I Have A Dream: surely, and unquestionably, that great speech by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is one of the most important, and most beautiful, uplifting, empowering, ennobling, visionary and inspiring speeches ever given. Listen again to these words. These words were never more relevant than now. Unity
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Writings of J. Todd Ring: On Cynicism
John Lennon was a millionaire, though he talked about having no possessions; Thomas Jefferson had slaves; and Martin Luther King Jr. was a philanderer, true enough, but I think it is a bad idea to mock and attack people who are doing, or have done, generally very positive, important things
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Cynicism & Hope
I firmly believe in the fundamental importance of freedom of speech. Without it, freedom dies, and democracy is impossible. I don’t believe in censorship, because censorship always leads to tyranny. But if there were ever a single book worthy of burning, I’d say it is Lord of the Flies. What
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Knowledge Is Power. Panic Is Death. Reconnection Is Resilience
Knowledge is power. Bacon was right about one thing, at least. People are afraid of wolves, coyotes, snakes, bugs, bears…the flu. Our ability to assess danger rationally in our modern, coroorate ruled, media manipulated, techno-entranced, deeply alienated society, is near zero, it would seem. In terms of the modern fear
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Who Are The CIA?
Who are the CIA? This will tell you everything you need to know. Here’s where things really started to go wrong: 1947, the National Security Act, which created the National Security Council and the CIA, giving the CIA sweeping, ultra-secretive, unconstitutional powers, and near limitless budget through the legalized, covert
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Global Overview 2020 – A Brief Synopsis
There are a lot of thoughtful, creative minds working on the problems we face in modern 21st century society – and we have myriads of good examples, prototypes, and functioning, proven models to work with. Mondragon and the co-op movement, crowd funding, alternative currencies, renewable energy, organic food and agriculture,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Maxims of Empire
(And the Maxims of Liberation) There are at least five known, central maxims which all emperors understand and employ, which have been used for millennia by the elite in order to control, rule over, and generally fleece and rob, oppress and exploit the people. They are: Divide and conquer: keep
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Coronavirus: Facts & Fall-Out
Four explanations of coronavirus outbreak: 1. Standard narrative of Western governments and media: natural virus, extreme danger, draconian measures needed, justified 2. Weaponized biowarfare virus accidentally leaked from Wuhan BSL4 bioweapons lab 3. US elites (military industrial complex, or deep state) launched biowarfare in hybrid war with China, without informing
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: US Politics: One Party, With Two Right Wings
Stephen Lendman described and contextualized it well in his article, “US Indifference to Public Health: The Shame of the Nation” (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman) He wrote, “Both right wings of the US one-party state serve privileged interests exclusively at the expense of public health and welfare. It’s been
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Political Philosophy 101: Democracy vs Elite Rule
Use anything and anyone to gain and maintain power. That is the Machiavellian philosophy which rules the minds of the power elite, both East and West, as Howard Zinn has indicated as well. Public health, human well-being, conscience, principles, morals, freedom, democracy, other high ideals, have nothing to do with
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Central Challenge Of Our Time
What is the central challenge of our time? It is not what most people think it is. It is not race or gender, or climate change, or the environment broadly, or issues of war and peace, or poverty, or justice, or equality, or fighting terrorism, crime or violence, WMDs and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Collapse of Modern Civilization
More than 150 years ago Thoreau commented, “Our sills are all rotten.” He was right. It is for that reason that Western, and Westernized, “modern” “civilization” is collapsing. This could be cataclysmic, of course, (as in, an ecological holocaust), or relatively peaceful, (akin to the Maya abandoning their great cities
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: US 2020 Election: One Choice Only – The Oligarchy
Chris Hedges states there is no choice in the 2020 US election if it is a choice between Trump and Biden: both are a vote for the consolidation of the oligarchy. Now that sums it up perfectly well. Mind you, it was the same in 2016. People in Germany felt
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Importing From China: A Virus? Or A Totalitarian Model Of Elite Control?
Someone prescient once said, “Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for a little security, deserve neither, and will lose both.” We would do well to remember those words now. And we are most definitely in the process of losing both, as we speak. But maybe we aspire to be
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Fantasy and Indoctrination: Rough notes on a few fantasy novels: part two
Here are two more fantasy books that I could not get through. That makes three in a row. And to think, I had a love affair with Terry Brookes’ Shannara series! (I read something like 20 Shannara novels in a row, and loved all of them, other than the last
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Reflections On Stillness & Action
We need stillness and action – both, and urgently so. This should be becoming perfectly clear. I’ve travelled through 20 countries, but still I find stillness the greatest adventure, and most rewarding, enriching journey of all. Going to the mountain top is exceedingly worthwhile, but going deep within is what
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Degeneration, Collapse, and Rebirth
What we are facing is systemic degeneration: ecologically, culturally, spiritually, intellectually, psychologically, socially, and biologically in terms of degenerating health and shortening life spans. This is the slow-motion collapse of a civilization. What is needed is not to self-medicate or mask the symptoms, or to manage the symptoms of degeneration,
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: On Empowerment – What is and isn’t – ‘yourfaveisilluminati’
We usually reserve the side eye for people who start talking about empowerment. Why? Because they are usually talking about the second half of the list. EMPOWERMENT 1. Physicality becoming physically stronger empowers us. exercising your body not only makes your body stronger and more powerful, but it brings discipline
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: A Few Problems with The Third Wave – Is Teenage Plastic Surgery a Feminist Act? – Kathleen Hale
Read the full article at Harper’s Bazaar. “According to Nancy Jo Sales, an author and journalist who spent years interviewing girls ages 13-18 about their relationships with social media, one of the barriers to having a productive discussion about the unhealthy nature of such relationships is the relatively modern
Continue readingMelissa Fong: #Urbanarium2014: How to build a truly “Engaged City”?
“Engaged City” was unanimously passed yesterday, and it seems like the pundits are all out criticizing the process. … Democratization of the planning process is a fundamental problem with bureaucratic institutions; government is fundamentally hierarchical. Do we target Vision Vancouver? NPA? Nah*- There is a problem with the plumbing and
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