In the generally well-made history documentary, 1,000 AD – A Tour of Europe (a History Time, YouTuber video linked below) at just 13 minutes in, there is already one giant, elephant-sized error – a common one, which is almost universal among historians of the West. Examining this one common, seismic
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Writings of J. Todd Ring: Freedom & Power
I am, for the record, perfectly comfortable with where and how I have positioned myself. I am passionately and steadfastly in favour of freedom, democracy, constitutional rule and human rights; liberty, equality and solidarity; and of course, as a result, I am passionately and steadfastly in favour of freedom of
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Sliding Into Irrelevance: Pro-Censorship Stance Obliterates Careers – and Minds
The once-great Naomi Klein. I had great respect for her until she burned her very considerable credibility to the ground, by publicly and viciously attacking Glenn Greenwald recently – after he quit The Intercept, for not agreeing to their new policy of enforced censorship, saying Glenn had “lost the thread”.
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Why Atheism Is A Bag of Hot Air
Atheism is decidedly unscientific, and anti-empirical, because it dogmatically asserts a claim that it cannot possibly prove or even empirically support. If they were truly empirical, or truly scientific, they would at least be agnostic. But they are neither empirical nor scientific. Besides that, and more importantly, atheism is the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Rebel
Everyone wants their cake, and they want to eat it, too. Well, here’s news for you. It doesn’t work that way, in the real world. There is a great fascination with the artist, the rebel. But nobody wants to come close to that person. They want to be voyeurs. The
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Core message
“How much do I know? I’m young and unschooled Bet l’m younger than you And even Jesus would Never forgive what you do I want to ask you one question Is your money that good? Will it buy you forgiveness And do you think that it could? I think that
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Candour, Volume One
I get periodically overwhelmed with the suffering of humanity. Spiritual practice should, and eventually does, bring a measure of calm abiding. And while I have practiced, and my inner strength is now, truly, vast; it is not yet limitless. I am human. And at times, this world, this society, does
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Canada In The 21st Century: The Path Ahead
This short essay was written as a response to a YouTube video on the CaspianReport, titled, Geopolitics of Canada. At some point I may re-write it to be more in the form of a stand-alone essay, or a stump speech; but considering I am back-logged with 96 finished essays and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Powder Keg USA – Part II
Most of the world is in crisis, in a number of ways. The US in particular is in bad shape, and set to either explode in civil war, or implode by economic collapse – and most likely it will be the latter followed by the former, though anything is possible
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Top 12 Books For Understanding The World
Or, Why A Critical Reading of History Is Now Critically & Urgently Needed The details are important, but an understanding of the major patterns of history are even more important. I don’t think that is possible without giving due credence to the quiet revolution which occurred in anthropology in the
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Toppling Icons
There are many great problems in late-industrial modern society, and there are many ways these problems can be addressed – some of them more effective than others. In this short essay I will focus on strategies and tactics for real social change – what works, and what does not. And
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Debunking the anti-vaxxer rhetoric
Why the anti-vaxxer argument does not hold up: That is to say, why the vitriolic proponents of forced covid vaccines are categorically in the wrong Here is my response to a hostile response to what had been an open and respectful discussion – certainly not on Big Tech-controlled social media,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Hollow Men Encounter The Spirit of Capitalism
And We Recoil In Horror Before The Reality Is Anything More Than A flickering and Fleeting Perception, Which Can Be Easily Denied, and Swept Aside “We are the hollow men, the stuffed men” Weber’s, The Protestant Ethic & The Spirit of Capitalism remains the most important text in sociology, and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Why Do Yoga?
Yoga is now practiced by champion boxers, football players such as the Miami Dolphins, and celebrity musicians such as Sting. Yoga is now being practiced by people as diverse as pre-school children, to 90+ year old grandmothers; and everyone from hippies to red necks, corporate office workers to
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Boethius, Stoicism and The Consolation of Philosophy
While I would recommend Boethius, and the Consolation of Philosophy, to all, I would not recommend Stoicism to anyone, for two reasons: 1. It encourages a banishment of feeling and emotion, and an unfeeling indifference to both pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow – a kind of psychic numbness, which,
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Psychology and Therapeutic Benefits of D&D
Or, Why D&D Kicks Butt There is a mounting body of evidence and experience that shows that D&D, the original role playing strategy game (like chess, but with improv theatre, and no great powers of concentration required), has very positive psychological and therapeutic effects on children, youth and adults. The
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Philosophy, Being and Reality
Some reading on the subject of philosophy, ontology, epistemology, metaphysics and the nature of reality that I’d recommend: Choosing Reality, by Allan Wallace, Dreamtime and Inner Space, by Holgar Kalweit, The Holographic Universe, and Mysticism and the New Physics, by Michael Talbot, and an excellent first major book, as an
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The New Renaissance Women and Men
For thousands of years, philosophers and others have been asking questions such as, What is a just society? What is virtue? What is a virtuous life? What is the good life? What is the source of happiness? What, even, is real? Who are we? Where did we come from, where
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Overviews of philosophy, religion, politics, history & sociology: where one might begin – or continue in more depth
Fascinating look here, in this BBC podcast (linked below), at the history, sociology, psychology, theology and politics of fundamentalism, evangelism, millennialism & apocalyptism. See also, Michael Grosso’s, The Millennium Myth, & The Millennium Book of Prophecy by John Hogue. My own views in terms of religious philosophy, political philosophy and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Orangutan vs The Army Of The Dead
(Written before the 2020 US election, this short piece still sums up the situation in American politics very well.) Trump is no fairy tale prince, and nor am I a supporter of the big orange buffoon; but we need to be honest about things: he’s up against the army of
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