Tag Archives: identity

08/31/26

Looking at E. Michael Jones’s Book (2025) “Walking with a Bible and a Gun”  (Part 1 of 27)

0001 The book before me is published by Fidelity Press.  The subtitle is “The Rise, Fall and Return of American Identity”.  The author is editor of Culture Wars Magazine.  And, everyone knows what “culture wars” means.

For students who are pursuing Semiotics and History, please have a copy of this book at hand.  Look at the title and read the table of contents.  The instructions in this examination should be clear.

Dr. E. Michael Jones, the author, reads and comments on literature from a Catholic point of view.  His works are iconic, in so far as he is orthodox.  “Ortho” means “right”.  What about “dox”?  Here, I mix terminology.  Orthodox love icons.  You know, those paintings that adorn the churches with names like “Saint Basil’s”.

0002 Of course, for the semiotics of Charles S. Peirce, an icon is one of three types of natural signs.  An icon is a triadic sign-relation whose sign-object is based on the qualities of similarity, imagery, pantomime, likeness and so on.  In other words, an icon offers a sign-vehicle that allows me to visualize its sign-object.

0003 But what about the icon rendered in E. Michael Jones’s text?

What about the icon on the wall of St. Basil’s?

Razie Mah’s blog appearing in January 2025, Looking at Boris Uspenskij’s Article (2016) “Semiotics and History”, contains a hypothesis about Russian icons.

0004 Boris Uspenskij (1937-present) is a Soviet era expert on Slavic literature who, along with Juri Lotman (1922-1993), proposes that semiotic arrangements substantiate the human condition.  He does so in the 1990s, after the Soviet political system lost all credibility.  The Soviet system enshrined Marx’s slogan:  Material arrangements substantiate the human condition.  How well did that thing work?

0005 Boris Uspenskij’s journey into semiotics begins in the 1950s, when the Soviet empire is intimidating and everyone senses that Marx’s slogan applies.  After all, it sounds so scientific.

Uspenskij wants to offer a materialist explanation for the power of Russian iconography.  Russian icons are portraits and scenes painted on the foreground with a background of thinly hammered gold foil.  Uspenskij figured that icons are meant to be viewed by candlelight.  The flickering light of candles produce the aesthetic effect associated with Russian icons.

0006 Of course, this is a materialist explanation for Russian iconography, fully congruent with the central slogan of the Marxist thing: material arrangements [substantiate] human conditions.

However, from the Korean War until the fall of the Berlin Wall, Uspenskij (along with Lotman) reach the conclusion that Marxism does not have the vocabulary to explain Slavic literature.  Instead, they figure out the aesthetic effects of Slavic art by using the vocabularies of semiology and structuralism.

“Figuring out” means “bricolage”.  They practice what they figure out.  The vocabularies of semiology and structuralism hammer out a model. Then, when the form of the work of art is viewed in the flickering light of that model, an aesthetic effect is reproduced as matter.  The work of art entangles the contemporary language of the positivist mind.

0007 In the flickering illumination of a semiological and structuralist model, the work of art begins to speak to the viewer.

The Tartu-Moscow School of Semiotics is discussed in Razie Mah’s blogs, spanning from December 2025 to May 2026.  These blogs initialize an online course titled “Semiotics and History”.  See Razie Mah’s blogs for October 3-6, 2025 for an introduction.

0008 This is confounding.

“Confounding” is a technical term, labeling a single form (B) that originates from one matter (A), yet entangles another matter (C)

A historical literary text (or a work of art, such as a Russian icon, A&B) becomes a form (from the perspective of a semiological and structuralist model, B alone) that entangles a voice (matter within the viewer, speaking to the viewer, in a contemporary vocabulary of meaning, presence and message, C).

0009 A as matter [substantiates] B as form.  {A[&]B} constitutes a thing.

B as form [entangles] C as matter. {A[&]B[entangles]C} is a confounding.

0010 The question that I pose is this.

Does Dr. E. Michael Jones construct a similar cognitive apparatus in the USSA, during the years preceding the collapse of its big government (il)liberal and neoconservative Marxist ideations?

0011 I know what you are thinking.

USSA?

United Sycophantic States of America?

I love acronyms.

But, what the hell is a “sycophant”?

Okay, the author has another word that begins with “S”.

08/1/26

Looking at E. Michael Jones’s Book (2025) “Walking with a Bible and a Gun”  (Part 27 of 27)

0337 The colonies expanded into the wilderness of the frontier west.

The states expanded into the wilderness of nature.

The United States of America expanded into the wilderness of empire.

Now, we, the people, expand into the wilderness of a house of mirrors.

0338 The final three chapters and the epilogue convey a sense of resignation.  Is the fiction that critical theorists write to be regarded as a comedy or a tragedy?  Or is it a liberation or a trap?  Nothing is as it appears to be.  Not even the author remains undistorted.

0339 Even though Jones does not label the house of mirrors that constitutes Critical Theory “the new postmodern American fiction”.  Jones’s treatment of Joe Ritchey tells of someone who was not only canceled, but ruined, because of his American Identity.

0340 Without explicitly asking the question, Jones poses the quandary, “Do the institutions that support critical theory as a way to turn their world into a fiction have historical precedent?”

Which of the following pairs of comparisons does it parallel?

0341 The student is left to formulate an answer to the question.

0342 My own epilogue begins with a cheer for E. Michael Jones for this thought-provoking exercise.

0343 My examination begins with the introduction of a model through which I (the reader in 2026) can appreciate contemporary meaning, presence and message within historic American literature.  This is discussed in points 0027-0042.

As it turns out, a big picture of his original model of “existence precedes essence” may be diagrammed as a two-level interscope where identity3b virtually situates structure3a.

0344 Here is a picture.

This examination has been informed by a postmodern version of Jones’s Thomistic insight.

0345 What about Jones’s provocative writing style?

Readers from Catholic backgrounds might have a little difficulty accepting the text as written, because it (sort of) sounds like apologetics.  My own difficulty?  The model application, although consistent, does not shine, as it does in this examination.  Jones applies the model.  He does not articulate it.  In this, my examination adds value to Jones’s text.

Readers from Protestant backgrounds may have serious difficulties with Jones’s text, in so far as the author does not respect Martin Luther, John Calvin, King Henry VIII and other founders.  Plus, there is continuous mention of Satan as the hero of John Milton’s Paradise Lost.  Plus, Jones seems to have no fondness for the situational import of sola fide, sola scriptura and sola gratia.  This slogan situates the title of Jones’s book.

0346 Indeed, the first historical step to the American Identity contains the Protestant slogan as situation level and the title of Jones’s book as content level, as shown below.

0347 A meditation on this nested form tells me that Jones presents a gift to the Protestant and the American.  Here is the first expression of the American Identity conforming to the scholastic ideation that existence precedes essence.  Existence associates to the content level.  Essence associates to the situation level.

At the same time, the esse_ce of scripture2a is contiguous with the essence of us2a, as Americans to be.

0348 And the gun?

Is it really a talisman for self-protection from those who pretend to be absolved of the doctrine of original sin, that is, from those who deny the fall of man?

Surely, this question will inspire future inquiry.

0349 Overall, Puritanism (Calvinism) ran its course for a century before the American Revolution.  Then the romantic rehabilitation of nature ran its course for a century before the Civil War.  Then, the nemesis and its mirror of abolitionist and northern aggressor, democratic theorist and voter-rights advocate, secular scholar and value-free administrator, aggrieved theorist and agenda-pushing educator, and (lest I forget) rabbi and jew, has run its course for a over a century.

What is a good title for the coming end of the current saeculum?

Here is my suggestion.

A Shattering of the House of Mirrors.

Or maybe, A Reconstitution of the American Identity, will do.

0350 My thanks to E. Michael Jones for this work.  I hope that this examination adds value to his exposition and serves as a companion for the student interested in the topic.

02/28/26

Looking at Mihhail Lotman’s Article (2017) “History as Geography”  (Part 1 of 8)

0744 The article before me is published by Sign System Studies (volume 45(3/4), 2017, pages 263-283) by Mihhail Lotman in the Department of Semiotics at Tartu University, Estonia.  The full title is “History as Geography: In Search for Russian Identity”.  This particular volume is dedicated to semiotics and history.

0745 The year is 2026.  Hundreds of thousands of young men from the currently sovereign states of Ukraine and Russia are now buried in the geography of their sovereign states.  The war is senseless to anyone who is not moving money or armaments.  A theoretically defensive NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) covets a vulnerable ember of the former USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics).  Or is this a proxy war between the USDB (Unsuspecting Subjects Dominated by Bigilibs) and the CCP (Communist Chinese Party)?

Bigilib?

Big-government (il)liberal.

0746 Is Estonia’s geography its history?

Surely, the way the map of sovereign territories alters over the past few centuries is a sign of historical turmoil.

But, do not expect the corporate media to broadcast any information that does not comport with the interests of their clients.

You know, the ones moving money and armaments.

History appears to be irrelevant.  Geography and client interests are all that matter.

The form is war.

0747 And, the most important territory to be occupied seems to be what people say.

Corporate broadcasters talk about territory. Territory establishes that we all agree upon the ideology.  If we speak the same rhetoric about geography in a time of war, then we must all think the same.  How obvious is that?

The hylomorphe, where what I say (as form) is substantiated by what I think (as matter), turns out to be very useful for empirio-normative domination.  See Razie Mah’s three part e-book, Original Sin and the Post-Truth Condition, available at smashwords and other e-book venues.

0748 So, what are the interests of the citizen?

Who is the citizen?

The citizen is the subject (the empowerer) and the object (the um… “subject”) of sovereign power.

The truth serves the interests of the citizen.

0749 If truth serves the interests of the citizen, then what serves the interests of the unelected bureaucrats?

Oh, it must be the will of the citizen.

0750 Is the citizen reasonable3a, when allowing experts to decide which tidbits of what I say2af shall be ascribed to um… the citizen’s will1a?

Here is the category-based nested form.

If perplexed, consult Razie Mah’s e-books, A Primer on the Category-Based Nested Form and A Primer on Sensible and Social Construction.

0751 I ask, “What is the author, Mihhail Lotman, searching for?”

Intellect3a conveys identity.  There are two types of identity.  One is potentiated by truth1a.  The other is potentiated by my will1a.

Notice, that the term, “identity”, which labels my intellect3a based of the potentials of truth or my will1a, cannot be pictured or pointed to.  Like all normal contexts and potentials, identity is crucial for understanding.  But, what is understanding?  Understanding comes when an actuality2 is placed into its proper normal context3 and potential1.

0752 Identity3a is a style of understanding.  Is3a it not?

After all, it3a changes with potential1a.  Does it3a not?

One cannot picture or point to identity3a.

If one searches for it3a, it3a will always prove elusive, because it3a contextualizes3 and potentiates1 what I think2am and what I say2af.

Better to think2am and speak2af about geography.

01/20/21

Comments on Philip Marey’s Post (2021) “Insurrection” (Part 1)

0001 The Greimas square is introduced in Comments on Gregory Sandstrom’s Essay (2013) “Peace for Evolution”, available at smashwords.  This purely relational structure is introduced as a way to visualize langue as a system of differences.  This is not the only way to visualize the word-in-mind.  But, it is useful in labeling a word as a node in a symbolic order.

0002 Here is a picture of the Greimas square.

Figure 1

0003 Philip Marey is a senior US strategist at Rabobank.  He contributes to the website, Zerohedge.  On Friday, January 8, 2021, at 18:25, Tyler Durden posts Marey’s short work, commenting on recent events.  The title consists of one word: insurrection.

0004 “Insurrection2a” should go into slot A1, as the focus of attention.  However, the situating actuality2b is causality2b.  Marey’s post considers the projection of causality into the term.  What explains the presence of insurrection2a?

0005 The first cause that Marey raises comes from academics, in particular, economists.  The primary cause of insurrection is economic.

“Economic causes” go into slot A1.

0006 In contrast, Marey offers an alternate cause: identity.  His researchers show that the US political system becomes increasingly polarized after the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  This demonstration is a red herring, because polarization is already present in the 1964 presidential contest between Barry Goldwater (populist, “insurrectionist”) and Lyndon Johnson (party insider, “statist”).  The 1964 Civil Rights Act is a symptom, not a cause.

The cause is the expansion of the federal government, with its attendant religion, Big Government (il)Liberalism (BG(il)L).

0007 Perhaps, the relevant factor for the growth of identity politics in the US is to be found in the rapid expansion of state university systems in the 1950s and early 1960s.  New positions and fields of inquiry germinate a novel brand of Marxism.  Cultural Marxism exploits cultural distinctions, rather than economic.  

0008 “Identity” goes into slot B1.

Figure 02

01/19/21

Comments on Philip Marey’s Post (2021) “Insurrection” (Part 2)

0009 The next slot, A2, speaks against identity issues.  Since identities are not equal, then the term, “inequality”, fits.  Yet, inequality is not the same as different identities, so the contradiction is real, yet confusing.  What happens when all identities are equal?

0010 What contrasts with inequality?

Equality, of course.

0011 Here is the completed Marey square for the causes underlying insurrection.

Figure 3

0012 What characterizes the word, “insurrection2a“, as situated by causality2b by modern academics?

Economic causation (A1) is the economist’s focal point.

Identity issues (B1) contrast with economic causation (A1) and lingers slightly below consciousness.

Inequality (A2) stands in contradiction to identity (B1) and complements economic causation (A2).  Indeed, many BG(il)L academics conclude that government policies should be designed to reduce economic inequality, in order to remove fuel for insurrection.

Equality (B2) contrasts with inequality (A2), speaks against economic causality (A1) and complements identity-as-cause (B1).

01/18/21

Comments on Philip Marey’s Post (2021) “Insurrection” (Part 3)

0013 Here is the complete Marey square, once again.

Figure 4

0014 Do I see a problem?

Modern economists advocate for federal policies to reduce income inequality (A2) as a way to keep the peace (A1).  In other words, inequality (A2) feeds into economic causation (A1).

Does the same pattern apply to the contrasting elements (B1 and B2)?

Should modern economists also address the contribution of identity?

Or does that responsibility rest with a different suite of experts?

You know, the one’s who argue that “identity” is fully malleable, yet behave as if it is fixed.

0015 Does the proposed solution of reducing economic inequality (A2) create an unintended consequence of forcing equality (B2) onto identity (B1)?

Is there a word that describes forcing equality (B2) onto identity (B1)?

How about the term, “conformity”.

If, identity cannot be fashioned out of the creative expression of experts, then identity is not something that readily changes.  Identity is not so easily altered.

0016 What happens to the proposed solution?

Reducing economic inequality entails conformity, which explains government and private-public sector behaviors subsequent to the incident in Washington DC on January 6, 2021, the so-called “insurrection”.

The US Congress passes legislation to crack down on “domestic terrorists”, that is, people who do not conform.  They also impeach, for a second time, a figurehead that serves as the “other”, the one who does not conform.  Onto this other, they project their own crimes.

Private-public sector companies purge their platforms of people who do not conform with their corporatist stance, where the federal government handles the problem of economic inequality.  In doing so, they promote equality of identity for those remaining on their platforms.  Those who remain are complicit in purging those who do not have identities worthy of equality.  Of course, those who are unworthy of equality do not believe the experts.

0017 Marey’s square identifies two experts.  One drives the broadcast conversation, attributing social unrest (insurrection) to economic causes, particularly inequality.  The other drives a hidden conversation, where favored identities conform to the narrative.  In the latter case, experts are cultivated in order to chastise those who do not conform and to justify exclusion from public-private platforms.

0018 In short, Marey’s brief article hones in on a serious entanglement, which cannot be discussed, binding a BG(il)L public narrative (A1) with a hidden agenda concerning  identity (B1).  Forced conformity (B1, B2) is as disturbing as economic inequality (A1, A2).