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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 1, 2024

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That's fine about personal virtue. But if we're talking about candidates, I prefer the candidate who incompetently pursues the evil goal over the candidate who competently pursues it.

Understandable, but of course, Socrates, Confucius and other classical philosophers of virtue and natural law consider public virtue an extension of personal virtue.

Not to wallow in contrarianism but I think there is also a legit argument for wishing your enemies to be somewhat competent in general in that competence is predictable. Idiots can throw a wrench into the best of plans and ruin not just what they seek to ruin.

In the particular circumstance of democracy where you know power will be shared with your enemies at some point in the near future, you should want for this minimum out of mere pragmatism. It is a risk to all of us that the nominal head of the most powerful army in the world is mentally incapable.

And I understand none of this applies if you wish to see the end of the United States as we know it. In some sense the actual accelerationist argument is that it is good Biden is so obviously incapable, because it shows everyone how power actually works in the American regime and lets all decide what to do about it instead of continuing to play act at republicanism.

Not to wallow in contrarianism but I think there is also a legit argument for wishing your enemies to be somewhat competent in general in that competence is predictable. Idiots can throw a wrench into the best of plans and ruin not just what they seek to ruin.

But they can also fail to ruin what they seek to ruin. I believe this dominates.