IN THE forthcoming book Our Borders, Our Selves: America in the Age of Multiculturalism, to be published soon by VDare Books, the late Lawrence Auster argues that the cultural revolution of the past 60 years has been, at its roots, a revolt against fatherhood — the fatherhood of human fathers, of all institutions and traditions of authority, and, most importantly, of God Himself.

In this great insight, Auster explains why in our own time, men are infantilized in popular culture, why they are depicted in commercials, TV shows and movies as juvenile and useless. This denigration, and even demonizing, of grown men is a latter day manifestation of the sixties revolt against parents and patriarchy. His observation also explains why many men are immature. For without reverence for fatherhood in all its forms, they simply cannot reach maturity.

Here is the passage:

Symbolically, the father is the structuring source of our existence, whether we are speaking of male authority, of the law, of right and wrong, of our nation, of our heritage, of our civilization, of our biological nature, of our God. All these structuring principles of human life, in their different ways, are symbolically the father. The rebellion we’ve discussed is, in one form or another, a rebellion against the father. The belief that the universe is structured, intelligible, and fundamentally good, and that one can participate in this universe—this is the experience of having a father, which is the opposite of the experience of alienation that drives contemporary culture.

For the revolutionary generation of the 1960s, the psychological source of this rebellion was typically a rejection of their actual parents, because of some perceived inadequacy or betrayal. Letty Cottin Pogrebin, the feminist writer and cofounder of Ms. magazine, writes of a shameful secret her parents had kept from her until she was twelve. (more…)

ELLEN BROWN says the real problem in Venezuela is American efforts to prevent it from achieving economic sovereignty:

Venezuela and other countries that are carrying massive debts in currencies that are not their own are not sovereign. Governments that are sovereign can and have engaged in issuing their own currencies for infrastructure and development quite successfully. I have discussed a number of contemporary and historical examples in my earlier articles, including in Japan, China, Australia and Canada.

Although Venezuela is not technically at war, it is suffering from foreign currency strains triggered by aggressive attacks by a foreign power. U.S. economic sanctions have been going on for years, causing the country at least $20 billion in losses. About $7 billion of its assets are now being held hostage by the U.S., which has waged an undeclared war against Venezuelaever since George W. Bush’s failed military coup against President Hugo Chávez in 2002. Chávez boldly announced the “Bolivarian Revolution,” a series of economic and social reforms that dramatically reduced poverty and illiteracy as well as improved health and living conditions for millions of Venezuelans. The reforms, which included nationalizing key components of the nation’s economy, made Chávez a hero to millions of people and the enemy of Venezuela’s oligarchs. (more…)

THIS ARTICLE from an 1869 issue of Lippincott’s Magazine is definitely dated, but it still contains some important observations on the advantages of poverty:

The longer I contemplate Poverty, the more charms does she unveil to my entranced gaze. But is it quite right to flaunt our advantages in people’s faces, and harrow up their feelings merely because they unfortunately possess money? Doubtless it is not their fault. It was their grandfather, or a lucky thing in soldiers’ overcoats. “Where ignorance,” etc. No, let us keep ourselves to ourselves, we of the Brotherhood of Lean Purses, and only when we meet to munch together the festive crust, and drain the flowing bowl of cold water, sing this, the song of proud and independent poverty:

“My mind to me a kingdom is;

Such perfect joy therein I find
As far exceeds all earthly bliss (more…)

JAMES H. writes:

About 35 years ago I attended a party with several friends and acquaintances. An acquaintance, Alan, a graduate of the finest local schools and the Ivy Leagues was holding court and pontificating on our country’s predicament. Alan was a melancholy sort not given to enthusiasms of any kind. He possessed a morose serious air that lent credence to his various pronouncements. He acknowledged our sorry state of affairs and the troublesome trajectory our nation was on but declared that the nature of progress was such that we could expect to establish a new more stable order guaranteeing happiness for far greater numbers.  I argued that our nation’s travails could only be solved by embracing tradition, order and transcendent authority without which the centrifugal forces tearing us apart would continue to work inexorably to our detriment.

He then pulled his trump card, insisting that even were it so, “we can never go back,” that the fruits of “progress” once tasted can never be forgotten or forgone. (more…)

  ONCE AGAIN, "Pope" Francis, the fake pontiff in Rome, has been traveling far to promote his vision of the New World Order. This week he visited Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirate where Francis and Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayeb, the grand imam of an influential Egyptian mosque, Al Azhar, signed a “Document on Human Fraternity.” The document called on “all concerned to stop using religions to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism, and to refrain from using the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism and oppression.” It also stated that the multiplicity of religions was willed by God. Please see the commentary at Novus Ordo Watch (here and here) as to why this is so illogical, outrageous and blasphemous, making God the author of confusion. The purpose of this post, however, is to point out that the signed document is a direct contradiction, not of the thinking (if we dare to call it that) of the man we call the Argentine Bomber -- they are fully consistent with Francis's One World Religion globalism -- but with the thinking of al-Tayeb, who has repeatedly indicated that there can only be one true faith and that serious apostates who threaten a Muslim society should be put to death. Here in this 2016 interview he explains his views on the subject of religious liberty.     Please note that al-Tayeb talks about harsh punishment for apostates, i.e., those who have left the faith,…

FROM a letter to the editor in the February issue of Culture Wars magazine, available soon here:

Like the narrative put forward by the oligarchs of the West that homosexuals are not culpable for their actions because “they were born this way,” so too the alt-right believes it itself is not morally culpable. Ultimately it’s fine with how those who bring about the “white ethnostate” behave, because the end result is being surrounded by “white people,” and therefore surrounded by “white thinking,” and the culture will then become “high trust” and advanced. This narrative is multi-layered egoism. It proclaims genetic superiority, zero personal moral culpability (unless it hinders the means to the ethnostate end), and runs purely on reactionary hatred in response to the culture war against “white guys.” Truth is, these people don’t want an “ethnostate.” They don’t even understand what ethnos is. What they want is a “biostate.” A state where the “white genes” are protected and cultivated for a mechanical and egoist position. If these genes are cultivated, then the believed end result is a “high trust” and worthwhile society. Adhering to morality, especially if it is perceived to go against the interests of establishing this biostate, is the product of weakness or backwards caveman religiosity, unable to see a greater “abstract morality.” (more…)

  SUSAN-ANNE WHITE writes from Northern Ireland: I have contacted you in the recent past about Megan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, because I believe she is promoting a feminist and sexual revolutionary agenda. Of course her husband Prince Harry is just like her as are most members of the Royal Family. However she is an aggressive agitator and never misses an opportunity to cheapen and coarsen an already depraved society. The video below reveals what she got up to last week. The title accompanying the video says it all. The words "sex workers" is a euphemism. They are prostitutes. The Bible calls such women whores and their wicked clients "whoremongers." Prostitution should be illegal everywhere and those engaged in it and their "clients" should be prosecuted and identified. Mrs Wood, I hope you and your readers share my concerns about this disturbing woman.  

  WE LIVE in an era of faith. Too much faith. Far too many people live on faith exclusively. Faith is the acceptance of a belief on the authority of someone else. For instance, I have never been to Athens, Greece, but I take it on the authority of many others that it exists. Faith should never work against reason. The problem arises when faith overcomes all reason. Here's one example. Many learn the idea from others that God doesn't exist, even though the existence of God can without much difficulty be proven with the use of reason. But instead of reasoning it out, they take it entirely on faith that God doesn't exist. And off they go. College professors tell students that humans -- who think and speak -- evolved from organisms that cannot think or speak. And, on faith alone, without troubling to reason it out, people swallow this patently ridiculous idea that has never been verified scientifically. It has spread in the same way a false rumor spreads. It excites people and they believe it. Most people in history would have shaken their heads in wonder if they could have foreseen that a belief like this would someday have universal acclaim. It would have instantly disproven to them that intellectual progress is inevitable. People are told that the differences between the sexes are unnatural and can be almost totally eliminated. On the authority of others, despite all the…

THE VAST majority of people in our world has retained some kind of conviction, however shadowy, in the immortality of the soul. “Well, wherever he is now, I’m sure he’s happy,” people might say at a funeral (or a “celebration of life”). This conviction is the legacy of centuries of a Christian (i.e., Catholic) social order that no longer exists. Very few Westerners believe in reincarnation or total oblivion.

However, most also believe that it is only just and fair that someone who is basically decent should be happy in the afterlife. By basically decent, I mean someone who fulfills many duties to family and friends, never breaks the law, has defects but is good-hearted and likeable. It greatly offends modern sensibilities to suggest that this kind of niceness and decency is not necessarily rewarded by God with eternal happiness or that the person could even be punished.

The problem with the presumption that everyone nice goes to heaven is, it’s not what God has revealed about eternity. It substitutes human judgment for divine reason.

It also doesn’t make sense.

Heaven is not earth. It is a supernatural state. In order to pass from the natural into the supernatural sphere, we must acquire supernatural virtues, which are more akin to goodness directed toward God than to humans. In order to qualify for the Olympic Games, to use one analogy, one must meet certain athletic qualifications. The belief that someone can get to Heaven because they have been generally decent and good is similar to the belief that someone who is a great software engineer should be able to compete in the decathlon.

To take another analogy, in order to live on Mars, we need oxygen. In order to live in heaven, we need spiritual oxygen, which is a supernatural gift — a gift from God we can refuse or accept — and involves not just works but faith. (more…)

  MICHAEL S. writes: I sometimes pass this ad on my way to work. I think of you, of course -- although there is no similarity. This is Sixth Avenue and 47th Street in Manhattan— the so-called "Diamond District" — you know, home, in a sense, of the engagement ring scam. Interesting that the word "marriage" does not come to mind when viewing this ad. Because as far as she is concerned, it is not even a question. Laura writes: From the kitchen into Hell's Kitchen --- the Hell's Kitchen of perpetual indebtedness. Feminism has made women easy prey to lending schemes. See Zippy's Usury FAQ to learn why the student loan (and all the related predatory financing as advertised in this billboard) is wrong -- for the lender, not the borrower -- and is similar to the indentured servitude of the past. In fact, it's worse because of the interest rates. The birthrate among Millennials is lower than even expected and one of the reasons (though not the main reason) is the student loan. It's institutionalized infertility.  

POPULATION CONTROL experts say there are too many people in the world. They say there is not enough food, shelter, jobs, clean air, open space, etc. for so many billions and that if we don’t do something to prevent more births, terrible things will happen. The evidence of demographic winter, not plenty, does not divert these alarming prophecies. These experts want the planet far less crowded.

Are there too many people? Is the world too crowded? It’s a fair question. Possibly you have wondered yourself.

But when it comes to world population, there is only one issue — one burning issue — that is decisive, and it has nothing to do with food or environmental issues. We only need to answer this question: Are there too many people for God to love? If there are too many people for God to love, if He does not create each and every person in His image, then the population controllers would be absolutely right in suggesting limits.

Perhaps you have been walking down a crowded street or been in a busy airport or packed stadium, and honestly wondered about this too. Looking at all the many people coming and going, perhaps you have grown fatigued of human beings. “Enough, already!”  Perhaps you have thought that it is simply impossible for God not to feel the same fatigue and for Him to love every single person individually. It is certainly impossible for us. 

Unfortunately, by studying statistics or our own abilities, we cannot arrive at an answer. We need a scientist of God’s love to give us the answer.

St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) was just that kind of scientist. The French bishop, who came from an aristocratic family with a father who was not enthused about his becoming a priest, possessed such learning  that he was eventually declared a Doctor of the Universal Church. But he also possessed a beautiful simplicity, which helped him to study the evidence of God’s love that is not in books.

In his Treatise on the Love of God, St. Francis de Sales wrote:

The Heart of God is so abundant in love and its goodness is so infinite that all can possess it, without anyone’s share diminishing. Infinite Goodness cannot be exhausted, even if it fills all the souls in the world. God does not pour a smaller quantity of His love into a soul because He pours out His love into an infinity of others; the power of His love is not diminished by the multitude of rays that He spreads abroad, but remain ever overflowing with its immensity.

God knocks on the door of every heart. Open the door and you will begin to see the limitlessness of His love. Keep it open and you will cease to wonder whether there could ever be enough for billions. The saint continues:

Ah, my God! How frequently we should put the query to our soul: Is it possible that I have been loved, and so tenderly loved by my Saviour, that He was pleased to think of me in particular, and ion all those little occurrences by which He has drawn me to Him? How much should we appreciate them, and how carefully turn them to our profit!

(Treatise on the Love of God, Book 4; Ch. 14; O. V, p. 215) 

Population control experts suffer from a serious limitation. Their hearts are not as large as the heart of God. They are like a farmer who plants seeds and has no consciousness that the sun is responsible for their growth into mature plants. The population controllers live and thrive in the light of Divine Love — they wouldn’t exist without it — and yet they don’t know it, or refuse to know it.

To say there are too many people in the world is to say there is too much God. And that is impossible.

This great God, Who is uniquely good, is correct in desiring our whole heart. Ours is only a little heart, and it cannot sufficiently return the love due to the Divine Goodness…However, God does not love us out of self-interest but for our good. Our love is useless to Him, but it brings us great profit! If it pleases Him, it is because it is profitable to us. (T.L.G. Book 10, Ch. 13; O. V. p. 209)

God loves us for our own good, not for His good. It is arduous work, the whole goal of the spiritual life, to respond to the abundance of this divine light. Here is a very good compilation of the words of the great saint, whose feast day is today, to help along the way. A free reading of this book is available here.

Saints, not statisticians and demographers, can tell us whether there are too many people or not. (more…)

ZIPPY CATHOLIC, a blogger who was tragically killed in a car accident last fall, left behind an impressive work on the subject of interest-bearing loans.

In Usury FAQ, or, Money on the Pill, he explained what is, and what is not, immoral in the realm of lending. It is a thoughtful piece, followed by interesting discussion in the comments section. He explains, for instance, why credit card debt is wrong (for the lender, not the borrower), but a home mortgage is not necessarily.

Understanding usury requires an understanding of how the nature of some contracts differs, fundamentally and categorically, from the nature of others. Usury is not a matter of the same kind of contract differing only by ‘excessive interest’. Usurious contracts constitute a kind of contract which is intrinsically immoral by its very nature.  This FAQ is intended to help people understand what usury is – and is not – and answer many of the questions which naturally arise.

(more…)

CHUCK BALDWIN sums up on the second anniversary of Trump's presidency: Sadly, a host of Trump’s supporters continue to be bamboozled by the elaborate psyops misinformation (translated: propaganda) entity known as QAnon, which keeps reassuring the Trump faithful that he is covertly waging war against the globalist insiders and that any day now the curtain is going to collapse on the swamp creatures. It’s all a hoax to give Trump cover—and more time. If the nomination of William Barr as America’s next “Top Cop” doesn’t awaken the “Always Trumpers,” there is absolutely no hope for them. Even worse is the fact that the longer Christians and conservatives continue to make excuses for Trump’s lies and deceptions, there is less and less hope for America.  

  I AM QUOTING AGAIN from Oliver Heydorn's excellent analysis of modern democracies as seen through the works of the British thinker Clifford Hugh Douglas:     Let us take as an axiom that whenever and insofar as policy is being imposed on people, whether it be through naked force or deception, we cannot speak of democracy in any meaningful sense. Insofar as the populations living under conventional ‘democracies’ have been subjected to anti-social political polices sponsored by the credit monopoly, it must be admitted that conventional ‘democracies’ are actually, to a greater or lesser extent, de facto if not de jure financial dictatorships, i.e., plutocratic tyrannies. On this view, conventional ‘democracy’ is a not merely faulty, it is also a swindle; the regimes under which we live in the West are best described as financially based plutocracies camouflaged as liberal democracies, or ‘pluto-democracies’:     “... the aims of national Governments are by no means the same things as the aims of the majority of individuals in the countries they are supposed to represent. ... these Governments are far more responsive to influence from financial sources than they are to popular influence. We might even go so far as to say that modern Government is quite insensible to popular influence, and that no serious change in policy is effected by a change from one party to another. This is certainly true where the subject in which such influence might desire to be exercised…

"IF ONE WISHES to do full justice to reality – regardless of the topic that is being investigated - it is of the gravest importance to neither underestimate nor overestimate the phenomenon in question. Accordingly, whenever this particular question of ‘conspiracy’ becomes the subject of reflection, the thoughtful individual will seek to follow a sensible middle-path in accordance with the available evidence and in full knowledge of his cognitive limitations. This will allow him to scrupulously avoid the error of those who become irrationally suspicious, i.e., paranoid, while, at the same time, avoiding the mistake of those who, by preferring to be complacently sceptical, refuse to call a spade a spade. To deny the reality and indeed even the possibility of conspiracy as an explanatory factor behind much of our socially-induced discontent is just as irrational, therefore, as to think that every negative thing that occurs in the world must be due to a conspiracy." --- Oliver Heydorn

FROM Silas Walter Adams's 1958 book The Legalized Crime of Banking and a Constitutional Remedy: Stop and find your place in our present economic system - that is, are you a beneficiary; or, are you a victim? Are you a gainer; or, are you a loser? If you work for a living, with hands and/or head, or both; or, work for others for pay, you are a loser, the heaviest of all losers! You toil to provide man all his material wants, or to serve him, and you are paid with a cheap, inflated 25-cent dollar, which we persistently call a 100-cent dollar — a private dollar created by a private corporation. If you have earned your money either by producing something, working for yourself or as an employee, or in serving others, and through thrift and economy you have stored it away for the rainy day; or, if an honest man and would not take anything from another that you did not give in return an equal value of goods and/or service, you are doubly a loser; for the bankers’ constant stream of created new dollars pouring into circulation cheapens your dollar, and lowers its buying power. You get only a pound of coffee today for the same money you could buy four pounds of coffee in the thirties. If you are on a pension, or living on your life’s saving, even on the coupons you have been clipping from World War…

PETER STEINFELS, former religion writer for The New York Times, calls Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro's highly-publicized grand jury report of last August on sex abuse in the Catholic Church "grossly misleading, irresponsible, inaccurate, and unjust." He objects to the report's charge that the Church had ignored abuse cases. "This ugly, indiscriminate, and inflammatory charge, unsubstantiated by the report's own evidence, to say nothing of the evidence the report ignores, is truly unworthy of a judicial body responsible for impartial justice." See more at The Media Report.

  TODAY is the 70th birthday of  the writer Lawrence Auster, who died in 2013 of pancreatic cancer and whose writings on modern America are still avidly followed. This blog would not have been possible without his encouragement. Here is an excerpt from his entry, "The Breakdown of Western Form:" In today’s New York City ... you will walk into a retail store or a hair-cutting salon, and not only will there be loud black funk music blasting from speakers in the ceiling from morn till night, with its interminable, melody-less, rhythmless, lyric-less (and identical in every song), “oh ooo ohh, ooh, hoh baby, woohoo, uhh, uhh, Woohoo WoohuahAHahAAA, yeah-huh, baby oh yeah”, but the radio reception is so bad it’s all static. I’m talking about loud static, filling the establishment from powerful speakers. When you ask the employees to adjust the tuning of the radio station or to turn the volume down, they will do so, but there seems to be absolutely no consciousness on their part that there was anything inappropriate about this horrible noise. There is a shocking insensibility in young people today, a complete acceptance of noise and disorder in one’s environment. It reminds me of India, where villagers love to have all-night festivals with electronic speakers turned up to the max, where people in cities are surrounded by unbelievable, all-encompassing noise and disorder and are not disturbed by it at all. In one sense, this is an impressive quality,…