I love summer in Eastern Europe. The various commieblocks turn into lush forests and going outside to run an errand or work out becomes a pleasure and not a grimdark journey into the depths of depression and back as it is for the other 9 months of the year.
I wonder if during communism plastic bags were hard to come by, leading to everyone developing the habit of reusing them and, therefore, dumpster seeding. My grandmother used to wash milk bags for reused and dry out paper towels, habits she picked up during the Depression.
Japan is also instructive. There's basically no litter in Tokyo. There are also no public garbage cans, and no bylaws against littering. People just don't do it. They keep their trash in their pockets until it can be disposed of. Smokers even carry portable ashtrays to avoid leaving cigarette butts around. It's just a sort of collective understanding that if they're going to live in such close quarters, it will all be much more pleasant if they aren't choking on their own trash. The Japanese, of course, possess probably the most assabiyah of any group incorporated in the Western order.
Your post reminds me of my early years growing up in a run down low rent Brooklyn tenement. We had a gaggle of old ladies there too. One of them now long gone and not missed Ida Glazer (guess what tribe she belonged to) sat by her window like a guard in a GULAG watch tower. A total "yenta" we called her "the crow". Same attitudes that you describe. In truth and all candor I'm more or less fed up with old people AKA senior citizens. Most are crabby, pushy, whining and like the WOKE have a strong sense of entitlement. The world owes them something syndrome. Constantly reminding you of the "good old days". Really? If they were so good and their generation was so on the ball, then why is the world in the hot mess it's in today. Yeah right. Regarding trash NYC is slowly becoming a public dump. I see people near trash cans dropping refuse on the street. Subway station tracks are loaded with garbage, hypodermic needles and rats. Not to mention the "homeless" and garden variety panhandling low lives. Charity begins at home. With such a public of this type a swift kick up the ass is in order. As the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius said, "Stand erect, or be made to stand erect."
I don't know what's wrong with your younger generation. Don't young Russians wear hoodies and spray graffitti while doing drugs and gang-banging like in the West? Maybe the babushka is trashing the trash as a cris de couer, that SOMEONE should be making your community look more lived-in, especially in the winter.
Tom Wolfe claimed that all cultural and political disputes were a battle over status.
I imagine those grannies feel that they get more status by doing things their own way and spying on everyone else. They are probably too old to have social media as their source of status.
Social media has become the dominant way Good people learn what and how to virtue signal: eat bugs, put a Ukrainian flag on their avatar, fly an anal pride flag, burn down the local mom and pop store, etc.
Social media also is exacerbating the already fractured sense of community. Why talk to your next door neighbor (when they might not be worthy of you) when you can virtue signal and humblebrag to all those people online?
I am one of those Boomers everyone hates but I have never experienced a real sense of positive community since I was about four.
Before four, there was no air-conditioning or TV so out of boredom neighbors got to know one another. Kids were also a big glue but we know now that they can never be allowed a moment of freedom because largely imaginary evil is lurking.
From what I can see, things are too far gone to turn things around in big cities or ring suburbs. I think the best bet is to form communities in smaller, stable towns. Someone else mentioned homeschooling communities. I think that is a good prototype for what needs to be done.
What has been proven not to work is more diversity.
The US government ran a very successful anti-littering TV campaign in the 50s and 60s. The Anglos were back then inveterate litterers. TV ads were very effective at reprogramming them.
A lot of the social tensions in America could be instantly allayed if a junta were to repeal the civil rights acts of 1964 and '68, thus restoring freedom of association.
Jun 9, 2022·edited Jun 9, 2022Liked by Rurik Skywalker
In your concluding paragraph lies the answer. Whatever humans value, they assume to be good. And when there are enough of them that value similar things, they get together and form a group (cult, political party, religion, etc.). And when they become the dominant group, they make others comply by force. It was said of the British Empire that they conquered the world with guns in one hand and the Bible in the other. The Americans have been spreading/forcing their 'democracy' on the world for more than 50 years. Like your desire for a trash-free backyard or Asabiyyah in your neighbourhood, humans do seem to be drawn to cooperation on a local level with those of shared values. And they are generally successful at that. So, its a valid point that the practice (past and present) of forcing non-aligned peoples (whether financially, racially, ethnically, etc.) together, which is now happening the world over, is likely a deliberate strategy to destabilize society or force a diiferent ideology -- generally, one that involves State reliance, rather than upon each other. Most military conquerors practiced a form of this, the mass weddings of Susa come to mind. Really enjoyed your article.
“We’d create an organization with extremely high levels of trust and solidarity, which would translate into our ability to cooperate on all manner of projects together and play ultimate frisbee.” > The homeschool community in Texas has this... from running clubs and sports teams to park days and nature walks, we all cooperate with one another in the furtherance of our common goal; To raise and educate our children ourselves. So in my view it’s still possible for people to work together towards a common goal IF you can get them to see that it’s in their best interests to do so. The public schools in Texas are bad enough that enough parents realize their children’s lives/futures are at stake and those who can, do the work themselves and cooperate with others to make the process easier and more fulfilling.
The level of trust between parents is high too, because we see each other as pioneers going it alone to accomplish a common goal and we naturally band together as fellow travelers.
If you can get the trash grannies to care about the environment or just appreciate the beauty of nature then you might have a fighting chance. Maybe you can organize nature walks with them where you do pre-prepared object lesson on a plant and then document your findings in a nature journal. Then naturally (hopefully anyway) they would start bagging their trash correctly because who wants to walk through trash on a nature walk ?? Even if they don’t cooperate, nature walks are relaxing and you will be happier for it :)
I wonder if during communism plastic bags were hard to come by, leading to everyone developing the habit of reusing them and, therefore, dumpster seeding. My grandmother used to wash milk bags for reused and dry out paper towels, habits she picked up during the Depression.
Japan is also instructive. There's basically no litter in Tokyo. There are also no public garbage cans, and no bylaws against littering. People just don't do it. They keep their trash in their pockets until it can be disposed of. Smokers even carry portable ashtrays to avoid leaving cigarette butts around. It's just a sort of collective understanding that if they're going to live in such close quarters, it will all be much more pleasant if they aren't choking on their own trash. The Japanese, of course, possess probably the most assabiyah of any group incorporated in the Western order.
Your post reminds me of my early years growing up in a run down low rent Brooklyn tenement. We had a gaggle of old ladies there too. One of them now long gone and not missed Ida Glazer (guess what tribe she belonged to) sat by her window like a guard in a GULAG watch tower. A total "yenta" we called her "the crow". Same attitudes that you describe. In truth and all candor I'm more or less fed up with old people AKA senior citizens. Most are crabby, pushy, whining and like the WOKE have a strong sense of entitlement. The world owes them something syndrome. Constantly reminding you of the "good old days". Really? If they were so good and their generation was so on the ball, then why is the world in the hot mess it's in today. Yeah right. Regarding trash NYC is slowly becoming a public dump. I see people near trash cans dropping refuse on the street. Subway station tracks are loaded with garbage, hypodermic needles and rats. Not to mention the "homeless" and garden variety panhandling low lives. Charity begins at home. With such a public of this type a swift kick up the ass is in order. As the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius said, "Stand erect, or be made to stand erect."
Another good and thought-provoking post. Thank you for writing and posting.
I don't know what's wrong with your younger generation. Don't young Russians wear hoodies and spray graffitti while doing drugs and gang-banging like in the West? Maybe the babushka is trashing the trash as a cris de couer, that SOMEONE should be making your community look more lived-in, especially in the winter.
Great read. Unz transplant.
Tom Wolfe claimed that all cultural and political disputes were a battle over status.
I imagine those grannies feel that they get more status by doing things their own way and spying on everyone else. They are probably too old to have social media as their source of status.
Social media has become the dominant way Good people learn what and how to virtue signal: eat bugs, put a Ukrainian flag on their avatar, fly an anal pride flag, burn down the local mom and pop store, etc.
Social media also is exacerbating the already fractured sense of community. Why talk to your next door neighbor (when they might not be worthy of you) when you can virtue signal and humblebrag to all those people online?
I am one of those Boomers everyone hates but I have never experienced a real sense of positive community since I was about four.
Before four, there was no air-conditioning or TV so out of boredom neighbors got to know one another. Kids were also a big glue but we know now that they can never be allowed a moment of freedom because largely imaginary evil is lurking.
From what I can see, things are too far gone to turn things around in big cities or ring suburbs. I think the best bet is to form communities in smaller, stable towns. Someone else mentioned homeschooling communities. I think that is a good prototype for what needs to be done.
What has been proven not to work is more diversity.
The US government ran a very successful anti-littering TV campaign in the 50s and 60s. The Anglos were back then inveterate litterers. TV ads were very effective at reprogramming them.
A lot of the social tensions in America could be instantly allayed if a junta were to repeal the civil rights acts of 1964 and '68, thus restoring freedom of association.
In your concluding paragraph lies the answer. Whatever humans value, they assume to be good. And when there are enough of them that value similar things, they get together and form a group (cult, political party, religion, etc.). And when they become the dominant group, they make others comply by force. It was said of the British Empire that they conquered the world with guns in one hand and the Bible in the other. The Americans have been spreading/forcing their 'democracy' on the world for more than 50 years. Like your desire for a trash-free backyard or Asabiyyah in your neighbourhood, humans do seem to be drawn to cooperation on a local level with those of shared values. And they are generally successful at that. So, its a valid point that the practice (past and present) of forcing non-aligned peoples (whether financially, racially, ethnically, etc.) together, which is now happening the world over, is likely a deliberate strategy to destabilize society or force a diiferent ideology -- generally, one that involves State reliance, rather than upon each other. Most military conquerors practiced a form of this, the mass weddings of Susa come to mind. Really enjoyed your article.
“We’d create an organization with extremely high levels of trust and solidarity, which would translate into our ability to cooperate on all manner of projects together and play ultimate frisbee.” > The homeschool community in Texas has this... from running clubs and sports teams to park days and nature walks, we all cooperate with one another in the furtherance of our common goal; To raise and educate our children ourselves. So in my view it’s still possible for people to work together towards a common goal IF you can get them to see that it’s in their best interests to do so. The public schools in Texas are bad enough that enough parents realize their children’s lives/futures are at stake and those who can, do the work themselves and cooperate with others to make the process easier and more fulfilling.
The level of trust between parents is high too, because we see each other as pioneers going it alone to accomplish a common goal and we naturally band together as fellow travelers.
If you can get the trash grannies to care about the environment or just appreciate the beauty of nature then you might have a fighting chance. Maybe you can organize nature walks with them where you do pre-prepared object lesson on a plant and then document your findings in a nature journal. Then naturally (hopefully anyway) they would start bagging their trash correctly because who wants to walk through trash on a nature walk ?? Even if they don’t cooperate, nature walks are relaxing and you will be happier for it :)
Great article. I think the littering question is really an IQ thing. The higher the IQ - the cleaner the environment is.
It's just the ability of seeing the consequences of your actions. Smart people don't litter. Simple as.
You know who once tried the Friendship Cult?
Jesus.
You should look into it ;)
It reminds me of something from the movement Volkish, like league of Arthaman.
Although this can probably be attributed to these weirdo religious communities
They also valued solidarity, I wonder (((who))) is afraid of this.