The Unconditional Human Spirit

New below- Classic Liberalism is how we ensure that government “serves the people” and does not become the tool of elite domination. Also, “How to ruin a nation in 9 short years”. The Trudeau legacy by Matthew Lau.

Here is more on the proven best approach to organizing human societies- Classic Liberal principles, laws, representative institutions. Best, as in “doing the most good for the most people” (Milton Freidman). Best, as in protecting all of us from the true “enemy within”, as in our own personal impulses to tribalism, domination of others, and punitive destruction of differing others/”enemies”.

Marian Tupy and Jon Moynihan offer good commentary below on how Classic Liberalism works best to improve the human condition. We now have two centuries of evidence that illustrates the differing outcomes from Classic Liberalism and collectivist socialism. Some two centuries of evidence that affirms the critical role of freedom in the grand enterprise of improving life, meaning freedom from big government, freedom from high taxation, and most critically freedom from excessive regulations. In a word, freedom from socialism.

I will soon offer more on Mike Benz (Joe Rogan interview) exposing the corruption behind-the-scenes of our societies as state elites manipulate government bureaucracies and control information media (i.e. engage censorship projects) to propagandize citizens. As Jimmy Dore noted, “We are the most propagandized people, and we don’t know it”.

Benz is good on exposing the massive infrastructure of censorship that is used by state elites to maintain their power in the elite commoner/divide of our societies.

This below by Tupy and Moynihan shows how critical it is to re-educate each generation with the principles, laws, and representative institutions of Classic Liberalism, as contrasted with the destructiveness of freedom-denying collectivism/socialism. They explain why societies of free commoners/innovators produce better outcomes than elites controlling commoners through big states, big taxation, and more regulations. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Intro comments before the Christmas message….

The “best” assembled in a new “populist” coalition, Wendell Krossa

A raft of the best of presidential candidates for the 2028 election have been brought together in a new populist coalition around Donald Trump. I would argue that no one, in the entirety of US history, appears better qualified of that bunch, than Vivek Ramaswamy. And hey, I can meddle a bit in your business down south because we are soon to become the 51st state. Yes, I get Trump was just kidding with Trudeau, or “bogarting” as a friend from Washington, DC used to call it. Meaning- “intimidate, bully, scare, browbeat” but in a fun sort of way. Keep doing it Donald. We love it.

I have two criteria to evaluate anyone potentially positioning themself to run for president of a large world economy, two critical requirements that make one suitable to manage an economy, requirements that are so calamitously absent from our PM Justin Trudeau.

Political candidates should preferably (1) have experience successfully running a business, understanding debt and cash flow issues, regulation and taxation issues as they impact the environment in which businesses can flourish, pricing and competition issues, and so on. And of course, how to pick and encourage skilled employees to perform at their best. Not being a “boss from hell”, the dictatorial type that ruins life for colleagues.

Business experience prepares candidates to understand the environment that is required for businesses to flourish. An environment that governments must promote, as Ben Carson outlined so well during his 2016 run. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Another champion for Classic Liberalism has emerged in Britain, Kemi Badenoch, the new leader of British Conservatives. See comment below. She understands the threat to Western liberal democracies from the new authoritarianism that is Woke Progressivism. Also good comment from Marc Morano of Climate Depot with links to Elon Musk’s change of mind on the “climate crisis” crusade to destroy Western societies.

Karnick on Stockman

Mike Benz, in his Joe Rogan interview, touched a bit on the history of the expansion of the “US Empire”. I was reminded of Benz’s comments when I read this below from S. T. Karnick’s latest (Dec. 9, 2024) “Life, Liberty, Property: #86”. What got my attention- If this information below from Stockman is correct, then the world-spanning expansion of the US empire, since the end of WW2, may not have been entirely, as we were told, the proclaimed great battle for freedom against Communist totalitarianism, a noble legacy to be celebrated. It appears that the worldwide expansion of “US influence” across past decades may be exposed now as something that was infected by the base impulse to world domination. Again, see the detail that Benz presented to Rogan.

Once again, the Rogan/Benz discussion…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrJhQpvlkLA&t=2s

Karnick says this, commenting on Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s plans to cut government spending significantly. He refers to Former Congressman David Stockman who now posts articles at Substack and specializes in “identifying potential spending cuts and explaining them in detail”: Read the rest of the opening comment here

The previous section is still just below this new comment- “Benz exposes the massive infrastructure pushing the elite/commoner divide in our liberal democracies”, Wendell Krossa

The crusade to establish the elite/commoner divide in our liberal democracies, and the “influencer” ideas behind these crusades.

Also still below this opening section- a summary of the Joe Rogan interview of Mike Benz on the massive infrastructure of the elite censorship complex that is now in a full-frontal battle against populism.

Here is the link to the JRE interview of Benz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrJhQpvlkLA&t=2s

Also new below: Michael Shellenberger’s latest in the battle against the censorship complex, and Matt Taibbi and Walter Kirn’s latest “America This Week” on Biden’s pre-emptive pardon project and what that involves.

Now this new section:

Some may think that my repeated arguments about the profound contradictions between Jesus and Paul’s Christ are lacking merit. Check out Brinsmead’s summary of research posted below… “What the scholars are saying”. Read the rest of the opening comment here

The crusade to establish the elite/commoner divide in our liberal democracies, and the “influencer” ideas behind these crusades.

See below a summary of the Joe Rogan interview of Mike Benz on the massive infrastructure of the elite censorship complex that is now in a full-frontal battle against populism.

Here is the link to the JRE interview of Benz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrJhQpvlkLA&t=2s

Most dominant and influential theme in the modern world, Wendell Krossa

“Declinism”- I make the argument below that you cannot understand our world today aside from the research on the 19th Century ideology of Declinism. The ideology of Declinism, outlined by Arthur Herman in “The Idea of Decline in Western History”, dominates the modern world- “The most dominant and influential theme in the modern world”. And add this- Declinism is an essential element of the psychopathology of apocalyptic that is the most violent and destructive idea in history (Arthur Mendel in “Vision and Violence”). As in life declines toward something worse, toward collapse and apocalyptic ending.

I relate this directly to the dominant influence that Paul’s apocalyptic Christ myth has had, and continues to have, on Western narratives, consciousness, and society.

We see surveys like the YouGov research (“Ten Global Trends”, Tupy and Bailey) that revealed most people across the Earth today believe “the world is becoming worse”. This is in direct contradiction to the research of Julian Simon (Ultimate Resource), and many others, who have amassed evidence that life has been improving across the long-term trajectory and, unless there is contradictory evidence emerging, life will continue to improve in the future due to human creativity, innovation, and compassion.

But why then do so many people continue to believe that life is becoming worse?

There are varied contributing factors to the widespread acceptance of the Declinism psychopathology. Read the rest of the opening comment here

New comment below:

The Swedish system of mixed elements (democratic socialism/social democracy) is not an Eden-like answer to organizing societies. Bad elements in mixed systems undermine the good elements. Did we learn nothing from the merger of Historical Jesus with Paul’s Christ? Look up “oxymoronic”. More on re-establishing tribal dualism as per Marxist collectivism and the inevitable consequence of another bout of the elite/commoner divide in society. And oh, Starmer pushes the destruction of British society with Net Zero zealotry. Imagine, the birthplace of Classic Liberalism being ruined by an apocalyptic death-cult.

See reposting of revised “Review of main site topics” below. Ideas to stir the Christmas pot, known in the vernacular as the “Number 2” pot. Ideas to transform consciousness and change the world for the better. And other new bits below.

Salvaging DEI concerns. Well, some of them, Wendell Krossa

Two of the main principles in DEI- i.e. “inclusion and diversity”- are generally acceptable to most people, depending on exactly what meaning is associated with them and what form of promotion is used to present them. Most of us can agree that inclusion and diversity are good for liberal democracy.

But not the “equity” element in the mix as in coerced equal outcomes that deny performance-based criteria.

And then we ask- Why are contemporary DEI programs too often promoted in our societies with such hatred and bullying? Why, for example, the quick and harsh condemnation by many DEIers of any diversity from dogmatically affirmed “correct speech”? Why the all-too-common follow-up calls of DEIers for censoring, cancelling, even criminalizing those who speak incorrectly or even just question the dogma? Read the rest of the opening comment here

New below- Tackling a Tuckerism re the cosmic dualism myth used to validate human battles against evil.

What happened to Western liberal democracies? Wendell Krossa

After the early 90s collapse of Communism, Classic Liberalism did not automatically move to the fore in the West to dominate societies with its “self-evident truths” of natural individual freedoms and rights (i.e. “God-given”, not something given by states as the ‘natural rights’ precede the human creation of states).

Sample comment on natural rights:

https://fedsoc.org/commentary/fedsoc-blog/how-natural-law-informs-our-understanding-of-the-constitution

Classic Liberalism needs repeated explanation to populations and ongoing protection by the meta-institutions of societies (i.e. liberal democracy principles, systems of law, and representative state institutions). Liberal democracy needs continual reinforcement in public consciousness. It needs perpetual restating because over past decades Western liberals became sloppy and let the fringe voices of DEI, ESG, Woke Progressivism, and other anti-liberal programs through the doors and that “tyranny of an extremist leftist minority” took over Western societies.

This is good by Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin on Classic Liberalism (a short clip)- i.e. the English “free individuals” system, and its basic principles and institutions, that have been under assault by “barbarians”. Read the rest of the opening comment here

See atmospheric physicist Richard Lindzen’s presentation on how collectivist revolutionaries shifted, in the 1970s, to demonize fossil fuels/CO2 as the more effective means for destroying Western societies (the link for his presentation is below, with summary quotes). Politicians and other Western elites then joined the crusade for the trillions of dollars involved. Lindzen also notes the corruption of “science” in this crusade.

Fear-mongering and shifts toward irrationally dangerous salvation schemes, Wendell Krossa

This is generally an anti-alarmism site, but I also fully recognize the potency of alarmist narratives to incite fear and render populations susceptible to irrational and destructive salvation schemes to “save the world”. Apocalyptic narratives exaggerate threats, exaggerate and demonize differing others as irredeemable enemies, and that can engender irrational hysteria that begins to dangerously toy with shifts toward “exterminate or be exterminated” solutions to the imagined apocalyptic scenarios and threatening enemies.

We like to think the madness of the last century (i.e. two world wars) was a one-off at some final stage of history. Maybe, but maybe not.

Here’s hoping the saner leaders in our countries can help us find our way through this current spasm of insanity.

Note the “madness of crowds” episode that we are in the midst of right now- i.e. the “climate crisis” crusade and its Net Zero decarbonization project that is ruining societies like Britain, Germany, Canada, and more. Again, sources like the Net Zero Watch newsletter of Global Warming Policy foundation keep us up to date on the ongoing destruction in those societies. Also, see Wattsupwiththat.com for good reports on climate and energy issues. Read the rest of the opening comment here

Topics below

“Anarcho-unconditional” or more realistic “min-unconditional” as my takeaway from Javier Milei’s “Anarcho-capitalism” and “min-archism” compromise in Argentina.

Also newly added at the bottom of this opening section:

A little Christmas gift to readers- My paraphrased translation of the core theme of the Historical Jesus message to affirm my “Historical Jesus-mas” alternative to “Christ-mas”. Again, don’t take my waggish impulse too seriously.

And the basic intention of this site to properly solve problems by confronting the “Mother of all oxymoronic combinations” in Paul’s “Jesus Christ” myth. I do this because of the critical issue of the rejection of history’s greatest potential liberation movement, a liberation that was short-circuited and buried by Paul- i.e. the liberation of human minds and spirits from threat theology, at the deepest levels of subconscious archetypes.

And then the G20’s latest program to push the “censorship industrial complex” as preparation for the new totalitarianism.

Sitesplainin excuses: The writing style here is running blog comment, not formal essay in any sense.

More below on probing what is behind public presentations of narratives, ideologies, movements, and related policies, programs, etc. The “evil triad” thing. And yes, further below I’m picking on Paul’s myth again. Its the anti-bullying thing in me, taking on history’s biggest ever threatening bully.

See also below: “Climate scientists officially declare ‘climate emergency’ at an end: Press release by the Climate Intelligence Group (CLINTEL).”

This from a post to our discussion group: Wendell Krossa

Jordan Peterson on Greg Gutfeld… All of you listen to this brilliant summary by Peterson on the adventure of life. He says so much in this few minutes of video… from minute 28 of the video on.

For example, he says that psychology long ago discovered there was no difference from “thinking about yourself and suffering from negative emotions”… “self-consciousness and suffering anxious emotions are the same thing”, and the answer is to not deny all thinking about yourself, as that is hard to do, but to pay attention to the moment as it unfolds, meaning the adventure of your life.

And in other places he has added that freedom from self-absorption is found in focusing on others and helping them with their problems, that is liberating and healing.

This is all good, but at the 28-minute mark Peterson starts on the quest of life for adventure, truth, responsibility… listen to that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVFySQQiyiw

Elsewhere Peterson has noted that this has been the curse of this generation to focus intensely on themselves and how they feel as the dominant concern… This has ruined this younger generation with excessive self-absorption. Read the rest of the opening comment here

See new stuff below on Kevin O’Leary’s good rant about getting Trudeau out so we can begin to clean up the mess that he has made of Canada. Also Greg Gutfeld on “Get out of your own head” and focus on helping others (i.e. recommends from psychology research on getting over anxiety). And more…

More theological speculation, Wendell Krossa (In service to the meta-narrative issue)

It’s coming on Christmas and I am doing some theological speculation, aware that some share the view of the pissed atheist who said, “Let’s get rid of all this metaphysical bullshit”.

If only, eh. Reaction to religious speculation on the metaphysical is a well-intentioned materialist sentiment that is reacting to religious extremism, as it should. And notable materialists have done us all a service in exposing the lunacy of so much inherited religious belief and practice.

But speculation on “metaphysical” realities has always been critical to the human meaning impulse, and the inseparably related impulse for purpose. You know- the search for TOE, for what actually created it all and why, for what reason/purpose? The meaning/purpose impulse in our consciousness gets to nitty gritty daily life stuff.

The best that materialist minds have come up with to explain the creating and sustaining Source are speculations like “multiverse mythology”. That suits the materialist belief in meaningless randomness as a fundamental explanation for what is and why it exists. Philosophical nihilism in my view. The multiverse myth is widely accepted as true by the public, but entirely unproven, as physicist James Baggot argues. See his “Farewell to Reality: How Fairytale Physics Betrays the Search for Scientific Truth”.

Amazon advertising blurb for Baggot’s book:

“Modern physics is heady stuff. It seems that barely a week goes by without some new astounding science story; some revelation about hidden dimensions, multiple universes, the holographic principle or incredible cosmic coincidences. But is it true? What evidence do we have for super-symmetric squarks’, or superstrings vibrating in an 11-dimensional space-time? How do we know that we live in a multiverse? How can we tell that the universe is a hologram projected from information encoded on its boundary? Doesn’t this sound like a fairy story?

“In Farewell to Reality Jim Baggott asks whether all that we currently know about the universe is based upon science or fantasy. In addition, he wonders whether these high priests of fairy tale physics – such as John Barrow, Paul Davies, David Deutsch, Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Michio Kaku, Gordon Kane and Leonard Susskind – are the emperor’s latest tailors.”

Multiverse is the myth that infinite trillions of universes have been and are being birthed till one randomly falls together in the impossibly fine-tuned balance of “Just Six Numbers” (Martin Rees). Just like the now disproven myth of DNA falling together randomly in the mud puddle long ago. Read the rest of the opening comment here

A wee ‘quibble’ before a strong affirmation: Wendell Krossa

I am not with Shellenberger and Jordan Peterson in their arguments (in other forums) for the general restoration of religion/Christianity in society. They appear unfamiliar with Historical Jesus research and the critical distinctions between Jesus’ message and Paul’s Christ myth. But where Shellenberger is good, he is real good. Notably in probing the psychopathology of elite domination in our societies, as in, for example, the Censorship Industrial Complex. He was a main figure in exposing the Twitter Files corruption of liberal democracy.

This from actress Justin Bateman, posted below in Shellenberger’s article: “I am neither one extreme or the other,” wrote Bateman, “but am one of the millions of people who believe in common sense, and that everyone should be free to live their lives however they want, unless that freedom interferes with someone else’s freedom to live their own life.”

“We Are Only Now Starting To Recover From The Madness: Its political power has broken, but Wokeism is still ruining the culture”, Michael Shellenberger, Nov. 10, 2024

https://www.public.news/p/we-are-only-now-starting-to-recover

Shellenberger is responding to posts on X by actress Justin Bateman…

He quotes from Bateman’s posts: “Decompressing from walking on eggshells for the past four years,” she wrote. “I have found the last four years to be an almost intolerable period. A very un-American period in that any questioning, any opinions, any likes or dislikes were held up to a very limited list of “permitted positions” in order to assess acceptability.”

Shellenberger notes that Bateman is not conservative and, in fact, writes from a more liberal perspective. Bateman says that over the past decade Wokeism discarded common sense, demonized intellectual discussion and only permitted certain speech and behavior.

Shellenberger continues with Bateman’s comments on Wokeism where “Complete intolerance became almost a religion… and one’s professional and social life was threatened almost constantly. Those that spoke otherwise were ruined as a warning to others.”

He notes that many other liberals agreed with Bateman’s assessment of how Woke especially took over Hollywood. “We spoke to more than 25 writers, directors, and producers—all of whom identify as liberal, and all of whom described a pervasive fear of running afoul of the new dogma.”

He adds: “The dominant emotion was fear: fear of being attacked by the Woke. While the latter was far more violent, the fundamental characteristics were the same — including the desire to remake society and the tendency of particularly weak individuals to join in with the mobs created by the bullies.” Read the rest of the opening comment here

This site author identifies as “independent commoner”. Fiercely so. I also identify as a “mutable self” in open process (open to new information, change, growth, and development), not as an “immutable self”, focusing identity on fixed objects as in dogmatic loyalty to some ideology, religious belief system, nationality/ethnicity/race, occupation, or other objects. Source on this: Louis Zurcher’s “The Mutable Self: A Self-Concept For Social Change”.

Just so you know where I am coming from: Its about the open process of “float like a butterfly, alight to enjoy some nectar, then moving on”. On a journey through life with no “fixed place to lay my head”. A visitor to this realm trying to learn and experience what it means to be human. And mostly trying to understand what love actually is and how to love. Love as the main identity-marker of being human.

That explains my repeat posting of the central Historical Jesus theme: “Love your enemy because God does.”

This is a reach for the highest and best of being human. It is the single most profoundly humane insight in history. It gets the “behavior based on belief” relationship right as never before. It tells us how to tower in stature as maturely human like a Mandela. It tells us how to conquer the real monster/enemy in life by winning the inner battle to vanquish the animal inheritance of impulses to tribalism, domination of others, and punitive destruction of differing others.

Success in the inner battle is the greatest contribution that we can offer to making life better.

See some more “sitesplainin” at the bottom of this opening section.

See also below… The psychopathology of today’s hyper-sensitivity, as in the over-sensitivity to personal “hurt feelings… sense of being offended…” that then crusades for harshly punitive treatment of purported offenders, Wendell Krossa

Surveying the wreckage. Again, what lies beneath it all? Wendell Krossa

I am a tracer/prober of root factors that contribute to problems and argue that to properly solve problems for the long-term future we have to deal with the more fundamental contributing factors to problems.

You may notice a repeated pattern on this site of pushing past the “surface” engagement of issues to understand the deepest roots of the thing under consideration, of some problem. I am just taking the wise advice of that military guy, responding to the ISIS eruption of violence in 2014, who advised us that we can crush such pathology with force but it will only keep erupting until we deal with the ideas/ideology that drive such movements.

I apply that advice to the current situation in Western civilization where a new totalitarianism has emerged and has infected all sectors/institutions of our societies. And again, this site appeals to the US situation as illustrative of what is going on across Western liberal democracies. Read the rest of the opening comment here