The Current Events, News, and Politics Thread
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 80,552
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From: Chantilly, VA
Does WP not find this?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...=.a3b4f8b9bee6
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...=.a3b4f8b9bee6
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Question: What is truth?
In the wider world, it’s a question that seems slipperier at every turn. Postmodernists declared the truth socially constructed. The election of President Trump — who made 8,158 false or misleading claims in his first two years in office — suggested that they were right. We arguably live in an anti-expertise world. Americans can’t tell opinion from fact. Truth has always been valuable, but its present scarcity makes it feel especially precious.
So when Trebek announced Wednesday that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which carries a particularly low survival rate, it felt like we were grieving the potential loss of more than an avuncular quiz-show host. The loss of Trebek means the loss of a zone where the truth is clear and uncontested.
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Question: What is truth?
In the wider world, it’s a question that seems slipperier at every turn. Postmodernists declared the truth socially constructed. The election of President Trump — who made 8,158 false or misleading claims in his first two years in office — suggested that they were right. We arguably live in an anti-expertise world. Americans can’t tell opinion from fact. Truth has always been valuable, but its present scarcity makes it feel especially precious.
So when Trebek announced Wednesday that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which carries a particularly low survival rate, it felt like we were grieving the potential loss of more than an avuncular quiz-show host. The loss of Trebek means the loss of a zone where the truth is clear and uncontested.
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Their analysis on-point. We do in fact live in a post-truth society, both because being morally right is more important then being factually correct, as well as because the conjecture of someone who complains about things on the internet is more reliable than the fact-checked and peer-reviewed research produced by knowledgeable experts.
The process of selecting and vetting candidates for political office has become something resembling the audition process for a reality TV show. There should be no surprise that the two processes produce similar results.
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Thread Starter
Joined: May 2005
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From: Chantilly, VA
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Also this:
Last edited by Braineack; Oct 8, 2019 at 09:48 AM.
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
At least she's not vague or ambiguous:
I'm scared, all right. Remind me again which economic model has resulted in the greatest prosperity in history, and produced societies in which the poorest members enjoy a higher standard of living than the richest of their ancestors 200 years prior?
Whole article: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4...s-irredeemable
Ocasio-Cortez: 'Capitalism is irredeemable'
"Capitalism is an ideology of capital — the most important thing is the concentration of capital and to seek and maximize profit," she said during an interview at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, according to Bloomberg News.
"To me, capitalism is irredeemable," she added, arguing that capitalism's goals come at a cost to people and the environment, Bloomberg reported.
The congresswoman, who has described herself as a democratic socialist, added during her interview that "we should be scared."
"To me, capitalism is irredeemable," she added, arguing that capitalism's goals come at a cost to people and the environment, Bloomberg reported.
The congresswoman, who has described herself as a democratic socialist, added during her interview that "we should be scared."
I'm scared, all right. Remind me again which economic model has resulted in the greatest prosperity in history, and produced societies in which the poorest members enjoy a higher standard of living than the richest of their ancestors 200 years prior?
Whole article: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4...s-irredeemable
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At least she's not vague or ambiguous:
I'm scared, all right. Remind me again which economic model has resulted in the greatest prosperity in history, and produced societies in which the poorest members enjoy a higher standard of living than the richest of their ancestors 200 years prior?
Whole article: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4...s-irredeemable
Ocasio-Cortez: 'Capitalism is irredeemable'
"Capitalism is an ideology of capital — the most important thing is the concentration of capital and to seek and maximize profit," she said during an interview at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, according to Bloomberg News.
"To me, capitalism is irredeemable," she added, arguing that capitalism's goals come at a cost to people and the environment, Bloomberg reported.
The congresswoman, who has described herself as a democratic socialist, added during her interview that "we should be scared."
"To me, capitalism is irredeemable," she added, arguing that capitalism's goals come at a cost to people and the environment, Bloomberg reported.
The congresswoman, who has described herself as a democratic socialist, added during her interview that "we should be scared."
I'm scared, all right. Remind me again which economic model has resulted in the greatest prosperity in history, and produced societies in which the poorest members enjoy a higher standard of living than the richest of their ancestors 200 years prior?
Whole article: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4...s-irredeemable
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Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
I'm not sure that the dumbing down of the educational system is necessarily to blame.
We live in an age in which it's become a lot easier for people to loudly say dumb things, and also a lot easier for people to selectively listen only to things which reinforce their beliefs, and completely avoid contrasting opinions, regardless of the truth.
Basically, the same phenomenon which has seen the concurrent explosion of the anti-vax movement There have always been people who have denied medicine and believed that a secret cabal consisting of the government and "big pharma" were trying to make them sick, preferring crystals and faith-healing instead.The difference is that they now have the ability to spread their beliefs and appear to be legitimate, thus gaining mainstream acceptance.
Good article from the BBC a few years back about How liars create the illusion of truth.
We live in an age in which it's become a lot easier for people to loudly say dumb things, and also a lot easier for people to selectively listen only to things which reinforce their beliefs, and completely avoid contrasting opinions, regardless of the truth.
Basically, the same phenomenon which has seen the concurrent explosion of the anti-vax movement There have always been people who have denied medicine and believed that a secret cabal consisting of the government and "big pharma" were trying to make them sick, preferring crystals and faith-healing instead.The difference is that they now have the ability to spread their beliefs and appear to be legitimate, thus gaining mainstream acceptance.
Good article from the BBC a few years back about How liars create the illusion of truth.
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Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2012
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From: Portland,OR
Portland is often thought of as a hipster city and I tend to look for the humor in their activities when I can. While things here involved someone at MIT, it could have easily been a PDX thing.
https://www.complex.com/life/2019/03...ipster-article
https://www.complex.com/life/2019/03...ipster-article
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I'm not sure that the dumbing down of the educational system is necessarily to blame.
We live in an age in which it's become a lot easier for people to loudly say dumb things, and also a lot easier for people to selectively listen only to things which reinforce their beliefs, and completely avoid contrasting opinions, regardless of the truth.
We live in an age in which it's become a lot easier for people to loudly say dumb things, and also a lot easier for people to selectively listen only to things which reinforce their beliefs, and completely avoid contrasting opinions, regardless of the truth.
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Joined: Oct 2011
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From: OKC, OK
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/gr...it-infinitives
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