Big Talk

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yet another slight variant on a previous post (absolutely, positively, the final variant): 

my current way of looking at the current political conflict:

1. the pro-democracy coalition versus the magan coalition 

acronym for MAGAN: Men Against Goodness And Normalcy

The acronym is a reference to the 1987 version of Dragnet:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092925/quotes/?item=qt0307327

The pro-democracy coalition wants a system where everybody counts, and everybody has to account. The magan coalition does not need to have a coherent agenda, and can merely take credit for anything good, and avoid blame for anything bad. It also merely needs to point out that the pro-democracy people are hypocrites, who made a mess of things when they were in charge. 

The magan coalition, like the pro-democracy coalition, is diverse, but 2 things they tend to believe:

1. They believe they have been too nice, too kind, too soft, too empathetic, and they believe that their goodness and generosity has been taken advantage of.

2. They believe they are justified in breaking norms in order to get what they want: norms of etiquette and civility; norms of ethics and the golden rule; norms of due process and the rule of law; norms against racism, and for consent; norms of truth-telling and honest accounting; perhaps most importantly, the post World War II norms against kratocracy, and in favor of a rules based order.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_makes_right

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_international_order

How does magan politics get a foothold? Perhaps it starts with skepticism: skepticism of equality, skepticism of fairness, skepticism of halfhearted, semi-sincere attempts to force equality and fairness on an unequal, unfair world. Under very bad or very bored conditions, the skepticism can perhaps become resentment: positive dislike of liberals, leftists, democrats, equality or even fairness. Under even worse or even more bored conditions, the resentment can perhaps become nihilism, a trolling, taunting, terrifying commitment to the bit: no self-evident truths; no created equal; no unalienable rights; no lives matter. 

The more respectable members of the magan coalition do not approve of resentment or nihilism, but they do tend to agree that the liberals and leftists in their life have become too uppity, too self-righteous, too arrogant, and have not earned the right to criticize them. Therefore, liberals and leftists need to be encouraged to keep eating the mournful oatmeal, and reflect on the possibility that they are not as good, or as smart, as they think they are. Also, that any attempts at reform will almost certainly backfire, and only make things worse.

https://lakewobegon.fandom.com/wiki/Mournful_Oatmeal/2001-03-10 

Politicians like Trump and Netanyahu are, perhaps, useful placeholder politicians, useful to prevent the liberals and leftists from getting their own way, partly out of strategy, partly out of spite.

Trump, perhaps, is best thought of as an attempt to use chaos as a ladder: roller-coaster thrills at the beginning, cruising for a bruising spills by the end.

https://www.reddit.com/r/gameofthrones/comments/1e05hj/s3e06_spoilers_can_someone_explain_littlefingers/

What preventive measures can be taken against magan politics? I do think pro-democracy people should be willing to engage with their critics, even embittered and resentful critics, critics who take pleasure in dissecting their manners, morals, intellect, general physique, and method of eating asparagus. But they should not be willing to throw their own people under the bus. They should not be willing to bad-mouth their own values and principles, either in an attempt to look cool, or because some consultant has convinced them that "vice-signaling" is good politics. 

Perhaps most difficult, pro-democracy people must start to develop an awareness of when rude criticism and skepticism has developed into nihilism, and trolling. I don't believe nihilists and trolls should be pilloried, dehumanized, used as a scapegoat for all of our own problems. But it is necessary to set limits, and to not allow bad-faith trolling to endlessly lead you down the garden path. 

But enough about the magan! We have been talking too much about them. We need to find time to talk about better things. 

 Victory for the pro-democracy coalition requires: 

1. An exciting pro-democracy agenda, which gives people energy, inspiration, enthusiasm, and incentives to organize.

2. Assuaging people's anxieties about liberal or leftist overreach.

3. Assuaging people's anxieties about the dangers of calling out injustice, and the dangers of actively seeking alternatives to injustice.

4. Perhaps, a certain . . . je ne sais quoi. 

What do I mean by liberal or left? Liberal means having a value for freedom. Left means having a value for equality. A member of the liberal-left is someone who has a value for both freedom and equality. 

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Little Talk

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How Much Waking Up Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

1. wake up

2. stare out the window a bit

3. un-tether the phone, and check whether the sky has fallen

4. stare out the window some more

5. get up, stand up, people get ready

6. re-tether the phone, turn on the laptop

7. check e-mails and errands

8. log off!

9. ???

10. profit!

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Next post: June 29, 2026