In February, I wrote about The Merits of Direct Democracy, and I still believe that direct-democratic tools like initiatives and referenda are essential for any people that wants to do its shared True Will. However, I am also aware that people often fail to vote for what they truly want due to a lack of policy-related knowledge. Although in that blog post I discussed the problem of voter incompetence, showing that the much-bemoaned "stupidity of the common man" is not as problematic as random … [Read more...]
Against Morality & Ethics
The Primacy of Will It doesn't matter what I think is moral, or what other people think is moral. All that matters is what I want, what other people want, and how we can cooperate to get what we want. That is the primacy and sociality of human volition. So let us replace ethical language with volitional language: Ask not, "Should I do this?" but "Do I truly want to do this?" Ask not, "Does this make me a good person?" but "Does this reflect my True Will?" (The True Will is what … [Read more...]
Against Values & Principles
The Human Will Humans want to survive and flourish, to live and live well, to be and be well: Well-being is a combination of pleasure and meaning in life. Humans want to feel good and fulfilled. They want hedonic and eudaemonic happiness; some more of the pleasure part, others more of the meaning aspect. A good life is a positive well-being balance over a lifetime. If, on your deathbed, you were to look back at every moment you have lived, summing up all your pleasures and pains, all … [Read more...]
Are Centrists Between or Beyond the Left-Right Divide?
Introduction Centrists are hated by the left and disdained the right. They are called smug, cowardly, deceitful, indecisive, opportunistic, and unable to hold, let alone defend a strong political opinion. But there are various kinds of centrists. This blog post discusses four interesting types: the moderate centrist, the phony centrist, the straw-manning centrist, and the selective centrist. 1. The moderate centrist The moderate always takes a position in the middle between the left and the … [Read more...]
Political Virtue Signaling
What is virtue signaling? Humans are a social species: we form groups to cooperate. In order to cooperate, we establish values. By following values, we increase our social status within a group. With higher social status, we have access to more resources (e.g., money, influence, female attraction). Virtue signaling is a display of value-following in order to gain social status and resources. On social media, people signal their virtues to win followers and approval. Through … [Read more...]
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