Jedidjah de Vries Blog

Classical liberalism loves appealing to reason, to idealized rationalism. A quirky consequences of this is that they generally think it’s fine to be motivated by idiosyncratic religious beliefs, as long as in the public sphere (classical liberalism also loves “the public sphere”) you present publicly accesible arguments. The idea is it doesn’t really matter what your private motivations are for supporting a particular position or policy because there is a single Truth that we can all arrive at [...] Continue reading ➠

Favorite transit station Los Angeles Union Station. It’s not my favorite because it’s a particularly good station. What I love about it is that in the middle of infamously car-centric L.A. there sits this (architecturally) beautiful building teeming with people using public transit to the fullest. It gives me hope. The fact that this station has persisted, and in recent decades even been expanded and revitalized, is an antidote to public transit fatalism. I think it’s a wonderful example that, [...] Continue reading ➠

Before anything else, the tl;dr: If you want better cross border rail in Europe then come join us at erpu.eu — we are bringing passengers together to advocate for the trains we all need and deserve. Go sign up at erpu.eu and then come back here to read the rest of this. With that out of the way, I want to explain why I’m excited to be part of this. Yes, trains are cool but, for me, there is more to it than that. This project sits at the intersection of bigger issues. First, there isn’t a magic [...] Continue reading ➠

I recently learned that an old friend passed away. Carol was an old school hard nosed reporter fiercely dedicated to the truth and local journalism. I was deeply touched to see that, in lieu of flowers, her estate was suggesting donations to an organization that I helped start. So that means it’s time to retell the story of the Lompoc Theatre Project, a curious and enduring legacy of Occupy Wall Street colliding with hyper local politics and corruption. The year is 2011 and I’m living in [...] Continue reading ➠

The European Comisssion is asking for public input on their plans to update the current rail passenger rights legislation. The window for that ends tomorrow! Cross border rail travel often requires combining tickets from multiple different rail operators. Because of this, when passengers miss connections because of delays or disruptions no one is held responsible for helping them get back on their way, unlike for example with air travel. The European Commission wants to change the rules to [...] Continue reading ➠

I like Eurovision. I have very fond memories of Eurovision. I am also deeply pained by Israel's participation and Moroccanoil’s sponsorship of Eurovison. What to do with this? I can boycott, of course. Just not watch. Simple and just. But I also want to take a moment on what is lost. It's not just a fun and silly night with friends. It's the way that the global seeping horror of the neo-fascists steal our joy, how they corrupt and degrade our social spaces and interactions, how we are [...] Continue reading ➠

I put together alternative haggadah for Passover. It aims to be radical, revolutionary, and subversive. It is 100% functional and you can use it, just as you would any other haggadah, to guide you through a Passover Seder. It follows all the same steps in the same order. But your Seder will not be the same. You can download it right here! The afterword explains in more detail the thinking that went into putting it together. You can, of course, use it as is or remix it for your own needs. [...] Continue reading ➠

In the violin world when people ask questions like “how do I maintain motivation to keep practicing?” the answer is: habits are better than motivation. Instead of relying on motivation or inspiration to hit, you should make a plan, have a routine, build the habit of practicing day in day out. Politics are the same. When folks ask "how do we get people to care?" the answer is: culture and ideology are better than individual feelings. Instead of hoping people feel moved to act on a specific topic [...] Continue reading ➠

… or why make yet another one? This is the draft afterword to the alternative haggadah I am working on putting together. It’s also a very roundabout start at saying more about social magic and its role in politics. The short answer is because we needed one. But haggadahs are no place for short answers. So … do you know the old joke about the Jew who went to sea? They were caught in a shipwreck and marooned all alone on an island. Finally, many years later, a mighty ship with an unfurled sail [...] Continue reading ➠

The bad faith slippage of moderation = censorship rests on the fundamentally mistaken conception of moderation as the use of rules to decide what content is allowed and what content should be removed. The problem of moderation—in this (mistaken) conception—then becomes “fairness,” situated either in the rule creation and/or rule application. From here also stems the temptation for a quick technological fix, since technocrats inherently peddle the myth that a technical approach can transcend [...] Continue reading ➠