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| Silverfiddle Rant! |
"This is positively Biblical. Gaia is God in this scenario, coming to punish us for our sins."
Brendan O'Neill nails the Greens who are screaming like a pack of 19th Century Millenarians that the end is nigh. It disturbs me to see the tastemakers and thought leaders express a nostalgia for the bad old days and craving a need for sacrifice.
"This is a new moment,” said Jon Meacham, a historian and author of The Soul of America. “Prolonged sacrifice isn’t something we’ve been asked to do, really, since World War II,” Meacham said.”Here's another example:
“We used to tax in times of crisis. Now we don’t,” Zelizer said. “We asked people to ration in times of crisis. Now we don’t. We asked people to serve in times of crisis. Now we don’t. So this is a sea change. The thing is, Americans might not have a choice.”
The Infotainment Media Complex collective has been displaying signs of repressed guilt for a long time. Purges, cleanses, public shaming, struggle sessions, and virtue signalling...
Their consciences must be filthy, and all the ambien in the world cannot silence the rusty chains rattling in the dark night of their blinkered souls.
Marginally Related: Virus causes surge in WW II references, but is it merited?
Marginally Related: Virus causes surge in WW II references, but is it merited?
Yep. The Malthusians are having a field day.
ReplyDeleteAnd those who can't believe in a God who created everything, imagine a god who is reacting to our infestation of her skin.
Yes, Ed. I'm not sure who the "Malthusians" might be, but I'm reasonably sure that the less we dwell on everything we perceive as wrong, and the more we strive to focus prayerfulattention on the goodness and absolute perfection of almighty God the better off we are bound to find ourselves to be –– regardless of the maelstrm of malice, confusion and and stupidity that swirls around us in a land that has either forgotten –– or never had the blessing of regarding reliance on God's Holy Word as of paramount importance.
Delete"Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you"
Franco,
DeleteI looked up Malthusian in Wikipedia. You'll get the basic idea. Ain't pretty!
Malthusianism
DeleteOh I understood its pejorative connotatins right away, but didn't know its origins. Thank you very much for helping to round out my meager store of specific knoledge.
Delete"nostalgia for the bad old days..."
ReplyDeletetell me about it. British (more precisely, English & Welsh) politics has grown increasingly intoxicated on the Blitz spirit in recent years. "We got through the war, we can get through this," whatever "this" is. Makes me want to grab them by the lapels and yell a few truths into their complacent faces (obviously not in this era of social distancing):
1) No we didn't. Plenty of us didn't get through the war. Don't forget that.
2) No we didn't. It wasn't you, boomer, it was your parents.
3) No we didn't. The war bankrupted us, that's why we're not a major global power any more.
4) Even if we did, no we didn't vote for it: self-inflicted injury on such a scale would have been, and still is, perverse.
Jez,
DeleteWhat is Brendan O'Neill's standing in the UK? I have been a big fan of Spiked and his Podcast for a long time, and I understand he is a Leftwing socialist contrarian who is horrified at herd-think and political correctness gripping the west. Just curious how Brits view him. Seems he's an outcast since he's broken with the orthodoxy.
All species of life appear regulated by a natural order. There is almost an accordion-like effect. Whenever there is an abundance of food and water, we find an increase in the populations that are sustained by it. In the absence of food and water, there is a decrease in those same populations. Reptiles, for example, lay fewer eggs in times of scarce food sources or draught. I wish I had a better understanding of how these creatures know when to curtail the numbers of their offspring. I find it quite amazing. Human populations, on the other hand, seem regulated by only two things: disease and war.
DeleteI won’t underemphasize the seriousness of this newest virus. It kills people. People who are loved and cherished by others. It is scary from the standpoint of a mother who worries about her children. No parent wants to outlive their children. Still, I maintain that statistically, so far, Covid-19 is no worse than seasonal flu. The rate of infection and death appear to be about the same (.043 to .047). So, I question the “panic”. We humans are so intolerably arrogant that we think of ourselves unfairly victimized by natural events. Sometimes the answer the question “why” is simply “because.” And if this newest iteration of virus is so awful, one would think that we would come together in our common circumstances, but no ... we have some, for example, who are celebrating the demise of the boomers, who are finally getting their comeuppance. I shake my head as stupidity abounds.
As to Jez’ comment, my wife has no wistfulness for the bad old days. She’s British. While Americans were done with war rationing almost at the end of the war, post-war rationing in the UK continued well into the 1950s. It is not a period of time in her life that she wants to see her children and grandchildren exposed to, but this does confront them as they now have no sustainable source of income and even after long queues at Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s, basic food items are difficult to find. My wife is a lovely person who worries, as a mother and grandmother should, about having adequate heat inside the house in the coming winter.
Jez is correct to observe that the British didn’t vote for this. Nor did the Americans, or anyone else. But he’s wrong to suggest that Covid-19 is a self-inflicted injury ... other than, perhaps, government policy that allows unrestricted border access so that lethal diseases can take on global proportions. And I think that he’s wrong to suggest that grabbing people by their lapels and shouting into their faces is an appropriate response to people whose own government wants them fearful and compliant.
SF: I'm not particularly aware of him, but at a glance he appears to be a fairly typical example of the revolutionary Trot leftier-than-thou type who flips the other way when he reaches middle age. No idea what his standing is more widely. Judging by the self-consciously edgy "hot" takes listed on his wikipedia page, his status as a contrarian outcast seems to be one he is actively cultivating.
DeleteJez,
Delete"We got through the war, we can get through this," whatever "this" is. Makes me want to grab them by the lapels and yell a few truths into their complacent faces (obviously not in this era of social distancing)
Evidence of your mounting stress?
I rather imagine that you have to play your music alone these days -- or maybe via Zoom or a similar platform.
Jez,
Delete"We got through the war, we can get through this," whatever "this" is.
Realistically, what else is there to do with regard to attitude?
Not stress, just an outrageous image I thought perhaps we could all enjoy together :)
DeleteRealistically we can cultivate, or at least pay respect to, the virtue of prudence. Stoicism is cool, but I'm complaining about the misuse of the cliche to justify reckless adventurism.
Sounds like conjuring up "Strawmen" to me, Jez! ;-)
DeleteI trust the testiminy I heard firsthand from several British friends considerably older than I who lived through the Blitz in London. One, a lady of advancd years when I knew her, left the safety and comfort of the United States where she enjoyed Resident Alien status to return to England when the war broke out. If that wasn't an exam of true patriotism at its best, i can't imagine what would be.
She drove ambulances for the VAD during the Blitz in London, and risked her life every day as buildings suddenly burst into flame before her eyes, then collpsed into heaps of burning rubble with shrieking air raid sirens piercing the atmosphere while "doodlebugs" flew overhead dropping bombs.
Of COURSE many brave Brits did NOT survive the war, but it was the indomitable SPIRIT of those who were inspired by the tenacity and gallant LEADERSHIP of the GREAT WINSTON CHURCHILL and persevered in the face of Terror who ultimately DID achieve victory over the Axis Powers.
You re much too young to have had contact with those days, and from many things you've said here, I believe you have been sedulously MISLED and MISINFORMED regarding Modern European history by the crypto-Marxist demons who infiltrated, then took over the educational systems in most Western countries soon after the Great War ended.
I'm not blaming YOU at all, but rather the corrupt, demented, frankly demonic INFLUENCES that have been brought to bear on Western Civilization since before you were born.
You don't have to believe ME, of course, but like it or not I AM telling you the TRUTH.
I have a great regard for the heroism of people like your ambulance driver friend and so many others; what I detest the abuse of their memory by politicians and crooks, like Farage using music from The Great Escape as a campaign theme. They trivialise our war-time experience, reduce it to a joke. Properly understood, it should be taken as a stern warning, not a license to carelessly toy with our borders, economy and foreign relations.
DeleteI understood from the top where Jez is coming from, and I agree. What Jez describes is timeless, but now, like always, it is cloaked in language that is effective for the times.
DeleteOrwell wrote about it in his essay on political speech.
Jez, I agree. A little prudence and humility from the "experts" and the "leaders" would be refreshing.
BALLS! You young whippersnappers live in a world guided neither by experience nor sentiment, but instead by crypto-Marxist THEORY.
DeleteThat you find it impossible to take anything I have to say seriously is all the proof I need that you "know" ONLY what you've been TOLD –– or so it looks to me.
Unfortunately, you have LOTS of company, and it is in just that way that Civilizations ultimately sicken and die for lack of knowledge of and respect for the past.
Mustang said this above:
Delete". . .I question the “panic" [over the Wuhan Chinese Plague]. We human [beings] are so intolerably arrogant that we think of ourselves as unfairly victimized by natural events.
"Sometimes the answer the question “why?” is simply “because.” And if this newest iteration of virus is so awful, one would think that we would come together in our common circumstances, but no . . . we have some, for example, who are celebrating "the demise of the boomers, who are finally getting their comeuppance."
"I shake my head as stupidity abounds."
I tend to agree, except I wouldn't call it "arrogance," so much as ignorance and the terrible tendency of MOST to allow themselves to be too early LED by "Popular Opinion" –– a mode of thinking conjured up daily and disseminated through the all-pervasive, overpowering presence of the ENEMEDIA, who daily perform a kind of MASS HYPNOSIS on the body politic that robs most of any desire –– or capacity –– to think for themselves.
Because of the inordinate power of "Professional Prevaricators, Indoctrinated Educators, and Opinion Makers," –– which include not only Press, but the disloyal, warped, anti--American Educational Establishment –- we have in the main been reduce to the status of HERD animals.
Toxic pseudo-Intellectual Cant and Rhetoric have replaced the once-honest quest for Truth with a false, agenda-driven view of REALITY.
Experience? Theory? Come off it, Franco, only one of you, me and Kurt has had practical experience of actual deployment to a real live war. But to be fair to you and me, we have each practiced some rather tricky scales -- some of those fingerings are pretty awkward. You weren't there, man!
DeleteA lot of my opinions are derived from theory, I don't hide it. I don't claim any experience that I don't really have. But you and I are free to talk about this stuff nevertheless, and we don't have to be in perpetual agreement in order to take one another seriously.
Jez,
Deleteonly one of you, me and Kurt has had practical experience of actual deployment to a real live war
Nope! For one more. There are others here, too.
AoW, sure! I know of others, and I'm sure there are more that I don't know about too. But of the three named, only Kurt.
DeleteI'll brush aside Franco's gross insult to me and reiterate I am with Jez on this: All the "War on (fill in the blank)" talk is trite and the political rhetoric that goes with it makes us all dumber and more child-like.
DeleteI got EXACTLY what I EXPECTED to get, which only CONFIRMS what I KNOW to be true.
DeleteThat in no way pleases me for it pells DOOM for Civilization as I knew and enjoyed it. Bu THAT 'handwriting" hs been clearly emblazoned in "The Wall"since befre either of you were born.
AND, as I said, YOU can't help having ben the victims of a depraved popular culture and benighted educational system which have warped nearly EVERYONE'S view, except those over 75.
Neer mind! I'll soon be out of it, thank God.
Meanwhile ENJOY your headlong Race to the Bottom.
I believe we truly "FIND" ourselves when we abandon the anger, fea, anxiety and resentment that comes with egocentrism, and start devoting ourselves to doing whatever we can to make life less onerous, less dreary, and less painful for OTHERS who live within our reach..
ReplyDeleteThe less we dwell on our own concerns, our grievances, our sense of entitlement, and our clamorous demands for "Justice," while we reach out to others with understanding, compassion and forgiveness, the happier, more productive, and more fulfilled we are apt to be.
It doesn't matter how LONG we live, or how much FAME and RECOGNITION we garner. It only matters how WELL we choose to spend whatever time and energy may be available to us.
If I can stop when heart from breaking
___ I shall not ilve in vain.
If I can ease one life the aching
___ or cool one pain ––
Or help one fainting robin
___ into his nest again
i shall not live in vain.
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
In that one short utterance, Miss Dickinson demonstrates a clear understanding of the essential meaning of life, and the validity and value of Holy Writ, even though she, herself, was plagued with skepticism about the Church's traditional role in society, and what the true nature of God might really be. Nevertheless, without fully realizing it she was, indeed, a godly woman who understood Truth through intuition far better than myriad scholars and cynical philosophers ever have.
Our late friend, Patricia was a lot like that, herself, which is why we remember her with gratitude and affection.
Any good spiritual counselor of any faith--when you present them with whatever flavor of spiritual crisis you are going through or sin you are struggling with--will recommend helping others. We can be selfish without even realizing it.
DeleteSF,
DeletePatricia embodied it.
AOW, I think we would agree that is probably why she was so merry.
DeleteSF,
DeleteYes!
Their consciences must be filthy, and all the ambien in the world cannot silence the rusty chains rattling in the dark night of their blinkered souls.
ReplyDeleteYes, SF, that's the horrid truth.
From Instapundit:
ReplyDeleteSEAN LENNON RIPS THE MEDIA FOR ‘WUHAN VIRUS’ DOUBLE STANDARD, SPREADING CHINESE COMMUNIST DATA.
We’ve descended into some sort of bizarre hell-world in which the son of John and Yoko is a voice of sanity.
Rocker Sean Lennon Rips the Media for ‘Wuhan Virus’ Double Standard, Spreading Chinese Communist Data
Excerpt:
Rock musician Sean Lennon, the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, is slamming the news media for its coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, saying that they are spreading Chinese Communist propaganda and engaging in double standards.
Sean Lennon took to Twitter Wednesday to air his frustration with the way journalists are reporting on the global outbreak, especially when it comes to China. “The official media have lost their legitimacy,” he concluded.
Lennon said that journalists have been parroting official Chinese figures with little skepticism. The rocker appeared to be referring to numerous mainstream media reports claiming that the U.S. has surpassed all countries in terms of COVID-19 diagnoses. But those reports — including those from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal — rely on Beijing’s questionable claim that China has only seen 82,361 cases.
Quite amazing!