How arrives it joy lies slain,
And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?
—Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,
And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan.
— Thomas Hardy
Well, here we are. 2024.
The year of the Digital ID.
The year of the CBDC.
The year of the Great Reset.
The year of the Scamdemic Treaty.
The year of the next Great War.
The year of the Polycrisis.
The year of the Deep Fake Selection.
You know: 2024, the year we learn to pursue happiness.
What? You don’t think these problems will afford us the opportunity to pursue our happiness? Then you don’t know what happiness means.
Here, let me explain. . .
Great piece, thanks James.
To your point on current definition and interestingly so, the Will Smith movie “Pursuit of Happiness” provides the meme of happiness of being an instanteneous (short bursts of) experience/s of excitement. Perfect false template!
As the hapless reader doth verge upon the understanding propounded by our veritable student and teacher of the the etymology of language, may we all have the courage and integrity to withstand that which fate dealt us. Wishing you a year full of Hap my friend and tutor James Corbett.
p.s. many thanks for exposing this new facet of your talents with this tuneful song.
Sorry. To confirm; 300 largest cities add up to aprox <1.5 billion.
Smallest population of these 300 is <2 million.
Doth verge upon this as I need explanation.
2017- population of 300 largest cities in the world (incl surrounding areas) adds up to about 2million)
Wow! Today population number tossed about at 8 billion.
So for fun (or not) let’s add;
1000 cities of >1 million= 1 billion
100 cities of >10 million= 1 billion
Since you’re much smarter than I, you can chose where these cities are to be found. please help me comprehend. Are there still 4.5 billion people in the fields?
OR
is this just more gaslight?
Not tea bag James! Just needs a bit of bass and drums 🙂 Your band used to have a channel on Bitchute, Kodomosan, which I am subscribed to but it last uploaded a track on 1 October 2020!
By the way, I’ve Anglicised the spelling of my username so the next time, if ever, James quotes something I’ve written he’ll pronounce it correctly and everyone listening in my neck of the woods will be able to smile in recognition. (Cymro means “a Welshman” in the old British tongue where C is always pronounced as a K. I would abolish the confusing letter C in Franco-Saxon, a.k.a. English, but I’m not in the position to do so unfortunately.)
Agree with your song assessment – catchy tune. As I listened I imagined the drums and bass and until I eventually constructed a Beatles version in my mind.
Please do not stop your journalistic work. You do excellent work in journalism and reporting
Oh my, James, that was a wonderful piece of writing! Thank you. It excited me, knowing *this* is what I am doing with my life –“pursuing happiness”, and you worded it so well.
I’m no Thomas Hardy expert, but it seems that in “Hap” Hardy is rejecting any grand design by God and postulates that one’s fate and fortune are the result of random chance (“Crass Casualty” and “dicing time.”) Of course, as the saying goes, you make your own luck — Hardy left that part out.
Excellent song. Next time please show the guitar enough so we can see your chords. I especially like how you wove together “Hap” with the Solon “quote.” Almost like McCartney writing most of a song and putting it with something Lennon came up with as a refrain. Heck — you’re one-half of the Beatles all by yourself!
Just some musings:
I suspect that the elite don’t have even the faintest fraction of a degree of an idea of what they have consigned themselves to. Just like how the universe is so large and seeming endless that even a tiny sliver of it seems beyond human comprehension, so too is the sea of pain and suffering that God can use to drown those who hate him in. Their rebellion wasn’t just against God himself, but all those who he loves and cares about as well. To say that the suffering of the elite, even compared to the otherwise worse cases of human suffering in hell, will be something considered beyond legendary is probably an understatement. The unparalleled heights the elite seek to ascend to are outside of their reach, but I have little doubt that these people who hate God will find themselves plunged down below unfathomable depths instead.
You people have taught others to laugh at the idea of talking snakes in the Garden of Eden, but here are five things you missed:
1. Snakes fit the theme of a Garden.
No need to elaborate on this point further for obvious reasons.
2. Snakes slither on their belly.
The point of Genesis 3:14-3:15 wasn’t to imply that snakes originally crawled around on legs like some kind of dysfunctional lizard or flew around with wings like birds, but to show just how humiliated the leader that you follow was by his own pride after falling further and further down in prestige and adoration in Heaven before being thrown down to the earth completely, just like how the lot is that you people will soon find yourselves in.
3. Snakes are deadly.
With just a “bite,” Adam and Eve were consigned to death, which is a far better fate than you people will find yourselves in very soon.
4. Snakes are subtle and known for catching people unaware.
Instead of coming at Eve like an obviously dangerous and deadly predator such as a lion that charges at its prey, satan came at Eve like a coward and guided her to her fate by telling her the things that would cause her to bring about her own death willingly, just like how he did to you people.
5. The reptilian theme is one of the threads that connects the beginning to the end.
It’s no coincidence that the Bible begins with a trio that rejects God in its first book and reaches its climax with a trio that rejects God in its last book, except this time they’re trying to lead the rest of humanity into their rebellion as well. The serpent has been allowed to become a dragon, a creature every bit as deadly, yet having far more size and destructive power than any mere serpent could muster, and just like what his change in form would suggest, he’s done being subtle. He wants everyone to know that if they do not join themselves to his beast system, then that same system will seek to have them put to death. Just like how Adam and Eve were warned not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so too humanity has been warned by God not to accept the mark of the beast, but this time instead of just suffering death, they will be eternally tormented in burning sulfur for their transgression. Everything has escalated, but so too will God’s love for those who hold true to him even through hardship, for the paradise in Genesis is itself just a shadow compared to what God has in store for those who love him in return.
Is the Bible literal? Is it symbolic? How should one read it?
To start, one should never go full Jordan Peterson and espouse like a charlatan about how it’s all just a bunch of allegories to teach people “how to clean their room” and “live a better and more fulfilling life”; that is blasphemy.
Nor should one should worry about every minor point and sentence in a literal sense. Did Jesus heal one blind man or two? Did Judas die from hanging himself or did he die from falling and spilling out his intestines in a field? Perhaps the point is that through his own choices he brought about his own death in a way that would show the entire world what was inside him all along?
When Jesus Christ and I started this walk together roughly a decade and a half ago, the world seemed so different then compared to now. Discovering the workings and history of the Federal Reserve led to the conspiracy of 9/11, which led to the Bavarian Illuminati, which led to the Trilateral Commission and the Club of Rome, which led to Cecil Rhodes’ Round Table group, and on and on it went.
Of course nowadays a lot of this seems banal and mundane. Many of the goals and agendas that were recognized by “conspiracy theorists” and alternative media back then as the “new world order” have been rebranded as “the great reset” and “the fourth industrial revolution” and have become normal now. The Bilderberg Group gaslighting people with the idea that they have always been open with the public about their existence has become normal now. Elite from all over the world meeting together in the woods of the Bohemian Grove to engage in a mock human sacrifice has become normal now. High level political figures and celebrities engaging in “artistic” acts of cannibalism called “spirit cooking” has become normal now.
But back in those days, when things still at least had the appearance of sanity, these kind of things were all deeply disturbing. I watched as the whole narrative that had been given to me by public schools and establishment media was completely and irrevocably destroyed and the world paradigm that I had taken for granted was obliterated.
Likewise, I’m sure many will soon go through the same kind of thing and find out for themselves that the world and many of its leading figures, groups, ideologies and movements are very different from the benign, well-meaning appearances that they give off.
Things have been tough on this walk together with Jesus Christ. I didn’t always know why things were the way they were and why such painful trials and difficulties were placed in my path. Even now it’s still hard.
But I can tell you what I have seen from all that I have gone through, and that’s that the one who trust in him will never be put to shame. Build your house from the cornerstone and it will be able to withstand any storm or disaster that comes upon it. Anything less and it will be torn to pieces. That’s some advice, take it or leave it.
James and Kit, one day you will know that God wants you to reveal everything that the elite have done to the masses, and to hold nothing back. Let them cook like snakes caught out of the grass and thrown onto the hot cement with nothing to cover them while the sun cooks them alive.
Musings over, the shows about to start, and God’s about to get the current actors booted off the stage.
Watch the skies, it’s going to be spectacular.
Piss off you moron
gpars,
put that mirror down!
Hi TableAccount, Looking at the time-stamps of your set of four comments, I presume you had written it earlier, and then copy-paste posted segments within the 3000 character-limit at a time. Am I correct? Anyways, your writing is truly a work of natural genius and well written indeed, and if you ever write a book, I want to get a copy and read more! This is truly a gem of prose and platinum in meaning. Peace !
Surprising as it might seem, I first typed out the essay here in the comments section and then copy pasted it into Wordpad to briefly proofread it for editing purposes and to figure out how I was going to divide it within the character limit for each post.
That said, it was actually something I had already been reflecting on and wanted to type out, so when I saw Plinch’s comment I took it as an opportunity and it all came together pretty quickly.
The kind words are appreciated, but I must say that I believe that it was inspired by Jesus Christ who has been and still is leading me to recognize and be aware of things that I would likely otherwise miss.
If you liked that essay, then I think you would also really like an essay about Solomon that I wrote that was linked to in a previous comment section.
https://corbettreport.com/nwnw543/#comment-160615
It’ll probably seem a little long at first, but I feel that if someone gives it a read they’ll most likely at least be intrigued by it.
jo-ann, great minds… Well maybe great ears. I had the same vibe Beatles,or Vinnie influenced baked by Sensei Corbettsan. By what root could this grafted vine come from. Rubber Soul? Or a dozen others.
Girl by J. Lennon
Girl https://g.co/kgs/uuVTVw8
So as usual these kinds of opinions are partially, not absolutely, true. As you implied, a lot of that quote from Stephen whoever, whoever he was or is, was extremely verbose. You joked about reducing it to a bumper sticker, LOL. As you paraphrased it, we should try to maintain our morality and our dignity. Yes that is totally true. I had serious medical issues for many years, with no family to help me out and I was homeless three times, but I didn’t resort to crime or any kind of evil. So I maintained my morality and dignity. But I can almost guarantee you, there’s going to be some fools who are going to twist this into some total bullshit and use it as a way to be arrogant and judgmental and hypocritical, and basically take a dump on people who are either afraid, angry, or depressed, saying that those people should be “happy”, and that if they aren’t, they have so-called “chosen” to not be happy! The Arrogant idiots those judgmental and rather cruel Hypocrites are. I actually experienced some of that garbage when I was going through hell in the past. I was even told by a couple people that I chose to go through that hell. The pseudo “new age” people they were. They are sick in the head, extremely arrogant, judgmental and hypocritical, insensitive and even cruel idiots. But yes we should definitely maintain our morality and dignity as best as we can. All anybody can do is their best, nobody can do better than their best. Negativity and suffering can be so terrible that some people will even go temporarily or permanently insane and do something destructive. Well that’s society’s fault for not trying to help them. Also the government’s fault for allowing things to get that bad and not helping people with what they need. I wanted to emphasize this point because I know, as I said above, there will be the self-righteous judgmental arrogant types who will just rub salt in people’s wounds and take a dump all over them as has happened to me and many others while going through hell. So people can only do their best. So thank you for that one definition of happiness. I don’t agree that there’s only one definition of it, though. And I definitely don’t agree that external circumstances have nothing at all to do with people’s happiness. It should be obvious that it does. Most happiness has to come from within, spiritually, but some of it does come from without. It obviously does affect our happiness if we don’t have enough healthy food or a safe and comfortable place to live and other necessities. That should be blatantly obvious. It’s just a bunch of idealistic, Airy fairy nonsense to think that our happiness is not effected by external circumstances. Of course it is! And as I said above, its almost guaranteed that some idiot or idiots will be judgmental and hypocritical toward people who are going through hell and therefore not “happy”! But thank you for reminding people to keep their morality and dignity as best as they can. I love your site, James.
I thought I had read that ‘the pursuit of happiness’ replaced ‘property’ in the original draft of the Declaration. Without a place to stand on the earth that isn’t ‘owned’ by someone who can evict you at will, who has control over their happenstance? Their ability to influence their fate for themselves, their family, their community, is dependent on the overlord. This was how I thought the Declaration had been watered down to make it impotent. Although on another ‘stack, Kathleen Devanney was just citing it and drawing our attention to the words “to assume among the powers of the earth,” which somehow I’d missed. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” is one of the most succinct and powerful statements uttered.
It is common for people to regard historical events and documents from our current perspective; or more accurately perhaps, from the perspective of our current times and our own experiences, while disregarding the actual perspective and context of the times of those events in history. I see it here. Faux pas.
We need to see the parts of that document in context of the rest of the parts of that document, and also in context of everything those authors came from, and were going through, and aimed for.
Think of it. The revolutionary war was to completely break free from the power and the restrictive, exploitative, abusive old structure of class structure subliminally dictated by British society and political power. Hence, “all men (meaning all humans)…equal” and “Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness” — proper definition that James Corbett nudges us with, (not the lust for carnal pleasures & jollies) IT ALL FITS TOGETHER, and actually such “pursuit of happiness” does accommodate or include ALL persons the pursuit for rightful gain and possession of property — something the old English “caste” social structure was set in its ways to intimidate and discourage if not as much as disallow. The document was not watered down, but rather made it more all-encompassing in what pursuit it encourages, allows, and defends.
I read an interesting point the other day that one letter of one word has been changed in the Declaration–unalienable to inalienable. The first is un-a-lien-able. No one has a prior claim to you and can exert a lien on your person, so those rights wouldn’t apply. The second is in-alien-able, different meaning.
Wow! Now that is what I would like to see in a book!
You are becoming or have become Sensei, Corbettsan.
Happy New Year to you too. The Wooden Dragon is much to the Paper Tiger. and farewell to the Rat!
I would like to submit a response to Thomas Hardy’s “Hap:”
“Whim of Wind and Waves”
Born to the ocean are we
and pulled by predictable tides,
relying inevitably
on heavenly orbs as our guides.
And we plot our course through the deep
by the glow of a trustworthy star,
but are wary the bearings we keep,
predisposed as we are
to navigate far from the storm,
to parry the barbarous coasts,
to shun the cold for the warm,
the strange for the familiar posts.
We commend the seaman who drives
straight-away into a gale,
but envy the spirit who arrives
from afar with a monstrous tale.
So think, all you sailors and mates
of those on the ocean floor:
some with their glorious fates,
some still chained to the oar . . .
and ’ere you put into motion,
and cast your ship from the land,
consider the breadth of the ocean
and the thrill of the journey at hand.
For, in every shift of the wind
and every swell of the sea
there may both end and begin
a fresh opportunity.
So, set loose your untethered boat
whose mizzenmast merely enslaves;
take down your riggings and float
by the whim of wind and waves.
~Asa Plinch
dear plinch,
being a sailor, your lines were taken with growing interest. I was reading happily, until the last stanza, which suddenly seems to drop the ball. I heartily enjoyed it til then, but heres 2, hopefully constructive criticisms
1 enslaved by a mizzenmast?? true, mizzens on square riggers were called “slaves”, but I think of a mizzen mast as more of a tireless helper
2 “take down your rigging”?? and float by the whim of wind and waves,,, what, haphazardly? sounds like “chop your wings off and drift amoungst it.”
or maybe Im missing the point?
Thank you very much for your comments. Sorry the poem dropped you at the end. I guess you anticipated a certain ending (which is natural), but my ending simply was to suggest that a person not let themselves be guided along by the usual forces, but instead, release yourself from those forces. Of course, one would want to control one’s own course, and perhaps I should have ended the poem that way.
Truthfully, I know almost nothing about sailing so I appreciate your input as a sailor. I was not aware that mizzens on square riggers were called “slaves.” That is sort of a bonus from my perspective. (Makes me sound as if I knew that.)
I wrote another “ship at sea” oriented poem, again, with no nautical knowledge. Since I think you might enjoy it, here it is, and feel free to make constructive criticisms. You may send them directly to me at: [SNIP – no email addresses in the comments section please. If people are interested in contacting you they can get in touch with me. -JC].
Doom of the Galley Pompeii
Was this thing now in my sights but a trick of morning light?
I pondered this, but could not say . . . .
Yet, as the object slowly neared, the contour of a ship appeared
from the shrouding mist of the bay.
The vessel nearly four years gone, its passengers pale and wan
as those of us who wait and pray;
and they rolled and they stroked
and sputtered and choked
in the thickening mist of the bay.
It was, alas, the devil’s crew and I watched as they steered the vessel through the billowing waves of grey,
its timbers turning creaking sounds, its oarsmen chained and shackle bound
tugged and towed to the coxswain’s pound
as the vessel moaned, and the oarsmen groaned,
impelling the ship on its way.
And none was heard to utter a word from the bowels of the Galley Pompeii . . .
as they rolled and they stroked
and they sputtered and choked
in the setting sun of the day . . .
then starboard veered,
and disappeared,
. . . into the waiting mist of the bay.
Ω
hi plinch,
james did fwd your email address, but I’m just as happy responding here.
you asked for criticism, I’m not an editor, nor a regular writer. With respect, I like some of your word smithing. the syntax that gives a nautical tone is pretty good considering your not of that ilk. A few times the need for a rhyme seemed more important (to you) than the chosen words meaning, which for me becomes a hiccup or void in the image.
By the end I was confused: something was happening, a vision was forming, but then one doesnt get to know for what? then suddenly you were “watching with the devils crew”?? were you on the boat, or ? I’m lost.
was there something you wanted to say ? were you trying to communicate something? if so I missed it.
all the best.
“Man has tried to be happy without God, and this book, (Ecclesiastes), shows the absurdity of the attempt. Solomon, the wisest of men, tried every field of endeavor and pleasure known to man; his conclusion was, “All is vanity.”
God showed Job, a righteous man, that he was a sinner in God’s sight. In Ecclesiastes God showed Solomon, the wisest man, that he was a fool in God’s sight.”
J. Vernon McGee
Psalm 16:11
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
“God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended—civilizations are built up—excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. That is what Satan has done to us humans.”
C. S. Lewis
Thank you, James, for the lesson. I will remember the true meaning of happiness forevermore.
‘And, as long as we are allowed to pursue our happiness, there is a chance yet for each of us to look back at the end of our days and reckon ourselves among the fortunate few who have led a happy life’.
The New World Order looks like the end of choice, the end of democracy and free market capitalism. The triumph of private wealth exercising absolute control over every detail of life. Stifling the individual pursuit of happiness. Turning humans into drones, drained of free will.
The Corbett film ‘How Big Oil Conquered the World’ shows us how the Rockefeller family amassed a great fortune. David Rockefeller used that wealth and that very same oil industry to reach for something far greater, a global government, something he often eulogised about. The Club of Rome (Limits to Growth,1970) informed us the planet was on a path to destruction and we were the cause, the enemy of nature itself. We had to be controlled and restricted.
Endless crises will continue to transfer power and money to the global elite. These are the people Alex Jones warned us about years ago. I couldn’t see them. I do now.
“O’Brien said
‘The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others ; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power’.
Great essay James and thanks. Not sure questing for moments of bodily pleasure is always a crass pursuit.
I think James did not mean “bodily pleasure”/carnal comforts would always in all cases be crass pursuits, but rather that the word “happiness” was not meant to be defined by, or limited to that. Now please pass me some nachos, thank you.
I have just had a most interesting experience. Finding myself unable to open/find Corbett’s article – all I could see was the quatrain of Hardy – I read all of the commentary. I have had to glean from that what James may have written.
I would like to see just how much I guessed about from the amazing variety of fascinating and almost invariably highly competent and talented comments.
What am I doing to not see James’ article, or is it a song or a poem?
How unfortunate @frankz. Could be something to do with it being a Subscriber offering? James has written a song, based on the ideas in this article, plays guitar, and sings as well.
However I’m not nearly clever enough to summarise his writings, but you will guess it has to do with the meaning of happiness 🙂
You can read the article on James’ Substack if you’re still having trouble. But the video is only available here I believe.
To summarize the video, James put the Hardy poem to his own music and masterly performed the arrangement.
https://corbettreport.substack.com/
The revolution will involve fermented cabbage, courageous fellowship and the pursuit of happiness
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-revolution-will-involve-fermented
This post shares an interview I recently did with my Riley Waggaman (aka Edward Slavsquat) and a shout out to my other friend Mishelle of the Kensho Homestead
Yes, after fermented cabbage, fellowship would require courage and pursuit of open windows.
@MTL
haha! 🙂 Yes the sulfur off gassing during the active fermentation phase (first 4 days to a week or so) can be potent.
Though, personally the immense health benefits and grocery bill reducing potential of making sauerkraut at home is well worth having to deal with a stinky kitchen (to me).
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/30-reasons-to-make-your-own-sauerkraut
Do you make your own?
Thanks for the fun comment.
Well I just spent 3 hrs mowing my lawn with a brush cutter, I still have a couple of days ahead of me as both my mowers broke down , That sucks but, it has to be done and so far Im doing it. The pay off is it makes me feel, contented, In control and a sense of achievement its done, or a least started. I guess It could have been way more easy with all the tools in order, but that was not the case. And it happened! Im glad(happy?) of course!
Another nice article. Thank you. And, Happy New Year!
Beautiful melody and chord progression, from a beautiful soul. You are so talented James.
And now I’ve just read your article. It’s exactly how I feel too.
I think Camus was saying something like:
“the struggle itself towards the summit is enough to fill a man’s heart, we need to think of Sisyphus as happy.”
(man soap radio bear please help if I’m missing, thanks).
To “fill a man’s heart” with Camus’ nihilistic absurdist flavor: to embrace a lack (of meaning), is not, me thinks the same as, peace of mind after “responding” well, to whatever the happenstance.
J, not too sure what you wanted to say with that camus quote?
Thank you Epictetus!!
In 1971 I stopped paying the 10% long distance tax, deducting it from my bill with a protest message each time.
I began active resistance, a lone personal act that was inconsequential financially, but by turning my words, my discontent with oppression into action, I felt elated! I was “walking on air” that day. I became addicted to fighting back, standing up for my political beliefs, against all odds. I extended my acts into as many areas as I could, putting myself at physical risk from the IRS, law, jail. As I had only one friend who did so also, it was lonely, and at times very frightening. Eventually, I had to quit my job, go underground, to stay out of jail. Luckily, I am more intellectually endowed than most, so I have survived to 81, but I sacrificed financially. It was worth it.
My friend, Carl Bray, was a radio talk show host and popular tax resister, broadcasting on a small “independent” station out of Ogden, UT, quickly saving the station from bankruptcy as his show rocketed to #1.
He was jailed, mid ’70s. Immediately after release he was found to have cancer. He died shortly after. Did his exceptional ability to reach an audience get him killed?