PART 8: The Solution to Postmodernism is...The Age of Authenticism
As much as I’d love to take credit for coining the term of a whole new age—how cool would that be—I must give credit where credit is due, and as far as my research can tell, the acclaim rightfully goes to the British novelist Edward Docx.
In 2011, Docx published a groundbreaking article in Prospect Magazine entitled: Postmodernism is Dead. In his article, Docx wrote:
“In the beginning [of postmodernism] artists, philosophers, linguists, writers and musicians were bound up in a movement of great force that sought to break with the past, and which did so with great energy. [What] was the result? … A new and radical permissiveness. Postmodernism was a high-energy revolt, an attack, a strategy for destruction. It was a set of critical and rhetorical practices that sought to destabilize the modernist touchstones of identity, historical progress and epistemic certainty. … [Postmodernism] changed the game from one of self-determination [Kant et al] to other determination. [Thus sayeth the postmodernist]: I am constructed, therefore I am.” [1]
Simply stated, postmodern philosophy is an intellectual black hole, whereby the light of many scholars, writers, thinkers, poets, musicians, politicians, and actors throughout the ages have been sucked into—never again to escape.
By contrast, the philosophy of authenticism shines forth as the blinding light of a new star.
Throughout history, individual persons have practiced authenticism, often in the midst of dreadfully inauthentic times. From Socrates & Aristotle to Dante & Joan of Arc; from George Washington & William Wilberforce to Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightingale, Martin Luther King, Jr., & Gandhi, history’s often dark past shines forth with exemplars of what we today need to know & do to usher in the AGE of AUTHENTICISM.
One of the West’s greatest historical examples of authenticism was Geoffrey Chaucer, the great father of English Poetry. Another great British writer and thinker, G.K. Chesterton, once wrote a book on Chaucer in which he penned a passage that piercingly captures the essence of authenticism:
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“There is at the back of all our lives an abyss of light, more blinding and unfathomable than any abyss of darkness; and it is the abyss of actuality, of existence, of the fact that things truly are, and that we ourselves are incredibly and sometimes almost incredulously real. It is the fundamental fact of being, as against not being; it is unthinkable, yet we cannot unthink it, though we may sometimes be unthinking about it; unthinking and especially unthanking. For he who has realized this reality knows that it does outweigh, literally to infinity, all lesser regrets or arguments for negation, and that under all our grumblings there is a subconscious substance of gratitude."
I believe that G.K. Chesterton would have joined with his fellow Countryman, Edward Docx, in welcoming the Age of Authenticity.
How many domestic drug overdoses & foreign decapitations must occur before we will once again embrace the great truths & virtues upon which our nation was built?
How much corporate greed & political dishonesty will we tolerate before we once again accede the reality of Universal Laws, accept the duties we hold to ourselves and each other, and resurrect the virtues of courage & integrity – upon which all lasting societies are built?
How much longer will we allow so-called “idols” of our young people to pollute their minds and impede their progress with the pernicious principles of postmodernism?
The only REAL answer to the problems we face in America and throughout the world is to put the ages and pages of postmodernism behind us by ushering in a great NEW AGE – the AGE of AUTHENTICISM.
Thank you, Edward Docx, for your inspired article.
This new age of authenticism has the power to remind us not only of the reality of our existence, but of the very real presence of Universal Laws that govern all long-term consequences of human decisions, which, as it turns out is a surprisingly scientific reality—not merely an imagined theological or religious notion.
This new age reminds all of us that while Life Itself has granted everyone the liberty to self-determine—to choose our own way—It has not granted us the freedom to arbitrarily select the consequences of our choices—and the exponential and residual impact on others.
The world has had enough Fiction, Façade, Farce, Fraud, & Facsimile.
The world needs more integrity & truth. It needs more transparency and authenticity; and it needs it badly. Not the kind of transparency borne of ill-kept promises from carefully crafted speeches, nor the rhetorical authenticity borne of eloquent oratory. President Teddy Roosevelt warned of those who talk much and do little.
“It is a sign of marked political weakness in any commonwealth if the people tend to be carried away by mere oratory, if they tend to value words in and for themselves, as divorced from the deeds for which they are supposed to stand. The phrase-maker, the phrase-monger, the ready talker, however great his power, whose speech does not make for courage, sobriety, and right understanding, is simply a noxious element in the body politic, and it speaks ill for the public if he has influence over them. To admire the gift of oratory without regard to the moral quality behind the gift is to do wrong to the republic.” [3]
The world is in desperate need of a Kantian categorical imperative that acknowledges the reality of Right & Wrong, Good & Evil, and that recognizes the great truth that such things are not subject to the whims, wishes, or fancy of postmodern potentates, and the pop culture, politics, media, and academia that perpetually prop them up.
If the AGE of AUTHENTICISM is to eventually eclipse the perils and evils of postmodernism, who must we turn to for guidance in this new age? Who is the source of authentic wisdom?
Is it the democrats? The Republicans? The Libertarians? The individualists? The socialists? The Christians? The Buddhists? The Muslims? The Mormons, the Jevhovah’s Witnesses, the Scientologists? The Followers of Socrates, Kant, Mill, etc.? Is it Freedom Focused LLC?
The indirect answer is none of them—and all of them at the same time. The philosophy of Self-Action Leadership is not rooted exclusively in any one party or persuasion, nor does it require explicit theological underpinnings to support it. You will, however, discern elements of AUTHENTICISM in a variety of ideologies.
The DIRECT answer to the question of where we must all turn for guidance in this new age is: the compass of YOUR OWN conscience.
While it is true that this voice of conscience can be dulled and even exterminated by perpetual disregard, this fact does not remove its self-evident reality in our lives. Indeed, what candid person alive could honestly claim to have never felt any influence from this sixth sense?
My personal belief is that the voice of conscience provides a light within to every human being that ever has been, or ever will be born into this world.
This voice is usually not loud or aggressive; it is soft, yet piercing. It is a voice that can be silenced by anyone who chooses to ignore its promptings and disregards its wisdom. But the reality of its existence is a self-evident certainty I believe all honest human beings would own up to.
Our goal at Freedom Focused is not to tell people how to live their lives. Quite to the contrary, we believe individual liberty is sacrosanct—and must be protected.
Everybody should be allowed to live their own life however they choose as long as it doesn’t harm other people or violate established laws.
Our goal is not to restrict anyone’s personal liberty; our goal is to expand their freedoms by making their own decisions in consultation with their own consciences.
We are always at liberty to choose. The freedom to influence the consequences of our decisions, however, can only come from penitence to universal law, which governs absolutely.
At Freedom Focused, we teach correct principles in the hope that free men and women will then govern themselves in ways that result in positive long-term consequences.
In summary, the AGE of AUTHENTICISM signals a whole new era in the United States and throughout the world. It is an era marked by those with a deep reverence for life & truth. The inhabitants of this world are sensitive to conscience, and proactive in heeding its counsels. It is a world full of human beings who are real, genuine, authentic, honest, courteous, kind, & tolerant in their interactions with other people. It is a brand new world marked by character, integrity, courage, & compassion. It is a world where I – and I hope you – most want to live.
[1] Docx, E. (2011). Postmodernism is Dead. Prospect Magazine. July 20, 2011. Article URL: http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/postmodernisms-is-dead-va-exhibition-age-of-authenticism/#.U3LCSe29LCQ
[2] Chesterton, G.K. (2008). Geoffrey Chaucer. Cornwall, UK: House of Stratus. (Chapter 1, Page 15).
[3] From Roosevelt’s speech, Citizens in a Republic, delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris, France on April 23, 1910.
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