Author: Justin DaMetz

Father of Julian and Evelyn, Husband of Tabitha, Christian theologian, writer, 5th grade teacher, book addict, displaced Middle-Earth resident

Writing and Notetaking

One of the major impediments to my writing consistently (besides time, and energy, and inspiration, and…) is my note-taking and organization. I don’t really have a system for how I keep track of ideas and things I want to revisit and the like. I read articles on Substack and through an old school RSS feed, and in the New York Times and my Apple News app, and just randomly on the internet; but if one of those things piques my interest, I don’t have one spot where I can put them all, and attach notes (I’m often struck by a point while reading, but it doesn’t stick or come back if I don’t jot it down or attach it) or review them. And so I get a lot of ideas, but there is no way for me to systematically capture those ideas and revisit them later and then get them formed into something that allows me to write, either in short here, or at length on my Substack.

I am, however, trying to remedy this, and to establish a durable, user friendly system. Alan Jacobs has written multiple times about his system, and most importantly for me, he advises that you make a system, and you stick to that system for a substantial amount of time, in order to develop habits and really determine if something does or does not work for you. That’s what I’m doing. Here are the broad outlines of my plan, which will hopefully make this space and my Substack more fruitful:

  • using Google Keep to save articles and capture immediate notes
  • Once a week (likely Mondays) going back through those saved notes, organizing them, and begin to prepare them for writing
  • On that same day, going through my handwritten notes and books I’m reading for other notes and ideas
  • Publishing blog posts semi-regularly during the week
  • Publishing two Substack newsletters per week: one digest of blog posts and current reading, one longer essay (this may be more semi-regular than weekly)
  • Once a month, reevaluating and purging remaining notes that haven’t been published

I have no idea if this system will work. The biggest thing is going to be the weekly work of curating and collating. I’m hopeful that this will help better capture the ideas that come and go rather quickly, and give me some guardrails that allow me to shepherd ideas towards the page more consistently.

Actually solving the “crisis at the border” isn’t a priority for Republicans

Like most young people, I studied political science and went into political work early in my adult life because I was (and still am, really) intensely idealistic. Notions of justice and fairness and kindness drove me, and I wanted to do work that would make the world a fairer and better place, especially for people who had taken it on the chin time and time again.

And, like many idealistic young people, politics quickly jaded me, and after just a few years of watching games being played and unserious people putting on a public face that was wildly different from their private one, I got out, and went into academics (which is probably just as cynical and corrupt, but at least I don’t have to make compromises with those people to write what I want to write.) Since then, politics has faded far from the center of my attention, which feels like a big deal in my head, because it was so central to who I am for a long time. I still struggle with lingering feelings of guilt over my choice to pay minimal attention to what is going on politically, and also my choice to not identify publicly as a Democrat anymore, despite my own left politics. Every time I dip my toe back in, I very quickly get disgusted with the game playing and the crass cynicism of so many in politics. By games, I mean the strict left-right dichotomy, the inability to see anyting outside of the lens of whether this hurts my political opponent (which is far and away the lead consideration, more so than “will this do good for my side?”) It grosses me out and makes me unreasonably angry all at once, and as someone who tries to mitigate my anger as much as possible, it is best for me to just stay away from politics.

I should mention, as well, that my personal theology, as I’ve written here before, pushes me away from partisan politics, and deepens my commitment to a more just and more loving world, which, (paradoxically, the more politically inclined would say) makes me less interested in politics and more interested in localism and the potential of the small and mundane to effect real change on the world.

But, sometimes things break back through, and the fight over immigration this week is one of things. And, boy did it trigger that previously mentioned disgust. I’ve debated over writing this, because when I discuss politics, I want to avoid coming from a very partisan place; I like to spread the blame around (rightly, I believe.) But, as mentioned before, I am a person of the left, and in this case, its really hard to see how Democrats have done much wrong on trying to get an immigration deal passed. This paragraph kind of says it all:

Many Republicans, including Trump and members of Congress, have decided to oppose the plan for political reasons. They think they are likely to do better in this year’s elections if the immigration problem festers and they can blame Biden. “Let me tell you,” Troy Nehls, a House Republican from Texas, told CNN last month, “I’m not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Biden’s approval rating.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/briefing/republican-border-bill-ukraine.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=highlightShare

These are the games that I think a lot of people are sick of, and why Congress’ approval rating is in the dumps, and the people on the outside just can’t break out of it long enough to see that. Here is the opportunity to do something about an issue that voters view as a priority; it is heavily weighted towards what the GOP has stated time and again that they want in an immigration deal, because Democrats have finally figured out that to get the Ukraine funding they want, they have to make a deal that includes concessions. And, when presented with a bill that gives them everything that want, Republicans instead decide to move the goalpost, because they want to hurt Joe Biden more than they want to get anything done. It’s just gross, and another strike against our political leadership.

“A year ago they said, ‘We need a change in the law,’” said Mr. Lankford, frustrated by his Republican colleagues who had been up in arms about the border situation only to suddenly reject the new legislation. “Now the conversation is, ‘Just kidding, we don’t need a change in the law. We just need the president to use the laws they already have.’ That wasn’t where we were before.”

The episode left Democrats amazed.

“Just gobsmacked,” Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, wrote on social media. “I’ve never seen anything like it. They literally demanded specific policy, got it, and then killed it.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/us/politics/border-republicans-ukraine-bill.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Remember: these are the same hacks who want to convince you that the situation at the border is so dangerous that we’re mere moments away from a national crisis. Here is Speaker Mike Johnson one month ago during a publicity tour to the border:

“We have no idea how many terrorists have come into the country and set up terrorism cells across the nation. Last month alone, we saw the most illegal crossings in recorded history. It is an unmitigated disaster, a catastrophe.“

And here Democrats have given him the golden opportunity to address that looming existential threat. No thanks, we’d rather not address this, said Republicans.

Here’s the question I have about the Congressional GOP: do they have no sense of history? Have none of them watched immigration deal after immigration deal die over the last 25 years? They are not going to get another chance at this. They think they will control both Houses of Congress and the White House next year and get something done then. But how has that worked out for them in the past? Look at the 115th Congress, during Trump’s first two years in office. Even under full GOP control they couldn’t do anything. What makes them think this time will be different? Take the good deal you have now. You probably won’t get a chance again.

But, then again, this isn’t about solving the problem at the border. Its about power, and scoring points against the other team, and not doing anything that could be seen as crossing Donald Trump. Democrats have chosen to not play anymore games on this. They want Ukraine aid and Gaza aid, and they are willing to make huge concessions on the border to make that happen, taking this issue off the table in the process. Republicans want to score political points in an election year. What a joke.

One last note. Kevin Drum asks a good question: how should liberals feel about the border bill? I basically agree with his answer:

So speaking for myself, the border provisions of the Senate bill mostly seem positive. They would tighten up border security moderately; speed up asylum hearings; provide counsel at immigration courts; and do nothing to make our treatment of immigrants more inhumane. No mass deportations. No ICE raids. No razor wire.

So yeah, I’d vote for it.

a return to just….blogging

Alan Jacobs wrote an excellent blog post a couple of weeks ago, titled “bring back the blog“, which I recommend you read. Blogging is an art form that has largely gone away, replaced mostly by social media and podcasting and Youtube, but also in some ways by the newsletter boom of the last couple of years, best represented by Substack. The old school blog (like the one you are reading right now) is kind of a relic. Which is sad in a way, but that’s just how the internet works.

I’ve tried for a couple of years to branch out to Substack and the newsletter model, because I really do admire that platform and the people publishing over there. But, I have found, it is just not the right platform for me. Like Alan Jacobs, I came of age during the time of the blog (albeit right at the end of that epoch) and I always think in terms of blogging. To that end, I’m going to end the Substack and just focus my work here. I’m also going to take the reminder from Alan to heart and try to use this blog as a wider catch for things I’m thinking about, more akin to social media than it has been. But we’ll see how that goes. Above all, I’m just going to stop chasing clicks and fighting against my inclinations; blogging is what I know how to do, and that’s perfectly acceptable and good.

So, you’ll see soon here a series of posts of things I originally published over on Substack, including the Politics of Charity series that I wrote last year, and that I’m mostly pretty proud of. Thank you, as always, for your continued reading, those few of you who do.