I get now why they were calling it institution racism and systemic racism. They had to call it that to develop the argument that would allow them to enact their own institutional and systemic racism as a coubter-balance. Ironically, their accomplished this by shifting the meaning of institutional and systemic (formalized), for situations where thisContinue reading “Why Systemic Racism?”
Tag Archives: society
The modernist confusion about postmodernism
One refrain that seems to come up often lately among the remaining modernists in academia is, how could this have happened? Viewing (accurately) the collapse of the ideas of truth and evidence and the descent into a postmodern ecosystem of manipulation and tribalism, they wonder where it all went wrong. Having previously spent their daysContinue reading “The modernist confusion about postmodernism”
Gender and cooperation
Although tyranny was often an outcome, as it is of any structured political or economic system, specialization into certain roles was also, in the main, a byproduct of local historical conditions and assumptions (both of which had a grounding in empirical personal and cultural experience, experimentation, consequences, and adaptation). Local systems didn’t just arise fromContinue reading “Gender and cooperation”
Modern expressions of innate sexual instincts
What percent of current political conditions results from the scaled up and transposed familiar instincts in men and women? Those instincts, at the most basic level of society, are fundamental. They’re hard coded into humanity. All subsequent levels of complexity build upon them and extrapolate them. And traditionally society was built from the bottom up,Continue reading “Modern expressions of innate sexual instincts”
The goal of politics
The goal of proper political discourse shouldn’t be victory, but equilibrium.
The value of parents, and the failure of their substitutes
The great contribution of parenthood is the ability to convey the greatest depth of love in complement with the greatest of expectations. Nothing less is sufficient to raise human beings to their fullest potential. And neither separately is a stable strategy. It is only by advancing them together, in balance, that the greatest levels ofContinue reading “The value of parents, and the failure of their substitutes”
Aladdin and modern Disney anthems
I’ve been trying to untangle what bothers me about the “I won’t be silent” song from Aladdin. I suppose a lot of it is context. The movie is a pale imitation of its predecessor, it adds almost nothing to the story and subtracts much. The title character is clearly the weakest in the whole movie.Continue reading “Aladdin and modern Disney anthems “
The limits of political power for securing happiness
Political power as a strategy is far less useful for producing personal well-being and success then it is for protecting personal well-being and success. This is partly a structural feature, simply because actual human production of capital, human capital or otherwise, takes place at the individual and not the collective level. It may be aggregatedContinue reading “The limits of political power for securing happiness”
The relative value of violence
Is it possible that violence is the cheapest price it’s possible to pay for personal freedom? That seems counter intuitive. It depends what you mean by costly, and for whom. A society that allows the greatest extremes of personal freedom would mean a society that involves itself the least amount possible in other types ofContinue reading “The relative value of violence”
Violence as a creative force
Does war and competition generate as well as reflect belief in a society? Is it the mechanism by which periods of stability are generated, by forcing us to test our capabilities and develop means for survival? Is peace ultimately conducive to stability, or does it inevitably produce long term instability? Does long peace actually driveContinue reading “Violence as a creative force”
Justice (part 2)
What is it about this incorrect idea of justice that is correct? Because Marx wasn’t on to nothing. There is a sense of injustice that he and others like him were attempting to correct. We’ve just shown, and history has also shown, that despite its best intentions, when used as a guiding, defining moral calculus,Continue reading “Justice (part 2)”
What kind of justice should we seek?
There is a problem with justice, in that because the world is what it is and because people are what they are, you can’t get both kinds of justice that people seem to want. People think everyone should have a fair, as in equally advantageous, shot at success. Each person should have as much ofContinue reading “What kind of justice should we seek?”
What the sexes owe one another
Marriage is a strange but curiosly persistent and widespread arrangement. How humanity arrived at it, whether by nature or by divine appointment, if there is any sense in making such a distinction from the perspective of the time, isnt really my concern here, and isn’t a question that can be empirically answered. It certainly seemsContinue reading “What the sexes owe one another”
Fears for the future election
I’ve heard so many smart people discuss so many issues. But here is one question I would love to see addressed. How do you sleep at night? Knowing everything that going on, maybe knowing too much, how? Seeing the madness and tribalism slowly overtaking our safe corners, working it’s way into the people I workContinue reading “Fears for the future election”
Jung and Thomas Sowell
I finally understand, I think, what the archetypes of Jung are. I was thinking of them too much like an English major. They’re like built in concepts hardwired into human psychology. They map onto oract as symbolic representations of something built into the human psyche. They reflect some deep seated conceptual framework or concept thatContinue reading “Jung and Thomas Sowell”
A cultural holdup
I was listening to the recommendations of critical race theory recently, and it was sounding oddly familiar. If you’re white or male or some other privileged class, shut up, step aside, and hand over your privilege. And I suddenly realized, it’s a cultural holdup. The gun to our heads is the threat of public socialContinue reading “A cultural holdup”
Equality and tyranny
There is a basic fact that explains why any attempt to enforce equality as an outcome of life must always inevitably involve more despotic control, injustice, and force than any system that allows for difference. And it is the fact that neither the world, nor people, are in fact in any way fundamentally. All placesContinue reading “Equality and tyranny”
Why sex must always be sacred
Sex must be sacred because it is a psychological necessity that it be so. The proliferation of ritual, religious significance, taboos, ideals, legends, and art across the entire world that focus on sex is an inescapable universal phenomenon. We cannot help but turn sex into a temple, a god, a ritual, an idol. It isContinue reading “Why sex must always be sacred “
Recreation vs redemption
There is much about humanity that could be complained about. There is much that is harsh, biased, infuriating, and even unjust. It would be nice if there were some other way of being in the world, some other kind of creature that we could be, some new man and new woman. And much of whatContinue reading “Recreation vs redemption “
Would men care about women without sex?
One thing I sometimes wonder is, what percentage of the love, attention, and respect that men show women is due to their sexual attraction to them? I’m willing to bet that it’s a lot. Looking at how men act toward men, there’s a lot of competition. There’s not a huge amount of personal interest. MenContinue reading “Would men care about women without sex? “
Making Nobody Happy 