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Michael Fuchs's avatar

This piece of Freddie's, like a number of his other writings, made me profoundly sad. Not because he's wrong--on the contrary!--but because he reminds me of what I miss so much, which is intelligent, mature, informed discussion of complex topics. I listen to the general discourse in our society and I hear cacophony, repetitive screaming, folks with fingers in their ears chanting la-la-la. To suddenly encounter a grown-up sane voice saying comprehensible things is both a pleasure and a grief-inducing thing. What happened to everyone else? Where did *they* go? Anyway, nevertheless, thank you, Freddie.

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James's avatar

There is a force that would get these people to change their mind. And that's skin in the game. If someone is high on idealism, there's nothing to sober them up like a little shot of experiencing the practical issue in their real, physical reality.

As long as your experience of a problem is mere paraexperience, it's easy to agree with your tribe. For pundits and politicians, it's even in their financial/political interests to simply follow the party line. You see a lot more nuance when you talk to folks who are living with a problem.

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