Centralised Government vs Decentralised Governance The state is one big risk management monopoly, and it's miserable at its job Centralised government, or the state, is a system founded on violence alone. Anything and everything the state does is driven by force or the threat of force. Whatever policy or “public good” the state presumes to impose on its populations, the imposition is backed by aggressive violence alone. Even fiat currency is “backed” by violence; violence…
Colonisation Apologetics Why "fighting for your country" is in fact fighting for your government against your country I get accused a lot of supposedly “making excuses for colonisation” when I simply point out examples in history where the colonisers weren’t as bad as the local government that took over after the colonisers left. I’m not making excuses for colonisation or any type of tyranny. It’s a straw man to suggest this. Why then point out such observations? Because by…
Yes, Statism Makes Supernatural Claims The concept of "the State" is inherently tied to blind faith & religiosity Statism — this zealous faith in threat-based, centralised government, or “the state” — is, quite literally, a religious cult. Statists attribute god-like properties to the state, and this is not figurative. And thus, the separation of church and state can never truly occur — it can only be a deceptive rebrand; just like the priestly class — the “interpreters of…
The COVID Scam in a Nutshell: Pseudoscientific scientism still goes unopposed and unpunished It’s been four years since the COVID false narrative was quietly swept under the rug as if it weren’t a total pseudoscientific scam and an atrocity against human dignity. Oh? You still take the COVID narrative seriously as if it were fact? You still use the vapid “conspiracy theorist” slur and other shaming tactics to shut down legitimate, reasonable criticism, since you can’t…
Procreation Ethics: Do you have a moral right to bring sentient life into existence? Who told you had the right to bring a conscious entity into this world, and under your — of all people — ownership? This is the philosophical question I’ll explore here. Introduction All organisms reproduce because they are biologically programmed by nature to do so. There is no virtue there, not even free will. The instinct and prerogative to procreate — this specific and intentful…
The Labour Day Lie - 1st of May: Socialist/statist gaslighting that forges the chains of slavery Every 1st of May, you’ll hear some socialist tool squeal with deluded entitlement: “You owe us for your 8-hour workday!” And the right-wing isn’t any better. Hear me out. “I know there’s no free lunch. But as long as others pay more for it than I do, I’m fine with that.” — The socialist’s mindset Statist indoctrination camps preach to their brainwashed pawns that “worker rights”…
The Link Between Freedom, Philosophy, & Meaning Piecing together the big, interwoven picture of our reality Everything I write in Bonds of Prometheus is interconnected: Self-ownership, mental health, relationships, religiosity, morality, and voluntary consentism — these concepts are all interwoven, each affecting the other. Abuse and the suppression of the human spirit are the consequences of unresolved trauma. Atrocity, meaningless moralism, and pointless suffering are the…
Free Will Does Not Exist, but Accountability Does: Undeserved blame & undue praise Many confuse explanations with excuses, and conflate free will with accountability. Every time I try to identify and understand the psychodynamics leading to mistakes and crimes, someone immediately jumps with the most predictable, unsolicited straw man: that I supposedly attempt to rationalise or justify mistakes and crimes. This is false. Because in a trial, when the prosecution tries to…
God is Unnecessary: How we create gods and why morality cannot come from divinity I’ve always wondered how it was possible for good and smart people to deny the blindingly obvious atrocities in the Bible and Koran, all while babying the “god” of Abraham, an entity so demonstrably described as a literal demon claiming to be God. https://sotiris.substack.com/p/the-evil-of-abraham https://sotiris.substack.com/p/the-greatest-trick-the-devil-ever The question Here, I won’t go…
The Problem With Rocky's "Inspirational" Speech Breaking down toxic motivation and transference of responsibility The famous inspirational speech from Rocky Balboa (2006) represents the epitome of toxic motivation, and everything that’s wrong with those demanding over-accountability in you to deflect their own. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyYDz_A6HO8 Context Before you rewatch the clip, here’s some context: If you are familiar with the Rocky movie series, then you know…
Do You Want It or Need It?Negotiation, relationships, and divine gratitude There are two kinds of desire: need and want. They differ in their drive and origin; ‘need’ comes from a place of lack and involuntary desperation, while ‘want’ comes from a place of fulfilment and a voluntary pursuit. This is why nobody wants you when you need them. https://sotiris.substack.com/p/need-versus-want Dynamics When you need something, you can’t live without it, or you merely survive a…
The Ultimate Goal of Philosophy: A tragicomical dead end or a gateway to freedom? We are semi-conscious nodes in an abandoned, unmoderated simulation, running on hope and delusion. Unguided and misguided as we are, the quest for meaning bestows upon us comfort that perhaps there is meaning to be found — always just out of reach but never to be reached — when we deep down know there is none. The curse of philosophy Philosophy is a dead end. We know it. The paths of all…
Socialism is Stupid. Seriously. A deceptive rebrand of totalitarianism Remember when British Petroleum changed its logo to a green leaf after a catastrophic oil spill they caused? This is what “democratic” socialism is: PR damage control, a rebrand of failed statism, feeding us false hope that “it’ll work this time!”; false hope and misplaced belief that keep the state sustainable. This is why you must shed all false hope in false idols if you value freedom.…
Some Optimism, Part 2: The scam of democracy is actually a good thing... Hear me out You won’t find a harsher critic of democracy: this ridiculous scam, the emperor’s clothes, this audacious lie that “democracy” or “republic” or “socialism” (or whatever rebrand) is supposedly “the rule of the people”. It demonstrably isn’t. https://sotiris.substack.com/p/socialism-fascism Criticism of democracy If you held referenda right now on every single thing each state does, you’d find…
Do Not Do Bodybuilding! The most popular fitness regime is the most useless Bodybuilding is the easiest fitness approach: isolate muscle groups, aim for the pump short-term and for hypertrophy long-term, and obsess over aesthetics like an insecure teenage girl. No function, no muscle-group synergy, no intensity, no explosiveness, and very little skill required. Easy. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not here to disparage lifting weights in the gym. I’m here to say that lifting…
Some Optimism: Humanity is actually on a good path Positivity? From me? I know, right?! For regular readers, a positive post by me probably comes as a bit of a shock. “What do you mean by optimism, Sotiris? Are you ok? Is there someone we could call for you?” I recently realised that things are, in fact, getting better for humanity, not worse. Hear me out. Frame You see, for most of my life, I’ve held the belief (and fear) that things were getting worse for people,…
Men, Middle-Aged, and Single: Your options when it's truly too late So, you’ve wasted your youth with situationship after situationaship. You lacked direction, never realised your potential due to passivity and self-destructive behaviour. You self-rejected whenever you had an opportunity with a woman you felt inferior to. Feeling inferior to a woman made you actually inferior to her. You thought you had time, but life isn’t short — youth is short. There’s a lot of “advice”…
Give Yourself Some Credit: Exposing demotivators Welcome to another self-therapy session where you get front-row seats to the Greek Tragedy of my being, and get to rejoice in schadenfreude over the show of my vulnerabilities, trauma, and insights learned from them all. Personal story and context One of the most life-defining experiences of my childhood was when, at 12 years old, I was honoured in front of the whole school as one of the top students (having received only…
Losing hope, part 3: Freedom in cynicism For as long as I can remember, people told me I was too hard on myself, as though they knew where the line for me was between being lenient and being unforgiving. But my expectations of myself were a direct reflection of my dreams. The harsh standards I held myself against were the magnitude and shape of the shadow cast by my hopes. Had I been cynical from the start — had I been hopeless and uninspired, and not dared to dream — I…
Laziness Does Not Exist: The psychodynamics of giving up and shedding hope Once, I tried to rescue a cat who, I was told, had been curled up motionless in a corner on the side of the road for days. The friend who had found the cat thought the poor thing was dead, but after closer inspection, the cat showed weak signs of life. We took the cat to the vet. The vet told us that the cat had probably been hit by a car, and his jaw had cracked, making it impossible for him to eat…
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Shaming: If you do the time, you might as well do the crime If your “morality” relies on the systematic ridicule and humiliation of people, otherwise it won’t be sustainable, then either you lack conviction in your values, or your moral framework is inferior. Any supposed “morality” whose survival relies on utilitarian violence (physical or psychological) is not true morality. https://sotiris.substack.com/p/the-shaming-fallacy-part-2…
Sisyphus Quits! Some comfort in pessimism Welcome to another pessimistic rant; uncensored and all over the place. Do not read if absurdist existentialism is not your cup of tea. You know the story of Sisyphus, the man condemned by the cruel, sadistic gods to feel compelled to perform a tedious, pointless task for an eternity. This compulsion by the gods, this denial of self-ownership… that is the true torment, not the pointless labour. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus…
The Problem With Gratitude: Value in the darker side of things You’ve heard it before: “silver lining, focus on the good in people, look at the bright side of things, be grateful for the good things”. I understand that the moment you focus on and appreciate the good things in a given situation, then you weaken the effect of the bad. For example, does your romantic partner maintain annoying habits around the house? Whenever you’re tempted to get annoyed, think about how kind,…
The Cathedral Fallacy There’s a persistent false cause or false attribution fallacy that goes like this: “Since Christianity inspired such majestic cathedrals, it must thus be true and righteous, right?” Nothing could be further from the truth. The same ‘appeal to awe’ appears again and again in other value systems: “If Islam inspired the Taj Mahal, or if Rome inspired the Pantheon, or if ancient Hellenism inspired the Parthenon, then they must be great and right?” And if…
trauma is suffering without meaning. the curse of truth Growth occurs when you assign meaning to your suffering. Stagnation or decline are the consequences of seeing no purpose, no meaning, no ultimate destination for your journey. It’s easy to work hard when you can reasonably anticipate your labour to bear fruit. No one lifts a finger when your circumstances don’t allow you to expect the squeeze to yield worthwhile juice.…
Determinism Is Real: Some personal stories When you think you’re great, then predictably you’ll want to believe that you did not rely on any randomness to achieve your “greatness”, and that it was you alone — you with your superior intellect, decision-making skill, aptitudes, and work ethic — who deserves all the credit. But this is inadvertently a confession of determinism, in that you were blessed to be born with such superiority, either genetically or having developed it…
Putting God on Trial: The immorality of divinity You die. Your spirit ascends, and it transcends beyond. You meet God, your demiurge. He announces the commencement of your trial and judgment for a life of defiance and sin. “Prepare for your judgment,” the Lord says. Your response: “My judgment? Judged by whom? You, of all entities? You who have abandoned your creations in darkness? You have no moral authority to judge me. Who’s going to judge you?” You pause, already at…
The Most Tragic Misunderstanding in History Voluntaryists, consentists, and 'anarchists' are guilty of the worst communication approach in history Miscommunicated arguments against the state keep entrenching statists further into their cherished beliefs. And I don’t blame them. https://sotiris.substack.com/p/the-state-is-the-devil Why people still prefer statism For the vast majority of humans, the state represents order. Even if they acknowledge its faults, for them, a…
Competition Is Always Superior to Monopolies & Oligopolies. Here’s Why… Why concentrated power hurts consumers and how open markets drive innovation, lower prices, better choices, and a thriving society Antagonism drives self-improvement. Rivalry fuels excellence. You wouldn’t be improving yourself unless you felt the need to excel against a benchmark set by your immediate competition. A sense of scarcity and a fear of loss incentivise you to keep working hard; first to…
How Men Choose Women: Who the ideal woman is, and why it's too late for you to find one Men who grew up without men (real men) in their lives don’t know what manhood is. They define their “masculinity” by male caricatures: the womaniser, the thug, the bully, the tough guy, the fuckboy, the attention whore, the obsessive hobbyist, the suave pretender, the power-needy dominator who takes himself too seriously. https://sotiris.substack.com/p/how-to-be-the-most-alpha Weak males,…
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