Also pertinent is exploring why I felt so attached to something I knew I couldn’t logically defend, and the simple explanation is that it was cool. Being a libertarian can be super socially isolating, especially if you live only in places overwhelmingly surrounded by leftists like I do.
20 years ago or so, Eliezer Yudkowsky said that the biggest obstacle to raising the sanity waterline was religion. This seemed very reasonable at the time.
I’m unconvinced that’s still true in the West. What seems the larger barrier now are the things people say and believe that ensure they’ll keep getting invited to dinner parties.
I’m likely overlooking other factors of course, and there’s the ever-present, gnawing worry that haunts me, whispering that I might be fundamentally mistaken about something else. Maybe I am, but hopefully I’ll be better equipped to unearth it.
You’ve identified a very powerful bias. If you’re looking for easy wins to root out incorrect beliefs, have you considered first looking at all the ones that would dry up your dating pool if you stopped believing in them and told other people in your social circle about how you changed your mind?
BLM’s policy proposals have changed since you wrote that. Currently, they’re at https://impact.blacklivesmatter.com/policy/. They are:
defund the police
No On Prop 25
voting-rights legislation
support for the Congressional Oversight of Unjust Policing Act (COUP Act)
Medicare for All
the police not using stuff made for the military
opposing Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court
DC statehood
ending the filibuster
“climate justice”
(emphasis added)
Keep clicking on “Next Pillar” at the top right of the page; eventually they get around to bragging about how they’ve countered Amazon’s attempts to keep a union from forming.
I’m not really a libertarian any more, but is this close enough to your beliefs that you still think the organization is worth supporting? Or have you considered voicing support for some other organization that has enough cachet in your social circle to ensure that you don’t spend weekend nights alone?