No War for Taiwan

The Republican Party is haunted by the specter of communism. Even now that “wars of democracy” are out of vogue, the myth of our Shining City vanquishing the Evil Empire remains central to conservatives’ self-identity. Reagan told Mr. Gorbachev to tear down that wall, and down it came. This preoccupation with communism is the most

Rise of the New Stoics

Every day around noon, a white pickup truck comes barreling down my street. It’s one of those big-boy toys: jacked-up suspension, aftermarket muffler, turbo…the works. It’s the kind of truck only a single man could love (or afford). You can hear it for a good ten seconds before it passes the house, and another ten seconds

Romance of the Real

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,” wrote Henry David Thoreau, and he’ll never live it down. Every child in America is assigned Walden in high school. Few students (and fewer teachers) get around to reading it. Yet everyone with an internet connection knows that its author sometimes let his mother do his

Two Priests Review ‘The Reactionary Mind’

Within a day of each other, two outstanding priest-writers reviewed The Reactionary Mind.  I’m deeply grateful to my friends Fr. Michael Rennier and Fr. Dwight Longenecker for their generous and thoughtful insights.      First, here’s Fr. Rennier for Dappled Things: When I use the phrase “reactionary” applied to myself, I have in mind a rejection

Jonah Goldberg on ‘The Reactionary Mind’

Friends, FYI—yesterday, Jonah Goldberg published a review of The Reactionary Mind at his newsletter, The Dispatch. Believe it or not, he liked it. (Well, sort of.) Take a look: I got the book, picked it up, and … I loved it. It’s written in brisk, inviting, oddly unpretentious prose. The author, Michael Warren Davis, is

Learning to Love Small Government

Presumably, God sent Covid as a rebuke to the so-called illiberal right. You know who I’m talking about, don’t you? National conservatives, Catholic integralists, and the like. They read Patrick Deneen and Adrian Vermeule. They fantasize about a Hawley/Vance ticket in 2028. They pine for a strong, right-wing regime—one that will uphold traditional values, revive

On the ‘Flirty Thirties’

Over at The American Conservative, editorial fellow Carmel Richardson—the best young journalist out there, in my opinion—has an outstanding piece called “Peak Anti-Natalism.”  If you haven’t done so, check it out. Ostensibly, it’s about the disastrous effects the COVID vaccines have on pregnant women.  She cites a new study from New Zealand, which “found the

Welcome to the Zuckerverse

For weeks now I’ve been looking for an excuse to write about my new favorite magazine, Hearth & Field.  I strongly urge all of you to subscribe immediately.  The folks at H&F are orthodox Catholics.  It’s not a Catholic magazine per se, but it definitely reflects Catholic interests.  They’re agrarians, localists, homesteaders, homeschoolers, Luddites, and

Sold Out!

You might have noticed that, already—two days after its publication—The Reactionary Mind is out of stock everywhere you look. Amazon doesn’t have it.  Bookshop.org doesn’t have it.  Book Depository doesn’t have it. A friend in Australia tried to order it through Abbey’s in Sydney, the best bookshop in the Eastern Hemisphere. They canceled his order

Culture War as Guerilla War

The Culture War as we know it is over, and we’ve lost. Now, mark my words carefully. I said the Culture War as we know it is over. The war for our country’s soul has only just begun. What’s over now is what you might call the Napoleonic Phase of the Culture War: the two armies in