"Vic: Getting Older Is Getting Weirder" (opens in separate window)
the west at a crossroads
saturday, october 17th, 2026
It would have been hard to improve the backdrop for Marco Rubio’s foreign policy address on October 7 in Athens, Greece. Standing on the Pnyx with the ruins of the Parthenon rising up behind him, the Secretary of State delivered a speech that won almost universal plaudits. Let me toss my vote in with the overwhelming majority and affirm that Rubio’s speech was simply splendid: robust, heartfelt, honest, masculine, and true.
[FULL TITLE: "The West at a Crossroads: Excellence or Mediocrity?"]
Is it still permissible to praise such a public performance for being “masculine”? It was part of Rubio’s accomplishment to render that question moot. His speech was statesmanlike but also steely: confident both in manner and substance. Rubio was speaking on behalf of the greatest military and economic power on earth. He knew it. So did his audience. He did not swagger. But neither did he make any apologies for the potency he represented. Rather, he issued a series of clear-eyed affirmations. What he affirmed were the struggles—political, intellectual, martial—that defined Western civilization and made it a world-conquering and world-enriching force. That history made the spot upon which Rubio stood a sacred space. The Acropolis: that “high place” in whose shadow political liberty made its fledgling steps, where Plato and Aristotle taught, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes wrote their plays, where Pericles presided and Phidias built and sculpted.
Rubio is right: “The civilization that built what stands behind me has captivated the imagination of the Western world. Generations of our statesmen, artists, and philosophers have looked to it—they’ve looked to it with wonder, and they’ve looked to it with awe.” Most great historical events—the battles, the revolutions, the abdications, the conquests—tend to live on as historical data, facts, and figures to be read about and docketed. But the ancient Greeks, as Rubio says, “seem to have an almost mystical hold on our memory.” They were an essential part of the foundation of the West: our laws and political institutions, our science, our literature, our art. “The history of America,” Rubio said, “is covered with the fingerprints of antiquity. Greece is literally carved into the architecture of our government: in the towering columns, in the domes and the monuments across our capital city. The city where our Constitution was born—Philadelphia—is itself a Greek name.”
The influence of Athens goes far beyond civic architecture or even the rudiments of our political arrangements. “These institutions and ideas,” Rubio noted, were but the “outward expression of more fundamental qualities we see in the ancient Greeks—qualities that can’t be reduced to any particular political system or theory.”
[I]n Athens, we found the first full realization of all the essential traits that would come to define the West: fierce individuality and relentless ambition; daring exploration and invention; a yearning for discovery, for adventure, risk and glory. An insatiable curiosity about the world and the principles by which it operates, a hunger to know the mysteries of nature and grasp the secrets of the cosmos. An impatience with the notion of impossibility, chafing at all boundaries and limits, straining to peer into the depths of the unknown.
These were not just the formulas or precepts of a particular school of philosophy. They were the characteristic of a people—expressed in their traditions, their stories, their imagination; in the qualities they demanded of their citizens; in the things they lived and fought and died for.
In short, “What blossomed here in this place was the Western desire to uncover all that ignorance, darkness, and distance had kept hidden from the mind of man.”
Rubio went on to observe that Athens bequeathed to us not just a common culture but also a “common anthropology—a common view of man and his place in the universe. Its descendants would share not just the idea of a natural order, but a distinctive understanding of virtue; of destiny and fate; of truth, goodness, and beauty; of a code that dictates how men ought to live; of objective standards and ideals to strive towards.” It was not so long ago that this “common view of man and his place in the universe” was part of the common mental furniture of most Americans. Such a view stands behind the competitiveness that powers the free market and the general ambition to excel. “The classical Greek city,” Rubio reminded us, “was an arena for great men to test and prove themselves, to hone their potential through perpetual struggle—to be the best, the strongest, the most beautiful, straining to inch ever closer to perfection.”
In recent years, however, this energetic, competitive view of human nature has given way to the culture Lewis Carroll evoked in his description of the Dodo race in Through the Looking-Glass. “Everybody has won and all must have prizes.” What goes along with this attenuated view of life is the ethic of what has come to be called “safetyism.” “The ideal of many ideologies in our time,” Rubio pointed out, has
become a world of perfect safety, devoid of risk or failure, with neither the glory of victory nor the shame of defeat. Too often these days, we build downwards. We design our standards to ensure no one will lose; we preoccupy ourselves more with the comfort of the worst than the potential of the best. We hold the most exceptional things among us hostage to the average, the ordinary, the mediocre.
This loss of spiritedness—what the Greeks called ??µ??—has had a far-reaching and depressive effect on the civilizations of the West. Rubio’s diagnosis will be familiar to anyone who has paid attention to what has happened to our schools and to our culture at large. The rise of political correctness and cancel culture goes hand in hand with the spiritual timidity that Nietzsche described in his portrait of “the Last Man.” “Over time,” Rubio noted, “we in the West came to feel ashamed of the very things that made us exceptional. We felt embarrassed that our achievements set us apart from the rest of the world. Our prosperity somehow became a source of guilt. We no longer believed we deserved and had earned our greatness.”
Remember when, just a few years ago, our cultural commissars celebrated the career criminal George Floyd and The 1619 Project? The unhappy anti-American beneficiaries of America took to the streets to desecrate our monuments and defile our heritage. It was in this context, Rubio observed, that “‘nationalism’ became a dirty word. . . . [W]e taught our children to be ashamed of the countries they would inherit. In the process, we opened our borders and outsourced our industry and allowed our militaries to wither and to decay.” At the same time, we began to outsource not only our industry but also our sovereignty, “transferring our decisions to global bureaucracies far beyond the reach of our control.”
It is here that Rubio’s speech reaches its denouement. Both the United States and Europe are at a crossroads. Do we endeavor to recover the values we have inherited from the Greeks or do we go quietly into the not-so-good night of spiritual flaccidness? Rubio’s answer caused panic among the low-testosterone denizens of academia and the media. “Under President Trump,” he said, “the United States has made its choice.”
We choose the unapologetic pursuit of national power: to take back control of our critical supply chains, to reindustrialize our economy, to rebuild our defense, to fight for dominance of the technologies and industries of the future.
We choose to reach for new frontiers: in advanced manufacturing and super intelligence; in drones, weapons, and warfare; in chips, minerals, cyber, and every other domain of human possibility. To unleash our energy, to rebuild our factories, to return our astronauts to the moon and launch a new age of exploration in space.
Has any modern statesman had the courage to be so politically incorrect? To note that statecraft requires not only “prudence and diplomacy” but also “the ability to wield force when prudence and diplomacy fail,” and to recognize that power requires “not only having the means to defend yourself” but also “the credibility that you are willing to use it”?
There is only one that I can think of: President Donald Trump. In 2017, in a rousing speech in Warsaw, Trump mounted a defense of the West very similar to Rubio’s speech in Athens. Writing about that speech in American Greatness, I argued that a plausible model for the speech was the Funeral Oration Pericles delivered near the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. “There is nothing like our community of nations,” Trump said at the time. “The world has never known anything like our community of nations.”
We write symphonies. We pursue innovation. We celebrate our ancient heroes, embrace our timeless traditions and customs, and always seek to explore and discover brand-new frontiers.
We reward brilliance. We strive for excellence, and cherish inspiring works of art that honor God. We treasure the rule of law and protect the right to free speech and free expression.
This is exactly the spirit that Marco Rubio celebrated in front of the Acropolis on October 7. We are, as Rubio warned, at a crossroads. Do we pursue excellence and take justified pride in the great things our civilization has accomplished? Or do we retreat to the tenebrous mediocrity and querulous ressentiment of the Last Man? C. S. Lewis drew a frightening portrait of “men without chests,” spiritually timid creatures who lack gumption (a plausible English equivalent of the Greek word ??µ??). Marco Rubio, continuing in the president’s rhetorical footsteps, has called us to reaffirm the better, more spirited angels of our nature. I like to think that this rousing tocsin will help awaken a salutary and clear-eyed spiritual revival.
© 10.11.2026 by Roger Kimball, "American Greatnesss".
A Day In The Life.
Up at 8:30a on Saturday, a very cool 52°F, heavily-overcast (from the coming Rain Storm What's-The-Name), I upped the heat to 75° briefly, made coffee, fired-up the Win-7 Pentium HP Desktop to let its 32 million lines of code load, skipped breakfast, had a couple smokes in the garage and checked the leftover errands list. Zero. I scanned the weather -- updastes on the "Rain Storm Isaias" -- and the breaking news websites, tuned into a "CP Show" Podcast 12-3 on local WSBA-910, and relaxed for the rest of the morning.
I had some minor condo chores to do, got ready for the day, and did a couple of local, quick errands. Back in 45mins, I unloaded, had 2 Samuel Adams Octoberfest Lager, and hit the LR couch for 90mins. I watched the evening news, and switched to Diuscovery's "Expedition Unknown" and Expedition X" until 1a, and quit for the night. The TS What's-It's-Name rain was beginning.
Awake and finally up at 9a on Sunday, a steadily-rainy, cold 51° morning, I upped the heat, made Kona 'Opio' Coffee, and scanned the weather and news websites. I watched the 2026 Singapore F1 GP highlights, got ready for the day, and started the first of two loads of laundry. Heh.
The rain continued, and from the radar screens I viewed, it would for hours to come. I called Sherry and left a voicemail, and waited for the 2nd load's dry cycle to finish. The rain continued, and major thunder & lightning arrived after dark. The torrentiaslk rain finally abated around 10:30, and switched to AccuWeather's Radar Maps until 11p. Lights out.
Up at 9:30a on Monday, a mostly sunny, no rain, breezy, cool 59° morning, made coffee, tuned into the ongoing "CP Show" and scanned the weather and news websites. The street was busyy with work truck and sub-contractors, at various units, doing work. I ws running at least 90mins late all morning, and had a Weis Market grocery delivery scheduled between 2-4p. I left at 12:30p, the traffic was VEREY HEAVY, but moving along.
With only 2 stops today, I was home by 1:15p, unloaded and waiting for the 2-4p Weis Market delivery. Yje order arrive arrived around 4p, with an Amazon Prime driver, whom I tipped nicely as usual, I finished a couple things I was doing, took a 3hr snooze and woke to catcxh the evening news. I made dinner, watched the news, and witched to History's "The unXplained" and TWC's "Weather Gone Viral" until 12midnight, and bagged it. My cleaning lady's in at 8:30a, tomorrow.
Up at 2a; I just could n't get to sleep, regardless of the Ambien (Zolpidem), so I had a mug of fresh coffee, greeted JoAnne, and hit the LR couch for 5hrs. Tired didn't even begin to cover it, and I was 14° beyond exhausted. JoAnne was here at 8:30, got to work, and was out by 11:30. I did 2 errands, came back, unloaded and watched bits & pieces of the news, switched to Discovery's "Filthy Fortunes", and uinplugged at 1a. I'll be sleeping-in tomorrow morning.
Up at 8:30a on Wednesday, a partly sunny, warm 71° morning I finished-up a whole carafe of yesterday's Kona Coffee, tuned into the "CP Show", and planned the next 2 days. I really, truly7 and sick of all the unending medical-relate crap. I scanned the news and weather sites, finished-off the prior day's carafe, and made fresh coffee, and just relaxed for a while. Damn, the downstairs powder room toilet plugged-up, I got the old-style plunger and worked intermittently for 21hrs -- no success -- and called Regal Plumbing around 12:15p. They'd be here to 'fix it' before 4p. Damn.
My plumber team (2) arrived around 2:45p, plus tips for 2, and cleared the clog within 3-4 mins: $281. Damn. I Made dinner, watched the 6p evening news, and switched to Discovery's "Ghost Adventures", until 1a, and quit for the night.
Awake at 7a on Thursday, I rolled over and went back to sleep until 10a, but finally getting-up to a beautiful, very cool 59° morning, I upped the heat, made coffee and scanned the news and weather websites. I tuned into the ongoing "CP Show", enjoyed the coffee and the show's content. I have a 3:45p Dr's app't to get a 'mini physical' for my upcoming 1-of-2 cataract surgeries. And I'm 4 weeks overdue for my lab bloodwork. Meh. As soon as all of the R/S back/buttock/leg/foot pain lessens, I can do the necessary driving. I might try tomorrow morning, since the pain has been mmanageable for the past 2 days. (((knock on wood)))
Just under 3 weeks, until the mid-terms. IMO, guess what's coming...
I was home by 5:30p, in the very heavy traffic of York's rush hour, had dinner, and watched the evening news. Another school shooting, by a 15-16 yr old boy. 4 dead and lots of injuries. I had dinner, watched the first 15mins of the news, and switched to History's "UnXplained Mysteries" and a short 2hr documentary of Discovery about WWII. Lights out at 1a.
Awake at 6a on Friday, I went back to sleep, not feeling well. It was a sunny, warm 68°, but 'something' didn't feel 'right' with me. Did I catch something at the Drs' offices, yesterday? Don't know, but I called Sherry to cancel the day's visit so she could do something else. I went back to sleep, on the LR couch, after just half a mug of coffee. I was feeling nauseous -- but wasn't looking forward to the 'dry-heaves if they happen -- and this came across my weather news feed and was poasted area-=wide:
★★★ SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING! ★★★
• WHEN... NOW AT 5:15 PM WITH 60 MPH WIND GUSTS.
• WHAT... OBSERVED ON GROUND.
• WHERE... York, Weigelstown, Columbia, Mount Joy, Shiloh, East York, Stonybrook-Wilshire, West York, Salunga-Landisville, Maytown, Grantley, and Manchester.
The Jeep was already garaged, so I went back to sleep on the LR couch. Back up around 5p, and feeling a little better, it was 11p dark, so I checked the outdoor skies. An ugly black cloud mass overswept the area, we got a few sprinkles as it slowly passed. Sherry said her area was hit with several downpours. I was hungry, made a small dinner, watched the news and switched to Discovery's "Gold Rush" until 7:30, when I called Sherry. I watched "GR" until 11, and quit for the night.
Today starts a new week, here in the "Journal", and except for some way overdue lab tests, I've got a clear week. I'll call Sherry today or tomorrow, and we'll get some time together next week. Did I mention that she's got sa new house, and is moving within 3 weeks?
