Yes, I think this is the most succinct & accurate summary of its features. I also think it'd take another book to explain what this does and doesn't mean and to do that properly, we'd have to go into so much detail & nuance that only about 3 people will want to read it. https://twitter.com/ConceptualJames/status/1328404601603842049

One of the biggest problems we face at the moment is that the current moment (probably like most significant moments) is extremely complicated & navigating it in a responsible way that is accurate, detailed & qualified is hard work & also unsatisfying for most people.

People don't want to read things that are responsible, accurate, detailed & qualified when momentous cultural shifts are happening & they feel a sense of existential urgency. They want the problem broken down to meme level immediately so they can grasp something & act on it.

This seems to be a fundamental human flaw. I'm sure that during the Black Death, there were people studying the pandemic sensibly & formulating sensible hypotheses & being told to shut up by those who wanted to fix the problem by flagellating themselves or persecuting the Jews.

Of course, the seemingly arrogant implication here is that I think I am one of few people who does understand how this mindset works & actually I do think that. This doesn't mean I know how to fix it or even exactly how it will develop from here.

About 18 months ago, I did not think "Social Justice" could become properly totalitarian because it was too contradictory & divided & irrational, operated like a circular firing squad & doesn't have a clearly defined end goal.

I thought it would fracture and crumble but feared it could take out a lot of good people & damage a lot of vital institutions and undermine or even reverse progress on racial/gender/LGBT equality issues & damage liberalism, empiricism & rationalism before it destroyed itself.

However, over the last couple of years and especially over the last 6 months, it has become clear that it can become totalitarian. It's whittled down its categories of marginalisation & placed them in a hierarchical order & developed methods for remaking society via its doctrine.

I am not one for catastrophising. In fact, I have been described as the epitome of the British trait of understatement but I do think we are in the midst of a strong & influential attempted cultural revolution & it is one that must be not be allowed to win.

I still don't think it can win ultimately. It will get pushed back. It's not rooted in reality and goes against deeply ingrained human intuitions of fairness & reciprocity.

Also its enemy is the majority - white, working class men & increasingly women as well as all the LGBT people who reject queer theory & Asians, Hispanics & Jews who don't buy into critical race or postcolonial theory. Also increasing numbers of dissident black & trans people.

The question currently is no longer whether there actually is a problem with Critical Social Justice outside a few mad scholars & activists - anybody who claims there is not at this stage really needs to be ignored & given up on. There certainly is.

The question is how do we - people who want to preserve liberal, secular democracies with freedom of belief & speech & respect for science & reason - best push it back in ethical ways that uphold liberal freedoms of belief & speech.

For some people, including those whose moral intuitions & carefully considered values lean left, the answer is to vote right. Even if you strongly dislike the current populist post-truth rightists, they might seem the lesser of two evils & that the left cannot be given power now.

I don't think so. Not for liberal lefties. I think this is an error. For so long, liberal lefties failed to address the Social Justice left due to a (correct, in my view) belief that the right is worse & a (false, in my view) conclusion that this requires solidarity with SocJus.

If the threat of Trumpism is removed, the left has its chance to get its house in order. The rift between the SocJus left & the liberal left can be addressed w/out that threat & this is the time when the liberal left must do so. It can no longer be blinkered about the problem.

This is the moment when the liberals must say "Bollocks. You do not have a monopoly on the aim for social justice, opposing racism, rejecting sexism, supporting LGBT rights. You have a distorted world view & fucked up ethics. Get out of the way so we can do this properly."

The rift that has been growing between the liberal left & the SocJus left needs to be capitalised on now.The battle of ideas must be won culturally so that left-wing politicians are incentivised and, in fact, morally required to act & speak in accordance with a liberal electorate

Many of you will think I am being idealistic & naive and have too much faith in the liberal left. Maybe I am and maybe I do. But maybe you are being too pessimistic. Look at the data showing what people actually believe. SocJus is a minority tho a powerful one.

The issue is not whether liberals could outnumber SocJus believers. We could. We do. It's having the courage to actually do that. Stand up for our values & do so confidently. This requires 1) understanding CSJ, 2)being able to argue for liberalism, 3) being bold enough to do it.

1) is tricky but just takes some concentration & time. We've been providing accessible resources.
2) is unfamiliar. We take liberalism for granted and many of us have never had to argue for it in our lifetime. This is also remedied with a bit of concentration & time.

3) is hardest. I deliberately said 'bold' rather than 'brave' because people afraid of being among the first to put their heads above the parapet are not wrong to fear having their heads shot off & they have families to feed & reputations they fear being damaged by accusations.

Cynical Theories & the books recommended in Chapters Nine ^ Ten will help with 1) & 2). So we're focusing mostly now on 3), trying to connect individuals in the same professions with each other & provide resources & personalised advice to help them push back as safely as possible

Liberals (including large swathes of those on the right), we can do this. Push it back ethically & knowledgeably & confidently before it does anymore damage & before its gets pushed back by illiberal forces on the right that could set back decades of progress on social justice.