Posts Tagged ‘stoicism’
“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven”*…
America, they say, is a melting pot. This map, put together by Redditor delugetheory, lets us see where the melting begins and ends. Turns out it’s a melting pot of white Catholics and Protestants, mostly.
The map gives us a lot of insight into concentrations of religious groups around the country. The mainline Protestant population is mostly contained in the upper Midwest, while evangelical Protestants spread into the Pacific Northwest and the South. The Mormon states are pretty predictable, but the split between Mormonism and Catholicism in the Native American population in Arizona is an interesting quirk…
For more background– and a larger version of the map– visit “The Dominant Ethnic And Religious Groups In The United States, Mapped By County.”
* John Milton, Paradise Lost
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As we say our prayers, we might send self-abnegating birthday greetings to Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus); he was born on this date in 121. Roman emperor from 161 to 180, he was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors.
He is perhaps as well remembered as a practitioner of Stoicism. His untitled writing, commonly known as the Meditations, is a significant source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy and is considered by many to be one of the greatest works of philosophy.
A detail from the Statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Musei Capitolini in Rome
“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies”*…
It was the summer of 1941 and a British astrologer named Louis de Wohl was becoming wildly popular among Americans with his increasingly accurate predictions in his stargazer column, “Stars Foretell.” As de Wohl’s reader numbers escalated to meteoric heights, real world consequences ensued. In August 1941, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its long-standing ban against astrologers and aired an exclusive interview with the man being heralded as “The Modern Nostradamus.” Just a few weeks later, for the first time in U.S. history, an astrologer was filmed for a U.S. newsreel, the TV news of the day. “Pathé News released the newsreels’ seminal plunge into prophecy with a nation-wide audience of 39,000,000 sitting as judge jury and witness,” declared a press release issued by de Wohl’s manager. Except it was a facade; it was all fake news.
De Wohl’s newspaper column was part of an elaborate black propaganda campaign to organize American public opinion in favor of Britain, and to ultimately get the U.S. to enter the war. In reality, de Wohl worked for British Intelligence (MI5). His so-called manager was none other than the legendary spymaster Sir William Stephenson, a man whom Winston Churchill famously called Intrepid. The average American had no idea…
The story of a man, born in Berlin, who went on, after the war, to become a fabulously-successful Catholic novelist (16 of his books were made into films): “Louis de Wohl: The Astrologer Who Helped Foil Hitler.”
[Image above, from here]
* Winston Churchill, who practiced what he preached
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As we look to the stars, we might send a cheery greeting to David Hume, the Scottish Positivist philosopher; he was born on this date in 1711. Bishop Berkeley may have wondered if, when a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, it makes a sound. For Hume, the question was whether the tree was beautiful (“Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them. “)
But then, it’s also the birthday of the (somewhat more “practical”) Roman Emperor and Stoic Marcus Aurelius, born on this date in 121. “Why should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements?” Why indeed?
“A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog”*…
Savior Barbie stands in front of a chalkboard in a run-down classroom somewhere in Africa. “It’s so sad that they don’t have enough trained teachers here. I’m not trained either, but I’m from the West,” the caption on the photo reads. In another, the plastic figurine poses in front shacks made from scrap metal and sticks: “Just taking a slumfie… Feeling so blessed.”
In the satirical Instagram account for Savior Barbie, Barbie is in Africa running an NGO that provides drinking water to locals. “Harnessing broken white hearts to provide water to those in Africa, one tear at a time,” the tagline for her organization reads. The account, started a month ago by two 20-something white women who have worked in East Africa, now has over 18,000 followers…
Savior Barbie also highlights the point that advocates and experts working on the continent have been observing for years—well-intentioned but naive volunteerism—or “voluntourism“—is at best ineffectual and at worst harmful to the developing countries it’s meant to serve. It drives an industry that sees 1.6 million people do volunteer work while on vacation every year, spending as much as $2 billion in the process. Nigerian-American author Teju Cole once dubbed this impulse the White Savior Industrial Complex…
More at “Instagram’s White Savior Barbie neatly captures what’s wrong with “voluntourism” in Africa.” Pair with “The Smug Style in American Liberalism“– bracing stuff.
[TotH to EWW]
* Jack London
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As we rethink relief, we might send forbearing birthday wishes to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus; he was born on this date in 121. The last of the Five Good Emperors, Marcus Aurelius is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers; his Meditations, written on campaign before he became emperor, is still a central text on the philosophy of service and duty.
