The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Against Euphemisms

However much you hate the creeping totalitarianism of our time, you don’t hate it enough. Let me quote this: One of Orwell’s most important messages in 1984 is that language is of central importance to human thought because it structures and limits the ideas that individuals are capable of formulating and expressing. If control of language was […]

The Dumbest Take on the 2024 Election

A few weeks ago, I bought a copy of Thomas Sowell’s 1987 book A Conflict of Visions as a gift for a young man who was struggling with his political views. My intention is, once he’s finished reading that, to give him the second book of that Sowell trilogy, The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation […]

About That Book You Didn’t Read

It is not my habit to criticize or argue with people in the comments, but I got a bit miffed by this today: There’s a phenomenon called “political lesbianism.” That’s a situation where a heterosexual woman becomes so filled with feminist zeal, and political hatred of men, that she actually becomes a lesbian despite not […]

How Trump Derangement Syndrome, #MeToo and Tumblrinas Ruined Disney

You probably never saw Raya and the Last Dragon, which was not exactly a box-office blockbuster — it barely broke even — and is certainly not destined to be remembered as a classic Disney cartoon. Nevertheless, Raya and the Last Dragon is historically important because the 2021 film marks the decisive turning point in the […]

Unwanted and Unloved: Younger Americans Are Facing a Lonely Future

When my children were little, I quickly discovered a cause for concern that most people never seem to notice: What was the point of raising my children properly, if everybody else was raising their children wrong? Eventually, you see, my sons and daughters would grow up and find spouses, and what were the chances they […]

The Death of #MeToo: ‘To Be Fair, It Was Never Actually About Helping Women’

The headline quote is Professor Glenn Reynolds’ reaction to a post by Jazz Shaw about how “the #MeToo movement abandoned women.” The thought occurs to me, “Is Jazz Shaw really so naïve as to believe the liberals were arguing in good faith?” And this in turn reminds me of something I once remarked about Conor […]

‘The Hard-Hitting Social Commentary We’re Trying to Get Across’

Because my 19-year-old daughter is a Harry Styles fan, I have a built-in bias against Olivia Wilde, the 38-year-old ex-girlfriend of Jason Sudekis, whom Styles is currently dating. Also, it should be pointed out, Wilde’s grandfather was an infamous Commie, which is all the more reason to hate her. Now, as the cherry on top […]

Louise Perry Gets It

Louise Perry is a young British writer who has just published her first book, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century. Although she considers herself a feminist, the core of her argument rather resembles something I wrote in May 2010: Insofar as men and women are different, […]

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