One of the things normal people struggle with when they look over the great divide, at the arguments of our side, is the lack of interest in economics. In the lands of the normie, the cry of “socialism” remains salient, despite the fact America is a socialist country and has been for as long as anyone reading this has been alive. Still, the people of whiteness remain locked in that old dynamic that says the fight is between free market capitalism and command and control socialism. This is especially true of older whites.
Perhaps the most powerful tool deployed against us is the weaponizing of the economy, by turning it into the third man in the room whenever there is a debate about politics. The economy is like a mysterious god, who can get angry at the wrong policy and punish the people with high prices or job losses. This is especially true in libertarian and conservative circles. They are convinced that the whole point of life is to work and then buy cheap stuff from China. Anything that threatens that is viewed as un-American.
Democracy has also become an enchanted being that, unlike the economy, needs to be defended at all costs. While the right side of the political class worships the economy, the left side worships democracy. Everything they don’t like is a threat to democracy, even the results of elections. Democracy and the economy make up the modern Janus that presides over the beginning and end of all political debates. Both sides ritually invoke his name whenever it is time to debate the issues of the day.
This post at Marginal Revolution is a great example. The comments are worth reading, as they reveal this strange worship of both democracy and the economy. The skeptics you find in the comment thread are all skeptics of democracy. You don’t see any doubts about the righteousness and superiority of the economy face of our god. Even when someone points out that the Nazis were pretty good at running their economy for a while, no one seems to pick up on the fact that GDP is not the measure of a people.
There are a lot of ways to characterize the civic religion that animates our ruling class, but one of them is that they believe the right ceremonies will make the stuff god happy. That’s why they insist that diversity makes businesses more profitable and universities more intellectually dynamic. One of the bloggers at Marginal Revolution has argued that open borders is a moral imperative because it makes the economy stronger. He literally believes the stuff god is carefully monitoring immigration policy in the West.
When put together, the worship of democracy and the economy is the thermite reaction that is destroying America. If democracy is a good thing, then more of it must be a better thing. The result being the expansion of the franchise to hostile aliens. If the GDP is all that matters when measuring the health of society, then any criticism of the ruling oligarchy is an offense to the stuff god. It’s not an accident that the worship of both democracy and the economy has increased as social cohesion has declined.
This may be at the root of the strange hostility to the past. Modern America is a strange place, in that the ruling class is composed of amnesiacs. What they say today has no connection to what they said yesterday. It’s as if every day is a new day and the past never existed. Mendacity certain plays a role, but the never ending quest for more requires an ignorance of the past. To remember yesterday is to contemplate the trade-offs that made today possible. That calls the worship of the economy into question.
There’s also the sad dearth of beauty in this age. The classical period featured a celebration of human beauty. The artists strove to capture the ideal of man in those beautiful statues we still have today. The medieval period had the celebration of God and his love for man. Walk into an old cathedral and you immediately feel the essence of that relationship. Of course, our canon is packed with poetry exploring the beauty of life, all of which was composed in a prior age, by men who are strangers to us now.
Walk into a modern building today and you know what it is like to be in the chute at a slaughter house. Modern art is a mockery of the idea of art. It is a celebration of pointless vanity and nihilism, if such a thing can be called a celebration. Stroll through the modern parking lot and it is like being in a black and white movie. The cars all look the same and come in black, white or some shade of grey. A time traveler could be forgiven if he thought the communists had won the Cold War and imposed their aesthetic on America.
That’s the end result of worshiping democracy and the economy. The stuff god is a selfish god, who takes the hopes of the faithful and turns them into cheap goods from China, that get tossed away in order to be replaced by more cheap stuff. It is a pointless form of worship that treats life as a transaction. Just as Evangelicals love Israel, despite the fact Jews despise Evangelicals, Americans worship the stuff god, despite the fact he hates humanity. It’s a lethal codependency that can only end in death.
This might be your best ever, but it’ll get a lot of hate, and even more blank stares.
Count me among the blank stares. I can never tell if you’re searching for a more republican form of government, just politely mis-named as Democracy or more authoritarianism with less central control. Have you expressed a Plan B that I’m just not smart enough to see? From my little perch, the ability to pack up and move 40 miles further out is still the greatest freedom known to modern man, and that only comes from “the economy”. I didn’t move away from Houston to worship the stuff god, but to find an affordable house (undoubtedly built by illegals) with a… Read more »
Why did you have to move? A black Brit told me if you buy a flat in the UK, your friends expect to find you there 30 years later. (He told me this about 15 years ago. I don’t think it’s true anymore.) So of course, I had a noveau riche American friend who wanted to buy a Scottish manor house because he was bored. 37 rooms, 2500 acres, the going price last year was about a million. (Hint to readers: many still available.) His bright American idea? Fire the groundskeeper family and hire cheap foreign labor. That family has… Read more »
Note to Epimondinas: the guy bought up 300,000 acres and properties during the mortgage meltdown. He used entity structuring, creating his own roofing, maintenance, and construction companies to service his properties for tax advantages and to create multiple cash flows. Be careful. Every time I prepared to take advantage of a downturn myself, I’d have another bright idea and lose another 10 years to desperation and survival. I watched the great stock and real estate markets from afar, with dismay. Once I sat in bankruptcy court next to a couple who were walking away from 42 apartment complexes. That multiunit… Read more »
Must agree. One of his best ever.
Why must we GDP ourselves to death? What is this strange worship?
Absolutely top rate. Particularly love this line: ” Democracy and the economy make up the modern Janus that presides over the beginning and end of all political debates.” Reason for the blank stares is that so many here are still, at the core, civnats/cons/repukes/normies. They think returning to the aesthetics of the 1950s would solve everything, because they do not comprehend the poison that was already eating away at all the social and political assumptions even then. They marry and defer to leftist women instead of heading their households as civilization requires. They still want to get along with everyone… Read more »
While we can postulate the extent of economic coercion that affects consumer choice, it remains that far too many of our people and other peoples are freely choosing the ideology of mass consumption. No one has any particular need to drink Starbucks, nor do they need to be an NFL fan. But tens of millions of people who vote GOP will still turn around and vote their dollars in favor of companies that hate them. The vast majority of Africans and Muslims live in rooted societies where feminism is a foreign concept. But yet it seems they are eager to… Read more »
A practical interpretation of this can be seen in the reactions to Trump’s decision to abrogate the UPU treaty that allowed the Chinese to mail things here for pennies on the dollar. This will both make the disproportionately black USPS better off in financial terms. It will also end favoritism toward e-commerce, brick-and-mortar has more taxable property and tax-paying workers. There might even be a small bump in US manufacturing, and even production relocated to Mexico out of China is beneficial in a geopolitical sense. But even leftists that are supposed to favor labor over capital are aghast.
Enjoy the reactions.
https://twitter.com/MarkLGoldberg/status/1052593016228143104
More revenue for the USPS = privatization???
https://twitter.com/carlbildt/status/1052628608433446912
You’ve just solved the labor over capital question.
Why did leftists favor labor over capital?
So they could overthrow capital, and take it for themselves. Ta, labor!
(This was supposed to be a comment about the extension of the Chinese Belt up from a Baja port, through Laredo, to Canada on the proposed US Interstate 69- but that’s long term, an old issue.
AMLO and Xi, as national socialists, may help wrench things away from the central bankers’ indebt, invade, invite globalism.)
I had to read this a few times to get perspective. Z doesn’t say the economy is unimportant. He says that progs and the elites make bogus claims about the relation between certain social policies (e.g., open borders) and the economy.
… “Just as Evangelicals love Israel, despite the fact Jews despise Evangelicals,” … Very few people realize this. I learned it many years ago when the son of a rabbi moved next door to us and we had many interesting talks. I asked him why Jews support the anti-Semitic left. His answer was, Jews are more afraid of Evangelicals. It made no sense to me then and I still haven’t figured it out. Another thing I never figured out was that while it’s true Evangelicals love Israel, do they love Israel only for its biblical connections and does it transfer… Read more »
There is an evangelical belief that the formation of Israel relates to an End Times prophecy of the rebuilding of the Temple and the destruction of the Dome of the Rock. There is also a belief in a “dual covenant” where Jews somehow don’t have to accept the New Testament. This theory is entirely born out of post-1945 politics, non-evangelical Mainline Prots also give it some credence. Jews get really enraged whenever a Chrsitian asks them to convert, and the Evangelicals that don’t accept the “dual covenant” are quite irksome. So a Jewish person is afraid of both conversion, and… Read more »
Revenge for lost Israel. The Romans took it. The sensible Jews then conquered Rome, culturally, turning them into Christians. Still not good enough. The Schiz faction caused enough trouble to lose a nation, but yet still blames both Romans and Christians for it. The Schizoid half is never content. They feel that if they are not rulers, they are slaves, and will not settle. Both Nebuchadnezzer and Herod ll presided over peaceful and prosperous kingdoms; but, the Schiz were not in charge, so they had to ruin it for their conservative brothers and for everyone else. This seems to be… Read more »
I feel alienated from the vast majority of (other) Americans. Some I wish ill will, but most I just see as mindless herd animals, of little interest. If I had to pick a philosophical model to follow, it would be the Stoics. For the most part, I restrict my exposure to modern culture, and retreat into the past (movies, books, etc). Just going to wait it out the ongoing collapse of the old system.
Unfortunately, we have family and friends whom we have a responsibility to. Waiting for the inevitable is not made easier by such obligations—but I hear ya.
One of the ironies I think about when contemplating the past is how, despite all the violence and brutality of prior ages, so much awesome art and beauty was produced, unlike the present.
Peter;
Surely part of it is that the elites patronizing that art in the days before widespread democracy were using their own money
I wonder if the problem is a surfeit of “bad” art, rather than a deficit of “good” art. Certainly, I see any number of modern examples of art that I appreciate and admire.
It IS unAmerican. You and the normie are looking at opposite sides of the same coin, and you’re both right as far as you go. Uncontrolled consumerism is every bit as toxic and dehumanising as feminism and Marxism. On the other hand, people that don’t want better things for themselves often become slothful, lazy, and stupid.
They are both valid observations.
One possible way to avoid the “no stakes” voters from overwhelming those who pay for society’s benefits (roads, schools, etc.), would be to limit the franchise. People could qualify to vote if: – They paid taxes – income or property – They provided service to the community of equal value – NOT in protesting or community organizing, but actual service – charity work, volunteer activities benefiting the community, etc. – They had qualified previously, but were now over 65 or disabled. – They had served at least 2 years in the military, with an Honorable or Good discharge, or in… Read more »
Linda, you Heinlien groupie. ;-). Yes, “earned” suffrage as opposed to “universal” suffrage is the key to a continued democracy. Unfortunately, short of falling into a dictatorship and unraveling out of it, I can see no way to achieve such.
Put a price on the franchise? Our vote today is inflated and devalued. Like our art, as Peter and Al note above. By accident, I’ve been listening to the popular music on the big stations. Black/latino rap now is what rock was in the 70s. Such catchy, sexy back-beats! But the “songs” are so stupid, so impossibly stupid, mean, and ugly. This bitch gonna beat that bitch’s ass, yo playa, ima real ghetto trash. (I hate to note, the music is pure Game, as in Heartiste. The positioning is blunt and sexy. As is the implied violence. Perhaps they should… Read more »
Well you hit this one out of the ballpark. I would agree that Consumerism is the real god of most American people. This is why we are referred to as “consumers” and not citizens by the government and Wall Street. Black Friday, the run up to Christmas shows how powerful the Consumerism god is. Look at all the lemmings who line up days before the major holidays like the crippled do at Lourdes hoping for a miracle. But instead to buy a sweat shop made TV, game console or some other meaning;less piles of crap. Christmas is now dreaded by… Read more »
I like it! “Ave, Consumer!”
Everything you observed about our Materialism Uber Alles culture is bang-on. But I’d love to see you expand someday on the Death of Beauty and Celebration of the Mundane. One of the truly disgusting features of the modern dystopia is the demonization of excellence as “unrealistic”, and the normalization of freaks. Can’t have anybody feeling bad about themselves, after all! You mentioned architecture and public spaces; consider any form of advertising or promotional material, where effort is made not just to get the high score on MultiCulti Yahtzee, but to showcase grotesque individuals in the name of celebrating “all people”.… Read more »
To enlist folks to our side (broadly speaking) ask them if cars became cheaper or more reliable from having been made overseas or south-of-the-border. Ditto for sneakers. Those jobs mattered for our less-than-intellectually-gifted fellow citizens and enabled them to support families and live lives independent of government intervention. The ever-increasing wealth gap is a direct result of the globalist enthusiasm for outsourcing to often murderous third-world countries while promoting subsistence-level welfare dependence here. Well-done Zman!
“When put together, the worship of democracy and the economy is the thermite reaction that is destroying America. If democracy is a good thing, then more of it must be a better thing. The result being the expansion of the franchise to hostile aliens. If the GDP is all that matters when measuring the health of society, then any criticism of the ruling oligarchy is an offense to the stuff god.” This reminded me of when my Dad was a missionary doctor, and he’d try to give Africans a prescription. They’d come back the next day for more medicine, having… Read more »
A very astute column, lots of interesting things to chew on. I have something rather more complicated to contribute later, but I’ll save it for the time being. In the meantime though, Z hits a bull’s-eye with his conception of the doltish Janus-like duality of “but muh economy / but muh democracy”. There’s a lot more to analyze in there, though. Meantime, while I go grocery-shopping, there are certain related concepts which bear some pondering: reification, “mission drift”, apotheosis, and the Confucian concept of the Rectification of Names. And of course that old I Ching standby, Hexagram 37, “People in… Read more »
We don’t have a Democracy, we have a Republic. Check it out.
In most ‘sciences’ and in economics in particular, published articles are more then *just* ‘science, the search for knowledge to make the world a better place’. IOW, the writer has non-economic interests that are in play. This ought to be obvious, but surprisingly few readers make the attempt to look and correct for those interests. For example, Keynes was a Fabian Socialist and so sought to legitimize government tinkering with ‘the economy’ (whatever that actually means). In the case of the two authors in the linked paper, their names alone ought to pique one’s curiosity as to whether they could… Read more »
Yes, good essay. Reminscent of a section of Albert Jay Nock’s Memoirs of a Superfluous Man where he calls out American society of the 30’s and argues that what he calls something like “encominism” will be the death of all of us. Basically, worshipping the economy and the principle of quantity over quality results in a wave of mediocrity washing over everything, polluting it all until the whole thing drops down the drain. They say Nock is a libertarian but I find him to be an all around erudite commentator. Worth reading.
This essay seems so pointless.
I expect “normie” citizens seek FREEDOM and LIBERTY more than just “democracy”. The vast expanding group of ahistorical consumers do not act as normal citizens.
There is no conflict between wanting a good affordable dentist or car, etc. – and wanting to be free to choose where to go or which dentist or car is best.
And, when basic needs are affordable, we are more free to gather at will and enjoy the beauty we create with our disposable resources.
Those desires are complementary in a free country.
My cars are green and blue.
It’s a freedom issue. I believe the sphere of personal autonomy should be maximized and the sphere of collective direction (by elites or the majority or the mob or however determined) should be minimized. Taking my money is taking my time. Its like requiring me to toil in a collective field for 2/3 of the day and allowing me to toil in my field for 1/3 of the day. It is morally and ethically wrong, it is akin to slavery or indentured servitude. Disposition of the collective claim on production always falls into the hands of the worse people. (Do… Read more »
Explain to me how Jews despise Evangelicals, if they do, more than coastal Episcopalians do.
Or, more than Northeastern Protestants of any denomination do.
Yeah, it’s possible to make a broader claim. Evangelicals are scorned from all directions, e.g., but especially by felllow Protestants in mainline denominations. My guess, though it’s only a guess, is that Jews are just unfamiliar enough with Evangelicalism to be respectful.
Explain what your comment has to do with what was written. Evangelicals don’t fawn over coastal Episcopalians, but they tend to believe A) the U.S. is a Christian nation (in a CivNat sense rather than an ethnic heritage sense; God is actively guiding the U.S.). This is why Evangelicals will say without irony things like “pray for our leaders in Washington, that God will give them wisdom” as if the ruling class isn’t made up entirely of sociopaths; B) this gives us an obligation to Jews, who are God’s Bestest Friends Chosen People, and will come around to evangelical Christianity… Read more »
The Evangelical is no friend to our side? As long as they quite dis-proportionally vote Trump, I’m very happy to have them with us. The rest is chump change. I’m far more worried about those of us, who try to drive super-hard bargains with those (incl. Evangelicals) who really fear SJWs, who are open to HBD, etc. I’ll be delighted to deal with *anyone*, who sees SJWs (esp. the feminist ones) for the wackos they really are. A certain number of Jews (e.g. Steve Miller) and Evangelicals are Studs for our side. Do *any* avowed Feminists at all compare to… Read more »
I think this Mexican caravan border crossing v. Trump requires a special post STAT.
This at first is going to sound OT, but it’s actually a sort of little fable which connects Z’s concept of muh economy/muh democracy (I might add the reified/apotheosized/non-rectified “but muh Diversity”) with his very real concept of the Death of Beauty. That one actually has a highly complex genealogy, and I know this from professional experience, but… one thing at a time. Here’s the fable. (Except it’s true.) I grew up (starting age 12 or so) playing honky-tonk and blues piano in bars. I spent a lot of my formative years playing piano for drunks, who bought me free… Read more »
There’s a good one over at Powerline blog titled “Invasion by Euphemism”
Well, I intended to comment on how particularly impressed I was with this post, but several people beat me to it.
I will likely think from now on about the slaughterhouse chute référence every time I walk into the Pentagon.
Zman, !! Perfect!! Immediately move this blog posting to the classic page.
We talk a lot about the definition of fascism and how no one seems to know it. But what the heck is the definition of socialism?? I think I know the grievances that makes Z call the US a socialist country but if it is, well, every country is and most far more so it seems. Maybe Somalia is the only non-socialist country if the US is one??
Completely agree on the aesthetics criticism. It is related to postmodernism which worships ugliness, alienating architecture etc. exactly because its core is nihilism.
Whatever you think of Jordan Peterson, I think his ‘finest hour’ was when he explained the link between (especially, but not exclusively, cultural) marxism and the French postmodernists. He may be a (Canuck) civnat or something like that or even an infiltrator for the soys but he is also right in some areas.
Consumerism is the triumph of the worst people demanding bread and circuses and the wealthy elite selfishly stooping to meet their demands so as to line their pockets. Truth and Beauty will never be restored to the pinnacle of social order until the best rule the worst. Some thought must be given to the appropriate proxies for social rank, e.g. IQ, industriousness (creating jobs and infrastructure), inventiveness (creating ideas, liturature, art etc.), public service on the one hand and criminality, lower intelligence, laziness/refusal to work, mental defects, antisocial behavior on the other. What should be clear in rejecting the Janus… Read more »
“Our cannon is packed with poetry.” Freudian slip.
But seriously, this was a strong and stirring article. One can contrast the charmlessness of our architecture with the gaudy overcolored packaging of our products, especially cheap consumer items like junk food.
I’ve always thought of the junk food aisles at the store, with their lurid packaging, to be like a row of faces of leering whores.
And as for the aesthetics of the *people* of our time, which is closely related to the junk food … well, the less said the better.
“One of the bloggers at Marginal Revolution has argued that open borders is a moral imperative because it makes the economy stronger. He literally believes the stuff god is carefully monitoring immigration policy in the West.”
My own observation (though I’m sure its occurred to many others) is that economists seem to find people to be problematic and a generally a drag on the economy, the promotion of which should be encouraged at any cost. The economy or GDP or whatever is its own end and people are just a means to that end.
Damn… how I miss those two-toned automobiles! Thanks for reviving that old memory Z.