One thing that has stuck with me from the American Renaissance conference is something Jared Taylor said in his speech to open the show. He talked about how for the longest time, he was a lonely voice in the wilderness. His events were lightly attended and ignored by the media. He was sure that he was merely keeping a record. He said this while pointing out how quickly things had changed. A few years ago his event got fifty attendees and now it had hundreds with hundreds turned away.
It resonated with me because it brought to mind the life of Cicero. Marcus Tullius Cicero was one of Rome’s greatest orators and writers. No writer in the history of the West has had greater influence. Well into the 19th century, European writers were influenced by his style. He was also an immensely important politician. He was consul during the Catilinarian conspiracy, having the conspirators executed. During the dictatorship of Julius Caesar he agitated for the return of traditional republican government.
Following Caesar’s death, Cicero became an enemy of Mark Antony, attacking him in speeches. For his trouble, he was proscribed, as an enemy of the state, by the Second Triumvirate and consequently executed in 43 BC. His severed hands and head were displayed in the Roman Forum, as a final revenge of Mark Antony. Petrarch’s rediscovery of Cicero’s letters is often credited with initiating the Renaissance and inspiring political theorists like John Locke to embrace the republican form of government.
Cicero is relevant to our age for the simple reason that he kept a record during the last days of the Roman Republic. Fifteen hundred years later, educated men in the emerging West, would be inspired by and cautioned by the writings of Cicero. There was a record of what was happening in the late stages of the Roman Republic and a record of those who tried to prevent it. Without that record, without the thoughts and words of those ancients, who fought the coming darkness, there may have never been the West.
This is why Rome was of great interest to the men of the Enlightenment. The American Founders were all students of Greece and Rome. They understood that when Rome fell, the West was plunged into an intellectual, economic and cultural darkness. These were men aware of the fact that they were coming out the other side of what happened at the close of the Republic. They naturally looked to Rome for clues as to how they could avoid the same fate, when coming up with new forms of government.
As we enter the late stages of the American Republic and the last days of what we have always known as the West, keeping a record may be the best we can accomplish. The fight will be fought, but only a delusional optimist can be blind to reality. Whether it is citizens being hunted down for heresy or weird looking foreigners demanding the disenfranchisement of natives, for the crime of hate speech, the signs are all there. The ruling elites of the West no longer have any faith in liberal democracy or the rule of law.
That may seem overly pessimistic, but just look at the immigration debate. Trump won the most improbable of victories on the promise to reverse decades of insane immigration polices. His position is actually the moderate one. A large percentage of Americans would shut down all immigration. Trump has merely promised to crack down on illegals and do something about the visa rackets. In the case of DACA, his position is to enforce the law, rather than perpetuate Obama’s policy of flouting the law.
Despite his moderation, the ruling elite is fighting him at every turn. His own party in Congress is not just blocking him on immigration reform. They are proudly attacking him over it. Politicians are cautious by nature, which means they live in fear of being on the wrong side of voters. Yet on this and other issues, they boast about giving their voters the bird. It’s tempting to say they are bought by moneyed interests, but this looks more like insanity than corruption. Our political class is suicidal.
That’s just one example. The broad appeal of populist polices on trade, taxes and social issues should have resulted in a wave of populist politicians. Trump is a terrible politician and his many quirks make him ill-suited for politics. Imagine a polished professional running on the same issues as Trump. Yet, we don’t see anyone picking up on these issues. It’s as if the entire political class has been infected with a virus that makes them act against their own interests, by alienating their own voters.
Debating the causes of what’s happening is part of keeping a record, just as doing what can be done to arrest it. One has to have hope that the fever will break, but if it doesn’t and we continue on the current path, documenting the insanity of our age is an important part of the fight. We may lack a Cicero to shape the way in which we think of our age, but Julius Caesar and Mark Antony are not showing up either. In an age of mediocre tyrants, we’ll have mediocre chroniclers of our age. Keeping a record is all that can be done.
I don’t think things are a bleak as they appear currently. Our politics is locked into kick-the-can-down-the-road and leave the problems for the next guy. This is suicide in slow motion and makes the eventual bottom ever deeper. Far better is to crash quickly and then begin rebuilding right away while there are still enough able-bodied producers to make a difference. If we go through another decade of degeneracy, the rebuild option may no longer be viable. Keep cool, turn off the TV, and buy another case of ammo. The goal should be to win the rebound, not try to… Read more »
In about twenty-five years the whites will be in the minority in the U.S.A. Their non-white replacements are largely undesirables from third-world dumps. That is very unlikely to end well, regardless of what RINO Ryan may say from his fortress in Wisconsin.
Ryan’s palace will be among the first to be ransacked and given back to the people after the second Civil War.
Why would the West take any people who have a record of f@cking up the country they live in?
Keeping a record is all that can be done. Sounds like our esteemed host has taken a dose of the black pill today. Understandably so given the current circumstances. I’ll just make one comment in connection with the references to Cicero and the fall of the Roman Republic. While from the point of view of our reading his speeches and letters from the final months after the assassination of Caesar, it may look like all he was doing was leaving a record for posterity of the demise of the Republic, what he was doing at the time was very actively… Read more »
and he (Cicero) failed utterly, because he was fighting the tidal pull of history. the great men of history are surfers, not wave makers. and the key to being a good surfer, is knowing where to be when the big wave arrives.
Zman is just bummed because he lives in Baltimore, and who wouldn’t be.
Made me smile, thanks
This piece did invoke the “Black Pill Blues.” Not that I disagree, I’m a black-pilled kind of gal. This ship is heading for the ocean floor, one way or another. keeping record of that decline seems imminently respectable.
The only hope I hold is for the rebuild from the ashes, which is the only hope that seems sane to me, frankly.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears – I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus hath told you that Caesar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Caesar paid for it. Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest– For Brutus is an honorable man; So are they all, all honorable men– Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just… Read more »
Keeping the record will do two things in the event we have a second civil war. Since the regressives will ultimately end up losing such a war, history will have a good record of what led to it. Show liberalism and the regressives that ran it obviously suffer from mental disease and to help future generations snuff that crap out before it takes root again. Secondly it will be needed as evidence after the civil war is over to try, convict and execute the leaders of that cult that dragged the US down into that war.
Why would the inner and outer party go to war?
If anything they will gang up on you before all.
There won’t be a civil war. The West will likely end in the words of T S Eliot, “not with a bang but a whimper.” Or perhaps Frank Zappa: “…I mean, it won’t blow up and disappear, it will just look ugly for 1000 years.”
I think of it as the big animated foot in Monty Python’s Flying Circus. The characters are animated, the music is playing, and “splat!”. Volcanoes, an asteroid, who knows? In the meantime, the world carries on.
I think it was this speech:
Jared Taylor – “Has the White Man Turned the Corner?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZzP2Hp_B-Q
The Jaguars should stay in London.
And the Ravens should stay on this side of the Atlantic.
Has anyone who reads this stuff ever clubbed anything??
I killed a gopher with a stick!
Perhaps the ruling class is anything but suicidal. Sure, there are the true believers, but the political class may be no better than well-starched preppers: they know the walls are crumbling and they just need to hold on long enough to get the shelter stocked.
A hundred years from now, after the barbarians on the left have destroyed western civilization and are beginning to devour each other, this blog and its comments will be a clear record of the insanity that caused that destruction, from the so-called student movement of the sixties to the the end of free speech to the elimination or legal degradation of white people.
I agree that would happen, but this blog will be cleansed by the ministry of truth long before 500 years from now. Hell, It might be cleansed in my lifetime and I don’t have long to live says my doc.
Fahrenheit 451.
They can’t get all of the records, some always sneak through. Recording the events is like sowing seeds. Many will wilt or get eaten, but some will grow up and stand tall.
The blog is “cleansed” as soon as the power shuts off.
The fraudulent uniparty has earned the hatred of both sides. Their platform will in time collapse in proportion to the corruption exposed. President Trump won because of our open source insurgency that is growing and evolving in the threat of censorship and physical violence. We are the new paradigm.
I never sought to become the new paradigm, but, here I am. How do I look?
Do you hate Milo?
http://www.breitbart.com/milo/2017/01/25/milo-explains-ugly-people-hate/
Does this racially racial racism make my ass look big?
“The fraudulent uniparty has earned the hatred of both sides. Their platform will in time collapse in proportion to the corruption exposed.” I wish this were true.Their corruption has been exposed, but exposed by deplorables and other disrespected individuals. Even if more people now get their news from the internet, there are still “sources of record” that will always deny the corruption and try to substitute a narrative that fits their needs. And who will prosecute the corruption? Comey, Rice, and Wasserman-Schultz are still free. Mueller is doing his damage. While the gay mulatto’s dindu’s are no longer in the… Read more »
Learning IS happening, but at a glacial pace.
Personally, I’m glad the criminals aren’t getting prosecuted. There is nothing better to show the American people as proof of the rot in this country than just pointing to them as Exhibit A. We all know they should be thrown to the lions, and their continued freedom from justice only serves to wake up more and more sleeping Americans who may not follow politics closely, but understand “fairness,” and “justice.”
I think it may be our only hope, at this point.
Our country can no longer bear the weight of corruption of the thugs infesting the hallowed halls of government, largely there due to fraudulent voting. The pork store is going to get busted, one way or another.
When people fail to see “what’s in it for me” from the Uniparty, the Uniparty will quickly fall. Interesting how the Donks’ fund raising is collapsing. Potential donors don’t see anything in it for them. Maybe they only donated in the past to buy themselves some political favors, but even that seems to be disappearing quickly now.
Yes indeed, WHO will prosecute the corruption? If only we had a Attorney General? Or have we just lost ours?
Here’s how a few fellows handled the Z-point turn. LUDWIG VON MISES My theories explain, but cannot slow the decline of a great civilization. I set out to be a reformer, but only became the historian of decline. TOCQUEVILLE It is true that the world seems to me to fall more and more short of the greatness which once filled my imagination. We are not, however, responsible for its faults or its vices, and for people who have only a short time to spend at the play, the piece is interesting enough. GARET GARRETT Each generation must learn for itself… Read more »
“Trump is a terrible politician and his many quirks make him ill-suited for politics. ”
He confirms that by his asinine remarks about the NFL “kneelers”.
Another gratuitous gift to the other side.
(Yes, the first kneeler should have been suspended, at least, but it’s extremely unPresidential and pisspoor politics to say what he said this week.)
So, you prefer the pronouncements of career politicians over anything authentic? Face it, Trump, was not a politician during the election. He is becoming one, unfortunately. But, I prefer someone speaking the truth rather than someone speaking in abstract platitudes with “dignity” and “restraint”. I wouldn’t have hated B. J. Clinton as much if he had said “Hell, yeah, I inhaled. Then I drank the bong water. What about it?” Instead, I knew he was a liar of Machiavellian proportions. Pompous pseudo “dignity” and “respect” helped propel us into ever deeper circles of hell. I say, let’s get more absurdities… Read more »
Actually, that was a kill shot by Trump. The public overwhelmingly agrees with him.
Great move.
A demonrat acquaintance told me yesterday it was the first thing in which he ever agreed with Trump.
It’s simple. Trump’s comments show some simple respect for the opinions of the average American. Those of his opponents tell the average American to F*** off.
Villanueva of the Steelers is going to be a rock star, whether he wants it or not. He will never buy his own drinks or dinner again.
We know Trump will win this particular battle because Rove just said Trump is losing this battle.
goodell will be forced into more and more damaging (to the nfl) accommodations with the SJW led players. goodell will be the fall guy when the owners finally halt their equity bonfire…
The brilliant thing about it is it forced basically every human being running the NFL to publicly take a side. Predictably all did with the players.
Watch the ratings tumble now that sides have officially been chosen.
Trumps ability to identify and exploit cultural arbitrage opportunities like this is so awesome.
“Cultural arbitrage opportunities”. What a great term and concept.
Why thank you!
had the exact same thought!
posts like yours are why i read all the way through the comments on the Z-blog.
Why should some spectator sport run by a bunch of oligarchs be off limits to criticism when you have black players who are on the clock giving the finger to the flag and country? And what did Goodell do? He doubled down and supported disrespecting the flag and country. The guy is a moron. The NFL attendance and viewership are already down and he’s telling the players they can do as they please. Not good. Besides to Trump’s base, it’s red meat. I think Trump wanted to rattle some cages and did it with this. Look Trump is pretty much… Read more »
What the fuck does the State have to do with a sport?
He’s the commander in chief. Good for Trump for standing up and giving voice to the tens of millions of Americans who are told to sit down and STFU over this stuff. I grew up in a family that has had nearly a dozen of us serving in uniform from uncles to cousins to my immediate family, myself, my wife, my dad, and so on. This stuff the NFL is pulling is a big old “F**K YOU” to people like me. This is like Trump’s rallies last year. The media literally have NO IDEA how popular his comments are, and… Read more »
Sport has been converged. Trump in the commander of the ongoing culture war. Hail Trump!
That the fans hate Goddell for a host of other reasons isn’t going to help the league recover any time soon.
Guess again. The NFL has decided to self-immolate over these overpaid entertainers. Or, “slaves”, as I believe they call themselves. lol It’s not just the NFL that’s gonna take it on the chin. Last weekend I watched the Broncos game with my family. We spend about $50bucks on pizza, wings, and drinks. Today, as I walk away from the NFL perhaps for good, I made a sandwich with leftovers from the fridge and spent an hour throwing the football in the back yard with my son (as we do every Sunday). This is far from over. Fans who woke up… Read more »
There is a bright side, War is a perfect opportunity to “Take care of all Family business.”
One other thing about the Trump sports day the other day. Check this out:
U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain’t going! So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!
That is from a dude who puts a ball in a hoop to the president of the United States of America.
And the man in the television has the unmitigated gall to tell me Donald Trump has destroyed America’s institutions.
There’s nothing left to destroy; it’s already anarchy out there.
On behalf of the Prez let me humbly thank you for your concern.
The tyrants seem to be improving. Ask LaVoy Finnicum’s family.
I think Cicero liked the republic, but knew it was coming to an end. I also think he knew that some sort of dictatorship would be necessary, at least for a while. Rome had had them in the past and had returned to republican government after a while. It wasn’t quite the either or type of situation many seem to think it was. That said, Cicero miscalculated a couple of times. First time he backed Pompey over Julius. After Julius was killed his error was in assuming that Anthony and Octavian would fight it out and he backed Octavian. Unfortunately… Read more »
“The broad appeal of populist polices on trade, taxes and social issues should have resulted in a wave of populist politicians. …. Imagine a polished professional running on the same issues as Trump. Yet, we don’t see anyone picking up on these issues” You’re working on the assumption such people are welcome in the political process. They are most assuredly not, hence their the absence of populists on the political scene. Perot and Trump showed that outsiders/populists are not only not wanted but despised by the political class. As Carlin pointed out.”the game is rigged”. The response to Trump shows… Read more »
“… A few years ago his [Taylor’s Amren] event got fifty attendees and now it had hundreds with hundreds turned away.”
Good news amongst the black pills.
It’s actually pretty simple. A (((tribe))) has slowly lied, cheated and stole the rights to print all the world’s money. They use their infinite financial resources to “fix the world” into an image that is most beneficial to them. Now they are entering the final stages and trying to fold all the nations of the world into one giant communist superstate. Western politicians are promised a place in the coming superstate if they help destroy their current nation.
Don’t worry folks, Islam will be here to replace divisive representative gomt. Demography always wins.
You have got to get up and fight every day until you’ve run out of days to fight.
A good post and perhaps a good indicator of where we stand in the generational cycles and the rhyme of history. Yes, it was depressing but honest examination is far more valuable than deluding oneself into believing everything is OK. I’m of the opinion that all politicians are self-serving at best and a significant portion are sociopaths. How many politicians say one thing on the campaign trail and do the exact opposite once in office? The US Congress is exempted from insider trading laws and the critters are unashamed in profiting from their information. The sad part is that Congress… Read more »
You guys need to watch the new Star Trek
Did you hear about the Black Man that shot up the church in Nashville?
Nope
We will not allow divisive narratives. You guys lose! Sorry!
I watched for about 5 minutes. If I was interested in middle-aged women acting important, I’d pay attention at work.
Is the black female commander’s name really “Micheal”?
In yer face, they’re rubbing it in again.
Shades of Sam Delaney!
I may have misspelled- ‘Michael’
Mike, Mikey, whatevs
A grandaughter insisted on spelling it wrong for a great-grankid and now I’ve got it hopelessly confused
Damm kids anyways
Trump openly declared the Black worship is over.
you wrote: “Politicians are cautious by nature, which means they live in fear of being on the wrong side of voters. Yet on this and other issues, they boast about giving their voters the bird. It’s tempting to say they are bought by moneyed interests, but this looks more like insanity than corruption. Our political class is suicidal…..The broad appeal of populist polices on trade, taxes and social issues should have resulted in a wave of populist politicians. ….. Yet, we don’t see anyone picking up on these issues. It’s as if the entire political class has been infected with… Read more »
Ah, the “Dark Ages” myth again!! For a guy who is clearly anti-Establishment, you certainly admire “Establishment” Rome (which was not even the capital of the Empire when Alaric took it down). Why do you think (along with such ‘greats’ as Rousseau) that the only smart guys on Earth lived in Rome? Hell, there was a town near Stockholm which, in AD250 was turning out tools and machinery traded all over the world. Alaric was a Legion Commander and most of his troops were Roman Army veterans. The Benedictines, who were spread all over Europe, created centers of scientific and… Read more »
The NFL players are just standing up for their tribe. Readers what are you doing for your tribe?
Too soon for defeatism, Z. The game is not over – and Trump was just the opening salvo in this culture war. The left responded with the usual accusations of racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. And Antifa. PBBFBFBFFFFFT! And – Whitey isn’t sitting on the couch anymore. He’s not shutting up when he’s told to either. Free speech is alive and well and always will be. Their narrative is collapsing, and don’t be surprised if you see some fuggin vibrant getting shot as he tries to pull down a statue in the near future. Barack Obama sold more AR15’s than the… Read more »
Not only should we chronicle the demise, we need to do everything legally we can to push the system over the cliff. Help it implode and build lifeboats for our family’s and extended Kith & Kin. It is the only hope White People have.
The usual date given for the fall of Rome is 475 AD. The death of Cicero occurred in 43 BC. You say: “They understood that when Rome fell, the West was plunged into an intellectual, economic and cultural darkness.” It may be true that some of the founders were interested in the fall of Rome. It’s not at all obvious that the event occurring during the life of Cicero, 500 years earlier ,had anything to do with the fall. The reign of Augustus and the events leading to the end of the Republic sit almost exactly in the 100 year… Read more »
Read a little Cicero and you won’t be making these comments. The Roman Republic existed in form only by Cicero’s time. That was exactly his lament. They crossed the form line with the proclamation of Julius Caesar to be dictator in perpetuity. We are at the republic in form only stage. The Deep State rules.
Can you remember that smarmy kid who was so keen on being class president of the student government back in high school? Those are the people who became the political class you see today. Their behavior does not surprise me in the least.
I find it telling that they can’t compete with the popular kid though when he decided to run.
Of course most other kids realized the principal ran everything anyway and it was a sham bullshit suckup job and there were more important things to do.
“Can you remember that smarmy kid who was so keen on being class president of the student government back in high school?”
A classic description of Bill Clinton.
Or Hillary, aka Tracy Flick.
A fitting post for Sunday, as the NFL Gladiators continue to self-immolate.
NFL = No Fans Left
Doubtful. How many of our kind will tune out,I am betting too few.
This piece today doesn’t inspire me, me just being some sort of low level, non descript chronicler. As the Derb says, we are doomed.
The ratings year over year say you’re just dead wrong. There are surveys (reported as late as last week) which say that upwards of 30-35% of viewers who have tuned out of the NFL in the last 2 years (viewership is down double-digits) have done so specifically because of this “kneeling” crap. Expect those ratings to decline further. I have friends on social media calling DirecTV to cancel their Sunday Ticket today, giving out the phone number and encouraging others to do the same. The problem the NFL has is that the people who either a) agree or b) don’t… Read more »
NFL–some players taking a moment that is bigger than all of them and making it all about themselves.
See ya’, NFL people.
There’s an even chance that some NFL millionaire goon players will attempt flag burning on the field.
I was wondering how the NFL would respond if a Jewish player took the Koran out onto the field and stomped it to raise awareness of how Israel is the constant target of Arabs and Muslims.
Oh who am I kidding, I know what would happen. The player would be heavily fined, suspended and probably blackballed from the league.
When asked about his player who went out and honored the country, Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin said, “I was looking for 100 percent participation. We were gonna be respectful of our football team.”
In other words, Football Team >> Country.
Notice also that it was the coach expecting 100% participation.
There’s only a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting other players. Do it twice, and you get ejected.
However, you can taunt the fans, the police who protect you on the field, and the military and veterans around the world all you like.
I’ve heard from friends today canceling their NFL Sunday Ticket, and refusing to watch the games at all. Only ONE Steeler (Villanueva, former Army Ranger) came out of the locker room for the National Anthem. Idiot coach said he wasn’t going to be a part of “divisiveness”. How about that for cowardice? I’m not the only person to notice that “divisive” always and everywhere means you’re a regular American who loves their country, expects the laws to be obeyed, and demands a little damned respect for the people who defend the country from despotism. And that includes our brave police… Read more »
Haven’t watched a game this season. And am the demographic the NFL craves. Usually drop a few k on good tix to specific games, won’t this year. Have turned down offers of tickets for business–and specifically mention why–that eventually gets to the folks making the decision to spend the money on boxes. Just done with these fools. They are free to protest, and also free to crap in their own nest. I just don’t have to finance it.
Humans do seem to have a predilection to allow crazy bastards to rule over them and direct their affairs. If you could figure out why that is I bet many mysteries of the universe would be revealed.
It’s because you have to be a crazy bastard to want the job.
Simple inertia. On the larger front, I fear the divide is too great at this point for a civil settlement.
Overcoming the inertia requires great suffering. We are too rich so will probably go with a whimper.
Our political class is corrupt and it has rippled out from D.C. Watch this all the way through it will surprise you:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd2T8OHnxmE&utm_source=getkept&utm_medium=site and to supplement it read this: https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/09/22/the-cia-70-years-of-organized-crime/?utm_source=getkept&utm_medium=site
Is certainly a downer post. I think we’ll get our revolution before our totalitarianism but it’s chilling how one fate or the other seems inevitable in my life…perhaps quite soon.
One thing that’s particulary scary is how the normal rational binds don’t apply. Blind Freddie can see how politically suicidal the poz is. Self interest doesn’t stop antifa torpedoing the political legitimacy of the left. Profit motive doesn’t stop Google and Twitter self immolating.
Nothing proves the religious basis of progs better than that.