theduran--2020-03-04--Brazil on the brink of environmental collapse

Submitted by InfoBrics , authored by Lucas Leiroz , research fellow in international law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro… A MV Stellar Banner ship with almost 300 thousand tons of iron ore is stuck on the Brazilian coast , just over 10 kilometers from the coast .
There is a great risk of sinking , as its hull is on the verge of breaking .
In addition to ore , there is an immense fuel load , with 3,500 tons of residual oil and 140 tons of distilled oil .
It can be one of the greatest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case would be tragic in isolation ; however , environmental disasters in Brazil have been practically unceasing in recent years .
The ship , interestingly , serves the Vale Company , the same company that was responsible for the disasters in Mariana ( 2015 ) and Brumadinho ( 2018 ) , both in the interior of the state of Minas Gerais and which resulted in the death of almost 300 people .
In both cases , tailings dams broke in the areas explored by mining , destroying two historic cities of Brazil , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The victims ’ families remain homeless and without compensation – Vale has never been legally held responsible for the tragedies .
To fully understand these cases and the whole controversy surrounding the company Vale , we have to analyze a little of Brazilian political history .
“ Vale ” was the name adopted by the company after its privatization .
Before , it was called “ Vale do Rio Doce ” and was a state-owned mining company , founded in the 1940s by ex-president Getúlio Vargas , who saw it as an important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decades had passed and the political rivalry between the nationalist defenders of Getúlio Vargas and the liberals has been intensified .
The getulists wanted to preserve the public companies created by the ex-president to develop the country ; liberals wanted to privatize them and subordinate the country economically to international economic elites .
In 2007 , the privatization of the Vale do Rio Doce was finally concluded , and the company came to be called “ Vale ” , being now a publicly traded company , operating worldwide and with shares traded on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It is precisely from the moment of its privatization , that Vale begins to drop the quality of its services , ceasing to be a central point of the Brazilian economy to become a truly murderous and mercenary company .
In 2012 , Vale was elected by the “ Public Eye People ’ s ” as the worst company in the world in regard to human rights and the environment .
Three years later , there was the incident in Mariana , considered until today the biggest environmental disaster in the Brazilian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaths and general destruction , caused the extinction of a large and important river in the region .
Three more years passed and the company repeated its actions in the city of Brumadinho , killing an even greater number of people .
In 2019 , in another episode involving the company , approximately 500 people had to be forcibly removed from their homes due to a warning about possible breakdown of new dams .
The collective evacuation in the city of Barão dos Cocais , also in the state of Minas Gerais , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that remains homeless and prevented from returning to their residence , while more than a year has passed and nothing has been done to remedy the problem , with the homeless population and the environment waiting for yet another disaster .
Now , we have a new chapter happening involving the company and its environmental and social neglect .
The ship belongs to the South Korean company “ Polaris Shipping ” , which was contracted by Vale to transport iron ore from Brazil to China .
The ship is stranded and almost sinking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Maranhão , in northeastern Brazil .
Images captured by the Brazilian Navy detected a series of oil stains in the regions around the stranding .
According to Brazilian authorities , there is no defined containment plan yet .
Why is Vale still involved with impunity in so many scandals and environmental disasters ?
How does a company “ internationally awarded ” with the “ Oscar of environmental shame ” continue to operate freely in Brazil , being involved in at least three tragedies in five years ?
Why has Vale never been punished @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the activities of a company that has already killed hundreds of Brazilians ?
The answer lies in other data : Vale is one of the main controllers of the Brazilian National Congress .
Its political influence is immense , with several parliamentarians at its disposal .
After the incidents of Mariana and Brumadinho , a survey organized by the Brazilian newspaper “ Estadão ” revealed that the company had already donated around US $ 19 million to Brazilian deputies , senators , governors and candidates for the Presidency of the Republic .
Such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ major institutional corruption scheme in which politicians were bribed for failing to pass strict environmental laws , which to some extent “ hurt ” Vale .
Now , we see the results of the environmental neglect of neoliberalism : yet another environmental tragedy is approaching in Brazil .
There will be more victims and the social and environmental impact will be even greater than that of previous crises .
And this will not be the last tragedy , as Vale will probably go unpunished again .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Submitted by InfoBrics, authored by Lucas Leiroz, research fellow in international law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro…
A MV Stellar Banner ship with almost 300 thousand tons of iron ore is stuck on the Brazilian coast, just over 10 kilometers from the coast. There is a great risk of sinking, as its hull is on the verge of breaking. In addition to ore, there is an immense fuel load, with 3,500 tons of residual oil and 140 tons of distilled oil. It can be one of the greatest environmental disasters in Brazilian history.
The case would be tragic in isolation; however, environmental disasters in Brazil have been practically unceasing in recent years. The ship, interestingly, serves the Vale Company, the same company that was responsible for the disasters in Mariana (2015) and Brumadinho (2018), both in the interior of the state of Minas Gerais and which resulted in the death of almost 300 people. In both cases, tailings dams broke in the areas explored by mining, destroying two historic cities of Brazil, which have not yet been restored. The victims’ families remain homeless and without compensation – Vale has never been legally held responsible for the tragedies.
To fully understand these cases and the whole controversy surrounding the company Vale, we have to analyze a little of Brazilian political history. “Vale” was the name adopted by the company after its privatization. Before, it was called “Vale do Rio Doce” and was a state-owned mining company, founded in the 1940s by ex-president Getúlio Vargas, who saw it as an important stage in Brazilian national development. The decades had passed and the political rivalry between the nationalist defenders of Getúlio Vargas and the liberals has been intensified. The getulists wanted to preserve the public companies created by the ex-president to develop the country; liberals wanted to privatize them and subordinate the country economically to international economic elites. In 2007, the privatization of the Vale do Rio Doce was finally concluded, and the company came to be called “Vale”, being now a publicly traded company, operating worldwide and with shares traded on the world’s main Stock Exchanges.
It is precisely from the moment of its privatization, that Vale begins to drop the quality of its services, ceasing to be a central point of the Brazilian economy to become a truly murderous and mercenary company. In 2012, Vale was elected by the “Public Eye People’s” as the worst company in the world in regard to human rights and the environment. Three years later, there was the incident in Mariana, considered until today the biggest environmental disaster in the Brazilian history, which, in addition to deaths and general destruction, caused the extinction of a large and important river in the region. Three more years passed and the company repeated its actions in the city of Brumadinho, killing an even greater number of people. In 2019, in another episode involving the company, approximately 500 people had to be forcibly removed from their homes due to a warning about possible breakdown of new dams. The collective evacuation in the city of Barão dos Cocais, also in the state of Minas Gerais, caused a huge disturbance to the population that remains homeless and prevented from returning to their residence, while more than a year has passed and nothing has been done to remedy the problem, with the homeless population and the environment waiting for yet another disaster.
Now, we have a new chapter happening involving the company and its environmental and social neglect. The ship belongs to the South Korean company “Polaris Shipping”, which was contracted by Vale to transport iron ore from Brazil to China. The ship is stranded and almost sinking in the coast of the state of Maranhão, in northeastern Brazil. Images captured by the Brazilian Navy detected a series of oil stains in the regions around the stranding. According to Brazilian authorities, there is no defined containment plan yet.
Why is Vale still involved with impunity in so many scandals and environmental disasters? How does a company “internationally awarded” with the “Oscar of environmental shame” continue to operate freely in Brazil, being involved in at least three tragedies in five years? Why has Vale never been punished? What prevents Brazilian authorities from restricting the activities of a company that has already killed hundreds of Brazilians?
The answer lies in other data: Vale is one of the main controllers of the Brazilian National Congress. Its political influence is immense, with several parliamentarians at its disposal. After the incidents of Mariana and Brumadinho, a survey organized by the Brazilian newspaper “Estadão” revealed that the company had already donated around US $ 19 million to Brazilian deputies, senators, governors and candidates for the Presidency of the Republic. Such donations were a key point in a major institutional corruption scheme in which politicians were bribed for failing to pass strict environmental laws, which to some extent “hurt” Vale.
Now, we see the results of the environmental neglect of neoliberalism: yet another environmental tragedy is approaching in Brazil. There will be more victims and the social and environmental impact will be even greater than that of previous crises. And this will not be the last tragedy, as Vale will probably go unpunished again.
Read Later Add to Favourites Add to Collection Report


theduran--2020-03-04--Kosovo’s Legitimacy Receives Massive Blow After Another Withdrawal of Recognition

Submitted by InfoBrics , authored by Paul Antonopoulos , Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies… In unexpected news today , the small West African country of Sierra Leone has withdrawn recognition of the so-called independence of Kosovo .
This now means that of the 193 UN member states , only 92 countries recognize the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo , putting the illegitimate country into a minority of recognition .
The head of Serbian diplomacy also explained that 96 countries do not recognize Kosovo , while five countries are in a fluid stance , i.e .
mostly recognize Kosovo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Kosovo .
The news was revealed by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić , who is on an official visit today to the African country that is located on the Atlantic Coast .
Sierra Leone is now the 18th state to withdraw recognition of Kosovo as an independent state since 2017 .
“ It is with great pleasure that I can show a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that Sierra Leone is withdrawing recognition of Kosovo as an independent state and will respect the results of the dialogue , with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UN , ” Dačić said .
“ This means Kosovo no longer has a majority in the UN.
” He continued to explain that this “ recognition ” of Kosovo ’ s independence was of particular importance for Belgrade .
This deals a powerful blow to Kosovo , not so much that Sierra Leone holds great diplomatic influence , but rather for the first that the African country was among one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo ’ s independence in 2008 .
Dačić said he had successful talks with Sierra Leonese @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s capital of Freetown and that it was agreed that bilateral relations , which had been stalled for years , will be improved .
Bio is expected to visit Serbia in June .
Prior to Sierra Leone , Kosovo independence recognition was withdrawn by Suriname , Togo , Ghana , Nauru , the Comoros , São Tomé and Príncipe , Guinea-Bissau , Burundi , Liberia , Lesotho , Grenada , Madagascar , the Commonwealth of Dominica , Papua New Guinea , Solomon Islands , Palau and Central African Republic .
Only last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that after meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O ’ Brien , he expected new withdrawals of recognition of the self-proclaimed Kosovo in the near future .
Vučić and President of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi met on Monday at the White House .
According to a statement by Vučić , two presidents had “ the usual talks ” that resolved and progressed nothing .
However , with Freetown withdrawing their recognition of Kosovo , it appears that Vučić knew this was going to occur and is alluding that there are more states ready @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Albanian project is accelerating as Kosovo ’ s statehood is in question .
Kosovo-born Albanian Minister-in-office for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj and the Foreign Minister of Kosovo Glauk Konjufca in a meeting last month discussed the establishment of common economic space for free movement of people , goods and capital between Albania and Kosovo , as well as sharing embassies around the world .
Although this is yet to occur , it is likely that because Kosovo now has minority recognition according to Dačić , Albania and Kosovo are likely to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ With a minority recognition of Kosovo ’ s independence and Vučić alluding that there will be more recognition withdrawals , the legitimacy of Kosovo ’ s independence from Serbia is becoming increasingly tedious and will legitimize the reincorporation of the breakaway province , which is considered Serbia ’ s heartland .
The U.S. historically has been indifferent to a Greater Albania project that incorporates further areas of Serbia , as well as Greece , Montenegro and North Macedonia .
The U.S. has had no need to support such a project as Greece , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Washington .
Serbia on the other hand serves as a bulwark to U.S. hegemony in the Balkans and is the most Russian-friendly state in the region , meaning Washington fully backs Kosovo ’ s illegal declaration of independence .
Kosovo ’ s return under Serbian sovereignty challenges U.S. control of the Balkans , suggesting that Washington may not oppose the incorporation of Kosovo into the Albanian state .
For this reason , Serbia should not give up its current policy of pushing states to withdraw their recognition of Kosovo ’ s independence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an integral and historical part of their country .
Serbia must continue its diplomatic campaigning to have more states withdraw their recognition of an independent Kosovo .
With this achieved , Belgrade will have secured legitimacy to pursue all options necessary , including military , to prevent Kosovo from ever incorporating itself into Albania instead of Serbia .
Today marks a historic day when one of the first states to recognize Kosovo ’ s independence has now withdrawn it .
However , this also spells a dangerous time for Serbia as Kosovo can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintain their illegal independence and resort back to terrorism as it had in the 1990 ’ s and 2000 under the banner of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army .
We can expect Belgrade to secure more withdrawals of recognition , meaning that it is only a matter of time until Kosovo is finally reincorporated into Serbia , striking a massive blow to the U.S. as it will lose a region that has been extremely loyal to it .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Submitted by InfoBrics, authored by Paul Antonopoulos, Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies…
In unexpected news today, the small West African country of Sierra Leone has withdrawn recognition of the so-called independence of Kosovo. This now means that of the 193 UN member states, only 92 countries recognize the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo, putting the illegitimate country into a minority of recognition. The head of Serbian diplomacy also explained that 96 countries do not recognize Kosovo, while five countries are in a fluid stance, i.e. mostly recognize Kosovo, but no longer have much support for Kosovo.
The news was revealed by Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, who is on an official visit today to the African country that is located on the Atlantic Coast. Sierra Leone is now the 18th state to withdraw recognition of Kosovo as an independent state since 2017.
“It is with great pleasure that I can show a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that Sierra Leone is withdrawing recognition of Kosovo as an independent state and will respect the results of the dialogue, with the mediation of the EU and the UN,” Dačić said. “This means Kosovo no longer has a majority in the UN.”
He continued to explain that this “recognition” of Kosovo’s independence was of particular importance for Belgrade. This deals a powerful blow to Kosovo, not so much that Sierra Leone holds great diplomatic influence, but rather for the first that the African country was among one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo’s independence in 2008. Dačić said he had successful talks with Sierra Leonese President Julius Maada Bio in the country’s capital of Freetown and that it was agreed that bilateral relations, which had been stalled for years, will be improved. Bio is expected to visit Serbia in June.
Prior to Sierra Leone, Kosovo independence recognition was withdrawn by Suriname, Togo, Ghana, Nauru, the Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau, Burundi, Liberia, Lesotho, Grenada, Madagascar, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Palau and Central African Republic. Only last night Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić told reporters that after meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, he expected new withdrawals of recognition of the self-proclaimed Kosovo in the near future.
Vučić and President of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi met on Monday at the White House. According to a statement by Vučić, two presidents had “the usual talks” that resolved and progressed nothing. However, with Freetown withdrawing their recognition of Kosovo, it appears that Vučić knew this was going to occur and is alluding that there are more states ready to withdraw their recognitions.
The Greater Albanian project is accelerating as Kosovo’s statehood is in question. Kosovo-born Albanian Minister-in-office for Europe and Foreign Affairs Gent Cakaj and the Foreign Minister of Kosovo Glauk Konjufca in a meeting last month discussed the establishment of common economic space for free movement of people, goods and capital between Albania and Kosovo, as well as sharing embassies around the world. Although this is yet to occur, it is likely that because Kosovo now has minority recognition according to Dačić, Albania and Kosovo are likely to speed up this process of integration. With a minority recognition of Kosovo’s independence and Vučić alluding that there will be more recognition withdrawals, the legitimacy of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia is becoming increasingly tedious and will legitimize the reincorporation of the breakaway province, which is considered Serbia’s heartland.
The U.S. historically has been indifferent to a Greater Albania project that incorporates further areas of Serbia, as well as Greece, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The U.S. has had no need to support such a project as Greece, Montenegro and North Macedonia are subservient states to Washington. Serbia on the other hand serves as a bulwark to U.S. hegemony in the Balkans and is the most Russian-friendly state in the region, meaning Washington fully backs Kosovo’s illegal declaration of independence. Kosovo’s return under Serbian sovereignty challenges U.S. control of the Balkans, suggesting that Washington may not oppose the incorporation of Kosovo into the Albanian state.
For this reason, Serbia should not give up its current policy of pushing states to withdraw their recognition of Kosovo’s independence and Belgrade must maintain that Kosovo is an integral and historical part of their country. Serbia must continue its diplomatic campaigning to have more states withdraw their recognition of an independent Kosovo. With this achieved, Belgrade will have secured legitimacy to pursue all options necessary, including military, to prevent Kosovo from ever incorporating itself into Albania instead of Serbia.
Today marks a historic day when one of the first states to recognize Kosovo’s independence has now withdrawn it. However, this also spells a dangerous time for Serbia as Kosovo can start behaving in more irrational ways to maintain their illegal independence and resort back to terrorism as it had in the 1990’s and 2000 under the banner of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army. We can expect Belgrade to secure more withdrawals of recognition, meaning that it is only a matter of time until Kosovo is finally reincorporated into Serbia, striking a massive blow to the U.S. as it will lose a region that has been extremely loyal to it.
Read Later Add to Favourites Add to Collection Report


theduran--2020-03-04--Orthodox Christianity versus Socialism, Part I – all about stuff

In a newsfeed I receive from Ayatollah Khameini , the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran , I saw this interesting post .
It would appear that the Ayatollah likes socialism .
He presumed , amazingly , to offer some advice to Americans about their capitalist government : This should be telling of the problems of socialism , but many people now seem to at least theoretically support the imposition of a socialist governmental order in the USA .
Surprisingly , some of my friends and students here in Moscow also argue for socialism , even though the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a radically failed experience with socialism when theory meets people .
Some of these people are even members of the Russian Orthodox Church , which surprised me still more , as the former Communist regimes almost destroyed the Church during those years in power .
Since Bernie Sanders is ascendant , more and more people are investigating socialism to see more what it is really about .
And , of course , the media is playing games with their minds , since the American media is more dedicated to getting rid of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the news .
However , some American groups are trying to debate socialism versus Christianity honest and fair ways .
Of note was this piece by Julie Roys , entitled 5 Reasons why Socialism is not Christian .
This is a great piece for thorough reading , but for Orthodox Christians , some of Mrs. Roys ’ points may appear to fall flat .
However , the soul of her analysis is spot on , and we wish to build on her work to provide some perspective that may be helpful to Orthodox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ liberal-minded Roman Catholics , such as are often found in the United States .
Roys makes these her five basic reasons Christianity is incompatible with Socialism : In her piece , she briefly , but quite effectively covers these factors .
Her analysis is fairly accurate and definitely honest , limited only by the scope of what she understands as Christian theology and praxis .
We will give Julie Roys comments in italics , and then further comment in normal type : According to socialists like Bernie Sanders , the greatest problem in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealth .
His website declares : “ The issue of wealth and income inequality is the great moral issue of our time , it is the great economic issue of our time , and it is the great political issue of our time.
” This betrays a fundamentally materialistic worldview , which is the basis of socialism .
To socialists , all that really exists is the material world .
In fact , Karl Marx , the father of socialism/communism , invented the notion of dialectical materialism — the belief that matter contains @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to eliminate the need for a creator , essentially erasing the existence of anything non-material .
To socialists , suffering is caused by the unequal distribution of stuff — and salvation is achieved by the re-distribution of stuff… There exist two worlds : the fallen physical world that we easily see , perceive and manipulate to either good or evil ends , but also there is the ‘ noetic ’ realm , where the angels and the saints dwell , sometimes called the “ spiritual world.
” As the highest of God ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ able to participate in both worlds simultaneously .
Since this world is fallen , it is easy to perpetuate evil and suffering , but if one wishes to find union with God , through the salvation and grace of Jesus Christ , he or she can strive to participate in the heavenly world in this life as well as the next .
As a person progresses in their efforts to draw closer to God , the material wealth they have often becomes a distraction .
If they so choose , many of them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not burdened by it .
However , this is not exclusively the case .
Some use their wealth to support their local or extended community of believers , or to effectively do charitable work in some manner .
Whatever the manifestation of this , the person sees their wealth as God ’ s gift to share and help others in some way .
How exactly that is expressed is bound only by the conviction that the action is pleasing to God .
“ Stuff ” , therefore , has almost an infinitesimal role @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or happiness .
Whether one has a lot of it or very little , there is no interference with the possibility of this communion and union with God , which are the true sources of all joy in this life and in the next .
Many socialist minded people in the Orthodox Church seem to carry the idea that “ money is the root of all evil.
” But they have the anecdote incorrect .
It is really “ The love of money is the root of all evil.
” In other words @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to count it and they hoard it and treasure it above anything or anyone else , then yes .
That person is in bad shape .
Money itself , even vast amounts of it , is not evil at all .
It is a great tool .
Lydia , the woman in Acts who sold purple , was very wealthy .
She used her wealth to turn her home into a church , where the believers could meet and pray , often for many hours at a time .
One story some socialist-minded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Acts about how the early Christians owned nothing , sharing all things in common .
The story goes on to say that two people , Ananias and his wife Sapphira , decided to take advantage of this group by keeping back proceeds from a piece of property they sold .
The rest of the group was truly living in common , by personal choice , but these two kept “ a little backup ” , we might call it today .
Peter got wind of this and called Ananias to ask him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the property .
Ananias lied , knowing that only his wife knew the truth along with him .
But Peter knew it was a lie , and his response was not about money being held back from the community , but about Ananias conspiring to deceive the community .
Ananias , on hearing he was found out , dropped dead on the spot .
Sapphira appeared later , not knowing her husband was dead and buried , and Peter asked her about the transaction in question .
She repeated what her husband had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story worked out perfectly , but again , Peter knew she was lying , and called her out on this same matter .
His response to both of them is so specific and important to this discussion that we must reprint it here : …Peter said , Ananias , why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost , and to keep back part of the price of the land ?
Whiles it remained , was it not thine own ?
and after it was sold , was it not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thou conceived this thing in thine heart ?
thou hast not lied unto men , but unto God .
Peter answered unto her , Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much ?
And she said , Yea , for so much .
Then Peter said unto her , How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ?
behold , the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door , and shall carry thee out .
( Both excerpted from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Version ) The sin was not holding back money .
It was the love of money , and conspiring to lie to God ( and the community ) about it .
Socialists are often very quick to miss this point .
They are further quick to miss the point that the reason the early Christians tried this communal living was by purely personal choice .
It was never made as a requirement to be Christian , but sometimes Jesus presented the idea of doing this – selling all one had , giving the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without further distractions , as the greatest possible expression of love for Him , and not at all as a requirement of being a believer .
There is nowhere in Christ ’ s teachings mandating any particular action to be done with money , other than the basic fact that if one loves money more than anything else , at the end , they will lose their wealth and they will have nothing else .
The next world doesn ’ t require cash on hand .
It requires souls ready to be in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the point made earlier , that we as human beings live in two worlds simultaneously – the material and the noetic / spiritual .
Money resides in the material world , but only that which the spirit undertakes will last when we cross over , body and soul , to the noetic realm where we remain for eternity , either in blessedness and eternal life , or in torment and eternal death .
For the Christian believer , this is the ultimate point of what we do .
Socialism simply can not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world is simply not all there is .
Many who read this will be inclined to think I am writing about religion .
In fact , this is not true .
The Christian worldview includes all of this .
If we try to act like the spiritual aspect of Christianity should be somehow ignored , explained away with logic or anything else , we are denying the truth of what Christ teaches us .
If anyone else is cringing at reading this , this can serve as a point to consider : What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us so inclined to reject the spiritual side of Christian teaching ?
I would suggest that the amazing level of secularization in our modern age has conditioned us to believe that we must not talk about such realities with others .
Yet , this reality is the lynchpin of the faith itself .
This shows how successful secular humanism and its progeny , socialism , really are in our lives .
Part II of this series will explore Julie ’ s themes further .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
In a newsfeed I receive from Ayatollah Khameini, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I saw this interesting post. It would appear that the Ayatollah likes socialism. He presumed, amazingly, to offer some advice to Americans about their capitalist government:
I guess the Grand Ayatollah is… a Bernie Sanders supporter?
This should be telling of the problems of socialism, but many people now seem to at least theoretically support the imposition of a socialist governmental order in the USA. Surprisingly, some of my friends and students here in Moscow also argue for socialism, even though the country bears many scars from seventy years of a radically failed experience with socialism when theory meets people. Some of these people are even members of the Russian Orthodox Church, which surprised me still more, as the former Communist regimes almost destroyed the Church during those years in power.
Since Bernie Sanders is ascendant, more and more people are investigating socialism to see more what it is really about. And, of course, the media is playing games with their minds, since the American media is more dedicated to getting rid of President Trump than it is to reporting the news.
However, some American groups are trying to debate socialism versus Christianity honest and fair ways. Of note was this piece by Julie Roys, entitled 5 Reasons why Socialism is not Christian. This is a great piece for thorough reading, but for Orthodox Christians, some of Mrs. Roys’ points may appear to fall flat. However, the soul of her analysis is spot on, and we wish to build on her work to provide some perspective that may be helpful to Orthodox Christians and perhaps some of the more liberal-minded Roman Catholics, such as are often found in the United States.
Roys makes these her five basic reasons Christianity is incompatible with Socialism:
1.Socialism is Based on a Materialistic Worldview 2.Socialism Punishes Virtue 3.Socialism Endorses Stealing 4.Socialism Encourages Envy and Class Warfare 5. Socialism Seeks to Destroy Marriage & Family
In her piece, she briefly, but quite effectively covers these factors. Her analysis is fairly accurate and definitely honest, limited only by the scope of what she understands as Christian theology and praxis.
We will give Julie Roys comments in italics, and then further comment in normal type:
1. Socialism is Based on a Materialistic Worldview
According to socialists like Bernie Sanders, the greatest problem in the world is the unequal distribution of wealth.
His website declares: “The issue of wealth and income inequality is the great moral issue of our time, it is the great economic issue of our time, and it is the great political issue of our time.”
This betrays a fundamentally materialistic worldview, which is the basis of socialism.
To socialists, all that really exists is the material world. In fact, Karl Marx, the father of socialism/communism, invented the notion of dialectical materialism — the belief that matter contains a creative power within itself.This enabled Marx to eliminate the need for a creator, essentially erasing the existence of anything non-material.
To socialists, suffering is caused by the unequal distribution of stuff — and salvation is achieved by the re-distribution of stuff…
Orthodox Christianity proclaims something radically different.
There exist two worlds: the fallen physical world that we easily see, perceive and manipulate to either good or evil ends, but also there is the ‘noetic’ realm, where the angels and the saints dwell, sometimes called the “spiritual world.”
As the highest of God’s creations, we human beings are able to participate in both worlds simultaneously. Since this world is fallen, it is easy to perpetuate evil and suffering, but if one wishes to find union with God, through the salvation and grace of Jesus Christ, he or she can strive to participate in the heavenly world in this life as well as the next.
As a person progresses in their efforts to draw closer to God, the material wealth they have often becomes a distraction. If they so choose, many of them give it all away so they are not burdened by it. However, this is not exclusively the case. Some use their wealth to support their local or extended community of believers, or to effectively do charitable work in some manner. Whatever the manifestation of this, the person sees their wealth as God’s gift to share and help others in some way. How exactly that is expressed is bound only by the conviction that the action is pleasing to God.
“Stuff”, therefore, has almost an infinitesimal role in terms of the acquisition of contentment or happiness. Whether one has a lot of it or very little, there is no interference with the possibility of this communion and union with God, which are the true sources of all joy in this life and in the next.
Many socialist minded people in the Orthodox Church seem to carry the idea that “money is the root of all evil.” But they have the anecdote incorrect. It is really “The love of money is the root of all evil.” In other words, when someone loves wealth, likes to count it and they hoard it and treasure it above anything or anyone else, then yes. That person is in bad shape.
Money itself, even vast amounts of it, is not evil at all. It is a great tool. Lydia, the woman in Acts who sold purple, was very wealthy. She used her wealth to turn her home into a church, where the believers could meet and pray, often for many hours at a time.
One story some socialist-minded Christians try to use is the story in Acts about how the early Christians owned nothing, sharing all things in common. The story goes on to say that two people, Ananias and his wife Sapphira, decided to take advantage of this group by keeping back proceeds from a piece of property they sold. The rest of the group was truly living in common, by personal choice, but these two kept “a little backup”, we might call it today.
Peter got wind of this and called Ananias to ask him about it, asking him questions about the property. Ananias lied, knowing that only his wife knew the truth along with him. But Peter knew it was a lie, and his response was not about money being held back from the community, but about Ananias conspiring to deceive the community. Ananias, on hearing he was found out, dropped dead on the spot.
Sapphira appeared later, not knowing her husband was dead and buried, and Peter asked her about the transaction in question. She repeated what her husband had said, because they had their cover story worked out perfectly, but again, Peter knew she was lying, and called her out on this same matter. His response to both of them is so specific and important to this discussion that we must reprint it here:
To Ananias:
…Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
And to Sapphira:
Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. (Both excerpted from Acts, Chapter 5, King James Version)
The sin was not holding back money. It was the love of money, and conspiring to lie to God (and the community) about it.
Socialists are often very quick to miss this point. They are further quick to miss the point that the reason the early Christians tried this communal living was by purely personal choice. It was never made as a requirement to be Christian, but sometimes Jesus presented the idea of doing this – selling all one had, giving the money to the poor and following Him without further distractions, as the greatest possible expression of love for Him, and not at all as a requirement of being a believer.
There is nowhere in Christ’s teachings mandating any particular action to be done with money, other than the basic fact that if one loves money more than anything else, at the end, they will lose their wealth and they will have nothing else. The next world doesn’t require cash on hand. It requires souls ready to be in Eternity.
This flatly stated fact emphasizes the point made earlier, that we as human beings live in two worlds simultaneously – the material and the noetic / spiritual. Money resides in the material world, but only that which the spirit undertakes will last when we cross over, body and soul, to the noetic realm where we remain for eternity, either in blessedness and eternal life, or in torment and eternal death.
For the Christian believer, this is the ultimate point of what we do. Socialism simply cannot be relevant to people who understand that this world is simply not all there is.
Many who read this will be inclined to think I am writing about religion. In fact, this is not true. The Christian worldview includes all of this. If we try to act like the spiritual aspect of Christianity should be somehow ignored, explained away with logic or anything else, we are denying the truth of what Christ teaches us.
If anyone else is cringing at reading this, this can serve as a point to consider: What has happened in our lifetimes that makes us so inclined to reject the spiritual side of Christian teaching? I would suggest that the amazing level of secularization in our modern age has conditioned us to believe that we must not talk about such realities with others. Yet, this reality is the lynchpin of the faith itself.
This shows how successful secular humanism and its progeny, socialism, really are in our lives.
Part II of this series will explore Julie’s themes further.
Read Later Add to Favourites Add to Collection Report


theduran--2020-03-04--The Multipolar Alliance Induces Rumpelstiltskin’s Self-Destruction

There are several versions of the old German folk tale of Rumpelstiltskin .
The story begins with greedy king who is told by a foolish old miller that a young girl ( the miller ’ s daughter ) had the ability to spin hay into gold .
When the poor girl is locked into a tower with bales of straw , a loom and orders to transform it all into gold under threat of death , a magical imp appears out of thin air and they reach an agreement : He will use his magic to spin the hay into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gives the imp her first born child .
The greedy king is pleased with the wealth that appeared from thin air , and the daughter ’ s neck is saved .
Sadly the day eventually arrives for her to give up a child , and the imp in sadistic glee responds to her pleading tears by giving her three chances annul the contract .
All she has to do is guess his name .
To make a long story short , his name is discovered and Rumpelstiltskin literally tears himself to pieces in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think this story exemplifies the self-cannibalisation of the deep state over the past several years quite nicely .
It appeared for quite some time that the oligarchy managing the world ’ s financial system and military-intelligence community from above was able to do magic .
If they wanted a nation overthrown , or a troublesome elected official killed , a mere snap of the fingers was all it took .
Gold from straw ?
They could do that too !
Just look at the mass of $ 1.5 quadrillion dollars of derivatives claims @ @ @ @ @ @ @ air in the mere space of 30 years !
Seriously , back in 1990 , these fictitious assets ( forms of bets on insurance on securitized debts ) amounted to little more than $ 2 trillion and 10 years before that , had barely any existence whatsoever .
NOW… they amount to over twenty times the world ’ s GDP !
How was this possible when the real economy ( agro-industrial/infrastructure capital which supports real life ) was permitted to atrophy during that same space of time ?
Magic !
Such are the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There were no shortage of idiot kings in our modern story either .
A kleptocracy rose to prominence in the west in a scale unseen in human history .
Billionaire speculators , hedge fund managers and other useless nouveau rich devoid of any actual productive skill rose to positions of power and prestige under this new system of globalization and used their wealth and influence to become enforces of the system that gave them their money and status .
The Bloombergs of this world were more than happy to unquestioningly accept the idea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and happily became thugs and mini tyrants for the machine .
It was all magic… mixed with a good dose of arrogance of course .
But then one day , the magic stopped working .
The banking system started rupturing and the magic wands had to be used more often .
More bailouts , more overnight repo loans for bankrupt speculators ( today clocking in at $ 100 billion/night ) , more money printing out of thin air and more debt to carry over till next quarter with no thought of paying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stopped turning into gold , the god-like powers of regime change also stopped working .
Libya worked fine of course when it was magically thrown back into the stone age joining Iraq and Afghanistan… but Ukraine was harder , and Syria followed by Venezuela were harder still .
Why did the magic formula stop working ?
The answer in short : Russia and China both guessed the name .
Once the name was said aloud , the empire was increasingly exposed for all to see as the bluff masquerading as a God which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the empire was like a spiritual ointment for many who feared the unknown , un-nameable creatures of the dark shadows .
Like any shadow confronted with the light , this imp ceased to exert the influence it wished to hold onto the minds and hearts of its victims… and the image of omnipotence it worked so hard to project onto the world turned out to be just that… a projection and nothing more .
President Putin demonstrated how it is possible with one tenth of the expenses of the US military to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ application of an intention to actually do it .
This intention was always absent from the minds of western geopoliticians who actually preferred to have a growing network of terrorists spread across the Middle East and Africa .
Terrorists not only destabilized troublesome nation states as a form of asymmetric warfare , but also provided a convenient excuse to bomb governments targeted for regime change .
China followed suit by investing massively into the development sector- just as the west had done for years- but with one very big difference : INTENTION .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Asia , the Middle East and beyond with the intention to actually create prosperity , infrastructure and economic independence in those countries receiving loans .
They didn ’ t use this with magic , but simply by ensuring their money would be invested into genuine nation building projects disconnected from any usurious conditionalities .
With the important ingredient of intention to actually end terrorism , hunger , disease and poverty infused into global policy-making by Russia and China , the Rumpelstilskins lost more of their power .
The empire always relied on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ substance or means to carry them out .
This substance is located entirely in the domain of intention .
In the west , the shadow creature was given a name ( deep state ) , and with that name , an identity , and modus operandi was identified .
With that identification , a resistance began to organically emerge as nations found the courage to take a stand- preferring to work with honest partners like Russia , China and the Belt and Road Initiative rather than cling onto the Titanic of the sinking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spasmed in rage and moved in desperation to defend himself when a leader surprisingly came to power extolling friendly relations with Russia and China .
This was done first with the sloppy manufacture of Russia-Gate and then the sloppier manufacture of Ukraine-gate… but that also didn ’ t work .
Whether it took the form of left wing socialists or capitalist orange nationalists , the magic once used to easily destroy such troublesome expressions of patriotism in America stopped working as fast as had their bailout powers , or regime change hocus pocus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ democratic primary debates and laugh at the fanatic sloppiness of Rumpelstiltskin ’ s left wing champions cannibalise each other ( and themselves ) in the process , or as you listen to right wing Rumpelstilskins froth in rage at China ’ s tyrannical Belt and Road Initiative “ empire ” , keep in mind that the game , as they say , is really up .
The name has been called out , the imp is busy tearing himself to pieces and to the surprise of many who had lost all hope just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may actually have a happy ending after all .
Matthew Ehret is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Patriot Review , a BRI Expert on Tactical talk , and has authored 3 volumes of ‘ Untold History of Canada ’ book series .
In 2019 he co-founded the Montreal-based Rising Tide Foundation and can be reached at [ email protected ]

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Originally posted on the Strategic Culture Foundation
There are several versions of the old German folk tale of Rumpelstiltskin. The story begins with greedy king who is told by a foolish old miller that a young girl (the miller’s daughter) had the ability to spin hay into gold. When the poor girl is locked into a tower with bales of straw, a loom and orders to transform it all into gold under threat of death, a magical imp appears out of thin air and they reach an agreement: He will use his magic to spin the hay into gold on the condition that the girl gives the imp her first born child. The greedy king is pleased with the wealth that appeared from thin air, and the daughter’s neck is saved. Sadly the day eventually arrives for her to give up a child, and the imp in sadistic glee responds to her pleading tears by giving her three chances annul the contract. All she has to do is guess his name. To make a long story short, his name is discovered and Rumpelstiltskin literally tears himself to pieces in a fit of mad rage.
I think this story exemplifies the self-cannibalisation of the deep state over the past several years quite nicely.
It appeared for quite some time that the oligarchy managing the world’s financial system and military-intelligence community from above was able to do magic. If they wanted a nation overthrown, or a troublesome elected official killed, a mere snap of the fingers was all it took. Gold from straw? They could do that too! Just look at the mass of $1.5 quadrillion dollars of derivatives claims which appeared as though out of thin air in the mere space of 30 years! Seriously, back in 1990, these fictitious assets (forms of bets on insurance on securitized debts) amounted to little more than $2 trillion and 10 years before that, had barely any existence whatsoever. NOW… they amount to over twenty times the world’s GDP! How was this possible when the real economy (agro-industrial/infrastructure capital which supports real life) was permitted to atrophy during that same space of time? Magic!
Such are the powers of today’s Rumpelstiltskin.
There were no shortage of idiot kings in our modern story either. A kleptocracy rose to prominence in the west in a scale unseen in human history. Billionaire speculators, hedge fund managers and other useless nouveau rich devoid of any actual productive skill rose to positions of power and prestige under this new system of globalization and used their wealth and influence to become enforces of the system that gave them their money and status. The Bloombergs of this world were more than happy to unquestioningly accept the idea that they “earned” their billions, and happily became thugs and mini tyrants for the machine. It was all magic… mixed with a good dose of arrogance of course.
But then one day, the magic stopped working.
The banking system started rupturing and the magic wands had to be used more often. More bailouts, more overnight repo loans for bankrupt speculators (today clocking in at $100 billion/night), more money printing out of thin air and more debt to carry over till next quarter with no thought of paying it off. Soon after the straw stopped turning into gold, the god-like powers of regime change also stopped working. Libya worked fine of course when it was magically thrown back into the stone age joining Iraq and Afghanistan… but Ukraine was harder, and Syria followed by Venezuela were harder still. Why did the magic formula stop working?
The answer in short: Russia and China both guessed the name.
Once the name was said aloud, the empire was increasingly exposed for all to see as the bluff masquerading as a God which it always was. Calling the name of the empire was like a spiritual ointment for many who feared the unknown, un-nameable creatures of the dark shadows. Like any shadow confronted with the light, this imp ceased to exert the influence it wished to hold onto the minds and hearts of its victims… and the image of omnipotence it worked so hard to project onto the world turned out to be just that… a projection and nothing more.
President Putin demonstrated how it is possible with one tenth of the expenses of the US military to destroy ISIS in Syria by the simple application of an intention to actually do it. This intention was always absent from the minds of western geopoliticians who actually preferred to have a growing network of terrorists spread across the Middle East and Africa. Terrorists not only destabilized troublesome nation states as a form of asymmetric warfare, but also provided a convenient excuse to bomb governments targeted for regime change.
China followed suit by investing massively into the development sector- just as the west had done for years- but with one very big difference: INTENTION. China animated its investments into Africa, Asia, the Middle East and beyond with the intention to actually create prosperity, infrastructure and economic independence in those countries receiving loans. They didn’t use this with magic, but simply by ensuring their money would be invested into genuine nation building projects disconnected from any usurious conditionalities.
With the important ingredient of intention to actually end terrorism, hunger, disease and poverty infused into global policy-making by Russia and China, the Rumpelstilskins lost more of their power. The empire always relied on the illusion of noble ends but never the substance or means to carry them out. This substance is located entirely in the domain of intention.
In the west, the shadow creature was given a name (deep state), and with that name, an identity, and modus operandi was identified.
With that identification, a resistance began to organically emerge as nations found the courage to take a stand- preferring to work with honest partners like Russia, China and the Belt and Road Initiative rather than cling onto the Titanic of the sinking western system.
Within America, Rumpelstiltskin spasmed in rage and moved in desperation to defend himself when a leader surprisingly came to power extolling friendly relations with Russia and China. This was done first with the sloppy manufacture of Russia-Gate and then the sloppier manufacture of Ukraine-gate… but that also didn’t work. Whether it took the form of left wing socialists or capitalist orange nationalists, the magic once used to easily destroy such troublesome expressions of patriotism in America stopped working as fast as had their bailout powers, or regime change hocus pocus.
When you watch today’s democratic primary debates and laugh at the fanatic sloppiness of Rumpelstiltskin’s left wing champions cannibalise each other (and themselves) in the process, or as you listen to right wing Rumpelstilskins froth in rage at China’s tyrannical Belt and Road Initiative “empire”, keep in mind that the game, as they say, is really up. The name has been called out, the imp is busy tearing himself to pieces and to the surprise of many who had lost all hope just a few years ago, this story may actually have a happy ending after all.
Matthew Ehret is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Patriot Review , a BRI Expert on Tactical talk, and has authored 3 volumes of ‘Untold History of Canada’ book series. In 2019 he co-founded the Montreal-based Rising Tide Foundation and can be reached at matt.ehret@tutamail.com
Read Later Add to Favourites Add to Collection Report


theduran--2020-03-04--Can Trump deliver a U.S. pull out from Afghanistan? (Video)

The Duran ’ s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss US President Trump ’ s negotiated deal with the Taliban to orchestrate an end to the US troop presence in Afghanistan .
Subscribe to The Duran on YouTube – Find us on BitChute .
The Duran Audio Podcast : Follow on Soundcloud – Subscribe on iTunes .
“ Afghan peace deal shows cracks after Trump puts politics ahead of process to take credit for ending US ’ longest conflict , ” authored by Scott Ritter , via RT… The Trump administration , anxious to be able to claim that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war in Afghanistan , pressed for a signed peace deal , leaving it to the Afghan government and the Taliban to hammer out the details .
The ink was barely dry on the historic US-Taliban Peace Agreement , however , when the Taliban announced the ceasefire that underpinned the agreement was off .
At issue are 5,000 prisoners held by the Afghan government whose release is seen as a precondition for intra-Afghan talks on the future of Afghanistan .
The Afghan government had not played a part in drafting the peace plan , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prisoners was seen as a statement of sovereignty .
At the end of the day , however , the Afghan government has no real choice but to comply .
On February 29 , after more than 18 years of fighting , the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation , Zalmay Khalilzad , met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar , a senior Taliban official , in Qatar where the two men signed a peace agreement which , if implemented , would bring an end to the Afghanistan conflict and see all American forces eventually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pompeo attended the signing ceremony but left the task of putting pen to paper to Ambassador Khalilzad .
Back in Washington , DC , President Trump hailed the peace agreement , noting that it set the stage for ending a conflict and thanked “ the people of the United States for having spent so much in terms of blood , in terms of treasure , and treasury.
” Trump said that the Taliban had been trying to reach an agreement with the US for a long time .
“ Everyone , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” The cost of the Afghanistan War for the US was high , with more than 2,400 troops killed and another 20,000 wounded in the fighting ( another 1,100 NATO and non-NATO allied soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan , with more than 8,000 others wounded ) .
As of 2019 , the Department of Defense estimated the cost of the war at $ 737 billion .
The human cost for the people of Afghanistan has been equally severe .
More than 130,000 civilians are believed to have lost their lives in Afghanistan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and police ( another 20-35,000 Taliban are believed to have been killed ) .
The economic cost for Afghanistan is equally devastating , estimated at more than $ 21 billion a year .
The terms of the peace deal were straightforward — the Taliban would continue to respect the ceasefire and agree not to allow either Al-Qaeda or Islamic State ( IS , formerly ISIS ) to operate from Taliban-controlled territory .
For its part , the US agreed to reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan from more than 13,000 to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The US also committed to work closely with its NATO and non-NATO allies to proportionally reduce the number of coalition forces in Afghanistan over that period , and to pull out all remaining forces from Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban forces adhered to their security guarantees and ceasefire , and a political solution could be reached between the Taliban and the Afghan government .
The agreement also called for a prisoner swap , with some 5,000 Taliban prisoners to be exchanged for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreement for intra-Afghan talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government .
The issue of Taliban-Afghan government talks were always a sensitive issue , with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fearful that any peace process that rushed ahead without providing sufficient assurances about the future of both his government and the Afghan security forces was little more than a facilitator of the eventual assumption of power by the Taliban .
Ahead of the 2020 elections , the Trump administration was apparently keen to claim that it fulfilled its campaign pledge to end the war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the peace talks , leaving it up to the government in Kabul and the Taliban to agree on the details .
The day after the peace agreement was signed in Qatar , President Ghani rejected the idea that the 5,000 prisoners it held had to be released prior to any talks about the future of Afghanistan .
Ghani noted that neither he nor his government had been part of any such agreement , and that the US had no authority to order the prisoners ’ release .
For its part , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talks unless the prisoners were released , and that unless this happened by March 10 , then the ceasefire , as it applied to Afghan military and security forces , would be ended .
From the standpoint of the agreement itself , Ghani ’ s actions were not immediately fatal ; US officials have noted that the agreement , the details of which remain secret , does not make the withdrawal of US and allied troops contingent on talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government about the future of Afghanistan .
By @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is playing a very weak hand poorly , overplaying the sovereignty card at a time when Afghanistan is totally reliant upon US security and financial assistance for its continued survival .
Moreover , by threatening the peace deal , Ghani is treading in American domestic politics on the cusp of a presidential election where Trump has expended considerable political capital to make an Afghan peace deal a reality .
In the days ahead , concerted pressure can be expected to be brought to bear on Ghani by senior US military and diplomatic officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At the end of the day , it is President Trump , and not the Taliban , who stands to lose the most if Ghani successfully scuppers the peace agreement .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss US President Trump’s negotiated deal with the Taliban to orchestrate an end to the US troop presence in Afghanistan.
Support Free Speech:
Subscribe to The Duran on YouTube – Find us on BitChute.
The Duran Audio Podcast:
Follow on Soundcloud – Subscribe on iTunes.
“Afghan peace deal shows cracks after Trump puts politics ahead of process to take credit for ending US’ longest conflict,” authored by Scott Ritter, via RT…
The Trump administration, anxious to be able to claim that it fulfilled its campaign pledge to end war in Afghanistan, pressed for a signed peace deal, leaving it to the Afghan government and the Taliban to hammer out the details.
The ink was barely dry on the historic US-Taliban Peace Agreement, however, when the Taliban announced the ceasefire that underpinned the agreement was off. At issue are 5,000 prisoners held by the Afghan government whose release is seen as a precondition for intra-Afghan talks on the future of Afghanistan. The Afghan government had not played a part in drafting the peace plan, and its decision not to release the prisoners was seen as a statement of sovereignty. At the end of the day, however, the Afghan government has no real choice but to comply.
On February 29, after more than 18 years of fighting, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a senior Taliban official, in Qatar where the two men signed a peace agreement which, if implemented, would bring an end to the Afghanistan conflict and see all American forces eventually return home. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended the signing ceremony but left the task of putting pen to paper to Ambassador Khalilzad.
Back in Washington, DC, President Trump hailed the peace agreement, noting that it set the stage for ending a conflict and thanked “the people of the United States for having spent so much in terms of blood, in terms of treasure, and treasury.” Trump said that the Taliban had been trying to reach an agreement with the US for a long time. “Everyone,” he said, “is tired of war.”
The cost of the Afghanistan War for the US was high, with more than 2,400 troops killed and another 20,000 wounded in the fighting (another 1,100 NATO and non-NATO allied soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, with more than 8,000 others wounded). As of 2019, the Department of Defense estimated the cost of the war at $737 billion.
The human cost for the people of Afghanistan has been equally severe. More than 130,000 civilians are believed to have lost their lives in Afghanistan, along with another 29,000 Afghan soldiers and police (another 20-35,000 Taliban are believed to have been killed). The economic cost for Afghanistan is equally devastating, estimated at more than $21 billion a year.
The terms of the peace deal were straightforward — the Taliban would continue to respect the ceasefire and agree not to allow either Al-Qaeda or Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) to operate from Taliban-controlled territory. For its part, the US agreed to reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan from more than 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days of signing.
The US also committed to work closely with its NATO and non-NATO allies to proportionally reduce the number of coalition forces in Afghanistan over that period, and to pull out all remaining forces from Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban forces adhered to their security guarantees and ceasefire, and a political solution could be reached between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
The agreement also called for a prisoner swap, with some 5,000 Taliban prisoners to be exchanged for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10, a date set by the peace agreement for intra-Afghan talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
The issue of Taliban-Afghan government talks were always a sensitive issue, with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fearful that any peace process that rushed ahead without providing sufficient assurances about the future of both his government and the Afghan security forces was little more than a facilitator of the eventual assumption of power by the Taliban. Ahead of the 2020 elections, the Trump administration was apparently keen to claim that it fulfilled its campaign pledge to end the war in Afghanistan, so it pressed ahead with the peace talks, leaving it up to the government in Kabul and the Taliban to agree on the details.
The day after the peace agreement was signed in Qatar, President Ghani rejected the idea that the 5,000 prisoners it held had to be released prior to any talks about the future of Afghanistan. Ghani noted that neither he nor his government had been part of any such agreement, and that the US had no authority to order the prisoners’ release. For its part, the Taliban declared that there could be no talks unless the prisoners were released, and that unless this happened by March 10, then the ceasefire, as it applied to Afghan military and security forces, would be ended.
From the standpoint of the agreement itself, Ghani’s actions were not immediately fatal; US officials have noted that the agreement, the details of which remain secret, does not make the withdrawal of US and allied troops contingent on talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government about the future of Afghanistan. By taking his position on prisoners, Ghani is playing a very weak hand poorly, overplaying the sovereignty card at a time when Afghanistan is totally reliant upon US security and financial assistance for its continued survival.
Moreover, by threatening the peace deal, Ghani is treading in American domestic politics on the cusp of a presidential election where Trump has expended considerable political capital to make an Afghan peace deal a reality. In the days ahead, concerted pressure can be expected to be brought to bear on Ghani by senior US military and diplomatic officials to get him to change his position. At the end of the day, it is President Trump, and not the Taliban, who stands to lose the most if Ghani successfully scuppers the peace agreement.
Read Later Add to Favourites Add to Collection Report


theduran--2020-03-05--Putin furious with Erdogan, but will he stop Turkey’s war in Syria? (Video)

The Duran ’ s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss the meeting in Moscow between Russian President Putin and Turkey ’ s Erdogan .
Erdogan made many outrageous claims , including that Turkey had killed over 2,500 Syrian troops during fighting in Idlib ’ s surrounding areas…a claim which is ridiculous on its face , and exposes how out of touch the Turkish leader is when it comes to this reckless invasion of Syrian sovereignty .
Subscribe to The Duran on YouTube – Find us on BitChute .
The Duran Audio Podcast : Follow on Soundcloud – Subscribe on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jet flown by Syrian government forces over southern Idlib on Tuesday as a strategic town in northwest Syria fell under the control of President Bashar al-Assad ’ s military .
It was the third such shoot-down in three days after Turkey hit two other Syrian aircraft on Sunday .
“ Turkish regime forces targeted one of our warplanes , which led to its fall in the northwest area of Maarat al-Numan , ” Syrian state media reported .
On Twitter , the Turkish defence ministry confirmed the news , saying “ an L-39 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regime has been downed ” .
Meanwhile , Syrian government forces overnight took over the key city of Saraqeb , which lies at the junction of the M4 and M5 commercial highways that connect the country ’ s major cities .
Saraqeb has changed hands twice in the last month , but a dramatic escalation in fighting over the past few days saw armed opposition groups retreat to the villages of Nairab and Afis in the west , as Syrian government forces – under cover of Russian air power – secured the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commander in Saraqeb belonging to one of the rebel groups , told Al Jazeera the battle against al-Assad ’ s forces intensified on Monday night .
“ Regime forces began to advance into the city at 2am and an hour later entered the neighbourhoods and began combing them , ” Abu Hamza said .
“ The shelling from Russian warplanes escalated and forced us to withdraw west of the city.
” At 4am ( 01:00 GMT ) on Tuesday , Saraqeb was under the full control of the Syrian forces , he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Since December , al-Assad ’ s forces intensified their offensive to take control of Idlib province , the last rebel stronghold in Syria where Turkey backs some opposition fighters .
The operation has resulted in the internal displacement of nearly one million Syrians , the majority fleeing to the Turkish border , and killed at least 300 civilians .
Under the 2018 Sochi agreement with Russia , which designated Idlib as a de-escalation zone , Turkey set up several observation points throughout the province , but incurred heavy losses as Syrian forces @ @ @ @

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss the meeting in Moscow between Russian President Putin and Turkey’s Erdogan.
Erdogan made many outrageous claims, including that Turkey had killed over 2,500 Syrian troops during fighting in Idlib’s surrounding areas…a claim which is ridiculous on its face, and exposes how out of touch the Turkish leader is when it comes to this reckless invasion of Syrian sovereignty.
Support Free Speech:
Subscribe to The Duran on YouTube – Find us on BitChute.
The Duran Audio Podcast:
Follow on Soundcloud – Subscribe on iTunes.
Via Al Jazeera…
Turkish forces downed a fighter jet flown by Syrian government forces over southern Idlib on Tuesday as a strategic town in northwest Syria fell under the control of President Bashar al-Assad’s military.
It was the third such shoot-down in three days after Turkey hit two other Syrian aircraft on Sunday.
“Turkish regime forces targeted one of our warplanes, which led to its fall in the northwest area of Maarat al-Numan,” Syrian state media reported.
On Twitter, the Turkish defence ministry confirmed the news, saying “an L-39 plane belonging to the [Syrian] regime has been downed”.
Meanwhile, Syrian government forces overnight took over the key city of Saraqeb, which lies at the junction of the M4 and M5 commercial highways that connect the country’s major cities.
Saraqeb has changed hands twice in the last month, but a dramatic escalation in fighting over the past few days saw armed opposition groups retreat to the villages of Nairab and Afis in the west, as Syrian government forces – under cover of Russian air power – secured the city.
Rashwan Abu Hamza, a field commander in Saraqeb belonging to one of the rebel groups, told Al Jazeera the battle against al-Assad’s forces intensified on Monday night.
“Regime forces began to advance into the city at 2am and an hour later entered the neighbourhoods and began combing them,” Abu Hamza said. “The shelling from Russian warplanes escalated and forced us to withdraw west of the city.”
At 4am (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday, Saraqeb was under the full control of the Syrian forces, he said, but added a counteroffensive was imminent.
‘Operation Spring Shield’
Since December, al-Assad’s forces intensified their offensive to take control of Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold in Syria where Turkey backs some opposition fighters.
The operation has resulted in the internal displacement of nearly one million Syrians, the majority fleeing to the Turkish border, and killed at least 300 civilians.
Under the 2018 Sochi agreement with Russia, which designated Idlib as a de-escalation zone, Turkey set up several observation points throughout the province, but incurred heavy losses as Syrian forces targeted its troops.
Read Later Add to Favourites Add to Collection Report


theduran--2020-03-05--Orthodox Christianity versus Socialism, Part II – Socialism Punishes Virtue

In Part I of this series , we began analyzing the incompatibility between Socialism and Orthodox Christianity .
This has become something worthy of study , especially recently in the United States as the rise of Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders has drawn more and more public and voter attention .
Statistics show that a great number of “ millenials ” , those twenty-something young Americans , see no problem with taking the US into a new existence as a socialist state .
Christian author Julie Roys gave us five basic reasons why Socialism and Christianity are incompatible .
In Part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Now we are going to look at the next one .
While Julie Roys ’ piece is must-read material , we still need to examine these points from an Orthodox Christian framework rather than a Protestant one , as there are significant differences in both doctrine and perception of the faith .
There are at least two reasons for doing this .
One is that Russia ( presently a very capitalist nation ) , also is developing a “ millennial ” generation , often amazingly ignorant of what happened in their own nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , socialism itself wasn ’ t the reason for the gulags and the famines and the massive destruction that befell Russia – not only from the war – but the immense psychological and spiritual damage wrought by a Godless system on a once-great nation .
While some of these people are now members of the Orthodox Church , they fail to connect the Church ’ s present state of freedom to the disintegration of socialism .
They therefore do not realize that the two systems are in opposition to one another .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The American Orthodox communities are full of converts , entering the Church usually in flight towards a more traditional world view , contrasted with the ‘ anything goes ’ movement running like wildfire from the Protestant groups and even the Roman Catholic communities in some cases .
Additionally , in the United States , one joke is that the Orthodox Church is where all the hippies go when they realize it is time to become Christian .
After all , Orthodox clergy have long hair , beards , they swing censers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the people on the whole spend about half the year being essentially vegan , you have otherworldly singing and the churches are flat-out-beautiful in a way that reminds some hippie churchgoers of those groovy spiritual confabs they used to attend .
Even Bob Marley the rastafarian , eventually joined an Orthodox Christian community with his family .
So , therefore , Orthodoxy is extremely cool to many of these people .
The Orthodox Christian mindset is radically different than that of the orderly American Protestant Christian .
Many of these people spend many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ old “ hippie mentality ” with them .
That mentality is often very sympathetic to socialism .
Unlike Protestans , most people in an Orthodox parish , especially an ethnic one , could not care less about one ’ s personal politics , so they will usually not engage the new member in political debate at the outset .
Orthodox Christians do not win religious arguments by arguing , they usually withdraw from argument , preferring silence , prayer and personal repentance rather than trying to fix someone other than themselves .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ services , no one told me they were fasting from meat , fish , and dairy products ( it was Great Lent ) .
No one told me I should fast .
They just did it themselves , and I eventually discovered that they fasted and decided to undertake it on my own .
No coercion .
Not even a suggestion .
This is radically different for many Americans , and it allows us to enter the Church voluntarily , but it also ( thankfully ) allows us to enter the Church as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eventually what is not God-pleasing is going to be exposed by simply trying to live life as a Christian .
When it does , we will stop it , and the community will support us in doing so .
As before , we start with Julie ’ s thoughts on these ( in italics ) and then we add our own .
This seems to sound Christian , doesn ’ t it ?
Doesn ’ t it sound like charity to talk about “ giving to each according to his needs ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not charity at all , at least not the way Karl Marx said it .
One has to give Marx some credit for verbal sophistry , for he says , in a rather elegant way , this : “ If you work , you will give the results of your work to someone else who is deemed to be in need .
You have no choice.
” Have you ever known any company who refuses to pay its employees for the work they themselves do , but rather , directs that salary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , perhaps the derelicts who are sleeping on the streets , half-stoned ?
This is the fullest expression of Marx ’ s saying .
Mrs. Roys goes on to make a solid point about this : There was a reason that Karl Marx advocated for such a system : He used his own life experience as fuel for his revolutionary thought and rage .
Karl was an angry , hate-filled man—quarrelsome , neglectful of his family , lazy , and violent .
He suffered from hideous carbuncles in part because he almost never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ phrases from his two books were lifted from others without appropriate credit .
He spent almost all his time at home or in libraries , and almost none where the workers he fumed about actually worked .
He mooched off of others all his life , prompting his mother to say that she wished Karl would “ accumulate capital instead of just writing about it.
” He was married ; but he had an adulterous affair with the housekeeper , and she bore him a son , Freddy , who later he did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wife and his other seven legitimate children , of which only three lived to full adulthood .
Marx would not allow his illegitimate child to visit their mother in his London house whenever he was at home , and the boy could only enter the house through the kitchen door in the back of the house .
In addition , he had his friend , longtime financial benefactor , and intellectual collaborator , Fredrick Engels , claim parentage of the child so to avoid any social embarrassment falling upon himself due to his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Marx Was a Pretty Bad Person ‘ . )
But the worst thing about Karl Marx was not his personality or his hygiene .
It was the evil web he spun with deceitful bait that snared and doomed millions .
He called the workers of the world to revolution , but , as the Italian writer Ignazio Silone put it , “ Revolutions , like trees , must be judged by their fruit.
” Without exception , wherever Marxist ideology found root , it grew into monstrous depravity .
Absolutely true .
Just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and former Communist ) countries and see for yourself .
I live in Russia , and despite the massive changes for the better in this land since the collapse of Communism in 1991 , the country and its people still carry massive scars .
It will probably take centuries to heal the spiritual and emotional scars left on this people from seventy years of utter materialism .
Mrs. Roys continues : We would agree here that socialism , by attempting to equalize wealth across all people , simultaneously punishes the hard work of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from them the fruit of their own labors .
It also punishes virtue in the opposite sense , by rewarding those who did no work .
Anyone who has spent time taking unemployment knows the temptation this brings .
Sure , unemployment pays very little compared to a real salary .
But the money comes for only a token effort – looking for three jobs per week for example – something anyone can do very half-heartedly .
While such benefits can and are helpful for many who get forced to change work very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as possible and just mooch off the free-money-supply from the State can be daunting .
Without motivation to continue , it usually takes the prospect of the benefits coming to an end to spur constructive action and to get another job .
Socialism in this sense panders to fallen human nature .
By punishing those who work hard by taking their reward away , it is only a short time before those who were working hard simply stop doing so .
After all , why should one work hard if their outcome is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
And why should the one not working at all , or being exceptionally lazy , receive benefits similar to someone who works hard ?
The virtue of being hardworking and industrious and responsible for oneself is undercut and destroyed by socialist redistribution of wealth .
This is further complicated by another error , this time one made by Protestant believers .
It appears Julie herself got caught up in this error : Sometimes mainline Protestantism makes a false connection , claiming that a “ good Christian ” will become materially prosperous , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ term “ abundant life.
” In this view , good Christians do financially well and bad people or bad Christians meet with hardship .
The Eastern Orthodox view of this is very different .
We are shown that one ’ s financial status is not connected to how good a Christian they are .
In fact , in ancient Christianity there is absolutely no connection made whatsoever with one ’ s personal wealth and the quality of their relationship with Christ .
This is a fact that many Protestants might probably be relieved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are somewhat taken with the “ prosperity gospel ” teaching ( God wants you to be rich , so if you follow him , you will ‘ live abundantly ’ – a.k.a .
have lots of earthly wealth and luxury ) .
This teaching is utterly false , and it is very damaging , but it also reflects a worldview that is material-centered ( materialistic ) rather than God-centered , and as such , actually provides a philosophical gateway to socialist thinking !
We could even go farther than this and rightly state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ONLY thing that matters .
In this we go back to what we discussed in the first piece : “ It ’ s all about stuff.
” Such a worldview is not Christian at all , and it provides no defining information about virtue , other than that the only virtue for the socialist is all the stuff he or she wants to have .
Part III will continue to explore this theme in depth .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
In Part I of this series, we began analyzing the incompatibility between Socialism and Orthodox Christianity. This has become something worthy of study, especially recently in the United States as the rise of Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders has drawn more and more public and voter attention. Statistics show that a great number of “millenials”, those twenty-something young Americans, see no problem with taking the US into a new existence as a socialist state. Christian author Julie Roys gave us five basic reasons why Socialism and Christianity are incompatible.
Socialism is Based on a Materialistic Worldview Socialism Punishes Virtue Socialism Endorses Stealing Socialism Encourages Envy and Class Warfare Socialism Seeks to Destroy Marriage & Family
In Part I we examined the first point. Now we are going to look at the next one. While Julie Roys’ piece is must-read material, we still need to examine these points from an Orthodox Christian framework rather than a Protestant one, as there are significant differences in both doctrine and perception of the faith.
There are at least two reasons for doing this.
One is that Russia (presently a very capitalist nation), also is developing a “millennial” generation, often amazingly ignorant of what happened in their own nation under Communism. For some of them, socialism itself wasn’t the reason for the gulags and the famines and the massive destruction that befell Russia, but that it was ‘not carried out correctly.’ They do not have a sense of their own history, nor the terrific destruction wrought on their own nation by its 70 year experience with socialism and communism.
In addition, while some of these people are now members of the Orthodox Church, they fail to connect the Church’s present state of freedom to the disintegration of socialism. They therefore do not (or will not) realize that the two systems are in opposition to one another.
In the United States the problem has different roots. The American Orthodox communities are full of converts, entering the Church usually in flight towards a more traditional world view, contrasted with the ‘anything goes’ movement running like wildfire from the Protestant groups and even the Roman Catholic communities in some cases. Additionally, in the United States, one joke is that the Orthodox Church is where all the hippies go when they realize it is time to become Christian. After all, Orthodox clergy have long hair, beards, they swing censers, they are often very laid back, the people on the whole spend about half the year being essentially vegan, you have otherworldly singing and the churches are flat-out-beautiful in a way that reminds some hippie churchgoers of those groovy spiritual confabs they used to attend. Even Bob Marley the rastafarian, eventually joined an Orthodox Christian community with his family. So, therefore, Orthodoxy is extremely cool to many of these people. The Orthodox Christian mindset is radically different than that of the orderly American Protestant Christian.
This is exacerbated by what might be called the hangover of radical individualism. Many Americans are attracted to the mystical nature of Orthodox Christianity, but the notion of obedience and trust in a spiritual director or even their parish priest is the point where many American Orthodox people hold the Protestant-style view that “I can do it my way”, rendering them very difficult to teach.
Many of these people spend many years in the Church still carrying their old “hippie mentality” with them. That mentality is often very sympathetic to socialism.
Unlike Protestans, most people in an Orthodox parish, especially an ethnic one, could not care less about one’s personal politics, so they will usually not engage the new member in political debate at the outset. Orthodox Christians do not win religious arguments by arguing, they usually withdraw from argument, preferring silence, prayer and personal repentance rather than trying to fix someone other than themselves.
For example, when I started attending Orthodox services, no one told me they were fasting from meat, fish, and dairy products (it was Great Lent). No one told me I should fast. They just did it themselves, and I eventually discovered that they fasted and decided to undertake it on my own. No coercion. Not even a suggestion. This is radically different for many Americans, and it allows us to enter the Church voluntarily, but it also (thankfully) allows us to enter the Church as we are, with the understanding that eventually what is not God-pleasing is going to be exposed by simply trying to live life as a Christian. When it does, we will stop it, and the community will support us in doing so.
As before, we start with Julie’s thoughts on these (in italics) and then we add our own.
Socialism Punishes Virtue
Socialists want to distribute wealth to individuals according to their need, regardless of virtue. As Karl Marx, famously said, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
This seems to sound Christian, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it sound like charity to talk about “giving to each according to his needs?” The nasty little truth is that this is not charity at all, at least not the way Karl Marx said it. One has to give Marx some credit for verbal sophistry, for he says, in a rather elegant way, this: “If you work, you will give the results of your work to someone else who is deemed to be in need. You have no choice.”
Have you ever known any company who refuses to pay its employees for the work they themselves do, but rather, directs that salary to unemployed people who are doing nothing, perhaps the derelicts who are sleeping on the streets, half-stoned? This is the fullest expression of Marx’s saying.
Mrs. Roys goes on to make a solid point about this:
However, whenever any institution provides aid, it runs the risk of removing God-designed rewards and consequences. It can punish those who are industrious by making them pay for those who are not. And, it can reward those who aren’t industrious by giving them the fruits of another man’s labor.This is precisely what socialism does.
There was a reason that Karl Marx advocated for such a system: He used his own life experience as fuel for his revolutionary thought and rage.
Karl was an angry, hate-filled man—quarrelsome, neglectful of his family, lazy, and violent. He suffered from hideous carbuncles in part because he almost never bathed. Some of the most memorable phrases from his two books were lifted from others without appropriate credit. He spent almost all his time at home or in libraries, and almost none where the workers he fumed about actually worked. He mooched off of others all his life, prompting his mother to say that she wished Karl would “accumulate capital instead of just writing about it.” He was married; but he had an adulterous affair with the housekeeper, and she bore him a son, Freddy, who later he did not allow in the house with his wife and his other seven legitimate children, of which only three lived to full adulthood. Marx would not allow his illegitimate child to visit their mother in his London house whenever he was at home, and the boy could only enter the house through the kitchen door in the back of the house. In addition, he had his friend, longtime financial benefactor, and intellectual collaborator, Fredrick Engels, claim parentage of the child so to avoid any social embarrassment falling upon himself due to his infidelity. (Taken from ‘Karl Marx Was a Pretty Bad Person‘.) But the worst thing about Karl Marx was not his personality or his hygiene. It was the evil web he spun with deceitful bait that snared and doomed millions. He called the workers of the world to revolution, but, as the Italian writer Ignazio Silone put it, “Revolutions, like trees, must be judged by their fruit.” Without exception, wherever Marxist ideology found root, it grew into monstrous depravity.
Absolutely true. Just take a trip around the Communist (and former Communist) countries and see for yourself. I live in Russia, and despite the massive changes for the better in this land since the collapse of Communism in 1991, the country and its people still carry massive scars. It will probably take centuries to heal the spiritual and emotional scars left on this people from seventy years of utter materialism. Mrs. Roys continues:
As Aristotle once noted, “Men start revolutionary changes for reasons connected with their private lives.”
Julie continues:
Christianity teaches that aid should be tied to responsibility. First, anyone who refuses to work should be refused aid. As 2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” Next, no one should be given aid whose family can provide for him. In fact, the Apostle Paul said that a man who fails to provide for his family is “worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Tim. 5:8) The church also required widows receiving aid to have “a reputation of good works.” (1 Tim. 5:10) So, even in dispensing aid, the church rewarded virtue and discouraged vice. Unfortunately, socialism does just the opposite.
We would agree here that socialism, by attempting to equalize wealth across all people, simultaneously punishes the hard work of those that did it by stripping away from them the fruit of their own labors. It also punishes virtue in the opposite sense, by rewarding those who did no work.
Anyone who has spent time taking unemployment knows the temptation this brings. Sure, unemployment pays very little compared to a real salary. But the money comes for only a token effort – looking for three jobs per week for example – something anyone can do very half-heartedly. While such benefits can and are helpful for many who get forced to change work very suddenly, the temptation to be lazy as possible and just mooch off the free-money-supply from the State can be daunting. Without motivation to continue, it usually takes the prospect of the benefits coming to an end to spur constructive action and to get another job.
Socialism in this sense panders to fallen human nature. By punishing those who work hard by taking their reward away, it is only a short time before those who were working hard simply stop doing so. After all, why should one work hard if their outcome is no different than if they work half-heartedly? And why should the one not working at all, or being exceptionally lazy, receive benefits similar to someone who works hard? The virtue of being hardworking and industrious and responsible for oneself is undercut and destroyed by socialist redistribution of wealth.
This is further complicated by another error, this time one made by Protestant believers. It appears Julie herself got caught up in this error:
Sometimes mainline Protestantism makes a false connection, claiming that a “good Christian” will become materially prosperous, assigning a surprisingly socialist worldview to the term “abundant life.” In this view, good Christians do financially well and bad people or bad Christians meet with hardship.
The Eastern Orthodox view of this is very different. We are shown that one’s financial status is not connected to how good a Christian they are. In fact, in ancient Christianity there is absolutely no connection made whatsoever with one’s personal wealth and the quality of their relationship with Christ.
This is a fact that many Protestants might probably be relieved to learn. Many of their groups are somewhat taken with the “prosperity gospel” teaching (God wants you to be rich, so if you follow him, you will ‘live abundantly’ – a.k.a. have lots of earthly wealth and luxury). This teaching is utterly false, and it is very damaging, but it also reflects a worldview that is material-centered (materialistic) rather than God-centered, and as such, actually provides a philosophical gateway to socialist thinking!
We could even go farther than this and rightly state that socialism occurs when capitalism becomes the ONLY thing that matters. In this we go back to what we discussed in the first piece: “It’s all about stuff.” Such a worldview is not Christian at all, and it provides no defining information about virtue, other than that the only virtue for the socialist is all the stuff he or she wants to have.
Part III will continue to explore this theme in depth.
Read Later Add to Favourites Add to Collection Report