Michael Macher
@michael-macher.bsky.social
Sub specie aeternitatis
Pinned
Wages of Citizenship | Michael Macher
US immigration enforcement and the cannibalization of labor law
www.phenomenalworld.org
I wrote about the politics of immigration (non)enforcement for @phenomenalworld.bsky.social. www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/wag...
The "born this way" framework truly is the definition of a "low ceiling high floor" approach to human freedom.
December 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM
The "born this way" framework truly is the definition of a "low ceiling high floor" approach to human freedom.
"There is no rational end, no norm however correct, no program however exemplary, no social ideal however beautiful, and no legitimacy or legality that could justify Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse." - Carl Schmitt
Mark Zuckerberg’s gamble on the "Metaverse" has lost his company more than $77 billion.
December 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
"There is no rational end, no norm however correct, no program however exemplary, no social ideal however beautiful, and no legitimacy or legality that could justify Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse." - Carl Schmitt
Perhaps social theory can explain what moral theory cannot justify.
November 30, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Perhaps social theory can explain what moral theory cannot justify.
"Pro-worker AI" sounds like a marketing concept young Pete Buttigieg would have typed into a ppt. slide at McKinsey.
Liberalism can win back the working class. Here’s how on.ft.com/4p790CK
Liberalism can win back the working class. Here’s how
Nobel-winning economist Daron Acemoglu on Zohran Mamdani’s rise, the problem with cultural politics — and the case for pro-worker AI
on.ft.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:49 PM
"Pro-worker AI" sounds like a marketing concept young Pete Buttigieg would have typed into a ppt. slide at McKinsey.
Reposted by Michael Macher
I'm deeply skeptical of mainstream disinformation discourse, and it's pretty clear that most of the foreign X accounts are just engagment farming. But to the extent they're politically important, it's to X's gathered elites, not the masses nymag.com/intelligence...
November 26, 2025 at 4:42 PM
I'm deeply skeptical of mainstream disinformation discourse, and it's pretty clear that most of the foreign X accounts are just engagment farming. But to the extent they're politically important, it's to X's gathered elites, not the masses nymag.com/intelligence...
Reposted by Michael Macher
I wrote a short piece on capitalism and the states-system for @phenomenalworld.bsky.social
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/bet...
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/bet...
November 24, 2025 at 2:11 PM
I wrote a short piece on capitalism and the states-system for @phenomenalworld.bsky.social
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/bet...
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/bet...
To paraphrase what an ICE field director said at a Texas hiring event earlier this year: what makes ICE different from other law enforcement officers is that we catch criminals "before" a crime is committed.
NEW: ICE has finally released post-shutdown detention data. The latest data reveals that a full 40%(!) of people arrested in the interior and held in ICE detention have no criminal record; no criminal charges or prior convictions. That is up from just 4% when Trump took office.
November 24, 2025 at 3:57 PM
To paraphrase what an ICE field director said at a Texas hiring event earlier this year: what makes ICE different from other law enforcement officers is that we catch criminals "before" a crime is committed.
Better name for a woodworking zine: Compulsory Mahogany or Ethical Non-Mahogany?
November 22, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Better name for a woodworking zine: Compulsory Mahogany or Ethical Non-Mahogany?
Maybe Mamdani promised not to publicly push on the Epstein stuff in return for win-win affordability messaging and federal funds.
Or Maybe Mamdani is simply the most charming man on the planet.
Or Maybe Mamdani is simply the most charming man on the planet.
That press conference is the wildest footage I’ve ever seen. Trump gleefully agreed that he’s a “fascist” and “despot,” and that the US has used taxes to support “Israeli genocide.”
And he smiled at and defended Mamdani with an affection I’ve literally never seen him direct at anyone before.
Wut.
And he smiled at and defended Mamdani with an affection I’ve literally never seen him direct at anyone before.
Wut.
November 22, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Maybe Mamdani promised not to publicly push on the Epstein stuff in return for win-win affordability messaging and federal funds.
Or Maybe Mamdani is simply the most charming man on the planet.
Or Maybe Mamdani is simply the most charming man on the planet.
Chilling.
“A joint situational information report” from the FBI and the New York police department (NYPD)...characterized the court watchers as 'anarchist violent extremist actors'."
“A joint situational information report” from the FBI and the New York police department (NYPD)...characterized the court watchers as 'anarchist violent extremist actors'."
The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of immigration activists, records reveal
Exclusive: Agency accessed private conversations of New York ‘courtwatch’ group that was observing public hearings
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Chilling.
“A joint situational information report” from the FBI and the New York police department (NYPD)...characterized the court watchers as 'anarchist violent extremist actors'."
“A joint situational information report” from the FBI and the New York police department (NYPD)...characterized the court watchers as 'anarchist violent extremist actors'."
The kernel of truth at the heart of every conspiracy theory is an actual conspiracy.
November 20, 2025 at 4:47 PM
The kernel of truth at the heart of every conspiracy theory is an actual conspiracy.
Reposted by Michael Macher
Ah yes, the family; famously an institution free of violence and exploitation.
November 12, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Ah yes, the family; famously an institution free of violence and exploitation.
sometimes i think Adore is billy corgan's true masterpiece. DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT.
November 12, 2025 at 5:01 PM
sometimes i think Adore is billy corgan's true masterpiece. DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT.
An extremely clarifying conversation about the personal brands, professional grievances, and strange bedfellows fueling the anti-zionist right.
Confronting the Anti-Zionist Right
Jewish Currents discusses Nick Fuentes on Tucker Carlson, Norman Finkelstein on Candace Owens, and the newfound influence of the anti-Israel right.
jewishcurrents.org
November 10, 2025 at 3:24 PM
An extremely clarifying conversation about the personal brands, professional grievances, and strange bedfellows fueling the anti-zionist right.
The conscience of an aristopopulist.
this is shocking and low even for him, a former childhood SNAP recipient thehill.com/homenews/adm...
November 7, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The conscience of an aristopopulist.
This made me irreversibly dumber.
Opinion | Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace?
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:09 PM
This made me irreversibly dumber.
Reposted by Michael Macher
mayor-elect mamdani immediately put former ftc chair and SUPERSTAR lina khan on his transition team :)
November 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM
mayor-elect mamdani immediately put former ftc chair and SUPERSTAR lina khan on his transition team :)
Reposted by Michael Macher
The willingness to use every weapon to block an agreement to reduce emissions, is another point for the theory that part of the economic base of Trumpism is a group of capital-owners who’ve decided that a rational response to climate change would involve an unacceptable loss of prerogatives.
November 3, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The willingness to use every weapon to block an agreement to reduce emissions, is another point for the theory that part of the economic base of Trumpism is a group of capital-owners who’ve decided that a rational response to climate change would involve an unacceptable loss of prerogatives.
Reposted by Michael Macher
Companies hired by ICE would be given bundles of information on 10,000 immigrants at a time to locate.
ICE Plans Cash Rewards for Private Bounty Hunters to Locate and Track Immigrants
Companies hired by ICE would be given bundles of information on 10,000 immigrants at a time to locate — and paid cash bonuses for performance.
interc.pt
November 1, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Companies hired by ICE would be given bundles of information on 10,000 immigrants at a time to locate.
Reposted by Michael Macher
I support proposals 2-4 on the NYC ballot, which would make it moderately easier adjust zoning for higher-density housing development. I have to say, seeing how controversial this is among people I know is giving me some new sympathy for the angry YIMBYs online.
October 30, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I support proposals 2-4 on the NYC ballot, which would make it moderately easier adjust zoning for higher-density housing development. I have to say, seeing how controversial this is among people I know is giving me some new sympathy for the angry YIMBYs online.
i've seen enough. curtis sliwa is nyc's next mayor.
October 30, 2025 at 3:03 PM
i've seen enough. curtis sliwa is nyc's next mayor.
"On ‘1000 Deaths’ he mumbles a hard-to-hear line and then says: ‘Y’all know what I’m saying?’ Yes. Maybe? But enunciation only does part of the work of communicating. Transmitting feeling is a different job."
Niela Orr | Come closer
D’Angelo, that Pentecostal preacher’s son, the man Robert Christgau called ‘R&B Jesus’, has died, and, with him...
www.lrb.co.uk
October 29, 2025 at 12:32 AM
"On ‘1000 Deaths’ he mumbles a hard-to-hear line and then says: ‘Y’all know what I’m saying?’ Yes. Maybe? But enunciation only does part of the work of communicating. Transmitting feeling is a different job."
Reposted by Michael Macher
🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
October 28, 2025 at 12:27 AM
🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
"...unlike his Austrian predecessor, who had a tragic understanding of economic history...Aghion has no theory of capitalism. Despite the sophistication of his models, his empirical data has led him to an intellectual impasse."
Cédric Durand, Neo-Schumpeterian — Sidecar
On Philippe Aghion.
newleftreview.org
October 20, 2025 at 2:21 PM
"...unlike his Austrian predecessor, who had a tragic understanding of economic history...Aghion has no theory of capitalism. Despite the sophistication of his models, his empirical data has led him to an intellectual impasse."