18 Things Tom Towers Learnt From Reading 183 Books in 2019
That’s a pathetic one-thing learnt every 10 books!
1. I used to be sceptical of the claims that the "West" is based structurally (whatever that means) on white supremacy and patriarchy (and I still find that these claims inherently white/sex wash history to some degree), but these claims suddenly become perfectly reasonable when I actually read "Western" philosophy and first-hand political books. That said, those making the claims are usually pretty bad at making it. The books making these claims, I found to be unconvincing, even though looking at the evidence suggests they are in some way right—if not in the way that they make their claims.
2. L. Frank Baum remains the greatest American novelist (sorry Melville), though John Steinbeck shocked me with East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath (arguably the greatest socialist realism novel ever), which are way better than anything I expected him to be capable of writing after reading Of Mice and Men.
3. Aristotle is an idiot. This dimwit apparently invented logic, but he's terrible at it. His political science is pretty solid, though crippled by sycophantry. He's also a great character in Plato.
4. Ayn Rand is even stupider than her hero, Aristotle. This dumb cunt re-wrote a short story (Anthem) from early in her career into her 1,168 page magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged. That is enough to demonstrate how stupid she is. But to top it off, the book is an act of intellectual suicide. The Fountainhead was an interesting tribute to singular genius (albeit one that failed in the end, due to it justifying the protagonist with an appeal to power, rather than through his own actions and achievements) and even featured some amusing satirising of disingenuous socialists. Atlas Shrugged, on the other hand, is all one massive appeal to authority completely bereft of individual genius, and its depiction of its enemies bear absolutely no relation to reality.
A self-portrait by Mervyn Peake, the bullet hole in his skull representing his dementia. Or maybe it’s just one of his war paintings.
5. Confederate-Nostalgics are idiots. They love Faulkner, whose books are the most bitter, hate-filled and powerful refutations of everything these morons believe in. What.
6. I used to be sceptical of people accusing "leftists" of being "communists", because most "leftist" positions are so pathetically milk-and-toast-y. But after reading The Communist Manifesto I discovered that such shocking positions as socialised education and fault-free divorces are indeed fundamental communist positions. So the next time you see Fox news accusing Bernie Sanders of being a communist, know that for once they're telling the truth!
7. Mervyn Peake, not Tolkien, is the greatest fantasist; he's even better than L. Frank Baum!
8. Christina Stead is what Ayn Rand wishes she could be, and also one of Australia's (therefore the world's) greatest novelists. The Man Who Loved Children features the most horrific, disgusting depiction of annoying American liberal socialists (though Sam could just as easily be Australian or from anywhere), and For Love Alone is one of the greatest tributes to the individual human spirit and romance ever.
9. Speaking of romance, Twilight is actually good. Really good, even. Not only is the depiction of vampires original in an interesting way (vampires are the X-Men), but it's very refreshing to see love depicted as an experience of slavery, not liberation, in a modern book. No wonder it has split readers in two (with an impossibly perfect vampire cock, no less), as love today is meant to be a liberating, negotiated experience. But it isn’t. And even if it were, what would be the point in it?
The one skull argument against phrenology, B.F. Skinner with his massive forehead and yet terrible rhetorical skills.
10. "Westerners" are dumb. Like, really dumb. Aristotle, as said above, is an idiot. But worse than that, Christian theology is a joke if you've ready any Buddhism, Hinduism, or even some Sufi poetry! That said, the narcissistic pacifism and pity of the likes of Saints Therese and Gemma Galgani and the mystical visions and theories of the likes of Saints Hippolytus of Rome, Basil the Great, The Cloud of Unknowing, Teresa of Avilla, are all beautifully radiant with the joy of living.
11. Credit where it's due, though. The Praise of Folly is absolutely hilarious. Much funnier than Buddhist jokes, albeit not so insightful.
12. Skinner was a terrible rhetorician. Read the brilliant Beyond Freedom and Dignity to learn both a few insights into behaviour, and also how to make your ideas as unpalatable to as many people as possible so that you ruin your reputation and fade into obscurity outside of as a symbol of evil and in the spheres of science actually concerned with your work. What a fucking idiot—and he wanted to be a writer, too! Lord help us!
13. Vikings are pussy-cats. The Norse religion is much more primitive than anyone wants to admit. It does have a sense of humour, though: Erik the Viking is the closest thing in modern culture to the Edda! In any case, Beowulf would eat Thor for breakfast (very politely, because he's a gentleman).
14. The "left-wing" of politics can be defined by self-hatred. It's usually pretty angry about something people in its in-group are doing.
15. The "right-wing" of politics can be defined by self-pity. It's usually pretty upset about how it's being treated. Which makes much of it pretty insufferable. So much petty whining!
Whether Bill Pascoe is aboriginal or not is up for debate, but either way, he bears a startling resemblance to God and Father Christmas.
16. Fascist mythology is a precise and deliberate inversion of Christianity. Essentially, the fascist saviour is the Antichrist: he dwells with the pure, not the impure; he is here to destroy the weak, not empower the strong; and he demands the sacrifice of his people—rather than sacrifice himself for his people. This is a brilliant rhetorical trick, as it is very difficult to distinguish between structural opposites—as they are, in a sense, identical. Reverse any image to see for yourself! Incidentally, communist mythology obviously builds on the new Testament, but that’s not nearly as interesting.
17. Anti-indigenous racism is obsessed with proving people are not indigenous (see Elizabeth Warren or Bill Pascoe) because the genesis of anti-indigenous racism is that of genocide, not the creation of an underclass. If your goal is the eradication of a group of people, not their subjugation, then one strategy is simply to “prove” whoever claiming to be indigenous is, in fact, not indigenous!
18. God is an incel. Seriously. Why is fornication so bad? Essentially because God is impotent. Being the one and only God, he can wank out people in his image, but he can’t fuck anyone else, because there are no other gods, so he’s super pissed that humanity can fuck whoever they please so easily. Man (and woman) are all the ultimate chad compared to the massive beta that is God. Thus chastity is pledging yourself to God—saints and monks are quite literally marrying him: thus their sensuality is in masochistic celibacy, just like God’s! But even so, he’s forever alone: he couldn’t even fuck Mary to produce a son, but had to conceive Jesus immaculately. Thus why he’s so pissed half the time, particularly about sex. And like incels, he’s the first to admit it: “I am a jealous God!”.