Kevin Simler

What about them have you found hard to define?

Not a real option. It may feel liberating to give up but doesn’t mean there isn’t a there there or that it doesn’t apply to you if don’t define it for yourself. Even patterns of giving up have left/right/lib/con tells. They’ve gotten convoluted rather than nebulous.

btw, I’m not saying I’m opting out of choosing a side (although, kinda). Rather, I’m opting out of trying to essentialize the labels. I recognize their validity as flags/banners for the current moment, but not as enduring/stable concepts.

In a political realignment (as now) the rather arbitrary nature of coalitions becomes clear. Politics is the art of coalition building, bigger coalition wins. So the more inconsistencies you can compress into your party, the better. But then it blows up every few decades.

It's useful to have a name for the dominant political polarization, left and right will do. But it is easy to mistake the constant opposition/competition for a stasis and consistency that does not exist; both are in an unseen plunge toward a high dimensional attractor.

Maybe you're an LPC too

totally, i remember resonating with that post of yours. but i took it as an “if by whiskey” move. i couldn’t connect at all with your “tilted compass” series because i had already given up on trying to pin down the terms :P