Silver Eye Society

Matilda might be a kid's movie, but anti-authoritarian populist movements are for the whole family!

 

You may not remember this storybook-like 90s movie as being a battle cry against authoritarianism, but rewatched as an adult, the dynamics of tyranny are obvious. Matilda is a vivid example of the difference between authority and authoritarianism, and comedy as a weapon against tyranny.

 

◬ In this episode:

⋗ How changes in language indicate changes in culture ⋗ When leaders are careless with their own power ⋗ Can we respect our authorities anymore? ⋗ Tolerating mockery indicates stability ⋗ Politics is not meant to be a belief system ⋗ Power hates comedy because comedy is subversive ⋗ The cultural shift that views adults as children ⋗ The best response to false authority is laughter ⋗ The difference between art and ideology ⋗ Beware forced applause

 

◬ Other episodes mentioned: Plagues, Petty Tyrants, and Our Dark Ages Mindset | The Seventh Seal

 

◬ Get every weekly episode and a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on the Silver Eye Society Patreon.

 

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An infamous horror movie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a (relatively) tasteful mix of sensational terror and time-honored fears.

 

The uncivilized unknown of deep rural places is the perfect setting for a city dweller's nightmare. This respected horror movie deserves some attention as our country divides further along lines that might be better understood as who can and can't wield a chainsaw.

 

◬ In this episode: 

 

⋗ The attraction to the countryside as a novelty⋗ The tendency of youth to scoff at the past ⋗ Chainsaw usage instruction ⋗ The city dweller's fear of rural people ⋗ How proximity of living space influences our social norms ⋗ Does the lack of high speed internet in rural places shape our culture? ⋗ Will city dwellers start migrating to rural places? ⋗ Texas as slightly foreign, threatening to be its own country⋗ Rural culture and its effect on outsiders ⋗ Should laws discern between rural vs city life? ⋗ The moralizing of the city vs the countryside ⋗ How modernity makes us naive ⋗ Liminal spaces and people

 

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A 1957 Bergman film sets us in exactly the right era to better understand our own time: the plague-stricken Middle Ages.  

One of Salomé's favorite movies, The Seventh Seal is the epitome of existentialist art, refreshingly devoid of post-modern cynicism but rich in the angst, dread, and flashes of beauty that make up existence.

 

◬ In this episode:   

⋗ Cynicism in art and culture ⋗ Our modern plague and its ancient effects ⋗ The impulse to blame others during hardship ⋗ The ancient desire to sacrifice for good fortune in modern society ⋗ What makes the average person turn to cruelty? ⋗ The need for suspicion of power and skepticism ⋗ Our Dark Ages mentality in the Age of Information ⋗ Power is easily taken, rarely rescinded  ⋗ The TSA is fake business ⋗ How arbitrary power undermines legitimate law ⋗ The meaning of life (briefly)  

 

◬ Other related episodes mentioned:  

⋗ Micro-dosing the Void | Library Circus #6 

 

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We're not afraid to dabble in the unknown here at the Silver Eye Society and neither was Carl Jung.  

 

Pulling ideas from a book of Jung's collected works, we have The Most Adult Human discussion possible: examining and engaging with ideas that we don't necessarily hold and that can't be emphatically proven. Danger! 

 

This Library Circus we're breaking down ideas from Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal. 

 

◬ In this episode:   

⋗ Dogmatic rationality and "believing" science ⋗ What the hell is synchronicity, really? ⋗ Magic. Yes, magic. ⋗ What lives beyond the limits of science?   ⋗ The collective unconscious and our questions about it ⋗ A warning for those who dabble in the unknown  

 

◬ Book discussed:  

⋗ Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal 

 

◬ Weird&Güd newsletter edition mentioned:  

⋗ A Curse You Can Believe 

 

◬ Other related episodes mentioned:  

⋗ Tripping on Jacob's Ladder: Bring Out the Demons 

 

◬ Watch this episode on YouTube. 

 

◬ Patrons get every weekly episode and a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on the Silver Eye Society Patreon.

 

◬ Salomé Sibonex and Justin A.W. Blair.

 

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We're most susceptible to a weakness when we convince ourselves we're least susceptible to that weakness.

 

As arguments in favor of increasing censorship grow and western countries that have long been the ideals of freedom invoke unprecedented control upon their populations, it's worth asking whether we've underestimated the pull of authoritarianism.

 

This Library Circus is the second part of our discussion breaking down the ideas in Erich Fromm's book, Escape from Freedom.

 

◬ In this episode:

⋗ The difference between positive freedom & negative freedom

⋗ How only seeing society's failures is as inefficient as blind optimism

⋗ Why all larger change is rooted within the individual

⋗ The destructive outcome of cultural vs academic post modernism

⋗ How cynicism has permeated the western world

⋗ Why individualism is the best defense against authoritarianism

 

◬ Book discussed:

⋗ Escape from Freedom by Erich Fromm

 

Other related episodes mentioned:

⋗ Would Rambo Defund the Police? (Patron-only)

⋗ Meet Your Inner Authoritarian | Library Circus #4 (Patron-only)

 

◬ Watch this episode on YouTube. 

 

◬ Patrons get every weekly episode and a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on the Silver Eye Society Patreon.

 

◬ Salomé Sibonex and Justin A.W. Blair.

 

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We aren't born individuals, we become individuals.

 

Fight Club is a time capsule that displays the empty, alienated society that births the nihilism we use group identities and destruction to escape from today.

 

◬In this episode:

⋗ Alienation and losing friends ⋗ How individuality fights authoritarianism ⋗ An intense debate on defining morality as in line with nature ⋗ Nietzsche (of course) ⋗ How the fear of freedom makes group identity appealing ⋗ The desire to destroy something beautiful ⋗ Creation as the answer to nihilism

 

◬Other related episodes mentioned:

⋗ Library Circus #3: Becoming Uncancellable⋗ How to Become a True-Man

 

◬ Get previous Fight Club episodes plus every weekly episode and a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on the Silver Eye Society Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/silvereyesociety).

 

◬ Salomé Sibonex and Justin A.W. Blair discuss. 

 

◬ Watch this episode on YouTube. 

 

◬ This episode is free, but members of the Silver Eye Society get every weekly episode plus a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on Patreon.

 

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There's no denying the American media has undergone major changes, including some major malfunctions.

 

Full Metal Jacket doesn't seem like a movie about journalism, but media coverage played a major role in the Vietnam War—a level of coverage we haven't seen since.

 

We want a free country, but how well can a free country, with its chaos and divisions, hold its own in the face of hyper-controlled authoritarian countries?

 

In this episode:

⋗ Censoring old films for modern standards ⋗ The failure of the modern media ⋗ Education vs. indoctrination in free and authoritarian societies ⋗ An attack on John Cena

 

◬ Get part 2 of our Full Metal Jacket discussion along with every weekly episode and a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on the Silver Eye Society Patreon.

 

◬ Salomé Sibonex and Justin A.W. Blair discuss. 

 

◬ Watch this episode on YouTube. 

 

◬ This episode is free, but members of the Silver Eye Society get every weekly episode plus a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on Patreon.

 

Listen to the podcast via:

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Emerson would've been appalled to watch mobs pressure individuals into conforming and compromising out of fear, but he wouldn't have been surprised.

His essay Self Reliance is an 1800s battle cry against the ever-lurking human desire to force conformity on individuals who dare to differ.

In this episode:

⋗ Mobs and other obstacles to individuality ⋗ What it means to become and be yourself ⋗ Becoming uncancellable ⋗ The glaring flaw in postmodernism

 

◬ Salomé Sibonex and Justin A.W. Blair discuss. 

 

◬ Watch this episode on YouTube. 

 

◬ This episode is free, but members of the Silver Eye Society get every weekly episode plus a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on Patreon.

 

Listen to the podcast via:

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The focus on toxic masculinity misses the real issues at hand: institutional corruption, fear of our inner depths, and sharks.   

Jaws uses a perfect hero's journey story to warn of what destruction comes when an institution becomes corrupt and when an individual avoids the dark depths of their own fears.

 

◬ Salomé Sibonex and Justin A.W. Blair discuss. 

 

◬ Watch this episode on YouTube. 

 

◬ This episode is free, but members of the Silver Eye Society get every weekly episode plus a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on Patreon.

 

Listen to the podcast via:

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A horror movie from the 90s, with all its 90s tropes and limitations, still gets to the root of an ancient question: what lies in the realm beyond rationality?

 

Besides all the biblical stuff, Jacob's Ladder brings the concerns of mystics to modernity.

 

We talk about the border between the awful and awesome, what the dark night of the soul really is, why intellect alone isn't enough to answer ancient questions, and the dark side of collectivism.

 

◬ Salomé Sibonex and Justin A.W. Blair discuss. 

 

◬ Watch this episode on YouTube. 

 

◬ This episode is free, but members of the Silver Eye Society get every weekly episode plus a civilized space to discuss philosophy, society, mythology, and more on Patreon.

 

Listen to the podcast via:

Spotify

Amazon

Tune-In