The Russian aristocracy lost any semblance of noblesse oblige due to their gradual obsession with “Western ideas” (Enlightenment thinking) particularly with what happened in the French Revolution. Tsar Nicholas said repeatedly “I have a mandate I cannot fulfill.” due to this.
The big political issue in Mexico right now is an upcoming election for judges - the left wing AMLO/Sheinbaum government altered the constitution to mandate direct elections for certain parts of the judiciary, which will certainly result in a lot of committed leftists replacing previously-appointed centrist/rightist types.
So I had to laugh this morning when the entire editorial page for Reforma - Mexico’s respectable-right flagship newspaper - was taken up by essays arguing whether or not rightists should just check out of the political process as a kind of protest. Real Conundrum Cluster hours down old Mexico way.
Maybe we can get them to print a few of your Russian Rev pieces in translation. “Guest Column From An Anonymous Yankee…”
I really despise the “protest vote” of checking out of an election or some referendum. Time and again, centrist or right leaning parties will try to show their frustration with the left’s electoral shenanigans by not “condescending” to vote in the election. “That’ll show them,” they think. No, it won’t. It will just guarantee there is absolutely no check on the left’s political power and they’ll control the whole board as they systematically target resistance. Such a foolish approach that only a cuckservative mindset could consider as the “morally right” thing to do: surrender.
I hear what you’re saying altho in this case they’re certain to lose the election - Americans are kind of unaware of how leftist Mexico actually is, national left parties won ~70% of the vote last general election - so it’s really like “do we want to lose by 30 points and, by participating, give legitimacy to this dubious constitutional maneuver?” I don’t really know the good answer to that, tbh
The same thing just happened in Venezuela actually. The Chavismo government held an election (accused of being rigged by Western intelligence, but who knows) and the rightists intentionally boycotted.
I see why you are so interested in the Russian Revolution and admire your wide reading on it. I find the many commentators on the Right really do not research independently or seek to make connections with history. It’s all “The West has Fallen” and a race to get “content” out. The slower pace and methodical approach of Substack is much better for real commentary and research like yours, which I greatly appreciate.
The nature of equalized rather than premogeniture inheritance is absolutely fascinating and significant for our working or non-working classes that have been broken by the destruction of marriages and family ties (as explained by Rob Henderson). A certain well-melanated group also faces something like 76% illegitimacy rate, which makes generational wealth and transfer very challenging. The Boomers generally give their inheritance to cruise lines or divide it up amongst their children equally. However, the rate of business ownership is so down that there is not that transfer and building up of wealth. Even Middle Class kids have to reinvent the wheel, going to college and starting in a random field without any leg up from their parents who previously might have taught them unique skills or given them a head start in business. That idea of hostility to outside threats but worthless political self governance in the Russian peasant villages reminds me of the city blocks that are fiercely hostile to other blocks’ encroachment but don’t do anything to better their actual condition.
I’m halfway through this piece but didn’t want a complete wall of text. Will continue later after checking in with the Suicide Hotline after the depression that came from finally listening to the Command and Conquer episode and realizing it’s so completely over.
Suicidally insane sounds like Merkel, Boris Johnson, Trudeau, and our own "intelligentsia" with their replacement-level immigration policies. I can't escape the feeling that we are in the eye of the storm right now.
Very interesting, thanks for posting this. Now I need to go back to those scenes in Dostoevsky and Tolstoy where they talk about "the Russian Peasant" with this in mind.
"Because the principle of primogeniture succession held in Japan, the ruling stratum of a village tended to be comparatively stable over the generations."
Related to your AI issue you mentioned in the MI episode, I tried googling for some book or academic paper that explored primogeniture and whether or not it led to greater prosperity today for the peoples that practiced it historically. The google AI tried to answer the question for me with a "No" using examples of countries that didn't practice it yet are prosperous, Japan being one of them (the other examples were also wrong).
So many people must be walking around with heads full of wrong ideas reinforced by technological authority.
My entire life has been filled with everyone around me saying "somebody will do something" or if things don't work out then "I'll just move to Wyoming". Are you not somebody? If everything falls apart will there actually be anywhere you can escape to? There is an utter lack of agency and responsibility everywhere. I understand how that happens (and this article certainly helped) but that mindset is still so foreign to me. There is nobody coming to save us. If America and the West is to survive it will be because we decided to do something and not bc we sat around waiting for something to happen.
I really enjoy the pieces on the Russian Revolution. I picked up Sean Mcmeekin’s book after you recommended it and now I’ll need to read this one next. Thanks MG!
The Russian aristocracy lost any semblance of noblesse oblige due to their gradual obsession with “Western ideas” (Enlightenment thinking) particularly with what happened in the French Revolution. Tsar Nicholas said repeatedly “I have a mandate I cannot fulfill.” due to this.
The sections on this kind of dysfunction from the aristocracy in the book are fantastic. Was actually hard to read at parts, total delusion.
Dr Matthew Raphael Johnson does great work on this.
The big political issue in Mexico right now is an upcoming election for judges - the left wing AMLO/Sheinbaum government altered the constitution to mandate direct elections for certain parts of the judiciary, which will certainly result in a lot of committed leftists replacing previously-appointed centrist/rightist types.
So I had to laugh this morning when the entire editorial page for Reforma - Mexico’s respectable-right flagship newspaper - was taken up by essays arguing whether or not rightists should just check out of the political process as a kind of protest. Real Conundrum Cluster hours down old Mexico way.
Maybe we can get them to print a few of your Russian Rev pieces in translation. “Guest Column From An Anonymous Yankee…”
I really despise the “protest vote” of checking out of an election or some referendum. Time and again, centrist or right leaning parties will try to show their frustration with the left’s electoral shenanigans by not “condescending” to vote in the election. “That’ll show them,” they think. No, it won’t. It will just guarantee there is absolutely no check on the left’s political power and they’ll control the whole board as they systematically target resistance. Such a foolish approach that only a cuckservative mindset could consider as the “morally right” thing to do: surrender.
I hear what you’re saying altho in this case they’re certain to lose the election - Americans are kind of unaware of how leftist Mexico actually is, national left parties won ~70% of the vote last general election - so it’s really like “do we want to lose by 30 points and, by participating, give legitimacy to this dubious constitutional maneuver?” I don’t really know the good answer to that, tbh
The same thing just happened in Venezuela actually. The Chavismo government held an election (accused of being rigged by Western intelligence, but who knows) and the rightists intentionally boycotted.
I see why you are so interested in the Russian Revolution and admire your wide reading on it. I find the many commentators on the Right really do not research independently or seek to make connections with history. It’s all “The West has Fallen” and a race to get “content” out. The slower pace and methodical approach of Substack is much better for real commentary and research like yours, which I greatly appreciate.
The nature of equalized rather than premogeniture inheritance is absolutely fascinating and significant for our working or non-working classes that have been broken by the destruction of marriages and family ties (as explained by Rob Henderson). A certain well-melanated group also faces something like 76% illegitimacy rate, which makes generational wealth and transfer very challenging. The Boomers generally give their inheritance to cruise lines or divide it up amongst their children equally. However, the rate of business ownership is so down that there is not that transfer and building up of wealth. Even Middle Class kids have to reinvent the wheel, going to college and starting in a random field without any leg up from their parents who previously might have taught them unique skills or given them a head start in business. That idea of hostility to outside threats but worthless political self governance in the Russian peasant villages reminds me of the city blocks that are fiercely hostile to other blocks’ encroachment but don’t do anything to better their actual condition.
I’m halfway through this piece but didn’t want a complete wall of text. Will continue later after checking in with the Suicide Hotline after the depression that came from finally listening to the Command and Conquer episode and realizing it’s so completely over.
Suicidally insane sounds like Merkel, Boris Johnson, Trudeau, and our own "intelligentsia" with their replacement-level immigration policies. I can't escape the feeling that we are in the eye of the storm right now.
Very interesting, thanks for posting this. Now I need to go back to those scenes in Dostoevsky and Tolstoy where they talk about "the Russian Peasant" with this in mind.
"Because the principle of primogeniture succession held in Japan, the ruling stratum of a village tended to be comparatively stable over the generations."
Related to your AI issue you mentioned in the MI episode, I tried googling for some book or academic paper that explored primogeniture and whether or not it led to greater prosperity today for the peoples that practiced it historically. The google AI tried to answer the question for me with a "No" using examples of countries that didn't practice it yet are prosperous, Japan being one of them (the other examples were also wrong).
So many people must be walking around with heads full of wrong ideas reinforced by technological authority.
My entire life has been filled with everyone around me saying "somebody will do something" or if things don't work out then "I'll just move to Wyoming". Are you not somebody? If everything falls apart will there actually be anywhere you can escape to? There is an utter lack of agency and responsibility everywhere. I understand how that happens (and this article certainly helped) but that mindset is still so foreign to me. There is nobody coming to save us. If America and the West is to survive it will be because we decided to do something and not bc we sat around waiting for something to happen.
Magnificent article, excellent curation. I’d also like to compliment your text to speech gf, she does great work and has a very soothing voice.
I really enjoy the pieces on the Russian Revolution. I picked up Sean Mcmeekin’s book after you recommended it and now I’ll need to read this one next. Thanks MG!
Peasant emancipation is always and everywhere a mistake.