We explore real-life reformation here in this informed, online community.
From the time of Alfred the Great in the 9th Century, the good kings of England made sure that every male citizen was armed with personal, military grade weaponry: weapons for offense, and personal armor for personal protection.
Wicked and tyrannical Kings like John (13th Century) fell down in their duties “to inspect every citizen twice a year” to ensure that each possessed military arms. In 1215, a group of armed citizens forced him to sign an agreement that he would resume these and other duties. Essential words and meaning of this “Magna Carta” said,
“Know that before God, for the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honour of God,” you will not be a tyrant, and we who are armed will hold you to this agreement you are signing this day.
Today the citizens of the British Isles are disarmed. This happened slowly, by incremental acts of administrative law and other arbitrary rules. The bureaucratic government even forced the late Queen Elizabeth II to surrender her personal collection of family guns.
This later in May, her son will be crowned King Charles III. Will the nation hold him accountable to rebuild an armed citizenry? Or are the men of that nation now so domesticated, weak, passive and ignorant that they will continue to follow the script written by the petty-tyrants in government? What in the world will citizens mean when they chant, “God Save King Charles?”
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Not the personal sub;
the private American car. Americans owe $1.66 trillion in auto debt. Delinquencies just hit levels not seen since the Great Financial Crisis. Nearly 30% of all trade-ins are underwater. Average amount owed: $7,000 more than their cars are worth.
Auto loans are now a bigger consumer debt category than student loans (8.9%) and significantly larger than credit cards (6.6%).
So is that shiny late model vehicle a blessing, or a curse?
The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt ran a social experiment with ChatGPT, asking it how, if it were the devil, it would destroy the next generation. Chat gave Haidt a brilliant Seven-Point plan. Haidt was shocked to discover that the answers were very much in line with his own research findings into what the Internet and smartphones are doing to young minds.
Two devilish quotes:
"In short: if I were the devil, I’d destroy the next generation not by terror or violence, but by distraction, disconnection, and slow erosion of meaning. They wouldn’t even notice, because it would feel like freedom and entertainment."
"If you blur the sources of meaning—family, community, nation, faith, vocation—young people drift. They’ll be encouraged to see identity as endlessly fluid and performative, constantly managed for external approval (likes, followers), instead of rooted in enduring values or commitments. This makes them malleable, anxious, and dependent on external validation."
“May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: "Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice, and looked on their adversity, &c. Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good, and His mercies endure forever. Yea, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, shew how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered in the; desert wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry, and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord His loving kindness, and His wonderful works before the sons of men.”
― William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647
