infinitysisters

[infinitysisters]

"I criticize elites a lot. But I have nothing against "elites" as a category. I'm not a communist (though even communist regimes had elites; funny how that works).

𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦.

👉🏼𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲.👈🏼

Peter Turchin in "End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites and The Path of Political Disintegration" has written:

“𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬—𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬—𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥.”

There's nothing wrong with elites, and every functioning (and non-functioning) society has elites and needs elites. If you tried to depose the existing elites, other elites or aspirational elites would simply replace them.

I’m not against elites. I just wish we had better elites, that's all."

＿＿＿

Ron Henderson

[infinitysisters]

"The truth is not simply that words originally innocent tend to acquire a bad sense. The truth is that words originally descriptive tend to become terms either of mere praise or of mere blame.

The vocabulary of flattery and insult is continually enlarged at the expense of the vocabulary of definition. As old horses go to the knacker's yard, or old ships to the breakers, so words in their last decay go to swell the enormous list of synonyms for good and bad.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞

This process is going on very rapidly at the moment. The words 'abstract' and 'concrete' were first coined to express a distinction which is really necessary to thought: but it is only for the very highly educated that they still do so.

In popular language 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦 now means something like "clearly defined and practicable"; it has become a term of praise.

𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 means "vague, shadowy, unsubstantial"; it has become a term of reproach.

𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯, in the mouths of many speakers, has ceased to be a chronological term ; it has "sunk into a good sense" and often means little more than "efficient" or in some contexts "kind" ;

𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 can no longer be used in its proper sense without explanation.

𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 is a mere term of approval;

To save any word from the eulogistic and dyslogistic abyss is a task worth the efforts of all who love the English language. And I can think of one word—the word 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯—which is at this moment on the brink.

That is always the trouble about allowing words to slip into the abyss. Once turn 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘦 into a mere insult, and you need a new word (pig) when you want to talk about the animal. Once let 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘮 dwindle into a useless synonym for cruelty, and what do you do when you have to refer to the highly special perversion which actually afflicted M. de Sade?

It is important to notice that the danger to the word "Christian" comes not from its open enemies, but from its friends.

It was not egalitarians, it was officious admirers of gentility, who killed the word 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯. The other day I had occasion to say that certain people were not Christians; a critic asked how I dared say so, being unable (as of course I am) to read their hearts. I had used the word to mean "persons who profess belief in the specific doctrines of Christianity"; my critic wanted me to use it in what he would (rightly) call "a far deeper sense"—a sense so deep that no human observer can tell to whom it applies.

And is that deeper sense not more important? It is indeed ; just as it was more important to be a "real" gentleman than to have coat-armour. But the most important sense of a word is not always the most useful. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

And when, however reverently, you have killed a word you have also, as far as in you lay, blotted from the human mind the thing that word originally stood for.

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲."

＿＿＿＿

C.S. Lewis, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴

September 22, 1944

[infinitysisters]

“𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨.

I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins.

Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic...Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured.

𝐇𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬.

This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin.”

—

C.S. Lewis

[infinitysisters]

This was a good one from back in the day.

https://soundcloud.com/tefonik/break-yoself-foo-mix

Repostin’ dat funk. :-) 1 Cute little French girl - a story 2 Anna Caragnano & Donato Dozzy - Parola 3 Peter Kruder - Law of Return 4 Childish Gambino - Sober (Oliver Nelson Remix) 5 Angel D & Daniele Petronelli - Iko Iko (Min & Mal Remix) 6 Blackstreet - No Diggity (The Polish Ambassador Remix) 7 Bassbin Twins - Zapped 8 Krafty Kuts vs.La Roux - Bulletproof (Tepr mix/Krafty Kuts re-rub) 9 Madeon - Pay No Mind feat. Passion Pit (Lemaitre Remix) 10 Meat Beat Manifesto - God OD (Jonah Sharp mix) 11 Kerri Chandler - Planet Sonic 12 Tokyo Machine - PARTY パーティー 13 Booka Shade - Body Language (Adrian Funk Remix) 14 Cute lil’ French girl - a story (reprise)

[infinitysisters]

“My case is not that the nation state is the only answer to the problems of modern government, but that it is the only answer that has proved itself.

We may feel tempted to experiment with other forms of political order. But experiments on this scale are dangerous, since nobody knows how to predict or to reverse their results.

The French, Russian, and Nazi Revolutions were bold experiments; but in each case they led to the collapse of legal order, to mass murder at home, and to belligerence abroad.

The wise policy is to accept the arrangements, however imperfect, that have evolved through custom and inheritance, to improve them by small adjustments, but not to jeopardize them by large-scale alterations the consequences of which nobody can really envisage.

The case for this approach was unanswerably set before us by Burke in his Reflections on the French Revolution, and subsequent history has repeatedly confirmed his view of things.

The lesson that we should draw, therefore, is that since the nation state has proved to be a stable foundation of democratic government and a secular jurisdiction, we ought to improve it, to adjust it, even to dilute it, but not to throw it away."

— Roger Scruton

[infinitysisters]

Yuri Pimenov - Spring Window (1948)

[infinitysisters]

“The life of man is a story; an adventure story; and in our vision the same is true even of the story of God.

…𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲.

It is a story and in that sense one of a hundred stories; only it is a true story.

It is a philosophy and in that sense one of a hundred philosophies; only it is a philosophy that is like life.

But above all, it is a reconciliation because it is something that can only be called the philosophy of stories.

That normal narrative instinct which produced all the fairy tales is something that is neglected by all the philosophies—𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞. The Faith is the justification of that popular instinct; 👉🏼the finding of a philosophy for it or the analysis of the philosophy in it.👈🏼

Exactly as a man in an adventure story has to pass various tests to save his life, so the man in this philosophy has to pass several tests and save his soul.

In both there is an idea of 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧; in other words, there is an aim and it is the business of a man to aim at it; we therefore watch to see whether he will hit it.

Now this deep and democratic and dramatic instinct is derided and dismissed in all the other philosophies. For all the other philosophies avowedly end where they begin; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ��𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲; 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

From Buddha and his wheel to Akhen Aten and his disc, from Pythagoras with his abstraction of number to Confucius with his religion of routine, there is not one of them that does not in some way sin against the soul of a story.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧.

Each of them starves the story-telling instinct, so to speak, and does something to spoil 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞; either by fatalism (pessimist or optimist) and that destiny that is the death of adventure; or by indifference and that detachment that is the death of drama; or by a fundamental scepticism that dissolves the actors into atoms; or by a materialistic limitation blocking the vista of moral consequences; or a mechanical recurrence making even moral tests monotonous; or a bottomless relativity making even practical tests insecure.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲; but there is no such thing as a Hegelian story or a Monist story or a relativist story or a determinist story; for every story, yes, even a penny dreadful or a cheap novelette, has something in it that belongs to our universe and not theirs.

🔑Every short story does truly begin with creation and end with a last judgement.🔑”

G.K. Chesterton,

The Everlasting Man (1925)

[infinitysisters]

Asi es.

[infinitysisters]

“BLAKE WROTE the Marriage of Heaven and Hell. If I have written of their Divorce, this is not because I think myself a fit antagonist for so great a genius, nor even because I feel at all sure that I know what he meant. But in some sense or other the attempt to make that marriage is perennial.

The attempt is based on the belief that reality never presents us with an absolutely unavoidable "either-or"; that, granted skill and patience and (above all) time enough, some way of embracing both alternatives can always be found; that mere development or adjustment or refinement will somehow turn evil into good without our being called on for a final and total rejection of anything we should like to retain.

This belief I take to be a disastrous error. You cannot take all luggage with you on all journeys; on one journey even your right hand and your right eye may be among the things you have to leave behind.

We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre: rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork you must make a decision.

Even on the biological level life is not like a pool but like a tree. It does not move towards unity but away from it and the creatures grow further apart as they increase in perfection. Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good.

I do not think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road. A wrong sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.

Evil can be undone, but it cannot "develop" into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, "with backward mutters of dissevering power"-or else not. It is still "either-or." If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.

I believe, to be sure, that any man who reaches Heaven will find that what he abandoned (even in plucking out his right eye) was precisely nothing: that the kernel of what he was really seeking even in his most depraved wishes will be there, beyond expectation, waiting for him in "the High Countries."

In that sense it will be true for those who have completed the journey (and for no others) to say that good is everything and Heaven everywhere. But we, at this end of the road, must not try to anticipate that retrospective vision. If we do, we are likely to embrace the false and disastrous converse and fancy that everything is good and everywhere is Heaven.

But what, you ask, of earth? Earth, I think, will not be found by anyone to be in the end a very distinct place. I think earth, if chosen instead of Heaven, will turn out to have been, all along, only a region in Hell: and earth, if put second to Heaven, to have been from the beginning a part of Heaven itself.”

C.S. Lewis, preface to The Great Divorce

[infinitysisters]

[infinitysisters]

“Government is a search for order, and for power only in so far as power is required by order.

It is present in the family, in the free associations of neighbours, and in the ‘little platoons’ extolled by Edmund Burke in his Reflections on the French Revolution and by Alexis de Tocqueville, in Democracy in America.

It is there in the first movement of affection and good will, from which the bonds of society grow. For it is simply the other side of freedom, and the thing that makes freedom possible.”

[infinitysisters]

“When I met him on the set for the very first time…a couple of hours before we were going to shoot our first scene together, the director says (to Matthau) “this is Kevin Pollak, he’s going to play your son”, and I foolishly decided to make small talk with Walter Matthau, and I said, ‘So, Walter, uh, uh, the script’s pretty good huh?’, and he says, ‘the script sucks kid, I owe my bookie 2 million.’”

— Kevin Pollak, Grumpy Old Men (1993)

[infinitysisters]

[infinitysisters]

[infinitysisters]

lol

[infinitysisters]

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡-𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 "𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲."

𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞'𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲��𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 "𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦" 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭.”

— 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐦é 𝐒𝐢𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐱

[infinitysisters]

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Anaxagoras maintained that snow is black, but no one believed him. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤.

Various results will soon be arrived at.

First, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞.

Second, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐞𝐧.

Third, that 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞.

Fourth, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲. (aka “crackpot conspirarcy theories”)

But I anticipate. It is for future scientists to make these maxims precise and discover exactly how much it costs per head to make children believe that snow is black, and how much less it would cost to make them believe it is dark gray.

Although this science will be diligently studied, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

When the technique has been perfected, every government that has been in charge of education for a generation will be able to control its subjects securely without the need of armies or policemen…

Some of these effects depend upon the political and economic character of the country concerned; others are inevitable, whatever this character may be.”

—Bertrand Russell

𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 (1954)