The Wes Cecil Podcast

Q & A #8 - NEOLIBERALISMWes and Jeremy take questions from listeners on Lecture VIII: Neoliberalism (the rise and fall-ish)Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q & A #1 - READING JUNG'S THE RED BOOKWes and Jeremy take questions from Patreon Members on Episodes 1 & 2Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wes and Jeremy dive into the importance of finding dignity in work, even in seemingly mundane jobs. They explore the quest for authentic community connections and the struggles artists face. The conversation turns to minimalism, questioning societal ties between wealth and self-worth. They critique the corporate-driven shift in educational content on television and advocate for universal basic income as a means to elevate personal dignity. Lastly, they examine the changing landscape of education, emphasizing the decline of classical literature in favor of vocational training.

HOW TO KILL THE HERO:The power of Jung’s approach becomes a little more clear as we move into these later chapters. Jung is quite explicitly at war with his inherited cultural values. While it is one thing to recognize this, it is very much more difficult to try and reimagine one’s values - and hence one’s understanding of the self. Jung tries to murder the image of the hero - casting himself as an honorless assassin. He also articulates the powerful insight that the message Jesus teaches us is that we can torture and kill the gods. Siegfried from the Niebelungenlied:Now Siegfried was of noble birth, a prince without peer,His fame had spread so widely, all held him dear.His strength was like no other; his deeds could not be missed,For he had conquered dragons and the Nibelung's treasure list.In Burgundy’s bright court, his presence was a light,With golden hair and armor, he dazzled every knight.The ladies gazed in wonder, the men sang of his skill,For none could match bold Siegfried’s grace and will.As an exercise, make a list of all of the key values you sense in our culture - the importance of wealth for instance - and then try and embrace not just rejecting those values but actually overthrowing them. While it is generally fairly straightforward to make such a list, to actually internally transform ourselves, as Jung is striving to do, is extremely difficult.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Explore the decline of intellectual freedom in modern medicine, as doctors shift from cultural catalysts to narrow specialists. Discover how cynicism and bureaucracy stifle authentic care and creative thought. Delve into the pitfalls of education systems overly focused on metrics, urging a return to deeper engagement. Hear how subjective expression, inspired by George Orwell, is crucial for mental freedom. This discussion underscores the importance of rediscovering personal values in the pursuit of knowledge.

LECTURE 8 - NEOLIBERALISM: THE RISE AND FALL(ISH)Is this at the end of the Reagan, Clinton, Obama, Bush era? This lecture explores the content, rise and decline of the political and economic philosophy of Neoliberalism. Premised on the idea that free markets that reduce trade barriers between nations creates a wealthier world that encourages personal liberty, reduces poverty, and aids in the rise of democracy. While the world has certainly become wealthier over the last few decades, other aspects of the neoliberal concept have turned out to be deeply disturbing.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karl Marx is one of the most influential thinkers in the history of the world. This lecture reviews his background and some of the events that formed his thinking as a means of putting his core ideas into a historical frame. A hopefully much more listenable version of this early recording. Karl Marx 1847 A link to the Economic and Philosophical manuscripts of 1847 which is perhaps the best place to get an introductory perspective on Marx’s thinking.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Q & A #7 - LIBERTARIANISMWes and Jeremy take questions from listeners on Lecture VII: LibertarianismSign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wow, so I did mention this is a crazy, difficult text didn’t I? So Jung’s conscious attempt to break from the thought processes and values of his society created an intellectual and emotional crisis that shaped the creation of the Red Book. The most significant note for contemporary readers is that he is trying to return in some way to the approaches to knowledge and wisdom that shaped the first 4,000 years of civilization. This makes the book difficult to read on a number of levels including his rejection of the assumptions that allow us to understand arguments in general. For next time please read Chapters Three - Five. And be warned, not that you haven’t realized this already, the crazy isn’t going to stop.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes!Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

LECTURE 7 - LIBERTARIANISMIs it healthy to pretend that you're doing it on your own? The notion that the best world is one in which each individual is maximally free and operates independently of all other individuals has been a powerful force in American cultural and political history. The expressions of libertarianism we see today are founded on a deep ethos that rejects all forms of government, law, taxation or any limitation on the person as being opposed to a truly great society. I explore the many contradictions and limitations of this outlook and why, given these problems, it still resonates so powerfully in American society.Sign-up for Wes’s PATREON to get your questions answered by Wes! Plus, gain access to course materials, reading lists, bonus lectures, and Wes’s weekly diaries from France. Only $2 / month.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.