Martin Gurri on the young leaker; and Gurri hails journalism on substack; Matt Taibbi slams legacy journalism; Walter Russell Mead on the plight of legacy Midwits; FAIR decries government racialism
"He describes the Zoomer generation as unable to distinguish between the real world and online roles. For them, one’s reputation among fellow members of an online community is more real than an oath of allegiance to a country."
He's got Teixeira's generation right but I think he's wrong that this is unique to the Zoomers, except maybe in the sense of online community. Boomers and the Millennials are full of 'citizens of the world' (not unheard of among my fellow Gen-Xers, either). This is often remarked as the main project of the elite classes in places like Davos. What started as a multinational reaction to the horrors of the Twentieth Century has become, like the zombie Global Order following the fall of the USSR, a self-licking ice cream cone. The main battle lines being drawn between the people who live and work in a Somewhere and want to define themselves as a polity in the ancient Greek sense, and those who merely inhabit a space in a particular location and want to imagine they can live in virtual community that doesn't include any of the people they don't want to know exist.
"…the gloomy tone of so much of today’s academic and journalistic commentary reflects the diminished circumstances in which so many of the chattering classes now live."
I don't know about journalism's side of things, but I think on the academic side of things the gloom is as much a proper response to the giant Kafka-trap horror show that the university system has become. I don't think many academic's world view allows for them to see why it has become horrible; I saw damned few asking or even willing to discuss why students were opting out of college, for instance. That they have made their institution an Inferno of punishment for their own sins is beyond what they can understand without completely rebuilding their assumptions.
It is certainly awful, and not just a matter of "diminished circumstances."
Mead talks more about (post-) Christian Capitalist Civilization, and the general decline of this blue model.
"The hyperindividualism and hedonism that characterize declining blue model society intersect with the massive consequences of the sexual revolution in ways that challenge some of the most deeply rooted institutions and values in American (and indeed in human) life."
As a former hedonist hyper-individualist, often happy but searching for meaning, Mead talks well about many of the challenges being faced, as well as noting reasons for potential optimism.
A key part of the problems and their solution is the family. Those families having 3+ kids will have a majority of the voters that show up in the future at some point. So the culture will be slowly selecting for pro-life family folk, especially the religious ones who can raise believers, but also the few secular families with lots of kids. Good families require parents that are somewhat socially committed to their spouse and kids, meaning others often, maybe usually, come before selfish hedonism.
But elite hedonism is soooo satisfying to so many individuals so often.
The firing of Tucker Carlson is part of the elite response to any journalists who see red-pill truth and accurately report it, in contradiction to "The Narrative" which the Elites prefer.
Arnold: "I believe that subsequently it made the NYT." -- barely technically true, that NYT in some article acknowledged that the Laptop was actually Biden's, and NOT Russian Info, as they so dishonestly asserted before the 2020 election. NOT covering the laptop before the election, and minimally publicizing the truth as it was uncovered, is why the NYT should not be trusted.
The US deep state, in fascist cooperation with Dem supporting media, colluded to illegally influence the US election. Note the recent punishment of some meme guy who spread untrue statements before 2022. ILLEGAL.
But, because of Dem Anarcho-Tyranny, the meme guy gets busted as in tyranny, but the FBI/ IC crooks get promotions & book deals and, in H. Biden's case, his crimes go as unpunished as they would in an anarchy. DoJ has been covering up Biden crimes for decades, but since the FBI got laptop evidence in 2019, the last 3 years of coverup has become more obvious to more people.
How many gov't agents and informers were at the Jan 6 protest? 6? 12? over 40, when counting Homeland Security? And the big violence was a Police agent taking out his gun and killing a small, unarmed woman trespassing while climbing thru a broken door window that she didn't break. (Who did break that window?) I'm too sick of this and get too angry to follow it -- we will likely never know the truth, but all the videos should be shown and be available.
Just as the Nixon tapes were (minus the deleted 18 minutes). Deep State fascist action today is far far worse than what Nixon did -- but because of successful demonization of Republicans which Democrats have long been doing, most Dems accept it - and will vote Dem again - even if they agree it was wrong. Dem Demonization Syndrome.
The issue with Taibbi et al is that they believe hyperbole helps make their case. It's a newsworthy story. It's not bigger than Watergate. Former government officials were not "conspiring". It reminds me of a time I was traveling in France. One of our fellow travelers believed the French people could better understand her English if she spoke louder. The hyperbole might spin up the already true believers. It doesn't persuade the thoughtful people who they need to come over to their side.
I was expecting to agree with you, because Taibbi is indeed hyperbolic.
But you back it up with less than evidence free assertions. What do you think that letter was when 50 intelligence hence officials falsely but confidently called the story Russian disinfo?
And why should the story he bigger than Watergate?
The common question, asked incredulously, is: "Why did some 21-year-old kid have access to sensitive Ukraine war secrets?" I think I can provide some perspective. Our military-intelligence complex employs great numbers of young low-level personnel to generate and distribute what ultimately become TOP SECRET documents. Who do you expect to work at all hours of day and night at distant and lonely places collecting what will become intelligence, and to do routine office work back at headquarters, such as printing out briefing materials? You can be sure they aren't generals and admirals. Historically this work has been done with very few breaches. By now we have thousands of citizens who did these things in their teens and early twenties and then went on with the rest of their lives, keeping their mouths shut as promised.
It may be that today's typical 21-year-old is less an adult, and less capable of adult responsibilities such as keeping the nation's secrets, than their predecessors. But if so we should note that there are other domains in which young adults do work of astonishing gravity. I've heard that the average age on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is 19. All they do is launch and recover multi-million-dollar aircraft on a pitching flight deck in all weather, day and night.
"He describes the Zoomer generation as unable to distinguish between the real world and online roles. For them, one’s reputation among fellow members of an online community is more real than an oath of allegiance to a country."
He's got Teixeira's generation right but I think he's wrong that this is unique to the Zoomers, except maybe in the sense of online community. Boomers and the Millennials are full of 'citizens of the world' (not unheard of among my fellow Gen-Xers, either). This is often remarked as the main project of the elite classes in places like Davos. What started as a multinational reaction to the horrors of the Twentieth Century has become, like the zombie Global Order following the fall of the USSR, a self-licking ice cream cone. The main battle lines being drawn between the people who live and work in a Somewhere and want to define themselves as a polity in the ancient Greek sense, and those who merely inhabit a space in a particular location and want to imagine they can live in virtual community that doesn't include any of the people they don't want to know exist.
"…the gloomy tone of so much of today’s academic and journalistic commentary reflects the diminished circumstances in which so many of the chattering classes now live."
I don't know about journalism's side of things, but I think on the academic side of things the gloom is as much a proper response to the giant Kafka-trap horror show that the university system has become. I don't think many academic's world view allows for them to see why it has become horrible; I saw damned few asking or even willing to discuss why students were opting out of college, for instance. That they have made their institution an Inferno of punishment for their own sins is beyond what they can understand without completely rebuilding their assumptions.
It is certainly awful, and not just a matter of "diminished circumstances."
Mead talks more about (post-) Christian Capitalist Civilization, and the general decline of this blue model.
"The hyperindividualism and hedonism that characterize declining blue model society intersect with the massive consequences of the sexual revolution in ways that challenge some of the most deeply rooted institutions and values in American (and indeed in human) life."
As a former hedonist hyper-individualist, often happy but searching for meaning, Mead talks well about many of the challenges being faced, as well as noting reasons for potential optimism.
A key part of the problems and their solution is the family. Those families having 3+ kids will have a majority of the voters that show up in the future at some point. So the culture will be slowly selecting for pro-life family folk, especially the religious ones who can raise believers, but also the few secular families with lots of kids. Good families require parents that are somewhat socially committed to their spouse and kids, meaning others often, maybe usually, come before selfish hedonism.
But elite hedonism is soooo satisfying to so many individuals so often.
The firing of Tucker Carlson is part of the elite response to any journalists who see red-pill truth and accurately report it, in contradiction to "The Narrative" which the Elites prefer.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/04/24/thoughts-on-tucker-carlsons-firing/
Arnold: "I believe that subsequently it made the NYT." -- barely technically true, that NYT in some article acknowledged that the Laptop was actually Biden's, and NOT Russian Info, as they so dishonestly asserted before the 2020 election. NOT covering the laptop before the election, and minimally publicizing the truth as it was uncovered, is why the NYT should not be trusted.
The US deep state, in fascist cooperation with Dem supporting media, colluded to illegally influence the US election. Note the recent punishment of some meme guy who spread untrue statements before 2022. ILLEGAL.
But, because of Dem Anarcho-Tyranny, the meme guy gets busted as in tyranny, but the FBI/ IC crooks get promotions & book deals and, in H. Biden's case, his crimes go as unpunished as they would in an anarchy. DoJ has been covering up Biden crimes for decades, but since the FBI got laptop evidence in 2019, the last 3 years of coverup has become more obvious to more people.
How many gov't agents and informers were at the Jan 6 protest? 6? 12? over 40, when counting Homeland Security? And the big violence was a Police agent taking out his gun and killing a small, unarmed woman trespassing while climbing thru a broken door window that she didn't break. (Who did break that window?) I'm too sick of this and get too angry to follow it -- we will likely never know the truth, but all the videos should be shown and be available.
Just as the Nixon tapes were (minus the deleted 18 minutes). Deep State fascist action today is far far worse than what Nixon did -- but because of successful demonization of Republicans which Democrats have long been doing, most Dems accept it - and will vote Dem again - even if they agree it was wrong. Dem Demonization Syndrome.
I agree that the Martin Gurri interview is excellent. Thank you for the heads-up Arnold
The issue with Taibbi et al is that they believe hyperbole helps make their case. It's a newsworthy story. It's not bigger than Watergate. Former government officials were not "conspiring". It reminds me of a time I was traveling in France. One of our fellow travelers believed the French people could better understand her English if she spoke louder. The hyperbole might spin up the already true believers. It doesn't persuade the thoughtful people who they need to come over to their side.
I was expecting to agree with you, because Taibbi is indeed hyperbolic.
But you back it up with less than evidence free assertions. What do you think that letter was when 50 intelligence hence officials falsely but confidently called the story Russian disinfo?
And why should the story he bigger than Watergate?
The common question, asked incredulously, is: "Why did some 21-year-old kid have access to sensitive Ukraine war secrets?" I think I can provide some perspective. Our military-intelligence complex employs great numbers of young low-level personnel to generate and distribute what ultimately become TOP SECRET documents. Who do you expect to work at all hours of day and night at distant and lonely places collecting what will become intelligence, and to do routine office work back at headquarters, such as printing out briefing materials? You can be sure they aren't generals and admirals. Historically this work has been done with very few breaches. By now we have thousands of citizens who did these things in their teens and early twenties and then went on with the rest of their lives, keeping their mouths shut as promised.
It may be that today's typical 21-year-old is less an adult, and less capable of adult responsibilities such as keeping the nation's secrets, than their predecessors. But if so we should note that there are other domains in which young adults do work of astonishing gravity. I've heard that the average age on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is 19. All they do is launch and recover multi-million-dollar aircraft on a pitching flight deck in all weather, day and night.
Ken
On FAIR:
My position for a long while now is to lie on such questions. As far as the US government is concerned, I am a black, Hispanic male.
Hispanic alone is a lot less conspicuous. That's what we put on our kids questioners.
Also, if you look at the disability criteria is so broad I imagine there's a good chance you qualify legitimately.