Peering out of the box - 18/2/13.

Cappy Cap - What 14-year old boys need to see.

This girl (I don't even think she's an adult) ripped apart one of my economic presentations dismissing all those pesky and "stupid" data and charts with "he doesn't know what he's talking about."  But my primary contention or purpose in putting together this post is not to highlight the incredible ignorance of a young girl (or the incredible hubris of how a veritable child 1/3rd my age and 1/1,000th my intelligence/experience would dare to to argue against me in my field and expertise), it's to once again remind young boys and young men this is what you're dealing with.  That when you go and start dating in high school or college, this is what you can expect to run into.  And if the girl "doesn't call you back" or "acts irrationally" or "blames you for things" understand it is NOT YOUR FAULT.  You are NOT dealing with mature adults, you are dealing with narcissists who have mental problems.

The Spearhead - Will 2020 be a year of upheaval?

Turchin has identified rising inequality as a destabilizing factor that could lead to social disruption and a chaotic environment, similar to the ominous years of the early 20th century when the US was threatened with violent revolution. I recall watching the film J. Edgar early last year, and although I was aware of how tense the atmosphere was in the 1920s, the movie was a good reminder that terrorism and social strife are nothing new in the US. According to Turchin, we are facing a repeat of that era if something isn’t done quickly about the stark economic inequality that has emerged since 1980. 

Both TFH’s article and Turchin’s are long reads, but they both conclude that by 2020 the situation in the US will be profoundly different from what most of us were familiar with as children.

Personally, I'm hoping for it to be much, much sooner, the whole "junkie needs to hit rock bottom" thing, but hey. 

Sultan Knish - Amnesty for all and jobs for none.

Big government needs cheap voters. Big business needs cheap labor. Big government wants big business to pick up the tab for their cheap votes through higher taxes. Big business wants cheap labor without having to pay for their social welfare benefits. After the obligatory tug of war wraps up, the tab for all those cheap votes and cheap labor will be dumped on the middle class which is being forced to fund its own destruction.

Free Northerner - Acquiring passion. Free Northerner asks how one can gain inspiration for doing the tasks we need to perform.

The question is simple, how do you develop motivation?

There is so much I want to do, so many projects I want to accomplish.

My answer, amongst others, if to put one's nose to the grindstone until it becomes a habit. By that point. One does not force motivation because one should not wait for motivation. If we all only did things because we felt like it, then nothing much would get done, and only by the most productive members of society. Sometimes, we are called upon to do thing we find unsavoury or boring because they need to be done, or it is to our long-term benefit. You don't motivate yourself to go and clean the toilet, do you?

Vox Popoli - Vox Day elaborates on why feminism and gender equality is inherently unsustainable from an economic point of view.

The reason "gender equality" stalled is because it is an economic impossibility.  The reason the average hours worked is so much higher than in the more "sexist" 1960s is because primarily there are more women in the workforce.  While immigration too plays a role here, the only significant effect native women have when they enter the labor force in greater numbers is to depress the price of labor.  Unlike immigrants, they don't bring in new consumption to help mitigate their wage-depressing effects; the reason real hourly wages peaked in 1973 and have been falling ever since is because that was the year that the number of men younger than 20 and older than 65 leaving the labor force was surpassed by educated, middle-class women entering it.
One-third of working class women have always worked.  The change brought by feminism is that now middle class and upper middle class married women work as well.  And the more women that work, the more women have to work and the less time women who don't work will have with their husbands who support them, because an INCREASE in the SUPPLY of labor necessitates a DECREASE in the PRICE of labor, demand remaining constant.

 Elusive Wapiti also weighs in on the issue.

On the Rock - Men, simply put.

Masculinity.  It drives who you men are, for yourselves.   We women want it.  No, we need it . . . . and we will work for it, if you let us.  We need you whether we will admit it or not because in so many ways, it is your masculinity that makes us feminine.  Then we can give that back to you.

Hyper Report - Your fitness will matter in a SHTF scenario. Keep fit.