What can we learn from politicians who overperform
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What can we learn from politicians who overperform
People engaged in high-rung politics, without the burden of rigid attachment to any one ideology, can combine ideas from across the spectrum to form a nimble political superbrain that can respond in nuanced ways to changing times.
Tim Urban • What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies
It's the only way to bring some positive energy to politics4. Not about right or left or ideologies writ in stone, but about competence. Building something meaningful and bulldozing what's in your way to get it done5. This is a strong positive vision of what the world could be, and it needs a champion. We should embrace it.
People want competence, seemingly over everything else
So many political strategies are centered around “beating” the other side(s), and claiming victory over their defeat. For evolutionary reasons, it is easy to see why these attitudes might have won out. Yet in general those approaches are a sign of a narrow vision. Beating the other side is a possible strategy, but it shou
... See moreTyler Cowen • Making the other side better - Marginal REVOLUTION
I think we are trained, particularly on the left, to be critical of performance. And I feel we should be more honest in acknowledging that performance is crucial to politics. It doesn't mean it's the only factor––that policy or other factors don't matter. But it is a defining feature.
Conor Friedersdorf • The Charisma-vs.-Charm Election
So imagine you started a political revolution and asked the simple question “does this policy change reinforce or overturn our basic cultural messages?” Every time the policy or policy debate pushes culture in what you think is the right direction, just do it. Do it in the view that the cultural factors will, over some time horizon, surpass everyth... See more