Critical Mass Modern cities are a critical mass of different people, competing ideologies and countless manifestations of globalisation that produce chaos and confusion at almost every level. In truth, I had been struggling for an introduction, a logical starting point for this article for days on end and in my own personal
The Road to "De-Flanderization" Weaver's Banquet Talk, April 2024 Here, I am supposed to give a talk on a subject. And I always speculate that, at one of these get-togethers, maybe I should do a deep dive on a particular topic like Bluegrass or my favorite Italian films or the new Dune movie. But
Citizenship and the 2nd Amendment On March 8th of this year, Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman issued a ruling. The Obama-appointed judge sided with an illegal immigrant, Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, and held that illegals are protected under the 2nd Amendment and have the right to bear arms. Reactions were mostly boilerplate. Progressives either ignored it or used
Classical liberalism’s excremental excuses According to recent reports, a gay Spanish politician who belongs to the country’s left-wing governing party has been forced to resign after pictures surfaced of the municipal councilor eating his own excrement. While disgusting, the existence of yet another degenerate politician would be unremarkable, if not for the fact
Weekly Highlights From the Japanese Press No. 3 Covering Tokyo Shinbun for March 25 to March 30, Weekly Shincho for March 28, and Weekly Bunshun for March 28 Weekly Highlights From the Japanese Press No. 3 Japan, Past and Present is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid
‘Democracy’ Means Never Having to Hear ‘You’re Fired!’ On fortifying managed democracy from ‘political interference’ I try not to let myself get dragged into writing quick reaction pieces on breaking news or stuff other people write. It’s a bad habit of the internet age. But what can I say, sometimes I just can’t help it. Sometimes
What the left can teach the right about political power Political power is not a toy. It is not a trophy awarded to the winner of the debate club. Power is a game, but it is the game of kings. It is chess, not checkers. If you intend to play the game, you had better come with a serious strategy
Waiting for "Mark Zero" A meditation on a favorite pulp novel I woke up on my birthday to see a bridge collapsing. My wife was watching it on her iPad. "You've got to see this. There's been an accident" she said. I watched the video from start to finish. Then she said in a
Gaza and the laws of war As the father of a toddler, I am obviously distressed to hear that toddlers are being maimed and killed by bombs paid for by my tax dollars. I want this shambolic slaughter-circus to stop. I think every institution involved in it, from UNRWA to the UN to Hamas to the
Richard Dawkins, champion of atheism, mourns Christianity’s decline In a recent appearance, the notorious atheist Richard Dawkins lamented the lost influence of Christianity, going so far as to declare himself a “cultural Christian.” While achieving a level of notoriety for his work in the field of biology, Dawkins became best known for his vocal opposition to religion in
Weekly Highlights From the Japanese Press No. 2 Covering Weekly Bunshun for March 21, 2024 Weekly Highlights From the Japanese Press No. 2 Weekly Bunshun1, March 21, 2024 Issue Self-Immolation in Solidarity with Palestine Machiyama Tomohiro2, like the entire mainstream Japanese press, stands in solidarity with Palestine. But instead of emitting the shrill denunciations that you find elsewhere,
Reflections #8 Normal is over On Sunday morning I was greeted by the shrieking sound of police sirens. Possibly three to four vehicles sped past with their sirens blazing aloud. Later that morning, I go outside of my front door for a brisk walk and I immediately see an abandoned vehicle with
Why regime charity poses a big problem MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, recently announced her intention to engage in another round of philanthropy by donating $640 million to charity. Of the $60 billion she received after splitting with her husband, Scott has already given over $16 billion to various nonprofit organizations. To most
Why the left fears beauty A British museum owned by Cambridge University recently overhauled its art exhibits and introduced new signage warning that paintings of the British countryside could trigger “dark nationalist feelings.” Another sign in the exhibit explains, “Landscape paintings were also always entangled with national identity. The countryside was seen as a direct
Weekly Highlights From the Japanese Press No. 1 This is the first installment in what will hopefully be an ongoing series of weekly highlights of Japan news as reported in Japanese sources. Weekly Highlights From the Japanese Press No. 1 Barbarization à la Japonaise is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming
In the latest victory against right-wing extremism, police officers pull a 16 year-old girl out of chemistry class and advise her to stop posting Smurf-themed AfD-friendly content to TikTok I wrote in February about the plans of Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) to combat “right-wing extremism,” by re-purposing the regulatory state to restrict the speech, travel and economic activity of people with inconvenient opinions. She wants to use state resources to intimidate “those who mock the state,” and she
Reflections #7 The decline of civility In modern-day Britain, the decline in manners, standards and public behaviour is very difficult to ignore and it is difficult to ignore because it is all around us. The sad fact of the matter is that, in many respects, we are no longer a civil country.