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by stratos123 23 days ago
Some of the reactions to this are slightly unfair because it looks like Justine (who I'm not familiar with) supported Moldbug in 2014. It was only in around 2020 when Yarvin sold out, did a 180 in his views, and became a Trumpist; in the early 2010s, he would write long posts about how populism inevitably leads to fascism, any entity who wants power cannot ever be trusted with it, etc. His political views back then were far weirder than what people probably think - e.g. he thought a dictator needs to be simultaneously secure and yet overseen by a board of directors with power to replace the dictator, using some galaxy-brained setup I don't really understand.

Hence, recommending Curtis Yarvin in 2014 is rather eyebrow-raising but a very different thing from recommending him now.

3 comments

It’s hardly a 180 to go from supporting a dictator in general to picking one in particular. Yarvin is the kind of reactionary who appealed to to the kind of person who intellectualized themselves out of understanding what reactionary politics leads to. When it led to that it was easier to say that Yarvin sold out and changed rather than reckon with the fact that no course change happened.
> Some of the reactions to this are slightly unfair because ... in 2014. It was only in around 2020...

I think you're wrong about Yarvin changing, but let's say you're right for a moment. Do you know what's easy to do between then and now? Say, "That was an error. I regret it." Do you know what hasn't been done between then and now? Yeah.

Did you make a compilation of everything they publicly said for ten years, in order to check whether your statement is correct?
That is a deeply unserious question. I have a hard time believing you've asked it in good faith.
So, you didn't? Instead of a compilation, did you do a quick check?
> Justine Tunney (Founder of OccupyWallSt.org)