http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1587
Here are some one liners...
Kabuki Theater: Learning How to Be Entertained and Fooled -- A theater for the masses has grown up in Japan. To most people outside of Japan, it seems hard to follow, but all entertainment requires a baseline knowledge of cues to know when to laugh, when to cry and when to go for popcorn.
The English Poor Laws: Creating a Problem and Solving It Too! -- King Henry the 8th dissolved the monasteries that were the main institution that helped the poor, so Queen Elizabeth the 1st must create a government institution to solve the problem that the King had created in the first place.
The Devil's Advocate and the Promoter of the Faith -- The new Pope sets the number of Cardinals to 70 and establishes a new post "The Promoter of the Faith." He is to be the Devil's Advocate and that is exactly what they call him.
Kabuki Theater: Learning How to Be Entertained and Fooled
Kabuki theater has begun in the rural areas of Japan. It is theater for the masses and consists of parts of well-known stories, moral lessons and the re-creations of famous battles. The aristocracy has its own form of theater, and kabuki draws elements from it. At first both men and women are actors, but many of the actresses are prostitutes. The women-only productions are rather sensual so these early performances tend to break down into direct audience participation, if you know what I mean. Because of this disorderly public conduct, women will soon be banned from acting. Kabuki theater will eventually develop into entertainment for the aristocracy and remain a men-only activity into the modern day. [1] [2] [3] [4]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
All theater assumes the audience possesses a certain baseline knowledge so that the audience can react to standard visual and musical cues. Those cues are often cultural in nature so an outsider might find them difficult to learn. This is why foreign films can seem strange. American film and TV have their own cues, though most people don't realize it until the cues are missing. For example: we are used to hearing dramatic music as two teenagers decide to investigate "that strange noise coming from the basement". If we didn't hear the music we would feel less inclined to involve ourselves in the story. We are trained by the movie industry to know when to pay careful attention and when it is OK to get popcorn. This goes for a TV news show as well. A news anchor can cover a story, but change the subliminal cues to discount the importance of a story or to cover up obvious flaws. [5]
All theater assumes the audience possesses a certain baseline knowledge so that the audience can react to standard visual and musical cues. Those cues are often cultural in nature so an outsider might find them difficult to learn. This is why foreign films can seem strange. American film and TV have their own cues, though most people don't realize it until the cues are missing. For example: we are used to hearing dramatic music as two teenagers decide to investigate "that strange noise coming from the basement". If we didn't hear the music we would feel less inclined to involve ourselves in the story. We are trained by the movie industry to know when to pay careful attention and when it is OK to get popcorn. This goes for a TV news show as well. A news anchor can cover a story, but change the subliminal cues to discount the importance of a story or to cover up obvious flaws. [5]
The English Poor Laws: Creating a Problem and Solving It Too!
Famine stalks the land as the 1st of a series of food shortages plague London. Inflation has priced much food out of reach of the poor. In the past, helping the poor was left to individual Christians and the monasteries, but after King Henry the 8th dissolved the monasteries, the poor were on their own. Governments to this time see poverty as laziness that requires punishment but these famines will make it obvious that the poor need something more than prison. Parliament will establish Overseers of the Poor, who are unpaid local officials designated to identify the deserving poor and determine how much help they need. In other words, after government destroyed the religious system that helped the poor, the government creates the same system to solve the problem that government created in the first place. The Poor Laws of 1601 will become the basis of relief for the poor until the mid-1800s when union workhouses will be the only recourse for the poor. That Malthusian plan will be softened after World War 2 into something more recognizable to the modern welfare recipient. [6] [7] [8] [9]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
So... why did the welfare system change in the mid-1800s? The Reverend Thomas Malthus wrote an essay on population control suggesting that if life is easy then people use too many resources which leads to famine and death. The English Parliament changed the Poor Laws in the mid-1800s so that the poor would not fill the country with useless dependents. (Can you say "Darwinism" and eugenics?) Thus union workhouses became punishment houses. Charles Dickens criticized the union workhouses, and Poor Laws in his famous story, "A Christmas Carol"...
So... why did the welfare system change in the mid-1800s? The Reverend Thomas Malthus wrote an essay on population control suggesting that if life is easy then people use too many resources which leads to famine and death. The English Parliament changed the Poor Laws in the mid-1800s so that the poor would not fill the country with useless dependents. (Can you say "Darwinism" and eugenics?) Thus union workhouses became punishment houses. Charles Dickens criticized the union workhouses, and Poor Laws in his famous story, "A Christmas Carol"...
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- "Are there no prisons?" asked Scrooge.
- "Plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
- "And the Union workhouses?" demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"
- "They are. Still," returned the gentleman, "I wish I could say they were not."
- "The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?" said Scrooge.
- "Both very busy, sir." [10]
The Devil's Advocate and the Promoter of the Faith
Pope Sextus the 5th fixes the number of Cardinals to 70, passes a law against usury... again... and establishes the office of the Promoter of the Faith. The job of the Promoter of the Faith is to review all applications for beatification and sainthood and then give reasons why these applications should be denied. He acts as "The Devil's Advocate" and this is the first time this phrase comes into use. [11] [12]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Setting the number of Cardinals to 70 is a reference to the Bible verse where 70 men gather as a court to decide on religious issues. Within some Jewish circles, people hope for the re-establishment of the Great Sanhedrin. It is group of 70 religious scholars who decide issues for the Jewish people. The last time such a group was gathered was during the time of Napoleon. Hitler also gathered a group of 3 rabbis to get a judgement on whether the Turkish Karaites are Jewish. The rabbis ruled that they were not Jewish, so the Karaites were saved. [13] [14]
Setting the number of Cardinals to 70 is a reference to the Bible verse where 70 men gather as a court to decide on religious issues. Within some Jewish circles, people hope for the re-establishment of the Great Sanhedrin. It is group of 70 religious scholars who decide issues for the Jewish people. The last time such a group was gathered was during the time of Napoleon. Hitler also gathered a group of 3 rabbis to get a judgement on whether the Turkish Karaites are Jewish. The rabbis ruled that they were not Jewish, so the Karaites were saved. [13] [14]
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