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greyenlightenment

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greyenlightenment


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
investments: META/FBL, TSLA, TQQQ, TECL, MSFT ...

				
				
				

				

					2 followers  

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					joined 2022 September 04 18:26:17 UTC
				


				
					

					
blog https://greyenlightenment.com/



				

				

				

				

				

					

					

					
					
					

					
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 10, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is why mediocre national test scores  are not that big of a deal. What matters is the top .01% or so of talent, and that is where the US seems to excel in terms of absolute and total talent. America's schools and universities  attract the best talent from all over the world even if most students are unexceptional, or wokeness not withstanding.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of September 19, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Ideologically and in other respects, conservatism is broad/diverse and seems to be always evolving whereas liberalism is more like something being stretched, in which the original shape is still the same.




I'll tell you who they are. They are the Rush Limbaugh crowd. Or wherever they are now. I grew up with them, they are my people. I listened to Rush in his final year, and listened to his callers, and the vibe of his following (which was massive) was the same as I remember it.




Rush was a morbidly obese ideologue who had his heyday in the '90s and 2000s, especially during the Obama era, but since 2016 and especially since 2020 during Covid, his type of conservatism has been in decline online , imho, replaced by the likes of Rogan, Peterson, etc. who have more of an emphasis on self-improvement and salubrity (being healthy, working out, intellectual curiosity, etc.) while still opposing the far-left. Since 2021 I have also observed the rise of a sort of civic nationalism conservatism which combines 'Trumpism' with 'Roganism'.  In keeping with the civic aspect of it, it's not necessarily opposed to diversity or immigration as long as said diversity holds anti-woke values. I think this is a tad overoptimistic  given the tendency of second and third generation immigrants to vote left. I think this new brand of conservativism is very powerful and has considerable online support, and stands good shot at beating Biden.


It's hard to say what Trump is/was. He's not alt-right yet much more nationalistic than the typical conservative.  His push for tax cuts early on is consistent with the mainstream GOP platform though.


In one of my blog posts I describe how the GOP has evolved and its likely direction:


'80s up until 2008-2013 Reaganomics, supply side


2008-2013 split or weakening cracks on the foundation of immigration and globalization


2014-2015: rise and fall gamergate, precursor to the IDW and trump-right


2016-2020 Trump  and split between 'the base' vs 'the establishment', rise of civic nationalism


2016-2018 rise and fall of alt-right


2018-: rise of the IDW , which is related to the anti-idpol left


2020-: hybridization/amalgamation of civic nationalism ,self-improvement, and anti-woke populism


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 15, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Billionaires have never been fans of wokeness ,as they  know if wokeness is carried out to its eventual end, they will be among the first to be shaken down.  I think Ackman  has voiced sentiment that many others share but afraid to voice. Zuckerberg is not a big fan of the woke either.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 8, 2024
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The trans issue is not as controversial or divisive  as he's making it out to be. I don't think the opposition is as strong as he imagines it to be or that people are anti-trans in his comments. He gets way more pushback about Zionism and Israel than he does about trans. If he made a post advocating for a wealth tax or higher income taxes, again i'm sure he'd get way more pushback than the trans issues. The trans issue comes down to sports and if children can consent to irreversible medical procedures. Otherwise, most people do not care that much, including even conservatives and rightists. His argument about trans people taking hormones being similar  or analogous to men who take steroids to attain some idealization of masculinity, is actually shared by libertarians and some on the right . I don't even see where the disagreement is that some people do not feel like their sex matches with their gender or wish to have certain reasonable provisions made.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for November 24, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
An idea I have been contemplating:


Despite how incidents of unrest and incivility, such as shoplifting, go viral on Twitter and the perceived widespread decline and decay of American society and the breakdown of law and order, Americans a , in large, better-behaved than any other society, and are better behaved now than in the past, compared to even in the Middle East under Islamic law, compared to much  of Europe. Western Europe seems to have constant protests and riots, whereas in the US it was limited to 2020 after George Floyd's death, but more contained and ended abruptly.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Weird Malthusian degrowth policies will rule the day. Every year our quality of life will be worse than the last for some nebulous greater good. Despite this, I see no end to the forever wars either. Forever wars pair too well with degrowth anyways.




The Middle East wars ended though. This narrative sounds appealing and then I look at someone like Ron DeSantis going on about woke, and Biden who is too feeble to do much. I think too many people are forming their opinions based on fiction, like TV or history.  Real-life leaders  , especially in modern America, are way more impotent, ineffective, and unenthusiastic  than their fictional depictions.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of May 8, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
that's what I was thinking too. I assume 'restraining someone safely' would be covered in basic training , especially when the assailant is not armed and does not seem particularly strong


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of April 17, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


First off, safety: it's true that nuclear has a much better safety record so far, but nuclear seems to have the potential for black swan disasters in a way that coal is not. Is this true?




Western Europe's track record  on nuclear power is very safe. But America's obsession with diversity and overall failing infrastructure makes  me hesitant to embrace the idea full-on. DEI is not a risk to society if your business is involved with tech widgets, but a nuclear reactor? Maybe not.  Perhaps Elon Musk would pull it off if he were in charge.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 27, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The same thing happened with /r/antiwork. These communities are nothing like they let on to be.




Further, I would bet my bottom dollar that this cohort are all college educated. I'd throw in a combined five M.A.s.




Not really. Let's assume that an IQ of 110 is needed to finished college, or about 40% of the general population. Even if these people are in the top 10% of the population by IQ and have a 90% chance of finishing college, to have all 9 finish college would still only be 38%. To get a degree you need your life together. Even if you are smart, illness or other factors can derail that. These people do not come off as being exceptionally stable.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 27, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Agree. 4900 is more than i would have guessed for a seemingly harmless twitter joke...that is more than enough to move the needle for swing states.  Had someone did this but targeting trump voters and had trump lost, we'd be hearing to no end by the same guys on Twitter about how it's not a joke and how it's evidence of fraud, and so on. One way around this is to charge him to set legal precedent , but sentence him lightly. To add, I personally don't think he should have been charged and someone who fall for such a joke is too ill-informed to have a say, but I can see the rationale for charging him. The 1st amendment protects a lot, but I can see a line being drawn if it involves elections. Let's assume someone like Nayib Bukele had charged some people for making a similar joke that interfered with his election. Would the same people supporting him now be defending those people for making a joke on the grounds of the 1st amendment? The failure of people to apply their principles evenly/consistently  is one of the problems I have with online-right.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of March 6, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


2020 stolen election time! There's been some rather big developments with my favorite cute little hobby horse. I haven't had the time to make a deep-dive write-up, but it's has already been extensively reported on elsewhere (e.g. this post by Jacob Sullum). To summarize, Dominion voting systems sued Fox News (and Newsmax, and OAN) for defamation. Dominion has been past the discovery stage for more than a year now but their filings only recently became public and, no way to say this lightly, it's been extremely humiliating for Fox. Tons of text messages from the big names (Carlson, Hannity, etc.) either talking shit about how crazy Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani are, or (especially for Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo) credulously accepting and repeating the stolen election theories.




It's ironic or bittersweet how Dominion, a private company, is now Fox's greatest adversary, not the Biden administration. Usually government is framed as being  tyrannical or overreaching, compared to the private sector as the 'little guy' or victim, but it's flipped.




The Dominion lawsuit demonstrates the problem behind audience capture; Fox pundits and reporters had to deal with a credible financial pressure to cater to the crazy fringes of their audience for fear of losing them to their less scrupulous competitors.




It shows  that free speech does not apply to libel. Unlike governments and bureaucrats,  private companies and individuals can fight back. being targeted by a private entity is worse than being targeted by a government, unless it's something really bad like terrorism or Jan 6th. There are many people who have years of back taxes and the IRS waits years or longer, if ever, to do anything, except sometimes arresting celebrities to make examples. Private lawsuits are slow only because the courts are slow, not out apathy of the plaintiff.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 23, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
That is clever and astute.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 23, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Kanye knows that rap careers are short. Old rappers are not going on tour, unlike old rockers. He's looking for some sort of second act: pundit, politician, etc. Being unnecessarily controversial even if it costs him money is part of that.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 16, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
arguing with Nybbler  means you're probably gonna lose


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 2, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Similar to Reddit's  'default subs', leave your 'red pills' takes at the door; you are just going to get downvoted to oblivion or even banned. No one is going to see the light.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 26, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It's one of those debates "Is making it easier to find publicly known info the same as doxing?"


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 5, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
These results do not surprise me . It would seem like thinness is positively corelated with almost all metrics of success . Maybe IQ plays some role, in that thinner people are smarter, which could account for success at a wide variety of things. I have noticed that it seems like there are few fat 'STEM people', particularly in physics and math, compared to other areas (the stereotypical fat feminist).


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of December 5, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Vox Day was/is right about him, and I am not even that far on the right. This is why I read bloggers, not columnists.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 28, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Social networks are biased. News at 11.


Elon should turn the tables on Section 230 and use it against the the left, and then get it overturned or amended, and then resell the site , so he solves online censorship against conservatives at almost no cost . That would be a 4d chess move.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 21, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I didn't even know about this until you shared it. If this were 2 decades ago it would probably be non-stop coverage. Or if it happened at a school. It shows  being gay no longer conveys cultural currency like it did in the past. Now it's trans.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of November 14, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
First Elon Musk dominated the news cycle 2-4 weeks ago with twitter, and now this guy, but Elon still heavily in the news.  Just more evidence that billionaires (or ex-billionaires) run the show. Hardly anyone cares  about Biden that much, who is like the incredible shrinking president. Oh, war  still going on in Ukraine /Russia too, which also has become background noise.


Last week people were speculating that somehow SBF hacked his own exchange or was fleeing with money; I didn't believe any of it. If he wanted to drain funds from the exchange, he didn't need a malicious app update. He could have just made a transfer of $100 million or so quietly from a cold wallet to a wallet in which he controlled the keys, and then if the money is ever discovered missing, which given that FTX is privately owned would be almost impossible short of a federal investigation, he could just say he was hacked or lost it. Given how big FTX was, and still is, this would likely go unnoticed.  He's still on twitter, giving interviews. This is not typical of felons running from the law.


I think this whole thing was just a big mistake of risk management on his part, and possible mishandling of customer funds and lying about the dollar backing of FTX deposits. He was screwed either way: had he been forthright  about FTX's actual financial health, the ensuing panic would have made a bad situation way worse.  Thus, there is an incentive to lie and hope that the market will recover, which in the case of Bitcoin it didn't. This makes him unethical and he may go to jail, but I don't think he profited from this personally.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 31, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Musk + Trump's fans want Trump unbanned as the ultimate 'own' on the left. I think Musk  stands to lose more fans by not unbanning Trump than he stands to lose by Trump not using twitter if unbanned.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				The Social Recession: By the Numbers
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don't agree with Putnam or the article. There are more ways now than ever before and more convenient, thanks to the internet and mobile phones, for people to meet up. A google search  shows tons of meetups, same on social media. There is no shortage of ways for people to engage in social activities today. I think rather a lot people are choosing to be alone. Maybe Netflix is more fun than in-person social activities.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 17, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


It has become increasingly clear that the political Right in America is not what it used to be. In particular, my own preferred slant of classical liberalism is being replaced. In its stead are rising alternatives that don’t yet have a common name. Some are called “national conservatism,” and some (by no means all) strands are pro-Trump, but I will refer to the New Right.  My use of the term covers a broad range of sources, from Curtis Yarvin to J.D. Vance to Adrian Vermeule to Sohrab Ahmari to Rod Dreher to Tucker Carlson, and also a lot of anonymous internet discourse. Most of all I am thinking of the smart young people I meet who in the 1980s might have become libertarians, but these days absorb some mix of these other influences.




These people have been around for at least a decade. There is nothing new about them, nor are they part of the political right or that right wing.




I don’t like the status quo either, but I also see a world where the most left-wing majors – humanities majors – are losing enrollments and influence. Furthermore, the internet is gaining in intellectual influence, relative to university professors.




It's more like the intellectuals, such as university professors, are gaining influence online, not that the internet is replacing intellectuals.  Tyler's article got 350 comments, which is nuts. That's comparable to influencers on on YouTube. University professors are not losing influence at all.




The New Right also overrates the collusive nature of mainstream elites. Many New Right adherents see a world ever more dominated by “The Woke.” In contrast, I see an America where Virginia elected a Republican governor, Louis C.K. won a 2022 Grammy award on a secret ballot and some trans issues are falling in popularity. Wokism likely has peaked.




This is not evidence of it having peaked. DEI is still a big deal.




Similarly, the New Right places great stress on corruption and groupthink in American universities.




This has been the basic conservative view for decades.  It's not a new thing.




The New Right also seems bad at coalition building, most of all because it is so polarizing about the elites on the other side.




That's because it's not so much as a political movement as it's an online or pundit movement. People like Tucker or Yarvin do not aspire to public office.


The pandemic response, such as shutdowns, quarantines,  and mask mandates (which were of at best dubious efficacy)  was a major blow to the  status quo.  This was their own doing. Then the inflation surge, which none of the experts saw coming. These events made the public lose faith in experts.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of October 10, 2022
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


For example in Canada people are being euthanized because they are disabled and are not receiving the financial support they need,




This is sorta misleading .From what i gather from the article, Canada's healthcare system is so bad that a handful of people are choosing euthaniza, not that they are being killed against their will or to save costs. It shows how despite how much people complain about healthcare costs in the US, which is an understandable complaint, things could still be so much worse.