Sgns of Western Decline

Many of these are blatantly obvious. No specific order.

Signs of Western  Decline

1.       Population growth rate numbers below 2.1 in almost every OECD country. 

2.       Somali Fraud scandal in Minnesota estimated in the billions of dollars.

3.       No Go zones  in various European cities with large muslim populations.

4.       Increase in mass stabbing kills in European cities.

5.       Illegal immigrant influx into sanctuary cities in the US.

6.       Human trafficking epidemic

7.       Grooming gang scandals in the UK.

8.       Substantial decrease in University undergraduate average IQ.

9.       Dangerously high inflation levels in many Western European countries.

10.   Increase in Random subway attacks in American cities.

11.   Growth of Democratic Socialist politics in the United States.

12.   Post-Truth narratives being pushed by both sides of the political agenda. Disdain for historical truth.

13.   Rise of Identitarian politics in many Western countries.

14.   Multiple gender movement insanity.

15.   DEI policies triumphing over common sense meritocracy.

16.   Falling academic standards in the West and the subsequent increase in grade inflation.

17.   The cancerous spread of Islamism in the West.

18.   The empowerment of a political elite that seems indifferent to the needs of the population and has pushed through a radical agenda of increased immigration.

19.   Increase in overt anti-Semitism in the West.

20.   Decrease in the quality of art and music.

21.   Growing rise of AI as a dominant force in the creativity industry.

22.   External Bot farms corrupting political narratives

23.   Growing corruption of government institutions by ideological actors.

24.   Failed green policies handicapping nations such as Germany

25.   A lack of reproducible results in the Sciences

26.   Growth of crypto currency scamming initiatives

27.   Cultures of entitlement permeating western society.

28.   State restrictions on freedom of speech in the UK and other European countries

29.   The fall and breakdown of the family unit.

30.   The prevalence of deleterious crony capitalism.

31.   Criminal use of legal loopholes in various Western countries.

32.   Weak and indecisive leadership.

33.   Cultural Relativism winning over shared standards.

34.   Poor city management in almost every large American urban area.

35.   Chinese economic and intellectual penetration of American industry and the subsequent theft of technology

36.   Two tiered policing and multiple standards based on ethnicity.

37.   White guilt and self loathing epidemics.

38.   Corruption of the churches by external agents

39.   The ideological corruption of international law

40.   Clash of cultures as a result of obvious population replacement

41.   Fall of local manufacturing as a function of global initiatives.

42.   Low levels of wage increase and the affordability crisis.

43.   The Fentanyl crisis

Reflections - XXXVII - Necessary Distractions

There was no single type of feudalism that served as the model for European society but almost all systems gave the lord tremendous power with respect to sentencing for criminal offences, the initiation of capital punishment and rigid control of agricultural policy.

 It seems as though humanity has an innate desire to create art and that is certainly a wonderful characteristic of our species. While the judgement of art is no doubt subjective the compulsion is universal and in the long run western civilization has been the better for it.

Every football (soccer) fan, regardless of the quality of the team, always seem to hover just one defeat away from an apocalyptic catastrophe.

Add genocide to a list of descriptors that include racist, diversity and discrimination that have been so overly used by hyperbole that they have lost all meaning.

The modus operandi for all grafters is when in doubt virtue signal.

What is true of Edward Snowdon is that he was a necessary whistleblower who in fleeing to Russia ultimately betrayed his country. Two apparently oppositional points can exist concurrently.

Thoughts on History

While the Persian made many contributions to Western Civilization their greatest legacy arguably lies with the religion of Zoroastrianism – one of the earliest attempts at monotheism and the dualism of good and evil as forces in nature. The Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – have all placed considerable emphasis on these notions within their respective theological philosophies

The Milesian thinker and mathematician Thales is considered to be one of the fathers of the Western Philosophical tradition. Why is that? While many of his contemporaries were running around blaming natural events on the ongoing strife of the gods Thales believed that such phenomena could be BEST understood by rationally unravelling the structure of matter that he believed was centred around water as the originating principle. In doing so Thales helped take explanation beyond the scope of the supernatural and so galvanized the earliest school of philosophy named after the Ionian City in which he resided (Miletus).

If ever you wish to reflect on the Brilliance of Western Civilization look no further than the great cathedrals that define Gothic Architecture. Majestic, tall and inspiring these incredible buildings revolutionized our collective heritage with a unique fusion of science, design, artistic flair and constructive brilliance. Gothic Architecture continued the tradition of representing a celestial paradise on Earth.

Relections XXXVI - Sunday Simmerings

 We worship many false gods today. The worst of these is the notion that we ourselves are deserving of respect.

Once the physics fails the rest of the science comes crashing down.

At the end of the day every political system produces a ruling elite.

Canada itself is somewhat of a forced alliance. A marriage of convenience between English and French segments who from the get go never trusted each other. The fact that it has stayed together this long is a miracle of deception perpetrated by an elite who have used an elaborate system of transfer payments, necessary bullying and smokescreens of Canadian Identity to add filler to the fractures

. A sound mind is free to choose but one must realize that there will be consequences to your decisions. This is the definition of adulthood.

Reflections XXXV - December Digressions

 How much anti-Semitism is driven by jealousy? Methinks at its core...all of it.

There is always a surplus of bad ideas.

The biggest impediment for the Kurds and their quest for international homeland recognition is that they are not in direct conflict with the Jews but rather other Muslim nations.

As  sports evolve they lose their diversity and become captive to a uniform style – baseliners dominate tennis, grapplers control MMA and the high press is universal in football.

Putin has bitten off more than he intended to chew with the Ukraine however he will fight to the last Russian soldier to convince the public that this is not the case. He will welcome any pyrrhic victory.

Watching some conservatives cheer on Putin’s Russia must make the Gipper roll over in his grave.

If a war doesn’t kill a country the post war malaise augmented by socialism will.

The problem with so many intellectuals is that they cannot distinguish the ought from the is. Nor do I think they care to.

Reflections XXXIV - Digesting reality

It doesn’t matter if your heart is in the right place if it is disconnected from your head.

The problem with punditry is that there is often no consequences,  to their failed predictions. Having nothing to lose should be the first warning sign in heeding their analysis.

Put your money where your mouth is was a phrase that was customized for Muhammad Ali.

Ali is the not the greatest for the number of fights he won but he ranks #1 for the quality of opponents he defeated.

It intrigues me to think how great Spain may have become if they had not made the ill fated decision to expel the Jews in 1492 as they approached the zenith of their power.

Keir Starmer took a growing trend of national decline in the UK and gave it the accelerated boost downward to expedite the rot.

If you have faith in humanity remind yourself that over 80 million people voted for Joe Biden despite obvious signs of the onset of dementia.

Liverpool Football Club are in dire straits.

 As a diehard Liverpool fan this kills me to say it but we look terrible at present. This from a comment I wrote on an Anfield Agenda youtube video.

My biggest concern, as Craig (owner of the channel) indicated several weeks ago, centers around the dressing room environment. It looks fractured. The players clearly didn't respond to Slot's half-time talk v City or Forest in a meaningful manner. If slot has lost the dressing room then he has to go. If the players still respect him then at least you have something to build on. The chief problem on the field though is the defence. It is an absolute shambles. We have conceded two or more goals in 8 of the 12 league fixtures. If Slot cannot fix this ny returning to the basics ASAP he will have to go.

I also wrote this elsewhere.

Liverpool's defence lacks a sense of urgency. They almost appear at times to play at a testimonial pace and I say this as a diehard Liverpool fan. Forest on the other handed defended as though their lives were on the line. No chemistry in the back four as is the case with the rest of the team.

Antisemitic tunnel vision

In 2024 the US Federal budget stood at $6750 billion. Aid to Israel was 3.3 billion of which well over $2 billion had to be spent in the US (on American military items). Therefore the aid to Israel makes up less than 0.05% of the US Federal budget. But hey, according to some it is the Israel lobby that has the greatest impact on the US

Reflections XXXIII - Saturday musings

Chinese leadership is loyal to the party not the state and even less so to the people. The party is the God. Western observers rarely understand this which explains the shock it sensed with the Tiananmen Square Massacre and before that the Cultural Revolution.

We need to articulate and celebrate Western exceptionalism for it has been leading driver in the advancement of science, commerce, the legal system and the war against poverty.

Great societies need people of vision. Inventions don’t matter much if you don’t have people with clear ideas who can utilize them with efficacy.. A competitive free market selects for such vision.

We can be certain of change but not certain of the direction of change.

If Japan can turn its falling birth rate around without the destructive resort to mass immigration it will emerge once again as a force to be reckoned with. A leader who prioritizes this will become the saviour of the nation. The same is true of South Korea.

Taking comfort in lies seems to be a unique human trait. So is parroting those lies.

Nick Fuentes is not a troll. He is far worse than that.

A recurring thought.............Nick Fuentes is not trolling and he knows how to build a base. He genuinely believes what he says and will not budge. Jews to him are detestable as they represent the establishment in his warped worldview. Dave Smith tried to push him to modify his rhetoric and he point blanc told him that it will never happen.

In short Fuentes is extremely dangerous. He is the right wing mirror image of ANTIFA and is as anti-Liberal as you can get. His growth on the political front will not portend well for society. Tough times ahead.

Reflections XXXII - Saturday Surmising

 

The most common mistake in science is to confuse a scientific model with the real itself. This is the main pitfall of digitized thinking.

Alternative histories are fun to play around with but can only be taken so far as no progressions are linear, unforeseen events are ever present and pathways of alternatives are constantly emerging.

Europe is struggling right now to age with dignity. Its moral soul is being picked apart by both internal and external forces.

An assured way to kill a society is to dominate the politics with an overriding sense of guilt. It is such a poison that is killing the west.

Most people don’t know the facts what they subscribe to is cultivated version of the facts.

One rarely gains anything from a formal debate. This is understandable as it prejudices rhetorical victory over meaningful understanding of truth.

Nations decline when they fail to appreciate the many downsides of Empire. Limitations exit for a reason.

Materialism is ultimately grounded in the very concept of lack of meaning which explains why its unfulfilling Physicality which defines much of science is bounded.

On Ukraine v Russia

I am not pro-Ukraine or pro-Russia. I am pro-West. Jews have been at the receiving end of Ukrainian nationalism which was particularly virulent during WWII. The horrors of Babi Yar (and Banderism) sickens me. However the Ukraine is a sovereign nation and I cannot pretend to ignore that. What Russia did in invading the country was wrong. 

Did the west make a mistake in expanding NATO? Yes and no. I think the desire was to avoid the same mistake that allowed an Iron curtain to descend over Eastern Europe following World War II. However I can see why the Russians don't like this. Yes the Zelensky regime is corrupt but so is the Russian. I am not a fan of Zelensky personally but Putin is more of a global threat. Russia and before that the Soviet Union has been undermining the US for many decades now. 

Duganism is now the latest incarnation of the threat. Conservatives falling for Putin as he puts on an 'anti-Woke' face ought to be careful. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. People should stop being so easily duped by words.

GOP is tearing itself apart.

If the GOP doesn't get its house in order for 2028 it will lose the Independent voter and with that the Presidency, Senate and House. Vance looks to be the likely candidate but on the national level every election comes down to a tightrope walk in key swing states. The only positive is that the Dems aren't doing themselves a favour by their march leftward. US Firsters are biggest gift to the Dem Party.

Nick Fuentes Praises Stalin...

My take...

Fuentes is full of it. Putting aside the death tolls resulting from the collectivization/forced famines and purges, Stain's handling of World War Two was abyssmal. He dismissed early reports of the upcoming Operation Barbarossa (June 22 1941) leaving the Soviet Union under prepared for the six months of German victories that only came to a halt in January 1942 at Moscow. The Red Army suffered defeats at Smolensk, Minsk, Kiev, Vitobesk with Leningrad placed under a terrible siege that lasted three years. It was only after he gave more authority to generals such as Zhokov, Rokossovsky and Vasilevsky coupled with German folly (much of it courtesy of Hitler himself) did the tide begin turning. Stalin also relied heavily on US Lend Lease Aid. The Five Year plans are considered to have mixed results. In the absence of a counterfactual it is easy to extol Stalin especially when much of the information about the plans has been filtered through Soviet Propaganda.

Reflections - XXXI - Morning Insights

Religion ought never to be the mechanism of state control. Its domain is one of strict spirituality and moral guidance. Christendom had to be forced through the enlightenment to see this. Islam may never as statecraft is intrinsic to the religion.

Without a sense of peoplehood a nation cannot survive. Internationalist movement viz. Globalism, Communism and Islamism therefore target such a sense for destruction.

For those obsessed with power above everything else, no lie is too much.

All ideology is god centric. They differ in how they define god. With ecoism it is the Earth, with Communism a classless utopia, Islamists make it the afterlife. Even Libertarians have raised freedom to the level of a deity. Meaning abhors a vacuum which is why atheists will gravitate to another belief. The New Atheists marinated in scientism.

The problem with the Left wing Jew is that they have made a god of social justice, replacing the dual and delicate balancing act of kind and tough by spiritually elevating the former. Such a shifting of the frame of reference means that they cannot see past their own sense of self righteousness.

The sad truth of life is that logic and reason rarely dissuades somebody who has an emotional commitment to their current paradigm.

The universe may be digital at its core which may account for the lack of nuanced thinking.. We have an innate sense to digitize information and with that its interpretation into digestible blocks that we can process.

On Tariiffs, Free Trade and Ronald Reagan

Four things can be true at the same time 1. Free trade has optimal utility in the long term. 2. Tariffs have a working purpose in the short run to punish those who don't play by the rules necessary for free trade. However it is not a long term solution. Tariffs lead to counter tariffs and trade wars. 3. Ronald Reagan was not a fan of tariffs..hell he set up the FTA which evolved into NAFTA under George H W Bush. 4. NAFTA needed to be renegotiated to fit in with the changing economic environment. This did occur under Trump's First term.

Reflections XXX - Some Wisdom

The curse of the Irish on a generalized level is that they cannot shake their affiliation with the underdog, even if the so-called underdog acts in a morally reprehensible manner. It is for this reason that they have often embraced Palestinian nationalism in its most toxic form.

The Jesuit Pope Francis probably did more to advance progressivism than any other papal figure. Like other popes before him he deluded himself into believing that he was on the right side of history, giving more space than he ought to have to Hegelian idealism.

The French are one of the few nations that take more of a sense of power from their growing irrelevancy.

Communism, National Socialism and Islamism have in addition for their embrace of collectivism a particular hatred for the Jew. One explanation is that Judaism embraces the sanctity of the Individual and is encouraged to debate with G-d thereby questioning any power structure.

Progressivisms biggest weakness is its very nature scorns self control thereby opening itself to extremes by its radical elements.

Reflections - XXIX - October Thoughts

 A person whose sole motivation is pleasure in the afterlife will likely do great harm to themselves in present life as they as they chase a reward for goodness instead of acting with moral intent for the righteous act in and of itself.

Its difficult to not take seriously the notion that the success of the American Revolution wasn’t so much a patriotic victory but a move by the British to minimize their losses.

One can always rely on mathematics to find a safe way of hiding a model from criticism if the evidence in its support is lacking.

The devil is always in the quality and validity of the assumptions.

The success of the British Empire lay with its ability to delegate. It therefore made great use of local networks of administration, designated ‘poopahs’, foreign mercenaries and regional businessmen. The failure of the Mongol empire outside China itself  (with the Yuan dynasty) is that it never came to terms with this idea.

No system, no matter how robust it is on paper can stand up to the folly of the ego of those who run it.

Reflections - XXVIII - Grasping at Sanity

Marvel comics blurred the line between Science in the Spiderman origin and Magic as exemplified by the Norse hero Thor. The distinction became indecipherable until the world was given no choice but to rescue itself with alternative universes. By that time it was too late. Credibility had collapsed.

The fertile ground for Islamism in the west is the post modernist platform that has elevated indifference as the mainstay of the liberal democracies today.

The agenda of the elites has always been about the control of information. Artificial Intelligence is merely the latest phase in the application of this philosophy.

Christianity would never have enjoyed the success it has had without its skillful manipulation of pagan iconography.

If the Jew didn’t exist it would be necessary to invent him as failed ideas and evil need a scapegoat to redirect attention away from their lack of success. The Jew is the convenient other for all types of charlatans, of which there is no short supply.

The great Hegelian lie is that history has direction. This is no more true than the intended directionality of history. Cause and effect eschews such simplification.

A deep concern is not that we may never learn the truth but that so many people have no desire or need to ever want to find it.

This is awkward but not surpising _ Pakistan Saudi Arabia Defense Pact

My thoughts

Pakistani military wants to renew its contacts with the US military. Chinese weaponery which Imran Khan faced was shown to be inferior. Both countries are not trustworthy in my opinion. Saudi Arabia still has a strong Wahhabist influence and Pakistan is a failed Sunni state. Lets not forget that Osama Bin Laden was a Saudi and Pakistan gave him refuge in his hour of need.

Reflections XXVII - Through Life's Looking Glass

The United Nations is a toothless beast that became irrelevant less than a decade of its founding. If it weren’t for a global longing of what it ought to be (but won’t) then it should have been euthanized some time ago. Today it is a country club catering to the worst of humanity.

Extremists have a tendency to oscillate from one polarity to another for they have a mindset drawn to bad ideas regardless of where they reside on any political spectrum. Mussolini for one went from Socialism to Fascism while Peron in Argentina entertained all sorts of bad ideas.

Sometimes I think that the story of history is a tale of recovery from bad ideas implemented.

Every leader given enough time will come crashing down from their pedestal.

The function of bureaucracy in the modern state is to protect the power structure from radical change and circumvent reform. Democracy is the illusion sold to the public that the change is possible.

The best way to violate people’s rights and do so with their consent is to rebrand it under the labels of safety and security. The Covid lockdowns typified this.

The greatest apocalyptic threat isn’t war, famine or disease but the embrace of bad ideas by the population who have been coerced to forgo common sense.

14 Thoughts on the Charlie Kirk Assassination

1. Nobody should be violently attacked let alone killed for exercising their right to freedom of expression. If you want to defeat a person you dislike then do so with rational argument.

2. People celebrating or justifying such violent action need to check their moral compass. I have unfortunately seen this with people I know personally.

3. Advocating tit-for-tat violence in response to such an attack or killing is deplorable as well.

4. Unless you are advocating violence I don’t believe a person should be canceled from their job even if their opinions are tasteless. Those using their platforms however to spread hate on this issue to a captive audience (school children) need to face the consequence of their actions as per the mandate of the specific institution that employs them.

5. Now to the specifics....Charlie Kirk was not a saint and he had, like all of us, his faults. However I do believe that he was a good man with great qualities who was making an honest attempt to change the dialogue on campus which unfortunately been compromised by wokeness, cancel culture and divisive identity politics.

6. Kirk was not an ethnic identitarian which is why both the Far Left and Far Right (check out the Groypers) didn’t like him. Nick Fuentes was a persistent critic and I don’t believe his crocodile tears for a second.

7. He was an unapologetic Christian and was consistent in his Christian belief. He was not however a Christian Nationalist and supported the model of the Republic consistent with the US Constitution.

8. Youth outreach was his bread and butter and his energy, verbal fluency and positive demeanor were well served.

9. I agreed for the most part with Charlie Kirk in his opposition to illegal immigration, support of free debate and meritocracy. He was correct in calling out various failures in our modern cultural world and was on target when taking on DEI and other bad ideas which have become part and parcel of the intellectual and sociological milieu.

10. I disagreed with him on his strong stance on abortion as I don’t believe that life begins with conception and I think that his take on gun rights were too dismissive of background checks. However I respect the consistency of his stance. His platforming of Tucker Carlson on TPUSA was a mistake. However he did pride himself on not promoting a one thought bubble. So such an invitation ought to be viewed within this framework.

11. On foreign policy he was usually on the ball despite the best efforts of American Isolationists to push him into their camp. Having said that I think he would admit that foreign policy was not his strongest area.

12. Kirk was a huge fan of the Jews and a great ally of Israel. There are clips going around criticizing him from either side on this issue but almost always these are fully de-contextualized for click bait purposes.

13. I wish his family all the best and hope that others will take on the mantra where he left off. He seems to be a man of character who had friends on all sides of the spectrum. He was not racist or homophobic but like all public figures was often straw manned as such.

14. In short I see Kirk as a Classic Liberal albeit as one schooled in the Burkean Conservative mode. The problem is that the overton window (range of ‘allowable’ opinions) especially on universities has shifted so far to the left that for many people such a take is seen as extreme when they are really just mainstream conservative takes for the general public.

Reflections XXVI - Sunday Thoughts

The United Nations is a toothless beast that became irrelevant less than a decade of its founding. If it weren’t for a global longing of what it ought to be (but won’t) then it should have been euthanized some time ago. Today it is a country club catering to the worst of humanity.

Extremists have a tendency to oscillate from one polarity to another for they have a mindset drawn to bad ideas regardless of where they reside on any political spectrum. Mussolini for one went from Socialism to Fascism while Peron in Argentina entertained all sorts of bad ideas.

Sometimes I think that the story of history is a tale of recovery from bad ideas implemented.

Every leader given enough time will come crashing down from their pedestal.

The function of bureaucracy in the modern state is to protect the power structure from radical change and circumvent reform. Democracy is the illusion sold to the public that the change is possible.

Reflections - XXV - Necessary Reflections

The modern world has been built on the notion that materialism is realism. This has had the consequence of imprisoning us in a convenient thought cage.

Media News is designed to elicit emotion. Transmission of Information is at best an afterthought. Nuanced accounting is never desirable.

An act of unapologetic evil is easily identified. This is not the case with those who produce harm through supposed good intention which makes the latter all the more dangerous in the long run.

Once you have accepted the fact that your control is limited then life’s jigsaw starts to make more sense.

You can sell any lie by addressing it in enough pomp. This is the business model for large swathes of organized religion.

Reflections XXIV - As Summer enters the twilight

 Surviving a genocide does not necessarily make that individual a good person in and of itself. Plenty of morally questionable were the victims of awful people.

If hell did it exist it should have a floor reserved for those who take the political opinions of celebrities as gospel.

Anti-Semitism has a unique characteristic to mutate and morph into a different form. In an echo of McLuhan’s message it can readapt to the medium of transmission which is why it has become go to clickbait for any half-baked you-tuber and podcaster out there.

Its really tragic to see how some great science fiction universes with dynamic power structures have been mauled by the poor story and plot lines that were set around them. Star Wars is of course being the most obvious example. Star Trek in its rebirth was not far behind.

There is no more assured way of destroying a superhero character then by granting them too much power and apparent invincibility. This was Superman’s problem from the start. The miracle of the series was how he has been kept going as a cultural icon with such an obvious flaw.

Reflections XXIII - August Insights

Russian history would be dull if it weren't for the national culture of paranoia - both justifued and unjustified.

The unspoken gift of globalization is that it globalizes problems.....makes them universal tradgedy when they could be local.

A crime against all future generations is the deliberate distortion of the actual truth. It is also a crime that largely goes un punished.

The party wanted us to believe the narrative not the facts.

Faith in humanity is the short road to disappointment.

Juan Peron's Argentinian regime demonstrated with action how fascism and comminism could exist similuateneously under the banner of statism.

No people have a greater admitation for human competency and efficacy of  outcome than conspiracy theorists

What books would you recommend for those interested in reading more on the topic of Physics in general?

 This would be my top fifteen:

1.The Elegant Universe – Brian Greene – an excellent introduction to the fundamentals of Modern Physics.

2. Hyperspace – Michio Kaku - wonderful take on extra dimensions by a strong narrator.

3. The Ideas of Physics – Ernest Hutten - an oldie but a goldie – discusses key ideas that shaped the discipline.

4. Fearful Symmetry – A. Zee - Looks at the Beauty in Physics.

5. Physics of Immortality – Frank Tipler - a bit over the top but highly entertaining, nevertheless.

6. Theories of Everything – John Barrow - Low key but well written.

7. Feynman Lecture Series – Richard Feynman - A struggle for the layperson, but if you can get through a third of it, your effort will be rewarded.

8. The Trouble with Physics – Lee Smolin - an important critique of the groupthink that has worked its way into particle physics.

9. Physics – Douglas Giancoli - Doesn’t matter what the edition is; its treatment of classical physics is splendid.

10. The Flying circus of Physics – Jearl Walker – Challenging problems that force one to really think deeply about everyday physics.

11. Relativity Simply Explained – Martin Gardiner – Its title says it all.

12. The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe – Steven Weinberg- Still one of the best treatments of the Big Bang.

13. The Constants of Nature – John Barrow – Delves into the details of these definitive constants that so encapsulate our universe.

14. Thirty Years that Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory – Gamow is a great storyteller, and he didn’t disappoint with this useful read.

15. Fifty Physics Ideas – Joanne Baker – Lots of fun and really easy to navigate

Overriding learning philosophy from my book Navigating the Chaos

It isn't easy to make sense of the chaos that is modern-day reality. Transformational change, information deluge, and a preponderance of bad ideas often leave us feeling isolated in a world that seems to be edging closer to an expedited collapse.

Post-truth has made itself heard across virtually every intellectual discipline, leaving one navigating a turbulent pathway to a workable clarity.

It is my experience that if you wish to live a life of meaning that you also have to adhere to beliefs that are well thought out, clear, and based on sound reasoning and logic.

I would say that my eventual goal is making sense of the universe. A cynic would claim that such a task is futile, fraught with obstacles, and ultimately a bridge to eventual disappointment. Perhaps this is true, but I would not renege on the journey, its path may be convoluted, but the serendipity that it invites is overwhelmingly rewarding.

Navigating the chaos is a formed-in-the-fire product of me wrestling with a multiplicity of understandings that I have come across in my stay on the planet so far. It is a consequence of both my practical experience and independent inquiry that reflects issues as diverse as the nature of science, the ebbs and flow of history, and the trajectory of our future.

Much of what I write here is based on my judgment that I have endeavored to substantiate with evidence and reasonable speculation. I will admit when I am at a loss and most certainly welcome the reader to challenge my conclusions.

Over the years, I have learned that all issues are not as clear-cut as their champions make them out to be, and in virtually every case, one's personal position is a derivative of the net information available. While it is necessary to have principles, it is equally important to listen to contradictory standpoints, which is why the exchange of ideas is so critical to any debate.

The State of the World at Present - Part 1 - The US

 The United States

1. The United States is a deeply divided country but still remains as the best hope for the West

2. Both the Republican and Democratic Parties are bleeding support from their traditional center to the Populit voices at the extremes. MAGA dominates the former and the far left is increasingly calling the shots with the latter. In each case the normative center is being squeezed.

3. Globalist forces  have less of a stranglehold in the United States than they do in Western Europe but the country is being pulled strongly in two opposing directions. It remains to be seen if the center will hold. 

4. Large Urban centers are facing a rot bought about by the Fentanyl Epidemic, poor city governance, corruption, white flight, a drop in law and order and illegal immigration that has run rampant. The Far Left dominates most of the power structures in the immediate center with corporate investment moving outward.

5. Gen Z is being radicalized by both the far left (socialism, Communism etc) and radical right (fascism). Identity politics of both an ethnic and religious type have infused both sides.Radicals are driven by romantic ideals that are dismissive of the necessary complement of empricism and racism that has historically definted the classical liberal and Burkean conservative heritage of the nation.

6. The trajecctory has a negative prognosis unless cooler and more calculating heads can prevail. There is an urgent need for an emergent and non-compromised centrism.

7. Donald Trump is a divisive President but so were Messrs Bush II, Obama and Biden. However Trunp's policies on reinforcing border control, rolling back DEI and flexing US muscle against his BRICS adversaries is most welcome. Whether these policies hold for the reamainder of his term or are reversed by a future Democratic Party leadership remains to be seen.

8. Without a strong US on the global front international politics will be dominated by China, Russia and the various Middle Eastern powers. This will likely lead to more turmoil. US hegemony is not a perfect solution (far from it) but it is a better option than the alternatives of America rebranding itself as a European analogue (viz. Germany, France or Britain) or even worse still adopting an American First policy that will needlessly empower authoritarian forces across the globe.

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10 Quick Facts about the New Testament

 

1.       It contains 27 books that are divided into four categories: Gospels, Acts, Epistles and Revelations. Number of books in each category are four, one, twenty one and one respectively.

2.       It contains over 180,000 words, 7959 verses and 260 Chapters.  It makes up 75% of the Christian bible. The other 75% is the Old Testament.

3.       There are four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Luke is the longest of the four (19,482 words) and Mark the shortest (11,304 Marks).

4.       Although Matthew appears first in the New Testament. It is believed that Mark was written first. Some scholars disagree though with this mainstream assertion and believe that both Luke and Matthew preceded Mark and are derived from a lost Q source..

5.       The Gospels tell the story of Christ – his life  and ministering, death and resurrection.

6.       The first three Gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke – have a similar style and appear to come from the same or a related source. They are known as the synoptic gospels. Best approximate dates for writing Mark - 70CE, Matthew and Luke – 80CE, John – 100CE.

7.       Most scholars believe the gospels were a product of a school of thought rather than a single character.

8.       All the Gospels were written in Koine Greek although there may be an Aramaic source behind this.

9.       Matthew appears to be written to a Jewish audience while Luke focuses on a Gentile readership.

10.   The Pauline Epistles are actually older than the Gospels. There are 13 books here of which the Letter to Galatians ad Second Thessalonians are the oldest (49-51 CE).

Structured Learning Program

 I have day-to-day responsibilities as a father and husband that I take very seiously but I also personally commited to enhancing my knowledge of the world with an eye towards elucidating truths. The following is a list of topics that I have been looking at of late (ie, over the last month).

1. The Origin of the Tanakh

2. The evolution of Jewish philosophy

3. The development of the New Testament

4. Schisms in Judaism and Christianity

5. The origins and Expansion of Islam

An overriding understanding of the origins and historical development of anti-semitism is a primary interest of mine.

After Death Possiblities

What happens to us after we die?

I have absolutely no idea. Although I figure it will be one of these ten situations.

1.      We cease to exist completely in all dimensions.

2.      We are recycled and reborn as humans somewhere else on Earth.

3.      We join with a singularity so that our consciousness becomes one with the new medium.

4.      We are reborn as a life form somewhere else in the universe.

5.      We are reborn as a non-human life forms on Earth.

6.      We join with another consciousness and are reborn in some form or another.

7.      We move into another dimension that our living consciousness here on Earth cannot comprehend.

8.      We ascend to the paradise described in traditional views of heaven. Never to be reborn again.

9.      We are reborn in another world but keep our knowledge gained from the previous life.

10   We (or at least some of us) become 'angels' or messengers. Building new worlds across the universe that will themselves be populated by life

Scientific materialism would suggest the first option.  I am personally hoping for the singularity.

Personal Tastes

 Areas of the book store I gravitate to

1. History - I am especially interested in books on British, Jewish,  Ancient, Cold War and WWII history.

2. Science Section - Physics, Evolutionary Theory and the debunking of Junk Sciences(Misconceptions) are areas of focus. 

3. Current Events - The geopolitical lanscape is fascinating but I am selective as there is a great deal of populist trash from all sides of the political spectrum that has polluted this area.

4. Philosophy - Consciousness, Political Philosophy (including the history of Philosophy) and the nature of G-d are the troika here that I most enjoy.

5. Sports - Football (Soccer), Track and field and tennis are my typical go to topics.

6. Social Science - Economic Theories, civilizational decline, the future of society and psychometrics are at the top of my list.

Personal Distastes

I love reading but generally avoid these sections of the library or bookstore

1. Self Help Section - I used to indulge in this section during my younger days but have given up on the topic as it lacks substance.

2. New Age - I don't trust any of the knowledge available here. Almost all of it is unsubstantiated. Lots of Junk Science.

3. Fantasy Fiction - I am just not a fan. I do like hardcore science fiction though.

4. Cooking - Whatever recipes I need I can get online

5. Think and grow rich books - These books are overhyped and don't say much. The grow rich portion comes from those buying these books.

6. Modern Detective Fiction - My father likes these but I have never warmed up to them. Don't mind the odd Tv show though and I do like Agatha Cristie.

7. Books on Cars - I can see the appeal for some but it just doesn't work for me. Again, anything I want to see can be looked at on line.

8.  Crafts - Maybe if it were my hobby but since it isn't I really don't care that much. I do have a fondness for the history of art.

9. Celebrity Biographies - A celebrity really has to be special before I would consider reading their biography. 99%+ is self indulgent drek. I couldn't care less about most pop culture.

10. Travel books - Again these are outdated as soon as they are written. The better material is on line.

15 Well Established Organizations that have been corrupted by ideological rot

 (Will add to this later)

1. United Nations and its sister organizations

 2. WHO

3. CDC - can hopefully be turned around under Trump although I doubt it

4. BBC, ABC (Australia), CBC (Canada).

5. New York Times

6. Harvard and Colombia University

7. The US Democratic Party

8. The British Labour Party

9. The British Conservative Party

10. British Policing Infrastructure

11. Harvard and Colombia Universities

12. CNN

13.The Canadian Liberal Party

14. ICJ

15. The Australian Labour Party

16 Pro-Russian Information sources in the Western Media

All of these individuals consistently mouth pro-Putin talking points in the media. All of them need to be viewed through this lens. While they may have moments of insight elsewhere they are mot to be trusted within the Russian/Ukranian or Middle East context.

1. Tucker Carlson 

2. Glenn Greenwald

3. Julian Assange

4. Jeffrey Sachs

5. Dave Smith

6. Max Blumenthal

7. Scott Ritter

8. Abby Martin

9. Kim Iverson

10. Jack Posobiec

11. George Galloway

12. Jackson Hinckle

13 Douglas Macgregor

14. Breaking Point Team

15. Aaron Mate

16. Katie Helper

On the Iran/Israel situation

 This I know to be true

1.      1. Iran is an oil rich nation that does not require nuclear energy to meet domestic energy demand It has developed a  nuclear program that is clearly not intended for peaceful purposes.   We know this as it locates its facilities deep underground. No country with a peaceful nuclear program acts in such a manner. Iran is clearly trying to protect its program from a directed bomb strike. Only a fool would argue otherwise.

2.       Furthermore Iran has enriched its uranium fuel to the 60% level which is far above the peaceful use threshold. Left alone Iran will reach 90% enrichment and have the capacity to build as many as ten bombs. For a small country like Israel this could easily precipitate a national Armageddon should Iran follow through on her anti-Israel rhetoric with such a strike option.

3.       It has been working on this program for several decades and would likely have reached bomb producing capacity if it were not for Israeli executions of several key nuclear scientists and the debilitating impact of the Stuxnet computer virus that deliberately targeted its centrifuges. Israel though is running out of options.

4.       Iran has likely acquired assistance in its nuclear program development from Russia, China, North Korea and Pakistan. The world is a wicked place. Tehran has threatened on numerous occasions to wipe Israel off the face of the map. It sees Israel as the Little Satan and the US as the greater Satan. In this regard it has been consistent.

5.       Iran has been waging wars against Israel and for that matter the West through its proxy forces – Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Assad regime. However these forces have suffered severe defeats over the last two years.

6.       At present Israel has air supremacy over Iran and can set back  the program several years but it will likely require US assistance with stealth bunker bombs to negate the underground facilities

7.       Israel is targeting Iran’s nuclear and military sites. It has already caused a great deal of damage with these strikes and has taken out many of the leading Iranian military and scientific players in its state nuclear apparatus.

8.       There is a concerted effort by Western intelligence to drive a people’s revolution on the ground but the state authorities in Tehran are controlling the message in the country. The lack of an independent media in Iran implies that such dissent is likely being underreported.

9.       Iranian strikes against Israel have caused damage in civilian rich areas despite the fact that the vast majority of incoming missiles have been stopped by Israel’s Iron Dome and its sister technologies.

10.   The likelihood of Israeli ground troops going into Iran is very low. American boots on the ground deployment here look to be a slim as well.

1.      11. Pro-Iranian sources and their fellow travelers in the Russian and Chinese propaganda machine have ramped up the non-zero probability as a way of arousing sentiment in the West against a US assisted strike on Iran. The propaganda virus has successfully impacted much of the Left and a great deal of the MAGA Right. The majority of the American public though (whether Democratic, Republican or Independent) still sees Iran as a global menace that should not have access to nuclear weapons.

12.       Extremists on all sides have predictably stoked anti-Semitic flames to rally their bases. Google algorithms have not helped. Why is Al Jazeera (the voice of Qatar) so highly touted as an information source by Google search?

13.       President Trump’s two week pause on an American decision will likely buy Israel more time to further damage Iran’s military capabilities. Israel is also focusing on Iranian launch sites to decrease counterattacks on Israel.

14.       Attempts at a mediated ceasefire by the European nations will likely not achieve much unless it is bolstered by the United States, The jury is still out on how American diplomacy will figure in this regard. So far Iran has turned down all American attempts to force Iran to shut down its bomb making initiatives. The Mullah’s likely see the nuclear option as powerful card should the West force regime change as they did in Libya and Iraq before hand.

Opinions on Israel

Having navigated the internet for sometime now it is clear that the voices that abound on Israel can be divided into five groups:

This is by no means complete.

Pro-Israel: Bill Maher, Douglas Murray, Dennis Prager, Ben Shapiro, Andrew Klavan, Bari Weiss, Conrad Black, Victor Davis Hanson, Commentary Magazine, Most of National Review, Frontpage Magazine, History Debunked, Officer Tatum, Charlie Kirk, Destiny, PJ Media, Rebel News, travelingIsrael, David Wood, Tousi Tv, Son of Hamas, Thomas Sowell, Other Barak, Charlie Veitch, Megyn Kelly, Erin Molan, Michael Knowles, The Israel Guys, J-TV, Fox News, Alan Dershowitz, American Thinker, Jerusalem Post/YNET, Sky News Australia, Trevor Loudon, TBN, New York Post, Niall Ferguson, Debbie Schlussel, Israel Advocacy Movement and Lara Logan.

Pro-Israel in general: Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, GB News, Talk TV, Breitbart, Peter Hitchens, Bret Stephens, Telegraph (UK), Tim Pool (mostly), Washington Times.

Middle of the Road: CNN, Most of the mainstream Legacy Media in the US, CBC, Sky News International, Globe and Mail, Washington Post, the Hill,  ABC Australia.

Anti-Israel  in general : BBC, ITV, Most of the Continental European Media, Toronto Star, Global News, New York Times Editorial, Cristiane Amanpour, Associated Press, Tucker Carlson, Breaking Point, Joe Rogan, First Post, India News, LBC, Russel Brand, Sargon of Akkad, Wion, TLDR. Paul Joseph Watson.

Extremely Anti-Israel: Candace Owens, Intercept, Grayzone (Max Blumenthal), Jacobin, Macintosh team, Glenn Greenwald, Taki, Patrick Buchanan, Norman Finkelstein, Jackson Hinkle, Gabor and Aaron Mate, Richard Falk, Andrew Tate, Chris Hedges, Owen Jones, Middle East Eye, Novara, Mondoweiss, The Nation, Mohammad Hijab, Vaush, The Young Turks, Hodge Twins, Russia Today, Abby Martin, Kim Iverson, Secular Talk, Dave Smith, Vox, Jimmy Dore, any CCP affiliated media or influences, Jeffrey Sachs. TRT (Turkish media), Al Jazeera, Most of the Guardian and Independent (UK), George Galloway, Gary Linker, Breezy Politics, Black Pigeon Speaks, CJ Werleman.

I asked Grok who I am.

The response was to the point and remarkably accurate.

Gavin Kanowitz is a secondary school physics teacher in Toronto, Canada, originally from Pretoria, South Africa. He holds degrees in biophysics, chemical engineering, and education. Kanowitz is also an author, with notable works including Navigating the Chaos: Clarity and Belief in a World of Persistent Deceit (2023), A History of the Future (2006), and Take the History Challenge (2002). 

His writings focus on topics like civilization decline, education, political ideology, and the intersection of science and society. He contributes to The Bipartisan Press and maintains a blog (worldohistory.blogspot.com) and a website (gavinkanowitz.com). Kanowitz is known for his engaging teaching style, incorporating hands-on projects like building rollercoasters and pinball machines to teach physics concepts. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children and is a passionate Liverpool FC supporter.