The nature writer Richard Jefferies, a great inspiration for me, explained once why he always went for the same country walk and did not go elsewhere for a change.
“I do not want change; I want the same old and loved things, the same wild flowers, the same trees and soft ash-green; the turtle-doves, the blackbirds, the coloured yellow-hammer, sing, sing, singing so long as there is light to cast a shadow on the dial, for such is the measure of his song, and I want them in the same place” — Pure poetry!
“I, too, do the same walks time and time again without ever growing tired of them.” — Ditto. Living far from the tropics, the seasons and animal migrations bring as much variety as any sane person could want.
“It also allows you to see the changes that take place over the years, in a way that you obviously cannot do if you flit around all over the place.” — Precisely … and precisely why the criminocracy is so opposed to people having a sense of home/place/belonging, and so encouraging of rootlessness.
“There is nothing scary about scaling down our societies, growing our own food, educating our own children, creating our own cultures, defining our own needs, nurturing our own values, living to the deep and slow rhythms of the Earth that bore us.” — Thoughtcrime 101.
Great piece Paul, there’s a place I go every day, sometimes twice a day, have done for a year since I moved house and it’s still as refreshing to be there today as it was the first time I went.
I see that lit-up city and it looks like a video game. I see that path through the woods and I see the Divine. I know where I wanna be. Thanks for this, right on.
Change for the better is something you are chasing forever because there is no better at the end of the rainbow that you won't think can't be made even better. Everything you need is right before your eyes. "Better" is something the marketers want you to believe you always need and never stop needing.
I can completely relate to what yourself and Jefferies say about the same piece of land - our half-acre here is our safe space and over the years we have come to know and love every tree, bush, clump of flowers, bees, bats, each individual family of birds. We are all a holistic organism. And noticing the changes of the seasons, as you say.
On the other paw, we also love our solar panels, except they stopped working last year and we don't have the money to fix them.
When it comes to technik, I think we should be very wary indeed in falling into a kind of Marxian structuralist attitude, that's to say blaming a 'system' or an impersonal 'thing', when all of those non-human things are created and controlled by people. How those things get used, the character of the system, so to speak, is entirely determined by the character of those who control that system or that technik. So whilst I absolutely understand the allure of nature, and do absolutely believe that full access to that nature should be the birthright and education of every human being, I also firmly believe that if we were to simply remove all the bad people - the criminocrats - and replace them with good people, the entire character of the system and the technik would change, such that it would truly be a force for good for humanity and the planet, it would be liberating, not controlling.
Some of the 'conveniences' for example, genuinely give humans more free time to focus on higher, spiritual activities and personal development. For creative types such as myself, that's vitally important.
Yes, some aspects of technik have specifically been designed to enslave and control, of course. But others, no - in the right hands, they are indeed liberating.
I obviously don't agree at all. Technik and industrialisation only exist in order to enslave and exploit people and nature. The idea of Technik being neutral or being capable of "liberating" us is part and parcel of the very myth of "progress" against which we need to be fighting. I would refer you a recent book review I posted here: https://paulcudenec.substack.com/p/deliberate-dispossession-and-the
Ah - I think we may possibly be talking about different kinds of 'technik'. I would probably agree with you about 'industrial' technik, if we could put that way, but I would make a big distinction between that kind of, let's call 'mass' technik and 'individual inventions'. A telescope, for example, is an individual item and couldn't possibly enslave anyone. A microscope, on the other hand - in the right hands that can help people - in the wrong hands, it can lead to enslaving people under a 'pandemic'.
Or an 'automobile' - can easily be taken both ways depending on how it is used.
Of course, there is, admittedly, also the fact that historically what we call 'development' or 'the progress of science' is a chain of inventions. Such that, for example the invention of an 'automobile' is the end result of a series of 'technik' developments.
Interestingly, I believe an ancient Greek bloke did invent a kind of steam engine, but it didn't lead to industrial slavery. Instead it was just a kind of toy.
So I think I would distinguish between technik and invention here. Does that make my attitude clearer? I am kind of with you, you see! Human beings will always be 'inventive' - which goes back several hundred thousand years, so I think there must be a 'line' somewhere at which 'invention' becomes 'technik' and is then used for darker purposes by bad people.
Yes!
“I do not want change; I want the same old and loved things, the same wild flowers, the same trees and soft ash-green; the turtle-doves, the blackbirds, the coloured yellow-hammer, sing, sing, singing so long as there is light to cast a shadow on the dial, for such is the measure of his song, and I want them in the same place” — Pure poetry!
“I, too, do the same walks time and time again without ever growing tired of them.” — Ditto. Living far from the tropics, the seasons and animal migrations bring as much variety as any sane person could want.
“It also allows you to see the changes that take place over the years, in a way that you obviously cannot do if you flit around all over the place.” — Precisely … and precisely why the criminocracy is so opposed to people having a sense of home/place/belonging, and so encouraging of rootlessness.
“There is nothing scary about scaling down our societies, growing our own food, educating our own children, creating our own cultures, defining our own needs, nurturing our own values, living to the deep and slow rhythms of the Earth that bore us.” — Thoughtcrime 101.
Great piece Paul, there’s a place I go every day, sometimes twice a day, have done for a year since I moved house and it’s still as refreshing to be there today as it was the first time I went.
Cheers Rick.
Preaching to the converted here. I left the city a long time ago brother.
I see that lit-up city and it looks like a video game. I see that path through the woods and I see the Divine. I know where I wanna be. Thanks for this, right on.
Change for the better is something you are chasing forever because there is no better at the end of the rainbow that you won't think can't be made even better. Everything you need is right before your eyes. "Better" is something the marketers want you to believe you always need and never stop needing.
It can through finally just a bad internet connection
I can completely relate to what yourself and Jefferies say about the same piece of land - our half-acre here is our safe space and over the years we have come to know and love every tree, bush, clump of flowers, bees, bats, each individual family of birds. We are all a holistic organism. And noticing the changes of the seasons, as you say.
On the other paw, we also love our solar panels, except they stopped working last year and we don't have the money to fix them.
When it comes to technik, I think we should be very wary indeed in falling into a kind of Marxian structuralist attitude, that's to say blaming a 'system' or an impersonal 'thing', when all of those non-human things are created and controlled by people. How those things get used, the character of the system, so to speak, is entirely determined by the character of those who control that system or that technik. So whilst I absolutely understand the allure of nature, and do absolutely believe that full access to that nature should be the birthright and education of every human being, I also firmly believe that if we were to simply remove all the bad people - the criminocrats - and replace them with good people, the entire character of the system and the technik would change, such that it would truly be a force for good for humanity and the planet, it would be liberating, not controlling.
Some of the 'conveniences' for example, genuinely give humans more free time to focus on higher, spiritual activities and personal development. For creative types such as myself, that's vitally important.
Yes, some aspects of technik have specifically been designed to enslave and control, of course. But others, no - in the right hands, they are indeed liberating.
I obviously don't agree at all. Technik and industrialisation only exist in order to enslave and exploit people and nature. The idea of Technik being neutral or being capable of "liberating" us is part and parcel of the very myth of "progress" against which we need to be fighting. I would refer you a recent book review I posted here: https://paulcudenec.substack.com/p/deliberate-dispossession-and-the
Ah - I think we may possibly be talking about different kinds of 'technik'. I would probably agree with you about 'industrial' technik, if we could put that way, but I would make a big distinction between that kind of, let's call 'mass' technik and 'individual inventions'. A telescope, for example, is an individual item and couldn't possibly enslave anyone. A microscope, on the other hand - in the right hands that can help people - in the wrong hands, it can lead to enslaving people under a 'pandemic'.
Or an 'automobile' - can easily be taken both ways depending on how it is used.
Of course, there is, admittedly, also the fact that historically what we call 'development' or 'the progress of science' is a chain of inventions. Such that, for example the invention of an 'automobile' is the end result of a series of 'technik' developments.
Interestingly, I believe an ancient Greek bloke did invent a kind of steam engine, but it didn't lead to industrial slavery. Instead it was just a kind of toy.
So I think I would distinguish between technik and invention here. Does that make my attitude clearer? I am kind of with you, you see! Human beings will always be 'inventive' - which goes back several hundred thousand years, so I think there must be a 'line' somewhere at which 'invention' becomes 'technik' and is then used for darker purposes by bad people.
I am not receiving any content below your heading
Well, that's strange. Other people seem to be seeing it. It is also posted on the Winter Oak site, so you could read it there: https://winteroak.org.uk/2024/08/16/change-for-the-better/
Many Millennia ago our Thought started to degenerate. After the Passage of Time we rejected our ECO and embraced our EGO. Our Thought did it.
https://voza0db.substack.com/p/morons-just-dont-get-it-e4b
It's very difficult for the Present day degenerate uman animal to Control its Thought.