Civics From a Retired Working Man

On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed through out the thirteen colonies.  The people wanted self-government but the English Crown would have none of it - so the colonists decided to take it by force of arms - a revolution against the mightiest power in the world.  The Declaration today is still a mighty document.  Written by Thomas Jefferson and Company, it declares that all men have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  

All men have the right to live and all men have the right to be free.  And, all men have the right to make their dreams come true.  Nothing in these three rights granted by the Declaration says that because you are free and breathing that you deserve a lifetime of handouts or for that matter, a protective bubble to live in.  These three rights mean that you have the right to live free and fail many times until you succeed.  The Declaration was written in an era when men were willing to die for these rights that we blithely take for granted today; shame on us.  Yes, cupcake, they were willing to die for the right to fail until they could finally succeed.  Obviously the common Joe needed to be free for this opportunity.  The Constitution goes further.  

Written by James Madison and Company in 1787, the Constitution lays out how the government is to operate.  It also expands the Declaration's Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness with the Bill of Rights, the first ten Amendments of the Constitution, that protect the rights of American citizens against a capricious government.  It was not an accident or  coincidence that the first Amendment, along with its' many rights, contains the Separation Clause - the wall that is supposed to exist between Church and State.  Also, it was not an accident that the Second Amendment gives American citizens the right to bear arms (the so-called Kentucky Long Rifle was the "assault rifle" of its' day, as time marches on, so does technology).  There are many people living today in the USA, this writer included, that believe the First and Second Amendments support the rest of the Constitution.  But, there is a movement, a slow creeping movement that wants the Declaration and the Constitution to not just weaken but disappear.  In this writer's opinion, that movement is known today as Political Correctness

Political Correctness is not a new phenomenon - it found life in early 20th century Communist Russia (USSR) to bring about the "correct political mindset" - bending minds, on pain of death, to Stalin's communist doctrine (no excuses here - Uncle Joe Stalin is responsible for the death of millions of his fellow countrymen).  This method of coercion did not go unnoticed by American Communists and Socialists but did not gain any real traction until the 1970's.  

Ultra-liberal progressives began by eliminating words considered pejorative that they felt offended certain groups of people.  They moved forward via language to advance self-victimization and multiculturalism while at the same time, changing the content, the curriculum taught in public schools, colleges, and universities.  All pressure.  

The PC Police will freely tell you that they love tolerance but that tolerance is given only when the opposite side agrees with their position; disagreement brings a boat load of hate and derision.  We are entering an age where Cultural and Economic Marxism is gaining ground, and the collective American mind is closing.  This is not The Declaration of Independence's Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness as it was intended.  And, it is certainly not the Bill of Rights.  When men of normal stature cannot civilly speak their mind we have a problem.   So, hear this:  These are the times that try men's souls. Thomas Paine wrote that in his pamphlet, The American Crisis, published in 1777.  Yes Thomas, they are indeed.

                                                     Copyright @2016 Terry Unger

    

UPG, Just One More Time

After reading the essay below, please see the suggested reading *

A man and his wife decided to take a trip to a foreign country to study its famed architecture.  The man entered one magnificent building, not noticing that his wife did not follow.  He entered warm and inviting spacious rooms that led to even more rooms.  When he reached one area, the building just seemed to open up to beautiful flower gardens and a cemetery that appeared to encircle the building.  Then the man saw a desk, apparently set up in the open air.  

As he approached the desk, the man felt a certain familiarly with it.  He then understood why:  it was his desk from a more youthful time.  It contained various notebooks, timetables, and calendars - dated by month and year but lacking data.  They were empty.  In another drawer he found his old wristwatch long thought lost and his hand-held CB radio, still in the "on" switch position.  

The CB spoke to him; his presence was requested in the old hall.  On his way he peeked into a few rooms.  Some were like warm and inviting classrooms.  Others were small, intimate dining rooms; the smell of good cooking nearby was overpowering.  And yet others were small but amply furnished individual living quarters.  Finally, he reached the "old hall."  

The place was full of older folks, sitting comfortably in huge arm chairs.  One of the women spoke to him, dismissing his confusion.  

"Greetings, Caretaker," she pleasantly said, "it is almost time for our evening meal."  

The man had trouble with the title "Caretaker."  

"Oh you poor dear," the old woman opined.  "You are the new Caretaker of all of this in here and out there," she said, as she gesticulated with her hands.  "You make sure everything in here and out there runs smoothly and fix things when they don't."  

"But I do not want another job; just do not.  And what happened to my wife," the man said, rather exasperated with this new experience.  

That brought another "Oh you poor dear," from the old woman.  "It looks like "they" didn't tell you.  You're dead, and this is your afterlife."  The man began to shake uncontrollably.  

He still shook long after his wife woke him from his fitful, yet vivid dream.  They talked about his UPG experience for hours, thinking it may be a divine message of sorts.  And they talked to more people and those people talked to other people.  When the very human factor known as "whisper down the valley" was readily applied, a new religion came into being; the man was "The Prophet" and his wife "The High Priestess."  Yes, this is a bit ludicrous, but how much more or less than below.

An old man climbs up a mountain and a few days later comes down with two stone tablets containing ten rules that his God supposedly carved for him.  

A virgin gives birth to a child - his birth father is God (there are a few of these, not just one).  While still living at home with mom, the child, now man turns water into wine, feeds the masses, and after being murdered, comes to life.  

Don't forget the 72 virgins.  

A UPG in the hands of the wrong people can be a dangerous thing for many while profitable for a few.  

*UPG and Rational Thought 07/08/2016

*UPG, Joan of Arc, Joseph Smith, and Cults of Personality 03/21/2012  

                                                 Copyright @2016 Terry Unger 

  

    

A World Full of Magan

MAGAN (OE - Maegen / ON - Megin) is the obtainable and nourishing energy that is present throughout the Universe (or if you prefer, the Multiverse).  Our ancestors knew this, and so did guys like Socrates.  And, Magan exists in all living things, including Mother Earth.  

James Lovelock began working on his Gaia Hypothesis in the very early 1970's. Gaia  states that the Earth is a living self-regulating ecosystem that is made up of many smaller interacting ecosystems. The Earth then, our home, is alive and full of Magan.  Work on Gaia is ongoing and constantly being refined but it is not without its critics.  

The major criticism(s) is that Gaia is teleological and it goes against natural selection.  Lovelock believes this criticism stems from scientists who can only think in one direction - linear.  Like abstract mathematics that are anything but linear, so too, Lovelock believes, is Gaia (there ain't no short answer here, Bubba).  I agree with Lovelock.  So does Life have a purpose?  Is it teleological?  My short answer is of course.

All life strives to not just survive but thrive; life that does not survive gives way (natural selection) to life that can.  It's all done so one thing can be accomplished - to live.  We have witnessed how our Earth has been damaged and repaired herself; she strives to not just survive but thrive, loaded with Magan.  So too, does the Multiverse.  Added to this - modern science has acknowledged that the Universe (Multiverse) is made up of energy.

Every human is a composite of many cells.  And, every one of these cells is made up of atoms.  The atoms in every one of our cells are aligned like a small battery (think - the batteries in a flashlight. Our cells give off and receive negative and positive energy - expressed as electricity).  And, every cell has about 1.4 volts.  By itself, an individual cell's energy is nothing.  But, multiply that amount by the number of cells in your body (on average - 50 trillion) and you get a whopping 700 trillion volts. Here is the wake up call:  this energy is what the Chinese call Chi.  This is what the Northern Tradition refers to as MAGAN.  We, our home Mother Earth, and the Multiverse, are packed full of Magan.

Of course increasing personal Magan is possible.  Recently I posted Courage and Magan in Our Time, 7/24/2016.  It gives instruction on how followers of Asatru/Heathenry (Germanic Culture/Tradition) can increase personal Magan; chanting runes, practicing Galdr, makes it so.  The energy is there, it is available.  It is a matter of personal harvest.

                                                Copyright @2016 Terry Unger

BOOK PUBLISHED !

I am happy to announce the publishing of my latest book, The View - The Final Act.  

Currently, it is available on the Createspace eStore.  The timetable for other availability is as follows: 

Amazon.com ..... 3 -5 business days.

Amazon Europe ..... 3 -5 Business days.  

Brick and Mortar stores and Libraries ..... 6 - 8 weeks.  

Kindle ..... 3 business days or less.  

                                                  copyright @2016 Terry Unger 

A Piece from My Current Project, The View - The Final Act

A few words from the author……

When I put The View – One Man’s Living Asatru With Help From The Havamal in print, I never had the intention of making a “trilogy.”  But sometimes life dictates different terms.  After some time, it only seemed natural that The View – Act II was  a needed response to the first View.  And, it was not a “response” to aid the first, but more like a necessary addition.  Obviously, I had more to say.  This book, The View – The Final Act completes what I started in the first. 

The three View books are intended to be used not just for reading enjoyment, but to offer the reader a chance to look inside his own thoughts, feelings, and understandings about the world we live in today.  We do live in a modern era, not the 7^th, 8^th, or 9^th centuries.  However humans, doing what they do, repeat behavioral patterns that are less than honorable, regardless of the century; a thief is still a thief, a glutton is still a glutton, and a louse is still a louse.  The difference is the point in time. 

Today, we have many “things” that our ancestors would not understand – like a computer, movies, and automobiles, just to name a simple three.  Along with all of this, we are supposedly a more “polite society.”  But humans still behave badly, maybe just with more finesse.  So the question persists:  what do we do with these characters and how do we stand against them?  It is the same question that plagued our ancestors.   They dealt with thieves and murderers in manners that are similar to our methods of today.  But, maybe time and “polite society” has dulled the edge of judgment’s sword. 

The serial killer of today is put to death by lethal injection; we want to kill him as “humanely” as possible.  Our ancestors did not care about the criminal’s comfort; they were concerned about the victim’s ongoing pain and grief and made an example of the criminal’s execution.  Time changed method, for better or worse. 

The questions that follow each essay do not have a right or wrong answer.  They are present to get the reader to think on his own, about a variety of subjects.  And, just are there is no right or wrong answers, many folks will have strong options about certain things while others will not.  Maybe the purpose of the View books is an attempt to get folks thinking again.  That’s not a bad idea.   

                                    Copyright 2016 Terry Unger