The alt-right's embrace of Stoicism and other forms of "rationalism". Irony at its finest.
A Marine’s College Essay May Hold a Clue to His Role on January 6
Thanks to @The Intercept (unofficial) for the original post.
Christopher Warnagiris wrote about the relatively obscure Stoic philosopher Epictetus, who has become a surprise rock star of the alt-right.
Some parts of the "alt-right" have adopted (what they see as) a rationalist position, going back to the Ancient Greeks, to justify their worldview, which is essentially white supremacy.
I am reminded of the Libertarians' position ("The Party of Reason") on this same issue.
What these right-wingers, who claim to love "logic" so much, sim to fail to understand is Gödel's First Incompleteness Theorem, which states that No logic powerful enough to axiomatize the integer arithmetic can be both complete and consistent.
Surely, a logic powerful enough to axiomatize political philosophy is (at least) as complex as a logic powerful enough to axiomatize integer arithmetic.
These logic fan boys don't understand the nature of the tools they bring to defend their fascist perspective.
Unfortunately, this implies they also won't understand the logic (which they claim to embrace) the undermines their own "logic".
As the saying goes, “You can beat 40 scholars with one fact, but you can’t beat one idiot with 40 facts.” -Mevlana
These people are as convinced of the "rightness" of their position as we are of the righties of our own. They think (without understanding either) that they have both logic and facts on their side. (Of course, they would accuse of of the same.)
How are we to combat such an adversary? Especially when they're better armed than we are.
I will leave it to you to read the whole article, but here's a revealing snippet:
... The alt-right has laid claim to Epictetus and a select group of Stoics and other ancient thinkers to underscore their view that they are the defenders of a traditional, white-male dominated Western civilization that is under siege today from the left.
Donna Zuckerberg, a classics scholar and author of “Not All Dead White Men” (and the sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg), wrote in the Washington Post in 2018 that “one of the most insidious and disturbing examples of classical appropriation by the alt-right is its embrace of Stoicism.”
... Apparently, the radical right has adopted Epictetus because they think that exerting control over one’s emotions is a masculine ideal. A real man could control his emotions and direct his energy into action. It is as if the alt-right sees Epictetus as an ancient version of Gary Cooper’s character in “High Noon,” the quiet marshal who stands alone against the bad guys, or Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne, the stern amnesiac who finally remembers who he is and tries to fight against evil forces inside the CIA.
This fan-boy approach to the Stoics within the alt-right may seem laughable, but it’s a symptom of something deeper and more dangerous. A belief that they are the guardians of Western civilization against the advancing left-wing hordes seems to tie together both alt-right provocateurs and other conservative intellectuals, and they all now seem to be converging at the extreme edge of the political spectrum. And this widely held fear of the looming loss of Western civilization seems to be leading many conservatives to believe that overthrowing American democracy may be necessary to save the country. [emphasis mine]
“The New Right rarely expresses its ambitions as a democratic proposition,” wrote Sam Adler-Bell in The New Republic in December, because “[i]ts adherents are not convinced democracy is the way to go.”
This is what we're up against.
https://theintercept.com/2022/01/06/january-6-alt-right-stoic-philosopher/
