I’m on vacation for the next couple weeks, maybe more if time is needed. I relish interactions with the thoughtful people who post comments here, but I’m not sure I’m reaching enough of an audience through this method. Thus it may be time to take advantage of this vacation and see whether a void is […]
Civilizational compact versus social contract
“Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen.” — F.W. Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra The concept of society as a “social contract” will not strike anyone as a new idea. However, I posit that what we mean by social contract is in fact something different: the civilizational compact. A […]
Trashers
The Old Religions tell us that there is only one concern in the running of a civilization: how good your people are. If the people are good, moral standards are high and leadership is good, and the nation not only prospers but holds itself forth as sacred ground, and its citizens have a deep inner […]
Against the Fouad Boutros Highway in Lebanon
The Association for the Preservation of Lebanese Heritage opposes the proposed Fouad Boutros Highway that would divide and expose a corner of Lebanon known for its serenity. Like most things modern, this project seems to exhibit a pathological need to disrupt anything that is not already blighted with the same noise, pollution, crowding and manic […]
Rationalism is the death of realism
Conservatism is like a mountain peak rising above the clouds. The light glints on it and we realize, surrounded by the ruins of the delusions of our fellow citizens, that conservatism gives us an option to certain failure. But we do not yet understand it. As a non-ideological viewpoint, Conservatism needs a different form of […]
Science defeats liberalism
“If a fool would persist in his folly, he would become wise,” wrote William Blake in his Proverbs of Hell. This proverb is widely misinterpreted as meaning that we can make a wise man out of a fool. That is not so; what it means is that a fool who tries new versions of the […]
How to hide a great idea in plain sight
Leftism provides an excellent source of study if you want to excise neurotic behaviors from yourself. Find out what they do and why, and then discipline yourself to never get to that “why.” Its greatest triumph has been to hide ideas in plain sight by making them socially unpalatable. In fact, that is all that […]
Conservatism ruined itself as a trademark
Think about your ideal conservatives. They would be like wise elders. They would be stable. But they would be positive, always seeing the best in life and determined to bring it out. Now look at today’s “conservatives.” In the public sphere, we have a group of liberals who believe in balanced budgets, capitalism and strong […]
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