We should take pleasure in the generative possibilities of conflict. That's what makes us who we are—and we are better for it. Consensus, on the other hand, is not what democracy is meant to produce.
This piece is part of a new series for subscribers—"The Friday Essay," where @dmarusic and I alternate essays each week. This is our sixth installment. Last week, Damir wrote a fascinating piece with a fascinating title, which you should read
My first Friday Essay was on 'Why Christianity Failed,' where I tested out some new (and perhaps controversial) arguments. It also featured some wonderful art selection courtesy of @dmarusic: wisdomofcrowds.live/why-christiani…
For just $5 a month, you get 50 essays a year, members-only podcasts every week (including most recently with @ggreenwald), and that's just for starters. We're trying to build something unusual and exciting, so please do consider supporting us: wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe/
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I have a new essay that delves deeper into one of my preoccupations—whether "unity" or "consensus" are good things, or whether they are best avoided in democracy. Here's my case against consensus. 1/x
In his address to Congress, Biden said something that stood out to me, because it seemed to misunderstand at a rather fundamental level why democracies are better than autocracies. 2/x
The framing of the problem betrays a technocratic bias—that regime types should be judged based on whether they work. "What works-ism" provides us with a purely instrumental argument, and one that wades into the democracy vs. autocracy contest on autocrats' terms. 3/x
What you'll get is three good friends debating in good faith, trying to figure out how and why they diverge. Based on the conversation, I think that some of our disagreements are foundational, but I mean that in the best way possible. We don't need to agree on the foundation
.@AkyolinEnglish is proposing a particular path that Islam could follow, and the direction that I think Islam will follow is quite a bit different. Depending on which direction you think is preferable and more realistic, there are some major implications for U.S. foreign policy
Like other Friday Essays, it's for members only, so make sure to subscribe to get access: wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe/
For those of you who are new to @WCrowdsLive, Damir and I alternate essays each week. These are meant to be "anti-opeds," more tentative and exploratory than what you'll see elsewhere. Here's one of our previous entries if you missed it: wisdomofcrowds.live/why-christiani…
Our inaugural Friday Essay came out last month, on "The Paradox of American Faith" by @dmarusic, which I still think is one of the best essays I've read in some time. wisdomofcrowds.live/american-faith/
My latest for @WCrowdsLive on the striking decline in national pride and to what extent we should be worried. The number of Democrats who say they are "extremely proud" to be American dropped from 65 percent in 2003 to 24 percent last year. 1/x
Last week, Biden's ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said a number of things that were unusual for a senior official responsible for representing the US on the world stage. It is one thing to attack what we do; it is another thing to attack what America is. 2/x
What we're witnessing today is a precipitous drop on two important measures. I have written about religious decline elsewhere. But if that coincides (similarly along partisan lines) with a decline in national pride, then it becomes of even greater concern. 3/x
Excited to share this with all of you. Our two-part conversation with @ggreenwald is out!
I hope you'll find it as fascinating as we did. We talk about Brazil, Trump, January 6, Chomsky, American exceptionalism, and why liberals don't like him
In Part 2, the conversation gets more personal, with @ggreenwald discussing if he considers himself a man of the left and whether he would have ever considered serving in a Bernie Sanders administration
One thing I push @ggreenwald on is whether the left has a blindspot when it comes to anti-American dictators and how he assesses America's bad behavior relative to China and Russia's. This was one of my favorite parts of the conversation. wisdomofcrowds.live/the-world-acco…