131–140 of 166 posts
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You can't people that stupid shouldn't actually get a vote in the matter.
and when you get to this point, you show your true colors and the dumbest, meanest animal is still gonna recognize your nature. you have to respect people, you have to care about their agency even to their detriment or else who are you saving?
Civilization.
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The inability for intelligent people to frame their policies and positions in ways very stupid simple people can understand is the biggest failing of the last 50+ years if not longer.
This has nothing to do with intelligence, and everything to do with cults, beliefs, fears, Russian disinformation campaigns, political alignment, etc. I've seen intelligent people fall for crazy conspiracy theories. Once all those antivaxers became pro-Russia, which basically has nothing to do with each other, it became clear were all this disinformation was coming from (talking mainly about Central Europe here, but…
Not necessarily the case, as Russia has a longstanding record of propagating public-health misinformation. See https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39419560 for instance.
This has been a part of their national agenda since the Communist revolution. "If we can't improve our own country, at least we can fuck up everybody else's."
It's a crying shame that given the choice, the voters picked the modern-day equivalent of Lysenkoism[1]. [1] Which due to the timing of its adoption and abandonment did avoid outright causing famines in the Soviet Union... And went on to kill tens of millions of people in China.
The inability for intelligent people to frame their policies and positions in ways very stupid simple people can understand is the biggest failing of the last 50+ years if not longer.
I hope these people are able to find other ways to protect the public from disease, even if not at CDC. I respect their decisions, but our country deeply needs scientists so committed to the Hippocratic oath that they’d rather resign than contribute to endangering public safety. Those who do not seek power are most fit to hold it. I have nothing really to say other than this is saddening to read.
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Yeah, nothing Trump has done has been particular surprising, but the enthusiasm with which huge portions of America have welcomed or shrugged at his insa has been the real shocker.
IMO there's a small (very) enthusiastic portion of America, then a much larger portion that simply didn't like inflation and would've voted any incumbent out of power. Very poor timing that has already caused generational damage, at least.
As to what it actually was... that's less clear to me. I'm sure it was a multiplicity of factors, some of which reflect poorly on us as Americans. (All of us.) I think we accept the "inflation" explanation because it's easier than confronting those.
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IMO there's a small (very) enthusiastic portion of America, then a much larger portion that simply didn't like inflation and would've voted any incumbent out of power. Very poor timing that has already caused generational damage, at least.
Inflation in November 2024 was 2.7%. That's higher than the Fed target, but hardly "throw out the incumbent at all costs". I know that "inflation" is what they told pollsters, but I have a hard time believing that. Maybe some of it; not all of it, or the biggest part of it. As to what it actually was... that's less clear to me. I'm sure it was a multiplicity of factors, some of which reflect poorly on us as Americans…
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The inability for intelligent people to frame their policies and positions in ways very stupid simple people can understand is the biggest failing of the last 50+ years if not longer.
I don't think people have gotten stupider or leaders have gotten worse at justifying their policies. IMO what is happening here is a consequence of a catastrophic loss of trust in elites and institutions.
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People’s preferences tend very strongly toward whatever requires the least action on their part. If the problem is with someone else, then you never have to be part of the solution
It’s political preferences, not laziness. People aren’t listening to Rogan or whoever and ignoring the CDC because of laziness. They are doing that because they follow what their social and/or political community thinks and does. Feels like this whole thread is trying to pin this on individual preferences or whatever. But it’s a social effect, and individual personalities or intelligence have very little to do with i…
As someone who grew up in one of these communities, this has not been my experience. Many, many people move away, and for varied reasons. What you're left with are people who stay in economically declining areas and want to blame everyone else for it. It's selection bias, and it is absolutely based on personal choice.
But at least I have faith that if I get sick I will be able to afford it and that we will sustain this perk.
We also have a reasonable pride with education do there is hope we will still have educated people as we go on.
My real great is that economic pressure from the US and China will force us off these tracks.
Or a war.