Sort of a Rant – Page 2 – sillysocksonfriday

Why Do People Avoid Thinking About Serious Stuff?

… look away now if you’re not up for it

Not everyone does a lot of contemplation … when asked to elaborate … they are forced to parrot whatever echo chamber to which they subscribe. I blame the schools, all of them.

We are a culture of people who would rather be distracted than confront real issues, and we shy away from acknowledging problems because if we actually notice them we’d have to work to fix them.

My dream is that we find a way to incorporate critical thinking into the education system. Not only would we encounter people capable of having an intelligent conversation, we’d be more likely to hold politicians, business people, and everyone else accountable for their decisions and what they advocate. Imagine a return to fact-based decision making!

If the success of religions since the dawn of civilizations taught us anything, it is that most people are terrible at thinking independently and would much rather be told what to believe, think and do.

Most people don’t talk about deep stuff because they are shallow. They are shallow because they were never challenged properly as children to develop their critical thinking faculties. Children are constantly told to shut up and listen or else. Hence followers are manufactured in the home.

It’s a cycle that won’t be broken until someone brings forth a functioning model that provides working methods for existing damaged people to inadvertently not damage their children.

Once you’re raised to follow, you can’t listen to the truth because it forces you to violate your dependency on others which is now hardwired into your brain for survival. Hence the prevalence of dominance hierarchies.

These are responses on Reddit to the title question, not my words, although they resonate with me

How red is my neck?

The Altemeyer RWA scale measures right wing authoritarianism. I was curious so did the test. Now write down what you think I scored.

(22 is minimum and 198 is max).

I will tell you my score at the end of the blog.

Is compromise good or bad?

In a long ago industrial relations training session I was mildly scorned as I maintained compromise should be the realistic and most pragmatic outcome. Society in South Africa at the time generally endured an authoritarian regime and was engaged in a national power struggle .

Compromise seems to have an undesirable reputation and various negative meanings and circumstances attach to it. But in the context of bargaining I still firmly believe it is a better solution than total victory, unless the relationship is broken beyond repair.

That is because each party gets something, admittedly not what was desired but enough. If one can widen scope from total victory to partial victory then a solution is possible.

Of course, the degree of antagonism means that compromise solutions are difficult.

But that is what must prevail in Ukraine and Gaza as the degree of antagonism is reduced by the grief and loss felt by both warring countries. Sadly the latter seems to be spiralling out of control as fringe participants step up their antagonisms.

Both these regions existed for centuries in relative harmonies before borders became so darkly drawn on maps.

My RWA score was 33! Even I was surprised!

A call to take up inoffensive weapons in a global campaign … (woke speech)

The time has come, as the Walrus said, to think of other things.
The organisation / association / school of which I am proud & happy to have been a part for over a decade, has decided to broaden its campaign.

It has been accepted that the global campaign against neckties has had some impact. Sympathisers have increased awareness that tying decorated strips of cloth around one’s neck is folly and a clear symbol of submission to the yoke of ridiculous convention.

I attended a seminar in the city recently. It was depressing: I had to seek guidance on how to access the lift – there were 6, with no buttons. One had to mechanically alert a console in the foyer as to one’s destination & it advised which lift would convey you. The damn thing had only a clock & an alarm bell & took me straight to floor 20 without stopping.

Even worse were the attendees: 90/100 uniformly attired in black; decorative nooses tightly wound around male necks & jackets buttoned …. slightly amused at my grey flannel slacks and cardigan, politely ignoring my lack of necktie.

All I could think of was urban clones. The lawyers who adressed us, could have been brother and sisters, raised by a Sergeant Major! I am so glad I don’t work in the city!! The campaign has a loong way to go.

The Israelis, those clever industrious aggressive people, who are the best national example of a general rejection of that corporate noose, are not doing well with PR at the moment though!

So, a different campaign, a strategic feint, is considered appropriate to garner fresh attention,

Being easy going, we understand the courage and daring involved in resistance. The Man is mean, unreasonable and unrelenting – a challenge of this nature is likely to invite institutional condemnation from up high.
The Man, who has tolerated this absurdity for many years, will have to admit his own folly to recant.

That is hard and would attract labels such as radical, liberal and, horror of horrors, may risk refusal of entry to the Club! So any challenge will be stifled.

Of course, women do not have to comply – that is discriminatory; but don’t tell a lawyer that, there will be an answer. Perhaps men should wear skirts to work – they could call them kilts …hmmm!

Take courage, talk about it, debate it, defend it, attack it!

We still believe wearing silly socks can bring about a gradual erosion of urban uniform mentality.

Start on Fridays & spread the word; encourage participation, praise creativity. It cannot be faulted (it is underwear , after all)

To socks, to socks!

This is a re-post of a very early (slightly edited) blog published on 28 July 2006

What can we do?

The air is clear and still, dew is glistening on the leaves, birds’ calls are particularly clear and sharp. Some gum trees are in flower again, fooled by the seventh false start of summer. The honey eaters are happy.

Today attack drones swarm towards Israel – is this the start of World War 3? All the ingredients are present: an axis of autocrats, their identified enemy, a creature of the Western alliance…. all have nuclear weapons.

Yesterday a maniac ran amok slashing and stabbing indiscriminately, mostly weak and defenceless victims, avoiding challenges from brave men; then shot dead by an efficient police officer.

The same day we baby sat a grandson for a few hours; we sang and danced and laughed and smiled … such uninhibited joy and love!

Tomorrow judgment will be handed down on another case arising from the lies and immorality of two young people who had been employed to assist our government ministers. How did they get there and how could they have been tolerated? The damage created by just one incident has been incredible: reputations of Ministers, Judges, Police officers, Media icons tattered … only a bishop missing! And the slime ball is still rolling!

What we can do is lift our heads and think about values outside our little material worlds. We need to decide how much we value freedom and consider the responsibilities of citizens in democracies. Remember, we have a duty not only to pay our taxes and obey the law; we must also take up arms to defend our country when required.

I suggest that we should think a bit more about the corrosion of our values and speak out against their erosion by sentiment and identity politics.

It is just … sad!

Australia has the largest size homes in the world. Round here in our middle class estate, 20 year old houses average A$1,000,000

Average homesize has more than doubled despite family size declining by 28% in the past 60 years. Plus we send the old fogies off to live in aged care homes, so they are no bother.

Not only that, storage facilities are booming and are a serious investment option!

What does that say?

It says to me that we are rabbits in the headlights of marketers. Our lives are continuously cascaded with marketing messages and information.

We are driven to buy the bargain, its so cheap. We each have 50 shirts, 10 pairs of shoes, 50 dresses and a million knick knacks. Our televisions grow in size by the year. We have speakers in every room and 12 different appliances in the kitchen. We have so many types of insurance we need a broker

Our houses are so cluttered we buy sheds and park the cars in the road. We hire storage space to accommodate our possessions.

Why? We don’t need most of the stuff we have…

I am reminded of the riots in London in 2011 which was sparked by police shooting an armed suspect. It led to wide spread looting. My thoughts at the time (just after the 2008 recession) were that despair and futility and lack of money coupled with incessant marketing messages could lead me to do some looting too.

That’s when I began to dislike marketing.

It’s sad because we won’t be able to stop it without a cataclysmic event or events which could lead to radical recalibration of our values and drives.

Covid was clearly not sufficient.

A world war would do it – and that is not too remote an event….

Making ourselves mad

In order to allow both parents to enter paid employment, governments subsidise child care services, in which we willingly enrol our children, some as young as 3 months old. (This is permitted!)

As people get older, they need more care, so instead of caring for them, we allow them to be sent to aged care homes, also subsidised by government.

Out of sight, out of mind?

I bet this will surprise you …. NOT!

Over 50% of aged care residents have significant levels of depression.
Around one in seven Australians take antidepressants

Institutional old age and child care services are convenience services designed to remove caring support roles from the family unit and free up more people to enter the labour force.

The distress and toll on families that this causes is apparent.

In primitive societies, the elderly and the young were kept in the family home, with the bulk of caring falling on female household members. Oooh! I need to tread carefully here…

In modern times, females have demanded and been granted greater access to and equality in the labour force. Which governements support and encourage for a number of reasons.

So the modern solution is to outsource our caring duties. Is there any wonder that so many are on anti-depressants?

What can be a greater source for despair than daily abandonment of children and the marooning of their grandparents, our own parents?

We know the effect on the elderly – what about the effect on our children?

One solution is to stop chasing the ‘own home dream’ and promoting the shared home. Subsidise home carers, not care homes; incentivise one working parent households.

A 24-work day would enable both parents to work and to care for the children and grandparents.

The pace and demands of our society is causing its disintegration at the edges.

We institutionalise the young and old, almost certainly deteriorating their mental health. We allow the drug addicts, destitute and depressed detritus of our commumities to sleep in the streets.

Is it not time we open our eyes and put our foot down?

Ya Nincompoop!

nincompoop (plural nincompoops)

(derogatory) A foolish or silly person. [from 16th c.] synonyms ▲quotations ▼Synonyms: dunderhead, fool, imbecile, nitwit,
gaby, hammerhead, putz; see also Thesaurus:fool

It seems that insults or slurs are subject to fashion and context.

“You little monkey” is often heard from proud mothers beaming at agile, mischievious infants. However, it is a gross insult for dark skinned people, particularly hulking great sportsmen!

As an African I am keenly aware that the K-word is a definite no word and is felt as a terrible insult by black Southern Africans. Yet Afrikaners frequently referred to their own chubby little children as klein kaffertjies, as a sign of endearment.

I recall some years ago yelling out in exasperation “O you baboon!” at a rugby game when one of my son’s team mates dropped the ball, missing a certain try.

After the game, I was delicately taken to task (I usually gave lifts to the players and was a faithful fan). It was said that exasperation was acceptable and they were happy for the exchange of hairdresser for baboon.

I suppose one should not use even that as exasperated critique at a rugby match these days….

I am sure if I called my wife a cabbage, she would resent it, yet in France it is a term of endearment.

In a change of direction we see that Sam Kerr, who has an Indian grandmother, was arrested for calling a cop a stupid white bastard.

I wonder which word makes it an insult ?

There is a whole list of ethnic slurs in Google for almost every country or ethnicity: quite enetertaining reading and in a way an account of history.

Identity slurs have become a political weapon, capable of being exaggerated and sensationalised until the fallout stuns the nation. How did simple words get so over inflated into righteous causes? You bitch is not a nice thing to say; you black/white bitch is a mortal sin, likely to entrance the nation for a week!

Back in the day, if one was insulted, one returned the insult or biffed the insulter on the nose or walked away. Now we huff and puff and the house is blown down by the selective Mother Grundy zealots determined to impose their values and solutions on our world. And the media pumps it up with suitable tones of horror and barely suppressed outrage.

What happened to “Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never harm you”??

It really is a matter of choice – but there seems to be so much ado about nothing!!

It is time that the nanny response to such small stuff is shelved and we need some brave politicians and editors to say so.

Ya piddle nishers!

Xenophobia

“Never talk to strangers” was an admonition for young children. It was intended as a caution to be wary of the unknown; a portmanteau of the plethora of advice/warnings a parent gives: don’t take lollies from a stranger, don’t go anywhere with a stranger, don’t get in a stranger’s car…..

Seems to be still good advice. Take care with the unknown.

When a stranger wanders into our housing estate, warnings and photos are posted on community websites. I usually go out and ask if I can help.

My intention is primarily to help, but also to confront, to say I have seen you, so if you intend mischief, know you are being watched…

Europe, the US, Australia and South Africa are magnets for strangers who pour into their perceived rich territories, fleeing their less comfortable homelands.

The generation which has been taught that diversity and inclusion are holy duties and moral imperatives, faces political turmoil and dilemma as their homeland is flooded by alien peoples who have nothing and need support.

Suddenly refugees receive more support than pensioners, hospital access is clogged, crime rates increase with increasing unemployment. Welfare and employment of native citizens is vastly diminished…

In London, the last census reports a minority of white British people in 22 out of 33 boroughs …

In the Midlands of UK, churches are rapidly being converted to mosques.

The US Presidency will likely be decided by who will keep the most refugees out of the country. Many European countries are seeing political swings to the right because of the lack of political xenophobia.

In South Africa massacres of foreign migrants have to be prevented just 25 years after the end of apartheid. If you are white, you are unlikely to get a job, unless you have an extra special skill or a connection or start your own business., which must have a majority of black employees!

Of course taxpayers object if much of their taxes is spent on people who steal into a country.

Legitimate migrants have to jump through bureaucratic hoops and offer skills and money to be accepted. And God help you if you make a mistake!!

Refugee peasants just need to sneak in by boat and have a better chance of support from the government agencies.

So how can refugees be refused without offending the compelling Social Responsibilty imperatives which now dominate our corporate and political policies? How can we ignore the years of applying affirmative action and employment equity …?

I say we must protect our community by ensuring people who enter can support us and contribute positively and not be a drain on our resources.

Discriminate fairly: scrutinise strangers, ask where are you from, why are you here, what can you offer? before you invite them to stay.

Send the boats back – don’t let them in.

Soft, warm fuzzy attitudes and the inability to say no will ruin your country!

Crying out loud

It’s getting to the point where I am no fun anymore

I am sorry

Sometimes it hurts so badly I must cry out loud

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes: Crosby Stills Nash & Young

Some time ago, I started collecting quotes and expressions of many different people which resonated with me.

I thought I would share some of them.

There is a lot of stuff to process, take it easy – if you try to swallow it in one lump, indigestion is certain!

The state of our world

“In the West, we have been withdrawing from our tradition-, religion- and even nation-centred cultures, partly to decrease the danger of group conflict. But we are increasingly falling prey to the desperation of meaninglessness, and that is no improvement at all.”
Jordan B. Peterson

For now, just think about how we seem to have the most cowardly, corporatist, incompetent and self-serving ruling elites of any of our lifetimes. And weep.

The core issue is that changing political mores have established the systematic promotion of the unqualified and sidelining of the competent.

James Allan, Spectator

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.
William Butler Yeats

a country perhaps deserves what it tolerates.…

‘There must be no privilege of origin.’

Bob Hawke 30 November 1988

in the world of Woke, or the modern Maoism, the individual must bow to the will of the collective, as determined by the cultural elites. This is a complete perversion of democracy.

In this ‘brave new world’, the media are now our censors. The collective will crush you. Universities are intellectual gulags. Leftwing ideology is our persecutor and our inquisitor. Language has become our jailer, where say the wrong thing and you are branded ‘hateful’, and cast out.
Rowan Dean, Spectator

Welcome to country

It is a story presented to Australians as though we are being granted a privilege to be here despite all of us being equal citizens.

Why is there any special treatment based upon heritage (instead of need)? Why are the majority made to feel as if they are aliens in their homeland?
The re-write of Australia: straight out of the Marxist-Leninist handbook
Bryan Phillips

Aboriginal leader and activist university professor Marcia Langton, declared that if the Voice referendum failed there would be no more Welcomes to Country. (She) clearly sees Welcome to Country as a privilege to be bestowed upon grateful trespassers on her people’s land. She would, presumably, be appalled to know that a great many Australians now want to take her at her word, and be left alone.
Terry Barnes, SPECTATOR 20 January 2024

Identity Politics

‘the spiritual consolation provided by the dogmatic assertion of their collective identity’.

‘In effect, identity politics has come to serve as a substitute for religion – or at least for the feeling of self-righteousness that is so commonly confused with religion.’

‘the prevailing cultural-left orthodoxy is one where mind control and group think are enforced… Opinion thus becomes a function of racial or ethnic identity, of gender or sexual preference. Self-selected minority “spokespersons” enforce this conformity by ostracising those who stray from the party line – black people, for instance, who think white.’
Christopher Latsch, 1996

Whether climate alarmism, radical gender and sexuality theory, the evils of Western Civilisation, or society being guilty of white supremacism and misogyny – the battle lines are drawn and any who disagree are vilified, attacked, and in extreme cases cancelled.

Kevin Donnelly The Spectator Jan 2024 with quotes from Christopher Latsch written 28 years ago!

What we need to do

Most of this advice comes from Jordan Peterson who articulates clearly much of what I feel and believe.

Peterson is the man who said no.
Peterson upsets academia. Their determination to ‘shut him up’ has little to do with arguments about free speech and everything to do with the fragility of left-wing dogma.

(He) is not the sort of person you can throw a censorial spear at and hope he’ll stay on the ground, bleeding out in a puddle of self-pity. (What an accolade, in my eyes!)

‘Free speech is the mechanism by which we keep our society functioning,’

Peterson was someone tired of the wheel cycling human idiocy back on itself, caked in the muck of failed sadistic empires.

To him, (heckling students) are examples of history’s useless idiots cheering on the iron fist in the mistaken hope it will only smash their ideological opposition.

If there is one lesson to take from the aching bookshelves of humanity, it’s that we learn every lesson the hard way and then promptly forget those lessons.

If facts are hateful, science becomes shackled to political correctness …

A generation of academics have their thoughts held to ransom by an invisible framework of political offence.

As for Australia …Our system of liberty is based on … the goodwill of politicians.

Alexandra Marshall, Flat White January 2024

Quotes to think about

our obligation is to the action, and never to its fruits.

Do not be motivated by the fruit of your actions.

But do not become attached to non-action either.

Extract from Bhagavad Gita

Fear of consequences cannot be a justification for inaction. Duty toward the preservation of the moral order is far more important.

“You’re going to pay a price for every bloody thing you do and everything you don’t do. You don’t get to choose to not pay a price. You get to choose which poison you’re going to take. That’s it.”

“When you have something to say, silence is a lie.”

“If you are not willing to be a fool, you can’t become a master.”

“In order to be able to think, you have to risk being offensive.”

Jordan B. Peterson

The Janus Perspective

As the god of transitions and dualities, Janus is portrayed with two faces—one facing the past, and one facing the future. He also holds a key in his right hand, which symbolizes his protection of doors, gates, thresholds, and other separations or openings between spatial boundaries.

That is where we are – in transition. At least I desperately hope so!

At last the Western world, which I identify with as the best civilisation in this age, has awoken to the threat within its walls.

The erosion of identity politics, uncontrolled borders and hordes of refugees from alien cultures, the surplus of elites, declining educational standards, scant academic rigour and the dearth of strong politicial leadership has hollowed western democracies.

In 376 AD, a large migration of Goths and other non-Roman people, fleeing from the Huns, entered the Empire. Roman forces were unable to exterminate, expel or subjugate them… The Roman elites were beset by squabbling and in-fighting and the Roman Empire disintegrated.

Western polities are in the throes of an identity crisis which has enfeebled them, allowing more primitive, authoritarian cultures to infiltrate our institutions and values. Internal attacks on history, convention, institutions have been endured to their detriment.

We’ve been redefining deviancy so as to exempt much conduct previously stigmatised
Senator DP Moynihan, c.1994, quoted by Tom Switzer, Weekend Australian 30 Dec 2023

The moral outrage displayed under the Black Lives Matter banner fuelled the looting, toppling of statues, burning of cars and widespread defiance and confrontation of police. The cause was the death in police custody of George Floyd, a drug using criminal.

Such was the righteousness of this outrage that Democrat Senators took a knee as did many sportspeople, virtue signalling their acceptance of guilt for somehow being the cause of the failure of a huge majority of black people to succeed in modern society.

A number of state governments began considering paying reparations for slavery 100’s of years ago, at the expense of current taxpayers.

This challenge to society occurred during the period that the #metoo phenomenon strengthened the cancel culture which had stifled freedom of speech in universities.

Over the last decade, the West has been inundated by floods of refugees from the Middle East and Africa. Many of these people have not been absorbed into society and are living informally in squalid conditions, contributing to huge welfare demands and a rise in violent crime.

The decades-long lenient immigration rules in the UK have resulted in a huge influx of Sout East Asians and Africans. Such is this impact that many churches in the UK have been transformed into mosques and Muslim radicals protest at military funerals. Curry and rice long surpassed fish and chips as the favourite food choice.

Decolonisation is a rallying cry of the progressive left, but it no longer means the freeing of former colonies, it means racialising and disparaging the historical legacy of Western civilization.
Frank Furedi, Weekend Australian 30 Dec 2023

2023 saw a swing to the right, with the election of right wing governments committed to crackdowns on migrants and stricter border controls. In Australia the rejection of the Voice referendum, knocked back a flimsy political virtue signal aimed at empowering Aboriginals by according them extra constitutional power.

There are clear indications that there is a strongly building conservative resistance against the ideology of multiculturalism and the rewriting of history from the viewpoint of non Europeans.

What a swing of the pendulum to the right will require is for the hitherto generally silent middle mass of the population to bestir itself and defy the attacks on freedom of speech and the the right to police public order.

It will require resolute, courageous leaders determined to hold a firm stance and withstand media pressure.

The incursion of identity politics into everyday business and social life must be resisted and diminished. The rights of parents to be informed and make decisions for their minor children must be unequivocally upheld.

It will entail the rolling back of recent liberties like illegal behaviour during demonstrations, the tolerance by governing bodies of bigotry and hate speech and increasing surveillance of society.

The hard edge of this civilizational conflict is in the proxy wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Ukraine stands against the invasion by personal direction of a ruthless, totalitarian dictator. Israel stands against those that attack its people and seek its annihilation. It is a bastion of Western democracy, surrounded by autocratic regimes probably directed by Iran.

Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China are autocratic regimes, superpowers that seek to subdue the influence of the Western world. They have a number of alliances and huge and extreme military arsenals. They operate clandestinely, funding cyber attacks and external terror groups while shaking their nuclear swords.

Israel opposes and counters Iran’s influence and confronts its proxies, Hamas, Hizbollah and the Houthis, with assistance from Western allies. Russia is assisted by Iran, China and South Korea in its war with Ukraine, who is backed by the West.

So the choice is coming closer and it is serious.

Who do you support?

The rewriters of history and seekers of reparations for slavery;

The defenders of invasions of their country and of the western constitutional democratic freedoms.

It’s just not cricket

Usman Khawaja is a nice guy. However, saying his shoe statement is not political is naive at least or cynical or worse. The way the whole thing played out in a typical woke episode.

A public figure, paid to represent his country, departs from the uniform to endorse a statement on his shoe written in the colours of a political entity.

That is a political action, like taking the knee or black power saluting during the national anthem.

Quite correctly, this act was prohibited.

The fact that he was allowed to wear a black armband is a weak, unacceptable, woke compromise.

In Khawaja’s context it is an individual political statement. It is clearly not a mark of respect, worn to honour the death of a family member or a universal icon, relevant to the sport.

The fact the the team administration and captain allowed the armband is how woke works and it is a failure in principle and integrity.

Where does the rot start? Right at the top – this is what Anika Wells the Federal Sports Minister said:

“As the federal sports minister, I have always advocated for athletes to have the right to have a voice and to speak up on matters that are important to them,”

I agree with that, so long as they don’t use their workplaces. They are employed as athletes to perform their skills before a paying public. They need to keep their personal, political lives separate.

The making of political statements can cause tension amongst cricket followers of diverse views. Usman acknowledges his intended ‘statement’ attracted abuse. The Minister and Pat Cummins and many others clearly support it.

What if the team members were required to wear LBGTI rainbow emblems on their shirts?

What if a sportsman chose to wear a black armband on 30 April – the day of Hitler’s death? Or 6 August .. the Hiroshima bomb anniversary or … you get the picture.

Use of the public platform to promote personal causes should be prohibited and sanctioned.

Keep politics out of sport.

And have the courage to stand up to impropriety.