CATEGORY: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (5 min)
 

Does Tradition Belong in American Politics?

America doesn’t have the shared sense of ethnicity and history that many other nations do.
 
Think of France. England. Portugal. Poland.
 
Unlike these nations, which are built on hundreds of years of place and history and culture, America was built on an idea.
 
So in light of today’s political divisions, the question is . . .
 
What Can Hold Us Together as a Country?
 
In the latest Intercollegiate Review article, Nate Hochman picks up where Avi Woolf left off a few weeks ago.
 
Woolf argued that the best way to counter “woke” culture is to return to tradition. But just what that means, and what it looks like, is difficult to determine. 
 
Hochman gets into that here. 
 
He also introduces you to another great conservative thinker you probably haven’t met yet. 

CATEGORY: POLITICS
 

Three Articles on Radicalism Every Conservative Should Read

Radical mob activity has become impossible to ignore.
 
Most of us are aware of the destruction wreaked on lives and livelihoods amid threatening demands for “justice.”
 
So what should conservatives do?
 
Detach and Reflect 
 
At ISI, we like to consider ourselves the conservative place for detachment and reflection: the space where you can step back, discuss complex ideas, and draw your own conclusions, free of ideological pressure. One of the few such spaces left.
 
We pulled together three insightful readings on radicalism and mob mentality for you. 
 
Taking the Long View on Radicalism (It’s Not New)
 
The first thing you should understand is that radicalism is not new. It’s always been a feature, not a bug, of human nature. Search any period of history and you’ll find the destruction of symbols, the manipulation of language, and coercion.
 
Radicalism has gone by many names. Marxism is just another name in the lineup.
 
Read: Millenarian Mobs: An Old and Dangerous Story
 
What Makes Marxism So Resilient? 
 
Compared to radical movements of the past, however, Marxism seems especially resilient. For more than 150 years, Marxism has outmaneuvered classical liberalism again and again, rearing its head in countries all over the world.
 
Why? The answer is part ideological, part tactical. The combination is lethal. Scholar Yoram Hazony breaks it all down in Quillette. 
 
Read: The Challenge of Marxism
 
What Ya Gonna Do When They Come for You? 
 
Let’s end with practical advice. What do you do when you find yourself in a school, an office, any environment where radical ideas are being enforced? 
 
Write down your deepest convictions, the ones you would never abandon. Put the list somewhere prominent. Gaze at it every day. 
 
And adopt tactics that will help you stay true to those convictions. There are many ways to do this. 
 
Read: Cease and Resist: How to Fight the Illiberal Left
 
 
Next week we’re going to share the timeless wisdom of one of history’s most influential conservative thinkers, a man who made it his life’s work to combat radicalism. 
 
It will include some excellent quotes that will smarten up your social media content, too, so stay tuned . . .