Yes! Please keep this idea moving forward. The Place of The Conservative Intellectual at this moment in history: Finding the way out means accenting the intellectuals who are leading. You, Rufo, definitely are leading and you always credit other leaders which allows us to unify. Conservative politicians and elected officials on the state and local levels need the conservative intelligentsia to publish and appear on media such that the ideas - and Western Culture’s survival is at stake - how to save our heritage can take their proper place in culture as well as in governing institutions. It’s been a long, long falling away, but the can-do ( so-called “adolescent”) heart of the USA and not the staid aristocratic European model will once more save our common heritage. And “our” means European as assimilated here, holding forth the the best of the ancient world’s achievements! Ironically, while Africa awakens to its first trials of the Western tradition for itself, and China -like Japan before her - has the potential to understand the Western tradition and incorporate rather than replace it, only the USA has the open active line of reasoning of the conservative scholars who lead the fight to save us.
American culture has two choices which Rufo sees clearly: fail, and therefore fall into a sensual revelry of chaotic Dionysian despotism, a style of life “ cluelessly” preached as “gospel” by ( among others) a pussy-hat hoard of manic Agave “mommies” their son’s decapitated heads raised high, “ Look daddy, I killed a lion” ( nothing speaks more clearly our times than Euripides The Bacchae) ... the other choice is Reason, order, and the discipline necessary to pass forward the heritage of The West - a heritage that’s not the better angels of our nature - but the only angel of it! Sink into debauchery and pretend it is normal? Never! It’s time the intelligentsia sound the alarm, come what may!
The funny thing is that there are Leftists who SHOULD feel the prescence behind the shockwaves directed at them, but they stick their heads up their asses or appeal to emotion the entire time.
My taste was always for Aeschylus - it has taken me a long time to understand what you have just said of Euripides - that he was the poet of decline. Living through the absurdities of decline has made me appreciate him in just the way you suggest.
It happened to me by way of Nathaniel West - a very unwholesome writer.
The Bacchae is an amazing play so psychologically and politically and philosophically deep the translator William Arrowsmith put it best : “ elusive, complex, and compelling the play constantly recedes from our grasp moving into higher order and deeper chaos such that it lands only God knows where - which is to say where it matters. “ That’s a critique using the languages of oppositions to reiterate how perfectly imbedded within that masterpiece are the expressed characterizations of mankind especially his blindness to his death-wish and the fierceness of his untamed Id or worse - his Creator’s vengeance ( to use “ id”a Freudian phrase for the vile murderous nihilism within a human and thus rife in cultures) . Sophocles in Oedipus - inspiring Aristotle’s critique of humanity as revealed in theatre - goes nowhere near the more repulsive truth of The Bacchae.
Having caught a glimpse of this atrocious beast so clearly made manifest in Euripides Bacchae, and later done my own study of our scientists and the culture creating nuclear weaponry, I can assure us all that Euripides got it right. the value of such a revelation should be the necessity of humility. Yet few define our space or times in terms of its reality.
What’s left? Fight the decadence no matter the reality.
You will be amazed how it reveals our exact moment in history ! I guess we are on repeat ! Thanks for deciding to see the work - it won’t disappoint ! It was fun to share “ the tradition” somewhere 😊🌼🌼🌼
"The questions were excellent as were the realistic advice."
Very much so - it connects what we read of or witness with immediate, practical advice for how to proceed - which is modelled more fully and in more detail in C.R.'s more lengthy publications, and pointed to in his Twitter publications.
I cant believe no one is really standing up against all this madness.
I cant believe that our administration has gotten away with this for decades.
I cant believe that People really belive that they are fighting for a good cause when using terroristic tactics instead of debating and working things out like grown adults.
I cant believe that we dont have the power to stop this two years ago.
I Do believe that America is a Sovereing Nation under God, and He is in control.
Not enough people bring up how not baking a cake for a gay couple was enough to run an independent baker out of town.
And yet there's people preaching about how conservatives are supposed to be the bad guys cuz they didn't agree with Disney for allegedly going back on their word with no way to disprove them. It just doesn't make sense.
Yeah I definitely think religion will make a comeback. I'm on the older half of the millennial generation and used to hear all the atheist arguments and or mocking of religion, usually dishonest caricatures. I never was that much of a skeptic but in recent years as I've seen the depravity and emptiness of the dominant ideology which is opposed to religion I feel like religion is looking a lot better by comparison.
Thank you for highlighting the importance of exposing college administrators’ political agenda. In the last few decades, colleges and universities added layers upon layers of administrative positions that now control campus life, influence curricula, and champion students’ grievances. It’s interesting that, in bemoaning student debt, Dems don’t begrudge the costs associated with this rise of administrative class.
Many with insurance who have worked hard for many years are discouraged from "overusing" their insurance (breast exams for women and PSA exams for men) on the basis of "demographic outcomes" (as if your life is a statistic - which is what they are actually saying), and yet, the insurers have found quite a reservoir of funds to pay for sex-changes and other related cosmetic surgeries, medical prescriptions, etc.
I believe the gender critical side must develop combined physical and mental health therapies to help "identity-confused" teens and adults. As a trans widow, I saw my former husband develop a vacant focus while he distanced himself from his sexed, physical self during "transition." The only emotion he brought up readily was rage, and that was often. Here's my idea for wellness movement, let me know if you see that as a possible path away from "gender-world."
On the subject of religion, those on the left tend toward an instinctive negative reaction. They're afraid. They think you want to take away women's right to vote or institute a theocracy. However, if you can get them beyond that, even liberals can be quite reasonable. The key here is, as Chris says, to be specific.
No sane person actually believes that men can become women by just saying they are. Liberals like to talk about theoretical intersex people, but given a few real examples of the absurdity of "I say I'm a woman so I am" phenomenon, they are at a loss. The best examples are schools and prisons, preferably local ones: convicted rapists in women's prisons ; 16 year old Amy sharing a locker room with penises; a male athlete beating out girls for a college sports scholarship.
The trans lunacy is a giant balloon of postmodernist unreality. A needle anywhere can cause a cascade failure. (Eg: "if prisoners really should be separated by biological sex, are there any other spaces where that makes sense?"; "if men do tend to have an advantage in some sports, are there any other real differences between men and women?", etc...) You don't have to ask these things, they percolate up logically from the small puncture you've made in the balloon.
I suspect the DEI front is similar, although I have less experience with it. DEI is also a model of postmodernist unreality. Westerners tend to value fairness very highly (lots of psych experiments back this up) and liberals even more so. Liberals also pride themselves on being champions of the oppressed, so a few specific examples of how their principles have actually caused unfairness and oppression for specific people might work.
Your goal is to make a pinprick in the balloon, not cause an explosion. What you're attempting is nothing short of a religious conversion -- not necessarily to Christianity but away from wokeness. Religious conversions are long term undertakings.
Chris, great suggestions. Good format. Thanks so much.
Thank you, Chris! Looking forward to get my my copy of "The problem of atheism" soon (sadly, from Amazon :( ). So far the best book I read on the difficulty of holding onto one's religion was "The lonely man of faith", by R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. I am Jewish, but I think a lot of issues raised in this essay apply to anyone who believes in the Creator and is looking to live according to His will, and help build families and societies according to His blueprint.
We are thrilled to announce that HB3502 has been placed on the calendar for a House floor vote tomorrow, Wednesday, May 10! Please call your representative tomorrow to ask them to vote“YES”! Use the link below to find their name and number.
HB3502 is being held up by national organizations as model legislation! It is the only bill of its type in the country.
HB3502 will help all Texans who have accessed gender transition treatments.
Process and procedures will be developed to care for this population beyond transition.
Care will be handled through traditional insurance processes.
Corinna Cohn, Prisha Mosley, Soren Aldaco and Abel Garcia testified to the health concerns they have. The only bill in consideration right now that will ensure ongoing healthcare to those who have transitioned and those who wish to detransition is HB3502. Please help us get it across the finish line.
Taking on the issue of secularization - a difficult subject!
Its source and progression are important questions, as is its culmination-point. If Secularization is the replacement or appropriation of God's Divine Providence with "our" own, then it must almost certainly culminate in technology - in the human subordination to technology. This is because "we" cannot gain the needed control over reality without our technology - it is integral to "The Project."
Of course, we don't really replace God - we will still die and all of Creation will carry on. What we will do is create a "bubble" and "call it a day" - that is all we are capable of. The 70's movie "Zardoz' actually captures this - a serious movie with a lot of "camp" and absurdity, but which comprehends the fundamental problem - assuming that you can keep watching once you have seen Sean Connery's get-up (a fashion-show-runway camp version of Pancho Villa's purported "attire.")
Rufo, I have to challenge you on the following statement: "And from an American perspective, the “woke” revolution is the first large-scale social movement, on the Left or the Right, without a religious foundation."
Woke absolutely has a religious foundation. "Woke" has its foundation in "Social Justice". Social Justice has its foundation in the religion of Reform Judaism the majority of whose members reside in America. This isn't controversial. Reform Judaism has named Social Justice as part of its published official religious doctrine for decades. Reform Judaism has also officially listed Progressivism as a foundational religious tenet also. Progressivism is a religious process of constant revelation, review and change.
It was this Progressivism that allowed Social Justice to be reborn and updated as Woke and Woke will be reborn and updated as something else and on and on it will go in a never ending and evolving process as new information comes to light. A process that never looks back.
The Reform Jews successfully proselytized the Progressive and Social Justice doctrines to the Unitarian Church a long time ago and a growing number of Christian Denominations now also embrace Social Justice and Progressivism as central to their religious beliefs.
The questions were excellent as were the realistic advice. This should be a monthly column
Yes! Please keep this idea moving forward. The Place of The Conservative Intellectual at this moment in history: Finding the way out means accenting the intellectuals who are leading. You, Rufo, definitely are leading and you always credit other leaders which allows us to unify. Conservative politicians and elected officials on the state and local levels need the conservative intelligentsia to publish and appear on media such that the ideas - and Western Culture’s survival is at stake - how to save our heritage can take their proper place in culture as well as in governing institutions. It’s been a long, long falling away, but the can-do ( so-called “adolescent”) heart of the USA and not the staid aristocratic European model will once more save our common heritage. And “our” means European as assimilated here, holding forth the the best of the ancient world’s achievements! Ironically, while Africa awakens to its first trials of the Western tradition for itself, and China -like Japan before her - has the potential to understand the Western tradition and incorporate rather than replace it, only the USA has the open active line of reasoning of the conservative scholars who lead the fight to save us.
American culture has two choices which Rufo sees clearly: fail, and therefore fall into a sensual revelry of chaotic Dionysian despotism, a style of life “ cluelessly” preached as “gospel” by ( among others) a pussy-hat hoard of manic Agave “mommies” their son’s decapitated heads raised high, “ Look daddy, I killed a lion” ( nothing speaks more clearly our times than Euripides The Bacchae) ... the other choice is Reason, order, and the discipline necessary to pass forward the heritage of The West - a heritage that’s not the better angels of our nature - but the only angel of it! Sink into debauchery and pretend it is normal? Never! It’s time the intelligentsia sound the alarm, come what may!
The funny thing is that there are Leftists who SHOULD feel the prescence behind the shockwaves directed at them, but they stick their heads up their asses or appeal to emotion the entire time.
My taste was always for Aeschylus - it has taken me a long time to understand what you have just said of Euripides - that he was the poet of decline. Living through the absurdities of decline has made me appreciate him in just the way you suggest.
It happened to me by way of Nathaniel West - a very unwholesome writer.
The Bacchae is an amazing play so psychologically and politically and philosophically deep the translator William Arrowsmith put it best : “ elusive, complex, and compelling the play constantly recedes from our grasp moving into higher order and deeper chaos such that it lands only God knows where - which is to say where it matters. “ That’s a critique using the languages of oppositions to reiterate how perfectly imbedded within that masterpiece are the expressed characterizations of mankind especially his blindness to his death-wish and the fierceness of his untamed Id or worse - his Creator’s vengeance ( to use “ id”a Freudian phrase for the vile murderous nihilism within a human and thus rife in cultures) . Sophocles in Oedipus - inspiring Aristotle’s critique of humanity as revealed in theatre - goes nowhere near the more repulsive truth of The Bacchae.
Having caught a glimpse of this atrocious beast so clearly made manifest in Euripides Bacchae, and later done my own study of our scientists and the culture creating nuclear weaponry, I can assure us all that Euripides got it right. the value of such a revelation should be the necessity of humility. Yet few define our space or times in terms of its reality.
What’s left? Fight the decadence no matter the reality.
Thank you so much for taking the trouble to make such a reply. I thought that I had understood you, and it seems that I have.
I will read the Bacchae - I have not yet. I worry about what I will find, of course.
Cordially,
You will be amazed how it reveals our exact moment in history ! I guess we are on repeat ! Thanks for deciding to see the work - it won’t disappoint ! It was fun to share “ the tradition” somewhere 😊🌼🌼🌼
Thanks for the comment.
"The questions were excellent as were the realistic advice."
Very much so - it connects what we read of or witness with immediate, practical advice for how to proceed - which is modelled more fully and in more detail in C.R.'s more lengthy publications, and pointed to in his Twitter publications.
Agreed.
Weekly with all the questions he is going to receive!
This was a great Idea Mr. Ruffo, love the Q&A.
I might be old school.
I cant believe no one is really standing up against all this madness.
I cant believe that our administration has gotten away with this for decades.
I cant believe that People really belive that they are fighting for a good cause when using terroristic tactics instead of debating and working things out like grown adults.
I cant believe that we dont have the power to stop this two years ago.
I Do believe that America is a Sovereing Nation under God, and He is in control.
I
Not enough people bring up how not baking a cake for a gay couple was enough to run an independent baker out of town.
And yet there's people preaching about how conservatives are supposed to be the bad guys cuz they didn't agree with Disney for allegedly going back on their word with no way to disprove them. It just doesn't make sense.
In a world full of lies and deception. The only thing that will save us is the Truth!
Yeah I definitely think religion will make a comeback. I'm on the older half of the millennial generation and used to hear all the atheist arguments and or mocking of religion, usually dishonest caricatures. I never was that much of a skeptic but in recent years as I've seen the depravity and emptiness of the dominant ideology which is opposed to religion I feel like religion is looking a lot better by comparison.
Same.
We will be here, Brother.
This should definitely be a monthly column. Distinct question and well-reasoned short analysis.
“So shore up those red districts” resonates with me at a local level.👌🏻
In Regards to Texas Transgender Bill
https://youtu.be/qBI3KjlUyO8
Please Share! God Bless!
This is great 👍
Thanks.
Thank you for highlighting the importance of exposing college administrators’ political agenda. In the last few decades, colleges and universities added layers upon layers of administrative positions that now control campus life, influence curricula, and champion students’ grievances. It’s interesting that, in bemoaning student debt, Dems don’t begrudge the costs associated with this rise of administrative class.
Many with insurance who have worked hard for many years are discouraged from "overusing" their insurance (breast exams for women and PSA exams for men) on the basis of "demographic outcomes" (as if your life is a statistic - which is what they are actually saying), and yet, the insurers have found quite a reservoir of funds to pay for sex-changes and other related cosmetic surgeries, medical prescriptions, etc.
I believe the gender critical side must develop combined physical and mental health therapies to help "identity-confused" teens and adults. As a trans widow, I saw my former husband develop a vacant focus while he distanced himself from his sexed, physical self during "transition." The only emotion he brought up readily was rage, and that was often. Here's my idea for wellness movement, let me know if you see that as a possible path away from "gender-world."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1SvNi3O1Sc&list=PLOFlPPQm71Ii-l-xoAlBZc5Iy9xZyfbUY
I find it interesting how Twitter libs could easily downplay that if you bring it up to them, but you should pack a tazer and some pepper spray.
Well, I'm banned on twitter, just for using the term, trans widow. Thanks
Unnerving.
Thank you for encouraging us here in CA! We are trying to stay and fight but it is getting harder. I loved format as well. God bless all your efforts!
On the subject of religion, those on the left tend toward an instinctive negative reaction. They're afraid. They think you want to take away women's right to vote or institute a theocracy. However, if you can get them beyond that, even liberals can be quite reasonable. The key here is, as Chris says, to be specific.
No sane person actually believes that men can become women by just saying they are. Liberals like to talk about theoretical intersex people, but given a few real examples of the absurdity of "I say I'm a woman so I am" phenomenon, they are at a loss. The best examples are schools and prisons, preferably local ones: convicted rapists in women's prisons ; 16 year old Amy sharing a locker room with penises; a male athlete beating out girls for a college sports scholarship.
The trans lunacy is a giant balloon of postmodernist unreality. A needle anywhere can cause a cascade failure. (Eg: "if prisoners really should be separated by biological sex, are there any other spaces where that makes sense?"; "if men do tend to have an advantage in some sports, are there any other real differences between men and women?", etc...) You don't have to ask these things, they percolate up logically from the small puncture you've made in the balloon.
I suspect the DEI front is similar, although I have less experience with it. DEI is also a model of postmodernist unreality. Westerners tend to value fairness very highly (lots of psych experiments back this up) and liberals even more so. Liberals also pride themselves on being champions of the oppressed, so a few specific examples of how their principles have actually caused unfairness and oppression for specific people might work.
Your goal is to make a pinprick in the balloon, not cause an explosion. What you're attempting is nothing short of a religious conversion -- not necessarily to Christianity but away from wokeness. Religious conversions are long term undertakings.
Chris, great suggestions. Good format. Thanks so much.
Thank you, Chris! Looking forward to get my my copy of "The problem of atheism" soon (sadly, from Amazon :( ). So far the best book I read on the difficulty of holding onto one's religion was "The lonely man of faith", by R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. I am Jewish, but I think a lot of issues raised in this essay apply to anyone who believes in the Creator and is looking to live according to His will, and help build families and societies according to His blueprint.
I also wanted to share this. Thank you Mr. Rufo.
We are thrilled to announce that HB3502 has been placed on the calendar for a House floor vote tomorrow, Wednesday, May 10! Please call your representative tomorrow to ask them to vote“YES”! Use the link below to find their name and number.
https://house.texas.gov/members/find-your-representative/
HB3502 Beyond Transition – Wed., May 10
Leach, Oliverson, Leo-Wilson
HB3502 is being held up by national organizations as model legislation! It is the only bill of its type in the country.
HB3502 will help all Texans who have accessed gender transition treatments.
Process and procedures will be developed to care for this population beyond transition.
Care will be handled through traditional insurance processes.
Corinna Cohn, Prisha Mosley, Soren Aldaco and Abel Garcia testified to the health concerns they have. The only bill in consideration right now that will ensure ongoing healthcare to those who have transitioned and those who wish to detransition is HB3502. Please help us get it across the finish line.
Thanks for your help!
https://youtu.be/qBI3KjlUyO8
Taking on the issue of secularization - a difficult subject!
Its source and progression are important questions, as is its culmination-point. If Secularization is the replacement or appropriation of God's Divine Providence with "our" own, then it must almost certainly culminate in technology - in the human subordination to technology. This is because "we" cannot gain the needed control over reality without our technology - it is integral to "The Project."
Of course, we don't really replace God - we will still die and all of Creation will carry on. What we will do is create a "bubble" and "call it a day" - that is all we are capable of. The 70's movie "Zardoz' actually captures this - a serious movie with a lot of "camp" and absurdity, but which comprehends the fundamental problem - assuming that you can keep watching once you have seen Sean Connery's get-up (a fashion-show-runway camp version of Pancho Villa's purported "attire.")
Quite difficult, but more and more important. Will continue to address it in future writing.
Rufo, I have to challenge you on the following statement: "And from an American perspective, the “woke” revolution is the first large-scale social movement, on the Left or the Right, without a religious foundation."
Woke absolutely has a religious foundation. "Woke" has its foundation in "Social Justice". Social Justice has its foundation in the religion of Reform Judaism the majority of whose members reside in America. This isn't controversial. Reform Judaism has named Social Justice as part of its published official religious doctrine for decades. Reform Judaism has also officially listed Progressivism as a foundational religious tenet also. Progressivism is a religious process of constant revelation, review and change.
It was this Progressivism that allowed Social Justice to be reborn and updated as Woke and Woke will be reborn and updated as something else and on and on it will go in a never ending and evolving process as new information comes to light. A process that never looks back.
The Reform Jews successfully proselytized the Progressive and Social Justice doctrines to the Unitarian Church a long time ago and a growing number of Christian Denominations now also embrace Social Justice and Progressivism as central to their religious beliefs.
There's some good stuff here, but I don't consider the "woke" part much of a threat. I support DeSantis and Musk in ther actions, but not by words.