Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
@aaronrosspowell.com
Host of the ReImagining Liberty podcast. Writing about political ethics. Radical liberal. He/him.
Blog: https://www.aaronrosspowell.com/
Podcast: https://www.aaronrosspowell.com/3ma2xfol4is2o
Blog: https://www.aaronrosspowell.com/
Podcast: https://www.aaronrosspowell.com/3ma2xfol4is2o
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
I think people made a jump from 'the us military is willing to blow up civilians in boats if trump says to' (which, I mean, they droned an American under Obama) to 'a majority of soldiers in the US Army will shoot civilians to seize ballots from election workers'.
I don't think that was reasonable.
I don't think that was reasonable.
February 9, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
This is a scenario where the Republican caucus in Congress usurps the legal government of the United States. I invite everyone to consider how that ends
Over the past three weeks, the "nightmare scenario" for November's midterms has grown more plausible www.vox.com/politics/478...
February 9, 2026 at 7:07 PM
This is a scenario where the Republican caucus in Congress usurps the legal government of the United States. I invite everyone to consider how that ends
Whoa. There's live footage of Telegraph. Growing up in Detroit, I can't count the number of times I saw these guys at The Shelter or St. Andrews. Detroit ska was the best ska and Telegraph was the best Detroit ska. youtu.be/q7cfQPBiiUQ?...
Ska American Style - Part 9 - TELEGRAPH
YouTube video by SkankTime
youtu.be
February 9, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Whoa. There's live footage of Telegraph. Growing up in Detroit, I can't count the number of times I saw these guys at The Shelter or St. Andrews. Detroit ska was the best ska and Telegraph was the best Detroit ska. youtu.be/q7cfQPBiiUQ?...
Post a banger that isn't in English. music.youtube.com/watch?v=6A-f...
February 9, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Post a banger that isn't in English. music.youtube.com/watch?v=6A-f...
Look, I went straight edge years ago, so I'm going to keep my caffeine.
Cafes across the U.S. are embracing the low- and no-caffeine lifestyle, with options that are a far cry from dusty tea bags and rewarmed decaf. nyti.ms/3XKlqoj
February 9, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Look, I went straight edge years ago, so I'm going to keep my caffeine.
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
It's also pretty spurious to claim vindication on Trump when your own argument is mostly that he's just more of the same and a difference only in degree and not in kind, which is not a perspective that's actually been vindicated. It's been proven utterly wrong.
February 9, 2026 at 6:09 PM
It's also pretty spurious to claim vindication on Trump when your own argument is mostly that he's just more of the same and a difference only in degree and not in kind, which is not a perspective that's actually been vindicated. It's been proven utterly wrong.
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
Unlike Radley and Shikha I was never at Reason (I only wrote a piece for them once). But having been in the similar orbit at Cato: some libertarians have been good on strongly opposing Trump as a uniquely dire threat, but it was firmly a minority. To claim vindication writ large is... unmerited.
February 9, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Unlike Radley and Shikha I was never at Reason (I only wrote a piece for them once). But having been in the similar orbit at Cato: some libertarians have been good on strongly opposing Trump as a uniquely dire threat, but it was firmly a minority. To claim vindication writ large is... unmerited.
It's pretty easy to move your chat community to Signal or Matrix. www.theverge.com/tech/875309/...
Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month
Age verification for all.
www.theverge.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:50 PM
It's pretty easy to move your chat community to Signal or Matrix. www.theverge.com/tech/875309/...
Follow Shikha and all my friends at @theunpopulist.net.
February 9, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Follow Shikha and all my friends at @theunpopulist.net.
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
My new piece on Charles Taylor's critque of liberalism for @illsp.bsky.social
New piece! Matthew McManus on Charles Taylor's critique and appreciation of liberal modernity, and how it is a necessary corrective to a contemporary liberalism that finds itself unable to combat assaults from the right. Check it out! @ieres-gwu.bsky.social @mattpolprof.bsky.social
Charles Taylor and Making Peace with Liberalism illiberalism.org |
Matthew McManus on Charles Taylor's critique and appreciation of liberal modernity, and how it is a necessary corrective to the malaise of contemporary liberalism, which finds itself unable to combat ...
www.illiberalism.org
February 9, 2026 at 5:02 PM
My new piece on Charles Taylor's critque of liberalism for @illsp.bsky.social
While everyone’s on the topic of libertarians who got in bed with MAGA authoritarianism, here’s what I wrote about it, including the history of how we got here, way back in 2022. The years since have, I believe, made my worries look, if anything, understated. www.aaronrosspowell.com/3m2fgwdmc7c2a
How the Right Distorted Libertarianism - Aaron Ross Powell's Blog
Once rooted in liberalism, libertarianism's detour through the conservative movement has blunted its radical edge and commitment to principle.
www.aaronrosspowell.com
February 9, 2026 at 4:58 PM
While everyone’s on the topic of libertarians who got in bed with MAGA authoritarianism, here’s what I wrote about it, including the history of how we got here, way back in 2022. The years since have, I believe, made my worries look, if anything, understated. www.aaronrosspowell.com/3m2fgwdmc7c2a
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
Libertarianism has always had an audience/experts split.
In 2016, the Cato Institute informally polled its policy scholars. Trump placed a distant third, behind both Gary Johnson and Hillary Clinton. The most important lesson from it is how little it mattered; the audience did what it wanted.
In 2016, the Cato Institute informally polled its policy scholars. Trump placed a distant third, behind both Gary Johnson and Hillary Clinton. The most important lesson from it is how little it mattered; the audience did what it wanted.
February 9, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Libertarianism has always had an audience/experts split.
In 2016, the Cato Institute informally polled its policy scholars. Trump placed a distant third, behind both Gary Johnson and Hillary Clinton. The most important lesson from it is how little it mattered; the audience did what it wanted.
In 2016, the Cato Institute informally polled its policy scholars. Trump placed a distant third, behind both Gary Johnson and Hillary Clinton. The most important lesson from it is how little it mattered; the audience did what it wanted.
The reason they want to use the government to force MAGA content on the nation is that when people have a choice about it, it turns out very few have any interest in it. They much prefer Hollywood and New York. (This is also why MAGA parents so oppose letting their kids get expansive educations.)
Brendan Carr is also very excited for more local broadcast TV consolidation at the hands of the right wing!
You know, to improve competition, something Carr (who has rubber stamped every desire media and telecom giants have ever had) genuinely cares about
You know, to improve competition, something Carr (who has rubber stamped every desire media and telecom giants have ever had) genuinely cares about
February 9, 2026 at 4:17 PM
The reason they want to use the government to force MAGA content on the nation is that when people have a choice about it, it turns out very few have any interest in it. They much prefer Hollywood and New York. (This is also why MAGA parents so oppose letting their kids get expansive educations.)
So much of the response to the Bad Bunny show, and the lineup of the TPUSA alternative, is a reflection of the core MAGA ideology that, if you’re going to be a real American, you have to deny yourself interesting music, food, movies, TV, and books. To do otherwise is to let the liberals win.
February 9, 2026 at 3:47 PM
So much of the response to the Bad Bunny show, and the lineup of the TPUSA alternative, is a reflection of the core MAGA ideology that, if you’re going to be a real American, you have to deny yourself interesting music, food, movies, TV, and books. To do otherwise is to let the liberals win.
There's a walkout to protest ICE at my kids' middle school on Friday, and I'm trying to imagine the type of parent who'd forbid their kid to participate. My response when my kids asked about it was, "You should do it every day this week if you can."
February 9, 2026 at 3:26 PM
There's a walkout to protest ICE at my kids' middle school on Friday, and I'm trying to imagine the type of parent who'd forbid their kid to participate. My response when my kids asked about it was, "You should do it every day this week if you can."
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
And we’ve had decades of bad tweaks and good tweaks and (mostly) bad media about immigrants and immigration policy, while preserving the American Ignorance, and letting THAT get worse. It has taken a full-on military-style occupation of multiple US cities to get some more people aware!
February 9, 2026 at 3:11 PM
And we’ve had decades of bad tweaks and good tweaks and (mostly) bad media about immigrants and immigration policy, while preserving the American Ignorance, and letting THAT get worse. It has taken a full-on military-style occupation of multiple US cities to get some more people aware!
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
Not trying to “read the news” for people, but just trying to get more eyes on the *actual* problem we face— this, like dozens of stories before, and after this moment, are fruits of a tree with roots in the fact that Most Americans Are Ignorant of Immigration Policy.
ICE sacked some tiny Idaho town and deported ~4 percent of the population at a stroke, it's liable to collapse the local economy www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/u...
A Raid in a Small Town Brings Trump’s Deportations to Deep-Red Idaho
www.nytimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Not trying to “read the news” for people, but just trying to get more eyes on the *actual* problem we face— this, like dozens of stories before, and after this moment, are fruits of a tree with roots in the fact that Most Americans Are Ignorant of Immigration Policy.
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
Yes, some of us did, but the libertarians at Reason were not prominent among them, except for the one who got fired for it.
February 9, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Yes, some of us did, but the libertarians at Reason were not prominent among them, except for the one who got fired for it.
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
@simonlester.com they miss that racism inspires a lot of statism. The Trump admin is a pretty good example of that.
February 9, 2026 at 2:32 PM
@simonlester.com they miss that racism inspires a lot of statism. The Trump admin is a pretty good example of that.
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
I feel like there is a view among some self-proclaimed libertarians that racism is a personal belief and that personal beliefs should never be criticized. Their only concern is what the government is doing. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of this approach to promoting limited government.
When I worked for Reason magazine during Trump's rise to power in 2016, I was explicitly forbidden by the editor in chief from writing about Trump's racism, or the violence and racism at his rallies.
It was a "sideshow," I was told.
It was a "sideshow," I was told.
Weird. I tried to warn libertarians about Trump
February 9, 2026 at 2:26 PM
I feel like there is a view among some self-proclaimed libertarians that racism is a personal belief and that personal beliefs should never be criticized. Their only concern is what the government is doing. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of this approach to promoting limited government.
Some did, yes. But an awful lot of self-described libertarians wrote and podcasted and streamed about their confident belief that, between Trump and Harris, Trump was the better choice. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/o...
Opinion | Libertarians Tried to Warn You About Trump
www.nytimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Some did, yes. But an awful lot of self-described libertarians wrote and podcasted and streamed about their confident belief that, between Trump and Harris, Trump was the better choice. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/o...
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
Everyone saying that we’re going to get a vacuous pop performance for Super Bowl half time next year
But no, nfl too smart for that.
It’s gonna be so hardcore, over the top political that it will absolutely confuse the shit out of everyone
calling it now
LAIBACH FOR SUPER BOWL HALFTIME 2027
But no, nfl too smart for that.
It’s gonna be so hardcore, over the top political that it will absolutely confuse the shit out of everyone
calling it now
LAIBACH FOR SUPER BOWL HALFTIME 2027
February 9, 2026 at 3:47 AM
Everyone saying that we’re going to get a vacuous pop performance for Super Bowl half time next year
But no, nfl too smart for that.
It’s gonna be so hardcore, over the top political that it will absolutely confuse the shit out of everyone
calling it now
LAIBACH FOR SUPER BOWL HALFTIME 2027
But no, nfl too smart for that.
It’s gonna be so hardcore, over the top political that it will absolutely confuse the shit out of everyone
calling it now
LAIBACH FOR SUPER BOWL HALFTIME 2027
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
honestly at this point I wouldn't trust Bernie to recommend me a sandwich place.
Always remember that Tulsi Gabbard wouldn't have been so close to power without Bernie Sanders propping her up.
February 9, 2026 at 4:27 AM
honestly at this point I wouldn't trust Bernie to recommend me a sandwich place.
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
But that's where too much of the energy is, where too great a pool of what human capital they have is going to be drawn from. So they were stuck with a viscerally unpleasant subculture as their flag bearers, and here we are a year later and they're totally discredited.
February 9, 2026 at 5:53 AM
But that's where too much of the energy is, where too great a pool of what human capital they have is going to be drawn from. So they were stuck with a viscerally unpleasant subculture as their flag bearers, and here we are a year later and they're totally discredited.
Reposted by Aaron Ross Powell ☸️
I'm not sure if it's so inevitable that it was never going to work. But there are cultural features of the modern right that were always going to make it difficult. Clout chasing ressentiment infused loser boys is basically just always going to be a hard sell and should have been dropped early.
February 9, 2026 at 5:53 AM
I'm not sure if it's so inevitable that it was never going to work. But there are cultural features of the modern right that were always going to make it difficult. Clout chasing ressentiment infused loser boys is basically just always going to be a hard sell and should have been dropped early.