Hacienda Publishing

21/01/2024

A piece of my mind:
The inspiration for this book was the need to enlighten young social scientists about the realities of communism in all its varieties, principally in the former Soviet Union and China, past and present, and so-to-speak, correct the record for historians, sociologists, and political scientists. And so, this book discusses the barbarity of communism in the 20th century and how it has changed the face of this world for the worse, and the repercussions are felt in the 21st century. In communism, the state, incarnated in one political party, owns all means of production, distribution, and even consumption, ostensibly under an egalitarian and “on need” basis. In practice, communist party officials, as political elites, are “more equal than others,” and reserve to themselves their “fair share” at the expense of the masses.

Moreover, communism comes about by the “class struggle” and imposition by force and violent revolution, for the establishment of the “dictatorship of the proletariat.” This may seem basic information, but it has been lost in the present generation of the public at large as well as young researchers in the social sciences, who see communism akin to socialism for the establishment of equality and “for the betterment of humanity,” as opposed to the “rugged individualism” and “cold-hearted capitalism” of the free enterprise system, which are allegedly concepts that have no moral concerns for our fellow citizens. History, as now revealed in this book, especially lesser-known historical accounts from sources that have not been given the attention they deserve to shed light in those dark corners of communist history in the Soviet Russia and China. Unfortunately, the repercussions have been felt through decades of epochal events up to the present age.

To paraphrase Mao Tse-tung, communism is the attainment of political power by the barrel of a gun and complete control of all services and the methods of production, distribution, and consumption of goods by the omnipotent state. There are minimal or no private property rights. The repressive machinery of the secret police and the military maintain the social, economic, and political power structure in the nation.

Stalin intensified the process that began with Vladimir Lenin, and he not only exterminated the purported “enemies of the people” but also wiped out almost the entire ranks of Lenin’s old Bolshevik comrades, including Lev Kamenev, Gregory Zinoviev, Nikolai Bukharin, Karl Radek, Antonov-Ovseyenko (leader of the Bolshevik Military Organization that stormed the Winter Palace during the 1917 October Revolution), Gleb I. Boky, Y.A. Ganetsky (Polish communist who was Lenin’s liaison with the Germans during World War I and the sealed train affair), and Leon Trotsky, et cetera. No one killed more communists than the communist-in-chief himself, Joseph Stalin. This extermination of purported enemies, ant the accompanied terror is described in this book, through World War II in the Eastern Front and beyond.

The horrors of Soviet communism and the inception of the Gulag intensified to a fevered pitch under Joseph Stalin. That is why Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago is subtitled 1918-1956. Those years include the Lenin, Stalin, and early years of the collective Soviet leadership, ostensibly led by Georgy Malenkov.

Soviet repression moderated under Nikita Khrushchev. But even Khrushchev crushed the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, the same year he denounced Stalin at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He also ordered the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Leonid Brezhnev, who engaged United States President Richard Nixon and the West in détente, ordered the crushing of the Prague Spring in 1968 and the fatal invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Thus, Soviet repression did not end, in fact, until the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the USSR and its satellites (1989-1991). Nevertheless, authoritarianism seems to be an inherent part of the Russian character and persists to this day under Russian “democracy” and Vladimir Putin.

Chinese communism that began with Mao is slightly of a different variety, but it was still gruesome, sanguinary, and brutal, and it only moderated to different intensities by Mao’s successors, who still idolize him, despite the death of 40 to 60 million of Chinese and other nationalities left in the wake of his dictatorship. These horrendous moments and their aftermath are described in this book. --- Dr. Miguel Faria, Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

21/01/2024

For some time I have felt that Western civilization was under siege by friend and foe alike, and that to survive it needed a concerted defense. Before I began my unexpected apologia of Western culture and civilization, I felt I needed not only to explain myself to my friends but also specifically rebut those assertions. Although there was a bit of truth to their assertions, there was also another side to the story that was no longer taught in our unidirectional public school system distorting history. Today both the educational system and the popular culture engender and propagandize multiculturalism, diversity, and emphasize the alleged evils of Western culture, and at its center, the much-maligned Catholic Church. And so this apologia unfolded. Unless otherwise stated I was the “champion” of the conservative cause to some and the “apologist” to others, depending on the reader’s political perspective. I hope to re-educate those who have at least kept an open mind, despite the barrage of cultural indoctrination denigrating our Western legacy that we have been subjected to over the last several decades... As to the popular culture, the anti-religion bias, particular anti-Catholic propaganda, is exhaustive. Ask yourself, when was the last time you saw a Protestant minister, or (even more rare) a Catholic priest depicted as doing a good deed or even being a good Christian?

They are now openly subverting the churches (which used to be a check upon the state), breaking down the family unit, and destroying our civilization, but the people remain asleep or ignorant because they are dependent on government handouts and socialist policies so they tolerate authoritarianism and their loss of freedom.

Yet, while the brilliant popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, may have made good cases in support of the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, the present popularity-seeking Pope Francis I, is a good example that the doctrine not always stands. Yes, we must admit the Catholic Church has committed errors in the past. And yet on the balance sheet of actions, the Catholic Church has done much more good than evil. Those “monuments,” those Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages (such as Notre Dame in Paris) and the Renaissance (such as St. Peters in Rome), those marvels of Western civilization are true monuments and symbols of the Western intellectual tradition. The way they came about is not the way we have been led to believe. Gothic cathedrals were built by professional guilds, the first such specialized trade guilds in the Western world. No slaves or serfs worked in building those cathedrals. Laborers were well paid and if hurt on the job, were taken care of by the guilds, e.g., carpentry, masonry, etc., they belonged to. Guilds even arranged for the funerals of their members and families.... --- Dr. Miguel Faria, Controversies in Medicine and Neuroscience: Through the Prism of History, Neurobiology, and Bioethics (2023), Cambridge Scholars Publishing in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. https://www.amazon.com/Controversies.../dp/1527594173

21/01/2024

[W]hat is right and true is also eternal, and does not begin or end with written statutes....From this point of view it can be readily understood that those who formulated wicked and unjust statutes for nations, thereby breaking their promises and agreements, put into effect anything but ‘laws.’ It may thus be clear that in the very definition of the term "law" there inheres the idea and principle of choosing what is just and true....Therefore Law is the distinction between things just and unjust, made in agreement with that primal and most ancient of all things, Nature; and in conformity to nature's standard are framed those human laws which inflict punishment upon the wicked but defend and protect the good. — Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman statesman, lawyer, Skeptic-Stoic philosopher optimate (traditional Republican) principles. “Father of his Country by the Roman Senate. Assassinated on the orders of Populist demagogue Marc Antony.
"And indeed, gentlemen, there exists a law, not written down anywhere but born in our hearts; a law which comes to us not by training or custom or reading but by derivation and absorption and adoption from nature itself; a law which has come to us not from theory but from practice, not by instruction but by natural intuition. I refer to the law which lays it down that, if our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right."--- Cicero, Roman orator, Selected Political Speeches [M. Grant translation, pg. 222, 1969).
Natural Rights are not granted by the State but endowed by God or Nature and are inherent to human beings who preserve their liberty. The Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero (106–43 B.C.), influenced by Aristotle and the Stoic philosophers discussed the tenets of Natural Law—universal, just, and eternal laws—derived from Nature’s God. On self-defense, he wrote, “Civilized people are taught by logic, barbarians by necessity, communities by tradition; and the lesson is inculcated even in wild beasts by nature itself. They learn that they have to defend their own bodies and persons and lives from violence of any and every kind by all means within their power.”— Dr. Miguel Faria, America, Guns, and Freedom (2019)

19/01/2024

16/01/2024

[W]hat is right and true is also eternal, and does not begin or end with written statutes....From this point of view it can be readily understood that those who formulated wicked and unjust statutes for nations, thereby breaking their promises and agreements, put into effect anything but ‘laws.’ It may thus be clear that in the very definition of the term "law" there inheres the idea and principle of choosing what is just and true....Therefore Law is the distinction between things just and unjust, made in agreement with that primal and most ancient of all things, Nature; and in conformity to nature's standard are framed those human laws which inflict punishment upon the wicked but defend and protect the good. — Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman statesman, lawyer, Skeptic-Stoic philosopher optimate (traditional Republican) principles. “Father of his Country by the Roman Senate. Assassinated on the orders of Populist demagogue Marc Antony.

"And indeed, gentlemen, there exists a law, not written down anywhere but born in our hearts; a law which comes to us not by training or custom or reading but by derivation and absorption and adoption from nature itself; a law which has come to us not from theory but from practice, not by instruction but by natural intuition. I refer to the law which lays it down that, if our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right."--- Cicero, Roman orator, Selected Political Speeches [M. Grant translation, pg. 222, 1969).

Natural Rights are not granted by the State but endowed by God or Nature and are inherent to human beings who preserve their liberty. The Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero (106–43 B.C.), influenced by Aristotle and the Stoic philosophers discussed the tenets of Natural Law—universal, just, and eternal laws—derived from Nature’s God. On self-defense, he wrote, “Civilized people are taught by logic, barbarians by necessity, communities by tradition; and the lesson is inculcated even in wild beasts by nature itself. They learn that they have to defend their own bodies and persons and lives from violence of any and every kind by all means within their power.”— Dr. Miguel Faria, America, Guns, and Freedom (2019)

16/01/2024

As to how citizens can protect themselves from criminal assailants when the police, more often than not, are not immediately there to protect them: The National Victims Data suggests that, “while victims resisting with knives, clubs, or bare hands are about twice as likely to be injured as those who submit, victims who resist with a gun are only half as likely to be injured as those who put up no defense.”

Of particular interest to women and self‑defense, “among those victims using handguns in self‑defense, 66 percent were successful in warding off the attack and keeping their property... --- Dr. Miguel Faria, America, Guns, and Freedom (2019) Chapter 16: Women, Guns, and the Need for Self-Protection

13/01/2024

Beijing called him a "troublemaker" and a dangerous "separatist". Now he will be Taiwan's next president.

China's claims over Taiwan are not new - it sees the island as part of its territory and Xi Jinping has made unification a goal. But the threats have ramped up in the past year.

And yet, despite renewed warnings from China against voting for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), millions of Taiwanese headed to the polls under warm, sunny skies on Saturday to do just that.

They picked their 64-year-old vice-president, a doctor-turned politician, William Lai Ching-te, to lead Taiwan through its testy relationship with China. ---BBC
Despiite threats, you defied those communist ogres! Bravo Taiwan!!! 😂😎

How William Lai manages Beijing, and how Beijing reacts to him, will determine his presidency.

13/01/2024

For some time I have felt that Western civilization was under siege by friend and foe alike, and that to survive it needed a concerted defense. Before I began my unexpected apologia of Western culture and civilization, I felt I needed not only to explain myself to my friends but also specifically rebut those assertions. Although there was a bit of truth to their assertions, there was also another side to the story that was no longer taught in our unidirectional public school system distorting history. Today both the educational system and the popular culture engender and propagandize multiculturalism, diversity, and emphasize the alleged evils of Western culture, and at its center, the much-maligned Catholic Church. And so this apologia unfolded. Unless otherwise stated I was the “champion” of the conservative cause to some and the “apologist” to others, depending on the reader’s political perspective. I hope to re-educate those who have at least kept an open mind, despite the barrage of cultural indoctrination denigrating our Western legacy that we have been subjected to over the last several decades... As to the popular culture, the anti-religion bias, particular anti-Catholic propaganda, is exhaustive. Ask yourself, when was the last time you saw a Protestant minister, or (even more rare) a Catholic priest depicted as doing a good deed or even being a good Christian?

They are now openly subverting the churches (which used to be a check upon the state), breaking down the family unit, and destroying our civilization, but the people remain asleep or ignorant because they are dependent on government handouts and socialist policies so they tolerate authoritarianism and their loss of freedom.

Yet, while the brilliant popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, may have made good cases in support of the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, the present popularity-seeking Pope Francis I, is a good example that the doctrine not always stands. Yes, we must admit the Catholic Church has committed errors in the past. And yet on the balance sheet of actions, the Catholic Church has done much more good than evil. Those “monuments,” those Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages (such as Notre Dame in Paris) and the Renaissance (such as St. Peters in Rome), those marvels of Western civilization are true monuments and symbols of the Western intellectual tradition. The way they came about is not the way we have been led to believe. Gothic cathedrals were built by professional guilds, the first such specialized trade guilds in the Western world. No slaves or serfs worked in building those cathedrals. Laborers were well paid and if hurt on the job, were taken care of by the guilds, e.g., carpentry, masonry, etc., they belonged to. Guilds even arranged for the funerals of their members and families.... --- Dr. Miguel Faria, Controversies in Medicine and Neuroscience: Through the Prism of History, Neurobiology, and Bioethics (2023), Cambridge Scholars Publishing in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. https://www.amazon.com/Controversies-Medicine-Neuroscience-Miguel-Faria/dp/1527594173

13/01/2024

Most people need the guidance of religion or moral codes. Aristotle writes, “For each state of character has its own ideas of the noble and the pleasant, and perhaps the good man differs from others most by seeing the truth in each class of things, being as it were the norm and measure of them.”[3] Secular humanists refer to these few when they proclaim that man is the measure of all things. Some materialistic and Epicurean philosophers of ancient Greece believed this to be the case. Plato and Aristotle denied it, and in their writings, criticized many of the materialistic philosophers who preceded them and the sophists who followed them.
Lucky few perhaps, but for the rest of common humanity, we must cultivate the moral virtues, achieve them through discipline, moderation, education, habit, contemplation, and religious morality as discussed by both the ancient Greek sages, Plato and Aristotle; the theologians, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas; as well as the medical ethicists, Sir Thomas Browne and Dr. Thomas Percival. Happiness and “the good life” come from good conduct and from exercising the moral and intellectual virtues, and never doing evil. This is also what the Judeo-Christian ethic and all good religions espouse and fortify in the people because religious morality not only provides spiritual solace but also promotes moral guidance and ethical behavior. Not all people will act virtuously of their own initiative. Those “brutish persons lacking self-control,” the intemperate, and the wicked, posited Aristotle, must be made to behave properly and punished for their crimes by the force of law. Aristotle writes, “[The] legislators…. punish and take vengeance on those who do wicked acts.”[3]
Humanism today most often refers to “man-centered morality without God or religion.” Humanitarianism, on the other hand refers to philanthropy and charity. It was humanitarian compassion, and not secular humanism, that prompted the Polish Catholic priest Maximilian Kolbe to exchange his life for that of a Jew, and many of the thousands of priests who were imprisoned at the concentration camp of Auschwitz were there, like Kolbe, for hiding and helping Jews during the Holocaust! In 1982, John Paul II elevated Maximilian Kolbe to sainthood as a Martyr of Charity.
The Jewish prisoner had been chosen for ex*****on in N**i retaliation. The prisoner, afraid to die, cried, “My wife! My children!” Kolbe volunteered to take his place, and the N**is executed him instead. At Dachau concentration camp alone, 2720 clergymen were imprisoned; of these, 2579 were Catholic priests, and over a 1000 of these priests died there, most of them for having helped Jews.
Thus, like St. Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, and other realistic and sagacious Graeco-Roman statesmen and medical ethicists we have mentioned, I prefer individualism, freedom, and humanitarianism, even if stemming from religious precepts, and at last resort, the positive law of the State; rather than to depend on the secular humanist notions of collectivist utopias and the purportedly intrinsic goodness and capabilities of rational man.[7,9,11,27] These are misguided notions that failing in their dreams of creating paradises on earth, have been conducive, as history has shown, to the expansion of government, the use of force, curtailment of liberty, censorship, collectivist statism, and veritable hells on earth.[6-8,26-28]--- Dr. Miguel Faria, from his upcoming new book, Controversies in Medicine and Neuroscience — Through the Prism of Medical History, Neurobiology, and Bioethics (2023) by Cambridge Scholar Press, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

12/01/2024

Waters: Why do so many Americans, particularly celebrities, view Cuba as a tropical paradise?

Faria: Unfortunately, celebrities are drawn to leftist politics because of the nature of insecurity of the entertainment industry. Moreover, in the case of American celebrities, their level of education is frequently wanting, so they easily conform to the prevailing views of the establishment to preserve their jobs and contracts.

Frankly, the media propaganda, the indoctrination by Marxist academia, the popular culture—all of which began in the 1960s—has created a mythic island only 90 miles from this shore that has allured many idealistic youths as well as easily indoctrinated Americans, who are blinded to the truth. I also discussed this in the book in reference to the Venceremos Brigade and the idolization of Che Guevara and the myths about his deeds, not to mention his own death.
https://haciendapublishing.com/interview-with-dr-miguel-faria-about-cubas-eternal-revolution-by-robert-a-waters/

09/01/2024

Dr. Miguel Faria is a neurosurgeon, neuroscientist, historian, author, political analyst, and editor of multiple journals. Despite all of this, he makes himself readily accessible to the general public through his website and page, both of which he maintains with impressive professional decorum. His latest book, Controversies in Medicine and Neuroscience: Through the Prism of History, Neurobiology, and Bioethics [Cambridge Scholars Publishing] is just one more absolute masterpiece that I recommend to any medical professional; MD, PhD, RN, PT, etc. This reviewer already shares his ideology, but perhaps those in opposition might see it differently. He makes his case on many currently volatile topics with grace and great persuasion. The author also doesn’t talk down to his readers.. While I do think that readers with more advanced degrees in the biomedical sciences or medicine may be able to glean deeper meaning from some of the chapters, readers hardly need any particular formal degree to understand exactly what point he is making.

The book is divided into 27 chapters, all of which treat issues in neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, general medicine, medical politics, and medical history. All of these issues are still under debate, but what divides them is their current state of practical vs. academic importance. It will ultimately be up to the individual reader’s taste which of these 27 chapters they will be most inclined to read. This is the type of book I personally prefer, because the chapters may be read out of sequence, since no chapter is dependent on knowledge of the previous ones to understand it. I picked my favorite topics to read first. Controversies in Medicine and Neuroscience: Through the Prism of History, Neurobiology, and Bioethics 27 chapters that may be somewhat arbitrarily divided into several distinct current and historical medical and scientific issues. The only caveat here is that while one may skip around to find chapters that are of the most interest to them, the book is divided into several main themes, which means a reader should at least study all the chapters that fall under the same theme as the one they originally picked to read. My personal interests include the intersection of medical and neurological disease with the history of Soviet Russia, so naturally I enjoyed the chapter on Stalin’s death immensely.
I did not mean to imply it wouldn’t make good reading for anyone who has interest in any of the subjects covered, but because this is a limited academic edition, anyone who wants to read this book should order it from Amazon immediately. Given the popularity of the author’s previous books sold from Amazon, I don’t think it will be long before all the copies will be bought.---Dr. Adam Bogart https://www.amazon.com/Controversies-Medicine-Neuroscience-Miguel-Faria/dp/1527594173/

06/01/2024

Some pigs are equal, but some pigs are more equal than other! https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2010/02/orwell-and-duranty.html?fbclid=IwAR2-DmrULwBQXhm13W_3kML9Zfp6TEddO2UqQ6axOhwadBed6nIy0ExF5_k

A Re-Reading of Animal Farm by Robert A. Waters In 1932, Walter Duranty won the Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles that minimized one o...

06/01/2024

Some things NEVER change!

03/01/2024

Happy New Year for all my FB friends and especially those who read my books and supported my efforts to educate. I wish you all a Happy, Prosperous New Year with many years of Good Health and Prompt Healing for those who are afflicted with any illness. I have ben quite busy with my new books and will have to spend less time in FB for the time being. A note of Thanks: Here is Auld Lang Syne in the Scottish dialect by Robert Burns

TAKE A SECOND AND SUBSCRIBE AS HELPS THE ARTIST ..Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And never brought to mind?Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And auld la...

02/01/2024

Good morning book lovers! 🌞 Happy New Year! What are you reading today?

02/01/2024

Good morning, book lovers! 🌞
What book are you reading today?

30/12/2023

And that is why our nation is dying. Young people do not know any better, being indoctrinated in schools, academia, and the popular culture. And adult who should know better are not instructive, playing friends with their kids, and not reading to be able to educate and counter the disinformation, PC propaganda and the like... 🥹😢Sadly, expect no better for the New Year but more of the same cascading into authoritarian socialism! 😎

21/12/2023

... So lawful but naïve citizen, have you ever said, done something, or gone somewhere that may cause you embarrassment, or worse, done something unknowingly that violated a provision in the 27,000 pages of federal statues or the 10,000 administrative regulations? Unless you are a saint, you could be guilty of some peccadillo or indiscretion that might have gone unrecognized or forgotten. Furthermore, activities that may be legal today may be illegal tomorrow or vice-versa. There is no way to know how information against citizens may be used by government (especially bureaucracy and law enforcement) at different points in time; this can be reinforced by the likes and dislikes of our trendy popular culture, the fickleness of the people (jurors), the incitement and demagoguery of the legislators (who represent them), or the fastidiousness and tenacity of the bureaucrat, who finds the offending transgression... Dr Miguel Faria, America, Guns, and Freedom https://haciendapublishing.com/store/
https://www.amazon.com/America-Guns-Freedom-Miguel-Faria/dp/164307217X

01/06/2022

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30/05/2022

At the heart of the communist model is the formation and sustainment of an incredibly large military force that can be used to conquer smaller states and serve as a deterrent against military retaliation or enemy preventive action. China boasts one of the largest standing armies in the world. In addition, China has the world’s largest population and its expansive land holdings make it one of the largest counties by area as well.

Naturally, since communism and socialism do not operate by way of natural market forces in terms of an economic model, its standard of living is considerably lower than the first world. However, this is not a concern of the Chinese government, communism’s tagline has always been deceptively, “the most good for the most people,” when in fact the ruling elite benefits at the expense of those who, in Orwellian fashion, are not as equal as themselves.--- Douglas Harden, https://haciendapublishing.com/

The Cold War wasn’t great for the world in its 45 years of tension, unrest, and proxy wars. It won’t be good for the world in the 21st century either...