The SubStack Attempt to Avoid the ClickBait-Rage Trap Is Failing: The argument against the idea that SubStack needed to develop a social-media #discoverability layer in order to reach appropriate...
His posts are frequently, regularly, goading liberals, Dems, to throw their leftist allies under the bus. He's always inferring that their extremes, "the woke mind virus" (land acknowledgements, reparations, pronouns, whatever), somehow justifies the fascist turn in the country by billionaires and bigots, which he laments along with his dear readers with crocodile tears. My hunch is he's a troll for the rich corporate libertarian lobby. But, most infuriatingly, I'm never prepared or have the time to refute his BS beyond the occasional pot shot. Thank you, Professor DeLong, for doing the job and bringing the receipts. Good work.
I don’t read Yglesias anymore. Is it the narcissism of small differences to say that “liberals” like Yglesias, Ezra Klein and Chuck Schumer are part of the problem? I don’t think so.
>We have named them [army helicopters] thus in a hope that calling this memory to the forefront of our minds will help us acquire some of their virtues.<
Did they really?
The USA as a "good" nation seems to be rather looking through "rose-tinted spectacles" after the high point of WWII. Ideals, yes, but constantly breached domestically and internationally. Institutions turned against those ideals constantly need correcting, and currently reaching a new low, as they bend the knee to autocracy. [At least the UC is fighting back against Trump's demands.]
The US is currently demanding that Europe bend the knee, both by paying tariffs for access to US markets and by taking on a greater burden in maintaining NATO. But wasn't there a quid pro quo? The US got to enforce its control of international institutions, and Europe wouldn't say boo about any US actions, however illegal they might be. Now the US wants both Europe's fealty and protection money. Even if Trump and MAGA are gone in a few years, which ally nation can trust the US again? If the choice is US, China, or Russian autocracy, maybe China's is preferable?
As for "land acknowledgement", I don't see the US demanding the same from Israel after it was granted Palestine, and certainly not in the way Israel is committing genocide today. Israel's government isn't "liberal" in anything, and emulating the very power whose defeat resulted in the nation being created. As for Ukraine, must Zelenskiiy acknowledge Russia's management of the land before Ukraine regained independence, and may lose it again due to the US scheming with Russia?
For a nation with such a beautiful Constitution, it sure expends a lot of effort to bend it to support the powerful. No wonder France trolled, maybe suggesting they could have the Statue of Liberty returned.
Army helicopters are named after tribes that tended to be pretty good at fighting wars. I think that's the reason the army adopted this naming convention.
Acknowledgements of country are standard in Australia, before any public event, meeting etc. Our local Trumpists object, in much the same terms as Yglesias, but democracy hasn't collapsed.
This slow, Yglesias version of Weber’s boring thunders on, but as ever, the board is elsewhere, and remains as hard as ever. If Matt Yglesias is a liberal, then the death of liberalism is even more overdue than us lefty scum have supposed. We’ve been mighty to the point of absurdity in our supposing, yet claiming we’ve been provoked has gotten us nowhere in particular—that much of what Matt says about us is true. What we’d like to say in return is “so sue us already.” but the Democratic Party in its wisdom has been suing us now for a couple of generations, and here we still effing well are, and still singing “Wer hat uns verraten…?” I have lived too long….
I see in {Yggy,Ezra,Nate}'s obligatory hippie-punching an echo of the 90's attempt to, to paraphrase a wise and great American, "use market means to achieve social democratic ends". As this was an attempt to lessen the polarization caused by the very loud "markets are purely evil" on ones own side, {Y,E,N} are acknowledging that domination has had genuine upsides, particularly in the spread of technology. Also, pretty much all the desirable land on Earth has had many cycles of people getting kicked off. As a descendant of the Dutch colony in the Hudson Valley, I'll cite the words of the lamentation song of my people "Even old New York was once New Amsterdam".
Thank you, Brad. This post reminded me of a deep dive by High Country News and Cambridge University into the Morrill Act and Land-Grant Universities. https://www.landgrabu.org/
I think that many universities still own land in faraway states ceded to them by the Morrill Act.
(The linked site accommodates serious zooming and viewing).
Is it land acknowledgement or is it cultural appropriation? This is a topic that is difficult, but also worthy. I would love to see some discussion of this, from parties with different stakes.
We could talk about the system of naming for US Army helicopters, or we could talk about many, many other things in the US that have their native names, or where native names are used to describe things. Is it respect or ignorance? That's not always an easy call, and we need to discuss it more.
One interesting aspect of this case is that the judge treated verbal testimony and stories by tribal members as just as valid as 19th century deeds and other official written documents from the British and Canadian governments.
Once again, I have the feeling that The Free Press is not playing it straight here: "This Land Is Not Your Land: What if someone told you that your home really belongs to the people who lived there 150 years ago? It’s happening in Canada". You read a little bit further, and that is not what the facts underlying story say, is it?:
* The Honourable Madam Justice Young ruled that "land grants to British settlers by the government about 150 years ago never erased the previous indigenous ownership, and the sections of provincial law that bestow and protect land titles do not apply when Aboriginal title is in force. She ordered British Columbia to spend the next 18 months figuring out what to do about the ownership collision..."
* "Few people expect Batth... to be forced out..."
* "Most indigenous land claims in Canada have been resolved with money..."
* "The plaintiffs didn’t ask the judge, Barbara Young of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, to seize anyone’s house or land..."
Someone who bought seven acres in Richmond, BC in 1974 and now holds that property in the current "lush farmland and new money... fields and vegetable plots, greenhouses and a turkey farm, industrial yards, a golf course, and fenced-off mega-mansions... [in a] dense, multicultural city and suburb of Vancouver..." has done very, very well in terms of their real-estate over the course of the past fifty years, haven't they?
And, no, this ruling is not "a major obstacle to Canada's economic strategy under Prime Minister Mark Carney".
Why shouldn't I classify the Free Press here as another bunch of rightwing culture-war grifters hoping to scare you and hence capture your attention so they can sell your glued-eyeballs to advertisers?:
> JH: The Free Press has an interesting article noting that seemingly harmless land acknowledgments can allow indigenous tribes to get their foot in the door for much more consequential legal rulings: https://www.thefp.com/p/this-land-is-not-your-land?utm_campaign=260347&utm_source=cross-post&r=15flyq&utm_medium=email>. One interesting aspect of this case is that the judge treated verbal testimony and stories by tribal members as just as valid as 19th century deeds and other official written documents from the British and Canadian governments...
Does anybody dispute that this was the Cowichan's summer fishing ground back in the day?
I'm not too keen on generic land acknowledgments that flatten the experiences of some half thousand tribes in North America prior to European contact. I'm all for a potted history of a specific tribal grouping, particularly if it is bad-ass.
Hard endorse. Especially as generic land acknowledgements **strongly** convey the vibe that this is just cheap talk that you are phoning in:
> GM: I'm not too keen on generic land acknowledgments that flatten the experiences of some half thousand tribes in North America prior to European contact. I'm all for a potted history of a specific tribal grouping, particularly if it is bad-ass...
In Australia, its de rigeur you say whose land you are acknowledging (Kabi Kabi in my hometown of Maroochydore). That’s elementary politeness and not too hard at least if you are speaking where you live.
His posts are frequently, regularly, goading liberals, Dems, to throw their leftist allies under the bus. He's always inferring that their extremes, "the woke mind virus" (land acknowledgements, reparations, pronouns, whatever), somehow justifies the fascist turn in the country by billionaires and bigots, which he laments along with his dear readers with crocodile tears. My hunch is he's a troll for the rich corporate libertarian lobby. But, most infuriatingly, I'm never prepared or have the time to refute his BS beyond the occasional pot shot. Thank you, Professor DeLong, for doing the job and bringing the receipts. Good work.
I don’t read Yglesias anymore. Is it the narcissism of small differences to say that “liberals” like Yglesias, Ezra Klein and Chuck Schumer are part of the problem? I don’t think so.
>We have named them [army helicopters] thus in a hope that calling this memory to the forefront of our minds will help us acquire some of their virtues.<
Did they really?
The USA as a "good" nation seems to be rather looking through "rose-tinted spectacles" after the high point of WWII. Ideals, yes, but constantly breached domestically and internationally. Institutions turned against those ideals constantly need correcting, and currently reaching a new low, as they bend the knee to autocracy. [At least the UC is fighting back against Trump's demands.]
The US is currently demanding that Europe bend the knee, both by paying tariffs for access to US markets and by taking on a greater burden in maintaining NATO. But wasn't there a quid pro quo? The US got to enforce its control of international institutions, and Europe wouldn't say boo about any US actions, however illegal they might be. Now the US wants both Europe's fealty and protection money. Even if Trump and MAGA are gone in a few years, which ally nation can trust the US again? If the choice is US, China, or Russian autocracy, maybe China's is preferable?
As for "land acknowledgement", I don't see the US demanding the same from Israel after it was granted Palestine, and certainly not in the way Israel is committing genocide today. Israel's government isn't "liberal" in anything, and emulating the very power whose defeat resulted in the nation being created. As for Ukraine, must Zelenskiiy acknowledge Russia's management of the land before Ukraine regained independence, and may lose it again due to the US scheming with Russia?
For a nation with such a beautiful Constitution, it sure expends a lot of effort to bend it to support the powerful. No wonder France trolled, maybe suggesting they could have the Statue of Liberty returned.
Army helicopters are named after tribes that tended to be pretty good at fighting wars. I think that's the reason the army adopted this naming convention.
Thanks for spelling all this out, Brad.
Acknowledgements of country are standard in Australia, before any public event, meeting etc. Our local Trumpists object, in much the same terms as Yglesias, but democracy hasn't collapsed.
This slow, Yglesias version of Weber’s boring thunders on, but as ever, the board is elsewhere, and remains as hard as ever. If Matt Yglesias is a liberal, then the death of liberalism is even more overdue than us lefty scum have supposed. We’ve been mighty to the point of absurdity in our supposing, yet claiming we’ve been provoked has gotten us nowhere in particular—that much of what Matt says about us is true. What we’d like to say in return is “so sue us already.” but the Democratic Party in its wisdom has been suing us now for a couple of generations, and here we still effing well are, and still singing “Wer hat uns verraten…?” I have lived too long….
I see in {Yggy,Ezra,Nate}'s obligatory hippie-punching an echo of the 90's attempt to, to paraphrase a wise and great American, "use market means to achieve social democratic ends". As this was an attempt to lessen the polarization caused by the very loud "markets are purely evil" on ones own side, {Y,E,N} are acknowledging that domination has had genuine upsides, particularly in the spread of technology. Also, pretty much all the desirable land on Earth has had many cycles of people getting kicked off. As a descendant of the Dutch colony in the Hudson Valley, I'll cite the words of the lamentation song of my people "Even old New York was once New Amsterdam".
Im guessing your ancestors have far more descendants than natives. Just look at demographics of any place in the US.
Deep questions about the comparative advantage of different substacks, counterfactuals, and opportunity costs.
Thank you Brad. I rarely have time to dig deep in posts but you are a scholar and worth the effort.
Thank you, Brad. This post reminded me of a deep dive by High Country News and Cambridge University into the Morrill Act and Land-Grant Universities. https://www.landgrabu.org/
I think that many universities still own land in faraway states ceded to them by the Morrill Act.
(The linked site accommodates serious zooming and viewing).
You do succeed. Thank you❣️
Is it land acknowledgement or is it cultural appropriation? This is a topic that is difficult, but also worthy. I would love to see some discussion of this, from parties with different stakes.
We could talk about the system of naming for US Army helicopters, or we could talk about many, many other things in the US that have their native names, or where native names are used to describe things. Is it respect or ignorance? That's not always an easy call, and we need to discuss it more.
The Free Press has an interesting article noting that seemingly harmless land acknowledgments can allow indigenous tribes to get their foot in the door for much more consequential legal rulings: https://www.thefp.com/p/this-land-is-not-your-land?utm_campaign=260347&utm_source=cross-post&r=15flyq&utm_medium=email
One interesting aspect of this case is that the judge treated verbal testimony and stories by tribal members as just as valid as 19th century deeds and other official written documents from the British and Canadian governments.
Once again, I have the feeling that The Free Press is not playing it straight here: "This Land Is Not Your Land: What if someone told you that your home really belongs to the people who lived there 150 years ago? It’s happening in Canada". You read a little bit further, and that is not what the facts underlying story say, is it?:
* The Honourable Madam Justice Young ruled that "land grants to British settlers by the government about 150 years ago never erased the previous indigenous ownership, and the sections of provincial law that bestow and protect land titles do not apply when Aboriginal title is in force. She ordered British Columbia to spend the next 18 months figuring out what to do about the ownership collision..."
* "Few people expect Batth... to be forced out..."
* "Most indigenous land claims in Canada have been resolved with money..."
* "The plaintiffs didn’t ask the judge, Barbara Young of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, to seize anyone’s house or land..."
Someone who bought seven acres in Richmond, BC in 1974 and now holds that property in the current "lush farmland and new money... fields and vegetable plots, greenhouses and a turkey farm, industrial yards, a golf course, and fenced-off mega-mansions... [in a] dense, multicultural city and suburb of Vancouver..." has done very, very well in terms of their real-estate over the course of the past fifty years, haven't they?
And, no, this ruling is not "a major obstacle to Canada's economic strategy under Prime Minister Mark Carney".
Why shouldn't I classify the Free Press here as another bunch of rightwing culture-war grifters hoping to scare you and hence capture your attention so they can sell your glued-eyeballs to advertisers?:
> JH: The Free Press has an interesting article noting that seemingly harmless land acknowledgments can allow indigenous tribes to get their foot in the door for much more consequential legal rulings: https://www.thefp.com/p/this-land-is-not-your-land?utm_campaign=260347&utm_source=cross-post&r=15flyq&utm_medium=email>. One interesting aspect of this case is that the judge treated verbal testimony and stories by tribal members as just as valid as 19th century deeds and other official written documents from the British and Canadian governments...
Does anybody dispute that this was the Cowichan's summer fishing ground back in the day?
I'm not too keen on generic land acknowledgments that flatten the experiences of some half thousand tribes in North America prior to European contact. I'm all for a potted history of a specific tribal grouping, particularly if it is bad-ass.
Hard endorse. Especially as generic land acknowledgements **strongly** convey the vibe that this is just cheap talk that you are phoning in:
> GM: I'm not too keen on generic land acknowledgments that flatten the experiences of some half thousand tribes in North America prior to European contact. I'm all for a potted history of a specific tribal grouping, particularly if it is bad-ass...
In Australia, its de rigeur you say whose land you are acknowledging (Kabi Kabi in my hometown of Maroochydore). That’s elementary politeness and not too hard at least if you are speaking where you live.
Well done! Now let’s apply the lesson learned to the present and future of Ukraine.