The Holy Moments Exploring the decline of cinema in four bad movies Autumn is a strange season, especially in America. There is a spirit hanging in the air, slowly dying. The pagan gods of Summer perish and return their power to be interned in the earth until judgment. And the living mark the
An Idol Crumbles Some reflections on our current unraveling The gyre widens and the vibe shift continues. The world doesn't feel the same as it did in 2019, and never will again. There is a vague scent of apocalypse in the air. The old political formulas don't make sense. And people are starting
Blue Eyes, Red Heart "One gang will rule this city!" Ancient wisdom shines through in modern places, not least the 1979 cheese classic The Warriors which superimposes the plot of Xenophon’s Anabasis onto a near-future New York City dominated by gangs but ruled by a corrupt police force. The movie opens with the
20 Rules for "Frens" A guideline for online discourse (Based on a popular tweet thread I wrote last year, I am expanding my points about what it means to be a “Fren” for the benefit of those looking to build and foster community in the dissident space) It’s a common observation that the
Leftism's Not Dead My final retrospective on Professor McManus I don't like to revisit old dialogues. Nevertheless, something about my recent interaction with online leftist Matt McManus stuck in my craw, and I found myself revisiting some of our previous talking points. Perhaps it’s because Professor McManus is one of the few
Those Who Walk Away from Hogwarts How Professor McManus defeated House Slytherin The Fall of House Slytherin Perhaps it's a Millennial defect in my soul, but I have an odd inclination to explain political ideas with references to Harry Potter. Actually, I am not particularly fond of the books, but it's indisputable that they have captured
Monarchy and the Mind of the Matriarch Three short essays about one thing Opening my notepad today, I happened on three notes that added up to one essay. The first read “The biggest intellectual mistake of the 20th century”, the second “The Benefits of Monarchy”, and the last simply “The Woman Question”. Perhaps the sum will be
The Luddites and Linus Torvalds Escaping Modernity's Bind There is a man standing on the neck of modern thought and his name is Ned Ludd. Really, I hated Ned before I knew his name, despite him not being American, not being my contemporary, and, well, not being real. As a legend, as an archetype, the
40 Lessons from Warhammer 40k Learning from the Grim-Dark Future free, text It's time to talk about everyone’s favorite science fiction pulp setting: Warhammer 40000. Since its inception, this extended fictional universe (designed as the backdrop for miniature war-gaming) popularized the image of the "Grim-dark" future. Of course, most of 40k's core ideas are
The (He)art Reset the vibe shift is real and has been a long time coming There are few subjects as fascinating as art and the right-wing. How long have we been talking about this? A long time certainly. More than a decade before Andrew Breitbart made his proclamation that “politics is downstream from
A Letter to Right-Wing Pagans I am not here to throw your maypoles on the bonfire, your vanities are a different story Is there a serious religious debate on the dissident right? Not from what I can see in 2022. Online, there is a perennial discussion about “Paganism versus Christianity” which usually takes place in
Liberalism No Work, Very Sad Sometime last month I found myself drawn again into a conversation (conflict?) with the “radical centrists” Adam and Sitch. Most of the exchange was civil, but towards the end my interlocutors on the radical center continuously accused me of being “evasive” and hiding what I really believed as a right-winger.
Rod Dreher and a Parting of Ways Some bad news from Rod Dreher today, more personal than political. But to me it feels existential. In all honesty this is hitting me harder than it should. Rod Dreher was an enormous influence on my own journey from atheism to Christianity. And although it might seem shallow to admit
Discourse won't Save the Boomers (but let's try anyways) Is it really possible "red-pill" your parents? So it turns out that my last letter was built on a faulty premise. Perhaps a follow-up is in order? In my last Substack entry, I painted a picture of a dissident community preoccupied with helping young folks and building a future apart
Anime Won't Save the Zoomers (and neither will Dante) Some thoughts on helping our new lost generation Today’s letter, perhaps fitting for the new year, is directed at a perennial right-wing complaint: kids these days, or as they say on the Internets, the “Zoomer Question”. As is obvious, the kids are not alright. Young people today (the “Zoomer
How it finally ends Some thoughts on the current American epoch, written on the 4th of July, 2021 We can't keep living like this. We won't keep living like this. That is as core a certainty as I have at this point. That's the thing that keeps me doing politics in 2021. Not victory
On Folk Culture and the "Extended Universe" A letter concerning the development of dissident art, and included prototype In 2021, the platitude "Get Woke, go broke" is dead. Everyone got woke, and no one who got woke went broke. The meme was on life support before 2019. In 2021 its corpse is starting to smell. Did anyone
A letter to earnest right-wing activists Behold the awesome power of fiat currency and elite over-production! To kick off this new era on SubStack, I intend to produce a series of letters directed at the persistent political divides which exist both on online and off. My goal generally will be to clarify the controversies as I