Armchair Philosophy, September 2nd, 2020
Topic: Where there's a will there is a way, but a man who only knows of life on an island has no perception of a broader world.
It has been a while since I wrote a long form post like this. Color me inspired. This is a bit of an offshoot of today's podcast. When speaking with my Fox friend from New York, I realized that his ideology was fully encompassed within his perception of having been a New Yorker for the past 5 years. Despite a worldly upbringing, he had always idolized New York City and his adoption of the local worldview seems tied to his transformation to be one of the members of the society he had so admired. He is a loud and vocal individual, always speaking his mind and quick to criticize those he sees as being incorrect. If you remembered Donald Trump cutting off Hillary saying "wrong" over and over when I said that, you probably wouldn't be too far off the mark. As you can imagine, this makes any conversation that goes against the mainstream New York grain one he would contend with and would rarely humor more than taking as an opportunity to laugh at the other person.
Now, this seems like a critical lambasting of my friend, but I do treasure this friend. He has his rough edges, but he's fiercely loyal and a first draft ally if ever you needed one. It is all a part of his charm, you could say. But it is unmistakeable that he cannot see beyond Manhattan island when it comes to politics. While he is conservative by upbringing, his views are closer to a Romney RINO than they are to a Trump or a Rand Paul. He'd likely consider Rand Paul an extremist, if asked.
New York has historically been seen as a highlight of american success, but it is not without its faults, even before DiBlasio became its mayor. One critical aspect of New York City is the grind and hierarchy of success that seems to permeate the middle to upper class social structures. It is almost as if there is a competition between people all of the time and those who lead the competition become both idols and targets to take down. Simultaneously, there is the centralized authority that has only grown more focused over the years. At first, it was policies such as stop and frisk that were designed as gun control action by police. I would think such a policy would violate the 2nd and 4th amendments, but New York accepted it, perhaps due to the benefit of the declined crime afterwards. Trading freedom for centralized security. Then there was the ban on super sized soft drinks. Many may have laughed at it, but it was still accepted. A small, but effective step towards government control over what people can consume. Today, DiBlasio has almost complete control over everything that happens in the city and seems to make things legal or illegal at his own whim. He allows BLM protests but would block any acts of the first amendment that he does not agree with, using the age old claim of safety as the reasoning. At this point, deferring freedom for safety is not just an event in New York society, but it has become a regularly accepted part of it. So when a stubborn New Yorker leaves the island, the belief that they carry with them is that, wherever they go, security should always take precedent over freedom. Doing otherwise would be selfish.
Willful people can make things happen, but that doesn't mean that the actions they believe in are the right ones. New Yorkers who idolize their city and dismiss the rest of the country as "inferior" bring with themselves a dismissal of the situations off of their island home. They are willful to have their desires accomplished, but act as though the world should follow the standard and procedure of the home that they place at the top of their hierarchy. This is anecdotal, but it is something I have seen repeatedly. And it does not only qualify for New York. I have seem country folk who simply do not grasp the intricacies of multi-cultural cities and balancing their needs. Granted, they'd be easier to grasp if they assimilated into a uniform culture, but that is a topic for another day. The main thesis of this is to say that people tend to view the world from a fixed perspective, and often generalize things to be uniform despite differences. At least, those people exist and seem to be the loudest.
This analysis has largely been a metaphor of physical location, but it applies to general sources for ideas, ideology, and culture at large. Having a single news source gives you a single perspective. Having a single friend group means you're unlikely to hear new ideas outside of that group. Without the intent to break down your own barriers to knowledge and personal growth, it is unlikely that any individual would accomplish such a thing in their everyday life. So there are many islands in this great nation of ours, which means that there are many bridges that need to be built. So let's work together to build those bridges!
That does it for today's armchair philosophy. More of a reflection than anything else, but I find this to be a rather important topic for everyday communication and debate. How do you build bridges between ideological islands? I look forward to hearing about your thoughts and experiences below.
-James
Fun Fact: The original Commutation Construct Logo was designed with this bridge building idea in mind
Just thought I'd share this comment I was trying to comment on a Lotus Eaters video. Btw, ya'll should follow the Podcast of the Lotus Eaters if you aren't already. Great analysis and discussion
It's been a while since I've made a video, and this time with a locals exclusive. A cherry on top that I managed to fit within the size requirements. I like making shorter form content like this, considering my tendencies to ramble. Having content exclusive for my followers here is something I'll be working on doing more and more. I'll be creating more value here for my subscribers as well, with some subscriber exclusive content in the future. No timeline promises, cause I think we know how I get when I make a ton of promises (go hardcore for a week and then fall flat on my face unable to keep up with the sprint, lol).
Anyhow, let me know your thoughts and questions below. Have a great day everyone!
A direct upload! It turns out I recorded a video just short enough to meet the minimum upload offerings that locals offers to small communities like mine. That means you guys get this exclusively on locals!
I didn't sleep much last night, so I decided this was the perfect time to mull over my confused thoughts on how businesses are viewed from a legal perspective. Businesses are somewhat legal enigmas to me. Corporations are kinda treated as persons so that they can be double taxed, but have other protections, other types of businesses aren't treated the same way. They're able to consolidate power like governments, yet aren't subject to any form of limitations in regards to violating natural rights the same way the government is, despite being treated somewhat like persons they can still buy each other. It's just very odd to me from a principled, legal, and philosophical position.
Anyhow, my ramblings here are just that, ramblings. Still, I am curious what you all think of this topic. ...
The 2020 election is over, and the battle has just begun. What do I expect to come from the end of the election? Will the legal suits turn over anything for this election, or will they mean something for later down the line? I reflect on these questions and more in this discussion, and I also reflect on some final thoughts relevant to the Rise and Fall of Empire Series, that, thus far, being episodes 8 through 10 of the Construct Cast. Let me know your thoughts, and if you have any reflections of your own from this year's political cycle or other developments that you can't seem to get off your mind in the comments below.
In this episode of the Construct Cast, I discuss my analysis of Sir John Glubb's The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival, with an emphasis on my own consideration for what it would take to help an empire survive, or reboot. If immortality for an Empire is impossible, is rebirth impossible in the same way? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Editor's Note: Returning to the podcast versions of the Construct Cast, I want to catch our content up to the videos we have had released over the past month. I apologize for this getting away from me for a bit. With the rise in content production, I had allowed this to get away from me. We will be returning to audio podcast uploads of the Construct Cast as per our original regular schedule, at 12PM EST on the day of the original upload, going forward.
In this second Crossover podcast, we are once again recording with Kevin @Eng_Politics. His channel is a bastion of political thought and analysis from the perspective of a conservative engineer. Interested in diving deeper into my concept of Progressive Traditionalism and combating the concept with his own beliefs of what it means to be Conservative, we decided to put our definitions and beliefs to task in this crossover episode!
Be sure to check out Kevin's locals community here:
https://engineeringpolitics.locals.com/
And if you're more interested in the video version, here is a direct link:
https://engineeringpolitics.locals.com/post/235260/the-engineering-politics-podcast-30-conservatism-vs-progressive-traditionalism
So I just confirmed that, after a year off of the Keto diet, my Ulcerative Colitis (a type of IBS) is still not only in remission, but seemingly cured as if it never was there, including no more polyp growth.
This self-experiment has shown me that a prolonged period on Keto, about 2 years for me, was enough to create the long lasting effects to repair and cure my gastrointestinal system to complete recovery from what was supposed to be a lifelong, incurable illness. I still have a minor level proctitus at the exit, to put it in the least gross way I can think, but with the rest actually fully cured to where my new GI doctor asked if I was misdiagnosed originally is a major accomplishment.
For those seeking a source on how to get here like I did, I recommend following Thomas Delaur's YouTube channel for general inflammation control/healthy keto/ workout advice, only eat meat that is 100% Grass fed and pasture raised (including eggs), and drink a glass of Kefir at least once a week. Good ...
Controversial capitalist take, but I personally don't think stock ownership should give any power to the stockholders over business decisions. Buyouts and ownership should be separate from stock investment. How? There are various options to discuss. Why? Theoretically an investment firm could invest ownership stakes into every major investment firm over time and concentrate all of their investments to own controlling stakes across entire industries or even all publicly traded companies.
Actually, this isn't so theoretical if you look at BlackRock's partnerships with Vanguard and State Street. The three companies operate in virtual lockstep and theoretically wouldn't even need 51% collective ownership in the companies they invest in because any company with an array of other investors should have some theoretical minimum that they can guarantee will follow the leadership of these big 3 in most cases. I've seen estimates that they only need a collective 35% share to all but guarantee any ...
