The Limits of Humour and Freedom of Expression

Many professional comedians have come to believe the fantasy of the jester who told the King uncomfortable truths. At least they recognise their condition as servants. As for telling uncomfortable truths, they resemble those journalists who, far from doing any such thing, are the mouthpieces of dominant thought — in their case, of the fashionable aesthetic among the young media-consuming … Read more →

Traditional Cultures Are Not Traditionalist

Traditionalism is an ideology that regards certain past institutions as the most perfect and effective, and links them with truth. It is a modern ideology, first explicitly formulated in the political circles which, in nineteenth-century France, reacted against the ravages of the Revolution. The concrete forms to which they appealed were those of the Ancien Régime: throne and altar. Since … Read more →