Not About the Market: Oakeshott on Friendship, Fishing and Tools

August 18, 2019

Classical conservative Michael Oakeshott identifies the marketplace and its attendant encouragement of trendiness as an area that runs counter to the conservative disposition. The conservative disposition can instead be seen in activities like friendship, fishing, a person’s tool collection and how he uses it. Sawzall meme included. … More Not About the Market: Oakeshott on Friendship, Fishing and Tools

Don’t be Nostalgic: Oakeshott on Conservative Disposition

August 11, 2019

In this second reading from Michael Oakeshott’s essay “On Being Conservative” we get into what counts as a true conservative disposition and what does not. Two aspects of contemporary conservatism are questioned–the desire for rapid and ongoing change, supposedly for the better, and a sentimental nostalgia for an idealized past. … More Don’t be Nostalgic: Oakeshott on Conservative Disposition

Alternative Conservatism: Michael Oakeshott’s Model

August 4, 2019

The term “conservatism” is so laden with unfortunate meaning and associations by now that it’s hard to explain to people what it meant before it was confused with liberalism. But it’s really important to do so, because unlike the revolutionary culture-, family- and community-busting market-prioritizing conservatism everyone knows about now, the older version has positive contributions to make in a time of openness to different ways of thinking and living. Michael Oakeshott was a 20th century British thinker who wrote “On Being Conservative.” We’ll read from the essay and mark some notable differences between the natural conservatism of Oakeshott and US conservatism today.
… More Alternative Conservatism: Michael Oakeshott’s Model

Consumerism or Death: Memento Mori (Radical Christianity audio)

July 30, 2019

A discussion of the book An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture by Block, Brueggemann and McKnight, especially on the idea of the fear of death causing the consumer addiction, the loss of which can be quite disturbing: “Grief occurs to us because of the impossibility of perfection and immortality. The free market consumer ideology calls us to infinite possibility. It promises perfection (you can always improve your lot in life) and immortality (there is an answer to aging). This is its value proposition. Grow or die. Consume or be unhappy. The market is an engine for denial instead of grieving.” Some practical ways to depart are discussed. … More Consumerism or Death: Memento Mori (Radical Christianity audio)

Carl Jung, Collective Unconscious and Archetypes (Ideological Possession Audio Reading 2)

July 29, 2019

This is the second audio reading of my new book, Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right: The Political Thought of Carl Jung. This is from the first chapter, which explains the basics of Jung’s psychological theories as they apply to political ideologies.

https://www.routledge.com/Ideological-Possession-and-the-Rise-of-the-New-Right-The-Political-Thought/Johnson/p/book/9781138082120
… More Carl Jung, Collective Unconscious and Archetypes (Ideological Possession Audio Reading 2)

Carl Jung, Collective Unconscious & Archetypes (Ideological Possession Reading 2)

July 29, 2019

This is the second reading of my new book, Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right: The Political Thought of Carl Jung. This is from the first chapter, which explains the basics of Jung’s psychological theories as they apply to political ideologies. My apologies for the slight hum in this video–too close to another device! You can find the book in paperback and e-book at many outlets, but here’s the link to the book (including rental option) at Routledge:
https://www.routledge.com/Ideological-Possession-and-the-Rise-of-the-New-Right-The-Political-Thought/Johnson/p/book/9781138082120

… More Carl Jung, Collective Unconscious & Archetypes (Ideological Possession Reading 2)

Not Jordan Peterson’s Carl Jung (A Reading From My New Book)

July 20, 2019

From Jung, After the Catastrophe: “Thanks to industrialization, large portions of the population were up-rooted and were herded together in large centres. This new form of existence—with its mass psychology and social dependence on the fluctuations of markets and wages—produced an individual who was unstable, insecure, and suggestible. He was aware that his life depended on boards of directors and captains of industry, and he supposed, rightly or wrongly, that they were chiefly motivated by financial interests. He knew that, no matter how conscientiously he worked, he could still fall a victim at any moment to economic changes which were utterly beyond his control. And there was nothing else for him to rely on.” … More Not Jordan Peterson’s Carl Jung (A Reading From My New Book)