Last week Texas shook the world with a surprise law that circumvented Roe v. Wade through the civil courts. The left, especially online, to the suprise of no one, was apoplectic. Less than a week later, Biden upped the ante by signing an executive order mandating Covid vaccines for employees of companies with over 100… Continue reading How the Vacuum of Leadership in Washington led to Rage Online
The Genes Debate: Assortative Mating and Embryo Selection
Came across these two interesting articles, which cover the same subject matter, so I have lumped them together in a single analysis. Why Resist Blank Slate Thinking? For One, Look to No Child Left Behind Genes Believe in You He’s correct regarding how biological determinism calls into question the prevailing orthodoxy of the blank slate.… Continue reading The Genes Debate: Assortative Mating and Embryo Selection
Ignoring the ‘Expert Consensus’ Can Be Very Profitable
Saw this viral Scott Adams tweet Three things we learned in the past year: 1. If you don't look for a problem, logically, it does not exist. 2. "Do your own research" leads to eating horse pills, snarfing bleach, and dying. 3. It's a coincidence that every public health policy is also good for big… Continue reading Ignoring the ‘Expert Consensus’ Can Be Very Profitable
The Jewish Question
A conspiracy would seem to suggest that all Jews are operating under a similar directive. But being over-represented in all areas of society does not imply a conspiracy unless it can be shown that they are all acting under a common goal, yet the fact that Jews not uncommonly take diametrically opposing views on all… Continue reading The Jewish Question
The class structure of America
I have been thinking about the social class structure/hierarchy in America. With the exception of the underclass, it’s not like one category is necessarily worse or ranks higher than another. For example, elites have the most power but the most responsibility and little autonomy. 1. Elites. As the title suggests, these people are at the… Continue reading The class structure of America
The contradictions of pragmatism
From New York Magazine Why the GOP Is Ideologically Lost Nevertheless, the ideological incoherence of the contemporary GOP is unusually severe. The Reaganites could not practice what they preached; post-Trump Republicans can’t settle on a catechism to hypocritically recite. The party has a set of unwavering transactional commitments (to reactionary billionaires, provincial capitalists, and the… Continue reading The contradictions of pragmatism
The Rise of the Professional Class
The trend of elites, but more broadly, the professional-class, pulling away and ahead of the working-class, began in earnest in 2008, after the financial crisis, when the wealth and education gap really exploded (such as the college wage premium, ballooning salaries for tech, finance, medical, legal jobs, etc., surging stock market, etc.). I call this… Continue reading The Rise of the Professional Class
Don’t Blame the Fed for Tesla’s Stock Surge
In response to a tweet by Robert Reich regarding Elon Musk’s wealth, Eric tweeted: Would you like to discuss this and related matters? I would be open. https://t.co/3j7TUgu1aO pic.twitter.com/YWnHebkNV9 — Eric Weinstein (@EricRWeinstein) August 29, 2021 As people in the comments noted, the graph Eric chose was misleading: This jump in the graph is misleading… Continue reading Don’t Blame the Fed for Tesla’s Stock Surge
Infation and the national debt, not a concern yet
From Arnold Kling’s blog Tyler Cowen Disagrees with me about Inflation But for a variety of reasons, nowadays the inflation tax is not very useful (“Seigniorage returns from inflation are especially low in the contemporary environment”) as a source of revenue. And inflation is very, very unpopular (“The median voter hates inflation”). So the government’s… Continue reading Infation and the national debt, not a concern yet
The Trouble with Politics
I have been thinking about the decline of the alt-right, why it failed, and why right-wing political movements fail in general. In summary, grifters and hacks destroyed the dissident/alt-right. Conservatives/republicans destroy everything they touch…the tea party, the alt-right, gamergate, etc. Every single genuine grassroots movement has been destroyed by these people as soon as a… Continue reading The Trouble with Politics