Forwarded from Poor Reads
Charles Francis Adams Jr.'s An Undeveloped Function.pdf
453.3 KB
Moldbug wrote, regarding a section of this text, that "[i]f the Modern Structure had a manifesto, this might be it." Adams' argument that "it is the student, the man of affairs and the scientist who to-day, in last resort, closes debate and shapes public policy" is a statement that experts had already held the real power. His proposal was simply to formalize and weaponize that influence, using the American Historical Association as the "helve to the axe." This text is, in essence, a blueprint for creating an intellectual Brahminate to act as a check on a degraded democratic process. But what was supposed to be a long-lost strategy for national restoration ended up being merely the petulant fantasy of a scholar class who failed to understand the consequences of their recommendations. A fascinating historical read, especially given hindsight.
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People complain about the removal of early life sections from Wikipedia. But can't we also talk about bringing back Tolkien's "politics" section?
Tolkien's views were guided by his strict Catholicism. He voiced support for Francisco Franco's regime during the Spanish Civil War upon learning that Republican death squads were destroying churches and killing large numbers of priests and nuns. He also expressed admiration for the South African poet and fellow Catholic Roy Campbell after a 1944 meeting. Since Campbell had allegedly served with Franco's armies in Spain, Tolkien regarded him as a defender of the Catholic faith.
...
He was horrified by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, referring to the scientists of the Manhattan Project as "these lunatic physicists" and "Babel-builders".
Schopenhauer's Law of Entropy:
If you put a spoonful of wine in a barrel full of sewage, you get sewage. If you put a spoonful of sewage in a barrel full of wine, you get sewage.
If you put a spoonful of wine in a barrel full of sewage, you get sewage. If you put a spoonful of sewage in a barrel full of wine, you get sewage.
Forwarded from Poor Reads
A note: this channel has grown too fast. We are at 23 subscribers, which is dangerous. As such, I have decided to start formatting the excerpts as if to be printed, using serif font, size 12, etc. You will find it very difficult to read these documents on your phone. Best either print it out, transfer it to a fairly large e-reading device, or else convert the file into a more readable one. All three of these are sufficient barriers for entry.
Feel free to comment below noting your approval of this decision.
Feel free to comment below noting your approval of this decision.
Forwarded from Poor Reads
Today will be an off day. Tomorrow starts a novel, grueling period of your life. From now on, we will be taking a page from friend of the channel Robin Sharma's book and posting at 5 AM so that you may rise, print your copy, and carry and analyze it throughout the day. This will be your new habit; you will live by the 7 R's:
Rise: DROP YOUR WORTHLESS HIDE FROM THAT FILTHY BUNK AND DOUBLE-TIME IT TO THE NEAREST PRINTING SERVICE—LIBRARY, FEDEX, WALGREENS, OR WHATEVER GOTTFORSAKEN PLACE IS IN YOUR PATHETIC VICINITY, YOU SNIVELING WORM! MOVE IT!
Run off: ONCE YOU'VE STORMED THAT POSITION, DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THE DAY'S READING ON THE DOUBLE, YOU DISGRACEFUL EXCUSE FOR A RECRUIT—NO HESITATION, NO WHINING!
Read: ALL DAY LONG, ASSAULT THAT EXCERPT LIKE IT'S AN ENEMY BUNKER, SCRIBBLING DOWN EVERY LAST BIT OF INTEL IN GRUELING DETAIL—NO SLACKING, NO BREAKS!
Reread: THAT'S RIGHT, YOU PATHETIC MAGGOT—REREAD IT ALL OVER AGAIN, WITH MAXIMUM AGGRESSION AND ZERO MERCY, OR YOU WILL FACE THE FIRING SQUAD OF FAILURE!
Reflect: LOCK AND LOAD AGAINST THAT PASSAGE IN BRUTAL HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT ALL DAMN DAY, TEARING OUT EVERY SHRED OF VALUE UNTIL IT'S BLEEDING SECRETS AND BEGGING FOR SURRENDER!
Report: SOUND OFF WITH A FULL-BLOWN REPORT ON WHAT YOU RIPPED FROM THAT TEXT, DELIVERING A SUMMARY PACKED WITH DIRECT QUOTES—ANYTHING LESS IS INSUBORDINATION!
Represent: MARCH WITH UNYIELDING UNBREAKABLE VIRTUE IN EVERY THEATER OF OPERATIONS, INSIDE THE WIRE OR OUT IN THE OPEN—ANY SLIP-UP, ANY SIGN OF WEAKNESS, AND I'LL PERSONALLY BOOT YOU OUT OF THE RANKS FOREVER, YOU DISHONORABLE DOG!
Rise: DROP YOUR WORTHLESS HIDE FROM THAT FILTHY BUNK AND DOUBLE-TIME IT TO THE NEAREST PRINTING SERVICE—LIBRARY, FEDEX, WALGREENS, OR WHATEVER GOTTFORSAKEN PLACE IS IN YOUR PATHETIC VICINITY, YOU SNIVELING WORM! MOVE IT!
Run off: ONCE YOU'VE STORMED THAT POSITION, DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THE DAY'S READING ON THE DOUBLE, YOU DISGRACEFUL EXCUSE FOR A RECRUIT—NO HESITATION, NO WHINING!
Read: ALL DAY LONG, ASSAULT THAT EXCERPT LIKE IT'S AN ENEMY BUNKER, SCRIBBLING DOWN EVERY LAST BIT OF INTEL IN GRUELING DETAIL—NO SLACKING, NO BREAKS!
Reread: THAT'S RIGHT, YOU PATHETIC MAGGOT—REREAD IT ALL OVER AGAIN, WITH MAXIMUM AGGRESSION AND ZERO MERCY, OR YOU WILL FACE THE FIRING SQUAD OF FAILURE!
Reflect: LOCK AND LOAD AGAINST THAT PASSAGE IN BRUTAL HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT ALL DAMN DAY, TEARING OUT EVERY SHRED OF VALUE UNTIL IT'S BLEEDING SECRETS AND BEGGING FOR SURRENDER!
Report: SOUND OFF WITH A FULL-BLOWN REPORT ON WHAT YOU RIPPED FROM THAT TEXT, DELIVERING A SUMMARY PACKED WITH DIRECT QUOTES—ANYTHING LESS IS INSUBORDINATION!
Represent: MARCH WITH UNYIELDING UNBREAKABLE VIRTUE IN EVERY THEATER OF OPERATIONS, INSIDE THE WIRE OR OUT IN THE OPEN—ANY SLIP-UP, ANY SIGN OF WEAKNESS, AND I'LL PERSONALLY BOOT YOU OUT OF THE RANKS FOREVER, YOU DISHONORABLE DOG!
Forwarded from Poor Reads
Excerpt from Thomas Aquinas' On Kingship.pdf
36.5 KB
Herein, for your consideration, we submit an excerpt from Thomas Aquinas' De Regno. In our age of facile solutions and men of action who prefer engaging in stupidity to the excruciating torture of prolonged thought, we find rest as Aquinas addresses the gravest of political questions—how a people might deal with a tyrant—with a sobriety that is, to the modern and democratic mind, incomprehensible.
He does not offer the catharsis of righteous rebellion. Instead, he painstakingly weighs the perils of action against the grievances of the present. An assault on tyranny often begets a worse one, and this is a truism that one ought to consider whenever he thinks of rebellion.
Aquinas articulates a political calculus rooted in prudence, not passion, exemplified by a timeless anecdote of Sicilian wisdom:
Presented is one man's solution to a labyrinthine problem of the day, one that calls for your attention and analysis.
Aquinas even provides you, personally, with a sort of Prophecy...
Every half-hearted summary, every lazy analysis, every pathetic excuse for an argument you post, every day you fail to provide your thoughts in response to the daily excerpt is another vote for A MORE GRIEVOUS SLAVERY. YOU THINK MR. POOR IS A TYRANT NOW? YOU THINK THE RULES ARE TOO STRICT AND THE READINGS TOO DIFFICULT?
PRODUCE ONE MORE LAZY DAY'S SLOTHFUL RESULTS AND YOU WILL PRAY FOR THE MILD TYRANNY YOU ENJOY TODAY. Your failure is a SIN, and for the sins of the people, a tyrant is made to reign. Your intellectual cowardice, your laziness will bring down a harsher rule upon your own heads.
GET TO WORK, MAGGOTS.
MOVE IT. NOW.
GET READING!
Join us at Poor Reads for focused chats pertaining to your daily dose of the most prolix, labyrinthine, grandiloquent, sesquipedalian, and impenetrable prose on right-wing Telegram, sourced painstakingly from... books. Most rightoids can't read, but can you? Subscribe to find out.
He does not offer the catharsis of righteous rebellion. Instead, he painstakingly weighs the perils of action against the grievances of the present. An assault on tyranny often begets a worse one, and this is a truism that one ought to consider whenever he thinks of rebellion.
Aquinas articulates a political calculus rooted in prudence, not passion, exemplified by a timeless anecdote of Sicilian wisdom:
Whence in Syracuse, at a time when everyone desired the death of Dionysius, a certain old woman kept constantly praying that he might be unharmed and that he might survive her. When the tyrant learned this he asked why she did it. Then she said: “When I was a girl we had a harsh tyrant and I wished for his death; when he was killed, there succeeded him one who was a little harsher. I was very eager to see the end of his dominion also, and we began to have a third ruler still more harsh—that was you. So if you should be taken away, a worse would succeed in your place.”
Presented is one man's solution to a labyrinthine problem of the day, one that calls for your attention and analysis.
Aquinas even provides you, personally, with a sort of Prophecy...
Every half-hearted summary, every lazy analysis, every pathetic excuse for an argument you post, every day you fail to provide your thoughts in response to the daily excerpt is another vote for A MORE GRIEVOUS SLAVERY. YOU THINK MR. POOR IS A TYRANT NOW? YOU THINK THE RULES ARE TOO STRICT AND THE READINGS TOO DIFFICULT?
PRODUCE ONE MORE LAZY DAY'S SLOTHFUL RESULTS AND YOU WILL PRAY FOR THE MILD TYRANNY YOU ENJOY TODAY. Your failure is a SIN, and for the sins of the people, a tyrant is made to reign. Your intellectual cowardice, your laziness will bring down a harsher rule upon your own heads.
GET TO WORK, MAGGOTS.
MOVE IT. NOW.
GET READING!
Join us at Poor Reads for focused chats pertaining to your daily dose of the most prolix, labyrinthine, grandiloquent, sesquipedalian, and impenetrable prose on right-wing Telegram, sourced painstakingly from... books. Most rightoids can't read, but can you? Subscribe to find out.
Conservatism seeks to either halt the decay of USG where it is, or return USG to some ideal state of the past—restoring, for instance, the Constitution of 1789. Or at least the Constitution of 1932. Or maybe just the Reagan Administration.
But these misty ideals are mummies that disintegrate on contact. They are not true things, but false things—not alive, but dead. You cannot wake them up with a sip of Red Bull. What, exactly, would it even mean to roll back the New Deal in 2009? Answer: no one has any frickin’ idea. Not a single flack at a single right-wing think-tank has any real plan for any such thing. Conservatism can never be a coherent alliance, because it is not a single strategy but a blur of good feelings. Thus, irrespective of its many other faults, it cannot form a Schelling point and cannot win.
Conservativism is not a single strategy but a blur of good feelings... It cannot win.
But these misty ideals are mummies that disintegrate on contact. They are not true things, but false things—not alive, but dead. You cannot wake them up with a sip of Red Bull. What, exactly, would it even mean to roll back the New Deal in 2009? Answer: no one has any frickin’ idea. Not a single flack at a single right-wing think-tank has any real plan for any such thing. Conservatism can never be a coherent alliance, because it is not a single strategy but a blur of good feelings. Thus, irrespective of its many other faults, it cannot form a Schelling point and cannot win.
Conservativism is not a single strategy but a blur of good feelings... It cannot win.
Ban self-service gas pumps