It's Election Time

I absolutely detest American elections and everything about them, not least of all the hysteria. Each successive election is said to be even more important than the last -- the stakes are higher this time! the future of the republic hinges on this pivotal moment! -- yet this is the exact opposite of the truth: each successive election (regardless of who wins) further cements the leftist consensus and witnesses the further organizational, intellectual, spiritual, and moral collapse of the right.

So vilely leftist has modern political discourse become that the chief criticism of Ron Paul circulating among ostensibly right-wing "thinkers" is that he isn't sufficiently left-wing. Check out Jonah Goldberg's criticisms of Paul not being antiracist enough. (Goldberg... how I detest the man. Henceforth, his name shall ne'er be written again on this blog: he shall be known only as Dagon -- in the Lovecraftian, not the Amoritic, sense).

Look, there's plenty not to like about Paul's politics, but this isn't it. Why in the world should the right be enforcing the left's strictures, especially when we all know and complain about their obvious bogosity? I'm no fan of white nationalim (which I regard as dangerously misguided, especially given that the majority of reactionaries' enemies are white -- and almost certainly a majority of whites are reactionaries' enemies), but surely we can acknowledge that particularist loyalty, properly constrained, is generally a good? Must we indulge the left's inquisitorial impulse? Must we adopt their irrational value system? Must we embrace their puritanical spirit?

Break out your barf bags; this election's going to be especially nauseating.

Comments

[Bill]

The solution is to stop talking about letting go of movement conservatism and to actually do it. I can tell you that I am no longer disturbed by National Review. It's in the same category as the NY Times for me. I never read it, and when I hear about it, I shrug: "same old, same old." Jonah Goldberg is on the left. Just deal with it.

There is nothing problematic AFAIK in Paul's old newsletters. They are a little overwrought and weird at times, but so what? I don't come close to agreeing with Paul on everything, but, since Buchanan is not going to run again, he is the closest we are going to get to a non-leftist candidate.

[Arthur Oaden]

I would tend to agree with Bill above. I like you, am not a racist. But we do not need to go off into the realm of political correctness. It is time to embrace the genuinely traditional and pre modern, and forget about sustaining the fruits of liberalism.

[Simon]

Arthur Goaden, guess what's one of the most traditional and pre-modern concepts of all time - racism; ethnocentrism.

[bgc]

Since I wrote this...

http://charltonteaching.blogspot.com/2010/08/evils-of-voting.html

...I don't think I have participated in any system of voting - whether national, local or personal.

Not that my opting-out serves any positive function that I can see, but it does seem wrong to participate in corruption.

[Arthur Oaden]

"Arthur Goaden, guess what's one of the most traditional and pre-modern concepts of all time - racism; ethnocentrism."

Ethnocentrism, yes. Racism, debatable. Much of that was really invented de novo in the 18th century. Before then people cared about their own tribe and people, yes, but did not fixate on race. Today there are many tribal people who will accept a white man who follows their peoples traditions and goes through the initiation rights. Orthodox Jews still accept converts.