The most subversive leftist doublespeak term that undermines America's moral and spiritual foundations, plus full bracket and winner of Trump Derangement March Madness at the end
On a comment thread yesterday, someone compared the Woke to church ladies. Sure, as far as stridency and vehemence goes, I guess that's kinda an apt comparison. But the end point of both couldn't be farther apart. Christianity is a civilizing force; wokeness aims to destroy it and Western Civilization.
I would highly recommend historian Tom Holland's "Dominion" for an interesting, well-written account of how Christianity transformed the world. An atheist, Holland now finds himself going to Sunday services regularly. He has set foot on the narrow path that many others have taken in our thoroughly degenerate societies. https://www.amazon.com/Dominion-Christian-Revolution-Remade-World/dp/0465093507
Rather than look to 'spiritual middlemen' to tell us what is true and what is not, I advocate for Spiritual Autodidacticism.
We have all been conditioned to latch onto the comforting (and infantilizing) idea that someone other than ourselves is going to solve our problems for us. This has never been true and it never will be true.
For many people, when they hear the word “Spirit” or “spirituality” they think religion, and that’s understandable considering religious institutions have claimed for millennia that they are the ‘celestial middle men’ that can sell you a ticket to connect with that which is beyond the physical. Theoretically, religion is supposed to be (or at least it is marketed as) a medium for knowing and connecting with the non-physical, ‘the mystery’, ‘the divine’, or “Spirit”. Unfortunately, in my experience, it rarely serves that purpose and most of the time it ends up driving a wedge between the individual and that cosmic knowing, that spiritual awareness, that inner light. Religious belief systems have become distorted and proliferated through centralized global religious institutions as tools used by individuals who covet power and manipulation to control the global population and create complacency as well as to shape a limited world view, inflate egos, as to enable them to direct many of the working class into conflicts ‘wars’ for profit. Belief systems that promote guilt, fear, ego and a pretentious sense of being more important or ‘more blessed’ than other people or other forms of life, are belief systems that are disempowering and not based in truth. When we take a look around at the world today those are the characteristics of most mainstream religious institutions. The core principles of a given religious belief system may have some value to an individual seeking to better him/herself, but the institutions as a whole have been infiltrated and corrupted by humans operating in the ego, feeding their greed and want of power over others.
Rather than looking to myths of eternal damnation or institutions to threaten us into being “good” I instead look to nature (which is an intrinsic part of Creation and thus infused with God’s design/truth) for inspiration in these matters. When one is planting a garden and seeks to avoid unwanted plants (aka “weeds”) from taking over that space, one can go about it in one of two ways. Firstly, the conventional approach that sees weeds as “the bad guy” and takes on an adversarial approach that fears the “weeds” (seeking to threaten them with physical and chemical ‘punitive measures’ if these sinful ‘weeds’ dare appear). This approach results in an endless and futile internal conflict in the garden, where “weeds” find ways to become resistant to the chemical and physical attacks and they persist despite the relentless efforts of the gardener engaging in the ‘crusade against their evil weed foes’. The other approach seeks to plant the seeds for that which is desired and beautiful to flourish in that garden (until the point in which that which is “good” outcompetes the so called evil “weeds”). This approach to gardening plants can also be applied to the gardens of our hearts and minds.
There is no elected official, institution, politician, guru, priest, revolutionary, savior or any other external force or individual who can do this for you. Engaging in life on Earth is a voluntary journey that each of us chose willingly. The Creator of all things respects our choice to be here and our free will. We did not come here to see a dramatic dualistic showdown happen and applaud the ‘good guy' for vanquishing the bad guy (from a distance as a spectator). No, each and every one of us (whether we are currently consciously aware of this fact or not) came here to co-author the story. That means no-one else is going to do the hard work for us (not a savior, rebel leader nor a politician) we came here to do that work of transforming this world ourselves.
summon spirits? I am not advocating buying a Ouija board, I am talking about learning to cultivate the garden of the mind, through meditation and stillness of thought, to connect with one's own eternal soul and the Creator of all things.
The woke are like church ladies in that they live to correct, police, and pass judgement on others. The impulse is the same, the ends they are ultimately pursuing is the only difference.
regardless, i would just say that Church Ladies are eternal, the cause or Church itself is secondary—it seems to be more about toxic femininity, the tendency of a certain kind of moralistic lady to try to spread her maternal instinct over an entire group or society, and using this moral pretext as a way to sit in the front row of church and be seen as moral guides, and to use thsi supposed moral superiority to tell the rest of us how to live, be, think.
now that i think of it, i may be just ripping off Nietzsche...
I have come across more "church ladies" in the secular professions of crossing guard, third grad teacher, school board member than I have run into at church. Then again, I'm a papist.
What exactly about it compelled you to say that? Do you have any specifics you can provide which prove that anything within my essay is based in "ignorance"? Or are you just talking trash and being a comment thread troll?
> Do you have any specifics you can provide which prove that anything within my essay is based in "ignorance"?
Way too many to list. However, I can list a couple:
> There were many cultural practices that existed in what we now call “North America” (or Mshike Mnise which means “Turtle Island” in the Anishinaabemowin language) before the Europeans came
> (..)
> the one through-line that can be observed in the traditional views and spiritual teachings of all of the indigenous cultures of Turtle Island is that they recognized all of our fellow non-human beings on Earth as animate, imbued with a spirit and as persons deserving of our respect and reverence.
Which is why they engaged in such practices as cannibalism and human sacrifice.
> Indigenous tribes in North America developed a symbiotic relationship with the bison.
After having exterminated all the larger native mega-fauna upon their arrival.
> When the mass graves at the residential schools became too conspicuous to sweep under the rug our government denounced the facilities (which they created and funded for decades) and apologized.
Upon actual inspection the "mass graves" were found to not actually exist. Sadly hardly anyone was punished for the church arsons this blood-libel inspired.
Your statements are a mix of flat out fabrications, weak generalizations and thinly veiled racism/superiority complex thinking that attempts to paint a plethora of different peoples with broad derogatory/condescending brush strokes so that you can make yourself feel special.
You are regurgitating distorted euro-centric propaganda that equates to if someone was to read from a history written about Jewish people by antisemites. What you say above is illegitimate, based in egotistical lies, delusions of superiority and multi-generational brainwashing.
The truth about what cultures were more advanced in the time of the colonizing of Turtle Island by Europeans can be observed by anyone that knows how to read the soil. The evidence is irrefutable.
The evidence clearly shows that while they may not have been all over Turtle Island, many peoples that lived here for millennia in regions all over what is now called "north america" provided all they needed to thrive due to their regenerative agroforestry activities.
That way of life was obliterated or severely crippled by imperialistic invasions (and the subsequent brainwashing/"assimilation" of the survivors over multiple generations) the only "real" (tangible, physically observable and measurable) certainties we can observe about those peoples which objectively speak to how they lived (and how their way of life either aligned with increased or stable biodiversity or decreased/crippled it) is found in the soil.
The soils in the dominant European epicenters of imperialistic "civilizations" tell us the story of ecologically illiterate and/or greedy short sighted ways of living and interacting with the ecosystems they depended on to survive.
The anthropogenic Terra Preta of the Amazon and the deep dark soils of the Great Plains of Turtle Island (aka "north america") however tell a different story about how humans interacted with the ecosystems they depended on to survive.
Anthropologist William Balée argues that at least 12% of the Amazon was directly or indirectly created by humans using “Dark Earth.” Terra Preta (literally “black earth”) is a manmade soil of prehistoric origin that is higher in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium than adjacent soils. It controls water and reduces leaching of nutrients from the rhizosphere. Rich in humus, pieces of pre-Columbian unfired clay pottery, and black carbon, it’s like a “microbial reef” that promotes and sustains the growth of mycorrhizae and other beneficial microbes, and it has been shown to retain its fertility for thousands of years. In university trials, terra preta has increased crop yields by as much as 800 percent. It regrows itself when excavated.
William Devan, a geologist from the University of Wisconsin who is prominent in terra preta research, offers these comments: “The black terra preta is associated with long-enduring Indian village sites, and is filled with ceramics, animal and fish bones, and other cultural debris. The brown terra mulata, on the other hand, is much more extensive, generally surrounds the black midden soils, contains few artifacts, and apparently is the result of semi-intensive cultivation over long periods. Both forms are much more fertile than the surrounding highly weathered reddish soil, mostly oxisol, and they have generally sustained this fertility to the present despite the tropical climate and despite frequent or periodic cultivation. This is probably because of high carbon content and an associated high microbial activity which is self perpetuating.”
William I. Woods, a soil geographer at Southern Illinois University says terra preta covers a surface area in the Amazon equivalent to the size of France.
As Charles C. Mann wrote, in a piece that drastically changed the perception about native populations in the New World before contact, contrary to the popular isolated hunter-gatherer notions of natives, the New World was a highly advanced civilization that manipulated their environment on a large scale. He believed that humans were a keystone species—that is an animal that plays a crucial role in the functioning of an eco-system.
Charles C. Mann writes about terra preta, “Faced with an ecological problem, the Indians fixed it. The indians were in the process of terraforming the Amazon when Columbus showed up and ruined everything.”
Lyla June (also linked in my other comment) did some additional research regarding studying soil samples to get metrics on how the ancients of Turtle Island lived and interacted with their environment in her dissertation which you can read here:
> Your statements are a mic of flat out fabrications, generalizations and thinly veiled racism/superiority complex thinking that attempts to paint a plethora of different peoples with derogatory/condescending brush strokes so that you can make yourself feel special.
Which specific claim of mine do you dispute? Or are you just talking trash and being a comment thread troll?
Also, the lifestyle of the various Plains Indian Tribes you celebrate was a reasonably new development, only made possible by the reintroduction of horses by the White Man, the original North American horses having been hunted to extinction by the ancestors of the Indians upon their first arrival in America millennia ago.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a.k.a., the Iroquois, you also mentioned carved out their brief empire based on monopolizing access to the European trading posts and the guns the Europeans were willing to trade for furs.
Your knowledge of the real history of Turtle Island is lacking. You are talking about isolated points in history and isolated groups of people. Turtle Island has been inhabited for over 9000 years and the many different cultures that lived here chose many different paths. Some of those paths were degenerative (as the Europeans were and are) and some were regenerative and embodied ecological literacy.
All Humans (whether they are indigenous or city dwellers) have the capability of either being takers/consumers (extracting from the Earth but giving nothing back) or givers (living within a web of reciprocal gift exchanges).
Both choices can be observed in individuals in our lives and cultures throughout history.
Here are some examples of when cultures decided to use their genius, technology, horticultural/botanical knowledge and ecological literacy to define themselves as givers living within a web of reciprocal gift exchanges (having a huge positive impact on the ecosystems around them):
“Architects of Abundance: Indigenous Food Systems and the Excavation of Hidden History” :
Obviously, psychopathy, greed and other anti-social traits are not unique to modern western culture. Unpleasant, selfish (and even sometimes ecologically degenerative) characteristics can be observed (overtly) in the traditions of specific isolated indigenous peoples (some of them were slave trading warlords and others may have respected the forest but were somewhat materialistic coveting ornate possessions).
Other indigenous peoples refused to trade with people that enslaved others and wanted nothing to do with money (as was the case with some of the people (as was the case with some of the people that are described in the this essay https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/why-involuntary-governance-structures?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2 , who called the Eastern Woodlands, where I now live, home). Thus, I feel that while no culture is perfect, and some may have lived in a way that expressed more compassion, ethical social structures, ecological literacy and holistic thinking than others, one thing is certain, and that is that these starkly contrasted cultures offer us helpful sign posts as we attempt to navigate and forge a path towards a more honest, equitable, kind, abundant and regenerative future.
So, just to be clear, no, I am not saying we should live in mud huts, engage in tribal warfare and/or do animal sacrifice ceremonies (or what ever red herring hypothetical that high tech civilization loving people might throw at me who would accuse me of peddling the “noble savage myth” or something). I acknowledge conflicts and rituals that existed in the Druidic ways and between the various indigenous tribes of what is now called North America. However, I would suggest that we should keep in mind that demonization and dehumanization of the perceived “enemy” or targeted “sub-human class” of an empire is a time tested psychological warfare technique that has been employed in both real time conflicts and retrospectively as “victors write the history books”.
Each one of us can seek to tap into the deep well of place based knowledge that was gathered and honed over centuries to millennia by those who lived close to the land and to the forest before we moved to where we are today. For some of us finding the way into that ancient wellspring of knowledge may require some excavation as centuries or even millennia may have passed since those who lived close with the land and who had reverence for and who gathered the knowledge of the medicine and food plants of that bio region lived there. For me that involves revitalizing Food Forest Design and Polyculture Gardening Techniques which were used here in the Eastern Woodlands centuries ago but it may look different for each of us based on what trees, plants, fungi, climate and topography exist where we live. While I was doing research for my recently published article on working with Birch Trees (in the context of permaculture design and Regenerative Agroforestry, which you can read here: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/birch? ) I came across an immense diversity of place based knowledge for how to interact with birch trees rooted in indigenous cultures from modern day Canada, to Scotland/Ireland (my ancestors homeland) all the way to Russia. Each indigenous group had their own unique way to interact with Birch trees in a way that both benefits the forest ecology and offers, medicine, food, tools, art and shelter to humans. For instance, the Evenki people (that once lived in the vast regions of Siberia between Lake Baikal and the Amur River.) used birch for crafts, winter food and created waterproof structures that somewhat resembled what most would think of as a "TeePee" except they were made of Birch Bark.
As stated above no culture was or is perfect so while you embark upon this path of learning with humility also take an honest look at what aspects and ways the ancient people who called the land home where you live are things that no longer serve us and/or should be let go of and allowed to remain as a lesson from the ancestors but not a path which should be walked again. All of our ancient ancestors have place based wisdom to share, knowledge of medicine plants/fungi and all of our ancient ancestors also engaged in some activities and behaviours that are not beneficial and should be left in the past, it is up to each of us to use our own intuition, discernment, research, pattern recognition and critical thinking capacities to distinguish what aspects of ancient cultures should be accepted as gifts only in the form of a lesson/cautionary tale and those aspects that should be accepted as a gift in the form of something that we should strive to breath new life into, revive and build upon to build resilience-and reciprocity in our lives and relationships as well as reverence, humility, practical knowledge and universally applicable wisdom in our perspectives and ethoses.
Permaculture design also involves stacking functions and turning problems into solutions and seeking to research how the ancient people who called the land home where we now live can serve a great many functions. It firstly can hopefully help us get a head start in building our ecological and botanical literacy by tapping into the lists of plants and fungi those people had already studied and experimented with that grow in a particular bioregion and it also invites us to combine humility with discernment to look at ways in which our modern knowledge and techniques could build on and potentiate those more ancient ways if possible. As stated above, another function of this learning process is identifying aspects of how ancient cultures lived that should be released and not revived in present day.
Additionally as that process of learning about ancient and humble ways invites us to unlearn many calcified ego based and often one dimensional or fallacious common modern world views, inviting us to become connected deeply to the place we call home. When we develop a reciprocal relationship to the place where we live and begin to see the earth as our ancient ancestors did, (as our Mother, whom is deserving of respect and whom we should be of service to and give back to for what we take) this allows us to embark on our own unique path to gather place based wisdom. The path to become connected to place with a reciprocal relationship, reverence and humility is the path to embrace indigeneity ourselves (regardless of our skin color or religious background).
> Turtle Island has been inhabited for over 9000 years and the many different cultures that lived here chose many different paths. Some of those paths were degenerative (as the Europeans were and are) and some were regenerative and embodied ecological literacy.
And yet you claimed "the one through-line that can be observed in the traditional views and spiritual teachings of *all of the indigenous cultures of Turtle Island* is that they recognized all of our fellow non-human beings on Earth as animate, imbued with a spirit and as persons deserving of our respect and reverence" until I called you out on your BS. Of course, the way you conceptualize your distinction between "degenerative" and "regenerative" cultures is also BS, maybe you might even admit that if I spent a week continuously calling you out.
> Obviously, psychopathy, greed and other anti-social traits are not unique to modern western culture. Unpleasant, selfish (and even sometimes ecologically degenerative) characteristics can be observed (overtly) in the traditions of specific isolated indigenous peoples (some of them were slave trading warlords and others may have respected the forest but were somewhat materialistic coveting ornate possessions).
Then why couldn't you highlight any of these "regenerative" cultures in your article rather than celebrating cultures you now admit were "isolated examples of 'degenerative' cultures"?
I thank the Heavens that I have been led to never watch the news and that most of the leftist crap in this article is nothing I care to know about. I am not saying the article is crappy, but it is rather good if you you love this garbage. My moral and spiritual foundations remain intact and whatever the left says is of no matter to me. Ignore it and live well.
Imagine being so obsessed with one single human being as to have a compulsion to write about him and him alone. The followers he has are obviously addicted to hate porn. I really wish our psychology departments were being professional and/or competent these days because TDS is very real. It's so psychotic have that kind of obsession. All I can ever imagine is that their lives must be absolutely miserable.
As I gaze upon the first image; women dressed unrionically in fertility robes, yet so unattractive; my first thought, in the words of Sargon of Akkad are "I wouldn't even rape you!"
There are multiple ironies in the US and her lackeys supporting Old Testament fundamentalism (to put it politely) in Palestine while the Enlightenment is no more than a Western propaganda tool these days (like "democracy")
I'm so glad that American clown world continues to provide inspiration for your work Yuri. I especially love the list of 10 commandments. Those leftists sure know how to dismantle the masters house and see the shitpile is a glorious rainbow.
The worship of the jab cartel was the final straw. It was so obvious what was happening, yet Maddow and Kimmel were the only ones to listen to, and my layman, middle class commentary was the problem.
Ironically, Margaret Atwood originally based the Handmaid's Tale on Sharia law and Iran after it turned away from its liberal revolution in the 70's back to Sharia law, in the 80's? I think? Now the story is a trope used against Christians and Christianity and meanwhile, culturally, the Left and its institutions are embracing Hamas and Palestinians who enact Sharia law...seems like we're getting away from common sense a little bit...
On a comment thread yesterday, someone compared the Woke to church ladies. Sure, as far as stridency and vehemence goes, I guess that's kinda an apt comparison. But the end point of both couldn't be farther apart. Christianity is a civilizing force; wokeness aims to destroy it and Western Civilization.
I would highly recommend historian Tom Holland's "Dominion" for an interesting, well-written account of how Christianity transformed the world. An atheist, Holland now finds himself going to Sunday services regularly. He has set foot on the narrow path that many others have taken in our thoroughly degenerate societies. https://www.amazon.com/Dominion-Christian-Revolution-Remade-World/dp/0465093507
Agreed. I can't quite put my finger on who these people are--they've always been around but now they dominate and own every institution.
I think they are at the root anti-human.
Like their leader, the father of lies, they hate strong men, good women, and most of all, babies.
When you are around them, you can feel the force-field of hate coming off them.
But--as the Apostle Paul says--"Put on the whole Armor of God"
Amen.
We also need the Archangels to struggle with Satan. The four soloists in the Mozart Requiem directly appeal to God to send the Archangel Michael.
Rather than look to 'spiritual middlemen' to tell us what is true and what is not, I advocate for Spiritual Autodidacticism.
We have all been conditioned to latch onto the comforting (and infantilizing) idea that someone other than ourselves is going to solve our problems for us. This has never been true and it never will be true.
For many people, when they hear the word “Spirit” or “spirituality” they think religion, and that’s understandable considering religious institutions have claimed for millennia that they are the ‘celestial middle men’ that can sell you a ticket to connect with that which is beyond the physical. Theoretically, religion is supposed to be (or at least it is marketed as) a medium for knowing and connecting with the non-physical, ‘the mystery’, ‘the divine’, or “Spirit”. Unfortunately, in my experience, it rarely serves that purpose and most of the time it ends up driving a wedge between the individual and that cosmic knowing, that spiritual awareness, that inner light. Religious belief systems have become distorted and proliferated through centralized global religious institutions as tools used by individuals who covet power and manipulation to control the global population and create complacency as well as to shape a limited world view, inflate egos, as to enable them to direct many of the working class into conflicts ‘wars’ for profit. Belief systems that promote guilt, fear, ego and a pretentious sense of being more important or ‘more blessed’ than other people or other forms of life, are belief systems that are disempowering and not based in truth. When we take a look around at the world today those are the characteristics of most mainstream religious institutions. The core principles of a given religious belief system may have some value to an individual seeking to better him/herself, but the institutions as a whole have been infiltrated and corrupted by humans operating in the ego, feeding their greed and want of power over others.
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/spiritual-autodidacticism
Rather than looking to myths of eternal damnation or institutions to threaten us into being “good” I instead look to nature (which is an intrinsic part of Creation and thus infused with God’s design/truth) for inspiration in these matters. When one is planting a garden and seeks to avoid unwanted plants (aka “weeds”) from taking over that space, one can go about it in one of two ways. Firstly, the conventional approach that sees weeds as “the bad guy” and takes on an adversarial approach that fears the “weeds” (seeking to threaten them with physical and chemical ‘punitive measures’ if these sinful ‘weeds’ dare appear). This approach results in an endless and futile internal conflict in the garden, where “weeds” find ways to become resistant to the chemical and physical attacks and they persist despite the relentless efforts of the gardener engaging in the ‘crusade against their evil weed foes’. The other approach seeks to plant the seeds for that which is desired and beautiful to flourish in that garden (until the point in which that which is “good” outcompetes the so called evil “weeds”). This approach to gardening plants can also be applied to the gardens of our hearts and minds.
There is no elected official, institution, politician, guru, priest, revolutionary, savior or any other external force or individual who can do this for you. Engaging in life on Earth is a voluntary journey that each of us chose willingly. The Creator of all things respects our choice to be here and our free will. We did not come here to see a dramatic dualistic showdown happen and applaud the ‘good guy' for vanquishing the bad guy (from a distance as a spectator). No, each and every one of us (whether we are currently consciously aware of this fact or not) came here to co-author the story. That means no-one else is going to do the hard work for us (not a savior, rebel leader nor a politician) we came here to do that work of transforming this world ourselves.
Swedenborgian?
?
Well?
Sorry, attempting to summon spirits outside of religion is a good way to get demons.
summon spirits? I am not advocating buying a Ouija board, I am talking about learning to cultivate the garden of the mind, through meditation and stillness of thought, to connect with one's own eternal soul and the Creator of all things.
The woke are like church ladies in that they live to correct, police, and pass judgement on others. The impulse is the same, the ends they are ultimately pursuing is the only difference.
🎯
i call "Church Ladies"! is my IP! ;)))
regardless, i would just say that Church Ladies are eternal, the cause or Church itself is secondary—it seems to be more about toxic femininity, the tendency of a certain kind of moralistic lady to try to spread her maternal instinct over an entire group or society, and using this moral pretext as a way to sit in the front row of church and be seen as moral guides, and to use thsi supposed moral superiority to tell the rest of us how to live, be, think.
now that i think of it, i may be just ripping off Nietzsche...
I have come across more "church ladies" in the secular professions of crossing guard, third grad teacher, school board member than I have run into at church. Then again, I'm a papist.
Here is another way that Christianity transformed the world:
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-anthropocentrism-bright
Wow, the linked article shows an impressive amount of ignorance.
What exactly about it compelled you to say that? Do you have any specifics you can provide which prove that anything within my essay is based in "ignorance"? Or are you just talking trash and being a comment thread troll?
> Do you have any specifics you can provide which prove that anything within my essay is based in "ignorance"?
Way too many to list. However, I can list a couple:
> There were many cultural practices that existed in what we now call “North America” (or Mshike Mnise which means “Turtle Island” in the Anishinaabemowin language) before the Europeans came
> (..)
> the one through-line that can be observed in the traditional views and spiritual teachings of all of the indigenous cultures of Turtle Island is that they recognized all of our fellow non-human beings on Earth as animate, imbued with a spirit and as persons deserving of our respect and reverence.
Which is why they engaged in such practices as cannibalism and human sacrifice.
> Indigenous tribes in North America developed a symbiotic relationship with the bison.
After having exterminated all the larger native mega-fauna upon their arrival.
> When the mass graves at the residential schools became too conspicuous to sweep under the rug our government denounced the facilities (which they created and funded for decades) and apologized.
Upon actual inspection the "mass graves" were found to not actually exist. Sadly hardly anyone was punished for the church arsons this blood-libel inspired.
Your statements are a mix of flat out fabrications, weak generalizations and thinly veiled racism/superiority complex thinking that attempts to paint a plethora of different peoples with broad derogatory/condescending brush strokes so that you can make yourself feel special.
You are regurgitating distorted euro-centric propaganda that equates to if someone was to read from a history written about Jewish people by antisemites. What you say above is illegitimate, based in egotistical lies, delusions of superiority and multi-generational brainwashing.
The truth about what cultures were more advanced in the time of the colonizing of Turtle Island by Europeans can be observed by anyone that knows how to read the soil. The evidence is irrefutable.
The evidence clearly shows that while they may not have been all over Turtle Island, many peoples that lived here for millennia in regions all over what is now called "north america" provided all they needed to thrive due to their regenerative agroforestry activities.
That way of life was obliterated or severely crippled by imperialistic invasions (and the subsequent brainwashing/"assimilation" of the survivors over multiple generations) the only "real" (tangible, physically observable and measurable) certainties we can observe about those peoples which objectively speak to how they lived (and how their way of life either aligned with increased or stable biodiversity or decreased/crippled it) is found in the soil.
The soils in the dominant European epicenters of imperialistic "civilizations" tell us the story of ecologically illiterate and/or greedy short sighted ways of living and interacting with the ecosystems they depended on to survive.
The anthropogenic Terra Preta of the Amazon and the deep dark soils of the Great Plains of Turtle Island (aka "north america") however tell a different story about how humans interacted with the ecosystems they depended on to survive.
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol26/iss2/art6/
Anthropologist William Balée argues that at least 12% of the Amazon was directly or indirectly created by humans using “Dark Earth.” Terra Preta (literally “black earth”) is a manmade soil of prehistoric origin that is higher in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium than adjacent soils. It controls water and reduces leaching of nutrients from the rhizosphere. Rich in humus, pieces of pre-Columbian unfired clay pottery, and black carbon, it’s like a “microbial reef” that promotes and sustains the growth of mycorrhizae and other beneficial microbes, and it has been shown to retain its fertility for thousands of years. In university trials, terra preta has increased crop yields by as much as 800 percent. It regrows itself when excavated.
William Devan, a geologist from the University of Wisconsin who is prominent in terra preta research, offers these comments: “The black terra preta is associated with long-enduring Indian village sites, and is filled with ceramics, animal and fish bones, and other cultural debris. The brown terra mulata, on the other hand, is much more extensive, generally surrounds the black midden soils, contains few artifacts, and apparently is the result of semi-intensive cultivation over long periods. Both forms are much more fertile than the surrounding highly weathered reddish soil, mostly oxisol, and they have generally sustained this fertility to the present despite the tropical climate and despite frequent or periodic cultivation. This is probably because of high carbon content and an associated high microbial activity which is self perpetuating.”
William I. Woods, a soil geographer at Southern Illinois University says terra preta covers a surface area in the Amazon equivalent to the size of France.
As Charles C. Mann wrote, in a piece that drastically changed the perception about native populations in the New World before contact, contrary to the popular isolated hunter-gatherer notions of natives, the New World was a highly advanced civilization that manipulated their environment on a large scale. He believed that humans were a keystone species—that is an animal that plays a crucial role in the functioning of an eco-system.
Charles C. Mann writes about terra preta, “Faced with an ecological problem, the Indians fixed it. The indians were in the process of terraforming the Amazon when Columbus showed up and ruined everything.”
For more info:
- https://web.archive.org/web/20210622043615/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-018-0205-y?WT.feed_name=subjects_evolution
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2311424/
-https://web.archive.org/web/20210615170106/https://returntonow.net/2018/08/01/the-amazon-is-a-man-made-food-forest-researchers-discover/
- https://underwoodgardens.com/terra-preta-magic-soil-of-the-lost-amazon/
- https://underwoodgardens.com/terra-preta-magic-soil-of-the-lost-amazon-part-ii/
- https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1805259115
Lyla June (also linked in my other comment) did some additional research regarding studying soil samples to get metrics on how the ancients of Turtle Island lived and interacted with their environment in her dissertation which you can read here:
- https://www.proquest.com/openview/17597a179528716e1a9e8515ca76ec77/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
> Your statements are a mic of flat out fabrications, generalizations and thinly veiled racism/superiority complex thinking that attempts to paint a plethora of different peoples with derogatory/condescending brush strokes so that you can make yourself feel special.
Which specific claim of mine do you dispute? Or are you just talking trash and being a comment thread troll?
Also, the lifestyle of the various Plains Indian Tribes you celebrate was a reasonably new development, only made possible by the reintroduction of horses by the White Man, the original North American horses having been hunted to extinction by the ancestors of the Indians upon their first arrival in America millennia ago.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a.k.a., the Iroquois, you also mentioned carved out their brief empire based on monopolizing access to the European trading posts and the guns the Europeans were willing to trade for furs.
Your knowledge of the real history of Turtle Island is lacking. You are talking about isolated points in history and isolated groups of people. Turtle Island has been inhabited for over 9000 years and the many different cultures that lived here chose many different paths. Some of those paths were degenerative (as the Europeans were and are) and some were regenerative and embodied ecological literacy.
All Humans (whether they are indigenous or city dwellers) have the capability of either being takers/consumers (extracting from the Earth but giving nothing back) or givers (living within a web of reciprocal gift exchanges).
Both choices can be observed in individuals in our lives and cultures throughout history.
Here are some examples of when cultures decided to use their genius, technology, horticultural/botanical knowledge and ecological literacy to define themselves as givers living within a web of reciprocal gift exchanges (having a huge positive impact on the ecosystems around them):
“Architects of Abundance: Indigenous Food Systems and the Excavation of Hidden History” :
https://www.proquest.com/openview/17597a179528716e1a9e8515ca76ec77/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Obviously, psychopathy, greed and other anti-social traits are not unique to modern western culture. Unpleasant, selfish (and even sometimes ecologically degenerative) characteristics can be observed (overtly) in the traditions of specific isolated indigenous peoples (some of them were slave trading warlords and others may have respected the forest but were somewhat materialistic coveting ornate possessions).
Other indigenous peoples refused to trade with people that enslaved others and wanted nothing to do with money (as was the case with some of the people (as was the case with some of the people that are described in the this essay https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/why-involuntary-governance-structures?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2 , who called the Eastern Woodlands, where I now live, home). Thus, I feel that while no culture is perfect, and some may have lived in a way that expressed more compassion, ethical social structures, ecological literacy and holistic thinking than others, one thing is certain, and that is that these starkly contrasted cultures offer us helpful sign posts as we attempt to navigate and forge a path towards a more honest, equitable, kind, abundant and regenerative future.
So, just to be clear, no, I am not saying we should live in mud huts, engage in tribal warfare and/or do animal sacrifice ceremonies (or what ever red herring hypothetical that high tech civilization loving people might throw at me who would accuse me of peddling the “noble savage myth” or something). I acknowledge conflicts and rituals that existed in the Druidic ways and between the various indigenous tribes of what is now called North America. However, I would suggest that we should keep in mind that demonization and dehumanization of the perceived “enemy” or targeted “sub-human class” of an empire is a time tested psychological warfare technique that has been employed in both real time conflicts and retrospectively as “victors write the history books”.
Each one of us can seek to tap into the deep well of place based knowledge that was gathered and honed over centuries to millennia by those who lived close to the land and to the forest before we moved to where we are today. For some of us finding the way into that ancient wellspring of knowledge may require some excavation as centuries or even millennia may have passed since those who lived close with the land and who had reverence for and who gathered the knowledge of the medicine and food plants of that bio region lived there. For me that involves revitalizing Food Forest Design and Polyculture Gardening Techniques which were used here in the Eastern Woodlands centuries ago but it may look different for each of us based on what trees, plants, fungi, climate and topography exist where we live. While I was doing research for my recently published article on working with Birch Trees (in the context of permaculture design and Regenerative Agroforestry, which you can read here: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/birch? ) I came across an immense diversity of place based knowledge for how to interact with birch trees rooted in indigenous cultures from modern day Canada, to Scotland/Ireland (my ancestors homeland) all the way to Russia. Each indigenous group had their own unique way to interact with Birch trees in a way that both benefits the forest ecology and offers, medicine, food, tools, art and shelter to humans. For instance, the Evenki people (that once lived in the vast regions of Siberia between Lake Baikal and the Amur River.) used birch for crafts, winter food and created waterproof structures that somewhat resembled what most would think of as a "TeePee" except they were made of Birch Bark.
As stated above no culture was or is perfect so while you embark upon this path of learning with humility also take an honest look at what aspects and ways the ancient people who called the land home where you live are things that no longer serve us and/or should be let go of and allowed to remain as a lesson from the ancestors but not a path which should be walked again. All of our ancient ancestors have place based wisdom to share, knowledge of medicine plants/fungi and all of our ancient ancestors also engaged in some activities and behaviours that are not beneficial and should be left in the past, it is up to each of us to use our own intuition, discernment, research, pattern recognition and critical thinking capacities to distinguish what aspects of ancient cultures should be accepted as gifts only in the form of a lesson/cautionary tale and those aspects that should be accepted as a gift in the form of something that we should strive to breath new life into, revive and build upon to build resilience-and reciprocity in our lives and relationships as well as reverence, humility, practical knowledge and universally applicable wisdom in our perspectives and ethoses.
Permaculture design also involves stacking functions and turning problems into solutions and seeking to research how the ancient people who called the land home where we now live can serve a great many functions. It firstly can hopefully help us get a head start in building our ecological and botanical literacy by tapping into the lists of plants and fungi those people had already studied and experimented with that grow in a particular bioregion and it also invites us to combine humility with discernment to look at ways in which our modern knowledge and techniques could build on and potentiate those more ancient ways if possible. As stated above, another function of this learning process is identifying aspects of how ancient cultures lived that should be released and not revived in present day.
Additionally as that process of learning about ancient and humble ways invites us to unlearn many calcified ego based and often one dimensional or fallacious common modern world views, inviting us to become connected deeply to the place we call home. When we develop a reciprocal relationship to the place where we live and begin to see the earth as our ancient ancestors did, (as our Mother, whom is deserving of respect and whom we should be of service to and give back to for what we take) this allows us to embark on our own unique path to gather place based wisdom. The path to become connected to place with a reciprocal relationship, reverence and humility is the path to embrace indigeneity ourselves (regardless of our skin color or religious background).
> Turtle Island has been inhabited for over 9000 years and the many different cultures that lived here chose many different paths. Some of those paths were degenerative (as the Europeans were and are) and some were regenerative and embodied ecological literacy.
And yet you claimed "the one through-line that can be observed in the traditional views and spiritual teachings of *all of the indigenous cultures of Turtle Island* is that they recognized all of our fellow non-human beings on Earth as animate, imbued with a spirit and as persons deserving of our respect and reverence" until I called you out on your BS. Of course, the way you conceptualize your distinction between "degenerative" and "regenerative" cultures is also BS, maybe you might even admit that if I spent a week continuously calling you out.
> Obviously, psychopathy, greed and other anti-social traits are not unique to modern western culture. Unpleasant, selfish (and even sometimes ecologically degenerative) characteristics can be observed (overtly) in the traditions of specific isolated indigenous peoples (some of them were slave trading warlords and others may have respected the forest but were somewhat materialistic coveting ornate possessions).
Then why couldn't you highlight any of these "regenerative" cultures in your article rather than celebrating cultures you now admit were "isolated examples of 'degenerative' cultures"?
You're on fire!
I like that UK hate police meme so much I stole it.... Send the UK Hate Police after me.
Oí mate, you got a license for that meme?
Wait...how can liking something arouse the Hate Police?
I thank the Heavens that I have been led to never watch the news and that most of the leftist crap in this article is nothing I care to know about. I am not saying the article is crappy, but it is rather good if you you love this garbage. My moral and spiritual foundations remain intact and whatever the left says is of no matter to me. Ignore it and live well.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on these people.
They do not deserve God's mercy and they will not get it. Mercy is bestowed only in those who belong to Jesus, not those who hate Him.
God's love is abundant and ever-present.
Imagine being so obsessed with one single human being as to have a compulsion to write about him and him alone. The followers he has are obviously addicted to hate porn. I really wish our psychology departments were being professional and/or competent these days because TDS is very real. It's so psychotic have that kind of obsession. All I can ever imagine is that their lives must be absolutely miserable.
haha, I knew it was gonna be Tiedrich all along.
no one can compete with his schoolyard 2 minutes hate.
As I gaze upon the first image; women dressed unrionically in fertility robes, yet so unattractive; my first thought, in the words of Sargon of Akkad are "I wouldn't even rape you!"
Yuri doing a great job. Keep the love in your heart, a spring in your step and a smile on your everlovin' face!
There are multiple ironies in the US and her lackeys supporting Old Testament fundamentalism (to put it politely) in Palestine while the Enlightenment is no more than a Western propaganda tool these days (like "democracy")
Drag queens for Hamas!
Robert Reich got a a really tough draw. He could have gone so much further in the tourney.
Do these women just really want to live in the world of Handmaid’s Tale? It seems weirdly like a hobby for them or something..projection?
Remember The Handmaid's Tale is BDSM erotica thinly disguised as a dystopian novel.
Yep, the woke women get off on this stuff. It's why they get so hot and bothered about islam.
I'm so glad that American clown world continues to provide inspiration for your work Yuri. I especially love the list of 10 commandments. Those leftists sure know how to dismantle the masters house and see the shitpile is a glorious rainbow.
The worship of the jab cartel was the final straw. It was so obvious what was happening, yet Maddow and Kimmel were the only ones to listen to, and my layman, middle class commentary was the problem.
It’s both funny and ironic- The more some people bitch and moan about “the rise of Christian Nationalism”, the more I think I want it!
Loved the TDS bracket!
Let’s get a beer.
Ironically, Margaret Atwood originally based the Handmaid's Tale on Sharia law and Iran after it turned away from its liberal revolution in the 70's back to Sharia law, in the 80's? I think? Now the story is a trope used against Christians and Christianity and meanwhile, culturally, the Left and its institutions are embracing Hamas and Palestinians who enact Sharia law...seems like we're getting away from common sense a little bit...