When I discuss modernity and my support for it, it is in the context of technology and economics, as opposed to the push towards progressive social and political norms.
As I argue here and here, NRx should embrace technology. The arrow of technology is irreversible. Many on the right wish to return to simpler times, but that may not only be impossible – but it may also be undesirable, as diseases, war, and early mortality were more common in earlier times, which is the crux of Steven Pinker’s argument in his book The Better Angels of Our Nature.
of the unavoidable changes of modernity–we can't and may not want to revert modern technological changes.
— hbd nrx (@HbdNrx) March 16, 2015
Wikipedia lists some characteristics of modernity:
Increased movement of goods, capital, people, and information among formerly discrete populations, and consequent influence beyond the local area
Increased formal social organization of mobile populaces, development of “circuits” on which they and their influence travel, and societal standardization conducive to socio-economic mobility
Increased specialization of the segments of society, i.e., division of labor, and area inter-dependency
Increased level of excessive stratification in terms of social life of a modern man
Increased state of dehumanisation, dehumanity, unionisation, as man became embittered about the negative turn of events which sprouted a growing fear.
Man became a victim of the underlying circumstances presented by the modern world
Increased competitiveness amongst people in the society (survival of the fittest) as the jungle rule sets in.
The above items are autonomous, meaning that politicians and individuals cannot reverse or control them. They are the byproducts of the natural, inexorable course of the evolution of civilization.
The last two items allude to the rise of Social Darwinism 2.0, with smarter people being the most ‘fit’ in the competitive post-2008 economy. People may be falling behind because of low IQs in an economy that increasingly rewards intellect.
Technology may actually auspicious for the NRx or anti-democracy cause, hastening the decline of democracy and egalitarianism, with IQ and wealth as the new caste system in our hyper-competitive post-2008 economy. Social hierarchies and techno-commercialism can coexist.
Technologists and scientists like George Gilder, Razib Khan, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Matt Ridley, who may not necessarily subscribe to NRx, have voiced criticism and skepticism of the various tenets of liberalism, which include democracy, egalitarianism, and concern over anthropic global warming.