tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post4635228114384389411..comments2024-02-13T12:50:30.457-05:00Comments on Rants Within the Undead God: When Madness is Normal: Sanity in the Minds of Animals and the Rise of Divine PersonsBenjamin Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-33287513023779636632016-10-15T13:24:23.069-04:002016-10-15T13:24:23.069-04:00Anon, I agree with you about the fact that a billi...Anon, I agree with you about the fact that a billionaire can't possibly earn that much wealth. I wrote a satirical piece about a mathematical proof that to earn a billion dollars you'd have to work for hundreds of years, given how fast the brain processes information, how many decisions on average we can make in a day, and excluding indirect benefits from our actions. I thought I'd posted it here on RWUG, but I can't find it.<br /><br />I'm not sure "maximum freedom" is really what we want. This I know I've written about on this blog, but we should distinguish between positive and negative freedom (as Isaiah Berlin says, taking only his analysis but not his conclusion for granted). Negative freedom is the freedom from coercion so you can do whatever you want (as long as you don't coerce anyone). Positive freedom is the freedom to fulfill your potential as an authentic individual. <br /><br />Maximum negative freedom is what we say we want in the individualistic West, and it leads to existential crisis or to consumerism and infantilization. Talk of positive freedom gets into the issue of authenticity vs delusion, and requires us to decide on absolute values, whereas instrumentalists such as most economists, for example, say there are no such values and we have to leave ethics and life goals up to each individual. <br /><br />So for example, if different individuals want to possess this or that product or to consume this or that resource, no one ought to get in their way, since they're exercising their negative personal liberty. But as to whether those "individuals" have been brainwashed by prior activity, such as by the materialistic environment we've created for ourselves in the West due largely to certain oligarchic decisions, instrumentalists are silent; they leave out the question of whether someone who's free from coercion is living up to her potential or whether instead she has what I think Marx called false consciousness. <br /><br />I believe Berlin says the insistence on positive freedom, such as you find it in Nazi German or the Soviet Union is totalitarian. Liberals think there's no one best way for everyone to live, so there's no one potential we all have. There I'd agree, since I think alphas, betas, and omegas, for example, have different skills and potentials. But there are also objective limits on living things, such as the question of environmentalism, which perhaps should impede our hyper-consumption as (negatively) free individuals. Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-35097799462561497012016-10-15T13:05:41.945-04:002016-10-15T13:05:41.945-04:00Regarding the white slave trade and Nazism, you se...Regarding the white slave trade and Nazism, you see, the only thing early Americans and the Nazis had in common was their skin colour; their cultures were very different. There's no such thing as "white culture." So even if most white Europeans resisted Hitler and the slave trade, that doesn't interest me unless their resistance was inspired by the same set of ideas and values.<br /><br />I'd prefer to speak, for example, of the plight of white Western men or of something else as specific, not of "whites and blacks." Again, skin colour alone doesn't interest me. Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-61010075332935257072016-10-13T08:43:32.204-04:002016-10-13T08:43:32.204-04:00I have heard of the book, but have not read it. Ma...I have heard of the book, but have not read it. Maybe that will be next on my reading list. It does seem like we're seeing some fairly classic Marxist tactics at work in the US. I realize that some will say the US could use some of that. What we need instead is an entirely NEW way of doing things, that still allows for private property, and maximum individual freedom. I've said for years that, we could put a cap on private property. No one needs a BILLION dollars, much less 10-20 BILLION!!! There is simply no way to work that much harder/smarter. It's a series of unlikely events, mixed with cronyism, and ruthlessness that leads to that much wealth. That is absolutely reasonable, and yet some will scream bloody murder. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-18910768034096104872016-10-12T11:26:06.219-04:002016-10-12T11:26:06.219-04:00To Anonymous
If you haven't yet read it, you m...To Anonymous<br />If you haven't yet read it, you might be interested in 'Guns, Germs and Steel' by Jared Diamond. Regarding Arabs and the slave trade, I think the distinction might be more Muslin versus Christian than Arab versus European. The Koran seems to approve enslavement of non-Muslims where the New Testament seems to at least disapprove of the practice. Regarding "a lot of whites feel they have been generalized by other groups" it does make sense from a Marxist point of view that fomenting racial conflict is a useful tool for suppressing class consciousness.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16294031118801500497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-37651680411223809232016-10-09T14:11:47.427-04:002016-10-09T14:11:47.427-04:00In addition it's important to remember, that w...In addition it's important to remember, that while a minority of white Europeans engaged in the slave trade, it was a majority who opposed and eventually outlawed it. Likewise with Nazi's. a minority of whites supported it, while the majority opposed and destroyed it. It does seem interesting that Arabs seem to get cut slack for their participation in the slave trade, with many blacks even becoming Muslims. It's as if on some level they admit white/Europeans should be held to a higher standard. I think the problem is, a lot of Whites feel they are generalized by other groups, as in "look at all the horrible things you've done!" Without any acknowledgment that the majority opposed these horrible things. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-46992265499865335922016-10-09T11:28:47.145-04:002016-10-09T11:28:47.145-04:00Great response! I look forward to your take on Jul...Great response! I look forward to your take on Julius Evola. He is really interesting, even if I don't buy into a lot of his beliefs. I have a tough time reading his books, due to his heavy handed esotericism. My take on Colonialism/Whites/Europeans is that does seem like these groups had superior organization skills, which allowed them to progress it bit faster than other groups. Perhaps evolving in more harsh climates, rather than more tropical ones led to this? Obviously they/we should have used these skills, in more beneficial rather than harmful ways. On this point I'll agree with the leftists. At this point however, most tribal/indigenous are realizing quite a lot of benefit. As you have pointed out before though, if all of this technological "progress" leads to environmental disaster, then maybe the higher IQ folks of the world weren't so smart after all. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-50505982995157974202016-10-09T11:01:06.797-04:002016-10-09T11:01:06.797-04:00Again, I'd be interested in skin colour only i...Again, I'd be interested in skin colour only in so far as it tracks cultural differences. But if your point is that there's much to criticize with regard to politically correct "social justice warriors," including feminists, pacifists, environmentalists, and other sorts of leftists, I'd agree. I've written articles against left-wing ideology too. See, for example, my articles on honour or against Atheism Plus or my early article, "Political Correctness: Spellbinding the Masses." I'd agree there's something fishy with feminism or even with Black Lives Matter. <br /><br />However, in so far as these left-wing movements target "whites," I think it's clear those movements are backlashes against world-spanning disasters for which those "whites" (Europeans, Americans, Canadians, etc) are principally responsible. So I'd say "a pox on all houses." I'm not one of those white pride guys who thinks his race is pure and innocent. That kind of pride would be ludicrous, because contrary to twisted Nazi spirituality, we're all undoubtedly animals and thus we all have the same disappointing cognitive and emotional weaknesses. I plan to write on Julius Evola's philosophy, which should touch on these differences.<br /><br />http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-disgrace-of-modernity-and-wistful.html<br /><br />http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.com/2012/09/atheism-plus-and-liberal-conceit-of.html<br /><br />http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.ca/2011/09/political-correctness-spellbinding.htmlBenjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-41904695670430112642016-10-09T07:57:21.781-04:002016-10-09T07:57:21.781-04:00How do you feel about an article like this? The au...How do you feel about an article like this? The author of this article has something in common with many people on that list. <br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jesse-benn/towards-a-concept-of-whit_b_7985986.html<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-58009622274432182852016-10-08T20:00:37.972-04:002016-10-08T20:00:37.972-04:00This is a list made by an "international team...This is a list made by an "international team" that "investigates and documents the activities of anti-White activists, propagandists, and exploiters."<br /><br />Not sure of the relevance of this list, but I have a feeling that the left-leaning folks on it aren't anti-white so much as they're opposed to the Washington Consensus, to neoliberal technocracy, to globalization, to oligarchy, to the American-led monoculture, etc.<br /><br />Personally, I'm not at all interested in the physical characteristics of race. Culture is what interests me: ideas which solidify into myths that dominate public perception. The question is how to characterize white culture--if there is such a thing. What have whites (Europeans and Americans) done to benefit the world? The short-term answers are obvious, but what about the long-term ones? I'm looking into that, by reading Yuval Harari and Derrick Jensen. Of course, I'll be writing up my take in future articles on this blog. But for a start, you might be interested in:<br /><br />http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-disgrace-of-modernity-and-wistful.html<br /><br />http://rsbakker.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/the-ironies-of-modern-progress-and-infantilization-by-ben-cain/Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-5156349445657617912016-10-07T13:27:35.518-04:002016-10-07T13:27:35.518-04:00Maybe Canada is getting a bit more exciting?
htt...Maybe Canada is getting a bit more exciting? <br /><br />http://canadafreepress.com/comments/holocaust-denying-professor-anthony-hall-suspended-without-pay#Comments<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-8886196158494287532016-10-06T11:04:08.720-04:002016-10-06T11:04:08.720-04:00There are a lot of Canadians on this list.
https:...There are a lot of Canadians on this list.<br /><br />https://twitter.com/skype_directory<br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-70906537417671504312016-10-01T14:45:28.401-04:002016-10-01T14:45:28.401-04:00Thanks, Zoran. Yes, Eastern religions do have thes...Thanks, Zoran. Yes, Eastern religions do have these relevant categories. Jainism likewise has the idea of ford maker or a teaching god, a "tirthankara," who shows us "a fordable passage across the sea of interminable births and deaths, the saṃsāra" (see Wikipedia).<br /><br />I suppose I'm drawing a similar lesson without the baggage of non-naturalistic mysticism. Eastern religions are more respectable than Western ones, but I think the essence of their opposition to nature can be reformulated from a science-centered, naturalistic viewpoint. We need only biology and cognitive psychology to give us the concepts of animalism and personhood, and we need add only post-Nietzschean naturalistic philosophy to get us to existential cosmicism, or to the right sort of humanism.<br /><br />I have some differences with the Eastern formulations of these ideas. For example, Hindus tend to believe that enlightened individuals have superpowers. That amounts to a superstition or a pseudo-science. I prefer to remind folks of the opportunity to undergo the gestalt switch needed to interpret mentality in general as virtually miraculous--given the mere physicality of our birthplace in the universe. Far from having paranormal abilities, truly enlightened individuals ought to be struggling with angst and dread; they ought to be antisocial artists or engineers who care more about displacing monstrous nature with beautiful or with otherwise meaningful works, than with socializing as commonplace mammals. <br /><br />Also, I tend to frown on the kind of humility you find in Hinduism and Buddhism. This is what I think Western humanism gets right: human persons are indeed special, so instead of worshiping deities, even if only for pragmatic, Pascalian rather than theological reasons, we should be awestruck by our magnificence. No, I'm not saying we should be narcissists like Trump, since what makes us miraculous isn't our personalities but our potential to oppose the universe. There are no higher beings floating around the heavens. There are only the mainstream sheeple, their psychopathic rulers, and the enlightened introverts cowering in the dark.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-11990206200903697962016-09-30T10:45:59.690-04:002016-09-30T10:45:59.690-04:00Excellent article!Just to add that according to Ta...Excellent article!Just to add that according to Tantric philosophy we divide people into three categories.The first and lowest is the Pashu(animal),which means not only those people who is ruled by primitive needs,but also those people who are passively bound to social and moral norms.The second is Vira(hero) whose properties is courage and indifference to dangers.Vira is candidate for tantric initiation.And the third is Divya(divine being or person),which represent the top Tantric adept.For Tantra is characteristic transgressive nature it is enough to look for this Aghoris(ultimate outcasts). Zoran from Serbiavladhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11481100003978272177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-29618784977599507852016-09-28T21:16:38.761-04:002016-09-28T21:16:38.761-04:00http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/09/canada-app...http://www.desdemonadespair.net/2016/09/canada-approves-36-billion-lng-carbon.html<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com