Someone (maybe you) linked Yarvin within the last year or so in another thread, and I read up on him then.Well, since I am one vote, nothing. I didn't have 20/20 hindsight at the time though. One thing that would be different is the buyers remorse I am feeling....
I don't know on question one. I don't think anyone has asked him what part of this he thinks is great about Yarvin:
Unqualified Reservations by Mencius Moldbug
Unqualified Reservations by Mencius Moldbug. Ebook links and full chronological archive. An introduction to neoreaction (NRx).www.unqualified-reservations.org
Read through it. The dictator thing is only a drop in the bucket of objectionable material.
That an autistic troll has been placed in charge of "reforming" government. We put my teenage son in charge of having people's lives and livelihoods in his hands. He is a megalomaniac who can be pushed even further into his worst instincts by the egging on of the people who are all too happy to fellate him on X/Twitter.
Maybe. Maybe not. But if someone tells you one of their intellectual heroes is Ivan the Terrible, doesn't that lead you to have questions? Like what part of him are you into? They have certainly been playing out of the authoritarian playbook a bit haven't they?
They certainly seem to be testing the boundaries of the executive power though don't they.
They are talking about fundamentally changing the Republic and I don't see mention of a constituional convention. I am not inclined to cut then slack based off what I have seen. The thinking that dude espouses is dangerous. It is the type of thinking the Founding Fathers initially rebelled against. It isn't Republican. It is authoritarian.
For me, I don't find someone talking about, reading, or finding something interesting and useful in a controversial thinker as worrisome. I think Marx was on to something, but don't buy into everything he wrote. Same with Ayn Rand. And many others.
I highly doubt Vance is some sort of secret Yarvin devotee, seeking to create an American monarchy. Has he only mentioned him the one time, and in connection to the reconfiguring of the bureaucracy as a political arm?
As to Yarvin's outlook, even if he's proposing something radically wrong, he's right about some things. Democracy can be a weaker institution than a more authoritarian form of govt. in certain situations. People have been complaining about that for a very long time. Plenty on the right and left note it when comparing China and the USA today.
I agree with your assessment of Musk, who in that respect is like Trump: they'd rather troll than lead or be reasonable much of the time.
Re "buyer's remorse," I'd reframe that. You didn't buy anything. You voted for someone and your vote 100% didn't affect the outcome of the election. Indiana would have gone Trump no matter what. I only bring it up, because I think a lot of good might come of people distancing themselves a little more from their vote--too many (on here and in the real world) seem to think who they vote for defines who they are as a person (I don't think you do to the extent others do), and defines their "opponents" as well. I think that leads to a lot of rancor and ill will that need not be there and is at odds with having meaningful discussions with people about ideas and working towards consensus in govt.
Here's hoping you post more in 2025. I miss your insights.
