I kept thinking of my conservative friend throughout. He's a good person, not a fool. But there's some inner need he has in adhering to right-wing talk radio even though I've repeatedly pointed out the falsehoods they spew. He calls Prager, Hewitt and Shaprio "my guys". They absolutely are knaves as far as I'm concerned. Anne Applebaum in her book "Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism" calls them political entrepreneurs. He gets something from his adherence to them. I think his identity is wrapped up in this adherence which is why he deflects . Identity is a very strong thing.
As I reflect on him and what I know about Trumpers, mostly from reading, I think people can be decent AND also be taken in. The most comprehensive explanation of them, that I've come across, is forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee. See "The Shared Psychosis of Donald Trump and His Followers" (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-shared-psychosis-of-donald-trump-and-his-loyalists/). She cites drastic social change as the cause of the psychosis on his followers end. That makes sense to me.
Yes, my nomenclature lends itself to a harsh interpretation. No one takes kindly to being called a fool!
I understand that no matter how much I or you were to clarify to your friend that he is a fool in THIS SPECIFIC RESPECT would make it easy for your friend to understand that no one is saying that he is a total fool, including with respect to what I am sure are a myriad of ways in which he is perfectly sensible, sober, reasonable and admirable.
Knaves deserve no such solicitousness.
And both knaves and fools – the latter on account of their number and electoral power – are truly a danger to the country.
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Eric, you did it! You finished the essay.
I kept thinking of my conservative friend throughout. He's a good person, not a fool. But there's some inner need he has in adhering to right-wing talk radio even though I've repeatedly pointed out the falsehoods they spew. He calls Prager, Hewitt and Shaprio "my guys". They absolutely are knaves as far as I'm concerned. Anne Applebaum in her book "Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism" calls them political entrepreneurs. He gets something from his adherence to them. I think his identity is wrapped up in this adherence which is why he deflects . Identity is a very strong thing.
As I reflect on him and what I know about Trumpers, mostly from reading, I think people can be decent AND also be taken in. The most comprehensive explanation of them, that I've come across, is forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee. See "The Shared Psychosis of Donald Trump and His Followers" (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-shared-psychosis-of-donald-trump-and-his-loyalists/). She cites drastic social change as the cause of the psychosis on his followers end. That makes sense to me.
Yes, my nomenclature lends itself to a harsh interpretation. No one takes kindly to being called a fool!
I understand that no matter how much I or you were to clarify to your friend that he is a fool in THIS SPECIFIC RESPECT would make it easy for your friend to understand that no one is saying that he is a total fool, including with respect to what I am sure are a myriad of ways in which he is perfectly sensible, sober, reasonable and admirable.
Knaves deserve no such solicitousness.
And both knaves and fools – the latter on account of their number and electoral power – are truly a danger to the country.