Even after Orwell explicitly diverged from some of Chesterton’s views in the 1930s, under the influence of socialist ideas and hopes, Chesterton’s assumptions and political and ethical conceptions continued to shape him. Continue Reading »
The world media should shine a spotlight on China’s human rights abuses, its draconian methods of social monitoring, and its religious intolerance. Continue Reading »
In his speech “The Strenuous Life,” Theodore Roosevelt identified “the American character” with “the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife.” “The man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil,” Roosevelt asserted, “wins the ultimate . . . . Continue Reading »
A year before the end of his long life (1895–1998), the German author Ernst Jünger converted to Catholicism, a late change on a tumultuous path of searching and adventures that were far from exclusively spiritual. Born into a Protestant family, he attended conventional boarding schools, but at . . . . Continue Reading »
Aurel Kolnai truly belongs in the pantheon of anti-totalitarian thought and a study of his writings can shed some light on the totalitarian nihilism all around us. Continue Reading »
If today’s street violence and political extremism serve any good purpose, it’s this: They remind us that humans have a chronic appetite for destruction. Continue Reading »
The totalitarian impulse can rear its ugly head in well-established democracies like the United States. Continue Reading »
Because of my legal work on behalf of groups persecuted by the Chinese government, I have been tortured three times since September 21, 2007. I have been subject to long periods of secret detention or formal imprisonment. At present, I can move freely within the bounds of a village in northern . . . . Continue Reading »
Did you know that William F. Buckley, Jr., considered The Lives of Others the best film he had seen in many years? Did you know that the central accomplishment of the film, is that while true tales of communist regimes slaughtering 2 million here(Cambodia), 30 million there(Mao’s 1958 . . . . Continue Reading »
Flagg Taylor is a professor of political theory and such at Skidmore College, a friend, and the editor of the essential new collection on totalitarianism and dissent called The Great Lie. And now he’s blogging at Ricochet, home of the blogosphere’s best comments section, writing posts . . . . Continue Reading »
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