Category: Uncategorized

I saw this article about the alleged futility of censorship They’re Just Going to Start a New Hate Site, Obviously I think Freddie is coming across as blasé or out of touch. It’s the trendy intellectual thing to believe that ‘individuals cannot make a difference’ or that ‘powerful people don’t know what they are doing’.… Continue reading Censorship probably does work

The purging of the alt/dissident-right from social media, such as on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter from 2017-2021 created a huge vacuum that was filled by civic nationalists. Strategically this has worked against the left, because civic nationalists tend to be more effective in terms of engagement and politics compared to other brands of conservatism, which… Continue reading The left’s self-own

I’m sure many are familiar with the so-called ‘lost decade’, in which Japan’s economy and stock market stagnated for over a decade, starting in the early ’90s when its bubble economy burst, and continuing until around 2010. But many European countries are also having a lost decade, which has gotten far less media coverage. France,… Continue reading Europe’s Lost Decade (the crisis is overseas, not here!)

I dunno why there is so much interest in ‘elite overproduction’. It’s topic that has captivated the intellectual-web over the past year especially, probably due to a convergence of societal factors like Covid and gen-z. My own take is broken down into four parts, which I discuss in the earlier post Who are the elite,… Continue reading Elite overproduction not that big of a deal, yet

I have been thinking about the differences between liberalism and conservatism in America. One might be thinking, “Isn’t this obvious, or already discussed to death,” but I think it merits further examination. I liken liberalism to an ever-expanding circle or frontier. So when people complain that ‘liberalism is going to far,’ I’m like ‘liberalism is… Continue reading Conservatism vs. Liberalism: The Circle

This is stupid but kinda funny From the experience of old private bankers (and my own), pple who want to look rich on media [cars…] aren't usually rich. As suspected, Andrew Tate [whom I just discovered] may be >one order of magnitude less rich. Small detail: his "private plane" is rented frm Luxaaviation. — Nassim… Continue reading Taleb vs. Andrew Tate

This is a huge story. My take is somewhat different…I think a case can be made that it amounts to a bribe, but the fact that people are so angry about it and are likening it to a bribe, speaks to its effectiveness. The total bill amounts to $250 billion, but given that student loans… Continue reading Biden Student Loan Forgiveness; It’s not about the money, but rather the perceived favoritism

I saw this Freddie deBoer article going viral: If Everyone Learns to Code, the Value of Knowing How to Code Will Be Destroyed. I knew that by writing about computer science and econ he was going into unchartered territory, compared to education policy or politics, and it shows. The inevitable impact will be a tougher… Continue reading Freddie deBoer is wrong about STEM jobs

One thing that stands out, to me at least, when listening to podcasts or popular YouTube channels, whether it’s Jocko, Rogan, Breaking Points, etc. is that the hosts are not particularly smart. They are competent perhaps at their professions, yes, but not that smart. I have observed this for almost all niches (e.g., business, finance,… Continue reading The IQ cliff and the lottery of success: Substack vs. YouTube

I saw this post going massively viral a few days ago: Nobody Wants to Teach Anymore: Everyone should know why. This article is entirely devoid of any stats…as I was reading I was waiting for the author to cite some actual data showing how underpaid teachers are, and nothing. It is just a huge rant.… Continue reading Teachers are likely not underpaid, and do not have it worse than other professions