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[sebastian_dangerfield]

You transitioned very quickly to focusing on speech.

It's the most lurid example of authoritarian behavior by the right and left. Abortion could be used just as well, but it's one sided, the right being the sole authoritarian. Speech involves the extremes of each of the parties.

This is nonsense, in two different ways. First, you're not really talking about "authoritarianism." You're talking about the tolerance for different views in the marketplace of ideas.

Intolerance, actually, manifesting itself as authoritarianism.

Second, equating the right and the left is nonsense on stilts. You can observe that there are people across the political spectrum who do not want to tolerate certain ideas. But there is such a vast, vast, vast difference between (a) the conservative states that are outsourcing public-school curriculum to PragerU, closing and banning books from libraries, and forbidding students from learning about historical racism; (b) centrists like the Washington Post editorial page that fetishize balanced budgets and entitlement cuts and will not discuss alternatives; and (c) lefties who shout down conservative speakers at universities, etc. Grouping them all together (as "authoritarians," no less) is just sloppy and obtuse, like equating elephants and mice as grey mammals.

Taking them apart and laddering them in regard to wrongness avoids the essential binding element - the problem: A desire by significant numbers of people to not be confronted with views that don't fit the way they insist the world is or should be. "I want the world to be what I want it to be and I'm done with having anyone challenge me!" The mindset is this warped belief, similar to the fabulist view that one can will himself to success, that if one simply shuts out inconvenient facts, they disappear.

Sorry. The math and data are: Trump lost. The math and science are: There are not 37 genders. Etc.

What zero-sum game? WTF? When DeSantis punishes Disney for disagreeing with him, he gains, corporations lose, and the left isn't involved.

The zero sum game is the effort, by the likes of DeSantis, to shut the mouths of those with whom one disagrees. Make them disappear. DeSantis passed that unconstitutional "don't say gay" bill and has banned LGBTQ books because he knows - a large voting bloc doesn't want to entertain views about sexuality or gender that deviate from their views. They instead want to shut down those views entirely. If that isn't Orwellian, what is?

Corporations are not "the left," duh. There are many of them and they aren't exactly known for tolerating leftist speech. Many corporate employers are quite conservative in important ways, to state the blindingly obvious.

You know what I'm talking about. We all know it. We've all got friends in the C Suite or on boards. You can bust them about the extreme DEI and ESG pieties and they'll in very, very private confines admit to thinking it's moral panic, a religion, or a bullshit scam for consultants to make money. But they sure as fuck aren't going to say that out loud to any friends. To even challenge it is to put one's career at risk.

What you're really beefing about is that the mainstream has accepted views ("correct politics") that are not yours. But you don't want to argue about the substance of that, in part because you know you're in a minority, so you'd rather foster a grievance that you are somehow that victim of "authoritarians."

You have me exactly backwards. I want people to stop telling other people that they may not challenge certain things, that they may not credibly critique certain things without being pilloried or professionally ruined. CRT in schools? By all means. Expose kids to every imaginable idea and let them see if they buy it. Vaccine denialism? Let it rip. There is no greater rebuttal to RFK Jr. than to hear the man's incoherent lunacy on vaccines. Hunter's laptop? Jordan Peterson's shtick? 1619 Project? Transitioning children? All totally fine with me. My view is let it all rip, and - and - let everyone who wants to call bullshit on any of these things rip them to fucking shreds. And any sorts who want to buy into them? Do so. Good for you!

All of these are, btw, fringe ideas/idea peddlers.

Extreme ESG/DEI is not a thing among the 60% of businesses in the US that are small businesses. And a huge percentage of those who work in large corporations don't give a fuck about these things.

The majority of the country is in the middle. They'd prefer people stop telling each other what they can and cannot read and fighting about trans people, who make up .0005% of society.

We don't give a fuck about people's strong emotions about their pet issues, or those people, even. But we very much don't like twits telling us we can't drink Bud Light (I wouldn't anyway) because a cross dresser did an ad for it. And we don't want to be told we have to listen to claptrap about inclusion if we don't feel like it.

Not even sure what you're getting at here, but you said "Orwell" so I'm sure Hank will be on it.

The authoritarianism from the left is Huxley - subtle, nudging. From the right, it's Orwell. Statutory, enforced.

When you find yourself explaining that the left is Trumpian, you ought to stop, take a few deep breaths, pour yourself a Negroni, and try to figure out where you took the wrong turn.

A venn diagram of the mindset those kids at the US Open and Trump would be a circle in this essential regard... Both live in their own realities. And they insist the rest of us do so as well.

Any sane person concerned with climate would understand the very best thing he could do is organize lobbying to get more nuclear plants built and encourage conversion of coal and oil plants to natural gas. That's the necessary next step. And that's non-negotiable. There is no fantasyland where solar and wind are the next conversion.

But no. Instead, they're going to disrupt a tennis match. Throw a tantrum. Like Trump. "I get to live in my world and everything around me must adhere to it!"