Due to a death in the family, there will be no posts for at least a week or two.

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Wokeness And Cultural Hegemony

     “Cultural Hegemony” is a Marxist idea about how the oppressive elite impose their elitist oppression onto the masses. This is part and parcel of Marx’s own idea of “base and superstructure”.

     It is a worldview and analytical framework that imposes presupposed conclusions, and one which is increasingly adopted by not only the Left, but also the purported Right. It’s overthrow requires one to be “woke” about the systems of oppression as James Lindsay notes, quoted in full full below due to the limitations of Twitter/X embeds.

“People want a ‘simple’ explanation of ‘Woke’ that they can understand. There’s a problem, though. You cannot define ‘Woke’ without understanding the not-easy concept of ‘cultural hegemony.’

“You cannot understand Woke Left or Woke Right without understanding cultural hegemony.

“You cannot understand why Tucker Carlson is Woke Right without understanding cultural hegemony.

“You cannot understand why the post-liberal Right is Woke Right without understanding cultural hegemony.

“You cannot understand why CRT, Queer Theory, radical feminism, or all the rest are Woke Left without understanding cultural hegemony.

“You can reduce it down to identity politics, victimhood centrality/culture, cancel culture, smearing, mob abuse, a ‘based ritual’ or ‘Woke ritual,’ or whatever else, but you will never understand it until you understand cultural hegemony.

“Woke means having ‘woke up’ to the ‘realities’ of cultural hegemony. It is cultural Marxism or a kind of quasi-fascist reaction to cultural Marxism that plays on the same turf. When we say ‘Woke means having a critical consciousness,’ what it means is ‘having a critical consciousness of cultural hegemony.’

“Woke Left is therefore Left-wing Cultural Marxists, i.e., Left-wing Gramscians.

“Woke Right is therefore Right-wing Cultural Marxists by Reaction, i.e, Right-wing Gramscians or Right-wing Counter-Gramscians, if you want.”

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Horseshoe Revolt

     The Left and the post-conservative Right (AKA “Woke Right” or “common good conservative”) have been increasingly agreeing, not just on tactics or even analysis, but on the ultimate goal of tearing down the old and immanentizing their eschaton. The only disagreement isn’t about the need to immanentize an eschaton, or even the immanentization itself, but in which utopia they dream of. While the idea of politics being a “horseshoe” is an oversimplification, it is an accurate reflection of two purported extremes being actually more alike than either would admit. And those similarities are manifest:

“The Post-liberals, the anti-Constitutionalists, the subverters of liberty—Woke Left and Woke Right—don’t actually want to solve the problems our country has.

“They are both postcolonial activists—utilizing a neo-Marxist and Postmodern lens through which to analyze and critique power, political, & economic structures in society that they claim cause an unjust imbalance of power. They criticize the U.S. founding documents as Enlightenment-era, colonial relics that empower a cultural hegemony that is oppressive.

“They critique the US Constitution as facilitating the oppression of particular marginalized groups—for the Left the oppressors are white, male, ‘cis-heteronormative,’ beneficiaries of capitalism, billionaires, property-owners, American citizens (as opposed to illegal immigrants), etc. For the Right the oppressors are liberals and the beneficiaries of the ‘post-war consensus,’ with the marginalized as men, whites, Christians, heterosexuals, conservatives.

“For both ‘sides’ of the Woke, anti-Constitutional dialectic, it is a cynical exploitation of identity & a misplacement of blame for the purposes of ‘social justice’, with the aim of a revolution that will negate the cultural and political structures that facilitate individual liberty, national sovereignty, American principles such as the free-market, the Popular Sovereign, & Constitutional jurisprudence. They deny concepts such as Natural Law and the individual as being the primary moral & political concern of society. They invoke ideas of a greater social good via group identity (rather than the autonomous individual) & the necessity of an unbound executive—the State as god—to rule society.

“The anti-Constitutionalists from the Left are more overtly Marxist, while the anti-Constitutionalists from the Right blend their Marxism with a nationalist fervor passed off as patriotism. They both portray their efforts as a moral crusade—cultural revolution through dialectical political warfare. They use identity politics and social justice activism to achieve their means, & push grievances appealing to their audiences’ senses of right and wrong, agitating with anti-oppression propaganda. They propose the only solution as burning down the history & heritage of America In reality, they are not two sides—they are both Progressive activists.

“The Post-liberals, the anti-Constitutionalists, hate liberalism & see it as an impediment to be overcome. They misinform the public on what liberalism is in the hopes that they can force its abandonment, & seize power for themselves. They don’t want to actually create solutions to the real problems we are facing.”

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News of the Week (July 6th, 2025)

 

News of the Week for July 6th, 2025


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When in the Course of Human Events…

Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America

WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great- Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

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Magna Carta And The Birth Of The Rule Of Law

     The original Magna Carta, signed by the Barons and King John at Runnymede, celebrated it’s 800th birthday ten years ago. Along with the Charter of the Forest, they became the foundational documents of the Anglosphere and of American reverence for the Rule of Law.   It still serves a central role as one of the pillars of American law, and indeed the very fabric of our society.

“Constitutions are seldom self-reinforcing in the very long run. The Roman Republic was the longest lasting and most successful regime in antiquity. But its numerous devices for preventing one-man rule eventually could not stop Julius Caesar and Gaius Octavianus. A similar account applies to the institutions of medieval city-states such as Florence and Venice.

“Similarly, the institutions that supported democracy and the rule of law in the 20th century may need to be reworked to meet the challenges of the 21st. In order to inspire the American Revolutionaries in the 18th century, Magna Carta had to be revived and reinterpreted in the 17th century by English Parliamentarians. The preservation of the rule of law may require similar acts of imagination and courage. If we do need to reinvigorate or reform our own institutions, we should not neglect critical episodes in English history such as the background to the Magna Carta in the 13th century and to the conflicts between crown and Parliament in the 17th century for guidance.

“There have been countless oppressive rulers throughout history. What distinguishes the barons of 1215 is that they coalesced around general principles (as well as some specific demands). Rather than replacing a bad ruler with ‘their guy’, they had thought deeply about the roots of the crisis they found themselves in. Our present moment may require a similar level of reflection.”

     However, the definitive version was that signed by King John’s son, Henry III, was adopted 800 years ago this year. And it is that version that became the foundational document of the English Speaking Peoples.

     Why is this version so important?

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Redefining Terms And Natural Law

     Many a year a go, an intelligent and well read Catholic school teacher, who was politically Left-wing, said to me that “Social Justice” meant no more than the concepts that Thomas Aquinas discussed and anyone who had a problem with “Social Justice” was dissing the Western world’s Christian heritage. This is a cute little Motte & Bailey fallacy, the use of which is not limited to one purported political wing and not another. The question of “Natural Law” is also under attach using the same fallacy, as is hereinunder discussed, quoted in full below due to the limitations of Twitter/X embeds.*

The term “Natural Law” has been hijacked and repurposed by esoteric, occult, and Hermetic traditions in ways that profoundly distort its classical meaning. Many well-meaning people today are confused because they hear the same words (“Natural Law”) but they are being used to mean entirely opposite things, with opposite consequences for truth, morality, liberty and personhood. Thank you to @ChartingLiberty for prompting this thread, sorry it’s a bit late!

Let’s perform a scalpel-precise forensic distinction between:

Classical Natural Law (Aristotle → Aquinas)

vs.

Hermetic “Natural Law” (Gnostic / Occult / Esoteric)

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News of the Week (June 29th, 2025)

 

News of the Week for June 29th, 2025


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Firing Line Friday: Women against Pornography

     In the hopes of encouraging a more civil, and illuminating, discourse, here is another episode of William F. Buckley, Jr.’s “Firing Line”.

     Censorship and moral outrage seems to be in perpetual conflict with the 1st Amendment.   As true as that is today, it was even more highly debated 40 years ago when William F. Buckley, Jr. invited Andrea Dworkin and Harriet F. Pilpel to debate the question of women against pornography.

     Until next Friday.

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Quick Takes – Marxist Methodology: The Woke Spiral; Maoist Mass Line; The Issue Is The Revolution

     Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.

     The focus this time: All within the Revolution, nothing outside the Revolution, nothing against the Revolution.

     First, a little mood music:

     Carrying on…

     Stop fighting them on the terms they want you to fight while they exploit you on their terms.

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