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Our Lady of Antwerp. A Musical Path to Rubens / Utopia Ensemble, Psallentes, Ramée Works by Masters of Music of the Anvers cathedral between 1400 and 1620: Pullois, Barbireau, Obrecht … https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5M0meAzC97gcuTVyHJ82f9?si=db9ce67c5c324426 #music #classicalmusic

The Spanish Revolution pointed out that in the 1950s, while half of Europe was still clearing rubble, hospitals, public housing, and pension systems were built. It added that, seventy years of technological and economic advancements later, people with three master’s degrees claimed that maintaining those services was unfeasible. It also criticized neoliberalism for having led a much wealthier society to consider a utopia what, as he wrote, his grandparents had built among ruins. #Neoliberalismo #Economía #Historia (translated)

Antonio Belloni wrote that he was struck by the flexibility shown by Ruben Amorim at Milan, in contrast to the more rigid approach that, according to him, had characterized the coach at United. He mentioned the match against Juve, in which Adrien Rabiot had started as a trequartista in the right half-space and struggled in that role. Belloni argued that Amorim had then modified the team’s setup, giving Rabiot greater freedom of movement and making the play more fluid. According to Belloni, this ability to adapt showed that coaches could also evolve with experience. He recalled that Amorim was 41 years old and had already made mistakes in the early stage of his career, but in his opinion, he had shown Milan a versatility that would have been hard to imagine in Manchester. Belloni added that the coach would continue to make mistakes, but he seemed to have already learned from some of the experiences he had there. #Milan #Amorim #allenatori (translated)

Fabri celebrated the victory and the thrashing of Manchester City at Anfield, which he described as historic and very important for the three points. He pointed out that winning there had seemed like a utopia not long ago. He also praised the performances of Marc Guehi, O’Reilly, Gvardiol, Elliot Anderson, and Cherki, and called Erling the best forward in the world. For Fabri, Jeremy Doku was the standout player and completely changed the match. #ManchesterCity #PremierLeague #Fútbol (translated)

Tanja Aidanjuuri wrote that the plan in Helsinki to ban advertising of fossil fuels could, according to her, cost the city nearly 100 million euros in advertising revenue. She criticized the proposal as unnecessary and absurd and listed as examples of potentially restricted advertising gasoline and diesel cars, flights, cruises, synthetic clothing, plastic products, and fossil fuels. Aidanjuuri described that the Greens in Vantaa could, in her opinion, follow the same line and that advertising would then practically be limited to, for example, veggie sausages, rainbow flags, and new mosques. She also pointed out that taxpayer money would be used for the handling of the matter. Aidanjuuri cited a proposal stating that the advertising ban would be investigated in the preparation of the next outdoor advertising agreement for Helsinki's public areas and that the advertising agreements of Urban Traffic Ltd would also be taken into account. The assessment would examine, among other things, the legal boundaries of the ban, its climate and environmental impacts, effects on the city's economy, the city's own communication and marketing, as well as the media landscape. The proposal also mentioned the possibility of examining advertising's ethical principles more broadly and limiting outdoor advertising from entities considered to violate human rights and particularly polluting industries. #Helsinki #ilmastonmuutos #mainonta (translated)

Sérgio Santos argued that PSOL should launch candidates for state deputy, federal deputy, and city councilor, who, according to him, represented the strength of the party in Rio de Janeiro. He urged the party to stop running for mayorships and the state government, stating that in that place it would never exceed 3%, and classified this strategy as a utopia. https://t.co/Qo0LpLi18W #PSOL #Eleições2024 #Política (translated)

Last 20 seconds of Virtus-Olympiacos: - Virtus misses the winning shot - Olympiacos, leading by 1, has the last possession. They just need to hold the ball to win - Moore dives like an angel on Fournier and touches the ball, which ends up with Montero, on whom he dives again like Toldo against the Netherlands at Euro 2000 - Carr retrieves it and throws it to 6 meters high where Diarra arrives and dunks in an alley-oop while being fouled - Virtus up by 1 with 11 seconds left, is it over? Not a chance - Montero scores the winning basket with 6 seconds left. Bartzokas celebrates with arms raised. Is it over? Not a chance. - Carr invents a three-pointer from 8 meters while off balance at the buzzer, marked, with his body aimed at San Luca and his hands towards Imola, then sends all the teammates away who hug him to tell everyone he urgently needs to make a phone call In this historical period, seeing an Italian team beat the European champions is as likely as a real cut in fuel taxes. Seeing an Italian team, considered by everyone to be the Cinderella of the Euroleague, beat the European champions by scoring 96 points, playing at a thousand miles an hour, destroying the best defensive system in years, and managing the incredible feat of silencing Bartzokas, is pure utopia. What a hell of a basketball evening. #Virtus #Eurolega #Basketball (translated)

Las Utopías Bacabés van tomando forma. Estamos creando espacios dignos donde nuestras familias puedan convivir, aprender, hacer deporte, cuidar su salud y fortalecer los lazos de comunidad. Así se construye un Campeche más humano. #ElGobiernoDeTodosTransforma https://t.co/AvkktT5jdL #UtopíasBacabés #Comunidad #Campeche

In Sachsen-Anhalt streamt Utopia TV live aus einem Wahllokal in Tangermünde und berichtet dabei zugunsten der AfD. Das Filmen bzw. Streamen aus einem Wahllokal während der Wahl ist verboten. Besonders fragwürdig ist, dass die Polizei vor Ort ist, aber nicht eingreift. https://t.co/xPvOVhDSkO #Wahlen #Deutschland #AfD

The Three Roads to Evil We live in an age of unlimited access to information. Most of it is a gift, but it also gives us an unbroken view into horror—images on screens, the Epstein files, and constant stories once confined to nightmares. Some shut it off; others stare until it stares back, leaving them cynical. But it has always been this way. Long before Epstein, there was Caligula—years of sadism and cruelty on Capri. In every era, there have been people whose evil makes rationality struggle to explain it. I see three roads to evil: worshipping the wrong things, succumbing to ideology, and becoming so bitter you resent life itself. First: worshipping wrong values. Some make wealth, lust, power, or status their highest good. They lie, cheat, and steal to obtain it, then declare morality and law for the weak. Everyone else becomes an instrument. Second: ideology. When someone abandons a religious worldview, they may fill the vacuum with an ideology that claims to explain everything and promise a perfect world. Communists reduce history to class struggle; Nazis to racial struggle. The ideologue believes society can be remade by controlling causes and effects—people become cogs, sacrificed for utopia. Third: resentment. Those who see themselves as helpless victims can come to hate life itself. They treat hardship as injustice and life as something done to them. Their values invert: strength becomes evil, weakness virtue; love is attacked while lust is celebrated; wealth is theft—and criminals become victims while their victims are the privileged. These roads always exist, and always will. You can’t stop others from walking them. But it’s your responsibility not to.

The 7 Types of People Who Create Evil Societies Andrew Łobaczewski, a psychiatrist who lived under Nazism and Communism in Poland, proposed political ponerology: pathological personalities and social dynamics can generate totalitarian systems. He describes seven recurring types: 1) **Psychopaths**: power seekers who gain control via coercion, intimidation, and violence. 2) **Schizoids**: ideological engineers who craft abstract systems and utopian theories; if reality conflicts, they rationalize more rather than revise. 3) **Spellbinders**: propagandists who convert ideology into slogans, moral stories, and emotional appeals that sort “good/evil” and define the in‑group. 4) **The Spellbound**: true believers who absorb the message and enforce it socially, driven by moral certainty; they often recruit through institutions and peer networks. 5) **Adapted Conformists**: quiet enablers who comply from fear and self‑preservation, often within bureaucracy (“I’m just doing my job”). 6) **Resistors**: a moral minority who refuse cooperation and prioritize conscience, often paying costs like isolation or punishment. 7) **Bystanders**: a passive majority who stay silent through fear, confusion, and disengagement. Together: psychopaths hold power; schizoids supply ideology; spellbinders publicize it; the spellbound enforce it; conformists administer; bystanders tolerate; resistors challenge. Crucially, totalitarianism doesn’t require everyone to be fanatical—enforcers and ideologues can pressure the wider population to comply. It can arise under many systems (communist, fascist, theocratic, etc.), not just left vs right.

A Culture of Violent Ressentiment A lust for violence is spreading through the worst among us. After shootings, murders, and attempted political violence, some celebrate and idolize the attackers—while others online applaud harm done to those deemed deserving, even for things like “misgendering.” People claim these are unrelated, but I see a shared conviction: blood is the only route to a better world. We debate which ideology “caused” a given attack—incel culture, Marxism, anti-Zionism—but the pattern is similar. Radicalization is often treated like infection: belief first, impulse second. I think the reverse is more common. Corrupted people don’t stumble into dangerous ideas. They go looking for them. Ressentiment—Nietzsche’s term for the slow poison of hopeless victims—builds moral systems that make a grudge feel like justice. The feeling takes the throne first; philosophy follows, recruiting whatever justifies what the person already wants. Ressentiment focuses on enemies and punishment while offering vague utopias. It subtracts, locating suffering entirely outside the self and proposing removal of its “source.” That’s why it rejects self-improvement: it requires agency. What we face is not one ideology, but the spirit that turns failure and frustration into someone else’s crime—and therefore treats violence as justice.

A Manifesto Written Like Scripture** Marxism is not merely an economic theory; it resembles a religion for those filled with resentment. The Communist Manifesto opens with spiritual language, declaring that “a spectre is haunting Europe—the spectre of communism,” indicating a spiritual war rather than an economic agenda. While supporters claim it seeks to redistribute wealth for equity, the text itself lacks words like “neighbor” or “love” in a positive context. Instead, it frequently uses terms like “violence,” “overthrow,” and “abolish,” emphasizing destruction rather than construction. Marx's concrete proposals focus on seizure and confiscation, with little mention of a classless utopia. He advocated for the “ruthless criticism of all that exists,” suggesting a totalizing worldview that dismisses the possibility of reform. Marxists often argue that true communism has never been realized, yet historical figures like Stalin and Mao embodied the totalitarian ambitions outlined in the Manifesto. Bertrand Russell noted that Bolsheviks resembled religious fanatics, quoting Marx like scripture. He drew parallels between Marxism and religion, with Marx as a Messiah and the Communist Party as a Church. The Manifesto states that its goals can only be achieved through the “forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions,” indicating a desire to destroy the current world. Interestingly, many Marxist leaders, including Marx himself, came from privileged backgrounds, contradicting the narrative that Marxism serves the oppressed. This pattern continues today, with Marxism appealing primarily to educated individuals from affluent families who face financial stress for the first time. Marxism shifts the concept of sin from individuals to the bourgeoisie, absolving its followers from personal accountability. This doctrine promotes pride, envy, and resentment, elevating hatred of the wealthy as a virtue. It lacks a pathway to forgiveness, viewing class origin as a crime inherited from ancestors. Ultimately, Marxism is not an economic theory but a destructive religion that justifies violence against entire classes in the pursuit of a misguided salvation.

The Evolution of Modern Leftism Left-wing and woke ideology often presents itself through noble ideas: compassion, justice, equality, and progress. But progress toward what? That question is rarely asked. To understand modern leftism, we must look back nearly 200 years. Ideas evolve like viruses: when society develops resistance to one form, academics modify it until it becomes more contagious, destructive, and difficult to recognize. Hegel proposed the dialectic: opposing ideas—a thesis and antithesis—collide to produce a synthesis. Marx applied this framework to economics through dialectical materialism. He viewed history as a struggle between the “haves” and “have-nots” and predicted that workers would overthrow capitalism and create a communist utopia. When Marx’s vision failed, Lenin reworked it. He argued that workers needed to be led by an elite revolutionary class. This produced the idea of perpetual revolution: after one oppressor is defeated, the next ruling class becomes the new enemy. The struggle never ends. The Frankfurt School later adapted Marxism for the West. It argued that capitalism’s material success had made workers less receptive to revolution, so the focus shifted to culture, education, media, religion, and the arts. The goal became a gradual “long march through the institutions.” Postmodernists expanded the theory further, arguing that power exists everywhere—not only between rich and poor, but also between men and women, racial groups, heterosexual and homosexual people, and colonizers and the colonized. The personal became political. Intersectionality then presented oppression as a matrix in which every identity adds another layer of victimhood and moral authority. At one extreme is the idealized figure of a poor, disabled, rural, transgender lesbian woman from a developing country. At the other is the supposed ultimate oppressor: a wealthy, educated, able-bodied, straight, white, cisgender, Christian, Western man living in a city. Modern progressivism, in this view, is essentially neo-Marxism in drag.