Generational Dynamics World View News

[Jack Edwards]

Just wanted to say I'm glad Navigator is able to post again. Thanks Nav. I don't often comment, but do read everything your write.

I appreciated the thoughtful insight on marriage and culture. And it's good to have a your insight on military history also.

Regards,
Jack

[Guest]

Wikipedia is your source?

Actually, I used Google to search for WW II casualties, and one of the first sources I recognized was Wiki. You have a better source? I'll endorse Navigator's post above. I've also thought that should Putin lose to Ukraine, the West could/should keep the sanctions in place unless Russia disarms.

According to British sources, the dead toll among Russian troops is much higher than the Pentagon estimates. With drones and precision bombardment, Russian losses are what Ukraine has been reporting.

The Russians have already genocided themselves.

I'm rooting for a complete break up of Russia.

[shoshin]

Navigator, is that really you? It doesn’t sound like your usual, rational essay. Did a traumatic event occasion your recent absence?

As for pornography, can you really believe it’s a recent development? Have you seen Roman frescoes? Medieval sculptures ? Even a stone age carvings and drawings? Humans are sexual beings. It’s part of our heritage.

[Cool Breeze]

Navigator, is that really you? It doesn’t sound like your usual, rational essay. Did a traumatic event occasion your recent absence?

As for pornography, can you really believe it’s a recent development? Have you seen Roman frescoes? Medieval sculptures ? Even a stone age carvings and drawings? Humans are sexual beings. It’s part of our heritage.

Media propaganda and dissemination is the difference. Come on shoshin, at least pretend you're smart ...

[Navigator]

Navigator, is that really you? It doesn’t sound like your usual, rational essay. Did a traumatic event occasion your recent absence?

As for pornography, can you really believe it’s a recent development? Have you seen Roman frescoes? Medieval sculptures ? Even a stone age carvings and drawings? Humans are sexual beings. It’s part of our heritage.

Yes, it is really me. And yes, I did write the last long post on marriage and changes in "values" sought in partners.

My recent absence has been due to my wife having a recurrence of breast cancer. It is now in her bones, so it is stage 4 and terminal, though she is currently rather stable, able to do a lot, and much of her pain has subsided due to her current treatment. So I have time to post again.

Pornography has been with us for all of human history. But the prevalence of it, and the quality of it, has exploded in recent decades. Yes, we are all sexual beings. It is a significant part of our nature. It will be the focus of my next larger post.

[FullMoon]

Navigator, is that really you? It doesn’t sound like your usual, rational essay. Did a traumatic event occasion your recent absence?

As for pornography, can you really believe it’s a recent development? Have you seen Roman frescoes? Medieval sculptures ? Even a stone age carvings and drawings? Humans are sexual beings. It’s part of our heritage.

Media propaganda and dissemination is the difference. Come on shoshin, at least pretend you're smart ...

I'll agree with Cool on this. Shoshin should at least read the post before commenting. Not just a cursory scan and a jumping to conclusions. A beginners mind would be a good start.

[spottybrowncow]

Navigator,

I think we've discussed this before, but I've seen patients with breast CA isolated to bones have many, many functional and apparently enjoyable years. In fact, metastasis isolated to bones in and of itself is not even a contraindication to reconstruction. Praying that the Lord will always be with you both.

[Navigator]

Before my next big post on the "sexual revolution and its current implications" I wanted to bring up the Debt Ceiling.

At this point, I think the Debt Ceiling for the US Govt is a bad joke. I don't think that the Republicans have any choice other than to raise it.

If they don't, the Democrats will blame them for loss of Social Security checks, Military Retirement checks, Medicare Insurance failures, and, potentially causing additional bank failures.

Republicans would have to be out of their minds to have these things happen, as it would be election poison for them.

Maybe they can get a few concessions and reign in a few things, but ultimately they have to cave.

At this point, it doesn't matter much anyhow. There is no longer any fix to the fiscal mess the world is in that doesn't involve a complete meltdown of the existing economic/financial system.

[Navigator]

Navigator,

I think we've discussed this before, but I've seen patients with breast CA isolated to bones have many, many functional and apparently enjoyable years. In fact, metastasis isolated to bones in and of itself is not even a contraindication to reconstruction. Praying that the Lord will always be with you both.

We are very encouraged by my wife's current condition. She should have a number of years in this state. Sorry to have sounded so pessimistic previously. She is getting the shots (plan A - faslodex) to thwart the cancer, and was recently also put on the pills ( plan B - Ibrance), as she was still having a lot of back pain.

However, as you know, it is ultimately terminal now. I am hopeful to have 4-5 good years, based on what I have read from the Susan Komen foundation.

Thanks for your concerns and well wishes. We are both people of faith, and pray for my wife's health and especially for comfort (peace of mind). We have both had personal revelations as to how to better deal with the situation as a result, and those have been of immense help!

[Navigator]

This post is meant to continue from the previous one on Changes to Marital Standards, and is the prequel to another long post on the cultural de-evolution that is currently ramping up.

We are all sexual beings. Sex drive is up there with any other appetite and physical need, like eating, hydrating, and breathing. It has to be this way, or the human race (or any other species) would quickly die off.

Families, and hence societies, are strongest when sexual drives are contained within a marriage.

Physically, the drive in sex is to have an orgasm. There are actually two parts to an orgasm, yet one part is getting increasingly “short shrift”. The first part is actually the physical – the hormonal release that provides euphoria. But the second, and which is not present in all sexual gratification, is also important. It is an emotional satisfaction that comes from making a deep emotional and physical connection with your partner. There is little to any discussion of this part, as it doesn’t “play” to the current cultural norms, but it is as important, if not more so, to an individual than the hormonal part.

In marriage, you get both parts of the orgasm. This is because you know that deep down you are there for each other, and sex deepens the relationship. Outside of marriage, it is nearly impossible to get this part.

As a result, sexual gratification outside of marriage sees an increase in addiction to orgasm over time. The sexual gratification outside of marriage does not provide the emotional satisfaction, and thus is only temporarily satisfying. The increase in addiction to orgasm leads to greater and greater desires to increase the frequency of orgasm, just as addiction to any drug sees greater and greater use of that drug.

As with drug use, addiction to sexual gratification also has a kind of de-sensitizing effect. Drug users have to use more and more of the drug to get the result they want. Same for those addicted to orgasm solely through sexual gratification. They have to find more and more (or more extreme measures) to get them what they are looking for. Yet none of it is ultimately satisfying.

In marriage, sexual desires seem to be taken care of by daily or even less frequent sex. Outside of marriage, this does not begin to satisfy sexual desire. Self-gratification (masturbation) can turn into needing it ten times a day, and still not satiating the desire. Sex with a non-committed partner also is commonly also described as “emotionally empty”. Again, this is because of the lack of the emotional component to orgasm.

Marital norms are failing. Sex outside of marriage is beyond commonplace. It is now the norm. Those that cannot find sexual partners use self-gratification. Both sexes do this. Partnership outside of marriage is common both in heterosexual and homosexual relationships. In those non-marital (in the traditional sense of man and woman) relationships, there is a disproportionate focus on sexual gratification. Meaning that more and more focus is placed on sex, and less and less on any kind of commitment.

Those in marriages that focus on personal self-gratification by the use of pornography or other means, find that they get less and less of the emotional component to orgasm. And then they are open to all kinds of marital problems.

The current over-sexualization of society has led to increasingly outrageous behavior on the part of those obsessed with and addicted to sexual gratification. This doesn’t end well at all.