The Taylor Swift story is so fucking dumb, how are you supposed to respond to it? Either the boosters are earnest, which means they're publicly exhibiting symptoms of psychiatric delusions and need medical help. Or they're...joking? Pretending? Auditioning for a role? Lying? I can't tell between the two possibilities anymore.
Conspiracy-theoretic thinking on the right began with climate change. In order to justify climate science "scepticism' rightwingers had to posit a massive conspiracy involving not just climate scientists (in it for the money) but virtually all the scientists and scientific organizations in the world. James Inhofe and other Republicans were pushing such theories back in the early 2000s.
For a long time, climate change denialists were "cafeteria crazy", taking a conspiracy theory line on some topics, while distancing themselves from fringe loonies on others. But that was a self-contradictory position that couldn't be sustained forever.
By contrast, comprehensive lunacy is a stable equilibrium. Any information coming from outside the world of crazy can be discounted as misinformation, and there is no real need for internal coherence
In this context, the real crazies are those who continue to discuss the Republicans as if they are a normal democratic political party, rather than a cult.
"Supermarket checkout lane tabloids like National Enquirer would print this kind of thing, to be sure"
They really didn't, though. During its black & white phase, the National Enquirer would print a lot of loopy outlandish stuff, but it wasn't politically partisan. Around the time they switched to colour, they also switched from "Is your co-worker a space alien?" type journalism to fairly conventional celebrity journalism -- also not politically partisan.
I didn’t mean that tabloids did *partisan* conspiracy theories, just regular old conspiracy theories. It’s the one example in modern times of a print publication actively and obviously peddling in that stuff.
"...just Regular old conspiracy theories..." Back in the days when most of their readers were apolitical and a politician's sex scandals was pretty much bipartisan.
I remember the good old days when late night talk radio was all about aliens and the conspiracy of the government to hide "the truth."
The left is always predicting the onset of the authoritarian night in America - while the authoritarian left is taking over in Europe. The the only crimes happening at the U.S. border are being committed by illegal aliens and the Biden administration. The restoration of some semblance of order will not be a crime against humanity, and the inevitable tragedies that arise because people insist on breaking the law cannot be laid at the feet of those who rightly enforce the law.
You don't think millions of illegal aliens entering a country illegally is a problem?
What has happened to the extreme left, where the rule of law means NOTHING to them anymore?
And all the while quacking about how the right is the problem?
The extreme left has lost it's mind.
And this is coming from a person whose parents were 1st generation immigrants on this soil. The extreme left is ruining everything the West was originally founded on and all the principles that were the reason for the great successes the West had.
The West is now an empire in decline, being led by the US.
I think you’ve flown your long tailed kite with your house key attached into too many thunderstorms. Doesn’t sound like you’ve kept up with the news lately but that many illegal people coming into this country hasn’t happened since Ronnie Reagan gave so many amnesty so they could be cheap labor in all those industries that wanted to break their unions. We haven’t had a far left since the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. This current mess the crazy right wing of trump worshippers makes me really miss them. We on the left have nothing remaining. Your “far left” doesn’t exist any more. Just to catch you up, I’ve supplied a link. https://depts.washington.edu/moves/antiwar_intro.shtml
We've already seen the vaccine mandates overturned on multiple levels of government for being illegal.
We've seen not only a horrific pullout from Afghanistan and not 1 but TWO potential world wars have begin with a 3rd starting as they rattle sabres in Iran. Look for China to be a target soon.
As if a multi-pronged war wasn't enough to dismay supporters, we have the USA being dropped as the World Currency Reserve by multiple countries as opponents and even former US allies being to unite against the US. BRICS is only gaining grown and the financial pyramid the US decided to use for support to fuel these wars is crumbling.
We have record high inflation and destruction of the wealth of millions of citizens because of it and unprecedented poverty - UNPRECEDENTED POVERTY.
There are so many illegal immigrants pouring into the country so quickly that American civilians even away from the border are now being affected by it (my parents were legal immigrants FWIW).
There is a puppet president who can't even walk a straight line, speak a clear sentence or tie his own shoelaces. EVERYONE outside of the blind supporters know this and see it clearly, including non-Americans.
Where are you seeing any semblance of the old Left / Liberals?
And as horrific as the above sounds, it's even worst to admit that this has ALL happened in the span of 3 years. Unthinkable.
Unfortunately, the focus of this site, since it was established, has been the critique of right-wing populism. If some semblance of balance, including critique of left-wing populism, is not pursued, it will further devolve into the echo chamber that it is fast becoming.
Can you show me an example of left wing populism that has control of any of the branches of government? The only left wing populists in federal government I know of are Bernie Sanders and AOC, and the Mean Girls. They are pretty much isolated within the Democratic Party. So the "populist problem" is not a both sides thing.
The only populists in a position to destroy the republic are on one side of the aisle.
As a conservative I think it pretty unhelpful to try and turn the problem into a right/left dichotomy. In my opinion it is the problem of human beings incapable of accepting the natural hierarchical structures within society. The failure to accept that there always have been elites. Always been people who are in power and people without power. Always been economic upper classes and lower classes. These hierarchical structures can exist in all sorts of different modes. Absolute monarchy, American Republicanism in 1789, The Chin Dynasty, Soviet Russia all were hierarchical creations where the elites determined the general direction of the country.
The current right wing populists are railing against the elites upon which the good order of our society depends. "I have done my own research..." "My ignorance is equal to the knowledge of experts" "My random opinion is equal to the informed opinion of professionals."
Populism, whether left or right, always ends up punishing people if not killing them. True conservatism and true liberalism just don't do that.
I see that “Griff”mentions the Bernie/AOC/Mean Girls factions in his reply. He doesn’t mention the DSA which is 80,000 member strong political organization. There are, however, many left-wing political parties or factions of those parties that exist in every major country in the world.
“Griff” suggests that “the populist problem is not a both sides thing.” Is this a potential topic? Why might this be the case? What is the nature of the “problem.” A problem for whom? Might it have to do with some of the issues RD raises in his comment to which I responded? There is a lot of hyperbole in both of these comments regarding one side destroying the country and the other side being in a position to destroy the county. Critically analyze the issue in a fair and unbiased way, minus hyperbole, to possibly ameliorate tension and polarization, rather than exacerbate it? I know this sounds like a return to the days of the old FCC Fairness Doctrine…but why not give it a try? It’s now needed more than ever in our polarized nation.
Consider the asymmetrical access to power that each side's radical elements has on their mainstream operations: whereas Bernie's insurgent candidacy in 2016 was beat back by the party's moderating forces (and Bernie forced to stand down four years prior when he wanted to primary Obama), and whereas the Squad is brought into the legislative fold but subject to limitations that Pelosi imposed on them, the radicals have completely taken over on the right. The Donald Trump-led Republican Party is a story of how the extremists won and became the mainstream of the party; the Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi/Schumer Democratic Party is a story of how the party's more extreme elements were contained and not allowed to run roughshod on the movement.
Agreed. Instead of always criticizing what the 'right' has gotten wrong and amplifying what the 'left' has gotten correct, how about a little self reflection on what the ultra left has gotten wrong. There is plenty to work with. I put those two in 'quotes' because it seems that the Left of today is not the Left we grew up with decades ago. It's some abhorrent caricature of what it used to be and the Right seems to be filling that void. Less division, more working together.
The left have always been comprised of the dreamers and those with the creativity driving their ideals but not the structure to implement change effectively. The right has always been comprised of those structured well to implement change, but lacking the creativity to find new solutions.
Both are truly needed for government to work effectively in much the same way that the body can't function best unless the right and left sides of the brain are working in unison.
Without some self reflection and balance, the only trajectory is a subjective oblivion.
The Taylor Swift story is so fucking dumb, how are you supposed to respond to it? Either the boosters are earnest, which means they're publicly exhibiting symptoms of psychiatric delusions and need medical help. Or they're...joking? Pretending? Auditioning for a role? Lying? I can't tell between the two possibilities anymore.
Agreed. It’s so batshit.
I think it’s a mode of analysis that their audience wants and that earns them attention and impressions.
Conspiracy-theoretic thinking on the right began with climate change. In order to justify climate science "scepticism' rightwingers had to posit a massive conspiracy involving not just climate scientists (in it for the money) but virtually all the scientists and scientific organizations in the world. James Inhofe and other Republicans were pushing such theories back in the early 2000s.
For a long time, climate change denialists were "cafeteria crazy", taking a conspiracy theory line on some topics, while distancing themselves from fringe loonies on others. But that was a self-contradictory position that couldn't be sustained forever.
By contrast, comprehensive lunacy is a stable equilibrium. Any information coming from outside the world of crazy can be discounted as misinformation, and there is no real need for internal coherence
In this context, the real crazies are those who continue to discuss the Republicans as if they are a normal democratic political party, rather than a cult.
https://crookedtimber.org/2010/09/15/observations-on-a-parallel-universe/
"Supermarket checkout lane tabloids like National Enquirer would print this kind of thing, to be sure"
They really didn't, though. During its black & white phase, the National Enquirer would print a lot of loopy outlandish stuff, but it wasn't politically partisan. Around the time they switched to colour, they also switched from "Is your co-worker a space alien?" type journalism to fairly conventional celebrity journalism -- also not politically partisan.
I didn’t mean that tabloids did *partisan* conspiracy theories, just regular old conspiracy theories. It’s the one example in modern times of a print publication actively and obviously peddling in that stuff.
"...just Regular old conspiracy theories..." Back in the days when most of their readers were apolitical and a politician's sex scandals was pretty much bipartisan.
I remember the good old days when late night talk radio was all about aliens and the conspiracy of the government to hide "the truth."
The left is always predicting the onset of the authoritarian night in America - while the authoritarian left is taking over in Europe. The the only crimes happening at the U.S. border are being committed by illegal aliens and the Biden administration. The restoration of some semblance of order will not be a crime against humanity, and the inevitable tragedies that arise because people insist on breaking the law cannot be laid at the feet of those who rightly enforce the law.
You don't think millions of illegal aliens entering a country illegally is a problem?
What has happened to the extreme left, where the rule of law means NOTHING to them anymore?
And all the while quacking about how the right is the problem?
The extreme left has lost it's mind.
And this is coming from a person whose parents were 1st generation immigrants on this soil. The extreme left is ruining everything the West was originally founded on and all the principles that were the reason for the great successes the West had.
The West is now an empire in decline, being led by the US.
I think you’ve flown your long tailed kite with your house key attached into too many thunderstorms. Doesn’t sound like you’ve kept up with the news lately but that many illegal people coming into this country hasn’t happened since Ronnie Reagan gave so many amnesty so they could be cheap labor in all those industries that wanted to break their unions. We haven’t had a far left since the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. This current mess the crazy right wing of trump worshippers makes me really miss them. We on the left have nothing remaining. Your “far left” doesn’t exist any more. Just to catch you up, I’ve supplied a link. https://depts.washington.edu/moves/antiwar_intro.shtml
The far left doesn't exist? These neo-con Liberals are quite literally destroying Western Civilization in just a matter of a few short years.
Biden, the supposed president of the free world guilty of censoring free speech and violating the 1st amendment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/09/08/5th-circuit-ruling-covid-content-moderation/
We've already seen the vaccine mandates overturned on multiple levels of government for being illegal.
We've seen not only a horrific pullout from Afghanistan and not 1 but TWO potential world wars have begin with a 3rd starting as they rattle sabres in Iran. Look for China to be a target soon.
As if a multi-pronged war wasn't enough to dismay supporters, we have the USA being dropped as the World Currency Reserve by multiple countries as opponents and even former US allies being to unite against the US. BRICS is only gaining grown and the financial pyramid the US decided to use for support to fuel these wars is crumbling.
We have record high inflation and destruction of the wealth of millions of citizens because of it and unprecedented poverty - UNPRECEDENTED POVERTY.
There are so many illegal immigrants pouring into the country so quickly that American civilians even away from the border are now being affected by it (my parents were legal immigrants FWIW).
There is a puppet president who can't even walk a straight line, speak a clear sentence or tie his own shoelaces. EVERYONE outside of the blind supporters know this and see it clearly, including non-Americans.
Where are you seeing any semblance of the old Left / Liberals?
And as horrific as the above sounds, it's even worst to admit that this has ALL happened in the span of 3 years. Unthinkable.
Please, take off your blinders. Thanks.
Unfortunately, the focus of this site, since it was established, has been the critique of right-wing populism. If some semblance of balance, including critique of left-wing populism, is not pursued, it will further devolve into the echo chamber that it is fast becoming.
Can you show me an example of left wing populism that has control of any of the branches of government? The only left wing populists in federal government I know of are Bernie Sanders and AOC, and the Mean Girls. They are pretty much isolated within the Democratic Party. So the "populist problem" is not a both sides thing.
The only populists in a position to destroy the republic are on one side of the aisle.
As a conservative I think it pretty unhelpful to try and turn the problem into a right/left dichotomy. In my opinion it is the problem of human beings incapable of accepting the natural hierarchical structures within society. The failure to accept that there always have been elites. Always been people who are in power and people without power. Always been economic upper classes and lower classes. These hierarchical structures can exist in all sorts of different modes. Absolute monarchy, American Republicanism in 1789, The Chin Dynasty, Soviet Russia all were hierarchical creations where the elites determined the general direction of the country.
The current right wing populists are railing against the elites upon which the good order of our society depends. "I have done my own research..." "My ignorance is equal to the knowledge of experts" "My random opinion is equal to the informed opinion of professionals."
Populism, whether left or right, always ends up punishing people if not killing them. True conservatism and true liberalism just don't do that.
Fair enough, Daniel.
What specific topics would you want to see covered by the writers for TheUnpopulist, regarding critiques of left-wing populism?
I see that “Griff”mentions the Bernie/AOC/Mean Girls factions in his reply. He doesn’t mention the DSA which is 80,000 member strong political organization. There are, however, many left-wing political parties or factions of those parties that exist in every major country in the world.
“Griff” suggests that “the populist problem is not a both sides thing.” Is this a potential topic? Why might this be the case? What is the nature of the “problem.” A problem for whom? Might it have to do with some of the issues RD raises in his comment to which I responded? There is a lot of hyperbole in both of these comments regarding one side destroying the country and the other side being in a position to destroy the county. Critically analyze the issue in a fair and unbiased way, minus hyperbole, to possibly ameliorate tension and polarization, rather than exacerbate it? I know this sounds like a return to the days of the old FCC Fairness Doctrine…but why not give it a try? It’s now needed more than ever in our polarized nation.
Consider the asymmetrical access to power that each side's radical elements has on their mainstream operations: whereas Bernie's insurgent candidacy in 2016 was beat back by the party's moderating forces (and Bernie forced to stand down four years prior when he wanted to primary Obama), and whereas the Squad is brought into the legislative fold but subject to limitations that Pelosi imposed on them, the radicals have completely taken over on the right. The Donald Trump-led Republican Party is a story of how the extremists won and became the mainstream of the party; the Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi/Schumer Democratic Party is a story of how the party's more extreme elements were contained and not allowed to run roughshod on the movement.
Agreed. Instead of always criticizing what the 'right' has gotten wrong and amplifying what the 'left' has gotten correct, how about a little self reflection on what the ultra left has gotten wrong. There is plenty to work with. I put those two in 'quotes' because it seems that the Left of today is not the Left we grew up with decades ago. It's some abhorrent caricature of what it used to be and the Right seems to be filling that void. Less division, more working together.
The left have always been comprised of the dreamers and those with the creativity driving their ideals but not the structure to implement change effectively. The right has always been comprised of those structured well to implement change, but lacking the creativity to find new solutions.
Both are truly needed for government to work effectively in much the same way that the body can't function best unless the right and left sides of the brain are working in unison.
Without some self reflection and balance, the only trajectory is a subjective oblivion.
Both sides need to work together for progress.
What ultra left are you referring to?