In Defense of Punching Left

I'm a liberal. I've always been a liberal...

[...]

"Don't punch left" is the core tenet of Solidarity, a new book by Astra Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix. In a laudatory interview with the Washington Post, Hunt-Hendrix said the book was aimed not only at progressives in general but also specifically at liberals who criticize the left, naming me and newsletter author Matthew Yglesias as "falling into the right's divide-and-conquer strategy."

I read a couple more paragraphs and I had to stop. I forgot what a terrible writer he is. The article is like reading a textbook that lectures you.

r/neoliberal thread

  • Hexagons [e/em/eir]
    ·
    6 months ago

    Huh, Jonathan Chait likes charter schools. He says so in this terrible article. Well, he doesn't seem to want to use the phrase "charter schools", instead just talking repeatedly about "school reform". Which is indeed a euphemism for wanting charter schools, as I had to click a link to learn.

    Why use a euphemism here? Why not just say you're in favor of charter schools? Is he embarrassed about it? But then why say anything at all? I'm puzzled

    • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
      ·
      6 months ago

      Why use a euphemism here?

      I'll assume you're serious. His wife is very pro-charter schools and people always needle him about that on Twitter so he's always very evasive on that topic.

      • Hexagons [e/em/eir]
        ·
        6 months ago

        But then why ever talk about it at all? He didn't need to bring it up in this article. I dunno, I'm sure I'll never get a satisfying answer. Probably even Jonathan Chait doesn't understand why he does the things that he does