161 words / 63:40
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Greg, John, and Frodi reconvene the weekly podcast on July 4th to discuss the defects of the American national character, especially American conservatives, as revealed by Ann Coulter’s discussion of the leak of Republican National Committee backgrounder reports on potential Trump administration appointees like Chris Kobach.
- 0:00: Introduction
- 0:09: Donations: We have raised $18,105.92 since the beginning of our annual fundraiser. Thanks to all our donors so far.
- 3:42: Counter-Currents under deplatforming attacks
- 6:51: Ann Coulter’s essay “Coulter on Kobach: The Swamp in Action” at VDare.com.
- 27:40: Rot at the core of the American character, especially American conservatives
- 43:00: The Declaration of Independence and egalitarian, bourgeois, individualist civil religion.
- 49:55: “Our Sacred Honor”: Overthrowing bourgeois individualism in America
- 54:21: Patrick Buchanan on Vladimir Putin and the rising tide of anti-liberalism.
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One Comment
Thank you for highlighting Ann Coulter’s important article. As you described in the discussion, Coulter is striking at the disease of today’s American politics: a supposedly “conservative” or “right-wing” party which plays by the rules of the Left, and doesn’t represent its voters. I agree with Greg, John and Frodi that we won’t make progress in this political paradigm.
I disagree somewhat with the characterization of Lincoln. Although it’s true that the Civil War resulted in some political centralization that Greg describes, I think that more harm was done in America by the “progressive” ideas imported from Germany and other continental European countries in the late-19th Century and onwards. These ideas infected education and other elements of culture, and for one thing resulted in the over-credentialed system that we have today. They also contained a disregard for the “yeomen” type of independent Americans who were supported by self-help organizations, which had been the backbone of American society. Combine this with other radical ideas brought by Jews and others from Europe, and you have the seeds of the poisonous culture and society that we have today.
Lincoln and other early Republicans supported small farmers, small businessmen, “mechanics” and other humble, working Americans. The Homestead Act was an example of such policies. It’s true that the GOP eventually became the tool of big business, and that has continued with variations and in coalition with other groups into today.
Lincoln was very moderate regarding abolitionism, and he wanted to give generous terms to the defeated South. His assassination worked against this, though, and the Radical Republicans stepped in and pushed Reconstruction policies that were very different than what Lincoln envisioned.
Although I believe that the Puritans were very much a force for good in Colonial America, I do agree with Greg that some Calvinist ideas about economic success and failure have had baneful influences. That Koch-Brothers style of Republicanism is a huge problem for America now, along with what we see on the Left. In other ways, though, the Puritans and Pilgrim Separatists were often very good examples in the types of communities that they created, and in some of the other cultural traits that they emphasized.
Thanks again for the very interesting discussion. I wish I had more time to listen to these podcasts. I don’t know how working people can make the time to listen to a lot of them, and it seems that it’s usually much quicker to read transcripts. But these discussions are very enjoyable and rewarding when I have the time.