Illegitimate Scholar

Brad Pearce joins me again to discuss his substack articles and wonderful geopolitics reporting.
https://substack.com/@thewaywardrabbler
Illegitimate Scholar Live - Weekly @ 8pm eastern on Thursdays, anthropological, libertarian, and outsider perspective.
We discuss the recent coup in Niger and its place in the greater crises of the Sahel and West Africa. We discuss this within the context of shifting foreign influence in the nations of the area, and varying levels of regional authority. This is a region of the world often not discussed but has high population and this has the potential to have worldwide implications and if not handled properly, mass suffering of innocent people.

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Why an Italian Zoomer Converted to Buddhism

This is the Illegitimate Scholar Podcast and this week I interview Theravada Buddhism practitioner, Angelo. Originating from Italy, Angelo narrates his transition from Catholicism to embracing Theravada Buddhism, discussing its practices, impact on morality, and viewpoints on gender roles, compared to Nichiren Buddhism and Westernized versions of the faith. The conversation extends to Angelo's critical view on abortion, political, and social concerns through a Buddhist lens. I address Buddhism's nuanced relationship with modern ideologies, debating its non-alignment with fixed political beliefs and detailing its influence on topics like immigration in Italy. It contrasts the allure of Buddhism in the West, its empirical approach through karma, and the vibrant Buddhist community across Italy, enriched by diverse practices and historical ties, including those to Julius Evola. The dialogue concludes by underscoring the importance of exploration and learning in understanding Buddhism's role in contemporary society and personal growth.

00:00 Introduction

00:35 Italian Roots

02:48 Why Buddhism?

08:19 Nichiren Buddhism

20:44 Theravada Buddhism

24:40 Buddhism in the West

34:03 Greek Influence on Buddhism

39:04 Greco-Bactrian Hellenistic Art

53:20 Mahayana Buddhist Influence on Gnosticism

01:01:29 Pali Language

01:07:41 Forest Monks

01:11:23 Interrupt Myself

01:11:47 City Monks

01:17:38 Moinkas in the greater community

01:21:53 Buddhism in Daily Life

01:23:02 Western VS Traditional Buddhist Practices

01:25:44 Abortion in Buddhism

01:29:05 Dharma as Politics

01:36:44 Italy and Immigration

01:48:02 Global Influence of Buddhism

01:57:25 Julius Evola

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In the world there are many countries, regions, territories, etc. that have overlapping land claims. Where one group claims territory that another claims. This can be two countries, such as border regions between India/China, Japan/Russia, Indonesia/Papua New Guineau, Israel/Palestine. It can be separatist nations like Chechnya, Catalan, Kurdistan. It can be new states attempting to rise like ISIS. It can even be organizations like gangs, cartels, mafia exerting effective control over an area. Land shifts ownership over time, and always has. We discuss today how land claims work, who decides the metrics for who has the greater claim, and how claims and knowledge are weaponized for geopolitical advantage. We discuss how in many examples of international recognition of different states the important factor is not the legitimacy of the land claim, but instead how a land claim to one state helps the geopolitical posturing of another. For example the creation of Belgium as a buffer state between France and Germany, longtime support for Taiwan over the PRC, and ultimately the pinnacle of the episode, modern current example, the poignant example of the support of the west of Ukraine against the Russian enemy.
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Centralization of political authority and how it happens over time to today. Early Humans. Roman/Chinese Empire. Early Modern. Modern. Post-Modern.
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1. Centralization
   1. Definition
      1. the action or process of bringing activities together in one place.
      2. the concentration of control of an activity or organization under a single authority.
2. Hunter-gatherers, state of nature
3. Any higher centralization requires some level of political organization
4. Early Empires
   1. Rome similar but specific example China
      1. Standardized writing system:
      2. Standardized systems of weights and measures:
      3. Standardized currency:
      4. Network of roads and canals:
      5. Great Wall of China:
5. After Roman Empire collapses the next thing I want to concentrate on is the modern era, beginning with the era of “absolutism”
   1. Feudalism in Europe was decentralized
6. Phillip II of Spain
   1. He established the Royal Printing Office in Madrid in 1566
7. Established the Tercios
   1. Professional Army under Spain specifically
   2. Rather than feudal levies
   3. Standardized, highly effective
8. He built new roads and canals to connect different parts of Spain and to facilitate the movement of troops and supplies.
   1. Physical location very important
   2. China, Rome, USA, always important, speed matters
9. He expanded the Spanish bureaucracy and created new government departments
   1. Always
   2. Replaces feudalism
   3. Put loyal people in those positions
      1. #patronage
10. He established a postal service that linked Madrid to all major Spanish cities
    1. With new roads, postal service allows control of larger area, utilize those roads, make information reliable and control
11. All only possible with marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile in 1469
    1. Leads into Spain
12. Modern era
    1. All the centralization in the modern era mirrors the past
    2. Railroads allowed for even faster transportation
    3. Telegraph for faster information transfer
    4. Ship technology faster transport
    5. Regional languages disappear as people are incentivized to speak the most economically viable language
13. Post-Modern and the future
    1. That brings us to today
    2. Internet is an insane force
14. Lifestyle centralization
    1. People in Namibia, Indonesia, Myanmar can see life in the upper classes of North America, Europe, East Asia, Middle Easst
15. Globalism and the New World Order

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In this episode I go back to definitions and use the anthropological definition found in my old textbook. I go over the definition and define each of the individual terms, giving indigenous and contemporary examples. I also apply each of the terms to Wokeism to establish why wokism is a religion. Let me know your thoughts in the Discord if you agree or disagree.
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Books and Audible:

Audible AUDIOBOOKS, free trial:

https://amzn.to/3TJOARA"American Nations" - Cultural history of the US focused on distinct cultural areas and their affects. Link: https://amzn.to/3P6lTwn
The three big anthropology books I recommend :
"Guns, Germs and Steel" - https://amzn.to/3qI271S
"Dawn of Everything" Graeber/Wengrow - culturally left wing big (pop) anthropology/history book. Good for diversity of thought, many good references here. - https://amzn.to/47Fl6uH
"Sapiens" - Globalist/WEF but a decent take to understand their position. -https://amzn.to/47FEW95
Other reccomendations:
"The Korean War" -Bruce Cummings, history of colonization of Korea and the context of the nationalist/communist wars of East Asia. - https://amzn.to/3smlLB3
"Oracle Bones" - Book on China from a journalist's perspective in the 90s, exceptional and if people want to read one book on China I recommend this one. - https://amzn.to/3YOOfzE
"1491" - Mann. So much of what we know about Native Americans is tainted by influence of Europeans (by the time Europeans were writing a lot of stuff down, especially in English 200 years had passed since first contact and almost everyone was dead and the cultures were irrevocably changed, even if they didn't meet Europeans yet). The lost history of pre-Columbian western hemisphere is a glimpse into so many unique cultures that challenge our assumptions of human nature as well as history. - https://amzn.to/45luIsM

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Discord:
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https://www.patreon.com/IllegitimateScholar

Audio Podcast:
https://pod.link/1650280020

Twitter.com:
https://twitter.com/ill_scholar
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRH77S0fVLmAZU4xLnAxuvw