Commonly-Accepted Premises I Don't Share, Right-Wing Division
A few years ago, I made a list of premises that are commonly accepted as sufficiently obvious that they don't need defending or even explicit statements. That list leaned left. I'm starting to compile a similar list for right-wing premises I don't share:
- Capitalism is a matter of the arbitrary will of businessmen. The best way to support capitalism is therefore to elect a businessman and give him absolute power.
- As far as groups are concerned, economic activity is zero-sum. If one group is becoming richer than another, that can only be because they are stealing it.
- At some point in the recent past Life Was Fair. Any change in the relative standing of different groups since then is therefore Unfair.
- Being willing to work for less is Unfair.
- Being willing to work harder is Unfair.
- True Success is a matter of prowess, not diligence.
- Open borders is part of the ideological superstructure of the bourgeoise.
- When goods cross borders, armies will as well. (This is a rejection of a common libertarian slogan.)
There's probably more to come.
Read These Together
On the one hand:
Instead of reaching out to Donald Trump's supporters, this man insults them, thereby ensuring that they will never again support an establishment candidate. Good job, asshole!
On the other hand:
Lib: "Alienating Muslims will turn good ones against us!"
Shiv: "If they're turned against us so easily, maybe they shouldn't be here."
If a group over-reacts to insults, is that a reason to treat them more gently or less gently? I don't know what the answer is to that, but the answer should be uniform.
While I'm at it …
The following claim (about the Trump base) is common among Trump sympathizers:
Wow. Smearing an entire class of people. Fix your own car. Install your own plumbing. Transport your own food.
On the other hand, the claim that the same people are being replaced by immigrants is even commoner. So … we have extremely essential people who can be replaced at will …
This Came from Either a Dolt or a Fraud
The recent disturbing rumors that Ted Cruz, contrary to all evidence, actually has social skills is supposedly buttressed by the claim people have been trying to get the media interested for months but was met by refusals until the National Enquirer got involved.
Their only choices were “send this to a major publication” and “remain silent”?
They couldn't use Twitter?
They couldn't use Facebook?
They couldn't post comments at PJmedia?
The only way this would be believable is if it came from a small number of people (possibly one) each of whom was dumb enough to forget to use social media.
A Trump “Kill Shot”?
According to Scott Adams:
The best Trump kill shots have the following qualities.
1. Fresh word that is not generally used in politics
2. Relates to the physicality of the subject (so you are always reminded)
Donald Grump.
He could fight this by smiling more often (unlike Ted Cruz, he actually knows how to smile) but that would cut into his exploitation of pessimistic bias among the voters.
Addendum: The ideal slogan is, of course, “Make America Irate Again!”
Attributing Troubles to Newcomers
Ace Has a Point
Ace of Spades recommends not being vindictive towards Trump supporters. I'm not sure if that applies to Trump supporters in the Instapundit comments who didn't bother reading his article but insisted on commenting on it anyway.
He has a point. If Trump is nominated and loses, I promise not to say “We Told You So” more than once a month.
If Trump wins and governs on the Left, I promise not to say “We Told You So” more than once a week.
If Trump wins, does what he says, shuts down exports, and I'm unemployed, I'm not making promises.
Why Clinton Beats Sanders among Non-White Democrats
A possible explanation: Non-white voters who believe in capitalism might be avoiding the Republican Party owing to the perception of Republicans as racist. Such Democrats would vote for the the most conservative Democrat running.
The tendency of the Trump supporters to alienate potential conservatives might be protecting us from President Sanders.
Explaining the Serious Stupidity
There's a meme going around the left side of Cliches R Us: “Capitalism without socialism is fascism” (discussed at BookwormRoom). There's a very simple explanation for it. It is a consequence of the premise “‘Government’ is simply the name we give to the things we choose to do together.” In a system of capitalism without socialism, there are organizations that are able to get people to do things together but are not under democratic control. In other words, such a system is based on undemocratic governments, i.e., it is fascism.
On the other hand, there is little reason to to believe that organizations that are governments in the sense of being able to get people to do things together are the same as the organizations that are governments in the sense of being able to jail or kill people.
On the gripping hand, in Major Barbara, George Bernard Shaw had Andrew Undershaft say:
Nothing is ever done in this world until men are prepared to kill each other if it is not done.
Some people, e.g., Vladimir Putin, still believe that:
President Vladimir Putin said he wants to identify an official who can be hanged if a road leading to a new bridge that will link Crimea to Russia isn't built, as he complained that nobody wants to take charge of the project.
“There should be a specific person who can be hanged if it's not done,” Putin said during a visit to Crimea to view construction work on Friday, the second anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine. Officials keep passing responsibility for the work to colleagues in different ministries, he said.
He can't understand why nobody wants the job.
Three Wishes
A year ago, a conservative found a magic lantern and a genie appeared ready to grant him three wishes.
- The first wish was that Hollywood would start telling the truth about conservatives.
- The second wish was that liberals would regard the First and Second Amendments as equally important.
- The third wish was for college administrators to do something about the “hook-up” culture.
A Brief Note on CO2 Emissions
According to at least one environmentalist web site, only 44% of the CO2 emitted per year winds up in the atmosphere. By odd coincidence that's almost the same percentage of the CO2 that comes from coal. In other words, if we simply replace coal with nukes, that should stop the CO2 increase.
Coal and nuclear energy are near substitutes: They are both most useful for predictable base-load electricity generation. The common complaint that we can't have an all-nuclear energy system because of the alleged difficulties of running a car on nukes or because of the problems of generating peak power don't apply.
One common defense of coal that isn't that valid: that we need coal to provide jobs. If the same amount is being spent, the same number of jobs should be supplied. The biggest danger is that we might get less energy for the money, i.e., prices will rise.
Are Trump Supporters Alpha Males?
According to Scott Adams:
Trump is well on his way to owning the identities of American, Alpha Males, and Women Who Like Alpha Males. Clinton is well on her way to owning the identities of angry women, beta males, immigrants, and disenfranchised minorities.
Using the standard technique for debate in this field (pulling assertions out of the vulgar body aperture) … You're not really an Alpha Male unless you can compete against immigrants and win.
Addendum: Alpha Males don't have high-school diplomas?
The Only Way to Make This Better Is to Add Vaccines and GMOs
Terrestrial Energy is planning to sell its nuclear reactors, not to government agencies and not only to regulated utilities, but to fossil-fuel companies to use for fracking.
[Mad Scientist Laugh]
On the Other Hand …
My comparison of Donald Trump to LBJ has limits. There are two types of nationalist. Donald Trump is an isolationist nationalist whereas LBJ was an imperialist nationalist.
The Tyrant Who Must Not Be Named was, of course, both. His regime was based on both taking over lots of other countries and ethnically cleansing them of the wrong groups. Usually imperialists squeeze foreigners instead of eliminating them and usually isolationists expel foreigners to places they have no plans to take over. You need both for Godwin-type analogies to be valid.
Trump's Closest American Analog
- Standard liberal on domestic policy? Check.
- Never saw an instance of government power he didn't like? Check.
- Rejected by most liberals because of his nationalist policies? Check.
- Rejected by most moderates mainly because of his sheer vulgarity? Check.
- Competitor on the Republican side has right-wing opinions on all known issues? Check.
- Able to get endorsements from Republicans who think said competitor is too extreme? Check.
Donald Trump is Lyndon Johnson II.
A Nightmare Scenario
Chief executives of governments have traditionally been reined in by the control of the purse and the refusal of men with guns to shoot their neighbors. What happens if President Trump authorizes a military drone program to take out people on an “enemies list” that's funded by civil forfeiture? The small number of people needed for such a program could be recruited from unemployed Trump fanatics. Judging by their resentment of foreign competition and their apparent abundance of free time, that's most of them.
What Is Meant by “The Planet Got Destroyed”?
A cartoon showing a family of cavemen sitting around a campfire with shadowy skyscrapers in the background has been going around the left side of the self-congratulatory parts of the Internet (typical example here). The caption reads:
Yes, the planet got destroyed, but for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders.
What does that mean? The planet wasn't blown up. They're sitting on something. It didn't become lifeless. They're breathing. Does it mean they ran out of fuel? Or what?
My earlier comments on a more serious example of the same bulshytt can be found here.
Aren't you glad to read something that has nothing to do with Donald Trump?
Now That You Mention It…
The more fervent Trump supporters sometimes accuse open-borders proponents of trying to replace the current American population. I didn't think that was a good idea until now … but I just might change my mind after reading enough of their bulshytt.
In a related story, Robin Hanson tweets:
Lecturing unhappy voters that Trump is bad boy is as effective as lecturing your rebel daughter not to date bad boys overcomingbias.com/2016/03/cant-s…
and
Enjoy your "I was right" speeches while raising her bad boy son as she lives w/ you at home.
The effect of promoting Planned Parenthood in pro-Trump areas will be left as an exercise. I'm not supporting that because we cannot use the Ring …
Update on Approval Voting
A few years ago, I suggested that the Republicans should adopt approval voting. I suspect that if approval voting had been adopted, Ted Cruz would be the Republican candidate this year on the strength of the Trump–Cruz and Rubio–Cruz voters. I doubt if there would be that many Trump–Rubio voters.
What Is Chris Christie Thinking?
- I did WHAT?
- So THAT'S what a mess of pottage tastes like…
- What's Morse code for “Get me out of here!”
- Did he really boil water with his finger?
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