"I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.”Letter from John Adams to his wife Abigail
The left fears the West is in decline because the people have lost the civic virtues of respect for individual rights, tolerance for minorities, and obedience to lawful process that make liberal democracies possible. They observe the West is falling into fascism and tyranny. The left recalls the Roman Republic turning into the Roman Empire, Hitler's takeover of Germany in 1933, and Putin.
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| A book for the left |
The right fears the West is in decline because the people have lost martial instincts and rigor. They observe the West falling into atheism, race-mixing, effeminacy, and moral relativism. The right recalls hippies, the French collapse in 1940, migration through unenforced borders, and drag queen story hours.
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| A book for the right |
The left fears that right-wing populism will destroy the rules-based world order and social-welfare domestic politics that are foundations of the prosperous and diverse countries of North America and Western Europe. The left fears that the right wants a harsh dog-eat-dog world in which strong countries dominate weak ones, strong businesses crush weak ones, and where existing social hierarchies are protected.
The right believes that such a dog-eat-dog world exists now and always has. The right believes that the left's sentimental idealism created a weak society in decline, one vulnerable to strong, clear-eyed opponents, including Russia and China.
The left recalls George Washington, who respected the constraints of civilian authority. Washington put the republic's interest ahead of his own. The right recalls Andrew Jackson, who ignored treaties and the Supreme Court in order to expel and kill Cherokee Indians to open up land for White settlers. Jackson respected the will of the western frontier voters who elected him.
The left wins a majority of female voters. At the height of the #MeToo movement the left pushed Senator Al Franken (D-MN) from office. He had mugged a camera shot pretending to grope a sleeping woman. In 2020, the left wanted to decriminalize cross-border migration. In 2024, the left defended trans-female athletes competing in women's sporting events and having access to women's locker rooms. Within the left there is talk of "toxic masculinity." Within sophisticated circles, men not only shave their faces, they "manscape" by shaving body and pubic hair.
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| JD Vance |
The right wins a majority of male voters. Trump groped women, cheated on all his wives, and paid no political price. Vice President JD Vance wears a beard and goes to Europe to praise manliness. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg praises "masculine energy." Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth's qualification for nomination was his call to remove trans people from the military and females from combat roles. Big upper-body muscles are part of the brands of Trump-supporting podcasters Joe Rogan and Dan Bongino.
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| Rogan |
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| Bongino |
The left wants a more civilized world. The left believes the world is too interconnected for humans to continue to act like wild animals. We need to care for the planet. We need to domesticate ourselves, if we are to live in peace and harmony.
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| Housecat at leisure |
The right thinks that the West has domesticated itself into self-hating pushovers. They want the West to be proud of who we are biologically, culturally, racially, and nationally. We are number one. If that means pushing an ally around, so be it. If it means taking over Greenland or Gaza, who could stop us?
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| Tiger in the wild, bringing down prey |
At this moment, I don't see any rising star on the left who projects a different vibe. Democrats are still the party of the well-civilized. Republicans are sharpening their brand as proud apex predators. Dan Bongino was just named deputy director of the FBI; Trump announced a preference for Russia over the democracies of Western Europe; and Elon Musk is sending threatening emails to millions of federal employees.
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13 comments:
Agreed with it all, but now I’m depressed.
“We are number one and should act like it.” The Trump administration smells more like number two.
What makes America great is the degree to which people of all races and religions are able to live together in harmony. All that’s required is a commitment to our Constitution and the basic human values of truth, moral behavior, peace, love and non-violence.
According to the Constitution, the purpose of government is “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. The Trump administration fails on all counts.
Patriotism is the willingness to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Republicans don't have the balls and in 2020 abandoned any pretense of it.
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and they carrying signs
Mostly say, "Hooray for our side"
-B.S.
An accurate description, Peter, but no prescription. Personally, the solution is to try to achieve balance, not to exacerbate one or the other side of natural human tendencies. The lesson of Ying Yang is living on the edge.
muscle-bound
adjective disapproving
US /ˈmʌs.əl.baʊnd/ UK /ˈmʌs.əl.baʊnd/
used to describe someone who has very large muscles that make it difficult to move normally
For 'the left" in this piece, I believe it's helpful to substitute "liberals". For "the right", substitute "MAGA".
Leftists recall George Washington, for instance, as a slave-owning oppressor, as a fraudulent hero.
Old-school liberals join old-school conservatives in fearing the decline of institutional memory.
Spengler in 1918 was no fan of the "Caesarism" he foresaw supplanting Western civilization.
“Old school” Democrats would still like to address the issues and make government function using old school debate and compromise, but there aren’t enough old school Republicans to do it with. The lunatics, i.e. MAGA, have taken over the asylum. The governor of Maryland had some interesting observations on that after the governors met with Trump:
https://marylandmatters.org/2025/02/25/moore-changes-tone-after-encounter-with-trump/
People are calling it a “vibe shift“. It seems to be a real phenomenon.
As Peter said, the Republicans currently have an emotional/mythical message; something like the “hero’s journey”, or the brave frontiersmen, or the genius entrepreneur.
The last time the Democrats had anything like this was Barack Obama’s “hope and change”. But the light of that torch was fading by 2016, and Hillary Clinton, the very personification of arrogant elitism, was the wrong choice to re-ignite it.
What’s the emotional/mythical positive message of the Democratic Party right now? Beats me. And more to the point, it beats them. They have no idea, and no one with the charisma to project the idea they don’t have.
If they don’t come up with someone and something new, the Democrats are going to spend a long time in the political wilderness.
Jen Psaki (former White House press secretary and currently working for MSNBC) has a new podcast called "The Blueprint". She interviews people regarding what they think the Democrats should do going forward. Her talk with the governor of Illinois was very informative. It's refreshing to listen to solutions instead of just problems.
The Republicans’ emotional/mythical message is more like lies, crimes and pussy grabbing. For Democrats it’s about Truth, Justice and the American Way.
Here’s what’s wrong with Mike’s theory: if that had been what the messaging on both sidesbactually was, the Democrats would have won in November. The scientific approach when a theory fails to predict reality is to drop the theory, not to ignore reality.
A shrinking minority of Democrats actually believe in the American Way. Even then it’s typically in the breach, not the observance. And as MT suggests, that’s a bowdlerization of the Republican side as well, Trump or otherwise. Most voters are well inside these gross margins.
The scientific approach bases theory on facts.
Fact: Trump is a liar.
Fact: Trump is a criminal.
Fact: Trump is a pussy grabber.
The fact is he won anyway because so many voters ignored reality, but it's already catching up with them.
Biblical teaching warns people of God to avoid idols, which are often defined as good things that become “ultimate” or primary things. In his book You Are What You Love, theologian James Smith argues that humans are all worshippers (we assign ultimate worth to things, ideas or people) and we worship what we love. And when you think about it, we all do don’t we? Power, sex, wealth, fame, independence, status, intelligence, freedom to or from “_________”- the list goes on.
Jesus called all people the unflattering term “sheep” which implies being vulnerable to predators- including the kind who prey on our minds. Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury brands LVMH, was once the world’s richest man, was asked about the secret of getting people to buy luxury goods. He said “create desire”. And isn’t that what Trump and Rogan and all the others do? Even when it is impractical? (Like who needs a Rolex watch to tell time?)
So in my conversations with people on each extreme, I try to tease out the underlying desires and loves with non-judgmental questions. And I realize how much we have in common.
Not to flatter Peter too much, but it’s one of the reasons I read this blog. He’s really good at helping me see multiple sides to issues, ask good questions and help me understand the world a bit better.
Thanks Peter Sage.
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