I definitely need to have a whole episode and/or post on Freddie (you’re right about the one name thing). I’ve long been fascinated by him.
Didn’t know he’d left notes but thank God. He wasn’t handling it well.
I’ll probably leave too at some point. It’s totally seductive at the moment, in what is almost certainly an unhealthy way. I’ll have one or two bad interactions and realize it’s time to go.
Great point about the folly of resenting someone without stopping to think what exactly they have that you lack. Alas, envy has never been the most rational of emotions. In most populist contexts, "elite" has the same basic meaning as "lizard people". Though the rationalisations differ somewhat between left and right, it seems to have something to do with the perception that someone has achieved a degree of social status without merit (ie its a question of thymos). Progressives resent the fact that Musk, who by all appearances has the emotional maturity of a thirteen-year-old, has access to so much wealth and power. Conservatives resent the fact that someone can receive an award for "genius" for arguing one cannot be racist against white people. Once these unsavoury characters are established in the mind, projection season is open. The last thing a populist thinks about is what it is like to be an elite.
I’ve never understood why “school shooting” is the default pro-phones argument. I would rather my child be situationally aware in a circumstance like that, not distracted by texting with me.
About elites: I think there are basic elements of entitlement, comfort and security — the sense that one’s social position is justified, and society is organized in the right way such that institutions function according to the elite's values and expectations. In (say) traditional Britain, that would mean that the nobility can count on having places at Eton, Oxbridge, the House of Lords, etc.
In the US, having a liberal elite means taking for granted that major institutions (K-12 education, higher education, the entertainment, art, and publishing industries, law, the federal bureaucracy, and generally any institution dominated by educated people) will reflect culturally liberal values and priorities, and seeing it as a gross offense, almost against the order of nature, when that system is threatened. The hate for Orban, DeSantis, and SCOTUS reflects this sense that state institutions "ought" to be the domain of the liberal elite, and it's simply unfair and unjustified to have the other "side" take them over. For the elite, it's simply "common sense" that social institutions reflect one's own values.
A thought experiment would be: "What if the political value in question was 'abortion is murder'?" What if, one year, every NFL team was kneeling to protest legalized abortion, and pro-choice dissenters came under heavy pressure to join the team? What if pro-choice advocacy groups had trouble finding high-powered lawyers to represent them? [1] What if, to get a job as a professor of (say) plant science, you had to submit a statement documenting your support for a "culture of life," and political activists used that as the screen for the first round of the application? [2] Or if you were an astronomer, whose lecture on planets were cancelled when your pro-choice sympathies were discovered? [3] Etc. etc.
Point being that an elite can take for granted the sense of being "at home" in any powerful institution in society, and feels something to be amiss when that is not the case. The non-elite is highly aware that said institutions are not on "their side," are in fact controlled by a "hostile tribe," and forms their judgments with these facts in mind.
Tying in to your previous (excellent) piece about Rush Limbaugh, I have to observe that the Limbaughian notion of Democrats "buying off" Blacks and others in order to maintain the power of liberal elites isn't too far from a certain Left position that sees identity politics as a liberal distraction from (and undermining of) the class struggle. Of course, what Limbaugh never mentioned was his own putative role, via the culture wars, as a servant of conservative elites. In any case, from this Left perspective (and perhaps Limbaugh's own, deep down), it's all a matter of rival ruling class factions (elites) manipulating the subaltern to their advantage.
We are engaged in the intellectual equivalent of the process described in this monologue, trying to swim upstream of the “clearance bin”, and possibly even determining what is worn by others.
I’m sorely tempted to follow your writing on Notes, but I think Freddie has it right: He removed himself entirely from the social media aspect of Substack, persuasively arguing that the benefit of Substack’s model is that it isn’t social media. I dipped my toe in Notes, having never tweeted, ever, and ended up snarking/arguing with principals and secondaries to the “Nazi’s on Substack” debate. It seems terribly pointless to me.
Speaking of Freddie, he ought to be a topic of discussion on your podcast! There are a number of his posts recently that read as a declaration of principles: I Think You Should Be Kind, This Is Zion (which I saw your Note to him, ironically), his rules for posting, and his takedown of the contrarian center. Also, the fact that I can just say “Freddie” to you and know that you know who I mean establishes that his work is of consequence.
For myself, his insistence that rape allegations against Hamas on 10/7 as “hasbarah” and blind acceptance of accusations by the Intercept against the NYT coverage force me to ask myself, “Would I accept this delusion of a horrible reality where, at the least, that delusion is tinged with anti-semitism from anyone else? Why do I still read him lovingly?” It may not be the socialist paradise of his dreams, but at least with me Freddie’s achieved parasocialism!
PS: IOU a response on the “race and sports” post. Sometime in May, I promise!
I definitely need to have a whole episode and/or post on Freddie (you’re right about the one name thing). I’ve long been fascinated by him.
Didn’t know he’d left notes but thank God. He wasn’t handling it well.
I’ll probably leave too at some point. It’s totally seductive at the moment, in what is almost certainly an unhealthy way. I’ll have one or two bad interactions and realize it’s time to go.
Great point about the folly of resenting someone without stopping to think what exactly they have that you lack. Alas, envy has never been the most rational of emotions. In most populist contexts, "elite" has the same basic meaning as "lizard people". Though the rationalisations differ somewhat between left and right, it seems to have something to do with the perception that someone has achieved a degree of social status without merit (ie its a question of thymos). Progressives resent the fact that Musk, who by all appearances has the emotional maturity of a thirteen-year-old, has access to so much wealth and power. Conservatives resent the fact that someone can receive an award for "genius" for arguing one cannot be racist against white people. Once these unsavoury characters are established in the mind, projection season is open. The last thing a populist thinks about is what it is like to be an elite.
I’ve never understood why “school shooting” is the default pro-phones argument. I would rather my child be situationally aware in a circumstance like that, not distracted by texting with me.
About elites: I think there are basic elements of entitlement, comfort and security — the sense that one’s social position is justified, and society is organized in the right way such that institutions function according to the elite's values and expectations. In (say) traditional Britain, that would mean that the nobility can count on having places at Eton, Oxbridge, the House of Lords, etc.
In the US, having a liberal elite means taking for granted that major institutions (K-12 education, higher education, the entertainment, art, and publishing industries, law, the federal bureaucracy, and generally any institution dominated by educated people) will reflect culturally liberal values and priorities, and seeing it as a gross offense, almost against the order of nature, when that system is threatened. The hate for Orban, DeSantis, and SCOTUS reflects this sense that state institutions "ought" to be the domain of the liberal elite, and it's simply unfair and unjustified to have the other "side" take them over. For the elite, it's simply "common sense" that social institutions reflect one's own values.
A thought experiment would be: "What if the political value in question was 'abortion is murder'?" What if, one year, every NFL team was kneeling to protest legalized abortion, and pro-choice dissenters came under heavy pressure to join the team? What if pro-choice advocacy groups had trouble finding high-powered lawyers to represent them? [1] What if, to get a job as a professor of (say) plant science, you had to submit a statement documenting your support for a "culture of life," and political activists used that as the screen for the first round of the application? [2] Or if you were an astronomer, whose lecture on planets were cancelled when your pro-choice sympathies were discovered? [3] Etc. etc.
Point being that an elite can take for granted the sense of being "at home" in any powerful institution in society, and feels something to be amiss when that is not the case. The non-elite is highly aware that said institutions are not on "their side," are in fact controlled by a "hostile tribe," and forms their judgments with these facts in mind.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/us/politics/26marriage.html
[2] https://reason.com/2020/02/03/university-of-california-diversity-initiative-berkeley/
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/us/dorian-abbot-mit.html
Tying in to your previous (excellent) piece about Rush Limbaugh, I have to observe that the Limbaughian notion of Democrats "buying off" Blacks and others in order to maintain the power of liberal elites isn't too far from a certain Left position that sees identity politics as a liberal distraction from (and undermining of) the class struggle. Of course, what Limbaugh never mentioned was his own putative role, via the culture wars, as a servant of conservative elites. In any case, from this Left perspective (and perhaps Limbaugh's own, deep down), it's all a matter of rival ruling class factions (elites) manipulating the subaltern to their advantage.
OK, one other thing and then I have got to bounce:
Your question about “elite” brings to mind the “sweater monologue” (or what I just learned is the “cerulean sweater monologue” from The Devil Wears Prada: https://artdepartmental.com/blog/devil-wears-prada-cerulean-monologue/
We are engaged in the intellectual equivalent of the process described in this monologue, trying to swim upstream of the “clearance bin”, and possibly even determining what is worn by others.
Also, for some reason (and I’m really not sure why), this question also made me think of this: https://walkingtheworld.substack.com/p/us-is-better-than-europe
I’m sorely tempted to follow your writing on Notes, but I think Freddie has it right: He removed himself entirely from the social media aspect of Substack, persuasively arguing that the benefit of Substack’s model is that it isn’t social media. I dipped my toe in Notes, having never tweeted, ever, and ended up snarking/arguing with principals and secondaries to the “Nazi’s on Substack” debate. It seems terribly pointless to me.
Speaking of Freddie, he ought to be a topic of discussion on your podcast! There are a number of his posts recently that read as a declaration of principles: I Think You Should Be Kind, This Is Zion (which I saw your Note to him, ironically), his rules for posting, and his takedown of the contrarian center. Also, the fact that I can just say “Freddie” to you and know that you know who I mean establishes that his work is of consequence.
For myself, his insistence that rape allegations against Hamas on 10/7 as “hasbarah” and blind acceptance of accusations by the Intercept against the NYT coverage force me to ask myself, “Would I accept this delusion of a horrible reality where, at the least, that delusion is tinged with anti-semitism from anyone else? Why do I still read him lovingly?” It may not be the socialist paradise of his dreams, but at least with me Freddie’s achieved parasocialism!
PS: IOU a response on the “race and sports” post. Sometime in May, I promise!