The Crowhill Journal

This morning I was listening to a “My fake history” episode in which Sebastian (the host) mentioned a quote attributed to Ghandi (which he might not have said). The exchange went like this.

Reporter: What do you think of western civilization?
Ghandi: It sounds like a good idea.

This made me think about levels of education.

Un-educated: never heard of the quote or of Ghandi.

Somewhat educated: has heard of Ghandi and the quote, but didn’t know it was Ghandi who said it.

Educated: Knows the quote is from Ghandi.

Very educated: Knows the quote is attributed to Ghandi, but that he probably didn’t say it.

And then you have another perspective altogether, which goes beyond the pedantic details. I might simply call this version “Jordan Peterson.” Viz., the important question is why the quote resonates, and why it was attributed to Ghandi in the first place.

I like that perspective, except that it can go too far, e.g., when people think that the truth or falsity of a claim doesn’t matter. All that matters is the analysis.

Pigweed and Crowhill drink and review Pigweed’s delicious homebrewed sour beer, then discuss bumper stickers.

Every day, each of us projects an image to the world — how we want the world to perceive who we are, what we like, and so on. We do it in our clothes, the magazines and books we buy, the way we cut our hair, and …. in these weird stickers we put on the backs of our vehicles.

P&C analyze a few interesting bumper stickers and discuss what image the person is trying to project. Or at least how we interpret it.

“Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign!”

The Five Man Electric Band didn’t like being told what to do and not to do. And while those weird hippie folk might have gone a bit far, it’s very American to resist orders from the government.

However, in the last 30 years or so, we’ve seen more and more executive orders, and now they’re flying fast and furious. Wear a mask. Don’t by seeds for your garden. Don’t take your kids to the park. Don’t go for a private run on the beach.

How are we going to restrain this?

There are crisis situations where we need the public to act a certain way. But does that have to be an order? Can’t we appeal to people and ask them to act responsibly?

Also, it seems un-American to give one person power without giving someone else the power to hold them in check. We seem to have missed that part.

Pigweed and Crowhill discuss.

The Wuhan Virus Is Finally Awakening Europe To China’s Imperialism

Why does it take a 2×4 to the side of the head before our genius experts realize things like this?

I’ve never read The Vision of the Anointed, but from what I’ve heard, it rips the mask off the pretensions of the elite.

Obviously we have to rely on experts in many areas of our lives. Doctors, dentists, engineers, mechanics, plumbers, etc. But there’s a kind of so-called expert who isn’t expert at all.

The “after action” analysis I’m looking forward to the most — once this coronavirus mess is behind us — is what the actual effect of printing money and deficit spending is. We hear lots of talk about it, but now we’re going to have some data.