The culture war is no joke

We should stop pretending that it can be won

I must confess, I have not read any of the books pictured above and have no serious inclination to do it either. I don’t think that they would offer a meaningful contribution to what I already know and think, but if any of you reading this read any of them and recommend it, I will take a look. I chose the picture to show how seriously our culture is preoccupied with this war within. It is a war of visions, attitudes, morals, world-views, personalities over just about every aspect of our existence. Nothing can escape it, and it is all personal. It also seems to be unique to Western civilization. Both sides see it as existential, and we all take sides. Some of us may be in denial, but even they take a side with tacit approval. We should not allow it to ‘just happen’.

I finished my post on DEI with the story of a conversation with the girlfriend of a young relative at a BBQ. But the story didn’t end there, and I am clearly not alone with such a story either.
The arrogant, passive aggressive reaction to reasonable questions and arguments seems to be typical. Virtue signaling and moral posturing without substance is the hallmark of the left.

At some point at that BBQ I asked the host: “Do you really think that censorship is OK?”
He looked at me and said: “YES! We cannot live in a world where anybody can say whatever they want.” I was mildly shocked so I asked: “Do you think that I should be censored?” The answer was “YES”.

And this was a relative. The only shared language we have is English. He can get by speaking English, but I couldn’t call it conversational.
He does not read this blog and have no substantial understanding of what I think and stand for. All he understands is that I am ‘on the other side’, and he thinks that ‘the other side’ should be censored and controlled.
This exchange started me thinking about my whole family, friends and acquaintances.
I quickly realized, that most of them would say the same.

If I were to be jailed for saying or writing something that the powers that be do not like, most of them would react with a degree of schadenfreude. Even those who may feel sorry for me (I am thinking my little sister) would think that I deserved it. I should have known better and kept my mouth shut!

Incidentally, just two days ago, I had a conversation with my little sister. She asked me what I am writing about. I told her about this post and made the point that the situation in Germany and the UK is quite serious. People are getting arrested for re-tweeting things, fined and jailed for expressing opinions. “That is not true” - she said – “and even if it was, they would only do that to the most dangerous right-wing extremists and fascists”

How can one argue with that? How can one argue with denial? Collecting the evidence would be a waste of time, as it would be dismissed without any consideration of the facts or the arguments. That is the nature of denial.

I spent nine months of my life in jail for saying the wrong thing to the wrong people under the wrong circumstances. I know what it’s like.
I also know that my crime was more serious than that of the Canadian truckers and the J6 protesters. I actually did call two policemen ‘fascists’ in a country where that was against the law.

Once I started on this line of thinking, it became increasingly difficult to get away from it.
How far can it go? Would the people who are willing to censor me be also willing to sacrifice my life for the ‘greater good’? Would they renounce me?
Would they see themselves as virtuous doing so?

There is nothing new about ideology driven political violence.
The French revolution executed about 17,000 people on political grounds.
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (a.k.a. the Cheka) killed 50 to 200 thousand people without any proper legal process.
The way this worked is depicted in the bone-chilling, dark movie The chekist.
(The movie is available on Youtube, it should be compulsory to see for every student of Marxism.) It would be extremely naïve to think that it cannot happen here. More than half of the people I know would go for it.

Bloody revolutions always start with a culture war. They always start with censorship and the war on dissent.
The left is, and always has been, the party of violence responsible for the vast majority of political murders in the 20^th century.
It is legitimate to ask how far we are from the historic levels of political violence.
It would be imperative to figure out how to prevent it.
The first step in that direction is figuring out why is it happening. Why can’t we find some common ground and why is it unlikely that we can ever achieve some sort of compromise.

Luckily, Ayn Rand has given us a hint:

The first part is perfect. The second is unworkable.

Rational people use reason to arrive to a conclusion, based on which they take a position on the subject.
Leftists take a position based on emotions, wishes and delusions, then try to rationalize them with arguments that are also based on emotions and require power to implement.

The problem, as I said, is with the second part. I don’t count on them and I would happily leave them alone. It is the left that does not leave me alone. I am violated by leftist institutions, rules, regulations and policies every day.

Republicans, libertarians and conservatives in general could live happily without the left. It is the left that does not leave them alone. Every leftist policy, every redistribution scheme and Ponzi-scheme is inherently parasitic, dependent on a healthy host.

I would love to see a free country with a bunch of kibbutz-like socialist enclaves.
I wish the best of luck to the socialists, as long as they do it on their own.
On their dime, not mine.

The left can only exist on the benevolence and the tolerance of the rest of us.
They can get away with a lot because the rest of us sympathize with their constantly declared good intentions.

The problem always starts with the communication. Questioning the logic, the feasibility, the cost and the potential harm of a leftist project is interpreted as an attack on the project’s virtuous intentions. Any criticism or opposition is interpreted as an intent to do harm.
Any criticism of the public schools? You want children to go without education.
Any criticism of public healthcare? You want people to die on the streets.

Rational conversation with a leftist is impossible.
I am yet to meet one who is capable of having
an honest conversation on any political subject.

What we need to understand is that this is not just a strategy, but a mental limitation.

Conservatives live in the world of facts and logic, decisions based on experience and the reality of difficult choices. They understand the limitations reality imposes on us.

Socialists live in a world of wishes, desires and good intentions. They refuse to accept the simple fact that the real world cannot be turned into the La-la-land of their fantasies.
In their minds, the only thing that stands in the way is NOT reality, but the evil conservatives who do not want it to happen.
They want a better world and they are ready to censor, jail or even kill the enemies of their noble goals. They cannot leave us alone. We are in their way.
To paraphrase Lev Davidovich:

“You may not be interested in the culture war,
but the culture war is interested in you.”

We have no choice but to fight it. The question is how, and what is the ultimate goal?
A stalemate or an alternative order?
An internal two state solution? Socialism for Thou but not for me?
Some of this is already happening with increasing migration from places like California to places like Texas….

Fascinating questions, let me know what you think.
As for me, I am not done with the subject. Subscribe for more.

Like everything else on Substack, this is a reader supported publication.
You can help it by following or subscribing.
You can engage with it by clicking on like and/or commenting.
A ‘like’ costs nothing and is worth a lot.
You can help this Stack grow by sharing, recommending, quoting or referencing it.
You can support it by pledging your financial support.
Any and all of it will be much appreciated.

More from here

This post is the continuation of this one:
(That’s where the BBQ started😉 )

DEI is dying

References

The Chekist (1992) - IMDb
The movie is available on Youtube:
The chekist on youtube
(It is age restricted, so I cannot share the video itself)
Watch it, and share this post recommending the movie.