At this point, my In Defense of Riots "essay" has probably become something closer to a manifesto. Once I wrap up this last part I'm on, I'll release the progress so far. At close to 10,000 words, I'm still not done, though I think I'm getting close. Regardless, here's an excerpt from the section I just finished:
"…and expectation gap is the father of all tussles."
"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate, to buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose, or place. We have no Great War, no Great Depression. Our 'Great War' is a spiritual war. Our 'Great Depression,' is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe we'd all one day be millionaires and movie gods and rockstars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact… and we are very, very pissed off."
-Tyler Durden, Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 fiction novel Fight Club (adapted in 1999 to a blockbuster feature film) warns of the possible consequences to a generation's visceral reaction to the gap between what society has told them to expect from life, and what they're experiencing in actuality. Tyler Durden might not be real (spoiler alert), but the frustration he identifies in the film is far from a fictional one. The novel features the unfolding escalation of what I described at the very beginning of this essay- a riot. A version of a riot, anyway.
Fight Club is in many ways more fact than fiction. Besides the underlying societal frustration and general loss of meaning that Palahniuk taps into, he also does an excellent job demonstrating the vulnerability of the frustrated. When the story begins, the narrator is experiencing a clear crisis of meaning, which he desperately tries to fill with a bevy of solutions, ranging from wanton consumerism, to becoming addicted to anonymous support groups. During his second interaction with Tyler Durden, Tyler issues the narrator a peculiar request: "I want you to do me a favor. I want you to hit me, as hard as you can."
After some hesitation, the narrator obliges, striking Tyler in the ear. Rather than frustration or anger, Tyler's response is "that was perfect!" before reciprocating and punching the narrator in the stomach. Both the narrator and Tyler experience something deeper, more transcendent than pain from this exchange. They experience catharsis. As Tyler puts it: "How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?" Moreover, their catharsis wasn't merely about getting hit, as the quote opening this section alludes to. It also came from throwing the punches, and the necessary venting of a deep, simmering frustration they felt. An unarticulated frustration, largely unconscious, but real all the same. Palahniuk masterfully captures what happens when someone is able to speak to a frustration you weren't necessarily unaware of, but still primarily resides in the unconscious. At no point do Tyler Durden's monologues sound like the extreme perspectives of an anarchist leader to those in the story, or even to those of us watching it play out. But they are the words of an anarchist leader, a doubly fictional one at that. With this in mind, why are these words so easily accepted, not only to the other characters in the story, but to the audience as well?
Eric Hoffer's 1951 non-fiction The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements delivers a more robust analysis of the social phenomenon Palahniuk alludes to in Fight Club. Among Hoffer's wise insights to the nature of mass movements and the forces behind them is the astute observation the role frustration plays in the success of a mass movement, particularly in the ways frustration (and resentment) can be exploited and weaponized:
"Nothing so bolsters our self-confidence and reconciles us with ourselves as the continuous ability to create; to see things grow and develop under our hand, day in, day out. The decline of handicrafts in modern times is perhaps one of the causes for the rise of frustration and the increased susceptibility of the individual to mass movements."
"That the deprecating attitude of a mass movement toward the present seconds the inclinations of the frustrated is obvious. What surprises one, when listening to the frustrated as they decry the present and all its works, is the enormous joy they derive from doing so. Such delight cannot come from the mere venting of a grievance. There must be something more - and there is. By expatiating upon the incurable baseness and vileness of the times, the frustrated soften their feeling of failure and isolation. It is as if they said: 'Not only our blemished selves, but the lives of all our contemporaries, even the most happy and successful, are worthless and wasted.' Thus by deprecating the present they acquire a vague sense of equality."
Stay safe. Don't lose hope. This is just the beginning. Things always get worse before they get better. See you soon 🤙
While driving yesterday, I had an idea to help facilitate more regular content creation, especially during this time when it is all but impossible to make videos outside of livestreams from my phone. The idea is that of a biweekly post that roughly takes the form of a newsletter, of which this is shall be the first volume. As an aside, evidently a synonym for biweekly is 'fortnightly,' which I'd totally use if it weren't for the association with a game of stupid dances.
My current plan for the format is as follows, though obviously this is likely to change.
-Introduction, brief life updates, and maybe a thought or two I've had lately that I wanted to share with you.
-What books I have been going through, and any excerpts or takeaways I feel are worth sharing.
-Any other noteworthy podcasts or media I've consumed lately.
-What stories I'm paying attention to (if any) and why
-Any questions I might have for you guys
-?
Alright, it's called TL;DR for a reason. Let's jump in.
As I mentioned earlier, we have Covid again. I'm not going to ...
I know it's been quiet here lately. I'll eventually explain what's been going on with my personal life (most of it has been a mixture of our new baby being really, really difficult, and perpetual sickness. For example, last week three our of the four of us had to go to the hospital) but this is what has consumed virtually all free time outside of work and family time.
Please consider helping us bring justice to these bastards. Their indifference and complicity in the harm done to these kids has to stop. Please help us make that happen.
For those who missed it, here's an open letter I wrote to my community last fall after the suicide of a former student, himself a victim of this school district:
https://returntoreason.medium.com/an-open-letter-to-the-citizens-of-albany-county-ca507fa24cd8
Thank you for everything you do. You guys are awesome, and I look forward to filling you in on what's been going on in the near future. See you soon.
ps- I will be...
Salutations! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. Here is my list of top ten the things I learned/conclusions I reached from this past year. Some are directly related to events, others are not. Either way, I tried my best to create a list of useful ideas for you to incorporate into your view of the present moment. I hope you find this list useful, as many of the items on it are lenses I find incredibly important for understanding the world around me. As always, I welcome any feedback you might have!
In Part 2, I use Conquest's Three Laws of Politics to expand on my specific critiques of Peterson's Manifesto, and flush out some of my own axioms that I failed to explain in Part 1. This is where I get into the nuts and bolts of how institutions deviate from their original purpose and begin to generate and pursue their own interests.
What began as a singular episode critiquing one of my intellectual heroes has turned into a multi-part series going after some foundational axioms of mainstream Conservatism.
In this introductions, I discuss Permanent Washington and the concept of accountability, and sew the seeds for what's to come in either trusting or rejecting many mainstream Western institutions.
It's worth mentioning that this recording, along with every other part in this series, has taken almost (in some cases more than) a day to upload. I have no idea why my internet is failing me as hard as it is, but here we are. Hopefully you find these recordings in time to assist you in your vote tomorrow 🤙
I've been wanting to do this for a while. It might have taken me two days to figure out how to get this from my phone to my computer, but I finally got it to work.
On Saturday, I used the voice recorder app on my phone to record a podcast covering Karl Schmitt, his discussions of power, and how we can map this onto our contemporary situation with The Regime that runs our country, and the Bureaucratic State which does its ideological bidding.
After listening to it, I realize there is some more context I need to add to the ending, so I might record another one tomorrow or Wednesday. Either way, it feels good to be recording stuff again. As always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback!
"We don't know where this thing isn't."
-Bret Weinstein
@JamesDerian suggested I pin and regularly update a thread of sources I'm compiling to illustrate the total societal takeover of Far-Left Orthodoxy, including their explicit targeting of our kids for indoctrination. Here is that thread.
Compromised entities:
Nickelodeon
Cartoon Network
Kellogg's Cereal
Mattel Toys
Lego
Sesame Street (SESAME STREET 🤦♂️)
PBS
CNN
The New York Times
The Washington Post
NPR
NBC News
Gender/Sexuality
Cartoon Network celebrating transgender children:
https://twitter.com/stage13network/status/1377332951659151360?s=20
More Cartoon Network trans stuff:
https://twitter.com/cartoonnetwork/status/1377259794294259717?s=20
Cartoon Network on "normalizing gender pronouns"
https://twitter.com/cartoonnetwork/status/1338539346530537475?s=20
Lego released "rainbow set" for Pride Month:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2021/may/everyone-is-awesome/
"Queer up your morning routine" with Kellogg's new cereal featuring edible glitter, ...
