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Showing posts from December 18, 2016

Populism, Real and Phony - The New York Times

Another comment was noted as a NYT Pick, this one in a Krugman comment thread, Populism, Real and Phony - The New York Times A recent article implied that liberals weren't accepting populism, and of course we aren't, at least the US variant. In Europe there are different populist movements, left and right, although underlying the hostility of the fringe might be economics issues, the the left looks to be against austerity while the right tends to be proto-fascist. In the US, there only seems to be an authoritarian right. Obviously we are not incorporating the fascism of the right, and would only be willing to deal with the underlying human welfare concerns, not directly support the racist, xenophobic, militaristic, and sexist policies those groups express. Another post of mine in the same comment section was somewhat more popular, although not noted as a NYT Pick, in response to someone writing that we shouldn't imitate Republican obstructionism: The agendas are entir

For Millions of Immigrants, a Common Language: WhatsApp - The New York Times

Often, the editors or authors of articles some posts as being NYT Picks, presumably because they are insightful and uncommon. I was gratified to find one of my posts was marked as such, on an article about immigrants and messaging, For Millions of Immigrants, a Common Language: WhatsApp It doesn't matter is they are legal or illegal, it is the benefit of the app to people. It is increasing the welfare of many people, those in good places with stable lives, and refugees without a home. The downside, is that it can be used by some for illicit activities, terrorism and crime, but the benefit here seems to greatly outweigh the possible harm.