culture war dynamics

New worldviews are bubbling away in little cauldrons all the time, but they only flow into the mainstream (eg become part of corporate trainings, official gov't policy, school curricula) when they are structurally of service to preserve the power status quo.

what is the relationship between ideological commitment and status seeking? is an ideology a particular status game you've opted into? do people select the highest status ideology they can get away with? are they just two independent drivers of social behavior?

I first wrote about Breach in 2020, and again in my book. It’s the idea that the internet has become our externalised collective unconscious, capturing and then amplifying a swirling ocean of our projections, hopes, fantasies, and violent urges. Some of these become archetypal, turning into myths and memes that evolve to take on a life of their own... See more

Remember that to always be rebelling against a thing is still to be controlled by it.

Men become monsters by convincing themselves they're saints.

The only way to help people rise above undignified behavior is to teach them that they are dignified. You cannot fight shame with shame.

It would sure make things easy if this election were a simple contest of good versus evil. But this is the way of thinking that is tearing the world apart. Those who think that way always consider themselves to be members of Team Good, of course. If your opponent is evil incarnate, then any means to stop him are justified.

The other problem is that as far as I can tell, everyone is given different values to live by. Different questions to live into. Different gods who live in their chest. Different combinations of natural concerns that balance out very differently. So no, western culture doesn't depend on a resurgence of masculine courage: if that feels important to ... See more