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Jay Weixelbaum

@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social

I do a bunch of stuff. Science writer primarily in public health. Producer and founder of Elusive Films. PhD. Expert in history of US companies in Germany during World War II. Musician. Designer.

266 Posts1637 Follower1008 Folgt
Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · 23h ago

Why no Nazis? Bluesky isn’t doing anything about antisemitism here anyway. I find being a Jewish person here as bad (or worse) than my experience on Twitter/X around the time I left there about 3-4 years ago. I will happily send you screenshots directly. Every single day.

Toni Schneider@toni.bsky.team · yesterday

Thanks. Yes, that's what I was trying to say, but took too long to get there. Our politics community is strong, and I'd love for us to expand into new communities. Science and sports have already taken off. Birding, gardening, K-pop, we're open to all (except nazis and jerks).

Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · 2d ago

I’m very glad to see this conversation happening. I feel like I’ve been yelling this into the void for more than a decade now. It’s no mistake that Trump and Sanders emerged simultaneously as populist poles as democracy came under direct assault.

Mark Copelovitch@mcopelov.bsky.social · 2d ago

👇🎯 “Am I liberal or conservative?” & “Am I a populist who wants to exploit the imperial presidency for my political ends?” are two separate axes, & this is going to be one of our most serious obstacles to serious pro-democracy institutional reforms. There are leftist populist authoritarians, too.

Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · 2d ago

Leftism and progressivism is about a strong relationship with facts and expertise. Populism is about slogans and dressing up scapegoating in social justice rhetoric. Populism is about branding to legitimize grievance. Leftism and progressivism is about solidarity, not gaslighting.

Jen Mercieca@jenmercieca.bsky.social · 6d ago

Teaching critical thinking: What evidence do you have to support your claim? How do you know that evidence is true? Have you considered the opposing evidence? How do you know that evidence is false?

Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · 7d ago

Here's my working theory on populism. It is a contagion that isn't bound by left or right. At this moment, like many previous historical moments, the US inflamed with it.

Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · 7d ago

So when you see the know-nothingism, bigotry, and authoritarianism you're used to seeing on the right on the left, too, it creates cognitive dissonance. It shouldn't. Because we shouldn't take any ideological branding at face value. Bernie, Mamdani, Hasan. These are populists. They aren't leftwing.

Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · last wk.

Populists are only about seizing power, not helping people. Their words are always empty. Populists only deliver instability and destruction. When the pain is great enough, leftwing populist adherents will learn the same lessons as their rightwing populist cousins over in MAGA.

Vibecession Forever@ghazelleberner.bsky.social · last wk.

“We just want to feed people” is the same shit as “we just want healthcare” is the same shit as “we just want to stop the genocide.” It’s shibboleths all the way down, all designed to keep people from ever actually having a real conversation about the underlying topic.

Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · last wk.

Also maybe Kat Abughazaleh is just a know-nothing grievance farmer and bullshitter who should be blocked by everyone with critical thinking skills on this platform. We don’t get rid of populist pollution by engaging with it. Starve it at the source.

paul khruangbin (Dan Lehner)@danlehner.bsky.social · last wk.

if there’s anything I would want to drill into the public consciousness it’s that there are almost always like a dozen ways to approach any given problem and some of them will be more effective than others and we have to stop acting like the questions around it are against fixing the issue

Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · last wk.

This anonymous account thinks they are entitled to credibility. Let’s talk about this phenomenon. ! Saying you’re “antifascist” from behind a mask carries about as much weight as saying you’re a pineapple. Neither measure actions in the real world. And both can sound silly depending on context.

Svetlana DeLulu@notthranduil.bsky.social · 2w ago

If you're a Certified Holocaust Understander, maybe you shouldn't be calling antifascists Nazis.

Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · last wk.

Simply inverting hierarchies of power and oppression doesn’t make you a leftist. It makes you a populist. And populists are grievance-addicted authoritarians who destroy democracies if left unchecked. Push back on the false leftwing branding.

Jay Weixelbaum@jayweixelbaum.bsky.social · 2w ago

Just because you’re told repeatedly that something is a genocide doesn’t mean it is one. Repeated inaccurate information gets believed all the time to fuel grievance movements. This is a key mechanism of populism.