Petty nationalist squabbles were always an inevitability as they are a process that needs to be completed. But you're absolutely right that larger threats that are existential loom.
Hit the like button and use the share button to share this on social media, where I am presently restricted. Leave a comment if the mood strikes you, and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't done so already.
Also: please consider joining our book club where we are covering the excellent, excellent "The Last Pagan Generation", by Edward J. Watts. It's a 2015 publication covering 4th Century AD Rome, and contains a fuckton of parallels to our present culture, both political and social.
J.P., I wouldn’t reply to your question, more especially since one of Elon Musk’s grounds for potentially backtracking on the Twitter deal is not being given information about fake accounts. Nevertheless I’ve no doubt NS has higher standards of integrity to maintain than an entirely private citizen like me.
Jun 11, 2022·edited Jun 11, 2022Liked by Niccolo Soldo
Vanity Fair can't even call Weigel's retweet a joke, which it was. Our media is a bunch of puritanical thin skinned bores more interested in keeping on the right side of progressive history than truth-seeking. This is a massive problem.
Jun 11, 2022·edited Jun 11, 2022Liked by Niccolo Soldo
WaPo reporter’s view work as part of their spiritual journey to enlightenment and self actualization. Their antenna are carefully attuned to pick up unfairness and unequal treatment, they demand what is right. Who wouldn’t!
I wonder if Amazon warehouse workers think that way, should their pain be acknowledged, are they afforded this courtesy? It’s the common ownership that makes me think of this conundrum : one business, a vanity project the other business, mired in the real world of commerce. Do Amazon workers count, like WaPo reporters; do WaPo reporters care about their brethren?
Power: the current ethos in these hoity-toity newsrooms is antithetical to running a large organization. Power is seen as a trespass not a necessity of human organization, this leaves the bosses completely bedeviled, damned if they do damned if they don’t. The inmates are running the asylum.
The contrast between the WaPo 'workplace' as a locus for self-actualisation and the lived experience of work for most people illustrates the absurdity of our economic and social order quite well. The 'elite' journalists lack the insight and social skills to function effectively in any serious environment. One can only pity the old-timers who have to put up with colleagues like that. As for the workers at Amazon who are being exploited to pay for the WaPo, they need to organise and shake up the business. A European style 'works council' and worker-ownership at the very minimum!
That contact is coming on a scale that will devastate the US. The emerging economies (Russia, China, Brazil, India and several others) are unsentimental and the reality of industrial and military competition puts Woke America at a terrible disadvantage. Either the US ditches woke or the US will become a 'hermit kingdom' with a seriously backward and dysfunctional economy. The disparities between high school and college achievement in math in the US and key competitors is astounding and STEM is the foundation of technical prowess.
I suggest you add (one Pseudo intellectual to another) the Upheaval substack to your readings, NS Lyons is a close second to Curtis Yarvin in my pantheon of thinkers. Soldo is also way up there.
"The stereotype of the newsroom being full of jaded, cynical, and sarcastic types, prone to wisecracks and hard liquour habits is about as contemporary and relevant as Reagan conservatives. They have been replaced, and those few who haven’t have been cowed into submission by a new generation of ideologues brought up in privilege, unlike they were. Gone is the collegiality (yes, this wasn’t always the situation) where reporters and scribblers would set aside their opinions to hit the bar after work and share a drink or ten. In its place is a culture of suspicion, of fear, of retribution, and of immature individuals demanding that the world cater to their psychological needs."
The parents who "raised" these monstrous adult bodied brats should feel ashamed of themselves.
Worst of all, they are as boring as hell to read. Much could be forgiven for the sake of good prose and interesting points of view. The WaPo can barely manage banality and even that is presented in a style that induces boredom and nausea in equal measure.
Take my advice, do not waste your time. I bitterly regret the time, effort, focus wasted over the years on media rubbish. Prioritize quality reading...anything that adds value because of its challenges, complexity etc. Anything that is life-affirming in one way or another. It pays off neurocognitively. Worthless people and banality soak up attention, emotion and time, all of which are precious. They understand at an intuitive level that they can wear us down and that we, once reduced, are left exhausted, vulnerable and weakened. They (the WaPO and all like them) are diabolic in their malice. Don't let their stupidity fool you. You have to be ruthless when allocating attention.
I loved Kitchen Confidential and also Bourtain's travel shows. Must all great books be "serious?"
Awhile before he died, I saw an episode on the CNN version where he mentioned that he didn't keep booze in his (now married) household: the strategy of a struggling alcoholic. A bit later on during another episode, he was partying in Hong Kong with that Italian actress and a local movie director. It had the feeling of family doom written all over it. Felt like a train wreck coming and I never watched another episode...
Good stuff! Some verbiage over my head I admit but able to follow with a fair bit of rereading hole sentence and or paragraphs, love your writing style.
I only watched Bourdain’s shows intermittently. Some I greatly enjoyed. I am not trying to black-pill anyone or put Bourdain down, but it is obvious that he embodied precisely the sort of cosmopolitanism that sits comfortably within our social order.
Bourdain curated foreign cultures but was unable to acknowledge the reality of global integration: the essential and enduring incompatibility between the class and ethnic interests of the rising middle classes of the newly developed countries and the increasingly insecure and demoralised middle classes of the West.
This conflict has already begun to tear North America and Europe apart. The audiences who shared Bourdain’s goodwill and respect for people across the world are participants in this conflict. Bourdain was chic and hip, perhaps even a half-way decent man, but nothing he did and nothing his audience might believe in or value stands a chance of making a difference. This is a pity, but also an unavoidable fact.
People often falsely assume that if you give a bully a dollar, he or she will just leave you alone. That is premised on the virtue of sympathy and compassion. That's not how predation works. If a bully "asks" for a dollar today, they are going to expect a dollar fifty tomorrow. When humans enact their aggression instinct, they go as far as they are allowed to go. And the concept of "allowance" has been perpetually mystified into let's make everyone happy (egalitarian falsehood) because it doesn't want to address the reality that in life there are winners and losers as all things are built on trade offs. The reason why this concept of allowance seems to be perpetually breached appears to be a product of the spoiled descendants of elites who are now faux elites of which the concept of accountability, the word no, any barrier or restriction (they rationalize this with goofy terms like "frictionless"), or boundaries to self satisfaction are foreign concepts. People often dismiss or rationalize/explain the behavior of this type with common language like they are out of touch or they are evil. It really is a lot more simple. They behave the way they do because the concept of responsibility, especially to a duty to a profession or a nation, does not even register. You can't be out of touch with something when the feeling of in touch doesn't even cross your mind. They went through the status pipeline jungle gym, going through each obstacle course, and the entitlement adopted permits them to not even consider an alternative perspective because not getting their way (aka reality) can just be "destigmatized" or dismissed/disregarded as "trauma". Add to that that a large proportion of these people are effectively emotional addicts, they will chase spontaneous emotion wherever it is like an addict on a heroin bender.
The use of artillery instead of men goes back centuries and has always been the Russian Arm of Decision since the Tsars.
In Russia the infantry and armor support the artillery, the opposite is official doctrine in American army (in reality not, and we use Air power aka flying artillery). This has always been so, it is maniacal to do otherwise. Moreover the Russians are running the same playbook as Syria and Chechen war of slow gains because they can and I said this from the start. This could mean I’m a prophet but just means I can read 😂. They could of course level the place. Why rush?
The Ukrainians in that picture look like US Airsoft crew , type multiple uniforms, some have body armor some not, mixed weapons, bollocks all round .
Ukrainians out generaled at every point, media shrieking Blitzkrieg failed Putin doomed blah blah.
This goes well with WaPo piece, thats our strategic staff exactly.
Cannon enabled the Russians to break the back of the Tatar forces in early modern times and roll back the immemorial control of the steppes by mobile mounted nomads.
Today Russia has time on its side. Their supply lines are shorter. They have air superiority. They have escalatory dominance. They can target all supply, assembly, communications and command posts within the Ukraine. Their air defense can deter NATO from intervening and the missile attack at Yavoriv has deterred any more foreigners from joining the Ukrainian armed forces. The Russians have vast reserves of ammunition and their factories are rolling out new missiles.
The advantage of massed artillery salvos is that they can kill at a distance, thereby minimising the need for Russian infantry to engage Ukrainians until the latter have been reduced in number. The loss of Russian generals must have been good for morale since it demonstrates that the commanders share the dangers and are leading from the front.
Russia's best troops (airborne) have been held back in reserve in case Poland makes a move on either Belarus or Ukraine. Within a few months autumn will set in and then winter. Northern and Central Europe are in for a shock. It has been several generations since Europeans experienced winters without adequate central heating. It will not be pretty. After a few months of trying to heat homes with solar panels the Germans may well start lynching anti-Russian Green politicians.
A moment sir; the Europeans remain cowards but - the eu link is the best explanation yet “ the war neutralized the various fault lines where the EU was crumbling, some more and some less” - then that makes sense.
1870 Franco Prussian war was about unifying Germany not Alsace, Lorraine or the Throne of Spain.
Concerning the behavior at WaPo, yes, it would indeed be an example of inmates taking over the asylum if the Old Normal were in force.
But what is the New Normal appears to be one in which Big Tech rules the world (or has that goal in mind) and the historic Fourth Estate (the press and media) might well be Big Tech’s proposed substitute for the historic First Estate, the clergy.
Were that the case, then the WaPo antics would be those of the monks taking over the monastery, and what said monks would not tolerate in a monastery is blasphemy.
An implication that human females are either bisexual or maniacs would violate the principle of *inclusion.* It would be like suggesting that African Americans are a species of ape, or that same-sex eroticism must be punishable by death to placate an Old Normal deity.
Before the advent of electrical media such a joke about women, if made in private in a bar, would not generate such righteous zeal. But now, even a retweet later deleted does rise to the level of a blasphemous call to arms, perhaps even tantamount to worshiping a golden calf (see Exodus 32:8) or, in a more recent example, a Scandinavian humor publication cracking wise about the prophet Mohammad. People of faith are urged to take their faith seriously, and many do.
Does that suggest that a newsroom, under current circumstances, is no longer a newsroom?
Well, yes and no. Why no? Because it now seems that newsrooms like the Washington post newsroom, consider it their duty not to just report the news, but to preach the Good News.
One might recall that an English word derived from the Ancient Greek term for good news is *evangelism.*
People who seek constant affirmation about their beliefs from co-workers and who cannot function without that affirmation are basically psychically unstable. The increasing frequency of this sort of thing indicates that some sort of social breakdown is immanent. Viable societies and institutions require constant co-operation between unrelated adults. The disappearance of such co-operation or the emergence of coercive forms of control as a substitute is the very definition of failure.
The reporting of Western media with regard to the Ukraine has been nothing if not embarrassing. And people buy it! The other day, I overheard my dad and his friend (both lifelong Republicans) parroting all the MSM talking points verbatim: Russia is doing horribly, they are losing x troops, their armored vehicles are being chewed up by the Ukraine war machine, etc. I had to interject with a "do you actually believe this shit? You were well aware of the media lying to you about COVID, the election, etc, why do you believe this?" Probably it's a generational thing... they cannot turn off their MERICA brain when it comes to war.
I only point this out to show just how deluded the average Joe was about this war. And the media...holy shit. Ghost of Kiev, I mean KYIV! Miss Ukraine fighting on the front lines! Russian drones brought down by pickle jars! Blatant wartime propaganda reported uncritically 24/7, with all the gravitas of a fucking sports broadcast. "That's right, Jim, the Ukrainians are 18 point underdogs coming into this fight, but if they just maintain distance and work on that jab, they can win this on points." I mean, who doesn't love a plucky underdog? This is America! Meanwhile we are throwing money at this thing to prolong the suffering of faceless blameless Slavs, because fuck them, this is about freedom and democracy and and and.
Watching my countrymen turn into biomedical totalitarians from 20-21 made me start to hate America, or at least what it's become. Seeing them become cheerleaders for WW3 put the nail in the coffin in any love I have for this country. The sooner the Globalist American Empire exits the stage, the better.
I use the same argument all the time: "Why give the media the benefit of the doubt after they've lied to us constantly about everything these past few decades?"
If you assume they are always lying about everything, you will be better off than if you assume they are always telling the truth. To the horror of my social betters, I'm more and more choosing to believe my lying eyes
Plenty interesting points. I like ‘Kiev’ particularly. In addition it’s Kharkov not Kharkiv and (because he’s a Russian speaker) the Ukrainian president’s name is Vladimir Zelensky. These things seem trivial until we realise we’re being pointed in a direction we wouldn’t otherwise endorse. I hold to the point all wars are wrong not wronger because the media are obsessively anti-Putin.
Plenty good points made by SamizBOT. Since February mainstream newspapers in (where I am, the UK) turned into blatant propaganda.
Nevertheless in itself I think the military-technical operation in Ukraine is indefensible. Those are actual people whose homes and families are being destroyed. Take sides; pause; then imagine this was happening in your area.
The only side I take is the one that says that war is a last resort and should be avoided when possible. The American foreign policy establishment believes in the periodic reincarnation of Hitler and therefore believe that diplomacy is indistinguishable from "appeasement."
As to your last point, I have nothing but sympathy for the unnecessary suffering of the Ukrainian people. If my home were destroyed by foreign invaders, I would probably want their entire nation reduced to rubble. We should avoid creating such emnity throughout the world.
I agree with everything you say. My own difficult view since the war started is trying to reconcile the politically rational with ordinary people’s lives being destroyed. Despite the wrongs and hypocrisy of the U.S. and NATO there isn’t a good way of ending this other than Wladimir Wladimirowitsch deciding he has made his point. He is nothing if not rational and will choose his moment pragmatically. I’m going to stay on the side of ordinary people who never had much say in the politics of the government of Ukraine.
I think if you read between the lines we agree more than otherwise.
Petty nationalist squabbles were always an inevitability as they are a process that needs to be completed. But you're absolutely right that larger threats that are existential loom.
Hit the like button and use the share button to share this on social media, where I am presently restricted. Leave a comment if the mood strikes you, and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't done so already.
Also: please consider joining our book club where we are covering the excellent, excellent "The Last Pagan Generation", by Edward J. Watts. It's a 2015 publication covering 4th Century AD Rome, and contains a fuckton of parallels to our present culture, both political and social.
https://niccolo.substack.com/p/fbf-book-club-the-final-pagan-generation?s=w
We are two entries in, with a third coming up tomorrow.
For effect: please do share today's weekend review on social media. Thank you kindly.
J.P., I wouldn’t reply to your question, more especially since one of Elon Musk’s grounds for potentially backtracking on the Twitter deal is not being given information about fake accounts. Nevertheless I’ve no doubt NS has higher standards of integrity to maintain than an entirely private citizen like me.
No, as it's pointless for me.
Vanity Fair can't even call Weigel's retweet a joke, which it was. Our media is a bunch of puritanical thin skinned bores more interested in keeping on the right side of progressive history than truth-seeking. This is a massive problem.
No its a minor problem moving into sub triviality.
You think media bias is sub trivial?
Yes, for most people.
Its like homeless nutters on the subway, its a problem if you take the subway and you’re weak.
Let me flip this;
I’m supposed to take them seriously?
No. Won’t. Shouldn’t either.
WaPo reporter’s view work as part of their spiritual journey to enlightenment and self actualization. Their antenna are carefully attuned to pick up unfairness and unequal treatment, they demand what is right. Who wouldn’t!
I wonder if Amazon warehouse workers think that way, should their pain be acknowledged, are they afforded this courtesy? It’s the common ownership that makes me think of this conundrum : one business, a vanity project the other business, mired in the real world of commerce. Do Amazon workers count, like WaPo reporters; do WaPo reporters care about their brethren?
Power: the current ethos in these hoity-toity newsrooms is antithetical to running a large organization. Power is seen as a trespass not a necessity of human organization, this leaves the bosses completely bedeviled, damned if they do damned if they don’t. The inmates are running the asylum.
The contrast between the WaPo 'workplace' as a locus for self-actualisation and the lived experience of work for most people illustrates the absurdity of our economic and social order quite well. The 'elite' journalists lack the insight and social skills to function effectively in any serious environment. One can only pity the old-timers who have to put up with colleagues like that. As for the workers at Amazon who are being exploited to pay for the WaPo, they need to organise and shake up the business. A European style 'works council' and worker-ownership at the very minimum!
Well said. Wokeness as the idealogical successor is performance theatre, it can’t survive contact with the real world.
That contact is coming on a scale that will devastate the US. The emerging economies (Russia, China, Brazil, India and several others) are unsentimental and the reality of industrial and military competition puts Woke America at a terrible disadvantage. Either the US ditches woke or the US will become a 'hermit kingdom' with a seriously backward and dysfunctional economy. The disparities between high school and college achievement in math in the US and key competitors is astounding and STEM is the foundation of technical prowess.
Well said and I agree with your characterization.
I suggest you add (one Pseudo intellectual to another) the Upheaval substack to your readings, NS Lyons is a close second to Curtis Yarvin in my pantheon of thinkers. Soldo is also way up there.
"The stereotype of the newsroom being full of jaded, cynical, and sarcastic types, prone to wisecracks and hard liquour habits is about as contemporary and relevant as Reagan conservatives. They have been replaced, and those few who haven’t have been cowed into submission by a new generation of ideologues brought up in privilege, unlike they were. Gone is the collegiality (yes, this wasn’t always the situation) where reporters and scribblers would set aside their opinions to hit the bar after work and share a drink or ten. In its place is a culture of suspicion, of fear, of retribution, and of immature individuals demanding that the world cater to their psychological needs."
The parents who "raised" these monstrous adult bodied brats should feel ashamed of themselves.
Worst of all, they are as boring as hell to read. Much could be forgiven for the sake of good prose and interesting points of view. The WaPo can barely manage banality and even that is presented in a style that induces boredom and nausea in equal measure.
I have never read anything by Sonmez (nor Weigel, for that matter).
Take my advice, do not waste your time. I bitterly regret the time, effort, focus wasted over the years on media rubbish. Prioritize quality reading...anything that adds value because of its challenges, complexity etc. Anything that is life-affirming in one way or another. It pays off neurocognitively. Worthless people and banality soak up attention, emotion and time, all of which are precious. They understand at an intuitive level that they can wear us down and that we, once reduced, are left exhausted, vulnerable and weakened. They (the WaPO and all like them) are diabolic in their malice. Don't let their stupidity fool you. You have to be ruthless when allocating attention.
I loved Kitchen Confidential and also Bourtain's travel shows. Must all great books be "serious?"
Awhile before he died, I saw an episode on the CNN version where he mentioned that he didn't keep booze in his (now married) household: the strategy of a struggling alcoholic. A bit later on during another episode, he was partying in Hong Kong with that Italian actress and a local movie director. It had the feeling of family doom written all over it. Felt like a train wreck coming and I never watched another episode...
Good stuff! Some verbiage over my head I admit but able to follow with a fair bit of rereading hole sentence and or paragraphs, love your writing style.
I only watched Bourdain’s shows intermittently. Some I greatly enjoyed. I am not trying to black-pill anyone or put Bourdain down, but it is obvious that he embodied precisely the sort of cosmopolitanism that sits comfortably within our social order.
Bourdain curated foreign cultures but was unable to acknowledge the reality of global integration: the essential and enduring incompatibility between the class and ethnic interests of the rising middle classes of the newly developed countries and the increasingly insecure and demoralised middle classes of the West.
This conflict has already begun to tear North America and Europe apart. The audiences who shared Bourdain’s goodwill and respect for people across the world are participants in this conflict. Bourdain was chic and hip, perhaps even a half-way decent man, but nothing he did and nothing his audience might believe in or value stands a chance of making a difference. This is a pity, but also an unavoidable fact.
People often falsely assume that if you give a bully a dollar, he or she will just leave you alone. That is premised on the virtue of sympathy and compassion. That's not how predation works. If a bully "asks" for a dollar today, they are going to expect a dollar fifty tomorrow. When humans enact their aggression instinct, they go as far as they are allowed to go. And the concept of "allowance" has been perpetually mystified into let's make everyone happy (egalitarian falsehood) because it doesn't want to address the reality that in life there are winners and losers as all things are built on trade offs. The reason why this concept of allowance seems to be perpetually breached appears to be a product of the spoiled descendants of elites who are now faux elites of which the concept of accountability, the word no, any barrier or restriction (they rationalize this with goofy terms like "frictionless"), or boundaries to self satisfaction are foreign concepts. People often dismiss or rationalize/explain the behavior of this type with common language like they are out of touch or they are evil. It really is a lot more simple. They behave the way they do because the concept of responsibility, especially to a duty to a profession or a nation, does not even register. You can't be out of touch with something when the feeling of in touch doesn't even cross your mind. They went through the status pipeline jungle gym, going through each obstacle course, and the entitlement adopted permits them to not even consider an alternative perspective because not getting their way (aka reality) can just be "destigmatized" or dismissed/disregarded as "trauma". Add to that that a large proportion of these people are effectively emotional addicts, they will chase spontaneous emotion wherever it is like an addict on a heroin bender.
WaPo; the 2d most newspaper in THE WORLD
has done us all a service by revealing their true natures.
🤡
Now “we” are not all fuxed because they are.
They are.
With regard to our elites- especially media- the 20th Century had real evil and Hannah Arendt wrote of the banality of evil.
We may now observe the Evils of Banality.
Frankly even the term banality is too grand.
The use of artillery instead of men goes back centuries and has always been the Russian Arm of Decision since the Tsars.
In Russia the infantry and armor support the artillery, the opposite is official doctrine in American army (in reality not, and we use Air power aka flying artillery). This has always been so, it is maniacal to do otherwise. Moreover the Russians are running the same playbook as Syria and Chechen war of slow gains because they can and I said this from the start. This could mean I’m a prophet but just means I can read 😂. They could of course level the place. Why rush?
The Ukrainians in that picture look like US Airsoft crew , type multiple uniforms, some have body armor some not, mixed weapons, bollocks all round .
Ukrainians out generaled at every point, media shrieking Blitzkrieg failed Putin doomed blah blah.
This goes well with WaPo piece, thats our strategic staff exactly.
Cannon enabled the Russians to break the back of the Tatar forces in early modern times and roll back the immemorial control of the steppes by mobile mounted nomads.
Today Russia has time on its side. Their supply lines are shorter. They have air superiority. They have escalatory dominance. They can target all supply, assembly, communications and command posts within the Ukraine. Their air defense can deter NATO from intervening and the missile attack at Yavoriv has deterred any more foreigners from joining the Ukrainian armed forces. The Russians have vast reserves of ammunition and their factories are rolling out new missiles.
The advantage of massed artillery salvos is that they can kill at a distance, thereby minimising the need for Russian infantry to engage Ukrainians until the latter have been reduced in number. The loss of Russian generals must have been good for morale since it demonstrates that the commanders share the dangers and are leading from the front.
Russia's best troops (airborne) have been held back in reserve in case Poland makes a move on either Belarus or Ukraine. Within a few months autumn will set in and then winter. Northern and Central Europe are in for a shock. It has been several generations since Europeans experienced winters without adequate central heating. It will not be pretty. After a few months of trying to heat homes with solar panels the Germans may well start lynching anti-Russian Green politicians.
Europeans enjoy relatively mild winters. Just saying...
But the price of heating is crazy compared to the USA and Canada.
A moment sir; the Europeans remain cowards but - the eu link is the best explanation yet “ the war neutralized the various fault lines where the EU was crumbling, some more and some less” - then that makes sense.
1870 Franco Prussian war was about unifying Germany not Alsace, Lorraine or the Throne of Spain.
Concerning the behavior at WaPo, yes, it would indeed be an example of inmates taking over the asylum if the Old Normal were in force.
But what is the New Normal appears to be one in which Big Tech rules the world (or has that goal in mind) and the historic Fourth Estate (the press and media) might well be Big Tech’s proposed substitute for the historic First Estate, the clergy.
Were that the case, then the WaPo antics would be those of the monks taking over the monastery, and what said monks would not tolerate in a monastery is blasphemy.
An implication that human females are either bisexual or maniacs would violate the principle of *inclusion.* It would be like suggesting that African Americans are a species of ape, or that same-sex eroticism must be punishable by death to placate an Old Normal deity.
Before the advent of electrical media such a joke about women, if made in private in a bar, would not generate such righteous zeal. But now, even a retweet later deleted does rise to the level of a blasphemous call to arms, perhaps even tantamount to worshiping a golden calf (see Exodus 32:8) or, in a more recent example, a Scandinavian humor publication cracking wise about the prophet Mohammad. People of faith are urged to take their faith seriously, and many do.
Does that suggest that a newsroom, under current circumstances, is no longer a newsroom?
Well, yes and no. Why no? Because it now seems that newsrooms like the Washington post newsroom, consider it their duty not to just report the news, but to preach the Good News.
One might recall that an English word derived from the Ancient Greek term for good news is *evangelism.*
Perhaps we should treat them as others spoiled, damaged children?
They should be ignored.
If “them” refers to the ditzy WaPo evangelists, certainly.
But we can’t ignore the impact of a new technology on what we know as “the world.”
Certainly, the monks who illustrated manuscripts must have tried to ignore Gutenberg’s printing press when written material started coming out.
But does anyone illustrate manuscripts by hand these days?
Probably. As kind of an art thing.
If so, I don’t know who.
Wot new technology?
They didn’t roll out new technology they learned to type
If the Protestants had been writing this dribble we’d all be conversing now in Latin, lol
Jonathan is correct; you can't ignore the official scribes.
People who seek constant affirmation about their beliefs from co-workers and who cannot function without that affirmation are basically psychically unstable. The increasing frequency of this sort of thing indicates that some sort of social breakdown is immanent. Viable societies and institutions require constant co-operation between unrelated adults. The disappearance of such co-operation or the emergence of coercive forms of control as a substitute is the very definition of failure.
All true. However the way I see it is that social breakdown, has already happened. As has failure. Over and over again.
At least the Substack comment software is working.
That’s something 🫤.
The social breakdown is theirs
America is a Federation.
Failure to understand that is part of their failure
Good post. You would like the book series that I have started this past week as it speaks to your main point.
I’ll take a look at it.
Zelensky is the only guy in history to make a FAST helmet look too big, this is comical.
A FAST helmet is a Kevlar bicycle helmet BTW.
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.fkVKUv26-ATwyN1Temq6TQHaHa?w=179&h=180&c=7&r=0&o=5&dpr=2&pid=1.7
The reporting of Western media with regard to the Ukraine has been nothing if not embarrassing. And people buy it! The other day, I overheard my dad and his friend (both lifelong Republicans) parroting all the MSM talking points verbatim: Russia is doing horribly, they are losing x troops, their armored vehicles are being chewed up by the Ukraine war machine, etc. I had to interject with a "do you actually believe this shit? You were well aware of the media lying to you about COVID, the election, etc, why do you believe this?" Probably it's a generational thing... they cannot turn off their MERICA brain when it comes to war.
I only point this out to show just how deluded the average Joe was about this war. And the media...holy shit. Ghost of Kiev, I mean KYIV! Miss Ukraine fighting on the front lines! Russian drones brought down by pickle jars! Blatant wartime propaganda reported uncritically 24/7, with all the gravitas of a fucking sports broadcast. "That's right, Jim, the Ukrainians are 18 point underdogs coming into this fight, but if they just maintain distance and work on that jab, they can win this on points." I mean, who doesn't love a plucky underdog? This is America! Meanwhile we are throwing money at this thing to prolong the suffering of faceless blameless Slavs, because fuck them, this is about freedom and democracy and and and.
Watching my countrymen turn into biomedical totalitarians from 20-21 made me start to hate America, or at least what it's become. Seeing them become cheerleaders for WW3 put the nail in the coffin in any love I have for this country. The sooner the Globalist American Empire exits the stage, the better.
I use the same argument all the time: "Why give the media the benefit of the doubt after they've lied to us constantly about everything these past few decades?"
If you assume they are always lying about everything, you will be better off than if you assume they are always telling the truth. To the horror of my social betters, I'm more and more choosing to believe my lying eyes
Plenty interesting points. I like ‘Kiev’ particularly. In addition it’s Kharkov not Kharkiv and (because he’s a Russian speaker) the Ukrainian president’s name is Vladimir Zelensky. These things seem trivial until we realise we’re being pointed in a direction we wouldn’t otherwise endorse. I hold to the point all wars are wrong not wronger because the media are obsessively anti-Putin.
Plenty good points made by SamizBOT. Since February mainstream newspapers in (where I am, the UK) turned into blatant propaganda.
Nevertheless in itself I think the military-technical operation in Ukraine is indefensible. Those are actual people whose homes and families are being destroyed. Take sides; pause; then imagine this was happening in your area.
The only side I take is the one that says that war is a last resort and should be avoided when possible. The American foreign policy establishment believes in the periodic reincarnation of Hitler and therefore believe that diplomacy is indistinguishable from "appeasement."
As to your last point, I have nothing but sympathy for the unnecessary suffering of the Ukrainian people. If my home were destroyed by foreign invaders, I would probably want their entire nation reduced to rubble. We should avoid creating such emnity throughout the world.
I agree with everything you say. My own difficult view since the war started is trying to reconcile the politically rational with ordinary people’s lives being destroyed. Despite the wrongs and hypocrisy of the U.S. and NATO there isn’t a good way of ending this other than Wladimir Wladimirowitsch deciding he has made his point. He is nothing if not rational and will choose his moment pragmatically. I’m going to stay on the side of ordinary people who never had much say in the politics of the government of Ukraine.
I think if you read between the lines we agree more than otherwise.