“Human history is not the battle of good struggling to overcome evil. It is a battle fought by a great evil, struggling to crush a small kernel of human kindness. But if what is human in human beings has not been destroyed even now, then evil will never conquer.” — Vasily Grossman
Grounds for Rules
It is usually quite easy to consider oneself in the right as long as one doesn’t have to explain why. The generally amorphous clouds of thought which we sprint through on our way to an action are almost always more agreeable as clouds than as precipitated language. I have found that subjecting my thoughts to the rigors of communication is beneficial to the clarity and quality of my thinking. And so goes the primary motivation for this project.
Beyond merely setting thoughts in word, having those words — plausibly — find the eyes of others subjects them to another test: the words are sensical, but are they reasonable? By this I mean: do they rely merely on heavily contingent facts about me, or is there something at least a bit more universal about them? Some things are more true than others, some experiences are more general than others, and some modes of argument cash out more convincingly than others. If my writing is at least in principle able to find others (or vice versa), simply that knowledge has a disciplining effect, not to mention the scientific value responses.
Since this project is so clearly personal, I have no paid subscription and no plan to begin asking people to pay for subscription. In such an absurd case that there comes a siren’s call of monetary gain, I may consider it, but I doubt that will be the case. With that comes the other side of the bargain: this is not and likely will never be a source of income, and so will be subject to all the vagaries of hobbies — inconsistency, inefficiency, and (often) inadequacy. I’m an amateur, really, and this will likely feel amateurish for the definite future.
Why ‘A Small Kernel’
Now, I have taken enough time to outline and justify the structure of this page (a somewhat silly quest, given that by my own lights I have no reason to get anyone other than myself on board), I suppose I should get to the quote I began with at the top, from which this page gets its name. All the best substacks, it seems to me, get their names from a good, mission-statement-y quote. And why should mine not be at least a pantomime of the best?
Why ‘Kernel’
Beyond the archetypally Russian tragedy that grounds the quote (and faith which uplifts it), there is a dual subversion in the imagery of kindness as a kernel which I love. The first is kindness as a hardy thing. Often, kindness is characterized as soft or dainty — something that can wilt. True, kindness is beautiful, and the imagery of beauty summons to our minds flowers more readily than their seeds. However, this is a significant misreading of the nature of kindness: a kindness which so easily wilts is not much of a kindness at all.
The second subversion is kindness (and its hardiness) as a thing perpetually ready to grow. No matter what it endures, if you give it what it needs, it is always prepared to bloom. A kernel does not shrivel; it only spreads. Yes, it is hardy, but that doesn’t mean that it is guarded. Rather, its hardiness allows it to be where it must to impact others when the time is right. We are too often worried about not being taken for a fool and too rarely in awe of the wonders fools open themselves up to.
There is no dichotomy between strength and kindness, courage and openness. In fact, kindness requires strength to be useful, and strength requires kindness to be worthy. Kindness is not a strength but is strength—security, trust, openness, and resilience. All of these things are the ability to handle defeat, humiliation, and betrayal.
Why the Kernel is Small
The idea of good conquering evil is entertaining, edifying, and sometimes useful. It is a Manichean view of things—two great forces battling it out for the world. However, in the world of ideas, the key words are not conquest but candor and consensus. Rather than seeing the world as good struggling to overcome evil, the ethos of this blog will be that it is evil’s nature to attempt to crush good and good’s nature to not be crushed. What ends one’s relationship to the good is not it being defeated, but when one stops being good. Good, or truth, will remain—not taunting, but with a hand outstretched. We ought to do the same.
The main point is this: a life well lived includes an attempt to be a fellow to all.
Writing on Friendly Ground
By claiming to be an enemy of none, I do not mean that I will not be arguing, sometimes vociferously, against certain actions or positions—I will certainly do so. I have a contrarian gut, at times even cantankerous. However, the position of an enemy is that one’s loss is your gain, that you are not merely rivals, engaged in sparring with an undercurrent of goodwill, but enemies.
I do not doubt that enemies exist, and that there are times when one must have enemies, at least momentarily. However, as a frame of mind for the kind of work I aim to do here, enemies are deeply unproductive. When dealing with thoughts, there is no point having enemies, because your enemies may be right, and the quickest and best way to become right after being wrong is to change your mind. Thought is not for sport, but for correction. And there ought to be no losers in correction.
What to Expect
At one point, this mission statement was getting out of hand, as I tried to justify each portion of its vision (or at least draw attention to those portions requiring justification). It has, if you can believe it, been slimmed down since then. I will elaborate on ideas presented here (both explicitly and implicitly) in future posts, if they can support them. These future posts will likely cross many domains, but my points of some capability are philosophy, culture, and politics, with some economics and history perhaps included. I may discuss a philosophical doctrine I find compelling (or not so compelling), expound on a quote or story I find insightful, point out a cultural trend I take issue with, or find some connections between these realms and more.
Why subscribe?
Frankly, ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
I’m not going to paywall posts, I’m not really going to treat subscribers any differently, but I am also not going to flood your inbox. But if you like the posts and you would like a once- or twice-a-month reminder that this blog exists, subscribe! I’m just a guy working through some ideas in semi-public. If you find them provocative, worthy, or compelling in any way, hop on the ship! There’s no telling the places we’ll go. Glad to have a nameless audience to discipline my writing, and glad to have a commenting audience to rebut my ideas as presented!
I mean, number go up and monkey brain happy, so there’s that for me on my end. But I’m trying to keep a damper on that. After all, success is a prison and lines on charts are its bars. So we’re going to try to keep an amateurish ethos about the place, somehow. That’s more than enough from me. Let’s let the posts speak for themselves.
