"On Tuesday, a Florida judge sentenced Daniel Baker, an anti-fascist activist, to 44 months in federal prison for social media posts that called for armed defense against possible far-right attacks on the state’s Capitol in the wake of the January 6 riots. Baker, a 34-year-old yoga teacher and emergency medical technician trainee, had no previous … Continue reading Too Far Left, or What Does It Mean to Be “Radical”
Tag: politics
Federal Vacancies & Senate Dysfunction
"Biden is hardly the first incoming president to struggle with filling key positions. Any new administration faces hundreds of openings at the same time it’s grappling with other urgent challenges. Biden’s pace of nominations is faster than Donald Trump’s, slower than Barack Obama’s and about the same as George W. Bush’s — though unlike any … Continue reading Federal Vacancies & Senate Dysfunction
Understanding QAnon’s Connection to American Politics, Religion, and Media Consumption
"A nontrivial 15% of Americans agree with the sweeping QAnon allegation that “the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation,” while the vast majority of Americans (82%) disagree with this statement. Republicans (23%) are significantly more likely than … Continue reading Understanding QAnon’s Connection to American Politics, Religion, and Media Consumption
Sifting the Internet for Gold
"...which of my beliefs remain unchanged? What assumptions will remain in place? What trends will be accelerated, which delayed, and which stopped entirely? What do I care about that has become newly relevant, and what no longer matters?-Toby Shorin, Drew Austin, Kara Kittel, Edouard Urcades, "Premonition." subpixel.space. March 25, 2021. Something about the phrase "lifestyle … Continue reading Sifting the Internet for Gold
Our Cults Become Our Culture
"A false theory of culture is worse than a false theory of the heavens. The planets stick to their orbits no matter what we think, but culture becomes what we believe it is. Conditioned by the prophets of data and nostalgia to imagine no further than the evidence of the past, we forget that people … Continue reading Our Cults Become Our Culture
You Don’t Need (To Complain About) Substack
"Our timing was nearly perfect—a mere two weeks after we wrote our joint essay, Substack had a huge controversy, and is now facing a backlash. Writers are thinking of jumping ship and looking for ideas for what to do next. I’ve been doing this without a net for a while, and I have a few … Continue reading You Don’t Need (To Complain About) Substack
TrumpTrump
Lest we forget. "Warren Craghead drew the Trump news cycle for four-and-a-half years [in TrumpTrump]."—Brendan Fitzgerald, "The daily grotesque." Columbia Journalism Review. January 20, 2021.
The Road Map Back From Authoritarianism
"Experts in authoritarianism advise keeping a list of things changing, subtly, around you, so you’ll remember. Days after the 2016 presidential election, I started a list. Each week, I chronicle the ways Donald Trump has changed our country. This selection, adapted from more than 34,000 entries — or about 1 percent of the total — … Continue reading The Road Map Back From Authoritarianism
Conversations on Political Economy
Capitalist: Capitalism provides for the most efficient allocation of resources, wealth creation and individual choice. It's the best economic system we've got. State Socialist: There are other values than efficiency, prosperity and choice. Capitalism tends toward oligarchy and monopoly. As industries concentrate and gain economies of scale, wealth creation is concentrated for the benefit of … Continue reading Conversations on Political Economy
Rick Steves’ The Story of Fascism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU1IVW6uqM0 h/t Open Culture.
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