Adam Pontius

I have a new article out in @RStatecraft: "We do not need a war... against autocracy to decry what is happening in Ukraine. Far better to reform ourselves, adopt restraint in our rhetoric, and leave the task of setting the world on fire to others." responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/05/20/the…

Watch this episode of the Vienna Dialogues: Coffee and IR, hosted by @ceu_ir, with our researcher @erinjenne, @AdamMPontius, and CEU Rector Emeritus @M_Ignatieff! 📹👇 youtube.com/watch?v=F0xt4v…

@zenahitz Essential to what?

I remember Harry Frankfurt saying that the really essential thing was to learn the thought of one great philosopher extremely well. I see what he meant. Breadth in philosophy is valuable but not like in literature.

@JoshYohe_PGH Really curious about your take on Kulak. Anything worth having there or just salary that had to be taken to get Jarry off the books?

It's long been known that Edmonton was interested in Jarry. I'm surprised a deal came to fruition this quickly. Given Jarry's postseason history and tendency to fade in the second half, I'm surprised Edmonton isolated on him to be their guy. But we shall see. He does have talent.

Tonight I'm remembering Melissa Hortman. She devoted her life to bettering politics by serving her community through civic life. That she was killed for her service makes us uglier as a people and dims whatever light is left in our city on the hill. thecrimson.com/article/2025/6…

@JulianWaller Saved as tags in an app that has AI-generated 5-minute summaries of those books, of course!

Where are the 3+ bookshelves dedicated to Roman, late medieval, & 19th c history, biographies of generals, conquerors, & dictators, selections from the Classical authors, and works on, about, or otherwise specifying various unnerving isms.

@rpshephard Make the world outer Queens again?

Of course Trump wants the Washington football team to change its name back. Anything to go back to the Good Old Days when people could use racial slurs without thinking twice

Rank choice voting is good because it defeats lesser of two evilism. Remember that the Dem establishment opposes it bc they want to be able to coerce you into voting for the federal version of Cuomo every four years.

@CoraCHarrington Whatever the rest of the path is, the beginning of it must be stewarding a commitment to recognizing and caring about the difference. Being able to elucidate that persuasively is at the root of any branch out of a media eco-system of AI-generated slop.

How do we come back from the absolute tidal wave of AI trash that’s taken over the internet?

@rubin_lyle The circular firing squad that the electoral reform movement from the 2010s evolved into is a pretty good example of that. Folks got so pulled into the small details of RCV vs. PR vs approval vs. open primaries (ect) the entire idea of an electoral reform community disintegrated.

@rubin_lyle Yeah, this is an important approach for organizers. It only works for us though to the extent that folks in the communities we organize are willing to be cooperative with each other. Movements that depend on just a few people for all of the cooperative behavior tend to stall.

Campaigns win on stories not policy positions.

Dump @realDonaldTrump. Dump @RonMariano. #NoKingsDay #mapoli #Worcester

Here we go again… ⁦@MikeBloomberg⁩ tries to buy his FOURTH NYC mayoral election, on behalf of billionaire-ally @andrewcuomo. Don’t let him. It’s your city, not his. ⁦@AdrienneEAdams⁩ ⁦@bradlander⁩ ⁦@ZohranKMamdani⁩ politico.com/news/2025/06/1…

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a feature not a bug.

@tomricks1 Out of curiosity, did you base the gov in the novel on any Maine governor in particular?

In an unexpected twist, my new political thriller, out this month, has the governor of a state gets in a political smackdown with a reactionary, vindictive president--who federalizes that state's National Guard and orders them to attack protesters. I wrote this last year.

@nateliason Most therapists I know wouldn't disagree. They tend to be more interested in why the men they see aren't doing those things already, or why they are unable to connect with other people. If those things aren't a problem then there really isn't all that much to talk about.

I do think the overprescription of therapy has been detrimental to men. There are certain cases where you absolutely need it, but most guys just need a project to fully throw themselves into, to exercise, to get out of their head, not deeper in it.

My ode to the late Alasdair MacIntyre just posted on @The_Tablet. I explain how his philosophy remained age-defying & urgent, showing a possible path out of the "moral wilderness." But his insight came from a constant, often painful ability to change 🧵 thetablet.co.uk/features/virtu…

@HorcherF OK, let's see if I can reframe. Do you see a use for an "intellectual spectrum" that isn't essentializing left/right? How do you conceptualize the "ideological limits" that you see the influence of Schmitt and Gramsci as stretching beyond?

@AdamMPontius I find it hard even to follow you in this respect, sorry. "Essentializing", "sensitizing aid", "ideational limit".

Whart explains the leftist interest in Carl Schmitt, and the rightist interest in Antonio Gramsci?

@HorcherF I point out the essentializing aspect because, while I understand that you're using left/right as a sensitizing aid, I fear positing the intellectual spectrum to begin with is what gives us the idea that ideologies result in some sort of ideational limit.

@AdamMPontius By the way, left/right is not used as essentials here, but as descriptive terms, which help position them in the intellectual spectrum.