My only explanation is that we are at war with dark principalities. Of course, this is an ancient condition - those who are driven to see themselves as little gods appointed (in their minds) to see to it that others live as they think all should.
Just before reading this I read Sundance's post on his exploration of Russia. His observations are quite revealing on how a subjugated society loses the innovation spark.
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Ben Franklin
Until the final end of days, thus end of civilization as we define it, it has always been the mavericks, the outliers, the ones who see using logic and reason instead of 'feelings', who find a way to do a restart. I'm way too old to be a restarter but I am hopefully inspiring my heirs to be one of those remnant.
We are triune beings, body, soul, and spirit, which is what separates us from other living beings. The wars we fight, the hills we decide must be stood on and defended, we think are determined by our physical beings, our earthly circumstances, the influences added onto us. But this world is way more complicated and multidimensional.
Ephesians 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
So interesting. It's the invisible world of energy. Thanks for your answer. It confirms an intuitive feeling I have had, but never considered seriously enough to discuss to delve deeper into.
Awesome essay, Spiff. FWIW I first came to understand this phenomenon about 30 years ago and set out to write a novel exploring and explaining it. The result is this book. It's fast-moving and easy-to-read and I'd love to send you a free copy.
You mean John Buchan, the writer? Not exactly, but there are references to him and the origin of the name is explained as the story unravels. The plot is also quite 'Buchan-esque', a sort of updated homage to his works
That's strange. It works for me. Maybe try and search for it from the Amazon page in your country. If that doesn't work, just send me an email address and I will happily send you a digital version whci you can upload to Kindle
Some are swept along I agree. But some are clearly bright enough to work it out. I remember reading an interview with one of the climate fanatics gluing herself to roads. She was a GP, and not young either. Old enough to know better.
There is definitely a bit of a death wish with some of them. Unresolved issues as a therapist might say.
They hate themselves and don't want to be what and who they are.
But failing to accept that no matter why you are that who and what, it is on you to change it, they instead devolve into seeking death by various roundabout ways.
Only by dying can they be reborn, but as they do not seek the death of the person they hate - themselves, in a psychological sense they instead adopt death-worshipping policies and ideas.
You touch upon one of the guide-lines that may help them out of this:
Asking what their positive vision is, in detail, and continue to ask them how it is to be achieved without hurting innocents.
The ones who stop and ponder, and genuinely try to think of ways to achieve their ideas without causing suffering, can be saved.
The ones who revel in suffering cannot, and must be dealt with as existential threats.
I do note the extraordinary lengths they go to so they can avoid answering these questions. Lots of dismissals, avoidance tactics. Hence the use of words like fascist or Nazi. Once you are labelled and condemned, no further interaction is required.
It is clear to me most of the people I am referring to have no positive vision of the future. They seem incapable of thinking like that.
Many who live or have been forced to live close to or among moslems come to loathe them, esp. if they are Negro or Palestinian moslems. But there's always respect, not of the "awarding honour"-kind but of the "respecting that they are upfront about what they are"-kind.
Sort-of how you'd respect a venomous snake for being good at catching vermin, yet you'd never want to have in your home.
But the woke-feminist-soy-climate-and-so-on people, there's nothing there to respect in either fashion. They are completely inconsistent and arbitrary and random in their outrages, demands and claims - there's no lode-line or common thread except their Randian egotism/selfishness (yes, really - think about it) and it changes all the time.
And so there's nothing to respect even in a begrudging way.
That's why they can't have a positive vision beyond wish fulfillment (or "manifesting" as many put it nowadays); a positive vision can only exist if you have a solid core, and work from that core outwards in trying to make it real.
An egotist lacks that beyond fulfilling wants (very reminiscent of how a narcissist functions, no?) and so has no other core than "I want X and I want it now", and being stuck at that development-stage everything becomes circular and recursive and therefore also destructive: they demand perfection, and nothing else will do, and so anything not perfect is rubbish and must be destroyed.
The old name for autism was "infantile psycopathy". I find it a very fitting moniker for these people.
I was unaware of the term for autism. Very interesting.
A key element of achieving real goals is humility. Trial and error is hard work. Embracing failure does not feed the ego, quite the opposite. So their grand visions are especially impossible.
Aren't most of these activists simply poorly educated trustafarians with little understanding of the topics they support, a steady income from their trust fund and an inability to get a "proper" job? They are funded by these shadowy billionaire funds like Soros which are in the business of creating chaos so that money can be made. These idiots are from a class of people with money who are terrified of the lower classes, embarrassed by their inherited comforts and easily led by the latest exciting new protest. Look at the very dumb Greta Thunberg - one cause after another with absolutely no understanding of any of them and no shortage of cash to keep herself afloat. I don't think they realise they too would die of the cold if they succeeded in getting rid of hydrocarbons because they don't know where the heat from their radiators comes from. Likewise, potential famine - they get their food delivered so are unaware of how it's produced! World of privileged idiots.
There are definitely people like this involved. I agree. But there is also a kind of death cult aspect to it too. I concede some may not join the dots. They perhaps believe renewables can supply the needs of an industrial nation, for example. They are sincere in that sense. But some are well aware of what they are doing and how poor the outcomes will be.
Thunberg is an outlier. Obviously targeted to suit the ambitions of climate profiteers. It worked for a while. She was just the patsy in all that. By some accounts it was the parents using her as a cash cow. Who knows?
The the hoi polloi are not necessarily funded or encouraged.
That guy clearly knew what he was talking about. Ironically I think extreme hedonism is a form of death or annihilation. We see it everywhere nowadays.
This is a very worthwhile exercise, attempting to get to the most likely drivers of their wilfully destructive behaviour; whether it's societal equity, atonement to Gaia for imaginary climate destruction or inviting the entire third world to share in the bounty provided by the productive (ie those who accept their own responsibility for themselves and their dependents and act accordingly without seeking permission or asking for guarantees).
I suspect that is why most of these people seem to be from financially comfortable backgrounds - or often public sector jobs - where again others have done the providing. Of course the public sector seems irredeemably unproductive compared to the real economy and so is fertile ground for this unicorn reasoning.
If this equity transpired to mean that, instead of the wealthy innovators and entrepreneurs becoming poorer through tax theft - because they all leave - "equity and fairness" had instead to be achieved downstream of themselves through, oh I don't know, ending of final salary pensions and indefinite pay freezes, towards the new guests or the resident wastrels.....well, then I think that would be an interesting test of their piety. Equally, if their green wishes were to come true and inevitably result in real-life food shortages, then they would be breaking down filthy capitalist neighbours' doors before the third day to get at their dried food store.
I do see this myself. Those most likely to back collectivist schemes are often not the productive. I fear only calamity will make them repent. Starvation does focus the mind.
We now have many more mouths to feed too. So hardship in Britain hits all the harder.
How good it is when I read something that explains yet another puzzling life conundrum that I have been struggling with, and confirms there is still an awful lot to learn about what is going on and why? Thank you for the insight.
I have lived (and continue to live) a life where the successes and failures are solely my responsibility. Sometimes at great personal and emotional expense, to the point where I considered my stubbornness to 'let go' and descend into the pillowed cradle of control was folly. I was once offered a life changing career opportunity that required that very decision to be made.. the security, the prestige and the peer validation were a heady mix at a particularly vulnerable time. But the requirement to accept a world framework that lacked clarity, vision and connectedness was an impenetrable fence... so it didn't happen, and I was saved from the jaws of control.. thankfully.
So here I sit, still at loggerheads with a disjointed world.. as so many of us are.. but now solidly and stubbornly confident that it is the best place to be. If you are wavering, hold firm..
“A broken, dysfunctional society provides a myriad of reasons for personal failure. And that is comforting to some.”
What’s the old adage, “Conspiracy theories were invented so the stupid can seem smart.” Do we have a parallel here? Something along the line of “Losers are drawn to bizarre causes so they can pretend to have purpose/status/virtue in their society.” A bonus to this “purpose” is often an all encompassing explanation for their failure to achieve in society as well.
I suspect so. Conspiracy theories are appealing because they also tie up lose ends. Real life is messy.
A face saving example is someone spending their life fighting capitalism instead of succeeding within the system that exists. I may have been a failure but at least I saw through the capitalist lies and fought the good fight. It saves their ego.
Many such cases. It is difficult to confront one's failures. I am convinced much of the destruction we see is driven by hatred of a system that exposes them as weak.
Not sure this really checks out. You're saying people don't protest govt overreach because they'd rather die sheep than be in control of their own destiny in a terrifying way.
See example of covid: I personally thought many measures were overreach but didn't protest because they didn't harm me. My personal destiny was, if anything, vastly improved by covid craziness in most ways. I would argue most umc people experienced the same. If I was going to protest, it would be out of concern for the herd.
However, I think a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks fail to remember the uncertainty of the period. People react to uncertainty in different ways -- this is why some people make Red Bull content and some of us watch it. I don't really accept the argument that base jumping El Capitan makes you a superior human because you're so confident taking your destiny into your own hands. Most people are better off not jumping, and I don't blame them for staying on the ground. The balance is also not staying on the couch watching videos all day.
How that translates to socialism and multi-culturalism is the tricky part. We can probably all agree that we don't want people dying on our streetcorners simply due to a spate of bad luck. We disagree on what we do want to give these people. Definitely people who are overly cautious will see themselves in the unfortunate and demand greater protections. Those who consider themselves bullet-proof will dismiss the need entirely. (Ayn Rand is a cautionary tale for them.) We need to thread the needle on issues like this.
It is certainly the case that cautious people have taken control of the narrative recently. But you can push back without branding them as sheeple. It is a known phenomenon that those with the most to lose are the least reckless. The number of people in our society who are terrified of loss and risk is a testament to our affluence.
The deeper point is people gravitate to damaging philosophies through a subconscious desire to remove choices that cause anxiety. Most do not yearn for more and more liberty. They want certainty.
The reaction to Covid was not really about protesting, but about capitulating to unreasonable demands. Some did so very reluctantly, for a myriad of reasons. But some welcomed them. It is this group I am interested in. Those who take relief in even invasive medical decisions being made by others on their behalf. That's why Covid mattered, not the protest aspect of it.
You are right life is a balance. Even those drawn to libertarian ideas don't want people dying on the street. Some welfare will always be with us.
But I am interested in the section of society that seems to embrace very destructive ideas. For some of them at least the destruction is the point.
Rikard posits they hate themselves. I think it's more about them being bitter, resentful, cowardly, envious and lazy, all because they understand on a subconscious level that they have the ability to achieve but have forfeited their talents and opportunities, and hate those who have the courage and industry and energy they lack. They aren't going to succeed and don't want anyone else to succeed either. Lobsters in a bucket.
Yes it is a that very mentality. But I think many of them lack self-awareness, so the absurd causes provide an outlet that immediately manages their anxiety and is therefore appealing.
But bitterness and resentment are strong drivers I agree.
My only explanation is that we are at war with dark principalities. Of course, this is an ancient condition - those who are driven to see themselves as little gods appointed (in their minds) to see to it that others live as they think all should.
Just before reading this I read Sundance's post on his exploration of Russia. His observations are quite revealing on how a subjugated society loses the innovation spark.
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Ben Franklin
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/11/30/the-russian-motherland/
I would be interested to see Alexander Boot's take on this.
Yes the evil are always there. But we have lost our ability to detect them and to evict them. This is what decline looks like.
Historically speaking it seems to run in cycles. Civilizations rise and fall.
Yes, true. The frustrating thing is living through something like this you see some of the faults and they seem easy to fix. Yet no one does.
Until the final end of days, thus end of civilization as we define it, it has always been the mavericks, the outliers, the ones who see using logic and reason instead of 'feelings', who find a way to do a restart. I'm way too old to be a restarter but I am hopefully inspiring my heirs to be one of those remnant.
https://meemanator.substack.com/p/bits-and-pieces
I do think most of the world feels their way through life.
Likely because humans are emotional beings. But it has always been the thinkers who can see what is true over what is wished to be.
Can you please elaborate on what do you mean by dark principalities? I feel intrigued.
We are triune beings, body, soul, and spirit, which is what separates us from other living beings. The wars we fight, the hills we decide must be stood on and defended, we think are determined by our physical beings, our earthly circumstances, the influences added onto us. But this world is way more complicated and multidimensional.
Ephesians 6:12 - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
So interesting. It's the invisible world of energy. Thanks for your answer. It confirms an intuitive feeling I have had, but never considered seriously enough to discuss to delve deeper into.
Awesome essay, Spiff. FWIW I first came to understand this phenomenon about 30 years ago and set out to write a novel exploring and explaining it. The result is this book. It's fast-moving and easy-to-read and I'd love to send you a free copy.
Here's a link for reference. https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Causes-Richard-Nichols-ebook/dp/B0893M6PQF/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=lost+causes+richard+nichols&qid=1618187048&sr=8-1
Thanks. Most misunderstand how fearful some can be. They'll embrace even the worst governments if it alleviates their anxiety.
Yep. It's the secret that no one dares mention, but without grasping it you'll never understand the modern world.
It's funny - lot of the words above could have come straight from the novel.
Does it feature a fictionalized version of the real Buchan?
You mean John Buchan, the writer? Not exactly, but there are references to him and the origin of the name is explained as the story unravels. The plot is also quite 'Buchan-esque', a sort of updated homage to his works
Ah I see.
The link says the item is not available for purchase. Shame!
That's strange. It works for me. Maybe try and search for it from the Amazon page in your country. If that doesn't work, just send me an email address and I will happily send you a digital version whci you can upload to Kindle
Excellent article—again!
"On the surface a lot doesn’t make sense. Ruinous policies will harm activists too."
You are assuming these activists are intelligent—they are not, they are merely tools of those in control.
Some are swept along I agree. But some are clearly bright enough to work it out. I remember reading an interview with one of the climate fanatics gluing herself to roads. She was a GP, and not young either. Old enough to know better.
There is definitely a bit of a death wish with some of them. Unresolved issues as a therapist might say.
They hate themselves and don't want to be what and who they are.
But failing to accept that no matter why you are that who and what, it is on you to change it, they instead devolve into seeking death by various roundabout ways.
Only by dying can they be reborn, but as they do not seek the death of the person they hate - themselves, in a psychological sense they instead adopt death-worshipping policies and ideas.
You touch upon one of the guide-lines that may help them out of this:
Asking what their positive vision is, in detail, and continue to ask them how it is to be achieved without hurting innocents.
The ones who stop and ponder, and genuinely try to think of ways to achieve their ideas without causing suffering, can be saved.
The ones who revel in suffering cannot, and must be dealt with as existential threats.
I do note the extraordinary lengths they go to so they can avoid answering these questions. Lots of dismissals, avoidance tactics. Hence the use of words like fascist or Nazi. Once you are labelled and condemned, no further interaction is required.
It is clear to me most of the people I am referring to have no positive vision of the future. They seem incapable of thinking like that.
A comparison:
Many who live or have been forced to live close to or among moslems come to loathe them, esp. if they are Negro or Palestinian moslems. But there's always respect, not of the "awarding honour"-kind but of the "respecting that they are upfront about what they are"-kind.
Sort-of how you'd respect a venomous snake for being good at catching vermin, yet you'd never want to have in your home.
But the woke-feminist-soy-climate-and-so-on people, there's nothing there to respect in either fashion. They are completely inconsistent and arbitrary and random in their outrages, demands and claims - there's no lode-line or common thread except their Randian egotism/selfishness (yes, really - think about it) and it changes all the time.
And so there's nothing to respect even in a begrudging way.
That's why they can't have a positive vision beyond wish fulfillment (or "manifesting" as many put it nowadays); a positive vision can only exist if you have a solid core, and work from that core outwards in trying to make it real.
An egotist lacks that beyond fulfilling wants (very reminiscent of how a narcissist functions, no?) and so has no other core than "I want X and I want it now", and being stuck at that development-stage everything becomes circular and recursive and therefore also destructive: they demand perfection, and nothing else will do, and so anything not perfect is rubbish and must be destroyed.
The old name for autism was "infantile psycopathy". I find it a very fitting moniker for these people.
I was unaware of the term for autism. Very interesting.
A key element of achieving real goals is humility. Trial and error is hard work. Embracing failure does not feed the ego, quite the opposite. So their grand visions are especially impossible.
Aren't most of these activists simply poorly educated trustafarians with little understanding of the topics they support, a steady income from their trust fund and an inability to get a "proper" job? They are funded by these shadowy billionaire funds like Soros which are in the business of creating chaos so that money can be made. These idiots are from a class of people with money who are terrified of the lower classes, embarrassed by their inherited comforts and easily led by the latest exciting new protest. Look at the very dumb Greta Thunberg - one cause after another with absolutely no understanding of any of them and no shortage of cash to keep herself afloat. I don't think they realise they too would die of the cold if they succeeded in getting rid of hydrocarbons because they don't know where the heat from their radiators comes from. Likewise, potential famine - they get their food delivered so are unaware of how it's produced! World of privileged idiots.
There are definitely people like this involved. I agree. But there is also a kind of death cult aspect to it too. I concede some may not join the dots. They perhaps believe renewables can supply the needs of an industrial nation, for example. They are sincere in that sense. But some are well aware of what they are doing and how poor the outcomes will be.
Thunberg is an outlier. Obviously targeted to suit the ambitions of climate profiteers. It worked for a while. She was just the patsy in all that. By some accounts it was the parents using her as a cash cow. Who knows?
The the hoi polloi are not necessarily funded or encouraged.
Speaking of Greta...
"The Delinquent Teenager Who Was Mistaken for the World's Top Climate Expert"
Sounds like her, no?
Only, that book was released in 2011. Someone read it and used it as a template to create her.
Edit: Kudos goes to substacker Die Fackel for tipping me off about the book.
Amazing if true. It doesn't surprise me one bit.
The Buddha warns against the two extremes, the fantasy of self-annihilation and of attachment to bliss.
That guy clearly knew what he was talking about. Ironically I think extreme hedonism is a form of death or annihilation. We see it everywhere nowadays.
Bravo!
This is a very worthwhile exercise, attempting to get to the most likely drivers of their wilfully destructive behaviour; whether it's societal equity, atonement to Gaia for imaginary climate destruction or inviting the entire third world to share in the bounty provided by the productive (ie those who accept their own responsibility for themselves and their dependents and act accordingly without seeking permission or asking for guarantees).
I suspect that is why most of these people seem to be from financially comfortable backgrounds - or often public sector jobs - where again others have done the providing. Of course the public sector seems irredeemably unproductive compared to the real economy and so is fertile ground for this unicorn reasoning.
If this equity transpired to mean that, instead of the wealthy innovators and entrepreneurs becoming poorer through tax theft - because they all leave - "equity and fairness" had instead to be achieved downstream of themselves through, oh I don't know, ending of final salary pensions and indefinite pay freezes, towards the new guests or the resident wastrels.....well, then I think that would be an interesting test of their piety. Equally, if their green wishes were to come true and inevitably result in real-life food shortages, then they would be breaking down filthy capitalist neighbours' doors before the third day to get at their dried food store.
I do see this myself. Those most likely to back collectivist schemes are often not the productive. I fear only calamity will make them repent. Starvation does focus the mind.
We now have many more mouths to feed too. So hardship in Britain hits all the harder.
How kind of you! However, this time when I held my nose and went to Amazon, it let me buy it. I look forward to making the time to read it.
How good it is when I read something that explains yet another puzzling life conundrum that I have been struggling with, and confirms there is still an awful lot to learn about what is going on and why? Thank you for the insight.
I have lived (and continue to live) a life where the successes and failures are solely my responsibility. Sometimes at great personal and emotional expense, to the point where I considered my stubbornness to 'let go' and descend into the pillowed cradle of control was folly. I was once offered a life changing career opportunity that required that very decision to be made.. the security, the prestige and the peer validation were a heady mix at a particularly vulnerable time. But the requirement to accept a world framework that lacked clarity, vision and connectedness was an impenetrable fence... so it didn't happen, and I was saved from the jaws of control.. thankfully.
So here I sit, still at loggerheads with a disjointed world.. as so many of us are.. but now solidly and stubbornly confident that it is the best place to be. If you are wavering, hold firm..
It isn't easy. Slavery is tempting. Today's version comes with porn and junk food that tastes great. But is it a life?
You must always forge your own path no matter how difficult.
“A broken, dysfunctional society provides a myriad of reasons for personal failure. And that is comforting to some.”
What’s the old adage, “Conspiracy theories were invented so the stupid can seem smart.” Do we have a parallel here? Something along the line of “Losers are drawn to bizarre causes so they can pretend to have purpose/status/virtue in their society.” A bonus to this “purpose” is often an all encompassing explanation for their failure to achieve in society as well.
I suspect so. Conspiracy theories are appealing because they also tie up lose ends. Real life is messy.
A face saving example is someone spending their life fighting capitalism instead of succeeding within the system that exists. I may have been a failure but at least I saw through the capitalist lies and fought the good fight. It saves their ego.
Many such cases. It is difficult to confront one's failures. I am convinced much of the destruction we see is driven by hatred of a system that exposes them as weak.
Well put.
Not sure this really checks out. You're saying people don't protest govt overreach because they'd rather die sheep than be in control of their own destiny in a terrifying way.
See example of covid: I personally thought many measures were overreach but didn't protest because they didn't harm me. My personal destiny was, if anything, vastly improved by covid craziness in most ways. I would argue most umc people experienced the same. If I was going to protest, it would be out of concern for the herd.
However, I think a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks fail to remember the uncertainty of the period. People react to uncertainty in different ways -- this is why some people make Red Bull content and some of us watch it. I don't really accept the argument that base jumping El Capitan makes you a superior human because you're so confident taking your destiny into your own hands. Most people are better off not jumping, and I don't blame them for staying on the ground. The balance is also not staying on the couch watching videos all day.
How that translates to socialism and multi-culturalism is the tricky part. We can probably all agree that we don't want people dying on our streetcorners simply due to a spate of bad luck. We disagree on what we do want to give these people. Definitely people who are overly cautious will see themselves in the unfortunate and demand greater protections. Those who consider themselves bullet-proof will dismiss the need entirely. (Ayn Rand is a cautionary tale for them.) We need to thread the needle on issues like this.
It is certainly the case that cautious people have taken control of the narrative recently. But you can push back without branding them as sheeple. It is a known phenomenon that those with the most to lose are the least reckless. The number of people in our society who are terrified of loss and risk is a testament to our affluence.
The deeper point is people gravitate to damaging philosophies through a subconscious desire to remove choices that cause anxiety. Most do not yearn for more and more liberty. They want certainty.
The reaction to Covid was not really about protesting, but about capitulating to unreasonable demands. Some did so very reluctantly, for a myriad of reasons. But some welcomed them. It is this group I am interested in. Those who take relief in even invasive medical decisions being made by others on their behalf. That's why Covid mattered, not the protest aspect of it.
You are right life is a balance. Even those drawn to libertarian ideas don't want people dying on the street. Some welfare will always be with us.
But I am interested in the section of society that seems to embrace very destructive ideas. For some of them at least the destruction is the point.
Rikard posits they hate themselves. I think it's more about them being bitter, resentful, cowardly, envious and lazy, all because they understand on a subconscious level that they have the ability to achieve but have forfeited their talents and opportunities, and hate those who have the courage and industry and energy they lack. They aren't going to succeed and don't want anyone else to succeed either. Lobsters in a bucket.
I think you nailed it in your essay.
Yes it is a that very mentality. But I think many of them lack self-awareness, so the absurd causes provide an outlet that immediately manages their anxiety and is therefore appealing.
But bitterness and resentment are strong drivers I agree.
"green energy policies inhibiting industry and productivity."
Oh, please. If you're that clueless about the causes of our current problems, you're not worth engaging with further.
Unsubscribed.
Do elaborate. Do you believe making energy artificially more expensive encourages industry? Germany and Britain would like a word.