Brett referred to “western enlightenment” (or something similar) a few times, but he’s not actually correct in that phrase. He has carefully and deliberately avoided referring to the Christian principles that the west has been living by for some 1500+ years now. It’s these Christian principles that has made the west (and every other country that lives by them) great, “enlightened”, and technologically advanced. It is a significant error to gloss over them, bypass them, circumvent them, mislabel them, or ignore them.
Unfortunately, most western people assume that Islam shares those same Christian principles as the foundation for their society, and thus are perplexed as to why some Muslims behave the way they do. Islam does NOT share the same foundational values as Christianity. They do NOT see the same value in ALL human life that Christianity does. Islam (particularly in the Middle East) is living by it’s core values, and so it comes as no surprise to anyone who understands or knows Islam’s core values that Hamas, Hezbola, Iran, Syria, etc, are doing what they’re doing.
With regard to the blacks and Koreans in Florida, and the riots that Chris observed and reflected on, one thing that hasn’t been factored in there is “choice and accountability”. 150+ years after they (as a race) were freed in America, and they’re too busy feeling sorry for themselves and nurturing their victim mentality to choose to be anything other than victims. The Koreans did not see themselves as victims, entitled to other people’s pity and resources - they quietly got up and went out and worked for what they lacked. And (in this case) the local blacks took exception to that out of lazy jealousy. Every one of those blacks (and anyone else who lives in a free market/capitalist society) can make the choice to work hard and be more than they were born as.
Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness/Property Ownership; not healthcare, education, housing, sympathy, handouts, etc. From the day you are born, nobody owes you anything. And you can only have as much joy/contentment as you are willing to sweat for.
Papal Infallibility has been exercised exactly 2 times in 2,000 years.
These were relatively recent declarations relating to the Blessed Virgin Mary. That’s it. The Pope is only infallible under extremely limited circumstances and he does not have the power to change any core teaching.
I don’t think that the Christian History of the last 1500+ years is much of enlightened. We have: land-grab, forced conversion, witch hunts, the colonisation of Africa and America, slaughter here, slaughter there, slaves, anti-semitism, corruption. Enlightenment started with the separation of church and state.
If I question why there are so many blacks playing basketball, doesn’t make me a racist. Why there is a majority of men in top positions? Doesn’t make me sexists. But to question why there are dis-proportional amount of Jews in position of power and influence doesn’t make me anti-semetic? There may be a logical explanation for this. But to shame me and label me anti-Semetic to ask these valid concerns is inconsistent. And not allow to have these valid conversations only fuels the hatred, divide and more importantly dis-trust in the Jewish community. In my opinion it’s a form of gas-lighting. This shaming tactic is what the extreme left uses… Have we lowered ourselves to that level… I don’t believe there is a rise in antisemitism. I believe there is a rise in distrust of anyone or any group with power. Whether it’s the Uni-Party, Legacy MSM media, Pharma, Industrial Military Complex etc… And more and more people are voicing and/or questioning any groups with power there choices and/or incentives. Which is an overall good thing.
I agree with you almost completely. On any other forum, I get nonsense responses - this is definitely the right place for me.
Where I will disagree is that there is a massive rise in antisemitism. It might be rising from 1% to 3%, but that’s a huge rise. The young males with no future and intact T levels are getting on board fast. Follow the progress of Nick Fuentes and all those he associates with if you want a better view.
Fair enough. I think Chris didn’t feel it was relevant to challenge it when Bret was on a roll, though Bret is flying a bit close to the MSM.
I guess my primary point is that either you’re willing to let Bret be wrong and team up with him anyway, or you’re willing to let our fledging movement be cleaved by this issue. The key question is: “Where is your in-group/out-group line?” I’m more than happy to put Rubin and Shapiro outside of it, with Sam Harris long gone, but I think Bret is high integrity and cutting him out would mean our group can be splintered too easily to be useful.
I’ve been trying and not really succeeding. There are some chewable candies (minties, fantales, taffy) that might do something, and dried meat (jerky, biltong). Also, bubblegum. It’s all pretty unnatural, other than the meat, I guess.
I’m right there with you, asking these questions. Yesterday, I agreed with you. Then I watched a Musk video and adjusted my timeline for AI. 2024 brings human level AGI, 2025 is ASI beyond the capability of any human. I’ll add 2 more years for it all to integrate and say human swarms will not be doing human swarm things by 2027. Enjoy!
P.S. For what would happen without the AI, I’m attempting to map out the larger forces. We’re watching Moloch rise again. Moloch is also the force behind communities, by killing off stray individuals… and sacrificing their children.
No, I definitely see Brett as a very valuable thinker, and I often watch his podcasts. The analogy would be me telling a friend if I thought what they were saying was wrong
I disagree with the thought that THEY divide US. Maybe we are trained to feel comfortable taking sides.
I was thinking about the fissures that developed in my neighborhood and family during the past three years while walking my dog a few days ago. My dog is quite elderly and allows me much time to stand in silent contemplation while he sniffs successive blades of grass.
The high school is a few blocks away and I could hear the loudspeakers broadcasting the HS football game. Opposing sides cheered as the game progressed.
When did sports, and the us/them mentality become such an integral part of US education? My mother just passed her 105th birthday. She went to a one room school house with her friends and family. There were no organized sports. Everyone thought of themselves as part of a family struggling to create a collective community.
Today, it is cheering the HS football/soccer/baseball/basketball team in opposition to the corresponding HS team of our neighbors’ alumni.
I see the same passion for team superiority in our national politics. Have we simply translated the competitive, and by it’s nature - divisive, attitude learned during our formative educational years into a global perspective?
So much of the rhetoric I see coming from the current US State Department and media spin reminds me of the HS mentality. What our team does is right and should be cheered. I “stand” with my team against those who “stand” with the opposing team.
Have we been programmed in HS to accept, and even relish, the us/them mentality that we see on the "I stand with xyz " cause du jour? To be frank, it is getting silly: Occupy Wall Street, BLM, LGBTQ +++, mRNA vaccines, Ukraine and now Hamas. Did I miss any?
Which bleachers are we supposed to sit in next?
It’s all about energy.
If you have cheap unlimited energy, you can all sorts of silly things.
Now if this AI all of a sudden starts building thier own thorium reactors, then we should raise eyebrow.
Current AI is 100% reliant on humans.
Humans on the other hand all come built in with an amazing system that can basically process bio junk into energy. AI depends on 5000 mile supply chains.
It’s an interesting thought. I don’t have a say in who we go to war with so why does it matter if I support a war or not? It’s a strain of virtue signaling: people make judgement about my character based on what stand I take on specific political issues.
I don’t think having no stand on any political issue is a good idea but there are many cases where there are little facts available and yet we are supposed to root for or against this or that group. Bizarre.
“ I don’t think that the Christian History of the last 1500+ years is much of enlightened. We have: land-grab, forced conversion, witch hunts, the colonisation of Africa and America, slaughter here, slaughter there, slaves, anti-semitism, corruption. ”
I’d say that has been the norm for human history. The last 500 years or so have been markedly better for people in the western world, with rising living standards, longer lifespan and better health, and more freedom. Not evenly available to everyone and not immediately, but it has been there.
“ Enlightenment started with the separation of church and state.”
The separation of church and state - and the dawn of freedom and individual rights - started with the Renaissance and flourished during the Enlightenment with the work of Thomas Aquinas and others.
The one that God sits on. Isn’t that what was the only point that mattered way back when. Now you root for the home team. I just like to see good ball play and really don’t root for a team.
Whenever I Hear The Term Flat Earther, I Think Of This Meme.
How unfortunate for the citizens who pay for the gathering of information, that we do not have access to the raw unmolested information.
If the people could see what the “EXPERTS” in DC see, we would be better able to come up with a solution. Something 7 out of 10 people would support, and that would stop wars.
There is no freedom of the press anymore. Pushing government propaganda has become national security for captured institutions that have secured their positions by lying with propaganda.
As we ourselves can look back 50 years ago and say, how could people not know about all this corruption; In 50 years your grandchildren will find out all of our government’s secrets.
They will uncover all the things we desperately needed to know now. Will they say thank God it’s over, or will they say, hey look they did the same thing 50 years ago.
As a student of history, I would not be proud of the record of any culture over the last 1500+ years. That includes Native American, Eastern, African and Western cultures whether their religion is JudeoChristian, Atheist, or pagan. Humans tend to make mistakes in spite of, and sometimes because of, good intentions.
The separation of Church and state only gave us the right to choose a spiritual path different from that of the government.
Having lived through the “Love the One You’re With” and “I am Woman” decades, I have come to realize that making up your own morality can lead to a whole bunch of stupid ideas. Like an adult coping with the realization that parents actually gave wise advice, summarily ignored of course, it finally dawned on me that the wisdom of ancient texts is very, very useful. Like ignoring exit signs on the freeway, Janice was correct when she sang, "Freedom’s just another word for getting off at the wrong exit, or something like that.
What I am getting at is that the division of Church (organized religion ) vs. State (atheism) is another one of those destructive bipolar choices that ignores a myriad of useful alternatives.
Just as we grow into an appreciation of the wisdom of our parents, don’t write off the wisdom of those that proceeded us but left their writings behind for us to read and follow.
It seems to me that Atheism as a belief system is equivalent to wokeism, beliefs in climate change, lockdowns, etc in that it is fashionable to many who see many others in intellectual and power circles believing in it. Yet, like the others, when examined more closely it just fails to hold up to the prevailing evidence. For argument’s sake here are a few articles to.just show this is at the very least a very debatable idea. https://mindmatters.ai/2021/08/quantum-physicist-shows-how-consciousness-can-create-reality/ https://evolutionnews.org/2022/09/ethan-siegel-sells-something-from-nothing-im-not-buying/ https://evolutionnews.org/2023/08/on-the-bbc-a-new-openness-to-teleology-in-biology/
Starting from a presumption, just to stretch the mind say, that Atheism isn’t valid or at least is only a spurious dominant or superior viewpoint, then what is the most likely alternative? That would seem to be a ‘Mind cause’ which can be referred to as Source, Universal Intelligence, Creator, Cosmic Mind, God, or whatever term each individual feels most comfortable with.
One idea among theologians that I really like is that “God is that which nothing greater can be thought.” For if there is something that is greater than a conceived God/Mind/Creator then the greater conception would be the superior thing and that which is more probable.
That which is infinite is greater than that which is finite. Therefore an infinite Mind cause is more probable than a finite God or Mind cause / Creator. What could that kind of Mind-Cause be like? There is no known or universally agreed upon description of it. Well, other infinite ’things’ that come to mind are types of energy - the electromagnetic spectrum for example. So a Creator consisting of infinite energy, with an infinite capacity to manifest limiting fields of control or restriction of its nature while maintaining qualities of infinite consciousness or omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence would be a reasonable possibility.
In this conception that which we would call ’Soul’ would be a portion of this spectrum. A Life Force may also be part of this spectrum. Then rather than discrete, independent souls there would instead be something like souls being somewhat like distinct wave patterns imprinted upon an infinite soul force in a like manner of radio or television broadcasts imprinted upon their carrier waves.
From the human mind perspective with its limited senses this could all appear as a purely material reality composed of discrete jumbles of reactive chemical elements and imagined them being possibly infused with independent and discrete soul segments that can survive the physical breakdown of the material bonds they are temporarily associated with.
Maybe something worth pondering. Some may want to think further on any implications. Such thought cannot hurt as stretching the mind would intuitively seem to be a universal good in itself.