Items of Interest, Silent Anarchist Edition

"Criticism is necessary for modernity."

Ralph Coburn, Paris Building Distillation, 1950, oil on thinly gessoed wood panel, 23 x 19 inches, courtesy of David Hall Gallery (source)

Nathan Pinkoski, Actually Existing Postliberalism. “Twentieth-century civilization has collapsed. It rested on an essential tenet of liberalism: the state-society, public-private distinction… Over the last few decades, this distinction has been eroded and finally abandoned altogether. Like it or not, the West is now postliberal.”

Timothy K. Minella, The University of Michigan Went All In on DEI. The Results Were Disastrous. “The case of Michigan shows that DEI doesn’t just fail to meet its objectives. It leads to poorer outcomes on campus. If universities will not end this failed experiment voluntarily, the overseers of these institutions must do it for them.”

Emmanuel Rincón, The Argentine Author Who Opposed Collectivism and Never Flinched. “I [Jorge Luis Borges] have never belonged to any party, nor am I the representative of any government… I believe in the Individual, I disbelieve in the state. Perhaps I am nothing more than a peaceful and silent anarchist who dreams of the disappearance of governments. The idea of a maximum of the Individual and a minimum of the state is what I would like today.”

Clifton Duncan

, The Lie of “Inclusivity.” “Industry insiders assured me that while my outspoken views might cost me some jobs, there would likely be far more opportunities than not. A recent phone call with an industry friend confirmed what I already knew: I’m being blacklisted.”

Christopher Schwarz

, Take My Advice, I’m Not Using It. “Do it all yourself. Learn photography, website design, copywriting, CAD, QuickBooks and whatever else it takes to make your business work. Yes, you might hire others to do some of this stuff (someday), but you should be good enough at all these things that you can tell when you are getting cheated or are working with a tie-wearing slug.”

Lionel Shriver, Sally Rooney’s Literary Mob. “Although some say we’ve passed peak woke, the modern left’s authoritarian impulse to push other people around is alive and well. It’s just that a memo must have gone out to the faithful that the agenda has switched, and now instead of black lives mattering or the climate changing, they’re all to lose their wits over Israel and stick it to the Jews. These are very obedient disciples.”

Paul McDonnold, Censorship Attacks the Pursuit of Truth. “Proponents of good ideas… welcome freedom of speech because they feel no threat from a decentralized search for truth. The US Constitution and the success of the nation it created demonstrate this principle empirically. But a rigorous intellectual demonstration can also be found in an often-overlooked place, the discipline of welfare economics.”

Nick Cave, What does it take to be free? “As a songwriter, I am primarily concerned with artistic freedom - freedom of expression, belief and imagination. What it takes for me to pursue these freedoms—to feel genuinely free—has paradoxically something to do with order and constraint.”

Martin Gurri, The Endarkenment. “The most radical departure from Enlightenment ideals will concern the manner in which we address the problem of meaning. Criticism is necessary for modernity. Meaning and moral aspiration are necessary for humanity. A balance must be struck that lifts us out of pure randomness and materialism to a credible—and shared—higher purpose.”

Sonja Anderson, Archaeologists Discover Breathtaking Wall Paintings Frozen in Time Inside a Modest Home in Ancient Pompeii. “A tiny house full of exquisite frescos has been discovered in the ancient city of Pompeii. While the home is modest in size, researchers say that its decorations—including erotic scenes—are equal to those of much larger nearby residences.”

Closing soon: “Ralph Coburn: Radical Inventions” through November 5 at David Hall Gallery. Coburn also figures in “Americans in Paris: Artists Working in Postwar France, 1946–1962” at the Addison through January 5.

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Our current title in the Asynchronous Studio Book Club is The World of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty. For more information, see the ASBC homepage.

The current exhibition in the Dissident Museum is David Curcio: The Point of the Needle.

Dissident Muse’s first publication, Backseat Driver by James Croak, is available now at Amazon.

Aphorisms for Artists: 100 Ways Toward Better Art by Walter Darby Bannard is out now at Allworth Press. More information is available at the site for the book. If you own it already, thank you; please consider reviewing the book at Amazon, B&N, or Goodreads.