Quote:vorticity wrote:Well, my main concern is Trump's coherent policies (or lack thereof). Trump may not be a racist monster but he has the support of racists. his belated disavowal not withstanding. and I will note that once we start getting into the cult of personality for politicians, authoritarian forms o government will not be far behind.
This was not SA's best post. I do read his blog but this one was hard for me to get through.
@Black Aeronaut: SA has talked about how he uses content warnings as a way to prime his target audience. Because of this reaction, you are not his target audience for this post. Also if you want to comment, just go to one of his open threads that we all know about.
@ordnance11: He is a mental health expert, currently in his last year of residency as a psychiatrist.
@robkelk: It is funny how self-styled rationalists often need to learn critical thinking techniques, isn't it? I think the argument here could have been better phrased as "attacking Trump on the wrong things makes it harder to convince opponents, so attack him on the right things instead." Unfortunately his campaign was near 0% substance so it's hard to find "the right things" right now. And I honestly feel like Hillary's campaign represents the limits of logic -- without emotion one cannot win a political argument.
@Logan Darklighter: Unfortunately you're right that Trump is not a racist monster, he's just an ordinary monster who views all humans as beneath him. While this is not the end of the world, it is the end of a long era of political decency (and no that is not an oxymoron). If we're not careful, our children will grow up thinking that is OK for an adult to act like he does.
If you're interested in a good post by Scott Alexander, I recommend Meditations on Moloch. Despite the fact he's an atheist, this post managed to convince me that the Devil is real (which was probably not the intent but...) Content warning: postmodernism, AI, Carthage, fishing permits, poetry (his list is funnier)
@ Logan: Trump's claiming that Clinton won the popular vote by voter fraud means he are not just crying wolf. the wolf is inside the door.
__________________
Into terror!, Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell