Coming up!
January is usually a refreshing time of reflection, resolutions and new beginnings. But so far, the news of 2021 is profoundly depressing. The Tech Totalitarian crackdown against patriots and the sitting president after the events of January 6th are reminiscent of Charlottesville fallout, except on a greater scale—even the sitting President now banned from at least 17 services (including Spotify of all things) [All the platforms that have banned or restricted Trump so far, by Sara Fischer and Ashley Gold, Axios, January 11,2021 and Opinion divided over Trump's ban from social media, by Alex Hern, The Guardian, January 11, 2021].
Considering these two themes of 2021—pessimism and reflection—we at the VDARE Book Club thought now is the time to bring back our celebrated pessimist, John Derbyshire (writer at VDARE.com and author of We Are Doomed), to engage in some reflection on The National Question.
You might say, “I am too depressed!” But John Derbyshire’s pessimism should not be confused with despair. Instead, in From the Dissident Right, Derbyshire offers frank, realistic discussion around the question, “Who Are We?” The answer lies in an honest discussion of race, ethnicity and identity.
As we enter February, John Derbyshire will appear with our host, James Kirkpatrick, on a Book Club exclusive podcast to discuss The National Question, how America sees itself, and how patriots have been fighting the intellectual battle to keep America American since he coined the term “Dissident Right.”
An excerpt from our discussion questions:
1. Regarding America’s possible futures, John Derbyshire says on p. 173 “The USA may thus stagger along indefinitely with a patched-up version of the present ethnic spoils system.”
Another possible future is on p. 175—Derbyshire predicts totalitarianism, especially with “mass self-censorship.”
Do you think we’re about to make that transition, especially now, after events at the Capitol on January 6th, that politicians are talking about a domestic terrorism law that could apply to just about anyone?
2. I’m [James Kirkpatrick] known as the notorious pessimist, but John Derbyshire literally wrote a book called We Are Doomed.
What about you? Do you see a general decline of the West in Spenglerian terms [see The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler], as something that is just unavoidable? Or is there already potential for something new to emerge?
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