Bryan Caplans nye blog

Jeg vil anbefale dig at abonnere på bloggen. Caplan er en ekstremt interessant person, som skriver godt og logisk. Og stiller mange gode spørgmål.

Her er fx et udsnit fra hans indlæg om navnet på sin nye blog:

If someone claims that “Safety should be our absolute priority,” we should be taken aback if he eats in a restaurant during a pandemic.  The same goes if a habitual heavy drinker insists, “I do everything for my family,” an irregular church-goer declares, “Nothing is more important to me than my faith,” or a London homeowner announces, “Immigrants have ruined the city.”  Actions speak louder than words: If immigrants really “ruined” London, why don’t you sell your pricey home and move elsewhere?

The seductive power of hyperbole is one major cause of the gap between words and actions.  Overstatement comes naturally to most human beings.  Measuring your words, in contrast, requires conscious effort.  If immigrants annoy you, what fun is it to say something reasonable, like “Immigrants have made this city 2% worse for me”?  Sure, such a statement lets you rebut the “Why don’t you sell your pricey home and move elsewhere?” challenge with a curt “Because a 2% decline in the value of living in London is far too small to justify a move.”  But when you make your position credible, you make it bland.  And who wants to be bland?

Du kan finde indlægget her Og du kan abonnere på bloggen øverst på forsiden her.