Galen Watts, Author at Areo

5 min

Why Progressives Downplay Progress

“Intellectuals hate progress,” writes Steven Pinker in Enlightenment Now. “Intellectuals who call themselves ‘progressive’ really hate progress.” There are plenty of reasons to think Pinker is right. Many progressives seem…

View Post

View Post

9 min

Politics

What is Neoliberalism, Anyway?

There are few words in today’s political lexicon as simultaneously popular and misunderstood as neoliberalism. The term has become a rallying cry for the left, used to signal one’s political…

View Post

View Post

5 min

Politics

Moralism, Public and Private

We are all moralists at heart. We constantly make judgments about our family, friends and even strangers. We may profess that such judgments are merely matters of taste—but there is…

View Post

View Post

11 min

The Uses and Abuses of the Human Sciences

We are awash in the language of the human sciences. Each new day brings a slew of hyperbolic headlines, each brandishing the results of some recently published study that claims,…

View Post

View Post

6 min

The Meanings of Life and the Limits of Moralizing

What gives meaning to your life? What, if removed, would leave you feeling empty, lost or no longer who you think yourself to be? These are the kinds of questions…

View Post

View Post

7 min

The Personal and the Political: Reconciling Right and Left Perspectives

I’d like to propose two theses which, together, identify the basic failings of the Left and Right in today’s political landscape: the Left proposes political solutions to what are essentially…

View Post

View Post

8 min

On Quillette and the Engaged Left

The online magazine Quillette recently found itself at the center of a heated controversy concerning free speech, academic integrity and journalistic ethics. In response to a tweet castigating the magazine…

View Post

View Post

8 min

Psychology

Post-Truth in an Age of Authenticity

Something really weird is happening in our culture. Two seemingly contradictory trends are taking place side by side, and no one seems to have noticed. We live in an age…

View Post

View Post

11 min

Politics

Talking Politics at the Family Dinner Table

Every four seconds, an idealistic adolescent in North America screams at their parents for not being woke. Although this statistic is entirely made up, I’ve heard enough personal anecdotes to…

View Post

View Post

11 min

Politics

Why Multiculturalism Is Not at Odds with Integration: A Response to Ambrosch

I am rarely disappointed when reading Areo essays, so Gerfried Ambrosch’s recently published “Making Sense of Immigration: Why Multiculturalism Is at Odds with Integration,” left me feeling not only frustrated,…

View Post

View Post

11 min

Politics

What the Left and Right Can Learn From Each Other

It’s no secret that we’re living through a period of widening political polarization. Social media and social fragmentation have secluded us in our own political bubbles, where we rage against…

View Post

Galen Watts

Why Progressives Downplay Progress

What is Neoliberalism, Anyway?

Moralism, Public and Private

The Uses and Abuses of the Human Sciences

The Meanings of Life and the Limits of Moralizing

The Personal and the Political: Reconciling Right and Left Perspectives

On Quillette and the Engaged Left

Post-Truth in an Age of Authenticity

Talking Politics at the Family Dinner Table

Why Multiculturalism Is Not at Odds with Integration: A Response to Ambrosch

What the Left and Right Can Learn From Each Other

New to Areo

Join the Discussion

Read by Category