Taken from his book, Heretics:
The family may fairly be considered, one would think, an ultimate human institution. Every one would admit that it has been the main cell and central unit of almost all societies hitherto, except, indeed, such societies as that of Lacedaemon, which went in for “efficiency,” and has, therefore, perished, and left not a trace behind. Christianity, even enormous as was its revolution, did not alter this ancient and savage sanctity; it merely reversed it. It did not deny the trinity of father, mother, and child. It merely read it backwards, making it run child, mother, father. This it called, not the family, but the Holy Family, for many things are made holy by being turned upside down. But some sages of our own decadence have made a serious attack on the family. They have impugned it, as I think wrongly; and its defenders have defended it, and defended it wrongly. The common defence of the family is that, amid the stress and fickleness of life, it is peaceful, pleasant, and at one. But there is another defence of the family which is possible, and to me evident; this defence is that the family is not peaceful and not pleasant and not at one.
It is not fashionable to say much nowadays of the advantages of the small community. We are told that we must go in for large empires and large ideas. There is one advantage, however, in the small state, the city, or the village, which only the wilfully blind can overlook. The man who lives in a small community lives in a much larger world. He knows much more of the fierce varieties and uncompromising divergences of men. The reason is obvious. In a large community we can choose our companions. In a small community our companions are chosen for us. Thus in all extensive and highly civilized societies groups come into existence founded upon what is called sympathy, and shut out the real world more sharply than the gates of a monastery. There is nothing really narrow about the clan; the thing which is really narrow is the clique. The men of the clan live together because they all wear the same tartan or are all descended from the same sacred cow; but in their souls, by the divine luck of things, there will always be more colours than in any tartan. But the men of the clique live together because they have the same kind of soul, and their narrowness is a narrowness of spiritual coherence and contentment, like that which exists in hell. A big society exists in order to form cliques. A big society is a society for the promotion of narrowness. It is a machinery for the purpose of guarding the solitary and sensitive individual from all experience of the bitter and bracing human compromises. It is, in the most literal sense of the words, a society for the prevention of Christian knowledge.
…
This is, indeed, the sublime and special romance of the family. It is romantic because it is a toss-up. It is romantic because it is everything that its enemies call it. It is romantic because it is arbitrary. It is romantic because it is there. So long as you have groups of men chosen rationally, you have some special or sectarian atmosphere. It is when you have groups of men chosen irrationally that you have men. The element of adventure begins to exist; for an adventure is, by its nature, a thing that comes to us. It is a thing that chooses us, not a thing that we choose. Falling in love has been often regarded as the supreme adventure, the supreme romantic accident. In so much as there is in it something outside ourselves, something of a sort of merry fatalism, this is very true. Love does take us and transfigure and torture us. It does break our hearts with an unbearable beauty, like the unbearable beauty of music. But in so far as we have certainly something to do with the matter; in so far as we are in some sense prepared to fall in love and in some sense jump into it; in so far as we do to some extent choose and to some extent even judge—in all this falling in love is not truly romantic, is not truly adventurous at all. In this degree the supreme adventure is not falling in love. The supreme adventure is being born. There we do walk suddenly into a splendid and startling trap. There we do see something of which we have not dreamed before. Our father and mother do lie in wait for us and leap out on us, like brigands from a bush. Our uncle is a surprise. Our aunt is, in the beautiful common expression, a bolt from the blue. When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which has its own strange laws, into a world which could do without us, into a world that we have not made. In other words, when we step into the family we step into a fairy-tale.
This colour as of a fantastic narrative ought to cling to the family and to our relations with it throughout life. Romance is the deepest thing in life; romance is deeper even than reality. For even if reality could be proved to be misleading, it still could not be proved to be unimportant or unimpressive. Even if the facts are false, they are still very strange. And this strangeness of life, this unexpected and even perverse element of things as they fall out, remains incurably interesting. The circumstances we can regulate may become tame or pessimistic; but the “circumstances over which we have no control” remain god-like to those who, like Mr. Micawber, can call on them and renew their strength. People wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature; people wonder why it is read more than books of science or books of metaphysics. The reason is very simple; it is merely that the novel is more true than they are. Life may sometimes legitimately appear as a book of science. Life may sometimes appear, and with a much greater legitimacy, as a book of metaphysics. But life is always a novel. Our existence may cease to be a song; it may cease even to be a beautiful lament. Our existence may not be an intelligible justice, or even a recognizable wrong. But our existence is still a story. In the fiery alphabet of every sunset is written, “to be continued in our next.” If we have sufficient intellect, we can finish a philosophical and exact deduction, and be certain that we are finishing it right. With the adequate brain-power we could finish any scientific discovery, and be certain that we were finishing it right. But not with the most gigantic intellect could we finish the simplest or silliest story, and be certain that we were finishing it right. That is because a story has behind it, not merely intellect which is partly mechanical, but will, which is in its essence divine. The narrative writer can send his hero to the gallows if he likes in the last chapter but one. He can do it by the same divine caprice whereby he, the author, can go to the gallows himself, and to hell afterwards if he chooses. And the same civilization, the chivalric European civilization which asserted freewill in the thirteenth century, produced the thing called “fiction” in the eighteenth. When Thomas Aquinas asserted the spiritual liberty of man, he created all the bad novels in the circulating libraries.
Blogs For Victory 
Great read. I wonder though, considering todays level of education, how many young kids could read and understand this. Not many I suspect. I loved this line:
There is nothing really narrow about the clan; the thing which is really narrow is the clique.
Family is so much more rewarding then friends. I know more than a few young couples who choose not to have children, thinking that their friends and dogs are enough. They are not, and sadly later in life, these people will feel empty and hollow. Vanity has become a problem in America, and vanity leads to an unfulfilling life and I think that is a primary source of all of our societal chaos. Family is diverse, enriching, fulfilling, sustainable, and permanent. Vanity is neither.And Pride is Vanity
Following yesterdays Deep State persecution, Trump is going to be the next President. The man who the current ruling class is persecuting to not become the next President, is exactly the man the American people need to be President, and seeing that nearly 80% of Americans feel that this arraignment is all political, that’s going to happen.
With the justice department showing no signs of performing justice dealing with such grave treason, will it matter how many such proof that is brought to light? Can / will the US House impeach or hold enough people in contempt, necessary to see actual justice carried out? Or are we too far down the rabbit hole to have any rational discussion about a course correction?
If Trump were convicted of these document accusations and given a jail sentence, if he were to win the next Presidential election would he carry out his duties from a jail cell? Is that even possible? If he can’t legally pardon himself, could he resign just before the end of his term, then have the VP under him become the President who could pardon him?
I think the left and anti-Trumpers are far too scared to find out what Trump is capable of given the chance. Expect wide scale voter fraud in every election going forward. I wondered how it was when we read about other countries where obvious voter fraud took place, why the people stood silent and allowed this to proceed. Is there is any question why the left is so intent on removing guns from the general populace
On Tuesday evening, Trump said that if elected he “will obliterate the Deep State. I know who they are and what needs to be done” … he laid down the gauntlet so the battle is on. 2024 will be the most consequential presidential election in the history of this country. We either restore a Constitutional Republic or we spiral down the hole of Democrat ESG Socialism.
FBI’s 278,000 Unlawful FISA Queries Were ‘Unintentional,’ Deputy Director Claims
Oh… only 278,000? Makes you wonder, how many agents do they have working from them and how many are filing these FISA applications? Do the judges responsible for approval actually read them of just rubber stamp them figuring even it they aren’t legal, no on will know? How many were intentional queries but totally illegal? Doubt we’ll ever know that number. Of the ones we do find out about, how many will actually lead to prosecution of the guilty? With the current justice department, probably zero.
I’m guessing if every Republican / Conservative member of congress were given a staff to investigate all of the illegal proceeding of other governmental agencies, there still wouldn’t be enough to personnel to dig through the pile of dung.
Man Locked Out of Home after Amazon Doorbell Accuses Him of Racism
If you wondered just how much of a surveillance state we live in, this article should be scary enough to given strong caution for anyone thinking of using “smart” technologies. This is the same a being charged guilty without a trial or even the opportunity to defend oneself. Regardless, where the !#@$% does the use of such technology allow the manufacturing or selling company the right to such infringement? Must be in the super fine print. I sure hope this guy sues anyone and everyone involved. And remember, this is for someone who supposedly used his first amendment rights to voice a personal opinion or sentiment. Be verrrry weary.
Technology is less of a tool and more of a cudgel. Stay away from it, especially in your home. Unplug Alexa when not in use and don’t ever use Ring products. They are easily hacked into and monitored.
Lobbying Group Launches Expensive Campaign to Save Kamala’s Image
Well, there’s a good investment (/sarc). Really? Only $10 million? The supposed 36.7% approval rate listed in the article breaks down to 22.9% dead people, 3.4% people living in assisted living facilities unable to respond coherently to anything, .4% who respond to the name Fido (who only responded with approval after being given a steak), and the remaining are people being paid to respond with approval (or were enticed with a shorter jail term). But gee, she’s doing such a swell job (at keeping Bidum from being assassinated – by his own people).
Trump’s two lawyers didn’t just quit, the DOJ forced their hands
Well there’s an interesting strategy. Use your opponent’s lawyers as material witnesses, even if they’re not providing and damaging testimony, to remove them from your opponent’s defense team.
The DOJ is no longer legally arguing that Trump held any classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The DOJ is arguing that Trump held documents vital to U.S. defense security.
I guess with all of the other president’s who held classified documents after leaving office, and / or people not legally allowed, like Senator / VP Bidum, the justice department figured it would be too difficult a hurdle to jump.
The DOJ got a search warrant by convincing a judge they were looking for something that wasn’t even a violation of law. That’s why the DOJ would not reveal the probable cause affidavit. The search was built upon a fraudulent pretense. Gee, who would’a thought? Make’s it clearer why they didn’t even allow Trump’s lawyer(s) at the scene of the raid – easier to plant incriminating evidence.
The DOJ defines what is considered a defense document, and that intentionally has nothing to do with classification. And there you have it. Guilty by any means necessary.
Massachusetts middle school students tear down ‘pride’ banners, chant ‘USA are my pronouns’
There’s still hope in some of our youth.
Some students expressed their displeasure with the event by tearing down the “pride” signs and banners, chanting “U.S.A are my pronouns” while wearing red, white, and blue clothes, and having their faces painted in colors of the American flag.
I wonder how the left would react if some institution they abhor, like the NRA, appropriated the use of the rainbow flag for a very different purpose of their own, making it difficult for the left to dictate it’s use? Intolerance is a weaponized word used the by left to push their agenda and punish any in opposition. How’s that for intolerance
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
– Paraquat is an herbicide and registered desiccant that has been used on American farms since 1964. A desiccant is a chemical that speeds up the ripening of the crop and dries it out, which facilitates harvesting and allows it to be harvested sooner than were the crop left to dry naturally
– Fifty countries have banned paraquat due to its extreme toxicity and adverse effects on health. A single sip is lethal to a human. A considerable body of evidence also links paraquat to Parkinson’s disease
– As of mid-March 2023, 2,998 lawsuits filed by farmers with Parkinson’s disease had been consolidated in Illinois federal court. The first bellwether trial is scheduled to begin in October 2023. Class actions have also been filed with state courts in California, Florida, Pennsylvania and Washington. The first state court trial is scheduled to begin in September 2023 in California
– The discovery process has unearthed a trove of documents showing Syngenta knew as early as the 1960s that paraquat posed neurological risks and kept the evidence from regulators
– Research shows paraquat becomes exponentially more hazardous in combination with plant lectins, as the lectins help shuttle paraquat into your brain, where it induces the neuronal degeneration seen in Parkinson’s disease. Many of the foods treated with paraquat are high-lectin foods, such as peas, beans and potatoes, so strive to buy organic whenever possible
Well there’s more cheery news. Is there any wonder why our health is in a downward spiral and certain diseases are becoming more commonplace, things our ancestors rarely faced? Once again, it’s a struggle to understand the role of the FDA. Sure doesn’t seem like there’s much benefit for the American people. Perhaps multiple investigations into the inner works of the FDA (and CDC, and CIA, and FBI…) should be added to the pile. A multitude of people need to be sent to jail, not only failing to protect the general population, but intentional corruption for personal gain. Do the people who work within these agencies take an oath of office? Not that it matters much with blatant disregard after getting the job.
In a June 2, 2023, article9 in The Guardian, journalist and author Carey Gillam reviews evidence from the paraquat lawsuits showing Syngenta has known about the chemical’s risk to human health for decades, and went out of its way to bury that evidence.
Some of the research10 out there suggests lifetime exposure to paraquat raises your risk of Parkinson’s by as much as 250% (odds ratio 2.5), primarily through oxidative stress. In the 2020 book, “Ending Parkinson’s Disease: A Prescription for Action,” four leading neurologists also cite paraquat as a causative factor for the condition.11
Not surprisingly, Syngenta relied on the same strategies developed and perfected by the tobacco industry in years past. While independent researchers kept linking paraquat to Parkinson’s disease, Syngenta sowed doubt by maintaining the evidence was “fragmentary” and “inconclusive,” even though it wasn’t.
Anyone really surprised?
So is this Islamaphobia? Or transphobia? It’s so hard to tell anymore.
A Michigan city with an all-Muslim government has banned LGBTQ+ flags from public areas after a bizarre hours-long meeting that saw displays of passion from both sides.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12196225/Michigan-city-Muslim-government-bans-Pride-flags-public-property-council-meeting.html
Starbucks Manager Who Was Fired for Being White Awarded $25.6M
In the April 2018 incident, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were arrested in a Starbucks coffee shop near tony Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia shortly after the manager called police to report that two men were refusing to either make a purchase or leave the premises. They were later released without charges.
Video of the arrest prompted national outcry and led the current CEO of Starbucks to personally apologize to the men. The company later reached a settlement with both men for an undisclosed sum and an offer of free college education. The company also changed store policies and closed locations across the country for an afternoon for so-called racial-bias indoctrination.
Well, that’s in interesting precedent. Do something that goes against standard norms for engaging a business and get a free college education. Other than being charged astronomical prices for coffee, one might wonder how a company like this stays in business. Wonder how long it will take the litigants to actually receive their payments, especially if back & future pay is added to the equation?
https://headlineusa.com/starbucks-manager-who-was-fired-for-being-white-awarded-25-6m/?utm_source=HUSAemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HUSAemail
Gotta love Ted Cruz.
If only more Republicans had the stomach to join the fight. Speaking of … where has RDS been? His donor class worries me
His donor class might worry me if there was any indication they strongly influence him. From what I have seen of him he’s very independent and focused on his personal values regarding government, rules, the United States, the role of executives, and in general things I respect and agree with.
Donating to a politician doesn’t automatically mean an assumption of gaining influence. I think it’s just as likely to be awareness that, in the case of donations from an industry for example, some politicians if elected are more likely to govern in ways that are generally beneficial, without being specific to that one industry or company. In the vein of “a rising tide lifts all boats” a donor class can just be interested in a better economy and a more Constitutionally governed state, period.
And, of course, the sense of backing a winner and not just throwing away good money. Jeb!
Well I remember being excited about, and voting for a Republican Governor one time in the not too distant past, only to be extremely disappointed. I’m expecting more from him and hope to see it.
I’m expecting more from him and hope to see it. How about this?
………………………….
Earlier this week, Real Clear Politics ran a story headlined, “EXCLUSIVE: The DeSantis Plan To Wage War on ‘Weaponized’ DOJ.”
The article reported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been working for months on plans to tear down and rebuild both the Department of Justice and the FBI, consulting with experts and members of Congress to develop a “Day One” strategy for de-weaponizing the justice system.
Apparently Governor DeSantis has recognized the importance of the Sisyphean job of presenting a coherent, believable plan for how the criminal syndicate inside the U.S government can be brought to heel, if not completely surgically excised. The Governor is consulting with experts, such as Steven Bradbury of the Heritage Foundation and Victor Davis Hanson of the Hoover Institution, among others.
According to Real Clear Politics, the Governor has privately told his advisors he plans to hire and fire large numbers of federal personnel, reorganize entire agencies, and execute a “disciplined” and “relentless” strategy to restore the Justice Department to a mission more in line with what the “Founding Fathers envisioned.”
The article said that DeSantis has assembled a “brain trust of academics, members of Congress, and former administration officials” to design step-by-step blueprints for tearing the dysfunctional DOJ and FBI down and then building them back up again properly.
It’s not just a random idea floating around in the Governor’s head:
There have been regular conference calls, detailed memos, and at least one policy retreat in Tallahassee earlier this year. The work is ongoing because their enemy, the so-called “deep state,” is vast. Their aim is nothing short of crippling it once and for all. A key feature of the emerging plan: Move fast. Don’t wait on Congress.
Examples offered in the article include: relocating FBI headquarters out of Washington DC, eliminating and consolidating the agency’s general counsel, public affairs, and government relations offices with existing divisions in the DOJ, and “beefing up” the field offices over headquarters.
As far as voting for “Republican governors” goes, wasn’t Reagan a Republican governor?
where has RDS been
Well, putting together coherent plans, with the advice of people like VDH, on how to handle the most serious problems we as a nation are facing. What, exactly, do you THINK he should be doing? Continuing the practice of Politics As Circus, with rallies and flags and brass bands and dancing monkeys, pumping up the perception of public support?
Despite the obvious, credible evidence of a bribery will be left without ANY criminal prosecution of the guilty, the person sitting in the highest office in the country.
The dismissal of reporters asking questions on this matter should tell you that Democrats no longer feel like they have to answer to voters. Remember, Joe “Big Guy” Biden said in 2016 that they “had assembled the most extensive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics”. And we should believe him.
When you read comments sections about this there is always some prissy-faced scold who lectures “Hunter Biden is not running for office”—and the same person is likely to have posted some snarl about Jared Kushner getting some business deal with Saudi Arabia.
If this trend continues …
Space Force general gives blistering speech at Pentagon Pride event slamming more than 400 anti-LGBTQ state-level bills she claims are forcing her to hire ‘less qualified’ candidates
It will be incumbent on my generation to caution the next generation about their safety. Soon we will have Doctors, Surgeons, Airline Pilots, Truck Drivers, Auto Mechanics, etc. who will have been hired because of their skin color and some quota, not because of their expertise … and people will die.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12200991/Space-Force-general-slams-state-level-anti-LGBTQ-bills-blistering-speech.html
Her speech included this: If a good match for a job does not feel safe being themselves and performing at their highest potential at a given location, or if their family could be denied critical health care due to the laws in that state, I am compelled to consider a different candidate, and, perhaps less qualified.
In other words, the most qualified person for a position who has a child who, at the age of six has declared that he is a girl, that person can’t be appointed to a Space Force position if he or she would be stationed in a state that bans surgical or chemical treatment of children to affect gender characteristics.
It apparently wouldn’t matter if the parents wanted their child to be submitted to this—it’s just that it MIGHT be an issue (“could be denied”). It’s about time people start to speak out against the insanity of this movement.