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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe fact-free laziness of centrism
One of the problems with horse race journalism is not just that it's content-free. It's also that by continually focusing on power and the perceptions of power, the muddling of fact into opinion creates an environment wherein both sides of the mythical "center" of the parties are seen as equally extreme.
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It matters that conservatives have been proven wrong about the relationship between deficits and inflation. It matters that conservatives have been proven wrong about climate change. It matters that countries with single-payer healthcare have better care at lower cost. It matters that treating minorities as human beings with equal rights does not cause society to fall apart. It matters that supply side economic theory has been proven to be a disaster. It matters that record corporate profits and low effective tax rates are accompanying high unemployment, killing all conservative claims about economic realities in any fair debate. It matters that blue states tend to be socially and economically happier than red ones. It matters that income inequality is damaging to a country's economic future, and that retirement programs for the elderly can easily be paid for by taking what amounts to pocket change in taxes from the wealthiest Americans.
These things matter. Facts are important. Without a grounding in fact, all politics looks like a battle of the center against the extremes of both sides. But that's an incredibly lazy and ignorant way to look at the world.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-fact-free-laziness-of-centrism-by.html
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It matters that conservatives have been proven wrong about the relationship between deficits and inflation. It matters that conservatives have been proven wrong about climate change. It matters that countries with single-payer healthcare have better care at lower cost. It matters that treating minorities as human beings with equal rights does not cause society to fall apart. It matters that supply side economic theory has been proven to be a disaster. It matters that record corporate profits and low effective tax rates are accompanying high unemployment, killing all conservative claims about economic realities in any fair debate. It matters that blue states tend to be socially and economically happier than red ones. It matters that income inequality is damaging to a country's economic future, and that retirement programs for the elderly can easily be paid for by taking what amounts to pocket change in taxes from the wealthiest Americans.
These things matter. Facts are important. Without a grounding in fact, all politics looks like a battle of the center against the extremes of both sides. But that's an incredibly lazy and ignorant way to look at the world.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-fact-free-laziness-of-centrism-by.html
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The fact-free laziness of centrism (Original Post)
phantom power
Oct 2013
OP
think how snide and content-less the posts of self-described "centrists" are here...
villager
Oct 2013
#2
Laelth
(32,017 posts)1. k&r for exposure. n/t
-Laelth
villager
(26,001 posts)2. think how snide and content-less the posts of self-described "centrists" are here...
...as they busily shill for right-leaning orthodoxy in their posts...
bvar22
(39,909 posts)3. Centrism!!!!
[font size=3]....because it is so EASY!
You don't have to STAND for ANYTHING,
and get to insult those who DO!
SoCalDem
(103,856 posts)4. "and on the other hand".."we're outta time".."everyone knows that XXX"
"some people say".. "it's common knowledge that..."..
all lazy phrases used constantly by "modern" newsers..
Life is never either/or..
It's always this AND that & that & that and more that
This is my ONE gripe with AlJazeera's new offering. We needed their regular broadcast ...just in English.. They BBC-America-ed it..including sports.. we have enough places to follow american sports & weather.. What we NEEDED was a peek into what other places in the world consider NEWS....just translated into English
mia
(8,363 posts)5. Centrists are more likely to have open minds.
Extremists on either side are a lot worse.