The historical record of comebacks from authoritarian implosions certainly indicates that lustration is almost the only possible path.

(The only other option is some sort of “Truth and Reconciliation” process but this requires a genuine sense of contrition, which is not forthcoming.)

The judgments of foreigners are generally much closer to those of posterity than those of one’s fellow countrymen.

Mindscape Ask Me Anything | April 2025. This month we're talking about the Big Bang singularity, compression and complexity, how to teach quantum mechanics, and thoughts about podcasts. Also a Puck update. #MindscapePodcast

www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025...

Insofar as it is remembered at all today, the Iran-Contra scandal is usually presented as a minor subplot in the Cold War’s final act.

But from the POV of 2025, we can now see it as a prefigural moment in triumph of rightwing political-ideological expediency over democratic norms.
archive.ph/dZaYo

Santayana famously said that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Twain rejoined, “History doesn't repeat Itself, but it often rhymes.”

But the right auditory metaphor today is more like sampling of past autocratic soundbites, autotuned for the memetic moment.

The coolest thing I’ve seen today is that a bunch of volunteer public health professionals and developers have restored the CDC website from before January 20th 2025.

This differs from an archive in that they want to rebuild the links between pages and replicate the full website.

All four minutes of this video are a MUST WATCH!!!

It may not be cool or hip in some circles, but we legitimately do need a massive amount of people to run for office.

Flood the school boards, councils, county seats, state legislatures, Congress, etc.

Big changes at the top happen when the ground shifts at the bottom. And that can start now.

Something is shifting. They are still breaking things and stealing things. And they will keep trying to break and to steal. But the propaganda magic around the oligarchical coup is fading. (1/2)

This is a good headline in the same that it would a good headline to say “Jeffrey Dahmer had unusual dining habits.”

People are comparing these people to Mao’s red guards. But that implies more ideological motivation and consistency than is the case for these Geek Squad Brown Shirts.

A more apposite historical analogy is Alaric’s Visigoths sacking Rome: wanton destruction not even for profit but because FUCK YOU.

Someone at the American Bar Association ate their Wheaties this morning.

It gives me no joy to say it, but I think this election revealed a structural corporate metaphor about American politics it’s gonna be hard to overcome. Republicans are sales. Democrats are HR. IYKYK.

Most of our problems could be solved by properly funding public education.

Once you realize that Trump isn’t nominating cabinet members to RUN agencies but DESTROY them, it makes more sense.

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Ha, interesting stuff here!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Socrates on oligarchy.