The New Right appears to be on the rise for better or worse

We don’t talk much about politics here because politics is the mind-killer. But even if it weren’t the case, we might still want to avoid it as knowledge of day-to-day politics tends to lose its value fast.

On the other hand, I think it’s important to have at least some minimalistic knowledge of larger trends. I don’t think we should let our aversion to politics put us in a position where we don’t know what is going on in the world until it smacks us in the face[1]. You might not care about politics, but politics cares about you. It is useful to know which way the wind is blowing, whether you wish to support or oppose growing trends; to hide; or some combination of all three.

The article in Vanity Fair convinced me that the New Right[2] is a phenomenon worth having at least having a cursory knowledge of [3]. While before I had assumed that it was an irrelevant niche on the internet, it now seems to be gaining real-world influence and a certain level of “coolness”, so ignoring it seems like a mistake.

(I have tried to avoid stating an opinion due to the general norm of “no politics” on Less Wrong).

  1. ^

    For example, I felt like I was smacked in the face by Trumpism. When he first started trending I had no idea of what was going on or why people were considering voting for him.

  2. ^

    I’m not counting Trumpism as New Right. Considering Trump has already been president, this post would be coming several years too late.

  3. ^

    It may seem as though I’m announcing old news since Yarvin commented on Overcoming Bias before Less Wrong split off. However, a) it was before my time (and before the time of most people here) and b) as far as I can tell New Right thought seems to have made some shifts since then.