Without Any Further Work Required

Deep Rex Vol. 3

1. It’s truly remarkable how many people continue to send me the article “Failure to Cope Under Capitalism” since it was published in August. It details the tendency to blame every little personal problem—including the inability to accomplish basic tasks and chores—on the perils of capitalism: 

“Capitalism, in this rhetorical strain, is not so much the object of analysis or a concrete historical phenomenon as an all-purpose gesture. ‘Capitalism’ is useful everywhere: as the punchline of self-deprecating jokes about the way we live now, as a perennial-but-distant bogeyman that explains chronic frustrations without ever causing enough pain to force serious disruption. Most importantly, its invocation immediately establishes a phenomenon in the realm of the political, without any further work required.”

For a moment, we will forgive that, stylistically, the article feels like it’s written by two different authors. The last third of the piece ventures into self-help inspirational content. The syntax throughout is unnecessarily clunky—but the ideas are pertinent. What I love about it most is that it highlights the enormous paradox and cognitive dissonance that limns modern existence:

1. We live within a consumer culture that fosters addiction on every level. Our media climate rapes our attention, erodes our trust in the institutions that buttress our society, and disincentivizes the raising of virtuous leaders in an ever-fractured community. All of this is straight toxic. It impacts everyone for the worse.

2. And yet! Neither you nor I am guilty of capitalism’s original sin—but no one’s coming to save us; it’s all on us. Diagnosis and outrage are not action (though they are necessary for proaction).

The article also signals part of the vibe-shift I’ve been attempting to document: people are disillusioned, even exhausted, by the postmodern proclivity to spend one’s time blaming every little problem on a systemic failure, rather than working to reform such systems. This blaming tendency, as a cultural phenomenon, is also related to the rise of our current trauma narrative—labeling any type of emotional distress as “trauma.” The piece focuses on Anne Helen Peterson, who made a name for herself documenting millennial burnout. Burnout is, of course, a very real psychological state that easily accompanies a modern work environment, as I’ve written. But I’m in full agreement with the author that this narrative has now been taken too far. Instead of celebrating the awe-inspiring resiliency that defines the human tradition, writers of this ethos contribute to:

“… a somewhat frightening vision of the average millennial: paralyzed, exhausted, unbearably burdened by the stress of maintaining relationships and living life.”

This speaks to another paradox: if modern life is distressing and trauma-inducing and twisted with corporate incentives, which it is, that means you shouldn’t recede further away from the world and your challenges. Rather, you should work to increase your distress tolerance, then help change the systems. (A very practical rex on this front: nervous system regulation.)

It is a too little-noted and massive achievement in the modern age—Trauma Awareness. However, like the phrase “it’s all relative” (which Einstein detested and bemoaned), the idea of trauma—and capitalism as cope—have been universalized and thereby cheapened. And somehow now meant to excuse all our behavior. These trends can define an experience, even a generation—but should excuse nothing on building anew.

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2. As many of my longtime readers know, I’ve been an avid fan of the work of Rebel Wisdom—dialogues on sensemaking, in-person events, instruction on embodiment, sober conversations about the promises and perils of psychedelics.

They decided to close their doors and bring the project to completion. First, I want to greatly commend Rebel Wisdom, especially its leader David Fuller, on the commitment to the mission of sensemaking itself. It would have been extremely easy for them to keep going. They had amassed a serious following that was likely earning them good money. Yet they very aptly noticed the audience capture dynamics contributing to this following. In other words, they noticed the ways in which their constructs were being perverted and abused by the Far Right and those adjacent to it. (Notably, like Nietzsche before them.) They realized too that the cultural need has shifted—rather than heterodox thinkers pushing back against postmodernism, we now need bridge builders. Rebels destroy systems of oppression and darkness; something more is needed to create.  

Rebel Wisdom shutting down, along with Sam Harris leaving Twitter last week, I think reflects the end of the Intellectual Dark Web era. It also symbolizes what I see as a breakdown in the broader sensemaking community. And let me be clear, this is not just about intellectual powerhouse dudes with large social media followings, who sometimes say words like “asymmetry” instead of “uneven.”  

I have personally been impacted by this breakdown in sensemaking. In many cases, I have drawn more distant from friends who, it turns out, did not want to hear some of my good-faith criticism of certain ideologies and certain bro scientists.

The sensemaking community used to be unified—an earnest group of people seeking to have conversations about the existential challenges we face. Then, Covid bifurcated everyone. New subgroups formed based entirely on pandemic response. First, there’s the “Covid-dissident” community—people who are critical of how we responded to the pandemic with lockdowns, twisted incentives, poor communication, and vaccines.

Then, there are those who—as far as I can tell—are somewhere in the middle. They are critical of Covid response, yet are generally pro-vaxx, and still believe in fighting for institutions, despite their many problems. These are folks like Sam Harris, one of the few to be simultaneously critical of both wokeness and Trumpism—especially Trump’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

This all makes me think of the phrase, Common Sense.

Parents used to chide their children to show a little more common sense. In fact, it was a phrase often bandied about—it meant something that was so obvious and well-known that to abide it was a mere default. Today, it’s a phrase that’s rarely heard. It seems that, devoid of a commonality, there can be no greater Sense. I, unoriginally, conclude this section by quoting Nabakov with the phrase he prophesied would be over-quoted one day:

“The evolution of sense is, in a sense, the evolution of nonsense.”

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3. In lighter news, The Endless Honeymoon is my new favorite podcast, which is of the comedic variety. I was first exposed to one of the hosts, Natasha Leggero, when she formerly dated the psychedelically-gifted man of gab, Duncan Trussell. You could say I came for Natasha, but I stayed for her husband and cohost, Moshe Kasher, who is also incredibly witty and on-point. Grace and I listen on all our roadtrips. You can drop into any their episode, but this one with Dax Shepard is especially fun. And I have my friend Jowo to thank for this rex.

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4. Seerut Chawla, a psychotherapist, pushes back against the perils and misnomers of pop psychology. I especially appreciate that she brings attention to the crisis in men’s mental health:

I’ve been tracking the crisis in masculinity for some time now; it’s an area of understandable importance to me. We’ve all seen articles about all the mass shooters, incels, and the like. What’s scary is that the data suggest these trends around men being under-educated, under-employed, and ill-equipped to negotiate the modern world are just getting started. (Also, I shouldn’t have to say this, but this does not mean to minimize any cultural and systemic problems women experience.)

Speaking of men, I am starting a men’s group next month! Pre-pandemic, I was heavily involved in all sorts of men’s work, hosting retreats and events and I’m very excited to get this going. This will be a monthly paid men’s group of ten, and I will share more details about it soon, but if this is something you’re interested in please reach out now so we can connect as I’m hoping to curate an excellent group.

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5. This:

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6. How often do you get a chance to discuss—I mean actually discuss—important things, things important to you and to the world—with a group of similarly-spirited but differently-minded peers who all think living better together is a pretty good idea?

1. I’m extremely stoked to host the inaugural Deep Fix Recovery Dialogue next week. This is a space for people to converse about modern recovery. Check the event page for more details.

2. Relevant to today’s missive, our next Deep Fix Community Dialogue is on: Healthy criticism in an unhealthy society.

These are for paid subscribers, which is $6/month. And in case you missed my announcement, after four years of writing here, I finally turned on this option. Your support means the world to me.

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7. New readers, in a previous life I was a dude known as DJ oLo. Today I keep a running Spotify playlist that people seem to like.