On Traditionalism, Degeneracy, and Compassion
Reaction and Traditionalism
In recent years, there has been a resurgence in traditionalist and reactionary thought. However, as far-right circles still retain a tint of modernity, some anomalous developments have occurred. Parts of this new reaction engage in a contest against modernity without seeking any actual return to traditional norms. This creates a situation in which the framework of modernity is tacitly accepted while modernity itself is rejected. Since the people who appreciate modernity tend to oppose pre-modern wisdom and accomplishment, reactionaries have a tendency to oppose everything modern without the necessary consideration. This is an example of a phenomenon that neoreactionaries call “Error Push,” in which people signal agreement with positions that are factually inaccurate because an ideological opponent holds those positions.
Thus far, there has not been a coherent grounding for this traditionalism. The attempts to lay an alternative groundwork have thus far been arbitrary and capricious. Whether the current fad is traditional Christianity, white separatism, or worshiping Chilean dictators, none have provided an analytic or cohesive framework for what is supposed to come after modernity in lieu of postmodernism. As there has not been a good and proper moral standard for the new reactionaries, there are people who claim to be reactionaries who are openly participating in modernity. These include proud and open homosexuals who cite the ancient Greeks, a degree of intersectionality of men’s rights activism and traditionalism, and supposed conservatives who promote pornography, to name a few. To make sense of this and to provide an alternative, there needs to be an establishment of coherent norms of morality and what is expected of those who hold traditional values. The ultimate answer to this is found in early libertarian theory.
The Typology of Degeneracy
The traditional libertarian notion of tolerance is fundamentally antithetical to the modern notion of tolerance. What has now become a tacit acceptance of every sort of perversion and lifestyle under the sun grew out of a reluctance to use force against non-violent people. This, coupled with the ideas of free will and individual responsibility, was the libertarian view until libertarianism became tied together with cosmopolitanism. In a cohesive framework utilizing these ideas, the question of degeneracy becomes simplified. First, it is unjust to force individuals to cease being degenerates as long as the individuals in question are not initiating the use of force. This should be obvious to every libertarian and acceptable to most people who believe that a traditional society is necessary. However, it is completely justified to exclude undesirable degeneracy from a society. The method for fighting against degeneracy is thus to have a set of moral standards agreed upon by private property owners in a community, with physical removal as the punishment for non-compliance.
This splits degeneracy into two types: personal and communal. Personal degeneracy is that which has absolutely no effect on the community; in economic terms, it imposes no externalities. An example is the notion advanced by homosexuals that what they do in their own bedrooms is not the business of the state. Despite the dubious nature of this example in the real world (if they were really only concerned with what occurs behind closed doors, there would be little need for public agitation), it is true that insofar as their activities are confined to their own bedrooms, it does not affect the larger society. In fact, the rest of society will not even know that they are homosexuals and will function under the assumption that they are not. The people who choose to engage in acts that are only harmful to themselves are the responsibility of themselves and no one else. That being said, the typology of degeneracy is not a simple binary. Not all personal perversion that has effects on the community becomes communal perversion, and there is always some degree of externality in every action, however minuscule. Thus the typology becomes a matter of degree; degeneracy can be more communal or more personal, but is never entirely one to the exclusion of the other.
There is another important aspect which both libertarianism and theology can provide. There is a difference between choosing to engage in degenerate behavior and having an abnormal nature. For example, a drug addict who is clean and has no interest in furthering drug abuse or engaging in depraved behavior is very different from a drug addict who actively promotes and regularly engages in the use of dangerous substances. In this case, a drug addict is likely to have genetic and environmental factors that make drug addiction more likely. A broken person is much more likely to turn to heroin in an effort to fill an emotional void than out of a desire to do heroin, but there is still a choice involved to some lesser degree. As before, this is a matter of degree and not a simple dichotomy. The more one personally embraces a degenerate behavior, the more likely it is to become public, as degenerate behaviors necessarily cause a loss of the self-control needed to keep the behavior private.
These factors lead to a correlation between voluntary degeneracy and communal practice, as well as a correlation between involuntary degeneracy and personal practice. There is variance outside these two cases, but they are the two broad categories of depravity. Voluntary communal degeneracy can be reduced by the proper raising of children, but can only be defeated by forming communities that exclude those who promote degeneracy. Reactionaries tend to understand this, but often lack understanding of involuntary personal degeneracy. Due to radicalization and having no effective definition of counter-modernity, the first impulse is often to shun and attack those who are effected by this sort of decay. The other impulse that is often prevalent is to simply accept degeneracy as long as it is kept within personal boundaries. This creates a massive amount of confusion within the radicals who have no moral background and leaves potential problems to grow and fester. Furthermore, both of these approaches are fundamentally modern, in that they attempt to hide and ignore that which is undesirable rather than confront and defeat it.
The Role of Compassion
There is only one internally consistent way to deal with involuntary personal degeneracy. This is not through tolerance or acceptance but through compassion. This is the libertarian-Christian ideal forgotten by the new wave of reactionaries, the notion of loving the sinner but hating the sin, of disagreeing with a person’s behavior but still wanting to help them improve with non-coercive discussion and empathy. This is the most rational and effective way to change behaviors in a productive manner. If one cares about people who have succumbed to destructive behaviors without subjecting others to what they are doing, one needs to provide them with constructive support that does not enable their degeneracy. If one is guided by a vague sense of moralism, it may be repulsive to approach such people with an open mind. It may seem natural to shun everyone who has problems which they are unable to solve. But everyone has some degree of behavioral tendencies which could be harmful to oneself and others. What matters is knowing how to properly manage these tendencies and that one can live the most balanced life by facilitating a compromise between higher ideals and personal desires. The goal should not be to rid oneself of personal desires completely or to eliminate people who have desires which go contrary to morality, as this would ultimately cause human extinction.
The only way in which it is possible to change the minds of people who are in a state of decay through no fault of their own is to show how their state can be improved by living a better and more moral life. A drug addict cannot instantaneously stop being a drug addict; however, he can stop actively desiring to participate in voluntary and communal perversion. The same is true for homosexuals, excessive gamblers, the sexually promiscuous, and every other type of participant in degenerate behavior. In essence, the goal should be to increase the degree to which unnatural urges are involuntary and personal. If we are to stop degeneracy, it must be done by compassion or forced exclusion. The former requires actively caring about the people in our personal lives who have some degree of degeneracy and are willing to be helped.
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