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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   29569 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 6, 2023

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That's a theory I've mostly seen Neema Parvini push - that IDW and various seemingly dissident influencers / intellectuals like e.g. Peterson, Eric Weinstein, Bari Weiss cooperate with the less insane parts of the ruling regime. That is, they're part of a show, earning goodwill by standing up for common sense, goodwill they'd use to help smash any actual challenge to the system.

After the 'toadie' disaster , the IDW/Substack angle/pivot revived her career and credibility.

https://twitter.com/turncoatd/status/1268691071342501888

(still painful to watch...)

Maybe you are right that it's an attempt at gatekeeping. I wonder why some people are so heavily promoted.

Yep, painful.

With Weinstein, Shapiro, Weiss - I don't think there's any mystery.

Israel's national security literally depends on them having supporters among elites in the US.

Of course they're going to engage in robust influence operations. Ask the ghost of Senator Fulbright about that.

One can hardly begrudge Israelis for doing what they do.

Fridman, although he's Jewish doesn't seem like one of them. Or maybe, as it's been said, he's not ripe yet so they won't try to use them. E.g. he recently got criticised by some Israeli activists for being too soft on some Muslim he interviewed who described Israel as an genocidal apartheid state, yada yada.

I'm not much certain about the gatekeeping / containment theory that posits a degree of kayfabe among pundits.

It'd fit in with how the American political system used to work, however, I just see it as a possibility.

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