Fifty years ago, in 1976, the exiled writer and political dissident, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn1 moved to Vermont USA. Two years later, in 1978, he delivered a commencement speech at HARVARD that shocked his Western audience. This year, 2026, his son, Ignat Solzhenitsyn,2 repeated the address at the ARC Conference 2026.3 The shock has long gone, but has there been sufficient recognition of the prophetic relevance?
Solzhenitsyn — The Greatest Speech in the History of the West (50 years later) | [ARC 2026]
(Alliance for Responsible Citizenship | June 23, 2026) | Time 12:43 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2QAxePQMhc&t=634s
For those interested, here is the original:
"A World Split Apart" -- Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's 1978 Commencement Address at Harvard
(Martyrius Smith | Aug 20, 2023 | Time 1:00:32 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SASoCrVYQo
If you tuned into the recent ARC (Alliance for Responsible Citizenship1) conference in London, England, you may have heard David Brooks2 use the phrase "privatized morality" which struck me as the perfect two-word summary for a major trend of the past 50-odd years — perfect for the repeating pattern of every person, group, or nation that adheres to the ideology of Korihor3 where:
every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime(Book of Mormon | Alma 30:17; bold emphasis added).
The moment David Brooks CHALLENGED world leaders at ARC 2025
(Alliance for Responsible Citizenship | Feb 18, 2025 | Time 14:17 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSa52TR9tCA
There were many truth-tellers at this third-annual ARC conference. They didn't all agree on current events and personalities, but they felt free to speak their minds. As it stands, the mix of good and bad is unfolding so rapidly that hindsight may prove the only true understanding of the justice and judgments of our time. Yes, (finally!) much long-standing, pervasive corruption is being rooted out, but are we seeing 360, 180, or less? Where is the Constitution headed in this rout? And if history repeats itself, undoubtedly, so will this observation:
39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
(Doctrine & Covenants 121:39; bold emphasis added)
Let us not be so locked into what is being made visible from the past that we do not observe the present. Let us observe all things 360 and remember the persistence of déjà vu.
-------------------------/ 1. https://www.arcforum.com/ - https://www.youtube.com/@arc_conference/featured
The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) is an international organisation whose aim is to unite conservative voices and propose policy based on traditional Western values. It is associated with psychologist and political commentator Jordan Peterson. It was founded in June 2023, with a London conference held in October of that year. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_for_Responsible_Citizenship - https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2023/11/time-to-board-arc.html 2. David Brooks (born August 11, 1961)[1] is a Canadian-born American book author and political and cultural commentator. Though he describes himself as an ideologic moderate, others have characterised him as centrist, moderate conservative, or conservative, based on his record as contributor to the PBS NewsHour, and as opinion columnist for The New York Times[2][page needed][3][better source needed]. In addition to his shorter form writing, Brooks has authored six non-fiction books since 2000, two appearing from Simon and Schuster, and four from Random House, the latter including The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement (2011), and The Road to Character (2015). Beginning as a police reporter in Chicago and as an intern at William F. Buckley's National Review, Brooks rose to his positions at The Times, NPR, and PBS[1] after a long series of other journalistic positions (film critic for The Washington Times, reporter and op-ed editor at The Wall Street Journal,[4][full citation needed] senior editor at The Weekly Standard, and contributing editor at Newsweek and The Atlantic Monthly).[when?][citation needed]
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Brooks_(commentator)
- https://heroes-and-hydras.blogspot.com/2025/02/58-david-brooks-author-political.html 3. Book of Mormon character: "Korihor, antichrist who was successful in Zarahemla and Gideon, but was run out of Jershon. Debated Giddonah2 and Alma2, was struck dumb, then trodden down by Zoramites (c. 74 BC).[157]" [Book of Mormon | Alma 30] by 4. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/02/moral-orientation-part-iii-self-as.html
“The ARC of the moral universe is long
but it bends toward justice”
Could ARC prove an essential antidote to WO and WEF?
We may not agree with everything said at the first ARC conference or with every person who was invited or named as ARC advocates or as members of the advisory board, but finally, we have a group who seems prepared to vigorously stand for Responsible Citizenship and to defend values that have stood the test of time. And time will tell whether this highly influential group will end up for the good or for the bad, but as more prophetic voices (both seeming and real) arise in the world, the need for discernment increases.
If ARC is a key puzzle piece to the end-times, let us pray its founders (Jordan B. Peterson & colleagues) can discern the Judases that inevitably attach themselves to or seek to infiltrate every Good.
Let us pay attention to ARC because in the end-time testing, our assumptions and biases about our own faith may need this Shakespearean reminder:
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. - Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio.
There were many worthy speeches presented at ARC, but here are Peterson’s opening and closing remarks.
(Note: If Biblical Isaiah can go naked and barefoot for three years as a sign of things to come,1 perhaps JBP can feel motivated to wear a divided suit?)
"...And Away from Hell" | Jordan Peterson's first speech at ARC 2023
( Alliance for Responsible Citizenship | Oct 30, 2023 | 14:51 min.) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Iw_FtPVnc
The entire conference can be viewed at https://www.arcforum.com, but be aware:
some VPNs, STRANGELY, bring up “403 Forbidden” (Danish) and “403 The Forbidden” (English) when trying to access this URL. Solution: turn off your VPN and the site becomes accessible. Some short segments of the ARC Forum speeches can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@arc_forum.
-----------------------------------------/ 1. Old Testament | Isaiah 20:2-4 2 At the same time spake the LORD by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3 And the LORD said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; 4 So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
