The Aaron Renn Show

A Dutch soldier in Indianapolis for training exercises was murdered downtown, creating an international incident with global press and cabinet level officials in both the Netherlands and the US having to address it. And yet local Indianapolis leaders, in contrast to the abortion issue, can't talk about the role of crimes like this in our business climate and reputation. From crime to the water crisis in Jackson to drug abuse to our electric grid to elections to health care, Americas leaders cannot muster the will and ability to address serious problems. They are imprisoned by the ideological constraints of managerialism and hobbled by the increasing complexity of our systems. 

Andrew Tate, Kevin Samuels (RIP), the FaZe Clan and many others online figures most Americans have never heard of have no become the decisive influence on Gen Z. While all of us know this at some level, few appreciate the full reality of it in practice. This feeds off of, and accelerates, the decline of trust in institutions.NYT: Can FaZe Clan Build a Billion-Dollar Business? - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/style/faze-clan-house.html

Some observations on the way evangelicals leaders have been speaking of "violence" as distinct from injustice, and present it as if it were a natural force like thunderstorms rather than a product of human agency.

Dr. Benjamin Mabry joins me to discuss his essay on anti-managerial aesthetics. We will discuss what aesthetics are, why the approach promoted by "dissident right" figures like Curtis Yarvin won't work, and why we should reject the idea of a top 20% vs. bottom 80% of society in favor of an aesthetic scaled to speak to both the elite and the average citizen.Anti-Mangerial Aesthetics Essay:  https://aaronrenn.substack.com/p/newsletter-67-anti-managerial-aestheticsPremium Mediocre: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-life-of-maya-millennial/

In this month's newsletter, Dr. Benjamin L. Mabry discusses the importance of aesthetics, as well as sharing perspectives on what an aesthetic that would provide a genuine alternative and rival to the dominant managerial aesthetics of our culture today.  He describes the aesthetic mode of managerial society, which is based on an imperial mode in which there's a sharp boundary between ruler and subject, in this case the top 20% managerial class vs. the 80% of everybody else. He notes that a top 20% aesthetic is not that of a true elite in any case, as genuine elites are a very small share of the population, not 20%. He also argues that we should aspire to have an aesthetic that both the elites and the average citizen can relate to and admire, rooted in a genuine notion of excellence.He also talks a bit about what such an aesthetic is and and is not. It is not a "mania for newness", or is it a retro-aesthetic that treats the past as just another style element to mix and match at real. Rather, it is the aesthetic and genuine culture of a particular people or subculture, not cosmopolitanism. For the American, this in part means unpacking and expressing the full sense of the aesthetic signifier "Made in America."

Much of the language we use today can be divided into two categories: compliant and defiant. Compliant language - like DEI or ESG - signals agreement with the current elite consensus. Defiant signals some level of disagreement or rejection of that consensus.Defiant language today often uses terms and imagery that are alien to American to American political and cultural tradition. "Nationalism," for example, does not appear to be a way that Americans have understood their relationship to their country.  Catholic integralism and Continental philosophy and themes often seem bizarre to the average American.These phrase, such as nationalism, can be perfectly appropriate to use in some contexts, but we should be evaluating the language we use to think about whether it is consonant with the cultural mainstream of our country. As an example of an organization that did this well, consider the Claremont Institute's DC operation, which was called the "Center for the American Way of Life."  The idea of the American way of life is one that resonates with the average man on the street.

This month's newsletter explains why American Christians, in particular evangelicals, having been reduced to a disfavored minority in the negative world, need to start acting like minority. That is, they need to focus much more on their own internal community strength and health - their private good. This is how all minority groups have always behaved. This doesn't mean ignoring mission, the common good, etc. But you can't give somebody something you don't have yourself. I examine several case studies, including black Americans, Hispanics in Chicago, Catholic in the early to mid-20th century, and the Mormons. Additionally, I provide some starter ideas for what this new focus on community well-being might look like. Above all, the important thing is to make the shift to a minority mindset.

I review a few perspectives on strategic decision making, including Jim Wilson's application of the "strategic point." As a bonus, we'll talk about what you can learn from the Big 10 conference signing on USC and UCLA.

Some thoughts about the reversal of Roe. vs. Wade.  This includes observations on the unintended consequences of violating norms, why the moral vision of the pro-life movement has been more effective than the utilitarian arguments advanced by conservatism generally, the power and importance of a generational perspective, and why a total abortion ban may not be as popular with the American public as some believe.

Online men's gurus typically use a version of the "hero's journey" or the "rags to riches"  to sell you on their products. They tell you how they hit rock bottom, then transformed themselves, then created the amazing life they have today. You too can have that life - if you follow the same script. This is a powerful narrative structure and completely legitimate to use in marketing, yet it has always left me cold. My personal life does follow something of that storyline, but it was not my efforts and plan but rather random events (or, if you prefer, God's sovereign control) that seem more dominant in determining the outcome. We are not always the hero. We have to remember that "unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." While there's nothing wrong with using a hero's journey storyline, we should be humble in recognizing but that for incredible good fortune,  we would not have achieved whatever success we have.