I don't think it's *faux* cynicism, is the thing. I think there's just a lot of internalised nihilism!
January 22, 2026 at 7:01 PM
I don't think it's *faux* cynicism, is the thing. I think there's just a lot of internalised nihilism!
I'm not sure this is true. Whole generations have grown up believing in the rhetoric of equality that drove the US civil rights movement! In some ways that belief is driving the current conflict - equality in name only covering for white supremacy became increasingly untenable.
January 22, 2026 at 6:45 PM
I'm not sure this is true. Whole generations have grown up believing in the rhetoric of equality that drove the US civil rights movement! In some ways that belief is driving the current conflict - equality in name only covering for white supremacy became increasingly untenable.
Both sides have read this and assumed you are agreeing with them.
January 22, 2026 at 6:38 PM
Both sides have read this and assumed you are agreeing with them.
There is no plan to make that mural. The AI image is a placeholder they submitted to the people that decide if you're allowed to paint things on your own property.
January 22, 2026 at 12:46 AM
There is no plan to make that mural. The AI image is a placeholder they submitted to the people that decide if you're allowed to paint things on your own property.
The headline is misleading. The AI-generated image is a placeholder submitted for planning purposes.
January 21, 2026 at 11:38 PM
The headline is misleading. The AI-generated image is a placeholder submitted for planning purposes.
Thanks for writing this and pushing back on the "abstract intellectual debate" way left-wing UK media talks about trans people
January 21, 2026 at 8:46 PM
Thanks for writing this and pushing back on the "abstract intellectual debate" way left-wing UK media talks about trans people
lol
Author's a cis *woman* so it doesn't quite work
Author's a cis *woman* so it doesn't quite work
January 21, 2026 at 12:06 PM
lol
Author's a cis *woman* so it doesn't quite work
Author's a cis *woman* so it doesn't quite work
Yeah I agree! The war over Will Stancil on here has absolutely nothing to do with posters ignoring Iain Mansfield.
If anything, this stuff is driven by seeing extreme and silly takes from self-avowed "liberals" or "leftists" and getting negatively polarised. So.. the opposite of echo chamber.
If anything, this stuff is driven by seeing extreme and silly takes from self-avowed "liberals" or "leftists" and getting negatively polarised. So.. the opposite of echo chamber.
January 20, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Yeah I agree! The war over Will Stancil on here has absolutely nothing to do with posters ignoring Iain Mansfield.
If anything, this stuff is driven by seeing extreme and silly takes from self-avowed "liberals" or "leftists" and getting negatively polarised. So.. the opposite of echo chamber.
If anything, this stuff is driven by seeing extreme and silly takes from self-avowed "liberals" or "leftists" and getting negatively polarised. So.. the opposite of echo chamber.
I will caveat this with, Bluesky has a problem with people bullying others over fairly small disagreements. But that doesn't mean you have to go to the other extreme and follow the "he/him" troll!
January 20, 2026 at 2:22 PM
I will caveat this with, Bluesky has a problem with people bullying others over fairly small disagreements. But that doesn't mean you have to go to the other extreme and follow the "he/him" troll!
The thing about social media is that you can always find someone with any given take. Intentionally filling your feed with people who broadly share your worldview surely leads to more useful discussions than being blasted by a firehose of opinions you already hate!
January 20, 2026 at 2:16 PM
The thing about social media is that you can always find someone with any given take. Intentionally filling your feed with people who broadly share your worldview surely leads to more useful discussions than being blasted by a firehose of opinions you already hate!
Reposted by Pylon Enjoyer 🏳️⚧️🇺🇦🇪🇺
It’s absolutely infuriating that Starmer seems to never argue *for* anything. He seems to have given up on one of the most important parts of politics
January 19, 2026 at 3:04 PM
It’s absolutely infuriating that Starmer seems to never argue *for* anything. He seems to have given up on one of the most important parts of politics
Agreed, but some of these are like "women and Black people got more rights." Isn't there a danger that leftists and even highly anti-Trump progressives cherry-pick and ignore the culture war?
January 19, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Agreed, but some of these are like "women and Black people got more rights." Isn't there a danger that leftists and even highly anti-Trump progressives cherry-pick and ignore the culture war?
"nerd social fallacy" is a specific theory about how nerdy groups engage in anti-social behaviour
plausiblydeniable.com/five-geek-so...
plausiblydeniable.com/five-geek-so...
Five Geek Social Fallacies
Within the constellation of allied hobbies and subcultures collectively known as geekdom, one finds many social groups bent under a crushing burden of dysfunction, social drama, and general interp
plausiblydeniable.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:31 PM
"nerd social fallacy" is a specific theory about how nerdy groups engage in anti-social behaviour
plausiblydeniable.com/five-geek-so...
plausiblydeniable.com/five-geek-so...
The claim / point is that your premise isn't true - that you can't use "how moderate are they on policy issues" as a proxy for "how reluctant are they to go after MAGA".
January 18, 2026 at 2:37 AM
The claim / point is that your premise isn't true - that you can't use "how moderate are they on policy issues" as a proxy for "how reluctant are they to go after MAGA".
NB: this is about overall outcomes. Obviously Trump doing fash things is bad for the people affected. I hope he doesn't do those things. He probably will do those things anyway because he is evil.
January 16, 2026 at 5:41 PM
NB: this is about overall outcomes. Obviously Trump doing fash things is bad for the people affected. I hope he doesn't do those things. He probably will do those things anyway because he is evil.
Bouie says we should behave as if there will be free (not necessarily fair) elections, because that is the *least bad scenario* for Trump. If he panics and does something stupid, we should be prepared for that, but that's *worse* for him. See: ICE.
January 16, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Bouie says we should behave as if there will be free (not necessarily fair) elections, because that is the *least bad scenario* for Trump. If he panics and does something stupid, we should be prepared for that, but that's *worse* for him. See: ICE.
The world where Trump attempts to end Congress is a scary one, but it's also one where most of the population oppose Trump. We can see this in Minneapolis: he ordered ICE to occupy the city and kidnap POCs, the people reacted. Before this, many of those now on the streets didn't care.
January 16, 2026 at 5:36 PM
The world where Trump attempts to end Congress is a scary one, but it's also one where most of the population oppose Trump. We can see this in Minneapolis: he ordered ICE to occupy the city and kidnap POCs, the people reacted. Before this, many of those now on the streets didn't care.
Bouie is talking about what Trump can actually do. Right now, Trump still has some constitutional legitimacy. Bouie highlights that Trump does not have the resources to rig the election, and that him attempting to stop the seating of a Democrat-majority Congress will lead to his impeachment.
January 16, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Bouie is talking about what Trump can actually do. Right now, Trump still has some constitutional legitimacy. Bouie highlights that Trump does not have the resources to rig the election, and that him attempting to stop the seating of a Democrat-majority Congress will lead to his impeachment.
Whether or not it's realistic, it's still correct to advocate in the current circumstances, as unjust as that is.
January 16, 2026 at 1:25 AM
Whether or not it's realistic, it's still correct to advocate in the current circumstances, as unjust as that is.
I think the point is that it's hard to explain the bad things to low information voters *before* they happen.
January 15, 2026 at 2:44 PM
I think the point is that it's hard to explain the bad things to low information voters *before* they happen.