Dear Lost Soul

Saint Michael slews the devil at the Fontaine Saint-Michel in Paris.

I thought of you today when I was clearing out files and found some notes that I had made to discuss with you. During our conversations, I eventually touched upon all of them, although I doubt that any actually resonated with you.

Despite an exceedingly low probability, I still retain a shred hope that perhaps others will find them illuminating, or of value, especially when reflecting upon the last twenty months. So here they are…

During our debates, you repeatedly asserted that the consensus of opinion of “experts” on a given subject or issue represents society’s highest level of knowledge on that subject. We both agreed that the depth and breadth of information has grown exponentially, thus making it nearly impossible for anyone to be fully versed on every topic, let alone several topics. However, at the same time, while you acknowledge that consensus does not fact make, you repeatedly came back to that point, which indicates a deference to consensus and a susceptibility to “group think.”

You tended to convolute data, data analyses, examination, engineering, and technology with science, which properly is a process whereby people test hypotheses and validate or negate their ideas against repeatable experimentation.

I am concerned that you disregard books as a primary source of knowledge. There is simply no way to gain depth or breadth of knowledge on any given subject thru snippets of articles, short videos, or social media. I’d be far less concerned if you had at least read the Cliff Notes on some of the classics.

You displayed a disturbing lack of respect and utility for traditions, be they patriotic, political, military, religious or, seemingly, familial. You continued to profess, “I don’t have much use for traditions.” When I encouraged you to watch the commissioning of the USS Gerald R. Ford, you turned away, feigning mock fear, “NO, it is too much like religion!” From my perception, you have an alarming lack of appreciation and understanding of this country's history, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Natural Law, and basic civic duty. You continually committed to non-commitment as a position on certain issues, particularly moral and civic ones. “I like to think that I don’t know everything,” you stated. This is dangerous, because if you don’t know what you stand for, you will fall for anything.

You had a pronounced inclination to shut people down who disagree with you or who espouse positions you feel are dangerous, i.e., so called “hate speech.” At the same time, you admittedly advocated violence in order to do so. Case in point, during our discussion on free speech, for the hypothetical situation of someone standing on a street corner advocating that all the Jews in Germany should have been killed and the rest should be exterminated, you stated that such a person should be, “Punched in the nose;” or was it the gut? Your asserted that the “ends justify the means.” This is both morally indefensible and dangerous.

Here is a list of other points I attempted to convey to you during all those conversations:

• Culture matters.

• Actions matter far more than words.

• One of homo sapiens greatest attributes while at the same time one of our greatest downfalls is our ability to project into the future, to model. However, models must match the real world to be valid. Empirical data, experience, matter far more than a model that does not match observed reality. Use critical thinking in all areas of your life. Don’t trust the experts.

• Abstain from all the “Intellectual Masturbation”

• “There are no absolutes,” is an absolute statement, and therefore a logical contradiction.

• Gender is biological.

• Nurture matters.

• The “traditional nuclear family” is the best mode to raise healthy, well-adjusted children, provided there is love, respect, and discipline within the family. This is also the best mode to create a stable and enduring society. Other modes may work to some extent but any beyond that described in the first sentence pale in comparison.

• Honor your mother and father.

• Honor your wife or husband.

• Take care of your family.

• Treat others with kindness, even you if you feel they don’t deserve it. Sometimes, this is exceedingly difficult, but do it anyway. Basically, follow the “Golden Rule.”

• Pay it forward.

• The world doesn’t owe you anything. Neither does the country other than the rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

• Words mean something. Use them correctly. Stick to the definition. Beware of obfuscation and propaganda.

• If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

• Just because we can do a thing, does not necessarily mean we should do that thing.

• Make your bed, clean your space, take of your things.

• Most issues are self-inflected drama.

• Use balance in all things.

• Tradition roots us to the past and marks the rhythm of life.

• Change is the only constant.

• Change for the sake of change is not a valid excuse for changing.

• Conversely, “This is always the way it has been done,” is not a necessarily a valid reason for continuing a given behavior or procedure.

• A failure to plan is a plan to fail.

• Most “social issues” have no place at any level of government.

• Give when you are able, but take care of yourself first.

• Take care of your body. Eat well. Don’t smoke. Drink in moderation. Exercise. Sleep.

• Read a book a month.

• Give people a hand up, but not a hand out. Teach people to fish, don’t give them a fish.

• Take care of the weak and helpless until they can care for themselves.

• Don’t hurt people nor take their stuff. Don’t lie. Don’t cheat.

• Don’t steal.

• Honor your word and your commitments. Say what you’ll do and do what you said. If you break your word without first attempting an honest renegotiation of that which you committed to, admit it, and make every attempt to make amends with those who you have aggrieved.

• Pay your debts.

• Your most cherished right is liberty; this means the freedom to live your life the way you want, the way you design, as long as you abide by the above point. The government has no place in the way you earn your living, what you read, watch listen to, drive, live in, buy, etc., nor what you do with another consenting adult in the privacy of your own space, how you worship, what deity or deities you worship, nor how you die.

• The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

• Give back something to your community. Try to leave the world a better place than how you found it.

• Play by the rules and hold accountable, to the best of your ability or scope, those who do not.

• Know the Constitution; when used correctly, it protects the individual against the mob. If nobody follows it, then the mob will rule like a pack of rabid dogs.

• The mob will always come after you, and they will always turn on their own.

• Life is isn’t supposed to be fair in the outcomes, only in the rules.

• Vote. Write your senators and representatives. Volunteer for causes that are important to you. Otherwise, STFU and don’t complain.

• Do the right thing, even when no one is looking. This is integrity.

• The end most assuredly DOES NOT justify the means.

• There is some kind of Divinity and a higher reality.

• You have freewill.

• There is genuine evil in the world.

• Bad things happen when good men, or women, do nothing.

• Might should be used for right. Might, in and of itself, does not make right.

• Every civilization gets the government it deserves.

• We are here to learn and evolve. After that is done, I’m not sure.

• Eat a little humble pie every day.

I wonder how you have handled the past year and a half. No doubt you succumbed to the fear mongering, wear your face diaper, insist that your young child do the same, and gleefully lined up to receive the poison gene therapy, otherwise known as the COVIDVax. Despite how exceedingly intelligent you are, you never learned to think critically, to truly question what the establishment, especially the government and media, tell you. There is a balance between respect for tradition and questioning experts, consensus, and the party line. Discernment is key, but you failed to learn that, or if you did, you failed to cultivate that as a skill.

So here we are, twenty some months into this scamdemic and on the precipice of full blown socialism, with an installed puppet in the Oval Office, who is a bought and paid for by the CCP. Because you never learned discernment, because you never internalized the concepts embedded in the laundry list above, because you have no confidence in your own internal compass, I am willing to wager that you fail to even recognize the threat to yourself, your family, indeed to humanity.

Because you fail to recognize it, the evil will consume you. But in the end, Satan will fall at the hands of those who do recognize him.

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Endnote

This was adapted from notes I had made four years ago; the original document has a date stamp of Sep 25, 2017. Over that summer I had more than several heated discussions with, who was then, a then late twenty-something young man. Other than the first and closing paragraphs, and the addition of a few points, I made very few edits. It was interesting reviewing it today.

I do hope someone finds value herein.

Namaste and thanks for reading folks,

Mark

Oct 28, 2021