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I’ll give him the respects I think he is EHC. Also probably put myself in that group. He was a really good writer with interesting opinions. It’s how he built a following. He’s changed whose he writing too and gone down market and thinks he’s the protector of inconvenient truths.
Still a wordcell EHC but he does have talent.
Jake Paul some reason reminds me of him since I started seeing him promoting betr. He’s already rich with plenty of ways to monetize, but choosing to monetize your brand promoting gambling just feels wrong to me. Just reminds me of Hannania going down the path he is now. Feels wrong to sacrifice the truth for outrage and probably money.
I guess I accept politicians will play political games and be dishonesty and build outrage. But I just don’t see a point of reading a writer that wants to be inflammatory. I guess the media has a niche here too msnbc/fox have definitely done it. And it makes money. But I think Hannania did have actual talent so I am sad to see him go down that path.
At best IMO. I suppose he is very skilled at grift identification. Which is a skill. I dont think his writing is that good, it is not like he is Alan Sokal or James Lindsey. His book Origins of Woke has a decent thesis, but not an original one, and does not really contain a true steelman of anti-wokeness anywhere in it.
The Elite Human Capital schtick is also super cringey and just odd/confused. Who are Peter Theil and JD Vance and Ted Cruz if not EHC? What about Richard Clement the best attorney of his generation? I guess they dont appeal to Hanania's EHC class because???
Well the only good explanation is actually contained in his own book (sort of). Its that EHC goes through universities (largely), which are indoctrination centers for the left, and those same civil rights laws he said created wokeness, also discriminate heavily in favor of agreeableness, which is not a right of center trait. So his new hypothesis stands in a confusing contrast to his most major work (his current magnus opus I suppose?). The problem is agreeableness and indoctrination by state-supported and regulated mandatory (basically) institutions.
He reminds me a lot of Vivek, who, despite his backers buying the primary is in jeopardy of losing his race in solidly Red Ohio because of one of the worst blundering comments in political history, that being the prom king/queen comment. These sorts of opinions by Hanania/Vivek just kind of show off their inability to understand the American right, which makes sense because they were/are newcomers to the movement, and thought they deserved leadership positions because they, by mostly chance, got large audiences for saying the right thing at the right time for a while.
But the prom comment shows why both of them are not real American right. The American right is the only large political movement in the world that likes America for its uniquely American things. Gun rights, calling losers losers (and worse), executing criminals, and yes appreciating all-rounders like prom queens/kings. Vivek and Hanania, not being culturally American dont understand this. Vivek, idiotically, thinks the prom king is some D student running back who impregnated 3 other D students. In reality (aka at my literal school and all the ones nearby) hes a 2-3 sport athlete that also finished in the top 5-10% of the class and had good interpersonal skills. Same with the prom queen: a cheerleader, an honors student (both of them basically took the same course-load as me and the valedictorian) and good looking and friendly. An American likes all those extra things on top of being a nerd. The guy who dated (and married) the prom queen was one of my best friends. They aren't dumbness like Vivek's comment's imply, they went to Big10 schools, went into competitive fields. Have big houses in nice places. I have a big house in a nice place, I wasn't Valedictorian, and didnt grind like Vivek implies we all should have. Grinding is alien to real America, and America is beating everyone else, whence grinding is probably dumb. Whence, unAmerican fake right wingers like Vivek and Hanania are probably missing the mark.
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He did a lot of good writing before becoming a full time troll. But is he EHC? I'm not sure.
Sailor's Law of female journalism states "The most heartfelt articles by female journalists tend to be demands that social values be overturned in order that, Come the Revolution, the journalist herself will be considered hotter-looking."
And while true, this attitude is not confined to female journalists. Swap out "hotter-looking" with "higher status" and its true for male journalists too.
Hanania is not what we would call high status. He is not good looking. Women do not want him. Men do not aspire to be him. Is he even rich? Probably not. Does a group of followers look up to him? Not really.
Being EHC is not merely be good at writing, or good at math. Those are virtues, but not the only ones, and not the most important ones either. Defining EHC as high IQ is an autistic, Bay Area way of looking at things. EHC also means being a leader, being able to work towards a common goal, being kind and strong, having empathy. If I'm on a boat in the ocean with limited rations and no map, do I want Richard Hanania in my boat with me or the median suburban dad?
The people he hates are better than him in real ways, even if his IQ is higher.
“do I want Richard Hanania in my boat with me or the median suburban dad?“
No I don’t trust him. I trust AOC more than him because she’s honest. So if where doing gulags yes hang him. He knew better. But keep the AOC people because they made a mistake.
I wouldn’t punish a good man who just wrote what he thought was true.
I don't like feeling this way because I hate her politics, but I find AOC genuinely beautiful and charismatic. Just on a visceral level she is a very attractive person.
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