Maverick Philosopher

Footnotes to Plato from the foothills of the Superstition Mountains

Category: Political Pessimism

  • If Trump Wins, the Left is Prepared to Intensify the War

    Yesterday's Substack entry ended as follows: Whatever the outcome on 5 November, the war will continue, intensify, and become increasingly ‘existential.’ That is to say: it will become less verbal, less cultural, [i.e., less like a mere culture war'] hotter, and more like a real war. The conflict unto death in which we are currently…

  • We Have a Problem . . .

    . . . and according to Malcolm Pollack, there's no fixing it: We have a problem, and as far as I can see, it isn’t going away; indeed, I expect it will get sharply worse in the wake of next month’s election. The problem, simply put, is that although the bedrock principle of the American…

  • Moral Community and Civil War

    Substack latest.  An exchange with Malcolm Pollack.

  • In the Teeth of Increasing Polarization . . .

    . . . Should We Discuss Our Differences? Pessimism versus optimism about disagreement.   Our national life is becoming like philosophy: a scene of endless disagreement about almost everything. The difference, of course, is that philosophical controversy is typically conducted in a gentlemanly fashion without bloodshed or property damage. Some say that philosophy is a blood sport,…

  • David Brooks Interviews Steve Bannon

    This is an important interview. I will add a few comments at the end.   Excerpts: You said something I’ve got to ask you about, that Trump’s a moderate. In what areas is the MAGA movement farther right than Trump? BANNON: I think farther right on radical cuts of spending, No. 1. I think we’re much…

  • Homage to Catatonia

    That's right, Catatonia. Are things really this bad, or does the author exaggerate?

  • 2024: The Last Year of the Republic?

    A New York friend of mine writes, When I settled in Jackson Heights after leaving Mom's Bronx nest almost a half-century ago, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Great architecture, uncongested sidewalks, a police presence, and elderly ladies taking a stroll in the early evening were among the first things that struck…

  • Getting Tough with Our Political Enemies

    If we get tough with them politically, then we may be able to avoid having to get tough with them extra-politically. Let's hope and pray that we only have to prepare to enter the extra-political and not actually go there. For it won't be pretty. But I see no good reason to be particularly sanguine.…

  • Seven Causes of Civilizational Decline and Fall

    A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of Rome's decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars. Will Durant Caesar and Christ, epilogue As it went with Rome, it may well…

  • The Greatest Risk We are Taking

    Pat Buchanan warned us six years ago. Substack latest.

  • Political Pessimism (Realism?) at Townhall

    Guy Benson: " 'Sanctuary' Democrats will never forgive Texas Governor Greg Abbott for forcing them to live with even a small taste of the consequences created by their reckless pro-illegal immigration posturing." Matt Vespa: "Joe Rogan has had enough of these folks in the political discourse. It may not be shocking to the Left since any deviation from…

  • Annus Horribilis in Excelsis

    That is what 2024 is shaping up to be. Ben Shapiro: All of which means that 2024 is going to be the most insane and ugly presidential election in American history. And that’s saying a lot, since 1968 and 2020 are both years that existed. Under what circumstances, precisely, would Democrats accept the result of…

  • Political Parsimony

    Do not multiply enemies beyond necessity. William of Ockham: Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. William of Alhambra: Inimici non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. Enemies are worse than friends are good. The enmity of the enemy is more to be feared than the friendship of the friend is to be desired. But show me a man…

  • Is it Rational to be Politically Ignorant?

    I consider the question in today's Substack entry.

  • “If I am a Transphobe, then you are a Misogynist!”

    Thus I paraphrase Riley Gaines' brilliant response to the Congressional idiot who accused the swimmer of being 'transphobic.' The denial of the most obvious distinctions by the 'woke' Left is part of the evidence for my claim made directly below that we are a nation losing its collective mind. Addendum What do I mean by…