Victor Davis Hanson // American Greatness
One common theme in the abject madness and tragedies of the past 12 months is that progressive ideology now permeates almost all of our major institutions—even as the majority of Americans resist the leftist agenda. Its reach resembles the manner in which the pre-Renaissance church had absorbed the economic, cultural, social, artistic, and political life of Europe, or perhaps how Islamic doctrine was the foundation for all public and private life under the Ottoman Sultanate—or even how all Russian institutions of the 1930s exuded tenets of Soviet Marxism.
Pan-progressivism
To be a Silicon Valley executive, a prominent Wall Street player, the head of a prestigious publishing house, a university president, a network or PBS anchor, a major Hollywood actress, a retired general or admiral on a corporate board, or a NBA superstar requires either progressive fides or careful suppression of all political affinities.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 98 percent of Big Tech political donations went to Democrats in 2020. Censorship and deplatforming on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media companies is decidedly one-way. When Mark Zuckerberg and others in Silicon Valley donate $500 million to help officials “get out the vote” in particular precincts, it is not to help candidates of both parties.
Discussion (6)
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I had no idea who you were nor the Hoover Institute when I started watching Tucker Carlson on the Fox network. You now have a new fan! Thank you for bringing such profound insight to our political situation in such a calm, relaxed, straightforward manner. You're a great teacher.
Dear Mr. Hanson: I just heard you on Fox News (2/2/2021) describe the police officer shooting Michael Brown, in self-defense, as an unjust act. While there have certainly been many instances of police acting racistly and unprofessionally, the shooting of Brown was life-and-death for the officer. Brown that day was out of control and would have shot the officer if he could have managed to rip the officers gun from his control.
Interesting that you ended this paper with: “the plutocracy and the special interest run America”. I thought plutocrats and the wealthy run the world. Fairness and justice doesn’t exist for everyone everywhere and I don’t think it ever has. Progressivism in the extreme can’t enable a plutocracy to endure forever. A Democracy, Republic or a Democratic Republic will always emerge, since they are the best forms of governments. Perhaps someday we will be governed by machines that can think- “ An “AI Technocratic Singularity”. Noam Chomsky says it will never happen; Ray Kursweil thinks it’s inevitable. PS. This paper was another incredible read.
Liberal leaders are college-taught, but not educated. They lack the ability to think critically, as they are often steeped in ideologies that are divorced from the real world. Most have never done any manual work (unless you consider mixing martini's like AOC, manual labor) They also do not pay attention to history. This current drive to the left, is not new, but the results are known, as humans have not changed.
Victor- you nailed this right on the head. The despair I have is, how do you defeat a giant that is this big?
Why? Because "progressives" are really communists, they just don't know it.