Romans Quote by Angela Nagle
““The obsession with decline found on the alt-right today comes from a long conservative line of thought, who regularly drew upon books like Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the eighteenth-century text that tied Rome’s collapse to sexual decadence. Camille Paglia’s work, greatly admired by Milo, is preoccupied with this same causal link between homosexuality, promiscuity, gender fluidity and civilizational decline.””
About This Quote
Source Article: The Atlantic, “The Alt‑Right’s Obsession with Decline”, 2019
The alt‑right links modern social changes to historic narratives of moral decay, echoing long‑standing conservative theories about sexuality and civilization.
In simple terms: Alt‑right ties today’s issues to old ideas about moral decline.
Key Takeaway
Question how historical narratives shape current political rhetoric.
Themes
politics
history
culture
decline
sexuality
Mood
analytical
skeptical
critical
Type
critical
historical
When to use this quote
- political debates
- academic curricula
- public policy
- media analysis
Key Concepts
moral panic
civilizational theory
conservative tradition
media framing
Questions to Reflect On
- What evidence supports or refutes these links?
- How do such narratives affect public policy?
A Different Perspective
Historical analogies can oversimplify complex modern dynamics.
![“[Nietzsche thinks artists undersexed]: “Their vampire, their talent, grudges them as a rule that squandering of force which one calls passion. If one has a talent, one is also its victim; one lives under the vampirism of one’s talent.” -- Friedrich Nietzsche, as quoted in Camille Paglia's "Sexual…” quote by Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9b8/camille-paglia-652_art_nietzsche-thinks-artists-undersexed-thei_1528497.jpg)
![“Even Tacitus admitted that “whatever their origin, [the Jews’] observances are sanctioned by their antiquity,”64 and the Romans respected tradition. Christians, however, had no such excuse.” quote by Elaine Pagels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/865/elaine-pagels-8423_jews_even-tacitus-admitted-that-whatever-thei_61864.jpg)
