The dolphin water told me I live in a round, rotating apartment with a beautiful view on all sides, but it is also spinning around really fast and there is no way to slow it down or close the curtains
"I see a nascent version on the right, sometimes called “post-right,” with people like Richard Hanania or Trace Woodgrains. They often get pegged as leftist in disguise by the Dissident Right, but what leftist is reading Richard Hanania?"
While an orthodox leftist would never be caught reading Hanania, he seems to have a lot of crossover appeal for the most liberal left, the people who dress their internet personas in NATO imagery and talk enthusiastically about mass immigration and helping the global poor.
I like his stuff which is why I promote him & say nice things about him here. This is a sentiment I shared with him on Bsky. But I don’t think he or Trace appeal to people who aren’t in some way heterodox. It’s not a knock, it’s just the nature of the media market. Weirdly, I think RFH also fell into this niche. I miss her.
If deviation from Marxist labor theories is deviation from the core of the left, then he is indeed heterodox. Other definitions would put him as more heterogenous.
From what I have seen of RFH her writing seems far more reactionary. She writes poorly about men because she wants them to be better, somewhat like incels who write poorly of women because they want them to be better. But I disagree with her ideas of eugenic female choice.
I just looked at his page again. Hananana has some real crap takes on China from dating some unattractive Asian women. Anyone who has spent much time in East Asia can instantly recognize his type - spergy, insecure western incel gets a severe case of overconfidence from dating an East Asian woman who has trouble getting attention from her own kind. It’s kind of a cliche at this point.
I do not think what he says should be taken seriously, and I think it’s quite revolting that he may have partly Asian children. My father, who shares a certain amount of similarity with him (but is a generation ahead) used to talk like him but he isn’t allowed talk without my permission anymore. I give him corner time when he’s being bad.
These guys don’t really understand what they’ve gotten into. Invariably in these couples the oriental wife makes all of the decisions, while the occidental husband just does what he’s told.
I’m not even sure he’s my biological father, but I digress.
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”
I think your observations on 2015 are insightful however your 2025 predictions are wide of the mark. Even if Taiwan disappears off the map China will be the world’s leading semi manufacturer. #2 and #6 are the only ones with any real possibility of happening.
Here’s a graph on global semiconductor output. All of the western hemisphere is not even in the top 5. To be candid I’m already regretting engaging with you because I think the notion is downright idiotic.
Well 2014 was the first year of my life as an autonomous entity so I suppose I'm biased in this respect. Maybe if I sire children I can singlehandedly bring an end to this world-historical process?
Okay- I’m all for the return to in-person events but what is the infrastructure for it? There are so few low-rent spaces available (both literally and figuratively). What’s the plan? Punks pooling their parents money to buy up vacant shopping malls? Literary convoys moving exurb to exurb, exchanging zines the whole way? *shudder* even more Porchfests? Running clubs 😭?
At this point, I’d settle for a restaurant in this city open after 9pm.
I live across from a high school. Most kids just bus it home after school but a few can be found sitting in the lawn of the public library up the street. I’ve been in some mixed generation social situations and overheard youngsters joke that “it’s like a group chat in real life” - which saddened me but damn if I haven’t walked into a party and said the same thing. I agree that the big wheel is turning and in-person events/non-meme-able experience are coming back around. Trying to temper my impatient sourpuss-ness with my excitement to see the forms that this new era takes 😇
I talked about demons in all earnestness. I found the “intellectualizers” who creeped into my comments on that one kind of stupid, actually. I believe demonic possession is a real, observable phenomenon distinct from mental illness and abuse-induced psychosis.
“The eyes of the Gentiles are like the eyes of the fool, wandering to the ends of the earth. They are deceived, blinded, and far from understanding the things of God. All who would understand the things of God must understand them by the Spirit of God.”
- Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses vol. 8 no. 27
The age of intellect is over. You know it’s dead when people who aren’t that smart intellectualize everything - EVERYONE in America is an intellectual nerd. You can see this all over Twitter.
“Most Americans believe, to varying degrees, that our thoughts can shape reality”
Yes, that’s true. I think that’s the truest sentence in the essay. I was looking for a Brigham Young quote to the effect of “through faith in Jesus Christ man can attain godlike powers of the will” but I couldn’t find it so shared the above quote with you instead.
I think Christianity is becoming more mainstream again but there seems to be a discomfort with taking on the religion of one’s parents, much conversion to other flavors of Christianity, perhaps due to generational inequality and the overall moral repugnance of the boomer generation.
“4. Real Power”
I’m not sure these are necessarily the people with real power in the American system, although you did mention politics wasn’t your forte.
The NPC talk was fed into the political discourse to dehumanize others to prepare the way for violence in the United States. It’s totally in character for a controlled demolition of the United States.
I find Hanania Barberia unreadable. I think he’s just sort of boring and annoying. Can’t remember much of what he said. I think blocked the wood grains person but can’t remember why.
You might be right about the smartphone backlash. I feel it takes entirely too much of my time.
1. The age of intellect is over. You know it’s dead when people who aren’t that smart intellectualize everything - EVERYONE in America is an intellectual nerd. You can see this all over Twitter. <-- disagree. I think most people don't think very deeply about anything. I will say, many of our intellectuals are dumb as shit. My friend Ann Manov, the only *real* and non-fraudulent intellectual I know, makes a good case for this & I think it's the subtext of most/all her book reviews.
2. I think Christianity is becoming more mainstream again but there seems to be a discomfort with taking on the religion of one’s parents, much conversion to other flavors of Christianity, perhaps due to generational inequality and the overall moral repugnance of the boomer generation. --> maybe. I don't see more or younger people at church unless I go to some weird like niche "I'm here for the selfies" traditionalist church but I don't go to TLM myself. I like to listen to & understand what is being said. Something that breaks my heart is I think I've heard multiple chatgpt generated sermons.
3. The NPC talk was fed into the political discourse to dehumanize others to prepare the way for violence in the United States. It’s totally in character for a controlled demolition of the United States. --> interesting. I might agree. I think it's about tech though.
I find Hanania Barberia unreadable. I think he’s just sort of boring and annoying. Can’t remember much of what he said. I think blocked the wood grains person but can’t remember why. --> I like him but I also like the reaction to him as part of the package.
“I don't see more or younger people at church unless I go to some weird like niche "I'm here for the selfies" traditionalist church but I don't go to TLM myself.”
The problem with most Christian churches, especially the Roman church, is that they are foreign. Although the United States was founded as a majority Protestant nation, and this worked well enough for a while, the unwritten rules for each church are rooted in the old country, and therefore do not function well as social organizations and especially as fertility cults; few Americans today meet their spouses in church, as was once the norm. Rainbow pride flags outside of American churches are an obvious symptom of the failure of these churches as fertility cults.
Presbyterianism (my childhood religion) is rooted in Scotland. Lutherans is rooted in northern Germany and the Nordic nations. Anglicanism is rooted in England, etc. and of course the Roman Catholic Church is rooted in specific European countries.
Mormonism, though not as rapidly growing as before, is doing better than these other faiths because it is rooted in the United States, though it is not immune to the general disinterest in religion by the young. I have to admit I prefer listening to very old talks by Brigham Young than actually attending, since it’s full of gay boomers.
A collapse in federal authority would spark a great revival in the fortunes of the LDS (Mormon) church, since it could bring back polygamy. In practice, many Americans already “serial polygamy.” This kind of fertility cult would appeal greatly to men of high military potential in such a warlord-era scenario. I think it is under these conditions that the faith could spread like wildfire, as Christianity did in the time of the emperor Constantine.
We are only at the early stages of this - the “problem” phase of “problem-reaction-solution” that will allow millions of Americans to think and pray through the moral crisis and each come to the independent conclusion that it was their own idea all along.
From the last page (p. 24), over a ~10 generation cycle:
“The stages of the rise and fall of great empires seem to be:
The Age of Pioneers (outburst)
The Age of Conquest
The Age of Commerce
The Age of Affluence
The Age of Intellect
The Age of Decadence.”
I felt strongly that the Age of Decadence had set in when I visited a strip club near the Pentagon during the COVID lockdowns. “Chandler,” who reminded me of my kindergarten sweetheart, was so much more intelligent and interesting to talk to than the MD. PhD we had just got in from the Philippines at the FDA. “Chandler” agreed with me that the age of intellect was over and the age of decadence was upon us. It was very sad.
The dolphin water told me I live in a round, rotating apartment with a beautiful view on all sides, but it is also spinning around really fast and there is no way to slow it down or close the curtains
Extremely haunting
"I see a nascent version on the right, sometimes called “post-right,” with people like Richard Hanania or Trace Woodgrains. They often get pegged as leftist in disguise by the Dissident Right, but what leftist is reading Richard Hanania?"
While an orthodox leftist would never be caught reading Hanania, he seems to have a lot of crossover appeal for the most liberal left, the people who dress their internet personas in NATO imagery and talk enthusiastically about mass immigration and helping the global poor.
I like his stuff which is why I promote him & say nice things about him here. This is a sentiment I shared with him on Bsky. But I don’t think he or Trace appeal to people who aren’t in some way heterodox. It’s not a knock, it’s just the nature of the media market. Weirdly, I think RFH also fell into this niche. I miss her.
If deviation from Marxist labor theories is deviation from the core of the left, then he is indeed heterodox. Other definitions would put him as more heterogenous.
From what I have seen of RFH her writing seems far more reactionary. She writes poorly about men because she wants them to be better, somewhat like incels who write poorly of women because they want them to be better. But I disagree with her ideas of eugenic female choice.
I just looked at his page again. Hananana has some real crap takes on China from dating some unattractive Asian women. Anyone who has spent much time in East Asia can instantly recognize his type - spergy, insecure western incel gets a severe case of overconfidence from dating an East Asian woman who has trouble getting attention from her own kind. It’s kind of a cliche at this point.
I do not think what he says should be taken seriously, and I think it’s quite revolting that he may have partly Asian children. My father, who shares a certain amount of similarity with him (but is a generation ahead) used to talk like him but he isn’t allowed talk without my permission anymore. I give him corner time when he’s being bad.
These guys don’t really understand what they’ve gotten into. Invariably in these couples the oriental wife makes all of the decisions, while the occidental husband just does what he’s told.
I’m not even sure he’s my biological father, but I digress.
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”
- Hosea 8:7, the Bible, KJV
Yes, 2015 defined the 2010s:
1. Trump announced
2. September Blood moon
3. 137 dead in ISIS attacks in Paris, 14 dead in San Bernadino
4. Golden Dawn Party In Greece and UKIP in Britain
5. Same-Sex Marriage
6. "Woke Star Wars"
7. Natalia Poklonskaya memes
Immigration was the defining issue of the decade, moving beyond the historical left-right divide on religion or economics.
Big predictions for 2025:
1. American recognition of Judea and Samaria, ending the 76 year "two state solution"
2. Nuclear related disaster or terrorism
3. GDP per capita of Brazil, South Africa, and Nigeria fall to 20 year lows.
4. Ukrainian and North Korean PMC deployment in Africa
5. Establishment of a Zangezur corridor
6. Harvard class of 2029 is 25% Asian, and 10% two-or-more races.
7. NATO becomes undisputed leader in semiconductor production
Defining issue of 2020s will be neo-isolationism, a radical antipathy toward involvement in foreign conflicts.
I think your observations on 2015 are insightful however your 2025 predictions are wide of the mark. Even if Taiwan disappears off the map China will be the world’s leading semi manufacturer. #2 and #6 are the only ones with any real possibility of happening.
I'll publish an article with the data in a few weeks
Here’s a graph on global semiconductor output. All of the western hemisphere is not even in the top 5. To be candid I’m already regretting engaging with you because I think the notion is downright idiotic.
https://www.statista.com/chart/31371/distribution-of-global-semiconductor-fabricating-capacity/
OK. Already sounds pretty far-fetched and reliant on obvious propaganda outlets.
2013-2015 never really ended, did it
Well 2014 was the first year of my life as an autonomous entity so I suppose I'm biased in this respect. Maybe if I sire children I can singlehandedly bring an end to this world-historical process?
I had a baby and it changed nothing
Okay- I’m all for the return to in-person events but what is the infrastructure for it? There are so few low-rent spaces available (both literally and figuratively). What’s the plan? Punks pooling their parents money to buy up vacant shopping malls? Literary convoys moving exurb to exurb, exchanging zines the whole way? *shudder* even more Porchfests? Running clubs 😭?
At this point, I’d settle for a restaurant in this city open after 9pm.
Gen alpha friend tells me urbex is getting bigger
Urbex is always big with those who can’t be tried as adults.
I see it a lot on IG - people my age and maybe 5 years younger
That’s awesome. Love that there is an active embrace of curiosity and the unknown in the physical world.
But to your point, I think just outside and peoples houses right now, the wealthy can afford membership clubs
True true- in person socializing in 2025+ might look much more like in person socializing in 1880 than in 1980.
I see kids hanging out all over the place tbh- I live near a fast food place that is as lively as any mall
I live across from a high school. Most kids just bus it home after school but a few can be found sitting in the lawn of the public library up the street. I’ve been in some mixed generation social situations and overheard youngsters joke that “it’s like a group chat in real life” - which saddened me but damn if I haven’t walked into a party and said the same thing. I agree that the big wheel is turning and in-person events/non-meme-able experience are coming back around. Trying to temper my impatient sourpuss-ness with my excitement to see the forms that this new era takes 😇
02 :
> the real culture war is about technology
the real culture war is about how technology has changed us and hasn’t changed us …
Yes
I talked about demons in all earnestness. I found the “intellectualizers” who creeped into my comments on that one kind of stupid, actually. I believe demonic possession is a real, observable phenomenon distinct from mental illness and abuse-induced psychosis.
“The eyes of the Gentiles are like the eyes of the fool, wandering to the ends of the earth. They are deceived, blinded, and far from understanding the things of God. All who would understand the things of God must understand them by the Spirit of God.”
- Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses vol. 8 no. 27
The age of intellect is over. You know it’s dead when people who aren’t that smart intellectualize everything - EVERYONE in America is an intellectual nerd. You can see this all over Twitter.
“Most Americans believe, to varying degrees, that our thoughts can shape reality”
Yes, that’s true. I think that’s the truest sentence in the essay. I was looking for a Brigham Young quote to the effect of “through faith in Jesus Christ man can attain godlike powers of the will” but I couldn’t find it so shared the above quote with you instead.
I think Christianity is becoming more mainstream again but there seems to be a discomfort with taking on the religion of one’s parents, much conversion to other flavors of Christianity, perhaps due to generational inequality and the overall moral repugnance of the boomer generation.
“4. Real Power”
I’m not sure these are necessarily the people with real power in the American system, although you did mention politics wasn’t your forte.
The NPC talk was fed into the political discourse to dehumanize others to prepare the way for violence in the United States. It’s totally in character for a controlled demolition of the United States.
I find Hanania Barberia unreadable. I think he’s just sort of boring and annoying. Can’t remember much of what he said. I think blocked the wood grains person but can’t remember why.
You might be right about the smartphone backlash. I feel it takes entirely too much of my time.
1. The age of intellect is over. You know it’s dead when people who aren’t that smart intellectualize everything - EVERYONE in America is an intellectual nerd. You can see this all over Twitter. <-- disagree. I think most people don't think very deeply about anything. I will say, many of our intellectuals are dumb as shit. My friend Ann Manov, the only *real* and non-fraudulent intellectual I know, makes a good case for this & I think it's the subtext of most/all her book reviews.
2. I think Christianity is becoming more mainstream again but there seems to be a discomfort with taking on the religion of one’s parents, much conversion to other flavors of Christianity, perhaps due to generational inequality and the overall moral repugnance of the boomer generation. --> maybe. I don't see more or younger people at church unless I go to some weird like niche "I'm here for the selfies" traditionalist church but I don't go to TLM myself. I like to listen to & understand what is being said. Something that breaks my heart is I think I've heard multiple chatgpt generated sermons.
3. The NPC talk was fed into the political discourse to dehumanize others to prepare the way for violence in the United States. It’s totally in character for a controlled demolition of the United States. --> interesting. I might agree. I think it's about tech though.
I find Hanania Barberia unreadable. I think he’s just sort of boring and annoying. Can’t remember much of what he said. I think blocked the wood grains person but can’t remember why. --> I like him but I also like the reaction to him as part of the package.
“I don't see more or younger people at church unless I go to some weird like niche "I'm here for the selfies" traditionalist church but I don't go to TLM myself.”
The problem with most Christian churches, especially the Roman church, is that they are foreign. Although the United States was founded as a majority Protestant nation, and this worked well enough for a while, the unwritten rules for each church are rooted in the old country, and therefore do not function well as social organizations and especially as fertility cults; few Americans today meet their spouses in church, as was once the norm. Rainbow pride flags outside of American churches are an obvious symptom of the failure of these churches as fertility cults.
Presbyterianism (my childhood religion) is rooted in Scotland. Lutherans is rooted in northern Germany and the Nordic nations. Anglicanism is rooted in England, etc. and of course the Roman Catholic Church is rooted in specific European countries.
Mormonism, though not as rapidly growing as before, is doing better than these other faiths because it is rooted in the United States, though it is not immune to the general disinterest in religion by the young. I have to admit I prefer listening to very old talks by Brigham Young than actually attending, since it’s full of gay boomers.
A collapse in federal authority would spark a great revival in the fortunes of the LDS (Mormon) church, since it could bring back polygamy. In practice, many Americans already “serial polygamy.” This kind of fertility cult would appeal greatly to men of high military potential in such a warlord-era scenario. I think it is under these conditions that the faith could spread like wildfire, as Christianity did in the time of the emperor Constantine.
We are only at the early stages of this - the “problem” phase of “problem-reaction-solution” that will allow millions of Americans to think and pray through the moral crisis and each come to the independent conclusion that it was their own idea all along.
“disagree. I think most people don't think very deeply about anything. I will say, many of our intellectuals are dumb as shit.”
Well, I would argue that is more evidence that the Age of Intellect has crossed over to the Age of Decadence.
For reference my roadmap is from Sir Donald Glubb, aka “Glubb Pasha.”
https://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf
From the last page (p. 24), over a ~10 generation cycle:
“The stages of the rise and fall of great empires seem to be:
The Age of Pioneers (outburst)
The Age of Conquest
The Age of Commerce
The Age of Affluence
The Age of Intellect
The Age of Decadence.”
I felt strongly that the Age of Decadence had set in when I visited a strip club near the Pentagon during the COVID lockdowns. “Chandler,” who reminded me of my kindergarten sweetheart, was so much more intelligent and interesting to talk to than the MD. PhD we had just got in from the Philippines at the FDA. “Chandler” agreed with me that the age of intellect was over and the age of decadence was upon us. It was very sad.