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208 points henrijn | 5 comments | | HN request time: 0.209s | source
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richrichie[dead post] ◴[] No.42160087[source]
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UltraSane ◴[] No.42160100[source]
As opposed to extremely dishonest far-right grifters like Twitter is now?
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stormfather ◴[] No.42160168[source]
The far-right thinks the far-left is dishonest and vice versa. They're both correct. It's all so tiresome.
replies(2): >>42160200 #>>42163191 #
UltraSane ◴[] No.42163191[source]
Nope. What is tiresome is constantly seeing how much the right lies and then lies about how much they lie. Trump told over 30,000 lies while President the FIRST time and still got re-elected.
replies(1): >>42165875 #
stormfather ◴[] No.42165875{3}[source]
Do you sincerely think the left doesn't lie also?
replies(1): >>42166560 #
UltraSane ◴[] No.42166560{4}[source]
Not NEARLY as much as the right. Lying on the right has become an entire industry.

Oh, and this "everyone lies all the time so we can't know what is true" is a very Russian narrative called The Firehose of Falshoods.

replies(1): >>42169039 #
stormfather ◴[] No.42169039{5}[source]
Whichever side you think lies the most depends on which echo chamber you spend time in. I can think of numerous lies from the left. The Biden laptop thing, Trump said he wants to off Liz Cheney, the fine people thing, etc. If you think one side monopolizes lying you are lost.
replies(1): >>42169876 #
1. UltraSane ◴[] No.42169876{6}[source]
Notice how there is not an equivalent of Alex Jones on the left? The right is fundamentally more gullible. That is why there are so many wealthy grifters on the right like Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson, etc. And they just don't seem to care as much about what is objectively true and false or about logical consistency. It is immensely frustrating.

This article is a good explanation of why this epidemic of grifters has taken over conservatism in the US.

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/08/05/joe-conason-on-how-...

Deception is central to the contemporary right for two reasons. One is that they’ve discovered, over a long period, that it is highly profitable to mobilize people’s fears and resentments around mythical issues. You can pull in vast sums of money from the right-wing base. The second reason is that facts don’t work for them. It is very hard, at this point, to make arguments on behalf of their positions that are fact-based. They push lies, conspiracy theories, fantastical inventions that support their ideological positions. To take one example, there is an idea that the minimum wage costs jobs. Not true. It’s been debunked. No respectable economist believes it. Or if you cut taxes, you’ll generate economic growth. Not true. It’s been disproven over again. So, they rely on falsehoods. Now, it is the “global elite” that is responsible for our problems—the faceless people at Davos. There is a large cohort of Americans who you can deceive with these myths.

replies(1): >>42172735 #
2. stormfather ◴[] No.42172735[source]
Your two examples of "lies, conspiracy theories, fantastical inventions" were that minimum wage wage costs jobs and that tax cuts generate growth. You are under the impression that there is broad economic consensus on these assertions to the point that they are "proven" false. Just from some cursory searching this doesn't seem to be the case. For instance:

""" Steve Kaplan of Chicago Booth strongly agreed that raising the wage would adversely affect the unemployment rate: “A $15 minimum wage rise makes entry level/low wage jobs very expensive. It would move the US to be more like France, Italy, etc.”

David Autor of MIT disagreed: “I don’t think the evidence supports the bold prediction that employment will be substantially lower. Not impossible, but no strong evidence.”

And Oliver Hart of Harvard was uncertain: “I worry that it will, but we don’t know enough. Firms may raise prices and the Fed may accommodate some inflation. But the change is large.” """ [1]

And from NPR on tax cuts: """ Many — but by no means all— economists believe there's a relationship between cuts and growth. In a 2012 survey of top economists, the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business found that 35 percent thought cutting taxes would boost economic growth. A roughly equal share, 35 percent, were uncertain. Only 8 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed. """ [2]

It doesn't seem like these things are as proven as you think they are. I encourage you to step out of your echo chamber and challenge your ideas more, and try to be less partisan in your analysis.

1. https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/what-economists-think-ab... 2. https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/30/45290...

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3. UltraSane ◴[] No.42176576[source]
I really hate the fact that we live in a world where people object to raising the $7.50 minimum wage while a single man is worth more than $200 billion.
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4. stormfather ◴[] No.42176849{3}[source]
Well that is something we agree on. Minimum wage should be livable and pegged to inflation, and the reason its not is because the rich have too much power.
replies(1): >>42180742 #
5. UltraSane ◴[] No.42180742{4}[source]
Pegging minimum wage to inflation would cause a feed back loop. I think it should be set to average rental prices in the city the job is in. 40 hours of after tax minimum wage wages should be 1 month's rent for a one bedroom apartment.