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Jennifer Mercieca Profile picture
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16 Nov, 4 tweets, 1 min read
I've been paying $700/month for my student loans since 2003. I still owe more than 50k though I've paid off more than I borrowed at this point. Interest is a bummer.
Someday I hope to own my brain free and clear!
It would be extra great if I could pay them off before I retire! lol/cry
And I'm not complaining and I would absolutely still go to college & grad school. My life is good, even with the student loan debt. Still, there has to be a better way to get an education.

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More from @jenmercieca

Jennifer Mercieca Profile picture
14 Nov
Best ever tv Thanksgiving moment (an impossible poll)
WKRP:
West Wing Butterball Hotline:
Read 4 tweets
Jennifer Mercieca Profile picture
12 Nov
😂 But, also, I've been thinking about these kinds of false equivalencies and why they're so prevalent. I think it's the difference between a parallel case argument and an argument by analogy. Explanation below.
Parallel case argument: two things or situations are essentially the same. The strength of this kind of argument is in explaining all of the ways that the cases are the same so that we can reasonably conclude that what is true in case 1 is also true in case 2.
Argument by analogy: the relationship between two things is similar to the relationship between two other things. The things are not the same, but the relationships between the things are. The strength of these arguments rests with the accuracy of the analogies & comparison.
Read 10 tweets
Jennifer Mercieca Profile picture
10 Nov
This >>

There is the legal procedure and then there is the infowar. Don't get them confused. And don't let the infowar take you by surprise. It was all predictable.

Trump lost. The vote will be certified. The EC will vote.
You have a role to play in the infowar: defend reality against Trump's propaganda campaign. Just say the truth: America voted, Trump lost, Biden won. The vote will be certified. The Electoral College will vote. Biden will be sworn in January 20, 2021.
This explains more:
Read 6 tweets
Jennifer Mercieca Profile picture
10 Nov
Trump has exploited historic levels of distrust, polarization & frustration in America--attacking our public sphere.
His strategies are designed to make his followers more distrusting, so they believe no one but him; more polarized, so all decisions are about whether or not they support Trump; and more frustrated, so that they are energized to act to support him.
Image from @brianstelter & @ReliableSources. See the strategies of distrust, polarization & frustration in Fox graphics. Message: they are hypocrites, they are irrational, they hate you.

We have to defend reality. Trump lost. The people have spoken.
Read 4 tweets
Jennifer Mercieca Profile picture
10 Nov
From 2017, still relevant: When Paranoid Rhetoric and Falsehoods Prevail, Public Trust Crumbles | Essay | Zócalo Public Square zocalopublicsquare.org/2017/03/13/par…
“The demagogue does not recognize controversial attitudes. He declares his adversary a liar, a traitor to the only truth. Dissension is no longer a matter of opinion, but of heresy. The “party line” wins a sort of mystic holiness..."
"Totalitarian governments and their leaders are “infallible.” To question their policies is sin. As soon as complete power is obtained, the monopoly over all instrumentalities of communication gives unlimited propaganda possibilities to the totalitarian.”
Sigmund Neumann, 1938
Read 8 tweets
Jennifer Mercieca Profile picture
9 Nov
A dangerous demagogue is an unaccountable leader. Unaccountable to the rule of law, unaccountable to political norms, unaccountable to the will of the people.

Trump is doing exactly what we'd expect a dangerous demagogue to do. Image
Trump is using a narrow definition of "the people" based on how he's used ad populum throughout: only his supporters are "true" Americans, only their votes are "legal." Image
He's also using conspiracy theory in the same way he's used conspiracy theory throughout: as a "self-sealing" narrative--a narrative that evidence is not allowed to prove or disprove. Here's a good explainer:
Read 11 tweets

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