About Steven Kessler

Steven Kessler is a doctoral candidate at the University of Rochester.

The Democracy of the Unborn

By |2023-01-30T14:21:36-06:00January 30th, 2023|Categories: Abortion, Conservatism, Edmund Burke, Liberalism, Timeless Essays, Tradition|

Society has been reduced to those living in the present; but in being reduced, it has excluded the democracy of the dead and unborn. We, in the present, must fight for this most obscure of all classes. In the abortion debate, one of the pro-choice arguments is based on the idea of “personhood.” Personhood is [...]

The Original Perversity in the Socialist Heart

By |2020-02-19T00:05:53-06:00February 18th, 2020|Categories: Conservatism, History, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Liberalism, Politics, Socialism|

Socialism’s nuances and ideological subtleties can be latent, unknown, and often unrecognizable. To truly grasp the depth of the socialists’ arguments, we must first look at socialism’s ideological origins—specifically, Jean Rousseau’s invalidation of Original Sin. As socialism ascends in prominence, many of its proponents are open and outspoken with their socialist political positions. These socialist [...]

The Rise of Birth Control & the Decline of Civilization

By |2019-12-06T15:20:32-06:00December 1st, 2019|Categories: Abortion, Civil Society, Civilization, Conservatism, Western Civilization|

Traditionally, the type of men that women wanted to marry embodied all the classic standards of male achievement: educated, physically fit, able to hold down a job. But in 1960, everything changed. A watershed moment produced an oral contraceptive known as “the pill.” No innovation has fundamentally altered the premises of civilization quite like birth [...]

Idle Hands, Women’s Wages, and Unmarried Men

By |2019-09-02T10:23:45-05:00May 9th, 2019|Categories: Civil Society, Labor/Work, Marriage, Modernity, Progressivism, Social Institutions|

Recently, several statistical studies have shown that a decline in marriage rates may be associated with declining male success and male wages, relative to female wages. Do our men need to learn to deal with this, or will this shift in power between the sexes have significant and serious consequences? In January of 2019, Fox [...]

Victimology 101: Rousseau, Victimhood, and Safe-Spaces

By |2022-07-28T13:20:22-05:00April 5th, 2019|Categories: Culture War, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Liberalism, Modernity, Politics, Progressivism|

Many liberals maintain that they themselves are victims. Where does this belief come from? And why would anyone want to be a victim? To understand the origins of victimhood, we must understand the work and thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the godfather and patron saint of liberalism… Candace Owens, an African American woman, is a recent [...]

When Feelings Became Facts: Rousseau, Burke, & Outrage Culture

By |2022-06-27T18:04:23-05:00July 17th, 2018|Categories: Edmund Burke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Morality, Reason|

Edmund Burke understood that the individual’s own natural reasoning would never be as deep or profound as the wisdom of our ancestors, bequeathed to us through tradition and custom. He believed that looking inwards, as Jean-Jacques Rousseau advocated, would precipitate our demise. On our college campuses, the clashes between liberals and conservatives have grown hostile. [...]

Europe’s Immigration Crisis & the Vindication of Edmund Burke

By |2019-09-12T13:52:00-05:00July 2nd, 2017|Categories: Edmund Burke, Europe, History, Immigration, Muslim|

Edmund Burke believed in change, knowing that a nation unwilling or unable to change would collapse. However, he believed in prudence, moderation, moral restraint, and gradual implementation with reflective assessment. Had modern Europeans believed in the same things, they would not be in this predicament now… “All circumstances taken together, the French Revolution is the [...]

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