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
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Writings of J. Todd Ring: Coronavirus Update – Panic or Propaganda? Both? Or Simply Mass Insanity? All The Above
As of today, the mass media hype and hysteria over the latest exotic virus continues to spread, unabated. In its wake, mass insanity is spreading nearly as fast. Let’s step back, and look at the figures, to try and gain some much-needed perspective. As of today, 3,200 people have died
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Fantasy and Indoctrination: Rough notes on a few fantasy novels: part one
New Spring, The Novel: The Wheel Of Time: In The Beginning – Robert Jordan (so the cover says) (Lord of the Rings films and Terry Brookes Shannara novels got me hooked on epic, high fantasy – and no, I have no slight embarrassment about that. I think too much. Sometimes,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Demystifying Economics – Or, Rescuing Humanity From Death By Shared Delusion, Part One
To start with, it should be made clear that it is unwise, to say the least, to disparage mysticism. Mysticism, in the true sense, means to dive into, and deeply examine the mystery of being: it means, to cultivate a direct experience of the true nature of being and reality.
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Viral Fads? Collective Escapism Through Displaced Fear?
I could be wrong, but every indicator to me so far is that the latest virus scare is vastly over-hyped, as they almost always are. Still it’s at 2,800 death toll globally, and that is in comparison to 650,000 deaths a year from the flu (actually non-influenza flu-like infections,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Assorted Thoughts In The Age Of Collapse
Assorted Thoughts In The Age Of Collapse The “gig economy”, or the Uberization of the workforce: the right to be under-employed and in a precarious position no matter how many hours or jobs or gigs you work a week. But, can unionization change that? Doubtful, and nor does that
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Coronavirus: The latest in over-hyped threats & DANGERS
Read my essays, Danger and Delusion, and, Reality Check, on my blog and Twitter. Poverty, hunger, and obesity are vastly bigger killers than any infectious disease. Boost your immunity naturally, and don’t believe the hype. The “flu” kills 650,000 a year, mainly the impoverished, homeless, elderly and immune-compromised. And
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: Thomas Jefferson, Ursula Le Guin, and Collective Rebirth
Reading a novel by Ursula Le Guin, I think, not only is she a joy to read, in so many ways, but she refused to give in to a culture and a society that is, frankly, deeply lost. I think of something Thomas Jefferson said, “In matters of fashion,
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 readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Unite or Die
Peter Dale Scott said it well, in a recent talk that has now been printed in Salon. In short, we must unite or die. What I’ve been saying since my first book, in 2014, Enlightened Democracy, and before and since, is this: the people must be united in order to
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Certainty Of Death, Or The Death Of Certainties
It’s amazing to me, to see, even in thoughtful writings, even in exceptionally thoughtful writing, which is as far above the norm as the moon is from the bottom of the ocean, that even there, certain cultural constructs of the mind, certain prejudices or pre-formed and unquestioned assumptions, certain
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Tesla Model 3 vs the Chevy Bolt – And What About the Volt!?
The GM Bolt is a great car – but boring and ugly, and utilitarian, in my view, with surprisingly limited cargo space for a hatchback. The Tesla Model 3 is also a great car, and with surprisingly good cargo space for a mid-size car – and it’s gorgeous. There’s
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: A Royal Wedding, Or A Royal Life, And A Royal World?
Some find a royal wedding moving and beautiful. But I disagree. Beautiful would be taking the vast fortune of the “royal” family of England and sharing it with the five billion people on Earth living in poverty, one billion of whom live in extreme poverty. Until that happens, the beautiful
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: What Do I Want? (Or, What is to be done, if we are to have any future worth living?)
What do I want? Well, I would like to see us move immediately to a libertarian socialist society, along the lines that Chomsky, Bertrand Russell, Rudolph Rocker, or Murray Bookchin have described. Or better: an anarchist communist society, such as Kropotkin described. But I don’t see that as something that
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Crytpo-Realities
The dodos run hither and thither, depending on which way the wind blows, and what the media tells them (99% of which is confusion, illusion, propaganda or lies — aka, bullshit). But as I’ve said, cryptocurrencies are not going away. Here is the world’s leading trend analyst, Gerald Celente, on the subject:
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Bitcoin, Crypto-Currencies and Global Trends — Tipping Points Approaching Fast
Question: Cryptos — Which ones, and when? Answer: Two, and right now Waiting for the (painfully slow) transfer of funds from one Bitcoin wallet to another — both my own, in order to be able to buy Stellar Lumens with Bitcoins (since you can’t buy Lumens directly with fiat paper currencies, it being too
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Brexit Madness: Propaganda and Hyperbole
The media and the politicians are screaming that the world will end if Britain really does leave the EU. The absurdity of this now-standard narrative should be clear from the outset to anyone of sound mind. But in case it is not, let us say this. The E…
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Feeling the Bern-Out? Feel the Movement
To put it briefly, it’s the movement that matters. The office of the President is secondary to the movement, and almost, but not quite, peripheral. Winning the presidency is significant. It can be a rallying point which inspires the people to further…
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Death of the Democratic Party
Let’s start with some basic facts about Hillary Clinton, the darling of Wall Street and the Democratic party establishment, and why her credibility is both threadbare, and also collapsing. From there, after establishing a basic reality check, …
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