<![CDATA[So, I finished the book.]]>RE: https://mstdn.social/@Remittancegirl/117177735508773011

So, I finished the book. It is exceptionally well-written. Super accessible. It does suffer from being an academic text in that the author over-supplies examples to make his argument. I was persuaded of his central thesis about half-way through.

However, he chooses a very specific and, for Europeans, a quite unfamiliar definition of liberalism. He conflates it with libertarianism, and makes a robust argument for why he does so.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/222adddb-4f22-44ac-892f-86fce4509d26/so-i-finished-the-book.RSS for NodeTue, 01 Sep 2026 02:53:13 GMTSun, 30 Aug 2026 08:34:54 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:17:48 GMT]]>@Remittancegirl Great thoughts. But should that be "insure" ?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.scot/users/HI_Greens/statuses/117183707112151059https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.scot/users/HI_Greens/statuses/117183707112151059Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:17:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:17:00 GMT]]>@Remittancegirl Yeah, that's cool. Clear, direct, organized expository writing is as great a pleasure as Faulkner or Wolfe.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/12thRITS/statuses/117183703979040274https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/12thRITS/statuses/117183703979040274Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:17:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:15:24 GMT]]>@12thRITS Okay, well, it's not a literary text. But for the subject matter, it is very coherent and fluent.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183697666399030https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183697666399030Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:15:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:14:23 GMT]]>@Remittancegirl Just ordered it because you said it was "beautifully written.'

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/12thRITS/statuses/117183693662160038https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/12thRITS/statuses/117183693662160038Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:14:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:11:12 GMT]]>@Remittancegirl Kropotkin would maybe argue, because we live with and observe the altruism in the world around us.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://ieji.de/users/anantagd/statuses/117183681159199800https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://ieji.de/users/anantagd/statuses/117183681159199800Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:11:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:59:19 GMT]]>@Remittancegirl I will add it to my wishlist

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/DrorBedrack/statuses/117183634410462440https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/DrorBedrack/statuses/117183634410462440Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:59:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:58:06 GMT]]>If I don't let nature determine my fate in terms of disease, or physical disability, or access to food or shelter, why the fuck would I let nature be the determinant of my ideological beliefs?

True, nature is not kind. Nature allows for obscene levels of suffering.

The incoherence of the right with their embrace of social darwinism is that they constantly do everything in their power as white, male, christians to inure themselves from the cruelty of nature while demanding others endure it.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183629688128096https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183629688128096Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:58:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:53:11 GMT]]>@DrorBedrack Understood. Look, the author is Canadian and the north American definition of liberal is very different from the European one.

That being said, the book is excellent.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183610314940451https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183610314940451Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:53:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:51:50 GMT]]>@Remittancegirl "Libertarian" is a North American term for what almost everybody else in the world calls "liberal". And that is because the term "liberal" in the USA somehow got attached to "left wing" which is comical from my perspective.

When Europeans criticize "liberals" they're criticizing bankers or other such centre-right/fiscal-right types, not social democrats.

Ironically the term "libertarian", while rare in European discourse, generally refers to left-anarchic types.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/ZDL/statuses/117183604998924007https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/ZDL/statuses/117183604998924007Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:51:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:51:44 GMT]]>@Remittancegirl Liberalism, for me, is the idea that people should be free to live as they want, as long as they don't hurt anyone else. It has been the basis of my belief in equality and socialism - as all lifestyles are valid and of equal "value".
I fear this anti-liberal trend will lead to fascism from the other side, so to speak.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/DrorBedrack/statuses/117183604594146047https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/DrorBedrack/statuses/117183604594146047Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:51:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:47:47 GMT]]>Honestly, I don't need to appeal to some shadowy big other, nature or science or religion, to justify my passionate belief in equality and diversity.

Because I have morals.

I also have concrete proof of concept: hundreds of massive, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial cities that are the most prosperous, culturally rich and diverse places on earth, where people have lived together for hundreds of years without, for most of their existences, slaughtering each other.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183589060776338https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183589060776338Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:47:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to So, I finished the book. on Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:39:19 GMT]]>His conclusion is that 'liberals/libertarians' take fundamental issue with the principle of equality in society and rely on some very dodgy science to confirm their own sense of genetic superiority.
How did greedy fuckery ever gain the status of 'ideology'? But it certainly is accepted as such.

However, I have never made the argument that equality is a natural truth. Equality is an idea to embrace, to MAKE a truth, because it allows for the organisation of more ethical social systems.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183555774533785https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/Remittancegirl/statuses/117183555774533785Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:39:19 GMT