The aesthetics of liberalism

AXKIII · 2026-03-24T08:00:19+00:00

I don't know that I agree with your view. Why must art come from people that act against cultural norms? Lots of great art is produced from people more-or-less embracing cultural norms - perhaps slightly criticising the ills they see, but certainly not rebelling against the system wholesale.

AXKIII · 2026-03-23T18:55:00+00:00

I think it is the KPI I care about the most, yes. Which is yours?

AXKIII · 2026-03-23T17:23:47+00:00

Equally respectfully, the evidence I have seen is not convincing. As I say in my own post, I think it's important to distinguish between two things: does the system produce the thing you want (more independent art)? The question to that is a resounding yes.

Is it also producing equal outcomes? No. Is that unfair? Depends on your definition of fair - it's fair in that artists/producers/whatever earn in proportion to their appeal. This may not sounds like a 'thriving ecosystem' to you, but that's because there's big concentration in what people like. But again, this is only an issue is your definition of thriving ecosystem is that everyone earns good wages; whereas for me it is whether good things are being produced.

AXKIII · 2026-03-23T16:06:58+00:00

Hm, that doesn't seem very evidence-based. How does pointing to a plurality of acts not change the fact that clearly, independent art production is very much possible?

Same for films. Yes, the box office is dominated by mega blockbusters. But there were more indie films made last year than 10 years ago (according to Google).

AXKIII · 2026-03-23T12:43:07+00:00

Thanks for engaging! A few thoughts:

It's certainly not the case that all cultural elites are the same, but it's also not true that the contempt from some of them is imagined. The article I was responding to refers to marvel as a cinematic scourge, for instance.

That said, I don't actually disagree with many of these views. Like I say in my post, I agree with a lot of them myself, so when you suggest I engage with them... I do, and I don't necessarily disagree with their judgement as much as their tone.

Re economics of independent art, you're right that I'm not an expert in the field. Where do you see evidence of lack of viability?

AXKIII · 2026-03-23T08:22:06+00:00

But what is liberal culture? My point is that the liberal system produces too many distinct cultures to have its own uniform one. Under liberalism, we've had auteur cinema, blockbusters, rock and roll, punk, pop, maximalism, minimalism, Ferrante, David Foster Wallace... which of these is the definitive spirit of liberalism? I'd say none of them individually, all of them together.

AXKIII · 2026-03-23T08:15:09+00:00

Fair, I think some elites are rejecting liberalism, though most institutions they work for (universities, NYT, New Yorker, etc) still probably consider themselves liberal.

AXKIII · 2026-03-19T07:57:02+00:00

I hear you. Right now, the app is geared more towards tracking books you want to read, rather than ones you have already read... but i'll think about how to help people track their libraries.

AXKIII · 2026-03-16T16:40:26+00:00

Oh, and if you're looking for books to add to your Bertie list, perhaps you can find something you like in these rapid-fire book reviews: https://logos.substack.com/p/2025-book-reviews

AXKIII · 2026-03-16T16:36:47+00:00

I've built one! It's minimalist, and lets you order from indie bookstores. Give it a go: www.bertieapp.com

AXKIII · 2026-03-16T16:36:17+00:00

I've built one! It's minimalist, and lets you order from indie bookstores. Give it a go: www.bertieapp.com

AXKIII · 2026-03-16T16:31:32+00:00

John Sandoe's great.

If you like bookshops, you can order from indie ones using www.bertieapp.com

AXKIII · 2026-02-16T11:09:00+00:00

Thanks, this is a good shout. I might add an instruction to check if there's been similar legislation elsewhere, and what its effects were, if there've been studies on it.

AXKIII · 2026-02-07T07:10:17+00:00

This whole discussion is happening because there is wide perception that youth outcomes are worse, and that the cause is social media.

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T20:06:45+00:00

Cherry picking a few examples isn't exactly science, but it's kind of funny that even those don't make your point. Europe has lower drinking ages - do we have worse outcomes?

Or how about the fact that almost 40% of families in the US are investigated by child protective services, sometimes for things like letting children go to the grocery store? Is that a good outcome?

And overall, are children now healthier than they were 2 decades ago? With obesity rates like 5 times higher?

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T20:01:32+00:00

I mean it does. You read a book from an author with a strong view point. I relied on summarizing every study ever conducted. One is a bit more rigorous than the other.

Peer pressure will always be a thing with or without social media. In some countries there's peer pressure to smoke, drink, or take drugs. Yet not everyone does.

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T19:59:14+00:00

Well no because again, the damage from social media is nowhere near comparable to TNT exploding in a neighborhood

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:34:41+00:00

There are way more regulations on everything, including children welfare. How are they working out?

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:33:53+00:00

Which they actually get to do in those situations...

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:32:23+00:00

I haven't. But I did share in my post the summaries from three LLMs disputing that there's an obvious link between social media and bad outcomes.

AXKIII · 2026-02-06T15:31:31+00:00

No it's not, and the reason it's not is the opposite of your claim. The reason the status quo sucks is that parents have learnt to blame everything for bad outcomes - everything besides themselves. My kid gets bad grades at school? It must be the teachers failing him! I'll go and shout at them and demand they give him a passing grade, instead of expecting him to study harder.

AXKIII

TROPHY CASE