I understand why you like Starship Troopers so much now, Max: "a citizen is one who voluntarily prioritizes the health of the body politic." That's a paraphrase of Heinlein, but I think an accurate one. I wonder if the erosion of citizen responsibilities is traceable to Vietnam? That was the first war that draft dodgers and pacifists (the ultimate betrayal of the obligations of citizenship -- refusal to defend the nation) were celebrated. Was that an effect or a cause? I'm not really sure. Note, I'm not arguing whether Vietnam was right or wrong, only wondering about the effects of this shift.
"I think there’s enough evidence to prove unity cannot be forged out of it and it’s not for a lack of trying." Do you mean that a society as diverse as ours can not achieve unity? Or that unity is impossible as long as we're prioritizing our differences?
"It’s not that immigrants can never join us in this foxhole. It’s that far too many have no idea they’re in a foxhole." Now you're quoting one of my favorite books, Sebastian Junger's Tribe: "a nation is just a really big foxhole, and if you don't understand why, you've likely never been in a foxhole." If you don't know the book, you would love it,
For the elites, subjects have always been preferably to citizens, and much elite policy is about attempting to turn the latter into the former. For the nobility, global serfdom (think Snow Crash, if you've read it) is very beneficial.
"an economy cannot exist apart from a state or society." The very last quote I leave my econ students with at the end of the semester is from Saint Pope JPII: "man was not made for the market; the market was made for man." Catholicism is unnecessary to see the wisdom of that statement.
I for one don't mind your thought dumps. They're more interesting than many people's well conceived articles.
The shift definitely began in the 1960s, as so many other things did. Personally, I think the way we came to regard protest as the ultimate act of Americanism was the most profound shift. It's how someone like Megan Rapinoe, who by no reasonable understanding could ever be confused for a patriot, is regarded as just as American as someone who loves this country, honors it, and feels a deep sense of attachment to it. If Rapinoe is a patriotic American, then nobody is.
I guess I mean both, but definitely more that prioritizing our differences cannot forge unity. It's literally the opposite of it. I don't understand why people think this way. The only way so many people can believe such an obvious lie is because they're being forced to. Also, note that in very few other arenas of life is difference-prioritization so emphasized. Public schools are far-left indoctrination centers, yet students are basically treated little different from inmates at times. If people want to celebrate their differences, that's what behind closed doors is for. Yet the Left has increasingly made it impossible to have any sphere of life which the state cannot touch.
"Tribe" has been on my reading list for some time now, but the backlog is so long, who knows when I'm going to get to it...
If I had to give one reason to Americans why they shouldn't worship democracy, it's because the Founders themselves didn't. Even people who support mass democracy also think our democracy should function more like an aristocracy. Richard Hanania and Neil deGrasse Tyson are perfect examples. If we have mass democracy, it's because someone in power found it beneficial to do so. It's like that old saw: "If voting actually worked, they wouldn't let us vote."
Never tell a libertarian that the market was made for man. LOL
I'm glad you enjoy my thought dumps. As you might imagine, they're easier to write, but I also try not ramble on, which is tough.
Protesting always struck me as a rather odd way of getting involved in politics/trying to influence change. There are exceptions, but most protesting I've seen just looks like people throwing a temper tantrum and accomplishing nothing other than inconveniencing normal people just trying to go about their days.
Protesting is actually quite ineffective. For example, the anti-war protests had little to nothing to do with why the U.S. left Vietnam.
Most protests characterized as "peaceful" today are hardly so. They're meant to obstruct and intimidate people. If the Right protested the way the Left does, they'd be calling for a national mobilization.
I mean what else is blocking a highway for if not just intimidating normal people. And of course if a group on the right tried that the cops would immediately break it up.
But your comment about protestors being valorized is one of those ideas that I hadn't really put words to explicitly but always thought. I remember from school the tone towards protests being positive and not really seeing why. There's a weird misplacement of what is "honorable" on the left it often seems. What is honorable about, at best, standing on a street with a sign yelling, or at worst, destroying businesses and keeping people from working who have nothing to do with and have no power to change what you are protesting about. Throwing a temper tantrum isn't honorable but we are expected to celebrate these people.
"Nothing more American than protest." On it's face, the idea that speaking out and demanding redress is what makes America great. Sure, but they leave out the part about how *what* you're saying matters that much more. For example, if I protest for the right to take other people's property, is that American? Americans do believe in property rights, you know.
So then the Left starts saying, "Well, of course, you have to protest the right things!" Which means no, protest in it of itself isn't the most American thing a person can do. If you think about it, all collectives, all nations, are the same: they're defined by the responsibilities we have toward one another. It's fulfilling those responsibilities which make you patriotic.
“No means no! ‘No’ is a full sentence! But wait, that doesn’t apply to foreigners flooding into America! Stop! That’s not fair!” - Media and Tech Oligarchs
I understand why you like Starship Troopers so much now, Max: "a citizen is one who voluntarily prioritizes the health of the body politic." That's a paraphrase of Heinlein, but I think an accurate one. I wonder if the erosion of citizen responsibilities is traceable to Vietnam? That was the first war that draft dodgers and pacifists (the ultimate betrayal of the obligations of citizenship -- refusal to defend the nation) were celebrated. Was that an effect or a cause? I'm not really sure. Note, I'm not arguing whether Vietnam was right or wrong, only wondering about the effects of this shift.
"I think there’s enough evidence to prove unity cannot be forged out of it and it’s not for a lack of trying." Do you mean that a society as diverse as ours can not achieve unity? Or that unity is impossible as long as we're prioritizing our differences?
"It’s not that immigrants can never join us in this foxhole. It’s that far too many have no idea they’re in a foxhole." Now you're quoting one of my favorite books, Sebastian Junger's Tribe: "a nation is just a really big foxhole, and if you don't understand why, you've likely never been in a foxhole." If you don't know the book, you would love it,
For the elites, subjects have always been preferably to citizens, and much elite policy is about attempting to turn the latter into the former. For the nobility, global serfdom (think Snow Crash, if you've read it) is very beneficial.
"an economy cannot exist apart from a state or society." The very last quote I leave my econ students with at the end of the semester is from Saint Pope JPII: "man was not made for the market; the market was made for man." Catholicism is unnecessary to see the wisdom of that statement.
I for one don't mind your thought dumps. They're more interesting than many people's well conceived articles.
The shift definitely began in the 1960s, as so many other things did. Personally, I think the way we came to regard protest as the ultimate act of Americanism was the most profound shift. It's how someone like Megan Rapinoe, who by no reasonable understanding could ever be confused for a patriot, is regarded as just as American as someone who loves this country, honors it, and feels a deep sense of attachment to it. If Rapinoe is a patriotic American, then nobody is.
I guess I mean both, but definitely more that prioritizing our differences cannot forge unity. It's literally the opposite of it. I don't understand why people think this way. The only way so many people can believe such an obvious lie is because they're being forced to. Also, note that in very few other arenas of life is difference-prioritization so emphasized. Public schools are far-left indoctrination centers, yet students are basically treated little different from inmates at times. If people want to celebrate their differences, that's what behind closed doors is for. Yet the Left has increasingly made it impossible to have any sphere of life which the state cannot touch.
"Tribe" has been on my reading list for some time now, but the backlog is so long, who knows when I'm going to get to it...
If I had to give one reason to Americans why they shouldn't worship democracy, it's because the Founders themselves didn't. Even people who support mass democracy also think our democracy should function more like an aristocracy. Richard Hanania and Neil deGrasse Tyson are perfect examples. If we have mass democracy, it's because someone in power found it beneficial to do so. It's like that old saw: "If voting actually worked, they wouldn't let us vote."
Never tell a libertarian that the market was made for man. LOL
I'm glad you enjoy my thought dumps. As you might imagine, they're easier to write, but I also try not ramble on, which is tough.
Protesting always struck me as a rather odd way of getting involved in politics/trying to influence change. There are exceptions, but most protesting I've seen just looks like people throwing a temper tantrum and accomplishing nothing other than inconveniencing normal people just trying to go about their days.
Protesting is actually quite ineffective. For example, the anti-war protests had little to nothing to do with why the U.S. left Vietnam.
Most protests characterized as "peaceful" today are hardly so. They're meant to obstruct and intimidate people. If the Right protested the way the Left does, they'd be calling for a national mobilization.
I mean what else is blocking a highway for if not just intimidating normal people. And of course if a group on the right tried that the cops would immediately break it up.
But your comment about protestors being valorized is one of those ideas that I hadn't really put words to explicitly but always thought. I remember from school the tone towards protests being positive and not really seeing why. There's a weird misplacement of what is "honorable" on the left it often seems. What is honorable about, at best, standing on a street with a sign yelling, or at worst, destroying businesses and keeping people from working who have nothing to do with and have no power to change what you are protesting about. Throwing a temper tantrum isn't honorable but we are expected to celebrate these people.
"Nothing more American than protest." On it's face, the idea that speaking out and demanding redress is what makes America great. Sure, but they leave out the part about how *what* you're saying matters that much more. For example, if I protest for the right to take other people's property, is that American? Americans do believe in property rights, you know.
So then the Left starts saying, "Well, of course, you have to protest the right things!" Which means no, protest in it of itself isn't the most American thing a person can do. If you think about it, all collectives, all nations, are the same: they're defined by the responsibilities we have toward one another. It's fulfilling those responsibilities which make you patriotic.
If you haven't already, go read Steve Sailer's "Carved Upon The Landscape".
You're right that this is a battle over what America is. I'm surprised you didn't reference Huntington's famous book on it, however-- "Who Are We?"
“No means no! ‘No’ is a full sentence! But wait, that doesn’t apply to foreigners flooding into America! Stop! That’s not fair!” - Media and Tech Oligarchs