I have seen the name Krugman referred to with disdain in these threads,, now it makes sense to me,,,,


from a Krugman column

Americans are much more likely than citizens of other nations to believe that they live in a meritocracy. But this self-image is a fantasy...America actually stands out as the advanced country in which it matters most who your parents were, the country in which those born on one of society’s lower rungs have the least chance of climbing to the top or even to the middle.

And if you ask why America is more class-bound in practice than the rest of the Western world, a large part of the reason is that our government falls down on the job of creating equal opportunity.

The failure starts early: in America, the holes in the social safety net mean that both low-income mothers and their children are all too likely to suffer from poor nutrition and receive inadequate health care. It continues once children reach school age, where they encounter a system in which the affluent send their kids to good, well-financed public schools or, if they choose, to private schools, while less-advantaged children get a far worse education.

Once they reach college age, those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are far less likely to go to college — and vastly less likely to go to a top-tier school — than those luckier in their parentage. At the most selective, “Tier 1” schools, 74 percent of the entering class comes from the quarter of households that have the highest “socioeconomic status”; only 3 percent comes from the bottom quarter.

And if children from our society’s lower rungs do manage to make it into a good college, the lack of financial support makes them far more likely to drop out than the children of the affluent, even if they have as much or more native ability. One long-term study by the Department of Education found that students with high test scores but low-income parents were less likely to complete college than students with low scores but affluent parents — loosely speaking, that smart poor kids are less likely than dumb rich kids to get a degree


http://birdwoman-thenatureofthings.blogspot.com/2012/01/american-caste-system.html




wow, openly contesting the idea of merit,,,,,,,what a communist,,lol

(thats sarcasm)

things will never be perfectly equal,, but DAMN,, the direction the cultural values are going,,,they certainly seem like they could revert to more and more unequal,,,,

msharmony,

The disdain for Paul Krugman has nothing to do with what you quote in the OP.

However, Krugman's claims in the OP are not exactly correct.

how do you know that Dodo? or do you mean your personal disdain has nothing to do with it? (not that you disdain him)

certainly, views like what he expresses here are in pretty extreme contradiction to the core values and beliefs that many here express

so its hard to say that the two have nothing to do with each other,,,

Plenty of professional pundits criticize Krugman because of his adherence to Keynesian economics and because of his lousy track record when it comes to the accuracy of what he says in print.

For an example of what I am referring to, read Donald L. Luskin's commentary about Krugman by clicking here.

I thought Krugman was a good actor. He was funny in the sitcom "The odd couple"

Uh, you are talking about Jack Klugman.

This thread is about Paul Krugman.

Here is an excerpt from a May 22, 2005 New York Times column written by that newspaper's out-going public editor Daniel Okrent:

"Op-Ed columnist Paul Krugman has the disturbing habit of shaping, slicing and selectively citing numbers in a fashion that pleases his acolytes but leaves him open to substantive assaults."

(Source)

I believe it. Professional 'pundits' run the gambit of opinions.

but Minglers, on the other hand, tend to espouse quite a different political value system than Krugman, which would lead me to believe it is one possible reason so many have such disdain for him,,,

very astute observation about the profession of 'punditry' in general

including the pundit doing the assessing of a fellow pundit,,lol

but, still, not in any way eliminating the other potential reasons that individuals in these forums seem to show such disdain for him,,,

One reason why people here have disdain for Paul Krugman is because Krugman is notorious for behaving like a bully.

Niall Ferguson writes the following:

(Ferguson Quote Source)


Bloomberg columnist Clive Crook supports some of Krugman's economic ideas, but even Crook acknowledges Krugman's bullying behavior. He writes the following:


(Crook Quote Source)

In short, the disdain that people have for Paul Krugman is the result of the disdain that Krugman has for anyone who disagrees with him, as demonstrated by Krugman's frequent personal attacks on anyone who critiques his claims.

Krugman is the Keynesian's Keynesian!
The consummate Statist!

Something along these lines?

10 Things I Learned From Eavesdropping on Conservatives
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America: Imagine the World Without Her is the newest propaganda hit piece from confessed criminal and Right-wing operative Dinesh D'Souza.

During my weekly visit to the movies, I saw Deliver Us From Evil. It was a movie with great potential (the connection to PTSD and the "demons" that our veterans carry home with them from war could have been more thoroughly developed) that needed a thorough rewrite and editing. I am a sucker for movies about the supernatural and occult. Therefore, I felt obligated to see Deliver Us From Evil.

Dinesh D'Souza's new "documentary" "America" was also playing at the same movie theater (I had already suffered through a viewing of that Right-wing tract). Thus, I decided to do some reconnaissance/observational research on the attendees of D'Souza's newest fairy tale propaganda hit piece.

The actual members of the Right-wing public who are high on the political meth of the Fox News echo chamber are more fascinating to me than the media which is used to create and propagandize them.

While listening to the impromptu debriefing and cult meeting in the lobby that followed a viewing of America: Imagine the World Without Her, I realized that 1) Deliver Us From Evil is far less frightening than D'Souza's newest creation and 2) "America's" view of empirical reality and history is also supernatural, existing outside of the realm of normal logic and reality.

Talking in the abstract about the dangerous and noxious civic culture which has been created by the Right-wing media is one thing; actually listening to and observing this public in person is an altogether different experience. There is nothing harmless about the impact of the Right-wing propaganda machine on the thinking and reasoning processes of conservatives in the Age of Obama.

As I learned earlier this week, their warped logic and skewed perception of social and political reality is extremely dangerous and can/will lead to more incidents of Right-wing domestic violence, because how else would a reasonable person deal with a government that is led by "traitors" and under the control of Satan?

What did I observe while listening to the people who went to see America: Imagine the World Without Her?

1. The small group of people who attended America: Imagine the World Without Her here in Chicago skewed older (50s to 70s). It was, surprisingly, a racially integrated group with several black and brown folks mixing in comfortably with the white viewers.

2. "America" seemed like a reverential and defiant experience for the viewers. Interpreting their chatter, it seemed that they were excited to stick it to Obama by seeing America: Imagine the World Without Her in his home town. The Right-wing troglodytes were also worked up about the fact that their--and America: Imagine the World Without Her's real nemesis--Saul Alinsky, is also a Chicago native.

3. An African-American man, a black conservative, led the sermon/cult meeting in the lobby of the movie theater. Playing the standard role of black conservative in contemporary movement conservatism, his presence gave permission to the other members of the group to talk freely about Barack Obama without the fear of being labeled as "racists".

4. America: Imagine the World Without Her is a cinematic conduit for standard Right-wing talking points. The power of "America" is rooted in the shared group experience that comes with going to the cinema. The Right-wing echo chamber is a fantastical and bizarre world where the paranoid style and conspiranoid thinking is the norm. This effect is amplified by the face-to-face communal experience of attending the same propaganda film. The insider and special knowledge given to them by "America" can then be disseminated by the "elect" to the "non-believers".

The idea that D'Souza's movie has special knowledge--that the viewer is now obligated to share in order to counter "liberal lies" and "bias"--was repeated by several of the people leaving the theater.

5. America: Imagine the World Without Her should be taught in public schools as a corrective to the "indoctrination" of the state and liberal teachers. One viewer enthusiastically suggested to another member of the tribe that "kids" should be given a choice between America: Imagine the World Without Her and their standard history textbook--the latter is supposedly full of lies that will be exposed by D'Souza's "truths".

6. The black conservative suggested to his congregation that Obama is the devil and a tool of Satan. I was unsure how those two figures are related to one another in his cognitive schema. He also said that the movie was powerful for showing in clear terms how Saul Alinsky--a "communist America hating traitor"--met with Hillary Clinton at some point decades ago and has been orchestrating the destruction of America from behind the scenes.

In playing his role as black gatekeeper who grants permission to his fellow conservatives to be racists, the black conservative cult leader used the rhetorical strategy of "code switching" where he adopted "black" affected speech to talk about how he works "in the 'hood" and that black Americans--unlike him--are brainwashed and controlled by Obama and the Democratic Party.

Of course, the obligatory talking point, that the Democratic Party is the party of Jim and Jane Crow was referenced as part of his performance.

7. I also learned that Margaret Sanger was in cahoots with Charles Darwin's brother, and that they were all eugenicists who pioneered abortion in America as a "racist" tool for "liberals" to kill black babies.

8. America was apparently a "Christian Nation" at the Founding and the United States has been ruined by godless liberals led by Barack Obama. The United States will apparently be destroyed unless the Bible and "Biblical values" are renewed and made the center of public and private life.

9. There were white indentured servants in the American colonies. This is an important part of "America's" narrative as that fact somehow makes chattel slavery a less unique and less vicious social institution as practiced for centuries in the United States.

10. What did the lone white conservative do during the cult meeting/debriefing conducted by the black conservative in the lobby? He was quiet. He nodded enthusiastically when the black conservative would speak. The lone white conservative also smiled and seemed very pleased when his black conservative pet said that "black people have been tricked and brainwashed" by Obama and the Democratic Party.

America: Imagine the World Without Her's oeuvre is not new. It is a cinematic version of the Right-wing talking points and lies that are circulated on a daily basis throughout the Fox News echo chamber.

Epistemic closure is a real phenomenon. America: Imagine the World Without Her is a helpful reminder of how the use of technical and social scientific language often masks the real human experiences that underlie and are spoken to by theory and research.

To point. The audience members who I observed after their viewing of "America" were enjoying the sense of community that comes with encountering like-minded people...a feeling that is amplified if you have been told that you are somehow "oppressed" or "marginalized" by "the system", "liberals", "big government", "atheists", etc..

America: Imagine the World Without Her's lies and disinformation are poisons to our civic culture. However, I was most disturbed by seeing living and breathing examples of the people who have been brainwashed by the Right-wing media. Interacting with online trolls is tedious. Seeing online trolls made real, in person, alive, and not as ephemeral digital representations, is a reminder of how serious these political matters actually are.

Contemporary movement conservatism is a cult and religion. Its believers are immune to normal appeals to logic and fact. America: Imagine the World Without Her is a crystallization of Right-wing fantasies and distortions presented through the cinematic imagination. It is an artifact of the Tea Party GOP's madness. Consequently, the movie's real social value is how it serves as an insight into the paranoid style and conspiranoid fantasies that have possessed the Right-wing's foot soldiers and public--and which are a threat to all Americans' safety, security, and prosperity.

perception, its a wonderful and well paying thing,,,,,,

As long as the New York Times is willing to pay for it, Krugman will continue his uncivilized, bullying behavior in print, regardless of his politics.

It is his behavior that causes people to have disdain for him.

For example, in the piece that TBRich quotes, Krugman says, "In playing his role as black gatekeeper who grants permission to his fellow conservatives to be racists, the black conservative cult leader used the rhetorical strategy ..."

So, Krugman claims that one is a cult member if one is an African-American conservative.

Now, do you see the problem that people have with Krugman?

seemed to me that Krugman claimed a SPECIFIC African American that he witnessed acted as a gatekeeper giving permission to be racist,,,,I have seen it too

I have seen it in all races, the person people point to to prove their stereotype holds merit because a member of the stereotyped group agrees with it,,,


the religious are often depicted as a 'cult' for sharing common beliefs here, though I do agree its high school behavior, its also common pundit behavior that any number of those people here cite are also guilty of without similar disdain for it.

so, in this case, its the 'conservative cult', in other cases its the 'liberal sheep',,,,,etc,,,etc,,,etc,,,

Yes, people here have engaged in the same behavior that Krugman frequently engages in. However, the people on this site aren't, as far as I know, professional pundits.

By the way, it is "high school behavior" to claim that an African-American conservative gives other conservatives permission to be racists. Seriously, the use of the "race card" to belittle conservatives gets old after awhile.

nah, actually it was 'high school behavior' to call people 'cult' members for sharing beliefs,,,,

and don't get me started on the ridiculousness and clich� of claiming a 'race card' exists,,,,

Well, don't get me started on the ridiculousness and clich� of claiming that conservatives are racists.

I agree

all conservatives aren't racist

but most racists are MOST LIKELY conservative,,lol


conservative: a person who is averse to change and holds to traditional values and attitudes, typically in relation to politics.


segregation has been a much longer 'tradition' in these parts than integration and equality have,,,,