Scott Locklin

Posted by Jack Donovan in Uncategorized on Oct 6th, 2009 | one response

Locklin made me a fan with his recent essay on “Stuff White People Like” over at TakiMag.

He seems to be a secular conservative of some stripe, which is encouraging. He believes, as I do, that “Culture and morality are machines for transmitting basic survival truths across generations.”

Here’s a clip of the essay.

In 21st-century America, life is soft enough that our over-educated upper-middle classes are able to do away with moral codes that serve a purpose, and adopt more byzantine ones which demonstrate their freedom from concern. I see this as a form of conspicuous consumption, a status marker for viewing themselves above the lower orders. A hundred years ago, wealthy men who were above the concerns of the peasantry would sprout preposterous top hats and hire a servant. Fifty years ago, if you had a job among the gentle people, you’d wear a nice suit. Nowadays, that sort of “I have arrived” directness is seen as gauche; membership in “polite” society is reserved for people who display the proper contempt for reality in manner and folkway. After all, if “you have arrived,” you need not believe in those outdated things the lower orders believe in by necessity. Flouting ancient moral codes is the postmodern version of the proverbial rich guy lighting cigars with $20 bills.

Read the rest here.

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