Nate Holdren
@nhold.bsky.social
Hey bluesky. Historian. In decline. Views expressed here are those of a future insightful majority.
Pinned
Nate Holdren
@nhold.bsky.social
· May 29
harrumph. harrumph, I say!
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Reposted by Nate Holdren
"The border is a factory for making racism and racist violence."
Since there's been some conversation about historical analogies for the present stuff with ICE, I figured I'd share this. In it I argue the similarity between (opposition to) border enforcement and (the effort to abolish) slavery.
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
buttondown.com/nateholdren/...
Against The Border Power
As I’ve mentioned while back I wrote a letter to Little Village saying deportation as such is wrong, that we should think of it as something like slavery and...
buttondown.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:44 AM
"The border is a factory for making racism and racist violence."
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Listen to this!!!
In today’s episode, @nhold.bsky.social returns to discuss how deportation is unjustifiable state violence no matter one’s immigration status or citizenship, and how that violence is naturalized when demands are framed around who or what is “legal”
on.soundcloud.com/HjCstFKypwOY...
on.soundcloud.com/HjCstFKypwOY...
Deportation Is State Violence w/ Nate Holdren (Unlocked)
This episode was originally released December 1st for Death Panel patrons and is being unlocked today for the first time. To support the show and help make episodes like this one possible, become a pa
soundcloud.com
February 6, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Listen to this!!!
Great thread. Also, on this post from the middle of it, I think lack of "depth of capacity when it comes to meaning" due to not living "with the consequences of the values it embeds" also applies to a great deal of senior managment, which is part of why AI uptake is happening as much and how it is.
February 10, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Great thread. Also, on this post from the middle of it, I think lack of "depth of capacity when it comes to meaning" due to not living "with the consequences of the values it embeds" also applies to a great deal of senior managment, which is part of why AI uptake is happening as much and how it is.
thread
AI boosterism is a death cult.
February 10, 2026 at 7:32 PM
thread
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Amid a sea of lawyers and legal observers, unidentified federal agents executed a chaotic arrest in the atrium of the Hennepin County Government Center on Tuesday morning.
Live: ICE director vows to release bodycam footage; Walz says crackdown could end soon
Lawmakers grilled the heads of ICE and the Border Patrol on immigration enforcement at a House committee hearing in Washington.
bit.ly
February 10, 2026 at 7:24 PM
Amid a sea of lawyers and legal observers, unidentified federal agents executed a chaotic arrest in the atrium of the Hennepin County Government Center on Tuesday morning.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Whatever the productivity gains promised by LLMs, they result in heavier workloads—and that leads to workers experiencing “cognitive fatigue, burnout, and weakened decision-making.”
All this from the notoriously pro-worker rag [checks notes] Harvard Business Review: hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
All this from the notoriously pro-worker rag [checks notes] Harvard Business Review: hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies It
One of the promises of AI is that it can reduce workloads so employees can focus more on higher-value and more engaging tasks. But according to new research, AI tools don’t reduce work, they consisten...
hbr.org
February 9, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Whatever the productivity gains promised by LLMs, they result in heavier workloads—and that leads to workers experiencing “cognitive fatigue, burnout, and weakened decision-making.”
All this from the notoriously pro-worker rag [checks notes] Harvard Business Review: hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
All this from the notoriously pro-worker rag [checks notes] Harvard Business Review: hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Depressed to hear how many people showed up to city hall in SUPPORT of building a giant data center here. Michigan holds 21% of the world's fresh water. If we poison it, we're cooked, especially in the US. This is "destroying the Amazon rainforest" level of serious.
February 10, 2026 at 3:21 AM
Depressed to hear how many people showed up to city hall in SUPPORT of building a giant data center here. Michigan holds 21% of the world's fresh water. If we poison it, we're cooked, especially in the US. This is "destroying the Amazon rainforest" level of serious.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
We murdered two more people in a boat today. One apparent survivor.
February 10, 2026 at 12:51 AM
We murdered two more people in a boat today. One apparent survivor.
This is a very fair question because it's so small and malleable that it's pretty much imperceptible.
February 9, 2026 at 11:57 PM
This is a very fair question because it's so small and malleable that it's pretty much imperceptible.
"don't talk to me about my own morality" while allowing fucked up shit to happen is so very Democrat, incredibly infuriating
“I would rather you vote for what is morally correct,” Davidson said.
“Don’t talk to me about my own morality,” DeLauro shot back.
“Don’t tell your constituents what they can and can’t talk to you about,” replied Rev. Nathan Empsall. “What you are voting for is not moral.”
“Don’t talk to me about my own morality,” DeLauro shot back.
“Don’t tell your constituents what they can and can’t talk to you about,” replied Rev. Nathan Empsall. “What you are voting for is not moral.”
DeLauro to pressing clergy: 'I will not vote to abolish ICE'
The Connecticut U.S. representative found herself at odds with faith leaders.
www.ctpublic.org
February 9, 2026 at 11:55 PM
"don't talk to me about my own morality" while allowing fucked up shit to happen is so very Democrat, incredibly infuriating
Reposted by Nate Holdren
The people who support mass deportation policies never cared about whether people have "criminal records," and I caution people who want to stop mass deportations that they should not focus on the "criminal records" either.
February 9, 2026 at 11:47 PM
The people who support mass deportation policies never cared about whether people have "criminal records," and I caution people who want to stop mass deportations that they should not focus on the "criminal records" either.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Unicorn Riot, along with all the other cool stuff they do, has done a great job showcasing how local cops are defending ICE agents, as the agents go around and do their little ethnic cleansing program in the state.
NEW: At least 12 protesters were arrested last night in a heavy handed show of force by a mixture of state and local police. The protesters were taking part in the fourth noise demo against ICE being housed at the Graduate Hotel on the University of MN campus. [Full story at our website]
Another Mass Arrest by Large Police Force in Minneapolis After 4th Noise Demo at the Graduate Hotel
YouTube video by Unicorn Riot
youtu.be
February 6, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Unicorn Riot, along with all the other cool stuff they do, has done a great job showcasing how local cops are defending ICE agents, as the agents go around and do their little ethnic cleansing program in the state.
Reposted by Nate Holdren
we won’t be intimidated because they don’t deserve our fear
Another classic post-Homan day where around school dismissal time we get a flurry of ICE vehicles all across our neighborhoods. Today one vehicle led an observer to their own home and pointed at it. This is a sick game to them, but we won’t be intimidated and we won’t stop until DHS is abolished.
February 9, 2026 at 11:29 PM
we won’t be intimidated because they don’t deserve our fear
Reposted by Nate Holdren
In one 30-minute stretch, three legal observers were arrested — as Trump’s Border czar Tom Homan calls on locals to “end the resistance.”
“Uptick In Abductions”: ICE Ramps Up Targeting of Minneapolis Legal Observers
In one 30-minute stretch, three Minneapolis legal observers were arrested as ICE ramped up its targeting of community volunteers.
interc.pt
February 9, 2026 at 6:19 PM
In one 30-minute stretch, three legal observers were arrested — as Trump’s Border czar Tom Homan calls on locals to “end the resistance.”
'Hey guys stay calm! There's just a lot of chaos and destruction right now that we are aggessively smashing through! But, like, calmly! SO CALM!!!!'
February 9, 2026 at 9:38 PM
'Hey guys stay calm! There's just a lot of chaos and destruction right now that we are aggessively smashing through! But, like, calmly! SO CALM!!!!'
Reposted by Nate Holdren
Amazon prime, but for human beings.
February 9, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Amazon prime, but for human beings.
Thanks! I suspect a huge amount here hangs on distinguishing explicit commitments that are 'discursive' in a 'calm exchange of reasons and speech acts' sort of sense vs implicit ones that aren't discursive in that sense. Like I agree w/ yr points re the former but the latter still involves norms etc
February 9, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Thanks! I suspect a huge amount here hangs on distinguishing explicit commitments that are 'discursive' in a 'calm exchange of reasons and speech acts' sort of sense vs implicit ones that aren't discursive in that sense. Like I agree w/ yr points re the former but the latter still involves norms etc
I agree with this but I think this itself names a kind of normative ideal (though I'd want to stress, against other positions than this one, that it's a processual ideal - a practice by the proletariat collectively over time - rather than a desired end state)
February 9, 2026 at 9:32 PM
I agree with this but I think this itself names a kind of normative ideal (though I'd want to stress, against other positions than this one, that it's a processual ideal - a practice by the proletariat collectively over time - rather than a desired end state)
Thanks for this! (and actually I'm going to retract 'argue for' and substitute 'advocate' since I think often the advocacy is specifically not in the character of argument - thinking of Marx's quip about 'weapon of criticsm' and material force)
February 9, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Thanks for this! (and actually I'm going to retract 'argue for' and substitute 'advocate' since I think often the advocacy is specifically not in the character of argument - thinking of Marx's quip about 'weapon of criticsm' and material force)
(as always, happy to agree to disagree and mostly am just thinking out loud!)
February 9, 2026 at 9:25 PM
(as always, happy to agree to disagree and mostly am just thinking out loud!)
I think I disagree with this, and would instead say that Du Bois's point is less 'don't argue for normative ideals' and more 'don't anchor normative ideals in time, either past or future, and mostly have them be negative in character.' (And even if that's not his point it's a correct point imho!)
February 9, 2026 at 9:20 PM
I think I disagree with this, and would instead say that Du Bois's point is less 'don't argue for normative ideals' and more 'don't anchor normative ideals in time, either past or future, and mostly have them be negative in character.' (And even if that's not his point it's a correct point imho!)
Reposted by Nate Holdren
to read later. looks great.
"'Protective presence' is a tactic utilized by a targeted group of people in which they get untargeted people to be a buffer so that they can go along with trying to resist their occupation and live a normal life." lithub.com/letter-from-...
Letter From Minnesota: Echoes of the Other Occupation
The point of an occupation is you don’t choose when it happens. They descend upon you at their convenience. On day fifty-four I watch an almost-live stream of someone getting shot dead by federal a…
lithub.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:21 PM
to read later. looks great.
as a kid I was super into Def Leppard and later Nirvana and my friends and I would often say that all we really understood were the vowel sounds.
February 9, 2026 at 4:23 PM
as a kid I was super into Def Leppard and later Nirvana and my friends and I would often say that all we really understood were the vowel sounds.