International Men's Day: A Day Of Atonement

 

In case you didn't know, November 19 is International Men's Day (which also happens to be World Toilet Day, interestingly enough).  As if we really needed a day to celebrate ourselves, lol.  What International Men's Day should really be is a day of atonement, a sort of Yom Kippur for men.  And for those guys who arrogantly claim that they have literally nothing to atone for, prepare to eat some humble pie, and apologize to the Divine Feminine.  The following is food for thought:

So what has our gender collectively done for the past 7000 years or so?

We paved paradise and put up a parking lot, we created a desert and called it "peace".  We devoured and suffocated our own empire, the world is on fire, and now we are all paying a heavy price for it.  It's 14:59 of our proverbial 15 minutes of fame, and the clock is ticking.

All because we foolishly decided one day to depose Women from power because we thought we could somehow do better.  Well, we were wrong, dead wrong in fact.  We are sorry, but clearly we can stuff our "sorrys" in a sack at this point.  The agony of regret indeed.

Yes, I know, "not all men".  But the fact remains that the "good guys" among us have clearly and consistently failed to prevent the truly bad guys from subjugating, tyrannizing, raping, abusing, and degrading the better half of humanity (while also doing the very same thing to Mother Earth as well), and overall turning heaven on Earth into hell on Earth.

So how could heaven turn to hell?  You guessed it, it was us all along.  But one day the shadows will surround us, and the days will come to end.  And now we see clearly...

We both knew, it would always end this way...

(Bonus points for anyone who can find the hidden and not-so-hidden pop-culture references and lyrics to various songs contained throughout this apology to the Divine Feminine. Give up?  Scroll down to the bottom for the answer.)

And just like you should never wish someone a "Happy Yom Kippur", as there is really nothing happy about atonement, we should probably avoid doing the same with International Men's Day as well.

The new song "The Feminine Divine" by Dexys Midnight Runners also comes to mind.

But the cultural references above are really from various songs by Joni Mitchell, Shinedown, Sugar Ray, and Five Finger Death Punch, et al.  And also Seinfeld, and a paraphrase of the Ancient Roman historian Tacitus as well.

And now with the very latest example of Adam throwing Eve under the bus, AGAIN, that is, given how a majority of American men of all generations voted (or failed to vote) in the 2024 election, all of the above applies a fortiori now.

And to those men who voted (and gloated) for the Manchild Who Would Be King, well, all I can say is, enjoy your pride before the fall.  Karma is NOT on your side, bro.

Is Ethical Heterosexual Sex Possible Under (Late) Patriarchy?

NOTE:  This article is written primarily for a male audience.

One of the common "straw feminist" arguments often weaponized by anti-feminist and "manosphere" types to try to discredit feminism in general is one that only the most truly extreme fringe ultra-radical feminists (a vanishingly tiny few, nearly all from the second wave in the 1970s and early 1980s) have ever actually put forth with a straight face:  some flavor of "under patriarchy, all (heterosexual) sex is rape".  That statement is, of course, quite easy to refute, as it completely denies Women any agency at all over their own bodies and minds, and is thus infantilizing and demeaning to Women.  And I don't go anywhere near arguments like that, so you will never hear anything like that from me.

Such patronizing and paternalistic nonsense really serves only to discredit feminism and Women in general, trivialize rape, throw out the baby with the bathwater, and put men in a reverse double bind (i.e. a duty to refuse sex, but no right to refuse)* as well, thus it has no place in the 21st century. 

But what if there were a kernel of truth to such an extreme and absolutist argument?  That is, not that it is necessarily rape, which a truly egregious violation of a Woman's bodily integrity and a desecration of the Sacred Feminine, but more like there is "no ethical heterosexual sex under patriarchy", much like the argument that there is "no ethical consumption under capitalism" (which is true, but obviously doesn't stop either gender from going shopping).  Could a more nuanced case be made in that regard?

Well, I hate to be a buzzkill, fellas, but just like consumption under capitalism, heterosexual sex can never be perfectly ethical as long as patriarchy still exists.  Sorry.  The problem is systemic, and goes very, very deep.  And unfortunately, just like we are living under "late capitalism", we are still living under some flavor of "late patriarchy", even in the most progressive, social democratic, and (relatively) gender-equal countries.  (And certainly still in the USA!)  But again, that doesn't stop either gender from going shopping, so is it possible for men to have sexual relations with Women while maintaining a (relatively) clear conscience?

The good news is it's a qualified yes, albeit imperfectly, provided that certain rules are followed.  ("Wait, what?  There's rules?  I thought we dispensed with such stuffiness like so much bric-a-brac decades ago!  Boooooo!")  Relax, fellas.  These rules are hardly oppressive, and actually tend to make sex better for both Women and men.  Such rules may reduce the quantity and frequency of sex, but will more than make up for that in terms of the quality of sex.  Plus, you actually get to LIVE with yourself, sleep well at night, and not have to constantly worry that you are literally playing Russian Roulette with your soul (!) in that regard.  Here they are:

1. First and foremost, be sure to obtain enthusiastic consent before proceeding, each and every time, and at each stage of escalation or changing to a different act.  When in doubt, check in and make sure.  In other words, if it's not a "HELL YEAH!", it's a "HELL NO!"  Period.
2. Always take NO for an answer.  Period.  Do NOT force, coerce, pressure, or manipulate anyone into sex.
3. Do NOT objectify or degrade Women (or men).  Always think in terms of "I and Thou", never "I and It".  Or as Immanuel Kant would say, "Always treat humanity as an end in itself, never solely as a means to an end".  (Contrary to the antisexual Kant, though, attraction per se does NOT automatically imply objectification.)
4. Avoid anything one-sided or "selfish in bed," as it should always be mutual.  After all, Women are human beings, NOT sex dolls or masturbation machines.
5. Whoever has the yoni makes the rules.  She is taking way more of a risk than you are, thus she is extending to you a much larger grace than you are to her.  Look up to her, not down on her.  Be sure to prioritize her pleasure!
6. No cruelty, violence, or abuse of any kind.  That should go without saying, before, during, and after.
7. Do not be a deceiver.  Honesty is always the best policy.
8. Practice radical empathy.  Try to actually see things from her perspective for a change. 
9. As Gabrielle Blair would say, "Ejaculate Responsibly".  If you feel you must have penetrative intercourse, USE A CONDOM as "standard operating procedure", with any exception requiring serious justification. 
10. And above all, DO NOT abuse, violate, or desecrate children in any way, shape, or form!  There is a special place in the Lake of Fire for those who do.  Same goes for those who abuse animals in any way as well.

Otherwise, have fun, fellas!  

(Mic drop)

(*Bonus points for anyone who recognized that statement with an asterisk as simply the mirror image of the double bind that Women have been forced into for millennia.)

P.S.  Contrary to what Maoists (and reactionaries, in an example of Horseshoe Theory) tend to claim, marriage is NOT necessarily "the least oppressive form of sexuality under [patriarchal] imperialism" for Women.  It is still, at base, a patriarchal institution, regardless of any attempts (with varying degrees of success) to re-purpose it for a post-patriarchal world to come, and is still all too often rigged in men's favor.  Thus, at a minimum, the same ethical sex rules listed above should still apply whether married or not.

And it should also go without saying, on the other side of the coin, that the same rules apply even if, or rather especially if, the sexual activity in question falls under the category of "casual".  Remember, "casual" in that regard simply means uncommitted or intended to be short-term.  It does NOT mean meaningless, disrespectful, or treat your partner like garbage.  The human dignity floor of mutual respect must still remain in place regardless of how the sex is labeled. 

The 4B Movement Goes (Relatively) Mainstream

Looks like the famous 4B Movement is spreading beyond South Korea to the USA now in the wake of Trump winning the presidential election.  Basically, it is like a Lysistrata-style strike by Women, but broader, to essentially "boycott men" completely.  To quote the NPR article:

Following President-elect Trump’s victory — which was fueled by male voters and to many looked like a referendum on reproductive rights — some young American women are talking about boycotting men.

The idea comes from the South Korean movement known as 4B, or the 4 No’s (bi means “not” in Korean). It calls for the refusal of dating men (biyeonae), sexual relationships with men (bisekseu), heterosexual marriage (bihon) and childbirth (bichulsan).

It is apparently trending quite a bit in recent days on social media, and even in mainstream legacy media.  Whether the movement is limited to a sliver of the Female population, or ultimately ends up achieving critical mass, is not yet clear, but the message sure is clear as day.  Men really need to answer the "clue phone", as it is ringing louder than ever now.  

The fact that so many men were willing to throw Women under the bus during this election, because reasons, is more than justification enough for Women to go on strike.  To call such an act of betrayal "the straw that broke the camel's back" is truly the understatement of the century!

I have often half-joked that Women could take over the world in a matter of weeks if not sooner, if they all (or enough of them) did something like this at the same time.  After all, in economic terms, men's demand for sex in particular, let alone everything else, is very "inelastic", at least in the short run, while Women's demand for sex is far more "elastic".  Despite Women actually having a higher sex drive overall than men (a fact that was famously well-known by everyone long before the Victorians attempted to erase and invert it), for men it is still more urgent and linear.  Thus, men will hand over the "keys to the kingdom" in order to desperately end the strike.  

(Men's demand for marriage is similarly "inelastic" as well, but with the important caveat that that is true only if it is rigged in their favor.  It is at base a patriarchal institution, after all.  The moment it ceases to be rigged in their favor, their demand for marriage then becomes much more "elastic".)

Whether one sees it as a sprint or a marathon (and a case can be made for both, in fact), the more Women lean heavily into it at the beginning, the more effective it will be.  Men can thus be "broken like wild horses" fairly quickly (if temporarily), at least long enough for Women's demands to be met.

It's too soon to tell at this point, but this development may very well be a silver lining of the otherwise horrible national (and global) calamity of Trump winning, namely, that we become that much closer to Matriarchy if this movement gains enough traction, God willing.  Only time will tell.

P.S.  All the fellas (including myself) who are at least tempted to reflexively say some flavor of, "Don't blame me, I voted for Kamala!" (which I of course did) in response to this, are really missing the point, and that is just as tone-deaf and chutzpah as saying "Not ALL men!" as a typical canned response to Women's concerns about male violence against Women.  Expecting kudos for merely meeting the bare minimum standards of a decent human being truly reeks of privilege.

Adam Throws Eve Under The Bus. AGAIN.

Well, it's official.  Trump won the 2024 presidential election.  Again.  And this time, we can't blame it on the Electoral College or Russian interference or anything other than We the People.  Or rather, about half of us.  And the half of us that voted for Trump is overwhelmingly male, unsurprisingly.  If only men's votes were counted, Trump won by a landslide.  If only Women's votes were counted, Kamala Harris would have won by (almost) a landslide.  Very much like 2016.

Only this time around, literally everyone knew what he was all about, and so many still voted for him.  So literally NO ONE can credibly claim naivety or ignorance (unless truly willful) this time.  They had an easy out, and yet they chose to go right back to Trump.  They are NOT victims, they are volunteers, often very eager ones, which makes them complicit with the oppressors.  In fact, in the two weeks leading up to Election Day, Trump deliberately darkened his already vile rhetoric even more to get more undecided or apathetic folks off of their couches to go to the polls.

And the gender gap was surprisingly wide for younger (Gen Z) voters as well.  And Trump/Vance clearly went out of their way to court the "bro vote", as they like to call it.

And it wasn't even the usual "deplorables" and "alt-right" and adjacent guys that were the biggest disappointment.  Rather, it was the perfidious squishy-center, middle-of-the-road, fauxgressive, "educated", and "cool" types of guys who apparently thought so little of the better half of humanity (or could care less about them), that in an election where Women's human rights were literally at stake, they blithely and casually threw Women under the bus by voting for Trump.  They literally chose the rapist, racist, misogynistic, convicted felon, lunatic, and insurrectionist candidate over the highly accomplished Woman of color candidate, because reasons.  Or they simply didn't vote at all, or they voted third party, because they chose to make the perfect the enemy of the good, and we all ultimately got neither as a result. 

Women, and the men who genuinely love them, will NOT forget such perfidy!

And yes, plenty of Women (particularly white ones) were also apparently self-hating misogynistic (and/or gilded-caged and privileged) enough to betray their own gender too by voting for Trump, but that is a topic for another conversation. 

Of course, this is sadly NOT the first time the fellas have done such a thing.  It's been going on since Adam threw Eve under the bus after they both got caught eating the forbidden fruit.  And to those fellas who apparently see nothing wrong (or at least nothing worth opposing) with the Republican Project 2025 agenda essentially forcing Women to be brood mares, remember that that would also make men....WORK HORSES.  After all, the punishment for Eve was to "increase the pains of childbirth", while for Adam, he would have to "work for every crumb" going forward.  Sounds like the authors of that story readily anticipated the 2024 election and its aftermath!

They had ONE job this time, and that was to simply get off the damn couch and cast a secret ballot for Kamala, the only person really standing in the way of Trump, and no one would ever have to know.  And they couldn't even do that!  And now that they have sown the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind!

Unfortunately, ALL of us will.

America is basically dead and done now.  And it would truly take a miracle of miracles to transcend this madness and make it out the other side in one piece.

One may recall an article from late 2016, titled "Kali Takes America, I'm With Her".  Basically, Trump's first term was predicted to be a "dark night of the soul" for America, in other words.  Apparently, America learned NOTHING from that ordeal, and thus we end up repeating it again, and likely worse and darker this time around.  And it seems an even darker analogy is called for now.

The 2015 song "The Vengeful One" by Disturbed (and its excellent video) comes to mind as to what is called for in times like this:  "I'm the Hand of God, I'm the Dark Messiah, I'm the Vengeful One".  Sounds just like what the doctor ordered!  The dark, messianic figure in the song is male, of course.  But what if that figure was a Woman instead?  Well, I thought of a somewhat esoteric idea, getting back to the overall general theme of this article.

Enter Adam's first wife, from well before Eve even existed.  Or more accurately, his first lover, as the patriarchal institution of marriage hadn't even been invented yet, and it's safe to say she wasn't exactly the marrying kind.  In fact, their fairly brief relationship had failed precisely because she refused to submit to Adam.  She was almost entirely erased from both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible, leaving only very subtle traces behind, and only explicitly mentioned elsewhere in Jewish and Mesopotamian folklore.  And she was predictably (and quite literally!) demonized by the patriarchs, as they have often done to Goddesses of the Matriarchal religions they have appropriated, co-opted, and perverted for themselves.  While more recently, Sarah McLachlan famously called her "the first feminist", and thus named her Women's music festival after her.  So who is she? 

Lilith is her name.  You may or may not have heard of her explicitly, but the general concept of her can be found practically everywhere one is willing to look.  Contrary to those who demonize her, she is not actually evil, but rather she is best described as "beyond good and evil", which is of course a reference to Nietzsche.  That said, it's probably NOT a wise idea to piss her off!  So if there were ever a Woman candidate for "Dark Messiah", it would have to be Lilith.

In fact, 20 years ago in 2004, author Alex Gordon even wrote a book about Lilith called Nine Deadly Venoms, a part autobiographical, part self-help book about the nine most important obstacles and challenges that one needs to personally conquer in order to truly stay alive in the 21st century.  In this book, she is portrayed as a Matriarchal Age warrior priestess, who is supposedly planning a second coming, in order to cleanse the world of evil and establish a new Matriarchal Age once again.

Again, that's really just what the doctor ordered in times like these!  And her rage is a rage that truly belongs to every Woman, and always has, especially now.  After all, contrary to what one may believe, Feminine energy is not always "love and light", as it can also be very, very dark at times.

(I haven't read the actual book itself, but I recall reading his old website about the book back then after stumbling upon in serendipitously, which was one of several things over the years that piqued my interest in Matriarchy in general.)

And in fact, like practically every other Goddess that has a name, one could even consider Lilith to be yet another facet of the very multifaceted Mother God Herself.

And perhaps Mother God allowed all of this to happen for a reason, such as to trick the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy to fatally overdose on capital, and ultimately usher in post-capitalism and Matriarchy sooner rather than later.  That is, if Trump doesn't get us all killed in the meantime, of course, which is sadly a very real possibility. 

So as the darkness settles in once again, we need to keep all of this in mind.  And once again, we all must #RESIST tyranny of any kind.  If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. 

Gynocentrism Is Beautiful

The word "gynocentrism" has been tossed around a lot in recent years, most notably by the "manosphere" (MRAs, PUAs, MGTOW, Red Pill Movement, and many tradcons as well), who claim it is a Very Bad Thing, because reasons.  In fact, in the  "manosphere bingo" memes, it is one of the most prominent spaces on the chart. 

Per Wikipedia, its definition is:

Gynocentrism is a dominant or exclusive focus on women in theory or practice. Anything can be gynocentric when it is considered exclusively with a female or feminist point of view in mind. The opposite practice, placing the masculine point of view at the centre, is androcentrism.

Thus, gynocentrism is centering, and thus prioritizing, Women and their perspectives.  And that is somehow a bad thing because? 

News flash, our species, that is the entire human race, is a gynocentric species.  It is literally baked into the DNA of both primary genders.  In psychology, it is called the "Women are wonderful" effect, which is consistently observed in both Women and men, often implicitly and subconsciously, no matter how much the patriarchy has tried to stamp it out.  It is NOT the result of some shadowy conspiracy per the Red Pill movement or whatever, but rather simply what Mother Nature wants, and for the most prosaic of reasons:  to better ensure the survival of the species.  Think about it.  Women are the limiting factor in reproduction.  As the saying goes, "eggs are expensive, sperm is cheap", as true now as it always was, even if men's pop-culture hot takes (like the book by the same name) get it at least largely wrong.  Thus, prioritizing Women would obviously lead to far greater Darwinian reproductive success than prioritizing men.

That's not to say that the patriarchy hasn't also historically (and also currently) weaponized gynocentrism as well against Women.  Since men obviously cannot stamp it out entirely, try as they may, they have taken to pervert it into "benevolent sexism", which is the velvet glove to hostile sexism's iron fist.  Granted.  But that weaponization should really be seen as the perversion that it is, not as gynocentrism per se.

And since gynocentrism is a built-in feature of both genders, prioritizing Women actually promotes better intergender bonding, and thus better gender relations overall.  (If nothing else, we can bond over that.) Androcentrism, on the other hand, can only drive a wedge between Women and men.

Remember, fellas, it's in your best interest as well.  Female happiness is highly contagious.  And so too is their misery. 

Thus, we should all reclaim gynocentrism as a Very Good Thing.  After all, it is what Mother Nature wants.  Shout if from the rootfops:  "Gynocentrism is beautiful!"

Excellent Article By Celeste Davis

An excellent new article by the ever-insightful Celeste Davis is certainly worth a read.  Titled "Do you not like sex, or do you just not like patriarchal sex?", it explains well the crucial differences between male-defined sexuality versus female-defined sexuality.  Spoiler alert: male-defined sexuality is rather one-sided, and Women generally do not like it one-sided.  Female-defined sexuality, on the other hand, is mutually beneficial for both genders.  Thus it makes far more sense to center Women in sex than it does to center men.  

In other news, water is wet, and the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, of course.  But far too many people still don't seem to fully dig that.  And Davis explains it brilliantly.

Excellent Article by Dr. Kirti Patel

Check out this excellent article by Dr. Kirti Patel about Matriarchy (or as she calls it, Gynarchy):

https://buymeacoffee.com/matriarchytimes/exploring-gynarchy-dr-kirti-patel-on-creating-future-beyond-patriarchy

She really makes some excellent points indeed.

Why We Still Need A Universal Basic Income Yesterday (Updated Re-Post)

I have repeatedly noted before why any serious proposal for a pragmatic protopia would require some sort of unconditional Universal Basic Income (UBI) Guarantee for all.  (Note that the "U" itself also stands for "Unconditional", which is VERY important.)  At least as long as we still have a monetary system, of course, and it will be quite some time before money can be phased out completely.  And while the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns are behind us, their grisly social and economic aftermath tends to linger, and thus it is still more crucial now than before 2020, and will still be for quite some time as well.  

To wit:

1. First and foremost, "It's payback time for Women".  Recently, a Woman named Judith Shulevitz wrote an op-ed titled thusly, arguing in favor of a Universal Basic Income Guarantee for all.  Her feminist argument for a UBI, which I agree 100% with, was that such a thing would provide long-overdue compensation for Women's unpaid work (i.e. housework and caregiving) that society currently takes for granted and considers a "free resource" for the taking.  As the saying goes, there are two kinds of work that Women do:  underpaid, and unpaid.  While that is true for some men as well, it is overwhelmingly true for Women.  Thus, her argument makes a great deal of sense overall, and I agree.  It is indeed LONG overdue.  And it applies a fortiori now in light of the fact that Women got the worst deal of all from the lockdown-induced job losses, the often triple burden for Mothers at home, the gnawing forced isolation from the support system of other Women, and the increased exposure to domestic violence during lockdown.  And they are still continuing (and will continue) to suffer from the aftermath long after the lockdowns are behind us.  Lockdown was patriarchy on crack, basically.
2. Men are becoming increasingly redundant in the long run due to technology, globalization, and the overall ascendancy of Women.  When men are no longer artificially propped up, they will fall--and the bigger they are, the harder they fall.  And this will only increase in the near future.  This is a potential ticking time-bomb that must be defused sooner rather than later.  Men become extremely dangerous creatures under either of two conditions:  1) when they have too much power relative to Women, and/or 2) when they are desperate for money.  Ever see the 1996 film Fargo? Indeed, a Universal Basic Income is one of the best ways to tackle the second one.  Again, it only applies a fortiori now.
3. A UBI is far more efficient in theory and practice than much of what currently passes for a social safety net these days, and would have far less bureaucracy.  No means tests, no discrimination, no playing God.  It's simply a basic human right, period.  And it would be far less costly in the long run.
4. As Buckminster Fuller famously noted, there are more than enough resources for everyone to live like a millionaire with today's technology.  And he said this back in the 1970s, mind you.  And the specious notion that everybody and their mother must "work for a living" is not only outdated, but is also seriously classist, ableist, and ageist, and by extension indirectly sexist and racist as well.  The fact that human beings, unlike literally every other species on Earth, somehow must PAY to merely LIVE on the planet on which they were born is now totally contrived and socially constructed, and is in fact an egregious Crime Against Nature.
5. Poverty is a razor-sharp, double-edged sword, spiritually speaking. Being attached to riches is clearly counter to spirituality, but then again, so is being attached to poverty. Either way, it's the *attachment* that is the problem.  And poverty today is largely if not entirely man-made via artificial scarcity.
6. We would all be better off on balance, spiritually and otherwise, if material poverty were eradicated--and a UBI is the most efficient way to do so. As William Bond (and others) noted, with today's technology that is certainly doable, but for the greed of the oligarchs at the top who control the system. And that in turn is a result of patriarchy, given how men tend to see war and scarcity as inevitable, so they create a self-fulfilling prophecy as a result.
7. With an unconditional UBI instead of means testing or other conditions, gone will be the perverse incentives that exist under the current system that trap too many people in poverty today.
8. Negative liberty and positive liberty are NOT opposites, but rather two sides of the same coin.  Indeed, one cannot be truly free if one is systematically denied the basic necessities of life.  And truly no one is free when others are oppressed in any way. 
9. Inequality, at least when it is as extreme as it is today, is profoundly toxic to society and makes the looming problems/crises of climate change and ecological overshoot that much more difficult to solve.  This is over and above the effects of poverty alone.  And a UBI can dramatically reduce both socio-economic inequality as well as absolute material poverty.  (And when funded by an Alaska-style tax on fossil fuels, it can also double as a Steve Stoft or James Hansen-style carbon tax-and-dividend as well.)
10. We consume and waste a ludicrous amount of (mostly fossil-fuel) energy in the so-called "developed" world, and much of that wasteful consumption can be curtailed simply by making it so no one has to "work for a living" unless one really wants to.  Just think of all the energy spent (and commuting to and from) unnecessary work at a job you hate, to buy stuff you don't need, to impress people you don't even like.  A UBI could thus greatly reduce our carbon and overall ecological footprint in the long run.  As Marco Fioretti notes, the laws of physics ultimately demand UBI from a limits-to-growth perspective.
11. According to the ever-insightful Marco Fioretti, UBI is essentially the logical conclusion of Catholic Social Doctrine.  And at the same time, the ever-insightful Rodger Malcolm Mitchell also makes some great arguments from a more secular perspective as well.
12. As sociology professor Jessica Calarco notes, neoliberalism has broken the social safety net, forced and conditioned society to accept precarity, and made Women bear the brunt of that precarity via their often invisible labor in place of the social safety net.  And I believe that is yet another argument for UBI.
13. And finally, one should keep in mind that, as Carol Brouillet has noted, the literal and original meaning of the word "community" is "free sharing of gifts".  What we currently have now under patriarchy/kyriarchy is more of a pseudo-community in that regard.   And that needs to change. Yesterday.  The exchange economy of capitalist patriarchy has failed us, and we need to rediscover and re-create the gift economy in its place.  A UBI will make the transition much smoother and more peaceful that it would otherwise be.  (Some ultra-purist radfems may disagree of course, but they are in the minority even among the radical feminist community.)

Perhaps Bucky's other prediction, that Women would take over the world, is a prerequisite for his vision to be fulfilled?   Honestly, it can't happen soon enough!

In other words, it would be a win-win-win situation for literally everyone but the 0.01% oligarchs at the top.  So why aren't we doing this yesterday?  Because that would make far too much sense.  To quote Buckminster Fuller:

We should do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian Darwinian theory he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for inspectors to inspect inspectors. The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living.

In fact, one could argue that two of the most toxic, outdated, and specious ideas ever conceived by the patriarchy (aside from the central doctrine of male supremacy itself and the entire "dominator" model, of course) are that "everybody and their mother must work for a living" and that "everybody must procreate."  And both are now literally KILLING this very planet that gives us life.  Thus, on balance, a Universal Basic Income Guarantee for all is a good idea regardless.  Again, it's a win-win-win situation for everyone but the oligarchs.  And the only real arguments against it are paternalistic and/or sadistic ones, which really means there are no good arguments against it in a free and civilized society.  

(See also the TSAP's Q&A page, "Why UBI".)

Of course, for UBI to work properly, it would have to be totally unconditional with NO strings attached, period.  The Davos gang's (per)version of same, in contrast, will have plenty of strings attached, and will likely utilize Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) instead of cash, and tied to CCP-style "social credit scoring", and a critical mass of people will fall for it absent any alternative, so we need to beat them to it with a genuine cash UBI with no strings attached BEFORE they do it.  They will NOT own us, and they will NOT be happy!

So what are we waiting for? Let the planetary healing begin!

(Mic drop)

Back By Popular Demand, The Legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder Has New Videos Again

Back by popular demand, the legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder has new videos again:

And there are more new videos where that came from, so be sure to check those out too!

ICYMI, Guru Rasa Von Werder Has New Videos

ICYMI, the legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder's long-running YouTube Channel, now called  "Guru Rasa Von Werder:  New Religion 4 Women", has many new videos, including ones of her appearing in person.

https://youtube.com/@gururasavonwerder?si=gUSOz2PfqSxzBDoG

Be sure to check it out!

An Open Letter To Women In Politics

(Updated for 2024 America)

To any Women who are running for office, in office, or considering running for office in the near future:

You have probably noticed that the world is on fire, and has been for quite some time now.  We stand on the verge of World War III as we speak, and our overburdened planet is in grave danger.  We continue to flirt with the prospect of mass extinction (including humans, by the way) in the not-too-distant future, as we continue to cook the planet with reckless abandon.  We know what is causing all of these problems, and we already have the technology and wherewithal to solve them if we really wanted to, yet our current Big Wetiko "leaders" refuse to solve such problems because they are sycophantic lackeys to the parasitic elites, if not the very same elites themselves.  And these plutocrats are hopelesly addicted to "business as usual".

So how did we get here in the first place, exactly?  The answer lies in ancient history, about 7000 years ago or so, when men apparently got the bright idea to take over the (known) world piece by piece, by deposing you from power.  That's right, it was originally Women who were in charge for most of humanity's existence, and us fellas apparently thought we could do a better job as leaders than you ladies did.  Well, history shows us that we were wrong--dead wrong in fact.  Indeed, the best advice that us men can give to Women is "don't be like us", because we f**ked the world up royally. We paved paradise and put up a parking lot, we created a desert and called it "peace".  We have devoured and suffocated our own empire, and now we are all paying a heavy price for it.  That's right--WE did it.  And we're sorry about that--though we can clearly stuff our "sorrys" in a sack! 

Oh, and to top it off, us fellas decided to hit America's self-destruct button and vote overwhelmingly for Donald Trump for President in 2016.  Yes, really.  Because apparently we couldn't screw things up enough already.  Fortunately, thank Goddess, the damage was limited.  But if he wins again in 2024, we may not be so lucky this time.

And now it is time for you to reclaim your rightful position as the new leaders of the free world once again, starting with the USA and eventually spreading from there.  In fact, it is LONG overdue for you to do so.  We cannot apologize enough for handing you such a monumental clusterf**k of a world for you to fix, of course, but we fellas have plenty of faith that you will be able to do so. We know that Women, not men, are the real natural-born leaders, and you can clearly handle power a lot better without it going to your heads than us.  We know that your preferred paradigm of society, what Riane Eisler calls the "partnership" model, is far better than the "dominator" model that we have been practicing for the past 7000 years.  As the saying goes, never send a boy to do a man's job--send a Woman instead.  Truer words were never spoken, and we need you now more than ever before.

The highest and tallest "glass ceiling" in the world--President of the United States--is still waiting to be smashed in 2024, as are plenty of other important political offices as well.  Even though Hillary already did that with the popular vote in 2016, the Rube Goldberg machine known as the Electoral College was systematically rigged against her.  But Goddess willing, Kamala Harris will win in 2024.  We wish all of you the very best of luck.  Now, go forth and make old Buckminster Fuller proud!  Vive la femme!

Sincerely,

Ajax the Great (Pete Jackson)

ICYMI, Rasa's YouTube Channel Has New Name

ICYMI, the legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder's long-running YouTube Channel has a new name:  "Guru Rasa Von Werder:  New Religion 4 Women".  And many new videos too.

https://youtube.com/@gururasavonwerder?si=gUSOz2PfqSxzBDoG

Be sure to check it out!

Patriarchy Has A Kill Switch (Part Deux)

In a previous post a while ago, I had discussed how Women's sexual freedom would be the ultimate kill switch to end patriarchy.  But one aspect of this topic had been a bit neglected in that article, unfortunately. 

Basically, I have gotten into some online debates from time to time about the "incel" (involuntary celibacy) problem.  Many self-identified incels are of course misogynistic trolls with an entitlement complex, but not all of them are.  And even some genuine ones seem to think that the "permissiveness" resulting from the sexual revolution has made their situation worse, and give various "evolutionary psychology" arguments.  So here is my response to all of that:

First and foremost, equality of opportunity and equality of outcome are mutually exclusive, and trying to force equal outcomes on everyone by fiat has a way of backfiring hard, as many have learned the hard way throughout history.  That is true for economics as well as for sex and relationships.  So aim for equal opportunity as your North Star instead. 

And in any case, since there are really only two ways to attempt to force equal outcomes on everyone in terms of sex and relationships, either 1) treat all Women as "private property" of individual men, or 2) treat all Women as "public property" of all men collectively, that means that there is absolutely NO ethical way to do so whatsoever.  (The late Andrea Dworkin would have a field day with that!)  That is because Women are, you know, full human beings, NOT "property" in any sense of the word, period.  Capisce?

Any ethical solution must, at the very minimum, fight twice as hard for the right to say "no" as for the right to say "yes".  After all, rape culture with a smiley face is still rape culture. 

Furthermore, most "evolutionary psychology" is, in a word, BS.  With NO apologies to Jordan Peterson at all.

"Hypergamy" (dating or marrying "up") by Women is really NOT natural, but is rather a socially constructed effect of capitalism and a hangover of patriarchy, for obvious reasons.  Ditto for the bandied-about "80/20" rule, which itself is grossly exaggerated.  But to the extent that the sexual revolution has anything at all to do with it, it is basically the opposite of what the manosphere claims.  If anything, slut-shaming only makes Women that much MORE picky and/or superficial in regards to men than they would otherwise be, and thus MORE likely to prefer high-status men over low-status men, because if they are going to take such a risk, they might as well make it as "worth their while" as possible.  (After all, despite their actually higher sex drive overall, Women's demand for sex is far more "elastic" than men's is:  for Women, no sex is typically better than bad sex, for obvious reasons, whereas for men, it's typically the reverse.)

And since the sexual revolution in the Anglosphere, especially the USA, was half-assed and did NOT go to completion, thanks to the "culture wars", what has resulted is that our society is now JUST barely permissive enough for Women to go all-in with high-status men, but still NOT quite permissive enough yet for them to do the same with lower-status men, lest they get shamed for it.  And in parallel with that, when high-status or elite Women hook up with many male partners it is considered "classy", provided those men are also high-status, while many of those same Women hypocritically consider it "trashy" when lower-status Women follow in their footsteps, because reasons. (News flash: that is NOT what a sisterhood looks like, that is a CARTEL.) Thus, the real solution is NOT to roll back the sexual revolution, as that would only further deepen this quagmire, but rather to let it finally go to completion like it largely has in the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, and also Brazil to some extent. 

(Now, the Nordic countries are NOT perfect by a long shot, of course.  Three out of the five Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, and Iceland) currently practice some flavor of the Entrapment Model for sex work, and one of those three (Iceland) even bans strip clubs.  And like all societies, they all have their own set of problems too.  But otherwise they seem to be the healthiest in terms of sexuality as well as economics, especially Denmark, the land that the temperance movement, and their ideological descendants, forgot.)

There are indeed lots and lots of otherwise very prosocial and community-minded Women out there who are unfortunately deterred from doing what they really want to do sexually, and would otherwise do largely for mutual pleasure in a sexually free society, due to all of the slut-shaming that still exists even in 2024, especially when also combined with the relative lack of a Nordic style social safety net in the USA as well.  This is yet another way that the patriarchy has a nasty habit of backfiring on men, and especially when it is combined with the brutal logic of capitalism and neoliberalism.

(That's simply "erotic plasticity" put another way, with no apologies to Roy Baumeister.)

As for the thinly-veiled misogynistic manosphere canard that when Women (but not men, because reasons) have many sex partners, they supposedly "lose their ability to pair-bond", kinda like how adhesive tape becomes progressively less sticky the more times it is re-used, well, that utterly specious claim of a causal link has never actually been proven.  The supposed observational evidence they cite can be very easily explained away by reverse causation, namely, those of either gender with a low capacity (or paradoxically, a very high capacity) to pair-bond to begin with are more likely to have many partners, NOT the other way around. And sometimes, you may simply need to "kiss a lot of frogs" to find the prince, as the saying goes.  Either way, we all need to stop slut-shaming, yesterday.  It serves NO valid purpose whatsoever. 

And we certainly do NOT need a "price floor" for sex.  Rather, what we need is a DIGNITY floor, where both genders treat each other as ends in themselves, not solely as means to an end, per Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative in general.  (Too bad he was so antisexual himself, otherwise he would have had a great model of sexual ethics too.)

There are also ecological benefits to sexual freedom as well.  Once the sexual revolution is fully complete, hypergamy has withered on the vine, and the "cost" of sex has thus been rightsized, maybe then the men of the sci-tech persuasion wouldn't feel the need (as much, at least) to keep raping the Earth to build more ever-larger phallus-extending "Towers of Babel" (i.e. frivolous, destructive, and/or inappropriate technologies) of mindless aggrandizement to impress Women just so they can get laid. (Even nerdy men tend to have one-track minds, lol.)  Maybe men of the warrior persuasion would be less likely to want to start wars or go to war, for the same reason.  And, God willing, maybe men in general in the rich countries would be far more willing to reduce their outsized "standard of living" (in terms of material and resource consumption) to one that the Earth can actually afford in the long run, and not one that requires multiple Earths worth of resources, for the same reason.  Conspicuous consumption as a thinly-veiled, plausibly-deniable mating ritual would thus be far more likely to desist.

And thus this whole silly game of "king of the hill" writ large will finally end, God willing.

Freud's Civilization And Its Discontents thesis has really long since jumped the shark!  It's not the 19th century anymore. 

(And to any angry incels reading this:  seriously, lose the entitlement attitude, yesterday.  It is really quite unbecoming.  Or to put in your very own lingo:  stop simping for Stacy, and give Becky a chance.  Let Stacy and Chad have each other.  And take a long, hard look in the mirror as well.  Think "internal locus of control, NOT external". Oh, and bonus points if you are fortunate enough to find an older Woman as a "mentor with benefits" willing to "show you the ropes".)

To reiterate from my previous article:

As Yuri Zavorotny himself says:

So here is our kill switch: we stop telling women when, where and with whom she is allowed to get involved romantically. Her body, her choice. And she is perfectly capable of making it a responsible choice, thank you very much.

And lest anyone misunderstand his words, read too much into it, or try to put words in his mouth:

NOTE: This is not to suggest that anyone should change their own behavior. We do whatever we are comfortable with. That, of course, includes staying monogamous, still a perfectly valid choice. But it can not be justified as a moral choice anymore -- rather, it is a personal preference.

Female sexuality (or more accurately, female-defined sexuality) is an extremely powerful force to be reckoned with, which is why the patriarchy has gone out of its way to suppress it (and/or supplant it with male-defined sexuality).  All the more reason to unleash it in like fashion, and put an end to the toxic "commodity model" of sexuality.

Until then, we will have 1) too many men chasing too few Women overall, AND simultaneously 2) too many Women chasing too few high-status men, with the latter having plenty of options and taking full advantage of such bargaining power.  And both low to average-status men, as well as Women in general, get screwed (and not in a good way!) in this stagflationary quagmire.  It's "musical chairs" both ways.  The song "Land of Confusion" by Genesis comes to mind.

So what are we waiting for?  Kill Switch Engage!  Let the planetary healing begin!

P.S.  If anyone still thinks that Jordan Peterson's idea of "enforced monogamy" is a real solution to the incel problem, well, I've got a nice bridge I'd like to sell you.  As for the jealousy problem, the best his "solution" can do is to "flatten the curve" of jealousy in the short run, while in the long run, that green-eyed monster will unfortunately still be there waiting to pop up and strike at any moment, and thus the area under the curve will be the same or even greater.  Better to deal with it head-on instead, and try one's best to sublimate it as much as possible into its antithesis, known as "compersion", or "frubbly" in the vernacular.  In other words, think "abundance mindset", not "scarcity mindset".  Liberty is like love:  the more you give, the more you get.  It's not pie.

And speaking of jealousy, for those Women who are worried about men choosing AI girlfriends and robots over them, worry not.  Remember, "it is the SPIRIT the quickens" (i.e. gives life), NOT the flesh.  And AI has neither.  Thus, any man who is even remotely worth your time and energy will not choose AI over you (unless you literally bring nothing at all to the table, but even then, they would choose another real-life Woman instead, not AI).  If anything, AI and robots would be good for keeping the misogynistic miscreant trolls happily occupied so they (hopefully) stay far away from real-life Women, and since they would be less likely to procreate, that problem is thus largely self-correcting in the long run.

ICYMI, Rasa Has More New YouTube Videos

ICYMI, the legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder has more YouTube videos on her channel.  Here are just the latest two of several, these ones specifically being on the topic of her latest spiritual journey (sadhana) to see God face to face, again:

And many more on her channel as well.

UPDATE:  Here is another one as well. A continuation of the same topic:

Enjoy 😊

Latest Book By Rasa, Featuring William and Pete, Now Published

ICYMI, the latest book by the legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder, and also featuring the great prophet and pundit William Bond and myself as well, has now been published on Lulu. The book, Can Female Power Save The Planet? Part 2, is now available to order on the Lulu website:

https://www.lulu.com/shop/william-bond-and-pete-jackson-and-rasa-von-werder/can-female-power-save-the-planet-part-2/paperback/product-57g95my.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Please be sure to check it out.

Is The Sexual Double Standard Finally Dead?

At least in Norway, it sure seems to be.

A Norwegian study from 2023 basically found that the age-old sexual double standard (which I thoroughly oppose, for the record) is currently either dead or nearly so, and sometimes even a bit reversed, at least in Norway and some other countries.  Basically, most people think others will judge them far more harshly than they actually do, so the belief in such is only because others believe it, and so on.  And that is true for both genders, surprisingly.  It is now a ghost and hangover of patriarchal history that is sustained only through "pluralistic ignorance" currently.  Looks like, far from being "natural" per evolutionary psychology, the double standard was socially constructed all along.

(Note that the largely null results of this study in terms of how people judge one another also imply as a corollary that so-called "hookup culture" is NOT really the "collective action trap" or zero-sum game that some reactionaries seem to think it is, at least not in sexually liberal societies.)

Of course, this is clearly not true in every country in the world, nor in every social circle.  But generally, in the more socially and sexually liberal countries like the Nordic countries, and even perhaps some parts of the historically stuffy Anglosphere such as the USA and UK to some extent, it is indeed trending that way, and should be a cause for celebration.  Let the planetary healing begin!

Happy Mothers Day!

First, I would like to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful Mothers out there.  You are, after all, literally the reason why the human race even exists at all, despite the fact that the work you do is grossly undervalued in so many way by our twisted capitalistic and patriarchal society.  In other words, your beautiful feminine energy is essentially what keeps the rest of us alive.  

Thank you.

I would also like to note and lament how, for all the shallow platitudes America likes to throw around about "Mothers and apple pie", we are still a nation that perpetually continues to screw over Mothers and pregnant Women in so many ways.  Years ago, the legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder shared with us a poignant and in-depth article from Vox (see here) with us that illustrates the various ways in which that is true.  This article should truly be food for thought indeed.  Our patriarchal and capitalistic society clearly has a "cult of motherhood", in which the "ideal" of motherhood is so highly vaunted, worshipped even, but in practice actual Mothers themselves get about as much genuine respect as Rodney Dangerfield.  Both during and after pregnancy, so many Mothers are routinely discriminated against, overworked, underpaid, and even outright criminalized in many cases.  And meanwhile, there is to this day a powerful faction of mostly male politicians that is doing everything in their power to deny Women their right to choose whether or not to get (or stay) pregnant in the first place.  Indeed, the rank hypocrisy of our utterly misogynistic, hypocritical, and pharisaical system is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Meanwhile, old Buckminster Fuller (who, not coincidentally, believed that Women should rule the world) must be spinning in his grave right now.  With today's technology and innovation, there is literally no legitimate reason why we as a society need "everybody and their mother" (literally!) to "work for a living" unless they really wanted to.  There are more than enough resources in the world for everyone on this planet to live like a millionaire, but the greedy oligarchs who control such resources apparently don't want to share.  Combined with the outdated scarcity mentality that men tend to favor (as opposed to the abundance mentality that Women tend to favor), those same oligarchs have also done everything in their power to sabotage any alternatives (i.e. free and renewable energy) to their own evil system that they force upon the rest of us.  So why make them even richer?

Additionally, just as we should "dispense with the absolutely specious notion that everybody needs to earn a living" (in Bucky's words), so too should we jettison the equally specious and outdated idea that "everybody must procreate" as though it were a civic duty.  Not only does today's technology make much useful human labor redundant, but the world is grossly overpopulated and will only get more so in the coming decades, and despite the abundance of the world's resources we are chewing through them like there is no tomorrow while destroying the planet.  And the main cause of that overpopulation is--wait for it--MEN.  Because they are the ones who, both historically and today, force, coerce, deceive, and/or brainwash Women to have kids that they otherwise would not want or are not yet ready for.  Men like to "get 'em while they're young" and then use them as serial breeding slaves, essentially, and all the euphemisms in the world do not change that fact.  It is really no coincidence that the two most effective (and ethical) ways to reduce overpopulation and excessively high birthrates are 1) female empowerment and 2) poverty reduction, while everything else is a mere sideshow.  Because when Women actually have a free and genuine choice on when or whether or not to reproduce, they usually make the right choices overall.  After all, they are the ones who have the most "skin in the game".  So let the planetary healing begin!

(And ICYMI, all of this applies a fortiori in the wake of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which is now fully in the rearview mirror and rapidly fading from view.  Mothers have clearly faced a whopping triple burden thanks to all the lockdowns, school closures, job losses and stuff like that, followed by persistent shortages in, and high prices for, childcare availability after reopening.  Don't ever let the powers that be try to gaslight anyone into thinking otherwise, or memory-hole it.)

MAMASTE

Reactionaries Coming Full Circle

At this moment in history, it is safe to say that we are currently living through a counterrevolution (both sexual and otherwise) of epic proportions.  Most of the "conservatives" of today are actually reactionaries, and it goes way beyond Trump.  The overturning of Roe v. Wade was just the beginning, alas.  In 2021, and perhaps even earlier, some pundits and commentators were already predicting this trend, but now it is becoming increasingly obvious.  And if left unchecked, it will very easily lead to Margaret Atwood's worst nightmare.  Slopes are MUCH slippery than they appear.

Read this piece of writing, for example.  It looks like it could easily have been written by any one of today's increasingly regressive reactionaries, but it was actually written by a famous pastor, theologian, and Confederate soldier and chaplain in 1871. The similarities are truly uncanny!

People often say that voting doesn't matter since all elections are rigged. While they are rigged to one degree or another, the fact remains that if enough people vote, it becomes that much HARDER to rig.  If nothing else, voting is one of many ways to put positive energy and vibrations out into the Universe.  Keep that in mind this (and every) November. 

Still More New Videos From Guru Rasa Von Werder

Here are some more new videos from the legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder:

Happy May Day / Beltaine, Everyone!

Today, May 1, is May Day, also known as the Celtic and Neopagan holiday of Beltane.  It has a rather long history and symbolizes many things, but it is most notably a day to honor the Goddess, which includes the Goddess in every Woman.  Elephant Journal describes it rather nicely in their article a few years ago about the holiday:

Halfway between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice falls May Day—the original holiday of sex and abundance.  If you’ve ever wondered, as I used to, what the hype was around May Day—as in why I always heard about ‘May Day’ but never seemed to witness anyone actually celebrating, here’s why. It’s deeply rooted in pagan nature and hedonistic sex worship and celebrations. As Christianity spread and the Church extended its reach and control, these pagan and Divine worships of masculine and feminine equality had to be forgotten.  May 1st is Beltane in the Northern Hemisphere, the day we honor nature’s oldest love story.  And we all love a love story.   This is a holiday of union, between man and woman, God and Goddess—a celebration of the divine balance in the union of Divine masculine and feminine. Because once upon a time, the two were honored as sacred parts of the one Divine balance.

Indeed.  And among Neopagans today, Beltane is (usually) primarily about honoring the Divine Feminine, where as Samhain (October 31) is primarily about honoring the Divine Masculine.  Thus, I propose that we shift International Women's Day (currently March 8) to May 1, and shift International Men's Day (November 19, coinciding with World Toilet Day, lol) to November 1.  The latter, of course, should not be seen as a day to celebrate men, but rather as a day of atonement for the evil that men do, and have done for thousands of years now--a sort of all-male equivalent of the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur to essentially apologize to the Divine Feminine.  

Honestly, it's the least us fellas could do.

Another holiday I would like to propose is Waterloo Day, on April 30, the day before May Day.  That would symbolize the (hopefully) eventual surrender of men to Women, which I had once personally predicted will occur on April 30, 2030--the end of an error.  (Current events have made me far less sanguine about that prediction,  and it is most likely much farther away than 2030, at least 2040 or 2050.)  Just as that day symbolizes the end of the "darker half" of the year and the beginning of the "lighter half", so too shall it symbolize the end of the 7000 years of darkness known as patriarchy and the beginning of the new earthly paradise known as Matriarchy.  Note too that April 30, 1975 was also when the Vietnam War officially ended, and also in 1945 when a certain little painter from Austria did the world a huge favor by offing himself.  And the song "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath was originally going to be called "Walpurgisnacht", which is another name for May Eve, or April 30.  One idea for how to celebrate Waterloo Day would be for the men to get up on a platform or podium, give a concession speech as though stepping down from power, and have all the Women heckle and throw rotten tomatoes at them.  

It also happens to be International Worker's Day as well.  Workers of the world.....relax.

More New Videos From Guru Rasa Von Werder

ICYMI, more new videos from the legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder:

ICYMI, Guru Rasa Von Werder Is Back On YouTube

The legendary Guru Rasa Von Werder is now back on YouTube again.  Here are the first and second videos from her new series:

First video:  "Introduction to the new Podcast: Guru Rasa Von Werder preaches & teaches what she knows about God"  https://youtu.be/CXQAh5RO2Ls?si=AmY-7M-2gQ6F4T3P

Second video: "Who & What Is God? Guru Rasa Has Finally Solved the Mystery" https://youtu.be/PFqKXCWwLcQ?si=_lYunocJlgN3DMGs

And here is the link to her YouTube channel in general:  

https://youtube.com/@KellieEverts--conductsNightTra?si=j1KJjCi1ghpe2-FH

Enjoy, and don't forget to subscribe!

UPDATE:  Rasa also has posted a third video in the series as well, about, among other things, the crucial differences between the shady "Prosperity" preachers and false prophets versus the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ:  https://youtu.be/sTJWau2ED-M?si=ukQWMW8Fo0nQb-50

And a fourth one as well, also about those shady preachers and false prophets and their false doctrines:  https://youtu.be/qw_5-iCmO0g?si=YBV9XJZ7sCbTZfZn

Why Telling Women "Just Get Married" Is The Most Tone-Deaf Advice There Is

An excellent article by Lyz Lenz was written recently as a rebuttal to that famous viral essay on marriage published in The Cut.  Lenz points out that, contrary to what some believe, marriage is NOT a panacea, nor is it really a way for Women to opt out of capitalism.  And telling Women to "just get married" as the go-to solution is utterly tone-deaf and really misses the mark by a very large margin.

The idea of "traditional" marriage as some sort of a "benevolent protectorate" for Women is really quite ironic, as under patriarchy it (like patriarchy itself) has historically been more like a protection RACKET.  That is literally why the "institution of marriage" was invented in the first place, for men to control Women (and not the other way around, as men often like to claim when they think they are being clever).  And while times have indeed changed, the fact remains that today's "kinder, gentler patriarchy" is still patriarchy, and can still be a trap for Women (even if it can sometimes backfire on men as well, granted).  That is not to say that marriage cannot ever be repurposed by Women for their own benefit, of course.  But the specious notion that it is somehow the end-all-be-all or sine qua non for everyone is woefully outdated and outmoded at best.  

In other words, as Lenz says, "gilded cages are still cages".  And as for it being a means of opting out of capitalism, that is also not possible as long as patriarchy and capitalism remain joined at the hip (as they have been for centuries). 

Anyway, Lenz does a better job explaining it than I ever could, so be sure to read her article. 

Why We Still Need A Universal Basic Income Yesterday (Updated Re-Post)

I have repeatedly noted before why any serious proposal for a pragmatic protopia would require some sort of unconditional Universal Basic Income (UBI) Guarantee for all.  (Note that the "U" itself also stands for "Unconditional", which is VERY important.)  At least as long as we still have a monetary system, of course, and it will be quite some time before money can be phased out completely.  And in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdowns, and their grisly social and economic aftermath, it is more crucial now than ever before, and will be for quite some time as well.  

To wit:

1. First and foremost, "It's payback time for Women".  Recently, a Woman named Judith Shulevitz wrote an op-ed titled thusly, arguing in favor of a Universal Basic Income Guarantee for all.  Her feminist argument for a UBI, which I agree 100% with, was that such a thing would provide long-overdue compensation for Women's unpaid work (i.e. housework and caregiving) that society currently takes for granted and considers a "free resource" for the taking.  As the saying goes, there are two kinds of work that Women do:  underpaid, and unpaid.  While that is true for some men as well, it is overwhelmingly true for Women.  Thus, her argument makes a great deal of sense overall, and I agree.  It is indeed LONG overdue.  And it applies a fortiori now in light of the fact that Women got the worst deal of all from the lockdown-induced job losses, the often triple burden for Mothers at home, the gnawing forced isolation from the support system of other Women, and the increased exposure to domestic violence during lockdown.  And they are still continuing (and will continue) to suffer from the aftermath long after the lockdowns are behind us.  Lockdown is patriarchy on crack, basically.
2. Men are becoming increasingly redundant in the long run due to technology, globalization, and the overall ascendancy of Women.  When men are no longer artificially propped up, they will fall--and the bigger they are, the harder they fall.  And this will only increase in the near future.  This is a potential ticking time-bomb that must be defused sooner rather than later.  Men become extremely dangerous creatures under either of two conditions:  1) when they have too much power relative to Women, and/or 2) when they are desperate for money.  Ever see the 1996 film Fargo? Indeed, a Universal Basic Income is one of the best ways to tackle the second one.  Again, it only applies a fortiori now.
3. A UBI is far more efficient in theory and practice than much of what currently passes for a social safety net these days, and would have far less bureaucracy.  No means tests, no discrimination, no playing God.  It's simply a basic human right, period.  And it would be far less costly in the long run.
4. As Buckminster Fuller famously noted, there are more than enough resources for everyone to live like a millionaire with today's technology.  And he said this back in the 1970s, mind you.  And the specious notion that everybody and their mother must "work for a living" is not only outdated, but is also seriously classist, ableist, and ageist, and by extension indirectly sexist and racist as well.  The fact that human beings, unlike literally every other species on Earth, somehow must PAY to merely LIVE on the planet on which they were born is now totally contrived and socially constructed, and is in fact an egregious Crime Against Nature.
5. Poverty is a razor-sharp, double-edged sword, spiritually speaking. Being attached to riches is clearly counter to spirituality, but then again, so is being attached to poverty. Either way, it's the *attachment* that is the problem.  And poverty today is largely if not entirely man-made via artificial scarcity.
6. We would all be better off on balance, spiritually and otherwise, if material poverty were eradicated--and a UBI is the most efficient way to do so. As William Bond (and others) noted, with today's technology that is certainly doable, but for the greed of the oligarchs at the top who control the system. And that in turn is a result of patriarchy, given how men tend to see war and scarcity as inevitable, so they create a self-fulfilling prophecy as a result.
7. With an unconditional UBI instead of means testing or other conditions, gone will be the perverse incentives that exist under the current system that trap too many people in poverty today.
8. Negative liberty and positive liberty are NOT opposites, but rather two sides of the same coin.  Indeed, one cannot be truly free if one is systematically denied the basic necessities of life.  And truly no one is free when others are oppressed in any way. 
9. Inequality, at least when it is as extreme as it is today, is profoundly toxic to society and makes the looming problems/crises of climate change and ecological overshoot that much more difficult to solve.  This is over and above the effects of poverty alone.  And a UBI can dramatically reduce both socio-economic inequality as well as absolute material poverty.  (And when funded by an Alaska-style tax on fossil fuels, it can also double as a Steve Stoft or James Hansen-style carbon tax-and-dividend as well.)
10. We consume and waste a ludicrous amount of (mostly fossil-fuel) energy in the so-called "developed" world, and much of that wasteful consumption can be curtailed simply by making it so no one has to "work for a living" unless one really wants to.  Just think of all the energy spent (and commuting to and from) unnecessary work at a job you hate, to buy stuff you don't need, to impress people you don't even like.  A UBI could thus greatly reduce our carbon and overall ecological footprint in the long run.
11. And finally, one should keep in mind that, as Carol Brouillet has noted, the literal and original meaning of the word "community" is "free sharing of gifts".  What we currently have now under patriarchy/kyriarchy is more of a pseudo-community in that regard.   And that needs to change. Yesterday.  The exchange economy of capitalist patriarchy has failed us, and we need to rediscover and re-create the gift economy in its place.  A UBI will make the transition much smoother and more peaceful that it would otherwise be.  (Some ultra-purist radfems may disagree of course, but they are in the minority even among the radical feminist community.)

Perhaps Bucky's other prediction, that Women would take over the world, is a prerequisite for his vision to be fulfilled?   Honestly, it can't happen soon enough!

In other words, it would be a win-win-win situation for literally everyone but the 0.01% oligarchs at the top.  So why aren't we doing this yesterday?  Because that would make far too much sense.  To quote Buckminster Fuller:

We should do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian Darwinian theory he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for inspectors to inspect inspectors. The true business of people should be to go back to school and think about whatever it was they were thinking about before somebody came along and told them they had to earn a living.

In fact, one could argue that two of the most toxic, outdated, and specious ideas ever conceived by the patriarchy (aside from the central doctrine of male supremacy itself and the entire "dominator" model, of course) are that "everybody and their mother must work for a living" and that "everybody must procreate."  And both are now literally KILLING this very planet that gives us life.  Thus, on balance, a Universal Basic Income Guarantee for all is a good idea regardless.  Again, it's a win-win-win situation for everyone but the oligarchs.  And the only real arguments against it are paternalistic and/or sadistic ones, which really means there are no good arguments against it in a free and civilized society.  

(See also the TSAP's Q&A page, "Why UBI".)

Of course, for UBI to work properly, it would have to be totally unconditional with NO strings attached, period.  The Davos gang's (per)version of same, in contrast, will have plenty of strings attached, and will likely utilize Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) instead of cash, and tied to CCP-style "social credit scoring", and a critical mass of people will fall for it absent any alternative, so we need to beat them to it with a genuine cash UBI with no strings attached BEFORE they do it.  They will NOT own us, and they will NOT be happy!

So what are we waiting for? Let the planetary healing begin!

(Mic drop)