The gate-keepers don't matter any more.
A few weeks ago, comedian and libertarian thought leader Dave Smith was interviewed by Tucker Carlson on the latter’s incredibly popular independent Internet show — and the two agreed on almost all political, military, and cultural issues of the day.
Think about that sentence for a minute. Like, go back in time 10 years and think about how bizarre that sentence is.
For one thing, it just casually and obliquely references the fact that the on-air and cable news/opinion shows are dying or dead.
But even more importantly, it shows an example of thought leaders from very different “camps” having deep and serious conversations. Whatever gatekeepers formerly kept things like that from happening must be asleep.
Or rather, the gatekeepers are still busily manning their gates, but the fences have all fallen down.
A few years ago, I was momentarily excited at the appearance of what Eric Weinstein half-jokingly called “the intellectual dark web (IDW)”, a loose group of Internet thinkers and commentators that were opposing the political correctness, identity politics, and cancel culture that was raging at the time.
The IDW wasn’t an official designation, but most people would say it comprised of Weinstein, his brother Bret, Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Glenn Greenwald, Douglas Murray, Joe Rogan, Michael Shermer, Camille Paglia, and a few others.
During this time, I remember hearing Eric Weinstein say something to the effect that the IDW could perhaps serve as a much needed “sense-making” mechanism for a society whose institutions had become corrupt and counter-productive.
The IDW fell apart as a concept pretty quickly. It was a loose designation for a set of behaviors after all, not an actual group with a mission statement and a board of directors.
But the IDW “paved the way” for what is happening right now and is underscored by Dave Smith’s conversation with Tucker.
Now that the intellectual gatekeepers have been made useless, all sorts of intelligent and honest people with big audiences and a thirst for truth are talking to each other without any barriers between them.
They are triangulating on the truth of our cultural and political existence. They are testing ideas and assumptions in the crucible of honest long-form conversations with no agenda except a search for true things.
It’s very exciting to see, and it’s very much needed right now.
Enjoy this white pill. I think it’s real and will last a long time.
Naturally,
Adam
Do you sometimes wonder what you’d talk about if you ever found yourself in one of these deep conversations with an IDW denizen or equivalent? Well, if you sign up for Tom Woods’s Liberty Classroom and absorb the info these video/audio lectures, you’ll more than hold your own!
Enjoy!