Finding Consolidation with Boethius: Navigating Injustice in a Modern Age

In the early 6th century, Boethius, once an esteemed Roman statesman and philosopher, was wrongfully imprisoned and stood on the precipice of execution. Amidst this profound injustice, he composed a work contemplating the nature of fortune in a world where the wicked often thrive and the virtuous are mercilessly punished.

Today, many dissident right-wingers in the West resonate with Boethius's ordeal, recognizing that the righteous are often sidelined or maligned, while those with harmful intents and evil views seem to gain undue recognition and favor.

Join us as we:
- Dive deep into this impactful text, drawing parallels between Boethius's dire circumstances and our own, seeking guidance and understanding.
- Engage in thorough, thought-provoking discussions, merging the sagacity of the past with the challenges and perceptions of today.
- Foster a community bound by resilience and unity, drawing strength from shared experiences and convictions.

We are in search of members who are ardently committed to rigorous exploration, thoughtful dialogue, and a genuine engagement with both the literature and the complexities of our contemporary landscape. If you're not prepared for such depth and commitment, this may not be your group.

Schedule:
Meetings will be every Sunday, for seven weeks, at 7:00 EST in a private Telegram chat to discuss Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy.
November 5th: Introductions, getting to know one another and discussing the introduction to the text
November 12th: Book I, Boethius' Lamentation
November 19th: Book II, The Wheel of Fortune
November 26th: Book III, The Divine Origin of Wisdom
December 3rd: Book IV, The Problem of Evil
December 10th: Book V, God's Omniscience & Free Will
December 17th: Wrapping up, a cumulative discussion of the text

Code of conduct:
Be respectful to other members.
Be serious about attendance.
If you can't make it, let us know.

Maximum capacity: 12.
Ready to dive in? Claim your spot now

We're currently looking for 3 more members

Almost dat time of year, eh

Some starter US County level analysis considering the effects of population size on employment and other economic factors:

Population does not do a good job at predicting unemployment. There's a tiny positive correlation; population size explains about 0.1% of the variance in unemployment.

It does a similarly bad job at explaining the number of businesses operating within a county. Population size explains about 0.2% of the variance in businesses established within each county.

It does a somewhat better job at explaining how many people are hired by local businesses, though, implying that businesses in larger areas tend to have more employees per capita in the county. There, it explains about 6.6% of the variance. Seems to suggest that smaller counties tend to have a slightly larger population that travels out of county for work, which is in line with normie expectations and other data.

Population size correlates a bit stronger, and in a negative direction, with the percentage of homes that are owner occupied. About 10% of the variance in home occupancy by owner is explained by population size, with less populated places tending to have more people living at homes that they own.

But there are two sizable correlations between county population size and economic factors that haven't been discussed yet.

Here, we find something a bit unpleasant for the people living in less populated areas: there is a moderate and positive correlation between a county's population size and the median household income within the county. County population size explains about 8% of the variation in median household income between counties. Meaning that people in higher populated counties tend to make more money. Ouch!

But I've saved the strongest correlation for last. County population size has an even stronger correlation, and in a positive sense, with cost of living. Population size explains about 21% of the variation in cost of living. Meaning that less populated areas are cheaper to live in, with population size having a stronger relationship here than with income. Woohoo!

The rank order spearman correlation shows even stronger relationships. The Spearman rank correlation indicates that about 14% of the difference in median household income ranks can be explained by population ranks, meaning that counties that rank higher in population also tend to rank higher in median household income. And, shockingly, about 42% of the difference in cost of living ranks can be explained by population ranks, meaning that the higher a county's population rank, the lower it will rank in cost of living.