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Nicholas Grossman Profile picture
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6 Mar, 4 tweets, 2 min read
I'm not a conservative, but I find parts of conservatism appealing.
@BillKristol in @BulwarkOnline emphasizes "liberty, justice, good government, democracy, stability" and follows them to their natural conclusion: prioritizing US Constitutional democracy.
thebulwark.com/the-facts-of-l…
Kristol recognizes something many conservatives prefer to deny: America has a two party system, and today, on the question of US Constitutional democracy, one party is pro- and one is anti-.
That's new, and nothing is more important to conserve than US Constitutional democracy.
I know why many US conservatives don't like Kristol's clear-eyed point. Partisan identity is powerful, policy preferences matter, and both say to oppose Dems.
I got negative reactions when I made a similar argument about NeverTrump conservatives in 2017.
arcdigital.media/the-republican…
But it's unavoidably true that Constitutional democracy—complete with rule of law, checks and balances, peaceful transfer of power—is our most important tradition, bringing order despite disagreement.
Prioritizing it is the difference between conservatism and right-wing populism.

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More from @NGrossman81

Nicholas Grossman Profile picture
22 Feb
"Mean tweets" is an interesting moment for "Twitter is not real life." Because in the real world, if a bunch of people you'll have to work with think you're a jerk due to past interactions, that's a normal reason not to hire you, esp. when there are other qualified candidates.
Some Twitter users presume it's not "real life," which means interactions on the platform don't count, so you can be as abrasive as you want and if anyone holds it against you offline they're wrong.
But in the Information Age, public parts of the internet very much are real life
As with the things I've written about cancel culture, I think the "mean tweets" thing is complicated, with the exact line hard to determine. How far is too far, and what should people let slide?
Either way, I disagree with those who argue from the position that any line is wrong.
Read 6 tweets
Nicholas Grossman Profile picture
21 Feb
US going after Oath Keepers:
-Shows the govt's taking Capitol attack seriously
-Reduces threat from these violent right-wing extremists who've demonstrated they'll attack America
-Shows no new domestic terrorism law needed; existing capabilities sufficient
nytimes.com/interactive/20…
All of these members of one militia getting charged with conspiracy highlights how the Capitol attack was, at least to some extent, pre-planned.
Every rationale for punishment applies: Balance a wrong, take violent people "off the streets," deter others from similar lawbreaking.
The Oath Keepers are especially concerning because they target military and law enforcement for recruitment, warping the concept of the oath to protect the public.
This makes them more dangerous than, say, the Proud Boys (not that the Proud Boys aren't dangerous; it's relative).
Read 6 tweets
Nicholas Grossman Profile picture
21 Feb
This story of a librarian resigning from Smith College has gone viral, with many strong reactions. I'll once again caution everyone against taking a partial account and plugging it into preconceived culture war narratives, and otherwise offer no opinion.
Except for one thing.
1/x
If you have a positive or negative opinion about librarian Jodi Shaw's letter, racial sensitivity training, the way @bariweiss presented the story, etc., up to you.
But one thing stood out to me: the focus on Shaw wanting to rap in a presentation for students & being told no.
2/x
Making jokes that imagine a librarian awkwardly rapping? By all means.
But I've seen quite a few claims that Shaw rapping would be racist because she's white.
Really? It's 2021! Black Americans originated hip hop, but it's long since become a global artform. It's music!
3/x
Read 9 tweets
Nicholas Grossman Profile picture
19 Feb
This is such a shallow take about the Middle East.
The US is deeply embedded in the region, whether we want it to be or not. The US has partners, military bases, security interests, business interests, more. It's built up over decades. Could change course, but a lot is locked in.
It might be satisfying, in an internet takester way, to say to the Middle East "go to hell, you're on your own, we're out," but that's a very stupid way to conduct foreign policy.
The US has been in for a long time, The world is too connected. Power vacuums can be very dangerous.
This doesn't mean the US can't change it's approach to the Middle East at all. Of course it can (and in some ways, I'd say should).
But if you think the US can just give Israel, Egypt, KSA, UAE, Bahrain, Jordan etc. the finger and it'll work out fine, you're not a serious person.
Read 4 tweets
Nicholas Grossman Profile picture
15 Feb
Does anyone feel they can "speak freely" at work?
Maybe I'm weird, but I've always operated under the assumption that close friends and family are the people you speak freely around.
Do all of you love every boss you've ever had? And if not, did you regularly tell them they suck?
Charitable interpretation is for arguments, not surveys.
If different respondents interpret "speak freely" in different ways, then it's not a good question.
As a result, many of those commenting on this survey are primarily asserting their preconceptions.
Consider this:
In one org, everyone's a Shia Muslim with similar levels of religiosity. At another, there's people of various religions.
When religion comes up, people at the first org speak more freely.
But are they freer? Or just in a more homogenous environment? Is one better?
Read 4 tweets
Nicholas Grossman Profile picture
14 Feb
James Damore's Google gender diversity memo is back in the news thanks to the NYT story about Slate Star Codex, and most get it wrong.
It's neither entirely sexist nor brave truth-telling. As I showed in @ArcDigi, it's deeply flawed scientific reasoning.
arcdigital.media/evaluating-the…
Damore's argument about gender and diversity in the tech industry is full of logical fallacies and misguided assumptions.
It reads more as a just-so story, in which he sees more men than women in tech, assumes that's natural, and goes looking for things to confirm his priors.
Damore & his defenders claim to be scientific by referencing studies that find differences between men & women on average.
But small average differences in the general population doesn't tell us anything about big differences in a non-representative sub-population (tech recruits)
Read 5 tweets

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