“Universalism” kinda makes some people ignore the fact that it’s the system that also allows the physical existence of heretics more than any other system in existence ever yet has.
I agree. In my mind this is its great redeeming feature and the main reason I think I still endorse universalism despite entertaining much of the criticism of it. At the end of the day I still want to live in a Western Social Democracy, just maybe one that has a libertarian (and I know this may sound odd coming from me) real multicultural bent with regards to some issues.
And yet, it’s the “Universalist” system that allows Jews to not get exterminated.
The same is true of the Roman and Byzantine empire. The Caliphate too. Also true of Communist regimes. Many absolute monarchies now that I think about it. Also I’m pretty sure the traditional Indian cast system could keep Jews safe as well.
If Amy Chua is right democracy (a holy word of universalism) may in the long run put market dominant minorities like the Jews more at risk than some alternatives. Introducing democracy and other universalist memes in the Middle East has likely doomed the Christian minorities there for example.
Let’s keep it simple—which non-Universalist nation has ever been willing to allow as much relative influence to Jewish people as Universalist systems have?
I’m not quite sure why particularly the Jewish people matter so very much to you in this example. I’m sure you aren’t searching for the trivial answer (which would be “in any ancient and medieval Jewish state or nation”).
If you are using Jews here as an emblem of invoking the horrors of Nazism, can’t we at least throw a bone to Gypsy and Polish victims? And since we did that can we now judge Communism by the same standard? Moldbug would say that Communism is just a country getting sick with a particularly bad case of universalism.
The thing is Universalism as it exists now dosen’t seem to be stable, the reason one sees all these clever (and I mean clever in the bad, overly complicating, overly contrarian sense of the word) arguing in the late 2000s against “universalism” online is because the comfortable heretic tolerating universalism of the second half of the 20th century seems to be slowly changing into something else. They have no where else to go but online. The economic benefits and comforts for most of its citizens are being dismantled, the space of acceptable opinion seems to be shrinking. As technology, that enables the surveillance of citizens and enforcement of social norms by peers, advances there dosen’t seem to be any force really counteracting it. If you transgress, if you are a heretic in the 21st century, you will remain one for your entire life as your name is one google search away from your sin. As mobs organize via social media or apps become more and more a reality, a political reality, how long will such people remain physically safe? How do you explain to the people beating you that you recanted your heresy years ago? Recall how pogroms where usually the affair of angry low class peasants. You don’t need the Stasi to eliminate people. The mob can work as well. You don’t need a concentration camp when you have the machete. And while modern tech makes the state more powerful since surveillance is easier, it also makes the mob more powerful. Remaining under the, not just legal, but de facto, protection of the state becomes more and more vital. The room for dissent thus shrinks even if stated ideals and norms remain as they where before.
And I don’t think they will remain such. While most people carrying universalist memes are wildly optimistic with “information wants to be free” liberty enhancing aspect of it, the fact remains that this new technology seems to have also massively increased the viability and reach of Anarcho-Tyranny.
The personal psychological costs of living up to universalist ideals and internalizing them seem to be rising as well. To illustrate what I mean by this, consider the practical sexual ethics of say Elizabethan England and Victorian England. On the surface and in their stated norms they don’t differ much, yet the latter arguably uses up far more resources and a places a greater cognitive burden of socialization on its members to enforce them.
Now consider the various universalist standards of personal behaviour that are normative in 2012 and in 1972. They aren’t that different in stated ideals, but the practical costs have arguably risen.
I’m not quite sure why particularly the Jewish people matter so very much to you in this example.
nykos’ was the one who used the example of Jewish superior intelligence not getting acknowdged as such by Universalism. My point was that was there have been hardly any non-Universalist systems that could even tolerate Jewish equal participation, let alone acknowledged Ashkenazi superiority.
The economic benefits and comforts for most of its citizens are being dismantled, the space of acceptable opinion seems to be shrinking.
I see no proof of that. What economic benefits and comforts? Sure, real wages in Western countries have stopped growing around the 1970s, but e.g. where welfare programs are being cut following the current crisis, it’s certainly not the liberals but economically conservative governments championing the cuts.
Now consider the various universalist standards of personal behaviour that are normative in 2012 and in 1972. They aren’t that different in stated ideals, but the practical costs have arguably risen.
I don’t understand. Do you mean prestigious norms like “never avoid poor neighbourhoods for your personal safety, because it’s supposedly un-egalitarian”, or what? What other norms like that exist that are harmful in daily life?
but e.g. where welfare programs are being cut following the current crisis, it’s certainly not the liberals but economically conservative governments championing the cuts.
What’s happening is, to paraphrase Thacher, that governments are running out of other people’s money. Yes, conservative parties are more willing to acknowledge this fact, but liberal parties don’t have any viable alternatives and it was their economic policies that lead to this state of affairs.
The places that are being hardest hit have been ruled by left wing parties for most of the time since at least the 1970s. Also in these places the right wing parties aren’t all that right wing.
I agree. In my mind this is its great redeeming feature and the main reason I think I still endorse universalism despite entertaining much of the criticism of it. At the end of the day I still want to live in a Western Social Democracy, just maybe one that has a libertarian (and I know this may sound odd coming from me) real multicultural bent with regards to some issues.
The same is true of the Roman and Byzantine empire. The Caliphate too. Also true of Communist regimes. Many absolute monarchies now that I think about it. Also I’m pretty sure the traditional Indian cast system could keep Jews safe as well.
If Amy Chua is right democracy (a holy word of universalism) may in the long run put market dominant minorities like the Jews more at risk than some alternatives. Introducing democracy and other universalist memes in the Middle East has likely doomed the Christian minorities there for example.
I’m not quite sure why particularly the Jewish people matter so very much to you in this example. I’m sure you aren’t searching for the trivial answer (which would be “in any ancient and medieval Jewish state or nation”).
If you are using Jews here as an emblem of invoking the horrors of Nazism, can’t we at least throw a bone to Gypsy and Polish victims? And since we did that can we now judge Communism by the same standard? Moldbug would say that Communism is just a country getting sick with a particularly bad case of universalism.
The thing is Universalism as it exists now dosen’t seem to be stable, the reason one sees all these clever (and I mean clever in the bad, overly complicating, overly contrarian sense of the word) arguing in the late 2000s against “universalism” online is because the comfortable heretic tolerating universalism of the second half of the 20th century seems to be slowly changing into something else. They have no where else to go but online. The economic benefits and comforts for most of its citizens are being dismantled, the space of acceptable opinion seems to be shrinking. As technology, that enables the surveillance of citizens and enforcement of social norms by peers, advances there dosen’t seem to be any force really counteracting it. If you transgress, if you are a heretic in the 21st century, you will remain one for your entire life as your name is one google search away from your sin. As mobs organize via social media or apps become more and more a reality, a political reality, how long will such people remain physically safe? How do you explain to the people beating you that you recanted your heresy years ago? Recall how pogroms where usually the affair of angry low class peasants. You don’t need the Stasi to eliminate people. The mob can work as well. You don’t need a concentration camp when you have the machete. And while modern tech makes the state more powerful since surveillance is easier, it also makes the mob more powerful. Remaining under the, not just legal, but de facto, protection of the state becomes more and more vital. The room for dissent thus shrinks even if stated ideals and norms remain as they where before.
And I don’t think they will remain such. While most people carrying universalist memes are wildly optimistic with “information wants to be free” liberty enhancing aspect of it, the fact remains that this new technology seems to have also massively increased the viability and reach of Anarcho-Tyranny.
The personal psychological costs of living up to universalist ideals and internalizing them seem to be rising as well. To illustrate what I mean by this, consider the practical sexual ethics of say Elizabethan England and Victorian England. On the surface and in their stated norms they don’t differ much, yet the latter arguably uses up far more resources and a places a greater cognitive burden of socialization on its members to enforce them.
Now consider the various universalist standards of personal behaviour that are normative in 2012 and in 1972. They aren’t that different in stated ideals, but the practical costs have arguably risen.
nykos’ was the one who used the example of Jewish superior intelligence not getting acknowdged as such by Universalism. My point was that was there have been hardly any non-Universalist systems that could even tolerate Jewish equal participation, let alone acknowledged Ashkenazi superiority.
Thank you, I missed that context. Sorry.
I see no proof of that. What economic benefits and comforts? Sure, real wages in Western countries have stopped growing around the 1970s, but e.g. where welfare programs are being cut following the current crisis, it’s certainly not the liberals but economically conservative governments championing the cuts.
I don’t understand. Do you mean prestigious norms like “never avoid poor neighbourhoods for your personal safety, because it’s supposedly un-egalitarian”, or what? What other norms like that exist that are harmful in daily life?
What’s happening is, to paraphrase Thacher, that governments are running out of other people’s money. Yes, conservative parties are more willing to acknowledge this fact, but liberal parties don’t have any viable alternatives and it was their economic policies that lead to this state of affairs.
Hmm? And in places where fiscally conservative parties were at the helm before the crisis? What about them?
The places that are being hardest hit have been ruled by left wing parties for most of the time since at least the 1970s. Also in these places the right wing parties aren’t all that right wing.
Are the Scandinavian nations among the ones hit hardest? Or, say, Poland?