On today’s episode of Walt Right Perspectives I speak with TracingWoodgrains, a gay ex-Mormon furry who is working to promote meritocracy / excellence in education and greater civicmindedness in our political culture.
Trace and I have an interesting history—he effectively brought me back as a public figure by creating a viral Twitter thread about my departure from white nationalism.
More recently the two of us appeared on The Motte’s Bailey podcast and had a passionate exchange about the Alt Right, as well as the extent to which deradicalization demands a repudiation of one’s past beliefs.
Topics include:
Trace’s ideological history and departure from Mormonism
Trace’s goal of building a prosocial secular religion
Is Mormon culture Faustian?
Differences between Mormons and mainstream Christian conservatives
Institutionalism and cosmopolitanism of Mormon culture
Early Mormon history of fleeing religious violence
Mormon politeness and its origins
How to balance a desire for politeness with a willingness to engage in productive and necessary conflict
Trace’s stance on “platforming” controversial figures like me or Richard Hanania
Ostracism of people who hold “unacceptable” beliefs accelerates dangerous political polarization
Strengths and weaknesses of “packaged deal” ideologies
Trace’s desire to build a centrist coalition based around the idea of excellence
How to build an inclusive elitism
Trace’s position on hereditarianism / race and IQ
Why Liberals find it so hard to accept HBD
Are elite conservatives less representative of conservatives as a whole than elite liberals are of the left?
To what extent are conservative elites responsible for demagoguery and grifting
How Trace realized he was gay at a relatively late age
How homophobic is Mormon culture?
Hookup culture in Mormonism
Apostasy / excommunication in Mormon culture
Trace’s childhood experience with Neopets
The hyper-addictive skinner box nature of Neopets
Dissemination of practical coding skills among late millennials that zoomers largely missed out on due to more user friendly UIs
Dispersal of subcultures onto more private / individuated platforms as a rejection of 2010s platform consolidation
How to cultivate the right audience as a public figure
How to maintain a bridge with former compatriots as an apostate (from Mormonism or white nationalism)
Episode 18 : Mormonism and Neopets with TracingWoodgrains