The Progressives War on Fun | Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman argues that the progressive left is closer in similarity to 16th century Puritans than the free-spirited, leftist hippies of the 1960s. By judging a person's moral character based on their clothes, Netflix queue, favorite foods, and the sports they watch, they've managed to suck the fun out of everything. Noah shows us how we can fight back against these "New Puritans," and ultimately, how we can live more meaningful and enjoyable lives by rejecting their oppressive judgments of moral character.

Noah Rothman is the associate editor of Commentary Magazine and the author of The Rise of the New Puritans: Fighting Back Against Progressives' War on Fun. Follow him on Twitter at @NoahCRothman.

Hold These Truths | Episode 235

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[tomburroughes]

I remember the late, much-missed P J O'Rourke writing about the scolds on the Right and on the Left sharing more in common than what divided them. Today, I'd say that much of this moral puritanism is from the "progressive" side. A shame that such folk are called "progressive" because I see little progress involved.

[andrabook]

I can honestly say I've had a lot less fun in recent years than ever before. And I am counting uni years where there was so much homework and so little sleep that I literally can't remmeber them. Like thinking back all I can remember is "computer screen, sleep fantasies, text books, coffee"...and that's it. And that was still more fun than the last few years. 😑😑😑 ....i kind of started expecting horrible things to happen everytime I'm having fun now....like, statiscally, that's accurate. For everyone.

[andrabook]

"someone else will figure it out" / "but there is no one else" -- yep, that about sums up my nightmares :P

[ds]

Softballs! How about talking about talking about Huawei and/or the Chinese acquisition of American soil. Seems so commonsense, right? Maybe politicians don't care since they are bought dirt cheap by China and the companies and own stock in said companies.

As an American I cannot indefinitely own real-estate even in Mexico. A lease of sorts. Certainly can't pass it onto my kids.

Talk about the meat and potatoes. Seems like you're distracting everyone with the low hanging fruit.

[HeWhistlesTunes]

"Why did you sleep with your Ex Girlfriend?" That's Caviar. Now we're even

[HeWhistlesTunes]

The good thing that keeps the general public in check, are The Bills

[llstarlight]

We can enjoy the movies made - like classic art ==== and new art is made for it's era

[soldtobediers]

"Common Sense"

You can't live together
You can't live alone
Considering the weather
Oh my, how you've grown
From the men in the factories
To the wild kangaroo
Like those birds of a feather
They're gathering together
And feeling
Exactly like you

They got mesmerized
By lullabies
And limbo danced
In pairs
Please lock that door
It don't make much sense
That common sense
Don't make no sense
No more

Just between you and me
It's like pulling
When you ought to be shovin,
Like a nun
With her head in the oven
Please don't tell me
That this really wasn't nothing

One of these days
One of these nights
You'll take off your hat
And they'll read you
Your rights
You'll wanna get high
Every time you feel low
Hey, Queen Isabella
Stay away from that fella
He'll just get you
Into trouble, you know?

But they came here by boat
And they came here by plane
They blistered their hands
And they burned out their brain
All dreaming a dream
That'll never come true
Hey, don't give me no trouble
Or I'll call up my double
We'll play piggy-in-the-middle
With you

You'll get mesmerized
By alibis
And limbo dance in pairs
Please lock that door
It don't make much sense
That common sense
Don't make no sense
No more
~John Prine album: ''Common Sense" (1975)

[andrabook]

regarding ''consent" as a legal basis/definition though, that is definitely something which I noticed lately which is concerning. And I wish this discussion had gone a bit more into that, bc they were discussing it in goverment pretty much everywhere including EU.

What everyone should have learned from metoo, or at least noticed, is how quickly things can change and how difficult it is to prove rape/assault. It was incredibly important to address the fact that for many, many, MANY years women were told not to report. Everyone having any conversation around metoo should be taking that into account. It was primarily a grass roots movement and it happened bc people were fed up and still are fed up, with the hypocracy and general lawlessness surrounding this issue. But it was never trully a ''political movement". It was a grassroots thing. People sharing stories isn't political.

It was just people being fed up with being fired bc they dared to say "no" to assault/harrassment. And it was primarily on the left bc it's lefty areas which are super loose in terms of prosecuting criminals. I was proud of the conservatives which took a different stance. I really was. Especially in regards to USA gymnastics.

In general guys, as a general rule of thumb, people/women do not agree on anything. Nothing at all. So if all of a sudden a whole bunch of women come out and say that 1 guy is an abuser, typically, it's bc he is abusive.

Think of the guys you know, and all the women they date....how rare is it for a bunch of people to all say "that one is a bad woman". Even if it's not rape, and it's something else, it's still super rare. And when it's clearly happening accross decades, with people who have never met, and the pattern is there for everyone to plainly see....you don't get to dismiss that bc the person has money, influence, or for any other reason. Nor should you need to wait decades to do something about it.

"Friendship" does not surpass legality. Just because someone knows a person who was accused doesn't mean they're innocent bc you know them. This is especially relevant for public figures, bc everyone kind of feels as if they know them...but you don't. They have teams of PR people to make sure that the public only sees what they like, it;s just a feeling. It's limited. This sounds simple but far too many people ignore it.

When a person walks into/calls/whatever a police station after being assaulted, that person is already traumatized. You cannot afford victims less rights than criminals, by presuming they are lieing/gold-digging/etc etc and not taking statements or not investigating. You are presuming the guilt of the witness/victim at that point...that's so backwards it;s beyond words... It is their responsability to report, yes, but it's also someone else's responsability to take that report and do something about it. Even if it's a prostitute saying the pimp raped her...arrrest the pimp. Why wouldn't you? A few less criminals never hurts.

But it;s important to set an appropriate tone in general, and it should come from the top. There is *no shame* associated with being a victim of any other type of crime; just this one. This is the one crime where if the person has any semblance of influence, people sees their victims as suckers or fakers. And deprive them of their basic rights to equal justice under the law. What is really needed is justice, for them to be treated as victims of any other crime and more importantly, easily accessible rape kits.... That's about it. And just be as fair and honest with people are you can. Teach good, solid values.

It's never going to be an easy crime bc unlike other crimes it almost always happens in private. There's almost never other witnesses around. That being said it wouldn't matter if there were witnesses in Hollywood, as we've seen with the Will Smith slap. Bc they decide to ignore illegal acts. That's why this was a movement on the left. To me at least, it seems very clear why it was a movement involving Hollywood and lefties primarily.

As for the men, who are taking advantage of their status to try to abuse people...that't not new. Eventually it catches up to them, why shouldn't it? They always know what they're doing. Always. They just want to see if they'll get caught or maybe they get away with it. It's a game to them, and they dehumanize and abuse people in the pursuit of this ''game".

"Consent" can be the corner stone of education campaigns, but not the legal system, bc it's a mirage. In reality, the moment you try to say x = consent, all the rapists just figure: "Ok, gotta move the goal posts". That's all. The reason why it's so broadly and vaguely defined is bc they're trying to fight this phenomenon, this rapist mindset if you will, but it's never gonna work. The best you can do is 1. allow/encourage women to defend themselves and 2. make it as easy as possible for them to report when/if that self-defense doesn't work. and 3. Stop teaching people, especially women, that it's supposed to be a bad experience.

Do you guys all realize that this was something systematically taught to girls for decades in modern times? And that this is the real reason why most never report it unless it's violent rape and even then they don't always report. Bc they basically got brain washed into it. When has there ever been a time when men were afraid of sex?

Stop for a moment and look at how quickly everyone on the male side got spooked by metoo, and started protesting that it;s making guys afraid of engaging with women. (I disagree with the characterization, but it happened very fast...) Examine within yourselves how to that makes you feel, to be afraid of inteeracting with the opposite sex....THAT feeling is how women have been feeling for decades. You all freaked out in like 1 day of feeling slightly odd ....for women, it's all the time. And it's not pleasant is it? Men nowadays hate the notion of loosing their jobs due to allegation, but they didn't care to not fire the interns bc they wouldn't sleep with them, or for reporting harassment. Did they not have bills to pay? These issues go beyond political affiliations. They're ancient.

That sensation of nothing concrete, shifting reality, the insecurity when people are asking you to follow unclear rules and trying to make you accept stuff which feels wrong or unfair....the general unease people feel when they're expected to follow rules which make no sense at IS similar to how abuse victims feel. They feel like they constantly need to walk on egg shells bc they never know when something will go horribly wrong. That IS the feeling. And it makes you feel weak doesn't it? it feels kinda gross, right? It makes no real sense...but it kinda feels like you're being forced into it...right? connect the dots, eh!... They're trying to counter act rape mentality, basically.

In a bizzare way the women are just trying to even out the scales. Bc the system, the way it was, failed most of them at some point. At some point I would love for people to get the irony...and then maybe we can do better. Reactionary politics never works as intended.

But adding more uncertainty to the equation is not the answer, we do need certainty in the legal system. None of the victims asked for more uncertainty! Victims LOVE certainty in general, and hate that feeling of shifting sands. They just want the bad guys to go away. In order for them to manage that they need clear rules and evidence and all of that.

"Consent" is not a clear enough concept. It ignores too much stuff. It ignores that people are often confused. It ignores that sometimes criminals are smart. It ignores that not everyone can agree on what words mean >_<'''.... It's just not going to work well. And you cannot have a muddy legal system, bc that makes everything worse, not better. Which is why we cannot institutionalize reactionary politics...or we shouldn't, I should say... The intent is not bad, but I don;t see how it can translate into law well.

However, it's a physical act, it leaves physical marks, so we can focus on that. Outside of this there isn't much which can be done except don;t shame victims and don't allow tons of wiggle room for corruption. Vagueness always benefits the powerful, not their victims. They can just hire better lawyers to argue the vagueness than their victims can. Abusive men always try to find vulnerable people TO abuse. That dynamic is always there. No bully pics on someone twice their size....it just never happens.

**Also, there should be laws which state that you need the consent of the victim to have a public trial vs a private one. And yes in this case it's would be clear that consent was given, due to the legal process. Trauma, expecially this type of trauma, leaves victims feeling overly exposed already. They always want to hide in some way. Making their worst moments public hinders their recovery after the trial. You're practically taking a private trauma and making it into a collective trauma. It is very damaging to victims. And in case of a false report, it can be damaging to the person accused. Also, if there is a case where there is not enough evidence either way, once again it is damaging to one or both. People do have the expectation that their intimate moments are kept intimate. And it is phychologically damaging when they are not. So for intimate crimes, there should be extra care taken to respect privacy as much as possible.

[HeWhistlesTunes]

What I would've been spending on Beer, I spend on Soda Now

[HeWhistlesTunes]

That was my Move as Marine. To open up my own Marina. Marina of Squid

[HeWhistlesTunes]

A Monster Energy Drink is really a Blood Thinner, that attacks the heart.

[HeWhistlesTunes]

You can only buy a 20 Pack of Coca Cola if it's for the Family.

[blafonovision]

*Progressives war on making of fun of people of lower status than you." Fixed it for you.

[HeWhistlesTunes]

The ONLY Cure to MONSTER Energy Drink, IS, Squid. I've accepted that MONSTER Energy Drink is White Advancement, a necessity

[HeWhistlesTunes]

Russia and Latin America compete in Dental. Best Dental 🦷 Around the World

[andrabook]

Piety, prudence...etc chapters do not sound like a fun book. Just saying. It sounds kinda preechy. loool.