Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
No bio...
User ID: 732
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
1d ago
But the problem is that any ideology or system of government has to survive contact with actually-existing human beings. People are telling you that the problem with liberalism is that it requires a population that is pretty much 100% virtuous, and you’re saying, “Well, that’s a problem with people, not with liberalism!” But of course liberalism is (ostensibly) designed to govern humans! Not angels.
So, if our historical experience with liberalism has (for the sake of argument) shown us that liberalism is particularly vulnerable to manipulation by coordinated illiberal campaigning by groups claiming victimhood, that is actually potentially a major flaw in the system as designed.* Your system has to have sophisticated ways built-in to identify when such a thing is happening and to muster resources in a coordinated way to prevent it. And if one of liberalism’s central flaws is that it makes it difficult for a government to do that (because it assumes everyone will act like rational individuals maximizing their own well-being, and it in turn seeks to give them the maximal freedom to do so) then it seems like zealous supporters of liberalism are simply resigned to the fact that their society will go through period cycles of the same pattern, without a way to stop it. (Because to do so would be illiberal.)
Liberalism is just an abstraction, created by specific people at a specific time. It’s not imbued with some divine essence that makes it the best of all possible models for society. If it has serious flaws and failure modes which keep recurring, that seems to be a good reason to reassess it with a critical eye. If liberalism is proving unequipped to deal effectively with the specific issues facing a specific population, then why is it so bad to consider replacing it with another model which might be better for the historical and political moment in which we actually find ourselves?
The alternative, of course, is finding some way to actually alter humans in a comprehensive way such that they become more suitable citizens for a liberal government. One could point to eugenics (coercive or otherwise), mass cultural reprogramming via media and censorship, or mass incarceration of criminals. But, of course, those would all be illiberal means in order to remake humanity in liberalism’s image — and I know that many devoted acolytes of liberalism such as yourself will balk at them for this reason.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
1d ago
I don’t think he was attempting to channel Tolkien with that; I think he was going more for Dungeons & Dragons, which notably has an iconic faction of dark (in both the physical and moral senses) elves. Although, as others have pointed out, the metaphor still wouldn’t work in D&D, as the Drow are not some secret subversive faction exerting influence on the high elves behind the scenes; they’re a totally separate culture, who live underground and kidnap people (including other elves) to feed to their spider goddess.
Taken as its own metaphor shorn of any attempt to fit it into another mythos, though, I think Yarvin’s dark elf thing is evocative and effective enough.
Obviously the big ones that immediately come to mind are “Rio” by Duran Duran, “Who Can It Be Now” by Men At Work, “What You Need” by INXS (they’ve got a number of great saxophone parts, played by the great Kirk Pengilly) and “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (another band with a great full-time saxophonist, Clarence Clemons, who also has a great saxophone solo on his duet with Jackson Browne, “You’re A Friend Of Mine”).
EDIT: I read your post as specifically asking for 80’s songs with saxophone solos. A modern pop song with a great sax solo would be “Ancient History” by Marianas Trench. (Although TBH I think this is actually a synth mimicking a saxophone.)
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
2d ago
Presumably somebody who noticed that it has bubbles in it, and bubbles pop.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
2d ago
And what happens when a hugely disproportionate percentage of the people ending up with unfavorable outcomes are part of the same racial/cultural population? The ones who also coordinate culturally and politically with each other, and who just happen to all be directly descended from the people who were enslaved, and then after that legally shut out of higher education and positions of power? When those people start to notice this, which they will, do you expect them to take “so what?” as a satisfactory answer as to why no illiberal measures need to be pursued in order to redress their grievances?
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
2d ago
When I saw that this interview happened, I expected it to be strong evidence in favor of the “vibe shift”. However, it’s clear that interviewer did not want this to be a neutral way to showcase Yarvin’s ideas for the audience to weigh dispassionately.
He is clearly made psychologically uncomfortable by being asked to step outside of the progressive liberal frame, even as a thought experiment; he says more than once, “I can’t believe I’m even arguing this…” He also seems determined to smear Yarvin with the taint of racism and sexism; he brings up out-of-context quotes about slavery from over a decade ago, which have nothing to do with the supposed focus of the interview.
He also appears to have been instructed to optimize for brevity and for saving the reader from having to do any homework; any time Yarvin tries to go on one of his deep history tangents to support his argument, the interviewer accuses him of obfuscating. This means that the reader learns very little about Yarvin’s actual reasons for believing what he does. (The interviewer even at one point attempts to insinuate that Yarvin’s whole ideology is simply a manifestation of his insecure personality.)
I think this interview is a huge waste, and is only interesting insofar as it’s a small step in the right direction that the NYT even published it at all.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
3d ago
Another possibility is that Britain (or Europe in general) has a wider distribution of intelligence than Japan does; more geniuses (which would explain the great feats of innovation) but also a much larger (relatively) low-IQ underclass. Japanese people seem far more clustered around an IQ and personality median than Brits are. If Britain was simply better at unlocking the potential of its small number of geniuses than Japan was, you’d get pretty much the result this theory would predict.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
4d ago
Right, Jared Taylor used to get invited to debate people on mainstream news. Here he is on the execrable Phil Donahue’s MSNBC show in 2003. Here he is in 1998 on Fox News debating Puerto Rican statehood, and nobody is treating him as beyond the pale. Here he is on Hardball with Chris Matthews in ‘99. He was even called as an expert witness by the defense at a black man’s murder trial, explaining why the man was right to feel threatened by two other black men whom he said he shot in self-defense.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
5d ago
This already is one of the main arguments used by white identitarians. It has been for decades. “We must jealously guard what remains of the European genetic legacy; we will be overwhelmed by replacement migration and our genes will be diluted beyond recognition, as we simply are not numerous enough (nor fertile enough) to remain genetically separate under those conditions.” The whole “global majority” gloating has been in use for at least a few years now, and many figures on the online right have noticed it.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
5d ago
This is extremely based, although I maintain my preference for public executions for at least the more heinous class of crimes.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
5d ago
The convenience store at one of the major public transit hubs in San Diego still has a pay-to-use toilet that works precisely this way.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
6d ago
I’ve found that this is only sometimes the case. I’ve had plenty of places give me the code upon asking, but I’ve also had a number of employees tell me it’s against their policy to let non-customers use the restroom. Chain restaurants seem to have stricter guidelines around this, probably for liability reasons, or just employees not feeling empowered to make autonomous common-sense decisions.
Being able to pop into a restaurant or coffee shop or bar to use the restroom real quick used to be a totally normal thing. As someone who commutes exclusively via public transit, I frequently find myself needing to find an available restroom wherever I’ve gotten off the bus or trolley. Some places still let me walk in and use their restrooms without paying; however, even the food court at my local shopping mall now has a lock on the bathroom door, requiring a code which has to be provided to paying customers by one of the food vendors. I found this shocking when they implemented it, but the reality is that same bathroom has often been closed for cleaning at very inconvenient hours of the day, usually because some homeless junkie has made it filthy in some way. This is just yet another tax which normal people are forced to pay because of the existence of a massive parasitic underclass of homeless. A normal middle-class person should be able to enter a public establishment and take two minutes to use the bathroom without impediment, just as a basic courtesy offered between human beings, but such a system cannot survive the proliferation of a class of individuals who are by nature abusive of that trust.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
6d ago
The American right has, probably, a literal single digit number of people with any sympathy for Palestine whatsoever.
I think we have more than single digits of people on this site who fit that description.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
6d ago
I want to give my most sincere thanks to Sam Darnold and the Vikings for taking all of the “shocking and embarrassing choke job” heat off of the Chargers.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
7d ago
This isn’t actually a meaningful response. Firstly because it just kicks the can one step up — how you define “social justice”? Secondly, because “performativity” is neither exclusive to wokeness — God knows I’ve seen plenty of conservatives wearing in-your-face Trump memorabilia, putting American flag and/or Thin Blue Line stickers on their trucks, etc. — nor actually the primary issue with wokeness; there are tons of woke NGOs and anonymous woke bureaucrats doing plenty behind the scenes, unheralded, to advance specific causes and to cause material legal and political change. Focusing only on the “performative” stuff actually misses the point and allows those less “performative” actors to continue their work unnoticed and unimpeded.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
8d ago
How do you square this with how many Hollywood celebrities (particularly actresses), whose job it is to look good on video, are Jewish? Some of the most attractive and telegenic women in the world are Ashkenazi.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
8d ago
This has been a terrible game by Herbert’s standards, although some of that is just his pass-catchers besides McConkey just hanging him out to dry. This team is at least a year, realistically two years, ahead of schedule in terms of roster development and cap space, so I’m trying to keep this game in perspective. I’m more shocked by how poor the Chargers’ defense has been in the second half of this game. (Turns out the Texans weren’t just a paper tiger propped up by a weak division.)
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
8d ago
It reminds me of one of the 1989 revolutions (am I thinking of Hungary?). The dictator was getting worried at the people's lack of enthusiasm and bleak countenance, so decided to hold a huge rally in the capital.
You’re thinking of the end of the Ceauşescu regime in Romania.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
9d ago
Having been to rural Kentucky, it is genuinely very dire. I’ve never seen that kind of visible poverty before. I’m talking little burnt-out shacks in the hills where people clearly live. The people I met there struck me as markedly stunted. I’m sure there are plenty of capable people interspersed throughout this population — and I’m sure there are plenty who were born in such circumstances but got the hell out because they were too good for that life — but overall there just doesn’t seem to be any significant amount of human capital left in the region.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
10d ago
Idle curiosity: how many languages do you speak fluently?
Just English. I used to be conversational in Spanish, albeit at nowhere near a high enough level to discourse intellectually in it; my Spanish has atrophied significantly from disuse, though.
I do expect that English will probably be the global lingua franca if the homogenization I’m expecting becomes a reality; while I love the English language very much (duh, I speak it, it feels like home to me, of course I think it’s the best) I also welcome language reforms (especially spelling reforms) in order to make it a truly suitable global (and later interstellar) human language.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
10d ago
I’m not even talking about “moving out”. I’m saying that black people, like anyone else, can do all sorts of things outside the neighborhoods where they live. Even ones who don’t move out of their neighborhoods can still cause problems and discomfort for people living in other neighborhoods.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
10d ago
The fact that you got better grades than some SE Asian kids (assuming from your comment)
No, we had Chinese kids too. At the end of the day, nobody can get higher than 100% on any given test or assignment. If I get 100%, no amount of grinding by the Asian kids is going to somehow devalue that.
Hoffmeister25
American Bukelismo Enthusiast
10d ago
You’re aware that black people can move around outside “their neighborhoods”, right? The neighborhood where I live isn’t heavily black in terms of the people who occupy houses here, but there are plenty of black people when I go to the grocery store, or to various public places. If a school district practices busing or has magnet schools, my children can have black students in their classes, even if we don’t live in a “black area”. Thus, the black percentage of the population is still relevant even if you feel like you can just move to “a white area”.
I’m sure there are many who would be happy to see Trump have his own William Henry Harrison moment.
More options
Context Copy link