We explore real-life reformation here in this informed, online community.
France is being destroyed internally by arson, the murder of citizens, and the open defiance of all law, order, and moral restraint. But the greater destructive force is cowardly and amoral politicians who appease and excuse the criminals.
Opposition leader Marine LePen has warned about this coming national suicide for two decades. But only now are middle class citizens paying serious attention to her position. Some predict she will be the next, and possibly last, French president. Three days ago she addressed the nation. One excerpt:
"In a republic that respects itself, no event, no matter how dramatic, no cause, no matter how emotional can legitimize an anarchy that wants to make itself permanent, with attacks against the police and firefighters, the sackings of town halls, the burning of schools or the looting of shops.
Polarized politicians and unions who have taken on the responsibility of morally exonerating these criminal acts have likewise come out of the government; they will carry an indelible responsibility before the nation and history."
Bill Madden writes, "Refusing illegal orders in the military is difficult to do because they normally are generated high in the chain of command and very few officers in the chain really know what is or is not a legal order. Immediate superiors can be very demanding and the orders are usually given in high pressure environments. Refusing an illegal military order is tantamount to whistleblowing and, as much good as it does for the concept of truth, the whistleblower’s life is made miserable as a punishment for his honesty and a warning to others."
I watched this happen with Army Spec Michael New during the Clinton years. He disobeyed an illegal Clinton order, was arrested on base in Germany, was then given an unjust, unconstitutional trial, and then a Bad Conduct Discharge. But he stood his ground the whole time and has been proven right since.
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."
