Month: January 2025
03JAN2025 – Quote of the Day
[Isaiah’s Job; The Atlantic Monthly (June 1936) (Part 10)]
Isaiah, on the other hand, worked under no such disabilities. He preached to the masses only in the sense that he preached publicly. Anyone who liked might listen; anyone who liked might pass by. He knew that the Remnant would listen; and knowing also that nothing was to be expected of the masses under any circumstances, he made no specific appeal to them, did not accommodate his message to their measure in any way, and did not care two straws whether they heeded it or not. As a modern publisher might put it, he was not worrying about circulation or about advertising. Hence, with all such obsessions quite out of the way, he was in a position to do his level best, without fear or favour, and answerable only to his august Boss.
Albert Jay Nock
New Year’s Resolutions – 2025
At this dawning of the rolling year, it is more than normally desirable that we make some slight provision for improving our behavior. Some people try to lose weight or stop smoking. Others look for a better job or start a hobby. I’ve vowed to finish my book. And to accommodate that effort I will be clearing the mornings for writing and editing the book. This may impact my posting schedule (from time to time) but I think it’s necessary. Time slips by too quickly if there are too many competing priorities.
Now I don’t intend to abandon the website. OCF will have its daily photo and quote. And whenever something needs my approbation, scorn or explanation I will promptly respond. And I will link to anything that I think interesting or thought-provoking. But when there’s a slow news week and I’ve already gassed off about the usual suspects I may just take a pass. On days like that maybe I’ll link to a song I like or a clip from a movie that makes me smile.
And from time to time, I’ll put up a chunk of my story to get feedback from the readers here. And I’ll write about writing sometimes!
So, none of this is dire. With Trump entering the White House in a couple of weeks I’m sure I’ll have all kinds of stimuli for posts that will make it impossible to do my fiction writing work. After all, the world is drifting into troubled times and that is sure to goad me into taking to my little soap box and barking out condemnations and propounding simple-minded plans of action.
But I do see that I’ll have to prioritize writing if I ever hope to finish that darn book. I do think there is some writing in me. And I won’t know how hard or easy selling books is until I give it a good old American try.
As for the news today, we’ve all been watching the attack in New Orleans and then listened to Biden try to string a few dozen sentences together without sounding like Max Headroom (and failing). I love how he tells us the guy is a follower of ISIS but not to jump to conclusions. So, because he’s a Moslem whose parents came from the Middle East and he’s declared jihad on America we shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that he’s an Islamic terrorist? Would that be insensitive to the various followers of the religion of peace? Well, never mind. Biden is so laughably irrelevant that he might as well have started to read from a Dr. Seuss book as the words of that speech his handlers handed him. More interesting would have been a statement from Trump advising the federal law enforcement agents not to destroy any of the evidence before his team has a chance to see what really went on. Well, this is a small part of what I expect at the border for the foreseeable future. So, it barely merits comment. Let’s pray nothing bigger is in the wings.
And just to show that my heart is in the right place, I’ll put together a few things that might lighten your day.
02JAN2025 – Quote of the Day
[Isaiah’s Job; The Atlantic Monthly (June 1936) (Part 9)]
If, say, you are a preacher, you wish to attract as large a congregation as you can, which means an appeal to the masses; and this, in turn, means adapting the terms of your message to the order of intellect and character that the masses exhibit. If you are an educator, say with a college on your hands, you wish to get as many students as possible, and you whittle down your requirements accordingly. If a writer, you aim at getting many readers; if a publisher, many purchasers; if a philosopher, many disciples; if a reformer, many converts; if a musician, many auditors; and so on. But as we see on all sides, in the realization of these several desires, the prophetic message is so heavily adulterated with trivialities, in every instance, that its effect on the masses is merely to harden them in their sins. Meanwhile, the Remnant, aware of this adulteration and of the desires that prompt it, turn their backs on the prophet and will have nothing to do with him or his message.
Albert Jay Nock
02JAN2025 – Photo of the Day
Eeny Meeny Chilly Beany, the Spirits are About to Speak
[It does not pay a prophet to be too specific. – L. Sprague de Camp]
Only a great fool would claim to know in advance how 2025 will end. Everything from nuclear Armageddon to the return of the Prince of Peace is definitely on the table. My radius of likely outcomes is slightly narrower (at least on the upside). I could easily imagine things going very wrong between the United States and Russia or China or Iran in the foreseeable future. And by wrong I don’t necessarily mean a full nuclear exchange with either of the first two of those nations. There is plenty of room for low level violence and sabotage that could cause our lives to be much worse. For instance, an aircraft carrier is becoming an increasingly vulnerable target to any number of new threats. If a carrier were badly damaged or even sunk it might not lead to a nuclear exchange but it would cause a cascade of actions that will threaten war.
But let’s put war aside for a moment. At least global war. Let’s look at what will be going on in North America. Trump intends to close the borders. And that will both include Mexico and Canada. This will change the way things are done in several aspects of life. It will impact migration (obviously) but it will also impact industry. A lot of stuff is built in Mexico and Canada. The transportation of these products will be impacted. And illegal importation (drugs, sex slaves) will also be impacted. The Mexican and other gangs that control these illicit trades will have to be confronted head on in what will amount to a war on the southern border. This alone could be the toughest thing Donald Trump will be faced with during his presidency. He may have to live in a bunker due to the military capability of these gangs. It’s a cinch their snipers are a lot more accurate than the ones the CIA found during the 2024 election. Anyway, if he’s serious he’ll have his hands full with this action.
As for the economy, well, I think by default things will get somewhat better. Just seeing the Greens pushed out of the White House will encourage the petroleum industry to improve the energy situation in the United States. Who knows, maybe gasoline will fall below two dollars again. And if that happens it will have a knock-on effect on the rest of the economy as transportation costs fall and with it the price of most commodities. Now I wouldn’t exaggerate the extent of this. Prices don’t usually fall except during a recession. But if they stop going up it will begin to stanch the economic bleeding of the middle class.
Beyond that Trump can do a lot to encourage corporate on-shoring of manufacturing. Tariffs can be of two varieties. You can raise tariffs on the products of foreign companies or you can put tariffs on products that are manufactured outside of this country regardless of the nationality of the company that owns the factory. This will encourage companies (foreign or domestic) to manufacture here the products they want to sell here. Personally, if a Toyota car is built in Georgetown, Kentucky I consider it more American than a GM car built in Mexico or Canada. So, will any of this happen? Possibly not in 2025.
And finally, will he drain the swamp in 2025? Well, not completely but he does want to put Kash Patel in charge of the FBI. I read that they had him under investigation. I don’t know much more about him than what I’ve read but wouldn’t it be amusing if it turns out he’s a vindictive bastard who took his own targeting personally and wanted a lot of payback. I think there could be a lot of very amusing things going on in Washington this year. And from my point of view that’s worth something in and of itself.
So those are just some hints at what might be going on. Let’s hope it’s more swamp draining and less Armageddon but whatever else it’s going to be very busy and very exciting.