Thread by @davetroy

1/The concept of “folk politics” is a useful one for describing why the left has become ossified and reactionary against the right, and why the right has the upper hand in establishing the Overton window.

designing-history.world/en/theorie/fol…

2/I don’t know that I agree with the entire agenda here, but I do think we need to ground ourselves in first principles, with a firm and unwavering commitment to rule by the demos, and a firm and forceful rejection of libertarian anarchism and its neofeudal aims.

3/Also worth noting that “Marxism” is super dumb and has produced some of the world’s greatest atrocities. Why? Because of how humans behave in groups. No one bothered to consult a sociologist or study the effects of in-group/out-group conflict.

4/Same with “Austrian school” Econ, which deduces an entire worldview from one idea: that humans are greedy. Nevermind all the conflicting evidence that suggests humans optimize around social considerations. Again, sociology is fully absent.

5/The simplistic folk idea that “capitalism” is a bogeyman and all we need to do is eliminate it is equally absurd. Trade is what humans are built to do. And it doesn’t have to produce horrific outcomes. That’s all a byproduct of government capture—a specific, solvable problem.

6/In the US, “folk politics” suits us because we are steeped in “team sports.” We want simple answers. We root for our “team” and want them to “win.”

What if the real world is much more complex, and “folk politics” is the log in our eye that keeps us from seeing?

7/I mildly enjoyed “Don’t Look Up” but was annoyed by it, because it ultimately represents this kind of flaccid, oversimplified “but mah team” kind of thinking that has come to characterize the progressive left. I’ve written about this some.

davetroy.medium.com/to-progressive…

8/The sooner we ditch the stupid, outdated, manifestly wrong Marxist vs. Capitalist frame, the sooner we can seize the initiative from the radical right and put them into a defensive posture. It’s this “folk politics” that keeps us in-game and from breaking the 4th wall.

9/Ultimately defending democracy has nothing to do with “-isms” and indeed no “-ism” will save us. If you believe in democracy that requires a full-throated defense of the “demos” and ensuring that it is fully and completely wired to the rule of law and our institutions.

10/Projects like crypto that offer ersatz governance models NOT for the “demos,” but rather on a country-club model for scheme participants are actively antagonistic to democracy, as they incentivize privatization of institutions and redistribute power from the “demos.”

11/The central project for 21st century pro-democracy forces is to jettison old team sports rivalries and folk political tropes, and forge a new agenda rooted in maximally empowering the demos. Use new words, language, and models. Throw rivals off balance. Force confrontation.

12/Ditch sad old Marx, the sixties, the culture wars; that’s all in the history books, and the right has the upper hand.

Assert the primacy of the Demos.

The opposition has no answer. Just get rich quick schemes and nonsense. Outflank them. A pincer move will suffocate it.

Worth noting that a Quillette needs a Jacobin, a Reason needs a Mother Jones to survive. By directing energy to new first principles strategies, one can cut off the oxygen supplied by old in-group/out-group rivalries. Remake the world anew.