Postmodernism is a vast topic and covers everything from politics, to art, to music, to governance, economics, human rights, religion, architecture, gender roles etc. Essentially it is not just a concept, but a complete restructuring of human society. It is, out with the old and in with the… shit. There's lots of key buzzwords that come to mind when we talk about postmodernism. It has many ugly child spawns that have been birthed from the ideology. When it comes to economics and governance, it has rebranded communism into democratic socialism. When it comes to Art, we got modern art. When it comes to music, architecture etc we ended up with postmodern abomination versions of them. The same applies to all facets of life. The ideology infects, corrupt, contorts and inevitably creates a grotesque zombified mutation of the former concept. One thing remains certain, postmodernism never creates, it only destroys or corrupts. We'll go over some of these societal facets and break down how each one lacks any soul or creativity.
“Democratic Socialism” aka Communism
Communist parties can't create they can only steal. Think of the Soviets. They stole much of their ideas from Germany and the States. Or a more contemporary example, the Chinese Communist party, who can create absolutely nothing on their own, but instead steal Intellectual property from all over the world and copy it. Why is this the case? Well in the case of a lack of creativity, the communist party must not allow free markets of ideas. This would allow people to exceed the perceived exceptionalism of the government. They must stifle entrepreneurship because the government must remain at the top, it's the only way that communism can work. The issue is that entrepreneurialism and creating things are rooted so deeply in human behaviour. Again, this postmodern concept had to destroy something intrinsically human for it to be able to exist.
Woke Culture
Woke culture cannot create their own music, films, and art. They have to take over previous works.
Headlines like this are all too common these days. And prove the point that if left up to the people, postmodern ideas do not stand up to scrutiny. We as humans understand deeply within us, what beauty is. We know, we have a gut instinct and are naturally attracted to certain things. To learn more on the topic of intrinsic beauty and the science behind it, check out my article Architecture.
I believe that this is because all great works are built on a Christian/Traditionalist framework. Lord of the Rings. Star Wars. James Bond to name a few. They all exhibit amazing traditional tropes and roles. Whether that's the eternal battle between good and evil both within us and externally. Or the traditional roles of masculine and feminine. Or the belief in someone higher than ourselves. They are timeless pieces because Christianity is a timeless religion. Tradition is what has gotten us this far, and gotten western civilization to the place it once was. Aragorn’s stoic masculinity, attracts all. Frodo's bravery in the face of absolute destruction inspires us. Where are these figures in pop culture today?
They tried making a black female James Bond. They did the same with Lord of the rings with Amazon Prime Video's heinous “rings of power” series. They also completely dismantled Star Wars. Check out my article on the topic of The Fall of the Star Wars Franchise. Remember the absolute flop that was, the all female Ghostbusters? Or even worse, the all female remake of the Ocean's series?
Why can't they just make their own? Why do they always have to tear down existing works of art? It's because the ideas cannot stand up to scrutiny. They are horrible and do not present any new concepts. Tearing down predecessors for the sake of not having to have healthy debate and scrutiny, is at the core of all post modern ideologues. They have to ride the coattails of those who created amazing works of art, otherwise no one would give them the light of day.
Why is Postmodernism So Inept?
A hypothesis I have is that they believe in nothing. Truly, they believe in absolutely nothing, no God, no higher power. They have no soul upon which to build something. They have no inspiration to draw from. This is because they do not believe in creating. Hidden at the core of postmodernism is the belief that they have to tear down the predecessor to make way for the next. Think about how many times you've heard college or university students saying things like, “down with the system” or “we have to tear down ancient ways of doing things and start from scratch”. But this goes against human nature. The reason cultures all over the world are so deep and rich, is because every generation built upon what the previous one had created. If we look at old Byzantine churches, there are murals that were built over centuries that show different historical events being depicted using different tiling techniques. Even when we look at culture clashes over the period of the Byzantine Empire, with the most stark and well known example, the Hagia Sophia. When the Ottomans took over Constantinople, they built upon the existing Megale Ekklesia Cathedral instead of tearing it down.
You can clearly see that this was an Orthodox Cathedral before the Islamic takeover of the Southern Byzantine Empire. The inverse can be seen in Spain from when it was under the rule of the Umayyad caliphate and their vassals from the Maghreb for over 700 years starting in the late 8th century all the way up until the late 15th century. First they were Spanish churches and the structures. Then came the Islamic influence for several hundred years. Followed by the reconquista of Spain in which the Christians finally managed to reclaim the Iberian peninsula from the Moors.
Even two religions that absolutely hated each other and still do for the most part today, were able to see the beauty of what once was and appreciate it in a way in which they did not tear down the predecessor. When we compare this to the way architecture is propagated today. There is a stark contrast.
Postmodernist architecture cannot create anything new or beautiful. They have to make way by destroying what came before it. When we remove ourselves from the natural order of things, we are left with abominations. When we remove ourselves from our roots, we become spiritually homeless. And this affects everything that a society does. It is most notably seen through the decrepitude and degradation of culture. Religion and the ensuing societal implications are the roots with which we are allowed to flourish. Creating, innovating, entrepreneurship etc, are all deeply connected with the human experience. However they all stand in the way of post modern ideas. That's why they need to kill the spirit of the human to be able to push their dystopia forward. Think about when the CCP took over China (or any communist regime). They killed all dissenters, all religious figures and began to burn the books. Any books containing ideas that could give people ideas of a better culture. Of a better system.
You can see it clearly in the way they are pushing to tear down the traditional family structure. The traditional gender roles that have sustained us forever. Why? Again, because for their ideas to succeed, they cannot have something as powerful as tradition be at play. People go to war for their tradition, for their family, for their people. They will not lightly bend over to the whims of tyranny. That's why there's been a concerted effort over the last century to eradicate any semblance of tradition. Now, the people are pliable. Now the people are ready for re-programming. Now the people will accept anything they are given. Do you think people actually think modern art is beautiful? Where there's one stroke of paint, lopped carelessly onto an easel? No they don't. But they've been slowly programmed to think that the alternative, is somehow bad. Whether it's cause the original artist has now posthumously been labeled one of the isms. Or if he was discovered to have once said something distasteful about women. Postmodernism infects all institutions and all facets of human society and slowly rots it away from the inside until we are empty shells ready to accept whatever is fed to us. That's why the ideological subversion that authors like
write about, takes so much time. It happens over the course of a few generations. Because that's how long it takes to seperate us from our instincts and the trusting of our gut. The best way to prevent the decay of tradition, and what made Western society so great, is by being vehemently opposed to the degeneracy and lunacy of the modern world. Call it out when you see. Cut it at the root so as to not allow it to spread. If you see that you child is being taught horrendously inappropriate “woke” things in school, say something, take them out of school, raise your concerns to other parents. When they try and ban books in your local library, do the same. When someone demands you call them by their imaginary pronouns, don't. So many other examples can be given but the sentiment remains the same. Reject the degeneracy of modernity and stick to your morals, values and beliefs. No matter the pressure. Nothing is worth selling your soul and giving up on what you believe. For the short term survivalist life of someone hopping from trend to trend for societal acceptance, is a fickle one, and the rug of acceptance can be snagged from under you at any moment that these woke tyrants deem you to be not woke enough. Stick to your guns and don't be subverted.Welcome weary traveller. The road I take it, was long and fraught with peril. Here you may rest your head. - Project Lazarus
Excellent piece. I can’t let go either. God is telling me to hold on to my faith and start using my typewriter...thank you.
You're going to enjoy my upcoming essay, tentatively entitled, "A Visit to the Museum of the Joke."