I return to an interpretation of Zizek, The Year of Dreaming Dangerously, this time chapter 5: “Welcome to the Desert of Post-Ideology.” Zizek, through Lacan, distinguishes the controlled pleasures of capitalistic rationalism from the excessive enjoyment of the unsafe smoker and pointless rioter, and then evaluates what things like the UK riots of 2011 mean for advanced capitalism.

Classical conservative Michael Oakeshott identifies the marketplace and its attendant encouragement of trendiness as an area that runs counter to the conservative disposition. The conservative disposition can instead be seen in activities like friendship, fishing, a person’s tool collection and how he uses it. Sawzall meme included.

In this second reading from Michael Oakeshott’s essay “On Being Conservative” we get into what counts as a true conservative disposition and what does not. Two aspects of contemporary conservatism are questioned–the desire for rapid and ongoing change, supposedly for the better, and a sentimental nostalgia for an idealized past.

The term “conservatism” is so laden with unfortunate meaning and associations by now that it’s hard to explain to people what it meant before it was confused with liberalism. But it’s really important to do so, because unlike the revolutionary culture-, family- and community-busting market-prioritizing conservatism everyone knows about now, the older version has positive contributions to make in a time of openness to different ways of thinking and living. Michael Oakeshott was a 20th century British thinker who wrote “On Being Conservative.” We’ll read from the essay and mark some notable differences between the natural conservatism of Oakeshott and US conservatism today. The essay: http://faculty.rcc.edu/sellick/On%20Being%20Conservative.pdf Front Porch Republic: https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/

In this section of the book, I explain Carl Jung’s view that 20th Century ideological extremism is in part a reaction to the dehumanizing effects of industrialization and urbanization. You can find the book for sale at most of the usual places, but here are some links: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781138082120?gC=098f6bcd4&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyLDpBRCxARIsAEENsrJ72nrDMairlo1IxVpC8Jd9DT50NHfbh0mFSiocYE3S247nLjhxZQAaAlcFEALw_wcB https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=-uuYDwAAQBAJ https://www.vitalsource.com/products/ideological-possession-and-the-rise-of-the-new-laurie-m-johnson-v9781000007329?duration=90&gclid=Cj0KCQjwyLDpBRCxARIsAEENsrLC34mE7gJG4EBa7x8GThlFZbCcml1JWhSbsdw09j-H_w8-WZrlRWkaAiESEALw_wcB

In this final episode on the book An Other Kingdom, I outline how Brueggeman and crew discuss ideas for building more community, and aim their attention at the millennial generation and younger.

A discussion of the book An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture by Block, Brueggemann and McKnight, especially on the idea of the fear of death causing the consumer addiction, the loss of which can be quite disturbing: “Grief occurs to us because of the impossibility of perfection and immortality. The free market consumer ideology calls us to infinite possibility. It promises perfection (you can always improve your lot in life) and immortality (there is an answer to aging). This is its value proposition. Grow or die. Consume or be unhappy. The market is an engine for denial instead of grieving.” Some practical ways to depart are discussed.

In this second part of a series on the book “An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture” by Peter Block, Walter Brueggemann, and John McKnight, we get into the foreboding wilderness of covenantal community and the scary idea of neighborliness. Here’s a link to the Minimalists, mentioned at the beginning of the video. https://www.theminimalists.com/

This is the second reading of my new book, Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right: The Political Thought of Carl Jung. This is from the first chapter, which explains the basics of Jung’s psychological theories as they apply to political ideologies. My apologies for the slight hum in this video–too close to another device! You can find the book in paperback and e-book at many outlets, but here’s the link to the book (including rental option) at Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/Ideological-Possession-and-the-Rise-of-the-New-Right-The-Political-Thought/Johnson/p/book/9781138082120

Part 1. Radical Christianity: An Other Kingdom. Block, Brueggemann and McKnight are authors of An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture. In this episode, I introduce their critique of today’s politicized and materialistic Christianity and begin to pose a radical break with the American entanglement of Christianity and the dominant civil religion.