What Happened to the Republican Party?: A Conversation with Bret Stephens (Episode
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- Sam Harris speaks with Bret Stephens about the current state of the Republican Party. They discuss the strange change in Republican attitudes toward Putin, the character of Tucker Carlson, the war in Ukraine, the failures of elites and experts, the tension between concerns about misinformation and free speech, the Hunter Biden laptop, the 2024 Presidential election, how Trump captured the Republican Party, the criminal charges against Trump, the future of conservatism, and other topics.
Bret Stephens is an opinion columnist with The New York Times and editor-in-chief of Sapir, a new Jewish quarterly. He has previously served as editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post and as foreign-affairs columnist for The Wall Street Journal, for which he won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He was raised in Mexico City, educated at the University of Chicago, and was a NeverTrumper from Day One. In 2022 he was banned for life by the government of Russia from ever visiting that country.
Website: www.nytimes.co...
August 11, 2023
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Sam,
"What happened to the Republican Party?" is one good question.
Is it possible that there's a more fundamental one, "What happened to the American electorate to make it want *this* Republican Party?"?
could it have something to do with the other side being a cult and installing an illegitimate old folks home patient who cant finish a sentance and is destroying the coutnry at a pace never before seen?
@@wasdwasdedsfconsidering Trump was a reaction to the Obama years I would say "no".
@@Jack_Parsons-666 so the vegetable stammering on stage and destroying the economy while escalating towards nuclear war with russia over a country we have no relation to or relevance with is not the problem?
@@wasdwasdedsf Your tone seems to suggest you think you know what you are talking about...when all you are really doing is regurgitating propaganda.
@@ivandafoe5451 thats nice. which part of it is propganda?
wait dude you cant be serious... everyone remotely concious stopped watching TYT 20 years ago... and you say i speak propaganda
Bret Stephens is being VERY revisionist when he describes his role wrt. Climate Science.
Let's not forgot that Bret has an important stake in all this. He has been at the forefront of pouring gasoline on the fire against expertise. He has been a part of teaching people that any experts can be rejected if what they are saying don't comply with your ideology. He's absolutely not innocent in the current fact-free state of the GOP of the US political climate.
Here's a 2011 Bret Stephens quote:
“Consider the case of global warming, another system of doomsaying prophecy and faith in things unseen.
As with religion, it is presided over by a caste of spectacularly unattractive people pretending to an obscure form of knowledge that promises to make the seas retreat and the winds abate. As with religion, it comes with an elaborate list of virtues, vices and indulgences. As with religion, its claims are often non-falsifiable, hence the convenience of the term “climate change” when thermometers don’t oblige the expected trend lines. As with religion, it is harsh toward skeptics, heretics and other “deniers.” And as with religion, it is susceptible to the earthly temptations of money, power, politics, arrogance and deceit.”
No. He did not only point out that economics is a factor in how we respond!
that quote is 100% accurate. It has long since graduated from being about the science to know an ideology.
@@jhonklan3794care to provide an example?
@@jhonklan3794 🙄
There is no war on "expertise" this is the silliest thing. You guys are upset that the institutions that pushed your agenda have been caught lying over and over.
An example would be the Net Zero policy in the UK. It’s a fanatical goal to completely decarbonise the UK economy by 2050. It will result in millions of people eating less and freezing in the winter. And the UK is such a small contributor to world carbon emissions that decarbonising its economy won’t make any difference to the climate.
Forget Giuliani's "timetable" - didn't the FBI have the laptop for months by the time it came to public attention?
What about the Biden timetable on Trump indictments? 3+ to 30yr charges... all 4 indictments right before the 2024 election? Giuliani "sat on" the laptop 1month (sept2020) while backing it up and getting it analyzed. Sounds about right. No delay.
And?
Oh you were thirsty for dick pics. Gotcha.
@@Crimsonwhocares And, they sat on it. If they wanted NOT to be on Giuliani's timetable, they could have revealed it long before it could be used as an "October Surprise."
@@WNH3 revealed... the dick pics... before Giuliani... why would the FBI do that?
What happened to the Republican party? They reduced educational funding in their states, encouraged religion, taught their followers to make decisions based on faith, fear, and nationalism rather than logic, then were SHOCKED when a better cult leader came along and preached faith, fear, and nationalism better than they did.
Yeah, the left really out did the conservatives with ideological hegemony and cult fanaticism through educational pedegogy.
How will the former conservative party deals with the rise of left wing scientism is quite the fascinating question.
Wow. That sounds very accurate.
What are you referring to? Sounds like you're just saying orange man bad but I hope there's more to it!
That is incredibly sarcastic and cynical and also *100%* correct.
Trump preached faith?
Comparing a speed limit change to COVID is a relatively absurd analog. Traffic accidents weren't requiring metro areas across the country to rent reefer semi trailers to be able to morgue the dead. Comparing the crises really is a misleading illustration.
The GOP is essentially an opportunistic business venture. The reason the GOP platform is so inconsistent historically is this: The GOP changes according to its political needs. Whatever it takes to gain constituents and money and thus keep power, becomes a de facto plank of their platform.
Projection
You really think the record profits of Pfizer had nothing to do with the wholesale push for mandates by the Democratic Party? They didn’t push non existent science about the efficacy of vaccines? And straight junk science lies about natural immunity? Polls showed like 90% of democrats overestimated the risk of hospitalization… but it was all with good intentions. Right? Dems from Clinton to Obama to Biden had as much to do with creating the corporatocracy nightmare we are in as anyone in the GOP. Not to mention offshoring as much of the labor costs of manufacturing and importing as much cheap plastic crap from other countries as possible. They all feed and get fed by the fascist alliance between government institutions and multinational corporations.
My friend, read the history of all political parties. None are consistent.
This is actually true of all political parties over time. "Every institution created by Man, no matter how noble it's original purpose, ends in self-perpetuation." ~ Frank Herbert.
I actually propose a different view of the GOP's platform. Their belief that: Some people are just better than others, thus deserve to rule over (survive at the expense of) those who are not. The fundamental driver of this is FEAR. The fear that if I can't freely, without any consequences, engage in full-on domination of others, I won't survive. As you can see, it reveals the truth of their moral cowardice. And their ingenuity in creating all kinds of false illusions that it's justified. It is very similar to a drowning man who drowns everyone around him to save himself.
@@searchforserenity8058 - You take your argument too far. Some people are BETTER at me in sprinting, basketball, mathematics, relationship development, comedy, etc. I am better than other people on those exact same metrics. You and everyone else in the world live with that same reality.
Your argument that fear is driving this is completely insane.
There are people on the Right, just like there are people on the Left, that have some of their basic premises incorrect.. but they have those premises as a matter of good faith. There are also people in each camp that are nuts.
Me an anti-war, anti-corporate, free speech liberal.
Sam Harris: have conservatives lost their way?
"How does Bret Weinstein do a 100 podcasts on a single topic?"
Sam Harris: "have I mentioned what I think about Trump?"
Sam’s voice is impressively effective at making me fall asleep. I mean no disrespect and am not joking; I’m a fan but often listen at night and can’t finish! 😅
🥱🥱
Yeah, I can't finish to Sam either. :(
Same here. I like Sam. I even met him at a talk he gave in NYC and liked him a lot. But I still find myself feeling the same way when listening to him.
@@ThatOneScienceGuyListen on 2x speed
Gotta listen on 1.5 speed
The party has been like this since McCarthy. Even when they hated Russia, they did it for the wrong, self serving reasons, and they used it to hurt their political opponents.
I think the major decline of the Republican party came when they allied with the Christian Right.
They secretly loved Russia, it allowed them to point to a nation with massive human rights abuses ( a pattern that predates communism ) and say "that's what communism gets you" without having to nuance their statement. They then took communism and applied it to anyone left of Genghis Khan
Says the supporter of the party that's jailing its political opponents.
I think much of the Republican insanity is fueled by their religious beliefs and their sense of being a righteous persecuted hero whenever they should be skeptically rethinking the actual ramifications of their awful behavior.
Yes the republicans have been fucked since mccarthy but, up until Bush they have been at large people who meant well and thought their ideas were good and didn’t purposely lie lie lie. That has all changed. Now the republicans one after the other are largely liars, frauds, cheats, trumpian, idiot conspiracy lunatics. The democrats on the other hand all seem to mean well largely but are succumbing fully to the radical idiot lefts ideas mainly to get reelected or to even survive against the ever crazier republicans. Vicious cycle. Curable in a democracy? Sadly not.
Sam was the first podcaster I ever paid a contribution towards. I really am sad that TDS appears to have had such a devastating effect on him. A great loss to us all. 😢
The people who mention TDS usually have a case of it themselves. The level of tint on your glasses to excuse all of the bad shit he did is unbelievable.
😂
This guy doesn't know where the center is, or whether he's to the left, right or upside down.
His politics is woefully naive.
@@nyiniamako That's a diplomatic way of putting it.
Sam is not a well boy. Scarier is Stephens, whom I once respected, appearing on a podcast with such an unwell boy. But then again Stephens works at the NYT.
🤣@@spiritualpolitics8205
A better question: what happened to you, Sam? You lost the ability to think objectively
What happened to regular people? They just say vague stuff like this on every video, never making a SINGLE point.
Just say “you fell off L + ratio” because dressing up your banal disagreement looks just as stupid.
Apologies if you have real arguments. You’d just be the first person making these cookie-cutter substanceless complaints to actually back up what they mean.
@@Michael-kp4bd The "single point" made was that Harris claims to be objective when he is not. Harris provides numerous of this hypocrisy every time he speaks.
@@ivandafoe5451 show me a clip of Sam claiming to be objective.
You seem to be confusing objective facts (which Sam may use in his discussions) with some sort of claim that SAM claims to be an “objective” human.
That’s a hilarious mischaracterization and by that logic you can call anyone a hypocrite for *ever* starting any fact. Good job crafting that one up
Title: "What happened to the Republican Party?"
Most of the content in this episode: "How can we put the blame on Democrats for the current state of the Republican Party."
They do deserve a fair amount of the blame tbh
@@GENERICCEREAL67 exactly. It's not both-sides-ism to admit that democrats have their fair share of sins.
In fact, saying the republican party is insane is a trivial sentence. Like saying the sky is blue. It's a prerequisite of sanity to agree. It's more nontrivial and interesting to talk about how the democratic party's gone astray.
@@GENERICCEREAL67 How so? By supporting science and tolerance so the Republicans would be forced to say and do the exact opposite, no matter how ridiculous and/or hateful? Let's face face it, Republicans did this to themselves.
If you think trump and co have a get out clause for the fkn mayhem and lawlessness they have caused…
@@GENERICCEREAL67Sins of commission and sins of omission do have a distinction in my mind though. And that distinction is even more stark in the context of one political party CHOOSING to slide into Fascist White Nationalist Authoritarianism.
"He's havin' a bad set, don't let 'em break ya, Kramer!" -Dave Chappelle
"That's when i realized im like 20% black and 80% comedian."
I didn’t realise Sam Harris would put his foot in his mouth so many times. He makes up a fake scenario of deadly pandemic and then bashes RFK in that scenario. Talk about straw man 🤷♂️
I am not sure what to make of RFK's claims. With regards to COVID he made more accurate predictions than the CDC and Sam Harris. That's just a fact at this point.
@@peterhardie4151 For an intellectual like Sam. He makes a fictional worst case scenario and then says RFK would be against it. Talk about strawman argument
As a lifelong fan of Sam's thinking, this podcast continues a string of recent disappointments. His statements on Tucker Carlson, RFK Jr, and Vivek Ramaswamy are rather shallow and partisan. As smart as Sam is, his analysis of the right seems born of pride and his (understandable, but distracting) allergy to Trump. I keep tuning in for the moment when Sam finally steps back to view the landscape more objectively . . . that moment has not yet arrived, in my view.
Hm. I'm not sure what to make of this comment.
What is the appropriate view in your mind?
I disagree with you. In mestimation Sam s spot on with regard to Carlson, RFK and Trump for instance. I don't understand what pride has to do with it... maybe you think Sam's ego means he's not able to be objective? Rubbish. Anyone serious can see that these three figures (for instance) are appalling to varying degrees.
@@Chuck9852 if you say so 👍
Fair enough. Here goes real quick. On Tucker: just because he appears to loath Trump, the man (as does Sam), I don't think that destroys his credibility on all Trump policies, as Sam appears to. On RFKJr, Sam revealed on Tom Bileau's show recently that basically he doesn't want to interview him b/c he doesn't want to boost RFK's signal. His prerogative, of course. But on this podcast, he allows the guest to casually reference RFK's "anti-semitism" which, if you look into the incident at all is clearly a horeshit claim. And on Ramaswamy, he's the only candidate on the R side actually articulating a POSITIVE view of America and citizenship. I think it's not only cheap, but flat out wrong for Sam to label Ramaswamy cynical. If anyone is trying to lead towards something positive, it's him. If I can see those things, there's no doubt in my mind Sam can too (and probably much more clearly). @@roarblast7332
@jasonreed3739 hm. Seems like fair criticism. I'm not really sure about ramaswamy, though. Don't know anything about that person. I'll check him out, though.
Appreciate the reply, though.
Came for the comments...
At this point the majority of us hate listen to Sam just to see how bad he can get.
@@Jake-Day Cope
Cope lol? How does that make any sense here? Trying to copy the people that use it against you? Well you’re failing
I think the Republican parties affinity for Putin has a much simpler explanation. Much has to do with Trump's relationship with Putin, and the Republican parties spineless approach to supporting whatever Trump does, and supporting whoever he likes. Or at the very least, not speaking out against whoever Trump likes.
The new republican party is working class and populist and forming a Trump coalition with the disaffected independent and left working class. Overall, this entire group sees Putin as a foreign leader who's standing against the same group of ivory tower elites that they see as the source of their woes in the US. That, coupled with a deep and multi-generational anti-war stance, is why they are more positively inclined towards Putin than the rest of the population.
Rather than seeing Putin as an enemy and a threat, they see him as a bedfellow against the political, economic, and social elite in the West (in this case America and Europe), who is their common enemy. And who they see as trying to drag them into yet another war that's not in their interest.
You may disagree with them, but you're nor going to get anywhere if you misunderstand their position.
@@gideonroos1188this is more correct.
Clearly the Republican party as a whole or in-majority DON'T support Trump. Basic observation of the last 3-5 years will show that to be inaccurate. If the Republicans really cared about Trump and his movement and what it stood for, there would be a lot more pushback against the witch hunt. But they don't. They care about what is politically expedient. Their 'loyalty' is fickle and thin.
@@gideonroos1188 The real reason they like Putin is as the OP said, because Trump likes Putin. Why? Because Trump likes authoritarians. He admires Putin because Putin has managed to wipe out all his opponents and stay in power for more than 20 years. Also Conservatives admire countries that have remained 'white' in their opinion. Of course they don't understand that Russia is a very diverse country but at least it doesn't receive immigrants from Pakistan or India or Africa, or Mexico etc. Also Putin's Russia is against homosexuals. Not to mention it's a country that's very hostile to journalists in general. It's a conservative Utopia in many ways. A strong leader, total control over media, no immigration friendly policies, no LGBTQ and wokeness, and war with a neighboring country to expand its dominance (hence the conservatives' call for sending troops to the southern border).
Your response is kind of the 'politically correct' explanation, similar to Putin's official explanation for the "special operation" in Ukraine, but it's extremely misleading and it gives the wrong diagnosis.
@@gideonroos1188 First off, I wasn't speaking about Republican voters. I was talking about Republican politicians, more specifically American Republican politicians, who are most definitely not working class. And talking about Putin standing up against elites is almost as funny as believing Trump's claims about going against the elites. Putin and Trump are as elite as they come. And as is the case when Trump was President, Putin is also a master of disinformation and propaganda. Because the person who is dragging Russia into a war is Putin himself.
It seems you're trying to explain why people living in Russia, (or somewhere, I'm unclear on that part) are supporting Putin. And I don't know why you went down that road.
So Putin's bombing of an apartment complex in Ukraine killing men, women, and children is his effort to battle ivory tower elites? Am I now understanding your position?@@gideonroos1188
Listening to Sam talk about Trump convinces me I need to vote for Trump.
Kevin-you Americans are really silly 🤦♂️.
Kevin, you convinced me too, your argument is foolproof!
There’s always a Kevin around….🙄
It is an extremely sad day for America that it's voters are forced to choose from a mild criminal and a malicious one....when will we all band together and refuse to vote until we are given ethical and moral and honest politicians? Or mayhap we should all refuse to pay our taxes until this changes. They can't lock up all 350 million of us you know.
I never felt like Fauci, the CDC, or any public health organization was ordering me what to do about any aspect of Covid. Because of the school closures, in part, my grandchilden are alive and doing very well in school. That bright lady that said she was going to vote for RFK,Jr.: maybe was not so bright regarding public health and vaccinations. Bret is a fine example of a journalist who makes a great back seat driver.
The segmentation of Sam's audience as will inevitably be displayed in these comments just proves that Sam tries to make sense regardless of how some of his fans and former fans might react. Completely the opposite of the pandering that political parties do with their bases.
He's pretty unbiased and consistent, until it comes to the subject of Israel.
No he doesn’t try that’s why we have lost interest. He is an intellectual poseur. This is very fake trying to understand but not really. Don’t fall for it. It’s weak analysis
@@JayEs31 great example of my point, thank you!
Maybe I'm weird. I don't listen to Sam (or anyone else) to have my opinions confirmed. I listen to Sam to have them challenged.
@@lakingpaul lol nice try. You missed the point and trying to pander on the comments section. He is pandering because he is not truly interested in in depth conversation ps or he would be having them with Jordan Peterson or Bret Weinstein instead of making passive aggressive comments and not actually trying to have rational discussions to air out issues. This is basically the core of his former audience people who claim to be rational and objective
Sam has found someone who thinks exactly like he does but wears a red tie.
When was the last time Sam talked to a right-winger who is not a neocon? Scott Adams? Scott probably doesn't consider himself right wing and neither do I.
@user-gy1pu3gq3d in next week's shocking episode- Sam and Meghan McCain agree that Trump is bad, that the 1st Amendment should be limited, and that the establishment must be solidified.
The echo chamber that you people live in is truly remarkable.
@@alibabaschultz352 you people… as if you can know what OPs political leanings or group memberships are from this statement? I don’t think you or anyone can possess that type of clairvoyance. Just for fun, why don’t you try to make some guesses and see if you’re correct?
@@BridgesOnBikes At this point in our culture, most of the traditional political dichotomies have disappeared, like "liberal/conservative", or even "left/right".
What we have now is what some people refer to as "mainstream/populist", or "establishment/antiestablishment", or what i would call "institutionalist/anti institutionalist".
Most people who comment on these types of videos on youtube tend to sit firmly in the "anti institutionalist" camp, and have sort of created their own echo chamber, by only consuming "alternative media". And its not just a belief, but a full blown ideology not unlike religion. And like religious people, these internet ideologues become angry and defensive when they hear ideas and arguments that go against their own beliefs.
The problem for them is, unlike the "institutionalists", they dont have science or the entirety of human knowledge on their side.
Bret, like you, I also read anti-totalitarian literature during university. I was fortunate enough to study with Dr. Asher Milbauer at Florida International University in Miami. His expertise was Literature of Exile and Dissent. We read Milan Kundera, Ignazio Silone, Isaac Singer, etc. He brought Philip Roth into class one day to speak to us. I, for one, was struck speechless. Roth was a friend of Kundera. I honestly feel that if not for my exposure to that body of literature, I would not fully understand what I'm seeing today. Unfortunately, today's political environment looks all too familiar. I'm 60, so I'll be gone soon enough, but we have a 20-year-old daughter; I fear for her and her contemporaries.
One thing: it is evident in hindsight that the danger to kids in schools was seriously overestimated. But at the beginning of the pandemic there was no data to support this. There was no data at all as to the longterm consequences of maintaining in person school attendance. The reality in the beginning was that thousands were dying, the virus and its impacts was not understood and there were no medicines to prevent the disease or ameliorate its effects and no immediate prospect for such medicines, public health infrastructure was not prepared to cope with the pandemic and doctors, nurses and hospitals were being overwhelmed. And we had the president and other politicians not taking it seriously, not encouraging the public to take it seriously, not mandating commonsense behaviors like wearing masks and isolating when infected -- in many cases, advocating just the opposite. What if school closures had never happened and it turned out that kids were vulnerable, and thousands of kids were infected, got seriously ill, infected their relatives including older relatives who really were more vulnerable, and lots of people died as a consequence? Then I guess Sam and his guest would be complaining that the experts had failed to protect this population, shouldn't have been so arrogant in recommending that schools stay open when they didn't know what the impact would be, etc. As has been said, public health officials make recommendations based on their best assessment of the situation, it is the responsibility of government officials to way those recommendations against other competing public interests. Finally, public health officials, including Dr. Fauci have long recommended that the US should prepare for a pandemic. These recommendations were ignored. Fauci has become the whipping boy for all the mistakes that were made and also the common sense recommendations he made such as wearing masks. Fauci has acknowledged his mistakes, such as saying in the beginning that the public shouldn't use masks (he was worried that there weren't enough masks for medical staff). Perhaps Sam and his guest should read Michael Lewis' "The Undoing Project" that discusses how humans systematically make errors in judgment in uncertain situations. Maybe they would be less harsh in their judgment of the fallibility of experts.
A lot of great points. I also thought about how they were stating the needs of the students for social connection and learning face to face from a teacher, but did not mention the needs of the teachers. What compensation do you give an underpaid individual to tell them they have no choice but to go on teaching as normal as a disease spreads which may kill them?
LOL
We have a friend who retired after 50 years as an elementary school teacher in San Francisco. She taught in Chinatown in a very old building without even proper ventilation, never mind air conditioning. And she said that would have been extremely worried about teaching during the pandemic. Even if kids were wearing masks, it would be problematic. And I can attest that our grandkids and their kindergarten classmates had a very hard time keeping their masks on during the day. Yes, so another competing concern was the safety of teachers -- something that wasn't even mentioned in this podcast.
Interesting.@@gruud6700
@@gruud6700That’s putting the cart in front of the horse. The kids should’ve come first. Teachers who were at risk could have stayed home, and the district found a substitute
Then how come it took only a few weeks for our Swedish healthcare officials to realize that covid was harmless to kids?
Typical Democrat defending insanity. Okay, after this rant, time to put back your mask on and go lecturing about the climate emergency and systemic racism.
How did experts fail? I followed this very closly and they didn't fail. People say they failed but I can't really find a mistake. People failed. They lied, misunderstood, ...
Totally agreed. You can lead a horse to water and all. The experts gave the correct advice. In response people hosted "covid parties". That is just not the experts fault.
What happened to Sam Harris?
Once upon a time a bowl of orange touched him in his no-no spot. When Trump won the election Sam's trauma resurfaces and got a couple of strokes.
Sam also took way too many drugs.
And got some brain damage from martial arts training.
He isn't stupid nor is he in a cult.
Political leadership is far more responsible for the failures of the Covid response than the public health experts. Our leadership failed to balance the public interest with the public health. Experts consult and advise; leaders decide.
Vaccinated to the gills and got covid twice more than me.
Covid vaccines are very effective at keeping you alive, so what is your point?. Millions of people caught Covid who were vaccinated! Most surived due to the vaccine/s.
Correlation is not causation. Amazing how you think two people's experience, you being one of them is in anyway representative of the country as a whole.
BTW how many times are you saying you got covid?
@@redmed10
I wrote that wrong sorry, Ive had I once. Took some cold/flu tabs, went on a fast and it was comfortable, had worse colds tbf.
I'm not vaccinated but Sam would against their will happily vaccinate the country and world despite catching it twice and being beat up by it.
Dude thinks he would have died without vaccine and he can think what he wants if it makes him feel smarter/safe but I don't want it or need it.
I'm sure if I died from covid loads of people would relish in that like they do on reddit but Sam's lost the plot recently and it's disgusting these people want the government and big pharmacy that have lost most peoples trust to mandate a vaccine indefinately.
indeed. what is statistics however is how we have never before seen 10% death spikes all over western world, happening curiously at a partiuclar poiint in time in 2021... along with 400000% increase in vac adverse event system... @@redmed10
I was vaccinated and as far as I know I never got it. My dad didn't and was in the hospital for months. He's currently living on my couch because it destroyed his kidneys and made him blind.
See? I can do anecdotes too.
Where is the devils advocate in this discussion ? Don’t interviewers do that any more ?
No. Media have willingly abandoned objectivity because trump is such a threat to “our democracy”. They even said it way back in 2016
No devils advocate needed. Bret is a republican. Didn’t you notice?😂😂😂
This guy wants to pontificate about the media role like he lives in a fantasy world where Trump doesn’t exist. He does, and he is a clear threat. I applaud the media not wanting to be an accomplice to his destruction of all our political norms. Holding off on the Hunter laptop story was them not wanting their ‘role’ to be as mass election manipulator not the other way around Brett
As an Australian looking on i get the feeling that the Usa is transitioning into a plutocracy.
The obsession with political dynasties from the Kennedy's to clintons and trump is truly bizarre
Bro, we all have our issues. I see the craziness in Oz about the Abbos. That shit will ruin you. Those Abbos couldn't run a lemonade stand, let alone a modern nation like Australia. But people keep pandering to them.
Let’s be real, these people barely make a dent, if not for the possibility of getting office. I think the obsession is on you
@@mrpopo8298 you nearly sound Australian apart from the lemonade stand thing.. Ridgy didge argy bargey..
I don't think that it's transitioning; it's just that the democratic facade is now falling off. Within the structure of the Electoral College which the US has always had, it was never a democracy. The President is always elected by a minority of voters because the president isn't elected by the popular vote, regardless of what the popular vote is, and the President selects nominees for the Supreme Court. Two out of three branches of government are dominated by a non-democratic process.
@Malt454 true, it could be argued usa was always a plutocracy. But you guys never had this populist demagoguery, maybe you're moving into an era of political families.
Its pretty clear to me that all of these wingnuts are a result of the current political system not working. How the fuck can critical national issues like gun control just get swept under the rug like it's not a thing. Any other democratic country would be heaving.
I think the normalizing of abnormalities is placing the U.S. on a bad trajectory. I don't know about you, but I've been deeply disturbed by the use of hyperbolic and disingenuous rhetoric coming from representatives in both parties, as well as their constituents. As a veteran, I've been seriously disheartened by the degree of incompetence and irreverence in their conduct, which can be witnessed on C-SPAN, rather than out of context snippets on MSM.
Rational adults have to be objective and refuse to allow nepotism to be used as an excuse of wrongdoing. Impropriety is impropriety, regardless of who does it. Any groups using violence to achieve political goals can't be considered patriotic; If they truly were, they'd be trying to build our country up..... not tear it down. Because that is exactly what China uses Troll Farms to try to get us to do.
Democracy is a very vulnerable thing; and I highly recommend the books "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder; its a nice pocket guide to defending American institutions. And "The True Believer" by Eric Hoffer covers how they can collapse if great care isn't taken.
These two books paired together are quite poignant and empowering to even the most average person. And we need to get back to having conversations with people whom we disagree or feel we have nothing in common with.
The institutions are fatally corrupt and America is being hollowed out from within. It isn't too late to change the trajectory of the country but it is getting very very late.
There needs to be a strong populist movement that unites right and left against this desperate situation and neither a Trump or Sanders type can lead it. America needs a uniter more than ever but I don't see anyone who is even nearly up to the task.
I second Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer", although I found "On Tyranny" to be more reactionary and hyperbolic than useful.
It sure is terrible seeing all those Democrats storming the Capitol, embracing Putin/fascism, spouting racism, denying and trying to over turn election results.
Nice try with the both sides do it.
Hi has Sam Harris spoke about Epstein’s list?
So you're a vet and against the use of violence to achieve political aims? That's just retarded.
This tendency many Americans have of supporting the apparent contrarian, is so dumb and childish. You just need to seem stifled in a room of serious-looking people, to get a significant part of the audience on your side.
Im continually impressed with the level of though-provoking discussion that happens on Sams podcast. Even if i might disagree with aspecs, i still listen.
59:00 trump had no problem benefiting from FBI regarding Hillary, they just eant all handled in a plate
Politician saying health officials should glacé been more nuanced and honest! Did the world just implode under the weight of hypocrisy!
I normally like what you, think/say but I’m listening to this and I am physically shaking my head.
One aspect I can’t abide:
We agreed to not expand NATO, but we broke that agreement.
I think his response at the end to Sam’s worries about the laptop is spot on. The media should never try and tip the scales. It always backfires when tried.
What if they can do it in a way that they know won’t fail? Are you still against it then?
@@User-bl5cw lol, classic addict... this time it will work i swear... just one more hit
When half the population is stupid enough to elect Hitler, it's a moral imperative to manipulate them to do what's in their own interest.
@@credmanReduction ad Hitlerum. Wonderful. Who would be this Hitler in your situation?
No argument there but Giuliani was a known hyper partisan hack. Why would the media take him seriously? That’s my problem
Re. the Hunter laptop, granted, I didn't hear the rest of the conversation but from the comments here, I can't buy the notion of journalists giving "fair play" in covering a story regardless of there being an obvious political agenda. Doing so allows journalism to shill for whomever seeks to use it, under the cover of naiveté or "fair mindedness."
Political graft is just as newsworthy and failure to identify it is one of the reasons so many Americans allow themselves to be hoodwinked by gross manipulation. It also contributes to the "both sides" mythos that every side of an argument has validity. It doesn't always. No wonder the electorate is confused in this country.
They lost their f'n mind 50 years ago.
The perennial “We have to stay involved or our enemies will think we’re weak” argument seems silly at this point, given the many times that the US has already bailed on military commitments.
Any examples of the US not supporting a nation it had promised to keep secure in exchange for denuclearisation?
Suddenly the left are pro war and violence.
Im only 55 and already Ive heard that argument a dozen times already.
There are a litany of former allies of the US that outlived their usefulness. The obvious ones Saddam Hussein, Mujahedeen, the Hmong in Laos.
So u want a European Vietnam?
Wonderful. forcing us into funding another military profit boondoggle? when Most Russian speaking easterners want to be ruled by russia. Gmafb. Get out...
So well said by Bret Conflating public health with public interest. I think it should've also been stated more clearly that experts or administrators don't implement policy but rather advise elected officials on a given subject. It is not a public health official's job to consider the economy during a health crisis.
Nor is it a president’s job to pretend he knows more about public health than our health experts.
As if destroying an economy doesn't have severe effects on people's health and well-being
@@someguy3429 Sorry, but the economy will continue to go up and down just as it has throughout history. We don't have the control that we believe we do.
@@MNP208 Not entirely true. While the outcome of honest attempts to improve the economy can certainly be unpredictable, it is relatively easy to implement measures that will definitely harm the economy.
@@Jeff-rn7bm The key term you used is "honest". Honesty doesn't exist in the American economic culture. This was proven in 2008.
What happened to Sam Harris? That's what I want to know.
In today's episode, Sam interviews one of the arsonists that helped light the fire.... Can we please stop giving these people lifeboats?!!
I thought this episode was on point
@@Thisisahandle701Nah. Nothing matters that comes out of any "Movement Conservatives" mouths about their "horror" about what's happened to American politics and governance over the last fifty years when they were ALL taking part in building the MAGA monster, and worse, they were all told during those decades that the GOP and their media allies like FOX and Rush were playing with fire with the outrage and resentment farming they were doing.
Stephens himself is a prime example. He still tries to lay the blame at the feet of the groups he and the Conservatives had targeted long before Trump was on the scene. He and the other "Principled Conservatives" built this monster and now they want to pretend to be shocked and appalled.
Where is the “isolationism “ when it comes to Israel ?
I enjoyed this a lot, found most of the views expressed very reasonable.
One area of quibble: this ideal of unbiased, impartial news media
I know that that is the way it's taught in school, but I think that people forget the extent to which this is the artifact of a relatively brief period in history.
In the network television news era, it was expected that the news be objective and fair. However, that was due to the limited resource of television channels. For both legal and business reasons, the Walter Cronkites strove for impartiality (or its image at least), and Americans born into this era came to see that as a settled, even ancient practice.
In truth, the network news wasn't impartial, so much as similar in their biases, which I think could very roughly be described as centrist.
One could argue that this was unfair to both right and left wing Americans, and that it contributed to what was seen at the time as a crisis of apathy.
But that aside, it was a stage of technological development that brought this era in, and it was a new state of technological development that ushered that era out.
First cable and then digital created uncountable media outlets, and the legal and business motivations changed. Rather too rapidly for the public or any legislative body to ponder the implications.
In crucial ways, we once again have the media environment of the Founders: lots and lots of news outlets, each catering to a particular audience, and supported by a political group.
However, in other ways, this is an entirely different situation than that of the America experienced by Washington, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. For one thing, whatever critical thinking skills arose from widespread deep literacy have long since dimmed. For another, the speed of the news discourages reflection. For another, visual images are now among the most important containers of information; visual images are by their nature less honest, more emotional and more visceral.
I understand the principle behind expecting media outlets to cover the Hunter Biden laptop, regardless of cynical timing. And I understand the political power of pointing out that they did not. However, in truth, I think that this is an appeal to have media outlets pretend that we are still under the reign of Network TV, when in truth, that king has been buried a long time now.
How to respond to our new reality, I haven't a clue. But I suspect that trying to re-enact the myth of unbiased media is not going to save us.
Sam has the to be fair most sophisticated type of Trump derangement symptom, however it still is TDS
Facebook banning comments on a possible lab leak in Wuhan reminds me of the quote from Watchmen, "Who watches the Watchmen?"
I'm 13 and that's deep.
Google / UA-cam does that too.
Many of the comments you make in certain topics are automatically deleted.
Comments on YT are ran through an algorithm, and if said algorithm judges your comment to be problematic it gets deleted without any notification.
Do remember that a few years ago comments critical of the Chinese Communist Party were automatically deleted on UA-cam.
But today there are certain topics that you are definitely going to get censored: criticizing demonrat politics, genetics, race, gender and sexuality.
UA-cam also shadowbans people.
UA-cam algorithm will try to influence your thinking by recommending some content over others, hiding content, even removing content and stopping political livestreams.
UA-cam channel owners have the option to squelch users.
And so on.
Facebook has thousands of posts about the lab leak theory!
You think a social media app populated by old people sharing misspelled and poorly cropped memes about Jesus is "the Watchmen"?
Let’s see a “what happened to the Democratic Party” also. Because they’ve fallen off the deep-end.
False equivalence bs.
I disagree. The party has multiple parts. Plenty of centrists. It's more about the base losing it's mind. But the party seems to at least trying to govern. Rs haven't done that in 2 decades.
@ShigginDaulf
@@TwiztedDezigncorrect. The DNC is far, far more dangerous.
Signed, 3rd party voter.
Dems and liberalism are why this country is great. Conservatism has done nothing for the US. The economy is better under the Dems; civil rights, voting rights, social security and Medicare, women's rights, LGBTQ rights are all supported by the Dems. The GOP has become a terrorist group. You don't see Dems trying to overthrow our government....
Sam...Tucker Carlson is entitled to change his mind about Trump. It's called evidence.
So Tucker has apologised to his base and explained his change of mind? 😂😂
Man Sam, i wish you would evolve and stop being political..."go blue team" "go red team"
He really is looking at the wrong party, maybe he should look at what the Democratic party has done to this country in the last four years!
"I heard they had headaches" - 45
Reminder.
In Obama's second term, the deficit went down almost every year.
Gas prices fell faster and lower than they did under Trump.
Then, under Biden, a continuation of those trends post COVID.
Biden signed more oil drilling permits in his first two years than Trump did.
Low unemployment, and an already lowering inflation rate. Not to mention historic legislation to address the biggest problem looming on the horizon: microchip production.
But DEMOCRATS BAAAADDD cuz some guy on the radio told me so over and over for the last 30 years.
How do you deal with reality, with these facts? I'm always curious. I assume you'll just say all the numbers are cooked or something.
53:05 - Ultimately, the entire point of contention comes down to this sentence Sam.
The question is wheather this statement is close to being the truth. What you Americans are to do with people who sit on the thorne and refuse to leave it? It seems to me like a path to Putinism, Lukashenkism, Panda Si- ism. What is your solution mate?
@@tenormin4522 but Sam believed this about Trump before January 6.
I do not have detailed history. What is your solution with election sticker and denialist?@@Ton369
My solution? No solution, unsolvable. I am pessimist. There always be fringe group which f´s things for a lot of people. We are finished as a race.
This is true... i've been wondering why is Sam so willing to overlook so many things that happened during covid?, then he says this line and it all makes sense.
The party has changed a lot. The extremists seem to be winning now. Bad sign.
“The intent to communicate honestly is the measure of truthfulness. And most of us do not require a degree in philosophy to distinguish this attitude from its counterfeits…..Whatever our purpose in telling them, lies can be gross or subtle. Some entail elaborate ruses or forged documents. Others consist merely of euphemisms or TACTICAL SILENCES….The moment we consider our dishonesty from the perspective of those we lie to, we recognize that we would feel betrayed if the roles were reversed….”
- Sam Harris in his book titled "Lying".
Almost like he's been lying to his audience
The man is a know liar lmao
I know but you must remember that trump university is way worse than selling the country out to foreign powers the using the justice system to squash discussion about it and hide any evidence
@@duffydopeWhat has he lied about?
@@alibabaschultz352 white knighting for a grown ass man get your life together summer ant
It’s actually hard to listen to this cringeworthy concatenation of straw men and projection over one issue after another.
Sam is evolving into an authoritarian as he ages, brilliant in in a lot of fields but politics he falls terribly short
Any particular examples?
@@randeepwalia1507 never! You could make a whole book out of these criticism-less criticisms.
It’s like an insanely sad attempt of audience capture. “Surely Sam will stop criticizing my team if i post another comment on yet another UA-cam video”
I’m all for people feeling entitled to give feedback. But it’s just been 0 examples. Over and once
Just curious, what does, "shoring up the border" look like?
Sam lost a lot of his audience by his unfortunate support of the Covid saga. People mistakenly seek answers from smart people, not realizing that being smart in one thing could very well mean being dumb in another thing.
Nah.
Yeah!!!
seems like you are still here. What exactly did Sam get wrong about the covid pandemic?
It never ceases to amaze me how American intellectuals fail to grasp the role of the USA on global politics and stability. That role being far removed from peacekeeping. ☹️
Brilliant & refreshingly thoughtful conversation!! 👏
I stopped listening pretty early on when I realized hes just another out of touch journo that totally misses the mark. "Let Putin do what he wants in Ukraine so that we can do what we want in Mexico" "Spheres of influence mentality". Who thinks like that? Nobody. That is not even close to being a factor of whats motivating people on the right to not want to get involved in Ukraine.
4 vaccines later, 2nd bout with covid.
Legendary move 😂😅
Oh were you under the impression that the vaccine made you immune? I don't think anyone ever said that...Sounds like someone is making a strawman argument.
He wouldn’t have gotten covid if he’d gotten all his boosters😂😂😂
and youre here to tell us about it so it worked.
@@endlessnameless6628 lmfao I survived without it and no myocarditis either lmfao only total suckers would get the booster 🤣😆🤣
Thanks for being you Sam. In this landscape of people who need their own view spit back at them, it's nice to have someone honest like you (even if I disagree).
46:33 No shit. Yes. If you want to actually understand the world fully you have to absolutely listen to everyone regardless if they are right or wrong so that you can actually train yourself to make the best possible choices when it comes to what is likely true and what is not.
What could go wrong to give the likes of Hitler a platform eh?
So, let me get this straight: To explain what happened to the Republican Party, Sam invites on a guy who says he will probably vote for Biden and doesn’t think Biden has done a bad job, who in addition to being a never-Trumper doesn’t have anything nice to say about any of the others Republican candidates (with the exception of Christie, who nobody in the Republican base even likes), and who hopes the Republican Party will be replaced by a new ‘liberal’ party. In other words, Bret Stephens is neither a Republican nor a conservative, yet he’s brought on as some kind of purer-than-the-driven-snow true Republican. Stephens cares little about the economic and cultural concerns of the average Republican voter today, and instead, wants to return to the Reagan-era emphasis on limited government, low taxes, and de-regulation. These are all fine policy positions, but they have little to do with the central political battles of our time including woke indoctrination in our schools, rampant illegal immigration, transgender ideology, anti-racism in the federal government, and runaway inflation, to name a few.. At least Sam could invite a true modern-day Republican and conservative to diagnose the Party’s problems and imagine a path forward.
I think you are making a series of good points, that the current GOP is obsessed with some "scary" ideas like those you listed, some might be truer than others, that is truly debatable; however, what would a person that buys writ large into all of the aforementioned possibly offer in the way of introspective criticism about the current GOP? They will have bought into all of these political entanglements (both real and hyped) and either cowed to such beliefs in craven political desire or truly believe themself; so wouldn't it make sense to speak to a person that hasn't sat along for the ride into crazy-town station with the rest of the GOP? Might we not understand better where they are heading based on someone that is still on the train line so to speak but left the train? The real spark that I find interesting in your statement is the notion that these political wedge issues you listed, are bolstered into the highest echelon of mattering by individuals and media outlets that tend to speak the loudest and most sensationally, but in truth seem to matter very little in most everyone's day to day lives. When we allow for the loudest 3 of 10 or 12 in a group, vastly misinformed and addled members of the group, to scream their conspiratorial views into the rest of the groups faces, and then adopt them as talking points that need serious attention (mainly because of the mechanics of the election process in primaries and a balkanized, oversaturated situation with too many starry eyed politicians carving an easy path for the most noxious of the group), we lose sight of bigger and better projects to undertake (even if there can be a kernel of truth to some of what they are barking about, their perspective usually ends at that bark without any real contribution as to the who, what, where, when and why of the situation and any possibly resolutions). So again, I should ask the question more pointedly: what does one have to gain by trying to ask a dyed in the wool, FOX NEWS contributing, fear-mongering, far right conspiracy-junkie-creating pundit about how the current GOP could better itself, what it could be getting right and/or wrong and what is the path ahead when they're already hook-line-and-sinker (in the wake of failure to capture majorities for how many of the past Presidential contests and abysmal economic performance, to name only two top of mind issues they structurally and in practice, face for decades on end, while focusing evermore on divisive wedge-issues that truly seem to matter to the minority of people)?
Sorry Sam. Capitalist apologist. You lost me.
On the subject of school closings, it's important to remember that not only students populate the schools. There are many teachers who were at high risk of getting very sick or dying from the initial wave of Covid. You can't just ignore that.
Why aren’t these conversations recorded on video? This is the year 2023. If you don’t want to actually watch it you don’t have to! 😕
Good episode. I'm with Sam.
Congrats. You passed the IQ test.
Or possibly the fawning sycophant test
Mitch McConnell and Newt Gingrich- that's what happened to the Republican Party.
18:45 I feel like this type of talk is kinda ridiculous, those in Kyiv live life as normal even if they're in war, that Ukrainians are really determinde to win the war, no compromises,..Who are we actually talking about though, is it the dead young men, their family, being forcibly dragged into the meat grinder that voice these opinions, or is it the rich isolated class in Kyiv?.
I agree. Such an odd thing to say
i dont really get your point
This podcast needs to be flagged for misinformation.
Yes sam. Everyone should do their own research.
Sam should take his own advice
Harris seems so cowardly. Stevens, at least, wants media to return to real journalistic standards.
Sam is a disappiontment lately, we wont say whats wrong with the democratic party, just republicans. he wont debate anyone anymore because he would be crushed because his thoughts are flimbsy at best
Sorry, but any conservative giving me the argument “ Think of the children!” Really turns me off.
This is the limpest guest w the feeblest message you could've gotten after your worst messaging campaign.
I am a now retired medical research scientist and am well aware of how long it normally takes to get drug and vaccine approval. But in early 2020 the world was confronted with a new virus and disease which early indications were had the potential to kill tens of millions of deaths.
Here in Australia the first case arrived in January 2020 and shortly thereafter the number of cases was doubling every 3 days. A National cabinet of federal and state governments and health experts was quickly formed and implemented strict measures such as travel restrictions lockdowns and school closures.
By April 2021 the US had granted emergency vaccine approval and made vaccines available in all states. The death toll was then 590,000 or 1,780 per million of population.
In Australia at that time the death toll was 948 or 36 per million of population.
The loudest and largest protest were against the government of the state of Victoria which had the strictest measures.. In September 2022, the government was reelected with a massive majority. It cannot be known how many of the protestors or their families would have died had the measures not been taken.
In the glorious luminescence of hindsight, a leisurely inquiry is about to begin into the effects of the lockdowns and other measures.
57:50 I think this is a great counterargument. Exercising virtues in reporting makes media more trustworthy to people.
When are you going to ask what happened to the Democrat party?
Lately I have been having a blast reading all the dunning-kreuger comments under videos with Sam in them. If only our society really were full of people who were vastly more intelligent than Sam Harris. Alas, this is not the case.
Do you count yourself as one of those influenced by the Dunning Krueger effect?
@@timjkoala7556 No, I am well aware of how stupid I am. The unexamined life and all that jazz. Why? Do you see something I don't?
@@mrpopo8298 I don't know you well enough to make a judgement on your intellect
@@timjkoala7556 You don't know me at all.
@@mrpopo8298 Well, I have a glimpse of your worldview based on comments you've written in this thread.
We should all contact our government representatives to urge them to provide more support for Ukraine ... More long-range precision fires, fighter jets, etc.
trump lovers in the comments 😆
@@willschrank imagine supporting a guy who tried to overthrow a presidential election. you trumpists couldn't care less about different points of view, you're authoritarian nutcases
Sam’s kids won’t be sent to Ukraine to fight.
@@DuckmanYaHeard What americans are fighting in ukraine
Ain't it a shame that someone would dare to criticize a guy who tried to overthrow our democracy?
Sam has been to Jeffreys island and the rulling class has dirt on him.
Hi, I’m Sam Harris and I am a zen master except when it comes to republicans and trump. Then I’m 5 years old.
"Unfortunately it's very difficult to use legal means to stop someone from achieving their political ends, especially at this level of politics."
I had to rewind because I didn't think I heard him right.
So it would be more fortunate if it were as easy to use the legal system to stop people from achieving their political goals at the top level as it is to do so in smaller political arenas?
Sam, please speak to saner people.
They are ideologically captured. To people like THAT the ends DO justify the means. ANY means.
I think Bret was referring to the difficulty of proving intent. Did Trump lie (with intent) about the election being stolen, or did he just "say something false" as Bret put it. Bret said that even though some of Trump's staff did tell him he lost (and therefore he was aware of the truth), others said the opposite. I think it is becoming clear that the system *is* treating Trump differently (mostly with deference) because he was President. There is also the fact that he is quite wealthy and furthermore has a huge base to donate money for his legal defense. More recently as in the DC case, Trump is using the First Amendment as a shield to say anything he wants, right up to being restricted by a court.
He's talking about Hitler, Trump, and all autocrats that are democratically elected because half the population is stupid. You'd have to be insane to not agree with Sam that legal means not being sufficient to stop Hitler and his clones = bad.
The law is usually an ineffective tool against those who haven't actually broken it. The point being made was that, at the top level of politics, the law can also be a largely ineffective tool against those who may well have broken it, that somehow holding office, or merely running for it, makes these people immune to legal consequences. If someone boasted that breaking the law on a street in broad daylight would only make them more popular and then they actually did break the law, would prosecuting them somehow amount to "a witch hunt" and would/should it make a difference if they are a leading high-level politician?
"So it would be more fortunate if it were as easy to use the legal system to stop people from achieving their political goals at the top level as it is to do so in smaller political arenas?" - well, yes, and by definition, if they are "achieving their political goals" by illegal means. Otherwise, talk about the ends justifying the means...
Sam agrees with him
Sam now repeatedly called the contoversy around his statements during other podcasts taken out of context and does so in this one again.
He seems to either not understand what much of the disappointment in him is about or he does not want to.
In the exchange during the end of this podcast half he again quite clearly states his opinion which Stephens disagrees with quite clearly around 57:28. This is exactly what tje disappointment is about in my opinion.
And Sam shrugges it off by mentioning the timeline so close to the election again which would not be his concern if the laptop had belonged to the other party.
I think at this point it is unfortunately rather clear that the disappointment is with his clearly and repeatedly stated reasoning and not a strawman of that.
Sam's an entirely tactical fraud at this point, seeing everything in terms of power relations and stopping Trump, whatever costs to the integrity of our system of law or journalism or all else.
His view is childlike and dangerous in its simplicity: a) Find the politician you love or hate; b) break the system rules to stop the one you hate, with no concern for the morrow. No sense of how breaking the system might rebound against everyone.
Whether the issue be free speech vs censorship or bodily autonomy from questionable vaccines during covid, Sam has become a breathtakingly obnoxious authoritarian. I've never seen such a personality transplant to an early repressed infantile state -- in so erstwhile a sophisticated man.
But I suppose cultural sophistication can be ungrounded and untried by life's harder experiences, of which Sam has had precious little if he was so hysterical about covid for his age cohort (and he was, by accounts I have heard, hysterical in relation to covid and his person).
Many of the rest of the mature adult world has long ago faced worse challenges than covid.
The Monsters it created took over...💩💩💩
I agree that there´s not ONE expert who should tell a whole country what to do. That´s the reason why there are comissions and institutes and checks and balances. But I don´t agree with those who say that EVERYBODY is his own expert on "schools" and "books" and "education" and "fire arms" and "their business" and "taxes" and whatnot, and suddenly rules and laws are all up for debate and may be followed or not. Replace "expert" with "trained, experienced professional" and you see what I mean.
Sam Harris is really in his own reality now. It's sad to see him put blinders on to kowtow to the oligarchy. Maybe there is still hope for him, but I'm probably being optimistic.
While many agencies have egg on their faces from Covid and other situations, don’t underestimate the impact of having the president of the United States tell the country every day for four years that those agencies shouldn’t be trusted. And as far as people pontificating about topics they know nothing about, let’s consider Musk and other rich assholes who think their money gives them the right to undermine experts. Trump actually fits into that category. So let’s spread the blame a bit on how Americans came to not trust these agencies.
Sam lost his mind in his hurry to get Trump.
"I heard they had headaches" - 45
But Trump [didn’t] have a “massive loss” and the the truth about the laptop probably [would] have tipped the balance. Chris Wallace prevented Trump speaking in the debate and he was 100% correct in his concerns. Biden 100% lied in his responses to Trump regarding the laptop, as he knew it was all true and was directly involved in the shenanigans himself
The arguments for an unbiased and open media always seem to overlook this very important point: Media (particularly social media) now has a much stronger effect on society than it did in the past.
It is very appropriate to ask for Media to have more constraints on what is acceptable behavior now than it had in the past since it now has more power to influence society. If society doesn't learn to control Media, then eventually (perhaps already) Media will control society.
If 3% of society believes the earth is flat or the government is controlled by a secret cabal, they have almost no effect upon society as a whole, but if 40% of society believes the 2020 election was stolen, then we have a problem.
That is the issue in a nutshell: Carlson is a cynical grifter willing to spew anything as long as it will make him money.
I think this guy gets 100% of his news from NYT.
I get mine from Fox, facebook, and Newsmax
@@jpm1544well that would be a mistake. Wouldn't make banking on the NYT good though.
He definitely gets some from fake Fox News.
I think the GOP should change their mascot to a manatee...
A rebranding kind uh situation...
It is rare when Sam and his guest completely miss an obvious answer to a question one of them poses. When discussing whether or not Trump was the inevitable result of the creeping rot within the GOP or whether he was/is a unique exploiter of an essentially sound party, neither, IMO, offered a very convincing response and Brett Stephens seemed to take the position that Trump was not the inevitable, if not end, then intermediate result of GOP practices. I think that long before Trump the GOP had been consciously gaming the electoral system so they could retain power without having to worry whether their policies actually reflected the desires of the population. Couple this with their courting and pandering to the Christian Right (a group steeped in the value of accepting outrageous claims in the face of no or contradictory evidence) and you have a created a buffet of corruption and gullibility that Trump was perfectly designed to feast at. The acceptance by the GOP base and elite of Trump’s abrogation of all norms seemed like a completely reasonable next step.
Utterly stupid.
By Christian Right do you mean people with morals, traditions, and relationships wherein they can procreate?