By Dr. Tim Ball Via The Rebel
Popeye is my philosopher of record. His two most profound observations were:
“I don’t know how youz duz it, but youz duz it.”
“That’s all I can stand, I can’t stands no more.”
These summarize our general condition. Some people who, for want of a better word, we call leaders, directly and indirectly control our lives without us fully understanding how or why.
Their actions eventually reach a point at which we don’t know or care how or why we just won’t tolerate it anymore.
When and why do we reach that point? My research interest in climatology was focussed on the impact of climate and climate change on humans and their history. It stems from the idea that we are products of our environment and, according to Darwin, adapt and adjust to changes in the environment. The great myth used today to exploit people’s lack of understanding and fears is that climate change is new, and we must learn to adapt.
But we have always adapted. Indeed, what anthropologists identify as our greatest achievements were adaptations to changing environments. For example, we adapted to the cooling of the Pleistocene Ice Age by controlling fire, making clothing, and building shelters.
The problem is academics do not consider these social or cultural adaptations as evolutionary advances. As far as they are concerned, we are past our peak and our now doing things wrong. Consider the following comment from David Suzuki:
“Economics is a very species – chauvinistic idea. No other species on earth – and there are may be 30 million of them – has had the nerve to put forth a concept called economics, in which one species, us, declares the right to put value on everything else on earth, in the living and non-living world.”
What nonsense! The number of species is closer to 100 million and all of them put a value on everything, such as: “Is it edible or not?”
No, humans are unique because they can create complex and abstract ideas, or any other intellectual endeavour.
A major difference between humans and animals concerns leaders and followers. With animals, the followers have no say in who leads. However, with humans and democracy (another species-chauvinistic idea) the followers are the majority who determine who will lead and how far they will follow.
The basic assumption about leaders was summarized 2000 years ago in graffiti in Pompeii; It says if we get rid of this bunch of scoundrels we just get another bunch of scoundrels. In other words, elections don’t change anything. But there are two conditions under which people generally choose to get rid of the scoundrels.
The first is a failure of the food supply. A classic example occurred in France in the 19th century. The animosity between French peasants, the monarchy and aristocracy was always present, but it took two consecutive years of catastrophic harvest failure to trigger the Revolution.
This situation resulted from a cooler world during the Little Ice Age (1450 – 2000) and, in particular, a volcanic eruption in Iceland in 1783. Benjamin Franklin observed the eruption plume while transiting to his post as US Ambassador to France, and predicted the impact on agriculture in Europe. Sure enough, crop conditions deteriorated over a few years, culminating in that almost total failure in France in 1787 and ’88. No wonder they stormed the Bastille in 1789.
A 21st century example occurred in Egypt in 2011. People rioted against the government of Hosni Mubarak; President Obama claimed it was an “Arab Spring,” a popular democratic uprising. In fact, they were food riots. Obama wanted to get rid of Mubarak and replace him with the Muslim Brotherhood. The people wanted to get rid of Mubarak because the food supply failed.
The second reason people get rid of leaders is that they have forgotten who put them in power. Charles I of England believed implicitly in the Divine Right of Kings. He marched into the House of Commons and ordered them to approve financing for his campaigns. They cut Charles’ head off to show who was really in charge, and ever since, the monarch has been forbidden entry to the Commons.
More recently, the people metaphorically removed the heads of leaders in England by voting to leave the European Union during the so-called Brexit vote.
As James Delingpole explained:
For a lot of us Brexiteers, leaving the EU was just the beginning of a people’s revolution against that remote, entrenched, largely unaccountable elite. Not a war on ‘capitalism’, as the left so wilfully misrepresents it, but definitely an assault on cronyism, on ‘too big to fail’, on central-bank manipulation, on the misuse of immigration to create growth at the expense of GDP per capita and quality of life, on the screwing over of the many by the few.
The Trump “movement” is the same thing, a people’s revolution. He doesn’t care about the elite politicians of the extreme left or right.
The people send their message by getting rid of the leaders and for a brief period the scoundrels are chastened. However, the people know that other scoundrels will seek power because there is always a percentage who think they know what is best for us.
Hopefully, social and cultural evolution will eliminate them, and leaders who never forget their place will eventually evolve and arise.
Obama seems to have forgotten who put him in power. It was predominately white people, not just people of color. Would that he would march into the Senate and get the Charles I treatment. But Hitlary is seen as a continuance of Obama policies and as such, the Trump groundswell movement continues to gather steam serving as much as a referendum on both Obama’s politics and Hilary’s rotten character. Brexit is a legitimate comparison and hopefully a portent of what is to be served up to those hungering for a taste of something better than the same old crap we’ve been force fed for the last God knows how many years.
That said FM, which day of the week is Lauren day?
Every day if you have youtube!
I’ll tell you a secret – I’ve met Lauren and spent some time with her (in public – Stucky get your mind out of the gutter). She is a charming, well mannered, bright young lady with balls of steel (she also has a hell of a sense of humour). She isn’t afraid of anyone and is a major asset to the pro free speech, anti marxist movement. We could use a lot more just like her.
Yeah, but can she cook? Fire a weapon? Chop firewood? Seriously, she sounds like the perfect lady. You are fortunate to have made her acquaintance, you lucky old dog. We need more like her – speaking truth to lies. Thanks for adding her to TBP.
Francis Marion….who is Lauren?; not in article and not the author of article, and no comment by a Lauren..
Kokoda,
We are off topic. He is asking about Lauren Southern’s videos that I’ve been posting intermittently.
http://www.therebel.media/laurensouthern
If you look at Lauren, it is hard to get your mind completely out of the gutter. Beautiful young woman.
You’re quite right about the importance of food shortages for rapidly precipitating regime change.
Your blather about climate science was even more incoherent than usual.
The only real ‘Donald Trump movement’ is what he flushed down the toilet at 9 a.m.
If you experience delusional ideas that the Donald Trump presidential campaign is a “people’s revolution” you are suffering from acute naivete and should seek professional counselling as soon as possible.
Lauren Southern wears makeup like the hackneyed right-wing media whore that she is.
“You’re quite right about…”
I’m not right or wrong about anything. It isn’t my article. I just posted it. Like most of the stuff I post here I rarely comment on it – I post it for STM discussion. You’re welcome to agree with the author or refute what he has to say as you wish. That’s sort of the point.
Your comments about Trump are interesting. They suggest a deep seeded loathing for the man and what he stands for. That’s not an uncommon reaction amongst progressives who are unaccustomed to having their view points pissed on by someone in the public sphere. As for him not being the leader of a people’s movement that is something that history will judge. You and I can only surmise. As an outsider looking in I think what he represents is a change in the political/social ethos of the nation. The pendulum has been snagged and is in the process of being tossed back in the other direction – with force. For better or worse (which also remains to be seen). I think Jim’s article sums up the situation well. You should read it.
As for Lauren – I’ve come to expect that sort of obnoxious behaviour from you. Time and again you’ve proven to be an angry, condescending know it all with little to add beyond acting like an angry, resentful, snot nosed child. On the positive side I’ll give you this – you are consistent.
Please accept my apologies. It is a terrible insult to have the dreadful garbage generated by Tim Ball mistakenly ascribed to your good self.
I have no loathing for Trump whatsoever. “What he stands for” is, to put it mildly, open to debate. I think what he stands for is the further aggrandizement of Donald Trump. His ‘policy pronouncements’ only exist as a tool to achieve that end. America deserves real change and there a lot of people working hard to achieve real change but Donald Trump will not bring an improved life for his supporters. In truth I doubt he gives a flying fuck about them. I am too old and cynical to be a progressive. I only see very dark times ahead, regardless of who gets elected in a soon to be forgotten dead end state known as America.
Cubw
Some apology.
I will say you are consistent. From what you write above it looks like you need a good movement or two. You are full of it…
No loathing for Trump. What utter fucking bullshit! You first deny then breathlessly prove FM to be correct.
Not a progressive. I actually agree with that assessment.
I hate to point this out but being too old and too cynical doesn’t in and of itself exclude you from being progressive. But you started this all with a strawman. Why should anyone be shocked that you tried to end it with one as well.
My good self?
Ok.
You _might_ be right about Trump. I don’t trust either candidate and wouldn’t any further than I could toss Hillary. But I feel that way about most politicians these days. Our own included. But it doesn’t really matter what Trump actually ‘is’. What matters is what you call ‘his followers’ (probably close to half the actual voting population) see him as. You really should read Jim’s piece if you haven’t. He nails it. Change is afoot. The turning continues. So grab your popcorn and pass the ammo. It’s getting interesting.