The Last Metaphysical Right

Refreshing is how I would describe Chapter 7 of Richard Weaver's Ideas Have Consequences. After reading pages and pages detailing man's 400 year slide into a chaotic abyss, I was beginning to lose hope that Weaver in fact had a viable solution. I now know why Kelly chose to highlight this chapter in her review of the book last year.

Weaver has not been wandering aimlessly, however, in his search for a place where a successful stand may be made for the logos against modern barbarianism. He has carefully plotted the course of the ship which he navigated safely to the shores of the most free nation in the world. That is, a nation governed by a constitution which allows for small scale private property ownership.

The ordinances of religion, the prerogatives of sex and of vocation, all have been swept away by materialism, but the relationship of man to his own has until the present largely escaped attack.

It was easy for me to grasp the concepts presented in this chapter because not only was I taught them at home from a very early age but also I studied them in college. Weaver's explanation of the superiority of private property ownership in one word *hisness* is assertive and convincing. As mothers, we all see this in our children and their toys at a very early age.

In the *hisness* of property we have dogma and there the discussion ends.

I dont think my children started to keep track of their private property because of my nagging and rules, but more because of this last metaphysical right that is planted in their very beings.

So, it is clear (to me) that private property is a suitable citadel for protecting us from the long arm of the State. Entrenchment is another good word that Weaver uses to describe the position we members of society must take in order to defend ourselves from the literal and symbolic starvation alluded to in the opening quote.

In a Country where the sole employer is the State, opposition means death by slow starvation.

Now Trotsky (1879 - 1940) may have opposed Stalinism, but he was still a Marxist. But even he recognized the danger....all the evils that Weaver has catalogued, all flowing from a falsified picture of the world p 129. Providentially in my family, I (we) have been brought to see this quandary and have been driving afresh that wedge between the material and the transcendental.

Practically speaking, we have followed the moral solutions proposed by Weaver by supporting and being involved in small, local business ownership, occupying the homes we own, and enrolling in schools which provide a private liberal arts education (specifically independent of federal or state funds). While we dont have a family farm (at this time), most of us own land, in addition to the lots where we reside.

There is a price here. It costs time and money and backbone. It's tiring. It's satisfying.

Achtung! Dont drop your guard. The modern state does not comprehend how anyone can be guided by something other than itself. In fact, these days the State is jealous of any entity which competes with its position. Expect to be attacked.

Furthermore, many in society today are not healthy and ready for battle. They have tasted the apple of this evil mindset and are complacent. They need a prescription for healthy living. In order to follow the instructions, they will need nourished minds. Intellectual integrity provides clarity for the every.day.hum.drum of practice (or discipline as described by my blogging buddy, Cindy.) Recovery from this illness cannot be hurried.

So, while Weaver explains better the whys of private property than I have in this summary, I am here to tell you that it is possible to take a stand in this critical battle against the cancer of chaos just by reading Ideas Have Consequences and teaching the principles to your own children. Start by making sure they understand the vocabulary he uses.

One last piece of advice...

Make an assessment of your family's dependence on the State.

Then make sure your catacomb is safe and solid.