The above 1821 painting is called The Hay Wain, by John Constable, a British artist. I have deliberately kept the reproduction above small to preserve some of the integrity, but of course computer screens do not begin to be faithful to originals, much less iPads or, God forbid, iPhones. I would love to be able to stand in front of it. It is kept at the National Gallery in London.
In July of 2022 this painting was vandalized, a triptych overlaid placing modern civilization atop, and the vandals gluing themselves to the painting. The vandalism was done by a group called Just Stop Oil, the subject of this post, but first more about the article I am citing from, a work by Fred Bauer. It is called Vandals of Civilization, and is in the March, 2025 edition of National Review. Unless you buy the magazine from a newsstand, or subscribe, you’ll not have access. I am a longtime subscriber to NR, since my youth with an extended interruption … I read it in my early 20s and forward, and now read it with a far more skeptical eye. So much of it is good, so much less so in my view, but the people there always adhering to the principles of its founder, William F. Buckley, Jr., a man I deeply admired.
I first read The Cultural Cold War in 2019. Written by Frances Stonor Saunders, it was highly recommended to his readers by Miles Mathis. I gave my copy away. It is one of those books that should be kept on hand for reference. Saunders is surprisingly (to me) young to have published such a book. She would have been 33 when it was first published in 1999. I am rereading the 2013 edition. (Saunders is currently 58.)
Piece of Mindful 