The Soapbox

Joey Wahoo

Joined: 10/18/1998 Posts: 697
Likes: 841


This kind of appeal taps into a bias that seems to be bred into us


We are living in the most peaceful and prosperous time humanity has ever known, by far, yet the great majority of people believe the world is rapidly going to hell in a hand basket, even while things are actually improving at amazing pace. The only thing the previous 200,000 years of humanity would find more astonishing than our standard of living, is our apparent ingratitude for it.

Some scientists call this bias (the notion that the world is worsening even while it is actually improving) "declinism," and you can find evidence of it dating all the way back to the earliest human writings. Evidently natural selection favors this bias and has kept it alive.

Thus the appeal of "Make America Great Again" and Bernie's claim that Americans are worse off today than they were a generation ago. People nod their heads and agree, because it taps into a bias we're born with. People who are inclined to believe things are getting worse and something must be done to stop it can be especially energized by demagogues who identify the persons responsible as "outsiders," be they immigrants or billionaires.

(In response to this post by WahooRQ)

Posted: 02/23/2020 at 09:41AM



+9

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Current Thread:
 
  
Time to stick a fork in everyone else? -- BambooHoo 02/23/2020 08:33AM
  Bloomy will do poorly on Super Hoosday -- MasterRusty 02/23/2020 4:43PM
  The DNC is already panicking -- Faz d. Hoo 02/23/2020 5:28PM
  He’s not a socialist ** -- 111Balz 02/23/2020 1:31PM
  Top 10 billionaires: -- BocaHoo91 02/23/2020 2:50PM
  Tax policies that put more money in their -- BocaHoo91 02/23/2020 4:27PM
  Cool. My disdain isn't rooted in ignorance or envy. ** -- Seattle .Hoo 02/23/2020 4:28PM
  My Boss is top of the list ** -- LAHOOters 02/23/2020 3:21PM
  Two of mine are on the list. ** -- Seattle .Hoo 02/23/2020 4:21PM
  They have more money than Seattle. That's not fair. ** -- Hokieesith 02/23/2020 3:17PM
  Lmao. Sure he isn’t. ** -- moohoofus 02/23/2020 1:51PM
  Why are you denying him his self-identity? ** -- JMHoo 02/23/2020 1:33PM
  Yeah, even Sanders himself is not denying it. ** -- BambooHoo 02/23/2020 1:39PM
  Regulation is control... ** -- hoothat 02/23/2020 2:12PM
  10 commandments are regulation ** -- HiwasseeHoo 02/23/2020 2:29PM
  And? ** -- hoothat 02/23/2020 2:32PM
  Yes and it's quite often a good thing. ** -- Seattle .Hoo 02/23/2020 2:16PM
  Revolution? People that are walking around with cell -- Hokieesith 02/23/2020 1:12PM
  And coming for pervs like yourself ** -- HiwasseeHoo 02/23/2020 1:16PM
  Are you going to sit on me Fat Bastard? -- Hokieesith 02/23/2020 1:19PM
  Man, you have lost it ** -- WaxHoo 02/23/2020 1:53PM
  Let’s wait until he wins the general -- BocaHoo91 02/23/2020 12:25PM
  With Bern...the Che ** -- Tuckahokie 02/23/2020 12:16PM
  The culinary union thing was not a drag ** -- hoodeyo 02/23/2020 7:35PM
  Surprising? ** -- moohoofus 02/23/2020 09:56AM
  No. Because the current system is broke. ** -- HiwasseeHoo 02/23/2020 1:14PM
  And that will fix it? ** -- moohoofus 02/23/2020 1:50PM
  I don't think it's anywhere close to that simple. -- hoolstoptheheels 02/23/2020 09:51AM
  Yeah, I do not see why others cannot see this -- VaTechie 02/23/2020 8:19PM
  Comrade! Exactly... ** -- southdenverhoo 02/23/2020 1:17PM
  And what about health insurance? That goes away? -- Hokieesith 02/23/2020 3:34PM
  If it was up to me, everyone would get -- BocaHoo91 02/23/2020 3:54PM
  I agree 100% with Boca; he has nailed it ** -- Quaker 02/23/2020 11:31AM
  As long as they let the physicians run it -- Oregon Hoo 02/23/2020 3:08PM
  See my reaponse to Faz d below -- Oregon Hoo 02/23/2020 3:47PM
  Set it up this way -- Oregon Hoo 02/23/2020 3:43PM
  I believe Winston Churchill put it best -- Quaker 02/23/2020 11:45AM
  Fair points -- BocaHoo91 02/23/2020 11:41AM
  It adds up; Canadians pay half what we pay -- Quaker 02/23/2020 10:45AM
  The cost is what the market will bear -- Faz d. Hoo 02/23/2020 11:33AM
  Bingo -- SchmHoo 02/23/2020 09:33AM
  Time to roll out the Never Bernies. ** -- Hoodafan 02/23/2020 09:08AM
  Stoopid worked for Trump. Why not for Bernie? ** -- WaxHoo 02/23/2020 09:03AM

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