The really sad thing about Michael Tracey is no one is paying him to be a propagandist for the worst people, the worst causes, and the worst ills of the world. He is just what happens when stubborn contrarianism meets wounded egotism. He champions lies because the truth hurts.
Take a guy whose impulse is to go, "What? No, that can't be." when someone he doesn't respect says something he hasn't heard before.
*Coincidentally*, the guy respects people more the more they are exactly like himself. A white guy of his approximate background? Knows his stuff.
*Coincidentally*, the guy respects people more the more they are exactly like himself. A white guy of his approximate background? Knows his stuff.
Lots of people have this kind of kneejerk reaction, but for most of them it's passing... five minutes later they might have incorporated it into their worldview. Their dismissal was based on nothing, so it is easily dismissed.
But add an easily pricked ego to the mix, where the guy who reflexively disagrees with any thought that hadn't previously occurred to him can't help but take it personally when someone disagrees with his disagreement... and you get someone like Michael Tracey.
Michael Tracey is who and what he is because the alternative is considering his biases or learning something from people he regards as his lessers, and the very thought of those things are too painful to face.
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