What is woke? It's a set of ideas with a lot of influence, but they're often ill-defined so this piece by @Psythor is very useful. In the spirit of continuing that project, here's what I'd add/ disagree with.🧵 1) James starts with “identitarian deference”, an idea coined by @MattBruenig to describe how “privileged individuals should …
There is something confusing going on with the trans debate. I'm talking about the idea — on both sides of the debate — that what happens in nature (and how it's been defined in science) should form the basis for our political arrangements. For example, on the anti-trans side, there's the argument that a trans …
When Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was asked what the greatest challenge for a statesman was, he replied: 'Events, dear boy, events'. It's a famous phrase but at time when people are making predictions for 2023 its worth reconsidering.🧵 Unpredictable things happen, often upending everything. Think of the Sep 11 attacks in 2001. The credit crunch …
“Cheems mindset is automatically dismissing an idea on the basis that it cannot be done, or would be hard to do. Cheems mindset isn’t a wholly bad tendency in its steelman form. Knowing and being clear-eyed about the barriers that exist to implementing any policy is important. However, it becomes a deadly cause of sclerosis …
Much has been written trying to understand what Putin wants, but I think there is one aspect of his thinking we tend to underestimate. Transcript and sources: What is Putin up to? I’m not just talking about now, but for years, the West has been trying to understand how Vladimir Putin thinks. Well, when I …
There’s a type of argumentative manoeuvre I find frustrating but which I don’t have a good name for. I’m talking about whenever someone rejects the arguments of another, not by pointing out how they’re wrong, but by claiming they’ve been… well kind of brainwashed. Examples include: “False consciousness” — the idea that the oppressed willfully …
Very good conversation between Michael Ignatieff and Yascha Mounk in the latest episode of The Good Fight, especially this interesting idea: “You can’t operate a political system without a premise of friendship between adversaries. Friendship, in the sense of, “We’re all Americans.” … and what has been terrifying in the United States is the replacement …
YouTube | Vimeo | Twitter I find the culture wars exhausting. While I care about a lot of the underlying issues being discussed — racism, sexism — the stories that seem to end up being discussed are always slightly annoying. “Why are we talking about this case and not something more representative?” I always think …
This is the idea that: “privileged individuals should defer to the opinions and views of oppressed individuals, especially on topics relevant to those individuals’ oppression.” The idea is from Matt Bruenig who is hostile to it. “Over the years, I have argued that ID is clearly unworkable, easily gamed, and awful for those with invisible identities and …