Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Eric73's avatar

Forgive my ignorance of great philosophical traditions, and the somewhat crass take I have on all of this. But from the way Strauss describes them, these post-liberal adolescents sound like what today we might charitably call "drama queens".

Strauss is, of course, much more eloquent in his illustration of their thinking, decscribing their objection to, "a world in which no great heart could beat and no great soul could breathe, a world without real, unmetaphoric, sacrifice, i.e. a world without blood, sweat, and tears."

Such overwrought patter, to me, bears the foul odor of the over-privileged life. The one whose material needs are all so thoroughly provided for that they want for crisis, conflict, and cause. That Strauss should describe them as young and economically secure is no surprise.

To them, newly inebriated with the strength and vigor of young adulthood, who can scarcely bother to notice the profound suffering inherent even in everday peaceful life and the myriad challenges it presents without the introduction of novel ones to satiate the nihilist's appetite for human theater, the only answer to such existential ennui is the raw exercise of power. Such is the danger in societies which fail to adequately corral and redirect the destructive passions of young men.

Most people in the world endure a daily, uphill struggle with only the dream of simple happiness to placate them. The ideal of material security remains just far enough out of reach that we have enough to occupy the bulk of our lives chasing it.

That we should have to, at the same time, contend with the destructive boredom of pampered aristocrats is perhaps the best argument one can make for an antagonistic posture toward the accumulation of wealth. Let's go back to soaking the rich like we did in the mid-20th century, if for no other reason to spare us all from the sociopathic whims of the otherwise idle minds of their progeny.

Expand full comment
Bill Schafer's avatar

Timely. Wise. We are faced with the same dilemma today in finding an open cultural option that satisfies human nature’s most fundamental characteristics. What is a hero’s journey without an evil opponent? Forget the fact that we are our evil opponent’s evil opponent… If males are evolutionarily determined to Provide, Protect, and Procreate, then we’re required to have Scarcity, Threats, and Reproductive Competitors. Eliminating these leaves fundamental drives unrequited leading to angry, violent men. Anger may result from unmet expectations, but unmet, unconscious drives serve as well.

Expand full comment
7 more comments...

No posts