper intention. It is unlikely that a man will find many chaste, sensible women at a club or bar. Even if he can successfully game a woman there, he does not expect to find the right kind of girl.
While women should not hold on to this belief, might it be an appropriate one for men? If so, wouldn't it be another example of women improperly trying to be like men? This thought struck my mind when considering that a recovering beta must give up quioxtic fantasies and onenitis and be a master of his life, not be mastered by his emotions. That is the proper way to "man up." A recent comment at Dalrock's blog by deti lists some of Roissy's "commandments," including this:
If they are blessed with good family, friend, and church networks, perhaps they will be able to meet a good women through these. Are there any examples of Christian men who met a woman at a bar and then led her to being a good, submissive Christian wife? I doubt it. I leave the workplace out of the list because its association with American sexual harassment laws is just too dangerous for betas, recovering or otherwise. If any Christian men who have taken the "red pill" have an alternate strategy of finding a good wife, let me know.
Related:
How Do I Know God's Will for a Marriage Partner?
While women should not hold on to this belief, might it be an appropriate one for men? If so, wouldn't it be another example of women improperly trying to be like men? This thought struck my mind when considering that a recovering beta must give up quioxtic fantasies and onenitis and be a master of his life, not be mastered by his emotions. That is the proper way to "man up." A recent comment at Dalrock's blog by deti lists some of Roissy's "commandments," including this:
Chapter III. You shall make your mission, not your woman, your priority Forget all those romantic cliches of the leading man proclaiming his undying love for the woman who completes him. Despite whatever protestations to the contrary, women do not want to be “The One” or the center of a man’s existence. They in fact want to subordinate themselves to a worthy man’s life purpose, to help him achieve that purpose with their feminine support, and to follow the path he lays out. You must respect a woman’s integrity and not lie to her that she is “your everything”. She is not your everything, and if she is, she will soon not be anymore.Similar advice is implicitly given by Jack Donovan. Men should focus on making themselves better men, and not worry so much about finding a woman. In these sad times, they should probably be indifferent or even resigned to the possibility that they may not marry because there may be an insufficient number of good, godly, and submissive women out there. (This stoicism is not incompatible with a trust in God's providence, if one believes that God does not "micromanage" his creatures or coerce their wills.)
If they are blessed with good family, friend, and church networks, perhaps they will be able to meet a good women through these. Are there any examples of Christian men who met a woman at a bar and then led her to being a good, submissive Christian wife? I doubt it. I leave the workplace out of the list because its association with American sexual harassment laws is just too dangerous for betas, recovering or otherwise. If any Christian men who have taken the "red pill" have an alternate strategy of finding a good wife, let me know.
Related:
How Do I Know God's Will for a Marriage Partner?
Pat Buchanan, Hamiltonian Nationalist?
As the Pittsford Perennialist has linked to the post, I should add a few thoughts on the future American Conservative. It would not be entirely discordant with the man associated with the magazine, Pat Buchanan, to become more overtly Hamiltonian Nationalist. Thomas DiLorenzo writes that Mr. Buchanan told him, "Alexander Hamilton is my hero." Buchanan does lean more towards a Hamiltonian position with respect to trade and tariffs (in contrast to "Jeffersonian" Southrons like Dr. Wilson) and focusing on manufacturing (rather than having a more agrarian view). But does Buchanan believe that the Constitution provides for a strong, centralized national government? I do not think so.
Nevertheless, we have a piece like James Pinkerton's Why Do We Have USDA? (It was balanced by this piece on Joel Salatin, Cultivating Freedom, in which Salatin criticized the USDA.) Scott Galupo appears to embrace the overly positive judgments of John Robert's opinion.
But if there is someone who stands opposed to Buchanan and is opposed to Buchanan's understanding of conservatism it is probably still Ron Unz. You can find reservations expressed about Mr. Unz by other conservatives in these posts. Something more recent by Mr. Unz: Immigration, the Republicans, and the End of White America.
Buchanan is right that we should build up manufacturing; does he embrace the model of large-scale concentrations of manufacturing in certain cities (like Detroit) or regions, or is he more willing to embrace something more diffuse (and humane and sustainable), at the expense of American "wealth"? Not that the United States can be said to be "prosperous" now, like it was in the latter half of the 20th century. Should we be trying to regain that position of economic power? And if Jeffersonians are believers in free trade, what place does trade hold in their science of politics in relation to the community and the common good? Do they allow for limits to trade?
Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton? by Clyde N. Wilson
From 2007: It's Time To End Hamilton's Curse by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
A Plea for the Real Union | Clyde Wilson
From 2010: Daniel McCarthy on the Future of the American Conservative Magazine and Taking Back the Right
Interview: Daniel McCarthy on Neoconservatism
2011: Tory Anarchism in America: An Interview with Daniel McCarthy
Nevertheless, we have a piece like James Pinkerton's Why Do We Have USDA? (It was balanced by this piece on Joel Salatin, Cultivating Freedom, in which Salatin criticized the USDA.) Scott Galupo appears to embrace the overly positive judgments of John Robert's opinion.
But if there is someone who stands opposed to Buchanan and is opposed to Buchanan's understanding of conservatism it is probably still Ron Unz. You can find reservations expressed about Mr. Unz by other conservatives in these posts. Something more recent by Mr. Unz: Immigration, the Republicans, and the End of White America.
Buchanan is right that we should build up manufacturing; does he embrace the model of large-scale concentrations of manufacturing in certain cities (like Detroit) or regions, or is he more willing to embrace something more diffuse (and humane and sustainable), at the expense of American "wealth"? Not that the United States can be said to be "prosperous" now, like it was in the latter half of the 20th century. Should we be trying to regain that position of economic power? And if Jeffersonians are believers in free trade, what place does trade hold in their science of politics in relation to the community and the common good? Do they allow for limits to trade?
Thomas Jefferson or Alexander Hamilton? by Clyde N. Wilson
From 2007: It's Time To End Hamilton's Curse by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
A Plea for the Real Union | Clyde Wilson
From 2010: Daniel McCarthy on the Future of the American Conservative Magazine and Taking Back the Right
Interview: Daniel McCarthy on Neoconservatism
2011: Tory Anarchism in America: An Interview with Daniel McCarthy
Portrait of an Uhmerican Family
The other day I had a brief exchange on FB with a cousin regarding the SCOTUS ruling last week on the "individual mandate" and the Constitution. We disagreed on the nature of the Federal government as laid out by the Constitution, and how the document is to be interpreted. This lack of a common religion, understanding of history, culture, identity, and politics is probably representative of many Uhmerican families. Parents (in particular fathers) in the megapolis do not educate their children in religion and American republicanism. The lack of a common ethos (along with the emphasis on mobility) prevents families from strengthening themselves and becoming agents of community building or reform. While blood is thicker than water and the members of my extended family would probably come to our aid if we needed it, disagreement in visions for communal life dilutes our political strength.
Republicanism must start with families and extended kin networks.
Republicanism must start with families and extended kin networks.
The Federal Income Tax
His supporters should know that Ron Paul advocates the elimination of the national income tax. There probably is over at Lew Rockwell's site a brief history of the passing of the 16th Amendment and what happened "behind the scenes," something to counter to the official history.
If an individual income tax is permissible at the national level, is it right that it generally places a greater burden on the citizenry than the state income tax? How much government does a true, limited federal government really need?
One might argue that we need a strong National Government to check the power of the corporations, given that corporate personhood is recognized in all the states, and corporations can be, in effect, superstate entitites. But what if the National Government is in alliance with the corporations and this alliance prevents reformers from attaining political office? What is to be done, then?
Related:
Supreme Errors by Peter Schiff
The Men Who Destroyed the Constitution by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
If an individual income tax is permissible at the national level, is it right that it generally places a greater burden on the citizenry than the state income tax? How much government does a true, limited federal government really need?
One might argue that we need a strong National Government to check the power of the corporations, given that corporate personhood is recognized in all the states, and corporations can be, in effect, superstate entitites. But what if the National Government is in alliance with the corporations and this alliance prevents reformers from attaining political office? What is to be done, then?
Related:
Supreme Errors by Peter Schiff
The Men Who Destroyed the Constitution by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
Leisure, Philosophy, and Liberal Education in Josef Pieper’s Thought by Lee Trepanier
Josef Pieper is best known in this country for his work, Leisure as the Basis of Culture, and its companion essay, The Philosophical Act, published as one book in 1952. In this book, Pieper’s argument is seemingly straight-forward: culture depends upon leisure, and leisure in turn depends upon the cult of divine worship. For Pieper, the cult is the ritual of public sacrifice that acts as the primary source of our independence and freedom, while culture involves natural goods of the world that belong to us but are beyond our immediate needs and wants. Leisure, as the basis of culture, therefore is our fundamental relationship to reality as a type of “philosophical act” where we learn to see how certain aspects of reality demand a celebration of them in divine worship. For Pieper, the highest relationship we can have with reality is one that is free of practical considerations, a philosophical theoria, and that can only be preserved within the sphere of leisure. Although his argument appears to be only about leisure, Pieper is actually exploring the nature of philosophy, specifically Christian philosophy, and its role in the education of souls.
Verily
Verily Something Different
by Andrew Haines
New women's magazine aims to encourage and uplift By Michelle Bauman
Fresh Conversations on What It Means To Be Real Women - Podcast, Part 1 and Part 2 (mp3)
Yay Verily! A Fresh Magazine with a Fresh Message
So where does Verily stand on issues other than alternative fashion? What is its attitude towards physical beauty, fitness, and health? The blog does not shed much light on what the contributors and editors think about feminism. The magazine is not "Catholic" though some of its editors are cradle(?) Catholics. Based on what I read in the Patheos article, so far it is an inadequate response to feminism. I'll have to listen to the podcasts.
I am reminded of LC/RC's Pure Fashion. (A post from 2009.) Then there is the use of mass media to "evangelize" the masses. Can contemporary mass marketing techniques be used to make virtue appealing to the "sisterhood"? How can the print magazine become financially viable without some sort of advertising? I cannot see how periodicals aiming for a large audience can accept advertising without compromising on their message and values. Would education by older women, coupled with good peer or social pressure in an existing community, be more effective? Some may end up rejecting traditional values, but they are free to go their own way. That would be better than staying and poisoning the minds and hearts of others.
Perhaps it is unavoidable that women will be concerned with their looks, since that is the means by which they are presentable to (and attract) men. But what of the competition for status among women, both with respect to appearance and the sort of man they can get? Is that such a laudable thing? An honest discussion of hypergamy?Will they advocate traditional roles needed for the rebuilding of family and community? A better word would be "feminine," if it is defined properly. What of an endorsement of slut-shaming in order to strike against female promiscuity? Or will the magazine be "nice" to keep customers?
Will women be encouraged to develop their own particular strengths, rather than competing with men and displacing them from the civic brotherhood? I continue to have doubts about the distinction between "private" and "public"; such a division may seem too "confining" to women. "Domestic" versus "communal" is much better, and women have their own part to play in the communal sphere, interacting with other families, but primarily with other women, children, and their elders. Men interact with other families as well, but primarily in their cooperation with other men in ordering the community and laboring for its perfection.
More Links:
FB for Verily
Dawn Eden on Christopher Closeup
Dance Immaculata
Glorify God
New women's magazine aims to encourage and uplift By Michelle Bauman
Fresh Conversations on What It Means To Be Real Women - Podcast, Part 1 and Part 2 (mp3)
Yay Verily! A Fresh Magazine with a Fresh Message
So where does Verily stand on issues other than alternative fashion? What is its attitude towards physical beauty, fitness, and health? The blog does not shed much light on what the contributors and editors think about feminism. The magazine is not "Catholic" though some of its editors are cradle(?) Catholics. Based on what I read in the Patheos article, so far it is an inadequate response to feminism. I'll have to listen to the podcasts.
I am reminded of LC/RC's Pure Fashion. (A post from 2009.) Then there is the use of mass media to "evangelize" the masses. Can contemporary mass marketing techniques be used to make virtue appealing to the "sisterhood"? How can the print magazine become financially viable without some sort of advertising? I cannot see how periodicals aiming for a large audience can accept advertising without compromising on their message and values. Would education by older women, coupled with good peer or social pressure in an existing community, be more effective? Some may end up rejecting traditional values, but they are free to go their own way. That would be better than staying and poisoning the minds and hearts of others.
Perhaps it is unavoidable that women will be concerned with their looks, since that is the means by which they are presentable to (and attract) men. But what of the competition for status among women, both with respect to appearance and the sort of man they can get? Is that such a laudable thing? An honest discussion of hypergamy?Will they advocate traditional roles needed for the rebuilding of family and community? A better word would be "feminine," if it is defined properly. What of an endorsement of slut-shaming in order to strike against female promiscuity? Or will the magazine be "nice" to keep customers?
Will women be encouraged to develop their own particular strengths, rather than competing with men and displacing them from the civic brotherhood? I continue to have doubts about the distinction between "private" and "public"; such a division may seem too "confining" to women. "Domestic" versus "communal" is much better, and women have their own part to play in the communal sphere, interacting with other families, but primarily with other women, children, and their elders. Men interact with other families as well, but primarily in their cooperation with other men in ordering the community and laboring for its perfection.
More Links:
FB for Verily
Dawn Eden on Christopher Closeup
Dance Immaculata
Glorify God
Deserving of a Link Here
The Ideal Economy of Wilhelm Roepke by Ralph E. Ancil
In the voluminous writings of Wilhelm Roepke, we find an effort to come to grips with this dilemma of unfreedom and to outline a way of getting what we want in a deeper and fuller sense. Rather than perpetuate the feeling of dependence and unfreedom by restricting choice to the usual alternatives in political economy (socialism or libertarianism), Roepke envisions a "Third Way" that would in a properly understood sense be truly "liberating." It is not the Roepke as Austrian economist that is here considered, or the Roepke as anti-communist, but rather the essential Roepke, Roepke as radical reformer, as idealist.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Peter Hitchens on Game of Thrones
Travelling in Time, plus Swords and Sorcery
[T]he most terrible monsters are human, because what Martin is very good at describing is the shocking ruthlessness of naked power politics, unrestrained by law or God. He draws his characters cunningly, tempting the reader to misjudge them and showing them a wholly different aspect as events unfold.
Some of my friends have read the books or are planning to; I'm not really in the mood to get some interest. Is it really that entertaining to read about a fantasy world dominated by power politics when the real world is dominated by power politics, and I'm just a peon? This is a political (dis-)order aggrandized by elites who only care about power and themselves.
I may, however, watch the TV adaptation as lazy entertainment.
The current Blu-Ray for the first season has been discontinued, though it is still being sold (for example, by Amazon). Why? Because a shot of GW Bush's decapitated head appeared in one of the episodes.
The TV Series:
FB
Making
Yahoo TV
The Author, George R. R. Martin:
MONSEÑOR: The Last Journey of Óscar Romero
First Run Features - DVD.
It is reviewed in the current issue of the Houston Catholic Worker.
Excerpt 2
Related: Monseñor Romero Documental Part1 2012 - S.A .:FDK:.
It is reviewed in the current issue of the Houston Catholic Worker.
Excerpt 2
Related: Monseñor Romero Documental Part1 2012 - S.A .:FDK:.
Another Good One by Jack Donovan
Tying Game, Sexual Liberation, Feminism, and the Crisis of Masculinity: Everyone a Harlot
In healthy patriarchies, men push themselves to earn the respect and admiration of other men. They work to prove their strength, courage and competence to each other. Men pride themselves on their reputation for mastery of their bodies, their actions, and their environment. They want to be known for what they can do, not just how well or who they can screw. And they sure as hell don't waste their time trying to figure out what they can do to bedazzle bimbos.
Joseph Pearce Moving to TMC
Insight Scoop: Joseph Pearce announces move to Thomas More College
TMC might be a better fit given the more "traditionalist" views of those who are in charge of Thomas More (with respect to culture and economics and politics); but does his move also signal something about Ave Maria University?
TMC might be a better fit given the more "traditionalist" views of those who are in charge of Thomas More (with respect to culture and economics and politics); but does his move also signal something about Ave Maria University?
Srdja Trifkovic on Peter Sutherland
Whom some might call a "race traitor": Conspiracy Realism.
"Peter Sutherland embodies the Western elite class: he is deracinated, authoritarian, rich, arrogant, contemptuous of the common people, powerful and dangerous. In other words, a few details of the physique notwithstanding, he is Barack Obama’s older brother. It is therefore unsurprising that in his remarks to the House of Lords he praised the United States as the model of multicultural openness that Europe would be well advised to emulate."
"Peter Sutherland embodies the Western elite class: he is deracinated, authoritarian, rich, arrogant, contemptuous of the common people, powerful and dangerous. In other words, a few details of the physique notwithstanding, he is Barack Obama’s older brother. It is therefore unsurprising that in his remarks to the House of Lords he praised the United States as the model of multicultural openness that Europe would be well advised to emulate."
Longmire, Episode 3
I've enjoyed the show so far, and it has been renewed for another season. Most of the time it seems sensible, but the ending of episode 3 was a bit mind boggling.
*spoiler warning*
*spoiler warning*
Two more for the Fourth...
Russell Kirk's Unfounded America by Mark C. Henrie
There Is No American Creed by Kevin R. C. Gutzman
One more: When Americans Understood the Declaration of Independence by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
There Is No American Creed by Kevin R. C. Gutzman
One more: When Americans Understood the Declaration of Independence by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Sean R. Busick and H. Lee Cheek Jr. on the Declaration of Independence
Guest column: Recovering the Declaration, and its meaning to our nation by Sean R. Busick and H. Lee Cheek Jr. (via Peter Haworth)
Plus, from Dr. Fleming: My Sweet Old Etcetera.
It is in the Declaration of Independence that we see best how the Founders envisioned state and federal authority uniting to form a national union.
Contrary to the now-popular view that regards the Declaration as Holy Writ, the Founders viewed the great document as illuminating and explaining the foundations of the American republic as resting upon a political compact. Such an agreement formed a republic in which there existed the same equality of rights among the states composing the union as existed among the citizens composing the states themselves.
The Declaration claimed legitimacy for a political compact that had developed with "time and experience" into a model of political and social stability. It preserved the center of authority within each individual state, and it allowed for secession when government "becomes destructive of these ends," for then "it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it."
While the Declaration appropriately described the status of "Free and Independent States" as essential to the republic, the document also confirmed the true story of the creation of the country: the states "ordained" or created the republic.
The Declaration introduced — or rather, officially recognized — the original design of the republic. The Articles of Confederation, the first American constitution, incorporated this design into the fundamental law of the regime. For the Founders, the provisions and language of the Articles served as an authentic guide to the American Constitution.
The Constitution of 1787 cannot be understood without first understanding the defense of local authority contained in the Articles. Drafted in stages from 1776 to 1777, the Articles extended and revised the Declaration's defense of local and state authority, and the delineation of state autonomy, while establishing popular rule based upon the deliberative, decentralized, community-centered participation of the citizenry. As with the Declaration, the Articles recognized the original design for a union of liberty, a republic of independent and sovereign states.
Plus, from Dr. Fleming: My Sweet Old Etcetera.
How'd that happen!
Somewhere along the way I chipped one of my teeth. Bah. At least a traditional/paleo diet may be able to prevent tooth decay.
Wellness Mama
thread
ph thread, another
Wellness Mama
thread
ph thread, another
Soon to be a thing of a past...
As soon as women are allowed to go to Ranger school and have more roles in special operations. (They're already part of civil affairs units.)
Messages like this from the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) FB page:
"Being a man isn't anger, it's not yelling, it's not violence, it's not fighting, it's not impatience, it's not acting before thinking. Being a man is making right decisions, it's doing the right thing, it's treating people well despite how they treat you, it's fully assessing a situation, it's understanding through perception, it's remaining calm, and it's doing all these things in the face of adversity. I'm not perfect; I make mistakes. But I do my best to be a good man."
Treat me like a doormat? How to make a white knight who will die for this government. Not much explanation about what separates men from women - couldn't this also be said for women? (Unless one accepts that men might be better decision-makers than women and better thinking past their emotions!)
Someone like Jack Donovan should take this apart.
Messages like this from the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) FB page:
"Being a man isn't anger, it's not yelling, it's not violence, it's not fighting, it's not impatience, it's not acting before thinking. Being a man is making right decisions, it's doing the right thing, it's treating people well despite how they treat you, it's fully assessing a situation, it's understanding through perception, it's remaining calm, and it's doing all these things in the face of adversity. I'm not perfect; I make mistakes. But I do my best to be a good man."
Treat me like a doormat? How to make a white knight who will die for this government. Not much explanation about what separates men from women - couldn't this also be said for women? (Unless one accepts that men might be better decision-makers than women and better thinking past their emotions!)
Someone like Jack Donovan should take this apart.
AmConMag veering towards Hamiltonian Nationalism?
I get that sort of feeling from recent posts responding to SCOTUS's ruling on the individual mandate.
Died on the 4th of July By STEPHEN B TIPPINS JR
Fisher Ames, Founding Father and arch-foe of democracy
Died on the 4th of July By STEPHEN B TIPPINS JR
Fisher Ames, Founding Father and arch-foe of democracy
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