This is where I save interesting links.
-
Economic Lessons from the Screwtape Letters
Great post from Kyla Scanlon. Convenience alone cannot satisfy the human soul. A mention about the slow rise/return of indie bookstores which I found encouraging:
And not to get too abstract here in my economic newsletter – but rejection, convenience, and absence of surprise are all economic questions. When enough people choose friction over convenience, markets respond. We’re seeing early signs of this: the (slow) revival of independent bookstores, the rise of deinfluencing, the growing market for durability over disposability, especially as the economy turns.
-
Big Jim’s Boozy Bike Trip to Braemar
The algorithm served me up this gem last night and I absolutely loved it.
There’s a term I can never remember, but it has something to do with being nostalgic for a time in life that you never experienced.
Whatever you call this – not necessarily a desire to drink whiskey and ride my bike 20 miles through Scotland – I feel like I missed out on it.
Although, I could experience it in my own way if I really wanted to experience it; to live it:
I could delete Instagram from my phone.
I could delete my Strava.
I could write letters.
I could go on runs in the woods without my phone.
I could write on a typewriter.
I could get the TV out of the house.
I could show up to a friends house in hopes they’re free to sit on the porch and talk.The cultural current is strong against these things.
But I could still do it if I wanted.
I could live a bit more like Big Jim.
Dare I?
-
WWEconomics: Kayfabe and the Trade War
Another Kyle Scanlon piece that doesn’t miss. She seems to have endless ability to create new terms out of pop culture and political slop that is excellent.
It’s all designed to keep the crowd (the global public) engaged with a performance. Flood the zone, etc.
https://kyla.substack.com/p/wweconomics-kayfabe-and-the-trade
-
The Other COVID Reckoning
In the end people average out the whole subject to “Wait, you support charities? But didn’t you hear about that one that turned out to be corrupt? Can’t believe you’d be into something like that.”
Short post from Scott Alexander on the most consequential thing about the virus itself being the least talked about thing: it killed a lot of people.
The quote above is memorable because it struck me as one of the real downsides to memetics where you boil down and poison complex things with quick assumptions.
Narrative poison.
It reminds me of growing up in a fundamentalist Christian tradition. I don’t mean that negatively. I’m only saying that often things largely got boiled down to, This is good. The world is against it. And for some reason that never felt true.
But countering it in any meaningful way is next to impossible.
There are a staggering amount of comments on this post too. Interesting.
-
AI Will Change What It Is to Be Human. Are We Ready?
Humans are remarkably adaptable. We foraged and farmed, we built factories and spaceships, we wrote prayers, plays, poems, novels, and code. And now? Now we created this.
As always, Tyler Cowen:
-
Is Classical Liberalism for Losers
https://www.thefp.com/p/tyler-cowen-is-classical-liberalism-for-losers
Excellent piece on classical liberalism and its long game and influence over moments in history that have long impacts, e.g. the US Constitution. I think I have many classical liberal tendencies, leaning left.
I counsel patience, and investment in good ideas and in talent, not a quest for power per se.
What is truly scarce in today’s world are classical liberal attitudes and beneficial classical liberal revolutions. You, too, can work toward those, as long as you are prepared for long periods of disappointment. In contrast, there will always be plenty of people who seek power. If you are skeptical of them, as classical liberal attitudes dictate, most of the time those expectations will be proven correct.
-
Live Not by Lies
https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/live-not-by-lies
One to read over, and over again.
-
‘Cry More Libs’ is not a Strategy
https://www.thefp.com/p/rod-dreher-trump-enemies
I’d read almost anything that’s self-critical of one’s own “party.” This should tell me what I need to know about my own ability (and responsibility) to do this.
This was a striking paragraph:
-
The Emergency is Here
-
This is sin
Go backwards 15 years in your life. Close your eyes.
Imagine anyone in your life who you respect making this image. What would your reaction be?
I think you would at least be confused. Hopefully, you’d be disappointed.
Whether the White House has allowed a Zoomer (just “doing their job”) to take over the twitter and run it as a right-wing meme account or not, the evil is clear all the same.
Its mockery and mememification of politics is deeply sad.
I am a Christian.
The is a difficult, and confusing, reality that God calls us to love everyone. Love even when the law says that one among us did not follow the law. We are called to show mercy even when we think we have the right answer.
This sort of antic from the White House twitter account is an expression of what’s going on in our cultural heart, if there is one. It’s deeply flawed. It’s brutally lacking in empathy. Or mercy.
The stakes of not showing mercy, kindness, and seeking justice are pretty clear:
Matthew 37 – 46
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”