Heroin liberals and cocaine conservatives
Democratic politics proper—the contest for sovereign power by organizations or individuals with massive support, decided by counting heads—is basically dead. In the present American regime, politicians, pro-regime or anti-regime, are only granted a small trickle of discretionary power which is constrained more and more every year—making the election more and more farcical. Once this power reaches zero, and the politicians are as symbolic as the old hereditary monarchs, the evolution is over. The state has become a pure, naked oligarchy, governed by “independent” institutions. (“Independent,” in this context, means “unaccountable”—protected from elections.) But just because democratic politics isn’t real—or, cleverly, is just barely real—doesn’t mean the show can’t go on. Like: if it was real, would you have to raise money for it? The story is its own thing. The story can go on for ever, like a soap opera. The purpose of raising money is to pretend you are real—ideally, to become real.
Heroin liberals and cocaine conservatives "The difference between conservatism and cocaine is that you can OD on cocaine." Jan 07, 2024 393 49 Share Political orientations in present America are best regarded as fundraising narratives. Democratic politics proper—the contest for sovereign power by organizations or individuals with massive support, decided by counting heads—is basically dead. In the present American regime, politicians, pro-regime or anti-regime, are only granted a small trickle of discretionary power which is constrained more and more every year—making the election more and mor
Explore this link on the map →saved by
related reading
- Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid - The Atlantictheatlantic.com
- Think Tanks Have Defeated Democracypalladiummag.com
- Chapter 1: A Horizon Made of Canvas | An Open Letter to Open-Minded Progressives | Unqualified Reservations by Mencius Moldbugunqualified-reservations.org
- What even is an institution?vitalik.eth.limo
- A New Conservative Agenda - First Thingsfirstthings.com
- Who Really Runs America? - The Atlantictheatlantic.com
- Do not conquer what you cannot defend — LessWronglesswrong.com
- Conservatism in the United States - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- The Great Convergence and Its Discontentsnewdesigncongress.org
- 2:00PM Water Cooler 11/9/2021 | naked capitalismnakedcapitalism.com
- The rise of the abundance factionhypertextjournal.substack.com
- Port Huron Statementwww2.iath.virginia.edu