The Balance Of Error

Most people do not stop to consider that the word "matrix" is derived from the Latin word for "mother" (mater).  Though often not used with its original meaning, we should note that "matrix" means a form used to stamp out identical objects.  Its opposite is the "patrix", which is a form used to create the "matrix".

Much older than that, the matrix and patrix were similar in philosophical concept to the "yin" and "yang" of Eastern philosophy.  They are opposite and complimentary forces that combine in equal parts to create "harmony".

The concepts embed "chaos" in the matrix, and "order" in the patrix.  When out of balance, one gets complete upheaval at the matrix end, and complete tyranny at the patrix end.  In conceptual terms, at the moment of conception, the male implants order into the female chaos, creating harmony as their offspring.  Those things which create order are thus masculine, while those that create chaos are feminine.

No, I'm not making this up to piss off the social Marxists.

In a sense, those who are battling the matrix are trying to create order, while those who are fighting the patrix are trying to create chaos.

When we look at the social Marxists - radical feminists, social justice warriors, etc. - we see in fact that they espouse the matrix philosophy of chaos.  They denounce all things male, like philosophy, logic, law, and art, in favor of life without objective truth and beauty.  This is why their language is so course, their tactics so violent and their goals so poorly defined.  It is just blind rage against...um, whatever.

On the other hand, the patrix seeks order, truth and balance, but without the balance of the matrix, it goes off the deep end and starts locking everyone up until order is restored.  This is what we commonly call totalitarianism.

Neither side is survivable without the other.  In the matrix, there is no civilization, while in the patrix there is no choice.  The matrix loves war and devastation, while the patrix loves fear and discipline.  The balance between the two is diplomacy, where the feminine seeks to avoid tyranny, and the masculine seeks to avoid chaos.

  Thus, fear and terror always work in favor of the State, while anarchy and disarray always work against the State, with the State being the outward expression of the balance, or lack thereof, of these two forces.

When the matrix rejects all rules, definitions and structure, it devolves into a bloody mess.  Riots and gang wars are an expressions of the matrix out of control.  Mindless chanting and marching display a lack of control, and thus creativity.  There can be no originality in the matrix.

On the other hand, dictatorship, riot police and surveillance apparati are expressions of the patrix.  Overbearing laws and regimentation express the uncontrolled masculine.

Unable to deal with multiple issues at once, the patrix seeks to limit problems to an orderly set of tasks.  The matrix is able to react simultaneously to multiple situations at once, and so thrives in a chaotic environment.  In an ideal world, the matrix reserves a generous amount of liberty and freedom for itself, while the patrix supplies just enough order and logic to create a society and economy.

The matrix/patrix metaphor can be carried into all aspects of life.

For instance, illness is the matrix and medicine is the patrix.  Too much of either is death, but the proper application of both is harmonious health.

Another example?  Raw materials are the matrix and products are the patrix.  One cannot exist without the other, but an overabundance of either mean social stagnation or economic collapse respectively.

Societies with an oversupply of the matrix ulitmately collapse because there is no structure upon which to build civilization or an economy.  Those with an overabundance of the patrix become rigid and unable to adapt.  One collapses from too much flexibility, while the other from too little.

This necessary balance was understood by the Enlightenment philosophers.  They envisioned a society with just enough structure that everyone would have the ability to pursue their bliss, while just enough structure to provide a framework of equity and justice.  The result would be a society where individuals had complete freedom within the realm of property, while at the same time having to respect the property of others.

When Social Marxists talk of ending private property, they are talking about destroying liberty.  When Ultraconservatives talk about expanding police powers, they too are destroying liberty.  Both encroach on the right of individuals to live as they please within their private space, either by removing the private space altogether, or by pushing the State's power into that space.  The result is the same, though the process is quite different.

So what does all this have to do with current events?  So glad you asked.

What we see, primarily in the West, but spreading outwards, is a constantly escalating clash between the matrix and patrix.  The matrix wants an end to order, so the patrix increases it, which in turn leads the matrix to fight harder, which leads to the patrix to clamp down harder.

In all cases, the battle is between chaos and order, with both sides having forgotten the Golden Mean - the middle is the right way.  Neither side, however, will back down, and as each escalates to counter the other, the other redoubles its effort.  Neither side will back down and we are left with an endless spiral into oblivion.

Both the matrix and patrix have their good sides.  Liberty, creativity, freedom, and discipline are virtues.  Destruction, fear, collapse, and inflexibility are what we see, though, meaning the balance has been lost nad harmony is gone.  The immigrant crisis is the matrix gone nuts, and the saber-rattling is the patrix gone wild.  Without a willingness to back down, the only possible outcome of all this is mutual destruction, because one cannot exist without the other, and both are determined to utterly destroy the other.  Whichever one wins the battle will only lose the war.

The Hopi have a perfect word for all this: koyaanisqatsi.  Life without balance is meaningless, since there is nothing by which to compare it.  The masculine and feminine are both equally vital and equally valid, in an equitable balance.

The patrix must release its iron grip and the matrix must accept an amount of structure or our species is doomed.

It doesn't matter whether you believe in genders or sexes, they exist as hard fact.  We must assume, since Nature itself deemed it so, that our task in life is to find the balance.  Without the balance, Nature will do what it always does, start again by applying order to chaos until the balance creates new species to take up the challenge.

T-Day Arrives

Some time around midnight West Indonesia Time (WIB), Donald Trump will recite the time-honored and Constitutionally required Oath of Office and receive the keys to the White House.

To say that this will be a momentous occasion would not be hyperbole, nor would it be original, since a great many people have already said it intending a great many interpretations.  The spectrum of expectations range from Apocalypse to New Atlantis and the Second Renaissance.

I try to avoid expectations so as to not color my perceptions of what is actually happening in the world.  I am certainly excited to see history unfolding, since I have long anticipated the collapse of the post-WW2 World Order and the rise of Something Else.  What that "else" will be remains to be seen, though.  There are many competing forces trying to grab the wheel and steer the next century or so.

As if to mark the event, both George and Barbara Bush went into the hospital and an unexploded German bomb was found at the bottom of the Thames in central London - fitting metaphors for the changing of the guard.

A century ago, the world was transitioning to motor cars and electricity.  A radical new device called the "telephone" was in its infancy.  Wireless radio broadcasting was just six years old in public use.  That world was changing radically when Woodrow Wilson took his second Oath of Office as America's 28th president.

As Trump takes the helm of a fading empire, the world is transitioning from analog to digital communications, most people under 30 years old can't write a letter much less explain what a postage stamp is, humanity is pondering becoming a multi-planet species (if it isn't already), and Artificial Intelligence is quickly revolutionizing the very core of civilization.

That's quite a leap for a span of time where there are still a number of people who remember when telephones were an amazing contraption and not a vital part of daily life (not to mention a major pain in the ass).

At this point, I don't believe any leader, much less Donald Trump, has any idea where things are headed, any more than I believe Woodrow Wilson had any idea that the "War to End All Wars" would be the cause of a bigger and more devastating war.  Unfortunately, he died before he could taste the bitter fruits of his actions.

Wilson is a fine example of people having "future blindness."  They project their hopes and desires onto generations whose lives will be vastly different from their own.  This often leads to the now-infamous "unintended consequences' of myth and legend.  As any sailor or swimmer can tell you, it is far better to ride the currents than to try and change them.

Far too often, people with "visions" get into positions of influence who then proceed to change the currents.  When they do, they make two mistakes: 1) they establish lofty expectations that frequently end in disappointment and disaster, and 2) they rarely let the course of Nature find its native equilibrium.  As anyone who has studied history or chemistry knows, whenever systems get out of equilibrium, there is usually a violent backlash to the center, which is precisely what led us to today and the inauguration of Donald Trump.

The biggest question, at least in my admittedly muddled mind, is whether Trump will try to change the current, or will he wisely steer a course down the point of equilibrium?

A metaphor often applied to social currents is the pendulum.  There is one fundamental flaw with the common conception of this model, however.  Most people think of a pendulum as only swinging back and forth between two points - i.e. the left-right paradigm.

If you've ever observed a free-swinging pendulum, you know that within 24 hours, it will complete a full circle, having passed through 360 points along the way.  When I conceive of social currents, I don't limit them to just two points, I see a full spectrum of possibilities, which all will - at some point or another - express themselves in order to maintain the equilibrium, which for a pendulum is dead center of the circle.

True and effective leaders balance all the points, not just swing from one extreme to the other.  Unfortunately, I believe Trump is the latter.  He is the symptom, the result of having a very limited conception of the spectrum of possibilities.  Having suffered for decades under the left-wing side of the swing, the US is now violently shifting to the other.  If we envision this as a boat listing hard to one side, then everyone is running to the other to try and balance it.  The result, though, is for the ship to list hard to the opposite side, rather than righting itself.  The process repeats endlessly until either the passengers realize the balance is in the center, or until the ship capsizes to one side or the other.

It is a tedious and boring process because there is no progress, just a lot of running back and forth.  Balance is never achieved long enough to consider where the ship is headed.  Instead, the entire societal focus in on achieving an even keel through the use of imbalances, and it will never work.

One does not cure injustice with another injustice.  One does not end racism by offsetting it with a different flavor of racism.  Most importantly, one does not change things by beating everyone about the head and neck with a rubber truncheon until the world submits.

Balance is achieved by letting everyone do what it is that makes them happy, as long as they allow others the same courtesy and don't harm others in the process.  There are far too many competing interests in the world - a full 360 degrees of them - to allow any one group a bit more freedom than another.

If Trump is a wise leader, he will get rid of mass surveillance, put an end to "hate" laws, stop caving in to every whim of the LGBTQ mafia, and get folks to realize that murder is murder, assault is assault, and injury is injury, no matter what adjectives one strings in front of their personal noun.

Economic balance is achieved by reducing anti-competitive regulations and giving everyone a fair shot at the prize.

Harmony is when everyone agrees to the same set of rules and then abides by them.