I answer questions about how to ensure Trump's defeat in 2024, the right anti-anti-Semitic position to take on Israel, and whether AI will give us new music by dead artists forevermore
the need for a counter-revolution to retvrn us to the mythical past. Would the mythical past place Emperor Trvmp on the throne? He's old but I never thought he's that old. If he starts using Roman numerals . . .?
One of your responses reminded me of an argument I had with a professor in my "Politics and the Catholic Church" class (still trying to figure out where the politics part came in). He contended that Modernity was a terrible thing for civilization and lamented the loss of Church authority.
That gets into “we inhabit different epistemological paradigms” territory - not much common ground to be had there. Kudos for disagreeing nevertheless.
I wonder if he’s including the Reformation in what he considers “modernity”? Or does he mean a more generic modernity of the secularization of society?
I wasn’t aware that “ugly” architecture (which I’m guessing is a gloss for some notion of vaguely Brutalist buildings) was on the right-wing laundry list of grievances.
"all you can do is vote and try to make the pro-Biden/anti-Trump case to family and friends, realizing there’s no guarantee those members of your family or friend group will be convinced."
Anyone trying to convince a friend or relative should follow the suggestions of Monica Guzman (author of "I Never Thought Of It That Way") or Megan Phelps-Roper (her TED talk describes how strangers on Twitter pried her out of Westboro Baptist Church). Both recommend assuming good intent on the part of whoever you're talking to (they think they're doing what's best for the country) and asking genuinely curious questions about why they think as they do. This is far more effective than directly taking issue with their political beliefs. Eventually, you might be able to ask questions that show contradictions between what they say they believe and what their preferred candidate actually says and does.
I'm still kicking myself for the way that I handled a political disagreement with an old friend. I had immediately launched into challenging his beliefs about Hunter Biden and Burisma and the conversation came to a swift and dismissive end.
the need for a counter-revolution to retvrn us to the mythical past. Would the mythical past place Emperor Trvmp on the throne? He's old but I never thought he's that old. If he starts using Roman numerals . . .?
One of your responses reminded me of an argument I had with a professor in my "Politics and the Catholic Church" class (still trying to figure out where the politics part came in). He contended that Modernity was a terrible thing for civilization and lamented the loss of Church authority.
I...disagreed.
That gets into “we inhabit different epistemological paradigms” territory - not much common ground to be had there. Kudos for disagreeing nevertheless.
I wonder if he’s including the Reformation in what he considers “modernity”? Or does he mean a more generic modernity of the secularization of society?
I wasn’t aware that “ugly” architecture (which I’m guessing is a gloss for some notion of vaguely Brutalist buildings) was on the right-wing laundry list of grievances.
"all you can do is vote and try to make the pro-Biden/anti-Trump case to family and friends, realizing there’s no guarantee those members of your family or friend group will be convinced."
Anyone trying to convince a friend or relative should follow the suggestions of Monica Guzman (author of "I Never Thought Of It That Way") or Megan Phelps-Roper (her TED talk describes how strangers on Twitter pried her out of Westboro Baptist Church). Both recommend assuming good intent on the part of whoever you're talking to (they think they're doing what's best for the country) and asking genuinely curious questions about why they think as they do. This is far more effective than directly taking issue with their political beliefs. Eventually, you might be able to ask questions that show contradictions between what they say they believe and what their preferred candidate actually says and does.
I'm still kicking myself for the way that I handled a political disagreement with an old friend. I had immediately launched into challenging his beliefs about Hunter Biden and Burisma and the conversation came to a swift and dismissive end.