Jul 27, 2023·edited Jul 27, 2023Liked by Johanna Polus
Great article! I’m glad to see more critical Substacks that are from a female perspective.
Recently I realized that “warmth” should be championed instead of being “nice” or “kind”. The meaning of warmth is hard to explain (when I complimented a taxi driver in Italy by saying she was warm, she thought for a second I was talking about physical temperature, so I explained to her that in English “warm” meant “like, a friendly attitude”) and being warm isn’t for everyone- and that’s fine. To me unlike being “nice”, which is about obeying the status quo and walking on eggshells to make sure absolutely no one around has their sensibilities offended, being warm is about caring about the people around you in your day-to-day-life (not just caring about people as an abstract concept) and learning how to balance healthy skepticism with being open towards people from all walks of life. And warmth isn’t something you can fake or perform via virtue signaling about politics or charity, it’s something you even have or you don’t. See also the Buddhism concept of “metta”, which is roughly translated to English as “loving-kindness” but it’s meaning can not be more different than when someone wags your finger at you and scolds at you to “be kind”.
"Nice" means ostentatious willingness to share the attitudes and opinions of the group. In addition to being the face of the 21st century wage slave, it doubtless has deep roots in the necessity of group cohesion for survival. This seems to live on in unbroken tradition in Sweden, and it doubtless contributes to "Minnesota Nice," which most people will tell you is less than skin-deep. It probably reflects a particularly onerous feudalism, as opposed to the stout independence of the ideal Anglo-American yeoman.
With respect to defending yourself in riots, nice people believe that the rioters are justified and that you should just try to avoid confrontation. You are just a temporary inhabitant of stolen land. You must trust government to protect you ("when seconds count, the police are just minutes away"), and if they don't, you are just unlucky, government can't always do everything. Just as a "few" people may die from the Covid vaccines, but it is not nice to question their validity. You just may be "unlucky."
I haven't made the leap to buying a gun for self-defense. I took a concealed carry class, which convinced me that it would take substantial training and practice to make the weapon effective in my hands.
If you and your husband are in Minnesota and would like conservative conversation, check out the John Adams Society.
Great article! I’m glad to see more critical Substacks that are from a female perspective.
Recently I realized that “warmth” should be championed instead of being “nice” or “kind”. The meaning of warmth is hard to explain (when I complimented a taxi driver in Italy by saying she was warm, she thought for a second I was talking about physical temperature, so I explained to her that in English “warm” meant “like, a friendly attitude”) and being warm isn’t for everyone- and that’s fine. To me unlike being “nice”, which is about obeying the status quo and walking on eggshells to make sure absolutely no one around has their sensibilities offended, being warm is about caring about the people around you in your day-to-day-life (not just caring about people as an abstract concept) and learning how to balance healthy skepticism with being open towards people from all walks of life. And warmth isn’t something you can fake or perform via virtue signaling about politics or charity, it’s something you even have or you don’t. See also the Buddhism concept of “metta”, which is roughly translated to English as “loving-kindness” but it’s meaning can not be more different than when someone wags your finger at you and scolds at you to “be kind”.
"Nice" means ostentatious willingness to share the attitudes and opinions of the group. In addition to being the face of the 21st century wage slave, it doubtless has deep roots in the necessity of group cohesion for survival. This seems to live on in unbroken tradition in Sweden, and it doubtless contributes to "Minnesota Nice," which most people will tell you is less than skin-deep. It probably reflects a particularly onerous feudalism, as opposed to the stout independence of the ideal Anglo-American yeoman.
With respect to defending yourself in riots, nice people believe that the rioters are justified and that you should just try to avoid confrontation. You are just a temporary inhabitant of stolen land. You must trust government to protect you ("when seconds count, the police are just minutes away"), and if they don't, you are just unlucky, government can't always do everything. Just as a "few" people may die from the Covid vaccines, but it is not nice to question their validity. You just may be "unlucky."
I haven't made the leap to buying a gun for self-defense. I took a concealed carry class, which convinced me that it would take substantial training and practice to make the weapon effective in my hands.
If you and your husband are in Minnesota and would like conservative conversation, check out the John Adams Society.