The Fleming Foundation Cultural Commentary

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Fleming

7 Nov, 2016

The Political Lessons of Polybius for 2016, Part I

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Before going further in Polybius’ analysis of the “Libyan War,”  what lessons have we learned so far? First there is the lesson that Machiavelli tried in vain to teach the Italians of his day:  Mercenaries–people who serve in the military for pay and benefits and not out of loyalty to their own people–cannot be trusted.  They are working for their own benefit and not for their country’s.  A few years ago, my sons and I were assaulted by a group of angry black soldiers just back from the Middle East.  “We fightin’ fo you freedom, MFers!”  Of course we have many...

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Feature / Fleming / From Under The Rubble

7 Nov, 2016

Some Ugly Truths

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Conservatives who are content to run against Hillary, without opposing the regime itself,  are working for the other side.  Ask James Comey, Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, George Will….and any lackey of the regime you run into. If Comey knows Hillary is guilty and is hiding the evidence, he should be forced to resign and stand trial.  If Comey did not learn anything knew from Huma and Anthony’s computers but reopened the investigation, he should be forced to resign and stand trial. Anyone advocating abortion for other people should be forced, retroactively, to submit to one.  Retroactive abortion stops...

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Feature / Fleming / From Under The Rubble

5 Nov, 2016

Working Men of All Countries, Unite!

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I shall keep this simple, stupid, and brief.  Our rulers have drawn the line in the sand.  The Bushes have voted for Hillary, “fiscal conservative” John Kasich has voted for the worst Republican candidate in the history of the GOP (John McCain), and the neoconservatives–from Bill Kristol to David Brooks to George Will–have told us that the American hegemony and the American way of life hang in the balance. For a change, the neocons are right.  While they pretend to hate Trump because he is too fond of women, wears a comical rug, and plays the bully when he is challenged, those are not...

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FF / Podcasts

5 Nov, 2016

Christianity and Classical Culture, Episode 8: Oresteia Part I

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In this episode of Christianity and Classical Culture, Dr. Fleming examines one of the masterpieces of Greek tragedy: the Oresteia. Before taking a close look at all three plays, Dr. Fleming begins by discussing Aeschylus himself, the historical and political circumstances in which this play was written and delivered, the idea of these plays as “liturgical,” and the position that this is perhaps the best of what the classical world could offer in terms of pre-Christian morality. This is part 1 of a 2 part mini series and offers an introduction and a discussion of the first play, Agamemnon. Original...

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Autodidact

4 Nov, 2016

Political Lessons from Polybius: Introduction

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For more on this subject, see The Autodidact’s Reading List on the Ancient Greeks: https://fleming.foundation/2015/09/the-autodidacts-reading-list-i-the-ancient-greeks/ Dull-witted and lethargic from a touch of gastroenteritis courtesy of the fine food we consumed last week in Dayton, Ohio–we couldn’t make it to Greece but did we really have to spend time in a Dayton Holiday Inn?–I got tired of reading early 20th century espionage novels and poorly written Welsh history.  I happened to open up my little leather travel bag from Florence and found the first  volume of the Loeb edition of Polybius. I have never been a fan of Polybius–his Greek is...

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All Paid Subscribers / Feature / Seiler

4 Nov, 2016

Fed Up: Why Trump Will Win

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“Barnes was at the eye of our rage – and through him, our Captain Ahab – we would set things right again. That day we loved him.” – Chris in the Movie “Platoon.” “I’m fed up,” a friend told me last Sunday after church about why she’s voting for Donald Trump. That sums up the election for me. It’s why I’ve been saying for months that Trump will win big. Americans are fed up with: idiot foreign wars, political correctness, crony capitalism, the Clintons, the Bushes, economic stagnation, moral putrescence, repressive leftist professors, the Main Sleaze Media, “Pay to Play” politics, the Clinton Foundation,...

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Feature / Phillips Red

4 Nov, 2016

It’s Past Time for TAC to Get on Board the Trump Train

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It’s Past Time for TAC to Get on Board the Trump Train Rare recently published this article by Daniel McCarthy, Editor of The American Conservative (TAC) magazine. It is a thoughtful defense of a vote for Trump that I largely agree with. I will not say I’m completely surprised. I could have seen McCarthy going either way. I will say that I am pleased. Some background is in order for those who may not be familiar with the intricate details of certain intra-right dynamics. TAC began as a project of Pat Buchanan, Taki Theodoracopulos and Scott McConnell. It was an...

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Diary of a Jerk-Hunter / Fleming

2 Nov, 2016

Jerks, Chapter I, Part D

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Most of us would agree that bad manners are a small thing, when set beside murder, mayhem, and abortion.  Sometimes, though, I wonder.  Thomas De Quincey, in his second lecture on “Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts,” may have been on the right track when he warned, tongue-in-cheek, against the negative consequences of committing murder. For if once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. De Quincey could take it for granted that...

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Autodidact / Fleming

2 Nov, 2016

Aristotle’s Politics, Book VI

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For more on this subject, see The Autodidact’s Reading List on the Ancient Greeks: https://fleming.foundation/2015/09/the-autodidacts-reading-list-i-the-ancient-greeks/ Book VI By now Aristotle has taught us to distinguish among the different forms of government according to the characteristics of their sovereigns and to see how one form, through decay or revolution, slips into another or turns into an illegal form.  With this in mind, we need, says Aristotle, to give some attention to the different varieties of democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy.  For us modern Americans, of course, the most interesting discussion concerns democracy, because that is the form of government we say we...

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All Paid Subscribers / Andrei Navrozov / Feature / Wednesday's Child

2 Nov, 2016

Wednesday’s Child:  This Way Up (1)

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A provincial painter of eclectic pictures, of the sort immortalised by Saki under the title “Dying Hyenas in Trafalgar Square,” wrote in to a Sunday newspaper recently to announce his resignation from the world of art.  There was no critical milieu in Britain, he lamented, sensitive enough to save him from oblivion.  “No matter what I paint, or how good or bad my works are,” he wrote in his letter, “no newspaper, magazine or gallery has shown the slightest interest.” “I am not saying that I am right and they are wrong,” the gentle creature from Stonebroom, near Alfreton, Derbyshire,...