(very short) thread re: the fascinating mini-profile of Ren Yi aka 兔主席 in last week's Chaguan by @DSORennie

thesis: Ren is a sophist eerily similar to America's #1 huckster-philosopher

Ren says, “Homogeneous China finds it hard to comprehend pluralistic, divided America.”

Ren often draws upon moral licensing, the fallacy that once you’ve done good your future bad behavior is excused, to explain America’s divisions. He claims that electing Obama was white folks’ attempt to “lull black people” into forgetting racism, in lieu of actual change.

In the same vein, Chairman Rabbits imagined Hillary voter says, “First of all, I could never be sexist. Don’t forget, I voted for Hillary!” These insincerities lead to strife as, in Ren's telling, there is never a solution to the underlying problem.

This is, to borrow a term from The Light That Failed, a violent parody of open societies, entirely disallowing for truth and sincerity in America.

Furthermore... "China is homogeneous,” is only true in Party-speak teleology. Ren knows that and it is a bore to belabor.

But the image of an insincere and supercilious elite bent on destroying a "whole" (and conservative!) people is a great narrative... one that reminds me of the most cynical of anti-American Exceptionalism orators... Tucker Carlson

the original great Chaguan: https://www.economist.com/china/2020/11/07/no-american-election-will-change-chinas-mind

one of Ren's articles on moral licensing 道德许可: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA3MDIzODIwMg==&mid=2458088423&idx=1&sn=b1274a5c9bbc37e278134cd998f4104f&chksm=88483972bf3fb064ad935e1415074a0862e06c03201a00788bbc50f6f7efab3142c949495053&