Very Bad Philosophers

A rental-car bound Jonah invites his research assistant Nick Pompella onto the show from the ...

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A rental-car bound Jonah invites his research assistant Nick Pompella onto the show from the reclusive Zoom cave in which Nick usually resides — or in this case, the dankness of Jonah’s basement as Nick housesits. Topping the docket today is a discussion of “whiteness,” along with verbal distress over how to pronounce “Parler” and the chilling acknowledgment that the government is the only entity that can legally kill you.

Show Notes:

–Barton Fink

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Okay, if either of you had done time as serious (wardrobe-challenger) runner in the coldest days of winter, you would know that sometimes circumstances conspire to force one to wear a sock somewhere other than ones feet. I believe the Red Hot Chili Peppers also used to wear a sock somewhere other than their feet too, but they had a different reason.

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  2. Jdort05

    When Jonah and Nick joked about the padlocks a QAnon follower somewhere shouted up the stairs: "Mom! Get down here! I told you Jonah Goldberg was a Luciferian, Globalist Elite!"

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    Tracie

    https://youtu.be/Ev373c7wSRg

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  4. CAProf

    Someone please tell Jonah that “by definition” has a specific meaning, just like “begs the question.” Maybe he’ll use it wrong fewer often from now on.

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    Angie

    Nice to meet you Nick & Valerie...

    That was fun...I am glad they got enough pushback and removed it..gives it weight when it comes from The Smithsonian took haven't been there..yet, but, I do subscribe to their magazine....when I first saw it, I couldn't figure out what it was...but, at first reading, it seemed to be slagging white people, and listed many things I think are good things...

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  6. Avatar photo
    Tracie

    On the subject of the "steak and potatoes", "bland is best" vision of the cuisine of "whiteness," I'm sure most of us have food experiences which contradict that bland generalization.

    I grew up in a part of Texas where peopled loved their steak, knew how to marinate and garnish venison, quail, and doves - but also tended to keep fresh jalapeños in a styrofoam cup in the fridge to snack on, and considered it a mark of their manliness to tolerate habanero salsa. To extend the idea of "whiteness" to cuisine is to have 0 respect for regionalism, probably the biggest determinate to what people grow up eating.

    For instance, Tex Mex is not a "whiter" cuisine than "Mexican" cuisine, but it *is* more American. "Authentic" Mexican cuisine varies tremendously by region +fresh fruits and vegetables locally available, and has all sorts of varied indigenous and foreign influences. Tex Mex has bigger portions, more cheese, less unprocessed fruits and vegetables, works nicely to go, favors the less nutritious melt-in-your mouth flour tortilla vs the heartier corn tortilla any self-respecting Mexican prefers, and has a few basic staple dishes, which can be found in just about any Tex Mex restaurant. It's convenient food, made from inexpensive ingredients, ridiculously marked up for profit margin, which almost nobody makes at home. American cuisine. Not necessarily bland, but easy.

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    1. Avatar photo
      CynthiaW

      People like the author of the "whiteness" item must live in a super boring world where all the fascinating variety of (for example) Mexican culture, not to mention the rest of Latin America, becomes a flat, cardboard "Latinx" with no more riqueza than a Great Value-brand flour tortilla.

      Maybe they learn it in school, speaking of super boring.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Tracie

        JG said something about academics devising sociological constructs based on some "30,000 foot view" and disregarding any individuals who contradict their theory.

        These notions of "whiteness" also contradict the rampant "intermarriage" in this country. I'd guess 25% of the "white" people I grew up with have at least one in-law who makes some mean tamales, if ya know what I mean. And it's completely unremarkable in my region and subculture (lotsa people named "Billy", even if their real name is Guillermo.)

        I called in a gift card to a restaurant in my hometown the other day, and the manager I talked to had an unmistakably Hispanic first and last name, but sounded like Billy Bob Thornton and addressed me as "Ma'am" the whole phone call.

        "Whiteness" just doesn't mean much in the real world.

        Sorry for another rant. Waiting on something, so I had a minute to type.

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        1. Avatar photo
          CynthiaW

          I agree 100%.

          Hope you're having a Placido Domingo ;-).

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  7. Avatar photo
    Not Jonah Goldberg

    We all know Nick is actually Jack Butler modifying his voice. You can’t fool us.

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  8. Avatar photo
    The Bell Tower

    I know Nick was only imagining a counter argument but I wonder if it is legitimate to argue that slaveholders “Christianized” their slaves as some white indoctrination.

    Frederick Douglass recounted how he taught himself to read against his master’s wishes. In fact, when he heard his master’s argument against educating slaves, he made it a core life goal and became one of the most eloquent humans in history. And he found comfort in Christianity after he taught himself to read.

    It’s a thorny topic. There was even a slave Bible, edited to remove references to rebellion and freedom. And Douglass himself argued against sending Bibles to slaves for the opposite reason: that they might learn the passages justifying slavery.

    The short of it to me is that rejecting or censoring knowledge - white, black, White, Black or whatever - is always wrong. Douglass’ entire life is a testament to the power of education, discipline and hard work. Let these museum curators chew on that.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Tracie

      Imagining what Frederick Douglass would have to say about working hard to get ahead as a value of "whiteness" is pretty amusing to think about.

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      1. Avatar photo
        The Bell Tower

        I mean, he would certainly recognize the sentiment.

        I honestly can’t believe a modern American museum publicly announced that black people are lazy and can’t show up on time without a shred of criticism from the “elites.”

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  9. B C

    Jonah, I'm kind of shocked at the shortsightedness I find in your criticism of Parler or the idea of conservatives creating other avenues for online speech. Just recently YouTube banned a video of Walt Heyer (a man who was a trans woman and then transitioned back) for "hate speech" because he said children suffering from gender dysphoria should not be encouraged to try experimental hormones and surgery. Last week, Facebook and Instagram instituted a ban on all posts promoting gay conversion therapy. I don't have a problem with banning the promotion of conversion therapy insofar as that term is understood to refer to particular harmful therapy techniques that have been used historically, but it seems likely that they would consider any suggestion that a person with homosexual desires could or should want/seek any kind of change in those desires, or that they should not seek to fulfill those desires, in accordance with religious belief, as tantamount to promoting "conversion therapy" and thus speech worthy of banning. It's not terribly hard to imagine a future where a simple statement of belief that sex is meant to be between one man and one woman in marriage is considered hate speech by these platforms.

    So yes, it would be good for conservatives to try to stay on these platforms and not let them become places occupied exclusively by progressives, but the problem is--the companies that run these platforms aren't democratic. If they decide to ban certain kinds of speech, then they get to do that. So what then?

    You're against the Hawley approach of government intervention in these massive tech platforms, and yet you're also against conservatives planning for a looming future when they're nudged out of the conversation. I don't get it.

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    Beardman

    Aw man, you were in Homer? I'm just a two hour drive away. It's unfortunate I didn't get to bump into you at some point. Hope you had good luck with the halibut. Safe travels!

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