by Cynthia Chung “A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it”. – Frederick Douglass (former slave who would later become a great American statesman and diplomat) It has always been an utmost necessity to exercise…
Sun Yat-sen’s Advice to Young Revolutionaries
By Matthew Ehret On January 1, 1912 Dr. Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated as the first president of the Republic of China consolidating a decades-long effort to overthrow an ancient feudal order premised upon a hereditary power structure of the “divine right of bloodlines”. Sun’s fascinating life defies any pre-existing categorization as a “socialist” or “capitalist”…
Learning to Think Like Mencius in a Time of Crisis
Since ancient times, philosophers have sought the remedy to humanity’s recurrent plunges into war, division, chaos, ignorance and all the moral, temporal and spiritual ills that accompany those disharmonies. In ancient Greece, this effort was spearheaded by Plato (427-347 BCE) and his school of disciples that applied the methods of their master Socrates (470-399 BCE)…
Some Additional Words on Today’s Pythagorean Revival- From Bussard’s Polywell to the Safire Project
By Matthew Ehret In my last report, I introduced two opposing schools of scientific thinking that have been at odds with one another since the days of Plato’s Academy at Athens. One system sits dominant upon the throne of today’s western science wearing the garb of “standard model quantum theory” and “standard model cosmology” and…
The Pythagorean Revival Needed to Overthrow Today’s Standard Model Priesthood
By Matthew Ehret Today, I would like to say a few words about the suppressed Pythagorean Tradition both as a celebration of a lost art of thinking that gave rise to the greatest revolutions in science and even moral philosophy but also as an antidote to the impotent cult of scientism which has permeated every…
It’s Time for a New “Age of the Muses”
By David Gosselin “To tame the savageness of man, and make gentle the life of this world” -Aeschylus The twentieth century has been an age fraught with discussion of new ages: the “New Age”, an “Age of Aquarius,” the “Ultimate Revolution”, a “New World Order,” a “New American Century” the age of “Modernism,” a “Post-Modern”…
Beyond the Lines: On Shelley’s “Ode to a Skylark”
By David Gosselin “To a Skylark” is perhaps one of the greatest nests of poetic paradoxes in the history of English poetry. Its language is shaped around the creation of ironical images, starting with the enigmatic “Hail to thee, blithe Spirit/Bird thou never wert!” and proceeding to describe “unpremeditated art,” “a cloud of fire” and…
A New Project is Unveiled! Un nouveau projet est dévoilé!
The Rising Tide Foundation has joined hands with Montreal based artist/astronomer Patrick Cyr to unveil a new project for teaching astronomy, geometry, art and philosophy using a new observatory design premised on the dodecahedral structure. The first prototypical observatory is nearly complete and will be installed on location atop one of the highest hills in…
Study of the Heavens: a History of Chinese Astronomy
Transcript of a lecture given by Cynthia Chung at ‘The Universe, Creativity and You‘ Symposium. We live in a strange time. Many have forgotten the power of imagination and are instead bogged down with the reality of ‘practicality’. The reality of ‘the budget’, and the reality of ‘what is deemed useful and what is deemed…
A Look Into Halton Arp’s “Peculiar Galaxies” and its Implications for the World We Live In
By Matthew Ehret National Geographic Magazine recently covered a widely publicized scientific study which supposedly proved how and when our universe would die. National Geographic stated: “Physicists believe that countless billions of years from now, after all the stars have burned out, the universe will be a cold, dark expanse where nothing of interest happens,…
RTF Symposium: “The Universe, Creativity and You”
Do we live in a world of scarcity and limits? Or do we live in a world of creative potential? Is humanity a closed system or an open system? These questions have animated the thinking of scientists and philosophers for thousands of years and strikes at the very heart of the nature of humanity and…
The Emerging Eurasian Alliance as an Opportunity not a Threat
by Cynthia Chung This article is based off of a presentation done at the RTF symposium on Nov 16th titled “The Art of Peace: The New Silk Road Counters an Age of Turbulence” This past November marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and along with its celebration the continuation of a…
How China’s Gorbachev Was Flushed in 1989
Today, many citizens across the western world have become highly susceptible to the many narratives that attempt to paint the cause of all of our woes on China. This modern supervillain, we are told, has long plotted to impose its imperial will upon all nations of the world starting with Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet and…
Statecraft in Modern China: From Sun Yat-sen to the New Silk Road
Many citizens in both the west and east still find themselves trapped under a set of assumptions that presumes Chinese and American cultures arise from two opposing and incompatible worlds of politics, economics and culture. In this Rising Tide Foundation lecture, Dr. Quan Le shatters that belief by introducing the history, philosophy and political economic…
Brunelleschi, Cusa and Kepler: The Makings of the Italian Renaissance
In this symposium, we look into how Brunelleschi, Cusa and Kepler played primary roles in shaping the Italian Renaissance. In the first class, given by Cynthia Chung, we investigate why the dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore is so special. How did a dome spark a Renaissance? Why did the Florentines work on such…
China and the Founding of the United States
It has become too easy for people to presume that no two cultures could be so far removed as the United States from China. However, in this Rising Tide Foundation lecture, Dr. David Wang debunks that popular belief by showcasing the fruits of many years of research into a dimension of American history too often…
Can China’s Long March 5 Revive the Spirit of JFK?
China’s successful launch of its Long March 5 Rocket on December 27, 2019 was a powerful reminder of humanity’s true mission and higher nature as a species of reason and discovery which came at just the right moment as China/US tensions have fallen to new lows in recent months. For those who may not be aware, the…
America’s Emerging Friendship with Russia and China: A Revival of the Henry Wallace Doctrine for the Post-War World?
As impossible as it is for some to conceive of an alliance between Russia, China and the USA, the fact is that such a friendship is embedded within the historical traditions of America and have a strong (though forgotten precedent in the 1941-1944 presidential term of America’s President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his loyal collaborator…
The Father of Modern China Was Inspired by Lincoln
By Matthew Ehret China today is a paradox for many people. On the one side, it is a nation based upon centralized government, yet it also has a vast private sector, entrepreneurial culture and market economy. Its leaders call this “socialism with Chinese characteristics,” but there is a larger history at play, going back to…
Gaslighting: The Psychology of Shaping Another’s Reality
Cynthia Chung “But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.” – Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” We are…
The Edgar Poe You Never Knew: a Mere Writer of Horror or a Humanist Master of the Mind
by Cynthia Chung What say of it? what say CONSCIENCE grim, That spectre in my path? -Chamberlain’s Pharronida This is a transcript of a lecture given at an RTF Symposium titled “The Edgar Poe You Never Knew“ The purpose of this paper is to debunk the myth surrounding Poe; that he was just a mere…
A Study of Schiller’s The Ghost Seer
By Cynthia Chung The Ghost Seer first appeared in several instalments in Schiller’s publication journal Thalia from 1787 to 1789, and was later published as a three-volume book. It was one of the most popular works of Schiller’s during his lifetime. People were attracted by the subject of mysticism, apparitions and the horrifying unknown. It…
The Trans Geopolitical Roots of Space Exploration
By Matthew Ehret In these days of profound uncertainty, it is comforting knowing that certain fundamental truths still exist and serve as guiding lights through the dark waters. Among the highest of those fundamental truths are those enunciated in 1967 by Reverend Martin Luther King who ruminated over the dangers of imperialism and nuclear war…
Kennedy and the New Frontier
In this Rising Tide Foundation lecture delivered as a sequel to last week’s Franklin Roosevelt’s Republican Grand Design, historian Pascal Chevrier introduces the figure of John F. Kennedy from several valuable frames of reference: His family traditions, his experience in the military during WW2, the geopolitical world in which he lived, his anti-imperial vision and…
The Golden Section and Astronomy: Observatory Construction Update with Patrick Cyr
How does astronomy relate to an appreciation of life and how do both relate to the golden section? In this short video the Rising Tide Foundation’s Matthew Ehret and classical painter/astronomer Patrick Cyr discuss the driving intention and philosophy behind the construction of a new dodecahedral observatory and the importance of the Golden Section in…
Profiles in Poetry: Friedrich Schiller
By David Gosselin “Trust me, the fountain of youth, it is no fable. It is running Truly and always. Ye ask, where? In poetical art.” – Friedrich Schiller, The Fountain of Youth Friedrich Schiller was born on November 10th, 1759 in Marbach, Württemberg. He was without question one of the greatest poets and dramatists to…
An Introduction to Friedrich Schiller: Theater Considered as a Moral Institution
by Cynthia Chung I know of only one secret to guarding man against depravity, and that is: to arm his heart against weakness. – Friedrich Schiller’s Theater Considered as a Moral Institution As within any period of time, the question is repeatedly asked “What is the Role of the Artist?” That is, what is the…
The Russian Poet of Freedom: On Pushkin’s “Little Tragedies” and the Law of Nemesis
Many in the West are not familiar with the works of Alexander Pushkin. They may not even be aware of his existence and this is a real loss for western thinking. Just as Shakespeare is admired throughout the world and not just in Britain, for his lessons are universal and touch all hearts no matter…
Three Sister Ballads
David Gosselin, author of the three sister ballads feature here composed an accompanying essay showcasing his philosophy of poetry, creativity and the importance of rediscovering classical principles of artistic composition in our modern age which can be read here. The Sea Restless—I awaken—As the city stirs,Street lights flicker like stars,And the sea whispers. Languid ocean…
A Review of Dr. Michael Clarage’s ‘The Electrical Shaping of Biology’
It has become commonplace within the world of reductionist biology to presume that all ponderable qualities of living matter (including the morphology, cell development, and purpose of both cells and individual members of species), are shaped entirely by DNA. If this were true, then it must be assumed that all the information contained in the…
Dr. Luc Montagnier and the Coming Revolutions in Optical Biophysics
By Matthew Ehret On April 16, a Nobel Prize winning virologist Luc Montagnier made headlines by asserting his controversial belief that COVID-19 was made in a laboratory in direct opposition to such respected figures as Dr. Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, the World Health Organization and the teams of evolutionary virologists of Nature Magazine. Much has…
Optical Biophysics, Galaxy Formation and You
Is the universe living or dead? Is living matter just an isolated cased of anti-entropy within an otherwise entropic universe, slowly dying a heat death? Is space empty or saturated with an animating principle? Are the laws of the macro domain truly separate from the atomic domain or are there unifying principles that unite both…
Franklin Roosevelt’s Republican Grand Design
In this Rising Tide Foundation lecture (the first of a two part series), Pascal Chevrier introduces the figure of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from multiple dimensions: Family history, childhood, his philosophy of statecraft, his entry into politics, battles with polio and his emergence as a world leader who fought a multi level war with powerful…
Now Available! Clash of the Two Americas vol. 1 (The Unfinished Symphony)
The Rising Tide Foundation is proud to announce that the first volume of “Clash of the Two Americas” is now available for purchase as a Paperback, Kindle and PDF under the theme “The Unfinished Symphony”. In order to whet your appetite, I include here the introduction of the new book which also features a summary of each…
Bandung (Asian-African) Conference- The Voice of the People
This week’s Rising Tide Foundation lecture featured Cynthia Chung’s brilliant elaboration of a major historic fight that occurred amidst the heat of the Cold War in Bandung, Indonesia. This conference saw world leaders from the emerging non-aligned movement, and global south, featuring Pan African, Pan Arab and other anti-colonial forces who stood in defiance to…
The Dream of an African Renaissance: Cheikh Anta Diop’s Vision
In this class exploring the life, and research of the great Senegalese scientist, philosopher and statesman Cheikh Anta Diop and his life, Nicholas Jones (President of Artists’ Alliance for Africa) introduces a picture of Africa and her deep history that is quite different from what we might expect. A precolonial glory connected with Egypt’s ancient…
The Power of Classical Culture in Shaping the Future
By Cynthia Chung Transcript of a lecture given by Cynthia Chung, co-founder of Rising Tide Foundation, on April 28, 2019 at a symposium held in Montreal Canada dealing with the unified growth of cultural optimism, beautiful art and real economic development as it is being manifested today with the New Silk Road in Asia, Africa…
The Harmony Between Tianxia and Westphalia
By Matthew Ehret I have noticed that many pro-Chinese thinkers and writers have lately made the mistake of presuming that Chinese culture and civilization stands in total opposition to the divisive/imperially minded western culture which has laid waste to much of the world over the past centuries. This perception has expressed itself in the various…
The BRICS as an Antidote to the Intellectual Nothingness of Cultural Relativism
The rampant anti-Chinese (and Russian) bias pervasive in today’s society has a lot to do with the fact that people have been conditioned by a very messy world outlook known as “cultural relativism”. While attractive on the surface due to its promotion of “respect and toleration” for other cultures on the one hand and its…
Leibniz: Scientist, Sinophile and Bridge Between East and West
By Matthew Ehret Many people would be surprised to discover that Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716), a German polymath and logician best known for his discovery of Calculus, was one of the most important sinophiles of the 17th century, whose writings were instrumental in bringing the idea of Chinese culture and civilization to Europe. Leibniz recognized the value…
Book Review: Voices on the Wind by Daniel Leach
By David Gosselin It is absurd to think that the only way to tell if a poem is lasting is to wait and see if it lasts. The right reader of a good poem can tell the moment it strikes him that he has taken an immortal wound – that he will never get over…
Reviving the Memory of Time through Ruins
By Ryan Hamadeh An article I wrote that ponders the significance of Culture. What secrets inhabit this revered term. We use it abundantly in an ill defined way, but up close it reveals secrets which bestow meaning to our most profound perplexion. Countries to have lost their way in bitter war or societies that yearn…
Profiles in Poetry: Robert Frost
By Adam Sedia “A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” —Robert Frost To many in America, Robert Frost is the grandfatherly originator of “The Road Not Taken,” and a few other selected quotations printed on motivational posters. He is relegated to the status of Mahatma Gandhi—a respected figure by reputation, but understood little…
Clarity vs. Obscurity I: The Essences of Classicism and Modernism Compared
By Adam Sedia Classical and modern poetry are inarguably different. Indeed, modernism’s chief boast is its break with classicism and tradition more broadly. The difference is palpable in even the most cursory reading of a classical poem alongside a modernist one. Yet in what does the difference lie? It might be tempting to follow Justice…
Clarity vs. Obscurity V: Eliot’s Masks
By Adam Sedia Click here for Part I, Part II, Part III , and Part IV to this series. T.S. Eliot means many things to many different people. Like Yeats he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. In the academy he numbers among the titans of twentieth-century poetry, with The Waste Land hailed as the epic of our…
WHY Russia Saved the United States: The Forgotten History of a Brotherhood
Why did Russia’s Czar Alexander II deploy the Russian navy to the coasts of the USA during the height of the Civil War in 1863? What dynamic shaped the rise of the great rail building traditions across Russia, the USA, Germany, Japan and France in the 19th century and how did this process shape the…
Why the American System Matters: Franklin, Lincoln, FDR and You [Anton Chaitkin RTF Lecture]
In this RTF lecture, historian Anton Chaitkin shines light on the forgotten Promethean traditions of the United States with a focus on the life, thought and struggle of four great personalities: Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and John F Kennedy. Anton demonstrates that the system of political economy that these statesmen devoted their lives…
China’s Sputnik Moment Kindles a New Spark of Hope for the World
By Matthew Ehret It was once believed in the west that the future would be beautiful, just, and as plentiful as it was peaceful. Under John F. Kennedy’s bold leadership the idea of space exploration was more than a simple “space race” or plopping a human being on the moon “within the decade and returning…
The Chinese-Russian-Iranian Alliance Ushers in a New Hope for the Middle East
By Matthew Ehret Russia and China have accelerated the next phase of Middle East reconstruction and stabilization this week with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s March 24-30th Middle East tour resulting in the finalization of the long-awaited Five Point Initiative for Security in Southwest Asia on March 30th and $400 billion Iran deal on March 27th. These milestones were accompanied by…
