A New Opportunity, and a Response to Yarvin

Join me in Miami next week

People have been asking me how I’ve been doing. Not too badly. The temporary humiliation over my past views and what an overall loser I used to be has passed, replaced with a feeling that my story can provide inspiration to others.

In other news, Yarvin has written a critique of me, which also attacks Chris Rufo and John Roberts. Even though I’m not above a dunk, I tend not to like “feuds,” as they center personalities and not ideas. Plus, dealing with Yarvin on either a personal or intellectual level is pretty annoying, as his articles seem to be more performance art intended to try to place his opponents in a subordinate position than good faith attempts at debate. He begins his article by calling me a cuck, and then proceeds to challenge me to justify my existence by responding to his questions, which can easily be answered by anyone familiar with my work.

But since many people tell me that there’s significant overlap among our respective audiences, it’s probably worthwhile to say a quick word on the main differences between our worldviews. Just as how I’ve previously noted that much of my writing has been arguing with the ghost of my younger, angrier self, the ghost of Yarvin can also be found in a few of my previous articles. The gist of my critique of him is that I think that understanding and changing the world requires one to seriously grapple with policy and social science arguments. I see Yarvin thought as presenting “Revolution!” and “Monarchy!” as his trump cards to deal with every issue from affirmative action to entitlement spending to urban crime, which is fun, while I do boring stuff like think about rational policy responses that I think can work. His idea that only ***revolution*** can ever change anything is simply wrong. Conservatives have won on specific issues when they have prioritized them and devised intelligent strategies. But thinking about policy is, again, very boring, while thinking of ***revolution*** is exciting, so I think that’s the Yarvin appeal.

The other interesting difference that I think is worth mentioning is that Yarvin is “all in” on the right in ways that I am not. He once challenged his allies on abortion and was smacked down for it. Meanwhile, I’ve been arguing with the right on not only abortion rights, but surrogacy and euthanasia. I don’t believe in a right-wing MONARCHY and don’t think such a thing is possible, but if one did come to exist I think it would have a large role for theocrats, which I definitely don’t believe would be an improvement over our current society. I think Yarvin is with me on the specifics regarding this constellation of issues, but he needs to downplay his atheism in order to maintain a black and white world in which liberals are simply the enemy and must be defeated.

I’m not against writers being prudent. But if Yarvin wants to talk about intellectual integrity, it’s worth pointing out that he’s been a lot more careful than I have about not offending his audience.

Back to my forthcoming book, which I think you will enjoy if you’re interested in a deep history of civil rights law and its influence on culture instead of dreaming about cloning Fredrick the Great and having him save you. This is your reminder to please place your preorder for The Origins of Woke today.

One new opportunity I’m excited to announce is that I will be doing a series of lectures in Miami for Peterson Academy, starting next week. This is for two courses, which are Introduction to Political Science and Introduction to International Relations. Remember how I came out of academia?

If you’re in town and would like to attend, a link will be provided soon (check back for updates).

What you’ll be getting for each course is mostly a normal intro class that you might find at a university, but with my takes on the fundamentals of each field. That is, I’ll teach you the basics while expressing my thoughts on big questions related to epistemology, social science, what each field has taught us, and what’s important to know. I’ll probably be available for a bit of socializing throughout the courses.

For those who can’t make it to Miami, the lectures will become available online in the coming months. Peterson Academy is working on accreditation, so if you’re still a college student or plan to be one, this may end up counting towards your degree.

As always, thanks to my audience for their loyalty and support, and I look forward to perhaps meeting some of you in the next two weeks.