Some Thoughts on Archeofuturism

Those who think about such things usually find labels to describe their beliefs. In my case, I have been generally libertarian since I have been a teenager but can't use that word to describe myself, since it has been so infected by leftism that it's worthless.

Perhaps I could describe myself as a "libertarian nationalist": a free market within the U.S., trade with the rest of the world and don't involve ourselves in their political affairs. That's what George Washington advised in his Farewell Address.

Even though Washington's advice is good, it's not enough. The writer and political scientist Russell Kirk described what "conservatism" is really supposed to be, and any society based on it would work:

"First, the conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order. That order is made for man, and man is made for it: human nature is a constant, and moral truths are permanent.

"This word 'order' signifies harmony. There are two aspects or types of order: the inner order of the soul, and the outer order of the commonwealth. Twenty-five centuries ago, Plato taught this doctrine, but even the educated nowadays find it difficult to understand. The problem of order has been a principal concern of conservatives ever since conservative became a term of politics.

"Our twentieth-century world has experienced the hideous consequences of the collapse of belief in a moral order. Like the atrocities and disasters of Greece in the fifth century before Christ, the ruin of great nations in our century shows us the pit into which fall societies that mistake clever self-interest, or ingenious social controls, for pleasing alternatives to an oldfangled moral order.

"A society in which men and women are governed by belief in an enduring moral order, by a strong sense of right and wrong, by personal convictions about justice and honor, will be a good society.

"Second, the conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity. It is old custom that enables people to live together peaceably; the destroyers of custom demolish more than they know or desire.

"Third, conservatives believe in what may be called the principle of prescription. Conservatives sense that modern people are dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, able to see farther than their ancestors only because of the great stature of those who have preceded us in time.

"Fourth, conservatives are guided by their principle of prudence. Burke agrees with Plato that in the statesman, prudence is chief among virtues. Any public measure ought to be judged by its probable long-run consequences, not merely by temporary advantage or popularity.

"Fifth, conservatives pay attention to the principle of variety. They feel affection for the proliferating intricacy of long-established social institutions and modes of life, as distinguished from the narrowing uniformity and deadening egalitarianism of radical systems.

"Sixth, conservatives are chastened by their principle of imperfectability. Human nature suffers irremediably from certain grave faults, the conservatives know. Man being imperfect, no perfect social order ever can be created.

"Seventh, conservatives are persuaded that freedom and property are closely linked. Separate property from private possession, and Leviathan becomes master of all.

"Eighth, conservatives uphold voluntary community, quite as they oppose involuntary collectivism.

"Ninth, the conservative perceives the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human passions. Politically speaking, power is the ability to do as one likes, regardless of the wills of one’s fellows.

"Tenth, the thinking conservative understands that permanence and change must be recognized and reconciled in a vigorous society."

Now I'm up to "conservative libertarian nationalist." That's getting a little awkward.

It gets worse. There is also a great deal of wisdom in Archeofuturism.

1) The separation of gender roles.

2) The transmission of ethnic and folk traditions.

3) Visible and structuring social hierarchies.

4) The worship of ancestors.

5) Rites and tests of initiation.

6) Organic communities (family and folk).

7) De-individualization of marriage (marriage as a concern of the community).

8) Prestige of the warrior caste

9) Inequality among social statuses (not implicit, but explicit and ideological)

10) Definitions of peoples and groups (tribalism vs. globalism).

I have already written about the ten characteristics of Archeofuturism except prestige of the Warrior Class. Now if they were as Jerry Pournelle or Robert Heinlein wanted them to be, then that would be just fine. In that case, there wouldn't be many of them and they generally would just fight each other.

As you can see, there is a great deal of overlap of Kirk's conservatism with Archeofuturism. There is, however, no leftism in either of them. None. Leftism is destructive and as close to pure bad as exists.

One thing they do have in common is as small as government as possible. Some go so far as to say we need no government whatsoever, and they are the anarchists. Anarchism doesn't work, unfortunately, as appealing as it is.

Again, I will use the horror tale, and monsters, as I am wont to do. There is a theme in horror known as Expansion and Contraction.

Expansion is when something keeps growing until it takes over everything. think the Blob, or Dracula, or the Borg...or the government.

Contraction is when something contracts until there is nothing left. Think The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Unfortunately, but inevitably, the more the government expands, the more that people contract. Then, again, inevitably, we end up with the Captive Mind, in which everyone hides their true thoughts lest unpleasant things happen to them.

Right now we are heading toward the Captive Mind - think Political Correctness, which is convinced once all Crimethink is abolished, utopia will reign.

Once our slow leftist collapse is done, there are philosophies out there ready to pick up the pieces. In fact, they already are picking them up.

The coming society will be small government (and we won't trust government), will understand there are profound differences between men and women, will be free market, will have initiation rites and rituals for the young, won't be a democracy, will be overwhelming racially homogenous and certainly give up the current bizarre belief that everyone is totally equal.

In the past, this sort of society has created great material and intellectual advancement from a moral people, with low inflation, a great many high-paying jobs, with women who didn't end up cat-owning spinsters, and without 85-IQ immigrants murdering, raping and stealing.

In many ways (but not all ways) it will be like this:

In other words, in some ways it will be going back to the past, and in other ways heading into the future.