Steven Levine
@left-hegelian.bsky.social
Professor of Philosophy, UMass Boston
Author of forthcoming Hegel and the Pittsburgh School
Author of forthcoming Hegel and the Pittsburgh School
Reposted by Steven Levine
Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality just got reviewed in New York Review of Books!
It’s a great review that connects the dots between a few 📚 - incl @rmac.bsky.social’s - as cautionary tales ab what’s now happening in free speech & social media.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
It’s a great review that connects the dots between a few 📚 - incl @rmac.bsky.social’s - as cautionary tales ab what’s now happening in free speech & social media.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Algorithm Nation | Jacob Weisberg
Fights about digital filtering tools have turned more and more bitter. That's because of their extraordinary power to shape both political opinion and mass culture.
www.nybooks.com
October 11, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality just got reviewed in New York Review of Books!
It’s a great review that connects the dots between a few 📚 - incl @rmac.bsky.social’s - as cautionary tales ab what’s now happening in free speech & social media.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
It’s a great review that connects the dots between a few 📚 - incl @rmac.bsky.social’s - as cautionary tales ab what’s now happening in free speech & social media.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Reposted by Steven Levine
DOGE was never about saving money, much less promoting “efficiency.”
It was only ever about crippling the capacity of the government, such that if the opposition ever gets back into power they won’t actually be able to do anything.
Vandalism, in short.
It was only ever about crippling the capacity of the government, such that if the opposition ever gets back into power they won’t actually be able to do anything.
Vandalism, in short.
As my PSI investigation has shown, DOGE was clearly never about efficiency or saving the American taxpayer money. Instead it wasted at least $21.7 billion. I urge Inspectors General to take my investigation’s findings & initiate a comprehensive review of DOGE’s careless actions.
The federal government is paying more than 154,000 people not to work
Early resignation offers and other programs have reduced the workforce, but critics say the moves are also wasting money.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 31, 2025 at 8:22 PM
DOGE was never about saving money, much less promoting “efficiency.”
It was only ever about crippling the capacity of the government, such that if the opposition ever gets back into power they won’t actually be able to do anything.
Vandalism, in short.
It was only ever about crippling the capacity of the government, such that if the opposition ever gets back into power they won’t actually be able to do anything.
Vandalism, in short.
Reposted by Steven Levine
🚨BREAKING: The last journalists working for AFP in Gaza have said they can no longer work for the news agency.
They are out of energy and they are starving to death.
I have never seen a statement from a news organisation like it.
🧵
They are out of energy and they are starving to death.
I have never seen a statement from a news organisation like it.
🧵
July 21, 2025 at 8:55 PM
🚨BREAKING: The last journalists working for AFP in Gaza have said they can no longer work for the news agency.
They are out of energy and they are starving to death.
I have never seen a statement from a news organisation like it.
🧵
They are out of energy and they are starving to death.
I have never seen a statement from a news organisation like it.
🧵
Reposted by Steven Levine
My plan to revive American manufacturing is to: raise the price of inputs like steel, aluminum & copper; create shortages of rare earths; generate less electricity; invite retaliatory tariffs; cut R&D; raise borrowing costs by blowing out the budget; and to cover it all in a cloud of uncertainty.
July 10, 2025 at 11:52 AM
My plan to revive American manufacturing is to: raise the price of inputs like steel, aluminum & copper; create shortages of rare earths; generate less electricity; invite retaliatory tariffs; cut R&D; raise borrowing costs by blowing out the budget; and to cover it all in a cloud of uncertainty.
Reposted by Steven Levine
this is the level of funding where all the possibilities for American politics that have been described as hyperbolic over the past decades - the comparisons to Nazi Germany and other nightmares of the 20th century - become logistically possible and politically likely
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
‼️‼️
June 29, 2025 at 10:54 AM
this is the level of funding where all the possibilities for American politics that have been described as hyperbolic over the past decades - the comparisons to Nazi Germany and other nightmares of the 20th century - become logistically possible and politically likely
Reposted by Steven Levine
Goes without saying that by ICE what we really mean is the Stephen Miller Domestic Terror All-Star Band. If you ever wondered "what would it be like if the government remade the 1870's Klan and gave them the military budget of France," this is the era for you
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
‼️‼️
June 28, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Goes without saying that by ICE what we really mean is the Stephen Miller Domestic Terror All-Star Band. If you ever wondered "what would it be like if the government remade the 1870's Klan and gave them the military budget of France," this is the era for you
Reposted by Steven Levine
The left better start figuring out how to weaponize today's decision rather than just (rightfully) criticizing it.
- Go back into Judge Kaczmaryk's court to dissolve all of his nationwide orders.
- Pass gun bans and insist any order applies only to plaintiffs.
- Go back into Judge Kaczmaryk's court to dissolve all of his nationwide orders.
- Pass gun bans and insist any order applies only to plaintiffs.
June 27, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The left better start figuring out how to weaponize today's decision rather than just (rightfully) criticizing it.
- Go back into Judge Kaczmaryk's court to dissolve all of his nationwide orders.
- Pass gun bans and insist any order applies only to plaintiffs.
- Go back into Judge Kaczmaryk's court to dissolve all of his nationwide orders.
- Pass gun bans and insist any order applies only to plaintiffs.
Reposted by Steven Levine
The darkest but most important story you’ll read today, especially if you or your family uses ChatGPT:
They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.
www.nytimes.com
June 13, 2025 at 4:39 PM
The darkest but most important story you’ll read today, especially if you or your family uses ChatGPT:
With people need to understand is that the United State is once again a provincial 19th century power, but unfortunately with an army that still dominates the globe.
June 2, 2025 at 5:33 PM
With people need to understand is that the United State is once again a provincial 19th century power, but unfortunately with an army that still dominates the globe.
The abundance agenda is an elite agenda, and anyone who thinks it would be popular to run on needs to have their head examined. But nonetheless, many of its ideas need to be implemented so as to bring about governance that can deliver a left-populist agenda. They work together.
May 29, 2025 at 12:56 PM
The abundance agenda is an elite agenda, and anyone who thinks it would be popular to run on needs to have their head examined. But nonetheless, many of its ideas need to be implemented so as to bring about governance that can deliver a left-populist agenda. They work together.
One of the most amazing things about the current moment is the lack of creativity on the center-left. MAGA is not going away. There needs to be sustained thought about what states can do to maintain the institutions of a free society in the face of a hostile federal government.
May 29, 2025 at 9:32 AM
One of the most amazing things about the current moment is the lack of creativity on the center-left. MAGA is not going away. There needs to be sustained thought about what states can do to maintain the institutions of a free society in the face of a hostile federal government.
Reposted by Steven Levine
Universitäten “dürfen” forschen, so lange sie “synchron mit der Regierung” und den Zielen der Regierung arbeiten. Gleichschaltung.
Linda McMahon: "Universities should continue to be able to do research as long as they're abiding by the laws and in sync, I think, with the administration and what the administration is trying to accomplish."
May 28, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Universitäten “dürfen” forschen, so lange sie “synchron mit der Regierung” und den Zielen der Regierung arbeiten. Gleichschaltung.
Reposted by Steven Levine
None of the 278 men sent to CECOT have been returned. Meanwhile their lawyer has been arrested and "disappeared" in El Salvador.
Lawyer for Venezuelans deported to El Salvador prison arrested
Ruth López held without access to lawyers at secret location accused of ‘embezzlement’ a decade ago
www.theguardian.com
May 19, 2025 at 10:22 PM
None of the 278 men sent to CECOT have been returned. Meanwhile their lawyer has been arrested and "disappeared" in El Salvador.
We all know the 'free speech' game used cynically by many on the right. The point is not to play the game, but from the left, but to actually endorse and live out the principle.
May 18, 2025 at 10:30 AM
We all know the 'free speech' game used cynically by many on the right. The point is not to play the game, but from the left, but to actually endorse and live out the principle.
Given Trump's assault on the university, which uses the mechanisms criticized in the letter, I would say that it was prescient, even if used cynically by some of the signers.
May 18, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Given Trump's assault on the university, which uses the mechanisms criticized in the letter, I would say that it was prescient, even if used cynically by some of the signers.
On the Harper's letter: The validity of a principles does not depend in any way on whether other people who claim to endorse the principle act consistently in applying the principle.
May 18, 2025 at 10:29 AM
On the Harper's letter: The validity of a principles does not depend in any way on whether other people who claim to endorse the principle act consistently in applying the principle.
Reposted by Steven Levine
The University of Austin turns out to be exactly as full of shit on free speech as everyone on the left predicted it would be from the beginning
Is the University Of Austin Betraying Its Founding Principles?
Created as a haven for free thinkers, UATX was the last place where I’d expected to encounter ideological litmus tests.
quillette.com
May 17, 2025 at 3:25 PM
The University of Austin turns out to be exactly as full of shit on free speech as everyone on the left predicted it would be from the beginning
As a Pragmatist I am for DEI:
Diversity of viewpoints in inquiry
Equality of consideration across several dimensions
Inclusion of each in the joint-activities that comprise social freedom—and so the ability of each to find themselves in the other.
Diversity of viewpoints in inquiry
Equality of consideration across several dimensions
Inclusion of each in the joint-activities that comprise social freedom—and so the ability of each to find themselves in the other.
May 17, 2025 at 3:39 PM
As a Pragmatist I am for DEI:
Diversity of viewpoints in inquiry
Equality of consideration across several dimensions
Inclusion of each in the joint-activities that comprise social freedom—and so the ability of each to find themselves in the other.
Diversity of viewpoints in inquiry
Equality of consideration across several dimensions
Inclusion of each in the joint-activities that comprise social freedom—and so the ability of each to find themselves in the other.
Gaza is a ghetto where the sovereign power just kills anyone it likes at any time, while at the same time starving all the residents, hoping they die or leave. These are the plain and patent facts. Yelling 'Hamas' does not make these facts go away.
May 16, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Gaza is a ghetto where the sovereign power just kills anyone it likes at any time, while at the same time starving all the residents, hoping they die or leave. These are the plain and patent facts. Yelling 'Hamas' does not make these facts go away.
LLM's can't think for the simple reason that thinking is inquiring, and inquiring requires posing questions. But this LLM's cannot do.
May 15, 2025 at 4:16 PM
LLM's can't think for the simple reason that thinking is inquiring, and inquiring requires posing questions. But this LLM's cannot do.
Apparently, a guy in the pocket of the Saudis is better then a guy in the pocket of the Israelis.
May 14, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Apparently, a guy in the pocket of the Saudis is better then a guy in the pocket of the Israelis.
Reposted by Steven Levine
Federal court says First Amendment bars government from arresting, deporting foreign students on basis of pro-Palestine advocacy. Important ruling from Judge Young just now in case brought by @aaup.bsky.social @mesa1966.bsky.social @knightcolumbia.org. knightcolumbia.org/content/fede...
April 29, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Federal court says First Amendment bars government from arresting, deporting foreign students on basis of pro-Palestine advocacy. Important ruling from Judge Young just now in case brought by @aaup.bsky.social @mesa1966.bsky.social @knightcolumbia.org. knightcolumbia.org/content/fede...
Reposted by Steven Levine
1. Clay Jackson, a Texas lawyer, provided basic legal advice to an immigrant family fearing deportation
Then, two officers visited him at his home, accusing him of "obstructing an ongoing immigration investigation"
Then, after speaking publicly, he was fired from his job at a Fortune 500 company
Then, two officers visited him at his home, accusing him of "obstructing an ongoing immigration investigation"
Then, after speaking publicly, he was fired from his job at a Fortune 500 company
Fortune 500 company abruptly fires lawyer who helped immigrant family
On March 4, Clay Jackson, an attorney in the Dallas area, was at a gas station near his home when the attendant asked if he would help a local immigrant family.
popular.info
April 29, 2025 at 12:59 PM
1. Clay Jackson, a Texas lawyer, provided basic legal advice to an immigrant family fearing deportation
Then, two officers visited him at his home, accusing him of "obstructing an ongoing immigration investigation"
Then, after speaking publicly, he was fired from his job at a Fortune 500 company
Then, two officers visited him at his home, accusing him of "obstructing an ongoing immigration investigation"
Then, after speaking publicly, he was fired from his job at a Fortune 500 company
Reposted by Steven Levine
man, it's just absolutely bizarre to see so many institutions tucking tail and running from trump, even as he's underwater *on every single issue, including immigration* in less than 100 days. total elite failure.
Bill Owens, the executive producer for CBS News’ flagship “60 Minutes” program, announced he will resign from the top job on Tuesday, saying he no longer has control over the show.
Read more: cnn.it/4jKGOTk
Read more: cnn.it/4jKGOTk
April 22, 2025 at 7:45 PM
man, it's just absolutely bizarre to see so many institutions tucking tail and running from trump, even as he's underwater *on every single issue, including immigration* in less than 100 days. total elite failure.
The fundamental fact underlying our politics is that there is no willingness, for MAGA and centrist Dems, to take from the people who have all the money and give it to those who don't. Thus we engage in countless imaginary debates about whether we can bring the 50's back.
April 11, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The fundamental fact underlying our politics is that there is no willingness, for MAGA and centrist Dems, to take from the people who have all the money and give it to those who don't. Thus we engage in countless imaginary debates about whether we can bring the 50's back.