Category Archives: Desert

1694: The Year the World Changed

Longish, but hugely instructive article. 

Here are two quotes: 

“This is where the neuropsychiatrist Iain McGilchrist enters. He argues that Western civilization has suffered a catastrophic imbalance—a dominance of the left hemisphere’s mode of attention. The left brain fragments, abstracts, and re-presents the world as a static, manipulable system. It mistakes its own symbols for reality. The right brain perceives the whole—the living, the embodied, the sacred. But when the left brain dominates, it builds a machine that cannot see what it is destroying.”

“The irony was almost biblical. William III had taken the throne to preserve Protestant Christendom. But the financial architecture he signed into existence would eventually hollow out that Christendom from within. The king who fought to keep the old faith in power had inadvertently signed its death warrant. The system he built did not care whether its debtors were Catholic or Protestant—it cared only about yield, security, and return. In doing so, it replaced the cross with the balance sheet.”

In other words: When (not if) our current banking system collapses, the path will be open for a world-wide revival. 

Afterthought: 

William III’s relying on merchants who pressured him into doing something deeply dishonest – instead of relying on God, reminds me of the prophets’ warnings towards Israel (or Judah) against relying on support from Egypt against Assyria, instead of relying on God. Similar outcome, too, in the long term. 

Thomas Carlyle’s ‘Past & Present:’ How The Decline of the West Started Centuries Ago

The War on Beauty posted this 23-minute video. And writes in the description:

“Thomas Carlyle’s ‘Past and Present’ is one of the most unique books I have ever read. It is a prophetic look at the root causes of what was beginning to tear down the core of specifically English, but ultimately European, society. With growing atheism, idleness and Dilettantism, and mammon-worship, Europe went from Heroic and True to Un-Heroic and living in a “sham,” in just a few short centuries–a reality which is only just coming into full fruition now.”

See also: Thomas Carlyle for Beginners: Where to Start (35 minutes).

The Year 2100 and All That

Article by Gary North.

Excerpt:

We look around us and see trends. Some of these trends seem irreversible. But are they? They seem comprehensive. But are they? How much reliance should we place in them? Will they really shape our lives and the world we live in?

Almost 50 years ago, my professor Robert Nisbet wrote a classic article: “The Year 2000 and All That.” It was published in the Jewish intellectual magazine, Commentary, although it was in no way Jewish. 

Continue reading here.

“These People are Crazy:” Climate Science and the Cult of Self-Loathing

Article by Terry L. Headley.

When environmental advocacy slips into narratives that portray human existence as inherently destructive, it crosses the line into Malthusian madness. A civilization that internalizes self-contempt risks forfeiting the confidence necessary to solve complex problems. Stewardship should flow from gratitude for human capacity, not hostility toward it. The challenge of managing environmental impact in a world of billions requires realism, innovation, and balance. It does not require embracing a philosophy that treats progress as sin. A healthy society can pursue cleaner technologies while affirming the dignity, creativity, and resilience of the human person. 

Antonio Gramsci’s long march through history

This article contains this:

In Gramsci’s own words, he viewed the task thus: “Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity. … In the new order, Socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches, and the media by transforming the consciousness of society.”

That however is somewhat of a misrepresentation of what Gramsci said, according to this article. A quote from this:

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The fake Gramsci quote (on “capturing the culture”) is often combined with a real Gramsci quote (on Christian socialism). I’ve bolded the real portion:

Any country grounded in Judaeo-Christian values can’t be overthrown until those roots are cut. [….] Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity. [….] In the new order, socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches and the media by transforming the consciousness of society.

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