Monday, July 22, 2019

Donald The Bullshitter



Trump isn’t lying, he’s bullshitting – and it’s far more dangerous Bullshitters, as philosopher Harry Frankfurt wrote in his 1986 essay “On Bullshit,” don’t care whether what they are saying is factually correct or not. Instead, bullshit is characterized by a “lack of connection to a concern with truth [and] indifference to how things really are.” Frankfurt explains that a bullshitter “does not care whether the things he says describe reality correctly. He just picks them out, or makes them up, to suit his purpose.” ...... bullshitters don’t really care whether their audience believes what they are saying ..... bullshitters say what they do in an effort to change how the audience sees them, “to convey a certain impression” of themselves..... In Trump’s case, much of his rhetoric and speech seems designed to inflate his own grand persona. ...... misinformation is notoriously hard to correct once it’s out there, and social media, in particular, has a reputation for spreading factually inaccurate statements and conspiracy theories....... examined five years of Facebook posts about conspiracy theories. The authors found that people tend to latch onto stories that fit their preexisting narratives about the world and share those stories with their social circle. The result is a “proliferation of biased narratives fomented by unsubstantiated rumors, mistrust, and paranoia.”..... because Trump’s communication style relies heavily on anger, people who are predisposed to his message may become even less critical of potential bunk.......... Journalists, scientists, experts and even government officials who disagree with him are subject to charges of ineptitude, partisanship or conspiracy. They’re then threatened with restrictions on funding, access and speech....... people can convince themselves of things that aren’t true. ...... There’s some evidence, for instance, that he avoided information that Muslims in New Jersey didn’t actually celebrate the terrorist attacks on September 11th, as he claimed.

Andrew Yang At 5%

I must not have been paying close attention. So is this the snapshot as of today? Hmm.



Right now it is looking like:

Kamala Harris: President
Andrew Yang: Vice President
Bernie Sanders: John McCain of the Left, Senate Lion
Elizabeth Warren: Senate Majority Leader
Pete Buttigieg: Secretary Of Urban Affairs
Tulsi Gabbard: UN Ambassador
Joe Biden: Chancellor at the Barack Obama Library

The most impressive number here is for Andrew Yang. The guy is at 5%? Wow. I am impressed. It is not like he said much at the debates. (Full disclosure: I did not watch the debates.)


Biden is sinking faster than I had anticipated. Looks like one more debate and his number one status might be gone. 




There is No Policy Proposal by Any 2020 Presidential Candidate More Progressive than Andrew Yang’s Freedom Dividend When it comes to reducing inequality, America’s Gini index score would fall by 15%. We would be 15% more equal than we are now. No other policy being offered by any other candidate achieves that level of inequality reversal.