New Appointment and Ask Me Anything
A few months ago I was talking to a friend who is a fellow writer. I knew that he had about twice my number of followers on Twitter, and he told me he also had around twice my number of free Substack subscribers. But it turns out that since he paywalls most of his posts he had about ten times as many paid subscribers.
What sacrifices I make to spread truth! I’m still not going to paywall articles, but the conversation did get me thinking about how to incentivize more subscriptions and it helped me decide to do an Ask Me Anything. There will be more of these in the future depending on how much demand there is. You can ask about politics, the social sciences, epistemology, what you should do with your life, or anything else. Leave your questions in the comments below, and in the coming weeks I’ll release a podcast to paying subscribers in which I answer the best ones. I’ll then have a comments thread just for subscribers when it’s released, and maybe do open threads in the future for people to talk to one another. Click here to subscribe.
On a different note, I’m now officially a visiting scholar at the Salem Center at the University of Texas, Austin. I’ll be helping to bring interesting thinkers to campus so they can discuss issues related to local and state politics as part of the Texas Dream series. Look forward to starting to make trips to Austin in the near future and getting to meet everyone there.
AMA Question #2: (Thought experiment) Imagine you could orchestrate a hostile take over of the institutions of the liberal international order with those that share your foreign policy worldview. How would you reform the IMF, World Bank, etc? Note: In this thought experient you can't dismantle any of these organizations, you can only harness them for the ends you choose.
You mentioned being autistic in some old post (I think). What has been your experience with that sort of thing?
Also, you are an intellectual sort of guy who doesn’t dislike numbers. Why did you drop out of HS? Do many autistic market enthusiasts drop out? Runs counter to a number of stereotypes.
What books have influenced your thinking on foreign policy, in general? What are the best nonfiction books you’ve read recently? What are your favorite fiction / non-fiction books?
Best public intellectual / blogger of the moment? Best right-wing thinker?
How long do you think thr current anti-Russia overwhelming political consensus will last? Do you think it will permanently make hawkish views more prominent? How will this impact the Taiwan calculus?
Best intellectual habits you have or try to cultivate? Best practical, everyday ones?
Are you going to write another book? Should I pirate your book? What would you say is your book’s fair value?
Apologies in advance if these sound like Tyler Cowen interview questions.