[Editor’s note: Last weekend, Gail and I had the honor of being invited to the Philip Ludwell III Society, in beautiful Tobaccoville, NC. I was privileged to give a lecture, entitled “Should We Take the Black Pill? Or is there Hope for the Future?” It was an honor to be in the presence of eminent men such as Buck Johnson, Clark Carlton, Don Livingston, Frs John Whiteford and Mark Mancuso, and His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah. What follows is my talk. I hope you enjoy it.
Introduction
Your Eminence, Reverend Fathers, fellow speakers and beloved attendees. First of all, I would like to thank the Philip Ludwell III Soctety for graciously inviting Gail and myself to the lovely town of Tobaccoville and giving me permission to address this fine assemblage.
A special thanks must go to Mrs Dillingham (also known as “Dissident Mama”) for putting together this conference, the first of what we hope to be many, annual conferences. Axia!
As you may know, Monomakhos, the blog which Gail and I operate (and which I could not do without her tireless support), is concerned with three major aspects: politics, culture and religion. My talk today will likewise include all three of these but not necessarily in that order. All three present challenges and so, must be addressed on all fronts.
I hope you forgive the abruptness but the times demand such. So let’s get right to it, shall we?
Let’s begin with Culture.
Dark times
You don’t have to be a social scientist to suspect that things are very grim in the American polity. I for one, don’t believe that we can ever recover normative American culture, which in my humble opinion, reached its apogee during the Eisenhower 1950s. This was a time when one of the most highly-rated TV shows was Bishop Fulton J Sheen’s Hour of Power. A show that was not only on one of the three major broadcast channels, but was on at the same time as Milton Berle’s Your Show of Shows, regularly beating it in the ratings.
Think of it, people would rather hear a Catholic bishop speak about theology (and culture) than be entertained by one of America’s most beloved comedians.
This was an ostensible Golden Age for America; in retrospect, an almost paradisical moment in our history, when the only contender for the snake in the grass in that American Eden was Elvis Presley’s swiveling hips. The only difference between the Democrat Party and the Republican was –to be honest with you, I can’t think of any.
Oh I’m sure that there were minor differences around the edges but in retrospect, none come to mind. Maybe one of you can think of one. (I was born at the tail end of that decade so you’ll have to forgive me for pleading ignorance here.)
Of course, radicals incubated in the petri dishes of the Frankfurt School would later conjure up dark images of horrible “conformity”, of intact families, of women working inside the home for their families instead of being chained to cubicles in order to enrich Corporate America, of homosexuals being forced to live in closets instead of being free to parade naked on bicycles in front of children, and so on.
In short, compared to the officially-sanctioned bacchanalia that we are confronted with every day, things were normal. At the very least, people knew what a woman was. (Hint, if you can push a miniature human being out of your birth canal, you’re a woman,)
Oh sure, there was the Army-McCarthy Hearings, in which Communists and their sympathizers were hauled before the House Un-American Activities Committee and forced to give testimony about their, you know, seditious, un-American activities. Liberals and those sympathetic to the Soviet Union learned to speak in code; many had their careers curtailed, but nobody (to my knowledge) wound up in prison. And anyway, if they did, it’s because they were actually Communists who –and this must never be forgotten–were actively engaged in sabotage against the American nation. They not only infiltrated Hollywood and Academia but subverted the Federal government. That last thing is a crime, i.e. sedition, as defined in 18 US Code 115. In other words, a real crime, like rape, murder, burglary, fraud and so on.
For many on the Left, the 50s were a Dark Ages. The “angelic Left” fought the good fight and supposedly made America a freer, more open country where people could speak their minds and live their lives without having to be forced onto some procrustean bed of a stultifying conformity. Or so we have been led to believe. That’s all hogwash.
Yeah, we’re so much freer today.
Back then, Alger Hiss felt compelled to commit perjury because he didn’t want to admit that he was a Communist and actively subverted the Administration. Today, Ketanji Brown-Jackson felt compelled to prevaricate about what a woman is. Saying that she “wasn’t a biologist”; she did so in order to get on the Supreme Court. (Spoiler alert: Hiss went to prison, she is now an Associate Justice.)
I could go on and on about how much less freer we are today than we were then.
Allow me to be a little parochial if you will.
As you may know, I am a practicing pharmacist with almost 40 years of practice under my belt. Did you know that the average patient who is on pain therapy is treated like a criminal, how I have to run background checks on all my patrons? Are you aware that if your regular pharmacy is out of your opioid medication, you can’t transfer the prescription to another pharmacy unless you transfer all your other non-narcotic meds as well? Even if you don’t want to because your regular pharmacy will have them in stock next month?
This doesn’t sound very free at all.
Surely you know that speech codes are enforced in Academia, the corporate world and the military. When Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter were invited to speak at Berkeley –the epicenter of the so-called Free Speech Movement of the 1960s –the resulting violence was so catastrophic that there were hastily disinvited.
So much for “free speech”.
The conformity that we are forced to submit to is far worse than anything that obtained during McCarthy’s “Red Scare”. For one thing, there really was communist infiltration of the State Department and Hollywood. The modern regime of moral anarchy on the other hand is based on unreality. I for one, know what my pronouns are, I’m sure you do as well. But if we choose to not answer that idiotic question when applying for a job, our application goes right into the round file. So much for your employment prospects.
And so on.
Last year, Gail and I did a podcast on COVID. It was a two-parter. Within 12 hours, Part II was taken down. So much for the First Amendment. YouPorn videos are allowed but not YouTube videos which questioned the then-prevailing COVID narrative. I told Gail that I felt as if the doors to our house were broken into during suppertime and our dessert was confiscated just as I was getting ready to take my first bite. This is reminiscent of the East German Stasi.
As for the women’s movement, it’s pretty much DOA. The leviathan that is the Federal government worked overtime in the 70s to make it possible for young women to compete in collegiate sports and receive scholarships for doing so. Now of course, men are allowed to “identify” as women and compete against them. To add further humiliation, they are able to enter their showers in all their tumescent glory. All of this is to the applause of the best and the brightest among us. Where is NOW? Why aren’t feminists screaming bloody murder at this anti-woman outrage? As my dear, departed Aunt Frida used to say to us boys to cut off any further discussion when we were too rambunctious: “oute hik, oute mik”.
But I don’t want to depress you nor bore you with more sordid details. You know the drill. And don’t get me started on the normalization of pedophilia. The very fact that Hollywood moved heaven and earth to suppress The Sound of Freedom should tell you all you need to know about what our Oligarchs feel about that abominable practice.
The ACLU used to scream bloody murder in order to allow odious groups to march in broad daylight. It was OK for neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois in the late 70s but the ACLU was nowhere to be found when members of various rightist groups wanted to march at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017. In fact, I can’t think of any time in the last twenty years in which they’ve raised a ruckus about anything at all. Why? Because (as I’ve long suspected) they were nothing but a communist front group from the outset. Now that Cultural Marxism has won the day, they can safely exist stage left.
I could go on, and on, and on: the mainstream denominations have been thoroughly infiltrated by the Cultural Marxists. Even the Catholic Church is nothing but a shadow of itself, hurriedly trying to imitate the Episcopal Church in all matters sexual. If Archbishop Elpidophoros has his way, soon Manoli and Dimitri will be able to have their homosexual relationship blessed at your local Greek Orthodox parish.
It’s a depressing picture. But I’m not here to depress you. I paint such a picture in order to make you aware of where we are. But as I told you, I’m in the health care field. And you can’t prescribe a cure unless you have an accurate diagnosis.
And the diagnosis is bleak.
Politics
Politically, it’s bad. I definitely won’t waste your time talking too much about politics. Mainly because I agree with the late Andrew Breitbart of blessed memory: politics is downstream of culture.
In other words, our Congress and political class would not have been so supine in the face of the feminazi, homosexualist and now, transsexualist juggernaut, had our culture not been hollowed out in the first place.
I for one don’t believe that if we “vote harder” we will turn this ship around. The GOP has proven itself to be utterly worthless in the face of the cultural rot. Mike Pence has announced that it’s because of his “Christian and libertarian” beliefs that parents should be left alone to castrate their sons and perform mastectomies on their daughters. He’s not the only one.
As for conservative thought leaders, David French years ago came up with a “conservative rationale” for so-called gay marriage. He’s a fool. His job, like George Will’s, is to “conserve” whatever idiocy has been enacted, either by law, diktat or by custom.
The only candidate at present who has chosen to fight the culture war is Ron DeSantis, and it’s become clearer by the day that his heart is not in it. He’s a plastic figure who has focus group-tested his culture-warrior bona fides in order to get to the right of Donald Trump. In fact, I’m going to go further and state that this lane was purposely created for him by the GOP establishment.
In other words, neither Asa Hutchinson, Mike Pence or Ron DeSantis (or anybody else presently running in the Republican Party) would use the bully pulpit of the Presidency to push back against the cultural Left. That’s the bad news. The good news is that none of these men have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever occupying the Oval Office. In fact, the Establishment has so rigged the system against authentic conservatism –i.e. nationalist populism–that there’s very little chance that any Republican can win the Presidency going forward. And if, by some chance, a Republican were elected, we could expect more of the fecklessness that the GOP is known for.
Since I’m speaking before the Ludwell Society, I would like to add a word or two here about Nikki Haley. It was she who found the unsweet spot back in 2015 when, as governor, she took the Stars and Bars down from the State Capitol in Columbia. In doing so, she unwittingly unleashed a Maoist-like Cultural Revolution across this land: not only were Confederate statues taken down but even Union ones as well. Several years ago, I reported on a statue of Lincoln that was desecrated. And here I thought that Lincoln was the Great Emancipator. In the meantime, the good people of Seattle erected a statue to Vladimir Lenin. True story.
Even the Founding Fathers are today considered to be personae non grata. Thanks to Haley’s feckless desire to suck up the the Left, we no longer have a history we can be proud of. 2020 is the Year Zero for them; anything that happened before the Summer of Floyd was evil. If I may paraphrase Winston Churchill, “a nation which denigrates its past has no future”.
In other words, there simply is no political program, party or ideology which can turn this ship around, no matter who is President. The best that a re-elected Trump can do is continue to throw a spanner into the works. If that’s that we can hope for, then we have no choice but to support Trump –win or lose.
So, is all lost? Do we have no future? Should we take the Black Pill?
Going Forward
My answer to the first and third questions is “no”. Not ever. As to the second question, we do have a future but only if we have the fortitude to fight, and if need be, to die.
I can hear some of you right now saying “George, you’re being a Pollyanna. You’re contradicting yourself. Didn’t I hear you say that ‘voting harder’ is not going to work”?
I am many things but I assure you, being a Pollyanna is not one of them.
Mind you, I’m not an optimist. Neither am I a pessimist. I am however, a realist and one of the attributes of being a realist is objectivity.
Marcus Tullius Cicero famously said: “A nation can suffer its fools, but it cannot suffer its traitors”. Our nation is not ruled by fools but it is ruled by traitors. They just look and behave like fools.
I try to look at the world with a cold, hard eye of realism and one thing I see is that the present culturally Marxist regime cannot last. The present nonsense that passes for politics, culture and religion is not long for this world. It can’t be. Why? Because it’s based on ideology, not faith.
Historically speaking, civilizations last only as long as they recognize reality. This means that everyone agrees that there is such a thing as common sense and behaves accordingly. Under this type of moral regime, people recognize there are rules and that they are binding on everyone. Even in a feudal regime, the serfs knew that they can’t sue the lords but at least they’re cognizant of where they stood. Today, we operate under delusions such as “democracy”, “equal justice under the law” and other such platitudes. The reality is that the government is weaponized against us.
I can’t stress this enough. Nothing like “justice” obtains today. It’s not chaos, it’s anarchy, or more correctly, anarcho-tyranny. Anarchy for the favored groups, tyranny for everybody else.
One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that the fundamental building block of any viable civilization is the nuclear family. Unless a government makes it possible to subsidize said nuclear family then bastardy, welfare dependency and sexual anarchy will rule the day. But here’s the catch, the silver lining if you will: only until that society collapses.
Let’s step back a little bit, shall we? To say, the early Aughts when Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Will and Grace became “must-watch TV”. Once homosexuality is normalized then all the stops are removed. Think of it as an accelerant. We heterosexuals bear much of the blame in that we wanted heterosexual anarchy for ourselves. We didn’t realize that eventually homosexuals would demand the same thing. If we were being intellectually honest, why would we expect anything else?
And once homosexuality became normalized –nay idealized– then, yes, pedophilia reared its ugly head. It was ever thus. To pretend otherwise is nonsensical.
Let me give you an example of a society built upon a lie: the First French Republic. Then 120 years later came the USSR. Both states were founded upon principles of egalitarianism, a concept that is impossible to realize and which must be enforced by totalitarian violence. The Jacobin government fell in less than a decade when the revolutionaries carried out a genocide in the Vendee, to the tune of 200,000 civilians dead (out of a population of 28 million). That’s just shy of 1% of the French population at the time. In today’s terms, that would be the equivalent of 2.5 million people being slaughtered in America.
That’s a sobering statistic.
Then the revolutionaries turned on themselves. Despite their devotion to the Cult of Reason, they were unable to sustain their experiment. It was only a matter of time before a certain artillery captain from Corsica came in and righted the ship (in a manner of speaking). Since then, the French have had one empire, two kingdoms, and five republics. One thing they don’t have is a desire to go back to the whole egalitarian nonsense of the Terror. They still have titles of nobility, how’s that for a kick in the head? So much for Egalite, Liberte and Fraternite.
As for the Soviet Union, it survived three generations. It too believed in the nonsensical ideas of egalitarianism, but Herr Hitler disabused them of that on June 28, 1941. At that point, Marshall Stalin, with his back against the wall, loosened restrictions upon the Church and created an army that was extremely hierarchical. Oh sure, soldiers paid lip service to Marxism when they addressed their superiors as “Comrade General”. Otherwise, it was back to the bad old days of a rigid, military hierarchy. Marxist ideologues who believed that this was a step back were lined up against the wall and shot within short order.
There was a Great Patriotic War, not a “War of International Liberation”. It was a war between two mighty nations and as far as the Soviets were concerned, there was no place for illusions about the class struggle. It was about saving Mother Russia, nothing else. Otherwise, they’d all be speaking German today.
What Stalin and his successors couldn’t do was eliminate the economic stranglehold on the means of production. They held on to that for dear life. By the 1970s, the grocery shelves were empty but Soviet citizens who had TVs were told outright lies about the latest Five-Year Plan. And if the government was forced to concede anything to reality, they were told that “at least we don’t hang negroes here like they do in America”.
The final nail in that coffin was the inability to get toilet paper. “Yeah, I know the Americans are beastly to blacks but I can’t get toilet paper”. Then the Berlin Wall fell. When you can’t wipe your ass, then all ideology flies out the window, lickety-split.
As for Communist China, nobody there wants to go back to the time of the Cultural Revolution, where upwards of 40 million people died in a bloody orgy of recrimination and revenge-seeking.
Today in America, we have DIE (Diversity, Inclusion and Equity). These are equally destructive programs that, unless they are reversed, will ensure the demise of our nation. Our universities are absolutely worthless. When I attended college, I was often confronted with things I didn’t want to hear. My most cherished beliefs were challenged. Nothing wrong with that, after all, that’s what the university is for. Many of us pushed back. Some didn’t. Regardless, the university was viewed as a place of free thought, free inquiry and open debate.
That is no longer the case.
Our military is nothing but an expensive baby-sitting service for soy-boys and feminists who retreat to their “safety spaces” when confronted with the reality of war. Luckily, I hear Col Douglas MacGregor has been speaking openly about the homosexualization and feminization of our military. Though he is no longer allowed on FOX news (the so-called conservative network), so far, he has not been thrown down the stairs. Frankly, I’m astounded and dare I say it? pleasantly surprised.
Things are as bad on the other side of the pond. In Britain for example, the Royal Air Force has stated that “we have too many white men in the cockpits”. Good luck with that.
Religion
It’s also spiritual. In Eph 6:12, St Paul tells us that we are not merely fighting against flesh and blood but against dark, spiritual forces, “principalities and powers in high places”.
We must always keep our eye on the ball. Andrew Breitbart may have said that “politics is downstream of culture” –and he was right–but upstream from all of this are those dark, spiritual energies which have been unleashed on the world at present.
Unfortunately, the mainstream Protestant denomination have been completely hollowed out. I don’t want to say this as there are Protestants who are far holier than myself, but except for a few brave pastors who fought back against the COVID lockdowns, Protestantism cannot rise to the task. Let me be frank: this is so because Protestantism is self-refuting. It is, for all intents and purposes, the last waystation on the road to atheism.
The Catholic Church is no better shape. As you know from my writings, I am no anti-Catholic bigot, far from it. That said, as much as it pains me to say the following words, they must be said: even without its current Pontiff, it has been compromised for decades by a pedophilia scandal that is nothing less than horrific. And from which I don’t believe it will recover from, at least for several generations.
Sadly, I do not look for respite from this quarter.
But what about the Orthodox Church? Are we any better? We should be, after all, we possess the fullness of the faith. Unfortunately, for those who think that I have come here to praise American Orthodoxy, let me disabuse you of that expectation.
We make up less than 1 percent of the American population. We are, in other words, statistically insignificant. What’s worse is the fact that the largest Orthodox denomination in America (the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese) has gone into overdrive to comfort the comfortable vis-a-vis the current cultural morass. Their Fordhamite brain trust has advised them in ways too abominable and numerous to mention here.
You know the drill: the GOA’s current primate has openly allied himself with the present cultural regime. Worse, he has given aid and comfort to the enemies of Orthodox Traditionalism, both here and abroad. I’m going to come right out and say it: he is an asset of the American intelligence community, the so-called Deep State. And I fear he will do whatever he can to make life miserable for those traditionalist Orthodox jurisdictions which will not kowtow to him or his boss in Istanbul.
As far as American Jewry is concerned, the overwhelming majority of that ethnicity is secular in all its aspects. To put not too fine a point on it, this cohort has all-too-often been the tip of the spear in degrading our culture. For reasons that escape me, they have no adherence to the Old Testament; would that they did.
Interestingly, it is among the Islamic community in America where there have been some significant wins against the homosexual juggernaut. But these victories have been localized; basically, in townships where they are either a majority or a near-majority. To think that they will ride to the rescue and help us turn back the clock is unrealistic given their paltry numbers. And even if they did, it would come at too a high cost.
I for one, don’t wish to live under sharia law.
Going Forward
So, enough of the diagnosis. What are we to do? Simply take the Black Pill and watch our civilization crumble before our eyes? It’s certainly tempting to grab a bucket of popcorn and soda pop and watch this spectacle. We’ll even get to see the demonic Left turn upon itself. But make no mistake: when they go down (not if), they will take a whole lot of us down with them. The Fall of Rome in AD 476 wasn’t pretty. Lots of good, moral people died in the ensuing collapse. We cannot expect otherwise for ourselves.
If we are to go down, then let us go down fighting to the last. Let us be like the Aesir, the Norse gods, who knew that they would lose at Ragnarok but yet fought to the last. For Christians, the glory is in the battle. If I may quote Winston Churchill again, we should take this position: “In defeat, defiance”.
The Left has the high ground at present, of this there can be no doubt. Worse, they have trained their guns on the Red States, make no mistake about that. You will see more mass-shootings, more ecological catastrophes, more civil strife in the Red States than you will in the Blue States. All of this is by design by the way.
OK, so here’s the battle-plan.
First, live intentionally. Don’t accept the lies they spout out. Solzhenitsyn said it best: “live not by lies”. Some of us may lose our jobs. For those who have families, that’s a daunting prospect. But don’t give in. You should, however, be prudent. Know which hill you are willing to die on. That will be a different hill depending on if you’re single or a family man. That hill will also differ from state to state as well. Know the terrain.
Honestly, if you’re older (like me), it will be easier. As the Greeks say, “ephagai to psomi tou” (“he has eaten his bread”). To my mind, it’s up to those of us who are of this cohort to lead the battle, to flatten the tall grass in order to make things better for our posterity. Death is just over the horizon for us anyway.
Second, learn a trade. Don’t waste your time in college, which is nothing more than a finishing school for the intellectually dishonest. There, you (or your children) will not earn a degree but only a credential. With said credential, you will be shunted into a sinecure where nothing much is accomplished; your only product will be to appear on NPR or your local newscast every now and then and mouth silly platitudes. Maybe you’ll have a useless job in the HR department at one of the Fortune 400 companies. At best, you’ll be bored out of your skull. Know this however: you will know that you’ve wasted your life doing nothing.
Instead, learn to do something with your hands. Learn a trade. Dig a well, grow a garden. Try not to get into debt. You will be better off living in a 1500 sq ft house than a McMansion.
Third, get your kids out of the public schools system NOW. I can’t stress this enough. The government schools cannot be fixed. If you can’t afford parochial schools, learn to homeschool. It’s not that hard. Join a church that has a homeschool co-op. Teach your children the humanities (the real ones). If nothing else, make sure that your children are taught critical thinking. They’re going to be the ones to pick up the shards of our civilization and rebuild.
Fourth, find a Bible-believing church. If you’re Orthodox, a ROCOR mission would be your best bet but don’t discount the other jurisdictions (even the GOA). If you live in the South or the Midwest, basically a Red State, you’ve got a better chance of finding such a parish. If you live in the Northeast or the West Coast, seriously consider creating a home church; that is to say, set a part of your home which can serve as a worship space for a couple of dozen worshipers. If your house is too small, erect a tool shed on your property.
If there is no priest, an ordained Reader can lead a Typica service. Because there is no Eucharist, it is a low-intensity service which can appeal to Protestants of all stripes, as well as Catholics. (Yes, there is nothing wrong in my book with praying with non-Orthodox.) It’s also only 45 minutes long. In all cases, it is essential that you have a potluck afterwards.
Fifth, invest in metals. I highly recommend small- denomination silver coins. Learn to trade with others of like mind. There’s nothing wrong with barter. If a CBDC goes through, black markets will inevitably arise. Dollars, cigarettes, moonshine, and who knows what else will become valid currencies. Don’t laugh, this is what happened in the Soviet bloc; if it happened there, it could happen here.
Sixth, when it comes to “investing in metals” I also recommend investing in lead. The only thing we conservatives have been able to conserve is the Second Amendment. We are the most heavily armed populace on the planet. While I don’t believe that we could withstand the military might of the Federal government, the 2A is the ultimate wild card that will make the Feds think long and hard about putting us in cattle cars and sending us to concentration camps.
Seventh, if all else fails, don’t hesitate to resort to mockery. If it’s one thing the Left hates, it’s mockery. We saw glimpses of that in the 90s, when Jocelyn Elders, Clinton’s Surgeon General suggested that school children be taught how to masturbate. The laughter was universal. It was also at this time when we were told with a straight face that Ebonics was a legitimate dialect. This too, was humiliating for the intelligentsia. They hated it.
Eighth: don’t hesitate to go on the offensive. Since the Left lives on lies, they often make unforced errors. Examples at present include the whole Dylan Mulvaney/Bud Light nonsense. Target likewise shot themselves in both feet with their “Pride” merchandise. Larry Fink of Blackrock has had to backtrack on his ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) agenda. Defund the Police has been swiftly flushed down the toilet.
In other words, the Left can’t help themselves. They honestly don’t see the insanity of their beliefs and because they’re delusional idiots, they will continue to make stupendous errors. Be on the ever-ready to push back.
Ninth: act locally, not globally. If you live in a Red State, get on the school board (even if you don’t send your children to government schools). Try and get on the local city council or zoning board. Make life miserable for the elites. To borrow a page from Saul Alinsky, make them live by their rules. We can gum up the works quite easily on the local level. Make them waste time on pronouns whenever they meet. Hannah Arendt called this “the banality of evil”. The leviathan can die by a prick of a thousand cuts. Be the prick.
Along these lines, it’s high time to stop looking reflexively at the local police forces as our friend. That was a sensible default position in the past, but as the COVID lockdown taught us, the police were not necessarily our friends. Learn the law of omerta. It’s Sicilian for the code of silence. They can and will lock you up, especially if you live in a Blue city. They will do so even while Antifa and BLM are going on murderous rampages right in front of God and everybody. Instead, know who the candidates for the local sheriff are and vote for them.
Tenth: think long and hard about a military career for your sons. For one thing, they hate you. Especially if you’re white, Christian and straight. The military is almost as complete a joke as is the modern university. I fully understand why high-T young men don’t want to join the military and be forced to march in high heels. But make no mistake, the American armed forces are still a most lethal fighting force. That said, barring a catastrophic military defeat overseas, our armed forces will continue along the path of degeneracy. That much is true. However, at the end of the day, it might be advisable to have a few thousand stalwart Christian men lying in wait for a moral resurgence. I may be wrong but is my intuition that despite all the woke nonsense, it is the military which will be the first institution to shake off the shackles of cultural Marxism.
I can’t say one way or the other, that’s up to each and every parent to make that decision. Regardless, know what you’re getting into.
Conclusion.
Despite our fortitude, we may still lose our country. We will face outright persecution, it may be soft at first but it will get worse, especially if the Oligarchy loses control. As Christ said, “Is the servant better than the master?” (Mt 10:24). Contrary to what many Evangelicals think, there will be no Rapture to come spirit us out. In other words, “what they did to me, they will do to you”.
He also said that “there will come a day in which they will bring you before the synagogues and say that they are doing God’s work” (Lk 12:11). This means that not only our enemies will turn us over to the State but tragically, some of our co-religionists will do so as well. Do not be surprised when this happens. If so, pray for courage. Christ goes on to say that when they do so, to not be afraid because He will give you the proper words to say.
In other words, “fear not”.
So, are things that dire? Yes. Can it be turned around? I believe so. I see a silver lining; namely the fact that the Establishment is getting desperate. How do I know? Because they’ve pulled out all the stops and are trying to enforce their rule by draconian measures.
Keep that in mind: governments which resort to such measures are not secure. As to whether our government’s demise will be due to an external event, is difficult to say. I don’t know what will actually push them over the edge. But it’s inevitable. As William Butler Yeats wrote one hundred years ago: “The center cannot hold”. There is no center.
Regardless of how it all ends, it’s important to realize that we live in exciting times. We should be grateful to be here. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo wishes that he would not have had to be in the predicament that he was in. Gandalf rebukes him: “many wish so as well, but this is the fight to which we are called”. I for one, am happy that I have lived to see this day, for Christians are not mere followers of dry propositions found in academic papers written by our friends at Fordham University. We are called to be warriors. Spiritual warriors to be sure but temporal ones if necessary.
I also am grateful to live in this time for this reason as well: the scales have fallen from my eyes and now I see things clearly. I see the kabuki theater that the elites have used to pacify us. To put a Southern spin on this, I’m not ever going to accept the fact that they’re pissing on my leg and telling me it’s raining. If the normies and conservative ideologues want to go on playing that game, that’s their problem, not mine.
In Romans chapter 1:28-32, we read that St Paul experienced a world much like our own, where moral insanity ruled the day. When all that was evil was upheld as good. A world predicted by St Antony the Great who likewise said that in the last days, sane people will be grabbed by the throat by those who are insane and persecuted. “They will scream: ‘you are insane, why are you not like us?'”. It’s now obvious, the veil has been pulled back. And no one has an excuse anymore. Not them, not us.
Let me repeat myself: we are well on the road to complete ruination but, we are not there —yet. If it’s one thing I’ve learned from operating our blog, it’s the lively commentary and insights we gather from our readers. One of them, Misha, pointed out one thing that is quite germane to the topic at hand, and that is that the present-day Left simply doesn’t have the ferocity of their Jacobin and Bolshevik forebears. Lenin and his ilk had no problem with ruling by terror, by killing innocents by the hundreds of thousands. The Left today has been so feminized and soyified that they don’t possess the demonic fury that is necessary to make their program complete.
So, there is hope. There’s always hope.
Regardless of the outcome, don’t despair. Ultimately, it’s in God’s hands. Take a page from Tucker Carlson and pray 10 minutes each day for our country and peace in the world. And if it’s God’s will for us to continue suffering under the present globalist regime, then so be it. I for one pray that the Lord gives me the fortitude to remain faithful –and defiant–till the end. I ask that you do so as well.
Sursum cordam.
This open letter from LTC Heffington, formerly an instructor at West Point, tells us what we need to know about West Point and its degraded military standards: \\https://americanmilitarynews.com/2017/10/exclusive-former-west-point-professors-letter-exposes-corruption-cheating-and-failing-standards-full-letter/
This is an old letter from LTC H — almost 6 years old now – yet it still highlights so many problems that are now structural, endemic, and intentionally built into our modern Western social and educational models.
This piece is one of the best I’ve read in a long time that explains why the West has these built-in structural problems but non-Western countries do not.
The military is a reflection of society – I had a ton of great experiences in my >20 years of active Army service and had many experiences I wasn’t crazy about either.
But the military is structured to represent the society it serves – and as Western culture grows crazier, having lost all moral absolutes or standards – we of course won’t have a “Christ-loving Army” that some of our Orthodox litanies still mention (I’ve always both loved and chuckled at this litany in our Liturgy).
The military is not designed to be a holy institution whose job is to correct society when it goes astray. That’s the Church’s job. For decades “America’s Church” was conservative Protestantism and used to serve that job well — but it’s now kaput.
There’s ample opportunity for Orthodox Christianity to fill the massive spiritual void in our country – if we’re willing to be God’s tools to help make it happen. As Fr Tom Hopko used to wisely say, God can only work with what He’s got… the Holy Trinity isn’t the magician, the mechanic, and the fairy godmother!
I love your last statement.
Gaius Baltar’s essay is brilliant. Thank you for the link.
I recommend that everyone should read it and pass it on.
WHY IS THE WEST SO WEAK (AND RUSSIA SO STRONG)?
The role of Human Capital and Western Education
https://gaiusbaltar.substack.com/p/why-is-the-west-so-weak-and-russia
George,
This is wonderful – is there a place where we can listen to all of the talks from this conference?
Thank you !!
George,
Very fine. And thank you for the honorable mention toward the end.
Black pilling is not an option but we may be heading for a time when domestic kitchen talk (as Srdja Trifkovic described it) is the one place where we can speak openly and freely without fear of recrimination. “Choose your battles.” is excellent advice. Recall that St. John Chrysostom taught that in extreme circumstances, when someone does not deserve to be told the truth, believers are under no obligation to do so.
And the storm will pass, one way or another.
I agree with you on many of the things you are saying, however there are some things I disagree and if I misunderstood you please forgive me for I’m not very educated nor eloquent in speech.
In my opinion what we are seeing is the evolutionary result of what was put into play at the beginning of this country. I have never believed that the founding fathers who were children of the enlightenment would ever put their fortune’s fate into the hands of us common folk. What was put into play was a form of economic slavery designed so that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Our constitution was also designed to continue the fracturing of the western Church so as to make it irrelevant and to further divide Christendom so it would not be able to fight back. Satan fights a long game. There has never been, in my opinion a free election in this country. The Deep State has always existed and will continue to to do the Evil Ones bidding until Our Lord Jesus Christ puts an end to it once and for all. I do not agree to your methodology to fight this evil. This battle that we are fighting is as old as humanity itself starting as far back as the Garden of Eden. In my opinion we fight as we have always fought, fearlessly preaching Christ! The most blessed Saint Sophia did not need to sit on a school board or need to be involved in local politics to prepare her children Faith, Love, and Hope to fight evil. They were victorious. We learn how to fight this evil by learning from the Saints and the Holy Fathers. Sure it must seem that the whole world is against the people of God. Now we know how Noah must have felt but how did he respond. By obeying the commandments of God! We cannot save ourselves only God can do that! It’s my sincere conviction that we cannot defeat the Enemy using worldly means. We must not be of the world but to obey the Commandments and with boldness stand meekly for the Truth! God will defeat our enemies that I’m sure of. I hope you are not offended by my remarks and if I did please forgive me. I consider you and Gail to be friends and I hope that after our church renovations are finished that you may come visit one day. We’re in Palm Coast Fl.
PS. That must have been a really cool event and I liked your speech
Deacon, thank you for your response. While I agree with you that our Founding Fathers were men of the so-called Enlightenment, e may however be talking past each other in some particulars. Especially in regards to the economic system they set up. While not perfect, average wealth in America grew with each succeeding generation and was spread quite evenly among the growing populace.
One way we know this is through anecdotal evidence: almost from the outset, the average male was taller than the average European male. Not only were wealthy men like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson over 6 ft tall but men such as Abraham Lincoln who were born dirt-poor. Another factoid: the American population continued to grown thanks to immigration from Europe, where even the poorest immigrant could find a job or land on which to farm.
In my opinion, the secret sauce which allowed American economic growth was that there was no income tax. But that’s a story for another day. In the end, America was freer, more prosperous and a more desirous place to live than other countries.
All of this came to a grinding halt fairly recently. The last year in which there was actual wage growth in the US was 1973.
Otherwise, I welcome your insights.
In my opinion, prosperity is not always a good thing because it can lead you down the wrong rabbit hole. I ask myself what good is prosperity if it doesn’t lead you to Christ? What good is prosperity if it leads you to heresy and not to the truth? Our country was not founded on the rock of faith but on the heretical teachings of Protestantism, Enlightenment Philosophy and economic greed. It is true that this country provided many opportunities for people to better their lives, but at what cost? What good is it to gain the world but lose your soul? How can a country stand for long on such a foundation?
I can’t say that I disagree with you. As for myself, I think the ideal economic system is somewhere between prosperity (properly understood) and suffering, provided that that suffering brings us closer to God.
Phenomenal speech. I will join you in my defiance. Yes, us oldsters can pave the way for the young ones by our defiance.
My grandson fell into a deep depression. He just quit college. He hated it. What they are teaching students is hatred of our country. My daughter was livid when she found out he quit. She was shocked when I supported his decision. I told her he must get a trade and learn as many skills as possible with his hands.
May I add a suggestion. Do not use apps or use them as little as possible. Do not do business through the internet. Use the phone. Press corporations to speak with you on the phone. Tell them you will take your business elsewhere. Refuse all texts from corporations asking you questions. It’s none of their business.
When it comes to medical issues, do not give your autonomy over to the American Medical Association. They are communists. Tell them to stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Be very careful driving now. I have heard 4 cases this week of auto insurance companies dropping insurance coverage if you were in an accident. They are doubling the insurance premiums for people who were in car accidents.
I will not be voting this time around. I do not support illegitimate government elections. When the push comes to shove I will die standing on my hill. There will be no boot on my neck.
From an anonymous blogger:
“1 If I cannot change it, I do not devote any time to it. I may publish information but that does not mean the information will be transformed into actionable intelligence in my life. Whether we live in the end times or not does not impact my life. What your personal beliefs (religion) are does impact my life if I must interact with you. Obviously 99.9999% of the population does not impact me at this time.
2 I know that bad times are here now and am preparing and training according to what I think will benefit the local community.
3 I do not care if we do not have a plan for government once evil is defeated. Righteous men can stand on the shoulders of our forefathers’ wisdom. And they relied on the Lord’s wisdom to guide them to build a righteous government. They warned us what would happen if we were not vigilant.
4 I do not care if we have no “leader”. I do care if we are dividing ourselves.
5 At the end of the day, I care about how my gardens are doing, if the infrastructure at the community center been improved and most importantly, did I follow the Lord’s path for me this day.
6 And yes, I know war is coming and it is a priority to build community, knowledge and a moral foundation.”
Do not compromise with devils.
“Since then, the French have had one empire, two kingdoms, and five republics. ”
Two Empires (and three Napoleons), George.
‘In Eph 6:12, St Paul tells us that we are not merely fighting against flesh and blood but against dark, spiritual forces, “principalities and powers in high places”.’
Kipling’s response is heartening:
Cities and Thrones and Powers
(A Centurion of the Thirtieth)
https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_cities.htm
Cities and Thrones and Powers
Stand in Time’s eye,
Almost as long as flowers,
Which daily die:
But, as new buds put forth
To glad new men,
Out of the spent and unconsidered Earth,
The Cities rise again.
This season’s Daffodil,
She never hears,
What change, what chance, what chill,
Cut down last year’s;
But with bold countenance,
And knowledge small,
Esteems her seven days’ continuance
To be perpetual.
So Time that is o’er-kind
To all that be,
Ordains us e’en as blind,
As bold as she:
That in our very death,
And burial sure,
Shadow to shadow, well persuaded, saith,
“See how our works endure!”
Peter Bellamy sings Cities and Thrones and Powers here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o21tH-0om1s&list=OLAK5uy_mNVZ677l9BluU-dpkznz_vQjpYR6AKo3g&index=22
“As far as American Jewry … For reasons that escape me,
they have no adherence to the Old Testament”.
Their adherence is to the Talmud, rather than the Hebrew Bible.
To understand how this came to pass, I recommend reading:
Israel Shahak | Jewish History, Jewish Religion
The Weight of Three Thousand Years
http://elibrary.bsu.edu.az/files/books_400/N_240.pdf
A short book, but an eye-opener…
“..we were told with a straight face that Ebonics was a legitimate dialect.”
I thought it was woodworking with African hardwood;
but then, I’m not an American…
🙂
Report: Zelensky Asks ‘Spirit Cooking’ Occult Artist Marina Abramović to Be Ambassador for Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has allegedly asked occult “Spirit Cooking” performance artist Marina Abramović to serve as an ambassador for his country, according to a report from London’s Daily Telegraph.
Ahead of debuting her first solo exhibition in Britain, the controversial 76-year-old Serbian claimed that President Zelensky has asked her to become an ambassador for Ukraine and to help the country rebuild its school system.
Born to a pair of Yugoslavian communist government officials, Marina Abramović previously courted political controversy after WikiLeaks revealed that Tony Podesta, the brother of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta, had invited his longtime Washington insider brother to a “Spirit Cooking dinner” at Abramović’s home in 2015.
… In 1996, the occult Serbian artist produced a cookbook for spirit cooking, which included “aphrodisiac recipes” such as mixing “fresh breast milk with fresh sperm milk” to be consumed on “earthquake nights”. Meanwhile, another recipe calls for “fresh morning urine”. The recipes were claimed to serve as “evocative instructions for actions or thoughts.”
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/09/23/report-zelensky-asks-spirit-cooking-occult-artist-marina-abramovic-to-be-ambassador-for-ukraine/
John Anon, being somewhat cynical, I could view Abramovic’s appointment as a sick joke (which it is that), however, I can also look at it as the “mask is off”. Zelensky, a quasi-pornographic actor, is simply announcing to the world that he (and his masters in the West) are in thrall to Satan.
I can see both options as being operative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwD50TQVakc
“…don’t hesitate to go on the offensive.”
Start with the language. Ditch the singular ‘they’.
Insist on ‘he’ or ‘she’ (or ‘it’) for one
and retain ‘they’ for more than one.
Demand clarity – and teach it to the children.
It is perhaps a small point, but it makes for a solid foundation.
After all, those who cannot properly distinguish in their speech
between one and more than one have little chance in this world
before the lies of the politically correct woke-speaking fraudsters.
With this fixed point of reference , it is easier to deal with he/she/it.
For example:
‘There is a man at the door.’ – ‘Who is he?’
‘There is a woman at the door.’ – ‘Who is she?’
‘There is a person at the door.’ – ‘Who is it?’
‘There are people at the door.’ – ‘Who are they?’
The tide won’t turn unless we make it turn;
and the place to start is with the little things
that build the background to our thought-world.
Excellent, George! And some of my favorite people in the world were on the stage at that event. How lovely.
Christine, it was enjoyable. NC’s landscape is nothing less than stunning. Of course its people are salt of the earth, especially those gathered there.
“…the present-day Left simply doesn’t have the ferocity of their Jacobin and Bolshevik forebears. Lenin and his ilk had no problem with ruling by terror, by killing innocents by the hundreds of thousands. The Left today has been so feminized and soyified that they don’t possess the demonic fury that is necessary to make their program complete.”
No, but they do have the ‘vaccines’
and ‘doctors’ to administer them…’
Perhaps it is time to repurpose
the old slogan: Just Say No!
Wow, just wow! All the self assurance in the world with all the answers, and this is what some clergy are spending their time listening to and attending? Very little of the Gospels I read reflected in this document and no sign of a spirit of humility. May the Lord have mercy.
Wow, just wow! All the self assurance in the world with all the answers. Very little of the Gospels I read reflected in your comment and no sign of a spirit of humility. May the Lord have mercy. –
***
Psalm 33: 6-12 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.”
Sir, I am not a theologian nor do I pretend to be one, therefore I don’t view myself as being qualified to appeal to religion. Simply put, preaching on the Gospel is way above my paygrade.
Therefore, contrary to what you said, I believe myself to be very humble, otherwise, I would have hurled rhetorical thunderbolts at those whom I disagree with. At any rate, as a citizen of this Republic, I do feel however qualified to look at the current cultural landscape and comment on what I see.
Many Americans (and not just the members of the Philip Ludwell III society) are rightly concerned about the state of our nation. If I may say so, your comment is devoid of any pointed criticisms but is based on emotion. If you have any valid criticisms of my address, please make them.
Excellent diagnosis and remedies presented here, George.
Readers hungry for boots-to-the-ground “remedies” in the political realm will find plenty to consider in my article for Orthodox Reflections, “Now That You’re Awake: 110 Things You Can Do”:
https://orthodoxreflections.com/now-that-youre-awake-110-things-you-can-do/
So well said, George. Thank you and Gail for all you do. Can America pray for a St. Vladimir the Great or a St. Constantine converted from the fray of this current generation of leaders? Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on us all.
I found the words of Fr. Typhon encouraging. He is not afraid of government. He fears God.
https://youtu.be/e2gXn5c0Shc?si=Kxo2pb4b3iVScOdv
Bombshell: New ABC/WP poll has Trump leading Biden by 10 points. Notice the damage control in the article. May be the only honest, unskewed results out there.
Michalopoulos must hate himself for being Greek. Seeing that classic Confederate culture does not regard Greeks as being white. That the oldest Greek American associations were formed as self defence committees against the Klan.
The whole article reads like everyone in sundry knows that they’re defeated and losing. All right, fine. Please, do retreat from society. Leave us alone. And take the next step by deactivating all your websites, blogs, and social networking accounts. For my own part, I am true to my heritage. I am a Campbell and Campbells pick the winning side – which isn’t yours.
While realizing that pride is the first of sins, I can assure you that I am exceedingly –how shall I say it?–appreciative of my Hellenic heritage.
I must assume you are a Yankee who knows next to nothing about the South, the place of Greeks within it, racial relations in the South in general or the Ludwell Society.
P.S. Are you aware sir that the term “Greek Revival” refers to an architectural style that was very popular in the South? Or that Southerners gave their sons and daughters Greek names?
The verb “to assume” means “to take as true without proof”. Congratulations, you have used it properly.
I’ve encountered enough Southerners to know that they sick of this nonsense and desperate to get passed it. That this silly Ludwell society does not speak for the South. While Miss Dillingham just plays on Southern stereotypes, and that she isn’t even from the South but is just a LARPer.
Well, “to assume” can mean different things, like “assuming power” as an example.
To break this down, if you’re talking about the people you know from the South, you don’t probably don’t live here. Otherwise, everyone you talk to would be from the South whether you know them or not.
Because you don’t much care for people who share our Southern values, I suspect people from the South aren’t flocking to your side to talk with you about how they feel, as you would likely throw it in their face.
Finally, you obviously don’t like Southerners who feel the way we do, as I don’t see a lot of respect on your side equation with regard to our opinions. So, I guess it makes sense that you would single out a person you clearly don’t know, presuming to know where she comes from (you don’t), and ascribe unflattering motives to her in utter and complete ignorance.
One of our rules is we don’t trash people here.
.
‘The verb “to assume” means “to take as true without proof”.’
It’s not necessarily as simple or tidy as that…
Oxford English Dictionary [OED]:
assume verb
I.
To take unto (oneself), receive, accept, adopt.
I.1.
transitive. To take to be with one, to receive into…
I.2.
† To adopt, choose, elect, to some position. (So in Latin.)…
I.3.
† To take into the body (food, nourishment, etc.). So in…
II.
To take upon oneself, put on, undertake.
II.4.
transitive. To take upon oneself, put on (a garb, aspect…
II.5.
To take to oneself formally (the insignia of office or…
II.6.
(With infinitive) in Law. To undertake, give an undertaking.
III.
To take as being one’s own, to arrogate, pretend to, claim…
III.7.
transitive. To take to oneself as a right or possession; to…
III.8.
To take to oneself in appearance only, to pretend to…
III.9.
(With infinitive) To put forth claims or pretensions; to…
III.10.
transitive. To take for granted as the basis of argument or…
III.11.
Logic. To add the minor premiss to a syllogism. Cf…
First off, I must apologize for overlooking your insight about how ethnic minorities (such as Greeks) were viewed in the South. I know full well where “our place” was in the social hierarchy. Not much different than it was on the North or Midwest for that matter, now that I think about it.
It is ever thus with immigrants & ethnic or racial groups who abut each other. It will continue to be so until the Lord returns. (Ever heard of the middle east or the Ukraine?)
I must disagree with you regarding the Ludwell Society however. There is nothing “silly” or stereotypical. You may not know, but the Society was named after Philip Ludwell III, a wealthy Virginian planter who was the first convert to Orthodoxy to live in America. He also gave an up-and-coming young Virginian his first military commission.
That man’s name? George Washington.
Ludwell’s life is worthy of study. In fact, Matthew Namee has done extensive research on his life. Perhaps it can serve as a springboard for mass conversions of Americans in general (not just Southerners)? Why not?
What is being perpetrated here against the Society (and the South in general) is good old Protestant cherry-picking, wherein critics demonize St Constantine the Great, St Vladimir the Great or whoever Christian ruler (but never King David or Solomon) was not a Boy Scout.
Nobody talks about the freedmen in New England who routinely starved because they had no work.
Try reading the Slavery Narrative Project instead of Abolitionist propaganda.
“Campbells pick the winning side”.
Not always. The head of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll,
ended up adorning the same spike on the Edinburgh Tollbooth
previously occupied by that of the Great Montrose.
As a wandering southerner (born in Virginia), I think there is one cultural aspect of the South that a lot of people have a hard time grasping, and it is the concept of “your place.”
“Know your place.” This is a social aspect of Southern life that permeates the air. “Your people. Your place.” Is VERY strong in the South. Again, this is rooted culturally in the Antebellum period. It wasn’t just black and white. Among whites, there was a strong sense of your stock, “where you are from” is everything. You had to “know your place” and stay in it, and if you didn’t know your place, somebody would show you, sometimes not very nicely.
That hit me in the face when I visited relatives, and then later moved back (North Carolina). Racism was just baked into the cake (with a heavy dose of classism to boot). The movies hype it up to cartoonish proportions, but I didn’t hear the N-word all that much, except in expressions, like a watermelon is a “N— pickle” and “working like a N—-“. or in anger (like when my uncle expressed disbelief that America “put a N—-” in the White House.” The word I usually heard was “Blacks” (or”Nigras” from older folks) in normal conversation. I only heard MLK mentioned once in conversation (the holiday was coming), and the word I heard about him: “Troublemaker.” The racism wasn’t always overt, and yes it did go both ways at times. I got called “White boy” in a few instances, which jarred me out of my CA public school taught idealism.
The idea of “your place.” Having lived in CA for awhile, I moved back to NC, and went to High School. Black people sat on one side of the cafeteria, and white people sat on the other side. That is a usual phenomenon, but what struck me was how there was an unspoken feeling of this being “how things are,” a rigidity that I didn’t encounter in California. I tried to mingle with the black kids, as a new kid, and they were nice enough, but the strong looks I got were of the “you don’t belong here” variety. So I sat with the white kids because that was “my place.”
My mind was blown by that (The Confederate flag stickers were there, but it wasn’t like the movies—-although one anecdote I will say, I saw one of the farm kids wear a t-shirt that said “I have a dream…..” and it was a Confederate flag and a plantation, with the sun rise—-he wore that to school! I kid you not).
This strong sense of “kind and kin” explains the fierce cultural devotion and loyalty of Southerners, and in some senses it can be quite endearing, and even romantic. But I will admit I genuinely don’t understand Neo-Confederate and “Lost Cause” ideology. There is a real dark side to this, rooted in the “Peculiar Institution” but also in the cultural wreckage of Reconstruction, trying to “re-establish” the social order of the Antebellum period through Machine politics, black codes, and an at times a very heavy handed law-enforcement apparatus (rooted in the County. The County Sheriff in the South is a very interesting figure).
I don’t think I have seen a real even-handed account of “the South.” It’s either Uncle Tom’s Cabin turned up to 11, or it’s Scarlett O’Hara sipping a Mint Julip on the porch. I don’t think the bad stuff should be exaggerated, or whitewashed. Black people could have a good life in the South, as long as they knew “their place.” Heck, many whites were kind enough and even benevolent to black people, as long as they “knew their place.”
The racism and classism undergirds the Robert E. Lee on a white horse stuff. I guess my question here is, how can this be celebrated? “Heritage not hate” is a nice slogan, but the social realities in the South paint a more complex and at times very depressing picture. I don’t see how you can separate one from the other. There was a real brutality in Southern life, akin to your dad with the belt in his hand. A real study in contrasts. I think honesty about this is important.
David, I moved to the South 18 years ago from “up north.” I live in a small townhome community that’s 80 percent black. I grew up and lived most of my life in a white community “up north.” The Unz Review had a fascinating article, well footnoted, that I will share here with you. The Civil War is over. It’s 2023…
https://www.unz.com/article/black-people-and-morality/
David, if you don’t think that “knowing your place” (no matter how subtly it is expressed) is a human universal, then I must assume you have never traveled outside of the United States. I have, on several occasions.
As for the North, an anti-Semitic pogrom took place in Crown Heights in the 90s and an anti-Greek one took place in Omaha, Neb. (In Crown Heights, the local black population was angered by the reckless driving habits of a Hasidic Jewish fellow. In Omaha, a Greek immigrant ne’er-do-well shot and killed a local policeman because he made fun of his girlfriend.) Nobody’s hands are clean.
As for the North, the myth of meritocracy based on intangibles irrespective of race or class is now kaput.
St. Petersburg, Russia hit. Part of city in blackout. Fires burning.
There is no “black pill” with Christ. There is always hope, in Him.
One of the themes that I see in this speech is a “warrior” mindset. That somehow, we can “take back the Republic.”
In short, you still “believe.” What if it is God’s will that Christians go into the Wilderness? That we are exiled to Babylon?
What if it is truly over? I think that is the source of the anguish that underpins the MAGA movement. America is in this state because of our sins, no other reason. The 1950s nostalgia anecdote in your speech speaks to the real source of MAGA’s power: Nostalgia. It is a Nostalgia movement, and as such is doomed to failure because there is nothing spiritual underneath. We ourselves can be spiritual, certainly, but that isn’t what is putting wind in MAGA’s sails, I think we all know that.
So many people talk about Orwell and 1984, and the Deep State. In literary circles on dystopias, there was always the debate: Orwell VS. Huxley. I think Huxley was right, and that is why your blog operates freely, and why the “alternative press” is allowed to exist. Because it is set up that way. What might be good and true no longer matters to the world. “They” understand that completely. I would even surmise that “they” get a kick out of reading your stuff. “The truth” is just another commodity, another product. They don’t need to suppress the truth. Just flood “the marketplace” with so much other stuff, that a person doesn’t want it.
There is no “political solution.” The advertisers and pleasure machine operators saw to that, with our complicity. Like in Huxley’s world, Pleasure and Contentment is everything. People will willingly give up their freedom for fleeting joy, like a drug addict. They will even side with the State against Christ, because the Cross threatens their toys. The 1950s was the beginning of all of that, like you see in the show Mad Men (it’s funny, sometimes Hollywood will tell the truth and dress it up as fiction, like they did with “Lord of War”).
I think the time “for fighting” is over. The powdered-wig Minuteman fantasy needs to be destroyed. The Gospel is the solution. If you’re with Christ, nobody or nothing can harm you. As St. Porphyrios says, as long as you have Christ in your heart, they could tattoo 666 all over your body and inject 100 things in you, but it won’t do anything to you.
The inner battle is where energy should be put, not in what “The Deep State” is doing. The real Deep State (Satan) has been there since the beginning. He wears many masks, but it’s the same guy.
It can’t be “truly over.” The antichrist has yet to present himself. Something else to consider: God never wanted us to know when it was over. If He had, Christ would have given us a date. Christ wanted us to focus on the signs. Why? So we could fight them. Not roll over and wait for them to overtake us. Or so it seems to me. Evil has been around since day one and we have been expected to fight it since day one.
Defeatism is simply a tool the evil one uses to sow doubt and thus make us double minded and unstable. That seems to be David’s approach whether it’s the culture wars or Dixie.
He’s entitled to his opinion but beware the tactic.
You, of course, are right.
Here is a parable to underline the point…
There was a man who built his house upon a hill.
It was only a little hill, but still it was a hill.
One day the dam upriver broke and the waters began to rise,
trapping the man and his whole family on the hill.
However, the man was unconcerned.
“The Lord will save us” he said. “I have Faith!”
But still the waters rose,
When they reached the doorstep, a rowing boat came by.
“Jump in” said the rower “and I will save you.”
“We don’t need your saving” said the man. “The Lord will save us.”
The rower rowed away.
But still the waters rose.
When they forced the family upstairs, a motorboat came by.
“Jump in” said the boatman “and I will save you.”
“We don’t need your saving” said the man. “The Lord will save us.”
The motorboat motored away.
But still the waters rose.
When they forced them up onto the roof, a helicopter came by.
The crew lowered a ladder down to them.
“Climb up” shouted the crew “and we will save you.”
“We don’t need your saving” said the man. “The Lord will save us.”
The helicopter flew away.
But still the waters rose;
and the man (and the whole family) drowned.
They went up to the Pearly Gates and rang the bell.
St Peter answered and said: “Who are you?
And why are you here?”
“We were trapped by the rising waters” said the man.
“Having Faith, we prayed to the Lord to save us;
but he didn’t – and we all drowned!”
“Listen!” said St Peter. “The Lord heard your prayers.
He sent you a rowing boat.
He sent you a motorboat.
He sent you a helicopter.
But you refused all three.
Don’t blame the Lord.
The children can come in,
but not the adults.
Goodbye.”
One of my favorite stories!
I didn’t invent the tale, Gail.
It was told to me in a Glasgow pub.
I merely tweaked it a little.
I am aware of the tale. I liked the way you told it!
As Tolkien said of The Lord of the Rings:
“This tale grew in the telling”.
🙂
You Scots certainly have a way with telling a tale!
The Scottish way of telling tales was belittled
as having no value by one Thomas Stearns Eliot,
an American who wanted to be an Englishman
(despite his having a Scottish Borders clan name);
which would seem to suggest, to me at any rate,
that perhaps the aforesaid Mr Eliot was possessed
of a somewhat faulty perspective on matters literary.
Be that as it may, it was in response to such nonsense
that Professor G Gregory Smith formulated the term
Caledonian Antisyzygy, for explanation of which see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Antisyzygy
‘ Caledonian Antisyzygy was first coined by G. Gregory Smith in response to the view – especially that espoused by figures such as T.S. Eliot – that there is no value in Scottish provincial literature, noting an absence of coherence and an anchor in a single language. Smith argued that such diversity or the union of opposites forms the basis of Scottish literature. While merging of opposites is not a unique cultural or racial trait, it is said that such contradiction became apotheosized among the Scots. In his 1919 book Scottish Literature: Character and Influence, Smith wrote:
we find at closer scanning that the cohesion at least in formal expression and in choice of material is only apparent, that the literature is remarkably varied, and that it becomes, under the stress of foreign influence, almost a zigzag of contradictions. The antithesis need not, however, disconcert us. Perhaps in the very combination of opposites—what either of the two Thomases, of Norwich and Cromarty, might have been willing to call “the Caledonian antisyzygy”— we have a reflection of the contrasts which the Scot shows at every turn… we need not be surprised to find that in his literature the Scot presents two aspects which appear contradictory. Oxymoron was ever the bravest figure, and we must not forget that disorderly order is order after all.
The term has since been adopted by figures of the Scottish Renascence of the 1920s such as Christopher Murray Grieve also known as Hugh MacDiarmid. The poet elaborated on the concept in his essay, The Caledonian Antisyzygy and the Gaelic Idea, published in two parts in The Modern Scot 1931–1932. The notion is most frequently cited in reference to the seemingly morally contradictory quality of the works of Robert Louis Stevenson (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) and James Hogg (The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner).
It is suggested that the emergence of Caledonian Antisyzygy as a tradition is associated with postmodernism, which resonates in Scotland not only due to the increasing cultural diversity in Britain but also because this genre features ontological shifts into worlds that are disjunct from reality. Scholars such as Randall Stevenson maintained that the Scottish literature itself often includes narratives that have “antisyzygical splits” or double words/double narratives as demonstrated in the case of Jekyll and Hyde as well as the focus on the contrasts between the Highlands and the Lowlands, Protestantism and Catholicism, Britishness and Scottishness, and others. ‘
Unfortunately, however, there is another side to this.
There exists a pathological fringe who have sadly
dominated Scottish politics and media for far too long:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caledonian_Antisyzygy
‘ A disparaging interpretation refers to Caledonian Antisyzygy as the state of anguished examination of conscience and consciousness – a troubled posturing – that characterizes the mindset of Scottish intellectuals. ‘
These are those that (like the aforesaid Mr Eliot)
would dearly love to become proper Englishmen,
instead of being the merely inferior copies of such
that they conceive themselves to be.
Of such were those aspiring Edinburgh parents
during the so-called “Scottish Enlightenment”
who employed actors to teach their daughters
how to enunciate like genteel English ‘ladies’.
Of such were those who, like David Hume,
employed scribblers to fine-comb their works
removing any Scotticisms that they found therein
which might perhaps jar an ‘educated’ English ear.
There is a name for this abject phenomenon:
The Scottish Cringe, for explanation of which see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_cringe
The poor-spirited sufferers of this condition insist
that an independent Scotland can never survive
because it is far too small and far too poor.
To which counsel of despair, I would respond with
the following poem from the late Hugh MacDiarmid:
‘Scotland small?’
Scotland small? Our multiform, our infinite Scotland small?
Only as a patch of hillside may be a cliché corner
To a fool who cries ‘Nothing but heather!’ where in September another
Sitting there and resting and gazing around
Sees not only the heather but blaeberries
With bright green leaves and leaves already turned scarlet,
Hiding ripe blue berries; and amongst the sage-green leaves
Of the bog-myrtle the golden flowers of the tormentil shining;
And on the small bare places, where the little Blackface sheep
Found grazing, milkworts blue as summer skies;
And down in neglected peat-hags, not worked
Within living memory, sphagnum moss in pastel shades
Of yellow, green, and pink; sundew and butterwort
Waiting with wide-open sticky leaves for their tiny winged prey;
And nodding harebells vying in their colour
With the blue butterflies that poise themselves delicately upon them;
And stunted rowans with harsh dry leaves of glorious colour.
‘Nothing but heather!’ ̶ How marvellously descriptive! And incomplete!
David , you stated:
David and Janet,
One could divide America’s “sins” into two categories. The “sins” of the secularists and pagans, and the “sins” of Christians in being complicit and complacent toward the secularist and pagan “sins” of, say, abortion, human trafficking, or LGBTQ indoctrination of children. I urge you both to read my “Open Letter to Our Shepherds” posted in Orthodox Reflections (https://orthodoxreflections.com/an-open-letter-to-our-shepherds/), in which I plead with our Orthodox hierarchs to cease from their complicity and complacency toward secularist and pagan attacks on our faith, families and freedoms, and to start leading the Church by example.
As George’s speech points out, there is no place left to hide. We either courageously defend the faith, our families and our freedoms or capitulate to the “sins” of militant secularists and pagans of fear and intimidation. In as much as the Church goes along to get along, we become participants of their “sins.” This is the way of apostasy.
For the record, I received not one reply from hierarchs, but multiple relies of concern from a very leaderless laity. Their dilemma led me to write an article for Orthodox Reflections, “Now That You’re Awake: 110 Things You Can Do”:
https://orthodoxreflections.com/now-that-youre-awake-110-things-you-can-do/.
I pray they help you transform your angst into faith in action.
Thanks for posting the links. Must read for everyone.
Hilber, very well said.
David, are you sure you read my speech? I nowhere said that we should take the Black Pill. Quite the contrary.
Because I am not a theologian, I presented a picture of the present –and the future–by wearing the historian’s hat. This was a speech I could have given to a secular society for that matter.
That being said, I do recognize that the devil is at work; I actually said so. So your criticism in this respect rings hollow. Regardless of the fact that there are dark spiritual forces at work, I nowhere said to simply give up. I did say that every man is called to act in a prudent manner. The manner, place and type of every Christian’s persecution –and how he reacts to it–will be different for every person. In fact, we should discern God’s will; it may be alright for us to push back and even win a battle or two.
In any event, I ended my speech by saying “sursam cordam” (lift up your hearts).
The fighting will not end until the Lord comes back and sets thing right. However the method on how we fight I think is the key. All men’s lives are like the grass in the field, it’s born, it grows then dies. The things of the world are temporary and they will end but God is eternal. We must fight the evil one the same way that the Glorious Saints and Martyrs did. With faith and the truth even if it costs us our lives. St Sophia and her daughters Vera,Lubov and Nadonezh I think is a good example of how the battle must be fought. I feel that we must focus on fighting our passions and if we do that then God will ensure our victory. IMHO if we obey God’s commandments then by this others will be saved. The key to victory is to go to Divine Liturgy every Sunday, fast, pray and give alms. Teach the children the Faith. Help the children develop a faith that is unbreakable and unshakable. Help and teach the children how to resist the evils in the schools. This can be done if we make sure they go to church and make sure that the children have a living faith in the home. Please forgive my rambling I seem to do that more these days. Lord have mercy
Please, ramble on.
Very thought provoking words.
One thought you missed out on when talking of “investing in lead”: invest in level IV body armor while it’s still legal in your state. If you are ever forced to confront a professional military formation they will have body armor. You won’t. That makes your lead more like BBs.
Let’s hope it never gets there, of course. But if we’re to talk being prepped for doomsday scenarios, it’s important not to leave that off the list.
I’ll meet the military formation wearing a cassock and holding an Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos!
I will meet the military with my humanness. I dare not wear a cassock or pretend I am a saint.
Saint Maria of Paris (who was martyred in 1945) said that if the Nazis came to her door searching for Jews, she would show them a Jew she was harboring: an icon of the Mother of God.
And St. Maria’s associate, the priest St. Dimitri Klepinin, actually had this chance to testify when he was interrogated by the Gestapo officer Hans Hoffman:
Hoffman: If we release you, will you give your word never again to aid Jews?
Father Dimitri: I can do no such thing. I am a Christian and must act as I must. (Hoffman struck the priest across the face.)
Hoffman: Jew lover! How dare you talk of helping those swine as being a Christian duty! Father Dimitri: (holding up the cross from his cassock): Do you know this Jew?
For this Father Dimitri was knocked to the floor.
https://www.acrod.org/orthodox-christianity/articles/saints/stmaria
I can only pray I would have
the strength to do the same.
The National Cathedral in D.C. replaced stained glass depicting Confederate figures with racial justice themes.
https://cathedral.org/discover/programs/racial-social-justice/windows/
I’ve always been taken aback by the freedom with which our governing and cultural powers-that-be call that grand (and quite beautiful) gothic cathedral-style building in northwest Washington DC our “National Cathedral.”
That fact is so not true – America has no state religion or faith. Calling any building in Washington DC our “National Cathedral” is directly contradictory to the reality upon which America was founded. I guess it may have been OK when America was a de facto (if not de jure) conservative protestant nation and when the “National Cathedral” was a conservative protestant cathedral, but that’s obviously no longer the case.
But maybe the need to call the building our “National Cathedral” serves a deeper reality — that we humans are indeed worshipping beings created by God to worship Him, and that it is in our human nature to *need* and to *desire* a “National Cathedral” in whatever country we live in, to serve as a cultural reference point of the God whom we worship. I do believe this statement.
But if that’s the case, I vote that we make our “National Cathedral” be one of the beautiful Orthodox Cathedrals in Washington DC, like St Nicholas Cathedral which is right around the corner from this “woke” beautiful gothic building that you’re talking about.
Which religion does this national cathedral serve? Hagia Sophia as a mosque is less desecrated than the official cathedral of Babylon.
The National Cathedral is the bishop’s seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington (D.C.). I visited the cathedral in the late ’90s. One ironic fact about the grand edifice is plain to see when you stand in the long center aisle looking east toward the chancel (altar). The aisle skews left!
One can see from their website that the cathedral staff is a veritable cornucopia of Wokeness. Mariann Budde, the progressive bishopess of the diocese, said this to a Lutheran minister in 2003: “The full inclusion of lesbians and gays wasn’t something we thought up on our own. God led us to this place. It has not been an easy road. And some day you will thank us because we are making it easier for you to do the same. This is our treasure. This is our treasure.” The god who led TEC to that “place” is undoubtedly not the God of the Holy Trinity.
https://virtueonline.org/bishop-mariann-buddes-fantasy-theology-her-manipulation-christian-faith
Budde is also known for having a tizzy fit against Pres. Trump during the “Summer of Floyd”, when BLM rioters set fire to St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House. According to the enlightened prelate, blame belonged not to the thugs, but rather to the police who used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Mariann Budde: “The full inclusion of lesbians and gays wasn’t
something we thought up on our own. God led us to this place. ”
Which God would that be then?
The National Cathedral is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington (D.C.). It’s a mammoth, gothic edifice that sits on a hill overlooking our nation’s capital – an architectural indication of the erstwhile prominence of the Episcopal Church in nation’s politics. One quarter of our American presidents have been Episcopalians, e.g. George Washington, James Madison, James Monroe, and a few lesser-known presidents of the nineteenth century: Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, Pierce, & Arthur. As for the twentieth century, Franklin Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush were Episcopalians.
You’ve probably seen the cathedral on television during funerals for famous Americans like John McCain III. I visited the cathedral in the late ’90s and noticed one ironic detail, i.e., the long center aisle skews left as one looks east toward the chancel (altar)! That is an inadvertent architectural detail that would suggest another truth. The cathedral staff is a veritable cornucopia of Wokeness. The bishopess herself, Mariann Budde, is a rabid liberal who promotes all things LGBTQ and who castigated Pres. Trump for his appearance at St. John’s Church near the White House during the “Summer of Floyd”.
I had not intended to comment twice here, but the first one went into suspended animation on my computer, so I wrote the second one just in case.
German Official Wants Nord Stream 1 Repaired
in Case of Potential Energy Shortages
https://thedeepdive.ca/german-official-wants-nord-stream-1-repaired-in-case-of-potential-energy-shortages/
‘ The Minister-President of the German state Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, is calling for urgent repairs to the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline that connects Germany to Russia, after it was severely damaged in an explosion last September.
Kretschmer emphasized in an interview with Germany’s WirtschaftsWoche magazine that if not addressed promptly, seawater infiltration could lead to irreparable damage.
He went on to highlight the long-term importance of the infrastructure, noting it could “secure our energy supply in five or ten years.” He expressed that repairing the pipeline — draining the water, sealing it, and ensuring its safety— is a logical and necessary step, especially in the face of future geopolitical uncertainty. “Keeping as many options open for yourself as possible would be a sign of a smart politician,” he added. … ‘
Looks like the worm might just be for turning…
Yes, economic efficiency will eventually win the day. Political figures come and go, as do alliances. Resources are more static.
This is really what the Ukraine War is all about. It’s not about defending democracy or freedom. It’s not about containing Russia’s physical expansion. It’s about repelling Russia’s economic expansion over Europe. The fear is not that if Russia wins, it will invade Poland, Romania, etc. The fear is that if Russia wins it will have demonstrated its regional superiority over NATO and thus European countries will be engaging in deeper economic ties with Russia, rebuilding the NS pipelines and other conduits of Russian energy and commodities.
Economic warfare is quite real. In fact, there’s almost always an economic facet to any major conflict. The difference with this conflict – the reason it has not escalated into a direct military conflict between the US and RF – is that both sides studiously avoid the military facet due to a fear of nuclear engagement. But the entire spectrum of economic and hybrid war, short of direct military engagement, is being utilized. That is why the US is currently mired in demagogic Russophobia: The US considers us just as much at war as we were in WWII; it’s just that the nuclear deterrent of the major powers puts a damper on certain methods of waging war.
In addition to everything you mentioned, it’s also about moral superiority. Russia has it. They don’t.
Tis true.
The moral superiority demonstrated by Russia
was hard-earned under Leninism and Yeltsinism.
Similar lessons will shortly be learned by the West
as the delusions of its Woke ideology are seen to fail.
I watched part of a video interview by Judge Napolitano where his guest attributed Western animus toward Russia as “racism”. I think this misses the mark but it’s in the ballpark. One could chalk it up to tribalism, but even that is not quite accurate.
The West was fine with Russia so long as it was content with being plundered by oligarchs, Western as well as Russian. The West never accepted Russia as a peer, but that is true of most all countries the US deals with. As long as Russia was content to be subservient and echo Liberal values, it was not seen as a threat.
Then Putin, seeing their real intentions, turned on the West. The Church had already become reinvigorated and increasingly influential in politics on issues of morality. And Putin saw the writing on the wall, elevating traditionalism to a hill he was willing to die on, given demographic realities. But all during this time, the West pushed its military alliance eastward. This really began fairly early in the Clinton Administration and continued through the bombing of Serbia and attempts at revolution in Eastern Europe.
The fundamental issue is religion, not ethnicity. That is what divides the Ukraine and it is what divides Slavic Central and Eastern Europe. It cannot be openly spoken of in the West because it is highly embarrassing to the secular mentality that it has set its sights on a religious tradition which it seems incapable of effectively subverting (besides Islam, with which it constantly denies it is at war). Religion is supposed to be irrelevant and to just fade away.
Roman Catholicism morphed into Protestantism, which morphed into Western Liberalism. Now, there’s not a penny’s worth of difference between the mainline varieties of all three. They may use some different verbiage and symbols, but it’s all the same. And this holds true for the Phanar as well, under their new ecclesiology and woke policies.
But real Eastern Orthodoxy is quite different. It is patriarchal and finds perversion to be an abomination. It is also largely ethnocentric in that it is composed, mostly, of national local churches whose bonds of religion and ethnic culture are practically inseparable.
This is anathema to Western Liberalism. Practically every woke assertion is directly contradicted by the Orthodox faith. Islam and Hinduism are the same way, as is the fascist Confucianism extant in China. In fact, parts of Catholic and Pentacostal Latin America hold similar mores as do many in sub-Saharan Africa.
The West has been very slow to turn on China because, theoretically, China has a foundation with which they could work and even be comfortable. It is officially secular and socialist. Even its Confucianism is more philosophical than religious. Yet it remains substantially patriarchal, anti-perv, ethnocentric and, above all, nationalist. Moreover, it’s only real sin that is recognized across the political spectrum is its alliance with Russia.
But even at that, no one is really talking about invading or breaking up China the way they have talked about Russia. It’s all saber-rattling regarding Taiwan and espionage. This is merely a feint to keep an extra enemy in the wings in case it is needed. America needs an external boogeyman to cover the machinations of its corrupt rulers. They are content to wage economic warfare to the extent necessary to prevent China from becoming too powerful, much as they did with Japan.
But regarding Russia, it is clearly a civilizational conflict between an Orthodox nationalist value system and a Liberal globalist value system.
And so each person can decide which side, if any, they support.
Well said.
Orthodoxy tells the State, as she tells the globalists:
“Be you ever so high, there is One above you.”
And that they cannot abide.
“Resources are more static. This is really
what the Ukraine War is all about.”
Indeed. Geography is the study of distributions:
of people, resources, life etc across all the Earth.
Economics, politics, trade, warfare (even history)
are in reality all functions of geography.
People here want the control of resources there,
giving as little consideration to the people there
as they think they can get away with.
Putin clearly understands this fundamental fact
about the nature of the world in which we live.
Western ‘leaders’ (with their pointless PhDs
in Political Science) have failed to grasp it;
which is why Putin is winning and they are not.
Meanwhile, back to the front:
Russian Reconnaissance Team Destroys Leopard Tank
in Special Op Zone With Fully-German Crew
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230923/russian-reconnaissance-team-destroys-leopard-tank-in-special-op-zone-with-fully-german-crew-1113608814.html
LUGANSK (Sputnik) – A Russian reconnaissance team has destroyed a German-supplied Leopard tank of the Ukrainian military with a crew comprised of Bunderswehr soldiers in the Zaporozhye direction, the team lead with the moniker Legend told Sputnik on Saturday.
“When we curbed another offensive and ATGM-ed [destroyed with an anti-tank guided missile] the Leopard, we moved out to the burned vahicle hoping to seize the ‘tongue.’ Then we saw that the crew’s driver-mechanic was severely injured and the others were dead. Once he awoke, the mechanic started yelling ‘nicht schießen’ [“do not shoot” in German],” the head of the reconnaissance team said.
“The mechanic repeatedly stated that he was not a mercenary but a Bundeswehr serviceman, and that he and the rest of the crew were members of the same unit of the German army,” the Russian fighter said, adding that while receiving medical aid, the German soldier named his brigade and its dislocation site.
The tank’s driver died from wounds minutes after he was found despite efforts to save him.
Breaking: RFK Jr. to Announce Independent Run for U.S. President
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-announcement-independent-run-u-s-president/?utm_source=luminate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=defender&utm_id=20230929
According to Mediaite, which broke the story late this afternoon, a “campaign insider” revealed that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Children’s Health Defense founder and chairman on leave, will announce a third-party run for president on Oct. 9 in Philadelphia.
‘ Media outlets today reported that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to announce he will run as an Independent for president of the U.S.
According to Mediaite, which broke the story late this afternoon, a “campaign insider” revealed that Kennedy will make the announcement on Oct. 9 in Philadelphia, because he “feels that the DNC [Democratic National Committee] is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go.”
Kennedy is the founder and chairman on leave from Children’s Health Defense. He announced his run for the Democratic nomination for president on April 20, in Boston, with the promise to “reduce chronic disease in children.”
Kennedy launched his campaign with a two-hour speech that covered a wide range of issues — everything from his family’s history in American politics, to the military-industrial complex, to widespread censorship, and to the attacks on civil liberties, the environment and public health.
Throughout his speech, Kennedy frequently referred to how all of these issues directly affect children.
He reminded the audience of the obligation America’s leaders have to protect children — from toxic pesticides, from dangerous pharmaceuticals and from the “corrupt merger of state and corporate power” that rob future generations of their health and of their ability to achieve financial security.
Kennedy, who has a long and successful career as an environmental attorney, decried the attack on the environment by corporate polluters. He told the crowd:
“If we want to meet our obligation as a generation, as a civilization, as a nation, which is to create communities for our children that provide them with the same opportunities for dignity and enrichment and prosperity and good health as the communities that our parents gave us, we’ve got to start by protecting our environmental infrastructure.
“If we want to measure our economy … we ought to be measuring it based upon how it produces jobs and the dignity of jobs over the generations, and how it preserves the value of the assets of our community.”
He also had harsh words for the pandemic lockdown policies, which he said were “a war on American children,” citing a Brown University study that found toddlers lost 22 IQ points.
The Defender was unable to reach Kennedy for comment by press time but will have more details as the story develops. ‘
Of course, The Defender is a Children’s Health Defense journal,
so perhaps the story may have some elements of truth in it…
🙂
I found this amusing. Costco is selling gold bars at slightly above weight value and they are selling out immediately. Now, I am no investment advisor but I have said for well over a year that smart people should be buying gold. You’re starting to see it everywhere. Turley is hawking it. Redacted is hawking it.
The reason is that the dollar is in jeopardy and no one really knows how bad it will get. Could be minor to moderate. Could be more like Weimar. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’m not pointing anyone in any direction regarding vendors. And other precious metals and things of innate historical value may also be worth considering (land, diamonds, platinum, etc.).
Not bad advice, but remember: Gold, silver, etc. are not currencies with which one can purchase necessities unless there is a buyer or someone willing to barter goods for it. Owning gold might ‘feel’ good, but it is not much different than any other investment. You have to sell it eventually if you want to use it to purchase something, and that requires a willing buyer who will likely want to purchase it at a discount v. market value.
We should all buy those mini liquor bottles they sell and put shots in them. Bet they would be good for bartering when it all hits the fan.
It’s only good for preserving larger amounts of wealth since historically it has retained its value in whatever remains of civilization. If no civilization remains, there is a different program which we need not discuss.
I’ve never had problems exchanging it regardless of the economic status. In fact, the more pessimistic the outlook, the more eager are buyers to acquire it. Now, that being said, in a Mad Max, zombie pocklips scenario, all that retains value are food, fuel, clothing, shelter and weapons. Weapons and food taking precedence.