Mark Stoneweapon

Implications and Perennial Resonance This ontology aligns with the perennial philosophy (as expounded by thinkers like Frithjof Schuon): the world is a projection of Māyā (appearance/illusion), veiling the non-dual Absolute while simultaneously revealing it through inward discernment. The journey is one of return—remembering the simple, primordial self amid apparent multiplicity. Virtue arises naturally as alignment with this Truth; suffering stems from forgetfulness of the infinite within the finite play. In lived experience—such as the hypnotic repetition of ocean waves during endless sailing—this thesis manifests kinesthetically: the horizon repeats not as spatial trickery, but as the eternal echo of Consciousness, inviting awakening beyond the replay. This thesis stands as a radical yet humble invitation: reality is infinite not in extension, but in essence—unlocked through the inward turn of authentic remembrance.

Thesis: The Infinite Recurring Plane — A Metaphysical Ontology of Consciousness, Beyond Finite Geometry and Sensory Limitation —Mark Stoneweapon 1/17/2026 Core Premise The physical world as experienced through the five senses is neither a finite curved sphere nor a bounded flat disk with perimeters (such as ice walls), nor any other geometrically mappable structure. Conventional models—whether "curved spacetime" projections or "flat Earth" enclosures—fail because they impose static, outward spatial frameworks on a reality that is fundamentally dynamic, fluid, and non-spatial in its essence. Empirical observations (endless horizons without detectable curvature, arbitrary starting points with no enclosing barriers, consistent "returns" through repetition rather than closure) reveal no intrinsic geometry that can be faithfully represented in three dimensions without distortion or contradiction. Both the spherical and flat camps err by prioritizing outward mapping over the inward reality. The Nature of Experienced Reality Our apparent geography manifests as an infinite, relatively level plane that extends seamlessly in all directions, without edges, origins, or outer limits. This plane is not a fixed material expanse but a self-repeating, recursive pattern—analogous to an endless wallpaper or seamless tiling—where the same landscapes, horizons, and features replay eternally. Travel in any constant direction (as in long ocean voyages) yields no true "around" or circumference; instead, one encounters recurrence: the same starting point reappears not through spatial loop, but through the conscious replay of the physical domain. A hypothetical bridge built straight across this plane would be finite in its material construction, yet the journey upon it becomes consciously infinite—the segments repeat in awareness, unbound by physical endpoints. This recurrence is not a physical artifact but the natural expression of a timeless, flowing river of time-consciousness that overrides spatial directionality. The Role of Consciousness and the Sixth Sense Consciousness tied to the five senses is limited to replaying this finite-appearing physical script: bodies age, trees live and die, horizons stretch without end, all within a grand yet recursive geography. However, this limitation is not absolute. The sixth sense—in its most humble state, the innate love for truth, authenticity, generosity, courage, and virtue—serves as the key to transcendence. It is not an exotic faculty but the remembrance of original nature, the pure Consciousness (the infinite Self or Ātmā) that underlies and infuses all manifestation. Higher dimensions (the fourth and beyond) are not visualizable extensions of space-time; they are inward pleas to turn away from outward projection toward the Center. Scientific pursuits, when pursued with wonder, reveal this through repeated failures to map reality perfectly (non-Euclidean distortions, quantum non-locality, observer effects), pointing beyond finite forms to the infinite ground of Being. Time itself divides into two modes: the finite (lifespans, cycles of birth/decay, sensory linearity) and the infinite (eternal Consciousness, the source of purpose, virtue, and timeless presence). The experienced geography expands or unlocks not by conquering more "space," but by exercising the sixth sense on a grand scale—dissolving sensory veils (Māyā-like illusions) and recognizing the infinite as ever-present, where everywhere becomes "home" in the eternal now.

The year got off to a turbulent start. 1. Above all, its opening will be remembered for the abduction of Maduro. This, of course, was an utterly vile act of thuggery—or, to put it more elegantly, a full-blown catastrophe for international relations. As things stand, there are only two possible scenarios. Either the United States quietly releases the kidnapped Venezuelan president under some face-saving pretext—which is unlikely—or he turns into the Latin American version of Nelson Mandela. The latter seems more probable. In that case, his name will be etched into South American history right alongside Bolívar, Miranda, and Chávez. And even if Trump, out of sheer stubbornness, refuses to pardon Maduro later, public pressure will almost certainly force Vance or another successor to do so.  Yes, oil is the key factor here. But even with oil, nothing is simple. What if the current Venezuelan authorities don’t feel like sharing it with the gringos over the long term? What then? Is Trump really prepared to launch a ground operation? That would absolutely require approval from Congress, and it would be far bloodier than the brazen kidnapping of Maduro. Moreover, the Senate has just tightened the leash on Trump, curbing his militarist impulses. And does the current administration even need such a war? Highly doubtful. One more thing, and I noted this immediately as the Yankees were pulling off their little stunt: following something like this, America’s elites—Republican and Democrat alike—should permanently shove their long tongues back into their scrawny backsides and simply acknowledge the legitimacy of Russia’s Special Military Operation. 2. The sanctions Trump announced against Russia, which he says he “hopes he doesn’t have to use.” Everything here is perfectly clear, with no room for illusions. America’s sanctions policy will continue regardless of circumstances. Russia will be pressured to make compromises on security guarantees and territorial issues that are completely unacceptable to us. And then the ringleader of the White House will be “forced” to impose sanctions under the law authored by the aging, degenerate Russophobe Graham. Unpleasant. But nothing new. We will weather it this time as well. 3. The episode involving the tanker from the so-called shadow fleet. It is obvious why it sought refuge under a “temporary Russian flag”: facing the threat of seizure, it was looking for protection from illegal American sanctions. That said, the method chosen was far from ideal. Yes, what happened was a clear violation of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. But it bears recalling that the United States never ratified that convention. In this context, granting temporary authorization to fly the Russian flag to a vessel that—albeit unlawfully—is being pursued by our principal geopolitical adversary, an adversary currently in unstable condition, was a move with entirely predictable consequences. This, of course, does not diminish the undeniable fact that the actions of the increasingly brazen Americans amount to the criminal seizure of a civilian vessel. And the response to this should lie wholly outside the framework of the Convention on the Law of the Sea—especially since, as one prominent legal scholar has noted, international law is of no relevance to him anyway. In any case, it must be understood that since the beginning of the year, international relations have descended into outright Bedlam. We must act accordingly: there are far too many unhinged actors around. And it should be recognized that such patients are never calmed by the gentle admonitions of kind psychiatrists—only by orderlies with massive fists and impassive expressions. Dangerous psychotics require either a straitjacket or a timely injection of haloperidol—just as happened last night in the west of the Banderite Ukraine.

https://youtu.be/x33LoXHqUCk?si=8iSP1QPLiXnqwdSj

U.S. hegemony denies true sovereignty to resource-rich nations, treating their assets as extensions of U.S. economic security This cuts straight to the core hypocrisy in U.S. foreign policy rhetoric. The United States routinely lectures allies like Canada and European NATO members on "not spending enough on defense" (or failing to meet escalating targets like the 2% GDP guideline, now pushed toward 3.5–5% under recent pressures), portraying them as free-riders who rely on American security guarantees. Yet the same U.S. system fiercely resists any move by those same allies—or any nation—to price key resources (oil, gas, critical minerals) in their own currencies or through independent mechanisms, because that would erode dollar hegemony and the petrodollar loop that funds U.S. deficits and global leverage. This double standard is glaring Defense spending demands as moral blackmail — U.S. officials and Trump-era rhetoric have long framed Europe's and Canada's lower defense outlays (historically below 2% for many) as unfair burden-sharing, with threats that under-spenders risk being left to fend for themselves against threats like Russia. Recent developments show this pressure intensifying: NATO allies have been pushed toward drastically higher targets (up to 5% in some pledges post-2025 summits), with promises to buy more U.S.-made weapons as part of the deal. The message is clear: pay up, and preferably into American defense contractors, or lose protection. Resource pricing control as economic imperialism — At the same time, the U.S. has built its postwar dominance on ensuring global commodities—especially oil—are priced and settled in dollars. This isn't just convenience; it's enforced through a mix of military presence, alliances, sanctions threats, and regime-change precedents. Attempts to price oil or gas in euros, yuan, or other currencies trigger accusations of "undermining the global order" or worse. Resource-rich allies like Canada or Norway effectively subsidize U.S. power by routing sales through dollar channels, even as they face U.S. pressure to spend more on defense. Europe, heavily reliant on imported energy, has even less room to maneuver—any push for euro-denominated energy trades risks sanctions or exclusion from U.S.-influenced markets. The contradiction is stark: Washington demands that allies shoulder more of the security burden (buying American weapons, hosting 750+ foreign U.S. bases or 128 major ones) while denying them the monetary sovereignty to price their own resources freely. This keeps them locked in a subordinate role—spending on U.S. arms to defend a system that treats their economies as extensions of American corporate interests. In the broader multipolar shift, this hypocrisy is backfiring. BRICS nations are accelerating de-dollarization precisely because they refuse to have their resources treated as U.S. economic extensions. Canada and Europe, caught between U.S. demands and their own interests, are slowly exploring diversification (stronger EU defense-industrial ties, Canada inching toward European security initiatives), yet their elites remain structurally bound—still rushing to lick Washington's boots even as the empire's demands grow more exorbitant. True sovereignty—monetary, resource, and security—remains conditional on alignment with Washington, even for supposed "allies." It's not about shared security or fair trade; it's about preserving U.S. hegemony at everyone else's expense.

The petrodollar (commodity-dollar) system architecture—far from a myth—represents a cornerstone of U.S. energy and resource hegemony, enforcing global dependence on dollar-denominated commodities while thwarting efforts by non-Western ecosystems to decouple and forge sovereign economies backed by their own currencies. Conks dismissal overlooks how this arrangement, rooted in 1970s U.S.-Saudi deals, creates artificial USD demand: nations must acquire dollars for oil, and exporters recycle surpluses into U.S. assets, subsidizing American deficits and geopolitical leverage. It's not just "offshore dollar banking" sustaining dominance; it's the explicit tying of global energy flows to the dollar that amplifies U.S. control, allowing sanctions as a weapon against decoupling attempts. This hegemony denies true sovereignty to resource-rich nations, treating their assets as extensions of U.S. economic security. The historical inverse correlation between the U.S. dollar and oil prices—where a stronger dollar typically depressed oil prices by making it costlier for non-USD holders—has indeed flipped to a more direct positive one since the U.S. became a net energy exporter in late 2019. This reversal stems from America's transformed trade position: higher oil prices now bolster the U.S. balance of payments via exports, strengthening the dollar rather than weakening it through import costs. The 2022 Nord Stream sabotage amplified this, catapulting U.S. LNG exports to Europe and further entrenching the positive nexus amid global supply disruptions. The rise in non-dollar oil trades—now approaching 20% of global volumes, exerts downward pressure on dollar-denominated prices, assuming supply keeps pace with demand. By bypassing USD settlements (China's yuan deals with Saudi Arabia and Venezuela's pre-invasion shifts pending), these trades fragment the petrodollar's artificial demand loop: fewer nations need dollars for commodities, increasing effective global supply availability and eroding the monetary premium that once propped up prices. This decoupling accelerates oil's commoditization, making it cheaper in dollars amid gluts, even as real demand softens from electrification and efficiency gains. Paradoxically, this occurs alongside rising U.S. Treasury yields and a weakening USD against emerging market currencies. Yields are climbing on fiscal risks—ballooning deficits from tariffs and spending—coupled with inflation fears, despite the Fed's projected single cut for 2026. Meanwhile, the Dollar Index (DXY) dipped nearly 10% in 2025, continuing its slide against EM baskets as BRICS nation’s hedge via de-dollarization. This USD-EM divergence reflects growing EM resilience: stronger local currencies amid diversification, even as non-dollar oil flows cheapen global energy. This nexus isn't accidental—it's the petrodollar fraying under multipolar pressures, prompting U.S. overreach to deny sovereignty and force compliance.

Phenomena vs. Essence: The Multiplicity of Worlds A central pivot in Bogár’s essay is the distinction between surface "phenomena" and hidden "essence." Bogár quotes Spengler: "there are as many worlds as there are beings in the world." This relativism isn't postmodern celebration of subjectivity; it's a warning against equating diverse perspectives with equal validity. He expands this to critique democracy: the "fatal mistake" of assuming "everyone is 'right'" ignores that the world is a "complex, multifaceted system" built on "spiritual hierarchy." Here, Bogár draws from traditionalist philosophy, influenced by thinkers like René Guénon or Julius Evola, who posited that true societies are ordered by spiritual elites, not mass equality. Expanding further, Bogár equates the "mass" with "helplessness" in both physics (mass as inertia) and "social physics" (crowds as manipulable). This is politically charged: he sees modern democracy as a facade for hidden powers. The "spiritual superiority" of ruling forces is illusory, propped up by "life force and dictatorship" disguised as "liberal democracy and free market economy." For 3,000 years (roughly since the Bronze Age collapse or the rise of monotheistic empires), he claims, parasitic elites have used "intermediary fields"—trade, money, and media—to "plunder human existence." This "nem létező" (non-existent) power structure, as he defines it in the essay's footer, is precarious because it's invisible and unaccountable, ruling "above all of us" without formal existence. Heidegger's influence is explicit: the "brutal tearing of beings from existence" refers to Sein und Zeit and later works on technology as Gestell (enframing), where modernity reduces everything to exploitable resources. Bogár applies this to globalization as a "continuous 'war of being'"—not overt battles, but a metaphysical assault on human authenticity. The "peace" sold to us is relative, legitimized by endless material growth, turning humanity into "obedient labor force and consumer force." But as resources dwindle ("the diluted slop... has run out"), elites provoke wars as distractions. In 2025's context, this could reference escalations in Ukraine, Gaza, or potential U.S.-China tensions, framed as engineered crises to maintain control.

4/4 Toward the Tipping Point: Barbarism and Potential Ricorso If Trump's donor influence continues unchecked, it could propel the Human Age to its nadir—a "barbarism of reflection" where refined parasitism breeds cynicism, inequality, and collapse. In 2025, signs abound: surging antisemitism in the GOP, donor threats to defund extremists, and policy whiplash (e.g., pro-Israel hawks clashing with base demands for withdrawal) erode democratic norms. Bogár's hoped-for "apocalypse" (unveiling) might align with Vico's ricorso: chaos forcing a reset to a new "divine" era of renewed myth and hierarchy, perhaps via populist upheavals or global realignments. Modern Vichian scholars see Trumpian populism as this harbinger—rational democracy twisted into tribalism, signaling the end. Yet, as Vico warns, the transition is brutal: parasitic structures, sustained by donors like AIPAC's, might tip us into unchecked materialism and war before renewal. If this cycle holds, 2025's "average year" could mark the precipice—where donor-perpetuated exploitation finally unravels the facade, inviting either reform or barbaric rebirth.

3/4 Perpetuation Through Policy: Fueling Materialism and Conflict Trump's 2025 policies, shaped by this donor class, extend parasitic structures by prioritizing economic nationalism and military assertiveness that Bogár links to the "diluted slop" of material wealth as a false peace. For example: Economic Parasitism: Tariffs and supply-chain decoupling from China, while securing critical minerals, were framed as isolationist but often served donor interests. Pro-Israel lobbies pushed for these to isolate Iran and bolster Israeli tech dominance, perpetuating a global "plunder" where U.S. hegemony extracts resources under democratic guises. This mirrors Vico's critique of the Human Age's over-rational commerce leading to inequality and unrest. Conflict Escalation: Donor pressures ensured unwavering Israel support, including the October Gaza ceasefire on terms favorable to Israel and expansions of the Abraham Accords. Yet this "peace" is Bogár's illusory kind—masking escalations like Venezuelan strikes or Mexican cartel designations, which critics tie to neocon agendas trading European stability (e.g., reduced Ukraine aid) for Middle Eastern dominance. In Vichian logic, such actions accelerate the age's decay: rational wars for "security" devolve into barbaric cycles of violence, alienating allies and fueling domestic populism. The family feud—between neocons/Zionists and MAGA isolationists—further perpetuates this by exposing cracks without resolving them. While donors like Adelson consolidate power, backlash from Trump's base (e.g., growing anti-Israel sentiment, with 50% of young Republicans opposing the alliance) highlights the Human Age's internal contradictions. This discord, amplified by media (another Bogárian "weapon"), fragments society, pushing toward Vico's tipping point.

2/4 The Human Age's Rational Facade and Parasitic Underbelly Vico's Human Age is characterized by the triumph of reason, laws, and equality, but it sows its own undoing through over-refinement: societies become atomized, with individuals pursuing self-interest via abstract systems like commerce and governance. Bogár's "parasitic structures"—elites plundering via trade, finance, and media for millennia—align seamlessly here, as they thrive in this rational veneer. In 2025, Trump's administration embodies this: outwardly a populist rejection of elite globalism (e.g., "America First" rhetoric), but inwardly a vessel for donor-fueled materialism (e.g., Wall Street) that Bogár would decry as legitimizing the "permanent war of existence" through endless consumption and conflict. Trump's pro-Israel donor network, led by AIPAC and figures like Miriam Adelson, perpetuates this by injecting massive capital to secure policy favoritism. Adelson, for instance, was publicly credited by Trump at a December 2025 White House Hanukkah event for contributing $250 million "directly and indirectly" to his campaigns—a sum that underscores how money supplants democratic will. Since 2020, pro-Israel groups have funneled over $230 million to Trump-aligned efforts, dwarfing other lobbies and ensuring appointees with deep Zionist ties. His cabinet reflects this blueprint: Secretary of State Marco Rubio (over $1 million in AIPAC-linked funds), UN Ambassador Elise Stefanik ($917,000), and Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, all hawks advocating aggressive support for Israel against Iran and Hamas. These choices blend Christian Zionism (evangelical prophecy-driven support) with neoconservative interventionism, using U.S. power to advance Israeli security—often at the expense of broader peace, as seen in June's assassinations and airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites. This donor influence entrenches Bogár's parasitism by commodifying politics: elections become auctions where funds buy outcomes, reducing the Human Age's rational discourse to a marketplace of influence. In Vico's terms, it's the "barbarism of reflection" incarnate—sophisticated corruption where reason (e.g., strategic alliances) masks primal exploitation, eroding trust in institutions and amplifying societal fractures.

https://nemletezo.substack.com/p/average-year

https://nemletezo.substack.com/p/average-year

The closing rhetorical question—"But does this condition represent the feelings proper to humanity?"—is Mencius firm rejection of the idea that humans are naturally selfish or amoral. Just as the mountain’s barrenness does not prove it was never wooded, human moral failure does not prove that benevolence and righteousness were never part of our original endowment. The practical implication is deeply hopeful: if we remove the "axes and bills" (bad social conditions, harmful influences) and stop the "cattle and goats" from browsing (protect the fragile moral impulses through reflection, good company, and moral cultivation), the innate goodness can recover and flourish. This is why Mencius stresses the importance of righteous government, education, and self-cultivation—these create the conditions in which human nature can return to its lush, beautiful state. In contrast to the Daoist passage, which finds ultimate freedom in letting go of distinctions and seeking the sacred within, Mencius locates the sacred in active moral effort to recover and nurture what is already, originally, good in us. Yet both traditions agree on a kind of tragic observation: most people live far from their deepest potential, mistaking their diminished state for their true nature.

The trees of the New mountain were once beautiful. Being situated, however, in the borders of a large state, they were hewn down with axes and bills;—and could they retain their beauty? Still through the activity of the vegetative life day and night, and the nourishing influence of the rain and dew, they were not without buds and sprouts springing forth, but then came the cattle and goats and browsed upon them. To these things is owing the bare and stript appearance of the mountain, which when people see, they think it was never finely wooded. But is this the nature of the mountain? And so also of what properly belongs to man—shall it be said that the mind of any man was without benevolence and righteousness? The way in which a man loses his proper goodness of mind is like the way in which the trees are denuded by axes and bills. Hewn down day after day, can it—the mind—retain its beauty? But there is a development of its life day and night, and in the calm air of the morning, just between night and day, the mind feels in a degree those desires and aversions which are proper to humanity, but the feeling is not strong, and it is fettered and destroyed by what takes place during the day. This fettering taking place again and again, the restorative influence of the night is not sufficient to preserve the proper goodness of the mind; and when this proves insufficient for that purpose, the nature becomes not much different from that of the irrational animals, which when people see, they think that it never had those powers which I assert. But does this condition represent the feelings proper to humanity? —Mencius

If such wandering arises only in the "non-existence" of fixed forms—if the blessed spot or stone cave is ultimately empty of inherent, separate reality—then why cling to physically seeking them out? The sacred landscape is not "out there" in a particular place, but accessible anywhere (or everywhere) through inner realization. The journey to the mountain may be unnecessary when the mountain is already within the mind's empty hub. It's a gentle reminder of Daoist inwardness: pilgrimage is valuable, but ultimate ease comes from letting go even of the need to go.

Laotse has said; ‘Thirty spokes are grouped around the hub of a wheel, and when they lose their own individuality, we have a functioning cart. We knead clay into a vessel and when the clay loses its own existence we have a usable utensil. We make a hole in the wall to make windows and doors, and when the windows and doors lose their own existence, we have a house to live in.’ And so when we view a stone cave or a blessed spot and see the vertically uprising peaks, horizontally-stretching mountain passes, those that go up and form a precipice, those that go down and form a river, those that are level and form a plateau, those that are inclined and form a hillside, those that stretch across and become bridges, and those that come together and become ravines, we realize that, however incomparably manifold they are in their greatness and mystery, this mystery and grandeur arises when the parts lose their individual existence. For when they lose their own existence, there are no passes, no precipices, no rivers and no plateaux, hillsides, bridges and ravines. But it is exactly in their non-existence that the special talent in our breast and the special vision below our eyebrows wander and float at ease. And since this special talent in our breast and this special vision below our eyebrows can wander and float at ease only when these things are non-existent, why, then, must we insist on going to the stone cave and to the blessed spot? —Chin Shengt’an

A collection of poems titled River Hymnal by American author Cody Smith. The poems use the metaphor of rivers (in Louisiana, Washington, and Florida) to explore themes of family, loss, inheritance, and the passing of time. In this context, "hymnal" refers to a collection of praise, as the book praises the complexities of everyday human life together and the natural world. And the brew lives up to its name!