What does the US Empire do for the average American? Heidegger. Is hawkishness on China a distraction? The problem with elites. Jonah Goldberg is an ugly man. Getting Mel Gibson wrong.
"Jonathan Greenblatt is a hideously ugly man who looks like a human gefilte fish." This is the type of content I come here for. But seriously, this was a great interview; Darren is a rising star on the right and I hope his influence continues to grow. His point about blaming the US elites and not China is especially important, viz China can't buy influence unless someone is selling. A refusal to introspect the system that facilitates corruption and just pointing fingers makes one sound like a whiny victim with no agency (not dissimilar to Greenblatt, funnily enough).
Also, I think the right will become less supportive of military interventions as the boomers' influence recedes. The younger generations are sick of it and mostly see through the faux appeals to patriotism and "American leadership."
There's a lot to digest in the interview going forward, but the most important element in my opinion is that there is a need for new elites or a capture of current ones.
Very good interview! I agree the "playing for keeps"-part is an important commitment for the right. The right in america no longer has any ground to fall back on, at least to again rally voters for another mediocre attack. They must commit for a full scale frontal attack, like what could have been with Trump. The base is with Trump, and and the GOP will feel this in the period going forward. Will anybody rally around trad GOP politics (always "honorable" but doomed to fail ) after Trump? The trump base knows this is very much the last stand, the resource to mount a real attack for power is dwindling...
This was a good interview, Nic! That said, how would one setup in-fighting within elite circles? Is it concessions in exchange for marginal improvements forever? The one "elite" with even a cursory view of the problem is Tucker Carlson. We're not getting noblesse oblige anytime soon (Trump is many things, but somewhat of an example).
Brilliant interview. I couldn't agree more with this: "Trump's finest and most important moments were simply from not being a pussy---which is more threatening and powerful than any specific policy issue. The First Commandment is to not be a pussy, and the coherence and sophistication have to be built on top of that, otherwise it's just cope." Our entire civilization is now organized around bringing up boys as pussies, turning men into pussies, embracing leaders who are pussies. The agenda is obviously driven by women and men who are trying to please women. Anytime Trump gets really Bronze Age and threatens the zeitgeist of Pussywerdenheit, the opposition gets electrified because they sense that something primal is surfacing. This is the real source of the anti-Trump hysteria. Men are back, and we thought we had gotten rid of them. Darren recently posted a video on his Twitter feed about a man who votes for Biden on his deathbed to make his daughters happy. Darren's comment: "America in the year 2020. Repulsive gynocracy". When I read that, as a woman, I wanted to crawl through the Internet and hug him. He gets the civilization-destroying consequences of total pussification when very few others do. As for Niccolo Soldo, I had no idea who he was before I read this, but he's in my top ten now. Thank you, gentlemen.
I am completely shocked and offended that despite his having an internationally praised Heidegger dissertation and studying at Duke University, you didn't refer to Darren Beattie by his proper title of Doctor. Truly, this is proof that Jews rank above Croats in the hierarchy of persecuted races.
On a serious note, what needs to be done is to build structures which will allow elite defection to be more than elite resignation. Right now, if you are a right-winger and want to go off the reservation, the best-organized, most popular group outside the reservation is the Qanon boomers, who are completely useless.
Probably the best thing to do is to impress upon right-wingers that the Judicial/Bureaucratic/NGO power structure will fuck you over whether or not the Republicans or Democrats are in power. If the Republicans aren't interested in protecting you, let them lose. They need to earn your vote by doing good things for you rather than by promising that the elite's eyes will be fixed on getting sweet tax cuts rather than destroying all you hold dear.
^holding them accountable at the ballot box is probably the best way of co-opting some part of the existing power structure
Problem of trying to peel off a part of the power structure based on shared interests is that there really isn't a part of the edifice other than Border Patrol whose interests intersect with ours exactly. Maybe we can hope that the infighting and insanity becomes so intense that elements which are still viable get kicked out of power structure, but forever wars in the service of human rights seems to be a viable way of keeping the military industrial complex happy for the foreseeable future.
The thing to remember is that during the age of colonialism, British often ruled through pre-existing local elites. The chief gets to send his kids to British boarding school, gets nice goods from the industrialized west to use for himself and give to his supporters in exchange for their loyalty, and all he has to do is keep the locals pacified. Do we really think that anyone in US elite has the courage of their convictions or, failing that, the lust for absolute power (need to be more than being the biggest fish in a small pond, need to be biggest fish in the world) to turn that deal down if the Chinese offered it to them? Remembering that there was a BAP? tweet a while back about how Bezos is the wealthiest man in the world, and all he does with it is try to get invited to movie star parties.
Wow . . . Darren J. Beattie, what a talent I wish I had it or even more had it. Perhaps Tucker Carlson is the only one I can think of. The ability to make a point and trash everybody with the truth pretending to be someone they are not takes guts and I applaud you for it. I escaped Socialism in Canada coming to the 'Land of the Free' in 1985 only to discover that we are gleefully and willingly heading in the same direction using the cover of the 'Hegelian Dialectic' to get there, and we can start with the 'illusion' of two political parties, which keeps the charade going for the 'Ruling Class', which is a combination of Politicians, Bureaucrats and Bankers (Liars, Cheats & Thieves) colluding with the Predator Class (multinational oligarchs with deep pockets) that bribe the Liars, Cheats & Thieves to do their bidding at the expense of the middle class. If you've ever read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and recall where John Galt hid the Productive Class (suckers) in the fictional Galt's Gulch until the Ruling Class collapsed upon itself, you and I should connect because my plan (in the works for 17 years) is to hide them in plain sight and 'Starve the Beast', but there's more, much more and I thought I was all alone . . . . .
"Jonathan Greenblatt is a hideously ugly man who looks like a human gefilte fish." This is the type of content I come here for. But seriously, this was a great interview; Darren is a rising star on the right and I hope his influence continues to grow. His point about blaming the US elites and not China is especially important, viz China can't buy influence unless someone is selling. A refusal to introspect the system that facilitates corruption and just pointing fingers makes one sound like a whiny victim with no agency (not dissimilar to Greenblatt, funnily enough).
Also, I think the right will become less supportive of military interventions as the boomers' influence recedes. The younger generations are sick of it and mostly see through the faux appeals to patriotism and "American leadership."
There's a lot to digest in the interview going forward, but the most important element in my opinion is that there is a need for new elites or a capture of current ones.
Great get, Nic, Beattie is one of the few online American types with gravitas. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Receiving a Ben Garrison comic is literally more prestigious than the Nobel Prize.
Very good interview! I agree the "playing for keeps"-part is an important commitment for the right. The right in america no longer has any ground to fall back on, at least to again rally voters for another mediocre attack. They must commit for a full scale frontal attack, like what could have been with Trump. The base is with Trump, and and the GOP will feel this in the period going forward. Will anybody rally around trad GOP politics (always "honorable" but doomed to fail ) after Trump? The trump base knows this is very much the last stand, the resource to mount a real attack for power is dwindling...
This was a good interview, Nic! That said, how would one setup in-fighting within elite circles? Is it concessions in exchange for marginal improvements forever? The one "elite" with even a cursory view of the problem is Tucker Carlson. We're not getting noblesse oblige anytime soon (Trump is many things, but somewhat of an example).
Is he really banned from the UK for the james watson stunt or is that a joke
Brilliant interview. I couldn't agree more with this: "Trump's finest and most important moments were simply from not being a pussy---which is more threatening and powerful than any specific policy issue. The First Commandment is to not be a pussy, and the coherence and sophistication have to be built on top of that, otherwise it's just cope." Our entire civilization is now organized around bringing up boys as pussies, turning men into pussies, embracing leaders who are pussies. The agenda is obviously driven by women and men who are trying to please women. Anytime Trump gets really Bronze Age and threatens the zeitgeist of Pussywerdenheit, the opposition gets electrified because they sense that something primal is surfacing. This is the real source of the anti-Trump hysteria. Men are back, and we thought we had gotten rid of them. Darren recently posted a video on his Twitter feed about a man who votes for Biden on his deathbed to make his daughters happy. Darren's comment: "America in the year 2020. Repulsive gynocracy". When I read that, as a woman, I wanted to crawl through the Internet and hug him. He gets the civilization-destroying consequences of total pussification when very few others do. As for Niccolo Soldo, I had no idea who he was before I read this, but he's in my top ten now. Thank you, gentlemen.
I am completely shocked and offended that despite his having an internationally praised Heidegger dissertation and studying at Duke University, you didn't refer to Darren Beattie by his proper title of Doctor. Truly, this is proof that Jews rank above Croats in the hierarchy of persecuted races.
On a serious note, what needs to be done is to build structures which will allow elite defection to be more than elite resignation. Right now, if you are a right-winger and want to go off the reservation, the best-organized, most popular group outside the reservation is the Qanon boomers, who are completely useless.
Probably the best thing to do is to impress upon right-wingers that the Judicial/Bureaucratic/NGO power structure will fuck you over whether or not the Republicans or Democrats are in power. If the Republicans aren't interested in protecting you, let them lose. They need to earn your vote by doing good things for you rather than by promising that the elite's eyes will be fixed on getting sweet tax cuts rather than destroying all you hold dear.
^holding them accountable at the ballot box is probably the best way of co-opting some part of the existing power structure
Problem of trying to peel off a part of the power structure based on shared interests is that there really isn't a part of the edifice other than Border Patrol whose interests intersect with ours exactly. Maybe we can hope that the infighting and insanity becomes so intense that elements which are still viable get kicked out of power structure, but forever wars in the service of human rights seems to be a viable way of keeping the military industrial complex happy for the foreseeable future.
The thing to remember is that during the age of colonialism, British often ruled through pre-existing local elites. The chief gets to send his kids to British boarding school, gets nice goods from the industrialized west to use for himself and give to his supporters in exchange for their loyalty, and all he has to do is keep the locals pacified. Do we really think that anyone in US elite has the courage of their convictions or, failing that, the lust for absolute power (need to be more than being the biggest fish in a small pond, need to be biggest fish in the world) to turn that deal down if the Chinese offered it to them? Remembering that there was a BAP? tweet a while back about how Bezos is the wealthiest man in the world, and all he does with it is try to get invited to movie star parties.
very funny, I quite enjoyed it.
I might appear pedantic, but the Nietzsche quote could be better rendered thusly:
"That for which we have words — we're well past it. In all speech there's a modicum of contempt."
reminds me of my cousin, my gastroenterologist
This piece lets Goldberg off the hook.
Wow . . . Darren J. Beattie, what a talent I wish I had it or even more had it. Perhaps Tucker Carlson is the only one I can think of. The ability to make a point and trash everybody with the truth pretending to be someone they are not takes guts and I applaud you for it. I escaped Socialism in Canada coming to the 'Land of the Free' in 1985 only to discover that we are gleefully and willingly heading in the same direction using the cover of the 'Hegelian Dialectic' to get there, and we can start with the 'illusion' of two political parties, which keeps the charade going for the 'Ruling Class', which is a combination of Politicians, Bureaucrats and Bankers (Liars, Cheats & Thieves) colluding with the Predator Class (multinational oligarchs with deep pockets) that bribe the Liars, Cheats & Thieves to do their bidding at the expense of the middle class. If you've ever read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and recall where John Galt hid the Productive Class (suckers) in the fictional Galt's Gulch until the Ruling Class collapsed upon itself, you and I should connect because my plan (in the works for 17 years) is to hide them in plain sight and 'Starve the Beast', but there's more, much more and I thought I was all alone . . . . .
Marshall McLuhan had it about right when he said 1984 happened in 1930 and
nobody in America knew it.
1933-1940, I think.