Noah Rothman: The Progressive War on Fun
A conservative argues today's left is channeling Puritan theocrats when they try to prevent us from enjoying ourselves. Is he correct?
"That's not funny!" is the cri de guerre of contemporary progressives, argues Noah Rothman in The Rise of the New Puritans. "No longer is the American left comfortable with hedonistic pursuits," writes the Commentary associate editor. "To the New Puritan, all society's engines must be harnessed to restore a lost paradise….Enchanting diversions and happy frivolities are distractions to be avoided or even forbidden."
In a deeply researched and wittily written book, Rothman explores the totalizing philosophy of the founders of Plymouth Plantation and Massachusetts Bay Colony and argues a similarly sour and single-minded utopianism undergirds contemporary left-wing attacks on standup comedy, ethnic food appropriation, professional sports, and other culture-war skirmishes.
Rothman is smart and funny and, just as he did in his previous book, Unjust: Social Justice and the Unmaking of America, argues in exceptionally good faith. This is a deep and wide-ranging conversation and there's no question that Rothman is definitely onto something. But why then, I ask him, are conservatives such drags, too?
Today's sponsors:
- The Reason Rundown with Peter Suderman. Free minds. Free markets. Big stories. That's The Reason Rundown, which comes out every Friday. End the week with concise, thought-provoking stories from the journalists at Reason, the magazine of logic, not legends; coherence, not contradictions. Hosted by Features Editor Peter Suderman, each episode he talks to a single Reason journalist about a single big story. Subscribe today.
- The Reason Speakeasy is a live, monthly, unscripted conversation with outspoken defenders of free thinking and heterodoxy in an age of cancel culture and thought police. Hosted by Nick Gillespie in New York City, the next one takes place on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at The Sheen Center and features George Dawes Green, the founder of The Moth, the popular show and podcast that has redefined personal storytelling in the Internet Age. The author of three previous novels, Green's latest, The Kingdoms of Savannah, has just been published to rave reviews. Tickets are $10 and must be purchased online. Go here for details and here for previous installments of the Reason Speakeasy.
photo: Robin Rayne/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom
