Category: Philosophy

The ‘Z Blog’ continues to post articles that will have you looking at the challenges of our times at slightly different angles. I don’t know if the arguments they introduce and the theories they expound are founded in sound social theory but if your looking for a voice of a different tenor you’ll want to take a look. Their site here. Below is a little piece I snatched from their pages.

Because all societies begin low and violent, purity and grandeur arise from distance from their origin. The rulers and the people must put distance between themselves and the origins of their people, in order to give purpose to the perpetuation of their people, but they can never be disconnected from their origins. Instead, they mythologize them in order to both disguise the reality of their beginnings, but celebrate themselves as part of the natural order. The origin myth is a pretty lie that keeps us looking forward.

The most obvious example of how this works is the Lincoln fetish we see with our ruling class in America. Both sides venerate Lincoln and the Gettysburg address, The Civil War has been cast as the second founding, a purification ritual that addressed the original sin of slavery and republicanism in the founding. Rather than being seen as a break from the founding, which is surely was, it is a continuation of it. Lincoln the usurper, is replaced with Lincoln the saint, who saved the republic.

The Gettysburg Address now holds more emotional power for our elites than the actual founding documents. At some level, Lincoln certainly knew he was a usurper and that speech is pretty good proof of it. He allegedly jotted it down without much thought, but it shows all the signs of a man who knew he destroyed the old order and was now tasked with creating a new one. Starting with a lie about his own motivations was the most obvious place to start. It was the usurper announcing his victory.

Every time I hear of a conservative justice voting along with liberal justices on any given decision, I think that this is the way the court was meant to be. It should be manned with folk that apply their knowledge and intellect to the issues, weigh them against the constitution, and decide. I want them to vote on what they believe the law is and not determine the worthiness of a decision based on where a conservative or liberal label dictates they should be.

That you would see Gorsuch vote along with liberals tell you all you need to know about his worthiness to serve. That you never see the other justices ‘cross over’ also shows their worthiness (or lack thereof).

I saw this over at Mike’s place (ht Mike) and thought how much simpler life would be if we all adhered to them.

I like reading Nietzsche for his wit and the simple manner he had in addressing philosophical subjects. He died way to young and and his candle had burned itself out by 1889 when he suffered a complete loss of his mental faculties (he went friggin nuts). He was 44 at that time but lived another 11 years under the care of his mother and sister.

There is both good and bad in his works and most will find something disagreeable if they read enough of him. I expect that’s what happens when you push the envelope. His view on socialism is interesting in that he nails both the methods it employs and characterizes the ‘half educated’ that find it attractive.