orenda

FIN DE SIÈCLE

trumpism

Trumpism and the remaking of world order

Friday, 10 November 2017

As the soul of America travels through the katabasis known as Trumpism, we are able to catch a glimpse of the various conjurings out of the Hegelian grimoire taking place that are shaping the narrative of the current historical moment. Rhetorically, the most strident voices against Trumpism are decrying what they view as a Völkisch pastiche underway, as if part of the country is under the spell of some kind of cult of personality mixed with a dash of ethno-nationalism – a mass ritual that will result in a society full of Minute Men asking non-whites for their identification papers, ready to deport anything not wrapped in Old Glory. The staunchest examples of this kind of politico-cultural gemeinschaft are Nazism and Zionism. But does Trumpism parallel these kinds of weltanschauung? In some ways it does, but in others ways, it represents the opposite. The one world government, resulting in a nationalist backlash, leading to a multilateral denouement dialectic being played out misses the larger picture. Namely, the new thesis that results from the synthesis we seem to be heading toward. Trumpism fits the fascist moniker in that it embodies romantic ideas of the great return to a Golden Age, (more…)

Advertisement

BETE NOIRE 2016

democrat-republican

The social engineering of the US Presidential Election

Thursday, 28 July 2016

All roads lead to Rome – or in this case, globalization. This election boils down to the question of means, not ends.

The setbacks of each of the presidential candidates are well-known by anyone with even a cursory interest or understanding of American politics. As such, these topics will not be discussed here. Instead, what will be offered is an examination of how the narrative of this election is being shaped, and what outcomes flow from the interpretations of these narratives.

The first, and perhaps most obvious, narrative is that an outlandish character named Donald Trump has been created in order to drive Hillary Clinton into the White House, (more…)

ON MASTERY – PART I

mobius

The relationship between pain and pleasure in the development of mastery

Friday, 5 February 2016

Gaining pleasure and avoiding pain are perhaps the most fundamental motivators of human behavior. It has been rightly observed that too often we are in a state of pain avoidance rather than pleasure seeking. This phenomenon of the human psyche is one of the most significant obstacles in the cultivation and development of mastery. (more…)

BEING UN-AMERICAN IN AMERICA

unamerican

Un-Americans: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Colonial Perspective

Sunday, 16 March 2014

Let me begin by stating emphatically that it is un-American to call or accuse anyone of being un-American. Nowhere is being un-American as rampant as it is in America. Being un-American isn’t to be confused with being anti-American – the former being a state of not being American, the latter being a person who is against America. In order to fully understand this phenomenon, we must ask some fundamental questions that (more…)

ARE YOU AWAKE?

pill

Evaluating political language in the age of information overload

Wednesday, 11 March 2014

Seeing the amount of spending on political advertising rise to historic levels is certainly cause for serious concern, but perhaps even more threatening to the future of our democracy is the effect these messages have on our psyche. How are we to navigate the morass of messaging we are bombarded with from all sides of the political spectrum, the sole aim of which is to change or strengthen our opinions and biases about x, y, and z, when our minds have been attrited into a catatonic stupor?

I would like to propose that media literacy has actually gotten easier, not more difficult in the current political climate. It isn’t cynicism that brings me to this conclusion. It’s the realization that at the end of the day, there are only a few variables that reliably affect the opinions of the “average citizen”. You might be thinking, “It’s all about the money.” And it is, but there are two important concepts you need to keep in mind when evaluating political language.

Have you ever asked yourself how you form opinions about a particular issue or candidate, or what it would take for you to change your mind about the candidate or issue? The two most significant variables that are likely to affect your opinions about “Candidate X” or “Referendum A” are (more…)