Salvor Hardin from Asimov's Foundation: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Which explains why our increasingly untalented and incompetent ruling class is resorting to more obvious and direct violence.
BBC miniseries documentary on the Spanish Civil War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu5f9hp0IP4 You don't have to watch the whole thing, but the first one about the prelude to actual hostilities is very much worth your time.
"Right largely just wants to be left alone. But the Left doesn’t want to leave us alone." This warrants a serious response. Short answer, they can't because it would destroy their worldview.
Enlightenment liberalism makes universal moral claims: "ALL men are created equal". Injustice is caused by constraints that deny some people access to these universal rights: race, sex, class, religion, sexual proclivities, disability, etc... Liberalism exists to liberate people from such unchosen constraints. Liberalism can only stop liberating when there is no more oppression or injustice -- in other words, when it has created Heaven on Earth. Since biology is the ultimate unchosen constraint, this process was always going to end in a war on human nature itself.
Liberalism and democracy are opposite poles. Consider a practical example: Afghanistan. Liberalism says that each Afghani has an inalienable right to march in a gay pride parade if they choose to. Democracy says that Afghanis have a right to collectively decide whether to allow gay pride parades. We spent 20 years trying to convince Afghani women to wear miniskirts, own businesses, and treat toilet seats as art (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdrvpSfJM1w) only for the Afghanis to welcome the Taliban back into power within hours of our departure. Why? Because they don't want a society that celebrates queerness and treats toilet seats as art -- they want a society that reflects their culture not ours. But liberalism's universal nature can't accept differences between peoples: "wax poetic about the toilet seat you bigot!"
The warmed-over colonialism that failed in Afghanistan (thanks W43) is now openly being turned on much of America: you deplorable plebes will accept urban, liberal values whether you want them or not, because we're smarter and better than you. And it's causing the same resentments here that it did there. The Left sees this, but their faith in secular progress and the ever expanding panoply of universal human rights makes stopping philosophically impossible. They keep doubling down because it's all they know how to do. Injustice anywhere requires liberation. If liberalism stops liberating, it dies.
This is why the Left can never just leave people alone. That is why I have embraced postliberalism. The Enlightenment liberal framework worked well. It solved the problem it was supposed to solve (confessional European monarchs going to war over rival views of God) but has now run its course. It's time to find an alternative.
I really like the comments from this Substack and a certain unnamed bookseller CC. I’m glad you can save some of the hot takes for posterity and mention them in subsequent articles. Some people have great ideas and just don’t make their own Substacks, so their thoughts are kind of lost to the wind.
It’s interesting as I found the committed liberals took a few days off smearing Trump after the assassination attempt, but at the same time they delighted still in casting his new VP as evil incarnate. There seems to be a compulsion to demonize the other side as beyond the pale and without any redeeming qualities. They could only change the target but not turn off the spigot of their venomous hatred.
I lived through a pseudo-civil (some foreign factions) war for 12 years in Lebanon. In such a small country, you literally can’t help but know the people on the other side. It is exactly the way described. 30 years later, I still avoid large gatherings, suspiciously parked cars, and I know how to take a bath with a 5 gallon bucket. I pray we never get there. 🇺🇸❤️🙏
That sounds worth an essay. If you're willing to talk about it, of course.
That said, in a big country, you also can't help but know people on the other side. I feel like I've been living among my future civil war adversaries my entire life and it's quite dreary to think about actually. The idea that one day, we're going to find ourselves fixing to kill one another is deeply troubling.
A couple years ago, I mentioned to my husband that we may be rushing down the path of a civil war, and his face dropped (he doesn’t follow politics at all), and he said- do you know how bloody this would be?! Which made me realize there are no demarcation lines between sides. It would be complete chaos. Maybe a cold hard description of it could scare us away from it. I don’t know what else to say.
I’m glad that the abuser analogy has resonated so well. In reading your excellent piece, I’m struck by another motif in popular entertainment of the abuser finally getting too old or weak while the abused realizes at the same time what horrors were inflicted on him or her during their childhood. The enfeebled abuser looks with shock and terror to see if the previously helpless target of abuse will turn the tables and enact a righteous vengeance upon the abuser so identified. Many times in movies or tv shows that happens (after a long speech tearing down the abuser and reminding them how the victim recognizes what was done in their formative years).
Looking at Biden, in his weakened physical and mental state, I see that type of abuser who realizes the tables might have been turned. When before, he might have expected crying from the victim, he now sees steady resolve and an icy pair of eyes staring at him. That is the true fear that the Left feels right now. Will the Republicans with their “fight, fight, FIGHT” anthem and seeming ascent use this power in the same careless and ruthless manner against their previous “untouchable” antagonists? Or will they let water pass under the bridge and go for reconciliation or at least a truce? That is what keeps them up at night.
Salvor Hardin from Asimov's Foundation: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Which explains why our increasingly untalented and incompetent ruling class is resorting to more obvious and direct violence.
BBC miniseries documentary on the Spanish Civil War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu5f9hp0IP4 You don't have to watch the whole thing, but the first one about the prelude to actual hostilities is very much worth your time.
"Right largely just wants to be left alone. But the Left doesn’t want to leave us alone." This warrants a serious response. Short answer, they can't because it would destroy their worldview.
Enlightenment liberalism makes universal moral claims: "ALL men are created equal". Injustice is caused by constraints that deny some people access to these universal rights: race, sex, class, religion, sexual proclivities, disability, etc... Liberalism exists to liberate people from such unchosen constraints. Liberalism can only stop liberating when there is no more oppression or injustice -- in other words, when it has created Heaven on Earth. Since biology is the ultimate unchosen constraint, this process was always going to end in a war on human nature itself.
Liberalism and democracy are opposite poles. Consider a practical example: Afghanistan. Liberalism says that each Afghani has an inalienable right to march in a gay pride parade if they choose to. Democracy says that Afghanis have a right to collectively decide whether to allow gay pride parades. We spent 20 years trying to convince Afghani women to wear miniskirts, own businesses, and treat toilet seats as art (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdrvpSfJM1w) only for the Afghanis to welcome the Taliban back into power within hours of our departure. Why? Because they don't want a society that celebrates queerness and treats toilet seats as art -- they want a society that reflects their culture not ours. But liberalism's universal nature can't accept differences between peoples: "wax poetic about the toilet seat you bigot!"
The warmed-over colonialism that failed in Afghanistan (thanks W43) is now openly being turned on much of America: you deplorable plebes will accept urban, liberal values whether you want them or not, because we're smarter and better than you. And it's causing the same resentments here that it did there. The Left sees this, but their faith in secular progress and the ever expanding panoply of universal human rights makes stopping philosophically impossible. They keep doubling down because it's all they know how to do. Injustice anywhere requires liberation. If liberalism stops liberating, it dies.
This is why the Left can never just leave people alone. That is why I have embraced postliberalism. The Enlightenment liberal framework worked well. It solved the problem it was supposed to solve (confessional European monarchs going to war over rival views of God) but has now run its course. It's time to find an alternative.
Speaking of civil war here’s a left wing terrorist act in north Idaho on July 4th: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/leftist-activist-arrested-burning-down-gun-shop-owned/
I was about to tweet about it. That's what the civil war will look like: more of that.
Also, what was I saying about Idaho becoming a civil war hot zone?
BTW, the comments you selected are excellent.
What can I say? I have great readers.
I really like the comments from this Substack and a certain unnamed bookseller CC. I’m glad you can save some of the hot takes for posterity and mention them in subsequent articles. Some people have great ideas and just don’t make their own Substacks, so their thoughts are kind of lost to the wind.
Biden has even waited a week to go back to abusing. He's already back to telling his Big Lies about Trump. What a disgusting excuse for a man.
It’s interesting as I found the committed liberals took a few days off smearing Trump after the assassination attempt, but at the same time they delighted still in casting his new VP as evil incarnate. There seems to be a compulsion to demonize the other side as beyond the pale and without any redeeming qualities. They could only change the target but not turn off the spigot of their venomous hatred.
I lived through a pseudo-civil (some foreign factions) war for 12 years in Lebanon. In such a small country, you literally can’t help but know the people on the other side. It is exactly the way described. 30 years later, I still avoid large gatherings, suspiciously parked cars, and I know how to take a bath with a 5 gallon bucket. I pray we never get there. 🇺🇸❤️🙏
That sounds worth an essay. If you're willing to talk about it, of course.
That said, in a big country, you also can't help but know people on the other side. I feel like I've been living among my future civil war adversaries my entire life and it's quite dreary to think about actually. The idea that one day, we're going to find ourselves fixing to kill one another is deeply troubling.
A couple years ago, I mentioned to my husband that we may be rushing down the path of a civil war, and his face dropped (he doesn’t follow politics at all), and he said- do you know how bloody this would be?! Which made me realize there are no demarcation lines between sides. It would be complete chaos. Maybe a cold hard description of it could scare us away from it. I don’t know what else to say.
I’m glad that the abuser analogy has resonated so well. In reading your excellent piece, I’m struck by another motif in popular entertainment of the abuser finally getting too old or weak while the abused realizes at the same time what horrors were inflicted on him or her during their childhood. The enfeebled abuser looks with shock and terror to see if the previously helpless target of abuse will turn the tables and enact a righteous vengeance upon the abuser so identified. Many times in movies or tv shows that happens (after a long speech tearing down the abuser and reminding them how the victim recognizes what was done in their formative years).
Looking at Biden, in his weakened physical and mental state, I see that type of abuser who realizes the tables might have been turned. When before, he might have expected crying from the victim, he now sees steady resolve and an icy pair of eyes staring at him. That is the true fear that the Left feels right now. Will the Republicans with their “fight, fight, FIGHT” anthem and seeming ascent use this power in the same careless and ruthless manner against their previous “untouchable” antagonists? Or will they let water pass under the bridge and go for reconciliation or at least a truce? That is what keeps them up at night.