The Doctrine of Recovery

by Mutatis Mutandis

On May 4th, 1493, Pope Alexander VI issued the Doctrine of Discovery, establishing a religious, political, and legal justification for the colonization of land not inhabited by Christians. The Doctrine of Discovery is a principle in public international law under which, when a nation “discovered” land, it acquires rights to that land, such as property and sovereignty, on those lands allowing the exploitation of human and natural resources by explorers in the name of their sovereigns, heirs, and future generations. This principle disregards that the land is often already inhabited by another nation, and was widely used to legitimize the colonization of lands outside of Europe.In 1792, Thomas Jefferson asserted that the Doctrine of Discovery was international, thereby providing the basis on which the existing financial and political ecosystem evolved, reflecting inequity in all aspects of human existence. With the Doctrine of Discovery, a self-appointed group established a system solely for their benefit.In The Doctrine of Recovery, a mostly anonymous group of individuals and organizations sets about recharting humanity’s course, which it has tread with trepidation for hundreds of years. In the early part of the 21st century, in a time of dire need, - Mighty Blue, as the planet Earth was to be referred to in the future - was under enormous stress, and its inhabitants equally so. Governance in the face of immorality and the dissolution of the boundary separating right and wrong was becoming impossible. Helplessness, fear, and despair spread like a fever, forcing retreat into tribal existence for most. It was me against you. Us against them. Survival. From the darkness, a figure of light emerged. The pope, when asked of the mysterious and charismatic Herstel Fidia, reflected on “He walks the Earth like lilies on a pond. He breathes air, but he’s never there. He silences the voices of despair. The time has come for quiet meditation. The time has come for quiet voices. All must unite. He’s here to move the pieces into place. When he’s done, he'll leave without a trace. This is the place for his heart. Everyone will know of his presence. Everyone will feel his love. Everyone will know their part. Some will question, and some will fear. Herstel Fidia has the answers to questions that have yet to be asked.”A tsunami of followers and fixers quickly emerged after his the Backpackers, the Hackers, the Networkers, the Balancers, the Johnnies, and , fundamental to the initial distribution and transformation of the global financial ecosystem, an anonymous group of the powerful and resourceful known as the Shadow. Herstel beckoned, and they embraced the call to action. They understood instinctively what was required of them. They replaced ego with service and made rapid progress in engineering a global transformation.The birth of the Doctrine of Recovery begins. Fuelled by a swell of optimism and hope, underpinned by human endeavor, compassion, and ingenuity, humanity changes course.The Doctrine of Recovery begins in the near Utopia of the future and recalls the transformation from the past when the world like a train that has jumped its track was heading dangerously towards existential disaster.

189 pages, Paperback

Published February 2, 2024

Reviews

[Tirzah Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, this book read like the intro for a futuristic distopian series, which was rather concerning when it ended with a Utopia instead. A man named Herstel comes and says he is going to fix the world. He will eradicate poverty, racism, all the world's problems, and for some reason, religion. All he needs is for people to use his new bank, civil servant to sign up and "hijack" systems that don't work to his liking, and overall for everyone to agree to his changes. And they do.

He also has a group of assasins working either with or for him who assasinate the leaders of Russia, China, the Taliban, Iran, Isreal, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, India, Turkey, and possibly one of the us presidential candidates. The timelines are unclear as the head of Russia is killed in March of 2024, but somehow the Russian UN delegates only discover that he has been shot on September of 2024. Regardless of when it happens, Russia is rearanged into a proper democracy as soon as Putin is assasinated and nobody takes his place. When the leader of North Korea is killed, the bomb that kills him also kills several civillians but this is never brought up again.

Somehow the deaths of these world leaders doesnt effect the Olympic or the UN, but the countries all start to agree with Herstel's ideas.

And his solution for eradicating poverty? Give all poor people phones with access to his bank and provide them with money. No mention of how they will charge their phones, or how they will get replacements if they break, but okay. Where does this money come from? Siphoned from peoples bank accounts if Herstels AI program determines them to have more money than they need. Why AI? "It allows the facts to dominate and removes emotion from decision." No mention of the fact that AI is programmed by people with emotions. And as for the money? "There will be no requests... What is needed will be taken. Much like the colonialists took what they wanted."

He never goes into detail of why religion is bad, except claiming that it is racist and mentioning how some churches have more money than they need. Religion is uneeded because the stories "Falter when exposed to intellectual scrutiny". I'm open to the idea of restricting religion in government being discussed, but the outright abolishing of religion and replacing it with individual "spirituality" ignores the people who truly believe in a religion, and are follow a religion of their own free will. The Pope ends catholicism and turns over the vatican to people with secular goals, and somehow nobody has a problem with it. One hundred year in the future, when they speak about God, the child says "What happened to [God]? He didnt exist in the first place and now he still doesn't". Whether you believe in any God of not, it seems silly that you can just expect everyone to give up their religion to live in uptopia, after thousands of years of people having their beliefs and religion that it would all just fully go away without any trace.

Everyone also becomes vegan to avoid the "horrors of the meat industry" and because milk is unhealthy, but the text never once mentions the horrors and exploitation that also exist in many vegan industries such as quinoa.

Overall, this book expresses some interesting ideas, but it fails to follow through. It also has many logical issues that are never adressed. Its an interesting concept, which is the only reason I didnt give it 2 stars. Very poor execution though.

I recieved this book in a free givaway through Goodreads, but my opinions are my own.

[Kristen Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

felt like reading a folder of random files

I’m never been more confused in my entire life. I truly feel like I picked up a folder of random papers in a government office that I’m trying to make sense of.

[AMAO · Rating 5 out of 5]

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