Holas! This is Tom Luongo and for those that remember, in the before-time, I used to be pretty good at this bloging thing. I did so between 2003 and 2008 across two blogs which are now no longer with us[1] for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I lost interest in talking in public. [2]
I’ve returned to this gig for the simple reason that sometimes I have something to say that’s longer than a tweet and because social media should only be used for nothing more than occasional puppy or goat videos and Unicorns riding rainbows.
Unfortunately, in 2022, it’s become the mind virus of the century.
Blogs are just a better tool.
As for the bio, well, let’s try this one.
I am a Former Research Chemist, Amateur Dairy Goat Farmer, Anarcho-Libertarian and Obstreperous Austrian Economist whose work can be found on sites like Zerohedge, Lewrockwell.com, Bitcoin Magazine and Newsmax Media.
I have a fantastic wife of 30 years and a teenage daughter, both of whom humble me with affection and respect I feel is now only mostly undeserved.
Professionally, I’ve spent a lot of my waking hours inside of various analytic laboratories testing your water and soil for contaminants, or in University Research assessing how you process arsenic, where it is found and how to get rid of it. I’ve watched an industry be created by government fiat and destroyed in the same manner.
I ran for Florida House once and got 2.7% of the vote on Guy Fawlkes Day. I’ve since grown up a lot.
Then I spent 5+ years solving the puzzle of an electroless Nickel-Boron coating [3] that has intriguing wear-resistance properties. Too bad the coating was better than the company’s business model.
After that imploded, I spent a couple of years as someone else ghost writing more opinions on stocks and markets than any one person should have in a handful of lifetimes. The pay sucked, so quantity, folks, was key.
But that eventually led to the present, which I will get back to presenting in the glory of simple text. Because, on the internet, you are what you type.
Today, I am the Owner of the this blog and publisher of the Gold Goats ‘n Guns Newsletter in which I attempt to connect the false narratives of geopolitics to viable long-term investment theses.
I don’t believe the man-made global warming story is worth the electrons the peer-reviewed literature is disseminated on. Those are data sets so dirty I wouldn’t feed them to my dogs.
As for politics, my position is well-known through my past writings at Lewrockwell.com, Seeking Alpha and the aforementioned erstwhile blogs. To sum up:
Individuals are the only people with enough knowledge about their own lives to have a hope of making the right decisions for themselves and no amount of guidance or central planning can help that process along.
All interactions between people should be peaceful and voluntary, free from the coercive power of the state in all its guises.
I built the house I live in.
As for religion, well, I was raised Catholic (what person of Italian descent wasn’t) but have no current practicing religion, except maybe Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. What I know is that I’m smart enough to realize that I don’t know enough about the things I think I know to have any opinion about that which I truly have no clue about.
I raise some goats and milk them.
In short, I’m a libertarian who distrusts all human organizations larger than a two-handed game of poker. [4]
I love hockey, my family, the art of drumming, board games of all kinds, a logically consistent argument, and the beauty of spontaneous order…. not necessarily in that order.
I own a few guns.
Ta,
[1] – Being Thomas Luongo (palmereldritch.blogspot.com) and Sabre Rattling (archives gone due to Hard Drive failure, but it used to be hosted by The Sabres Report)
[2] – That especially includes writing to make other people money, cf. http://www.fanhouse.com/staff/tom-luongo/
[3] – and potential derivatives.
[4] – thanks to Dr. Butler Shaffer for that lil’ ditty, I use it daily.
Hi Tom.
Found my way over here from TF’s place, and am an avid Lew Rockwell follower.
Coincindentally, I grew up in greater metropolitan Gainesville Florida, and in my early career was a rocket scientist at the Kennedy Space Center. I left the program because I simply couldn’t stand another minute in a Government operation. All the red tape, risk aversion, and lack of indivudual thinking got to be too much. It was like doing your taxes for 8 hours a day – yikes.
Anyway, I live in the midwest now, and have been reading up on backyard chickens (not up to goats yet), and appear to be a couple of years behind you in the self-sufficiency evolution.
Regards, and enjoy north FL – it’ll always be home to me (I even have a drawl to prove it!).
Tom,
We need a contest to rename Glacier National Park. The glaciers are all gone in 3 years, 5 maybe. How about, “Old Baldy .N.P”, or “Black Rocks N.P.” What do you suggest?
It’s amazing that the robins around here are smarter than university professors. Mr. Robin stays here in Boston
year-round now. Hey, why fly all the way to the Carolinas when you can tough out a few really cold days and save a lot of energy.
Dick Terry
No question the planet has warmed, but the question is why? I don’t buy the CO2 argument. Cui bono, baby?
The climate changes. So does the sun. We are silly and hubristic to believe it is all our doing.
I live on the Olympic peninsula where I point out granite boulders that were deposited by the continental ice sheet about 12,000 years ago. I tell people, yes, the earth has warmed.
I forgot to add that the boulders are 3500ft above sea level.
It’s been 4 years. Want to grab some coconuts and mangos with me at Glacier?
It’s been 4 years. What to go grab some coconuts and mangos with me at Glacier?
So what name did you eventually come up with?
Tom – I just subscribed to your newsletter. The domain is @tcacap.com. Please drop me a line. I would like to connect. Also, for reference, my bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaseday
Will do
Hello Mr. Luongo,
I started listening to you fairly recently and became especially interested in The Great Reset you often mention because it aligns with what I see and fear all around me. I was hoping to find an email to reach out to you but there isn’t one and I Am not on social media, so this will have to suffice.
I have been diving deep into this Klaus Schwab fellow. I became especially concerned when I found out he was the man who started and runs the WEF. Anywho, I came across this article and wanted to ask you something. I am not a libertarian and on certain things I am in strong disagreement with the ideology. Primarily in the deference given by many libertarians to corporations(possibly excluding yourself).
My question is, does Libertarianism and it’s concern toward government tyranny but near total lack of concern for corporate power enable The Great Reset and make it easier for the Klaus Schwab’s of the world to get exactly what they want? After reading this article it became a concern of mine. Would love to hear your thoughts.
I don’t want to live as a slave in some mega city. I thrive in nature and rural environments. They cannot win. They must not win. Not to get all biblical on things, but this great reset business comes off as incredibly satanic.
http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2020/10/14/klaus-schwab-and-his-great-fascist-reset-an-overview/
Thanks!
-Alexander
Alexander,
Thank you for the thoughtful introduction and question. It is one that requires a lot more than a simple response here in a comment.
I will address this specifically and in more detail as I go along. But, in short, no a true free market doesn’t tend towards monopolistic behavior of the Klaus Schwab’s of the world. Decentralization, which we champion, also comes with it full responsibility for actions taken…
I can’t cover all of that here. But, I point you towards all the great work at http://www.mises.org by many people who have covered these ideas in detail. And I will follow up on my recent post … About Two Years, to cover what you are asking. It’s not an easy subject with a simple answer that would satisfy…. but that answer is there if you listen carefully.
Be well!
Hi Tom,
I get my fill from your thoughts and guests weekly.
Was listening to Uberboyo today.
Great conversation.
Regarding us as yeast, it triggered an idea in me I’d like to share with you in private.
Adds to your questions of human existence and motives and the mechanism that blocks a person from being at “cause” (which takes inner freedom) the result of which leads to continued corruption of behaviour that is irrational.
Stacey G
Dm me on Twitter. TFL1728
Hello. Just found your interesting site this morning. You several times refer to “The Davos Crowd” in the articles I read. May I suggest that, for clarity and new visitors to the site, you post an article that explains what the Davos Crowd is as you use the phrase. Maybe something along the lines of transnational progressivism? Thanks.
Mr Robinson, thank you for reading and the suggestion. I have used that phrase for close to three years now… and posts that use it are all tagged “The Davos Crowd” for a reason. It is simply the transnational oligarchs on all sides of the Atlantic who think they run the world… and right now are attempting to make that a reality. I will remember to include that phrase here and there in upcoming posts.
Tom, it seems that you’ve ignored a certain entity that actually does settle trades in gold. It’s called the BIS; maybe you’ve heard of it? And gold/silver should never be converted into dollars since the purchase of them is the only way to extract wealth from the slave system. Every other currency can be tracked/taxed/seized, and metal (in hand) is unique in that it can actually be traded for goods/services anywhere in the world. Your article on Zerohedge ignores the most important aspects of metal as a store of value. I’m interested in your article that addresses these issues. Thanks
Robert,
I know all about the BIS and it moving gold around the settle imbalances between countries does not disprove my thesis that at this point in time Bitcoin is in the process of replacing gold as The premier store of value for the retail investor
Look this isn’t a step function. Gold is still important but its role as a hedge against government malfeasance has peaked and it will be a slow steady decline from here.
The same way that it has been for silver over the past 50-60 years as the US dishoarded its reserves
Hi Tom, I read your articles on Lew Rockwell and decided to find this website and explore. I listened to episode 60 tonight and was wondering what are your thoughts on S&P Dow Jones Indices launching cryptocurrency indices in 2021? https://www.reuters.com/article/cryptocurrencies-sp/sp-dow-jones-indices-to-launch-cryptocurrency-indexes-in-2021-idUKL1N2IJ0TG
For some extra data points that you need to sharpen your analysis, read the Saker Blog. Being exposed to the writings there might help you become more realistic and credible. You can start with this article
http://thesaker.is/the-deep-state-wins-the-2020-presidential-election-usa-rip/
You might want to check out podcast #20 where The Saker and I sat down for an hour plus chat. Don’t walk into a conversation and assume you know more than the person you are conversing with
I’d venture I’ve been reading him as long if not longer than you have.
Moreover, what can The Saker teach me about my own life, since you replied to my bio?
Wow what a condescending and presumptuous ass you are. Be better.
Dear Mr. Luongo, just today I came upon your site and decided to start at your bio. Impressive, and I’m sure to stay to read and learn. However I have one concern, which I hope you don’t take the wrong way. There is one line in the bio that I don’t get.
“After another ridiculously long hiatus I think it’s time I take the advice of people I read regularly and work comma dammit.”
Sorry but maybe the “comma dammit” is an inside joke? If so it went over my head.
Respectfully, -S
Tom, you’re very bright and articulate. So much so, you’re almost hard to read. I can’t tell if that’s because I’m just dumb or used to reading other low intellects. Anyway, glad you’re back at the blog. I know I will enjoy your writings! Stay safe.
Thank you W.
“I’ve followed Putin closely for nearly a decade now. I got the feeling that if he was speaking to a college-level political science class and not a convocation of some of the most powerful people in the world [he would been laughed in their faces]”
I recommend switching from patreon to subscribe star and if you need a merchant account to receive payments directly connectpay.us is the best payments company.
Thank you for the connectpay idea! I’ll put it in the ‘options’ list for the future. I know this issue will come to a head one day, I’m just not ready to ‘borrow trouble’ as I said in the article. As for subscribestar, I have reservations about them. And for what I do, I expect Patreon’s biggest issue is with them turning off potential fans from subscribing to me. I understand that cost.
================================================
Forwarded Message :
Sean Hannity, Doxxing is not a
constitutionally protected form
of “protest”—because of the
DOMESTIC Tranquility clause
(( know any conservative lawyers
willing to bring/argue that case ? )) :
Note:
The brief WELFARE clause in the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution
had been used by Marxian libertines/“progressives”/and ACLU teams
in the Democrat Party to create this civilization-wrecking W E L F A R E
system—while the “domestic tranquility” clause has been IGNORED—
because it refutes/denies the constitutionality of all of the anti-WHITE
and anti-CHRISTIAN social-engineering of the 1960s and thereafter.
Kennedy’s Great Lie began
the immigration crisis, in 1965
(( see it below these FBI
statistics )) :
FBI Statistics on Crime :
Read/Study below FBI-related article, about the hidden statistics on black-on-white crime in America (( MSM refuse to report the awful impact that black people have had on white civil society in the U.S. —for DECADES ! )) :
“Paul Sheehan, an Australian reporter, dug out the following Information for an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, May 2, 1995.
“Sheehan based his statistics on crime data compiled by the FBI and partially reported each year in The FBI Uniform Crime Report . These reports can be researched at the FBI’s website, http://www.fbi.gov.
“Since the FBI doesn’t distinguish between Hispanics and whites, Sheehan’s statistics don’t adequately reflect the black-on-white crime situation.
“Only about 10-15% of Hispanics are white, with the rest being Indian or a mixture of white, American Indian, and blacks.
“Hispanic crime rates are almost as high as black crime rates. This means that the data Sheehan compiled on inter-racial crime is probably grossly understated since a considerable portion of the ‘white against black’ crime actually is Hispanic-against-black crime. (Information about this aspect of inter-racial crime will be presented in a related article.)
“Here is the information Sheehan uncovered in his analysis of the FBI’s crime reports:
-“Blacks murder more than 1,600 whites each year.
-“Blacks murder whites at 18 times the rate whites murder blacks.
-“Blacks murdered, raped, robbed, or assaulted about one million whites In 1992.
-“In the last 30 years, blacks committed 170 million violent and non-violent crimes against whites.
-“Blacks under 18 are more than 12 times more likely to be arrested for murder than whites under 18.
-“About 90% of the victims of interracial crimes are white.
-“Blacks commit 7.5 times more violent interracial crimes than whites, although whites outnumber blacks by 7 to 1.
-“On a per capita basis, blacks commit 50 times more violent crime than whites.
-“Black neighborhoods are 35 times more violent than white neighborhoods.
-“Of the 27 million nonviolent robberies in 1992, 31% (8.4 million) were committed by blacks against whites. Less than 2% were committed by whites against blacks.
-“Of the 6.6 million violent crimes, 20% (1.3 million) were interracial.
-“Of the 1.3 million interracial violent crimes, 90% (1.17 million) are black against white.
-“In the past 20 years, violent crime increased four times faster than the population.
-“In the last 30 years (1964-94), more than 45,000 people were killed in interracial murders compared to 38,000 killed in Korea and 58,000 in Vietnam.
-“Sheehan commented that the contents of his article could not possibly be published or discussed in the U.S. mainstream media.
-“In the last 50 years, the white part of the American population has declined from 90% to 72%.
The U.S. now has about 33 million blacks and 25 million Hispanics (legal and illegal). By the year 2050, American whites will be a minority, just 49%. By 2100, whites will be 25% of the population.
-“What will life for whites be like in the future?”
-end of report
=======================
Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
Commenting on the passage of his
(( his Commie Handlers’ )) Immigration
Act of 1965–His (broken) P R O M I S E :
“Out of deference to the critics, I want to comment on … what the bill
will not do. First, our cities will not be flooded with a million immigrants
annually. Under the proposed bill, the present level of immigration
remains substantially the same … Secondly, the ethnic mix of this country
will not be upset … Contrary to the charges in some quarters, S.500 will
not inundate America with immigrants from any one country or area, or
the most populated and economically deprived nations of Africa and Asia.
In the final analysis, the ethnic pattern of immigration under the proposed
measure is not expected to change as sharply as the critics seem to think.
Thirdly, the bill will not permit the entry of subversive persons, criminals,
illiterates, or those with contagious disease or serious mental illness. As I
noted a moment ago, no immigrant visa will be issued to a person who is
likely to become a public charge … the charges I have mentioned are
highly emotional, irrational, and with little foundation in fact. They are out
of line with the obligations of responsible citizenship. They breed hate of
our heritage.” (Senate Part 1, Book 1, pp. 1-3)
-Rick
=========================
Read Aristotle’s warnings:
On race-mixing:
“Another cause of revolution is difference of races which do not at once acquire a common spirit; for a state is not the growth of a day, any more than it grows out of a multitude brought together by accident. Hence the reception of strangers in colonies, either at the time of their foundation or afterwards, has generally produced revolution.”
On bad democracy:
“[T]he last form of democracy . . . [in which] all share alike . . . [and] the leaders have been in the habit of including as many as they can, and making citizens not only of those who are legitimate, but even of the illegitimate . . . This is the way in which demagogues proceed. Whereas the right thing would be to make no more additions when the numbers of the commonality exceeds that of the notables and of the middle class,—beyond this not to go . . . [these] measures taken by tyrants appear all of them to be democratic. Such a government will have many supporters, for most persons would rather live in a disorderly than in a sober manner.”
On how to install bad democracy:
”Fresh tribes and brotherhoods should be established; the private rites of families should be restricted and converted into public ones; in short, every contrivance should be adopted which will mingle the citizens with one another and get rid of old connections.”
-Rick
==========================================
Whenever a minority threatens a majority the majority exterminates the minority.
I like your writing style. In the immortal words of Arnold, I’ll be back.
Tom, the upcoming IMF SDR QE ($650B) looks like very real Great Reset (Klaus Schwab) maneuvering aimed to kill us all. We must keep an eye on this!
Seems right up your alley. Can you focus one of your next Patreon GGG Reports on it?
Thanks!
Joe Loiacono
Ellicott City, MD
Yes joe its something i saw yesterday and will cover
I keep reading articles of yours in S.O.T.T. and Zero Hedge. Insightful and compelling.
I read that you like drumming. I’d be interested in your take on an anti-war song I wrote and produced in six language versions: English, Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, Hindi and German. All translations and vocals are done by native speakers of each language. I wrote it in 1983 in English and did the six-pack just after 9/11. Also on Spotify, Deezer, etc.
You can find it here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo5K6Rcco4AIbl4wSODV4Xg
Soon to be launched properly online…
Steve D’Zmura
about your recent post about north-stream2 : so Mises explained that we need free market to determine fair prices…(and therefore communism does not work) but Oskar Lange proved the contrary. So what ?
Geoffrey, communist from Belgium
Love the blog . Love the writing
But ‘narrative’?
What a Marxist woke word.
Meghan Markle has narratives along with my truths, her truths , and hundreds of other new uses of words .
We have compiled lists of them and narrative is right up there.
How about simple old words – my opinion , my stories , my writing .
Catherine,
The point of the my using the word “narrative” is to highlight what world we live in. Yes it’s their term and that’s why they have to be labeled as such to deprogram people as to what’s real and what is agitprop
I’d love noting more than to never have to write that word ever again
Thanks for the feedback
The Invention the Illuminati does not want you to know about
https://medium.com/@ProjectRevolution/the-invention-the-illuminati-does-not-want-you-to-know-about-11d98ecdf080
You must know that I am the Inventor of what is now known as the “Hyperloop” which is a deviation of my Hypersonic Airstream Train
With all this in mind I think it is time for the world to know what we are capable of and how humanity is held back by those incest idiots from Davos
The story above explains in detail my invention and I am always open for conversation and additional tasks.
http://www.medium.com/@projectrevolution
Contact me directly you have my email.
You seem to have a pathological hatred of commas.
Especially with a claim of this magnitude, good grammar will help people take you a little more seriously.
As if good grammar and proper use of commas absolutely and without question indicates that what a writer is saying has merit.
Navigating The Insane Asylum Formally Known As Planet Earth –
https://rokfin.com/stream/8481/Navigating-The-Insane-Asylum-Formally-Known-As-Planet-Earth-Truth-Warrior-
Rufus T. Firefly animated gif collection: https://giphy.com/channel/RTFirefly
Tom, I am interested in subscribing to paid membership but cannot bring myself to use Patreon. Any other methods of payment (besides factional gold coins)??
yes, Ed there are… email me at tom dot luongo at outlook dot com.
I would love to see you interview Richard Grove of Grand Theft World, grandtheftworld.com. You two have many common threads of thought, especially in regard to Britain being an unacknowledged enemy of the US.
Dear Mr. Luongo,
I have read content authored by you that has been shared on the lewrockwell.com website. Thank you for sharing your various insights. I hope that you and your family will have a blessed Christmas. Below are verses that are hopefully encouraging.
“…for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness [the serpent made of bronze described in Numbers 21:8–9], even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life, for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten [uniquely born] Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14–16).
Also, below is a link involving encouraging information related to animals. It was written in either the 1800s or early 1900s by George Hawkins Pember (also known as George H. Pember and G. H. Pember).
http://www.schoettlepublishing.com/otherworks/pember/animals.pdf
Below is a related link.
http://www.schoettlepublishing.com/bookpreviews/pember/animals/preview.htm
Iʼm neither a pastor nor a missionary; I simply wish to share my heartfelt thoughts as an expression of gratitude. For anyone interested in additional information, there is a grace-oriented ministry that freely shares such information without asking for any money in return. My association with the ministry is merely as a student who has felt moved to share encouraging information with people of various walks of life. Relevant webpages at the website of the ministry can be found at the below links.
https://gemworldwide.org/promises-from-God/
https://gemworldwide.org/books/
The books are free of charge. A book about eternal security has been particularly encouraging for me; a PDF version of it is viewable at the below link.
https://gemworldwide.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/gem-eternal_security_of_the_believer.pdf
Also, the website of that ministryʼs branch in the United Kingdom is below.
https://gemeurope.org
Merry Christmas!
Sincerely,
John
Hi Tom
I am English and live in England. I read all your stuff during the semi-endless Brexit process. I was not a crazy fan of the EU but overall I thought my life would be better if Brexit did not happen. Call me a Remainer if you want, whatever.
Now we are coming up to a year since January 2021 when Brexit finally did happen. You told me things would get massively better. They are not; there is no detectable improvement and in many ways things are worse, like a lot of my stuff comes from the EU and the costs have gone up like a rocket. What do you say.
First visit here. Future serial lurker. Drums: Ludwig blue sparkle, double bass. Zildjian 20″ medium ride, 18″ crash, New Beat high hats. Economics: Austrian, Lew Rockwell. Over 30 years in electronics. Operations doctorate at the university of Ed Fox. Network Engineer (papered).
Great site, writing.
Drums: pdp Maple classic bob kit with tom extension, Oxblood Red. 6 pieces with 2 6×20 and 6×22 ddrum Octobons. Single 18″ bass, a mix of Paiste 900, Rudes and cheap Meinl hats.
Hey Tom, couldn’t find your email, so I’ll try here.
I don’t understand the big picture plan for the US.
Petro dollar ensures reserve currency status, but they are currently busy pushing green energy, which would destroy that concept. Also, pushing CBDC further erodes demand for US $ (IMHO). What’s the plan to retain US hegemony, while pushing a strategy that undermines US $ dominance?
There isn’t one. The plan is liquidation of the US absorbed into the EU/IMF
Dear Tom,
I’m your age, child of Italian immigrants and native Californian now living in Savannah. Pretty much, since the age of 18, I followed my own instincts and beliefs and, as a result, inadvertently managed to get myself disowned, ostracized and maligned. Lots of really tough and crushing experiences – too many to count. These last few years have been especially challenging as I’ve had to fight to protect my children from family members who insisted they needed to get the vaccine (these sheep ultimately didn’t get their way and neither I or my kids got the shot and we’re doing great, btw). I didn’t believe any of that bullshit pretty much from the start – i.e. when the toilet paper first started flying off store shelves. It was in that moment that I realized that fear had taken over reason: People literally and figuratively started shitting themselves over the plandemic. My current views on the Ukraine conflict aren’t popular either, as you can imagine, so I just choose to remain silent or else suffer some other sort of painful consequence(s). Its a life of isolation because those who think like me are few and far in between. So I’m sharing all of this because I want to thank you, truly, and other like-minded thinkers like the Duran guys and Ryan Dawson who make me feel like I am not alone. Keep up the great work and again many thanks. Tante belle cose from Savannah!
Margaret,
Thank you. And you are welcome. Comments and stories like these make my day. All the best to you and your family
Tom, I heard your podcast with Dave Collum recently. Good times. You and I have several things in common. I am a Florida boy, chemistry background, libertarian, etc., etc. You have me interested in Rosneft, but it looks like many brokerages will not trade it. Any hints on ways to access it?
Hong kong under an assumed name?
IBKR??
regarding new Fed appointees that are very scary :
https://wirepoints.org/chicago-feds-woke-enemy-of-free-speech-heading-for-promotion-to-federal-reserve-board-wirepoints/
Hi,
what do you think about this theory…
https://bureaudupresident.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/communique.pdf
thank’s for your reply
Hello caught your show with Dale P the other day. Amazing…
ZH is congested with bots and so forth, I go by another alias there. Been reading them since mid-2009. I used to be very big on the radio with music hence the fake name on FB. I am not active there anymore.
I like primary sources, you are a primary source and so too is Tucker. Also a long time reader then of Stratfor George F and now Peter Z.
I am a naturalized citizen, parents from the old country of Hungary. I am therefore very anti russian and EU. ’56 was the west’s way of losing to the commies. Sad that Ukraine is so f/up now. BTW not a total fan of Viktor O but what re the options there???
Keep up the good work!
Thank you
George Toth
Hey Tom,
You followed my follow on ‘X.’
In any brainstorm there are bound to be complications. When it dawned on you that “we” are “comfortable wolves,” you posted a pic of a dog, think you said yours. Erik Zimen raised wolves with dogs. One of his observations of behavioral difference was at feeding time. For the dog, this could be characterized, “Es ist hier ‘jeder sich selbst der naechste.'” If men were such dogs, this would mean “Every man for himself.” Wolves, on the other appendage endpoint, take care first of pregnant females and the young. It is their instinct to do so, that has not been bred out of them in the protected world of domestication.
Another trait that does not disappear for wolves is their fear of novelty. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335609483 Dogs lose sensitivity to novelty with age as measured between eight and eighteen months. Wolves do not lose their fear of novelty.
If comfort is your observed measure of fear of novelty, then comfortable “wolves” aka dogs are susceptible to this reduced fear of novelty early on, so the question arises whether they can return to the survival sensorium of their ancestral species.
Basically, the literary and psychological trope from the comedian Plautus to Carl Jung, that “homo homini lupus,” man is a wolf to man, implies an insult to and ignorance of wolves. The comparison between our species is fascinating especially from the viewpoint of pack behavior. I don’t mean to be unplayful– the play drive (Spieltrieb) being what pertains to the higher evolutionary being of dolphins, say, and our kind– but it strikes me that the fungibility of wolf and dog in your analysis subverts the potential to consider a sharpening of the ethical question, how to be, and whether there is an element of choice. For example, what if the slice of folks who were suspicious of the specious vaxx rollout were the reflection and equivalent of wolf behavior, and perhaps that of the undomesticated dog, where domesticity is a measure of comfort in the face of novelty, and if in addition this latter consideration, to include some of dogs, occurs with the hypothesis of ancestral awakening– whatever you want to call it, when the dog realizes its survival depends on remembering its lupine origins, in particular its suspicion about and distrust of traps?
Anyway, keep writing. To echo the Kunstler, “I read Luongo.” Btw I think of myself as having a one-syllable name that some people like to clip.
Best regards,
James