re: Trump Makes it Official: Put His Name on the Kennedy Center or Let the Center Rot

Why not let it rot rather than the taxpayer pay for it? I’m never gonna go to it


Why did billionaires go from building dumb stuff that nobody cares about like libraries to trying to kill everyone

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hence the male loneliness epidemic.

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No.

Men have always been interested in things. The male loneliness epidemic—which is only a recent trend—has followed right along with the abandonment of the nuclear family, which is mostly (but not entirely) being driven by women. Women who have inculcated feminism, specifically.

Consider the black community. The breakdown of the nuclear family happened first and has happened to a greater extent in that population than others in our society (not so much because of feminism as other factors).

But that's absolutely why there is so much violence in that community.

Maleness absent family = destructive behavior.

Femaleness absent family also = destructive behavior, although it looks different for women than men.

One of the data points that Shapiro presented in the video is that studies indicate that women are now more comfortable with and affirming of political violence than men at this point in history.

If you are thinking, "You can't blame 100% of this on feminism," you're right. Like the black community I referenced above...that wasn't so much feminism as other factors. I would say that feminism is the single biggest driver of it all. But a whole list of "isms" that started out in academic ivory towers and over the past 250 or so years or less have made their way into mainstream thought are likewise responsible.

Hedonism, existentialism, scientism, post-modernism, feminism, intersectionality, etc., as well as the industrial revolution and the advance of technology to the point that humans don't feel like we need other humans for survival. Those factors all dovetail with and feed on each other to produce a dominant culture that has become post-duty, post-truth, and extremely self-centered and selfish.

Fewer and fewer people in western culture are concerned with their duty to family, church/God, community, country anymore. They/we are only concerned with "rights"...what we are entitled to, and our own "happiness."

I put that in quotes because according to the data, it turns out that we are made to serve something greater than ourselves and that's apparently where our happiness lies. And that starts with serving the family. It's why God created it as the first institution. It's the fundamental institutional unit. When it fails, society starts to fail.

Add in the internet as the primary distributor of information, where anybody can dispense any information they want without being peer reviewed, fact checked, and whoever shouts the loudest is assumed to be the most correct, PLUS a failing educational system in which logic and reason and how to think are no longer even attempted, PLUS the same internet confirming the bias of the previous distributor of knowledge (mainstream legacy media) PLUS the discovery of some legitimate chicanery by the government, PLUS a political party that has made a higher degree of empty promises for decades now, PLUS just the fact that we've technologically out-kicked our coverage in terms of the speed and quantity of information available...I guess you get rightist populism.

Leftist populism has always existed, because leftism is basically about victimhood to start with. Feminism is a victimhood narrative, Marxism is a victimhood narrative, intersectionality is a victimhood narrative, etc.

It took all of the above factors (and probably some I didn't identify) to pull the right into populism.

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People have always been interested in both things and other people. Humans are herd/social animals.

The people vs things data you are referencing pertains to vocational interests, not general hobbies.

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Don't start with this sort of nonsense now. We were having a good conversation. You know exactly what I am talking about there, and it's based on plenty of research. I used the word "trend" enough to not leave ambiguity.

And I disagree that the trends do not extend to general hobbies. I know lots of guys who love their guns or boats or golf clubs. I don't know nearly as many women who do.

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I recall you think women bear the responsibility for men abandoning their children because women have sex with men who end up abandoning their children.

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I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about with that. If you are referring to me having said that female chastity would automatically largely solve the problem of single mothers, I'd regard that as a self-evident fact, not an opinion. Certainly not a controversial one.

Sure, there are some women who remain chaste and spend a lot of time vetting a marriage partner, get married, and still end up with a worthless husband who baited and switched her throughout the process who leaves her and the children. But very few. And even fewer in religious couples.

And again, that's supported by research.

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Who is committing the political violence: men or women?

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He didn't say. What does it matter to the point?

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Right, this was discussed at length in the existential threads I started over the summer in response to books I read

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Any specifics that you'd like to discuss in this context, or are you just sharing?

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which were coincidentally written by men.

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Relevance?

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Is there a difference between "leftist populism," "populism," and "rightist populism," in your opinion? What category would Trump's movement fall into? Or are today's populists some other group?

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The way I see populism in western society, it's a movement/ideology that has one central foundational principle: Us vs Them. "Us" is always a victim and "Them" is always an oppressor.

Paranoia and victimhood are the fuel that turns the gears of populism. It depends on its adherents existing in a constant state of manufactured discontent, accomplished by feeding people a constant stream of doomsday predictions, victimhood narratives, and conspiracy theories.

Unlike traditional right or left aspects of classical liberalism, there are no foundational principles that drive policy. For example, the big foundational principle of the right—at least in America—has always been that government cannot be trusted and therefore should exist at a minimally viable level only.

That's a foundational principle, and it informs and influences policy decisions.

The left aspect of classical liberalism instead rests upon a foundational principle that dictates that government is more reliable than business or individual decisions to solve problems, on the theory that government can be influenced by ordinary people.

None of that applies to populism. It doesn’t dictate policy. Which is why Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders can both advocate for protectionist economic mechanisms such as tariffs.

The only difference I see between leftist and rightest populism in America in 2026 is who each group decides is "us" versus “them.”

To the left, "them" is any and all Republicans, white people, men, Christians, cis people, straight people, traditional couples, basically anyone who continues to hold traditional Judeo-Christian values and American culture, rich people/business owners, corporations, people who live in “flyover country,” etc. “Normies.”

To the right, "them" is any and all Democrats and most Republicans, racial minorities, LGTBQ, ,especially the T, immigrants, “The Deep State,” “Globalists,” “Joos,” Muslims, women—especially liberal white women, rich people, business owners, corporations, people who live in urban areas, people who generally reject traditional Judeo-Christian values and American culture, etc. “Fruits and Nuts.”

Now with me making that list, don't suppose that I am claiming that any given line item does not reflect a legitimate issue or concern. But that’s not the point.

If we were debating any legitimate concerns within the context of classical liberalism, we would normally be talking about the issues and the policies relevant to those issues. With populism, the policies almost don't matter to people. It reduces down to just a matter of who favors the policies. If the current leader of “us" is in favor of a policy, then the populists fall in line behind it. Let the current leader of "them" propose exactly the same policy and the "us" populists will oppose it with the same fervor that they supported it when their leader wanted it. And vice versa.

And that's why I think it's so dangerous. That and because it relies on so much conspiracy theory/doomsday prediction nonsense that keeps people separated from reality.

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Where is the evidence that feminism is the principal causal mechanism connecting all of this to contemporary populism?

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Did you watch the video? If not, do that and we'll continue the conversation.

You're right, my first post was just Part 1. And I think I said so.

Feminism has been primarily responsible for the destruction of the nuclear family. But yes, we still have to get to populism.

Slight variation. President Trump now says that for the Trump ADMINISTRATION to get involved with renovating the Kennedy Center the Trump ADMINISTRATION has to be formally recognized.

He's still clear though. If his name isn't on the building the Kennedy Center will have to be "ripped down."

Does every federal building have to have Trump's name on it for the Administration to maintain it? This just gets crazier and crazier.

Thanks. Good to see that context note.

I also would like to see the specifics on the $17 million. There is no independent verification of this...which is odd for a public center.

It just so happens that the Washington National Opera sued the Kennedy Center in June for $17.1 million that it claims the Center is wrongfully refusing to release. Is that where the $17 million figure comes from?