The center will not hold unless we come out fighting for it — These days, political moderates across the West are living in perpetual fear. This fear has paralyzed us, and made us weak and unattractive. We really need to get out of this state, and come out fighting for our vision. In this article, I will explain what we need to do…

Both sides need to stop fighting and start again from a place of compassion — Compassion is the key to solving all kinds of stalemates. After all, nothing is too difficult to resolve, if you have the will. Compassion gives us both the will and the solution. Today, I’m going to talk about how compassion can help end the current stalemate and division over…

This combination allows practical reform without ideological obsession — Recently, I’ve been talking about the conditions that promote, or hinder, freedom. Focusing on abstract ideas is bad for freedom. Aiming for practical solutions for real world problems is good for freedom. Tribalism is bad for freedom. Commitment to objectivity and rationality is good for freedom, as is commitment…

Some often overlooked but important arguments — In this series, I attempt to build a philosophy of compassion, and to robustly justify and defend the concept of compassion. I believe that compassion is the driver of a reformist politics, and it is the best way to prevent a movement from turning impractical or reactionary. Today, I…

It leads to an endless spiral towards irrational authoritarianism — The political landscape of the 21st century West is increasingly a battle between moral libertarians and morally coercive authoritarians, and the authoritarians often attempt to take over previously libertarian movements by infiltration and bad arguments. By understanding what conditions are good or bad for freedom, we can avoid the…

Those who trample on others’ feelings risk falling into a subjective rabbit hole — Welcome to a new series, where I attempt to build a philosophy of compassion, and to robustly justify and defend the concept of compassion. I believe that compassion is the driver of a reformist politics, and it is the best way to prevent a movement from turning impractical or…

Seeing that the tribes are meaningless is one step closer to ending the culture wars — Welcome back to my series of Ideas to End the Culture Wars. Last time, I talked about how the factions involved in the culture war are like the various churches and denominations vying for political power in Europe several hundred years ago, and we could only resolve this conflict…

A systematic assessment of competing claims — Welcome back to my RIDE method series, where I will attempt to systematically apply the RIDE method to various cultural and political controversies, in order to bring back calm, rational and evidence-based discourse. This time, I want to use the RIDE method to examine competing claims about free speech. On…

We need to be brave enough to speak the truth, even if it’s unpopular — One thing that troubles me about the current state of the trans discourse is that everyone seems to be preaching to the converted. It is happening in pro-trans circles, gender critical circles and right-wing trans skeptic circles alike. Everyone seems to be about pleasing their own fellow travelers, making…