For similar reasons (I certainly prefer the candidates to win but abhor the tactics), as these appeals increasingly were sent to me via texts at all hours of the day I initially simply blocked the number, but eventually resorted to blocking and reporting spam, because that is what they are, even if in support of a product that I hope to thrive.
The technique you describe so well here could have been developed by whoever told car dealers they could convince me to buy a car by yelling at me in their TV ads.
Yes, but. The thing is, money is the lifeblood of politics. Most people think of politicians as policy wonks and/or righteous warriors for the cause. As with so many other issues, most people are wrong. Politics is about raising vast sums of money, money that pays for data crunchers, ad buys, speech writers, advance teams, did I mention ad buys?, opposition research, printing, galas and other fundraisers for big givers, and so much more. It all costs lots and lots of money.
In our esteemed nation people usually get as much medical care as they can afford. If they sue or get sued or get arrested, they get as much legal representation as they can afford. And in both cases by "most" I really mean "best". It is much the same in politics. S/he with the biggest war chest usually wins. They get the most air time. They get the most social media eyes. They send the most mailers. And they win by far the most elections.
True, sometimes one finds such an egregious dipstick in a race that there just ain't enough money, but those are rarities. There are few candidates as rancidly bad as J.D. Vance, the hillbilly elegist. Yet as of this writing Nate Silver has Vance walking away with 52.1% of the vote *and* a piney wood, three-legged stool on the United States Senate floor. Cha-ching, y'all. His opponent Tim Ryan raised a hair over $9 million in the second quarter, about 4 times as much as Vance. But then good ole Mitch McConnell turtled-trotted in with a $28 million ad buy a couple of weeks ago to even the score and raise the hell out of the stakes. In yo' face plus a dolla, G.
Money talks. And wins elections. Losers walk and go home to write policy papers. And so it goes.
Edited to add: And the politicians raise money in the hideous huckstering way that they do for one simple reason. It works better than the other ways they've tried.
Most people are not engaged enough or care enough for this shit to NOT work. A lesson as old as the Roman republic. Money+Politics=We’re All Fucked. That’s just how it is. Learn from Marcus Aurelius, a Roman EMPEROR, and try to enjoy life while you’ve got it. Control what you can to make a small part of it better. Walk in the woods. Turn off your brain. Try to understand quantum physics. Whatever gives you joy... That’s the best we got.
I feel lucky to be an old man. The world seems to be embracing a hard tilt toward authoritarianism - India, Brazil, Russia, China, Hungary, Italy, and even Sweden. And of course neofascism in America. We cannot seem to be content to have rising standards of living nearly everywhere and to have relative peace across the globe.
I have long argued that homo is not a species built to last. We have never managed to embrace an epistemology that eschews our basest instincts and celebrates our intellect, we have never managed to elevate reason above id. Like god the adolescent, stoked on testosterone and driving daddy's Lamborghini, we've pressed the pedal to the metal, self-impressed with what we can do, oblivious to what we should (and shouldn't) do.
And so I do as you suggest other than the "turn off your brain" part. Turning off our collective brain has gotten us to this wretched juncture.
Completely agree Windriven. Very well put. “Turn of your brain” was a poor statement on my part and not what I advocate. A better way to put it would be “turn off the anxiety promoting <noise> over which we have no control.” Contemplating quantum physics certainly takes all of my brain and more to enjoy!
Democrats... Liberals... Intellectuals... all ceding the moral high ground at a break-neck pace these days. Trumpism is the worst, but I’m excited about no one. No one... Super sad stuff.
For similar reasons (I certainly prefer the candidates to win but abhor the tactics), as these appeals increasingly were sent to me via texts at all hours of the day I initially simply blocked the number, but eventually resorted to blocking and reporting spam, because that is what they are, even if in support of a product that I hope to thrive.
The technique you describe so well here could have been developed by whoever told car dealers they could convince me to buy a car by yelling at me in their TV ads.
Yes, but. The thing is, money is the lifeblood of politics. Most people think of politicians as policy wonks and/or righteous warriors for the cause. As with so many other issues, most people are wrong. Politics is about raising vast sums of money, money that pays for data crunchers, ad buys, speech writers, advance teams, did I mention ad buys?, opposition research, printing, galas and other fundraisers for big givers, and so much more. It all costs lots and lots of money.
In our esteemed nation people usually get as much medical care as they can afford. If they sue or get sued or get arrested, they get as much legal representation as they can afford. And in both cases by "most" I really mean "best". It is much the same in politics. S/he with the biggest war chest usually wins. They get the most air time. They get the most social media eyes. They send the most mailers. And they win by far the most elections.
True, sometimes one finds such an egregious dipstick in a race that there just ain't enough money, but those are rarities. There are few candidates as rancidly bad as J.D. Vance, the hillbilly elegist. Yet as of this writing Nate Silver has Vance walking away with 52.1% of the vote *and* a piney wood, three-legged stool on the United States Senate floor. Cha-ching, y'all. His opponent Tim Ryan raised a hair over $9 million in the second quarter, about 4 times as much as Vance. But then good ole Mitch McConnell turtled-trotted in with a $28 million ad buy a couple of weeks ago to even the score and raise the hell out of the stakes. In yo' face plus a dolla, G.
Money talks. And wins elections. Losers walk and go home to write policy papers. And so it goes.
Edited to add: And the politicians raise money in the hideous huckstering way that they do for one simple reason. It works better than the other ways they've tried.
Most people are not engaged enough or care enough for this shit to NOT work. A lesson as old as the Roman republic. Money+Politics=We’re All Fucked. That’s just how it is. Learn from Marcus Aurelius, a Roman EMPEROR, and try to enjoy life while you’ve got it. Control what you can to make a small part of it better. Walk in the woods. Turn off your brain. Try to understand quantum physics. Whatever gives you joy... That’s the best we got.
I feel lucky to be an old man. The world seems to be embracing a hard tilt toward authoritarianism - India, Brazil, Russia, China, Hungary, Italy, and even Sweden. And of course neofascism in America. We cannot seem to be content to have rising standards of living nearly everywhere and to have relative peace across the globe.
I have long argued that homo is not a species built to last. We have never managed to embrace an epistemology that eschews our basest instincts and celebrates our intellect, we have never managed to elevate reason above id. Like god the adolescent, stoked on testosterone and driving daddy's Lamborghini, we've pressed the pedal to the metal, self-impressed with what we can do, oblivious to what we should (and shouldn't) do.
And so I do as you suggest other than the "turn off your brain" part. Turning off our collective brain has gotten us to this wretched juncture.
Completely agree Windriven. Very well put. “Turn of your brain” was a poor statement on my part and not what I advocate. A better way to put it would be “turn off the anxiety promoting <noise> over which we have no control.” Contemplating quantum physics certainly takes all of my brain and more to enjoy!
Democrats... Liberals... Intellectuals... all ceding the moral high ground at a break-neck pace these days. Trumpism is the worst, but I’m excited about no one. No one... Super sad stuff.