Reactions to some 5/25 posts
5/25 very interesting article on High School Debates on The Free Press. Seems to suggest there's no point even thinking about national debates as a thing anymore. I would have commented, but comments were only for paid subscribers. I wonder what the point of that is, beyond rewarding paying subscribers with something. But is the reward as valuable as it would be if everyone including those who didn't pay could comment? Is the point to create an echo-chamber of like-minded folks who can slap each other's backs and congratulate themselves on their rectitude? The Free Press (which I subscribe to for free) is a news site begun by Bari Weiss and currently including about 18 writers. Not sure how many paid subs it has, but clearly enough to fill a comment section since posts typically get from a hundred to a thousand.
5/25 Robert Reich's post, "The anti-worker robber baron and the anti-woke presidential candidate", makes fun of Ron DeSantis's glitchy announcement of his presidential bid on Twitter. The robber baron mentioned is of course Elon Musk, whom Reich claims is a bully who "wants total control". I was thinking of commenting (and would have been able to despite not being a paid subscriber) but thought better of it. I'm a bit annoyed, I have to admit, when people try to reduce complexity to a binary choice like this. I don't pay much attention to politicians so I have no opinion of DeSantis. I suspect Elon holds a lot of opinions I'd disagree with, on socio-cultural issues for which his science/technology background has not prepared him or his life experience has given him a perspective I don't share. But I'm still fascinated when he talks and think it's possible I'll learn something, especially when he's speaking in his areas of expertise. That's not the case, sadly, when I read Reich.
5/25 Chris Hedges posted a podcast episode in which he interviews Andrew Bacevich about a new book "bidding farewell to the American Century". This half-hour conversation includes some intelligent back-and-forth about complexity and nuance. I'm also fascinated by Hedges' comparison of the 21st-century United States to the declining Roman Empire. I don't entirely agree, but it's interesting to think about the similarities and differences.