Editor’s note: this is third in a series, Part I, Part II. You can learn about Patriarch Kirill of Moscow here.
The Russians are mad. No, I don’t mean they’re angry. Rather, I mean they’re insane. But these two mental states are often hard to tell apart. And I don’t mean to suggest that Russia isn’t highly irritated, if not truly angry. But truly angry people can’t think clearly enough to play chess. And Russia is currently playing several magnificent games, at the same time, against both the post-Christian West and the Muslim East. My hat is off to both Vlad and Kyrill. They are brilliant. But they are, nevertheless, deeply insane.
Now a number of folks seem to be under the impression that I am a fan of Vlad and Kyrill. Contraire, mon frére. I do think however that they are our best hope (humanly speaking) of avoiding an all-out Western-materialist war against Islam, which we can’t win short of a nuclear conflagration. But it remains to be seen what will happen after Emperor Donald lets Vlad take the reins in the Mid-East. Nevertheless, we can get a pretty good idea of what is coming if we understand the roots of Russia’s insanity. (Note: if I’m wrong about November, and it’s Empress Hillary at the wheel, we’re back to the Big War option. She’s anxious to prove she’s as tough as any guy).
But let’s get back to Russia. Her insanity is the result, in large part, of her geographic location. That is, she straddles the line between the mystic East and the material West. And this accident of history, wherein the Slavic people are constantly exposed to the best and the worst of each direction, produces a paralysis of will. Because the East and the West are antithetical to each other. You can’t fully embrace the one without repudiating the other. And our Russian cousins can’t bring themselves to let go of either.
Yes, I know, there is a mystical element to Western thought, but only within the Catholic world. The rest is strictly materialistic self-worship. That is the heart of materialism.
And I know that there is a material element in the East, at least among the ruling class. But the rest of their Eastern culture is built on self-denial. That is the heart of mysticism. Ask any Chinaman if he is more important than his ancestors. Then ask a Buddhist the same. Then ask a Muslim if his tribe is more important to him than his own life. But be sure to ask him before he explodes.
Now ask a Russian this same question. Depending on how you phrase it, you may get different answers. If the question is ‘is the Party more important than your life’, the answer these days is ‘no’. But if you ask ‘is Orthodoxy more important than your life’, the answer is, increasingly, ‘yes’. Then if you ask ‘is wealth more important than your life’, he will look at you like you’re an idiot, because you’d have to be to ask that question. What good is wealth without life? Now ask, ‘is life without wealth worth living’? The answer, again, is increasingly, ‘no’. See the mix?
So let’s look at classical insanity. That’s when someone tries to contain two diametrically opposed thoughts within their skull at the same time. Eventually, something has to give. Here’s an example. Sigmund Freud was insane. Brilliant but insane. Why? Because he said that neurosis was caused by mental repression and that the cure was to quit repressing. Or failing that, snort some cocaine. So which is it, Ziggy? Mind or matter? Which was the root of things? Physical or mental? Oh yes, and I almost forgot—he engaged in some of the very things (like incest with his niece) that produced the neurosis (guilt?) in some of his other patients, and apparently in himself. So, heal thyself first, physician?
Anyway, most insanity is harmless. Girls who complain that men look at them below eye-level still wear things that attract that gaze. Well, which is it? Do you want to be desired for your mind or your looks? We all know the answer—they want both. They’re mad if you look, and mad if you don’t. Oh well. But as long as women do not possess nuclear weapons, we are relatively safe. But now we are back to the question of Hillary, right?
So what happens when an entire nation is afflicted with an inability to choose between two seeming goods? After all, what’s intrinsically wrong with wealth? And isn’t spirituality a good thing? Well, yes to both, in a general sense. As long as your wealth wasn’t unfairly gained at the expense of another. And as long as your spirit friends aren’t demons. And therein lies the problem for Russia. She sees the wealth of the West, but which was gained (in so many cases) at the expense of others. And when she looks East, she sees the dreamy allure of nihilistic mysticism that will inevitably eradicate the believer’s personality. And she is both attracted and repulsed by each. And up to this point in time, she has not been able to choose one over the other. Why? Because the people of Russia (as distinct from her leaders, both material and spiritual) are capable of goodness. Just like us. But they have no honest leaders. Their leaders are wolves. Just like ours. And you know what happens when someone is raised by wolves.
Because of this unfortunate situation of location, betwixt the East and the West, Russia is unable to see that there is a third way. The way that gives equal weight to both body and soul, matter and mind. The choice that says both can be fairly had, while still keeping a person’s honesty and individuality. The blindness to this choice is what has led her to this conundrum. But soon, very soon, she will have to decide. Whether she can see or not.
Why will she have to decide? After all, she has spent a thousand years in this limbo of equal desires. Why now? The answer is simple, my friend. Demographics. The window of opportunity is closing, and closing fast. The Moslems, Hindus and Chinese are growing like weeds. I don’t care how much anyone talks about fertility ratios. When each of these three groups is ten times larger than you, and each has a fertility ratio greater than you (even though each is falling), then you’d better make your move while you still have a trump card. An ace in the hole. The Ace of Nukes. Better play it before the other guy draws a wild card. And now you see why the question of madness looms so large.
So which way will Russia move? She is bound to the East by the hypnotic Hesychasm of Orthodoxy. Do not gloss over this fact. It is much bigger than you think. It has had a profound effect on the formation of Russia, and how she has perceived herself as the Third Rome. But this dream she has of herself is so enticing, so utterly hyp-gnotic, that she doesn’t really want to wake up. Pity the person that awakens this Bear.
But at the same time, Russia is bound to the West by a lust for wealth and power. She has been in thrall to the West since Peter the Great and his grandson Tsar Alexis repudiated the spirituality of the ‘Old Believers‘.
You can blame her intermarriage to the Prussians and Saxons for this, as the Romanov dynasty lay captive in her other dream, the dream of Teutonic glory. She held to this desire from the time of Peter I until Nicholas II in 1917. By the way, did you know that Solzhenitsyn said (in August 1914) the best Russian generals in WWI all had German names? Then again, the best German general was French. Go figure.
And so Russia is still blinded by her dreams, both Eastern and Western. Blind to the third way that would give her what she needs most—the truth. And if you want to know what this truth is, you need to listen to the one Russian who understood all of this; Vladimir Solovyev. The pre-eminent philosopher of Russia, who died in 1900. He foresaw the whole bloody stretch of 20th Century history. He knew what would happen, because he had identified the dark spot on the Russian soul. Take a few minutes and read his work The Russian Idea. It’s only fifty pages.
This work is what led to all of his later and greater works, which are astounding. Acquaint yourself with this giant, if you truly want to understand Russia. Then see if you can guess the third way that Russia must choose if she, and we, are to live in peace. Here’s a hint: will Russia enter the Second Rome with pride, or the First Rome with meekness? It all depends on this choice.
But meanwhile, the clock is ticking on the explosive vest. Russia will have to decide soon, before her enemies decide for her. And we have a decision to make as well: is Russia truly our enemy? Are we any less mad? We too must decide, and soon. Because one way or another, we’re all going along for a globalist ride. So step into the car, Komrade. Come quietly and no one (here) will get hurt. Maybe.
Will have to read this a couple of times.
So let’s look at classical insanity. That’s when someone tries to contain two diametrically opposed thoughts within their skull at the same time.
Actually, that’s cognitive dissonance. Insanity is when you recognize the CD.
But as long as women do not possess nuclear weapons, we are relatively safe.
Heh. But didn’t Indira and Golda have them back in the day?
Grr. DON’T recognize the insanity.
Gary
Double grr … DON’T recognize the CD
This is one of those articles that makes you say, ” I will come back and dissect this stuff later.” Then, you conveniently forget to go back.
Of course you can hold two diametrically opposed thoughts in your head at the same time. For example, the feminists claim there is no difference between men and women then they continually complain about men’s behavior and how men oppress them. The men, who are just the same as women, are victimizing the women. Go figure.
I think this is a brilliant bit of writing and most of what Mr. Watt says seems very reasonable.
However.. I think the writer needs to reconsider two factors:
1 – to understand Putin, one should think about Teddy Roosevelt; and, correspondingly, to understand where the emerging Russian middle classes would like to take the country, think USA circa 1895.
2 – to understand Trump’s comments about getting along with Russia you need to:
2.1 understand that Trump thinks out loud, considers multiple views while doing so, and tends to muse on his conclusions rather than stating them. (In part this is why the written stuff his staff provides is very clear while his reprises of it are not).
2.2 Iran, Russia, England, and the United States are natural racial and geo-political partners – so Trump has (I think) a bust of Churchill in his office and wants to work with Russia. Think longer term and that makes sense – think next week and it’s weird, crazy, and scary.
Well, this is something. Not sure what, though. The narrative covers popular right-wing fears and worldviews, with religion, culture, and political ideology assembled in opposing monoliths.
The neocons (war-profiteering Cold Warriors cum Terrorism Warriors) in the US are furious with Donald Trump for talking about getting along and working with Russia and his ostensible kindred spirit, Mr. Putin, repeatedly asking, “Wouldn’t that be nice?” Well, yes, it would. Of course, it would also help if Russia wasn’t run so poorly. Putin, a bit of an admired anti-hero on the right here in the US, has not been very good for Russia. Russia’s value as a partner is highly questionable. I did business with Russians throughout the years between Yeltsin and Putin, into the growth years starting in the mid-2000’s. Not a pleasant place to do business. Heart-wrenching at times. You do not want to be on the failed end of a business deal in Russia. You’re lucky if all you lose is all your money. And these days, whenever things domestic get rocky, Putin turns to warmongering, feeding the appetite of population no longer high-minded enough to see through it, and that’s the real shame, as Russia had among the best education systems in the world not so long ago. The news, though, is the intellectual assets of the nation are still there. Russia just needs the good stewardship to go with it. Perhaps better relations with us would help? I don’t know.
As for Russia and Southwest Asia, that’s a long, complex story. Any simplistic notions about Russia “cleaning-up” the area should thrown out with the silly wipes.
JMJ
“So let’s look at classical insanity.”
Here’s one: “Word Salad” — language that is confused and often repetitious, and wordy without actually communicating. In extreme forms qualifying with a diagnosis of schizophasia, though as with all disorders they can run the spectrum from extreme to mild-but-still-readily-recognizable-that-something-is-quite-abnormal.
GRAPHORRHEA — A communication disorder, expressed by excessive wordiness with minor or sometimes incoherent rambling, specifically in written work. Some ramblings may follow all/any grammatical rule(s) but still leave the reader confused and unsure about what the piece is about.
Graphorrhea is sometimes classified as a mental illness, resulting in a variety of psychiatric and neurological disorders including aphasia, localized cortical lesions in the thalamus, mania, or most typically in catatonic schizophrenia.
My child psychologist diagnosed me with Graphhorrhea. Of course, what did she know–she was a child while I was working on my dissertation in grad school.
JMJ: I’m sure you were a founding member of the Dick Cheney is Evil club. Why is it so wrong for a Republican not to want to engage in war? Why is was the “right thing to do” because “that is who we are” if a Democrat is leading the charge?
JmJ: “Russia just needs the good stewardship to go with it. Perhaps better relations with us would help? I don’t know. ”
How about a reset button?
” Of course, it would also help if Russia wasn’t run so poorly. Putin, a bit of an admired anti-hero on the right here in the US, has not been very good for Russia.”
If Russia is run so poorly then I’ll wait to see what you say about America with its Affirmative Action president who blames America for a Muzzie shooting fags, Western to Northern Europe getting swarmed by hordes of 80s IQ (at best) “refugees”, Canada with a Prime Minister who panders to Muzzies and/or Dindus (who also had a feminist mother and cuckold father)…
Well, Anon, I’m certainly not in the Bob and Salwin club.
JMJ
JMJ: “Well, Anon, I’m certainly not in the Bob and Salwin club.”‘
Granted. However, if the current administration tried a so-called reset policy, it certainly hasn’t worked. I don’t think we can expect better if the architect of the last reset button is in charge of creating the next one.
“…which we can’t win short of a nuclear conflagration.”
Incorrect.
We can easily win such a war…
But we would have to first ‘man-up’ to the real cause and collectively take off the diapers of our citizens and lose the kid-gloves.
Namely we would have to identify the real cause of the problem (hint: it isn’t Islam) related to our collective inability to identify and rebuke/condemn/purge real evil.
Also, it wouldn’t help getting rid of the elephant in the room; Marxism.
If it weren’t for Marxists going on about, “imperialism,” and facilitating the utterly invalid, fallacious, and erroneous victim-whoring amongst Islam populaces about them ‘dirty’ crusades; Islam wouldn’t exist today.
The only time in history Islam wasn’t in our back yard beheading our neighbors and raping our daughters is when England, France, etc. were standing over them with their collective foot on its neck.
Ridding the world of practically all muslims without nukes (not, in this statement, condoning such an act; merely pointing out fact), would actually be stupendously simple, quick, and relatively inexpensive.
All that expensive stuff the west uses today… they are expensive because they’re designed to kill AS FEW PEOPLE as necessary and avoid collateral damage.
…boom
P.S.
“…they are expensive because they’re designed to kill AS FEW PEOPLE as necessary and avoid collateral damage.”
Aren’t we just so nice… It’s ‘just’ great everyone is so pleased with our tact and restraint when it comes to defending ourselves and, on the few occasions we care to roll out of bed, destroying our enemies.
(obvious sarcasm is obvious)
John, your analysis is very impressive although I admit that I am not a qualified “critiquer.” You certainly are a gifted wordsmith who knows history and its participants. I wonder about the guy from Turkey who seems to me to be a major player in the near future. I go back to Joel Richarson’s book on the Islamic Anti-christ (I shared this with you earlier). Erdagon (sp) has these characteristics. He has the same character as Stalin (another anti-christ) and like many before him; but more importantly, character like that described in the Bible. Maybe you can give us an analysis of Turkey. As I recall, you discount their influence in the Big Game. As for me, I am interested in advancing the Kingdom of our Lord. To quote a guy who I know, “The hell with the rest.” In Christ, Carl.
I would like to see Mr. Watt’s marginal notes on the hypothetical outcome of a “war against Islam, which we can’t win short of a nuclear conflagration.”
It strikes me that Islamic Civilization, a descriptor for which, today, it barely qualifies, has never been in a worse position to be a threat to the West. 800 years of dysgenic breeding and intellectual stagnation has taken a toll. That Islam is a threat at all is only because Western elites have invited psychotic Muslims to their own shores as a political cudgel.
If the West faces an existential threat from Islam, then it is only by proxy. The real existential threat lies at home.
There are very simple solutions to Islam the do not require thermonuclear war. (Tho’ I, for one, would not oppose such measures, should they be deemed necessary.)
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