When of one mind, Janus' views
form a composite of his two main sides. He attempts to consider issues with care and thoughtfulness, though he remains biased towards Christianity and Western
traditions. Outsiders might call him a Conservative, but in fact he is a Fundamentalist in that he promotes the Christian values that raised Western civilization to its peak.
One of the faces, looking to our right and called Patulcius, is the headstrong and determined side of Janus, tending to authoritarian ideals. Patulcius looks to history and upholds the traditions of
Christianity and Western civilization, and the well-being of Western nations. Patulcius sees world events as a struggle between divine and demonic
forces.
The other face—the easy-going, more open-minded, left-facing Clusivius—dislikes authority and prefers a more individualistic outlook. Clusivius looks to the future and contemplates changes. While
Christian, Clusivius takes an interest in the well-being of other civilizations as well as the Western. Clusivius tends to believe that elitist conspiracies play a major part in world events.
When possible, the complete Janus seeks to form a synthesis of the two sides when making a decision. At other times Janus allows any differences to stand without resolution. But now and again the two sides must battle one another until one side wins Janus' acceptance.
Tending to sensationalize, and sometimes to hyperbolize, C. F. van Niekerk over-analyzes any number of subjects from mundane minutiae to the great philosophical questions of life itself.
Katáxiros, the parched one, alone and adrift at sea, yet ever rowing ahead anyhow, sometimes weakly and sometimes vigorously, thirsting after God through the Orthodox Christian Church, contemplating the ways of the Lord, recognizing that while he is inadequate to the task, he must press ever ahead. Katáxiros writes about matters pertaining specifically to the Orthodox Church.
Barzillai Alpheus Bozarth claims to be a 19th Century man marooned in the 21st Century after a failed experiment in inter-dimensional travel. Not at all impressed with the wonders of our time, he would give just about anything to return to his beloved world of "horse manure and civilized etiquette". Barzillai writes historical observations and pores over old books and documents.
We don't know what to make of the Wanderer. He walks in with the moon and rolls out with the wind. He uses no name; the smells of rank sweat, dirt, and smoke mark him as much as anything. He's always near, but never close. Heedless of human ideals and bounds, he stands unyielding for honor on the ground. He's practical to a fault when he's not romantic to even greater fault. He says little, but when he does finally speak, we listen up. The Wanderer is our lawman of final resort. By hook or by crook, he sees a job done, just don't ask how. Frankly, we're a little afraid of the Wanderer.
Nature can be cruel to mankind.
If Concussus had his way, nature would be crueler yet. Concussus tends to arrive at the blackest of times, when humanity seems the most despicable.
Diabolus, the devil's advocate. Sometimes we are tempted to embrace the evil world that we despise. Diabolus is there to encourage us in this folly. Fortunately a rare visitor here.
– 24 May 2024 –
C. F. van Niekerk:
This week another county in eastern Oregon voted to support a proposed border change between Oregon and Idaho, advancing the “Greater Idaho” movement.
Via KTVZ.com:
On Tuesday, voters in Crook County passed measure 7-86, which asked voters if they support negotiations to move the Oregon/Idaho border to include Crook County in Idaho. The measure is passing with 53% of the vote, and makes Crook County the 13th county in eastern Oregon to pass a Greater Idaho measure.
Calls for action from leaders of the movement were swift, with Executive Director Matt McCaw issuing the following statement:
“The voters of eastern Oregon have spoken loudly and clearly about their desire to see border talks move forward. With this latest result in Crook County, there’s no excuse left for the Legislature and Governor to continue to ignore the people’s wishes. We call on the Governor, Speaker of the House, and Senate President to sit down with us and discuss next steps towards changing governance for eastern Oregonians, as well as for the legislature to begin holding hearings on what a potential border change will look like.”
President of the movement, Mike McCarter agreed. “For the last three years we’ve been going directly to voters and asking them what they want for their state government. What they’re telling us through these votes is that they want their leaders to move the border. In our system, the people are the ones in charge, and it’s time for the leaders representing them to follow through,” he said.
The group also pointed out that they expected that results would have been even higher if not for an extensive “no” vote campaign funded by Portland groups. Last year in the Wallowa County vote, Portland groups outspent Greater Idaho over 4-1. The movement suspects the same was true this year, though it is impossible to know since the group funding the “no” effort has not reported their spending to the state, despite being required to by law.
The Greater Idaho movement seeks to move the border between Oregon and Idaho to include 14 full eastern Oregon counties and three partial ones. In addition to the 13 counties who have passed Greater Idaho measures, in 2023 the Idaho House passed a memorial inviting the Oregon Legislature to begin border talks.
Supporters of the movement believe that moving the border would benefit both sides of the state, and allow for better representation and governance for people moving forward. For more information and uncopyrighted photos for media use, visit greateridaho.org.
Well, of course the disenfranchised citizens of eastern Oregon want to be free of the crunchy tyranny of Portland and the west coast! The rural eastern counties basically have no voice in their state government, and no doubt the Leftists of the coast and the cities despise these people.
And there is no way that the green commies of the coast are going to let them go, not without a serious fight!
The division here is more than cultural. It’s definitely true that the soy eaters of the Portland metro and the Willamette Valley have their own kind of distinct culture that doesn’t quite meld with the rural western American rancher culture of the eastern two-thirds of the state. But this gap has existed for a long time.
So this really boils down to representation. Over the past 20 years, the population of the western part of Oregon has increased significantly after hordes of white liberals from the failed diversity experiment of California have fled to neighboring states (and started to ruin them the same way!) They fled “high taxes,” and “crime,” and “high cost of living,” but the reality is—whether they realize it or not—they fled the racial diversity. And they moved to the idyllic scenes of the Oregon coastal regions. (In fact, they have overwhelmed some of the rural Oregon counties of the southwest and the Cascades, effectively taking them over from the bumpkins who have more in common with the eastern counties.)
Also in that time, the Leftists have grown increasingly rabid in their cultural aggression (though they will say that they are reacting to the increased cultural aggression of the Right.) So during the time when the Leftist urban areas have increasingly dominated the government of the whole state at the expense of rural representation, the crusading Leftists have intruded more and more on the internal affairs of the rural Oregonians.
This urban/rural divide in Oregon almost erupted in violence back in 2001 when the government cut off irrigation to ranchers and farmers around the town of Klamath Falls in order to save an endangered fish species during a drought. Back then, the government backed down in favor of the ruralites. But the conflict again reared its head at Klamath in 2021, and the locals found a less supportive environment for their struggle. The company that controls the dams is tearing them down, and the opposition of the locals has lost its steam.
This highlights part of the growing rural-urban divide in the United States in particular, and the world in general.
Urban populations reached half of the US population by 1920, and this marked the beginning of a dreadful shift in the political structure of the country! Nowadays in the United States, about 80% of the population is classified as urban.
I should clarify that the term “urban” refers to anyone who lives in a town or city with a population of more than 5,000, so it includes small towns. The real socio-political conflict is between the large metropolitan areas and the small-town/rural people who live far from these huge cities.
Increasingly, these large metropolitan nests have made it impossible for small-town/rural voters to have voices in their states. Besides the east-west divide in Oregon, similar divides exist in neighboring Washington and used to exist in California (until all the conservatives moved out!) Chicagoland runs the state of Illinois with only token opposition, and it’s the same with the New York City metro area. The Washington beltway dominates Virginia, and Atlanta increasingly rules Georgia. The Twin Cities dominate Minnesota. As these megacities grow and spread into their hinterlands, so will their total domination.
The overall mindframe of large-city urbanites is vastly different from the common mindframe of small towners and ruralites. While the same cultural rot has afflicted the United States population as a whole, the city people are relatively over-educated, over-socialized, over-regulated, and they like it that way! They see the world through the lens of the cities, calling the “empty” lands between the large metros “flyover country.” They have “progressed” above the petty, small-minded ideas of faith, tribe, and kin. They emphasize values of self-expression more than survival.
To the urbanites, the unwashed savages in the hinterlands are backward and disgusting. And worst of all, these hicks are out of control!
So the simmering divide in the United States and much of the world is between these super-urbanized populations and the more rural populations.
If Janus gets some time, he’ll write a long and tedious article on this subject, because there’s a lot to say!
FINES ET INITIA 