I See You

Sadly, there will be no Hollywood ending.

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The Remnant kicks off 2023 in appropriately rank fashion today, as Megan McArdle returns to the program for some eggheady musings on what the new year could bring for our legislative branch, parties, and broader political culture. She and Jonah begin by examining the state of Congress and what we can do to fix it, before turning to some pressing questions. Will cryptocurrency conquer the world? How does transparency harm institutions? And will the Republican Party start inching back toward sanity anytime soon?

Show Notes:

– Megan’s page at the Washington Post

– Jonah: “So Congress is a mess. It’s supposed to be messy”

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  1. SeanM76

    I just listed to this podcast. Yes, I know I am running behind. I am a huge Megan fan can you try to get her on at least once a month. This was one of my conversations I have listened to in a while.

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  2. Eric L

    Just commenting to say that the lottery still doesn't really ever reach a positive expected value per ticket. The odds of having multiple winners on a large pot when the number of attempts increases significantly (as it does) means you might split the pot!

    Lottery is nevery worth it (mathematically)

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    CynthiaW

    I was fascinated to hear Ms. McArdle say that errors in her writing are "caught in copy." It sounded as if she was saying that someone other than herself reads her articles before they are published.

    What a concept.

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  4. Payette

    Great podcast! Make sure Megan comes back for another discussion!

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  5. Davidfreckleton58

    Fun fact: Reacher and Blue Mountain State actor Alan Ritchson, Representative Matt Gaetz and McArdle's husband, Peter Suderman, all graduated Niceville High School (FL) together in 2001

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    Kevin C. Smith

    I love how Jonah keeps calling the guy “Joe” Santos.

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      Pastorfbt

      How do we really know?

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  7. April

    Megan McArdle is terrific. Thanks for bringing her and hopefully she will be on again soon.

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    The Bell Tower

    We should be much more upset about what happened to The Daily Stormer and even the CloudFlare CEO has openly regretted the decision:

    https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/08/17/cloudflare-ceo-says-removing-the-daily-stormer-is-slippery-slope.html

    I’m less surprised at Jonah who often says he’s not a free speech absolutist. That’s perfectly rational and there’s no First Amendment issue here in the sense that government is silencing someone.

    That still doesn’t make it right to stand by while large, powerful companies conspire against speech or content (and really people) they don’t like.

    I would be happy if every Nazi walking this earth were hit by a bus tomorrow but that’s very different than being fine with some Americans using the power at their disposal to destroy other Americans even if the targets deserve it. It will not end with Nazis.

    Power in a republic is like any weapon. It can easily be turned against the things we do love. And so, if banks or IT companies can deny Nazis service today, why can’t they deny Republicans tomorrow? Or Jews or Democrats or Patriots fans or any other minority you care to imagine.

    Do we really want Disney, Facebook, major banks and technology companies and other large corporations to be the gatekeepers for American culture? That IS fascism. Using the tools of fascism to prevent fascism is pretty damned stupid.

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    1. Randall Briggs

      Disney, Facebook, big banks, and tech companies gatekeeping American culture is not fascism. Government co-opting those entities to enforce government cultural codes would be an aspect of fascism. If you don't want corporations as cultural gatekeepers, do you want government to do the job?

      If you own the local newspaper, is it wrong for you to refuse to run ads for the local KKK or Nazi Party? If your answer is that that would not be wrong, and would not be fascistic, then why would it be wrong for Disney to do the same?

      I think that the reality is that there is no monolithic entity acting as our cultural gatekeeper. We have many gatekeepers, and many of them are voluntary organizations like churches, fraternal organizations, homeowners' associations, chambers of commerce, PTAs, unions, charities, etc.

      The monolithic cultural gatekeeper would be the government. That is a more worrisome prospect to me than Disney promoting cultural values with which I disagree. I can choose to boycott Disney, but I can't boycott paying taxes to the government.

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        The Bell Tower

        Government can’t do anything. My point is that Americans should be able to police themselves through restraint and a commitment to free speech. If they can’t do that, government can’t do anything to resolve it.

        And private companies acting to silence various voices at the behest of political entities is pretty fascist. The Nazis (and their opponents) took turns bullying each other’s speeches and writings in attempts to silence each other long before the Nazis achieved the power of the government to do it.

        The inclination to silence speech we don’t like rather than present counter arguments is an illiberal tendency that Americans should be concerned about.

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        1. Randall Briggs

          You left out "at the behest of political entities" in your previous comments. That changes a lot.

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            The Bell Tower

            I don’t think that changes much. These companies are afraid of bad press and Twitter mobs but while the fear of political entities is a problem, it’s the erosion of a commitment to liberalism that is the issue.

            If I say “vaccines are deadly,” the first inclination should be to counter that argument with a better one. Instead, Facebook, Twitter, Google and many others immediately look to prove to the mob and the government that they’ve erased me from their platform. They are desperate to prove their intolerance of unacceptable opinions.

            This is ludicrous. Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean we should accept it. Republicans want to “fight back” with government but that’s not an answer either. Liberalism depends on the temperament and traditions of the people. We have abandoned those traditions in the pursuit of factional power.

            No bueno.

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  9. Israel.D.Gale

    Even as a firm non-fan of "No you won't, this is a podcast", I have to admit that Megan's rendition is the best in a long, long time.

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  10. Sharon

    Chinese jacks! Yes! My people! Not only do I remember that bubble, I still have my collection (of course - I got in too late and held on too long). At summer camp they had always given out “chicken rings” as prizes for this and that and so were quite surprised at how aggressive we all were to earn them. (Chinese jacks are thicker blunted chicken rings - if you know you know.)

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