Tag: consumerism

4,631 words

While mankind suffers through the worst global crisis in recent memory, the rest of the world appears to be benefiting from our discomfiture.

The quarantines, travel bans, and economic stagnation brought about by COVID-19 have had a number of unintended consequences for the natural environment: improvements in air quality resulting from the reduction of major pollutants such as nitrous oxide and greenhouse gases; cleaner waterways (most famously the canals of Venice); and the return of wildlife to humanized landscapes. (more…)

Hendrick ter Brugghen, Heraclitus, 1628

2,226 slov

English original here

Poznámka autora: Následuje text části přednášky z 15. srpna 1996 z kurzu pro dospělé v Atlantě, který jsem vedl během svého doktorského studia. Celá přednáška byla podstatně delší a mluvil jsem při ní mj. o Rousseauovi, Kantovi, Schillerovi nebo Hegelovi.

Proč jsme se tu dnes večer sešli? (more…)

2,922 words

Lords of Chaos (2018)
Directed by Jonas Åkerlund
Starring Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, Jack Kilmer, & Sky Ferreira
Written by Dennis Magnusson & Jonas Åkerlund, based on the book by Michael Moynihan & Didrik Søderlind

The book Lords of Chaos by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind, and published by Feral House, is a masterpiece that everyone should read. The film, unfortunately, is not something everyone should see.

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Wal-Mart on Black Friday, the free trade utopia

2,208 words

For all of the subtle grace that distinguishes Japanese civilization, the esoteric gabble of Western diplomacy seems to elude its leaders. Every few months, some titan of Tokyo pronounces his low opinion of America and Americans, unveiling his view that our schools are dreadful, our racial minorities backward, our politicians crooks, or our workers lazy. (more…)

1,213 words

Many White Nationalists say America is becoming nothing more than a place to shop. This is especially true on that quintessential American holiday: Black Friday.

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2,345 words

My Little Pony: The Movie has surely been a test and a crisis for the franchise and its creators. Has it succumbed to the enormous pressure to cuck out, and dilute its themes and formula with “poz”? Or have the show and the Mane Six retained their integrity through the quantum leap to the big screen?

Thankfully, there is little here to complain about. Unlike previous spin-offs of the Equestria Girls movies set in the relative narrative isolation of an American high school, My Little Pony: The Movie is set in Equestria with a capital E, (more…)

Werner Sombart

1,385 words

Translated by G. A. Malvicini

Werner Sombart is an author who deserves to be studied more than he currently is. Sombart furnishes an example of a serious method for studying socio-economic phenomena, one that is far removed from the deformations and biases of materialist sociology (especially of the Marxist type). For Sombart, even economic life is composed of a body and a soul. (more…)

1,296 words

Czech version here

Translated by G. A. Malvicini

They say that in a non-European country, but with an old civilization, an American company, lamenting the lack of assiduousness of the local work force, thought it had come up with an effective incentive: doubling the workers’ hourly wages. (more…)

Gerrit Dou, The Moneylender, 1664

4,165 words

Editor’s Note:

The following essay on Jewish materialism is excerpted from When Victims Rule, chapter 5, “Yicchus (Status),” formerly on the Jewish Tribal Review website. I have removed the in-text citations for easier reading and added the title.

Jewish pride and concern for status and material affluence has a long history. There is a Yiddish word for it: yicchus, (more…)

Hendrick ter Brugghen, Heraclito, 1628

2,730 words

English original here

Nota del editor:

Este es el texto de una charla que di el 15 de agosto de 1996, a una clase de educación adulta que yo llevaba adelante en Atlanta hace tiempo cuando estaba estudiando. Recuerdo que la lección original era más extensa, incluyendo discusiones sobre Rousseau, Kant, Schiller, y Hegel. Si aparece una cinta, la doblaré y pondré a disposición.  (more…)

Hendrick ter Brugghen, Heraclitus, 1628

2,731 words

Spanish translation here, Czech translation here

Editor’s Note:

This is the text of a talk that I gave on August 15, 1996 to an adult education class that I used to run in Atlanta, way back when I was in graduate school. I recall that the actual lecture was much longer and involved discussions of Rousseau, Kant, Schiller, and Hegel. If a tape comes to light, I will dub it and make it available. 

Why do we meet as we do? (more…)

Aristoteles vor der Universität von Thessaloniki, Griechenland.

3,006 words

Übersetzt von Deep Roots

English original here

In einem früheren Essay teilte ich zehn Aphorismen aus „meinem Kodex“ mit. Falls euch dieser Essay entgangen ist, sage ich nur, daß ich vor ein paar Jahren beschloß, einen Kodex zu erstellen, um danach zu leben. Wie die meisten Dinge, die ich tue, verwandelte sich das in ein größeres Projekt, und ich sammelte schließlich Nuggets „praktischer Weisheit“ aus allen möglichen Quellen: Aristoteles, die Stoiker und Epikureer, die Eddas und Sagas, (more…)