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Somewhere in America... - Richard Hanania's Newsletter
Hanania is a crazy libertarian rightwinger, but he shoots right!
A nation is an imagined community, and most people like to think that their beliefs, prejudices, and aesthetics are shared by the majority of the public. Even self-styled “heretics” who pride themselves on adhering to an unpopular ideology hold that they are somehow channeling the true preferences of their fellow citizens. White nationalists believe that deep down most Americans are just as prejudiced as they are but too scared to be open about it, and socialists think that the vast majority of Americans would vote with them to soak the rich if they could stop being manipulated by Republican hucksters and move beyond their irrational bigotry.For political partisans, events are seen through a tribal lens, and this is more true on matters of aesthetics than anything else. Were all those Kamala Coconut memes fun, even inspiring, or cringe? Did they have the feel of a relaxed backyard barbecue or getting called to the HR office? Were JD Vance’s comments about childless cat ladies forgivable flubs that got at something true regarding how hard it has become to raise children, or an ugly peak into a diseased soul that seeks to impose order on an unpredictable reality by controlling women?
Emmanuel Florac
in reply to Emmanuel Florac • • •@tomgrzybow@societas.online that's the point : people really disagree with you. Imagine, I know that some people actually believe in their religion, that's barely comprehensible to me.
Notice how well Hanania described opinions he deems completely crazy. I mean the guy is a libertarian for fuck's sake. He thinks that a man makes himself somehow, like you're somehow born out of your own ass. That's *really** nonsense (because I really thought hard about it, mind you). But he's able to faithfully describe what others think. That's intelligence.
If you can't steelman the opposite opinion to yours, then you don't really know why you're believing what's you're thinking. You must be able to steelman both sides, before saying that you made your mind. Because those crazies, those haters, etc have reasons to think what they think -- those that don't simply go with the flow, like Hanania. Really fucking damn good reasons.
Emmanuel Florac
in reply to Emmanuel Florac • • •