“The thing we now call ‘conservatism’ in the West largely comes out of a reaction against the French Revolution and other revolutionary movements inspired by it. The Continental conservatives—e.g., Joseph de Maistre, Friedrich von Gentz, Klemens von Metternich, and Juan Donoso Cortés—embraced monarchism, often including its more authoritarian and absolutist varieties, in an effort to avoid repeating the excesses of the French revolution. The conservatives also opposed economic liberalism in the form of free trade and ‘free markets’ because these were associated—wrongly in many cases—with the French revolutionaries.” (07/21/26)
“We didn’t invent liberal capitalism in 2020, so liberal capitalism didn’t cause our current round of unhappiness. The simplest explanation is the pandemic. I’m not sure it’s exactly that simple, because some preliminary results suggest happiness hasn’t rebounded as much as you’d expect after the pandemic ended. I went into this in more in my vibecession post, but I think the lingering national bad mood is a combination of …” (07/21/26)
“Ghana’s main opposition party has reacted with anger after one of its most influential leaders was sentenced to 20 years in jail, with hard labour, for illegal mining offences. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) alleged that the landmark judgement against Bernard Antwi Boasiako, the party’s chairman for the Ashanti region, was politically motivated. Popularly known as ‘Chairman Wontumi’, Boasiako is the first senior politician in Ghana to be convicted of illegal mining since the government began a crackdown on the practice in 2017. As well as receiving a jail sentence, Boasiako, who had denied the charges, was ordered to pay more than $10,000 (£7,450) in fines.” (07/21/26)
Source: The American Conservative
by W James Antle III
“Recent socialist victories in Democratic primaries appear to be narrowing the party’s lead, with Republicans outrunning Trump’s job approval rating and possessing a real opportunity to defy history. But Republicans cannot forever defy basic math, economics, or gravity. It is now summertime. Public perceptions of the economy will be baked in by Labor Day, with extremely limited opportunities for improvement by Election Day after that. The public’s attitude about the Iran war may already be set, and not to Trump’s or the GOP’s benefit.” (07/21/26)
“A descendant of an executed opponent of the Nazis tried to remove a wreath from the far-right Alternative for Germany party at an event in Berlin marking the 82nd anniversary of a failed attempt to kill Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Tobias Korenke, a great-nephew of Protestant pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, attempted to remove the wreath from the parliamentary group of Alternative for Germany, or AfD, at Monday’s event at the site where the main plotters were executed, German news agency dpa reported. Security officers intervened, and the wreath was damaged in the scuffle. ‘Many descendants, myself included, feel really great anger when we see AfD laying wreaths here,’ Korenke said. ‘We will not accept this.'” (07/21/26)
“In the early 1930s, the Australian government lost a war against emus, and its present war, this time on tobacco, is heading the same way. Excessive taxation in the name of public health has backfired in extraordinary fashion, helping create a massive black market in tobacco products. This has led to an effective transfer to criminal gangs of billions of dollars of revenue previously earned by the legal tobacco industry, and a corresponding significant drop in excise tax revenue collected by the government, unprecedented violence between those gangs as they scrap over money and territory, and, to top it all off, an increase in the consumption of tobacco and nicotine.” (07/20/26)
“Young progressives are more likely to consider normal day-to-day struggles — like difficulty sleeping and feeling blue — as mental health problems, per a new analysis. Is it any wonder, given the left-leaning ideology that convinces Americans that the system is simply stacked against them? Data from the US General Social Survey, analyzed by the Financial Times, revealed that younger people and more progressive people were more likely to believe that everything from feeling worried, trouble sleeping and feeling a little sad were symptomatic of a disorder. … This politics of suffering and victimization pairs perfectly with a population eager to identify with their struggles rather than their strengths. In recent years, claiming mental illness has become chic in progressive spaces, conferring socially valuable oppression points in the battle to prove who is most downtrodden.” (07/20/26)
“Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega said the Central American country would no longer hold elections, further closing off any potential path for the opposition to challenge the government he leads with his wife, Rosario Murillo. Ortega, Nicaragua’s longest-serving leader, has remained in power since 2007 after previously governing during the 1980s. His current presidential term is scheduled to run through 2027. ‘There won’t be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power,’ Ortega said. He delivered the remarks Sunday during a speech commemorating the 1979 Sandinista revolution, in which Ortega participated in the overthrow of the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza.” (07/21/26)
