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PERRIN LOVETT

~ Deo Vindice

PERRIN LOVETT

Tag Archives: book review

Bad Government, Good Review

03 Sunday Dec 2023

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book review, Fadi Lama, Vox Day

Many thanks to Vox Day, the Dread Ilk, the VFM, the SGers, and the rest for attention to my little review of Dr. Lama’s excellent book.

I’m not certain that democracy is definitely the worst form of government. Certainly, representative democracy is making a powerful claim to the title, and it’s true that the more the franchise expands, the worse the elected governments get. But it is certainly a lot easier to understand why the American Founding Fathers were so skeptical of the concept and determined to limit it.

This review of Dr. Fadi Lama’s book, WHY THE WEST CAN’T WIN, certainly makes it look worth reading: [Review]

There followed a healthy discussion at SG. Again, here’s hoping this is the one book that manages to wake up the still slumbering masses. My take on the GAE’s base government was that it had degenerated into a tedious balance of oligarchy and ochlocracy. But then, it’s really not a government at all anymore, merely being a satanic cult masquerading as a terrorist organization. Either way, its bad, real bad, or the worst. And thankfully, hopefully on its way out.

COLUMN: Reviews of ORDO PLURIVERSALIS by Leonid Savin and LOOKING FOR MR. JEFFERSON by Dr. Clyde N. Wilson

08 Wednesday Nov 2023

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book review, Looking For Mr. Jefferson, Ordo Pluriversalis

Reviews of ORDO PLURIVERSALIS by Leonid Savin and 

LOOKING FOR MR. JEFFERSON by Dr. Clyde N. Wilson

 

Today, I have the rare honor of presenting two excellent books in one review! They are Leonid Savin’s Ordo Pluriversalis and Clyde Wilson’s Looking For Mr. Jefferson. As a review preview, “Ordo Pluriversalis” is, of course, Latin for “versatile order” or the “order of many”, a natural name for a tome about the multipolarity of the Sovereign Nations; and, look no further, we have found Jefferson, in a way rescuing him from almost two centuries of confuscation. In my mind’s eye, these works are somewhat interrelated though their subject matters are separated both by oceans and the considerable passage of time. They both also came to my attention and into my possession within a matter of short days. Therefore, in an effort certain to please all, I hereafter discuss them consecutively and with some small degree of overlap. I recommend both with the greatest enthusiasm and sincerity.

Savin, Leonid, Ordo Pluriversalis: The End of Pax Americana and the Rise of Multipolarity, London: Black House, 2020.

Regardless of latitude, longitude, and speed of rotation, the world is a small place. We, those of us in, though not of the world, occasionally experience issues of timing which delight mysteriously—almost as if we are under Someone’s grand plan for us and our fellows. Only a few weeks before writing this review, I had added Ordo Pluriversalis to my “books to buy” list. Perhaps divinely inspired, or else by telepathy, the magnanimous author sent me a copy, for which I am most grateful. 

For those unaware, perhaps in my Southern audience, Mr. Savin is an expert on geopolitical, military, and terrorism-related matters. He is a member of the Military Scientific Society of the Russian Ministry of Defense and a steering committee member for the Islamabad International Counter-Terrorism Forum. He is the founder and chief editor of Geopolitika. In 2022, he also received the high honor of being singled out by name by the U.S. Department of State and its lapdog Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for his ongoing contributions to the Russian-led Multipolar “far-right information ecosystem.” Recalling that the hatred and scorn of the wicked is proof positive of noble virtue, I, for one, thank fake Secretary Blinken, Ambassador Carpenter, and the rest of America’s false government of occupation for their endorsement of my friend. I would be remiss if I did not also praise the superb translation skills of Mr. Jafe Arnold who skillfully converted the book into English.

My America has truly morphed into the Global American Empire (“GAE”), a thing which, thankfully, appears to be entering its final days of international troublemaking. However, it is worth remembering or learning that the GAE was originally born as a multipolar association of free and sovereign states. With a tip of my hat to the international community, my review is primarily intended for Western readers, those in America, generally, and my South, particularly. For a comprehensive and exhaustive critique, I heartily endorse Dr. Kerry Bolton’s 2021 survey. I also hereby appropriate Dr. Bolton’s opening remarks:

This book is significant not only because of its detailed examination of globalisation, unipolarity, multipolarity, and associated themes such as foreign policies, superpower rivalries, geopolitics and diverse branches such as the meaning of nationalism, and ethnos, but because it provides an insight into an important school of thought in Russia and further afield.

It is an utterly fascinating exposition of political thought, philosophy, practice, and history, crystal in clarity and expansive in scope and notation. It is also seemingly prophetic. At nearly 500 pages, one supposes that Savin labored for more than a year or three in researching and assembling the book. Knowing the writing process, I suspect a draft was finished no later than 2019 for publication in 2020. And by 2019, massive, tectonic changes were already happening in the world of international relations. But it was the events of 2022 (through today) that have literally brought Savin’s assertions and theories to life. Ordo Pluriversalis reads like a script well-written in advance and well-enacted by the players of the global stage. This is amazing, confounding even, for the Western reader—even one thinking himself abreast of various developments. As such, as this work has empirically proven its validity, it should command a premium value for those who undertake reading it in any year. 

The book is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of another book, Europe and Mankind, by a (or the) father of Eurasianism, at least of the Russian variety, Nikolai Trubetzkoy. Because of its great size, high population, and immense resources, the Eurasian supercontinent has ever been of great strategic importance. It was not meant to be ruled, dominated, conquered, or sidelined by a peculiar power on a small island in the North Sea or its larger descendant on a vast island of sorts, separated from Eurasia by ample lengths of oceans. It can’t be. Ordo Pluriversalis is the story of the new beginning for the Old World, as largely led by Russia and China. Again, it is an almost predictive model of current events, ostensibly riding the leading edge of an unstoppable wave. However, just as it cannot be ruled from without, Eurasia has little interest in ruling from within. As approximated in the book and as witnessed in real-time, the concept of multipolarity is just that—the idea of many countries and peoples standing sovereign and separate while interacting fairly with each other when they meet. For those of the “golden billion” of the West, should they sort out their own internal affairs, the prospects of joining the larger civilized world are great and potentially rewarding. It is my hope that some in America, England, France, Germany, etc. are able to replicate some of the ideas Savin discusses so well.

History did not end, as were told it would or had. However, the age of Western global dominance is over. The Enlightenment was a resounding failure. As Jacques Barzun’s masterpiece title told us, the thing has run From Dawn To Decadence. The moment of Western-led unipolarity was just that—a moment not an era, as Savin notes several times (pages 7, 11, 13,  etc.). Much of the extreme chaos and violence in the world today, from Ukraine to Palestine, is the (hopefully) final frantic efforts of the rulers of the West to maintain and impose their “rules-based” international order. As President Vladimir Putin recently noted or scoffed at Valdai, no one was consulted about the formulation of these rules and no one even knows what they are. It is good and right that they now fade into history, taking their masters and proponents with them.

As others have surmised, long ago and along its way the West was essentially hijacked. While the process was assisted by many internal accomplices, it was pushed and is now (mis)ruled by a loose cabal of cosmopolitan outsiders best described as satanists. For they are and ever have been against God, against Christianity, and against any and all free peoples of goodwill. Until The End, they cannot be wholly defeated, though it is good to see them recede. Real Westerners should rejoice as the great unfolding heralds their rare chance to reclaim their true identities and societies. In addition to expertly explaining various alternatives to the rot of the hijacked fake West, Savin does an excellent job of deconstructing what the West was and is and how it came to be what it is.

Part of the deconstruction may be grating for the Western reader, though it is a shaving worthy of consideration. Also, as the book admits, many words and concepts have different meanings depending on where they are used and by whom. I encourage the intrepid reader to play along with such terms as “racism”, “nation”, “nationalism”, and more. Getting right to a perhaps uncomfortable truth, on page 152:

Independently of political ideologies and academic schools of thought, one can approximately conclude that the very idea of the West has three key characteristics. The West is a particular understanding of society, time, and space which led to (1) the emergence of racism in various forms, (2) ideas of linear time separated from space, as well as (3) the exaggeration of Europe’s position (and later the US’) as a special place in which a special community had formed that claimed global governance and assigned labels to other peoples. It is only natural that other versions of society, time, and space were thereby marginalized and relegated to the periphery of the ‘civilized world.’

The world is now witnessing a de-marginalization from the periphery. Joseph Borrell’s “jungle” is growing back, like Kudzu on steroids. And it turns out that most of it is its own kind of beautiful garden, if not the limited, curated type Borrell prefers. Much of Chapter Five, “Deconstructing the West,” is eye-opening and may foster new thoughts or ways of thinking in the reader’s head. This process is a good thing for the heritage Westerner because, as others have shown clearly, he has been in many ways, similar and dissimilar, oppressed by the faux rulers of the West just like the marginalized people of the colonized or relegated outside world. In honest Borrell-speak, while much destruction and herbicidal spraying went on in the outside jungle, inside the garden there was excessive native pruning. The time has come to end all of the damage.

The unipolar gardeners are in every sense attempting to rebuild and control the Tower of Babel. As such was intentionally destroyed by God the Father, who saw fit to fully separate the peoples of the earth (Genesis 11:9), the attempt to reassemble the host in defiance of God is purely luciferian. What is supposed, post-Genesis, to extend to all nations, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark 13:10. The gardeners must fail eternally—a refreshing thought—as we are assured the nations will endure even in Heaven. Revelations 7:9. Their transient temporal failure is already happening, and while it may be accompanied by upheaval and discord, we should welcome it.

A large portion of the book is dedicated to showcasing the differences across cultures and time regarding things like law, sovereignty, borders, economic structures, and even the very natures of different peoples. It is, in fact, good that there are these many differences. I have something extra to add from Savin’s Eighth Chapter, “Economics and Religion”. But as this is a dual review and I have an idea to combine bits, I’m going to risk mixing it in with Dr. Wilson’s fine book and related commentary! Savin’s final chapters deal with the new alternative of multipolarity. As I noted, above, in the context of America’s thirteen original “pole” states, the alternative is really just a reversion to the historical norm. A one-world order is unnatural. As Savin notes, on page 401: “With regards to homogeneity, the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben suggested that the notion of a uniform world for all living beings is an illusion.” 

Chapter Twelve is a walk-through of various theories for implementing, or, rather, re-implementing a pluralistic world order. The author remains optimistic, as do I, that the new sovereign order will represent a more perfect and harmonious substitute for what we have suffered since the end of World War Two, and especially since the end of the Cold War. That the alternative is not operated by overt devil-worshipers speaks well of its potential. Most ideologies and “isms” being dead letters, new philosophies and theories are needed. Savin discusses some of them. There is also a need for new institutions to facilitate orderly interaction between peoples and countries (or a revamping of existing institutions). Savin delves into these around page 432, with “Parallel Structures”, those designed to supplant or surpass the existing compromised forums. BRICS, for instance, has already grown mightily since Savin’s book was published, with the BRICS economies surpassing those of the G7 last year and the copious expansion of BRICS(+) this year. We eagerly await the Kazan meeting next year and the formal unveiling of that which will replace SWIFT and, potentially, the Petrodollar (already a thing in decline and retreat).

Some space is devoted to the future of “European Autonomy”, page 436—, and the coming potential liberation of European countries, both from their own devices and from Washingtonian control. It is not so difficult to envision a tandem liberation of the American States. 

As Savin explains in his Afterword, page 463, “The theory of multipolarity has developed shoulder to shoulder with critiques of the hegemony of the United States of America. Even outside of this context as well, many authors have been wary of the US’ efforts to preserve its leadership.” The theory is becoming fact and practice before our eyes. And as the events of the past several years have shown, many are correct to be wary as the rulers of the dying GAE fiercely try to maintain some semblance of control over the world they are losing. May that they falter and collapse as their loss is mankind’s gain. Savin ends with the impact of the (then) current effects of the US’s evil bioweapons program, COVID, on the US itself. Today, his mention of “This sickness”, pages 466-467, may as well be a metaphor for the overdue death throes of the US Empire. The survival of the US (in some form(s)) and the greater West is at stake. We in the West and of its heritage must take this issue seriously if we are to emerge and rebuild. In this regard, Leonid Savin gives us either a grand map, a strong cornerstone, or both. I am pleased to suggest his sublime scholarship as expressed within Ordo Pluriversalis. 

Wilson, Clyde N., Looking For Mr. Jefferson, Columbia, SC: Shotwell, 2023 (EPUB edition*).

Dr. Wilson, like his subject, Thomas Jefferson, requires no introduction in Southern circles. This review, however, might, for those in the wider world. Dr. Wilson is a professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina, the “dean” of Southern history. That the politically correct administration at USC refuses to include him, their most famed living professor, on the department’s retired faculty website, speaks volumes about their shallowness and cements Dr. Wilson’s academic prowess and value. He is a co-founder of Shotwell Publishing, the South’s premier showplace of historical, intellectual, and fictional thought, and he has made a career of documenting the importance of many Southern leaders, including the immortal John C. Calhoun, Thomas Jefferson, and more. Like Savin, Wilson also possesses a keen sense of timing, the temporal grace of the Almighty, or both. In response to my previous review of Why The West Can’t Win by Dr. Fadi Lama, Dr. Wilson (to me, “Clyde”, my cigar and rebel-rousing buddy) left this comment at Reckonin’:

Perrin, the book is all you say. Of course, the author doesn’t know this but in revealing the Evil Money Power is merely restating what our Southern forebears knew—Jefferson, John Taylor, Calhoun, Davis, the Populists, the Agrarians.

I like how he also reveals how the sainted Reagan was a tool of the Money Power, although he probably did not realise it. My new book on Jefferson takes up this very issue. CW

With Clyde, the certainty of a new book is guaranteed, though the timing can be a mystery. I launched a quick inquiry and wound up with my e-copy before I even got the usual launch notification email from Shotwell. As promised, the book does a fine job recounting Jefferson’s valiant struggle against debt, usury, and more. It is a compilation of some fifty years of written commentary and lecture material about America’s third federated republican President under the Constitution of 1787 (effective 1789). I remind some and inform others that America had, in fact, fourteen “Continental” Presidents before George Washington, with Peyton Randolph and John Hancock each serving two separate terms. 

But of the fifty-nine men who have served as America’s chief executive—sixty, if one foolishly includes the installed rather than elected Brandon the AI—few stand out as Jefferson did in his time and as he continues to as an exemplary historical marker. Dr. Wilson well captures the mind and spirit of the great statesman, no small feat for a shorter book!

Mentioned and alluded to here and there, Dr. Wilson devotes Chapter 19 to “A Jeffersonian Political Economy”. Here is as fine a place as any for me to point out that the early federated American Republic, as interpreted by the “Federalists,” was a theoretical and political progenitor of the GAE, which really launched toward its global trajectory during and after Abraham Lincoln’s war of 1861-85. Why? As Dr. Wilson observes, in Chapter 19, “Southerners saw the [new 1787] Constitution as the people’s control over government power. Northerners saw it as an instrument to be manipulated to their advantage.” Later on, especially after 1865, the Northern view guided the nexus of political and economic dominance towards empire, within and without the several American States.** 

The world was issued a dire warning about the future growth of Lincoln’s empire, even without Lincoln, via words Dr. Wilson included in a list of quotes in Chapter 20, “Jeffersonian Wisdom”: “The consolidation of the States into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of ruin which has overwhelmed all that preceded it.” So said General Robert E. Lee in 1866. The GAE grew to be all Lee feared and foresaw. The twin driving factors behind this malignancy were military power, real or conjectured, and financial/monetary prominence. Jefferson would have detested both.

Back in Chapter 19, correctly writes Wilson:

The Jeffersonian position on the role of the federal government in the economy was succinctly stated by a newspaper in 1843: FREE TRADE, NO DEBT, SEPARATION OF GOVERNMENT AND BANKS. It was taken for granted that this included modest government spending, restricted to the clearly stated Constitutional powers and duties of Congress as spelled out in Article I, section 8.

Jeffersonianism has remained a real and long-lasting tradition of thought. It underlays the formation of American colonial society. There was a reason that an English poet referred to Virginia as “the earthly paradise.” Because those who had no hope of independent status at home could there attain it there. This describes the spirit that underlays the American War of Independence and Jeffersonian opposition to Hamiltonianism.

Since 1861 the Jeffersonian political economy has been a very weak force. Every principle that its spokesmen advocated has been crushed and everything they warned against has become only too true.

Was and is this position perfect? Of course, not. But it belied a noble worldview and spirit. Jefferson’s newspaper call for “free trade” was asserted the year before David Ricardo’s fanatical obsession with corn uber alles was redesigned to foster nebulous “comparative advantage”, notions since abolished by nearly two centuries of practical experience. As Wilson notes elsewhere, Jeffersonian free trade really meant “fair” trade, the opposite of what globalizing free traders have foisted on the world. Jefferson’s aversion to debt stands as valid now as it did then. That the Washington Post recently cautioned against meddling with the precious Federal Reserve system and its alleged good deeds, speaks to the horrible power the thing has accumulated via its abetting Washington’s madness and its shareholder commercial banks will to absorb all value from the entire economy with digital nothingness. What is practiced today, a wicked inversion of reality, is not the separation Jefferson envisioned. Rather, it is a false face for the collusion of the Money Powers to dominate all with usury compounded upon usury and based on nothing more than hoaxes and threats. Jefferson, were he alive today, would assuredly stand against satanic faux Western monetary and economic policies; I suspect he would also keenly understand the sovereign desire to move beyond unipolar control of the world by liars, thieves, and murderers. While I cannot say he might be a proponent of them, Jefferson would certainly understand the Sino-Russian concepts of “whole process” “democracy” and economic policy.

Wilson covers well the idea of “Jeffersonian Democracy” in Chapter 7. “Thomas Jefferson remains the best American symbol for democracy—that is, decision-making by majority rule of the body of citizens. He really believed in the rule of the people. In the short run they might go astray, but the people—with their judgment, honesty, and patriotism—were the best reliance for a good commonwealth.” Jefferson was a true philosopher and a somewhat libertarian idealist. Wilson adds a proper cautionary note which is in keeping with Jefferson’s own expressed views of democracy:

Two qualifying points here are necessary for 21st century readers. First, in Jefferson’s ideal most of life and society was outside the jurisdiction of government of any kind. The majority ruled in a very limited sphere. They were not entitled to do anything they wanted. They could not make coercive transfers of wealth or force changes in society to suit some plan of supposed improvement.

Second, Jefferson always has in mind a known commonwealth like Virginia. His majority consists of citizens who have a stake in the commonwealth for themselves and their posterity—men who head families, pay taxes, and serve in the militia.

In the context of Jefferson’s late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries, the lapse towards a chaotic form of government, classically-speaking in line with tyranny and oligarchy—into which American democracy evolved—is somewhat forgivable. All of America’s founding—her leaders, the Constitution, and the very composition of the population—were a mixed bag. For a time, reality allowed for Jefferson’s high optimism. Hindsight is twenty-twenty and we may see that some of Jefferson’s rhetoric, truly based on the best intentions, especially as compared to that of Alexander Hamilton and other lesser Americans, in ways contributed to some of the developments Jefferson feared. Rhetoric, while pointing towards a truth, may not exactly be the truth. For instance, Jefferson’s insistence in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal”, while lauded by many in various political camps, is, in fact, false. No men are created equal, not even identical twins. Jefferson’s qualification, “they are endowed by their Creator…”, serves as a proper if understated and oft-ignored admission that the only kind of total human equality is limited to the eyes of God. Wilson, at intervals, discusses Jefferson’s religious beliefs and practices and how they were perceived by his temporal peers. The whole underpinning of Jeffersonian democracy, which was at odds with competing Yankee or Freemasonic visions of American governance and way of life, was that the people remain faithful and uncorrupted. Even in his time, this may have amounted to very well-intended but still wishful thinking. 

However, after Jefferson, and after Lincoln, things progressed or devolved as they did. Many changes rapidly swept the land, its people, their ideas of government, and how they perceived money and economics. America’s money today is essentially non-existent, which allows the Money Powers virtually unfettered discretion in how best (or worst) to rob and maim the world. How all this was allowed to happen over the long years is a slight mystery, perhaps best explained by a gentle gullibility on the part of so many Americans. As Wilson notes, many in the South, then and now, have a less than clear understanding of what economics is and how it works. This mental fogginess is shared by most mainstream economists, as noted by Dr. Lama, Michael Hudson, and others. 

Some of the lingering American misunderstandings may, as some suggest, stem from a contest of Protestantism(s): of (Southern) Calvinism versus (Northern)(English) Puritanism. Understood or not, this is part of the genesis of “liberal capitalism,” aka, financial or globalist capitalism. Here, the reintroduction of Savin’s observations: Ordo Pluriversalis, supra, page 255: “It should be noted that among the creationist religions, it is Judaism and Protestantism that became a kind of set of wings for the plane of liberal capitalism, which has extended its influence on a global scale.” It is most interesting to note that the US was founded and built largely by Protestants and that sometime in the mid-late 20th Century, it came to be controlled, de jure and/or de facto, by Judaics.*** This may be the natural path of a course plotted in Germany 500 years ago, which, in America, reached a feverd pitch in the 20th Century. It may explain the American obsession with “sacred” contracts and debts, tolerance of usury and fake money, and essentially a prohibition against debt cancellations and socioeconomic realignment – among many other unusual things.

Savin goes on, page 263, to plainly set the “spiritual roots” in the tandem ground of Judaism and Protestantism. Understanding the nature of those roots, which at earliest begin with the suggestion for and support of the Reformation, goes a long way in explaining the post-Bretton Woods monetary and economic world and, really, the captured Western world in general. Savin, for his part, then discusses the differing—from the status quo of postmodernity and from each other—positions of Orthodox and Latin Catholic doctrines. It would be wise for Westerners to also consider these matters if we are to ever change course, financially and otherwise.

Wilson goes on, Looking…, supra, painting an excellent portrait of Jefferson, with his own commentary, reviews of works by others about the President, expositions of the lives of other Jeffersonian-minded Americans, and an explicit examination of why postmodern thinkers (and general Hamiltonian-Lincolntonite theorists of all ages) hate Jefferson. On that last note, Chapter 16 is titled, “Why They Hate Jefferson,” being a review of The Long Affair: Thomas Jefferson, and The French Revolution by Connor Cruise O’Brien. In short summation, Wilson writes: “The Establishment is frightened by the rumblings they hear from the Great Beast (that is, we the American people).” Jefferson was the foremost of our genuine intellectual benefactors. We do, even at this late hour, run the risk of “watering the tree” as he once suggested. That is why “they” hate him (and us).

On the matter of intellectualization, and, thus, education, I end with a brief look at Jefferson’s accomplishments as detailed in Chapter 8, “Thomas Jefferson: New World Philosopher”. Jefferson, the founder of the University of Virginia, also set about building a curriculum for the then essentially non-existent Virginia (lower) public schools. Wilson makes patently clear and obvious that what Jefferson wanted was the polar opposite of the state-mandated evil of Northerners like Horace Mann and his system of schools as docile slave training factories. Jefferson wanted young students to learn—a concept completely outside the current American mainstream. 

Wilson gives a bare hint of the curriculum:

There follows a long list of reading requirements—a catalog of 24 Greek and Roman authors of philosophy, history, and literature. These were to be read in the original, not in translation, which seems to tell us Peter, at age 15, was already capable of the classical languages. The list of authors would be daunting to any of today’s professors of classics.

This was to be followed by selected modern history, Milton, Shakespeare, Swift, and Pope, the latter two for absorbing good style. More ancient classics, and then natural science. Interestingly, Jefferson remarks:

You are now, I expect, learning French. You must push this; because the books that will be put into your hands when you advance into Mathematics, Natural philosophy, Natural history, etc., will mostly be French, these sciences being better treated by the French than the English writers.

Jefferson also considered daily physical exercise critical for the development of a young mind. To this end, he advocated daily constitutional walks—with a firearm. This is a far cry from the non-standards of neo-Prussian, feminized, homosexualized American education today, a system of total innumeracy, lack of any scientific acumen, and illiteracy regardless of language. Jefferson’s was a better system, designed by a better man. Those who have experienced his works and wisdom are better for having done so. In keeping with that legacy, I suggest all will benefit from joining Dr. Wilson in Looking For Mr. Jefferson.

*My EPUB (browser) reader displays well but leaves a little to be desired in the way of pagination. Therefore, I referenced as well as I could.

**As a related aside, I would like to someday explore the actions of a certain Tsar, understandable if counter-fortuitous, and how they might have assisted the nascent American imperial development which would soon become the plague and peril of the world. This exploration promises to be fun, or so I imagine. In time.

***I sure hope I don’t end up on the witch Nimarata’s little list…

UPDATE: Also at Geopolitika.

COLUMN: A Review of WHY THE WEST CAN’T WIN by Fadi Lama

18 Wednesday Oct 2023

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A Review of WHY THE WEST CAN’T WIN by Fadi Lama

 

With a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, Dr. Fadi Lama may be a ramblin’ wreck. His book, however, is anything but — a smooth, fast, and powerful look deep within the rot necrotizing the West and afflicting the rest of the world. It would greatly benefit most Westerners, especially most Americans, and particularly those Americans in my Dixie to read Why The West Can’t Win. Therefore, at least to the Americans who need the information and presentation the most, we could safely assume most won’t. I hope that isn’t the case, and I have some irrationally optimistic sense that this might be THE book to finally start driving a little truth home among the masses. 

Hello, it’s another book review. As much as I mean to cut back on these, we just keep getting so many very good books. Herein we examine and I cite Lama, Fadi, Why The West Can’t Win: From Bretton Woods to a Multipolar World, Atlanta: Clarity Press, 2023 (Kindle Edition). 

It’s loaded with charts, statistics, notes and citations—usually sure killers of reader connectivity. Yet and still, I think Lama pulls off something amazing with his short, insightful work. In many of my reviews, especially concerning works of non-fiction, I repeatedly stress the importance of how well a book flows. Lama is an engineer so it makes sense he designed a presentation that cleverly posits real information, pairing it with keen discussion in a uniformly interesting fashion. The order goes something like this: 1) an idea is announced, 2) the idea is visually presented via a graph, mathematical operation, or picture, and 3) the information is synthesized with language I think most readers will appreciate and be capable of following. 

Why The West Can’t Win is a brief history of the corruption of Western Civilization, especially of the Anglo-American variety by a cohort of living demons Lama aptly calls “the Money Powers.” I’ll start where Lama ends, with his final cautionary words on page 357:

The chickens have come home to roost. The oppression inflicted by the Money Powers against humanity will now be directed internally. Until people in the Western Realm revolt against this miniscule parasitic financial “elite” that oppresses them, and recover their civilizations and sovereignty, the best depiction of their future would be George Orwell’s statement in 1984: 

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.

Bleak, but appropriate. And to a large degree, self-inflicted. What he means is that with the bifurcation of the world into Sovereign and Clown factions, and the growing inability of the Clowns to directly oppress the majority of the world population, they are now forced to vent their eternal hatred of God and man upon their only remaining victims, the people of their host countries. That hideous process is already underway. What passes for the mainstream media in the West is a poorly reasoned yet hypnotic collection of lies. Vladimir Putin recently warned the people of Kyrgyzstan to avoid reading Western outlets for that reason. I note that he concentrated on the reading part. Most Americans, being dull and barely literate, generally gain their propaganda by staring stupidly at television screens. On page 234, Lama presents a chart showing Money Power ownership of major Western media outlets; by that measure, Fox “News” really is the worst. Americans continue to defy physics, reality, and belief by falling for one set of lies after another. In the wake of the war on “terror,” the financial collapse, the global pandemic bioweapon attacks, the stolen election and coup in DC, and the NATO Nazis’ war on Russia, the dullards have instantly fallen in line with Israel’s and Lispy Graham’s goal of genociding Palestinians and spreading war and misery across the Middle East. Never letting a crisis go to waste, the anti-human wraiths of the ADL, an organization founded to honor a child rapist and murderer, are pushing more and more dystopian censorship on Americans. Not to be outdone, the feeble UK Parliament passed, in September of 2023, a new law to further regulate (read, “censor”) online information. There are many other existing examples, many of which you, dear reader, are probably aware of, and more and worse is coming. A little resistance from the people of the West against their true enemies would be both wise and welcomed.

Westerners have almost uniformly come to live under democracies. Drawing on both Republican Roman experience and the traditions of Greece, Cicero believed that democracy was one of the worst forms of governance possible, along with tyranny and oligarchy. Thomas Jefferson, in his own interesting way, expressed a similar sentiment. Listen to any Clown World heathen, like fake US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and within two or three minutes some platitude about democracy will be incanted with sacred solemnity. Lama masterfully walks his readers through the history of the Money Powers-driven West and the Powers’ absolute obsession with democracy. He exposes the clear pattern of the ruin of nations by eliminating religious and nationalistic controls and replacing them with democratic perversions, degeneracy, and usury. The end result, in France, America, or India, is a form of slavery and societal pillaging. That is why all attempts to democratize government, such as the US’s 17th Amendment, allowing for the supposedly “free” popular election of Senators, act to subvert freedom, prosperity, and true representation of and for the people. Lama mathematically demonstrates, on page 88, that “from a socioeconomic standpoint, democracy is the worse form of governance throughout history. That is natural, as it was made by the Money Powers for the Money Powers.” 

As much as the book is a warning to those who need it and might hear it, it is equally an optimistic appraisal of where the majority of humanity stands moving forward in this century. In between and all around, a history is woven—from the ancient world, through the Middle Ages, through the horrors of the Enlightenment, across the financial capitalistic terror of Bretton Woods, ending with the emergence of multipolarity. Lama nicely sums up the where-we-are-now as follows, from page 20: “The current global geopolitical clash is in essence a struggle between the colonial powers wishing to preserve the Bretton Woods system that facilitates siphoning the wealth of nations and sovereign nations striving for independence and an end to a millennium of their oppression.” If that statement confounds one, then there is all the more reason to read the book as the patterns and methods of oppression are pointedly discussed. 

That discussion raises historical observations seldom called to anyone’s attention. For instance, from pages 89-90: “Wealth pillaged from the colonies was not pillaged for the colonialist nations, but for the bankers and shareholders of the exploiting companies based therein; that is, the Money Powers.” That is why, as English corporations looted African, Asian, and American colonies, the lives of many Londoners were little better than those of the poor natives in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, as expressed through the eyes and words of many Dickensian characters. It’s a concept perhaps many American Millennials and Zoomers can relate to today. Lama explains the mechanisms of this universally immiserating phenomenon in much the same way Michael Hudson, Steve Keen, David Graeber, Alexander Macris, and other authors do. 

At present, in a desperate bid to save their empire, the Money Powers rely on the postmodern versions of three time-tested tactics: fake money (the Petrodollar), “virtual reality” (the deceptions of the media), and fading US military power (CVN-78 to Palestine, etc.). As Lama illustrates very well, the events of the past two years have dispelled the myth of American military invincibility and the necessity of the Dollar as the world reserve currency. All that really remains are the lies of Clown World virtual reality. And those necessarily collapse upon crashing into actual reality. Page 40: “When virtual reality meets reality on the battleground, T-Bills and ETFs stand little chance against flying missiles and artillery shells.”

I mention CVN-78, the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, for a timely reason. In between the publication of Lama’s book and my review, the US Empire dispatched the Ford, the Ike, and other ships, planes, weapons, and troops toward Occupied Palestine to assist Israel in potentially exterminating some of the poorest people in the world. (The virtual reality liars may tell it otherwise.) Yet, given the condition of the Ford, one almost wonders if its true mission isn’t more in keeping with that of the Lusitania, the Maine, the Arizona, or the Liberty. From page 244: “The $13 billion Gerald R. Ford ‘has yet to demonstrate that it can effectively’ defend the aircraft carrier from anti-ship missiles and other threats, according to the Pentagon’s testing office.” There is, one supposes, nothing like live testing.

There’s a healthy supply of many other examples of Western evil like that. I leave most for the delighted discovery of the reader. Here’s one more. Russia’s SMO in Ukraine, forced by NATO, the US, and the Money Powers, revealed many things the virtual realists would prefer people forget about. Following a brief mention of the horrors of Imperial Japan’s Unit 731, Lama comes to a natural conclusion on page 196: “Not surprisingly, with the head start acquired from ‘research’ of Unit 731, the U.S. is today the leader in bio warfare, with its bio labs dotting the globe. U.S.-controlled bio labs in Ukraine have performed experiments similar to those of Japan’s Unit 731.” One is reminded of the nature of many of those experiments as told by JRK, Jr. in his excellent book on Tony Fauci’s miserable life and work. The COVID+ evil from those labs was but one of hundreds of examples of illicit US biowarfare necromancy, a legacy that predates the empire’s acquisition of the 731 war criminals (“paperclipped” into the fold like so many SS Nazis). 

In the reading, should a Westerner begin to feel a pang of slight guilt, it is because, while he himself might be blameless, extreme wickedness has been perpetrated in his name and on his watch. Again, now would be a grand time to turn guilt into cleansing action, letting the suffering of Oliver Twist give way to the resistance of a Gaza or Donbass freedom fighter.

But whether anyone finally awakens in the West, the changes in the world already proceed apace. Much of Why The West Can’t Win is an exemplifying comparison of factors and a recitation of exactly why the West can’t. Much or most of it comes down to sovereignty versus slavery and reality versus fantasy. Lama does much in the way of contrasting the hype for and the reality of the West with that of Russia and China, perhaps the two best examples of the free multipolar domain. On page 129, Table 5, Lama makes a quick comparison of the financial condition of the Russian and US economies. While Russia is, in a word, “healthy,” the US is a basket case. Yet, in Table 6, he shows that the fake Western ratings agencies assign the greater risk of investment to Russia, with the US, of course, being “AAA” and “Prime.” This is but one of many exposures of the prime, AAA, exceptional bullshit that underpins postmodern Western existence.

The captive West cannot win and has really already lost because of factors such as money and monetary policy, technology, human rights, manufacturing capacity, education, and healthcare—all of which are covered in detail. These deficiencies are generally interrelated as Lama demonstrates in various places, including his take on education in the US. On page 123 he writes (emphasis mine): “Many individuals who have great potential are effectively discarded. The consequences of this can already be observed in the Military Industrial Complex (MIC), which since 2000 has been unable to develop any competitive weapons system.” In addition to boondoggle false flag fodder like the Ford, the discarding of talent speaks to a large part of the character (or lack thereof) of the postmodern American nation. Richard Hofstadter correctly titled his 1963 book about anti-intellectualism in mid-20th Century America. Since then, things have continued to shift towards outright hostility against genuine higher intelligence. There is a reason why China wisely and officially embraced Wang Huning and why America stupidly but effectively shunned Chris Langan. Already, the results of this shift speak for themselves. 

While I cannot nail down an exact religious affiliation, Lama’s book is replete with positive morality. It would behoove Christians to read the book and take stock of where they ontologically and physically stand in several areas—particularly areas imbued with a creeping sense of discomfort. While we cannot control the past or the actions of others, we can and must live today as we plan for tomorrow, all while accounting for the intentions of other parties. Those of us in the West must realize that the centuries-long malfeasance of our hijacked culture is losing and will lose, as it deserves to; we, however, need not go down with the sinking ship. Imagine our boot resting upon the throat of a wicked little parasite.

Fadi Lama is to be praised for his insight, research, wit, and bravery in assembling an outstanding volume dedicated to intelligence, truth, dignity, and justice. Please buy and read Why The West Can’t Win. 

Thanks, Walt

03 Sunday Sep 2023

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book review, Confiteri, Walt Garlington

Walt Garlington was kind enough to post my review of Eschatological Optimism on his top-tier Confiteri site.

Apophatic Apologetics: A Review of ESCHATOLOGICAL OPTIMISM by Daria “Platonova” Dugina

By Perrin Lovett

I also owe Walt for giving me the heads up the book was coming. Y’all do check out his site, please.

COLUMN: Apophatic Apologetics: A Review of ESCHATOLOGICAL OPTIMISM by Daria “Platonova” Dugina

31 Thursday Aug 2023

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book review, Daria Dugina, Eschatological Optimism

Apophatic Apologetics: A Review of ESCHATOLOGICAL OPTIMISM by Daria “Platonova” Dugina

 

There are few things more intellectually agreeable than a well-reasoned treatise that forces one to continually think, that offers both reassurance and challenge. If such a work is both inspiring and captivating, then it becomes an even finer rarity. So it is with today’s subject, a proper exposition of the good, the true, and the beautiful: 

Dugina, Daria “Platonova”, Eschatological Optimism. Tucson, Arizona: PRAV Publishing, 2023. 

The book is the posthumously collected essays and lectures of the brilliant Daria (also to some, Darya) Dugina, as masterfully edited by John Stachelski and fluidly translated into English by Jafe Arnold. This review and all page citations are based on the Kindle edition; for reference, I use the pagination rather than positioning provided by my Kindle reader. One may and should order a copy either from PRAV or from Amazon.

Eschatological Optimism is extraordinarily well-structured. Given topics that some might otherwise present with a stuffy, stilted, or disjointed complexity, the innately smooth format instead flows verbally and mentally like a gentle stream. This is a credit to the skills of the editor and, for the English-reading audience, the translator. Yet there is something more remarkable at work, which speaks to the prowess of the author and which is highlighted and magnified by the fact the posited chronicle is a compendium of smaller annals. One encounters a series of repetitions of the title theme and related matters. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, for example, is mentioned in multiple places. Yet at no time does the recurrence become stale. Rather, the litany has a reinforcing cumulative effect. As such, the presumed editorial joining and rejoining of various matters exposes a deliberate composition to engender delight, awe, and perhaps even envy. This phenomenon speaks most highly of the mind behind the assembled words, of an intellect active, engaged, and engaging. A concentrated will and organization obviously guided all of Dugina’s script, understanding, and reflection. 

The book will be of great interest to Orthodox Christians, Russians, and Neoplatonic thinkers. It will also be of great interest to all other Christians, non-Russian nationals, Aristotelians, and anyone else who enjoys exercising his brain. Along with the thoughtful rendering of its nominal philosophy, Eschatological Optimism allows for subtly divergent, if parallel consideration of the component parts or conclusions of the stated theory by the reader. Pouring through the pages, a wonderful idea of complementary synthesis builds in the mind, a congruency. Commodious space is provided for individual intellectual maneuvering; though one need not precisely follow every attestation or predication of the text, one should, in my estimation, be able to reach a pleasingly similar denouement. Your reviewer is, for the sake of disclosure, an eschatological optimist. All Christians should be as well, for we know and trust that even as our plodding way may be rough, our ultimate destination and salvation are assured. For almost every interested party, there is something to be learned from Dugina’s book. She forced me to remember things forgotten, consider things in new ways, and to consider entirely new concepts. She has opened a wide and well-lit door. She did so, admittedly, from a distinctly and naturally Russian perspective and the very different (from the “ordinary”) outlook of the philosopher. Regardless of disposition, all of the types of readers I just noted should feel or foster towards each other a kind of camaraderie and respect as each approaches that door. It leads to something and somewhere rewarding.

“Eschatology,” of course, concerns the final end of the world, and for Christians, the Second Coming. “Optimism” is a favorable perspective. Together, as Dugina explains on page 34, the combined terminology is “rather dangerous and complex.” It’s also rather positive, informative, and even enchanting. Two approaches to the philosophy are delineated along with the defined assertion that the eschatological optimist, while accepting that terminal change in the world is imminent, nonetheless soldiers on by consciously and purposely living. On page 54, Dugina provides perhaps a clearer and more actionable definition: 

…eschatological optimism is the consciousness and recognition that the material world, the given world which we presently take to be pure reality, is illusory: it is an illusion that is about to dissipate and end. We are extremely, sharply conscious of its finitude. But, at the same time, we maintain a certain optimism; we do not put up with it, we talk about the need to overcome it.

A dialectical Christian may or may not hone in on the illusory aspect. For my part, I hope he does, wrestling with the notion of being in but not of the illusion. If I failed to mention there is great thrill and fun in the reading, then know that there is. The wallop is far-ranging, as one will find numerous examples from history, theology, and literature. For instance, like the author, I still ponder the questioned optimistic potential of Edgar Allen Poe. Was the raven’s perch of choice supposed to suggest to us something of deeper ancient character?!

In many ways, Eschatological Optimism is a grand refresher for those who previously studied Plato (and other classical philosophers). If one is not well-acquainted with Greek thought, then it is a marvelous introduction. Platonism is well-explicated across the course of some twenty-five centuries and from various points of view and understanding. The reader will be reminded of the linkage and harmony across socio-theological realms regarding ontology, hierarchy, and more. Dugina covers many subtopics very well, a list too multitudinous to recount here. I touch only upon a few of many interesting points.

Apophatic theology, intricately bound to Orthodox tradition and general Christian thought, lies at the heart of eschatological optimism. As opposed to, or rather, in addition to, direct cataphatic orientation towards God, the apophatic is a path to comprehension (of the ultimately incomprehensible) via negation or indirect appreciation — trusting that which cannot be seen clearly in this world. It is reasoned yet mystical faith, not “blind” as it is guided by a form of structured logic. Beyond Eastern Orthodoxy, the apophatic has been part of Catholic doctrine since the Thirteenth Century, as embraced and expressed by Saint Thomas Aquinas, who was deeply influenced by Areopagitic thought. The root of (apophatic) Christian Platonism — see page 301 — comes from the fusion of Greek philosophy with Christian Patristic tradition forged by Dionysius the Areopagite. That coalescence of religious and Platonic thought is expounded thoroughly and even poetically.

Given the current state of the corporeal world, the same as it ever was, some of Dugina’s attention turns to the unpleasant aspects of human existence since the expulsion from Eden. She writes, correctly, on page 67, “Evil is easy to find and easy to see.” Much energy and time would be saved if materialists would acknowledge this truth and cease wasting their efforts attempting to explain evil as merely “bad” and if they would limit their tangible reactions to what are primarily spiritual concerns, even those, especially those that intrude into our illusory “real” world. War is presented as a necessary righteous rebellion against the false order of the world, a conflict of what is “below” against God and His order above. In and around that context, and among other timely, cogent observations, Dugina correctly calls out the sad misunderstanding by the postmodern West of nature, life, love, war, and peace. Set against the great spiritual conflict that envelops all of us whether we understand it or not, Dugina delivers a call to resistance the likes of which is rarely if ever heard today, a call made so clearly, passionately, and appropriately. From page 102:

In the conditions of the modern world, any stubborn and desperate resistance to this world, any uncompromising struggle against liberalism, globalism, and Satanism, is heroism.

That passage alone should cement the value of Dugina’s book, her theories, and her bold place among the champions of Christian civilization. She goes on to call for cultivating the warrior within. This is the clarion call for our times.

A fascinating discourse occurs concerning the differences between the legitimate feminine principles (of Russia) and the faltering postmodern feminist attitudes of the West. There is such a thing as “Christian Feminism” and I leave to the reader the joys of exploring its place in sane sociosexual relations. In my estimated summary, men and women were literally made for each other, separate but equal, and utterly compatible. In this, not a minor front in our war, we must reclaim the joy that satan and his minions have stolen or attempted to pilfer.

The various fractures of the natural hierarchy between God and man, between man and man, and between man’s sociopolitical entities and himself are examined in keen detail. Ultimately, what Dugina calls for is a return to or continuation of the grand traditions of our past, to the turning of backs to the disorder of the postmodern world. By doing so, she bravely imagines — and I think she is correct, we can (re)ignite the optimist’s spirit. And we may do so in a way both intelligible to us and pleasing to God. Elsewhere, others have commented at length about the combining of the noble pagan Greek thought, as exemplified by Plato, and the just doctrine of Christianity. Dugina’s detailed look into the life and times of Emperor Julian the Apostate, along with the “Justinian” reaction thereto and thereagainst, and our ensuing history, provides a spectacular example of what works, what does not work, what mystifies, and what may or must happen in order to maintain clarity of thinking (the Platonic way) without sacrificing any of the absolute Truth of Christianity. 

Emperor Julian is presented under “Political Platonism.” On page 277, Dugina quotes W. R. Inge regarding the emperor being “a conservative when there was nothing left to preserve.” There is something familiar in those words for today’s Westerner, particularly for today’s American. Those of us in the West have suffered tremendous damage from the faux Enlightenment, which Dugina proportionally dismisses, including libertine calls for nebulous openness and false freedom. As she notes, true light comes only from Jesus Christ. In it, and only in it do we find genuine comfort and cause for optimism.

Herein, I have painted very broadly and just enough to cover the bare corners. Needless to say, I highly recommend Eschatological Optimism. The reader will be delighted, astounded, and … saddened.

Reading through, roughly articulating a mental outline for this review, I resolved to omit any painful mention of Daria Dugina’s tragic and untimely death. That resolve dissipated upon reading the Afterword written by Daria’s mother, Natalia Melentyeva. Noting the broken character of our world, Mrs. Melentyeva spoke of Daria’s courage and spirit, of the kind of mental and spiritual effort necessary to restore our civilization. She candidly answered the terrible question I feared to broach on page 364:

To the question, “Who killed Daria Dugina?”, there is one final and true answer: “the enemy of humankind,” the modern world, the dark spirit waging eternal struggle against the Light, against the Intellect, against the sublime and the noble.

Despite the wicked endeavors of mankind’s truest, darkest enemies, Daria Dugina is (is, not was), as her mother wrote, “the ever-rising star of Russian thought.” A beautiful, optimistic star to help steer our course.

Да благословит и сохранит тебя Господь, Платонова.

Please Stand By

30 Wednesday Aug 2023

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Another book review column is coming, probably tomorrow or Friday. It’s 99% ready, and I am just attending to a few interesting, extraneous things. It’s gonna be good. In the meantime, please enjoy whatever hoax they’re running today! Thanks. P

COLUMN: A Review of SCHOOL FOR GENIUS

09 Wednesday Aug 2023

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book review, education, ETH, SCHOOL FOR GENIUS, Tom Moore

A Review of SCHOOL FOR GENIUS

 

What’s genius got to do with it?! What did Tina Turner have in common with Boston’s Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge? That’s right! Sensing the impending final chapter of American history approaching, the late, talented, and wise Turner removed herself to Switzerland, settling comfortably in a magnificent chateau just down the lake shore from a school most Americans may not have heard of. And one will literally drive over the engineering legacy of that same school as one heads north on I-93, passing TD’s new Garden, perhaps lamenting the loss of the old Garden, and slowly realizing the Red Tavern up in Methuen has been closed for twenty years.

Hello. It’s another book review. Today we briefly examine School For GENIUS: The Story Of The ETH – The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, from 1855 to the Present, Front Street Press, (2005/6). ETH, short for the Allemand “Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule,” is that famed engineering school in Zurich with which some might not be familiar. It’s also sometimes referred to simply as “the Poly.” It is Switzerland’s and Europe’s preeminent technical school and consistently ranks as one of the world’s top ten universities.

(© Front Street Press. Photo by PL.)

I purchased School for Genius for two very special, personal reasons. First, I am giving the book as a gift to a most important person who may choose to study at ETH in the near future. Second, it is yet another fine work authored by my dear friend, my brother, and our champion of the West, the late, great Thomas G. Moore. That last point alone should sell this review to my readers. 

As many know, Tom and I first met at a school. Many might not know that Tom held three advanced degrees from two European universities. The man understood academia. He knew Europe. Previously, I was vaguely aware of ETH, and he and I had discussed the book and his resident process of researching and writing it. Reading it was nonetheless eye-opening.

As usual, Tom did something utterly fantastic with ETH. He crafted an authoritative history, apology, and exposition that flows and reads like one of his thrilling fictional narratives. It’s not quite like reading an Erik Larson book; one need not constantly remind oneself that Albert Einstein and Carl Jung were real men and not novel characters, but it’s somewhat close. 

The book opens with words of knowledgeable praise from Hon. Faith Whittlesey, a two-term former US Ambassador to Switzerland. Tom begins with a bit of history and culture, wherein he compares the ancient and functional idea of Swiss “diversity” with the doomed and deadly buzzword of late American fame. He then moves into the school’s genesis as it was founded based on the established principles of Paris’s École Polytechnique (another school someone might consider). 

The rise of ETH coincided with, was governed by, and helped steer the rise of the industrial revolution and the modern world. Tom beautifully covers how a decent and intelligent people bridged the transition from a rural agrarian culture to an advanced industrialized society while maintaining the best elements of both. Repeated emphasis is given to the stubborn independence and decentralization that has marked the Swiss people and their Cantons for centuries. He also delves as deeply into the copious scientific and academic contributions and achievements the school and its score-plus Nobel laureates have given the world as 270 pages will allow. 

Here I will stop and highly recommend School For Genius. If not for my two privy circumstances, I might not have ever developed an interest in the subject matter. It is, I suppose, a niche study. Yet, if you or someone you know has an interest in educational history, engineering, math, Tom Moore prose, or the continuation of civilization, then do consider adding the book to your reading list. 

As for gifted young American students who might contemplate ETH as their future alma mater, Tom perhaps outdoes even his own general curiosity and kindness. He dedicates a short section towards the end of the book to just those American kids who might follow Mrs. Turner toward Zurich. The requisite standards are high. Therefore, so too should be the intellectual caliber of the potential scholar. If one is qualified, and one decides to pursue this select excellence, then the process is doable. At Tom’s original press time, the annual cost of attending ETH was approximately $950. This year, it is closer to $1,500. That figure applies to all students, domestic and international. Compare that price to the tuition at MIT. Compare Zurich to Boston, and the CH to the US. ETH is oftentimes referred to as the “MIT of Europe.” That moniker might be reversed. 

For general education buffs, Appendix II provides a cursory examination of the general Swiss school system. As one might guess, compared to what passes for schooling in the US, the CH’s approach is, in a word, “better.” In a self-propagating system of merit and advancement, ETH does its part to keep the cycle spinning much like CERN’s ETH-affiliated Large Hadron Collider. The adventuresome American pupil might further assist this grand process. Learn much more in Moore’s School For Genius.

A special note: Based on my outstanding experience, I also highly recommend Booketeria of San Antonio, Texas as a used bookstore of great worth. If you order School For Genius or any other preowned book from Amazon, do look for them as a source. At their website, they maintain an independent catalog of titles. For the ridiculously low price I paid for my copy, what was delivered bordered on the unbelievable. My mint condition book arrived early and double wrapped like a Christmas present. I sincerely thank these good people for their extreme dedication to quality and service.

Up there in Heaven, I once again thank you, mon frère. Really miss you.

Deo vindice!

Tom Ironsides is a New Hero

20 Saturday May 2023

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Don’t take my word for it. Another new review came in for THE SUBSTITUTE. Says the lovely, intelligent Lynne Neal:

New hero!

Tom Ironsides is a new hero…a man’s man…politically-incorrect…highly intelligent…multi-talented.

As he takes on the failed public school system, the reader lives through a school year with him, his family, his romantic escapades, and winds up cheering him on as Tom implements his ideas for a completely different type of education, built upon classical studies.

Flashbacks to Tom’s time in service to the empire provide more excitement and inspiration from our hero.

Excellent novel. MOST enjoyable! I’m ready for the follow-up!

This may be the best, most succinct summary of the novel yet. Many thanks to Lynne! And don’t just take her word for it. Snag a copy yourself (or, better yet, 10).

COLUMN: Hummingbirds for Hedgehogs, Cats for Mice: General Commentary AND a Review of LA POUDRE AUX YEUX by Justine Reix

10 Wednesday May 2023

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Hummingbirds for Hedgehogs, Cats for Mice: General Commentary AND a Review of LA POUDRE AUX YEUX by Justine Reix

 

Late last week, I learned that SBU stormtroopers had arrested Gonzalo Lira again in Kharkov. He stands accused of, much like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, telling the truth. Here’s praying for the best for him, his family, and his friends. I suppose emailing Tony Blinken the suggestion Lira is really a lesbian basketball druggie will not help as, of course, he and all other honest men can expect zero assistance from the imperial Yankee government. Today’s book review deals with government incompetence, dishonesty, and callous disregard – getting there in just a moment. Just the other week, all three characteristics were on full display when Joe Wilson (R – South Israelina) dropped House Res. 322, which might as well be known as the “Hey! While We’re Being Totally Wicked And Stupid, Let’s Declare (Unwinnable) War On Russia Act Of 2023”. Don’t worry, you, your children, and your grandchildren will pick up the potential tab for that.

Also, not too long ago, I learned of a terrible misdefinition of the “Sigma Male” of Socio-Sexual Hierarchy (SSH) fame. Many a right-winger, including the author of the original taxonomy, were amused at the reporting on the subject by one writer at VICE. She got it wrong, obviously, but I’m not entirely certain it was all her fault. Many illegitimate sources have out-of-the-blue claimed expertise in all things SSH. It may be a case of her not looking deeply enough, instead becoming satisfied by what she saw blathered all over creation (and TikTok). There was also the subtle feeling of Gekaufte Journalisten at work. Some SSH ideas help the heterosexual male members of the right and are thus anathema to Clown World. Regardless, writers like her get paid to produce content. Given everything, I found it difficult to fault her too hard.

But I did look into her, finding this:

(Multiple Twitter Picture Postin’s).

What a beautiful … book!

It turned out to be not such a bad book either. Here’s my,

Review of La Poudre Aux Yeux: Enquête sur le Ministère de l’Ecologie by Justine Reix, JC Lattès (2022) (US) (FR). 

La Poudre Aux Yeux, (Powder in the Eyes), is the tandem call for better ecological policy, and a discovery that government does not necessarily work as promised. It is not, as of yet, available in English. That may deter the casual non-French reader. However, I am told that multiple digital parties have assembled easy-to-use translation services. So there is hope for the intrepid reader. 

My Amazon review, below, essentially summarizes most of my thoughts on Reix’s book. However, I will first share a few more specific revelations for readers of my blog and, especially, the gangs at Reckonin’ and Abbeville. After all, agrarianism is a major theme for Southern People. It even received titular and topical treatment in Alan Harrelson’s (hey, bub!) doctoral dissertation at MSU, Native to the Soil: Twentieth-Century Agrarian Thought in the Upland South. Agrarianism is inescapably linked to ecology and environment matters. We all have to live somewhere, and most of us would like our somewheres as pristine as possible. Over the past few years, for reasons related to chemtrails, railroad fires, DNA-altering “vaccines”, and more, many on the right have changed their thinking about environmental issues. We all remain at least somewhat suspicious of the government and its (often corporate) owners.

A primary expertise of mine is in spotting and understanding evil trends in political matters, which is very, very easy. This helped markedly in appreciating Reix’s realization that France’s Ministry of Ecology might not do the best job of representing the interests of the French people. For her part, I suppose she is and was an idealistic, liberal young woman who perhaps thought things semi-worked as advertised. I was relieved to see, despite coming around to the harsh truth, she never lost her fire regarding her core concerns. 

However, many of my readers may not know it, but I was briefly, for one class in one college quarter, a student of Eugene Odum, the “father of modern ecology”. The class might have been entirely conducted by a graduate student, and I may have forgotten 97% of what I learned, but there’s still that 3%, right? There’s also the fact that I appreciate a clean environment. Many of the principles of modern “climate change” ecology I not only disagree with but know to be disproven, observably and mathematically. Reix covers some of that, but innocently and not in any raging or pushy fashion. I do agree with her on many of the other matters she discusses. Much of her caution and advice, especially as to what individuals and families can and should do, is sound. The great geostrategic and economic changes of the past year are literally forcing some of her proposals on the world; she called for a lessening of globalization, and that’s what we’re getting. Families in rural Doubs, France, and in rural northern Alabama are already practicing better ways that look suspiciously like traditional ways. 

For the Amazonians, I noted one particular point that I and Reix both found saddening – the fact that many young people are actively foregoing family formation and children out of fear of damaging the planet. There are other factors, economic and cultural at work, but this trend is real. I hope it ends immediately. Our greater ecological risk is damaging ourselves more than or to a higher degree than the Earth. And the only people who should have to fear are the people who have wrecked our fields, streams, towns, schools, economies, DNA, tranquility, sanity, and nations. Kids, that is not you; have no fear. Get out there, be happy, and have a bunch of children!

Also, keep those children out of organized schools and, to the greatest extent possible, out of the dying postmodern culture. While discussing potential corrective ecological approaches, Reix quotes a Léo Cohen, p. 138 (Kindle), on a similar entangled subject: “Quand on oblige les parents à mettre leurs enfants à l’école dès l’âge de 3 ans , on ne parle pas d’éducation punitive . Il y a une bataille culturelle à mener (When we force parents to put their children in school from the age of 3, we are not talking about punitive education. There’s a cultural battle to be fought)”. I do talk and write about “punitive” education, all the time. The schools in France, as-is, work much better than those in the former United States. However, they still force parents to send their children to be forcibly instructed in whatever the force of the state decrees appropriate. Interestingly, many of Reix’s personal suggestions, such as buying, growing, and living locally, appear most compatible with the concepts of homeschooling and parental (not state) control over children. 

There are other points I could make, though I think those work here. So now, please read my (5-Star) review submitted to Amazon, in French (translation follows):

Colibris pour Hérissons

Soixante ans après SILENT SPRING, nous avons peut-être un digne successeur à Rachel Carson.

Justine Reix a accompli deux exploits remarquables dans LA POUDRE AUX YEUX, plaidant de manière éclairée et sensée pour la gérance de l’environnement, tout en rappelant simultanément au monde la cupidité, l’insouciance et la léthargie systémiques endémiques dans les domaines intimement liés de la politique et de la corporatocratie.

Problèmes environnementaux. Même moi, un Américain de droite, j’ai trouvé un terrain d’entente avec les questions centrales abordées par Reix. Bien que je ne sois pas exactement d’accord avec toutes les politiques et slogans actuels associés à l’écologie moderne, je reconnais que nous avons tous des problèmes. Nous avons également tout intérêt à résoudre ces problèmes afin de pouvoir, selon les mots d’Eugene Odum, favoriser << des relations plus harmonieuses entre l’homme et la nature >>. Nous devons, pouvons et allons le faire. Au milieu de discussions sur de nombreux sujets et stratégies d’amélioration, Reix énumère des solutions véritablement réalisables, en particulier certaines de celles qu’elle oriente vers la prise de décision individuelle.

Calamité ministérielle. Reix doit être félicitée pour ce qui a dû être un processus d’enquête ardu dans la compilation matériel de base. Et elle aurait pu facilement transformer ses découvertes exploratoires en un traité sur n’importe quel ministère ou département de n’importe quel gouvernement de n’importe quelle nation. Tous les gouvernements sont soumis à certaines tendances bureaucratiques, et tous finissent par succomber à un abaissement et à un déplacement des loyautés et des efficacités. Étant donné que mon pays est dans un état aussi mauvais, voire pire que la France, le seul conseil que je pourrais donner est de persévérer.

Méfiez-vous également quelques des experts et des responsables, au sein et en dehors du gouvernement, en particulier ceux qui s’appuient sur un état constant d’alarme rhétorique. Il y a un grand cycle à l’œuvre, et ses différents auteurs changent fréquemment de rôle, résolvant un problème, dont la résolution crée un nouveau problème, qui continue encore et encore. Les préoccupations écologiques sont étroitement liées aux préoccupations économiques, de stabilité sociétale, etc. Ce réseau de soins interconnectés devrait intéresser tout le monde, car la plupart des groupes ont plus en commun qu’ils ne le pensent indépendamment. Reix couvre magistralement cette vérité; à titre d’exemple, j’ai été réconforté par le mention de forger un lien potentiel avec les gilets jaunes.

Une chose m’a causé une inquiétude supplémentaire dans la lecture, une tendance que j’ai lue ailleurs. Reix note et déplore certains hommes et femmes plus jeunes qui décident <<de ne pas faire d’enfants par peur de l’avenir>>. J’encourage tous les membres des jeunes générations en France, aux États-Unis et au-delà, à ne pas céder à la peur et à renoncer ainsi à tout bonheur familial, dont la poursuite n’est pas seulement sous l’ordre de Dieu mais qui procure également une grande joie personnelle. Certaines des propositions simples de Reix, correctement mises en œuvre, devraient encourager plutôt que décourager les familles harmonieuses. Ce n’est pas le chemin le plus facile à parcourir, mais des auteurs comme Justine Reix proposent le début d’une feuille de route décente.

La composition narrative de Reix se lit également très facilement, coulant de manière transparente d’un concept à l’autre. J’ai été entraîné, captivé et ma maîtrise du français, ma deuxième langue, fait un peu défaut. Quoi qu’il en soit, un argument convaincant et convaincant ressort des paroles de Reix. Elle est honnête mais passionnée, audacieuse mais raffinée, sage mais pleine d’esprit. Je note qu’elle a ouvert et fermé son livre avec des analogies allégoriques animales, une touche délicieuse. Elle a une belle voix et un style belletristiques, et j’aimerais la voir se développer davantage, ou, plutôt, la libérer à l’avenir. Quelques feux, humble colibri, ça paye de continuer à brûler !

Une série de messages importants dans un livre merveilleux.

English:

Hummingbirds for Hedgehogs

Sixty years after SILENT SPRING, we may have a worthy successor to Rachel Carson.

Justine Reix accomplished two remarkable feats in LA POUDRE AUX YEUX, making an informed and sensible case for environmental stewardship, while simultaneously reminding the world of the systemic greed, recklessness and lethargy endemic in the intertwined areas of politics and corporatocracy.

Environmental problems. Even I, a right-wing American, have found common ground with the central issues addressed by Reix. While I don’t exactly agree with all of the current policies and slogans associated with modern ecology, I recognize that we all have issues. We also have a vested interest in solving these problems so that we can, in the words of Eugene Odum, promote “more harmonious relations between man and nature”. We must, can and will do it. Amid discussions of many topics and strategies for improvement, Reix lists some truly workable solutions, especially some of those that she steers toward individual decision-making.

Ministerial calamity. Reix is to be commended for what must have been an arduous investigative process in compiling source material. And she could easily have turned her exploratory findings into a treatise on any ministry or department of any government of any nation. All governments are subject to certain bureaucratic tendencies, and all eventually succumb to a lowering and displacement of loyalties and efficiencies. Since my country is in as bad a state, if not worse than France, the only advice I could give is to persevere.

Also beware a few experts and officials, inside and outside government, especially those who rely on a constant state of rhetorical alarm. There is a great cycle at work, and its various authors change roles frequently, solving one problem, the solving of which creates a new problem, which goes on and on. Ecological concerns are closely related to economic concerns, societal stability, etc. This network of interconnected care should be of interest to everyone, as most groups have more in common than they realize independently. Reix masterfully covers this truth; as an example, I was comforted by the mention of forging a potential link with the yellow vests.

One thing caused me additional concern in reading, a trend I’ve read elsewhere. Reix notes and laments some younger men and women who decide “not to have children for fear of the future”. I encourage all members of the younger generations in France, the United States and beyond, not to give in to fear and thus renounce all family happiness, the pursuit of which is not only under the order of God but which also brings great personal joy. Some of Reix’s simple proposals, properly implemented, should encourage rather than discourage harmonious families. It’s not the easiest road to travel, but authors like Justine Reix offer the start of a decent roadmap.

Reix’s narrative composition also reads very easily, flowing seamlessly from concept to concept. I was driven, captivated and my fluency in French, my second language, is a bit lacking. Regardless, a compelling and convincing argument emerges from Reix’s words. She is honest but passionate, bold but refined, demure but witty. I note that she opened and closed her book with allegorical animal analogies, a delightful touch. She has a beautiful belletristic voice and style, and I would love to see her develop it more, or, rather, release it in the future. A few fires, humble hummingbird, it pays to keep burning!

A series of important messages in a wonderful book.

In closing, I gently correct Mademoiselle Reix. Lovely little hummingbird, ignoring the learned wisdom of the TikTok kings, while Bateman may be a Sigma gone maliciously insane, there are two more plausible classificatory explanations. First, if the story of American Psycho was fictitiously “factual”, then he is most likely an Alpha gone maliciously insane. Second, if the tale was a delusional dream, then, to me, it appears more likely than not he is a delusional Omega (possibly a delusional Gamma) gone maliciously, delusionally insane. Nonetheless, thank you for your dedication and spirit clearing away the powder.

COLUMN: A Review of THE CONSTITUTION OF NON-STATE GOVERNMENT: Field Guide to Texas Secession by T.L. Hulsey

03 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, Other Columns

≈ Comments Off on COLUMN: A Review of THE CONSTITUTION OF NON-STATE GOVERNMENT: Field Guide to Texas Secession by T.L. Hulsey

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book review, government, sortive democracy, T.L. Hulsey, Texas, The Constitution of Non-State Government

A Review of THE CONSTITUTION OF NON-STATE GOVERNMENT: Field Guide to Texas Secession by T.L. Hulsey

 

*Note: TL; DR? A concise, Amazon-friendly review resides at the end of the following.

Political science – in the future, the present, and the past. Gubmint. Hello, it’s another book review. Before we get going, I’d once again like to drop an analogous quote that I often attribute to the late, great philosopher, Joe Weider, from a 1980s essay on weight training: “In bodybuilding, everything works, but nothing works for long”. That is, as any student of the iron can relate, true. And so it is with politics and most other public human affairs. As many have noticed over the long centuries, just about any form of political association and governance, regardless of how one feels or thinks about it, can and does work for some duration. But then, just as free isolating the biceps provided a route to growth yesterday, at some point stagnation and even regression sets in. A change is necessary and, generally, inevitable. Many iterations of the cycle of the state have posited; pick one (or three) and observe the patterns.

Evidence circulating in early 2023 suggests that the West, or what the West has allowed itself to become has run its course. The legitimate foundations of Christianity, the Greco-Roman legal traditions, and the heritages of the various European nations are today and for some time, wholly ignored and, in fact, shunned. The allegedly liberating replacement ideology has also fallen flat. Emulating the great, original lie as told in the Garden, every last facet of the Enlightenment has proven a malicious deception. If one seeks both a comprehensive summary of how this process unfolded, trapped, and affected America, AND one wants a highly plausible way forward, then I am happy to report we have a new guide of great worth:

T.L. Hulsey, The Constitution of Non-State Government: Field Guide to Texas Secession, Shotwell (2022) (Shotwell) (Amazon).

© Shotwell / Hulsey.

Preliminary Notes

A few points of initial clarification:

First, I must gently refute the author’s kind, self-deprecating autochthon assessment, from page 15 (Kindle):

Every line is mine alone – someone with no degree whatsoever from any university, whose loftiest state imprimatur, unique in my entire family, is a high school diploma. Thus the reader will not find in me any argument from authority. I have abundantly referenced others who might be more informed on particular matters, but ultimately the reader must face the harrowing challenge of having to think for himself.

One will certainly be forced to use one’s mind, a challenge and a reward. Hulsey’s authority to present such a challenge may casually defy Max Weber’s trinitarian taxonomy, though I think he leans strongly towards “charismatic” influence, as bolstered by ample subject-matter historicity and implicit, fluid construction of creative ideas. In other words, it is a fully displayed case of Bloom’s logical taxonomy on and of the seventh order. In other other words, Hulsey writes to us in both a thinking and thoughtful fashion. In case one is wondering, that is rare. Who needs lower academic credentials when one has such a book? As I noted in my much shorter Amazon review (below), in The Constitution of Non-State Government, Hulsey presents “a doctoral-level dissertation”. Here, I will note the book appears to have been partly intended, perhaps subconsciously, for an audience with an average Mensa minimum standard IQ. It is so drafted by someone I suspect of personally being at least a standard deviation north of that already lofty mark. None of this, by the way, should deter the new reader. It is, rather, encouraging evidence of the value of the author’s “harrowing challenge”.

Now, something that temporarily vexed my hard head, and which doesn’t really comport with the modern/post-modern notions of political science: what is a “Non-State Government”? These words cut through the neoliberal idiocy of our day. One may have noticed, even if one is unwilling to yet admit the realities, that the era of ideology is over. Hulsey’s is a book that graciously accepts the correct order of man’s nature, with identity first, followed by society or culture, and then, and only then, by politics – with attendant political labels. This book looks beyond the concepts of the modern “state”, an artificial construct, allowed by the laws of physics to work for a time, but, like all constructs of disingenuous modernity, destined to fail. Regardless of what some hold for propositional truth, a nation is no more than a defined group of somehow-related people. They necessarily have to live somewhere, and so the true state or nation is but an expression of their existence, together, and in the corporeal world. Hulsey more than explains the differences between the real and the faux, and the reader will do well to dispense with his preconceived ideas about the who, what, why, and how of government. In brief, what’s proposed is a government – just not the kind we’ve been lied to about all our lives.

Next, Texas. The Lone Star State and Republic is as fine a place as any to examine Hulsey’s ideas. In fact, given its relative uniqueness, it may be the best place to do so. Given the author, it all certainly makes sense. However, just as one shouldn’t remain hung-up on “isms”, one should understand that Hulsey has really novelized a generally applicable solution. His ideas, while based on natural, universal axioms, are largely Western in origin. While the implementation of his plan might not be universally practical, it is universally advisable to consider many of the points made. Polygenesis aside, people, one might have noticed, are different. What works for the European may or may not work as well for the African or the Asian. That said, what is offered is a blueprint, which may be modified as needed or if needed. These are concepts that could effectively serve many populations, if not exactly to the same scope or degree. They are certainly, as expressed, compatible with 21st-century Texans, and probably also with contemporary Carolinians, Germans, Poles, and other Westerners. It really depends on who, precisely, accepts Hulsey’s afore-noted challenge.

One last thing: religious argumentation. In now ancient Anglo-American jurisprudence, there is or was a maxim of constitutional or statutory analysis that held strict assessment of some questioned law or thing, against a founding, “absolute” authority, should be withheld as a “nuclear option” of last resort. For example, if a court is asked to decide whether a new law violates the First Amendment’s prohibition against fettering the press, the wise judge(s) would first see if the law might be confirmed or condemned by some lesser measure, like the concept of being voided via vague language. The armchair lawyer will make of this approach what he will, and he is informed if he realizes it was a rationalized thing of the past, with our existing “state” governments having succumbed to Tully’s admonition, “the more laws, the less justice”. Herein, as he masks his genius, Hulsey also openly states he has avoided religious authority in grounding his otherwise reasoned and logical designs. He succeeds in doing so. Yet, what he conceptualizes is highly harmonized with religious, particularly Christian thought. This is, in my mind’s eye, highly synonymous to Tolkien’s constant downplaying of Christian analogy in his works. One can only reply: “Yes, yes, as you say, professor. It’s not overtly there. It merely suggests itself to the mind and heart repeatedly and honestly”. This reviewer finds the result pleasantly remarkable and further proof of intellectual veracity.

Construction and Style

The Constitution… is divided into two essential parts. There is more through them both, rather than between them, a transitioning nexus that acts more as a bridge than a barrier. The first part deals well and fully with the philosophical nature of man, his attempts at society and government, and a few of the follies of our long history. This is the part that may challenge the casual reader the hardest. If one reads from Kindle, then make use of the defined terminology feature. Otherwise, have ready a sound dictionary. Hulsey uses, correctly, almost every term in our doctrinal vocabulary. In fact, about the only one I missed was “ochlocracy”. He uses, instead, the self-defining synonym “mobocracy” on page 136 (K). 

The second part, which I will examine hereafter semi-concurrent with the first, is an actionable how-to guide for building a new and better society. Over the years, in more than a few columns, this reviewer has given reader assignments regarding preparedness in one area or another. Most of these calls have gone publicly unanswered. Yet, Hulsey has entertained what I previously thought were critical structural issues – and then some. Best of all, his instructions are based on a whole-process reality. The casual reader will find this section more relatable and, hopefully, inspirational.

The transition, as I’m calling it, which flows from cover to cover, is a cogent summary of many historical trends, deeds, and misdeeds that have led us in the United States to our somewhat uncomfortable present. One will get a decent examination of the paradoxes, hypocrisies, double standards, and inexplicable stupidities that have come to define that thing on the Potomac and its relationship with us. 

As for style, Hulsey deploys an authoritative and entertaining methodology that seamlessly blends itself into all concepts throughout the book. In two words, it is “well written”. Like a river, it has a current, understated but strong, that pulls the reader along. Rather than being tempted to overanalyze the copious information, as encountered, one is advised to assume a floating position, head up, and enjoy the educational ride. And, by “copious”, I mean the literal sense of the word. For a shorter-to-average-length book, this one stuffs everything but the proverbial kitchen sink into one package surprisingly commodious and uncluttered. How Hulsey managed that is a bit of a mystery. Just know that it works. And delightfully well.

Philosophy Leading To Action

Herein, I had originally thought I wanted to step-by-step review my assorted notes in order to paint an accurate and lauding portrait. However, once I exported my remarks and highlights, I found I had assembled 22 pages(!) of them. That dog won’t hunt, so, for a better examination, I have condensed a few things. Looky here:

At the end of the day, the reasonable and responsible, the kind and the wise, are after justice, particularly in matters of law, economy, and political construction. I quote myself (and a better mind) from 2013:

An exhaustive examination of natural law was one of the central themes of St. Thomas Aquinas’s great Treatise on Law, part of his larger Summa Theologica.  Expanding upon Plato and Aristotle’s “outside the box” approach, Thomas concludes, with reference assistance of Saint Augustine, that law “which is not just seems to be no law at all.  Hence a law has as much force as it has justice.”  St. Thomas, Treatise on Law, R.J. Henle, S.J., editor, pg. 287, U. Notre Dame Press, 1993.  St. Thomas goes on to say that a civil or earthly law with conflicts with natural law is a perversion rather than a law.  Thus, did Walden and others, claim a basis for civil disobedience to repugnant laws.

Aquinas simplified man’s relationship with God’s determined order: “Divine law is not in conflict with natural law, but it reaches human beings by a different route, revelation.” And, so on to positive, man-made laws. And, with all history as a guide, what “reaches human beings” is, at best, muddled, both by our various mental incapacities and by our, ahem, nature. See any and all attempts by man to govern himself for examples of our natural perversions.

Within his first explanatory segment, Hulsey, via a header, defines exactly what (and to a surprising degree, “why”) he’s interested in:

Only a non-state form of government can avoid totalitarianism, by sublimating destructive envy, diffusing Interest with symbiotic reason, avoiding the deontology/consequentialism dilemma with virtue ethics in a system of sortition, and devolving power to the sovereign people by means of the absolute right of property and the right of secession.

Hulsey, p. 146 (K). 

A mouthful? Yes, but with deep instructive meaning. More on that in a moment.

First, lock up the sacred cows of modernity! Hulsey has come for them. In addition to dismissing the enlightenment modern state as dead, much like the extinct auk (big penguin), he specifically notes the passing of the United States as we knew, remembered, or mythologized it. He is particularly hard on the Fourteenth Amendment and the overall transformation of the old American Republic (before Evil Abe) into the US Empire. The former United States, he boldly, rightly deems it. Let none forget nor neglect the fact the tyrant Lincoln murdered two (modern) super-states. Congratulations, Yankees … you, too, lost.

While quickly but keenly surveying Western culture, economy, and philosophy, Hulsey notes that the roots of all manifestations of such esoteric ideas are not products of the ideas, but of our identities. The roots are ancient, and if history has shown us anything, it is that if those roots are to lead to flowers, there must be a degree of planning involved as to how, theoretically and actually, things work in the real world. Libertarianism is one of the “isms” easily, steadily shown the door. If libertarians, conservatives, liberals, and other ideologists would simply look at the present changing world order, they would see several of Hulsey’s points already in action. China and Russia are two different countries full of different people. Yet they both have adopted a somewhat amalgamated “whole process” approach, as to economics and political structure, that works for them by cobbling in what is proven and excising that which is not. Again, the labels matter less, much less than the substance. 

The “proposition nation” fantasy of false Americanism is slaughtered. Lysander Spooner is in there too. There’s so much more. This little book is a home for vindicated rebels. And for those who do learn from past mistakes and want to move on. Part of this process recognizes three concepts I hold dear, and which should have been used a little more frequently: interposition, nullification, and, of course, secession (p. 142 (K)). 

Back to the heavy heading: Hulsey proposes (and not in any way a novel suggestive sense) a Kleristocracy (note “ww”, p. 295 (K)). That means, and one will have to read along somewhat carefully, a “sortive democracy”. That means, and it all really does flow beautifully concept-to-concept, a well-defined and regulated lottery selection system. Again, silence objections – all justifying groundwork is meticulously built and cited, including copious, irrefutable legal justification. It works, it will, and it has previously. 

Why is it critical? “The political machines of the modern state have institutionalized democratic elections to simultaneously pander to the democratic ideal while narcotizing its realization”. P. 116 (K)(emphasis mine). “VOAT(!)”, everyone practically screams every two to four years. And where, exactly, has all that electoral mania led us? We have been pandered to and narcotized. And worse. As Hulsey noted, channeling John C. Calhoun, the pandering effect brought about a noticeable “tyranny of the majority” which gave way to a lingering illusion truly ruled over by an (evil) oligarchy. The historical truth is the opposite of what all scream these days: “Sortition: the [random, organized selection] appointment of magistrates by lot is thought to be democratical [sic], and the election of them oligarchical”. P. 177(K)(quoting Aristotle). 

If one desires to unwisely argue with THE Philosopher, that is one’s own business. Just know that this, to us, seemingly incomprehensible system has, in fact, worked very, very well for several high societies throughout history. Chief, in this reviewer’s mind, among them was the Venetian Republic, which lasted and, mostly, thrived for 1,100 years! P. 148 (K). 

The way Hulsey breaks down the admittedly complex process of Venetian government is methodical and, to some, I suppose, humorous. As is this meme, appropriated from Vox Day, which, in deeply, slap-the-CONservatives fashion, essentially makes the same point(s):

(SDL, Darkstream Meme Review, UATV, 2023).

That is,

The symbiotic reason of the Venetian republic consisted of self-enforcing aristocratic rules. The republic is usually dated from the election of the first doge in 697 until its conquest by Napoleon in 1797 – 1100 years. Its prosperity attracted people from all over Europe, so that from 1050 to 1650, Venice was one of the five most populous cities in Europe. Daniel J . Smith describes it: Venice had no formal documented constitution [;however, informal] constitutional constraints included the dispersion of power through overlapping committees, complex election procedure, strict term limits, and a ducal oath of office.

Hulsey, P. 167 (K).

Having fun? This book and its viable ideas are fun. To further quote Hulsey, p. 152 (K)(double emphasis mine):

We must now turn to constituting these general axioms in a kleristocracy , or sortive democracy. Ultimately we will breathe life into them as the kleristocratic Republic of Texas.

The reader will quickly move through various defensive supporting positions: from the blatantly modern obvious, back to the genuinely philosophical, to the (comfortable and otherwise) Christian justification. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the positively optimistic.

What is proposed is a form of monarchy, though one “closely watched” and checked against abuses. A system that curbs “elective majoritarianism with the use of sortition – random selection of officeholders”. P. 169. Officeholders each with “skin in the game”. P. 170.

One will admit this or virtually anything else, is preferable to the dead or dying status quo. Hulsey, in his final drafting and revision during 2022, made some astounding predictions regarding the collapse of the postmodern US order. One regarded the letters “TX” and “AU”, which I will leave to the reader to joyously discover – simply put, what he theorized is now happening. He also semi-predicted, by a suppositional ponder, “the crisis that will prompt the final self-destruction of the American Empire”. P. 215. “That fatal crisis, entirely of the Empire’s own making, might be ignited by the replacement of the dollar as the primary world reserve currency…”. Id. Done and dusted, as of April 2023; the triggering event(s) likely being the Empire’s retarded move to kick Russia out of SWIFT and into the Sino-Russia briar patch of MIR-CIPS, coupled with the realization of half the nations of the world that the US is simply not a safe, sane place to leave valuable reserves. Entirely of its own making…

Part Two, “Instantiation”, is perhaps more relatable to the average reader. And in it, one finds the seeds of the new Texan Kleristocracy. The “how-to” really kicks in around page 300, Kindle. Therein, Hulsey deals squarely and comprehensively with things like public education (lower and higher), criminal justice, military matters (to include 21st-century issues like cyber warfare), energy, agriculture, trade, industry, and (gold) money. He puts forth very concrete ideas, many of which the reader may have previously dared to think about, yet without finding anyone to explore them. You’re in luck today!

One matter that I have previously wondered about, that few others appear to have considered at all, is what happens to nuclear weapons and related problematic issues in the inevitable event of the breaking or Balkanization of the (former) United States. Hulsey has the answers. Read this and more of his “future” assessment. Read, too, the extensive history at the end of the book of literally all prior secessionist movements – from all fifty states.

There is a lot to this book, all of it informative, entertaining, and inspiring. Before I close, I include my 5-Star review as previously sent to Amazon. One supposes they will post it according to their schedule, God willing and the AI don’t rise.

An Excellent Guide For A Sovereign, Prosperous Future

As always, the world this century is changing. A realignment has occurred internationally, creating new geopolitical, economic, and moral opportunities. Domestically, the United States, if one is entirely honest, has seen much better days. Texas, ever home to bold, determined men and women, is forging ahead. In early 2023, legislation was proposed in Austin that would create a sovereign gold-backed State currency. When this happens, Texas will have the first sound money between Mexico and Canada in over half a century. This remarkable phenomenon is one of several accurately predicted by T.L. Hulsey in the drafting of his fine book, a year or so before it happened.

The Constitution of Non-State Government is packed with remarkable, inspiring information on many subjects, all woven together into a moving tapestry that lays hold of the reader and does not let go. This book was written by an author with a keen understanding of philosophy, religion, morality, economics, and history. Within the well-designed layout, the presentation is also constructed in essentially two larger or overarching parts. The first is a doctoral-level dissertation about … us, about our nature – our social and political inclinations and interactions as humans – the good, the bad, the, yes, ugly, and the plainly mysterious. The reader will recall some of what has been forgotten while learning entirely new subjects and terminology. Then there comes what this reviewer calls it a transitioning, though it is seamlessly integrated throughout the entire text, a transition from ancient, medieval, and pre-contemporary history, to the present, with a full recounting (and it’s hard to think of something Hulsey left out; how so much was packed into a relatively short book is a riddle!) of the exact methods and episodes that transformed the Founders’ America into what it has become today. Many misconceptions are gently if keenly corrected along the way.

The second great part is an actionable blueprint for a grand, proud, and peaceful new nation, The Republic of Texas. One should please hold any preconceived objections until after one has read through the legally, morally, historically, and mathematically-justified proposals. A new nation formed of ancient wisdom and structure. Grab a hat; the reader is going to Venice! Though the matter is well explained, sua sponte, the interesting title refers to the formation of something other than the kind of “modern” nation-state gifted to the West by the (un)Enlightenment. The plan is to avoid the traps that have rendered many or most modern and post-modern countries archetypal factories of oppression, dissension, chaos, and dystopia. More misconceptions are put to rest, including so many misdirected “-isms” and “-cracies”. It will all make sense upon a full reading – and then some. Perhaps best of all, should one wish to substitute another state or area for “Texas,” then one will find a system that, while perhaps not universally perfect, will provide the starter seeds for a strategy that many, many good and proud peoples will find beneficial. A marvel.

Hulsey also deploys a writing style that is both professorial and deeply affectionate. And, furthermore, attention-getting. There is a palpable sense of both a honed fire and a learned kindness in his words. Those, all of them, one would do well to begin reading now. This is a rare and masterful work. Bravo!

Bravo, indeed. Change is not coming. It is here. Regarding the term “secession”, like it or not, we may well have it forced on us. Thus, it would pay to be prepared in advance. In parting, Hulsey’s work is like a socio-political tree, a mighty oak: The copious philosophical and historical basis acts as the root system; the structure of the new state as the sturdy wood stuff above ground, and; the be-greened and flowered towering majesty? That is up to us, up to you, dear reader. Read The Constitution of Non-State Government: Field Guide to Texas Secession, green up, and flower into the future!

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Perrin Lovett

From Green Altar Books, an imprint of Shotwell Publishing

From Green Altar Books, an imprint of Shotwell Publishing

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