Puer Aeternus

Americans never fail to amaze me with how American they are. Apparently, during the alcohol prohibition era breweries pulled a marketing switcheroo and got the public addicted to ice cream instead. The addiction ran so deep that the navy refurbished a barge into a mobile ice cream factory. The beast could churn out 10 gallons every seven minutes and had to be pulled by tugboats throughout the Pacific Island Campaign.

Maaaan. If you ever wanna realize how deeply the map isn't the territory. Read one of these gender/dating threads. It's such incomplete waff, spend your whole life trying to understand this and you won't come close. Always some lurking emotional baggage, half-truths, regurgitated clichés, and folks proclaiming their limited experience to be the holy truth of all reality. Really makes me not take myself serious at all. All my theorizing is just for funzies it doesn't really mean anything. Even if better modeling of reality is practical, it'll never truly touch reality. Now I want to go sit in a corner, stfu, and just be.

Big fan of this channel for African history and biographies of African leaders. It's a good resource into a region with less coverage.

@Loveeee Leos response in the blog post discussion Q: 20 hours ago, Daniel Balan said: How do I develop world class political education and understanding A: Books, books, books! You must read actual books. Books on history, geopolitics, war, diplomacy, espionage, law enforcement, sociology, political science, international affairs, economics. I will add 40 books about such topics to my book list soon. Beyond this, my method is starting with my area of highest interest. This way you get the most momentum and motivation to discover things. I like to research new topics on YouTube/documentaries or look for recommendations. I'll dive into this and start reading books if I'm really interested. Having a separate YouTube account so the algorithm can feed you novel things on politics you wouldn't have otherwise searched can be really nice too.

Yes of course the tariffs were going to make things worse. But we have been living in a buffer period where companies rushed to purchase a lot of extra inventory to keep prices lower before the tariffs applied. This has produced the illusion that the tariffs might not inflate things like they were expected to. However more and more companies are running out of this cheap inventory. Over the coming months, you're going to see stores making increases. Not only will it increase the price of imported goods, it will increase the price of EVERYTHING. Why? It makes sense to spread out the increase to other goods where they won't be noticed as much, rather than only raising the price of the imported ones. Which doesn't even mention how this opens the door to price gouging. These companies are going to try and eat as little of the tariffs as possible. You will ultimately be the one paying for this economic policy. https://youtu.be/URSgDL2ltkY?si=DYTWTS6Nj0XGER3x

Good news! Interested to see how this plays out.

To many, volunteering to risk their life in foreign war would be unimaginable. Yet, the numerous men in this documentary did just that. Why? Who are these people and what are their motivations? Coming into the documentary, I expected to learn about regional geopolitics and how these foreign fighting groups organized. Instead, I was impressed with the vast range of differing motivations for being a volunteer. No, an overwhelming majority of volunteer foreign fighters (abbreviating to VFF) didn't make money. Most were bleeding cash and some emptied their savings to reach the conflict zone. But don't get it twisted, the VFFs had different self-motivated reasons for going. Of the more self-oriented, you could tell some just wanted an adventure. The relatively simple cause of "blowing shit up and killing bad guys." Living out action movie fantasy as main characters. Some showed a deep insecurity and wanted to prove they were hard to the folks back home. Many of these cases had children at home, making their decisions especially questionable. Other VFFs operated through an ideological or religious lens, to represent the true faith, to spread American freedom and justice. While others showed a more humanitarian interest. The draconian policies of ISIS and recorded atrocities, tortures, and executions triggered a moral sense of duty in many. Some showed empathy towards the locals and were clearly emotionally attached to their ideas of justice. A few carried this humanitarianism to inspirational levels, making incredible personal sacrifices. Beyond personal motivation, many interesting group dynamics played out. Volunteers lacked a sole central planning entity, leaving individual groups responsible for vetting their VFFs. The bar was low, criminals, mentally ill, and those with no combat experience could join. Beyond this shakiness, scam groups were rampant. Groups often got into conflict over tactics, territory, or just straight up petty shit. The local militaries often treated the VFFs like luxury toys, to be passed around and represent the status of their unit. But not to see combat, as their deaths would bring bad PR. Truly, you can find layers of human bullshit in everything. But the spectrum of how much is truly impressive. A VFF traveling abroad could be a pedophile escaping the country and humanitarian ready to lay down his life to protect the locals. Even those with good intentions encountered massive roadblocks to their initial plans to help.

This is a journal for me to actively reflect on the interesting documentaries I've watched lately. All with the goal of practicing my writing and getting those slippery ideas out of my head and into words!

Ohhhh jeeezus not this AI shit again. Don't think you understand how complex so many jobs are, even ones that seem simple. Like there's been decades of baseless yap about oooh, driverless delivery trucks are coming. It's gonna put so many people out of a job! It is still so, so far away. Because reality is often beyond what we can model for, one little unpredictable factor can send things out of wack. Even if we can replace some things with AI, should we? Like no mate I'm not going to be like oop, let's open up AI Therapy by ChatGPT. Get my deep problems resolved, it's only going to be so supplemental. Or like this prompt art stuff. Sure it will take some of the market and has its applications, but most serious brick and mortar companies are going to have their own graphic designers. Also.. uh, humanoids? Lol. That techs even further behind AI and less certain. At the end of the day, you just don't know what's going to happen. It'll definitely have SOME impact, but to the extent you're imagining with current tech seems a little silly. Just do what you want to do! Stay flexible and adapt with whatever new things come up. The future can be uncertain and spooky, but you can work with it.

Sounds like you at least have some emotional blocks around this, that's making it stressful to the point of avoidance. You should sit with the issue and try to get to the bottom of it. I'm sure it would take some time and emotional labor to figure out properly though, so be ready.

I don't really have much to add, just wanted to say this is some dope, profound shit and am so glad you got to experience it! Good on you following through on it despite the setbacks and getting so much out of it. Makes me really want to give it ago. I can still be nervous sometimes, so perhaps throwing myself out of a plane is doctors orders.

Eh, yes. Chronically online for now. I often default to glass half empty and cynicism, I mean. There's plenty of legit reasons to fuel the doom. But wouldn't say this was intended to be a doomer thread. Just a discussion of some of the dark sides of humanity. Which.. you don't necessarily have to get down in the doomer to talk about. But it can inspire those reactions.

What a fun coincidence, it really is a revelation. Inside me, so many sensations and characters. And there's plenty more artifacts to be excavated! Thanks for leaving a comment.

A personal metaphor for what has emerged after lots of healing. A new stage. I am a museum. A labyrinth of artifacts with certain selected items open to viewing by the public. Many things though are tucked away in hidden, private rooms, which only I know the path to. These rooms contain priceless, invaluable gifts. Gifts that are locked in a thick, reinforced glass casing. Their secrecy maintained because the public would misunderstand them. It would be a great tragedy for them to damage these objects through ignorance or anger. Only with time and gained trust, may frequently visiting patrons with proven refined taste be guided down the secret pathways to admire these treasures through the glass. For even fewer, will I unlock the casing and let them in to hold my most valued gifts in their hand, to directly experience their beauty and power. These rooms are not sealed shut like a tomb, with an intention that they never be opened. There is always potential for them to be opened. Rather, they are protected by secrecy, locks, and my own selective discretion. Now, I am the sole caretaker for my museum. Caring for it with love, recognizing it's value, and protecting it is solely my responsibility. Willing and respectful volunteers may help with upkeep. However, the nature of these volunteers is transient. They have other responsibilities and are not tied as closely to it as me. Reliance on them will lead to the decay and disrepair of my museum. I must not be tempted by illusions, I will must maintain my responsibility.

Don't necessarily think this is of equal importance to all people. Clearly we are here because of it, but people can be very comfortable within their worldview just going through the motions and enjoying that daily life. Most hard nosed fundamentalists aren't separating religious studies and other reality. It is the bedrock of their epistemology for understanding everything. They could learn new things through Google, but ultimately it would be secondary knowledge and thrown out if it conflicted with their sect. Reminds me of the Christian nationalist character Leo posted about on his blog awhile ago. This guy read a small libraries worth of history books, only made him double down on his prior view. Well, I could crack open my holy book. Ask a religious minister.. maybe I will even Google religious answers to these questions. I am sure these folks have their doubts. But, leaving their belief bubble isn't required, nor inevitable.

@Ajay0 Ay dios mio. You are weirding me out dude. I am not some grand defender of the west, I am not sure why you keep deflecting to that. I am from the U.S. and I know damn well how fucked up our foreign policy, history, and domestic policy have been. I am just saying everywhere has problems, not sure why you can't admit this and need to keep playing some game where seems you're elevating India above this. I get the vibe this back and forth is going nowhere and I'm dropping it.

@Ajay0 I suppose I framed it too broadly with poor wording from me just throwing a bunch of things together. That is my bad. This seems to be more so focused on a community in Haryana. How far this sort extends beyond there, I'm not sure. I think the example and views expressed by people in the video are still quite shocking and depressing to be fair.. perhaps even a culture that would underreport rape cases. But yes, not EVERYWHERE in India, at least to my knowledge. I don't know, the country is massive and different states have different cultures. I'm guessing there's a good level of variability between all of them. Seems you're from India or know more on the subject. Feel free to correct me further if you have confidence in doing so. I don't doubt your country has produced impressive things and people. But yes, most countries produce some impressive people while having a dark underbelly. I never denied those ol war mongering western countries doing anything brutal. Not fostered any wars or invasions in faraway nations is some clever wording though, especially with recent events I stand on my stupidity, India is no land of widespread rapes lol, but we don't need to extend it too far the other way.

Yanno what boss, ya ain't wrong on that. And you reminded me that I've got to do a lot better at that, I've been slacking off lately. It'd be better to have discussions in good faith, more open. Folks could actually come to an understanding of each other and sort things out, even if they didn't agree. Lots of shutting someone down and denying them even a single braincell of effort in understanding. It only causes agitation and mental doubling down of the problem. Then where do the men go? To manosphere and similar communities opposite the spectrum where they can actually discuss these things. Need more effort and understanding than dunking on/debating and labeling/banning. I could toss you the "correct" answers.. or what seems to be, to me. But they end up not doing jack, because they lack context to your actual situation. That being said, respectfully. I do think you may SOMETIMES put worse intentions on some of the forum members than they really have. Not saying you don't have your reasons though!

Learning about different cultures can be akin to time travel. Svaneti, Georgia and its people the Svans are like a window into the past. Retaining their way of life for millennia only experiencing a slow, gradual trickle of change over time. What forces maintain their cultural cohesion so strongly? In this reflection I want to demystify some answers to this question. The most obvious factors is geography. The rough terrain of the Caucasas Mountains and brutal, punishing winters are an natural force that has pushed them towards isolation. Before invention of the automobile, travel to Svaneti would've been at best treacherous and at worst deadly. Mountains are an incredible cause of remarkable isolated diversity. They are why countries like Papau New Guinea, roughly the size of California, speak over 800 unique and often unrelated languages. Beyond geography, communal interdependence for survival is another factor that has kept the Svans together. In the documentary, it is clear. Their customs hold thousands of years of wisdom tailored specifically towards surviving in their environment and with each other. The winters force them to be strict and practical, rules are tightly enforced and deviation is punished with a loss of status. Loss of status may even be a life or death problem leading to exclusion from community resources, no assistance in emergency, and maintaining their family home, etc. Following the rules and being a good community member is enforced in their minds from a young age. Tradition and survival this way is what the community members are most skilled at and comfortable in. In contrast to life in Svaneti, the world around them has been changing at a faster pace. More and more modern amenities are knocking at their doorstep, providing a tempting path away from their culture. The barrier of geography is falling. They've already adapted the Georgian language, automobiles, many community members leave to go attend college in cities. With this new access those more open minded may bring about change in or uproot from the community completely. It seems likely the area will modernize more as tourists pour in that demand infrastructure, electricity, modern internet, new jobs, and much more. What will happen? It's clear that the deeply entrenched culture and social contract of the Svans will resist this, for a time. But what will the consequences be when new generations are born, less rooted in the old ways, and begin to change things even more? It will pose a lot of questions to the people and a lot of conflict as new, incompatible ways of life emerge and clash with traditional Svan culture.

Recently came across this guy, Abdul Sattar Edhi. He was a humanitarian, modern saint, and ran an NGO in Pakistan, basically a failed state. He opened up more than a thousand medical facilities and ran ambulances throughout Pakistan, especially to rough/hard to access areas. It seems his level of integrity was incredible. He never stopped working on the front lines, even with threats against his life from political opponents and in sketchy areas. He took only for his bare bones survival, when he died he'd only owned two outfits and a pair of shoes for his last twenty years of life. He never discriminated with sect, religion, or race and his organization would even sometimes provide international aid as well. RIP, truly a legend and inspiration. Wish there was more English media on him. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/07/08/485279862/abdul-sattar-edhi-known-as-pakistans-mother-teresa-dies-at-88

Posting some of those requested documentaries from the blog thread! More of a slow burn, but about the conflict between Azerbijani/Armenia, mostly from the Armenian side. Examines the aftereffects and blood bond of killing. A traumatized culture possessed for desire for revenge on those who killed their family and took "their land". In Krygystan there is a cultural custom where women can be kidnapped and forced into marriage. It can happen basically anytime and be done by anyone. This docu follows a kidnapping as it happens. This tradition is falling out of favor now, but it still happens in rural areas. 2 part testimony from Vietnamese soldiers about their own indoctrination and torture/rape of Vietnamese villagers. All done by the sort of guys you'd casually pass at the supermarket or be co-workers with. Under a layer of conditioning, immense potential for violence exists even in first world countries. Most things can become normal in a culture if it can find its footing. Widespread rape in India, if a woman is raped she is blamed for it completely and shamed rather than the rapist. This is what mental health facilities look like in many third world countries, if they exist at all.

@SwiftQuill That sounds really, REALLY interesting actually. Thanks for mentioning I'll have to look into that. I do now loathe the predictable, corny, inevitable happy endings of modern movies. So this should be a breath of fresh air. Loaded with like you said lots of history and spirituality. I don't mind some harshness. Do you have any plays in particular you'd recommend?

Sure! You want related to Afghanistan or just stuff showing off how deep the depraved, shadow side of humanity can go?

@SwiftQuill Yeah that's a fair criticism, I honestly just ignore it and sort out the good stuff. Interesting, Greek tragedy? You mean like theatre?

Great find! I've been meaning to review basic psych stuff anyways. I really like Robert Sapolsky's lecture series. From ages ago, but the audio quality is decent enough. He's very intelligent and his presentations are not only thought provoking but also entertaining (to me at least). Here's the first of the series (25 lectures):