Last week I wrote about culture and how the left has destroyed it, as they plug ugliness into the void left behind with the institutions they own. My argument is that the right must build, not complain.
But where to build first? The right isn’t taking over the media, academia, or Hollywood anytime soon, therefore these are not the ideal starting points. Below are some categorical ideas (not exhaustive, of course) of areas where small wins could be gained, with the intention of creating a snowball effect.
Architecture:
Our buildings have become ugly. Look at old pictures of the big cities in this country versus how they look now, and it’s impossible not see an evolution of a lack of character.
But the big cities aren’t even where we start. We start where there’s red, in the rural areas and small towns. And I’m not just taking about improving upon and beautifying the current buildings in these towns. There should also be a creation of new ones, perhaps even unique structures that add to landscapes as opposed to taking away from them.
I’m currently watching a show about folks in France building a castle from scratch. “I wish more people would do that,” a friend told me when I told her about it. I agreed. Perhaps a castle built in a red state like West Virginia or Oklahoma — not for tourism’s sake but instead for beauty — would also subsequently create a foundation for building culture.
Short stories:
The NY Times bestseller list for fiction isn’t about to be occupied by right wing authors anytime soon. And nor will many of the books on that list not have some kind of social justice message portrayed within its pages, and instead in its place a depiction of tradition, of natural hierarchies, and of borders used to benefit the community in which they protect.
What’s also true is that people don’t read very much anymore, one reason given that “there just isn’t the time.” Well, maybe there’s not time to read entire novel, but perhaps a short story could take the place of a 30 minute social media death scroll.
Short stories used to be more prominent than what they are now. So in an age when they’re definitely more accessible now than they were in their time of prominence, why not bring about a reemergence of the form and dominate it with authors not likely to be seen on the NY Times bestseller list?
Monuments of remembrance:
I’m not just talking statues here, but the motivation comes from them; or rather, from the left’s pursuance of tearing them down. What I’m envisioning is an active remembrance of your own past. Do some ancestry and find out who and where you came from. Then honor that past, even if you don’t like all of what you find. Because honoring something sometimes means facing it head on for it is and then choosing another path.
Make a sketch or a painting of that church your great grandfather attended. Learn what triumphs and hardships your grandma endured and journal them out as if you yourself are living through them. Have family heirlooms and make them present at family gatherings.
Living in the past is not the goal here, but learning from it is. Doing these sorts of things in the present will actively be creating a past that your children can look to and continue on. At a time of erasing, you can do the opposite and build for the future by using the past as a guidestone.
Clarification:
Reading this might cause the reader to wonder what is inherently “rightwing” about all that’s been presented. The answer is, most of it is not ideologically aligned; though sneaking elements and themes of what’s considered to be on the right can certainly be snuck in.
The main goal, however, is to create beauty where there is either an absence of it or where ugliness resides. Having a different view of the world than the folks who are currently plugging such ugliness into society is what makes this culture building of the right.