Killer Kisin
The Russian-British satirist speaking wisdom the world desperately needs
When it comes to bad ideas Konstantin Kisin is a serial killer.
Author of An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West, Kisin grew up in the Soviet Union, surviving a communist utopia full of terrors that few people in Western society could ever imagine.
The writer and podcaster recently appeared on Modern Wisdom. I enjoyed the show so much that I’ve since done a deep dive into his content. So if you aren’t familiar with his work, or his memorable accent, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.
The following is a curation of three of Kisin’s best recent Substack articles:
The Atheism Delusion
We Do Not Kneel - A Letter to My Newborn Son
Why They Hate Jordan Peterson
Each section includes my thoughts on these pieces and quotes directly from the articles.
1. The Atheism Delusion
This piece by Kisin captures some themes of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s great novel The Brothers Karamazov. The problems with atheism he describes are mirrored by the inner conflicts of Dostoevsky’s character Ivan Karamazov.
There is an infamous chapter in Dostoevsky’s novel where Ivan is having dinner with his little brother, Alyosha. Ivan tells Alyosha, a young monk, a chilling story about Jesus returning to Seville at the height of the Inquisition. During his rant Ivan also speaks of a little girl who gets abandoned in a filthy back alley. Left all alone, she is cold, scared, and in intense pain. He describes this vivid scene repeatedly, and is clearly tortured by it. He uses it to challenge the idea of a benevolent God, for what divinity would let such an awful thing happen?
This question is part of why Ivan’s skeptical mind rejects the existence of God. Due to the often cruel nature of life, due to the unfair, random, profound suffering people experience, how could there be a benevolent creator? Which is a question that, personally, I find impossible to not struggle with.
However, one powerful underlying message of the novel is that the human mind has a deeply ingrained need for the divine. Which is why Alyosha, the hero of the story, was perpetually strengthened by his belief and love for God. For when the human mind does not have belief in a higher power, it becomes all too easy to slip into weak resentful malice, as the character Smerdyakov did, or into sheer madness, as Ivan eventually did.
Kisin goes further with this idea represented in Dostoevsky’s story, saying that without God not only is there nihilistic despair, but there are new religions that form:
“Irrespective of how scientifically true religion may or may not be, it is nonetheless both useful and inevitable.
The (Richard) Dawkins answer is as close to quoting Karl Marx’s idea that ‘religion is the opium of the masses’ as you can get without reproducing it verbatim. ‘The comfort you get from believing a falsehood is like a drug and it’s a perfectly valid argument to say that there’s everything to be said for the drug,’ he explained.
This is a persuasive argument in the sense that truth matters irrespective of how uncomfortable or impractical it may be, but the problem here is that the absence of old religion seems to produce only a vacuum into which a new religion rushes in.”
That last part is the crucial part.
You have heard Friedrich Nietzsche’s famous proclamation that “God is dead.” Some may interpret this as a celebratory line, rejoicing in liberation from repressive religious rules and epistemological dogma. Perhaps that is part of it. But the ever so important rest of Nietzsche’s quote is that “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?”
Nietzsche here, and Kisin in this article, are making the same point — that without God, the emotional void left by absence of religion gets unconsciously filled with a new religion.
Consider that Dostoevsky and Nietzsche were writing in the late 1800s. Technology is making incredible leaps, different cultures are becoming more exposed to each other, and Charles Darwin had just dropped his 1859 bombshell. Newly enlightened minds were likely losing faith in religion at unprecedented rates. But yet the enlightened mind still possesses the religious instinct — and shortly thereafter the world got what can be understood as new religions of Communism and Nazism. This trend continues. Think about what can be understood as the new religions of today, an obvious example being Wokeness.
The deeper question is: why is this instinct there in the first place? Why is religion inevitable for the human psyche? Part of the answer can be found in a book called The Ancient City. Published in 1864, the author was a French scholar proficient in Latin and ancient Greek named Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges. His thesis is that the intrinsic human tendency toward religious and cult-like structures has always been essential for survival, for it offers a sense of purpose, protection, and unity.
The book shows that religion and cult were foundational — the main factor — behind the founding and evolution of ancient Civilization. And that critically, even before an established Greece and Rome, people were living in cults for eons. When you consider how long our species has been evolving, it takes little imagination to see why the religious instinct is hard-wired into our brains.
The implications of this are profound. Kisin ends the piece with a related point:
“The reason new atheism has lost its mojo is that it has no answers to the lack of meaning and purpose that our post-Christian societies are suffering from. What will fill that void? Religious people have their answer. Do the rest of us?”
Does this mean we need to put on our chastity belts, lock up the freethinkers, and start preaching about everlasting fire again? Of course not. I don’t know what we need to do. But I do know a simple awareness of all this can go a long way.
2. We Do Not Kneel - A Letter to My Newborn Son
This letter from Kisin to his son is powerful.
He writes:
“You see, son, the world is full of people who mistake passion for extremism, confidence for arrogance and drive for selfishness and ambition. No matter who you are or what you do, you will encounter this over and over again.
It is not their fault. Most people, me included, have been trained to fit in. The very genes we carry have shaped us to fear stepping outside the group.”
We are programmed to be fearful of standing out. Of defying the tribe. Back in the day that meant almost certain death.
He continues:
“You did not come into this world to consume as much food, pleasure and entertainment as you can. A fulfilling life is one of purpose and the meaning of your life is to identify that purpose and pursue it with every fibre of your being.
The endless pursuit of pleasure becomes an endless pursuit of pain.
In a modern world of booze and weed stores on every block, floating on seas of cheese puffs and pop tarts, underneath colorful screens promoting gambling, it is essential to realize this.
You will never find meaning by trying to be the same as everyone else and mindlessly indulging in cheap pleasures. You will find meaning by pursuing a unique challenge you care about that aligns with your interests and talents.
However, as Kisin explains:
“Most people never get there. They don’t even try. Don’t blame them – no one ever told them that giving up on their dreams was a recipe for misery. As little kids, they were trained to do what they were told, to think how others told them to think and to avoid standing out at all costs.
When they look at you, they see only their own, distorted reflection. Those who lack the courage of their convictions will be threatened by yours. Those who lack confidence will consider you arrogant for having it. And, most of all, those who are desperate to fit in will hate (and secretly admire) you for standing out.”
Resist the pressure to conform. Dare to be different. You have the ability to choose to do something true to yourself.
Kisin writes why it will be worth it:
“People who refuse to settle recognise this in each other. They may have nothing in common. They may differ in their political, religious, cultural and moral views. But once you are on the path, they will see that in you. They will give you opportunities and reward you for taking them. People will help you so much more if they know you’ll make the most of that help.”
3. Why They Hate Jordan Peterson
It is unfortunate how much hate Jordan Peterson receives. Same with Sam Harris. They are brilliant people whose wisdom has helped countless others improve the quality of their minds.
It makes sense why they get so much pushback. Both have big platforms, and both are outspoken on controversial political topics.
However, can we not be so foolish as to overlook that most of their content has been a net positive for most people?
And in a world where wars rage, terrorists slaughter civilians, and authoritarians still put people in concentration camps, can we not be so foolish as to label Jordan Peterson as the bad guy?
Kisin observes:
“Did you notice that the most common question journalists tried to use against him was ‘the majority of your audience are men so bla bla’. You can only ask that question if you believe there’s something wrong with men. No one attacks make-up brands because the majority of their customers are women.”
It’s such a bizarre argument — someone’s content being tailored to one sex or demographic is an indictment? Does anyone denounce Call Her Daddy as evil for having an audience of primarily women? No, because there is nothing wrong with that.
It’s not like Peterson is an anonymous figure on social media posing as a tough guy spreading patently absurd and poisonous ideas about how to be a dude. He is an accountable, well-read scholar, articulating timeless character traits that go into being a good man.
As Kisin notes:
“Jordan came in and reminded men what being a man actually means: responsibility, duty, sacrifice, courage, honour.
And he was roundly attacked by journalists, mainly female ones, as being ‘divisive’, ‘toxic’ etc. FOR TELLING MEN TO BE BETTER.”
It’s as if some people who criticize Peterson don’t even consider his words in the first place. Alas, this is the world we live in — people having strong opinions on things they didn’t actually read or listen to.
I’m reminded of my college professors who called themselves Marxists but apparently didn’t read Karl Marx. As they drove to class in their nice cars, wearing stylish shoes and a fresh button down, clearly they didn’t get the memo from Marx’s manifesto that explicitly called for the abolition of private property!
Viral Speeches
Also — here are some fantastic speeches from Kisin that have exploded on the internet:
Thanks for the intro to Kisin. Intrigued by the references to Jordan Peterson. When any public figure becomes a magnet of pop influence and controversy I tend to steer clear, but sounds like Peterson is worth hearing out.
Ripper mate. Some very thought provoking stuff!