Right now, as I write this, it's the evening of November 6th, 2024.

Trump won the election.

I don't think this is a good thing, but I don't think we're quite as doomed as some think.

It's gonna be bad for a lot of people, good for others, and the world is going to change a lot in ways we can't predict.

But I'm gonna do what I do - keep learning.

Enter this new content series - a learn and create in public series - where I'm going to explore contrasting thinkers, sharing my resources and notes here in this digital garden as I go, and then creating more refined content in the form of essays I'll publish on Paragraph and Substack, and podcasts that will include both human and AI-generated segments - NotebookLM is GREAT for loading up to 50 resources and then having it generate a podcast-like audio that has a male voice and female voice engaging in a conversation about the subject.

I'm starting with contrasting Paulo Freire's views on liberatory education and critical consciousness to transform self and society with Edmund Burke's conservative traditionalism that was skeptical of deliberate efforts to initiate any sort of change in society, and that gets to the roots of the ideological divide between left and right. Check out the Freire and Burke Reading List I had ChatGPT draft for me, focused on stuff that I'd be able to source through the school library and all the databases I have access to as a student.

I want to understand better where conservative thinking comes from, the logic that they're basing their decisions on, and how to better counter it, and also create content that brings leftist ideas to a level where you don't need to look up a dozen words every page because not everyone gets off on that like we philosophy nerds do.

Going back to college is helping me to refine my thinking and writing, but it's not covering the topics I want to cover.

So I'll take the skills I'm learning and apply them to where my own curiosity leads.

First up is Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire.

I don't know for sure where this series is going to go, but I'm quite excited about it as a long-term learning content project that I can combine with some of my others - it'll be great to work alongside my DIY MFA in Creative Writing and DIY Masters in Philosophy Plan. None of these are things I have to rush. I can savor what I'm reading and learning, adding notes and writing a bit each day, building up my content organically as I contemplate the ideas deeply over time. I'm not on a school or corporate deadline with these - I just want to learn and share what I learn as I go.

The Plan

Tentatively, these are the pairings of liberatory philosophers and conservative philosophers I'll be studying throughout this project. I'll be dropping notes and resources in this digital garden as I go, building out my thoughts and making new connections as I go.

• Paulo Freire & Edmund Burke

  • Theme: Education, Tradition, and Social Change
  • Dialogue: Freire’s call for education as liberation contrasts with Burke’s skepticism of radical change. Freire advocates for critical consciousness and transformation, while Burke warns of the dangers of uprooting tradition too quickly. Together, they offer contrasting perspectives on the role of education and social progress.

• John Stuart Mill & Roger Scruton

  • Theme: Liberty, Individuality, and Moral Order
  • Dialogue: Mill’s defense of individual liberty and personal freedom meets Scruton’s emphasis on cultural preservation and societal cohesion. Mill’s utilitarian liberty contrasts with Scruton’s idea of a moral order that grounds individual freedom in cultural heritage, providing a nuanced conversation about liberty’s boundaries.

• Simone de Beauvoir & Allan Bloom

  • Theme: Gender, Education, and Societal Values
  • Dialogue: Beauvoir’s existential feminism, with its focus on liberation and self-definition, contrasts with Bloom’s critique of modern academia and cultural relativism. Their dialogue can address how education shapes identity, with Beauvoir emphasizing freedom from oppressive gender roles and Bloom cautioning against abandoning tradition.

• Hannah Arendt & Leo Strauss

  • Theme: Democracy, Authority, and Public Life
  • Dialogue: Arendt’s analysis of totalitarianism and the public realm contrasts with Strauss’s concerns about relativism and the erosion of moral clarity. Together, they explore authority, public life, and the balance between democratic openness and societal stability.

• bell hooks & Irving Kristol

  • Theme: Intersectionality, Tradition, and Social Responsibility
  • Dialogue: hooks’s focus on intersectional liberation, love, and community contrasts with Kristol’s commitment to moral clarity, patriotism, and economic freedom. They offer opposing views on community values, with hooks pushing for inclusive liberation and Kristol emphasizing traditional values.

• Friedrich Hayek & Karl Marx (as a counterpoint in a critical analysis)

  • Theme: Freedom, Economy, and Social Structure
  • Dialogue: Hayek’s defense of free-market capitalism meets Marx’s critiques of economic inequality and class structure. While Marx seeks structural change, Hayek warns that central planning limits freedom, sparking an essential debate about economic systems and liberty.

• Michel Foucault & Robert Nozick

  • Theme: Power, Autonomy, and Government**
  • Dialogue: Foucault’s examination of power structures and surveillance contrasts with Nozick’s minimal-state libertarianism. Foucault explores how power infiltrates institutions and shapes behavior, while Nozick emphasizes the individual’s right to freedom from government control, providing a layered view of autonomy and societal structures.

• James Baldwin & William F. Buckley Jr.

  • Theme: Race, Justice, and American Identity
  • Dialogue: Baldwin’s passionate advocacy for racial justice and critique of American ideals contrasts with Buckley’s defense of traditional American values and individualism. This pairing creates a rich discussion on identity, justice, and what it means to live up to—or redefine—national ideals.

• Antonio Gramsci & Thomas Hobbes

  • Theme: Power, Order, and Cultural Hegemony
  • Dialogue: Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony challenges Hobbes’s ideas on absolute authority and order. Gramsci advocates for intellectual resistance and empowerment, while Hobbes stresses the importance of centralized power for stability, creating a dialogue on control, order, and cultural influence.

• Emma Goldman & Irving Kristol

  • Theme: Autonomy, Community, and Moral Clarity
  • Dialogue: Goldman’s anarchist critiques of centralized power contrast sharply with Kristol’s neoconservative defense of morality, tradition, and patriotism. Together, they raise questions about the balance between individual autonomy and community cohesion, and the role of moral frameworks in society.