Neomodern Musing on Civilization Malaise – and More
Chinese manufacturing policies are unsustainable. That doesn’t mean they won’t accomplish China's goals. The Chinese economy has been drawing contradictory comments in recent months. Amidst the gloom and doom of prognosticators declaring that the Chinese economic engine may finally be stalling, there is the new and sudden alarum about the flood of cheap Chinese exported … Continue reading China’s Coral Reef Economic Stimulus
International Causes and Effects of Portugal’s Democratic Transition Author's Note: I wrote this paper in 2014 as part of my MA program in International Studies, as part of my course on regime change. I am posting it now in commemoration of the 1974 Carnation Revolution and upon hearing news of a thorough new history of … Continue reading Carnation Crossroads:
A short intro to the philosophy of ethics J.R.R. Tolkien maintained a very private, but very negative opinion of Frank Herbert's Dune. In Tolkien's Library, entry 964, Tolkien is quoted as having written in an unpublished letter to John Bush, on March 12 1966, "It is impossible for an author still writing to be fair … Continue reading Why Tolkien Hated Dune
Navigating the Predestination of Sexual Orientation in the Bible Belt Christianity has long held a view called “predestination” – the idea that God plans out the entire moral course of human lives, and determines before birth whether a person is destined for salvation or damnation. The early church had detractors from this view, for example … Continue reading The Heterosexual Elect
The Global Context of the Continental Uproar Farmers are special in a lot of ways. They receive enormous amounts of subsidies from governments in a way that no other industry does. In most industries, free trade agreements prevent member governments from giving government subsidies to their industries; these would be unfair advantages that defeat the … Continue reading Why are European Farmers so Angry
Or one way illiberal states get the better deal on trade agreements A concept that I would have imagined was thoroughly discussed, but which I somehow cannot find discussed anywhere, is the concept of culture as a trade barrier. Now the idea that culture affects trade is nothing new – no one ever claimed that … Continue reading Culture as a Trade Barrier
What is the Right Amount to Adore one’s own Creation? The Pygmalion Effect The Greek Myth of Pygmalion speaks of an artist who fell in love with the beauty of his own sculpture. So much did Pygmalion love the sculpture that it came to life as a beautiful woman. In modern times, the idea of … Continue reading The Pygmalion Dilemma
In modern usage, the term “accelerationism” is claimed by far-right groups as a philosophy of destabilizing society to bring about a more authoritarian and conservative future. However, soi-disant accelerationists have no monopoly on accelerationist ideas. That is to say that the perspective of “acceleration” of society through stages is neither new nor confined to the … Continue reading The Future Is Ours: A Short Dissection of Accelerationisms, Left, Right, and Center
Of Myopic Postmodernism and Memetic Syncretism A fundamental problem exacerbating the acerbic tone of the culture wars across the West is that in online debates on social media platforms there are no mechanisms to incentivize the voicing of support and agreement. In order to make friends and preserve relationships in our personal lives, it is … Continue reading Diplomacy on the Moral Battlefield
Tyler Cowen's formulation of State Capacity Libertarianism may succeed in steelmanning libertarianism, but it still leaves unanswered big questions about the relationship between state, society, and market.
Whither the West? 