2,321 words
The following is reprinted from the Imperium Press Substack.
Neema Parvini
The Prophets of Doom
Societias, 2023
In polite circles today, you have two choices: You are either a progressive, or a complete reprobate. This is because “progress” is one of our foundational myths. You’re allowed to question the American Revolution or the Norman Conquest; you’re even allowed to question your own biology. (more…)
The entrance to this year’s CPAC Hungary. Photo courtesy of the Visegrád Post.
The entrance to this year’s CPAC Hungary. Photo courtesy of the Visegrád Post.
2,662 words
The word “woke” was first used as an adjective, as opposed to “awake,” in a political context by black Americans during the twentieth century to describe someone who is “alert to racial prejudice and discrimination.” (more…)
The Paris Commune of 1871, one of Europe’s first attempts to seek an alternative to liberalism.
The Paris Commune of 1871, one of Europe’s first attempts to seek an alternative to liberalism.
3,103 words
Part 3 of 3 (Introduction Part I here, Introduction Part II here, Chapter 1 Part 1 here)
Translated by F. Roger Devlin
Let us sum up. Man is a “social animal” whose existence is consubstantial with that of society. Justice in the first instance is not a matter of rights but of measure; i.e., it is only defined as a relation of equity between persons living in society, so there are no holders of rights outside social life, and within it there are only those to whom rights are attributed. (more…)
5,704 words
Part 2 of 3 (Introduction Part I here, Introduction Part III here)
Translated by F. Roger Devlin
Now, for liberalism, man — far from being constituted as such by his bonds with others — must be thought of as an individual unbound by any constitutive form of belonging; i.e., outside any cultural or socio-historical context. (more…)
Francis Fukuyama heralded a return to a Western-centered universal conception of history — but one which sees universal liberalism as its endpoint.
Francis Fukuyama heralded a return to a Western-centered universal conception of history — but one which sees universal liberalism as its endpoint.
4,196 words
Part 7 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 6 here)
We have no standards to judge what are “good” and “bad” forms of being a human, since there are no subjects existing outside the contingencies of historical time and power relationships. All we can do is engage in “discourse analysis” so as to uncover existing hierarchies by analyzing the fields of knowledge through which they are legitimated. We can engage in questioning how we came to be the “humans” we think we are, such as how we came to think that we have natural rights to life, liberty, and happiness, but such a questioning can only show us how our current way of being human is historically contingent and thus changeable. (more…)
Fernand Braudel, widely regarded as the greatest historian of the twentieth century.
Fernand Braudel, widely regarded as the greatest historian of the twentieth century.
5,627 words
Part 6 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 5 here, Part 7 here)
The “Grand Liberal Narrative” of the Twentieth Century
Despite a wide variety of historical schools, a centrist liberal historiography committed to the ideals of rationalism, meritocracy, and the global spread of human rights dominated the writing of history until about the 1980s — while subsequently integrating within its fold the more progressive schools of New Left, feminist, multicultural, and postmodernist historians via a “new liberalism” determined to ensure equal rights for everyone against the continuing racism, sexism, and ignorance of old liberals. (more…)
Anton von Werner, The Proclamation of the German Empire (1885). The rise of the German Empire coincided with the rise of German historicism. Both presented a new challenge to British and French world domination.
Anton von Werner, The Proclamation of the German Empire (1885). The rise of the German Empire coincided with the rise of German historicism. Both presented a new challenge to British and French world domination.
2,932 words
Part 5 of 7 (Part 1 here, Part 4 here)
German Historicism: The Defeated Alternative to Liberal Progressivism
Peter Watson’s comprehensive book of over 900 pages, The German Genius: Europe’s Third Renaissance, The Second Scientific Revolution, and the Twentieth Century (2010), demonstrates that from 1750 to the 1930s Germany was the dominant intellectual force in Western civilization. (more…)
Walter Lippmann, whose anti-democratic skepticism changed the course of American politics in the twentieth century.
Walter Lippmann, whose anti-democratic skepticism changed the course of American politics in the twentieth century.
3,142 words
Part 4 of 9 (Chapter 1 here, Chapter 3 here, Chapter 4 Part 2 here)
Politically, democracy means the sovereignty, not of the average man — who is a rather narrow, short-sighted, muddle-headed creature — but of a matured public opinion, a very different thing . . . In the forming of this opinion the sage has a million times the weight of the field hand. With modern facilities for mind influencing mind, democracy, at its best, substitutes the direction of the recognized moral and intellectual élite for the rule of the strong, the rich, or the privileged. — Edward Alsworth Ross, Changing America (1912) (more…)
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s new First Minister.
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s new First Minister.
71 words / 9:12
Jim Goad has produced a short video to accompany his latest essay, “Despite All the Progress We’ve Made, There Is Still, for Some Strange Reason, a Ridiculous Amount of Work to Be Done” — on how progressives keep telling us “there’s much work to be done,” despite the fact that it’s never made clear exactly when the work of social justice will be done. See below. (more…)
Martin Luther King III
Martin Luther King III
1,157 words / 9:05
Audio version: To listen in a player, use the one below or click here. To download the mp3, right-click here and choose “save link as” or “save target as.”
Probably due to some traumatic event in the womb or early childhood, I have chosen an avocation which constantly forces me to expose myself to things that upset me. (more…)
Gustave Doré, The Fall of Lucifer
Gustave Doré, The Fall of Lucifer
3,236 words
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? — Jeremiah 17:9
Unde malum? Where does evil come from? I first pondered that question as a child, a childhood of full immersion in a fundamentalist, Baptist Weltanschauung. Evil’s origin and its persistence in the world was the central motif in the narrative of the Great Rebellion, the failure of Angel Lucifer’s insurrection against God. The origin of evil came from a titanic battle of supernatural beings. (more…)
A French Jacobin
A French Jacobin
3,782 words
Part 2 of 3 (Part 1 here, Part 3 here)
1. Introduction: Transcendental Idealism as Political Radicalism
In part one of this essay, I covered J. G. Fichte’s moral philosophy, as set out in his 1798 work The System of Ethics. In the present installment, which is largely self-contained, I shall cover his social and political philosophy, chiefly as expounded in The Foundations of Natural Right. Here we will find many ways in which Fichte lays the groundwork for contemporary Leftism, including a surprising anticipation of what Gen Z calls “real Communism.” (more…)