Nilsi

This goes so hard, wtf!

I see your point that not all power is inherently illegitimate, but let’s not delude ourselves into thinking China or Russia are engaged in some noble liberation struggle against the West. These are regimes driven by raw, cynical power grabs, with no higher purpose than domination. China’s economic rise is built on espionage, intellectual property theft, and exploitation. Their infrastructure projects in Africa shackle nations with debt, enforcing subservience to serve their own trade ambitions. This is underpinned by a brutal genocide against the Uyghurs and an Orwellian surveillance state designed to crush dissent and maintain absolute control. Russia, meanwhile, functions like a mafia state. Beyond its aggression in Ukraine, it aligns with brutal regimes, escalates proxy wars with the U.S., and brutalizes its own population through oligarchic exploitation. Their state-sponsored Wagner operations in Central Africa enslave locals and strip resources like diamonds to fuel their imperial ambitions. These actions are not rooted in principle or justice - they are deliberate strategies of oppression and exploitation, driven solely by an insatiable hunger for power. None of this is to excuse the West or U.S. hegemony - historically, their exploits have often been even worse. But that’s not the point here.

That’s bullshit. These leaders were undeniably successful, achieving remarkable victories for liberation and leaving lasting positive impacts, but they were systematically undermined and destroyed by the same imperialist forces they fought against. This is textbook bourgeois deflection: inventing vague, abstract "problems" to distract from the real, material issues at hand, all while discouraging meaningful action against the status quo. People like you have always been propped up by the system to make apathy and inaction seem intellectual. Spare me the charade - I’m not buying it.

That's pure fantasy. China's 100-Year Marathon is a meticulously crafted plan to achieve global hegemony by 2049. They are arguably the most strategically sophisticated nation when it comes to projecting an image of cooperation and peacefulness, all while quietly but inexorably consolidating power. Their actions are deeply rooted in the philosophical traditions of Lao Tzu and Confucius - principles of patience, subtlety, deception, and long-term strategy. Their so called "Communism" is just a convenient façade for a far older, more enduring civilizational ambition. And Russia? Let’s not even begin to feign ignorance. Putin has openly published historical treatises outlining his blueprint for annexing Ukraine and reconstituting a neo-imperial Russian order. He doesn’t just dream of empire; he articulates it in cold, calculated prose. To believe otherwise is to indulge in dangerous naivety.

Some crises are too radical to leave any humans behind to learn from them. If you overdose on opiates, you simply suffocate in your sleep - there’s no “you” left to learn the lesson. This is why humans need to grow up and use their reasoning to foresee extreme consequences that are very much on the table. But for that, we need an appropriate psychology - a framework that corresponds to this level of responsibility. That’s why I’ve alluded to Nietzsche and even atheist readings of the New Testament. Anything that makes humans aware of the fact that we’ve reached a point in our evolution where we either figure things out, use our faculties appropriately, or face collapse. At this stage, the idea of divine intervention or some redemptive teleology baked into the universe is no longer acceptable - there’s simply too much at stake.

I did already. But again, there’s no reason to play by the rules of those in power when it’s clear there are multiple factors conspiring against them changing their ways - like their own survival instincts and the perks of great power and wealth, the ideologies they’ve spent decades crafting to justify their actions and positions, and the game-theoretic traps that prevent them from acting differently, even if they wanted to. That leaves the responsibility to those with the proper consciousness and motivation for change - a classic David vs. Goliath situation. Liberation movements and their leaders offer far more valuable lessons for this than something like Lao Tzu’s Art of War, which, frankly, is a very bourgeois text and doesn’t make much sense in such an extreme power imbalance. That said, there’s still a lot of wisdom in it, though often obscure and overly elitist.

Again, I’d go so far as to say the model should be more like guerrilla warfare - think Fidel Castro, Ho Chi Minh, Patrice Lumumba, Malcolm X, and the like. Honestly, even Osama Bin Laden had a point, if you ask me. People just need to be mobilized to demand change, by whatever means available to them. Lobbying, by comparison, is tedious and futile. There’s no need to be nice or play by the rules when so much is on the line. I don’t buy into the fantasy of some ultimate resolution in a Game B utopia. Every generation has its conflicts and its liberators - that’s just life. But the world is fragile, and certain measures must be taken to prevent catastrophic collapse.

That’s exactly my point. But those two gentlemen are even more lost in their abstractions than Schmachtenberger. At least Schmachtenberger is asking the right questions, and beyond his podcast appearances, he’s actually doing activist work and influencing lawmakers - so let’s not overdo it with the criticism. The only hippies in this discussion are McGilchrist and Vervaeke. Shit won’t magically fix itself by praying to God or sitting in a drum circle, channeling the Dialogos, or whatever. But I hope we agree that action, grounded in a realistic assessment of human nature, is still necessary? You can’t just expect everything to turn out fine - we could very well wipe ourselves out. There are no guarantees. Unless, of course, you want to invoke some divine will.

I suggest you take a hard look at where you’re deferring your agency to some divine force and seriously consider what it means if we have to fix this shit ourselves.

The problem is that catastrophe is imminent - every day, 20 animal species go extinct, planetary boundaries are shattered, AI creeps closer to runaway superintelligence, and capitalism accelerates relentlessly, dragging us into ever deeper chaos. There’s simply no time for such utopian projects, even if your intuitions are right. Immediate action is non-negotiable. It’s going to be rough, it’s going to be dirty, and neither a psychiatrist nor a divine deity will be there to hold our hands through it. Also, isn’t this precisely the point of Jesus? On the cross, he wasn’t just dying - he was taking God with him. His followers asked, “How do we know you’re there for us when you’re gone?” And he answered, “When there’s love between you, I will be there.” If this isn’t the most profound atheist manifesto ever, I don’t know what is.

Bro, ain’t no way you’re getting Putin to speak your “shared grammar.” Same goes for any CEO whose fiduciary responsibility is next quarter’s bottom line. That’s a pipe dream. This will always be a war, not some utopian shit John Lennon sang about. Nietzsche at least rips away all your comforting illusions and makes you face the reality: there’s no big man in the sky looking out for you. If you want to change shit, you’re on your own. But this doesn’t have to be some lone wolf, individualist endeavor. You could easily align this with Marx’s class consciousness or any “shared grammar” that empowers people to coordinate in ways grounded in material conditions. I’d take Che Guevara over St. Paul any day for precisely this reason. And yes, they’re ultimately deferring their agency to a higher power, which is why they don’t bother doing any rigorous material analysis of the actual conditions shaping the world.

I don’t want to seem rash in dismissing psychology outright. I do believe people like Jordan Peterson are onto something when they draw parallels between scripture and the psychological architecture of individual human beings. If you want to thrive in the sense of living a fulfilling human life - becoming a mature person with a decent job, a stable relationship, kids, someone who generally has their shit together while reducing suffering and not causing too much trouble by being overly ambitious or asking too many questions - that’s fine. You can even come to terms with death and all the rest. You can sleep well, so to speak. But this is precisely not the kind of psychology needed to address unprecedented global catastrophes or to push yourself artistically or philosophically. As Nietzsche perfectly mocked this kind of wisdom, whose ultimate goal is basically just to have you sleep well:

Literally, their only point is to put all our stakes on faith and divine intervention. You couldn’t make this shit up if you tried.

Fair enough. But this is explicitly a conversation about the meta-crisis and imminent global catastrophic risks. The audacity of these gentlemen to even show up to such a discussion with such a shockingly naive worldview is truly stunning.

You can have all the faith you want, but it won’t change the fact that we live in a world dominated by leaders like Xi Jinping and Putin, and corporate entities whose survival depends on relentless profit maximization while externalizing harm to nature and individual humans - particularly those on the lower rungs of the economic hierarchy, as usual. These entities are locked in a perpetual prisoner’s dilemma, where defection is the only way to ensure survival. If you want to pray to your God, by all means, go ahead - I have no issue with that. But to suggest that this will somehow resolve the brutal realities of capitalism is, frankly, laughable.

R.I.P.

The only reason people watch this garbage is the "man with 200 IQ" clickbait. If those so-called "open-minded materialists" actually cared, why aren’t they diving into someone like Peter Ralston instead? Nerds flock to nerds. Which is precisely why no one in this community takes continental thought seriously, dismissing it as confused, overly stylized ramblings. Meanwhile, those who engage with it - making careers out of peddling low-quality commentary on big-name European intellectuals via social media, and often serving as the sole point of contact with profound metaphysical thinkers like Nietzsche, Lacan and Deleuze - only reinforce the stereotype that European philosophy is nothing more than an aestheticized, politically charged spectacle of "academic philosophy."

That’s such a vulgar notion of God. The only threshold to heaven is to dissolve the false distinction between absolute and limited experience. But this requires confronting the raw tragedy of life and abandoning the comforting illusion of eternal salvation. Heaven is, at best, always already fleeting. To me, this represents the highest form of spirituality attainable by a human being.

You know the drill: Spotify Wrapped, Apple Replay, and all the personalized music streaming recaps of the year are out. So... What’s your most-streamed song of the year? Here’s mine:

I recommend you check out Bob Woodward's seminal book on the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Palestine conflicts, aptly titled "War". It dives deep into the behind-the-scenes dynamics of these wars, drawing on direct communication with bipartisan government and intelligence sources. The book is also a compelling testament to the Biden administration's nuanced approach to these complex conflicts and their unwavering commitment to preventing nuclear escalation. Perhaps someday, Biden will receive his well-deserved Nobel Peace Prize for his selfless and integrous leadership. You might be tempted to dismiss it as propaganda, but consider this: it was released just three weeks before this year's elections. A 400+ page investigative journalistic work isn’t exactly the kind of thing aimed at swaying swing voters at the last minute.