{"id":14401,"date":"2021-05-03T14:06:56","date_gmt":"2021-05-03T18:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=14401"},"modified":"2021-05-03T14:06:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T18:06:56","slug":"the-trouble-with-being-a-pundit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/03\/the-trouble-with-being-a-pundit\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trouble with Being a Pundit"},"content":{"rendered":"

I follow Curtis Yarvin\u2019s blog posts on his substack called graymirror@substack.com<\/a>. \u00a0Yarvin is a neo-reactionary.\u00a0 What that means is he believes democracy will be replaced by some kind of monarchy.\u00a0 But the monarchy he imagines is more like a corporate state where the king is like a CEO.<\/p>\n

Yarvin\u2019s posts are enormously long and convoluted.\u00a0 But he started his latest post<\/a> with a short discussion of what he says are the three kinds of dissidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are three kinds of dissidents: (a) anons, (b) pundits who still care what people think, and (c) outsiders who DGAF. All these groups are great; real greatness can be achieved in any of them; and good friends I have in each. But each has its problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem with (c) is that it\u2019s too hard. It takes a lot of luck to get there and stay there. It\u2019s quite inconsistent with doing anything else with your life\u2014and this under conditions of very mild repression, historically speaking. And the more you succeed, the more dangerous your position becomes. I would recommend the outside way to only one kind of young person: le trustafarian. And it has to really be your calling.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem with (a) is that it\u2019s too easy\u2014nothing binds you to reality. The dissident anons create the best art, yet never without some slight sense of playing tennis without the net. Yet this complete, even excessive, artistic freedom is balanced by challenges in opsec that compare only to general aviation. If you are not meticulous enough to fly a Cessna, you are not meticulous enough to shitpost.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem with (b) is that you are always policing yourself. Not only do your readers never really know what you really believe\u2014you never really know yourself. In practice, it is much easier to police your own thoughts than your own words. When choosing between two ideas, the temptation to prefer the safer one is almost irresistible. This is a source of cognitive distortion which the anons and outsiders do not experience. (Though anons do suffer something of the opposite, a reflex to provoke.)\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I found this discussion of the problems with the various types of dissidents very helpful.\u00a0 And it goes a long way to explaining why mainstream pundits are so careful.\u00a0 There is so much fear of being canceled that they\u2019d rather stand a hundred yards away from the edge of the Overton Window than risk being called a racist.\u00a0 Surprisingly Tucker Carlson has been an exception.\u00a0 He comes remarkably close to sounding like someone from the Dissident Right.<\/p>\n

What this brings out is the fact that the pundits are aware of these lies.\u00a0 They know the truth but are afraid to say it out loud.\u00a0 Which is why as soon as the Overton Window shifts, as it did when Donald Trump spoke out against illegal immigration, these pundits will eventually move forward to somewhere slightly behind the edge.\u00a0 And that is a cause for hope.\u00a0 When a time comes when a man who is not afraid to speak the truth gets a platform that the Left can\u2019t dynamite, we will see if the American people are ready to be led in a new direction.<\/p>\n

Another interesting thing that Yarvin discusses is what it would take to beat the Deep State at its own game.\u00a0 Being a monarchist Yarvin sees the solution as the appearance of a strongman.\u00a0 He hedges a little about what that would look like.\u00a0 But the names he mentions as historical examples are Cromwell, Caesar and Charlemagne.\u00a0 Well, none of those names were peaceful characters who worked within the system and made small changes around the edges.\u00a0 So, he\u2019s talking revolution.\u00a0 That\u2019s bold talk.\u00a0 But he says anything less will fail because the Left isn\u2019t kidding around.\u00a0 That\u2019s something to think about.\u00a0 His proof is what happened to Donald Trump.\u00a0 Trump had popular support.\u00a0 So, the Deep State worked around that support and used a combination of fraud and propaganda to retake the government.\u00a0 It does show that it will take more than popular support to eliminate the Deep State.\u00a0 It will take force.\u00a0 To purge the intelligence agency will take force.\u00a0 To purge the armed forces will take force.\u00a0 Not violence but power politics.\u00a0 You will have to buy off powerful people and then get rid of those powerful people next.\u00a0 Machiavelli will be the rule book for an operation like this and plenty of people will end up in prison even if things go well.<\/p>\n

So, do I think it will take a strongman?\u00a0 Yeah, I guess I do.\u00a0 Do I think it would require the end of the republic?\u00a0 Currently I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 I hope not, but I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 If a leader arises to displace the Left, would he feel safe only leading for eight years?\u00a0\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t he fear revenge once he left office.\u00a0 Is it too late for republicanism?\u00a0 That\u2019s the question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I follow Curtis Yarvin\u2019s blog posts on his substack called graymirror@substack.com. \u00a0Yarvin is a neo-reactionary.\u00a0 What that means is he believes democracy will be replaced<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2062,3037,1424,3035,3036],"class_list":["post-14401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","tag-curtis-yarvin","tag-neo-reactionary","tag-our-revolutions-logic","tag-pundits","tag-strongman"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Trouble with Being a Pundit - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/03\/the-trouble-with-being-a-pundit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Trouble with Being a Pundit - 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