I'm not sure canadian exceptionalism will last. But i find striking the question, why don't more americans actually want to move to canada? So they would take either of us righth? That's very flattering to us, but we're still sitini need to rel my my wife is descended from canadians on one side, from a newfoundland and ontario. And when, you know, things get particularly hot on twitter, she will sometimes suggest that she needs to reclaim her canadian citizenship.
For Ross Douthat, decadence isn’t necessarily a moral judgement, but a technical label for a state that societies tend to enter—and one that is perhaps much more normal than the dynamism Americans have come to take for granted. In his new book, he outlines the cultural, economic, political, and demographic trends that threaten to leave us to wallow in a state of civilizational stagnation for years to come, and fuel further discontent and derangement with it.
On his second appearance on Conversations with Tyler, Ross joined Tyler to discuss why he sees Kanye as a force for anti-decadence, the innovative antiquarianism of the late Sir Roger Scruton, the mediocrity of modern architecture, why it’s no coincidence that Michel Houellebecq comes from France, his predictions for the future trajectory of American decadence – and what could throw us off of it, the question of men’s role in modernity, why he feels Christianity must embrace a kind of futurist optimism, what he sees as the influence of the “Thielian ethos” on conservatism, the plausibility of ghosts and alien UFOs, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.
Recorded February 25th, 2020 Other ways to connect