Apprentice Stephen: Libtard
October 10, 2019
G.D.O'Bradovich III
1
During our four year sentence, commonly referred to as “high school”, we easily recall two classmates having nicknames, “Cheeker” and “Butch”, perhaps the most affable gentlemen we knew in our youth. Even with our Aquarian influence, we did not understand the reason one would not address others by their given names. For that insight, we would need experiences, or time, and reflection, or thought. Subsequent to our graduation, we have learned of the political concept of “tribalism” and the value it gives to a select group while simultaneously excluding, and many times marginalizing, everyone else, otherwise said, separate and unequal.
We believe that it was future Apprentice Osif that began addressing Yours Truly as “Sethlon”. We allowed this nickname, as we observed the HighSchoolers™ for some time and, as they were likable, we did not understand this moniker as an affront to our either our person or our work. Since that time, we have become comfortable with the appellation, if only for the fond recollections of that gaggle of highschoolers arriving on Friday afternoons and our adventures. The Gentle Reader may consider our occasional “swimming in tribalism” as a regression from our typical and longstanding cosmopolitan worldview.
Certain “flat earth” promoters describe their unrelenting opponents as “globeheads”. We are amused by the term “globeheads”, as it promotes the tribalism that is so dear to many people, and brings to mind an entertaining image: suggesting that the spherical earth adherents lack a certain mental facility.
We believe that it was future Apprentice Osif that began addressing Yours Truly as “Sethlon”. We allowed this nickname, as we observed the HighSchoolers™ for some time and, as they were likable, we did not understand this moniker as an affront to our either our person or our work. Since that time, we have become comfortable with the appellation, if only for the fond recollections of that gaggle of highschoolers arriving on Friday afternoons and our adventures. The Gentle Reader may consider our occasional “swimming in tribalism” as a regression from our typical and longstanding cosmopolitan worldview.
Certain “flat earth” promoters describe their unrelenting opponents as “globeheads”. We are amused by the term “globeheads”, as it promotes the tribalism that is so dear to many people, and brings to mind an entertaining image: suggesting that the spherical earth adherents lack a certain mental facility.
The Apprentices have been vetted, whether through our human, all too human, reasoning or the divine suggestion of Thoth, Beaky to his friends. The Gentle Researcher may peruse the Apprentice application here. In conclusion to this part, the Apprentices are an extraordinary group is not only due to the fact that the Apprentices are extraordinary individuals.
Recently on a certain social media, a post stated that Apprentice Stephen is a “libtard”. Whereas the origin of “globehead” is obvious, it seems that “libtard” is a neologism of “liberal” and “retard” or “retarded”. Regardless, “libtard”, like “petroleum”, is striking to the philologically experienced mind. We presume that the innovator of this word equated “liberal” with “left leaning”, where “left leaning” should be understood as being on the American political spectrum. Although this rash conclusion regarding the origin of “liberal” may seem plausible to the aforementioned writer critical of Apprentice Stephen, liberal has a nobler pedigree than American politics and an older history than from the 1860s.
Originally, the term “Liberal” was derived from a “liberal education”. A liberal education is for free individuals seeking free inquiry into the nature of things below the earth, on earth, and above the earth. A liberal education is not for slaves and the opposite of a liberal education is not a “conservative education”, but little or no education. Therefore, our Founding Fathers were liberals, in the classical sense, but not in our modern political sense of the word.
A classical liberal education consists of two parts: the art of language pertaining to the mind and the art of quantity pertaining to matter. The Gentle Reader may recall two expressions: “Mind over matter” and “A sound mind in a sound body”. The mind consists of Logic, the art of thinking; Grammar, the art of combining symbols; and Rhetoric, the art of communication. Matter consists of Arithmetic, the theory of number; Music, the application of the theory of number; Geometry, the theory of space; and Astronomy, the application of the theory of space.
The Gentle Reader may realize that the American education system touches upon many of the seven parts of a classical liberal education. Both the American education and a liberal education can be described as being a jack of all trades and a master of none. Memorization is not synonymous with intelligence and the glaring defect of the American system is the inference by many people that the mastering of facts is equal to, or superior to, the art of thinking. We conclude that the ideal of the American system of education is to produce a free and questioning populace. Outside of certain magickal rituals, we are uncertain that “Knowledge is power”. However, we believe that liberally educated individuals are more critical, more skeptical, and less swayed by emotional statements than the general public. Of course, these attributes are for naught in a democracy, where the temperament of the majority reigns supreme, not the rule of law based on Natural Law.
A liberal education is not to be confounded with gaining insights and experiences for a career. One can have an excellent education that focuses solely upon aspects of the needs of one’s future employer, without any of the elements of a liberal education. Of course, to only have the skills for employment seems very practical, especially to educators and career politicians, but the result is a general populace lacking awareness of what is correctly described as “the bigger picture”.
Since “retarded” is defined as “less advanced in mental ... development than is usual for one's age.”, we immediately took exception to Apprentice Stephen being described as a “libtard”, as this is not one of the protracted conclusions we reached after innumerable conversations with potential Apprentice Steve-O. Although berating individuals is not unknown to us [Nietzsche noted that it is more pleasurable to cause suffering than to merely observe it], it is so rare as to be remarkable. To repeatedly question someone’s character in an open and repugnant manner reminds us of Saint Paul’s observation of his when he "became a man", he "put away childish things.” Through long and painful experience, we have learned that many physically mature human beings are intellectually stunted, otherwise said, many are less advanced in mental development than one would expect.
In “On the Occasion of an Invitation”, we suggested that the choice to enlist by certain Apprentices was due to our overwhelming positive influences. We then suggested that their peers as the reason and, finally, their families as the prima causa. Through the process of elimination, we dismissed these possibilities and settled upon the conclusion that the Creator was the origin of the talents and various abilities of the Apprentices.
The first part of a liberal education is the art of thinking, which is the proper foundation for the other six rungs on the ladder of a liberal education. For our working definition of art, we omit the first two definitions found in dictionaries and proceed to: 3. “subjects of study primarily concerned with the processes and products of human creativity and social life, such as languages, literature, and history” and to 4. “a skill at doing a specified thing, typically one acquired through practice”. Therefore, the art of thinking involves analyzing the merits and faults of a subject and this art is acquired through practice. The art of thinking supposes a certain goal: the quest for facts or reasoned conclusions, whereas debate, or a specialized art of communication, is not concerned with the facts, but disproving one’s opponent and influencing those without either opinions or a liberal education.
The capstone of a liberal education is Astronomy. However, Astronomy is the modern name for the ancient science of Astrology. As a consequence, it is proper to state that a complete liberal education ends with Astrology. In the Platonic dialogues, astronomy, properly understood as astrology, is rarely mentioned and, when it is discussed, it is always disparaged by Socrates. The Gentle Researcher can consider this fact, coupled with the modern disdain of Astrology, as proof of astrology’s validity. From the preceding, we conclude that our Founding Fathers were not only liberal thinkers, as judged both by their writings and their behaviors, but astrologers. We wonder how many modern self proclaimed “conservatives” would describe the Founding Fathers as worthless stargazing “libtards”.
Recently on a certain social media, a post stated that Apprentice Stephen is a “libtard”. Whereas the origin of “globehead” is obvious, it seems that “libtard” is a neologism of “liberal” and “retard” or “retarded”. Regardless, “libtard”, like “petroleum”, is striking to the philologically experienced mind. We presume that the innovator of this word equated “liberal” with “left leaning”, where “left leaning” should be understood as being on the American political spectrum. Although this rash conclusion regarding the origin of “liberal” may seem plausible to the aforementioned writer critical of Apprentice Stephen, liberal has a nobler pedigree than American politics and an older history than from the 1860s.
Originally, the term “Liberal” was derived from a “liberal education”. A liberal education is for free individuals seeking free inquiry into the nature of things below the earth, on earth, and above the earth. A liberal education is not for slaves and the opposite of a liberal education is not a “conservative education”, but little or no education. Therefore, our Founding Fathers were liberals, in the classical sense, but not in our modern political sense of the word.
A classical liberal education consists of two parts: the art of language pertaining to the mind and the art of quantity pertaining to matter. The Gentle Reader may recall two expressions: “Mind over matter” and “A sound mind in a sound body”. The mind consists of Logic, the art of thinking; Grammar, the art of combining symbols; and Rhetoric, the art of communication. Matter consists of Arithmetic, the theory of number; Music, the application of the theory of number; Geometry, the theory of space; and Astronomy, the application of the theory of space.
The Gentle Reader may realize that the American education system touches upon many of the seven parts of a classical liberal education. Both the American education and a liberal education can be described as being a jack of all trades and a master of none. Memorization is not synonymous with intelligence and the glaring defect of the American system is the inference by many people that the mastering of facts is equal to, or superior to, the art of thinking. We conclude that the ideal of the American system of education is to produce a free and questioning populace. Outside of certain magickal rituals, we are uncertain that “Knowledge is power”. However, we believe that liberally educated individuals are more critical, more skeptical, and less swayed by emotional statements than the general public. Of course, these attributes are for naught in a democracy, where the temperament of the majority reigns supreme, not the rule of law based on Natural Law.
A liberal education is not to be confounded with gaining insights and experiences for a career. One can have an excellent education that focuses solely upon aspects of the needs of one’s future employer, without any of the elements of a liberal education. Of course, to only have the skills for employment seems very practical, especially to educators and career politicians, but the result is a general populace lacking awareness of what is correctly described as “the bigger picture”.
Since “retarded” is defined as “less advanced in mental ... development than is usual for one's age.”, we immediately took exception to Apprentice Stephen being described as a “libtard”, as this is not one of the protracted conclusions we reached after innumerable conversations with potential Apprentice Steve-O. Although berating individuals is not unknown to us [Nietzsche noted that it is more pleasurable to cause suffering than to merely observe it], it is so rare as to be remarkable. To repeatedly question someone’s character in an open and repugnant manner reminds us of Saint Paul’s observation of his when he "became a man", he "put away childish things.” Through long and painful experience, we have learned that many physically mature human beings are intellectually stunted, otherwise said, many are less advanced in mental development than one would expect.
In “On the Occasion of an Invitation”, we suggested that the choice to enlist by certain Apprentices was due to our overwhelming positive influences. We then suggested that their peers as the reason and, finally, their families as the prima causa. Through the process of elimination, we dismissed these possibilities and settled upon the conclusion that the Creator was the origin of the talents and various abilities of the Apprentices.
The first part of a liberal education is the art of thinking, which is the proper foundation for the other six rungs on the ladder of a liberal education. For our working definition of art, we omit the first two definitions found in dictionaries and proceed to: 3. “subjects of study primarily concerned with the processes and products of human creativity and social life, such as languages, literature, and history” and to 4. “a skill at doing a specified thing, typically one acquired through practice”. Therefore, the art of thinking involves analyzing the merits and faults of a subject and this art is acquired through practice. The art of thinking supposes a certain goal: the quest for facts or reasoned conclusions, whereas debate, or a specialized art of communication, is not concerned with the facts, but disproving one’s opponent and influencing those without either opinions or a liberal education.
The capstone of a liberal education is Astronomy. However, Astronomy is the modern name for the ancient science of Astrology. As a consequence, it is proper to state that a complete liberal education ends with Astrology. In the Platonic dialogues, astronomy, properly understood as astrology, is rarely mentioned and, when it is discussed, it is always disparaged by Socrates. The Gentle Researcher can consider this fact, coupled with the modern disdain of Astrology, as proof of astrology’s validity. From the preceding, we conclude that our Founding Fathers were not only liberal thinkers, as judged both by their writings and their behaviors, but astrologers. We wonder how many modern self proclaimed “conservatives” would describe the Founding Fathers as worthless stargazing “libtards”.
Logic
Grammar Rhetoric Arithmetic Music Geometry Astronomy |
The art of thinking
The art of combining symbols The art of communication. The theory of number The application of the theory of number The theory of space The application of the theory of space |