It’s time for another Open Q&A. Write a question on any topic in the comments. Then, later today, I’ll answer as many as I can and collect highlights for a future post.
How to irrefutably link movements, like the Trans Agenda or the LGBQT+ Flag to Marxism? Every school or admin that waves the pride flag should fully understand that the equivalence is the gold hammer and sickle on a red background. Every parent should see it for what it is!
It's not such a direct link. The genealogies of critical race theory, for example, and transgender ideology are different. CRT is more directly derived from identity-based neo-Marxism, as you will see in my book. But transgender ideology has mostly a different lineage, deriving from postmodernism and left-wing Nietzscheanism, predominantly through Michel Foucault. There is some overlap, as some theorists have tried to hitch trans identity into a Marxist oppressor-oppressed dynamic and believe that "transgender liberation" can only be achieved through the abolition of both gender and capitalism. On the Left, there is usually a "blender effect," in which all of these ideologies are mixed together. But from a strict historical perspective, they developed out of different lines of thought.
Yes, It does appear like a coalition of false, not yet publicly discredited, theories that share a common opposition to those who seek honest discourse -- for the pleasure of the power-above-all-else democrats' voting block. Quite a tent.
There’s a lot of overlap! The point is we’re the fuel came from driving this, the citizens of these United States through there tax dollars courtesy The Biden Administration!!! Other wise these groups would be a bunch of indoctrinated college kids flapping there jaws and of course the rest of the older gays, bi’s and xyz’s demanding the world’s recognition while being used as pawns by the very people that will extinguish them after they help destroy the idea of a country founded on Judeo Christian beliefs!
It’s been used and going on sense Jesus Christ walked the face of the earth!
It might be useful to review the contents of the "sex education" program Bela Kun and Gyorgy Lukacs introduced in Hungarian state schools in 1919. While this curriculum most definitely targeted Christian family values, I believe it was also designed to create gender confusion and to advance a transhumanist agenda.
I wrote to Joe "Caesar's Messiah" Atwill for details in that I've heard him lecture on this topic. I would also consider the activities of Wilhelm Reich in Vienna in the mid-1920's and his comrades like Fritz Perls.
GEORG LUKÁCS' MARXISM: ALIENATION, DIALECTICS, REVOLUTION. By Victor Zitta.
Zitta wrote that "education became something perverse" under Lukács and that special lectures were organized in school and literature printed and distributed to “instruct” children about free love, about the nature of sexual intercourse, about the archaic nature of the bourgeois family codes, about the outdatedness of monogamy, and the irrelevance of religion which deprives man of all pleasure. Children were urged thus to reject and deride paternal authority and the authority of the church, and "to ignore precepts of morality".
I disagree. It really does not matter whether they have the same genealogies or different ones. They arrived at the same point and share the same fundamental principles and the same implementation as those found in totalitarianism. They are variants of Marxism, which is an ideology that constantly mutates--much like COVID-19--to form new variants.
You are deeply mistaken in your concepts.I was born under the hammer and sickle and lived for 42 years.Nothing like what you write about happened there, and if it happened secretly, it was punishable.
The relationship between Marxism and the family is quite interesting. Orthodox Marxists believed that the "patriarchal family" was an impediment to developing revolutionary consciousness. At the same time, many left-wing theorists complained that the left-wing political parties in Europe, for example, upheld largely bourgeois cultural standards. Foucault made a variation on this argument quite forcefully in relation to the trade unionists, who did not accept the cultural revolution that was driving the student rioters in France during the late 1960s. There was always a sense that changes to the family did not go fast or far enough. Now, looking back, we can see that these cultural changes, which happened not only in Marxist countries but also in the capitalist countries of the West, especially the United States, have been a disaster.
Not to mention Karl Marx didn't work and was nortiously horrible to his kids and family and was an alcoholic, freeloading, failed aristocratic pos but I digress.
Also what Foucault and the French intelligentsia thought of the family (a bourgeois structure that needed to be dismantled) is very different from the position of the French Communist Party, which, like all communist parties, was very conservative when it came to sex. (I am a French scholar, btw) There were women who were excommunicated from the French Communist Party for "moral reasons." In Communist Romania there was a concept called "the socialist morality" which meant that even divorce was frowned upon. None of this is known by American Marxists because their view of Marxism is completely divorced from the reality of it in former Communist countries.
I was born in the USSR and family narrative was pretty strong there along with criminalized homosexuality (rus. «мужеложество»). It was also shameful for a woman to be divorced or having a kid outside marriage.
There is an enormous difference between Marxists in contemporary Anglo countries and the way Marxism was applied in all Communist countries. In the latter, all alternative sexualities were punished by law. In Communist Romania where I lived, a homosexual could go to prison for 20 years. Contemporary Western queer Marxists are very much like "Queers for Palestine." Marx had no concept of "gender" and would be perplexed to see what his theory has become.
You are misunderstanding his point. He is talking about parallels between Communism and the LGBTQ/Trans movement's oppressor vs. oppressed framework for interpreting reality. Now we see Trans bringing Hamas into their intersectionality of the oppressed. The aim in all cases is the destruction of categories, the rise of Transhumanism (Communism's concept of the New Man), and destruction of the West itself.
I agree I missed the point. The LGBTQ/Trans movement did not exist under communism. It utilized different pairs of oppressor/oppressed. Elena, I apologize if your comment was not a denial but rather a clarification of this important difference between life under communism vs life under woke. Of course, both lead to human suffering, but they are different -- with the commonality that both were/are based on placing people in camps against themselves.
I think your misunderstanding, the rise of Hilters regime was ground floor separation of the family by I doctrinarian of the children and pitting them against there families. Then pushing the the pure blood agendas.
The approach here in US is very similar!
All the groups mentioned haven’t been persecuted at least not since the mid-70s in the far is interracial marriage that’s been excepted for 25 years or more. Black life matters, LBGTXYZ community is all been added to attack the family base in general coupled with the attack on Christianity in this country, which is the base of its founders .
I think what the Left and the radical Islamists have in common is the desire to destroy Christianity, whose decline has already brought about a weakening of morality and social cohesion, and whose destruction will allow those ideologies to impose themselves on all Western countries.
It forever shocks me that we just flat out kill or incarcerate black men in the US so black families have zero chance. And no one says anything- DNC, BLM, President Obama have changes nothing. Here in the quiet Midwest of Missouri we have the highest black murder victimization rate in the US and have been 1 or 2 in the US for the last 14 years but the MOGOP concedes STL and KC cities without even trying and "targeting races" is the BS excuse I suppose. https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/missouris-black-homicide-victimization-rate-again-highest-in-us-39941072
"It's forever shocks me that we just flat out kill or incarcerate black men in the US so black families have zero chance." This is not true at all and, to the extent that it reflects any reality, gets the causation backwards.
While both your statements are basically true, I've been all through the issue. I want to know why it's acceptable to anyone but especially black voters. And if we as conservatives say the nuclear family is the key to our society, then this is a problem for us as well.
Destruction of the current system/ institution is the end goal of critical theory. It's sinister in the Democratic Party bc some really are standing for trans rights and then when they realize the point is them being used to break the only system which actually has trans rights in it, it's too late.
Trans. as an ideology, with ideological categories. This phenomenon is wholly apart from adult persons who pursue their delusions surgically.
And, what is "No you don't?" Are you..."scolding" this man for saying something you don't care for? If so, then is it not enough to prove him wrong - without tedious moralisms?
The "No, you don't" is a response to this from him, "Now we see Trans bringing Hamas into their intersectionality of the oppressed."
Also, being transgender is not an ideology. Being transgender is the same as being black, Hispanic, or Asian. They simply are. Just like you simply are. Your ideologies aren't you. The difference is that you have a choice in agreeing with an ideology, whereas you do not have a choice in being you The same applies to trans people.
Like all people, transgender people do have ideologies they agree with. There are trans people who are adhere to conservativism, republicanism, liberalism, etc. as there are in any other population.
His point would have been more accurate had he said "Now we see Trans ideologists bringing..." That said, there is an ambiguity which has arisen (and which you clarify) - and that is over the word "Trans" - whether (in caps) it refers to individuals or the ideology/movement. I have used it as he did, but am not committed to that - reality is what matters. I will say "Trans ideologists" going forward, now that I see the ambiguity (I did not consider it ambiguous, until now - but speech should be clear).
The rest I agree with and stated above (in my own way) - unless you mean to say that "being trans" is a reality - which I do not believe. And this is an ambiguity for you to address/resolve: are you saying that there are people who exist who believe themselves to be transexual/have had surgeries, etc., or are you saying that they are actually correct to think that?
I am sure many if not most trans people do not want the destruction of the West, but, unfortunately, there is a big difference between trans people and the Trans ideological movement of the radical far left. The leading academics of the ideology are Judith Butler and Susan Striker, among others. They call for the obliteration of all categories of meaning that Western civilization has produced because its values, accomplishments and systems of social organization and scientific endeavor are nothing but patriarchal oppression masquerading as progress. It is sheer nonsense. I have a feeling that you might agree, but read those authors for yourself and you will see blatant statements to destroy the West.
I'm not so sure that "many if not most trans people do not want the destruction of the West." My sense is that Americans who claim to be transgender are very far to the left on the political spectrum.
Most trans people do not know who Judith Butler or Susan Striker are and could care less about their academic philosophies.
While they are academics, they are by no means leading academics on what it means to be transgender. Just as your views are yours, and you are entitled to them, their views are theirs, and they also entitled to them too.
Of course, we are all entitled to our own views. They are in fact the leading academics in the fields of transgenderism, queer theory and gender studies. So, they, along with others, have laid the foundation and are the thought leaders of the far left radical Trans ideological movement now waving the banner at pro-Hamas rallies on campuses everywhere. Trans people are not necessarily part of this movement but they should call out injustice when they see it, as we all should. Lastly, if we are interested in rational thinking, we have a responsibility to analyze ideas and critique bad ideas that negatively impact our social cohesion, and therefore, you should take a closer look..
Part of the reason for my initial post was I've really been thinking about "Queers for Palestine." I cannot imagine they realize what would happen to them in Palestine. So what convinces a person to support a cause that would likely or eventually violently kill them?
I don't know, James. It makes no sense to me. I still don't know why Log Cabin Republican's support a party that seeks to erase and delete every word that would identify them from across the entire federal enterprise and that doesn't not want them in the party.
There is a direct parallelism between the "classic" Marxism and the neo-Marxism/Communism. It's exactly the same divide of society based on the oppressed /oppressor antagony. In the classic Marxism - workers versus bourgeoisie, in the neo-Marxism - sexual minorities, racial and religious minorities versus white people ann Christians.
The parallelism is in the structure of ideology, per-se. It has a gnostic (Manichean) religious basis which will make all such movements/ideologies "familial."
Bourgeois Radicalism (the present phenomenon) is no exception - what you say of the dualism is correct, and true of all of them (Communist Marxism (Lenin) Fascist Marxism (Mussolini), National Socialism, Bourgeois Radicalism, etc. etc.
Bourgeois Radicalism. I think you are spot on. But what does that mean? These people think the rebellion is transkids products in the front of the store at Target. The next week when it is pushed to the back and the following week removed, they are looking for tiny Palestinian or Ukrainian flags for their profile. And the main reason all this happened is so someone at PRSA or in marketing can get another data point on a consumer.
You raise more than one question - and all good. As to Bourgeois Radicalism and ideology, I can answer well. My third reply is more tentative.
Bourgeois Radicalism is the ideology of the "Liberation of the Individual from all Oppressions." Ideology is in-turn a gnostic religious recurrence combined with (and governing as an idealism) by Praxis, as understood by Francis Bacon to Karl Marx.
In the case of Bourgeois Radicalism, it predates Marx. It was suppressed by Marxism and its related social ideologies (Fascism, etc.) but, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union (and the other régimes in WWII) and objective defeat of Marx's counter to the Bourgeois Radicals - Dialectical Materialism - B.R. has been rediscovered (Stirner to Marcuse).
All ideology is utopic, and a comprehensive falsification of reality. Its votaries look to utopia, and devalue the world of reality to a symbol - they constantly talk about what "should be" (but is not). They try to remake the world as this "should," which is not an ethical "should" based upon human nature/anthropology but a fideistic "should" based on utopia. Combined with Praxis, this means violently remaking the world w/o ethical considerations. It is a kind of violent, dishonest moralism.
To your question of outcomes. My thoughts are more tentative, and I have only generally written about this. I just spent over a week in New York meeting with other Catholic philosophers, and this was our main subject!
Trans is a good case: they try to alter reality itself, but find that they cannot - something about forms in nature prevents success. They cannot via technology change men into women or horses into men. To put this another way, their Praxis fails to remake the world. What next?
I believe postmodern theory is the place to look. The way to read it broadly is as a description of life under total ideological régime - it is underrated by its opponents and misunderstood by its proponents. It describes life as an immersive fiction - a LARP. This is the fall-back position of the ideologists - if they cannot radically transform reality via technology (and it appears that they cannot), then they will settle for a comprehensive immersive fiction. You see both approaches or "attempts" side-by-side (remember, as "Praxis" all of this is "experimental").
There is a related phenomenon of careerists and fellow-travelers who "don't really mean it." Well, they are responsible for what they say - their motives are their own. They are furthering the problem, and become part of it - future camp notaries and press-agents who "didn't know." They will execute whatever orders they receive - as they are informing us. The Hamas Atrocity Exhibition is a stress-test both for votaries and fellow-travelers - how much will they be complicit in? Quite a lot, it seems...
I hope that this attempt is worthy, and furthers your thinking. If you wish to question it or disagree, you will find me receptive - I am after comprehensive understanding of the truth. As a servant of God, I am not permitted to make this "about me."
Cordially,
PS, I will be soon making a new comment to Christopher concerning the effect of "Intersectionality." I hope that you will read it when it posts.
Elana, I am happy you were not touched. But as a child I lived a few months with many Russian children who would told me how they would hide their Bibles because they did not want to go to prison. And the documentation is quite extensive. Denial is surely conducive to pleasurable thoughts about the past, but for the millions of people who suffered greatly under Stalin and others Russian leaders, not so much.
I agree with what you say of Marxism - mostly. That is, "Intersectionality" is a Bourgeois Radical conception, and only Marxist insofar as it tries to "pick up the pieces" of Marxism after the real-world refutation of Dialectical Materialism. Really, "Marxism" is a kind of "Mystification" - a rhetorical device by both the Bourgeois Radicals and their enemies on the "Right." The real pedigree is Max Stirner, et. al. along with Mao - who himself emulated the "social movements" of the National Socialists, etc.
This seems directionally correct. I'm assuming you mean that the Marxist political movements never shed their bourgeois origins—and now refuse to shed even their bourgeois desires. This is one of the great lessons from Del Noce.
Marx did try to suppress Bourgeois Radicalism - which predates him; his comments on Stirner and other "Left-Hegelians" are brutal. What he offered - Dialectical Materialism - failed objectively (by his standards). "Mystifications" of "Right" and "Left" ideologists aside (both have a stake in propping-up Marx's corpse and many outright don't understand and/or are sentimentalists), the "Left" has returned to its Bourgeois Radical roots. Of course, some never left those roots - as Marx and both Communists and Fascists never tired of observing.
At this point, the Left IS Bourgeois Radicalism - which in-reality means a kind of universal bureaucratic administrative/economic state dedicated to "physical an emotional 'well-being.'" That is, a kind of (gated) Bourgeois Disneyland.
This much said, "Intersectionality" has opened a grotesque, perverse, laughable and repulsive complication - as your recent Twitter post of the Judith Butler talk attests. Your typical B.R. aspirant - say Ta-Nehisi Coates - both aspires to Bourgeois Disneyland and advocates murder.
Then you are not seeing it. Go back and watch those activist leftists...rallies. The Hammer & Sickle is proudly displayed in the mob, along side BLM and Pride flags. Sometimes you will see a hammer sickle wrapped in pride stripes. It is no longer subversive. You own lived historical experience could very well be foretelling a near future. Messaging is key. Open people’s eyes to what the possible future may look like if this path continues.
No, I saw it and it just amused me.Most of the people you mentioned have no idea how it was.Under the hammer and sickle was a different morality and concepts.Therefore, one should not mix one with the other, otherwise it is simply ridiculous
An excellent question. We do need to show Americans these ideologies are all variants of Marxism because they are. We need to clearly explain this to Americans so they know we are dealing with the hammer and sickle. If we can't get the diagnosis correct, we will not have the right cure. Saying transgender is a new theory is a wrong diagnosis that simply confuses people. In fundamental principles transgenderism and critical race theory are essentially the same. They are variants of Marxism. Now is the time to increase Americans' awareness of the real nature of the ideology that is destroying America.
It's not insane. Everything that's happening now, every one of the moronic groups and "movements" (e.g. BLM, LGBTQ) are part of the agenda to destroy white/Western civilization. Wake up.
You clearly know, nothing about Communism, the Black community, or the gay community. Please go read a book and get your head out of QAnon conspiracies.
Have you read Rufo's book? See the index for "Intersectionality," pp. 237-39. A quotation that might be helpful:
"The simplest way to explain intersectionality is that it expands the Marxist oppressor-oppressed binary into a finely graded, multivariate hierarchy of oppression."
The hierarchy is not based on economic class, but identity, hence "NEO" Marxism.
OK. Everything and everyone are always prosperous, well, and happy under communism and BLM leadership. All sunshine and roses. Is that what I'm not understanding about communism and BLM?
I don't think my grandparents were feeling the sunshine when they fled Russia, nor did my great- grandfather and uncle when they had to return to Russia due to an eye infection. They were summarily executed upon their arrival in their homeland.
Very "2020" - hostile, emotive rhetoric and no substance.
None of it has any effect any more - those of us who refuse to be ruled by ideologists have come to accept your social aggression and obdurate irrationality as a given, and very much part of the problem. We were put off for a bit by the sheer incivility and unreason of it, but we have "gotten over it," and are moving forward to reassert our right to govern our own lives without your permission or approval.
By "you," I do not speak of you personally - there is always hope for you personally - but your movement and its weird gnostic religion.
You are one of the few warriors the conservative movement has to battle the Left, yet they seem to have an endless supply on their side. How can we level the playing field?
Yes, they say "Do not attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance." The useful idiots are the army of those far fewer warmongers with deep seeded hate converted into irrational activism.
We need legislation to stop this massive transgender social contagion. The government, universities, major medical associations and social media are complicit. Thousands of parents like me are experiencing indescribable grief as our young adult children are misled to poison and mutilate themselves. How can we stop it?
This is a tragedy and I'm sorry to hear about your adult child. You are correct that all of the major institutions have been promoting this ideology, despite the mounting evidence that is it based on a false metaphysics, science, and medical practice. The good news is that public opinion is shifting, due to the work of many journalists, doctors, and activists who are exposing the transgender movement for what it is: a nihilistic cult that engages in child sacrifice as an expression of moral purification. The bad news is that this is likely cold comfort for those who have children currently struggling with this ideology. My recommendation cannot be universal—each particular family must approach it with a sense of prudence, based on particular experience—but my general sense is that you must love your child unconditionally, try to maintain a connection as much as possible, and be patient, steady, and faithful. Remember the story of the prodigal son.
One of the best things I have seen you write. You are, after all, a father.
The Transgender cult as "a nihilistic cult that engages in child sacrifice as an expression of moral purification" is strong and points to what we know of human history/anthropology. It goes straight to the regressive nature of neo-gnosticism - in this case a recurrence of child-sacrifice - as if Judaism had never happened! We see the same with race ideology.
Have you written on this specific element, or can you point to anyone who discusses this cultic recurrence? This strikes me as a vital insight.
This is America, so lawsuits - which are already happening.
Turns out it's legally risky to use the consent of inherently mentally ill people as the basis for untested & unstudied chemical and surgical experimentation! Who could have guessed?
"Everything" is a bit strong. Do not understand the reference to Finland. But I do agree that we Americans need to rediscover our true compassions -- which have been hijacked by the left in too many corporations who find virtue signaling profitable, not to mention the educational institutions who use it to defend their stupid theories and attract useful-idiot followers.
read the article linked by rethink earlier to understand the finland reference.. here it is again for convenience.. the position in the usa is this transgender thing is driven by big money as i see it.. i am not down with this left-right divide.. i think it is too simplistic.. cheers https://www.thefp.com/p/gender-affirming-care-dangerous-finland-doctor
i think big pharma has much more control over the regulatory bodies in the usa then in europe... i could be mistaken, but i do believe this is driven by money which explains some of the differences here, especially the difference between finland and usa...
Wouldn't it be easier to make sure that our children are literate before they go into the world without us? Young, innocent humans have always been more likely to be interested in things they have been warned off from while being left largely ignorant about them than those things they are well educated, rather than well indoctrinated, about.
Are you aware of or could you help develop, specific policies or laws in every state, county or school board that should be targeted when we win a local election. What are the specific laws or policies that leverage power and money for these entities that we need to know about right away? There have to be similarities across states.
If the good guys win an election, is there a plan or a list of things that should be addressed on Day 1?
We have people running for County Commission next year, and that is it’s own work. On Day1, I would love for there to be a checklist of things to look for.
They hide everything or it’s buried in places you can’t see it obviously.
If you can tell citizens, “look here and ask about this specifically,” work will GET DONE!
Rafe Heydel-Mankoo recently highlighted research showing that ethnic diversity is significantly linked to decreased social trust, which arguably leads to a host of other social ills. The core data he cited was from a 2019 meta analysis on the topic which found almost all evidence supporting this notion. In looking into one prominent article by Robert Putnam called 'Bowling Alone', I found a rebuttal claiming that some of that data was somewhat misinterpreted. Again, this was one critique and not related to the full meta analysis. Given this overall data, what are your thoughts and implications, or ways forward for society, given that ethnic diversity is likely perpetual and inevitable in many places? Are any benefits of diversity being thrown out with the bathwater? Can we be successfully multi racial yet overcome pitfalls of being overly multi ethnic?
Sources:
Diversity is not a Strength. It weakens Society, Research Clearly Shows
Yes, I'll leave the math to the social scientists, but yes, I believe that, all things being equal, ethnic diversity is inversely correlated with social trust. I saw this when working on a documentary about America's poorest cities: street gangs, prison life, and other major conflicts were almost always divided along racial and ethnic lines. This should not be a surprise. It's obvious that groups with different cultures, religions, languages, traditions, values, and physical characteristics will find themselves more easily at odds than groups with more homogenous traits. However, I do not believe that all kinds of diversity are equal or that ethnic differences cannot be bridged. In our country, some groups are more easily assimilated into the dominant culture. And more broadly, the Catholic Church has been able to serve as a unifying force across vast cultural boundaries. My own parish is multiracial, with one white American priest, a Filipino priest, and an African priest. There is no DEI department or focus on "diversity." Quite the opposite: there is a firm belief that we are all made in the image of God and have a shared faith commitment that transcends racial and ethnic divisions. That is a better model than modern "diversity" ideology.
Just to offer another opinion on the multiculturalism lie, you cannot force people to live together harmoniously by law or zoning or bureaucratic policy or decree. Harmony and cooperation must arise organically. We see what happens when people are forced to live cheek-to-jowl with people alien to them.
Human nature appears to dictate that people prefer to be among those like themselves. Duh! That's not an observation that needs some sort of affirmation by social science statistics.
Let's not make the mistake of upholding some new bit of "social science" "research" when it upholds some particular prior...it is literally all hogwash built on sand.
When you accept the legitimacy of any modern work in these fields - *especially* any modern work making broad claims about sociocultural racial attitudes - you do waaaay more to legitimize pseudo-progressive nonsense than you do to help you own cause.
How can we better illustrate the problems with credentialism? Having expertise in a specific field matters and should provoke thoughtful assessments and conversations. But so often, having educated opinions (educated but without a degree) is dismissed when that opinion contradicts mainstream consensus. This is a question that reaches across paradigms, ie journalism, medicine, law, etc. How might we strike a balance between appreciating skills and knowledge without slipping into the authoritarian, lazy assumption that the “experts” know best? Are there useful philosophies / approaches that can be instructive or should we think about creating new ones?
The experts have been blowing up their own reputations since 2020 in dramatic fashion. Keep highlighting this, exposing them, and trusting your own judgement. Never delegate your power as a citizen to bureaucratic experts!
Excellent question Theresa! I hope Chris responds to this. I think our recent experience with Covid magnified the risks in only listening to the credentialed. Also, the recent anti Semitic protests by “nearly credentialed” college students promoted by their tenured professors is chilling. Our constitution doesn’t mention credentials or advanced education requirements.
Good points! I feel like we are expected to make choices for ourselves as citizens and as people with bodily autonomy that don’t require advanced education. We may consider guidance from people in specialized fields, but it seems like COVID policies were really a giant shove towards technocracy, where technocrats are the new priesthood class who cannot be defied in any way. The “liberal” side of the argument tends to be one that insists their detractors are “anti-intellectual” but it’s not very intellectual to take your brain out of your head to only do what you’re told.
How can we possibly know who, in politics or any media, mainstream or alternative, to trust anymore? There is always the “controlled opposition” red flag thrown at anyone who remotely sounds sane and all conservative thought is equated with fascism, showing its roots of “bad white men”, throughout history, taking advantage of everyone else.
Use your best judgement—there is no other substitute. Reflect on your own experience and if it confirms the truth of what you read. If it does not, look closely to determine whether it's because of a gap in experience or because what you read is false. Trust your instincts, but not so much that you never question your judgements.
The problem is that "fascism" has no definition outside the context of mid 20th century Italian and German politics. And even that conflates Fascism with Nazism even though the two philosophies had rather important differences.
It is a day by day process in a situation where most of the electorate can't remember the plot of a movie after they return from the restroom, let alone the promises made by the winner of the election.
For one, look to free speech absolutists who didn't shame themselves calling for the arrest of anti-Israel/pro-Palestine protesters. At least you know now that they don't have the courage to stick with their formerly stated convictions.
Also look at who publicly denounces or calls for the arrest of Assange and Snowden and who cheered the banishment of Alex Jones and Donald Trump from social media. Authoritarian hypocrites are the worst sort.
You surely know the "boundary" is important. Was the pogrom-like treatment of jews in NYC free speech? Is chanting for death to jews free speech? If I spit on a cop, is it free speech? If I terrorize certain groups with suggestions of violence is it free speech? Just asking.
"Pogrom-like treatment"? Who was murdered, exiled, or sent to a concentration camp in NYC during the demonstrations?
"Chanting for the death of Jews" is ugly, and says quite a bit about those benighted Americans who do it, but it's permissible under the First Amendment, as the once-useful ACLU argued many years ago in Skokie, IL.
Spitting on cops is also a "speech act" of a sort, though if you want to get technical about it, it might be considered "assault" if you want to stretch the definition.
"Suggestions" of violence are not actual violence, obviously. Direct threats of violence are another matter, and don't fall under the protection of the First Amendment (never mind the "crowded theater" bullshit that's always taken out of context).
Speech is either free or it isn't. The level of one's offense does not change the principle and, in fact, the grosser the offense the greater the protection required, since offense is a purely subjective response to some irritant. So-called "hate speech" is a bad idea that has gained far too much traction, giving leverage to those who would throttle political discussions.
I hate Hamas probably as much as you do and, viscerally and emotionally, I'd like to see them all killed, but so what? I also see that it's easy for the pro-Israel faction to conflate criticisms of Israel's foreign policy with "antisemitism" since Jewish identity is often deliberately mixed together with the nation's politics to deflect reasonable political criticisms.
Campus activities re Israel-Palestine have done a lot to expose the intellectual rot on our campuses. You’ve drawn a line in some of your tweets between that and CRT, BLM. I’ve never really understood the connection. Is it as simple as the left needing to place everything into an oppressor-oppressed paradigm? And the only real debate in the Dem Party is which category Jews fall in? Also what is with the tactic of tearing down photos of Hamas kidnapping victims? That seems like such a transparently stupid thing to do that not even the Squad can give it political cover.
The only real leverage to get wokeness out of schools is donors withholding their money. Is there an effort to connect and organize major donors so that there is strength in numbers and individual donors are less hesitant to stick their necks out?
I just learned that my cousin's daughter, who is now 13, came out as trans 2 years ago. My cousin and his wife are affirming the transition but thankfully not initiating any medical interventions. Seems likely though, that this will change because the environment they live in (lower east side of NYC) is seriously progressive. I've been counseled by friends and family members not to intervene. Any suggestions of what to do?
Here's what I wrote to a commenter above, who has a child in this position:
"This is a tragedy and I'm sorry to hear about your adult child. You are correct that all of the major institutions have been promoting this ideology, despite the mounting evidence that is it based on a false metaphysics, science, and medical practice. The good news is that public opinion is shifting, due to the work of many journalists, doctors, and activists who are exposing the transgender movement for what it is: a nihilistic cult that engages in child sacrifice as an expression of moral purification. The bad news is that this is likely cold comfort for those who have children currently struggling with this ideology. My recommendation cannot be universal—each particular family must approach it with a sense of prudence, based on particular experience—but my general sense is that you must love your child unconditionally, try to maintain a connection as much as possible, and be patient, steady, and faithful. Remember the story of the prodigal son."
So what if the parents actually want to do what's best for their child? Is their consent not valid? Why don't you ask parents of trans kids who consent to care what they think? No one is forcing them to sign anything.
I've tried contacting the grandma, my aunt, but she basically said to stay out of it.
I've been told that speaking up directly would simply alienate me from the family and I would be ignored. It seems like the family has completely swallowed the media messaging on this.
If you google search on "social contagion trans" you'll get a ton of articles (like in Scientific American) that debunk the notion of ROGD, which stands for "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria". It's ROGD that describes the social contagion epidemic. Companies like Alphabet seem to be promoting this narrative very actively, which makes it almost impossible to penetrate the realm of rational, objective thinking on this subject.
How much do you care? Do you really, really, really, really care? Then you need to be on the inside. You absolutely cannot seem like a "men should be men" traditionalist. That is what you will be tarred as, if at all possible - so you must make it impossible.
Either you or your chosen advocate must be "post-gender." This is the only thing that trumps genderism from a progressive direction. Transgenderism appeals to young people because it promises freedom from societal strictures - you must demonstrate that this is not true, and that it is rather the abandonment of normative genderism that is freeing.
Now I don't know if you would be willing to dress in drag personally to make these arguments - but that is what you would do, in an ideal case. "Look, here I am - today I felt like dressing the way women usually dress. Does this mean I don't count as a man? Does this mean I'm so "unmanly" I should be castrated for my own good?" Shock is the order of the day - it is by shock they have been advancing. Without a shock from your side, things will likely creep along in the way you fear.
If you aren't willing to do that, then you need someone who can. You need someone who clearly exists outside "gender roles" and yet is not "transgender." You need to find lesbians, gay men, crossdressers and drag queens who *are not* transgender - who are happy in the healthy bodies they were born in - and you need to introduce these people to your cousin's daughter. They will be a more powerful counterargument than any "resources."
You could also look for women who have detransitioned - this might be difficult, but if you contact detransitioner support groups, you should be able to find a few willing to help, especially in a large city like NYC.
Where is this long thread of discussion going? Isn't the main challenge for us the defeat of the present Regime that is destroying our country and our freedoms? We need voices like Christopher Rufo's to be resounding through the halls of Congress, the wayward state legislatures, the universities and the media to counteract the brainwashing that has now captured the minds of multiple generations. This requires the ABILITY TO ARTICULATE THE ISSUES, which I wish Rufo would teach to the Conservatives who spend the most time in front of cameras. Until propaganda is replaced by truth in the culture and in the media, our country will continue its slide into oblivion. Everyone reading this thread has a job to do in that respect, so please get busy on what is important!
We are an unruly dinner-table conversation which breaks into very serious library discussions late into the night over coffee and brandy. I have made a few friends here, and an working on a project with one. Fellowship is very important in this process - Philosophers, for instance, call ourselves "friends" as we look for the truth. We need community with truth. This forum gives us some, at-least.
I'm an attorney for a public interest law firm, the Upper Midwest Law Center. We and others like us bring cases to uphold individual rights and the rule of law, including against government imposition of CRT and its related ideologies on government employees and students. I agree with you that politics is downstream of culture, but I think the legal arena is an important driver of cultural norms. Other than representing individuals like you in amicus briefs and co-authoring law review articles not read by many outside the courts, how else can we work collaboratively to bring important cultural perspectives like yours into the legal arena?
Agreed! The legal work is essential. Bringing the cases and changing the precedents is the best way forward. Also: work with state attorneys general to have them issue opinions and pursue legal action on CRT in schools, for example.
In light of your recent discussion with Charles Haywood, what do you make of the claim that conservatives won’t be able to conserve anything as long they are operating within a western liberal framework? The premise of course being that western liberalism’s entire purpose is to advance liberalism, and thus any attempts to stop such “progress” is bound to inevitably fail in the long run.
We all live in a "Western liberal framework"—this is, after all, the major innovation of the American Founders—so I'm very skeptical of anyone who believes they have the solution to transcending that framework. The result of such a program is more than likely to create chaos.
If we want order and stability, then restoration is required.
If this were Austria, I would be a forthright advocate of Catholic monarchy and would regard liberalism as an illegitimate foreign import and an imposter régime (which correctly expresses my own disbelief in Liberalism as having universal value/meaning - it is a Hobbesian compromise). But, that is not the established custom or religion of the Americans - and a decent order comes first. Disorder begets disorder and evil. Catholics, like Jews and Hindus, must settle for influence and a share in self-government.
A tradition of co-belligerency between various radical groups in America goes back to the early republic. We see this repeatedly in the early Jacobin clubs, various social reform movements (a sampling of which were mocked 200 years ago in Hum-Bugs of New York), utopian communities, Henry George's single tax movement, Edward Bellamy's Nationalists, and a huge Encyclopedia of Social Reform in the 1890s whose contributions reads like a directory of the reform-minded academic, intellectual, and ministerial elite of the day. So-called Nationalism and Christian Socialism was far more prevalent than Marxism and identity politics would become much later. The blending of various forms of socialism and neo-Malthusianism is evident in the encyclopedia. Nietzsche's influence would be increasingly be felt in the American Fabian movement after the turn of the century.
Last week I read your book, Americas' Cultural Revolution, while reading the news about the anti-Israel / anti-Jewish protests at supposedly top colleges and universities here in the USA. I could not tell where the news ended, and your book began as your book explains how we got here. On Friday October 5 colleges worried about safe spaces and correct pronouns and on Monday October 8 suddenly "free speech" (harassment of Jews / glorification of the attack (wasn't rape violence against women) / calls for the eradication of Israel) became the new rule.
To what extent do you think these anti-Israel protests and harassment of Jewish students will turn the public against the woke higher education industrial complex?
I live in a blue state, blue county, blue city. I can’t leave (try selling a house with 9% interest rates). For all your impact in FL and elsewhere, things only get worse in places like this - every place, every forum, every job is DEI/decolonize/equity infected. Run by the maoists. Everywhere. Why isn’t there any conservative effort (for example, via the initiative process in west coast states) to take this on in a real way? Everyday is hell here.
At some point, you'll need to sell your house, even if it's a bit less than the peak a few years ago. If you bought it at least three years ago, you should still turn a profit. Then move to a red area in your blue state or a red state elsewhere. I am not optimistic about blue city culture in the short to medium term. If you absolutely can't, try to find at least a small group of like-minded people, then meet with them for regular dinners and events. That's the best way to make sure you do not go crazy.
Move. I moved from CA to FL. And I had deep roots in CA. Wasn't easy. Required a lot of planning. Just make the decision. Once you do, everything will follow. 🙏
I likewise live in a blue city in a blue county in a blue state, but there is literally one pride flag I've seen in a five mile radius and I've never once heard pronouns given.
My secret? I live around immigrants. Hispanic, Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern. It's a balm to the soul. Diversity of background, viewpoint & religion - unlike the white suburbs of my youth, which are now utterly choked in monolithic racialism.
Makes complete sense. Immigrants are focused on advancement and generally have no time for radical politics. Jared Kushner, when talking about the Abraham Accords, mentioned a universal truth shared among all (mentally healthy) people. "Fundamentally, all people want to better their lives." This could not be more true for most immigrants. A balm to the soul, no doubt!
This is an important question. I would love to hear Mr. Rufo’s ideas about a resistance within an ideologically captured organization, city, county, state. We can’t abandon the cities to harmful ideologies and we can’t abandon whole states either (such as NY, CA & MN for instance).
Hi Christopher, I am one of hundreds, if not thousands, of parents that have seen our beautiful children destroyed by the Trans Cult. We wait in the darkness for fear of losing what connection we do have with these confused and hurting children. Would you be willing to tell our side of the story?
I see a lot of news coverage regarding the rise of antisemitism in our country,, particularly on college campuses. But there is very little coverage of what is the root cause of this explosion of Jew hatred? It feels clear to me that it is directly related to race based ideology being taught to our children. Why is no one holding those teaching these divisive ideologies accountable? This feels like the time to convey the deadly consequences of this poorly thought out doctrine. If our young people think it’s justifiable to go house to house murdering civilians in Israel because they are the oppressors/colonizers, will they also cheer when innocents are slaughtered here because they fall into these categories? This is insanity and stupidity, which needs to stop.
It's easy to conflate hatred of Jews with opposition to Israel's foreign policy and its pursuit of a scorched-earth policy against Hamas.
Dumb little over-privileged college students are following the lead of their post-colonial studies professors. You can't tell them anything they no longer want to hear. It might take one of them being held hostage by Hamas or having his legs blown off or something to consider the Israeli point of view.
Sadly BH, even being taken hostage would not help. I saw it with a left wing Persian lefty I knew who was taken hostage in Iran for six months. I saw it with my sister who is a lefty who went to Czechoslovakia only to be there when the Soviets invaded. Lefties do not have the mental courage nor mental capacity to change. As Elon Musk says, "You need to wait a generation."
Yes. Religious fanatics must suffer grievously to have hope of coming to reason. It is our job as fellow-citizens - our duty, I would say - to inflict this suffering. When they are forced to find work from within the ranks of the working-classes and must "face" true harsh reality without being fed cream skimmed from our hard work, the process of healing can begin. "Captains Courageous" is not my favorite novel, but it does cover this exact theme.
Have you looked into helping injured parties sue BLM or any of the schools that instructed, conspired or aided and abetted in the crimes of their student activists and radical revolutionaries, as laid out in your book?
Not necessarily if forward isn’t accurately progressing anywhere and going sideways or backwards is better! We need to reclaim the word progress. If you /Chis read my concept of Indiesectionality, you might see a nod towards MLKs ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. We need to resell this to a new generation
>>>>>> I would be honored to get in touch with you.<<<<< Before I write more about myself and my activities, let me briefly share my observations on some of your statements:
>> Contaminated and infected universities <<
My eyes were opened when you described the strategically planned efforts to infiltrate and brainwash universities or k-12 school districts (here the comparison of the Black Panther and current school curricula, NY). A very good example of an intelligent shift from appropriating the means of production to appropriating education, intellect, mentality to ultimately influence and shape a new culture - all a staggered process.
It is very interesting that what was clearly rejected in the early 1970s as a political reality - now we see it succeeding in the universities. A very apt phrase: ‘a powerful process of cultural conquest!’
>>New culture hijacks long-held truths and definitions<<
I fully agree with you. The new culture is aggressively and unfortunately effectively hijacking the meanings of culturally important terms and stories.
Key terms have been taken over ... young minds have been hijacked (again, by the universities), new marketing slogans have become "common sense" reality (like "My body my choice", instead of "My body for you").
Love, charity have lost their meaning; Dignity has lost its meaning; The definition of a human being has lost its meaning (a new, expanded, transhumanist nature is being imposed on new generations); Truth has lost its meaning.
Diversity and inclusion have captured people's minds - creating a new fashion - a new trend - that has become very attractive especially among the young and more ‘artistic and empathetic souls’….
Science has been pitted against spirituality and religiosity - trying to ridicule all those who remain in the realm of spirit and believe in a superior order, natural law, the first mover, the first cause - Intelligence and the Moral Ideal of the Creator.
The concept of the Creator has been marginalized and relegated to the realm of taboo. Under the guise of separation of state and religion - it is forbidden to form opinions about the Creator - yet contained and described in the Declaration. When I ask Americans - I see that there is no single understanding of the meaning of the Creator contained in the Declaration. People are confused.
>> Freedom <<
You said, ‘Freedom and responsibility go together – they are two sides of the same coin. Freedom without responsibility - meaning, unlimited Freedom right - it leads to nihilism because all that you have is the ego and unlimited choice.’ I cannot agree more.
>>Culture<<
I really like the following thesis: ‘Culture is born in leisure.’
Ordinary Americans don't have time to breathe, to think, to delve into existential or transcendent matters. I call this living in the shallows - without depth - that gives deeper satisfaction, true joy, true meaning to life.
Leisure time is 100% appropriated by fast-spreading scandals - preferably moral scandals, or actions on the edge of the law or breaking the law, total devaluation of the truth in favor of cheap sensationalism, celebrity cultivation, ubiquitous sports business (all days of the week - young people are in gymnasiums from morning to night, during the week, on weekends and on Holidays - as well as on so-called great religious holidays - then there are major tournaments). People sit in front of TVs, in stadiums, in bars.... They look with stupefied eyes at changing images - instead of losing themselves in deep conversations, forming relationships, living for real. Basic needs are satisfied (after all, ‘Wine and the Olympic Games’ are the only necessity).
It is easy to manipulate, steer, and direct such a society.
>> Salvation and a better future are possible. <<
To quote Bishop Barron: ‘Catholic social teaching is cooperative.’
What if our attitude was similar to that displayed by the Polish Pope John Paul 2 - who, in a 'supernatural way' one might say, influenced the fate of the world - playing a key role in successfully ending the Cold War - without violence - without bloodshed. Some powerful force of peace. What a powerful negotiating force - the power of persuasion.
- A strong spirituality, a strong ethical foundation and a clear sense of direction and purpose in life (to know the Creator, to unite with Him ultimately, to love at all costs, to humbly obey the Supreme principles and laws, to trust the history of salvation and a personal God with dispassion).
- Deep and broad ‘humanism’ - man as a creature made in the image of God. Humans as sons of God - and thus endowed with infinite dignity, the inalienable value of being human.
- Strong philosophical and linguistic competence.
- Strong support of science and having a serious dialogue with it. Science treated as a way of discovering truth.
- Strong political intelligence, understanding of politics and social and economic issues.
- Deep immersion in the individual cultures of specific nations or social groups - including learning a dozen foreign languages.
- Master of communication, mediation, negotiation.
- Intellect, will, faith - all integrated.
- Peaceful conflict resolution. Showing understanding and love.
- Persuasion always through kindness - always with an individual approach to each person, with sensitivity and compassion. And when necessary - with unequivocal admonition and a call to repentance - and always with care and showing respect for the other person.
- Being always well prepared intellectually and spiritually.
- A tremendous sense of humor.
>>>>>> I would be honored to get in touch with you. <<<<<
I have written a personal letter to you and would like to pass it on to you.
Konrad Milewski, author of ‘Escape from the American Cage’. Activist for a better America, whose vision ensures the flourishing of humanity - with the guarantee of interpersonal solidarity, free market forces, democracy, a militarily strong state and law derived from morality originating from the highest ideal, the Creator. A promoter of a culture based on Christian values and Christian vision of the world. A proclaimer that Truth, Dignity and Love - along with the right to life, to freedom and happiness flowing from the opportunity to ensure a decent life and a personal relationship with God - are inalienable rights and properties of every human being. A preacher that personal freedom must always be linked to taking full personal responsibility for words, behaviors, and actions. Man has free will and constantly makes moral choices. Coordinator of international humanitarian efforts.
The United States Air Force Academy, like all other US military academies, has been inundated with CRT/DEI programs that pervade every aspect of cadet life. The administration, from the Superintendent to the Dean of Academics, is transforming an institution whose foundation is based on constitutional and non political principles into a hotbed of activism and Neo-Marxist advocacy. Numerous examples of this appalling overreach are given in the article, The Air Force Academy’s White Boy #2. https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/09/25/the_united_states_air_force_academys_white_boy_2_981680.html
As a member of STARRS (STARRS.us), a group of graduates and veterans who are opposed to racism and radicalization of the military, I alert you to the perilous course of our nation’s most revered institutions.
What is shameful is that we want strong men and women to do the number one thing-protect Americans and support our allies (I am not advocating to go to war for them). The current situation hinders many patriots from serving our country. We are in a weakened condition and we see the fall-out with in Putin, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, our border, and China. These people are laughing at our weakness.
The proposed ammendments to the WHO international health regulations are not being discussed in the public domain, and so citizens of all countries are not aware they should be contacting their MPs to demand their country opt out of this plan(Treaty) to give up national sovereignty to an unelected privately funded group. The WHO would then appoint a Director General who would decide what constitutes the next pandemic or any public health emergency, including the authority to give EA to "vaccines," travel restrictions, access to anything in the public sphere, etc etc. and to MANDATE any sort of treatment they can think of! Please lift up this rock!
Thank you for the work you do and this opportunity. In this time of hypersensitivity to anything remotely resembling 'hate speech', Women Studies, Black Studies and Queer studies continue to pump out hatred on our college campuses. White heterosexual men in particular are finding colleges to be a hostile environment. With false rape accusations, special accommodations for every other group and hostile female professors. Where are the adults? Why doesn't anyone speak out? Do politicians lack a backbone to take this difficult task on. Many of them with white heterosexual sons in these colleges. How do we fight this?
I hold a BS in Math and a general Master's in Ed (believe me, I know! So much Freire - I was expecting more quantitative research and policy analysis...). I've had several jobs in the science research and edu admin sectors. I've been stuck in a rut trying to obtain a new job that might be integrated with the classical education and merit movement in the U.S. - how might you recommend that I get involved? I'll take any suggestions.
I work for a bank and they are holding 2 hour DEI ‘conversations’ with a consulting firm and the CEO said his goal is 100% employee participation. What is the most effective way for me to refuse to take part in this political indoctrination? I don’t want to be spoken down to and discriminated against for being a white male.
Not a bad idea. I’m on PTO for the first scheduled ‘conversation’ and maybe I’ll call in sick for the makeup day. I was going to just say I’m not comfortable with it and not give any details about why
Do we have enough trained leaders with common sense (non-lefties) to take back the leadership of our bureaucracies? And if not, how do we overcome such deficiencies, whether it be by trimming the bureaucracies to fit the available leaders we have, or by drawing leaders from local governments, or something else?
Hmmm... Can you recommend a group you would trust to take on this interesting task? Will surely require a multi-role on-line system to manage identification, recruitment, analysis, etc, to accomplish this goal. Or perhaps you know of teams already engaged in this effort. I can donate the entire software infrastructure for this. That is my firm's specialty. I am, as you may have noticed, politically ignorant and have many limitations, but within my specialty we are a technology leader. Nobody is better. We can brainstorm an operational solution for this effort (given the right team) and then design, build and deploy a custom, secure, and large-scale national cloud solution to meet the specific operational needs of this effort. Not a cost issue for me. We have a technology for this that is unique in the industry which is being used by many large firms I cannot disclose on this blog. Suggestions?
I used to assume that revealing misdeeds would be enough to fix corruption in our government. That's clearly not true now. I'm not sure it ever was. What will it take now?
What do you do to relax and not focus on all the crap going on? I pray, lift, grow veggies, try to become self sufficient, Is the "war" in the Middle East another means to focus our attention away from the open borders in the US?
What curriculums are available for for parents to use k to 12 as an alternative to sending kids to public schools in CA where teachers are teaching hatred of America?
Start with the end in mind and know your state laws. There are so many curricula and homeschool conventions galore. Best tip: Read good books aloud every day!
Why haven't Trump attorneys filed Writs of Mandamus, Prohibition and Quo Warranto to stop the " malicious persecution" of their client in SCOTUS? ALSO please stop letting the leftist looney tunes from stealing our language: it is not "lawfare" , it is malicious prosection!
I have been seeing signs that the recent events in Israel have created a unique opportunity for some sort of political re-alignment (at least partial). The fact that barbaric acts of Hamas terrorists received a wide-spread defense and praise in the progressive circles turned off many on the left. Many lefties (especially Jews, but not only) have been surprised by the fact that such vile acts received justification and often are being celebrated by their fellow-progressives. Do you think this could be a significant political moment and is this an opportunity for conservatives?
I hope so. Sadly this isn't the first time things like this have happened and most progressives forget all about their cognitive dissonance and go back to being committed progressives in a couple months.
How do you do it? I see and keep reading articles and comments from you everywhere, interesting and thoughtful works. It takes me forever to write even occasional pieces worth reading. Anyway, keep it up, Rufo!
Do you know of any activist groups that focus specifically on anti-woke stuff, as opposed to fiscal conservatism or gun rights? I'd love to get involved in any way I can.
ive really enjoyed the leading edge work you have been doing on your site, esp the DEI agenda and its history and exposure to the public. I just see that Texas senate passed a bill removing any DEI agendas from public entities, esp schools that receive govt funds.
Are you in comm with other publications that are now writing about DEI, such as The Free Press? I am seeing numerous new articles / stories that seem to echo what you have been writing about for the past couple years. I never see you referenced here. Same with the gender topic, everyone is getting on the band wagon, which you seem to have been driving for a while. thanks
I believe that there is a direct relationship between the current parties that have displayed criticism and hatred of Israel while justifying Hamas atrocities and further in threatening mayhem in this country to Jews and conservatives.
The link is in the CRITICAL RACE THEORY. The theorists of the Critical Race Theory were largely black academicians. Kimberle Crenshqw and Derrick Bell in the early 1970s first crafted a legal theory that imputed that all the laws of this country were the products of racism fostered by white supremacy.
The theory found support among left wing academics but Brown v The Board of Education (1954) and the Supreme Court rejecting Plessy v Ferguson (1895) removing separate but equal from the lists of injuries made some of their theories irrelevant. The passage of Roe v Wade also denied them abortion as a platform for a while. The Civil Rights Act (1964) eradicated most other grievances and its extension the Fair Housing Act (1968) further pushed CRT into the shadows.
Academia continued to provide them a refuge and they planned how to attract new audiences, alliances and new grievances.
The opposition to LGBTQI, furore over Sexual Harrassment, the reframing of Slavery as being the foundation of the United States and their Claim that the arrival of Slaves in 1619 was truly the beginning of racist America and the publication of Nikole Hannah Jones distorted history by the New York Times helped their resurrection. The opposition to same sex relationships and marriage and the rejection of gender affirmation allowed them to create several minority oppressed.
Obama with hs abject apology for America's" mistakes "in the was promising the Middle East US apologies and money and in return he was advancing his candidacy for the Nobel Prize.
The CRT found support in blaming White Supremacy not only for Slavery but also for the decimation of the indigenous peoples. They ignored the fact that Christopher Columbus terminated his voyage in Hispaniola ( Bahamas and Dominica) never ever setting foot in the Continental US as they brought down his statues, that slavery and intertribal strife was common among the indigenous people who got their slaves as the spoils of war and after 1619 also enslaved black and white captives. The claims of white barbarism were overblown. Premature death was a result of new diseases from Europe. The life expectancies of slaves and slave owners was not significantly different in any event as medical interventions were equally lacking.
However all the factors above increased the impressionable "oppressed"
CRT advocates relaxed restrictions to their ranks by deciding that the biologic constructs of race and gender were too stifling and that they should be be replaced by social constructs that the individual could select or change at will they viewed this position as social justice. It allowed for the conversion of any of life's vicissitudes into a grievance that could be beneficial financially and politically.
The different groups seeking social justice were akin to tribes using the social construct theory. In addition to race they could include feminists, LGBTQI individuals, transgender activists, Marxists, homeless due to substance abuse. Each a separate tribe.
To describe them collectively we must allow for the descriptor SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS.
Social Justice Warriors are at war with traditional American values
They have adopted CRT philosophies as their own. DIVERSITY here implies that each tribe has individual grievances but also adopt and sympathize with the grievances of the others. They demand EQUITY, not with each other but with with the oppressors, mainly white "supremacists" although other ethnic groups who were once discriminated against like the Irish, Italians and Asian Americans and Jews who over generations bettered themselves and merged into the multicolored , multicultural fabric of America are now also classed as oppressors. They demand wealth transfers to achieve equty not equality demands that would have made Karl Marx proud. The final philosophical pillar is INTERSECTIONALITY where all their grievances intersect and can be combined as a powerful weapon which would allow the tribal malcontents a vehicle to exorcise their grievances.
They find support in academia which tolerate their partisan comments as expressions of free speech and punish dissenters with threats to their jobs, academic pursuits and finances. They silence dissent with examples of their institutional power.
Merit in academia is destroyed as the brightest and often the best are denied admission to make room for social justice warriors and lower academic standards to satisfy the lowest common denominator.
The money bags are blackmailed into lending a patina of intellectualism for Ibram Kendi's Center for Antiracist Studies. The Center which received tens of millions of dollars is now laying off staff and accusations of self enrichment are surfacing.
Other financial entities trying to burnish their reputations are directing their clients funds into Environmental and Social Investing Ashwath Damodaran at the NYU Stern School one of the giants of Corporate Finance had condemned such practices (https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/pdfiles/country/ESGShortNew.pdf)
Let us now realize as we mourn the loss of innocent lives half a world away that we have a silent war with the Tribespeople of Social Justice and their Warriors their activities are more threatening to America than Hamas and Iran
There’s a quote from Tolstoy that fits: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The myriad ways the heart of man can corrupt things vs. the 'ancient paths' that God reveals
Mark Levin suggested that every school district have a "citizen's committee on the schools." so parents know what is happening in that Marxist factory, your local K-12 schools. Every teacher, librarian and school administrator sees their role as training youth in Progressive social activism. They cannot get through teacher's training without pledging fealty to the Marxist agenda. The Civicscenter.org organized over 70 non-profits to establish voter pre-registration drives in high schools, starting at age 16. -some have dedicated school administrators whose function it is to organize kids for protests & social activism-like here in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where high school students recently walked out to protest Israel's defending themselves. The Jewish parents in this district are trying to find out who organized this to let the kids out of school shouting: "From the river to the sea" and other Hamas slogans. Nothing new: in 2021 they held a November walkout to protest supposed racist incidents- We have to get the K-12 schools under control or defund them. Mr. Rufo is making a difference at the college level-PARENTS must demand teachers wear cameras and for starters they must make sure no teacher/administrator has a student's cellphone number if they don't want their child to be a victim. Google "teacher arrested", "teacher convicted" or "principal arrested" and you will be horrified & sickened by court testimony showing the depravity of school officials who always seem to get off the hook and go on their merry way to another school to offend again. There are solution-FIND THEM LOCALLY. Do something!
Does Hillsdale have a School of Ed? I have a masters of Ed and would love to teach in a classical program for new teachers. I am a public school teacher in an enormous district captured by the Left. I would love to teach in a classical program but one that pays! Do they exist?
Desperation disguised as questions. Teaching in public schools is brutal these days.
What are your thoughts on putting 'clawbacks' on college funding, so that every dollar they spend on things like DEI becomes a dollar (or two!) of lost funding - is that legal?
You and others have written about the dangers of DEI policies, mainly by looking at what is taught / indoctrinated / mandated by government and schools. But what about second and third order issues -- such as how these policies affect the operational performance of government agencies (and business)?
Some people are addressing this issue among the military and in DoD generally, as by discussing causes of recruitment problems. But what else?
I have written about such problems in the intelligence community in the form of politicization of intelligence, trust issues, and the skewing of analytic messages (as in John A. Gentry, Neutering the CIA: Why US Intelligence Versus Trump Has Long-Term Consequences (Armin Lear Press, 2023)). And I am looking at other issues.
What concerns you most? Why? And what can be done to ameliorate or fix problems?
Different from the garbagy 1619 Project, do you know of a grade school age “civic duty” curriculum available for promotion by parents to public school districts? This curriculum needs to be a priority.
An area that is often ignored where the rot has been allowed to gain a strong foothold is in those health and professionals orgs that require CEs to maintain professional certification. Certifications, of various types have been hollowed out by various influences including grant monies that many "non profit entities" rely on to keep the doors open and the grift alive, which have the requirement of mandatory focus on DEI etc. This also infects other accreditation bodies that are important to private k-12 education. Is there anyone working on these areas to uncover, dismantle and re-focus these bodies?
Most products are just products without inherent meaning. I drank Bud Light because I like lite beer, it is usually the least expensive offering, and it is available almost everywhere. I prefer Coors Light, but Bud Light was my backup for sports stadiums and similar locales.
Once Bud Light took on an agenda (really driven more by Ms. Hammerscheidt than Dylan Mulvaney), I dropped it and wont go back. To me, what was once a simple act of finding a cheap light beer became symbolic, and more specifically symbolic of something I oppose and resent.
This AI patent enables a computer to reason and speak employing ethical parameters, an innovation based upon a primary complement of instinctual behavioral terms (rewards-leniency-appetite-aversion). This elementary instinctual foundation, in turn, extends to a multi-level hierarchy of the traditional groupings of virtues, values, and ideals, collectively arranged as subsets within a hierarchy of metaperspectives - as depicted below.
The systematic organization underlying this ethical hierarchy allows for extreme efficiency in programming, eliminating much of the associated redundancy, providing a precise determination of motivational parameters at issue during a given verbal interchange. A similar pattern further extends to the contrasting behavioral paradigm of punishment, resulting in a parallel hierarchy of the major categories of the vices. Here rewards / leniency is withheld rather than bestowed in response to actions judged not to be suitably solicitous or submissive (as depicted in the diagram below). This format contrasts point-for-point with the respective virtuous mode (the actual patent encompasses 320 individual terms).
No Solicitousness . No Rewards ..... No Submissiveness . No Leniency
With such ethical safeguards firmly in place, the AI computer is formally prohibited from expressing the corresponding realm of the vices, allowing for a truly flawless simulation of virtue. more at www.lamuth.online
Is it too late to ask a Q? Here’s mine: Christopher, I’m a mother of two tweens. We are saving and planning for college. What advice do you have for selecting a college, and would you suggest the Nee School in Florida where you teach?
How to irrefutably link movements, like the Trans Agenda or the LGBQT+ Flag to Marxism? Every school or admin that waves the pride flag should fully understand that the equivalence is the gold hammer and sickle on a red background. Every parent should see it for what it is!
It's not such a direct link. The genealogies of critical race theory, for example, and transgender ideology are different. CRT is more directly derived from identity-based neo-Marxism, as you will see in my book. But transgender ideology has mostly a different lineage, deriving from postmodernism and left-wing Nietzscheanism, predominantly through Michel Foucault. There is some overlap, as some theorists have tried to hitch trans identity into a Marxist oppressor-oppressed dynamic and believe that "transgender liberation" can only be achieved through the abolition of both gender and capitalism. On the Left, there is usually a "blender effect," in which all of these ideologies are mixed together. But from a strict historical perspective, they developed out of different lines of thought.
Yes, It does appear like a coalition of false, not yet publicly discredited, theories that share a common opposition to those who seek honest discourse -- for the pleasure of the power-above-all-else democrats' voting block. Quite a tent.
There’s a lot of overlap! The point is we’re the fuel came from driving this, the citizens of these United States through there tax dollars courtesy The Biden Administration!!! Other wise these groups would be a bunch of indoctrinated college kids flapping there jaws and of course the rest of the older gays, bi’s and xyz’s demanding the world’s recognition while being used as pawns by the very people that will extinguish them after they help destroy the idea of a country founded on Judeo Christian beliefs!
It’s been used and going on sense Jesus Christ walked the face of the earth!
It might be useful to review the contents of the "sex education" program Bela Kun and Gyorgy Lukacs introduced in Hungarian state schools in 1919. While this curriculum most definitely targeted Christian family values, I believe it was also designed to create gender confusion and to advance a transhumanist agenda.
Yes, important.
I wrote to Joe "Caesar's Messiah" Atwill for details in that I've heard him lecture on this topic. I would also consider the activities of Wilhelm Reich in Vienna in the mid-1920's and his comrades like Fritz Perls.
GEORG LUKÁCS' MARXISM: ALIENATION, DIALECTICS, REVOLUTION. By Victor Zitta.
Zitta wrote that "education became something perverse" under Lukács and that special lectures were organized in school and literature printed and distributed to “instruct” children about free love, about the nature of sexual intercourse, about the archaic nature of the bourgeois family codes, about the outdatedness of monogamy, and the irrelevance of religion which deprives man of all pleasure. Children were urged thus to reject and deride paternal authority and the authority of the church, and "to ignore precepts of morality".
I disagree. It really does not matter whether they have the same genealogies or different ones. They arrived at the same point and share the same fundamental principles and the same implementation as those found in totalitarianism. They are variants of Marxism, which is an ideology that constantly mutates--much like COVID-19--to form new variants.
True! But one can not paint the entire left (or right) with such a broad brush.
You are deeply mistaken in your concepts.I was born under the hammer and sickle and lived for 42 years.Nothing like what you write about happened there, and if it happened secretly, it was punishable.
The relationship between Marxism and the family is quite interesting. Orthodox Marxists believed that the "patriarchal family" was an impediment to developing revolutionary consciousness. At the same time, many left-wing theorists complained that the left-wing political parties in Europe, for example, upheld largely bourgeois cultural standards. Foucault made a variation on this argument quite forcefully in relation to the trade unionists, who did not accept the cultural revolution that was driving the student rioters in France during the late 1960s. There was always a sense that changes to the family did not go fast or far enough. Now, looking back, we can see that these cultural changes, which happened not only in Marxist countries but also in the capitalist countries of the West, especially the United States, have been a disaster.
Not to mention Karl Marx didn't work and was nortiously horrible to his kids and family and was an alcoholic, freeloading, failed aristocratic pos but I digress.
Marx was a gem!
I'm honestly suprised he couldn't get some vodka profits to live off of from the czar. Lol
Also what Foucault and the French intelligentsia thought of the family (a bourgeois structure that needed to be dismantled) is very different from the position of the French Communist Party, which, like all communist parties, was very conservative when it came to sex. (I am a French scholar, btw) There were women who were excommunicated from the French Communist Party for "moral reasons." In Communist Romania there was a concept called "the socialist morality" which meant that even divorce was frowned upon. None of this is known by American Marxists because their view of Marxism is completely divorced from the reality of it in former Communist countries.
👍
André Marty was quite a figure, yes. Nothing about gender or dismantling families.
Most of the traditional heroes in Communist countries were very macho.
I was born in the USSR and family narrative was pretty strong there along with criminalized homosexuality (rus. «мужеложество»). It was also shameful for a woman to be divorced or having a kid outside marriage.
Exactly. See may answers too.
There is an enormous difference between Marxists in contemporary Anglo countries and the way Marxism was applied in all Communist countries. In the latter, all alternative sexualities were punished by law. In Communist Romania where I lived, a homosexual could go to prison for 20 years. Contemporary Western queer Marxists are very much like "Queers for Palestine." Marx had no concept of "gender" and would be perplexed to see what his theory has become.
In the land of the hammer and sickle, which was based on the ideology of K.Marx, the family was erected and supported.
As for this country, quick and smart reforms will help and save it.
♥️🌎🕊
After the revolution they at first tried to destroy the family. That was ultimately such a disaster that they had to reverse course.
After the revolution from 1917-1923 there was a Civil War.It is unlikely that at this time someone had the right thoughts in their heads.
Basically, the contradictions were about the inheritance of property, and not for any other reasons.
But since the whole idea is that "a strong family is a cell of a strong society," these problems were quickly sorted out.
You are misunderstanding his point. He is talking about parallels between Communism and the LGBTQ/Trans movement's oppressor vs. oppressed framework for interpreting reality. Now we see Trans bringing Hamas into their intersectionality of the oppressed. The aim in all cases is the destruction of categories, the rise of Transhumanism (Communism's concept of the New Man), and destruction of the West itself.
I agree I missed the point. The LGBTQ/Trans movement did not exist under communism. It utilized different pairs of oppressor/oppressed. Elena, I apologize if your comment was not a denial but rather a clarification of this important difference between life under communism vs life under woke. Of course, both lead to human suffering, but they are different -- with the commonality that both were/are based on placing people in camps against themselves.
I think your misunderstanding, the rise of Hilters regime was ground floor separation of the family by I doctrinarian of the children and pitting them against there families. Then pushing the the pure blood agendas.
The approach here in US is very similar!
All the groups mentioned haven’t been persecuted at least not since the mid-70s in the far is interracial marriage that’s been excepted for 25 years or more. Black life matters, LBGTXYZ community is all been added to attack the family base in general coupled with the attack on Christianity in this country, which is the base of its founders .
I think what the Left and the radical Islamists have in common is the desire to destroy Christianity, whose decline has already brought about a weakening of morality and social cohesion, and whose destruction will allow those ideologies to impose themselves on all Western countries.
But I should add that Christians and Muslims will surely unite against transgender ideology and that may make a strong bond.
It forever shocks me that we just flat out kill or incarcerate black men in the US so black families have zero chance. And no one says anything- DNC, BLM, President Obama have changes nothing. Here in the quiet Midwest of Missouri we have the highest black murder victimization rate in the US and have been 1 or 2 in the US for the last 14 years but the MOGOP concedes STL and KC cities without even trying and "targeting races" is the BS excuse I suppose. https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/missouris-black-homicide-victimization-rate-again-highest-in-us-39941072
"It's forever shocks me that we just flat out kill or incarcerate black men in the US so black families have zero chance." This is not true at all and, to the extent that it reflects any reality, gets the causation backwards.
> It's forever shocks me that we just flat out kill or incarcerate black men in the US
We don't. We kill or incarcerate Black men when they commit crimes, just like we do to everybody else.
> Here in the quiet Midwest of Missouri we have the highest black murder victimization rate in the US
Well most killers kill within their race.
While both your statements are basically true, I've been all through the issue. I want to know why it's acceptable to anyone but especially black voters. And if we as conservatives say the nuclear family is the key to our society, then this is a problem for us as well.
Destruction of the current system/ institution is the end goal of critical theory. It's sinister in the Democratic Party bc some really are standing for trans rights and then when they realize the point is them being used to break the only system which actually has trans rights in it, it's too late.
Well-put.
No you don't. Hamas is a terrorist group. Most trans people I know will quickly tell you that too and no they do not want the destruction of the west.
Trans. as an ideology, with ideological categories. This phenomenon is wholly apart from adult persons who pursue their delusions surgically.
And, what is "No you don't?" Are you..."scolding" this man for saying something you don't care for? If so, then is it not enough to prove him wrong - without tedious moralisms?
BTW, this "Cassandra" is a know shill.
It will be interesting to see what she (?) says to my question whether she affirms that the Trans delusions are truth (not delusions).
The "No, you don't" is a response to this from him, "Now we see Trans bringing Hamas into their intersectionality of the oppressed."
Also, being transgender is not an ideology. Being transgender is the same as being black, Hispanic, or Asian. They simply are. Just like you simply are. Your ideologies aren't you. The difference is that you have a choice in agreeing with an ideology, whereas you do not have a choice in being you The same applies to trans people.
Like all people, transgender people do have ideologies they agree with. There are trans people who are adhere to conservativism, republicanism, liberalism, etc. as there are in any other population.
> Also, being transgender is not an ideology.
Yes it is. It is also a denial of objective reality.
Attempting to become another sex is a choice. Race is a separate issue. It is fixed, just like age. Surely, you actually know this to be true.
His point would have been more accurate had he said "Now we see Trans ideologists bringing..." That said, there is an ambiguity which has arisen (and which you clarify) - and that is over the word "Trans" - whether (in caps) it refers to individuals or the ideology/movement. I have used it as he did, but am not committed to that - reality is what matters. I will say "Trans ideologists" going forward, now that I see the ambiguity (I did not consider it ambiguous, until now - but speech should be clear).
The rest I agree with and stated above (in my own way) - unless you mean to say that "being trans" is a reality - which I do not believe. And this is an ambiguity for you to address/resolve: are you saying that there are people who exist who believe themselves to be transexual/have had surgeries, etc., or are you saying that they are actually correct to think that?
I am sure many if not most trans people do not want the destruction of the West, but, unfortunately, there is a big difference between trans people and the Trans ideological movement of the radical far left. The leading academics of the ideology are Judith Butler and Susan Striker, among others. They call for the obliteration of all categories of meaning that Western civilization has produced because its values, accomplishments and systems of social organization and scientific endeavor are nothing but patriarchal oppression masquerading as progress. It is sheer nonsense. I have a feeling that you might agree, but read those authors for yourself and you will see blatant statements to destroy the West.
I'm not so sure that "many if not most trans people do not want the destruction of the West." My sense is that Americans who claim to be transgender are very far to the left on the political spectrum.
Got to run. Time for my live show at 6 PM Eastern.
Anyone want to join me?
https://www.youtube.com/live/e4BfNfDo_5M?feature=shared
"Trans" people are confused about their own gender. They're not going to have coherent positions on civilizational issues.
Most trans people do not know who Judith Butler or Susan Striker are and could care less about their academic philosophies.
While they are academics, they are by no means leading academics on what it means to be transgender. Just as your views are yours, and you are entitled to them, their views are theirs, and they also entitled to them too.
Of course, we are all entitled to our own views. They are in fact the leading academics in the fields of transgenderism, queer theory and gender studies. So, they, along with others, have laid the foundation and are the thought leaders of the far left radical Trans ideological movement now waving the banner at pro-Hamas rallies on campuses everywhere. Trans people are not necessarily part of this movement but they should call out injustice when they see it, as we all should. Lastly, if we are interested in rational thinking, we have a responsibility to analyze ideas and critique bad ideas that negatively impact our social cohesion, and therefore, you should take a closer look..
Part of the reason for my initial post was I've really been thinking about "Queers for Palestine." I cannot imagine they realize what would happen to them in Palestine. So what convinces a person to support a cause that would likely or eventually violently kill them?
> So what convinces a person to support a cause that would likely or eventually violently kill them?
Possession of a latent death wish.
I don't know, James. It makes no sense to me. I still don't know why Log Cabin Republican's support a party that seeks to erase and delete every word that would identify them from across the entire federal enterprise and that doesn't not want them in the party.
I see what you tried to do there. Your analogy misses by the length of a 3-story drop tied to a chair to your death.
There is a direct parallelism between the "classic" Marxism and the neo-Marxism/Communism. It's exactly the same divide of society based on the oppressed /oppressor antagony. In the classic Marxism - workers versus bourgeoisie, in the neo-Marxism - sexual minorities, racial and religious minorities versus white people ann Christians.
The parallelism is in the structure of ideology, per-se. It has a gnostic (Manichean) religious basis which will make all such movements/ideologies "familial."
Bourgeois Radicalism (the present phenomenon) is no exception - what you say of the dualism is correct, and true of all of them (Communist Marxism (Lenin) Fascist Marxism (Mussolini), National Socialism, Bourgeois Radicalism, etc. etc.
Bourgeois Radicalism. I think you are spot on. But what does that mean? These people think the rebellion is transkids products in the front of the store at Target. The next week when it is pushed to the back and the following week removed, they are looking for tiny Palestinian or Ukrainian flags for their profile. And the main reason all this happened is so someone at PRSA or in marketing can get another data point on a consumer.
You raise more than one question - and all good. As to Bourgeois Radicalism and ideology, I can answer well. My third reply is more tentative.
Bourgeois Radicalism is the ideology of the "Liberation of the Individual from all Oppressions." Ideology is in-turn a gnostic religious recurrence combined with (and governing as an idealism) by Praxis, as understood by Francis Bacon to Karl Marx.
In the case of Bourgeois Radicalism, it predates Marx. It was suppressed by Marxism and its related social ideologies (Fascism, etc.) but, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union (and the other régimes in WWII) and objective defeat of Marx's counter to the Bourgeois Radicals - Dialectical Materialism - B.R. has been rediscovered (Stirner to Marcuse).
All ideology is utopic, and a comprehensive falsification of reality. Its votaries look to utopia, and devalue the world of reality to a symbol - they constantly talk about what "should be" (but is not). They try to remake the world as this "should," which is not an ethical "should" based upon human nature/anthropology but a fideistic "should" based on utopia. Combined with Praxis, this means violently remaking the world w/o ethical considerations. It is a kind of violent, dishonest moralism.
To your question of outcomes. My thoughts are more tentative, and I have only generally written about this. I just spent over a week in New York meeting with other Catholic philosophers, and this was our main subject!
Trans is a good case: they try to alter reality itself, but find that they cannot - something about forms in nature prevents success. They cannot via technology change men into women or horses into men. To put this another way, their Praxis fails to remake the world. What next?
I believe postmodern theory is the place to look. The way to read it broadly is as a description of life under total ideological régime - it is underrated by its opponents and misunderstood by its proponents. It describes life as an immersive fiction - a LARP. This is the fall-back position of the ideologists - if they cannot radically transform reality via technology (and it appears that they cannot), then they will settle for a comprehensive immersive fiction. You see both approaches or "attempts" side-by-side (remember, as "Praxis" all of this is "experimental").
There is a related phenomenon of careerists and fellow-travelers who "don't really mean it." Well, they are responsible for what they say - their motives are their own. They are furthering the problem, and become part of it - future camp notaries and press-agents who "didn't know." They will execute whatever orders they receive - as they are informing us. The Hamas Atrocity Exhibition is a stress-test both for votaries and fellow-travelers - how much will they be complicit in? Quite a lot, it seems...
I hope that this attempt is worthy, and furthers your thinking. If you wish to question it or disagree, you will find me receptive - I am after comprehensive understanding of the truth. As a servant of God, I am not permitted to make this "about me."
Cordially,
PS, I will be soon making a new comment to Christopher concerning the effect of "Intersectionality." I hope that you will read it when it posts.
We are not discussing parallels with Marxism and neo/marxism.
I responded to the previous comment exactly as it was submitted.
Take care
Elana, I am happy you were not touched. But as a child I lived a few months with many Russian children who would told me how they would hide their Bibles because they did not want to go to prison. And the documentation is quite extensive. Denial is surely conducive to pleasurable thoughts about the past, but for the millions of people who suffered greatly under Stalin and others Russian leaders, not so much.
Solzhenitsyn talked about it.
I agree with what you say of Marxism - mostly. That is, "Intersectionality" is a Bourgeois Radical conception, and only Marxist insofar as it tries to "pick up the pieces" of Marxism after the real-world refutation of Dialectical Materialism. Really, "Marxism" is a kind of "Mystification" - a rhetorical device by both the Bourgeois Radicals and their enemies on the "Right." The real pedigree is Max Stirner, et. al. along with Mao - who himself emulated the "social movements" of the National Socialists, etc.
This seems directionally correct. I'm assuming you mean that the Marxist political movements never shed their bourgeois origins—and now refuse to shed even their bourgeois desires. This is one of the great lessons from Del Noce.
Marx did try to suppress Bourgeois Radicalism - which predates him; his comments on Stirner and other "Left-Hegelians" are brutal. What he offered - Dialectical Materialism - failed objectively (by his standards). "Mystifications" of "Right" and "Left" ideologists aside (both have a stake in propping-up Marx's corpse and many outright don't understand and/or are sentimentalists), the "Left" has returned to its Bourgeois Radical roots. Of course, some never left those roots - as Marx and both Communists and Fascists never tired of observing.
At this point, the Left IS Bourgeois Radicalism - which in-reality means a kind of universal bureaucratic administrative/economic state dedicated to "physical an emotional 'well-being.'" That is, a kind of (gated) Bourgeois Disneyland.
This much said, "Intersectionality" has opened a grotesque, perverse, laughable and repulsive complication - as your recent Twitter post of the Judith Butler talk attests. Your typical B.R. aspirant - say Ta-Nehisi Coates - both aspires to Bourgeois Disneyland and advocates murder.
Then you are not seeing it. Go back and watch those activist leftists...rallies. The Hammer & Sickle is proudly displayed in the mob, along side BLM and Pride flags. Sometimes you will see a hammer sickle wrapped in pride stripes. It is no longer subversive. You own lived historical experience could very well be foretelling a near future. Messaging is key. Open people’s eyes to what the possible future may look like if this path continues.
No, I saw it and it just amused me.Most of the people you mentioned have no idea how it was.Under the hammer and sickle was a different morality and concepts.Therefore, one should not mix one with the other, otherwise it is simply ridiculous
🙋🏼♀️
An excellent question. We do need to show Americans these ideologies are all variants of Marxism because they are. We need to clearly explain this to Americans so they know we are dealing with the hammer and sickle. If we can't get the diagnosis correct, we will not have the right cure. Saying transgender is a new theory is a wrong diagnosis that simply confuses people. In fundamental principles transgenderism and critical race theory are essentially the same. They are variants of Marxism. Now is the time to increase Americans' awareness of the real nature of the ideology that is destroying America.
That’s completely insane.
It's not insane. Everything that's happening now, every one of the moronic groups and "movements" (e.g. BLM, LGBTQ) are part of the agenda to destroy white/Western civilization. Wake up.
@Frans. I think you are confused about who is replying to who. This is hard to follow on Substance.
You clearly know, nothing about Communism, the Black community, or the gay community. Please go read a book and get your head out of QAnon conspiracies.
Have you read Rufo's book? See the index for "Intersectionality," pp. 237-39. A quotation that might be helpful:
"The simplest way to explain intersectionality is that it expands the Marxist oppressor-oppressed binary into a finely graded, multivariate hierarchy of oppression."
The hierarchy is not based on economic class, but identity, hence "NEO" Marxism.
Yes, this is right. It's a practical, radical than ideological, question of alliances.
Spot On!
OK. Everything and everyone are always prosperous, well, and happy under communism and BLM leadership. All sunshine and roses. Is that what I'm not understanding about communism and BLM?
I don't think my grandparents were feeling the sunshine when they fled Russia, nor did my great- grandfather and uncle when they had to return to Russia due to an eye infection. They were summarily executed upon their arrival in their homeland.
I was being sarcastic. Sheldon is sleeping while BLM burns down cities.
Are you related to Sheldon W. Helms?
I was being sarcastic. Sheldon is sleeping while cities burn.
Very "2020" - hostile, emotive rhetoric and no substance.
None of it has any effect any more - those of us who refuse to be ruled by ideologists have come to accept your social aggression and obdurate irrationality as a given, and very much part of the problem. We were put off for a bit by the sheer incivility and unreason of it, but we have "gotten over it," and are moving forward to reassert our right to govern our own lives without your permission or approval.
By "you," I do not speak of you personally - there is always hope for you personally - but your movement and its weird gnostic religion.
If you weren't so dedicated to committing ad hominem attacks, you might have suggested that s/he read The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, but...
Childish comment.
Sheldon, you clearly need to wake up to the reality of what's going on around you!
You are one of the few warriors the conservative movement has to battle the Left, yet they seem to have an endless supply on their side. How can we level the playing field?
I'm training journalists and activists this year to expand our team: https://manhattan.institute/article/the-manhattan-institute-announces-the-logos-fellowship.
Read a book, become the warrior.
Yeah, read Rufo's book and lend it to anyone who's willing to read it.
Most warmongers refer illiterate warriors.
Yes, they say "Do not attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance." The useful idiots are the army of those far fewer warmongers with deep seeded hate converted into irrational activism.
Ignorance above all, but also idiocy and mental dysfunction/failure are underrated! That still leaves plenty of malice...
We need legislation to stop this massive transgender social contagion. The government, universities, major medical associations and social media are complicit. Thousands of parents like me are experiencing indescribable grief as our young adult children are misled to poison and mutilate themselves. How can we stop it?
This is a tragedy and I'm sorry to hear about your adult child. You are correct that all of the major institutions have been promoting this ideology, despite the mounting evidence that is it based on a false metaphysics, science, and medical practice. The good news is that public opinion is shifting, due to the work of many journalists, doctors, and activists who are exposing the transgender movement for what it is: a nihilistic cult that engages in child sacrifice as an expression of moral purification. The bad news is that this is likely cold comfort for those who have children currently struggling with this ideology. My recommendation cannot be universal—each particular family must approach it with a sense of prudence, based on particular experience—but my general sense is that you must love your child unconditionally, try to maintain a connection as much as possible, and be patient, steady, and faithful. Remember the story of the prodigal son.
One of the best things I have seen you write. You are, after all, a father.
The Transgender cult as "a nihilistic cult that engages in child sacrifice as an expression of moral purification" is strong and points to what we know of human history/anthropology. It goes straight to the regressive nature of neo-gnosticism - in this case a recurrence of child-sacrifice - as if Judaism had never happened! We see the same with race ideology.
Have you written on this specific element, or can you point to anyone who discusses this cultic recurrence? This strikes me as a vital insight.
This is America, so lawsuits - which are already happening.
Turns out it's legally risky to use the consent of inherently mentally ill people as the basis for untested & unstudied chemical and surgical experimentation! Who could have guessed?
Criminal conduct.
You can ask your child to read and answer questions about this article https://www.thefp.com/p/gender-affirming-care-dangerous-finland-doctor
good article.. i think the difference is in the usa, everything is driven by profit.. not so in finland....
"Everything" is a bit strong. Do not understand the reference to Finland. But I do agree that we Americans need to rediscover our true compassions -- which have been hijacked by the left in too many corporations who find virtue signaling profitable, not to mention the educational institutions who use it to defend their stupid theories and attract useful-idiot followers.
read the article linked by rethink earlier to understand the finland reference.. here it is again for convenience.. the position in the usa is this transgender thing is driven by big money as i see it.. i am not down with this left-right divide.. i think it is too simplistic.. cheers https://www.thefp.com/p/gender-affirming-care-dangerous-finland-doctor
Great article. Thx.
American is no more capitalistic than Finland.
i think big pharma has much more control over the regulatory bodies in the usa then in europe... i could be mistaken, but i do believe this is driven by money which explains some of the differences here, especially the difference between finland and usa...
Big pharma funds the FDA by paying them for doing everything they do for them.
I doubt if they fund the The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices in the same way.
how do you explain the different approach taken in the usa verses finland and some of the other countries listed in the article?
Wouldn't it be easier to make sure that our children are literate before they go into the world without us? Young, innocent humans have always been more likely to be interested in things they have been warned off from while being left largely ignorant about them than those things they are well educated, rather than well indoctrinated, about.
Are you aware of or could you help develop, specific policies or laws in every state, county or school board that should be targeted when we win a local election. What are the specific laws or policies that leverage power and money for these entities that we need to know about right away? There have to be similarities across states.
If the good guys win an election, is there a plan or a list of things that should be addressed on Day 1?
This is a great idea. I believe that Moms for Liberty is working on these kinds of programs.
We have people running for County Commission next year, and that is it’s own work. On Day1, I would love for there to be a checklist of things to look for.
They hide everything or it’s buried in places you can’t see it obviously.
If you can tell citizens, “look here and ask about this specifically,” work will GET DONE!
Thank you for what you’re doing!
It would be good that they start out complying with whichever constitution they took an oath to and continue to comply as long as they are in office.
Rafe Heydel-Mankoo recently highlighted research showing that ethnic diversity is significantly linked to decreased social trust, which arguably leads to a host of other social ills. The core data he cited was from a 2019 meta analysis on the topic which found almost all evidence supporting this notion. In looking into one prominent article by Robert Putnam called 'Bowling Alone', I found a rebuttal claiming that some of that data was somewhat misinterpreted. Again, this was one critique and not related to the full meta analysis. Given this overall data, what are your thoughts and implications, or ways forward for society, given that ethnic diversity is likely perpetual and inevitable in many places? Are any benefits of diversity being thrown out with the bathwater? Can we be successfully multi racial yet overcome pitfalls of being overly multi ethnic?
Sources:
Diversity is not a Strength. It weakens Society, Research Clearly Shows
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o821QX5LFpg
Ethnic Diversity and Social Trust: A Narrative and Meta-Analytical Review
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-052918-020708
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-diversity-create-distrust/
Yes, I'll leave the math to the social scientists, but yes, I believe that, all things being equal, ethnic diversity is inversely correlated with social trust. I saw this when working on a documentary about America's poorest cities: street gangs, prison life, and other major conflicts were almost always divided along racial and ethnic lines. This should not be a surprise. It's obvious that groups with different cultures, religions, languages, traditions, values, and physical characteristics will find themselves more easily at odds than groups with more homogenous traits. However, I do not believe that all kinds of diversity are equal or that ethnic differences cannot be bridged. In our country, some groups are more easily assimilated into the dominant culture. And more broadly, the Catholic Church has been able to serve as a unifying force across vast cultural boundaries. My own parish is multiracial, with one white American priest, a Filipino priest, and an African priest. There is no DEI department or focus on "diversity." Quite the opposite: there is a firm belief that we are all made in the image of God and have a shared faith commitment that transcends racial and ethnic divisions. That is a better model than modern "diversity" ideology.
Just to offer another opinion on the multiculturalism lie, you cannot force people to live together harmoniously by law or zoning or bureaucratic policy or decree. Harmony and cooperation must arise organically. We see what happens when people are forced to live cheek-to-jowl with people alien to them.
Human nature appears to dictate that people prefer to be among those like themselves. Duh! That's not an observation that needs some sort of affirmation by social science statistics.
Let's not make the mistake of upholding some new bit of "social science" "research" when it upholds some particular prior...it is literally all hogwash built on sand.
When you accept the legitimacy of any modern work in these fields - *especially* any modern work making broad claims about sociocultural racial attitudes - you do waaaay more to legitimize pseudo-progressive nonsense than you do to help you own cause.
good post
How can we better illustrate the problems with credentialism? Having expertise in a specific field matters and should provoke thoughtful assessments and conversations. But so often, having educated opinions (educated but without a degree) is dismissed when that opinion contradicts mainstream consensus. This is a question that reaches across paradigms, ie journalism, medicine, law, etc. How might we strike a balance between appreciating skills and knowledge without slipping into the authoritarian, lazy assumption that the “experts” know best? Are there useful philosophies / approaches that can be instructive or should we think about creating new ones?
The experts have been blowing up their own reputations since 2020 in dramatic fashion. Keep highlighting this, exposing them, and trusting your own judgement. Never delegate your power as a citizen to bureaucratic experts!
Excellent question Theresa! I hope Chris responds to this. I think our recent experience with Covid magnified the risks in only listening to the credentialed. Also, the recent anti Semitic protests by “nearly credentialed” college students promoted by their tenured professors is chilling. Our constitution doesn’t mention credentials or advanced education requirements.
Good points! I feel like we are expected to make choices for ourselves as citizens and as people with bodily autonomy that don’t require advanced education. We may consider guidance from people in specialized fields, but it seems like COVID policies were really a giant shove towards technocracy, where technocrats are the new priesthood class who cannot be defied in any way. The “liberal” side of the argument tends to be one that insists their detractors are “anti-intellectual” but it’s not very intellectual to take your brain out of your head to only do what you’re told.
How can we possibly know who, in politics or any media, mainstream or alternative, to trust anymore? There is always the “controlled opposition” red flag thrown at anyone who remotely sounds sane and all conservative thought is equated with fascism, showing its roots of “bad white men”, throughout history, taking advantage of everyone else.
Use your best judgement—there is no other substitute. Reflect on your own experience and if it confirms the truth of what you read. If it does not, look closely to determine whether it's because of a gap in experience or because what you read is false. Trust your instincts, but not so much that you never question your judgements.
Anyone throwing around accusations of "fascism" is not to be trusted.
Unless their accusations are spot on, as rare as that may be.
True, but we must insist upon definition from the person.
The problem is that "fascism" has no definition outside the context of mid 20th century Italian and German politics. And even that conflates Fascism with Nazism even though the two philosophies had rather important differences.
The problem is that many of those who define fascism find themselves forced to make their preferred system not appear to be synonymous.
They define "fascism" to mean "resembles Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy in whatever way I deem relevant".
Yes. Same with "Marxism" and "Communism" becoming mere rhetorical devices.
No, Marxism and Communism were worked out universal theories before any governments adopted them.
Or the definition of the person from whom they accepted it.
It is a day by day process in a situation where most of the electorate can't remember the plot of a movie after they return from the restroom, let alone the promises made by the winner of the election.
For one, look to free speech absolutists who didn't shame themselves calling for the arrest of anti-Israel/pro-Palestine protesters. At least you know now that they don't have the courage to stick with their formerly stated convictions.
Also look at who publicly denounces or calls for the arrest of Assange and Snowden and who cheered the banishment of Alex Jones and Donald Trump from social media. Authoritarian hypocrites are the worst sort.
You surely know the "boundary" is important. Was the pogrom-like treatment of jews in NYC free speech? Is chanting for death to jews free speech? If I spit on a cop, is it free speech? If I terrorize certain groups with suggestions of violence is it free speech? Just asking.
"Pogrom-like treatment"? Who was murdered, exiled, or sent to a concentration camp in NYC during the demonstrations?
"Chanting for the death of Jews" is ugly, and says quite a bit about those benighted Americans who do it, but it's permissible under the First Amendment, as the once-useful ACLU argued many years ago in Skokie, IL.
Spitting on cops is also a "speech act" of a sort, though if you want to get technical about it, it might be considered "assault" if you want to stretch the definition.
"Suggestions" of violence are not actual violence, obviously. Direct threats of violence are another matter, and don't fall under the protection of the First Amendment (never mind the "crowded theater" bullshit that's always taken out of context).
Speech is either free or it isn't. The level of one's offense does not change the principle and, in fact, the grosser the offense the greater the protection required, since offense is a purely subjective response to some irritant. So-called "hate speech" is a bad idea that has gained far too much traction, giving leverage to those who would throttle political discussions.
I hate Hamas probably as much as you do and, viscerally and emotionally, I'd like to see them all killed, but so what? I also see that it's easy for the pro-Israel faction to conflate criticisms of Israel's foreign policy with "antisemitism" since Jewish identity is often deliberately mixed together with the nation's politics to deflect reasonable political criticisms.
Campus activities re Israel-Palestine have done a lot to expose the intellectual rot on our campuses. You’ve drawn a line in some of your tweets between that and CRT, BLM. I’ve never really understood the connection. Is it as simple as the left needing to place everything into an oppressor-oppressed paradigm? And the only real debate in the Dem Party is which category Jews fall in? Also what is with the tactic of tearing down photos of Hamas kidnapping victims? That seems like such a transparently stupid thing to do that not even the Squad can give it political cover.
The only real leverage to get wokeness out of schools is donors withholding their money. Is there an effort to connect and organize major donors so that there is strength in numbers and individual donors are less hesitant to stick their necks out?
There aren't very many schools that operate by donation in comparison to those that operate from mandatory taxation.
was referring to colleges.
Nothing is different for colleges than for K-12.
I just learned that my cousin's daughter, who is now 13, came out as trans 2 years ago. My cousin and his wife are affirming the transition but thankfully not initiating any medical interventions. Seems likely though, that this will change because the environment they live in (lower east side of NYC) is seriously progressive. I've been counseled by friends and family members not to intervene. Any suggestions of what to do?
Here's what I wrote to a commenter above, who has a child in this position:
"This is a tragedy and I'm sorry to hear about your adult child. You are correct that all of the major institutions have been promoting this ideology, despite the mounting evidence that is it based on a false metaphysics, science, and medical practice. The good news is that public opinion is shifting, due to the work of many journalists, doctors, and activists who are exposing the transgender movement for what it is: a nihilistic cult that engages in child sacrifice as an expression of moral purification. The bad news is that this is likely cold comfort for those who have children currently struggling with this ideology. My recommendation cannot be universal—each particular family must approach it with a sense of prudence, based on particular experience—but my general sense is that you must love your child unconditionally, try to maintain a connection as much as possible, and be patient, steady, and faithful. Remember the story of the prodigal son."
So what if the parents actually want to do what's best for their child? Is their consent not valid? Why don't you ask parents of trans kids who consent to care what they think? No one is forcing them to sign anything.
> So what if the parents actually want to do what's best for their child?
Then they wouldn't be castrating and mutilating him,
Speak up!!
I've tried contacting the grandma, my aunt, but she basically said to stay out of it.
I've been told that speaking up directly would simply alienate me from the family and I would be ignored. It seems like the family has completely swallowed the media messaging on this.
If you google search on "social contagion trans" you'll get a ton of articles (like in Scientific American) that debunk the notion of ROGD, which stands for "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria". It's ROGD that describes the social contagion epidemic. Companies like Alphabet seem to be promoting this narrative very actively, which makes it almost impossible to penetrate the realm of rational, objective thinking on this subject.
check out the article rethink shared up above..
Get her in touch with a public health nurse that doesn't support affirming.
You can ask your cousin’s daughter to read this article https://www.thefp.com/p/gender-affirming-care-dangerous-finland-doctor
Thanks Rethink. Good piece.
How much do you care? Do you really, really, really, really care? Then you need to be on the inside. You absolutely cannot seem like a "men should be men" traditionalist. That is what you will be tarred as, if at all possible - so you must make it impossible.
Either you or your chosen advocate must be "post-gender." This is the only thing that trumps genderism from a progressive direction. Transgenderism appeals to young people because it promises freedom from societal strictures - you must demonstrate that this is not true, and that it is rather the abandonment of normative genderism that is freeing.
Now I don't know if you would be willing to dress in drag personally to make these arguments - but that is what you would do, in an ideal case. "Look, here I am - today I felt like dressing the way women usually dress. Does this mean I don't count as a man? Does this mean I'm so "unmanly" I should be castrated for my own good?" Shock is the order of the day - it is by shock they have been advancing. Without a shock from your side, things will likely creep along in the way you fear.
If you aren't willing to do that, then you need someone who can. You need someone who clearly exists outside "gender roles" and yet is not "transgender." You need to find lesbians, gay men, crossdressers and drag queens who *are not* transgender - who are happy in the healthy bodies they were born in - and you need to introduce these people to your cousin's daughter. They will be a more powerful counterargument than any "resources."
You could also look for women who have detransitioned - this might be difficult, but if you contact detransitioner support groups, you should be able to find a few willing to help, especially in a large city like NYC.
Some interesting links like these might help...
https://www.rogdfather.com
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/08/21/how-trans-ideology-hijacked-the-gay-rights-movement/amp/
https://lgballiance.org.uk/policies/
Where is this long thread of discussion going? Isn't the main challenge for us the defeat of the present Regime that is destroying our country and our freedoms? We need voices like Christopher Rufo's to be resounding through the halls of Congress, the wayward state legislatures, the universities and the media to counteract the brainwashing that has now captured the minds of multiple generations. This requires the ABILITY TO ARTICULATE THE ISSUES, which I wish Rufo would teach to the Conservatives who spend the most time in front of cameras. Until propaganda is replaced by truth in the culture and in the media, our country will continue its slide into oblivion. Everyone reading this thread has a job to do in that respect, so please get busy on what is important!
It's a place for new ideas, debates, and discussions. Hoping that it will generate positive outcomes for readers and for me.
We are an unruly dinner-table conversation which breaks into very serious library discussions late into the night over coffee and brandy. I have made a few friends here, and an working on a project with one. Fellowship is very important in this process - Philosophers, for instance, call ourselves "friends" as we look for the truth. We need community with truth. This forum gives us some, at-least.
I'm an attorney for a public interest law firm, the Upper Midwest Law Center. We and others like us bring cases to uphold individual rights and the rule of law, including against government imposition of CRT and its related ideologies on government employees and students. I agree with you that politics is downstream of culture, but I think the legal arena is an important driver of cultural norms. Other than representing individuals like you in amicus briefs and co-authoring law review articles not read by many outside the courts, how else can we work collaboratively to bring important cultural perspectives like yours into the legal arena?
Agreed! The legal work is essential. Bringing the cases and changing the precedents is the best way forward. Also: work with state attorneys general to have them issue opinions and pursue legal action on CRT in schools, for example.
In light of your recent discussion with Charles Haywood, what do you make of the claim that conservatives won’t be able to conserve anything as long they are operating within a western liberal framework? The premise of course being that western liberalism’s entire purpose is to advance liberalism, and thus any attempts to stop such “progress” is bound to inevitably fail in the long run.
We all live in a "Western liberal framework"—this is, after all, the major innovation of the American Founders—so I'm very skeptical of anyone who believes they have the solution to transcending that framework. The result of such a program is more than likely to create chaos.
If we want order and stability, then restoration is required.
If this were Austria, I would be a forthright advocate of Catholic monarchy and would regard liberalism as an illegitimate foreign import and an imposter régime (which correctly expresses my own disbelief in Liberalism as having universal value/meaning - it is a Hobbesian compromise). But, that is not the established custom or religion of the Americans - and a decent order comes first. Disorder begets disorder and evil. Catholics, like Jews and Hindus, must settle for influence and a share in self-government.
A tradition of co-belligerency between various radical groups in America goes back to the early republic. We see this repeatedly in the early Jacobin clubs, various social reform movements (a sampling of which were mocked 200 years ago in Hum-Bugs of New York), utopian communities, Henry George's single tax movement, Edward Bellamy's Nationalists, and a huge Encyclopedia of Social Reform in the 1890s whose contributions reads like a directory of the reform-minded academic, intellectual, and ministerial elite of the day. So-called Nationalism and Christian Socialism was far more prevalent than Marxism and identity politics would become much later. The blending of various forms of socialism and neo-Malthusianism is evident in the encyclopedia. Nietzsche's influence would be increasingly be felt in the American Fabian movement after the turn of the century.
👍
Last week I read your book, Americas' Cultural Revolution, while reading the news about the anti-Israel / anti-Jewish protests at supposedly top colleges and universities here in the USA. I could not tell where the news ended, and your book began as your book explains how we got here. On Friday October 5 colleges worried about safe spaces and correct pronouns and on Monday October 8 suddenly "free speech" (harassment of Jews / glorification of the attack (wasn't rape violence against women) / calls for the eradication of Israel) became the new rule.
To what extent do you think these anti-Israel protests and harassment of Jewish students will turn the public against the woke higher education industrial complex?
I think it’s already shifting opinion in the right direction.
I live in a blue state, blue county, blue city. I can’t leave (try selling a house with 9% interest rates). For all your impact in FL and elsewhere, things only get worse in places like this - every place, every forum, every job is DEI/decolonize/equity infected. Run by the maoists. Everywhere. Why isn’t there any conservative effort (for example, via the initiative process in west coast states) to take this on in a real way? Everyday is hell here.
At some point, you'll need to sell your house, even if it's a bit less than the peak a few years ago. If you bought it at least three years ago, you should still turn a profit. Then move to a red area in your blue state or a red state elsewhere. I am not optimistic about blue city culture in the short to medium term. If you absolutely can't, try to find at least a small group of like-minded people, then meet with them for regular dinners and events. That's the best way to make sure you do not go crazy.
Community. Culture starts and ends there.
Move. I moved from CA to FL. And I had deep roots in CA. Wasn't easy. Required a lot of planning. Just make the decision. Once you do, everything will follow. 🙏
Unless you are in a blue city.
I likewise live in a blue city in a blue county in a blue state, but there is literally one pride flag I've seen in a five mile radius and I've never once heard pronouns given.
My secret? I live around immigrants. Hispanic, Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern. It's a balm to the soul. Diversity of background, viewpoint & religion - unlike the white suburbs of my youth, which are now utterly choked in monolithic racialism.
Makes complete sense. Immigrants are focused on advancement and generally have no time for radical politics. Jared Kushner, when talking about the Abraham Accords, mentioned a universal truth shared among all (mentally healthy) people. "Fundamentally, all people want to better their lives." This could not be more true for most immigrants. A balm to the soul, no doubt!
This is an important question. I would love to hear Mr. Rufo’s ideas about a resistance within an ideologically captured organization, city, county, state. We can’t abandon the cities to harmful ideologies and we can’t abandon whole states either (such as NY, CA & MN for instance).
Hi Christopher, I am one of hundreds, if not thousands, of parents that have seen our beautiful children destroyed by the Trans Cult. We wait in the darkness for fear of losing what connection we do have with these confused and hurting children. Would you be willing to tell our side of the story?
I see a lot of news coverage regarding the rise of antisemitism in our country,, particularly on college campuses. But there is very little coverage of what is the root cause of this explosion of Jew hatred? It feels clear to me that it is directly related to race based ideology being taught to our children. Why is no one holding those teaching these divisive ideologies accountable? This feels like the time to convey the deadly consequences of this poorly thought out doctrine. If our young people think it’s justifiable to go house to house murdering civilians in Israel because they are the oppressors/colonizers, will they also cheer when innocents are slaughtered here because they fall into these categories? This is insanity and stupidity, which needs to stop.
Yes, it's critical race theory, but with the added poison of antisemitism.
It's easy to conflate hatred of Jews with opposition to Israel's foreign policy and its pursuit of a scorched-earth policy against Hamas.
Dumb little over-privileged college students are following the lead of their post-colonial studies professors. You can't tell them anything they no longer want to hear. It might take one of them being held hostage by Hamas or having his legs blown off or something to consider the Israeli point of view.
Sadly BH, even being taken hostage would not help. I saw it with a left wing Persian lefty I knew who was taken hostage in Iran for six months. I saw it with my sister who is a lefty who went to Czechoslovakia only to be there when the Soviets invaded. Lefties do not have the mental courage nor mental capacity to change. As Elon Musk says, "You need to wait a generation."
Yes. Religious fanatics must suffer grievously to have hope of coming to reason. It is our job as fellow-citizens - our duty, I would say - to inflict this suffering. When they are forced to find work from within the ranks of the working-classes and must "face" true harsh reality without being fed cream skimmed from our hard work, the process of healing can begin. "Captains Courageous" is not my favorite novel, but it does cover this exact theme.
Have you looked into helping injured parties sue BLM or any of the schools that instructed, conspired or aided and abetted in the crimes of their student activists and radical revolutionaries, as laid out in your book?
What percentage of American Conservatives are properly trained for the rhetorical and literal battles they face?
Just me, and I'm not even a conservative. The rest of these goombas don't even know Latin
Not necessarily if forward isn’t accurately progressing anywhere and going sideways or backwards is better! We need to reclaim the word progress. If you /Chis read my concept of Indiesectionality, you might see a nod towards MLKs ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. We need to resell this to a new generation
> Not necessarily if forward isn’t accurately progressing anywhere
It's not just a matter of whether you are "progressing somewhere", but where are you progressing.
>>>>>> I would be honored to get in touch with you.<<<<< Before I write more about myself and my activities, let me briefly share my observations on some of your statements:
>> Contaminated and infected universities <<
My eyes were opened when you described the strategically planned efforts to infiltrate and brainwash universities or k-12 school districts (here the comparison of the Black Panther and current school curricula, NY). A very good example of an intelligent shift from appropriating the means of production to appropriating education, intellect, mentality to ultimately influence and shape a new culture - all a staggered process.
It is very interesting that what was clearly rejected in the early 1970s as a political reality - now we see it succeeding in the universities. A very apt phrase: ‘a powerful process of cultural conquest!’
>>New culture hijacks long-held truths and definitions<<
I fully agree with you. The new culture is aggressively and unfortunately effectively hijacking the meanings of culturally important terms and stories.
Key terms have been taken over ... young minds have been hijacked (again, by the universities), new marketing slogans have become "common sense" reality (like "My body my choice", instead of "My body for you").
Love, charity have lost their meaning; Dignity has lost its meaning; The definition of a human being has lost its meaning (a new, expanded, transhumanist nature is being imposed on new generations); Truth has lost its meaning.
Diversity and inclusion have captured people's minds - creating a new fashion - a new trend - that has become very attractive especially among the young and more ‘artistic and empathetic souls’….
Science has been pitted against spirituality and religiosity - trying to ridicule all those who remain in the realm of spirit and believe in a superior order, natural law, the first mover, the first cause - Intelligence and the Moral Ideal of the Creator.
The concept of the Creator has been marginalized and relegated to the realm of taboo. Under the guise of separation of state and religion - it is forbidden to form opinions about the Creator - yet contained and described in the Declaration. When I ask Americans - I see that there is no single understanding of the meaning of the Creator contained in the Declaration. People are confused.
>> Freedom <<
You said, ‘Freedom and responsibility go together – they are two sides of the same coin. Freedom without responsibility - meaning, unlimited Freedom right - it leads to nihilism because all that you have is the ego and unlimited choice.’ I cannot agree more.
>>Culture<<
I really like the following thesis: ‘Culture is born in leisure.’
Ordinary Americans don't have time to breathe, to think, to delve into existential or transcendent matters. I call this living in the shallows - without depth - that gives deeper satisfaction, true joy, true meaning to life.
Leisure time is 100% appropriated by fast-spreading scandals - preferably moral scandals, or actions on the edge of the law or breaking the law, total devaluation of the truth in favor of cheap sensationalism, celebrity cultivation, ubiquitous sports business (all days of the week - young people are in gymnasiums from morning to night, during the week, on weekends and on Holidays - as well as on so-called great religious holidays - then there are major tournaments). People sit in front of TVs, in stadiums, in bars.... They look with stupefied eyes at changing images - instead of losing themselves in deep conversations, forming relationships, living for real. Basic needs are satisfied (after all, ‘Wine and the Olympic Games’ are the only necessity).
It is easy to manipulate, steer, and direct such a society.
>> Salvation and a better future are possible. <<
To quote Bishop Barron: ‘Catholic social teaching is cooperative.’
What if our attitude was similar to that displayed by the Polish Pope John Paul 2 - who, in a 'supernatural way' one might say, influenced the fate of the world - playing a key role in successfully ending the Cold War - without violence - without bloodshed. Some powerful force of peace. What a powerful negotiating force - the power of persuasion.
- A strong spirituality, a strong ethical foundation and a clear sense of direction and purpose in life (to know the Creator, to unite with Him ultimately, to love at all costs, to humbly obey the Supreme principles and laws, to trust the history of salvation and a personal God with dispassion).
- Deep and broad ‘humanism’ - man as a creature made in the image of God. Humans as sons of God - and thus endowed with infinite dignity, the inalienable value of being human.
- Strong philosophical and linguistic competence.
- Strong support of science and having a serious dialogue with it. Science treated as a way of discovering truth.
- Strong political intelligence, understanding of politics and social and economic issues.
- Deep immersion in the individual cultures of specific nations or social groups - including learning a dozen foreign languages.
- Master of communication, mediation, negotiation.
- Intellect, will, faith - all integrated.
- Peaceful conflict resolution. Showing understanding and love.
- Persuasion always through kindness - always with an individual approach to each person, with sensitivity and compassion. And when necessary - with unequivocal admonition and a call to repentance - and always with care and showing respect for the other person.
- Being always well prepared intellectually and spiritually.
- A tremendous sense of humor.
>>>>>> I would be honored to get in touch with you. <<<<<
I have written a personal letter to you and would like to pass it on to you.
Konrad Milewski, author of ‘Escape from the American Cage’. Activist for a better America, whose vision ensures the flourishing of humanity - with the guarantee of interpersonal solidarity, free market forces, democracy, a militarily strong state and law derived from morality originating from the highest ideal, the Creator. A promoter of a culture based on Christian values and Christian vision of the world. A proclaimer that Truth, Dignity and Love - along with the right to life, to freedom and happiness flowing from the opportunity to ensure a decent life and a personal relationship with God - are inalienable rights and properties of every human being. A preacher that personal freedom must always be linked to taking full personal responsibility for words, behaviors, and actions. Man has free will and constantly makes moral choices. Coordinator of international humanitarian efforts.
https://www.americancage.org/
The United States Air Force Academy, like all other US military academies, has been inundated with CRT/DEI programs that pervade every aspect of cadet life. The administration, from the Superintendent to the Dean of Academics, is transforming an institution whose foundation is based on constitutional and non political principles into a hotbed of activism and Neo-Marxist advocacy. Numerous examples of this appalling overreach are given in the article, The Air Force Academy’s White Boy #2. https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/09/25/the_united_states_air_force_academys_white_boy_2_981680.html
As a member of STARRS (STARRS.us), a group of graduates and veterans who are opposed to racism and radicalization of the military, I alert you to the perilous course of our nation’s most revered institutions.
We need huge reform here. We need our military to clean house.
What is shameful is that we want strong men and women to do the number one thing-protect Americans and support our allies (I am not advocating to go to war for them). The current situation hinders many patriots from serving our country. We are in a weakened condition and we see the fall-out with in Putin, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, our border, and China. These people are laughing at our weakness.
It is a recipe designed to weaken an opponent.
Hmmmm.....
The degradation of one institution that was (alongside police and fire) dedicated to honorable service.
I read about that in the book “Irresistible Revolution”. The military is completely sold out.
The proposed ammendments to the WHO international health regulations are not being discussed in the public domain, and so citizens of all countries are not aware they should be contacting their MPs to demand their country opt out of this plan(Treaty) to give up national sovereignty to an unelected privately funded group. The WHO would then appoint a Director General who would decide what constitutes the next pandemic or any public health emergency, including the authority to give EA to "vaccines," travel restrictions, access to anything in the public sphere, etc etc. and to MANDATE any sort of treatment they can think of! Please lift up this rock!
I agree! Biden signed this as an executive order. To take effect right before the elections next fall!
Thank you for the work you do and this opportunity. In this time of hypersensitivity to anything remotely resembling 'hate speech', Women Studies, Black Studies and Queer studies continue to pump out hatred on our college campuses. White heterosexual men in particular are finding colleges to be a hostile environment. With false rape accusations, special accommodations for every other group and hostile female professors. Where are the adults? Why doesn't anyone speak out? Do politicians lack a backbone to take this difficult task on. Many of them with white heterosexual sons in these colleges. How do we fight this?
The adults are teaching courses in Women's Studies, Black Studies, etc.
I don't have a question. I just wanted to thank you for your interesting, timely and to-the-point daily articles.
I hold a BS in Math and a general Master's in Ed (believe me, I know! So much Freire - I was expecting more quantitative research and policy analysis...). I've had several jobs in the science research and edu admin sectors. I've been stuck in a rut trying to obtain a new job that might be integrated with the classical education and merit movement in the U.S. - how might you recommend that I get involved? I'll take any suggestions.
I work for a bank and they are holding 2 hour DEI ‘conversations’ with a consulting firm and the CEO said his goal is 100% employee participation. What is the most effective way for me to refuse to take part in this political indoctrination? I don’t want to be spoken down to and discriminated against for being a white male.
I live in a very red state, the DEI stuff has been mostly execs only up until now. The consulting firm is called Strelo Group.
Really hope I’m not too late to get a response, I’m honestly afraid I’ll lose my job for refusing.
Wow. Time for some sick leave?
Not a bad idea. I’m on PTO for the first scheduled ‘conversation’ and maybe I’ll call in sick for the makeup day. I was going to just say I’m not comfortable with it and not give any details about why
Do we have enough trained leaders with common sense (non-lefties) to take back the leadership of our bureaucracies? And if not, how do we overcome such deficiencies, whether it be by trimming the bureaucracies to fit the available leaders we have, or by drawing leaders from local governments, or something else?
No, not yet. That's a huge problem for conservatives. We need to start training cadres of bureaucrats who share our values.
Hmmm... Can you recommend a group you would trust to take on this interesting task? Will surely require a multi-role on-line system to manage identification, recruitment, analysis, etc, to accomplish this goal. Or perhaps you know of teams already engaged in this effort. I can donate the entire software infrastructure for this. That is my firm's specialty. I am, as you may have noticed, politically ignorant and have many limitations, but within my specialty we are a technology leader. Nobody is better. We can brainstorm an operational solution for this effort (given the right team) and then design, build and deploy a custom, secure, and large-scale national cloud solution to meet the specific operational needs of this effort. Not a cost issue for me. We have a technology for this that is unique in the industry which is being used by many large firms I cannot disclose on this blog. Suggestions?
The problem is that people with common sense generally can't stand working in massive bureaucracies.
I used to assume that revealing misdeeds would be enough to fix corruption in our government. That's clearly not true now. I'm not sure it ever was. What will it take now?
Revealing is step one. Reform is step two. That will require a massive effort and public resolve.
And therein lies our greatest challenge. Apathy abounds.
What do you do to relax and not focus on all the crap going on? I pray, lift, grow veggies, try to become self sufficient, Is the "war" in the Middle East another means to focus our attention away from the open borders in the US?
What curriculums are available for for parents to use k to 12 as an alternative to sending kids to public schools in CA where teachers are teaching hatred of America?
The Hillsdal K-12 curriculum is wonderful!
Start with the end in mind and know your state laws. There are so many curricula and homeschool conventions galore. Best tip: Read good books aloud every day!
https://hslda.org/get-started
Why haven't Trump attorneys filed Writs of Mandamus, Prohibition and Quo Warranto to stop the " malicious persecution" of their client in SCOTUS? ALSO please stop letting the leftist looney tunes from stealing our language: it is not "lawfare" , it is malicious prosection!
I have been seeing signs that the recent events in Israel have created a unique opportunity for some sort of political re-alignment (at least partial). The fact that barbaric acts of Hamas terrorists received a wide-spread defense and praise in the progressive circles turned off many on the left. Many lefties (especially Jews, but not only) have been surprised by the fact that such vile acts received justification and often are being celebrated by their fellow-progressives. Do you think this could be a significant political moment and is this an opportunity for conservatives?
I hope so. Sadly this isn't the first time things like this have happened and most progressives forget all about their cognitive dissonance and go back to being committed progressives in a couple months.
How do you do it? I see and keep reading articles and comments from you everywhere, interesting and thoughtful works. It takes me forever to write even occasional pieces worth reading. Anyway, keep it up, Rufo!
Working hard. Thank you!
Do you know of any activist groups that focus specifically on anti-woke stuff, as opposed to fiscal conservatism or gun rights? I'd love to get involved in any way I can.
Moms for Liberty and Parents Defending Education are both great groups.
Hi
ive really enjoyed the leading edge work you have been doing on your site, esp the DEI agenda and its history and exposure to the public. I just see that Texas senate passed a bill removing any DEI agendas from public entities, esp schools that receive govt funds.
Are you in comm with other publications that are now writing about DEI, such as The Free Press? I am seeing numerous new articles / stories that seem to echo what you have been writing about for the past couple years. I never see you referenced here. Same with the gender topic, everyone is getting on the band wagon, which you seem to have been driving for a while. thanks
rich
Yes, I know the Free Press team and have been on their podcast. Will be on again in the coming months.
SOCIAL JUSTICE TRIBES AND THEIR WARRIORS
I believe that there is a direct relationship between the current parties that have displayed criticism and hatred of Israel while justifying Hamas atrocities and further in threatening mayhem in this country to Jews and conservatives.
The link is in the CRITICAL RACE THEORY. The theorists of the Critical Race Theory were largely black academicians. Kimberle Crenshqw and Derrick Bell in the early 1970s first crafted a legal theory that imputed that all the laws of this country were the products of racism fostered by white supremacy.
The theory found support among left wing academics but Brown v The Board of Education (1954) and the Supreme Court rejecting Plessy v Ferguson (1895) removing separate but equal from the lists of injuries made some of their theories irrelevant. The passage of Roe v Wade also denied them abortion as a platform for a while. The Civil Rights Act (1964) eradicated most other grievances and its extension the Fair Housing Act (1968) further pushed CRT into the shadows.
Academia continued to provide them a refuge and they planned how to attract new audiences, alliances and new grievances.
The opposition to LGBTQI, furore over Sexual Harrassment, the reframing of Slavery as being the foundation of the United States and their Claim that the arrival of Slaves in 1619 was truly the beginning of racist America and the publication of Nikole Hannah Jones distorted history by the New York Times helped their resurrection. The opposition to same sex relationships and marriage and the rejection of gender affirmation allowed them to create several minority oppressed.
Obama with hs abject apology for America's" mistakes "in the was promising the Middle East US apologies and money and in return he was advancing his candidacy for the Nobel Prize.
The CRT found support in blaming White Supremacy not only for Slavery but also for the decimation of the indigenous peoples. They ignored the fact that Christopher Columbus terminated his voyage in Hispaniola ( Bahamas and Dominica) never ever setting foot in the Continental US as they brought down his statues, that slavery and intertribal strife was common among the indigenous people who got their slaves as the spoils of war and after 1619 also enslaved black and white captives. The claims of white barbarism were overblown. Premature death was a result of new diseases from Europe. The life expectancies of slaves and slave owners was not significantly different in any event as medical interventions were equally lacking.
However all the factors above increased the impressionable "oppressed"
CRT advocates relaxed restrictions to their ranks by deciding that the biologic constructs of race and gender were too stifling and that they should be be replaced by social constructs that the individual could select or change at will they viewed this position as social justice. It allowed for the conversion of any of life's vicissitudes into a grievance that could be beneficial financially and politically.
The different groups seeking social justice were akin to tribes using the social construct theory. In addition to race they could include feminists, LGBTQI individuals, transgender activists, Marxists, homeless due to substance abuse. Each a separate tribe.
To describe them collectively we must allow for the descriptor SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS.
Social Justice Warriors are at war with traditional American values
They have adopted CRT philosophies as their own. DIVERSITY here implies that each tribe has individual grievances but also adopt and sympathize with the grievances of the others. They demand EQUITY, not with each other but with with the oppressors, mainly white "supremacists" although other ethnic groups who were once discriminated against like the Irish, Italians and Asian Americans and Jews who over generations bettered themselves and merged into the multicolored , multicultural fabric of America are now also classed as oppressors. They demand wealth transfers to achieve equty not equality demands that would have made Karl Marx proud. The final philosophical pillar is INTERSECTIONALITY where all their grievances intersect and can be combined as a powerful weapon which would allow the tribal malcontents a vehicle to exorcise their grievances.
They find support in academia which tolerate their partisan comments as expressions of free speech and punish dissenters with threats to their jobs, academic pursuits and finances. They silence dissent with examples of their institutional power.
Merit in academia is destroyed as the brightest and often the best are denied admission to make room for social justice warriors and lower academic standards to satisfy the lowest common denominator.
The money bags are blackmailed into lending a patina of intellectualism for Ibram Kendi's Center for Antiracist Studies. The Center which received tens of millions of dollars is now laying off staff and accusations of self enrichment are surfacing.
Other financial entities trying to burnish their reputations are directing their clients funds into Environmental and Social Investing Ashwath Damodaran at the NYU Stern School one of the giants of Corporate Finance had condemned such practices (https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/pdfiles/country/ESGShortNew.pdf)
Let us now realize as we mourn the loss of innocent lives half a world away that we have a silent war with the Tribespeople of Social Justice and their Warriors their activities are more threatening to America than Hamas and Iran
There’s a quote from Tolstoy that fits: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The myriad ways the heart of man can corrupt things vs. the 'ancient paths' that God reveals
Mark Levin suggested that every school district have a "citizen's committee on the schools." so parents know what is happening in that Marxist factory, your local K-12 schools. Every teacher, librarian and school administrator sees their role as training youth in Progressive social activism. They cannot get through teacher's training without pledging fealty to the Marxist agenda. The Civicscenter.org organized over 70 non-profits to establish voter pre-registration drives in high schools, starting at age 16. -some have dedicated school administrators whose function it is to organize kids for protests & social activism-like here in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where high school students recently walked out to protest Israel's defending themselves. The Jewish parents in this district are trying to find out who organized this to let the kids out of school shouting: "From the river to the sea" and other Hamas slogans. Nothing new: in 2021 they held a November walkout to protest supposed racist incidents- We have to get the K-12 schools under control or defund them. Mr. Rufo is making a difference at the college level-PARENTS must demand teachers wear cameras and for starters they must make sure no teacher/administrator has a student's cellphone number if they don't want their child to be a victim. Google "teacher arrested", "teacher convicted" or "principal arrested" and you will be horrified & sickened by court testimony showing the depravity of school officials who always seem to get off the hook and go on their merry way to another school to offend again. There are solution-FIND THEM LOCALLY. Do something!
Citizens committee is an excellent idea
What concrete steps can people take to move culture in the right direction?
Does Hillsdale have a School of Ed? I have a masters of Ed and would love to teach in a classical program for new teachers. I am a public school teacher in an enormous district captured by the Left. I would love to teach in a classical program but one that pays! Do they exist?
Desperation disguised as questions. Teaching in public schools is brutal these days.
Yes! https://hillsdalecollegian.com/2022/02/college-to-open-new-masters-program-this-fall/
Hope! Thank you!
What are your thoughts on putting 'clawbacks' on college funding, so that every dollar they spend on things like DEI becomes a dollar (or two!) of lost funding - is that legal?
You and others have written about the dangers of DEI policies, mainly by looking at what is taught / indoctrinated / mandated by government and schools. But what about second and third order issues -- such as how these policies affect the operational performance of government agencies (and business)?
Some people are addressing this issue among the military and in DoD generally, as by discussing causes of recruitment problems. But what else?
I have written about such problems in the intelligence community in the form of politicization of intelligence, trust issues, and the skewing of analytic messages (as in John A. Gentry, Neutering the CIA: Why US Intelligence Versus Trump Has Long-Term Consequences (Armin Lear Press, 2023)). And I am looking at other issues.
What concerns you most? Why? And what can be done to ameliorate or fix problems?
Different from the garbagy 1619 Project, do you know of a grade school age “civic duty” curriculum available for promotion by parents to public school districts? This curriculum needs to be a priority.
An area that is often ignored where the rot has been allowed to gain a strong foothold is in those health and professionals orgs that require CEs to maintain professional certification. Certifications, of various types have been hollowed out by various influences including grant monies that many "non profit entities" rely on to keep the doors open and the grift alive, which have the requirement of mandatory focus on DEI etc. This also infects other accreditation bodies that are important to private k-12 education. Is there anyone working on these areas to uncover, dismantle and re-focus these bodies?
Which states have the most effective laws to protect children from LGBT grooming and woke tribalism indoctrination in the school system?
Most products are just products without inherent meaning. I drank Bud Light because I like lite beer, it is usually the least expensive offering, and it is available almost everywhere. I prefer Coors Light, but Bud Light was my backup for sports stadiums and similar locales.
Once Bud Light took on an agenda (really driven more by Ms. Hammerscheidt than Dylan Mulvaney), I dropped it and wont go back. To me, what was once a simple act of finding a cheap light beer became symbolic, and more specifically symbolic of something I oppose and resent.
I will never go back.
This AI patent enables a computer to reason and speak employing ethical parameters, an innovation based upon a primary complement of instinctual behavioral terms (rewards-leniency-appetite-aversion). This elementary instinctual foundation, in turn, extends to a multi-level hierarchy of the traditional groupings of virtues, values, and ideals, collectively arranged as subsets within a hierarchy of metaperspectives - as depicted below.
Solicitousness . Rewards ..... Submissiveness . Leniency
Nostalgia . Worship ......... Guilt . Blame
Glory . Prudence ............. Honor . Justice
Providence . Faith ........... Liberty . Hope
Grace . Beauty ............. Free-will . Truth
Tranquility . Ecstasy ............ Equality . Bliss
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Appetite . + Reinforcement .... Aversion . Neg. Reinforcement
Desire . Approval ........... Worry . Concern
Dignity . Temperance ........... Integrity . Fortitude
Civility . Charity ............... Austerity . Decency
Magnanimity . Goodness ............. Equanimity . Wisdom
Love . Joy .................. Peace . Harmony
The systematic organization underlying this ethical hierarchy allows for extreme efficiency in programming, eliminating much of the associated redundancy, providing a precise determination of motivational parameters at issue during a given verbal interchange. A similar pattern further extends to the contrasting behavioral paradigm of punishment, resulting in a parallel hierarchy of the major categories of the vices. Here rewards / leniency is withheld rather than bestowed in response to actions judged not to be suitably solicitous or submissive (as depicted in the diagram below). This format contrasts point-for-point with the respective virtuous mode (the actual patent encompasses 320 individual terms).
No Solicitousness . No Rewards ..... No Submissiveness . No Leniency
Laziness . Treachery ........... Negligence . Vindictiveness
Infamy . Insurgency................. Dishonor . Vengeance
Prodigality . Betrayal.....................Slavery . Despair
Wrath . Ugliness.......................Tyranny . Hypocrisy
Anger . Abomination.....................Prejudice . Perdition
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No Appetite . Punishment. .... No Aversion . - Punishment
Apathy . Spite ............... Indifference . Malice
Foolishness . Gluttony.................Caprice . Cowardice
Vulgarity . Avarice...................Cruelty . Antagonism
Oppression . Evil.....................Persecution . Cunning
Hatred . Iniquity....................Belligerence . Turpitude
With such ethical safeguards firmly in place, the AI computer is formally prohibited from expressing the corresponding realm of the vices, allowing for a truly flawless simulation of virtue. more at www.lamuth.online
Is it too late to ask a Q? Here’s mine: Christopher, I’m a mother of two tweens. We are saving and planning for college. What advice do you have for selecting a college, and would you suggest the Nee School in Florida where you teach?
Look for classical universities! Hillsdale, Thomas Aquinas, Benedictine, etc.
TYSM and will do.