Voltaire said that people who believe absurdities will commit atrocities. Traditionalism is the simplistic creation of a golden age to support ideas of tribalism and racial purity. It has taken hold of populist movements and generated a new and ill-informed rightist upsurge. In the US, it is represented by Steve Bannon - who put Trump in the White House and was his first Chief of Staff; in Russia, by Alexander Dugin who preaches the re-unification of the Russian empire; and in Brazil by Olavo de Carvalho - Bolsanaro's guru. These pundits follow the teachings of Mussolini's advisor Julius Evola. They claim spiritual insight, but are ignorant of the subtle and complex ideas of true mysticism, instead grabbing beliefs in human decline - the End Days or Kali Yuga - as if they were prophetic truth, rather than bronze age anxieties. Mark and Jon show how traditions are often inventions to create tribalist separation between people. They offer some solutions to move us towards a pro-social, pro-human democracy that is neither left nor right wing.
