Western Civ. 1-15:

    The key to understanding our present is to understand where it came from. In the western world, a great deal of our past comes from a tiny country on the edge of the Mediterranean called Greece. In fact, much of what modern man has achieved in history would not have been possible without the contribution of ancient Greece to the west. In the span of only a few hundred years, the Greeks created the finest civilization in all of human history up to that point and contributed more to western civilization than anyone before or since. follow along as we explore the legacy of Greece in western civilization.

    Art is one of the most profound objects in human experience. The ability to encapsulate the beautiful essence of a scene and reflect it in materials is something that has always captivated the human mind, especially in Greek art. Some may even say the Zenith of art in the ancient world was found in Greece. The glory of Appalonian civilization took many forms, but the key influences were Sculpture, Architecture, and Poetry. Everyone should count the conquests of Ceasar and Alexander as blessings, for they carried with their swords some of the best art in human history. The ruins of the Mediterranean are scattered with the pedestals of statues, the foundations of corinthian-columned temples, and the steps of amphitheaters. All of these once bore ancient wonders like the world had never seen. But standing next to the ruins of the temples are banks, our new temples, decorated with great columns and white marble, a monument to the Pantheon. A block away a concrete amphitheater is built, it houses plays by Shakespeare and other poets, a tribute to Homer. Nearby a museum exhibition displays Michelangelo's David and a carving of the virgin mary, a reflection of the Athena Promachos. Western art is carried on the wings of Icharus and floats on the ocean of Poseidon. 

    It is not just the arts we inherit from that bygone era. Our reason is the direct development of the ancients. Our scientific method, the very idea of objective reality, and everything we know about the world originates with the philosophers. The atom, geometry, astrology, heliocentricism, and much more come from the great cities of Athens, Alexandria, and Ionia.  It is Our very conception of metaphysics was put forth by a few men, the greatest among them Plato and Aristotle. The forms, empiricism, ethics, and the language of thinkers all come from that time. Western Philosophy traces its lineage from the greeks to the Romans and the middle ages down through the enlightenment and into the modern age. For the last two thousand years, the Greek worldview has dominated philosophy and influenced such minds as Cicero, Kant, Hegel, Bacon, Rand, and Jefferson. The whole world, and the west in particular owe every advancement in philosophy to the foundations laid down in the public squares of Greece.

    But the Greek influence does not end with art or philosophy. It extends into popular culture as well. Everything the west has in terms of Politics, Individualism, and Sports comes from Greece. The world is governed by Democritus, Plato, and Aristotle. A vision of the Republic draped itself over the mind of Marx. The gospel of democracy has infested every dark corner of the world, spilling over from Europe like a cup of hemlock. The works of Aristotle, the Individual nature of the self, and the concept of self-worth, it captivated Rand and the libertarian movement like so much gold and silver. The Individual was highly praised in Greece, even as a slave of the state. The concept of a community separate from the state may have been foreign to them, but the Athlete was not. In some ways, nothing changes but the face of man. In their time the Olympics were an individual effort. And now more than 2000 years later, in a world defined by individualism, the Olympic athlete is believed to be a tool of the state. 

    The west owes much of what it is to the Greeks. They shaped western art, reasoning, and popular culture. The world is in such awe of its achievements that it has nearly been plagiarizing them for the past 2000 years. Our ideas are so intertwined with the people of that time that we cannot imagine what the west would be like without them. In a time of turmoil such as this, a time of wars and rumors of wars, it is important to hold onto what we are. No wealth of resources or historic happenstance has allowed us to be where we are today. The west has stood on the shoulders of a mighty civilization, now we are grown up and looking over the fence toward the future. The story does not end there, and we have a choice. The west can continue to be great, and raise up a legacy to follow after it has passed over the wall, but it can only do this by remaining true to what it is. A house divided against itself cannot stand, how can an entire civilization hope to be great if it deconstructs itself? Will our image be worth imitating, or will it be anything at all. It is our choice.

Gov. 1A-10: The Sovereign Family In Genesis

Let it be known that this essay had been completed and edited, but, for technical difficulties, was not saved in complete form. therefore It is not my belief that investing more time into this essay would be a productive use of my resources. Hence at this time, I have decided not to complete and publish it.

Write a 500-word essay on this topic. Describe family government in terms of the five institutional characteristics:

sovereignty

hierarchy (authority)

law

sanctions

succession

    There is no institution more fundamental than the family. Throughout all of human history, virtually no human affairs would be possible without the governing influence of the family. There is nothing more natural for humanity than the sacred vows of marriage and family. The lawful partnership of husband and wife, the subordination of children to parents, the succession of authority and properties through generations, and the sovereignty of the elder's leadership. All of these are human universals, as students of the humanities, we focus on what unites us. Today we are exploring the universality of the sovereign family and its biblical description

    To understand the family we must first understand the nature of its establishment. Each family begins with marriage, a voluntary oath between a man and a woman. Genesis 2 says this "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; they shall become one flesh." In this passage Eve is depicted as the side of adam, she was made to live beSIDE him in literal terms. This is not a contract mediated by any other entity, the Law of marriage is defined by the nature of man according to his commitment to his wife. It is also an exclusive contract, the family government almost universally excludes all other entities from its jurisdiction. That exclusivity extends to the parents of the partners, a son leaves them and joins his wife. 

    As everyone knows children follow marriage, However, creation and history inevitably reflect this ethic. Deuteronomy 21: 18-21 establishes the right of parents to place sanctions on their children, which firmly establishes them as authoritative in the family hierarchy. this is done to enforce discipline and reverence for the good among God's people. Through this passage, we begin to see the family dynamic emerge in The Bible, a dynamic that is universal to human civilization.

    But some things are still unclear from this picture. Despite all modern protests, in history patriarchy is almost universal. The exact biblical dynamic between husband and wife is a question for another day, but suffice it to say that it holds up to popular criticism. 

• Progress in the Family: Low tome preference, optimism, inheritance
• Lesson 9: family jurisdiction

  • Right to exclude
  1. Husbands lead wives exclusively
  2. children are under their parent's authority
  3. parents define law
  4. Parents enforce rules by sanction
  5. Adult sons succeed in their father's role as sovereign
  • Immunity to interference
  1. The state did not create the family
  2. The state is not responsible for children
  3. The family decides its own moral values
  4. The family has the right to defend itself
  5. Adults are not to be prevented from exercising their rights
  • Education
  • Education is never neutral
  • predicated on the educator's worldview
  • The family should regulate its own education
  • The family chooses its own methods
  • the state and the family have divergent motivations
  • leads to a conflict of interest
  • the state indoctrinates
  • the family supports itself
  • "He who pays the piper calls the tune"

  Conclusions

  • The family has legitimate jurisdiction
  • the family is not an agent of the state
  • the family has a zone of immunity
  • parents enforce discipline
  • children inherit
  • the state conflicts with the interests of the family
  • the state expands at the expense of the family

Gov. 1A-5: Family and sovereignty

 Write a 500-word essay on this topic. Describe family government in terms of the five institutional characteristics: sovereignty, hierarchy (authority), law, sanctions, and succession. Offer an opinion on what the source of the family's sovereignty is.

Review, Lesson 8: separate Jurisdictions

• 1 Corinthians 6
• the state is an inferior jurisdiction
• the church must grow in social authority
• the church must not compromise its authority by merging with the state
• the church should accomplish this by practicing jurisdiction
• Conclusions:
• Governments have separate jurisdictions
• These Jurisdictions have separate courts
• The state is not the sole jurisdiction

Family jurisdiction

• Families are established by judicially binding vows
1. These vows establish mutual responsibilities
2. these vows extend to minor children
3. The vows establish a government with all the rights of a government
• A government has these characteristics
1. Sovereignty
2. Hierarchy
3. Laws
4. Sanctions
5. Succession
• A government possesses the right to exclude
1. The husband and the wife are exclusively bonded
2. the husband is sovereign
3. the family has a patriarchal structure of authority
4. The children are under parental authority
5. Law is defined by parents
6. Parents impose sanctions
7. The sons succeed their father
• A government has immunity from invasion
1. the state did not create the family
• Marriage is a contract between husband and wife before God
2. The state, therefore, has no rights in the contract or its products
• children are products of the family union, property of parents
3. The state does not establish ethics
4. The state does not impose sanctions
5. The State has no right to control children or parents
• therefore it must not
• It does
• this constitutes a moral violation
• Education is never morally neutral
1. Requires truth and falsehood
• there must be standards of truth and falsehood
• teachers must impose these standards
• therefore they favor the order they impose
2. Fair and unfair
• what is fair to the child?
• someone has to make this decision
• nobody but the parent has the property right to make a decision apart from God
• the state is Godless
• therefore the state violates property rights
3. Right and Wrong
• There have to be standards of right and wrong
• the students have to be taught how to evaluate events to be truly educated
• nobody but the parents have the right to impose those ideas on the children
4. Success and failure
• there are valid and invalid indicators of success
• someone must determine these subjectively
• the stage has no right to determine questions of value for others and impose it on them
• therefore they violate the parent's rights by doing so
5. Hope and Futility
• The state chooses not to discriminate in this regard, preferring universal positive sanction
• this is harmful to the student for the above reasons
• it also encourages a lack of direction and value
• this is a form of sabotage to the student
• a perversion of hope for political gain
• Motives
• Parents: Adults to inherit, prosper, and carry on the legacy
• State: Adult children to pay taxes and defend it's power loyally
• God: Faithful citizens in working families
• Church: Faithful believers and strong families to support it
• Self: A strong family to support you and a useful education
• Parents: Adulty children who advance
• State: Adult children who obey
• Parents: Adults who can think to avoid harmful schemes
• State: Servants who believe in propaganda
• Parents: Adults who create wealth
• State: Adult children who contribute wealth
• Parents: The legacy of values
• State: Values useful to the state
• Parents: Methods valuable and useful to them
• State: Methods valuable to the bureaucracy
• Parents: Results judged by their standards for evaluation
• State: results judged by the bureaucracy for uniformity
• He who pays the piper calls the tune
• Parents pay for the tune they like best
• The state wants to pay in order to call the tune
• Parents hire and fire according to their values
• The state hires and fires according to its values

Family Government

• The present is the extension of the past
• not an extension of superstitious ritual
• A moral and confessional extension
• Moral improvement is possible
• The Future is more important than the past or present
• Economic improvement is possible

Conclusions

• A family is a legitimate government
• The family is not an agency of the state
• The family has the right to exclude the state
• Parents have sovereignty over children
• Children inherent, not the state
• this is the natural order
• This represents a serious conflict between the state of man and the fundamental molecule of culture

Western Civ. 1-15: Pre-Socratics and the West

    As students of western civilization, we are bound to study the concepts most important to our civilization. The core ideas of the west can be traced back over the centuries through the medieval period, to Rome, Greece, and beyond. But what truly came to define the west was made in Greece. Western civilization is characterized by reason, Science, and Philosophy. The first men to seriously consider those questions were known as the Pre-Socratics. The Pre-Socratics were philosophers who lived in the golden age of Greek civilization, before the time of the great Socrates. These thinkers began to emerge around 600 BC, the first being Thales of Milelsia. Their influence spread outwards, particularly in colonies like Ionia, and down through the ages. Little of the original work of these philosophers survives, but much is preserved in the writing of those they influenced.  philosophers sought Natural explanations for the concepts of God, man, natural laws, causation, and time. This essay will explore the influence of the men who prepared the way for the future of western thought.

(Thales of Milea)

    The legacy of the pre-Socratics can be divided into two eras, the ancient and the modern. In antiquity, they contributed principles to both the Socrato-Ciceronian tradition and Platonic-Aristotelian traditions. The naturalistic philosophers of that era influenced a young Socrates to inquire about nature, and that love for knowledge led him to become critical of materialism and more focused on human affairs. In Metaphysics Aristotle criticizes the pre-socratics for not identifying a final cause, and for the absurdity of various ideas. In later times various schools of thought developed around Pre-Socratic philosophers including Anaxagoras, Heraclitus, Democritician atomism, and Xenophanes. 

    The Modern Era is made distinct from antiquity here with the rekindling of western philosophy at the end of the 15th century. Modern philosophers identified the central western ideas of freedom, democracy, individual autonomy, and rationalism in the Pre-Socratics and used their axioms to create their own ideas. Francis Bacon was the first notable user of their ideas, having criticized their deductive reasoning he created the first concept of an inductive scientific method. The western traditions of the atom, geometry, and democracy all originate from this era. Existentialists and rationalists such as Nietzsche and Heidegger were highly influenced by the materialist rationalism of their predecessors. Nietzsche even preferred them to the later Socratic and Aristotelian traditions. 

    With such a broad influence over our civilization, it is important to distill the importance of the Pre-socratics for lay students such as ourselves. At first, their influence has been critical to the development of western philosophy. Nobody in the west has not been influenced by Plato or Aristotle, who themselves existed in the time of highest praise for the presocratics. Every democrat, every scientist, every rationalist, and materialist has known in some form or another the work of these men. They were responsible for the ideas of Democracy, science, rationalism, naturalism, metaphysics, materialism, progress in time, causation, and God. Their ideas marked the birth of the western intellectual tradition which has been, and may remain, the most profound in human history. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Socratic_philosophy#Reception_and_legacy 

Gov. 1A-15: The Right To Teach

        With the advent of online schooling, many teachers are concerned about job security, and as always, they turn to the state for assurance. They call for the Department of Education to regulate education and protect teachers from competition with online academies, for the sake of the children of course. This outlook has a number of problems.

    The critical issue of protecting workers from competition is the idea that they have a right to the job. This is founded on a misunderstanding of the concept of rights and of the title 'worker'. A discussion of rights is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say nobody has a 'right' to anything which is not his, including money. Employment is simply a voluntary arrangement between two entities in exchange for labor. If one was forced to pay or the other one to work it would become slavery. For instance, if a doctor agrees to treat someone and then fails to deliver on his promises the customer is free to go to his competition and arrange another deal. Even to discuss employment as legitimate we have to ignore the source of teacher wages, which is theft, but clearly, the public is not beholden to their alleged servants.

    One of the reasons people allege we must block online education is because we are told it must be inferior to a scientifically designed public education. On the contrary, nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, private online education is designed to conform to the needs of the consumer. To do this educators utilize the free market and prices. These mechanisms reward success, convey information about the demand for the product, and punish failure. Furthermore, prices allow the interests of the seller to be aligned with the needs of the consumer. The market also provides alternatives, when one curriculum fails to perform it receives a bad reputation and consumers are free to choose the best available deal. All together the free market is the best mechanism for ensuring the educator's interests are aligned with those of children and parents

    In contrast to the free market, state-employed teachers are ill-equipped to provide service to anyone. To begin with, a free market is by definition entirely made up of professionals. These professionals are only paid to meet the expectations of consumers and fill niches in the market. The state cannot match this by any stretch of the imagination. Even when education is designed according to 'science' this science comes from people hired by the state, the interests of the state are not aligned with the interests of parents, otherwise, the parents would voluntarily pay them for it and the state would not need to collect taxes. The state is reduced to employing experts to develop its curriculum, not free and accountable professionals, there is nothing professional about a state 'expert'. Even if an expert is competent in developing a curriculum it is just that, a single curriculum. Nobody can say for sure if this is really an effective program for every single suent in the country, and it most assuredly is not. Even if the Curriculum was perfect the teachers are also state employees and fallible human beings subject to the same problems as the expert. Nobody can hold teachers accountable besides the fallible 'experts' above them. 

    The whole problem of teacher employment is a joke of an enterprise. What is written here only begins to touch on the extent of the issue but the critical argument can be summarized here. Nobody has a right to a job, not your dentist, not an expert, and certainly not a teacher, anything else is a form of slavery. Everyone wants the best for children, and the market is equipped to provide it. Professional online teachers align their interests with the interests of parents and children, the state educator has no way to do this. Experts have no way of knowing what each child needs or wants out of education, parents and professionals can develop the most agreeable possible plan for education. To prevent online schools from operating, and parents from choosing them is ridiculous and assumes the state knows better, which it does not. A public school teacher is reduced to the employee of a bad company, and we are supposed to keep the company afloat by forcing everyone to use their services. The future employment of the teacher is out of the question, parents want educators, not bums on a dole.

Western Civ. 1-10: Hector and the Poem

    The Illiad, like any book, is dominated both by its themes and characters. the people of the poem act as catalysts for the ideas portrayed within. They are the subject of the story insofar as they have been depicted in their role within the story. In order to understand the Illiad, we need to understand them. One of the most important characters is Hector, the hero of Troy.

    Hector represents the courageous nobility of the ideal warrior. He is both the hated enemy of Achillies and the object of praise to his people. He is described as a great leader of men in war, a warrior king of old. On the battlefield he is described as a bronze star, shining with glory and fame like a light in the darkness of war and death. Hector is a hero of the damned, He fights for the future of his dynasty, his children, and his people.

    But hector is more than a hero, he is a man. His men see him not only as a warrior but an honorable man; Not only is he their king, but also a great leader. His wife loves him and wishes he would not leave to fight, but he does leave her, to protect her like any good husband would. He is not only the ruler that his people are fighting for but also the thing that inspires their honor to persevere. He is not just the sire of his son, but a loving and caring father, a man who plays with his child and truly loves him. In everything he does Hector is a true king and a great man.

    Unlike his rival, Hector is an incredibly deep and moving character. He isn't motivated by greed, nor driven by rage. No, Hector is a noble king, the truest kind of hero we may encounter. He fights for His country, for his city, and for the people in it, they cling to him like his beautiful wife. He refuses to allow them to be destroyed, and neither will he forsake them. Hector fights to protect his family, and the ideals of his past drive him to defend the torch. He stands in the gap between his father Agnemenon and his son; he promises to pass the flames of honor to his descendants. He will not allow his honor to be extinguished; neither will he fail at his duties. 

    The true tragedy of the Illiad is the tragedy of Hector. The very paradigm of greek virtue, Hector is the subject of a terrible circumstance, but not a victim. He refuses to have his honor tarnished; and never will he forsake his people. Was it fate that he should perish? Or the consequence of his own virtue, freely chosen? Perhaps it is both. The story of Hector strikes us as the example of the greatest level of virtue. Not in fighting wars, but in refusing to surrender a battle; not in the title of a king, but in the deeds and actions of a leader. Therein lies the virtue of Hector, an exemplar of honor and courage. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yys5eBCbmpg 

Western Civ. 1-10: An Overview of Mycenean Greece

     In our study of history, we encounter many great civilizations. Many today see the greatest among these as the Hellenistic civilization. Within a period of only two hundred years, Greece had achieved more than every civilization that came before it. It produced the likes of Socrates, Aristotle, and alexander the great. But each civilization must have an origin, and understanding that origin is critical to the study of its history. Thus in order to understand Hellenistic civilization, we must understand its ancestor: Mycenean Greece

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenaean_Greece

    The History of the Mycenaeans begins with the Early Mycenaean period and the Shaft grave era (c. 1750–1400 BC). Not much is known before this era. Various theories have been developed to discover the origins of the greeks, but none have been proven. This period saw trade and contact with the surrounding regions. The period is named for the burial style of the elites; burials which have uncovered treasures like the mask of Agamemnon

    The Shaft Grave Era was succeeded by the Koine era or Palatial Bronze Age (c. 1400 BC–1200 BC) 

Following the eruption of Thera around 1500, the Mianoan civilization declined. This disaster allowed a common, or Koine civilization to take power in the Mediterranean. Following this shift, greek trade increased and a number of new colonies appeared in places like Miletus in southern turkey. The tradition of the trojan war may stem from a war with the Hittites In this period. It is believed that the people of this time were governed by 'palace states' which controlled all economic and political affairs. They say nothing lasts forever, and Koine Greece was no different. 

    Following the devastation of the bronze age collapse or Postpalatial Bronze Age (c. 1200–1050 BC), everything fell into decline. Literacy, government, peace, trade, and architecture for example. There was widespread looting and bringing of cities into mainland Greece, but the invaders have not been recorded anywhere. It is proposed these were barbarians from the north or Sea People. A 300-year dark age would follow, but on the other side, Greece emerged as a beacon of civilization and progress. 

    Politicly the City-states seemed to have been governed by a hierarchical, authoritarian monarchy. Nearly all Linear B records have to do with controlling the civil and economic discourse. Everything from perfume to ceramics was regulated by the state. Large-scale construction of workshops, harbors, and fortifications was ordered. What is unique about the koines is the extent of their trade and exchange with other cultures. Scollars have noted trade all over the meddeteranian and near east as far as Spain and Georgia. 

  

  In terms of Religion little is known. most of the gods in the later pantheon appear including Posidon and Hera. they exist in slightly primitive forms, with fewer refining characteristics. several deities aoear who have no later equivalents including Marineus, Diwia and Komawenteia. As far as we know eligious sites were not very numerous or elaborate. Preistesses seemed to have many important duties, including presiding over festivals, sacrifices, and shrines. Worship took the form of a hierarchical cult with key positions granting authority and autonomy to the members. 

    We do not know much about the daily life of these people, beyond what is typical anyway. A few things do strike historians as peculiar. It seems men and women were viewed as roughly equal within the hierarchy, though with different duties. Men tended to be dedicated as hunters, warriors, or other occupations. Women and children were shown to dwell in 'workgroups' and did not belong to any particular household. they were assigned a task and would work collectively to complete it. It seems women could gain privileges like acquiring property by becoming a preistess or being born a nobel.

the preistly profession seemed to be inheritable by birth.

    The finest forms of Koine Architecture are seen in the megaron palaces of the cities. Each city state had a remarkably uniform iconography and layout. The throne room was build around a hearth with four collums surrounding it. Each one had beutiful frescoes and carvings which display the cultural beauty of the greeks. These and their fortfications were built on top of hills nearby r in the cities they dominated. The fortifications themselves are impressive and have been described as "cyclopean" for their incredible size. The Domestic architecture however, is nothing you wouldn't expect of a 'palace state'. plain mudbrick built around the palace, simple, but functional. 

    The Greeks of this era were warlike. They based their armies around heavy infantry with spears. Swords were less useful for the peasent populations and were snly used secondarily. Chariots and armor became less important in later eras. The armor and sheilds of this era resembled those of later ones, though more primitive. It seems the city states were territorial and in conflict with each other, though total war was proboby out of the question.

    Initially the art of myeanae was characterized by the Minoan styles. Everything from marine frescoes and potery to bull-leaping was copied. In later eras, however, it took on a character of its own. Drinking vessles and meatalwork began to depict animals heads and war more frequently. No great sculptures have been uncovered, but carved symbols of the letters Psi and Phi as feminine were popular religious symbols. As time goes on the quality of art deteriorated, probably due to the increasing levels of conflict in the region.  

    Sp what can we conclude from these findings? If we summarize the rise and fall of Mycanean greece we are left with the picture of a common culture which rose in the ashes of another great people. They shared much with the earlieir mycaneans including art, government, and a text script. The Koine civilization was not so much its own as it was minian, and as it traded with the rest of the world it became a thousand other things as well. Then again, isn' that true of every nation? We see only a shadow these people today, but their culture was the ancestor the the greek, which itself had the greatest influence on rome and the west. Surley we owe a great deal of who we are today to the people of that past time. 

Mycenaean Greece. (2022, October 5). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenaean_Greece