The One, the Many, and the alternative right

The respectable right is respectable because it accepts the principles of liberalism and can’t offer serious resistance to liberal conclusions.

That’s why a less respectable “alternative right” is needed. But what is the alternative that would do better? People have been looking for a good way to resist liberalism for a long time, and judging … More ...

Rulers of the world unite!

A friend sent me something he was writing on the political prospects for protectionist legislation. I sent him the following response, which I’ve edited a bit and relates to much more than protectionism:

In general, your discussion follows the interest-group, competing political party, voter sovereignty model of political life in a modern democracy.

I sometimes

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A Global EU? International Affairs and Contemporary Liberalism

Here is the text of a talk I gave at the H. L. Mencken Club conference.

A Global EU?
International Affairs and Contemporary Liberalism

James Kalb

October 31, 2009

The other speakers have discussed foreign policy by reference to specifically American tendencies. I will discuss something that I think is more general, advanced liberalism—the dominant … More ...

Yet another review

Yet another review, this one by Carl Olson in Catholic World Report. It’s longer than average (two three-column pages) and quite favorable:

The Tyranny of Liberalism … is the work of an imaginative conservative who offers frank criticism and expresses the truth about authentic values and the permanent things with notable clarity, unusual insight,

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PC and the destruction of culture

Here’s a chapter from 2008 for a projected collection of essays. The book never got published, but here’s what I wrote:

PC and the Destruction of Culture

by James Kalb

Political correctness is an odd tendency. It does not fit in with how people normally think about things, so no one knows what to make … More ...