Squid Ink

If you scan the so-called conservative sites these days, the remarkable thing is the dullness of them. The writing is mediocre, at best, and the arguments are mostly washed-out ideas from the 80’s with a heavy dash of libertarianism. The major issues of this age, immigration, identity, populism, and nationalism are largely ignored. When they bother to pick them up, it is to take swings at the growing army of people to their right. The main role of so-called conservatism is to confuse and discourage the rank-and-file conservatives.

This old column from Jonah Goldberg is a good example. It is in the style that he has become mocked for of late. It is where he lards up his text with Borscht Belt gags, along with a bunch pointless dissembling. The post is supposed to take a stab at defining conservatism, but he just does a bunch of name dropping, while making a hash of the subject. His jocular style is intended to put the reader at ease, while his hemming and hawing is supposed to make it seem like conservatism is up for debate.

Now, Goldberg is just an affable guy, who does not want to cause any trouble, while pretending to be an intellectual. I am surely giving him too much credit for suggesting his incoherence is intentional. His latest book is so bad that I suffered from vicarious embarrassment while reviewing it. Even so, he is not alone. If you look around the so-called conservative intellectual space, it is a parade of mediocrities spouting banal nonsense that mostly defends the status quo against criticisms from the Right.

One argument against mediocrity is Ben Shapiro, who is pitched to us as a pint-sized wunderkind. He has a billionaire backer for his web site, a perch at National Review and the full support of Conservative Inc. If that stuff does not impress you, Shapiro did manage to get into Harvard at 16 and graduate at 20. Even the Left has started promoting him as the conservative voice of his generation. Here he is explaining the core principles of conservatism at a Young Americans Foundation event a couple of years ago.

In that speech, he starts out by claiming conservatism is about fairness of opportunity, rather than fairness of outcome. Then he says conservatism is about individual rights and individualism. He makes the point a few times that group identity is invalid, which is rather amusing coming from a guy who sports a yarmulke all the time. He actually says we should target people who discriminate and use the law against them. Not so long ago, conservatives warned that this was the ultimate goal of the Left. Now, here we are.

Individualism sounds fine, especially if you are a member of a small group hoping to topple the large group. If you can convince the large group that it is immoral for them to stick together, then you can pick them off one at a time. That is why there has never been a military organized around individualism. It is also why conservatism never embraced individualism. Deracinated and atomized people are easily conquered, which is why his people have made group loyalty their defining characteristic for a thousand years or more.

Shapiro is a smart guy, so he surely sees the contradictions. That means he says things about conservatism that he knows are false, or at least at odds with what has been the core of conservatism for centuries. Maybe it is just what sells, and he is just an ambitious person willing to do anything to get ahead. None of that really matters because the net effect is the same. The well-meaning young people who look to guys like Shapiro to put structure around their temperament are swimming in squid ink.

One reason conservationism is now a dog’s breakfast of libertarian nostrums and reworked liberal platitudes is that conservatism is short of conservatives. The people carrying the banner for Official Conservatism do not know the first thing about what it means to be conservative. It is as if they have spent their lives trying to avoid the great conservative thinkers. There is no trace of intellectual giants in the ideas of the modern conservative. Take for example the great quote from the philosopher Michael Oakeshott.

To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.

Now, it takes immense talent to write something so powerful and insightful with such an economy of language. No one can be blamed for not having that skill. On the other hand, how is it possible to read that, as a conservative, and not immediately understand that being on the Right is not about individualism or anti-racism or any of the other ridiculous fads popular on the Left? The answer is they are either too dumb to see it or they hope their readers don’t see it. In other words, the squid ink is intentional.

110 thoughts on “Squid Ink

  1. “To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.”

    If conservatism is comfortable stuck in a mud puddle, what does the author state about being a Liberal? The never appear comfortable anywhere, anytime … always angry or upset about things that have little to do with them personally.

    I think there is a lot more to being a conservative than what the author describes as somewhat socially and politically Luddite. I am conservative and know many others of my same ilk, we are not like that at all. I am not sure if we are still conservative or simply realists. Reality is the basis for the things I believe. Religion doesn’t play a role in my conservatism. That helps to keep things real.

    Even though human nature is a constant, things have changed since Michael Oakeshott was scribbling his stuff. Conservatism has morphed. What we do maintain in our morphed rightness is the moral high ground. That, of course, makes us bigots and racists because we state facts that are uncomfortable around things like race and gender. immigration etc … nez paw? Woof.

  2. “Maybe it is just what sells and he is just an ambitious person willing to do anything to get ahead.”

    This is the essence of politics as it is practiced.

  3. Andrew Anglin and Alex Jones get the living, breathing, laughing part of this thing we do; and they are just as persecuted by the establishment as anyone, but big enough to shrug it off, over and over. Our smart guys are smarter, AND our funny guys are funnier. That is my device for determining conservative, and not Conservative Inc; who is the squid ink trying to hide?

  4. Baby boomers are goddamn retards. The sooner they all die, the sooner we can have a real right wing party.

    • Umm, the Millennials all think they are Harry Potter. The Boomers were at least creative and sometimes brave and self aware.

  5. Fuck all of that nonsense!
    America is supposed to be a Constitutional
    republic and sovereign nation.
    Fight for and defend it, on that basis alone,
    or nothing else matters.
    Purge it of illegal aliens, communists, and
    treasonous shitbags, and it will most assuredly
    give way to the beginning of America’s restoration
    and a successful outcome.
    Anything else is a waste.

    • FYI: Fighting does not involve phoning, writing,
      or pathetically begging your Congressional
      representative member of the treasonous Uniparty/D.C. dictatorship to do something.

  6. Goldberg: “An outfit called the Congressional Institute asked me to come speak to a bunch of Capitol Hill muckety-muck GOP aides on the question “Why Are You a Conservative?””

    He wants to brag about being important enough to be asked to give speeches, yet give the impression that he’s still cool and not establishment at all, so he puts his square hosts and audience down. Reluctant hero schmuck.

  7. I think we need to forget the Left:Right template. Conservatism is a disposition and not an ideology: Ideology needs to die.

  8. As much as I love him, Hobbes should get a lot of the blame here. His “social contract” can easily be read as an agreement between autonomous individuals (though doubtless he himself didn’t see it that way), and… well, there you go. The idea of the sovereign autonomous individual in the state of nature — which did not exist, and could never exist — gives a patina of legitimacy to a society of deracinated consumers. This is why the Leninist Left seized on “consent” and especially “democracy” to sell their snake oil, even though Marxism has nothing to do with either (Communism *will* happen, comrade! The Forces of History decree it). Let go of the organic basis of society, and everything else follows.

  9. Zman: “The people carrying the banner for Official Conservatism don’t know the first thing about what it means to be conservative. It is as if they have spent their lives trying to avoid the great conservative thinkers. There is no trace of the intellectual giants in the ideas of the modern conservative.”

    I think you’re exaggerating to the point of wrongness here. Even in the Goldberg article you link to, he’s saying truly conservative things all over the place. There’s lots of conservative thought in modern conservative writing/magazines, etc. But as you (elsewhere) and others say, it’s just lip service now. The ship is going down and they’re just mouthing the old conservative virtues thing.

  10. The Oakshott quote, like many other iconic definitions of conservatism, always bring to my mind the image of the cautious grump. Some may imagine a Gary Cooper type. But I think of the sour faced uncle who’s always poo-pooing everything and is envious/afraid of anyone/anything dynamic, with personality, or charisma. “That’s not gonna work.”…
    “Overpaid show-offs!”…”This isn’t MUUUUSIC!” In other words, a simple reactionary.

    What’s admirable in the Oakshott quote is that he doesn’t try and disguise this, or dress it up with virtue. It’s matter of fact. He’s almost admitting that to be conservative is to be boring. If he were writing today, he’d surely tag on the line, “and that’s OK”.

    Anyway, like James LePore said, these definitions are just attitudes to life. I get it. They’re not wrong. But it’s a different world now. The absence of group-identity ideas in these old definitions of conservatism is now glaring.

    I hope someone will make an updated list of what Conservatives stand for (or Alt-Right or Dissident Right, whatever the label). Vox Day’s obviously rocks, but it’s too off-hand casual, and could be improved. It would be great if the leading Alt/Dissident Right voices would get together and come up with a new list of principles.

  11. I am impressed that Sessions found his testicles again in such a dramatic way. Now all he has to do is fire Mueller and I’ll have regained all the respect for him that I lost.

  12. Overall the media is now 100% focused on flattering their payers: the individuals and foundations that fund media directly and indirectly (via “fellowships”, speaking fees, contracts for unread books etc). This stuff isn’t really for us, it’s for guys in their 70’s who never have to ask how much and want to believe they are an influence.

  13. There is an old saying: A Conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. Bromides and clichés aside, the whole Conservative-Liberal(Progressive Marxist rat bastards) arguments are moot at this point. Stop wasting time labeling and analyzing, for God’s sake. The enemy has been inside the gates for some time now. The gloves are off and the forces of darkness will stop at nothing to destroy our fundamental, God-given liberties enumerated in the BOR.
    It is all about prepping. PT, firearms familiarization and practice, storing needful things and other actions. Do not be like these fools in the Dead Elephant Party and on so-called “Conservative” websites. They remind me of the French Elite who were holding their Salons up until the fishwives stormed Versailles. They looked very confused as they were bound, thrown on the trundle carts and waited in line for the National Razor. Mark my words. With all of the current handwringing over the “caged children”, chaos is knocking at our doors. Bleib ubrig.

    • It is all about prepping. PT, firearms familiarization and practice, storing needful things and other actions.
      That is all a good start Brother but like ferfal, Selco, and all those who have survived the chaos know and advocate for being in a Community of Self Sufficient People…

      • Thank you, my brother. I just started that building process with a new neighbor whose entire family are shootists. More to follow. Hope all is well with you and yours. I pray for all of you every day.

    • I wish it were just Left to Right/Dem to Republican. The idea of a Left/Right continuum began during the French Revolution. What we face is something totally different – Nations versus Trans Nationalism. In an open border world both the Left and Right will be replaced by the bottom line. There will be no other metric other than profitability to measure success or failure and individuals will be ground down to mere gravel. That neither the Left or Right recognizes this outcome means we are in for interesting times. Trump gets the big picture and fights effectively for our civilization – which is a Left and a Right contained in a thing called a Nation.

    • bleib übrig. I was raised in a German speaking home, all four grandparents, until about age eight so I have some memories of the language. bleib übrig refers iin my memory to “left over” such as a left over piece of dessert such as a piece of pie. How are you using it.

      Dan Kurt

      • Mr. Kurt: The phrase “bleib ubrig” was used by Berliners in the waning days of WWII. They knew the Russian Steamroller would soon arrive. The most relevant translation would be: “survive”. It literally means: “remain whole” or “stay together”. My reference would be from Cornelius Ryan’s excellent book: THE LAST BATTLE. I also speak German.

  14. Apparently, I am not conservative if Oakshott’s definition is correct. I need to go back to calling myself a classical liberal and be done with it.

    • Anybody who so carelessly slanders Christianity as YOU do can call yourself anything you want–but the best term is “Uninformed.”

      • I am informed, but most people have no idea of the history of Christianity, especially as preached by Jesuits. Some Protestant cults are less destructive than others, but all seek to control their adherents and promise, as does Islam, rewards in the next world and sublimation in this one.

  15. An American or European conservatism based on tradition, religion, place, community & shared blood had no place for Jews.
    So Jews dismantled that conservatism & replaced it with one that they can control.

    For the slow, here’s how they did it. They established influence in Ivy League universities & mass media. Then they used that influence to change our perceptions of what was moral, intelligent & high status.
    Traditional, Christian, white-supporting behavior was stigmatized as stupid, lame & hateful.
    Conversely, pursuit of novelty, openness to outsiders, hostility to religion & harming white interests was lionized as cool, smart & moral.

    Modern conservatism is weird & weak because it is the dishonest attempt to concoct a conservatism out of these inherently unconservative elements.

    • I’ve always said being cool is just having the propensity for caring the least.

      There are tales of WW2 about how cool the black GI’s were walking around leisurely under artillery bombardment while the white GI’s frantically took cover.

  16. My general observations on “conservative” writers and TV commentators.

    If you:
    – live in DC, New York, or Los Angeles
    – are embarrassed by Trump or his supporters
    – can’t find anything to cut in the federal budget
    – believe we can compromise on gun control (as if we haven’t already)
    – think the FBI, DOJ, IRS, CIA can be reformed from the inside
    – worry about being labelled racist, Islamophobic, or anything else by your liberal friends…

    …you probably aren’t conservative and I will be highly skeptical of anything you say.

  17. Little Ben Shapiro and Jonah Goldberg and others who believe——–er, scratch that, “preach” individualism, are going to be busy the next few years trying to swat down identity politics. The argument for whites playing identity politics because the rapidly-growing brown groups do, is catching on, and catching on fast. With multiculturalism and anti-white propaganda increasing, that’s going to continue. I don’t know how long Shapiro or Jordan Peterson will be able to keep dodging a debate (they’ll lose and they know it) with a competent pro-white guy. Also how long before a big name in the mainstream, say, a Tucker Carlson or Mark Steyn or Ann Coulter, begin to explicitly advocate for white interests?

    • The problem for Peterson is 1. He’s employed and gets his cred from academia. 2. He’s Canadian; a society that has wholeheartedly swallowed the multi-culti cult across the entire sociopolitical spectrum. If he were to relent and straightforwardly admit the truth about whites he’d not only be out of a job but he would face prison or exile.

    • Peterson basically advocates for our side(minus the tribalism angle). He’s done more for getting young white heads on straight than our side could ever do. He does a far better job explaining the evils and dangers of PC/MC and feminism than we can.

      That said, no public figure is ever going to do what you want. First off it’s career suicide and they’d end up with needing around the clock security. As it is, people like Coulter and Carlson both get cussed at in public at airports, etc.

      Secondly it’s not needed. Ann Coulter does a excellent job just doing what she is doing. Same with Carlson. Perceptive people can read between their lines and see exactly what they are implying in many of their debates, etc.

      • Rod: “Peterson’s done more for getting young white heads on straight than our side could ever do. He does a far better job explaining the evils and dangers of PC/MC and feminism than we can.”

        From the last 2/3rds of your comment, you’re obviously aware that there has to be different roles for various parts of the Right. So no need to phrase it as a simple binary that depicts “our side” as sucking at this or that, compared to the soft Right.

    • My wife and I plan to take the 7 day Steyn Cruise this early Autumn. I will ask Steyn that question then.

      Dan Kurt

      • Give Jay Nordlinger a wedgie for me. [Correction: I thought you said “NRO Cruise.” I doubt Nordlinger will hang with Steyn if he isn’t required to.]

  18. Ben Shapiro went to UCLA for undergrad actually, Harvard law. I detect a high decibel of jealousy against him at these sites. I believe it is because he is cute and he is Jewish. People don’t like Jews because they succeed.

  19. Small c conservatism is basically an attitude toward life: no debt, use your hands, understated living in all respects, obscurity as an ideal, fame as repugnant—a value system that is antithetical to any mainstream political ideology that currently exists, including large c Conservatism. The current political war is not between opposing ideologies but opposing ways of living and ways of thinking about living, the Dirt People vs. the Cloud People. This is becoming clearer everyday.

  20. “In other words, the squid ink is intentional.”

    I think that you have titled this post Squid Ink is interesting. Squid ink is a very fashionable condiment these days. I personally think it is an excellent metaphor for the Emperor’s New Clothes. “Hey, let’s see if we can get these idiots to swallow squid ink. We’ll tell them that all the popular and educated foodies swear by it. Then we’ll be able to unload this 50 metric tons of squid ink we bought to sell to dye companies.” It’s just a matter of time before we see Shit Sandwich food trucks in LA.

  21. Hey Z Man, what are your thoughts on the disintegration of conservatism being assisted by left infiltration? Not the obvious false conservatives everyone sees, but on deeper levels?

    • Infiltration happens, but much of that is low level. One instance that comes to mind is Damon Linker in Richard John Neuhaus’ organization several years back. He worked as an intern and wrote a few articles, then came out with a hitpiece book on his experiences at First Things, which moved leftward after Neuhaus’ death. The lurch to the left was not by infiltration, but by establishment Catholics moving into the lacuna.

      Most of the problems start at the level of funding. Anytime someone wants to give money to an organization, they want some kind of quid pro quo in return. That means influence over mission and hiring. Personnel is policy, after all. And many of the young people who go into this kind of thing are personally ambitious, with little regard to orthodoxy in ideas. They just want to see how high they can climb in the organization. Sucking up to superiors and aping the behavior of those they see as successful is what they deem the road to advancement.

      These, more than infiltration, are responsible for much of the mission creep you see.

      It is the corrupting power of power itself.

  22. A recent article at NRO is a perfect example of this. The article began by prattling about Sontag, et. al. and the destruction of the classical arts replaced with their post-modern drivel. Fair enough, but the article then went on to talk about how those proles on the right were following the same path and throwing away classical liberalism.

  23. Zman, your description of (((a small group))) makes me think you may have finally rounded third base. Or?

    • Zman has always understood the jewish question. He also understands basing a movement on this question is a loser, because of Naxalt, and the huge number of other problems with our people, and because it makes you look insane. I think Patrick little and Paul Nehlen are smart men. I wouldn’t vote for them over Paul Ryan or whomever Little was running against. They would eventually self-destruct because they are fundamentally not stable. Our movement should affirm our needs, not simply scapegoat other groups.

  24. Perhaps Shapiro follows Levin’s very similar “individualism” (but NEVER tribalism, heh heh) line.

    Levin is so individualistic that he screams his advocacy of unlimited no-tariff imports, which do not concern HIM as an individual, but only concern jobless US workers. Meantime, he spends quite a bit of time in a VERY tribal Israel.

  25. To a certain extent this reduction of conservatism to an ideology is not a new problem. When the Intercollegiate Studies Institute was getting started the first name proposed by the students was the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists. Russell Kirk talked them out of that.

    This is all about heresy. If you read early Christian history you find that heresy involves taking one part of the theological makeup of the Bible and putting it either out in front of all the others or ignoring the others altogether. In the first famous instance Arius had to ignore the first chapter of John’s Gospel to make Christ a creation of God. The finding of the Council of Nicea was that no, you can’t just ignore part of the Canon and then demand people go along with it. And the Nicene Creed is something agreed on by all major branches of Christianity today, Roman, Orthodox, and Protestant, with the exception of a few tiny sects.

    In the case of ISI, Kirk talked them out of the individualism and wrote a book, Rights and Duties, to make his point. Also, the original funder of the group had this balance in mind when he financed the group. The kids just saw individual rights and ran with it, which is what the Conservatism Inc apparently wants them to do right now, because caring for your nation is obviously Nazism in sheep’s clothing, or something (like not subsidizing big business with cheap labor).

    • “The finding of the Council of Nicea was that no, you can’t just ignore part of the Canon and then demand people go along with it. ” No, what you do is drop it from the Canon, problem solved. Or rather, slap together a “canon” in the first place (ironically, Marcion’s idea in the first place, then stolen and used against him by the future “Catholic” Church.

  26. I was listening to NPR and some photographer was discussing his photo of a child that had been set down and was crying. He was SHAKEN. This wasn’t a separation mind you. I started gagging so hard I almost had to pull over.

    Whatever you want to say about Trump, he has shaken loose the detritus. I have grown angry at the jewish ‘a tribe for me but not for thee’. Israel border- they shooting em. Israel black refugees they cutting deals with african countries and shipping them back. Our border…. well lets just leave it there.

    I would like just one conservative to make the point that every other group is behaving tribal as hell, even the Asians are getting in on the game. Harvard admissions 20%black, 25% jew, 20% asian and less than 50% white overall. Given this fact- maybe the whites should start thinking tribally- you know to protect *their* interests. The Shapiro s would come out of the woodwork to denounce that kind of crazy racist talk!

    Maybe they over play their hand. I have been personally shocked at the overt demonitization, refusal of credit card service, and shadow banning that has gone on. So now they use the banks and networking platforms against the bad think? Haha i was shadowbanned over at powerline blog for some rather innocuous criticism of Goldberg!

    • why you listen NPR? bad for your mental health. i understand when libs in control, but why does our government fund NPR/PBS when conservatives in control…and don’t give me that crap about saving Big Bird!

    • Maybe whites should think tribally? You are aware of the Alt-Right and identitarian movements aren’t you?

      • Surely you read some HBD’ers? Tribalism has been, literally, bred out of northern Caucasians. Ironically, by the Church, who correctly saw the clan as it’s major threat to power. I do not dismiss the importance of white identity in a hostile environment, but that will evolve as other than tribalism.

      • yes, i guess i should have expressed that more clearly. I would like to see a mainstream conservative ( eg republican senator) express that given that everything is identity politics now, that there is nothing wrong for whites to fight for their tribe. Essentially express some sort of support for the white identitarian movement. I don’t even catch a whiff of any republicans trying to shift the overton window. Maybe coulter come closest?

  27. Surely the problem is that there is no such thing as non-religious conservatism – and never has been, nothing coherent – and that any genuine conservatism is subsumed by the religion of which it is a part?

    The major ‘political’ division is between theists and atheists (aka the Left) – those who believe that society should be structured in light of the divine; and those who believe that society should be structured in light of the hedonic states of mortal persons.

    Which, of course, means that all mainstream politics ( and public discourse) is on The Left (including all those that call themselves the Right). The Left originated in atheism, and it still structures their long term strategy.

    … Although, in its depths, the Left is anti-thesist (anti-God, pro-Satan) rather than pretending that God does not exist… that kind of nonsense is just for the Little People.

    (BTW: I read everything published by Oakeshott up to 25 years ago, and was good friends with the leading Oakeshott expert and biographer RAD Grant; but – delightful prose aside – I eventually concluded that Oakeshott was a negative critic; he is not saying anything deep, coherent or helpful in a positive, life-structuring, sense. And this showed in his private life.)

    • You are absolutely correct in your major premise: atheism (or any serious deformation of Chistianity, such as Mohammedanism) is poison to genuine conservatism.

      Oakeshott is, however, a good start for the un-informed.

        • The fact is they are not at all comparable. But it’s the typical view that most communists, progressives and militant atheists like Dawkins and his crew of “brights”. like to promote.

    • “Surely the problem is that there is no such thing as non-religious conservatism – and never has been, nothing coherent – and that any genuine conservatism is subsumed by the religion of which it is a part? ”

      Quite right, Bruce.

    • Hi, just wondering if you are the same Bruce Charlton of Bruce Charlton’s Notions. If so I’d like to say that I find your writings very interesting and would like to congratulate you on your work

  28. Was talking to my mate about this:

    “He has a very strange idea of conservatism, so does Vox Day – must be an American thing. Think he’s referring here to the McCains, Romneys, Ryans and to the good ole boys.

    When I think conservative, I think of Z Man and Vox, of you, of a rollicking, dissident, satirical type.”

    Z Man uses conservative as a pejorative, whereas I see it as Deplorable and good.

    • It is a pejorative in it’s present state and current media representatives.
      The great conservatives or even good ones are all dead.

    • As your boy Chesterton warned a century ago a conservative often is the fellow doggedly conserving the liberal fads of two or three generations past as if they were his own while yelling stop to new forms of liberal creation. But in general, Z distinguishes between conservative and Conservative inc.

      • not to my reading. there are useful idiot conservatives who are ignorant of reality, and there are the knowingly traitorous “conservatives” that are enabled by the first group.

  29. Hello. Master Pedant here!

    That’s why there’s never been a military organized around individualism.

    The anarchists in the Spanish Civil War were organized around individualism and had no formal command structures . Worked well for guerilla style action, not so much else.

    • Whew! For a minute there I confused “pedant” with “pederast”. Getting old is alarming.

  30. I’m wondering when Victor Davis Hanson will get the boot from NRO. He’s the only conservative left there.

    • That’s exactly why they are stuck with him. He’s the only one left. They have a foreboding of the snickering that would follow his dismissal. Meanwhile, VDH would not have described himself as a conservative in the past but he appears to be tweaking the Nancy boys at NR deliberately lately.

    • The interesting thing about Hanson is he is the only one out there providing any historical context around why conservatism (for lack of a better term–maybe “classicism” would be better) matters. The rest are just chattering skulls just trying to knock out the next column, get another panel invite for shout TV and not say something that would knock them off the DC cocktail party circuit.

    • I like VDH, but his asinine anti-Southern bigotry really grates. Where is that coming from?

      • VDH was born and raised in California and spent most of his adult life in the university as a professor. There is a tendency for people to become creatures of their environments and he is not as exceptional as he would like to think.

      • Bigotry against white rural Southerners, especially conservative male Christians, is the last socially-acceptable prejudice in 21st-century America. They’re a safe target, so Hanson takes a potshot at them now and again.

    • VDH is a thoughtful and well-spoken gentleman. What I would give to hear his internal thoughts as he drives around his home town in rural CA that has been conquered by Hispanics. I suspect it would be less than genteel and make me somewhat uncomfortable.

      • He does a podcast most weeks with the Hoover guys and often he talks in depth about the experiences around his farm. I’ve found his commentary in these to be the single most useful view into the impact of immigration in Califorinia.

    • I would add Conrad Black to the list. Victor and Conrad are the only two reasons I visit NR. Once in awhile I will read McCarthy, but only to enjoy his recent maturity about the FBI and DOJ. Schadenfreude.

  31. Are there any examples from Western Civilization of a people rising up to correct the error of their own elites? Do we have any real control oover what the elites conceive and work to bring into being? Does our own founding represent such an act? Can we even reorient our own “conservative” elites toward original conservatism as described above?

    It’s obvious that Conservative Inc is a dead end, and that the Republican party has nothing to offer. Sobering realization for a registered Republican like myself to have gradually recognized over the past five years or so. As to their inability to produce anything enduring, inspiring and of weight, part of that must be the fact that the LEFT? was able to stampede to the lunatic side the bulk of the creative, intellectual and political classes. Those politically inclined remaining on the right simply don’t have the vision, creativity, honesty, fierce drive and selflessness to be anything other than they are.

    It’s just a tired, old observation to point out again the endless failings of (almost all of) our elected representatives, and the meaningless chattering of conservative commentators. They don’t have to power to fight this beast we’ve allowed to be birthed; nor do they have the will, or even the desire.

    It seems now that our virtuous betters on the right locate all their good within the five Ps: Power, Position, Prerogative, Property and …. Pleasure.

    So the question I’ve been asking myself is: What do we do? Is there anything that can be done?

    One need only look at the frenzied crisis of today — the border “children” — to see how determined, shameless and creative is our mortal foe (the foe on the LEFT?, that is). Fanatics is not a strong enough term to characterize them. They have a plan, it operates on many levels and across the cultural battlespace … unceasingly. They have no shame; they seek total control, and they want us fully plowed under.

    The creative and fanatic intellects of the LEFT over the preceeding 150 years managed to construct the proper tool to disassemble 2000 years of Western Civilization.

    They are making that happen, and our “own” political and intellectual wings are no barrier against their ultimate success. Kurt Schlicter has some thoughts on what might happen today in his Townhall column. Many Americans, outside this and the few other sites I read, must be quietly seeing and accepting the pointlessness of what we are doing — of trying to beat this full-on war against America and Americans — using traditional structures and methods.

    I certainly have no original answer, but I do know that —

    Without organization, we cannot hope to succeed. Following the existing leaders (excepting, perhaps, Trump) we are doomed to failure. Without a plan, we will be extinguished.

    • Well there are examples, but generally these are “heads on pikes” (or the more modern equivalent) affairs.

    • Maybe the Reconquista buts thats unclear. I think its something that Z has mentioned before but any successful coup requires an elite patronage at some point. If you consider the Nazi party it was only with the decapitation of the S.A that the support of the traditional German elite was cemented. The Bolsheviks in reality owed much of their success to the German Army, providing shelter for Lenin, then loading him into a train and dispatching him Eastwards like a guided missile to undermine an enemy in a state of crisis. Its debatable whether Apartheid would have fallen, or if South Africa would have split into an independent Boer Staat, and Black African nation without the hegemony of US blue state gov post Cold War, instead of rainbow nation third world collapse. A lot depends on timing, circumstance, and dumb luck. Here’s an interesting article from a writer in London https://medium.com/@TXHart/the-strategic-genius-of-osama-bin-laden-216d27bddec4, he seems to share a lot of the same opinions as us heretics.
      Vox Day has frequently mentioned a concept of waves of history, which he takes from Tolstoy. I think they are on to something if you take a God’s eye view. The previous decades have been one of a momentum of universalism, feminisation, homogenisation. Francis Fukuyama’s end of history writ large. For most of the later half of the 20th century and early 21st America was the undisputed arbiter of the world Then some Mordor Orcs flew some planes into a symbol of that universalism. I don’t intend this to insult American’s, I’ve visited on occassion’s and have a fondness for the country, well the Red parts. Like the British Empire, America’s achievments have been very positive, with the overwhelming exception of the Tyranny of Dindu Culture insidiously forced through every media outlet. The problem has been who gets to lead the Empire. A Reagan, Nixon or Trump and you get support of contra’s, Realpolitik, and Patriotism. The Magic Negro, or Neo Con you get Blue gov colour revolutions, antagonising Russia through reckless NATO expansion, sponsoring of Islamist groups (Mujahadeen during Cold War notwithstanding but who could have forseen the blowback) and normalising the ridiculous concept that pumping artificial hormones into your body, mincing your genitals, and larping as the opposite sex makes you actually one of them. This era we are getting a sense of fragmentation. Russia is resurgent, because it has the will to be resurgent. Japan is increasingly going its own way on national defense. China is building a counter Empire in Africa, and the Orcish and African populations are spreading like a tumour. There does seem to be some embers of Nationalism reigniting in Europe. Instead of one all out power we have a system emerging similar to the Great Power politics post concert of Vienna albeit different and larger. It just hasn’t been formalised or recognised yet. And all Western mainstream media will deny it as it affects their pay check. Samuel Huntington has been overwhelmingly correct in his prophecies.
      On a domestic level its hard to know, sometimes it seems the way out is through, but something is changing. https://medium.com/@TXHart/why-does-the-left-hate-jordan-peterson-ba679afcdf1b
      I’m not a fan of Peterson but someone else can sometimes articulate points better than others. I do remeber this video post Charlottesville and it stuck in my mind.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FmX1phv55c It gets interesting from 5.30 to 9.52. The perception is that prosperity leads to decadence, or a cyclical nature of history. His assessment from 8.25 to 9.22 is a lovely little white pill that always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside if I feel listless or depressed at the ridiculous state of the West. Maybe Z’s discription of lavender farm plantations may come to pass as gulags for what remains of the xer/xim, trans and arseless chaps brigades Post Anathema. Z could be governor general of Da Kangz Nation of NU Btown.

      • ” it was only with the decapitation of the S.A that the support of the traditional German elite was cemented” — source please

        • Night of the long knife, take Ernst Rohm’s quote ‘ Hitler has betrayed our proletariat’ at face value. Michael Burleigh The Third Reich. The S.A were effective street fighters but repellent to normies. Our situation throughout the West is very different to an extent. We’re more late Roman Empire or Ancient Athens. The concept of citizenship has been devalued so much that it’s as useful as a Happy Meal Badge.

    • Without organization, we cannot hope to succeed. Following the existing leaders (excepting, perhaps, Trump) we are doomed to failure. Without a plan, we will be extinguished.
      Yea I agree wholeheartedly the thing is Brother that the people who understand that are still in the small minority because everyone is still too comfortable…My plan is still the same and that is to be Building Community because that’s where it starts and has the most impact on your daily life…Just imagine not paying any income taxes because all your trade and services were done with gold, silver, copper, lead… Imagine not paying any property taxes because you abolished it and went to a sales tax…The list goes on and on of the benefits that could come about if a Community of Liberty Minded people was established…Will people realize that in time to make a difference I guess only time can answer that question…

      • First, the entire “Liberty Minded Community” precludes you getting it, Its a stupid idea on its face and just a variation of the run away from responsibility flogged these days as the Benedict Option

        If you are going to avoid being destroyed you must take power and you will use it. You aren’t avoiding paying for taxes and you are not going to live and let live. You are going to make people behave in a moral fashion, regulating marriage, the economy, media and a lot of things.

        This isn’t a Right Wing Christian nation and if it is one, you need blasphemy laws at least at the State level.

        Someone tries something like the infamous P*ss Chr*st as Andre Cerrano if he does it in public jail, hang, strip resources

        Protect what is worthwhile

        Now I’d not regulate the written word or actual speech but you cannot have liberty in a nation with Leftists in it

        This conundrum is where American “Conservatism” works against itself. Not the looter-cuck variety mind you which is just yesterdays Leftism with looting for the oligarchs but the real deal

        That desire for familiarity precludes a lot of things

        Fro example its why you never see Right wing violence like the Scalisi shooter its all Leftists, Commies and Nazis or in the case of the Charlottesville guy if he did as claimed which is dubious, Former leftist

        Worse many Conservatives are deracinated , barely religious and thoroughly individualistic which makes organizing very difficult. There is no there, there

        The exception here seemed to be the anti abortion people, I don’t agree with these guys but they were willing to take direct action and were effective at it. There are lots of places where no one would dare set up an abortion clinic and while they FBI was able to disrupt them to some degree, they had a pronounced impact on procuring abortions for years.

        The country is too big and they were too few to stop abortion and of course technology rolled on but abortion is at an all time low and the anti abortion people did have something to do with it

        • Your critique of the “Liberty Minded Community” is spot on. Liberty only exists in a mostly white community. To advocate for liberty while ignoring its necessary preconditions is like advocating for a healthy diet for cadavers. Libertarians are either too unobservant or too cowardly to acknowledge this.

    • How about this for a plan, identify every player on the left, including financiers, intellectuals, judges,, professors national down to local politicians any and all apparatchiks. publicly identify them where they live family etc.. publish this information with something like a wiki type site that can be added to & modified as needed. Just the existence of a “list” so to speak might go a long way in heading off any violence the leftists have planned.

        • Not necessarily. TOR seems pretty uncrackable. It’s more about who’s putting in the info and determining who’s side they’re on. Our’s (Gnon/God/Reality) or Dildolech.

    • Every fukking time it’s tried. The “elite” are always a tiny minority, and therefore are always dependent on a praetorian guard — who are going to be natives/citizens. Our own political overclass has fukked themselves good this time. I think they are going to end up swinging or fleeing; they won’t be allowed to stay (or take their wealth with them).

      • Could you elaborate a bit on why you think they’ve “done” themselves good this time (real question, not sarcasm)?

  32. To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown”

    This is the problem. Conservatives prefer the versions of leftism that were popular when they grew up (the familiar) to the current’s year brand of leftism (the unknown). This way conservatism is only the rearguard of leftism. This is why Saphiro asks to use the law against discrimination

    As Chesterton said:”The business of progressives is to keep on making mistakes. The business of conservatism is to keep mistakes from being corrected”

    This is why conservatism is only a fake oposition, a valve of escape of the system, so people are mislead to think that there is an oppisition to the system

    • You mis-read Oakeshott. “Familiar” in his context means family, church, village. You also grant Leftism far more credit for insinuating its ‘values’ into society than Leftism deserves. If Leftism’s tenets were accepted by all, Trump would still be doing real estate deals.

      • Famiy, Church, and Village in most of America are left of center by even thr standarda of the Bush era. Conservatives have absolutely moved to safeguard the Obama era liberal victories while continuing to distract their more resistant population with critical theatrics which amounted to nothing. One can plausibly doubt the left’s ability to hold court over all of society and that is precisely why the cons are still around. They soft sell a watered down version of the same swill to those who can see some of the problems with progressive ideation, but miss the larger paradigm shift.

        As always, one must identify the root of the problem as a uniformly progressive upper class. Without a reactionary element in that class, there can be no effective resistance to the destruction of all that resists the progressive regime.

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