
Persuasion: A Free Society Is Worth Fighting For - dsr12
https://www.persuasion.community/
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yingw787
I've personally found that once I'm comfortable with something, I don't care
for the freedom for something else. If I have a car I like, I don't care for
the freedom to get another car. Freedom is really only useful to those for
whom the status quo is unbearable, in one way or another.

How much we push for a free society is a measure of empathy for fellow
citizens who haven't "made it", and it's healthy long-term planning in a world
where the only constant is change and where the status quo stops working for
all of us at one point or another.

It's easy to succumb to comfort and think freedom isn't worth it, which is
probably why wealthier societies populated with generations that have only
known peace begin to rot from the inside out and why civilization ebbs and
flows in cycles (bad times -> strong people -> good times -> weak people).

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clarkmoody
_> So please join our community if you, too, share our founding values:_

 _\- We seek to build a free society in which all individuals get to pursue a
meaningful life irrespective of who they are._

 _\- We believe in the importance of the social practice of persuasion, and
are determined to defend free speech and free inquiry against all its
enemies._

 _\- We seek to persuade, rather than to mock or troll, those who disagree
with us._

 _A free society is worth fighting for. And the best time to start is now._

Am I missing something, or is a publication called _Persuasion_ not speaking
out against _coercion_ , which is its opposite? It seems to be fighting for
some ill-defined "free society" with specifics in freedom of speech and
inquiry.

Farther up the About page:

 _> The primary threat to liberal democracy is posed by the populist right._

Ah, got it.

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bathtub365
There's no information on this website about what it is other than a
newsletter by someone named Yascha Mounk. When I skip past the pay wall it's
still all about Yascha Mounk. There's no way I'm giving them money.

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rorykoehler
It’s pretty disappointing how cynical everyone is on here. I signed up for the
free tier. They have some interesting people on their board of advisors. I
don’t agree with them all but that’s the point.

~~~
kleer001
Cynical compared to what?

"Caveat Emptor" is old as dirt. "Trust but verify" is a bit newer, but
similar. Stergeons Law still holds. Caution is the watchword for intelligent
people against a tide of garbage that's become the internet.

> They have some interesting people on their board of advisors.

How could anyone know that? Know them? Expecting strangers to research a huge
list of names is unreasonable.

~~~
rorykoehler
So wait until they publish something and judge that.

~~~
kleer001
I guess it's the chicken/egg problem of bootstrapping anything.

~~~
rorykoehler
I would have thought the audience here would have more empathy for this.

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danieka
Really seems interesting. But how much is it per month? I'm not going to sign
up for a free trial if I don't know what the is price after the trial is over.

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dundarious
[https://www.persuasion.community/p/about-persuasion-
redefini...](https://www.persuasion.community/p/about-persuasion-redefining-
liberalism) seems to have a better description of their ideology than the
/about page.

Essentially, their argument is that the populist right is the biggest threat
to Liberal Democracy since WW2, but also that the left are not providing a
reasoned defense.

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Leary
Perhaps you can spell out what political stance this community is for. I'm
guessing libertarian?

"The term free society is used frequently by American libertarian theorists to
denote a society in which their ideal political, legal and economic aims are
in effect."[1]

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_society](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_society)

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sevencolors
Join the revolution comrade!*

* 14 Day Free Trial. Then only $100 a year to learn how we can subvert capitalism

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brian_herman
I don't like the dark pattern at the beginning where it collects your email.
Also the first page doesn't seem compelling. The blogpost should be the first
page and the email collection should be at the bottom so I know what this is
all about.

~~~
ryanSrich
That's how every substack works, unfortunately.

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kleer001
A slash screen begging for my email address then a list of people's pictures.

[https://www.persuasion.community/about](https://www.persuasion.community/about)

Might be a better splash screen.

A list of people that's supposedly compelling and not linked to anything about
them?

"A free society is worth fighting for"? And it's a forum? Who are we going to
fight, each other?

I'm not sold.

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coderintherye
This is really odd to see something have 19 points in only 17 minutes. I visit
new often and that's anomalous behavior even for really popular posts.

~~~
dang
The votes look legit to me.

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john_moscow
I am glad more and more people are acknowledging the problems of cancel
culture and the growing divisiveness of our society, but I totally got lost in
their terminology:

>The primary threat to liberal democracy is posed by the populist right.

I though the term "liberal" refers to doctrine that puts the individual's
feelings above many other things, and is used by the cancel culture supporters
to justify the silencing of their critics. Wasn't the term for emphasizing
free speech and the right to express your opinion "libertarian", not "liberal"
and is considered to more right-leaning than the classical liberal school,
since it recognizes less central control.

So are they trying to pin the recent outrage culture on the republicans (that
at least to me, appear to be strongly against it), or am tripping here?

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microcolonel
Seems interesting. Excited to see if they can succeed at their goal of
persuasion.

It's getting to the point where there's nowhere to hide for people too
cowardly to speak their minds; there is no hobby, no workplace, no community
in North America where you can escape the cultural revolution and be left
alone. Every retreat is an assault, each capitulation is friendly fire.

It is time to fight with your words, and fight to win, so you don't have to do
the other thing.

