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Saturday, December 30, 2017
We are the Champions.
So I was going through the #polymath hashtags on Twitter just a second ago, which led me to someone's post about Brian Mays. And that led me to Mays' song "We will rock you", which was apparently released with a song with a lot of meaning to me as a child "We are the Champions."
Was it at the end of one of the Mighty Ducks movies?
Anyway, if I happen to come across something that "strikes up a memory," then I may just write about it to cement it.
Was it at the end of one of the Mighty Ducks movies?
Anyway, if I happen to come across something that "strikes up a memory," then I may just write about it to cement it.
The length of my blog posts will vary
Readers of The Prince George's Polymath do not have to expect a long, drawn-out think piece every time they come to my site, as some blog posts will be as short as one line.
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Welcome to the Prince George's Polymath Blog!
Hello all!
Welcome to the Prince George's Polymath blog, where I will be reviewing books, sharing my ideas, writing articles, and sharing my work.
I've aspired to be a polymath since at least 2011–and I could've sworn as a college student prior and at least an intellectual since Sophomore year–ever since I came across the word when reading Christopher Hitchens' Wikipedia page. I plan on being in MENSA by age 40.
Now, as I check his Wikipedia page, a few moments ago, I see Richard Dawkins' description of Hitchens as a polymath is after Hitchens' death in 2011, after I was in college. But I'm sure I came across the term in college and someone described him as a polymath also when he was alive. Wikipedia is editable, after all. Or it could have been someone else entirely.
What is a polymath?
Let's consult Etymology Online:
Do you want to become a polymath too? A renaissance man, in other words?
Here's a website that I found in college that goes into the history of the term polymath and Renaissance Man and how to become more of one. Through the link you can find the archived version from when I was a college student, but I actually linked the 2014 version.
And yes, I'm from Prince George's County, Maryland.
This is my intellectual contribution to my city (Temple Hills) and county.
I'll be penning book reviews in the tradition of Christopher Hitchens, George Scialabba, Christianity Today's now-defunct "Books and Culture" magazine, and many more.
I'm a journalist who was been published in at least eight different publications: CNSNews, The Hill newspaper (my favorite place to work EVER!), Politic365, Maryland Reporter, The American Spectator, The National Libertarian Party's flagship publication LP News, DMVDaily.com, and The Baltimore Post-Examiner.
I plan for my work to be featured in many more publications.
I'm also a real estate agent as of 2017! The day is coming when I pull together my political, theological, economic, and real estate expertise to help inform people in my county, state, and country.
Expect a print/online newsletter and a video newsletter.
Politically speaking, I am an anarchist in the libertarian tradition. A libertarian anarchist. A libertarian Christian anarchist. A Christian anarcho-capitalist. A "Christian Rothbardian" (my coinage) in the sense that I agree with all of what Murray Rothbard says on economics and war (and everything else) except when it conflicts with the Bible. Usually, that's not a lot.
However, if the Bible mandates a kind of government then I'm willing to be some kind of minarchist. Whatever it states, it has to be twisted out of recognizable form to support the current warfare-welfare operations of the U.S. imperium. Both conservative, liberal, and libertarian views are open to critique here. Nothing–except God!–is sacred here.
An anti-war activist, I am fiercely and consistently anti-war, stretching back almost a decade now, and I founded Americans Against Regime Change and War and Christians Against Regime Change in War in April 2017. I hope they gain momentum quickly. I need help with those projects.
On the theological side, my biggest influences are Scot McKnight, Douglas Wilson, N.T. Wright, John Owen, J. Gresham Machen, and John Murray. (Honorable mention goes to Peter Leithart but it took me an hour after writing the previous sentence to remember his name; the same goes for Gary North; heavens! How did I forget Michael Brown? I deliberately didn't mention Gary Demar but Is Jesus Coming Soon? is the book that in 2008 single-handedly pulled me out of my dispensational and agnostic confusion) Additionally, Third Millennium Ministries' free online theological classes have been super helpful–and I'd encourage anyone to attend. Anyone!
I want to get into Herman Bavinck, Geerhardus Vos, Herman Ridderbos and all that "Biblical Theology" organic drama of history type of stuff. I own a few books from Vos and Ridderbos, I just haven't read them yet (besides skimming through, reading part of a sermon, and reading parts of chapters to get the gestalt of the books).
Recently, a friend of mine from church and I discussed "the perfect preacher" concept, and we both thought that only Jesus can be the perfect preacher, and that the discussion can be pretty dangerous. It's just something that theologians do to put their imprint on theological history. Pride. Simply put, if Jesus isn't the answer, it's an invalid discussion.
However, an "all-star" council of elders seems to be a less harmful idea to throw around. In my rotating selection of preachers, I'd have N.T. Wright to preach on paganism in modern society and Jesus as King, and he and the Third Millennium guys preach on the resurrection and its meaning; Scot McKnight to preach on the Kingdom and the Sermon on the Mount; John Murray to preach on the Resurrection and Redemption (essentially everything in his book Redemption, Accomplished and Applied); J. Gresham Machen to preach on the New Testament, Christianity in general, and the Church's role in politics (see "The Responsibility of the Church in Our New Age" found in the appendix to Fighting the Good Fight, by D. G. Hart and John Muether, and Machen's own book, What Is Christianity?); Douglas Wilson to preach about Christ and the Church as he weaves in apologetic aphorisms; and John Owen to preach about sin, killing sin, and everything covered in his masterpiece The Mortification of Sin. Peter Leithart, as sort of an on the bench "sixth man" kind of preacher, would preach about the relationship to Christianity and Empire from his wonderful book (from what I've read so far) Between Babel and Beast: America and Empires in Biblical Perspective (Americanism is a sin!). Michael Brown would teach Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus Sunday school!
In my studies, I've realized that all of the theologians have shortcomings. Does that make Christianity wrong? By shortcomings, I don't mean some kind of sexual sin or ethical deviance. I mean that some cover topics much better than others; and on others they could use some help.
I attend an Orthodox Presbyterian Church. I am an African-American (God that feels so good to write!!!).
My study of economics began in college as a recreational thing. Like my study of apologetics and philosophy, it grew out of my religious studies (and curiosity). At one point, I was a card-carrying Ludwig Von Mises Institute member. Previously an economics autodidact as much as one can be in an age of books and online education, I decided to and have been enrolled in the Mises Academy since 2011. (I'm a super fan of online education and I think it has completely replaced my desire for grad school). I'm still not finished with my studies there. But I will be soon.
Murray Rothbard, Henry Hazlitt, Thomas Woods, Robert P. Murphy, Peter Schiff, Gary North, Walter E. Williams, and Thomas Sowell are my favorite economics writers and have left a collective imprint on me since college.
Peter Kreeft is my favorite philosopher (I think) -- or at least one with a philosophy degree.
Ron Paul is the greatest politician ever!
Despite my Christian background, I'm not very religious right now. I'll explain later. But I do still believe in God. The Bible makes me really good when reading it – and, when they're on it, the above mentioned theologians make me feel really good when reading their work. I know what true holiness feels like and I know what being a sinner feels like. Being a sinner feels like death at times.
On February 12, 2012, I purchased The Hallelujah Diet book -- months before my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer in 2012. I had no clue she would be later diagnosed with cancer when I bought the book, but I was at her hospital bedside that summer when she received the news that some of her cells were cancerous.
I recall looking for cures for cancer just as result of wondering—just like so many other topics I've ventured into—what the Bible says—this time about eating. I love eating healthily, but much sleep and exercise is necessary too. Otherwise, your lifestyle can negate all of that healthy eating. I'm a fan of the Hallelujah Diet and NutritionFacts.org. I'm currently enrolled in a plant-based diet course at the Rouxbe School. I want to support the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutritional Studies but HD and NF are my mainstays.
I want to pay people to attend these schools and bring their knowledge back to their communities.
And I'm not vegan by the way. I tried. A few times. I eat a lot of chicken and veggies though.
I workout a lot!
I want to get into both real estate and stock market investing. I don't trust anybody as my teachers. After attending live real estate investing seminars by Robert Kiyosaki (of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame) and Daymond John (of Shark Tank and F.U.B.U. fame), I'm going with John Schaub and the Online Trading Academy. I hope to provide scholarships to send graduating high school seniors and college students to OTA, once again, in hopes that they bring their knowledge back to their communities.
On the artist side, my top three spoken word poets are Rasheed Copeland, Real T@lk, and my home girl Canden Webb. Lady Brion gets honorable mention (such a super descriptive girl "Color Me Jazz"!!!). My classic spoken words influences from high school are Sonya Renee and Taylor Mali; in early college, maybe late high school, Black Ice).
Catch me on the DC/Maryland spoken word scene!!! Battle rap too! URL what's hadd nann!
Yes, I still write poetry and raps...
... and plan to begin performing again and recording music in 2018.
My favorite rappers are CyHi the Prynce, Daylyt, Mickey Factz, Lauryn Hill, Lupe Fiasco, Aesop Rock, B-Magic, Talib Kweli, Shyne Po, Cassidy and Jay-Z. B-Magic will forever be my #2 favorite battle rapper and one of the greatest punchers ever. Daylyt is my favorite battle rapper. 30Squawww!!!
On the literary side of things, John Updike, by default, since I haven't read a novel in a long time, is my favorite novelist. In How Fiction Works, the New Yorker magazine book reviewer James Wood called John Updike's work, in disappointment (I recall), pointillist. I like that! Updike's attention to detail and word selection was unparalleled in comparison to the people I had to read in my English classes up until that point. Up until first semester senior year (Fall 09), I was uninterested in novels beyond my required college and high school readings. Seeing philosophy (Platonism and Marxism, for examples) and theology (Kierkegaard, Barth) in his novels made me see that novels can be a medium for advancing ideas and creating dialogue about philosophical concepts.
Moreover, Updike was a "man of letters," an author of belles-lettres, which is what I aspire to be and this blog is going to lead me into doing.
Online education is great! Because of it, I am currently enrolled in Udemy, Athanatos Online Apologetics Academy, Third Millenium Ministries, the Rouxbe Online Culinary School, and the Mises Institute's archived Moodle-based courses, to name a few (that I can remember off top...that may be all of them). I'm also a huge fan of The Great Courses and have a few courses in the stash. Reformed Theological Seminary provides iTunes University courses and I started, but did not finish, some courses there that I plan on completing. I'm going to check out Westminster Theological Seminary and Dallas Theological Seminary's iTunes U courses as well.
I've realized long ago that most of my intellectual influences are white (face it, academia has long been a white male enterprise). But interestingly, I am just realizing that most of my spoken word and rap influences (with two exceptions) are black. Yin and Yang.
I do plan to do heavy reading on anti-racism, black and African history, and then weaving that together with what I know from economics, politics, religion, etc. (Watch out for my e-books).
When I was a college student, I never wanted to lose the academic part of me.
This blog is keeping that part of me alive!
~C.G.
Support my efforts financially!
Please donate!
Or support my Patreon!
Become a Patron!
P.S. This blog can serve as my "intellectual autobiography." Certainly the foundation and footnotes will be here.
Welcome to the Prince George's Polymath blog, where I will be reviewing books, sharing my ideas, writing articles, and sharing my work.
I've aspired to be a polymath since at least 2011–and I could've sworn as a college student prior and at least an intellectual since Sophomore year–ever since I came across the word when reading Christopher Hitchens' Wikipedia page. I plan on being in MENSA by age 40.
Now, as I check his Wikipedia page, a few moments ago, I see Richard Dawkins' description of Hitchens as a polymath is after Hitchens' death in 2011, after I was in college. But I'm sure I came across the term in college and someone described him as a polymath also when he was alive. Wikipedia is editable, after all. Or it could have been someone else entirely.
What is a polymath?
Let's consult Etymology Online:
And there you have it.polymath (n.)1620s, from Greek polymathes "having learned much, knowing much," from polys "much" (from PIE root *pele- (1) "to fill") + root of manthanein "to learn" (from PIE root *mendh- "to learn").
Do you want to become a polymath too? A renaissance man, in other words?
Here's a website that I found in college that goes into the history of the term polymath and Renaissance Man and how to become more of one. Through the link you can find the archived version from when I was a college student, but I actually linked the 2014 version.
And yes, I'm from Prince George's County, Maryland.
This is my intellectual contribution to my city (Temple Hills) and county.
I'll be penning book reviews in the tradition of Christopher Hitchens, George Scialabba, Christianity Today's now-defunct "Books and Culture" magazine, and many more.
I'm a journalist who was been published in at least eight different publications: CNSNews, The Hill newspaper (my favorite place to work EVER!), Politic365, Maryland Reporter, The American Spectator, The National Libertarian Party's flagship publication LP News, DMVDaily.com, and The Baltimore Post-Examiner.
I plan for my work to be featured in many more publications.
I'm also a real estate agent as of 2017! The day is coming when I pull together my political, theological, economic, and real estate expertise to help inform people in my county, state, and country.
Expect a print/online newsletter and a video newsletter.
Politically speaking, I am an anarchist in the libertarian tradition. A libertarian anarchist. A libertarian Christian anarchist. A Christian anarcho-capitalist. A "Christian Rothbardian" (my coinage) in the sense that I agree with all of what Murray Rothbard says on economics and war (and everything else) except when it conflicts with the Bible. Usually, that's not a lot.
However, if the Bible mandates a kind of government then I'm willing to be some kind of minarchist. Whatever it states, it has to be twisted out of recognizable form to support the current warfare-welfare operations of the U.S. imperium. Both conservative, liberal, and libertarian views are open to critique here. Nothing–except God!–is sacred here.
An anti-war activist, I am fiercely and consistently anti-war, stretching back almost a decade now, and I founded Americans Against Regime Change and War and Christians Against Regime Change in War in April 2017. I hope they gain momentum quickly. I need help with those projects.
On the theological side, my biggest influences are Scot McKnight, Douglas Wilson, N.T. Wright, John Owen, J. Gresham Machen, and John Murray. (Honorable mention goes to Peter Leithart but it took me an hour after writing the previous sentence to remember his name; the same goes for Gary North; heavens! How did I forget Michael Brown? I deliberately didn't mention Gary Demar but Is Jesus Coming Soon? is the book that in 2008 single-handedly pulled me out of my dispensational and agnostic confusion) Additionally, Third Millennium Ministries' free online theological classes have been super helpful–and I'd encourage anyone to attend. Anyone!
I want to get into Herman Bavinck, Geerhardus Vos, Herman Ridderbos and all that "Biblical Theology" organic drama of history type of stuff. I own a few books from Vos and Ridderbos, I just haven't read them yet (besides skimming through, reading part of a sermon, and reading parts of chapters to get the gestalt of the books).
Recently, a friend of mine from church and I discussed "the perfect preacher" concept, and we both thought that only Jesus can be the perfect preacher, and that the discussion can be pretty dangerous. It's just something that theologians do to put their imprint on theological history. Pride. Simply put, if Jesus isn't the answer, it's an invalid discussion.
However, an "all-star" council of elders seems to be a less harmful idea to throw around. In my rotating selection of preachers, I'd have N.T. Wright to preach on paganism in modern society and Jesus as King, and he and the Third Millennium guys preach on the resurrection and its meaning; Scot McKnight to preach on the Kingdom and the Sermon on the Mount; John Murray to preach on the Resurrection and Redemption (essentially everything in his book Redemption, Accomplished and Applied); J. Gresham Machen to preach on the New Testament, Christianity in general, and the Church's role in politics (see "The Responsibility of the Church in Our New Age" found in the appendix to Fighting the Good Fight, by D. G. Hart and John Muether, and Machen's own book, What Is Christianity?); Douglas Wilson to preach about Christ and the Church as he weaves in apologetic aphorisms; and John Owen to preach about sin, killing sin, and everything covered in his masterpiece The Mortification of Sin. Peter Leithart, as sort of an on the bench "sixth man" kind of preacher, would preach about the relationship to Christianity and Empire from his wonderful book (from what I've read so far) Between Babel and Beast: America and Empires in Biblical Perspective (Americanism is a sin!). Michael Brown would teach Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus Sunday school!
In my studies, I've realized that all of the theologians have shortcomings. Does that make Christianity wrong? By shortcomings, I don't mean some kind of sexual sin or ethical deviance. I mean that some cover topics much better than others; and on others they could use some help.
I attend an Orthodox Presbyterian Church. I am an African-American (God that feels so good to write!!!).
My study of economics began in college as a recreational thing. Like my study of apologetics and philosophy, it grew out of my religious studies (and curiosity). At one point, I was a card-carrying Ludwig Von Mises Institute member. Previously an economics autodidact as much as one can be in an age of books and online education, I decided to and have been enrolled in the Mises Academy since 2011. (I'm a super fan of online education and I think it has completely replaced my desire for grad school). I'm still not finished with my studies there. But I will be soon.
Murray Rothbard, Henry Hazlitt, Thomas Woods, Robert P. Murphy, Peter Schiff, Gary North, Walter E. Williams, and Thomas Sowell are my favorite economics writers and have left a collective imprint on me since college.
Peter Kreeft is my favorite philosopher (I think) -- or at least one with a philosophy degree.
Ron Paul is the greatest politician ever!
Despite my Christian background, I'm not very religious right now. I'll explain later. But I do still believe in God. The Bible makes me really good when reading it – and, when they're on it, the above mentioned theologians make me feel really good when reading their work. I know what true holiness feels like and I know what being a sinner feels like. Being a sinner feels like death at times.
On February 12, 2012, I purchased The Hallelujah Diet book -- months before my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer in 2012. I had no clue she would be later diagnosed with cancer when I bought the book, but I was at her hospital bedside that summer when she received the news that some of her cells were cancerous.
I recall looking for cures for cancer just as result of wondering—just like so many other topics I've ventured into—what the Bible says—this time about eating. I love eating healthily, but much sleep and exercise is necessary too. Otherwise, your lifestyle can negate all of that healthy eating. I'm a fan of the Hallelujah Diet and NutritionFacts.org. I'm currently enrolled in a plant-based diet course at the Rouxbe School. I want to support the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutritional Studies but HD and NF are my mainstays.
I want to pay people to attend these schools and bring their knowledge back to their communities.
And I'm not vegan by the way. I tried. A few times. I eat a lot of chicken and veggies though.
I workout a lot!
I want to get into both real estate and stock market investing. I don't trust anybody as my teachers. After attending live real estate investing seminars by Robert Kiyosaki (of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame) and Daymond John (of Shark Tank and F.U.B.U. fame), I'm going with John Schaub and the Online Trading Academy. I hope to provide scholarships to send graduating high school seniors and college students to OTA, once again, in hopes that they bring their knowledge back to their communities.
On the artist side, my top three spoken word poets are Rasheed Copeland, Real T@lk, and my home girl Canden Webb. Lady Brion gets honorable mention (such a super descriptive girl "Color Me Jazz"!!!). My classic spoken words influences from high school are Sonya Renee and Taylor Mali; in early college, maybe late high school, Black Ice).
Catch me on the DC/Maryland spoken word scene!!! Battle rap too! URL what's hadd nann!
Yes, I still write poetry and raps...
... and plan to begin performing again and recording music in 2018.
My favorite rappers are CyHi the Prynce, Daylyt, Mickey Factz, Lauryn Hill, Lupe Fiasco, Aesop Rock, B-Magic, Talib Kweli, Shyne Po, Cassidy and Jay-Z. B-Magic will forever be my #2 favorite battle rapper and one of the greatest punchers ever. Daylyt is my favorite battle rapper. 30Squawww!!!
On the literary side of things, John Updike, by default, since I haven't read a novel in a long time, is my favorite novelist. In How Fiction Works, the New Yorker magazine book reviewer James Wood called John Updike's work, in disappointment (I recall), pointillist. I like that! Updike's attention to detail and word selection was unparalleled in comparison to the people I had to read in my English classes up until that point. Up until first semester senior year (Fall 09), I was uninterested in novels beyond my required college and high school readings. Seeing philosophy (Platonism and Marxism, for examples) and theology (Kierkegaard, Barth) in his novels made me see that novels can be a medium for advancing ideas and creating dialogue about philosophical concepts.
Moreover, Updike was a "man of letters," an author of belles-lettres, which is what I aspire to be and this blog is going to lead me into doing.
Online education is great! Because of it, I am currently enrolled in Udemy, Athanatos Online Apologetics Academy, Third Millenium Ministries, the Rouxbe Online Culinary School, and the Mises Institute's archived Moodle-based courses, to name a few (that I can remember off top...that may be all of them). I'm also a huge fan of The Great Courses and have a few courses in the stash. Reformed Theological Seminary provides iTunes University courses and I started, but did not finish, some courses there that I plan on completing. I'm going to check out Westminster Theological Seminary and Dallas Theological Seminary's iTunes U courses as well.
I've realized long ago that most of my intellectual influences are white (face it, academia has long been a white male enterprise). But interestingly, I am just realizing that most of my spoken word and rap influences (with two exceptions) are black. Yin and Yang.
I do plan to do heavy reading on anti-racism, black and African history, and then weaving that together with what I know from economics, politics, religion, etc. (Watch out for my e-books).
When I was a college student, I never wanted to lose the academic part of me.
This blog is keeping that part of me alive!
~C.G.
Support my efforts financially!
Please donate!
Or support my Patreon!
Become a Patron!
P.S. This blog can serve as my "intellectual autobiography." Certainly the foundation and footnotes will be here.
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