Aug 3, 2023·edited Aug 3, 2023Liked by Yuri Bezmenov
Friends. Perhaps living in Canada has made having friends more difficult. I find it extremely challenging to look another man in the eyes these days. Whether within my faith community, my work community, or my family there is this socialist attitude. Deservingness, entitlement, government (i.e. taxpayer) reliance, conformity, lack of work ethic, laziness, dullness, political alignment without reasons or with bad reasons, and a community that recently shunned me for not conforming. People are afraid or something--I don't know. Hard to relate to the modern person after raising a family on a shoestring, home schooling them, saving for their education, working more than one job at a time, having faith, eschewing societal gyrations and fads...there are not many people left that I can stand. Call me arrogant but I want to be around people who are better than me, or people who are interested in what I can offer and want to stand beside me.
Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s the entitled/spoiled/ignorant ones who are desperate for handouts from the socialism(s) because they haven’t a clue about self-sufficiency. They will sell out everyone and everything for the promise to be “included“. They will not survive without the handouts or the group. It’s a sad state for a human to be in - permanent childhood/immaturity. Of course they are afraid, they are incompetent.
I’m in Canada too. We have forgotten to practice gratitude. The only reason we have it so good, is because people fought and died to provide the good life for us. I will not turn my back on our ancestors or our Creator. I am grateful.
Interesting that you mentioned ancestors. I just gave a talk to one of my sons regarding my grandparents who came to BC in the 20s only to find the land they purchased was not there. They had to rebuild from scratch and they did. Clearing land, raising kids, and somehow made through the 20s and 30s and 40s. My feeling is that it is a profound disservice to them to not at least attempt to complement their effort. I know they would be ashamed of most of what they would witness today. No one seems to appreciate much as you say.
Hi randy, your comment really resonated with me. We raised our kids in our faith, homeschooling them. Didn't really notice there was .ore than just differences of opinion until covid. Shunned from kids, fired as grandparents, didinvited by siblings and banned from shops. The disagreements widened into chasms and grew to mountains. Any gatherings were superficial, with simmering hostility misunderstandings..Both sides misreading the intention of the other. A microcosm of the social polarization within Canada. Sorry my kids ever went to Uni. Regret that teaching them to be good people with moral foundations has let them bieve they can be virtuous without faith. But, want to encourage you to keep praying. We know that as the darkness grows the light becomes brighter. I see many who weren't seeking finding faith simply because evil is becoming so apparent. Have faith friend
Stop using the term, nuclear family. The term you are looking for is "traditional family" which consists of the clan, not just the family. The traditional family included everyone from children to great great grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins. That was a strong family.
The nuclear family is adrift alone, just mother, father, and 1 child. There are few friends and no close family members.
Along that line, I'm not sure why this article includes a random dig against immigrants, considering they seem to have much stronger traditional family ties than born-here Americans, and considering they seem to rapidly organize trust-based communities of their own where they can.
Suburban white America has not yet seen significant immigration, and yet it's falling apart for all the other reasons the article mentions. In fact, the immigrant groups who have penetrated suburban white America in significant numbers - these being Asians, Indians, & wealthier Latinos - seem to have much stronger traditional family ties & community closeness than white suburban Americans. Their rate of engagement with psychology - which I consider the best marker for "rate of free-floating narcissistic ennui " - is certainly a lot lower, by as much as two-thirds, and that's including their American-born children. If we just looked at the immigrants themselves, it's near zero.
I think of this in terms of strong-link societies and weak-link societies, with trust being a key component of strong-link societies and missing in weak-link societies. I wrote an essay about this https://thebrownbarge.substack.com/p/the-friendship-lottery, but in short I think contemporary America is a weak-link society. With low social trust, there is every reason to treat strangers with high degrees of skepticism and avoidance—the downside of a negative interaction is bounded only by death and the upside is both hard to fathom and also highly unlikely. And then we have availability bias to further sear into our brains that strangers=danger. In a weak-link society you are conditioned to be hypervigilant. This is both easy to do on one one level—after all if most of our ancestors hadn’t possessed the hypervigilant gene then they wouldn’t have survived long enough to pass any genes on to us today—and also mentally taxing to maintain.
I can't say that I have a good handle on strong-link societies, since I've never lived in one and haven't studied them closely. I was planning on doing so but got side tracked. Your essay is a good reminder to get back on that project.
Hint: a 'strong-link society' relies less on money for exchange of goods and services. You will know you've found one when money changes hands less often. You will know you've found one where money has less importance and value, where people get their needs met more frequently without it.
Aug 3, 2023·edited Aug 3, 2023Liked by Yuri Bezmenov
In order to create a high trust society in the US, you simply expel and ban the people who are not trustworthy.
In blue states this still happens in wealthy or upper middle class enclaves, places known today as "good" or "sought after" neighborhoods by real estate agents. Police in these places keep a lid on bad behavior and outsiders. And police do not face debilitating scrutiny for doing that. (Look what happened in Martha's Vineyard when Florida's immigrants arrived at the airport, or in Beverly Hills when BLM marchers began to accumulate.) Anyone can see where these places are. Look at house prices. To quote an old Simpson's episode: "Our prices discriminate so we don't have to."
In certain ways, the people who live in these blue state places still act like it's 1950s America. But in other ways they do not. They know they must broadcast to the world that they believe in DEI/BLM ideology. They know they must vote blue no matter who. And they must call out and condemn anything that even seems a little like racism or hate -- if it occurs in some middle class community somewhere else.
In short, even in a blue state, high trust society still exists within small islands. But it is now a rich person's luxury and even the rich must speak in a certain way in order to preserve their membership.
Not sure if high trust enclaves within highly demoralized blue zones slated for total destruction, with the exception of specially cordoned off areas for wealthy blue donors, and corrupt blue commissars is indicative of a high trust society. More closely resembles China, DDR, or USSR.
I'm trying to operate on the theory that people in general do _highly_ value a high trust society if they can somehow get it. And what I've seen is that the wealthy have the means to get it. So, maybe it's a "micro society" of high trust and not really a true "high trust society" or something.
In support of your point, the places I'm mentioning still have to let a few outsiders in for various practical purposes, but these outsiders are carefully watched and expelled if they misbehave. Perhaps the model I'm describing is more like that of the Old South.
A coworker commented to me that to live where you can trust your neighbors, the home you buy must cost between 1 and 2 million dollars. At first, I was shocked at this assertion. But, as I looked at values in my over priced blue state area,I saw that he had a point. Current political policies (policies against suburbs, open immigration, hyper racial sensitivities, etc) create tension and a lack or trust. There’s a lack of anything like similar values or behaviors. And there’s so much discord and hatred broadcast in political talk in media that it easily becomes personal. So you need to live in an enclave where wealth protects you-you have wealth in common with neighbors so you must be “the right kind of people.” Plus,maybe there is even a gate on your community.
I guess I will just have to brave it here outside that gate.
In my blue collar neighborhood, we don't need 1 million dollar tax valuations to get along; we just need the DESIRE to get along. See? It's that simple. I'll take neighbors with mini excavators and Ford 350's over large lawns anyday.
Aug 3, 2023·edited Aug 3, 2023Liked by Yuri Bezmenov
Well said comrade. When division is maximized, trust is undermined. TPTB know in a "diverse" society as trust erodes, tribalism and in group reversions return, and the terminal decline becomes inevitable. Liberties erode because power must "secure" the people from the conflict manifested by the divisions said power created. France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, NL, UK, US, and maybe even Canada are likely well past the tipping point with Sweden dying to get there fast. I wish it weren't so, but what one wants is of no concern to what is. Has any nation or empire in history ever reversed the decline?
I'm in! I had to leave my motherland because of Communism, I'm happy to do whatever it takes to put the brakes on the Communist takeover of the US, although it's a big, ugly battle against Barack Obama, Alejandro Mayorkas and their clan of Commies.
It seems like calling it 'Communism' is an oversimplification. We appear to have a massive problem with 'State-sponsored Ideology-based Governing Structures.' It's like someone figured out how to turn Government into a Religion. to my mind, however, the Nazis have the same creep-factor as the Commies. It's all godless religious structures where the politicians are the high-priests. yeek!
Given this all way too much thought over 20 years since those buildings magically collapsed. Sisyphean at the national level Yuri. Local only, yet still you'll never escape the IRS, DHS, and other alphabet criminals who will very soon see your m.o. not just as an act of defiance but as an act of domestic terror. Evidence will not be necessary. Nevertheless some ideas worth listening to that can be implemented anywhere on earth through community and mutual cooperation...
nation states aren't very old so it wouldn't be too difficult to imagine a world without them. i like the idea of the Greater Reset where we create a new global structure where power is shared and essentially abandon the top-down society that is currently trying to trap us more and more.
Principles and suggestions are admirable; some facts are downright wrong.
Scandinavia: going... (survives in pockets I guess)
Central Europe: going... (depends how you define it geographically: Germany & Austria, no doubt in parts; in the Slavic etc. countries, from not very strong to extremely weak--partially explained by their going from near-zero capitalism to crabs-in-a-bucket overnight--and will get much worse with...progress).
We have friends that are more like family - than family. Our motto is blood isn't a requirement. In fact, we have friends we trust more than family.
However, it's difficult to find like minded people. In blue states people hide in plain sight. In red states, you'll find complete strangers ready to take up conversation on any topic. Quite refreshing to have an open chat, and it's obvious you won't - maybe can't say the "wrong" thing.
As freedoms seem to erode daily, people are fleeing to safe havens. Sadly, I believe it will only divide states further. And the possibility of trust in the most basic principles will move further out of reach.
It is so MASSIVELY refreshing to read Yuri's beautiful common sense that transcends all the Marxist claptrap the USEFUL IDIOTS of the left are swallowing these days. What would aliens from outerspace make of the nutty leftist West today?? https://youtu.be/GsLCsCIKgpA
The trust table is intriguing for another reason: almost every single institution experienced a significant trust bump in 2020. Probably a rally round the flag reaction to COVID - "we're all in this together". Of course since this happened with broken institutions staffed by immoral people, that trust was abused, and now trust is lower than its ever been.
I doubt it will come back on a large scale. Once assabiyah has been lost it is extraordinarily difficult to regain.
Yeah I saw (or thought I saw) that one of the things people loved about the virus was the ersatz solidarity it promised, in places where cohesion is otherwise in steep decline: Let's all keep a safe distance from one another so we can all be safe and live in safety! Let's all safely bang pots and pans for the NHS at a safe distance of no more than a metre from the safety of our front door! etc etc
I think it was especially attractive to the psychology of the English and other germanoids because it was a form of solidarity which *explicitly* limited physical proximity: best of both worlds for them. Peoples less concerned about personal space generally found it a good deal less appealing (no I haven't got a peer-reviewed paper to back me up).
Ya I’ve always found it funny when progressives hold the ethnostates as the ideal societies. They don’t understand that they are the way they are because the whole country is just one extended family.
Although, I wonder if the identity politics game will split Canada and the US into tiny nation states -- it seems that’s what the progressives want
Excellent analysis, Yuri. Trust is everything, and so few in politics (any?) and media pass muster. The best leadership guide ever is Covey's "Speed of Trust." He did a follow-up, "Smart Trust." Both provide insights helpful in any aspect of life. Trust is hard to build, easy to break, and almost impossible to regain.
Trust is earned over time through action. Trust comes from behaving in an altruistic manner, particularly under difficult circumstances. Altruistic does not mean being completely selfless or behaving to one’s own detriment. It does mean giving - time, interest, labor, money or anything of value and not expecting an immediate return or particular return. When the giving is reciprocated, trust is established at some level and can become a virtuous cycle.
If we don’t give or look out for one another, then no trust can be established. It’s no accident that our degenerate political and popular culture is dominated by ruthlessly selfish people who don’t want us banding together. Divide and conquer is how narcissists and dictators work.
Telling the truth helps. Sometimes folks don't want to hear it, and we're still birthing babies and putting bones back together pretty well. But COVID, that was WRONG! And as a nurse, feel responsible to talk to anyone who will listen, not recommending the three shots this fall (RSV/COVID/FLU).
It was said that in the time of the great Khan that a girl could walk from one end of the empire to the other with a pot of gold on her head and none would dare to touch her.
Try that in Chicago or Detroit today.
BTW I think you have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to PR China. Any reasonable list of high trust societies would include it and possibly rate it higher than some you did list.
I don't want to dissuade you from your opinions but maybe you should take a trip and see what it looks from the inside. i have some experience in this matter and I'm posting from there right now.
I have been to China several times and have family there. No way you could call it a high trust society. Everyone is paranoid about what they can say, everything is fake, scams galore.
I as well have traveled to China several times and have worked with many Chinese people throughout my career.
China is among the lowest-trust industrialized countries imaginable.
An example I always use is that I used to have a Chinese guy who worked for me. He was very western, loved the US, was a HUGE NBA fan, etc. When he came to the States, we would have great discussions about how much he admired the US and despised the PRC government.
When I went there, he was terrified to say anything. I asked him a fairly innocuous question about something when we were in a Starbucks in Shanghai, and you could clearly see he was extraordinarily uncomfortable responding bc of the people sitting around us.
Highly homogenized countries don’t necessarily means high trust, especially when people are rewarded for ratting friends and neighbours out.
I was brought up on a council estate where there was mutual respect within the community where the majority were factory, land or industry workers.
Wages were not brilliant for most but there was unwritten rules of behaviour for even the poorest to live in safety and harmony without fear of being beaten, robbed or raped night or day.
Changes started to be defined in the late 90’s when Blair came into power and the law for immigrants to retain their culture living within ours became total contradictions.
Many already retained some of their culture from their original countries without any problems until then, what this legislation did was open the door for their get out of jail free card for everything they didn’t want to do or follow. Their beliefs and culture have been allowed to override over laws of the land, many normal and criminals use it and the human rights act while breaking the law and get off Scott free.
The government then and onwards has made a mountain out of a mole hill, most who settled here lived and abide living amongst side the working class without any issues.
Since that legislation was introduced a gap of special treatment was and has been created, somehow it’s the natives fault for crimes committed by the guests for just not being supportive, welcoming and not giving up the best jobs to them so they’re not so poor they have to resort to crime.
The irony is that it’s still safe to walk around in poor predominantly white areas without fear of being robbed, stabbed or raped, the same cannot be said of areas with extremely high immigration. There’s too many from too many different places wanting the top spot for their beliefs and culture to take prominence.
Every single aspect of this problem can be laid at our governments feet for creating a problem that didn’t exist, it will not get better, only worse for everyone as they step up how many immigrants they allow to come in.
One thing that has been consolidated amongst the general public, is how they have no intention of stopping the boats flowing across the channel, there’s literally zero trust in that ever happening, folk have become more vocal and even say the politicians need deporting to Rwanda to stop all the rubbish they are causing.
"The irony is that it’s still safe to walk around in poor predominantly white areas without fear of being robbed, stabbed or raped, the same cannot be said of areas with extremely high immigration."
Funny thing. The drunken louts who hit me on the head because I was wearing a colorful Christmas stocking cap while waiting on a bus queue in 1973 in Birmingham were white guys.
SCA those drunken louts were idiots and out order, though you wouldn’t have to worry now as they’re in a small minority in Birmingham now. I’m sure the new locals would embrace you with their version of cultural enrichment. In fact you could always compare the crime stats for 1973 to now to compare the difference.
Also I never said we were crime free, what I did post was what behaviour was expected and those who broke the law punished.
The majority also made their children behave far better than today, I don’t mean beating the crap out of them either. There was a shame if you did something wrong, it was deems as letting your hardworking parents down. Now parents shrug and ask you what you expect them to do if their child destroys someone else’s property, back then they were expected to pay for any damages.
Social credit system is the opposite of high trust because it is enforced by centralized tyrants for compliance. They don’t trust their subjects, subjects don’t trust them or each other. China is a perfect example of a homogenous society terrorized into a low trust culture.
If we are going to survey social trust then we must use the same standards across all societies. Shifting standards of evidence and special case carve outs are a Red Flag (pun intended) for cognitive bias.
It's always going to be difficult to get accurate international surveys of the social attitude from within China but there are a few.
The World Values survey is one. They found that Chinese citizens have high levels of trust in their government, political parties, parliament, police and courts. They also have high levels of confidence in their national government and local authorities.
International marketing and consultancy surveys are another line to take. Politics is one thing but business is business, even in China and social attitudes have real economic impacts. You might expect Beijing to be willfully blind or put its thumb on the scale of opinion polls but why should a profit driven business do the same?
Here are some interesting results from a French firm Ipsos;
Anyone of those surveys can be reasonably challenged, just make sure to use the same yardstick for China as you do with say, Burkina-Faso, Chile or Tonga.
There is an interesting paradox I often see in online discussions about China, it happens when people, who have very little faith in the narratives spun by the MSM and NGOs (some such people maybe reading this substack !) also have a great deal of faith in what groups say about China.
What's Sauce for the Goose is Sauce for the Beijing Duck.
A survey of your a$$ shows it’s not full of sh!t. Everyone knows self report is the highest quality measure, and that’s why I trust that Peng Shuai is safe & happy.
Any particular technique can be subject to critique. What you can't do is say it works perfectly fine when the ball bounces in your direction but it's full of shit when it goes the other way.
Friends. Perhaps living in Canada has made having friends more difficult. I find it extremely challenging to look another man in the eyes these days. Whether within my faith community, my work community, or my family there is this socialist attitude. Deservingness, entitlement, government (i.e. taxpayer) reliance, conformity, lack of work ethic, laziness, dullness, political alignment without reasons or with bad reasons, and a community that recently shunned me for not conforming. People are afraid or something--I don't know. Hard to relate to the modern person after raising a family on a shoestring, home schooling them, saving for their education, working more than one job at a time, having faith, eschewing societal gyrations and fads...there are not many people left that I can stand. Call me arrogant but I want to be around people who are better than me, or people who are interested in what I can offer and want to stand beside me.
Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s the entitled/spoiled/ignorant ones who are desperate for handouts from the socialism(s) because they haven’t a clue about self-sufficiency. They will sell out everyone and everything for the promise to be “included“. They will not survive without the handouts or the group. It’s a sad state for a human to be in - permanent childhood/immaturity. Of course they are afraid, they are incompetent.
I’m in Canada too. We have forgotten to practice gratitude. The only reason we have it so good, is because people fought and died to provide the good life for us. I will not turn my back on our ancestors or our Creator. I am grateful.
That is inspiring.
Interesting that you mentioned ancestors. I just gave a talk to one of my sons regarding my grandparents who came to BC in the 20s only to find the land they purchased was not there. They had to rebuild from scratch and they did. Clearing land, raising kids, and somehow made through the 20s and 30s and 40s. My feeling is that it is a profound disservice to them to not at least attempt to complement their effort. I know they would be ashamed of most of what they would witness today. No one seems to appreciate much as you say.
You are not alone in your aloneness
Hi randy, your comment really resonated with me. We raised our kids in our faith, homeschooling them. Didn't really notice there was .ore than just differences of opinion until covid. Shunned from kids, fired as grandparents, didinvited by siblings and banned from shops. The disagreements widened into chasms and grew to mountains. Any gatherings were superficial, with simmering hostility misunderstandings..Both sides misreading the intention of the other. A microcosm of the social polarization within Canada. Sorry my kids ever went to Uni. Regret that teaching them to be good people with moral foundations has let them bieve they can be virtuous without faith. But, want to encourage you to keep praying. We know that as the darkness grows the light becomes brighter. I see many who weren't seeking finding faith simply because evil is becoming so apparent. Have faith friend
Canaduh is a sickening place full of the most diluted people. I'm better than you but I won't stand with you because you're a Polak.
You also put faith and work before family, asshole.
Stop using the term, nuclear family. The term you are looking for is "traditional family" which consists of the clan, not just the family. The traditional family included everyone from children to great great grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins. That was a strong family.
The nuclear family is adrift alone, just mother, father, and 1 child. There are few friends and no close family members.
The nuclear family is doomed... trust me.
And, it's a crying shame. 😢
When reproduction rate is so low anyone having a child is a winner.
Along that line, I'm not sure why this article includes a random dig against immigrants, considering they seem to have much stronger traditional family ties than born-here Americans, and considering they seem to rapidly organize trust-based communities of their own where they can.
Suburban white America has not yet seen significant immigration, and yet it's falling apart for all the other reasons the article mentions. In fact, the immigrant groups who have penetrated suburban white America in significant numbers - these being Asians, Indians, & wealthier Latinos - seem to have much stronger traditional family ties & community closeness than white suburban Americans. Their rate of engagement with psychology - which I consider the best marker for "rate of free-floating narcissistic ennui " - is certainly a lot lower, by as much as two-thirds, and that's including their American-born children. If we just looked at the immigrants themselves, it's near zero.
I think of this in terms of strong-link societies and weak-link societies, with trust being a key component of strong-link societies and missing in weak-link societies. I wrote an essay about this https://thebrownbarge.substack.com/p/the-friendship-lottery, but in short I think contemporary America is a weak-link society. With low social trust, there is every reason to treat strangers with high degrees of skepticism and avoidance—the downside of a negative interaction is bounded only by death and the upside is both hard to fathom and also highly unlikely. And then we have availability bias to further sear into our brains that strangers=danger. In a weak-link society you are conditioned to be hypervigilant. This is both easy to do on one one level—after all if most of our ancestors hadn’t possessed the hypervigilant gene then they wouldn’t have survived long enough to pass any genes on to us today—and also mentally taxing to maintain.
I can't say that I have a good handle on strong-link societies, since I've never lived in one and haven't studied them closely. I was planning on doing so but got side tracked. Your essay is a good reminder to get back on that project.
Your essay is funny, well-written and full of insight.
Can I have a hug?
I think the only appropriate way to respond to your comment is with a hug.
Hint: a 'strong-link society' relies less on money for exchange of goods and services. You will know you've found one when money changes hands less often. You will know you've found one where money has less importance and value, where people get their needs met more frequently without it.
In order to create a high trust society in the US, you simply expel and ban the people who are not trustworthy.
In blue states this still happens in wealthy or upper middle class enclaves, places known today as "good" or "sought after" neighborhoods by real estate agents. Police in these places keep a lid on bad behavior and outsiders. And police do not face debilitating scrutiny for doing that. (Look what happened in Martha's Vineyard when Florida's immigrants arrived at the airport, or in Beverly Hills when BLM marchers began to accumulate.) Anyone can see where these places are. Look at house prices. To quote an old Simpson's episode: "Our prices discriminate so we don't have to."
In certain ways, the people who live in these blue state places still act like it's 1950s America. But in other ways they do not. They know they must broadcast to the world that they believe in DEI/BLM ideology. They know they must vote blue no matter who. And they must call out and condemn anything that even seems a little like racism or hate -- if it occurs in some middle class community somewhere else.
In short, even in a blue state, high trust society still exists within small islands. But it is now a rich person's luxury and even the rich must speak in a certain way in order to preserve their membership.
Not sure if high trust enclaves within highly demoralized blue zones slated for total destruction, with the exception of specially cordoned off areas for wealthy blue donors, and corrupt blue commissars is indicative of a high trust society. More closely resembles China, DDR, or USSR.
I think you may be right.
I'm trying to operate on the theory that people in general do _highly_ value a high trust society if they can somehow get it. And what I've seen is that the wealthy have the means to get it. So, maybe it's a "micro society" of high trust and not really a true "high trust society" or something.
In support of your point, the places I'm mentioning still have to let a few outsiders in for various practical purposes, but these outsiders are carefully watched and expelled if they misbehave. Perhaps the model I'm describing is more like that of the Old South.
A coworker commented to me that to live where you can trust your neighbors, the home you buy must cost between 1 and 2 million dollars. At first, I was shocked at this assertion. But, as I looked at values in my over priced blue state area,I saw that he had a point. Current political policies (policies against suburbs, open immigration, hyper racial sensitivities, etc) create tension and a lack or trust. There’s a lack of anything like similar values or behaviors. And there’s so much discord and hatred broadcast in political talk in media that it easily becomes personal. So you need to live in an enclave where wealth protects you-you have wealth in common with neighbors so you must be “the right kind of people.” Plus,maybe there is even a gate on your community.
I guess I will just have to brave it here outside that gate.
In my blue collar neighborhood, we don't need 1 million dollar tax valuations to get along; we just need the DESIRE to get along. See? It's that simple. I'll take neighbors with mini excavators and Ford 350's over large lawns anyday.
Well said comrade. When division is maximized, trust is undermined. TPTB know in a "diverse" society as trust erodes, tribalism and in group reversions return, and the terminal decline becomes inevitable. Liberties erode because power must "secure" the people from the conflict manifested by the divisions said power created. France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, NL, UK, US, and maybe even Canada are likely well past the tipping point with Sweden dying to get there fast. I wish it weren't so, but what one wants is of no concern to what is. Has any nation or empire in history ever reversed the decline?
We have to do what we can to make this the first, comrade.
I'm in! I had to leave my motherland because of Communism, I'm happy to do whatever it takes to put the brakes on the Communist takeover of the US, although it's a big, ugly battle against Barack Obama, Alejandro Mayorkas and their clan of Commies.
It seems like calling it 'Communism' is an oversimplification. We appear to have a massive problem with 'State-sponsored Ideology-based Governing Structures.' It's like someone figured out how to turn Government into a Religion. to my mind, however, the Nazis have the same creep-factor as the Commies. It's all godless religious structures where the politicians are the high-priests. yeek!
Given this all way too much thought over 20 years since those buildings magically collapsed. Sisyphean at the national level Yuri. Local only, yet still you'll never escape the IRS, DHS, and other alphabet criminals who will very soon see your m.o. not just as an act of defiance but as an act of domestic terror. Evidence will not be necessary. Nevertheless some ideas worth listening to that can be implemented anywhere on earth through community and mutual cooperation...
https://youtu.be/Vw3tUXdLu2Y
Thank you for coming back with optimism, Yuri 🙏🏻♥️
Diversity divides. Period.
Maybe we’re witnessing the dissolution of nation-states.
I don’t believe that we can conceive of a world with “the nations” having been annihilated.
nation states aren't very old so it wouldn't be too difficult to imagine a world without them. i like the idea of the Greater Reset where we create a new global structure where power is shared and essentially abandon the top-down society that is currently trying to trap us more and more.
Principles and suggestions are admirable; some facts are downright wrong.
Scandinavia: going... (survives in pockets I guess)
Central Europe: going... (depends how you define it geographically: Germany & Austria, no doubt in parts; in the Slavic etc. countries, from not very strong to extremely weak--partially explained by their going from near-zero capitalism to crabs-in-a-bucket overnight--and will get much worse with...progress).
Australia, New Zealand: GONE!
We have friends that are more like family - than family. Our motto is blood isn't a requirement. In fact, we have friends we trust more than family.
However, it's difficult to find like minded people. In blue states people hide in plain sight. In red states, you'll find complete strangers ready to take up conversation on any topic. Quite refreshing to have an open chat, and it's obvious you won't - maybe can't say the "wrong" thing.
As freedoms seem to erode daily, people are fleeing to safe havens. Sadly, I believe it will only divide states further. And the possibility of trust in the most basic principles will move further out of reach.
It is so MASSIVELY refreshing to read Yuri's beautiful common sense that transcends all the Marxist claptrap the USEFUL IDIOTS of the left are swallowing these days. What would aliens from outerspace make of the nutty leftist West today?? https://youtu.be/GsLCsCIKgpA
The trust table is intriguing for another reason: almost every single institution experienced a significant trust bump in 2020. Probably a rally round the flag reaction to COVID - "we're all in this together". Of course since this happened with broken institutions staffed by immoral people, that trust was abused, and now trust is lower than its ever been.
I doubt it will come back on a large scale. Once assabiyah has been lost it is extraordinarily difficult to regain.
Yeah I saw (or thought I saw) that one of the things people loved about the virus was the ersatz solidarity it promised, in places where cohesion is otherwise in steep decline: Let's all keep a safe distance from one another so we can all be safe and live in safety! Let's all safely bang pots and pans for the NHS at a safe distance of no more than a metre from the safety of our front door! etc etc
I think it was especially attractive to the psychology of the English and other germanoids because it was a form of solidarity which *explicitly* limited physical proximity: best of both worlds for them. Peoples less concerned about personal space generally found it a good deal less appealing (no I haven't got a peer-reviewed paper to back me up).
Ya I’ve always found it funny when progressives hold the ethnostates as the ideal societies. They don’t understand that they are the way they are because the whole country is just one extended family.
Although, I wonder if the identity politics game will split Canada and the US into tiny nation states -- it seems that’s what the progressives want
Once again a magnum opus from Yuri. You never cease to amaze me. Wish we lived closer so we could meet. 💯 correct.
Excellent analysis, Yuri. Trust is everything, and so few in politics (any?) and media pass muster. The best leadership guide ever is Covey's "Speed of Trust." He did a follow-up, "Smart Trust." Both provide insights helpful in any aspect of life. Trust is hard to build, easy to break, and almost impossible to regain.
My favourite of yours so far! Trust is the value our crumbling society needs to build on... one by one, from the ground up, locally...
And here’s a post-reading musical thematic interlude https://youtu.be/kk57OutwQmw
Trust is earned over time through action. Trust comes from behaving in an altruistic manner, particularly under difficult circumstances. Altruistic does not mean being completely selfless or behaving to one’s own detriment. It does mean giving - time, interest, labor, money or anything of value and not expecting an immediate return or particular return. When the giving is reciprocated, trust is established at some level and can become a virtuous cycle.
If we don’t give or look out for one another, then no trust can be established. It’s no accident that our degenerate political and popular culture is dominated by ruthlessly selfish people who don’t want us banding together. Divide and conquer is how narcissists and dictators work.
Telling the truth helps. Sometimes folks don't want to hear it, and we're still birthing babies and putting bones back together pretty well. But COVID, that was WRONG! And as a nurse, feel responsible to talk to anyone who will listen, not recommending the three shots this fall (RSV/COVID/FLU).
It was said that in the time of the great Khan that a girl could walk from one end of the empire to the other with a pot of gold on her head and none would dare to touch her.
Try that in Chicago or Detroit today.
BTW I think you have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to PR China. Any reasonable list of high trust societies would include it and possibly rate it higher than some you did list.
I don't want to dissuade you from your opinions but maybe you should take a trip and see what it looks from the inside. i have some experience in this matter and I'm posting from there right now.
I have been to China several times and have family there. No way you could call it a high trust society. Everyone is paranoid about what they can say, everything is fake, scams galore.
I as well have traveled to China several times and have worked with many Chinese people throughout my career.
China is among the lowest-trust industrialized countries imaginable.
An example I always use is that I used to have a Chinese guy who worked for me. He was very western, loved the US, was a HUGE NBA fan, etc. When he came to the States, we would have great discussions about how much he admired the US and despised the PRC government.
When I went there, he was terrified to say anything. I asked him a fairly innocuous question about something when we were in a Starbucks in Shanghai, and you could clearly see he was extraordinarily uncomfortable responding bc of the people sitting around us.
High trust country, my ass.
Highly homogenized countries don’t necessarily means high trust, especially when people are rewarded for ratting friends and neighbours out.
I was brought up on a council estate where there was mutual respect within the community where the majority were factory, land or industry workers.
Wages were not brilliant for most but there was unwritten rules of behaviour for even the poorest to live in safety and harmony without fear of being beaten, robbed or raped night or day.
Changes started to be defined in the late 90’s when Blair came into power and the law for immigrants to retain their culture living within ours became total contradictions.
Many already retained some of their culture from their original countries without any problems until then, what this legislation did was open the door for their get out of jail free card for everything they didn’t want to do or follow. Their beliefs and culture have been allowed to override over laws of the land, many normal and criminals use it and the human rights act while breaking the law and get off Scott free.
The government then and onwards has made a mountain out of a mole hill, most who settled here lived and abide living amongst side the working class without any issues.
Since that legislation was introduced a gap of special treatment was and has been created, somehow it’s the natives fault for crimes committed by the guests for just not being supportive, welcoming and not giving up the best jobs to them so they’re not so poor they have to resort to crime.
The irony is that it’s still safe to walk around in poor predominantly white areas without fear of being robbed, stabbed or raped, the same cannot be said of areas with extremely high immigration. There’s too many from too many different places wanting the top spot for their beliefs and culture to take prominence.
Every single aspect of this problem can be laid at our governments feet for creating a problem that didn’t exist, it will not get better, only worse for everyone as they step up how many immigrants they allow to come in.
One thing that has been consolidated amongst the general public, is how they have no intention of stopping the boats flowing across the channel, there’s literally zero trust in that ever happening, folk have become more vocal and even say the politicians need deporting to Rwanda to stop all the rubbish they are causing.
"The irony is that it’s still safe to walk around in poor predominantly white areas without fear of being robbed, stabbed or raped, the same cannot be said of areas with extremely high immigration."
Funny thing. The drunken louts who hit me on the head because I was wearing a colorful Christmas stocking cap while waiting on a bus queue in 1973 in Birmingham were white guys.
SCA those drunken louts were idiots and out order, though you wouldn’t have to worry now as they’re in a small minority in Birmingham now. I’m sure the new locals would embrace you with their version of cultural enrichment. In fact you could always compare the crime stats for 1973 to now to compare the difference.
Also I never said we were crime free, what I did post was what behaviour was expected and those who broke the law punished.
The majority also made their children behave far better than today, I don’t mean beating the crap out of them either. There was a shame if you did something wrong, it was deems as letting your hardworking parents down. Now parents shrug and ask you what you expect them to do if their child destroys someone else’s property, back then they were expected to pay for any damages.
You're telling a fairytale about how things used to be.
Hmmm, I wonder whether the social credit score system used there implies “high trust” 🤔
Social credit system is the opposite of high trust because it is enforced by centralized tyrants for compliance. They don’t trust their subjects, subjects don’t trust them or each other. China is a perfect example of a homogenous society terrorized into a low trust culture.
Yes, that’s what I was implying. As you are no doubt are aware, the parasite class wants to implement that in every country.
...which is a great example of what modern totalitarianism looks like.
I.e. The apotheosis of the citizen is a blank minded plebe who silently consumes.
If we are going to survey social trust then we must use the same standards across all societies. Shifting standards of evidence and special case carve outs are a Red Flag (pun intended) for cognitive bias.
It's always going to be difficult to get accurate international surveys of the social attitude from within China but there are a few.
The World Values survey is one. They found that Chinese citizens have high levels of trust in their government, political parties, parliament, police and courts. They also have high levels of confidence in their national government and local authorities.
https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp
International marketing and consultancy surveys are another line to take. Politics is one thing but business is business, even in China and social attitudes have real economic impacts. You might expect Beijing to be willfully blind or put its thumb on the scale of opinion polls but why should a profit driven business do the same?
Here are some interesting results from a French firm Ipsos;
https://radii.co/article/ipsos-global-happiness-survey
There's another from a Dutch firm Glocalities about the Covid lockdowns
https://glocalities.com/reports/china-lockdown-trends
Anyone of those surveys can be reasonably challenged, just make sure to use the same yardstick for China as you do with say, Burkina-Faso, Chile or Tonga.
There is an interesting paradox I often see in online discussions about China, it happens when people, who have very little faith in the narratives spun by the MSM and NGOs (some such people maybe reading this substack !) also have a great deal of faith in what groups say about China.
What's Sauce for the Goose is Sauce for the Beijing Duck.
A survey of your a$$ shows it’s not full of sh!t. Everyone knows self report is the highest quality measure, and that’s why I trust that Peng Shuai is safe & happy.
https://youtu.be/PWcMivIRbBk
The point is consistency.
Any particular technique can be subject to critique. What you can't do is say it works perfectly fine when the ball bounces in your direction but it's full of shit when it goes the other way.
I would never criticize life under the CCP.
https://youtu.be/tFDtMVlJCHI