who to follow on politics?

[Eren Eeager]

can you guys name some of the people you follow on politics?

I already follow Sam Seder and Abby Martin.

Edited August 8, 2020 by Eren Eeager

[Eren Eeager]

@Husseinisdoingfine Could you help me please? you look like you know your ways around politics!

[Opo]

@Eren Eeager Beau of the fifth column 

Sam Seder 

Robert Reich 

Some more news 

Noam Chomsky

Vice

Vaush 

Destiny 

Please add to this list so we can all expand our bubbles. 

I'd love to follow a healthy conservative but every one I've found is acting like a child. Are there any healthy ones? 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Opo

[Boethius]

For the past couple years I have mainly followed the journalists Damon Linker, Ross Douthat, David Brooks, Rod Dreher, Matthew Walther, Andrew Sullivan, and Michael Brendan Dougherty. All of whom I realize are either centrists or conservatives! Well, I used to be super progressive on most issues, so I know the progressive position backwards and forwards and can read random articles on Slate, NYTimes, Vox, BBC, etc. and generally agree with the position being advocated while also seeing the limitations of that position (limitations that conservatives are more able and willing to explicitly identify than are progressives).

[Eren Eeager]

@Opo thanks 

[Opo]

32 minutes ago, Boethius said:

 (limitations that conservatives are more able and willing to explicitly identify than are progressives).

Example? 

[Boethius]

@Opo The examples that pop off the top of my head are ones of moderating the "progressive" impulse to tear it all down and have a full-on revolution. I have not seen on Slate, for example, any consideration of which statues it might not be wise to tear down or the fact that not each and every single problem the Black community faces can be laid at the feet of white folk. This makes sense, given that we are in a polarized period of time where most politically minded and active people view politics as a game of tug-and-war between two competing sides (so that everyone is incentivized to pull as hard as they can in their team's direction and give no slack to the opposition). But if your interest is in thinking through problems systematically then it is simply not the case that the most radically leftist position is going to be the most practically effective one. So the conservatives I listed above have useful perspectives to offer in providing some balance (and I should mention that most of them are adamantly opposed to Trumpism). A decent taste of what I mean is offered by David Brooks' most recent article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/opinion/conservative-radicals.html

And the commenters there are very predictably confused/angry by what he wrote since they expect political pieces to be arguments either for or against one of the two major parties in the US, so that they just don't have a way of making sense of something that's more idiosyncratic and "individualized" even.

[Roy]

Never "follow" anyone @Eren Eeager. Rather sample as many people as possible and cross reference all the different ideas you hear to develop your own coherent and balanced worldview.

By sample I mean spend maybe a handful of hours with each figure to understand the gist of their arguments and stances, but don't stick around and become a "fan" and follow every little thing they do, waiting for the next video or interview.

You have to keep in mind that this is how they make money and it's in their best interest to have built in inherent biases, because if they sway too far from what the audience they've built is used to, they will turn on them and it'll hurt them. This kind of "doubling down" is exactly the kind of thing that becomes addicting for listeners and is a huge problem right now that's causing all these divisions.

What you need to do is be radically skeptical and independent here. For example if you see a video of a debate between two people, and you end up siding with one person and not liking the other, and then have all your feelings validated by scrolling through YouTube comments. That moment RIGHT THERE is when you're getting sucked into an ideology or position and you don't even know it. It's at that time you stop and reflect on what you've learned, but THEN go spend time listening to hours of the person you DIDN'T like so you can understand their perspective and temper your worldview.

Of course it's ok to have preferences or political leanings, but you have to make sure they are authentic and well substantiated. Not coming from a place of toxic dogma.

Radical open mindedness is key here. It's scary because it will feel like you're "vulnerable" to becoming an ideologue, but actually being able to jump between different perspective will strengthen your mind. Weak minds are ones that sit around stuck in certain modes of thought all the time without leaving.

[Alex4]

On 15/8/2020 at 6:09 PM, Opo said:

@Eren Eeager Beau of the fifth column 

Sam Seder 

Robert Reich 

Some more news 

Noam Chomsky

Vice

Vaush 

Destiny 

Please add to this list so we can all expand our bubbles. 

I'd love to follow a healthy conservative but every one I've found is acting like a child. Are there any healthy ones? 

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheVikingBushcrafter/videos

 

this dude is quite stage blue conservative but in a healthy way. Also his videos are filmed in the forest which are nice to watch. I used to be conservative and watched all his videos, you can get a grasp of how conservatives thinks.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Alex4

[Opo]

2 minutes ago, Findus said:

you might as well go back to stone age thinking if you follow that dude. Blue conservative but in a healthy way? So you mean its basically Hitler but we can learn a lot from him, what kind of logic is this?

He has spoken out against BLM, ANTIFA ,Feminism. He is a reactionary which is trying to turn back the clock and bring us back to the dark ages. He likes the traditional roles as a toxic male, because why wouldnt he? 

Dont watch it, your mind is just going to become infected with this virus. 

You can learn a lot from Adolf. 

And you doing the same thing conservatives do when they find one bad thing about green and then they say all green is like that. 

 

[Opo]

@Findus Don't worry most people here are conscious enough to watch something more or less objectively and to seperate good from bad. 

But yea i agree that a lot of people can't. 

[I]

Andrew Yang. #Yang2024

[Opo]

1 minute ago, I said:

Andrew Yang. #Yang2024

He's ideological about ubi but i like him otherwise.