Seizing the means of home production
I once worked with a doctor who spent the entire morning complaining about the cost of 30k Montessori preschool for his two kids, as well as »
The Sliding Scale of Bullshit Jobs
David Graeber wrote a piece On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs which niggled at me for a long time. On one hand, anyone who has worked »
The Obedient Rebels
Back in the 60s, one group of protesters tried a novel strategy to attack the big banks that they hated. They distributed flyers around town telling »
The Hippie-Conservative Synthesis
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the »
The Best Lack All Conviction
Mild spoilers for Submission follow. Halfway through the novel Submission, the narrator’s parents die in quick succession, an event that's all the more devastating for »
The Confucian heuristic
The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the Kingdom, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated »
Servants without Masters
When I visited Singapore a few years ago, I kept noticing novel bits of social technology that managed to solve problems that I didn’t even »
The Mentorship Deficit
When I was towards the end of medical school, I had a bout of last minute questioning about my choice of specialty. I had put in »
On small work groups
As steel sharpeneth steel, so one man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. – Proverbs 27:17 There’s a common romantic image of the lone genius »
Why study aristocracy?
The past, it’s said, is a foreign country. If so, that country lies firmly in the third world. Past societies were much poorer than ours, »
The value of being cavalier
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance »
Of culture wars and Mongol hordes; Of immigrants and kings
After us, the people of our race will wear garments of gold; they will eat sweet, greasy food, ride splendid coursers, and hold in their arms »
Why Methodists don't go to heaven
A few months ago I was talking to some divinity school students, many of whom were on track to being ordained Methodist ministers. I’m always »
The Tragedy of Light
I’ve never been a huge anime fan, but Death Note is the one show that I’ve really enjoyed. The intricate plot can be simplified »
The Pensioner and the Aristocrat
There’s a small movement of personal finance bloggers who argue that a lot of people should be retiring early – think 35 or 40 rather than »
Social Technology and Anarcho-Tyranny
1. When people talk about politics, they generally fall into one of three groups. The first and by far the largest group basically argues “more good »
The Dark Side of the Weak Galt Hypothesis
One of the facts that I like to surprise people with is that in many East Asian countries, there are no such things as ghettos. Oh, »
The Weak Galt Hypothesis
Nick Land provides a fresh angle of attack at the fertility question. In a world where economic might is the main arena of competition, do countries »
On Saving the World and Other Delusions
1. I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who suffered a crisis of faith of sorts. His startup, which initially had an extremely »