Someone has to flip burgers though. I’d rather it were a young white male making a decent wage and being treated well than a 40 year old Guatemalan female and mother of 5 making minimum wage.
Most ‘libertarians’ along with the Richard Hanania freaky outliers in the reborn ‘neoliberal right with race-realist characteristics’ are fine with white children living in dumpsters. I wasn’t necessarily including you in the latter category.
Look this Substack takes about 4 hours to read so I don't think u read it. Please comment back after reading and engaging with the material. Have a nice day.
Thanks for writing this, and the effort to compile the quotes from others. Pasting in the images alone must have taken all day!
I commented on the original post over at JC. I do believe they have picked the wrong people to disenfranchise. Things are changing. None of this will last since our replacements are not building anything. Quotas and related phenomenon are inherently unstable and no substitute for competency and ability.
This is a great piece! I’ve already commented on the version cross-posted by John Carter, and I’ll just repeat here this prophesy from Isaiah Chapter 61:
“THE spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines . . . . you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory. Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs.”
Now I graduated from drama school, so I'm not in quite the same b place, but....
I work in a grocery store.
One of my colleagues has an engineering degree. Another graduated with a political science degree from Cambridge.
There are a huge number of planning applications that have been granted by local councils, but very little building taking place, because developers are sitting on those construction sites waiting for things to get more profitable.
That took several days for my scatterbrained brain to finish reading. That is a tremendous and remarkable collection of anecdotal testimonies and evidence spelling out how we're fucked seven ways from Sunday. I love it. It has given me pause, I think I will keep painting houses and hone some useful skills on the side, and just bide my time a little longer before daring to contemplate a return to college and/or jumping into something more lucrative (I'm a two-time dropout, on top of being expelled from one for wrongful-samizdat-distribution or whatever)
Thank you for compiling that monolith, it is a very good resource for summarizing the state of things at present.
Donald Trump is going to turn this around fast (hopefully), but it's good to document and remember how young white men have been intensely suppressed and discriminated against.
Another point about the 'bootstrap' rhetoric is that it comes from a place of pharisaical hypocrisy, the worst vice of conservatives.
If a man who wants to succeed must do grubby and distasteful work when he has no other choice, then by analogy a political movement that wants to win must do the work that idealists involved in it find grubby and distasteful, which in this case means delivering patronage to a support base that is ruthlessly discriminated against everywhere else. Those too high-minded (or low-belted) to do this can either leave the power game to others, or else save their idealism for when they have succeeded in establishing a more just order – just as ordinary men who want to do what they love must either defer their dreams until later life or renounce material status and security.
In political terms the conservative is a quintessential wastrel who shirks his job, steals his pay, creeps round the boss's spoiled little daughter, lets his family starve, whinges that he tried once or twice but found the task harder than expected (*coughRufocough*), and then ponces about like a fallen aristocrat complaining that the wicked prosper and the world is going to the dogs. I'd love to see a trend of underemployed young white men turning the tables on these spiritual boomers.
No Chris Rufo did not pioneer the term critical race theory, much less the concept of it. That’s been used by black activists for at least a decade and probably longer. White people are inherently racist is it in a nutshell.
Yes, and according to critical race theory, we (White people) are irredeemable. We can uplift marginalized voices, identify disproportionate harms done to BIPOCs, pay reparations, acknowledge our privilege and fragility, champion indigenous ways of knowing, call out entrenched powers that harm fragile black and brown bodies, and be unquestioning allies (e.g. NEVER question a black woman!) but we will never be able to atone for the color of our skin and the deeds of our forefathers... even if our forefathers never did anything to a BIPOC!
More seriously now (and yes, YOU are correct according to Education Week), critical race theory claims that "race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies. CRT emerged out of a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s and early 1980s created by Derrick Bell and Kimberlé Crenshaw... Ibram X. Kendi's recent popular book How to Be An Antiracist suggests that discrimination that creates equity can be considered anti-racist..."
I find it amusing (in a mordant way) that Ed Week claims that the values that postmodernism is skeptical of are also described as "tenets held dear by Conservatives":
"Critical race theory emerged out of postmodernist thought, which tends to be skeptical of the idea of universal values, objective knowledge, individual merit... rationalism, and liberalism—tenets that conservatives tend to hold dear." Sooo, conservatives are bad because they respect and uphold objective knowledge, merit, and rationalism. Critical race theory knows better, and doesn't endorse those awful things. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05
This is a VERY helpful dissection of our problems, and summary of who says what. Call me simple-minded, or one of those people with Manichean values, but I think of people in not very nuanced terms. Chris Rufo, "Jen" Rubin, boomers, the Manhattan Institute, Internet Friend, Quillette girl, free trade Republicans, Vivek, and my putative conservative (former) employers who made me train my H1B replacements are bad actors.
HP Lovecraft 1.0, Second City Bureaucrat, 01xAlaric, Fischer King, Captive Dreamer, Loki, BAP, Audrey McIntyre, Bog Beef, and Josiah Lippincott understand how we have been betrayed. They are good. I only wish they had more power to effect change.
Thank you for all the screenshots. I appreciated them, and your efforts overall. I spent about four hours reading this. It was worth it.
I wrote about the role education plays in all of this. Right wing mentoring should start early; we need people with correct principles in education. And there’s a lot of surplus talent available to do so. Note, I’m not talking public schools.
you’re a very thoughtful, well-researched, creative writer with numerous exotic and unexpected insights, and I appreciate that and admire that about you. Well done and keep it up.
You as well. This piece obviously represented a lot of effort that you had to have known would be too much for most people. It took courage to write, and I’m glad I read the whole thing. Others should as well. Great work!
Thanks for the kind words and your encouragement. Someone commented that it was too long, and I agree with their criticism. I felt that the piece needed to be a certain length to communicate what I wanted to say, but that it strayed from the ideal format. I think my admissions of technical shortcomings regarding this specific project are illuminating, as I responded in a comments section elsewhere:
/
"I agree with your criticism. It's a difficult, long read which is designed to be absorbed during multiple sessions. It also doubles as a useful historical document for future reference to prove the massive racial discrimination that has occurred against talented young white men. In order to achieve this mission, I had to sacrifice and compromise the essay's readability which is an unfortunate tradeoff."
/
"I'm very aware of the piece's flaws in terms of pacing and length, which you are correct about. However I am proud the core value proposition was achieving of documenting the hidden consequences of racial discrimination against white men, and I think the piece is overall a success despite its imperfections."
Somewhere around 4,000-5,000 words seems to be the sweet spot for an article that is fast-paced, efficient, insightful, and multifaceted. But of course one of the perks of publishing a free unpaid Substack is the luxury to ignore conventional editorial standards and write in an uninhibited form.
I really appreciate you putting this together. There weren’t a lot of big individual surprises for me in the piece but it’s so overwhelming seeing it all in one place. It makes me so frustrated and angry at the complacency and active malice of conservative boomers. I hope that things start to come to a head and snowball soon, and we can get some real momentum behind this growing movement of disenchanted young White men. The last 5-10 years have been absolutely miserable and I for one am ready for something to break. Looking forward to reading more from you as things progress.
I did it. I read it all. In one day, too. Kind of messed up my plans.
Why would you write that part about a 15-year-old bearing some responsibility for being groomed online by a 47-year-old and having sex with him? Comes really close to "the age of consent is full of holes, actually" rhetoric.
I think if you had sex with a high school girlfriend and sent her to prison for 6 months you would probably feel guilty about it because you have a conscience (unlike this woman).
I really don’t mean to be snarky, cruel, mean, or heartless. It’s so hard to strike the correct tone over text, but…
Why has this movement produced Trump? Does it actually like Trump? Being 28, I genuinely understand my cohorts struggles, but there are things I can’t wrap my head around, so hopefully someone can indulge me. I actually agree with probably 90% of this article, which is why I’m commenting.
I’m a white guy and some type of liberal moderate, I’m not going to hide it. But when I read pieces like this, I feel like my compassion evaporates when I think about Trump. Trump is the epitome of making money off the wreckage. And no one in the party stops him. Both the corporate conservatism and the upstarts like Christopher Rufo have fallen in line.
In fact, Trump has unilaterally appointed the type of “prostitutes” and pretty faces this article despises, with Alina Habba being a prime example. Elon Musk is the poster child for HIB’s, and he’s tearing the government limb from limb, so billionaires can feast of the wreckage of American society with the last remnants of the administrative state gone. Trump has lied on his business records, as proven in civil court. Trump doesn’t aspire to honor, loyalty, reading philosophy, or education or knowledge, he degrades it. Whatever problems the conservative movement had, it’s produced Trump. Twice. After he was defeated once.
I hope this reads from a place of love, but this article takes a sledgehammer to so much of the boomer practices that have dominated conservative thought, but one: the liberals are always worse.
At some point, the conservative movement will have to come to terms with the opportunity cost of lost time for the last 12 years. The liberals may be worse, but conservatives don’t even want to try to build. On the ground Conservatives could try to put a serious candidate forward. One the ground Conservatives could wade deep in policy debates. As much as it’s the institutions, it’s individual conservatives across this country who did next to nothing.
How many of the disgruntled college grads who are angry about being told to work at Panda Express stopped supporting Trump? I think that’s where my compassion self-circuits, and I pray that my heart changes soon.
Great read. (I apologize if any of the comments above were addressed in the article, feel free to put me in my place if they were)
I am a huge fan of Trump. I also think your claim "Trump is the epitome of making money off the wreckage." is false because Trump was a billionaire before entering American politics, he has refused to take a presidential salary, and overall he has lost money entering politics. You may disagree with Trump but he's not doing this for money. It would be a much better argument to say he is motivated by ego/vanity and a need to be important and cheered by other people.
/
Compare that to Obama, or the Clinton family, who had relatively no money before the Presidency, and then exited the White House with vast mysterious fortunes.
So I wanted to take the time to reply, especially since you took the time to reply. So I have two major thoughts:
1) There is a lot that can be said, but on the whole, I actually agree with a great portion of this. You are correct, every president from Reagan to Obama ran on the need for change, and no real candidate has ever promised it or delivered it. That isn't my argument. My argument is why is **this** change the correct one.
I am not defending the Democrats and the world as it is, you have to defend why Trump is good as opposed to any other option or candidate, and if you say "Well, he was the best there was", I think you fall into the critique I am making. It's unimaginative. It's lazy. Why can the Republican party only produce Trump? What is happening at the grassroots level to have him be the only candidate? Why should I try to find compassion when, at some point, conservatives should own their party and their candidates. There were four years of Joe Biden. Did the party and the grassroots conservatives really not have any ability to generate a new candidate at this time?
You are completely right that the people are angry and have a right to be. But that isn't my argument. Mine is why is Trump seemingly the only candidate, and why can't the party produce another contender?
2) I actually want you to defend Trump being a good person and not an evil villain. You glossed over it, but I like learning and I really want to understand how you came to this conclusion. This is shocking. Say whatever you want, but it can not rest on his policy positions or policy victories. You also can't make references or arguments to the Clinton's or Obama's (or other "what-about-isms") I'll even spot you that Bill Clinton is a bad person for cheating on Hillary as much as he did. These can't be cudgel's argumentatively. To me, he's definitely a bad person and I think he might be evil?
I don't think he is good because I am a christian, and he does not bear good fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), AND seems to fit many of the attributes of the things Christians should not aspire to (Galatians 5:19-21) He has cheated on his wife with Karen Dougal. He did not give his first wife a proper burial, but gave her what can only be called an unmarked grave on his golf course for her remains. He has been found guilty of over-inflating his real estate assets in direct violation of the law in the civil trial. He is at best cruel, and at worst, emotionally flippant as he mocked the reporter (and families) when he said he would not visit the most recent Dulles crash sight because "you want me to stand on the water"? He mocked John McCain, a survivor of torture, when he said "I like people who don't get captured."
I could go on, but this would be excessive. Obviously, you see something or some attributes in him that outweigh what I have listed above, and I would like to know more.
Thank you for replying the first time. It was informative.
"I am not defending the Democrats and the world as it is"
/
Well, you are tacitly defending the Democrats and the status quo by preventing any alternative and putting the burden of proof on the insurgent challenger. This naturally favors the incumbent. But by claiming you are not aligned with the status quo, you are able to disassociate yourself with the mistakes of the Regime in power, and to absolve yourself of guilt/responsibility/accountability for any crimes they commit.
Let me pretend to concede for the purposes of this conversation that Trump is a bad person and an evil villain who nobody should ever vote for (I don't believe that to be true).
I ran this article through notebookLM google's AI. Below is the audio Deep Dive AI review-comments (converted to YT video) and below that is the Description output.
Perhaps it will give a shorter overview and motivation to read the entire article.
This document summarizes the key themes, arguments, and illustrative examples found within the provided sources, encompassing articles, essays, and forum posts. The sources largely express disillusionment with current societal structures, particularly concerning career advancement, immigration, and the perceived failures of established institutions.
I. Critique of Elite Careerism and the "J.D. Vance Model"
Theme: The sources critique the modern pursuit of career success within elite institutions, often portraying it as a shallow and transactional endeavor. J.D. Vance's career is used as a case study.
Key Ideas:
Rapid Ascent: J.D. Vance's career is characterized by rapid movement across various industries and institutions. As stated: "Relentless speed defined J. D. Vance’s career. Constant, disorienting velocity." This constant transitioning is presented as a calculated strategy for maximizing professional potential.
Social Climbing: Vance is described as a "clever social climber with a disciplined, neatly-delineated plan to build an impressive portfolio, escape childhood poverty, forge himself into a champion, and ascend into the elite ranks of the American ruling caste."
Sacrifices: The pursuit of such a career path is seen as demanding significant personal sacrifices, including a lack of stability and a strain on personal relationships.
Think Tank Selectivity: Conservative think tanks are portrayed as favoring those with unconventional pasts over those with long-held conservative beliefs or deep understanding of political philosophy. "If you’ve been a Republican for more than the past six months, conservative think tanks don’t want you." The implication is that sincerity and traditional conservative values are less valued than a marketable narrative.
II. Disillusionment with Established Institutions and Promises
Theme: A pervasive sense of disillusionment with established institutions, including universities, corporations, and the government, is expressed. The idea of a high-trust society is regarded as lost.
Key Ideas:
Failed Promises: The sources argue that the promises of the American Dream, feminism, and civil rights have not been fulfilled. "Modern America is built on failed promises. Feminism… Civil Rights… the American Dream… all of the political formulas and civic mythologies of the Global American Empire are rotting..."
"Gay Racial Nepotism Kleptocracy": This phrase, used by Sam Hyde, encapsulates the sentiment that existing systems are rigged and characterized by corruption, identity politics, and favoritism.
Suppression of Talent: Talented individuals, particularly young white men, are believed to be suppressed and demoralized by "propaganda." This suggests a perception of systemic bias and discrimination.
H-1B Visa Concerns: The H-1B visa program is a source of resentment, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that qualified American graduates are overlooked in favor of foreign workers. One user writes: "The very people telling you that we need H-1B are the same exact people who wouldn’t even give me an interview despite having impeccable qualifications."
Inability of Think Tanks to Deliver: "The Washington Generals are never going to win the game. It just doesn’t have the power to give anything it promises."
III. Economic Displacement and the Decline of the Middle Class
Theme: The sources reflect anxiety about economic displacement, particularly among the middle class, and the difficulties faced by young graduates in finding meaningful employment.
Key Ideas:
Overqualified Workers: The example of highly educated individuals working in fast food highlights the mismatch between skills and available jobs. "All the great middle class jobs our high school guidance counselors promised us we would get if “we went to college to avoid working fast food” did not exist."
STEM Disillusionment: Despite encouragement to pursue STEM fields, graduates face underemployment or unemployment, leading to disillusionment. The anecdote of the NASA scientist driving a cab exemplifies this.
Exploitation by Corporations: There's a perception that corporations exploit workers and prioritize profit over loyalty.
Stealing as a Solution: Sam Hyde's recommendation to "steal" reflects a deep cynicism and a belief that the system is so broken that unethical behavior is justified for survival. "The incentives are so out of whack that really my best recommendation for you would be to look for ways to steal."
IV. Immigration and Cultural Change
Theme: Concerns are raised about the impact of immigration on American culture and the job market, sometimes expressing resentment and cultural nationalism.
Key Ideas:
H-1B Criticism: H-1B visas are perceived as displacing American workers.
"Colonization" by Immigrants: Some comments frame immigration as a form of colonization, accusing immigrants of trying to change American culture and exploit its resources for the benefit of their home countries. One user writes: "Let's be clear: you come to colonize my homeland, to change the very fabric of MY nation to benefit your own people back home."
Patel Motel Cartel: The article on Patel ownership of motels highlights the success of a specific ethnic group in dominating an economic niche. While acknowledging their entrepreneurial success, the author also questions the myth-making surrounding their dominance.
Kinship Networks: The role of kinship networks in facilitating economic success, particularly within the Patel community, is noted. "Buying a motel, even one that's in the red, usually requires a substantial down payment, one beyond the reach of most new immigrants. That, however, is one key to how this particular niche was captured. The down payment was seldom a problem for a prospective Indian purchaser, who was often able to turn to a network of relatives and friends to help him out."
V. Call to Action and Alternative Paths
Theme: Despite the pervasive negativity, there are calls to action, urging individuals to find alternative paths to success and to challenge the existing order.
Key Ideas:
Building Parallel Networks: The need to create alternative institutions and networks is emphasized, particularly for those who feel excluded from mainstream opportunities.
Embracing Defiance: The idea of "carving out their own little fiefdoms in pure masculine defiance of a world that despises them" suggests a rejection of societal norms and a pursuit of individual autonomy.
"Learn to Code": Coding bootcamps are presented as possible ways out of poverty.
Founding New Institutions: The suggestion to found new universities ("X University") is a call for creating institutions that cater to specific needs and values.
Removing the "Knee": The call to "take the knee off the neck of the white American worker" is a demand for equal opportunity and an end to perceived discrimination.
You're on fire with this, but I don't think anything's coming other than Eternal Misery. Why would anything ever get better when it can just get worse forever like it always has? There are no elites that can rally for a revolt because the social fabric has been entirely destroyed. Soon with Elon and Thiel's Robot soldiers and FPV Drone Pajeets, they'll just kill us all anyways.
You can say that all you want, but blackpills are all there is. Just because you find it to be too bitter doesn't excuse being Squeamish About Feeling bad.
Someone has to flip burgers though. I’d rather it were a young white male making a decent wage and being treated well than a 40 year old Guatemalan female and mother of 5 making minimum wage.
"making a decent wage" is the key phrase here
Yes, most libertarian types reject the concept.
I'm not a libertarian
Most ‘libertarians’ along with the Richard Hanania freaky outliers in the reborn ‘neoliberal right with race-realist characteristics’ are fine with white children living in dumpsters. I wasn’t necessarily including you in the latter category.
Look this Substack takes about 4 hours to read so I don't think u read it. Please comment back after reading and engaging with the material. Have a nice day.
Thanks for writing this, and the effort to compile the quotes from others. Pasting in the images alone must have taken all day!
I commented on the original post over at JC. I do believe they have picked the wrong people to disenfranchise. Things are changing. None of this will last since our replacements are not building anything. Quotas and related phenomenon are inherently unstable and no substitute for competency and ability.
You Hope Too Much.
Not hope, just some observations.
That's still hope because you're refusing to observe the parts where nobody fights back and nothing ever gets better.
Plenty fight back, they are just incentivized to keep quiet about it.
And then it gets drowned in the sea of misery that rolls off the line. That's Not Good Enough.
If it's not a total and permanent victory, it's not worth a damn. Stop being Permissive.
I think you have forgotten to take your meds, Will. Cheer up.
Holy shit this is a long post. You scraped everything!
This is a great piece! I’ve already commented on the version cross-posted by John Carter, and I’ll just repeat here this prophesy from Isaiah Chapter 61:
“THE spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines . . . . you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory. Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs.”
Very kind and thank you
British here, but much the same thing applies!
Now I graduated from drama school, so I'm not in quite the same b place, but....
I work in a grocery store.
One of my colleagues has an engineering degree. Another graduated with a political science degree from Cambridge.
There are a huge number of planning applications that have been granted by local councils, but very little building taking place, because developers are sitting on those construction sites waiting for things to get more profitable.
It's such a mess.
That took several days for my scatterbrained brain to finish reading. That is a tremendous and remarkable collection of anecdotal testimonies and evidence spelling out how we're fucked seven ways from Sunday. I love it. It has given me pause, I think I will keep painting houses and hone some useful skills on the side, and just bide my time a little longer before daring to contemplate a return to college and/or jumping into something more lucrative (I'm a two-time dropout, on top of being expelled from one for wrongful-samizdat-distribution or whatever)
Thank you for compiling that monolith, it is a very good resource for summarizing the state of things at present.
Donald Trump is going to turn this around fast (hopefully), but it's good to document and remember how young white men have been intensely suppressed and discriminated against.
Another point about the 'bootstrap' rhetoric is that it comes from a place of pharisaical hypocrisy, the worst vice of conservatives.
If a man who wants to succeed must do grubby and distasteful work when he has no other choice, then by analogy a political movement that wants to win must do the work that idealists involved in it find grubby and distasteful, which in this case means delivering patronage to a support base that is ruthlessly discriminated against everywhere else. Those too high-minded (or low-belted) to do this can either leave the power game to others, or else save their idealism for when they have succeeded in establishing a more just order – just as ordinary men who want to do what they love must either defer their dreams until later life or renounce material status and security.
In political terms the conservative is a quintessential wastrel who shirks his job, steals his pay, creeps round the boss's spoiled little daughter, lets his family starve, whinges that he tried once or twice but found the task harder than expected (*coughRufocough*), and then ponces about like a fallen aristocrat complaining that the wicked prosper and the world is going to the dogs. I'd love to see a trend of underemployed young white men turning the tables on these spiritual boomers.
No Chris Rufo did not pioneer the term critical race theory, much less the concept of it. That’s been used by black activists for at least a decade and probably longer. White people are inherently racist is it in a nutshell.
Yes, and according to critical race theory, we (White people) are irredeemable. We can uplift marginalized voices, identify disproportionate harms done to BIPOCs, pay reparations, acknowledge our privilege and fragility, champion indigenous ways of knowing, call out entrenched powers that harm fragile black and brown bodies, and be unquestioning allies (e.g. NEVER question a black woman!) but we will never be able to atone for the color of our skin and the deeds of our forefathers... even if our forefathers never did anything to a BIPOC!
Okay, I laid it on a little thick.
More seriously now (and yes, YOU are correct according to Education Week), critical race theory claims that "race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies. CRT emerged out of a framework for legal analysis in the late 1970s and early 1980s created by Derrick Bell and Kimberlé Crenshaw... Ibram X. Kendi's recent popular book How to Be An Antiracist suggests that discrimination that creates equity can be considered anti-racist..."
I find it amusing (in a mordant way) that Ed Week claims that the values that postmodernism is skeptical of are also described as "tenets held dear by Conservatives":
"Critical race theory emerged out of postmodernist thought, which tends to be skeptical of the idea of universal values, objective knowledge, individual merit... rationalism, and liberalism—tenets that conservatives tend to hold dear." Sooo, conservatives are bad because they respect and uphold objective knowledge, merit, and rationalism. Critical race theory knows better, and doesn't endorse those awful things. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05
This is a VERY helpful dissection of our problems, and summary of who says what. Call me simple-minded, or one of those people with Manichean values, but I think of people in not very nuanced terms. Chris Rufo, "Jen" Rubin, boomers, the Manhattan Institute, Internet Friend, Quillette girl, free trade Republicans, Vivek, and my putative conservative (former) employers who made me train my H1B replacements are bad actors.
HP Lovecraft 1.0, Second City Bureaucrat, 01xAlaric, Fischer King, Captive Dreamer, Loki, BAP, Audrey McIntyre, Bog Beef, and Josiah Lippincott understand how we have been betrayed. They are good. I only wish they had more power to effect change.
Thank you for all the screenshots. I appreciated them, and your efforts overall. I spent about four hours reading this. It was worth it.
thank you, very kind Ellie. I'm extremely flattered
Very long but important pièce.
thank you Picard
I wrote about the role education plays in all of this. Right wing mentoring should start early; we need people with correct principles in education. And there’s a lot of surplus talent available to do so. Note, I’m not talking public schools.
Interesting, thanks. Your Predator film analysis was iconic and I go back and think about it each month or so
Thank you; it was one of my favorites to write.
you’re a very thoughtful, well-researched, creative writer with numerous exotic and unexpected insights, and I appreciate that and admire that about you. Well done and keep it up.
You as well. This piece obviously represented a lot of effort that you had to have known would be too much for most people. It took courage to write, and I’m glad I read the whole thing. Others should as well. Great work!
Thanks for the kind words and your encouragement. Someone commented that it was too long, and I agree with their criticism. I felt that the piece needed to be a certain length to communicate what I wanted to say, but that it strayed from the ideal format. I think my admissions of technical shortcomings regarding this specific project are illuminating, as I responded in a comments section elsewhere:
/
"I agree with your criticism. It's a difficult, long read which is designed to be absorbed during multiple sessions. It also doubles as a useful historical document for future reference to prove the massive racial discrimination that has occurred against talented young white men. In order to achieve this mission, I had to sacrifice and compromise the essay's readability which is an unfortunate tradeoff."
/
"I'm very aware of the piece's flaws in terms of pacing and length, which you are correct about. However I am proud the core value proposition was achieving of documenting the hidden consequences of racial discrimination against white men, and I think the piece is overall a success despite its imperfections."
Somewhere around 4,000-5,000 words seems to be the sweet spot for an article that is fast-paced, efficient, insightful, and multifaceted. But of course one of the perks of publishing a free unpaid Substack is the luxury to ignore conventional editorial standards and write in an uninhibited form.
I really appreciate you putting this together. There weren’t a lot of big individual surprises for me in the piece but it’s so overwhelming seeing it all in one place. It makes me so frustrated and angry at the complacency and active malice of conservative boomers. I hope that things start to come to a head and snowball soon, and we can get some real momentum behind this growing movement of disenchanted young White men. The last 5-10 years have been absolutely miserable and I for one am ready for something to break. Looking forward to reading more from you as things progress.
thanks bro and I think Trump will turn it around
I did it. I read it all. In one day, too. Kind of messed up my plans.
Why would you write that part about a 15-year-old bearing some responsibility for being groomed online by a 47-year-old and having sex with him? Comes really close to "the age of consent is full of holes, actually" rhetoric.
I think if you had sex with a high school girlfriend and sent her to prison for 6 months you would probably feel guilty about it because you have a conscience (unlike this woman).
I really don’t mean to be snarky, cruel, mean, or heartless. It’s so hard to strike the correct tone over text, but…
Why has this movement produced Trump? Does it actually like Trump? Being 28, I genuinely understand my cohorts struggles, but there are things I can’t wrap my head around, so hopefully someone can indulge me. I actually agree with probably 90% of this article, which is why I’m commenting.
I’m a white guy and some type of liberal moderate, I’m not going to hide it. But when I read pieces like this, I feel like my compassion evaporates when I think about Trump. Trump is the epitome of making money off the wreckage. And no one in the party stops him. Both the corporate conservatism and the upstarts like Christopher Rufo have fallen in line.
In fact, Trump has unilaterally appointed the type of “prostitutes” and pretty faces this article despises, with Alina Habba being a prime example. Elon Musk is the poster child for HIB’s, and he’s tearing the government limb from limb, so billionaires can feast of the wreckage of American society with the last remnants of the administrative state gone. Trump has lied on his business records, as proven in civil court. Trump doesn’t aspire to honor, loyalty, reading philosophy, or education or knowledge, he degrades it. Whatever problems the conservative movement had, it’s produced Trump. Twice. After he was defeated once.
I hope this reads from a place of love, but this article takes a sledgehammer to so much of the boomer practices that have dominated conservative thought, but one: the liberals are always worse.
At some point, the conservative movement will have to come to terms with the opportunity cost of lost time for the last 12 years. The liberals may be worse, but conservatives don’t even want to try to build. On the ground Conservatives could try to put a serious candidate forward. One the ground Conservatives could wade deep in policy debates. As much as it’s the institutions, it’s individual conservatives across this country who did next to nothing.
How many of the disgruntled college grads who are angry about being told to work at Panda Express stopped supporting Trump? I think that’s where my compassion self-circuits, and I pray that my heart changes soon.
Great read. (I apologize if any of the comments above were addressed in the article, feel free to put me in my place if they were)
I can give you an honest answer but Idk if you are willing to hear it.
I am.
There are a lot of assumptions/factual claims in your comment so let me address some of them individually.
A good explanation of why Trump is in power is this essay from Bronze Age Pervert:
https://americanmind.org/salvo/americas-delusional-elite-is-done/
I am a huge fan of Trump. I also think your claim "Trump is the epitome of making money off the wreckage." is false because Trump was a billionaire before entering American politics, he has refused to take a presidential salary, and overall he has lost money entering politics. You may disagree with Trump but he's not doing this for money. It would be a much better argument to say he is motivated by ego/vanity and a need to be important and cheered by other people.
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Compare that to Obama, or the Clinton family, who had relatively no money before the Presidency, and then exited the White House with vast mysterious fortunes.
So I wanted to take the time to reply, especially since you took the time to reply. So I have two major thoughts:
1) There is a lot that can be said, but on the whole, I actually agree with a great portion of this. You are correct, every president from Reagan to Obama ran on the need for change, and no real candidate has ever promised it or delivered it. That isn't my argument. My argument is why is **this** change the correct one.
I am not defending the Democrats and the world as it is, you have to defend why Trump is good as opposed to any other option or candidate, and if you say "Well, he was the best there was", I think you fall into the critique I am making. It's unimaginative. It's lazy. Why can the Republican party only produce Trump? What is happening at the grassroots level to have him be the only candidate? Why should I try to find compassion when, at some point, conservatives should own their party and their candidates. There were four years of Joe Biden. Did the party and the grassroots conservatives really not have any ability to generate a new candidate at this time?
You are completely right that the people are angry and have a right to be. But that isn't my argument. Mine is why is Trump seemingly the only candidate, and why can't the party produce another contender?
2) I actually want you to defend Trump being a good person and not an evil villain. You glossed over it, but I like learning and I really want to understand how you came to this conclusion. This is shocking. Say whatever you want, but it can not rest on his policy positions or policy victories. You also can't make references or arguments to the Clinton's or Obama's (or other "what-about-isms") I'll even spot you that Bill Clinton is a bad person for cheating on Hillary as much as he did. These can't be cudgel's argumentatively. To me, he's definitely a bad person and I think he might be evil?
I don't think he is good because I am a christian, and he does not bear good fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), AND seems to fit many of the attributes of the things Christians should not aspire to (Galatians 5:19-21) He has cheated on his wife with Karen Dougal. He did not give his first wife a proper burial, but gave her what can only be called an unmarked grave on his golf course for her remains. He has been found guilty of over-inflating his real estate assets in direct violation of the law in the civil trial. He is at best cruel, and at worst, emotionally flippant as he mocked the reporter (and families) when he said he would not visit the most recent Dulles crash sight because "you want me to stand on the water"? He mocked John McCain, a survivor of torture, when he said "I like people who don't get captured."
I could go on, but this would be excessive. Obviously, you see something or some attributes in him that outweigh what I have listed above, and I would like to know more.
Thank you for replying the first time. It was informative.
"I am not defending the Democrats and the world as it is"
/
Well, you are tacitly defending the Democrats and the status quo by preventing any alternative and putting the burden of proof on the insurgent challenger. This naturally favors the incumbent. But by claiming you are not aligned with the status quo, you are able to disassociate yourself with the mistakes of the Regime in power, and to absolve yourself of guilt/responsibility/accountability for any crimes they commit.
Let me pretend to concede for the purposes of this conversation that Trump is a bad person and an evil villain who nobody should ever vote for (I don't believe that to be true).
You have to ask yourself why the American people are so angry and unhappy. If America is so rich and powerful, why are citizens so upset?
I ran this article through notebookLM google's AI. Below is the audio Deep Dive AI review-comments (converted to YT video) and below that is the Description output.
Perhaps it will give a shorter overview and motivation to read the entire article.
God Bless., Steve
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omcw27sz124
--
This document summarizes the key themes, arguments, and illustrative examples found within the provided sources, encompassing articles, essays, and forum posts. The sources largely express disillusionment with current societal structures, particularly concerning career advancement, immigration, and the perceived failures of established institutions.
I. Critique of Elite Careerism and the "J.D. Vance Model"
Theme: The sources critique the modern pursuit of career success within elite institutions, often portraying it as a shallow and transactional endeavor. J.D. Vance's career is used as a case study.
Key Ideas:
Rapid Ascent: J.D. Vance's career is characterized by rapid movement across various industries and institutions. As stated: "Relentless speed defined J. D. Vance’s career. Constant, disorienting velocity." This constant transitioning is presented as a calculated strategy for maximizing professional potential.
Social Climbing: Vance is described as a "clever social climber with a disciplined, neatly-delineated plan to build an impressive portfolio, escape childhood poverty, forge himself into a champion, and ascend into the elite ranks of the American ruling caste."
Sacrifices: The pursuit of such a career path is seen as demanding significant personal sacrifices, including a lack of stability and a strain on personal relationships.
Think Tank Selectivity: Conservative think tanks are portrayed as favoring those with unconventional pasts over those with long-held conservative beliefs or deep understanding of political philosophy. "If you’ve been a Republican for more than the past six months, conservative think tanks don’t want you." The implication is that sincerity and traditional conservative values are less valued than a marketable narrative.
II. Disillusionment with Established Institutions and Promises
Theme: A pervasive sense of disillusionment with established institutions, including universities, corporations, and the government, is expressed. The idea of a high-trust society is regarded as lost.
Key Ideas:
Failed Promises: The sources argue that the promises of the American Dream, feminism, and civil rights have not been fulfilled. "Modern America is built on failed promises. Feminism… Civil Rights… the American Dream… all of the political formulas and civic mythologies of the Global American Empire are rotting..."
"Gay Racial Nepotism Kleptocracy": This phrase, used by Sam Hyde, encapsulates the sentiment that existing systems are rigged and characterized by corruption, identity politics, and favoritism.
Suppression of Talent: Talented individuals, particularly young white men, are believed to be suppressed and demoralized by "propaganda." This suggests a perception of systemic bias and discrimination.
H-1B Visa Concerns: The H-1B visa program is a source of resentment, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that qualified American graduates are overlooked in favor of foreign workers. One user writes: "The very people telling you that we need H-1B are the same exact people who wouldn’t even give me an interview despite having impeccable qualifications."
Inability of Think Tanks to Deliver: "The Washington Generals are never going to win the game. It just doesn’t have the power to give anything it promises."
III. Economic Displacement and the Decline of the Middle Class
Theme: The sources reflect anxiety about economic displacement, particularly among the middle class, and the difficulties faced by young graduates in finding meaningful employment.
Key Ideas:
Overqualified Workers: The example of highly educated individuals working in fast food highlights the mismatch between skills and available jobs. "All the great middle class jobs our high school guidance counselors promised us we would get if “we went to college to avoid working fast food” did not exist."
STEM Disillusionment: Despite encouragement to pursue STEM fields, graduates face underemployment or unemployment, leading to disillusionment. The anecdote of the NASA scientist driving a cab exemplifies this.
Exploitation by Corporations: There's a perception that corporations exploit workers and prioritize profit over loyalty.
Stealing as a Solution: Sam Hyde's recommendation to "steal" reflects a deep cynicism and a belief that the system is so broken that unethical behavior is justified for survival. "The incentives are so out of whack that really my best recommendation for you would be to look for ways to steal."
IV. Immigration and Cultural Change
Theme: Concerns are raised about the impact of immigration on American culture and the job market, sometimes expressing resentment and cultural nationalism.
Key Ideas:
H-1B Criticism: H-1B visas are perceived as displacing American workers.
"Colonization" by Immigrants: Some comments frame immigration as a form of colonization, accusing immigrants of trying to change American culture and exploit its resources for the benefit of their home countries. One user writes: "Let's be clear: you come to colonize my homeland, to change the very fabric of MY nation to benefit your own people back home."
Patel Motel Cartel: The article on Patel ownership of motels highlights the success of a specific ethnic group in dominating an economic niche. While acknowledging their entrepreneurial success, the author also questions the myth-making surrounding their dominance.
Kinship Networks: The role of kinship networks in facilitating economic success, particularly within the Patel community, is noted. "Buying a motel, even one that's in the red, usually requires a substantial down payment, one beyond the reach of most new immigrants. That, however, is one key to how this particular niche was captured. The down payment was seldom a problem for a prospective Indian purchaser, who was often able to turn to a network of relatives and friends to help him out."
V. Call to Action and Alternative Paths
Theme: Despite the pervasive negativity, there are calls to action, urging individuals to find alternative paths to success and to challenge the existing order.
Key Ideas:
Building Parallel Networks: The need to create alternative institutions and networks is emphasized, particularly for those who feel excluded from mainstream opportunities.
Embracing Defiance: The idea of "carving out their own little fiefdoms in pure masculine defiance of a world that despises them" suggests a rejection of societal norms and a pursuit of individual autonomy.
"Learn to Code": Coding bootcamps are presented as possible ways out of poverty.
Founding New Institutions: The suggestion to found new universities ("X University") is a call for creating institutions that cater to specific needs and values.
Removing the "Knee": The call to "take the knee off the neck of the white American worker" is a demand for equal opportunity and an end to perceived discrimination.
You're on fire with this, but I don't think anything's coming other than Eternal Misery. Why would anything ever get better when it can just get worse forever like it always has? There are no elites that can rally for a revolt because the social fabric has been entirely destroyed. Soon with Elon and Thiel's Robot soldiers and FPV Drone Pajeets, they'll just kill us all anyways.
Ashes and Echoes
No blackpills
You can say that all you want, but blackpills are all there is. Just because you find it to be too bitter doesn't excuse being Squeamish About Feeling bad.