Aesthetics is often neglected among the far-right for several reasons. First, it’s viewed as the exclusive domain of the left. Second, aesthetics is a difficult subject to broach. Few areas of study are neglected based on cliches. Art is one such area that remains under-appreciated because of simple dogma: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What room for aesthetics, then? Third, it simply is not seen as terribly important. What exactly does it do? What does it make? How do you quantify it? Even if we can quantify it, is aesthetic engineering of public spaces an acceptable practice in […]

This is as much an update as it is your friendly neighborhood PSA. As Social Matter has grown in traffic, the quality of the comments has started to decline, and we don’t yet want to turn off comments altogether without first running a trial period in which we more clearly lay out a new policy. Time to apply the hand of Gnon. Quoting from the comment policy page: “Enjoy your stay, but don’t run your mouth off. Wipe your boots off on the mat outside before you come in. If your comment isn’t up to decent standards of conduct and professionalism, then we’ll […]

President Obama (and his administration) is facing establishment backlash for not attending Paris’s solidarity rally. As leader of the free world (whatever the hell that means today), I suppose he should have attended the march of hugs and kisses, or at the least sent Secretary of State John Kerry or Vice President Joe Biden. When one Western democracy marches, the rest often have to follow suit. But for reasons unknown, President Obama decided not to attend, nor did he send anyone in his stead. Nevertheless, the world took notice. I have to agree with President Obama for not attending, though […]

Feminists and people of color believe white men are gods. Divine is what divine does. Divinity is the omnipresence of racism. White men have such a difficult time containing their power-levels that they exude evil unintentionally, like a superhero unable to pull off Clark Kent for but a minute before busting out in uniform. What’s a god? Gods are portrayed in myths as heroes which define societal standards of power, prestige, status, fulfillment, rightness, right action, right being. Society thinks white males are Nietzschean übermenschen. Put down Anton LaVey, White Man. You’ve already made it. What’s good, what’s decent, what […]

Social Matter first began as an idea to streamline operations and slow down the frenetic pace of single-user-blogs to a once-a-week-post stride. The point was to develop quality content and to be a flagship for something. Something big. Something that’s happening in the outer right–an intellectual resurgence which is catching the attention of the mainstream left and right and filtering into influential publications. And papers. And social media. The theory is elitism, the result is key influencers gradually declining to hang themselves and others with the rope of progressivism. It’s been an extraordinary year with a total of 171 pieces. We’ve decided […]

Merry Christmas from all the editors and columnists at Social Matter! Writing will be a little spotty from here on out until the start of 2015. Enjoy friends, enjoy family, and enjoy the snow.  

Note from the author: The following was written in a very lighthearted, fun manner. Don’t take it too seriously. Once upon a time there was a village named Pompeii which for all intents and purposes was a libertarian structural utopia. Not a single voluntary transaction was de jure or de facto prohibited. The little village people were culturally in agreement with this legal arrangement. And since the culture was in the bag, the scenario was sustainable in the long-term. They simply had no interest in restricting voluntary exchange. Restriction of mutually beneficial, voluntary trade, after all, necessarily reduces value and makes […]

Islam vs. islam seems redundant or banal. It’s neither. Rather, it’s a division which cuts through the endless, rehashed op-eds we have to suffer through every time some Muslim or Muslim-presenting individual blows up, throws acid, takes hostages, or kills. The semantics is a dream for the labyrinth operator. Smoke and mirrors allow celebrity columnists-of-the-day to obfuscate in 600-800 word bits by (1) appealing to Islam in the abstract, and (2) citing a few leaders who expertly hand-wave and disavow violence. Islam is a religion of peace, and so on. For the second point, the columnist usually throws in a […]

On Sunday, a convention of several thousand furries in Chicago was unceremoniously disrupted by an intentional chlorine gas leak. Nineteen attendees of Midwest FurFest were quickly rushed off to the hospital, complaining of dizziness. Everyone else in the building hightailed it to shelters in the surrounding area, which cleared the way for hazardous materials technicians to investigate what exactly broke up the furry dance parties. A short four hours later, the furries re-entered the building after waiting outside in the cold in the middle of the night. “A lot of people thought this was just someone pulling the fire alarm,” […]

Those closest to the front lines of reality bear the brunt of holiness narratives passed down from the press. Police get hit hardest for engaging in pattern recognition and enforcement. Ferguson is one example. There will be more. Even if police aren’t consciously aware, enforcement produces racial disparities. But with the press dialing up the intensity of race-war rhetoric, how long will it be until officers simply look the other way and ignore black crime? This is well within the realm of possibility. “Will this be the bullet that puts my life and my family at risk?” Forget departmental disciplinary measures. […]