You mentioned (rightly so) that this is not a time to strike a grand bargain on energy infrastructure…_in the US_. But what about other countries. In Canada, we now have a conservative (small “c”) Liberal (big “L”) prime minister who is trying to do exactly that. He’s trying to make it easier to create energy projects in general.
Still deeply concerned that this is going to go sideways, but for now at least I think that Mark Carney is acting in good faith.
The secret word worh $50 is "bargain", defined as the outcome of negotiation. Negotiations between the fossil fuel and nuclear business on one side and any government are fraught to begin with, and the phrase "small-c conservative" should be accompanied by alarm bells, since it is always used as a mask to present a good faith face. The intent may be sincere and honorable under the mask, but even small-c conservatives favor proven existing systems and institutions over newer ones as a core principle. And fossil fuel and nuclear buisness have massive incentives to stay as far away from good faith as possible. Canada may be able to negotiate a deal, but here in the US the Art of the Deal rules. Heads I win, tails you lose. Negotiating with the Republican party is a death wish.
I pay for way more Substacks than I have time to read, but this one pushed yours to the top of the "next!" list. I've reviewed many, many books in my day, the good, the bad, and the terrible. Yours make me laugh and it made me think. Great combination. Thank you.
I liked Demsas’s article more than you for two reasons; first I thought the other opening articles in The Argument have been good (not perfect, but good) and that meant I went into it with positive feels and, more importantly, she never criticized people for leaving! I understand why you would see it as positioning but the article itself felt more like her wrestling with the feeling of, "I understand the reasons for leaving, but I still find it valuable."
As a read-only (with the occasional pontifying useless comment) Substack reader, my impression and the unsolicited testimony of several Substack writers is that Substack heavily encourages writers to maximize impressions on readers to "grow". Something like The Argument, hedging their bets in every direction, is a reasonable response to that pressure.
As far as X (I thought Demsas repeatedly calling it Twitter was kind of loading the dice) whether to go or stay is a personal decision. I think our Nazis are a serious threat, but staying or leaving X doesn't change any dynamic in our culture. The "Nazi bar" argument smacks of moral superiority to me, but if it moves you, leave the bar. Simple as that. Life goes on, Musk is still richer than Croesus, the Nazi bar stays open.
What a bunch of GenZ lefty blather. Is X better or worse? For what- self-absorbed ranting is 90% of all that is accomplished and it’s directed primarily at the Legacy media Gollom of the day, there to distract and scare the reader into permanent sheepism. Then on to Oh No-the Climate is falling apart, while the IPPC over-projects CO2 admissions and blurs standards regarding the actual damage and ferocity of storms in the hysterics favor, all the while spouting statistics that boost the notion that non-carbon electric power is declining while ignoring that AI requirements will have us burning everything to keep up with demand. And don’t forget a facile comparative on economics and proper investment, when the issue is how do we deal with crushing worldwide debt that will push us to WW3, which if bad enough will make all other issues moot. Just blather , but for the management set with the proper educational credentials and a 25 year ongoing slow economic collapse facing them and AI around the corner to challenge one’s ability to support oneself, so much less stressful to consider.
You mentioned (rightly so) that this is not a time to strike a grand bargain on energy infrastructure…_in the US_. But what about other countries. In Canada, we now have a conservative (small “c”) Liberal (big “L”) prime minister who is trying to do exactly that. He’s trying to make it easier to create energy projects in general.
Still deeply concerned that this is going to go sideways, but for now at least I think that Mark Carney is acting in good faith.
The secret word worh $50 is "bargain", defined as the outcome of negotiation. Negotiations between the fossil fuel and nuclear business on one side and any government are fraught to begin with, and the phrase "small-c conservative" should be accompanied by alarm bells, since it is always used as a mask to present a good faith face. The intent may be sincere and honorable under the mask, but even small-c conservatives favor proven existing systems and institutions over newer ones as a core principle. And fossil fuel and nuclear buisness have massive incentives to stay as far away from good faith as possible. Canada may be able to negotiate a deal, but here in the US the Art of the Deal rules. Heads I win, tails you lose. Negotiating with the Republican party is a death wish.
I pay for way more Substacks than I have time to read, but this one pushed yours to the top of the "next!" list. I've reviewed many, many books in my day, the good, the bad, and the terrible. Yours make me laugh and it made me think. Great combination. Thank you.
I liked Demsas’s article more than you for two reasons; first I thought the other opening articles in The Argument have been good (not perfect, but good) and that meant I went into it with positive feels and, more importantly, she never criticized people for leaving! I understand why you would see it as positioning but the article itself felt more like her wrestling with the feeling of, "I understand the reasons for leaving, but I still find it valuable."
As a read-only (with the occasional pontifying useless comment) Substack reader, my impression and the unsolicited testimony of several Substack writers is that Substack heavily encourages writers to maximize impressions on readers to "grow". Something like The Argument, hedging their bets in every direction, is a reasonable response to that pressure.
As far as X (I thought Demsas repeatedly calling it Twitter was kind of loading the dice) whether to go or stay is a personal decision. I think our Nazis are a serious threat, but staying or leaving X doesn't change any dynamic in our culture. The "Nazi bar" argument smacks of moral superiority to me, but if it moves you, leave the bar. Simple as that. Life goes on, Musk is still richer than Croesus, the Nazi bar stays open.
What a bunch of GenZ lefty blather. Is X better or worse? For what- self-absorbed ranting is 90% of all that is accomplished and it’s directed primarily at the Legacy media Gollom of the day, there to distract and scare the reader into permanent sheepism. Then on to Oh No-the Climate is falling apart, while the IPPC over-projects CO2 admissions and blurs standards regarding the actual damage and ferocity of storms in the hysterics favor, all the while spouting statistics that boost the notion that non-carbon electric power is declining while ignoring that AI requirements will have us burning everything to keep up with demand. And don’t forget a facile comparative on economics and proper investment, when the issue is how do we deal with crushing worldwide debt that will push us to WW3, which if bad enough will make all other issues moot. Just blather , but for the management set with the proper educational credentials and a 25 year ongoing slow economic collapse facing them and AI around the corner to challenge one’s ability to support oneself, so much less stressful to consider.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.