• @TropicalDingdong
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    612 hours ago

    No. This is ignorant thinking. Do you think politicians are a special class of people? Like they have special training to do what they do? They don’t. They are just people. Zelenskyy made a fine president.

    He’s got good politics and he’s a better communicator than any current American politician. Also, we know way the fuck more about him than we do any politician, because he’s communicated so much more about himself than any politician ever has. Also, he’s gotten more work done in congress than half the congress critters in office right now with his effectively forcing Republicans to support 9-11 emergency personal.

    So no. I reject the idea that politicians are a special class of people. Its perfectly reasonable for someone whose job it is to communicate, analyze, understand, and make light of news and politics to run for office. The idea that “politicians” are in any way a separate, or special, or privileged class is the cosmopolitan view, and a deeply toxic one.

    • rigatti
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      -111 hours ago

      I did not say politicians are a special class of people, those are your words. I said I don’t want celebrities running for office. To counter your Zelenskyy example, I present to you Donald Trump. How about Herschel Walker? Let’s also throw in Ronald Reagan, the actor.

      I would rather not have celebrities run for office at all and leave that up to regular working class people. However, it does tend to be business owners and celebrity types who run because they have the resources.

      • @TropicalDingdong
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        311 hours ago

        You want “celebrities” to be kept separate from “politicians”. That’s the introduction of a special class.

        • rigatti
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          -210 hours ago

          Yes that’s exactly what I want. Your reading comprehension is truly above world class, a special class if you will.

          • @TropicalDingdong
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            10 hours ago

            Yes that’s exactly what I want.

            I reject the idea that politicians are a special class of people. The idea that “politicians” are in any way a separate, or special, or privileged class is the cosmopolitan view, and a deeply toxic one. Your thinking is harmful to society.

            • rigatti
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              -110 hours ago

              You’re still confused and refusing to read what I actually wrote. That’s not what I think.

              • @TropicalDingdong
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                10 hours ago

                You’re still confused

                There is 0 fucking confusion coming from my end. You are simply obtuse and conflicted.

                Me:

                You want “celebrities” to be kept separate from “politicians”. That’s the introduction of a special class.

                You:

                Yes that’s exactly what I want.

                Me:

                I reject the idea that politicians are a special class of people. The idea that “politicians” are in any way a separate, or special, or privileged class is the cosmopolitan view, and a deeply toxic one. Your thinking is harmful to society.

                Part of your mind has been broken and its reflected in your worldview.

                • JoYo
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                  110 hours ago

                  i kinda agree with both of y’all but inferring a world view from one minor political opinion is exactly what @[email protected] is pushing back on.

                  you assume too much about their premise and are having a strawman argument.

                  • @TropicalDingdong
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                    9 hours ago

                    I don’t think either @[email protected] or myself are conflicted about their world view. They’ve said it multiple times, and have confirmed that I characterized it accurately.

                    Me:

                    You want “celebrities” to be kept separate from “politicians”. That’s the introduction of a special class.

                    Rigatti:

                    Yes that’s exactly what I want.

                    Rigatti could push back on the specifics or add nuance, but they aren’t choosing to. Instead they say I’m “confused”, even though I clarified and they confirmed I characterized their position correctly. The accusation of confusion is a way of deflection of the outcome of their world view. The problem they have is that they don’t like the outcome when the specifics of their world view are well characterized. If they were pushing back on the characterization, the situation would be different. But we’re all in agreement on Rigatti’s position here. Rigatti’s just doesn’t appreciate the inconvenience their position offers them. They want to have it both ways, and that position seems like the reasonable view, but with even a little scratching below the surface, we can find that its deeply problematic. We should not treat politicians (or celebrities or anyone for that matter) as a special class of people to be handled differently.

                    inferring a world view from one minor political opinion

                    That’s all they’ve offered. We base analyses on information we have, not information we don’t have. They are more than welcome to clarify.

                    Either you want politicians to be a special class of people and you don’t want other groups to have access to that role, or you are against that. And the vast majority of the world agrees with Rigatti, that the world of “politics” is for held apart for a special class of people. Its an anti-populist worldview. And I reject that.