• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

  • About David
  • New here?
  • Reading
  • Video
  • About AI

Barbarians with evil ideas taking our entire culture off deadly cliff

By David McElroy · May 26, 2021

Barbarians have taken over control of American institutions. These reckless idiots and looters are systematically destroying the best that Western Civilization once had to offer. If you don’t understand what they’re really doing, they will gain your willing cooperation — and they will destroy you.

The barbarians go by different names. Some are openly communist. Some call themselves Marxists or socialists. Some claim to be “anti-fascists” or “anti-racists.” The more mainstream ones prefer “Democratic Socialists” as a label.

But they’re all alike at the core. They want to destroy everything that’s decent which remains about America and about the West — and they claim that you are a hateful racist, sexist and evil person if you don’t join their deadly cause. You must either join them or they will “re-educate” you until you learn to believe what they demand.

It’s too late to stop the barbarians. They’ve come too far. This culture was already tottering under the weight of what arrogant politicians have done for at least a century. The politicians’ economic and legal mistakes have slowly stripped us of our freedoms — and now the barbarians are stepping into this weakened society and taking over from the inside out.

I am willing to call these barbarians what they are — and I will escape from the evil they represent.

If the rest of the world wants to go insane —  and if you want to march lockstep off this cliff of dysfunction with them — it’s not up to me to stop that. I couldn’t stop it even if I devoted my life to it.

All I ask is that there remains some small place of refuge for those of us who refuse to go over that cliff. The future of individual freedom is going to belong to those who are willing to find or build some place of safety — because the land of my birth is not going to be that place for the foreseeable future.

Just how much progress have the barbarians made? You tell me.

In the dysfunctional and Orwellian culture of 2021, “diversity” means you must agree with one narrow point of view and “inclusion” means the exclusion of people who hold political or social beliefs which have been deemed unacceptable by these progressive left elites.

We’ve reached the point that the barbarians are now spared the effort of making an intellectual case for their accusations. Instead of explaining why someone is wrong and why they disagree with an idea, all they have to do is scream that someone is a racist or a misogynist. That’s far easier than rational thinking — and you and I are silenced for all practical purposes by this dishonesty.

Ideas have been forced on us that are dangerous and intellectually vapid. For instance, the intellectual idea that sex and gender are very different things — and that gender is a matter of personal decision — is one of the most pernicious ideas to be foisted on the world in the past 50 years. This delusion is doing long-term damage to real human beings, but if you question this idea, they will say that you “hate” certain confused and hurting people.

More and more, postmodern leftist ideology is merging with the coercive political state to create a civic religion which allows no other gods to challenge its control. The irony is that many of its fiercest adherents claim to hate religion — even as they demand that all people worship their own god.

Some parts of popular media are working overtime to destroy any traditional values which “old-fashioned moralists” might still hold about family structures or healthy relationships. Here’s a collection of random recent headlines I’ve run across:

“Real Couples Discuss How Non-Monogamy Benefits Their Relationships”

“Best Affairs Sites to Find Affair Partners In Your Area”

“Despite the negative stigma, polyamorous relationships are more common than we think”

“Did the Pandemic Signal the End of Monogamy As We Know It?”

“21 Tips for Opening Up Your Relationship”

(“Opening up your relationship” means bringing in one or more additional sexual partners in some combination.)

A few days ago, the Associated Press reported this: “Singer Demi Lovato revealed on Wednesday they identify as nonbinary and are changing their pronouns, telling fans the decision came after ‘self-reflective work.’”

Demi Lovato is a woman. The fact that our society has normalized pretending otherwise is insane. And why is the AP willing to destroy English grammar in its effort to join the delusion?

Is there any moral or ethical value remaining which the trendy leftist media sees as worthy of upholding? I mean other than attacking people with the “wrong” social or political views?

The academic journal called Nature is calling on science to change by becoming more political — all in the name of “fighting systemic racism.” We used to make fun of the way science in the Soviet bloc had to reflect the Communist Party’s ideology, but it’s becoming the same here.

Modern life resembles a carnival freak show more and more every day, especially in the cess pools known as social media.

The “facts” which people believe in modern culture are determined far more by ideology than by empirical evidence and reason. The unspoken mantra — across much of the political spectrum — is, “I already know what I believe, so don’t bother me with facts to the contrary.”

And something which is terrifying about this is that the rational and principled people on the moderate right — those who used to be conservatives — have mostly joined the personality cult of a delusional, narcissistic liar. Donald Trump has never been a conservative. He’s never had any consistent principles. But most of the people who should be opposing the barbarians have joined forces to support this insane man.

The remaining Trump support among populists (who often falsely call themselves conservatives) is baffling. Most of the people who loudly claim to love this liar claim they have traditional values which are radically different from what Trump has repeatedly demonstrated in his own life.

This makes absolutely no sense.

My progressive left friends mostly seem to think the ills of the world can be attributed to Donald Trump and Co. My populist friends (and some of the conservatives) think all the world’s evils started with Barrack Obama or Joe Biden. They’re all incredibly shortsighted.

The real evil which we facing today started more than a hundred years ago — in socialism, progressivism, fascism and other barbaric ideas which have killed millions and millions of people when they’ve been tried.

The political right has gone crazy by accepting populists and racists in the mad rush to follow Trump. The left has gone crazy — and turned into raving lunatics — by forgetting how to be rational and how to interpret cold, hard data. I’m thankful that I’m part of neither side.

Although there’s a lot in Ayn Rand’s core philosophy which I disagree with, I think her depiction of life in the United States (in “Atlas Shrugged”) during a time of widespread incompetence and corruption was brilliant and prescient. I see more of what she described every day.

The difference is that the great men who Rand imagined would rise up to overthrow the barbarians don’t really exist. Many of the decent people have thrown in their lot with the barbarians, because that seems the pragmatic thing to do. Others have simply been cowed into silence. And still others are angry and hurting but don’t really understand quite what has happened.

This society is heading toward political, economic and social collapse. There’s nobody coming to save us. It’s delusional to think there will be a political hero who’s going to stop this.

When I first discovered the insane ideas that go by the name of “critical theory” (and the derivative “critical race theory”), I thought that few people would be stupid enough to buy such Marxist idiocy. Now that those ideas rule this dysfunctional culture, I see that I was wrong about that. I won’t underestimate the barbarians again.

For many years, a tiny group of people have been preaching social and economic nonsense and the vast majority have known their rantings as idiocy. But now more and more people have been brainwashed by the barbarian ravings — and many of the remaining rational people are terrified of pointing out the idiocy of these ideas.

Calling the barbarians out for what they are is one of the most urgent needs of the day. And even if we can’t stop them from taking a dying society over a cliff with them, we can figure out what’s next for ourselves.

There was a time when my focus was on saving this country. I’m way past that now. All I want is to join with others who are also trying to figure out their next steps. Together, we must find ways for some of us to escape the destruction that the barbarians are bringing with them.

I can’t accept anything less than an escape from where they’re taking us. I won’t go over that cliff with them. I hope you’ll join me in planning for an escape — and for a new future.

Share on Social Networks

Related Posts

  • My father’s narcissistic control left me resentful of all authority
  • Years later, Supreme Court justice apologizes to Susette Kelo, sorta
  • I’ve learned to banish the hate, but I’m slow to learn real love

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe

Enter your address to receive notifications by email every time new articles are posted. Then click “Subscribe.”

Contact David

David likes email, but can’t reply to every message. I get a surprisingly large number of requests for relationship advice — seriously — but time doesn’t permit a response to all of them. (Sorry.)

Search

Archives

Donations

If you enjoy this site and want to help, click here. All donations are appreciated, no matter how large or small. (PayPal often doesn’t identify donors, so I might not be able to thank you directly.)




Future Photo Display

As part of my effort to rid my life of social media, I will no longer display links to my two Instagram accounts here. Those accounts will be dormant for the time being and will eventually be deleted. I plan to have a method for displaying photos here instead, but the solutions I’ve tested so far have been disappointing. I’m still working on it.

My Instagram

It’s too bad Meg can’t relax a little more, huh? I It’s too bad Meg can’t relax a little more, huh? I’m obviously kidding, because this little girl has quite a bit of confidence when she’s hanging out with me — and she has more confidence around the three boys every day, so that makes me happy. She’s been a great addition to the household.
By the time I left the office about 5:30 p.m. Frid By the time I left the office about 5:30 p.m. Friday, some light rain from the approaching hurricane was starting to fall. It’s been completely cloudy in Birmingham all day because of the bands of clouds pushing north from the Gulf of Mexico. About halfway home, I noticed that the sky had suddenly started exhibiting this beautiful orange glow to the west. So even though it was far too cloudy for us to see a real sunset, the light was still colorful enough and bright enough to punch through at the horizon. So I stopped on the Cahaba River bridge on I-459 and caught this quick shot. Within just a couple of minutes, the clouds had covered up the color — and the rain started getting a bit harder. By morning, we should have howling winds and serious thunderstorms. Let’s just hope there are no tornados spawned by this storm in our area.
I need some new portraits of myself, so I tried a I need some new portraits of myself, so I tried a few shots after I got home late Monday night. This one wasn’t great, so I’ll try again later, but I can use it until I have time to shoot another. I was too lazy to light this one properly — and it shows. 😺
Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 27, 2026 Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 27, 2026
Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 19, 2026 Sunset, Leeds, Alabama — August 19, 2026
When I got home at midnight Monday, I was doing so When I got home at midnight Monday, I was doing some work in the studio and Oliver wanted to join me, so I showed him around to acclimate him to the place again. He rarely goes in there, but I have pictures of him in that studio on the night I brought him home as a kitten. 😺
Earlier this week, I found two photos of Lucy and Earlier this week, I found two photos of Lucy and me that I had never seen. I loved finding the pictures, but seeing these photos left me thinking about the effect it has on us when we lose an animal we love — and it was also a reminder of how much my life has changed for the last nine months it’s been since I lost her. I wrote an essay about this. You can find it as the most recent post at davidmcelroy.org right now if you’re interested. I really do miss this sweet girl.
When I take lightning pictures, I’m always hoping When I take lightning pictures, I’m always hoping to get just one usable photo, but I got two dramatic images tonight. You might recognize the water tower and communication tower that you’ve seen in many of my sunset photos. This is about a mile from my house in Leeds, which is just east of Birmingham.
For those who are in places where it’s miserably h For those who are in places where it’s miserably hot today, here is a minute of light rain and gentle thunder from my back yard late Saturday afternoon. It’s very relaxing to stand at my back door and watch this, especially since the heat is pretty mild today — 80 degrees (about 26 celsius) — for July in the American South.
Follow on Instagram

Critter Instagram

Meg is spending more and more of her time near her Meg is spending more and more of her time near her brothers in the office and this makes me happy. For the first few weeks, she spent much of her time in the bedroom underneath a chair. But in the last few days, she’s spending much of her time in the cave of the castle while the other three cats relax nearby. I think she’s getting happier and more comfortable every day.
If you were this successful at having your will ob If you were this successful at having your will obeyed, you might be pretty arrogant about it, too. 😺
Early Wednesday afternoon, Meg has been asleep in Early Wednesday afternoon, Meg has been asleep in a cave of the castle, but she just woke up and decided to see what the rest of the creatures in her world were doing on such a lazy autumn day.
From the CritterCam: Did Oliver just finish eating From the CritterCam: Did Oliver just finish eating dinner and he’s licking his chops over it? I’m not there to see, but the webcam just caught him doing this as he climbed into the cat bed on my desk. My bet is that he just finished the last of his dinner and is ready to sleep it off.
As I left the house early Tuesday afternoon, Alex As I left the house early Tuesday afternoon, Alex was on his throne at the very top of the castle — looking down over his kingdom below.
Late Monday night, Meg decided to get under the be Late Monday night, Meg decided to get under the bedspread and go exploring, which attracted Oliver’s attention. He got on top of the bedspread and sniffed everywhere she want. When she came out, she saw him and looked disgusted to have been that close to him.
I just got home and found Oliver sound asleep like I just got home and found Oliver sound asleep like this in the cat bed on my desk. He’s apparently had too much fun tonight.
Meg is sitting in one of the caves of the castle l Meg is sitting in one of the caves of the castle late Sunday afternoon as she looks into the sunshine outside a nearby window.
I just went to tell the cats good night at 4 a.m. I just went to tell the cats good night at 4 a.m. and she looked up at me from the hanging basket to make it clear that she didn’t appreciate being awakened from her nap.
Follow on Instagram

Secondary Sidebar

Briefly

Here’s another reason to appreciate the cats in your life: New research involving 93 countries found that places with more cats per person also tended to have happier people. The researchers say the finding fits with previous evidence that living with pets can reduce loneliness and stress while providing companionship, emotional attachment and social support. The study doesn’t prove that cats cause greater happiness, but it certainly adds to the evidence that sharing your home — and your life — with a cat might be good for you.

The company that owns Facebook and Instagram is heavily promoting its new AI-based software assistant called Muse, but people who are using it as it was designed are incredibly foolish. An early adopter of the software discovered that a few days ago when he advertised an item for sale on Facebook Marketplace — and he inadvertently gave Muse full authority to act on his behalf. The software agreed to a lowball offer made by another Facebook user and then gave that man the home address of the man for whom he was an agent. The software told the buyer that the seller was home and waiting for him. When the buyer showed up and waited angrily, the would-be buyer left an angry review for the man. And this angry man had the seller’s home address. It was only well after that that the software reported what it had done and admitted it had made a mistake. I won’t be putting that much power into the hands of any software. I think anyone who agrees to such terms is a fool. And the software’s user agreement says you’re responsible for purchases the software makes in your name. Nope.

Meet my new girlfriend. Her name is Meg. And she’s my little sweetheart. A couple of months ago, a neighbor across the street told me about a new stray in the neighborhood that she and I were both soon feeding. The cat had been very skittish about contact and she had a lot of scabs and parasites in her fur, but a trip to the vet last week revealed that she was otherwise in good health. The vet estimates her to be 1 to 2 years old. I named her for Meg Murry, the 13-year-old protagonist of Madeleine L’Engle’s wonderful book, “A Wrinkle in Time.” (Please read the book. Don’t watch the horrible movie.) Since we lost Lucy almost a year ago, it seems appropriate that we finally have a new little girl to join the household. She’s already captured my heart, but Alex, Oliver and Sam aren’t there quite yet.

There’s nothing socially acceptable that’s as dangerous as drinking alcohol. Most people grow up being told to “drink responsibly” — and all of us see people abusing this drug in one way or another — but the truth is that drinking alcohol is always a terrible risk. The alcohol in these drinks is toxic and the human liver has to work hard to filter the toxins out. What most people don’t realize is that alcohol is classified as a known carcinogen by the World Health Organization — because of the well-established connection between imbibing and various cancers. Many people have taken refuge behind the idea that light or moderate drinking might be safe, but a new study shows that drinking even one drink a day increases the risks of 10 types of cancer. When I was a teen-ager, I looked around and saw the negative effects that this behavior had on a lot of people and decided not to start drinking, so I’ve never even tried this poison. The evidence keeps piling up that I was lucky to have come to that conclusion early.

It turns out that the radical far left has been training “Antifa cats” to sabotage anything important to Donald Trump. Everything he did was perfect. Honest. It was all the cats’ fault. Arrest all the cats! This is the latest of my ridiculous satirical shorts. Please go watch it. Then “like” it and subscribe. Please. I’m begging you. (Too much?) Although a couple of the previous videos have had views in the hundreds, most have still been seen by fewer than 20 people. So I seem to be having trouble letting people know that page exists.

Read More

Crass Capitalism

Before you buy anything from Amazon, please click on this link. I’ll get a tiny commission, but it won’t cost you a nickel extra. The cats will thank you. And so will I.

© 2011–2026 · All Rights Reserved
Built by: 1955 DESIGN