tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post6740124811800027392..comments2023-06-24T05:37:14.954-04:00Comments on Dichotomous Purity: Imagine that the average voter is the average sports radio caller...Jackwraithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-54068759245982504592010-12-30T12:53:21.944-05:002010-12-30T12:53:21.944-05:00No, I'm aware of that. Everyone always feels l...No, I'm aware of that. Everyone always feels like it's worse in their day and age but the press wars in the early 19th century did get pretty ferocious and outlandish. I just question whether the debates at that time were hamstrung before they even started based on simple political identity. What makes our situation even worse is that the political identity wars between Ds and Rs and their various supporters and sycophants are basically two halves of the same monied group fighting over how many crumbs they should scatter to the plebes.Jackwraithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15707467706526226719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423976345116829176.post-45756638901035265812010-12-30T11:25:15.655-05:002010-12-30T11:25:15.655-05:00"But he was talking more about simple ignoran..."But he was talking more about simple ignorance; a lack of knowledge. Today we face a situation that is built upon the deliberate spread of disinformation and a political sphere so polarized that any suggestion to the contrary is immediately dismissed as heresy."<br /><br />I think you're failing to consider how extreme political discourse was around Jefferson's time. Based on the stories in the classic book Presidential Campaigns, it seems like the current ranting about Obama's "socialism" and heritage would have fit in just fine. And don't forget about the Alien and Sedition Acts, which the Federalists used to criminalize a lot of press activity by the (Democratic-)Republicans.<br /><br />I think most of the problems in modern politics do come down to education - most voters don't understand basic macroeconomics, basic climate science, basic world history, or a lot of other high-school level topics which are necessary to understand both the modern world and how ridiculous the current political debate has become. If all you know about taxes is that they reduce your paycheck and pay for layabouts to stay home, Republican policies almost make sense...dspitzlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10423015462969660768noreply@blogger.com