Have you ever read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road? I used to discount it, preferring his others, but in recent years I’ve come to really find it inspiring. I think it’s the perfect analogy here, even if the world is not about to fall into a total apocalypse. The boy and his father live in a world without hope, without a reason to carry on, in which all the people around them have resorted to cannibalism and will kill them if they find them. Despite that, they continue on, each trying to be the hope for the other. The man talks about carrying the fire. They are all that remains of civilization and if there is to be any hope for the human race, they have to carry it with them. They know they may die and the fire may go out with them, but they press on anyway, even though they see no prospect of success.
If we are entering a period of darkness, those of us who remember what America was and what the West was must carry that memory with us. Conservatism is fundamentally about conserving civilization and passing it on to future generations. If there is to be any hope in the future, it will be thanks to those who carried with them the memory of that which was good and noble and which instilled the virtues of civilization - the best of American and the West - in their children. We may not see any possibility of success, but that doesn’t mean we can give up or fail to carry the fire with us. I may write something about this and if so I’ll send it your way.
Have you ever read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road? I used to discount it, preferring his others, but in recent years I’ve come to really find it inspiring. I think it’s the perfect analogy here, even if the world is not about to fall into a total apocalypse. The boy and his father live in a world without hope, without a reason to carry on, in which all the people around them have resorted to cannibalism and will kill them if they find them. Despite that, they continue on, each trying to be the hope for the other. The man talks about carrying the fire. They are all that remains of civilization and if there is to be any hope for the human race, they have to carry it with them. They know they may die and the fire may go out with them, but they press on anyway, even though they see no prospect of success.
If we are entering a period of darkness, those of us who remember what America was and what the West was must carry that memory with us. Conservatism is fundamentally about conserving civilization and passing it on to future generations. If there is to be any hope in the future, it will be thanks to those who carried with them the memory of that which was good and noble and which instilled the virtues of civilization - the best of American and the West - in their children. We may not see any possibility of success, but that doesn’t mean we can give up or fail to carry the fire with us. I may write something about this and if so I’ll send it your way.
Been wanting to read some McCarthy. You've inspired me to start with this one!
It’s short and easy to read, unlike everything else he wrote