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patrickiber.bsky.social
Patrick Iber
@patrickiber.bsky.social
7.4K followers 730 following 2.8K posts
Co-editor, Dissent Magazine. I teach history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Write books about Cold War culture and propaganda. Have written for the set of all publications that are not members of themselves
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patrickiber.bsky.social
Step 1) Show that you understand the problem people will face
Step 2) Show them what you and city workers are going to do about it
Step 3) Tell people how they can contribute to solving shared problems
Step 4) Demonstrate a sense of humor and an understanding that living together can be fun
mayor.nyc.gov Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 2d
We're getting a snowstorm tomorrow. But New York City is prepared.
January 25, 2026 at 7:16 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
The courage of the people in the streets of Minneapolis and the cowardice of a political opposition that has no leader willing to join them, in that city and across this country, is awe-inspiring in every possible sense of the term
January 24, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by Patrick Iber
willpjones.bsky.social
My kid takes language classes at a cafe in Minneapolis on Saturday mornings. Last week the instructor moved them online for safety. Today, just at the time we would have arrived, ICE shot someone 1/2 a block away. @mayorjacobfrey.bsky.social @governorwalz.mn.gov Get these thugs out of my city.
January 24, 2026 at 3:55 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
I also got a revise and resubmit recently and one of the reasons given was that I needed to engage more with the work of Patrick Iber; I think people need to chill a bit about judging scholars for self-citation
samthielman.com CHOAM Nomsky @samthielman.com · 4d
I just thought everyone should see this
Dr Kareem Carr man: i wish to publish @kareem_carr Jan 21 reviewer 2: your paper is no good man: i'll do anything to improve reviewer 2: it's simple. you must read the work of the great scientist Pagliarini man: *bursts into tears* but i am Pagliarini Andre Pagliarini @apagliar Jan 21 a first: in rejecting an article I submitted to a journal, reviewer 2 noted I failed to engage the work of one Andre Pagliarini Jan 21, 2026 • 3:47 PM UTC
January 23, 2026 at 3:48 AM
patrickiber.bsky.social
Back in the twitter days I would interact with Rieff a bit, and I could see him falling further and further down this anti-woke rabbit hole. I appreciate this accounting by @davidklion.bsky.social
davidklion.bsky.social David Klion @davidklion.bsky.social · 4d
For @open-society.bsky.social's Ideas Letter, I've written a profile of David Rieff, the son of Susan Sontag and Philip Rieff and a globetrotting humanitarian intellectual who in recent years has taken a striking anti-woke and anti-trans turn.
Woke Obsessions - The Ideas Letter
Klion traces the intellectual and moral trajectory of David Rieff, from a childhood spent in the forbidding shadow of his mother, Susan Sontag, to a successful journalistic career of his…
www.theideasletter.org
January 22, 2026 at 9:26 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
I have mostly Mamdani/AOC politics but as a person who sometimes talks about foreign policy I had to leave DSA over the IC and I can't go back until the organization represents democratic and anti-imperial politics, not just anti-US ones
elifriedman.bsky.social Eli Friedman @elifriedman.bsky.social · 7d
Awful that they're trying to smear Mamdani and the entire DSA with this, but the international committee has been a tankie haven for ages. Just disgraceful that they're taking state-organized junkets to the Uyghur region
www.newsweek.com
January 20, 2026 at 11:06 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
One thing that has been bothering me about the Tooze / DB quotes about the Red Army &etc. is that they seem to think that the alternative to "meliorist liberalism" is Stalinism. If it is, people are going to choose "meliorist liberalism" every time; if it isn't, then we should give them that choice
January 20, 2026 at 8:21 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
How to Not Hide an Empire
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d
Trump posts an image depicting Canada and Greenland as part of the United States
January 20, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Patrick Iber
patrickiber.bsky.social
A passage from the 1943 OSS psychological assessment of Hitler, for your holiday mo(u)rning www.cia.gov/readingroom/...
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND RECONSTRUCTION The world has come to know Adolph Hitler for his insatiable greed for power, his ruthlessness, cruelty and utter lack of feeling, his contempt for established institutions and his lack of moral restraints. In the course of relatively few years he has contrived to usurp such tre- mendous power that a few veiled threats, accusations or insinuations were sufficient to make the world tremble. In open defiance of treaties he occupied huge territories and conquered millions of people without even firing a shot. When the world became tired of being frightened and concluded that it was all a bluff, he initiated the most brutal and deva- stating war in history - a war which, for a time, threatened the com- plete destruction of our civilization. Human life and human suffering seem to leave this individual completely untouched as he plunges along the course he believes he was predestined to take. Earlier in his career the world had watched him with amuse- ment. Many people refused to take him seriously on the grounds that "he could not possibly last." As one action after another met with amaz- ing success and the measure of the man became more obvious, this amusement was transformed into incredulousness. To most people, it seemed inconceivable that such things could actually happen in our mod- ern civilization. Hitler, the leader of these activities, became generally regarded as a madman, if not inhuman. Such a judgment, concerning the nature of our enemy, may be satisfactory to the man in the street. It gives him a feeling of satisfaction to pigeon-hole an incomprehensible individual in one category or another and having classified him in this way, he feels that the problem is solved. All we need to do is to eliminate the madman from the scene of activities, replace him with a sane indivi- dual, and the world will again return to a normal and peaceful state of affairs. This naive view, however, is wholly inadequate for those who are delegated to conduct the war against Germany or for those who will be delegated to deal with the situation when the war is over. They can- not content themselves with simply regarding Hitler as a personal devil and condemning him to an Eternal Hell in order that the remainder of the world may live in peace and quiet. They will realize that the madness of the Fuehrer has become the madness of a nation, if not of a large part of the continent. They will realize that these are not wholly the actions of a single individual but that a reciprocal relationship exists between the Fuehrer and the people and that the madness of the one stimulates and flows into the other and vice versa. It was not only Hitler, the madman, who created German madness, but German madness which created Hitler. Having created him as its spokesman and leader, it has been carried along by his momentum, perhaps far beyond the point where it was originally prepared to go. Nevertheless, it continues to follow his lead in spite of the fact that it must be obvious to all intelligent people now that his path leads to inevitable destruction. From a scientific point of view, therefore, we are forced to con- sider Hitler, the Fuehrer, not as a personal devil, wicked as his actions and philosophy may be, but as the expression of a state of mind existing in millions of people, not only in Germany but, to a smaller degree, in all civilized countries. To remove Hitler may be a necessary first step, but it would not be the cure. It would be analogous to removing a chancre without treating the underlying disease. If similar eruptions are to be prevented in the future, we cannot content ourselves with simply remov- ing the overt manifestations of the disease. On the contrary, we must ferret out and seek to correct the underlying factors which produced the unwelcome phenomenon. We must discover the psychological streams which nourish this destructive state of mind in order that we may divert them into channels which will permit a further evolution of our form of civilization.
January 19, 2026 at 3:06 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
There's a very common argument that what seemed like an easy success in overthrowing the government of Guatemala in 1954 led the CIA/Eisenhower/JFK to think that the Bay of Pigs would be easy too, and we seem to be speedrunning that error
January 19, 2026 at 6:57 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
A passage from the 1943 OSS psychological assessment of Hitler, for your holiday mo(u)rning www.cia.gov/readingroom/...
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND RECONSTRUCTION The world has come to know Adolph Hitler for his insatiable greed for power, his ruthlessness, cruelty and utter lack of feeling, his contempt for established institutions and his lack of moral restraints. In the course of relatively few years he has contrived to usurp such tre- mendous power that a few veiled threats, accusations or insinuations were sufficient to make the world tremble. In open defiance of treaties he occupied huge territories and conquered millions of people without even firing a shot. When the world became tired of being frightened and concluded that it was all a bluff, he initiated the most brutal and deva- stating war in history - a war which, for a time, threatened the com- plete destruction of our civilization. Human life and human suffering seem to leave this individual completely untouched as he plunges along the course he believes he was predestined to take. Earlier in his career the world had watched him with amuse- ment. Many people refused to take him seriously on the grounds that "he could not possibly last." As one action after another met with amaz- ing success and the measure of the man became more obvious, this amusement was transformed into incredulousness. To most people, it seemed inconceivable that such things could actually happen in our mod- ern civilization. Hitler, the leader of these activities, became generally regarded as a madman, if not inhuman. Such a judgment, concerning the nature of our enemy, may be satisfactory to the man in the street. It gives him a feeling of satisfaction to pigeon-hole an incomprehensible individual in one category or another and having classified him in this way, he feels that the problem is solved. All we need to do is to eliminate the madman from the scene of activities, replace him with a sane indivi- dual, and the world will again return to a normal and peaceful state of affairs. This naive view, however, is wholly inadequate for those who are delegated to conduct the war against Germany or for those who will be delegated to deal with the situation when the war is over. They can- not content themselves with simply regarding Hitler as a personal devil and condemning him to an Eternal Hell in order that the remainder of the world may live in peace and quiet. They will realize that the madness of the Fuehrer has become the madness of a nation, if not of a large part of the continent. They will realize that these are not wholly the actions of a single individual but that a reciprocal relationship exists between the Fuehrer and the people and that the madness of the one stimulates and flows into the other and vice versa. It was not only Hitler, the madman, who created German madness, but German madness which created Hitler. Having created him as its spokesman and leader, it has been carried along by his momentum, perhaps far beyond the point where it was originally prepared to go. Nevertheless, it continues to follow his lead in spite of the fact that it must be obvious to all intelligent people now that his path leads to inevitable destruction. From a scientific point of view, therefore, we are forced to con- sider Hitler, the Fuehrer, not as a personal devil, wicked as his actions and philosophy may be, but as the expression of a state of mind existing in millions of people, not only in Germany but, to a smaller degree, in all civilized countries. To remove Hitler may be a necessary first step, but it would not be the cure. It would be analogous to removing a chancre without treating the underlying disease. If similar eruptions are to be prevented in the future, we cannot content ourselves with simply remov- ing the overt manifestations of the disease. On the contrary, we must ferret out and seek to correct the underlying factors which produced the unwelcome phenomenon. We must discover the psychological streams which nourish this destructive state of mind in order that we may divert them into channels which will permit a further evolution of our form of civilization.
January 19, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Patrick Iber
sababausa.bsky.social
The domino meme, with the tiny domino labeled “Alfred Nobel endows a Peace Prize to rehabilitate his reputation for having invented and marketed dynamite, which is perceived as an instrument of violence and disorder” and the big dynamite labeled “mad president demands Peace Prize by conquest”
January 19, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Patrick Iber
jensfoell.de
A joke for the history buffs:

Germany’s satirical newspaper @der-postillon.com titles: “Vienna Academy of the Arts offers Trump admission as a student — They don’t want to get blamed again“
A much-liked post by Germany’s satirical newspaper @der-postillon.com with the titles “Vienna Academy of the Arts offers Trump admission as a student” and the caption “They don’t want to get blamed again“
January 18, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Patrick Iber
resnikoff.bsky.social
The case against Graeberism and for Mamdanism dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
Instead of retreating into facile cynicism about the safety net and regulatory state, people on the left should be trying to occupy the bureaucracy at the state, local, and, after the MAGA putschists are finally expelled from power, federal level—not simply because we need good people in those jobs, but because enough good people in any given department can change its internal culture for the better. A lot depends, for example, on whether state and local transportation departments are staffed by car-brained traffic engineers or planners who are genuinely invested in walkability and developing viable mass transit networks. Just as much hinges on whether state health agencies are staffed by people with a genuine commitment to the cause of universal healthcare, even in the face of brutal federal Medicaid cuts. There’s another reason for occupying the bureaucracy, too. For a movement that wants to transform the state, there is tremendous value in understanding how policy implementation and institutional change happens on a granular level. If you spend some time working inside the bureaucracy and you keep your eyes open, you can learn a lot about the points of leverage that leftist politicians and outside advocacy groups can press to their advantage. On the flipside, you can also learn a great deal about the tradeoffs associated with certain approaches and how well-intentioned but undercooked policy initiatives can produce unintended consequences. These are all important lessons for anyone trying to push any level of government in a more humane direction. But they’re especially important lessons for leftist officials who have ambitious agendas, a finite amount of time in which to implement them, and little room for error.
January 12, 2026 at 6:04 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
New issue out today, special section on municipal socialism’s challenges and promises
January 12, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Patrick Iber
dissentmag.bsky.social
Zohran Mamdani’s successes and failures will shape how people around the country think about the viability of a socialist program, and whether socialists are capable of enacting it.

Read @patrickiber.bsky.social's introduction to our new issue: dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
The Dignity of All People - Dissent Magazine
Mamdani’s failures and successes will shape how people around the country think about the viability of a socialist program, and whether the people who identify as socialists are capable of enacting it...
dissentmagazine.org
January 12, 2026 at 5:17 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
Hmm
nilsgilman.bsky.social Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 18d
The U.S. withdrawal from a whole host of international organizations, and in particular climate-related ones like the IPCC OR THE UNFCCC), removes the most powerful obstructionist force within them, which may enable them to finally hit the necessary stride.
open.substack.com/pub/nilsgilm...
January 9, 2026 at 1:17 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
Educational polarization in everything
sharonk.bsky.social Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 18d
getting most of the pre-2020 joint chiefs and officer corp in the national divorce is an odd, but good thing
dmnd.me Jeremy Diamond ☕️ @dmnd.me · 18d
They have lost McChrystal
January 9, 2026 at 1:50 AM
patrickiber.bsky.social
Here's Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Map in case you want to visually know how big things actually are (to a reasonable approximation)
R. Buckminster's Fuller's Dymaxion Map is a world map that compresses a sphere onto an icosahedron and then unfolds it. The Arctic is in the center and basically have a semi-contiguous map with Australia at left to Antarctica at the right. Greenland, being close to a pole, is, notably, much smaller than in the Mercator Projection
January 9, 2026 at 1:04 AM
Reposted by Patrick Iber
birchlse.bsky.social
Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
An email from Martin Peterson to university administrators.
January 8, 2026 at 5:38 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
As history shows, maintaining domestic and international hegemony by being evil famously works out forever for those who employ it as a strategy
January 8, 2026 at 1:21 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
Garland's Civil War got mixed reviews when it came out and I get it but it has been really _sticky_ in the culture and in my own mind; there are some scenes that have not left me and seemingly will not
January 8, 2026 at 12:17 PM
patrickiber.bsky.social
Had the stray thought that if Trump’s first term channeled the energy of the Tea Party in government then the second is more like the J6 mob in power
January 8, 2026 at 9:40 AM
patrickiber.bsky.social
Guys I finally found Heems
A photo of a combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell on an urban street. They are on the ground floor of a taller building. Trees shade the sidewalk
January 7, 2026 at 12:19 AM
patrickiber.bsky.social
I'm in Chile and I just got served a YouTube ad in Spanish, from Homeland Security, telling me that the US border is a death zone and even if I make it I will be sent back home
January 6, 2026 at 10:32 PM