lewrockwell--2020-09-22--Stephen F. Cohen: In Memoriam

Stephen F. Cohen: In Memoriam

On Friday , 18 September , professor Steve Cohen passed away in New York City and we , the “ dissident ” community of Americans standing for peace with Russia – and for peace with the world at large – lost a towering intellectual and skillful defender of our cause who enjoyed an audience of millions by his weekly broadcasts on the John Batchelor Show , WABC Radio .
A year ago , I reviewed his latest book , War With Russia ?
which drew upon the material of those programs and took this scholar turned journalist into a new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in print .
The narrative style may have been more relaxed , with simplified syntax , but the reasoning remained razor sharp .
I urge those who are today paying tribute to Steve , to buy and read the book , which is his best legacy .
War with Russia ?
: From ... Cohen , Stephen F. Best Price : $ 8.99 Buy New $ 8.50 From start to finish , Stephen F. Cohen was among America ’ s best historians of his generation , putting aside the specific subject matter that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dissertation topic and the material of his first and best known book ; or , to put it more broadly , the history of Russia ( USSR ) in the 20th century .
He was one of the very rare cases of an historian deeply attentive to historiography , to causality and to logic .
I understood this when I read a book of his from the mid-1980s in which he explained why Russian ( Soviet ) history was no longer attracting young students of quality : because there were no unanswered questions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knew about that country all that there was to know .
That was when our expert community told us with one voice that the USSR was entrapped in totalitarianism without any prospect for the overthrow of its oppressive regime .
But my recollections of Steve also have a personal dimension going back six years or so when a casual email correspondence between us flowered into a joint project that became the launch of the American Committee for East West Accord ( ACEWA ) .
This was a revival of a pro-détente association of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mid-1970s to the early 1990s , when , following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the removal of the Communist Party from power , the future of Russia in the family of nations we call the ‘ international community ’ seemed assured and there appeared to be no further need for such an association as ACEWA .
I hasten to add that in the original ACEWA Steve and I were two ships that passed in the night .
With his base in Princeton , he was a protégé of the dean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ George Kennan , who was the leading light on the academic side of the ACEWA .
I was on the business side of the association , which was led by Don Kendall , chairman of Pepsico and also for much of the 1970s chairman of the US-USSR Trade and Economic Council of which I was also a member .
I published pro-détente articles in their newsletter and published a lengthy piece on cooperation with the Soviet Union in agricultural and food processing domains , my specialty at that time , in their collection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business community entitled Common Sense in U.S.-Soviet Trade .
The academic contingent had , as one might assume , a ‘ progressive ’ coloration , while the business contingent had a Nixon Republican coloration .
Indeed , in the mid-1980s these two sides split in their approach to the growing peace movement in the U.S. that was fed by opposition in the ‘ thinking community ’ on university campuses to Ronald Reagan ’ s Star Wars agenda .
Kendall shut the door at ACEWA to rabble rousing and the association did not rise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disbanding in the early ‘ 90s went unnoticed .
Does Russia Have a Fut ... Doctorow , Gilbert Best Price : $ 7.62 Buy New $ 20.60 In the re-incorporated American Committee , I helped out by assuming the formal obligations of Treasurer and Secretary , and also became the group ’ s European Coordinator from my base in Brussels .
At this point my communications with Steve were almost daily and emotionally quite intense .
This was a time when America ’ s expert community on Russian affairs once again felt certain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know about the country , and most particularly about the nefarious “ Putin regime.
” But whereas in the 1970s and 1980s , polite debate about the USSR/Russia was entirely possible both behind closed doors and in public space , from the start of the Information Wars against Russia during the George W. Bush administration following Putin ’ s speech at the Munich Security Conference in February 2007 , no voice questioning the official propaganda line in America was tolerated .
Steve Cohen , who in the 1990s had been a welcome guest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cited expert in print media suddenly found himself blacklisted and subjected to the worst of McCarthyite style , ad hominem attacks .
From my correspondence and several meetings with Steve at this time both in his New York apartment and here in Brussels , when he and Katrina van der Heuvel came to participate in a Round Table dedicated to relations with Russia at the Brussels Press Club that I arranged , I knew that Steve was deeply hurt by these vitriolic attacks .
He was at the time waging a difficult campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ graduate studies in Russian affairs .
It was touch and go , because of vicious opposition from some stalwarts of the profession to any fellowship that bore Steve ’ s name .
Allow me to put the ‘ i ’ on this dispute : the opposition to Steve was led by experts in the Ukrainian and other minority peoples sub-categories of the profession who were militantly opposed not just to him personally but to any purely objective , not to mention sympathetic treatment of Russian leadership in the territorial expanse of Eurasia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ prevailed .
The fellowships exist and , hopefully , will provide sustenance to future studies when American attitudes towards Russia become less politicized .
At all times and on all occasions , Steve Cohen was a voice of reason above all .
The problem of our age is that we are now not only living in a post-factual world , but in a post-logic world .
The public reads day after day the most outrageous and illogical assertions about alleged Russian misdeeds posted by our most respected mainstream media including The New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no one dares to raise a hand and suggest that this reporting is propaganda and that the public is being brainwashed .
Steve did exactly that in War With Russia ?
in a brilliant and restrained text .
China and Russia : The ... Lukin , Alexander Best Price : $ 23.18 Buy New $ 18.00 Regrettably today we have no peace movement to speak of .
Youth and our ‘ progressive ’ elites are totally concerned over the fate of humanity in 30 or 40 years ’ time as a consequence of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the essence of the Green Movement .
Almost no one outside our ‘ dissident ’ community is concerned about the possibility of Armageddon in say two years ’ time due to miscalculations and bad luck in our pursuing economic , informational and military confrontation with Russia and China .
I fear it will take only some force majeure development such as we had in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis to awaken the broad public to the risks to our very survival that we are incurring by ignoring the issues that Stephen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and New York University was bringing to the airwaves week after week on his radio program .
Regrettably , in terms of action , the new ACEWA was even less effective than its predecessor , which had avoided linking up with the peace movement of the 1980s and sought to exert influence on policy through armchair talks with Senators and other statesmen in Washington behind closed doors of ( essentially ) men ’ s clubs .
However , the importance of the new ACEWA , and the national importance of Stephen Cohen lay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appraising Stephen Cohen ’ s national importance is all the more timely given that on the day of his death , 18 September , the nation also lost Supreme Justice Ruth Ginsburg , about whose national importance no Americans , whether her fans or her opponents , had any doubt .
Putin ’ s People : ... Belton , Catherine Best Price : $ 19.92 Buy New $ 19.95 My point in this discussion is that in the last decade of his life Stephen Cohen became one of the nation ’ s most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Free Speech .
It was not a role that he sought .
It was thrust upon him by the expert community of international affairs , including the Council on Foreign Relations , from which he reluctantly resigned over this matter .
It was forced upon him by The New York Times , The Washington Post and other major media who pilloried him or blacklisted him over his unorthodox , unsanctioned , nonconformist views on the “ Putin regime.
” It was forced upon him by university colleagues who sought to deny his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian affairs bearing his name and that of his mentor at Indiana University , Professor Tucker .
In the face of vicious personal attacks from these McCarthyite forces , in the face of hate mail and even threats to his life , Steve decided to set up The American Committee and to recruit to its governing board famous , patriotic Americans and the descendants of the most revered families in the country .
In this he succeeded , and it is to his credit that a moral counter force to the stampeding bulls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to this day .

On Friday, 18 September, professor Steve Cohen passed away in New York City and we, the “dissident” community of Americans standing for peace with Russia – and for peace with the world at large – lost a towering intellectual and skillful defender of our cause who enjoyed an audience of millions by his weekly broadcasts on the John Batchelor Show, WABC Radio.
A year ago, I reviewed his latest book, War With Russia? which drew upon the material of those programs and took this scholar turned journalist into a new and highly accessible genre of oral readings in print. The narrative style may have been more relaxed, with simplified syntax, but the reasoning remained razor sharp. I urge those who are today paying tribute to Steve, to buy and read the book, which is his best legacy.
War with Russia?: From... Cohen, Stephen F. Best Price: $8.99 Buy New $8.50 (as of 02:15 UTC - Details) From start to finish, Stephen F. Cohen was among America’s best historians of his generation, putting aside the specific subject matter that he treated: Nikolai Bukharin, his dissertation topic and the material of his first and best known book; or, to put it more broadly, the history of Russia (USSR) in the 20th century. He was one of the very rare cases of an historian deeply attentive to historiography, to causality and to logic. I understood this when I read a book of his from the mid-1980s in which he explained why Russian (Soviet) history was no longer attracting young students of quality: because there were no unanswered questions, because we smugly assumed that we knew about that country all that there was to know. That was when our expert community told us with one voice that the USSR was entrapped in totalitarianism without any prospect for the overthrow of its oppressive regime.
But my recollections of Steve also have a personal dimension going back six years or so when a casual email correspondence between us flowered into a joint project that became the launch of the American Committee for East West Accord (ACEWA). This was a revival of a pro-détente association of academics and business people that existed from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, when, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the removal of the Communist Party from power, the future of Russia in the family of nations we call the ‘international community’ seemed assured and there appeared to be no further need for such an association as ACEWA.
I hasten to add that in the original ACEWA Steve and I were two ships that passed in the night. With his base in Princeton, he was a protégé of the dean of diplomats then in residence there, George Kennan, who was the leading light on the academic side of the ACEWA. I was on the business side of the association, which was led by Don Kendall, chairman of Pepsico and also for much of the 1970s chairman of the US-USSR Trade and Economic Council of which I was also a member. I published pro-détente articles in their newsletter and published a lengthy piece on cooperation with the Soviet Union in agricultural and food processing domains, my specialty at that time, in their collection of essays by leaders in the U.S. business community entitled Common Sense in U.S.-Soviet Trade.
The academic contingent had, as one might assume, a ‘progressive’ coloration, while the business contingent had a Nixon Republican coloration. Indeed, in the mid-1980s these two sides split in their approach to the growing peace movement in the U.S. that was fed by opposition in the ‘thinking community’ on university campuses to Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars agenda. Kendall shut the door at ACEWA to rabble rousing and the association did not rise to the occasion, so that its disbanding in the early ‘90s went unnoticed. Does Russia Have a Fut... Doctorow, Gilbert Best Price: $7.62 Buy New $20.60 (as of 03:12 UTC - Details)
In the re-incorporated American Committee, I helped out by assuming the formal obligations of Treasurer and Secretary, and also became the group’s European Coordinator from my base in Brussels. At this point my communications with Steve were almost daily and emotionally quite intense. This was a time when America’s expert community on Russian affairs once again felt certain that it knew everything there was to know about the country, and most particularly about the nefarious “Putin regime.” But whereas in the 1970s and 1980s, polite debate about the USSR/Russia was entirely possible both behind closed doors and in public space, from the start of the Information Wars against Russia during the George W. Bush administration following Putin’s speech at the Munich Security Conference in February 2007, no voice questioning the official propaganda line in America was tolerated. Steve Cohen, who in the 1990s had been a welcome guest on U.S. national television and a widely cited expert in print media suddenly found himself blacklisted and subjected to the worst of McCarthyite style, ad hominem attacks.
From my correspondence and several meetings with Steve at this time both in his New York apartment and here in Brussels, when he and Katrina van der Heuvel came to participate in a Round Table dedicated to relations with Russia at the Brussels Press Club that I arranged, I knew that Steve was deeply hurt by these vitriolic attacks. He was at the time waging a difficult campaign to establish a fellowship in support of graduate studies in Russian affairs. It was touch and go, because of vicious opposition from some stalwarts of the profession to any fellowship that bore Steve’s name. Allow me to put the ‘i’ on this dispute: the opposition to Steve was led by experts in the Ukrainian and other minority peoples sub-categories of the profession who were militantly opposed not just to him personally but to any purely objective, not to mention sympathetic treatment of Russian leadership in the territorial expanse of Eurasia. In the end, Steve and Katrina prevailed. The fellowships exist and, hopefully, will provide sustenance to future studies when American attitudes towards Russia become less politicized.
At all times and on all occasions, Steve Cohen was a voice of reason above all. The problem of our age is that we are now not only living in a post-factual world, but in a post-logic world. The public reads day after day the most outrageous and illogical assertions about alleged Russian misdeeds posted by our most respected mainstream media including The New York Times and The Washington Post. Almost no one dares to raise a hand and suggest that this reporting is propaganda and that the public is being brainwashed. Steve did exactly that in War With Russia? in a brilliant and restrained text. China and Russia: The ... Lukin, Alexander Best Price: $23.18 Buy New $18.00 (as of 04:21 UTC - Details)
Regrettably today we have no peace movement to speak of. Youth and our ‘progressive’ elites are totally concerned over the fate of humanity in 30 or 40 years’ time as a consequence of Global Warming and rising seas. That is the essence of the Green Movement. Almost no one outside our ‘dissident’ community is concerned about the possibility of Armageddon in say two years’ time due to miscalculations and bad luck in our pursuing economic, informational and military confrontation with Russia and China.
I fear it will take only some force majeure development such as we had in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis to awaken the broad public to the risks to our very survival that we are incurring by ignoring the issues that Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Princeton and New York University was bringing to the airwaves week after week on his radio program.
Regrettably, in terms of action, the new ACEWA was even less effective than its predecessor, which had avoided linking up with the peace movement of the 1980s and sought to exert influence on policy through armchair talks with Senators and other statesmen in Washington behind closed doors of (essentially) men’s clubs.
However, the importance of the new ACEWA, and the national importance of Stephen Cohen lay elsewhere.
P.S. This question of appraising Stephen Cohen’s national importance is all the more timely given that on the day of his death, 18 September, the nation also lost Supreme Justice Ruth Ginsburg, about whose national importance no Americans, whether her fans or her opponents, had any doubt.
Putin’s People: ... Belton, Catherine Best Price: $19.92 Buy New $19.95 (as of 03:12 UTC - Details) My point in this discussion is that in the last decade of his life Stephen Cohen became one of the nation’s most fearless and persistent defenders of the right to Free Speech. It was not a role that he sought. It was thrust upon him by the expert community of international affairs, including the Council on Foreign Relations, from which he reluctantly resigned over this matter. It was forced upon him by The New York Times, The Washington Post and other major media who pilloried him or blacklisted him over his unorthodox, unsanctioned, nonconformist views on the “Putin regime.” It was forced upon him by university colleagues who sought to deny his right to establish graduate school fellowships in Russian affairs bearing his name and that of his mentor at Indiana University, Professor Tucker.
In the face of vicious personal attacks from these McCarthyite forces, in the face of hate mail and even threats to his life, Steve decided to set up The American Committee and to recruit to its governing board famous, patriotic Americans and the descendants of the most revered families in the country. In this he succeeded, and it is to his credit that a moral counter force to the stampeding bulls of repression was erected and has survived to this day.
Reprinted with the author’s permission.


lewrockwell--2020-09-22--China and the Washington Oscars

China and the Washington Oscars

As the presidential debates approach , and our grotesque candidates prepare to compete for Best Actor , with their supporting casts of pollsters , advance men , media shills , gestures coaches , focus groups , and allied technicians of mendacity , Americans of broad historical illiteracy , which is most of them , hear endlessly of the evils of China .
Whether the evils exist doesn ’ t matter .
The electorate won ’ t know the difference .
Still , it might be amusing to think about the matter .
How bad ( as Ivanka would put it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me a more sanguine view than those of our leftover Cold Warriors .
Let us start with what Beijing has done for its people .
We might also find enlightening a comparison of today ’ s China with today ’ s America .
I know what China was in 1978 when Deng took over : a literally starving behemoth , among the poorest countries on earth , with people eating grass .
Forty-two years later it has lifted several hundreds of millions from poverty , and the remaining poverty would not be recognized @ @ @ @ @ @ @ India .
Perhaps I err , but this seems to me both astonishing and admirable .
No other country , ever , has done such a thing .
” Socialism Is Gr ... Zhang , Lijia Best Price : $ 1.94 Buy New $ 12.11 Overage Cold War hawks and salesmen for the arms makers like to say that China is “ totalitarian , ” which sounds appropriately terrible without meaning anything specific .
How many people have been in a genuinely totalitarian and Communist country ?
I was in the Soviet Union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and it closely matched John Bolton ’ s onanistic fantasies : grim , poor , intimidated , no stores or consumer goods , empty streets with cars only for the government , people sullen and dispirited .
As we flew out on Aeroflot , people spontaneously broke into applause as we passed the Russian frontier .
This is not China .
Walk the streets in Chengdu or Chongqing .
Traffic ( unfortunately ) reaches American levels .
You will see stores selling anything you would find in , say , Washington , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grocery stores tastefully decorated ( a Chinese touch ) with everything from staples to gourmet food .
It is First World .
This is fact , boys and girls .
It is documentable .
Go look .
I have .
You will also see , at least in Chengdu , many blocks of stores selling Buddhist artefacts , functioning temples well maintained , and monks in the traditional robes .
None of this is what we are told to expect .
It is what is there .
Restaurants flourish , from soup stalls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ varied and great fun .
( a guide to said night life . )
There is , for example , an Irish pub , the , which we much liked .
Large districts exist of what might be called wide car-less alleys with dozens of restaurants with outside tables and typically Chinese gaudy neon everywhere .
This is not Steve Bannon ’ s China .
From Its website : “ Shamrock has the best sports telecasts in Chengdu !
With five different satellite feeds we have you covered for rugby , football ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , NBA , golf , tennis , boxing , and UFC .
Wondering how to find out more about what telecasts are on ?
We have our website listing , you can also ADD us on WeChat or alternatively just give us a call or email for more info on what and when telecasts are coming up.
” Conservatives of formidable economic illiteracy speak of China as a communist dictatorship .
The government , perhaps not wanting to admit a mistake , calls itself communist .
Geriatric hawks make themselves foolish by referring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in fact a pragmatic authoritarian oligarchy , not a dictatorship , and communist countries do not have hundreds of thousands of private businesses .
You can not criticize the government and the Great Firewall of China blocks the international internet .
Not good , but…totalitarian ?
Try North Korea .
China : The Bubble that ... Orlik , Thomas Best Price : $ 22.20 Buy New $ 21.99 US commentators speak of China ’ s intolerance of Christianity .
The intolerance exists .
But the Chinese have reasons .
Remember that Christianity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years of godawful bloody warfare and perhaps millions of dead .
It was probably enough Christianity for them .
And of course , they can look at the US and see the havoc caused by diversity of religion , race , ethnicity , and so on .
They probably figure they don ’ t need any .
Americans also grouse that fentanyl , which they usually pronounce “ fentanol , ” comes from China , just as Mexicans complain that the weaponry of the drug cartels comes from the US .
True in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bit of a leap to attribute either to governmental hostility rather than freelance criminality .
Regarding drugs , we might remember that China has had bitter experience of Eurowhites .
Americans have compelled the Chinese to buy opium by force of arms , though the government desperately opposed this .
Maybe turnabout is fair play .
American troops have also occupied Chinese ports by force .
American soldiers have rampaged through Beijing , raping , looting , and killing for sport .
The Chinese are aware of this .
Americans can usually find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the US speak of China ’ s brazen aggressiveness .
Chinese aggressiveness ?
Did China invade Iraq , killing hundreds of thousands ?
Has China spent almost twenty years butchering Afghans , militarily seized Syria ’ s oil , supported Saudi Arabia in a murderous war against Yemen , supervised the destruction of Libya , bombed Somalia ?
Does China try to starve Iran and Venezuela into giving Washington control of their oil ?
Does China push its ( nonexistent ) NATO vassals ever closer to Russian border ?
Yes , China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can doubt it .
Superpower Showdown : H ... Wei , Lingling Best Price : $ 17.93 Buy New $ 16.84 Aggressiveness ?
True , America has only a piffling few military bases around the world , a mere scattering of about 800 , while the aggressive China , always shameless , has one , at Djibouti .
Today , the Horn of Africa .
Tomorrow , San Francisco .
My God , we must gird our loins , send more money to the Pentagon .
Next thing we know , the squinty-eyed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harvard .
( Though , come to think of it… . )
China spends heavily on education and R-and-D .
It has not caught up with America in everything , but advances rapidly .
America buys intercontinental nuclear bombers of no apparent purpose .
The above is a mag-lev train now in development , to run at 373 miles an hour .
Consider America as it must look to a citizen of , say Chongqing .
It looks barbaric .
The United States is neck deep in violent crime ; China has almost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watchfulness by police , but because violent crime is not in the culture .
You don ’ t need police to keep people from doing what they are not going to do anyway .
In American cities , murder is so common as barely to be noticed by the newspapers : 700 a year in Chicago and several times as many shot , 300 in Baltimore , similar numbers in a couple of dozen other cities .
America seethes in racial hatred ; China , blessedly having only one race to amount to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of thousands in America live in medieval squalor on the sidewalks or in the subways ; not in China .
China beat Covid and goes about its business ( friends there tell me that things are back to normal ) .
America…never mind .
Does China mistreat its Uighurs ?
Yes , and might even if America were not trying to stir up rebellion there , as it is in Hong Kong .
Not good at all .
Is it worse than the US ?
Maybe .
Note , though , that America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ circumstances for four centuries , currently wallowing in semi-literacy , drugs , social collapse , and hopelessness .
None of these is changing in the Exceptional Country .
Much can be , and is , said against China , and a lot of it is true .
But Americans are in no position to do the saying .
Reprinted with permission from The Unz Review .
The Best of Fred Reed

As the presidential debates approach, and our grotesque candidates prepare to compete for Best Actor, with their supporting casts of pollsters, advance men, media shills, gestures coaches, focus groups, and allied technicians of mendacity, Americans of broad historical illiteracy, which is most of them, hear endlessly of the evils of China. Whether the evils exist doesn’t matter. The electorate won’t know the difference. Still, it might be amusing to think about the matter. How bad (as Ivanka would put it) is the Middle Kingston?
Permit me a more sanguine view than those of our leftover Cold Warriors. Let us start with what Beijing has done for its people. We might also find enlightening a comparison of today’s China with today’s America.
I know what China was in 1978 when Deng took over: a literally starving behemoth, among the poorest countries on earth, with people eating grass. Forty-two years later it has lifted several hundreds of millions from poverty, and the remaining poverty would not be recognized as poverty by the slum dwellers of India. Perhaps I err, but this seems to me both astonishing and admirable. No other country, ever, has done such a thing. ”Socialism Is Gr... Zhang, Lijia Best Price: $1.94 Buy New $12.11 (as of 04:18 UTC - Details)
Overage Cold War hawks and salesmen for the arms makers like to say that China is “totalitarian,” which sounds appropriately terrible without meaning anything specific. How many people have been in a genuinely totalitarian and Communist country? I was in the Soviet Union when it still was the Soviet Union, and it closely matched John Bolton’s onanistic fantasies: grim, poor, intimidated, no stores or consumer goods, empty streets with cars only for the government, people sullen and dispirited. As we flew out on Aeroflot, people spontaneously broke into applause as we passed the Russian frontier.
This is not China. Walk the streets in Chengdu or Chongqing. Traffic (unfortunately) reaches American levels. You will see stores selling anything you would find in, say, Washington, running from cheap to pricey, large grocery stores tastefully decorated (a Chinese touch) with everything from staples to gourmet food. It is First World. This is fact, boys and girls. It is documentable. Go look. I have. You will also see, at least in Chengdu, many blocks of stores selling Buddhist artefacts, functioning temples well maintained, and monks in the traditional robes. None of this is what we are told to expect. It is what is there.
Restaurants flourish, from soup stalls to elegant, and night life is varied and great fun. ( Here a guide to said night life.) There is, for example, an Irish pub, the Shamrock , which we much liked. Large districts exist of what might be called wide car-less alleys with dozens of restaurants with outside tables and typically Chinese gaudy neon everywhere. This is not Steve Bannon’s China.
From Its website: “Shamrock has the best sports telecasts in Chengdu! With five different satellite feeds we have you covered for rugby, football (round ball) Aussie rules, cricket, NBA, golf, tennis, boxing, and UFC. Wondering how to find out more about what telecasts are on? We have our website listing, you can also ADD us on WeChat or alternatively just give us a call or email for more info on what and when telecasts are coming up.”
Conservatives of formidable economic illiteracy speak of China as a communist dictatorship. The government, perhaps not wanting to admit a mistake, calls itself communist. Geriatric hawks make themselves foolish by referring to “Chicoms,” but China is in fact a pragmatic authoritarian oligarchy, not a dictatorship, and communist countries do not have hundreds of thousands of private businesses. You cannot criticize the government and the Great Firewall of China blocks the international internet. Not good, but…totalitarian? Try North Korea. China: The Bubble that... Orlik, Thomas Best Price: $22.20 Buy New $21.99 (as of 04:15 UTC - Details)
US commentators speak of China’s intolerance of Christianity. The intolerance exists. But the Chinese have reasons. Remember that Christianity, however heretical, cost China fourteen years of godawful bloody warfare and perhaps millions of dead. It was probably enough Christianity for them. And of course, they can look at the US and see the havoc caused by diversity of religion, race, ethnicity, and so on. They probably figure they don’t need any.
Americans also grouse that fentanyl, which they usually pronounce “fentanol,” comes from China, just as Mexicans complain that the weaponry of the drug cartels comes from the US. True in both cases, but it is a bit of a leap to attribute either to governmental hostility rather than freelance criminality. Regarding drugs, we might remember that China has had bitter experience of Eurowhites. Americans have compelled the Chinese to buy opium by force of arms, though the government desperately opposed this. Maybe turnabout is fair play.
American troops have also occupied Chinese ports by force. American soldiers have rampaged through Beijing, raping, looting, and killing for sport. The Chinese are aware of this. Americans can usually find their way home at night.
People in the US speak of China’s brazen aggressiveness. Chinese aggressiveness? Did China invade Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands? Has China spent almost twenty years butchering Afghans, militarily seized Syria’s oil, supported Saudi Arabia in a murderous war against Yemen, supervised the destruction of Libya, bombed Somalia? Does China try to starve Iran and Venezuela into giving Washington control of their oil? Does China push its (nonexistent) NATO vassals ever closer to Russian border? Yes, China is an international menace. No one can doubt it.
Superpower Showdown: H... Wei, Lingling Best Price: $17.93 Buy New $16.84 (as of 11:50 UTC - Details) Aggressiveness? True, America has only a piffling few military bases around the world, a mere scattering of about 800, while the aggressive China, always shameless, has one, at Djibouti. Today, the Horn of Africa. Tomorrow, San Francisco. My God, we must gird our loins, send more money to the Pentagon. Next thing we know, the squinty-eyed bastards will be dating our daughters at Harvard. (Though, come to think of it….)
China spends heavily on education and R-and-D. It has not caught up with America in everything, but advances rapidly. America buys intercontinental nuclear bombers of no apparent purpose. The above is a mag-lev train now in development, to run at 373 miles an hour.
Consider America as it must look to a citizen of, say Chongqing. It looks barbaric. The United States is neck deep in violent crime; China has almost none. This is not because of watchfulness by police, but because violent crime is not in the culture. You don’t need police to keep people from doing what they are not going to do anyway. In American cities, murder is so common as barely to be noticed by the newspapers: 700 a year in Chicago and several times as many shot, 300 in Baltimore, similar numbers in a couple of dozen other cities. America seethes in racial hatred; China, blessedly having only one race to amount to anything, does not. Many tens of thousands in America live in medieval squalor on the sidewalks or in the subways; not in China. China beat Covid and goes about its business (friends there tell me that things are back to normal). America…never mind.
Does China mistreat its Uighurs? Yes, and might even if America were not trying to stir up rebellion there, as it is in Hong Kong. Not good at all. Is it worse than the US? Maybe. Note, though, that America’s Africans have lived in wretched circumstances for four centuries, currently wallowing in semi-literacy, drugs, social collapse, and hopelessness. None of these is changing in the Exceptional Country.
Much can be, and is, said against China, and a lot of it is true. But Americans are in no position to do the saying.
Reprinted with permission from The Unz Review.
The Best of Fred Reed


lewrockwell--2020-09-22--The Orwellian Indoctrination of Kindergarteners With Critical Race Theory Is Outrageous and Must Be

The Orwellian Indoctrination of Kindergarteners With Critical Race Theory Is Outrageous and Must Be Stopped

Woke teachers and school administrators are waging a culture war for the minds of kids as young as five , by inculcating them with toxic social justice teachings .
This summer , I got an unpleasant initiation into the culture war when , in the wake of the George Floyd killing , my five-year-old child ’ s elementary-middle public charter school here in Los Angeles went from being an academic institution interested in preparing students for the workplace and college to an ideological hotbed devoted to promoting Critical Race Theory ( CRT ) over all other subjects .
CRT is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radically transform our “ inherently racist ” society , including children .
Under CRT , Martin Luther King ’ s dream is abolished , as racial identification is mandatory , and white children are taught self-loathing and black children to embrace victimhood .
Like a religion , it is unfalsifiable , elevates subjective experience above objective reality , and crumbles under intellectual scrutiny .
Cynical Theories : How ... Lindsay , James Buy New $ 21.14 A shameless example of CRT indoctrination in action is that the very first lesson taught to my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was “ how to be an activist.
” The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines activist as “ a person who uses or supports strong actions ( such as public protests ) in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.
” My child ’ s school decided to perniciously redefine “ activist ” as “ someone who notices that a system is unfair to another person , group of people , or animals , and then creates a new system that ensures fairness for every person , group of people , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Orwellian as it gets .
Words have meaning and meaning matters .
Calling an ass an eagle doesn ’ t make it sprout wings and fly .
But the mendacity doesn ’ t stop there .
The school also teaches the four traits of an “ activist , ” which they claim to be “ Observe .
Ask questions .
Have empathy .
Show compassion.
” But these positive traits are more defining of a good neighbor or a good friend , rather than an “ activist.
” Contorting the meaning of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need , and claiming that all “ activists ” have “ empathy ” and “ show compassion ” is the kindergarten equivalent of teaching “ war is peace , ” “ freedom is slavery , ” and “ ignorance is strength.
” Do the “ activists ” of the Westboro Baptist Church , Antifa , or KKK “ have empathy ” and “ show compassion ” ?
And what about Adolf Hitler , Vladimir Lenin , Mao Zedong , and Osama Bin Laden ?
None of these were profiles in empathy and compassion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started out as what one might call “ activists.
” George Orwell wrote , “ If thought corrupts language , language can also corrupt thought.
” It seems obvious that CRT has corrupted the language used by my child ’ s school , and that this corrupted language is intended , in turn , to corrupt the thoughts and minds of young students .
The Coddling of the Am ... Haidt , Jonathan Best Price : $ 12.68 Buy New $ 13.39 This intentionally deceptive “ activist ” lesson runs throughout the school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activist song , ” that ’ s sung everyday to the tune of ‘ Row , Row , Row Your Boat ’ .
The lyrics are… “ I am an activist , I look and I observe , I ask questions and find out , what has been unheard / Having empathy , helps me understand , I can make a change , working hand in hand.
” This isn ’ t education – this is blatant indoctrination .
The school isn ’ t teaching children how to think , but rather what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mission is to develop “ critical thinking ” but does misinforming children about the definition of “ activist ” spur critical thinking ?
I ’ ve asked the leadership of the school this question , as well as for their specific definition of “ equity ” and “ anti-racism ” – terms they frequently espouse .
Does “ equity ” mean “ equality of opportunity ” or “ equality of outcome ” ?
Does “ anti-racism ” mean “ opposing discrimination in all its forms ” or “ discriminating to benefit minorities ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I also asked if my child would face discrimination at the school , and the principal and CEO steadfastly refuse to answer that question too , which , unfortunately , seems like an answer unto itself , and one that may carry legal liability .
That this taxpayer-funded charter school – which , according to reports , just received between $ 2 million and $ 5 million in pandemic-related Paycheck Protection Program loans from the federal government – refuses to say it won ’ t discriminate against a five-year-old , is quite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rot at the center of CRT , and the catastrophic error the American education system is making by embracing it .
Beyond Woke Michael Rectenwald Buy New $ 19.99 At best , CRT is an intellectually flaccid and insidiously vacuous ideology that focuses on “ unlearning ” alleged “ implicit bias ” at the expense of learning the basics of reading , writing , and arithmetic .
At worst , it is a malevolent , mendacious , and cancerous cult that demands discrimination against some children under the guise of “ equity.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children ’ s moral and ethical education , and if parents want CRT taught to their kids , let them teach it at home .
Just as I wouldn ’ t impose my Catholic faith on other people ’ s children , I don ’ t want their CRT cult imposed on mine .
Many parents privately tell me they ’ re horrified that CRT is being taught in kindergarten , but are reluctant to speak out for fear of being labeled ‘ racist ’ .
This is part of the ‘ social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are shamed into silence and compliance by scurrilous labels .
But parents must screw their courage to the sticking place and fight back now , because the war for children ’ s minds is being waged , and teachers ’ unions , school boards , and woke faculty members and administrators are moving fast and pushing hard to make CRT the default foundation for all education in America .
Indoctrinating children with CRT is akin to systemic child abuse , as it steals innocence , twists minds , and crushes spirits .
Parents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their children , and they can start by coming together and rooting out CRT from their schools by any and all legal means necessary .

Woke teachers and school administrators are waging a culture war for the minds of kids as young as five, by inculcating them with toxic social justice teachings.
This summer, I got an unpleasant initiation into the culture war when, in the wake of the George Floyd killing, my five-year-old child’s elementary-middle public charter school here in Los Angeles went from being an academic institution interested in preparing students for the workplace and college to an ideological hotbed devoted to promoting Critical Race Theory (CRT) over all other subjects.
CRT is a philosophy of hyper-racialization that looks to radically transform our “inherently racist” society, including children. Under CRT, Martin Luther King’s dream is abolished, as racial identification is mandatory, and white children are taught self-loathing and black children to embrace victimhood. Like a religion, it is unfalsifiable, elevates subjective experience above objective reality, and crumbles under intellectual scrutiny. Cynical Theories: How ... Lindsay, James Buy New $21.14 (as of 03:40 UTC - Details)
A shameless example of CRT indoctrination in action is that the very first lesson taught to my child’s kindergarten class this autumn was “how to be an activist.”
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines activist as “a person who uses or supports strong actions (such as public protests) in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.” My child’s school decided to perniciously redefine “activist” as “someone who notices that a system is unfair to another person, group of people, or animals, and then creates a new system that ensures fairness for every person, group of people, or animal.”
Redefining “activist” is as Orwellian as it gets. Words have meaning and meaning matters. Calling an ass an eagle doesn’t make it sprout wings and fly. But the mendacity doesn’t stop there. The school also teaches the four traits of an “activist,” which they claim to be “Observe. Ask questions. Have empathy. Show compassion.” But these positive traits are more defining of a good neighbor or a good friend, rather than an “activist.”
Contorting the meaning of “activist” to suit an ideological need, and claiming that all “activists” have “empathy” and “show compassion” is the kindergarten equivalent of teaching “war is peace,”“freedom is slavery,” and “ignorance is strength.”
Do the “activists” of the Westboro Baptist Church, Antifa, or KKK “have empathy” and “show compassion”? And what about Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Osama Bin Laden? None of these were profiles in empathy and compassion either, but they, too, started out as what one might call “activists.”
George Orwell wrote, “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” It seems obvious that CRT has corrupted the language used by my child’s school, and that this corrupted language is intended, in turn, to corrupt the thoughts and minds of young students. The Coddling of the Am... Haidt, Jonathan Best Price: $12.68 Buy New $13.39 (as of 02:43 UTC - Details)
This intentionally deceptive “activist” lesson runs throughout the school year and is accompanied by the “activist song,” that’s sung everyday to the tune of ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’. The lyrics are… “I am an activist, I look and I observe, I ask questions and find out, what has been unheard / Having empathy, helps me understand, I can make a change, working hand in hand.”
This isn’t education – this is blatant indoctrination. The school isn’t teaching children how to think, but rather what to think.
The school claims its mission is to develop “critical thinking” but does misinforming children about the definition of “activist” spur critical thinking? I’ve asked the leadership of the school this question, as well as for their specific definition of “equity” and “anti-racism” – terms they frequently espouse. Does “equity” mean “equality of opportunity” or “equality of outcome”? Does “anti-racism” mean “opposing discrimination in all its forms” or “discriminating to benefit minorities”? These questions have been entirely ignored.
I also asked if my child would face discrimination at the school, and the principal and CEO steadfastly refuse to answer that question too, which, unfortunately, seems like an answer unto itself, and one that may carry legal liability.
That this taxpayer-funded charter school – which, according to reports, just received between $2 million and $5 million in pandemic-related Paycheck Protection Program loans from the federal government – refuses to say it won’t discriminate against a five-year-old, is quite an indictment. It reveals the ethical rot at the center of CRT, and the catastrophic error the American education system is making by embracing it.
Beyond Woke Michael Rectenwald Buy New $19.99 (as of 11:37 UTC - Details) At best, CRT is an intellectually flaccid and insidiously vacuous ideology that focuses on “unlearning” alleged “implicit bias” at the expense of learning the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. At worst, it is a malevolent, mendacious, and cancerous cult that demands discrimination against some children under the guise of “equity.”
Parents should be in charge of their children’s moral and ethical education, and if parents want CRT taught to their kids, let them teach it at home. Just as I wouldn’t impose my Catholic faith on other people’s children, I don’t want their CRT cult imposed on mine.
Many parents privately tell me they’re horrified that CRT is being taught in kindergarten, but are reluctant to speak out for fear of being labeled ‘racist’. This is part of the ‘social justice’ game, in which people are shamed into silence and compliance by scurrilous labels. But parents must screw their courage to the sticking place and fight back now, because the war for children’s minds is being waged, and teachers’ unions, school boards, and woke faculty members and administrators are moving fast and pushing hard to make CRT the default foundation for all education in America.
Indoctrinating children with CRT is akin to systemic child abuse, as it steals innocence, twists minds, and crushes spirits. Parents must move heaven and earth to protect their children, and they can start by coming together and rooting out CRT from their schools by any and all legal means necessary.
Reprinted from RT News.


lewrockwell--2020-09-22--I Have Never Served in the Military

I Have Never Served in the Military

There are many things that I have done in my life that I am glad that I did .
And there are many things that I wish I had done differently .
There are some things that I have done in my life that I am proud of .
And there are some things that I did that I am ashamed of .
But there are a lot of things that I have never done in my life—like serve in the military .
I don ’ t know which one of my articles a recent critic of mine is referring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Your ludicrous comment about America doing the wrong thing by bombing Japan is sheer ignorance and nothing more than a useless opinion .
My question is how long did you serve in the military ?
” Because I have hundreds and hundreds of articles online—some of them dating back fifteen or twenty years—I regularly receive e-mail regarding old articles that someone stumbled across .
BALEAF Men ’ s Run ... Buy New $ 32.99 I have no idea which article of mine my critic is referring to .
I have condemned the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and referred readers to the work of John Denson .
I have also written here about the U.S. bombing of Japan before and after the atomic bombs were dropped .
I think it is “ sheer ignorance ” on the part of my critic to defend the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan when Admiral William Halsey , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William Leahy , commander in chief of the U.S. Fleet and chief of naval operations Ernest King , Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz , and General , and later @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bombing .
Now , in answer the lady ’ s question about my military service , let me unapologetically , unashamedly , and unequivocally say : I have never served in the military .
And not only have I never served , I have no regrets about it .
Just consider for a moment what it means to serve in the military : • Bombing , invading , and occupying countries that posed no threat to the United States • Being part of the president ’ s personal attack force • Maiming and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any American By not serving in the military , I did not have to : • Engage in offense while calling it defense • Be an accomplice to murder • Experience PTSD because I had serious doubts about the justness of what I was doing • Help to carry out an evil , reckless , and interventionist U.S. foreign policy • Die in vain and for a lie And you thought the military was serving the country , defending our freedoms , supporting and defending the Constitution , securing our borders , guarding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watching over American skies , protecting Americans from credible threats , and fighting “ over there ” so we don ’ t have to fight “ over here.
” I have no regrets about not serving in the military , and no regrets about all the negative things I have said over the years about serving in the military .
I have lost count of all the Vietnam , Iraq , and Afghan War veterans who have written to me expressing their regret and remorse , grief and guilt , or sorrow and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Although I have in my life experienced those emotions , it was never because I failed to serve in the military .
I thank God that is some baggage I have never had to carry around .
The Best of Laurence M. Vance

There are many things that I have done in my life that I am glad that I did. And there are many things that I wish I had done differently. There are some things that I have done in my life that I am proud of. And there are some things that I did that I am ashamed of. But there are a lot of things that I have never done in my life—like serve in the military.
I don’t know which one of my articles a recent critic of mine is referring to. All she said was: “Your ludicrous comment about America doing the wrong thing by bombing Japan is sheer ignorance and nothing more than a useless opinion. My question is how long did you serve in the military?”
Because I have hundreds and hundreds of articles online—some of them dating back fifteen or twenty years—I regularly receive e-mail regarding old articles that someone stumbled across. BALEAF Men’s Run... Buy New $32.99 (as of 03:15 UTC - Details)
I have no idea which article of mine my critic is referring to. I have condemned the atomic bombing of Japan in numerous articles and referred readers to the work of John Denson. I have also written here about the U.S. bombing of Japan before and after the atomic bombs were dropped.
I think it is “sheer ignorance” on the part of my critic to defend the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan when Admiral William Halsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William Leahy, commander in chief of the U.S. Fleet and chief of naval operations Ernest King, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, and General, and later President, Dwight Eisenhower all opposed the bombing.
Now, in answer the lady’s question about my military service, let me unapologetically, unashamedly, and unequivocally say: I have never served in the military. And not only have I never served, I have no regrets about it.
Just consider for a moment what it means to serve in the military:
Bombing, invading, and occupying countries that posed no threat to the United States
Fighting unjust wars
Making widows and orphans INBIKE Cycling Winter ... Buy New $19.99 (as of 03:15 UTC - Details )
Fighting unnecessary wars
Destroying foreign industry, infrastructure, and culture
Fighting undeclared wars
Engage in state-sponsored terrorism
Fighting senseless wars
Being part of the president’s personal attack force
Fighting immoral wars
Maiming and killing foreigners who were no threat to any American
By not serving in the military, I did not have to:
Engage in offense while calling it defense
Kill a civilian and call it collateral damage
Practice military values of profanity, promiscuity, and pornography
Be an accomplice to murder
Blindly follow orders
Experience PTSD because I had serious doubts about the justness of what I was doing
Put my family through unnecessary hardship
Help to carry out an evil, reckless, and interventionist U.S. foreign policy adidas outdoor Terrex ... Buy New $129.86 (as of 03:15 UTC - Details )
Die in vain and for a lie
And you thought the military was serving the country, defending our freedoms, supporting and defending the Constitution, securing our borders, guarding American shores, patrolling American coasts, watching over American skies, protecting Americans from credible threats, and fighting “over there” so we don’t have to fight “over here.”
I have no regrets about not serving in the military, and no regrets about all the negative things I have said over the years about serving in the military. I have lost count of all the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghan War veterans who have written to me expressing their regret and remorse, grief and guilt, or sorrow and shame about serving in the military. Although I have in my life experienced those emotions, it was never because I failed to serve in the military. I thank God that is some baggage I have never had to carry around.
The Best of Laurence M. Vance


Unmasked

“ We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little , if any , protection from infection .
Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes ( and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes ) .
The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal .
In many cases , the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ herself to be a scientist .
Scolds , who labor under the delusion that reading the New York Times is equivalent to holding a doctorate , unceasingly inflict on us finger-wagging lectures about how we need to “ listen to the science ” when it comes to masks .
Apparently “ masks work ” because “ The Science™ ” says so .
Newsflash : these media figures and self-styled authorities aren ’ t ( largely ) scientists and know not of what they speak .
As a scientist myself I feel compelled to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and is not , science .
For those degreed scientists out there parroting the mask propaganda : for shame , you should know better .
Cherry picking , selection bias , anecdotal data , and dubious models have no place in the arsenal of scientific inquiry .
Rock Climbing Vintage ... Buy New $ 17.97 What is the claim built on ?
Here ’ s the problem with “ the science ” about masks : the media cited studies are built on a foundation of sand .
They are based on computer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( non-biological ) analysis , or hypothetical contra factual scenarios.1 In short , if the conclusion of a study rests on “ this would have happened ” then that is not science .
Science does not compare contra factual or hypothetical scenarios .
It analyzes concrete , reproducible , controlled conditions ( that are broad enough to be statistically valid ) .
In every single story where there has been a reference made to evidence that “ masks work ” and I have drilled down through the 42 layers of links to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turns out the study is , surprise , based on a contra factual model , anecdote , or purely mechanistic study .
Every .
Single .
Time .
How do models support the claims ?
They make a “ post-diction ” for an alternate universe where masks were not deployed .
Then they compare those values to the real world and wouldn ’ t you know , the numbers are lower when masks are used .
The non-scientist with little time to drill down to the source will credulously accept what is read @ @ @ @ @ @ @ An “ authority ” was cited and we ’ ve been trained from childhood to be predisposed toward trusting those perceived to be “ in charge ” .
This is why whenever one questions the mask narrative the response is invariably “ so and so said they work.
” This is nothing more than the common logical fallacy known as an appeal to authority .
Such a response deflects the inquiry , it does not answer it .
When you encounter an appeal to authority your BS meter should max out .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grain of salt and seek answers to the artfully omitted questions .
Everyone has an agenda , even me .
My agenda is to set the record straight and not allow the noble scientific profession to be prostituted in service of state propaganda .
I encourage the reader to question and consider my assertions and to verify my claims by the references provided .
Adidas Sport Performan ... Buy New $ 58.83 One of the problems with models is their perception by the public as infallible fonts of knowledge .
The media reinforces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without any scrutiny .
They never consider questioning the underlying assumptions built into the models .
Models are easily manipulated .
They are malleable and versatile instruments .
In the hands of a virtuoso they can play any tune .
They are tools of science , but they are not science themselves .
Science is not SimCity .
Science is doing real work in the real world to gather real data .
Once one has collected data , then one may develop a model – based on that data – to make predictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then tested ( i.e .
the prediction is falsifiable ) .
It is impossible to check a post-diction for a contra factual universe .
The impossibility of such verification precludes falsifiability of the claim and in doing so removes it from the realm of science toward “ what-if ” fantasy .
The reader might now be wondering , “ well where is the evidence against masks ?
” Sorry , that ’ s not how science works .
Those making the novel claim carry the onus to support it .
You have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to disprove it .
A claim can not be said to be true because there does not yet exist evidence disproving it .
This is the same as the foundation of our legal system ; innocent until proven guilty .
Guilt is a novel positive claim and must be proven .
Were this also not the standard in science , then one could claim ghosts exist because no one has definitively proven they do not exist .
With that said , because the “ masks work ” claim is a scientific one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If it is true , then we should see fewer real world infections when use vs. non-use scenarios are compared.. Is that what we see ?
Unfortunately , no .
There are a number of studies in the literature from the pre-Covid era regarding real world mask effectiveness at limiting contagions .
In short none of them demonstrated any statistically significant diminishment in real world viral spread .
3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 The lack of substantive empirical data in real world environments has shifted the focus toward teasing out a positive correlation between mask use and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cities , states , and countries over time .
One may certainly cherry pick a country , state or time frame where mask use is high and case rates are low .
But for every one of those you can find several more that counter it.12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 The scientific method demands one looks at all the data , not just the data that confirms the preconceived conclusion ( selection bias ) .
When all localities are analyzed , the aggregate results demonstrate zero correlation between masks and case counts .
Zero .
However , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both sides .
There are simply way too many variables at play to claim this one thing ( masks ) had an effect or did not relative to other competing influences .
However it certainly doesn ’ t help the “ masks work ” camp that the vast majority of such comparisons show no correlation or a negative correlation ( i.e .
better outcomes in low mask use localities ) .
Correlation does not prove causation ; but , it is impossible to have causation without correlation .
Weanas Thicken Climbin ... Buy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ along with all the other various restrictions on normal life ) is morally equivalent to the banning of alcohol , drugs , and firearms : a handful might be irresponsible so all must suffer the remedy in order to protect a vanishingly small minority .
This mode of thinking , sacrificing the many in favor of a few , does not come without costs .
The reflexive objection here is that the benefits could be substantial while the costs should be minimal .
Perhaps in March that approach might have been sound given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with .
But here we are months later and it has become clear who is at risk and who is not .
It has become clear that widespread mask use does not correlate well with reduced cases .
12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 It has become clear that asymptomatic spread is a negligible risk vector.20 Countries such as Canada , Australia , and even Sweden have much lower mask compliance but with equal or lower case loads and deaths per capita than the US.21 If the effect was substantially beneficial we would not expect this outcome .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ must be weighed against a cost that is measurable .
The longer people suffer under these mandates the costs come into greater focus .
Interacting with a sea of faceless zombies is disrupting normal social cues , interactions , and at some level social cohesion itself .
A smile can brighten ones day .
Sadly , those are cancelled for now .
This is stressful to the human psyche in a way that is not easily accountable .
Theoretically solitary confinement shouldn ’ t be mentally taxing – and yet perplexingly it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interaction matters .
Likewise on the individual level there are increasing reports of inflamed skin conditions and fungal infections from prolonged mask use.22 Further , fatigue and “ brain fog ” are elevated by long-term excess CO2 inhalation.23 No , masks do not decrease oxygen intake , but they do increase CO2 intake – even the pro-mask camp admits that – although they try to hand wave it away by disclaiming that such high levels of CO2 are “ tolerable ” or pose no “ serious ” health risk .
But , just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does not mean it is ideal either .
No air conditioning on a 95 °F day is “ tolerable ” too but I doubt many would enjoy it long term .
Would you forgo air conditioning forever if you were told it would save 10 lives ?
I suspect few would willingly partake in that offer .
We are allowing the scolds to rhetorically guilt us into a corner where non-compliance with their arbitrary dictates is equated with sociopathic behavior merely because it is claimed a life could be saved .
That is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ door to justifying any demand upon one ’ s behavior if one meekly submits .
What should be done Ucraft ” Xlite Ro ... Buy New $ 67.00 A more effective strategy would be to shift from indiscriminate universal mandates and toward targeted and individualized interventions .
Resources are limited and should be focused and not scattered about .
For example , N95 masks do largely protect the wearer .
Unless regulations are impeding production , there is no reason supplies should be constrained anymore .
If there are regulations , then remove @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exposure to yourself , wear a properly fitted N95 mask .
This would be self-regulating in direct proportion to its effectiveness .
If cases went up , then more people would opt to don masks , which would then drive the cases back down .
Because the proportion of society at elevated risk ( mostly those above age 70 with health conditions ) is a minority there should be no issue in supply of such masks .
Additionally , there is some limited mechanistic evidence that surgical ( not cloth ) masks may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in ill patients ( although the viral load found was barely measurable even without the mask ) .24,25 This may be useful in a health care or home setting .
Restricting such mask use to those at risk ( N95 ) or actively sick ( surgical ) has the added benefit of signaling to everyone around them that they are to be avoided .
Targeted social distancing would be vastly superior to a universal mandate .
Fatigue over this standard among the clearly healthy leads to lapses in maintaining it .
Let those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immunity while staying distanced from those who are sick or at risk .
We all have a role to play .
It is counterproductive to force all to play the exact same role .
Allow the healthy to be exposed ( natural vaccination ) to build herd immunity while focusing protective resources on those actually at serious risk .
Individualized measures based on a person ’ s risk profile are how this country and the rest of the world handled such decennial pandemics up until now .
The strategy this year : lockdowns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – these are the unprecedented policies that should be scrutinized with a skeptical , critical , science based , analysis .
List of citations .
Reprinted with permission from Porcupine Musings .

“We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic.”
New England Journal of Medicine, 2020; 382:363
These days everyone imagines himself or herself to be a scientist. Scolds, who labor under the delusion that reading the New York Times is equivalent to holding a doctorate, unceasingly inflict on us finger-wagging lectures about how we need to “listen to the science” when it comes to masks. Apparently “masks work” because “The Science™” says so. Newsflash: these media figures and self-styled authorities aren’t (largely) scientists and know not of what they speak. As a scientist myself I feel compelled to set the record straight on what is, and is not, science. For those degreed scientists out there parroting the mask propaganda: for shame, you should know better. Cherry picking, selection bias, anecdotal data, and dubious models have no place in the arsenal of scientific inquiry. Rock Climbing Vintage ... Buy New $17.97 (as of 03:17 UTC - Details)
What is the claim built on?
Here’s the problem with “the science” about masks: the media cited studies are built on a foundation of sand. They are based on computer models1, anecdotal stories2, theoretical mechanistic (non-biological) analysis, or hypothetical contra factual scenarios.1 In short, if the conclusion of a study rests on “this would have happened” then that is not science. Science does not compare contra factual or hypothetical scenarios. It analyzes concrete, reproducible, controlled conditions (that are broad enough to be statistically valid). In every single story where there has been a reference made to evidence that “masks work” and I have drilled down through the 42 layers of links to get at the actual research document, it turns out the study is, surprise, based on a contra factual model, anecdote, or purely mechanistic study. Every. Single. Time. How do models support the claims? They make a “post-diction” for an alternate universe where masks were not deployed. Then they compare those values to the real world and wouldn’t you know, the numbers are lower when masks are used. The non-scientist with little time to drill down to the source will credulously accept what is read. Why shouldn’t they? An “authority” was cited and we’ve been trained from childhood to be predisposed toward trusting those perceived to be “in charge”. This is why whenever one questions the mask narrative the response is invariably “so and so said they work.” This is nothing more than the common logical fallacy known as an appeal to authority. Such a response deflects the inquiry, it does not answer it. When you encounter an appeal to authority your BS meter should max out. We should take every news story with a grain of salt and seek answers to the artfully omitted questions. Everyone has an agenda, even me. My agenda is to set the record straight and not allow the noble scientific profession to be prostituted in service of state propaganda. I encourage the reader to question and consider my assertions and to verify my claims by the references provided.
Question the models
Adidas Sport Performan... Buy New $58.83 (as of 03:17 UTC - Details) One of the problems with models is their perception by the public as infallible fonts of knowledge. The media reinforces this narrative by credulously reporting model-based claims without any scrutiny. They never consider questioning the underlying assumptions built into the models. Models are easily manipulated. They are malleable and versatile instruments. In the hands of a virtuoso they can play any tune. They are tools of science, but they are not science themselves. Science is not SimCity. Science is doing real work in the real world to gather real data. Once one has collected data, then one may develop a model – based on that data – to make predictions about the future. Those predictions are then tested (i.e. the prediction is falsifiable). It is impossible to check a post-diction for a contra factual universe. The impossibility of such verification precludes falsifiability of the claim and in doing so removes it from the realm of science toward “what-if” fantasy.
Evidence against the claim?
The reader might now be wondering, “well where is the evidence against masks?” Sorry, that’s not how science works. Those making the novel claim carry the onus to support it. You have to prove your claim; I do not have to disprove it. A claim cannot be said to be true because there does not yet exist evidence disproving it. This is the same as the foundation of our legal system; innocent until proven guilty. Guilt is a novel positive claim and must be proven. Were this also not the standard in science, then one could claim ghosts exist because no one has definitively proven they do not exist. With that said, because the “masks work” claim is a scientific one it is therefore subject to falsifiability. If it is true, then we should see fewer real world infections when use vs. non-use scenarios are compared.. Is that what we see? Unfortunately, no. There are a number of studies in the literature from the pre-Covid era regarding real world mask effectiveness at limiting contagions. In short none of them demonstrated any statistically significant diminishment in real world viral spread. 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11
Correlation not Causation
The lack of substantive empirical data in real world environments has shifted the focus toward teasing out a positive correlation between mask use and case loads by reviewing case counts across cities, states, and countries over time. One may certainly cherry pick a country, state or time frame where mask use is high and case rates are low. But for every one of those you can find several more that counter it.12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 The scientific method demands one looks at all the data, not just the data that confirms the preconceived conclusion (selection bias). When all localities are analyzed, the aggregate results demonstrate zero correlation between masks and case counts. Zero. However, even this is a bad metric for both sides. There are simply way too many variables at play to claim this one thing (masks) had an effect or did not relative to other competing influences. However it certainly doesn’t help the “masks work” camp that the vast majority of such comparisons show no correlation or a negative correlation (i.e. better outcomes in low mask use localities). Correlation does not prove causation; but, it is impossible to have causation without correlation. Weanas Thicken Climbin... Buy New $19.99 (as of 03:17 UTC - Details)
At what cost?
Compelled mask wearing (along with all the other various restrictions on normal life) is morally equivalent to the banning of alcohol, drugs, and firearms: a handful might be irresponsible so all must suffer the remedy in order to protect a vanishingly small minority. This mode of thinking, sacrificing the many in favor of a few, does not come without costs. The reflexive objection here is that the benefits could be substantial while the costs should be minimal. Perhaps in March that approach might have been sound given the ignorance surrounding what we were dealing with. But here we are months later and it has become clear who is at risk and who is not. It has become clear that widespread mask use does not correlate well with reduced cases. 12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 It has become clear that asymptomatic spread is a negligible risk vector.20 Countries such as Canada, Australia, and even Sweden have much lower mask compliance but with equal or lower case loads and deaths per capita than the US.21 If the effect was substantially beneficial we would not expect this outcome. A benefit too small to be measured must be weighed against a cost that is measurable. The longer people suffer under these mandates the costs come into greater focus. Interacting with a sea of faceless zombies is disrupting normal social cues, interactions, and at some level social cohesion itself. A smile can brighten ones day. Sadly, those are cancelled for now. This is stressful to the human psyche in a way that is not easily accountable. Theoretically solitary confinement shouldn’t be mentally taxing – and yet perplexingly it is among the harshest of punishments. Social interaction matters. Likewise on the individual level there are increasing reports of inflamed skin conditions and fungal infections from prolonged mask use.22 Further, fatigue and “brain fog” are elevated by long-term excess CO2 inhalation.23 No, masks do not decrease oxygen intake, but they do increase CO2 intake – even the pro-mask camp admits that – although they try to hand wave it away by disclaiming that such high levels of CO2 are “tolerable” or pose no “serious” health risk. But, just because something is tolerable or not serious does not mean it is ideal either. No air conditioning on a 95 °F day is “tolerable” too but I doubt many would enjoy it long term. Would you forgo air conditioning forever if you were told it would save 10 lives? I suspect few would willingly partake in that offer. We are allowing the scolds to rhetorically guilt us into a corner where non-compliance with their arbitrary dictates is equated with sociopathic behavior merely because it is claimed a life could be saved. That is a dangerous precedent. It opens the door to justifying any demand upon one’s behavior if one meekly submits.
What should be done
Ucraft ”Xlite Ro... Buy New $67.00 (as of 03:17 UTC - Details) A more effective strategy would be to shift from indiscriminate universal mandates and toward targeted and individualized interventions. Resources are limited and should be focused and not scattered about. For example, N95 masks do largely protect the wearer. Unless regulations are impeding production, there is no reason supplies should be constrained anymore. If there are regulations, then remove them. If you are concerned about exposure to yourself, wear a properly fitted N95 mask. This would be self-regulating in direct proportion to its effectiveness. If cases went up, then more people would opt to don masks, which would then drive the cases back down. Because the proportion of society at elevated risk (mostly those above age 70 with health conditions) is a minority there should be no issue in supply of such masks. Additionally, there is some limited mechanistic evidence that surgical (not cloth) masks may be useful in limiting droplets and aerosols in ill patients (although the viral load found was barely measurable even without the mask).24,25 This may be useful in a health care or home setting. Restricting such mask use to those at risk (N95) or actively sick (surgical) has the added benefit of signaling to everyone around them that they are to be avoided. Targeted social distancing would be vastly superior to a universal mandate. Fatigue over this standard among the clearly healthy leads to lapses in maintaining it. Let those at low to no risk foster herd immunity while staying distanced from those who are sick or at risk. We all have a role to play. It is counterproductive to force all to play the exact same role. Allow the healthy to be exposed (natural vaccination) to build herd immunity while focusing protective resources on those actually at serious risk.
Individualized measures based on a person’s risk profile are how this country and the rest of the world handled such decennial pandemics up until now. The strategy this year: lockdowns, social distancing, universal mask mandates – these are the unprecedented policies that should be scrutinized with a skeptical, critical, science based, analysis.
List of citations.
Reprinted with permission from Porcupine Musings.


lewrockwell--2020-09-22--Collapse Is a Process, Not an Event

Collapse Is a Process, Not an Event

Look , I ’ m a systems guy .
I think in systems terms .
You should as well .
Because we ’ re entering a period of time when the major systems that have supported humanity are going to fail .
Or , put more accurately : they are already failing .
As just one example , our monetary system delivers outsized gains to the already stupendously-wealthy while piling up massive debts on the backs of we citizens , both born and yet-to-be-born .
The US Federal Reserve is the unelected and unaccountable body that is most responsible for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 1 trillion ‘ richer ’ since the pandemic hit .
These next three Fed-related data points are , in a word , obscene .
The first shows that the US Federal Reserve now “ owns ” more US federal debt than all foreign central banks .
The second shows how billionaires are getting grotesquely wealthier from the Fed ’ s “ rescue ’ ” efforts .
And the last shows how the Fed ’ s record-low interest policy has resulted in an explosion in federal debt : This is obscene ( and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the future .
Leaving aside the morality issues for a moment , we can at least conclude that the behaviors and values on display are thoroughly unsustainable .
Eventually spending more money than you have ends in ruin .
The Great Degeneration ... Ferguson , Niall Best Price : $ 1.98 Buy New $ 10.56 Speaking of spending what you don ’ t have , a similar story can be told about ecological overshoot and humanity ’ s extractive practices — it ’ s akin to spending both the entirety of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each year from our environmental trust fund .
There aren ’ t many resources that one can point to which aren ’ t in some serious form of either concerning decline or depletion , or both .
Already thousands , if not millions , of people in the American West are considering relocating because of the ever-present danger of disruptive if not life-threatening fires : The climate refugees are here .
They ’ re Americans .
California , Oregon , and Washington are on fire .
At least 33 people have died in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million acres have been scorched as out-of-control blazes rage across the American West .
The 2020 wildfire season in California is already the most destructive in the state ’ s history — exceeding the record set in 2018 , which in turn beat the record set in 2017 .
Experts agree that rising temperatures from climate change have turned much of the region into dry kindling , ready to spark in an instant .
“ This is a climate damn emergency , ” California Gov .
Gavin Newsom said last week .
Disasters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands of fire survivors have been forced to flee their homes , and more than 500,000 — half a million — Oregonians have been warned they might soon be ordered to leave .
In the meantime , many evacuees are sheltering “ in an assortment of RVs , cars , and tents.
” Many do not know if their homes will still be standing when they try to return , or where they will go if those houses are indeed destroyed .
The fires will eventually end , but for many residents of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beginning .
The climate refugee crisis has come to America .
Civilization : The West ... Ferguson , Niall Best Price : $ 3.75 Buy New $ 10.40 I ’ m less certain that we can pin these fires entirely on climate change , as poor land use and fire suppression practices factor in prominently .
But I ’ m certain that many of the afflicted people will be convinced that wide-scale annual fires are now a permanent feature of the region , and that will cause many to move to ‘ safer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solidly in place , the masses will relocate .
Similarly , we ’ ll see people abandon coastal areas which are already losing battles to rising sea levels , and other areas where droughts are getting worse and worse .
However you add up the data points , they coalesce into one theme : massive and disruptive change has arrived .
You can either ignore that reality for a while longer .
Or get busy responding .
The hardest part about detecting collapse lies not with the data – that is clear as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – but with the emotional difficulty of accepting it ( and then acting on it ) .
There ’ s a lot of science behind how we humans are wired to accept or reject information based on whether it confirms or refutes , respectively , the belief systems we are already holding .
Nobody desires harder times for themselves .
Nobody wants to lose financial ground or leave behind a worse world for their children .
But what we want has nothing to do with the reality of the situation .
What we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ belief systems .
If those are out of alignment with the actual reality of the situation , then our best chances for personal success lie with adjusting our beliefs as rapidly as we can .
While our brains can come up with some clever delaying tactics and can-kicking technologies , the reality is that we ’ re just another organism on a crowded planet , subject to the same rules as every other life form .
When we have ample resources available to us , we ’ re peaceful , creative creatures .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ figure out germ theory and make computer chips .
But what happens when resources are tight , or even insufficient to support daily life ?
The Evolution of Civil ... Carroll Quigley Best Price : $ 10.80 Buy New $ 12.00 Then humans act badly towards each other and become tribal , but not in a good way .
We squabble and go to war over dwindling resources .
We do this not because it ’ s a dominant strategy with a proven track record , we do it because of our inability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advance and cleverly avoid them .
During such times , the elites have a noted tendency to cling ever more tightly to their relative advantage rather than yield any of towards the common good : That ’ s what ’ s underway right now .
Economic oxygen is in short supply and the elites are busy hoovering up for themselves a gigantically-larger share of that dwindling air ( see billionaire headline above ) even as tens of millions of their fellow citizens find themselves increasingly financially strangled .
On the political side , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detect ( and it ’ s equal in both US political parties ) is to defend the status quo .
In other words , they are committed to keeping the causes of our problems fixed firmly in place .
As this all progresses , most will experience the changes as a series of shocks , perhaps coming at too rapid of a pace for some to absorb and so it will become overwhelming to them .
The emotional costs involved will make it all very hard to accept , for myself included ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fast adjuster ) .
As our systems continue to fail , shrink , or even collapse , the pace of the changes will continue to be emotionally shocking .
I wish it wasn ’ t so .
Frustratingly , it didn ’ t have to be this way .
How To Get Ahead The ‘ prediction ’ that stems from all this is not really a prediction at all but rather a simple extrapolation : things are going to continue on their current trajectories .
Collapse is underway — and it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A Conflict of Visions : ... Thomas Sowell Best Price : $ 14.97 Buy New $ 14.99 To protect their relative advantage , the elites will pretend the problems are difficult to address and resist dealing with them .
This means the future will consist of a larger wealth gap , greater social and political tensions , more violence , less nutritious food , fewer insects and other species , more climate change , and a hard date with future resource scarcity .
And I mean hard .
None of which is actually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Nor is it something to be necessarily feared .
As a species we ’ ve faced plenty of difficult times in the past and gotten through them .
But some do manage to get through them better than others .
That will be equally true this time , too .
How does one ‘ get ahead ’ during hard times ?
The Best of Chris Martenson

Look, I’m a systems guy. I think in systems terms. You should as well.
Why?
Because we’re entering a period of time when the major systems that have supported humanity are going to fail.
Or, put more accurately: they are already failing.
As just one example, our monetary system delivers outsized gains to the already stupendously-wealthy while piling up massive debts on the backs of we citizens, both born and yet-to-be-born. The US Federal Reserve is the unelected and unaccountable body that is most responsible for have made America’s billionaires nearly $1 trillion ‘richer’ since the pandemic hit.
These next three Fed-related data points are, in a word, obscene.
The first shows that the US Federal Reserve now “owns” more US federal debt than all foreign central banks. The second shows how billionaires are getting grotesquely wealthier from the Fed’s “rescue’” efforts. And the last shows how the Fed’s record-low interest policy has resulted in an explosion in federal debt:
(Source)
This is obscene (and infuriating!) to anyone who cares about the future. Leaving aside the morality issues for a moment, we can at least conclude that the behaviors and values on display are thoroughly unsustainable.
Eventually spending more money than you have ends in ruin. The Great Degeneration... Ferguson, Niall Best Price: $1.98 Buy New $10.56 (as of 05:09 UTC - Details)
Speaking of spending what you don’t have, a similar story can be told about ecological overshoot and humanity’s extractive practices — it’s akin to spending both the entirety of the interest income as well as some principal each year from our environmental trust fund.
There aren’t many resources that one can point to which aren’t in some serious form of either concerning decline or depletion, or both. Already thousands, if not millions, of people in the American West are considering relocating because of the ever-present danger of disruptive if not life-threatening fires:
The climate refugees are here. They’re Americans. California, Oregon, and Washington are on fire. At least 33 people have died in recent days, and more than 5 million acres have been scorched as out-of-control blazes rage across the American West. The 2020 wildfire season in California is already the most destructive in the state’s history — exceeding the record set in 2018, which in turn beat the record set in 2017. Experts agree that rising temperatures from climate change have turned much of the region into dry kindling, ready to spark in an instant. “This is a climate damn emergency,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week. Disasters like these displace people. Tens of thousands of fire survivors have been forced to flee their homes, and more than 500,000 — half a million — Oregonians have been warned they might soon be ordered to leave. In the meantime, many evacuees are sheltering “in an assortment of RVs, cars, and tents.” Many do not know if their homes will still be standing when they try to return, or where they will go if those houses are indeed destroyed. The fires will eventually end, but for many residents of the region, the disaster is just beginning. The climate refugee crisis has come to America. (Source)
Civilization: The West... Ferguson, Niall Best Price: $3.75 Buy New $10.40 (as of 05:09 UTC - Details) I’m less certain that we can pin these fires entirely on climate change, as poor land use and fire suppression practices factor in prominently. But I’m certain that many of the afflicted people will be convinced that wide-scale annual fires are now a permanent feature of the region, and that will cause many to move to ‘safer’ places.
Once that perception is solidly in place, the masses will relocate. Similarly, we’ll see people abandon coastal areas which are already losing battles to rising sea levels, and other areas where droughts are getting worse and worse.
However you add up the data points, they coalesce into one theme: massive and disruptive change has arrived.
You can either ignore that reality for a while longer. Or get busy responding.
Man, It’s Hard
The hardest part about detecting collapse lies not with the data – that is clear as a bell ringing on a still morning – but with the emotional difficulty of accepting it (and then acting on it).
There’s a lot of science behind how we humans are wired to accept or reject information based on whether it confirms or refutes, respectively, the belief systems we are already holding.
Nobody desires harder times for themselves. Nobody wants to lose financial ground or leave behind a worse world for their children.
But what we want has nothing to do with the reality of the situation.
What we want is usually based on our preexisting belief systems. If those are out of alignment with the actual reality of the situation, then our best chances for personal success lie with adjusting our beliefs as rapidly as we can.
While our brains can come up with some clever delaying tactics and can-kicking technologies, the reality is that we’re just another organism on a crowded planet, subject to the same rules as every other life form.
When we have ample resources available to us, we’re peaceful, creative creatures. We do really cool things, like figure out germ theory and make computer chips.
But what happens when resources are tight, or even insufficient to support daily life? The Evolution of Civil... Carroll Quigley Best Price: $10.80 Buy New $12.00 (as of 02:43 UTC - Details)
Then humans act badly towards each other and become tribal, but not in a good way. We squabble and go to war over dwindling resources. We do this not because it’s a dominant strategy with a proven track record, we do it because of our inability to wisely recognize the resource limitations in advance and cleverly avoid them.
During such times, the elites have a noted tendency to cling ever more tightly to their relative advantage rather than yield any of towards the common good:
“People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage.” — John Kenneth Galbraith
That’s what’s underway right now. Economic oxygen is in short supply and the elites are busy hoovering up for themselves a gigantically-larger share of that dwindling air (see billionaire headline above) even as tens of millions of their fellow citizens find themselves increasingly financially strangled.
On the political side, the only true political commitment I can detect (and it’s equal in both US political parties) is to defend the status quo. In other words, they are committed to keeping the causes of our problems fixed firmly in place.
As this all progresses, most will experience the changes as a series of shocks, perhaps coming at too rapid of a pace for some to absorb and so it will become overwhelming to them. The emotional costs involved will make it all very hard to accept, for myself included (even though I consider myself a very fast adjuster).
As our systems continue to fail, shrink, or even collapse, the pace of the changes will continue to be emotionally shocking. I wish it wasn’t so. Frustratingly, it didn’t have to be this way.
How To Get Ahead
The ‘prediction’ that stems from all this is not really a prediction at all but rather a simple extrapolation: things are going to continue on their current trajectories. Collapse is underway — and it’s a process, not an event. A Conflict of Visions:... Thomas Sowell Best Price: $14.97 Buy New $14.99 (as of 04:25 UTC - Details)
To protect their relative advantage, the elites will pretend the problems are difficult to address and resist dealing with them.
This means the future will consist of a larger wealth gap, greater social and political tensions, more violence, less nutritious food, fewer insects and other species, more climate change, and a hard date with future resource scarcity. And I mean hard.
None of which is actually all that unique in the human experience. Nor is it something to be necessarily feared.
As a species we’ve faced plenty of difficult times in the past and gotten through them. But some do manage to get through them better than others. That will be equally true this time, too.
How does one ‘get ahead’ during hard times?
Reprinted with permission from Peak Prosperity.
The Best of Chris Martenson