Amerika

For those who enjoy a political quiz, a program that asks you questions to place you on several axes measuring political alignment, the new 8values quiz attempts to give its users some sense of where they fit relative to other political viewpoints.

The problem with these quizzes is that they do not separate methods and goals. As a result, for example, they presume that the only method of having strong power is through a State, and forget those who want aristocrats not a modern government. By not including non-modern viewpoints, this quiz in particular leaves no room for traditionalists or other monarchists.

If anything, this shows the struggle that the Alt Right faces. We know that Western Civilization has failed, and that modernity starting with egalitarianism has killed it, and that the solution is to implement a traditional-style civilization. This immediately puts us off the scope of political discourse entirely.

Our time shows among many other things the failure of politics itself. When power is divided, meaning that it shared between competing individuals or groups, politics is introduced, and egalitarianism only worsens the situation. At that point, the only way to get anything done is through manipulation and compromise, which destroys (inverts) the original purpose.

The test identified my political outlook as “fundamentalism.” While this sounds sort of cool, it misses the point. Those who realize that people are not only not necessarily good, but often bad, and in groups the herd defaults to these bad outlooks so that it can include everyone, tend toward a “religious” view of the world even if not religious per se.

Part of Traditionalism is the recognition that civilizations work well only when kept in balance. Balance means restraining our human impulses, having multiple approaches that vary with the situation as necessary, and preserving a strong hierarchy that orients civilization toward an ongoing and immutable goal. Anything else fails.

As we exit this age of decay, it is important that we embrace what is “good” and not merely what is “good enough.” We have to leave this disaster behind entirely, and that will not involve any of the viewpoints found on these political quizzes.

Tags: fundamentalism, political quiz, traditionalism