noahpinion.blog

Why are we ruled by barbarians?

There are many reasons Trump is amenable to the New Right, and became their beloved leader and standard-bearer, but he is fundamentally not of them, and when he is gone, it is that ideology, rather than another charismatic figure, which will flow into the vacuum his exit creates. The New Right will lack Trump's charisma, but it will also lack the baggage of his corruption and (possibly) the lingering stink of his policy blunders.

noahpinion.blog

Liberalism needs a new philosophy of immigration

Progressives in America and socialists in Europe still desperately claim that what angry working-class voters really want is more economic support. They keep offering more and more lavish promises of welfare supports and price controls, while staunchly opposing restrictions on immigration. The approach keeps failing, and the far right keeps rising.

noahpinion.blog

Are the Democrats going to save us this time?

If you think the GOP will return to being the party of Mitt Romney, John McCain, or Ronald Reagan after Trump is gone, think again. MAGA is already morphing from a personality cult into an ideology — a deeply xenophobic, economically retrograde ideology obsessed with expelling immigrants, and convinced that wealth has made the West immoral and weak.

noahpinion.blog

Slopulism is taking over America

Once people decide that technocrats, elites, experts, and gatekeepers aren't worth listening to, they become vulnerable to all sorts of policy scams. Slopulism that arises out of pure ignorance is very hard to correct, and social media — which elevates the dumbest and loudest at the expense of the most well-informed — probably makes it harder. But when slopulist ideas are being promoted by smart people with ulterior motives, it can be a lot harder to wake the populace up.