Both extremes are recycling old ideologies, but liberalism has a far stronger hand to counter them before they cause the death and destruction of the last century
I find it interesting that the "new" Right phrases its philosophy as "postliberalism" when in point of fact it's actually PRE-liberalism, based on the idea that some people are supposed to have absolute and unaccountable authority just because, with even less reason to back it up without a Divine Right of kings.
Thank you for this summary, though strangely, given it's pervasiveness, the summary overlooks the reach and impact of transgenderism--which is much more than mere wokeism. This is an authoritarian, homophobic, misogynistoc ideology driven by billionaires, which acts as an onramp to transhumanism (see Jennifer Bilek). It has global as well as national reach and operates strategically within a "gender industrial complex", including: Online advocacy and community building to upend the so-called "gender binary" through marketing, propaganda and institutional capture (i.e., schools, media, professional associations, including medical; "gender medicine" (i.e.,
pharmaceuticals to medicalize puberty and pharmacy and surgery to modify sex traits); and policies and laws, backed or opposed by our two political parties, demanding entitlements based on subjective identity, and that denies material reality, which undermines womens' sex- based rights. This "gender industrial complex" has made deep inroads into our polity, likely influenced the 2024 election ("Kamala is for they/them...") and will likely be hard, if even feasible, to uproot. IMHO.
What you describe is one of the few innovations of the modern fascists - having run out of the old scarecrows and manufactured outrages, they had to invent new ones and the fear of "transgenderism" is one they managed quite well.
Their transhysteria is a rejection of both medical science and market capitalism. They fail to understand that there is a market for transgender research and healthcare. Simple supply and demand (and marketing) is at work here. Capitalism is once again destroying the old gender hierarchies and creating new cultural norms.
What I find most interesting is their obsession with men transitioning to women and their total disinterest with women transitioning to men. The moral panic is all about men passing as women, women's sports, women's spaces, etc. They rarely address the needs and concerns of their "biological" sisters sporting beards, hairy chests and buff bodies.
Another point of interest is that one of the most popular genres of pornography for heterosexual men is MTF performers (chicks with dicks) and FTM performers who still have a vulva and vagina. So weird.
Anyone can say "transgenderism...is an authoritarian, homophobic, misogynistoc ideology driven by billionaires". But what for? I know multiple gender-dysphoric people and none of them, to my knowledge, are authoritarian, homophobic, misogynistoc, or billionaires. So where is this coming from? Did Fox News start saying this or what?
I would like to critique the suggestion that critiquing old falsities offers us a useful path forward. What we are confronted with today is a widespread disillusionment with Liberalism.
At least half the US adult population (and much of the rest of the world) fails to be inspired by Liberal Democracy, and they are highly receptive towards alternatives. While some of them do an intellectually-supported system based on explicit moral, political, and economic frameworks, most of the Democratically Disillusioned lack the time, patience, or background for so much cognitive complexity. They just want something that makes them feel good, especially if it enhances their sense of belonging to a high-status group.
My read of history is that sooner or later, a people who initially embrace a demagogue eventually reject that person or movement when it turns out not to be a paradise. Yet people are constantly drawn Illiberalism, in spite of the attempts of rational intelligentsia to talk them out of it. This is especially difficult today, as Rationalism has even less weight than it may have had in the prior century. The entire set of Enlightenment philosophies and approaches is under attack.
We have taken Liberal Democracy for granted, not recognizing the growing extent of the cynicism and hostility directed against Liberalism and Rationalism. Liberal Democracy has not done a good job of justifying itself, and it fails to provide social cohesion and inspiration. People are looking for meaning, purpose, excitement, and belonging. Technocrats and academics who try to talk them out of are only encouraging their rejection of the 20th century political and cultural order.
Much of the mainstream treats sacrificing the individual for some “greater good” as moral. Until that ethical premise is challenged, people will remain disillusioned with individualism, rights-protecting government, and capitalism.
They will keep supporting the same failed ideas because they see them as “bad in practice” but still “good in theory.”
Plenty of social cohesion among our billionaire overlords, wait or is that ketamine ? A dark day when their rocket ships returned them to earth when the sun was just waiting to be explored.
I get a wealth of ideas from the rationality community[1][2][3] and EA community[4], which are related to and overlap with the Progress[5] people and Abundance[6][7] people ― the latter two being focused not on new ideas but on bringing the best ideas to the top, whether new or old. But none of these are well-known except Abundance. I'm not sure why they aren't more popular. Perhaps they're just too intellectual for the people of today.
Note: a different group is calling itself the "Abundance movement", but they are focused on "love for Black people", while I'm talking about the Abundance movement that is focused on, well, abundance: making everyone more prosperous via positive-sum policies.
Sorry but there was a lot about FDR style liberalism that was good for the working class. Oops there are no workers or a working class anymore just associates. 🙄
I find it interesting that the "new" Right phrases its philosophy as "postliberalism" when in point of fact it's actually PRE-liberalism, based on the idea that some people are supposed to have absolute and unaccountable authority just because, with even less reason to back it up without a Divine Right of kings.
Thank you for this summary, though strangely, given it's pervasiveness, the summary overlooks the reach and impact of transgenderism--which is much more than mere wokeism. This is an authoritarian, homophobic, misogynistoc ideology driven by billionaires, which acts as an onramp to transhumanism (see Jennifer Bilek). It has global as well as national reach and operates strategically within a "gender industrial complex", including: Online advocacy and community building to upend the so-called "gender binary" through marketing, propaganda and institutional capture (i.e., schools, media, professional associations, including medical; "gender medicine" (i.e.,
pharmaceuticals to medicalize puberty and pharmacy and surgery to modify sex traits); and policies and laws, backed or opposed by our two political parties, demanding entitlements based on subjective identity, and that denies material reality, which undermines womens' sex- based rights. This "gender industrial complex" has made deep inroads into our polity, likely influenced the 2024 election ("Kamala is for they/them...") and will likely be hard, if even feasible, to uproot. IMHO.
What you describe is one of the few innovations of the modern fascists - having run out of the old scarecrows and manufactured outrages, they had to invent new ones and the fear of "transgenderism" is one they managed quite well.
Their transhysteria is a rejection of both medical science and market capitalism. They fail to understand that there is a market for transgender research and healthcare. Simple supply and demand (and marketing) is at work here. Capitalism is once again destroying the old gender hierarchies and creating new cultural norms.
What I find most interesting is their obsession with men transitioning to women and their total disinterest with women transitioning to men. The moral panic is all about men passing as women, women's sports, women's spaces, etc. They rarely address the needs and concerns of their "biological" sisters sporting beards, hairy chests and buff bodies.
Another point of interest is that one of the most popular genres of pornography for heterosexual men is MTF performers (chicks with dicks) and FTM performers who still have a vulva and vagina. So weird.
Well, that's not true.
Anyone can say "transgenderism...is an authoritarian, homophobic, misogynistoc ideology driven by billionaires". But what for? I know multiple gender-dysphoric people and none of them, to my knowledge, are authoritarian, homophobic, misogynistoc, or billionaires. So where is this coming from? Did Fox News start saying this or what?
I would like to critique the suggestion that critiquing old falsities offers us a useful path forward. What we are confronted with today is a widespread disillusionment with Liberalism.
At least half the US adult population (and much of the rest of the world) fails to be inspired by Liberal Democracy, and they are highly receptive towards alternatives. While some of them do an intellectually-supported system based on explicit moral, political, and economic frameworks, most of the Democratically Disillusioned lack the time, patience, or background for so much cognitive complexity. They just want something that makes them feel good, especially if it enhances their sense of belonging to a high-status group.
My read of history is that sooner or later, a people who initially embrace a demagogue eventually reject that person or movement when it turns out not to be a paradise. Yet people are constantly drawn Illiberalism, in spite of the attempts of rational intelligentsia to talk them out of it. This is especially difficult today, as Rationalism has even less weight than it may have had in the prior century. The entire set of Enlightenment philosophies and approaches is under attack.
We have taken Liberal Democracy for granted, not recognizing the growing extent of the cynicism and hostility directed against Liberalism and Rationalism. Liberal Democracy has not done a good job of justifying itself, and it fails to provide social cohesion and inspiration. People are looking for meaning, purpose, excitement, and belonging. Technocrats and academics who try to talk them out of are only encouraging their rejection of the 20th century political and cultural order.
Much of the mainstream treats sacrificing the individual for some “greater good” as moral. Until that ethical premise is challenged, people will remain disillusioned with individualism, rights-protecting government, and capitalism.
They will keep supporting the same failed ideas because they see them as “bad in practice” but still “good in theory.”
To borrow a slogan: it’s the ethics, stupid.
Plenty of social cohesion among our billionaire overlords, wait or is that ketamine ? A dark day when their rocket ships returned them to earth when the sun was just waiting to be explored.
So disappointed. Multiple references to Hayek…not a word about our spiritual mistress, Ayn Rand.
I get a wealth of ideas from the rationality community[1][2][3] and EA community[4], which are related to and overlap with the Progress[5] people and Abundance[6][7] people ― the latter two being focused not on new ideas but on bringing the best ideas to the top, whether new or old. But none of these are well-known except Abundance. I'm not sure why they aren't more popular. Perhaps they're just too intellectual for the people of today.
[1] https://www.lesswrong.com/rationality
[2] https://slatestarcodex.com/about/
[3] https://www.clearerthinking.org/
[4] https://www.effectivealtruism.org/
[5] https://rootsofprogress.org/
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_(Klein_and_Thompson_book)
[7] https://www.slowboring.com/
Note: a different group is calling itself the "Abundance movement", but they are focused on "love for Black people", while I'm talking about the Abundance movement that is focused on, well, abundance: making everyone more prosperous via positive-sum policies.
It's easier to smash Trump's head with a rifle than to persuade the populists.
Sorry but there was a lot about FDR style liberalism that was good for the working class. Oops there are no workers or a working class anymore just associates. 🙄