Well said. Although IMO Russia and China have softened their Marxism significantly, The US has double down on it through our very own Communist party we sometimes call Progressive or democratic. Although the other party is little different, essentially Fascist.
Cheers! True that Russia and China - any many parts of Latin America - have softened. I believe it is a desperate attempt to avoid all-out revolt and the usual mass lamp-posting of the privileged class. The US/EU are using the Fascist model, run by corporations and using contracts and the illusion of ownership (shares), rather than naked force, as the means of control. Though the results are always the same, the outward expression of fascist functioning looks a bit different. While Marxism sells the hope of Social Justice and the Great Equality, Fascism sells a catalog of exclusive benefits and products only available to "owners," with the illusion of being able to climb the ladder and join the elite few at the top. Fascism actually leverages human competitiveness to enslave us, where Marxism simply commands that we all have an equal share of misery (pay no attention to the man in dacha). Two roads, same destination. Good points, thanks!
Thanks for another great essay. Your review is accurate. The same things went on all the way back to 1848 with the revolutions in Europe, notably the Paris commune. Before the freemason grifter Marx wrote his garbage, the same crowd paid Rousseau to write lies that prompted the fiat money disaster of the French revolution. Those who finance evil hate God and God's greatest creation, humanity.
So I pray: Eternal Father please help us free the slaves, stop the wars, and end tyranny. Please help with guidance, resources, ingenuity, endurance, fortitude, and patience. Please show us the little fires so we may pass by them. Please bring love into our lives so we remember what we have to live for. Amen.
Amen, brother! Thank you for the kind assessment. Joseph Farrell put it very well, saying there is a path of Life, abundance and wealth, and a path of Death, debt and scarcity. No matter how it expresses itself, the Death system is always the same wolves in stylish wool suits. Human Nature always wins, but we occasionally go through these dabblings with Darkness, if for no other reason than to remind ourselves why the Light feels so good - banging our heads against the wall because it feels so good when we stop.
"The growth of the guilds and the middle class laid the foundation for the Enlightenment, and a fundamental philosophical change in what constituted good governance and the general welfare, and the individual’s innate rights within these systems."
To channel John McEnroe: "You can't be serious!" If you were, you'd report that the so-called Enlightenment (which ignited the French Revolution and has flamed higher ever since) laid the foundation for the godless tyrannies, pogroms, catastrophic world wars and state-perpetrated murders of tens of millions during the (bloodiest of all) 20th century: which continue, unabated, to the present.
You are proceeding from the assumption that I was trying to perform a survey of the long-term effects of the Enlightenment, which is a false premise.
The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement seeking to end inherited monarchies and omnipotent theocracies, in a way that offered the maximum benefits for the most people by being able to pursue their own interests and amass wealth from their talents and skills.
Most of the examples you offer were the results of various groups that hijacked and redirected elements of the Enlightenment philosophy. Specifically, I am thinking of Adam Weisshaupt and the Bavarian school.
There can be no sustainable argument that supports the premise that the Enlightenment has not benefitted millions of individuals and Western civilization collectively. The benefits have far exceeded anything Marxism has achieved, with the 1917 Russian revolution, the Maoist revolution, Pol Pot's killing fields, and the dozens of purges throughout Latin America that have literally killed tens of millions of people in the name of a failed and backward socio-economic ideology.
The Enlightenment did not specifically require bloddy revolutions or wars, while Marxism does. How movements have evolved and been perverted does not reflect on the ideology, but on the people who implement it and the response from extant power centers.
Essential to the "Enlightenment" was its denial and rejection of God and His Natural Law, not to mention His inspired Truth and Biblical precepts. Again, starting with the French Revolution. Nothing was "hijacked". The Enlightenment's agendea were relentlessly pursued by its adherents: by Marxists, Nazis, Fascists and all other totalitarian political systems. It continues today, without pause.
I disagree. The Enlightenment was opposed to theocracies, such as in English where the king was both head of state (in an inherited position) and head of the church, and only one religion was sanctioned by the state. Enlightenment thinkers felt that individuals should be free to follow their conscience, and that the state had no divine right nor political role to force a religion on the population. I do not see that as a repudiation of God, but an affirmation of each person's natural right to worship who/what they wished. And as for natural rights, that was one of the central tenets of the Enlightenment philosophy. To carry this further, Marxism/Socialism/Fascism et al., are attempts to reassert the state's primacy over the individual, and thus are not derived from, but rather in opposition to the Enlightenment principles. In my essay, "Royals, Reich or Wrong," I explore this in much greater detail, as well as my discussion with Joseph Farrell on "Princes, Persons & Power" on Rumble/YT.
Also worth noting is that the reason China Joe is having such an outsized meltdown over Navalny while ignoring non pervert non women's basketball players in Russian jails is because Navalny was a Soros agent, working to destroy Russia as it has worked to destroy the West.
Well, I certainly don't recall this sort of uproar over Gonzalo Lira. The hypocrisy and prevarication is so deep we need Jacques Cousteau to plumb the depths of it.
Say what you will about Putin, he isn't having any institutionalized Faggotry on his watch, and I see no reason to dispute Trump's take on Putin generally, and I have to imagine is staff neglected to do research because Trump is not Navalny at all. Navalny got what Biden and Soros deserve as much as Navalny did.
Same with the female Russo-American recently arrested.
Those creeps were trying to keep the Soros ball rolling after Putin kicked out all Lefty NGOs trying to get all their sick goals done on Russian soil as they have the US and Western Europe.
Also, if anyone did not notice, we have 10K troops currently on the Polish Border and ready to go if Zelensky keeps losing as he will no matter how much cash is added to the slush pile.
RFS: PS: And what if the forces of the Dark need to exercise their spiritual muscles against the forces of the Light? Who created the universe?
IMO it was the God of Good and Light as there is no other reason for the worlds of light, and good to exist. Good and evil, matter and anti-matter should cancel each other out, but they don't.
The odds of any game of six sided dice should end up even, but they aren't.
Humor and music shouldn't exist, but they do.
But it still doesn't answer the question, "Why do men and women have to procreate?"
Having two sexes to procreate increases the random influence and expands the gene pool, thus increasing the overall heartiness of the species. Besides, what else is there to do on a long winter's night?
RFS: There is a new study showing that IQs have been dropping for the past few decades. I don't know if that's true or due to other factors besides intelligence, but I don't see any new heartiness of the species.
Birth control is ubiquitous. Birth rates are falling. Marriage rates are falling. Populations in a few countries are already crashing in numbers.
I suspect IQs are dropping because folks don't have to think or memorize anything anymore. Don't use a muscle, it atrophies.
As for birth control, it's been around forever. From sheep gut condoms and fern seed, to drinking pineapple juice to induce miscarriage, choosing when to breed is as old as civilization. The issues arise when there is financial incentives for abortion, large scale efforts to destroy family cohesion, and forced sterilization.
alison: That was a clever retort. I know my IQ is dropping with age. The IQ test I was referring to was done in Norway on people entering the military.
We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a physical experience. I can understand your question but personally think that if you leave out the spiritual part of our being, you leave out the most important and major part of who we really are (if not entirely). Not a bible thumper here, just one who believes that this life of ours is but a blip on the radar screen of our being. If stuck only within the material world, many things will probably never make sense.
Paul: I agree. We are spiritual beings in bodily form. So why do we have to create more spiritual beings in bodily form that suffer and die? Is that our job? I don't remember the job application I signed. Do you?
Bottom line is that all we perceive and imagine and much more are just aspects of Universe, which ultimately wants to reduce chaos and increase information, which is the literal act of creation.
You assume that your mind as it exists here and now is the same as the life force that inhabits your flesh. The life force chooses to incorporate for its purposes, and for whatever reason, we are not generally privy to that level of Universe, so we have to guess. Suffering is always a matter of choice, as Buddha reminds us, and every choice comes with consequences.
Given the 'field' we are talking about, I can only share my own beliefs. I believe we've all been alive in our spiritual form BEFORE coming into this life. The application you speak of was an agreement, a knowing and an acceptance of the approximate conditions that make up your physical life today. You agreed to come here to further your growth as a spiritual being. We procreate to continue the species that offers others the same chances for growth. So, I don't believe that we are truly creating new spiritual entities. The suffering and 'death' is simply part of the deal - and sadly, I say that the great majority of the suffering is self-induced. Got to go for the moment.
I believe that we each are cells of a single, eternal and infinite being, known as Universe for lack of a better name. In the spiritual realm, we are not individuated, but rather unified with Universe. That we have physical adventures as individuals is just Universe exploring the full spectrum of existence.
Paul: I did not agree to anything. And what does "growth as a spiritual being" mean? I am wiser now than I was as a child but that is a sign of maturity in the physical world. Do we, as spiritual beings, have to take physical form to learn new ways of being? Why?
Now we are back to the Yin and Yang theory. No pleasure without pain. Well that is masochism. No thanks.
As for suffering self-induced, I agree that it the case sometimes but not in the majority of suffering I've seen or suffered myself.
Well, I would say that you did agree but wouldn't remember it now in this physical form. As far as the self-inflicted suffering? I should have clarified with "man-inflicted. Any suffering from war or violence, many diseases, obesity comes to mind - we produce crap food and stock shelves with it, people suffer. Lifestyle of rush, rush, rush = people suffer, mental disorders etc. // Growth as a spiritual being? Maybe some of it would be the same type of growth expected here on earth, but I also think that coming into physical form REMEBERING who we are spiritually is a significant step.
Paul: Why would we forget agreeing to be born? And then you say we need to remember we are spiritual beings in physical form. Why all the memory loss? Life makes no sense. If we have free will why didn't we have the free will to choose life at birth or not?
Now, you can say we have the right to choose death at any time which is true. But it seems unfair that we don't get to choose opting in, we can only choose opting out of life.
Somebody's got to do it, we don't just ooze out of the soil. And besides that God gave us the beauty of pleasure in procreation--before the pain of responsibility to some.
In the Hindu pantheon, the three primordial Trimurti are Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Sustainer and Shiva the Destroyer. In the Tao, there is Yin and Yang, the feminine/light and the masculine/darkness. The essential Truth is that nothing can be created, unless it is destroyed. Nothing can live unless it dies. Light cannot exist, except that there is darkness to distinguish it. The Universe is composed of cycles that are in constant tension. Life is creation, and it fights Death for eternity. Progress is measured by how much Life is strengthened by combat with Death, just as medicine fights against disease and we measure success by longer and healthier lives. If you don't use your muscles, they atrophy, so we struggle and labor daily to maintain and increase strength. Evil occasionally gains the upper hand, so that we can exercise our spiritual muscles and stay fit to continue the ongoing battle to create.
RFS: That's all grand posturing by the prophets. But you don't answer the basic question, "Why do we have to create? We aren't gods. We are men and women. Why is procreation our problem?"
Well, first of all, procreation is one of my favorite pastimes. I am of the opinion that the Universe is pure information...order out of chaos. We procreate to increase the information in the Universe, and thus participate in the battle against entropy. The Universe hates entropy and its sole function is to create, and all things within Universe are part of the effort to create. Old stars create the materials for new stars, and the new stars create planets. All things create more things, reducing chaos and expanding information. Beyond that is the Great Mystery, which none of us are likely to understand any time soon.
RFS: I only had two kids so maybe 1,000 diaper changes for me and that was in the old days of cloth diapers and pins. I can still smell the diaper pail.
And there were no baby wipes or pampers when I changed my first I had to learn to use my finger to cover the tip of the diaper pin to avoid pricking my niece, and use a washcloth to clean her and then rinse the poop out thoroughly and dry the cloth before putting it in the laundry.
It's not that big of a deal and I don't know why guys pretend it is, especially with Pampers and baby wipes.
Did you soak the dirty diapers in the toilet before tossing them in the special laundry bin? Can't tell you how many diapers my father had to fish out of the plumbing, thanks to accidental flushes. Being the oldest child, Mom couldn't wait to slough off that duty on me.
John: Good for you. You are a good man. I have also changed hundreds of diapers (before the throwaway diapers came on the market). I did not enjoy the experience.
I am not going to evangelize anyone, but I believe it's important to realize the same issues delineated as Marxism and Fascism are really just Luciferianism.
Indeed, communism, socialism, Marxism, progressivism, fascism, democracy, all are different flavors of the same poison.
All postulate the right of some to rule the rest. The American system is fundamentally different in that it acknowledges the sovereignty of every individual as a member of God’s royal family. Which is the actual message behind the whole bill of prohibitions (“bill of rights”).
The only laws come from God, thou shall not murder, steal, rape, worship lesser gods. The rest are rules made by fallible men with their own interests.
We don't create children. Children are given to some of us and not to others, by their birth or otherwise. Isn't thinking of life as involuntary part of the process of despairing? That depends upon whether one is regarding life as a gift or as an affliction.
Well said. Although IMO Russia and China have softened their Marxism significantly, The US has double down on it through our very own Communist party we sometimes call Progressive or democratic. Although the other party is little different, essentially Fascist.
Cheers! True that Russia and China - any many parts of Latin America - have softened. I believe it is a desperate attempt to avoid all-out revolt and the usual mass lamp-posting of the privileged class. The US/EU are using the Fascist model, run by corporations and using contracts and the illusion of ownership (shares), rather than naked force, as the means of control. Though the results are always the same, the outward expression of fascist functioning looks a bit different. While Marxism sells the hope of Social Justice and the Great Equality, Fascism sells a catalog of exclusive benefits and products only available to "owners," with the illusion of being able to climb the ladder and join the elite few at the top. Fascism actually leverages human competitiveness to enslave us, where Marxism simply commands that we all have an equal share of misery (pay no attention to the man in dacha). Two roads, same destination. Good points, thanks!
That's a lot of clarity in a few words.
Thanks for another great essay. Your review is accurate. The same things went on all the way back to 1848 with the revolutions in Europe, notably the Paris commune. Before the freemason grifter Marx wrote his garbage, the same crowd paid Rousseau to write lies that prompted the fiat money disaster of the French revolution. Those who finance evil hate God and God's greatest creation, humanity.
So I pray: Eternal Father please help us free the slaves, stop the wars, and end tyranny. Please help with guidance, resources, ingenuity, endurance, fortitude, and patience. Please show us the little fires so we may pass by them. Please bring love into our lives so we remember what we have to live for. Amen.
Amen, brother! Thank you for the kind assessment. Joseph Farrell put it very well, saying there is a path of Life, abundance and wealth, and a path of Death, debt and scarcity. No matter how it expresses itself, the Death system is always the same wolves in stylish wool suits. Human Nature always wins, but we occasionally go through these dabblings with Darkness, if for no other reason than to remind ourselves why the Light feels so good - banging our heads against the wall because it feels so good when we stop.
I have been praying
Ditto
"The growth of the guilds and the middle class laid the foundation for the Enlightenment, and a fundamental philosophical change in what constituted good governance and the general welfare, and the individual’s innate rights within these systems."
To channel John McEnroe: "You can't be serious!" If you were, you'd report that the so-called Enlightenment (which ignited the French Revolution and has flamed higher ever since) laid the foundation for the godless tyrannies, pogroms, catastrophic world wars and state-perpetrated murders of tens of millions during the (bloodiest of all) 20th century: which continue, unabated, to the present.
I could go on, at great length. I won'd bother.
You are proceeding from the assumption that I was trying to perform a survey of the long-term effects of the Enlightenment, which is a false premise.
The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement seeking to end inherited monarchies and omnipotent theocracies, in a way that offered the maximum benefits for the most people by being able to pursue their own interests and amass wealth from their talents and skills.
Most of the examples you offer were the results of various groups that hijacked and redirected elements of the Enlightenment philosophy. Specifically, I am thinking of Adam Weisshaupt and the Bavarian school.
There can be no sustainable argument that supports the premise that the Enlightenment has not benefitted millions of individuals and Western civilization collectively. The benefits have far exceeded anything Marxism has achieved, with the 1917 Russian revolution, the Maoist revolution, Pol Pot's killing fields, and the dozens of purges throughout Latin America that have literally killed tens of millions of people in the name of a failed and backward socio-economic ideology.
The Enlightenment did not specifically require bloddy revolutions or wars, while Marxism does. How movements have evolved and been perverted does not reflect on the ideology, but on the people who implement it and the response from extant power centers.
Cheers!
Essential to the "Enlightenment" was its denial and rejection of God and His Natural Law, not to mention His inspired Truth and Biblical precepts. Again, starting with the French Revolution. Nothing was "hijacked". The Enlightenment's agendea were relentlessly pursued by its adherents: by Marxists, Nazis, Fascists and all other totalitarian political systems. It continues today, without pause.
I disagree. The Enlightenment was opposed to theocracies, such as in English where the king was both head of state (in an inherited position) and head of the church, and only one religion was sanctioned by the state. Enlightenment thinkers felt that individuals should be free to follow their conscience, and that the state had no divine right nor political role to force a religion on the population. I do not see that as a repudiation of God, but an affirmation of each person's natural right to worship who/what they wished. And as for natural rights, that was one of the central tenets of the Enlightenment philosophy. To carry this further, Marxism/Socialism/Fascism et al., are attempts to reassert the state's primacy over the individual, and thus are not derived from, but rather in opposition to the Enlightenment principles. In my essay, "Royals, Reich or Wrong," I explore this in much greater detail, as well as my discussion with Joseph Farrell on "Princes, Persons & Power" on Rumble/YT.
Also worth noting is that the reason China Joe is having such an outsized meltdown over Navalny while ignoring non pervert non women's basketball players in Russian jails is because Navalny was a Soros agent, working to destroy Russia as it has worked to destroy the West.
Well, I certainly don't recall this sort of uproar over Gonzalo Lira. The hypocrisy and prevarication is so deep we need Jacques Cousteau to plumb the depths of it.
It's worth researching for details.
Say what you will about Putin, he isn't having any institutionalized Faggotry on his watch, and I see no reason to dispute Trump's take on Putin generally, and I have to imagine is staff neglected to do research because Trump is not Navalny at all. Navalny got what Biden and Soros deserve as much as Navalny did.
Same with the female Russo-American recently arrested.
Those creeps were trying to keep the Soros ball rolling after Putin kicked out all Lefty NGOs trying to get all their sick goals done on Russian soil as they have the US and Western Europe.
Also, if anyone did not notice, we have 10K troops currently on the Polish Border and ready to go if Zelensky keeps losing as he will no matter how much cash is added to the slush pile.
The Enlightenment started all this
RFS: PS: And what if the forces of the Dark need to exercise their spiritual muscles against the forces of the Light? Who created the universe?
IMO it was the God of Good and Light as there is no other reason for the worlds of light, and good to exist. Good and evil, matter and anti-matter should cancel each other out, but they don't.
The odds of any game of six sided dice should end up even, but they aren't.
Humor and music shouldn't exist, but they do.
But it still doesn't answer the question, "Why do men and women have to procreate?"
Having two sexes to procreate increases the random influence and expands the gene pool, thus increasing the overall heartiness of the species. Besides, what else is there to do on a long winter's night?
RFS: There is a new study showing that IQs have been dropping for the past few decades. I don't know if that's true or due to other factors besides intelligence, but I don't see any new heartiness of the species.
Birth control is ubiquitous. Birth rates are falling. Marriage rates are falling. Populations in a few countries are already crashing in numbers.
I suspect IQs are dropping because folks don't have to think or memorize anything anymore. Don't use a muscle, it atrophies.
As for birth control, it's been around forever. From sheep gut condoms and fern seed, to drinking pineapple juice to induce miscarriage, choosing when to breed is as old as civilization. The issues arise when there is financial incentives for abortion, large scale efforts to destroy family cohesion, and forced sterilization.
RFS: You are right on all of your points. The IQ tests are based upon rote memorization and people don't memorize anymore (well, actors do I suppose).
Some countries like Hungary and France are providing financial incentives to have children.
Given all you've said it seems lowered IQ's are definitely in the mix.
alison: That was a clever retort. I know my IQ is dropping with age. The IQ test I was referring to was done in Norway on people entering the military.
I wasn't referring to your IQ.
alison: Either way, my IQ is dropping. The brain is just another organ that deteriorates over time.
We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a physical experience. I can understand your question but personally think that if you leave out the spiritual part of our being, you leave out the most important and major part of who we really are (if not entirely). Not a bible thumper here, just one who believes that this life of ours is but a blip on the radar screen of our being. If stuck only within the material world, many things will probably never make sense.
Paul: I agree. We are spiritual beings in bodily form. So why do we have to create more spiritual beings in bodily form that suffer and die? Is that our job? I don't remember the job application I signed. Do you?
Bottom line is that all we perceive and imagine and much more are just aspects of Universe, which ultimately wants to reduce chaos and increase information, which is the literal act of creation.
RFS: Bottom line is that we didn't choose to be here. Who did choose to put us here?
You assume that your mind as it exists here and now is the same as the life force that inhabits your flesh. The life force chooses to incorporate for its purposes, and for whatever reason, we are not generally privy to that level of Universe, so we have to guess. Suffering is always a matter of choice, as Buddha reminds us, and every choice comes with consequences.
RFS: All I know for sure is me. The life force is there for it disappears at death. If the life force decided to inhabit my flesh it is a parasite.
Given the 'field' we are talking about, I can only share my own beliefs. I believe we've all been alive in our spiritual form BEFORE coming into this life. The application you speak of was an agreement, a knowing and an acceptance of the approximate conditions that make up your physical life today. You agreed to come here to further your growth as a spiritual being. We procreate to continue the species that offers others the same chances for growth. So, I don't believe that we are truly creating new spiritual entities. The suffering and 'death' is simply part of the deal - and sadly, I say that the great majority of the suffering is self-induced. Got to go for the moment.
I believe that we each are cells of a single, eternal and infinite being, known as Universe for lack of a better name. In the spiritual realm, we are not individuated, but rather unified with Universe. That we have physical adventures as individuals is just Universe exploring the full spectrum of existence.
Paul: I did not agree to anything. And what does "growth as a spiritual being" mean? I am wiser now than I was as a child but that is a sign of maturity in the physical world. Do we, as spiritual beings, have to take physical form to learn new ways of being? Why?
Now we are back to the Yin and Yang theory. No pleasure without pain. Well that is masochism. No thanks.
As for suffering self-induced, I agree that it the case sometimes but not in the majority of suffering I've seen or suffered myself.
Well, I would say that you did agree but wouldn't remember it now in this physical form. As far as the self-inflicted suffering? I should have clarified with "man-inflicted. Any suffering from war or violence, many diseases, obesity comes to mind - we produce crap food and stock shelves with it, people suffer. Lifestyle of rush, rush, rush = people suffer, mental disorders etc. // Growth as a spiritual being? Maybe some of it would be the same type of growth expected here on earth, but I also think that coming into physical form REMEBERING who we are spiritually is a significant step.
Paul: Why would we forget agreeing to be born? And then you say we need to remember we are spiritual beings in physical form. Why all the memory loss? Life makes no sense. If we have free will why didn't we have the free will to choose life at birth or not?
Now, you can say we have the right to choose death at any time which is true. But it seems unfair that we don't get to choose opting in, we can only choose opting out of life.
Somebody's got to do it, we don't just ooze out of the soil. And besides that God gave us the beauty of pleasure in procreation--before the pain of responsibility to some.
If procreation didn't feel good, I doubt any of us would be here discussing the topic. :)
alison: The pleasure of sex is fleeting. The following pain follows to the grave.
It may be fleeting, but all creatures will crawl through burning coals and broken glass for a few seconds of joy.
RFS: Not me.
Good article but what's the point? Dark to light and then light to dark and back again? Do we live under a strobe light?
If evil keeps coming back (from humans), what's the point of going on?
The uSA was the beacon of liberty and fair play. It is no more. It is the USA. So now what?
We wait for "the light" to come again?
Humans are flawed. Pogo was right. "The enemy is us."
In the Hindu pantheon, the three primordial Trimurti are Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Sustainer and Shiva the Destroyer. In the Tao, there is Yin and Yang, the feminine/light and the masculine/darkness. The essential Truth is that nothing can be created, unless it is destroyed. Nothing can live unless it dies. Light cannot exist, except that there is darkness to distinguish it. The Universe is composed of cycles that are in constant tension. Life is creation, and it fights Death for eternity. Progress is measured by how much Life is strengthened by combat with Death, just as medicine fights against disease and we measure success by longer and healthier lives. If you don't use your muscles, they atrophy, so we struggle and labor daily to maintain and increase strength. Evil occasionally gains the upper hand, so that we can exercise our spiritual muscles and stay fit to continue the ongoing battle to create.
Reread and ponder the quote from Dylan Thomas.
RFS: That's all grand posturing by the prophets. But you don't answer the basic question, "Why do we have to create? We aren't gods. We are men and women. Why is procreation our problem?"
Well, first of all, procreation is one of my favorite pastimes. I am of the opinion that the Universe is pure information...order out of chaos. We procreate to increase the information in the Universe, and thus participate in the battle against entropy. The Universe hates entropy and its sole function is to create, and all things within Universe are part of the effort to create. Old stars create the materials for new stars, and the new stars create planets. All things create more things, reducing chaos and expanding information. Beyond that is the Great Mystery, which none of us are likely to understand any time soon.
RFS: And how many diapers have you changed?
Three kids and 4 siblings...I'd have to guess in the mid-4,000s, including the old days of cloth diapers and pins.
RFS: I only had two kids so maybe 1,000 diaper changes for me and that was in the old days of cloth diapers and pins. I can still smell the diaper pail.
I have changed hundreds and hundreds.
And there were no baby wipes or pampers when I changed my first I had to learn to use my finger to cover the tip of the diaper pin to avoid pricking my niece, and use a washcloth to clean her and then rinse the poop out thoroughly and dry the cloth before putting it in the laundry.
It's not that big of a deal and I don't know why guys pretend it is, especially with Pampers and baby wipes.
Did you soak the dirty diapers in the toilet before tossing them in the special laundry bin? Can't tell you how many diapers my father had to fish out of the plumbing, thanks to accidental flushes. Being the oldest child, Mom couldn't wait to slough off that duty on me.
John: Good for you. You are a good man. I have also changed hundreds of diapers (before the throwaway diapers came on the market). I did not enjoy the experience.
The enemy is not us, except for the humans who despair, as you are doing.
Ed: I don't despair. I think life is very difficult and involuntary. So why create children who have to go through it as well?
I am not going to evangelize anyone, but I believe it's important to realize the same issues delineated as Marxism and Fascism are really just Luciferianism.
Indeed, communism, socialism, Marxism, progressivism, fascism, democracy, all are different flavors of the same poison.
All postulate the right of some to rule the rest. The American system is fundamentally different in that it acknowledges the sovereignty of every individual as a member of God’s royal family. Which is the actual message behind the whole bill of prohibitions (“bill of rights”).
The only laws come from God, thou shall not murder, steal, rape, worship lesser gods. The rest are rules made by fallible men with their own interests.
Same wolves, different styles for the wool suits.
I've also heard Saturnian Death Cult, which has a sort of ring to it.
We don't create children. Children are given to some of us and not to others, by their birth or otherwise. Isn't thinking of life as involuntary part of the process of despairing? That depends upon whether one is regarding life as a gift or as an affliction.