Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by phpisthebest 1164 days ago
The US Political Class is made up of Gullible people unable to do their own research because that is what the system has incentivized electing

People with intelligence, principles, and convictions rarely last long in politics;

People lacking those skills but the ability to charismatically reiterate the talking points of politically connected charities, action groups or lobbiest are well sought after....
2 comments
SketchySeaBeast 1164 days ago
A more optimistic interpretation of "The US Political Class is made up of Gullible people unable to do their own research because that is what the system has incentivized electing" would be that the US political class can't possibly do their own research on every topic that they have to govern and instead have to rely on external experts. Not arguing that it ends up being those with the most money being the loudest, but it makes sense that you'd want to use the research of others for your own decision making if you're not an expert and have access to experts.
link
red-iron-pine 1164 days ago
They're not "gullible" -- they exist to flog the views of those who elected them; that's their job. They exist to be a sock puppet for their voters.

Think tanks exist to come up with policy prescriptions. There are just so many topics, internationally, locally, nationally, that no one can be a deep-dive expert unless they focus specifically on it.

link