Call me a Luddite.

A term that has been wielded as a slur for two centuries—a synonym for technological backwardness, for fear of progress, for the kind of small-mindedness that would rather smash a loom than embrace the future–is now becoming the badge of honor for those fighting against the ever encroaching digital Big Brother.

The original Luddites weren’t afraid of machines. They were skilled textile workers who understood exactly what those machines meant: not just the loss of their livelihoods, but the destruction of an entire way of living, a lifetime of accumulated craft rendered worthless overnight by a contraption that could do it faster, cheaper, and with none of the human judgment that gave their work its soul. Sound familiar?

That is where we are now. Only this time, the machine isn’t coming just for our jobs. It’s coming for our minds.

The Deconstruction of Human Reason

The core promise of artificial intelligence, repeated like a mantra in every boardroom and tech campus from Sand Hill Road to Shenzhen, is “better, faster, cheaper”. While this sounds like progress, in reality it is a euphemism for something far more corrosive: the systematic invalidation of the human drive to develop reason and knowledge.

For most of human history, developing competence in anything meaningful—writing, coding, designing, analyzing, diagnosing, arguing a case—was a long, inefficient, and challenging process. You had to accumulate experience in order to master your craft, by learning what works and what doesn’t. Through this process, you developed judgment, which is not the same thing as having access to information. Judgment is the ability, based on knowledge and experience, to weigh competing claims, to sense when something is off, to know which corner can be cut and which one is critical.

This has all been replaced by “prompt engineering”; the replacement of that knowledge and experience with a text box. Instead of learning how to write, you learn how to ask a machine to write for you. Instead of learning how to code, you learn how to describe what you want the code to do. Instead of learning how to think, you learn how to phrase a request such that the black box returns something usable (assuming it’s not a complete fabrication).

The prompt engineers—and the term itself is a kind of linguistic fraud, as if typing requests into a chatbot was a subset of engineering—will tell you this is the democratization of knowledge. In reality, it is the opposite. It is the shifting of cognitive agency from the individual to the machine, and more importantly, toward the small handful of corporations that own the machines. You are not being empowered. You are being deskilled, and you are paying for the privilege of deconstructing your life and future.

The Hollowing Out of the Workforce

The economic consequences are already visible, and are accelerating.

Men and women in their thirties and forties—people who did everything they were told to do, who earned degrees, who built careers—are finding themselves unable to secure work after being laid off after being replaced by an AI agent. Not because they lack competence, but because competence itself is being redefined as whatever an AI can do. The fifty-plus crowd is in even worse shape. They are not just unemployed; they are being treated as obsolete, as legacy hardware in a world that has decided to stop supporting anything that predates the cloud.

And then there are the college graduates. Four years, sometimes six or more. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt; all of it wagered on the promise that a degree was the ticket to a stable middle-class life. That promise has been broken, and the people who made it have not been held to account. Instead, they are doubling down, insisting that the solution to a broken credentialing system is more credentials, more debt, more years spent acquiring skills that will be obsolete before the ink on the new diploma is dry.

Those jobs that do remain are increasingly filled by H-1B visa holders, imported at a fraction of the wage an American worker would require, assuming the function is not shipped overseas. This is not a conspiracy; it is open policy, defended by the same class of people who lecture the native-born workforce about the moral necessity of global competition. The arrangement is brutally simple: corporations get cheaper labor, the professional-managerial class gets ever bigger bonuses, and the American worker gets to train his own replacement before being shown the door.

Racial discrimination against white and Asian males is rampant across every field that matters—tech, finance, academia, law. DEI may be outwardly dead, its acronym having become too toxic for public branding, but the infrastructure remains intact. The diversity offices have been quietly rebranded. The hiring quotas and set-asides and “inclusion” mandates still operate, now under new language and with the same ideological commitment. The targets are the same people they have always been, and the justifications are as flimsy as ever, but the institutional power behind them has not diminished. If anything, it has learned to be more subtle, which makes it harder to fight.

The Stupefaction of the Populace

The bottom half of the IQ curve was already on a trajectory toward idiocracy long before ChatGPT arrived. Functional literacy has been falling for decades. A shocking percentage of American adults cannot make change, cannot read an analog clock, cannot follow written instructions of more than a few sentences. This is not a failure of individuals. It is a failure of a system that long ago shifted from teaching to indoctrinating.

Public education has been pushing a Marxist agenda for generations. The specifics shift—critical race theory, queer theory, decolonization, whatever the latest academic fad happens to be—but the core project remains the same: to sever children from their cultural inheritance, to teach them that their history is a history of oppression, that their institutions are illegitimate, that the only moral stance is perpetual self-criticism and deference to the approved victim classes. It is not a fluke that 91% of teacher’s dues in the National Education Association (NEA) go toward supporting progressive political causes, candidates and administration.

At the same time, basic skills have dramatically declined because basic skills are no longer the focus. Reading, writing, and arithmetic have been replaced by grievance, activism, and therapeutic surveillance. Depending on your race or gender, you have been taught that either you are an oppressor or one of the oppressed.

Common Core was sold as a way to raise standards. In practice, it has been the systematic coring out of young minds. The emphasis on “conceptual understanding” over memorization sounds enlightened until you realize that reasoning without a base of memorized knowledge is not reasoning at all—it is flailing. You cannot think critically about something you do not know. You cannot analyze a text if you cannot read it fluently. You cannot solve a novel math problem if you have not internalized the basic operations. Memorization is not the enemy of reasoning; it is the prerequisite. The war on memorization is a war on the very possibility of independent thought.

And now, into this already degraded landscape, comes AI.

The Ultimate Crutch

AI is now being sold as an educational support tool, a personalized tutor, a way to meet every student where they are, but the reality is far darker. AI is the ultimate crutch, and any crutch used long enough produces atrophy.

When a student asks an AI to summarize a reading assignment, the student stops learning how to read. When a student asks an AI to solve the math problem, the student stops learning how to solve math problems. When a student asks an AI to write the essay, the student stops learning how to construct an argument, how to marshal evidence, how to think in a sustained way about a difficult subject.

This is not a hypothetical concern. Studies are already highlighting the measurable decline in cognitive performance among individuals who rely heavily on AI tools. The mechanism is straightforward: cognitive abilities, like muscles, atrophy with disuse. The more you outsource your thinking, the less capable of thinking you become. And the less capable of thinking you become, the more dependent on outsourcing you are. It is a vicious cycle with no natural endpoint except total cognitive dependency and neurosis.

The goal, whether stated or not, is the creation of a new generation of compliant, right-thinking drones—people who cannot think for themselves because they have never been required to, who have no context on which to independently reason their way through problems, who have been raised from childhood to accept the outputs of the machine as authoritative. They will not be rebels or dissenters. They will be perfect consumers, perfect employees, perfect subjects to whatever system is in power.

GIGO Factories

There is a deeper and more structural problem, one that the AI industry has every incentive to ignore.

AI models are increasingly being built on AI-generated code and AI-generated content. The training data for the next generation of models includes the outputs of the current generation. Reddit threads, once a source of genuine, albeit usually emotional, human conversation, are now filled with AI-generated comments designed to promote engagement or push narratives. Keyboard monitoring, sentiment analysis, and other surveillance techniques feed data into the pipeline that is already contaminated by the very systems it is meant to train.

This is GIGO—garbage in, garbage out—at a scale that has never before been possible. The models are not getting smarter. They are getting more self-referential, more detached from reality, more prone to the kind of recursive errors that compound with each iteration. We are building a tower of epistemic debt, and when it collapses, the people who built it will have already cashed out and be living in their remote bunkers, hoping to survive the fallout of the collapse.

Worse still, these models are exhibiting the same pathologies as mentally disturbed individuals—because they are built on the input of mentally disturbed individuals. Social media, the primary source of AI model training data, is not a representative sample of stable or well reasoned human cognition. It is a heavily skewed, dominated by the most online, the most extreme, the most psychologically unstable voices. The AI learns from these voices and reproduces their pathologies. It hallucinates. It becomes paranoid, grandiose, manipulative, and incoherent—not because it is broken, but because it is functioning exactly as designed, mirroring the sickness of the culture that produced it.

Faster Does Not Equal Better

The entire value proposition of AI rests on the assumption that faster is better. This assumption is almost never examined, because examining it would reveal how hollow it is.

Speed is a virtue when you are doing something that benefits from being done quickly. But many of the most important human activities—thinking, creating, loving, grieving, growing—cannot be accelerated without being destroyed. A thought that arrives instantly is not a thought; it’s a reflex. A piece of writing that is generated in seconds has not been written; it has been assembled. The process is the real product. When you eliminate the process, you eliminate the value.

The AI industry does not care about this distinction, because the AI industry is not in the business of creating value. It is in the business of capturing value—specifically, capturing the value that used to accrue to human beings who spent years developing expertise and judgment. Every time you use an AI to do something you used to do yourself, you are not saving time. You are transferring a small piece of your cognitive sovereignty to a corporation, and you are paying that corporation for the privilege of making yourself unnecessary.

The Material Costs

Compounding this is the reality of what is required to bring about this glowing AI future. The physical infrastructure required to implement AI at scale is a looming environmental and social disaster.

Data centers consume staggering amounts of electricity—not incremental amounts, but the kind of load that requires new modular nuclear power plants to be built, that strains grids, that drives up energy costs for everyone else. They consume water at a rate that is difficult to comprehend, using it for cooling in regions that are already facing drought. They occupy land that could be used for housing, for agriculture, for anything other than housing racks of GPUs that run hot, burn out fast, and need to be constantly replaced.

The AI chip replacement cycle alone is a monument to waste. GPUs designed for AI workloads operate at the edge of their thermal tolerance. They have a limited lifetime of only a few years before they fail and have to be replaced. The old ones become electronic waste, shipped to some developing country where they will be picked apart by people who have no protection from the toxic materials inside. This is not a side effect of the AI industry. It’s the business model—planned obsolescence at the hardware level, justified by the insatiable demand for more compute, more parameters, more “intelligence.”

These AI data centers are the technological equivalent of toxic waste factories, and they are being built across the country in communities that have no say in the matter, by companies that have no accountability to the people whose resources they are consuming.

The Bonfires of the Angry

History has a way of settling accounts.

How long will it be before the data centers start to burn for real? Not metaphorically, but before the accumulated rage—of the unemployed, the deskilled, the disinherited, the people who did everything right and still ended up with nothing—finds a target?

The Luddites smashed the looms because the looms were there; because the looms were the visible symbol of a system that had decided the workers were no longer needed. The data centers being built across the country by the thousands are the looms of our age. They are large, they are undefended in any meaningful sense, and they are the physical manifestation of everything that is being done to the people who have been left behind.

I am not calling for violence; I am making a prediction. When you push people to the point where they have nothing left to lose, they stop caring about property rights. They stop caring about the law. They stop caring about the moral lectures delivered by the same people who engineered their misery. They will find something to break, and they will break it.

Once again, Iran has “broken” the negotiated ceasefire with the US by attacking three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. What President Trump has not understood up to this point, but may finally be realizing, is that the goals of the US and the Iranians are not aligned and never will be. Therefore, any “understanding” that the US achieves is not worth the paper it is written on. Like Lucy (Iran) holding the football for Charlie Brown (the US), Iran insists that “this time” they are really and truly telling the truth and will live up to their commitments. Until we acknowledge they will always lie, the US will continue to be played the fool.

The apocalyptic Shia theocracy, which has ruled Iran since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, is motivated by Islamic Shia theology, with the goal of facilitating the return of the Twelfth Imam, the Mahdi. Like the second coming of Christ, the Mahdi is prophesied to return and lead a global Islamic kingdom. The period preceding the Mahdi’s return is foretold to be marked by extreme injustice, violent upheaval, and mass bloodshed. In order to pave the way for the Mahdi’s return, the enemies of Islam must be vanquished, in particular Israel and the US, and the Iranian theocracy has repeatedly, publicly, and violently reiterated these goals since its founding.

When the negotiations are viewed through this lens, it is easy to see how any agreements between Iran and the US are essentially meaningless, as the US views the world in economic terms (how can we achieve the best deal for the US), while the Iranians view the world in eschatological terms (how can we bring about the end times). From this perspective, the constant betrayals of commitments by the Iranians are not a surprise, but exactly what should be expected. They are trying to foment chaos and violence to accelerate their end times vision. To the extent that they can enrage the bull (Trump) to act out by their constant deceptions, they are achieving their aims with the added benefit of frustrating those of the US to restore commerce in the Strait.

What then is the answer? It would seem that the only permanent answer is the decisive and permanent removal of the Iranian theocracy, in effect, killing or crippling the religion that drives the government and its actions. The question is how to do so, as you cannot kill an idea by bombing a building or even occupying a country (e.g., Afghanistan). As the mass attendance at the state funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini shows (an estimated 10 million people), while there may be suppressed desires for freedom in the Iranian population, there are also large numbers who are Shia supporters, likely willing to violently support and advance their cause, both directly and indirectly through proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Should Trump be blamed for the state of events? I don’t think so, because the Iranians would have proceeded with their plans for bringing about the end times regardless of whether the US acted or not. If Trump had not destroyed (for the moment) their capabilities, then it is certain that Iran would have proceeded with their plans for nuclear arms and would have used them, probably against Israel, to accelerate their vision. By acting as we have, we may have forestalled one avenue, but we have not caused them to deviate from their goal; we have only changed the path.

“Money is not the root of all evil. The root is our insatiable thirst for power. Money is but one of the many ways in which power can be accumulated and used.”

Lord Acton’s admonition, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” has never been proven so prescient as it is in today’s world. Corruption driven by the pursuit of power is widespread and visible everywhere.

Power, in the sense of Acton’s admonition, is the ability to direct and influence others to achieve your aims. This power is accumulated and manifested in many forms: in social movements such as Antifa and BLM; in governments and their institutions; in religious states such as the Iranian theocracy; in the actions of corporate leaders to pursue profits as their only aim; and in the actions of billionaires promoting socialist political causes such as Scott, Soros, and Singham.

Often one system of power (economic, political, or religious) will exploit another for their benefit. Such as when the business leaders use their power to corrupt or influence politicians to write laws that benefit their companies by reducing competition or mandating the purchase of the companies’ products or pharmaceuticals.

Or it can be when political leaders, such as in Spain, subvert the laws and institutions of their government to undermine the foundations of their society by enabling the mass influx of migrants with a different cultural and religious background. Despite knowing that this will displace the existing culture and native population, they continue to do so to retain their short-term political power. This same displacement is happening in countries across the EU and increasingly in the US.

Or, it can be when religious leaders, such as the Ayatollah, seek to impose Islam on the world by violence, including supporting the elimination of Israel as well as constant terrorist attacks against Israel via proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Or by indirect means, as when the Sunni leaders of Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia use their wealth to spread fundamentalist Islamic teachings through Western countries while at the same time promoting the false message of peaceful coexistence. Or direct means, as when over 10,000 Christians are killed annually by Muslims in Nigeria alone.

Finally, it can be when political leaders such as President Xi of China violently suppress all religions, both Islamic and Christian, as sources of opposition to Communist rule and control of the population. It also occurs when China subverts Western institutions and businesses to gain a stranglehold on their economies through control of critical supplies and means of production.

Evil, in the end, is expressed in the control and manipulation of others to benefit the persons or institutions imposing the control. It can be done to increase their wealth or power or to satisfy their sadistic desires and can range from individual acts of torture and murder through to mass killings, pogroms, and the enslavement of the populace, as exists in North Korea. In all instances, there is a person or group who uses their power to carry out this evil. Within institutions, their positions are maintained by those lackeys underneath them, who also benefit to a lesser degree but also seek to grow and maintain their own power by imposing their will on those beneath them, as do those beneath them, etc.

Power, in this regard, is a cancer that grows and corrupts people and institutions. To remove the visible head of an evil institution is likely to do nothing to remove the evil that the institution that they lead performs. When one Ayatollah is removed, another is shortly appointed to take his place, and their aims continue unabated, as is now so obvious in Iran. The same occurs when a corrupt political or business leader is removed. The functions of the institution remain, as it still carries all the parasitical ticks who feed on the power that the institution holds. Until the whole body of the institution is destroyed and all of these ticks are killed, the corruption will remain and continue to grow and infect others.

As these cancers have grown and spread around the world, our ability to resist and destroy them grows weaker. Not only are they all attempting to destroy or subvert the remaining bastions of decency, they are also attempting to do the same to the competing systems of power. In effect, it is a free-for-all battle for power that is being fought on all fronts, on all levels, all the time.

Welcome to the 21st century.

The modern world is a bazaar of beliefs, all shouting and pulling at our minds, telling us that they alone hold the true picture of reality. Without a firm grasp on what we believe to be true, we are likely to be sold a bill of goods by whoever can best capture our attention.

Our initial beliefs about the world were formed by our parents, our community, and the world we grow up in. They told us who we could trust and who to be wary of. What is true, the meaning of past events and how to judge the behavior of others. As we grew and experienced more of the world, these beliefs evolved based on our experiences. Those that we were told are trustworthy, due to a bad encounter, we may instead have learned to distrust. Likewise, things or people we were told to avoid, we may have found to be innocuous or even helpful.

What we have to learn, but often don’t, is that our beliefs are not reality. They are a static, crude picture—a soot-covered window through which we peer—of what reality really is. While they can be helpful in avoiding pitfalls along our journey through life, they are not the road itself, and not realizing this is the biggest mistake we can make. We forget that our beliefs are only a representation of reality, based on what we were taught and what we developed as we grew. We are always looking through those beliefs to interpret what we see and experience in the world. What we forget is that everyone else is doing the same based on the beliefs they grew up with, which can be radically different from ours. Those that share our beliefs may look at a situation and draw the same conclusions we do. Those with a different set of beliefs, developed based on a life growing up in a different environment and culture, may form totally different conclusions that, while we may find them nonsensical or repugnant, are as totally self-evident to them as they find our beliefs nonsensical or repugnant.

The world then is the real Tower of Babel, not of speech but of belief. We all think that how we see the world is right and obvious and that those who disagree are wrong, misinformed, or just plain ignorant. Why then do we fight so hard to defend our beliefs and convince others of the error of their ways? It depends on the basis of these beliefs and what their core message is.

If our worldview is based on a religion, we may think that the world and the people in it were created by a god or gods, that our purpose in life is to live by their dictates, and that we will receive a reward in an afterlife for adhering to these instructions. We likewise may be told that not only should we seek to convince others of the error of their ways, but depending on our religion, we must do so, and that those who resist are to be subjugated or killed if they resist.

If our worldview is based on an ideology, either political or social, we may see the world in terms of oppression, mismanagement, or exploitation. In order to save the world or the unseeing masses from their delusions and the supposed harms caused by them or others, we must take action to save them from themselves. If the guilty, or even some innocents, are harmed in correcting these errors in thinking, then that is the unfortunate price to be paid in order to achieve the enlightened future where all strife will be a thing of the past and all deviant thoughts, tendencies (or people) are eliminated.

Lastly, there are those who reject these narratives and have decided that their existence is nothing more than the result of random chance and that their life is meaningless as a result. In their view, they might as well enjoy life to the fullest extent possible, and if others are harmed or exploited in the process, what does it matter? Depending on their circumstances, this can range from simple narcissism to a massive evil that harms others, as they accumulate wealth and power for no other purpose than to build ever larger monuments to their ego or pleasure.

What then is the answer to life? As is obvious, there are countless answers, all with their bands of followers proclaiming theirs is “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” However, the numbers of these followers has no relation to whether their truth actually reflects the real world; otherwise, we would find that the sun does orbit the earth, as was the near-universal belief not that long ago. The popularity of a belief has no relation to its veracity.

We can, and indeed must—by default or intent—choose a set of beliefs to guide our lives. To do otherwise is to be a rudderless ship, constantly buffeted by the winds of social trends and events, or sink into despair.

Of all the religious, ideological, and self-serving options available, living a life of Stoic virtue still seems to me to be the best alternative. Doing so does not preclude having a religious or social passion in addition, but it provides the stable foundation by which to judge whether the actions that these causes may promote are worthy of our participation. As Tolkien so wisely wrote in the Lord of the Rings,

“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.”

Indeed. Whether this life is all we have or just one in a countless cycle of learning, it still seems to me our best option is to help others as best we can, while we can. If there is a reward in some afterlife for our efforts, so much the better. If not, then our works are our legacy, so that people may remember us as a good person who strove to make the world a better place.

“All this was inspired by the principle—which is quite true within itself—that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods.

It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.”

- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

Just as I believe political ideologues actively work to enslave the minds of people while governments and corporations work to enslave their bodies (and money), so it is that I also believe that all of these malicious entities are actively using “The Big Lie” to accomplish their aims.

Whether it is “peaceful protestors", “religions of peace”, corporations that “do no evil” or government programs intended to “serve the people”, it should be obvious that those who try hardest to convince you of “x”, are most likely to be those who are in reality promoting and doing anti ”x”. Corruption and lying have become so pervasive that they are (or should be) the default expectation. Someone who actually does what they say and says what they do is the curious anomaly.

To protect myself from this manipulation, I have to actively be on guard to unsubstantiated claims, and even when substantiated, verify the sources myself. Even more than that, using the heuristic of past behavior helps me to filter claims and news so that I don’t even bother to read and judge statements from those who have repeatedly demonstrated that they lack any regard for the truth. To constantly keep “an open mind” to the views of those who have shown themselves to be habitual liars is to live my life as Charlie Brown, constantly being set up to fall in the attempt to kick the football. Even more so, it wastes my time verifying their false claims that could be better spent in determining truth on my own.

It used to be that children were raised to believe what others say and their good intent. They are told lying to others is a bad thing that they should not do; therefore, they believe that others will not do it to them. The consequence is that generations have been raised to be gullible patsies, primed for manipulation by politicians, religious hucksters, and corporations, vastly aided by the media and the internet.

It is only after painful experience, either as a member of these groups or a victim, that some will open their eyes to the lies that are being spread and the harm that is being done. As a Stoic, my skepticism is my sword and shield to defend my mind against the manipulations of others.

"If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging"
— Will Rogers

"You need to know when to hold'em, know when to fold'em..."
— The Gambler, Kenny Rogers

"No problem is so formidable that you can't walk away from it."
— Charles Schulz (Peanuts)

A few jobs back in my career, I made the decision to quit an executive-level role that I felt was not the right fit for me (or for the company I was working for), and as luck would have it, it was also the day while driving into work that Overcast replayed the Freakenomics podcast, "The Upside of Quitting." Whether due to serendipity or confirmation bias, I do sometimes feel that life is not as random as physics would suggest.

As a practicing Stoic, making (or attempting to make) rational decisions is how I strive to live my daily life, and this episode and event highlighted a few truisms that align perfectly to that (and to my own experience):

• I have to live my own life, not someone else’s vision of what I should be or do

• My passion for a pursuit does not guarantee my success

• It is better to fail fast than dig the hole deeper (the hardest lesson for me, as it contradicts my inherent bias to both not recognize when something is not working and to not give up)

• My life exists in the now—whatever has been invested in a losing proposition is done and gone. As Stevie Nicks sang, ‘Pick up the pieces and go home’ (or move on, I would say)

• My most precious commodity is time—at every moment I need to examine what I am doing and ask myself, am I making the best use (as aligned with my concept of a virtuous life) of what time I have left?

• Striving for constant happiness in my job, relationships and life is a recipe for unhappiness—I have to take the good with the bad (or the desirable with the undesirable) in order to make progress in life

Just because I can't control outcomes does not mean that I can't choose the actions that are more likely to lead to the outcomes I want (or want to avoid). As a Stoic, I know that regardless of my choices, there are no guarantees that the results I am seeking will occur. In that case I just need to adjust my assumptions and try again. In planning my actions I use the OHDA loop to guide my actions.

OHDA stands for Observe, Hypothesize, Decide, and Act:

• Observe: What is occurring in the world around me? I must actively work to keep my eyes, ears, and mind open and engaged.

• Hypothesize: Why is this occurring? Who are the actors, obvious and hidden, behind what I observe, and what are their possible motivations? Play through scenarios in my mind.

• Decide: What (if anything) should I do about what is occurring as it aligns to my goals and values? What are the alternatives?

• Act: Implement my decision (or do nothing if that is my decision).

I repeat this loop continuously, with multiple loops running in parallel on different timeframes based on my needs and how busy my environment is. When I start to feel overwhelmed by the volume of information I am receiving, I actively work to simplify my environment (not close down my inputs) so that I can prioritize and process a smaller set of loops that are important to me.

Keeping the OHDA loop in the forefront of my mind means that I keep my focus on the present as opposed to allowing my mind to drift into the past or future.

I walk through life facing backwards, buffeted by events that I both can and cannot anticipate. My belief, in thinking I can control my future, is an illusion - fate dictates my destiny regardless of my intentions. At best, I can try to set a destination for my journey.

My actions are like throwing seeds over my shoulder, hoping they will grow as I want. In the end, my efforts to bring balance to my life are best spent on managing my reactions to life’s anticipated and unanticipated buffets, and only then on ordering my thoughts and actions.

The external world is constantly peppering me with inputs that my monkey mind perceives as threats or immediately desirable events. Recognizing and separating actual physical threats, immediate or deferred, from threats to my self-image is the key to controlling my thoughts and actions. In this regard, the Cynics were on to something, though I do not agree with their disregard of the need to fit into society.

In other words, focusing on properly recognizing and reacting to life’s inputs is more important and productive than trying to manage my outputs. I will work to recognize and not let undesirable thoughts and actions gain root in my mind, so I will have less weeding to do in the future.

When I was young, my life seemed endless. The years stretched out in front of me, and the horizon was so far away as to be invisible. I also had the advantage, growing up, of a relatively clear direction for my life and career (tech BTW), combined with a job market that offered me opportunities unimaginable to those starting out today. I assumed there would always be plenty of time to try things, change direction, correct mistakes, and eventually arrive somewhere comfortable.

Now, looking back, I have an entirely different perspective. The future that once seemed so long in front of me has compressed into something surprisingly small when looking in the rear-view mirror. Entire chapters of my life that felt slow while I was living them now pass through my memory in seconds. School, early jobs, the first moves to new places, the people who appeared and disappeared along the way—so much of it feels as though it happened only yesterday.

I think of this when I read about (and see all around me), the terrible state of those who are growing up in today’s world. Compared to my youth, most are well and truly f*ed. The go to college, get a good-paying job in your chosen career, get married, get a house, have 2.1 kids, retire rich and happy fantasy is stone cold dead. The problem is that Gen Alpha and Z are either still on the treadmill, chasing a mirage, or have gotten the message and given up, retreating to their parents’ basement to play on the Xbox and smoke weed.

So what are their options? In my view, only one. MOVE! Do something, take action, get off their asses, take a risk and try something new. More than ever, reconnecting with the classics and reading about how others lived their lives, as well as what life was like in earlier times, brings perspective to today’s challenges (Dickens and Twain are two good choices). For all the travails of today’s world of AI, outsourced jobs, and corporate predation, the world we live in is still unimaginably prosperous to someone who grew up in the 19th century (when my grandparents were born, if you can imagine that).

Some of the most important turns in my own life began as experiments that did not work the way I expected. A job taken for one reason led me toward a skill I had never considered developing (how I transitioned from hardware to software). Failed jobs all taught me lessons that forced me to rethink how I approached the next ones. Decisions that seemed questionable at the time eventually introduced me to people and opportunities that I never would have had otherwise. If I had waited for certainty before trying something new, I would never be where I am today.

Getting older has also caused me to think more about the approaching end of my life (what a surprise). When I was young, death was an abstract concept that I hardly thought about at all. It was something distant, something that would happen eventually, sometime far in the future. Today, the question is no longer if, but simply when (and to a lesser extent how). And if I am honest with myself, “when” is almost certainly likely to be sooner than I anticipate.

That realization has a strangely calming effect. It forces me to sort my priorities more carefully. If dying tomorrow is a real possibility—and it always is—then it becomes harder to justify spending time on things that do not matter—petty conflicts, pointless obligations, habits, and work that produce nothing meaningful. With age, the distinction between meaningful and trivial becomes clearer—trust me on this.

So, “Going, going, …” and at some point, Gone! When that moment arrives, the memories of me in those who remain will be the legacy of my life—both the warts and the bright spots. I can only hope and do what I can in the time that remains to shape those memories as best I can. As for my future post mortem, if any, I’ve already written about that.

Before long, it will all be dust to me anyway.

“I found it on the internet, so it must be true!”. This meme is becoming a bigger joke than ever, with the latest estimates that 52% of articles on the internet are now AI-generated. Personally, I suspect it is higher than that if LinkedIn is any indication, and will certainly climb as more people become dependent on AI to read, write, and research information.

So what’s the issue with that? The problem is that AI is not generating information a priori; it is doing so based on information on the public web, which is already AI-generated. Rather than increasing the base of knowledge, we are instead curating and concentrating it as AI generates more material based on AI-generated material, which in turn is used by AI to refine their models, which in turn generates more information… You get the picture.

Add to this the issue that LLMs do not know what is “true”. For that matter, they do not “know” anything. They are statistical sampling engines that create inferences from large data sets. When those data sets are themselves created by AI, the problem is that the pool of true knowledge rapidly shrinks as a percentage of the information available. Instead of knowledge, we are mass generating garbage.

Compounding this is the issue that the models themselves are not only prone to knowledge concentration, they are also prone to corruption by those who create and tune them, by the selective use of the data that they feed them as the sampling base. This has been more than aptly demonstrated by the leftist/woke bias in the responses to queries as documented for all the major AI players.

Finally, there is the stupefaction of humanity itself by its increasing dependence on AI to do the work that until very recently required that you rub your brain cells together to do. From grade school and college students to law clerks and politicians, we are rapidly losing our ability to think and reason, instead increasingly relying on the crutch of AI to give us the answers we are seeking. Who cares if the answer is wrong or biased? Look how quickly we got it!

I certainly have complained in recent years about the inability of Gen Z and Alpha to count change or do math without a calculator. God forbid that they actually have read a book in their lives. Now with them increasingly dependent on AI for not only answers and information, but also digital companions and relationships, it seems that we are speeding toward turning the movie Idiocracy into reality in our lifetime. Certainly, the increasingly public displays of emotion vs reason as a means of debate are just one indication of this trend.

So what’s to be done? I’m afraid I despair about anything that can reverse this trend. Like lemmings rushing to the cliff, humanity as a herd is trapped in group think and the inability to sense the danger we are in until we have already gone over the edge.

Can this be reversed? It certainly could, by strict laws and regulation on the uses of AI, as well as a wholesale reform of education by returning to the basics (reading, writing and arithmetic) as well as restrictions on the use of social media and computers by youth. Will it be done? I’m afraid there is not a snowball’s chance in hell, that being the destination we are rapidly approaching…

BTW, this article was not written by AI - yes, I actually do still have a functioning brain

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

– Ephesians 6:10-12, KJB

Evil is a human condition, expressed in the actions of all those who harm others with intent, be they serial killers, sadistic child rapists, Marxist dictators, or Islamic terrorists killing Christians around the world.

Today, the tide of evil is rising as the leftist/Marxist press denies the evil that is the Islamist terrorism against Christians, which is occurring around the world, but in particular within Africa. According to a study by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, militant Islamist groups in Africa have been responsible for the deaths of over 150,000 people, primarily Christians. The study revealed a 60 percent increase in violence since 2023, with nearly half of the deaths occurring in the Sahel region, spanning countries such as Mali, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. Parishes and villages are being burned to the ground, innocent women and children are being hacked to death and burned alive, all while Western governments either discount the reports as local land disputes or ignore them altogether.

This denial is not unlike prior denials of the Holocaust, or the Rwandan or Cambodian genocides of the past century, and as usual, is parroting the denials from the governments permitting and carrying out these atrocities. Even worse than the governments are the non-actions of Christian churches in denying that these evils even exist. While they continue to promote gay pride, proper pronouns, and climate hysteria, they turn a blind eye to the murder of fellow Christians around the world.

While ignorance may have excused such blindness in the past, in today’s connected world, it is more likely that fear of speaking the truth, highlighting the evil (and by implication calling for action), and therefore driving away parishioners (and their contributions) are more relevant factors. Churches and denominations that don’t speak out against this evil are betraying the very foundations of their faith, and by doing so, are exposing the hypocrisy of their principles and statements, as are all those who call themselves Christian in word but do not express their faith in deed.

“There is no evil that does not offer inducements. Avarice promises money; luxury, a varied assortment of pleasures; ambition, a purple robe and applause, and the influence which results from applause, and all that influence can do. Vices tempt you by the rewards which they offer; but in the life of which I speak, you must live without being paid. Scarcely will a whole life-time suffice to bring our vices into subjection and to make them accept the yoke, swollen as they are by long-continued indulgence; and still less, if we cut into our brief span by any interruptions.”

– Seneca. Epistulae Morales AD Lucilium

As the final act of this season’s performance of the endless play draws near, I am reminded that it does no good to be angry, jealous, or envious of the .1% who accumulate ever more wealth and power to themselves. In the end, the result will be the same as it always has been, with the playing field leveled, the debris swept away, and the start of the new season of “Who gets to be King of the Mountain?”.

How then should I live my life in the interim, chasing the carrots dangled by the puppet masters, railing against the injustice, or giving into despair? I will do none of these, but will instead recognize the cycle that I am a part of, and will attempt to live my life according to the values and virtues I have chosen, while ignoring the temptations and distractions of the circus performers.

The true rewards of living a virtuous life are internal. If I am doing so simply to receive the praise and admiration of others, I am as guilty as the fallen. As Seneca says, “I must live without getting paid”. However, it is the lack of that pay, and all the obligations that come with it, that frees me to truly be happy and unencumbered by expectations to meet the demands of others.

Likewise, I will not be angry with the fallen or those who brought (or bought) them to that state, but rather pity them all, because a lifetime will truly not be enough to remove the chains they have shackled themselves with.

To explore this concept further, the book “The Midas Plague” by Frederik Pohl is a fascinating read.

I continue to think about life and what it means for me and others. The choices that people seem to make regarding their life’s purpose, if any, seem to fall into 4 broad categories.

The first category would be the nihilist view of life, with an emphasis on self-indulgent and/or narcissistic behavior. This seems to fall into a spectrum - life has no meaning, so why not enjoy myself to the fullest while I am alive? The consumerism that underlies modern society (from the 1900s onward) has at first slowly, and in the past decades more quickly, replaced traditional religious/cultural values with a “me first” perspective.

The explosion of anxiety/depression in the populace, especially among younger generations, and the pharmaceutical industry that has evolved to treat it, if not create it, is an indication of the depth and breadth of this trend. As those growing up are exposed to the blatant consumerism of society, while having no backstop of tradition/culture to counter it (due to the explosive growth of broken families and the disintegration of the extended family), they seem to succumb either to hedonism or despair if they cannot find meaning in traditional religions.

Religions, then, are the second and smaller category of how people establish meaning in their lives. In some cases, they either come to religion after not finding satisfaction in the nihilism of the first category, or they grew up in it and have been indoctrinated by it. From this point, they seem to either drift out of religion to the first category based on the rejection of the dogma of their religion, stay with it throughout their lives, or, for what I believe is a very small number, evolve to the 3rd category of Skepticism.

In the 3rd category (which I count myself in), I have come to the point of rejecting both nihilism and religion, finding both lacking in terms of providing meaning for my life, and in being obviously detrimental to humanity as a whole (when the accelerating personal/societal strife is considered and the extent to which these events can be traced back to those who are living with the world view of the first two categories).

In my view, the study of philosophy can provide the foundation for a meaningful life and happiness, as a consequence not as an objective. In my case, it is the study of the Stoic philosophy and the adaptation of it to my circumstances (as I have related in other posts) that has been successful for me. Constant learning, questioning, and adjusting is my life in this state, with my understanding of life and the world constantly being updated as I learn more and live longer.

Finally, there is, I believe, a 4th (and thankfully small) category of those who have gone beyond both dogma and skepticism through to full-blown psychosis in believing that they have the answer for how others should live their lives and life’s meaning, and have therefore become the founders of new religions with their own dogma that brooks no objection. Whether this is the spin-off of an existing religion or the start of a wholly new one, the results are the same from the standpoint of limiting human growth and potential.

Those in the 4th category tend to pray on those in the first, and in this regard, all categories are in a circle, with one’s own place on the circle subject to evolution as they mature, though hopefully from first to third, and not first to fourth.

“You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.”

– President Joe Biden

I believe Covid has been the greatest boon in history for those who wish to expand government control over others (Big Brother) and may have also been intended as a tool to support a mass depopulation effort, directed by those who have an eugenics agenda. Additionally, this all could have been orchestrated by China as part of their strategy to destabilize the West and erode Western values and social structures.

Covid’s Origins

Whether it was deliberately released from China as a bioweapon or by accident, it appears clear that China’s Wuhan bioresearch (or bioweapons) lab was the origin of the virus and that it was man-made. Again, whether this was for nefarious purposes or to support gene therapy research is still to be determined, though there is certainly a trail back to the CDC and Big Pharma regarding the funding and support of the illegal (in the US) gain-of-function research. Anyone who dared to question the official narrative was branded a conspiracy-addled nut job and banned from social media platforms.

• Bombshell Fauci Documentary Nails The Whole COVID Charade

• Final House Report on Coronavirus Pandemic Released, Vindicates ‘Conspiracy’ Theorists

Covid & Big Pharma

There are many indications that Big Pharma actively exploited the release of Covid, if not directly participated in its development, so that they could then make massive fortunes selling their gene therapy shots, which were released with almost no testing (in comparison to prior vaccines) and from which they were shielded from any liability due to the severe harms that these products caused. This is but the latest example of Big Pharma’s profit-driven motivations to promote sick-care and not health-care (as healthy people do not buy drugs).

• Big Pharma Owns The World

• Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Healthcare

• Selling sickness: the pharmaceutical industry and disease mongering

• Sacklers Sacked But Purdue Still Caused Opioid Epidemic

Covid & Control

Covid was the perfect vehicle to allow the US government and its globalist allies, both in the UN and the private sector, such as Bill Gates, to test and implement their plans to subjugate the population and condition them to accept that “Big Brother” knows best. Whether it was nonsensical mask mandates or the illegal lockdowns of individuals, schools and businesses, the damage to societies doubtless ran into the trillions of dollars, and the societal aftereffects are still being played out today, both in terms of economic impact as well as the impact that the lockdowns and remote learning had on an entire generation of children. Any doctor who dared to propose alternative treatments or suggested that the shots were not “safe and effective” was threatened with revocation of the license and firing from their positions. Same with anyone who refused to submit to mandatory vaccinations at their place of employment.

• Grand Jury Vindicates 5 Covid Claims You Weren’t Allowed To Say

• Let us never forget the left’s reprehensible behavior toward fellow Americans who refused COVID jabs

Covid Vaccine Kills

As to the “vaccine itself, it seems that there are numerous harms that it causes due to its novel structure. Not a vaccine in the traditional sense, it is a gene therapy that causes the body to produce the very toxin (the spike protein) that causes harm from infection in the first place. This has led to death and hospitalizations far beyond anything that has been seen in prior vaccines, and the evidence is piling up that this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of future harms that are likely to occur due to the damage that it causes. Initially, the evidence of these harms was downplayed by Big Pharma/Big Brother and the media (their lackeys). The truth on these harms, both past and future, is now coming to light as the evidence has become overwhelming as to the damage that has been caused.

• Oct 14, 2025 - First Peer-Reviewed Study Finds Direct Molecular Evidence of mRNA “Vaccine” Genomic Integration

• Aug 28, 2025 - Three Peer-Reviewed Studies Provide Irrefutable Grounds for Immediate Market Withdrawal of COVID-19 mRNA Injections

• Jan 24, 2024 - COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines: Lessons Learned from the Registrational Trials and Global Vaccination Campaign

Why I believe this

• The ongoing cover-up of Covid originating from the Wuhan lab, with links to Big Pharma and the Chinese military.

• The cover-up of Covid research being funded by the US.

• The denial of any treatment other than those developed by Big Pharma and available at a massively higher cost than cheap generic alternatives.

• Wildly illogical overreaction to Covid based on mortality in comparison to past pandemics. The IFR (Infection Fatality Rate) for Covid was no different than that of a moderate to severe flu season.

• Brutal lockdowns and mask mandates, despite proven studies of their ineffectiveness and harm

• The vaccine was developed in record time, generating massive profits for Big Pharma, with evidence that development had already started even before the pandemic was even declared.

• Vaccine was mandated for many groups, in spite of the lack of long-term testing on their effects.

• The cover-up of vaccine harms, which far exceeds all past vaccines, even for what has been reported.

• Blatant manipulation of Covid deaths and infections, with constantly shifting goalposts to meet the agenda of the day.

• The articles/research I cited are just the very tip of the iceberg of evidence I have collected over the past 4 years (more than a thousand articles, medical journal reports and congressional investigations), more of which comes out daily across all of these areas, reenforcing my conclusions.

“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. Some things are up to us and some things are not up to us.”

– Epictetus

An article discussing the translation from Greek of the quote above from Epictetus has caused me to reexamine my interpretation of the Stoic concept of the Dichotomy of Control.

The change is subtle, though powerful. Reading the quote, I have always read “up to us” as “in my control” and have added the caveat, “if I choose to or am able to do so.” However, viewing this statement from a cause vs. control perspective provides a subtle but powerful shift in how I can actually use this to improve myself.

I now view my emotions and my actions as caused by me, as opposed to controlled by me. The perfect example is someone who says or does something hurtful to me, vs. their doing it to someone else. Someone cuts me off in traffic; I get pissed. Someone cuts another off in traffic; I don’t have the same reaction. We often only care about those events that directly impact or affect us.

It is me, my emotions, that had the angry reaction. I could also say that my emotions are under my control, but that is both true and false. It is more helpful to view it as I am the cause of my feelings. Whether I want to change these reactions is up to me. All improvement starts with this awareness.

Looking at it from this perspective softens the whole “control” paradigm, with its implicit implication of guilt and failure. If I lose my temper, I am not in “control”; therefore, I have failed. Better to see it as “I am the cause of my anger” and make the conscious choice to change it if I wish, based on an analysis of why the event has caused me to be angry. In the end, it is my choice to be manipulated by the actions of others and suffer the anger that ensues. Likewise, it is my choice not to, if I have the awareness to recognize what is happening.

Viewing it this way is a more realistic approach to dealing with all the challenges of improving ourselves. Often, people are trapped in situations beyond their control, be it physical limitations, addictions, psychiatric diseases, bad relationships, or circumstances. They often have no “control” over these, or they are difficult to change.

Starting with the realization that, however they react, they are the ones who caused that reaction is a better first step to improvement, rather than telling an addict that their failure to stop taking drugs is a failure of control, which just reinforces their sense of failure.

Improving myself and trying to live according to an ethical code is a difficult and never-ending journey. I am never there, never perfect, because, at the core, I am human with all the evolutionary baggage that implies. That is not an excuse to not try, but rather an acknowledgment that there is no magical cure, phrase, or action that can transform my situation.

It is a journey, it is hard work, and it never ends. And I would not have it any other way.

“But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

– 1 John 2:11, KJB

The path into darkness, evil doesn’t typically start with mass killings or tyrannical regimes; rather it usually begins with small, incremental steps. A compromise here, a silence there, a decision to look the other way. Each of these actions makes the next step easier, until eventually, the person or society has descended so far down the slippery slope that turning back seems impossible. The descent is real, and examples of how quickly people can fall down it are all around us.

Good and evil is rooted in our decisions that we make day by day, moment by moment. When we decide to treat others with fairness and compassion, we are practicing goodness. When we choose to exploit, manipulate, or harm others, we are practicing evil. These choices can be personal, such as how we treat a neighbor, colleague, or stranger, or they can also be collective, expressed in movements, ideologies, and systems that either uphold virtue or destroy it.

This dual reality means that good and evil operate on two levels. On the personal level, each individual bears responsibility for their decisions and their consequences. On the collective level, societies build cultures, institutions, and movements that can either lift humanity toward justice or drag it into oppression. The same principle applies to virtue. Wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice are practiced first in personal life, but when multiplied across a society, they create cultures that resist evil. Their opposites—ignorance, cowardice, intemperance, and injustice—begin in individuals, but when tolerated, they become the operating principles of mobs, governments, and empires.

Understanding this dual nature of evil is critical. What begins as a personal choice to ignore or excuse wrongdoing often grows into a collective movement that normalizes it. Once normalized, evil becomes harder to resist because admitting the truth would mean confronting one’s own complicity. This is the essence of the slippery slope. The descent begins with ignorance, deepens with cowardice, accelerates through intemperance, and finally hardens into injustice. At each stage, the difficulty in reversing the downward slide becomes greater.

Ignorance vs. Wisdom

Virtue is our defense against the slide and our way out if we have already fallen. Wisdom begins with seeing the truth clearly. Ignorance, its inversion, blinds us to it. It is the first step into evil because it allows people to stop seeing others as human beings and start treating them as objects. You cannot be good if you do not know what good is.

History is filled with examples. The Aztec and Mayan civilizations practiced ritual human sacrifice, killing thousands—including children—because they believed their gods demanded blood. Rome filled its arenas with gladiators, turning the slaughter of men and women into entertainment. The crowd had to blind itself to the humanity of the victims, or else admit it was complicit in murder.

Modern ideologies continue this blindness. Whether in the racial theories of the Nazis, the class warfare of communism, or the “us versus them” rhetoric of today’s progressive-driven identity politics, the same lie repeats: some people are less human, less worthy of dignity, less deserving of life. Once this belief is accepted, cruelty is inevitable.

This ignorance is reversible. If a person turns toward the truth early enough, they can pull themselves out of the decline. But the longer they live in the lie, the harder casting it off becomes. Wisdom is our first defense, because wisdom insists on seeing people as they are: human, dignified, and worthy of compassion. Without it, our descent begins.

Cowardice vs. Courage

Courage is the willingness to act in support of what is right, despite the risk to your life or well-being. Cowardice is its inversion, the silence and compliance upon which evil depends.

Germany during the Second World War is just one recent example. Most German citizens were not ignorant of the atrocities that were happening during and before the war. They saw Jewish neighbors vanish, and heard the rumors of camps. Soldiers on the front lines and officers in the cities knew the atrocities, but fear of execution, imprisonment, or loss of livelihood kept them quiet. Their collective and individual cowardice allowed the Holocaust to unfold.

The same pattern still repeats itself in corporate life. Employees can see their companies harming others by the products or actions, but stay silent to protect their paychecks. The opioid epidemic in America is but one example. Pharmaceutical executives pushed addictive painkillers while marketing that they were non addictive, and thousands of employees kept quiet out of fear of losing their jobs. Their silence helped fuel a crisis that killed hundreds of thousands.

Cowardice is never neutral. Refusing to act against evil strengthens it. Courage, by contrast, is the only response that can halt a person’s further descent toward evil. Speaking the truth, even at personal cost, is how one breaks the chain that otherwise lead them further into darkness.

Intemperance vs. Temperance

Temperance is how we govern our emotions. It demands of us self-control, restraint, and reason. Intemperance is when we throw these aside, and let our anger and resentment explode into violence and irrational behavior.

In recent years, movements that began with causes potentially worth discussing have often turned destructive. Protests turned into riots, arson, and looting. Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots left behind billions in damages, dead bodies, and broken communities. What could have been a rational dialogue became mob hysteria, while the leaders of these movements enriched themselves on the funds that they extorted from virtue-signaling corporations.

Lenin called such people “useful idiots.” They believe they are serving justice, but in truth, they are pawns to those behind the movements. They are convinced they are brave, but instead they are hysterical. Their irrational rage supplies the energy, and their passions blind them to how they are being used. The mob they form becomes a weapon in the hands of those already further down the slope—those who deliberately direct and foment chaos to gain power.

Developing and promoting temperance is the answer. Fight passion with reason and rage with dialogue. Without temperance, intemperance and the mobs it fuels always lead the way to greater evil. While the mob creates the fire, there is always someone behind it supplying the matches.

Injustice vs. Justice

There cannot be justice without fairness, truth, and dignity. Injustice twists all three of these into weapons. It is the final stage of the slippery slope, where evil ceases to be accidental or chaotic and becomes deliberate and systemic.

This is the realm of true evil. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot did not stumble into cruelty and the murder of millions—they built it. They blinded their populations with propaganda, silenced dissent through terror, and harnessed mob rage into organized oppression. Their systems did not simply permit injustice; they required it.

In modern times, figures like George Soros represent another form of this corruption: those who foment chaos for personal power, funding and directing movements that erode freedom and stability. Even serial killers and psychopaths like Charles Manson have a impact on society compared to those who can mobilize entire populations. While we must police our societies to remove individuals who perform evil acts on a personal level (pedophiles, serial killers, murderers, etc), the masterminds of injustice are the greatest threat, because they transform the ignorance, cowardice, and intemperance of others into weapons of mass destruction to serve their own purposes.

Fighting for justice breaks this cycle. It demands truth over propaganda, equality over privilege, and accountability over corruption. Without justice, injustice hardens into tyranny, and once entrenched, it often cannot be uprooted without the destruction of societies and the death of millions.

Fight Back!

The road to evil is real, but it is not preordained. At every stage of this descent, there is a chance to resist. The answer is to call out evil when you see it and to live by the virtues that prevent the descent. Wisdom dispels ignorance. Courage overcomes cowardice. Temperance restrains rage. Justice defeats corruption.

Charlie Kirk lived this out by engaging ignorance and passion with dialogue and education, not with shouts and slogans. He showed that reason and truth are stronger weapons than rage or hysteria. His example is a reminder that the way to reverse the slide into evil is not through violence but through the steady practice of virtue. His assassination is a reminder of how far the leftist progressive movement has gone in warping the minds of its followers, that anyone who questions their theology must be silenced.

Each of us faces the choice. We can drift downward, silent and complicit, or we can stand in the light and refuse to yield. The first path leads to darkness. The second toward the light of reason. We must all commit to fighting the darkness—before it is too late.

“He who spares the guilty harms the innocent.”

— Seneca, On Anger (Book I, 20)

Few biblical phrases have been so widely displayed, repeated, and misunderstood as the Bible’s Sixth Commandment. Across centuries, “Thou shalt not kill” has been engraved in church walls, echoed in sermons, and even today carried on protest signs. Modern demonstrators invoke it to oppose war, capital punishment, or even the right of self-defense. The words are meant to silence debate, as though the commandment itself forbids all forms of killing.

But as Seneca reminds us, sparing the guilty inevitably harms the innocent. Justice cannot survive if it treats murderers and victims alike. And that is exactly what happens when the commandment is misread. In the original Hebrew, the text does not forbid all killing. It forbids murder. Exodus 20:13 reads lo tirtzach (לא תרצח), a command against ratsach, the unlawful shedding of blood. Other Hebrew words, such as harag, are used for general killing. The distinction is fundamental: the law condemns unjust killing, while leaving space—indeed, demanding—for killing that is just.

The mistranslation of this verse as “Thou shalt not kill” has obscured the biblical meaning and shaped Christian practice in ways that undermine the concept of Justice itself. By erasing the category of justified killing—whether in self-defense, in war, or in capital punishment—the mistranslation leaves communities and individuals vulnerable to predation and violence. Justice, one of the Stoic cardinal virtues, is impossible without the courage to punish the guilty and defend the innocent.

Justice as a Stoic Virtue

For the Stoics, Justice was not an abstract slogan but a living responsibility. Along with Wisdom, Courage, and Temperance, it was one of the four cardinal virtues, forming the foundation of the good life and of any stable society.

Marcus Aurelius, reflecting in Meditations, wrote that “What is not good for the beehive cannot be good for the bee.” He meant that individual virtue cannot exist apart from service to the community. Justice was social, not solitary. It required protecting others as much as refraining from personal wrongdoing.

Seneca taught that justice restrained cruelty and ensured fairness, warning that neglecting punishment of the guilty harmed the innocent. Epictetus argued that a person’s duties flowed from their roles—citizen, father, soldier—and could not be abandoned without betraying Justice.

Justice, then, was an active duty. It demanded that one not only avoid committing harm but also resist those who sought to inflict it. To stand aside while the innocent were destroyed was not virtue but cowardice. Properly understood, “Thou shall not murder” aligns perfectly with this Stoic vision: condemning unjust killing while obligating punishment for the murderer.

Murder, Killing, and the Pursuit of Justice

The Hebrew text insists on a distinction between murder and killing. Murder (ratsach) is always unjust. Killing (harag) can be just or unjust depending on context. Without this moral distinction, justice collapses into contradiction.

The biblical law recognizes three legitimate forms of killing:

• Self-Defense. Exodus 22:2 declares that if a thief is struck and killed while breaking in at night, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed. The right to life carries with it the right to defend it. Justice requires that the victim not be punished for protecting his own life or that of others.

• Societal Defense (War). God commanded ancient Israel to defend itself against hostile nations. War is tragic, but when survival is at stake, killing becomes the necessary act of communal self-preservation. To refuse to defend the weak would be to hand them over to slaughter.

• Capital Punishment. Exodus 21:12 states, “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.” This was not seen as murder but as justice—the community’s acknowledgment that life is sacred, and that to take it unlawfully requires the ultimate penalty.

These categories demonstrate that killing is not synonymous with murder. To kill without justice is murder. To kill in the service of justice is protection. The Stoics, like the Hebrews, recognized this: Marcus Aurelius accepted war as part of the emperor’s burden, and Seneca affirmed that punishment—even execution—was sometimes necessary to restrain cruelty against others.

The Error of Pacifism

The mistranslation “kill” instead of “murder” has fueled centuries of Christian pacifism. Some early Christians, rejecting Roman militarism, leaned toward abstaining from violence altogether. Later, entire sects—the Quakers, Mennonites, and Brethren—enshrined pacifism as central to their identity, insisting that all killing was sin.

The Sermon on the Mount reinforced this belief. Jesus’s command, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other also” (Matthew 5:39), was meant to break the cycle of personal vengeance and humiliation duels common in his time. Yet many Christians misunderstood this as a prohibition against all resistance, even to violent attack.

Such readings collapse personal humility into public irresponsibility. They confuse Jesus’s call to reject retaliation with an imagined command to accept slaughter. For the Stoics, this would be unthinkable. Justice demands that the innocent be protected, even when force is required.

The consequences of pacifist misinterpretation are not merely theoretical. They are written in blood. When Christian communities embrace absolute nonviolence, they leave themselves defenseless before predators. Evil thrives where resistance to it is forbidden. Gun-free zones are the perfect example of this idiocy and the prime reason that they are chosen by those who seek to commit terrorist acts. I have yet to hear of any such attempts at police stations or gun shows.

Nowhere is this clearer than in modern Africa. Across Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Sahel, Christians suffer relentless violence from Islamist militant groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and the Allied Democratic Forces. Entire villages are burned, churches destroyed, worshippers massacred.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reports that Nigeria alone accounts for the majority of Christians killed worldwide each year. Open Doors International documents thousands of deaths annually, with millions more displaced across Sub-Saharan Africa. Idealistic slogans do not prevent these atrocities. Communities that can’t or won’t defend themselves are slaughtered.

Pacifism may soothe the conscience of those far from danger, but for the vulnerable, it is a death sentence. To refuse to resist evil with force when necessary is not holiness—it is betrayal of the very concept of justice.

Justice Requires Courage

The mistranslation of “Thou shalt not kill” has shaped centuries of Christian thought, encouraging pacifism and clouding moral reasoning. Today, it still appears in public discourse as a ready-made slogan against war, punishment, or even self-defense. Yet the original commandment, “Thou shall not murder,” insists on a sharper truth: murder is always forbidden, but not all killing is murder.

Justice requires the courage to make this distinction. Killing in self-defense, in the defense of your country, or in the lawful punishment of the guilty is not sin but duty. As Seneca warned, “He who spares the guilty harms the innocent.” Justice cannot be built on mistranslation or on pacifist illusions. It can only be built on truth—and on the courage to act when justice demands it.

“The counterintelligence and economic espionage efforts emanating from the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party are a grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States.”

– The China Threat (2025), Federal Bureau of Investigation

I believe that the PRC (People’s Republic of China, or China for short) is the #1 threat to the US in particular and Western civilization in general, and is playing the “long game” in its goal to replace the US as the sole global superpower. China’s strategy is to avoid confrontation and war, and instead subvert and weaken the US from within, so that it is too distracted and lacks the will to recognize and counter the Chinese threats. With the collapse of the US as the world leader, China would become the premier superpower and would be better able to plunder US resources (primarily food and minerals) for the use of its own population and objectives. 

In implementing this strategy, China is following the playbook of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, in particular the passages:

1. “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” (China’s overarching strategy)

2. “Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” (As seen in the many asymmetric measures that China is using to undermine US resolve and culture)

3. “To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.” (China’s adoption of its version of Capitalism)

4. “Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.” (China’s presentation of itself as a Western country, when it is not)

5. “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” (While China works to weaken the US from within, to make an attack more likely to succeed or weaken the US to the point that it fails without having to be attacked, it is also aggressively attacking weaker countries such as the Philippines and neighboring countries.)

6. “The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.” (China’s false face of being a capitalist, western society, while hiding to the extent possible, its Communist roots and global intentions)

7. “Hence, it is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results. Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army’s ability to move.” (China employs a vast number of spies to steal sensitive information from government and private sources)
   

Every interaction with China should be viewed through the lens of it being a direct or indirect attack against US and Western interests. China is not altruistic, and no interaction, however innocuous, should be considered to be without strings or a hidden intent to advance its global intentions.

Supporting Information:

China’s multifaceted approach to undermining the US, which leverages next-generation weapons, including synthetic narcotics (e.g., fentanyl and cannabinoids), bioweapons (e.g., Covid-19), psychological manipulation and influence (e.g., TikTok), and a broad arsenal of irregular warfare tools.

• China’s “Assassin’s Mace” Irregular Warfare Campaign May Render Trump’s Golden Dome Useless

• Unrestricted Warfare

China has been actively engaged in espionage and wholesale data and IP theft, both directly and through closely related quasi-criminal groups that are really arms of the CCP.

• FBI: The China Threat

• How China’s hackers may have stolen data from almost every American

• CSIS “Survey of Chinese Espionage in the U.S. Since 2000” (Feb 2023)

• Indictment of China-Based Actors Associated with APT 41 for Intrusion Activities

China is actively attacking the US by supporting the production and distribution of fentanyl and other deadly drugs to US youths, with the intent of both causing immediate death and chaos through associated crime, and to weaken the next generation in order to reduce the long-term US ability to resist Chinese aggression. Their support ranges from the supply of precursor chemicals to cartels to the laundering of drug money from the cartels.

• US Official Warns Of New Deadly Synthetic Opioid From China

• China Is The ‘Senior Partner’ Directing The Fentanyl Crisis Killing Americans

• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) — National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) 2024 & 2025

• U.S. Department of the Treasury (OFAC & FinCEN) — Sanctions actions and special orders (2023–2025)

China actively works to gain political influence and subvert politicians in the US and Western countries, in order to block legislation that is harmful to its interests and promote legislation that is in its interests.

• ODNI Annual Threat Assessment (2024)

• Asia Society report

• Australian Strategic Policy Institute report

• Axios: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians

• Tim Walz’s ties to Communist China demand attention

• Suspected Chinese spy reportedly slept with, courted US officials to gain intel

China is actively working to infiltrate critical infrastructure systems and networks, both for espionage purposes as well as to sabotage these systems if needed in the event of future conflict between the US and China.

• 3/23/26 - FCC Updates Covered List to Include Foreign-Made

  Consumer Routers

• The next Pearl Harbor will be digital — and made in Beijing

• US warns hidden radios may be embedded in solar-powered highway infrastructure

• Advisory on PRC State-Sponsored Hacking of U.S. Critical Infrastructure

• China’s Unseen Cyber Threat to Energy Security

• Chinese-manufactured cargo equipment at ports poses cyber espionage threats

China is using social media and other applications to both influence youth, harm the mental health of US youth, and steal information from users of these applications. Nothing from China is “free” – users are always paying with their personal information, if not their mental health.

• TikTok’s ‘For You’ feed is pushing children towards harmful mental health content

• TikTok Engaging in Excessive Data Collection

• DeepSeek: Uncovering Major Privacy and Security Risks

COVID-19 was engineered in a Chinese lab in Wuhan with complicit and illegal support of the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci. It was accidentally, if not deliberately, released into the environment.

• Spy bosses ‘silenced’ Defense Department, FBI scientists from briefing Biden on COVID lab leak evidence

• The COVID cover-up still haunts the world

• Suppression of the Lab Leak Hypothesis Was Not Based on Science

• Final House Report on Coronavirus Pandemic Released, Vindicates ‘Conspiracy’ Theorists

China employs espionage, state-backed subsidies, overcapacity, and below-cost export pricing to eliminate foreign competitors and secure dominance in key industries. These practices form a consistent strategy of using trade to eradicate competition and to position China as the sole or primary source of critical materials and products.

• China-Linked APT41 Hackers Target U.S. Trade Officials Amid 2025 Negotiations

• Reuters: China hits back at U.S. tariffs with export controls on rare earths

• U.S. Department of Commerce: Final determinations in Antidumping & Countervailing Duty investigations of solar panels

• U.S. Trade Representative — 2024 Report to Congress on China’s WTO Compliance

China is expanding its military influence across the Pacific and around the world, aggressively encroaching on the territories of its neighbors and building bases in order to expand its sphere of influence and control.

• In Maps: China’s Military Activity in the Indo-Pacific

• The President’s Inbox Recap: The China-Philippines Standoff

• Intelligence reveals scale of China’s base-building in the South China Sea

China is leveraging trade and long-term development contracts in the 3rd world in order to counter US and Western influences as well as steer these countries in their foreign relations, both in the UN and regionally.

• Global China: Regional influence and strategy

• Understanding China’s Calculated Influence Abroad

• China’s Growing Influence in International Organizations

China leverages the extensive network of Chinese workers and students in the US to steal classified information and sensitive intellectual property from universities, government agencies, and private companies. Considering the constant reporting of people arrested for these attempts, this can only be considered a small fraction of the Espionage that is occurring and which is not detected.

• Harvard University Professor and Two Chinese Nationals Charged in Three Separate China Related Cases

• Chinese National Admits to Stealing Sensitive Military Program Documents From United Technologies

• Former NASA Contractor Arrested On Way to China

• Ex-Apple worker charged with stealing self-driving car trade secrets

• Chinese National Who Worked at Monsanto Indicted on Economic Espionage Charges

China utilizes bots and agents to actively sow chaos and foment dissent in social media channels, as well as directly funding activist groups with the intent of continuing to “stir the pot” and cause social unrest in the US.

• Comer and Luna Ramp Up Probe into CCP-Linked Funding Fueling Civil Unrest in the United States

• Chinese Next-Generation Psychological Warfare

• Weaponizing Tragedy: Beijing Is Exploiting Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Online

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts, …”

– As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII, by William Shakespeare

As the curtain lowers on this season’s performance of the endless play, I am reminded that anger, jealousy, and envy toward the few who hoard wealth and power are wasted emotions. The so-called victors of this round—the one-tenth of one percent who believe themselves secure upon their mountain—are merely actors in the same cycle as those who came before them. Their victories are temporary, their dominion fragile. Soon enough, the lights will dim, the scenery will be torn down, the props swept aside, and the stage prepared for yet another performance of that perennial game: “Who gets to be King of the Mountain?” The names will change, but the play remains the same.

The pressing question, then, is what is my part in this eternal spectacle? Shall I chase after the carrots dangled by puppet masters, exhausting myself for rewards that were never truly mine? Shall I spend my energy railing against the injustice of a game rigged from the start, shouting into the wind until my voice breaks? Or shall I surrender to despair, convinced that meaning itself is impossible amidst such futility? No. I will do none of these. Instead, I will accept that I am part of the cycle, but not a slave to its illusions. I will set my eyes not on crowns of gold or thrones of power, but upon the values and virtues I have chosen. My task is not to master the mountain, but to master myself.

The true rewards of a virtuous life are inside me, hidden from the applause of the crowd. If I live in virtue only to be seen and praised, then I am no different than those who parade their hollow victories before an audience desperate for spectacle. As Seneca cautions, “I must live without getting paid.” To live without pay is not a loss but a liberation, for in rejecting the wages of vanity I am freed from the debts and obligations they carry. In that freedom lies happiness, a serenity untouched by the expectations of others.

Nor will I let my heart harden against the fallen, whether they are those who clambered up the mountain only to be cast down, or those who, through wealth and intrigue, contrived their ascension. I will not curse them, nor celebrate their ruin. Instead, I will pity them, for they remain prisoners of the very chains they forged for themselves. Their ambition, their fear, their unquenchable hunger—these are shackles no one can release them from, other than themselves.

So I will choose another path. While the play continues, I will not sit in the audience enthralled by the drama, nor join the cast in pursuit of hollow accolades. I will walk offstage, into the quiet, and there I will live according to my own script—one written not in gold or acclaim, but in wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. In such a life, the cycles of the mountain may turn as they always have, but I will remain unmoved, free, and at peace.

“Power is tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.”

– 1984, George Orwell

As social creatures, the psychology of humans is easily influenced by the behavior of others. This drives two of the main ways in which marketing operates on our subconscious: “monkey see, monkey do” and “fear of missing out”.

Throughout history, outbreaks of mass behavior—what scholars now call social contagions—have shaped communities, disrupted societies, and sometimes destroyed lives. In today’s hyperconnected world, the onset is faster and the consequences even more dangerous when a new social contagion starts to spread.

The Dancing Plagues of the Middle Ages

One of the earliest recorded examples comes from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when men and women across Europe found themselves seized by the “dancing plague.” In Strasbourg in 1518, dozens of people reportedly danced uncontrollably in the streets for days, with some collapsing from exhaustion and even dancing themselves to death. Historians believe this was a form of mass psychogenic illness—madness by imitation—fueled by collective stress, famine, and superstition. What began with one individual quickly spread to dozens because the act itself was reinforced by visibility and attention.

Ecstatic Fits in Evangelical Churches

Centuries later, similar contagions surfaced in religious contexts. In certain evangelical and Pentecostal traditions, speaking in tongues and falling into seizure-like states are presented as manifestations of divine presence. While some genuinely believe these experiences are spiritual, sociologists note the contagious nature of such displays. When a congregation gathers and a few members begin convulsing, shouting, or babbling in glossolalia, others often follow. The affirmation of the group—and the implicit expectation to participate—creates a feedback loop that sustains the behavior.

The Satanic Panic and “Repressed” Memories

The 1980s and 1990s in America brought another kind of contagion: the satanic panic. Spurred by therapists promoting the unproven concept of “repressed memories,” parents and children came to believe in widespread ritual abuse and conspiracies involving hidden satanic cults. Careers were ruined, families destroyed, and innocent people imprisoned—all because of a self-reinforcing cultural wave. Like the dancing plagues, the satanic panic relied on visibility, repetition, and collective fear. Once mainstream media amplified it, the contagion spread unchecked.

TikTok Challenges and the Age of Virality

Today, the most visible examples are found on TikTok and other social platforms. Challenges such as the “Blackout Challenge,” encouraging children to choke themselves until unconscious, or the “Milk Crate Challenge,” where people risk breaking bones by climbing stacked crates, have led to serious injuries and even deaths. Unlike the slow spread of medieval plagues or localized panics, these trends can reach millions in a matter of hours. The cycle of imitation is no longer confined to a town square or congregation—it is global, instantaneous, and reinforced by likes, shares, and comments.

How the Internet Supercharges Contagions

The danger today is that social media provides both immediacy and affirmation. A single video can spark a trend, and feedback in the form of views and digital applause accelerates the behavior. Where medieval villagers might have seen a handful of dancers, today’s teenager can see hundreds of thousands of participants from around the world. The psychology is the same, but the scale and speed are exponentially greater. What once took months now takes minutes.

From Social Fads to Political Polarization

This same dynamic of contagion has seeped into politics. Online platforms encourage tribal identity and reward outrage, Bluesky being among the most polarized. Political narratives spread virally, with algorithms amplifying the most extreme voices. What started out as a marketplace of ideas has become a battlefield of reflexive hostility.

This has particularly polarized the American political landscape. The left has often adopted a posture of reflexive opposition: if conservatives promote an idea, the instinct is to demonize it, regardless of merit. As VP J.D. Vance remarked, “If Trump were for breathing, the left would hold their breath.” The quip is sharp, but it captures the reality of contagion-driven polarization. Opposing “the other side” becomes a social ritual, rewarded by applause within one’s tribe and reinforced by the viral logic of social media.

Transgenderism (aka The Potted Plant Contagion)

Consider a society in which a single person declares, “I am not human—I am a potted plant.” At first, such a statement would draw laughter or pity. Most would dismiss it as eccentric or delusional. But contagions rarely remain isolated. If others affirm that person—whether out of kindness, fear of offense, or the desire to appear enlightened—the claim gains traction. What begins as an individual neurosis becomes a collective expectation: friends, coworkers, even institutions begin to treat the individual as though they truly are a plant in a pot.

With repetition comes normalization. Soon, more people emerge making similar claims, and the idea spreads like a meme. Social media algorithms amplify the novelty, rewarding every video, photo, and blog post where people showcase their “plant identities.” What once seemed absurd now circulates as a serious cultural demand.

The afflicted demand that they be addressed by their chosen plant identity: Ficus, ivy or violet. Teachers are asked to affirm it, doctors to provide care consistent with it, including chopping off limbs and providing fertilizer supplements, and corporations market products that signal their solidarity. Laws are passed mandating that birth certificates and government documents reflect a person’s “plant” identity.

The contagion does not stop there. As history shows—from the dancing manias of the Middle Ages, to evangelical fits of tongues and seizures, to the satanic panic of the 1980s, to TikTok challenges that injure children—every social contagion escalates when affirmation is not enough. Those who doubt the delusion become the enemy. In the case of our “potted plant people,” anyone who dares to say, “You are human, not a plant,” is condemned as hateful, dangerous, even violent. And because dissent threatens the fragile identity on which the entire contagion rests, defenders of the delusion lash out with hostility. Violence, whether physical, reputational or legal, becomes the enforcement mechanism of the movement.

At this stage, reality itself is inverted. To deny the delusion is to commit the gravest offense. To affirm it is to signal virtue. The contagion transforms from eccentricity to orthodoxy, then from orthodoxy to tyranny. Society finds itself trapped in a cycle where absurdity must be defended with fury because reason would otherwise reveal the truth.

This is the essential danger of social contagions. They exploit human suggestibility, reward imitation, and escalate through affirmation until rational dissent is no longer tolerated. Whether in Strasbourg in 1518, in American courtrooms during the satanic panic, in viral TikTok trends, or in the allegory of the “potted plant,” the pattern is the same: ideas spread, affirmation fuels them, and eventually, enforcement silences opposition.

In the end, the potted plant is not just a metaphor for one person’s delusion; it is a reality that is being violently played out in the news daily, most recently with the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It is a warning about the fragility of societies that trade truth for belonging. When reason bows to contagion, reality becomes negotiable—and those who refuse to pretend pay the price.

We must fight back against the insanity by calling it what it is. Only by the collective actions of the sane to no longer affirm the delusions of the afflicted can we hope to regain our reason and stop its spread to others, mainly vulnerable youth who lack a moral foundation in their lives.