Unplugged: Dissident Sentiment
An old and mostly true observation about revolutions is that they end up where they started with a new set of rulers doing pretty much the same things as the rulers they deposed in the revolution. Stalin was the Tsar decorated with the ideological trappings of the revolution. Napoleon was a secular version of the Sun King. The people hiding behind razor wire and armed men this weekend in the imperial capital are the authoritarians they claimed to have deposed last election.
One reason, maybe, for this is that changing the culture that created the old leaders is not as easy as the revolutionaries imagine. The character of a people is the product of many generations. The unwritten rules of society are simply second nature, habits of mind that no one needs to consider. Changing a lifetime of habit is not easy with one person but changing a population’s lifetime of habit is impossible. The best the revolution can do is change the people at the top.
That is what we are seeing in America. The long march through the institutions has not produced the glorious revolution, because altering the character of the people is not simply a matter of blasting new culture from the institutions. It turns out that the cultural Marxist were wrong, and culture does not emanate from institutions. The institutions are the product of the culture. Even adding lots of new people fails because those people bring their culture with them.
That does not mean the cultural revolution is harmless. For example, they have turned patriotism into a weapon. Our choice is flag waving, which means supporting the destructive ends of Conservative Inc., or flag burning, which means supporting the monstrous ends of Progressive Inc. Of course, the point of patriotism, the preservation of our land and people becomes increasingly impossible. What is natural and good gets twisted into a weapon used against the patriotic.
Altruism is another virtue turned into a vice. Since white people are not permitted to cheer for their own side, their natural altruism has one outlet. White people are conditioned to link their happiness to the happiness of nonwhites. A visitor from another planet would assume the white people in this area of the planet worship the black people and that George Floyd was some sort of prophet. Altruism has been warped into what John Derbyshire calls ethno-masochism.
These are thorny topics, because most people correctly sense that loving your country and caring about other people are good things. They are good things, but they are channeled toward bad ends by our present rulers. Battling this is one of the most important challenges in this age, but it is easier said than done. These are two issues where there are no simple answers. The best we can do is keep working the problem until conditions are such that an answer materializes from the conflict.
This week I have the usual variety of items in the now standard format. Spreaker has the full show. I am up on Google Play now, so the Android commies can take me along when out disrespecting the country. I am on iTunes, which means the Apple Nazis can listen to me on their Hitler phones. The anarchists can catch me on iHeart Radio. I am now on Deezer, for our European haters and Stitcher for the weirdos. YouTube also has the full podcast. Of course, there is a download link below.
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This Week’s Show
Contents
- 00:00: Opening
- 02:00: Patriotism
- 32:00: Altruism & Envy
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