The Monthly Review — September 2024

All of New Outlook's topics, stories, and opinions you missed this past month, in one place.

Sep 30, 2024

For the readers who love short, snappy reads. Those who are short on time or in commute. And those who want a quick entry point into exploring bigger ideas.

The Monthly Review is your sneak peek into many of the topics, stories, and opinions I’m typically publishing on New Outlook, from the short notes to the long-form articles. Let’s have a quick dive!

➊ THE WNBA, CAITLIN CLARK, & STRUGGLE SESSIONS

After a tough playoff elimination loss and a tumultuous first year in the WNBA league, Indiana Fever guard and phenom Caitlin Clark can finally get the much deserved rest she’s earned, both physically and mentally. Throughout her first professional season as a WNBA player, she faced extreme vitriol from WNBA players, coaches, league veterans, and the sports media. Clark was constantly smeared for being responsible for the droves of “toxic fanbase” she’d attracted to the league, she was often insulted for being white, for being privileged, for being MAGA adjacent because she grew up in an Iowan town, and not doing enough to stop basketball fans from speaking ill about WNBA players. For the record, Caitlin is 22-years old.

In the aftermath of her team’s elimination from the playoffs and a truly historical season for the rookie, you’d think the rhetoric would finally die down and eventually come to a screeching halt. Far from it. WNBA players and activists within the league have now coordinated an attack against Caitlin Clark (and her teammates) demanding, once again, that she condemn the “toxic” conversation happening on social media by sports fans. If you are not familiar with the tactic unfolding, it’s called a Struggle Session.

In Maoist China, Struggle Sessions, or the public condemnation of someone, were violent public spectacles where people who were considered to be the opposition or enemies were publicly accused, humiliated, beaten and tortured, sometimes to death, often by people with whom they were close. In today’s society, Maoist Struggle Sessions—which occurred during Mao’s Cultural Revolution (1966)—have evolved into what we know as Cancel Culture, also simultaneously happening during America’s own Cultural Revolution.

The WNBA—the league that has branded itself the “social justice” league comprised of activists and women advocacy groups—its media, and its Woke fans have seemingly declared an all out Struggle Session campaign against Caitlin Clark for being so great at her sport, for quickly rising to become the face of the league, and for galvanizing an unprecedented amount of interest in women’s basketball in just a matter of five months.

It doesn’t seem like there is an end in sight to this Struggle Session, at least not until they’ve managed to break the young rookie’s spirit. And I strongly believe it is because Caitlin Clark, on a very fundamental level, represents everything that these WNBA players are ideologically opposed to. Here are seven reasons I believe Clark is currently facing a Struggle Session:

She is a white girl to whom race is not a major factor (because she actually seems to value notable qualities in people other than their skin color—imagine that). White players who are widely accepted in the league almost always seem to have, at one point, denigrated and denounced themselves for the sin of being white and for the acceptance by the black players.
She is a white girl who does not care to broadcast her politics publicly, as many “allies” and activists in the league are wont to do as a virtue signal tactic for validation.
She is a white girl who hails from a rural Iowa town, which many have disingenuously framed as the endorsement of white supremacy. (God forbid you were raised in a town where everyone wasn’t a bleeding Democrat.)
She is straight. And well, the league is known to be an LGBTQ-centric league. (No explanation needed there.)
Her success is a testament to a society that prioritizes meritocracy as opposed to a society guided by the principles of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (aka getting special treatment based on your identity—something the WNBA widely and openly champions).
Her early fame and fortune has brought along millions of new viewership and fandom to the league which has disrupted and burst the bubble of the homogeneity of thought, the “safe space,” and the perpetual victimhood that the WNBA has long thrived off of.
Her greatness on the court, the fanfare she’s attracted, the accomplishments she’s made in her rookie year alone, and her early rise to becoming the face of the league represents a direct threat to the racially-based activist movements and narratives that have long defined the WNBA, and have been spearheaded by black women in the league and sports media.

To many, this issue is a women’s basketball issue. To those in the know, this is more than a sports issue. It’s yet another cultural landmark moment in America’s ongoing Cultural Revolution. If you’re not paying attention and learning from it, you should be. These events will soon be everywhere all at once. Knowing how to digest what you’re seeing and responding accordingly will be crucial.

Rule #1 of Struggle Sessions: Never bow to the Woke mob.

➋ THE CANCEROUS REVOLUTION

The Cultural Revolution will make you believe that identity and lived experience takes precedence over all other values you possess as a human being.

The Cultural Revolution will make you believe that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a progressive initiative striving for acceptance of people from all walks of life and belief system. In reality, it is an initiative meant to discriminate based on race, promote hiring quotas, embrace likeminded ideologues, exclude diversity of thought, reward people who fit in a protected class of people, and punish people who exist outside of that protected class of people.

The Cultural Revolution will make you believe that activists are agitating for a just world, not to turn the tables so that they can wield power.

The Cultural Revolution will make you believe that holding elections for presidential office is a whole extra step that is not necessary. The “Dictatorship of the Proletariat” or the elites and experts whom the electorate have entrusted with their unwavering support can simply determine who the president will be for the country. (See Kamala)

The Cultural Revolution will present itself as a benevolent movement for the good of mankind, while it actively erodes the very fundamentals of civilization. From the eradication of religion to the upheaval of traditions and cultural elements that have kept society together for centuries.

The Cultural Revolution will make you believe that “all white people are inherently racist” and that “black people fundamentally cannot be racist.”

The Cultural Revolution will make you believe that you are exempt from all accountability because all -isms and power dynamics are to blame for your shortcomings.

The Cultural Revolution will make you embrace victimhood, and even weaponize it to your benefit.

The Cultural Revolution will stratify society into the “good people” versus the “bad people” via politics, religion, and propaganda.

The Cultural Revolution will advance anything and everything that ultimately disrupts the normal, standard, and traditional.

The Cultural Revolution will make you buy into the notion that men can be women, women can be men, and children can identify as something other than what they are, and to that end, undergo sex change.

The Cultural Revolution will make you believe that it is not taking place at this very moment, even as the evidence shows that it’s been slowly at work since the late 60’s, taking root within America’s own educational institutions, and proliferating outward into society.

The Cultural Revolution is here. Its roots deeply planted; bearing fruits at an alarming rate. Societal decay is around the corner if all of these ideas are not immediately challenged.

➌ IDEOLOGICAL PRESCRIPTIONS: TAKE TWO OF THESE

Rigid ideology keeps you intellectually boxed in. Want to think freely? Do one of two things:

Surround yourself with people who will continuously introduce new ideas to you about the same set of issues. If you’re a social butterfly, do this in person. If you’re not socially inclined or don’t have many IRL friends and acquaintances, do this online (Twitter/𝕏, Substack, Tumblr, Reddit, Forums, etc.). This constant influx of new information forces you to begin interrogating your own viewpoints about any particular topic. In doing so, you can begin to discard old information that no longer serves a purpose after they’ve been debunked. And instead, you can replace all of that with information that does serve a purpose and is anchored to what is true.
Operate like a neutral observer with a curious mind. Do away with your political affiliations and just observe from a detached, independent standpoint. Engage critically with information on a particular set of issues for a number of weeks from the leading mainstream media outlets on the Left, the leading mainstream media outlets on the Right, and the dissident, independent outlets as well. Over time, figure out what makes sense to you after you’ve peeled back the propagandistic narratives, which is a feature of every mainstream outlet. Naturally, propagandistic narratives reveal themselves if you critically engage with coverage from different platforms about the same issue. However, if you find that nothing is clicking, pick up Noam Chomsky’s book Manufacturing Consent and the first two chapters should plant the seed for how to scour for propagandistic tactics and framing. The more you continue to engage, the more you get better at sifting through the muck and manipulative narratives, and the more you begin to form your own independent thoughts on a myriad of issues.

A reminder that you are not your ideas. You don’t have to be an ideologue to the point where you cannot change your mind after learning something new that debunks your current worldview. It’s not easy, but chasing what is true is better than planting yourself in an ideology for which you’ve never even allowed an opposing perspective.

➍ PRISONER TO YOUR BELIEFS

Remaining married to your ideology, even when it’s been proven false to you, proves you are intellectually compromised. Yuri Bezmenov, former-KGB and defector once spoke about the characteristics of a demoralized people who have been subjected to ideological subversion: no matter how much truth and facts and data you reveal to a demoralized people, they will choose not to believe any of the information you’re sharing. They will only attempt to confront the truth when the boot of the State comes crashing down on them, and by then it will be too late.

These types of people unknowingly belong to a cult, and they choose to remain members of the cult even when the leader of the cult has been exposed for manipulating and harming his followers. They will only consider saving themselves when they hear gunshots in their community compound from the henchmen of their cult leader, or walk amongst piles of dead bodies, many of whom they were once friends with. By then, it’ll have been too late. And there’ll be nowhere for them to run. They’ll unceremoniously become a victim and casualty of their own ideology.

If you can’t reason yourself out of falsely held positions or face the truth when it’s laid bare for you by acknowledging: “Wow, you actually bring up a good point I hadn’t considered until now! I’ve only thought about this issue from one side—my side,” you may be lost in the wilderness.

➎ NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE WOKE

Woke ideologues who prioritize race, gender, sex, etc. over everything and operate with a victim mentality will blame everybody else for their problems before they can ever hold themselves accountable.

In the WNBA league, we see this phenomenon in ex-WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes who has made a habit of slyly insulting the Iowa Hawkeyes legend and now Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark throughout the span of her rookie season. Each time Swoopes has launched an unwarranted negative comment towards Clark, it is followed by a swift backlash on social media by Clark fans that lasts a few days. Finally, when Swoopes’ made a concerted effort on her podcast to omit Clark’s name while praising the Indiana Fever team’s success post-Olympics, she was met with even more backlash online. When she was scheduled to serve as a commentator for an Indiana Fever game, Swoopes was allegedly pulled from that gig and replaced, apparently to avoid any more unprofessionalism and untoward attitude toward the Fever guard on a nationally televised game.

Swoopes and her supporters online believed that she was being unfairly targeted simply because she is black, and that black women like Swoopes are always prevented from having access to top positions in sports media because of racism and conservatives.

Blink fast and you’ll miss how they swiftly changed the narrative from a 50-something year old WNBA player abusing a 22-year old rookie to the sob story narrative about how black women are prevented from holding jobs in sports media. You have to take note of this tactic because this is precisely how race grifters and Woke ideologues work and avoid accountability. They are experts at spinning narratives to make themselves appear as the victim. They’ll conveniently neglect the actions of the attacker and instead focus on the responses of the attacked, only to frame said responses as an example of “hate-speech,” “racism,” “white supremacy,” “extreme right wing ideology,” etc.

In Disney’s Star Wars series “The Acolyte,” we also see this phenomenon of blaming everybody else and taking no accountability. Woke black actors and activists, like Amadla Stenberg, blamed “hyper conservative, bigotry, vitriol, prejudice,…” for the cancelation of the series after its first woeful season. They believed people hated seeing black and queer women on screen because the Star Wars fanbase is toxic, racist, sexist, etc.

Rather than admitting that they turned a classic franchise that already has a core fanbase into a Woke cringefest, which opted to prioritize identity over storyline, they chose to blame bigotry and everything under the sun for its failure.

➏ SPEAK, WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

You must speak up!

If not now, there will likely be no better time to do so as the censorship industry grows large and wide, reaching across the world and clamping down on dissent.

Society has been pushed to the edge because so many have refused to speak up against blatant attacks against the societal, biological, and scientific standard.

You want to turn the tables and correct course? Speak up! In your personal circles. In your classroom. At your workplace. Amongst your peers. On social media. In person.

Be the voice that is not always represented among groups of ideological thinkers. Introduce reason wherever it is necessary. Ask the pertinent questions. You will rarely be celebrated for having done so, but the impact of your actions will be resounding.

You legitimize the madness of crowds by remaining silent. You delegitimize the madness by simply choosing to speak up.

➐ BETTER NEWS. BETTER SENSE-MAKING.

Stop subscribing to corporate news publications and put those subscriptions to better use on platforms like Substack and others that support independent journalism.

The entire “journalism” industry as it stands needs to burn down before these institutions fully legitimize censorship and wholly criminalize dissent.

Indulge in less propaganda.
Support independent journalism.
Subscribe to New Outlook.

➑ THIS IS AMERICA

Charlie Kirk: “Do you think that men can give birth?”

Student: “I think that…”

Me (to Student): You've already lost. 😂😂

This is what the “Long March Through the Institutions” has brought you. These are American students. This is the Left. This is America’s future.

➒ ALL RACE & POLITICAL HUSTLERS MUST BE EXPOSED

It warms my soul seeing race grifters and political sycophants of the Democrat Party wing of the Establishment (i.e. the clout chasing Charlemagne & the insufferable die hard DNC shill Angela Rye) being exposed for what they are—blatant mouthpieces for the Democrat Party.

These are the steps necessary to finally put an end to the Woke ideology and race narratives that continue to do irreparable damage to the social psyche. Propagandists and pundits who exist as controlled opposition for a particular wing of the Establishment must be mercilessly exposed. That goes for the Jon Stewarts and many such figures up and down the chain who brand and position themselves as anti-establishment and independent thinkers but represent the exact opposite of that.

For the Record: It’s worth noting that while I’m no fan of Jill Stein or her asinine virtue signaling policies on reparations, it’s serendipitous for more than one reason that she’s the one to lay bare the fraudulence of black race grifters in Hollywood and DC who keep people intellectually chained to the idea of “vote blue no matter who.” She deserves her props for this incredible appearance.

➓ IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.

If you see the cultural and traditional norms of your society being subverted, say something.

It only takes two simple steps:

Choose to be bold.
Say something that reaffirms the staying power of the cultural and traditional norm under attack.

That’s a wrap! Hope you enjoyed this installment of The Monthly Review. If something resonated, leave a like, leave a comment, open the floor up for discourse. Or share this with a friend. Thank you for reading, subscribing, and supporting this project. Until next month.