This taxonomy aims to unify these blog posts, as well as certain aspects of society and economics under a hierarchical framework. The idea is that I can classify an article or a blog post somewhere in this taxonomy.
Define:
wealth = A
intellectualism = B
individualism (Randianism/Objectivism) and or authenticity = C
Taxonomy:
Primary: ‘smartist era’ (post-2008 American society and economy)
Secondary: ‘individual’, ‘society’,
Tertiary: ‘A+B’, ‘A+C’, ‘B+C’, ‘A+B+C’,’economics (policy)’,’social Darwinism’, ‘zeitgeist & media’, ‘intellectualism culture’
Quaternary: ‘results-orientated’, ‘nerd culture’, ‘hustle culture’, ‘selfie culture’, ‘naval gazing and introspection’, ‘web 2.0 & Silicon Valley’, ‘D’, ‘online discussions & debates’, ‘Q&A communities’, ‘rationalism’, ‘rationalist’, ‘centrism’, ‘alt right’,’long-form online journalism’, ‘signaling & advice & expert culture’
‘D’ includes topics such as the minimum wage debate, poor vs. rich, wealth inequality, basic income, automation vs. labor, student loans & college
Example:
An article about wealth inequality could be classified under both:
smartist era > society > economics (policy) > wealth inequality
smartist era > individual > intellectualism culture > signaling/expert culture > discussing economics online
The second is the ‘meta narrative’.
‘discussing economics online’ is filed under ‘expert culture’ even though the topic matter is economics. The debate process itself is separated from the subject.
Some call it ‘virtue signaling’, but a lot of it is intellectualism signaling. ‘Signaling’ is often used pejoratively, but signaling can include any intellectual activity that is public and unpaid. Teaching a math class is not signaling, but answering questions in an online math community is because it’s public and there is no expectation of pay. The reward, rather than money, is a boost in ‘expert status’, which is why this category is the same as ‘expert culture’. In recent years, with the post-2013 SJW-backlash, ‘virtue signaling’ and pandering actually seems to have lost its effectiveness, and people who resort to it tend to be called-out.
‘Naval gazing and introspection’, labels that are often used pejoratively, can include any article about an intellectual topic (coding, wealth inequality, start-ups, etc.) written from a first-person perspective, often with anecdotal evidence. This style can be annoying in its tendency to overgeneralize or ‘lump’ people into simple, reductionist categories (rich vs. poor).
This is contrast to post-structuralists, anarcho-socialists & syndicalists, postmodernists, and anarcho-primitivists, who tend to reject such categorizations and other ‘grand narratives’ for how the world works.
A very long article by Siderea [psych/anthro/soc, Patreon] Class (American) would be filed under:
smartist era > society > social Darwinism > ‘D’
smartist era > individual > intellectualism culture > naval gazing and introspection
The post-2013 SJW-backlash could fall under:
smartist era > society > zeitgeist > alt-right + centrism > post-2013 SJW backlash
The website Wait But Why could fall under:
smartist era > society > intellectualism culture > long-form journalism
Tim Urban (co-creator and writer of Wait But Why):
smartist era > individual > b+c > rationalist