In essence, might makes right - and with it America becomes the same cesspool every other country has been since humans first started cities and states. To end the greatest 250 years of human history for such a horrific philosophy espoused (or put into practice) by truly despicable people is the worst crime in human history.
How individuals navigate or operate within a postmodern framework:
In a postmodern context, a "user" (or individual) can function by embracing the following approaches, shaped by postmodernism’s emphasis on subjectivity, fragmentation, and skepticism:
Embrace Plurality: Recognize that there are multiple perspectives and no single "truth." Engage with diverse ideas, cultures, and narratives without seeking a universal answer. For example, when consuming media or art, appreciate the mix of styles and references without needing a cohesive narrative.
Navigate Ambiguity: Postmodernism thrives on uncertainty and blurred boundaries. Develop comfort with open-endedness—whether in art, identity, or decision-making—by focusing on personal interpretation rather than definitive conclusions.
Leverage Irony and Playfulness: Use humor, satire, or self-awareness to engage with the world. For instance, when creating or consuming content, adopt a playful approach that mixes high and low culture, like referencing memes alongside classical literature.
Question Authority: Critically examine institutions, narratives, or systems (e.g., media, government, or even technology platforms). Ask who controls the narrative and what agendas might be at play, aligning with postmodern skepticism.
Adapt to Fragmentation: In a world of disjointed information (social media, hypertext, etc.), function by synthesizing disparate sources. Curate your own meaning from fragmented inputs, like piecing together a personal worldview from posts on X, books, and conversations.
This is Trump and MAGA? Then it's a wonder they can function at all.
"Benign postmodernism" refers to a milder, less radical form of postmodern thought that embraces some of its key ideas—such as skepticism toward grand narratives, appreciation for pluralism, and playful experimentation with meaning—without descending into extreme relativism or nihilism. It emphasizes creativity, diversity, and open-ended interpretations while still valuing coherence, communication, and constructive dialogue. Unlike more aggressive strains of postmodernism that might reject objective truth or moral frameworks entirely, benign postmodernism seeks to balance critical inquiry with a respect for shared understanding and practical engagement with the world.
The term isn't widely standardized but often appears in discussions contrasting it with more dogmatic or deconstructive postmodern approaches.
Read your incisive article and immediately wondered if you had returned from your “old world” adventure and returned to the newer one? Was your inspiration to write this article triggered by the former or the latter – or both?
The unprecedented rapidity in which the “Modern” world arose from the Premodern one of impoverishment, injustice, and brutality, into what the Postmodernists take for granted, cannot be overstated! As for the cause of this profound turn of history, I agree with Rand. The Enlightenment was triggered by Aquinas and his translation of Aristotle from Greek into Latin. The sudden rise of the “Modern” world was led by this rediscovery of Reason.
Until Charlie Kirk was murdered, I had been considering that TPUSA - in spite of its religious philosophical roots, may become part of a movement (along with elements of MAGA) that might create an atmosphere in which the morality derived from free will, individual responsibility, and the rights necessary for their exercise, would foster unprecedented dialogue.
Perhaps the current contradiction of compulsory "political" altruism in the name of morality would become seriously challenged. Challenged by the young! I now fear the evidence your article cites will instead, further fuel a “PM” MAGA!
Not just a Postmodern one, but, alas, a “Pre-Menstrual” Postmodern one – a PM, PM, MAGA!If
Trumpism, or whatever we call our system today, is troubling in many ways, but it doesn’t seem like postmodernism to me. Every Christian organization has embraced Trump, and it’s hard to see Christians embracing postmodernism. I see Trumpism more as a reactionary form of conservatism,with an emphasis on the leadership and charisma of one man. Unhealthy, but not fundamentally skeptical.
Jim, I'm inclined to think that Christianity and postmodernism have more in common than what may meet the eye. I haven't read up extensively on the subject but a quick Google search on "postmodernist christianity" returns a wealth of info. see for example the following Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodern_theology. Perhaps a subject for a future article!
Anders, I'm confused about your meaning in this paragraph:
"If postmodernism has a cardinal sin, it’s believing in grand, sweeping stories that explain everything. The “grand narrative” was king in The Enlightenment Project, promising that reason, progress, and science would lead humanity to new heights. Postmodernism is hostile to this idea."
Are "grand sweeping stories that explain everything" the same as a "grand narrative"? You seem to be saying that post modernists do believe in grand, sweeping stories that explain everything, but at the same time, the movement is hostile to the "grand narrative" of the Enlightenment.
Or does "The Enlightenment Project" mean something besides the historical Enlightenment (3 different entries came up for that online)?
Hopefully, you can explain what I'm missing here; I have a sense that I'm just not reading it correctly.
I think the above paragraph stood out because otherwise, it's such a clear and enjoyable article. Especially this line:
"This is postmodernism’s playground: “truth” by assertion and performance, not by verification of facts of reality."
Thanks, Bonnie. Yes, "grand sweeping stories that explain everything" is the same as a "grand narrative," which postmodernism opposes. "The Enlightenment Project" as I use it here is the same as the historical Enlightenment from a philosophical (metaphysical, epistemological, and partly ethical and political as the latter was undermined by the influence of sacrifice/altruism). I'll try to be more precise next time!
Thank you, Anders. I don't think you were imprecise, I think the problem is on my end, that I'm not connecting something properly.
And just now, in trying to form my reply, the light dawned!
I thought it was a contradiction that you said postmodernism is guilty of believing in grand sweeping stories that explain everything, the Enlightenment *was* a grand sweeping story that explaind everything, and yet postmodernism is hostile to it.
Now I see (I hope!) that postmodernism is hostile to *this particular* grand narrative (reason as a means of solving everything). In other words, it's hostile to a principled view of anything. And that's Trump, as you go on to show.
If America continues down the road of postmodernism, what makes America exceptional will be lost.
Obviously we need to keep fighting to the bitter end but it may ultimately lead to us as individuals to carry the torch if America falls.
In essence, might makes right - and with it America becomes the same cesspool every other country has been since humans first started cities and states. To end the greatest 250 years of human history for such a horrific philosophy espoused (or put into practice) by truly despicable people is the worst crime in human history.
As long as the 1st Amendment is championed by many if not all, there's still hope.
from grok:
How individuals navigate or operate within a postmodern framework:
In a postmodern context, a "user" (or individual) can function by embracing the following approaches, shaped by postmodernism’s emphasis on subjectivity, fragmentation, and skepticism:
Embrace Plurality: Recognize that there are multiple perspectives and no single "truth." Engage with diverse ideas, cultures, and narratives without seeking a universal answer. For example, when consuming media or art, appreciate the mix of styles and references without needing a cohesive narrative.
Navigate Ambiguity: Postmodernism thrives on uncertainty and blurred boundaries. Develop comfort with open-endedness—whether in art, identity, or decision-making—by focusing on personal interpretation rather than definitive conclusions.
Leverage Irony and Playfulness: Use humor, satire, or self-awareness to engage with the world. For instance, when creating or consuming content, adopt a playful approach that mixes high and low culture, like referencing memes alongside classical literature.
Question Authority: Critically examine institutions, narratives, or systems (e.g., media, government, or even technology platforms). Ask who controls the narrative and what agendas might be at play, aligning with postmodern skepticism.
Adapt to Fragmentation: In a world of disjointed information (social media, hypertext, etc.), function by synthesizing disparate sources. Curate your own meaning from fragmented inputs, like piecing together a personal worldview from posts on X, books, and conversations.
This is Trump and MAGA? Then it's a wonder they can function at all.
GROK appears to have a very benign view of postmodernism.
from grok:
"Benign postmodernism" refers to a milder, less radical form of postmodern thought that embraces some of its key ideas—such as skepticism toward grand narratives, appreciation for pluralism, and playful experimentation with meaning—without descending into extreme relativism or nihilism. It emphasizes creativity, diversity, and open-ended interpretations while still valuing coherence, communication, and constructive dialogue. Unlike more aggressive strains of postmodernism that might reject objective truth or moral frameworks entirely, benign postmodernism seeks to balance critical inquiry with a respect for shared understanding and practical engagement with the world.
The term isn't widely standardized but often appears in discussions contrasting it with more dogmatic or deconstructive postmodern approaches.
Read your incisive article and immediately wondered if you had returned from your “old world” adventure and returned to the newer one? Was your inspiration to write this article triggered by the former or the latter – or both?
The unprecedented rapidity in which the “Modern” world arose from the Premodern one of impoverishment, injustice, and brutality, into what the Postmodernists take for granted, cannot be overstated! As for the cause of this profound turn of history, I agree with Rand. The Enlightenment was triggered by Aquinas and his translation of Aristotle from Greek into Latin. The sudden rise of the “Modern” world was led by this rediscovery of Reason.
Until Charlie Kirk was murdered, I had been considering that TPUSA - in spite of its religious philosophical roots, may become part of a movement (along with elements of MAGA) that might create an atmosphere in which the morality derived from free will, individual responsibility, and the rights necessary for their exercise, would foster unprecedented dialogue.
Perhaps the current contradiction of compulsory "political" altruism in the name of morality would become seriously challenged. Challenged by the young! I now fear the evidence your article cites will instead, further fuel a “PM” MAGA!
Not just a Postmodern one, but, alas, a “Pre-Menstrual” Postmodern one – a PM, PM, MAGA!If
Trumpism, or whatever we call our system today, is troubling in many ways, but it doesn’t seem like postmodernism to me. Every Christian organization has embraced Trump, and it’s hard to see Christians embracing postmodernism. I see Trumpism more as a reactionary form of conservatism,with an emphasis on the leadership and charisma of one man. Unhealthy, but not fundamentally skeptical.
Jim, I'm inclined to think that Christianity and postmodernism have more in common than what may meet the eye. I haven't read up extensively on the subject but a quick Google search on "postmodernist christianity" returns a wealth of info. see for example the following Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodern_theology. Perhaps a subject for a future article!
Sounds like a fruitful line of inquiry!
Anders, I'm confused about your meaning in this paragraph:
"If postmodernism has a cardinal sin, it’s believing in grand, sweeping stories that explain everything. The “grand narrative” was king in The Enlightenment Project, promising that reason, progress, and science would lead humanity to new heights. Postmodernism is hostile to this idea."
Are "grand sweeping stories that explain everything" the same as a "grand narrative"? You seem to be saying that post modernists do believe in grand, sweeping stories that explain everything, but at the same time, the movement is hostile to the "grand narrative" of the Enlightenment.
Or does "The Enlightenment Project" mean something besides the historical Enlightenment (3 different entries came up for that online)?
Hopefully, you can explain what I'm missing here; I have a sense that I'm just not reading it correctly.
I think the above paragraph stood out because otherwise, it's such a clear and enjoyable article. Especially this line:
"This is postmodernism’s playground: “truth” by assertion and performance, not by verification of facts of reality."
Thanks, Bonnie. Yes, "grand sweeping stories that explain everything" is the same as a "grand narrative," which postmodernism opposes. "The Enlightenment Project" as I use it here is the same as the historical Enlightenment from a philosophical (metaphysical, epistemological, and partly ethical and political as the latter was undermined by the influence of sacrifice/altruism). I'll try to be more precise next time!
Thank you, Anders. I don't think you were imprecise, I think the problem is on my end, that I'm not connecting something properly.
And just now, in trying to form my reply, the light dawned!
I thought it was a contradiction that you said postmodernism is guilty of believing in grand sweeping stories that explain everything, the Enlightenment *was* a grand sweeping story that explaind everything, and yet postmodernism is hostile to it.
Now I see (I hope!) that postmodernism is hostile to *this particular* grand narrative (reason as a means of solving everything). In other words, it's hostile to a principled view of anything. And that's Trump, as you go on to show.