equalityalec.bsky.social
founder, Civil Rights Corps
civil rights lawyer
author of usual cruelty (2019) and
copaganda (2025)
any views expressed here are my own, and not those of civil rights corps
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And if you use the code TNP30 at this website, you can get 30% off the book now! thenewpress.org/books/copaga...
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Did it in my book!
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As I discuss in the Copaganda book, these words are hugely political. They subtly shape the public’s understanding of violence and who is responsible. Using it to describe brutal fascist violence is shameful.
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Most profoundly though, notice the lack of any engagement by this philosopher with questions of politics, collective action, strategy, practical thinking about what action might *actually stop* the stuff one thinks is evil, etc. No skepticism about how social change happens. Just incompetent stuff.
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This is one of the most stunning examples I have ever tracked of another key liberal news media propaganda tactic: erasing the core moral and intellectual debates of our time through laundering "expertise." I have a chapter about this in my Copaganda book with lots of incredible examples, but yikes.
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I write about this in my Copaganda book: hiding (and suggesting as a non-issue) the core philosohpical disagreement: "Everyone agrees we should have militarized borders and enforce them with metal, guns, and cages." It's just assumed--not even flagged for the reader that it anyone contests it.
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Note the key propaganda tactic of assuming as true the most outrageous and controversial components of an argument and focusing attention on something else.
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I don't think I've seen anything like this. Lacking in even the pretense of rigor, but presented as the highest form of popular philosophical inquiry. Erasing the great contemporary questions of morality and political philosophy like "can we treat people differently based on where they were born"?
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"I had been wondering whether profiting from fascist kidnapping and mass torture/death was right or wrong, but this philosopher told me it was ok if I give money to the ACLU" is among the best things I've ever consumed in mainstream media.
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"Yes."
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You sound like a bot. The question of whether “leftists” can be pro police and the rigor of arguments on the question isn’t some little internecine spat. This has been a very strange interaction. Embarrassing.
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It sounds like the difference is actually what positions are incompatible with being on the left.
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It’s clear you haven’t read what I’ve written on this. It’s not some random link. He was on the board of their scholarly journal and editors and leaders refused to address the issue publicly.
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As I explain in the book, the proposal was not only ludicrously incompetent on its own terms, but no reasonable left perspective can call for expansion of policing in the United States. It’s not a close call.
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It depends on whether you think any reasonable conception of “left” thought can be calling for the greatest expansion of armed, militarized cops/surveillance in modern world history. But yeah.
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Adaner usmani and Christopher Lewis. The story is incredibly important and is a very good case study on the role of liberal institutions play in the rise of authoritarianism. It’s also quite funny at times in the case of these two.
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It’s been interesting to observe the silence of Jacobin leaders about it. When I wrote the chapter on it for the Copaganda book, I couldn’t believe some of the details. I forgot how shameful the whole affair was. It’s worth studying—and we have free copies of the book for all teachers/students.
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This is related to the incredible story I tell in my new Copaganda book: Three years ago, two "progressive" Harvard profs proposed adding 500,000 more cops because US is "underpoliced." They omitted to say they weren't counting private police--like police at Harvard.
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[Alt text] for headline in first post:
‘Shadow’ police force removing homeless from downtown Nashville, state trooper says
Working for a private entity, state troopers are using unmarked cars to arrest homeless people in downtown Nashville.
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I discuss in this new interview how a lot of daily U.S. news coverage of the police is designed to distract from what police actually do: enforce *some* laws against *some* people for the benefit of other people: bsky.app/profile/zete...
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But it's vital to understand this is not some egregious "bad apple" conspiracy particular to Tennessee or Nashville. It's important to understand that local policing looks like this in every large U.S. city, regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are in control.
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It's great to see local news covering issues like this by reporter Jeremy Finley because it helps to expose the vast bulk of what police do: only 4% of their time is spent on "violent" crime, and much of it is done to make people money: www.wsmv.com/2025/05/29/s...
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For prison book programs and teachers, you can write to us at contact [at] civilrightscorps.org, and we can work with you! The book is a very accessible introduction to our authoritarian moment, and great for teaching critical thinking/reading skills.
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Of course, if you can afford to buy the book, I hope you'll still consider doing it. All royalties are donated to an amazing charity that works with unhoused people to combat police surveillance, and you can get a 30% discount with code TNP30 at thenewpress.com/books/copaga...