Tour de Force Review of "Who Lost America?" by John Waters
I get perceptive and sympathetic reviews. But this one shows true empathy.
John Waters made his name as a successful columnist for the mainstream liberal-left Irish Times newspaper. His experience with family law contributed to a complete reassessment his own views and values, which underwent a profound transformation. He became disenchanted with the left, and then (for similar reasons) equally disillusioned with the professional, establishment right. The autobiographical passages in this review are not incidental. They demonstrate how current cultural and political trends, such as those described in my book, have altered the thinking habits of educated people, including our few real intellectuals. I could have written a similar account myself, and I know others -- raised on liberal-left orthodoxy and habituated to it by default -- who have experienced similar awakenings when they come to realize where the destructive logic of leftist ideology is taking us. While different experiences can prompt this awakening, first-hand exposure to the consequences of sexual ideology, and above all the injustices of family law, as Waters describes it, is undoubtedly the big “trigger”.
You might note too the quality of the prose in this review. I urge you to read the recent writings on his Substack. In fact I received so many new subscribers as a result of this review that I should say “Welcome” to new readers coming from there.
How the War Against Humanity Kicked Off
‘Somebody must have been telling lies about Josef K. because, without having done anything wrong, he was arrested one fine morning.' — The opening sentence of Kafka's 'The Trial'
Aug 18, 2024
‘We are all women now!’
[This article may be too long for the Substack newsletter format. If you’re reading it as an email and it tails off unexpectedly, please click on the headline at the top of the page to be taken to the full post at Substack.]
The dismantling of Western justice and democracy was road-tested in the unlikely context of family relationships, using secret courts to test human tolerance to abuses ideologically ordained. Introducing Stephen Baskerville and his forensic, unflinching writings — a meditation of his influence, work and latest book, Who Lost America? Why the United States Went ‘Communist’ and What to Do about It. As he says on his Substack page, Stephen offers ‘unconventional perspectives’ on politics, history, religion, law, sex, and higher education. ‘For better or worse, what you read here is definitely "outside the box" and perhaps outside your "comfort zone."‘ (…)
But it is best to read it on his site.
A remarkable review! Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
He talks about his own experiences twenty years ago as a surprised and unwillingly divorced father discovering that he was powerless in family court.
That had been my own experience a few years earlier.
However, like most men, I struggled on and didn’t “politicise” my experience.
My “coping” turned to political rage when, in 2015 in Australia, the feminist juggernaut (which I was previously unaware of) went full-bore with “domestic violence”, with it to be addressed by dismantling male “power and control”. What “power and control?”I thought, remembering my own experiences.
Since 2015 the feminists in Australia have kept dv (“epidemic”, “crisis”) at the front of everything, and the MSM and all major bodies, including the churches, have tagged along.
As the review points out, drawing from the book, these major bodies are all dominated by women, and dv has become a collective female hysteria. The few who have spoken against this are ridiculed, at best, or cancelled.
So glad to read of how Stephen Baskerville’s research portrays all this as the primary tool of the left to dismantle society, and which began with the destruction of black fathers, and empowerment of black women, decades ago. All the while with assent from conservatives and the right.
Found you thru Waters. John is a wonderful writer and thinker