In chapter 5 Douthat talks about decadence being driven by a lack of serious enemies. The Middle East did not provide a clash of civilizations but corrupt dictators and guerrillas in caves. The alt-right retreated online rather than uniting after Charlottesville. Antifa is LARP.
-
Show this thread
-
The same is true of "the great online polarization". Everyone's outgroup is pathetic and gormless, whether it's SJWs or MRAs or MAGAtards or whatever. Online mob violence claims the occasional victim, but it compares to the hot culture wars of 1969 like anime porn to a real orgy.
1 reply 2 retweets 6 likesShow this thread -
Scott Alexander probably sensed it when writing disparagingly of "conflict theorists". Rationalists, including me, try to avoid being mind-killed by imagining some dastardly enemy where none exists, or play-acting a
#Resistance to an imagined oppressor.https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/01/24/conflict-vs-mistake/ …1 reply 0 retweets 5 likesShow this thread -
I wonder if it's unusual wisdom or just the fact that nerds can entertain themselves without needing enemies, by solving technical problems and philosophizing and being Buddha-curious. But this doesn't work for a lot of other people.
1 reply 1 retweet 6 likesShow this thread -
So every artist and writer tries to cast themselves as a brave rebel because there's no assertive culture to actually rebel against like in the 1960s. "Freedom fighters" of all stripes flock to die on a hill in Syria or a boat off the coast of Venezuela, dreaming of real wars.
1 reply 1 retweet 7 likesShow this thread -
And man, I kinda get it. I'm trying to get excited to think and write about community and money and seduction and consciousness but I'd drop all this shit in a heartbeat if there was a real enemy to pit my courage against. I feel your pain, conflict LARPers. Decadence sucks.
3 replies 0 retweets 12 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @yashkaf
Can you tell me what work you were referencing? By Douthat?
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.