The Free State Party invited me to speak at their event in Manchester, New Hampshire this week.
It was a chance to pitch what we’re doing and why to a crowd that was values-aligned, but not steeped in exactly the same memetic environment.
The “elevator pitch” for this thing is difficult, because you have to question so many premises and dispute so many definitions.
I could feel that they liked certain things that I was saying, but I was not quite establishing the connective tissue that made it all hang together: Managerialism [“what is that”], and therefore natalism [“what is that”], and therefore Great Houses [“what is that”], and therefore fraternity [“what is that”], and therefore entrepreneurship [“oh, ok”].
People recognize that family formation has collapsed, politics are out of control, they don’t live in the country they thought they did. It’s a relatively short walk from there to “liberalism as runaway civilizational entropy”.
But then to point to “where it all went wrong,” and what can be built that will survive the crisis, you have to cover some pretty difficult ground.
It’s not enough to say “we have to go back to 1950” (or 1650, or 600 BC) — that can’t be done.
In order to build for the future, you have to think about what civilization is doing, and why it has gone awry, and what is worth trying to save as we pass through this catastrophic historical bottleneck.
Preparing for the Free State Party event was a great exercise, because it forced me to re-examine the chain of thought that brought us here — but because I hadn’t accurately mapped out the conceptual distance between us ahead of time, I don’t think I was able to communicate to that room exactly what I intended.
So the above podcast is my attempt to do that plumbing a little more carefully. I still don’t have a pithy, 30-second pitch that gets people nodding along — and maybe that’s just not possible for this — but the essence is that we have to rebuild the engine of civilization, starting with family and fraternity.
The prompt they gave me was to discuss “iteration”: which is distinct from replication.
Our goal cannot be to rewind and replicate some prior civilization — nor can you replicate your own genetics or attitudes or worldview with any fidelity (and it would not be worth doing if you could.)
Instead, you have to cultivate people who cultivate themselves — fellow creators. (This is the actual meaning of the word “culture” — yet another term that has to be redefined.)
You have to recognize the children you raise, not as extensions of yourself, but as conscious, embodied expressions of what you love and value: works of living art. And then you have to build the economic, cultural, and political machinery that allows them to build families that reflect their highest loves and ideals (which, again, will not be — and should not be — exactly your own. The art is to beget artists.)
This deliberate approach to life and culture — life as art — is a matter of survival, because family formation has become an expensive and increasingly unusual “lifestyle choice”. You have to supply some compelling vision, or your children simply won’t do it.
In other words: your family (and humanity at large) is going to consciously orient toward a shared vision of glory and beauty, or it is going to end.
EXIT is a fraternity dedicated to shorting managerial systems, and building the human institutions that come next.
EXIT News
Weekly Full Group Calls (Tuesday nights, 9PM ET/6PM PT)
This Tuesday (5/19), we had our Member Q&A with Joost Strydom, CEO of Orania. A deeply inspiring discussion of the community they have built, against all odds, in South Africa. Full recording coming soon.
Next week (5/26) we will hear from EXIT man Nick on Boomer Whispering — how to find common ground and build what we need to build with our boomers (we love our boomers, we have the best boomers) in politics and business.
The following week (6/2) we will have our Investment Showcase, with EXIT men presenting startups and projects for which they are seeking investment. (EXIT makes no endorsement of any of these projects, presentations are for educational and entertainment purposes only, everyone must do their own research and risk assessment.)
Events
5/30: Utah Valley Constitutional Action Beautification Event
6/5: San Jose Meetup
6/6: San Francisco Lunch
6/19: Denver Meetup
6/27: Salt Lake City Passage Press Event
Links to EXIT cocktail hours in San Francisco (6/5) and Denver (6/19) available to supporting subscribers here.
EXIT cocktail hours are the best way to get to know the guys in your area, and decide if full membership in the group is right for you.
