Sincere thank you for these recs! And especially the order you sagely put them in. I read them in that order and it was quite a transcendent experience. Naomi Wolf made me cry 😭
Toby, please consider following this substack - such intelligent, thought-provoking writings. She is a good friend of mine here in southeastern Pennsylvania.
I also wanted to mention that Swarthmore College is one of the 120 or so schools still requiring the vaccine for this fall. I believe you attended there as did my son. He graduated in 2017, before this horror was unleashed on us.
My suggestion is not of someone's writing, but it's valuable: icic.law (International Crimes Investigative Committee) - Reiner Fuellmich's interview of Citizen Journalist, George Webb. Wow!
Two Substack essays that made my heart warm in my chest: The two most recent Naomi Wolfe essays. The truth spoken lit my heart in a way in which I have no control. In the first Naomi speaks about her hospital experience from within the illness, explaining vividly the trauma and isolation, then fear and vulnerability. Still positive and showing such gratitude, the first ends with her hopefully on the mend. The second essay, opening doors that have been closed to her for a while and sharing them with us is truly heartwarming. Taking a huge jump of faith telling the world about her spiritual experiences and finding she is not alone. There are many of us who have the same spirit within us, but reading her words allow some to open up and be honest. The power of this is truly astounding and I feel it is the only way we will get through these dark times. Thank you Toby for bringing these essays together. Barbara x
It's never been simple or easy to dispel the fog of imposed messaging, Toby.
Few have ever been willing to devote the time and effort required to find the newsletters and other materials that hint at the nuance and confounding factors that interfere with the simplistic narratives du jour. Of those who have done, a plurality get lost in bold assertions devoid of verifiable proof, and those are the poorly-described "conspiracy theorists."
Your admission to so many 'stack subscriptions is telling, and you're not alone in doing so. A la carte journalism is gaining favor, not because the major media outlets have changed, because they haven't. It's because ordinary folks are finally realizing what the corporate media has always been, and the partisan press was before the corporations took them over.
It's time-consuming and frustrating to have so many different sources. I start my day with NYT and WaPo syndication, get counterpoint from their opposing sources and then peruse the independents to find the more nuanced middle ground. I'd rather not, but there has been so much intrusion into the private sphere of individual activity over the last two decades that a citizen no longer has much choice. It's the old "you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you" equation.
More to the point; it was remarkably easier for "normies" to view radical socialist literature in the post-McCarthy era of fifty years ago, than to view common-sense liberal, centrist and conservative literature today.
And that's why it's become so important to view everything one sees and hears of current events with a skeptical and open mind. It also helps to hold fast to one's sense of compassion. Doing so allows one to be compassionate for oneself, as well as others, and this assists in acknowledging error more quickly.
It is sad that so many of the worthwhile thoughts and writings in Sustack require payment to read and/or comment. It does a great disservice to the cause of enlightenment. Many on fixed incomes can ill afford this. In response to Kheriaty’s article; We don’t need rebellion, we need revival. It is not until the heart of mankind is changed that we will have the Kingdom that we are called to be part of. We already have the parallel polis referred to in his article. Imagine if all those who claim to believe in God and claimed to be of the Faith understood what it truly means and strived to live it. How does one gain that understanding? By being in the Word. “Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2. What the world needs is the Gospel message.
You are correct and I truly believe that is the answer. The Gospel.
All we can do is warn people of the dangers of this life and the ones to come in the next. Unfortunately not all will see the truth, as the road is narrow and the path to destruction is wide.
The retarded control freaks must have complete control and that means we have none. No free thoughts, no control and no living worth much. But can these lowest-of-all-life-forms really control our thoughts? Is that what they are trying to do with nano-technology?
Thank you sharing and for for opening me up to two new writers. This week, Dr,. Tess Laurie’s Tribute to Samson touched me deeply; finding her way after tragically losing her first newborn helped form the courageous and generous soul we know her as today. I agree with you on gratitude to the Substack platform’s sanity-anchoring content.💖
Toby, in real life probably you and I would never have met or been friends...we are probably so different. Now after 2-3 years of reading your substack, I wait anxiously to hear from you;, because you make my soul go "Aaah, that is so right". As TS Elliot to paraphrase "I am an old woman in a dry month, looking for rain".
You are the rain.
You picked the same stacks I read and saved because they are so profound.
The Destiny of Civilization: Finance Capitalism, Industrial Capitalism or Socialism by Michael Hudson. In which we see that "finance capitalism" (the West's brand of capitalism, industry having been its main export, wrecking the entire future of The West). The impending meltdown might well be the factor that limits or even prevents "The Great Reset". It is weird to hope that financial meltdown may be the cure for current ominous trends!
And Mind & Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False, by Thomas Nagel. This is about as far as philosophical thinking can take you. Easy to read, but difficult to assimilate, so unusual are the ideas therein. Not for everybody! (he said, hoping that will entice some to give it a shot). A review, to whet your wit
Nagle runs counter to the emergence of WEF style one size fits all, technocratic reductionism. Nagle on the limitations of science to explain mind and consciousness and encapsulate the human experience reminded me of the Universe Story by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry and the "whisper of Mother Culture" pervading society in the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
"The impending meltdown might well be the factor that limits or even prevents "The Great Reset". It is weird to hope that financial meltdown may be the cure for current ominous trends!"
Check out surplus energy economics by Dr. Tim Morgan. He may be considered a Great Resetter for his conclusions about our future standard of living considering issues of affordability, debt, surplus energy and the distinctions between the real economy vs. financial economy. Disable your Malthusian detector, abiotic oil software before entering, lol.
I no sooner wrote the reply than reading a bit further at the link has Tim Morgan saying the same thing.
"To this extent, economic contraction is capable, at least in theory, of happening gradually. The same, though, cannot be said of the financial system. If the current financial system was a car, you wouldn’t buy it – it has no reverse gear, no brakes worthy of the name, steering that is rudimentary at best, a near-opaque windscreen giving almost no forward visibility, and a tendency to accelerate of its own volition."
But from what Michael Hudson shows,, financial meltdown is likely to occur far in advance of serious petroleum shortages. A good collapse might well ensure that much of the rest of fossil fuel remains in the ground. But then, as Yogi Berra said, "Predictions are hard to make. Especially about the future."
Thanks Toby, for such a great article and the absolutely insightful linked posts. While a few of the linked posts are on my feed, some others introduced me to sobering new insights. I was never much of a "mobilizer", but I should be, as my Christian faith asks for it.
Subsidiarity implies that the best approach to "policy" starts at the local level. My wife and I will devise approaches to start conversations and, when needed, informing and, hopefully, mobilizing the neighbourhood towards a "polis". Take care! Your articles always give me something to chew on!
In response to the third author I’ll just point out that schools train us to not ask questions, via hand-raising (a barrier to entry and training that permission must be given before any questions may be asked.) it’s a brilliant short-cut to not needing to answer questions - prevent even their formation!
One of those whom you quoted is intolerant and censoring of those who politely disagree with him, while hypocritically criticizing censorship. Sorry I can't be more specific; he is also vengeful and hostile toward those who, again politely, point out the irony to him.
On the other hand, four excellent Substack writers to follow are: Mark Oshinskie's Notes from a Scamdemic, Chris Bray's Tell me How This Ends, Meryl Nass's COVID Newsletter and Celia Farber's Truth Barrier.
I think the dystopian take is right on. Maybe a bigger question would be is power getting more concentrated and comedic or are technologies allowing us to see power, even nature, propelling exaggerated panic, per Covid culture? Like we were all always connected as a globe but Covid made it a bad thing that is otherwise a reality we rarely consider. It’s like everyone needs Jesus (again, or one more time, or somebody else like him). Maybe this narrative is always happening to us. It’s just the story we are in with new players feels “unprecedented” with the new layer of the internet. Thanks for letting me read your post. I am holding back from paying for many substack subs
Sincere thank you for these recs! And especially the order you sagely put them in. I read them in that order and it was quite a transcendent experience. Naomi Wolf made me cry 😭
Toby, please consider following this substack - such intelligent, thought-provoking writings. She is a good friend of mine here in southeastern Pennsylvania.
I also wanted to mention that Swarthmore College is one of the 120 or so schools still requiring the vaccine for this fall. I believe you attended there as did my son. He graduated in 2017, before this horror was unleashed on us.
https://asylumdispatchesfromloonlake.substack.com/p/discernment?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1707109&post_id=126003056&isFreemail=false
https://asylumdispatchesfromloonlake.substack.com/p/biden-must-be-removed-from-office?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1707109&post_id=134487674&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email
My suggestion is not of someone's writing, but it's valuable: icic.law (International Crimes Investigative Committee) - Reiner Fuellmich's interview of Citizen Journalist, George Webb. Wow!
Two Substack essays that made my heart warm in my chest: The two most recent Naomi Wolfe essays. The truth spoken lit my heart in a way in which I have no control. In the first Naomi speaks about her hospital experience from within the illness, explaining vividly the trauma and isolation, then fear and vulnerability. Still positive and showing such gratitude, the first ends with her hopefully on the mend. The second essay, opening doors that have been closed to her for a while and sharing them with us is truly heartwarming. Taking a huge jump of faith telling the world about her spiritual experiences and finding she is not alone. There are many of us who have the same spirit within us, but reading her words allow some to open up and be honest. The power of this is truly astounding and I feel it is the only way we will get through these dark times. Thank you Toby for bringing these essays together. Barbara x
It's never been simple or easy to dispel the fog of imposed messaging, Toby.
Few have ever been willing to devote the time and effort required to find the newsletters and other materials that hint at the nuance and confounding factors that interfere with the simplistic narratives du jour. Of those who have done, a plurality get lost in bold assertions devoid of verifiable proof, and those are the poorly-described "conspiracy theorists."
Your admission to so many 'stack subscriptions is telling, and you're not alone in doing so. A la carte journalism is gaining favor, not because the major media outlets have changed, because they haven't. It's because ordinary folks are finally realizing what the corporate media has always been, and the partisan press was before the corporations took them over.
It's time-consuming and frustrating to have so many different sources. I start my day with NYT and WaPo syndication, get counterpoint from their opposing sources and then peruse the independents to find the more nuanced middle ground. I'd rather not, but there has been so much intrusion into the private sphere of individual activity over the last two decades that a citizen no longer has much choice. It's the old "you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you" equation.
More to the point; it was remarkably easier for "normies" to view radical socialist literature in the post-McCarthy era of fifty years ago, than to view common-sense liberal, centrist and conservative literature today.
And that's why it's become so important to view everything one sees and hears of current events with a skeptical and open mind. It also helps to hold fast to one's sense of compassion. Doing so allows one to be compassionate for oneself, as well as others, and this assists in acknowledging error more quickly.
"....The common feature of all totalitarian systems is the prohibition of questions...." (Kheriaty). Welcome to my family.
buy why?
It is sad that so many of the worthwhile thoughts and writings in Sustack require payment to read and/or comment. It does a great disservice to the cause of enlightenment. Many on fixed incomes can ill afford this. In response to Kheriaty’s article; We don’t need rebellion, we need revival. It is not until the heart of mankind is changed that we will have the Kingdom that we are called to be part of. We already have the parallel polis referred to in his article. Imagine if all those who claim to believe in God and claimed to be of the Faith understood what it truly means and strived to live it. How does one gain that understanding? By being in the Word. “Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2. What the world needs is the Gospel message.
Mpup
You are correct and I truly believe that is the answer. The Gospel.
All we can do is warn people of the dangers of this life and the ones to come in the next. Unfortunately not all will see the truth, as the road is narrow and the path to destruction is wide.
The retarded control freaks must have complete control and that means we have none. No free thoughts, no control and no living worth much. But can these lowest-of-all-life-forms really control our thoughts? Is that what they are trying to do with nano-technology?
Thank you sharing and for for opening me up to two new writers. This week, Dr,. Tess Laurie’s Tribute to Samson touched me deeply; finding her way after tragically losing her first newborn helped form the courageous and generous soul we know her as today. I agree with you on gratitude to the Substack platform’s sanity-anchoring content.💖
Toby, in real life probably you and I would never have met or been friends...we are probably so different. Now after 2-3 years of reading your substack, I wait anxiously to hear from you;, because you make my soul go "Aaah, that is so right". As TS Elliot to paraphrase "I am an old woman in a dry month, looking for rain".
You are the rain.
You picked the same stacks I read and saved because they are so profound.
And for a few hours, my soul is revived.
And the rain comes as healing tears, BTW.
Two exceptionally important books:
The Destiny of Civilization: Finance Capitalism, Industrial Capitalism or Socialism by Michael Hudson. In which we see that "finance capitalism" (the West's brand of capitalism, industry having been its main export, wrecking the entire future of The West). The impending meltdown might well be the factor that limits or even prevents "The Great Reset". It is weird to hope that financial meltdown may be the cure for current ominous trends!
And Mind & Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False, by Thomas Nagel. This is about as far as philosophical thinking can take you. Easy to read, but difficult to assimilate, so unusual are the ideas therein. Not for everybody! (he said, hoping that will entice some to give it a shot). A review, to whet your wit
https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/bringing-mind-to-matter
Nagle runs counter to the emergence of WEF style one size fits all, technocratic reductionism. Nagle on the limitations of science to explain mind and consciousness and encapsulate the human experience reminded me of the Universe Story by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry and the "whisper of Mother Culture" pervading society in the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
"The impending meltdown might well be the factor that limits or even prevents "The Great Reset". It is weird to hope that financial meltdown may be the cure for current ominous trends!"
Check out surplus energy economics by Dr. Tim Morgan. He may be considered a Great Resetter for his conclusions about our future standard of living considering issues of affordability, debt, surplus energy and the distinctions between the real economy vs. financial economy. Disable your Malthusian detector, abiotic oil software before entering, lol.
I no sooner wrote the reply than reading a bit further at the link has Tim Morgan saying the same thing.
"To this extent, economic contraction is capable, at least in theory, of happening gradually. The same, though, cannot be said of the financial system. If the current financial system was a car, you wouldn’t buy it – it has no reverse gear, no brakes worthy of the name, steering that is rudimentary at best, a near-opaque windscreen giving almost no forward visibility, and a tendency to accelerate of its own volition."
https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2023/06/17/258-written-in-the-skies/
definitely worth a look... and more.
But from what Michael Hudson shows,, financial meltdown is likely to occur far in advance of serious petroleum shortages. A good collapse might well ensure that much of the rest of fossil fuel remains in the ground. But then, as Yogi Berra said, "Predictions are hard to make. Especially about the future."
Considering the implications in Hudson and Morgan, one is driven to read some philosophy! See the second book I recommended.
Thanks for the your time. I'm familiar with Hudson and will definitely add Nagle to my reading list.
Michael Hudson offers some great insights - https://michael-hudson.com/
Thanks Toby, for such a great article and the absolutely insightful linked posts. While a few of the linked posts are on my feed, some others introduced me to sobering new insights. I was never much of a "mobilizer", but I should be, as my Christian faith asks for it.
Subsidiarity implies that the best approach to "policy" starts at the local level. My wife and I will devise approaches to start conversations and, when needed, informing and, hopefully, mobilizing the neighbourhood towards a "polis". Take care! Your articles always give me something to chew on!
one of my favorite new substacks is William Briggs - Science Is Not The Answer. Interesting insights and takes on things.
In response to the third author I’ll just point out that schools train us to not ask questions, via hand-raising (a barrier to entry and training that permission must be given before any questions may be asked.) it’s a brilliant short-cut to not needing to answer questions - prevent even their formation!
Great point!
One of those whom you quoted is intolerant and censoring of those who politely disagree with him, while hypocritically criticizing censorship. Sorry I can't be more specific; he is also vengeful and hostile toward those who, again politely, point out the irony to him.
On the other hand, four excellent Substack writers to follow are: Mark Oshinskie's Notes from a Scamdemic, Chris Bray's Tell me How This Ends, Meryl Nass's COVID Newsletter and Celia Farber's Truth Barrier.
I follow your Substack as well as Mark Oshinskie and Meryl Nass. All three are excellent top notch reads that everyone needs to add to their list.
Thank you!
C'mon, spill the beans. New land/air/sea based yacht coming your way (overnight Am*z*n) if so. Promise.
CJ? First I read of him was tonight (3 articles). And to me (opinion only) a big breath of fresh, in your face, air.
How about initials only? In Spanish? I know sign language also. 2 yachts?
I think the dystopian take is right on. Maybe a bigger question would be is power getting more concentrated and comedic or are technologies allowing us to see power, even nature, propelling exaggerated panic, per Covid culture? Like we were all always connected as a globe but Covid made it a bad thing that is otherwise a reality we rarely consider. It’s like everyone needs Jesus (again, or one more time, or somebody else like him). Maybe this narrative is always happening to us. It’s just the story we are in with new players feels “unprecedented” with the new layer of the internet. Thanks for letting me read your post. I am holding back from paying for many substack subs