I think that Tyler Cowen must be experiencing some of the same things as I. In a piece at Bloomberg he declaims:
If the biggest news is what’s not being talked about, then my candidate for the most neglected story would be President Joe Biden’s plan for $3.5 trillion in new government spending. Crazy as my hypothesis may seem, given all the stuff about Biden’s agenda on the internet, there has been remarkably little policy debate about it, and remarkably little attempt to persuade the American public that this spending is a good idea.
He goes on to lay out the case that the conversation has been articulated in purely partisan terms with little regard for its political, economic, or social implications. Here’s the telling part:
…what we read is that if you’re on the blue team you want the number to be 3.5, but a few Democrats are holding out for something lower.
and he concludes:
Another possibility, more depressing yet, is that the main debate is now about political power and tactics, rather than policy per se. Squabbles over symbols are more common than disagreements over substance, and the influence of various interest groups matters more than the strength of any argument. My evidence for all this may be only anecdotal. But I fear it heralds broader and very negative political trends. Is America now more a polity of force than a republic of ideas?
As we become an increasingly visual society through the power of television and the Internet and with social media further encouraging the development, I honestly don’t see how anyone would expect anything else. Logical discourse increasingly succumbs to highly agonistic expressions and appeals to loyalty to the faction.
Its almost like “they” don’t want us sloping forehead types to know what is in the bills other than buzz word salad.
“He goes on to lay out the case that the conversation has been articulated in purely partisan terms with little regard for its political, economic, or social implications.”
I decided to laugh, and not cry. Ol’ Tyler figure that out all on his own?? File it under no shit Sherlock.
Trump colluded with the Russians. Stole the election don’t you know. A Russian agent!! Of course, in reality, it was a Hillary Clinton political op. Any fool knew that early on. Was there any analysis of the implications for our elective process, the trust in the FBI or CIA, or the investigative bodies of Congress? Hell no. Just get that no good SOB Trump.
Hunter Biden trafficked in his daddy’s influence for money on significant foreign policy matters. Pure political graft. But no, we hear its Russian disinformation, said the media and punditry class. Fools, or liars. And now the truth comes out. It was all true. Hunter, and Joe, have US policy up for sale. Any discussion of implications for public policy etc? Hell no.
Joe Biden ran a listless, almost lifeless campaign from his basement, with obvious tepid enthusiasm. And yet we are asked to believe in wild statistical oddities and that his support was so rabid that he got more votes than Obama. Well, in a select few counties, if you catch my drift. Right. Any discussion of the implications for our voting process? Of course not.
This phenomenon is not new. The ends justify the means. Its just who wins and loses, and who gets the power. WTFU, Tyler.