Upcoming virtual talk by Fukuyama on liberalism and the world order, April 6, through Stanford alumni. I think you need a Stanford account of some kind to watch.
With the current rat problem, it is time for the government of Paris to address a long-ignored social problem, and throw serious resources behind its cat population. Subsidized food and litter, free state-operated veterinarians, and perhaps mandate the support of community cats for each block, with additional cats and perhaps a ferret obligatory in areas with high concentrations of restaurants.
“The United States military was forced to essentially crash its MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone because of the damage caused when it was struck by a Russian jet, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.”
Asia Times on the takedown of the American drone. See,
I wouldn’t be surprised if the movie “Four Lions” was pretty accurate for most wannabe jihadis. Change the locale from the UK to the Midwest, and you pretty much have a film about the Whitmer kidnapping plot.
There was an interesting story on Malaysia in Reuters a few days ago- owing to Malaysia reneging on a colonial-era land deal with a sultan, the sultan’s heirs are suing the Malaysian government for something like $15 billion- and won in a French court. They recently tried to take over a couple of that government’s buildings in Paris (the embassy is exempt). I’m not entirely sure why France has standing to arbitrate that, or why they think it’s a good idea to bring royalty’s land claims from the 1800s back into play, but that is a serious amount of money even for a relatively prosperous nation like Malaysia. For reference, their government budget in 2021 was about $75 billion.
Never seen a Russian t-shirt, but I have seen plenty of Ukrainian flags flying on porches that would never fly an American flag. I think the latter is more a cultural talisman of the left than pro-Russian t-shirts are of the right.
Yes, I've seen the same. Even more conservative towns, I've not once seen such a t-shirt. The view is unequivocally fringe. Less fringe is simple, old-fashioned isolationism. That's the real issue, as evidenced by DeSantis. Among Republican candidates, the better choice on foreign policy might be ... yes ... Trump. Just sayin'. He successfully deterred Vladimir for four years by his mercurial unpredictability and strong support for Western energy independence in place of the insanity the Germans still have not given up on.
Mar 16, 2023·edited Mar 16, 2023Liked by Claire Berlinski
I've only ever seen those shirts on video at political rallies, never in person. But that also goes all the way back to 2015. (I'm guessing maybe 3 or 4 instances? But honestly I try not to gaze to hard into that abyss, maybe I should.)
I think considering a Ukrainian flag as a talisman of the left is perhaps a little too black and white.
Mar 16, 2023·edited Mar 16, 2023Liked by Claire Berlinski
I’m not saying plenty of people aren’t supportive of Ukraine on either side. There’s broad bipartisan support for Ukraine even if the far left and far right are against it. I’ve just noticed the same homes that had “resist” signs during the Trump Administration in the progressive Democratic neighborhoods where I live are much likelier to be flying a Ukrainian flag or have blue and yellow bunting or the like. I’m a hundred times more hawkish than my neighbors flying those flags, but it’s all virtue signaling. If Biden announced a plan for the US to deploy combat troops to Ukraine, those flags would come down immediately and “Make Love Not War” posters would go up between their “Black Lives Matter” banners and their “This House Believes in Science” et al yardsigns. You just don’t see as many Ukrainian flags in redder areas, and I don’t think it’s because most Republicans don’t support Ukraine, because polling consistently says they do. It’s because white college graduates are compelled to virtue signal; they want people to know they think the right things. They seem to believe the rest of us give a damn what they think. These are just my anecdotal observations of a purple state divided by partisanship geographically, but it seems to hold up in my travels around said state.
Ok, I see what you mean. I really hope those poll numbers hold in the face of what will be an ugly agitprop push in 2023.
If you'll allow me to go a bit meta-conversation here: I used to think that virtue signaling was a performance put on by the people on the left. It's very easy to cruise control through YouTube and see clip after clip of really embarrassing college students. Over time, however, I've come to see virtue signaling as a performance put on by all humans at one time or another, not just adherents to one particular subset of Westerners.
I don't find an oversized American flag pin on a lapel to be an indicator that the wearer is a "good" American, but they sure want you to see it. One can hang a giant light-up cross on the street-side of a barn, but that certainly wouldn't be any guarantee that the carpenter is a "good" Christian. These are all people trying to signal to a tribe. "Hey guys, watch me own these libs" is a literal signal of in-group virtue, and a profitable one at that.
I've had a similar realization regarding confirmation bias. It is an incredibly well-researched part of the human condition, not one attached to one subset of politics. It's important to keep that in mind.
I don’t disagree in toto. But it seems TEA Partiers and yuppies suffer from it inordinately. Most people just don’t give a flip what incoherent pseudo-ideology the virtue signalers espouse, regardless of their political leanings.
That got a laugh out of me. I wonder if we could graph extremism vs jingoism and see the line for ourselves. ISIS meetings would probably be embarrassing as hell to watch as they stumble all over themselves to be the Most Serious Jihadi.
Heck, just since the decriminalization of recreational marijuana, at least once a week I’m sitting at a stoplight and a car pulls up exuding weed smoke so strong that I can smell it inside my truck with the windows closed. I used to be fairly libertarian about recreational drug use, but between my contacts with a rehab program in my neighborhood and the open use of marijuana (I don’t want to get high from second hand smoke or expose my kid to it) these days, that viewpoint is changing. Lord knows what kind of fresh hell we’d unleash if we didn’t combat fentanyl and heroin? America is a sick country, no doubt.
Upcoming virtual talk by Fukuyama on liberalism and the world order, April 6, through Stanford alumni. I think you need a Stanford account of some kind to watch.
https://groups.stanford.edu/events/37942?mkt_tok=ODg0LUZTQi0zMDcAAAGKipfYQaEVv3UeKly94_eHr5RdqRpSxoyFeX42RGRh693_KCogOMsPlmRIcNSLbLfuD38Jq5bUOYyGs5GWiMWghQ3BmmXo7gZjPaKfS1ALwSU
With the current rat problem, it is time for the government of Paris to address a long-ignored social problem, and throw serious resources behind its cat population. Subsidized food and litter, free state-operated veterinarians, and perhaps mandate the support of community cats for each block, with additional cats and perhaps a ferret obligatory in areas with high concentrations of restaurants.
Seriously: There's such a simple solution to this problem.
“The United States military was forced to essentially crash its MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone because of the damage caused when it was struck by a Russian jet, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.”
Asia Times on the takedown of the American drone. See,
https://asiatimes.com/2023/03/reaper-drone-takedown-augurs-ill-for-crimea-offensive/
I wouldn’t be surprised if the movie “Four Lions” was pretty accurate for most wannabe jihadis. Change the locale from the UK to the Midwest, and you pretty much have a film about the Whitmer kidnapping plot.
If only the end of a mono-polar world meant the Chinese would hand out olive branches to belligerents and soothe disputes...
There was an interesting story on Malaysia in Reuters a few days ago- owing to Malaysia reneging on a colonial-era land deal with a sultan, the sultan’s heirs are suing the Malaysian government for something like $15 billion- and won in a French court. They recently tried to take over a couple of that government’s buildings in Paris (the embassy is exempt). I’m not entirely sure why France has standing to arbitrate that, or why they think it’s a good idea to bring royalty’s land claims from the 1800s back into play, but that is a serious amount of money even for a relatively prosperous nation like Malaysia. For reference, their government budget in 2021 was about $75 billion.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/malaysia-summon-sultans-heirs-dispute-over-paris-properties-2023-03-08/
Never seen a Russian t-shirt, but I have seen plenty of Ukrainian flags flying on porches that would never fly an American flag. I think the latter is more a cultural talisman of the left than pro-Russian t-shirts are of the right.
Yes, I've seen the same. Even more conservative towns, I've not once seen such a t-shirt. The view is unequivocally fringe. Less fringe is simple, old-fashioned isolationism. That's the real issue, as evidenced by DeSantis. Among Republican candidates, the better choice on foreign policy might be ... yes ... Trump. Just sayin'. He successfully deterred Vladimir for four years by his mercurial unpredictability and strong support for Western energy independence in place of the insanity the Germans still have not given up on.
Germany remains the real weak link.
Say hi to your cats 🐈 😻
I've only ever seen those shirts on video at political rallies, never in person. But that also goes all the way back to 2015. (I'm guessing maybe 3 or 4 instances? But honestly I try not to gaze to hard into that abyss, maybe I should.)
I think considering a Ukrainian flag as a talisman of the left is perhaps a little too black and white.
I’m not saying plenty of people aren’t supportive of Ukraine on either side. There’s broad bipartisan support for Ukraine even if the far left and far right are against it. I’ve just noticed the same homes that had “resist” signs during the Trump Administration in the progressive Democratic neighborhoods where I live are much likelier to be flying a Ukrainian flag or have blue and yellow bunting or the like. I’m a hundred times more hawkish than my neighbors flying those flags, but it’s all virtue signaling. If Biden announced a plan for the US to deploy combat troops to Ukraine, those flags would come down immediately and “Make Love Not War” posters would go up between their “Black Lives Matter” banners and their “This House Believes in Science” et al yardsigns. You just don’t see as many Ukrainian flags in redder areas, and I don’t think it’s because most Republicans don’t support Ukraine, because polling consistently says they do. It’s because white college graduates are compelled to virtue signal; they want people to know they think the right things. They seem to believe the rest of us give a damn what they think. These are just my anecdotal observations of a purple state divided by partisanship geographically, but it seems to hold up in my travels around said state.
Ok, I see what you mean. I really hope those poll numbers hold in the face of what will be an ugly agitprop push in 2023.
If you'll allow me to go a bit meta-conversation here: I used to think that virtue signaling was a performance put on by the people on the left. It's very easy to cruise control through YouTube and see clip after clip of really embarrassing college students. Over time, however, I've come to see virtue signaling as a performance put on by all humans at one time or another, not just adherents to one particular subset of Westerners.
I don't find an oversized American flag pin on a lapel to be an indicator that the wearer is a "good" American, but they sure want you to see it. One can hang a giant light-up cross on the street-side of a barn, but that certainly wouldn't be any guarantee that the carpenter is a "good" Christian. These are all people trying to signal to a tribe. "Hey guys, watch me own these libs" is a literal signal of in-group virtue, and a profitable one at that.
I've had a similar realization regarding confirmation bias. It is an incredibly well-researched part of the human condition, not one attached to one subset of politics. It's important to keep that in mind.
BTW, “flag inflation” is one reason I’ve just stopped wearing lapel pins. They’re getting to the size of brooches now.
I don’t disagree in toto. But it seems TEA Partiers and yuppies suffer from it inordinately. Most people just don’t give a flip what incoherent pseudo-ideology the virtue signalers espouse, regardless of their political leanings.
That got a laugh out of me. I wonder if we could graph extremism vs jingoism and see the line for ourselves. ISIS meetings would probably be embarrassing as hell to watch as they stumble all over themselves to be the Most Serious Jihadi.
Thanks Claire - interesting roundup! For footnote 8, should the year be 2021 rather than 2001?
Indeed! I'll fix that. Thank you!
Heck, just since the decriminalization of recreational marijuana, at least once a week I’m sitting at a stoplight and a car pulls up exuding weed smoke so strong that I can smell it inside my truck with the windows closed. I used to be fairly libertarian about recreational drug use, but between my contacts with a rehab program in my neighborhood and the open use of marijuana (I don’t want to get high from second hand smoke or expose my kid to it) these days, that viewpoint is changing. Lord knows what kind of fresh hell we’d unleash if we didn’t combat fentanyl and heroin? America is a sick country, no doubt.