Will Solfiac

Folk Beliefs of the Upper Normie II: “Nations are Modern Creations” How the modernist approach to nationalism of Gellner, Hobsbawm etc. became conventional wisdom.

New article - Folk Beliefs of the Upper Normie II: “Nations are Modern Creations”.

How the modernist approach to nationalism of Gellner, Hobsbawm etc. became conventional wisdom, ideas which are both false and dangerous.

www.willsolfiac.com/p/folk-belie...

The Trump approach would only make sense if the system itself had broken down so much that leading it no longer provided anything positive for America. But this is not the case, and therefore the actions of the Trump admin are a premature abdication of power.

The Trump admin’s actions are those of someone who wants to abandon their role in heading and shaping the system, for the opportunity to dominate within it. But while this can feel like it’s a greater form of power, it’s actually not.

Who has more power, the person who picks up the bill in the restaurant, or the person who gets the free dinner?

And who has more power, the headteacher of a school, or the biggest kid in the playground?

Does Trump understand the true nature of power? Who has more power, the person who picks up the bill in the restaurant, or the person who gets the free dinner?

New article looking at the Trump admin and different conceptions of power. Power via shaping the system as America has traditionally done, versus abandoning this role and aiming to dominate within the system. www.willsolfiac.com/p/does-trump...

How nations and peoples mattered during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain The importance of ethnic identity in Gildas, Bede, and in legal codes.

New post looking at the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and how, contrary to a common belief, the primary sources show a deep concern for the unified identity of the peoples or nations involved, Brythonic or English.

www.willsolfiac.com/p/how-nation...

Adolescence is an absolute clunker | Will Solfiac | The Critic Magazine It does not explore its overbearing themes realistically…

My review of Adolescence: a manosphere morality tale that doesn't get the subjects it talks about right.

thecritic.co.uk/adolescence-...

I'll be publishing an extended version on substack in a week or so too.

It seems most likely that we simply can import healthcare workers due to the English language, rather than that we must.

We need to recognise that despite underlying realities of the ageing population etc, our extreme reliance is a choice, not an inevitability.

Britain and interestingly, Ireland, are the big outliers in Europe. But contrary to what it often said, Britain doesn't actually lose that many graduate doctors to e.g. Australia, nor do we get our health service on the cheap via imported labour compared to other countries.

The NHS and the care system is of course highly reliant on immigration (36% of hospital doctors and 30% of nurses), but we are an extreme case. Before the Boriswave the rates, especially of nurses and care workers, were significantly lower - policy still makes a big difference.

The NHS can survive without mass immigration One claim frequently made about Britain’s immigration system is that current levels must continue because the NHS, or the care system, would otherwise cease functioning. Last month, John Harris wrote ...

New article in UnHerd arguing that claims like "the NHS and care system would collapse without immigration" fail to look at how our closest neighbours in Europe run often superior health systems with far less immigration.

unherd.com/newsroom/the...

Source for US healthcare spending:
www.cms.gov/data-researc...

Source for total UK health expenditure: ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

The past and future of UK health spending | Institute for Fiscal Studies How has health spending changed over the past seven decades? How does the UK compare to other countries? What is the outlook for health spending?

Source for NHS spending as % of GDP:
ifs.org.uk/publications...

And due to ageing populations, the same problems are inexorably increasing spending are common to both.

Total US health spending was 17.3% of GDP in 2022, a much higher total percentage than in Britain (11.1%).

39% of spending in the US is public (Medicare and Medicaid) vs 82% in Britain.

But because total spending is higher, as a % of GDP the US publicly funded % is still high.

So British public spending is about 1.5x America's. But nearly all British people also *use* the healthcare they are paying for.

Whereas the American taxpayer does not use the healthcare they pay taxes for, it goes to the retired/disabled (Medicare) and the poor (Medicaid).

On taxpayer funded healthcare, the US isn't as different from Britain as many think.

In 2022 Britain spent 9.3% of GDP on publicly funded healthcare (i.e. the NHS).

In the same year America spent 6.7% of GDP on publicly funded healthcare (Medicare and Medicaid).

Getting to Denmark on immigration: how to speak softly and carry a big stick Denmark's immigration policy: how much is it a model to follow?

I already wrote on Sweden and Denmark on substack. Will follow the Netherlands and might write on it too.

www.willsolfiac.com/p/getting-to...

www.willsolfiac.com/p/live-laugh...

I've thought for a long time that the only way Germany could become less insane on asylum is if their closest European partners basically forcibly changed the European norm.

- Removal of the automatic right to a permanent residence permit after 5 years. Now asylum seekers may still be required to return once it is deemed safe.

Given that this worked in Denmark and Sweden, I'd expect it to work in the Netherlands too.

How long till Germany follows.

Netherlands: Government presents new asylum and migration rules

Netherlands planning to implement the asylum restriction package already successfully done by Denmark and Sweden:

- Naturalisation time extended from 5 to 10 years
- Tighter family reunification requirements

migrant-integration.ec.europa.eu/news/netherl...

Live, Laugh, Leave: Has Sweden adopted the pantsuit model of migration? Are their recent changes merely cosmetic or do they herald something real? And how have things progressed in Denmark, Italy, Britain and Europe more widely?

Mine discusses Sweden's change, how it came about, and what it really means. Basically, asylum has been cut. Other forms have not yet, but may be in future. And indeed it does have lessons for Britain.

www.willsolfiac.com/p/live-laugh...

Sweden has reduced net migration to zero – here is how they did it We are importing workers at a time when millions are being trapped in welfare. The Nordic nation has found a way out

My article on this (link in reply below) is much better. Fraser is directionally correct that Sweden has made a change and is restricting asylum while remaining in the EU and ECHR.

But it hasn't 'reduced net migration' to zero, this is a statistical artifact.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11...

I also wonder if Musk's approach to twitter will change now it has "done it's job" for him.

You also don't want to see 50 reposts from the same person within 5 minutes, as you see on twitter on Following.

So far the Bluesky Discover is ok, certainly better than twitter.

You can have a little bit of algo-slop, maybe 1/10 posts. But twitter have obviously gone too far.

There's also the question of the optimal 'For you' / 'Discover' feed. Because on twitter you can of course just use Following. But this isn't optimal either, as you DO want new accounts/tweets to be surfaced. But you want them to be similar to those you actually follow - not algo-slop.

I think Musk taking over twitter was good, and I hope that Bluesky succeeds and thus forces twitter to reduce their bad policies. If people want low IQ algo-slop served into their eyeballs, there's already tiktok for that.