{"id":27686,"date":"2026-04-22T17:39:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T00:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=27686"},"modified":"2026-04-25T13:47:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T20:47:14","slug":"dismantling-modern-civilization-in-favor-of-intuitive-superstitions-and-religious-verities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2026\/04\/22\/dismantling-modern-civilization-in-favor-of-intuitive-superstitions-and-religious-verities\/","title":{"rendered":"Dismantling Modern Civilization in Favor of Intuitive Superstitions and Religious Verities"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Those looking to ancient Greece to justify their current warmongering are getting their history wrong;<\/li>\n<li>Parody and reality about Hegseth relaxing flu vaccine requirements for the military;<\/li>\n<li>The CDC is suppressing a report on the efficacy of the Covid vaccines;<\/li>\n<li>Calls for &#8220;Biblical masculinity,&#8221; whatever that is;<\/li>\n<li>Short items about the worst president in US history; removing support for immigrant kids to learn English; how actual data shows the success of Bidenomics; a book review on what North Korea&#8217;s cult of personality owes Christianity; and how moon denialists are using AI to fake Artemis footage, without irony.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"center\">&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/div>\n<p>Is this an in inescapable cycle? This seems to be the trend in the US.<\/p>\n<p>Warmongers always look to earlier warmongers for justification. As if childish behavior justifies lifelong childish behavior.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/04\/21\/opinion\/19patrick\/19patrick-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, guest essay by Stewart Patrick<\/strong>, who &#8220;directs the Global Order and Institutions Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.&#8221;, <strong>19 Apr 2026:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/04\/19\/opinion\/trump-war-thucydides.html\">The Warmongers Are Getting History All Wrong<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Members of the Trump administration have been channeling their inner Thucydides, paraphrasing the Greek historian\u2019s aphorisms about the pitiless realities of power in a world of self-interested nations.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In January, President Trump called the unilateral military intervention that ended in the kidnapping of the Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro an example of the \u201ciron laws that have always determined global power.\u201d Challenged about the U.S. operation, the White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller mocked Jake Tapper on CNN for his na\u00efvet\u00e9 about \u201cinternational niceties\u201d like the United Nations Charter. \u201cWe live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is about Thucydides&#8217; \u201cHistory of the Peloponnesian War\u201d. (There was a similar item noted back on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2026\/02\/13\/regressing-to-might-makes-right\/\">Feb. 13th<\/a>.) As usual Trump&#8217;s take is simplistic.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The most famous vignette in Thucydides\u2019 \u201cHistory\u201d is the Melian Dialogue. In it, an Athenian delegation delivers an ultimatum to the island of Melos: Submit to the superior power of Athens and become a tributary state in its war against Sparta, or face destruction. The Melians plead to remain neutral but are rebuffed. \u201cYou know as well as we do,\u201d the Athenians explain, \u201cthe strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.\u201d Melos is vanquished, its adult men put to death and its women and children sold into slavery.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What the administration ignores is the lesson that came from that kind of behavior.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>What made war inevitable, in other words, was not merely the presence of rival great powers, but the fact that one of those powers was abusing the rules of the system that had enabled its rise to greatness in the first place.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Which is exactly what the US is doing, tearing down the international structure that brought the US to prominence after WWII. Ending:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Leaders, at the end of the day, require followers. Mr. Trump may insist, as he has in the Iran conflict, that \u201cWE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!\u201d But if the United States stays on this course, it will find itself bereft of allies and friends, a lonely superpower in a lawless international system it has helped to create. It is not too late to reverse course \u2014 and that starts with a closer reading of Thucydides.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The US is doomed.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>While you&#8217;re at it, cut the seat belts out of your cars! You know how many people drive thousands of miles a year and never have a crash?<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/ZAOZEOOar6Q6gaYGsV76RR0myNA=\/0x0:2000x1125\/976x549\/media\/img\/mt\/2026\/04\/2026_4_22_Bring_the_Flu\/original.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Atlantic, Alexandra Petri, 22 Apr 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/newsletters\/2026\/04\/hegseth-troops-end-flu-shot-military-requirement\/686894\/\">Hegseth to the Troops: We Are Bringing Back the Flu!<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Grab your cough drops. We\u2019re going to battle.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(This is a parody.)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>WAR-FIGHTERS! As a step to making sure we are ready for warfare at all times, we have decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2026\/04\/21\/military-flu-vaccine-hegseth\/\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"135936\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">ELIMINATE THE MANDATORY FLU SHOT<\/a>! Nothing says \u201cwe are ready for war\u201d like \u201cwe all have the flu.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW\" data-flatplan-paragraph=\"true\">Get your hot-water bottles! Get your ibuprofen! Not Tylenol, though! It knows what it did. Because we are bringing FLU to the war-fighters! Are you ready to have a RUNNY NOSE and an ITCHY THROAT? Are you ready to get REALLY SERIOUSLY DEHYDRATED AND NEED MEDICAL ATTENTION? Hoo-RAH!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>(But this is not.)<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-apps\/imrs.php?src=https:\/\/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/WRIJH4VHFY6RZFNZDVCJZX6TCM_size-normalized.jpg&amp;w=1440&amp;impolicy=high_res\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Washington Post, yesterday<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2026\/04\/21\/military-flu-vaccine-hegseth\/\">Annual flu vaccine no longer required for U.S. military, Hegseth says<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;The move alarmed some public health experts and legislators, who warned that it would weaken troop readiness.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The military will no longer require U.S. troops to receive the annual flu vaccine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday, rolling back what he described as an \u201coverly broad\u201d mandate that had been in place for seven decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re seizing this moment to discard any absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our war-fighting capabilities,\u201d Hegseth said in a video posted to his social media channels. \u201cIn this case, this includes the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth said that under a new policy, soldiers would be able to take the vaccine if they believed it was in their best interest, billing it as an effort to \u201crestore freedom and strength to our joint force.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we will not force you, because your body, your faith and your convictions are not negotiable,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And, this is the problem with faith. The conviction of things that are not true, and dangerous to others.<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>Gaslighting.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PeteHegseth2026grimace-660x330.jpg\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>JMG, 21 Apr 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2026\/04\/hegseth-soldiers-can-now-refuse-absurd-flu-vaccine\/\">Hegseth: Soldiers Can Now Refuse \u201cAbsurd\u201d Flu Vaccine<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cUnder the disastrous Biden administration, this Pentagon waged an unrelenting war on our warriors on many fronts, including when it came to denying them simple medical autonomy and the freedom to express their religious convictions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven when those decisions posed no threat to our military readiness, you know what I\u2019m talking about, what happened: COVID-19 and the vaccine. No more. That era of betrayal is over.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It was not a disastrous administration; only people who do not acknowledge actual data and facts thinks so. And prioritizing religious convictions will lead to ruin.<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>So of course, the vaccine denialists suppress data that challenge their &#8220;religious convictions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-apps\/imrs.php?src=https:\/\/arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/HS4JKY2R3CEAPKENVDXQPD2VIM_size-normalized.jpg&amp;w=1440&amp;impolicy=high_res\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Washington Post, today<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/health\/2026\/04\/22\/covid-vaccine-report-blocked-cdc-mmwr\/\">CDC won\u2019t publish report showing covid shots cut likelihood of hospital visits<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;The report, which had cleared the agency\u2019s scientific-review process, had been delayed. It now won\u2019t be published at all, people familiar with the decision told The Post.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A report showing the efficacy of the covid-19 vaccine that was previously <a class=\"js-itid-click\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/health\/2026\/04\/09\/covid-vaccine-report-delayed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">delayed<\/a> by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been blocked from being published in the agency\u2019s flagship scientific journal, according to three people familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The report showed that the <a class=\"js-itid-click\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/science\/2025\/10\/23\/vaccine-cancer-covid-19-mrna\/\">vaccine <\/a>reduced emergency department visits and hospitalizations among healthy adults by about half this past winter.<\/p>\n<p>The move, which has not been previously reported, has raised concerns among current and former officials that information about the vaccine\u2019s benefits is being downplayed because it conflicts with the views of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been an <a class=\"js-itid-click\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/health\/2025\/12\/30\/rfk-jr-hhs-secretary-vaccines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">outspoken critic<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/shots.health\/\">shots.<\/a> Kennedy\u2019s vaccine agenda has received <a class=\"js-itid-click\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/health\/2026\/04\/16\/rfk-hearing-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pointed questioning<\/a> from lawmakers during <a class=\"js-itid-click\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/health\/2026\/04\/16\/rfk-hearing-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">budget hearings<\/a> that began last week and conclude Wednesday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is the way backward. Aspire to live the way people lived thousands of years ago, who knew nothing compared to what we know now. Succumb to religious superstition. Venerate the past, and the most primitive social roles. Live as other animals do; reproduction and expansion of the tribe are the priorities.<\/p>\n<p>\\\\<\/p>\n<p><strong>Right Wing Watch, Kyle Mantyla, 21 Apr 2026:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplefor.org\/rightwingwatch\/sen-josh-hawley-calls-christian-economy-restore-biblical-masculinity\">Sen. Josh Hawley Calls For A &#8216;Christian Economy&#8217; To Restore &#8216;Biblical Masculinity&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Biblical masculinity&#8221;?? Read the story, and he&#8217;s merely harking back to the 1950s, when a man could have a single job and support a wife and children and own a house. A fantasy. And anything else is &#8220;communism.&#8221; He&#8217;s a dangerous simpleton.<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>Headlines:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/04\/21\/multimedia\/21edsall-mlbq\/21edsall-mlbq-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, Thomas B. Edsall, 21 Apr 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/04\/21\/opinion\/trump-legacy-history-presidents.html\">\u2018Easily the Worst President in U.S. History\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thought: why is it that MAGA Trump fans don&#8217;t realize that Trump is so widely reviled by many in the US and around the world? Because they&#8217;re insular and self-centered, I think. (And, whisper, there really are a lot of stupid people out there, in every population.)<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-apps\/imrs.php?src=https:\/\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/wapo\/7MPXQ5NWUFGG3B4EPQ4V75YY7Q.jpg&amp;w=1440&amp;impolicy=high_res\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Washington Post, yesterday<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2026\/04\/21\/does-trump-really-want-immigrant-kids-learn-english\/\">Trump steps up a campaign against teaching English to immigrant kids<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;The administration plans to dissolve the office that supports English instruction.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>First: yet again they&#8217;re tearing down institution people smarter than them have built. Second: MAGA thinks immigrants cannot assimilate into American culture, or would undermine it, despite the long history of America as a &#8220;melting pot&#8221; that has welcomed immigrants who have merged American culture into something unique. MAGA are simply racists, who want to *assure* that immigrants cannot assimilate.<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>Trump and MAGA are deluding themselves, and deliberately lying, thus:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!7aux!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3664348a-dbb5-43db-8145-be192c506953_1240x264.png\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Paul Krugman, yesterday<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/paulkrugman.substack.com\/p\/the-vindication-of-bidenomics\">The Vindication of Bidenomics<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Are we finally ready to acknowledge its successes?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The graph shows what people now think. Krugman, who&#8217;s been writing about the economy for years and years, shows what the economy has actually been doing, with many more charts.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The question of why Americans are so negative about the economy is important, and I will have much more to say about that question in future posts. First, however, it will be necessary to dispel some widespread misperceptions \u2014 misperceptions that were especially acute during the Biden years. So today I\u2019ll talk about what actually happened to ordinary Americans under Biden.<\/p>\n<p>Let me address three issues in particular: Purchasing power, inequality, and the labor market.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\\\<\/p>\n<p>A book review.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/04\/14\/books\/review\/14TBR-Cheng-review\/14TBR-Cheng-review-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp\" width=\"200\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, Bruce Cummings, 14 Apr 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/04\/14\/books\/review\/korean-messiah-jonathan-cheng.html\">What North Korea\u2019s Cult of Personality Owes Christianity<\/a>, subtitled: &#8220;A new history by Jonathan Cheng argues that an influx of missionaries in the late 19th century profoundly shaped the ruling Kim family dynasty.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The reviewer has reservations about the book&#8217;s thesis, yet concludes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>American readers will find some themes of this book familiar: blind faith in a leader, no matter what he does; fantasies masquerading as state policies; sycophantic top officials trying to out-loyal one another; journalists who sound like employees of the regime; a leader slapping his name on everything.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Do MAGA folks understand the role in history they&#8217;re playing? I&#8217;m sure they don&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>Why are these people doing this? What is their motivation?<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/futurism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/moon-denialists-ai-fake-artemis-footage.jpg?quality=85&amp;w=1250\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Futurism, Victor Tangermann, 13 Apr 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/futurism.com\/artificial-intelligence\/moon-denialists-ai-fake-artemis-footage\">Moon Denialists Are So Pathetic That They\u2019re Using AI to Fake Artemis Footage<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;This is just sad.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For <a href=\"https:\/\/futurism.com\/space\/nasa-launch-moon-mission-april-fools-day\">many decades<\/a>, conspiracy theorists have attempted to argue that NASA\u2019s missions to the lunar surface were somehow faked \u2014 and the space agency\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/futurism.com\/space\/photos-moon-astronauts-sent-back\">latest trip around the Moon and back<\/a> is no different.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph skip\">Except this time, the widespread proliferation of AI slop is supercharging the trend, with denialists pointing to faked, AI-generated footage as \u201cproof\u201d of their claims with no apparent sense of irony.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I can understand the moon-landing skeptics and flat-earth believers as people who simply cannot conceive of things outside their immediate, intuitive experience. The Earth is flat, the sky is a dome over it, and so on; heavy things drop faster than lighter things, and so on. Their experiences are extensions of infantile experience, as a young child learns to understand the world. Yet it only understands the world within its immediate experience. Many people even as adults cannot get over these intuitions.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, why are these people so insistent about validating their intuitions by using AI to fake images?? Doesn&#8217;t this completely undermine their thesis that real evidence would validate their beliefs, if only that evidence could be shown? Certainly they&#8217;ve had plenty of time.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s something deeper, psychologically, going on here. It&#8217;s not about evidence &#8212; the denialists don&#8217;t care about the many things which would not challenge human vanity. I&#8217;ll think about it.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In short, the situation is painful to witness: people so convinced of a false reality that they\u2019re willing to fake evidence to support it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Those looking to ancient Greece to justify their current warmongering are getting their history wrong; Parody and reality about Hegseth relaxing flu vaccine requirements for the military; The CDC is suppressing a report on the efficacy of the Covid vaccines; &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2026\/04\/22\/dismantling-modern-civilization-in-favor-of-intuitive-superstitions-and-religious-verities\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,18,54,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-nature","category-lunacy","category-politics","category-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27686"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27697,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27686\/revisions\/27697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}