Article Review: “The Metaphysics of Love” by Arnold Schopenhauer

“Marriage is not regarded as a means for intellectual entertainment, but for the generation of children.”

This idea captures the Metaphysics of Love. It’s a wonderful article by Schopenhauer, containing thoughts that would be censored by the PC police of today.  Schopenhauer discusses what a man wants in a woman, as well as what a woman wants in a man; He believes that sexual preference is biological predisposition—that we’re operating on the animalistic.

In other words…

It’s not about what you want—it’s about what the species needs.

The most interesting part was about male sexual preference. As men, we’re constantly told what to like: the Warrior Princess, the Parisian runway model, Amy Shumer’s flabby thighs, etc. To the Major, these are the methods of manipulation…a social engineering project.

So let’s take a look at Schopenhauer; let’s see if he’s able to kill the pretty lies.

What are the Five Things that Men are Looking for?

1.) “The first consideration that influences out feelings and choice is age…”

True enough. Men value a woman who is younger—this should be self-evident to anybody with two eyes. Notice how men will fawn over a female singer when she’s 25, yet ignore her when she’s 45; Notice how they’ll ignore a 50-year old woman that changes her profile pic on Facebook, but they’ll like and comment when a 25-year old does it. This is the reality of the sexual marketplace. Very brutal. It’s similar to how women will treat men that are short: with apathy and ambivalence.

2.) “The second consideration is that of health: a severe illness may alarm us for the time being, but an illness of a chronic nature or even cachexy frightens us away, because it would be transmitted.”

Most young women don’t have a physical illness. However, there’s an alarming number of American women that have a mental illness—you might call it a “chronic” illness, to quote Schopenhauer; it’s a depression that never gets better. On a personal note, my first wife was mentally ill—bipolar, to be exact. Over time, I began to question my own sanity. I was gas lighted, manipulated, emotionally tortured…you name it. By the grace of God (and a skilled divorce attorney) I was saved.

Is a mental illness contagious? If you’ve lived with somebody that’s crazy, you already know the answer.

3.) The third consideration is the skeleton…nothing disgusts us so much as a deformed shape.

True enough…most men would never date a cripple. For some reason, I thought about the girl with two heads that appeared on The Learning Channel. Man, I felt sorry for those girls. They were so positive, so filled with love. What does life have in store for them? Will they find romantic love? I seriously doubt it. It’s hard enough to find a partner when you have a normal physique, but for a woman with two heads?  I don’t want to imagine…very sad.

4.) The fourth consideration is a certain plumpness, in other words, a superabundance of the vegetative function….

Schopenhauer is not talking about a Chubby Chaser. He’s not talking about the man who wanted to immobilize his wife, because he was sexually aroused by her physical mobility. He’s talking about “Mother Hips,” to put it plainly. A woman that appears capable of conception. A woman that can spend months in the “vegetative” state, waiting to conceive (such as the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy). A woman that’s poised to give birth.

See Venus of Willendorf (Note: All the chaps at the Caves of Lascaux were trying to hit that)

5.) Finally, we come to the consideration of beautiful eyes and a beautiful forehead.

Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever looked at a woman’s eyes, specifically. And I know I’ve never looked at her forehead (unless her forehead was extra-large). But I get his point—physical symmetry is all the rage.

Schopenhauer’s analysis is proven correct by the plastic surgery industry. Women spend millions of dollars to move a cheek here, to move a nose there. I’ll never forget when I needed surgery to correct a deviated septum. I sat in the plastic surgeon’s office…just me and 50 women. The surgeon drove up to the office in his Ferrari, stepping out like James Bond.  The guy was a millionaire because he did one thing well—he gave physical symmetry to women.

Conclusion

Overall, I think that Schopenhauer is spot on. Humans are here to procreate…to continue the species. It’s the Serengeti. It’s kill or be killed. We’re not here to surf Netflix, order bath towels on Amazon, or stare out the window of StarCucks. The species wants to continue—for right or wrong, it wants to exist. It wants to be.

I highly recommend Metaphysics of Love. It’s an article that you will find interesting, and it still reads well for the modern audience. For access to the text, click on the following link: http://misterjung.com/love/schopenhauer.pdf

Dude, Let’s Talk About the Egyptian Pyramids

So how were the pyramids constructed? A simple search in google scholar will overwhelm the visitor. Here are just a few…

The Second Book of Histories by Herodotus.

This pyramid was made after the manner of steps, which some call “rows” and others “bases”: and when they had first made it thus, they raised the remaining stones with machines made of short pieces of timber, raising them first from the ground to the first stage of the steps, and when the stone got up to this it was placed upon another machine standing on the first stage, and so from this it was drawn to the second upon another machine; for as many as were the courses of the steps, so many machines there were also, or perhaps they transferred one and the same machine, made so as easily to be carried, to each stage successively, in order that they might take up the stones; for let it be told in both ways, according as it is reported. However that may be, the highest parts of it were finished first, and afterwards they proceeded to finish that which came next to them, and lastly they finished the parts of it near the ground and the lowest ranges.

Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture by Somers Clarke and R. Engelbach:

Based on thirty years of research and investigation, much of it firsthand, the present work offers a detailed examination of Egyptian quarrying methods, transportation of stone, foundations, mortar, techniques for dressing and laying blocks of stone, pyramid construction, facing, sculpturing and painting masonry, brickwork, Egyptian mathematics and much more.

Nearly 270 photographs and other illustrations bring the text to life, providing superb pictorial documentation of actual sites and excavations, quarries, building plans, architects’ diagrams and elevations and a myriad of construction details. Also presented are such evocative materials as a map for gold miners in the time of Seti I, photographs of tool marks left by ancient quarry workers, mason’s guidelines on a column in the Great Hall at Karnak, a scene of workmen polishing a sphinx and other small details that bridge the centuries and remind us that flesh-and-blood human beings sweated and toiled to accomplish the marvelous technical feats so well described here.

These are just two of thousands. The construction of the Egyptian pyramids has been written about ad nauseum, discussed to near exhaustion by academics all over the globe. It’s a topic that can fill a library. It’s there for you to learn – all you need is the time, discipline, and intellectual integrity.

Some three thousand years later, here is the popular opinion on how the pyramids were built:

Henry David Thoreau believed that education was the answer to societal woes. How wrong he was. Now we have the world at our fingertips, but we persist with lazy intellectual conclusions. We prefer to stymie the work of others than seek the truth. We’d rather deny the truth than admit our ignorance on a topic.

Aliens creating the pyramids…an unfortunate sign of a cultural decline.

 

Essay Review: “The Turning Point of My Life” by Mark Twain

What is Man? is the last book that Mark Twain wrote. In my opinion, it’s the best thing he ever composed. It’s a collection of short stories and essays. The topics are broad, covering everything from the death of his wife Jean to the virtues of tobacco. On some level, it’s a Mark Twain blog – the man in all his greatness, touching on a variety of topics.

My favorite essay from the book is “The Turning-Point of My Life.” Twain recalls his early days, reflecting on the defining moments of his childhood. He describes the “turning point” as a moment when a measles epidemic was ravaging his hometown. Everybody was living in fear, everybody petrified. The children were dying. People were locked inside their homes, frightened. The fear was palatable.

Twain stayed in the house for months. Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and decided to leave the house, risking death.

In short, he decided that is was better to live with bravery than die with fear.

Life on these miserable terms was not worth living…This was a turning-point of my life.

Twain catches the measles and becomes ill…but he survives. From that point forth, he learns a valuable lesson. You can’t live in fear. You can’t always worry about what might happen. You can’t go through life petrified. You need to live…and live with courage. You need to stand up to danger.

The greatest rewards come when you take chances. When you decide to chase your unconventional dreams. When you decide to go against the grain, doing something that nobody else has the courage to do. When you realize that your own path is different and that you must go against the common plan. When you decide to be you.

You can find a link to the book here. I highly recommend adding it to your reading list – you won’t regret it:http://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/digi036.pdf

 

The Beauty of the Jacket Potato

English food gets a bad rap…and perhaps deservedly so at times. However, if you’re wandering through Covenant Garden in London, nothing hits the spot like a Jacket Potato.

It’s a giant spud…you pick your condiments: everything from veggie chili to curry chicken.

Enjoy!

Jacket potato with cheese and corn

Revenge is the Father of Self-Esteem

What drove Michael Jordan to be the best? Let’s read, shall we…

“When I got cut from the varsity team as a sophomore in high school, I learned something. I knew I never wanted to feel that bad again. I never wanted to have that taste in my mouth, that hole in my stomach…”

Michael Jordan – perhaps the greatest basketball player ever – was cut from his high school basketball team. And he became a man filled with rage. The object of his anger became the high school coach that cut him – a man by the name of Clifton Herring. When Jordan was inducted into the Hall of Fame, some thirty years later, he still had animosity towards Herring:

“…he [Jordan] flew his old high school teammate, Leroy Smith, to Springfield for the induction. Remember, Smith was the upperclassman his coach, Pop Herring, kept on varsity over him as a high school sophomore. He waggled to the old coach, “I wanted to make sure you understood: You made a mistake, dude.”

Now Michael Jordan is a legend, a man overflowing with self-esteem. His accomplishments are myriad (a plethora dare I say). But what created Jordan’s self-esteem? What was the initial seed? What was the impetus? It’s quite simple, my friends.

REVENGE. The desire to demolish the detractors. The urge to counterpunch, to dissemble those who dared to question his greatness. And from this urge – the desire for REVENGE – Jordan became one of the greatest basketball players ever (if not the best).

The happiness merchants will tell your otherwise. They peddle self-esteem products, trying to drug you with feel-good platitudes. The lies are like sugary sweets; they taste good right away, but then you burn out. Eventually, you’re back to the same place; you feel shitty about yourself.

Realize this: it’s how you REVENGE the negative commentary that feeds your greatness. It’s the desire prove people wrong that sends you to the gym at 2:00 AM. It’s the desire to prove people wrong that makes you study all night. It’s the urge to fight back, to battle relentlessly, that sets you apart.

REVENGE is the father of self-esteem.

The Difference Between a Conservative Victory and Liberal Victory

Conservative soldier to wife: “Gee honey, you’ll never believe what I did. I single handedly defeated 50 ISIS fighters in a firefight. My courage brought democracy to a small village in the rural mountains of Iraq!”

Wife to husband: “That sounds great, but I have some bad news. Our daughter got two arm-sleeve tattoos and is undergoing sexual reassignment surgery. She says that you have no right to protest because you’re a cisgendered, white male.

The degenerate left will happily take the second victory…and take it all day long. They want your Church, your spouse and your child. They want to poz you with their spiritual sickness. They want to denigrate the fundamental fabric of American society. And they’ve used the public school system, the press and Hollywood as their weapons. For fifty years, they’re been doing a brash, touchdown dance on the football fields of America.

Silly conservatives…they became satisfied with moral victories in distant lands. Meanwhile, while these conservatives were deployed overseas, their homeland was being spiritually sodomized. Their noble land, a country overflowing with natural grandeur, being overtaken by the forces of darkness—the idealistic foot soldiers of the diabolical Max Horkheimer. The degenerate left was laughing in hysterics…the right was too stupid, too riddled with PTSD to ever wake up. Victory was on the way—Hillary would arrive, a proud feminist, to hammer the final nail in the American coffin.

But then they got grabbed by the pussy.

Why do liberals despise President Trump? It’s quite simple—he’s dared to challenge their control of the culture. That’s the liberal sacred cow, their Dome of the Rock. He dared to challenge Rosie O’ Donnell, Meryl Streep and Hamilton—for liberals, these things are 100 times important than the lives of Iraqi children. These “artists” are the conduit for cultural poison. If you remove them, there is no way to denigrate the noble spirit of America.

Never forget—we’re fighting a culture war. If you don’t know what you’re fighting for, then you’ve already lost.

 

What’s the Greatest Opening Passage in American Literature?

The greatest opening passage in American literature? So many, but I’ll go with Of Mice and Men…

A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees- willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter’s flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush to sit on the sand in the evening, and the damp flats are covered with the night tracks of ‘coons, and with the spread pads of dogs from the ranches, and with the split-wedge tracks of deer that come to drink in the dark.

So beautiful. The setting is classic California, long before the overcrowded freeways and automobiles would choke the state. It was still an idyllic place where nature ruled. The temperate climate, laced with river, tree and animal.

Steinbeck captures it beautifully.

The Salinas River, inspiration for the novel Of Mice and Men

RIP George “The Animal” Steele

George “The Animal” Steele will be missed.

If you grew up in the 1980s, you’ll remember his character on Saturday morning wrestling: the hairy back, the green tongue, the bald head. And who could forget his fondness for eating turnbuckles? He was a one-of-a kind “character,” in the truest sense of the word.

George “The Animal” Steele…about to grapple with Hulk Hogan for the title.

I had a chance to speak with Mr. Steele several times when I was working for a Pro Wrestling magazine. He was the opposite of his character. In real life, he had a Master’s Degree, was a devout Christian, and was a loving husband and father. He was far from the marauding beast he played on television.

A picture of Jim Myers (“The Animal”) away from the squared circle. He was a devout Christian and was married for many years.

George (whose real name was Jim Myers) started in Professional Wrestling back in the early 70s. It  was a way to supplement his meager income as a high school teacher. He quickly moved up the ranks, eventually becoming a fixture of the business. He wrestled all the top stars: Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, etc. He rose in popularity to the point where, eventually, Hollywood came knocking. George had a significant part in the movie Ed Wood, where he played an actor in one of Wood’s films.

Jim Myers (AKA George “The Animal” Steele) in the movie Ed Wood.

George created his character on the road, adapting it to the cheers and boos of the crowd. In that way, his character was different than today’s wrestling performers – many of whom have gimmicks created for them by the WWE production department. George’s gimmick was unique, and it was the byproduct of his brilliant mind for effective performance art. He was equivalent to a great circus performer from a forgotten era.

George Steele was a  fantastic entertainer. But more importantly, he was a virtuous and honorable man.

RIP…George “The Animal” Steele.

Insult of the Week: You’re a Duck-Fornicating Heathen!

Today’s insult comes from the novel Tai-Pan, written by James Clavell. The novel’s hero, Dirk Straun, calls out to a Chinese sailor:

“You’re a duck-fornicating heathen!”

The insult involves a little research. As rumor has it, some Chinese men like to fornicate with their pet ducks. The fetish was described in the quintessential study on human sexuality—Paolo Mantegazza’s, The Sexual Relations of Mankind. Mantegazza noted that Chinese men would receive fellatio from their pet ducks, even going so far as to strangulate them before ejaculation.

Now I have no way to confirm or deny these rumors. That being said, I think that it’s an appropriate moment for a culinary offering.

Peking duck anyone?

“Let’s get it on…” *Sung in Marvin Gaye style*

 

When Quasimodo Realized He Was a Hunchback

One of the most heartbreaking scenes in literature comes from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Quasimodo, resigned to his life as an outcast, falls in love with the beautiful Esmeralda. Up until then, he accepted his misfortune: tucked away in the enormous cathedral of Notre Dame, away from the humans that mocked him. Alone, yet provided for by the benevolent Archdeacon, Claude Frollo.

But that all changes when he falls in love. His poignant words, spoken to Esmeralda:

“I never realized my ugliness till now. When I compared myself with you, I pity myself indeed, poor unhappy monster that I am! I must seem to you like some awful beast, eh? You,-you are a sunbeam, a drop of dew, a bird’s song! As for me, I am something frightful, neither man nor beast,- a nondescript object, more hard, shapeless, and more trodden under foot than a pebble!”

Tragic, yet beautiful.

Of all pains on earth…nothing more severe than unrequited love. Nothing more searing than the idea that you’ll be forever alone. That the mountain of affection you possess will go wasted. That you’ll never kiss the lips that tug at your soul.

The scene also exemplifies why Victor Hugo was great – he wrote about the naked truth. He told the pressing story that others were too frightened to tell. Political correctness be damned. Happy endings be damned. Men like Quasimodo exist…and their stories are tragic. Don’t try to gloss over it. Don’t try to put makeup on it – it’s real and it’s heartbreaking.

Not everybody finds love. Some people die alone, unable to share the ocean of affection they have to give. They cry a million tears that nobody hears. It’s called tragedy, and it’s an integral part of the human experience.