Commentary

Video vs. text

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged literacy SanityProject video on by

At their best, videos are a great source of information. They let you see events and look at the faces of people advancing their aims. But when it comes to analyzing and evaluating an issue, they’re a poor substitute for text. With the decline in reading by Americans, this is a serious concern.

The shift from large screens and paper materials to phones helps to explain the popularity of videos. It’s hard to read text on a pocket-sized screen. People often listen to videos more than they watch them. Or they half-listen while doing other things. This isn’t good for developing informed opinions.
(more…)

Rewriting the news in place

This entry was posted in Commentary News and tagged fake news journalism on by

This weekend I was informed of a truly outrageous statement by Karoline Leavitt. At least it would have been truly outrageous if it were true, but it now looks like fake news. A response I got on Bluesky pointed at an article on the news aggregator Newsbreak, with the headline “Karoline Leavitt shocks as she tells press ‘Jesus didn’t have electricity either’.” This seemed outrageous even for the Trump team; it wouldn’t fit their line to admit that tariffs could result in privations. I checked for confirmation and found an MSN article with the same claim. This made me think it was reliable. I was wrong.
(more…)

Vigilante violence for tolerance?

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged ethics liberty Massachusetts on by

Lately I’ve been dealing with some people on Bluesky who advocate violence against people whose ideas are sufficiently repugnant. One of them, a supposed “libertarian,” cited Popper’s “paradox of tolerance” at me, then descended into outright trolling when I linked to my article on the topic in response. I immediately blocked him, of course.

Laws restricting which ideas may be freely expressed are bad enough. Direct violence by individuals or mobs won’t have so broad an effect, but the outcomes in individual cases may be worse. Let’s look at the threats allegedly made by John Reardon of Millis, Massachusetts. According to the DoJ release, called a Jewish synagogue and reportedly said: “You do realize that by supporting genocide that means it’s ok for people to commit genocide against you.” “With supporting the killing of innocent little children, that means it’s OK to kill your children.” “End the genocide, or it is time to end Israel and all the Jews.”
(more…)

Peak insanity day

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged politics Trump on by

Today insanity peaks in the US as we come to coronation — I mean inauguration — day. It should take no more than an hour to get the necessary people together and administer the oath of office, but then people might think the president is a mere chief executive rather than a monarch. (Though these days monarchs usually have less power than the president of the US. So do the chief executives of most relatively free countries.) The imperial presidency is a distinctively American feature, having more in common with authoritarian states like Russia and China.
(more…)

The “Paradox of Tolerance” swindle 1

This entry was posted in Censorship Commentary and tagged censorship liberty philosophy on by

“Paradox of Tolerance” is a favorite slogan of censorship advocates. Most often they drop the words in a discussion without elaboration to give the impression they’ve said something profound. Some will mention its connection to Karl Popper. Few will cite his words, since they’re actually opposed to censorship.

The words in question are from a footnote in The Open Society and Its Enemies. The footnote is a bit unclear; Popper was adding a passing thought, not a polished commentary. Here are the words:
(more…)