Day: September 16, 2020

Contemporaneous American youth as a consequence of the United States successful stratification of society into rulers and serf peasantry via education

There’s a lot of things that you can say about all the changes going on in America today. I have written about this extensively. But one area that I hardly touched upon is the way that the American public education system has been geared up to produce peasants.

Yes, you read that correct. Peasants.

The rulers, and the wealthy (aren’t they one and the same?) send their children off to private (for profit) expensive schools for education. Everyone else, by law, must attend “public” schools, where the government decides what will be taught, when and how.

These “public schools” indoctrinate. They train young youth to become reactionary (as opposed to free-thinking), and to obey authority without question. They learn that they must work within the systems provided, pay taxes because it is necessary, and conform at all costs.

Which results in some really stunning changes to the population…

Now, this subject has been covered elsewhere by other authors on both sides (heck, all sides) of the political spectrum. Neither side likes it.

  • The traditional conservatives are horrified at what is being taught, and want to eject their children from the educational system and home-school them.
  • The progressive liberals are concerned that the schools are not progressive enough, and that real change is necessary given how messed up the United States is today.

Now…

Don’t get confused.

American peasants. These are the under-employed strata of the peasant class.

Please, it’s easy to get confused, but don’t.

I live inside of (so called) “Communist China”, but China hasn’t been “communist” since the late 1970’s. Instead, it is a single-party, traditional, social republic, internally policed with membership by merit. Which is think is light-years of improvement over the fiasco that Mr. Mao setup back in the 1940’s.

And America…

That “land of the free”, of “democracy” and “liberty” is only a myth perpetuated by the ignorant. America ceased being “free” with the passage of the 11th amendment, and has has six major reorganizations of governmental structure since. Today it is a Military Empire, serviced by American tax-paying serfs, for the well being of the ruling oligarchy.

I argue that the changes to the American population is NOT random or a natural evolution. I argue that it is intentional.

Just like the former Soviet Union tried to remake the Russian population into loyal serfs, so has the United States tried to do so.

Here is an interesting take on this matter by a woman who used to live inside Russia while it was hard-core communist. She teaches inside America and is shocked how little the student understand history and what hard-core Marxist Communism is. Of course, the reader might think that all this has to do with political ideology. I argue something different…

I argue that this is what you see when there is an overt attempt at the stratification of society into separate and distinct classes of people; The rulers, and the ruled.

So don’t look at the following article as “communism being indoctrinated inside of America“, instead look at it as an attempt by the American oligarchy to create a nation of serf-peasants by using the same techniques that successfully operated within the former Soviet Union.

The following is a direct reprint of “A Russian Woman Working as a College Professor in the US Writes About the Sovietization of Amerika” by Rod Dreher Sat, Feb 29, 2020. It was edited to fit this venue, and all credit to the writer.

A Russian Woman Working as a College Professor in the US Writes About the Sovietization of Amerika

I’m in the editing and rewriting stage of Live Not By Lies now, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk yesterday with a woman I’ll call “Clarissa,” whose stories were so good that I’m weaving them into the book’s narrative.

Clarissa is a college professor who emigrated to the US from Russia as a young woman, a few years after the fall of the Soviet Union. She is yet another ex-Soviet bloc person who is extremely anxious about the emergence of soft totalitarianism here. Of course she can’t use her real name, because she fears professional retaliation. It should tell us something that not a single academic from a former communist country that I interviewed for this book was willing to speak using their own name — this, in the Land of the Free. Why not? Because they were afraid of facing professional consequences for speaking out against identity politics and the “social justice” regime. Below, some quotes from our interview:

I have the feeling of extreme frustration. Our stories of  people in the former Soviet space are constantly dismissed. I have no  idea why. 

I think it happens because people still think that the ideas  that existed in the Soviet Union are basically good – that it was the  execution that was at times excessive. 

My father says what happened to  us was not about the economic system. The economic system was just an  excuse. This could happen anywhere – even under capitalism.
The American serf-peasant class buying necessities at a store.

—

Totalitarianism is something that takes away from people the  unbearable burden of freedom. It allows many people to hound and  persecute with impunity. That is pleasant in many senses. 

There was a  practice in the Soviet Union where people would be told to get together  in groups at work and write letters to the newspaper to denounce famous  poets or artists. 

We see that today in Twitter. People love that because  it allows a little person to completely destroy somebody who has done  something great.

This is very human. Once you have removed any moral or religious obstacles to that behavior, what’s to stop anybody?

—

When I was nine years old, I had a teacher of Russian literature. I  really admired her. 

What we didn’t know was that her father was a high  ranking KGB officer. 

He found out that a little girl in our class,  Masha, was attending church with her parents, and not only that, but was  singing in the choir. The teacher one day pulled that little girl out  in the class and for an hour unleashed a torrent of abuse on this child.  

For what? 

The feeling of power of persecuting that child in front of  the rest of us. This is not happening right now in the US, but it’s conceivable.

—

(On American vulnerability to totalitarianism)

It’s American exceptionalism. 

You all think you’re such special people that you’re going to do it right. 

If socialism comes here, don’t  worry, we’ll make it happen in the correct way. 

Not true! Ten years ago  if you had told me I would be seeing this in the US, I would have  laughed in your face. But now it’s happening. I’m seeing it happening to  my friends. 

It’s like their minds are disintegrating.
American peasant serfs are not taught discipline, care, concern, morals, or basic behavior. Instead they are taught to be automatons for the state. In much the same way that the former Soviet Union instructed unyielding obedience and a squashing of independence. You can see this lack of discipline throughout America today.

—

Once your religion is taken away, you still have a need for an  overarching moral law. 

You’re going to look for it somewhere else, even  outside religion. We’re seeing it now with this identity politics. … 

In  the Soviet Union when I was young, cynicism was everywhere. Nobody  believed in anything. Everybody just went through the motions. 

I used to  think that cynicism was the worst thing in the world. It’s not. The  worst thing in the world is the lack of cynicism and critical  difference, and accepting everything uncritically. 

These people today,  they really believe all this woke ideology. And that’s what’s really  scary.

I have a friend who is very woke. The woke ideology is the belief is  that if somebody departs from the dogma, even by an inch, that person is  an evil, hate-filled bigot. 

When I disagree with her, I can see that  she genuinely can’t comprehend that I disagree with her. She knows I’m a  good person, but here I am disagreeing with her. She can’t understand  it. And she’s an educated person! A college professor.

The intellectuals are playing a dangerous game. They think they can  control it. They think that once their ideas are imposed on society,  they can control it. That’s ludicrous. They’re going to be the first  ones the system turns on, because as intellectuals, they can be the  first ones to spot the flaws in the system.

Nobody is going to be safe. Nobody can pledge enough allegiance to this kind of system to protect themselves.

—

I mentor early career academics. I used to enjoy it, but not anymore.  These graduate students are not producing scholarship. They’re just  turning in collections of woke slogans. 

I don’t even know what to do  with that. When we start talking to the younger academics, they don’t  understand what we want for them. They were taught this way, and they’re  reproducing it. 

I see this from students who come to college. 

It seems  like all they get in the schools is dogma. They are blank slates. They  have no real knowledge of anything – they just repeat slogans, and when  you ask them to explain it, they turn blank.

In the Soviet Union, when you were a student and assigned to write a paper, you knew that the thing to do was to go straight to the correct books in the library and copy the relevant articles, word for word, with  no deviations. 

That was your paper. 

When my family left, we arrived in  Canada, and I entered the university there. When I was assigned my first paper, I found it impossible to believe that the teacher really did  want me to think for myself. It was an incredible feeling! 

To think  about something, and to say what I really thought about it! It was so  weird, but so liberating.Now, I’m seeing young people who are just like we were in the Soviet  Union. 

They are afraid to think for themselves. They only want to know  what the “right” answer is, and repeat it. It’s depressing.

—

The problem is that many people still associate totalitarianism with  an all-powerful state, and if it doesn’t come from the state, it’s not  totalitarianism. 

What we’re dealing with now is not coming from the  state. None of us are afraid that the government is going to send secret  police and take us to the dungeon. 

That’s not going to happen. 

No.  We’re afraid of being humiliated and deprived of a living. Of being a  pariah, of being marginalized, unpersonned, cancelled. 

You don’t need  the government for that, especially in the age of social media. It  wasn’t the government hounding those Covington Catholic boys, or J.K.  Rowling.

Voting for someone [as a protest against political correctness] is wonderful, but the government cannot solve this problem.

—

Since I started going to church a couple of years ago, I began to  understand what was taken from us. I feel incredibly angry that we were  deprived of something that’s such a huge part of our culture and  civilization, that it taken from us. I take my little girl to church and  Sunday school. I want my child to know this so she doesn’t have to  discover it in her forties, and feel clumsy.

—

I wish we had some form of a secret handshake [on my campus]. I know a  couple of other professors on campus who I suspect are one of us. But  everybody is so closeted, it’s impossible to talk about it.

We have this bias response team that prowls the campus looking  for signs of non-compliance, and to justify their existence. We had the  same thing in the Soviet Union. 

Right now they’re on campus, but  eventually, they’re going to be in every workplace. If you have  everybody in your workplace trained in diversity, then you can treat  your workers however you like, and nobody will care.

(On the culture created by diversity and sensitivity training in the workplace)

All your co-workers are enemies. Either they can get you in trouble,  or they are out to destroy you with an accusation. It destroys all sorts  of uncontrollable communities – friendship, families, church  communities. When you set people against each other, they are much  easier to control. This is what it was like under totalitarianism.

—

By the way, here is a link to Clarissa’s blog, if you’re interested. Here’s a post from a previous blog of hers, about her father’s life as a closeted Christian in the USSR.

Here’s a Clarissa post on teaching a class on totalitarianism. 

Excerpt:

The wall-to-wall propaganda that characterizes this new  totalitarianism isn’t state-sponsored either. It’s disseminated solely  through corporate channels. Traditional politicians are squeezed out by  TV and social media stars who represent this new form of power. The  complete dependence of their popularity on Twitter and Instagram means  they will do absolutely anything to avoid being deplatformed. It’s no  longer about courting rich donors to donate to your campaign. Now it’s  all about being a funny enough clown that attracts hits and likes to  enrich the owners of these platforms.

Every day, the power of these giant corporations to unearth a tweet  or a like on a tweet that can sink absolutely anybody grows. There is no  need for a state to keep a dossier of kompromat (compromising  material) on each citizen. This process has been completely  corporatized. And the worst part is that people who are wielding this  sort of coercive power honestly see themselves as powerless victims who  have to defend themselves from coercion.

You know, since I started writing this post, I went to look up the blog entry I posted from my first interview with Clarissa, a year or so ago. I couldn’t find it, except in my notes for the book. I wonder if I ever posted it. Sorry if you’ve already seen it, but I suspect I forgot to put it on the site.

Here’s the text:

Just got off the phone with a Soviet-born academic who teaches in a small state university in the American heartland. She blogs under the name “Clarissa,” but I got her real name, and checked her out. She’s REALLY excited about this book, and told me she would be a source, and introduce me to the emigre community. She’s teaching a class on totalitarianism this semester, and is unnerved to have discovered that every single one of her students thinks that socialism is a good thing.

“I teach in the heart of America, in what a lot of people think of as the Bible Belt, and this is how they think,” she said.

She got her PhD at a top American university (I checked this out), and said that it was a constant struggle there to be heard. Whenever Marxist topics would come up, she would talk about her experience in the USSR, and people would shout her down. “You wouldn’t believe the rage in their faces,” she said. “They did not want to hear it.”

She said that when she talks to her parents and tells her about things she’s seeing as an American academic, within academia, they’re shocked. They keep saying, “It’s like we had it back in the Soviet Union!”

She has learned to be very, very careful about what she says among her colleagues. She knows that nobody wants to hear it, and now she’s afraid of being identified and punished. She said, “I have to live my intellectual and spiritual life underground. I stay silent about so many things with my colleagues because I know that they would honestly and sincerely see me as some kind of monster because of the things I believe, which are in no way radical.”

Yesterday a tenured academic she knows in California wrote to her to say that he withdrew from publication a paper he had written that very mildly criticizes woke dogma (she didn’t say what it was) within the academy, because he lost his nerve. He’s tenured, so he wasn’t afraid of losing his job. He was afraid of becoming a pariah — of his friends turning their backs on him because of his views, and others being afraid to take his side out of fear that they would be seen as tainted.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t want anybody at work to know I read your blog,” she said.

She also said that she can’t stand Trump, but has come to see him as the only obstacle between herself and total progressive madness. “It’s the most frustrating thing!” she said, her voice rising. I told her I agreed with her, and we laughed about that.

The diversity commissars have everybody terrified at her university, she said. Recently the chief diversity officer publicly identified her as “transphobic.” Why? Because a student asked her about use of the term “Latinx.” It came up in class, and as a Spanish speaker, she mentioned that many Spanish speakers hate the term. For this, she was identified as “transphobic” by the diversity office. She said that she didn’t even express an opinion about the term, only noted that it’s not popular among Spanish speakers. So now she’s on the watch list.

Here’s something really interesting: she said that one of her research interests is how multinational corporations undermine the nation-state. She said that wokeness in corporate America is a weapon used by white-collar professionals to weed out competitors for increasingly scarce jobs. She said, “People find ideological purity tests useful to weed out people who compete for jobs you cover. Progressive forces are completely allied with globalist capitalism.”

She also said that people have no idea how vulnerable they are to this mindset, because of social media. “You will not be able to predict what will be held against you tomorrow. You have no idea what completely normal thing you do today, or say today, will be used against you to destroy you. This is what people in the Soviet Union saw. We know how this works. This is why people like me are so upset today. I’m so glad you’re writing this book. Thank you for calling me and letting me vent.”

Metallic comments…

It’s so easy to read this and fall into any one of the many “pigeon hole” narratives that we have been programmed to follow. Much like Pavlov’s dog, we must look at everything as political ideology. And that is the way that this professor looks at it. And that is the way that the author looks at it.

But that is not whats really going on.

What is actually going on is the [1] the system for social stratification used by the former Soviet Union,has [2] been ported and adopted by the United States and [3] it’s implementation has been through the American educational system.

It has created an environment that favors a Ruling Class that is served entirely by an under-educated peasant / serf class.

And we can see how this system has resulted in RADICAL changes to American society…

The following article is a complete reprint of “America 1950 vs. America 2020” by Michael Snyder on September 14, 2020. It was edited to fit this venue, and all credit to the author.

America 1950 vs. America 2020

If you could go back to 1950, would you do it?  There would be no Internet, no cellphones and you would only be able to watch television in black and white.  But even though they lacked many of our modern conveniences, people genuinely seemed to be much happier back then.  Families actually ate dinner together, neighbors knew and cared about one another, and being an “American” truly meant something.  Today, we like to think that we are so much more “advanced” than they were back then, but the truth is that our society is in the process of falling apart all around us.  Could it be possible that we could learn some important lessons by looking back at how Americans lived 70 years ago?

Of course there has never been any era in our history when everything has been perfect.  But without a doubt, things are vastly different today than they were back in 1950…

In 1950, Texaco Star Theatre, The Lone Ranger and Hopalong Cassidy were some of the most popular shows that Americans watched on television.

In 2020, a Netflix film entitled “Cuties” is so trashy and so disgusting that four states have sent a letter to Netflix asking for it to be removed because it is “fodder for those with criminal imaginations, serving to normalize the view that children are sexual beings.”

When an isolated ruling caste controls over under-educated peasants, there are apt to be conflicts and turmoil between the uneducated serfs.

In 1950, television networks would not even show husbands and wives in bed together.

In 2020, “adult websites” get more traffic than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined.

With social engineering comes a destruction of morals, when the government becomes the solution to all issues.

In 1950, people would greet one another as they walked down the street.

In 2020, Americans are too enamored with their cellphones to be bothered with actual human contact.

One of the first things to disappear during social re-engineering are societal manners.

In 1950, gum chewing and talking in class were some of the major disciplinary problems in our schools.

In 2020, kids are literally gunning down police officers in the streets.

With the collapse of the middle class, the PTB isolated themselves in enclaves, and the lower serf / peasant classes now merge with the unemployed and under-employed classes that are prone to violence.

In 1950, people would make an effort to dress up and look nice when they would go out in public.

In 2020, most of the population has become utter slobs and “People of Walmart” has become one of our most popular memes.

When you are a peasant, you don’t care about your public appearance.

In 1950, the typical woman got married for the first time at age 20 and the typical man got married for the first time at age 22.

In 2020, the typical woman gets married for the first time at age 27 and the typical man gets married for the first time at age 29.

With societal change comes an evolution from a generalized behavior via the r/K theory.

In 1950, a lot of people would leave their homes and their vehicles unlocked because crime rates were so low.

In 2020, many that live in urban areas are deathly afraid of all the civil unrest that has erupted, and gun sales have soared to all-time record highs.

With a segregated and stratified society are large numbers of unnecessary people. Who resort to crime for entertainment and emotional escape.

In 1950, Americans actually attempted to parent their children.

In 2020, we pump our kids full of mind-altering drugs and we let our televisions and our video games raise our children.

Like the former Soviet Union, people use escape methods to leave a life that is stressful and that they have no control over.

In 1950, Baltimore was one of the most beautiful and most prosperous cities on the entire planet.

In 2020, Baltimore regularly makes headlines because of all the murders that are constantly occurring.  Of course the exact same thing could be said about many of our other major cities.

Along with the collapse of society comes the collapse of the infrastructure that supports the society.

In 1950, 78 percent of all households in America contained a married couple.

In 2020, that figure has fallen below 50 percent.
In 1950, about 5 percent of all babies in the United States were born to unmarried parents.

In 2020, about 40 percent of all babies in the United States will be born to unmarried parents.

A total breakdown in American society structure that favors both parents working in grey cube boxes, and not raising children as family units.

In 1950, new churches were regularly being opened all over the United States.

In 2020, it is being projected that 1 out of every 5 churches in the U.S. “could be forced to shut their doors in the next 18 months”, and the mayor of Lubbock, Texas just said that opening a new Planned Parenthood clinic is like starting a church.

America needs no moral compass. The government controls all. Thus, the oligarchy controls everything.

In 1950, we actually had high standards for our elected officials, and people actually did research on the candidates before they cast their votes.

In 2020, more than 4,000 people in one county in New Hampshire voted for a “transsexual Satanic anarchist” in the Republican primary, and she is now the Republican nominee for sheriff in Cheshire County.

American government has become a joke.

In 1950, children would go outside and play when they got home from school.

In 2020, our parks and our playgrounds are virtually empty and we have the highest childhood obesity rate in the industrialized world.

Children have become isolated, and easy to entertain with sedentary pastimes. Just like the former Soviet Union citizens became.

In 1950, front porches were community gathering areas, and people would regularly have their neighbors over for dinner.

In 2020, many of us don’t know our neighbors at all, and the average American watches more than five hours of television a day.

Americans have become isolated, and easy to control. Just like the former Soviet Union citizens became.

In 1950, Americans used words such as “knucklehead”, “moxie” and “jalopy”.

In 2020, new terms such as “nomophobia”, “peoplekind” and “social distancing” have been introduced into the English language.

Normal change is trivial. But when someone or some nation is involved in social change it will affect everything, including the language.

In 1950, the very first credit card was issued in the United States.

In 2020, Americans owe more than 930 billion dollars on their credit cards.

Americans are in debt and must work to stay alive. The consequence of not working is starvation and possibly prison.

In 1950, one income could support an entire middle class household.

In 2020, tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs and filed for unemployment, and more than half of all households in some of our largest cities are currently facing “serious financial problems”.

An entire family must toil to pay the taxes and fees, and living costs. All of which benefit the wealthy elite.

In 1950, the American people believed that the free market should govern the economy.

In 2020, most Americans seem to believe that the government in Washington and the Federal Reserve must endlessly “manage” the economy.

Now, people expect the wealthy oligarchy to provide for their needs through a mechanism known as “the government”.

In 1950, “socialists” and “communists” were considered to be our greatest national enemies.

In 2020, most of our politicians in Washington have eagerly embraced socialist and communist policy goals.

From independence to dependence on government.

In 1950, the U.S. Constitution was deeply loved and highly revered.

In 2020, anyone that actually admits to being a “constitutionalist” is considered to be a potential domestic terrorist.

The original constitution supported independence from government. That is a dangerous idea today.

In 1950, the United States loaned more money to the rest of the world than anybody else.

In 2020, the United States owes more money to the rest of the world than anybody else.

America is in dept, as the ruling oligarchy operates above and isolated form the government that it controls. They are safe no matter what happens.

In 1950, the total U.S. national debt reached the 257 billion dollar mark for the first time in our history.

In 2020, we added 864 billion dollars to the national debt in the month of June alone.  In other words, we added over three times more to the national debt in that one month than the total amount of debt that had been accumulated from the founding of our nation all the way to 1950.

The wealthy oligarchy can drive a nation into the ground. It matters not to them. For they exist above and beyond the government.

In 1950, most Americans were generally happy with their lives.

In 2020, the suicide rate is at an all-time record high, and it has been rising every single year since 2007.

It sucks being a poor peasant.

Conclusion

Change is a natural part of life. When you get older, such as myself, you view change with a kind of nostalgia. You miss “the good old days”. But the fact is that most change is artificial.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, most change was glacial. Entire generations would come and go with very little change in their lives.

So what was driving the change?

Technology?

Yah! Well, that’s the standard “boiler plate” answer.

And yes, it is true that “technology” was what advanced change during the “Industrial revolution”, but it is really only a small contributor. Something else happened at the same time…

It was the power, and the methodology of large government ruled by small groups of men.

Did you notice the changes since 1950? Did you notice what had changed? Yes, everything that changed favored the small elite Ruling Class of America at the expense of the working class. In fact, the working class had become serf / slaves. And that is why the Ruling class treats them like the peasants that they are.

I will say it again, and repeat. What changed everything was…

Large powerful governments ruled by small groups of men.

The major driver of change are governments, for they alone have the power to change society. And society, like it or not, is what drives all the changes in our lives. And the number one method that these governments use to enact social change is the education system.

Thus we have a situation where the United States government has adopted the very same stratification systems employed by the former Soviet Union.

The reason why America is currently “on fire” and such a mess right now is because the stratification process is nearly complete. There are large segments of the society that welcomes their new roles as serfs and peasants (out of ignorance) and large sections that do not.

Unlike the Soviet Union. In Russia, Stalin killed enormous groups of people, and anyone who would oppose him was rounded up, killed outright or sent off to die of starvation. When he implemented his stratification program, he had very little remaining opposition.

That is not the case in America today.

Thus,

The ruling oligarchy is looking at this situation and sees that the former Soviet Union system of control can only happen when there are large groups of opposition forces out of the way. In order to implement their segregation and stratification initiatives, they will need to devise a system to suppress these opposition forces.

What will happen is unknown.

  • Civil War
  • An external war of distraction.
  • A World War.
  • Nothing, just more of the same ratcheting up in severity.

But the PTB pretty much expect that all this to settle out eventually. One way or the other. And when the dust settles and the fires die out, and the survivors start to rebuild their lives, you can well realize that the world will be quite different going out, than what it is today; going in.

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Law 9 of the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene; Win through your actions, never through argument

This is the full text of law #9 from “The 48 Laws of Power” written by Robert Greene. This specific law is titled “Win through your actions, never through argument.” I personally believe that this most basic of laws should be taught in elementary school. Once you master it, you realize that your life is in your hands and under your control. For only with you doing things, and taking action, can you win any argument. This law is not for the passive. This law is not for the sheep. This law is for the self actuated that live among us within society.

This law is something that I have learned and appreciated over time. Don’t explain. Demonstrate.

And if people “don’t get it”, well then… it’s not your problem.

And while I am at it…

Alpha Males never explain or justify their actions. They are never on the defensive. They never try to convince any one of any thing. The weaker beta-males do.

Be yourself. Anything less is below you.

LAW 9

WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER THROUGH ARGUMENT

JUDGMENT

Any momentary triumph you think you have gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.

TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW

In 131 B.C., the Roman consul Publius Crassus Dives Mucianus, laying siege to the Greek town of Pergamus, found himself in need of a battering ram to force through the town’s walls. He had seen a couple of hefty ship’s masts in a shipyard in Athens a few days before, and he ordered that the larger of these be sent to him immediately. The military engineer in Athens who received the order felt certain that the consul really wanted the smaller of the masts. He argued endlessly with the soldiers who delivered the request: The smaller mast, he told them, was much better suited to the task. And indeed it would be easier to transport.

The soldiers warned the engineer that their master was not a man to argue with, but he insisted that the smaller mast would be the only one that would work with a machine that he was constructing to go with it. He drew diagram after diagram, and went so far as to say that he was the expert and they had no clue what they were talking about. The soldiers knew their leader and at last convinced the engineer that it would be better to swallow his expertise and obey.

After they left, though, the engineer thought about it some more. What was the point, he asked himself, in obeying an order that would lead to failure? And so he sent the smaller mast, confident that the consul would see how much more effective it was and reward him justly.

When the smaller mast arrived, Mucianus asked his soldiers for an explanation. They described to him how the engineer had argued endlessly for the smaller mast, but had finally promised to send the larger one. Mucianus went into a rage. He could not concentrate on the siege, or consider the importance of breaching the walls before the town received reinforcements. All he could think about was the impudent engineer, whom he ordered to be brought to him immediately.

Arriving a few days later, the engineer gladly explained to the consul, one more time, the reasons for the smaller mast. He went on and on, using the same arguments he had made with the soldiers. He said it was wise to listen to experts in these matters, and if the attack was only tried with the battering ram he had sent, the consul would not regret it. Mucianus let him finish, then had him stripped naked before the soldiers and flogged and scourged with rods until he died.

THE SULTAN AND THE VIZIER

A vizier had served his master for some thirty years and was known and admired for his loyalty, truthfulness, and devotion to God. His honesty, however, had made him many enemies in the court, who spread stories of

his duplicity and perfidy. They worked on the sultan day in and day out until he too came to distrust the innocent vizier and finally ordered the man who had served him so well to be put to death. In this realm, those condemned to death were tied up and thrown into the pen where the sultan kept his fiercest hunting dogs. The dogs would promptly tear the victim to pieces. Before being thrown to the dogs, however, the vizier asked for one last request. “I would like ten days’ respite,” he said, “so that I can pay my debts, collect any money due to me, return items that people have put in my care, and share out my goods among the members of my family and my children and appoint a guardian for them.” After receiving a guarantee that the vizier

would not try to escape, the sultan granted this request. The vizier hurried home, collected one hundred gold pieces, then paid a visit to the huntsman who looked after the sultan’s dogs. He offered this man the one hundred gold pieces and said, “Let me look after the dogs for ten days.” The huntsman agreed, and for the next ten days the vizier cared for the beasts with great attention, grooming them well and feeding them handsomely. By the end of the ten days they were eating out of his hand.

On the eleventh day the vizier was called before the sultan, the charges were repeated, and the sultan watched as the vizier was tied up and thrown to the dogs. Yet when the beasts saw him, they ran up to him with wagging tails. They nibbled affectionately at his shoulders and began playing with him. The sultan and the other witnesses were amazed, and the sultan asked the vizier why the dogs had spared his life. The vizier replied, “I have looked after these dogs for ten days. The sultan has seen the result for

himself. I have looked after you for thirty years, and what is the result? I am condemned to death on the strength of accusations brought by my enemies. ”The sultan blushed with shame. He not only pardoned the vizier but gave him a fine set of clothes and handed over to him the men who had slandered his reputation. The noble vizier set them free and continued to treat them with kindness.

-THE SUBTLE RUSE: THE BOOK OF ARABIC WISDOM AND GUILE, THIRTEENTH CENTURY

Interpretation

The engineer, whose name has not been recorded by history, had spent his life designing masts and pillars, and was respected as the finest engineer in a city that had excelled in the science. He knew that he was right. A smaller ram would allow more speed and carry more force. Larger is not necessarily better. Of course the consul would see his logic, and would eventually understand that science is neutral and reason superior. How could the consul possibly persist in his ignorance if the engineer showed him detailed diagrams and explained the theories behind his advice?

The military engineer was the quintessence of the Arguer, a type found everywhere among us. The Arguer does not understand that words are never neutral, and that by arguing with a superior he impugns the intelligence of one more powerful than he. He also has no awareness of the person he is dealing with. Since each man believes that he is right, and words will rarely convince him otherwise, the arguer’s reasoning falls on deaf ears. When cornered, he only argues more, digging his own grave. Once he has made the other person feel insecure and inferior in his beliefs, the eloquence of Socrates could not save the situation.

It is not simply a question of avoiding an argument with those who stand above you. We all believe we are masters in the realm of opinions and reasoning. You must be careful, then: Learn to demonstrate the correctness of your ideas indirectly.

OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW

In 1502, in Florence, Italy, an enormous block of marble stood in the works department of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore. It had once been a magnificent piece of raw stone, but an unskillful sculptor had mistakenly bored a hole through it where there should have been a figure’s legs, generally mutilating it. Piero Soderini, Florence’s mayor, had contemplated trying to save the block by commissioning Leonardo da Vinci to work on it, or some other master, but had given up, since everyone agreed that the stone had been ruined. So, despite the money that had been wasted on it, it gathered dust in the dark halls of the church.

This was where things stood until some Florentine friends of the great Michelangelo decided to write to the artist, then living in Rome. He alone, they said, could do something with the marble, which was still magnificent raw material. Michelangelo traveled to Florence, examined the stone, and came to the conclusion that he could in fact carve a fine figure from it, by adapting the pose to the way the rock had been mutilated. Soderini argued that this was a waste of time—nobody could salvage such a disaster—but he finally agreed to let the artist work on it. Michelangelo decided he would depict a young David, sling in hand.

Weeks later, as Michelangelo was putting the final touches on the statue, Soderini entered the studio. Fancying himself a bit of a connoisseur, he studied the huge work, and told Michelangelo that while he thought it was magnificent, the nose, he judged, was too big. Michelangelo realized that Soderini was standing in a place right under the giant figure and did not have the proper perspective. Without a word, he gestured for Soderini to follow him up the scaffolding. Reaching the nose, he picked up his chisel, as well as a bit of marble dust that lay on the planks. With Soderini just a few feet below him on the scaffolding, Michelangelo started to tap lightly with the chisel, letting the bits of dust he had gathered in his hand to fall little by little. He actually did nothing to change the nose, but gave every appearance of working on it. After a few minutes of this charade he stood aside: “Look at it now.” “I like it better,” replied Soderini, “you’ve made it come alive.”

Interpretation

Michelangelo knew that by changing the shape of the nose he might ruin the entire sculpture. Yet Soderini was a patron who prided himself on his aesthetic judgment. To offend such a man by arguing would not only gain Michelangelo nothing, it would put future commissions in jeopardy. Michelangelo was too clever to argue. His solution was to change Soderini’s perspective (literally bringing him closer to the nose) without making him realize that this was the cause of his misperception.

Fortunately for posterity, Michelangelo found a way to keep the perfection of the statue intact while at the same time making Soderini believe he had improved it. Such is the double power of winning through actions rather than argument: No one is offended, and your point is proven.

THE WORKS OF AMASIS

When Apries had been deposed in the way I have described, Amasis came to the throne. He belonged to the district of Sais and was a native of the town called Siuph. At first the Egyptians were inclined to be contemptuous, and did not think much of him because of his humble and undistinguished origin; but later on he cleverly brought them to heel, without having recourse to harsh measures. Amongst his innumerable treasures, he had a gold footbath, which he and his guests used on occasion to wash their feet in. This he broke up, and with the material had a statue made to one of the gods, which he then set up in what he thought the most suitable spot in the city. The Egyptians constantly coming upon the statue, treated it with profound reverence, and as soon as Amasis heard of the effect it had upon them, he called a meeting and revealed the fact that the deeply revered statue was once a footbath, which they washed their feet and pissed and vomited in. He went on to say that his own case was much the same, in that once he had been only an ordinary person and was now their king; so that just as they had come to revere the transformed footbath, so they had better pay honor and respect to him, too. In this way the Egyptians were persuaded to accept him as their master.

-THE HISTORIES. HERODOTUS. FIFTH CENTURY B.C.

KEYS TO POWER

In the realm of power you must learn to judge your moves by their long- term effects on other people. The problem in trying to prove a point or gain a victory through argument is that in the end you can never be certain how it affects the people you’re arguing with: They may appear to agree with you politely, but inside they may resent you. Or perhaps something you said inadvertently even offended them—words have that insidious ability to be interpreted according to the other person’s mood and insecurities. Even the best argument has no solid foundation, for we have all come to distrust the slippery nature of words. And days after agreeing with someone, we often revert to our old opinion out of sheer habit.

Understand this: Words are a dime a dozen. Everyone knows that in the heat of an argument, we will all say anything to support our cause. We will quote the Bible, refer to unverifiable statistics. Who can be persuaded by bags of air like that? Action and demonstration are much more powerful and meaningful. They are there, before our eyes, for us to see—“Yes, now the statue’s nose does look just right.” There are no offensive words, no possibility of misinterpretation. No one can argue with a demonstrated proof. As Baltasar Gracián remarks, “The truth is generally seen, rarely heard.”

Sir Christopher Wren was England’s version of the Renaissance man. He had mastered the sciences of mathematics, astronomy, physics, and physiology. Yet during his extremely long career as England’s most celebrated architect he was often told by his patrons to make impractical changes in his designs. Never once did he argue or offend. He had other ways of proving his point.

In 1688 Wren designed a magnificent town hall for the city of Westminster. The mayor, however, was not satisfied; in fact he was nervous. He told Wren he was afraid the second floor was not secure, and that it could all come crashing down on his office on the first floor. He demanded that Wren add two stone columns for extra support. Wren, the consummate engineer, knew that these columns would serve no purpose, and that the mayor’s fears were baseless. But build them he did, and the mayor was grateful. It was only years later that workmen on a high scaffold saw that the columns stopped just short of the ceiling.

They were dummies. But both men got what they wanted: The mayor could relax, and Wren knew posterity would understand that his original design worked and the columns were unnecessary.

The power of demonstrating your idea is that your opponents do not get defensive, and are therefore more open to persuasion. Making them literally and physically feel your meaning is infinitely more powerful than argument.

A heckler once interrupted Nikita Khrushchev in the middle of a speech in which he was denouncing the crimes of Stalin. “You were a colleague of Stalin’s,” the heckler yelled, “why didn’t you stop him then?” Khrushschev apparently could not see the heckler and barked out, “Who said that?” No hand went up. No one moved a muscle. After a few seconds of tense silence, Khrushchev finally said in a quiet voice, “Now you know why I didn’t stop him.” Instead of just arguing that anyone facing Stalin was afraid, knowing that the slightest sign of rebellion would mean certain death, he had made them feel what it was like to face Stalin—had made them feel the paranoia, the fear of speaking up, the terror of confronting the leader, in this case Khrushchev. The demonstration was visceral and no more argument was necessary.

The most powerful persuasion goes beyond action into symbol. The power of a symbol—a flag, a mythic story, a monument to some emotional event—is that everyone understands you without anything being said. In 1975, when Henry Kissinger was engaged in some frustrating negotiations with the Israelis over the return of part of the Sinai desert that they had seized in the 1967 war, he suddenly broke off a tense meeting and decided to do some sight-seeing. He paid a visit to the ruins of the ancient fortress of Masada, known to all Israelis as the place where seven hundred Jewish warriors committed mass suicide in A.D. 73 rather than give in to the Roman troops besieging them. The Israelis instantly understood the message of Kissinger’s visit: He was indirectly accusing them of courting mass suicide. Although the visit did not by itself change their minds, it made them think far more seriously than any direct warning would have. Symbols like this one carry great emotional significance.

When aiming for power, or trying to conserve it, always look for the indirect route. And also choose your battles carefully. If it does not matter in the long run whether the other person agrees with you—or if time and their own experience will make them understand what you mean—then it is best not even to bother with a demonstration. Save your energy and walk away.

GOD AND ABRAUIM

The Most High God had promised that He would not take Abraham’s soul unless the man wanted to die and asked Him to do so. When Abraham’s life was drawing to a close, and God determined to seize him, He sent an angel in the guise of a decrepit old man who was almost entirely incapacitated. The old man stopped outside Abraham door and said to him, “Oh Abraham, I would like something to eat.” Abraham was amazed to hear him say this. “Die, exclaimed Abraham.”It would be better for you than to go on living in that condition.”

Abraham always kept food ready at his home for passing guests. So he gave the old man a bowl containing broth and meat with bread crumbs. The old man sat down to eat. He swallowed laboriously, with great effort, and once when he took some food it dropped from his hand, scattering on the ground. “Oh Abraham, ” he said, “help me to eat.” Abraham took the food in his hand and lifted it to the old man’s lips. But it slid down his beard and over his chest. “What is your age, old man?” asked Abraham. The old man mentioned a number of years slightly greater than Abraham’s old age. Then Abraham exclaimed: “Oh Lord Our God, take me unto You before I reach this man’s age and sink into the same condition as he is in now. ” No sooner had Abraham spoken those words than God took possession of his soul.

-THE SUBTLE RUSE: THE BOOK OF ARABIC WISDOM AND GUILE, THIRTEENTH CENTURY

Image: The Seesaw. Up and down and up and down go the arguers, getting nowhere fast. Get off the seesaw and show them your meaning without kick ing or pushing. Leave them at the top and let gravity bring them gently to the ground.

Authority: Never argue. In society nothing must be discussed; give only results. (Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881)

REVERSAL

Verbal argument has one vital use in the realm of power: To distract and cover your tracks when you are practicing deception or are caught in a lie.

In such cases it is to your advantage to argue with all the conviction you can muster. Draw the other person into an argument to distract them from your deceptive move. When caught in a lie, the more emotional and certain you appear, the less likely it seems that you are lying.

This technique has saved the hide of many a con artist. Once Count Victor Lustig, swindler par excellence, had sold dozens of suckers around the country a phony box with which he claimed to be able to copy money. Discovering their mistake, the suckers generally chose not to go the police, rather than risk the embarrassment of publicity. But one Sheriff Richards, of Remsen County, Oklahoma, was not the kind of man to accept being conned out of $10,000, and one morning he tracked Lustig down to a hotel in Chicago.

Lustig heard a knock on the door. When he opened it he was looking down the barrel of a gun. “What seems to be the problem?” he calmly asked. “You son of a bitch,” yelled the sheriff, “I’m going to kill you. You conned me with that damn box of yours!” Lustig feigned confusion. “You mean it’s not working?” he asked. “You know it’s not working,” replied the sheriff. “But that’s impossible,” said Lustig. “There’s no way it couldn’t be working. Did you operate it properly?” “I did exactly what you told me to do,” said the sheriff. “No, you must have done something wrong,” said Lustig. The argument went in circles. The barrel of the gun was gently lowered.

Lustig next went to phase two in the argument tactic: He poured out a whole bunch of technical gobbledygook about the box’s operation, completely beguiling the sheriff, who now appeared less sure of himself and argued less forcefully. “Look,” said Lustig, “I’ll give you your money back right now. I’ll also give you written instructions on how to work the machine and I’ll come out to Oklahoma to make sure it’s working properly. There’s no way you can lose on that.” The sheriff reluctantly agreed. To satisfy him totally, Lustig took out a hundred one-hundred-dollar bills and gave them to him, telling him to relax and have a fun weekend in Chicago. Calmer and a little confused, the sheriff finally left. Over the next few days Lustig checked the paper every morning. He finally found what he was looking for: A short article reporting Sheriff Richards’s arrest, trial, and conviction for passing counterfeit notes. Lustig had won the argument; the sheriff never bothered him again.

Conclusion

Why do you argue?

Is it because you want to show someone your point of view? Is that why?

But they don’t see it because they have different experiences and a different mindset. So don’t bother wasting your time. Your time is too valuable.

Act and live your life on your terms and forget about everyone else.

…

Story time…

I well remember the last time when I gave a fuck what people thought.

I was in a KTV, in China (of course).

Chinese business KTV, a pretty standard practice.

I had two girls with me (bought for me, don’t ya know). One was on my left thigh feeding me (those green sweet) grapes and the other was singing some sobby love ballad (in Chinese, that I had no clue about) on my right. I was enjoying the moment, chewing on some grapes and drinking Johnny Walker Red with Green Tea (long story, not too popular these days) and checking my social media.

It was a long day where I had ate this fantastic meal of lord only know what, and signed some contracts and made some agreements. Now it was time to relax and celebrate.

What was I doing?

Dumb-ass me was checking my social media. Back then, I was still addicted to it.

At that time, I was commenting on a website called “Free Republic” (I have since been kicked off of it, too bad – their loss) and some jackass was riding on all my comments. He just went on and on about on how filthy, stinky and polluted China was. He said he knew because he visited it back in 1998, and he knew what he was talking about. He had spent four long days in “that filthy cesspool” and couldn’t wait to leave.

And you know what?

I didn’t respond.

But, I did stop eating the grapes and slid my right hand on the chick to the left of me’s dress and cupped her soft breast. She smiled (as they all do when I do that) and I started to nibble on her neck. (KTV’s are all “hands on” and all the time. It’s pretty much a normal, not a lecherous thing, to do.) That got the singing gal to come over and start massaging my back. Oh … yeah. things got really fun after that.

Soon afterwards, I was up there singing “Better than I used to be“, and while everyone was clapping and cheering me on, I’m sure that no one knew what I was singing about. But my aide did know English, and she couldn’t get over the lyrics to “MacArthur Park”. LOL. Heh. he. (She kept on saying… “do you know what you are singing? Do you know what the song is about?”)

“Someone left the cake out in the rain, and it took so long to make it, and took so long to bake it, and I’ll never have that recipe again! Oh no!”

And you know, that’s a part of what my life is. Don’t you know. It’s fun. It’s spending time with interesting people, and playing with them. It’s about eating delicious food, and just being who you are and not giving a rat’s ass if you are politically correct or not.

Anyways. That was one of the last times I commented on that site.

Because I was the one having fun, and the rest of the people on social media, well, there were all just full of horse shit. To them, everything outside their house was gray, dark and dirty. When they turned on the movies, it’s all war, war, war, or FBI investigates serial murders, or child abductions by pedio’s or magic superheros who got bit by radioactive spiders…

It’s nonsense.

And when they try to communicate to me; the person outside their box, they cannot possibly imagine what it is like. Because they have been PROGRAMMED to fear everything outside.

So, fuck him.

What he right or wrong? Was I good or bad? I don’t know. What I do know is that I was having fun, and he was probably at home alone typing in the dark trying to convince me that I was wrong to enjoy China like I do. And, well, he would never, ever believe what happened later on that night, and up until six am when they both turned into pumpkins…

Actions.

Always remember that your life becomes [1] what you think about, and [2] what you do. And in that calculus, lies no one else. And if someone doesn’t like your behaviors, well, fuck them. You owe nothing to strangers. Just go forth and have a great time. And let it be well understood that that is what I am actually doing.

Life is too short not to enjoy life.

Go forth. Make new friends. Have new adventures, experience all the wonderful things that life has available for you. That means good food, great drink, fun companions, and “memory makers”. Ah. Memory Makers like this fine young lass here…

Do you want more?

I have more posts along these lines in my Happiness Index here…

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