The Permanent Ascendance of ‘Bobos’

From Alnold Kling Bobos’ Paradise Lost? What Brooks might have foreseen, but did not, was how this Bobo project would play out as it gathered momentum. In the last two decades, we have witnessed the acceleration of the long-term trend toward expansion of the more abstract-oriented industries, such as finance and entertainment, and a decline… Continue reading The Permanent Ascendance of ‘Bobos’

Targeting the Meritocracy : Response

From Slate Star Codex: TARGETING MERITOCRACY: Prospect Magazine writes about the problem with meritocracy. First Things thinks meritocracy is killing America. Feminist Philosophers comes out against meritocracy. The Guardian says “down with meritocracy”. Vox calls for an atack on the false god of meritocracy. There’s even an Against Meritocracy book. Given that meritocracy seems almost… Continue reading Targeting the Meritocracy : Response

The ‘Earnership Society’

The ‘Ownership Society’ is a slogan coined in 2004 by former United States President George W. Bush describing what he viewed as an ideal society, where personal responsibility, economic liberty, and the owning of property are paramount. Fast-forward thirteen or so years, and as evidenced by the huge fortunes in web 2.0, the post-2011 housing… Continue reading The ‘Earnership Society’

Why There Isn’t More Civil Unrest in America, and Why I’m Not Worried

Do the Berkeley riots portend to the decline and eventual demise of America? No. Retards gonna tard, liberals gonna lib. I predict further geopolitical stability for the duration of Trump’s term (or terms) and continued dominance of America as an economic, militaristic, political, and intellectual-property superpower. Bryan Caplan has a tradition of taking bets. By… Continue reading Why There Isn’t More Civil Unrest in America, and Why I’m Not Worried

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

Wealth, Intellectualism, and Individualism, Part 7

Part 6 Nerd mannerisms and appropriations, especially in pop culture and on Instagram, where pretty women donning faux glasses post memes about social isolation, have become the ‘new normal’, and words like ‘normie’ have become pejorative. Nowadays everyone wants to be the ‘smartest person in the room’, not the most outgoing or popular. But ironically,… Continue reading Wealth, Intellectualism, and Individualism, Part 7

Time Management and The Celebration of the Mundane

It’s weird or interesting how certain stories go viral and what such viralness says about the state of American society, media, and culture today. On one extreme, stories about Trump and Aleppo go viral, being shared many times, but these are big stories involving important people and important events; such virnalness is expected. But then… Continue reading Time Management and The Celebration of the Mundane

Explaining America’s Economic and Social Stability, Part 2

In posts Explaining America’s Economic and Social Stability and The Trajectory of America, I outline a generally optimistic assessment for America as to why it has done so we compared to most countries an will continue to do so. Unlike many on the ‘right’, I don’t foresee collapse or upheaval anytime soon but rather a… Continue reading Explaining America’s Economic and Social Stability, Part 2

It’s Not Okay

This is pretty funny…there is a backlash by some Wait But Why readers, most of whom are on the ‘left’, who didn’t agree with Tim Urban’s optimistic assessment that ‘America would be okay’ after Trump winning, that Trump’s inexperience isn’t a big deal, and that most Trump supporters are not ‘stupid, racist, xenophobic fucks’. Some… Continue reading It’s Not Okay

Holiness Spirals

We’re living in an age of hyper/militant morality – a combination of holiness spirals and virtue signaling, to the extreme. But at the same time, it’s juxtaposed with cultural depravity, which makes the whole thing kinda confusing. Consider the Trump Access Hollywood tape, in which I correctly predicted that public outrage would fall short of… Continue reading Holiness Spirals