Dead Carl
@deadcarl.bsky.social
www.deadcarl.com
Writer on Clausewitz, international relations, and German history. Words in American Purpose.
Kiran Pfitzner
Writer on Clausewitz, international relations, and German history. Words in American Purpose.
Kiran Pfitzner
Pinned
Dead Carl
@deadcarl.bsky.social
· Nov 14
The Myth of Military Logic
How "military necessity" became the key-stone of militarism
www.deadcarl.com
Since there's a lot of us migrating, I figured I should make a thread of some of the better things I've written as an introduction (and of course, self promotion:
Reposted by Dead Carl
You can’t do the Mishima talk and then balk at the Mishima walk.
February 18, 2026 at 5:22 AM
You can’t do the Mishima talk and then balk at the Mishima walk.
“Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won.”
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won.”
Also just have some moral courage. Nothing in the world is certain. Sometimes you get betrayed. You can’t orient your priorities around a pathological fear of betrayal. You have to have the self-trust that you can cope with an adversarial situation to be able to undertake bold action.
I am not v interested in continuing the “the Democrats will betray us on #$ISSUE the moment they get into power” B/S because a. There’s no way to falsify it and b. It’s fundamentally rooted in a nihilistic doomerism that nobody believes anything, we’re all gonna get betrayed, nothing matters anyways
February 18, 2026 at 5:30 AM
“Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won.”
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won.”
Reposted by Dead Carl
I am a simple girl begging people who make covid their entire personality to learn some basic facts about the disease instead of mainlining Taylor Lorenz‘s feed
February 18, 2026 at 4:55 AM
I am a simple girl begging people who make covid their entire personality to learn some basic facts about the disease instead of mainlining Taylor Lorenz‘s feed
If Hegseth wants to be part of the warrior ethos, he’s got to walk the walk
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
February 18, 2026 at 5:22 AM
If Hegseth wants to be part of the warrior ethos, he’s got to walk the walk
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
*getting burned as a heretic by the church because I blamed my crop failure on capitalism, which they presumed to be a pagan deity* this too is capitalism
*getting burnt as a Cathar by the church in the Albigensian crusade* this is capitalism's fault
People joke about how certain internet DMs the villain is always capitalism, but also if everyone's running characters that are plucky underdogs against the system it's kind of hard for the villain to not be capitalism.
February 18, 2026 at 5:20 AM
*getting burned as a heretic by the church because I blamed my crop failure on capitalism, which they presumed to be a pagan deity* this too is capitalism
Also just have some moral courage. Nothing in the world is certain. Sometimes you get betrayed. You can’t orient your priorities around a pathological fear of betrayal. You have to have the self-trust that you can cope with an adversarial situation to be able to undertake bold action.
I am not v interested in continuing the “the Democrats will betray us on #$ISSUE the moment they get into power” B/S because a. There’s no way to falsify it and b. It’s fundamentally rooted in a nihilistic doomerism that nobody believes anything, we’re all gonna get betrayed, nothing matters anyways
February 18, 2026 at 3:34 AM
Also just have some moral courage. Nothing in the world is certain. Sometimes you get betrayed. You can’t orient your priorities around a pathological fear of betrayal. You have to have the self-trust that you can cope with an adversarial situation to be able to undertake bold action.
Reposted by Dead Carl
I am not v interested in continuing the “the Democrats will betray us on #$ISSUE the moment they get into power” B/S because a. There’s no way to falsify it and b. It’s fundamentally rooted in a nihilistic doomerism that nobody believes anything, we’re all gonna get betrayed, nothing matters anyways
February 18, 2026 at 3:21 AM
I am not v interested in continuing the “the Democrats will betray us on #$ISSUE the moment they get into power” B/S because a. There’s no way to falsify it and b. It’s fundamentally rooted in a nihilistic doomerism that nobody believes anything, we’re all gonna get betrayed, nothing matters anyways
Reposted by Dead Carl
Woke 2.0 means assigning anyone at DoD who says "Warfighter" - and not under active duress while doing so - to be a gate guard at Kwajalein.
February 17, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Woke 2.0 means assigning anyone at DoD who says "Warfighter" - and not under active duress while doing so - to be a gate guard at Kwajalein.
Reposted by Dead Carl
Excess in the defense of liberty (and sound strategy-making) is no vice. Heaven save us from the Lethality Boys.
I've deployed a truly excessive number of Clausewitz quotations to address that terrible article on the war colleges.
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Clausewitz on the Very Bad Ideas to Reform the War Colleges
An Opportunity to Expose Errors and Discuss How One Can Gain Experience From Books
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:17 AM
Excess in the defense of liberty (and sound strategy-making) is no vice. Heaven save us from the Lethality Boys.
“Donald Trump, the businessman?”
-about 30% of Americans rn
-about 30% of Americans rn
February 18, 2026 at 3:28 AM
“Donald Trump, the businessman?”
-about 30% of Americans rn
-about 30% of Americans rn
Reposted by Dead Carl
The betrayal of Maeglin for PME: now that Morgoth knows of JPME, the Fall of the Joint Gondolin Staff College, long fated, must come.
February 17, 2026 at 12:05 AM
The betrayal of Maeglin for PME: now that Morgoth knows of JPME, the Fall of the Joint Gondolin Staff College, long fated, must come.
That “On War” is in large part about learning how to learn, or rather develop judgment, when it comes to war is a major reason it has caused so much confusion. Clausewitz was trying to do something very different from other writers on war and so his text cannot be used the same way.
I've deployed a truly excessive number of Clausewitz quotations to address that terrible article on the war colleges.
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Clausewitz on the Very Bad Ideas to Reform the War Colleges
An Opportunity to Expose Errors and Discuss How One Can Gain Experience From Books
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:45 AM
That “On War” is in large part about learning how to learn, or rather develop judgment, when it comes to war is a major reason it has caused so much confusion. Clausewitz was trying to do something very different from other writers on war and so his text cannot be used the same way.
Reposted by Dead Carl
I am still not over how this "Publius" fellow lays out a very clear and straightforward expression of a desire to never grow up, to gain the powers of an adult without the responsibilities of one, but sublimated into the tactical and the strategic.
I've deployed a truly excessive number of Clausewitz quotations to address that terrible article on the war colleges.
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Clausewitz on the Very Bad Ideas to Reform the War Colleges
An Opportunity to Expose Errors and Discuss How One Can Gain Experience From Books
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:35 AM
I am still not over how this "Publius" fellow lays out a very clear and straightforward expression of a desire to never grow up, to gain the powers of an adult without the responsibilities of one, but sublimated into the tactical and the strategic.
Reposted by Dead Carl
I've deployed a truly excessive number of Clausewitz quotations to address that terrible article on the war colleges.
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Clausewitz on the Very Bad Ideas to Reform the War Colleges
An Opportunity to Expose Errors and Discuss How One Can Gain Experience From Books
open.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:22 AM
I've deployed a truly excessive number of Clausewitz quotations to address that terrible article on the war colleges.
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
At the same time, these quotes (mainly from book II) illustrate how Clausewitz saw theory as a tool for learning how to learn from experience.
open.substack.com/pub/deadcarl...
Reposted by Dead Carl
stop saying the bulwark is a bunch of unreconstructed neocons. it is not. and Charlie Brown did not have hoes, either.
George W. Bush Can Suck It
He didn’t throw shade at Trump; he whitewashed authoritarianism.
www.thebulwark.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:58 PM
stop saying the bulwark is a bunch of unreconstructed neocons. it is not. and Charlie Brown did not have hoes, either.
Reposted by Dead Carl
I've consistently maintained that the bar for meaningful participation in foreign policy discourse should be low, but I'd like to set it at least one notch above "critiquing an answer on Taiwan without knowing about 'strategic ambiguity'," a bar Barkan fails to clear nymag.com/intelligence...
AOC’s Munich Stumble Is a Warning to the Left
It’s time for progressives to get more sophisticated about national security and foreign policy.
nymag.com
February 18, 2026 at 1:42 AM
I've consistently maintained that the bar for meaningful participation in foreign policy discourse should be low, but I'd like to set it at least one notch above "critiquing an answer on Taiwan without knowing about 'strategic ambiguity'," a bar Barkan fails to clear nymag.com/intelligence...
Reposted by Dead Carl
I am no longer willing to credit people who are angry about this basic fact of the world as passionate anti-capitalists. What they are instead is ignorant, belligerent, entitled consumers. They are not opposed to the capitalist system they just don't like the competition in it.
February 17, 2026 at 10:20 PM
I am no longer willing to credit people who are angry about this basic fact of the world as passionate anti-capitalists. What they are instead is ignorant, belligerent, entitled consumers. They are not opposed to the capitalist system they just don't like the competition in it.
I think a key aspect of the internationalist defense of democracy is integrating center right parties to emphasize that this is genuinely about democracy and it’s not just a rhetorical device for partisan advantage.
February 18, 2026 at 12:12 AM
I think a key aspect of the internationalist defense of democracy is integrating center right parties to emphasize that this is genuinely about democracy and it’s not just a rhetorical device for partisan advantage.
Reposted by Dead Carl
As for the peasants, of course they aren't supposed to change their station. That's impossible anyways! They're just supposed to fulfill their role in the eternal cycle.
acoup.blog/2025/10/17/c...
acoup.blog/2025/10/17/c...
February 17, 2026 at 7:45 AM
As for the peasants, of course they aren't supposed to change their station. That's impossible anyways! They're just supposed to fulfill their role in the eternal cycle.
acoup.blog/2025/10/17/c...
acoup.blog/2025/10/17/c...
Reposted by Dead Carl
i don’t think dems will have the numbers they need to actually dismantle DHS or even just ICE after the midterms, *but* they can spend two years tearing into what’s likely to be a megaton of malfeasance and fraud at DHS and line it all up for a dem AG
corrupt, but also staggeringly incompetent and catastrophically understaffed when it comes to planning and administrative capacity
One of my firm beliefs about ICE's $79B budget is that the organization is so corrupt it'll grift and graft it's way through that pile of dough so fast it'll make heads spin.
February 17, 2026 at 8:05 PM
i don’t think dems will have the numbers they need to actually dismantle DHS or even just ICE after the midterms, *but* they can spend two years tearing into what’s likely to be a megaton of malfeasance and fraud at DHS and line it all up for a dem AG
I disagree with this in that there’s a vast difference between *keeping people poor* and *making people poor*. The former has a use for authoritarians in preventing social disruption, but the latter makes people angry, which is dangerously, especially for a regime not yet consolidated.
Today @zeblarson.bsky.social talks about "mudsill theory," the idea that you need to keep the masses down in order to keep the hierarchy strong. There are parallels to be drawn between 19th century slavery apologists, Salazar's Portugal, and Trump's America www.liberalcurrents.com/the-pain-is-...
The Pain Is the Plan
MAGA is actively seeking to immiserate the country in order to cement their power over the rest of us.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 17, 2026 at 8:04 PM
I disagree with this in that there’s a vast difference between *keeping people poor* and *making people poor*. The former has a use for authoritarians in preventing social disruption, but the latter makes people angry, which is dangerously, especially for a regime not yet consolidated.
It seems like this would be true just from two propositions:
1. Propaganda is effective (or information diet matters)
2. Outrage is favored my algorithms
If these are true, we’d expect a greater share of people to be spending their time angry and miserable than previously.
1. Propaganda is effective (or information diet matters)
2. Outrage is favored my algorithms
If these are true, we’d expect a greater share of people to be spending their time angry and miserable than previously.
it’s the phones. sorry. i know that’s frustrating. i know it feels like saying it’s all about climate change. it feels like saying it’s all about a massive collective action problem where even reformers are complicit in the behaviors they’re trying to annihilate or constrain. but it’s the phones.
February 17, 2026 at 6:04 PM
It seems like this would be true just from two propositions:
1. Propaganda is effective (or information diet matters)
2. Outrage is favored my algorithms
If these are true, we’d expect a greater share of people to be spending their time angry and miserable than previously.
1. Propaganda is effective (or information diet matters)
2. Outrage is favored my algorithms
If these are true, we’d expect a greater share of people to be spending their time angry and miserable than previously.
Reposted by Dead Carl
“The subordination of the political point of view to the military would be contrary to common sense, for policy has declared the war; it is the intelligent faculty, war only the instrument, and not the reverse.”
-Carl v Clausewitz
-Carl v Clausewitz
State department budget: $58 billion
DOD budget: $850 billion
DOD budget: $850 billion
February 16, 2026 at 6:36 PM
“The subordination of the political point of view to the military would be contrary to common sense, for policy has declared the war; it is the intelligent faculty, war only the instrument, and not the reverse.”
-Carl v Clausewitz
-Carl v Clausewitz
Reposted by Dead Carl
For aficionados of nuclear history and nuclear policy, I highly recommend @wellerstein.bsky.social's compelling account of Truman's decisions at the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. My reflections at the link. open.substack.com/pub/markwgoo...
Reflections on Truman’s Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age
One advantage of retirement is having more time to read books.
open.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 3:32 AM
For aficionados of nuclear history and nuclear policy, I highly recommend @wellerstein.bsky.social's compelling account of Truman's decisions at the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. My reflections at the link. open.substack.com/pub/markwgoo...