One of the finest diagnoses yet published on the challenges facing the Western civilization of freedom. Echoes Isaiah’s warning from over 2,500 years ago, on the perils of demoralization through linguistic inversion: “Woe to those who call the night day, and the day night.”
This is a piece EVERYONE should read. Smart, honest, to the point. Ayaan’s ideas are not some no-risk cheap shots smuggled in from the faculty lounge. They are the product of her intensely lived experience. I don’t know what percentage of the population actually supports the three sources of our unrest and confusion — the Marcuse-inspired academic Marxists, the radical Islamist rooters for Hamas, and the Confucius Institute CCP fellow travelers — but my guess is the majority of the country, as Ayaan suggests, are just keeping their heads down, doing their jobs and trying to make ends meet, and worrying about their families and the future. They want a return to a moderate, decent, law-abiding America. Full stop. The “educated” younger generation that has drunk the Kool-Aid of CRT and Kendi’s anti-racism and the politics of gender fluidity are a problem, of course. But maybe someday they will educate themselves, read some Jonathan Haidt, put their cell phones down, see what is happening in the rest of the world, think what it means to be an adult, and decide that America, while still a work in progress, is definitely not evil. In the meantime they should read more Ayaan.
This is powerful. I really appreciate your insight, Ayaan. Thank you for sharing. I support your mission, and just upgraded my subscription to Founding Member.
Actually, we weren’t. The Russians helped undermine the U.S., but their role wasn’t decisive.
America has been subverting itself ever since the Progressive Era, when cheap nationalism and soft collectivism began to be substituted for the classical liberalism America was founded on.
FDR wasn’t sympathetic to socialism because he had socialist spies around him; rather, he had socialist spies around him because he was a damn socialist anyway.
Bezmenov simply identified the patterns of ideological decay - and then wrapped them into a dramatic spy story, making it seem like the all-powerful KGB orchestrated it all from the shadows.
The truth is much simpler: America corrupted itself.
One of the finest diagnoses yet published on the challenges facing the Western civilization of freedom. Echoes Isaiah’s warning from over 2,500 years ago, on the perils of demoralization through linguistic inversion: “Woe to those who call the night day, and the day night.”
This is a piece EVERYONE should read. Smart, honest, to the point. Ayaan’s ideas are not some no-risk cheap shots smuggled in from the faculty lounge. They are the product of her intensely lived experience. I don’t know what percentage of the population actually supports the three sources of our unrest and confusion — the Marcuse-inspired academic Marxists, the radical Islamist rooters for Hamas, and the Confucius Institute CCP fellow travelers — but my guess is the majority of the country, as Ayaan suggests, are just keeping their heads down, doing their jobs and trying to make ends meet, and worrying about their families and the future. They want a return to a moderate, decent, law-abiding America. Full stop. The “educated” younger generation that has drunk the Kool-Aid of CRT and Kendi’s anti-racism and the politics of gender fluidity are a problem, of course. But maybe someday they will educate themselves, read some Jonathan Haidt, put their cell phones down, see what is happening in the rest of the world, think what it means to be an adult, and decide that America, while still a work in progress, is definitely not evil. In the meantime they should read more Ayaan.
This is such a nice thing to read!
True ‘dat - for sure!
Yes, I saw this in The Free Press. Read it, listened to it. Just printed it out to read again and save for later... St. Crispin's Day perhaps.
Sage, insightful, brave commentary born of deep experience and erudite examination
You have my deep admiration,Aayan
I will distribute this piece as widely as I can …
Why this quickly became one of my favorite substacks. I read this on TFP and came back here to upgrade to paid. Thank you!!
This is powerful. I really appreciate your insight, Ayaan. Thank you for sharing. I support your mission, and just upgraded my subscription to Founding Member.
Actually, we weren’t. The Russians helped undermine the U.S., but their role wasn’t decisive.
America has been subverting itself ever since the Progressive Era, when cheap nationalism and soft collectivism began to be substituted for the classical liberalism America was founded on.
FDR wasn’t sympathetic to socialism because he had socialist spies around him; rather, he had socialist spies around him because he was a damn socialist anyway.
Bezmenov simply identified the patterns of ideological decay - and then wrapped them into a dramatic spy story, making it seem like the all-powerful KGB orchestrated it all from the shadows.
The truth is much simpler: America corrupted itself.