Before speaking with David I don't think anyone had ever been so insistent that I do just what I want to do. When I admitted that I hadn't yet read very much of his book, he told me that I should only read it if and when that's what I felt like doing
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I mention this because it's utterly overthrown my brain. IMO, the "duty" to make oneself an acceptably uniform component of the modern social system is one of the most powerful forces of destruction on the planet, and the sublimation of exceptional desires is part and parcel
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There's something so insidious about the aesthetic of self-deprivation that's developing in the US and Europe — it bills itself as anti-selfishness, but the most selfish thing in the world is to insist that everyone else constrain themselves to wants that are acceptably meager
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This isn't *only* personally destructive. Progress isn't... hard, exactly, but it requires a sort of nurtured obsession that we're currently discouraging in both kids and adults. It requires a lumpiness in both cognition and lifestyle that looks weird to the managerial hierarchy
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A note on these "acceptably meager" wants — "billionaires shouldn't exist" is the motte. "You shouldn't have kids" is just one yield of the bailey. https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/11/03/all-in-all-another-brick-in-the-motte/ …
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There are many good things about David.
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This is true
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Capitalism follows directly from the arguments in his books: creativity, error-correction, optimism, anti-coercion. What are your criticisms?
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For many people capitalist institutions are the main source of coercion and creativity-blockage in their lives. Many people routinely act against their better judgement for money. Doesn't that seem to contradict, rather than follow, from those four values?
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What are your definitions for 2? (I’m getting you started)
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