419 Comments
deletedJan 8
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Meh, history is full of fiction too, and unfortunately, Golding was using antecedents in forming his plot.

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He was also viewing and collating those antecedents through a particular lens, one that has a strong incentive for maintaining the rulership of an "elite" over a "rabble". Particularly when there at least a few real-life instances of variations on the Lord of the Flies story that don't turn out the way they do in the novel, I think it's worth taking Golding's narrative with several large grains of salt, and perhaps not using it as a footnote to a much more serious analysis about ongoing tragedy, if we're serious about finding out what can bring people to these atrocities and preventing same in the future.

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if we're serious about finding out what can bring people to these atrocities and preventing same in the future.

So you don't know what is causing people to commit these atrocities, but you can dismiss one (no claim to exclusivity) cause...

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Jan 9·edited Jan 9

I have a comment at the higher level that does, in fact, propose a better way of understanding what causes people to commit those atrocities, but I already hint at it in the comment you're replying to: The tiny minority of people in the ruling class require tools to maintain their class position, and one of those tools is ideology, and that ideology keeps us at each others' throats when there is no longer a strong, material reason for it. In a subsistence mode, the societies that developed those tools (and others, not all violence-enabling) "won out" over the ones that didn't, in the face of constant precarity. I think we should expect that, in a mode where that precarity can no longer be taken for granted, we would revert to our base "human nature", which is overwhelmingly pro-social, and that in fact most of the scarcities we face in the "developed" world are _artificially maintained_ for the benefit of the ruling class, precisely because they enable the proliferation of selfsame ideology.

And more importantly, we should not take the misanthropy of works like Lord of the Flies at face value, because that misanthropy is just continued justification of a ruling "elite" over all the rest.

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misanthropy is (just continued) justification? Nay, nay, it is one coping mechanism.

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Coping mechanism for what, though? It seems you're embracing pithiness at the expense of clarity. Do you not believe that the ruling class uses ideology to justify its continued existence to us?

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RemovedJan 8
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Because Haley is the establishments preferred Republican now that DeSantis crapped out. If Emperor Poopy Pants the 1st can't make it to the finish line she would be an good substitute for the powers that be. But her main job would be to be ready when Trump gets locked up or assassinated.

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Jan 8·edited Jan 8

This is ironic. For all the Western propaganda about Putin having heart attacks, Lloyd Austin seems to be the one in the hospital.

It's become the equal of the West claiming that Russia was going to run out of missiles and now the West is finding itself running out of weapons to send to Ukraine, with lead times for replacements years away.

As far as the IDF, I think that the war has outed the truth that the IDF is a paper tiger. It can hurt civilians who can't fight back, but it cannot do as well in a conventional fight or against Hamas, which is a dug in opponent.

This seems to be in line with what the Russian SMO has revealed about the Western military-industrial and their limited power.

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Fucker probably had myocarditis.

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Maybe he had a circumcision the Jews demanded a him

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🤣

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and they found out he now appears to have suffered a lobotomy.

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Insurance determined that was a prior medical condition.

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He had an assh*ole transplant. The assh*le rejected him.

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He had the Big One. He's now called Lydia.

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that photo of him in that giant transparent plastic mask will forever make me laugh/cringe that such a thing was possible.

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Darth Vader.

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Darth Vader meets Idi Amin.

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Dollar tree Darth Vader, with apologies to Lord Vader.

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👍🏻

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Yeh but just think how bad it would have been

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Which would have been so much worse...

Without the Booster!!

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If anyone earned an adverse reaction, it would be Austin.

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It would certainly be poetic justice. It would truly be the gift that kept on giving.

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😂😂😂😂

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You summed it up nicely.

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Zionism and Naziism are two wings of the same genocidal bird. Israel did 911. Zionism will be removed from this earth.

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Seems Israel is a mirror image of the US. A mini me paper tiger with deeply corrupt leaders , warring govt factions all living in a bubble of exceptionalism where they feel they can do anything with no consequences. It will NOT end well.

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Why does it always seem that the absolute worst of humanity reaps countless rewards and suffers the least consequences?? I have always believed in the concept of Karma. Surely these demons need to face consequences, I was hoping it would be in my lifetime, I am not sure if I will see it.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOzxsIV6p6E karma is rather complicated. The human species has farmed lesser advanced entities as animals and tolerated child trafficking and profited from it also. Thus the species deserves to also be harvested, manipulated, ruled by child pedos. This of course ended in 2012, although the dark fallen ones refuse to surrender. Their time is up.

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Why did it end in 2012? Enlighten me

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Because the entire plot line is setup based upon astrological and certain time limited plot arcs. Just like a book has to end. It does not continue on and on forever.

https://zingdad.com/publications/books/the-ascension-papers-book-3 more info overall here at the bottom. the illuminati letter is a good starting point.

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The enemy has no honour, and no honor to abide to a timeline.

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Your explanation of karma is very good

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Because it SEEMS that way. You have no idea if that hasn't happened to them (ie karma) It's the "if a tree falls in the forest can you hear it " thing. You nor anyone has access to ALL information.

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And a deeply fractured society.

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Lloyd Austin has been on the Board of Directors of Raytheon since 2016, and guilty of corporate-level killing for profit

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The “israel” occupation force lead a the world when it comes to killing pregnant women, babies, teens, seniors, doctors, journalists & Aid workers.

It is no doubt a paper tiger. But it is also a Demonic, Antihuman band of scum as well. No wonder than that the Americans endorse them!

Birds of a feather, truly do

Flock together!

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{...No wonder than that the Americans endorse them!...}

Do you really think that American citizens and their current US-government have something in common ??

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Responsibility for having evildoers rule upon a people ultimately goes back to said people; however, one may wish to say, “No, it doesn't!”

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Well, deception and permanent lies have a strong impact on gullible people; and gullibility does not dispense them from accountability ...

!!منور يا صديقي

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In my 65 years of life, I have felt a lot of things but the one emotion I never truly experienced until now? DESPAIR.

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founding

Eyes Open, Warm in the Light of Beautiful souls that abound!

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Shut it down. I'll leave internet for months at a time when I feel start feeling this way. Information it provides in useful but can be overload. This shit Israel is doing is nothing difference since 1948 we just see it more now.

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Correct, a few of "us" felt like this over the last few years and had to walk away from it all for weeks, not months .. but same thing. This however is so obviously democide, genocide, mass murder or whatever you want to call it WITH PROOF on camera; it surpasses anything I have ever seen or could even comprehend.

Fully agree with your last sentence and whilst many of us here, know this comparison map of Palestinian territory lost - the vast majority of ignorant morons in society do not:

https://www.palestineportal.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/LossOfLandMapCard.png

...

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Well, in advance of the Covid shite. Figure Heads and representatives of the west had been savy enough to tell their people that all wouldn’t be believable in this coming age. That what you saw in any media could not be trusted. So a lot of PROOF will actually have to be fought for. Even though we see and read it. Many only have gut to go on. As in I agree with what you are say but the brutal honesty can just lead back to an ineffective reaction .

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I agree and especially with the ineffective action part; but I also have this gut feel (and logic) that they are deliberately dividing us to cause social unrest. They tried in Europe and especially the UK and carry on doing so on race, creed, colour and it has generally failed (works in the US better) - then the "yawn" commies vs nazis in Ukraine... but they have succeeded globally with the Israel genocide OR HAS IT BACKFIRED ?, as to many; it is becoming all too obvious now.

You only need 5% for a successful revolution .. we are probably at 30-50% at present - but still "civilised".

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Yes, the division of peoples is a goal. We are a planet of dual forces; the holy and not so holy, the male the female. The dual nature of the human is so evident. Will we return to our supreme consciousness? Not in my lifetime, I am on shelf life; carry on we must. Rise above while acknowledging. The Spiritual Revolution continues. While the force of the dark side are strong, as we witness the atrocities, keep an “eye” to the Zero Point of Supreme Supra-mental Conscience; act as you can to bring this about.❤️🐈‍⬛

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Big smile on my face as I recognise people (YOU in this case) are not just awakening, asking the right questions; but starting to understand (I do not mean to be patronising nor arrogant).

Just by asking "Will we return to our supreme consciousness?"... have you not just answered your own question, by asking said question ?.

As for your comment that made me laugh for a different reason (JOKING HERE) = https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-b2732d210661aa3bd896987e9a5c9a48.webp

Joke above remember... but on a serious note, I believe that all must be in equilibrium = YIN AND YANG etc... a concept that has been believed LONG, before our mainstream religions (as a Christian, I think my C of E churches in general are bllx, but found 1 good one, with a serious FEMALE --- arrgghh, but brilliant vicar, who states it as it is).

Regards your words "Spiritual Revolution" .. well this is my big sticking point on what is happening in this World and has over the last few years and it links in with the other word "Consciousness" and one I throw in now "Illuminate" ... you can do the rest

Last point - "Supreme Supra-mental Conscience" ..yep, agree with it totally. Cheers, interesting stuff thanks...

PS How do you put those little emojis in at the end ?; getting back to my normal IQ.

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Read about what is happening in Germany today. Huge rebellion initiated by farmers pissed at the Green's push (funded by Gates) to "manage" food production. It warms my heart as a Canadian to see this -- reminders of our Truckers Freedom Protest against the clot shot. Whats even more beautiful about the German protests is that Poland , the Netherlands and other surrounding countries are supporting their actions with their own actions.

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Carol - I live next door in the EU and before your truckers in Canada (heroes) started giving it the = https://www.smart-trucking.com/cb-lingo/ and the Germans finally woke up, our farmers were were doing this, with the support of hundreds of thousands of people... but nobody saw it:

Boring but informative (note 2019) = https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/3619/1/Master%20Thesis.pdf

and (this is simple and good)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eL-tL7-63c

and YOU LOT THINK YOU HAD A CONVOY ?

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=596572399&sxsrf=AM9HkKlvqxJBXejaLn30d4waCC-EWpFABg:1704728855582&q=Dutch+farmers+hit+Den+Haag&tbm=vid&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiv-v_ukc6DAxUqh_0HHVX2AnAQ0pQJegQICBAB&biw=1396&bih=639&dpr=2.75#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:10d6cb9a,vid:8HhtuDq-m_U,st:0

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PS Np offence but sent somehow, without stating cheers and yep. Also Romania and other COuntries are kicking off now, over here.

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The astroturf "Freedom Convoy" were a bunch of clowns blaming the Canadian government for US border covid restrictions, and their solution was "Fuck Trudeau" and some absurd form of regime change that was not based on reality. Can we find some intelligent people to do a regime change in Canada ,rather than a truck circus full of clowns?

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I would also add that information consumption is like other things: selective inputs and the age old art of Partitioning. Try not to let the toxic stuff invade your tranquil parts....it’s a behavior technology in a way.

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That's right St. "Final solution" military operations in Gaza simply amount to tidying up unfinished business left over from the 1948 Nakba.

And meanwhile Netanyahu and his cabinet are trying to leverage these events into massive regional war fought by the dumb Americans

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Yep. Me too. I pin my hopes on the observation that cause and cure are essentially simple. It's not that it's a difficult or obscure thing.

The problem is untrammeled leaders doing whatever they like - and it always means doing bad, greedy, stupid, hurtful, inhuman things.

That's a simple problem. An awful problem but a clear simple one.

The cure is also simple and inherent in the stating of the problem.

'Untrammeled'.

We let them do what they like.

We do not interact with our governments.

I won't belabour the point as I've done so many, many times before. You either see it and agree or you don't/won't.

I'll just point this out: the western world people go every few years to the polls, often reluctantly and then feebly acquiesce in choosing usually one of only two really valid candidates - i.e. not really a 'person', a 'representative', but simply a mouthpiece for this party or that party. Is all.

Then after doing that for the whole period of that person's tenure they - the people, any typical person, voter never ever:

. writes to elected rep

. visits the rep

. phones the rep

. emails the rep

. faxes the rep

. texts the rep

. posts on the rep's FB page

. posts to the rep's X page

and whatever other possible points of contacts you can imagine.

Get the idea?

So the cure is simple: we should interact with our reps. We should CONTROL them.

Simple as that.

So now the end: Can we do that?

Surely it is impossible.

It was.

It always was.

But there never was an internet before with every man, woman and child on the planet with access to it and interconnected through it.

All we need are the apps. That's all we need.

An app to register my vote any time, day or night.

An app to register my opinion on any subject, any time, day or night.

An app to message my elected reps any time, any message, day or night.

An app to monitor what my rep is doing all the time.

An app to put any thing to the test of truth through our - the people's - tried and tested and valid and trusted testing procedures

All the apps with commensurate ability for all of us to see which way and by how much all these things are trending.

There will be our self governance.

And we can point to it and demand our wishes as indicated there be followed. Instanter.

Or else.

And I feel that will come. For sure.

For the kids living in cyber space will simply do it. They will open source create and disseminate the apps and use them and we'll all follow suit.

The days of elected 'reps' who do not represent but who swan around feathering their own nests and doing whatever the hell they like ( or their Party likes) are at an end.

The days of people rule are here.

It's called democracy. Democratic rule. By the people. Of the people. For the people.

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The late A. J. P. Taylor once wrote that it is a liberal myth that conflict comes from lack of communication, that some conflicts come from differences that are irreconcilable. This is one of them, that the zionist occupation of Palestine can only be maintained by crimes against peace, crimes against humanity and war crimes. All that has changed since the 1930s is the speeds at which the crimes are committed. As Simples points out the zionazis get away with it because it is expedient for American Caesar to have a colony in the Levant.

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I get that Zionism is basically colonialist, but these days the US is more like the colonized...

What with Evangelical 'Christian' Zionist rubes, the Maxwell-Epstein honey pot/blackmail and stuff like this:

https://www.mintpressnews.com/cybereason-investors-offer-israeli-spy-classified-intelligence/264095/

It's the Israeli tail that's effectively wagging the American dog. Maybe we should consider re-establishing independence? Not only from Israel but WEF, WHO, NATO...

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No it's a myth that the US boss class finds congenial. When has the US gone against the interests of the boss class and in favour of the zionist antisemites? Never.

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it is a kind of karma. whatever you do to other nations will be done to you.

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Little old Ron Wyden, Oregon Senator…one of the top 10 recipients of Israel money. Guess who gets another phone call? Hood and wink, he has this ability. All his “save the environment “ bills he has introduced into Congress, out the window after discovering this fact. Glad he is leaving…

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1913. Control of the U.S. Money handed to the Federal Reserve, in turn controlled by a handful of chosen banks.

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I felt it from 2020 to end of 2022. Serious anxiety and many days an urge to fight or flight. Not knowing and/or understanding things along with confusion are what did it for me. Instead of unplugging I plugged in harder and read a lot from many different authors.

Somewhere in the fall/winter of 2022 I shrugged. It was either that or I might have gone crazy. It is my unprofessional opinion that Simp, The Duran, Larry Johnson, etc are all very helpful to your well being. They don’t go into the conspiracy fear porn and use rational logic to help us understand.

Hang in there it’s gets better.

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Yup❤️🐈‍⬛

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Take solace in we like-minded people; It will be overcome, this and other outlets are a grass root reaction which is building strength.

Even the MSM is showing shock with this topic.

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Dont despair! We are blessed to live in Interesting times. Heck I am not much younger than you and I’m raring to go!

Spread information and knowledge.

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It’s horrible, I know, but you can live with it. I started much earlier than you in that regard. Just hang in, and the despair will fade a little into the background. I went decades only reading about this stuff. Recently, I’ve moved to 19th century British novels. They have helped me in two ways. First, a lot of the horrors of our own time are presaged, which makes the now appear somewhat less exceptional. Second, they transport me into a very different place, when it was possible to have hope rather than just delusions dressed up to look like hope. Can’t say it will work for you, but it is worth a try.

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To despair is to sin. Place your burderns upon Christ the King and he will bear you to life everlasting.

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Good Lord. Read the Bible yourself. Christ despaired on the Cross and in the Desert.

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There's a difference between sorrow and despair. Perhaps you should take your own advice. Matthew 26:38–39; Luke 22:42–43

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Forsaken thee. Yes, Optimism.

The Bible is written by a bunch of scribes, some with personal knowledge, some with 3rd hand knowledge, all with agendas.

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Jan 9·edited Jan 9

My Dad, a die hard liberal in his early seventies is struggling with this situation unlike any of the big events that I've seen in my forty seven years. I am too, sometimes to the point of tears. I joined the Army and served blithely in Afghanistan as an escape from an alcoholic despair that was destroying me. In a way it saved my life, I managed to stop drinking over time by filling the void with a genuine curiosity about how little I understood the world. Ironically, this curiosity has led me to a place of revulsion and anger which can lead to some dark places. COVID just about broke my spirit and then it was on to Ukraine which sickened me to my core and then this. At times I've considered actions that are beyond my better instincts and play into the mass psychosis Simplicius speaks of which fuels so much of this. I think it's affected many of us viscerally on a despairing level and I'm not sure if that's a bad thing.

If I feel like I'm spinning out of control, I ask myself how a bombed innocent must feel and I can regain some proper perspective. I told my Dad today that moral conundrums aren't a bad thing. It's those without such conundrums which I wonder about. Despair and then choose not to.

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Know that you are not alone. Know that dividing us is how they keep their power.

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Good!

Despair, Gloom & DOOM are strong emotions that can be channeled into the right directions given sufficient willpower & grit.

Think of the meme “Man literally too angry to die!”

That's the Memetic energy needed to salvage these dark, troubling times!

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Based on everything I've seen in Ukraine (and how the IDF's ground forces have operated), Israel is doomed and living on borrowed time. They better hope Ukraine keeps the Russians busy for many years, because as soon as that conflict is over all that Russian equipment getting made is going to end up in Syria and Iran. Russia made huge investment in their manufacturing and they'll get that back selling it into the middle east. It will start with air defense then will start seeing lancets and fpvs.

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You make an interesting point.

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On that note one has to wonder how much gear HZB has accrued along with their “live fire training” in Syria...heck in 2006 they rebuffed the IDF mech-infantry with their B-Team....

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There is a possibility that we will see the drones used here in the US. A swarm attack on DC is possible.

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“Israel” is no different from the crusader States who died off once their “financier” nations went bust.

Outremer, Antioch & these other fictional entities were wiped off once the French, German, etc money ran dry… “Israel” will die off likewise once the Americans go bust.

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I think Israel has already abandoned America. It looks like they’re in alliance with BRICs to me. The Chinese own two ports (new Haifa & Ashdod) and the Indians own one (old Haifa).

American Israelis own (or lease but not for much longer) Eilat. Once the Chinese take over that port then that’s a wrap right?

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It's not really going to play out that way:

'Israel' has slaughtered over 25,000 souls. Nobody (save the Muricans) wish to touch them with a Ten-foot-pole. The Eurasians included.

There will be no 'alliance' with a Global Pariah of any sort.

The 400 million Arabs (for all their weaknesses & ineptitudes) will be picked in favour of 7-8 million 'Israelis' whose govt pursues openly Genocide & Ethnic Cleansing.

The Math is rather simple, really.

Most likely outcome at present: Rhodesia style mass exodus & emigration.

If not, regional war that warps into "limited " (Hint: not really) Nuclear War.

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You don't have to go to Rhodesia for an example, there's one from exactly the same place in the late 13th C involving the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The Israelis are stupid but there must be a motivation for this other than genocide.

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Why won’t Egypt open their border with Gaza? Aren’t they brothers after all?

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If they do so, that would tell the 110 million Egyptians that the Government endorses the Palestinians being Ethnically Cleansed.

This would lead to a Bloody Coup & Murder of the Egyptian Dictator & then the commencement of fullscale War Against 'Israel' by the New government. This would occur in mere weeks & months.

The Egyptian Dictator (who I can rant 4 hours about how Weak + Cowardly he is)... will get some credit from me on this front:

He knows the Consequences of such an Action well. So keeping the crossing closed is the best course of action, Even though it may not seem like it.

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This is ridiculous on its face. Refusing to help brothers just to make a political statement? If Israel allows them in, we all know what would happen to Israelis. But Egypt?

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Keep going simp, you are really good

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Very well thought out piece, Simplicius. It would be easy to simply say "The Khazarian lizard people are innately subhuman psychopaths" but I know from my own family history that regular old white Anglo-Saxon immigrants to the USA were fully capable of treating our own natives this way, in light of their resistance to being colonized, and to characterize them as savages in need of being destroyed - full scale. It should be a major field of study at all levels of academia - and the fact that it isn't is enough to justify all the criticism the academy gets - as to how to tamp down, minimize, deal with, subvert the base "human" instinct to simply wipe out one's enemies as ruthlessly as we can (and to deal with the fake and constructed notion that if WE don't THEY will) as a means of bringing "peace."

Granted, this situation in Gaza will do no good for the reputation of world Jewry (or right wing Jewry especially) but a lot of us have been brought up in civilizational, religious, ethno-educational constructed false systems that make it VERY easy to dehumanize our supposed enemy and then rewrite history further demonizing them in the manner in which Israel and the Ukronazis are doing to their own members of an inconvenient population.

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Hear hear!

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'..to deal with the fake and constructed notion, if WE don't, THEY will...'

Nothing fake and constructed about it. THEY - whoever They are - are subject to the same forces, political, sociological, psychological as WE are, whoever We turn out to be.

History shows us that THEY are inhuman monsters that WE have to defend ourselves from, and whatever WE do is justified because of THEIR litany of atrocities.

Sometimes it's true, as the historical record shows. Sometimes it is existential. Sometimes, if WE don't THEY will. The mountains of skulls all over the world attest to this fact.

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"but I know from my own family history that regular old white Anglo-Saxon immigrants to the USA were fully capable of treating our own natives this way, in light of their resistance to being colonized, and to characterize them as savages in need of being destroyed - full scale. It should be a major field of study at all levels of academia"

Anti-Whitism is already basically the only thing taught in modern academia. What more do you want?

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Is Anti-reading comprehension what you were taught? Why don't you try one more time. Do it slowly this time, include the few sentences (EDIT:) after the part that triggered you and try to understand complex sentence structure or nested parenthetical stems.

I'll help you out:

" It should be a major field of study at all levels of academia - and the fact that it isn't is enough to justify all the criticism the academy gets - as to how to tamp down, minimize, deal with, subvert the base "human" instinct to simply wipe out one's enemies as ruthlessly as we can (and to deal with the fake and constructed notion that if WE don't THEY will) as a means of bringing "peace.""

By the way did you get a college degree? Anti-whitism. LMFAO. Mkay bruh. If Accurate American History == being anti-white, then so be it, but you're not off to a great start.

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Something tells me you don't mouth off like that to people in person.

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Come find out tough guy.

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founding

Excellent Update! Interesting Factual, Objective Reading.

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A case of human nature! Sorry, Simplicius. I do have to disagree. An environment, ok. Warlike brainwashed society, ok. But I doubt there is some kind of human nature that is inherently ‘evil’.

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It is far easier for humans in general to tend towards evil than good. This is why we need moral standards enforced and laws. Thankfully, we at least recognise the need for morals and laws.

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I am reading the latest book by John Gray and this quote from there might fit here. Mind you, not that I agree with this but it fits here 😇 “Benedict de Spinoza (1632–77).8 The Jewish rationalist and mystic rejected Aristotle’s idea that human beings could be better or worse exemplars of humanness. All that existed were particular individuals, with some shared needs and traits but no ideal nature struggling to be realized.”

Excerpt from

The New Leviathans

John Gray

This material may be protected by copyright.

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Jan 8·edited Jan 8

Lubica -- my reaction to hearing that Spinoza said that is 'oh course he said that ... he is the ultimate Materialist and a closeted Hemeticist'. Meaning, he was ethnically and culturally Jewish (but also an atheist who explicitly rejected his own religion and culture), and he was one of the founding rationalists and creators of the scientific age. As a proto-scientist and Materialist, he was ideologically against explanations that involved explanations of 'human-ness' or 'traits' or 'nature' --- if it was not mechanistically evident, then it did not exist. The disciplines of sociology, psychology, anthropology came around and were recognized as sorta-scientific much later. Spinosa was very much a direct linkage kind of guy --- either you saw the cause and mechanism or it didn't exist or matter (there is no mysterious forces involved). This is why he is called a 'Rationalist' or a 'Materialist'.

And finally, describing Spinosa as a mystic is a bit cryptic (although not entirely false). Many of the leading 'scientists' of that age (e.g. Newton) also believed in Alchemy (I know that is odd -- how can you be empirical and mechanistic on one end of the scale but be mystical on the other, but such was the age). Embedded in Alchemy was both Gnostic and Hermetic influences. The Gnostic influence implied that there was 'hidden knowledge' available to certain set of elite. Very old school Gnostics believed in a certain Divine Revelation that provided this knowledge -- the newer Spinoza / Newton Gnostics saw that hidden knowledge as being revealed in 'science'. These modern Alchemists also believed in Hermeticism -- which, in a sense, was the believe that you could change fundamental observable reality into something entirely different through action. Spinoza wanted to rid the world of faith / tradition / traditional philosophy and replace it with one built on 'science'. Marxists (who are also Hermetics) wanted to replace the world of faith / capitalism / traditional elites with 'socialism'. Etc. Or at least that is what I've come to understand about these folks - if there are experts on Spinoza etc and can point out where I am wrong on all this I am all ears. I just wanted to give you the context I see in that quote. Spinoza was rationalist, an anti-Jew, and a kind of mystic. He was a noteworthy thinker, proto-scientist, and philosopher (but with some strange, unreported 'baggage').

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Excellent post. My take on how you can have one foot in alchemy and another in the emerging "rationalist" (sic) world is that they were raised in a time when alchemy was still very au Courant yet were curious enough to examine and look elsewhere-- hence the (unfortunate) move into "rationalism" (early form of technocratic linear thinking). You are right on about Spinoza. I remember seeing his statue in Amsterdam very austere.

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Jan 9·edited Jan 9

Au contraire. It is far easier to do good and to be good. Without the good in man, in general, we would never have survived.

Evil comes from envy. From wanting more than your needs. In modern society evil is promoted, not innate.

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We are inherently war-like and most are easily hypnotized by leaders to hate "the other" . That is Primal, probably since a million years or more. Those instincts have meant archaic Humans survived but now we are the dominant, over-populated, nuclear equipped scourge on this planet and those instincts are still in charge.

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What a disgusting claim about God. That all the petty, worthless traits of mankind are inherent in God. Jeez.

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deletedJan 9
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The Great Truths and ultimate reality exist whether we believe in them or not.

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It's quite obviously the inverse, God is a construct of man encompassing all our worst traits.

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You could also argue that we do such things perfectly well 'without leaders' (i.e. generating hate against others). Sometimes we participate and accentuate hate because we are manipulated and 'trained' to believe and behave in a certain way, and sometimes, if are leaders / education system / culture aren't leading the charge, we drive hate from the bottoms-up and find new leaders if that is what it takes.

Of course it is never just as simple as you or I am suggesting -- I am just reacting strongly to the 'hypnotized by leaders' portion of your comments. I find that we are all guilty of periodic (or even sustained) hate to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the time and circumstances, and I don't believe that we can claim 'we were misled' or 'were just following orders' to escape our share of accountability. Even in the worst of all possible worlds we have 'agency' and 'freedom of choice' (even if expressing that freedom leads to pain, death, and loss for us or our loved ones).

Sorry, I am probably taking this far more strongly than you intended -- I am a proud believer in many so-called conspiracy theories and often decry the sins of our leadership -- there is just something in me that rebels when I hear anything with a (perhaps unintended) twinge of 'victimhood' about it (i.e. 'it was our leaders manipulating us').

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Excellent points-- its the "red ants vs the black ants" experiment they get along until some outside force (govt) shakes the bottle

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History shows that clearly: human nature is inherently evil.

Emotions has a lot todo with it as it turns people into ugly hateful violent persons. At the same time 1-4% of population has a mental disorder.

Ofc there are triggers, but you cannot trigger anything that is not there.

Basically the rule of the game is survival and passing on our genes to the next generation. We humans go to a great length to make sure we survive and if needed we fight/kill everyone that is threatening us. And our fear is such that we have no boundaries and we try to make sure the enemy can never threaten us again.

I think the problem is more that the many ‘good’ people allow the minority of ‘evil’ people to acquire huge powers.

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I'd phrase it as 'inherently susceptible to evil' --

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Evil comes from being idle. Elites and the Rich are idle, contemplating nasty stuff.

Mankind is not inherently evil. No way. I'll fight you any time.

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Are you being sarcastic?

“I’ll fight you any time” sounds evil to me at first, but maybe you can elaborate what you mean😀

Btw I hope you are not idle and contemplating some nasty stuff😇

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Revisit the Knight in the Monty Python skit.

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Jan 8·edited Jan 8

The Israeli government is counting on global apathy to take over as they do not believe that any country, esp in the West, will actually stand against them - they being historically unaccountable.They believe that they will face a lot of noise and anger internationally, but in the end no one will do anything against them. This entire operation is showing the world the true Israel, the Israel that after WWII murdered and stole their way to a Jewish state, the Israel that continued its murderous ways throughout the years since and the Israel today that calls for all Palestinians to be murdered or removed from the remaining portions of their land and calls for the unchallenged support of their Western prostitutes in the effort.

What is happening to the Palestinians is making me literally sick, not only because of what they are doing, but the slavish support they are getting from the US and UK.

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Don't forget about the occupation of the Golan Heights, the ongoing bombing of targets in Syria, the cross border support of the 'moderate terrorists' during the Syrian war, assasinations by Mossad,because US and UK actively support this regional terrorism. It's an infernal feedback loop- terrorize your neighbours, they terrorize you back. Awful.

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And always blame the other… they are never wrong.

Praying for a multi polar world and more justice for all

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I totally agree regarding the slavish support from the US and the UK. In a possible world in which Israel did not have the unconditional support of the United States, they wouldn't do what they are doing now simply because they would not have the capacities and the resources, knowing that taking on all the Arab peoples around them with maximum aggression would eventually endanger their own survival. How states create deterrence against eachother is as much a function of their rivals' capacities as it is a function of their own. However, when you succeed in fooling half of the world and so gain access to the largest economy and industrial base in the world, you no longer have to worry about the consequences of unlimited aggression.

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When I try to explain my extreme distaste for the actions of Israel - actually counter-productive for that nation in every sense - I use as an analogy the troubles in Northern Ireland and the terrorist actions of the IRA. It as if a proportionate response to those acts would have been to shell and bomb West Belfast and Londonderry and drive out the catholic population, or at least those who survived. And no doubt the Catholic community had unaddressed legitimate greivances which gave rise to the provisional IRA - an organisation celebrated as freedom fighters in Eire. So again parallels with Hamas. So I agree it is not anti-semitic to criticise Israel. Theirs is a wholly disproportionate response and amounts to a crime against humanity. And I would think all right thinking Israelis know this, and I very much hope sanity prevails.

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Three months is no surprise given that during that time the Israelis have been concerned about hostages plus acting to minimize military casualties, and they have in fact taken remarkably light casualties given that they are engaged in dense urban warfare with a long entrenched enemy, as well as casualties of civilians when possible; all of which slows operations. Plus time is on their side, they are in no hurry. Hamas is cut off and immobilized as its teeth are being pulled. It isn't going to be targeting and slaughtering any more defenseless Israeli civilians from Gaza now or perhaps anytime in the future. In short the Israelis are acting methodically and intelligently as they necessarily destroy Hamas in Gaza, which is their clearly stated objective.

BTW, before anyone freaks out in response, I have no connection with Israel, hold no religious views and couldn't care less about US partisan politics. I am however a former US Army combat arms officer capable of conducting an overarching analysis of MOUT.

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Are you high on something?

"Israelis have been concerned about hostages and acting to minimize military casualties". Information coming from Israel in fact indicates that IDF was trying to maximize casualties. As for caring for prisoners, how you explain the shooting and killing of the three Israeli prisoners that escaped and were running half naked and crying for help by IDF?

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When trying to combat a force that recruits from amongst angry youth, it is generally a bad idea to start killing the families of angry youth. For every Hamas they kill, they create 100 more from the collateral damage. The only way this works is if you kill or deport all the civilians, which is really the only effective way to do COIN. This is why Israel is focusing on ethnic cleansing; they know if they leave a population behind, that population will be seething with angry youth begging to join some radical organization. Hamas, Hamas 2.0, Hezbollah, ISIS, Mahmoud's Neighborhood bomb-throwing platoon, whatever.

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Israel has been surrounded by people motivated by ethnic hatred for decades and that clearly isn't going to end in any case. They'll probably be forced to occupy Gaza to protect their citizens from future terrorism which would be spawned there yet again. Or maybe they'll leave after destroying Hamas in Gaza and shut the border with Gaza tight as a drum. Time will tell.

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Wasn't the border shut tight as a drum Oct 7th?

But why does everyone hate the jews? Perhaps because they occupy other peoples' land, bomb their cities, and lock them into an open-air prison. Congratulations, your solution to the problem is what caused the problem in the first place. I guess if we just keep doing more of the same, but harder, we'll get a better outcome next time.

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A buhuhu! They want to kill us! And since people of Israel obviously never use their brains for actual good, the only possible solution to this (imagined) problem they can think of is to kill all of the other guys.

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No, Israel has been inserted amongst its neighbours and implemented ethnic hatred/terrorism for decades. But for some reason the Israeli's are innocent, due to what was done to a portion of them by a portion of Germans many decades ago. They certainly aren't forced to occupy Gaza, or to occupy the Golan Heights, or to fly offensive bombing raids in Syria. The poor Israeli's aren't sitting there being attacked, it is quite the other way around. The saying goes, they suffer from PTSD in Israel, Pre traumatic stress disorder :)

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When Roosevelt was trying to get some king to sign on to creating Israel the king asked why not take German land since they were the ones who tried to wipe them out. He said that the Palestinians didn’t do that. John Helmer said that in one of his articles on the dancing bear.

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Zionists have occupied the lands of others for decades, people who have a right to hate their occupiers who have displayed extreme ethnic and religious hatred in their actions. You are saying the equivalent of "the Germans will probably have to raze the Warsaw Ghetto to protect themselves from future terrorism". You have become the evil that was rent upon you.

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That post of yours shows you to be the lying cunt that you are.

You posted this earlier "before anyone freaks out in response, I have no connection with Israel, hold no religious views and couldn't care less about US partisan politics"

So it appears you are a Zionist supporting lowlife sack of shit.

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Hey, tell us what you really think!

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"Israel has been surrounded by people motivated by ethnic hatred for decades…."

And why is that? Could it be because Israel has been killing Palestinians for a hundred years and driving them from their homes while destroying their homes while they helplessly look on? If that happened to you wouldn’t you be filled with hatred too or would you turn a blind eye to it?

Good grief if Israel had accepted the 2 state solution there would never have been a Hamas which if you haven’t heard Bibi helped bring to power and funded them.

And in case you didn’t know this war didn’t just start last October, but a hundred years ago when Israel was illegally established because people already lived there. But Roosevelt promised that eventually no Palestinians would be left in Palestine.

I just don’t understand why people are so ignorant of the history.

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Then why didn’t the Arabs accept two state solution in 1947?

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> The only way this works is if you kill or deport all the civilians, which is really the only effective way to do COIN.

Incidentally, this is how concentration camps were invented. :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconcentration_policy

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Limey's did it in the 2nd Boer War, as well. "Accidentally" forgot to feed all the women and children of the guerrillas. Exterminating civilians to quell a revolt is an old tactic though; search "William the Conqueror, harrowing of the north."

Even more ancient:

"...they make a solitude and call it peace."

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Andrew Jackson invented concentration camps.

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It's probably as old as man himself ... not much 'new' under the sun as they say

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Another analogy with Northern Ireland - it was said that the best recruiting sergeant the IRA ever had was internment

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"Light casualties" ? At last count 27 of the IDF casualties since October the 7th have been friendly fire, where do you hear that statistic in well trained armies? This just reinforces the IDF are clueless and incompetent even the Jerusalem post openly admits there are 12,000 wounded IDF

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Jan 8·edited Jan 8

tg channels from the Palestinians and Hezbollah give a daily rundown (with many videos) of ashkeNAZI casualties and they are huge.

Meanwhile how many dead El Qassam fighters are shown by Israhell? Oh yeah, Hamas is in control of images out of Gaza (even though the IOF states it has won).

Ritter: They lie, they lie, they lie.

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Only a psychopath could look around Gaza today with its utter devastation, bleeding children, bombed out hospitals/schools, and civilians intentionally targeted, and call that "acting methodically and intelligently" I guess that turning people into psychopaths is what continuous imperial wars do to people though.

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Thanks Victor. My 93 year old mother watches the news. When pictures and video of Gaza is on the news I ask her if that looks like "targeted" bombing. Even she can see the intentional killing of civilians, just by looking at the news.

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> BTW, before anyone freaks out in response, I have no connection with Israel, hold no religious views and couldn't care less about US partisan politics. I am however a former US Army combat arms officer capable of conducting an overarching analysis of MOUT.

You're also uncritically believing things Israel is saying so you're disqualified on those grounds.

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Jan 8·edited Jan 8

Israel is trying to minimize civilian casualties 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 dude that's hilarious! Your post is so retarded it almost comes off as a very dry parody. The Israelis are trying to avoid civilian casualties while Hamas slaughtered "defenseless Israeli Civilians" 🤣🤣 u know that like half the Israeli Civilians killed on the 6th were victims of the IDF right?

Anyway if you actually are an economist I hope your economic analytics are better than than your urban warfare analytics.

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Nah, I think he said he worked for The Economist hahaha 🤣

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Operates a floor waxer?

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Dr Livci mentioned the term economist in his name profile. I was suggesting he worked for the Economist. What OP said sounds like something they would write. They’re a mouthpiece for the Brits I believe.

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Yes they are, like WP is for the CIA

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Read his past posts, he seems to think he is an expert on all matters military. Says he's not biased but his post show his true loyalty. A jew cucked fool.

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"they have in fact taken remarkably light casualties given"

Bullshit and copium. The ashkeNAZI IOF are taking huge casualties, many times moire than they are admitting. It is in the thousands, wounded and KIA.

Being a former war criminal, a grunt in a trench, doesn't make you an oracle,.

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There are a couple points of fact that you assert that may or may not be true -- we can't really tell for sure at this moment -- and your argument hangs on these unknowables. For example, you claim that Israeli casualties have been 'remarkably light'. Is that true? There is some evidence that their casualties have been quite heavy -- but the problem is that we 'can't tell' for sure either way. Even if those casualties have been 'light' (as in 'not as bad as it could have been for urban combat'), it's still not clear what Israel got in return for those casualties. Has Israel really dismantled or even severely hurt the military capability of Hamas (as it claims) -- or has it merely destroyed a lot of buildings and civilians while the armed resistance has 'sat it out' in underground bunkers taking occasional asymmetric 'pot shots' and awaiting for the eventual Israeli withdrawal and payback time? It's hard to say at the moment. Is time really on the Israeli side? Maybe -- or maybe not (as others have pointed out in this article and in the comments section).

My point here is not to declare that you are 'wrong' in making these statements (I tend to think that you are wrong but that is besides the point). The point is that these are all important statements of fact that can't be proven or disproven conclusively at this time -- and hence your ultimate conclusion might be suspect.

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Fair point, assumptions should always be examined. I'm simply using casualty reports from the Israelis. I'm old enough to have observed behavior of various actors in that part of the world for decades now and generally information put out by the Israelis has proven reasonably accurate when all was said and done. On the other hand Hamas, and similar militant organizations, have inevitably demonstrated that they live in a state of delusion and they are pathologically deceitful (much like Kiev). Furthermore as Hamas just demonstrated they are composed of hateful, barbaric imbeciles who are not credible in any way shape or form. Anyone who puts their faith in Hamas' truthfulness is headed for disappointment. But stand by, when the dust settles reality will be apparent for all who want to see, as has been the case following conflicts in that region in past decades.

As for the Israelis having time, they are obviously dominating the engagement. Hamas is literally hiding in holes, cut off from logistical support and probably most or all comms while immobilized. Even competent soldiers can't engage in an effective fight under those conditions. Sure, Hamas can take pot shots and it will take the Israelis considerable time to dig them all out in an urban area but that just means it is a matter of time. Incidentally, it will be interesting to see how well the tunnel flooding works. I don't really know what the state of Hamas' comms, command and control are at this point but I'd be willing to bet it has already been heavily degraded, which is one of the keys to defeating an enemy. So militarily yes Israel has all the time it wants and they are acting accordingly. Worth noting politically they are under pressure time wise, no doubt, but so far it looks like they remain resolute in pursuing their objective. In my personal opinion they should just ignore the political nonsense and focus on destroying Hamas, as they obviously must (that is what I'd do if a neighbor slaughtered my family)...but that is just an opinion. I won't claim to know how much political pressure Israel is under at this point. Provided they persevere at some point they will certainly attain their objective of destroying Hamas in Gaza. Of course that isn't going to solve the larger regional problem, it never does, but at least they will have ended the mind numbingly hateful killers next door.

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You forgot the 1st rule of Gaza; If someone dies, they are civilian and if someone lives, they are Hamas.

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You obviously know very little about the situation as the hateful killers next door are the Israelis who have killed over 350 Palestinians in the West Bank since Oct 7th -which has no relation to Hamas. Besides stealing Palestinian homes and land and arresting and brutalizing the population of the West Bank they control everything and everyone that enters and leaves Gaza; they control their access to power and water. If that happened to you and your family what would your attitude be?

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Wow your comments explain very well why the US military is in such bad condition. What you have been "taught" is a narrative not reality.

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I don't have enough information to assess Israel's operation from a military perspective, knowing that a lot is deliberately kept from being reported. What I can say is that I understand a methodical or an intelligent conduction of an operation as one that helps you achieve your objectives in the most efficient way possible. But what were Israel's objectives? If it was to minimize military casualties while creating images of a destroyed Gaza for the consumption of the Israeli public, then yes, I think they have been successful to a large extent. If it was to destroy Hamas' ability to attack Israeli settlements, then again, they seem to have been successful, at least for now. But if their goal was to destroy Hamas once and for all, and to prevent any future Palestinian threat, then I don't see any evidence that they are even close to achieving that goal.

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WRT the IOF's victory in Gaza, I'm finding it hard not to be reminded of Dubya's "Mission Accomplished" moment.

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Is the time of the terrorist organization masquerading as a country up?

I’d say it is ...

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Would that be Israel or the US?

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Both.

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"...Israelis are to an extent being used by western colonialist powers."

It's the other way around. Israel exerts far more control over the West than the West does of Israel, especially considering how sympathetic much of their diaspora is. And their inordinate amount of influence in the West; note the photo of Nety with our Jewish SecState. Much of the problem seems to be caused by Israel assuming that the US would have their back, no questions asked. Likely due to the massive amount of money AIPAC hands out like candy to both parties.

An excellent book on this:

"The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy"

by John Mearsheimer

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💯

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Great book!

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Here are the 15 judges at the ICJ.

Maybe there should be a grass roots campaign to persuade them to keep it on the straight an narrow. This should be a trial easier than Nurenberg, because we have the full and open and free confessions of the perpetrators...

https://www.icj-cij.org/index.php/current-members

How can we do this?! If Israel is campaigning, we, the proles, hoi polloi should be campaigning too. I wrote to my PM, but can we signal the court in some polite but audible or visible way, such that they cannot pretend not to see?

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