Now this begs the question, should you include me in the list of hacks exploiting politics for social capital and becoming increasingly detached from reality while doing so?

And the answer is yes!

I can never find my channels on these :'(

"But when Thatcher took office in 1979, taxes in the U.K. were about 30 percent of GDP, and when she left office in 1992 they were about 30 percent of GDP; Thatcher had actually raised taxes considerably in her first term, only bringing them back down later. In fact, the argument that tax cuts would automatically bring economic growth had not gained much credibility in the U.K. at the time, as Thatcher’s Chancellor Geoffrey Howe later noted: “My Treasury team and I had never succumbed — never seriously anyway — to the mistaken interpretations of Lafferism, which have led some U.S. policymakers so far astray.” Supply-side economics was never a big part of Thatcher’s economic policies, which were about privatization and council house sales instead. Truss’ attempts to pass off her tax cut folly as Thatcherism show not only that Truss did not understand economics, but also that she did not understand Thatcherism."

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/10/21/liz-truss-tax-cut-00062854

The answer is no, she didn't, but I can dream, can't I?

Comrade Greta is with us🫡🫡🫡

Pretty good article and worth a read. I completely understand the rejection of traditional academia in leftist circles, but you can lose a lot of important nuance and knowledge by rejecting academic and intellectual principles.

There is obviously a considerable amount of elitism in the academic sphere and it ought to be questioned, but there’s a difference between that and outright opposition to lofty and/or esoteric scientific/academic pursuits.

There is also generally an anti-intellectual culture in the US that seriously inhibits people’s desire to learn: knowledge is only useful if you can use that knowledge for economic, political, or social gain.

As a consequence, our schools (and undergraduate institutions) rarely teach people how to think, but are instead glorified $60,000/yr boot camps. Philosophy and history majors are the laughingstock of America despite being one of the few demographics who enter university out of a genuine interest for intellectual development and it’s immensely saddening.

I’m saying this as a STEM double major.