In regards to that Tweet, I can tell just by that woman's photo that she has questions, though they are probably more obtuse than pointed.
I guess that I'm lucky because my family is pretty open minded. We have a fair bit of diversity and no one seems to mind. But even if they weren't, there's no way I'm ruining my familial relationships at the behest of the timeline. The world is only going to get more volatile and if you think the timeline or abstract concepts of social justice are going to take care of you, then you are in for a rude awakening.
"You can’t say that it’s legitimate to hang the dopiest conservative critiques of social justice politics on the rest of us and then turn around and declare that you shouldn’t have to answer for, say, the woman who said that it was good that a child was eaten by an alligator because he was white. You hang those on me, I hang these on you"
I agree, but have to admit that the pessimism in the left is mostly justified. I think back to that scene towards the end of Easy Rider where Peter Fonda says "We blew it.". It hits different now, because I feel like we're in the same position. Whatever potential the resurgent left of the 2010s had was squandered. It's not much different from the hippie movement going belly up. All that stuff Hunter Thompson wrote about "with the right kind of eyes you could still see the high water mark.".
It's over, and will stay that way for a long time. I think that's one of many things I find most obnoxious about the woke crowd, they don't realize they've already hit the peak of their power And influence, that it's all downhill from here. They overplayed their hand and there's going to be hell to pay.
Of course, if you bring up the Woke movement's excesses, the anti-anti-woke will just brush it off like "Oh those are just minor people, minor incidents. They're not part of a larger trend. They don't matter."
No One is Saying quickly becomes No One Important is Saying at the drop of a hat. Sigh.
“The Iron Law of Institutions and the left” is a classic that deserves a home on Substack, either in the current or an updated form. It explains so much.
As a Gen Xer, I feel like I SOME of this trenchant pessimism (at least in my cohort) is really just one of our intrinsic personality traits. We're kinda cynical by nature. And I'm not sure that everyone in their 50's or so who seem to be rather 'doomsy' is a product of the these times, but rather a product of those times...40 years ago. We're just a bit more comfortable swimming in these dark currents than most.
Why that is is beyond me, maybe some cultural psychologist can answer that. What's strange about it is that the world didn't seem nearly so bleak then as it does now. In hindsight, it's sorta weird a lot of Xers are so dour...or at least more accepting of dour times. Our analog childhoods were mostly fun and adventurous, if a little lonely.
Sorry for the ramble, what I just wrote seems silly and personal all of a sudden.
Freddy, I admire your persistence but when you see this amount of dysfunction, don't you think it's a symptom of a fundamental crisis? Many have moved on from either side and those remaining are diehards, who excel in ever greater absurd discourse and alienation of anyone who voices a WTF is happening question.
It's two sides fighting over who gets to captain the Titanic - sane folks are jumping into the few lifeboats provided. There has to be a better way.
My “anti-woke/anti-anti-woke” bugaboos (which I share without any hope of financial or non-financial reward, save the catharsis of typing them using my overly large thumbs into this stupid hand-held device that I think does as much or more harm as good to society) are:
1. Monoliths. Flattening any group of people into one, large morass and ascribing characteristics to them, particularly when many of those attributes are stereotypical and largely unfalsifiable, is wrong. It is lazy minded rhetorical expediency that robs everyone lumped into that group of agency and individuality.
2. Proportionality. I like that word. It indicates their should be a commensurate level of response to a perceived issue. Versus indulging in outsized and hyperbolic mischaracterizations of word and/or deed, swiftly followed by outright character assassinations devoid of substance and without self-awareness or self-reflection.
3. Illiberalism. If someone tells me I am obligated to support their preferences as they pertain to either word or deed, fuck them. They are self-entitled, wearisome fucks. I don’t owe anyone a goddamn thing and no one can compel my behavior, certainly not under duress. I simply ask that they, whoever they are, leave me the fuck alone, and try an cobble together some of the tolerance or whatever they are trying to compel from me.
4. Language. Inventing new terms and constantly evolving the definition and connotation of exiting ones to suit one’s rhetorically despotic machinations is a delight for all concerned. It certain aids and abets making arguments when those engaging in this foolishness can change the English language whenever it suits them.
5. Omniscience. I adore people who express fervent opinions about others, either collectively or individually, particularly (although not exclusively) negative opinions when they don’t know those about whom they speak and are, in most cases, responding to second hand accounts of asserted behaviors. Again, frequently without a soupçon of self-reflection (lobbing stones in glass houses and all that) or with consideration of any positive attributes or actions previously evidenced. They know, with certitude, that they are right about the object of their outrage, apparently possessed of divine knowledge and oracular powers. The arrogance of this type of person is breathtaking and they are among the most wearisome of all those I hold in contempt. Imperfect though they may be, they offer no redemption or grace to anyone and they suck the joy out of life and are a misery for those around them.
Thanks, Mr. deBoer, for your thoughtful treatise about ignorant, self-indulgent, tiresome people who elevate politics above all else to the dismay and fatigue of all with whom they interact. I enjoyed reading it and am grateful to have the benefit of your perspective.
Who says that the rewards have to be purely financial?
Attention is currency for attention-seekers.
This is great, but is there a link in here to the New Republic piece being discussed?
In regards to that Tweet, I can tell just by that woman's photo that she has questions, though they are probably more obtuse than pointed.
I guess that I'm lucky because my family is pretty open minded. We have a fair bit of diversity and no one seems to mind. But even if they weren't, there's no way I'm ruining my familial relationships at the behest of the timeline. The world is only going to get more volatile and if you think the timeline or abstract concepts of social justice are going to take care of you, then you are in for a rude awakening.
Just listened to your great conversation with BW. Thank you for that, and all your work. I think you're one of the most important voices out there.
Wondering if you could recommend the best biography of Eugene Deb. Your mention kinda got me thinking about him again.
Can we just exile the Woke project back to academia and get back to class? Oh, no, because the oligarchs want us divided by identity and not by class.
Can't have a return of Occupy Wall Street or the Tea Party. If we did, we even be like Sri Lanka....
“My dear, dear friend Michael Hobbes“
This alone was worth the price of admission.
"You can’t say that it’s legitimate to hang the dopiest conservative critiques of social justice politics on the rest of us and then turn around and declare that you shouldn’t have to answer for, say, the woman who said that it was good that a child was eaten by an alligator because he was white. You hang those on me, I hang these on you"
Reminds me of this Slate Star Codex article: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/12/weak-men-are-superweapons/
I agree, but have to admit that the pessimism in the left is mostly justified. I think back to that scene towards the end of Easy Rider where Peter Fonda says "We blew it.". It hits different now, because I feel like we're in the same position. Whatever potential the resurgent left of the 2010s had was squandered. It's not much different from the hippie movement going belly up. All that stuff Hunter Thompson wrote about "with the right kind of eyes you could still see the high water mark.".
It's over, and will stay that way for a long time. I think that's one of many things I find most obnoxious about the woke crowd, they don't realize they've already hit the peak of their power And influence, that it's all downhill from here. They overplayed their hand and there's going to be hell to pay.
Tom Hanks is gonna have to answer for Forrest Gump and Bosom Buddies, too. I won't rest until justice is done.
Of course, if you bring up the Woke movement's excesses, the anti-anti-woke will just brush it off like "Oh those are just minor people, minor incidents. They're not part of a larger trend. They don't matter."
No One is Saying quickly becomes No One Important is Saying at the drop of a hat. Sigh.
"if being anti-woke is a grift, being anti-anti-woke is also a grift"
This seems to be ill-phrased, since it looks like it's saying that pointing out a grift is a grift itself.
“The Iron Law of Institutions and the left” is a classic that deserves a home on Substack, either in the current or an updated form. It explains so much.
As a Gen Xer, I feel like I SOME of this trenchant pessimism (at least in my cohort) is really just one of our intrinsic personality traits. We're kinda cynical by nature. And I'm not sure that everyone in their 50's or so who seem to be rather 'doomsy' is a product of the these times, but rather a product of those times...40 years ago. We're just a bit more comfortable swimming in these dark currents than most.
Why that is is beyond me, maybe some cultural psychologist can answer that. What's strange about it is that the world didn't seem nearly so bleak then as it does now. In hindsight, it's sorta weird a lot of Xers are so dour...or at least more accepting of dour times. Our analog childhoods were mostly fun and adventurous, if a little lonely.
Sorry for the ramble, what I just wrote seems silly and personal all of a sudden.
Freddy, I admire your persistence but when you see this amount of dysfunction, don't you think it's a symptom of a fundamental crisis? Many have moved on from either side and those remaining are diehards, who excel in ever greater absurd discourse and alienation of anyone who voices a WTF is happening question.
It's two sides fighting over who gets to captain the Titanic - sane folks are jumping into the few lifeboats provided. There has to be a better way.
My “anti-woke/anti-anti-woke” bugaboos (which I share without any hope of financial or non-financial reward, save the catharsis of typing them using my overly large thumbs into this stupid hand-held device that I think does as much or more harm as good to society) are:
1. Monoliths. Flattening any group of people into one, large morass and ascribing characteristics to them, particularly when many of those attributes are stereotypical and largely unfalsifiable, is wrong. It is lazy minded rhetorical expediency that robs everyone lumped into that group of agency and individuality.
2. Proportionality. I like that word. It indicates their should be a commensurate level of response to a perceived issue. Versus indulging in outsized and hyperbolic mischaracterizations of word and/or deed, swiftly followed by outright character assassinations devoid of substance and without self-awareness or self-reflection.
3. Illiberalism. If someone tells me I am obligated to support their preferences as they pertain to either word or deed, fuck them. They are self-entitled, wearisome fucks. I don’t owe anyone a goddamn thing and no one can compel my behavior, certainly not under duress. I simply ask that they, whoever they are, leave me the fuck alone, and try an cobble together some of the tolerance or whatever they are trying to compel from me.
4. Language. Inventing new terms and constantly evolving the definition and connotation of exiting ones to suit one’s rhetorically despotic machinations is a delight for all concerned. It certain aids and abets making arguments when those engaging in this foolishness can change the English language whenever it suits them.
5. Omniscience. I adore people who express fervent opinions about others, either collectively or individually, particularly (although not exclusively) negative opinions when they don’t know those about whom they speak and are, in most cases, responding to second hand accounts of asserted behaviors. Again, frequently without a soupçon of self-reflection (lobbing stones in glass houses and all that) or with consideration of any positive attributes or actions previously evidenced. They know, with certitude, that they are right about the object of their outrage, apparently possessed of divine knowledge and oracular powers. The arrogance of this type of person is breathtaking and they are among the most wearisome of all those I hold in contempt. Imperfect though they may be, they offer no redemption or grace to anyone and they suck the joy out of life and are a misery for those around them.
Thanks, Mr. deBoer, for your thoughtful treatise about ignorant, self-indulgent, tiresome people who elevate politics above all else to the dismay and fatigue of all with whom they interact. I enjoyed reading it and am grateful to have the benefit of your perspective.