James Kirkpatrick writes: VDARE.com’s BOOK CLUB is open to non-subscribers this week. Border Hawk’s Dan Lyman and Paul Kersey join me to discuss Christopher Rufo’s America’s Cultural Revolution: How The Radical Left Conquered Everything.
Listen to the interview on Rumble by clicking here.
Rufo is probably the most effective single conservative activist in the United States today, helping to create an actual movement against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in education. What he’s accomplished is rare because he doesn’t back away from describing the Left as it is. His book is probably the most powerful analyses of Leftist activism since Pat Buchanan’s The Death of the West. It is an essential introduction for conservatives confused about just how this country was reduced to the sad state it is in today.
I’ve often thought that the most important truth about right-wing activism is that “those who know, can’t, and those who can, don’t know.” In other words, to truly understand the Left, you must be familiar with the history of its leading theorists and activists. But knowing what is truly at stake is not compatible with mainstream American politics. With a compliant media, it is simply too easy for a system that is fundamentally controlled by the other side to marginalize patriot activists and make them look crazy or extreme. Facing this, the temptation is to actually become extreme, because a vanguardist solution looks like the only way forward in the face of such an overwhelmingly hostile Regime.
Rufo is the exception. He remains connected to the mainstream and is politically effective, though he doesn’t soft-pedal (much) on what is at stake.
At the same time, it may be that he’s already peaked. He remains committed to a colorblind, meritocratic vision that simply has no mass appeal outside white conservative circles. At the same time, Conservatism Inc. leaders are eager to simply be rid of the fight. Rufo’s recent shot in City Journal at VDARE.com [No to the Politics of “Whiteness,” August 30, 2023] and what some call “white identity politics” must be seen in this light.
VDARE.com Book Club members can listen here, and non-members can join for future podcasts.
Don’t miss this discussion and if you haven’t already, join the Book Club.
Click HERE to join the VDARE.com Book Club and access the full podcast. All previous content is available on the book club members page HERE.
If you are not yet a member, I encourage you all to join by clicking here.
Remember, only members of the Book Club will have access to the full discussion. You can listen to a small portion of the interview by clicking here.
