Well, Maybe

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I get an e-mail whenever Curtis Yarvin writes a post in his Substack; Gray Mirror.  Now Yarvin is a lunatic but an engaging and clever lunatic.  His answer to all of the ills of our society is always the same; install a king.  So, I’m always a little daunted when I consider reading his posts, not least of all because they are usually between five and ten thousand words long.  Yikes!  Luckily this one was on the low end of that range.

It was a gentle chiding of Richard Hanania for becoming a moderate.  I guess Hanania was being attacked in the media for being an alt-right partisan in his younger days.  Well, who wasn’t?  Anyway, after a few thousand words to ridicule the concept of classical liberalism Yarvin gets down to his bottom line.  Any and all progress against the woke left is hopeless because the oligarchy protects it and the only way to get rid of the oligarchy is with a king.

Well, maybe.

So, because our representative democracy has been hijacked by an oligarchy, according to him we should welcome a dictator.  And you wonder, how did that work out for the Romans?  Julius Caesar and Augustus were pretty good.  But after that, what a nightmare.  How do you keep the king from being a madman or an incompetent?  Yarvin has this idea that it would be like some kind of CEO for the country and there would be a board of directors who could hire and fire the king.

Well, maybe

But I’m guessing that stuffing that board would be like stuffing the Supreme Court.  And truth be told the board would be the oligarchs and they would just choose one of their oligarchi-est oligarchs to run their show.  And how in hell do you get something like this started?  No, there is no way out that way.

What seems to be the case is that we are heading for a crisis.  The old system and the way that it works is reaching a breaking point.  Those in charge seem to have a plan to permanently make the voting system just a rubber stamp for their regime.  And at the same time, they want to change the class system in this country from a middle-class dominant model to a feudal system with the peasants working for the oligarchs.  And to be totally honest it sure looks like they’re way ahead getting their plan done.  A big chunk of the millennials and zoomers have serf written all over them.

Well, maybe.

But the best laid plans of oligarchs and serfs oft time go to hell in the real world.  I still think it’s too soon to just throw in the towel.  The demolition of the American economy is preceding at such a breakneck pace that it is somewhat possible that a popular revolt might miraculously sweep the Democrats completely out of power long enough to allow actual representatives of the people to make drastic reforms and restore our interests.

Well, maybe.

After reading about the FBI gunning down that old guy in Provo, Utah I’m not feeling so chipper today.  I know the radical nature of the killing should help to delegitimize the institutions like the FBI.  And it probably does.  The man as described was obviously no threat to anyone.

“Neighbors who spoke with the Deseret News described Robertson as a markedly different person than what he portrayed online. One person called him a “teddy bear” known for his woodworking who would sit in the same seat at church every Sunday; another said he was barely mobile, weighed nearly 300 pounds and was unable to walk without a cane. He would drive to church, despite it only being about 200 yards from his home, because he had so much trouble moving around.

Neighbors also described a harrowing scene, with dozens of agents converging on the Provo house, rifles drawn and hiding behind bulletproof shields as flash bangs exploded.

“I just can’t believe that this man warranted that kind of response,” said Travis Clark, who lived up the street from Robertson.”

It makes me sick to think that the FBI has become a secret police agency, no different from the Stasi and the KGB.  In fact, worse than those organizations.  At least the KGB wouldn’t have allowed BLM and Antifa to burn down their own cities.  But maybe it will be this kind of gestapo tactics that convinces a solid majority of the American people that our “leaders” are really our overlords now and need to be replaced with something better.

Maybe, maybe not.

Tough day to be optimistic.

Will Iger Retreat from the Woke Agenda that is Ruining Disney’s Business?

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In the linked article the Financial Times speculates on whether Disney will sell off its television business or ESPN or Hulu or blah, blah, blah.  It also wonders about the recent spate of theatrical releases that have underperformed or out right lost money.  As it goes through the litany of business divisions that have problems it seems that one option seems to be ignored.  Instead of concluding that television or streaming or movies aren’t really the “core” business of Disney maybe they should be looking at why each of these formerly lucrative businesses is suffering.

In each of these ventures, Disney has attempted to take a winning formula and mangle it by substituting a woke alternative.  Star Wars was chloroformed to provide a platform for the “Estrogen = The Force” narrative.  Now The Marvel movies will follow suit.  Kill off Iron Man and Captain America and substitute Captain Marvel.  And finally Indiana Jones is wheeled off to an old age home and Unlikable Girl Jones is brought in.

And now in the most brilliant example of brand poisoning on record they are openly sabotaging the classic cartoon properties of the 1930’s.  Snow White is an empowered girl boss who “don’t need no man” and is too busy with her empire building to fall in love.  She’s doesn’t need Prince Charming and for all we know she doesn’t swing that way.

Honestly, you’ve got to admire a campaign as boldly insane as the Disney reset.  One thing they’re responding to is the future status of those movies from the thirties and forties.  It’s getting close to the point where their copyright protection ends.  Snow White was made in 1937.  2037 is in fourteen years.  At that point anyone can repackage that movie and sell it.  By then Disney may be known as the non-binary children’s entertainment company.  Somebody else could have an amusement park where the old fashioned “normal” male and female Disney characters walk around and entertain the kids.  Who knows, maybe the amusement parks will be the business that Disney sells off.  Maybe someone else will restore the brand with a more family friendly attitude toward these formerly wholesome places.  It’s a thought.

Iger’s vision for Disney is embracing the woke sensibility and make it the their brand.  It’s a bold decision but right now it looks pretty dangerous to the company’s profitability.  Whatever they think they know about the future of the children’s entertainment market it looks like most parents still want to bring their kids to see movies where the beautiful girl is saved by the handsome prince from the evil stepmother or the evil witch and they live happily ever after.

You know, I hope Disney continues down the road they’re on.  Killing off the biggest entertainment company in the world may be the only thing that can save that industry.  There’s something to be said for being a true believer.

 

This Is News

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This is an example of news.  This is someone getting something done.

“Though the first of its kind, Louisiana’s age-verification bill was not the last. Nearly identical bills have passed in six other states — Arkansas, Montana, Mississippi, Utah, Virginia and Texas — by similarly lopsided margins. In Utah and Arkansas, the bills passed unanimously. The laws were passed by overwhelming margins in legislatures controlled by both parties and signed into law by Democratic and Republican governors alike. In just over a year, age-verification laws have become perhaps the most bipartisan policy in the country, and they are creating havoc in a porn industry that many had considered all but impossible to actually regulate.”

There is hope.