New Show: MindMatters (RIP Truth Perspective)

[Voyageur]

I hadn't heard of him before, and this discussion was very intriguing and I will read his book in the near future for sure.

It might be worth a review of his past talks for those who have not caught them all. See here (part 1),
here (part 2), the one above, and this one. Joseph speaks of many interesting ideas and recounts remarkable stories, one being around his old teacher.

That was one direction, the conversation could have developed. A question is if one should feel obliged to bring an interlocutor around to one's own position on an issue?

Yes, exactly (externally considering and all), which could go in many different directions too. Was curious as the discussion came up what he would say. In this, Joseph is a very thoughtful man and weighs his words.

 

[T.C.]

The show was excellent, guys. Thanks!

 

[Ennio]

That was one direction, the conversation could have developed. A question is if one should feel obliged to bring an interlocutor around to one's own position on an issue? There is also the aspect of external consideration; one could think of the example of Gurdjieff, who was able to communicate with different kinds of people.

We don't know in what direction the talk could have taken if a different choice had been made.

While it IS, after all, a conversation which can (and maybe sometimes should) go in both directions (each giving their particular take on things) Azize's very thoughtful responses to our questions are what I think is most valuable about doing a show with him - and a very different story from when its only the crew discussing and responding to things with each other, fwiw. So while he may not have our picture of things, he does seem to have a very developed sense of his own framework for understanding certainly. And one I just preferred to give him the time to explain and develop - more than I wished to break the flow somewhat and give him a breakdown of the series.

Having said that, its interesting Voyageur that you picked up on my not going further with 'Life Beyond The Veil' after his admonition because, as it happens, I found myself wanting Azize to know more about it - so much so that I even considered writing to him about it, or sending him a copy of the first few volumes. Maybe I still will, we'll see.

 

[Ennio]

Alan Francis returns to talk to us about, well, a whole raft of different things. And as you'll see, seems to be on the same page as us on a good many different areas.

MindMatters: The Big Questions, Consciousness, and Gurdjieff - A Talk with Alan Francis​

What is the purpose of esotericism? How might we view humanity's trajectory in light of the many seemingly negative developments we see on a more or less daily basis? What are the personal challenges in raising consciousness and awareness in oneself - and how may those be seen against the backdrop of a world gone backwards? And what does it even mean to be living in these times in the larger and even cosmic sense?

This week as we are once again joined by Gurdjiffian student and teacher Alan Francis (International School of the Fourth Way) who discusses these themes in both broad and personal terms, bringing his astute observations to the fore to answer the questions many of us have right now about where we may be, collectively and individually.

 

[thorbiorn]

The Memes Will Set You Free: Apocalyptic Conversation and American Gnosis with Arthur Versluis is a great interview. Thank you!

At one point, Arthur mentions the rewrite of a book called Clara, which is Clara: Dialogue on Nature & Spirit. Arthur did not spend much time in discussing, however he did say that this is a new addition; I'm guessing new version as opposed to this 2002 version by Fiona Steinkamp? (did he not say there was problems with the light text in the older version?) On this link it mentions the new version without a link and have not been able to find it.

A few Wiki links:
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (DE Wiki), his wife Caroline Schelling (DE Wiki) and the book written after her death has the German title: Clara. Oder Über den Zusammenhang der Natur- mit der Geisterwelt (1810)
At some stage he mentions: Marguerite Porete (DE Wiki, the most rich, if needed try browser translation). She was a lay Christian woman, see Beginen und Begarden (DE Wiki, again much richer).

Regardless of the above, near the end you guys asked him for a list of important books, and understood his response; he did drop a few names.

Attempting to elaborate:
Knowing that there is a grail cycle, that Plato exist, The Republic, the analogy of the Cave. He does not insist on reading particular books, it is about becoming aware of the greater universe of literature. For him a very essential author and book is Dyonysius the Areopagite, (Wiki) and his work Mystical Theology (Amazon). I did find a pdf, which compares with this, and this. Indeed it is short.
Regarding the grail cycle, it is explained in their book, but otherwise, I was not sure what to make of it, although, there is a Wiki on Lnacelot-Grail, saying:

The Lancelot-Grail, also known as the Vulgate Cycle or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, is an early 13th-century French Arthurian literary cycle consisting of interconnected prose episodes of chivalric romance in Old French. The cycle of unknown authorship, presenting itself as a chronicle of actual events, retells the legend of King Arthur by focusing on the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere as well as the religious quest for the Holy Grail, expanding on the works of Robert de Boron and Chrétien de Troyes.

And about literary cycle the Wiki has:

A literary cycle is a group of stories focused on common figures, often (though not necessarily) based on mythical figures or loosely on historical ones. Cycles which deal with an entire country are sometimes referred to as matters. A fictional cycle is often referred to as a mythos.

Examples from folk and classical literature[edit]

• The Anansi tales, which center on the Ashanti of Ghana trickster spider-spirit Anansi, and its variations in the Americas as Ti Malice and Bouki in Haiti, Br'er Rabbit or John and Old Master in the Southern United States.
• The tales of the One Thousand and One Nights, brought together by the frame story of the tale of Scheherazade and Shahryār.
• The four troubadoursBernart d'Auriac, Pere Salvatge, Roger Bernard III of Foix, and Peter III of Aragon composed a cycle of four sirventes in the summer of 1285 concerning the Aragonese Crusade.
• The Matter of Britain (or the "Arthurian cycle"), which centers on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
  • The Vulgate cycle (also known as the Lancelot-Grail)
  • The Post-Vulgate cycle
• The Matter of France (or the "Carolingian cycle"), which centers on Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers
  • Chanson de Geste
    • La Geste de Garin de Monglane
    • Doon de Mayence
    • Garin le Loherain
    • Crusade cycle
• The Henriad, the four plays of Shakespeare centered on Henry V.
• Two examples of Japanese cycles are: the Matter of Japan (Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, etc.) and the Genji-Heike Cycle (The Tale of the Heike, Gikeiki about Minamoto no Yoshitsune, etc.). Also popular are the Soga Brothers and Forty-Seven Ronin cycles.
• The Matter of Rome (or the "cycle of Rome"), which centers on Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great
• The Shahnameh (or “The Book of Kings” ) and the legend of Arash the Archer as well as Avesta that make up most of the Persian Mythology, namely, tales of heroes like Rostam and Esfandyar
• The Mythological Cycle, which centers on the Celtic pantheon
• The Fenian Cycle, which centers on Fionn mac Cumhaill and the Fianna
• The Cycle of the Kings, which centers on the monarchy of Ireland
• The Reynard cycle, which centers on the fabular fox Reynard
• Der Ring des Nibelungen (or the "Ring cycle"), which centers on the Ring and the Norse pantheon
• The voyages of Sinbad the sailor, the hero of a cycle of tales of monsters, magical places, and supernatural phenomena met on his successive voyages.
• The epic cycle centering on the Trojan War
• The Ulster Cycle, which centers on Cú Chulainn and the Kingdom of Ulster

While Britannica for cycle in literature:

cycle, in literature, a group of prose or poetic narratives, usually of different authorship, centring on a legendary hero and his associates. The term cyclic poems was first used in late classical times to refer to the independent poems that appeared after Homer to supplement his account of the Trojan War and the heroes’ homecomings. Another classical Greek cycle is the “Theban” group, dealing with Oedipus and his descendants. This cycle is best known through Sophocles’ tragedies Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Oedipus at Colonus, and Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes.

Medieval romance is classified into three major cycles: the “matter of Rome the great,” the “matter of France,” and the “matter of Britain” (“matter” here is a literal translation of the French matière, referring to subject matter, theme, topic, etc.). The matter of Rome, a misnomer, refers to all tales derived from Latin classics. The matter of France includes the stories of Charlemagne and his Twelve Noble Peers. The matter of Britain refers to stories of King Arthur and his knights, the Tristan stories, and independent tales having an English background, such as Guy of Warwick.

Groups of mystery plays that were regularly performed in various towns in England were also known as cycles. (See Chester plays; N-Town plays; Wakefield plays; York plays.)

Other names I picked up from the video, so far:
Plato
Parzival
Meister Eckhardt
Jacob Böhme
Johannes Tauler
Plotinus
Middle Platonism
Nikolai Berdyaev: His books: The Beginning and the End; Slavery and Freedom (Amazon links). Not mentioned but by the same author is The Realm of Spirit and the Realm of Caesar. What might that be about?
Political Ponerology by Andrew M. Lobaczewski is also mentioned as is Dostoevsky
Heart Sutra (A Mahāyāna Buddhism text).

Here is a section of the automatic transcript from YouTube, which in some places is hard to guess:

[Harrison]: yeah just let us let us have it what do you think uh what kind of books do you recommend
48.34 well we've already we've already talked a little bit as you said about some of these authors uh and works and and the
48.41 grail cycle um you know and i think it's important
48.47 just to be aware of these things like plato's dialogues you know i teach at a university and i would say it's very
48.53 rare to have a student who's ever read plato it's unusual for a student to have heard
48.58 the name plato they might have um but it's no guarantee
49.04 and the chances that that a student has read say republic and
49.10 knows about the allegory of the cave those chances are vanishingly remote
49.16 i would say approximating maybe .0001 for most students
49.22 so the whole idea with the book is not here's a reading list you need to buckle
49.30 down people it is rather that uh there are things that you should just
49.37 be aware of that are out there just live in a world where you know that these things exist they're out there
49.46 and that world is much richer by having that in your head so it isn't
49.52 that you need to become a scholar of parsival and sit down and you know just hammer away at that thing it's that
49.59 knowing these things knowing that there's a grail cycle and knowing the basics of it which we provide actually
50.06 in the book um that's really important knowing that plato exists and
50.12 uh in terms of uh reading i mean it's true there's a lot
50.19 that we've read i mean i i've read the equivalent for sure because i get
50.24 interested in something and it's not unusual for me to easily exceed the number of books
50.30 um in some interest that i read for my phd so
50.37 you know i've done that many many many times in different areas and so i just read a lot
50.44 um but i'm also a very fast reader and i don't that's who i am right
50.51 but i don't insist on that what what we're looking at in the book and what we're providing people is a way
50.59 of seeing the world and it's not dependent on particular books or reading particular books
51.05 it's a broader way of becoming familiar with the universe
51.11 of literature and the universe of literature includes all
51.16 kinds of things and where you go in that depends on you
51.21 so for somebody it might be shakespeare right shakespeare it for somebody else it
51.27 might be something else what calls to me and what i would what i
51.34 would say has if i were going to say what are the most
51.39 essential things that i have come across
51.44 that changed the way i understood things i would say one
51.49 is uh dionysus the areopagite whose very short treatise mystical theology
51.58 is in the western european tradition kurdish christian tradition essential it's essential because if you
52.05 know that that exists and you've read it your view of christianity is not the same
52.13 okay there's something new that's been added very short doesn't take a lot
52.19 but that's critical now there are many other examples i can
52.24 give you um that's like that's like short right but
52.29 that's enough to give you an understanding of of
52.37 something that transcends christianity as such it's there in platinus it's there in the
52.43 middle platonus in general it's there in the amplicus and uh so it's pr the same
52.49 thing that you see in mystical theology is visible certainly in platinus
52.54 um but mystical theology condensed it
53.00 uh it's actually visible also in the heart sutra and various other places
53.07 all over the place in buddhism but that's one
53.12 the second i would say is uh there's one tree to set a treatises
53.19 by boma which are interestingly dialogues and those we've had re-translated and
53.25 we're going to re make that available for people as part of this course and that is very accessible and again it
53.33 comes straight out of straight out of what you see in mystical theology you can find the same thing in meister
53.40 eckhart you can find it in my personal favorite is johannes towler there are two sets of their
53.47 translations of translations of their work now available uh tower and eckhart are basically
53.54 straight out of mystical theology uh you take that and you apply it you
54.00 apply it you get eckhart and tower if you want advice then you go to burma
54.07 still out of the same tradition it's very very clear once you understand it and
54.13 that's what we're trying to make available now there is somebody you mentioned earl
54.20 at another point and i'll just bring him in and that is nicholas berdayev
54.27 now we mentioned we alluded to him in the book berdayaf is a great russian philosopher whose
54.35 philosophy was very pragmatic and came straight out of what we're talking about
54.42 mystical theology eckhart burma berndayev
54.48 berdayev though you know he's very colloquial writer
54.53 um his his book the beginning and the end is wonderful
54.58 um he also did a book uh because he was born into russia just as it was taken
55.03 over by bolsheviks and so he lived through an extraordinary s called the silver age
55.10 for some reason of all of these uh extraordinary people in the mystical
55.15 world and then the bolsheviks took over and just stamped the hell out of everything
55.22 and killed millions and and uh and created a nightmare society called the soviet
55.27 union which continued for a long time and finally
55.32 fell and berdayev experienced that and in that
55.41 time he understood as dostoyevsky did
55.46 the nature of the beast the nature of what had taken over society
55.52 and so he wrote about that in a book called slavery and freedom and slavery is you know
55.58 being under basically leftist domination or marxist domination
56.04 it's what lobochewski calls path you know pathocracy um you know the pathocratic uh rule by
56.12 pathological people um he you know that's a very valuable
56.17 book um loveachevsky's i would his book on political
56.23 punterology beard i have understood exactly the same things because he had lived through it
56.29 and there are others i can you know i can keep going almost indefinitely because i have all the stuff in my head
56.36 but it doesn't matter because i'm just giving a few and
56.41 one of the things i wanted to provide was the essence the essential
56.47 ones and then secondly i hint at what i'm referring to as
56.54 pathocracy because there are a lot of people out there who say oh well
57.00 i'm i'm uh very much in favor of
57.06 all of the you know kind of far left agendas that are out there
57.13 and yet don't realize that once those folks get in power the first thing they want
57.19 to do is target who you you
57.24 right you the mystic you the religious practitioner and so you have these people parading around
57.31 saying that the p you know this sort of power structure is somehow going to be just dandy is going to be just dandy and
57.39 we can't wait until the bolsheviks are really in charge well guess what happens when they're in charge it's gulags and
57.46 death camps for you buddy so that's something i wanted now beard i
57.52 have understood that i'm just making it very very clear because i find that if i don't
57.59 then people don't understand it so i'm just saying this is something beard i have
58.05 understood very clearly love butchevsky understood it
58.10 and so i'm just putting it out there uh because this is an important thing for people to be a
58.17 kind of aware of uh the history of marxism
58.22 this is not a pretty history

 

[Ennio]

For the most recent show, we discussed the subject of free will as explained in the writings of someone who's considered to be one of the smartest men alive. A thread has been started about his work here, btw.

MindMatters: Does Free Will Exist? Yes, Obviously - and Other Answers to Big Questions​

Today on MindMatters, we dive into Chris Langan's essay collection, "The Art of Knowing." In the process we discuss free will, Libet's experiments and their interpretations, reality theory, morality (relative? absolute? both?), why we need bad situations in order to grow, and Batman (the greatest superhero).

 

[Voyageur]

Azize, we think, is a very special guest and we were so pleased to have him back on; not just to discuss the above subject matter with us, but to share his insights into other very topical subjects too.

Have just read the posted Christmas article (Dec 28th) from Azize that deals with Norris J. Chumley and his Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer. Azize on the whole was not overly impressed, however there were points about it that he makes - this is in two parts.

“Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer”

Part One In about 2011, HarperCollins published Norris J. Chumley’s Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer. It is not an uninteresting book, as a travelogue, but its value for me lies within the few hundred words where there is something significant said about the Jesus Prayer. As I have indicated...

www.josephazize.com

The two overlapping themes are on meditation and breathing (backdropped on the Jesus Prayer), wherein Chumley thinks one way, or did not expand, and by degree, Azize another. Take for instance the following:

First of all, I do not believe that one spiritual exercise should be used all the time, and certainly not in the same way. It can lead, I would say that it will inevitably lead, to its becoming automatic.

Second, I do not believe that there should be any regular exercise involving the breath except for being aware of it. Other methods, such as holding it in any way, should be used only for the shortest possible periods. Otherwise, we have a double danger, that not only will one’ prayer become automatic, but one’s breathing will likewise be tied to an artificial rhythm. In prayer one wants more consciousness, not less.

It would be interesting if you have Azize on the show again and delve into this a bit more. The becoming automatic part is a fair enough point, not so sure about breathing, although he cites Gurdjieff further along.

Third, Chumley does not report what I consider to be the two most salient of all the dangers: that of drifting into self-satisfied fantasy, and that of disassociation from life. Ellis has stated that the practice of meditation can be harmful for certain groups of individuals, particularly those with obsessive-compulsive and ruminative tendencies, noting: “A few of my own clients have gone into dissociative semi-trance states and upset themselves considerably by meditating.” A. Ellis, “The Place of Meditation in Cognitive-behaviour Therapy and Rational-emotive Therapy,” in Meditation: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives, eds. D.H. Shapiro and R. N. Walsh (New York, NY: Aldine Transaction, 2009 [1984]), 672.

Interestingly, Ellis also contended there argued that the greatest potential danger of meditation was that it was “a highly palliative procedure;” that is, a diversionary technique that helped people to feel better temporarily, but that ultimately distracted them from developing the necessary skills required to make significant positive change in their lives..

Fourth, and I shall not enter it here, I believe that the danger is that to abstract the Jesus Prayer too much from its larger context is to rob it of its highest value. So Chumley has produced an fairly honest book, which does note the dangers of unwise use of the Jesus Prayer. But he does not appreciate how great those dangers are.

In my book Gurdjieff: Mysticism, Contemplation, and Exercises (Oxford University Press, 2020) I contend that Gurdjieff adopted the exercises of Hesychasm into a safe, suitable modern method, providing a new and suitable structure. The dangers I have referred to do not, I suggest, exist in Gurdjieff’s system. I note, too, that he almost never recommended holding the breath – only becoming conscious of it and of retaining the force which it bore, by no means other than the exercise of will-power.

Even then, I would add, that if a Christian who knows nothing of Gurdjieff’s system (and most of all, who has not been taught it by a master) wishes to use the Jesus Prayer, they would be well-advised to find a teacher with extensive experience. Sadly, today some people see something on Youtube, and then begin to “teach it.”

Can't speak for either of the two points, again, not sure if he is correct on the latter part (holding breath). Can see the possibility for some types regarding the disassociation aspects of meditation if taken to the extreme. This reminded me of something that Manly P. Hall had said, which I've never been able to reconcile - which dealt with mediation from a western vs. eastern standpoint, wherein the former - maybe on balance, does not have the mind for it.

Hall wrote 'A Monthly Letter' - this is the first letter "DISCIPLINES OF MEDITATION AND REALIZATION"

The particular subjects of this course of lessons are meditation and realization. Meditation is an inward contemplation of divine realities. The subjects of meditation are the aspects of Truth. Truth may be cognized only when the student is in a tranquil state. There must be no tension or effort.
[...]
Metaphysical disciplines should not be directed toward material ends. The true mystic does not meditate or concentrate in an effort to attract to himself the things of the material world; nor does he attempt to find in meditation an escape from the responsibilities or problems of his objective life. This does not mean, however, that metaphysical disciplines produce no physical result. When a man puts his inner life in order, through meditation and realization, the result is a happier and better physical existence.
[...]
Begin your philosophic life by gaining an imperturbable realization of the life and of the Law, upon which you will build your meditation. We sincerely recommend that you attempt in your own daily life the chemistry of vision, that you bring the best and highest ideals of yourself to bear upon situations that arise. Live up to the best that you know, and observe how quickly problems will disappear. Everything that is difficult becomes easy when it is done with truth as the criterion of action.

If you gain only a little understanding of life upon which you may build a positive and helpful philosophy, you will have accomplished much. You can not achieve perfection in a day or even in one lifetime. But if you work towards it, you will come closer and closer to understanding. This realization is your first step. Ponder well upon it, for upon the rock foundation of individual integrity you will build the House of Universal Understanding. To attempt to live beyond what we know ts dangerous. Not to live up to what we know, ts equally fatal.

Sincerely yours,

There is some similarities to what Azize and Hall have both said. Here is Hall discussing 'Meditation Disciplines Can Cause Trouble,' however he does not disparage, yet advises on ensuring one understands, and as said above, he looks a little into the natural limitations (development) of western minds and how to approach.

Have more questions around all this, perhaps there might even be a question or two for the C's that cannot be readably figured out (don't know), yet think that if the cautions are understood, as well as the intent, that it might be all that needs to be considered.

 

[Chaze]

Not mentioned but by the same author is The Realm of Spirit and the Realm of Caesar. What might that be about?

I just finished reading this, and I would definitely recommend adding it to the bookshelf!

This book does a wonderful job of explaining why the world is in the condition that it is in—albeit from a Christian theosophical point of view—and why it is important for the spiritual man to “struggle for the truth”. He discerns the realm of Spirit as the dualistic part of our being that is within us (our inner spiritual essence that is connected to eternity while being confined within a temporary, finite body) apart from the realm of Caesar, which is simply put as our existence in this temporal reality and our fallen state—with a particular emphasis on our dealings with Authoritarianism. (He draws his allusions to Caesar using Augustus as an example.)

Burdyaev also spends a significant portion of the book dissecting Socialism and Communism—specifically that of Marxism—and explicating in detail how they have become superlative examples of failed systems of governance due to trying to create a utopian state of harmonized social order without acknowledging the truths of our individual and unique spiritual obligations in this life, and how that plays a role in how we interact with society. (He has something to say about social psychopathy as well!) He also does a great job of showing how the ideas of Community and Collectivity are not synonymous. The former is a spiritual quality of persons, a “being-togetherness”, a brother/sisterhood of people of conscience working together to recognize and achieve freedom from their “fallenness”, while the latter refuses to recognize the living relationship of what it takes to be a community; it desires only a person’s relationship to society, to the collective, which then determines the relations of us to one another.

(Side note: In chapter 6, you can really see how Pauline theology has influenced his thinking! I now wonder if Timothy Ashworth read any of Nicolas Berdyaev’s work?)

My short little synopsis doesn’t really do it any justice, so I suggest that you get a copy if possible! It’s worth the investment, in my opinion.

 

[Voyageur]

If you don't mind, just a shout out to your recent MindMatters show with Helen Dale:

MindMatters: Industrialized Rome and Wrong 'un Politicians - with Helen Dale -- Sott.net

Helen Dale, lawyer and award-winning author of 3 novels, including The Hand that Signed the Paper, writes at Law & Liberty and Not On Your Team, But Always Fair. Her two-novel series Kingdom of the Wicked is an alternative history of...

www.sott.net

Helen was very energetic, and if ever available would appreciate a transcript of the show - it moved fast.

Have not read her books, although will check out her substack as the show revealed that there are some interesting lines of force embedded, including referencing to Lorenzo Warby, as Helen describes.

Of Lorenzo, liked Helen's talk on policies, basically getting to a place where saner heads prevail and stupid social policies have a strikethrough pen applied. At the top, this would drive funding to universities, who then would have to start strikethroughs on their own policies (having no more funding) and relegate the Marxist types to a museum.

Learned a few things from her talking on Australian politics (interesting dynamics), and what she said in reference to Josh Slocum i.e, the cluster B personality of lobbyists, which makes much sense to me.

Of the above and more along the lines of social structure changes, Helen mentions she originally saw the beginnings around 2015 (if correct). A working hypothesis for me goes back to 2012 (of course it all goes back further in time), when policy and law started to introduce (and did not recognize it then) the legal focus on bullying and harassment (federal, provincial, municipal and corporate level). Cavate, this is something that makes sense in many cases, one can't really argue with the merits of it - its needed and there are egregious examples. However, legal mechanisms were already in place too - often just underutilized, and when (from experiencing) it was revamped and rolled out through workplaces, it did two things. One, was to bring to light injustices that were always simmering below the surface into a framework that people could understand and take action with. That's fine. Secondly, though, it also brought out of the woodwork those with (to use Josh's words) cluster B disorders, wherein they had new legal shields to go on the attack - and they did and still are doing so in great numbers. From these laws, policy's were quickly drafted up at all workplaces, including at universities that filtered down to the student body. As one may see, it got to a place where anything could be considered harassments, ones speech, free speech even to the point of microaggressions. It became a vehicle for safe-spaces, for canceling, and revenge on anyone a person did not agree with. Don't like your colleague (male or female), supervisor, manager or even a customer, there is a policy that gives you the right to make accusations even to the point of using the plausible lie. Accountability is a low threshold, and yet accusations are almost like gold to the unscrupulous, often with very poor investigative processes in place, if it even gets to that with the outcomes often tilted.

In 2012 it became a little crazy out there, and as observation and legal reviews go, the BS part might have been running at 60%, which does no one any good who really needed the protection (which again was already there). Thus, it might be observed to have helped divide (on a trust level) social interactions, when people became too afraid to even have a meting with someone without the door open (and indeed that has been the case) - to afraid to look at someone that they may take it the wrong way, setting the stage for so many other social grievance that followed.

Just speculative legal policy though that might be wrong - it is complicated.

Back to Helen, though, wherein at the end she jumps into the broad historical issue of psychopathy in background history - Harrison brought up Hermann Göring at his final stay at Nuremberg, and Helen brought up Heydrich and his wife under his thumb, and all else in his sphere (as well as Police Battalion 101 - see MindMatters show on this). Good God, the damage they did and do through time.

Thanks guys!

 

[brandon]

Really fascinating interview. I hadn't heard of Helen Dale before.. she's a bit of a character eh. Must read her books now. My favourite sci-fi author C.J. Cherryh was also a scholar of ancient Roman and Greek culture who incorporates that into her novels, though nowhere near as explicitly, by the sounds of it!

Most of it was over my head, but the stuff Helen Dale said about Australia's system of government was very interesting to me as a [not very politically aware] Australian... gosh.. no wonder I'm usually completely baffled when I read anything about American politics :D Anyways thanks for the show. Very nice to hear from someone with behind-the-scenes experience of government in .au AND who is also aware of ponerology type stuff.

 

[annp]

I agree - Helen Dales' interview was fascinating - I had to pay very close attention as she speaks at such a rapid pace and her discussion was densely packed with information. I also was interested to hear about her take on Australian government - it was quite a surprise, particularly at this time to hear anyone describe a government as well-run (except Putin's!!). The other thing is the mission creep - how small changes are introduced to the public to address some supposed 'wrong', but that will have far-reaching and "un-intended" consequences....or intended as the case may be.

This is an episode I need to listen to again, am quite sure I missed so much...and yes, a transcript would be lovely!

Was sad to hear about Josh Slocum, the interview you did with him on Cluster B's was another of my favorites - difficult to hear, but it clarified some things about the whole gender insanity. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that he lost his job - these people are like the CIA - they have thousands of ways to get revenge. . Anyway, thanks guys, I was not familiar with her, but have subscribed to her substack and some of the others she's recommended.

 

[finch]

That was good! I really enjoyed Helen Dale.

 

[Ennio]

We were very happy to have back with us on the show Michael Rectenwald to discuss his excellent new book on the Great Reset. Though we covered a good number of features of this gigantic excersie in Totalitarian control and subjugation (that Michael explains in his book), we do hope that as many of us as possible get to read it for ourselves, support his work, and gain greater understanding of this almost all-encompassing attempt towards a "finer order of control".

MindMatters: The Great Reset and the Struggle for Liberty with Michael Rectenwald​

ESG's, diversity, equity, and inclusion, stakeholder capitalism, sustainability, CBDC's, transhumanism, Agenda 2030 — no doubt you've heard or read about these and any number of other terms that are meant to get the public with the new progressive and "forward thinking" policies and philosophies of the future. Of course you have; they are all part of the behemoth global elite-inspired policies and agendas of the so-called "Great Reset." But what's really behind them? What are they actually meant to accomplish? And how might these ideas, put into actual practice, affect the way that we live — or don't live?

Joining MindMatters once again is accomplished writer and researcher Michael Rectenwald. Author of Springtime for Snowflakes, Beyond Woke and The Google Archipelago — and in a most insightful progression — Michael tackles his biggest and most important subject yet with his new book The Great Reset and the Struggle for Liberty. With a depth and breadth that is unmatched, his new book delves into one of the most profoundly totalitarian and far-reaching new (and not so new) political, social, and economic agendas in contemporary history. Join us as we get our heads around what already promises to be the most monstrous and destructive developments of the 21st century, the Great Reset, and discuss what we can actually do in response.

 

[annp]

Watched this last night - another great show. BTW - Ennio, I appreciated your comments about how you had read so much about the 'Great Reset' that you assumed you had heard it all, but that Michael's book changed your mind. Apparently the in-depth knowledge gained from the book tells a much bigger story than most of us know. So - guess i will be reading this book as well. Have to admit after reading so many articles, I rather thought the same thing!

 

[Voyageur]

Watched this last night - another great show.

Yes, ditto.

At the end, Michael struggles to voice into the metaphysical, the "unmitigated evil" of things. Although brief, the undercurrents spoke volumes - I mean, how could any sane person not look upon it all and be aghast with the same conclusion. It is a struggle, and then throw in the hyperdimensional and it becomes near beyond, or it is just that, beyond the capabilities to fully understand. However, step by step as one can.

Thank you guys and your guest so much!