Well here I am again on my fourth attempt to start an ongoing writing regime. First, there was a WordPress blog called ConflictSource which I created as a masters students in Europe in order to muse on groups engage in adversarial behavior. Then there was the Medium.com, it started as an attempt to learn how to program, and design novel ways in which people can communicate more productively in civil discussion. Then I had a substack, and that theme had even less direction, besides maybe attempting diagnosing discussions around identity politics. But I left for no particularly good reason besides that I can't shake the association between that platform in the writer/grifter Matt Taibbi.
This one I called the New Integrationist, which is not in reference to anything in particular than an attempt to express a synthesis of different influences on my thinking that culminates into something that I can't quite put my finger on. Rather than tell you what it is, much more illustrative to describe what it isn't, or at least "isn't quite", and I'll demonstrate what I mean.
This isn't quite an offering of "leftist" perspective, even though the "left" approximates my alignment with other contemporary thinkers who affiliate accordinlgy. Societies have a responsibility to protect and actively respect the vulnerable and the marginalized, aka the little guy, but the paths to doing so are numerous and not as clear-cut as people claim. There was a time where I thought it was indeed clear cut, back when I was extremely bullish on leftist critical theory. I know now there far more ways accomplish these ends than what one school of thought or ideological allegiance portends.
I am also affiliated with the yes in my backyard (YIMBY) movement, with whom I share a great deal of passion and policy recommendations for inclusive growth by way of housing, but it "isn't quite" descriptive of why exactly I care about housing, because funny enough, actually find housing boring if you care less and essential level whether or not it gets built. Housing is simply a means for people to be provisioned with dignity, and it just so happens that these modern times of middle class populations shutting out others from opportunity has put housing front and center of this conversation.
The desired end is a society of "New integration," one devoid of unnecessarily contentious politics, ones where class and race (and more broadly status) intermingle in ways we really have not envisioned before.
Sincerly (unassisted by LLMs)