Announcing Reluctant Conservative!
As some of you might know, I have recently joined a course in Public Policy and this felt like a good time to restructure my thoughts and writings around the field. My writings here have often had a strong undercurrent of economics and public policy and the same will continue along with other topics.
But at the same time I have considered writing a limited series that takes up a focused theme and takes a deeper dive that what I usually do here. Moreover, I wanted to make a fresh start and write something more frequently than I do here.
To this end, I’m delighted to announce the launch of my new newsletter — The Reluctant Conservative 🎉🎉🎉
The series will feature articles on concepts like First Principles, Federalism and Externalities, but with the usual style of rooting these concepts in reality. The articles will include discussions on overcoming polarized narratives, how lack of a State Income Tax in India means we can never have federalism as we imagine, how the capitalism in USA might have benefitted from socialistic policies of India at the cost of Indian poor, and more.
I have highlighted the journey and the events that led to it in greater detail in an introductory post, a snippet from which is available below.
Please consider subscribing, if you’re interested. I look forward to your support and feedback as I embark on this new journey.
“Reluctant Conservative, just like Bored Engineer is more than a brand name for my blog. I have been noticing a shift in my views for some time now. Ideas and concepts that were settled are up for discussion, not just in my mind but in the society as well. New perspectives are coming aided by revisionist lenses.
Reluctant Conservative is my contribution towards this churn. The idea is not just to question everything, but to reconcile two worldviews, perhaps more, that have a kernel of truth but have been moving apart.
I have never been a part of left or right wing because I am unable to follow the membership rules of either without raising my doubts. I am for market based solutions, which should make me a conservative in a conventional sense. But then I am socially progressive on most issues of consequence.
The confusion was resolved as I was looking something up and stumbled across the Wikipedia page of Reluctant Fundamentalist. I had seen the movie a couple of years ago, but read the plot to refresh my memory and that’s what led me here. In that a Pakistani professor, “a lover of America” is mistaken for a fundamentalist by Americans because he speaks out against what he sees is wrong in her actions.
That’s my aim with Reluctant Conservative.”