The Importance of Capturing Castles ｜ 1⧸4⧸24
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
149.76633
Summary
In a guest appearance on my show on the political theorist Curtis Yarvin's show, The Political Theory, I discuss how the political system no longer operates in the manner that you learned about in high school civics class. In fact, American political power in the United States now functions as a distributed bureaucratic oligarchy, with different expert institutions acting as nodes in a network operated by the ruling class.
Transcript
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We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
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Fast-free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land.
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Wi-Fi available to Airplane members on Equipped Flight.
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Boycotts, elections, school shootings, waves of illegal immigrants, riots, pandemics, foreign wars, inflation.
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The political battles cycle past us so rapidly it can be difficult to focus on any given event.
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Journalists write feverish articles and pundits voice their outrage,
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drawing media attention to the crisis of the week.
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Whenever the public consciousness focuses on any given event,
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politicians feel the need to weigh in or even take superficial action
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before the next current thing captures the mind of the electorate.
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This quick succession means that the public rarely notices whether any real change took place
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That's why the political right is so easily contained.
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Conservatives tend to focus on the issues in the news cycle
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instead of securing the kind of structural victories that can be built upon over time.
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I kind of doubt that I'm shattering anyone's illusions at this point,
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but American political power no longer operates in the manner that you learned about in high school civics class.
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The idea that persuasive arguments win out in the marketplace of ideas
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and organically alter public opinion until politicians are forced to take meaningful action
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In truth, public opinion is shaped by the constant consumption of mass media,
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which is controlled almost entirely by the left.
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This frames the boundaries of every political discussion.
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Now don't get me wrong, those in the media aren't omnipotent.
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There are events beyond their command that they have to react to.
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But progressive journalists generally get to control the level of attention
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and duration of focus that news items will receive.
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While the media ushers the public's collective attention from one crisis to the next,
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they also vest different institutions with the authority to resolve those issues.
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The American political system is no longer confined to three branches of government
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which is why it feels like the Constitution no longer restricts the government's power.
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Political power in the United States now functions as a distributed bureaucratic oligarchy
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with different expert institutions acting as nodes in a network operated by the ruling class.
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Universities, social media, and news organizations shape public opinion,
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while NGOs, financial institutions, and unelected government bureaucracies create public policy.
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setting the terms by which elected representatives must play.
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Each one represents a castle from which the left can project power
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despite the ebbs and flows of the democratic process.
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but they never really have to worry about losing significant ground in the political game
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because at the end of the day, they've fortified these different outposts of power,
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and there's no way that a single elected representative,
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or even president, is going to actually erode their position.
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If those on the right wish to secure meaningful victories,
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they must stop chasing whatever issue the media dangles before them
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and instead focus on capturing castles for themselves.
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While senators, representatives, and even presidents come and go,
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institutions endure through every election cycle,
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and those strongholds allow the accumulation of enduring political power.
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and began their long march through the institutions
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This idea has finally broken into the mainstream conservative space
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a recognition of the perpetual unelected governmental bureaucracy
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that wields far more power than any single elected official.
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but the right needs to expand its understanding of power
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to include the soft power of media, education, and financial institutions.
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When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most?
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When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill.
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When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner.
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Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer.
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So download the app and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes.
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Plus, enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders.
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the political theorist Curtis Yarvin pointed out
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that while the right obsesses over individual issues,
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so that they can impose their will on whatever issues arise.
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Yarvin believes that political will is a finite resource
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Real political victories are those that secure power
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but only to the extent that they make substantive structural changes
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to the wider apparatus that actually governs the United States.
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as we have a perfect example in Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter.
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of information distribution in the United States,
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and Musk's purchase of the social media website breaks that monopoly.
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Twitter isn't just another social media website.
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It's the place where regime journalists came to craft the narrative
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While other platforms command larger user bases,
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Twitter wields an outsized influence over the chattering class,
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Many have questioned how right-wing Musk truly is,
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but his willingness to remove many of the key censorship restrictions on Twitter
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has already had a huge impact on the right's ability to shape the public discourse.
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Musk's purchase of Twitter is easily the most substantial political victory
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and it was achieved without casting a single vote.
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a fortification from which the right can impact the public narrative
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even as censorship on other social media platforms intensifies.
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The purchase of Twitter also fulfills Yarvin's conditions for a real victory
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from which to organize and influence public opinion,
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Musk has ensured that conservatives will have the tools necessary
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understands how to wield these tools effectively
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Ruffo has focused attention on the plagiarism accusations
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surrounding former Harvard president Claudine Gay,
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While it's unlikely that conservatives will retake Harvard anytime soon,
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Ruffo has worked to discredit the authority of the DEI regime
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and the prestige commanded by elite universities.
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the next best thing is to reduce or destroy its power.
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By focusing its political capital on the kinds of victories
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