THE DOWNWARD DIRECTION OF DOUBLING DOWN

by Alex Kirillov

I am going to preface this essay by admitting that I haven’t gambled in a very long time, and for some reason when I initially thought of the “doubling down” metaphor I only had a nebulous idea that it applied to card games. So, after typing this sentence I googled it and found that it relates, exclusively, to blackjack. I assume I’m in the minority of people who were unaware of this, however, there are lots of expressions we are carelessly using without any real knowledge of their etymological and, in the case of “double down,” metonymic origins.

IDEOLOGY, ENTERTAINMENT, AND "THE RIGHT STUFF"

by Alex Kirillov

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the "doxxing" of the TRS crew, and Mike Enoch in particular.  To a certain extent, dwelling on the situation is going to inevitably exacerbate the problem.  However, two prominent themes that have come up that I think deserve some attention. 

The first has to do with the idea of ideological orthodoxy.  I am a fan of Fash the Nation, and to a lesser extent The Daily Shoah. By listening to these podcasts regularly, I allowed what I consider to be a strongly dogmatic position—one that I can’t wholly identify with—to color my perception of the world.  I think this is a natural occurrence and to some extent, given a particular listener’s sense of conviction, varies from case to case.  These podcasts greatly shaped some people’s mindsets, whereas for some it merely introduced a new lexicon and provided news and entertainment.

UN-ROCK THE VOTE

by Alex Kirillov

I recently saw a commercial for the MTV Video Music Awards. I must confess, I was momentarily transfixed. In this commercial, an astronaut approached a rocket ship as it landed in the middle of an empty, celestially illuminated, auditorium. Elegant classical music played as the announcer talked about artistic creation taking place in "a whole new space." It reminded me of some Alt-Right thinkers who view our political movement as the first step towards space travel and eventual galactic colonization. Man's conquering of the solar system, I realized, is not just a scientific endeavor, but also an aesthetic one: our work would metaphorically be using the solar system as our canvas - just as it had been depicted in the commercial.

POLITICS AND THE ART OF DOUBLING DOWN

by Alex Kirillov

I am going to preface this essay by admitting that I haven’t gambled in a very long time, and for some reason when I initially thought of the “doubling down” metaphor I only had a nebulous idea that it applied to card games. So, after typing this sentence I googled it and found that it relates, exclusively, to blackjack. I assume I’m in the minority of people who were unaware of this, however, there are lots of expressions we are carelessly using without any real knowledge of their etymological and, in the case of “double down,” metonymic origins.

LEFTY FILMIC SELF-CRITICISM: "THE IDES OF MARCH"

George Clooney bewares "The Ides of March"

by Alex Kirillov

The Ides of March is a haunting and prescient 2011 film that chronicles the rise of Pennsylvanian Governor Mike Morris, played by George Clooney, as he makes his way through the Democratic primaries. Ryan Gosling plays Stephen Meyers, Morris’s junior campaign manager. Early in the film, during an informal get together with his fellow campaigners and members of the press Meyers admits his personal conviction in support of Morris’s policies, and more significantly, in Morris himself as a genuine avatar of these views.