If you don't know @SWGoldman, it's time to correct the error
He's one of the most brilliant center-right thinkers around—and perhaps the preeminent scholar of American nationalism. His book AFTER NATIONALISM is one of my favorite books of 2021
Do check out the last 20 minutes of our @WCrowdsLive conversation with @swgoldman. I've been struggling with these issues, but I think I got some clarity
The episode is also available on all major podcast platforms 👇🏽
Is America a "shitty" country? This is the question we debate on the episode. Yes, I'm willing to concede that it is.
Hypothesis: Shittier countries are more alive and vibrant. Their present may be depressing but this may be the price to pay for a more promising future
I can't remember who said it on the episode—I don't want to put words in @SWGoldman's mouth—but someone said that the U.S. is basically a "very rich third-world country"
On a (somewhat) more serious note, our point of departure was @SWGoldman's recent piece in @TheWeek, which is one of the best I've read in months. He argues that we're more like Latin America than Europe... and that's not necessarily bad
By the episode's end, I felt much better about America's future than I have in a long time. First of all, we have something not a single European country has—unrestricted birthright citizenship. This is so central to the American idea that that by itself is good enough for me
If birthright citizenship is so central to the American idea, it's worth asking who else has it. If not Europe, then where? Central and South America. And in many other ways, we share more in common with Latin America: high crime, guns, legacies of slavery, chaotic pluralism
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For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, I've decided to listen to the entire Sonic Youth discography in chronological order, in the (perhaps misplaced) hope that this might help make me more productive
The first two Sonic Youth albums—the Sonic Youth EP and 'Confusion is Sex'—are surprisingly good. More listenable than I would have expected and intriguing because they don't sound much like what would come after
Sonic Youth's third album 'Bad Moon Rising' is oddly compelling, although probably too inaccessible and dirge-like for even my idiosyncratic musical tastes. The mood and hazy production is dark and dreamlike—always a plus in my book
In Tunisia, male president stages a coup and appoints first ever female prime minister in Arab world, in apparent attempt to confuse Western observers who prioritize liberalism over democracy
We fall for this every time. That's what happens when you prioritize liberal values over democratic legitimacy, and I suppose it's something we'll continue falling for, since we don't think Arabs are ready for democracy (in part because they're not liberal yet)
As a matter of policy, the U.S. should prioritize democracy over liberalism whenever the two are in tension. We're a long way from that, however
It's always striking to me to go back and look at what Madison and Adams actually said about democracy. They could be quite eloquent in their disdain. There were few things they feared more than the man on the street. Instead, they supported rule by elites
More than 200 years later, although we are now a democracy, we still haven't escaped the legacy of the founders
What would it look like, though, to flirt not with "direct democracy" but democracy by random selection or what's sometimes called "sortition"?
This is a must-read from @dmarusic on the "missionary position" in foreign policy. The first two paragraphs are amusing and unexpected, drawing on Christopher Hitchens' provocatively-titled book on Mother Teresa. 1/x
Something has changed in the American worldview. There has always been a particular kind of religious certainty about progress. But it has changed. The religious certainty remains. Today, though, when the arc of history bends, it bends in the passive voice. 2/x
This is ultimately why, despite my anger at how Biden did it and his lack of empathy, I couldn't help but support withdrawal from Afghanistan. (And I'd rather have America stop its often-horrific drone war featuring military brass who shrugged at collateral damage). 3/x
I try to take the argument several steps further, including outlining how each of us can resist the urge to find ultimate meaning in politics
Secularization in the U.S. leads to very different outcomes than secularization in the Middle East. Secularists in the U.S. need politics. "Secularists" in Arab countries, because they're still relatively religious, don't need politics quite as much