2,480 words
“War is father of all, and king of all. He renders some gods, others men; he makes some slaves, others free.” — Heraclitus
Compliance measures and social trust are two key elements in any society, the ratio of which is a good indicator of how productive the people in it are and what the level of the general welfare looks like. Compliance measures usually come with threats to motivate compliant responses.
As compliance measures multiply, so do the threats that back them up. (more…)
4,270 words
David Lean (1908–1991) directed sixteen movies, fully half of them classics, including three of the greatest films ever made: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and, greatest of them all, Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Lawrence of Arabia is repeatedly ranked as one of the finest films of all time, and when one compares it to such overpraised items as Citizen Kane and Casablanca, a strong case can be made for putting it at the very top of the list. (more…)
Dimitar Pandilov, Harvesters, 1936.
2,226 words
Let’s talk about nationalism.
You’ve probably been told that there are two kinds of nationalism: ethnic and civic. This is true. You’ve probably been told that nationalism is a Left-wing phenomenon. This is partially true. (more…)
Oscar Benavides
1,045 words
For my friends, anything.
For my enemies, the law.
That epigram is attributed to a fellow named Oscar Benavides. Señor Benavides during the 1930s was the President of a Banana Republic with the official name of Peru. I stumbled across this cynical, but candid stab at a compressed management philosophy recently and concluded that it should be the entirety of Joe Biden’s Inaugural Address later this January. (more…)
Johann Peter Krafft, The Siege of Szigetvár, 1825.
5,125 words
The bad news is the bad news — the stories we’ve seen and heard in the past few months, years, decades that all keep warning us of more to come. The good news is that these times of transition provide us with opportunities for clarity and fresh perspectives on historical and social phenomena (more…)
1,613 words
The enemy is not merely any competitor or just any partner of a conflict in general. He is also not the private adversary whom one hates. An enemy exists only when, at least potentially, one fighting collectivity of people confronts a similar collectivity. (more…)
3,590 words
Have you ever wanted to watch a movie where a 72-year-old man engages in gratuitous violence against racially-defined enemies? Rambo: Last Blood delivers. In this world of remakes, reboots, and endless installments of cash-cow franchises, Rambo: Last Blood is refreshingly current and lucid, even if it is a product of its time and rehashing culture.
Now, when I say current and lucid, I’m not gonna say fresh. The film is an Irish stew of plot devices that is surprisingly nourishing. (more…)
2,947 words
Contrary to conventional wisdom, race isn’t a concept, construct, or any other type of trite postmodern abstraction, but rather a scientifically-proven, biological fact. (more…)