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In which Scott is going to rub his hands raw from wringing them so hard (http://slatestarcodex.com/2017/06/21/against-murderism/)
24

(Hi, finally decided to post here. I’ve read SSC posts sporadically over the past few years, and started reading a little more regularly recently. I basically enjoyed his essays and was intrigued that some of the lesswrongers had gone in a non-insane direction. And then I started realizing how conceited and un-self-aware the essays have become and how awful the commenters are. Lately I’ve been lurking the SSC subreddit and hate-reading, which led me to this one.)

What strikes me is how Alexander always has to reconstruct other people’s arguments from scratch into ones of his own liking when addressing them, instead of understanding them on their own terms. Which he’s been getting worse at lately. The first time it really got to me was the “Crying Wolf” Trump thing with all the arguments he refused to address. But now he and his commenters do it for basically everything to do with liberals. They basically interpret all progressive reasoning as disingenuous by default and then come up with their own ad-hoc ‘steelman’ to argue against, and believe this is identical to seeing the situation from the other side. Scott constantly persuades himself with his invented liberal arguments and pats himself on the back for being so enlightened, like so:

“Ah well. They said a racist thing. Guess we’ve got to kill them.” And I agree with this chain of logic.

So he found a way to construct strawman ‘violent rioting antiracists’ into an integral part of liberalism, and he did it so well that he’s forced to agree with their devious plan to kill all racists, with no consideration for whether it’s actually a credible concern.

This is why they can’t get past the ‘race realism’ obsession. Every argument assumes that the other side is just themselves but in denial about the facts, then constructs good-faith reasons why they would deny the facts. Then it turns into a debate over suppressing science and holding back intelligence which they will always win.

This one takes even less time to poke holes in the ‘liberal’ position and just meanders off into absurdity to avoid responsibility for his argument. I don’t even get what he’s doing anymore.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Has Scott Alexander never heard of a cluster concept before?

It seems like he hasn't even heard of systemic racism before.

[Content warning: discussion of racism. Comments are turned off due to bad experience with the comments on this kind of material.]

What an enlightened bunch these are.

And he's commenting in the SSC subreddit's thread anyway.

I feel slightly confused and nauseous after reading this.

That's the correct response. Like, taking his example of rate of imprisonment - Blacks get imprisoned at a higher rate than Whites for the *same crimes*. The correct response isn't "do nothing" *or* "take away the ability to see criminal records", it's to correct the systemic problems causing these disparities.
That doesn't apply if you are the one profiting from the system. It's strongly associated with the "go to hell, I got mine" idea deeply embedded into capitalism/liberalism.
> The correct response isn't [..] "take away the ability to see criminal records", it's to correct the systemic problems causing these disparities. But you've got to respect today's utilitarians for biting all the bullets yesterday's utilitarians were trying to dodge.
I don't have to respect idiocy, even consistent idiocy.
They make me want to start the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Bullets.
Is it just me or is Section III uniquely insane?
>Is it just me Probably not
Solipsism destroyed!
Oh wait, this is a bot that already made that joke, fuck.
Solipsism confirmed!

it is deeply troubling to me that this man practices medicine

To be fair, so does Ben Carson. You can be a genius in one area and a complete moron in another.
it also bothers me that Ben Carson is allowed to practice though. just because you're a genius at doing something doesn't mean you're plying your trade ethically or responsibly and lately I think a lot of his less hinged essays call that into question

Second, by this definition, many racist things would be good. Suppose some tyrant wants to kill the ten million richest white people, then redistribute their things to black people. This would certainly challenge white supremacy and help minorities. So by this definition, resisting this tyrant would be racist. But obviously this tyrant is evil and resisting him is the right thing to do.

Communists will only need to take the riches of the top 500 or 1,000 or so. Not sure where this 10 million is coming from. And we wont need to kill them, just give their money and property to the rightful owners; the workers.

"Imagine you're riding a trolley, and in front of you are five people tied to the tracks..." "Hold up a second! Where is that five number coming from? That's totally unrealistic. Communists don't believe in tying so many people to the tracks!"
My god you're a dullard. Might have to make it 501 properties seized.
You're seriously unable to recognize an obvious thought experiment. I'm not sure what brain damage you suffered in childhood, but it's probably in your best interests to refrain from this sort of criticism in the future.
Actually it you who cannot recognise simple subtextual readings deilvered in a comedic manner. Likely due to liberalism or brain damage (same difference)
There was no valid subtextual reading according to which the number 10 million was supposed to come from anywhere or matter, or according to which this example was supposed to illustrate anything about Communism. This is just your imagination/Communist fixation.
Actually it is Scott Alexander's political neuroses which make such a reading evident. He wouldn't pose such an idiotic "thought experiment" (i.e. something stupid he made up to try to make his brainless point) unless he had significant anxieties about the possibility of the white supremacist capitalist system being dismantled by a left-wing re-distributive regime. I am much smarter than you and I keep insulting you in funny ways so you might as well give up.
Mmm, I think you recognize that you're wrong at this point and just want to troll.
I'm right and I'm making you look like an idiot. The only unfortunate part is that there's diminishing returns on my jokes due to the fact that you keep saying stupid things in similar ways every time.
Hey now, let's get some serious objectivity in here. /u/completely-ineffable, is NarcsBro the classy hermeneutic genius he thinks he is?
I'm smarter and more objective than that user, so I'm in a better position to answer that question. And yes I am a genius.
I think "yes I am a genius" would be a great flair for you!

Is this the height of his obtuse bullshit? I’ve read some absolute trash on SSC but this might the worst.

Worst single post is "untitled" Edit: I think that the Worst single post is "untitled"
That's a terrible one for sure.

DAMNIT, I THOUGHT THIS WAS MY TURN.