I just don’t understand how someone interested in antiquity can possibly fall for Trumpism. The fall of the Roman Republic was presaged by a guy literally trying to get elected to office so that he could escape prosecution for illegal abuses of power, and the legal system standing aside and saying “yeah, we’ll let you do that in order to maintain the peace” and then falling into civil war anyway.
someone genuinely interested for intellectual reasons would likely not fall for it. I would imagine that a non-trivial percentage of “antiquity enjoyers” are very light on history substance and heavy on history feelz.
once the appropriate brain tickles have been pushed into their heads their “history substance” feed content becomes decidedly propagandized.
The historians I know of actually seem to lean quite left of the average person; it’s the light hobbieists, who are often more interested in the aesthetics/surface stuff, who seem to fall victim to the alt-right stuff.
Aesthetics, plus the seductive appeal that pre-modern, pre-liberal-democratic societies (when the governments were authoritarian, the women were submissive, and the men “were men”) have for reactionaries, incels, and cryptofacists.
Gotta remember that rome was a genocidal slave regime. That’s why the founding slavers worshiped it so much. That’s why there are fasces all over state churches. That’s why fascists started fascism.
TBH the underlying problem is “classics” itself. It’s an extremely subjective eurocentric construct that’s inherently racist. It elevates slavers, imperialists, and colonizers. It’s no surprise when white supremacists adopt ideologies that validate their viewpoint.
What if you live in Europe, though? I like our classical architecture, and I saw a post advocating for different countries to go back to their historical architecture instead of big plain concrete and glass boxes
There is no such thing as “our classical architecture”. Who is we? Where are you actually from? Italy, Greece, Sweden, Iceland?
Europe is a large and varied “continent” (not even). Architecture comes from all over the world including the middle east, africa, and beyond. These phony constructs like “european classical architecture” are just white supremacy with another name.
Are you suggesting that architectural styles are not based on interactions with different peoples and that the type of architecture, for example, from 200-500CE is not going to vary greatly in different regions such as East Asia and Europe? And that those peoples with individual cultures and ideas about architecture won’t ever interact with their neighbors, creating cross-cultural styles? That these cultures will never interact and reach a quorum on specific styles of buildings, especially when brought together through larger institutions such as religion?
Same if you’re interested in religion. There’s a lot of anti semetism about. Personally I think trad_west isn’t too bad. But I follow them on Instagram, not twitter.
Also saw them making fun of Andrew Tate and people who degrade women.
workingclassicists.com
Oldest