Simon's Blog

Mikhail Bakunin was a Russian revolutionary widely considered one of the most influential figures in the history of anarchism. His reputation as a leading ideologue made him a household name across Europe, though his activism often came at a high personal cost. He was expelled from France for opposing the Russian Empire’s occupation of Poland, later arrested in Dresden for participating in the Czech rebellion, and eventually exiled to Siberia in 1857. Today, his intellectual legacy continues to be celebrated by thinkers such as Peter Kropotkin and Noam Chomsky. Bakunin’s political philosophy centered on the rejection of all hierarchical systems, regardless of their form. In his seminal work, God and the State, he argued that "the liberty of man consists solely in this: that he obeys natural laws because he has himself recognized them as such, and not because they have been externally imposed upon him by any extrinsic will whatever, divine or collective, individual or particular....

As part of the Mbuti pygmy people, Ota Benga lived in the Congo Free State. As he was out hunting for animals, his tribe was attacked by King Leopold II of Belgium to exploit the supply of rubber in Congo. Benga's wife and his two children were murdered. Benga was later captured and was sold to an American businessman Samuel Phillips Verner who had traveled to Africa to capture pygmies for the World Fair. Verner then took Benga to the Bronx Zoo where William Hornaday, director of the zoo, recruited Benga to help maintain the animal habitats. However, when he saw that people took more notice of Benga than the animals, he created an exhibition to feature Benga. Benga was placed in the Monkey House exhibit and was encouraged to shoot his bow and arrow at various targets. African Americans protested the exhibit and James H. Gordon said, “our race is depressed enough without exhibiting one of us with the apes. We think we are worthy of being considered human beings, with souls.” Toward ...

Peter Kropotkin was a Russian revolutionary, anarchist, and activist who advocated for a decentralized society built upon self-governing communities and worker-run enterprises. Deeply skeptical of capitalism, he argued that the system inherently manufactured poverty and scarcity to generate wealth for the privileged. For Kropotkin, "surplus value" itself was the core issue; he maintained that a society remains unjust if workers merely retain their own industry's surplus rather than redistributing it for the common good. His observations of cooperative tendencies among indigenous peoples led him to conclude that human nature is not rooted solely in competition. He observed that many pre-industrial and pre-authoritarian societies actively guarded against the accumulation of private property—often through traditions that redistributed a person’s possessions to the community upon their death. In his 1892 seminal work, The Conquest of Bread, Kropotkin proposed an economic sy...

In the 5th century BCE, sophists were teachers who specialized in the use of philosophy and rhetoric to entertain, to impress, and to persuade their audiences. Socrates however promoted an alternative method of teaching, which came to be called the Socratic method. The Socratic method is a form of dialogue based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying assumptions. The Socratic method searches for commonly held truths that shape beliefs and scrutinizes them to determine their consistency.  It is also an approach to understand, to construct meaning, and not necessarily to "win an argument.  

We have reached a crossroad where our religious institutions require a replacement—something that fills the void left by the church while retaining those essential, spiritual values. Today, many of us are seeking a force greater than ourselves to maintain our sanity and contentment. Whether it’s found in myths or ancient wisdom, we need a foundation for establishing purposeful connections. Ultimately, we must reclaim the basic activities, beliefs, and rituals that sustained humanity before they were corrupted by institutional dogma, capitalism, and greed. While there are many ways to shift our direction and embrace a new spirituality, I am making the case for one of the most resilient structures available: Stoicism. In Stoicism, the primary focus is personal well-being for an ethical and happy life. The Stoics identified this path as living in harmony with nature. They famously taught that "virtue is the only true good," while external pursuits like wealth and fleeting pleas...

Emperor Hung Vuong had a beautiful daughter named Princess My Nuong. Her beauty was unsurpassed, and her kindness was praised by all. The monarch was so proud of her that he was determined she should marry someone truly exceptional. However, as time passed, he could not find a suitor worthy of her hand. One day, two powerful beings appeared: Son Tinh, the God of the Tan Vien Mountain, and Thuy Tinh, the God of the Sea. Both were equally handsome, distinguished, and formidable. While Son Tinh was gentle and serene, Thuy Tinh possessed a fiery temper. To help him decide, the King asked the young men to demonstrate their powers. Thuy Tinh stepped forward. "My name is Thuy Tinh, God of the Seas. I reign over all creatures of the deep and own all the coral, pearls, and treasures beneath the waves. I can raise the sea to the mountain peaks; I can summon rain and command the storms. If the Princess marries me, she will be Queen of the Sea, ruling over a magnificent undersea palace....

In the ancient land of Lac Viet, there lived a god named Lac Long Quan. He was the son of Kinh Duong Vuong—a mountain god and ruler of the kingdom of Xich Quy—and a water dragon. Because of his divine lineage, he possessed the majestic body of a dragon and held immense magical powers. Eventually, a beautiful fairy named Au Co traveled to Lac Viet to witness the land's legendary beauty. When Lac Long Quan and Au Co met, they fell instantly in love and were soon married. When the time came for Au Co to give birth, she did not bear children in the usual way; instead, she laid a sac containing one hundred eggs. From these eggs hatched one hundred humans, all of whom grew with extraordinary speed into healthy, strong adults. However, after many years of living together, Lac Long Quan turned to his wife and said, "By my very nature, I am a dragon of the water, while you are a fairy of the mountains. Our habits and customs are inherently different, and thus, we must live apart. Hal...

I have a problem with family priorities Children, women, dogs, then me Being on top of the food chain I don't understand a dog ranks ahead of me Is domestication the culprit? The reason for my obscurity? Have I become an Invisible Man? Can’t see my own hands I am nostalgic for my previous life  Where once I was King I’ve become a 'friend' Offering unconditional love Domesticated  Have I become a domestic To serve to submit  Made less aggressive Hands to the ground  Pushing progress forward Horse and buggy  How did this happen My dependency notarized  My home a distant memory My genes permanently altered Who is responsible for my fate Have I lost control