I just voted Republican in San Bernadino, CA by email >> fax. Those who want to change the lousy direction of US politics, need to vote Republican against the Democrats. Libertarian & other “third party” do send a small message – neither Party is worth voting for. But it’s also a claim that what’s happening isn’t worth voting for a change.
The huge advantage of Democracy is the ability to “vote the bums out”. I hope and expect the Republicans to win both the Senate and the House.
Great anti-woke gatekeepers article by Michael Lind (HT Arnold Kling ):
“Woke activists are not honest missionaries; they are infiltrators, acting with the specific goal of seizing control of institutions and imposing their views on others. … They are entryists.”
“Control of three gateways in particular has been critical to the success of woke entryism. The three gateways are college education, professional accreditation, and commercial services, particularly new online media platforms like Twitter, sales platforms like Amazon, and financial platforms like PayPal. All three wield variants of the same power: the power to exclude people from the economy.”
“Alas, only one solution to the threat of woke hegemony can possibly work: a massive and permanent expansion of the regulatory powers of American government.”
“In the United States, in the third decade of the 21st century, the private tyranny of universities, professional associations, and tech platforms is a greater threat than the tyranny of an oppressive state.”
Yes, we need a bigger state, including a Digital Utilities Commission, but also even more. But first we need anti-woke Republicans elected to do anything positive to stop the civilization destroying woke Democrats.
This should be the "state capacity Libertarians" that Tyler Cowen has mentioned, but it doesn't seem to be what he means.
Cato has been good to Arnold Kling, but Lind's criticism of Big Business Libertarians supporting the rich Big Business globalist elites in their tyranny against MAGA-Republicans is spot on - allowing Big Business censorship because of "Free Market" is contrary to supporting Free Speech.
Most folk have a correct intuition that only Big Gov't can put effective limits on Big Business -- so the Reagan-Bush pro-business & pro merger globalization has gone too far. Those who want the comforts of a competitive free market should be pushing for breaking up the Big Tech and Big Bank businesses who have been abusing their power.
Colleges and all organizations with semi-gov't power delegated to it by gov't lawmakers should be subject to strict anti-partisan hiring practices - no discrimination against Republicans & pro-life Christians.
We need three sections of governments: one Republican and one Democrat, both empowered to make sure, with veto & firing power, that the main third gov't bureaucrats are not being partisan. We also need 10 year term limits on bureaucrat employees.
Arnold links to Yashua Mounk talking to Sam Harris on Whether Religion Really Does Make Everything Worse
On atheism, Harris makes many good points, and even addresses the comfort felt by believers. Yet he doesn't answer, and Mounk doesn't ask: "Why am I here?" Inevitably weak on this key question, its absence weakens a fine ideal:
what you want are people whose convictions scale with good reasons and good evidence and good arguments, and intuitions that are tutored by intellectual honesty and honest collisions with the opinions, so that there's a certain kind of humility and circumspection and discomfort with illogic, and a desire for consistency.
Harris is correct that this is what we want - but he shows little humility himself, and a HUGE inconsistency when he talks about "democracy" and the extreme left Woke problems. Just before getting to his defense of gay marriage, he claims "we should all be increasingly allergic to dogmatism." Yet he offers no steelman, nor even a strawman on his example of religious harm: “homosexuality is immoral.” Maybe it shouldn't be illegal, as it was in Oscar Wilde's time, but maybe uninhibited irresponsible promiscuity among young men is actually a net negative if it leads to rampant spreads of STDs and objectification of others with a pure utilitarianist view of using them for your own pleasure, including any "games" so as to manipulate them into giving in to your sexual gratification?
Homosexuality is less sinful than adultery, which itself was illegal until, sort of, no-fault divorce. [Much lower class crime and drug problems are connected to sexual promiscuity.]
Harris and Mounk both have far too much TDS bullshit. They're dogmatic about it, just as we don't want. As usual, insults of Trump without any specifics. Mounk: "Donald Trump is just a fundamentally bigger threat to American democracy and to decency. "
Harris agrees and claims if Trump OR anyone Trumpist runs in 2024, the woke problem won't go away:
“the craziness of Trumpistan is so provocative, and so seemingly justifying of the craziness of the woke. They mutually create one another at this point. "
--The DEVIL (made me buy this dress), Trump made us Left folk crazy - it's Trump's fault!!!
Intellectually flabby.
Also BS; Total Bullshit. (Is there any good intellectual critique of Trump, his policies, and his results? Arnold Kling claims Trump's personnel picks were lousy - but hasn't shown Biden to be better in any pick.) Mounk on the hegemony of woke ideas:
"it both seemed to justify the most extreme claims, and it made it very toxic to argue against any left position, because you would be seen as running interference for Trump."
Cowards.
Intellectual cowards, both of them, unwilling to give reasons instead of insults without evidence, and such lousy arguments that only true-believers would believe in either of them. Yes, with some fine half-truth intuitions, but their lack of humility blinds them to their own lack of logic.
Some months ago, Harris was essentially claiming that stealing the election away from Trump would have been good, if it was done. Total violation of "democracy". In a real democracy with free and fair elections, Hitler or the Devil or Trump or Biden can honestly be elected by a majority of valid voters voting, after uncensored media coverage of the good and bad points of both candidates. (Censorship of H. Biden's laptop means NOT 100% free & fair, therefore "stolen" is a reasonable, tho still unproven, claim. How much censorship is needed before a close election can be called stolen? -- not discussed.)
Harris states the big conclusion, which is true AND should be denounced rather than supported by honest intellectuals:
"what's happening on the left is that you have a generation of activists determined to lie about all of that"
Democrats lie. They choose to lie, for power, and blame Trump, or MAGA Republicans. And, after dogmatic demonization of Republicans, they justify their lies "for the greater good".
Because they suffer from Democrat Derangement Syndrome.
Even more links about the New Right :
Classical Liberalism vs. The New Right+
Iran and the Hopelessness of Social Conservatism
Why secularization and cultural liberalism are inevitable
American Triumphalism and "Normie Theories of Democracy + China & Russia
On class resentment as the byproduct of greater wealth, feminization, and modern communications technology.
Richard Hanania is really getting good (I’m envious – admiring)
the three exogenous forces that create the modern culture war: increasing wealth, women playing a larger role in intellectual life, and modern communications technology.
1) Throughout history, there are numerous stories of spoiled rich kids, brats like spoiled Hunter Biden (or Chelsea Clinton? ). The success of limited government Liberal Democracy - Christian morality and Free Market trading (inducing specialization!) leading to economic growth, has led to a reality of so many rich and near-rich status-seeking "Valley Girls" (see Moon Unit Zappa) & liberal boys who throw temper tantrums.
Wealth insulates the wealthy from suffering due to normal inconveniences - many now demand an end to any "oppressive" reality they don't like.
2) Women dominating college life has increased the identification of problems, especially issues where people FEEL bad -- but far fewer solutions, tho often including policy recommendations that don't solve the problem (like BLM increasing, rather than decreasing, the number of Blacks dying young from murder or driving has gone up). More study of male-female differences has increased the scientific evidence for many differences - yet the complaints about different results have become more hysterical.
The dominance of Feelings over Facts has been led by feminists. Many of whom become more bitter and angry as their bio-clock times out on having children and they realize they've been working for rich folk rather than for their own family - with a large number childless.
The refusal to address Black IQ differences is related to this denial of facts and increases racism rather than reducing it. >>the idea that poor people are poor because of their genes sounds too unpleasant to acknowledge. <<
(2b-Missing from Hanania) Elite college discrimination against Republican professors is related to the feminist demonization of all who are pro-life. A Republican controlled Congress should revoke tax-exempt status for all such colleges who have been discriminating.
3) The modern comm revolution has made the "peer" group that gives or withholds status far more on-line than merely local. The ability to on-line mob those who's speech is undesired has been supported by "liberals" / Democrats as long as the protests are against Republicans or Christians or males or Whites or straights.
(HT Hanania) https://compactmag.com/article/why-conservatism-failed Jon Askonas
A technological society can have no traditions ... virtues aren’t merely moral ideas: They are materially and socially rewarded, and their opposing vices are punished. ... A technological society is incompatible with a blithe conservatism, but not with the furtherance of human flourishing and the transformation of wilderness into garden.
As compared to Haidt, the difficulty "conservatives" have with technology is more clearly explicit here.
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After the election I’ll talk more about economics.