The Singaporean Man/Reactosphere meetup - a smashing success.

Since it just ended less than an hour ago, I'd best get this down while it's still fresh in my mind.

Thanks to Didact's planning, the three-hour meetup bore considerable fruit, with him, me, and two others sitting down and discussing various topics which included:

*Moldbug
*The ins and outs of various economic theories
*The possibility of a Singaporean collapse, how it might look like, what to prepare and what infrastructure is likely to go first
*Comparison of this situation to other regional collapses (eg. Indonesia during the Asian Currency Crisis)
*How to best get the Singaporean Government to pay attention (if at all possible) to the impending crisis, and why they won't listen to anything outside the paradigm
*And various other reactionary ideas.

Very productive and enjoyable time, made doubly so by said person promising to send Didact and I a couple of economic papers which he's been trying to get around. I should be able to get it up for you guys to give it a look-over once it arrives in my inbox.

Kudos to you all folks out there.

A change in the air.

Is it just me, or are things in the 'sphere getting more...how shall we put it, reactionary?

I know I haven't been part of the 'sphere for very long, around five months tops. I know that I tend to gravitate to various parts of the 'sphere because of my own inherent biases.

But I still can't help but smell a change in the air.

Cappy Cap was one of the first sites I wandered to once I divested myself of the MRAs, and while he's an excellent aggregator in his own right he's also had a number of excellent posts stretching years back. Thing is, while he's always had a disdain for the Left, he's usually kept things confined to women and economics. Recently, though, he's been speaking a little about immigration, media, race and other stuff in his posts and videos, and a lot more emphatically, too.

I used to go to CH mostly for the Game posts, but it also seems to me that the folks there have started talking about race-baiting in the media and the clear anti-caucasian bias of the Left. The same goes for Roosh - Return of Kings has a good number of more reactionary ideas and articles bobbing about in what's supposed to be a introductory site for newcomers to the MAndrosphere.

There's definitely a change in the air in the wider world, both in the anglosphere and beyond; one can certainly get the impression that Interesting Times(TM) are coming for us all, and there will be nowhere on earth to hide. It wouldn't surprise me if the electronic world was reflected in meatspace, or vice versa.

I understand that my blogroll is probably a very small sample size for all the stuff that's floating out there, but it's worth a thought, especially with things in the world turning out the way they are. Are more people flocking to the Dark Enlightenment? Are those who already identify as part of it speaking louder and more publicly? What do you guys think?

***

Unrelated addendum, because this is a tad too small to require its own post - koans are going fairly well. Testing out Koanic's faith of a mustard seed koan, with a quick visualisation of standing firm in the face of an explosion or gale, depending on what I'm feeling like at the moment. I've found it works better for dealing with pain from a direct external source - physical pain while at the gym, for example, or emotional pain caused by uncertainty/anxiety/fear, such as a faux pas in a conversation. Quick visualisation, reassert oneself, and skip over the blunder.

The temperance koan, on the other hand, is geared more towards dealing with internal pain (visualisation: bow head, close eyes, focus inward on chest/heart) that's generated by my inability to fulfill the demands of my spiritual drive.

Some situations are clear-cut, others less so as to which koan to use.

You are not insane.

When you first awakened, Moldbug's chick in the egg-

When the shell finally parted before your beak and you stepped forth for your down to dry-

When you drew your first breath, opened your eyes-

-And realised how wide, how bright, how terrifying this new world was beyond the confines of the one you'd left behind-

Whether you embrace the unknown or seek to flee back into the now-broken egg-

You ask yourself: am I insane?

Am I the only one who sees the the world the way it truly is?

Aurini - You were warned, and you didn't listen.

*Standing ovation*

I go on the air with Aurini!

Yours truly in an hour and half-long chat on the international spread of the zombie apocalypse.

A great honour to be on the air with him.

Enjoy!

Not all S'porean women are like that...

Something to warm the cockles of my cold heart before I finish up my self-improvement post:

"So… this morning on the way to work I asked a guy out for dinner tonight. He declined, pointing at the stump where his right leg would have been, (in Mandarin) 'No, no, ppl will stare at me. It’s too inconvenient.' 'Haiyah, don’t worry! We can stare back at them!' haha. Oh well, I try! :P

"But in the end he said yes! He agreed to meet me outside the MRT in front of McDonald’s at 7pm.

"There wasn’t anything very urgent at work today, so I left a little earlier :) Reached Tiong Bahru MRT at about 6.15pm and there he was! Waiting for me! Ok la, not really waiting for me, but he was there on his wheelchair going about his daily trade, selling tissues.

"'Hello Chia yeh yeh!' 'Mei you’re early! See, I’m wearing a new shirt just for you!' Hehe. Am glad that he was just as excited ;) So off we went to HK Café and I must say, I had a really really good time. Even in my half-baked Mandarin, we managed to talk about his life, my life.

"How contented he is with whatever little he has. He taught me to live each day with a heart of deeper gratitude and greater thanksgiving. And to realise that I have more than I need. Far more than I really need.

[...]

"How far I fell short. How far we all do.

"After dinner I asked if I could pray for him :) Said a simple prayer of blessing and protection over him. (got a friend to translate it earlier..hanyinpinyin rocks!)

"'Thank you, Mei! I had a wonderful time tonight! Next time it’s my turn to buy you dinner ok!'

"Hehe, such genuine appreciation. Gave him a side hug and off he went with his new baju and angpau (yes, you can also give angpau even though you’re not married.)

"Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to be a blessing. My heart is full."

We need more women like Laura Yee. A lot more of them.