Conservatives are constantly aghast at the left-wing bias that has infected all of our institutions -- most obviously, the media and the schools, but also (lately) the boardroom and even the Pentagon.
What's the origin of the bias? Well, we usually talk about academic indoctrination of elites by tenured radicals; or deliberate propaganda efforts by trained operatives -- and all of that probably is a factor.
But I think there's another source, and it's within each of us. The nature of left-wing opposition is to complain and demand, and to attack those who would dare defend tradition or invoke authority.
In other words, the left is a teenager. The right is composed of adults -- and not even particularly stodgy or square adults, just men and (usually married) women who understand what living requires.
The reason our politics and our culture have a left-wing bias is that, at core, it's a bias toward youth. Our popular art forms -- especially rock -- are about rebellion; our ideas of beauty are about youth. Etc.
It's natural to value youth. But we didn't always obsess about youth the way we do today. And I think it has a lot to do with the rise of visual media, from TV to TikTok, and self-consciousness about image.
The Democrats are often fighting what they call a return to the 1950s, which they say means repressing women and minorities, but it also conjures pipe-smoking dads and moms in sensible calf-length skirts.
In other words, the 1950s were about adulthood. The revolution of the 1960s was about the triumph of youth -- and we have never really looked back. After 1968 or so, adults strove to look like kids.
The bias toward youth dooms our politics to have a left-wing bias. It also means that when Republicans win, it's a surprise -- because there are still adults, but they are quiet, and often deliberately so.
So -- if you want to change that bias, you have to make adulthood more exciting. Not just demand people grow up or behave like adults, which is the method of some scolds, but make our adulthood fun.
Adulthood is about enjoying certain things that are off limits. We can't get there by banning things that are widely available -- but there are some things you can't just pull up on a smartphone.
How about, for example... the experience of pregnancy? Not just for women, but men? Savoring a pregnant woman's beauty is something only men in committed relationships can do. It's for adults, only.
Making pregnancy sexy and fun -- or just honored and valuable -- seems more persuasive than going on about when life begins and so on, even if those are really crucial underlying concepts to everything.
So... I'm toying with the idea of developing our notions of adulthood -- not just as a philosophy or a set of rules, but as an aesthetic. If you can get to that, I think, you can start to correct our political course.
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
