Gad Saad’s The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense

I highly recommend Professor Gad Saad’s book The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense. Here are five quotes from the book:

“The Ideological Conformity of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Progressives seem to believe that if they say the words “diversity, inclusion, and equity” often enough, all problems will be solved. But of course only certain types of diversity, inclusion, and equity matter. Diversity based on race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity are foundational sacraments in the Cult of Diversity. On the other hand, intellectual and political diversity are heretical ideas that need to be expunged.”

“Any system that is built on a false understanding of human nature is doomed to fail. Building a society where the primary objective is to protect one’s fragile self-esteem from the dangers of competition will only lead to a society of weakness, entitlement, and apathy. Life is necessarily competitive; society is necessarily hierarchical. It does no one any favors to pursue a utopian vision of society where no one’s feelings are hurt.”

“Hope is an elixir of life. It is the engine that propels us forward in our pursuit of countless goals, all of which might otherwise be impossible to undertake if we were bereft of hope.”

“The radical snake always ends up eating its tail. ISIS kills all Muslims who are not Muslim enough. Progressives denounce all those who are not progressive enough.”

“Progressives consider it laudable to criticize, mock, or insult all religious beliefs—except for the one untouchable faith. To attack Islam in the West is “Islamophobic,” “racist,” and “bigoted.”"

On Michael Pillsbury’s book The Hundred-Year Marathon

In his book, The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower, Michael Pillsbury opines that in China there exists a secret political cabal which is assiduously working on a long term plan to topple the USA from the position of the world’s superpower. 

This would imply that the leaders of the last Chinese imperial dynasty, the Great Qing, which was overthrown in 1918, and post-Imperial leaders like Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and the leaders of the post-Tiananmen Square massacre China were all part of the same secretive cabal which is determined to overthrow the USA and capture the world. 

This does not seem likely. It is impossible to visualize arch-enemies like Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping being part of the same cabal and having a singular geopolitical ambition. However, in the last two decades, China has shown a clear intention, if not the vision, to play a significant role in global geopolitics and economy. 

In my opinion, China’s marathon to capture the world from the USA began 20 to 25 years ago, and in 2024 it has achieved this goal to a significant extent. It is hard to predict what the world will be like by 2050, but it is likely that by then America will cease to be a superpower. But America’s fall might not automatically translate into China’s rise. 

In his book, Pillsbury presents China as a master of geopolitical deception. He writes: 

“Chinese literature on strategy from Sun Tzu through Mao Tse-tung has emphasized deception more than many military doctrines. Chinese deception is oriented mainly toward inducing the enemy to act inexpediently and less toward protecting the integrity of one’s own plans. In other cultures, particularly Western, deception is used primarily with the intention of ensuring that one’s own forces can realize their maximum striking potential … the prevalent payoff of deception for the Chinese is that one does not have to use one’s own forces.… Chinese tend to shroud their means in secrecy and not publicize the day-to-day activities of those in power; for surprise and deception are assumed to be vital.”

I think both the USA and China are masters of deception. Also, it is likely that when the USA ceases to be a superpower, China will decline, and that will pave way for multiple other centers of power to emerge. The age of a single superpower dominating the world is over. The world will not see America or Chinese hegemony in the times to come. 

Pillsbury’s book is fast-paced and entertaining but his theory that the Chinese have a secret cabal with a 100-year-old plan to overthrow the USA is unbelievable in light of China’s tumultuous and violent history in the 20th century.

Civilizations & Their Sense of Time

How different the major civilizations are can be judged by examining their sense of time. 

When Hindus are asked to date a historical event, they will place it in the four Yugas: Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dwapara Yuga and the Kali Yuga. To date the entire universe, the Hindus will use cycles of time much greater than Yugas: Kalpa and Manvantara.

When the Chinese are asked to date a historical event, they will place it within one of their fourteen imperial dynasties. The first Chinese dynasty was founded by Yu the Great in 2070 BC, and the last Chinese dynasty fell in 1912, with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor.

When Westerners are asked to date a historical event, they will place it before or after the birth of Jesus Christ (BC or AD). For the events that took place during the AD phase, they will prefer to come up with an exact date in their Gregorian calendar. 

When the Islamic practitioners are asked to date a historical event, they will consider only those which happened after the advent of Islam, and dismiss the events before that.