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Articles by Curtis Yarvin
Search ArticlesAn apology to Sam Kriss
I have to admit that Sam Kriss has scored at least one point on me. Maybe more than one. Ok, maybe he blew me off the court—at least, in the field of Sam Kriss Studies. TLDR: I am guilty of carelessly treating Kriss as an ordinary lib, even suggesting chestnuts he must believe which a simple Google search would have shown he did not. I am sorry. This deponent affirms: Sam Kriss is not an ordinary lib, but a thoughtful person who thinks, often, in many ways, for himself. Gray Mirror regrets the error.
Clarifying the record on Biden
X, in its sloppy yet energetic way, has corrected the Biden campaign for me:While this is not quite how I would put it—it seems like an odd confusion of my 2020 and 2024 endorsements—and I am a radical monarchist, the horseshoe’s missing link, who only looks “far right” from the far left—I will take the W. But I have heard from many readers who have come away disturbed and/or confused by my endorsement of Biden. To be clear: all I have is a good plan for Biden.
Biden/Harris 2024
As most longtime readers know, I have endorsed the Democratic candidate in every election since 2008, except 2016—when, for professional reasons, I was not writing. As a lifetime Democrat—and Foreign Service brat—and grandson of progressive Jewish activists from Brooklyn, I was using Tom’s of Maine toothpaste in the 80s—and in ‘84, I cried when Mondale lost. It should be little surprise that I ask my readers to follow me in endorsing, once again, President Biden.
Face Off: Christopher Rufo vs Curtis Yarvin
Rufo: Let’s begin by clearing up some misconceptions. First, we have different objectives. Your goal seems to be accelerating the cycle of regimes from democracy to monarchy. My goal is to halt and reverse political decomposition and return to the beginnings of the republic — counter-revolution. We also have a deep disagreement over the nature of history. You argue that there are no rails, no destiny, no divinity, and nothing beyond human contingency.
"Queer" Afrogrifter Latoya Snell unveils her pro-Palestine stance
All of the contrived and delirious foundations of Wokism—essentially any elitist-academia-bred form of cultural vandalism incorporating any of the terms “social justice,” “diversity,” “equity,” or “inclusion”—have been exploded since October 7, 2023, even if this intriguing and inevitable-in-some-form split isn’t a principal feature of Israel’s ever-expanding psychosis-fueled forced-famine campaign.
Gaza and the laws of war
As the father of a toddler, I am obviously distressed to hear that toddlers are being maimed and killed by bombs paid for by my tax dollars. I want this shambolic slaughter-circus to stop. I think every institution involved in it, from UNRWA to the UN to Hamas to the IDF to the State Department—needs its entire org chart liquidated by bunker-buster bombs, leaving not a single box to check. I think all these offices need to be ground into dust the size of the FTX trading team.
A conversation about monarchy
One David Volodzko, whom I know not otherwise but who writes about “communism, fascism and radical movements,” and who was apparently fired by the Seattle Times for improperly comparing Hitler to Lenin—skilfully earning the ire of both fascists and progressives—cold-emailed and requested an exchange of open letters. Here is his. Volodzko, one of many fine recovering journalists in America, seems to have his head screwed on tight—with limits.
Hanania v. Yarvin, Feb 9
Bad news: we sold out. Good news: we’re moving to a larger venue—an unspecified location in Glendale, which is apparently not in any sense “the ghetto.” In this space, Richard and I will be debating in the round, stalking like lions around a circular stage, while Anna keeps us in line with her shiny black whip. If you miss this, what are you doing with your life? The VIP dinner is full but we’ve added about a hundred good seats and about 50 cheap seats.
The purpose of a pundit is what he does
One nice principle for analyzing systems—entirely parallel to Ranke’s historical rule of drawing history “as it really was,” and Burnham’s political rule of “real meanings,” but not loaded with any historical or political baggage, is the mantra that the purpose of a system is what it does.
You will probably die of a cold
People, even smart people, are so mindkilled these days. It will probably be the death of us all. Here’s how. Usually the smart people start by learning statistics. Statistics paralyze your ability to reason logically. Also, they equate government with math, which is infallible. The more important people get, the less they doubt themselves; the more infallible they want to feel; and the more attracted to statistics they are, like rock stars to drugs.
Podcast and stream
I went on on Erik Torenberg’s MOZ podcast (E61). And today at 11am Pacific I’m live on… the Charlie Kirk show. Boomers are the best generation.
City of Angels with Richard Hanania
You can buy tickets at Eventbrite here. You can opt for general admission or a very special private dinner beforehand. I’m sure it won’t be a very popular event, so there’s probably no reason to rush:
The future of private computing
In the future, all computing will be private. Here is how it will work. Or at least, how I want it to work. Let’s call this totally imaginary platform Butyl. When you use Butyl, only you are able to see what you are doing or saying, and you can talk to anyone in perfect confidence. No external power can either filter or censor the whole Butyl network. Butyl can go full John Perry Barlow against the “weary giants of flesh and steel.”Butyl is not magic. It is not even particularly new.
Heroin liberals and cocaine conservatives
Political orientations in present America are best regarded as fundraising narratives. Democratic politics proper—the contest for sovereign power by organizations or individuals with massive support, decided by counting heads—is basically dead. In the present American regime, politicians, pro-regime or anti-regime, are only granted a small trickle of discretionary power which is constrained more and more every year—making the election more and more farcical.
Items of Interest, Has Edition
Tevi Troy, Why Universities Target Jews. “The current situation facing some Jewish students on college campuses, and the Jewish reaction to these trends, evokes a disturbing historical parallel. Nations that have antagonized Jews, and have seen Jews flee in response, often were experiencing a deeper rot and corruption.
A techno-pessimist manifesto
Are you a techno-optimist? This is a serious condition—as common as prediabetes. Don’t laugh. You can treat your prediabetes—and your techno-optimism, too. 30% of Americans are prediabetic. All Americans are prediabetic, in a sense—we all have access to hot and cold running corn syrup. It comes out of the tap. In 50 years as an American, statistics show, I have ingested a literal ton of corn syrup—a long ton.
Poetry, December 6, Palo Alto
I will be reading my own verse as well as assorted 20th-century material. (I apologize for paywalling this earlier—that was a scurvy trick. Poetry is for the people!)This is a private event. Please do not share or publicize. Email qulturewar@proton.me to attend. Note if you are bringing a +1 and share their email. Also, please dress nicely. This event will be filmed. This is my crew. They’re here to film me, not you.
Poetry, December 6, Palo Alto
I’ll be reading my own shit as well as some favorite mid-century classics:
Items of Interest, Lives of the Saints Edition
Discover more from Dissident Muse Journalart through the lens of freedom, freedom through the lens of art Jeffrey Carson, Maine Masters Update. “Richard Kane, despite his lyrical style, is after this: the terribilità, the presence of Carlo [Pittore] in his friends and colleagues’ lives years after his death. He did not critique his students, he clamorously encouraged them by the force of his interest in them. Does this sound like a medieval saint?
Clearpill yourself on Gaza
Are you an American or European? Do you have feelings about the war in Gaza? Stop. You shouldn’t. You should be totally clear on the question—in the Scientology sense. Your Kantian moral imperative is to feel nothing at all—no emotions whatsoever. You should not budge a needle on the ol’ E-Meter. I repeat: if everyone in the world who has feelings about this conflict just stopped, it would make the world a much better place. (Not that I’m holding my breath.) These feelings are evil.
Gaza y el nomos de la tierra
«Nomos», como en el gran libro de Carl Schmitt Nomos de la Tierra, es una palabra griega que suele traducirse como «ley». Yo creo que es mejor traducirla por «norma»: las normas de la tierra. La diferencia entre una ley y una norma es que ningún poder impone una norma. Por ejemplo, lo que entendemos por «Internet» es una norma llamada TCP/IP. Nadie obliga a su ordenador a hablar TCP/IP. Sencillamente no tiene sentido hablar de otra manera. Internet es hermoso porque no tiene (casi) gobierno central.
Gaza and the nomos of the earth
“Nomos,” as in Carl Schmitt’s great book Nomos of the Earth, is a Greek word usually translated as “law.” I think it does better as “standard”—the standards of the earth. The difference between a law and a standard is that no power enforces a standard. For example, what we mean by “the Internet” is a standard called TCP/IP. No one forces your computer to speak TCP/IP. There is just no gain in speaking anything different. The Internet is beautiful because it has (almost) no central government.
Anti-Intellectual? Try Anti-Human
Sean Tatol’s recently discussedessay makes a compelling set of claims:In the contemporary context, becoming cultured requires a resistance to the prevailing culture, and could ironically be considered countercultural. Nevertheless the pursuit remains necessary, and perhaps even unavoidable, because it is intrinsic to our nature.
Salvador as a startup state
People often ask me: what would I do with El Salvador? If I had durable and absolute executive authority over El Salvador? This sounds crazy—but is no different from the executive authority of Tim Cook over Apple. And it’s just monarchy—not a new idea. I would make El Salvador a startup state.
El coste de la inmigración masiva sobre el empleo español
Una de las mentiras más repetidas del siglo XXI es que la inmigración masiva es la única forma de mantener la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de pensiones del mundo desarrollado. De eso ya escribí la semana pasada. Esta semana vamos a hablar sobre la reducción de sueldos, sobre todo de la clase baja, ante la competencia para los puestos de trabajo de baja o ninguna cualificación.
La salud (ele)mental
La salud mental es un aspecto fundamental de la experiencia humana que ha cobrado cada vez más relevancia en el siglo XXI. A lo largo de la historia, nuestra sociedad ha enfrentado desafíos y transformaciones significativas que han impactado directamente en el bienestar emocional y psicológico de las personas.
El dios rawlsiano: criptocalvinismo en acción
Los visitantes habituales de este lóbrego callejón intelectual estarán familiarizados con mi obstinada insistencia en que el idealismo progresista, el multiculturalismo, el universalismo liberal, o cualquier etiqueta similar para el conjunto de pensamientos que piensan todas las buenas personas, no son sólo buenos pensamientos, sino que son en realidad la secta moderna dominante del cristianismo.
En busca de la prevalencia de los idiotas (XIV)
Occidente, la res christiana, vivió un renacimiento de la filosofía política en el gran siglo XII, debido, sobre todo, a las traducciones que los árabes hicieron de textos de la Grecia Clásica, entre los que se encontraba la Política, de Aristóteles. Su Política fue comentada por Santo Tomás de Aquino, y gracias a ello la palabra sagrada de Dêmokratía volvía a ser pronunciada.
Amsterdam, 8/22/23
I will be briefly in Amsterdam on the evening of 8/22/23. persons of Dutch, or even not of Dutch, wishing to dine, should email me at this address. Note also if you are willing to either (a) organize or (b) host.
Three questions for Richard Hanania
Richard Hanania used to suck—he tells us so himself. This is the hardest kind of post to write. And if I do say so myself—not having anything to hide, since I never tried to protect my pseudonymity—I think he does as good a job with it as anyone ever has:Recently, it’s been revealed that over a decade ago I held many beliefs that, as my current writing makes clear, I now find repulsive. I sympathize.
Streaming with Lev Polyakov
And Vlad Davidzon—5pm EDT, 8/10/23, here. While you wait you can watch me with Konstantin Kisin…
En busca de la prevalencia de los idiotas (XIII)
Una democracia en la que los que pronuncian los discursos ante el pueblo son gente trabucante, ágrafa, sin gracia o culturalmente tartamuda, es una democracia fallida, casi siempre fundada en la mentira política, pues que la mayor parte de las veces, según Quintiliano, la mentira no es más que una contravención retórica y gramatical. Las únicas mentiras que admite la retórica política son las figuras literarias, que potencian la verdad cuando están bien fundamentadas.
Criptocalvinismo, ligeramente retocado
Como de costumbre, mi último post sobre el ultracalvinismo ha suscitado excelentes debates. Por supuesto, los lectores deben tener en cuenta que muchos de estos comentaristas, especialmente los más halagadores, publican desde mi dirección IP. Tal vez estén fuera, en una furgoneta, devorando la red inalámbrica. Sin embargo, varias personas me han convencido de que el nombre no es del todo correcto.
Al otro lado del espejo
El 19 de febrero de 1974, Philip K. Dick, quien para entonces era ya uno de los escritores más importantes del siglo XX, recibió la visita, después de una intervención dental aparentemente menor —y siempre según sus propias palabras— de una figura espectral que se identificaba mediante el símbolo de los antiguos cristianos: un colgante en forma de pez o Ichthys paleocristiano, que a su vez le entregó un objeto curativo para paliar la intensidad del dolor.
El ultracalvinismo
Tres artículos de 2007 publicados en su blog Unqualified Reservations, UR, bajo el seudónimo Mencius MoldbugEn los últimos 50 años, la revista Time se ha vuelto tan estúpida como su público. Lo lamentable es que, en 2007, cualquiera que lea Time o una revista similar —sí, incluso The Economist— no está bien de la cabeza.
Tanto el socialismo como el capitalismo son falsos
Una carta abierta tanto a los influencers posizquierdistas como a los profesionales de las finanzas. Mis agentes, que están por todas partes, me han hecho saber que tengo un pequeño y bastante discreto grupo de seguidores entre la «posizquierda»: un puñado de jóvenes y difíciles intelectuales que, aunque plena y adecuadamente disgustados con el régimen estadounidense y todas sus obras, podrían seguir describiéndose a sí mismos como «socialistas» o incluso «marxistas».
The Saint Genesius Fellowship
To all my subscribers:I have gotten a ton of inquiries since I first posted about my alternative to the MacArthur Grant. Right now I’m working on a short document to explain what this project is, and this is the first draft. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Please comment below on what you think I should change or add. - PKTHE ISSUE: Unchallenged cultural hegemony of huge private arts foundations. We are going to win, but only if: we stay true to a single idea: culture really is upstream of politics.
Podcasts; London July 8-11
Some new podcasts—with Bronze Age Pervert, 2Bit, and Postkahanism. It turns out that I am still in London, leaving the afternoon of the 11th. (I got a cold, so preferred not to rush home to see my newborn son.) If you didn’t get to hang out, you went to a group dinner but really want a 1 on 1, you have an event I should go to, etc, please reply to this email.
London 6/29-7/7
I’m trying something new: reply to this email (keeping the subject line) if you want to see me in London. I do (a) one-hour 1 on 1s in a cafe, (b) lunches and dinners (preferably with groups), (c) evening events. Just send a short description of yourself and your group. You don’t have to be anyone special—and anyway, all my readers tend to be kind of spe…
Streaming with Vlad Davidzon (6/25, 11am PDT)
A portal to the next regime
Seeming to refer to Democrats
The other day I was in a fancy restaurant in Berkeley telling a Trump-administration survivor my (radical) interpretation of the Nixon administration. I noticed that a white-haired, well-dressed lady was sitting next to us with evident interest. I worried. When she and her husband got up, she put her hand on my shoulder. I worried even more. Then she said: “I heard everything you said, I was there, and it’s all true.” Bless you, ma’am! May the Goldwater voter be always with us.
Office hours, 4/14/23, Washington DC
For subscribers only, sorry!
Attested-enclave networks
Believe it or not, there are people who see me mainly as a computer scientist. I am not officially a computer scientist because I never came close to finishing my PhD. But I have indeed done some computer science stuff. I generally do not plug that here or this there—it is bad to cross the streams. Sometimes the streams have to be crossed, because we have to know what is possible. Here is something that is possible. It would work well with my stuff but does not, of course, strictly depend on it.
Una nueva teoría del cinismo constitucional
«Una vez que dejan de regir, las leyes no se duermen. Las leyes se mueren». Kynikos: ¿Por qué creemos en la ley? En este país, nuestro país, en los Estados Unidos de 2023, les digo, no hay ley, ni siquiera orden, sólo mera fuerza caprichosa. En tal estado de la sociedad, lo que rige, en mi opinión, es Jueces 17:6: cada hombre debe hacer lo que es correcto según su propio criterio. La única ley es la ley natural. En tal estado de la sociedad, los policías no son diferentes de los ladrones.
A new theory of constitutional cynicism
Kynikos: Why do we believe in the law? In this country, our country—in the United States in 2023, I tell you, there is no law, nor even order—only mere capricious force. In such a state of society, I believe, Judges 17:6 is in effect: every man should do what is right in his own eyes. The only law is the natural law. In such a state of society, cops are no different from robbers—the law is, do what you must to dodge their grasp.
La frivolidad de la derecha mediática
«Hay que escribir sin piedad lo que uno sabe que es verdad, o callarse». Hay tres tipos de disidentes: (a) anons, los anónimos, (b) líderes de opinión, las figuras mediáticas a las que todavía les importa lo que piense la gente, y (c) outsiders, quienes van por libre y todo les importa un carajo. Todos estos grupos son estupendos; en cualquiera de ellos se puede alcanzar la verdadera grandeza; y tengo buenos amigos en cada uno de ellos. Pero cada uno tiene sus problemas.
La inacción imperativa
Hace casi 250 años, en una ciudad ya desaparecida, el filósofo Immanuel Kant —un solo estante de cuya obra, parafraseando a Macaulay, vale más que toda la literatura del siglo XXI— propuso una norma ética para la acción colectiva. El imperativo categórico kantiano —un primo temprano de la teoría de juegos— nos dice que todo el mundo debería actuar como si sus acciones constituyeran una regla universal cuyos resultados fueran los mejores para todos.
Reading in LA, 5/18
Click here to RSVP. Feel free to share with cool ppl, but please don’t post publicly…
Streaming with Lev Polyakov, 5/11, 5pm EDT
We’ll be discussing the Ukraine with Vladislav Davidzon, here. And of course, buy my beautiful old UR book!
Office hours, New Haven
One day only, Thursday 4/20. No Hitler or weed jokes please.
Streaming with Lev Polyakov
Live at 4pm PDT, 4/14: https://www.youtube.com/live/nrBIjEn5iWU.
GPT-4 invalidates the Turing test
Neighbors these days often ask me about “AI.” What does the ChatGPT phenomenon mean? Will it take over the world? If not—what will it do? Neighbor: there is no “AI.” There are large language models (LLMs). LLMs are not AI. There is no obvious path for them to become AI. They will not take over the world. They will change the world—probably more than most of us can now imagine. LLMs are incredibly cool and useful tools and will have a huge impact on society.
Una teoría general de la colaboración
Newsletter Gaceta
Recibe en tu correo las últimas noticias de La Gaceta de la Iberosfera.
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Tu correo se ha inscrito correctamente.
Crypto; location
I’m in Manhattan Wed and Thurs. You can sign up for office hours in Chelsea (now at Bean&Bean, 28th and 6th—don’t worry, you won’t be able to pick out my plainclothes security—they’re Israelis, and very good), Wed-Thu 10-12, 2-5. Subscribers have already picked most of the meat off the bones but a few scraps remain. Rumors are circulating that an Interpol Red Notice for Changpeng Zhao has gone out.
In NY this week
Sunday through Thursday. Subscribers can sign up for office hours in Chelsea: Tues-Thu 10-12, 2-5. Ambitious social animals who can put together a good group lunch or dinner should also contact me…
Israel's two futures
As Saint-Just put it, “he who makes half a revolution digs his own grave.” You can’t postpone a coup. You can’t even plan a half-coup. And one good mark of someone who will lose is that he has no idea what he would do if he won. Netanyahu was pressured into attacking the Israeli judiciary; it was not his idea in the beginning; he paused, which means he failed; he will need a better rabbit to pull out of his hat.
Breve explicación de la catedral
Newsletter Gaceta
Recibe en tu correo las últimas noticias de La Gaceta de la Iberosfera.
¡Gracias!
Tu correo se ha inscrito correctamente.
Bitvana or the bitcaust
Nobody has any respect these days. But I feel that since I was writing about the game theory of hyperbitcoinizationin 2006, folks should have some respect for myopinions. At least on that subject. Ya know. But now it’s 2023 and everyone is talking about it. So let me explain how—in nit can and can’t happen. But first, lest I pump you unduly with this hyper-bullish take, let me scare you into panic with a hyper-bearish theory of debitcoinization.
The golden age of informal securities
Figuring out that the whole centuries-old Anglo-American financial operating system is deeply broken and cannot, by any means short of a military coup, be repaired, is like being an 11-year-old and figuring out that your parents are alcoholics: a disturbing discovery that offers plenty of answers, but no solutions. Larry Summers, god-emeritus of the Treasury, has some answers. He says: You don’t say? Dr. Summers could try reading my 15-year-old blogpost, or even this 80-year-old book.
The power of crowds
Thanks to Gray Mirror readers for demonstrating the power of democracy by funding TENSE Magazine!But while it’s great to help Beckett out more, we still have a ways to go on the Untitled Delicious Tacos Short Film—six days and fifteen thousand dollars, to be exact. Let me be very direct and explain why this is such a worthy and important project. In fact, UDTSF is nothing less than a kind of supergroup counterculture event. Every new culture needs fiction.
Items of Interest, Brotherhood Edition
, Acorns for the culture war. “For the purposes of turning money into power, the art itself does not matter. I mean—I love art. It is very important that the art be good. But the art is not the power product. It is only important because good artists and good art make a good scene—a good social network. All the power is in the network.”, Lydia Tar, Inishirin Banshees, And Artistic License.
Acorns for the culture war
There is an ancient Lithuanian proverb about a village whose central square was long shaded by a great oak tree. Late one Saturday night, a madman went mad with an axe and cut down the tree. That night, as was his wont, the wise man of the village was deeply in his cups. When, on Sunday afternoon he painfully arose and looked out his window over the plaza, he exclaimed to see the great oak cut down—then exclaimed again to see the villagers, with rope and crane and shovel, replanting the tree.
Ukraine, the tomb of liberal nationalism
Russian pranksters, posing as the Ukrainian politician-oligarch Petro Poroshenko, prank-called a random Trump-era Secretary of Defense—and got former Secretary Esper to be remarkably frank about Washington’s relationship with the Kiev regime. “The brave Ukrainian people,” the Secretary says, “are doing the dirty work we never want to do here in the United States. Which is why we should continue to support you with everything we can, whether it’s munitions or arms or intelligence, you name it.
Streaming with Lev Polyakov, 3pm PST 2/10/23
At this link.
The Yarvin Heuristic
I am ~napmet-davrut on Urbit. Urbit describes itself as “a clean-slate OS and network for the 21st century.”This is likely obscure to my readership, but the path by which I got here may be worth noting. What follows is a brief recollection full of hyperlinks, so the curious may explore further and everyone else can enjoy my getting to the point. I was a longtime reader of Unqualified Reservations, written by one Mencius Moldbug, an obvious pseudonym.
The historical guilt of the old regime
I don’t usually respond to attacks from the mainstream, or as I prefer legitimate, press. Usually these articles are of the craven drive-by type that Steve Sailer (America’s best illegitimate journalist) calls “point and sputter.” Our ink-stained hero comes smoking in, screeches to an intellectual “California stop,” sprays a few rounds, and peels out. Our hero is not here to engage and is certainly not expecting any variety of return fire.
The boomer map
I don’t read about myself but I make exception for a certain kind of hostile effortpost. One recent and admirably short one is Damon Linker’s “The Red-Pill Pusher,” which deserves to be taken seriously—both because Linker used to be the editor of the highly respected First Things, and because at times the man is almost complimentary. But…TLDR: the only problem with Damon Linker is that he is a boomer. Or can I even say this? Is it a slur? The “b-word” certainly has a rather nasty sound.
Podcast; Office hours, Miami, Jan 13/14
12pm-4pm on Sat and Sun. Late notice so I’m opening it to nonsubscribers. Sign up here. Also, there’s a new podcast with Michael Malice in which I deal, rather conclusively if I do say so myself, with the Libertarian Question. Recovering libertarians encouraged…
The January fever
“Like all the men of Babylon, I have been proconsul; like all, a slave.” In the 2020s, political history has taken an almost Borgesian turn. We seem able to see the same events from opposite directions. We can almost flip them in our mind’s eye like a Necker cube. A crowd rushes and occupies a state building. Is this a joyous expression of popular freedom—the spark that will begin a political revolution? Or is it a criminal assault on democracy itself?
Streaming now (415pm Jan 6) with Lev Polyakov
A portal to the next regime
Remote hands are the future of physical work
Why not start 2023 with a nice prophecy? Sometimes people tell me that there is just too much nasty stuff here on Gray Mirror. Maybe they are right. Maybe people are tired of reading about coups and dictators and kings all the time. Can’t we be optimistic? Well, at least—someone can. All the best prophets steal. Let me steal an idea from a better and more optimistic prophet, Robert Heinlein, and propose a thesis: remote hands are the future of physical work.
Merry Christmas!
A portal to the next regime
Off-blog content (Compact and Calmversation)
A review in Compact (as is normal, the title is not mine). A podcast with Benjamin Boyce.
Five stupid Twitter ideas
One: Twitter should buy Substack and not change it at all—except for the subscribe popup nagbox, whose inventor should be identified, separated, and maybe even sued. This UX monstrosity, out of Adderall by A/B testing, is clear-cut millennial sabotage. Quick reminder to never trust anyone between 25 and 45—at least, not by default. I am completely serious about the sus quality of this technology.
Designing the ministry of truth
I have never liked big social-media companies. But if you were running one and you decided to insource truth, here are some things you might want to think about. But first, a quick primer in Aristotelian political science. There are three forms of government: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. These are kinds of force. In every regime, all three exist. They are either dominant or compliant.
How Twitter should manage identity
As Elon Musk has recently discovered, managing speech and identity is hard. But he probably knew that. It’s important to note that his first three rockets blew up, too. Among effective people, most failures result from distorted perceptions of reality.
Streaming with Lev Polyakov
At 5pm EST, today November 8:Also, this with Ben Burgis is probably the worst podcast I’ve ever done. It’s important in these kinds of things not only to not get irritated, but to not irritate the target. Oh well. The other session from the next day is better.
Podcasts: Spiked and Good Ol Boyz
Two new podcasts (actually the former slipped between the cracks—it was recorded before the Queen died, then got delayed by me, then got lost in my spam folder..): Spiked Online and Good Ol Boyz. These recordings are quite the pair of opposites. Spiked are some kind of… apparently in England, they had Trotskyists who have now become neocons. Many such cases. In England, though—they are not—we know I can’t say that—anyway.
Twitter should be in the truth business
Twitter is discourse. Discourse is not truth. Discourse is the raw material of truth. Discourse is to truth as coca leaf is to cocaine. Sure it can make a Peruvian peasant work all day in the sun at 10,000 feet. But no one ever did a line of minced coca leaf. You gotta refine that shit. Yet without the leaf—there is no powder. Discourse at a certain scale is power. For instance, one form of power is nut power. When an idea gets enough reach, nuts will act on it.
An English Meiji: sketch of a royal coup
The English constitution, as described by Walter Bagehot 150 years ago, is not a constitution as we Americans know it. It is not an old piece of paper. It is a set of unwritten traditions or conventions—mere habits of obedience. The King of England delegates his royal prerogative to the Prime Minister of the UK, because he does. This is how it works. Today, this habit is what it means to be King—the very model of a modern king, in a modern constitutional monarchy.
Math/programming tutor needed
To teach high-school stuff to the bright, but poorly educated, preteen son of a close friend of the blog. In the Berkeley area near campus. 20 hrs/week, flexible daytime schedule, $50/hr or so. Previous tutoring / homeschooling experience desired. Must be based. Respond to this email, or sign up for free posts and reply to the signup email.
Chicago event
I’ll be at Thaddeus Russell’s Unregistered in Chicago in October…
Podcasts and a personal note
A couple of new podcasts I am delinquent for not having posted: with Cenk Uygur. With Freddy Gray. I regret to announce that I am no longer engaged to Ms. Lydia Laurenson. As Ms. Laurenson is the mother of my future child, please do not say anything bad about her in my presence. I will be forced to leave the room.
On money and power
I was recently confronted with a live and healthy example of a belief system I thought was dead: the idea that money has power. Money has no power. Also, in the paywalled part of the post (sorry! I gotta eat!), we will have some thoughts about how money could have power. But this will only show us how differently that money would be behaving. The core idea is that the fact that BlackRock [Mecca connection?
Is effective altruism effective?
Let X be some idea. Is X effective? We could mean two different things by this. First, X is a project—a system of rules for governance, both individual and collective. X, privately, tells the individual what to do; publicly, it tells the collective what to do. Is this program, properly executed by individual and/or collective, effective? If so, X is an effective idea—an idea that believes in having good effects. If not, it is not. Second, X itself is a tool for changing the world.
Is crypto still fungible?
I admit that I told my readers that, when Bitcoin was like $1, that theoretically it could go to the moon. But probably the government would shut it down eventually and it would go to $0. I admit that over time, my “probably” has become “possibly.” The theory, however, has not changed. But still. Here is something that has just happened to crypto: with the OFAC attack on Tornado Cash, a large pool of crypto ($400M worth) has become formally tainted. This has never happened to crypto before.
Two strokes of state
Some pundit emailed me and wanted to know: if I didn’t think making abortions a bit more inconvenient was a fair prize for decades of political street-pounding to finally capture a ruling majority on the Grand American Imperial Council—well, then, what is a proper goal for a Supreme Court majority? At first I was like: do I look like Linda Greenhouse? Then later I got used to the idea.
Podcasts with Che
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True story of a struggle session
Mike Crumplar has posted his memories of his weird Dimes Square humiliation ritual, an event at which I also was present. It was definitely a cool (and cruel) experience—like being in a flock of crows, when they mob an owl. You could be excused for thinking the owl is the victim. The owl is, of course, the predator. I actually have no idea what the director was doing with this footage. I can’t imagine what kind of film will be made out of it.
Podcast roundup; London
I’m been remiss in not posting these. With Red Scare; with Jim Rutt; with Brian Chau. Have I forgotten anyone? Organization is hard. Are there still cool people in London? Is it still true that if you’re tired of London, you’re tired of life? Or are you just tired of London? If you’re tired of neither life nor London, I will be in the latter for a couple days around the 23rd-25th. If you want to hang out, reply to this message and say something interesting about yourself.
The Tolkien system of social roles
The hobbit-elf metaphor, which for literary brazenness is even worse than ripping off the Wachowskis, certainly struck a chord on the Twitters. And not at all a good chord. As one Croatian shepherd, Niccolo Soldo, told me: “People mad.”I will defend my hobbits and elves. I will defend the Denny’s Hobbit Menu! I will even defend the dwarves, orcs and zombies. There is one big issue with the Tolkien system: elves, hobbits, dwarves, orcs and zombies are roles, not races.
The return of the Earl
[This poast is an ad for the De Vere Ball in NY on August 13. It is sold out but I think the organizer has some comps if you have a good story.]Most writers of Oxfordiana (Joe Sobran being a notable exception) are shy about the political and historical implications of the Oxford theory of Shakespeare authorship. Actually—Oxford unlocks the whole political story of the last half-millennium. Yes. really. But… let’s start with a summary.
You Can Only Lose the Culture War
The customary color-coding of the culture war is boring. Let’s get Tolkien-pilled and talk not about red and blue, but hobbits and elves. (While not forgetting the fact that for the two centuries before 1980 or so, red—the color of anger—was the color of the left.) Read Full Article » Show comments Hide Comments
You can only lose the culture war
The customary color-coding of the culture war is boring. Let’s get Tolkien-pilled and talk not about red and blue, but hobbits and elves. (While not forgetting the fact that for the two centuries before 1980 or so, red—the color of anger—was the color of the left.)We know who are the hobbits and who are the elves. We know who is on top and who is on the bottom. (Of dwarves and orcs, we shall not speak.) We know what the elves want: they want to live beautiful lives.
Outdoor party in Manhattan, Sat Jul 9
Subscribe for directions! :-)
New York
I’m in NYC Jul 4-8… if you want to hang out, send me an email and say something about yourself. Extra points if you want to host something…
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