From top: Donald Trump; Dan Boyle
We may yet sink deeper into this anti-intellectual morass. We may linger longer than we expect, and most certainly need to. But flames need to be kept lit.
Dan Boyle writes:
“I’m, like, very smart,” The Donald has stated to criticisms that he has chosen not to take briefings from the US intelligence services.
To be dubious of what such briefings might contain, should be a character point in his favour. After all dissembling is a raison d’etre for such ‘intelligence’ agencies. However to forgo any such briefing, because you already know what you believe you need to know, truly is ignorance writ large.
“A wise man is someone who knows what he doesn’t know,” that is a saying attributed to the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. It seems, in its apposite meaning, to perfectly not encapsulate The Donald. His total lack of self awareness has been seen by enough of those who support him, as reason to have him become their pin up boy. His certainty being seen by his defenders as confidence. His confidence being seen as strength.
In this he has become emblematic of the post modern world. This world of the simple truth. A world without nuance. A world where complexity is an inconvenience to be ignored.
Instinct, not influenced by the organised thoughts of others, but developed through bias and prejudice, is the sad standard bearer of truth in these ever deluded times.
The simple truth is confirmed by surrounding yourself with those who share your worldview. To question is to invite derision amplified through abuse. It is the behaviour of an ever indulged child whose faux confidence should be more properly recognised as bullying.
This is the world where we have had enough of experts. Where scientists are the conveyors of hoaxes. Where shouting louder makes you more ‘right’ than anyone else.
Those emboldened by this celebration of ignorance now hold sway throughout the ether, on the airwaves, and in our collective consciousness. Those of us who choose to think differently (or indeed to think at all) could decide to remove ourselves from this madness. Instead we should listen. We should try to engage.
We may yet sink deeper into this anti-intellectual morass. We may linger longer than we expect, and most certainly need to, in this thoughtless swamp. But flames need to be kept lit.
Liberal complacency has certainly contributed to this ongoing political coup against logic. Liberal surrender would make its victory complete. Think on that while we are still able to think.
The further or deeper The Age of Donald persists, the more antagonistic the treatment will be towards thinkers/questioners. In the US the preferred form of abuse by the rabid right is a slight on the mental capacity (but more insulting on those with special needs) of those who won’t rejoice at this new golden age. This abuse should become a badge of pride.
The slogan towards enlightenment should be ‘Libtards of the World Unite’.
Dan Boyle is a former Green Party TD and Senator. Follow Dan on Twitter: @sendboyle
The gas thing is that the green party are usually the ones who take this sort of view on the world and its affairs.
???
More instances of natuopathy and other faux science lovers in the Green Party than any other. Maybe you, and your ilk, are part of the problem, Dan?
Not my experience. A mythology projected onto us. The politics around climate change can only be evidence based.
Certainly has been mine.
Of course it has. Not being back up by any examples though.
The slogan towards enlightenment should be ‘Libtards of the World Unite’. Yes Dan, it should. Will it be? No and a thousand times no. Where now, Dan, mass sucide? or do you have a cunning plan?
Because it’s all down to me. I’ve been waiting for your suggestions.
A start might be to get rid of “Libtard, Snowflake, Mangina, Clittorati, Feminazi,etc.,” so beloved of the right wing (in return for no mention of neo-con etc.,) and perhaps an adult conversation could ensue? Jays, that makes me sound so wanky :-(
Liberal surrender
Huh???
Jays that was a savage track
Waddent it
I surrender rrrrrrrrrrr
Rainbow?
A proper Con headbanging session
*dampens sideburns with spittle*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ29pVhsdMs
Jesus Dan could be talking about himself here
…ah here…few Irish people have done as much as Dan to change the world order…he intervened directly by voting in the UK election…the Brexit referendum…the US presidential election…all on the back of a paltry Seanad pension…nothing tardy about Dan…
Voted in the Welsh Assembly election. Didn’t take part in Brexit as my car broke down. Read the words that are written down not the ones you want to see.
…careful now Dan…by your on admission you are guilty of sins against democracy in thought, word and deed…now you are adding the sin of ommission…tut tut..
Being convicted by you is no sin. I’m happy with what I do and what I’ve done. I’m remain a democrat to my core.
not complying with your party constitution yep that’s democracy
plus your party defends and protects officials that break the law
more than a stench of animal farm manure from the Green Party
Only in your mind Ray. That special conspiracy ridden space. I don’t accept and agree with any of that. Nor do I think it has anything Iike the level of importance that you seem to attach to it.
@CorkMartin @OSully1980 They can decide what they want. I can decide whether it’s democratic or not.
with statements like this Dan it’s easy to see what’s in your mind
Associating the political right with a lack of intelligence is in itself simplistic and lacking nuance. It’s also a bit smug.
Both sides are afflicted
“Instinct, not influenced by the organised thoughts of others, but developed through bias and prejudice, is the sad standard bearer of truth in these ever deluded times.”
Yup, and there’s no “left is correct, and the right is wrong”, nor vice versa. The left is very much guilty of perpetuating this through internet echo-chambers, and the right happened to win at it. Both are equally guilty of it… particularly liberal left with their sloganeering campaigns without any depth – vote for the vag* ; and labeling massive groups of unrelated people as being all sexist, misogynist, racists…. pathetic. And so pathetic it backfired and that’s how Trump won.
Check out The Young Turks vid where Bernie talks to Trump supporters….. now, if the Dems had done this type of campaigning, instead of running a campaign of hate based on calling half their country a bunch of c***s, they would have won.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvNkdakBexU
* the campaign might as well have said that, paraphrasing Susan Sarandon :)
Go Bernie!
I’m not a big fan of TYT’s but that short video demonstrates a lot.
salient point of “there’s no “left is correct, and the right is wrong”, nor vice versa.”
It makes more sense to apply ‘progressive’ and ‘retrograde’ and in the context of whole society. Both equally present in the ‘left’ and ‘right’. glad you brought it up.
And thanks for the tip on nuance of language, noted ! :)
no bother, I learn from politicians, but apply the learning it against them :-) Sorry, some of them.
It’s an interesting position we find ourselves in, we have a wealth of information with which to challenge our assumptions and preconceptions yet we are drawn to disinformation that we find believable, that confirms, and conforms to, our position.
This is not new, for example: many cultures took a dim view of solar eclipses including the ancient Babylonians who were wont to sacrifice their king to restore the order.
In time a sophisticated mathematics evolved which allowed them to calculate and accurately predict the dreaded phenomenon.
However, rather than develop a theory of planetary motion they instead resorted to appointing a criminal on the fateful day and executing them instead.
There is a grim certainty to simple narratives, complex and nuanced views cannot be shouted or sloganned and change can be disturbing.
+1
The ‘with us, or against us’ rhetoric of the liberal left only compounded this phenomenon among their own supporters, thus shutting out many easily swayed voters who went for Trump (as the Bernie video above demonstrates).
You seem to be confused, Clampers, “with-us-or-against-us” is not a liberal view.
Authoritarians can be left or right.
Also, college-educated middle-class people voted for Trump.
In fact, why do you think Trump supporters or Republican voters would back a New York socialist who wanted to increase tax to pay for health care and college education for others?
The “anti-” crowd seem to have backed a billionaire with regressive interpersonal and business views.
It’s easy to blame poor people and immigrants rather than challenge Wall Street, for instance, just as it is easy to deny climate change or demonise vaccines.
The difference is actual damage to people’s health and lives as opposed to being upset because someone called you a racist on Twitter
Hear, I know it can be a left or right thing to take a stance on the ‘with us/against us’, authoritarian view.
I’m just stating that the lefts campaign shut out many people by doing so. They did so by calling the opposition sexist mysoginist racists.
“In fact, why do you think Trump supporters or Republican voters would back a New York socialist who wanted to increase tax to pay for health care and college education for others?”
– See the TYT vid above.
– Many Trump supporters used to not vote, but came out as new voters – http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/12/trump-supporters-are-often-irregular-voters.html
– Plus a good number were Democrat – http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/31/upshot/donald-trumps-strongest-supporters-a-certain-kind-of-democrat.html?_r=0
– The war monger in opposition lost these voters – the voters like those in the TYT vid, and ex-Dems who switched. Enough there to have swung the vote… possibly… likely… it’s all hindsight / speculation, I know.
“The “anti-” crowd seem to have backed a billionaire with regressive interpersonal and business views.”
I don’t know what you mean by “anti” crowd…. genuinely.
“It’s easy to blame poor people and immigrants rather than challenge Wall Street, for instance, just as it is easy to deny climate change or demonise vaccines.”
Not to sure where you’re going with that as I wasn’t blaming poor, nor immigrants… ?
Cheers dude
with hindsight…between Bodger’s campaign against crooked Hilary and Dan Boyles vote for Trump…it looks like Broadsheet determined the outcome of the US election…
LOL, some round here genuinely believe that too :)
The facts are The people of America voted for Hilary Clinton. She won the popular vote by 2.8 Million votes. Trump only won the electoral college vote, which is a voting system that is deeply flawed and not used in many other countries worldwide. So in fact American democracy itself is broken.
People need to stop picking sides, Right or Left, and become a person who belives in the Centre. Some issues can sway more to the left, some issues can sway more to the right, but most importantly we need to progress together. Like the scientific community do all over the world, the study and share information and innovate for the good of Humanity and truth. Be progressive
Clamps, you were against Clinton, as was Bodger and his troll minions. It’s a bit rich to keep going on about the with-us-or-against-us mentality when you were, in no uncertain terms, against. At some point you should broaden your remit from castigating one side for losing and apportion some of the responsibility to the other side for winning. Whatever about the dark doings of the FBI and the Russians, nobody who voted for the guy did so without knowing exactly what he was like.
Nigel, the left lost because they ran a war mongering establishment figure. Hillary’s votes declined in many states and lost states that Obama won. Trump didn’t ‘take’ them, she gave them to him.
You just cannot face that fact that your hero *** was a scumbag war mongering Wall Street money grabbing ****. That’s not my issue, that’s yours.
I also love how you think a piss ant movement that was near death until recently like the KKK (for Trump) is somehow a greater threat than the support of 9 of the 10 biggest arms dealers (for Hillary) in the world. That’s what virtue signalling morons believe.
“Nobody voted for the guy without knowing exactly what he was like” ….Hello, McFly… this is 100% correct, now, remember why they voted for the guy… lesser of two evils maybe? I do believe many who voted Trump took that view, if you’re willing to look for the info (here’s one pre-election example, and many of the reasons were given in many news reports and vox pops – http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-25/real-reasons-people-will-vote-trump ).
But Nigel, you won’t look for the info, you won’t look at the link, you won’t read it…. as you yourself admitted during the election that you only look at news sources from the side you agree with, didn’t you? Have you forgotten that you said that? You are an example of the ‘cocooned’ view that Dan speaks of.
Your rambling point above is nothing shy of a disgruntled temperamental child who didn’t get their way. Trump’s a plonk, and the people and methods of campaigning that you supported handed him the election. Face facts, take responsibility and get your head out of left-only media’s ass.
‘You just cannot face that fact that your hero vag was a scumbag war mongering Wall Street money grabbing c**t. ‘
This from the guy whining about a) the ‘with us or against us’ mentality and b) how mean the Dems were for calling people names.
‘That’s what virtue signalling morons believe.’
Huh, and again. I’ll note I never mentioned the KKK, though it’s always fun to point out that they endorsed him.
‘remember why they voted for the guy… lesser of two evils maybe?’
That’s what they claim. That’s what you claim. You thought he was the lesser evil? You had to really, really work hard to make that happen. You probably had to chant ‘scumbag war mongering Wall Street money grabbing c**t’ a couple of thousand times There were other reasons given, though.
‘as you yourself admitted during the election that you only look at news sources from the side you agree with, didn’t you? ‘
You are mistaken or lying.
‘Trump’s a plonk, and the people and methods of campaigning that you supported handed him the election.’
Me I think you;re buying completely into the right wing narrative about the election, the one that absolves the people who voted for him from any responsibility for voting for him. I also note that you only demand other people treat your views as nuanced and multi-faceted. When it comes to my views you just make stuff up to suit yourself.
” I never mentioned the KKK ”
#CaptainPicardLevelFacepalm
I’ll say. You outdid yourself there.
A typical tactic by Nigel, try and abnormalise logic.
Desperatly trying to get the last word in.
Behind you! It’s Soros!
That comment is best suited to you Nigel everyone knows that
No it is you to whom everyone knows the comment is suited best!
Nigel and his fake news and the Russians hacking democracy
The world’s a safer place since they locked Hilary in jail.
Thank you Clampers, I was referring to your “liberal left” and “easily swayed voters”.
I thought it was clear that liberals of any stripe are not the ones throwing around slurs and insults.
The “easily swayed voters” is the point here: that lies, misinformation and a simplistic narrative in a complex world have equal weight and significance and that facts are a “”liberal” “conspiracy”.
(https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xnhJWusyj4I Newt Gingrich, 1minute)
The “anti-” people I am referring to think that Trump is going to shake things up and challenge the status quo.
(I would note that anarchy means an absence of rulers, not an absence of rules, therefore electing an authoritarian is counter-productive)
There are many people who didn’t vote Democrat this time, some Democrats are actually conservative, which is why I think Hillary picked Tim Kaine over some scary socialist.
Didn’t matter, the resounding message was that people didn’t trust Hillary, which has nothing to do with liberals or lefties, really, who actually backed Sanders, is that not correct?
Republicans voted Republican or they rejected Trump for McMullin or a write-in.
http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/why-don-t-you-irish-get-donald-trump-1.2685996
“The Young Turks”, Jonathan Pie etc. are infotainment, they tell a good story.
I hear no mention of the widespread voter intimidation, electoral purges, systemic disenfranchisement that kept people away from rural polls when millions in the cities flocked to the Democrats.
Too complex for a 4 minute spiel.
(http://nytimes.com/2016/10/02/opinion/sunday/who-gets-to-vote.html
“… most studies conclude that the new restrictions will reduce the participation of African-Americans, Latinos and poor people generally, most likely by a few percentage points — and perhaps by as much as eight to 10 percentage points”).
(oh- a fallacy, poor people voted Trump.
Trump = Less tax)
Deluded, you may wish to read :
https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2016/dec/06/observer-225-comment-writers-nick-cohen
Thank you Coppèlia, some interesting points to consider there.
“This is the world where we have had enough of experts. Where scientists are the conveyors of hoaxes.”
Where The Irish Green party gave tax breaks for people to buy diesel powered cars while it was and is common knowledge that diesel engines are more polluting than petrol, and cause 1,200 deaths in Ireland every year.
Some experts the GP turned out to be Dan.
I wouldn’t class any party as an ‘expert’ on anything. I do take that as a given, personally.
Most TDs (or is it ‘all TDs’) hire ‘experts’ or ‘advisors’ in the field of the ministerial position they work in.
And parties based on issues, such as the Greens on the environment, should be seen as advocates for that position, not experts.
My tuppence
That had nothing to do with the Green Party. Emission standards on diesel cars are determined through the EU. The scandal is the extent to which car manufacturers lied. I know you want to blame the Green Party for everything,
That’s deflection Dan and you know it. The fact that some of the engine suppliers lied is not relevant.
Diesels are more polluting than petrol yet the GP gave tax breaks which has greatly increased the number of diesel powered cars on out roads.
If the emissions quoted by the likes of VW were 100% accurate your party’s tax breaks have made the situation much worse by the misguided tax breaks.
Accept when you got it wrong Dan.
An emission based system doesn’t differentiate between fuel types. Those standards are EU defined. None of the assertions you make are true. In government we did not promote or advocate the use of diesel cars. In fact our policies would have directed towards reducing the amount of car journeys.
in government you reduced motor tax for diesel cars, that’s a fact Dan.
Also, the emission based system you refer to is based on CO2 only, therefore not an emission based anything.
Your short time in politics has honed your ability to avoid a straight answer.
“diesel causes 1200 deaths per year in Ireland”
Lol what nonsense
I’ve come to think that American people did us all a massive favour by electing Trump. Grim favor, but essential and here is (in my opinion) why:
Trump played exactly the same game as the rest, BUT he stripped all pretenses from it – polite euphemisms for nasty things, double speak as legal insurance, fake civic piousness etc. He distilled the power game to its bare bones. He exposed the modus operandi and, naturally, made everyone p!$$€d 0ff – what kind of m0r0n reveals Guild secrets?
Political parties in US are staring in the mirror that Trump is, but can’t overcome the denial. Instead they are now being silly children caught in the act and insist on russian fairy by the name of Putin, who stole their teeth. Yeah, right. US successfully interfered in number of elections worlwide over the years, surely they must have built up a huge expertise in the field, hence, should have seen it coming at home and prevent it. But may be appointing wrong people to their CIA/FBI/XYZ.
Having said all that – Dems game was more astute domestically. They understand you must feed the cows to secure milk flow. They’d throw a bit of hey to the pen and allow for some cow freedoms that DO NOT threaten their incomes. Like gender equality. They understand access to health care for all is essential – sick cows don’t produce quality milk and become a cost. Republicans either don’t have the b@!!$ or wits to grasp that, they starve the “cows”. And these are people with Ivy League degrees, mind you. If I were a Rector in one of these, I’d be very fupping worried about its reputation and the quality of graduates.
We should learn from US, because it’s ahead of us.
Have a great day, folks. Sorry for droning on.
Well said… I’ve little sympathy for them in the US. Most in particular, the Dems, none at all, zilch, nada, they shot themselves in the face, and tried to run an establishment war monger, in what was clearly an anti-establishment election, while being supported by, the establishment in the guise of Wall St and 9 out of the top 10 arms dealers in the world….
Nuff said.
The bomb loving lefty dems eh..
how patheticly confused
Willfully blind.
“clearly an anti-establishment election”
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
But, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the establishment Democrats would prefer to have Trump as President than to have Sanders as President.
“the establishment Democrats would prefer to have Trump as President than to have Sanders as President.”
I agree
What I was driving at, was the voters wanted an anti-establishment runner… they got one, in that he was not an established politician …beyond that, they were played for fools in that he is establishment when we speak of business connections to politicians, but it was enough of a difference to win voters over… as he did win.
Drone as much as you like, Nelly. A most sensible and interesting post.
its the dawn of the dumb. swathes of overlooked under-educated people have been woken up and mobilised. and surprisingly, shouting them down and telling them they don’t know anything only made them strong willed. . . and now .. chaos. It’s begun and won’t end easily. prrof is in the pudding, and people who trusted in trump fro change, will see that he’ll deliver none of what he promised, they will be let down, once again. what happens after that will be interesting .. will there just be more trumps? more broken promises? if so, how long does that cycle continue? if not, then what?
Walking dead?!!! They’re zombies! That show was a warning???!
Yikes!
I’m hoping for a Revolution against the Billionaire class myself. Perhaps a game show where they are hunted down and killed, and all of their cash flies out of them and is gathered up by the squeezed middle class. Like the Running Man only better prizes.
It appears I have fallen foul of the “Bold Boy Filter” – I’ll try again : A start might be to get rid of “Libtard, Snowflake, Mangina, Clittorati, Feminazi,etc.,” so beloved of the right wing (in return for no mention of neo-con etc.,) and perhaps an adult conversation could ensue? Jays, that makes me sound so w**ky :-(
Maybe. I wouldn’t see them as being equated. One attempts definition even if over used and hugely misapplied. The other terms are just abuse.
You can add ‘patriarchy’ to that list of bullpoo buzz words :)
I wouldn’t remove ‘neo-con’ from the list, as the Dems were this elections neo-cons in the form of Hillary. Neo-con can these days can be a Dem or Republican.
There are many articles on Hillary as a neo-con, this one I think is straight forward enough – http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/36201-hillary-clinton-the-neocon-in-democrat-s-clothing (pre-result piece)
Jesus, Clamps, patriarchy is a thing that still exists in many parts of the world.It’s not some stupid buzzword.
I’m not talking about Ireland (8th amendment notwithstanding) but places outside of the overly entitled western world, where patriarchy is a very real thing, and women are discriminated against and restricted because of their sex, and men can literally get away with murder because they have a penis, patriarchy exists.
Just because you’ve a pain in your face with it, does not make it less valid.
PS sorry for the rant btw. Watched a rather saddening documentary a few days ago about this kind of thing and, what can I say, it got to me.
Not at all, didn’t see it as a rant. Your point is right.
I should’ve said ‘patriarchy (in the west)’ or something to that effect. I am very much aware of the patriarchy of other cultures, and have made that clear before, so, sorry for that lack of clarity.
…may I ask what doc?
I’ll have to find the name. I walked in about half way through it. I’ll get back to you on it.
Glad you didn’t see it as a rant. I’d hate to fight with you, me aul flower :-
“You just cannot face that fact that your hero *** was a scumbag war mongering Wall Street money grabbing ****. That’s not my issue, that’s yours.”
It’s highly clear what your issue is. Don’t ever again try to tell us you don’t have a significant problem with women, Clampers.
Kieran clearly still wiping his eyes
Because I used the ‘c’ word, seriously? Or the ‘vag’ bit which is a subtle Susan Sarandon reference. It’s the ‘c’ one isn’t it… yeah , whatever.
Don’t worry about it. If the election has taught us anything, it’s that talking like this about a woman is the lesser of two evils.
Oh Nigel, you gave me a giggle.
Good man :)
What this tread needs is less Boyle
And more pics of doggies in their Christmas clothes