A while ago I discussed the unrecognized presence of every-day fascism in American life – often disguised as “liberalism” simply because it is embraced by left-leaners. (Of course fascism has… Read more Why Fascists Want Mothers Working →
I suppose it’s natural that people who feel themselves powerless and ineffectual most of their lives would at some point begin to think about power. Josh and I have certainly begun to do so. There was a time when I would have scorned to think about power – my instincts are all for independence and in my maturity I have never wished to control anyone. It comes clear to me now that this is precisely why we have to think about power – in order to protect and promote independence.… Read more Evil Thefts and Virtuous Expansions of Power →
She scorns all your thoughts – she can’t afford many. She mocks at your beauty, for she hasn’t any. Her favorite chores are snuffing the wick, pinching the sprout and lobbing the brick. She wants it all stripped, to show you the bones and say, “here’s the blood-sack you thought was Jones!” Here’s Lady Contempt, for you all to look at. ‘Like’ if you’re someone she once threw the book at.
Conservatism can be just as radical as liberalism. Conservatism does not necessarily have a criteria for what is being conserved. It picks a plot on the ideological landscape, builds a homestead there, and sets out to defend it. The language of this defense is often borrowed from tradition – may even include the word tradition. But the actual vetting process involved in real tradition is missing. Conservatism is essentially intellectual and therefore incomplete. Liberalism is essentially rootlessness. It is forgetting. Liberals don’t see the reason for anything – it’s their… Read more Tradition vs. Conservatism →
Art despises us and we despise art. At least, this is true of everything that we have been taught to call art. I’ve more or less come to believe that film is our own true art form, the artistic language of our present society. Film is the one form that nearly everyone in our society interacts with. Not everyone reads books, and fewer and fewer people look at paintings or listen to music. True dancing by itself is a curiosity. The examples that are being made have been divided into… Read more Film Is Our Art →
As I look around at the unpacked, unsorted stacks of cds, old diaries, pillows, and toys which I ought to be finding a place for, I want to mention the pleasure of doing one’s duty. There are two possible reasons, in my case, for accomplishing anything. The first is that I seek achievment, the boast of having done something. The second is that I ought to. Now my I believe the second reason is the more noble. I also think that it weeds stress out of my life when I… Read more On Duty, Floor Plans, and Ants →
American elections: like a sixteen-year-old girl, we are ever questing for our new hero. He must be someone who will treat us like an equal while protecting us from all the things we can’t handle about adult life. He must do this with the understanding that we get to dump him in a few years. Sooner, if he’s really, really abusive. We search the profiles of our prospective political lovers; are thrilled and despondant by turns. They take us on dates to rallies that rival the excitement of a rock concert. They… Read more American Elections – Confessions of a Former Monarchy →
Slow Literature 