Topics covered:
Across communist regimes, revolutionary leaders like Mao and Castro adopted symbolic working-class attire to disguise their elite backgrounds and perform solidarity with the poor
Pol Pot, educated in France, claimed to be a poor peasant to legitimize his revolution, mirroring a common move by affluent socialists today who downplay their privileged backgrounds
You’ll sometimes see these people described as “Neiman Marxists”
A productivity trick I used during grad school that helped me finish a PhD, write a book, and build a newsletter—all at the same time
Socialism appeals not just because people want equality—but also because it gives moral cover to envy, bitterness, and a desire to tear others down
New data showing the link between homelessness and crime—something ordinary people already understand, but activists and media continue to deny
The paradox of upper middle class people who say they support egalitarian relationships but live out traditional ones
Despite the stereotype, intelligence and social skill are positively correlated: smarter people are usually more socially adept
Still, intelligence can sometimes be a liability in everyday life, especially for people who overthink instincts that are better trusted than analyzed
Is video game addiction a modern expression of the same compulsive focus that once drove oddball scientific passions?
Women consistently outperform men in measures of impulse control and risk aversion
The real class war isn’t the rich vs. the poor, it’s intra-elite conflict between the upper middle class and the wealthy
Intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals have orchestrated more large-scale violence than brutes—because ideology and charisma can justify mass murder.
Unlike with fascists, communists don’t need to dog-whistle; their ideas remain publicly acceptable even after many historical atrocities
Stalin and other communist leaders led purges not of foreigners or “outsiders,” but of their own populations, targeting fellow citizens, neighbors, family members, and ideological allies
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s insight into why Soviet officials aimed to extract false confessions from those accused of betraying socialist ideals
You can support communism in a capitalist country, but try supporting capitalism in North Korea
Rich young people who embrace radical ideologies often don’t want to help the poor—they want to punish others for their own guilt
Book and film recommendations
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