A thread on Walter del la Mare's anthology Behold, This Dreamer! evoked some discussion here but became inactive.

I intend to start that book over, while, at the same time, reading some books that I anticipate will contrast with it but also be complementary.

Behold, This Dreamer! will be a first-rate expression of poetic consciousness. The other books would amount to being critiques of what I've called sociological consciousness. The first will be Dobelli's Stop Reading the News. The next book after Dobelli's is likely to be Belloc's The Servile State.* Hayek's The Road to Serfdom and Vitz's Psychology as Religion might also be appropriate. Maybe even Ruth Richardson'sDeath, Dissection and the Destitute . Belloc and Hayek are available as free downloads.


*Knygatin might appreciate the cover design of one of the editions currently available:

[www.bookdepository.com]


The Servile State may be read for free online:

[www.gutenberg.org]

Likewise, here is The Road to Serfdom:

[cdn.mises.org]


Anyway, I'm going to start this project, and I hope others will be interested.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12 Aug 21 | 10:47AM by Dale Nelson.

Dale Nelson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A thread on Walter del la Mare's anthology Behold,
> This Dreamer! evoked some discussion here but
> became inactive.
>
> I intend to start that book over, while, at the
> same time, reading some books that I anticipate
> will contrast with it but also be complementary.
>
> Behold, This Dreamer! will be a first-rate
> expression of poetic consciousness. The other
> books would amount to being critiques of what I've
> called sociological consciousness. The first will
> be Dobelli's Stop Reading the News. The next book
> after Dobelli's is likely to be Belloc's The
> Servile State.* Hayek's The Road to Serfdom and
> Vitz's Psychology as Religion might also be
> appropriate. Belloc and Hayek are available as
> free downloads.
>
>
> *Knygatin might appreciate the cover design of one
> of the editions currently available:
>
> [www.bookdepository.com]
> re-Belloc/9781602068681

My understanding is that the original design by the engraver for the back of US currency had an eye framed by a keyhole, but this was thought inappropriate by Alexander Hamilton, on one of those occasions when he wasn't busy judging a twerking contest involving some of Thomas Jefferson's slaves.

I know I read it somewhere, so it has to be true...

:^)

>
>
> The Servile State may be read for free online:
>
> [www.gutenberg.org]
> 2-h.htm
>
> Likewise, here is The Road to Serfdom:
>
> [cdn.mises.org]
>
>
> Anyway, I'm going to start this project, and I
> hope others will be interested.

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12 Aug 21 | 10:48AM by Sawfish.

Here are some notes from the first four chapters of Dobelli's Stop Reading the News.

Rolf Dobelli. Stop Reading the News: A Manifesto for a Happier, Calmer and Wiser Life (London: Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, 2020), translated from German by Caroline Waight. 160 pages.

The first four chapters:

He refers (p. 2) to his 2013 article “News Is Bad for You,” published in The Guardian.* I saw a reference to this in a blog & read the article at that time.
He was a teenage newspaper addict in Lucerne, became financial controller for Swissair (p. 7).

With the stream of information from the internet, you’re never finished with the news, as you (temporarily) were when you read newspapers (p. 9).

He found it was getting hard for him to read relatively long texts in one gone (p. 10). I have experienced this too. It has serious implications, notably for readers of literary fiction, including a strange story such as Blackwood’s “The Willows,” which is largely an exercise in the building of an eerie atmosphere.
Dobelli can describe himself now as having been “entirely news free” since 2010, but we soon learn that he doesn’t mean this absolutely. But having changed his habits, he finds he thinks more clearly, has insights that are more valuable, and enjoys more free time. [The assumption is that everyone wants more “free time.” See the end of Letter XII in C. S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters.]

“…the new being sold as the relevant” (p. 15).

He recommends reading books and “well-researched long-form articles” for knowledge of current events (p. 16).

If you resolve to stop reading newspapers and popular news magazines, to stop watching TV news and consuming (i.e. being consumed by) internet news feeds, you should “turn your gaze away from the headlines and towards something more productive” if you are an environment with such things abounding, e.g. airports (p. 19).

Dobelli recommends that you not press on to finish a book that isn’t interesting and has nothing new for you, but that if you do read something worthwhile, it’s good, having finished it, to read it again promptly. Reading it a second time is not “twice as effective” but as it were 20 times as effective. (p. 20).

Using Google is OK but use it deliberately & don’t be sidetracked. “Don’t let the object of your attention be dictated by the news media” (p. 21).


*[www.theguardian.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12 Aug 21 | 06:00PM by Dale Nelson.

I've been monopolizing ED today, with the only excuse being that I'm both agitated and bored--and both have been a lifelong condition, but they don't often coincide as completely as they did today.

So I'll try to keep this short.

Dale, I, too, share the belief that reading/listening/viewing the news sources available today without strict qualification (and perhaps this was always true) does the individual more harm than good.

It's that simple, really.

But you do need to have at least enough awareness of emerging circumstances that can pose an actual threat to your plans/strategies that you can take action, if possible and appropriate.

So there are tow basic things that work for me:

1) Devise a basic triage to very quickly evaluate news so that you waste no time with things that have no real importance to your life or your plans.

Whether the topics are *interesting* or not is irrelevant. Are they essential?

Everyone must figure out their own way. If you cannot tell what's essential and what's not, there's no help for you in this life.

2) Give reporters and columnists ZERO credibility or respect based on who they are. The content itself must earn it, and it must earn it every single time.

No free rides even though I liked the last four columns.

First the triage, then no free rides. Simple, huh?

An example of "need to know": there are proposals to eliminate the "step up" clause of cap gains law. The bulk of our estate planning is centered around the step up, and I must figure out another way if it is eliminated.

If I can.

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sawfish, you probably have a trusted source(s) for that capital gains information. In the same way, a homeschooling family could get information about threats to this essential liberty from local people they trust who follow news and/or a homeschooling organization.

My wife and I actually get a daily national newspaper (the Wall Street Journal. I check the editorial pages and the book reviews, etc. Most of the paper is just a source of newspaper to put under our cats' litter boxes, but I figure it is relatively trustworthy for national and international news as compared to NYT, MSNBC, CNN, and so on -- if I want that news.

I like the idea of a local newspaper, but the weekly we have had little to report other than high school and college sports, "news" from the local assisted living and nursing home facilities, etc. We rarely subscribe to it. When we do, it tends to get about 2 minutes from either of us....

Dale Nelson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sawfish, you probably have a trusted source(s) for
> that capital gains information.

First appearance will be in the funding bill; if it is passed I have a tax attorney I'm willing to at least listen to, yes.

> In the same way,
> a homeschooling family could get information about
> threats to this essential liberty from local
> people they trust who follow news and/or a
> homeschooling organization.

Seems the same thing to me, yes.

Let me be clear: homeschooling in this day/age is a Great Good. It is VERY hard to do well, however.

I have no doubt whatsoever that you did it well, Dale.

>
> My wife and I actually get a daily national
> newspaper (the Wall Street Journal. I check the
> editorial pages and the book reviews, etc. Most
> of the paper is just a source of newspaper to put
> under our cats' litter boxes,

Hah, hah!

Woody Allen has a situation where a grad student comes to his advisor's office and finds that the his thesis is being used to level out an uneven leg of the advisor's desk.

> but I figure it is
> relatively trustworthy for national and
> international news as compared to NYT, MSNBC, CNN,
> and so on -- if I want that news.
>
> I like the idea of a local newspaper,

To my mind this has much more day-to-day relevance to one's normal life.

E.g. in PDX there were a lot of landlord-tenant changes within the last 3 years. I needed to know this, and it was only in local sources.

> but the
> weekly we have had little to report other than
> high school and college sports, "news" from the
> local assisted living and nursing home facilities,
> etc. We rarely subscribe to it. When we do, it
> tends to get about 2 minutes from either of us....

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sawfish, I’m not sure it’s all that hard to do homeschooling well enough. It is largely a natural outgrowth of a healthy household. I’d say the difficulty is likely to come not from the task of homeschooling specifically, but from the effort needed to attain and maintain a healthy household in these times. The parents may have quite a bit to unlearn and undo -- much of that having been done, ideally, before their first child is born.

De la Mare's Behold, This Dreamer! reminds us that we live in time; rich or poor or in between, we get 60 seconds to the minute. Aren't we fooled if we think we need to spend time on "breaking news"? A day or two ago the New York governor resigned because of scandalous accusations. This situation has nothing to do with me, and I have no desire to discuss it.

Are we afraid that we won't have anything to say to... people we work with? our friends? our family? .... if we don't have "news" to talk about?

I think many relatively young people, let's say still in their twenties or younger, unless (as is all too likely) they have been spoiled by college, actually are not all that interested in "the news," while people in their middle years all too likely are. I attended a dinner party earlier this year in which there wasn't room for everyone to sit and talk. It happened that the older people were in one room and the younger (except for me) in another. I enjoyed conversation with the younger people, who talked about interesting things such as goats and science fiction. Perhaps the older people would have been interesting too but I'm afraid there'd have been too much politics, business, etc.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12 Aug 21 | 09:28PM by Dale Nelson.

Dale Nelson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sawfish, I’m not sure it’s all that hard to do
> homeschooling well enough. It is largely a
> natural outgrowth of a healthy household. I’d
> say the difficulty is likely to come not from the
> task of homeschooling specifically, but from the
> effort needed to attain and maintain a healthy
> household in these times. The parents may have
> quite a bit to unlearn and undo -- much of that
> having been done, ideally, before their first
> child is born.

This part always was natural easy for me, and I believe my wife has a lot to do with it--a more good-natured and non-judgmental person it would be hard to find.

Plus, I was within 6b months of being 50 when our daughter was born, and I had much different ideas about what was important, and what wasn't than at age 30, for example.

All of that was a joy...still is.

>
> De la Mare's Behold, This Dreamer! reminds us that
> we live in time; rich or poor or in between, we
> get 60 seconds to the minute. Aren't we fooled if
> we think we need to spend time on "breaking news"?
> A day or two ago the New York governor resigned
> because of scandalous accusations. This situation
> has nothing to do with me, and I have no desire to
> discuss it.

EGGZ-ACTLY!

Who cares?

>
> Are we afraid that we won't have anything to say
> to... people we work with? our friends? our
> family? .... if we don't have "news" to talk
> about?

I have few friends, decreasing as they die off. They don't care about this stuff either.

>
> I think many relatively young people, let's say
> still in their twenties or younger, unless (as is
> all too likely) they have been spoiled by college,
> actually are not all that interested in "the
> news,"

They seem to me to have regressed to "oral tradition".

I kid you not.

Now consider how fertile a ground this is for CRT's "primacy of personal narrative".


> while people in their middle years all too
> likely are. I attended a dinner party earlier
> this year in which there wasn't room for everyone
> to sit and talk. It happened that the older
> people were in one room and the younger (except
> for me) in another. I enjoyed conversation with
> the younger people, who talked about interesting
> things such as goats and science fiction. Perhaps
> the older people would have been interesting too
> but I'm afraid there'd have been too much
> politics, business, etc.

In truth, at this point I have little that connects me with others, and I'm essentially comfortable with it.

ED is pretty much sufficient, and if that gives out I can always find another forum.

I mean , I have completely and totally walked away from forums I frequented ***more*** than I do with ED. Multiple times, no problem.

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dale Nelson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Behold, This Dreamer! will be a first-rate
> expression of poetic consciousness. The other
> books would amount to being critiques of what I've
> called sociological consciousness. The first will
> be Dobelli's Stop Reading the News. The next book
> after Dobelli's is likely to be Belloc's The
> Servile State.* Hayek's The Road to Serfdom and
> Vitz's Psychology as Religion might also be
> appropriate. Maybe even Ruth Richardson'sDeath,
> Dissection and the Destitute . Belloc and Hayek
> are available as free downloads.
>
> *Knygatin might appreciate the cover design of one
> of the editions currently available:
>
> [www.bookdepository.com]
> re-Belloc/9781602068681
>
>
> The Servile State may be read for free online:
>
> [www.gutenberg.org]
> 2-h.htm
>

Here is another of the critical books: Web of Debt. Underneath the sociological consciousness, the extreme liberal feminism, gender confusion, splitting of the family constellation, the total equality ignoring actual proficiency, replacing Natural genuine moral standards with easy sloppy pleasures and consumption slavery (in effect drugging), which is a way of dividing, breaking down, and controlling the population, to make it ineffective of possible rebellion against the system, lies money and power interests.

Although the link I have provided several times to the film The Money Masters is a more handy way of getting an overall understanding, this book is a thorough detailed review of our corrupt economic system. Private banking that creates money out of nothing by way of giving generous loans not covered by actual liquidity (fractional-reserve), and controlling our state banks (and by extension our political leaders) in Europe and USA.

“The real truth of the matter is that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government since the days of Andrew Jackson.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt

The only responsibility we have regarding the News, is to be discriminate of it, so we don't vote for the same corrupt leaders again and again. We must seek information outside of the box.

For quite a while I've suspected that the ballot box is much like the employees' suggestion box in a large company, where every so often the janitor empties it into the dumpster out back.

--Sawfish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> total equality ignoring actual proficiency, replacing
> Natural genuine moral standards with easy pleasures ...

One of countless examples of how Western civilization is allowed to collapse: Oregon governor signs bill removing reading, writing, & math requirements. This is happening nationwide, in most states.

In Minnesota the police force is being liquidated, because of hysterical concession to (((BLM))) reasoning that the citizens of the community will take care of crime themselves.

Sawfish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For quite a while I've suspected that the ballot
> box is much like the employees' suggestion box in
> a large company, where every so often the janitor
> empties it into the dumpster out back.

Your intuition is well grounded.

Interesting ..., the dead silence is veritably eloquent.

Anyhow, how does de la Mare's Behold, This Dreamer! balance all this up?

Knygatin, as regards the idea that the whole system is rigged, silence might mean people are looking into it, or don't agree but don't think this thread is the place to debate it, or that people think you are right but don't want to discuss it or not here; and there might be other possibilities. In other words, the silence doesn't seem eloquent to me, because the word would suggest a clear exposition of what people think, and I don't know what they think about the points you made.

But this "experiment in concurrent reading" is just that, an experiment. My hunch is that de la Mare's long book is a major work of poetic consciousness, that it is going to take concentration and perseverance, and that reading books that deal with what I've called sociological consciousness might help me to stick with the de la Mare, which I have started more than once but never finished.

For example, reading Dobelli's account of how so many of us are prone to fritter away our precious time reading stuff not only not important to us but not even very interesting to us, whets my appetite all the more for reading things, such as de la Mare's book, that deal with matters that everyone has a stake in. For example, in his first pages de la Mare reminds us that most people spend 1/3 of their lives sleeping. That's over 20 years of sleep, if we live to be 60 or more. That suggests, in turn, that I might do well to read a book like de la Mare's that's going to deal with sleep, dreams, imagination, etc. -- rather than to read internet "breaking news" about a flood in Bangladesh, an assassination in Peru, rioters in Montreal, a scandal in the state of New York, somebody running a stop light in Climax, or whatever.

I have spent many hours of my life, hours I can never redeem from some celestial pawnbroker, reading stuff like that, of which I have no memory -- it went through me like grease through a goose, as the expression had it. On the other hand, I think that reading de la Mare's book is going to enhance my sense of the mystery and depth of my own existence and yours and everyone's. It might change my life.

Supposing I finish de la Mare's Behold, This Dreamer! -- what then? Well, maybe another of his books. But also I want to make another try at Iain McGilchrist's The Master and His Emissary, and at Harding's The Hierarchy of Heaven and Earth, and at Farrer's A Rebirth of Images, and perhaps some other challenging books I'd better read soon while I can still hope to possess the mental acuity to understand them. I might have only 10 good reading years left. Already I seem to have more short-term memory slips than I did a few years ago.

They say: Memento mori, "remember you must die." But also, one should think Memento vivere, "Remember to live," or maybe "Remember you must live." As "Remember you must live," the saying suggests that a lot of us who may have years of life ahead when we're not suffering severe dementia, but just can't read long, challenging books -- so we'd better get busy and read them now.

The books I just mentioned in the paragraph before last all relate to poetic consciousness.

Thank you Dale.

I was just thinking about and discussing at home yesterday of how we sleep away a third of our lives, and that I dream more or less continuously while I sleep. And that these dreams are often more essential in content than what mundane drudgery and muddled thoughts goes on in my waking life. So perhaps it is the dreams that are real, and our waking and daily errands that is illusion and un-real.