Outline for Victory (V): Culture

“The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.”

-- Daniel Patrick Moynihan

In divided America, the "cultural wars" fought since the 1960s have left the nation with shreds of traditional Judeo-Christian culture overwhelmed by a secular culture of sex, violence, rock and roll, drugs, junk food, and whatever else the elite tolerates in order to pacify the masses with — echoing the Roman Empire — “bread and circuses.” Progressives themselves practice a higher “luxury beliefs” culture, their modern, undemanding version of religion (see earlier blog).

The battle is uneven. Traditional religion remains a force in America, but no longer wins elections.

We noted elsewhere that the 100 counties with the largest share of college degrees voted 84% for Biden. These suburban areas may well grow increasingly Democratic, as their residents increasingly embrace progressive control.

Studying Wyomissing, a leafy, traditional Republican suburb outside Reading, Pennsylvania, author Charles McElwee found that younger physicians employed in the community’s health maintenance systems vote Democratic, unlike their GOP-supporting elders who nurtured their own medical practices. Such a change follows a national trend attracting professionals in larger organizations.

Even as elite culture appeals to the upwardly mobile, popular culture saps working class strength, delivering blows to those below.

One response to progressive culture's downside could be revival of traditional religion among Blacks and Hispanics, drawing them closer to conservative Christians.

But Pennsylvania suburb watcher McElwee has eyed a different response — the emerging
counter culture of Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy. 

Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy

Portnoy interviewed Trump last year. 

Discussing Portnoy, Matthew Walther wrote,

Trump recognized .   .   . there are millions of Americans who do not oppose or even care about abortion or same-sex marriage.   .   . the new culture war would be fought over .   .   . opposition to the popularization of so-called critical race theory, [favorable] sentimentality about the American flag and the military.   .   . these are people who, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, accept pornography, homosexuality, drug use, legalized gambling[. They incoherently blend] standard libertarian talking points and pseudo-populism, embracing lower taxes on the one hand and stimulus checks and stricter regulation of social media platforms on the other.

Barstool Sports is Trump-type culture. It fits within Trump’s coalition that embraces other patriotic conservatives, including born-again Christians. Walther believes Portnoy’s perspective is that of millions of Americans, who share his “disdain for the language of liberal improvement, the hectoring, schoolmarmish attitude of Democratic politicians and their allies in the media, and, above all, the elevation of risk-aversion .    .   . by our professional classes.” 

Walter expects the future of the Republican Party to belong to Barstool conservatives. The Barstool movement won’t have institutions like think tanks or highbrow magazines. It will be larger, more geographically disparate, younger, more male. And it will be racially diverse.