The LDS temple in suburban DC offered public tours of the interior a few years ago that were VASTLY more informative of aesthetic choices than the puzzling Romney choice. If you can imagine scattered pictures of a very white Jesus all around a neither expensive nor inexpensive motel you have a pretty precise idea of what must be the LDS aesthetic.
Applying my comment below more to the American context, I wonder if greater crossover can be achieved between the retro-Americana people and the folk aesthetic people, in the same way UK elites marry high-prestige, glossy, classical, trad urban forms of dress, design and architecture with a deliberately scruffy, earthy, outdoorsy vibe when in the country. It could function as a two-pronged assault on the managerial aesthetic.
I would have thought (based on the British experience) that the original Wasps were able to do that, so if your Wasps have now merged into the liberal managerial class then there's space for conservatives to steal their clothes.
(Apologies if a comment along these lines has already come through as a reply to my first comment - Substack wasn't behaving itself earlier).
Very interesting from an Englishman's perspective. One of the key things about "elite" people of the traditional sort in Britain is that they tend to be all for traditional dress when it comes to being in the countryside (they will wear plus-fours and tweeds to shoot pheasants, and drive around in battered old Land Rovers), but when in the city they will adopt a much cleaner and more formal style. They are just as likely to work (if they do work) in very traditional buildings, like the Inns of Court, or very modern ones like the Gherkin. A mark of high status is having the ability (and the wardrobe) to move between these worlds appropriately.
They tend to miss out the in-between aesthetics, which are considered middle-class and therefore a bit phoney. Faddish eating is also rather frowned upon: they might eat e.g. a full
English breakfast in the country before a day's shooting and then eat very good quality but quite straightforward food if they have dinner at their club in London. Avocado on toast doesn't seem to fit into their world at all.
I suppose an elite-type Englishman of the traditional sort (think David Cameron or Boris Johnson, whatever their many flaws) is always trying to play the Cavalier role, and the earnest middle classes are always being chuckled at for being Roundheads.
Great summary of the differences on the right these days. I work for a major energy company, so I see a ton of the MAGA cringe stuff, but I also work around dudes who can afford huge saltwater boats and $70,000 pickups. And they are definitely not into avocado toast.
Great article. I'm trying to figure out where I fit in. I'm part of the fusion. I'm a conservative, I'm not an elite, but I love cities. I'm a huge fan of public transportation. I love spending a day in an art museum. I don't mind bike lanes. I used to ride myself, before there were bike lanes. I would love to live in the city, but I wouldn't be able to afford it. I voted for Donald Trump. 2020 and 2016 too. I'd been saying for years before 2016, that we needed a business man for a president to straighten out the mess, created by administrations made up of lawyers. I didn't care about his personal life. I'm a conservative urbanist. I enjoy the "Stuff White People Like," too. I'm fascinated by the emerging techno society. I just hope that using it for the good, triumphs over using it for the bad. Does that fit into the managerial/non-managerial division?
Yes there are. After studying music in New York City, in the middle 1970s, I wanted to live in New York. In 1980, I ended up in Washington, DC instead. I’ve lived in the suburbs for over 40 years. I do miss living in the city, but at this stage in my life, it would be too expensive to move, and to live there. They only real complaint I have about living where I live, is the frequency of the bus service. There are apartment buildings going up all over the place. I have no problem with that. More density means more people, which means more of a demand for public transportation. Hopefully, Metro will be able to provide the bus service that is, and will be needed.
Fascinating. My personal aesthetic in dress and design is that which I would consider timeless, which includes good judgement on what fits the figure or the space. One of my biggest pet peeves is the fact that no one knows how to dress themselves anymore. They clearly buy what is fashionable without regard to their height, width, shape, age, etc. One of the many lost arts. I must, however, confess an attraction to futurism. Conservatives in the US have the luxury of debating whether technology has gone too far. For those of us who watched shuttle launches with awe from small televisions in 3rd world countries, the US's technological prowess has always had a magnetic appeal. Even if your country is poor, war torn, lowly, there is someone on this planet who is conquering disease, building sky scrapers and heading to the stars.
I recently asked AI (Copilot—Microsoft) this: “My shoes are Redwing, my pants Wrangler, my shirt LL Bean, and my watch Hamilton. What’s my politics? Here’s the answer—
“Your style suggests a blend of rugged, practical, and classic tastes. Redwing boots and Wrangler jeans hint at a no-nonsense, hardworking vibe, while LL Bean and Hamilton add a touch of timeless, reliable quality. But politics? That's a bit trickier to pin down from fashion alone. Style can be a fun way to express yourself, but it doesn't always map directly to political beliefs. What do you think your style says about you?”
I asked the same thing to ChatGPT and got this:
“Your choice of clothing brands suggests a preference for quality, durability, and classic styles, which can often align with more traditional or conservative values. Redwing, for example, is known for its rugged work boots, while Wrangler is associated with Western and outdoor lifestyles. LL Bean emphasizes outdoor activities and a connection to nature, and Hamilton watches are known for their craftsmanship and timeless design.
Overall, this combination might indicate a practical and down-to-earth approach, often seen in more conservative or independent political leanings. However, fashion choices can be influenced by many factors, and it's not always a direct reflection of one's political beliefs.”
Great analysis. I'd like to see you on a Joe Rogan podcast. These ideas deserve wide distribution.
I wanted to make a comment about why the Retro-Americana group is more appealing to me than the Techno-Futurism group, even though I'm a chemical engineer. Retro-American values are what built this country. Christian values, the neighborliness of small towns, and love of country are indispensable assets.
The Techno-Futurism group has some appeal because technology can and has improved our lives in many ways. However, I would argue that technology in the 21st century differs from technology in prior centuries in two important ways: First, it is incredibly more powerful, and second, its application in a post-Christian world is likely to diminish rather than enhance human flourishing. Humanistic reasoning is simply not up to the task of steering these technologies in the right direction. Smart phones, despite the conveniences they offer, have led to zombie-like dependence for millions of Americans, namely, reduced attention span, less exercise, poor social development, and mental illness. AI is one of the worst poisons to be injected into our society. Do we really want to run headlong into the erosion of human prerogative in favor of an unbridled competitive intellect with no allegiance but to itself? In short, my problem with modern-day technology is that we can no longer allow it to develop without careful consideration of what it may become. Since we don't possess that wisdom in a post-Christian world, I take a jaundiced view of most new technology. I'm happy in the Retro-Americana group.
Very important - thank you. Despite the overall wokeism of the art world, there are right-leaning critics out there who can be helpful interpreters - here are a few. The first ones are more establishment leaning, and the latter three are more anti-establishment.
This is a very good analysis. I was wondering if you have any opinions as to why certain types of traditional architecture are more popular than others in new church construction. For example, most of what firms such as McCrery architects build tend to be either neoclassical or neo-gothic, rather than neo-baroque (though the latter has a considerable history in U.S. church design)? I think McCrery does amazing work, I have just always been confused as to why most modern church buildings that use traditional architecture tend to favor neoclassical and neo-gothic over other historical styles (especially over baroque, which has a long history in both Catholic and Protestant Europe).
There’s also aesthetic differences in other aspects as well. For example, I’ve noticed that First Things and the New Criterion only publish poetry that is written in meter, and usually in rhyming couplets. This suggests a return to medieval forms of writing. Tech-right poetry (Curtis Yarvin himself writes poetry) has a lot more free-verse, which suggests a more open and modern outlook.
Granted the overall point, but to push back slightly, rhyming couplets were current all the way through the 19th century (Longfellow and Tennyson) and even through the 20th (Richard Wilbur). Vikram Seth wrote a whole verse novel in 1986 about Bay Area techies in rhymed tetrameter. So it doesn't have to be medieval necessarily.
I'm inclined to think that rhyming/metered poetry is an example of the Tartarian aesthetic (https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/whither-tartaria) more than it's strictly medieval, and the exclusive insistence on free verse is mainly modern in the sense of being anti-Tartarian, i.e., ugly for the sake of being ugly.
I especially liked that Tweet about poetry that Scott Alexander cited:
"As a teacher of poetry what I can tell you for sure is people want poems to rhyme. They want poems to rhyme so bad. But we won’t give it to them"
There’s also this W.H. Auden quote:
>
The poet who writes "free" verse is like Robinson Crusoe on his desert island: he must do all his cooking, laundry and darning for himself. In a few exceptional cases, this manly independence produces something original and impressive, but more often the result is squalor - dirty sheets on the unmade bed and empty bottles on the unswept floor.
>
The resistance to change in many conservative aesthetic tastes can be distasteful, but an opposing sin is being closed-off to beauty because creating ugly things on purpose is seen as the best way to embrace change.
What a thought-provoking piece. I don't have anything as well thought-out on architecture (or probably anything), but I've always had an eye for it and have a small collection of books starting with From Bauhaus to Our House. I like a wide variety of styles including but not limited to classical, Federalist, mid-century modern, and some techno-futurist. I remain bewildered by your appreciation of some brutalist structures. Churches and office buildings that look like prisons and sewage treatment plants seem so anti-human to me.
And whatever the Tesla truck is, burn it with fire.
On that upbeat note, Happy Thanksgiving Aaron, thanks for all the work you do!
Fantastic analysis. The images and words work beautifully together. Many on the right are a fusion of multiple styles. We should remain open to cooperation and positive-sum thinking, not zero or negative sum like the left. Clothing is also important, as seen with the rise of Barbour nationalism and Clakson's Farm: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/clarksons-farm-review-thank-farmers-protest-esg
The LDS temple in suburban DC offered public tours of the interior a few years ago that were VASTLY more informative of aesthetic choices than the puzzling Romney choice. If you can imagine scattered pictures of a very white Jesus all around a neither expensive nor inexpensive motel you have a pretty precise idea of what must be the LDS aesthetic.
Applying my comment below more to the American context, I wonder if greater crossover can be achieved between the retro-Americana people and the folk aesthetic people, in the same way UK elites marry high-prestige, glossy, classical, trad urban forms of dress, design and architecture with a deliberately scruffy, earthy, outdoorsy vibe when in the country. It could function as a two-pronged assault on the managerial aesthetic.
I would have thought (based on the British experience) that the original Wasps were able to do that, so if your Wasps have now merged into the liberal managerial class then there's space for conservatives to steal their clothes.
(Apologies if a comment along these lines has already come through as a reply to my first comment - Substack wasn't behaving itself earlier).
Very interesting from an Englishman's perspective. One of the key things about "elite" people of the traditional sort in Britain is that they tend to be all for traditional dress when it comes to being in the countryside (they will wear plus-fours and tweeds to shoot pheasants, and drive around in battered old Land Rovers), but when in the city they will adopt a much cleaner and more formal style. They are just as likely to work (if they do work) in very traditional buildings, like the Inns of Court, or very modern ones like the Gherkin. A mark of high status is having the ability (and the wardrobe) to move between these worlds appropriately.
They tend to miss out the in-between aesthetics, which are considered middle-class and therefore a bit phoney. Faddish eating is also rather frowned upon: they might eat e.g. a full
English breakfast in the country before a day's shooting and then eat very good quality but quite straightforward food if they have dinner at their club in London. Avocado on toast doesn't seem to fit into their world at all.
I suppose an elite-type Englishman of the traditional sort (think David Cameron or Boris Johnson, whatever their many flaws) is always trying to play the Cavalier role, and the earnest middle classes are always being chuckled at for being Roundheads.
I saw on X that the Barbour jacket has been proposed as an icon of the British right wing at the present time:
https://x.com/kunley_drukpa/status/1858931193816780990
That's for sharing the British perspective.
Great summary of the differences on the right these days. I work for a major energy company, so I see a ton of the MAGA cringe stuff, but I also work around dudes who can afford huge saltwater boats and $70,000 pickups. And they are definitely not into avocado toast.
Great article. I'm trying to figure out where I fit in. I'm part of the fusion. I'm a conservative, I'm not an elite, but I love cities. I'm a huge fan of public transportation. I love spending a day in an art museum. I don't mind bike lanes. I used to ride myself, before there were bike lanes. I would love to live in the city, but I wouldn't be able to afford it. I voted for Donald Trump. 2020 and 2016 too. I'd been saying for years before 2016, that we needed a business man for a president to straighten out the mess, created by administrations made up of lawyers. I didn't care about his personal life. I'm a conservative urbanist. I enjoy the "Stuff White People Like," too. I'm fascinated by the emerging techno society. I just hope that using it for the good, triumphs over using it for the bad. Does that fit into the managerial/non-managerial division?
We need more conservative people with an urban orientation. There's a lot of great things about cities!
Yes there are. After studying music in New York City, in the middle 1970s, I wanted to live in New York. In 1980, I ended up in Washington, DC instead. I’ve lived in the suburbs for over 40 years. I do miss living in the city, but at this stage in my life, it would be too expensive to move, and to live there. They only real complaint I have about living where I live, is the frequency of the bus service. There are apartment buildings going up all over the place. I have no problem with that. More density means more people, which means more of a demand for public transportation. Hopefully, Metro will be able to provide the bus service that is, and will be needed.
Fascinating. My personal aesthetic in dress and design is that which I would consider timeless, which includes good judgement on what fits the figure or the space. One of my biggest pet peeves is the fact that no one knows how to dress themselves anymore. They clearly buy what is fashionable without regard to their height, width, shape, age, etc. One of the many lost arts. I must, however, confess an attraction to futurism. Conservatives in the US have the luxury of debating whether technology has gone too far. For those of us who watched shuttle launches with awe from small televisions in 3rd world countries, the US's technological prowess has always had a magnetic appeal. Even if your country is poor, war torn, lowly, there is someone on this planet who is conquering disease, building sky scrapers and heading to the stars.
Thanks for sharing.
I recently asked AI (Copilot—Microsoft) this: “My shoes are Redwing, my pants Wrangler, my shirt LL Bean, and my watch Hamilton. What’s my politics? Here’s the answer—
“Your style suggests a blend of rugged, practical, and classic tastes. Redwing boots and Wrangler jeans hint at a no-nonsense, hardworking vibe, while LL Bean and Hamilton add a touch of timeless, reliable quality. But politics? That's a bit trickier to pin down from fashion alone. Style can be a fun way to express yourself, but it doesn't always map directly to political beliefs. What do you think your style says about you?”
I asked the same thing to ChatGPT and got this:
“Your choice of clothing brands suggests a preference for quality, durability, and classic styles, which can often align with more traditional or conservative values. Redwing, for example, is known for its rugged work boots, while Wrangler is associated with Western and outdoor lifestyles. LL Bean emphasizes outdoor activities and a connection to nature, and Hamilton watches are known for their craftsmanship and timeless design.
Overall, this combination might indicate a practical and down-to-earth approach, often seen in more conservative or independent political leanings. However, fashion choices can be influenced by many factors, and it's not always a direct reflection of one's political beliefs.”
Seems Microsoft plays it safe.
Interesting. I believe the Bean family were big conservative donors.
Great analysis. I'd like to see you on a Joe Rogan podcast. These ideas deserve wide distribution.
I wanted to make a comment about why the Retro-Americana group is more appealing to me than the Techno-Futurism group, even though I'm a chemical engineer. Retro-American values are what built this country. Christian values, the neighborliness of small towns, and love of country are indispensable assets.
The Techno-Futurism group has some appeal because technology can and has improved our lives in many ways. However, I would argue that technology in the 21st century differs from technology in prior centuries in two important ways: First, it is incredibly more powerful, and second, its application in a post-Christian world is likely to diminish rather than enhance human flourishing. Humanistic reasoning is simply not up to the task of steering these technologies in the right direction. Smart phones, despite the conveniences they offer, have led to zombie-like dependence for millions of Americans, namely, reduced attention span, less exercise, poor social development, and mental illness. AI is one of the worst poisons to be injected into our society. Do we really want to run headlong into the erosion of human prerogative in favor of an unbridled competitive intellect with no allegiance but to itself? In short, my problem with modern-day technology is that we can no longer allow it to develop without careful consideration of what it may become. Since we don't possess that wisdom in a post-Christian world, I take a jaundiced view of most new technology. I'm happy in the Retro-Americana group.
Very important - thank you. Despite the overall wokeism of the art world, there are right-leaning critics out there who can be helpful interpreters - here are a few. The first ones are more establishment leaning, and the latter three are more anti-establishment.
Brian Allen https://www.nationalreview.com/author/brian-t-allen/
Michael J. Lewis https://www.wsj.com/news/types/architecture-review
Catesby Leigh https://www.city-journal.org/person/catesby-leigh
Franklin Einspruch https://dissidentmuse.substack.com/
Alexander Adams https://alexanderadamsart.substack.com/
Adam Lehrer https://safetypropaganda.substack.com/
This is a very good analysis. I was wondering if you have any opinions as to why certain types of traditional architecture are more popular than others in new church construction. For example, most of what firms such as McCrery architects build tend to be either neoclassical or neo-gothic, rather than neo-baroque (though the latter has a considerable history in U.S. church design)? I think McCrery does amazing work, I have just always been confused as to why most modern church buildings that use traditional architecture tend to favor neoclassical and neo-gothic over other historical styles (especially over baroque, which has a long history in both Catholic and Protestant Europe).
There’s also aesthetic differences in other aspects as well. For example, I’ve noticed that First Things and the New Criterion only publish poetry that is written in meter, and usually in rhyming couplets. This suggests a return to medieval forms of writing. Tech-right poetry (Curtis Yarvin himself writes poetry) has a lot more free-verse, which suggests a more open and modern outlook.
Granted the overall point, but to push back slightly, rhyming couplets were current all the way through the 19th century (Longfellow and Tennyson) and even through the 20th (Richard Wilbur). Vikram Seth wrote a whole verse novel in 1986 about Bay Area techies in rhymed tetrameter. So it doesn't have to be medieval necessarily.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Gate_(Seth_novel)
I'm inclined to think that rhyming/metered poetry is an example of the Tartarian aesthetic (https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/whither-tartaria) more than it's strictly medieval, and the exclusive insistence on free verse is mainly modern in the sense of being anti-Tartarian, i.e., ugly for the sake of being ugly.
I especially liked that Tweet about poetry that Scott Alexander cited:
"As a teacher of poetry what I can tell you for sure is people want poems to rhyme. They want poems to rhyme so bad. But we won’t give it to them"
There’s also this W.H. Auden quote:
>
The poet who writes "free" verse is like Robinson Crusoe on his desert island: he must do all his cooking, laundry and darning for himself. In a few exceptional cases, this manly independence produces something original and impressive, but more often the result is squalor - dirty sheets on the unmade bed and empty bottles on the unswept floor.
>
The resistance to change in many conservative aesthetic tastes can be distasteful, but an opposing sin is being closed-off to beauty because creating ugly things on purpose is seen as the best way to embrace change.
I do like a good lowrider.
What a thought-provoking piece. I don't have anything as well thought-out on architecture (or probably anything), but I've always had an eye for it and have a small collection of books starting with From Bauhaus to Our House. I like a wide variety of styles including but not limited to classical, Federalist, mid-century modern, and some techno-futurist. I remain bewildered by your appreciation of some brutalist structures. Churches and office buildings that look like prisons and sewage treatment plants seem so anti-human to me.
And whatever the Tesla truck is, burn it with fire.
On that upbeat note, Happy Thanksgiving Aaron, thanks for all the work you do!
Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.
Fantastic analysis. The images and words work beautifully together. Many on the right are a fusion of multiple styles. We should remain open to cooperation and positive-sum thinking, not zero or negative sum like the left. Clothing is also important, as seen with the rise of Barbour nationalism and Clakson's Farm: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/clarksons-farm-review-thank-farmers-protest-esg
Thanks, Yuri!