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I had an instant in a Zeihan lecture where I became convinced of the same thing. He was talking about millennials, and said that the primary millennial piece of

I had an instant in a Zeihan lecture where I became convinced of the same thing. He was talking about millennials, and said that the primary millennial piece of fiction is Harry Potter. As a millennial, I had to nod along, that's a true and insightful thing to say about us. Then he described the titular character as, essentially, a special snowflake that doesn't have to work for anything or figure anything out. Which is just an incredibly bad take. Yes, Harry is a magical character that can do whatever he wants but with a handful of exceptions, so can everyone else in the setting. Harry isn't the protagonist because he can do whatever he wants, he's the protagonist because doing the right thing is scary and he does it anyway. This isn't a take requiring a college level course, that theme is repeated over and over throughout the series, Zeihan's analysis of Harry Potter would only be convincing to someone with the most cursory familiarity with the work. And it's not the kind of bad take one arrives at by skimming the work and not thinking hard enough about it. The likeliest way I see someone coming up with that take is already holding an animosity towards millennials and then coming up with a smart-sounding justification for it. And if that's Zeihan's understanding of Harry Potter, I can only assume his understanding of the CCP's thirty-year plan is comparable.

recuter 4y ago
> Then he described the titular character as, essentially, a special snowflake that doesn't have to work for anything or figure anything out. Harry literally has a scar marking him as the chosen one, abused by muggle caretakers and unjustly persecuted by his teachers only to triumph over unspeakable evil via hereditary magical powers.. > And if that's Zeihan's understanding of Harry Potter, I can only assume his understanding of the CCP's thirty-year plan is comparable. Hell heath no fury like a fandom scorned.
- untech 4y ago
  You can argue that, but this would already be more deep analysis than described in your parent. I heard this take several times, and it’s basically “harry is a wizard, i. e. a superhero capable of anything, therefore, millenials want to gain everything without any effort, as if by magic”. The “chosen one” trope is different. You can argue that Harry-Potter-raised people think of themselves as chosen, but it’s an old trope. You can as well say that all christian world is raised on it :)
  - recuter 4y ago
    To quote William Shatner to a room full of Trekkies: "Its just a TV show, get a life, losers". Good grief. :P He made an off hand simile about your favorite childhood book you don't find accurate and therefore he is Voldemort incarnate and literally wrong about everything. You're really only proving his point.
    - shapefrog 4y ago
      If you say, in all ernestness that my favourite maths equation; 1+1 equals 436 then I can reasonably judge you. That doesnt make me a triggered little maths fan boy, it makes you an idiot.
      - recuter 4y ago
        > If you say, in all ernestness that my favourite maths equation; 1+1 equals 436 then I can reasonably judge you. > That doesnt make me a triggered little maths fan boy, it makes you an idiot. Toucheous Grassous!
    - nirimda 4y ago
      Isn't the point here not that Zeihan has the wrong idea about Harry Potter, but that Zeihan has certain conclusions he wants to draw and will force every bit of evidence until it allows him to draw those conclusions? It's really not about Harry Potter at all: to get caught up on the Harry Potter (mis)analogy just because it has a fanbase is really not getting to the meat of the argument.
- samus 4y ago
  > scar marking him as the chosen one which mostly acts as a target cross > abused by muggle caretakers many children have grown and are growing up in less than ideal condition > unjustly persecuted by his teachers very little so, actually. Most of the penalties were well-earned. > hereditary magical powers which he shares with most people in the setting.
blackshaw 4y ago
Zeihan makes some extremely basic factual errors in his recent book The End of the World is Just the Beginning - the kind that make me distrust everything he says on the topics I lack the knowledge to fact-check. I wrote a longer review of the book here in the unlikely event that anyone gives a shit: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4994497141?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4994497141?book_show_a...

recuter 4y ago

> Then he described the titular character as, essentially, a special snowflake that doesn't have to work for anything or figure anything out. Harry literally has a scar marking him as the chosen one, abused by muggle caretakers and unjustly persecuted by his teachers only to triumph over unspeakable evil via hereditary magical powers.. > And if that's Zeihan's understanding of Harry Potter, I can only assume his understanding of the CCP's thirty-year plan is comparable. Hell heath no fury like a fandom scorned.

untech 4y ago
You can argue that, but this would already be more deep analysis than described in your parent. I heard this take several times, and it’s basically “harry is a wizard, i. e. a superhero capable of anything, therefore, millenials want to gain everything without any effort, as if by magic”. The “chosen one” trope is different. You can argue that Harry-Potter-raised people think of themselves as chosen, but it’s an old trope. You can as well say that all christian world is raised on it :)
- recuter 4y ago
  To quote William Shatner to a room full of Trekkies: "Its just a TV show, get a life, losers". Good grief. :P He made an off hand simile about your favorite childhood book you don't find accurate and therefore he is Voldemort incarnate and literally wrong about everything. You're really only proving his point.
  - shapefrog 4y ago
    If you say, in all ernestness that my favourite maths equation; 1+1 equals 436 then I can reasonably judge you. That doesnt make me a triggered little maths fan boy, it makes you an idiot.
    - recuter 4y ago
      > If you say, in all ernestness that my favourite maths equation; 1+1 equals 436 then I can reasonably judge you. > That doesnt make me a triggered little maths fan boy, it makes you an idiot. Toucheous Grassous!
  - nirimda 4y ago
    Isn't the point here not that Zeihan has the wrong idea about Harry Potter, but that Zeihan has certain conclusions he wants to draw and will force every bit of evidence until it allows him to draw those conclusions? It's really not about Harry Potter at all: to get caught up on the Harry Potter (mis)analogy just because it has a fanbase is really not getting to the meat of the argument.
samus 4y ago
> scar marking him as the chosen one which mostly acts as a target cross > abused by muggle caretakers many children have grown and are growing up in less than ideal condition > unjustly persecuted by his teachers very little so, actually. Most of the penalties were well-earned. > hereditary magical powers which he shares with most people in the setting.

blackshaw 4y ago

Zeihan makes some extremely basic factual errors in his recent book The End of the World is Just the Beginning - the kind that make me distrust everything he says on the topics I lack the knowledge to fact-check. I wrote a longer review of the book here in the unlikely event that anyone gives a shit: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4994497141?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4994497141?book_show_a...