This is an interesting document that can be interpreted in a number of different ways. I happen to think Richard's apology and effusive self-flagellation is sincere (if over-the-top), but also in many ways contradictory and argues against its own conclusions...
The thrust of the argument is that Richard's youthful indiscretions, being anon and trafficking in online communities outside the Overton Window was regrettable and bad ("I sucked" he keeps telling us), some ickyโโeven dangerousโโforay into immoral activity
The real lesson though, in Richard's case specifically but also about these communities more broadly, is that they are quite healthy and good, necessary waypoints for curious and precocious sensitive young men who are always going to gravitate toward verboten/heretical ideas
There is nothing at all "regrettable" about the writing of Richard Hoste. It's part of a larger learning process that allows for a deeper and more capacious view of what is true and also the different mental models available for piecing everything together
And again Richard is the perfect test case for this. Even if it is sincere (very well could be) that Richard has settled out as a bog-standard End-of-History lib, it's only through flirting with "radical" ideas that he's able to now most forcefully defend his current positions
These communities, and anon writing specifically, are an essential part of intellectual growth for anyone not huffing shitlib indoctrination from straight out of the womb. Any worthwhile thinker is going to cross his "true" line at some point. Pathologizing that is a huge mistake
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