The key question for men is not about their own authorship; I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’ We enter human society, that is, with one or more imputed characters—roles into which we have been drafted—and we have to learn what they are in order to be able to understand how others respond to us and how our responses to them are apt to be construed.
- Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue
I cannot expect anyone else to tell my story—at least, not without my assistance, not if I want them to tell it faithfully. I must be an active participant in telling my story if there is to be an orthodox telling.
My story informs my world, same as anyone’s story informs theirs. “The perspective from nowhere” is a myth; the perspective from here is very real. It has been proposed that for universalism to survive in the modern world, it must become the sum of all specific positions.1 The view from everywhere, instead of the view from nowhere. To this universalist project, I offer my perspective.
I’ve been working on the 121212 project since early November last year. 12 essays, released over the next 12 months, mainly drawing on the 12 years of my life beginning when I turned 12. (A small exception to that: The first essay, which will release tomorrow, will spend a good amount of time discussing things from earlier in my life.) Some of the essays are less overt in how they connect to my story, such as the one on gender (I know, weird that that is the one that’s less obviously personal), but I will say now that every single thing I write in these essays are based explicitly in my experiences.
This is a big break from what I used to publish through Substack, which is why I’ve chosen to rebrand from Transliberalism to Holographic Liberalism. “Holographic” is a reference to the holographic universe theory: that our three-dimensional universe is, at the bottom, only two-dimensional. (I simplify greatly, but I doubt you’d be interested in a full explanation of AdS/CFT correspondence, and this gets the point across well enough.) Similarly, I have found that, at bottom, virtually all of my moral and political intuitions emerge from two principles. First, I am not special. Any part of me can be found in someone else. If something hurts me, it will hurt another; if something brings me joy, it will bring joy to another. Second, I want to live. This might seem too basic to be useful, but it’s a very intentional orientation I’ve had to develop in order to live with my depression for over a decade. My worldview is thoroughly pro-life. Living is good. It is good to live. It is impossible to overstate how foundational this is to me.
If others are like me, and I’m like others, and living is good, then a politics of life easily follows. That means supporting reproductive healthcare (abortion bans are not pro-life), supporting queer joy, opposing violence, and generally promoting social good through freedom and social harmony. (More on this in a later essay.)
The first essay, titled “Religion,” will go live tomorrow. From there, I plan on releasing one essay in this series each month. (If inspiration strikes, I may release other essays separate from this timeline.) The next few essays are likely to be “Memorial,” “Violence,” and “Gender,” not necessarily in that order.
I’d like to thank some individuals who have helped me work on this project: Ezra and Skyler, my partners; my minister rev and fellow congregant Eliza Hammer Gage, individuals at my church who provided invaluable feedback for my essay on religion; and my brother Joseph. All of them helped improve what I wrote; all mistakes are my own. I’d also like to thank my friend Charles Ocasek for encouraging me to begin this project in the first place. I will be sure to thank any contributors who pitch in to help complete and polish essays down the line as the essays are published.
I can’t say I’ve got it all figured out. But I think I have something to offer it, so I offer it to anyone who will accept it. Thank you for reading my story, and I hope I get to hear yours.
For example, by Laboria Cuboniks in The Xenofeminist Manifesto.