WHY I AM A JAMES LINDSAY FAN: A THREAD. First, let's cover the definition of fan. I like and respect Jim, am positively disposed towards him, and inclined to grant him charity and grace, assuming good intentions first. I feel loyalty and admiration towards him. He is not at 1/x

all perfect, and has in some respects taught me by example how not to do certain things, which is itself valuable. So let's answer the question, why? First, I have rarely met anyone so principled. He could have EASILY either lied or simply declined to say who he was going to 2/x

vote for POTUS. He knew that he would invite a mountain of shit on his head if he told the truth about that. He did it anyway, and the shit was massive, continuing weeks after the election. He did a project, the Conceptual Penis, that did not succeed as well as he first 3/x

thought. He took the criticism very seriously, fixed the flaws, and re-initiated the project on a larger scale, the Grievance Studies Affair. Second, he is generous. I have imposed on his time for advice or just an ear many times, and he has been kind enough to indulge me 4/x

just about every time. Third, he is courageous. The GSA took enormous guts, knowing as he did that it would invite the ire of many of the most influential people in the country and in our country's intellectual world, which it has indeed done. Fourth, he is kind. His persona 5/x

on twitter is a management strategy which anyone who has ever babysat, driven a car full of teenagers somewhere, taught a class of people who didn't want to be there, or otherwise had to handle a very large group of people, ought to be able to understand. At some point when 6/x

I crossed over 5,000 followers or so, his twitter persona made perfect sense to me as a sanity strategy, even if it's not always as effective as it could be in communicating his ideals. Twitter THOROUGHLY SUCKS for communication and few could do much better. The real Jim is 7/x

on podcasts and in his books, and the real Jim is profoundly kind. Last, he gives us all, mostly for free, the gift of naming and explaining reality. The gaslighting that I experienced for four years on campus was damaging. His work of explaining the intellectual history and 8/x

background of the movement that took over my campus long before I got there, naively expecting to learn true things, has been a sanity saver for many, and will be for many more. So, hell yes, I'm a James Lindsay fan. That there are those who count this as a pejorative, a mark 9/x

of membership in the outgroup, is sad, but so is most of what passes for discourse these days, so it's not surprising. Thank you, Jim. Thank you for being my friend and someone from whom I have learned a great deal. I appreciate you.