Suggested readings, 8 November 2020

Here are some interesting articles I've read over the past week that I think are worth checking out.

Zeynep Tufekci, “America’s Next Authoritarian Will Be Much More Competent.” 6 Nov, The Atlantic.

"Make no mistake: The attempt to harness Trumpism -- without Trump, but with calculated, refined, and smarter political talent -- is coming. And it won’t be easy to make the next Trumpist a one-term president. He will not be so clumsy or vulnerable. He will get into office less by luck than by skill."

Mark Lilla, “When will my fellow liberals learn?” 4 Nov, UnHerd.

Political scientist Mark Lilla asks why the Democrats can't inspire people from all walks of life.

Frank Brun, “We Still Don’t Really Understand Trump – or America.” 7 Nov, New York Times.

"Those of us surprised by Trump’s and the Republican Party’s showing in this election keep being blinded by our arrogance. We keep extrapolating from our own perceptions."

Saloni Dattani and Matthew Lesh, “The trouble with ‘Covid denialism’” 5 Nov, UnHerd.

"Europe is in the foothills of a second wave of Covid-19. This has, rightly, led to a renewed debate about the appropriate policy response. It should not lead to a denial of reality"

Alberto Giubilini, “The ethics of lockdown.” 7 Nov, The Spectator.

"Lockdown will inflict more harm on society than perhaps any other measure in our peacetime history. This damage might or might not be ethically justified. But we will never know if we don’t ask the question."

Sui-Lee Wee, “China’s Stance on Homosexuality Has Changed. Its Textbooks Haven’t.” 28 Oct, New York Times.

"Even though China decriminalized homosexuality in 1997 and removed it from an official list of psychiatric disorders in 2001, discrimination persists in employment, health care and other areas."

Toby Ord, “Can Humanity Grow Up?” 30 Oct, Project Syndicate.

"Alongside our deepening interconnections, there has also been a profound change in the sheer reach of our actions. With the advent of nuclear weapons, humanity’s ever-increasing power over the world around us finally reached a point where we could destroy ourselves. We entered a world where we could threaten not only everyone alive today, but everyone who could follow, and everything they could achieve; where we could betray not only the trust of everyone alive today, but of the ten thousand generations who preceded us."

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