You cannot really claim to to be opposed to the current dominant trends today, whichever modern state you find yourself in, and not have these ideas resonate with you. In a way, this is both disheartening in that the disease is everywhere, inescapable (as pointed out in this article), but also a positive point – it means that those who oppose it and wish to see a return to saner times have, essentially, a common enemy and can work together, where possible, to defeat it.

In regards to the corrupting effect of corrupt institutions:
In my experience, leftists tend to view humans as deterministic entities. The choice to remain virtuous is never wholly considered in their analysis. Thus the mantra “power corrupts.” I think that the truth is the opposite “The corrupt seek power.”

I suppose that one can cease to be a political Conservative and yet remain fundamentally a conservative. The difference being that while there may be nothing left in existence in the political order worth preserving, Reality still persists and must be acknowledged and respected.

Odd how when blaming institutions they don’t follow the logic – of institutions being made of people – and put the blame of the lack of virtue of the people. I’ve been in situations where the institution itself, the system is corrupt and is therefore corrupting and encourages bad behavior, but even so you can still make a choice to not be corrupt, not follow that ‘trend’ or ‘pressure’ – in short, actually behave as a human being and not as a mass of particles.

Of course, the corruption in the system must be continually enforced through the behavior of people who either directly or indirectly enforce its norms and rules – in short, the injustice of the system is not passive, if it actually exists, it is either being actively maintained or it is imaginary. It all comes back to personal responsibility.

“The world itself fights against the ungodly.”

I’ve noticed that the people around me are beginning to trust me to a much greater degree. Maybe it’s because I’ve finally decided to just let go and trust myself.

I am still far from where I want to be – but I’m getting there. Fast :)