Pacifism is not about giving up or conceding – it’s about perspective, in picking and choosing your battles wisely, as well as maximizing one’s present situation with the resources at his or her disposal. The failure of conservatism over the past 40 years to halt–let alone reverse–leftism, is evidence of the failure of activism as… Continue reading Why Choose Pacifism
Author: smartistone
Trump and the Alt-Right: A Return to ‘Localism’
The alt-right is new, but it’s intellectually descended from the John Birch Society and Pat Buchanan brand of conservatism, which failed to gained wide acceptance. It ended when Reagan, who promoted a message and policy of unity, won twice by significant margins, changing the course of American national politics from one of identity to one… Continue reading Trump and the Alt-Right: A Return to ‘Localism’
The Long Peace, and the Slowdown
In an earlier post Our Less Participatory Times, I discuss how political blogging, by in large, peaked in 2012-2013, and I still stand by that. Part of the problem is pundits, bloggers, commentators, and writers in the ‘political sphere’ are starved for ‘something to happen’, so we have to either go in circles, invent or… Continue reading The Long Peace, and the Slowdown
Inaction and Indifference as Rebellion
Activism includes but is not limited to telling people what to do or what to believe. By that definition, mainstream liberalism and conservatism is activist. There is an authoritarian and conformist tone to it that implores the subject to do something; for example, for the left, ‘you must spread your wealth and check your privilege’,… Continue reading Inaction and Indifference as Rebellion
Idiocracy in America? Probably not
Anatoly Karlin’s article A Short History of the Third Millennium went massively viral, being read by thousands and getting almost 200 comments. Online, especially, there is considerable interest in ‘weird’, speculative topics such as futurology and existentialism, and these are issues that may have dramatic ramifications for the future of humanity: is radical life extension… Continue reading Idiocracy in America? Probably not
Never Apologize to Liberals
It’s been two months since Tim Urban updated Wait But Why, his last post being a mea culpa of sorts for not being sufficiently aware of his ‘white male privilege’. Either he’s working on another epic post or he’s still shell-shocked from the backlash wrought by his last two posts. From the comments of Tim’s… Continue reading Never Apologize to Liberals
Why Choose Traditional Publishing Over Self-Publishing
The Two Choices, by M.T. White If you have the talent, something to say, and are persistent enough but don’t have a large brand, traditional publishing (which includes indie publishers) is almost always the way to go. Just do a Google search for almost any traditionally published fiction title and you’ll see hundreds or even… Continue reading Why Choose Traditional Publishing Over Self-Publishing
Black Lives Commit More Crime
From Marginal Revolution Black Lives Matter As many have already noted in the comments, Tyler ignores how blacks also commit disproportionate more crimes than whites and are more likely to engage in deadly force against officers. Related: There is No Systemic ‘War on Blacks’ by Police From the comments: Do White Police Officers Unfairly Target… Continue reading Black Lives Commit More Crime
The Sweet, Boring Middle
Don’t read Marginal Revolution much anymore-find it kinda boring (too much economics minutiae and trivia)-but that reflects a deficiency of my own attention span and intelligence to appreciate it, not the inability of Tyler Cowen to be interesting. And evidently, his website is very interesting judging by the immense amount of traffic it gets, so… Continue reading The Sweet, Boring Middle
Intellectuals choose correctness over consensus
Related to Identity, IQ, and Incoherence of the Alt-Right Intellectuals care more about correctness (or what they perceive as being correct) than consensus; for collectivist and identity-driven movements, it’s reversed. For example, Francis Fukuyama, considered one of the intellectual ‘founders’ of neoconservatism, went from in 2001 ‘co-signing William Kristol’s September 20, 2001 letter to President… Continue reading Intellectuals choose correctness over consensus