The Bread And Circuses Are Winding Up

Panem et circenses is an ancient Roman phrase, attributed to the poet Juvenal, that means “bread and circuses.” The idea is that a degenerate society, once it has abandoned all higher values, has nothing left but bread and circuses. Take that away, and the society will fall apart. Our bread and circuses are in the process of being taken away.

The Roman Empire discovered that paying for public circuses was a great way of preventing civil unrest. If the people had an upcoming gladiatorial games to look forward to, they were much more likely to be content. When they didn’t have anything to look forward to, they tended to entertain thoughts of rebellion.

Eventually, the Romans found themselves unable to pay for more games, and that was the tipping point. The cessation of the circuses meant that the citizens got their entertainment from wrecking society instead, and that was the end of the Roman Empire.

The Western World appears to be going through a similar process.

Professional sports have replaced the circuses in the West, and most professional sports leagues have been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The English Premier League season lost three months, the Major League Baseball season lost 100 games, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, predicted that running the NFL later this year would be impossible.

In New Zealand, there hasn’t been a single All Blacks match so far in 2020, and it looks like there won’t be. There hasn’t been a Black Caps match since March, and there is no news of upcoming fixtures (although a tour to Bangladesh has supposedly been planned).

Even worse, the increasing politicisation of professional sport has seen many turn their televisions off. NBA viewership is down some 20% compared to this time last year. Although the linked article suggests injuries to star players may be the cause of the decline, the truth is that many viewers are sick of having political issues shoved in their faces.

People watch sport to be entertained. They don’t care about the political opinions of professional sportsmen, any more than they care to watch Donald Trump play basketball. They know the sportsmen are not educated intellectuals who study history and human nature. As such, their political opinions don’t need to be taken seriously.

Compounding the problem are blatant double standards when it comes to the political issues being pushed.

In an NBA match earlier this month, Los Angeles Clippers player Montrezl Harrell called Dallas Mavericks player Luka Doncic a “bitch ass white boy“. Although a white player calling a black player a “bitch ass black boy” would be a worldwide scandal, it appears that Harrell is going to avoid sanction entirely.

There might be an inherent demand for entertainment once a person’s basic survival needs are met, but it’s hard to be a white person and keep watching a sports league when you know that league explicitly endorses anti-white racial abuse. It’s a direct humiliation, and many sports fans have found themselves switching off instead.

As in ancient Rome, the lack of easily-available entertainment has led to people seeking it elsewhere, in more destructive ways. There is a direct link between the winding up of the American circuses and the widespread civil unrest there. Instead of finding entertainment in sport, people are finding it in other people getting shot and beaten to death.

More worryingly, the bread is also winding up.

When Juvenal spoke of “bread” he was referring to the grain dole, another Roman invention for defraying rebellious sentiments. Because of the psychological effect of starvation, hungry populations soon become violent. The Roman masses were pacified with free grain, then free bread, wine and pork.

When this food dole wound up, people started going hungry, and this led to even more trouble than the boredom. A bored person can get entertained quickly by setting something on fire; a hungry person won’t be satisfied until they kill someone. For the Roman ruling classes, to not dole out bread meant the collapse of their society.

The West doesn’t have a grain dole, but we do have a system of social welfare which has much the same effect. It’s also being scaled back.

In America, negotiations for a second stimulus check are in doubt, because Republicans and Democrats cannot agree on terms. The first stimulus check was granted because the coronavirus pandemic had destroyed many American jobs, but those jobs are yet to return, and therefore the economic stress has not gone away.

In New Zealand, the COVID-19 Resurgence Wage Subsidy – designed to have a similar effect to the American stimulus checks – is expiring later this week. The likely outcome is a high volume of job losses. Already the New Zealand economy has been hit hard by the near-total annihilation of our international tourism sector; further major job losses would cause widespread despair.

It’s possible that Donald Trump and Jacinda Ardern will extend welfare benefits, at least for now. But the largesse cannot be continued indefinitely. The New Zealand national debt was $US 59.6 billion in March this year, but has already blown out to $US 81.1 billion by September. They can’t keep borrowing money to keep the party going forever.

When these special coronavirus payments are stopped, the inevitable result will be an increase in the number of people taking to the streets in protest. Given how ugly sentiments already are, with multiple protesters having been shot dead in America over the past week, a wider collapse of order is a very realistic prospect.

In summary, society is held together by bread and circuses, and both of those are winding up thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. This phenomenon is occurring across the Western World, which suggests that we’re all in for some difficult times over the next 12 months or so.

If you enjoyed reading this essay, you can get a compilation of the Best VJMP Essays and Articles of 2019 from Amazon for Kindle or Amazon for CreateSpace (for international readers), or TradeMe (for Kiwis). A compilation of the Best VJMP Essays and Articles of 2018 and the Best VJMP Essays and Articles of 2017 are also available.

If you would like to support our work in other ways, please consider subscribing to our SubscribeStar fund. Even better, buy any one of our books!

The Four Ages Of The Internet

A previous essay on this page recounted the life cycle of Internet forums. The Second Hermetic Principle teaches us that as below, so above. As this essay will describe, the Internet itself is running on a life cycle – and we’re moving into the less enjoyable part of it.

The Golden Age of the Internet began in August 1995, with the release of Microsoft’s Windows 95. This operating system took the Internet out of the hands of the technological elite, and put it in the hands of the masses. This was the beginning of the personal computing revolution.

At first, the Internet appealed mostly to nerds, who had been starved of information thanks to the relative inefficiency of the book-and-library system. These nerds did what came naturally, which was to use the Internet to share information. They created all kinds of websites, most of them on subjects appealing to young men, like science, technology and engineering.

In the Golden Age of the Internet, websites consisted of little other than pure information and hyperlinks to more. Being restricted by bandwidth, websites focussed almost entirely on sharing the greatest quality of this info. Search engines such as Metacrawler indexed it all for ease of access. It was like having a library in every house.

The peak of the peak may have been around 2002, when an enormous number of small websites were available on GeoCities (later known as “GeoShitties”). This was also the peak of websites such as SlashDot, which appealed specifically to the programmers who were building the infrastructure of the Internet.

By 2003, the seeds of the decline had become apparent. Google AdSense was launched that year, which changed the web publishing game permanently. AdSense offered something truly revolutionary: cold, hard cash. But as is usually the case when cash is on the table, there were conditions.

The Google AdSense program was funded by advertisers, and those advertisers expected a certain degree of influence. In the same way that advertisers in newspapers 100 years ago exerted influence over what those newspapers published, AdSense advertisers pressured Google to not show ads on sites that carried certain content.

That meant content relating to illicit drugs, erotic literature, serial killers, violent anarchy and political extremism (i.e. all the interesting stuff) was produced less. This was the start of the great decline. Once Google AdSense money got involved, website owners started self-censoring to keep the shekels flowing in. The Golden Age of the Internet ended, and the Silver Age began.

The Silver Age of the Internet began on the 26th of September 2006, when FaceBook became open to everyone, and not just university students. This was the point at which social media really began to take off, a big deal because it meant that users could generate their own content. This steady stream of content could then be exploited by inserting advertising slots in it.

With the arrival of FaceBook, the Internet became a true commercial venture. Now there were billions of dollars involved. This was a Silver Age because of advertising, which corrupted the purity of the information. Although there was a greater quantity of information than ever, it had advertisements all through it.

The advertisers demanded more and more influence over the content. Eventually, FaceBook and YouTube became televisionised, with an extensive list of content restrictions. People started to get banned for calling each other ‘faggot’ or ‘nigger’. But still the Internet grew, to the point where the government decided that they had to get involved.

Once Big Government started to take an interest in what was being said on social media, and making up laws over who was allowed to say what, the Silver Age ended. The Bronze Age of the Internet began in April 2016, when Count Dankula was arrested for a YouTube video of a dog giving a Nazi salute. The freewheeling, freespeaking Internet of free expression was gone.

By the time of the Bronze Age of the Internet, there were so many retards online that much of cyberspace became detrimental to mental health. As the IQ of the average Internet user continued to decline, the quality of the average Internet experience became lower and lower. During the Golden Age of the Internet, the world’s retards bullied people for using computers – in the Bronze Age, they bully people by using computers.

If the Golden Age of the Internet saw its realisation, and the Silver Age saw its commercialisation, the Bronze Age saw its weaponisation. It was realised that, in the 21st Century, wars would be fought with information rather than bullets. The politicisation of the Internet saw people act to restrict the platform access of their ideological enemies.

By the time of writing this article, wrongthinkers are getting purged left, right and centre. Even websites like Reddit, founded in the twilight of the Golden Age specifically as a free-speech platform, are banning entire subforums on a weekly basis. It’s forbidden to discuss any subject that displeases the advertisers.

This has seen the rise and rise of imageboard culture, especially the chans such as 4chan. The ‘anything goes’ nature of these sites appeals to those who appreciated the Golden Age. In the Bronze Age of the Internet, those parts of cyberspace that still uphold the values of the Golden Age are dismissed as “cesspits”. This merely causes the appeal of the chans to grow further.

The Iron Age of the Internet is yet to begin. We can predict what it will look like: a totalitarian surveillance network in which the activities and social interactions of every citizen are tracked to the finest detail. 5G networks offer the bandwidth to transmit high-definition video footage faster than it can be viewed, and the advent of facial recognition technology means that they will know exactly where you are in real time.

Free speech restrictions might be bad now, but they can get worse. Improving AI tech will make it possible for any social media comment to be analysed and, if necessary, shadowbanned before anyone can see it. Even more ominously, the governments of all Western nations appear willing to increase Police harassment of online wrongthinkers.

When the Iron Age of the Internet is fully upon us, the Internet will be unrecognisably different from its Golden Age, much like today’s religions are radically different to those practiced during the Western spiritual tradition’s Golden Age in ancient Greece. We will then, as per Plato’s Republic, have to wait for a movement of philosopher-kings to overthrow the old Internet and institute a new one.

This article is an excerpt from Clown World Chronicles, a book about the insanity of life in the post-Industrial West. This is being compiled by Vince McLeod for an expected release in the middle of 2020.

If you would like to support our work in other ways, please consider subscribing to our SubscribeStar fund. Even better, buy any one of our books!

Clown World Chronicles: Who Is Stacy?

Women want to be her, and men want to be with her. Stacy is the centre of attention everywhere she goes, her striking beauty attracting the male gaze as if magnetic. Stacy manifests in Clown World as an unattainable object of sexual desire, but there’s more to her than just that.

Stacy is the Younger Goddess of the Positive Feminine Axis. In this sense, she is similar to the Aphrodite of the Greek pantheon, or Venus in the Roman one. She occupies a similar role in Clown World to that occupied by both Aphrodite and Venus: a goddess of love, romance, beauty, fertility, erotic pleasure, procreation – and potential discord.

Stacy’s most notable feature is her sex appeal. Hers is the kind of beauty that makes a man dizzy if he stares for too long. She turns heads everywhere she goes. Even other females are more impressed than they are resentful, because they find her visage awesome.

This sex appeal helps to make Stacy the alpha female. Young people everywhere make great efforts to get into her good graces, knowing that her word can make or break social reputations. Stacy always goes to the hottest parties, and always gets the coolest and most interesting boyfriends. Her position in society is much like that of a queen bee.

In Clown World, Stacy represents the power inherent in the human female. Her presence can be found anywhere there is a woman able to induce men to do her bidding. Her sex appeal might be fundamental to her being, but that only supports her true power, which is her understanding of the desires of men. Stacy’s power is as much psychological as it is physical.

In the same way that Chad represents the peak of young adult masculinity, Stacy represents the peak of young adult femininity. Chad’s physical presence and his unwavering emotional control mark him out as Chad. Stacy has the same physical appeal as Chad, but her psychological appeal is different. Whereas Chad understands himself, Stacy understands others.

In Clown World, where most things are the reverse of how they should be, people have come to look cynically upon the idea of the feminine. Many now associate the feminine with sluttiness and deception. Stacy rises above all this, as an emblem of how women ought to be despite the social pressure to be something much worse.

Stacy is not in any way a roastie, a point which deserves emphasis. Stacy’s sex appeal might be immense, but she engages in sexual congress only when and where it’s appropriate to do so. She doesn’t lead men on, fuck them around or hit on married ones. All of the discord she causes is accidental.

Her power may be immense, but her grace also befits a goddess. What she really, truly wants is to transform into Waifu – and she’s willing to cast the net wide to find her Chad. Finding her prince is what motivates Stacy, and it’s why she’s often happy to withdraw socially once she does.

Despite her grace and charm, Stacy has plenty of clashes with other members of the pantheon. She must always be vigilant against the schemes of Virgin, and ever wary of the jealousy of Karen. The Great NPC would love to see her brought down to the level of mediocrity, and Stacy suspects that Doomer might also. She is, however, always in the good graces of her father Boomer.

Stacy first broke through into the mass consciousness after being portrayed in the video to the 2003 pop song ‘Stacy’s Mom’ by American group Fountains of Wayne. It was after then that ‘Stacy’ came to be used as shorthand for a generic attractive young woman, most infamously in the phrase “Stacies and Chads” from the manifesto of incel spree killer Elliot Rodger.

This music video captures the sense of sexual intrigue that inevitably follows in Stacy’s wake. The idea is that Stacy is so attractive that even her mother is still hot. The ending of the video, when Stacy cracks up laughing after catching a teenage boy jerking off, encapsulates her good-natured attitude towards sexuality.

The best outcome for Stacy is to become Waifu, the Elder Goddess of the Positive Feminine. This will occur if she can find a Chad to transmute into a Boomer. Stacy’s frequency, when combined with Chad’s, moves the spirit up the Fundamental Axis towards the realm of Kek. This is because there is great joy to be had in being part of a loving young couple.

The worst outcome for Stacy is to become Karen, the Elder Goddess of the Negative Feminine. This will occur if Stacy does not maintain enough positive spiritual energy. Getting hit on too much by Virgin, or hooking up with Doomer instead of Chad, can cause Stacy to slip down the Fundamental Axis.

Stacy is one of the most popular and powerful members of the Clown World pantheon. It could be argued that her egregore grows in power every time someone lusts after an attractive woman. Much of what keeps men going in Clown World is the hope of finding a Stacy of their own, and there is many a roastie out there who could benefit from summoning the energy of Stacy within themselves.

If you would like to support our work in other ways, please consider subscribing to our SubscribeStar fund. Even better, buy any one of our books!

Clown World Chronicles: Who Is Pepe?

Pepe is seen everywhere in Clown World, not least on the cover of this book. This anthropomorphic green frog has come to stand in for the everyday citizen of Clown World, who can relate to Pepe’s joys and rages. This article explains Pepe’s position in the Clown World pantheon.

In short, Pepe is the active principle to Wojak’s passive principle.

Both Pepe and Wojak occupy the central node in the Clown World pantheon, at the centre of the Fundamental Axis. In doing so, they represent the Clown World Everyman, who is every single one of us. The difference between them is that Pepe rises above, whereas Wojak sinks below.

Pepe became an Internet phenomenon over a decade ago, suddenly being posted everywhere. Forums like the Shroomery included a Pepe image as an emoji, usually depicted speaking his catchphrase “Feels good man.” For these Internet dwellers, Pepe represented overcoming the suffering inherent to life.

Pepe is usually seen having a good time, whether playing video games, smoking bongs or joints, or partying with hot chicks. Often, this good time is being had despite some external hardship or difficulty. The spirit of Pepe could be described as the will to have a good time despite that one lives in Clown World.

In this sense, Pepe heralds the ultimate victory of the spirit of Kek over the forces of Clown World. Although not good himself, Pepe represents the forces of good in embryonic form. As such, he is that which rises above. Pepe represents the rising beast latent within the human animal.

As such, Pepe is generally shown feeling warm-blooded emotions, such as exhilaration, alarm or rage. He’s often depicted with a steel helmet and an M-16, as if rampaging through the Vietnamese jungle. Another common depiction is wide-eyed paranoia, as if he suddenly realised just how bad things really are.

This masculinity is why Pepe has become emblematic of the alt right, which is in character a highly masculine movement. Pepe is symbolic of knowing what you want and acting to get it. Anyone willing to bring more fire into their lives might find themselves working to summon the spirit of Pepe.

Pepe is so emblematic – and problematic – that depictions of him are considered hate symbols by Clown World institutions such as the Anti-Defamation League. Because Pepe represents the spirit of rising above and overcoming Clown World, he is correctly seen as a symbol of resistance to Clown World itself. Ironically, this has resulted in lawsuits from the first man to draw Pepe, against others who use the image.

In Internet culture, Pepe is often depicted alongside Wojak, usually as some kind of team. This reflects how Pepe and Wojak are different expressions of the same thing: the will to overcome Clown World. In the vast majority of these depictions, Pepe is the more masculine of the two, so that it’s his energy that inspires Wojak to action.

The Pepe/Wojak dichotomy is at the very centre of life in Clown World. It could be said, paraphrasing Solzhenitsyn, that the line between Pepe and Wojak runs through every human heart. This is not to imply that Pepe is good and that Wojak is evil – they simply represent an elementary form of those forces.

This active principle represented by Pepe rises up the Fundamental Axis to become Honkler. It can be said that Honkler is the ultimate form of Pepe. This is analogous to how Mercury or Lucifer is the ultimate form of the human man. Honkler is the apotheosis of Pepe, having overcome all of the suffering of Clown World.

Some believe that the increasing frequency of Pepe sightings are evidence that the Will of Kek is returning to the world. Every sighting of Pepe increases the chances that Honkler will return, and when he does Clown World will end.

These meme magicians like to share images of Pepe, especially rare ones. Doing so, whether it’s realised or not, is a magical act. The purpose of it is to raise the frequency of the anima mundi, or the Spirit of the World. If the frequency of the anima mundi can be raised high enough, Clown World will break apart and fall away, heralding a new spiritual age.

Other people, more cynically, believe that these sightings are evidence of a far-right resurgence that aspires to start another civil war (i.e. the Boogaloo). They will argue that Pepe is used as a hate symbol to agitate for violent actions against the Establishment. Generally speaking, those who dislike Pepe tend to be materialists.

Whatever the truth, Pepe endures. His place at the centre of the Clown World pantheon makes him arguably its most iconic figure. As long as Clown World exists, its denizens will feel motivated to overcome it, and as long as this will to overcome exists then Pepe’s spirit is with us.

If you would like to support our work in other ways, please consider subscribing to our SubscribeStar fund. Even better, buy any one of our books!