Who I Am & What I Do

People ask me all the time:

“Richard, you have a lot of education under your belt, a lot of experience, and you know a lot of stuff…but what exactly is it that you do?”

Well, to all of you have been waiting very patiently…

Here’s the technical answer, in plain English!

I am a Narrative Structuralist Semiotician…that means I study the patterns of images, symbols, and themes in stories!

And when it comes to politIcs, policy, and entertainment, stories are the name of the game!

In my practice as a Narrative Structuralist Semiotician, I follow the methods of:

• Ferdinand de Saussure
• Claude Lévi-Strauss
• Carl Jung
• Joseph Campbell
• Julius Evola

As a Narrative Structuralist Semiotician, I specialize in the study of:

• Indo-European Warrior Mythology from Homer to the 20th Century
• Anglo-American Colonialism in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas
• 20th and 21st Century Counterinsurgency in the Cold War and the War on Terror

Most people in this field are Marxist Postmodernists. I am the exact opposite.

And that completely changes the way I practice my craft!

These other scholars believe in “Nurture only, no Nature” when it comes to understanding Human Beings and the stories we tell…or as they prefer to call this belief, “Social Constructs”!

I believe the exact opposite.

I believe in Nature being brought to life by Nurture.

What that means is, an Acorn grows into an Oak Tree. It does not grow into a Cactus. The Oak Tree is its Nature. The Cactus is not. What kind of an Oak Tree you get depends on the Nurture.

Put the Acorn in good, nutritious soil and give it water, and it will be a Strong, Mighty Oak.

Put the Acorn in poor, depleted soil and take its water away, and you’ll get a stunted, weak sapling, blown over in any direction the wind takes it.

The intellectual foundation for my beliefs comes from:

• The Bible
• Plato
• Aristotle
• The Stoics
• Thomas Aquinas

That means that with me, you get a scholar who takes the deep dive into the reality of human nature, not an ideological fantasy.

And when it comes to successful politics,  policy, and entertainment, understanding the reality of human nature is a priceless asset…

Especially in a world of best-laid plans built on the flawed premises of utopian pipe dreams!

Sincerely,

Richard Barrett

07-28-2024, 06-10-2023

Written & Edited at 10;21 PM, somewhere in the USA…