Bowden is at his best here discussing the ‘channel that they never turn on’, ‘it’ being the metaphysical and philosophical search for the truths underlying reality, and ‘they’ being the vast brain-dead majority among modern man.

Julius Evola was a backward looking modern thinker who regarded ‘the masses as a sack of potatoes to be moved around’ rather than the sainted billions-strong pantheon of oppressed guilt-vectors that the modern media leads in thrice daily self-worship services.

Bowden’s discussion on the nuts and bolts of belief, and the ratio of people who need to believe versus those who do not require belief to behave effectively, gets to the subtext of our evolving politically correct security matrix.

If you are a person who is interested in the social dynamics of class, ideology, individuality versus collectivity, and especially the variable nature of religiosity, this is an excellent introduction. As presented by Bowden, Evola’s view of the world will strike the Asian-based martial artist as very closely aligned to the code of the feudal Japanese warrior. Bowden’s lecture approach is cyclic, not linear, permitting the person with little grounding in the subject at hand to begin enjoying his spirited discussion ‘right off’ as he would say.