Astroturfing as a concept only really applies to niche stuff. The idea of astroturfing a massive political campaign for the presidency by one of the two major parties is a little silly.
Exactly; the term is meant to criticize a social movement for being presented as the authentic will of the Average Joe rising up, as opposed to the reality that it is corporate mandated.
The term is used in medicine to denote "patient advocacy" groups that pharmaceutical companies fund to increase demand for their products. One of the reasons I'm not in chronic pain advocacy is that it is (or was twenty years ago) a very astroturfed domain where a lot of the major groups existed to provide cover for what of course was ultimately discovered to be the massive overutilization of opioids.
One could call some aspects of the trans phenomenon, or the woke social justice world in general astroturfed.
I'm all for policies that make it easier to have children, but on the evidence of basically all of Europe, that does not do anything to increase birth rates.
The Pew result is quite strange. I'm not sure I would have worded a poll that had a bunch of specific reasons and then this cop-out generic "I just don't want them" answer. And the generic answer won comfortably. And it just seems to contradict the most basic laws of nature that humans apparently lack a desire to reproduce. It demands more of an explanation than "meh".
It's out of date though, since it actually uses the word "women".
Apparently "tokophobia" is more common that I at least might have anticipated and varies by country (ranging from 6-14% in this study). Apparently some countries are more aggressive about pursuing it as a mental health issue but it is not a large part of the conversation in the U.S.
1. He's idealistic and basically sympathetic. Evidence: His remarks to and about his wife and "Sopes".
2. He's opportunistic. Evidence: his book exploited its subjects and didn't make up for that by having interesting things to say.
3. He's damaged. Evidence: his own account of his childhood, and his history of shifting attachments.
4. He represents an up-from-your-bootstraps conservative tradition. Evidence: the attitude toward his book's subjects - it's good they vote Republican, but they need to help themselves - and cat ladies.
I vote all of the above. If Sarah Haider and Mickey Kaus (and, I guess, Ross Douthat, but maybe he's just gullible) see something sympathetic in him, it's probably there. But in 2016 when he was promoting his book in interviews, I thought, what's the big deal? there's nothing there. If someone had told me at the time he was going to run for Senate, I would have thought, oh, that explains it, this book is his Dreams From My Father.
Someone takes your private messages and releases them to put out an ideologically charged hit on you that's ultimately ineffective? Wow, that's relatable.
Being stabbed in the back still sucks though, even if the person doing it is using a butter knife.
Maybe Sarah and Megan are victims of the “mean girls”? Andrew Klavan had a really good take on what is going on in left wing politics on his recent podcast…
Astroturf movement = fake/engineered grassroots movement!
Astroturfing as a concept only really applies to niche stuff. The idea of astroturfing a massive political campaign for the presidency by one of the two major parties is a little silly.
Exactly; the term is meant to criticize a social movement for being presented as the authentic will of the Average Joe rising up, as opposed to the reality that it is corporate mandated.
The term is used in medicine to denote "patient advocacy" groups that pharmaceutical companies fund to increase demand for their products. One of the reasons I'm not in chronic pain advocacy is that it is (or was twenty years ago) a very astroturfed domain where a lot of the major groups existed to provide cover for what of course was ultimately discovered to be the massive overutilization of opioids.
One could call some aspects of the trans phenomenon, or the woke social justice world in general astroturfed.
basically i'm never gonna be first again
lol. It appears your reign of firsts is over.
I'm all for policies that make it easier to have children, but on the evidence of basically all of Europe, that does not do anything to increase birth rates.
The Pew result is quite strange. I'm not sure I would have worded a poll that had a bunch of specific reasons and then this cop-out generic "I just don't want them" answer. And the generic answer won comfortably. And it just seems to contradict the most basic laws of nature that humans apparently lack a desire to reproduce. It demands more of an explanation than "meh".
The best academic piece I could find on the subject of women afraid of being pregnant was this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5766978/
It's out of date though, since it actually uses the word "women".
Apparently "tokophobia" is more common that I at least might have anticipated and varies by country (ranging from 6-14% in this study). Apparently some countries are more aggressive about pursuing it as a mental health issue but it is not a large part of the conversation in the U.S.
I've seen four theories about JD Vance.
1. He's idealistic and basically sympathetic. Evidence: His remarks to and about his wife and "Sopes".
2. He's opportunistic. Evidence: his book exploited its subjects and didn't make up for that by having interesting things to say.
3. He's damaged. Evidence: his own account of his childhood, and his history of shifting attachments.
4. He represents an up-from-your-bootstraps conservative tradition. Evidence: the attitude toward his book's subjects - it's good they vote Republican, but they need to help themselves - and cat ladies.
I vote all of the above. If Sarah Haider and Mickey Kaus (and, I guess, Ross Douthat, but maybe he's just gullible) see something sympathetic in him, it's probably there. But in 2016 when he was promoting his book in interviews, I thought, what's the big deal? there's nothing there. If someone had told me at the time he was going to run for Senate, I would have thought, oh, that explains it, this book is his Dreams From My Father.
-- Childless Cat Man
Guy who was thinking about having kids and then remembered how much he hates JD Vance
90 minutes of pure hilarity. I just can't stop laughing.
First cat on the scene
Someone takes your private messages and releases them to put out an ideologically charged hit on you that's ultimately ineffective? Wow, that's relatable.
Being stabbed in the back still sucks though, even if the person doing it is using a butter knife.
Maybe Sarah and Megan are victims of the “mean girls”? Andrew Klavan had a really good take on what is going on in left wing politics on his recent podcast…
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-andrew-klavan-show/id1045171376?i=1000664191380