We are in a Jacobin Revolution of the sort that in 1793-94 nearly destroyed France. And things are getting scary. The Democratic Party vanished sometime in 2020. It was absorbed by hard-left ideologues. They were bent on radically altering, or hijacking, existing institutions to force radical, equality-of-result agendas that otherwise do not earn majority support.… Continue reading Our French Revolution
Who Owns the University?
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness The most recent shout-down debacle at Stanford’s law school, one of many such recent sordid episodes, prompts the question: “Who owns our universities?” The law students who are in residence for three years apparently assume they embody the university. And so, they believe they represent and speak for a score… Continue reading Who Owns the University?
What Happened to Stanford?
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Stanford was once one of the world’s great universities. It birthed Silicon Valley in its prime. And along with its nearby twin and rival, UC Berkeley, its brilliant researchers, and teachers helped fuel the mid-20th-century California miracle. That was then. But like the descent of California, now something has gone… Continue reading What Happened to Stanford?
Are We the Byzantines?
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness When Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans on Tuesday, May 29, 1453, the Byzantine Empire and its capital had survived for 1,000 years beyond the fall of the Western Empire at Rome. Always outnumbered in a sea of enemies, the Byzantines’ survival had depended on its realist diplomacy of dividing its enemies,… Continue reading Are We the Byzantines?
Life Among the Ruins
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness American society is facing three existential crises not unlike those that overcame the late Roman, and a millennium later, terminal Byzantine, empires. Premodern Barbarism We are suffering an epidemic of premodern barbarism. The signs unfortunately appear everywhere. Over half a million homeless people crowd our big-city downtowns. Most know the… Continue reading Life Among the Ruins
The Woke Wrecking Machine
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Almost everything that has followed from the woke mass hysteria gripping the nation since 2020 has proved disastrous. Wokeism destroys meritocracy in favor of forced equality of result—history’s prescription for civilizational decline. If we continue with the woke hiring of administrators, air traffic controllers, ground crews, pilots, and rail workers,… Continue reading The Woke Wrecking Machine
The Toxic Racialist Obsessions of Joe Biden
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness Joe Biden ran on “unity,” which is critical in a multiracial America. He vowed to heal the divisions supposedly sown by Donald Trump. Instead, he is proving to be the most polarizing president in modern memory. Often his racialist rhetoric and condescension have proven demeaning to both blacks and whites.… Continue reading The Toxic Racialist Obsessions of Joe Biden
Anarchy, American-Style
Victor Davis Hanson American Greatness The 1960s revolution was both anarchic and nihilist. But it was waged against—not from—the establishment. Hippies and the Left either attacked institutions or, in Timothy Leary fashion, chose to “turn on, tune in, drop out” from them. The current revolution is much different—and far more dangerous—for at least three reasons. The Establishment Is… Continue reading Anarchy, American-Style
Reckless Reparations Reckoning
The last time racial reparations made the major news was on the eve of September 11, 2001 attacks. The loss of 3,000 Americans, which for a time fueled a new national unity, quickly dispelled the absurdities of the reparation movement, and turned our attention toward more existential issues. Now the idea is back in vogue… Continue reading Reckless Reparations Reckoning
The Baleful Cargo of Woke Diversity Worship
What do all our notable fabricators—George Santos, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama—have in common? Well, quite like the Ward ChurchilIs or Rachel Dolezals of the world, one way or another, they lied about their identities. Or they sought fraudulent ways of suggesting their ancestries were marginalized. Or they had claims on being victims on… Continue reading The Baleful Cargo of Woke Diversity Worship