BREAKING: It's all anthropology now, says Drum!

TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2018

With gusto, the analysts cheer:
In spite of all the scarping and scrapping, you'll have to admit that we've had a good effect on our favorite blogger, Kevin Drum.

As we've frequently said, we think Drum's work on the effects of lead exposure is the best body of erudition to emerge from the web—with the exception of our own disappeared mountain of work on the press corps' 25-year war on Clinton, Clinton and Gore.

For Drum's hard-copy Mother Jones cover report on the effects of lead, you can just click here. Today, though, we can go that one better:

In this new post, Drum comes out and states a larger truth:

It's all anthropology now! Also, our floundering species, homo sapiens, just plain ain't up to the task!

Drum focuses on a recent, highly inaccurate claim by a D.C. council member. In our view, that claim is part of the biggest "news story"/revelation to emerge in the past thirty years.

That revelation involves the remarkable monster dumbness of our failing species. It involves the crazy things we tend to believe, and the hopelessness of improving the situation under current arrangements.

Why are we doomed to death by crazy belief? Below, we'll list three answers:
Why we're doomed to death by crazy belief:
Talk radio
Cable news
The Internet
Youngsters, please understand! Before these media came into existence, it was actually fairly hard to hear crazy assertions.

You had to go to the corner bar and sidle up to the craziest drunk. You had to send away, by U.S. mail, to crazy organizations like the Birch Society.

In those days, it was actually hard to hear crazy claims. Today, the promulgation of crazy claims is a major industry. It's practiced all over the dial and all across the partisan spectrum.

Conservatives hear crazy claims, but we liberals hear crazy claims too. Did you realize that Public School A is a "segregated school?" Did you know that the disturbed, money-grubbing Stephanie Clifford is a "feminist hero" who wants to share a "#MeToo story?"

We liberals are exposed to such claims every day. We're too dumb to see how crazy they are, though most other folk can this quite clearly.

Our craziest claim is the one which Hillary Clinton won't stop making. We're not unlike the gullible "conservatives" who can't see through the crazy claims Sean Hannity makes Over There.

The Crazy isn't all Over There! At last, though, Drum has copped to the era's central fact:

Our species isn't made for this challenge. Under present arrangements, we're simply too dumb to be self-governing. Too dumb all the way down!

As stated on C-Span: On February 23, Robert Reich made a presentation about his new book, The Common Good, at Harvard University. Thanks to the wonders of C-Span, you can watch the whole hour here.

At the 48-minute mark, Reich fielded a question from a LaRouche supporter. As the audience hoots, Reich shows genuine moral brilliance in the way he responds to this young woman.

The next questioner was a bit unusual too. Again, Reich was quite eloquent in his approach to this man.

At the 45-minute mark, a man had asked Reich about our technological problem. "I was interested in, heartened to hear about your optimism for a new progressive era," he said. "I just want to ask—it seems to me there are some systematic issues that are very different now."

He mentioned three "systematic differences." One of the three was this:

"The Facebook phenomenon, we go to the media we understand, that will reinforce us."

"Given those differences, how can you be optimistic?" this man asked. Regarding the splintering of the media, we thought he asked a very good question—the only real question, in fact.

It was a question Reich didn't address, except in his later moral example. That said, there is no sign that our system of government can survive under current arrangements, in which The Crazy is big business, sold all across the dial.

67 comments:

  1. ""Given those differences, how can you be optimistic?" this man asked."

    I don't see any reason to be optimistic with or without "the Facebook phenomenon", which, in reality, is not all that different from any 'conventional wisdom' propagated through church, family, and other social mechanisms.

    However, people tend to figure things out eventually, and so every kind of bullshit has the expiration date.

    Specifically, lib-zombie bullshit is at its last throes already, on account of its drastic dissonance with the universe.

    ReplyDelete
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  2. Another problem today is that we don't have a reliable source of truth. The New York Times once served that purpose. The New Yorker magazine was noted for its fact-checking. Now, these and other sources are all suspect, due to a combination of carelessness, lack of professionalism, and too much focus on the preferred narrative.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. We should all watch Fox News to avoid carelessness, lack of professionalism and too much focus on the preferred narrative. Far better than that rag, the NYT.

      Delete
    2. “Another problem today is that we don't have a reliable source of truth.”

      Like the balderdash-on-a-stick that you routinely post here? Boy, you are one to talk. Every fucking sentence you post is twisted and contorted like a 10-pound bucket of gummy worms then spun like cotton candy in order to confirm your self-serving worldview. Take some truth serum and go re-read your last 20 comments, Abe Lincoln.

      And you really expect anybody to believe you care about truth? Is that why you daily apologize for the heavyweight best-in-show lying champion of the universe, while at the same time, out of the other side of your mouth, admonishing everybody for having the audacity to take Trump’s words “literally.”

      Delete
  3. "Why we're doomed to death by crazy belief:
    Talk radio
    Cable news
    The Internet"

    I would add: The gullibility or willful ignorance of human beings would allow those three things to be effective. Also, it's probably not true that people were generally better informed or less gullible in the "good old days" of the "gatekeepers"...getting access to information was far harder then, and those "gatekeepers" had their own vested interests in controlling access to information. But I do agree that the spread of false information has been greatly accelerated by the three entities that Somerby lists.

    Now I would urge Somerby to think about what he has said here. He is on the right track. But he ought to modify his statements, such as the one he made yesterday, that accuse liberals of being in large part responsible for the downfall of our civilization. That is unfair. Talk radio, cable news, the Internet are non-partisan. They carry right wing lies as well as left wing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Youngsters, please understand! Before these media came into existence, it was actually fairly hard to hear crazy assertions. "

    Actually, we all heard crazy statements all the time from friends and neighbors, coworkers, people at church. We didn't need media to hear crazy things and these weren't being said by any drunk in a bar. Every day people believed crazy stuff then and they do now. They go to these media sources to hear their preexisting beliefs validated, not to find out what to think.

    What is the crazy statement that Hillary keeps making? She is as far from crazy as someone can get, in my opinion, so making a remark like that without stating what she is supposed to have said, is dirty. But we know how Somerby operates, don't we now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's hot hard to figure to figure out what the crazy claim Clinton keeps making is. It's the claim that Trump supporters were driven by racism and misogyny. She rehashed her deplorables claim in an interview or a speech or something in India. And of course as sure as day, as sure as night, the GOP is using it as fodder to bring people out and vote against Democrats.

      It's just another example of her absolutely abysmal, piss poor political instincts.

      She was even forced to go on to Facebook and write a blathering, almost unreadable apology!

      https://www.facebook.com/hillaryclinton/posts/1863136670409520

      Dearest God in high heaven, please please please get that political idiot completely out of the public eye for good. For all of our good!

      I realize a lot of people here really like her a lot and thinks she is a great politician light on flaws and politically savvy. It's situations like these where she gives the GOP ammunition that feeds other people, other Democrats, to diverge with that sunny outlook

      Delete
    2. That's not really what she said, Anon 5:58. But keep believing.

      Delete
    3. @5:58 -- you do know she isn't a politician any more, right?

      Delete
    4. Trump is a liar and a thief.
      And Putin's bitch.

      Delete
    5. 'Thirty percent of the people that voted for Donald Trump had voted for President Obama"

      Goodness, is that true?

      Delete
    6. 6:05

      This is her tone deaf, politically bumbling quote that once again showed us both her extremely reckless and poor instincts and got us all into trouble again:

      “His whole campaign, ‘Make America Great Again,’ was looking backward,” she said. “You know, you didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women getting jobs, you don’t want to see that Indian-American succeeding more than you are, whatever your problem is, I’m going to solve it.”

      That statement is hurting us in elections that are going on right now.

      Guys, we have to learn not to play the race card like that. We have to be smarter.

      Delete
    7. Yes many many many many many many Obama voters voted for Trump.

      Both times, they want to change to the status quo. By both candidates, they were promised change to the status quo.

      In a way you can look at that and see that one of the biggest reasons Trump won was Obama.

      He gave people hope and didn't follow through. He promised change and didn't follow through.

      Then along comes the hapless, bumbling Hillary Clinton and her gimp like political instincts which was bad enough in and of itself but to have to follow a president from the same party that made promises to change the status quo and didn't made her job really difficult. All it took was for a good con man to come along and make the same types of promises and yeah, of course they were went for it. When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose.

      People out there hate the Establishment. The status quo. They'll vote against it. Even when it's against their own interests.

      Obama played that card and took it all the way to the presidency but he didn't follow through.

      Trump did the same.

      People ain't buying the same old sing song and dance.

      You guys don't see it. You're unwary and naive. You're literally losers. You love losing. You are hardly even men. You don't realize your power or value. You take up causes for groups of minorities that you think are weak because you yourselves think of yourself as weak. Which is true. You are.

      Fuck you .

      Delete
    8. Well, if that is what Bob is talking about, Clinton was very specifically talking about Trump’s acceptance of far right nationalists. Bob used to believe you base what you say on what someone actually said....

      Delete
    9. "Clinton was very specifically talking about Trump’s acceptance of far right nationalists." Sorry, I didn't realize that.

      In this quote Clinton was very specifically talking about Trump’s acceptance of far right nationalists?

      “His whole campaign, ‘Make America Great Again,’ was looking backward,” she said. “You know, you didn’t like black people getting rights, you don’t like women getting jobs, you don’t want to see that Indian-American succeeding more than you are, whatever your problem is, I’m going to solve it.”

      I didn't realize that was very specifically talking about Trump’s acceptance of far right nationalists.

      Thanks for pointing that out.

      Delete
    10. Anon 3:47 as usual missing the forest for the trees. Now we hear Trump EVERY DAMN DAY from his Twitter castle. That’s much, much different than “…from friends and neighbors, coworkers, people at church.”

      Anyway, I did view Bob’s recommendation to view the C-Span bit – at around 48:00 – and it was good.

      This is the last time I respond to a cowardly anon, which only has value to me of course. At least the Mao's and DinC's have the courage to identify themselves, despite what I consider to be their dim views.

      Leroy

      Delete
    11. Last time I identified myself someone here called me a cunt. I don't identify myself because women attract much more vitriolic commenting than men do. I think your targeting of me is an example of that, but I could be wrong. You haven't singled anyone else out, however. Women online get death threats. It is part of how women are kept in their place in our society, shut out of participation in mainstream stuff, even if it is a soggy blog like this one. So, no thank, I think I will stick with Anon so you bros have to work a little harder to figure out how to harass.

      Delete
    12. Troll Anon @ 7:36 - neither Somerby nor any of the commenters before you said that 30@ of Trump voters previously voted for Obama, yet you represented this as a quote. You work in the same office with Mao?

      Gerber - what is "many, many, many, many, many, many" numerically? Are you familiar with the term "Clinton Derangement Syndrome" or are you just working for a living like 7:36?

      From centerforpolitics.org:

      "Different sources offer varying estimates of Obama 2012-Trump 2016 voters. The ANES found that about 13% of all Trump voters cast a ballot for Obama in 2012. Meanwhile, the CCES found a slightly smaller figure of around 11%. Lastly, the UVA Center for Politics poll found that about 15% of Trump voters claimed to have backed Obama four years earlier."



      Delete
    13. Typo: 30%, not 30@.

      Delete
    14. 9:12 PM,

      If you were concerned that using a pseudonym would subject you to abuse because you're a female why wouldn't you take a moment to figure out you could use as gender neutral a pseudonym as "anonymous" or one that suggests you're a male?

      Delete
    15. Not cmike

      "Thirty percent of the people that voted for Donald Trump had voted for President Obama. Why?” Durbin told “Fox News Sunday.“

      It's a quote from a prominent Democrat who was lamenting Hillary had characterizing voters who cast ballots for President Donald Trump as xenophobic and misogynistic.

      Just because we Democrats are getting absolutely hammered because of the stupid remarks right now.

      he was just pointing out how unhelpful and stupid it was of her to say those things which is what Bob's point was when he mentioned it in this post.

      "not helpful at all,” Durbin said.

      https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.politico.com/amp/story/2018/03/18/durbin-hillary-clinton-trump-voters-469912


      Delete
    16. But yes, I've never seen that 30% figure verified. It seems like much more than I've heard before.

      Delete
    17. Maybe he was speaking about constituents within his specific jurisdiction

      Delete
    18. Yesterday, Traitor Trump called the murdering despot, Uncle Vova, to congratulate for murdering his rivals and lick his balls. I don't think Bubba dumbfuck sitting in those diners in WV will actually give a flying fuck. But here we sit attacking the woman who should be president, who was targeted by that very same murdering thug in the Kremlin. Excuse me if just tell you all to go fuck yourselves. Clinton spoke the truth.

      Delete
    19. She made a mistake man. Another mistake. That's why she had to go on Facebook and apologize and try to spin it.

      Delete
    20. CMike, I used the name Perry.

      Delete
    21. Not cmike - According to the estimates you have furnished here the numeric figure of people who voted for change they could believe in and also later voted to make America great again is many many many many many many many people. Between 7 and 9 million.

      Yes I have heard of CDS. We have lived through it for a long time haven't we?

      Delete
    22. (I meant that word in the Irish way. Man to man.)

      You're surprisingly dumb for a girl though.

      Delete
    23. 9:12, she didn't apologize. It's very interesting, every time this intelligent woman speaks, Chuck Todd gets his panties in a wad. Too fucking bad.

      *****************
      Trump’s message was dark and backwards looking. I don’t need to list the reasons, but the foundation of his message, “Make America Great AGAIN” suggests that to be great we have to go back to something we are no longer. I never accepted that and never will.

      I'm from the Midwest. I had plans that, had I been elected, would have focused on the real needs of hard-working yet struggling Americans in every part of the country. Raising the minimum wage. Paid leave. Affordable college. Affordable, quality health care for everyone. Training for good jobs that don’t require a college degree. And giving workers a larger share of corporate profits and tax cuts. So far, Donald Trump has done nothing positive to ease the pain of the people who most strongly supported him, from the loss of jobs in coal country to the opioid epidemic to the tax bill that increases the debt by $1.5 trillion with a massive corporate tax cut, only 13% of which went to workers in the form of bonuses or pay raises.
      ***************

      Delete
    24. She didn't apologize .youre y right. Let me rephrase .
      She made a mistake man. Another mistake. That's why she had to go on Facebook and explain her remarks and try to spin them as they were cosying Democrats votes.

      Delete
    25. Earth to Leroy and CMike - you're using pseudonyms!

      Delete
    26. They fell for right-wing memes, and now they want to blame it on Hillary Clinton. Blaming a woman for their screw-ups is all men have left. Even a clueless moron, like Ben Carson, knows that.

      Delete
    27. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    28. 1:14 PM,

      Congratulations for being able to figure this out, CMike is a pseudonym. I use it threads not to apply for a loan or give directions to my house. Instead, it's used used so that different readers can keep track of what I am saying throughout a given thread, and from thread to thread. (I'd use my actual name but when I first showed up on the internet there were a lot of other people using it all ready, and it belongs to several people in the news and in public affairs in the D.C. area. For the record it's, Michael Cohen- but, for instance, I'm definitely not one of those Michael Cohens who has ever negotiated a non-disclosure agreement.)

      When several people use the identifier "anonymous" it becomes difficult to follow what each of their arguments is and to figure out if they are speaking with any consistency. It is also burdensome in the sense that you can not, at a glance, determine if this is a contributor you can skip over because what they write is invariably a waste of time to read.

      Anybody who gets in the habit of seeing my pseudonym at the top of my comments and decides to ignore them won't be hurting my feelings at all. I'd just like those of you who repeatedly comment here to make that same time saving option available to me.

      Delete
    29. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    30. 9:18 AM,

      You make an effective point then (whether or not we're willing to credit, in any way, 10:03 AM's claim that he did not think he was addressing a female.) I apologize for suggesting it was possible you couldn't figure out how to use a gender neutral pseudonym or one implying you're a male in order to minimize the tendency on the part of some to dismiss what you have to say or to hurl abuse in your direction. I should have assumed you understood that was an option available to you.

      That said, Digby was able to write for years with a pseudonym and without being identified as a female. I do hear it said that males in comment threads are abusive to female contributors, but at the sites I frequent, I haven't seen much of that over the course of fifteen or so years now.

      Delete
    31. Perry, glad you identified yourself, and you shouldn’t be afraid of that in a forum such as this. You do have a distinctive way of writing, I thought maybe I recognized you, and I understand why you would recoil from the vitriol you’ve encountered. But look at DinC! mm has been tearing him to tatters for lo these many years, and DinC just plods on. As Hitchens described himself, he has a broad back, meaning he can take it, and he doesn’t give a damn what people say about him.

      I often agree with some of your stuff, but we’re both visiting a website that has dedicated itself to media criticism, however flawed the analyses might be, and so I look to the comments in the same critical way. And so I’ve taken issue with some of your comments. Don’t take it personally. Because there’s great value, to me anyway, in dialogue. Lord knows I’ve been handed my ass a coupla times.

      Leroy

      Delete
    32. If this was a "media criticism" site, the author would question why the media has tried to wave away the Trump bigotry, and instead continue to use one failed excuse after another for Trump's election.

      Delete
    33. Apology accepted CMike.

      Delete
    34. BTW:

      Republican presidential nominees' vote totals:

      Bush
      2004: 62,040,610
      McCain
      2008: 59,948,323
      Romney
      2012: 60,933,504
      Trump
      2016: 62,984,825

      Democratic presidential nominees' vote totals:

      Kerry
      2004: 59,028,444
      Obama
      2008: 69,498,516
      Obama
      2012: 65,915,795
      Clinton
      2016: 65,853,516

      Turnout of voter-aged population in presidential elections:

      2004: 55.7%
      2008: 58.2%
      2012: 54.9%
      2016: 55.5%

      Data from the Wikipedia articles: United States presidential election, 2004; United States presidential election, 2008; United States presidential election, 2012; United States presidential election, 2016; and Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections LINK

      Delete
    35. Digby got worse treatment after she came out. Ask her about it — or look up what she wrote about the before-after difference.

      No one has ever called David in CA a cunt, a word I find objectionable no matter what happens in the UK.

      If you can identify my style, I don’t need a nym. Say good-bye to Perry.

      Delete
  5. "It's all anthropology now, says Drum!"

    Well, that isn't really what Kevin is saying.

    His blog covers every possible issue, including "The Pennsylvania Gerrymandering Case Is Over. The Good Guys Won."
    "Science® Says Mitch McConnell Is the Most Hated Politician in America"
    "Raise the Minimum Wage!"

    These and many others show his constant engagement in current issues and support of liberal causes.

    I don't think Drum has ceased caring, nor has he become a blase "anthropologist" merely content to enumerate the foibles of mankind.

    He also, like dearest Rachel, blogs about himself:
    "Health Update"
    "Lunchtime Photo"
    "Friday Cat Blogging – 16 March 2018"

    Oh, and he covered Stormy Daniels:
    "Stormygate Continues to Move Forward, Inches at a Time

    Michael Cohen Says He’s the One Who Paid the Hush Money to Stormy Daniels. Just Because.

    Here’s Yet Another Confirmation of the Donald/Stormy Hookup

    Why Did Slate Protect Trump’s Hush Money Secret?"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nor does Drum spend 3/4 of his time calling liberals dumb, lazy, and immoral.

      Delete
  6. I agree with AnonymousMarch 20, 2018 at 3:47 PM
    up to a point.

    In the old days, depending on who you hung out with, you might not have heard lots of crazy nonsense. Nowadays, the crazy is amplified by the internet, and is much more accessible to all of us. It's hard these days not to be bombarded by the undifferentiated jumble of truth/lies, madness/sanity. Human nature hasn't fundamentally changed because of the internet, but the constant barrage of noise might be amplifying certain aspects of ourselves in harmful ways, causing heightened stress, and perhaps a greater tendency to tribalize, especially if we are constantly exposed to partisan ranting. In that sense, Somerby is right. (I do wish he would quit blaming liberals for everything, though).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Although, in 1860, we had the ultimate tribalization, resulting in 600,000+ dead. And all without a TV, radio, cell phone, or computer in sight.

      Delete
  7. From Wikipedia:

    "Anthropology is the study of humans and human behaviour and societies in the past and present. Social anthropology and cultural anthropology study the norms and values of societies. Linguistic anthropology studies how language affects social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the biological development of humans"

    I don't know any actual anthropologist who would call human behavior crazy or mock the cultures they were studying. Anthropologists aren't concerned with human oddity. They develop theories about human behavior and development from the perspective that humans are first of all human and it is possible to know what being human means. They are scientists. They don't observe others and label their behavior as odd, as Somerby does and then blames it on us all. I wish he would stop maligning a legitimate social science with real insights that are nothing like Somerby's rants.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bob dislikes the term “false equivalence.” Here we see why.

    ReplyDelete
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  17. 5 years ago I had warts, I was treated with some liquid applied to the warts they continued to grow and spread... The next 2 doctors did laser surgery to remove them. 1 year after the surgery, they grew back close to where the 1st ones were' so I was finally told it was hpv. I have had it for very long time, I contract it from my cheated boyfriend and I found out he was also infected and I end up the relationship between us. the warts was so embarrasses because it started spreading all over I have be dealing with this things for very long time the last treatment I take was About 2 years ago I applied natural treatment from Dr onokun herbal cure, a week after applying the treatment all the warts was gone. it's now 2 years and some months I don't have single wart or any symptoms of hpv. wow"" it's great, Dr onokun has finally cured me. Anyone living with hpv contact Dr onokun for natural treatment.
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    ReplyDelete
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