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Will Stancil Profile picture
@whstancil
Aug 25, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read • Read on X
Democrats control a significant majority of America's votes, its most prosperous regions, and the House. They have sufficient power and resources to meet GOP intransigence blow for blow, and the only reason they don't is squeamishness over maximalism
Meanwhile the GOP is exercising every lever of power available to it, and testing out new levers all the time, in a scorched-earth campaign to destroy every institution valued by the left, liberals, and even the center.
Obviously, Democrats should aspire for a politics where they don't have to be on war footing all the time, where there's room for comity and dialogue. But sometimes the war is brought to you, and you have to win the war it in order to secure the peace.
Exhortations about the importance of preserving Our Shared Norms are worthless when the other side has indicated it will only preserve any given institution up to the moment it interferes with their will to power, and thereafter gleefully detonate that institution.

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More from @whstancil

Will Stancil Profile picture
Jan 7
The reason people fall into MAGA so quickly is that it's not a process of BECOMING something, but of simply GIVING UP. Giving up resistance, giving up critical thought. Much easier to go along with it, say the words, agree that the lies are true. Easier than standing firm.
The more people around you are MAGA, the more strenuous the process of resisting it becomes, and the greater the relief of simply giving up and going along. You don't have to struggle anymore! No need to think! MAGA will simply tell you what to believe, and you'll agree.
That's why there's been such a collapse after the election, despite the flimsiness of Trump's victory. So many people, especially in big institutions, are ready to give up and the more of them do, the greater the pressure on the holdouts to do the same.
Read 4 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
Jan 7
Basically my view is this: right now, the vast majority of voters are getting either some or all of their political information from a giant unregulated ambient media ecosystem, which only really shows them ideas that will excite or anger them, largely free of any fact-checking
In this ecosystem people tend to gravitate towards ideas that reaffirm their existing prejudices and biases.
As I've said in the past, the problem isn't information bubbles but information buffets: online and in partisan media, you can pick and choose whatever narrative is most emotionally satisfying.
Read 16 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
Oct 28, 2024
The moment I heard that Puerto Rico line, I messaged some Dem friends and said "This is gonna be catastrophic." And right on cue, Trump's fascist rally is ballooning into a full-blown campaign crisis. The reason why is that it's a perfect storm: Image
Image
Image
Image
-shocking racism that hasn't been on a US political stage in 100 years
-basically every electorally important group was a target
-so bad that the GOP actually ran for cover, creating permission for press to chase the story
-perfectly validated weeks of Dem attacks on Trump
Just a full-blown disaster, and richly deserved: the campaign clearly decided it was a lock to win, and let all the worst creeps in its roster all come out and say whatever would get their blood pumping. Surprise, it turns out what gets their blood pumping is Nazism
Read 4 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
Oct 22, 2024
My working theory for What’s Gone Wrong is that the plethora of media sources have enabled extremist ideologies - not by LIMITING people’s exposure to ideas, but by INCREASING it. This enables people to select whichever narrative supports their inner emotional universe best.
Ultimately most of these extreme ideologies are about intellectual laziness and indulgence - substituting prejudice and simplicity and emotion for the hard work of thinking through complicated problems, confronting uncertainty, and developing a consistent set of beliefs.
The endless all-you-can-eat buffet of information in front of us, as it’s grown wider, makes it easier for people to avoid contradictions and difficult thoughts. They can always find some bubble that will indulge their worst, most incoherent beliefs.
Read 9 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
Oct 21, 2024
It's insane that the main policy proposal of one major-party candidate is "Carry out the largest domestic purge in history by a factor of twenty, and no, I won't be telling you exactly what groups will be removed" and the media is like "Cool! What's your plan for health care?"
If Trump follows through on his plan to remove 20 million people (again, he won't say who, because there aren't even 20 million undocumented immigrants in this country) that means one in every 15 Americans will be disappeared. Every workplace, every classroom, every street
We are talking about armed men coming and grabbing one in fifteen people - young people, old people, workers, mothers, kids, neighbors, customers. It's pure unadulterated insanity, it would destroy the social fabric, crush the economy, and morally stain the country for all time.
Read 6 tweets
Will Stancil Profile picture
Oct 18, 2024
the structure of media has changed, and it's changed what kinds of political messaging successfully reaches and persuades people, and democrats are the ones that have been getting left behind
HOW HAS THE STRUCTURE OF MEDIA CHANGED?

primarily, it's vastly more fragmented. instead of large centralized outlets, media consumption is fragmented across an incredibly wide range of TV, print, online, and social media outlets
fragmentation has happened at every level - e.g., people can choose between TV and TikTok, but also choose between more TV channels, and, online, choose the exact sources and accounts and websites the listen to. it's like a supermarket transitioning from one product to thousands
Read 14 tweets

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