Despite their many social ills, one might judge the decades prior to World War I to be the last period of sanity in the West. It was truly the last epoch in American history in which the values of old Europe still held any sway, when criticism of modernity by men of the Right still … Continue reading The WASP in the Wilderness

Few now remember them… yet still some go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folks that are heedless. (Tom Bombadil, “Fog on the Barrow Downs,” The Fellowship of the Ring) In memory of Christopher Tolkien The Dúnedain were descended from the seafaring kings of ancient Númenor, who had settled … Continue reading The Rangers of the North

This time of year, when autumn fades into winter, has been particularly evocative to me ever since I was a child. Of course, “the holiday season” has a special meaning for many people, and their reasons are probably for the most part quite similar to mine. There is a shared seasonal nostalgia for the cold … Continue reading Autumnal Reflections

Among those on the Right who address man’s relationship to the rest of the natural world, one finds a variety of approaches. There are the anthropocentric conservationists, who promote the “wise use” or prudent management of natural resources for future generations. There are the Social Darwinist varieties, who view humanity as a purely biological part … Continue reading Metaphysics and Integral Ecology

I have returned, for a time, to the lakes and forests of my childhood. Returned to the knotted post oaks and the impenetrable blackjack pines, to the dense undergrowth and brambles, to the thick forests echoing with the song of cardinals and sparrows and scissortails and crows by day, the humming of cicadas and tree … Continue reading Midsummer

We all know the story. In 1492, Columbus discovered the New World. By the seventeenth century, British North America had become a refuge for Englishmen fleeing religious persecution and tyrannical government, where colonists like the Pilgrims and the Puritans sought to create a wholly new society, a “City on a Hill,” serving as a beacon … Continue reading The Historic American Nation

The following is meant as an introductory reading list. Some of these works are straightforward in their focus on man’s relationship with the natural world; others are significant insofar as they express and develop the holistic, organic, and traditional ethos that must undergird any genuine and lasting attempts to preserve wild nature. All stand as … Continue reading A Dark Green Canon

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8) Decadence is a defining feature of modern life, indeed a … Continue reading Purity, Aristocracy, Transcendence

As I was mindlessly reading on my iPhone a few days ago, I came across an article discussing the effects of smart phones on the muscular and skeletal structures of their users. Nobody doubts that contemporary technology and social media are having enormous effects upon our attention spans, relationships, and self-perceptions; it should come as … Continue reading The Poison of Modernity

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the holy season of Lent. Following as it does the mirth and indulgence of the winter holidays, this Lenten return to discipline and austerity has always been significant to me, even when I did not count myself among the orthodox. It is a season for inwardness and withdrawal, … Continue reading Lenten Reflections on Austerity