Dear friends,
It seems to me, we have an obligation to improve ourselves so we become the leaders people follow. If a man or woman made small advances every day in any area of life, the cumulative gain over decades of sustained effort is unimaginable. That person’s mere being becomes an example for others to follow. This is especially important for children. Young minds need role models and there are plenty of negative ones around. Movies are filled with subversive messages vying to lower the life outcomes of the kids who watch them. The cultural elite lionize dirtbags like gangbangers, Marxists, and people with deep mental illnesses. So it’s up to us to provide examples of people living effective, prosperous, and happy lives. You and I can compete with those negative role models by being good role models.
The cultural elite have been shilling negative stereotypes for decades. Most of it is under the radar. The Stepford Wives vilified motherhood, fatherhood, and family life as evil. Mary Poppins convinced kids that thrift, hard work, and diligence are things to be avoided. Fun and instant gratification are the only good ends. Meanwhile, the cultural elites in Hollywood were modeling the glamorous slut life for little girls. Is it any wonder that our society is so degenerate? That degeneracy has been inculcated and modeled for the youth for decades. We are simply following the examples put before us by the cultural elites. People follow their leaders. So when the leaders of a society and culture lead that society and culture to degeneracy, the options to stop it are few.
One option is to force the elite to at least model virtue, humility, and diligence… even if they have none of those qualities. Then people will see the examples of ethical elites follow and be ethical themselves. In the past this has been so obvious that even elites like the Marquis De Sade hid his indiscretions. Unless the people follow and his barony became ungovernable. Rome in the republican years had Censors to monitor the behavior of the elite so the people wouldn’t be led to vice. In ancient Mesopotamia the rulers would have to undergo questioning if they had been a good Marduk. This is because it has been recognized since pottery first came on the scene that people follow their leaders to virtue or vice. If our leaders, then, are villains and model such behavior, what are we to do?
We can model good behavior to those around us. Show the results of virtue, hard work, and thrift. A person who makes little but is thrifty, works hard, and is honest will go far. Reality is set up to reward such behavior. Even as reality sets itself to destroy the profligate, the lazy, and the dishonest. This leaves many in limbo. How is it that the elite are utterly immoral, lazy, and profligate, yet they are elites? This question baffles all those who follow and fail. The lesson is lost on most, that such behavior leads inevitably to disaster, unless one is a post-turtle, above the law, with their failures paid for by others, and placed there by another. On the other hand, a person who works hard, saves, and builds, is also a leader. That person shows others how to be prosperous, by example.
When the youth have only examples of gangbangers, sluts, and thieves, they will become those people. When they are offered other options, diligent, thrifty, and wise people as alternative examples, many will opt to follow the examples of local successes instead of the distant elites. So we work to improve ourselves for ourselves and also for humanity. Instead of demanding others do what we are incapable of, as poorly educated children do, we improve ourselves first, then become examples instead of firebrands. No one knows it all, no one is utterly wise, and no one is enlightened… there are only degrees. So improve yourself by degree, be a good example, and together maybe we can cancel some of the negative examples our cultural elites drown us in.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
Birds Of A Feather Flock Together
Dear Friends,
It seems to me, “birds of a feather flock together.” We can take from this that like-minded people hang out together. Moreover, this suggests that when people hang out together and support one another… they are like-minded. It seems obvious that people who detest each other are less likely to hang around together and support one another. So when we see disparate factions forming coalitions, we should understand that they have like minds. They must share a goal. This must be true, or else they wouldn’t link up if they are at odds. This means that when a coalition forms, a smart person can discern the goal of the alliance. With a Venn diagram of goals, the intersection is the reason they are connecting. This is a tool to understand if a faction is working for our good or its own good.
In high schools we see this paradigm at its apex. Cliques form based on attitudes, goals, and lifestyle. The book series that includes “That Was Then This Is Now” is about how cliques can get out of hand. As people age, we don’t get smarter and wiser, we get more clandestine. We still have cliques but we call them the lodge, political parties, and our friends. This is as much an empirical reality as it is an anecdotal truth. That’s why if you meet a member of the Knights of Columbus, you are almost certainly meeting a God loving, Catholic, and good man who seeks to improve the lot of humanity by his works. If you meet a human slaver, we call the human traffickers today to whitewash the crime, they will almost certainly be an immoral, heartless, and material person who would strangle you for a dime.
People seek others who share their minds because it’s comfortable. When everyone in a group agrees, ideas run parallel and so entangle. When there is disagreement ideas run at angles creating friction and disengagement. Group cohesiveness depends on group agreement, then. If a faction rises within a group that is at odds, it is always ejected if they can’t reconcile the difference. During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the IRA often ejected factions that became liabilities. Elite theory says that the elite will ostracize a member who disagrees with the group. The insane reaction to Donald Trump’s election is a perfect example of that in action. The reality is that we will go to great lengths to be around those we agree with, and fight to get away from those we disagree with.
So when we see Democrats agreeing with Islamists, EU elites forming a coalition with Islamists, and globalists aligning with Islamists, we have to understand it’s because they share a goal, and agree on the means. This must be true otherwise they wouldn’t come together, they would repel each other. A Venn diagram of Democrat and Islamist goals seems not to overlap however. Globalists must align with some Islamist goal. Other Islamist goals, forcing everyone to worship Allah, enslaving women, exterminating the Jews, etc… are probably not top priorities for Democrats, EU elites, and globalists. What then is the overlap? I believe it’s world domination. Not to Allah, but to a globalist utopia where you will own nothing and be happy. Like Winston in Orwell’s 1984.
Armed with this knowledge we can understand why Democrats take the positions that they take. Demanding the extermination of Christian prayer from the public square but allowing Muslim ones. Imagine the outcry should a Muslim valedictorian be hushed up at a high school graduation? In Britain, a woman was arrested for praying silently, even as a bit later the Islamist call to prayer echoed through those same streets. The Islamists and globalists support the Islamist takeover of Europe, Canada, and the US, because today they align. Both subscribing to the adage, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” In the case of the globalist/Islamist coalition, the enemy is Western, capitalist, and Christian civilization. This means Islamists and globalists (EU elites and US Democrats) are birds of a feather.
Sincerely,
John Pepin