The Zone

The Zone

On Liberal Pessimism

Ben Sixsmith's avatar
Ben Sixsmith
Feb 18, 2026
∙ Paid

I enjoyed reading an Atlantic profile of the American conservative Rod Dreher. Rod is a writer I’ve been reading for most of my adult life — as well as a man I have enjoyed meeting. He is, and has long been, a cultural pessimist. As Robert F. Worth writes:

He seems to see America as a hellscape, drained of religion and hope, drugged and distracted by the…

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