- Build Trump’s wall, because it’s a meaningless symbol that will change nothing, but it’ll make Republicans like me, and it will make Democrats focus all their energy on criticizing that instead of anything substantive I do.
Maybe absurdist humor is not the right description, but it’s very clearly not meant to be a serious post.
Having now read the whole thing, not just the bit you quoted originally, I think it is sort of a joke but not really: a funny, slightly exaggerated rendering of what his real ideological views actually are, exaggerated a bit for comic effect. I don’t think Thorstad was majorly in the wrong here, but maybe he could have flagged this a bit.
Fair enough, this does make me move a bit further in the “overall a joke” direction. But I still think the names basically match his ideological leanings.
Do you mean Bernie Sanders, Peter Thiel, or “Anonymous Mugwump”? I can’t think of an ideological leaning these three have in common, but I don’t know much about Mugwump
Thiel and Sanders don’t have much in common, but Scott has stuff in common with Thiel and Sanders. (I.e. he shares broadly pro-market views and skepticism of social justice and feminism with Thiel, and possibly pro HBD views, although I don’t know what Thiel thinks about HBD, plus an interest in futurism and progress, and he shares redistributive and anti-blaming the poor for being poor economic views with Sanders.)
My reading of the post (which is contestable) is that he chose the people as a sort of joke about “here is a controversial or absurdly in-group person I like on this issue”. I can’t prove that reading is correct, but I don’t really see another that makes sense of the post. Some of the people are just too boring choices-Yglesias, for the joke to just be that the list is absurd.
“the Murray pick was absurdist humor” What makes you think that? I would feel better if I thought that was true.
Honest question, have you read the linked post?
Maybe absurdist humor is not the right description, but it’s very clearly not meant to be a serious post.
Having now read the whole thing, not just the bit you quoted originally, I think it is sort of a joke but not really: a funny, slightly exaggerated rendering of what his real ideological views actually are, exaggerated a bit for comic effect. I don’t think Thorstad was majorly in the wrong here, but maybe he could have flagged this a bit.
I’ll let readers decide, just adding some reactions at the time for more context:
Fair enough, this does make me move a bit further in the “overall a joke” direction. But I still think the names basically match his ideological leanings.
Do you mean Bernie Sanders, Peter Thiel, or “Anonymous Mugwump”? I can’t think of an ideological leaning these three have in common, but I don’t know much about Mugwump
Thiel and Sanders don’t have much in common, but Scott has stuff in common with Thiel and Sanders. (I.e. he shares broadly pro-market views and skepticism of social justice and feminism with Thiel, and possibly pro HBD views, although I don’t know what Thiel thinks about HBD, plus an interest in futurism and progress, and he shares redistributive and anti-blaming the poor for being poor economic views with Sanders.)
Then I’m sure he has stuff in common with Mugwump as well (and with you, me, and Thorstad)
My reading of the post (which is contestable) is that he chose the people as a sort of joke about “here is a controversial or absurdly in-group person I like on this issue”. I can’t prove that reading is correct, but I don’t really see another that makes sense of the post. Some of the people are just too boring choices-Yglesias, for the joke to just be that the list is absurd.