Of all the years I have been part of the HN community, I think that this is the first time something has hit the front page that truly made me go "wtf am I reading?"
There has been an uptick in neo-reactionary sentiment all through Silicon Valley. The title is a bit... strong, but this isn't a fringe thing. For example, a talk at Startup School is explicitly mentioned.
In my opinion, the article is quick in lumping all kinds of groups together. Mens Rights Activists are right next to some weird Monarchy believers. As someone who follows the ideas of the former group more closely, I do not see them (except for a few fringe ones) jumping to any kind of conclusions a'la 'Monarchy!!'
I do think that what passes 'the so-called left' is in a situation where a couple of people are becoming very fearful. Because everything regarding feminism has been WAY overdone. And now actually borders on autocratic behavior.
Feminism and its very successful movement shows more and more how it is rotten to its very core. It has become an ideology that:
- dehumanizes men
- abuses and twists taboos for political gain of a few
- created a new power hierarchy that is aptly described by the term 'oppression olympics'
And I think the end of feminism is a major shift that's
going to happen very soon.
If you are not completely closed to reasonable arguments, I would recommend checking websites such as 'avoiceformen.com'. Again in my opinion, they have very reasonable positions on a core, if not the core issue of society - the relation between the male and female gender.
In some sense, I believe that people who go crazy nut rightwing might overcompensate for an ideology that turns out to be as destructive as their ideas - feminism.
This is a good case for why MRAs are lumped in there. You're both myopic about a social dichotomy (men vs women or gifted rulers vs plebs), lack empathy for the other side of the dichotomy, and go through logical gymnastics to reach a conclusion that a power struggle must occur to benefit your side of the dichotomy. The internet is a great venue for this sort of dynamic.
I would add that the MRAs are very much of a piece with the protofascist right in a number of ways, including hearkening back to a mythical better time, wanting to "restore" that better time, a fondness for dominance and obedience, and an extraordinary ability to blame all their problems on "those people". The main difference seems to be that the MRAs want to blame women and feminists, whereas the protofacists tend to blame brown people and the left. In both cases, though, it seems to me to be about pushing for their dominance.
For those interested in the roots of MRA craziness, there's a great book called, "Why Does He Do That?" It's written by a guy who has run a program for abusive men for 15 years and is a great examination of the attitudes and behaviors that underlie abusive behavior. He doesn't mention the Internet in it at all, but over and over I was struck by the parallels between that and various aspects of Internet culture, including the MRAs and the anonymous trolls.
Myopic about a social dichotomy? How do I lack empathy for the other side? Why do you even note 'gifted rulers vs. plebs' - I singled out the MRM, what the heck do they have to do with that?
No power struggle?! Feminism is arguably the most successful (bullshit) religion in the west.
I find it kind of weird to construe Justine Tunney's opinions as somehow related to Ayn Rand. I have no idea what she is really supporting, but there is no confusing her with an Objectivist. Whatever you might think of Ayn Rand, at least she never invented a phrase like, "tyranny of the individual."
The author takes Peter Thiel's statements grossly out of context. My own reading of his statements and actions place him much closer to "Voluntaryist" than "Monarchist".
Given that, I can't place much stock in the rest of his assertions.
Crummy article, but the real issue is that California is getting increasingly fed up with a huge chunk of the US which is simultaneously A) happy to take California's revenue and B) beat California up about it.
If you're going to ask to borrow money from your neighbor, you should at least be polite to him.
What? How is California's federal tax revenue relevant to the article? If California secedes these people will still argue that you shouldn't have a vote and the state should transition to monarchy.
Let's face it. Silicon Valley has hit the big time. The sheer size of our industry coupled with the impact it has on everyday non-technical citizens means we are a political force to be reckoned with. Monetarily speaking, we're not quite as powerful as, for instance, oil and defense, but we more than make up for that in the respect we generally afforded by the population. However, the industry's rhetoric and attitudes haven't caught up to that fact, hence these sort of blunt political statements.
I'd say SA's political influence is diminished by the fact that SA companies employ less people per unit of output than almost all other industries. Some may champion this fact as efficiency and strength, but for the most part, people = votes. So given a tech firm and an old economy firm, the old economy firm has way more clout b/c its workers have way more votes.
My thesis above is somewhat diminished by today's very loose campaign finance restrictions.
> Monetarily speaking, we're not quite as powerful as, for instance, oil and defense
Apple alone has more cash on hand than Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrup Grumman, and Raytheon are worth combined. They have plenty of money; what they lack is the knowledge and motivation to use it effectively for political purposes. The attitudes expressed on this site a few weeks ago about refusing to play the game with respect to state and national politics is the reason oil and defense have far more influence in Washington than tech.
Both the vocativ article and the baffler article are extremely superficial. Neither highlights the importance of much more serious writers than Moldbug, e.g. Steve Sailer.
Phrases in this article that constitute nothing less than absolute blind misses and lapses in journalistic judgment:
"Welcome to the latest political fashion among the California Confederacy: total corporate despotism."
Well, we're two paragraphs in and you already went from critical analysis to full-blown agenda reporting.
"Some are atheists, while others affect obscure orthodox beliefs, but most are youngish white males embittered by “political correctness.”"
We've moved on to sweeping generalizations.
"As best I can tell, their ideal society best resembles Blade Runner, but without all those Asian people cluttering up the streets. Neoreactionaries like to see themselves as the heroes of another sci-fi movie, in fact, sometimes boasting that they have been “redpilled,” like Keanu Reeves’s character in The Matrix—a movie Moldbug regards as “genius.”"
And now we're in the territory of implied racism, straw-manning and caricature.
"By so doing, Moldbug has been able to an attract an audience that welcomes the usual teeth-gnashing white supremacists who haunt the web while also leaving room for a more socially acceptable assortment of “men’s rights” advocates, gun nuts, transhumanist libertarians, disillusioned Occupiers and well-credentialed Silicon Valley entrepreneurs."
By the time we get here the sweeping generalizations have become the entire article and it's no longer about the material in question but an excuse for the author to broadbrush everyone he personally dislikes into a neat little category. Seems more like he was using 4chan's /pol/ section than Moldbug's blog. Please note that I'm not a Moldbug fan and I loathe Justine Tunney, for the record; but this article reeks of other issues and definitely of straw-manning those who critique mainstream journalism:
"Apart from their reverence for old-timey tyrants, they espouse a belief in “human biodiversity,” which is basically racism in a lab coat. This scientific-sounding euphemism invariably refers to supposed differences in intelligence across races. It is so spurious that the Wikipedia article on human biodiversity was deleted because, in the words of one editor, it is “purely an Internet theory.” Censored once again by The Cathedral, alas."
The problem here is again, the broadbrush of 'racism' - Again, not an HBD believer - but to instantly use that label is bigoted reporting and confirmation bias and shows a lack of journalistic ethics.
Furthermore, Wikipedia draws its primary credibility from mainstream news, which primary draws its stories from small outlets or other large outlets (Reuters) and reprints them. Essentially; this is a journalist thumbing his nose and saying 'aha, behold, I'm the man, I am sponsored'.
"“If you ask me to condemn [mass murderer] Anders Breivik, but adore Nelson Mandela, perhaps you have a mother you’d like to fuck,” Yarvin writes."
Note that the paraphrase adds "mass murderer" to Breivik who killed 77, but not to Nelson Mandela who killed tens of thousands as part of the MK and their bombing campaigns.
"Yet the conservative press remains generally dismissive." This is an outright lie and fabrication; the conservative publications which reviewed Moldbug's work loved it.
"If the Koch brothers have proved anything, it’s that no matter how crazy your ideas are, if you put serious money behind those ideas, you can seize key positions of authority and power and eventually bring large numbers of people around to your way of thinking. Moreover, the radicalism may intensify with each generation. Yesterday’s Republicans and Independents are today’s Libertarians. Today’s Libertarians may be tomorrow’s neoreactionaries, whose views flatter the prejudices of the new Silicon Valley elite."
And now we've gone to Koch and assumed insanity - this from the supposedly trustworthy folks over at The Baffler - nothing less than a farce at this point. For every Koch there is a Soros. The money pool is bipartisan.
"The formulation mirrored Moldbug’s “Cathedral.” Srinivasan’s central theme was the notion of “exit”—as in, exit from democratic society, and entry into any number of corporate mini-states whose arrival will leave the world looking like a patchwork map of feudal Europe."
Now everyone is Moldbug; straw man complete.
This article is a great example of how supposed anti-racism quickly turns into an equally vapid form of bigotry against skeptics and that 'anti-racism' includes, like any collective, some of the most bigoted individuals in the world.
Please note that the author of all these knee-jerk reactions to supposed 'racism' is a well-dressed middle-upper class male in Corey Pein. Do we really need successful white male journalists to fight racism and hierarchy in print and label everyone who does not as 'Moldbug' or a potential member of Stormfront?
I cannot help but mourn the future of journalism as the liberal outlets take over with massive contributions and yet continually straw man Koch industries while they receive billions from Soros, Bloomberg, et al.
Why must the supposed opposition be labeled as racist, insane, etc.? Why aren't the ideas analyzed in an academic, scientific manner? Have we passed the age of rational discussion in favor of writing those who disagree with us off as lunatics, 'sympathizers' and 'oppressors' in the age of the oppression olympics?
When the Snowden/NSA revelations hit, and I realized that I'd been participating for 30 years in the willing construction of the new Panopticon, I was mighty depressed. What good the awesome tech of the world if we are using it to oppress and enslave our fellow man? "You call it entertainment - I call it a rat in the cage." If the people of the one country most free in the world can't and factually WON'T do anything about it, then .. we're screwed and must accept our fate.
But now I see that in fact, it is meant to be this way. In fact, generations of technologists have been raised to believe that their way is the most righteous (in the full sense of the word) - simply because it is supported by technological prowess. A kind of power which governs the willing and the unwilling equally.
So now I think that technology is not the answer. Social revolution is the answer, but of course all the good, old tools of social revolution have been usurped. The new Facebook religion rules us all.
So now I resolve even harder to teach the kids the old ways: freedom, liberty, equality for all.
