Reactionary Traditionalism Is Rising Because Modernity Has Failed to Provide Spiritual Meaning
Source: David Brooks. "Why Reactionaries Are Taking Over the World - The Atlantic." April 16, 2026. www.theatlantic.com
The Gist
Brooks argues that traditionalist and reactionary movements are winning globally because modern life feels spiritually empty to billions of people. Instead of continuing toward more individual freedom and scientific progress, people are choosing to go backward to times that felt more meaningful and connected.
Conclusion
Reactionary traditionalist movements are gaining global influence because billions of people have rejected the modern progressive vision as spiritually empty and meaningless, leading them to seek return to earlier, more spiritually fulfilling eras
Premises
- Historical evidence shows civilizations regularly reverse course and 'turn back the clock' rather than progressing linearly (Italian Renaissance returning to classical times, China stopping exploration during Ming dynasty)
- Contemporary global trends demonstrate widespread rejection of modernity: religious traditionalism is growing, authoritarianism is replacing democracy, and nostalgia-based politics dominates
- Traditionalist intellectuals like Spengler, Guénon, and Evola have provided compelling frameworks explaining Western civilization's spiritual decline and cultural decay
- Modern secular, materialist worldview creates a spiritual vacuum that leaves people feeling isolated, confused, and without transcendent meaning
- The progressive vision of expanding individual autonomy, secularism, and technological advancement has proven insufficient to provide human fulfillment
- Reactionary movements offer coherent alternative worldviews that address spiritual needs that modernity ignores or dismisses
Assumptions
- Humans have fundamental spiritual needs that must be satisfied for meaningful existence
- Cultural and civilizational change follows cyclical rather than purely linear patterns
- The Enlightenment project of reason, science, and progress is not the inevitable direction of human development
- Traditional forms of meaning (religion, hierarchy, community) provided genuine value that modernity has lost
- Intellectual frameworks can significantly influence mass political and cultural movements