Domestic Politics – The Scholar's Stage

The World That Twitter Never Made

15 July, 2022By The People, Community, Culture, Domestic Politics

A few months ago Jonathan Haidt made waves with a big think-piece in the Atlantic arguing that most of the ills of the 2010s can be traced back to the invention of the retweet button. I read the essay and disagreed with it vociferously. Today City Journal published my critique. You can read my counter essay here. Below I would like to add some additional thoughts on social media and American politics that could not fit into that piece.

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Everything I Got Wrong in 2020

06 January, 2021Cognition, Complex Systems, Domestic Politics, Epidemiology, Nature Red in Tooth and Claw, The Middle Kingdom

What did I get wrong in 2020? What did I change my mind about? As I have argued that the mark of a good mind is a willingness to admit mistakes and to come to terms with why one might have made them, I am now forced into the uncomfortable position of trying to live […]

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Notes From All Over: Communists, Partisans, and P-Values

27 October, 2017Books and Literature, Community, Culture, Domestic Politics, Notes From All Over, Political Theory, Spies and Spooks, The Middle Kingdom, Tyranny

Notes From All Over: A collection of recently published articles, essays, reports, or blog posts of merit.TOP BILLING “This Is What A 21st-Century Police State Really Looks Like“Megha Rajagopalan. Buzzfeed (18 October 2017). “In the countryside, if you get even one call from abroad, they will know. It’s obvious,” said R., who agreed to meet me in […]

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A Parable Concerning Tolerance

06 March, 2017Culture, Demographics, Domestic Politics, Electoral Intrigues, History

There once lived in a far country a people of gentle nature and perceptive understanding. They were led by a man of great vision. At great cost he decided to dedicate his life to preserving this people’s way of life. He saw in them a beauty and virtue he could find nowhere else. In a […]

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Notes From All Over (3/09/15): Chinese Media, Ancient War, and Strategic Theory

03 September, 2015Complex Systems, Dogs of War, Domestic Politics, Education, Entangling Alliances, Geopolitics, History, Near East, Notes From All Over, Political Theory, Religion, Strategy, The Middle Kingdom, Wealth

A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit. TOP BILLING “Down With the Nihilists!” and “Love Thy Country““T.J. Ma.” Chublic Opinion. (31 & 6 August 2015). I was led to this blog by the recommendation of Kaiser Kuo and instantly knew that it needed to be on the blog roll. “T.J. Ma” writes […]

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Far Right and Far Left Coming Together – With Infographics!

13 June, 2013Domestic Politics, Oligarchy, Political Theory

In one of the Stage’s most popular posts, I asked if the “far right” and “far left” are really just two peas of the same pod. On the face of things America seems divided between two hostile cultures. Yet look beneath the surface and a different picture emerges: underneath partisan rhetoric are two parties united […]

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America 3.0

09 June, 2013Books and Literature, Community, Domestic Politics, Family Structure, Futuristics, History, Political Theory

It is unusual for me to read a book aimed at popular conservative audiences. I am something of a disaffected conservative. Crony capitalism and government overreach have proved to be bipartisan endeavors, and I have long lost faith that the Republican party can ever be more than an organ of America’s governing elite. [1] Outside […]

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What Senator Paul Accomplished

07 March, 2013Domestic Politics, Military Affairs, On Liberty, The Legislature

If you are reading this post you have probably heard of Senator Rand Paul’s 13 hour filibuster over John Brennan’s confirmation as Director of the CIA. The filibuster ended today, giving both Washington politicians and their internet observers a chance to declare their thoughts on the Senator’s actions. Many tweets, posts, op-eds, and press statements […]

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Ominous Parallels: What Antebellum America Can Teach Us About Our Modern Political Regime

26 February, 2013Domestic Politics, History, Monied Interests, Oligarchy

Many people point to the hyper-partisanship of national Democratic and Republican parties as the greatest challenge facing 21st century America. When seen through the lens of another vapidly partisan political system – that of Jacksonian America – we see that the real danger is not noisy partisanship, but the iniquity it hides: for them it was slavery; for us, plutarchy. Living amidst the raucous partisanship of contemporary times it […]

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News Flash: A Republican Majority Will Not Bring Spending Under Control

20 October, 2010Crazy Stuff That Costs Way Too Much Money, Domestic Politics, Wealth

Philip Klein of the American Spectator explains why: Republican’s Fiscal Fantasyland Philip Klein. American Spectator. 10 October 2010. Republican candidates will discuss the need to cut waste from the budget vaguely while ruling out cuts to entitlements and defense spending. To demonstrate how absurd this is, I put together this pie chart breaking down the […]

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Category Archives: Domestic Politics