Conversation of Our Generation

Not sure if you've ever read Russian literature (I know I avoided it in high school). But, if you haven't it is something unique. In Notes From Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky shows how someone paves the road to hell for himself by how they think and act. So, in today's episode, we'll take a look into the psyche of a man on that path to learn from his mistakes. Buy your Copy of Notes from Underground here.

Where's the Road to Hell?

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn says "The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man," however, he doesn't mention where Heaven and Hell are found. By following the character in Notes From Underground, you will see how one takes the road to Hell. The battle between good and evil may run through every heart, but the battle between Heaven and Hell happens in every action we take. In this book, you'll follow the thoughts and actions of a man on the road to hell. If you'd like to read it, you can grab your copy here.

Why you should read Notes From Underground

The reason you should read this book is to learn the source of your unhappiness, which is most likely you. While reading this work, you'll see how much you get in the way of your own happiness. Like I said above, we find Hell by choosing it daily. Unlike this world, the places we end up in the next are choices we make based on how we live. But, those things can come to be in this world. So, will you choose the road to hell or the Road to Heaven?

The family is under attack in our culture today, with many ideologies attempting to undermine it. So, what can be one to push back? Last month, I reviewed a book that focused on saving the family from our culture. Dr. Scott Yenor joined me for an interview about his new book: The Recovery of Family Life. Tune in to learn more about what we need to do to save the family and halt the attack our culture is waging on it.

In his book, Yenor identifies a revolution that has been bubbling up for over a century in our culture. It combines liberal premises with other ideologies to create a never-ending revolution. Below, you'll find how it's described on the Yenor Book website:

For me, I was happy to see a book that offered not just a discussion of the problem, but insight into how to solve it. In The Recovery of Family Life, Dr. Yenor proposes things like encouraging part time work for women and facilitating it through good policy. Furthermore, it's important to recognize how "retail feminists" sell policies that have broader effects and oppose those policies. Policies like contraception, subsidized daycare, and pushing women into the workplace all serve to undermine the family. No matter what they may say about it, that is the end goal. But, in this interview he offers those solutions for saving the family from our culture.

Plato's Symposium is a great guide on how to discuss ideas. In this book, you'll get an in-depth look at a lengthy discussion about love. Despite having competing theories, the people in this book are able to discuss their ideas amicably. Furthermore, they ask good questions and understand each other's ideas. This helps the conversation dive into a deep discussion, rather than staying at the surface-level. If that interests you at all, listen here to learn more.

This book is a discussion on love between several friends. One is a doctor, some poets, and others are philosophers, but each has an insight into what love is. What I found helpful in learning more about discussing ideas was that the Symposium is written in the form of a dialogue, like Plato's other works. The men take each other's ideas seriously despite being very different and having conflicts. Although they could attack each other's arguments, they decide to put forth ideas and seek truth.

Another part of this book that I love is that you get a good description of Socrates (check the meme below or in this tweet). He was constantly aloof thinking about some other idea, much like a daydreamer. In the beginning of the book Socrates is snapped out of an episode like this and brought along to the party. And, it's at this party where the dialogue for the Symposium begins.

Our country is obviously divided, politically, culturally, and religiously. Despite living in the same country under the same laws, we have two separate nations in our country. In this episode, I'll discuss mending a divided nation and how we find unity amid all the chaos.

How We're Divided

We have divided ourselves in many ways across this country. We've separated ourselves into religious and secular, conservative and liberal, coastal and heartland, and in numerous other ways. With all of these differences, how can we even say we're one country? Discussions of secession come up on both sides of the political aisle, and many take it as an inevitability. What is dividing us? Mainstream Media, politicians, educational systems and numerous institutions seek to tear us apart instead of bringing us together.

I've spoken previously about what we need to come together, but I'm going to recap some of those thoughts. Basically, I think we need to first see each other as fellow human beings, fellow citizens. Rather than seeing political opponents as evil or vicious, we should see our friend or family member who holds those views in each person. We easily jump to conclusions about people instead of trying to understand them. So, if we are to have a healthy political and cultural life, we need to be able to discuss politics well. This means we have to know our own beliefs and biases, and discuss ideas with knowledge of our own potential pitfalls. We need to learn the lessons of the past and seek to mend and understand each other without wanting to dominate or control each other.

Common sense is in short supply nowadays. People are up in arms about politics, but should we be? Well, Thomas Paine explains his case for rebellion, and I can say we're nowhere close to that. After reading his pamphlet arguing for independence, I don't think we're anywhere close. So, listen below to find out why. Then, get your copy here so you can read. for yourself.

The Covid lockdowns have ruled our lives for nearly a year. Still, there seems to be no end in sight. Despite the issues with the lockdowns, we can still have many people supporting them. But, we know there are many harmful effects with the lockdowns.  So, check out my latest interview with Ronni Peck, aka Think Too Much Mom about the Smiles Matter movement, homeschooling, Covid overreactions and more.

Many studies have found that deaths due to drugs, suicide, or forgoing care have led to many deaths. In fact, some even show that the lockdowns are deadlier in many places than Covid. With all these issues, why do we continue to lock down? Why not find a better solution? Well, I argue we should use political systems to fix this issue, and Ronni and I discuss just that.

We've all had to adjust to the current state of things. But, parents may have more to adjust to. Both their lives and their children's lives have been disrupted due to lockdown restrictions, and they need to figure that out. So, Ronni and I talked about what it was like for her making the adjustment. You can find out more at her blog here.

Basically, Smiles Matter is a movement started to remind people that we're human beings. Instead of seeing your neighbor as a danger or vector of transmission, we should remember each other's humanity. Not only that, but we should actively seek to share human moments with each other and find ways to connect person-to-person.

Shakespeare's King Henry VI teaches us what the costs of civil unrest can be. Furthermore, it shows us how tensions rise and reach a boiling point that cannot be reversed. So, have we reached that point? I don't think that's the case, but we are not charting a good course. In this episode, we'll see what we can glean from this fictionalized account of actual history.

Far too many people are welcoming or cheering for civil unrest, but I find its possibility frightening. I don't think the people hoping for violence know what that really means, which is likely why they are not afraid of it. Throughout history, however, we have seen the ravages of war and insurrection. And when we do, it rarely turns out for the better, but even if it does, it comes at great cost. Instead, we should seek peaceful means of reconciling differences and working within our constitutional framework. In King Henry VI, Shakespeare demonstrates the cost of rebellion and insurrection by telling the story of one that really happened.

After my conversation with Kenny at the APH Podcast, I was thinking a lot about how well we've been able to maintain our republic and peacefully transition power. This is a great thing for everyone involved because peace breeds prosperity and many other goods.

This story came to mind as I was looking for a book to review because it demonstrates what happens when we ignore early signs of civil unrest. Furthermore, it shows the actions that lead to the bloodshed I fear. What you'll find in this story is that you can turn back from early signs of unrest. Sadly, at some point the violence becomes inevitable and bursts forth. To reiterate, I don't think we're at that point. That said, we ought to be wary of our actions and tread lightly. These three plays show us how the unrest builds, what happens when leaders fail to contain it, and the bloodshed that ensues. For these reasons, I recommend you read this for yourself.

This year's election is no doubt one of the most interesting we've had, and certainly unique. Trump's presidency was notable in many ways, and that continued through the 2020 election. With all the chaos and confusion around this election, I thought it would be good to take a look at some crazy elections in the past. That way, we can use lessons from history and apply them to our current circumstance. So, I sat down with Kenny Ryan from the Abridged Presidential Histories Podcast to dive into a few insane elections. If you'd like to learn more about his podcast, you can check that out here.

Adams v.s. Jefferson was probably the most hotly contested election ever, at least in American politics. Many people today have seen Hamilton, so you might be familiar with this one. Also, it's probably the closest we have to today’s partisan press with both sides slinging mud in the papers to get at the other party.

The 1824 election was a five-way election where the candidate who won the most delegates doesn’t win. The controversy directly led to the 1824 winner losing in 1828, which we can see is similar to today. Plus, a lot of partisan brokering allows this to happen, which is also all too familiar as we've seen a rise of party members put their partisanship above any principles or the country.

Obviously, we are far from Civil War-level tensions. War is not imminent, however secession is widely talked about. And, I would argue it is a real possibility, albeit an unlikely one. How are we different from this time, and how can we cool tempers to prevent a similar bloodshed that was a result of the Civil War?

Also, I'm now a published author. Grab my book here:

Instead of another book review, I decided to make a reading list with 25 must read books for this year. Reading is a great way to learn and connect with the wisdom of the past, so I wanted to help people find some great books to read.  Check out the books here: 

https://conversationofourgeneration.com/2020/12/31/183-top-25-must-read-books-for-2021/

Or, watch it here: https://youtu.be/gua9G5Uhy88

What divides libertarians is often just degrees of liberty that should be allowed and tactics of how to achieve those ends. Mainly, libertarians argue over how to vote, or even if they should. Also, they argue over the minutiae of many minor disagreements, instead of finding where they have common ground. Instead, they should focus on how to move forward on what they agree on. So, I'm revisiting my conversation with Sean Boston to discuss some of the problems I see.

"We don't always win when we are united, but we always lose when we are divided."

With all the problems going on in the election, we could’ve seen these issues if we weren’t willfully blind. Instead, we chose to ignore the issues we had with our system. So, now we have to move forward and offer real solutions to the problems we say.

I'm not one to defend cops who abuse their power or use excessive force. In fact, I'm quite the opposite. But that said, I do think it's overzealous and unwise to overcharge these cops. Instead of trying to return cruelty with vengeance, I think we should seek justice as it is in the law that time. Then, we can try to fix what we find unjust about the laws as they're written when we can.

This is a common tactical question for libertarians of many stripes. And, I think it's a good question to ask? What is best? Should we stay out of the voting system? Should we infiltrate the other parties? Or, should we create our own and go that way? We have to answer these questions, and, stick to that plan.