THE BESTOF’S
Oh, it’s been a while since I kicked off here, but, this week, something really got on my goat. If you’re new around here, this happens sometimes. You’ll get used to it.
It ended up being sort of an open letter directed towards the individuals concerned who, of course, will never read it. Nevertheless, this is just to say the 'you' is not to address you, dear reader. I hope.
You'll see what I mean.
Although, if you know anybody captured by this most absurd of delusions, please share it.
BEST IN SHOW
A best example of the worst, unfortunately, this month. And there is so much wrong here it's tough to know where to begin…
But let's go with the Oakland City Council deciding it's within their purview to vote on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
We now know a ceasefire has been and gone, but I fail to imagine the relevant parties, on hearing the Oakland CC was on their case, it had any bearing on the matter. It's hard to imagine them hearing about it all. But then that was never the point of the exercise.
It is, of course, pure virtue-signalling. And given the salaries of those concerned we have a city council giving itself a very expensive pat on the back for doing precisely nothing.
I'm sure they would argue it's a show of support for those affected within their electorate.
If 'city council' wasn't already the collective noun for about the most inefficient arrangement known to man, then maybe the electorate would give a shit about your meaningless show of support, but I'm guessing they'd prefer it if you just collected their rubbish and kept their rates down.
And I guarantee they'd unanimously accept a reduction in your workload —and corresponding pay cut— if you dropped the foreign affairs portfolio and focused on things closer to home.
Because this is just the sort of hubris that rolls out a red carpet for the crazies, so we can hardly be surprised when they show up.
Until they open their mouths, that is: in support of Hamas.
Every iteration of their less-than-compelling argument serving only to prove they have no idea what they are talking about.
Now, longtime readers of Leftield will know that — in the interests of not offending broad swathes of my audience, if nothing else — I keep things around here strictly non-political.
So take what follows as an argument only for epistemology — the mind's relation to reality — and not politics of any persuasion. And if you wonder why you've come to be reading it here, you're not paying attention. Make no mistake, this, more than anything, determines your fit-for-purpose fitness.
If there's any hope to be had, it's the real possibility this report is an aberration. An anomaly spun far and wide by media for shock value, but not representative of any true societal zeitgeist.
Only, in the past few years, we've all become well used to regularly recalibrating our notions of normal.
But eyebrows will raise and jaws can drop, only so far, and when you're defending scum like Hamas at any time, much less in the wake of the atrocities of October 7th, we're well beyond niceties.
We must stop giving the time of day— any oxygen whatsoever — much less the floor, to this nonsense. Opinions, as they say, are like arseholes: everybody has one. But now every arsehole has a platform. And, seemingly, no lack of confidence.
Equal parts surety and confusion is the classic Dunning-Kruger cocktail, but how did we arrive at this curious juncture whereby how you feel is deemed qualification enough to chime in on complex issues— in this instance — arguably the most intractable problem in history?
When your confusion is so complete you shout your support for an organisation that — just to namecheck a couple of particularly relevant points— wouldn't let a woman speak in public without their husband or father's permission. And wouldn't give two shits about what you said if you did.
Oh, and let's not forget, that took a 4-year-old hostage.
An organisation that has somehow become the poster child for liberal progressives who, were they to even concede these gun-toting terrorists arrived at a music festival on paragliders, would still be missing the forest for the trees and never admit to the wider problem: they arrived there borne on the wings of a murderous, medieval idealogy. One that could not, by definition, be less progressive or liberal.
Psychologist Rob Henderson coined perfectly the term luxury beliefs: those ideas or values that confer status on the wealthy but are not fully embraced or practised by them.
And are insulated from their consequences. A point well-made here by Hussain Abdul-Hussain.
"After all, it is much easier liberating Palestine for free, from the comfort of their sofas in Oakland, than struggling to find basic medication, potable water and electricity in Beirut or Baghdad.
Cool and trendy is one thing.
Real life is another."
But then fully embracing or practising anything is, again, not the point here. As Abdul-Hussain suggests, it's just enough activism to get a few easy likes. To milk some social currency from equally idiot friends.
And not only with no skin in the game but no effort whatsoever. You expect the rest of us to tip-toe around your ignorance and institutions like colleges and city councils to dance to your tune when, despite your protests, you don't care about Palestine (or Israel) enough to so much as pick up a book.
And, hell, you don't even have to do that! Here you go. That's episode 1 in about 25 hours of podcast that will give you a good overview of the subject.
If that sounds like far too much work, you're, again, missing the point. Somebody else did all the work, all you have to do is listen to it.
25 hours might get you somewhere up to speed, to where you might be able to make an informed comment. Except, you probably won't. Because 25 hours later —spoiler alert— you still won't have any idea what this problem needs. But all is not lost, because it will be clear what it doesn't need: more noise.
I have listened to that podcast and read many more books on the subject, besides, but I don’t feel like I have anywhere close to the chops required to take the mic here in any forum. Including this one. And I'm not.
I am saying I needn't have heard or read a word of it to know the events of October 7th were beyond the pale. That what happened that day is as crystal clear-cut as it gets. And if, in light of that, you're still a Hamas apologist, you should understand you're not always as insulated as you think.
Square in their crosshairs and cheerleading for them, they’ve already got to you. And if you are one of those claiming Israel did it all themselves you’re not wide of the deep, dark conspiracy mark at all. You're the cutting edge of it.
Sowing disinformation has forever been a tactic of war. In more recent times, a speciality of the Soviet Union, and now modern-day Russia. The goal is not, as you might think, to insert their narrative, but instead to sufficiently muddy the waters enough to cast doubt on any account.
On seeing such a comment online, most of us would, rightly, dismiss it as a bot. But when infected via some social media you start parroting this crap, you are the bot. A pawn, a puppet in the service of some bad actor - Russian, Chinese or North Korean. A walking, talking, shill for the enemies of freedom.
Try and wrap your mind around the fact that not a word of that is even slightly exaggerated. You're not Neo, you're Agent Smith, you dick.
It's more than possible you have such little regard for the concept (or value) of objective truth, you don't truly believe the bullshit you're spouting, thereby making it equally easy for you to dismiss anything else you don't like the sound of. Like learning you’ve been manipulated.
Successfully co-opted to work against your country, and all free societies, more generally. Totalitarian states have internal internet and media restrictions— much less getting hold of the mic in a city council meeting — that make these self-inflicted wounds impossible, but, via you, they turn our freedoms against us.
You're not raging against the machine. You are the machine.
So I mean this, in all sincerity, and with all our best interests and happiness in mind. Shut up. And go read a book.
Read history, for a start. But also the likes of Krishnamurti and Alan Watts. Read Neil Postman. Read about cognitive biases. And you’ll realise that your superficial knowledge— even if acknowledged— is not you knowing a little bit: not a partial understanding.
And not no understanding at all.
It’s your misunderstanding.
And that too is fine. Even if you want to pretend otherwise, that's fine. Right up to where you demand the rest of the world go along with it.
Okaaaay. Well… you’ll probably be overjoyed to hear, there’s not too much else on offer this month. On a happier note —although arguably germane to what you’ve just read— you’ll find a David Sedaris piece in the PLAY section.
Hill sprints, The KB Swing and Turkish Getups are mainstays of Leftfield programming simply for their unparalleled bang-for-buck, but the fourth horseman of that apocalypse is fast becoming...
Horse Stance.
Leftfield trainees with a crystal ball will see this in high rotation but you can play along at home, because, unlike the others mentioned above, anyone can do this, anywhere, anytime.
The base camp, as promised last week, is a state of physical and mental fitness readily achievable by anyone. And that rather than defaulting to the same tired excuse of a lack of time, you'll be far better served by realising you no longer have time NOT to.
You need to be fit. You just don't have the time.
These need not be mutually exclusive if you accept one further reality.
The dictates of your physiology — as opposed to what you might want— demand, in no particular order, resistance training, conditioning and mobility.
With a lot of time, equipment, money etc. this lack of constraints affords you a veritable menu of potential paths in each of these departments. You can pick and choose to your heart's content.
Conversely, as you add constraints, the list gets correspondingly shorter. Under severe constraints - namely time - that list gets very short indeed.
Until, ultimately you're left with the non-negotiables. One path up the mountain. Take it or leave it.
A path comprised of exercises that all pull some form of (at least) double duty.
Like this one. A one-stop-shop for building strength, endurance and mobility. Oh, and grit. Because, as you'll soon discover you'd rather be doing anything else.
(Look forward to it Leftfielders...)
If you’ve sprained an ankle—and who hasn’t—you likely keep spraining it. And it will keep happening until you regain mobility through the joint.
Here Z-Health show you how:
If our schools are a mess it’s in large part due to these parents who think their kids are special, who get mad if you contradict their brilliance, if you give them a bad grade or, God forbid, try to take their phones away.
MISCELLANEOUS
Recommendations reflect what I’ve been reading/listening to/watching/using recently but, in most instances, and especially where music is concerned, will not have been released in the past month.
MUSIC
BOOKS
I’m a thriller fiend, so I have no idea how I missed this from 2013. A mind-blowing debut from Australian Terry Hayes. If you like thrillers or crime novels, it’s a cracking combination of both.
TV
Fargo S5
APP
CLIP
Have a great weekend.
- OLI