Battlefield Aesthetica

How to respond to a world increasingly filled with ugliness.

By guest contributor T.J. Martinell.

“What can I do about what is going on in this country?”

This is a question I commonly hear from patriotic Americans. Typically, they’re referring to ways they can make some meaningful change where they can see the results. In the past, I’ve often been at a loss as to what to say. Some of these people had money that could be used to support important work, while others had less money but more time on their hands that could be used to volunteer.

The problem with that is that it’s difficult to give people practical advice about how they personally can take action. However, at this point, there’s something that you can tell anyone about what he or she can do: Have good personal aesthetics.

I probably don’t have to tell you that our modern world is ugly. There are plenty of social media accounts dedicated to documenting and highlighting the demise of beauty in all areas of life. To give just one example, a 1990s McDonald’s was like a mini-Disneyland in terms of its interior decor and furnishings compared to the 2020s brutalist, minimalistic design that is subversively offensive to the eyes. The same can be said for modern houses, cars, clothes, etc.

But this is where ordinary Americans who want to make a difference can do so.

You can start with the inside of your home. I have a wooden plaque in my study that reads “Every Home A Nation.” The slogan’s message is that the home is where we should reflect that which we wish to see in our society, culture, and nation at large. The inside of your home doesn’t have to be fancy or lavishly decorated, but it does need to convey in some manner a sense of beauty. It must be a place where its inhabitants and visitors can feel that sense of beauty, even if they can’t describe it.

I won’t go too much into my own abode, but suffice to say, it’s a 1930s house, and it’s decorated like one. When a person visits it for the first time, he or she generally remarks on that in a positive manner.

Unfortunately, vehicles are difficult in this regard, because there’s only so much you can do. Beautiful cars are usually older, more expensive, and costly to rebuild, even if you happen to purchase one cheaply. For those who can get one, older classic cars, either restored or capable of restoration, are something to consider. As I can personally attest, the right kind of motorcycle is also a visually attractive piece of machinery to have displayed outside of your residence, and some new ones in the retro style (e.g., Honda Rebels) are relatively affordable.

Clothes are perhaps the easiest way to improve your aesthetics, since you don’t need anyone’s permission or help, and it can be affordable if you shop smartly. Ditch the athletic wear (yours truly was guilty of it himself), and start dressing with intent. Find clothes that complement your physical appearance (i.e., complexion, hair color, eye color) that are neither overly formal nor sloppy while remaining contextually appropriate for your environment and the occasion. You’re not trying to cosplay or LARP; you’re trying to convey a sense of self-respect that is completely lacking among modern people.

If you’re wondering why this stuff matters, here’s why:

I’m not the first to say this, but how we dress and how we decorate our living environments affect how we think and act. That’s why the Powers That Be want everything to be ugly. They want us to live in ugly postmodern homes, to dress sloppily, not to care about how we look, and to feel comfortable about it all.

The power of aesthetics is the primary reason why the film Starship Troopers completely backfired in director Paul Verhoeven’s face. Verhoeven, who sought to make the film a satire of the Robert Heinlein novel, wanted to lampoon Heinlein’s authoritative Federation as a crypto-fascist government to be mocked. But by choosing beautiful actors and actresses to play lead roles moviegoers can identify with, while pitting them against grotesque, vicious-looking Bugs whose barbaric behavior generates zero sympathy, he made the mistake that so many lefties do: treating good aesthetics as fundamentally fascist. All attempts to argue logically how the Federation are the real baddies are efforts to circumvent this dynamic, which is why they fail.

The big thing about all this is that if you have the right aesthetics, it will infuriate all the right people because they will very much pick up what you’re laying down, and there’s not a damn thing they can do about it. Also, it signals to others what values you hold without having to talk about it. You will attract the right kind of people and repel the undesirables.

One of the strangest unspoken beliefs of our modern society is that it’s never been different from how it is now. We’ve always been at war with Eastasia, and things have always looked ugly.

Dressing well and maintaining solid aesthetics is a shiv right into the heart of this belief. It silently proclaims that things used to be different for the better, and we need to return to it.

Our wise overlords want things to be ugly because beauty inspires greatness, while ugliness demoralizes. They want you discouraged, disheartened, and resigned.

When you make these changes in your own life, you might be surprised to see whom else you inspire to make similar adjustments in their own lives.

We as individuals can’t change much in this world. But what we can change is how we respond to a world increasingly filled with ugliness. Do we give in, just to fit in with the mainstream mindset of minimal effort, or do we proclaim by our aesthetics that we reject the values thrust upon us and choose instead to exercise power in one of the few areas where it cannot be denied us?

Aesthetics is just one of the many battlefields on which we find ourselves.

To quote Starship Troopers: I’m doing my part.

Are you?