Roundup - Nostalgia Culture and the Future of Liberalism
The first issue of my relaunched newsletter.
Aaron Ross Powell
Political, cultural, technology, and media commentary from a philosophical and radical liberal perspective.
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Read 11 hours ago and current, but nothing has been published for 13 months.
Latest posts
An Inconsistent Approach to Viewpoint Diversity
Over at Techdirt, Mike Masnick has an excellent new article about “Who Goes MAGA?” He sets out a taxonomy of the sorts of people prone to drifting into Trumpism, from “The Wellness Influencer” to “The LinkedIn Thought Leader” to “The Facebook Mom” and more. I recommend it as a catalogue of archetypes to keep your eye on. I wanted to call out one in particular, “The Contrarian Intellectual,” in…
If You Want to Win Political Arguments, Stop Being an Asshole
Political persuasion versus the urge to political domination.
Some Things Are Too Important to Let AI Do Them
The Getting Thing Done mindset continues in calls to have AI automate everything important in your life.
Swing Voters Aren't Centrists
But the centrist's fallacy has convinced many political pundits they are.
Why Liberal Libertarians Avoid Social Liberalism
Liberals and libertarians are hesitant to engage in ethical conversations and that hesitancy undermines their own cause.
Liberalism, Virtue, and the Crisis of Young Men
Liberals should stop pretending liberalism is value-free, and instead argue that liberal values are better than the alternatives.
Tribes of the Void: Chapter 1
A serial novel of technology, mystery, and horror.
The Necessary Virtue of Not Being an Asshole
No matter what you tell yourself, you can't be a principled person if you're an asshole.
Why Tech Bros Overestimate AI's Creative Abilities
Silicon Valley's overconfidence in the imminent arrival of Artificial General Intelligence stems from a combination of limited understanding of the humanities, an insular culture, and a business model that incentivizes exaggerated claims about AI's capabilities.