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It takes a sort of classical liberal approach based on free speech. But I think it fundamentally fails to grasp how facts and truth work in practice. wrote a nice 3-part series that I think better models things in terms of trust markets
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I can’t take “classical” stances seriously anymore. It’s like going to a renaissance fair. The people there are of course likely to be right about everything they say about swords and armor and wenches and knights. But that’s... not the world I live in.
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My own highly unpopular opinion is of course the correct one. We live in a divergentist world where increasingly it’s not important to agree about most things with most people and consensus truth is merely a larp that some seek as a lifestyle choice.
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The renaissance fair analogy is actually pretty good 🤔 Like all those people who want “civil debate” strike me the same way as people wanting to duel or joust. It accomplishes nothing except some entertainment for those who like it.
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I wonder... when was the last time a sincere debate had any meaningful impact on the world. I’m guessing in the late 1940s in the US. There are some Congress episodes that actually sound like people convincing adversaries across the aisle through persuasive arguments.
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If you consider Enlightenment liberals as 'sincere conservatives', sure. I think many people make this mistake. Wide swaths of society simply reject the fundamentals of the Enlightenment that educated liberals take for granted, and it shows every day
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Some of them try to be. Some of them are crypto-fascists. I give benefit of doubt where I can. And I’m among thise who reject the fundamentals they take for granted, but not for the usual reasons.
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"Cancel culture" isn't a new phenomenon, nor is it distinctly Western. Non-state social ostracism was the preferred means of speech suppression in the USSR for decades. Conservatives never seem to bring that up.
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The sincere conservative position is "conservatives get to say or do whatever they want, with no consequences whatsoever." The sincere conservative position is, and always is, about dominance. You can't take an "Enlightenment liberal" stance with authoritarian white nationalists.
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