Bi-Weekly Discussion - PHIL 401: Burnham & Lasch

Details

This is going to be an online meetup using Zoom. If you've never used Zoom before, don't worry — it's easy to use and free to join.

Click on the link below at the scheduled date/time to log in...

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JAMES BURNHAM & CHRISTOPHER LASCH - WHY ARE THEIR IDEAS SUDDENLY RELEVANT AGAIN?

INTRODUCTION:

What you're seeing below is a blank discussion outline. If there's no title listed above for this meetup, it probably means I haven't decided on the topic. If there's a title but not much else, it means I've picked a topic but I'm still looking around for articles & videos clips to stimulate discussion.

If you see the topic and think it's interesting, please RSVP early since this gives me a general idea of about how many people will be showing up.

I typically try to finish up the discussion outline the weekend before a meetup, but sometimes I can't finish it until a couple days before the discussion. Luckily, I only ask that people watch a few video clips prior to attending the meetup and they generally only come to 30-45 minutes total, so even if it takes me until the day prior to finish up the discussion outline you'll still have time to prepare.

So what's up will all the X's below? Meetup's new format gives me a very short character limit that makes long discussion outline impossible. However, I found a way around it - by copying old meetups before the new character limit was introduced. But there's a catch, if all of the blank space isn't filled when I copy the meetup, the new shorter character limit will be applied, so I'm forced to fill up all the available space with X's. I know that sounds kinda ridiculous, but it's the only way I can still write up long, detailed discussion outlines.

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DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:

The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of some of James Burnham & Christopher Lasch's major works and the ideas contained therein. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the numbered videos linked under each section - the videos come to about about 60 minutes total. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. I've listed some questions under each section to stimulate discussion. We'll do our best to address most of them, as well as whatever other questions our members raise. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.

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I. BURNHAM'S "THE MANAGERIAL REVOLUTION: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD" (1941)

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1.) Settler's Lament, "James Burnham's The Managerial Revolution: A Review" (video - 15:04 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq0yKX-PyiA

Michael Lind, "The Importance of James Burnham: What a newly rediscovered thinker got right and wrong
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/burnham-michael-lind
Zack Beauchamp, "The 80-year-old book that explains Elon Musk and tech’s new right-wing tilt: The long shadow of James Burnham’s The Managerial Revolution."
https://www.vox.com/23505311/elon-musk-twitter-managerial-woke-james-burnham
Malcolm Kyeyune, "Wokeness, the Highest Stage of Managerialism: Well-educated progressives wield institutional power to impose a new political and social order"
https://www.city-journal.org/article/wokeness-the-highest-stage-of-managerialism
Richard Hanania, "James Burnham Got Almost Everything Wrong: The Managerial Revolution did a terrible job of forecasting the future"
https://www.richardhanania.com/p/james-burnham-got-almost-everything

II. BURNHAM'S "SUICIDE OF THE WEST: AN ESSAY ON THE MEANING & DESTINY OF LIBERALISM" (1964):

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2.) Tom Woods w/ Dan McCarthy, "Suicide of the West: Two Views" (video - 43:42 min, start at 0:29 & listen to 14:30)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnzRN6UAdZQ&t=29s

Francis Sempa, "If Destruction Be Our Lot: Francis Sempa reassesses James Burnham's 'Suicide of the West: An Essay on the Meaning and Destiny of Liberalism'."
https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/digital/if-destruction-be-our-lot/
Daniel McCarthy, "Suicide of the West: James Burnham vs. Jonah Goldberg"
https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2018/10/suicide-of-the-west-james-burnham-jonah-goldberg-daniel-mccarthy.html
Harley Price, "The Great Conservative Death Wish"
https://chroniclesmagazine.org/view/the-great-conservative-death-wish/
Daniel J. Mahoney, "The Crisis of the West Revisited: Self-Flagellation and the Great Liberal Death Wish"
https://americanmind.org/salvo/the-crisis-of-the-west-revisited-self-flagellation-and-the-great-liberal-death-wish/
Michael Williams & Rita Abrahamsen, "How Donald Trump’s assault on universities echoes earlier American conservative ideas"
https://theconversation.com/how-donald-trumps-assault-on-universities-echoes-earlier-american-conservative-ideas-255470

III. LASCH'S "THE CULTURE OF NARCISSISM: AMERICAN LIFE IN AN AGE OF DIMINISHING EXPECTATIONS" (1979):

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3.) Douglas Lain, "Christopher Lasch and the Capitalist Realism of the Progressives" (video - 11:14 min, start at 1:21)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moAe9yQLNos&t=1m21s

Jack Trotter, "Our Culture of Narcissism"
https://chroniclesmagazine.org/view/our-culture-of-narcissism/
Nick Haslam, "In The Culture of Narcissism, Christopher Lasch excoriated his self-absorbed society – but the book’s legacy is questionable"
https://theconversation.com/in-the-culture-of-narcissism-christopher-lasch-excoriated-his-self-absorbed-society-but-the-books-legacy-is-questionable-216354
Ashley Colby, "The end of the culture of narcissism: The energy wars have exposed a disturbing fantasy"
https://archive.ph/hzf8P
Geoff Shullenberger, "The ghost who haunts the MAGA revolt Christopher Lasch's forgotten book ['The Minimal Self'] foresaw America's malaise"
https://archive.ph/XEzjR

IV. LASCH'S "THE REVOLT OF THE ELITES AND THE BETRAYAL OF DEMOCRACY" (1995):

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4.) Charles Haywood, "The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy" (video - 19:04 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujs0munzCeI

Rod Dreher, "Democracy Betrayed: Lasch’s Revolt of the Elites at 25"
https://lawliberty.org/forum/democracy-betrayed-laschs-revolt-of-the-elites-at-25/
Nick Burns, "A Narcissism of Small Differences"
https://lawliberty.org/forum/a-narcissism-of-small-differences/
Lee Siegel, "Twilight of the American elite: The revival of liberalism cannot be conducted on Trumpian terms."
https://archive.ph/4cBbh
Alexander Nazaryan, "30 Years Ago, This Book Saw the Coming Backlash Against Elites: Christopher Lasch’s 'The Revolt of the Elites' anticipated the resentments of ordinary Americans that have led inexorably to Trumpism."
https://archive.ph/iserZ

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Bi-Weekly Discussion - PHIL 401: Burnham & Lasch

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