Oct 7– From The Journal of John Woolman (1774)

 Woolworths saves you from math.

Oct 7– From The Journal of John Woolman (1774)

Summary: Woolman regrets participating in the slave trade while younger, and works to make up for it.

Commentary: 

 “To trade freely with oppressors without laboring to dissuade them from such unkind treatment, and to seek for gain by such traffic, tends, I believe, to make them more easy respecting their conduct than they would be if the cause of universal righteousness was humbly and firmly attended to by those in general with whom they have commerce; and that complaint of the Lord by his prophet, “They have strengthened the hands of the wicked,” hath very often revived in my mind.

    I wonder how much you have to resist "humbly but firmly" for it to be effective? Humbly implies that firebombing Walmart is probably out, but is just avoiding shopping there enough? Picketing? Lobbying against letting them get zoned or something? We obviously live in a society with a lot of immoral business, but it's hard as a regular person to figure out how to best work to improve things while living your own life (besides the moral issue of how far you can go to dissuade bad businesses and still be good). 

    I do appreciate that Woolman looks down the supply chain. He doesn't just avoid patronaging businesses he finds immoral directly, but avoid any dealings that he perceives as coming from unfair treatment of the workers down the line. Again, not sure how practical that is for your average first world person today. I'm pretty sure this computer is made of slavery, along with my router, and so on and so forth.

Oct 6– Reflections On The Revolution In France by Edmund Burke (1790)

 This is the strangest video I've posted on this blog.

Oct 6– Reflections On The Revolution In France by Edmund Burke (1790)

Summary: Revolution bad! Subservience good!

Commentary: I'm surprised we don't hear more of Burke in conservative circles today. He's sometimes regarded as a "father of conservatism" but he's not quoted every 30 seconds like the Founding Fathers are in the US, or even Tocqueville. You could change like 3 words in some of these sentences, and make them exactly like how conservatives describe those godless socialists today.

This is the third or fourth selection from this piece, and my main takeaway is still the same. Burke is really upset about the fall of the monarchy. Not that the aristocracy were brutally murdered (he's upset about it, to be sure, but it's not the primary concern) or that such brutality was the method of a good cause (the ends can't justify the means if the ends are bad). He really wants us to still have kings and queens and such, and the world is a worse place for all this new fangled democracy, republicanism, etc.

 But the age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever. Never, never more, shall we behold that generous loyalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, that dignified obedience, that subordination of the heart, which kept alive, even in servitude itself, the spirit of an exalted freedom! 

Dude is absolutely committed to proper rank, roles for the sexes, etc. 100% on board with servitude=freedom and such nonsense.

My initial assumption was that he was an important noble just trying to keep his place, but he doesn't even look that important (from my admittedly light research). He appears to have had to actually earn a living (as a writer) before being elected to Parliament (in his 30s). His family were nobility, but not super high up, and appears to have been on their way to not even that in his lifetime.

Oct 5– “University Life at Athens” by John Henry Newman (1852)

 Mars University

Oct 5– “University Life at Athens” by John Henry Newman (1852)

Summary: A lot of people went to university at Athens.

Commentary: After admitting that his previous chapter got away from him Newman rambles on for several pages about historical figures who went to school in Athens. He uses a lot of references and metaphors that centuries ahead of the period he's writing about to questionable effect. Beyond that, there's some fairly generic, "oh the university was so perfect" back then, assuming that ancient Greek students didn't have any interests outside of listening to rhetoric 23.5 hours a day, and the ancient philosophers so perfect. "No jealousy", everyone honorable, etc. This kind of nostalgia for a time he didn't even live in is as pathetic as it is delusionally idiotic.

Oct 4– From “Demosthenes” from Plutarch’s Lives translated by Dryden and revised by Arthur Hugh Clough

Accurate reproduction of Athenian reactions to Demosthenes

Oct 4– From “Demosthenes” from Plutarch’s Lives translated by Dryden and revised by Arthur Hugh Clough

Summary: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance (also, sick burns)

Commentary: That's really the main thing here. The first half or so is all about how prepared Demosthenes would be, and how careful he was with his words.

 And he would affirm, that it was the more truly popular act to use premeditation, such preparation being a kind of respect to the people; whereas, to slight and take no care how what is said is likely to be received by the audience, shows something of an oligarchical temper, and is the course of one that intends force rather than persuasion. 

And a bunch of insults.

The second half is more standard Plutarch political/history summary. 

Oct 3– From "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer (~1400)

It sounds like this. Maybe. Who knows if this random Youtuber is reading correctly.

Oct 3– From The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (~1400)

Summary: A bunch of people are going on a pilgrimage.

Commentary: This one is kind of interesting since it's right on the verge between readable "English" and not. No one expects you to read Beowulf without translation, but we got the straight Middle English for CT when I was in high school. I haven't looked at it since, so I was a little wary today. It's really not too bad. You have to read it out loud, but it's fairly parsable, and has good flow: "Of his complexioun he was sangwyn," looks weird, but it reads easy enough aloud. Harvard has the whole thing updated here. I wonder if this is usually assigned "translated" or not in schools these days.

I'll take it over BUURRRNNNSSS for sure.

Oct 2– From "The Voyage of The Beagle" by Charles Darwin (1839)

 War never changes.

Oct 2– From The Voyage of The Beagle by Charles Darwin (1839)

Summary: Darwin talks about exterminating the Indians.

Commentary: This could've been *insert any time period here* about *insert slightly different groups of people here*.

 "I however struck him with my sabre to the ground, and then got off my horse, and cut his throat with my knife." This is a dark picture; but how much more shocking is the unquestionable fact, that all the women who appear above twenty years old are massacred in cold blood! When I exclaimed that this appeared rather inhuman, he answered, "Why, what can be done? they breed so!"

Every one here is fully convinced that this is the most just war, because it is against barbarians. Who would believe in this age that such atrocities could be committed in a Christian civilized country? The children of the Indians are saved, to be sold or given away as servants, or rather slaves for as long a time as the owners can make them believe themselves slaves; but I believe in their treatment there is little to complain of.

Different times and places might have different opinions on who it's okay to slaughter while stealing their children for reeducation, but it still happens. Darwin is refreshingly frank about it. I think a lot of people find it depressing when something like this comes up as a thing that happened a almost 200 years ago and still does today, but I'm more optimistic. There's less of it today at least. And seeing all the shit humanity survived over hundreds or thousands of years makes me feel better about us making it through the next hundred years.

Also, this is literally a thing in Afghanistan: "I imagine the summer is chosen as the time for the main attack, because the plains are then without water, and the Indians can only travel in particular directions."

Oct 1– From "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli (1532) translated by Ninian Hill Thomson

 The Prince of All Saiyans

Oct 1– From The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (1532) translated by Ninian Hill Thomson

Summary: Peace through strength. 

Commentary: Aside from a quick aside about religious leadership, this is mostly about the value of a loyal standing army to keeping yourself in power and your kingdom safe. Not really a ton to say, but I continue to appreciate Machiavelli's use of concrete historic examples to illustrate his points.