Category Archives: Business

Twitter’s War On The Right

Ed Driscoll has a roundup of links. Ken White (no fan of Stacy’s) is enraged. And more from Allum Bokhari.

I find it outrageous that Twitter has put Anita Sarkeesian (among others) in charge of policing speech. I won’t be surprised if I get suspended at some point.

As I’ve been tweeting occasionally as Twitter seems to be determined to reinvent itself into irrelevance, they are opening up a market opportunity for a social medium that allows everyone short posts of 140 characters, shown in chronological order.

[Early afternoon update]

From the Harvard Business Review, why Twitter is losing users:

Abuse has become something like a systematized feature of life as we know it, in this age of discontent — and maybe that’s why it is an age of discontent. We expect to be mistreated by our bosses, ripped off by contracts we can’t read, swindled by fine print and hidden clauses, deceived by our politicians, and misrepresented by our representatives… and now, on the medium where we spend the majority of our waking lives, heckled and bullied by complete strangers.

In turn, we internalize the lessons of abuse, becoming little abusers ourselves. We expect to have to mistreat our customers, exploit our communities, bully our peers, cut corners, manipulate our colleagues, bail on our obligations, package the lowest common denominator at the highest possible price as a miracle-in-a-can… not just if we want to get ahead, but merely to anxiously tread water. And though it takes different forms, abuse is essentially what’s being piped through the tubes of the internet, or through the headquarters of VW, and into the water of Flint, Michigan.

The tech industry turns a blind eye to it. Courts excuse it. And abuse stops being the exception, and becomes the rule. We grow accustomed not just to the abuse itself, but to the fact that nothing’s going to be done about it. It’s treated as a customer service problem, or a PR crisis, not a core business issue.

Note that nowhere in this word salad is what constitutes “abuse” actually described. Which is what allows the Social Justice League to shut down dissent.

[Update a few minutes later]

This seems related: Rutgers students melt down after hearing a conservative speak.

The Middle Finger Of God

Some worthy thoughts on mendacious politicians, the Clintons (but I repeat myself), and Donald Trump:

I’ve talked enough about the virtue of politeness and persuasion in politics. But how about a little disdain for unrestrained political carelessness? Trump’s total lack of ideological or intellectual rigor and consistency is making fools of people who once claimed they cared about such things.

Trump’s schtick as a sprinkler system of insults is getting everyone dirty. He throws mud on anything and anyone in his way. But that muck washes off quite easily. What stains down to the soul is the eagerness to apologize for, or even celebrate, the filth. In his professional life, Trump has left a trail of wreckage. His own James McDougals are strewn about like victims after a tornado. And his defenders celebrate this as proof he’s a great businessman.

Now the F6 is heading for Washington. His fans remind me of the naïve fools in Independence Day who welcome the aliens with cheers and handmade signs on rooftops, incapable of fathoming that they will be greeted with a death ray. The analogy breaks down because the dupes on the roof didn’t pave the way for the invaders. Meanwhile, Trump’s supporters have been crucial in bringing the Middle Finger of God to our doorsteps.

It is an amazing phenomenon.

Explaining Trump’s Appeal

A timely essay on the current state of the nation from Charles Murray.

[Sunday-morning update]

A bridge too far: I agree with Ace that Trump finally damaged himself last night, at least with actual Republicans. It’s one thing to say we had bad intel; it’s entirely another to say that Bush deliberately lied us into war. That’s the ravings of the left, not a leading Republican candidate.

Obama’s Climate Legacy

Looks like SCOTUS just wrecked it, 5-4. Couldn’t happen to a nicer dictator.

The stay implies that they think the administration is likely to lose on the merits when the case is argued. But this points out the stakes of the election, given that the next president is likely to appoint more than one justice.

[Wednesday-morning update]

Jonathan Adler explains the ruling. (Note: He is more concerned about climate change than I am.)