As demonstrated by various artists in the 19th century, cheap color photos in older newspapers, and staring closely at the screen of an old CRT television set, you will notice that all those images are built up from smaller quanta. To me, "The Big Picture" in any world situation is built up from a vast mosaic of smaller issues. Cultural gravity pulls groups of people to look at similarly related points of data to drive the engine of popular culture, and thereby drive the force of history (see my upcoming blog entry on "Psycho-history).
Due to data overload, people tend to focus on strips or stripes of data in this bigger picture. We sometimes call them, "single issue" people. Those driven with passion towards certain causes are good examples. I spend large amounts of time assimilating information in my mind. The sources are frequently the Internet, pulp print, old newspapers, old books; actually, just about any data medium up to and including the park bench. You would be amazed at what you can hear people talk about if you just spend some time and listen.
Glenn Beck is frequently maligned as a doom and gloom harbinger. Sometimes he can even depress me, and that is saying something. However, I do have to say that the man includes a multitude of data points in his observations. Over the last few years, our pictures of the nation, and the world in general have been building up to be very, very similar. You would have to go and research Glenn's excellent documentaries on Progressivism to see the larger picture and I don't have space or time to duplicate that here for everyone. Suffice it to say, here are some points we should all keep in mind, perhaps research them on your own if you are interested in seeing where we are and where we may be going:
- Job losses continue, as in, jobs are still being lost month after month. This is not a recovery, it is a slope.
- The courts have been packed with Liberals and Progressives since before the Carter administration, and it shows.
- In the 1930's, a woman hung herself because she became pregnant out of wedlock, today it is a celebrated, and preferred, family plan by people of many walks of life.
- The GI generation landed humans on the moon. The Boomer generation has killed all manned space flight and currently has a Muslim outreach program in the works.
- The dollar has continued to slide since the late 1960's and has plummeted since the Bush and Obama administrations opened the monetary flood gates (I know, the FED did this, but that is another blog).
- Nations around the world are terribly destabilized economically; mostly through poor management of their budgets (massive public debt), 150 years of Progressivism, and the growing weakness of the dollar; since much of the world trading is done pegged relative to the dollar, they are finding trade to be more expensive relative to their domestic currencies (as the dollar loses value compared to, say, the Yen).
- Birth rates in Europe are dropping faster than Obama's approval rating. The Muslim population is growing at a mirrored, accelerated rate.
- Birth rates in America have declined as well in all ethnic groups EXCEPT the Hispanic and Latino population groups. This will lead to a shift in cultural norms that could destabilize the country at a bad time in history.
- China is laying claim to territories outside of its historical claims. This is due to their rising power in financial and military matters. I still feel that China is a soap bubble waiting to pop, but that is just my opinion. Again, this represents a not so friendly player on the world market who does not share our Western cultural values. Even the Soviet Union was more European than Asian. Think about what this means and read up on the Korean War for their mind-set.
- Billionaires are purchasing actual gold ingots by the ton. Not the ounce, but the raw ton. In other words, they are trading pieces of paper that they see as losing value for objects that are gaining in value. Watch what the rich people do with their money, they got rich for a reason. If they are putting on a steel pot and running for a bunker lined with gold, look out. The economy is collapsing and the economic crash of 2008 is catching up with us.
- The Catholic church in North America has now been infected with the Socialist definition of "Social Justice", just as Central and South America were infected with it in the 1950's. The Catholic church seems to like the growing Hispanic population because it is technically a Catholic demographic, however, the Hispanics coming here to live believe in abortion, pre-marital sex, and corruption as a way of life. Just look at what is happening in Mexico today and tell me the fraying of the religious and cultural fabric is not at the heart of the issue.
- Public schools have become Progressive boot camps.
- Public servants earn 40% more than their civilian counterparts and are seeing an unemployment rate of under 4%.
- The Tea Party is being called a racist organization even while the Democrat part eliminates weak black politicians from their rolls, heck, even good contending ones. The Democrats traditionally supported slavery in the 19th century and fought the Republicans tooth and nail during the civil rights movement. Somehow, that all went down the memory hole.
- Orwell's 1984 and Rands' Atlas Shrugged must be mandatory reading for everyone.
- Think back to what the country was like when you grew up, what were the speed limits, what was the price of gas? Then take it a generation back and ask the same questions about your parents, and their parents.
You will see how things have changed over a single generational cohort. We went off the gold standard. The world essentially went to an inflationary-based economy. We became more and more interlinked economically as a globe. Capitalism and the Free Market have been maligned, yet those are the only two economic theories that have resulted in any form of cultural or technological progress.
Think on all of this as I have for the last several years. It may make you think about taking a dozen steps back and looking at that vast mosaic called humanity. Remember, we shape tomorrow with what we do today. We make history, but for many, history drives today's actions.
I can not leave without another comment on that last sentence. It may sound silly, but it is true. An example: during the Muslim expansion in the 7th century, a mixed crew of nationalities under the Muslim banner stormed out of Africa and into Spain. They continued on into France and were only stopped by a determined ruler (an ancestor of Charlemagne no less) outside the city of Tours. The Europeans did not forget this and did not forget that Christan holdings had been taken over in Spain, North Africa, the Near East, etc. Those holdings had been Christian since the founding of the church in Rome and Constantinople (NOT Istanbul). The Crusades were a multi-faceted event, but one of the main reasons was to drive the Muslims out of Jerusalem. The Muslims of today are still fighting the Crusades in the modern era. We drive history, much as history drives us.
The Stoa is open and ready for the next instructor. Live well.
--Zavost
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