No kidding, and the overarching theme is that the use of force is to be wielded responsibly, and there is no more ultimate responsible person than someone who has risked their life for the protection of the body politic.
I don't really agree with this premise, in part because the point of democracy isn't to install the best/wisest leaders, but to ensure that we have full buy-in of everyone, and we don't have to use violence to solve deep problems.
For what it's worth, I don't think Heinlein agreed with it either. He wrote Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. He was, at least, a complicated author.
Yes!
To look at starship troopers and say he supports a limited democracy, you also need to look at stranger in a strange land, where he obviously supports polygamy, cannibalism, and 'sexual perversion' (depending on your pov).
He is def a complex author. His books are seminal, and worth considering reading.
And this is how the pipeline works. Friendly old Lobster Daddy has codified chaos as being from women so a Man using Force is Order and therefore Good.
I would recommend Glen Newey if you want some political philosophy here, both his academic work and his articles for the LRB, which are both incredibly acerbic and insightful as to the nature of political authority
Unfortunately he died in a boating accident a few years ago, and as a sort of personal hero of mine I always wondered how that happened - he was known for issues with depression and stuff like that but the family chose (justly) to keep it mostly private what actually went on
He was mostly interested in political realism (in the tradition of e.g. Thomas Hobbes) and therefore concerned with the nature of political order in a *descriptive* fashion just like this, except good.
Edit: after checking apparently Newey’s death had something to do with a gas explosion, not something I knew since I hadn’t kept up but certainly an interesting way to go
I heard something along those lines from a former corrections officer once: "when we do, it's 'force'. when it's done to us, it's 'violence'." I was pretty sure they were being facetious, but who knows?
Seriously
>What [Hunter Biden] knows is that this world, which as recently as mimosa brunch on Sunday was still burning with the rainbow fire of a hundred suns exploding in H-bomb supernova pornstar orgasms while galaxies collide, is an ugly, boring place.
Who the fuck writes like this?
After years and years of people calling racist stupid, this racist is confusing pretentious flowerly language for deep smart messaging, that is also why it has 17 layers deep irony, and the high amount of references to things (yes, I know I do the same thing with the references (in my defense, at least I provide external links, and try to be funny)).
Tonight I was writing up parodies of Emil Cioran for my flatmate who loves reading out Emil Cioran quotes, and I think this is the best one:
>In some parts of the English-speaking world, they have the phrase of “doing” glue, which refers to something I assume we are all familiar with. The grammatical mistake in English is to claim that this is an act in itself. To imagine that this is other than a mere behaviour is to desire, without reason or sense, that agency is pregnant in human behaviour.
Not to diss Cioran as a writer in his own right, who was a witty fucking guy, I just enjoy imitating the bombastically bleak style
A similar and even sillier parody comes from Chris Morris’s *The Day Today*, and equally enjoys the virtue of brevity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwD9SepA-uk
I've never seen him do the "affirmation from no-one in particular" thing, or narrow in on his chosen topic before saying it. What he tends to do when quoting people or dissecting colloquialisms is reflecting on how it made him feel. The rest is fucking perfect tho.
"Doing glue" - suddenly I am struck by the strangeness of such an expression. The grammatical mistake in English is to claim that this is an act in itself. To imagine that this is other than a mere behaviour is to desire, without reason or sense, that agency is pregnant in human behaviour.
This is my take on it at least. Dw I'll shove my unsolicited criticism up my ass now but I wouldn't have done it if I didn't love the rest of it so much. It's like seeing a slightly crooked painting.
I love your take! I was until recently only abstractly aware of Cioran, so I’m a novice here. I’ve only gotten into the whole affair because everyone in Kosovo is a fairly intense brand of existentialist.
> everyone in Kosovo is a fairly intense brand of existentialist
You're among friends, you can say pessimist. That's all of Eastern Europe though. Except for Ukrainians. Ukrainians are an intense brand of everything.
> H-bomb supernova
the difference between a hydrogen bomb and a supernova is bigger than the difference between a hydrogen bomb and a soft whisper.
Not really a sincere criticism, just something I like to think about
Moldbug is the end tube of the libertarian-to-fascist pipeline, in fact you could even argue he was its instigator. The flowery and obscure style is done on purpose, to 1) give their audience the feeling that they're really smart for understanding it, and 2) hiding the whole "I'm just a really racist dude who wants to establish a fascist dictatorship" part. Although I guess he hardly ever bothers with the mask these days
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Yarvin and https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Neoreactionary_movement should provide some help.
Basically, he the answer to 'what if the alt-right mainly blogged', more racist rationalists you could joke (most big time rationalists are publicly pretty much anti-neoreaction btw (E: at least 5+ years ago, opinions might have changed, or they might have been lying to try and pull a kolmogorov option)).
Some programmer who hates democracy and wants a monarchy led by a tech CEO, who got Thiel money for his silly internet startup that approximately 12 people use
>Sure, declassify it all.
It is very odd how sometimes I find myself in agreement with the radical left and the alt-right. How did mainstream Democratic politicians become in some ways more pro war and pro intelligence agency than the Republican president? Trump sucks, and Moldbug sucks, but I would be happy to see some CIA skullduggery exposed and our troops brought home from Afghanistan. Trump's probably too scatterbrained to actually do it.
Trump doesn't actually *want* to do it more than he wants to do anything related to the Middle East. He doesn't actually have any real opinions on American imperialism, he just spouts buzzwords and yells at people who he perceives as being mean to him.
The upside of this is that it's meant that he refuses to hold an opinion for long enough to get us into another war (see Iran, Venezuela, etc). The downside is that it means that he doesn't give enough of a shit to actually pull us out of the wars we're currently in.
Eh, maybe he does it out of spite for Republican senators telling him it's a bad idea. I don't think he has any real political principles. It's definitely a double edged sword with Trump, he's not surging troops in the middle east but he's reckless enough to possibly blunder into a war accidentally. Honestly not sure if I would have preferred say a President Ted Cruz the last four years over Trump.
I first started paying attention to politics when Obama ran, and I was very disappointed he did not get us out of Afghanistan and Iraq in 8 years. I wanted Sanders, even though he was old 🤷♂️
> mostly gay
I mean, wouldn't it vary depending on which of Gillian Anderson and Timothy Olyphant you last saw?
Ohhh, you musta just watched *Fargo*. I hear ya.
I’m mostly under the beguiling influence of a Kosovar drag queen I spent half an hour drunkenly making out with while coming off mushrooms in front of a crowd of people recently
You have a lot of focus while on mushrooms. Unless it was a makeout sesh born of mushroom-induced perseverance.
Hip youngsters never really know how to firmly put you in your place though, no matter how badly you behave. So they're just a recipe for frustration.
Moldbug and Sailer invariably give me the creeps. Like — what is it
like to be this person? What could it be like to be trapped inside this
person’s head?
The most common answer to these kind of questions is that it's just a job to them. They build a brand, then a following, then an audience that throws money at them for their "takes". Sometimes it's a book they're promoting, or some rich dude they're courting, the important thing is that they get showered in attention for their edgy content, and hopefully that attention translates into fat cash. So what looks like edgy right-wing crap to your eyes is just clocking in, clocking out to theirs. That's why "deplatforming" is seen as a cardinal horror on par with Orwellian nightmares - you're basically taking away their means of subsistence.
Of course, that's not to say all of them are amoral grifters - some of them are true believers, and some, to paraphrase [Laurie Penny](https://breakermag.com/trapped-at-sea-with-cryptos-nouveau-riche/), are "incredibly dangerous sociopaths soaked in Dark Enlightenment nightmare libertarianism for whom grifting *is* true belief". I think Moldbug is the latter kind.
Exactly. Inasmuch as they self-reflect, the horseshoe meets at the ends for this second type: the grift is the ultimate reflection of their ideology, like people who get rich on self-publishing books on how to get rich on self-publishing books on how to get rich. It's a sort of perfect, self-sustaining circular ideology, which makes it doubly ironic that they often still somehow manage to be obvious hypocrites.
Has anyone ever been able to get through a whole Moldbug post? Has he
ever considered hiring an editor or, you know, at least asking a friend
to proof-read?
It’s like my middle school blog posts, but somehow he manages to
abuse a thesaurus more than I did.
I managed to read through that one where he repeats “America is a communist country” over and over again without ever once explaining which specific aspects of communism America actually follows
The stupid thing is that with COVID going on, all Trump needed to do
to get an overwhelming win was just forget for a moment about all the $
his properties are losing, and say the right words (see how Cuomo
managed to cuome back from some really dumb ass remarks he made earlier,
it was refreshing to see a politician that’s actually an adult and can
pivot in response to changed circumstances).
I know some republicans IRL, they’ve been having some serious
cognitive dissonance trying to reconcile their own inclination to wear
masks, with the party line.
Also it was rather funny how some republicans switched to trying to
credit Trump with not doing that. Like come on I know you wish
he’d done that and won the election. Hell I wish he’d done that and won
the election, because as a side effect a lot of people who are dead,
would’ve been alive.
I like to imagine that after he finishes each paragraph he gives a
smug little smirk, rocks himself back and forth in contentment, then
gives himself a sip of wine as a reward. I mean, it definitely reads
like someone was getting wine drunk during the making.
The upshot to this is, after getting schnakered and hitting upload,
he has to “discover” his own writing the next morning and, filled with
drunkgret, cringe at it like the rest of us. This is what I choose to
believe.
I didn’t have the energy to read all that prétentieux
drivel.
So I took a scroll through some comments, and I got my daily dose of
yikes.
E: Moldy saying ‘the election was stolen because countryside votes
count more because they care more’ is extremely weird.
E2:
Progressives see power as an end; conservatives see power as a means
to an end. As soon as conservatives get even a sliver of power, they
start trying to use this power to create good outcomes. This is
irrational.
Valid, there is a point where somebody has such different assumptions about the world that trying to understand them becomes so much work.
And then beyond understanding, where would you even start tring to explain them that they are wrong, and their statements are based in conspiracy/projection/lack of empathy.
E: just trying to figure out 'when this person says progressive do they mean everybody on the left of the republicans or actual progressives' is a daunting task
guess he missed the whole existence of obamacare, the result of a progressive effort to give healthcare to millions of people that didn't have it before.
ennh, the biggest and most directly impactful piece of obamacare, the medicaid expansion, was directly against the heritage foundation plan. it's an overblown connection imo. but whatever, moldbug is right, progressive people never work for anything and only far right conservatives like obama ever attempt to use power
I mean, I think there is a great deal of black humour inherent in the US, in the proclamations of liberty made by slavers and genocidaires, but I am not certain that is what he means.
It’s just such an utterly bizzare way of imagining the world works.
It almost borders on the sovereign citizen-style naivete where Joe Blow
pointing out a contradiction they believe to have found in some law to a
cop or a tax official is supposed to have an actual effect.
Third, lacking a perfectly loyal Supreme Court, the President would
have to point out the fallacious, ahistorical and illogical quality of
Marbury v. Madison, and assert the independent and coequal status of the
executive branch. Judicial supremacy is a completely apocryphal
invention of Justice Marshall, created for his own random political
reasons. Very cool. And very illegal, so screw that guy.
Yeah ok Marbury vs Madison is stupid and illegal (according to a
guy), does Trump just have to express an opinion about that (on
Twitter??) and 200 years of a fundamental principle of whatever passes
for democracy in the United States will be discarded?
He also observes that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which has a
very cool name but is frankly a major pain in the ass, does not apply to
the Marines.
Again, the Navy purportedly has regulations that the Act might as
well apply to them. Does a guy simply barge into Marine barracks, give a
bunch of crayon eaters the original act to read and expect them to say
“oh yeah it seems we can do this after all” and march out to
Washington?
God I wish every fascist was such an imbecile about the way power
actualy works.
I mean, there is a point that laws dont really matter, when push comes to shove. What matters is personal loyalties and what who will be obeyed when the orders are given (and all of legal interpretations are really just arguments for why you should decide that one way or the other). Its just that he seems unwilling to committ to that degree of "realism".
Shitty content aside, I’m actually bummed out about how his also
shitty writing seems to only get worse. You’d think after all this time
and vomit he would’ve picked up some chops by accident but no.
[deleted]
So many words, so little content.
This is serious, who the fuck is this guy? I just read two paragraphs and I’m not sure if my English is worse than I thought or I’m having a stroke.
A real self aware wolves moment.
Though I do like the appendix. Sure, declassify it all.
Moldbug and Sailer invariably give me the creeps. Like — what is it like to be this person? What could it be like to be trapped inside this person’s head?
Has anyone ever been able to get through a whole Moldbug post? Has he ever considered hiring an editor or, you know, at least asking a friend to proof-read?
It’s like my middle school blog posts, but somehow he manages to abuse a thesaurus more than I did.
The stupid thing is that with COVID going on, all Trump needed to do to get an overwhelming win was just forget for a moment about all the $ his properties are losing, and say the right words (see how Cuomo managed to cuome back from some really dumb ass remarks he made earlier, it was refreshing to see a politician that’s actually an adult and can pivot in response to changed circumstances).
I know some republicans IRL, they’ve been having some serious cognitive dissonance trying to reconcile their own inclination to wear masks, with the party line.
Also it was rather funny how some republicans switched to trying to credit Trump with not doing that. Like come on I know you wish he’d done that and won the election. Hell I wish he’d done that and won the election, because as a side effect a lot of people who are dead, would’ve been alive.
I like to imagine that after he finishes each paragraph he gives a smug little smirk, rocks himself back and forth in contentment, then gives himself a sip of wine as a reward. I mean, it definitely reads like someone was getting wine drunk during the making.
The upshot to this is, after getting schnakered and hitting upload, he has to “discover” his own writing the next morning and, filled with drunkgret, cringe at it like the rest of us. This is what I choose to believe.
I didn’t have the energy to read all that prétentieux drivel.
So I took a scroll through some comments, and I got my daily dose of yikes.
E: Moldy saying ‘the election was stolen because countryside votes count more because they care more’ is extremely weird.
E2:
Found a picture of Moldbug writing this
We all were deluded teenagers once, with pot and pimples and delusions. Thing is, we grew up. But the author didn’t.
And oh, I so wish for an Alan Sokal for the NR guys now.
“Yeah, pretty wild, right? Anyhow, here’s the subscribe button just, ah, just in case you feel like, you know …” - Substack dot com.
[deleted]
“Have you ever considered the possibility that America has always been a joke? I’m sure most historians have”
Yup all historians took the black pill and adopt the world view of The Joker. I had to stop reading there lmk if it gets better
It’s just such an utterly bizzare way of imagining the world works. It almost borders on the sovereign citizen-style naivete where Joe Blow pointing out a contradiction they believe to have found in some law to a cop or a tax official is supposed to have an actual effect.
Yeah ok Marbury vs Madison is stupid and illegal (according to a guy), does Trump just have to express an opinion about that (on Twitter??) and 200 years of a fundamental principle of whatever passes for democracy in the United States will be discarded?
Again, the Navy purportedly has regulations that the Act might as well apply to them. Does a guy simply barge into Marine barracks, give a bunch of crayon eaters the original act to read and expect them to say “oh yeah it seems we can do this after all” and march out to Washington?
God I wish every fascist was such an imbecile about the way power actualy works.
Shitty content aside, I’m actually bummed out about how his also shitty writing seems to only get worse. You’d think after all this time and vomit he would’ve picked up some chops by accident but no.
God, this substack shit is even more tedious to read than UR.
How does anyone think Moldbug is profound (or even somewhat right about anything)?