Free Republic

The man in the green hoodie wanted to show off his knife. The weapon he flicked open was a large foldaway with a curved blade, illegal in New York City, no matter its length; the setting for his performance was the uptown D train, going express from Columbus Circle to 125th Street. There was a full moon in the sky, and underground, as so often now, there were disturbances: fights broke out, insults were hurled, the air was thick with barely suppressed violence. Protests earlier that day had brought part of the metropolis to a standstill. A group of demonstrators,...

“The old politics of right versus left, and Republican opposed to Democrat have now given way to a new existential struggle: Americans must choose between civilization—or its destroyers.” –Victor Davis Hanson. Now that you, the lucky ones, are beyond your steaming platters of pancakes and mighty rashers of bacon, and perhaps even a dram or two of grog in your coffee. . . and clawed your way through the bales of presents. . . a merry Christmas to all. . . and here’s something else to think about this morning: You may have noticed that our country, formerly a republic...

There was a book a few years ago entitled "How the Irish Saved Civilization," explaining how Irish monks preserved ancient manuscripts that became the basis for much of Western thought. To give credit where credit is due, however, it must also be acknowledged that when the classic works of ancient Greek thought that form the basis of Western philosophy, political thought, and even literature had vanished almost completely from Western Europe, they were brought there not just from Ireland, but from a place that many assume had vanished from the earth long before: the Roman Empire. If schoolchildren today pause...

These self-styled 'progressives' are in reality trying to reverse four centuries of progress, taking us back to a time when a small cadre of elites ruled the world and everyone else basically lived as a serf. ... However else we might define “wokeness”--using terms like “leftist,” “Marxist,” or “progressive,” all of which are accurate enough—it is without question anti-Enlightenment, an explicit repudiation of Western, Judeo-Christian values. That is unfortunate. We call it the “Enlightenment” for a reason. Humanity emerged (in Europe, at least) from 1500 years of moral, intellectual, and spiritual darkness, where the vast majority of people lived short,...

American conservatives fell in love with Poland and Hungary. The two countries stand as models for what all right-wing governments should be. Not only do they keep migrants out, they also promote pro-family policies designed to boost birth rates. Many of their fans want America to adopt these same policies to fix our fertility woes. But the two countries are not quite the paragon of fecundity some may believe. Hungary did boost its fertility from the lowest in Europe after implementing pro-natalist policies, but its total fertility rate (TFR) still remains low. Poland’s TFR continues to rapidly decline in spite...

For most of Western history, art was used as a way for patrons to showcase achievements, propagandize citizens, or lionize individuals. Maybe the single greatest artist in human history, Michelangelo, created his greatest works for patrons of various sorts. He created David for the Florentine Guild of Wool, the Pieta for the French ambassador to the Holy See, and the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica for popes. Art was, in one way or another, an homage to something greater than its creator.Fast-forward about three centuries, and the art world begun to change. The idea of art as an indulgence...

Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report" talks to Bret Weinstein about the decline of enlightenment liberalism; whether tribalism is Western civilization’s future; why Western civilization has been reversing course on racial equality; the missteps of the New Atheists and the challenge of reconciling past wisdom with modern problems; the societal consequences of rapid progressivism; the arbitrary nature and pointlessness of a lot of our education; the unintended impacts of discarding established norms; the human tendency to focus on immediate problems while avoiding thoughtful analysis to avoid unintended chaos; the need for a balanced approach that respects both conservative and progressive...

Forbes Media chairman Steve Forbes and FBN's Larry Kudlow discuss the "moral rot" threatening Western civilization: STEVE FORBES: Well, that's the shock. We saw the antisemitism of the 1930s, we saw what happened in Germany and elsewhere. At least in this country, you didn't have it out in the open like we have today. So it's come out in the open. But the shameful and shocking thing is our civic leaders have not confronted it. They coddle it rather than condemning it. They don't want to seem judgmental. Somebody might criticize them. What it sets up is an environment where...

The younger generations seem increasingly crazed. A worrying proportion of the young sympathises with those who launch terror attacks against Israel, supports the immediate elimination of fossil fuels or demands the wiping out of gender distinctions. All these positions are troubling in themselves, but they also reflect a deeper malady – a mostly apolitical breakdown of social norms, personal interaction, literacy and logical thinking. No single issue has catalysed Gen Z, as the Vietnam War did for the Baby Boomer generation. Boomers were angry but did not generally despair about their futures, which turned out reasonably well, buoyed by the...

John Kerry, special presidential envoy on climate matters, announced Saturday that the United States has "proudly" committed to not to build any new coal plants and to get rid of existing ones entirely."To meet our goal of 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, we need to phase out unabated coal," Mr. Kerry said in a Dec. 2 statement, in which he announced that the United States had officially joined a coalition of 56 other countries who all plan to ditch coal in the name of climate change.“We will be working to accelerate unabated coal phase-out across the world, building...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States committed to the idea of phasing out coal power plants, joining 56 other nations in kicking the coal habit that’s a huge factor in global warming. U.S. Special Envoy John Kerry announced over the weekend that America was joining the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which means the Biden Administration commits to building no new coal plants and phasing out existing plants. No date was given for when the existing plants would have to go, but other Biden regulatory actions and international commitments already in the works had meant no coal by 2035.

Recent IPSOS polling (www.euronews.com/business/2023/11/26/one-in-four-europeans-say-their-financial-condition-is-precarious) found several concerning trends among the populations of Europe 30% of Europeans can no longer afford a “surprise expense” 47% of Europeans have had to turn down the heat in their homes and go cold, due to energy prices 37% of Europeans have had problems affording health treatment (medicines etc etc)

French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the COP28 summit on Friday as world leaders gathered in Dubai for the second day of UN climate talks. Macron urged G7 nations at UN climate talks on Friday to set an example to other countries and "commit to putting an end to coal" by 2030. Speaking at COP28 in Dubai, Macron said investing in coal was "truly an absurdity".

When he embarked on his journey to discover a path to India Christopher Columbus’ lead ship was the Santa Maria. Built in 1460 it measured 62 ft with a crew of just 40, the Santa Maria would take Columbus to the New World and would change the course of human history. Half a century earlier there was another man who sailed ships who didn’t change the course of human history. His name was Zheng He and he commanded the Chinese navy during the early 15th century. His Treasure Ships were not only larger than the Santa Maria, they were more...

A descent into barbarism is easy and fast; you only need to let yourself go. The animal part of all of us is just below the surface and constantly has to be controlled, or it will bubble to the top, and we will sink into savagery. Rising into civilization is difficult and slow because the masses must know the difference between right and wrong, constantly be sober and vigilant about it, urged by universally acknowledged societal mores and virtues to pursue the excellent and reject the decadent, and, above all, individually conquer themselves, something few people are ever capable of...

I have been writing a lot on Israel, and thought I should write about another one of my lifelong interests: Spain Spain is undergoing its greatest crisis since the death of Franco, and the struggle began to develop a parliamentary system of governance. We see the reemergence of themes from Spain's complex and endlessly fascinating past. While in theory, and mostly practice, Spain has been a unified kingdom/state for some 500 years, under the surface separatist forces continue to work. Very quickly, and others can fill in more details. This, after all, is just a humble vanity blog. In October...

The world is heading quite rapidly toward tyranny. We are in a revolutionary period that will dramatically change civilization. Few people understand the gravity of our situation. Here are some of the reasons why the majority of people seem oblivious to the danger. These psychological shortcomings explain why we are sleepwalking into tyranny. The Normalcy Bias “is a cognitive bias that occurs in times of crisis, leading us to disregard any signs or warnings that we are in danger. Normalcy bias is a defense mechanism that lulls us into thinking life will just continue as it always has.” The evidence...

If you aren't familiar with Douglas Murray, you will be soon. In the wake of the Hamas invasion of Israel which has now led to a prolonged conflict in Gaza, the author and journalist has emerged as a rare voice of clarity. Specifically, Murray has not held back in critiquing the threats to Western civilization that have become entrenched over the years, and while his domain is primarily Europe and the United Kingdom, his warnings extend to the United States. As RedState reported, recent violent protests in New York City resembled something you'd see in a third-world Middle Eastern country,...

Atheism can't equip us for civilisational war... In 2002, I discovered a 1927 lecture by Bertrand Russell entitled “Why I am Not a Christian”. It did not cross my mind, as I read it, that one day, nearly a century after he delivered it to the South London branch of the National Secular Society, I would be compelled to write an essay with precisely the opposite title. The year before, I had publicly condemned the terrorist attacks of the 19 men who had hijacked passenger jets and crashed them into the twin towers in New York. They had done it...

Declinism is in fashion again. As relations between America and China worsen, studying the ends of earlier ages of hegemony becomes more popular. Books predicting the unstoppable rise of autocratic strongmen and the death of democracy proliferate. There is much talk of the “Thucydides trap” the inevitability of a clash between a rising power and an established one, as Athens challenged Sparta in the fifth century bc. This provocative short book adapts this approach with a novel twist. It draws a comparison between the West in 1999, the zenith of its confidence, and Rome exactly 1,600 years earlier, in 399—just...