Jun 19Liked by Alexandru Constantin, Phisto Sobanii
Awesome to hear that you're on other platforms. Makes it easier to download and listen to offline - got it in the que for when I'm driving or at work! Substacks platform is the hardest to listen to.
Jun 22Liked by Phisto Sobanii, Alexandru Constantin
Comments are as I listen.
Great that the best guest did not bail. So my comments will be discourse on the discourse of Substack discourse? I have heard the name pronounced You n ger without saying young. Here is a brief summary from Telsopress about The Forest Passage.
Ernst Jünger's The Forest Passage explores the possibility of resistance: how the independent thinker can withstand and oppose the power of the omnipresent state. No matter how extensive the technologies of surveillance become, the forest can shelter the rebel, and the rebel can strike back against tyranny. Jünger's manifesto is a defense of freedom against the pressure to conform to political manipulation and artificial consensus. A response to the European experience under Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, The Forest Passage has lessons equally relevant for today, wherever an imposed uniformity threatens to stifle liberty.
The left is boring? What are the ideas you are looking for? Chomsky was right in 2016 and to vote the same way in 2024. Do not be a nihilist. If you don't vote at all you become culpable for the result without opinion why. I vote left all the time and am only culpable for the left's direction.
Understanding religion as a way of building consesus is to take and apply the lessons of human cooperation. Allow the doctrine of religions to be a personal tool to help individuals maintain and apply cooperation. Doctrine is not a required approach for everyone.
Wow, again do not be a nihilist. White supremacy already exists (and has since the beginning of hmanity) and could become worse if everyone was naive and did not care. Like what kind of white person are you, born here or naturalized? It may make a difference. Or you live over there and not here?
If you want to know how you got here, look to the past. If you want to know where you will be, look at what you are doing now. There is no going back but you can live or attept to live in the past for yourself and see what happens.
How about looking at climate change, environmental issues, health care and food shortage, etc., etc., etc. as a threat. I only have about 10-15 years left to not be a nihilist. You two have 40 or more years. Your comment is right. "what are you going to do about it". Sobanii has told all on Substack he is a teacher. That is doing something. I believe in teachers becuase I have seen the results first hand through the teachers in my family.
I am going to wait now for further comment until I hear more answers. Currently about 50 minutes in to this discourse.
Lack of purpose does need to be overcome.
How about that we have become the consciousness of the universe and can determine what are the drivers. Climate and environmental issues point out we can at least locally be a driver although we will never affect the entropy of the universe. It will exist without us. If there is a god we are it and control are existance on this earth. This 'small blue dot' in the universe. Yes to stewardship of the earth.
Yes, involved with your community.
Yes, curiosity developes intellect and existentailism.
So, does nuclear deterence work because we would be forced to live in a world where we all had to work together?
For the record I am Romanian born, immigrated to the U.S. as a young child, and became an American Citizen after my tour of Afghanistan.
I have become skeptical of the way we do democracy and I am not sure that if I take part in general elections outside my local area I am not validating a system that needs reform. But this of course is debatable. What I mean that I find politics boring is that I find the CNN vs Fox news constant discourse to be tiresome and fake.
The nuclear deterrence conversation is better taken on by Phisto.
Jun 22Liked by Phisto Sobanii, Alexandru Constantin
You guys are 100% correct in that the key to life is to have purpose. To know that there is meaning to your life. The Christians believe their purpose is to live life according to the tenets set forth by God and if they do so then they will live in Heaven with God for eternity. The Left/communists also know this which is why they want to abolish religion and anything else from which people get meaning. They want to do this to make government the sole focus of people's lives and so people rely on the government for everything including their purpose. Everything in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state. Your reason for living is to serve the state.
The conflict in the "dissident right" is that the vitalists/natalists/secularists spend their time criticizing Christianity, sometimes with valid points, but they offer nothing to replace Christianity. They talk about taking over art which I think includes mass media like movies and tv, they talk about philosophy, they talk about ways to live life but they don't provide any reason or purpose for why people should live they way they want them to. Their solutions are superficial and don't get to the crux of the matter. People need a purpose. They want their lives to have meaning. Art that reflects the good, the true and the beautiful is nice and a good start but what is underpinning the art. What is the point of it?
This is what frustrates the Christians who understand that life has to have meaning. Its easy to criticize. Its easy to destroy. Its very difficult to create. If you want to get rid of Christianity what do you want to replace it with? So far, the Vitalists have no real answer to that question and until they do, they will have no real support. Which just makes them mad and leads to more criticism and spergy meltdowns that make the Notes section a flaming tire fire.
As a believer in so-called "Young Earth Creationism", I have to point out that it is a misnomer, at least for the most straightforward version of Creationism, one that takes the book of Genesis at its word.
It says, "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. And the Earth was waste and empty."
It doesn't specify when the beginning is. In addition, there is reason to believe (based on a Scripture I can't recall) that God didn't create the Earth to be "waste and empty", implying some passage of time between the two sentences.
The actual claim is that *Man* was created 6000 years ago, which of course you are welcome to laugh at.
Whoops, I just realised that you said you didn't want to get into theology. Ah well, it's written now.
It's ok, I don't mind theology. The truth is I don't have an answer to your question, what I do have is another question. Why does it matter? Why does it matter if writers of Genesis meant 6000 years as we understand them or a hypothetical 6000 years to a being outside the concept of space and time. What is a year to the Alpha and Omega, and what does it matter to me. I've always seen this conversation as an example of Western Christianity's hangup with scholasticism.
I think this might be a symptom of our different approaches to religion. I am an incorrigibly curious and rationalistic (not a word) person and can't help bringing this to Christianity, whereas I believe you have a more mystical approach.
God is ineffable in many ways, but I like to sharpen the boundaries of what I can't or don't understand.
I don't think either of our approaches is more or less "correct", they are a function of how God has made us.
In regards to why the writers of Genesis and (and much more importantly) your understanding is importrant I’ll defer once again to Galileo.
God gave us a brain that can reason. Using it to find truth glorifies him. To not is heresy.
It’s like this story I know from an astronomer. As a child, he was amazed by stars and came up with all these ridiculous theories about them constantly pestering his parents.
When he grew up and learned the truth, he was even more astounded.
I agree with so much of what you both have to say about the political landscape, the bullshit manifestos, the contrived narratives that are being forced on us whether we want them or not.
The left has run its course globally, to the point when they have long since abandoned their alleged ideology, and have adopted conservative policies, as you can clearly see in the UK election recently.
It’s no different in the states.
As you both know, and expressed so clearly and concisely in this episode, and on others I’ve listened to. What a refreshing experience to sit back and listen to knowledge being shared in such an irreverent, funny, and entertaining way.
There is a lot of true love for the Lost Boys in this conversation. And a dose of humility from men who have actually traveled the Ecclesiastes Arc as Phisto aptly terms it. I hope the Young Right is listening.
Awesome to hear that you're on other platforms. Makes it easier to download and listen to offline - got it in the que for when I'm driving or at work! Substacks platform is the hardest to listen to.
Yeah, I honestly don't think even Substack devs want you listening on it because they make RSS super easy.
Comments are as I listen.
Great that the best guest did not bail. So my comments will be discourse on the discourse of Substack discourse? I have heard the name pronounced You n ger without saying young. Here is a brief summary from Telsopress about The Forest Passage.
Ernst Jünger's The Forest Passage explores the possibility of resistance: how the independent thinker can withstand and oppose the power of the omnipresent state. No matter how extensive the technologies of surveillance become, the forest can shelter the rebel, and the rebel can strike back against tyranny. Jünger's manifesto is a defense of freedom against the pressure to conform to political manipulation and artificial consensus. A response to the European experience under Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, The Forest Passage has lessons equally relevant for today, wherever an imposed uniformity threatens to stifle liberty.
The left is boring? What are the ideas you are looking for? Chomsky was right in 2016 and to vote the same way in 2024. Do not be a nihilist. If you don't vote at all you become culpable for the result without opinion why. I vote left all the time and am only culpable for the left's direction.
Understanding religion as a way of building consesus is to take and apply the lessons of human cooperation. Allow the doctrine of religions to be a personal tool to help individuals maintain and apply cooperation. Doctrine is not a required approach for everyone.
Wow, again do not be a nihilist. White supremacy already exists (and has since the beginning of hmanity) and could become worse if everyone was naive and did not care. Like what kind of white person are you, born here or naturalized? It may make a difference. Or you live over there and not here?
If you want to know how you got here, look to the past. If you want to know where you will be, look at what you are doing now. There is no going back but you can live or attept to live in the past for yourself and see what happens.
How about looking at climate change, environmental issues, health care and food shortage, etc., etc., etc. as a threat. I only have about 10-15 years left to not be a nihilist. You two have 40 or more years. Your comment is right. "what are you going to do about it". Sobanii has told all on Substack he is a teacher. That is doing something. I believe in teachers becuase I have seen the results first hand through the teachers in my family.
I am going to wait now for further comment until I hear more answers. Currently about 50 minutes in to this discourse.
Lack of purpose does need to be overcome.
How about that we have become the consciousness of the universe and can determine what are the drivers. Climate and environmental issues point out we can at least locally be a driver although we will never affect the entropy of the universe. It will exist without us. If there is a god we are it and control are existance on this earth. This 'small blue dot' in the universe. Yes to stewardship of the earth.
Yes, involved with your community.
Yes, curiosity developes intellect and existentailism.
So, does nuclear deterence work because we would be forced to live in a world where we all had to work together?
No abuse from me.
For the record I am Romanian born, immigrated to the U.S. as a young child, and became an American Citizen after my tour of Afghanistan.
I have become skeptical of the way we do democracy and I am not sure that if I take part in general elections outside my local area I am not validating a system that needs reform. But this of course is debatable. What I mean that I find politics boring is that I find the CNN vs Fox news constant discourse to be tiresome and fake.
The nuclear deterrence conversation is better taken on by Phisto.
You guys are 100% correct in that the key to life is to have purpose. To know that there is meaning to your life. The Christians believe their purpose is to live life according to the tenets set forth by God and if they do so then they will live in Heaven with God for eternity. The Left/communists also know this which is why they want to abolish religion and anything else from which people get meaning. They want to do this to make government the sole focus of people's lives and so people rely on the government for everything including their purpose. Everything in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state. Your reason for living is to serve the state.
The conflict in the "dissident right" is that the vitalists/natalists/secularists spend their time criticizing Christianity, sometimes with valid points, but they offer nothing to replace Christianity. They talk about taking over art which I think includes mass media like movies and tv, they talk about philosophy, they talk about ways to live life but they don't provide any reason or purpose for why people should live they way they want them to. Their solutions are superficial and don't get to the crux of the matter. People need a purpose. They want their lives to have meaning. Art that reflects the good, the true and the beautiful is nice and a good start but what is underpinning the art. What is the point of it?
This is what frustrates the Christians who understand that life has to have meaning. Its easy to criticize. Its easy to destroy. Its very difficult to create. If you want to get rid of Christianity what do you want to replace it with? So far, the Vitalists have no real answer to that question and until they do, they will have no real support. Which just makes them mad and leads to more criticism and spergy meltdowns that make the Notes section a flaming tire fire.
As a believer in so-called "Young Earth Creationism", I have to point out that it is a misnomer, at least for the most straightforward version of Creationism, one that takes the book of Genesis at its word.
It says, "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. And the Earth was waste and empty."
It doesn't specify when the beginning is. In addition, there is reason to believe (based on a Scripture I can't recall) that God didn't create the Earth to be "waste and empty", implying some passage of time between the two sentences.
The actual claim is that *Man* was created 6000 years ago, which of course you are welcome to laugh at.
Whoops, I just realised that you said you didn't want to get into theology. Ah well, it's written now.
It's ok, I don't mind theology. The truth is I don't have an answer to your question, what I do have is another question. Why does it matter? Why does it matter if writers of Genesis meant 6000 years as we understand them or a hypothetical 6000 years to a being outside the concept of space and time. What is a year to the Alpha and Omega, and what does it matter to me. I've always seen this conversation as an example of Western Christianity's hangup with scholasticism.
I think this might be a symptom of our different approaches to religion. I am an incorrigibly curious and rationalistic (not a word) person and can't help bringing this to Christianity, whereas I believe you have a more mystical approach.
God is ineffable in many ways, but I like to sharpen the boundaries of what I can't or don't understand.
I don't think either of our approaches is more or less "correct", they are a function of how God has made us.
A very East and West divide.
In regards to why the writers of Genesis and (and much more importantly) your understanding is importrant I’ll defer once again to Galileo.
God gave us a brain that can reason. Using it to find truth glorifies him. To not is heresy.
It’s like this story I know from an astronomer. As a child, he was amazed by stars and came up with all these ridiculous theories about them constantly pestering his parents.
When he grew up and learned the truth, he was even more astounded.
It be like that, I think.
I loved this discussion. Thanks.
Great podcast so far. The movie you're thinking of is Hangover.
Yes!
What a fantastic conversation guys!
I agree with so much of what you both have to say about the political landscape, the bullshit manifestos, the contrived narratives that are being forced on us whether we want them or not.
The left has run its course globally, to the point when they have long since abandoned their alleged ideology, and have adopted conservative policies, as you can clearly see in the UK election recently.
It’s no different in the states.
As you both know, and expressed so clearly and concisely in this episode, and on others I’ve listened to. What a refreshing experience to sit back and listen to knowledge being shared in such an irreverent, funny, and entertaining way.
Thanks to both of you.
There is a lot of true love for the Lost Boys in this conversation. And a dose of humility from men who have actually traveled the Ecclesiastes Arc as Phisto aptly terms it. I hope the Young Right is listening.
Can you really call Pol Pot left and Hitler right? Seems as though they all come full circle and meet up as murderers and sociopaths.