missionary ground

"Certainly, Gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a Representative, to live in the..."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:42:30 -0400

“Certainly, Gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a Representative, to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion high respect; their business unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and, above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But, his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgement, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you; to any man, or to any sett of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the Law and the Constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your Representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”

- Edmund Burke, Speech to the Electors of Bristol, 1774

“We hereby declare our independence from the Autocrat of...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:10:39 -0400

“We hereby declare our independence from the Autocrat of the Post Office” - Alexander Berkman, 1916

"The key to power in the Fourth Republic is that no one who has power wants anyone to think of them..."

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:03:53 -0400

“

The key to power in the Fourth Republic is that no one who has power wants anyone to think of them as having power. For example, in the traditional iron triangle, legislators do not have power. They are just expressing the will of the people. Civil servants do not have power. They are just making public policy. Lobbyists do not have power. They are just communicating their concerns.

This is a profoundly Orwellian situation. The root of the problem is that the modern English language has no word which means “power,” but carries only positive associations. … A good way to find the most powerful people in the US is to find the most responsible people. No one in the US is scheming for power. A lot of them seem to be working for change. No one in the US is brainwashing the masses. A lot of them seem to be educating the public. No one in the US is ruling the world. A lot of them seem to be making global policies.

”

- Mencius Moldbug, 2007

"In the little apologue or parable which he has thus the honour of inventing, the trees stand for all..."

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:31:59 -0400

“

In the little apologue or parable which he has thus the honour of inventing, the trees stand for all visible things and the wind for the invisible. The wind is the spirit which bloweth where it listeth; the trees are the material things of the world which are blown where the spirit lists. The wind is philosophy, religion, revolution; the trees are cities and civilisations. We only know that there is a wind because the trees on some distant hill suddenly go mad. We only know that there is a real revolution because all the chimney-pots go mad on the whole skyline of the city.

Just as the ragged outline of a tree grows suddenly more ragged and rises into fantastic crests or tattered tails, so the human city rises under the wind of the spirit into toppling temples or sudden spires. No man has ever seen a revolution. Mobs pouring through the palaces, blood pouring down the gutters, the guillotine lifted higher than the throne, a prison in ruins, a people in arms—these things are not revolution, but the results of revolution.

You cannot see a wind; you can only see that there is a wind. So, also, you cannot see a revolution; you can only see that there is a revolution. And there never has been in the history of the world a real revolution, brutally active and decisive, which was not preceded by unrest and new dogma in the reign of invisible things. All revolutions began by being abstract. Most revolutions began by being quite pedantically abstract.

The wind is up above the world before a twig on the tree has moved. So there must always be a battle in the sky before there is a battle on the earth. Since it is lawful to pray for the coming of the kingdom, it is lawful also to pray for the coming of the revolution that shall restore the kingdom. It is lawful to hope to hear the wind of Heaven in the trees. It is lawful to pray “Thine anger come on earth as it is in Heaven.”

”

- G.K. Chesterton, The Wind and the Trees

"If America worked like California, America would have guaranteed paid vacation, bihourly breaks, and..."

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:17:52 -0400

“If America worked like California, America would have guaranteed paid vacation, bihourly breaks, and workman’s comp for the caregivers down at The Babysitters Club Local 427. If America worked like California, our naked masses would be welcomed into our McDonaldses — provided they lay towels between their undercarriages and the plastic bucket seats — but toys would be forbidden in their Happy Meals. If America worked like California, every home would have an obligatory compost pile, and none would have puppies from pet shops. If America worked like California, the legality of fireplace usage would vary by day per “Spare the Air” edicts, and the reading of the Gospels with four or more friends would require a conditional-use permit. And if all of America were absorbed by the Sacramento Commissariat, all of America would have A.B. 32, the Golden State’s ambitious carbon-curbing initiative, and all Americans would be wearing dumb smiles as we marched over the edge into an economic abyss.”

- Western Promises, Dan Foster

Fiction: Mosby's Memoirs

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:52:45 -0400

Fiction: Mosby's Memoirs:

This is just so good. Saul Bellow, in 1968.

Maurice Becker, Ammunition, 1914

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 15:50:03 -0400

Maurice Becker, Ammunition, 1914

Your Most Obedient and Humble Servant: If the Founding Fathers Had Tumblr Blogs

Wed, 29 May 2013 23:46:00 -0400

Your Most Obedient and Humble Servant: If the Founding Fathers Had Tumblr Blogs:

publius-esquire:

George Washington: Would use a simple template and dedicate his blog mostly to his farm work; what crops are doing well and what grows best in what soil, and where to get the best beer in the country. It’s not a terribly active blog. Accidentally became tumblr famous. He’s also annoyed because…

"The nearer we come to the full military suppression of the bourgeoisie, the more dangerous becomes..."

Mon, 27 May 2013 12:39:19 -0400

““The nearer we come to the full military suppression of the bourgeoisie, the more dangerous becomes to us the high flood of petty-bourgeois Anarchism. And the struggle against these elements cannot be waged with propaganda and agitation alone. … The struggle must also be waged by applying force and compulsion.””

- Vladimir Lenin, The Guillotine at Work

ubu507: Discovering Dad is a Luddite… lol

Mon, 27 May 2013 10:50:53 -0400

ubu507:

Discovering Dad is a Luddite…

lol

"Retroculturation"

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:18:00 -0400

I heard this public radio program from 2006 about “retroculturation” in the Hispanic community rebroadcast recently on 88.5.

There might not be any connection, but this somewhat odd 2007 essay from TAC by Paul Weyrich and Bill Lind uses a similar term:

One of conservatism’s most fundamental impulses, and one of its most valuable in a time when history is neglected or forgotten, is to recover good things from the past. Traditional cities and towns, passenger trains and streetcars, are examples of this tendency, which we label retroculture. The next conservatism should incorporate retroculture as one of its guiding themes, a basis for its actions beyond politics. Want to fix the public schools? How about Schools 1950? We already have retro cars such as Volkswagen’s New Beetle and the Mini. Why not retro manners and retro dress? It would be nice to see men’s and ladies’ hats again instead of kids’ underwear. By making old things new, retroculture might offer a counterweight to the endless spiral downward that pop culture decrees in everything. If fire is needed to fight fire, perhaps fashion should be used to fight fashion.

Ironic that the community embracing “retroculture” the most is comprised substantially of first- and second-generation immigrants.

More here.

Photo

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:59:04 -0400

Examining the rise of the “nones” (link)

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:51:02 -0400

Examining the rise of the “nones”

(link)

weirdvintage: Muhammad Ali playing Monopoly, 1963 by Steve...

Thu, 09 May 2013 10:36:59 -0400

weirdvintage:

Muhammad Ali playing Monopoly, 1963 by Steve Schapiro

"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of..."

Mon, 06 May 2013 17:14:14 -0400

“

The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in this world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.

I open the New Testament and read: ‘If you want to be perfect, then sell all your goods and give to the poor and come follow me.’ Good God, if we were to actually do this, all the capitalists, the officeholders, and the entrepreneurs, the whole society in fact, would be almost beggars! We would be sunk if it were not for Christian scholarship! Praise be to everyone who works to consolidate the reputation of Christian scholarship, which helps to restrain the New Testament, this confounded book which would one, two, three, run us all down if it got loose (that is, if Christian scholarship did not restrain it).

”

- From Kierkegaard’s Journals, and beyond question my favorite passage from his works. (via ayjay)

Long Hidden Vatican Painting Linked to Native...

Sun, 05 May 2013 09:19:18 -0400

Long Hidden Vatican Painting Linked to Native Americans

“The fresco, The Resurrection, was painted by the Renaissance master Pinturicchio in 1494 — just two years after Christopher Columbus first set foot in what came to be called the New World.

Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums, told the Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano that after the soot and grime were removed, in the background, just above the open coffin from where Christ has risen, “we see nude men, decorated with feathered headdresses who appear to be dancing.” One of them seems to sport a Mohican cut.

The image dovetails with Columbus’ description of having been greeted by dancing nude men painted black or red.”

centuriespast: STEEN, JanThe Effects of Intemperance1663-65Oil...

Thu, 02 May 2013 11:02:51 -0400

centuriespast:

STEEN, Jan
The Effects of Intemperance
1663-65
Oil on wood, 76 x 106 cm
National Gallery, London

don’t mess

Thu, 02 May 2013 11:02:24 -0400

don’t mess

retrogirly: Rita Hayworth Wink Wink ;) For My Texan

Thu, 02 May 2013 11:00:09 -0400

retrogirly:

Rita Hayworth

Wink Wink ;)

For My Texan

The Locust Economy

Wed, 01 May 2013 15:20:24 -0400

The Locust Economy:

Last week, I figured out that I am a part-time locust. Here’s how it happened. I was picking the brain of a restauranteur for insight into things like Groupon. He confirmed what we all understand in the abstract: that these that these deals are terrible for the businesses that offer them; that they draw in nomadic deal hunters from a vast surrounding region who are unlikely to ever return; that most deal-hunters carefully ensure that they spend just the deal amount or slightly more; that a badly designed offer can bankrupt a small business.