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Noah Smith @Noahpinion
, 12 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Yes, we have been more divided than we are now. Within living memory.
Labor disputes used to kill hundreds of people! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_…
In 1932 Douglas MacArthur called in tanks on protesting veterans, injuring over a thousand people!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army
In 1967 there were 159 race riots in cities across America!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long,_hot…
In 1921, rioters used airplanes to bomb black businesses in Tulsa, Oklahoma! Hundreds were killed in the riot!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_rac…
In the 70s, two different people tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford!
sfgate.com/news/article/F…
In 1919, anarchists sent 36 mail bombs to prominent U.S. business and government leaders!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919_Unit…
Some business leaders plotted a coup to overthrow Franklin D. Roosevelt and replace him with a fascist government! timeline.com/business-plot-…
The 70s had so much domestic terrorism that it became routine! cnn.com/2015/07/28/opi…
In the 1900s and 1910s there were massive numbers of lynchings!
In America, division and violence have been the historical norm.

Right now, for all the online vitriol, the worst we've seen in terms of actual violence were Charlottesville and the Alexandria shooter.
Some people say social media has made us more divided. Maybe it has. Or maybe it's just given us a non-destructive way to voice our grievances, hatreds, and crazy ideas, without burning buildings or setting off bombs.

(end)
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One thing I think would help reduce elite Millennial burnout/disappointment/rage is for people to stop thinking that their job should save the world.

"Save the world" and "make the world a better place" are probably just things employers tell you to get you to work for cheap.
Maybe your job will give you meaning and purpose and a sense of doing good for the world.

Or maybe it'll just make you some money so you can raise some kids, have some pet rabbits, and be active in your local community.

There's more than one way to get meaning in life.
Also, people glorify saving the world when it probably just gives you PTSD.

We like watching Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and whatever, but we wouldn't want to actually fight Darth Vader or slog through Mordor. That would cause major burnout!
Read 3 tweets
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1/Since Trump's demand for his Wall is in the headlines, I thought it would be a good time for a thread about a history book I just read:

"Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America", by Daniel Tichenor (2002)

amazon.com/Dividing-Lines…
2/The book starts out with a chapter or two of dense, unnecessary political science jargon, saying that - essentially - U.S. immigration policy tends to move very slowly, because powerful politicians and officials resist the tide of public opinion.
3/But most of the book is an extremely readable, eye-opening history of U.S. immigration policy, from the founding through the 1990s.

It shows how the immigration debates we're now having have been with us, in some form or another, for a very long time.
Read 27 tweets
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Thread about why very high tax rates on very rich people don't raise much revenue (or reduce inequality much, even within the top tier).

Our system has a million loopholes. Closing them is more important than raising top rates.
That's not to say there's a trade-off between raising the top rate and closing loopholes! They are complements, not substitutes.

But if you just raise the top rate without closing loopholes, you'll likely be disappointed.
The fact is, raising effective taxes on the very rich will require a comprehensive sustained push on a large number of policy fronts. There is not going to be one silver bullet.
Read 6 tweets

Related threads

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Interesting read: "What Happened to JFK Jr?"

Three witnesses reported an "bright white explosion" in the air.

phoenixsourcedistributors.com/What_Happened_…
Interesting: there is a working lighthouse "Gay Head Light" on that end of Martha's Vineyard, with a beam visibility of 20 miles. The JFK Jr crash site is only 6.8 miles south. JFK Jr would have navigated easily with that bright beacon on his left. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Head_…
Stories about JFK Jr's loss of orientation are completely BS. How can you lose the horizon when there's a massive 20-mile lighthouse beam flashing you on your left every few mins?
Read 73 tweets
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1/ "This country" equals what?

A theory

🤔
2/ There is a very interesting exchange between Strzok and Page two weeks after Trump was inaugurated.

They are talking about a certain country that they both seem to care about greatly but never actually name.

Lets get to the exchange
3/This text from Page is the beginning of what we have.

We're missing some texts here because there is a 4+ hour gap before this and it's referring to a meeting not previously described.

Key line here: "the country that concerns you most (at least top two)"
Read 33 tweets
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Immigration & Customs Enforcement—more commonly known as ICE, is a law enforcement agency of the federal government of the U.S. tasked to enforce the immigration laws of the United States & to investigate criminal and terrorist activity of foreign nationals residing in the U.S.
ℹ️ICE has two primary components: Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). It is an agency under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security and was established in 2003 following the 9/11 tragedy.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immi…
ICE was designed to keep us safe from terrorists—for instance, the terrorists who took over the planes on 9/11 were living undetected in the U.S. for over a year.

Pls read this thoroughly before commenting. The Trump administration has corrupted this agency to do horrific acts.
Read 32 tweets
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New Q Friday Related 💥#Renegade

Unexpected Couple..

lebook.com/lacreative/cre…

#WeHAVEEVERYTHING #QAnon #MAGA #Qanon8chan #QanonPosts #GreatAwakening #TrustThePlan #AllisonMack
New Q Friday 💥
Apr 20 2018 22:37:22 (EST) Anonymous ID: 3d9fc3 1124637 NEW
>1124578

Is @Snowden talking about us?

Apr 20 2018 22:48:30 (EST) Q !xowAT4Z3VQ ID: 35d50c 1124872 NEW
>>1124637
The world is watching.
#Q
#WeHAVEEVERYTHING #QAnon #MAGA #Qanon8chan #QanonPosts
Remember this?? Q Related Friday!💥🐸🐰

#Q #WeHAVEEVERYTHING #QAnon #MAGA #Qanon8chan #QanonPosts #GreatAwakening #TrustThePlan
Read 99 tweets
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A lot of people have asked me about guns. I mostly don't talk politics online, and mostly won't now. But I do like talking about systems, and there's something unfolding here that almost everybody is missing. Thread: (and at the end, there's a link to a potential solution.)
The conversation — from news orgs to Congress to living rooms — seems like a debate. Each side has their arguments and stats. They lob them back and forth, trying to change minds. But on net, the stats and logic almost never actually get results. ~Nobody ever changes their mind.
You can't persuade someone against their will. The underlying concept of "You have deeply held opinion x, I have deeply held opinion y. I will now show that you're wrong." simply doesn’t work in real life. What evidence does exist on it, suggests that it backfires.
Read 43 tweets
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"Who's that in your avatar?" you might ask.
That's Harry Haywood!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hay…

#LeftPOC
#LeftPOCoftheWeek
#HarryHaywood
As I noted elsewhere, Mr. Haywood ended up being the #LeftPOC of the whoooole month! It's been busy around these parts, folks, and I as I manage this project entirely by myself, sometimes life has to come first!

Now it's time to give him his due :-)
Let's learn about the #LeftPOCoftheWeek Harry Haywood, black communist, activist, author, and so much more!

#LeftPOC
#LeftPOCoftheWeek
#HarryHaywood
Read 31 tweets

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