The best of intellectual conservative thought, every Thursday

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Protestors burn an effigy of Michael Knowles outside of our debate on the extent to which transgenderism should be regulated by law.

CATEGORY: NEWS (3 MIN)

Protests at an ISI Debate

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On Tuesday, April 18th, ISI held a debate at the University of Pittsburgh between Michael Knowles and Brad Polumbo titled: Should Transgenderism be Regulated by Law?. If you missed the debate, watch it on our YouTube channel here

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Fox News

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reported on the protests: “The anger directed against the topic of discussion, ‘Should transgenderism be regulated by law?,’ turned into fear as a ‘loud explosion was heard and felt in the debate room,’ according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 'The explosion prompted Pitt to send an emergency alert to students about a ‘public safety emergency,’' the newspaper added.”

Read the whole article here

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CATEGORY: PHILOSOPHY (24 MIN)

Savage splinter cell

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Today’s conservative movement contains many different factions which have extremely diverse foundations and beliefs. One of these sects that has gained traction among a largely online community are the “neo-vitalists,” a group that urges humanity to return to ancient times and reclaim paganism.

For American Reformer

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, John Ehrett launches a critique of these neo-vitalists, but not before arguing they should be taken more seriously than they currently are. Ehrett notes that this mindset was best captured in Bronze Age Mindset, an online manifesto written by an anonymous author. This work argued against both religion and liberalism, longing for the pagan days of old.

Ehrett believes modern criticisms of this way of thinking have been too shallow and dismissive. He points to Mycenaean Greece as the ultimate example of the neo-vitalist utopia. This is not deconstructionism for deconstructionism’s sake, Ehrett says—it’s a true belief that Homer’s world is superior to ours.

Ehrett then deftly responds to this philosophy, revealing that the Judeo-Christian revelation of the knowledge of good and evil has made neo-vitalism impossible and improper. Christ’s interruption, Ehrett says, should destroy this mindset.

Read Ehrett’s entire analysis right here

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CATEGORY: WORLD (3 MIN)

Fear of freedom

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Mainstream media often treated Donald Trump during his presidency as a “strongman” in the style of Putin or Chavez or Mussolini. This led to an epidemic of labeling nationalist leaders as fascist tyrants without investigating further. Yet for one crime-ridden country, strong nationalist guidance could be both necessary and democratically popular.



Sen. Marco Rubio, in Compact

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, discusses the situation of El Salvador and its president, Nayib Bukele. President Biden and many media outlets have branded Bukele a dictator. But Rubio, who recently visited El Salvador, argues that Bukele simply represents a democratic response to the country’s troubles.



Gang warfare, drug-running, and extortion dominated El Salvador for many years. Bukele, in the past year, cracked down on gang violence to round up as many violent criminals as possible. The result, according to Rubio? Safety in the streets and a skyrocketing approval rating.

Rubio says Bukele isn’t perfect. Rubio believes, though, that Bukele is using legitimate democratic means and a public mandate to do what he thinks is best for his country. And for an American administration to sanction and criticize this movement, Rubio argues, is lacking in common sense.



Learn more about El Salvador’s situation here

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ISI’s Annual Homecoming Weekend

June 2nd - 3rd, 2023

Hosted on ISI’s beautiful 20-acre campus in Wilmington, Delaware, this year’s Homecoming theme is “The Next Great American.” Through engaging presentations, we will explore the statesmen, titans of industry, and artists that have shaped our nation throughout its history. Special discounted rate of only $50 for ISI students and alumni under age 30! RSVP before tickets are gone here

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Join us in Wilmington, DE >>>

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Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.

“‘No Civil Debate with Uncivil People’: Ilya Shapiro Met With Intolerance at UChicago”

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via The Chicago Thinker

“Chalked messages greeted constitutional scholar Ilya Shapiro in apparent protest of his Friday appearance....Unwelcoming messages on the law school sidewalks stated, ‘No civil debate with uncivil people,’ ‘White supremacists are not welcome,’ and ‘Racism is hate speech, not free speech.’”

“ACTA’s Steve McGuire discusses campus free speech”

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via The Cornell Review

“‘[These disruptions] do seem to be happening with increasing regularity,’ McGuire noted....‘Cornell is not alone in terms of having had an incident where a speaker was shouted down,’ McGuire remarked.”

CATEGORY: CONSERVATISM (13 MIN)

Beliefs, not unbelief

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The neo-paganist splinter group seems to come from a base that increasingly views morality as a relative concept. Progressive social justice groups have tried to reframe the language of morality in a way that supports their left-wing goals, and the natural response from some opponents on the right has been to avoid morals altogether.

In this week’s Intercollegiate Review

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archive, former ISI Collegiate Network fellow Nate Hochman takes a long look at this new postmodern impulse. Hochman argues that Donald Trump’s rise to power helped this movement along—he believes Trump replaced a moral framework with a nationalist one.

“In Trump’s view, our citizenship is an immutable feature of our identity; therefore, to use his own words, Americans are compelled to give ‘a total allegiance to the United States of America,’” Hochman writes.

Hochman then builds a new ideological response to the left’s moralizing autocracy. He calls this idea “moral pluralism,” and he says it’s necessary in a world where so few Americans hold a shared moral framework.

Read Hochman’s description of this potential answer right here

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Thought of the Day:

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”



- George Washington

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