In Which I Answer Questions

An AMA Stopgap Kind of Thing

You look up and suddenly it’s been nearly 20 days since you did a Substack and you realise, shit. You’ve definitely relapsed.

My Twitter use is still lower than it was before I quit, but I’m realizing the problem isn’t volume. The problem is, when I feel like writing about something, it’s so much easier to just dash off 3-4 tweets about it instead of sitting down and making a coherent argument. Same dopamine rush, way worse results.

Time to go cold turkey again, probably. Totally quit for a couple weeks and then go back to using it just for self-promotion.

MEANWHILE, I am activating the ultimate copout: the AMA. A couple of days ago I solicited questions both via email and via the Anonymous NGL Question App. You sent in many, many questions of an exceedingly wide variety. I will now answer every quesiton I received, in no particular order:

Men who are not knowledge workers or entrepreneurs (and don’t inherit) are not going to hit the middle class 60K/y threshold. Trades don’t pay enough; even policing is moving to college requirements. Women still don’t marry down so their family opportunities are limited. Traditionally this leads to bad voting decisions. What are we gonna do? (Biden policy is to restore manufacturing fwiw)

One of the worst things about our current political landscape is that only one side of the aisle is talking about the real and pressing issues that men face in our society, and let me tell you, they do NOT have solutions the rest of us are likely to enjoy! I wrote a three-part article about this problem back when the Substack was just starting out. Summary: our current concept of masculinity dooms men to a life of unhappiness, and gender equality can help them. That’s my big-picture answer to this question.

Also: more trade schools, less college requirements. Most jobs in this country have NOTHING to do with a college degree, it is ridiculous that we treat college as a requirement, and we need to stop wasting everybody’s time.

You're either brave or crazy for doing this. Either way I'm impressed. By the way, I used to use [the NGL app] until I got asked my orientation every time and if I ate paper. I got so sick of the orientation question I would answer "facing east". Anyway, I know you just snuck back on to Twitter but how much longer do you think it will last before Elon turns into a troll infested husk of its former self?

Can’t happen quickly enough, but we’re well on their way. The jank levels are off the charts, every day it becomes a little less usable. Look at this graph of Twitter outages reported on DownDetector for the last 24 hours. That dashed red line is the average over the life of the site. It’s been like this for days.

Anyway, the real problem is, remember back when there was a Twitter landing page that said “Twitter: It’s What’s Happening”? Still true. Journalists still use it to connect with each other and post calls for pitches. News still breaks on there first. And people are still posting bangers. It’s a real problem, and it’s going to keep that site limping along for a really long time. God damn it.

I think that you are awesome. I'm an Australian with a fascination with US politics and politics in general. I started following you because of an interview you gave on Yeah, Nah Pasaran.

My question is, so America at the moment feels deeply divided. Elections are no longer free and fair (due to gerrymandering, a racist electoral college, crappy mainstream media, etc). What do you think it would take for America to get a non-partisan Electoral Commission? What would it take to get America back to the concept of one person one vote and free and fair elections? What would it take to get some freakin' democracy happening again? Have a great day today.

That was a really fun interview! And a very long time ago. Pleasure to hear from a fellow politics sicko; glad you stuck around.

I’m not sure America can have a non-partisan anything at this point. The right lives in mortal terror of the godless commie pedos on the left; the left lives in mortal terror of the forced-birth racist christofascists on the right. This is not me equating the two perspectives—I fall pretty heavily on the left side of that equation, albeit with a lot more nuance. The point is that very few people are actually worried about making society more democratic at this point. They’re worried about defeating an existential threat to their way of life. That’s the knot we have to untangle. I don’t know how, but until we do, I don’t think we’ll move closer to actual democracy.

Hi, regarding the NGL service, you should be aware of this: Is NGL Link Actually Anonymous On Instagram? Beware Of This Loophole

I did not know that! Summary: if I were to pay NGL $9.99 I might be able to figure out the identity of the people who asked me questions. Good news: I’m a cheap bastard and will never, ever be paying NGL $9.99 for anything. Promise.

Hi, Laura, how goes it? I remember first coming across you on Twitter as you reported on the right-wing protests in Portland last year, I believe. It was just before you moved to New York, at least. I no longer am on Twitter, so I’m glad to have run across you on Substack.

My question is, how have you found Substack to be as a platform? I’m especially curious about how paid subscriptions have worked out for you.

Gosh, that feels like a lifetime ago—glad you stuck around!

Honestly, I really like Substack. My biggest complaint is that promotion is a huge struggle: true of any platform but it seems especially true here. I think it has to be an auxiliary to some other Internet presence in order to work properly, which is unfortunate. Nonetheless, the platform is easy to use and I really like the monetization options. Paid subscriptions are actually really helping me stay afloat right now; it’s not a ton of money at this point but it’s groceries, and groceries matter. Substack takes a chunk, but it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable amount to me.

(Speaking of which: if you’re enjoying this substack, an incredible way you can help me out for $0 is to ask Substack to feature this newsletter. The form takes about 5 minutes to fill out but my gratitude will last forever)

Also speaking of which:

Does your work pay your rent or do you have patrons/trust fund that financially supports it?

This is a great question. It should be asked and answered more often across the board.

As of right now, my work is paying my rent. Freelancing is precarious and extremely feast/famine, but the feasts are good enough and the famines short enough that I’m able to live on my writing income.

This was not always the case and is, in fact, a pretty recent development. My grandparents set up a small college fund for me—enough for a state school. I ended up joining the Army instead, and then the Army paid for school. When I started doing indie journalism full-time back in 2020, I started using the college fund to pay for my life. Patreon and donations also helped, a lot. Between these two money sources and frugal living I was able to stretch things until I started going to grad school in Septembe of 2021.

I used the GI bill for the first year of grad school, which comes with a hefty cost-of-living stipend. My GI Bill ran out in May 2022, at which point I used the last of my college fund to augment my earnings. That money officially ran out last October. I’ve increased my output and learned a lot of very creative bean-and-rice based recipies and it’s going all right so far.

Without that assist for the first couple years, my career would not be where it is now. I think that’s really messed up. It’s one of the reasons I’m so far left economically: everyone should have the opportunities I have enjoyed.

Does Ukraine win before second Trump presidency?

Probably not.

Ms Jedeed,

What is your opinion on the revival of interest in Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy on the Internet, and the relative decline in New Atheism? Is this good, bad, or potentially either, and how do you account for it? Thanks! x

This take is based on instinct and nothing else, but I suspect people are graviting towards those two specific forms of Christianity because they are ancient—as old as it gets for that belief system. We are in a period of extreme change: people want something solid to cling to.

It also slots very well into the far-right desire to Retvrn to Tradition. Fascism requires an ideology, and American fascism has struggled to find one. The alt-right tried to make it race, but it didn’t really work: for now, that’s on the fringes again. QAnon tried to make it about a 4Chan poster, which should keep acacemics busy for years, but that obviously didn’t work out very well either. Religion, as it turns out, slots easily into the place of both of those. YouTube prophets occupy the place Q drops once did, and you don’t have to demonize some racial other if you decide your enemies are literally demons.

None of that is good…but I don’t think a move towards religion is necessarily bad either. My favorite book, Deep Survival, has a statistic that haunts me: people who pray are more likely to make it out of a life-or-death situation than people who don’t. Don’t roll your eyes just yet: it does not matter what you pray to. One survivor prayed to his dead father. Another prayed to a beautiful woman he made up. I think we’ve made a real mistake cutting ourselves off from religious and spiritual practice. And I think that, as a society, we are starting to wake up to that fact.

What makes you feel lovely, and no cliches, please, beloved inspiration?

I’m interpreting this to mean what makes me feel good and happy: an intense political discussion, watching dogs play with each other, mariachi music on the subway, getting to meet interesting people, the Oregon coast, the Brooklyn botannical garden, dancing to electronica with or without chemical enhancement.

Laua, what keeps you connected to a modicum of sanity, and what can sever that precious link?

See above. Also just…hope. That things might be better. And that I can create something that maybe will matter, or at least be beautiful.

I struggle with both friendship and community in my regular life, but those things also keep me sane, and I think if I got better at them I’d be a lot saner than I am. Because these things are hard for me, the loss of friendship or community hits really hard. Every time I’ve gone to a really dark or dangerous place, that kind of loss has sent me there.

Still liking NYC?

SO MUCH, YES. THE BEST. I WILL NEVER LEAVE.

Favorite ice cream flavor?

Mango sorbet if I’m feeling health conscious, The Tonight Dough or Americone Dream if I’m not.

NGL, true: YouTube Link

Holy shit, apparently I should play Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance? Whoever scripted that speech had an excellent and probably instinctual understanding of fascism and what makes it so seductive.

The worst date you’ve ever been on?

I haven’t actually been on a lot of date dates, have never successfully used an app, have sort of fallen backwards into the relationships I’ve had. I did one time, years ago, go on a date that I did not realize was a date until halfway through the date, and had no idea what to do, so I just sort of played along, which was the wrong answer, all the awkwardness I thought I avoided came back WITH INTEREST: lesson learned.

This question is inspiring me to maybe try an app so I can have fun shitty date stories.

Good morning and greetings from the west coast of Canada. When did it become OK to just lie like mad in right wing circles? As best as I can figure it goes back to Newt Gingrich declaring war on facts about 4 election cycles ago. It’s a problem up here with the Conservative Party leader in particular.

Greetings, neighbor to the north! Your answer feels about right to me as far as origins go, but I think Donald Trump took things to the next level as far as alternate facts are concerned. Pre-Trump Republicans at least felt the need to be coy about lying; Trump made lying into a virtue. God help us all.

Can the external threat posed by China prevent or delay a balkanization of the US?

It certainly could, and at one time I think Biden thought that it would—his first State of the Union hammered the Chinese Menace talking point pretty hard. The big problem with this plan is that China poses an existential military threat (unlike Afghanistan or Iraq or Iran) and is maybe our most important trading partner (unlike the Soviet Union). We can’t actually declare war on China, which means anti-China rhetoric can never be spicy enough to really unite Americans.

Ever read this book or analyze why you always write with that pronoun: ‘First-Person anonymous: Women Writers and Victorian Print Media, 1830-1870’ (The Nineteenth Century Series) 1st Edition by Alexis Easly?

Can’t say that I have.

Can you draw parallels between the civil war in Myanmar and the tensions in the US, especially the January 6th insurrection?

This is such a cool question and I desperately want someone to answer it, but I do not know enough about the civil war in Myanmar to responsibly be that person.

Thanks for pressing my 'spill it all, baby' button. You are a "tickle profunda.”

…I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here, but you’re welcome and I’m glad to hear it (I think)

Do you have an interest in covering excesses in the Biden infrastructure spending?

My focus is pretty exclusively on the American conservative movement and/or electoral politics at this point; I think that’s a very interesting thing to cover, and I’d love to read someone else’s coverage of it, but I’m not going to be the person to do it.

I respect your opinion a great deal. Thank you for your work. How likely do you think it is that a Christian nationalist syle of fascism will end up subverting our democracy in the next decade? Cheers.

First of all, thank you!

I’d say significant. Far from a sure thing. But it’s a significant threat.

What is best in life?

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women

Why are you so cool and awesome?

It’s an illusion; I am a socially-awkward and neurotic nerd and often Way Too Much in person. But thank you

Hi there, I deeply respect and appreciate your journalism and your perspecive on things. You’re pro-ownership of firearms, but your identity isn’t all wrapped up in gun ownership. Given what you know and what you’ve seen, how would you try to reduce the US’s bonkers gun violence rate?

First of all, thank you—the most embarrassing thing about being pro-2A is the ridiculous and dangerous company it puts me in. If anyone knows how to fix the the my-gun-is-my-personality problem, please get on it, because I am tired of cringing my face inside out everyday.

For reducing gun violence: I’d like to see a gun license requirement, much like a driver’s license requirement, in which gun owners would need to complete training and a gun safety test in order to own a firearm. They’d need to display basic competence with a gun at a range without a single safety infraction, and they’d need to take a written test on gun laws and proper storage procedures. It wouldn’t fix everything, but I think it would be a good start.

Can we use reason to defend against nihilism?

I think reason’s important, but we need more than that. Nihilism is an emotional position; we need an emotional argument against it. Hope is hard to come by.

What’s your preferred .40 caliber pistol?

I’m actually not a super big gun nerd, though I’d certainly like to become one if I ever live in a state more ammenable to it. My answer, therefore, is incredibly boring: Glock 22.

Mattie told Hattie about a thang she saw. Do you think Mattie’s narrative was reliable? Why or why not?

I’m willing to trust Mattie but I would never listen to anyone named Hattie. What kind of name is this. No thanks.

(thanks for introducing me to a new song)

It’s the immediate aftermath of 9-11 and you’re a high ranking policy maker. What policy would you put forth?

That’s an incredible question.

The Afghan government offered to extradite Osama Bin Ladin to a neutral third country for trial in an international court and I would say yes to that proposal. Americans were so angry in that moment, I don’t know if that policy could have stuck, but one has to try.

Also: an immediate investigation into Saudi Arabia’s role in the attack, with severe economic consequences if we found what we all know we’d find.

I just think your reporting is great. As someone on the left who was personally impacted by COVID (lost my Dad) and then saw my mom despite that vote for Trump in 2020—I’m desparate to deeply understand the polarized political dynamics we’re in. I appreciate your reporting on the gorund v much!!!

Thank you, and I am so, so sorry. That is a spectacularly painful sequence of events. I hope someday we can have a political climate that does not send good people down bad paths.

What was the last guy you defeated in arm wrestling?

Someone in my grad school cohort at a party, I think?

Do you think the crimes of Jan 6 will ever lead back to uncovering crimes of the 2020 protests in Portland with the same characters that you covered then?

My suspicion is that the FBI’s investigation stops at J6 for most people who seem regular. That being said, I hear the city is at last going after a few people on the far right who did crimes in Portland. More of that, please.

Have you ever snapped someone in half like xenia onatopp?

Pleading the fifth.

You have a perspective I don’t see in most outlets I read—do other journalists think you’re off the mark? Do they tell you in private that you’re right?

I’m always kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop on this, but with a few Very Online exceptions most people seem to like whatever it is that I do. I’ve never had a journalist come after me, left or right, for anything I’ve written…yet. I’m sure my time will come.

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Thank you to everyone who sent in questions! Believe it or not, this is not all the questions I received: I answered a bunch of them on Twitter. If for some God-awful reason you want more of this, a Substack version of those questions (and answers) can be found here.

Real article soon, I promise.

If you’re enjoying this substack, an incredible way you can help me out for $0 is to ask Substack to feature this newsletter. It takes about 5 minutes and would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!