New Post - Finding Your Direction in Life

If you’re here you’ve probably already read about our philosophy and call to action, the pursuit of True Glory. If you haven’t, you probably should now. Your Great Work will be the means by which you achieve the end of True Glory.

Your Great Work isn’t just “your passion” or “your calling.” It is what you were put in this world to do. It is how you will beautify the cosmos that created you. It’s how your name will attain immortal kleos.

It’s what you are.

It’s something that you’ll approach with laser focus. It’s something that nothing should stop you from doing.

Read the full post here.

New Post - Should You Go to College?

You're a 17 or 18 year old kid just starting your senior year of high school. It's a big year. You're on the cusp of a major change in life, the likes of which you've never yet experienced. In one year's time, everything you've known, your entire lifestyle essentially from the time you were 5, will be turned on its head. You're also facing one of the biggest decisions of your life, certainly the biggest you've ever faced so far.

Read more here.

New Post About Political Senses of Entitlement

I'm running for mayor on 12 issues. If you agree with me on 9 of them, vote for me. If you agree with me on all 12, see a psychiatrist.

This was one of the famous witticisms of the 105th Mayor of New York City, Edward Irving Koch, who I had the good fortune of meeting a few times before his death in early 2013.

It's also this Koch-ian pragmatism that I think a lot of younger guys just don't get. I get your desire for perfection in politics. I was there in my late teens and early twenties. Perhaps it's simply a necessary part of life. You need to go in guns blazing. You need to learn to shoot first before you can become a sharpshooter. I used to be a hardcore libertarian to the point that I was an Anarcho-Capitalist.

But years of experience and thought will change your perspective, even if you remain essentially a "radical." You realize that it pays not to have a political sense of entitlement.

To read more, click here.

New Post on the Ways You've Been Lied To

I have some bad news. If you’re a man, especially if you’re a young man, you’ve been lied to.

These lies have been planted within us nearly from the day we first started to understand language. This script is not entirely malicious. Much of it used to be good advice. However, it is no longer very useful, and will leave many men in the lurch if they follow it, as it has set me back some years. The younger you discover the script of lies, the better, and fortunately, I have in my 20’s. Other men have been burned, and younger guys are being fed into the buzzsaw.

Hopefully, a few of those younger men are reading this entry. It’s written especially for you. Read on to recognize the lies so you can prepare yourself to take action accordingly.

Read the full post here.

New Post on the "Refugee" Crisis - My Experiences Working with REAL Refugees

2010.

Looking back on it five years later, it almost seems like a paradise lost. A lot of Americans still had their old flip phones, including me, so smartphone infestation hadn’t yet reached critical mass. There wasn’t as much attention whoring. “Social justice” insanity hadn’t quite yet completely taken over the media and popular culture both in the Anglosphere and Europe. The epidemic of weird tattoos and neon hair had not yet begun.

Most importantly, for purposes of this article, it was a relatively peaceful and stable time. Sure, the Iraq War was still on, but it was winding down. The wider Middle East was also fairly stable. The group that would become ISIS was almost extinct. The destabilizing “Arab Spring” was still a year away, and the failed effort to impose democracy in Iraq had not yet been attempted to be exported to the rest of the Middle East.

It was an interesting time in my own life too. Through circumstance, I wound up working for the International Rescue Committee, an organization that provides services to refugees around the world. My task was to tutor children and adolescents so that they could better understand the English language, and in so doing also act as an ambassador that would help the refugees acclimate themselves to life in the United States.

Read the full article here.

The Masculine Epic Ascends to the Next Level

I've taken the Masculine Epic to a more proper platform. You can find it here.

This starter site will now serve as the archive.

GOP Debate - 08/06/15

I, like many, was eagerly anticipating last night's debate, just to see what Donald Trump would do. For a long time now, the political landscape has been a wilderness with no leaders to lead us out of it. Trump has taken the stage by storm the past two months. Despite the politico-academic-media establishment trying their absolute hardest to destroy him, with gleeful help from the Cuckservatives that control the mainstream right, The Donald has been gathering strength at every league, proving himself to be the epitome of antifragility that we in this sector of the web strive for. Despite some serious disagreements with Trump, I recognize that he's not only the best chance we have for some real change, but his strong stance on immigration and trade - my two biggest issues, leave me no choice but to support him. Spiritually I'm probably closer to Rand Paul - when he's being himself, but he has unfortunately decided to mask his true self more and more over the years to kowtow to the Cuckservative establishment, which is in itself unattractive.

The first tenet of game is being unapologetic about who you are. Trump has that quality in spades, and if there is a lesson from the Trump campaign to be learned, it's that game translates over to politics just as much as it does to seduction, because they're ultimately both about leadership. Trump has the best game I've ever seen. Rand Paul's game is weak, and he was consequently trashed at last night's debate, running foolishly uphill into the blazing howitzers of the Donald Trump battery. It's too bad, because an alliance between Trump and Paul is exactly what the country needs.

The debate structure was a huge clusterfuck. 10 people on stage just doesn't make for a very good debate, let alone 17, which is why they had to have an undercard and a main event. I suppose that was something that little could be done about, but the moderation was equally as disappointing.

The moderation team seemed to be more interested in engaging in tabloid/clickbait journalism in destroying candidates (with the seeming exceptions of Bush and Rubio - telling) than in allowing them to explain themselves, especially Trump. They asked Trump personal "gotcha!" questions rather than trying to get him to engage in policy prescription. Trump, being the master of frame control that he is, turned the tables each time, and with this came the highlight of the night early on:

I almost jumped for joy when this happened. It is exemplative of the Cuckservative establishment - buy into the left's frame and then try to make them think you're good people, and Trump destroyed it. He at once exploded the "war on women" narrative by refusing to buy into it and dismissing its premise entirely, flipping the script to the truth - neither he, nor the country, has time for PC "social justice" bullshit. It's time to get serious on issues that are not fabrications - like immigration and trade, instead of this stupid PC nonsense. Notice also the underlying logic of the question - that you cannot make disparaging remarks about women, no matter what, especially if it's regarding their appearance. Women are special snowflakes that need constant care. Ironically, it very much shits on the legacy of Second Wave Feminism, wherein women were supposed to be capable of taking it on the chin just as much as men.

There was also a wider range of retardation going on, prompted by the moderators, which again is exemplative of the Cuckservative establishment and at times makes me wonder whether the supposedly right wing Fox News was a leftist plant to make the GOP look retarded (and boy do they love taking the bait).

A large portion of the debate was spent on talking about abortion, which is a stupid waste of political resources. It is not going away (at least anytime soon), period, and there are far more important issues that can be focused on successfully. It makes no sense to focus so much on it and potentially alienate voters that might otherwise be on board with inherently right wing/nationalist stances on immigration and trade. It is basically equivalent to the GOP giving the left a gun to shoot it with, and they always do it, every single time.


Another retarded segment was toward the end when a question was asked about the role of God in the candidate's lives. This is another gun that the GOP gives the left to shoot it with, and again they always do it. No one aside from a small portion of their natural base is going to take them seriously if they continue to do this. Independents, libertarians, anti-establishment types, and others that might feasibly vote Republican if they hit on the right notes (nationalism, civil libertarianism, tough stance on immigration, etc.) think it's a joke, and I do.

A segment about gays was also bothersome. These people are 3.8% of the population but are still yet another loaded gun that the GOP gives to the left. Republicans need to dismiss this stuff, like Trump did with the "war on women."

One more embarassing segment of the evening had the Cuckservatives chomping at the bit to pledge solidarity to Israel. Rand Paul had his one shining moment of brilliance last night when he commented that it was foolish to borrow money America doesn't have to spend on foreign aid, which should be progressively cut, including, eventually, to Israel. This logic appeared to be lost on the rest of the stage though, as all bent over for Israel (Donald Trump is the same, and this is one of his biggest weaknesses). One hallmark of a Cuckservative is that he cares more about Israel's borders and cultural interests than his own country's, and that is what we saw. It is very embarassing that people hoping to be the highest officeholder in the country are so beholden to a foreign nation. What kind of leadership is that? What other nation is so beholden to foreigners? George Washington's amazingly prescient warnings in his farewell address of 1796 were on display once more.

Overall I was disappointed with the moderation team. Their questions were pathetic, and they revealed themselves for the Cucks they were. They seemed more eager to make their own people look bad than making the left look bad, especially if that person's name was Donald Trump. I'd expect this of NBC, but not Fox News (leftist plant?).

In closing, I will write some thoughts about each of the ten people on that stage. I didn't watch the "loser's debate" because I was out day gaming, which is honestly a lot more important.

Donald Trump: Held his own and then some. His smackdown of the loaded feminist bullshit flying from Megyn Kelly's mouth was, again, the highlight of the night, and he proved himself a master of frame control once more all through the night. He does need to be more specific with policy prescriptions going forward, though, and he can easily do that by using material from Time to Get Tough. It's fine to take advantage of anger, but people want to be led out of the woods, and if Trump is not more specific soon people may well start looking elsewhere for answers. If Trump can combine his charisma and game with viable solutions he might just be unstoppable. According to most, he was last night's winner with his stage dominance, but I didn't quite see him as the guy that did the best.

Jeb Bush: The ultimate Cuckservative. His submissive body language and frame were awful, and all he did was qualify himself by his stint in Florida. The only things I care about is that he's not tough on immigration and he apologized for Common Core. Please Jeb, just leave. I know you raised over $100 million, but that is emblematic of the problem. You have no chance of winning a general election unless a black swan hits - your game is terrible and your last name is going to do you in with the broad cross-section of society that wants nothing to do with a Bush. Nobody wants to see Jeb vs. Hillary - not only would it be horrible, but it wouldn't even be entertaining because both have zero charisma.

Scott Walker: Seemed to get the most airtime. The guys at RVF mentioned that he has a punchable face and they were right. I didn't see any selling point to this guy at all and it was disgusting how much time the moderators gave him.

Mike Huckabee: Had the secondary highlight of the night when he said that the military was not a social experiment and that the PC social engineering experiment was dangerous. It highlights my and IWD's recent reflecting on Homer's warnings of weakness and not being able to defend yourself, and this is happening as we continue to deconstruct the military in favor of "equality."

Ben Carson: A nice guy, and I appreciated what he said about race and race baiting (I joked that they had to ask the black guy about this), and had some good jokes, but he does not belong there. No strong policy prescriptions to hear of and his overall game was weak.

Ted Cruz: An absolutely vile individual. I don't trust politicians by defeault but I trust him the least. I fear his lust for power nearly as much as I fear Hillary's.

Marco Rubio: I think he gained the most from the standpoint of actually debating substance. He was the most polished of the night in terms of policy prescriptions (and not just on what he's done, but going forward). Unfortunately, he's still a Cuck, which makes sense given he was groomed by Jeb.

Rand Paul: Aside from his moment on Israel, he was eviscerated, and it was sad to see because I am, again, probably closest to him overall policy wise. Donald Trump has sucked all the life out of his campaign (including me) and he is desperate to get it back, looking like a zombie in the process. He was indeed, acting like a leftist - a sniveling, snarky, arrogant, angry twat desperate for attention. This is not good in any case, but especially not if you're going up against Trump. The best thing for the country now would be, if present trends continue for another month or two, if Rand ended his campaign, worked to make amends with Trump, and emerge as a potential VP pick should Trump win the nomination (which, while still a longshot, looks increasingly likely every day), grooming himself for a run in the future.

Chris Christie: He should have run in 2012. His ship has passed, or sunk, because of "Bridgegate." He made a bit of an impact, but in the wrong way - revealing that he wants to turn social security into a redistribution program and fully supports NSA spying. From an overall standpoint on performance, he may get a post-debate bump, but I wager he is not what people think they need.

John Kasich: If I was an establishment Republican, this is the man I would want to run, not Jeb. Not only is he the seemingly popular governor of an absolutely crucial state, he appears to have done a good job, balancing budgets there and in Washington. While defeating the left and stopping the degeneration of Western civilization is my highest priority, and I don't see him as being the man to push us forward into doing that, he seems to be the most acceptable moderate of the lot. If Trump doesn't win, I'll probably side with this guy, if his stance on immigration is acceptable.

Observe Trump's body language vs Jeb's.

The Bardic Circle Episode 4: Books for Ascension

The fourth episode of the Bardic Circle focuses specifically on books to achieve understanding and self-actualization as a man, with current events commentary in the first half.

- Intro.
- 2:08: A personal story of someone raging at me over my position that children's cartoons should not be propagandized with politicized themes such as "no means no," criticism of Steven Universe.
- 10:06: The battle lines being drawn as social interaction breaks down rapidly, echo chambers on the internet.
- 13:50: Donald Trump's continued dominance of the public discourse, the GOP debate on August 6th, Trump's "simplistic charisma."
- 17:29: Donald Trump's policy book - Time to Get Tough, is Donald Trump dangerous? Donald Trump being a necessary bulldozer to destroy the current zeitgeist, the Islamic threat as Europe "hugs its way into non-existence."
- 21:55: The "Cuckservative" term, the Cuckservative establishment fearing Trump, the castrating influence of lobbyists on both parties, the breakdown of the two party system, the tightrope we must walk as the system breaks down and we march against the enemy.
- 26:17: Brief intermission as I ramble.
- 28:20: Intermission ends, Jeb Bush having zero game, Trump's magnificent game exemplified as he turned the tables on Gawker's dox, Gawker as a sinking ship.
- 33:06: Beta male publishes a dubious rape claim as a way to discredit Trump, the go-to strategy in the current culture being "when in doubt, cry rape," the leftist labeling and victim tactics losing their impact, MTV's White People, shit hitting the fan when whites cease feeling the leftover guilt from the Second World War - the potential and the danger, the people whining about "white privilege" being privileged themselves in the truest sense.
- 41:03: A new project I've begun, the insanity going back to a pharaoh named Akhenaten, conservative forces historically winning out against deconstructionist revolutions - but not now because they were trashed by the World Wars, conceptions of conservatism in different times and places and brief periods of awakening.
- 49:39: Trump coming at exactly the right time - the hour is late.
- 53:51: Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner being ripped by his or her own transgender allies over tax money paying for gender transitions, which is already happening in New York.
- 57:53: Brief technical difficulties.
- 1:01:42: Tech difficulties over, the previous theme continued, Andrew Cuomo as governor.
- 1:04:04: The narcissism and self-centered nature of many in the LGBT movement - how they need to infiltrate and co-opt any little thing in the name of "gay equality," gay Boy/Cub Scout leaders (with a personal story), the FDA's possible ending of their lifetime ban on gays giving blood being a public health issue.
- 1:22:07: The history of the left's cavalier attitude to HIV/AIDS, as Thomas Sowell outlines in his Vision of the Anointed.
- 1:30:50: The Vision of the Anointed continued in a summary.
- 1:31:40: SJW's trying to get Roosh banned from Canada, "Verbal Inflation" as described in Vision and how one crazed Canadian feminist using it.
- 1:38:42: The decreasing sanity of society as all traditions and tempering influences are destroyed in succeeding generations of the anointed, as Sowell writes at the end of Vision.
- 1:40:55: Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers as a warning about societal stagnation and degeneration into fascism as the only escape valve from an increasingly insane "Progressivism."
- 1:50:32: Fiction as social commentary continued in Homer's Iliad - force as man's master and a stark warning about the contemporary deconstruction of the military under "social justice" auspices. Those without power will forever be at the mercy of those that have it, all social conventions and niceties can only exist within the context of the force to defend them.
- 1:56:11: Gone Girl, the disincentives toward marriage, and the price signals that marriage is a bad play for men. Some of the changes are good and some are bad, but humans need more than the continuation of their blood.
- 2:00:08: Society forcing relationships to two extremes - celibacy or promiscuity, and the monosphere often acting as the transition between these two extremes. Neither are very fulfilling.
- 2:05:26: Wasting time in your early 20's as not being terrible. Growth takes time.
- 2:06:19: The Homeric hero, and some of his drawbacks.
- 2:07:15: Homer's Odyssey, its outlining of the ideal relationship (as seen between Odysseus and Penelope) as that being a union of mind, how that relationship is disincentivized today - but as also seen in the Odyssey, it takes many defeats before you attain victory - it requires effort. You must suffer before you triumph, and your worth as revealed in that suffering.
- 2:12:16: The Odyssey continued, Agamemnon as a warning against easy triumph and complacency, particularly around women, Odysseus' victory coming out of suffering and also due to his careful navigation in his relationships with women - women can be dangerous to a man.
- 2:17:28: Aristotle's Nicomachaean Ethics, the Doctrine of the Mean as a source of living a good life every day.
- 2:18:19: Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, the Conan stories by Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkien's two conceptions of masculinity - the great men/the philosopher kings who lead through experience, and the simple man fighting for his own. The difference between Tolkienesque versus Homeric manliness.
- 2:30:02: Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell, the desire to serve your homeland, the mindset that makes a SEAL described in the book, with some passages, the connecting bridge between Tolkienesque and Homeric heroes as seen in Luttrell.
- 2:36:42: A prescient passage in Starship Troopers, a cautionary tale of low information and low quality voters.
- 2:38:56: The memoirs of Louis XIV, which delves into power, respect, attention, leadership, and work ethic.
- 2:39:57: The memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
- 2:40:29: Some passages from Louis XIV's memoirs and Marcus Aurelius' Meditations on your associates and mindset.
- 2:45:08: The virtue of memoirs as a means of communication directly with the men that wrote them, a magic, as Carl Sagan said, that transcends space and time. Will there be similar memoirs written? The True Glory philosophy hopes there will be.
- 2:47:53: Marcus Aurelius: "Our life is what our thoughts make it." How you program your brain depends on your thoughts and more importantly, actions. You are your thoughts and actions. It is not enough just to think - this was the fatal conceit of the Pythagoreans and Platonists.
- 2:49:29: Carl Sagan and Cosmos.
- 2:53:01: Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich for mindset and putting yourself on the path to be great and attain your goals, and the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene to get what you want socially.
- 2:55:49: The similarities between all of what these men have said over centuries. It can be taken as a calling that we are right and the freaks we despise are wrong.
- 2:57:12: The works of Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt's life and masculine example, with a mention of Cicero. Theodore Roosevelt's Naval War of 1812, and his speeches.
- 3:00:04: What we're reading now - Malazan Book of the Fallen, and The First World War: A Very Short Introduction, the importance of understanding World War I, All Quiet on the Western Front, Mein Kampf as giving you an insight into the social mania of the post-World War I Germany and the stark warnings of demagogic manipulation, Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger.
- 3:07:52: Conclusion, the need to combine self-actualization with a broader social purpose.

Note: Most of the links above are affiliate links, whereby I receive a commission if a sale occurs after a click. In any case, I only recommend products that I consider to be high quality. For more information, see this blog's disclosure policy.

Book Review: History of the Peloponnesian War

I've recently finished reading Thucydides' classic History of the Peloponnesian War. It was not an easy read, and I would not recommend it to the layperson. There are other, easier texts to read when starting out in the history genre and military history genre specifically. Thucydides' style can be difficult to follow. In his criticism of his predecessors such as Herodotus, Thucydides sought to embark on a different path for his own History - one that was explicitly factual, free from speculation and poetic license as much as possible. While from the standpoint of veracity this is commendable, Thucydides' strictly factual approach can often be exhausting to the reader. At times, his History reads like a Linear B tablet from Greece's Bronze Age, an exhaustive list of places and things (somewhat like the Catalog of Ships in Book 2 of Homer's Iliad, a poem that Thucydides criticized on historical grounds).

However, despite these exhaustive lists, the heart of Thucydides' History is excellent and well worth reading. His exploration of human behavior in the face of power, man as a political animal, the nature of international relations, war's impact on the civilizations and states that fight them, and the frailty of civilized regimes in general, is timeless. The conflicts between the Athenian Empire and Sparta and its allies, and more importantly, the way people at the time responded to those conflicts, could easily have been transplanted to any other time or place.

One chapter that was particularly compelling to me was when Thucydides described the civil war in Corcyra. Corcyra, it will be noted, was one of the reasons why the Peloponnesian War itself was instigated. Now, civil unrest occurred between the pro-Athenian faction and the pro-Spartan faction in the city. The civil unrest led to poison partisanship and a power vacuum, in which cruelties abounded. Civilization quickly fell away, the restraining mask removed. Unfortunately, the relevant passages are too long to be quoted here, but they can be found in the "Civil War in Corcyra" chapter in Book 3.

Another compelling part of Thucydides' History was his recount of the disastrous Sicilian Expedition, which permanently crippled Athenian power. It is at once a magnificent tale of a city's optimistic celebration of its resources (he is quite detailed about the amount of troops and ships gathered at the harbor of Piraeus as a grand display before the start of the expedition) at the peak of its power, the warnings against overreach and demagoguery in the case of Alcibiades, the struggle of a people against those that would conquer them, and the disastrous results of hubris.

The military exploits themselves ranged from hard to read lists as described above, to vivid details of campaign, maneuver, and battle, as at the Sicilian Expedition. In his description of the Siege of Syracuse, it is quite obvious that Edward Creasy's primary source is Thucydides.

While much of the book was tedious, and some chapters, such as the chapter on Persian intervention after Athens' defeat in Sicily, are too long and stray beyond the main topic discussed, Thucydides' History is an invaluable insight into human nature and political organization, and the foundation of political realism. I would not recommend it to the layperson, but if you have some experience under your belt in this genre, it is definitely well worth your time. The version I read was the Penguin Classics version (affiliate link), which flowed very well, but you can easily find other translations for free on the internet.

The next book to be reviewed is Thomas Sowell's The Vision of the Anointed.

The Bardic Circle Episode 3: Antifragility as the Backlash to Pussification

On this third episode, the events of the day are discussed as well as the broader concepts of antifragility and the pussification of the West.


- Intro, Ariana Grande, and the SJW's eating their own.
- 8:48: Donald Trump and his momentum, problems in Central America, people living vicariously through Trump.
- 12:25: Donald Trump as an example of antifragility, the importance of being antifragile in the inquisitorial atmosphere
we live in, Thick Libertarianism, and freedom as being not only a question of government, but one of culture.
- 16:56: "Social Justice" as an example of coalition warfare, with all of its instabilities.
- 24:42: The importance of being antifragile continued, the realization of the pussification of the West as the first step
on the road to antifragility, the raising and coddling of a pussified generation that denies reality.
- 31:08: The difference between older Millennials born in the 80's and the younger ones born in the 90's. The latter is far
more pussified, the SJW stuff took off when younger Millennials came of age around 2010, Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner as an example
of the un-courage the present generation aspires to.
- 37:30: The denigration of traditional masculinity, femininity, and normality, problems in men and women.
- 45:37: "Social Justice" coalition warfare continued, the fragility of the current population.
- 48:37: The media no longer attempting to hide its liberal bias, Donald Trump continued, the belief in American
exceptionalism fueling Trump's campaign.
- 52:04: Donald Trump's role in changing the narrative.
- 58:06: How can we become good soldiers in the culture war?
- 59:24: Putting yourself on the path to financial independence, the importance of having multiple sources of revenue, the
power of the internet as a means to independent revenue, always want more.
- 1:03:06: Getting into the mindset of not being a wage slave forever - working for a corporation is not antifragile,
research the way that money works and trading for a few hours a day as a means of supplemental income via trading, figure
out HOW you will make money, the importance of gaming the tax code - find every single loophole you can.
- 1:08:42: The most realistic way to emulate Trump is to release the filter and not back down, making normality a good thing
again.
- 1:10:37: Financial independence as a goal specifically for the young, the importance of not wasting your 20's, the worst
mistake I ever made, no apologies as the first step, financial independence as the second step, Donald Trump always on the
offensive, "all you need to do is stand and fire three shots a minute" - we are strong, they are weak.
- 1:15:55: Traveling and seeing other countries and people giving you a strong perspective, it is decidedly not a waste of
time.
- 1:20:53: Have an end goal in mind that aligns with your talents, then start on it as early as you can, the importance of
creating a work that is beautiful, combine this with an attitude of never apologizing.
- 1:24:53: The role of schools in sanitizing the individual of any character, the control mechanism of education.
- 1:31:33: Setting the tone and mindset of being an antifragile man (having an antifragile CHARACTER) through some basic
actions - bodybuilding and approaching women.
- 1:34:22: The disappearance of old-fashioned romance and normal socialization.
- 1:40:10: Bodybuilding, approaching, and reading about other great men are the three things that will start you on the path
RIGHT NOW, The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Cicero.
- 1:44:50: How to get over the fear of approaching girls.
- 1:48:30: Mein Kempf as an important book to read to gain insight into the nature of fanaticism, Year Zero ideology.
- 1:49:50: Summing up - reclaim your masculinity right now through bodybuilding, reading great men, and approaching girls,
take stock of your talents and vision, and get your kleos through creating a work designed to last forever.
- 1:53:21: The shooting in Tennessee, Obama as the epitome of what is wrong with the modern man and a divisive leader.
- 2:03:27: We must prevent Hillary from getting in.
- 2:05:46: Despite how overwhelming this can get, the only thing you can do is focus on making yourself the best you can.
You can only control yourself, your horse, and your sword as you charge with the cavalry.

Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner: A Profile in Un-Courage

I had the misfortune of seeing the ESPY's last night. I normally eschew award shows entirely, and the ESPY's were a good reason why - decidedly unfunny jokes being made en route to honoring things and people I could care less about, typically leftists honoring other leftists. That theme seemed to be decidedly at play, with the host at the very beginning sounding off on "jokes" covering every SJW theme under the sun.

The Jenner segment was surreal. I won't go into detail about the leftist inquisition, the increasing propaganda surrounding transgenderism, and the use of transgenderism as a control mechanism. Instead, I will simply say a few words about the nature of courage, and why Jenner is decidedly not courageous and undeserving of an award ostensibly centered around courage.

To be courageous is to go forward in the face of fear, to willingly take on a losing battle or long odds, to face real danger and willingly embrace that danger. This exchange between Ideomeneus and Meriones in Book 13 of the Iliad speaks strongly to the nature of courage (the bolded is my emphasis):

 "Meriones, son of Molus, best of comrades, why have you left the field? Are you wounded, and is the point of the weapon hurting you? or have you been sent to fetch me? I want no fetching; I had far rather fight than stay in my tent."

"Idomeneus," answered Meriones, "I come for a spear, if I can find one in my tent; I have broken the one I had, in throwing it at the shield of Deiphobus."

And Idomeneus captain of the Cretans answered, "You will find one spear, or twenty if you so please, standing up against the end wall of my tent. I have taken them from Trojans whom I have killed, for I am not one to keep my enemy at arm's length; therefore I have spears, bossed shields, helmets, and burnished corslets."

Then Meriones said, "I too in my tent and at my ship have spoils taken from the Trojans, but they are not at hand. I have been at all times valorous, and wherever there has been hard fighting have held my own among the foremost. There may be those among the Achaeans who do not know how I fight, but you know it well enough yourself."

Idomeneus answered, "I know you for a brave man: you need not tell me. If the best men at the ships were being chosen to go on an ambush- and there is nothing like this for showing what a man is made of; it comes out then who is cowardly and who brave; the coward will change colour at every touch and turn; he is full of fears, and keeps shifting his weight first on one knee and then on the other; his heart beats fast as he thinks of death, and one can hear the chattering of his teeth; whereas the brave man will not change colour nor be on finding himself in ambush, but is all the time longing to go into action- if the best men were being chosen for such a service, no one could make light of your courage nor feats of arms. If you were struck by a dart or smitten in close combat, it would not be from behind, in your neck nor back, but the weapon would hit you in the chest or belly as you were pressing forward to a place in the front ranks. But let us no longer stay here talking like children, lest we be ill spoken of; go, fetch your spear from the tent at once."

No matter what way you want to dice it, Jenner's "transition" was not courageous, mainly because of one thing - the entire establishment was behind it. The establishment was so much behind it, in fact, that the President of the United States got involved, tweeting out his support. The leftist establishment, and its shell of SJW electrons orbiting in the cloud of social media, was ready and eager to denounce anyone so much as questioning Jenner or transgenderism and deliver terrible repercussions to the offenders. If you were not 100% celebratory of this, you were a bigot that needed to be destroyed, period.

You can say whatever you want to about Jenner. You can celebrate this or you can denounce it, but you can't tell me that Jenner's transition was "courageous," much less deserving an award for courage. Jenner did not have the enemy at less than arms' length. He/she did not risk life and limb to go into an ambush alongside the best men. He/she did not hold out against and weather the storm in the face of great danger and hard fighting. Jenner's antics are occurring in a politically correct inquisitorial atmosphere that will support whatever he/she does and destroy any naysayer or enemy. It hardly takes courage to do something that is in complete lock-step with the prevailing orthodoxy of the day. Jenner is no Giordano Bruno or Galileo.

If Jenner had done this ten years ago, it might qualify as an act of courage, no matter what else anyone wants to think about it. Ten years ago, this would have been looked on as freakish and laughable. Certainly, the entire establishment wasn't behind it, and there were no SJW lynch mobs actively campaigning against dissenters. Jenner would have had to weather a storm of humiliation and mockery far worse than now.

Granted, that probably wouldn't have been a good thing, but neither is the sacred cow that's been created now. Point being - Jenner would have needed to fight in the face of the storm then. He/she does not now. The wind is actively at Jenner's back, and it now takes more courage to stand in the opposite direction. The Arthur Ashe award for courage going to Jenner was nothing more than a status whoring publicity stunt in furtherance of the leftist narrative, pure and simple.

So while the leftists have one more reason to feeeeel good about themselves while truly doing nothing, we ought not to forget the true nature of courage. Courage is arming with the soldiers and going to battle to face an overwhelming enemy (literally or figuratively for any pedants out there). Jenner's "transition" was nothing of the sort.

And so that it does not go unsaid, the exact same scenario was the case last year with Michael Sam.

In closing, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll present many pictures betraying what people at the ESPY's really felt deep down about this, including Jenner's own family.

Reflections on Independence Day 2015: Victory or Death

Last year, I wrote a somewhat upbeat reflection about the U.S. While these are sentiments I still have, this year I need to be a lot more negative. While the U.S. is still a land of freedom and individual opportunity for those willing to seize it (relative to many other countries), in a broader, societal context, it shows all the signs of a decaying empire. I have remarked often about these facets on this blog, and normally I can keep myself emotionally detached in an observant role. The only emotions I generally feel are disgust, and at times amusement, and then commit myself to helping to make the changes that need to be made.

However, even my own shell has somewhat cracked recently. June 2015 was a particularly freakish month. The only bit of positive news was that GamerGate's victory was essentially made final, as the "social justice" crowd got routed at E3. Obviously there will need to be vigorous patrols to ensure they don't rise again, but any more gains that can be made with the GamerGate campaign are in my mind, over. To use an analogy, hopefully one that doesn't turn out to be as woefully wrong as it was at the time, major combat operations on that front have ended.

While victory was attained on the video game front, all other fronts were set back drastically in June by the entropic forces of the "social justice" left and, the masters behind it all, the no-loyalty crony capitalists that would sell their neighbors for ten bucks if the chance arose.

Synopsis of the events in June:

1. It began with Bruce Jenner declaring to the world that he was now "Caitlyn" Jenner. The celebration and lionization of transgenderism immediately followed suit. The inquisitorial atmosphere was reinforced by the fact that anyone daring to dissent or criticize this was essentially tried in the court of public opinion, or rather, perceived public opinion, built up by the "social justice" media industrial complex, as a heretic. An exclamation point was put on this phenomenon by the attempt to completely erase the name "Bruce Jenner" from history. His Wikipedia page was changed within hours. Humorously, Jenner was referred to as a "she" in reference to his(?) record-breaking competition in the 1976 Olympics' men's decathlon. Streets named for Bruce Jenner were quickly and amateurishly changed to "Caitlyn Jenner."

I wish no ill-will to Bruce Jenner (if I'm still allowed to even say that) or any other transsexual or transgender person, but it's obvious from his/her interview with Diane Sawyer that there is a clear mental anguish going on, and it is much the same way with other trans people. Instead of helping them through this, or at least leaving them to their own devices to do what they think is right in private, the left has taken a stance of complete lionization of them, punishing any dissenters or critics of their lifestyle and attempting to completely erase the past in a transgender person's life, as seen by what happened with "Bruce" Jenner, a theme we will see soon on other fronts.

Quintus said it best in response to this and to the cultural atmosphere we're creating in general - unreality is now mandatory reality.

2. Less than a week after Bruce's "Caitlyn" reveal, mattress girl, craving to hold on to her 15 minutes of totally undeserved fame by whatever means necessary, released a pornographic video of herself reenacting her "rape." She then had the audacity to say that anyone watching the video, which she publicly released, was taking part in her "rape." She attempted to take it down of course, but once something like that is on the internet, it's not going anywhere.

This was an episode of light-hearted humor for me. I couldn't do anything else but laugh, but it is also indicative of a culture whereby any member of a supposed "victim" class, especially that darling of the leftist media, upper middle-class young women, can get away with anything and are held accountable (at least by our institutions of power, hard and soft) for nothing. Remember, this woman was invited to the State of the Union Address.

3. The month started with transgenderism, but it quickly escalated into the first case of mainstream exposure that I've seen regarding the phenomenon whereby a person can make up his or her race - "transracialism." Rachel Dolezal, a woman posing as black and the leader of an NAACP chapter, was outed as being white. She resigned but mentioned something humorous - "when drawing herself as a child, she always drew herself as being black." Sound like familiar argument?

The elite were clearly not ready to accept transracialism. As of now, it is still relegated to tumblrettes. However, once exposure to something happens, it is more likely to be accepted in the future. If there is a way to make money or status whore off of this, you can bet that it will be accepted, promoted, and celebrated, much like transgenderism is now.

For the moment, the outrage seemed to be, as one twitter commenter put it and which summarized the leftist theological argument against it (for now) - Dolezal was "claiming an oppression that wasn't hers." This is a problem in itself and perfectly summarizes why all sorts of weirdness is being accepted. Humans have always competed for status and dopamine. We now receive status and dopamine by claiming to be "oppressed" and getting the associated feelings of righteousness (and more than a little self-aggrandizement) that come with that. It goes to show that we are a culture that is totally stagnant and without focus or hope.

4. After the Dolezal affair, it was announced by the Treasury Department that the $10 bill was set for a redesign, and that the centerpiece of that redesign was that Alexander Hamilton, founder of the Department of the Treasury and, more broadly, the national economy of the United States, would be getting replaced by a woman - any woman!

For some background to give this greater context, a group calling itself "Womenon20s" wanted to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill because he was responsible for cruelty to Indians, or something (ignoring that expansionism and "Indian removal" had essentially been the policy of the federal government since the foundation of the country, facilitated by other figures that appear on the currency), and owned slaves (again, much as other figures that appear on the currency did). Whatever, it made for good outrage, and the narrative is all that matters.

President Obama, revealing himself to be the status whoring leftist doofus that he has always been, remarked that it was a "great idea" to have women on the currency in response to a letter from a little girl. The movement was gaining momentum.

Womenon20s held a vote that suggested Harriet Tubman should replace Jackson on the $20 bill. The vote had participation from an amazing 600,000 people out of a country of over 320,000,000.

The Treasury Department eventually revealed its "social justice" cred by essentially giving this tiny minority what they wanted, just not in the precise way that they had hoped. We, nor they for that matter, don't even know who they'll replace Hamilton with. It just absolutely has to be a woman. This is a confirmation of what we've known all along - political correctness and victim status take precedent over achievement and deeds in a modern leftist society.

This decision could still be reversed by the next Treasury Department, but unless a non-pussy President gets in (Paul, Trump, or Webb - all unlikely), it probably won't, especially if the coming dictatorship of Hillary is inevitable.

5. The month's darkest episode took place on the 17th, when Dylann Roof, an omega male with quite a bit of baggage and hate, killed nine people at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. He'd gone to a Bible study and did the deed. Heartwarmingly, the families of his victims had the fortitude to forgive him for his crimes.

This could have been a time for mourning and then reflection. Serious issues could have been addressed - the plight of the omega male, who is seeing increasingly less opportunities for social and sexual advancement and thus will be far more likely to fall prey to radical, violent ideologies, the apalling lack of a good mental health system in the United States, particularly for men, the need for better background checks to prevent mentally unstable people from obtaining firearms, and yes, the anxiety many people have about race (that does not delve into blaming whitey for everything).

But the retardation of American society should never be underestimated. Instead of addressing any of those topics - because they are hard and require a good deal of conscientious reflection, the ire of the "social justice" left, and its media industrial apparatus, was turned to a piece of cloth.

Observation: Killer, who seemed to have a whole host of issues that American society was complicit in at least enhancing, took some pictures with the Confederate Battle Flag.

Conclusion: BAN THE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG!

The momentum to ban the flag at first extended to government buildings, such as South Carolina's capitol. This was obviously a red herring, as a piece of cloth didn't cause this nut to do what he did, but this is a debate I can at least respect among the people of the state.

However, if you give the left an inch, they will take 1,000 miles, and within a day, to demonstrate their "social justice" cred, scores of private companies and organizations began pulling anything that featured the Confederate Battle Flag. Ebay and Amazon stopped selling any merchandise that featured the flag. Even places like the Gettysburg memorial pulled merchandise featuring the Confederate Battle Flag (when it was not placed alongside the Stars and Stripes) from the shelves. Prominent flag makers announced they would stop making it. Most famously, Warner Brothers announced that it would stop licensing products from the Dukes of Hazard featuring the flag on the iconic car from the franchise, the General Lee. TV Land also pulled reruns of the show from its schedule. Even Civil War-themed games have been pulled from various outlets, because it is simply not orthodox to give players the option of playing as the Confederacy.

The conversation we could and should have had as a society has now been diverted into a disastrous red herring - one that is scary. This is no longer about the incident. I would wager that most people so gung ho about the Confederate Battle Flag can't even name one person that died in the shooting or have been to Charleston (I have a few times - it isn't an awful, racist place). This is now about status and power, in much the same way that other things I mentioned above are. They are getting their status in superficial ways, by attempting to demonstrate how "good of a person" they are, while probably not even giving a shit about black people in the South. In this, they have a zeal to completely obliterate the past, as we saw in the case of Bruce/"Caitlyn" Jenner - only now, it is applying to the entire civilization. They wish to erase anything that doesn't agree with their worldview, and that is what the "debate" about the flag has come down to. In this, they are much like another prominent group that has the same pathology - erase the past and replace it with nothing but their own degenerate, narcissistic vision of a utopian order, where they have all the power, of course.

6. The biggest SJW victory of the month was Obergefell v. Hodges, where the Supreme Court overturned the will of the people in many states and prohibited states from not granting marriages to same sex couples, justified under the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.

Again, I have no ill will toward same sex couples. My aversion to this ruling is based on the following:

Firstly, it, again, overturned the will of the people in many states, essentially saying "fuck you, you don't matter."

Secondly, and more importantly, this was a victory for the "social justice" fanatics in the truest sense of the word. They have now been greatly emboldened. The fanaticism displayed in devotion to this ruling, so people can attain status by showing how LGBT-friendly they are, greatly alarms me. We have built up an atmosphere where you absolutely must be seen as pro-gay, or else social, professional, and even legal consequences will follow. Like I mentioned above with transgenderism, it is not enough to simply tolerate gays, you must actively approve of and celebrate them or else you will be tried in the court of media-driven public opinion as a heretic. It has gotten to the point where even Arnold "Girly Man" Schwarzenegger put up a rainbow flag background on his social media accounts so he can show that he is toeing the party line. Even more alarmingly, we have the President of the United States calling the plaintiff in the case and congratulating him, all the while many municipalities and states, and the federal government itself, openly celebrate homosexuality - mixing politics with the laws and functions of the government itself, which should always be impartial.

The outcome of this case was a very vivid reminder that we have successfully recreated a medieval-style society, one where we must conform to a religious dogma (in our times, leftism and "equality") or face severe repercussions. We can no longer be true to ourselves as people.

This case is also a stepping stone to other forms of behavior. As I predicted, within days of this ruling, agitations for polygamy have begun using the same legal logic, and the dissenting justices made note that there is no longer any logical case to prevent essentially any kind of marriage anymore. Some may not think this is a bad thing, but polygamy is absolutely horrid for society, and its prohibition in the West going back to Greece was one of the things that made Western Civilization more stable than other places. Ultimately, it leads to trends very much like what we are seeing now - the top men will take the majority of the women, leaving the rest with scraps. Polygamy enshrines this into law, leaving a great portion of men sexless and without the ability to find a wife. Legions of sexually frustrated, angry young men, are always bad. The destructive dating trends we see now will only accelerate if legalization of polygamy happens, and Obergefell was a major stepping stone towards it.

7. There's no specific date to this, but it also seems to be coming out that the case surrounding Freddie Grey is corrupt, with prosecutor Marilyn Mosby acting very overzealous to prove her "social justice" narrative. I don't have as much information on this as my buddy Immortal Watchdog does, but we talked about this on my last stream and likely will some more on the next one.

8. By far the most insidious thing happened under our noses. While in June we lionized transgenderism, had essentially a national day of celebration over the Obergefell case, and devoted our political energies and willpower towards a piece of cloth, A Republican Congress successfully castrated itself to give a Democratic President "fast track" authority to negotiate a "trade deal" that has all the hallmarks of a corrupt, vile, disastrous bargain. That "trade deal" is the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The economic consequences of this corrupt pact are somewhat well-known, especially in the post-NAFTA era - the continued offshoring of American industry and the decaying quality of American labor being forced to compete with sweatshop slaves in places like Vietnam.

But the pact also contains clampdowns on everything - from internet freedom, to access to medicine, to the ability of governments, national or otherwise, to make their own laws. In the most vile way imaginable, President Obama opposed language in the fast track bill making it harder for nations that engage in slavery (like Malaysia, which turns a blind eye to rampant slavery in its fishing industry) to participate in the TPP.

Yes, you heard that right. The first black President, who so recently castigated the people of his own country for slavery and loudly proclaimed that a piece of cloth was "wrong" because of its association with that slavery, turns a blind eye to real, actual, in-practice, ongoing slavery - and the media says nothing about it.

This should tell us once and for all who the real masters are. While "social justice" nonsense causes division at home and is symptomatic of decay, the puppeteers are making off big time, laughing all the way to the bank. Fuck everyone else.

In broader social trends, it is very alarming that the media is not even hiding anymore. I remember eleven years ago, when I first started to observe and get involved in politics, the media did everything it could to dispel the notion that it was liberally biased. Dan Rather got in hot water over fake documents about President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. Rather 's long career was torpedoed in this debacle.

Now, the media is not even attempting to hide its liberal bias. It still swings from Obama's nuts as if it were 2008. It lauds and lionizes "social justice" causes whenever it can. In the wake of Obergefell, Scott Pelley, one of Rather's successors, could have been mistaken for a blogger on an LGBT website.

June 2015 signified one thing - the creep of authoritarianism is no longer a creep, but a run. Entropic forces are now making their gains in days. The "liberal" media, now little more than a Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is creating an atmosphere of ideological conformity through dictation, and this new church's acolytes are ruthlessly enforcing its mandates, viciously attempting to bring those that are non-compliant into line through public shaming or outright legal subjugation.

One thing I have realized, and that this past month made crystal clear, was that freedom, order, and social stability demand a certain cultural atmosphere, one that goes beyond simply what the government does or does not do. The prototype of this can be found in something called "thick libertarianism," which I tended to dismiss when I was younger (early 20's). Time has proven its claims wise.

It is not enough to simply say "well, the First Amendment gives you the right of free speech, but not the right to be free from the consequences of that speech," a favorite response of SJW's everywhere. True enough. However, if "the consequences of that speech" are so eviscerating, even if extra-legal, and the watchful eye of the orthodoxy is everywhere, demanding compliance, free speech essentially no longer exists. If anything that can be construed as "offensive" or "bigoted" can deprive you of your livelihood, you have no real free speech. Private enterprise and organizations getting together to stop producing things in order to display cred to the orthodoxy and achieve status is essentially the same as a legal ban.

A certain amount of toleration, of non-pussyness, of logic and reason, from governments and private enterprises and individuals alike, is required to maintain a low-entropy, high-trust society that ensures individual freedom and happiness. We are simply not seeing that now. The forces of entropy are accelerating under the guise of "freedom and tolerance," but they are the opposite - they sow mistrust and disorder, and trample on both the individual and the beauty of the human endeavor.

I don't know what the future will hold. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy in a system will increase over time, but humans hold a natural inclination and ability for creating order out of disorder. In human civilization, high-entropy forces have won, to be replaced by low-entropy trends in the future, and again. As bad as it is now, it is our job as men concerned for their future to act as agents of low entropy, no matter how high the tide.

Since it is the 4th, we can take inspiration from the great Americans of the past. On a cold December night in 1776, George Washington, with the odds massively against him, and struggling against a tide of bitter defeat for months on end, wrote "Victory or Death" on a note as he planned an audacious, all-or-nothing move. In an incredibly complex operation, he led his little shanty army across an ice-swelled Delaware River to defeat a sizable Hessian force in Trenton, New Jersey. It was do or die for the cause, and he did.

This is the situation we are facing today. We may lament, but we cannot feel sorry for ourselves. There are no other options but victory or death - the death of our liberties, our identities, and the beauty of our civilization. GamerGate proved that victory is possible. Now we must follow through with vigorous campaigns in other sectors. The only alternative is death.

Quarterly Report - Q2 2015

The second quarter has come and gone, and it's gone quite productively. The highlight of the coming third quarter will likely be attending the Roosh World tour in New York City on July 18th. I'm greatly looking forward to meeting the community that has helped me so greatly, and for once to feel like I'm not alone wandering the freak show.

But in reflecting on the second quarter, much indeed has been done, and I've set up more things to come towards accomplishing my yearly goals.

1. This is turning out to be more of a challenge than I would like. I've been on a few interviews, but no luck so far. I'll just keep at it. There are actually a couple of things on the horizon right now that will or won't materialize soon. We'll have to see. My websites at least have made a lot more money in the past three months. Tweaking the ads a bit seems to have done the trick. I've decided to focus mostly on the OBD Wiki, as it gets a good amount of traffic. To that end I've recently launched a companion blog. As the wiki continues to recover, I expect the revenue to increase.

Overall: Satisfactory

2. I've polished my book into quite the masterpiece indeed. I'm actually surprised it came out as good as it did. Sometimes it felt like I was just typing out words to put them on a page as I did the bulk of the writing last year. Overall, I'm really impressed and proud of the work I've accomplished. If there is a road to True Glory for me in this life, this will be it. In a world of degenerate, soulless art, motivated more by ideological purity than quality in expression of the human condition, I hope to cause an earthquake in favor of the latter. I'm a bit at a loss as to where to go from here, but I'm certain some guys at the Roosh World Tour can help me out.

Overall: Good

3. I've been slacking this quarter. No ifs ands or buts. However, if #1 materializes, I will be soon getting the work in on my fitness that I need to take my physique to the next level.

Overall: Poor

4. This has actually seen the most improvement - in a surprise way. My social circle suddenly expanded at the end of April by pure chance - I met some guys while out doing some day game. This is probably an unexpected consequence of doing cold approaches and demonstrates its power - you never know who you will wind up meeting. Since then, I've been out to good events, started doing some nightgame, and may have a career opportunity on the horizon. Overall, I'm excited to see where this goes.

Overall: Excellent

The Bardic Circle Episode 2: Staying Grounded in the Heart of Darkness

Libertas/Nevermind and Immortal Watchdog discuss the events in Charleston, New York City, the social atmospheres that contributed to them, and how to stay grounded with a positive new narrative.



- Intro.
- 1:40: An overview of the shooting in Charleston.
- 4:55: The "rationality" behind the crime as compared to other mass shootings.
- 8:15: The plight of the omega male in America, the social atmosphere turning these males into radicals.
- 31:47: The tangent of the Confederate Flag, the whitewashing of Civil War history, the erasure of history by radicals of
all kinds, status whoring of SJW's that are primarily white Northerners who don't really give a shit about blacks in the
south.
1:03:10: How do we set a positive example for omega males that might fall through the cracks? How can they figure a way out?
1:13:00: Glory through action, action as inducing men to follow the example of winning men, with an example. The place of
pride and confidence in a healthy society, instilling guilt instead of virtue in modern society.
1:19:20: Fostering natural talents in people as part of the path, the place for a dual power strategy to deconstruct the
narrative. Glory is possible - but only with work.
1:22:32: How do we stay grounded in the heart of darkness? The internal sense of self-worth and grace in staying grounded,
the importance of immunizing yourself from defeat and failure through failing. Goal-oriented callings to ensure that no
void gets filled with destructive behavior.
1:33:31: There is some light shining into the darkness. #GamerGate's victory, recent information coming out of the Freddie
Gray case in Baltimore.
1:42:50: A breakthrough is waiting to happen, embracing the challenges with vigor.

Interview with a Confederate soldier on the mindset of those fighting.

The Bardic Circle Episode 1: Finding True Glory while Enduring the Freak Show

A Bardic Circle was a place for our ancestors to go to hear and share beautiful stories and music. This new stream/podcast will be ostensibly about sharing stories based on two major themes - kicking ass and navigating the freak show we live in.

June of 2015 appears to be a particularly freakish month - and it's only half over. Episode 1 of the Bardic Circle is with a longtime buddy and accurate social critic, Immortal Watchdog. In it, we discuss the freakishness we've seen this month, some underlying causes behind the freak show the West has become, and the need for a new philosophy to counteract the degenerate narrative, one based on a return to achievement and beauty that is at once fulfilling individually and socially. This lifestyle philosophy is what I call "True Glory," which I think will be crucial for a new overall social narrative. We talk about what it means and the mindset to get there.



- Intro.
- 1:27: Immortal Watchdog on how technology contributes to the freakishness, and relays his story of attending a conference of leaders in different circles, division among the Latino community's politics, but nevertheless a uniting to "keep the crazy at bay."
- 4:27: The division between old school liberals and the "social justice" crowd, with some personal examples, and #NotYourShield.
- 9:45: Bruce Jenner and the lionization of transgenderism - bordering on child abuse, malicious attention whoring, and the shortcomings of psychology as a science.
- 18:54: Deconstructivism and the "Social Justice Industrial Complex" - degeneracy as a form of self-aggrandizement.
- 20:08: Information access and narcissism in the West.
- 23:05: The need for external struggles, using my grandfather's example. The race to the bottom with the need to create a struggle from nothing.
- 26:43: Mattress Girl makes a porno.
- 32:51: "Rape culture" as a fad, and the skepticism that must come when examining public rape accusations, "Roosh's Law."
- 37:16: Real rape cultures.
- 38:55: "Rape culture" as part of the Social Justice Industrial Complex, the abuse of Title IX, and perverse incentives.
- 43:07: Does college serve a purpose anymore? The negatives surrounding universities in the present economy.
- 45:39: Despair and stagnation in the West leading to neurotic behavior as seen in "social justice." Possible futures.
- 52:30: Resource shortages and more on possible futures.
- 1:01:32: Rachel Dolezal and "transracialism." Is oppression the the aspiration of Westerners now? Is that the calling?
- 1:09:40: The disconnect between African immigrants and African-Americans, how the left has failed Black culture, identity politics supplanting the New Deal Coalition, with disastrous consequences for the groups it claims to represent, politics and voting as a tribal activity.
- 1:17:40: Correcting social issues, manufactured problems, and irresponsible media manipulation.
- 1:22:09: Future social problems centered around identity and resources, irresponsible media manipulation continued.
- 1:26:22: The Duggars and the hypocrisy vis a vis Lena Dunham, and the normalization of pedophilia.
- 1:42:33: IWD's Libertarianism, the deadness of Europe.
- 1:44:58: Social justice in action in New York City with Bill de Blasio as Mayor, libertarianism must have with it a "duty to the polis."
- 1:50:25: Status whoring by showing how "tolerant" you are and how that relates to politics, Hillary Clinton, her failures, and identity politics driving her candidacy.
- 1:54:51: The True Glory philosophy a part of the answer to the neuroticism and degeneracy in the West.
- 1:56:53: Bruce Jenner as an example of kleos gone wrong, the cosmic perspective, the necessity of accomplishing work greater than yourself.
- 2:00:56: The genetic legacy you leave behind as part of your work.
- 2:03:56: The capability of humans to leave behind a legacy beyond their DNA as being the most important part of the work, the ethos of the Homeric heroes needing to guard against disgrace to their names.
- 2:05:30: Anyone can leave a mark on history, the civic obligations in blood and deeds, the individual combined with the social responsibility in True Glory.
- 2:12:46: My own path.
- 2:13:18: The need to not be destitute even while pursuing your path. The average person probably needs to find a glory in the pursuit of wealth like Crassus or Rockefeller, however, the pursuit of wealth for its own sake can lead to misery.
- 2:16:01: The hero who failed in his lifetime, but whose deeds are known afterward, the unsung hero as a model of nobility.
- 2:16:19: Pursuing True Glory does not mean you'll get there, the importance of doing the work, the fickleness of fortune, the danger of a dopamine rush without the work - these are the actions of a drug addict.
- 2:19:20: The importance of faith, convictions, and enthusiasm in the integrity of your work and beliefs, how they must never be compromised, get up every day wanting to kick ass, even when your own ass gets kicked, the example of Marcus Luttrell in BUD/S.
- 2:23:03: The role of the ego and delusion in pursuit of True Glory.
- 2:25:51: Kleos as the social perspective to keep your work from getting neurotic.
- 2:27:28: The bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo, analysis of the battle and its effects, and analogies to today.
- 2:37:30: The need to put forward a different narrative to "social justice," and some last thoughts on the path.

What is True Glory?

You will always find in me the same perseverance in labor, the same firmness of resolution, the same love for my people, the same passion for the prosperity of my state, and the same ardor for true glory.

So said Louis XIV, the most powerful and memorable man of his age.

For a long time now, I have been thinking about what it means to live a good, purposeful life. Those who know me will know that I detest the culture of the modern Western World, calling it degenerate and soulless. Why is it, I keep thinking to myself, that we now have people from first world countries joining ISIS? Albeit this only has happened in very small numbers, why would people from the West, often educated, even conceive of joining such a group?

I pondered this a bit further. The only conclusion that I can draw is it is part of a desperate search, because life in the West has completely lost all meaning. There is no "It" factor - no drive or guiding cause that people are fervently devoted to and will risk everything to bring to fruition. There is no drive to greatness. There is no greater call to labor for something magnificent. There is only a race to be the biggest degenerate attention whore.

The leader of the free world. This is it? Is this what the West is offering?

The West used to have "It." The followers of George Washington at Valley Forge and Morristown who didn't desert had "It." Joan of Arc's soldiers had "It." As a friend of mine rightfully remarked, Martin Luther King and his followers had "It" too. Henry V's speech in the Shakespeare play of the same name personifies "It:"

Having thus elucidated perhaps on a long tangent, I return to Louis XIV. He had "It" as well, as did France throughout his reign. Although he was born lucky, he did not rest on these laurels as did his successor, Louis XV. He had a clear vision of what he wanted France to be, a clear vision of bringing glory to himself and his country, and worked long and hard to fulfill that vision. He was not just attractive as a king, he was attractive as a man. He was willing to embrace hardship to make France and himself great.

Embracing hardship is another key concept that is required to attain True Glory, and it is a key component of why the West is spiritually dead, but more on that in a moment. Seeking True Glory is something akin to spirituality. When doing so it almost feels like you are conversing with your higher self.

For most of the existence of civilization, religion served as a guidepost for people's lives. It gave them direction and focus and it gave them a cause to serve. Religion was the great task for people to devote themselves to accomplishing, a task that went beyond mindless immediate self-gratification. It took effort and sacrifice to serve your god, and saving your soul, in certain traditions, was a lifetime commitment. Other traditions had other commitments, but they all had commitment in common. The tangible rewards might not have been apparent to most people, but they were certain that the otherworldly rewards for their spiritual labors would eventually come.

Joan of Arc's devoted service to France was, in her mind, the same as her pious service to God.

Let's turn back to Louis XIV once again:

Two things were without doubt necessary: very hard work on my part, and a wise choice of persons capable of seconding it.

Louis was a man that would not be satisfied with anything less than sensational, and the only way to achieve something of that nature is precisely through the method he outlined above - very hard work on your part and the right kind of help.

So.......what is True Glory? How, exactly, do we define it?

In my mind, True Glory is the achievement of something spectacular, something that people will remember you by for a long time to come. The story of Achilles is one that exemplifies this. He had two choices: stay in Greece and have a loving family, but be forgotten, or go to Troy and live a short life full of glory, where his feats, and hence his name, would be spoken of from the lips of the countless generations yet to be. Although the Troy movie didn't quite do the story right, I think it more or less got that part down as well as it could:

Which fate would you choose?

Fortunately, in the real world we likely won't have to choose an early death to achieve True Glory.

The ending of this video about Louis XIV also I think gives us a good obituary, and lets us know unmistakably that he had achieved True Glory.

True Glory can thus be seen as a massive and...glorious accomplishment (or accomplishments), worthy enough for people to remember you by long after you die. The ancient Greeks called this kleos (everlasting glory and renown - "what others hear about you."). Fortune is too fickle regarding who gets remembered in the end, but living a life worthy of remembrance and admiration is a goal the elect who choose to strive for it can achieve. All of the Twenty Men on my list achieved (or have achieved) states of True Glory in their lifetimes, but in their own different ways.

The physical, tangible reminder of Louis XIV's glory.

However, that end is a privilege. Very few people wind up achieving states of True Glory.

As you can see, this is quite different from simply, "finding your life's purpose." Quite often "finding your life's purpose" means the following:

Flailing about in, to again quote Louis XIV, "inactivity and indolence," a narcissistic hedonism from which you essentially accomplish nothing. #YOLO, it's all about me and what makes me happy, yo.

Someone can easily say that his life's purpose is to sleep with as many girls as he possibly can, devolving into the worst PUA bullshit along the way. While a good sex life is certainly a component of living a fulfilling life, and Giacomo Casanova (one of the above-mentioned Twenty Men) did achieve a state of True Glory partially in this way (through the literary acumen he had to pass his exploits down), better things can likely be done, and Casanova was more than a seducer, but an interesting adventurer.

Breaking out of prison was one of Casanova's feats.

And we can go down the list to even less worthy endeavors. Some might say that they can achieve True Glory in bullshit causes that simply make them feel good, or even worse, basking in attention whoring. None of these are worthy of remembrance, and none of these will bring True Glory, only mediocrity.

The difference between True Glory and "finding your life's purpose" can therefore be seen as an added objective element - will the sum of your life's work be worthy of remembrance in the eyes of others ("what others hear about you")? While you must not live for others, this element requires a degree of contemplation beyond hedonistic drives. In essence, it ensures you are not an island unto yourself, which "finding your life's purpose" can often be an excuse to mean.

Attaining True Glory requires a great deal of discipline and fortitude to deal with setbacks. You must fervently believe that the thing you're doing is right. If you don't, you will not have the vigor to achieve the glory. All of the men on the linked list, even though there was surely an undercurrent of opportunism, felt to their bones that they were doing the right thing for themselves. People that achieve states of True Glory are filled with unbridled enthusiasm, ready to go out into the world and kick some ass, even when at times, it's their own asses that get kicked.

Modern Western culture does not have this, and it is not promoted. We are told instead to be isolationist automatons whose purpose in life is to be consumers. Technology has made this worse. It is perhaps not so surprising that destructive ideologies take root, as they offer adventure and meaning where there is little to be found in a sedentary, consumerist lifestyle.

The iPhone camp. This is, so we are told, the good life.

In that same regard it's not so surprising to me that many people are becoming social justice warriors. While the rise of the social justice warrior is I think a confluence of many factors, this is one of them. Our lives in the industrialized world, long devoid of any real hardship or challenges, inspire a lack of drive, especially with decreased economic opportunities (despair is the other side of this particular equation, but that will be addressed in another post). There is a very primal quality in philosophies that offer not comfort, but struggle. They call to our deepest needs. Part of the reason that war stories resonate with so many people, and why people are fascinated by war, is because it requires a courage, valor, self-sacrifice, and discipline that peacetime rarely does. This is why, in the absence of any other struggle, people seem to need to make up their own struggles, no matter how irrational or destructive, to find meaning. ISIS and "social justice" are both manifestations of this.

Mattress girl's lying attention whoring is a perfect example of the deep-seated human need for struggle, even when none can be found.

The trick then, seems to be to call up that wartime zeal and enthusiasm and direct it toward doing something great - to achieving kleos - everlasting fame, by doing something worthy of having your name spoken of on the lips of countless generations. Perhaps you yourself have no need to be so remembered. However, your deeds should be worthy of remembrance, because such remembrance means that you accomplished something truly magnificent.

You must wake up every day with enthusiasm. You must know yourself and where you want to go, and have a vision for the direction of your work. You must make tireless day to day efforts to bring that vision to reality. You should want to achieve something great, something worthy of remembrance and praise - not for others, but to achieve your own immortality. Athena says it best in this 1997 adaptation of Homer's Odyssey:

Odysseus: I see you're no longer with me, Athena, and it's alright. I can do everything myself.

Athena (appearing with a laugh): Is that any way to speak to your protector?

Odysseus: Athena!

Athena: I think the wine swells your head, my Odysseus. Are you drinking because you fear your future?

Odysseus (drinking, laughing, smirking): Me? I'm afraid of nothing!

Athena: I'm teasing you. You're angry with me.

Odysseus: Athena! You could have helped me persuade Agamemnon, on the day of my son's birth no less!

Athena: I'm a goddess after all. I have other duties. And don't forget, I can be seen by whom I choose. I did not want you to escape this journey, because I want you to go. I want you, my brave Odysseus, to defeat the Trojans.

Odysseus: I've fought long enough.

Athena: No. You're destiny's to do battle, to become immortal, to have your name on the lips of endless generations!

Odysseus: No! I have no need to be remembered by endless generations.

Athena: Odysseus! You cannot lie to me! I know your true character! I know your pride, your vanity!

(Some more dialogue.)

Athena: You see the good in them (your men) because they love you. You must use this good to defeat the Trojans. You must be brave, my Odysseus.

Odysseus: I have no fear, as long as you're with me (Athena vanishes before he finishes).

This conversation encapsulates the Homeric hero, and indeed it is Homer's example which I wish to emulate on my own journey to this True Glory, as it is most in line with my natural talents. He became like his heroes, achieving a state of True Glory, of kleos, by writing about them. I hope to do the same.

Homer became, like the heroes he wrote about - immortal, by writing for posterity his stories of Troy.

"Hero" is actually an operative word here, because while we think of it as describing something grand these days, something almost superhuman, its original meaning was simply "he who is worthy." Those worthy of glory will be those who are worthy of it - who contribute the most to acquiring it.

True Glory is different from happiness and contentment. It's of course important to be happy, and I do not need much to be happy and content. However, happiness and contentment are most often excuses for stagnation - the very disease Western civilization is suffering from, while others are hungry for something more. We of course need to be happy in life, but we must never rest on those laurels, lest we become complacent. The greatest part of being human is our ability to do feats of greatness, to leave a legacy for eternity in finding and experiencing this beauty and this True Glory, which are only possible in this time and place in the universe's history - a universe whose future likely promises to be cold and dark, and the possibility of glory will sink into the blackness with it. We owe it to ourselves and to the universe that created us to burn as brightly as we can while time still allows, to be living (for life is a unique creation of the universe) expressions of the natural beauty of the cosmos.

Carl Sagan used to say that "we are a way for the cosmos to know itself." In the same tradition, True Glory is a way for us to be agents for the universe to glorify itself through the deeds of life.

Louis XIV wrote:

Praise is of a very delicate texture, and we should be very careful how we are caught by its dazzling appearance, as it requires much penetration to discern truly our flatterers from our real admirers.

But however obscure the intentions of our courtiers may be, there is nevertheless, a certain mode by which we may turn everything they say to our advantage; which is simply, to examine ourselves closely on the subject of praise which others have bestowed on us; for when we hear certain encomiums which we ourselves are unconscious of deserving, it will immediately lead us to reflect on them (according to the temper of those who bestowed them) either as a malignant reproach for some error, which we, in consequence, should immediately endeavor to correct, or as a secret exhortation to a virtue to which we have hitherto been insensible.

Supposing even that we conceive ourselves really deserving of that which is spoken in our favor, instead of simply contenting ourselves with the praises which we have received, they ought rather to serve us as a stronger stimulus to merit new encomiums; for this assuredly is one of those mediums whereby the elevated mind may be distinguished from those who never rise beyond mediocrity; to behold the latter charmed with the empty noise of applause which is incessantly flattering their ears, abandoning themselves to inactivity and indolence, eager to persuade themselves that they have done enough; while the former, continually burning with an equal ardor, seem never fully satisfied, as if everything which is lavished to allay that fire with which they seem to burn only to increase its violence.

It is only after this manner, my son, that glory becomes amiable; the thirst for which it inspires is not a weak passion which becomes cloyed with possession; it is never obtained but by strong efforts, and never becomes satiating; and he who can rest contended without seeking new favors is unworthy even of those which he has already received.

Although we may never achieve the state, it is the desire, the zeal, and the work that make life meaningful and which rescues us from indolence and nihilism. That is its greatest virtue - fulfilling this deep human need. The journey to True Glory is equally as great as the destination.

At the conclusion of this entry, I'm still somewhat unsatisfied. Is this the true way to live a good life? I think I'm heading in the right direction, and I believe my underpinnings are right, but is what I've said the correct path? I'm still not entirely sure what it all means. I'll just have to keep looking, and adding to this thesis, with words and deeds, as time goes by.

The fate of the universe doesn't look good. Burn brightly now!