Rō retweeted
Texas and California are now governed by Mexican invaders whose parent(s) arrived as illegal aliens. The legal / illegal point is irrelevant. The decay is the same regardless of what a piece of paper says.
Deuteronomy 28:43-44
Disclaimer: this is in no way a pro jeet tweet. Jeets are worse than beans per capita.
Rō retweeted
Good evening. "Right-wing Twitter" was a 60-month sociological study conducted by Harvard University. We are now complete with our study. Thank you for your time.
“In multiracial societies, you don’t vote in accordance with your economic interests and social interests, you vote in accordance with race and religion.”
- Lee Kwan Yew
Rō retweeted
Anakin is a great character who encompasses a very core and often misunderstood spiritual concept - avatarization.
The truth is that Anakin, even at the point of being denied the title of master, would have stood far higher in advancement in the spiritual realms than the whole of the council denying him.
Not from a standpoint of present-moment mastery but from the standpoint of sheer psychic and world-changing spiritual potential. This idea is reverberated throughout the whole narrative, over and over.
The concept of being chosen by unseen forces implies a natural predisposition to become avatarised and used by those higher forces - which he regularly is in order to avert disaster, especially when the council remains stagnant and, in many ways, incapable of taking decisive action.
The chosen one is simply he who is the most accurate embodiment of the grandest potential of creation, often to a point where it is to the detriment of their own mastery and advancement.
It is a very Promethean thing in attitude and theme.
The council remains the higher moral ground, yes, but the only reason they can even hold that sort of moral dominion over the other is because it is exactly the "foolishness" of the other that keeps them operational in the first place, even literally at times.
This implies that, as a character, Anakin has to remain flawed and unique in his temperaments in order for him to be used to his maximum effect by the unseen hand of destiny and divinity, even to the dislike of those who claim to listen and understand divine guidance.
He is not, like the others, simply listening to the spiritual forces shaping the world, he is quite literally inadvertently (because of his incredible natural aptitude) being actively used as a restorer of balance by those forces directly.
Many great historical figures in real world history embody this archetype as well, yet most of them make the same mistake Anakin does in his story - and that mistake seems close to impossible to not make once you understand what lies on the other side of it.
Because the other side of that incredible potential of the chosen avatar is a life of namelessness, of being unknown, doing good works from behind the curtain, so to speak.
It is the demand of ultimate humbleness from the universe contrasted by a strong inner knowing that you hold the greatest potential among your peers, the ambition and the desire to enact personal will over the world that stems from this is an incredible test to finalize a soul's mastery.
As a personal experiencer of this effect, it is, at times, near-impossible to uphold because the difference between the two states are so steep.
And the split happens right in the middle of your life's greatest tests - when you are at your most powerful but also the most vulnerable, where the world feels like it is destined to unfold before you completely, where nothing feels out of reach, yet at the same time life itself seems to slip away through your fingers as if the hopelessness it makes you feel is structured as some incredibly well-scripted cosmic joke (in many ways, it is).
But that is exactly what the test is. That is the test for mastery, not the illusion of it that is offered and denied to you in the material world within your incarnation.
Like I said, the contrast is simply too great for most.
In one timeline, on one version of your spiritual journey, you shine with the fury of a thousand suns - you are powerful, strong, respected, destined to be in the spotlight but eventually and inevitably corrupted by the desire to enact your own will upon the world - and fail.
It is exactly that moment where you stop where you fail the final test of your mastery. Not of worldly mastery but spiritual mastery that requires of you proof that you can wield your incredible spiritual potential into the afterlife.
On the other hand, in the second timeline, you are a nobody - your worldly potential is never fully realized and produced, you are not celebrated, you are not cherished and loved by the masses, you are never recognized as a master and your potential is overshadowed by the achievements and legacies of others - you must live in total and absolute humbleness and self-denial, keeping that incredible potential at bay.
You may have to endure great loss, grief, trauma, disappointment, etc. but still find the inner wisdom to accept it without breaking spiritually and mentally.
The irony and paradox of it all is that, regardless of whichever path you choose, your role will still be enacted - either through quiet influence or an explosive life and tragic death. It is impossible for you to fail, in the grander scheme of things.
But on a personal level - it is almost impossible not to fail.
The question then was never about whether you'd fulfill your grander destiny for the world, because the forces that sent you to do so will achieve its goal through you regardless - this is why you were perfect for the job in the first place.
The question was about what you would choose for your own fate. How you'd come to know your own self through the journey as the sufferer and then accepter of life.
You are not allowed to change the destiny of the world because the world is simply greater than you. You may simply delay it for a time. Its destiny will be enacted regardless.
But what you are allowed to choose is your own fate - the path you take to get there. You are allowed grace in this department and quite a lot of liberty.
The tragedy of the maven with the inner potential to bend and weave reality to their will is almost always culminated by spiritual corruption. This is expressed in varying degrees in many different people, of course.
But the very few times corruption does not persevere - we get a Christ-like character that raises up the world and fast-forwards it into greater destiny and progress.
This is so good. Worth reading. George Lucas compared Anakin to Faust, making a deal with the devil that ultimately fails.
“Anakin wants to have a family. He wants to be married to Padmé and have children. When he sees in his dreams that Padmé is going to die, he doesn't know how, but it's preordained.
He's in love with her. He doesn't want her to die. He wants to possess her, to control that. He keeps getting himself deeper and deeper into this pickle.
He wants a family but at the same time he knows he can't have one. Now the greed has taken over and the fear of losing his wife and baby. The whole point is you can't possess somebody because they are their own person. You can't dominate and make them do everything you want them to do...
…Right. He's walking into a death trap. And there’s no way out...
…And also saying that ‘My mentor told me that there was a way that could stop death.'’ Which was a lie. They can't. Anakin got sold a bill of goods because he wanted it so bad that if anybody would sell him anything, he'd believe it...
It's a scam. Anakin’s made a pact with the Devil: ‘I want the power to save somebody from death. I want to be able to stop them from going to the river Styx, and I need to go to a god for that, but the gods won't do it, so I'm going to go down to Hades and get the dark lord to allow me to have this power that will allow me to save the person I want to hang on to.’
Ultimately, it's about power. He traded his soul for power. It's Faust.
The more power he wants, the more power he gets, the more he loses. The Devil says, ‘You can become more powerful but you must pass this first test. The first test is you must kill your mother. The second test: you have to kill your wife. And the third test: you have to kill your best friend.’
In the end you have all this power but you have nobody to share with, except some wizened old man who’s even more evil than you are.
If you’re going to sell your soul to save somebody you love, that’s, as we say in the film, unnatural. You have to accept the natural course of life. Death is obviously the biggest of them all. Not only death for yourself but death for the things you care about.”
— George Lucas in conversation with Paul Duncan. The Star Wars Archives: 1999–2005 (Published by Taschen)
Rō retweeted
the gen z literacy crisis is undeniably correlated with demographic replacement but no one is willing to acknowledge it.
We are literally doomed
American High School English Teacher reads real responses from her student’s assignment after reading The Great Gatsby
We have a serious education issue in America and if we don’t address it, we have a horrible future ahead of us
These kind of responses are to be expected because 12th grade reading results in 2024 in America showed that reading levels right now the lowest they’ve ever been since the assessment began in 1992
Rō retweeted
Ok, fuck it, I wasn't gonna go there, but I changed my mind.
This explains a lot about what's wrong with people today. Yes, violence is a problem. We know that. There's another problem here, and it's one nobody seems particularly interested in discussing.
The kid just stood there and let someone assault him, without defending himself.
Now, I understand there are philosophical, moral, and legal considerations here. Restraint can be admirable.
Consider the incentives. The man who threw that punch knows that the consequences will be minor. Maybe an arrest.
Bail is probably in the three digits.
Maybe a fine.
Maybe a slap on the wrist.
Now, what if his intended victim had defended himself?
What if, instead of an easy target, he'd encountered someone willing and able to fight back?
He might have walked away with a bloody nose.
He might have ended up in the hospital. Suddenly, assaulting a stranger wouldn't seem quite so appealing, would it?
Now, I'm not telling anyone what to do. I'm not your priest, rabbi, reverend, pastor, or lawyer. I'm just a girl who was bullied rather severely until middle school.
One day, I'd had enough.
I picked up a piece of furniture and hit my bully with it. Hard enough to send her to the hospital. I was arrested. I spent several days in juvenile detention. The charges were eventually dropped.
You know what else happened? Nobody ever bullied me again.
Not physically.
Not verbally.
Not even the nasty little remarks behind my back.
Was what I did legally or morally justified? That's a perfectly reasonable question, and one I've had plenty of time to consider.
But here's something else worth considering: Some people interpret restraint as decency. Others interpret it as permission. Some people will continue hurting others for as long as they believe they can do so without meaningful consequences.
Violence shouldn't be our first response. It shouldn't be our preferred response. The right to defend yourself matters precisely because some people cannot be persuaded by words alone. Years ago, i'd admire that young mans' composure. Today? I'm disgusted by his cowardice.
We've taught several generations that being a good person means being a helpless victim, and allowing others to hit you without meaningful concequences.
Either society needs to catch up legally, or society needs to catch up with immediate physical repercussions.
Rō retweeted
Don't listen to women.
Modern women would never naturally bow down to Aragon's rightful authority.
Modern women aren't Arwen. They aren't even Eowyn, who eventually gave up her mannish ways for Faramir and started a family with him.
They are Denethor, bitter and resentful that they are not the kings of their world.
God gave Adam and Eve the perfect existence, and Eve gave it up out of greed and nagged Adam into losing paradise.
Young Men would be Aragon, but society refuses to give them power and authority. Young men are the sacrifice for infinite hordes of nons to come and pillage the lands their ancestors made prosperous.
So of course they empathize with the character that was promised the keys to the kingdom then denied everything he ever wanted.
Of course they want to burn it all down to the ground. You've told them they must maintain the system without receiving any of the benefits.
Women aren't capable of the violence necessary to establish and maintain a functional civilization. Therefore you must ignore their cries and nagging about how society should be run. Do not listen to those without capability.
Don’t empathize with Anakin.
Identify with Aragorn.
He’s the ultimate anti-doomer.
When all seemed lost, Aragorn still acted out of principle & not self-interest.
He didn’t change his actions based on feelings or probabilities.
He didn’t harbor vengeance.
He had a duty, and he risked life and love to fulfill it (saving both in the process).
Rō retweeted
Moving the entire remnant of Anglo civilization into space is looking pretty appealing right now.
Rō retweeted
There's a saying on American social media:
"Be the American that Japanese people think you are."
I'm Japanese. I've lived in Tokyo my whole life.
So let me tell you what we actually say about you, when you're not in the room.
"When someone falls down on the street, we pretend not to see. We're protecting their pride. Americans run straight at them. They don't care about the pride. They care about the knee." (Office worker, 38)
"An American will stop four lanes of traffic for a family of ducks. And then everyone in the cars claps for the ducks." (Taxi driver, 61)
"If you lend an American a pen, you will never see it again. If you need a kidney, they'll ask your blood type." (Nurse, 45)
"At kids' soccer games, they cheer when the other team's kid scores. The other team's parents look confused. Then they cheer too." (Youth soccer coach, 52, lived one year in Ohio)
"A man sneezed on a bus in Chicago. Eleven strangers said 'Bless you.' He said 'thank you' eleven times. Nobody on that bus thought this was strange." (University student, 21)
"At an airport in Texas, I watched a soldier try to pay for his lunch. The cashier said someone already had. He asked who. She said, 'Somebody who didn't want you to know.'" (Retired teacher, 70)
"American fathers cannot braid hair. But they will watch a video at midnight for an hour so their daughter's hair looks right on picture day." (Hair stylist, 33)
"I ran the Chicago Marathon once. Strangers stood in the cold for hours holding signs for people they will never meet. At mile 20, a man I'd never seen read the name off my bib and screamed it like he'd raised me." (Runner, 48)
"When Americans get lost, they ask a stranger. If the stranger is also lost, they become a team." (Tour guide, 39)
"They ask the waitress her name. And then they remember it." (Restaurant owner, 66)
And one more. From my father. He's 76. He doesn't say much about anything. This is the longest thing I have ever heard him say about another country.
"Every time something terrible happens in America, I watch the news, and I look for one thing.
The people running toward it.
There are always so many."
So, America.
You don't have to become the Americans we think you are.
We're not imagining you.
We're remembering you.