Satirist and social commentator Konstantin Kisin brought his trademark dry humour to the stage at the ARC Conference 2023 in London with a call for audacity, creativity, and hard work.

Speaking of the culture wars and, in the weeks preceding the conference, escalating violence in the UK in relation to the Israel/Palestine conflict, Kisin told the conference, “For years now many of us have been warning that the barbarians are at the gates. I was wrong. They’re inside.”

It’s time to stop fostering victimhood, said Kisin. “There are some people whose brains have been broken. To them our past is abominable, and our future is one of managed decline. My message is simple. How Dare You!? You will not steal my son’s future with empty words.”

In Kisin’s view, the story of the West is a story of audacity. “The history of our civilisation was not made by people who always got everything right. It was made by people who made mistakes too. It was made by people who dared to believe that they could solve the problems they faced.”

Kisin asserted that “we will not overcome woke nihilism” so long as our children face crises of values and security, such as being locked out of the housing market, unable to find meaningful partnership, or create families. “From the dawn of time, humans have had to work to make the world a better place,” said Kisin, calling for leaders to take up this work to “make a difference.”

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