Guest Post by Hardscrabble Farmer
There are cracks in the walls, everywhere.
Those interested in improving the soil look for signs of depletion and correct the deficiency. Those with no interest continue to mistreat the land and the decline and failure manifest themselves. It becomes obvious to anyone, even those with little or no understanding of stewardship. This is a healthy field, this one is barren.
Human beings are easily led to believe things which are illusory- the double yellow line down the middle of the road is akin to a force field protecting you and your loved ones as you hurtle down the highway at 70mph, strangers with black hearts heading toward you at the same speed, inches away-but which are built on nothing more than a mutual agreement based on a common understanding. It is not a protection, it is fiction.
When we all agree to accept these fantasies as if they were realities you can travel hundreds of millions of passenger miles without incident, intentional head-on crashes as rare as asteroid strikes. But when the illusion slips, when the agreements are not kept and it becomes apparent that one half of the population no longer can be trusted to keep their end of the bargain, what do you imagine would be the end result? Who would dare to get behind the wheel ever again?
This is where we are headed. I don’t know who Lil Wayne is, but he made a very cogent observation to the inquiring attorney in his deposition.”He can’t save you. Not in the real world.”
I was at an outdoor wedding this Summer and it was an overcast day with rainfall expected. It was forecast and it was something you couldn’t miss if you have any experience with weather; leaden skies, low, gray clouds, constant rumble of thunder, heavy air. The planners and the bride insisted it would pass, that the blue skies would open up and the Sun would shine, but you knew it wasn’t going to happen. The plan was for a perfect day and nothing, not reality, not common sense, not the obvious was going to dissuade them from proceeding as if their intentions were paramount.
The outcome was exactly as you would imagine and the disappointment was magnified by the level of denial that preceded it. In the meantime I pulled off a dozen men to set up a space in the barn and arranged the chairs for what I knew was the only alternative. Calm, level-headed, purposeful action as the emotional whirlwind of outrage and denial continued unabated in the bride’s party.
This is where we are.
Not really a warm fuzzy post, HSF. Not that I expected one. It’s just that your last few sentences really gave me a chill because I and others here know you are right. When I listen to my local afternoon talk show, I do it so I know the pulse of the people with their heads stuck in the ground. They seem to be sticking them further in, so the shock will be enormous for them. WE will be shocked, even though we know what’s coming.
No need to fret
of warm and fuzzy
it’s no prescription
for it guarantees
the march of the worms
and being cold
then buried
The other night my wife and I had a very long heart to heart about some things she has been concerned with. It involved a friend of hers and the details are unimportant, but I listened carefully, and then I offered my advice based on what she had told me, and from what I knew about similar situations. I was calm, deliberate and logical. I can be warm and fuzzy with my wife and my children, but it wasn’t what she needed to hear at the moment, and afterwards she nodded slowly and thanked me for listening to her and offering my advice. It broke my heart to be objective with her because there was so much emotional baggage loaded into the issue; friendship, shared values, etc. but those things hadn’t gotten her anywhere with the problem and the time had come to make some difficult decisions. Ones that would be made with or without her.
This fracture in our national consciousness is not one that can be repaired. Like a house that has been left to decay too long there comes a point where it simply must be torn down and rebuilt. People of good conscience can no longer continue to accept the kind of abuse they have been subjected to simply to appease and keep the peace with those who do not share their values, nor keep their part of the social contract. As we speak people are finding themselves coming down on one side of this divide or the other, sides are being chosen, lines drawn, and sitting it out is simply not an option. I thought that the double yellow line analogy was appropriate because it requires complete and unilateral acceptance in order to function but it is also a choice that can result in deadly consequences as soon as a significant portion of the population decides that they are no longer willing to comply. The young rapper gave a piece of sound advice to the inquisitor who continued to bait him, that appeals to authority would only work as long as the setting was conducive to compliance, that once outside the artificial environment of a courtroom or lawyers office, in the “real world” as he put it, such behavior would not save him.
I recently watched a film written by Cormac McCarthy (a favorite author of mine) titled The Counselor. The plot is almost secondary- an attorney gets tied up in a drug deal trying to make a quick buck, with tragic if not completely expected results. There is an excellent scene where a cartel fixer (Jefe) explains the reality of the situation with The Counselor.
Jefe : I would urge you to see the truth of the situation you’re in, Counselor. That is my advice. It is not for me to tell you what you should have done or not done. The world in which you seek to undo the mistakes that you made is different from the world where the mistakes were made. You are now at the crossing. And you want to choose, but there is no choosing there. There’s only accepting. The choosing was done a long time ago… Are you there Counselor?
Counselor : [distraught] Yes.
Jefe : I don’t mean to offend you, but reflective men often find themselves at a place removed from the realities of life. In any case, we should all prepare a place where we can accommodate all the tragedies that sooner or later will come to our lives. But this is an economy few people care to practice.
While the film was savaged by critics for being too wordy, I found it was Shakespearean in its understanding of human nature, and the consequences of greed, short term planning in a long term world and most importantly, reality versus wishful thinking.
There are so many parts of life that are sublime and beautiful, but they are built upon a framework of rigid and immutable realities that cannot be altered, and some of these are horrible and cruel. A loving parent shields their children from them for as long as they can, but a good parent teaches them when the time is right. We now have entire generations that were raised by poor parents who shielded their children- if they raised them at all- from the Truth of this world, in all things, so that we have a population of fully grown adults trapped by the minds of children. They don’t know the truth from a lie, good from evil, right from wrong. All they know is their wants and desires and the false promises that have been made and which they demand be kept.
I wish I had something hopeful to offer, but I don’t. I have tried to share everything I could think of to prepare for the inevitable, this 4th Turning, this apocalypse of our time but now all I have is a small band of men around me, trying to arrange chairs in a barn while the tears flow.
You wrote..
There’s only accepting. The choosing was done a long time ago..
I like that a lot.
Thanks!
Why waste time spent fretting about warm and fuzzy.
Spinning in circles
Trying to persist
Hoping I suppose
That point did exist
To find redemption
To getting it fixed
They’re just wisps of sand
Blowing in the wind.
There’s nothing to hold
As the storm moves in
It grinds in the eyes
Makes it hard to see.
That world that exists
On a fine razors edge
Protected from delusion
and cognitive dissonance
The cracks are there
and the danger is present.
What now was meant to be
There’ an enemy in the wire
And there coming for me.
But I’m Now bloodied
and through the gauntlet
Not buried in the ground.
Not stuck in matrix.
Done gettin’ bitten
And don’t feel sorry
for ones still smitten
deaf, dumb and oblivious
To the Cracks in the wall
and what’s been written
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=AfXDehzrJeY
I’m not fretting. It was a poor choice of words, I suppose. I’m not even a warm fuzzy type of person.
I agree with you about “Accepting..choosing done long ago”
I think it works better with context: ” The world in which you seek to undo the mistakes that you made is different from the world where the mistakes were made. You are now at the crossing. And you want to choose, but there is no choosing there. There’s only accepting. The choosing was done a long time ago…”
The world is indeed different now than it was when the mistakes were made. Some would say 1913 but I believe it started long before that. 1913 is just glaring and maybe it is so glaring that it is just a good marker.
I’m having some fun. That bit above was my attempt at a Rap song..
Wasn’t vying to take some piss outta ya…
The problem is there is no undoing mistakes. Took a while but that’s is where things are at..
And standing up as Gardner did, when the enemy is inside perimeter, guarantees just one thing.
Taking the hit when its best to avoid the pain..
Oh, it’s a Rap song, is it? I just thought it a very appropriate rhyme for today’s mood. Got some music to go with that rap song?
Well it is just a rhyme but isn’t that what raps are…
I might try find somethin on internet to fashion the bit..
will see what I can do..
There is no one time “when it began” just as there is no one cause or symptom of the cultural decay going on all around…and as such there is no one cure. There is also no one thing that could have been done differently at any time in history to make it all better now.
Just as tides must ebb and flow…empires must rise and then collapse. Just as the seasons must repeat so much Tytler’s cycle of democracy. It really is a shit system…just better than all the other ones ever devised. And as the gents of Monte Python once crooned “life’s a piece of shit, when you look at it”…but it is the one we got.
It is as you say only about accepting the catastrophe and then doing one’s best within that framework of reality.
I see the Mexican War as the end of the farmer’s republic. Mid 1840’s.
I agree that it started LONG before that. Some might reference Babylon the Great – that was and is and is to come.
I posit that it is the duality of the universe. Oil and water, darkness and light, positive and negative, hot and cold, Republican and Democrat, good and evil.
The two opposing sides will NEVER agree, yet somehow there are those that insist that the singularity exists; if they could only find it.
Visualize the pendulum swinging from one extreme to the other. Each extreme wants the pendulum to remain on their side, claiming superiority. The closest that each extreme gets to their wishes; their demands; the singularity – is when the pendulum stops.
Game over.
Thank you for playing.
Rins da rapper. Sounds so dapper. Kudos for the word wrappers. And I watched that terrifying scene last week. So glad my draft number was 248 though I volunteered for service when my schooling was over.
I am tempted to send HSF’s excellent observations to my son but most attempts to pierce his reality or rub his nose in it, end poorly. He will trudge on and no doubt he will continue to realize his mistakes, as I have. His past excesses and expectations unreal are now lessons mostly learned. They now guide him as he raises his own children with good effect.
By the way… I upvoted you and it went from 3 to 12. I’m not only a three-fer but a three-squared-fer!
I think many of us are arranging chairs in a barn, HSF. I know that our community is discussing rivers and bridges and communication alternatives (scarves and flags are not just for decoration any more folks).
We know the rain is coming though and we have no delusions about winning. But we will stand on what we believe and we will prevail. If not in this realm, in the next.
Semper Fi!
I was in the USAF not the marines, however, when my father’s former comrade wrote him a 16 page letter detailing the horror of being locked in a tiny room about 6 x 6 feet for six months, in the dark with no interaction with other people except the guards who dumped his gruel onto the floor and occasionally kicked him, he ended the letter with “Semper Fi!”
Always loyal.
When the POWs were rescued they told one of the Australians who’d come to get them about how their comrade had been sentenced to a Japanese civilian prison for stealing sugar. The big Aussie (my father called him a giant of a man and my father was 6’2″ then!) demanded the Japanese guards give him vehicles and he took a bunch of men to that prison, kicked in the door and carried the man out, barely living.
Semper Fi indeed.
I told my father he should publish that letter but my father insisted it was not “his” to publish. He said he would never do so without the family’s permission since it contains some rather private details of what living in a shit hole is actually like written in a very shaky hand. I go back and f0rth… on the one hand, it makes me cry to read it, proving it has value to the reader (only laughter is harder to elicit from a reader than tears), but it also shows a man in abject demoralized condition who deserves recognition and respect.
Since I hold the letter and its only copy (made against my father’s wishes and without his knowledge), I will probably just keep it safe and see if there is a collection to which I might add his very poignant account.
The skies are clear here. It is a nice day for a white wedding.
Which begs for this…
Billy Idol was pretty badass, imo.
He really was… this album was popular when I was in training at Keesler AFB. There was a little sandwich shop beside the Airman’s Club that served the best Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches I’ve ever had. My AF issued twin and I would sit there and play the Billy Idol selections on the jukebox and eat those greasy cheesy sandwiches.
So, when I hear Rebel Yell, I crave a good Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. More, more, more.
Agnes – what kind of asshat could downvote this?
The usual suspects, but my son showed me how to just make them “go away.”
So, I now have one computer where I see the asshats and one where I do not. I am on the one I do NOT right now but I might go visit the desktop just to see which asshat I think it might be.
This is an interesting place, isn’t it? All these really intelligent people so blinded by their own prejudices and pettiness. If one pays attention to what people fear most, it is very easy to control opinion.
Hey, we got a lot of “this is not a bill” statements from a variety of medical billing offices. I am doing a good job siphoning off more of your tax dollars, WIP, but you will be happy to hear that with Tricare and the Veterans Administration paying the bills, there is a MINIMUM amount being negotiated and paid. It cracks me up to see a bill for several thousand dollars that was Insurance Adjusted down to less than one thousand dollars.
So far, more than $47K for ambulance ride, surgery and a special bill from an anesthesia person who is, of course, OUT of network. (5K! but insurance paid 800 bucks lol making our share almost 200).
Now, since I’m feeling quite a bit more optimistic about a full recovery, I’m thinking I really do not need to claim to be completely disabled (service connected) to suck up even more of your tax money. However, I will confirm that altruistic sentiment when the stupid wound heals and we hit the catastrophic cap for our copayments. (My husband is positive we will hit that very soon. I tell him to look on the bright side… it is early in the fiscal year and we will have no more copayments!)
Kavanaugh will be confirmed this week and the Demoncrats will continue to parade out liar after liar after liar. The Repugnant ones will dig in and refuse to give ground and…
Once again, we will have a lifetime appointment of a Supreme Court Justice made for all the wrong reasons.
Just like all our elected officials are elected for the wrong reasons and just like bureaucratic appointments result from cronyism and nepotism.
As for me and my house? We think we will avoid courts of all kinds from now on.
This comment could be a headline article! Well done… Chip
The author of this piece is like the woman riding the roller coaster with her arms crossed. She knows that half of all marriages fail. Yet, all the right lies have been told. Hope is in the air. The parents never told the truth. They hid it, out of fear they would cause her unhappiness. A wedding party built on delusions. This is not the time to be marrying, it’s time to build and ark.
Only the woman keeps an eye on the clouds. She is a realist, ready to react with purpose, not to save the marriage but to help when the inevitable happens. She accepts the inevitable, she had no choice in the matter. The entire affair is like two vehicles hurtling towards each other, at cross-purposes. Will the center hold? It’s simply a demarcation line; a convention, this part of the road is yours, this is mine. We share the road but you should stay on your side.
Do not invade my space. Your land may be depleted, no fault of my own. I have to pull my workers, rob them and me of their labor to salvage your party. You saw the storm clouds, you can read, can’t you? No, apparently you are illiterate. You want to come and marry here, to secure your future. Foolish virgin, you believe in fairy tales; he (Trump) can’t save you. Not in the real world. Buy your own oil.
That was excellent, HSF. That comment could be a post itself.
Someone below had this clip from Chris Hedges book that is worth sharing on the condition our condition is in.
—————————————————————————————
A public that can no longer distinguish between truth and fiction is left to interpret reality through illusion. Random facts or obscure bits of data and trivia are used either to bolster illusion and give it credibility, or discarded if they interfere with the message…
When opinions cannot be distinguished from facts, when there is no universal standard to determine truth in law, in science, in scholarship, or in reporting the events of the day, when the most valued skill is the ability to entertain, the world becomes a place where lies become true, where people can believe what they want to believe. This is the real danger of pseudo-events and pseudo-events are far more pernicious than stereotypes. They do not explain reality, as stereotypes attempt to, but replace reality. Pseudo-events redefine reality by the parameters set by their creators. These creators, who make massive profits selling illusions, have a vested interest in maintaining the power structures they control.
-Hedges, Chris. “Empire of Illusion”, Pg 51
HSF, you’re a good writer. Good writers have something to say. There is illusion and there is reality. Illusion is more fun. When illusion fails we supplant it with an even greater illusion.
Progress in human development is reality based, where as, stagnation in human development is illusion based. Take the value of the Federal Reserve Note. It value is based on what someone is willing to give you real things for it. The illusion is fostered by those who gain from it. Real evil is done by those who know the reality, but champion the illusion for personal gain. The real sin is knowing what to do and not doing it.
Illusions are carefully constructed to satisfy your emotional needs, they’re comforting until they’re not then we look for someone to blame when the illusion bubble pops. We point a finger at someone ot thing, not realizing that three fingers are pointing back at us. We chose the illusion because reality is hard and reality requires thinking and emotions do not.
Farmers are perhaps the most reality based individuals on the planet. They’re at the mercy of the weather and the markets. They deal with the reality of weather and demand for their products every day. If they’re wrong, their crops don’t come in or they are unable to sell it. If they’re wrong they have wasted a most precious commodity, Labor. Farmers realize a lot is riding on the decisions that they make. If only you were as thoughtful.
“Not really a warm fuzzy post, HSF. ”
Are you kidding? A wedding got rained on. It’s a sign from God.
This is 98, Mary. Go for the gold!
BTW there was a picture of a 1968 black Oldsmobile on its right side. It was submerged in water about one or two feet above the visible side. Out of the rear window there was a hash tag, me too. Does anyone know where it has disappeared to and what blog it was published On?
Type in “Me Too” in the TBP search bar
He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? Matthew 16, KJV
Hmmmm….,about all one can do is find like minded people and set up the chairs inside,worst case scenario in that is you take em back outside,one way or another you will use em,so folks,get your “chairs” in order.
Setting up chairs in a barn as opposed to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? An excellent analogy and an outstanding article and later comments by HSF!
When I finally put my head on a pillow at night, in the past I could think of something nice to dream about. The last few years not so much.
To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on.
Yep,a lot of tough news/information these days,that said,imagine life during say the plagues with internet,talk about depressing!
So,while you prep for tomorrow remember to live for today!
Well said. There is a comfort in neighbors who can honestly appraise where we are at.
Cognitive dissonance is the AmeriKan way.
The lines have certainly been drawn. Now things will get sporty. I’m on the wrong side of the fence here but would be on the right side there. Geography is a bitch when there’s a storm rolling in but then in terms of finance/economics, I’m not sure that geography matters that much at all. I keep waiting for one side to light a fire and burn it down just to cover their retreat. Scorched earth. It’s been used in the past.
“Now things will get sporty.”
That gave me a good laugh.
Cheer up, folks! It is true there is nothing to celebrate. If this roller coaster ends up going off the rails entirely, as it appears it will, most of us will not survive, and the survivors will likely wish they hadn’t. Survival will require more sweat and pain than we are accustomed to.
I have lately developed a philosophy of letting go of my fantasy of a world friendly to my aspirations. Instead, I see what is taking place as simply nature correcting for a species gone mad with power. Nothing to get upset about unless you think of yourself(and friends and family)as being indispensable to the world in general.
My recommendations: enjoy every sunrise and sunset as if they will be your last, drink to your unprecedentedly easy life, listen to some good music every day, accept death as a peaceful end to a tolerably easy life that will end sometime soon anyway.
Amen to that.
I have been thinking hard on this stuff the last month. I still am not fully clear on things. But what I seem to be seeing through the fog is that much of the problem lies in expectations. People have come to expect so much. They expect at least a middle class life, they expect good jobs and retirement, and food on the table, and clothes and education and cars and big screen TVs. Another word my be they feel entitled to such.
But truth be told, those expectations are divorced from the reality of having to earn such. Much as the couple mentioned above, who expected a perfect wedding without rain, people are expecting stress free lives without rain.
And compound the problem, multiplying it in fact by many times, the people with their expectations do not set up chairs in the shed just in case their grand expectations do not come to pass. The outcome expected – a grand and luxurious lifestyle by any measure of historical situations, or by any measure of the average conditions of people of the world – is divorced entirely from the inputs necessary to receive such.
And woe be it to anyone who points that out. And so they are continuously fed bullshit by politicians, friends, et al. And thus the entire false word of unattainable expectations will eventually come crashing down.
Thanks HSF
“Much as the couple mentioned above, who expected a perfect wedding without rain, people are expecting stress free lives without rain.”…
Thanks for that. We hosted a family reunion at our house this past weekend. My 88 YO mother in law was really looking forward to it and it’s normally a very enjoyable weekend. Well we had to get an ambulance to take her to the hospital Saturday afternoon after she just about choked to death and then was feeling extremely weak with a lot of pain. She’s been diagnosed with pneumonia. We all would have preferred a stress free weekend in order to enjoy our time together but that’s not the hand we were dealt. Instead it’s been multiple trips back and forth to the hospital for all of us and being force into making difficult decisions about how best to care for her. Still in the hospital and probably too weak to use her walker or to get in and out of bed on her own. Just doing our best to make lemonade out of the lemons we’ve stumbled across… Chip
Chip, you and your family sound like good people.
Lloph- well done, with the ever increasing expectations analysis, and the potential for reality decoupling. HSF is a bit metaphoric at times, not unlike Q, and your summation parsed the essence nicely.
“HSF is a bit metaphoric at times, not unlike Q…”
Now it all makes sense…
SO TRUE. the worm turned with the relentless consumer mindset.
The reality is that the Democrat Party, the billionaires, and significant elements of the Republican Party, are completely agreed on the policy of destroying the American nation and replacing it with low IQ minorities imported from 3d world countries…This policy has been in effect since 1965, and anyone who opposes it is attacked, demonized, and ruined if possible.
I’m up here in the ramparts, I have everything I need to survive the collapse. I am willing and able to replenish the nation – start over – so to speak, as a new America. Hmm, maybe I’ll call it Agnesland.
Front hole heathen get a life
Bet you’ve never had some front hole, you idiot. Try it, you might leave your gay beefcake.
Holly Knob
That essay is a mere 434 words.
Few writers here, there, or elsewhere can pack more PUNCH in such a short essay as HF. This is a man of YUGE writing talents.
“This fracture in our national consciousness is not one that can be repaired. ” —-HF
That is 100% correct.
+gazillion, HF.
You had a brilliant article that was a lot shorter; it concerned SSS. It said a lot in a few words and it generated quite a bit of commentary.
I always look forward to your comments because you see in things the obvious which elude me. It is a gift few people possess.
So well written it was worth a copy/paste.
Blog/Politics
Posted Oct 1, 2018 by Martin Armstrong
Kavanaugh’s hearing exposed the serious fact that the US Congress has become too polarized to even govern. What has been done to Kavanaugh is a serious disgrace for if the allegations of Ford are true, then she is at fault for not bringing charges back then and claiming it has defined her life. NOBODY should be allowed to bring any allegations against anyone decades after with no proof. They call them a Cold Case when they cannot solve a murder and Chicago’s track record is that they solve less than even one in six such murders and that is current incidents.
The Kavanaugh vote was strictly down the party line and that demonstrates the problem. The hatred and degree to which a person is attacked goes beyond that person but seriously harms his entire family. This is now becoming a serious deterrent to anyone in the future looking at taking such a post. Will they find someone in your past you just hates you for some reason who now thinks it is pay-back time? The Congress is now far too disconnected from the notion of God, truth, and justice for all. There is a complete breakdown of anything civilized in the country they are supposed to serve. The judiciary, which is traditionally distant from partisan bickering, is now smack in the middle of it. This nonsense that those appointed to the court vote only partisan means that we should simply replace the court with an artificial intelligence system that decides cases based strictly upon the Constitution.
This Congress would NEVER be capable of even writing a Constitution. If they existed in 1776, there would be NO United States. If they would have ever agreed to have a revolution against the King, they would have then turned on each other. Very few would have survived such an event. I personally am fed up with politics. My cousin has the musket that our family used in the American Revolution. If my family, who has fought in every war from the American Revolution onward were alive today, they would seriously wonder what they even fought for.
There is no doubt that historians will look back on the hearing as a turning point in this country when the Decline and Fall of the United States was at least exposed and some will make this event as the tipping point. This has exposed that hatred that is brewing beneath the surface. The computer will no doubt be correct. We have gone way too far to ever return to normality.
Owning a Congressional critter, owning a Senator or owning a compromised SCOTUS.
Priceless
“If my family, who has fought in every war from the American Revolution onward were alive today, they would seriously wonder what they even fought for. “
Same here.
I had Confederate ancestors who fought against Northern tyranny, during the so-called Civil War.
I often think how ashamed they would be of us, their descendants, for putting up with all the shit we get dumped on us.
To paraphrase an old George Wallace quote. “Secession today, Secession tomorrow, Secession forever.”
Unreconstructed, I’m a rebellious, unreconstructed Southerner myself. But the South surrendered, unfortunately, and those Southern soldiers had to endure worse than we’re enduring now, hence Reconstruction. I think they would understand. After the War Between the States, ALL dissenting states or groups or individuals felt the U.S. government wrath. The North didn’t know what it was headed for.
What is/was normality and when did it exist?
Were those ‘the good times’, so-called ?
My perspective of the USA (as a government and culture) has been and continues to be a
collection of miasmas, vaporous and moving slowly yet with deliberation across the polis.
There have always been agents of change, to be sure. There have been many of them and not always in progression but oozing along in concurrency.
Nihilism is a nasty little bug, but inert to the extent that it requires nothing of the adherent.
No proselytizing here, just a declaration of valuelessness.
The current culmination of recent times requires one to evangelize (but not of the tenants of the ‘shining city on a hill’). It requires elements of nihilism, at least to devalue certain ideas, not the least of which is to devalue ALL of Western Culture.
It demands that merit-based activities are destroyed
It requires acknowledgement of victim-hood.
It requires a hierarchy of skin-tones/identity.
etc.
These ideas and others have been around since the inception of the establishment of the USA,
it’s just that they seemed quiescent and unpopular at times. But, the agents were there.
It’s kind of like the production of ethyl alcohol. The yeast feeds on the sugar and produces the alcohol toxin as a byproduct. The yeast continues to live and feed until the point that it cannot survive the toxin.
The alcohol yield cannot be increased significantly, but it can be ‘refined’ by distillation.
The distillery maintains the alcohol while eliminating many of the other components.
With age and further purification makes the product more palatable.
The Distillery is a Tyrant.
Stay tuned for more non-related comments from lovable old Aggie.
Kavanaugh the tipping point?!Eh,in the end,say we had a scotus that outlawed free speech/firearms ect.,would you follow those directives/decisions(I thought not!),hence,that would not be the end but the beginning.
Funny, that’s what I’m doing today, going to the garden center to see if they have a soil test kit so I know how to amend and improve the raised beds.
And rain is supposed to be lucky on your wedding day.
A thunderstorm on my wedding day proved that old wives tale true in my case
The double yellow line analogy is something I actually use quite often. Now is not the time for despair. This isn’t a permanent condition, this was a moment in time. If you didn’t turn into a blue haired fatty covered in tattoos, things could turn out well for you. The big question I always have is, what are we going to do with the useless eaters? I think they’re just going to end up very poor. Hardscrabble, didn’t you make a comment to one of my posts one time about people learning to deal with the business end of a hammer or a frying pan? That’s where we’re headed. People are going to have to pull their own weight. NAFTA got killed last night. Things could improve faster than you can imagine, the present mess was all deliberate choices made by people that sold us out. We can choose differently. We are choosing differently. It’s not an instant process, but we’re on the way.
Good glass is half full counter point. HSF’s is the glass half empty point. I agree with HSF’s point but pray that your point is proven correct… Chip
I’m not really trying to make a counterpoint, exactly. NAFTA was the original sin. The day Bill Clinton signed it was the day the average American got robbed of their most valuable resource, the value of their labor. When Trump talks of making better deals with China and Mexico and Korea and Japan, those really aren’t who we’re fighting. We’re fighting the scum that sent our industry overseas, and made it so fucking difficult and expensive to operate here. It’s easier to fight from a nationalist standpoint for now, and they certainly have been given every opportunity to amend their ways. The first two years of Trumps presidency have only been a warm up. the full on war to come with the economic traitors amongst us is still ahead. But it’s winnable. We are going back to an effort based economy. You want to eat? You’re going to have to work. But the flip side is we’re the most prosperous country the world has ever seen.
Again, I pray you’re right. I see the possibility and completely understand how it can happen according the pathway you’ve laid out. That pathway assumes Trump get’s re-elected in 2020 and that we hold the house and senate in 2018. But I also see HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of stupid people in the USA and BILLIONS of dollars being poured in to destroy the USA from idiots like Soros, Koch Brothers, Gates, and other like minded globalists… Chip
And I voted for Ross Perot by the way. He was spot on about NAFTA and as a professional engineer his charts appealed to me… Chip
Exactly sit.
Remember Ross Perot? “That sucking sound is NAFTA sucking the jobs out of the country. He and his family were threatened if he dis not drop out of the presidential race.
Here’s a good article about what’s happened with NAFTA. By the way Hardscrabble, somebody has linked your article over on Conservative Treehouse.https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/10/01/massive-win-nafta-loophole-closed-canada-and-mexico-agree-to-u-s-approval-authority-of-any-future-trade-agreements-with-third-parties/#comments
Great post HSF. Illustrative, short, sweet, and point well made… Chip
I’m surprised you weren’t banished for hate speech against the weather. The next obvious step is blaming your pessimism for the weather. That is when things get truly dangerous. When you abandon reason, the pathway is opened for stuperstition to take over. Then we’re one step removed from decapatated heads rolling down the pyramid.
As brutal as civil war is, it does not mean that “everyone” is going to die. Even during the decade of the civil war, US population increased by more than 20%. Only 2% of the population died during the war.
Here’s a fair question… at what point is this societal divide we all talk about ALSO just imaginary – and won’t turn into anything at all? It seems very scripted and people are amazingly vulnerable to playing along… we don’t watch MSM anything, and don’t really feel so terrified about this 4th turning. Is it possible it just won’t happen? I think people are too lazy to go nuts and revolt. I may change my tune once the music stops – but will the music ever stop?
It is a fair question and one I have asked myself many times. I think the answer is self-evident, however. You say “people are just too lazy to go nuts and revolt.” Short term laziness can prevent human-made disaster, but not in the long run. Laziness is a vice not a virtue and as such can never ultimately lead anywhere good.
I suppose the lack of food and water can definitely change things up in a hurry. Like if “the grid” went down – or perhaps some kind of economic shift. But what has to play out in order for that to happen? Are we really just one click away from wide-scale disaster?
The short answer is “yes” but that is a very low probability in my mind. More likely is a slow descent into chaos alla Venezuela. I began reading about the economic troubles there at least 4 years ago. But, let’s look at that: there are places in Venzuala that are essentially hell on earth, but shit, there are ALWAYS places somewhere like that. There are also places that are relatively peaceful just not as well off as they used to be.
There’s a line from Frank Herbert’s Dune that I often reflect upon: “God created Arrakis (Dune) to train the faithful.” This the notion that hard times and harsh environments produce tough, resilient people. On the flip side, because there is always a flip side, easy living creates snowflakes. Follow the logic, of course, and you see that snowflakes inevitably end up fucking everything up and making life hard, while tough, resilient hard inevitably make life easier. It is all human nature and so far appears entirely inalienable from us.
Here is a relevant question for you based on what we have just read: In a situation that you just described, SHTF time, are you going to be able to build those bridges to the other side, mend those fences, bury the hatchet, and forgive them for their ways (that may or may not have caused the whole mess in the first place), or are you going to be too busy settling a few scores?
If you’re asking me, personally, I have no scores to settle, zero enemies at current and no hatchets to bury. I do however, have many bridges to build. I forgive easily, but do not contribute to my community as I should….I tend to often to sit on the sidelines, a luxury I may not have for much longer.
Worth a read:
http://shtfschool.com/blog/
I thought about posting that yesterday. It is definitely worth reading.
I agree. I hope you have decent folks around you… good people you trust?
I’ve been told that I feel the way I do, that another civil war is inevitable, is because I only listen to one side. Truth is, I take all “news” these days with a grain of salt, believing no one entirely. I give much more credence to what I actually SEE going on around me; on my street, in my town, at my job, and yes, on the road. What I see is this; my sons need to learn Spanish to get a job, even though the United States’ official language is English. The children of illegal immigrants go to college FREE, this after using identity theft to access welfare, Section Eight, and such to live here and get their kids through our public schools… on the public dime… The sons of a retired military man get nothing. But again, both the sons and the father get to pay the bills for the illegals. Blacks can run through the streets, destroying as they please, as they need to be given their “space to destroy.” And driving; driving is bloodsport now, with traffic lights and the double-yellow line taken as mere suggestions, which are largely ignored. Women and homosexuals are free to convict via allegation.
It’s all about law and order. If what applies to one doesn’t apply to all, we’re screwed, plain and simple… …Therefore, I prepare…
Tom, so true, what an excellent post. We live in South Texas and although we are both about to retire we feel like aliens in our own country (we are white of course) and also believe it a necessity to learn Spanish… Chip
I was a paramedic in the Bronx decades ago. I saw firsthand that there is a seething anger just below the surface just waiting to be released. In those days, it was confined to the ghetto. It has metastasized over those decades. The confined pressure has increased by many orders of magnitude. I will also tell you that it was coddled and coaxed. The people on the other side of the tracks have been told since birth that the wealth of the nation was stolen from them and they are entitled to take it back. There is no way, at this point, to let it diffuse. They are waiting to take everything that you have.
I do not know what the trigger will be, but I will tell you that the violence that will erupt will be Biblical in proportion.
As any frequent TBP reader would know, I have frequently written the following of late: Hope springs eternal, but reality is inevitable.
I appreciated the wedding example in the above article, as well as the reference to the “Counselor” film in the ensuing commentary. In the case of the wedding, the situation involved the weather – whereas the Counselor had other hard circumstances to consider (I’ve not seen the film). In both analogies, the proverbial writing was on the wall for those willing to see.
Isn’t that the way of it in most circumstances and events? Sure, there are surprises, but aren’t the surprises more often the exception as opposed to the rule?
Hope is fine as long as it’s rooted in reality and weighed against the odds. Hope divorced from reality becomes delusion, or rather, plans based upon illusion.
This has been on my mind for the last several months and was, in fact, the impetus behind my transition pieces from April through August.
Last week Stucky found a used book, read the first chapter, and said I would like it. I found the book at my library and am reading it now. Although I do question some of the author’s premises – for the most part, I agree with the assessments; if not all of the conclusions therein.
Hardscrabble’s written analogies above reminded me of two quotes from the book. The first quote speaks to the individual’s embrace of illusion and seems reminiscent of outdoor weddings in inclement weather. It was attributed to the Spanish philosopher and essayist Jose Ortega y Gasset:
How can one develop a plan B or even C with no acceptance that Plan A is NOT guaranteed?
The second quote addresses the masses in general; or those who see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe:
Watch the actions of the creators so you can know them.
On another note, I, too, recently attended a barn wedding. Traveling there from out of state, I was glad we dressed warm and wasn’t surprised at how many shivered uncontrollably in spite of modern weather forecasts. Nope. I wasn’t surprised at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzhzCF77GDo
We have been betrayed by the very people responsible for protecting our nation from ending up in this situation. The Democrats and RINOs Republicans are traitors who need to be shot for their damnable treasonous behavior. But they are not the ones making the real decisions . There are groups ( secret societies ) that have a Luciferian worldview that are hell bend on bringing in this New world order but first they have to destroy Western Civilization especially America.
I used to have hope but once Trump is out of office all hell (and all planned ) is going to hit our nation .They are already telling us what’s coming. We are safe as long as Trump is in the white house. He is not a traitor and he doesn’t hate white Americans nor is he a Luciferian. We have been given time ( by the grace of our Lord ) to prepare . Prepare the best you can.
Good words Hard farmer . I hope we could meet someday. God bless you and yours .
My hope lies not in the things of this world. I feel truly sorry for the hopeless; those who place all hope in that which may or may not occur here. As a Bible believing Christian, I am encouraged to set my sights not on things of the earth, but on the things of my eternity in heaven (Col 3:1-3). Humans are eternal beings and this life but a vapor (James 4:14). God has so much more in store for those who choose Him over self (Eph 1:10).
Obviously while we are here we must deal with the physical circumstances life throws at us. There is the practical side of living and it will bring what it will bring. Knowing however what Christ has done for me (and all others, if they would just stop and think scripturally for a time about the nature of the human condition) leads me in directions and provides a purposefulness to life I’d never would have known without Him. It is a gift that, once received, cannot be kept to oneself. It must be shared… the stakes too high.
Rom 5:1-5… “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
Things are certainly getting ugly around here and I don’t look forward to the increased human suffering we all know is on the way. It can’t not happen. Such was set in motion from the beginning. Death came by one man. God has always provided a means of salvation however and it has never been more easy than it is today. It is eternal hope and peace (no enmity whatsoever) with our Creator. Such peace is nearly beyond the ability to fathom. It comes not from this world. Life comes by one man. Christ. God Himself.
Phil 4:6-7… “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Today and every day I pray that at least one person here finds the same hope and peace, made available to man 2,000 years ago by Christ’s atoning death, burial and resurrection; the sole solution to mans eternal sin problem.
This is where we are. No physical preparation for any earthly circumstance (however critical) matters nearly as much.
grace and peace…
GCP, I honestly cannot understand the down votes you have received for this message of hope. I understand that there are Atheists that read and post on TBP. Most here I think are libertarians or have libertarian type beliefs. At the very least I think almost all of us believe in individual freedom, liberty, and justice. Surely even you Atheists out there must believe in “live and let live”. Be a non believer if you so desire, I have no problem with that what so ever. But at the same time why must you condemn a believer? Instead I suggest that you post what YOU believe in your own comment and choose not to condemn a message of hope which was very thoughtfully written… Chip
Thank you kindly Chip. I stand in the liberty wherewith Christ has made me free. Some folks just can’t seem to accept that. It is what it will be and has been for a long while. You have a real nice evening sir!
Can we just leave the Pastor alone.
Bla bla bla bla!!!
A significant proportion of Americans believe that whether one is male or female is a matter of choice, and that the rest of us must be forced to abide by the decision of the chooser. There can be no more obvious manifestation of mental illness than for a person of one sex to believe he or she is actually of the other sex, yet those entrusted with treating the mentally ill validate that illness – indeed, many in our society celebrate it. Talk about an illusion!
But I don’t know which is worse: to believe that black is white, or to know that black is not white, yet to celebrate it when others claim it to be so, and even to force others to participate in the untruth.
I am reminded that Solzhenitsyn held that one of the worst characteristics of the Soviet Union was that the regime would force citizens to participate in the lies as a way of demonstrating its power over the individual. Think of that the next time you hear the names Chelsea Manning or Caitlin Jenner.
BRILLIANT!
We’re gonna need a whole lotta glasnost, or freedom of speech and perestroika, or rebuilding.
Its going to take lots of both to first say that what goes on in the tax spending Congress isn’t what the tax paying citizens want, then do something about it .
A farmer is a man in touch with the world the way it is. I’ve said before that HSF ‘s writing gives me a peaceful feeling. Not this piece. It gives me a mixture of sadness and fear. HSF made me sit up and take notice.
As I read this I felt that my mom and sisters were in the wedding party demanding sunshine. That is how they are. It infuriates me that they don’t think a month ahead yet alone 5 years like normal people. My younger sister is mid fifties and has always had someone to bail her out. She’s mentally a high schooler. She was forced out of a black carpeted mouse dropping shithole apartment that she made and moved in with mom. Years ago she laughed and said that she didn’t worry because dad and I did it for her. Mom and other sister are consumers too without a thought to their actions. I have been part of the problem coming to their rescue time and again. Now I have a wife that has been burdened in the past month with two E.R. visits that turned into two hospital stays and a dozen follow on dr appointments with still no insight into her illness. She has lost the ability to make tears so can only see clearly when she uses blink temporary tears. I am her driver and caregiver, as it should be. I have raised the drawbridge upon my mom and sisters as we have enough on our plate. I feel that mom is too old and tired to help dig herself out and too controlling and stubborn strike that pigheaded to listen to me.
Do what you have to do. Family can be a resource suck. Preserve it for yourself and other who deserve it.
You have a lot on your plate. I am a believer but not much of a pray-er. However, right here and right now I will just lift subwo up to the Creator of heaven, hoping his devotion to his wife does not escape the Great Physician’s notice.
I’ve got a good one who makes his family his priority too. I count my blessings and am positive your helpmeet does as well.
Thanks Maggie. I was complaining after I broke my wrist this spring and it wasn’t healing right so the titanium plate was put in. Wrong move, I should have settled for out of alignment but the surgeon needed his pay so he argued it would be a bad move. Still doesn’t bend well and hand, usedtabe dominant one, feels like I have glove on all the time with the swelling. But it pales compared what my wife is going through. I would trade places with her if I could. Family doesn’t really care including son, who cannot do anything anyway. I told him years ago that until he got a wife the only two people that really care about him in the whole world are his parents. He has baby coming around turkey day so his mind is preoccupied. At least 4 hours on the phone with triscare keeps me otherwise occupied.
Oh, dear. U have the Tricare phone calls to keep your spare time occupied too, then.
When I had my eye surgeries to correct for double vision, I had to use those natural tears for a couple weeks until my eyes started producing tears again. I can’t imagine what your wife is dealing with and as far as your hand?
My husband had a miniscus tear on his knee and they took tissue from the MCL (I think) which is on the other side and now that hurts. The surgeon said the only thing he can do is a knee replacement.
I will tell Nick about your hand to reinforce his decision to forego the knee replacement at least until it is so painful he can’t walk.
subwo, could you look into getting the plate removed? Sounds like there is something ongoing to which I wouldn’t be resigned.
xrays say it is not interfering with bones that make up hand. Dr says it is scar tissue that needs to be broken down. I’ll keep working it.
What’s this: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christine_Blasey
Good article, HSF, I posted it.
Great post, Hardscrabble. The wedding disappointment was an excellent touch.
Since no one knows the future, this is what I accept. We are not in charge. The one who IS arranges things for the good of most people. Most people, being unaware of why we’re here, don’t know good from bad.
100. I win
Kinda cute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml5OEgVsqRM
Listening to this now…
pay particular attention to what Juan Williams said being read by Orrin Hatch into the record..
Good post, RiNS.
It was said before, on a different post, on the same topic.
Bork, Thomas, and now Kavanaugh. Pattern? Absolutely.
Of course it’s a pattern. It seems we select electoral college voters who select presidents so they can select SC justices who will invalidate our presidential vote on the basis of hanging chads which congress appoints. This is political football and Trump ain’t taking a knee. It’s all a great distraction. We should eliminate the middle men.
The discussion about Juan Williams comments begins around the 9:30 mark, for those interested in that.
A very pertinent memory.
EXCELLENT writings as usual sir.
It appears that the Republicans who we look to counter the attackers on the other side have caved to fear of words instead of duty. God forbid one should be called a deplorable, or some other politically correct term of disdain.
Never forget the fight is all about one thing only, POWER to control the stealing rights to the Treasury.
Clinton foundation Billions, $150 Billion to Iran, $100 Billion to the Paris climate accord, and the $21 Trillion that has disappeared at the Pentagon that Catherine Austin Fitts documented with dates and facts at her web site.
These are just the verifiable easy ones.
Buchanan has it reviewed here quite well. http://buchanan.org/blog/are-republicans-born-wimps-130269
People’s eyes and ears send messages to the brain; but most people are not capable of using their mind to put these messages into rationale thought.