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LB_NYC's avatar

Chris is great. You could easily have done another hour. Great podcast.

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cbus82's avatar

Aaron, great interview. I read Dignity several years ago. The back row vs. front row concept appealed to me. I grew up and attended schools in what would be considered front row areas, yet my parents worked and grew up in areas that were back row. Visiting my grandparents and going to work with my father showed me a different world outside of where I grew up. I am thankful for the time with them and the perspective I gained.

The comments about dysfunction hit in this conversation. When basic order can’t be kept, bad problems tend to follow. Chris has long been an interesting follow. It is great to hear him in person.

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Aaron M. Renn's avatar

Glad you liked it.

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Boulevardier's avatar

Like a lot of things, I would blame a lot of our problems (not having nice things) on the political left transitioning from a movement centered around economic issues and the working to lower classes to one that is almost entirely about identity politics and re-distribution of power and wealth along those lines. It framed traditional rules and norms around personal conduct as oppressive to the minority and fringe populations the left prizes most and the result is an incredible degradation in our culture, care for the commons, and public and personal conduct. Add to that the quite obviously deliberate efforts to change the racial demographics of the country through mass immigration, and we have perhaps a lower trust society than at any point in our history and no dominant culture.

I am not comfortable with all of the rhetoric or actions that come with Trumpism, but it's preferable to what I believe we'd be subjected to under progressive governance, whose excesses are worse in my estimation.

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